Lesson 15: How to hold it together.
You fell asleep on the ride to the Hydra base. As soon as the quinjet had taken off, and the quiet hum of the engine had surrounded you, you were out. But you kinda wished you didn’t fall asleep. Because when you did, your dreams were full of memories you wished you had forgotten.
Your sister, her gentle smile and glittering green eyes singing you a lullaby as you fell asleep. Men storming the house, and taking you as you screamed. A cold landscape and a final kiss from your sister before she was gone. Your sister again, but now she was someone you didn’t even recognize. Storm, bringing you to that final battle in hope that you could somehow bring Jean back. But Logan digging his claws into your sister and there was fire and you ran until you found your Master and-
Your dream broke into your early years in the Thieve’s Guild, and your small bones breaking time and time again. A boy with bright red eyes pressing a gentle kiss to your bruised and broken fingers, and holding you tight as you cried. Being locked in a small room, pounding on the door until blood streamed from your knuckles, and fire blazed in your eyes. And the release of your powers as you kil-
Now you were older, your heart broken once, and another you didn’t remember. The boy, no man, with blue eyes pressing kisses to your forehead and feeling secure until he too broke your heart and you were in a foreign land. And a longtime friend with blonde hair and a horrible singing voice and the stars and the galaxies and brawls and mistaken kisses on deserted planets and being called back and-
A lion. No, a lioness with her teeth barred and fire in her eyes telling you to wake up, that you were not complete, that you needed to let her go and embrace it and-
“(Y/N),” you jerked awake to see Pietro looking at you intently, worry written all over his face. You were breathing heavily, and you could see your breath in the air. Damnit, you cursed silently to yourself, as your hands shook. “You had that dream again, didn’t you?” he asked, and you nodded, trying to catch your breath.
“Did anyone notice?” you whispered, as you started to calm down. Wanda was asleep next to you, snoring loudly. Clint and Steve were in the cockpit, and Natasha was looking down at her tablet. Sam and Rhodey were talking, and Sam was cleaning his gun.
Pietro shook his head, and took your hand. “No one, lyublyu,” he replied, and squeezed your hand. “You’ve really had a shitty day, no?” he teased, and you let out a shaky laugh, laying your head on his shoulder.
“I guess so,” you admitted. “First, I see where my dead sister used to work, which was really shitty. Then, I had to rescue a bunch of people, and kill a couple people. And then my face was plastered all over the news, which was kinda weird and also shitty. Finally, I realized my Master had made me forget someone I had loved, and now I feel hungover, which is really shitty.” you finished, and then added quietly “I feel kinda broken.”
“Oh, lyublyu,” he whispered, wrapping his arm around you, and kissing your forehead. “I don’t think you’re broken at all.”
“Really?” you asked, and his grip tightened on you. “Because I feel like I’m a glass window, and I’ve been hit too many times so I’ve broken.”
He let out a little chuckle, and you could feel it reverberate through his chest. “(Y/N), we all feel that way sometimes. But you,” he turned slightly, and his crystal blue eyes locked with yours. “You just need to let it all out.”
You looked at him curiously, and before you could ask how, Steve walked in from the cockpit, Clint following him. “Listen up, guys,” he said, a commanding tone in his voice. His eyes swept over the five of you, and you nudged Wanda awake. “From the intel Hill gave us, there’s at least seventy Hydra soldiers, and a couple powered individuals. Hawkeye is going to land us a couple hundred feet away from the base. War Machine and Falcon, you are our air coverage. Take out as many enemies as you can. If you see anything out of the ordinary from above, you must notify us, got it?” the two military men nodded, and Sam strapped his gun to his belt. “Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, you’re gonna go after the powered individuals, and cover anyone who needs it. Understood?” the twins nodded, and red flashed in Wanda’s eyes. “Hawkeye and Widow are tasked with clearing a path for Genesis and I as we go after Bucky. Genesis, you’re going to have to create a distraction of some sort.”
You nodded, and cracked your knuckles. “I’ll create some fog, that good?”
Steve nodded. “Okay guys,” the Captain let out a breath, and for moment, his grand facade faded, and the Avengers could see the scared man underneath. “Let’s gear up, and go get ‘em.”
You gave him a feral grin, as you got up from your seat and stretched. Clint turned back to the cockpit, lowering the plane, and you strapped your knives to your waist. Curling your whip around your wrist, you felt a sudden moment of deja vu to a couple months ago, your first mission. You smiled ruefully as you remembered the havoc you had created, and Lucas’ smug grin. Your smile faded, and you felt your stomach clench. Gritting your teeth, you brushed away the old memories, and focused on the present. Taking a deep breath, you sank to the ground, your hands pressed against the cold metal ground.
