Close Your Eyes

With recent events still burned into her mind Dasha stayed awake the whole night once she returned home. Jak kindly placed her sister into her bedroom to recover from the dozens of drinks that she consumed throughout the night. No matter how bitchy Ivy was, she was still her sister and needed to look out for her.

Emma arrived not an hour later after Jak left and accompanied Dasha the whole night. The poor blond woman looked fatigued as she gave into her drowsiness not too long ago. Dasha checked on the two women in her household each hour.

When the sun became to rise, Dasha stared out her window sill with a blanket covering her shoulders. The warm colors of orange and yellow seeped into the surface as the sun continued to ascend. The light illuminated her face giving a soft glow, the tender embrace of the sun reminder of the warmth that Tony gave her whenever he touched her.

But that feeling quickly went away at the deceit. Dasha tightened the covers on her shoulders as she remembered another day where she was betrayed.

A large smile stretched on the young teenager's face as Dasha felt her boyfriend give her a loving kiss. "You're such a nerd."

Dasha patted Kyle's cheek playfully, " A nerd that is passing all her classes and is going to be in the Honor's Society freshman year while you common folk have preparatory courses." Kyle rolled his grey eyes at her before squeezing her to his side.

"Are you really trying to go country on me again, Dash? That Southern twang really turns me on, you know that." Kyle muttered into his girlfriend's skin. His lips gave her a soft kiss on the neck, hormones continued to rage between the two as he continued his ministrations.

The young girl started to become nervous with the attention he was giving her. Dasha had heard plenty of stories from her friends of what it felt like to engage in sexual acts and a part of her was ready while another part told her to wait. Her lips parted as her brain paused to think, it can go two ways. She can either encourage him or stop him in his tracks.

Her train of thought was lost when Kyle climbed on top of her with his soft touches. A wave of emotions flooded through her, the want and need to bury herself into Kyle, the desire to have her succumbed to his temptations.

Dasha furrowed her brows as they crashed into her mind, wave after wave. Every finger, every graze sent another intensified emotion inside of her.

"Kyle-" Dasha was interrupted by the obnoxious knocking on her door to hear her little sister yelling on the other side.

"Dasha! Papa said ya can't have the door closed, rememba?"

A sigh escaped Kyle's lips, his body rolling off of the nervous girl before she answered. "Y-Yeah, I know." Placing her feet on the ground, she quickly ran her fingers through her hair before opening the door to reveal a curious little girl standing a few feet away from her.

"What were you and Kyle doin'?" Ivy's dark brown eyes glanced at both teens in question.

The intense gaze of the little girl made Dasha tense. Leaning on the door to cover the messy covers, she answered, "We just finished studying. He was just about to leave, right Kyle?" She turned her head, pleading with her eyes to have him cooperate.

Aggravation showed on Kyle's face as he gathered his things and gave a swift goodbye to both girls. "See you later, D. Bye Iv."

Turning on her heel, Dasha offered her sister a warm smile before picking the smaller girl up and placing her on her hip. "Where's Miss Hilde?"

"On the couch with a bottle in her hand." Ivy mumbled hugging her sister tighter. Dasha frowned at the mention of their babysitter doing a poor job looking after them. Since the accident with their mother who is at the hospital barely clinging on and their father across the globe in a tournament Dasha felt like she needed to look after them both.

Rubbing Ivy's back they walked down the spiral of stairs to see that Miss Hilde was indeed snoring on the couch with a bottle of whiskey on her slacken hand. Her mouth was wide open with the chainsaw sound erupting from her mouth.

"Wanna go to the park for a little bit?"

Ivy beamed, agreeing excitedly. Dasha smiled placing her on the ground before taking off after writing a note to their babysitter if she woke up. The teen wasn't nervous of being found out; her mind was somewhere else at the time.

As she watched Ivy play in the jungle gym, the pressure in her cranium increased a bit. Dasha wiggled in discomfort before pushing the feeling aside and swinging upside down from the monkey bars. Soon Ivy joined her with a gleeful smile written on their faces. It was a time of innocence and joy despite the hardships they were encountering at the time.

It was Dasha's job to distract Ivy from the inevitable. Dasha somehow knew that they were losing their mother. The sudden loss of connection that she used to have with her mother was fading; that strong bond between the two was slipping away from her grasp.

