#venwrites

It’s almost ridiculous how obvious the trap is. Even with your infinite knowledge at the edge of your mind the way it was too simple getting in - no alarms, no guards and the half-powered cameras barely registered your arrival. Not even the code was hard to crack.

Not that you had much experience breaking and entering to begin with. Had it not  been for the very real threat that was Valentina, you would have disappeared off the face of the earth 2 weeks ago. Yet you know that you have to get through this hurdle if you want to untangle yourself from the web that has been spun around you, to escape it before it strangles you.

The facility is supposed to be off the books, a vault of secrets that practically invited you in with its lackluster security. 

As you stand in the intel room you can’t help but to look at the mess. There are large crates strewn about, and boxes with files upon files. Even digital drives were strewn about. It was so perfectly messy it looked intentional. Everything the congress needed to pin Valentina to all the accusations thrown at her.

That’s the problem.

It is too perfect. Everything collected at the same place, and soon the rest of the evidence will walk in and destroy themselves and you in the process. It almost makes you want to laugh at the irony of it all and the worst part? Valentina knew that you already know.

That’s the thing when your powers are all tied back to one thing: Knowledge. The ever-watching eye, the soon-to-be omniscient, and whatever stupid metaphors people came up with for you. 

The simple truth was that if you put your mind to it you would know almost anything, but that didn’t mean you would understand it. It was overwhelming in the worst ways, like having a voice in your head whispering all the answers to the smallest wonders, the tiniest curiosities. Yet to get knowledge you had to consume it. To constantly learn something new, or it would drain you.

You prefer to call it something closer to “omnivision”, you see everything within your mind, but you don’t know or always understand it. It isn’t yours to know, but still you rip precious, private moments from people without meaning too. Yet people keep mistaking your power for seeing the future, which you can’t. It’s too easy to change or tilt in another direction, too unstable to know.

Most days you curse your powers - the constant headaches, knowing too much about everyone, the lack of normalcy the moment people learn of what you do. Yet standing in that room you can’t help but to thank whatever being that gave you it.

You already knew what was in the crates and files: the “sentry project”. You even worked on it yourself which is why Valentina is so eager to get rid of you. It failed after all despite your knowledge and now with the press down her back, you simply knew too much.

The moment footsteps echoed you do what you do best, you hide. Only bad things can happen if you decide to join in the fray. A few crates and boxes makes a makeshift hiding spot as you almost hold your breath. 

One by one they enter, and the chaos ensues so quickly you almost get whiplash, but you stay completely still. As if moving a single muscle was signing your death warrant.

You know these people, well not personally, but you know them.

John Walker. Taskmaster. Yelena Belova. Ava Starr.

All mercenaries for Valentina with blood so deep in their ledger that it’s impossible to get out, and they are fighting each other in a frenzy. Steel meets flesh, someone gets knocked into crates and knives with deadly precision. 

It makes you queasy to watch.

While your powers make you a great know-it-all, it doesn't come with physical advantages and while you can hold your own, you have great doubts about going against them. You doubt they would even give you the time of day to explain yourself before you turned cold.

They would kill you.

You can’t help but shrink at the knowledge forced into your mind. The layered, echoing whispers without a sound that paints a clear picture, but you know this fighting needs to stop one way or another. 

Before you can rise from your position, there’s movement near you and a man crawls out of a larger box. You almost jump out of your skin. Where did he come from?

The box

Helpful…

He’s retching and seems to almost puke as he clumsily stumbles in front of the others. It’s a miracle he does not see you, but you see him. Oh, you see him so clearly.

Robert Reynolds. Sentry project test subject. Supposed to be dead… and briefly almost your friend.

“Is she actually dead?” he says  as he stumbles out with wide eyes. “Oh,” is all he says as he turns to escape only for the door to shut harshly.  All of them do as your eyes widen. Your time window was up, you’re officially doomed.

This is it, isn't it?

Only the repeating of “bob” snaps you out of your incoming panic. 

“I suppose all of us were sent…except you…bob?” you say with a surge of confidence as you show yourself from your hidden position, barely suppressing a flinch as they turn their guns on you. With a deep breath to steady yourself you continue, “Valentina sent all of us.”

“Who the hell are you?” Walker barks out at you, more bite than bark, seconds away from sending you straight to hell. You supposed dressing sort of like a civilian helped your caught-in-the-crossfire aesthetic. 

“It really doesn't matter if we don’t start thinking about how to get out of here,” you manage to mutter back. The way everyone stares at you makes your skin itch, you really don’t like being stared at. Ironic isn't it. A lot seems to be recently. You can’t help but shift nervously.

Yelena understands your words immediately, you know in the way her eyes close with a weary sigh, and she looks back at Walker and Starr. With a shake of her head, she raises her hands in a slow surrender and her gun no longer aimed at anyone. 

“Okay,” she begins, “It’s clear we have all worked for Valentina in some sort of shadow ops capacity.

“Yeah, so?” Walker questions as his own defensive stand loosens with a shrug of his shoulders, not understanding Yelena’s implications.

“So all of this stuff is OXE’s secrets” She answers him as she uses her hands to direct to the other things in the vault. “But so are we.” she finishes.

“Which makes us liabilities that no one would miss...” Starr completes the picture for everyone.

“Oh, speak for yourself,” Walker interrupts, not catching the seriousness of the statement. 

Yelena barely gives him a chance to continue as she says ”We are the evidence and this is the shredder”, with a barely concealed astonishment at his density. “She wants us gone.”

You sigh wearily as they argue between themselves. At least they weren't looking at you anymore and you feel yourself relaxing against your better judgement.

“Um– you’re… i know you…i think?” comes from slightly behind you, but way too close to comfort and you almost jump out of your own skin. A barely concealed shriek dying in your chest as you stare with wide eyes back at Robert… or well Bob you supposed. 

“I suppose you did,” you answer him, but you know you confused him more by your answer than he originally was. His eyes are searching, deep in colour like a stormy sea, and that is what you know him as. Unpredictable in nature and even more so with the serum running through his veins. You don’t say that though, that piece is tucked into your mind.

“Oh! Well, uh,” he stumbles over his words, “your name… I don't remember” he finally mutters out. Shame curls around his words like a vice. Like he’s afraid of being reprimanded of his forgetfulness.

Silence stretches between you as you look at him and tilt your head ever so slightly.

“Call me Omni” you whisper, as if the name can crack and scorch everything that hears it, and you're not sure if it won’t. Bob’s head tilts as he stares at you, a strange mix of emotions flurries quickly past his face, and you can’t help but let loose another sigh.

“Come on,” You say as you slowly reach out and take his hand and lead him back behind the crates you hid behind a few minutes ago. “In case they decide to be trigger happy again, I don’t much enjoy being shot” you say as he stares at your intertwined hands in wonder.

Usually touch makes your skin crawl in the worst way, especially skin on skin, but Bob’s skin sat warm against yours and thawed the cold out of it slowly. You both look towards the other three as they continue to argue. As Starr and Yelena start to laugh at Walker’s absurdity, so does Bob.

“It was getting so tense here for… a second”, his laughter soon dies at the looks he receives and he shrinks behind the crates, and by proxy behind you as well. As though you could cover his frame from the glare that Walker gives him.

Walker seems to take it personally. Very personally.

“I’m not leaving here without completing my mission,” he says as he stalks towards the two of you. “Valentina gave me a clean slate guarantee, and I’m not screwing that up.” He stops as he looks between the two of you.

“But these two weirdos wasn’t part of the job, so I gotta know…” he continues as he takes a few more steps, way too close for comfort. “How’d you get in?” he says with a malicious smile and tilt of his head. It makes you uneasy.

“The same way you did… I just got here before you” You answer honestly and hold your hands in mock surrender. “Not my fault you didn't see me…” You mutter out the last part, but you know he hears you.

