THE HOLLOW feeling doesn't go away, but Colleen didn't expect it to. It follows her around as she gets up the morning of the mission to get prepped. She moves like a ghost while she showers, brushes her teeth, and suits up. It's not like she can just hop back into bed and curl up in her sheets like she has been doing for the past few days, and as much as she wants to, maybe going on the mission will help ease some of her lingering emptiness.

When Colleen steps into the jet after hugging Peter goodbye—they've been hugging at lot more than usual, which is fine by Colleen—Natasha greets her with another hug.

"You ready for this?" Natasha asks as she leans away from the embrace, her eyes searching the younger woman's. "If you're not feeling up to it, we'd understand."

"I'm fine," Colleen assures her with a strained smile and short nod. "Let's go."

Natasha's eyes linger on Colleen before she eventually tears her gaze away. She whistles for Steve. "Let's get this show on the road, Cap."

Clint, who is standing beside Steve in the pilot seat, claps Steve on the shoulder. "You heard the lady, let's fly."

Colleen, Natasha, and Clint all take their seats as Steve lifts the aircraft into the air.

The trip to Haiti doesn't take too long. Clint watches some Netflix on his phone the whole time, so the flight is pretty quiet for the most part. Colleen's fine with it. She doesn't think she'd be able to hold up much of a conversation with anyone, anyway.

This is exactly what I need, Colleen assures herself. She'll be distracted while simultaneously rescuing another kid from Hydra.

But she can't stop herself from thinking about when she rescued each of the kids. She remembers seeing Ben for the first time; he was so small and frightened. She remembers finding Anna Beth hiding in a corner. Sloan wasn't scared of Colleen, she somehow knew she was there to help her. And Emmett was in that little rusty crib.

Colleen abruptly stands, chest tight. Clint glances up from his phone and Natasha looks up from staring at the ground. Colleen doesn't acknowledge them and makes a bee-line to the restroom.

As soon as she's enclosed in the small space, Colleen lets out a deep breath.

"Pull yourself together," Colleen murmurs, hands clasping the edge of the sink. The reflection of her green eyes pierce through her own.

After counting her breaths until she's normal again, Colleen splashes water in her face and joins the team. Natasha sends her a look to silently ask if she's okay. Colleen returns her gaze with a tight smile.

"Comm up," Steve calls as he steps into the back of the jet with the rest of the team. "Do we need to go over the plan again?"

"I think it's pretty straight-forward," Clint says.

Colleen nods in agreement. "In and out."

"Then kaboom," Natasha adds, mimicking a small explosion with her hands and her mouth.

Steve sends her a flat expression but just shakes his head. "So we're good?"

Clint chirps "yep" while Natasha says "yes" and Colleen says "yeah."

Steve nods once. "Then let's move out."

They file out of the jet as soon as it lands. Unlike their last mission, the conditions are hot and humid. The sun beats down on Colleen's bare shoulders as she and the others stalk towards the entrance to the underground Hydra base. Luckily it's in the jungle area, so there are plenty of trees to hide behind to stay stealthy.

Clint climbs a strong tree and rests high in its limbs as he overlooks the three stalking towards the entrance from three different points. Steve approaches from the West, Natasha from the East, and Colleen from the South.

As they creep closer, Colleen notices a heavily armed man in what looks like riot gear planted at the door. He's surveying the area, though he seems bored. He must not get much action on watch duty. Today, however, that'll change.

Colleen glances at Steve kneeling behind a thick bush and whispers through the comms, "There's only one guy out on watch."

"I see that," Steve replies lowly. "You see anyone else, Barton?"

"Nope," Clint's voice cuts through Colleen's ear. "Nothin' but blue skies and deforestation in the distance."

"Deforestation?" Natasha repeats.

"I did some reading on Haiti before we came. Apparently deforestation is a huge issue here."

"Stay focused," Steve cut in. "We can't get distracted."

"Aye, aye, Captain."

Colleen doesn't have to look at Steve to know that he's rolling his eyes at Clint's remark.

Slowly but surely the team draws closer to the entrance. Colleen ducks behind a large tree root and peers over the top. Her eyes land on a stone by the armed man's feet.

