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@sorenA voice speaks
'Your powers are a gift'
'They will never understand you like I do'
'You're safe here, Ava. You never have to leave.'
'The Afterlife is your home now and forever'
'Stay inside after dark, Ava. You need your rest. Don't go wandering around.'
'Ava, come with me. I have something wonderful to show you.'
'Always follow orders.'
'Come 'ere, sweetheart.''Do a little dance for me.'
'Why did you leave?'
A voice promises
'You will grow to do wonderful things, Ava.'
'I'll never leave you, Ava.'
'We'll always be together.'
'I'll always love you, my dear'
'You are valuable to us''You will help us change the world.'
'You will be rich beyond your wildest dreams.'
A voice reproves
'You're just a little bitch, aren't you?
'Stop trying to help.'
'You're making things worse.'
'This is your life now. Get used to it.'
'Just stay silent and do what I say.'
'Say that one more time and I'll put a bullet through your pretty head!'A voice cries
'No… stop!'
'Don't come any closer!'
'Stay way you are, monster!'
'Ava… help me… please…'
'Get away from me!'
'I have a family!'
'Don't leave, Ava!'
'Demon… demon!!!''Why would you do this, Ava?'
And a voice dies
A blood curdling scream rings out, reverberating in this abyss. It is familiar and in pain. It grows with each moment that passes, getting louder and louder until-"AAAGH!!" I shoot up in bed, expecting to still be living in the nightmare. I hear my heart pound in my ears and feel it resound in my chest. Amidst my panting, I quickly begin to come to my senses. I'm no longer in my head. I'm still in my room at DS Tech. I'm not surrounded by the ghosts that haunt my subconscious. I'm all alone… save for the others living in this building. I breath a sigh of relief as my heart slowly begins to beat at a normal pace.
'I really hope nobody heard me.' The last thing I need is for Athena to come rushing in here to check on me like some weird, robot mother. She doesn't need to know about what happened.
What did happen? Another nightmare, the fifth one I've had this week. I've been having consistent nightmares like this for the past few months. It's making it very difficult to get a solid night of sleep. I don't exactly know why this is happening but I do have a theory. Lately, I have been doing some digging. I've been trying to locate Jiaying, or someone close to her. I've had no luck, unfortunately, but that hasn't stopped me from continuing my search. It's been especially difficult lately since we've been dealing with Hydra a little more than usual. We just recently rescued Sling, who is currently staying at DS Tech with us, from some Hydra related fight. He hasn't told us much more about it, at least not with Oberon and I around.
I haven't a clue why Hydra has suddenly grown a pair and started to get more bold with their attacks. Hell, maybe it isn't only Hydra. Maybe other organizations are getting involved too. I'm hoping it's no one I used to work for but, let's face it, it probably is. I have a lot of people out to get me in the hopes of "blowing my brains out" or "spilling my guts" and other vulgar and mostly empty threats. Suffice to say, life is getting extra dangerous. It always was for me, but I didn't think it could get any worse.
I wince when I suddenly start to feel a throbbing pain in my head.
'Ugh, I didn't think my headaches could get any worse either. I doubt I'll be getting any more sleep tonight.' I decide to sneak out of my room to get some water and some Advil. Maybe some tea and a snack too.
I tiptoe down to the elevator, in the hopes I won’t wake anyone. Once the elevator brings me to my destination, I continue to walk as quietly as possible until I make it to the kitchen. Once I arrive, I quickly get a glass of water and down a few pills to help with my headache. I take a look at the time. Five o'clock sharp.
'Welp, might as well stay up to see the sunrise.' I say to myself. I proceed to make a cup of tea so I can have something warm and comforting to accompany me. In this middle of this, however, I hear the sound of footsteps behind me. I grab a large knife from the drawer next to me and swiftly turn around to face my potential opponent. I'm able to drop my defensive stance, though, as the source of the sound turns out to only be the man known as "Frostweaver".