Bob just stumbles over his words and shrugs, a “I don’t remember” leaving him, but you know. You know exactly how he got here. You can’t say that though, Walker would kill him, and in your own selfish way you don't want to lose him.

“Terrific answer,” Incrediously Walker spins around looking at the others. “Alright um… tie yourselves up.”

“Wow” and  “oh, my god” leaves Starr and Yelena at the same time, both looking back with the same incredulous look that Walker had given Bob.

“No… and goodbye” was all that left Starr as she walked towards one of the shut doors, activating her powers as she went. A moment of anticipation and tension lingered in the air before a loud high-pitched buzzing exploded into the room.

You don’t remember what happened. It all blurred as you collapsed in on yourself. Not only the buzzing screeching into your brain, but the sheer overload of information that followed it in your confusion. Your powers trying to make up for the unanswered questions

Make it stop… maKE IT STOP! STOP-

____________________________________

The prettiest dying flower that never truly wilts

The four of you walk out of the vault. It’s terrifying, sure, but because of the stolen suits from some of the soldiers, you manage to mask yourself relatively well as you pass by the other strike teams.

Bob is hauled along by Yelena and Walker, and you fake a limp in front of them, using your knowledge to turn suspicious questions away from you and the others. The others mutter behind you, but all you can focus on is to not freeze when you see Valentina among the soldiers. Her assistant, Mel, is following her closely. Still trying to appease her at every turn.

A deep seeded place within you rages and tears inside, begging to be let out, but you hold it under wraps. You need to keep it hidden and locked away within you. It only brings pain to others and yourself if you let it out to feed.

Your power thrived on new knowledge, but it had a favorite type and one which you had gotten a lot of in your past, but now starved it off.

Traumatic events.

You can only take a deep breath and keep your shoulders squared as you limp forward. You manage to guide everyone to the trucks, but there are soldiers everywhere, and it makes it impossible to get into one without fullblown suspicion. You get a familiar feeling and thought as you turn around just as Ava pulls up with a truck.

“Hey, get in!” she calls out to all of you, and you quickly do as she says.

“You going to be okay back here?” Yelena asks Bob as he gets into the back. You see him taking off his mask before he answers her.

“Yeah, all good,” he says with a thumbs up, and Yelena answers him before her gaze turns to you. It's not the suspicious look that you expect to get, though it doesn’t necessarily mean she trusts you.

“You too,” she says, and helps you into the back, mindful of your shoulder as Bob helps from the inside. It’s honestly unnecessary, but you don’t really mind the thoughtfulness that they have going on. You thank them both quietly as the doors of the truck are shut.

Bob lets out a big breath and smiles in relief. You can’t help but let out a quiet laugh and smile slightly as you shake your head.

“What a day, huh?” you say to him as you sit side by side. He’s warm against your hurt shoulder, but it soothes a bit of the panic down even if you’re not out of the woods yet. You feel him shake with a similar quiet laugh and nod to you.

“Yeah, it’s been a lot,” he says back, his smile staying, but he starts fiddling with his hands. He’s picking at the skin, a habit he’s had for a long time, and out of sheer habit, you cover them with your own. You feel his surprised gaze without looking at him.

“Sorry,” You start slowly, but don’t remove your hand. “It’s just, uh, bad for your hands to- to, you know?” You stammer out as you try to center your thoughts. It’s unnatural for you to seek out physical contact from people, most of the time it's just been… bad. Your powers go haywire and force them to spill all their darkest secrets kind of bad.

Yet, Bob made it easy. Maybe it was the fact he had something similar within him, a power that consumes and feeds, but still so…kind to others.

“Yeah, I know,” he says, his voice dropping into a low tone, but there is a gentleness in the words. You can't help but let out another quiet laugh and shake your head again. It was also unusual for you to stammer as your courage always seemed to raise itself when challenged, but you didn't feel challenged, did you? No, you felt… comfortable and… safe.

“I’m really bad at this,” you say, and lean your head against the steel wall of the truck. “The talking part, I mean,” You continue as you look up at the ceiling.

“All this knowledge, and I’m bad at words,” you say as you finally look at him. “It’s ironic,” you finish. The engine of the truck hums in the background as you stare at each other.

When Bob was going to reply, he got interrupted by the stopping of the truck. You share a look of worry and the tension that has previously disappeared comes back even worse than before. The soldiers aren’t trusting Walker’s excuses, and you curse silently and close your eyes

You feel Bob squeeze your hand and whisper an apology to you before grabbing a rifle. You try to stop him in panic, but he’s quicker than you.

“Please, get out of here, I’m sorry,” is all he says as he bursts through the back of the van and diverts the soldiers' attention.

In all his pajama glory he runs and uses the gun to shoot up into the air. The sound of it making the soldiers move towards where he stands, and had it not been for your own selfish fears, you would have run after him. You curse his need to save others over himself.

Ava suddenly appears beside you and all you can do is point at where Bob went with a look of despair.

Bob stands tall, raising the gun up and shooting while yelling. He smiles while doing it and if it wasn't for the others' safety you would have yelled for him. Maybe you would have begged him to come with you, to abandon the need to save everyone else but himself.

You should have known he would. He had done nothing but talk low of himself even before the serum.

“Oh no, Bob helped,” Yelena's voice comes through like a mumble from the front of the truck. You know what is going to happen. You can't look away. Not even for a moment.

The bullets fire in rapid succession. The crackling of a dozen guns going off and hitting Bob so quickly that all he does is stumble backwards. His expression changes to confusion, then pain and, in the end, realization as he falls to the ground.

You don't flinch. All you can do is stare at where he lay as the gunfire ends. All that's left is a sickening silence. You know the others are speaking, but you don't catch what they are saying as your eyes stay at Bob's body.

It's strange you think… How is he still breathing?

You know why.

You don't see what happens, but you know it.

You know the way Bob stumbles back to his feet, clothes ripped through by the bullets, but without a scratch to prove the damage. There is not a single drop of blood, wound or cut to prove what had happened moments before. He's confused how, but he doesn't back down.

Your hair rises at the back of your neck as you realize his eyes are golden instead of the dark blue they should be.

He's floating, the sand flowing slowly from underneath his feet, and all he can do is look confused by what is happening. A realization dawns on him as the bullets fly again, but they do no damage, and he flies far up into the air.

You gasp as he ascends higher and higher. Barely noticing the truck has moved and you're getting out of the camp. Only able to focus your powers to keep track of Bob. You feel your vision slowly blurring again, but you force it back with the pure motivation of making sure Bob doesn't disappear.

You feel when his consciousness slips.

Another wavering breath leaves you as he suddenly descends at high speed back down again.

He lands with such a force the ground explodes underneath him. The camp overflows with debris and smoke, and your truck is flung sideways off the road. You barely have time to brace yourself before the truck turns and crashes into the side before holding tightly on to a metal bar.

Darkness overtakes your vision as the truck lands at the bottom. A ringing fills your ears and all you can do is cough roughly, blinking desperately to regain some sense and control. Flinching as you feel an arm grab you and pull you out of the truck.

“Hey, hey, you're fine,” you hear the voice of Walker says, and all you do is give him a bit of a look. At least you think you do, your vision is blurry, and his shape-ish form is doubling. You hear him muttering about your concussion. Your vision stabilizes slowly as you focus your powers to make up for the unbalance you feel in yourself.

“She did that to him,” Yelena says, and you inwardly cringe, as you know you had a part in it too. You don't say anything as they walk forward, all you do is stumble slightly after them. The limp you had faked before had become real as you ached top to toe.

“Well, she turned him into a tomahawk cruise missile,” Walker says, though the humor falls flat even for him. “You were right, she definitely wants us dead.”

“To test on someone like that, it's inhuman,” Yelena says gravely. It's personal, you know that, and guilt grows and sinks its thorns into you. You did that to him. Sure, Valentina might have forced your hand, but you could have fought back. Could have asked for help.