The feeling terrified her. She tried renewing the feeling by being with her mother as much as possible once she tucked Ivy into bed, but it never happened. Her gut was telling her something. They were going to lose their mother; their best friend and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Dasha? Why are you crying?"

The tiny voice snapped her out of her trance. A gasp left her lips and with a hand slapping over her mouth, Dasha apologized profusely. "I'm sorry, Iv. I just—I was just thinking about something sad." She concluded.

Ivy-Rae still looked perplexed and concerned as she gazed into her older sister's eyes. The look soon faded when Dasha ruffled the young girl's hair. "There's nothing to worry about kiddo. Let's get something to eat."

Picking up greasy burgers and fries, they went on their way back home to see that the television was still running. Dasha checked the living room to see the dent of the sofa and the liquor bottle still placed on the carpet floor. Picking up the bottle, she placed it back into the cabinet before setting up the food on the table.

It was clear that Miss Hilde got up and left after reading the note Dasha placed on the table knowing she was relieved from duty for the day. The two girls quietly ate at the table after saying a quick prayer. Dasha continuously made sure that Ivy was content before helping her get ready for bed.

Brushing the ruly hair of Ivy, she set the brush down the girls instinctively went on their knees and clasped their hands together and bowed their heads. Ivy's forehead touched the comforter of Dasha's bed as she muttered a prayer that she hoped that their mother got better, that she missed her and wanted things to go back to normal.

The prayer broke Dasha's heart especially with the feeling that has been hovering over her for almost a couple of weeks now. With the closing sentence, Ivy climbed onto bed and Dasha followed suit. Ivy's small body scooted towards Dasha for comfort, her cheek pressed against her chest.

Dasha ran her fingers through Ivy's wild hair as she whispered into the dark, "Everything is going to be okay. I promise you."

Ivy gripped onto her tighter letting out a small whimper, "You promise?"

"I promise." She vowed.

That night Dasha felt a connection towards her younger sister just like the one that she shared with her mother. The one with her mother was severed and was now replaced with Ivy. Dasha cried silently as she felt her mother pull away from her, unable to reach out towards her like she used to.

A few days later, Clyde was now with his girls preparing for funeral preparations. Kyle wrapped his arm around Dasha's shoulders in comfort. "I'm sorry for your loss Dash. I truly am."

Dasha stayed silent as despair welled inside of her; the feeling was uncharted territory. The teen never knew what it was like to lose a parent and now that she has the feeling was indescribable. The pain and sorrow she felt didn't compare to the loss she felt when she placed second in races or board games. No this loss was bigger than everything combined.

The loss of the woman she looked up to wasn't there with her and it truly hit her when she watched her mother being buried six feet under. Dasha shut herself out from the world. She refused to talk to anyone as she locked herself in her room.

It took Dasha months to cover up the pain and disguise it with a smile. Instead of showing the hurt and pain she was enduring, she pretended she was happy being around Ivy and her father or that she was giddy about Kyle whenever he was around. But a piece of her died that day and she couldn't get it back.

It wasn't long until she destroyed the relationship she had with Ivy.

A horrified scream rang throughout the house sending Clyde into a panic. Sprinting towards his daughter's aid, he paused when he saw blood oozing out of the little girl's head and nose. The horrified expression in her eyes was nothing Clyde has seen before.

Ivy shook like a leaf as she never left her gaze from Dasha. When Dasha tried to take a step towards her, Ivy immediately started to scream again. "Ivy-Rae! Baby girl, calm down." Clyde scooped her up into his arms as she thrashed around in his arms.

"No daddy no! Dasha tried to kill me! Dasha t-t-tried to kill me." Ivy sobbed.

Clyde turned his head towards his eldest daughter to see the terrified look on her face as if she couldn't believe what she just witnessed. "Ivy I didn't—I never wanted to. You have to believe me. I could sense things, I knew you were upset and I tried to-"

"NO! You tried to kill me!" Tears continued to fall from Ivy's face before she buried to her father's chest. "Please don't let her stay here daddy! I'm scared!"

"I'll settle this, Iv. Don't worry." Clyde soothed his youngest while still staring at Dasha as his greatest fear came true.

