Falling (Bucky Barnes)

9 - Breakdown and a Disappearing Clint

Before Elissa can say anything, Loki disappears leaving her alone with questions and worry. She plops down on her bed as her mind runs through everything he could have seen. A knock comes at her door and she doesn't reply. She can't move. She can't speak. She can't do anything. Instead, she sits on her bed staring at the ground, her watery eyes never wandering. Again a knock is heard at her door, but she can't get it.

The door opens and Clint walks into her room. He smiles when he sees her, but it immediately falters when he sees her face. "'lissa what happened hun?" he questions, rushing up to crouch down to her height.

Seeing him makes the tears flow faster. What would he think if he knew? He would be so ashamed, he would hate her, he would turn away and leave. She closes her eyes tight at the thought of disappointing someone who has been so kind and wonderful to her for so long. He never touched her without permission unless by accident and he never hurt her. Clint took care of her when she was ill and Natasha was on a mission and Pepper was out of town.

He grows more worried as the tears pour down harder. He has never seen her cry. Something must have really upset her. He tries to think of what could possibly make her this upset and he remembers: Loki is at the tower today, he still doesn't trust him after getting mind-controlled by him and everything even though they just came from a meeting for that exact purpose. "Did Loki do something? I swear to-"

"No," she shakes her head, cutting him off. He looks to her expecting an explanation, but he doesn't get anything.

"Do you want to go get some ice cream?" he offers, he knows her favourite place is always able to take her mind off of things when they get tough. She also loves going on walks so that might cheer her up a bit too.

She chuckles, sadness still evident in it, and says, "sure."

He grins, "great!"

She stands up and dries her face. Maybe he won't get upset if Loki tells him? She hopes that he won't.

Clint literally disappears, vanishing from sight in the middle of walking and she looks around in confusion. Where did he go?

Nicholas Fury storms into conference room 3A and sees Steve, Sam, and Loki in the room. "Loki, go fetch Elissavet and Clint for me," Fury sharply orders.

"Just what makes you think I will go around doing your bidding?" he sneers.

Fury retorts, "because I am assuming that you'd rather be able to go freely around the tower than be stuck in a tiny cell."

Bringing a now confused Clint into the room, Loki scowls, "what do you need her for?"

Looking around him in confusion Clint begins, "What-"

"A mission," he briefly answers, cutting the bewildered assassin off.

Loki grins, time for drama. "Are you sure you want her to go with?" he sardonically questions.

"What do you mean?" Fury shoots back.

Loki shakes his head feigning concern and pity, "she could be a liability."

"What are you talking about? Elissa is a great fighter and she is wonderful with her healing powers." Fury strongly declares.

"Yes, she may be skilled in those areas, but what is a team without trust?" he dramatically poses.

"Oh come on, she trusts us," Clint argues.

Hesitantly, Steve steps in, "does she though?" Everyone turns to him in shock. "I mean just look at yesterday Clint. You went to sit next to her on the couch and she immediately moved as far away from you as possible. When you got up she tried to suppress her flinch that followed. She always looks so tense, she is fidgety, and whenever any of us even look at her she looks terrified," he explains.

"I have to agree with Steve on this one, guys," Sam confesses. "I mean have any of you guys had a conversation with her where she actually talks? Where she actually is engaged in it?"

"Yes, she only trusts three people in this tower and I can tell you it's not any of you," Loki divulges.

The three men are saddened by this revelation. They should have done something to make her feel safer. Clint's heart breaks knowing he isn't someone she trusts makes him upset with himself. He wants to be there for her and he thought that he was doing a very good job.

Steve is saddened, although not surprised. He is mostly just confused. What did he do wrong? Why doesn't she trust him? Did he say something? He wants to know how to set it right. He needs her to trust him, but how can he do that if he doesn't know the reason why she doesn't trust him in the first place?

Sam is confused and sad, although not as affected as the other two. He isn't very upset because he hasn't spent much time with her. He understands that since he hasn't given her a reason to trust him he hasn't earned it yet. Foolishly figuring that he can easily win it over, he shrugs it off thinking it's not a big deal that she doesn't trust him for now.

Fury sighs. Although Loki is right, he wanted to get Elissa on the field because she hasn't been on the field in a long time. He decides that since this isn't a very high-risk mission, he will let her sit it out since there are likely to be no serious fatal injuries. "Right, Loki, get out so we can discuss the meeting," Fury orders.

"Hey have any of you all seen Clint?" Elissavet asks, scanning the room. She is still so confused as to how he just disappeared.

She is startled by Loki, who popped up behind her, "he is being sent on a mission."

Bucky notices how Elissa jumped and backed away hurriedly from Loki and he glares at him. He didn't like how close he was.

Elissa feels awkward with the tension in the room so she scurries away to her room, not looking back. Loki watches her leave and shrugs. He makes the book he borrowed from Elissa appear in his hand and he reads it as he walks to find a quiet place to read. "Isn't that Elissavet's book?" Vision questions, eyeing the book in Loki's hand.

Loki looks up from the book with a deadly glare, "yes."

"What are you doing with it?" Bucky asks, thinking that he stole it.

"Reading," he replies before turning back to the book and continuing to walk away.

Bucky rolls his eyes, "no I meant why do you have it? It should be in her bedroom."

Loki pauses not looking back. His annoyed face looks murderous. "I went into her room and she let me pick one out." He smirks when he adds, "I even got to see a lot of her sketches, they're quite good if I say so myself." With that, he walks away from the room.

Bucky watches with confusion as the god leaves the room. He can't be telling the truth. She never lets anyone see her sketchbooks. She also doesn't usually let people borrow her books either.

Although he's not sure if that's because she doesn't allow people to or if it's because no one has ever asked her.