It's your fault.

“Yeah, she's lost it,” Walker agrees, though he doesn’t understand what she means.

“Nope, she's found it,” Yelena says and puts her hands out, papers of the Sentry project in her hands. “And she'll use it,”

“What is this?” Ava asks as she flips through the papers she was handed. “Power of a thousand exploding suns, golden guardian of good, that's a mouthful.” She says as she hands the papers to Walker and everyone recognizes that he knows. Still, he looks over the papers to double-check

“You know about this, don't you?” He just says and looks at you. You don't meet his eyes but nod regardless, it's almost strange that it's him that makes you decide what to do next. Walker doesn't trust Bob, but even he still wants to protect him, protect everyone. It's deeply planted into his very being.

“I am going after him,” you say after a beat of silence. Your mind is made up, even if you're scared of dying, it's not fair for you to abandon Bob. You turn around, your back towards them, and start making your way to where he is.

“What? No, you'll die too,” Yelena protests loudly. It causes you to stop in your tracks and look over your shoulder back at her. Your expression silences her, it's not unkind, but one of melancholy.

“It's my fault, Yelena, I need to make up for it,” you say simply and sigh as you continue to walk. You know when the realization kicks in– When she knows what you mean, and she lets you go. The others protest, but it falls on deaf ears as you leave them to escape.

The walk to Bob is harsh, but not that long, and you find him relatively quickly.

He’s awfully bent into the crater he left. He looks so small, and the earth cradles him like a vice. It's almost like it's burying him down, drowning him in sand.

You're not sure how you'll find him before the soldiers, but you approach him silently and sit down by him. Your body sags with relief and exhaustion. Cradling his head in your lap, using the last drops of your powers to know his state and health. The exhaustion claws its way to the front as you stare down at him.

He's barely conscious. The sentry keeps him barely awake as his eyes glint golden through his lashes. A small groan leaves him, but you shush him gently.

If it hadn't been for the fact that your touch amplifies your powers, you'd barely notice the tightening of his grip as his hand shakingly finds yours. His eyes are barely open, and all you can do is put your forehead to his and mutter apology after apology.

Tears fall silently. He doesn't answer, he doesn't have the strength to, and you doubt he’ll even remember this when he awakes again. You can’t save him from Valentina, and it hurts to know it to be so true.

You might die yourself.

Valentina might have ordered you to be killed. Though you doubted it now when Bob was still alive, still malleable, and so strong for someone who had no control. She’d manipulate you too, and you’d let her, you think, if only to buy time.

You barely notice your consciousness slips, and your head goes from his head to his chest to hear his heartbeat. His hand covers your back, but you know he too is barely there, something golden flickers beneath his lashes still, and all you can do is rest your eyes.

You know when the soldiers arrive and that they inform Valentina. The plan changes as Bob's hands refuse to let you go even when out cold. There are many people arriving, prying you from Bob after long minutes of effort, and you know the box they'll put him in.

Your powers are activated even when you're barely there.

“Seems your death has been postponed for now,” You hear Valentina say, but you can't catch her tone or expression properly as, at long last, you fade into the darkness that grips you tight. “You are more useful than I thought,” is the last thing you hear.

The hurt fades slowly, and you feel dragged beneath the waves of your mind.

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The fear of forgetting when all you do is know

“What happened when we reached the door in the shaft, Bob?” You ask carefully as you turn your body fully towards him, your voice wavers slightly. You can't discern the information your brain feeds you, it's like a really bad, laggy movie – like the frames are so slow it only changes pictures instead of movement. Jumping back and forward without sense.

“You don't remember?” He asks you, his eyebrows raise in surprise as he looks at you. Your sudden shift from calm to on edge seems to have shaken him a bit. “Oh- oh, right your concussion!” he exclaims as if it explains everything. The excuse is weak even to him.

“No, I- I don't remember,” your voice stutters and wavers as a pit forms in your stomach. “What happened?” You prod further. Panic digs its claws into you and you take a few deep breaths as you continue to stare at him.

“Well… it's not bad, if that's what you're thinking,” Bob starts, though it worries you more, and he pauses to try and get his thoughts together before answering you again. “You almost slipped, but we got a hold of you. You passed out, but like only for a second?” Bob answers at last.

“I… I only remember feeling faint, and then waking up with Ava holding me upright on the floor,” You reveal slowly, though it's without any grace,  and Bob's eyes widen as he realises that you actually don't know. It's almost like it scares him too.

“Oh, well, I- uh, you kind of just got really in control?” He says it more like a question. “You told us exactly what we needed to do, but then I sneezed and everything went quickly downhill. Everyone managed to get out, you were a bit different though…. your eyes had changed and then when we got out you fainted for a second again,” he finishes and all you can do is stare in horror.

“My eyes changed?” You question, though you say it more like a statement and feel the terror you should have felt in your dreams. It takes you back to when you had first done it against Barnes when your mother died. 

It was the same, wasn't it?

You know the answer, don’t play coy.

“That explains a lot actually, thanks Bob,” you mutter, though you feel even more drained than before. The panic is still gnawing at your bones, but you can’t bother to work yourself up over it. It won’t help, and you really don’t want to cause a scene by crying again.

“Youre welcome, I think?” he says again and all you can do is snort a bit at his response, though it’s without any humor.  “Does it happen often… the memory thing?” He questions in a low whisper. Like he's afraid to ask about it, maybe because he relates or maybe… he's afraid of your reaction.

“Yes and no?” You answer him honestly. “There was a time it did happen often, but that was a few years ago,” you continue as you turn to look towards the wall instead of his eyes. 

It was a rough patch in your life. Nothing you did felt enough and you don't remember half of it anymore, even when you try. All you see is the visage of the eye staring back until you look away first. Like it’s daring you to look behind the veil, but you never dared too. 

You never claimed to be brave.

“They seem to get triggered when I get severely overwhelmed,” You say after a few, long seconds. “ I can't remember what happened. As though my powers remove the memories from my mind,” You rant slightly, though your voice stays quiet and factual. 

“Like my mind thinks I won’t survive knowing it,” You end your little rant. Your voice goes from anxious to just a flat tone, like all the emotions are slowly dissipating from the words. Like it went from human to just automatic logical information.

You tend to put your feelings aside from your powers, but you suppose it makes you removed from situations you should feel emotions in. It just doesn't feel right to dwell on it too much. Like it would be too much to care. A fine balance between an overglorified encyclopedia and a person. 

You’re not certain which you fall into most days.

“It's weird isn't it?” You say as you tilt your head back to him, a small smile on your lips as he quirks an eyebrow at your sudden shift. “To know so much yet not know enough?” you continue as you stretch your arms above your head. You've grown stiff from sitting still so long.

Bob answers you with a hum and seems to be deep in thought. You're almost about to say it was just a joke, to kill the tension you made, before he speaks up.

“How-how did you get your powers?” Bob questions hesitantly, his frame hunched as he stares back at you.. “Was it a serum?” He continues to prod. The like me going unsaid, but not unheard. It's not malicious, he seems genuinely curious and so you decide to divulge him. You let out a hum before you start speaking.

 “You gotta keep it a secret then, deal?” You say as your words turn into a whisper and you lean towards him. Excitement reaches his eyes and he nods quickly up and down, and you can't help smiling. 

You hold your pinky up to him and he lets out a little laugh, but still he intertwines your pinkies. 

“I don't know,” you say with faux seriousness. His face turns into confusion, eyes blinking and eyebrows scrunched,  and you can’t help but  let out a laugh. “As far as I am aware it's just always been there. I tried figuring it out when I was younger, but… I don't even know where to start,” You say with a sigh.

“Huh, that’s cool, I guess? Well it- it is, I didn’t mean it like,” Bob starts to ramble before he just stops. He looks down in embarrassment as he cringes softly at himself.

