Rikki Barnes aka Nomad (nomaderwhat) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2014-07-27 22:53:00 |
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Entry tags: | !thread, rikki barnes / nomad (616) |
Who: Rikki Barnes
When: 2-3 am 7/28
Where: Potts Tower and then over to where Bucky and Natasha used to live.
What: Rikki’s having nightmares and that cases a little bit of panic
Rating: Mentions of death
Rikki, you can’t keep me out forever. You’re my tool, I am you. The voice felt like static through her veins, thrumming under her skin. The sensation of having someone not just inside your head, but having them possess every part of what she thought of as herself was not something RIkki ever forgot. The complete loss of self, having a being laid overtop her and claim her body as its own to use against the very people that she swore to protect, it was a special kind of hell that she knew far too well. The darkness that surrounded her flashed bright, her eyes opening as she stared out on a scene that looked too familiar but different at the same time. The nightmares from Onslaught had never truly gone away but they were always the same, the same room, Gravity looking up at her in desperation as she ordered him to kill her. But this was different. Onslaught was still there, plucking away at her mind as she rose up above everyone. But the scene was different. This wasn’t the lab in Anya’s home universe, deep in the jungles. Gravity wasn’t there, neither was Toro. Instead a haphazard warehouse was laid out before her. People unfolded in slow motion, Natasha taking aim with her Bucky at her feet, Jon pulling Anya back as she screamed, and that rippling light that came out from her as she lost control of her own body. Rikki could feel the energy ripping out of her and all she wanted to do was tell them to run, to get someone who could stop her. The only thing she had control over was the overwhelming fear that made her heart race as she was powerless to stop her own body, to stop Onslaught from coming to its own to lay waste to this world. You’re meant for this. What good is a bridge without someone to cross, Barnes? It’s what you’re made for. Just like last night and the week prior before that Rikki woke up with a clammy sweat. Rubbing her face, she quickly took a step out of bed to get to her feet, to find some ground beneath her. The nightmares were getting more frequent, they felt more real. A few other people had mentioned strange dreams on the network but she didn’t want to think it was a sign of something to come, something that she wasn’t sure she could stop a third time. She could wake up Anya but just like every previous one she kept quiet. Instead Rikki went through the robotic motions of pulling on her uniform. Logically the armor was not anything that could stop Onslaught but Rikki felt more like herself in uniform than outside it. Her uniform helped drive her purpose, it gave her focus. It was a reminder that she mattered, that she was real, that people looked to her and saw her as a person. There was no falling back asleep so instead Rikki took to the rooftops by herself. Lonely patrols were becoming a more common occurrence with the nightmares. It was better that trying to stay quiet in the apartment. Sometimes she might even find someone to help. And if she had to punch someone in the face to do that all the better. Except instead she found herself making her way over to exactly where she had been told not to go. Natasha and Bucky weren’t there, she knew that. She hadn’t seen them since before SHIELD fell. But she knew how to look for eyes on her and Rikki kept her distance. It’s not like she went to their place. Instead it was a building over, setting up a perch to switch on her goggles and case the likely spots for watching eyes. The place was bugged for sure by now, likely had a trap or two set up by either its occupants or the people waiting for them to come back. It was stupid, one of the only places in the city she really shouldn’t be. But Rikki was absolutely lost in what to do with this. They had to just be nightmares and what was she going to do? Run to Bucky and say that she was having bad dreams like when she was a little kid? No, of course not. Rikki wouldn’t even expect that from her own grandfather let alone this one, who really had been nicer to her than he had to be. Pulling her knees up under her chin, she kept scanning. It was the closest she could get to being near them though, and they always seemed to have more answers than she did without immediately telling her that she should give it all up. But the dreams didn’t mean anything, they couldn’t mean anything. They were just bad dreams. And she was sort of stalking her mentor and her boyfriend because of a bad dream. It’s not like talking to them would fix anything. If Onslaught was an issue then really there was only one solution and Rikki was not exactly jumping at the idea to die just because she had a bad dream... or several of them. “Get a hold of yourself, Barnes.” Rikki sighed to herself as she hugged her knees close. No one out of place that she could spot and Rikki knew the longer she stayed here the more likely she was to be made. So it was back to her feet, back to work. There was still an hour or two before sunrise. |