The Stars We Dream Of | A. Romanoff-Barton

Chapter 7: Finally Reunited

All hope that Alivana Francis Romanoff-Barton was lost. All hope that Alivana Francis Romanoff-Barton would be rescued by her parents was lost as well. Alivana surrendered herself to HYDRA, no longer trying to resist. After all, it had been five years. Her parents hadn't found her by then.

Alivana was sad, not angry, but sad. Had her parents even looked for her? Perhaps they did. Perhaps they didn't. Maybe they weren't looking for her. Maybe they gave up on her. A dark thought had formed in Alivana's head: Perhaps her mother and her Papa never loved her, and were happy that she was gone, happy that she was out of their lives.

She just wanted to be loved, to be warm and safe. Was it all too much to ask for?

Natasha Romanoff hated herself for giving up. It had been five years since their little baby was taken from their clutches. Each HYDRA base had turned up empty and only given them nightmares of what their little girl could possibly be going through.

Clint Barton gave up. He refused to say it out loud but he believed that his daughter, his little ray of sunshine was gone.

But a man could hope, right?

Director Nicholas Fury refused to give up hope. He still had massive searches for the little red-head. She had to be alive. Or else Pierce would be rubbing it in their faces. Weeks passed. But on April 26th 2011, he picked up scans that had a complete match to Alivana. In fact, he investigated further, he found exact traces of her DNA.

Which meant, that Alivana Romanoff-Barton was still alive.

He wasted no time in assembling his two finest agents. Something told Fury that this base in Kasnia, just might be it. And how right he was.

»»——⍟——««

Within three hours the Black Widow and Hawkeye were on a jet to Kasnia.

They stormed the base with ease, lunging themselves at agents, driving arrows through flesh, heading inside the base. One room was marked "FILES". Both agents went inside. The first file on the table read "Alivana Romanoff-Barton". Both parents felt relieved, their daughter was still alive!

They quickly scanned the papers and felt sick. There were records of her being experimented on, tortured and a whole lot of gruesome stuff. At the end was a note in scrawled handwriting, "Väzenská 666 bunka je 345". Natasha quickly translated, "She's in cell 345. Go."

Natasha clutched the file as the two agents scrambled to find cell number 345, praying that they weren't too late. For the first time in years, they had hope, and if she was dead all this time, they might as well stick an arrow in their heads and be done with it.

Clint spotted the cell and kicked the door down. Alivana was curled up in a ball at the farthest corner of the room, drenched in puddles of her own blood. She looked so thin and sickly, her veins were easily visible and it was as if she didn't have that much weight on her. She probably didn't. Her wrists and ankles were swollen and bloody from the chains that were wrapped tightly around them. She looked so much older, much older than her age with the horrors she had to witness.

Both parents immediately scrambled to their daughter, parental instincts blaring. Natasha worked on freeing her daughter's ankles while Clint worked on her wrists. At some point Alivana flinched, visibly shaking. She brokenly whispered, "Please, don't. I'll listen, I'll be good, just please stop hurting me." She clenched her eyes shut. Clint gently ran his fingers across Alivana's bloody and bruised cheek. He spoke gently, "Baby girl, it's alright. Me and Mama finally found you." The now eleven year old opened one eye asking in disbelief, "Papa?" Clint nodded with a sad smile as he cupped his daughter's face. How good it felt to hold his daughter despite all of the things that had happened to her. "Yes baby, Papa's hear. Me and Mama are going to get you home now, alright?" Alivana nodded with a wince. Natasha spoke kindly, "Sorry baby, I'm almost done getting your ankles free alright?" Alivana nodded, one hand having an iron grip around her Papa's arm.

Someone was approaching them. Quickly.

Alivana felt terror spike through her as she latched herself onto her Papa. Natasha and Clint turned, Connor Pierce.

Natasha seethed, "Looks like good doesn't live in the genes huh? What would Alexander have to say?" Connor merely scoffed at the mention of his twin brother, "Oh him? He doesn't know what he's missing out on. I'd love to stay and join the family reunion, but I have other ideas." If only they knew. He dropped a small circular lump of metal onto the metal floor and took off. Natasha spoke with a knot of worry in her voice, "It's a bomb. We have two minutes. Pick her up let's go."

Clint spoke gently, "Ally, this is going to hurt but it's alright okay?" Alivana nodded, biting down on her lip to silence her screams as her father lifted her up. She hugged his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist as he and her Mama took off to the jet.

Alivana squeezed her eyes shut holding onto her Papa as tight as she could when the base went up in flames and exploded. Her Papa used the hand that wasn't holding his bow to hold her head down pressed into his shoulder. She watched as her Mama turned on the jet and quickly flew them out of Kasnia.

Her Papa set his bow down, wrapping his arms tightly around his girl. He missed his girl so much, and it felt unreal to finally hold her in his arms again. Alivana breathed into her Papa's chest, "I missed you and Mama so much." Clint smiled down at her as he pressed a kiss on the top of her forehead, "We missed you so much. We kept looking for you, and we couldn't find you. But now we have our girl back. Close your eyes alright? We're going to be home soon."

Alivana complied and for the first time in five years, she was able to sleep without any nightmares.

Her Papa woke her up as they were landing back at the SHIELD HQ in New York. He spoke gently, "We got to get you checked out alright? Clean you up okay?" Alivana nodded, letting her Papa carry her.

She held her Mama's hand, and how warm it felt against her cold skin as the doctors ordered Clint to lower her onto the gurney. She was immediately wheeled away and once again she felt scared. Each hand latched onto one of her parent's, she knew that she was going to be okay. Something was injected into her and Alivana flinched. Someone was running their hand through her red hair, assuring her that she was going to be alright. And with that, Alivana fell into a black abyss.

When Alivana woke, the first thing she noticed was her parents sitting right by her side. And her body felt weird. There was this weird white wrapping all over. What was it? Her Mama was running her fingers through her hair, while her Papa was holding her hand tightly. She coughed, "What, what is this?" Natasha gave her a warm smile with sadness in her eyes, "It's just bandages, to stop the bleeding. That's all." Alivana nodded. She waited a second before asking in a distant voice, "What, what day is it?"

This time her Papa answered looking down at her head, but not quite meeting her eyes, "April 26th, 2011." Alivana remained quiet, trying to comprehend what her Papa was saying. That meant, that it had been six years since she was taken.  Which meant that she was now eleven years old. She sniffled as tears began to pool in her eyes. Her Papa took her hands in his as her Mama wiped her tears with her thumb. Natasha pressed a kiss at the top of her forehead speaking kindly, "It's alright baby, it's okay. You're home now, we're going to be okay. We're going to be okay, I promise you. Does anything hurt?"

Alivana nodded, "My head hurts. A lot." Natasha nodded as she resumed running her fingers through her daughter's hair, "Alright, rest your eyes for a bit, you'll feel better okay?" Alivana asked in a scared voice, "But, what if the nightmares come?" Natasha assured her, "We'll be right here okay? You just tell us okay? And we'll make them go away. Alright?"

Alivana nodded before letting out a yawn and drifting off into a deep sleep.

A/N: The story's not over yet, if anything Alivana's story is just beginning.