A Lone Cry in the Night
Title: A Lone Cry in the Night
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Avengers xover
Series: Redemption
Author: Truthmaker
Pairings: None
Rating: FR15 for some darkness and bad dreams. Allusions to PTSD.
Setting: post The Avengers by about 1 year, post Chosen by a lot.
Word Count: 645ish
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em and couldn’t afford ‘em if I wanted to.
Beta: Unbetaed, All mistakes are mine.
Summary: Clint has a nightmare, Faith... helps.
Reading the amazing stories indraleigh is writing in her series of Avengers/BtVS crossovers I was inspired to create this.
The cell phone flashed through the air, O Fortuna blasting from it's speaker, as she plucked it through the settling dust and hit answer.
“What's the what, Birdman?” Faith asked, stowing her stake and turning toward the entrance to the graveyard.
The sigh from the other end of the line told her everything she needed to know; this wasn't a social call.
“Clint.” She started again, doing everything she could to make her voice calm, “Tell me what happened.”
The silence continued from the other end of the line, punctuated only by Clint's deep breaths. She had almost reached her bike by the time he was able to reply. “It was that dream again,” he said softly, emotion heavy in his voice. “The one about Nat,” he added for clarity.
Faith now knew why he'd called. Of all Clint's nightmares the ones about Nat were the worst. The details varied from night to night but they always ended with her blood on his hands and her lifeless eyes staring him in the face. She took a second herself before she responded.
“Clint, we figured this would happen; what with the anniversary comin' up and all. Take a deep breath and repeat after me.” Faith gave him a few seconds to catch his breath before beginning the mantra they'd worked out.
“I'm safe,” she began.
“I'm safe,” he parroted. His voice sounding calmer than before.
“And she's safe,” she continued.
“And she's s... but what if...”
“You at home?” Faith asked, derailing that train of thought before he could get it out of the station. The last thing people like them needed was a case of the what if's.
“Yeah,” he replied. Before adding, with a more hopeful tone in his voice, “Yeah, I am.”
When Clint spoke next the words were distant and definitely not directed at the phone, not that she had any trouble hearing. “Jarvis? Where's...”
“Agent Romanov is currently resting peacefully in her apartment,” The AI answered his expected question in its usual British accent. “Neither you nor any member of the team has caused her any injury in the past 24 hours,” it added, anticipating the archer's usual followup.
Faith could hear his long slow exhale and when he spoke a simple “Thanks, J” it was free of the tension that had plagued his voice since she answered the call.
“Faith?” His words were louder, no doubt being directed into the phone once again. “Thank you as well.”
“No prob,” she responded as jovially as she thought she could get away with.
Faith did a few mental calculations and fought off the urge the swear under her breath before she spoke again, “Hey Clint, I'm gonna be in New York next week for some work related stuff, so, if you need... Well, just give me a time 'n' place and I'll be there.”
“Faith...” He paused, “I... I'll try,” he finished before disconnecting the call.
She let out the breath that she'd been holding. It wasn't a yes, but for him it was about as close as she was going to get. Given what was happening next week she'd be very surprised if he didn't need someone to talk to and it was so much easier doing that face-to-face than over the phone.
She fired off a text then put the phone back in her pocket. Her fingers brushed against the round flat chip that resided there and she grasped it for a moment before withdrawing her empty hand and starting the bike. She didn't need to look at the chip, didn't need to read the words; not when they were burned into her mind's eye. '10 YEARS,' it said. '10 YEARS EVIL FREE.”
Somewhere in New York a cell phone chimed as its owner got a message.
B.
Re: Clv Hmth, let's do this update face2face. Your place. Monday.
F.
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Avengers xover
Series: Redemption
Author: Truthmaker
Pairings: None
Rating: FR15 for some darkness and bad dreams. Allusions to PTSD.
Setting: post The Avengers by about 1 year, post Chosen by a lot.
Word Count: 645ish
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em and couldn’t afford ‘em if I wanted to.
Beta: Unbetaed, All mistakes are mine.
Summary: Clint has a nightmare, Faith... helps.
Reading the amazing stories indraleigh is writing in her series of Avengers/BtVS crossovers I was inspired to create this.
The cell phone flashed through the air, O Fortuna blasting from it's speaker, as she plucked it through the settling dust and hit answer.
“What's the what, Birdman?” Faith asked, stowing her stake and turning toward the entrance to the graveyard.
The sigh from the other end of the line told her everything she needed to know; this wasn't a social call.
“Clint.” She started again, doing everything she could to make her voice calm, “Tell me what happened.”
The silence continued from the other end of the line, punctuated only by Clint's deep breaths. She had almost reached her bike by the time he was able to reply. “It was that dream again,” he said softly, emotion heavy in his voice. “The one about Nat,” he added for clarity.
Faith now knew why he'd called. Of all Clint's nightmares the ones about Nat were the worst. The details varied from night to night but they always ended with her blood on his hands and her lifeless eyes staring him in the face. She took a second herself before she responded.
“Clint, we figured this would happen; what with the anniversary comin' up and all. Take a deep breath and repeat after me.” Faith gave him a few seconds to catch his breath before beginning the mantra they'd worked out.
“I'm safe,” she began.
“I'm safe,” he parroted. His voice sounding calmer than before.
“And she's safe,” she continued.
“And she's s... but what if...”
“You at home?” Faith asked, derailing that train of thought before he could get it out of the station. The last thing people like them needed was a case of the what if's.
“Yeah,” he replied. Before adding, with a more hopeful tone in his voice, “Yeah, I am.”
When Clint spoke next the words were distant and definitely not directed at the phone, not that she had any trouble hearing. “Jarvis? Where's...”
“Agent Romanov is currently resting peacefully in her apartment,” The AI answered his expected question in its usual British accent. “Neither you nor any member of the team has caused her any injury in the past 24 hours,” it added, anticipating the archer's usual followup.
Faith could hear his long slow exhale and when he spoke a simple “Thanks, J” it was free of the tension that had plagued his voice since she answered the call.
“Faith?” His words were louder, no doubt being directed into the phone once again. “Thank you as well.”
“No prob,” she responded as jovially as she thought she could get away with.
Faith did a few mental calculations and fought off the urge the swear under her breath before she spoke again, “Hey Clint, I'm gonna be in New York next week for some work related stuff, so, if you need... Well, just give me a time 'n' place and I'll be there.”
“Faith...” He paused, “I... I'll try,” he finished before disconnecting the call.
She let out the breath that she'd been holding. It wasn't a yes, but for him it was about as close as she was going to get. Given what was happening next week she'd be very surprised if he didn't need someone to talk to and it was so much easier doing that face-to-face than over the phone.
She fired off a text then put the phone back in her pocket. Her fingers brushed against the round flat chip that resided there and she grasped it for a moment before withdrawing her empty hand and starting the bike. She didn't need to look at the chip, didn't need to read the words; not when they were burned into her mind's eye. '10 YEARS,' it said. '10 YEARS EVIL FREE.”
Somewhere in New York a cell phone chimed as its owner got a message.
B.
Re: Clv Hmth, let's do this update face2face. Your place. Monday.
F.