Blurred memories rush past Nora's mind.

"Spirit of nature," a serene voice said, white mountains at the backdrop.

A scream.

A pool of blood.

Lifeless eyes.

Warm smile.

"We love you, you know," a warm fire lights up the cozy room.

"I do,"

A bruising grip that shattered her wrist, tears rolling down the eyes of a girl, her mouth raw from screaming.

"STOP, stop, please-"

"Forget,"

Coldness.

Nora's eyes snapped open, a soft whimper escaping her lips at the throbbing sensation in her head. Blood roared through her ears, and she felt like someone was ripping her brain nerves apart.

It was like pushing a door that had been closed since years, it's edges cracking and the rust falling but never opening.

Keeping a hand on her mouth to surpass any pained sound– so not to wake Tony, she managed to stabilize herself enough to sit up without darkness binding her vision. She looked beside her to see his sleeping form, body relaxed and face peaceful, and without any trace of tension or strain, he looked younger, his features relaxed.

Normally, she would like to spend her time when she wakes up at midnight, by running her hand through his hair and looking at his peaceful expression.

But not right now.

She silently made her way to the common room, drowning some painkillers down with water, before finding her way to the balcony, exhaling a deep breath when she was outside.

Her breath formed puffs of condense in the cold air, as she leaned against the cold railings, the ice-cold biting her skin.

It had been going on for some days now–spending time with Tony and sharing a room with him and helped them both reduce their Insomnia and enable them to at least get some hours of sleep– but now suddenly for whatever reason, she had started getting these weird dreams, or well more like flashes in her sleep. They were not the typical nightmares as per se, rather they were always blurred, and things she didn't remember ever happening or seeing, ending with her waking up with a head splitting headache.

And though she refused to acknowledge it, somewhere deep down she knew she might just be unlocking the memories that hid behind her teen years, the memories that were before she found herself in that cold base, the memories that she now doesn't want anything to do with.

Some years ago...heck, even some months ago, she might have been actually happy or at least willingly to access her past. Now, not so much.

She had finally found her peace, her family, her safe haven, in the man who had become her cure of Insomnia, and light in darkness. And the possibility of reviving her past now haunted her.

She didn't want to know.

She doesn't want to found.

To find something that may threaten her delicately built life, or anything that would force her to think about anything beyond the tower, the city, the safety of the world, her new found family and the man she loves.

She didn't want to revisit her past, when she had all she ever wanted.

She didn't want to reminisce about anything, because that might just make her healed wounds fresh, and truthfully saying–she wasn't ready to bleed just yet.

What if it would be worse than anything she remembers?

What if it might shatter her newly built world?

It was, of course, just a possibility, maybe there would be nothing like that, maybe she would just get the closure she needed for years in her memories. But that was also, of course, a possibility. And even if there was a one percent chance of those memories to turn out to be a blade–that can ruin everything once again, she doesn't want to find.

Maybe, she was acting like a coward, hiding from her past.

But it was all right, she didn't mind being a coward. Life had thrown so many things at her, and even though she couldn't help but think that she had done worse to others, she thought she at least deserved a chance to show cowardice, to hide from the world and everyone, in her own safe cocoon, in Tony's warm embrace.

Flash.

Nora took a sharp step back, a bullet swishing past her eyes before it clanked with the steel railings.

One microsecond, If she was late by that much, it would have hit her bursting through her skull. She shook her head as if to clear the headache that was still tormenting her, her hands automatically raising in a defensive posture, composure back and senses on alert.

Two pairs of footsteps landed on the balcony, their feets clad with high knee shoes, black skin-tight suits and a bright mark of red octopus on the uniform near their wrists. Their posture was taut, head tilted, eyes blank and face resting on a confident smirk.

"Well," Nora muttered, rolling her neck, "this changes thing,"

They were pro's, the bright red mark on their wrists signifying they were one of HYDRA's most prized assassins, the kind that don't miss, they only kill, the one's who are feared by people– the ones she was once a part of. And if her experience was anything to go by, she was in quite a predicament now, those twos' eyes just shining with confidence and malice, shining so bright that it might have rivaled the moon's light.

For a brief second her eyes flicker to the ceiling, some twenty feets away wondering if JARVIS would have alerted others about the unwanted entries, before she pressed her lips in a straight line feeling the cold metal against her neck, the chain of her necklace that Tony gifted her– the blue pendant turning dull, losing it's light– he told her that there was an engraved sensor in it, which will alert the other piece of the jewelry, his bracelet, if her heart rate suddenly increase– that could only be in a situation of danger or nightmare.

It had lost it's glow, meaning there was no connection currently between the two jewelry, which means that there was a jammer placed. And she was stuck alone with those two bloodthirsty assassins.

Too much to get some cool air.

