Scared To Be Lonely

Chapter 17: Always Keep Hope

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It was about 4 in the morning with the kids both passed out. Nick had one hand on the radio while her other was under her chin, her head leaned against her outstretched arm and her eyes closed. Her hair was practically completely out of her braid, a few strands falling over her face, one piece moving as her breathing was steady - for the first time in a long time. 

Mark, still sitting across from her, had a pencil in his hand, but had his arms folded in front of him on the table and his head was leaning on them as his eyes were also shut. He had fallen asleep maybe an hour ago, while she had fallen asleep over two hours ago. 

He almost woke her up, even if it was to just help her move and go back to the house, but she had looked so peaceful. That's why he had instead wrapped his jacket over her, before he then began working on some of the paperwork that he had told his foster parents he'd do before the next day. 

Both kids had basically been running on fumes and it had finally caught up to them. 

But even though they were both really exhausted, it didn't mean that they missed the loud static came through the speaker of the radio. 

In fact, the moment it did, they both jumped awake - Mark actually falling off his chair. 

Nick shot awake with wide eyes, but when she saw him on the ground, the girl couldn't help but laugh. Actually, a snort came out as she brought her hand to her mouth quickly, as Mark propped himself up and glowered at her. "You think this is funny?"

"No. No, definitely not." She shook her head, biting her bottom lip in an attempt to keep from smiling, but she failed miserably as she laughed and nodded her head. "Yes." But then she registered what had woke them up and her smile dropped as she quickly turned to the radio, picking up the connected mic and clicking the button. "Hello?"

Nothing.

As Mark got to his feet and stretched, Nick tried to change the station and channel - just praying that she'd find the one that Natasha had told her about when they first began training. Since Natasha had told her about a few things that her and Clint learned, most of which involved their best friend spy partnership thing. And one of those things were back channels, none of which included any form of internet or anything that Ultron could hear. 

She just hoped that if Clint wasn't looking for any sign from Natasha, then hopefully Tony was looking for any sign of her... since after all, Nick is his daughter. That's definitely where she got all her tech-mechanics enthusiasts. 

She pressed the button and tried again, "Is anyone listening?"

But when there was still nothing, then girl placed her elbow on the table and put her palm to her forehead, closing her eyes as she tried again - her voice softer and almost pleading. "Starky, please tell me that you can hear this."

When there was still static, actual tears formed in Nick's eyes as she dropped the mic. "Dammit." The girl stood up and faced away from the table, and Mark, as she brushed a hand through her hair. She tried to just breathe through the weight that was getting worse on her chest, causing her to squeeze her eyes shut and put a hand over her mouth while the other went over her heart - praying that she could calm herself down.

Mark could tell that this was a huge thing with just how much time she spent on the radio and getting it to work, but he hadn't realized really how important it was for her to actually get it to work. But he did know that over 24 hours ago, she had been in a heart wrenchingly terrifying situation. He just didn't know that this nightmare situation, has been going on, and is still continuing for her.

The girl brought her hands up to cover her face as she let out a shaky breath, breathing out. "¿Qué hago? ¿Qué hago?" [What do I do? What do I do?]

"Mendes?" Mark spoke up as he moved to stand in front of her, placing a hand on her shoulder, but that just caused Nick to shake it off as she shook her head and turned away. "I can't - I can't-"

Mark's eyebrows pulled together as he saw her hands shaking and her breathing fast and shallow, and just by her voice... He quickly took her shoulders again, making her turn to him. "Are you okay?"

Nick squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head as she clutched her chest, taking a fistful of her shirt. "I can't breathe- I can't-" She gasped out. "I- I'm prone to- to panic attacks and I- I - I can't -" 

"Okay. Okay." Mark quickly nodded, taking her elbows as he looked around, wishing that he could go get his mom because he had no idea what to do. His grip on her tightened when her legs began giving out, causing him to carefully help her to her knees as her hands gripped his arms and he kneeled down in front of her. "Hey, just - just look at me. Um, the- the radio - we'll figure it out. Maybe... maybe they can hear us but they just can't talk back. Tell your dad where you are and-" Mark shrugged, "Hope that he can hear you."

Nick couldn't help the light scoff that left her lips, hardly recognizing her breathing calming down, as she shook her head at that one word. Hope. It keeps popping up. It's even what her powers are supposed to be connected to or whatever. Somehow she felt as though this was just the universes way of reminding her that even though it seemed hard right now and she didn't have her powers, there was still hope. 

Mark was still looking at her with concern but he also was confused, especially when she let go of him and shook her head, running her hands over her face as she mumbled her mother's words under her breath. "Mantenga siempre la esperanza." [Always keep hope.]

"What?" Mark shook his head in confusion, because he knew what she had said, but he didn't understand why she said it and why she said it in Spanish. 

"Nothing." Nick stood up and moved back over to the radio, glancing at him though. "I need you to go grab a car battery and jumper cables."

Mark really wanted to question why she needed those things, but he also didn't want to risk any type of attack she could have. So he just nodded and left, as Nick then grabbed the mic again, taking a deep inhale before holding it for a few seconds, then slowly exhaling to get her breathing back to normal. 

She then clicked the button again and spoke into the mic, "I don't know if you guys can hear me and I don't know if this is Starky or Katniss or whoever, but Ultron has Nat. I don't know what he's planning but he's built an army. We're in Sokovia so... please just..." She shook her head, her stomach churning at the thought of them not even hearing this message. "Get here. As soon as possible."