[Homeplot 2009] Secret Invasion

[forhawkeye]

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."

Comments

[like-arrows.livejournal.com]

I flinch at that, not gonna lie. You can go through a lot of $#@% without it getting less bizarre. And then flinching doesn't matter, because I have to duck, slamming Chase sideways with me as Skrull and superhero both go bulling past. "Watch out!" I call, nevermind that I'm the cause of this little crash. "Ugh, okay, we need to find Karolina and the others and get out. Homing spell of some kind maybe?"

[apoorupbringing.livejournal.com]

Chase didn't watch so much as automatically turned and ducked, covering Nico with five arms.

Which was weird. He pushed them both upright and started running.

"You're the witch."

[like-arrows.livejournal.com]

Swerving through the crowd, ducking between people, I run without knowing where I'm going. All I know is, I need out, I need air. I have to get out before we get killed.

"I am," I say, mostly to myself. "Alright, there's no place like home."

Nothing.

Nothing. I don't just cast my spells to a grand response of NOTHING. That's not how it works, but the fact still remains I don't get so much as a yellow brick road.

"...Toto, we're still in Oz."

[apoorupbringing.livejournal.com]

Chase watched Nico do her thing, giving the staff a wave and hearing the words, that strange quality to her voice like the soundwaves were going the wrong way or something, like listening to a record backward except it totally made sense. He waited.

"....Uh," he said, looking immediately doubtful. Sure, Nico'd had some shit backfire or surprise- witness the extra fucking arms coming out of his back- but he couldn't remember a spell ending up with nothing happening.

"...Well, so, I'm officially pessimistic," he said.

[like-arrows.livejournal.com]

"That makes two of us," I say, though I'm still waiting for something to happen. It's like being on a precipice, right? And you hover there a second and come back to solid ground, this absurd lurch, but it's only supposed to be a moment, this half-second of waiting. This is stretching on like something opening up inside me.

The moment for introspection comes to an end much faster, the sudden crash of a breaking window jarring me back to my senses. "Can you clear a path with those things?"