“I know,” You just say as you look at him with soft eyes.  Bob is so good. Sure, he’s been through terrible phases, done not great things, but he tries. He tries so hard to be a good person. He wants to be helpful, kind, change his habits so bad he’d let anything happen to him.

“My parents were involved in an experiment before I was born,” You say after a while. “I think it's where it started as Hydra agents came after my family,” you continue. The words taste like ash in your mouth, and all you can do is gauge Bob's reaction.

“And they killed your mother,” Bob whispers as the both of you think back to the memory you had seen in the vault. The agents, you and your mother, the police, everything. You can only take a deep breath to not think too hard about it.

“…yeah, you saw the gist of it,” you answer him even though he doesn't say it like a question. He looks troubled, like it shouldn't make sense, but it does. In all honesty, you thought he had forgotten. His memories seem spotty and everytime his powers activate he seems… different. 

“yeah…” he answers you, his eyebrows tightly knit as his hands envelop yours again. His palms are warm, a little sweaty, against your own cold ones, and you just let him run his thumbs over your knuckles. “I'm sorry,” he says to you, it's so genuine it hurts.

“Its not your fault,” you say quietly. Your eyes wander down to your hands, like a puzzle piece slowly being slotted into place, and it scares you. You don't pull away though, it's nice being cared for even if it doesn't last. The hurt can come later.

Turns out you don't need to wait long as a knock reverberates out in the room. Your mind tells you immediately who it is and you get on edge again. The vulnerability tucked away behind your ribs as you tense up. You feel your own palms becoming a bit sweaty as you don't really know what to expect.

Valentina steps through the door and looks at the two of you. She's smiling, but it doesn't feel genuine, and her eyes are sharp. It's strange to see her dressed in a more… maternal way than she usually does. You're so used to her pristine outfits, suit jackets and skirts, that it feels a bit jarring.

“Youre awake,” she says in a faux sweet tone that lulls the worries of Bob. “Bob was so worried about you, you know,” she continues and sends you a look that dares you to act out. You grind your teeth together for a moment before letting out a deep breath.

“Yeah, I know,” you say as you look  between the two of them.

“Great, now I don't mean to steal you away from each other," Valentina says before gesturing to the two of you. “But we have training now, Bob,” she reminds Bob, and you can't help but shoot a look of worry to him. He doesn't catch it before nodding at Valentina.

“Oh- right, yeah,” he answers her, and stands up slowly. His hands leave you and you have to hold back grabbing him to make him stay. He looks between the two of you  before stepping towards her.

“Training,” you say, it's supposed to come out like a question, but it comes out like a statement instead. Your mind is already getting up to speed, and it makes you sound monotone in the word. You don't look at him as you say it though, you're staring Valentina in the eyes and you know it makes her uncomfortable.

Good.

“Is… is that okay?” Bob questions in a whisper. Like he's afraid of your judgement, your reaction, and that stings. The trust you two had slowly been building was tethering at the edges, and you forced your eyes over to him. Giving him a small smile.

“If… if it's what you want, then yeah,” you say honestly, even if you know Valentina is not doing it for his own good, but her own gain. “Only if you do,” you tack on to make it obvious that as long as it was his own decision, you would support it. It would help him to have more control, it just would mean it would be harder to separate them later.

“Yeah, it- it is,” he answers you, and all you can do is nod as he goes out the door past Valentina. She turns to follow him before stopping and looking back at you.

“You will train too, won't you?” She smiled so sickly sweet as someone else entered. The doors lock behind them and as your eyes meet your blood runs cold. It feels like ice in your veins and you flinch. backwards.

“Hey, kid.”

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To slowly disappear and fade away

The sound of a helicopter, vans and soldiers creates a somber ambiance as you hide along the wall. They were here to kill you, and you didn't need to know to know that. The amount of artillery brought to deal with you was, in your opinion, very dramatic.

“Okay, we need to come up with a plan,” Yelena says as she paces slightly, though she doesn't get very far in thinking of it. The previous relief of getting out of the shaft is replaced by the tension of new danger and risks. While there were at least 3 of them that are good at fighting, it is unrealistic to think you would get out unscathed.

“Heres what we're gonna do,” Walker orders as he turns to look at everyone.

“You're the boss now? cute” Ava butts in, everyone is at edge and looks at each other –the previous cooperation lost to the chaos outside.

“Yeah, it's our only chance of getting out here, so,” Walker says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. While the others fight against it, you can see Walker maybe coming up with a decent plan. He is after all decorated as a veteran, even if no longer a hero. You still understand the hesitation though, he has threatened a lot in the last hours of getting to know him.

“Okay, I think I might just surrender, probably…” Bob starts as he does not seem to want to fight. At all.

“Okay, fine,” Walker answers. “Every man for himself.”

“Why should you be in charge?” Yelena argues back, “You almost killed all of us right there,” she continues and points to the door you had gotten out of. The hair on your arms rising at the thought of the height. Hopefully there are no more tall heights.

“Well, let's see… I've been in the trenches of every war-torn country on this planet, rescued god knows how many hostages, and shook the hands of TWO US presidents,” Walker lists off though he seems far from done. “Oh, high school state football champs back-to-back-to.back. Go bears."

“Oh, wow” Yelena answers, all snark with long vowels. “When I was five, I was in a peewee soccer team called the West Chesapeake Valley Thunderbolts sponsored by Shanes Tire Shop,” She looks between everyone as she talks.

“We won zero games, and one time, this girl, Mindy, she did a poo at midfield. Anyone else have pointless childhood stories to tell?” she rants on as she looks at Walker, pointing in everyone's general direction at the end. Walker looks way too amused at her rant.

“Grew up in a lab prison,” Ava points her hand up as she leans against the wall.

“Meth-addicted sign-twirling chicken,” Bob answers as well while twirling his finger and looking between everyone. “It was a summer job,” he tries to clarify as he starts looking embarrassed.

The others look at you expectantly as you just shrug at them. Compared to any of them you don't really feel like you qualify for it, but you guess you can try.

“Forced to solve crime cases as a kid,” You answer while also raising your hand as you look at them. “Being forced to know about terrible murders and extreme situations is really fantastic for your mental health,” you chuckle lightly at it, though the others look concerned by it.

“What?” you ask as you feel them staring at you. They had a habit of doing it, like you had grown another eye or something, but you didn't feel your statement was out of left field. “You think I'd accept a job for Valentina, even though I know better, if I was sound of mind??” You question them and pronounce your blinks in surprise.

Yelena opens and closes her mouth, Ava nods in a sort of understanding, Walker doesn’t even seem to be surprised anymore, and Bob just looks at you with his eyes knit together in more worry than before. Your own eyebrows knit together as well and you can’t help another disbelieving chuckle leave you.

“Okay, but the soldiers out there?” You point to the door as you speak. “They are on shoot to kill orders, so if we could figure something out that would be great…” You trail off as they snap back into focus.

“Right, ok, here’s the plan,” Yelena starts to explain the explosion, the soldiers night vision which she gets an approving nod from you, and the wave in which to defeat them with. It’s not a sound plan for it is solely relying on everything going right with the light.

“It will only work if you wait,” Yelena says with precision and looks pointedly at Walker while leaning forward towards him. Walker only mutters about it being a terrible plan in return while shaking his head. You catch the eye of Ava as they speak and she only gives you an apologetic look. In return you mouth “i know” with a small smile and tilt of your head towards the easiest way out for her specifically. Just because you might risk dying does not mean you need to drag others down with you.

“Ava you-” Yelena starts as Ava’s suit activates and she disappears. “Find an escape vehicle…” She has fully turned to where Ava just was with her hand pointed towards it. Bob turns from looking at the same spot back to Yelena with a look of mild shock and wonder.

Yelena looks at Walker with an exasperated expression which he only returns with a half shrug and seems to agree with Ava’s decision. Their intense eye contact is only broken by Bob as he speaks up.