It didn't take long for the word to spread that Dasha Swan, the All-American girl was sent to a mental institution for a meltdown. Dasha's name was tainted was the evaluation came back labeling her as mentally unstable.

"You know why you are here?"

Dasha stared out the window watching the lush green leaves flow in the wind while she was trapped in this godforsaken place. The horrific look that her little sister gave her twisted the knife that was in her heart and the accusation just sunk it deeper. She could barely breathe with the events that happened not too long ago.

"Dasha. Answer my question, please."

"Why should I? You already know. I'm sure my little sister and father gave their statements."

"I'm aware, but I rather you tell me why you think you're here." The calm soothing tone of the doctor was all a lie. Somehow she felt the deception within that person; her mind throbbed at the feeling.

Twisting her body further away from the therapist, she scoffed, "My family thinks I'm crazy just like everyone else in this place."

"Do you think you're crazy?"

The question was left unanswered as Dasha avoided the gaze of the person in front of her. The bland white walls suffocated her made her feel smaller than she actually was and her level of importance was lowered considerably. Dasha didn't feel safe here.

Not by a long shot.

Dasha turned in her seat when she heard a low groan coming from behind her. "Morning." Dasha watched as her sister clutched her head, grumbling on how she ended up there. "You were being stupid and got drunk so I took you back to my place. Problem?"

Ivy glared with somewhat of a wince, "Of course there is a problem, freak. Who told you to take me with you? I was fine all on my own."

"Didn't look like you were having that much fun." Dasha mumbled, she got up from her seat and poured herself the fresh brew of coffee that she just made. The pale blue cup was set on the marble countertop, Ivy's lips curled in satisfaction.

"Oh I did. Making out with your so called boyfriend was the high light of my night. What was yours?" Ivy grimaced when she tendered touched her nose wondering what happened that made her face throb in agony.

"Look in the mirror to find out." Was her only response, taking a sip of her hot beverage Dasha's eyes followed the movement of her sister to see that she stumbled upon her appearance. A grin of content appeared on her lips when she whirled around demanding what was wrong with her face. "It's called a bruise, moron." Dasha responded.

"I know what it is! Who the hell did this to me?"

It surprised Dasha that Ivy remembered sucking face with Tony and not remember the clash between the two of them. Maybe her punch really was that powerful.

"DAMN! You got fucked up!" Emma's voice rang in the distance before laughter ensued.

Ivy growled, pointing a clawed finger at the blonde. "Who the fuck was talkin' to you? I can fuck you up any time, Blondie!"

Emma raised a brow, her body relaxed on the couch she slept on not believing in the threat Ivy just made. "Yeah sure. Come back when you have been in several fights before coming to me. I don't have time to deal with your hot mess. Dash, sorry about last night. I gotta run, have a job to do unlike some people."

A quick look at Ivy before darting off, Ivy seethed. "Damn bitch." The younger Swan sister grumbled as she walked to the bathroom to tend to her wound. Dasha kept her lips shut listening to her sister complain. A small grin of satisfaction swelled within her.

Nothing felt great like her fist colliding with her sister's face.

[1]

"And why would I be interested?" Tony drawled out as he lazily ate his food. After seeing Natasha revealing her true self and working with Patches sitting across from him, his defensive went up.

Director Fury or Patches as he would like to call him folded his hands together on the table as if he meant business. "Because I know something that you will be interested in on hearing if you take the offer."

"Oh? And what would that be exactly?" Tony rolled his eyes, sarcasm dripping in his voice. There was nothing these two had that he wanted. He wanted nothing to do with them and for Patches to tell him to keep trying to find the right combination for his own disease was a little out of his reach. It was becoming redundant with retorts being swiped back and forth.

Fury glanced at Natasha who in return walked closer revealing a manila folder and placing it in front of Tony. "Information about that girlfriend of yours. She's not all she's cracked up to be."

Instantly that intrigued Tony, but became wary. How would they know anything about Dasha? He already done his research on the woman and she came out clean as a whistle.

"Trust me. There is inside information you would want to know, if only you take me seriously."

"And what if I don't?"

Director Fury leaned back on his seat with a displease frown, "Then Agent Romanoff will personally take care of you."

