Such Sweet Nothing

All I could feel was scared and alone; the tiny flicker of life left in me was leaving as I tried grasping through the fear to something more. No, this wasn’t how I was supposed to be feeling. I closed my eyes and concentrated on slamming that part of my mind shut, slowly the fear and loneliness was ebbing away until I was brought back into my own emotions. I gasped for air my lungs felt like they were going to explode.

“That was better, but still it took way too long.” I reached up to wipe the stream of blood away from my nose and upper lip.

“Well, I have been doing this for over six hours, my brain is a little tired.” Aria only shrugged her shoulders as if to say ‘tough shit’.

“It’s the only way you are going to improve.” She didn’t even give me a warning before the next hologram popped up in front of me and I couldn’t hold back the anguished cry.

“Aria, shut it off!” She ignored me and I felt myself pulled under the weight of my father’s emotions of the night he died. The scene was a familiar one as the walls of the training room dissolved and I was placed in my dad’s old lab. He was laying on the floor under the ruins that were once a safe haven to us both. I could feel his fear loneliness, disappointment, and determination as if it were my own. I stood up from my chair and walked over to kneel down next to him, just as I had done when I was younger. I didn’t want to slam the force field down, I wanted to know how he was feeling.

“Dad?” I felt the cold tears stream down my face and mix with the warm blood that was making a trail down my lips and down to my chin. I went to grab his shoulder but my hand went right through and hit the ground.

“Kylie, I am so sorry.” I gripped at my chest as my pain mixed with his, I could no longer tell where he began and I ended. He was so sad at the thought of leaving me, alone. He was looking at something that wasn’t there; he was looking at a younger me.

“It’s okay.” I whispered as I felt a rage rip its way through my head. I went to reach for his hand and began pulsing out calming feelings to try and ease his pain.

“Dad, I’m here.” I couldn’t see him as just a hologram anymore. He went to reach for the ring around his neck when suddenly he was gone and I was left kneeling in the training room, alone.

“Kylie?” I pushed the heels of my hands into my eyes as I slammed to the ground on my ass and let my arms rest on my thighs. I was trying to breath but found the task difficult. I heard shouting from the control room but ignored it as I stared at the spot on the floor my dad had been.

“What the hell where you thinking!?” Bruce’s voice roared as the door opened and someone’s hand was on my shoulder.

“I didn’t know!” Aria shot back, her voice just as loud as Bruce’s had been.

“Somehow I have a really hard time believing that.” I looked at the hand that was on my shoulder and let my eyes follow up to his arm and finally to look at his face.

“Tony, can you get me something to wipe up all of this blood?” Bruce called over his shoulder as he got on his knees next to me. My gaze went back to spot he had been laying and he gripped my hand. It was a floodgate of emotions but I could tell he was angry but happy to see me above everything else. I closed off that part of my mind and tried to shut off my own emotions but I knew that was an impossible feat.

“Let me see your face.” He spoke softly now as he let my hand go and gently grabbed my jaw in between his index finger and thumb. I turned my head to look at him but didn’t meet his eyes.

“Jesus.” He muttered as he wiped my chin and lips and then finally he placed it underneath my nose to catch the fresh blood.

“Get Fury down here, now.” Tony wasn’t shouting but even I felt colder at his icy tone.

“Hey.” I looked up at Bruce, he wiped the tears away from underneath my lashes as he brought his hand around to grip the back of my head as he pulled me into his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, we should have gotten here sooner.” There was something in the way that he was apologizing that just made me cry harder.

“What the hell happened?” Steve’s voice met my ears but I just gripped Bruce’s shirt in my hands tightly.

“They used a hologram of her father, dying.” I made a noise that didn’t sound human and I felt a blast of anger and pain radiate from my mind. Bruce let go of me like I had shocked him and I heard Tony and Steve take a few steps back from me.

“Kylie?” Bruce’s hands were shaking as he was struggled with the idea of grabbing me or not.

“How did they get that? How did they-“ I had to place my hands on my head because it began to hurt.

“Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner, what can I help you with?” His sarcastic tone made me stand up and spin around to face him so quickly I felt like I had vertigo.

“What don’t I know!?” I exploded and I didn’t care if everyone around me could feel what I was feeling at the moment.

“Dr. Munroe, you need to calm down or control yourself.” I looked in the direction Fury was and saw Bruce with his eyes closed and his fists clenched tight. I brought my feelings back into my own head and saw him physically relax as he opened his eyes again.

“You better start fucking talking.” I growled as I felt Bruce behind me. Tony and Steve were both staring at him too, anger etched on their faces.

“Unless it’s just a god damn coincidence S.H.I.E.L.D. had a recording of my father dying and of me being there when he died.”