Fog, you whispered silently in your mind, as you felt the damp air outside, and the moisture trapped in the cold ground. Fog everywhere. Fog down low. Fog up high. Clint let out a muttered curse as the air started to thicken before his eyes, and quickly lowered the quinjet. Fog creeping and fog dripping. Fog climbing and fog falling. Fog killing and fog saving. Fog in the eyes and the throats…
Inside the quinjet, fog seemed to curl off of your fingers and hands. Down below, fog spilled across the ground, curling up the trees, making the air thick and white, and crawling into the enemy base. The fog coiled and shifted, and you could feel every movement. It was unnatural, the way it creeped and dripped and a man inside breathed in deeply, and a smile curled across his face. “(Y/N).” he murmured.
“(Y/N),” someone asked, and you blinked. For a moment, it seemed to Steve that your eyes were white, but the returned to their normal pretty color. “You okay?”
“Yes,” you rasped, and fog poured out of your mouth. You coughed, and got up shakily, frowning slightly. “Where are Rhodey and Sam?”
“Already gone” Clint answered, swinging his bow across his back. Natasha slid her batons into her belt, and strapped a gun to her ankle. “See you later, princess.” he said, kissing you on the cheek, as he and Nat jumped out of the jet, getting swallowed up by the the thick fog. You blinked again, and rubbed your face, before waving at them.
The twins, you, and Steve were the only ones left in the small plane. Wanda and Pietro were next to go, and you and Steve would follow a few minutes later. Pietro gingerly grabbed a gun, and one of Nat’s extra batons. Wanda zipped up her red jacket, and red energy curled from her fingers.
You hugged Wanda, and she held on to you tightly for a moment, before stepping outside. You turned towards Pietro to hug him, but he wrapped an arm around you, and kissed you passionately on the lips. He tasted like oranges and chocolate and brown sugar. When he pulled away, you gaped at him. “Why did you do that?” you gasped, and his arm tightened around your waist, and for a moment, you wanted him to kiss you again.
“Potomu chto ya tebya lyublyu.” he said in Sokovian, and you glared at him. Winking at you, he zipped out of the jet, into the thick white fog. Turning around, you saw Steve staring at you, and you blushed.
“What?” you mumbled, fidgeting with the whip wrapped tightly around your wrist.
Steve shrugged, a slight smirk on his face. “I’m just admiring Pietro’s courage to do what I’ve wanted to do for a while.”
Now you were gaping at Steve, as he grabbed his shield. “Wh-wh-at the hell is that supposed to mean, Rogers? Is this supposed to be “confuse Genesis” hour?” you stuttered, folding your arms across your chest.
He chuckled, and jumped out of the jet, you following him. “It means nothin’, (Y/L/N),” he answered mysteriously, and you huffed, kicking up a piece of grass. “Now, focus.” he added, adding insult to injury, walking deeper into the fog.
You stuck your tongue out at him, and jogged to keep up with him. It was eerily silent, this far away from the battle. You could hear gunshots and loud booms, but those were distant. You shivered, and you could feel the fog respond to your discomfort. Steve shot you a glance.
“You okay, (Y/N)?” he asked, his voice was flattened by the fog, and the Brooklyn accent in his voice was suddenly prominent.
“Yeah, it’s too quiet.” Just as you said that, a shot rang out in the forest, and Steve leapt in front of you, holding out his shield. You crouched down, as the bullets bounced off of his vibranium shield. “Shit,” you muttered. Closing your eyes, you reached with the ghostly fingers of your fog, and you could feel the soldier who was shooting. Concentrating, you made a fist, drawing the breath out of his lungs. The bullets immediately stopped, and through the fog, you could see the man clutching his neck. Flinging your hand out, the man collapsed to the ground.
“Did you kill him?” Steve asked, as the two of you got up from the ground. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and you shook your head.
“No,” you answered, your voice flat. But I could have. And I wanted to. “Come on, we gotta get going.”
Steve nodded, and looked at you in a new light. The pupils of your eyes were white, and as you the two of you ran to the base, you breathed out a gray smoke. You looked dangerous. You looked beautiful. You looked like a goddess, Steve decided, as he watched you tear through enemy soldiers. Wanda and Pietro fought besides you, and Steve watched your back, with Clint and Natasha not far away.
“The east side of the compound is clear,” Nat said through Steve’s earpiece.
“Copy,” he replied, and gestured towards you. “Genesis, east side is clear.” You didn’t reply for a moment, as you choked out yet another soldier, and knifed another. “Genesis.” he said again, the command clear in his voice. “Copy?”
“Copy,” you snarled, and let go of the unconscious man, running towards him. The Captain shot a frown in your direction, and you shrugged, Pietro’s words flashing in your head. You just have to let it all out. “Bucky’s on the east side?” you asked, as the two of you ran to the other side of the compound, dodging human soldiers and powered soldiers.