"Oberon." I say, flatly
"Morning, Ava." He says, in a tired voice. I can see the suspicion in his eyes as he examines me and the room we're in. His eyes land back on me and says-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You use a knife to make tea? Somehow I don't think that's effective. " He then poured a cup of tea himself then took out something from his watch and dashed it in. The cup began to get cold as an outer layer of frost formed. "It's a good thing these cups are thermal protected." He turned to her and took a sip of his now cold tea. His eyes glowed and artic blue as he blew out a sigh of relief. "Here to watch the sunrise?"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I continue to observe Oberon as he pours himself a cup of tea. He presses a button on his watch that opens it up, revealing some kind of powder that he proceeds to add to his tea.
'I wonder what that was. He doesn't seem like the type of guy who'd put a something like cocaine in his drinks.' I watch in curiosity as a thin layer of frost forms outside of the mug. "Here to watch the sunrise?" He asked after taking a small drink of his tea. I take a sip of mine, "Yes, I am. I don't take enough time to appreciate the beauty of a serene morning. It is quite relaxing."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oberon smiled at her and walked over to the table next to the window with the view. "I can't agree more. I do the same thing most mornings when everyone is asleep." Looking out the window he pushed the chair opposite out for her. He wasn't really giving her a choice if he should join her or not but he suspected that she was going to be ok with it. Still looking out he spoke but didn't look toward her. "Your abilities. You shouldn't be afraid of them. No matter what you have done in the past you owe it to yourself to know all of yourself." He touched the table and a thin layer of frost formed there.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I follow Oberon in suit, sitting in the chair opposite to him, which he had so kindly pulled out for me.
'Well, well, what a gentleman.' "Your abilities... " Oberon began, "You shouldn't be afraid of them. No matter what you have done in the past, you owe it to yourself to know all of yourself." He lightly touches the table and in an instant, frost begins to cover the table like a thin blanket.
'He uses his power with such ease...' "I already know enough of myself." I reply "I doubt anything good would come from more self-discovery."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He turned to her eyes still glowing with a frosty shine. "Self-discovery never stops and continues until death. Good or bad it is what we do with our discoveries and I think you have the right intentions." He smiled at her as the sun began to rise. The glow from it met his eyes and he turned to watch it rise as he sipped his tea again. On a chance he let his foot slide from it's position on the chair to hers. Grazing it lightly with his he blushed lightly hoping the sun would mask it. He pulled his foot back onto the chair and then spoke with a smile in his voice "Almost as beautiful as the first thing I saw this morning."~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Oberon and I watch the sunrise, I feel his foot brush against mine. I tense up immediately. When I sneak a glance over at him, he is still staring out the window but this time with the faintest hint of a blush on his cheeks. "Almost as beautiful as the first thing I saw this morning." Oberon then says with a small smile. I raise an eyebrow at him, "Wow... what a line. Do you say that to all the girls you sit and watch the sunrise with?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Looking at her directly, "Well since you imply all as the total of my experience then I would say yes I do but so you know, you are the only one I've wanted to watch the sunrise with and the only one I have for that matter." I raise an eyebrow back at her. "We've worked together for two years now and I've grown fond of seeing you. I believe you might have done the same if I'm not mistaken." He sat his cup down and, still looking at her, laced his fingers together in front of him.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Needless to say, I am taken aback by what Oberon has just said. No one has felt that way for me in a long time. I didn't mind it though. Truthfully, I'm not the greatest at relationships, especially of the long-term variety.
'But Oberon is different.' A small voice in my head says. It isn't wrong. Oberon is different. He's one of the few people I've worked with these past couple years that doesn't seem to have some kind of grudge against me. No ulterior motives either. He seems sincere but if he knew everything I have done to become who I am today, this idealized version of myself he appears to have affection for would shatter into millions of pieces. But he may be too blinded but love or whatever he's feeling to even see that.
Of course, there is the off-chance that my past doesn't phase him. What then? It's not like I feel the same way for him, right? It's been what, two years and most of that time we've spent on missions after Hydra?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two years earlierI had just started working for Athena. I'd already been on several missions to thwart Hydra with Oberon. We had exchanged pleasantries (if you could call them that) when we met a few weeks back but we rarely socialized. Most of the time, we only talked during a mission and we'd usually only discuss and plan strategies with some occasional small talk if we had an especially long flight or walk.