"Are you threating me?" Tony narrowed his eyes at the mysterious man ahead of him. "There's nothing about Dasha that I don't know. That woman doesn't have any hidden dirty secrets, trust me. I would know."

"Well then I'm telling you, you don't." He then slid the folder back towards Tony before standing up from his seat. "I think that would give you motivation to fix that little problem of yours and come into agreement with me. Until then, Coulson and Romanoff will be looking after you. You remember Coulson."

"Of course I do." Tony glanced at the familiar agent before watching Fury walk off the perimeter.

Natasha then stepped in to inform him that all communication was to be cut off until he finished his project. Tony didn't utter a word as he stared at the manila folder in his hands wondering what else Dasha could be hiding from him other than the engagement.

Opening the first page, Tony leafed through the briefing. His eyes trailed, his mind clung to each word not believing in what it was telling him. He glanced at the picture at the top right hand corner to see it was indeed Dasha before he mumbled, "Who the hell are you?"

Tony reread the paragraphs that stuck out to him the most; the three years Dasha was stuck in a mental institution where she was diagnosed with schizophrenia to how she took her GED in order to stay on course and apply to college when she was seventeen like she was supposed to. What stuck out in his mind was the title that was written beside her name, mutant. Tony was vaguely aware of the x-gene after the small briefing from a professor that wanted to drone on about it during one of the galas, but he never really paid attention to it.

Then the list concerning the x-gene was what made his stomach churn.

Powers: Ability to overload another's mind causing pain, memory loss, lack of consciousness, vegetation or death after having created a psionic link into that individual's mind. Can create a type of psycho-blast that could incapacitate or kill a living being instantly if not handled correctly and has some level of empathetic powers. Is an expert in hand to hand combat and can be severely emotional and unstable. The individual is classified to be highly dangerous if tampered with.

Highly dangerous.

Tony couldn't see that even if Dasha has proven that she could take him out in a few seconds if she wanted to. Dasha was a highly trained individual. The connections made it plausible that these facts may indeed be true, but not once has he witnessed these powers.

He has seen her emotional, filled with anger and yet no one in sight croaks in front of his eyes or him dying actually. He knew there were reasons as to why she kept her distance and now he knew another reason. Somehow he believed the file that Director Fury gave to him and he needed to talk to Dasha.

Just as he raised his head, Agent Coulson responded, "It's advised that you stay put. Dr. Swan is looked after."

"I highly doubt that."

"She never left our sight, Mr. Stark. We've always kept an eye on her and right now you need to focus on a more important task." Coulson eyed the case that was set in front of Tony ignoring the stink eye the billionaire was giving him.

He hated when he was given orders and to have some Men in Black prick tell him that he wasn't allowed to check on Dasha was beyond ridiculous. "No contact unless you want her to be a target as well, Mr. Stark." Coulson beat him to the punch, again.

[2]

Watching Ivy make her leave made Dasha's day and now sitting on the couch in the confinements of her own home while crappy television invaded her home. A glass of red wine and popcorn filled her desires as she tried to avoid the situation she got stuck into.

In the last hour, Pepper tried to contact her. Given to what transpired the night before she turned off her phone after the third consecutive call. She didn't want to deal anything Tony related, she decided she was going to take a leave of absence, a break of some sorts. Dasha needed a very very long vacation to process everything.

Peering down into the deep red liquid, she down the remaining glass before pouring herself another one. Sighing deeply, she placed her laptop onto her lap as she looked through vacation spots where she would discreet and Tony could not find her until she was waiting to return.

Spain sounded nice.

Very nice actually. It was a long way from home, the beaches are incredible during this time of year and she could immerse herself into the Spanish culture with ease. To put it simply it was perfect; maybe she will hop from country to country just for the heck of it. Dasha had money stashed for emergencies and this was a crisis.

Looking over the flight dates, a sudden knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. Licking her wine soaked lips, she sat still in her current position. Paranoia sunk in as the intruder didn't announce who they were and continued to knock on the door.

Closing the laptop slowly, she placed it beside her before lowering the television down. With stiff movements her feet touched the floor as she inched closer to the bat that was sitting beside the couch for personal reference.

