iii. 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 - 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐥

𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

6 Months Later

Everett sat on her bed at the Barton house, looking at the ceiling. There were times when she couldn't truly believe that the fight was over. But everyday was a reminder. She was free.

That didn't mean there wasn't grief. Some days she couldn't even drag herself out of bed because the weight on her shoulders was too heavy. And her family understood. Laura would bring her food, and Everett's niece and nephews would let her be. Clint would sometimes come and tell her stories about Steve, Nat, and Tony.

A soft knock echoed on the door. Everett sat up and used her energy to swing the door open.

Clint stood on the other side and rolled his eyes. "Lazy ass."

Everett let out a sharp laugh. "What about it?"

Clint sat on the edge of her bed, and he was holding a piece of paper. Everett nodded towards it.

"What's that?"

Clint sighed. "I put out a ping for anything on Kashim, and I think we got something."

Everett's heart froze.

After the blip, Everett had gone to D.C. to visit Mrs. C's Deli, but found it demolished. An old friend of Mrs. C's saw her in the rubble and had told her that Mrs. C. had had a stroke a few weeks before the Blip, and Kashim hadn't been seen since.

That had lit a hope in Everett, and she had asked Clint a few months ago to see if they could find her best friend.

Because that's what he was.

What he had been.

He'd been her best friend. 

Steve was her person. He was a father and a brother and a friend all in one. But Kashim was the person that picked her. Over and over and over, he always chose her.

Sometimes Everett wondered how they would've turned out if she didn't go with Clint. If she had never fought in Germany, if she had stayed in D.C. 

It didn't matter. But that didn't mean she didn't think about it.

"Where?" Her voice came out a whisper.

Clint handed her the piece of paper, and Everett realized it was a still from a security camera.

Kashim, standing over a gravestone. And the inscription sent a blade of cold through Everett's heart.

Everett Barton

2000-2018

Loving friend