Secret World

6

"It's nice to meet you Echo, come on we'll show to place you can crash for the evening." Sam smiled, hooking his head towards the building. I looked over at Peter, who had moved away from the car and was currently running his fingers through his hair.
"I gotta run, I have school in the morning." He stated sheepishly.
"Oh." I softly replied, looking back to Sam and then over toward the sour face Bucky.
"Trust me, you're in good hands." He promised as I started to walk away from him, swallowing the lump that was forming in the back of my throat. I heard the car slowly start to pull away from the curb and instantly the constricting in my chest got worse.
"I'm sure you kinda feel out of the loop, the world changed a lot in five years. Bucky and I were with both snapped so it's taken a bit for us to get our bearings as well." Sam told me, he grasped ahold of the door handle and pulled it open for me. "Bucky more then me, he is an old man and change is hard on him."
I stepped inside, all the lights were on and it felt like walking in a barracks. Deep grey cement for a floor, no character, no warmth, the over heads light reflected off the smoothness of it. Three of the walls were a lighter grey bare and void of any pictures, nothing to make it seem any more then it was. To the left was a floor to ceiling glass wall, and behind it was some sort of aircraft I had never seen.
"So where you from?" Bucky asked, finally speaking to me, his eyes forward as I walked between the two. Everything was so impersonal, bland even. The compound was definitely military styled, but to my knowledge you can't just walk into a military outpost. And they certainly didn't employ kids, strange, it all felt so weird.
"A little bit of everywhere." I replied absentmindedly, I had been born in Queens and for the most part grew up there. My mom had found it difficult to care for me and sent me to live with my Aunt a couple of streets down. After she passed, it left me with my uncle and I was old enough by that point to take care of myself so I traveled.
"Where were you headed when it happened?" Sam asked as we approached smooth metal doors, I stared at them, looking at our reflections as Sam leaned forward and pressed the button next to them.
"When what happened?" I asked as stared at the red lit button. Slowly my eyes averted from it and looked up and met the chocolate eyes of Sam.
"When the snap happened." He replied with a kind smile, the snap, of course, he had just been talking about that. Seems like everybody wanted to talk about that, then again had something similar to their snap had happened in my reality then it would be highly talked about, covered, argued about.
"I.. I'm.. not exactly sure how to answer that." I told him, looking back the direction we had just come from, I could hear a dinging behind me and I had the unmistakable urge to bolt but I couldn't. The night outside prevented me from doing so.
"Look, we get it. Everything is really overwhelming." Sam said softly, pulling my attention back him. "We have an extra room you can crash in for evening, get your bearings, if you need more then one night we can figure something out."
He seemed so genuine, there was nothing but honesty written on his face. I wish I remember more, I wish knew what dream or vision I had had that his voice came through. But unfortunately I was drawing up a blank, all I could do was nod in reply. He stepped onto the elevator, I started to take a step onto when Bucky gently laid his hand onto my shoulder in attempt to give compassion. That little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight.
"What?" I asked, looking over at him. Bucky's eyes widen, and he pulled his hand from my shoulder before I realized that he hadn't actually said anything out loud.
"I didn't say anything." Bucky replied, twin blues met mine. Words written, long ago, at the time they had no meaning, now it felt as if the this world was crashing done around me at alarming speed. My Aunt wanted to scribble and scribble till something came out, I hadn't been thinking when those lost words etched themselves to the paper.
     "Echo?" Sam softly called, placing his own hand on my other shoulder.
    Visions of a man flying through the air, metal wings strapped to his back. Red goggles adorned his face, speeding towards an assailant I couldn't see. I pulled away sharply, to much too sooner.  My heart continued to pound in my chest as I looked at them both.
    "Who.. Who are you?" I asked, my body trembling as I stood before them. Bewildered expressions on their faces, Sam holding the elevator doors open.
     "I'm not sure I'm following you." Sam stated, his eyes narrowing at me.
     "I mean, you live in a military bunker, take strangers in, I kneed you in the nuts and you're being super nice." I spat out, trying to cover my almost slip up. I didn't want them to know, they wouldn't understand, hell I'm not sure Peter even believed me. I just.. I couldn't tell them, not quite yet.
    "Well, for starters this isn't a military bunker, it's a privately own compound." Bucky replied, his eyes glued to my face. "Yeah, you did knee me but you were also kinda overwhelmed by a bunch of people in your space. As for taking strangers in, the kid has this way of talking you into things, if you stick around you'll see what I mean."
     "Do we generally bring unknown people here? No, but the kid said there was something different about you. He really didn't get into it, but he seems to have a pretty good read on people." Sam added. "Just come down to the dorms, you can meet everyone and if you want to stay somewhere else, I'll drive you where ever you want to go."
      "Okay, just.." I took a deep breath, and took a step into the elevator cab. "Don't touch me again, please."
     Bucky nodded as he stepped in, his frame taking up a massive amount of space. He hadn't looked as large before he walked in, but in the small space the cab provided it was definitely noticeable. Sam himself was muscular, something I hadn't notice either until this moment. Had either of them wanted to do me harm I wouldn't of stood a chance. However both men kept their hands to themselves and it was short ride down to the next floor.
     As the doors rolled open, soft bright lights spilled in, the smell of pleasant spices wafting in making my mouth water instantly. I could hear soft humming, as I stepped out. The elevator opened to what looked like a living room, soft muted colors on the walls. A sectional couch in the center, tv opposite with a coffee table between.
     To right was a dining area, a large oak table sat dead center. A glass bowl held an assortment of fruits in it, giving it the homey feel that was missing upstairs. Beyond the dining area was a kitchen with mahogany cupboards, and a island. A woman stood at the stove, her auburn hair in loose waves as she continued to cook. I looked over to Sam who smiled down at me.
     "Wanda, did you make enough for an extra seating?" Bucky called out as he walked around me. The woman turned around and smiled, it was genuine and pleasant. I tried to keep my breathing even, I remembered her, that smile. There was a warmth that rolled from her, it started in her eyes and continued throughout her face.
     "I think so, I'm using to cooking for a lot more people then we have these days. You must be who Peter texted Sam about, I'm Wanda." She introduced herself as I slowly walked my way to the table. When I had seen her though she had been on her knees screaming in pain surrounded by rubble. "I don't know if you've had Sokovian food, but I was feeling a bit home sick."
     "I've never even heard of Sokovia, but it smells fantastic." I replied, pulling a chair out and sitting down. I tried not to think to much on the reason why I had been sent here, all I could focus on was the pain starting to ebb in the stomach from the lack of food.