This was our fifth mission together. Athena hacked into Hydra communications and overheard them talking about an upcoming meeting just outside of Washington DC. Athena had Oberon and I leave immediately as soon as she got the coordinates, though she was going to keep up us up-to-date on the situation the whole flight there. As soon as we got in our jet, we were off. It was a relatively quiet flight, mainly because Oberon was focused on both flying and listening to Athena's updates and I was busy preparing my weapons arsenal for the potential fight ahead. The few times I spoke I only asked about updates on the mission. When he spoke, it was for similar reasons.Once we got to our destination, we put the jet in stealth mode and, after landing it, swiftly made our way to the meeting place.
Turned out Hydra was speaking with some mercenaries. I recognized them from a gang I had been a part of for a short time. They weren't the greatest people to work with. Hydra could do better.
Oberon and I had to calculate a plan. It was the one thing we didn't get a chance to discuss on the way there. I suggested we ambush them and take them out as quickly as possible. He suggested we use our combined powers to freeze every single one of them and then take out the Hydra agents, but let the mercs go (after a short interrogation). I rejected that idea. I wasn't ready to use my powers like that. I didn't want to use them like that. Not yet, anyway. It's not that I hadn't used my powers around him before. I had, but for small things like freezing the bud of a flower out of boredom or creating a dagger of ice. I hadn't used my powers for anything more than that for while and I had never combined them with someone else's. Granted, I had never met "somebody else" till I met Oberon but I didn't feel ready to connect with him and his powers on such a personal level. I preferred to be a little more independent during missions like this.He eventually agreed to the ambush, though insisted that we keep the mercenaries alive, which I, in turn, agreed to as well. We then executed our plan flawlessly. It felt almost graceful, though I doubt it looked that way. After we had taken care of the Hydra agents and questioned the mercenaries (whom I made sure wouldn't go crawling back to Hydra to snitch on us), we headed back to DS Tech. This time, our flight back wasn't as silent. We both complimented each other on our fighting,"It was very impressive how you handled those two men."
He said, "I didn't expect you to take them out so quickly."
"And you handled yourself well against those mercenaries."
I wasn't too worried about him, in all honesty. Oberon is a capable fighter. Those mercs… aren't. But I couldn't just say nothing. I doubted he actually meant what he said anyway. He was probably just trying to fill the silence."Where did you learn to fight like that?"
He asked. I was in no mood to spend time answering personal questions."From different places… and different people."
I said, hoping that answer would suffice and he wouldn't ask anything else.
I felt curiosity tug at me, though. If he was hoping I'd reveal things about my past, perhaps he'd divulge on his. "What about you? Where did you learn to fight?"
Oberon then shrugged, "Different places… from different people."
I could hear the smirk in his voice. What's even worse is that a small smile began to form on my face from it as well. Oberon had never made me smile like that before. I hated it. I hated how it made me feel: "good". I hated how it was a result of what he said.
I hated that there was a part of me that liked it.
What's even worse, is that I longed to feel more of that.Later that yearLater that same year, Athena sent Oberon and I on a recon mission. We had gone about a month without any Hydra activity until Athena finally tracked down two members who were going to have a meeting at café near Staten Island. It was perfect. We had been waiting for a moment like this for a while: an opportunity to get some more info about Hydra from Hydra.
Of course, we couldn’t just waltz in wearing our special super suits and expect not to be noticed. We had to look like any other couple going out for some fine dining.
It was the first dress I had worn in many years and the first dress I had worn that had a pattern of small white and yellow flowers all over it. It wasn’t my first choice but Athena insisted this was the best thing to wear and paired it a flower hair clip. I can’t remember looking so frilly before. It was going to take some time getting used to.
When I met with Oberon, I would occasionally catch him stealing glances at me all throughout our mission.
I don't think he realized how obvious he was being. It was annoying… but kind of cute too.
