Close Your Eyes

“Fuck.” The bitter word leaves the archer’s mouth as he cautiously observes the mutant in front of him. The recognizable blue convulsing in her orbs as the barrel of one of her guns is pointing right at him. Clint doesn’t glance at the Captain before the first round shoots through the air, the cries of Chitauri echoing in the background as the two try to handle it all.

In one odd moment, Clint finds himself facing Dasha, her legs wrapping around his neck as she maneuvers to decapitate him. The familiar sound of whirling wire sends his mind into overdrive as he uses one of his arrows to sustain the weapon a safe distance from his neck. His body spins on his heel to throw her off balance, then he freezes.

The archer feels a nick in his brain. He pauses gazing at the possessed woman in front of him as a smile crosses her lips. “I know all your secrets, Barton and when I’m finished with you…I’m going after your family.”

Without a second thought, he lunges at her he continues to track the prickling sensation on his frontal lobe. Clint continues to throw punches and kicks, attempting to throw the young agent off course, make her lose a step, anything to gain the upper hand. He needs that opening.

“I have the target on lock. Ready to fire on command.” The droning voice of Jak pierces the ears of the Avengers especially Barton and Rogers. Clint rushes to gain proximity with Dasha to obscure the initial mark. There is a lull of silence before hearing Jak’s voice again, “I will take the shot even if you are in the way. Stand down, Barton. I will not compromise the safety of the civilians for one person.”

“She’s your person, she’s Stark’s. Don’t give me that crap, kid. You’ll do more damage than good.” Clint grunts as he twists away from Dasha’s grip, swiftly noticing an arrow and releasing, the arrow itself releasing the wire and wrapping itself around her torso and ankles causing her to fall.

Off a short distance, Steve smashes the skull of the last alien in his way before making eye contact with Clint. A short nod, the Captain initiate orders, “Harrison, instead of trying to knock down one of our own why don’t you have Thor’s back? He’s gonna need it.” There is a short compliance earning a look from Clint.

“At least he knows when to respect his elder. Nice job, Cap. Need me to look after her?” He glances back at Dasha wiggling against the wires.

“I can-” The Captain pauses as the sound of tires passing the rubble of the damaged streets of Brooklyn catches his attention. Instantly, the two recognize the shaggy hair scientist. “Banner.” Steve nearly says in relief as Bruce climbs off the moped closing the distance between the small tag team.

“Where is everyone?”

Quickly catching him up, Thor being up in the air taking down as many Chitauri as possible, Natasha is down along with Tony being missing, it feels like their group is getting smaller. “What about Dasha?” The question itself pique their interests, as Steve turns to point he freezes. She vanished.

Without a moment’s notice, Thor flies around the corner bringing down a Leviathan with him. The large body coils as the ground erupts into pieces beneath them. What the small group notices is the other large alien flying towards them, one that the demigod did not notice since his hands are occupied at the moment.

Now it was Banner’s turn, everyone knew it. They wait in anticipation as the scientist indulges his secret of his transformation. The shy physicist slowly converting into the bulging green beast that stops the larger creature in its wake. As tail starts to curl forward from the impact of the Hulk, small explosions send the tail backward, out of Steve and Clint’s way.

Out of impulse the two peer back to see the colors of gold and red filtering into their eyesight, small smirks lifting on their lips. “As difficult has this may sound, but I’m glad you are okay, Stark.” Steve’s voice fills with happiness as the assumption of Tony being worse off than he is, flies around a soft break in their intercom.

“Never knew you held a soft spot for me, Cap.” As Tony lands gracefully with Thor in tow and the Hulk coming into the flank, they create a small circle to devise a plan. Thor ready to take down his brother for what he has done, Clint quipping that he has to get in line first.

Naturally, Steve takes the lead giving orders left and right. He feels more at ease seeing most of his teammates are intact. As Thor flies off, Steve gazes at the golden mask as he shares the information that Dasha escape their grasp and is still on the loose.

“Don’t worry. I’ll deal with her.”

Steve purses his lips, “No. I don’t want you going anywhere near her. I don’t even know the extent of the damage she did to you in that tower and I doubt you want to lay a hand on your girl.”

“I said I can handle it.” Tony stresses the words, his plan already forming in his mind. If he can get close enough without her detecting him, it will be perfect. He’ll need a distraction though and as he shares his plan with the Captain himself, he caves knowing Dasha needs to be out of Loki’s control sooner than later.

Right after Tony gives Clint a lift to the nearest tower, Steve and Tony take part in tracking down Dasha. “Cap, got eyes on Selvig.” Jak’s voice enters their com in the middle of their actions, Steve races into action as he informs him to keep an eye on the scientist and wait for further instruction.