Using her telekinesis, Colleen picks up the stone and hurls it at the man's head, effectively knocking him out cold as he collapses to the ground in a heap. The only noise is the thud of the body hitting the dry ground.

"Okay, their security is out," Colleen whispers as she presses her back against the tree root. "Now what?"

"We go inside," Natasha replies. "Clint, watch our backs."

"You got it."

Steve is the first to reach the entrance. He starts rifling through the unconscious guard's pockets for a key to get inside, but Colleen steps past him and opens the door with her powers.

Natasha takes it upon herself to step inside first, handgun drawn. Steve steps in front of her with his shield ready.

Colleen slinks in at the back. The light from outside gets cut off as soon as she steps past the threshold.

The three look around the small, dark space. Colleen spots the buttons on the wall and realizes they're in a rickety old elevator.

There's only one way to go, so she presses the down button. Steve's and Natasha's eyes dart around, alert, as the floor creaks and starts moving downwards.

The sound of metal scraping against metal echoes through the dark elevator shaft.

"Hopefully an army isn't down there waiting for us," Natasha mutters under her breath, hand over her gun at her hip.

Steve's eyes flicker to Colleen. "You ready if there is?"

Why do they keep asking me if I'm ready? Colleen thinks, irritated. Just because she's sad doesn't mean she's weak.

Holding back an eye roll, she says, "Yeah, of course."

As the elevator nears the bottom of the shaft, the underground base comes into view. Steve instinctively steps at the front and holds his shield in front of him while Natasha unholsters her gun. Colleen's weapon isn't so tangible, but she knows that doesn't make her more vulnerable, it just leaves her feeling empty-handed beside the two Avengers.

The room they drop into is a long hall with multiple doors lining each side, a Hydra solider standing at each door. The dim lights overhead light the hallway in a yellow glow. Colleen makes a move to step forward as they continue to lower to the bottom of the shaft but Natasha's hand shoots out to grab her wrist.

The soldiers don't notice the three until the elevator lands with a loud clank.

They don't have time to grab their weapons before Steve hurls his shield at them like a deadly frisbee. It strikes one solider in the chest and then ricochets into another, effectively knocking them out cold.

Colleen ignores Natasha's grasp and steps out of the elevator in front of Steve. Maybe it's because she no longer has kids waiting for her to come home, or maybe it's because she feels like she has nothing to lose. She normally listens to Steve and Natasha, but she's feeling reckless today.

Colleen jumps on a solider and slams him to the ground. While she's got her legs around his neck in a chokehold, she looks up at the soldiers running at her and throws them against the wall, half of them instantly falling unconscious. The others grunt and shoot right back up.

Natasha handles one while Steve takes on another.

After choking out the solider beneath her, Colleen jumps up and decks a soldier heading towards Steve. She could just use her powers, but that doesn't let her release any stress. Beating the living hell out of soldiers does.

Someone grabs a fistful of Colleen's hair and yanks her to the ground. She gasps in pain as a boot collides with her ribs.

Before the soldier can do any more damage, Colleen throws them against the wall, head making an audible smack against the wall.

"Stick to the plan, Colleen," Steve instructs through their comms, though he's close enough for Colleen to hear his words without the mic in her ear. "Leave the fighting to us and go locate the kid."

Oh, right. She forgot she was on a mission and wasn't just battling. She might've gotten a little carried away.

"On it."

Readjusting her focus, Colleen sprints past the soldiers, occasionally throwing them out of her way without lifting a finger if they get in her way.

Colleen throws open the doors as she passes. She peers in each one, but most are either empty or have some scientists rushing to destroy or hide information. She feels inclined to stop them, but that's Natasha's job; she just needs to grab the kid and go.

A heavily bolted door slows Colleen's swift steps. She slides to a stop in front of it and uses her telekinesis to unlatch and unlock the door. It takes a few seconds, the sound of fighting and pain still echoing down the hall, but then it pushes open.

Colleen storms in. Her eyes meet green eyes much like her own.

A small girl, pale skin with blonde hair, is curled up in the corner of the room. Her wide, fearful gaze takes Colleen in as she stands at the front of the room.

The toddler reminds Colleen too much of herself. Her mind locks up and her feet freeze in place.

When she sees the girl cowering in the corner, she just sees herself staring back.

