One Second and a Million Miles

Chapter 4

A/N - As per usual, dreams are in italics.

Madison woke up around noon and left her room.

Stark and Banner were still in the lab working on the scepter.

Now that she somewhat knew what was going on, she would be prepared the next time she pulled Pietro into her dreams.

"Would you like some breakfast, Miss Barton?" JARVIS asked her.

"Um, no thank you". Madison made her way to the elevator and went to the training floor. If she was going to help the team, then she needed to know how to use her powers.

Now was a good time as any to start.

Daggers were always her strongest weapon, so she started with those. Madison raised a hand in the direction of them and concentrated, willing them to come to her.

If Thor could do it with his hammer, then why couldn't she do it with her knives?

Nothing happened. Madison huffed and tried again, putting all her energy into it. A knife came soaring towards her and Madison ducked as it embedded itself in the wall behind her.

Okay, so maybe she shouldn't have started with point objects.

Madison walked over to the storage closet and pulled out some tennis balls that her father used when practicing his aim and response time. Madison sat down on the floor with them and picked one up in her hand. She opened her hand, the ball sitting in her palm.

After a few minutes, she was able to make the ball float a few inches off her hand.

After a few hours, Madison was able to make them float feet in the air above her head and manipulate their positions.

Green tendrils of magic flowed between the tennis balls.

If she kept this up, she would be able to do whatever she wanted. Madison already knew how to summon her weapons to her like she had in DC.

"Madison!"

The sound of her father calling her name broke her concentration and tennis balls dropped to the ground. One of them rolled towards her father and hit his foot. He picked it up and tossed it up in the air, catching it. "Practicing?" he asked her.

Madison flicked her wrist and the tennis balls were back in the closet.

"Woah", he said.

"And that's with just a few hours". Madison stood up and felt dizzy.

Clint rushed forward to steady her. "Easy there, Baby Bird", he said, "Have you eaten today?"

Madison's head was pounding as she shook her head.

"C'mon, before you pass out", her father said leading her out of the training area.

Clearly, she needed to build up resistance to her powers so she didn't seriously hurt herself.

Madison found herself sitting in a coffee shop with no recollection of how she got here. Her surroundings told her that she was still in New York, because she could see Avengers tower in the distance. Madison glanced across the table and Pietro. Once again, her subconscious had dragged him into her dreams.

"How did I get here?" he asked her. Pietro was confused. Why was this girl in his dreams again?

"Sorry about what happened last night. I'm still getting used to my powers".

"That's okay. I rather enjoyed it", he said smirking.

Normally a comment like that would have made Madison angry, but this time it didn't. Maybe it was because on some fundamental level, she enjoyed it too.

"So who exactly are you?" Pietro asked.

"Madison Barton, you nearly got my father killed".

"The bowman is your father?"

"Could you not tell by the way I nearly shot you with my bow?"

"I hadn't really noticed. I was too busy noticing how good you looked in that suit".

Madison cursed herself for blushing at the comment.

"You're adorable when you blush", Pietro said leaning towards her.

Madison's heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest.

"Would you mind explaining how we got here?" Pietro asked.

While Madison was talking, Pietro set his hand on hers.

Madison decided to leave out the whole "soulmates" thing because she still wasn't sure she believed in the concept.

"So, you actually died?" Pietro asked her.

"I nearly did".

"So this god gave you these powers?"

Madison nodded. "His scepter is the one who gave you your powers".

"We're not so different, you and I".

"I didn't volunteer for this", Madison said, standing up and ripping her hand out of Pietro's.

Pietro stood up too. "I'm sorry. But that's not what I meant".

"I never asked for this Pietro. I'd give anything to go back to being normal".

"But where's the fun in that? Why on earth would you want to be normal?"

Pietro stepped closer to Madison and placed a hand on her cheek. "I think you're amazing", he told her, his thumb stroking her cheek. Pietro leaned in closer to her, but before he could kiss her...

Madison woke up.

Pietro sat up breathing heavily.

Wanda was standing by his bedside. "You saw the girl again", she said.

"Her name is Madison. Madison Barton. The man with the bow is her father".

"Why is she in your dreams?"

"Because she's enhanced like us. A god named Loki gave her his powers".

"You like her. She intrigues you".

It was true. For whatever reason, Pietro felt a connection to her.

She felt...right.