Nightingale | An Avengers Tale

Flashback

Grant woke up with a start. He jolted up, knocking the blanket off of himself. He glanced over to where Lily had been sleeping to see that the little girl was awake. Through the moonlight he could barely make out the tears that were streaming down her face.

He scooted over towards and without thinking enveloped her into a hug. "Hey, what's wrong?" He softly asked. "Does your leg hurt?"

"I want my daddy. I want to go home." The little girl began to sob. "Mr. Garrett said he'd find him, but I don't even think he's looking." She sniffled.

Grant quietly listened to her cry. There was nothing he could truthfully tell her that would make her feel better. And he didn't want to lie to her; Garrett had done enough of that.

"Why isn't my daddy looking for me?" The little girl questioned. She pushed away from Grant and turned to stare at him. "Doesn't he want me anymore?" A serious expression grew over her face as she began to think about the possibility.

"I'm sure he's looking for you."  Grant softly whispered. "A lot of people got lost after Loki attacked New York."

"Loki." The little girl perked up. "He's my friend."

"No." Grant slowly shook his head. "Loki tried to take over earth."

"Oh, he wouldn't do something like that. He just likes to pull pranks. I've helped him." Lily cheerfully said. "Can we go see Uncle Loki? He can help me find my daddy."

Grant sat back, completely confused by what Lily was saying. It had to be a weird side effect of the pain medicine the doctors had given her. "Uncle Loki?"He slowly asked.

Lily nodded happily. Grant bit his lip; maybe Loki had used the scepter on her and had implanted her with false memories. That would explain why there had been no reports of a missing girl. "When did you meet Loki?"

Lily stared quizzically up at him. When had she met Uncle Loki. She didn't remember meeting him. He had just always been there. Her daddy didn't like Uncle Loki very much. But maybe that was because Uncle Loki's favorite color was green and her daddy's favorite colors were red and blue. "I don't know." She finally said. "It's all fuzzy."

She began to pout as she tried to concentrate. Daddy and Sissy. Their faces were becoming blurry. Why couldn't she clearly remember them? What if she forgot them? What if they forgot about her? Tears began to stream down her face again. The harder she tried to remember them the less she could.

"What's wrong?" Grant's compassionately asked.

"I can't remember my daddy's voice." She sobbed. "I can't remember any of their voices." She reached out for Grant, and he gently gripped her in another hug. "What if my daddy forgets my voice? What if he forgets that I'm his little nightingale?" She whispered. Her voice cracked as she completely broke down in tears.

Grant awkwardly tried to comfort her. Why Garrett assigned him to be here was still beyond his comprehension. He wasn't exactly a people person, and he wasn't a kid person either. But here he was, babysitting. "How did you get my badge back the Triskelion?" He finally asked. Maybe that would get her mind off her family.

She pulled away from his embrace to stare at him. A look of utter confusion passed over her face as she stared at him. Grant shifted uncomfortably; whenever, she looked at him it was almost like she could see straight through him. He had felt the same way the one time he had met Romanoff; that may have been one of the reasons they hadn't gotten along. That and the fact that he had accidentally insulted her; she made sure he had regretted that mistake.

A mischievous look grew on Lily's face as she continued to analyze him. "Magic." She said as she leaned back into the couch. She crossed and arms and continued to stare at him.