Who am I

Chapter 16

-April 6, 2015-

Sophiea was moving. The jet was tearing though the sky, flying to a destination unknown to the group of heroes gathered on the vehicle. Tony was talking to Maria Hill, his quiet voice was the only sound in the Quinn jet.

"How is everyone doing?" Sophiea whispered into the silence. The group just stared into the distance. "Yeah, me too."

"I was in the red room again." Tasha's voice was soft, and Bruce hugged her tighter. "I saw them, the girls. They couldn't stop. We couldn't surrender, we couldn't let anyone else surrender either. I killed so many people."

"Peggy was there." Steve sounded more broken than Sophiea had ever heard him. "She told me the war was over, but everything I saw reminded me of the fighting. I thought I could have gone back, but I can't. I just can't."

The rest of the ride was silent. Sophiea choose to look out the window and admire the green fields below her. They stretched on endlessly. Each a slightly different color.

All too soon, but not soon enough, Clint started to bring the jet down. They were circling a small farmhouse. The team disembarked the ship.

"Where are we?" Sophiea whispered to Tony as they walked up the old, creaking stairs.

"A safe house apparently."

"Are we at Clint's?" The surrounding area was lush and green, trees sprouted up all around them. "It looks like where Clint would live."

"Be quiet Sophiea." Someone shushed, and the youngest member of the team stopped talking.

"Honey, I'm home!" the archer called into the seemingly empty house. But before anyone could move or respond, 3 kids came rushing into the room.

"Dad!" they exclaimed as they tackled him to the ground.

"I missed you guys so much!" He kissed the top of their heads and started bombarding them with questions about school, and friends, and life.

Sophiea felt a pang in her chest. She had to turn away from the father embracing and loving his kids. She thought of her dad, the stoic avenger with no feelings towards her. And of her real father, sitting alone in a cell on Asgard, unable to hug her or ask about her day.

"I have to go." She mumbled, though no one could hear her, and walked out the door, alone and unnoticed.

The cool spring breeze dried the tears that unknowingly slipped down her cheeks. It almost reminded Sophiea of her time with Nat on their mission. She walked to the barn on the edge of the tree line, thinking of her friends back in New York.

Would they be worried about her? Would they be trying to contact her? Did the world know of the mistake the avengers made?

Looking back at the house, she could see figures moving around in the windows. Everyone was cleaning up, washing away the pain and the dirt from the battle.

They seemed to be fine after the visions. Nothing the girl revealed to them was earthshattering. But everything she showed them was real, a part of their past.

What she saw had to be true.

"Sophiea," she jumped at the sound from the barn. "Come in here." She looked at it apprehensively.

Her godfather's face appeared in the dark by the door. "Phil?" Sophiea gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"Just come in here."

As she walked into the small dark room, her father took to the sky seeking answers. "What do you want Phil? And why are you here?"

"Listen Sophiea, we just want to know that you are safe."

"We? Who's we?" Fury walked out from behind the Barton's tractor. "Oh. That makes sense. Why wouldn't I be safe?"

"You ask a lot of questions." Coulson stated. "We wanted to tell you that Keaston has escaped. You might be a target and we want you to stay safe."

"You think I'm in danger? I can handle myself. And how did he escape wasn't he secure?"

Fury looked irritated. "We are still looking into how it happened, but that is nothing for you to concern yourself with."

"Just go back to the house. We know it's been a long day for you. Send Tony in, we need to talk to him." Phil gave her a hug and gently pushed her out the door.

In a trance she walked back to the house. "Tony?" She called once inside. "Steve? Father? Anyone?"

Mrs. Barton came around the corner, "Hey, I never officially met you. You must be Sophiea." she gave Sophiea a warm hug. "You can call me Laura."

"Do you know where Tony is?"

She nodded. "He and Steve went out to chop wood for me. It turned into sort of a competition."

"Ok. Thanks. By the way, Fury and Coulson are currently chilling in your barn. So, Yeah, that happened."

She let out a good-natured laugh. "I expect nothing less from those two."

Sophiea trudged out back to the woodpile. "Hey Tony, Laura said her tractor isn't working, she was wondering if you could work your magic on it?"

"Yes, of course." He turned to Steve, "Don't take from my pile." He walked off towards the barn humming as he went.

"Sophiea, how are you doing? You seem pretty shook up."

"Steve, I'm fine. The girl just messed with me. It's nothing I can't handle. I mean I live with you guys, that's mental trauma enough." She forced a smile.

If anything, she felt more broken.