“Uh, what about me?” He stammers out with a bit of…excitement? Yelena almost rolls her eyes as she doesn’t turn to look at him.

“You… stay behind me, Bob” Yelena says with a sight of almost defeat and brings up a bomb to use for her plan. “Let’s do this,” she says and starts moving.

“Hey… what about me though?” you mutter as you look at everyone getting ready.

“Can you tell me their movements?” Walker orders as he squared his shoulders, bringing his shield forward and readying himself for what’s to come. “Oh, and can you use a gun?” he answers as he turns around to get into position.

“Yeah, I can do both,” you answer though you're unsure if it's for him or yourself. Walker just nods and hands you a gun, it’s one of the ones taken off of Taskmasters’ body. You take a deep breath and nod yourself before following him.

Yelena and Bob disappear to fix the lights, and the two of you carefully pick a spot to hide out.

The seconds seem to slow before the bomb goes off with a loud blast, and you immediately know that everyone is on edge – both allies and foes alike.

“Strike team 4 is entering, they are going non-lethat” You whisper to Walker as you stand close by, your tone wavering a bit as you call out what you “see”. “There are eight of them,” you continue to inform him. The red lights give their night vision and position away as you hear their footsteps, and your own heartbeat starts to pick up.

You are suddenly hit by a terrifying thought.

“The lights aren't working-” you whisper as Walker is breathing heavily besides you muttering about Yelena turning on the lights. He turns to look at you with a look and you just nod back hoping it portrays that you know it.

“I gotta do everything myself,” Walker growls out as he bursts around the corner to surprise the soldiers. You can’t do anything but curse underneath your breath, and use your powers to get a feel of where everyone is, their positions, and where you could aim where you didn’t hit Walker with a stray bullet.

He’s the only one able to keep you alive against these soldiers. You might have better aim because of your powers, but you were nowhere near trained or physically powerful enough to deal with a strike team on your own. You can only take another deep breath and start aiming.

A man sneaks up on Walker and you focus hard… and then you fire.

You hit one just past his safety vest straight into the shoulder, making him drop his gun in surprise. The blood pours from the wound and you know you hit a little too well as he crumples. However you can only hide as a bullet almost hits you back, and you’re left in a terrible dance with Walker against the soldiers.

You can feel terrible later.

You focus everything onto your powers and instincts, trying to shut everything else out. Your steps match Walker so you can easily spin around each other, his shield protecting you and you landing another hit before the last member falls.

The two of you just look at each other and breathe heavily, and all you can do is inform him that it was the last one. of their team. He nods in return and you both grimace at the bodies strewn on the floor. You have to admit though that he carries himself really well in combat.

“Good job, Omni,” he mutters as he tilts his head for you to follow him. You mutter a thanks back and end up walking carefully side by side. It takes you a second to realise he actually called you by what you had mentioned earlier, and not a stupid nickname like Ava’s.

It’s… oddly… nice.

“They are sending in another team, they have gas with them,” You inform him as the both of you hurry to get away from near the door. He grabs masks for the both of you, and you ready yourself for another round.

The chatter of soldiers and lasers entering the building as you hide again, and like you had mentioned the gas came in. It fills the hallways and your vision is obscured even more, and you can only pray that the others don’t get caught in any crossfire.

Before you can start planning the next wave, the two of you hear gunshots again.

“Oh god, Yelena and Bob-” you say as the two of you hurry, but carefully, towards the sound. You stop to glance behind the wall towards where you know they are, but Walker doesn’t stop even when you yell at him to wait.

You only hear the sounds of bullets against metal as Walker starts to yell at them to stop. It goes silent as the gun stops and John removes his mask in frustration. You can only sigh in relief as none of them are hurt, and slowly come from behind the corner.

“Where were you!?” Yelena yells as she pulls off her mask.

"Where were you!?” Walker fires back at her.

“The explosion fried the wires,” you say and stand beside Walker. He repeats himself from earlier about the too many variables, his tone riddled with i told you so. You can’t help but agree with him to an extent.

“And then you didn’t wait,” Yelena accuses him, but points to the two of you. “You should have known, right!?” She looks at you now and you can’t help your own frustration.

“I did wait, and she did know because she told me herself that the lights wouldn't work!” Walker defends the both of you against her.”And then-” Walker continues, but cuts himself off as you hear the radio over the walkie talkie of one of the soldiers.

“Ok,” Walker says with a deep breath and he relaxes, but not in a good way. No this is turning lethal and you guys need to get out of there. “We probably got about 60 seconds until they mobilize,” Walker informs all of you.

“And if ghost lady actually did what she was supposed to, maybe we’ll all get out of here alive.” He finishes as Yelena grabs her hair in desperation.

You look at all of them and then suddenly… wait… the uniforms.

“I might have a plan, but you won’t like it,” you say and they turn to look at you.

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Here <- Previous part / Next part -> Here

If I can still breathe I’m fine

You're grabbed by Walker as he pulls you up to the air shaft and offers him a small thanks. He just grunts in acknowledgement as everyone gets into the cylinder shape of an air vent? It's really far up to the top, and there is little any of you could do to get up all the way.

Your way out looks a lot like just another dead end. Though… you do know there is an exit further up.

“So…” Yelena starts as all of you stare up. It's crowded with five people in the small room, but at least the ceiling wasn't low as well. That would have been claustrophobic deluxe in your current situation.

“None of us fly?” Yelena continues as she looks between all of you in hopes of good news. “What, do we all just punch and shoot?” She's at a loss for what to do, and if you weren't busy staring up you probably would share an equally confused expression.

“It's… really far up, but there should be an exit up-” You start as your brain feeds you information of exactly how high up you'd need to go to get out. There are different possibilities, but it would need a certain cooperation these people didn't have.

“Okay, don't worry. I got this” Walker cuts you off with the confidence of a man that was going to be crushed. He takes a few steps so he's in the middle before using the wall to jump. He goes high, really high, it would have impressed you if you hadn't known he wouldn't get far enough up.

A few seconds go before you know he's falling down, pushing yourself and Bob closer to the wall. Bob looks like he's about to say something before Walker slams into the ground on his back, his shield luckily absorbing a lot of the fall. Groans leave Walker as he looks up.

“You should try that again,” Ava says as she looks down at him and Yelena starts laughing. Bob looks worried and covers his mouth as he looks down, and you can't help but shake your head.

“We're pretty far down here,” Walker answers with a groan and Yelena keeps laughing at his misery. “Hey, okay, why don't you walk up through the walls or whatever, and then just throw us a rope down?” He says as he gets up to his feet, animating the rope part with his hands as he looks at Ava. Yelena hums in agreement to his statement.

“OKay, well, first of all, someone other than you would have to ask me,” Ava says with a disapproving nod and snarky tone. “And second of all, I'd have to know where I'm going 'cause I've never been able to hold it longer than a minute,” she continues as she looks between all of you. “So I'd just get lost in an ocean of dirt, and then I'd be crushed to death, all right?” she finishes as she looks over at Walker.

“Just a minute?” Walker says disappointed, earning a shut up from Ava as she stares daggers at him.

“Oh, my God, we suck…” Yelena says, covering half her face with her hand.

“Uh…” Bob pipes up, and you look back at him as he raises his hand slightly. “I have an idea,” he says as he looks at all of you. You know immediately what he's thinking off and you tilt your head at him and chuckle.

“That might actually work, Bob,” You offer before he has time to share with the others. He offers you a surprised look and you smile slightly at him.

“Okay, first of all, that’s creepy,” Walker starts as he points at you and you just shrug back at him. “Second of all, what idea?” He turns to Bob who offers a sheepish look in return.

From Bob’s explanation, to much coercion and forced cooperation, you do get going upwards. The five of you are leaning against each other and slowly working together to climb up. One foot at a time, and it’s hard. Very hard.

