Being a Banner [ 1 of JA ]

52

I wonder if Dad had ran to Dalia's apartment after I left to try and find her. Maybe they teamed up and are coming to find me. Or maybe they took Dad away and locked him up somewhere. I didn't want to think about it, but then I started to picture it. My mind started forming pictures of Dad in a straight jacket in a cushioned room, something that always terrified me.
Phil and I had met a lady at the front doors of JKF Airport. She was tall with a black jacket, black suit and boots with her brown hair pinned in a low bun. Her face looked like stone as she wore the same blank expression. It wasn't blank, actually, it was a straight-up "I hate you," face. She never broke away from it. Her name was Agent Hill, But Phil called her Maria.
      It was cold in the airport, and they had given me a duffle bag full of black clothes with their organi-zation symbol in the left breast of the shirts. They made me change into it, and since it was cold I threw on a jacket I found inside the bag. It was nice, but I felt like I was betraying Dad, wearing the clothes of the people taking me away from him.
      Maria was in the bathroom with me, waiting outside my stall like she thought I was going to run away. They were smart people.
      Phil was kind enough to ask the guards to stay in the van, to give me a break and not make a commotion at the airport.
"You're going to New Mexico," Maria said as we walked along the gates, maneuvering around people.
"Why?" I ask. "Nothing's there,"
"Exactly," she says in a snappy tone, but not to be obnoxious. I could tell it was her attitude.
We had been through checkout, but I had no chance of running away. I felt like a zombie following the two agents. Every part of me wanted to fall off, and all I wanted to do was cry.
I began wondering if it was my fault that I never spent more time with Dad. I spent years wallowing in the thought that he would drop his work to come home and stay forever. I should've gone and visited him, but now years of our time together was lost, and now we can't ever gain it back.
The gates that would take me out of New York appeared, and though it was still a long ways away, I saw my past flashing before my eyes as voices of those I knew would soon become those I once knew.
"That's a friend, Thor,"
      "Who's Thor?"
      "He's a friend of ours, he's saying hi,"
      Sometimes I wonder if he made up the name to make me feel better.
"You, me, forever babe."
"You, me, forever dude."
I remember that being the only time he's ever said it, but when I was younger he would smile at me and I could see it in his eyes—we were both thinking it.
"You fall, I fall. . ."
      "You fall, I fall."
      Soon we're standing near the gate, and Maria pulls out a bunch of papers from her pocket. I'm not sure where she had the time for it, but maybe since she's an agent they can take someone out of the country as quickly as possible.
      "Come on, the faster we get here the faster the plane takes off." That made my stomach turn. I stay where I am, watching other people before us, boarding and waiting to bored. Phil comes to my side, and I feel his bright blue eyes on me.
      "You look just like your Mother," he says. I perk up and look into his eyes.
      "You knew my Mom?"
      Phil nods, "Yeah, I mean, I only met her once, but I had no idea they were going to have you," Phil explains. His eyes dart to the ground. "I don't think they were married when they had you. . .did Bruce get married?" I shrug as Phil looks over at me. He chuckles and pulls out his phone.
The way he smiled and talked was calm, like someone I could talk to. Looking at Maria I realized that Phil probably was the better one to talk to.
"Agent Coulson," I whisper.
"Please, call me Phil," he says as he tucks his phone back into his pocket.
"Okay, Phil," I swallowed hard. "I don't want to go,"
Maybe he's done this a thousand times, or he was giving me sympathy, but he sighs and shakes his head.
"I'm sorry Kerry, it's what we got to do. Maybe you never should've been with your father in the first place. I can see that it wasn't your choice to stay or leave, but your father is and has been documented to be seen as a threat to some organizations—"
"I can control him," I tell Phil softly. "I've been able to help him after he transforms, and when he's the Hulk I'm able to make sure he doesn't hurt anybody." Phil looks at me skeptically, but his eyes say otherwise. "Please don't make me go," I whisper.
"Coulson, give the kid her boarding pass," Maria says sharply, although she probably didn't mean it that way. Phil looks from me to Maria, and he pardons himself from me and walks over to Maria. He whispers to her, and by her crinkled face I can tell she doesn't like it.
"No," she snaps. "Fury's orders: take the girl out of New York just until this all blows over,"
"Fury's idea of 'until it blows over' is six months or a year in protection! We can't let her stay in New York if. . ."
