Dark heart

Chapter 11

A few days had passed since the incident. I hadn't spoken to Tony during that time or told anyone about my brief relapse. Only Loki knew about it and kept an eye on me the whole time. But now it seemed like I would have to start talking to my brother again, because we had a mission. "It looks like Hydra is regrouping. The last ones left have retreatet to an old base that has been unused for the last few years and are trying to rebuild the organisation," he explained as everyone gathered around the large table in the conference room. "And where would that be?," Nat wanted to know and in response Tony showed us a map on the big screen. "Southern France," he added, zooming in on a small village a few miles outside of Marseille. I sucked in a sharp breath when I saw what he was getting at an looked nervously at Bucky. He was already shifting uneasily back and forth in his chair. "We haven't been able to secure any maps of the facility so this will be more or less a blind trip but Bucky and Alex will serve as our navigators," Tony continued and we both nodded curtly. The others gave us questioning looks so I enlightened them: "This is the facility where we were held for six years." 

"We were only released from our cells for training and missions, and I was also released for experiments, but after all the time there we were able to get a good overview," I continued and saw some nodding.  "What exactly do we have to do? Just arrest the bastards there and bring them to Fury or are there scourges again?," Clint wanted to know. "According to our informations only the agents are there so no rescue operation this time," Tony replied. "What's the best way to get in there?," Wanda now asked Bucky and me directly and we exchanged a very insightful look. "Over the roof," he finally said in return. "We had the chance to escape once and the way to the roof is the least secure. We didn't get very far from there but until we got to the top it seemed to be the easiest way," I added and saw the pictures from our escape attemt infront of my inner eye. Unfortunately also the consequences; they weren't exactly pleasant. The others nodded and we spread out in our rooms to get ready. 

Barely ten minutes later everyone except Steve was in the Quinjet, I had ordered him strict bed rest so he stayed here even tho he didn't like it at all. Nat and Clint readied the jet for takeoff and the tailgate closed behind Bucky who slid down to the ground beside me. "Make yourselfes comfortable. The flight will take a couple of hours," Nat called out to all of us and one by one the others also let themselfes drop to the ground. Loki sat leaning against the wall opposite me looking at me out of his piercing green eyes. I hardly dared to breath so much he held me captive in his gaze. "I was hoping to never have to go back," Bucky whispered to me and I had to forced myself to take my eyes off Loki. "I know Buck, so did I. But we won't stay there.," I tried to cheer both of us up. With slightly trembling fingers he reached for my and and squeezed it lightly. We'd both been through quiet a bit of trauma because of this facility and Hydra. 

"You two have been through a lot, haven't you?," Wanda wanted to know and I just nodded with a sad smile. "It was a long time in those cells, and not a pleasant one," Bucky said and I heard the pain in his voice. He had been with Hydra much longer than I and for me those six years were already enough to develop a full-grown PTSD. I couldn't imagine what this must have done to him. But in the time when our cells were right next to each other, only connected by a grid on the bottom of the back corner of the wall, we had a lot of time to get to know each other and so I knew what always cheered him up. I began tu quietly hum the song we always used to sing together on bad days to turn our minds to different things and in fact a little smile came on his lips. "You know I'm not gonna start singing here, right Sweetheart?," he just said and I actually had to grin. 

"Sing?," Peter asked and looked at us surprised. "Everytime one of us had a particulary bad day we would always sing that one song. Then for a few minutes everything was not that bad," Bucky explained and laughed quietly. "Not that any of us could sing well," I added and the mood in the jet went up significantly. "You're to humble Alex. She means, she can sing and I don't," Bucky corrected me and the redness shot into my cheeks. "Okay now I want to hear something from you Alex," Thor said with a triumphant grin and as everyone agreed I buried my head in my hands ashamed. Why did I have to start with that? I shook my red head looking to Tony for help but he just shrugged his shoulders with a grin. "Come on, it's just us and I promise to you that noone will laugh," Clint encouraged me from the front and I sighted, well-knowing I lost. I took a deep breath to get my nervousness before I started singing the chorus of Aurora's "Runaway".

While I was singing I had been looking at Loki the whole time, without even realizing it, who now looked at me completely stunned. "Wow," he whispered, smiling at me so genuinely that I was blushing again. "That was great Alex," Wanda praised me and the others also looked at me stunned. "Thank you," I mumbled kinda embarrassed. "Why have you never sung infront of us before? You are great," Peter wanted to know and I just shrugged my shoulders uncertainly. I never thaught of myself as particulary good and accordingly I had never dared to sing infront of anyone other than my brother or Bucky. Never would I have expected to get such a reaction from the others and it felt super good.