"Come on Dasha, it's me Jak! Open up!" Dasha almost sighed in relief, bat still in hand as she looked through the peephole to see it was indeed her friend before unlocking the door. The blue eyed man huffed, strolling into her home. "About time you opened it. What were you doing that took you so long-were you," Jak narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Masturbating?"

Dasha rolled her eyes, "No. Did you need something? I was in the middle of something."

Jak scoffed, "Middle of what? Today's your day off, isn't it? It's Pepper's turn to look after him?"

Nodding her head, she sat back down on the couch with a small groan. Clasping the wine glass into her hand she offered him a glass. He passed on the offer. Jak frowned at the state his friend was in as he sat down alongside her. Bumping his elbow against hers she didn't move a muscle.

Jak pursed his lips as he observed the television screen, "You realize it's time, right?"

Dasha furrowed her brows at his odd statement. "Time for what?" Her dark brown eyes turned to the friend that was sitting beside her, quietly. "Jak…time for what?" She asked again. When Jak turned his head, the playful glow was now gone. His light blue eyes turned dark, a stern expression clouded his face.

"Dasha, you knew this was going to happen eventually-"

"What was going to happen eventually? What?"

"There is a time and place for everything. When you realized you are a mutant you knew that you were going to live a dangerous life until the day you stopped breathing. The asylum, the torture, the deceit among friends, the day your mother died…those were all clues as to what was going to happen."

Dasha's face fell, she whispered in shock. "How did you know that?"

The person she thought she knew sat up straighter, "I know a lot of things, Dasha. I'm here to keep you safe. To keep your family safe."

"Who the hell are you?" Dasha hissed. The betrayal that she felt was overwhelming; standing up from her couch she glared at him. "Who are you?"

Jak sighed as he slowly stood up raising his hands, "I'm Agent Jak Harrison and I work for S.H.I.E.L.D." Dasha tensed at the familiar name. "I know you had a past with S.H.I.E.L.D. before and I can reassure you that I was assigned to make sure that you were in safe hands."

Dasha laughed bitterly, "Is this supposed to make me feel better? I know what I am capable of Agent Harrison and for your damn organization to be still looking out for me is just…ridiculous! I can take care of myself."

"Like you did in Monaco? Ivan Vanko almost slashed you in two; it was reckless of me to actually let you go on your own despite Romanoff being there."

"Romanoff?"

"Natalie Rushman is actually Natasha Romanoff, another colleague of mine to keep watch of Mr. Stark and yourself if I was unable to. That is beside the point, Director Fury wants you to reconsider the proposition he gave you a few years back."

Dasha shook her head in defiance; pushing the manila folder away from her she took a step back. "Why would I want to get involved with people like you? All you ever done for me was create more problems and I barely just started to make a better life for myself-"

"Until you started working for Mr. Stark and have a Russian maniac after not only him, but you."

"Why would I be a target? Shouldn't Pepper and Happy be protected more than me? Especially Pepper who is the head of Stark Industries?"

Jak's gaze turned hard and calculated, "Ms. Swan with all due respect Vanko doesn't give a damn about those two. All he would want is you because you are Mr. Stark's girlfriend; you are the publically known lover of a billionaire that has been going off the deep end. It wouldn't take him long to see that you are associated with Mr. Stark other than just working for him."

The agent then held a grip onto Dasha as he started to drag her towards the front door. "We need to leave. Get you in a safer place." Dasha resisted, pulling her weight back with no avail. She didn't realize that Jak was stronger than he looked. All those times she overpowered him was a fluke.

Jak turned his gaze towards her with a small grin. "You're a good fighter Dasha, but I'm better."

"I rather not be associated with people like you." Dasha continued to fight back, sending a swift kick to his shin stunning him for a second. That one calculating second, she moved quickly and escaped from his grasp.

Sprinting across her living room and towards her bedroom, she almost made it until she felt her back being slammed against the wall. "Dasha, please don't make this harder for me than it already is." He mumbled. Before she could get a word in, she felt a stinging sensation on her neck before her vision started to mesh together into one foggy state.

Her body lolled against the wall, slowly sliding downwards. Her lips tried to form words as she felt Jak pick her up from the floor before she gave in to the darkness.