Even if it did almost get us killed at one pointLater the following yearAfter one of our most recent missions, Oberon and I decided we would head to a nearby bar for a little r and r.
We sat in a booth near the back of the bar to avoid any interactions with the other patrons. As we drank, I decided I would be the one to initiate a conversation this time. "How many more
hotels are we going to visit before we settle on a place to rest?"
Oberon and I had our own codewords so as to prevent unwanted ears from learning of our "job". "Well, there are so many
hotels out there. Some we haven't even seen yet. I doubt there will be any rest for quite some time."
He answeredI nodded solemnly, "Athena will probably have another
hotel for us to visit once we get back. It'd be nice if one day she didn't find anything and we could just have a day off."
"I can't remember what having a day off feels like."
I sigh "But we're doing all this for the 'greater good' and whatnot."
I take a sip my of drink, "What even is this 'greater good' anyway? Who or what are we fighting for?"
Oberon paused, "Well, I suppose that all depends on who you are and what you believe in."
"Yeah, I guess. I'd just like to know what exactly I'm constantly busting my ass for. I wouldn't go to these lengths for just anything or anybody. Hell, I wouldn't do all this shit even for myself. Yet here I am. Following orders from some super intelligent robot thing, fighting for some cause that's supposedly 'bigger than all of us'."
I sigh, "I just miss the simple days where I was fighting for myself and myself only. The more people that are involved, the more dangerous it gets."
I can't remember the last time I said so much to another person. It must have been all the alcohol talking. Unfortunately, it was too late to back out of this now intimate conversation."You're not afraid of a little danger, are you?"
Oberon said with a small yet playful smirk."I wouldn't be here if I was afraid of danger."
I replied, "I just don't enjoy following orders blindly when I don't know if I'm getting something out of it. We've been doing this for two years? How much longer are we going to put our lives on the line for seemingly know reason at all?"
Oberon looked like he was deep in thought. I was unable to read his face. He was hiding his emotions well… or maybe it was the alcohol hindering my observational abilities.
I groaned, "I shouldn't have said anything. I shouldn't have assumed you'd understand."
"No, I do understand."
Oberon said, finally "During the first few years I worked for Athena, I felt the same way. After a while though, you learn to trust that she knows what she's doing. We may not know what her goal is but she is having us visit
hotels. Athena couldn't want anything terrible-"
"Unless she's having us take out the competition."
I interject, "What if… what if we are on the wrong side? What if we shouldn't be on a side at all?" "We?"
Oberon raised an eyebrow."You know what I mean."
I said, "We're Athena's best, and only,
hotel finding duo. But maybe…"
I trail off, unsure how to finish my train of though. I had no idea what my drunken self had been saying to Oberon the entire time. At this point, my brain started to work a bit and I knew if I kept going I could easily say something to give him the wrong idea concerning "us"."But maybe what?"
Oberon said, appearing to be genuinely interested in what I was going to say.
I leaned back against the booth, "You know… I think I may have had a bit too much to drink."
"Is that so? And here I was enjoying our little chat."
They sat there in silence for a good minute as Oberon nursed his drink. "Ava, I trust you and what I'm about to say doesn't leave your lips to anyone." He looked up at her with a rather blank expression. "Athena used to be alive. A long time ago her father and my mother worked on a secret project for SHIELD. It was a bio-enginered virus delivered by computer programmed nanoparticles. At the time both our parents were top of their fields, her father wrote the code and mom created the virus. At the projects culmination they were raided by SHIELD. Turns out mom and her father had been working for a splinter cell of HYDRA and hadn't known it. During the raid my mother died and little did Athena's dad know he became infected. After all was said and done SHEILD brought Athena and her mother who was a Kree spy turned domestic house wife to a safe house with her father. He then worked on a counter program to stop the virus. Six months later Athena was on the verge of death and her mother had already died due to the virus. Her father in a stroke of genius wrote Sanctuary. A program meant to take the minds of the dieing and place them into a digital landscape. He did this to Athena and died shortly after. SHEILD leveled the place figuring the virus would die off if they contained and irradiated the place. It did in a way but they never knew about Athena. The virus was gone and Athena lived on. Years later she found me living in foster care and developing powers of my own from an accident I had. I watched her father's videos he left hidden in her code. She is legit the only being that I could trust back then. I became an up and comer in the tech industry as well as biotech. All thanks to our genius. That's our story. Thats how I know I'm on the right side. The videos I watched explained certain things and I felt her sorrow. I knew she hadn't been just a computer program." He drank the last of his drink then let the silence envelope them again.I let out a little snicker, "I'm surprised you have so much trust in me. Not many people do. And what makes you so certain I won't leak everything you just told me?"