      Maria's voice fades away, and instead a sharp ringing fills my ears. Suddenly, my gut tightens and my shoulders began to feel prickly. My brain is heavy but I can feel someone close. I can sense fear in someone else, I can feel their heart pounding. As I turn to look behind me in a sea of businessmen and families flying out, I feel this invisible rope leading me right down a path in the middle. I thought I was gonna vomit, and it was the day at school all over again. Except, I didn't vomit.
The pull, I thought. He's here.
      I run in the direction I can feel the imaginary line, pulling the both of us together. Phil and Maria weren't behind me, so I ran faster, hoping it'd save me time to meet him. Right and left I dodged people, shouting at them to get out of my way in the nicest way possible, and it was very effective. The ocean of people was somewhat tight, but that was because they moved slow while I moved fast.
      "Excuse me!" I shouted. "Move!"
      "What the hell—"
      "Pardon me please!" I shoved an older woman wearing a sun hat hard.
      "Jesus Christ!"
      "Sorry!" I maneuvered around people the best I could without hitting them.
      Once deep in the middle of the crowd, I tripped over my own feet because I wore boots that Phil gave me that we're a size too big. I fall forward with my arms out to break the fall, but someone runs into me and accidentally catches me as he begins to go down.
      "Sorry!" We both say as we awkwardly pick each other up. Looking up at the man, I notice kind brown eyes and curls that look familiar. I take off the hat on his head as the man moves the curls out from his face. Before I can smile Dad pulls me in a tight hug, sighing and quietly sobbing.
      "Thank God—they told me I'd be too late and it wasn't worth it. They don't know I'm here—"
      "Are you okay?" I ask.
      "Yes! Let's go before they find us!" Dad takes my hand and we run through the airport.
      "Where are we going?" I ask as we pass the food court.
      "I'm thinking Florida—Key Largo maybe—no, Fort Walton!" Dad huffs with excitement.
      "I've wanted to go back to the beach!" I exclaim. Dad smiles and nods, laughing as he holds my hand tighter.
      "We can't tell anybody—I hope you lost your phone, because you can't tell Jax, Levi—hell, not even How—" Dad falls to the ground hard, landing on his arms. He takes me down with him, but I roll easily across the marble floor.
      "Woah!" I shriek seeing my father down. "Dad, are you okay?"
      He groans and slightly moves, and when he does I see a something small and white sticking out of his shoulder blade. When I pulled it out, I realized it was a needle, an empty syringe with what looked like leftover water. Something told me it wasn't water.
      "Dad! Get up!" I screech. He doesn't move but covers his head with his arms. "Dad please! We need to get to Florida!" People soon surround us, and one lady asks if she should call 911. Suddenly, I can hear the faint shouting behind the crowd of someone yelling about being an agent.
I turn Dad over on his back, only to see him start to fall out of consciousness.
"No, no, no! Dad look at me! Look at me!" I grab his face and tilt his head up so his eyes can roll back down. "They're here! We need to go! You got to get up! Release Hulk if you have to!"
"N. . .no. . ." Dad groans.
Behind me I hear, "Let us through! Agents of Shield—"
"Dad come on!" I yell. Dad grabs my hand, and as he groans he opens his tired eyes wide enough to look into mine. He grits his teeth in pain before swallowing hard and whispering very softly, so soft that I could hardly hear him.
"Run. . ."
"There she is—" some agent grabbed me just as I was about to bolt. I saw agents who were dressed exactly like the ones who invaded my apartment.
      "Let me go!" I scream as the crowd begins to expand and give us room. Two agents kneel next to Dad, picking him up slowly as three more carried a hand-held stretcher. "Please be careful with him! Don't hurt him!"
      "Take her to the gate, agents," Maria tells the agents holding me.
      "No!" I scream as I start squirming. One agent lets go on accident, which gives me a rush of energy, my power even, to push the other agent into the crowd. The agent who let go of me tries to grab me, but I elbow him hard in the gut. It was something I'd never think I'd do in life, and I didn't know how to fight either, but my brain told my muscles exactly what to do.
      Without warning a hand grabs my shoulder, and yanks me back as something sharp punctures my shoulder blade through my shirt. My legs suddenly feel like noodles, and the world around me starts fading away. I fall back but someone catches me. The last thing I hear is Maria saying that the order has been compromised, and the last thing I see is Phil sadly looking down at me before my eyes close shut.

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Wow this chapter is way better than the og