𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐘𝐀𝐑𝐃━︎━︎M. Hill ✓︎

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲

CHAPTER THIRTY:
NOT ALONE

SHE THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT STEVE said, walking down the hall with her hands stuffed in her pockets as she looked down at her feet. His words repeated over and over in her head, and yet the smile stayed on her face. She was starting that new life that she had wanted for Malia. At the thought of the girl, Sage made her way outside. She made it to Malia's grave, standing there and looking at it with a sad smile covering her face.

     "I keep forgetting the flowers." Sage laughed. She kneeled down, wiping the leaves that had landed on top of Malia's grave. "Well, I talked to Steve today. I told him everything that happened. I told him about you. What you meant to me. He asked me who I was, and I didn't know how to answer. And I guess that's why I came out here. To see if you had the answers." Sage softly sighed. "I don't know who I am thanks to HYDRA."

     She swallowed thickly, letting out a breath of air. "I'm starting a new chapter in my life. Something that you never got the chance to do. I hope you're proud of me. I wish you were here, I wish you could see this place. I think you'd love it. Apparently they know someone that goes to one of the local high schools, so maybe you guys could've been friends, even if she's a few years older than you." She placed a hand on the stone, rubbing her fingers along the edge of it. "I miss you."

When she finished talking to Malia, she made her way back inside. She took a moment to herself, sitting down on one of the chairs and looking out the giant glass walk, watching the view along with the agents that were being trained by Sam Wilson. She watched the way they fought, they way they moved, and the more that she did that the more that she wanted to be down there. She wanted to be good. She didn't want to be known as the ex-HYDRA agent. She wanted to be known as the woman who worked her entire life to get where she was now.

     "Hey." The sound of Maria's voice made Sage turn her head. She looked up at the woman and offered her a gentle smile. "How'd it go in there?"

     "Better than I expected." Sage admitted. "I told him what happened to me, what happened to Malia. And then I told him I didn't know how to answer his question."

     "Well, what did he ask?" Maria moved to sit down in the other chair, looking at the woman in curiosity.

     "He asked me who I was, and I told him I was the girl that lost everything and the girl that has no one left." Sage looked away from Maria and out the window. "Everyone I ever knew has either died, or has left me. And I just. . . I'm surrounded by all of these people and yet I can't help but feel so incredibly alone. And it's suffocating me. I want to become my own person, not the person that HYDRA made me become. But I don't know how to do that, when I don't have anyone by my side to help me through it."

Maria placed a hand over top of Sage's, causing the girl to look at her. She saw the tears in Sage's eyes, and her heart seemed to break. Sage believed that she was alone in this world, and suddenly that became Maria's goal. To make sure that she knew that she wasn't alone. Because she wasn't. She had Maria, she had the Avengers, and even though Malia was gone, she still had Malia. Maria knew that Malia meant the entire world to Sage, and that's why she had decided to bury her here. Because Sage could still talk to her, even if Malia wasn't here to respond back to her.

     "Sage, listen to me." Maria sternly told her. "You are not alone. I will be with you, by your side, for as long as you will let me. I'm not going anywhere, do you hear me. I want to help you, but I can only do that if you'll let me."

     Sage let a tear slip down her cheek as she smiled at the woman and nodded her head. "Thank you." Maria smiled back, and squeezed her hand in response. Sage looked at their hands before looking back at Maria. She pursed her lips for the moment. "Maria, what are we?"

     Maria looked at Sage for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "Whatever you want us to be. This is your life, Sage. Make your decisions, even if the first one is something like this."

     Sage smiled before looking down at their hands before interlacing their fingers. "You've quickly become someone that I care about Maria. And I can only hope that you care about me just as much."

     "More than you know." Maria answered.

     Sage looked at her, before glancing out the window at the agents training before looking back at Maria. "I want to be able to become my own person. It's what I want, and I know that it's something Malia would want me to do. But, I don't want to do it alone. So, I'm asking you, if you would like to help me out on this discovery. Help me find out who I really am without the influence of HYDRA."

     Maria smiled widely at this before nodding her head. "I would want nothing more than that." She stood up and Sage followed suit.

     Sage smiled down at their hands that were still interlaced with one another before looking back up at Maria. "Let's get started, shall we?"

     Maria smiled and nodded her head. "We shall."