“Yup,” he replied curtly, and he skidded to a stop in front of you, and you slammed into his back.
You yelped, rubbing your nose. “What the hell, Cap? What is so imp-” you stopped in the middle of your sentence, and you froze. Standing in front of you was Lucas, with the same shit eating grin on his face. He was still as handsome as ever, in his camouflage pants and tan tank top. A gun was tucked into his belt, and he twirled a knife.
“That’s your ex-fiancee, right?” Steve asked, and the fog around you twitched angrily.
“Sure is,” you said curtly. Lucas walked towards you, and Steve immediately covered you with his body.
“Stay away from her,” Steve growled, and he laughed.
“Stay away from her?” he drawled, and met your eyes. “Me and (Y/N) are met to be together, All-American. She’s mine.”
You bit your lip, and fire started to blaze in your hand. “I am no one’s,” you called, the challenge clear in your voice, “And if I was anyone’s, it certainly wouldn’t be yours.” you spat, and an accent touched your voice. Lucas laughed again, twirling the knife.
“(Y/N),” Steve murmured, a warm hand pressed against your ribs. “When I say go, I want you to run, and get Bucky. Understood?” you hesitated, and Steve squeezed your ribs. “Understood?”
“Understood,” you whispered, and you could feel tears prickling in your eyes. You hoped that this would turn out differently this time and someone you loved didn’t die.
“Good,” he murmured again, and stood up straighter. Lucas gazed at the two of you curiously, his hand twitching towards his gun. “NOW GO!” he yelled, and you ran faster than you had ever before.
Lucas made a move to go after you, but Steve punched him in the teeth. The teleporter stumbled backwards, and spit out blood. A feral grin spread across his face, and he began to laugh. “Look how cute this is! (Y/N) needs a protector! But you know she’s not so innocent, right?” Lucas asked, his eyebrow rising. Steve’s hands froze as they unbuckled his helmet, his eyes widened. The other man got all up in his face, the grin now manic. “You should hear the noises she makes, Captain,” he mocked, imitating your voice. “She’s so sweet and-”
Steve punched Lucas again, the man choking, and falling to the ground. He was going to enjoy beating this little shit up.
Tears started to pour down your face as you ran, and your fog curled around you protectively, the white turning to a gray. You felt like you were empty and you were just a hollow shell and you hoped another person didn’t die because of you. The first soldier you came open was quite unlucky. You took your time with him, your whip unwinding from your wrist, and leaving marks across his body. But, you didn’t kill him. The next soldier you came upon, you lit his hair on fire, and his gun exploded. But he didn’t die either. When you came upon a group of five soldiers, you had never smiled wider.
“Oh boys, today is your unlucky day,” you purred, and took them all out one by one. It felt good to let it all out on those bastards. By the time they were all on the ground (one was up to his waist in the ground!), you were in the compound.
You telepathy decided to help you (twice in two days? That was a record!), and you followed James’ familiar mental signature to a thick, metal door, with several locks on it. But that had never stopped you before had it? No! There were several ways you could open it, you were a thief for God’s sake, but you were going to use the one that was the least inconspicuous: you were going to burn a hole through the goddamn door.
I wished I had a camera, you thought wistfully to yourself, as the men in the white coats scurried throughout the room. They were terrified, you could tell by the way the were running around in circles, and their loud blaring thoughts. In a moment, there was silence, and they were all unconscious on the floor.
And in the middle of the room, strapped to a metal chair, was James. His eyes were wide as you walked towards him, jumping over the limp scientists. “Oh, you poor baby,” you murmured, and you started to undo the restraints on him. He stayed still until you reached the last one, and grabbed your neck and held you in the air.
“Who the hell are you?” he rasped, his eyes narrowing as his cold eyes met yours. You choked, and grabbed his hands.
“(Y/N),” you got out, looking for any sign or recognition in his face. Your hand moved, and you pressed it against his forehead. “Please remember me,” you whimpered, and you shot images and memories into his mind, trying to get him to remember anything. There was a noise like a click, and James let you go, gasping.
You slumped to the ground, coughing, and clutching your throat. James let out a long breath, and turned towards you. You tried not to flinch as he crouched besides you, and ran a hand through your hair. “(Y/N), is that you?” he asked, his voice breaking.
You nodded, giving him a big smile. “Yeah, James, it’s me,” you whispered. Tears started to fall down his face, and he pulled you to him, and kissed you. It was a lot more desperate and rough than Pietro’s.
“(Y/N), (Y/N), (Y/N),” James mumbled you name between kisses. “I’ve missed you so much.”
AN: 2, 879 words! The most I’ve ever written! Only one more lesson until Phase 2!
Tagging: @yesiamagemini @magical-spit bring-me-the-chemical-panic-boy @strange-polish-lass @justcameforthefanfiction @orangepenguin5
