CHURLISH | james b. barnes

[ 63 ]

Her feet crunched against grass as she looked up at the plane entrance. Klause stood with his hands clasped in front of him.

"Stay here." She said softly.

Klause inclined his head, turning around and entering the plane again. The reflectie plates set in place and the vehicle disappeared in front of them. Lucy turned to focus on the grass beneath her feet. She took a step back as the ground beneath her started to wilt and die. The dirt blew away, making a rectangular hole in the ground.

She turned to the casket and found herself standing in front of Nephthys. The goddess gave her a soft smile. Lucy deactivated her abilities, picking up the casket while Nephthys held onto the other side. They carried the casket together, placing it in the hole. She held her hand out as the grass stitched itself back together, molecules buzzing in the air.

"You did a wonderful job, Lucy." Nephthys said gently from beside her. "She'll be happy."

Lucy glanced up at her with a small nod.

She swiveled on her heel to see Yelena staring at her with her mouth dropped open.

"Wait, wait, wait, you can do that?" She gaped at her. "I thought–death and healing magic–isn't that your thing?"

Lucy's eyelid twitched, because really, Yelena's imagination could be shortcoming sometimes. She guessed it made sense that Yelean only thought in such a way since Lucy usually only healed the young Widows when they broke bones or stabbed each other.

But really, she'd just blasted a window out when they were running from the other Widows.

"No." Lucy replied as she started into the forest. "It's molecular manipulation and necromantic warping. Completely different. One is far more powerful than the other. Everything HYDRA gave me is fairly weak."

She shook her head.

"Come on, let's get to the street." Lucy said.

Yelena and Natasha both glanced at each other before following behind her. Lucy tapped her finger against her watch as she trudged through the grass, brushing her hand against the bark of a few trees, black spreading from her fingertips and turning it black. She made sure to keep track of their path as they walked the mile it took to get to the street.

She wiped sweat off her forehead as their feet landed on rolled pavement. She glanced back at Natasha, who had made it to the street as quick as her. Yelena, on the other hand, lagged behind slightly as she let out a long huff, eyes squinting at her.

"Why are you so fast?" She groaned. "Is someone chasing us? No. What happened to conserving the energy, huh?"

Lucy placed a hand on her hip as she looked at Yelena with a raised eyebrow. The younger rolled her eyes, padding forwards to walk next to her. They trailed on for a few minutes, before Lucy caught sight of a gas station down the road.

She picked up the pace and Yelena let out another grumble.

"By the way, I never got to ask," she panted as she adjusted her backpack, "what's with the new hair?"

She waved her hand at her own head, looking at her with curiosity.

Lucy blinked.

The question took her off guard. Lucy knew the whole hair darkening was an accident on Loki's part, as well as Hela's. It hadn't been something she'd chosen. She'd overused her abilities and she guessed it forced her spirit to reform with the necromantic abilities Hela had. And now that she was with Nephthys, she wouldn't be very surprised if her hair turned darker.

But. . .it had never bothered her.

Lucy remembered when she'd first been taken by HYDRA–the Nazi's. She remembered, in the very beginning, when they'd sat all the subjects together, tied to chairs, speaking with cruelty. She remembered the cries of others, but, most importantly, she remembered being told why they had been chosen.