“Move your left foot up, Walker,” You grit out as you cling to Bob and Yelena. You know he will slip if he doesn’t and you’re not in the mood to become a splat at the bottom of the shaft. Your grip is so tight you’re surprised they don’t mention it.

This is a really bad time to be afraid of heights-

Okay, enough of that brain, you think to yourself as your teeth grind together.

“I’ll do what I want,” Walker snaps back at you, but follows your command. Everyone is working hard to make sure all of you get up, and it’s working well even though you feel nausea swirling in your gut. You’ve never been happier to be surrounded by assassins and super soldiers in your life.

Right, left, right left, right left

It repeats as you get up slowly but surely.

“Ew, which one of you is wet?” Yelena complains as you fight the urge to roll your eyes at her.

“I– I run hot, sorry,” Bob answers apologetically.

“Someone’s got a weird, hard butt” Walker adds in Yelena's complaint.

“That’s not my butt,it’s my suit, “ Ava answers Walker’s comment and you just sigh at them.

“Well you need to get a new suit,” Yelena quips.

If it weren’t for the fact that you would fall to your death, you swear you would have choked them out. Hypothetically. It's a nice visual though as you try to distract your brain from the contents of how Ava’s suit is built and all it’s function.

“Pardon me for the inconvenience, i mean i only spent my entire life in labs, hooked up to machines so i could create this physical cage to keep my material body from disintegrating at all times.” Ava grits out in agitation at the two of them. Knocking her head to the side to give them both the stink eye. “ So yeah, I'm sorry about that.”

You sigh as your attempt to distract yourself goes awry at her trauma dump. Your mind fills with way too much information about her past, the labs, her stupid suit and you swear dots appear in your vision. Another sigh leaves you, this time to mask the pain that you’re currently in. Your shoulder still hurts, your head feels like it will burst as you cling to the others.

“You do not want to start the whole sob story game. I win.” Yelena chuckled without humor. “Enslaved child assassin over here.”

“Well, you were just a kid, so…” Walker answers.

“Oh so that's a good thing now?” Yelena scoffs at him

“I just think it might be nice to know you didn't really know any better,” Walker corrects her as you’re all at a standstill.

“Thanks, i feel way better,” Yelena answers sarcastically and everyone starts moving out of sync.

“Hey, quit it,” Ava barks at them, ending the discussion before it blows up into a full argument. Everyone’s panting and tired, and it’s still a long way up.

A murmur of okays and all rights go around and you start climbing the walls slowly together again. It feels like forever and the progress is slow, your energy draining quickly, but sheer spite keeps you going. Valentina was not going to win over you. Never again.

The minutes pass so slow you feel like you enter a weird trance and it’s only broken when Ava suddenly speaks up.

“It's crazy I can't even see the floor” Ava starts and you have to force yourself to not look down into the pit of darkness. It feels a little too close to home, a little too deadly.

“Can we not talk about how high up we are?” Bob says with his eyes closed. ”I'm just not great with heights,” he continues as his face contorts unpleasantly.

“yeah, I-I'm terrified of heights, so like can we absolutely not,” you say to the others, your tone wavering. “The door should be close by, can any of you see it?” You ask to get them to stop talking about the height you were at. Your brain is doing a lovely job of giving you the exact measurement of how far down it is, and what exactly will happen should someone fall at this level.

“Yeah, I think I see the door,” Walker answers you and a choir of agreements go around again. You feel thankful to soon be done with the climb because of the burn in your legs, and the very real fear of falling to what will be your death if you do. Your headache is also getting worse, and you know it shouldn’t be considering your concussion is far too mild for it– something else must be interfering.

Probably your own mind. It seems to always be ceaselessly watching, like every drop of potential knowledge is within reach at all times, and that it throws a fit if it doesn’t get it. Though it also throws a tantrum if you use your powers too much. A very fine line of different migraines.

“Uh… now what?” Yelena asks and everyone turns to look at each other. You groan and know that this… this is going to be the worst, and you’re not even a little bit prepared to deal with it.

“Um i guess one of us should go…” Ava asks as she looks around. “First?” it ends in a question as you all stare at your predicament. You try to look at your options. Ava could use her powers potentially, but it would leave you all falling. If there's plenty of knives maybe one could jam it in, turn people around so everyone got a standing platform? No too risky-

“Then the other three immediately fall,” Yelena points out loudly as a shit leaves Walker. He must have realised how fucked up the situation truly is.

“Sorry, yeah, I guess i didnt… i didnt really think this far ahead” Bob apologises and loses all manner of confidence he might have had.

“Genius plan Bobby!” Walker yells at him, though his glare falls short when he can’t properly look at him.

“Always making things worse,” Bob mutters to himself, you tighten your grip on him and take a deep breath. Your vision is starting to spin, and it’s really at the worst time. You barely hear Ava yell about her boots and struggles about staying up.

“WHAT?” yelena protests loudly and it reaches your ears as walker yells out as well. “Youre just going to leave us-” Yelena begins again. You tune out their arguing as your head pounds.

“Guys…” You start, your voice shaky, and you feel Bob’s head whip towards you . “If we don't think of something soon, I think I'm going to faint,” you mutter out as your headache grows. Seems mixing the terror of the height and the already splitting headache you got going for you is doing a really bad job at keeping you awake.

Bob says something and grips your arm, but you can’t really feel it. There is chaos around you as people slip and grab at each other. Yelena's hold grips you hard as well as you feel yourself going limp.

You have a strange feeling that someone is going to sneeze for some reason.

You try to breathe, but your heart stutters and thrums heavily in your chest as you feel your hands going partially numb. You think you hear the word cucumber being yelled, first by Bob and then by the others. Though it feels so far away. Like a really strange dream.

You feel yourself slipping from the grasp, but you can’t tell if you’re falling or floating. It’s almost like you’re… drowning?

The beeping of a heart monitor shakes you awake.

You’re no longer at the hidden facility in Utah, but back in the research lab in Malaysia. You stare at the readings and look back at Bob as he idly sits in a chair. He looks worse, dark eyebags, greasy hair, but just like you remembered him before the serum. Before you condemned him by Valentina’s orders.

“Hey,” he says as he catches you looking at him. His voice remained the same as you always remembered it. You sort of expected it to change. He smiles at you, you know he finds you attractive from the way his eyes have scanned your figure about 6 times since he came in a few hours ago.

“Hi,” you answer back with a small smile. It always went like this– him catching you looking at him, greeting each other, the small talk and then the testing.

This time though? This was the end.

Is it though?

All the other subjects had died. You suspect Bob will too. Unless the strange void-like space in his being somehow protected him and saved him from the death which the serum brings. You don’t know why it bothers you so much that he’ll be gone.

Maybe it’s because he doesn't know about your powers and therefore doesn't treat you like a glorified encyclopedia. He doesn't treat you like your only purpose is being an all knowing machine created only to help others feel like victors and heroes. No, he looks at you like you are the first person to fully understand him.

You’ve talked before, more deeply, about his struggles. The words he struggles to explain you carefully add in for him and he doesn’t shy away. The others see him as too unstable, too unpredictable, but he’s really not. He just needs an anchor, a voice of reason and a rest from the troubled storm in his head.

You hold back tears when you inject him. You promise to be there when he wakes up, and that you’ll grab that coffee with him that you said you would if he could behave during the bloodwork. The lie had burnt on your tongue and tasted like ash in the weeks that followed.

You suppose you accidentally kept your promise to be there when he awoke…

"Wait… You need to wake up. You're falling… You're falling!?

You rise with a gasp and open your eyes. Ava is holding you and jolts in surprise as you sit up, but only coughs erupt from you as you groan. You shake your head slightly as she helps you to your feet. Your body feels like it got snapped in two for a moment.

“What happened?” your voice comes out like a broken whisper and Ava just shakes her head, promising to tell you later. Bob rushes to your side as Yelena calls out to Walker. You barely hear his I'm fine as you look at everyone.

