You wince, jumping slightly as a second later Steve takes your hands in his.
Sitting in the back of the cramped SUV, he has reached across your lap and pulled your hands apart, separating your thumb from your palm. But it doesn't matter, you've already dug the edge of your nail into your skin so roughly that you've started to bleed.
"You're going to be fine," Steve whispers. He holds your hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. But that call to your Perception flares and you tug your hand from his grasp as a tear slips down your cheek.
"Cap's right, squirt. Look who you've got on your side," says Tony, adjusting the rearview mirror to catch your eye as he drives. "They don't stand a chance."
You let out a quiet, stifled sob as Natasha glances over her shoulder from the front seat, her pistol resting un-holstered in her lap - ready to fire at the first sign of trouble. You don't have the heart to tell her it doesn't matter how quickly she draws - HYDRA will find you, and they will take you. They never fail a recall. Ever. You witnessed a handful of them during your time as a prisoner. Experiments that had been let out into society and monitored until they "malfunctioned", or otherwise needed to be brought back to HYDRA. Memories ooze in flashes of tear-stained faces and raw screams as you remember how familiar faces of your fellow experiments were dragged back to the chambers after months - or years - of freedom only to be tossed in Trial Rooms, or killed immediately. There had never been a experiment they hadn't successfully recalled. And if you're being recalled, it's unlikely you'll be put to death, which truthfully would be the preferable option.
When they catch you, you'll be put right back into the Trial Rooms.
"How much further to the safehouse, Tony?" you ask in a trembling whisper.
"About 4 hours."
Paranoid, you keep a close eye on each of the cars on the road for the remainder of the journey. Once, you spot a black town car following you for at least ten or eleven exits. But just as you were about to say something, it veered off, and you did not see it again.
Eventually, Tony turns off the highway and follows a long, winding road for several miles. He finally turns off, driving yet another several miles down an unpaved, gravel path. The hills grow bigger until forests take the place of open fields. Surrounded on both sides by dense trees, you finally emerge on the other side, breaking out of the treeline to spot a small hill in the distance. Sitting right on top in the clearing is a farm house - small, and somewhat run down.
No walls. No guards. No cameras or SHIELD agents. No security.
"Is this...is this it?" you ask, staring incredulously.
"Yup," says Tony, pulling up beside the white, two-story homestead. "We're here kid."
Nervous and confused, you step from the SUV and follow the Avengers toward the home. But you stop dead in your tracks when you see a woman only a handful of years older than yourself emerge onto the patio, followed by two young children.
"Daddy!" they cry out, running up to Clint.
"Lila-bear!" he calls out, scooping up the young girl as the elder boy wraps himself around his father's leg. "Careful there, Coop," he laughs, nuzzling Lila's cheek lovingly as he uses his free hand to ruffle the boy's hair.
Your blood runs ice cold.
They brought me to Clint's home? To his family?
"No," you say out loud, taking several steps back. The Avengers all turn to look at you. "I can't be here," you say, continuing to step backwards. "It's too dangerous."
YOU ARE READING
Unfettered (Loki x Reader)
Fanfiction'You are my Valkyrie. And I would follow you across the nine realms and into eternity.' Tortured by HYDRA and liberated by S.H.I.E.L.D, you join the Avengers to use your newfound abilities to interrogate The God of Mischief. But when you find yourse...
