Sunshine | Pietro Maximoff

CHAPTER 8

I awoke in a cold sweat, sitting upright in my bed. I rubbed my hands over my face and let out a sigh. I felt as if the accident were only yesterday the way I remembered every detail of that night. Being in this room didn't help, either. Getting up, I wrapped the bath robe beside my bed over the clothes I wore.

I headed out the room and made my way to the front porch. I saw Clint sitting on the steps in silence. Eyebrows furrowed slightly, I sat beside him.

"What are you doing up?" I asked.

He turned his head to face me, clearly startled. "I could ask you the same thing." He said.

"I asked you first." I reasoned, a small smile on my face.

He let out a chuckle and shook his head. "You got me there." He said. "I was just... thinking about Laura.. and the kids.."

Clint let out a sigh and looked out over the farm. It was approaching three in the morning and the farm was still covered in darkness.

"Ultron isn't messing around. Neither are those kids." He continued. " If something happens to me, what happens to Laura? What if Ultron finds her?"

I placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. I had no idea what to say.

"Sorry to dump this all on you... It's just.. nice to let it out, ya know?" He said.

"I know." I nodded my head.

I placed my head on his shoulder and we sat in silence, looking out into the night.

"How about you?" Clint asked. "What's keeping you awake, kiddo?"

I let out a sigh before speaking. "I had a dream... the night I ran away."

Clint remained silent and I continued.

"I remembered every detail so vividly... It was so real..."

Clint spoke up, cutting me off before I could finish.

"You know we looked for you for hours that night?" He told me.

I lifted my head from his shoulder and looked at him, eyebrows drawn together.

"You did?" I asked.

Clint nodded. "All night. All day. Weeks turned into months. But, we never stopped looking, Ophelia." He said.

A teary smile grew on my face. I had no idea they cared about me that much.

"Nat heard that someone fitting your description was found in a little town out of the way. They reported seeing random flashes of light and Nat knew it was you."

A tear ran down my cheek as I listened to what Clint had to say.

"Kid, you have no idea how happy we were when Nat said she found you." Clint turned his head to face me. "You were shaken up, but you were okay. That was all that mattered; that you were okay."

~*~

That evening, Fury paid us a visit; catching us up on how everything was going out in the world. He walked around the kitchen, making himself a drink.