“You said you would be fine,” Bob whispers beside you, more to himself than you, but you hear him anyway. You gently grab his hand and a bone weary sigh leaves you.

“I will be,” you whisper back. “Im still here, aren't I?” You try to smile and put a less somber tone to soothe him, but he still worries. At least it gets a nod out of him, but his eyes refuse to meet yours and his hold on your arm tightens.

“All right, let's get out of here,” Ava says and drags you with her, Bob close on your heel as you stare confusedly at everyone. Something happened, probably the fall, and no one wants to talk about it.

Great…hopefully I didn't say anything weird in my little dream state...

You don’t get further than the entrance to the room you're in as the lights of vehicles surround the exit. “There are so many soldiers here,” you whisper out. “Valentina’s strike team,” you finish as you look at the others.

________________________________________

Here <- Previous part / Next part -> Here

A tragedy in my mind I cannot share

A void, barren in all its expanse, a place not even a requiem reaches. That is where you're currently existing, in the loosest term possible, and no matter how far you reach, there is no end to the nothingness around you. Nothing in-between nor across, just a space devoid of everything.

Except for you.

The one singular object that lies on nothing and breathes the air that does not exist, feeling your heart in your chest which does not beat. There is silence, loud yet tamed, like even if you wanted to scream there would be no sound leaving your lips.

It should scare you, but you are not scared because you know the terror will come later. Instead, it calms you, lets you have that silence you never get in the waking world, and it feels nice to not be a person, if only for a moment.

The darkness is so vast as you exist idly in it.

There are tendrils of shadows curling around you in a cold, dead embrace, and it is so silent you can't hear your own breathing. It almost feels like you’re underwater, but you know you are far above the skies.

You’re dreaming.

Though it’s not really a dream, is it?

It takes great effort to open your eyes, almost like they’ve been glued shut, and you’re faced with the night sky. There are no clouds beneath your feet. No earth, no cities, no light. Just the same darkness and you can only stare at the expanse of stars in your wake. They flicker above you in soft lights, but something is off.

Something feels very off.

You turn your head slowly to look at what should be the moon, but instead it looks like a large blood-shot eye. It stares you down with such intensity it shatters the illusion of the devoid space around you. It's not the first time you’ve dreamed this, but never have you grown accustomed to its terrible scrutiny.

The stars around you fade from soft lights to thousands of blinking eyes in less than a second. The message is as clear as the cold air you breathe.

It is watching you. For you are the one who feeds it. For your life is a privilege it grants.

And you know that. You have known it for a very long time. You’ve known it since you were a little child, clutching your parents hands as you moved far away from everything you knew time after time after time… It wasn’t until your powers started showing that everything changed.

Your parents thought they had saved themselves from the terror they left behind, only to realise they had fed you to it in return. That they had offered the one thing they could not part with, would not part with.

They were never unkind as you grew, even when your powers grew with the years, but they were strict. Never tell secrets out loud, not telling anyone about the powers, not giving them your real name. It created such distance from everyone you truly only had your parents for the longest time.

Then the incident happened the year you turned 10. Three girls had gone missing, and it was the first time you ever worked for the police. You helped solve the case, your name was kept out of the press, but it created a spiral you could not leave on your own.

The police got pushy, your parents lenient, and so you helped and helped, and your powers grew, but your mind was cracking. It shattered sometime after your mother was buried, you think. There is a large expanse of months you don’t remember. Small moments at first, then over the years you suffer from more.

The night you turned 18 years old was the day it changed forever.

The only thing you remember before your supposed breakdown was your father’s cruel, cutting words as they sliced you open. Left you cut and raw with emotions too large to deal with on your own, and you were left to deal with it completely alone. You had said cruel things back, things you knew hurt, and that broke you more than anything.

You left that night. You never returned. You never remember the first 6 months. Whatever had happened had left you with a good apartment, a small diary of updates of what you had done, and a job that you continued to work despite not remembering anything.

Your father regrets it, you know he does, but the hurt never left. He wants to see you, to speak with you and to hold you close like when you were little, but he doesn't dare. Too scared to shatter himself, to ruin the good life he has built for himself and his new family. You would ruin it, even if it would make him so happy to have you in his life. You’ve always pretended it’s enough to just know his happiness.

Besides, you have not made it easy for anyone to track you. How do you find someone who always knows your steps as you take them?

You are so alone it's almost ironic. For the power you have, the eyes which stare you down in this vast space, they are not people. They are not real living beings, they are ever-blinking and ever-staring for they know nothing else. They are what you one day will become.

Maybe then you will be less alone?

Because you know as clearly as the devoid space that surrounds you, that you are so very alone.You do not know how to exist as a person without your power, without being used by the people around you. You have not truly been a person in many long years.

The only reason you are alive is by the kindness of the people who intend to kill you one day. As long as you still know, still understand and still speak, you will stay valuable and alive. Yet you know that it is not a solution forever, not a fail-safe, just a ticking bomb.

It hurts to exist purely for others' greed.

You want nothing more to escape into the darkness, to let the tendrils pull you down and embrace you in the cold. For it is a companion even if together you will always be alone, but alone together is better than nothing. It’s a small comfort in the hurt and terror.

You should wake up. You know you must, but it is so tempting to stay adrift.

There is so much to do, so many people to save, but so little time. You don’t have time for the darkness. There is no time to reminisce anymore.

Bob needs you. Yelena, Ava, everyone needs you to help if they want to stop Valentina. So you must wake up. You feel yourself falling. Like your soul is going back into your body, and you hit the ground with such force it hurts.

As your senses return to your body, it shoots upright.

The sound is overwhelming, there are hands holding you down as you trash and the light is blinding. You barely even hear the yelling around you before warm hands cradle your face like it's precious, it makes you stop and stare with wide, blood-shot eyes into familiar dark blues.

“Omni?” Bob whispers, worry lacing his tone as he says your nickname like it is precious. You can’t help the sob that leaves you as you slump into him. He lets out an alarmed sound, but his hands snake around you and holds your body close to him. It's an awkward position, your back will hurt later, but you don’t care.

You knew he would survive… but seeing him truly alive before you? Then you understood that he truly did live.

Every worry and thought about where you are, what Valentina is planning and so on are drowned out by your crying. You are probably staining Bob’s sweater, but you can’t find it in yourself to wipe your eyes as you hold him close.

He mutters reassurances to you as you hold each other, and it pains you as you separate from him. “I’m sorry,” you say with such despair you don’t know if it is because of the crying or everything you have ever done. Your hands wiping at your face roughly, and only when Bob’s hands stop yours do you let out a bone-weary sigh.

“It’s not your fault,” He says back earnestly, and it cuts deeper than it should.

“But it is, Bob,” you say and look back at him. He looks as disheveled as you feel you are, but there is a certain confidence in his appearance that stands out. You know immediately what he has accepted from Valentina. To train and become the Sentry.

“I worked on that serum for Valentina,” you continue, ramblings spilling over as you explain. “At the end of the project I was… hired in by Valentina. I perfected the serum to the best of my abilities, but I couldn’t see the future so they continued testing. Then you came along with your disheveled looks and anxious persona, and I couldn’t help the doubt. Even so, I did it, I finished the serum, had you injected with it-”

“I know,” Bob cuts you off, not loud nor angry, just factual with a small smile.

“...What?” You whisper out as your panic confuses itself, and you’re left nothing short of bewildered. “You know? Oh… right, sorry I’m still waking up… I think,” you mutter tiredly as your brain fills in the dots.

He has regained some memories from before the injection. Of your talks and promises, and he doesn’t judge you. Which you think in full fairness that he should. He looks way too amused with himself as he stares at you.

“Yeah,” he says, like it is a weight off his shoulders. “I think I owe you a coffee?” He asks with a bit of mirth. The playfulness suits him, you think. It softens the anxiousness that usually lingers, and a genuine smile is on his face.

