Philophobia ➤ W.M.

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The Warehouse; With Astrilde's POV

  Quick heartbeats filled the silence that had deafened Astrilde's ears after the lights had flickered on. Her eyes were subjected to the temporarily bright light – her night vision goggles having disappeared from her face, though she didn't fully register that minor detail. Her eyes were fixated on her own sword, which was held unwaveringly close to her neck. She swallowed slowly, glancing up at Ari. In the light, she could see every blemish that marked his skin, and the darkness that resided underneath and within his eyes.

  Confusion filled her mind, accompanied by the slowly fading adrenaline and the strengthening horror. Her life could be ended right there – with one flick of the sword – yet Ari stood there, as if he were contemplating something. A bigger question, why hold the sword to her neck if he could end her with one flicker of his power? At that reminder, she made a point to focus her gaze on anything other than those haunting green eyes.

  "Astrilde. Astrilde! Are you okay?" Wanda's voice erupted into the com. Astrilde could swear that she felt her heart drop. Ari was holding her at swordpoint, which meant she may not see Wanda again. Astrilde's life was practically flashing before her eyes. Still, she couldn't give up. She had lived a thousand years, she could handle a simple man such as Ari. She had, after all, handled him the first time.

  Against her better instincts, she raised her hand to her ear. "Everything is good on my end," She responded in the clearest voice she could muster. Ari didn't even try to stop her, causing a jump of nerves in the recesses of her mind.

  "Oh thank God," Wanda murmured. Her voice probably wasn't supposed to be caught by the mic, but Astrilde heard it anyway. "So you're safe then?"

  Astrilde couldn't bring herself to respond verbally to Wanda's question. Instead, she just hummed in agreement, before taking out the com. She threw it away – a sort of breadcrumb in case she was abducted by Ari. It wouldn't help much, or really do anything, which was kind of the point. Ari was a homicidal maniac, and Astrilde didn't want her friends trying to track her and save her from him. She didn't want their deaths weighing on her conscious, and she wasn't afraid to look selfish because of that.

  "Why?" She finally murmured, question directed at the man in front of her. The sword was still poised at her throat, and she could swear that she saw it waver, if just for a second. A frown graced her lips. He had her right where he wanted, yet he made no move to kidnap or kill her.

  "I don't know." A simple response, spoken with a weight she didn't know simple words could hold. That threw her off kilter, but what really surprised her was when the sword aimed at her throat was pointed away. Once she was no longer in line with the blade, it was thrown with impressive speed toward something behind her. She didn't think, her gaze following the silver metal as it soared through a window. The sound of shattered glass echoed through the warehouse, and then the clatter of metal hitting concrete.

  A heavy breath escaped her lips, and she turned back, only to find Ari absent. He had vanished during the momentary distraction caused by the sword, leaving a very confused woman in his wake.

***

  Astrilde dragged herself through the hallways of Avengers Headquarters. Tony had deemed the tower as 'unsafe' for the time being as he updated the security system, which meant she was stuck in the training base-like building for the time being. Not that Avengers Headquarters was any safer, as it had the exact same system as the tower.

  Her team and herself had just arrived back at the headquarters, where Astrilde had bluffed her way through several questions. To their question about her now-broken com, she had muttered something about it falling out of her ear when she went to grab her sword. To explain the sword situation, she had explained that Ari had thrown it just before the lights had come back on. To explain Ari, well... she just said that he had disappeared when the lights came on. The last part wasn't that good of a bluff, and Astrilde had a sickening feeling that Natasha could tell she was lying. Still, the assassin hadn't uttered a word, and soon Astrilde found herself heading back to her room.

  "Astrilde, wait!" Wanda's voice caused Astrilde's hands to dart to her sides as if she hadn't been rubbing her temples. Her pace slowed almost imperceptibly, but Wanda had caught up anyway, so it didn't make much of a difference.

  "Yes?" Astrilde asked, her voice cheerful. Wanda frowned slightly, leading Astrilde to realize Wanda could tell the falsified happiness. Letting her smile drop, Astrilde dipped her head in a way of apology.

  "What really happened?" A jolt from Astrilde's heart, and slight worry that Wanda would notice Astrilde's nervousness in her face. She was never the best at hiding her emotions.
"I'd rather not discuss it, Scarlet." Her words were calm, not at all harsh like one would assume. Wanda nodded in response, like she understood. She probably did.

  "Okay. Would you like to get some hot chocolate with me? Get your mind off things."

  "Of course."

---

  That led to the duo arriving in one of the several kitchens of Avengers Headquarters. Unbeknownst to Astrilde, Wanda had picked it for the sole reason that it was rarely used. Wanda headed immediately to the hot chocolate machine Tony, for some reason, had installed in almost every single kitchen in the joint. Iron Man had muttered something about new recruits when Wanda had asked, to which she just accepted his reasoning.

  While Wanda got the hot chocolate, Astrilde sat on the counter. It was new to Astrilde, she wasn't used to being let to do things like that. After all, she had grown up in a palace. "Thanks for everything Wanda."

  "Hm? What would you be thanking me for? I have done nothing to deserve your praise." Astrilde frowned.

  "I have all the reason in the world."

  Wanda shook her head but smiled. "You don't."

  "I always will."

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