She was three years old and curling in on herself to try to disappear. The mental strain she had gone through was excessive and left her mind feeling like it had just been put in a blender. She whimpered at her own shadow's movement and his her face in her knees.

"It's showing great progress," someone was saying. "It's abilities are already much stronger than we ever expected."

"Good."

Footsteps. Three-year-old Colleen curled in on herself more and pressed her body against the corner as she heard someone kneel in front of her shaking form.

A hand landed on her shoulder. A fearful sob slipped past her trembling lips.

"We've just secured our places in the history books they'll use to teach the next generation, mark my words."

A shrill scream pulls Colleen back into reality.

Her gaze immediately snaps to the little girl screaming in the corner, but it isn't her who is in danger. Colleen realizes this a millisecond too late.

An ear-splitting bang! reverberates in her eardrums.

Colleen feels pressure and a concerning spread of warmth in her left shoulder, but oddly enough, the pain doesn't register.

Using this to her advantage, Colleen whirls around and snatches the barrel of the gun as a second shot rings out. The little girl screams and holds her hands to her ears but the bullet misses her by at least six feet.

The gun falls from the soldier's grasp as Colleen twists his wrist and throws him to the ground on his back. His hand shoots out to grab it, but Colleen snatches it before his fingers brush against it.

For a moment she considers shooting the soldier, but then she remembers the girl watching with wide, terror-filled eyes; turning the gun around, Colleen slams his face with the butt of the gun. There's a sickening crack and then he's out cold with a broken nose.

It isn't until Colleen is able to suck in a few deep breaths that the pain finally flares in her shoulder. The gun slips from her grasp and clatters against the ground as she rushes to the girl in the corner.

The girl flinches and covers her head.

"Hey, hey, hey," Colleen says through clenched teeth. She really needs some painkillers or something for her shoulder. "I'm not going to hurt you, I'm here to help, okay?"

The girl only whimpers and continues hiding her face.

"Okay, maybe not English," Colleen whispers to herself as she racks her brain for any Haitian Creole the girl might know. Colleen has a pretty extensive library of languages in her mind, but her Haitian Creole was rusty. "Ede w. San danje."

The girl stops shaking. She peers up from her knees and wipes at her tear-stained cheeks.

Relief washes over Colleen but it's overpowered by the throbbing pain in her shoulder. She just needs to get the girl out of there and then she can worry about the wound.

"Found her," Colleen says, alerting the rest of the team. She scoops the girl up from the ground and bites back a noise of pain. "Coming back out now."

"I've got the place rigged. Nat, you good to go?"

"Let's blow this pop stand."

Colleen keeps her grip tight—but not too tight, just in case she hurt the small girl—and hurries out of the room, stepping over the unconscious man on the floor.

The girl clutches Colleen's suit tight in her small fists and buries her head under Colleen's chin. If she wasn't in so much pain and under so much stress, Colleen would have been reminded of Sloan.

Colleen spots Natasha and Steve entering the elevator at the beginning of the hall. She quickens her pace and tries to keep her hold on the girl steady, but it's hard with the dizziness that suddenly warps Colleen's vision and makes her legs feel like lead. She can't apply any pressure to he gunshot wound since she's carrying the girl, so she must be losing blood fast. That just means she needs to reach the others sooner.

Once she steps into the elevator, Colleen doesn't bother waiting for Natasha or Steve to press the up button and uses her powers to lift them back up to the surface.

"Is she okay?" Steve asks, scanning the girl in Colleen's arms for any injuries.

"Think so." She is too tired to conjure up a full sentence as sweat gathered on her brow. The heat of the sun as she steps out of the elevator behind the others certainly doesn't help.

Her head spins and her eyelids grow heavy. Despite her shoulder begging Colleen to drop the girl and to just collapse to the ground, Colleen keeps moving forward.

The three meet up with Clint in the forest by the jet. He shoots a few remaining soldiers running after them as everyone boards. Once he is the only one left, he ducks inside and Steve lifts the jet from the ground.

Natasha has a first aid kit out and ready as Colleen sets the girl on a chair. She's terrified and shook up still, but Natasha's friendly smile warms the girl up to them.

