forhawkeye | [Homeplot 2009] Secret Invasion

Have you ever have a dream that was so vivid, so extraordinarily detailed that, despite the fact it was also so utterly absurd, it somehow didn't make it seem any less real? That's what Tabula Rasa was for me. Months of memories and experiences...all of it the result of a knock to the head.

I never left the invasion.

All around me is chaos. Skrulls and heroes and villains alike, all fighting for control of the planet, and the sound -- oh my God, the sound -- is deafening. I wince as I pull myself up from the ground, absently noting that I'm in full uniform. And why shouldn't I be? I never left the invasion. And so all those people I knew...they were all figments of my imagination. Nate, Serena, Alice, Mikal, Yorick, Remy... I always assumed Felix wasn't real, anyway, so he doesn't come as much of a surprise, but it makes perfect sense, now, how there could possibly be a Tony Stark who hadn't betrayed everyo--

"HAWKEYE, LOOK OUT!" yells Patriot -- Eli -- and he's already running towards me before I have a chance to react. In what feels like slow motion, I turn to see what I'm supposed to be looking out for, but I don't register what it is until after he's shoved me out of the way, and the ground behind us is engulfed in fire, courtesy of a Skrull Human Torch. "What the hell's wrong with you?!" he asks, though the edge of panic in his voice is all too clear, and he grabs me by the shoulders. "Now's not the time to get PTSD -- we haven't even gotten to the 'post' part yet!"

I nod mutely. A few seconds pass before I find my voice again. "I'm fine."

"You don't look it," he says.

A Skrull falls dead beside us. We both turn to see who's responsible, and we're greeted with a loud whoop as a grinning Bullseye pumps his fist in the air and dives back into the fray. I feel like I'm going to be sick. Instead I clear my throat and stand up straight, shoulders back. "I'm fine."

The corners of his mouth quirk upwards in a smile, and he nods approvingly. Well, at least one of us is convinced. I guess that's better than nothing, right? Giving my shoulders one last squeeze, he then takes a step back and nods towards the fight. "Let's get to work."

"Yeah," I say, reaching into my quiver to draw an arrow. "Let's."

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"You seriously don't think I tried to run faster?" he queried. "I kind of value my life, Kate. I tried to run fast."

Sighing, I tilt my head back, looking skywards. There are still people flying around, and it's strange, really, how comforting that is. The only things that flew on the island were birds. Okay, I'm getting off track.

"I know you do," I say, trying to keep the volume of my voice at a conversational level. "Just...let me have my freak out, okay?"

"You don't need to freak out, Kate," Nate said, trying to be soothing now, if it would do any good. "I'm okay. You're okay. The battle's over. The bigger stuff we can deal with later. Just focus on that now."

"Yeah, yeah, we're both okay," I reply quickly, almost under my breath, and I comb my hand through my hair. I realize only belatedly that there's still blood in it from that one Skrull. Ew. Frowning, I look back at him, and add, "I just...Nate, I sort of just changed history."

...Okay, maybe they did need to focus on the bigger stuff now. Nate blinked blankly a few times. Changing history was something you did in scifi movies and comic books. It took him a second to remember he was in a comic book right now, more or less.

"And... how did you do that? For better or worse?"

"Iron Man -- the one from here, not the one from the island -- wasn't supposed to make the kill shot," I explain in a rush, not really caring if I'm making sense. "Norman Osborn was. Only he's sort of a murdering psychopath. In the...in the original timeline, the President put him in charge of everything. I guess saving the planet buys you enough goodwill to make up for pretty much anything."

Pressing my mouth together in a thin line, I exhale slowly through my nose, and look down for a second.

"I had him distracted long enough for Iron Man to 'save the day.' I figured if killing the bitch could get a guy like Osborn pardoned, it'd make up for the fact that Stark was half the reason the Skrulls were able to infiltrate us in the first place."

I glance up again, my mouth twisting into a wry smile. "So...for better."

Probably the only reason Nate followed all of that was the fact that he'd started thinking about this like a comic book, and anything that didn't seem possible he just accepted.

"Okay," he said slowly. "Okay, so, there's nothing to worry about, right? Unless... I mean you said Iron Man is a dick, right? Is that gonna bite you in the ass?"

"Here's hoping not!" I say, all false enthusiasm, and I give him a thumbs up. My smile fades pretty fast, though, turning into a frown as I look at his arm again. He could've been killed. I mean, we all could've been killed, but that's besides the point. The point is that I signed up for this life. Hell, I fought for this life. He didn't.

"We should really get that looked at," I murmur, running my fingers along the skin that isn't</b. burnt.

"Not a bad idea." Standing there with a burned arm had nothing to do with being macho and everything to do with not knowing where the hell to go and fixating on Kate.

"Is there.. anything we do now here?" he had to ask. "I've never been a part of a battle before."

"Mostly we trade sarcastic quips and not deal with what just happened," I reply, looking up at him. I'm only half joking. People died today, but this isn't the place to mourn -- there'll be time for that later. Grabbing his hand, I gently pull him with me as I take a step away. "C'mon, let's go find you a healer."

"Okay." He followed without question, threading their fingers together and they walked hand-in-hand through the destruction, Nate trying to pretend it didn't look so much like home.

[Homeplot 2009] Secret Invasion

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