THE RED HOUSE PART TWO
PRESENT
“I swear to God Pearse,no one in the history of this establishment has ever before put my head in so much shit as you have”,i could see Fury's veins popping out as he was pacing up and down.
“And this includes Stark”
I was sitting in a room with a big table,Fury,Natasha and Barton all there with me,as we were now in the Helicarrier. Fury's hands were tied behind him,and Natasha had her head lowered,sitting only a few seats away. As for Barton,he was leaning on the door frame,eyeing all of us.
I was in trouble alright.
“Look,i know how this-”
“Oh,you do,don't you? Then tell me,Agent Pearse,how does closing off an entire block in the heart of Manhattan,causing a car crash and almost killing a man with an iron rod look to you?”,he took a pause as if for me to speak,but he wouldn't let just yet. “Please,by all means,do tell”
He hadn't had enough yet,i knew that much.
“Cause to me”,he continued, “it looks like an Agent going completely rogue,deliberately disobeying orders,and causing mayhem for no damned reason”
“I am close,i know I am”,i said with eyes opened and a jaw clenched as I stood up,my palms on the table.
“I'm a threat to her,and so she's playing games with me. But i'll get her,i'll get the Sparrow Fury,just give me a little more-”
“No. Enough. I'm done with this nonsense of yours. You've become obsessed,Agent. And if someone's playing games here,that's you. Romanoff?”
“Yes?” ,Natasha lifted her head.
“Call Rogers. I'm done with this”,he said and my brows were now knitted together.
“Oh,no. You're not dragging Steve into this”
“Rogers is currently at-”
“I know where Rogers is,Romanoff. Call him. Since he's the only one Pearse here seems to ever listen to,let her be his problem”,he said angrily and I bit my tongue.
“I am not a child. I will not have anyone babysitting me”,i said under my breath.
“Then stop acting like one. Till then,you will be answering to Rogers,and he to me. Are we clear Pearse?” ,his eyes where throwing daggers at me. I gulped down a curse.
“Fine”,i almost hissed and sat my ass back down.
“But I ain't lying. She will come back,and she will bite you in the ass. You will regret not trusting me,Director”
“Are you threatening me,Pearse?”,he furrowed his brows.
“No. She is”,i corrected him and he seemed to be speechless for a while. “She's coming. For all of us”,i finished and leaned back at my chair again.
He stood there for a while,studying my words,replaying them in his head. I knew I had put too much on his back with my shenanigans,but I had no other option. She is dangerous,and she will be even more if we don't put a stop at her.
My eyes were opened,dark circles under them,thin red veins all around my pupils. I hadn't slept in a long,long time.
Fury walked to the door,his hands tied behind his back as he stopped and spoke again.
“Then stop her”,he said in a low voice and I lifted my body,confused as if I had heard wrong. “But do it the right way,Pearse. One which won't fuck me up” ,he said and left,Natasha following him with a quick step,throwing me one last look.
“This is bad...”,i murmured,throwing my forehead on my hands supported by my elbows on the table.
“Bringing Cap here won't be bad Pers. He's help”,Barton said,sitting next to me and I lifted my head to look at him,my lips pursed.
“Let's hope so...”,i said in a faint voice.
“You two still at it?”,he then asked and I turned to see him. “I mean,i don't know what's going on but..you weren't like that on the day I met you. You two were fighting together like you were old war buddies. And now..you barely speak to each other”
“Doesn't matter”,i said in a hoarse voice and he pursed his lips,deciding he wouldn't push it any further.
“You believe me though. Don't you?”,my eyes were almost pleading for a yes. Barton smiled with a soft expression on his face,and patted my back.
“Of course I do. You're a clever girl Pearse. And..we've been surveiling this woman for almost two months now..Something just ain't right about her...”,he admitted and I breathed out a huff of air.
“She's not a normal person Clint”,i huffed. “Call it magic,call it mere wits..she's just..”
“I know kid. I know..”,i put my head on his shoulder and he patted my head.
“So this means that all this time I was the babysitter? Did I just get fired?”
“Shut up”,i said and he laughed.
I couldn't stop thinking about her though; more than Steve,or Fury or anything else.
Her,her eyes,her exact words.
I just...couldn'tstop.
THEN
The room was empty,almost too dark to make out anything. Then,someone opened the shutters,pure sunlight coming through,almost blinding me.
That's when I saw her; in the middle of the room sitting on a chair was a woman. Next to her,an empty one.
I heard the muffled voices of Barton and the other woman coming from behind,and just before they could come in I lifted my fist,a wall now in their way; yet my eyes were fixed on her.
“Damn you Pearse!”,i heard him scream from the other way of the wall,but I payed little to no attention.
“Come on,sit down”,she said in a soft voice.
She had dark hair,only a few strands of whites on her head,mixing in with the others. She wore a long black dress with an open cleavage and layers made of lace covering her arms. Her nails were really long and red,the same colour of the house's walls.
Her chin was small and pointy,her inner eyes creating a curve,as her pupils were almost completely white,like a veil was covering them. A dark,single freckle under her right eye,and a big smile.
But..something about her..although she welcomed me..i couldn't..i couldn'tmove.
I couldn't stop myself from looking at her,i tried,yet I had no power whatsoever on my own eyes and muscles. I was completely frozen.
Was I..afraid? No,i mean..maybe,but there was more to it. I felt..enchanted.
“You won't? Alright then”,she said. “My name is Reina. Though..”,her voice was dragged,a faint and light one,though I could hear her clearly. “..many people call me the Sparrow”
The Sparrow won't let you leave with no scar
I flinched upon making this connection.
This woman was dangerous,i could feel it in my gut,on my bones. I felt a need to run,as if all my instincts ordered me to do so,and yet..i couldn't.
“You know,Sparrows have always been referenced as symbols of freedom”,she talked again. “ in some old scripts,for example, they symbolize the freedom for humans to have freewill and choose between good and evil”,i twitched.
“Now,that's too much of a power for such a lowly creature to hold on to,won't you agree?”,she tilted her head.
“Where's Jean?”,i asked her at last,forcing my voice to come out somehow steady and firm.
“Oh...Jean. Right,that was the reason you would come..i almost forgot,silly me”,she let out a small and delicate chuckle,covering her mouth with her hand.
“I would come? You said something before,that you were waiting for me..Just who are you? How do you even know me?”,i asked,flames beginning surrounding my fists as my anger got the best of me.
“Oh miss Pearse,please be careful with that. Lina just finished waxing the floors”,she simply said with a smile.
“Just answer the damn question”,i almost growled. This was bad,just what had Jean got herself messed up with?
“Such a hostile expression you got on miss Pearse!”,she chuckled.
I have had enough.
I ran towards her,flames now completely formed on both my fists as jumped,ready to hit her when...
“Oh my. Are you alright miss Pearse?”
“Wh..what?”
My eyes were wide opened,my back laid on the floor,at the exact same spot I was before I started running. As if I never moved.
The inside of my left palm was hurting,a stingy ache; I brought it close to my face only to see dark red skin. It was a burn.
I...had burned myself.
“What..what just happened?”,i asked her,my voice filled with nothing but terror as I slowly pulled myself up.
“Well you burned yourself. You really ought to be more careful miss Pearse”,she said in a carefree voice as she smiled.
I have,never before in my entire life,burned myself again. Not by my own fire,never.
I looked up at her,my brows knitted as nothing seemed to be clicking together. Her smile was hovering me,as if I was covered by some sort of shadow bellow her.
I was...terrified.
For the first time in my life,i was scared to pieces.