Затворник (MARVEL AU) [ON HOLD]

Goodbye / Hello (New York)

It was days before Yeva smiled again. Most of the time, she was just sitting, in the armchair, in her bed, pondering how Natalia had ever managed to escape the endless loop of death and compliance. Days passed, and she came to the conclusion that it didn't matter how, she was just glad that she did. It was then that she got up and started drawing up plans for a garden to go out back. The men had said over and over that she lived here now, and for as long as she did, she was free to do as she wished, short of burning down the house or breaking the law. They had also said that they did not have time to tend to a large garden like they wanted to, so they kept small pots of vegetables on the back porch. Well, Yeva had the time, so she showed them her plans, and Henry got the equipment that she needed. Phillip said that the plants were a good thing to practice her powers on, after she accidentally killed a bug with her powers and scared Henry half to death. He said when it happened, her skin turned a deathly pale, and her eyes turned from their usual blue to a poisonous green. After that particular incident, she avoided physical contact as much as possible.

Phillip came up with the idea. "If you can kill things, can you also revive them?" Yeva thought about it, idly picking a marigold from the vase centerpiece.

She imagined it dying, withering into a brown husk of its former brilliance. Her vision glowed green, and the flower wilted. Then she imagined the flower as it was, orangy-yellow and beautiful. Again she glowed green, but the shade was much deeper, like the needles of a fir tree. The flower seemed to swell, the color rushing back into it's petals, the leaves stiffening and spreading, new roots sprouting from it's base. Suddenly, her head felt light, and she had to sit down. She nodded slowly, still thinking. "I can, but it is much harder, it takes more out of me."

"That makes sense," said Philip, "Maybe your power is taking your energy to revitalize the organism, or taking energy out of the organism to revitalize you. New powers often take a while to adjust to, and require more cooldown time in between."

"Is that how your power is?"

"My power? I have not used it in years, so I expect it'd be like trying to teach a worm to walk."

"Why don't you use yours?"

Phillip seemed to age years in a matter of seconds. "I used to, and then there was an accident, I lost control. Now I am too afraid to use them, because now I have more to lose," he glanced around the small kitchen, smiling sadly, "I'd be lost if I didn't have what I do now."

A strange sort of silence settled over them. "And I do not mean that you should not use your power, Yeva," he said abruptly, "Burying mine was a choice that I made because I did not think I could control it, but with practice, you should not have to worry," He stood up and stretched, extending a hand to her. She took it, and he helped her stand. "C'mon, let's check out that garden of yours."

***

Baking bread was excellent therapy. Yeva baked so often, Henry joked that she should start up a bakery. Phillip said the same, but he wasn't joking. She cooked just about every meal and packed all of the lunches. She had compiled a book of recipes that she liked, and organized them by meal and letter.

When she wasn't baking, she was dancing. There was hardly any music, but she spun and dipped to the beat inside of her head. The dancing helped clear her head, and the baking calmed her down. When she was serene and focused, she had absolute control over her power. She lent power to her garden, the greens thriving and the vegetables growing at an accelerated rate. If she focused hard enough, she could sense the cockroaches in the wall, and suck the life from them. Eventually she grew bored of staying home all day, and when she mentioned this to Phillip, he said that most kids her age were moving out of the house. One day, Yeva packed a backpack, thanked Phillip and Henry for everything, and left home for the nearest city.

Phillip had hugged her, and said, "Your powers, you control them, they do not control you. Take care of yourself, yeah?"

Henry stopped her on her way out.

"Here," he said, handing her a flip phone, "It has our home phone number in it, just in case you need something, or if you just wanna talk. We'll be here. You are welcome any time," he put his big hands on her shoulders, "You be safe all right?"

***

Yeva shrieked as she was shoved into an alley.

"Who is this pretty thing?" a tall woman crooned, "So young to be wandering a big city like this at night!"

A small man had Yeva pinned to the brick wall, his nose disfigured and his breath rancid. His words were slow and slurred when he said, "Think she has any money on 'er?"

The woman ignored him, instead leaning forward to inspect Yeva's features, "Such a scared little thing, whatcha doing out here all by yourself this time of night?"

Not all Widows were trained in the same way. If Natalia's specialty was weapons, Yeva's was poison. Natalia was made to be flirty, confident, and Yeva kept to the shadows, timid. Of course, Yeva could seduce, and Natalia could be shy, but the difference was Natalia was told the intel, and Yeva was kept in the dark, with just a picture of the target. Only one of them was disposable.

 

Yeva called on her training now. The man's grip on her hands was loose, he thought she was just a high schooler, maybe coming home from a friend's house, blissfully unaware of the danger on the street. The woman had not even drawn the knife at her belt, she was assuming that her words would be enough to scare this victim senseless.

Yeva was not scared. Nervous? Yes. This would be the first time in years that she fought, and if she lost control of her power, she could be called a murderer and hunted down by the authorities.

As the man turned his head to address his partner, Yeva brought her boot up and kicked him away from her. She pushed herself off of the wall and struck out with her palm, catching the woman's nose. As the woman grabbed blindly for her knife, Yeva closed her eyes and reached out with her power. She took energy from them, just enough to knock them out. She would have just left them there, but if she did, they would just get up and find a new target. Digging through the dumpster, Yeva found a length of strong rope and tied the assailants back-to-back. She took the woman's knife for herself. She left the police a note:

These weirdos like pushing people into dark allies and taking their money ♡ - Recluse

And then, she walked off into the night, searching for trouble. Look out New York City.

Kinda sucks but I do not feel like editing. This chapter ends part one of ? 

Merry Christmas!