It hurts to know it won’t last, but you can’t help but to bask in the silence.

“Yeah… yeah, you do,” you answer him, a small smile grazing your lips as your eyes turn to the room you’re in. It’s not where you were originally placed, your mind tells you, but Bob had you brought here. The bed is softer, and the golden light more comfortable on your eyes as they grow used to it.

The light fits Bob perfectly as he sits there, his eyes on you like he’s trying to read your mind back, and it shines on him beautifully. It’s not because of its golden hue that relates to the sentry, not at all, but the warmth it brings him. He looks almost angelic.

“You had me moved into your room?” You ask even if you know the answer, but parts of you want to hear it. His eyes dart to the side and a blush dusts his face and neck, and he swallows deeply. He’s nervous.

“Yeah, you were hurt, but they had to run tests,” he starts, gold flickering suddenly as there is a low vibration. You reach out instinctively to him and take his hand into yours, and the gentleness of the room returns. “I didn’t like it… the prodding and notes. You deserve to feel safe too,” he whispers the last part out.

Something clicks in your mind. Like a puzzle piece being put in the right slot, and with a startling realisation you look down at your hands. One is still intertwined with his, and your eyebrows scrunch together as some very laggy information slowly reveals itself.

The vault.. the shaft, when you passed out. Something had happened.

Oh my god, you had said something hadn't you?

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Cracks in an imaginary wall that hurts more than it protects

Yelena’s yelling stopped your bain as it tried to inform you of way too many things at once. She’s between the two of them, pulling Walker off Bob.

“We swung our tiny dicks,” she says as she pushes Walker off. “It was a lot of fun” she adds with a quip and looks at the two of them. “You go over there,” She says to Walker and points as if he was a dog. “Bob, come with me,” She ends it with as she pulls him to the side.

“Come here,” she says as she also grabs you to go with them. Practically drags you along as you stumble over your feet at the sudden jank. She’s very strong for her stature, but you suppose the Red Room did that to a person.

“Are you hurt?” You ask as you reach out to touch Bob's head as you stop further away from Walker. You turn his head checking, even if your brain helpfully adds that he’s fine physically, but you can’t help but doublecheck him. 

“No, I’m fine, I’m fine” He reassures, but he doesn’t pull away from you as you gently lower your hands. He rubs his face and turns to the side, probably to regain some sense of self before talking again.

“You do not seem fine,” Yelena says as she looks at him. She’s worried, it's practically written all over her face and body language, even if she barely knew him. She still chuckles as she says it to try and mask it, to hide it away.

You did know him before the vault.

Not for long you remind yourself. Just enough to realise you two were much more alike than you imagined as you prepped him for the serum. Yet you had seemed to calm him down, to anchor him, and you hope that you’re still able to do so. At least until you get out.

“Yeah, well, we’ve only just met. This is…” he trails off as he looks at her, though his eyes flicker towards you in recognition, before looking back at Yelena. “This is how I am,” he finishes with a shrug and half smile.

“Oh,” leaves Yelena as she nods a couple of times, her eyes wandering around the room for a split second. “The talking to yourself?” she adds and looks back at him. A hum of acknowledgement leaves him as he looks at the both of you.

“The emo aggressive thing?" she quips at him and you have to stifle a chuckle of your own.

“I mean- That guy’s been a dick to me from the start,” Bob says and looks at Walker. You can’t help but give your own hum of agreement and gently knock your shoulder into his. Not enough to get him off balance, but enough to bring his attention back to you and Yelena. It does give you a small smile from him as he barely meets your eyes before breaking eye contact.

He truly has the most brown coded blue eyes you’ve ever seen you muse to yourself.

“Oh, I get it. He sucks,” Yelena says in agreement. “But we have to work together to get out of here, so…” She adds while waving her hands animatedly towards the two others. 

“Well, you guys should just go without me. It’ll be easier,” Bob says and you look up at him in a mix of understanding and despair. He fully believes it too which creates a crack in your well preserved wall that keeps people out.

“No, it won’t be-” You say, but get cut off by Yelena as she looks at him incredulously

“Oh no, you’ll die down here” she says with a scoff. The two of them chuckle, and you look at them both in worry. 

“Yeah, well, whatever. I mean…” Bob answers with a shrug before continuing, “I think everyone’s better off if I stay put.” He nods as he speaks, as though it's true, and smiles awkwardly. The smile doesn’t reach his eyes.

You close your own in preparation for a much needed pep talk to the both of them as you sigh inwardly. This is already been a long day, your shoulder hurts and your concussion is messing with your mind, and now you have two suicidal idiots in front of you.

Yelena’s face breaks in slow motion as you open your eyes. You know she relates to the dark undertones of his words, and it cracks your inner wall more as you realise it. It’s one thing to know it– it's one thing to understand it, and you feel you understand them both too well.

“Okay, I- I understand” she starts as she gestures with her hands between the both of them. “We all feel like shit sometimes. And loneliness? I get that. I get it. And that- that darkness gets… pretty enticing” she rambles on as she realises things about herself she has tried  to bury down.

“And then it starts to feel like a little bit like a…” Yelena continues as she tries to find the right words. the sentence hanging a few seconds with a sigh of her own.

“A void,” You and Bob say at the same time, finishing her sentence for her. You can tell he looks at you, but you refuse to meet his gaze at that moment, keeping your eyes steady at Yelena instead.

“Yep, a void,” she says and looks at the both of you again. Bob’s eyes flit between you and the others as the silence fills again. Though not for long.

“What do you do about it?” He asks as his eyes look intently at the two of you.

“You shove it way down. You just… push it down,”  she animates with her hands as a push down to emphasise her point. You roll your eyes though a small smile betrays your amusement. Bob chuckles beside you at her antics.

Yelena starts laughing as well and you can't help but to let a small laugh escape you. 

“I’m taking you both to therapy if we get out of here,” You say with a shake of your head as you look fondly at them. The both of them look at you in mild surprise and amusement. 

“You can try,” Yelena smirks at you and you roll your eyes again.

“I don't know, I can be very persuasive,” You muse back at her with an innocent expression. She starts chuckling again at your expression, and you even feel Bob beside you shake with hidden laughter. “I'm serious though, leaning on others? that helps, so let's do that so we all at least get out, ok?” You add and look at both of them.

“Thanks, that- that’s really good advice,” He chuckles out.

“You’re welcome," Yelena answers with an amusing scoff.

A sudden crash behind you startles you out of the conversation. Your powers right at the front and you have to reign in a groan at the information load that jams itself through your thoughts. You stagger slowly and feel a warm hand steady you, meeting the worried gaze of Bob. His eyes flicker to your temple where you had unceremoniously hit the wall earlier.

“You’re bleeding-” he starts with before Walker cuts off with a sarcastic comment about being done with therapy and having found a way out. You curse him in your mind and just try to smile reassuringly at Bob.

“I’ll be fine, I know, remember?” You say, but don’t pull out of his grasp. He relaxes at your tone and nods at you though he doesn't let go of you either. He seems to trust your words, but his eyes betray his worry. You don't know how to feel about it– it's been years since someone cared enough about your wellbeing and not just your power.

It will change

Your brain unhelpfully adds.

“Look, we’re all alone… all of us” Yelena says after a moment, looking pointedly at you before looking up at Bob. It stings even though you are well aware. “Let’s just stick together until we make it to the surface, and after that you can start a fight with a super soldier and get yourself killed. I don’t care, okay?” She rambles again, though it’s more of a really bad pep talk. You just sigh in exasperation at it.

You really were scraping the bottom of the barrel with the moral here…

“Okay, yeah” Bob says as he passes you. His hand leaves your back and you can’t help but miss its warmth. You have always run cold, and it was a harsh reminder you are still in danger. You still had to get out alive somehow. 

You give both Yelena and Bob  a worried look as they walk past you towards Walker and Ava.

It’s going to be a long day isn't it…?

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