"Erica," one of them said, her voice firm but with a hint of femininity– a sultry type of slur– she was an point blank ranged specialist, no doubt, if her voice was anything to go by, Nora would gladly place her bet that all the murders of the businessman or people whose bodies are found in a hotel room are done by the woman standing in front of her, "the prized trophy of HYDRA, it's nice to finally see you,"

"Too bad, this also has to be our last meeting," the other one said, his voice deep, with a hint of roughness, "if only you would have still be there, I think we might have gotten along with such beautiful company–I would have," his tongue run across his lips, and Nora couldn't help but feel a tinge of annoyance.

"You people can't seem to get out of my life, you know," Nora said, shaking her head, clenching her jaw, "always coming back like a begging dog. 'HYDRA's prized trophy' had left their stand long ago, can't those bastards understand it, but whatever, let's just get this over with,"

It was chaos afterwards, those two had terribly good coordination, their moves practiced which they executed with ease, moments synchronized– they seemed to waltz around the balcony, a beautiful synchronization– only if it weren't meant to kill.

Nora somehow managed to avoid all of their attacks, even with the headache that was not dulling. She cursed her luck for not taking the more strong pain-killers, that were just beside the tablet she had taken. She raised her hands, green light pulsing– but it was not that bright, calm green she was used to– it was disoriented and flickering– this was bad, very.

Her powers have a direct connection with her brain, it flows through her body–but she kept it constricted, regulating it's flow, controlling it, that was why she had been trained in HYDRA always to keep her head clear–the only thing she had carried alongside her for so long– and now with the headache she was not able to fully concentrate them on her hands or summon them, control them.

Before she could do or plan something, the two assassins jumped from the balcony, her brow furrowing for a second, before her eyes widened when her body was also taken with them. She gasped, as she held onto the railing, one of her hand holding the black rope–that somehow was able to perfectly blend in the night– that constricted around her neck, weighing down by the two assassins who were dangling from it.

Her hand muscles constrict, the vein clearly throbbing and bulging as she hold onto the railing, her weight and the other two's dangling from it. She could feel the blood drops that were soaking the rope from the side of her neck, it was a miracle she had somehow managed to avoid her carotid artery till now.

She gasped for air, her grip slipping.

No, no, no, no, no, she was not even able to concentrate and summon her powers right now, if she fell then...

It was ironic, almost. How she was fussing and worrying over her past taking everything away from her, while she herself was going to do so. The same organization that had always taken away everything, trying to take away her last chance at happiness and life too.

She didn't want to die.

It wasn't often Nora got confronted by death, even if she had in past, she had stared at its face, walked on the narrow line and came back.

But not till now, had she ever felt the fear she was doing now, the utter fear of dying, the fear that now seemed to squeeze her heart and force even the remaining oxygen out, the one that was now painfully gripping every fiber of her being.

She didn't want to die; because there was so much she wanted to do.

In the past there wasn't, there wasn't anything she looked forward to, she was just existing, breathing maybe but not living. But now, she was, Tony had given her the life she never thought she could have, he has become her life. And as cheesy as it sounded, it was true, losing him was a concept she never gave a thought, due to sheer loneliness and pain she felt even thinking about it.

There were so many plans, so many things that she had promised other's to do. Shopping plans with Natasha, mastering archery with Clint's guidance, going to a meditation shop with Bruce, painting together with Steve, visiting Asgard once with Thor...live a life with Tony, visit his favorite places, and just tell him how much she love him.

Her hand slipped.

Her hopes did too.

Was it the end?

"Let it flow, don't control,"

It was for a microsecond that the memory flash in front of her, a blurred image but a clear voice.

And though she didn't let her lose control over years for now, the last time she did was when she escaped with Lumine's dead body, her power having destroyed the HYDRA base in pieces, that was when she realized just what dangerous powers she held within herself.

But the voice was soothing, and in a way urged her to do so, so she did.

The powers flowed through her veins, without a restriction. The essence of nature filling her essence.

Nora fluttered open her eyes to realize she was just some inches away from the ground, gentle wind swirls rotating beneath her. The assassins fired two bullets, as a reflex she held her hand out. Her eyes widened as a gust of wind blew from it, melting the bullets.

Fire and air combined, and her hands were a bright white.

Her head was throbbing just as painful as some moments ago if not more, then...how?

Her emotions were of course the answer. Her powers were being controlled by her heart rather than brain. There was no control and hence no pressure on her, leading her to use two elements at once too.

It was fast after that, the two assassins had managed to reach the balcony again by using the wires, firing on her, bullets which she nearly missed, atmost them just scrapping her by.

She levitated, and attacked, and in some moments they were dead.

It didn't matter if they were pro assassins, they didn't had supernatural powers.

Nora collapsed near the door, feeling the exhaustion of the events dropping on her, blood trickling down her fingers from the cut on her forearm. It fell onto the floor, the red mixing with the water drops beneath.