The End of the Line

Chapter 1

"Mommy," I heard a small child's voice say. "Mommy, wake up."

I opened my eyes and saw my four-year-old daughter Andie standing by my bed. "Hi honey," I said. I looked at the clock next to my bed and saw that it was three in the morning. "What's wrong?"

"I couldn't sleep. I had a bad dream," she said.

"Oh, you did? That's not good." I moved over to the other side of my bed and patted next to me. "Come on, sit down and tell me about it."

She hopped up onto the bed. "You were holding the boy from your locket. He was crying and saying he didn't want to go. You told him you loved him, and he said he loved you too and that he was sorry. Then he turned to dust, and I woke up."

Holy shit, her powers are stronger than mine were at this age, I thought. She just saw Peter and I on Titan.

"Mommy, who is the boy I saw? Is that my daddy?"

I pushed her hair out of her face. "Yeah, that was your daddy."

"Why did I dream about him and you, Mommy?"

"Well, you know how I told you that Mommy has powers?" She nodded. "I think you have the same powers as me and your Grandpa Andrew."

"What are those powers?"

I ruffled her hair. "I'll tell you later. Now do you want to go back to your bed or do you want to sleep with Mommy tonight?"

"Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Of course you can Honey." I pulled the covers up to her neck as she laid down, then I gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Goodnight sweetheart."

"Goodnight Mommy."

We both fell asleep immediately, and I woke up again at 7:30 that morning. Andie was still sleeping soundly, so I got out of bed as quietly as possible before going out to the kitchen. I got the leftover breakfast casserole from yesterday out of the fridge to warm up for breakfast. As I started up the oven, the house's brand new comm system beeped. "Allie, Steve just pulled into the driveway," the AI that I created, designed and named T.A.M.M.I.E. after my mom, said (it also stood for Totally Automated Mother Mimic Intelligence Engine).

"Alright. Thanks T A.M.M.I.E." I walked out to the front porch and watched as Steve got out of his truck and walked up to me. "Mornin' Cap. You're here early."

"Good morning Allie," Steve said. "Yeah, it's kind of a habit to get up early. And I hoped you would still be asleep so you would be surprised when you saw these on the dining room table."

He held up a bundle of fifteen red roses. I took them from him. "You remembered."

"How could I forget? I lost people that day too. And hey, do me a favor and set the last two by Sam and Bucky's names for me, would you?"

"You're not gonna come with us?"

"I don't know, I had plans...."

"We'll be there and gone long before your group thing tonight. Then the five of us can have lunch together before I head upstate to meet Natasha for the meeting." Steve hesitated. "I know Andie wants you there. So if you won't do it for me, at least do it for her."

Steve sighed. "Alright, I'll come with."

"Good. Can you do me a favor and go wake the boys up? I need to talk to them before I wake up Andie."

"Yeah, sure."

I nodded and led the way back into the house. I took the stairs up to the second floor, and Steve took the elevator up to the third. A few minutes later, Lexi's twin brothers River and Ryder, who have lived with me since the snap, followed Steve down the stairs. "Good morning boys," I said as I put the casserole in the oven.