Little Flower -- AVENGERS

21. explosion

Aleksa's pasty white skin and glassy eyes weren't out of the ordinary, but it was her screams, the dark circles under her eyes, the blackening bruises on her arms and wrists that kept Mila away from her - the brunette was curious as to why she was receiving these disastrous marks but deep down she knew why. Every night, Aleksa would tip tie past her room and disappear somewhere, either being caught or not and every day she would return to the same facade.

Aleksa was always calm and collected during the day, her steady figure danced and fought along with the others but today she was shaking. Her fingers and hands and lips quivered non-stop. Cold, she would mutter when Mila would ask if she was alright. When the girl tried offering Aleksa her jumper, the blond merely just smiled at her and walked away leaving Mila with her outstretched hand still holding the jumper.

Mila had grown tired of being ignored by Aleksa, she was clearly up to something and she wanted to know what it was. She waited until everyone had gone to sleep and it wasn't until Mila was nearly falling asleep herself, that she heard the familiar creek of the floorboards.
Silently opening and closing the door behind her, Mila snuck down the corridor following the little glow of light from Aleksa's torch.

It was toasty down in the boiler room, muttering and splashing and an all too strong smell of petrol. Mila rounded the corner and watched silently as Aleksa cried while mumbling to herself over and over again. I'll see them soon. See who soon? Mila didn't move a muscle when Aleksa grabbed cans of gas and forced a screwdriver into the lid of them, tipping them over and letting it gush out over the concrete floor. In her shaky hands was a little box of matches and sitting on what looked to be a hot water cylinder were one of the Glocks that the children used for training.

Mila had to know what was going on but she didn't want to scare Aleksa. She couldn't think of anything to say to the girl and she didn't even realise she'd moved from her crouched position and stood out in the open until she could hear Aleksa screaming and wielding the gun in front of her face. Mila's eyes widened and she shook her head.

"YA prosto khochu pomoch'." (I just wanna help) Mila stuttered out. She watched Aleksa scoff into a laugh, her cheeks wet and eyes red and puffy.

"HYDRA mrazi! kak budto vy pomogli nikomu, krome sebya!" (HYDRA scum! As if you would help anyone but yourself!) Aleksa yelled out. Mila glanced around, and Aleksa caught wind of what she was hinting. "Nikto ne mozhet uslyshat' nas zdes'" (No one can hear us here) Aleksa looked away and wiped tears from her eyes. "You don't get it!" She yelled out in English."

"I-I don't know what you mean," Mila replied, her thick Russian accent bouncing off the walls. Aleksa scoffed, looking down at her feet. Her hands were shaking. Badly. She turned her face back to Mila and glared at her.

"They wiped my mind." She hissed out. "They poisoned me and took my family away from me and you stand there like you're a stupid hero to the rescue!" She yelled, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. Mila shook her head.

"I didn't know, I promise!" Mila forced out. "Oh, Aleksa..."

"Shut up Mila!"

"Please stop pointing the gun at me!"

"You're going to screw up my plan!" Mila blinked the tears away.

"What plan?" Aleksa's mouth opened and closed a few times trying to find the right words. She was distracted. Quickly and swiftly, Mila grabbed Aleksa's wrist with one hand and the barrel of the gun with the other, forcing her to push the gun away from both of them. Aleksa screamed and slapped Mila so hard, she flew back and hit her head against one of the metal pipes.
Mila could hear the sound of a gun safety being turned off and then the barrel pressed against her forehead. Mila couldn't help but laugh. "Pull the trigger if you're so desperate to kill yourself and everyone here." She spat out. Aleksa hesitated. Mila couldn't feel her limbs, it was fight or flight at this point.

Mila, over the past years, had gotten skilled enough at changing her density, it was almost as easy as breathing for her. In the split second between whacking the gun forcefully away from her head, Aleksa pulling the trigger and the hot flames igniting, she had managed to make herself translucent. The force of the explosion still pushed her away as if she were no more than a rag doll being thrown by a child mid-tantrum.

All Mila felt was her head hitting something cold, and her limbs were too weak and she felt sleepy. Everything was black, yet she should still make out the colour of the fire as it burned her home. A cry died in her throat as her vision became blurry and she could no longer see the dull stars in the sky.

Mila couldn't move her arms or legs. Hell, it felt like they weren't even there.
She could see smears of dark red near her head against pure white and the drizzle of the snow against the smouldering building some yards away. Morning. She could see the blue sky covered with white clouds. 
And then a flash of red and gold.
And red, white and blue.
And soft green eyes paired with short red hair were the last thing she saw before darkness consumed her.