N-701124 {b. barnes}

IX

"Mom. I want to come." Autumn protested.

"No. You're staying here where it's safe." Belle insisted. "That's final."

"But-"

Belle crouched down to her daughter's height and firmly placed her hands on the thirteen-year-old's shoulders. "Listen to me. I just lost your father, and I can't afford to lose you too. You're all I have left. I can't let you put yourself at risk, and I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you."

"I want to help." Autumn mumbled.

"I know. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to help out when you're older and stronger, I promise. But not today." Belle assured her.

"But what if something happens to you?"

Belle held her daughter's face in her hands. "Hey, I'm a hundred years old, and I've gone through enough to conclude that I'm immortal. We're all working as a team, and we'll look after each other. I'm going to come home to you, I swear."

"Promise?" Autumn asked softly.

"I cross my heart." Belle kissed the top of her head. "We won't be gone long. With any luck, we'll come back and be able to set everything right again. We can go back to life as a normal little family again. If all of this works out, we won't have to fight anymore. We won't have to fight ever again."

"We could be normal? Well, close to normal?"

Belle laughed softly. "As close to normal as we can get. Sound okay?"

Autumn nodded.

"Alright." She hugged her daughter one last time. "We'll be back soon, I promise."

"Be careful." Autumn pleaded.

"Careful is my middle name." Belle smiled slightly.

"No, it's not." Autumn rolled her eyes. "It's Rose."

Belle shrugged. "Same thing. Be back soon." She turned and jogged off to go find the others, feeling Autumn's stare follow her as long as it could.

"How are you holding up?" Steve approached Belle as she was lacing up her shoes. 

The former assassin looked up, then shrugged. "Spectacular. Fantastic, even. Never better."

Steve shook his head. "You're an awful liar. Honestly, how are you?"

Belle exhaled. "I don't know what I'm going to do if this doesn't work. It's been hell these last three weeks and I can't imagine living like this forever."

"We'll figure it out." Steve promised. "Some way or another, it'll be okay."

"I sure as fuck hope you're right, because I don't know what I'm going to do if you're not." Belle stood up. "On that note, let's get this overwith."

Steve nodded. "Let's go, then."

"Okay, who here hasn't been to space?" Rocket asked.

Belle cautiously raised her hand, along with Natasha, Steve, and James Rhodes.

"You better not throw up on my ship." Rocket warned.

Belle took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She wasn't ready for this, but it was too late to back out now. She squeezed the armrests of her seat and waited for the launch. Someone grabbed her hand and she immediately squeezed it.

She was thrown backwards into her seat, and then suddenly, everything stopped. After a few shaky breaths, she opened her eyes.

They were in space. Outer space. She looked around quickly. Everything was calm. She looked over and saw she was still holding someone's hand. It was Natasha.