Tony’s grumbles bring back Steve’s attention as he looks in front of him. Dasha towering over a policeman as his back curls in a painful position. “Hey!” Without a second thought, Steve whirls his shield, tossing it towards her. With her attention elsewhere, Tony shoots a device wrapping itself around her throat causing her to convulse in pain before having her collapse.

“I felt like I just put myself in the dog house for that one.” Tony quips. Steve grunts, picking up Dasha after checking the vitals of the policeman beside her.

“Yeah, well you had no choice.”

Once they put Dasha in a safe place, Tony flanking Steve for safety measures before springing back into action. It didn’t take long for Fury to contact Tony about the missile setting its sights on New Manhattan. Taking it into his own hands, he grasp the missile watching himself guide the weapon through the city and close to the wormhole.

All his thoughts are on Dasha; how he hasn’t seen her in days much less spoke to her. He hasn’t touched her or told her that he loved her. Everything that he held precious about the woman is going to fade into nothing. He will no longer be with her or tease her, but most importantly have her in his arms.

Tony hasn’t thought of a life without her whether he’s living or dead. It didn’t hit him that death is near until the alien ship heading towards the portal grew closer that it finally dawns on him. There is no escape. The system in his suit shuts down and as he floats in space, he wishes that he can spend one last moment with her.

Her soft buttery caramel skin rising in goose bump flesh, small shivers coiling. How her fingers will lace with his when she lets that moment of adoration fill in her eyes and heart as she gazes at him lovingly. The light flittering pits of amber dancing in amusement as he says something witty, well in his mind it is, to her it’s corny. He will never forget the small mole perch over her left eyebrow or how the wrinkles around her eyes grow deeper when she smiles, though she is self-conscious about it. The billionaire finds it beautiful. Everything about her is beautiful.

With that fleeting moment, a tear trickles down his cheek as he mutters her name in such softness that it breaks his heart again hearing it. “Dash.” Tony succumbs to the darkness.

A harsh gasp fills Dasha’s lungs as she gathers as much oxygen as possible. Her caramel eyes flickering around her to check her surroundings. A certain numbness coursing through her veins, she understands what happen. She realized what she had done. Her mind was active and as she comes to the conclusion that they stop her in the long run, she forces herself to sit up.

A disgruntled expression on her face as it takes her several tries to lift herself to a sitting position. Licking her dry lips, she twist her neck as the piercing sound of a rocket rings around her. Settling in her spot in a building, behind a desk no less, she wobbles to her feet. Gripping the oak desk, she leans against it as the roar of the rocket fades into the distance.

When a high pitch roar reveries her attention, she lifts her head to see a few Chitauri gazing at her, assessing her. Within a few moments, they dart towards her causing her to curse under her breath. They knew she wasn’t under the control of Loki, with one look in her eyes. Before she can prepare herself, the long limb aliens clatter to the floor like dolls.

Blinking slowly, she cautiously walk forward hoping that whatever cause their collapse its permanent. Those unsteady steps cause her to sway and when she lands a soft kick to one of their skulls receiving no response she realizes it’s over. Or she hopes it is.

Giving out a sigh, she clutches her head as her vision becomes blurry. Groaning in discomfort, she almost mistakes her imbalance for the rocking of the building. Glass shattering in front of the building, falling to the floor along with debris before a loud thud. Taking incentive to check her surroundings, she unsheathes her daggers as she makes her way towards the entrance.

When she looks out a short distance to see the Hulk’s large body covering the majority of the team excluding Thor’s red cape, she puts her daggers away and races as fast as she can towards them. With exasperated breath, the Hulk recognizes her first, a short snort before the rest of the team follows to see the woman half running towards them with a bit of struggle.

As she makes reaches them, her eyes quickly dart to each of their faces taking note that Natasha is not with them, but before she can question it, she spots Tony lying on the ground, part of his mask rip off. Falling to her knees, she gasp for air, crawling to him as she whispers his name. “T-tony.”

Her fingers spotted with blood curl instead the mask to linger on the side of his neck. Biting her lower lip, the discomfort of not finding a pulse, she checks again, her vertigo not nearly as perfect as before as she attempts to check his brain activity. She feels a small prickle seeping into his mind before a loud roar jolts her from her trance which includes Tony’s.

His brown eyes shot open as he breathes heavily from the sudden outburst. “W-what’s going on? Wh—Dasha?” When his eyes lands on her, he feels his heart swell. The mysterious amber eyes that he can stare at all day. Tony remains silent as the trembling form of his girlfriend takes a toll on him.

Sobs erupt from her throat as the rest look onward giving her looks of sympathy. Weakly, Dasha wipes her tears with her forearm, quieting the sounds that are fighting its way to the surface. When Tony tries to call out her name again, he is stunned by the loud smack of her hand on his metal chest, her fingers clawing as harshly as she can.