Oberon sighed then stared at her knowing the drink was talking. Sadly his healing factor was already taking care of the poison, as it saw alcohol. "Ava it's one of two things with me. Either I trust you or I don't. Either way Athena trusted you enough to give you a home with us. I wasn't keen on it at first but she saw something in you. So if you do leak anything you'll have betrayed her trust and that's not something you'd ever want to do." He then waved another round over from the waitress."I've betrayed many people's trust, Oberon. It's something I'm used to and not above doing. Lucky for you, I have no desire to leak such information. I wouldn't gain much from doing that. At least, not right now."
I said, looking into my empty glass. I perked up a bit seeing the waitress bring a fifth round of drinks. Or was it the seventh round... sixth? I... can't remember "But enough talk about Athena and
hotels."
I said, "What do you want, Oberon?"
Oberon eyed me, looking confused by my question. "Yeah, you heard me."
I said after he didn't answer, "What do you want? In life, either right now or in the future. What are Oberon's hopes and dreams?"
Only alcohol makes me talk like this, which is why I rarely drink."What do I want is a question I don't ask myself cause currently I have a lot of what I could ask for. Money, projects, being gifted." He knocked back half the drink to catch the effects. "Honestly? I want fun. I'm always fucking working or attacking Hydra. I just wanna slow down and watch a movie with people or someone. Go on a date. Dreams and hopes though..." He thought for a second as the buzz was already draining away again. "...I hope that one day the fight will be over. My dream is to use these gifts for something other than war." Knocking back the rest of the drink he gave her a grin. "What about you? Since you got me spilling the beans you might as well do the same." I opened my mouth to answer Oberon but nothing came out. I never seriously think about what I want in life. I've only ever been focused on survival and self-preservation. I never stopped to reexamine my life or to dream. I generally lacked the time (and desire) to do that. But since I dug that existential hole for myself that I saw no way of getting out of, and since I was drunk off my ass, I decided I might as well answer honestly. "I... I don't know."
Oberon sat and looked at her then smiled saying, "Well you have a fresh start and the rest of your life to figure it out. Plus if you need help then I'll be a friend to help you along." It was cheesy he knew but he meant it. He saw something in Ava that he realized she didn't see or couldn't see herself. He would be there for her when she needed it so that the darkness wouldn't work it's way totally through her.'God, he's insufferable sometimes.' I thought to myself, 'He's a fool to believe in me so.' I opened my mouth to reply to him when we heard the sound of several people shuffling into the bar. I looked back to see who had come in and smirked. Turning back to Oberon I said, "Looks like the
hotel came to us tonight."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Present Day"Ava?" I hear the voice of Oberon say. I meet his confused eyes.
'How long was I…'"What?" Is all I'm able to say
"I think you spaced out there for a second." Oberon says with a small grin, "Everything alright?"
"Everything is fine." I answer quickly.
'Damn, that might've been too quick.'"Ava…" He trails off, using that knowing tone that gets on my nerves. I sigh, "Oberon, I meant what I said. Everything is fine. And if it wasn't, trust me when I say, you're the first person I would go to to talk about it." I tell him, not breaking eye contact with him so he knows I am being honest. I can tell he is studying my eyes, trying to figure out if I'm lying or not.
