Control | S. Rogers [2]

TWENTY FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

      LAUREL DIDN'T DARE TO SPEAK to anyone, her mind still repeating the images Wanda forced her to see. The news headlines still ran through her head and she felt like she could still see the Winter Soldier's emotionless glare as he shoves her off a great height.

For the first time since she could remember, she was scared, afraid of her fear coming true. She wanted to hide, stay away from the Avengers for the rest of her days but there was no escape now as they were in the air, floating to a 'safe house'.

The rest of the Avengers were scattered around, Reyna and Melissa in front of her with Melissa curdled into a ball besides Reyna. Laurel had to admit, she admired the strong and powerful friendship the two had.

Bruce sat near the front, huddled with a blanket wrapped around him as he attempted to fall asleep to hopefully calm himself. Steve sat near him silently, eyes staring distantly as he recalled the vision of Peggy and the 40s. Thor continued to pace, rubbing his hands nervously and Natasha shared Steve's distant stare in her own corner.

"The news is loving you guys, nobody else is..." Maria reported from the comforts of Avengers Tower. "There's been no official call for Banner's arrest, but it's in the air." The old SHIELD agent spoke nervously and hesitantly, she was worried about hurting any of them more then what they already were.

"Stark relief foundation?"

"Already on the scene," she responded, continuing to scan through news reports whilst rubbing her hands together in a nervous way. "How's the team?"

"Everyone's..." Tony trailed off, looking back at his friends, frown plastered across his face. "We took a hit... We'll shake it off."

Laurel watched as Reyna rubbed Melissa's shoulder comfortingly, allowing the blonde to slowly drift into a slumber.

"Well, for now, I'd stay in stealth mode, and stay away from here..." Maria suggested, focusing on her screen and Tony who approaching his own screen.

"So, run and hide?"

"Until we can find Ultron, I don't have a lot else to offer," Maria explained sympathetically.

"Neither do we..." Tony sighed, reaching forward and flicking the monitor off, making Maria's frown fade to black.

Laurel exhaled gently, placing a hand against her face. Her mask hung lowly around her neck, her originally feeling like it was beginning to restrict her eye sight but it was just anxiety.

She could still hear the news headlines, hearing them all say that Black Siren killed the Avengers. She truly thought the persona and assassin part of her was gone, gone for good. She thought that Laurel Embers was in control now and the Black Siren was just a distant memory.