“Don’t you—don’t you dare. I always tell you, do anything stupid. Don’t be so reckless and the first thing I see is you launching yourself into the wormhole with a missile. I-” The large lump forming in her throat halts her from forming the next few words. She recomposes herself and with gritting teeth, she seethes, “What were you thinking? You idiot! If you pull a stunt like that again I will personally castrate you.”

The billionaire fights off the urge to wipe the tears rolling down her face; he doesn’t take her threat seriously, especially not in this state. She’s emotional, showing a side of her that she rarely shows. Even for him. So he soaks it in, taking every detail of this moment, his eyes darting to each member of their group before meeting hers once again.

A tiny smirk lifting on his lips, “So you do love me. I knew you did, sunshine. I can console you later if you were mentally scarred by this experience.”

Dasha’s brow twitches in irritation, “You little-”

“Ah, ah. I am very fragile in this state and I don’t know if I can take any more of your verbal attacks.”

“You are so lucky-”

“That I’m good looking? Generous? Someone that satisfies your every need?”

As their argument starts to escalate, Dasha nearly screaming and Tony taunting her in that patronizing voice he has, Thor and Steve share glances. “Are they always like this?”

“I don’t…know. Though witnessing it myself I see that it’s a normal thing. I’m guessing.” Steve mutters as the Hulk snorts, rolling his eyes in impatience as Dasha lands her palm on Tony’s forehead with a loud smack. Things are definitely back to normal, at least for the most part.

It took Thor to break up the little squabble informing them that they still need to take care of Loki who in fact is in the tower. Dasha grumbles as she gives Tony a hand so he can stand on his feet before he detaches the helmet of his suit. Tony grins delighting in the fact that he can still get under her skin and that she is acting like her normal self.

His eyes soften for a second taking notice of the curly waves of her hair fluttering in puffs instead of the relax state he is used to. Once Loki was captured, Thor took a look at Dasha for precautionary measures and with her state of mind being a bit jumbled, he offered help if she ever needed it.

Dasha gave him gratitude for showing kindness and if she does need that kind of help, she would contact him. The female can feel herself not fully recovered, her mind mending itself from the trauma. As she watches the gods leave, she quickly turns to Clint to offer her a ride to the safe house where Natasha is still recover from her seizure.

Tony offer to give Bruce a ride to the airport, so he will meet up with them later. Dasha’s guilt runs deep, refusing to leave the Russian for long periods of time and wants to stay until she fully recovers.

It’s not your fault, they say. Natasha doesn’t hold it against you and either does any of us. Yet she feels like they do. A part of her watch what she did to her teammates, her boyfriend…she almost killed him. She can tell that he is growing a bit distant with her, less affection from him in the time span of a week.

Maybe she is overthinking it or maybe she isn’t. Regardless, she climbs out of the vehicle, the door shutting behind her as she makes her way into the small home. Taking careful steps towards the room occupying the red head agent, a dull ache spreads across her chest as the weak smile presents itself on Natasha’s face.

“Do I look that bad, doc?”

Forcing a smile matching her fallen comrade, she shakes her head. “Not at all. Just thinking.” Dasha mutters, taking note of how Natasha’s words form not as easily as before, there is a slight pause in between a few pronunciations, something that can be prepared over time. The raw sensation in her gut continues to rip further apart as she checks the mental state of her patient.

“How are you feeling today?” Dasha listens as Romanoff list the small complications that day, minor symptoms that will pass. To be honest, she is far better than she expects. The doctor thought she lost Natasha or at least some motor or mental function considering how long the seizure was. It didn’t help that she continue to have seizures during the battle of Manhattan, so it will take more time.

“You’re not the bad guy, Swan. You never were.” The soft mumbles cut through Dasha as she looks into the vibrant green eyes of the woman beside her.

“…Then why do I feel like one? I’m surprised they haven’t locked me away—smile for me?” Natasha complies watching the doctor, seeing how torn up she is on the inside. She is further damaged than she lets on, even before all of this. Dasha is a tortured soul and that may be one of the reasons why the agent felt a sort of kinship with her. She looked after the younger doctor.

When Dasha ask her to grip her hands to test the strength of her mobility, Natasha’s soft voice once again vibrates, “Because you are one of us and we take care of our own. We are all broken, one way or another whether we try to mend it by avoiding it, running away or suppressing it. If it bothers you that much, maybe you should take Thor’s offer.”

The soft hands of the doctor goes limp, “I’m just glad that you are okay. Let me or Clint know if you need anything.”

“Sure thing—though if Stark is coming, you’ll be occupied for sure.” Heat rises on her cheeks as the light teasing, shaking her head, she snorts taking her leave. Innately scratching her nose in a sense of nerves bundling in her belly, Clint ask for the medical report.