'I hope he realizes I'm telling the truth.' After a few moments, he leans back into his chair, "Well, I'm happy to hear that. I feel the same way." He says, taking a sip of his coffee. I follow in suit, enjoying the comfortable silence that has fallen over us. After thinking about us more, I feel content knowing we have gotten to a point in our relationship where there is some real trust. Maybe not a lot of trust, but it is there nevertheless. I know Oberon would take a bullet for me, and I… well, I think I would do the same for him. Of course, I'd prefer it if I never had to find out the answer to that. Another thing I'm fond of is the silence between us. It never feels awkward which is nice. It's nice to just sit and be in each other's presence and not feel the pressure to say anything.
'I haven't felt like this in a while…' There was only one other person in my life who made me feel like this… and she's been gone for a long time.
'It's strange how whenever I'm with Oberon I never think about or long for her. Is this what emotional growth feels like?'My thoughts were interrupted by Oberon, "I think the others are going to wake up soon."
"You're right." I say, finishing up my coffee. "I'm going to head to the training room. You're welcome to join me if you'd like."
"I'd love to but I have something else I need to work on." He says, standing up
Raising an eyebrow, I stand up as well, "Oh, is that so? What is it you need to work on?"
"Eh, it's nothing really. Just something Athena asked me to do. Shouldn't take too long." Oberon says, stretching his arms in the air, "Well, I should probably get to work, then. Have fun with your training."
"And you have fun with your special project." I say playfully knowing full well that deep down, I was very suspicious and… a bit hurt?
'Come on, Ava. It's not like you don't still keep your secrets. Oberon is allowed to keep his too.'I try to shake off this childish feeling of betrayal and head down to the training room.
'I should feel better after I train for a bit.'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later that DayI was in the middle of some… "private business" in my bedroom when there was a very loud
BANG that completely shook the building.
'What the fuck??!!' After steadying myself on the bed, I quickly put away what I was using like it was damning evidence (and washed my hands because I have manners) and rushed out of my room to find the others. Before I could locate anybody, I heard over the intercom,
"EVERYONE THIS IS ALISTAR WE HAVE A CODE RED, GET OUT USING THE NEAREST TELEPORTER." 'Shit, this is bad. Really bad.' There was no time to search all over the base for the others now. As I was running to the nearest teleporter, I turned on my personal com to check on everyone's status, starting with Oberon. "This is Ava. What's your position, Frostweaver? Over."
I waited for a reply to come through… but it never did. I tried to contact him again, "Oberon, come in. This is Ava. Are you okay? Over."
'You better fucking reply this time, Oberon.' Yet there was still silence. By the time I had gotten to the teleporter, I had tried to contact him a couple more times with no luck. I took one step into the teleporter and stopped, sighing.
'Am I really about to play hero again?' There was suddenly another bang that violently shook the building. The sound of metal creaking followed as the room around me began to tilt. I grabbed on to the frame of the teleporter, expecting to have to hang on for dear life when the tilting abruptly stopped. I cursed under my breath, letting myself drop to the floor. Despite the room and probably the entire top half of the building being at an odd angle, I was still able to walk. Which meant I could still go and find Oberon.
'Of course I probably have less time to find him now than I did before.' I know where all the other teleporters were though. I also knew I could use them to travel from teleporter to teleporter, which would save me a lot of time. The trick was figuring out which floor to go to first. DS Tech was a large building with many, many floors both secret and otherwise. If I was to judge by what Oberon told me earlier, I doubt he'd be in a place like his room or the kitchen.
'It was something Athena asked him to do…' My gut told me to start by checking all of the rooms I've seen Athena in, like the war room and the lab, and then move on from there.
'This could either end really well or really bad. And I'm really hoping it isn't the latter.'I ran into the teleporter and set the coordinates for the lab, praying to whoever might be listening that I won't regret this.
'I never learn, do I?' I shake my head, disappointed in myself and my situationally heroic nature.
I finally arrived at the lab and as the doors to the teleporter opened, I found myself thinking
'You better not make me regret this, Oberon. Because I think it's official-' I began to frantically look around the lab for Oberon,
'-I've found someone I care about… and I hate it.' There was no sign of him in the lab. Already frustrated, I turned around to head back to the teleporter when I was stopped by another person and found myself momentarily speechless.
