𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐏𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐘 ━ ⋆ marvel

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Ⅳ. ‎SCATTERED

SOMEWHERE NEAR DC, 2014

└── 【🕷࿐°*˖✧⋅⍟⋅✧˖*°࿐🕷】 ──┘

The day prior, Noelle had been disturbingly content with James' new idea, the concept of freedom. It had made her feel safe, content, hopeful, all new things, and words that Noelle wasn't sure she had ever felt before, but after being jolted awake by flashes of a past that felt like pins and needles, burning across her whole body, Noelle was immediately reunited with the fear and simple self preservation that had kept her alive all this time.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Her heart pounded in her chest, the steady drum like beating long forgotten, as it thundered against her rids, and seemed to fill the room with its rapid echo. Noelle's eyes fogged up, as her nose began to burn with repressed tears, and terror. "Солдат?" Soldier? Noelle croaked, sniffling, and wiping her eyes as she looked around the room for him, or at least any evidence that he was still there at all.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Noelle usually tried not to cry, it never ended well for her. Crying was a good way to draw attention to yourself, which was, in Noelle's experience, terrible. Freeze, hide, do as told. Then again, there was no one there to tell her what to do, and Noelle was scared, so scared, so she began to wail even louder. "Солдат?" Soldier? She echoed again, peeling herself out of bed and taking a few steps into the middle of the room. "Soldier!" She tried again in English, hoping that his new favorite language would draw him out of hiding.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ To her left, towards the bathroom, Noelle caught the sound of urgent shuffling, and the tell tale click of a lock. James' presence filled the space almost immediately, as the cheap door creaked open, and he wiped the remnants of something frothy and white from the corners of his mouth, something Noelle quickly recognized as toothpaste.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ "Home!" She shouted at him before he could say anything at all, watching as his simply expectant expression morphed into concern, and then straight into confusion, with perhaps yet another heaping spoonful of concern. Noelle never raised her voice, yet there she was, voice high as he had ever heard it, except for when she was screaming.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ A chill ran down his spine, and guilt settled somewhere deep in his gut, and perhaps in the back of his mind too; he could almost hear it, the awful sound of her being dragged away, and the knowledge that he had done nothing. He shook it off, tilting his head at her. "Home?" He asked simply, voice gruff.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Noelle made a frustrated gesture with her hands, squeezing them into fists in front of her, before shaking them out as she tried to formulate a thought. "Нам нужно вернуться, Солдат! Они причинят тебе боль!" We need to go back, Soldier! They'll hurt you! She tried again, finding the words she needed much faster this way. "Они убьют меня, пожалуйста! Нам нужно идти!" They'll kill me, please! We need to go! The girl screamed, and for an instant, James froze.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ James knew that he had seen Noelle afraid before, but this wasn't just fear, or her anxiously awaiting the inevitable, this was pure, unadulterated terror, the kind he had seen in the eyes of so many before, the kind of terrified you are before you die. She really did think she was going to die.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Words continued to spew from her, a record amount, perhaps more than she had uttered in her entire 11 years, all as she attempted to convince James to turn back, to take her home- if they went back, HYDRA couldn't be mad at them, she had said. But James knew it wasn't true. With a sigh, he crouched down, his covered knees hitting the scratchy carpet. He was almost at her eye level this way. "We're not going back." James stated simply, his tone strong, sharp, instantly putting an end to Noelle's screaming. This was a plan, an order. Noelle could follow those. He swallowed before saying the next part. "And no one is going to lay a finger on you."