“Improving. Still showing signs of slur speech, a bit lethargic and her mind…” Dasha pauses knowing she had to fight off the natural ability to use her power. “Mobility is intact, almost at one hundred percent.”

“Good. That’s good to hear.” Thankfully, Clint doesn’t press the gap in between her small statement to him. Another thing she didn’t question is her knowledge of his family. Of course she was in shock when she came to her senses and remembered what she gone through. But there is a non-verbal consent of keeping that piece of information to herself and she understands.

There is a low buzz, a vibration spreading across the small island standing between them. Her eyes dart to the mobile slowly scuttling through the pulsations, the name Emma coming up on her screen.

“Aren’t you going to pick up?”

“What’s the point? She would want to know everything and I can’t give that to her right now.” As much as she loves her best friend, the one person that she can rely on, no—she thought Jak was her person, but it turns out that he was her monitor. Besides he went dark after the recovery of the tesseract and Loki, not that she minded, it made it easier for her to ignore the stinging sensation of betrayal from him.

Though she isn’t the only one trying to call her, her father has as well and Ororo. Her three constants in her life wanting to know how she is doing and she can’t bring herself to pick up the phone. With her front teeth lodging into her thumbnail, she didn’t hear the loud commotion of her boyfriend coming up behind her.

When Tony wraps his arms around her form, giving a small kiss on her temple, an odd gesture for the behavior this past week, she doesn’t say a word. As his chin lands on her shoulder, he eyes her phone, buzzing once again to notify that there is a voicemail.

“Aren’t you gonna answer that? She won’t stop calling until you do.”

Sucking her teeth, Dasha grumbles, “Are you going to answer Pepper’s calls?”

“I do answer…for a brief period of time.” There is a twinge of playfulness in his tone as he nuzzles into her neck further. The snort from his girlfriend of disbelief causes him to pout, he does answer her calls, just if she talks about anything other than obligations of being the heir of the Stark name he doesn’t want to hear it. Tony does not want to share his feelings about his near death experience.

Not now.

Not ever.

The billionaire hums as he nibbles happily across her neck, noticing the fading marks splatter across her collarbone. The bruising force of Loki immobilizing her before he put her under the power of the scepter. His fingers nimbly pull the fabric to conceal the marks as he trails his way to the side of her neck, glad that she gives him access.

A small groan leaves her lips, “You are such a liar.”

“Actually I was telling the truth on that one.” The blunt nails of his fingertips graze the soft skin of her pelvis sending a few shivers down her spine. As she look upon her view, she laces her fingers with his, her thumb caressing the side of his hand to remind herself that he’s here, with her, safe and sound.

“I thought I lost you.” She mutters honestly. “I hurt you and I thought I lost you.” The tenderness that her voice holds, slowly breaking as she opens the fresh wounds that are bounding her to breathe properly. Everything that she has done is racing in her mind, reliving every moment multiple times hoping she can lament for what she has done.

Tony stays silent, the grip on her fingers tighten. “I know, kiddo. I know.” He doesn’t know what else to say, how to console her. There is nothing he can do. Everyone has been telling her like a broken record that it isn’t her fault. It won’t make a difference if he repeats those words. So he lets her vent. As much as she wants without judgement or interruption.

“Then to find out that you are okay and the next thing I know you are falling from the sky. I felt no pulse. I felt no—brain activity. There was nothing. It was like you died and I can’t…” Tears threaten to spill as she fights back her emotions. Swiftly blinking to avoid such a distraught state, she feels her lips quivering. “You are a pain in my ass. All the time. You get under my skin and provoke me, testing my patience every.single.day. And yet, I can’t imagine my days without you. It’s corny as fuck, romance has never been my strong suit. I’m awkward and weird when it comes to this. But you scared the shit out of me, Tony. You made my heart stop, for all the wrong reasons. The last time I felt like this was when I lost my mother. I had a mental connection with her and now I have it with Ivy. I have one with you, but not as strong, though I felt it. It felt like the way I lost my mom, it was severed beyond repair and in that moment I thought you were gone. You can’t scare me like that, Tony because if you do I will never forgive you.”

As much as she wants to fit it, tears start to fall. A small whimper escapes as Tony pull her in, letting her face cradle to the side of his neck, one hand nestle on the back of her neck as the other looping around her middle.

“It’s alright, sunshine. It’s alright.” His heart breaks as he mutters an apology of bringing her that much pain. He didn’t realize that she holds him in that regard, yes he is aware that she loves him as much as she fights it on a daily basis, but for her to confess in such a way—her own personal peculiar way, he feels the love that she holds for him.

For the first time, his heart warmth spreads through his chest and seeps into the tips of his toes. He loves this woman and he loves her deeply.