Colleen falls back into a chair near the back of the jet so she doesn't raise any suspicion. Her breaths are uneven and ragged. Lifting her heavy head from the back of the chair, Colleen peers down at the pain pulsating from her left shoulder.

Warm, dark red blood stains the front of her suit and rolls down her arm. Colleen winces and leans her head back against the seat. "Shit."

"She doesn't speak English?" Colleen hears Clint say after the girl says something in Haitian Creole.

Natasha says something, but Colleen doesn't catch it. Her mind is already starting to cloud as she begins slipping from consciousness.

Her chin falls to her chest and her eyes close.

"Do we know her powers yet, Colleen?" Clint's voice doesn't reach Colleen's ears.

When his question is met with silence, Natasha tears her eyes from pressing a bandaid to the little girl's knee. Her brow pulls forward.

Clint isn't nearly as concerned as Natasha. "She sleeping?"

Sauntering up to Colleen, Clint nudges her foot with his. He frowns when she doesn't respond and pokes her arm.

Throwing a concerned glance to Natasha, Clint kneels in front of Colleen and sets his hand on her shoulder. He's about to ask if she's okay when he feels the warm, dark red substance on his fingers.

His casual demeanor shifts into seriousness. Clint lifts Colleen's limp head and feels a spike of panic shoot through his chest at the blood that soaks her shoulder that was hidden by her long hair.

"Hey, Colleen, can you hear me?" Clint taps her face. "Shit, she's unresponsive."

"What?" Natasha rounds the table and rushes to Clint's side. Her eyes go wide at the sight of blood on Colleen's suit and arm. She doesn't hesitate to grab the first aid kit and whip out a towel to press down on the wound with.

"What's going on?" Steve calls out form the pilot seat.

"Colleen was shot!"

Steve puts the jet in autopilot and hurries back to where Natasha and Clint are crowding around Colleen slumped in her chair. The little girl sitting on the table watches with glossy eyes.

"Check for her pulse," Steve instructs, panic rising.

Clint raises two fingers under Colleen's jaw. It takes a minute for him to find it. "It's very faint."

Natasha cups Colleen's face and tries to wake her up. "Please, come on, open your damn eyes."

Her head lolls to one shoulder almost lifelessly.

"We need to get back fast," Clint says. "How much longer til we land?"

"We have another two hours still," Steve replies, uneasy.

Natasha keeps the pressure on Colleen's shoulder. Her hands are now coated in the young woman's blood that continuously flows from the gunshot wound. "I don't think she has two hours."

"Is the bullet still in her shoulder?" Clint wonders aloud.

Keeping one hand applying pressure to the wound, Natasha leans Colleen forward enough so she can see the other side of the shoulder. "It went through."

Their concern is interrupted by the sound of the little girl slipping from the table and padding over to the four. She pushes past Clint so she can sit beside Colleen.

For a moment, the green-eyes blonde just examines Colleen's incapacitated figure. Then, she smacks Natasha's hands pressing down on the wound.

Natasha frowns but reluctantly pulls back. The little girl replaces Natasha's hands with her own and closes her eyes.

The three Avengers watch in awe as the skin around the wound molds back together. There's still blood and puffy tissue, but it's closed. They don't need to worry about her losing any more blood than she already has.

Once the wound is closed, the girl pulls her hands back and collapses into her chair, drained. Clint stands and grabs a water bottle and granola bar for the kid while Natasha and Steve inspect the wound that was gushing blood seconds ago.

"What the hell?" Natasha mutters, wiping the blood away. There's a fresh scar where the wound is supposed to be. "It looks like she sped up the healing process."

"Yeah." Steve runs a hand through his hair, processing what the child just did. He couldn't understand—who could?—so he gives up and retreats back to the pilot seat to try to hurry up their flight.

___
AHHHHHH GUYS I'M SO EXCITED

So if you know me you probably know that I'm into Oh Wonder (an awesome band that you should definitely check out). Oh Wonder has been dropping music during quarantine and stuff, so instead of going out and shooting music videos, they've been asking fans to send in pictures/art/videos. I decided to try it out for their song "Oceansize" and my painting made it into the video!!

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

The time stamp is 1:06 btw, it's a recreation of one of Monet's cliffside paintings