ALINA
"Hey kid," Tony popped his head around my door, "just came to see how you're getting on."
I smoothed out my black suit in front of my mirror. "Well my legs are working." They still felt numb, but they were moving at least.
"I didn't mean about that." Tony closed the door behind him and sat on my bed. "Funerals aren't anyone's favourite thing, but I know they bring back pretty painful memories for you."
"I'm fine." I turned around to face him. "Really. I'm fine."
He raised an eyebrow at me. "Well if you're not fine, let me know." He stood up and left. I glanced down at where he'd been sitting. There was a tiny black box.
I picked it up and carefully opened the lid. Inside was a Polaroid. I'd never seen it before. Me, my mom, my dad, and Tony, Christmas wrapping all around us. I must have been about two in the photo, my chubby face and frizzy hair making my smile look even bigger. I turned it round in my hands. On the back it said 'HAPPY'S PRIVATE COLLECTION'. I chuckled; not knowing whether the photo had been given willingly or stolen. Either way I was happy to have it.
I put it with my two other photos by my bed.
I went back to the mirror and looked at my reflection. There were rings under my eyes, and my cheeks looks hollower than usual, probably due to the long hours I'd been working and the sleepless nights I'd been having. I took a couple of long, deep, breaths. Today would be hard, but we'd get through it.
Bruce wasn't speaking that morning, and he didn't even eat breakfast, but I wasn't surprised. I'd been like that the day of my Mom's funeral too. Aditi was sat beside him on the couch, a massive bird of prey on one shoulder and a squirrel in her hands. As I watched she offered the squirrel to Bruce. He glanced at her, then the squirrel, then he looked back at Aditi. He nodded and held out a hand. Cautiously the squirrel hopped into his hands. They looked at each other for a while, as though they were having a sort of inter-species staring contest. The squirrel seemed to make up its mind about something and curled up in Bruce's hands. Aditi beamed.
"You can stop here, thanks Buck." I turned around in time to see Bucky lean down and let Roara give him a kiss on his cheek. He looked up and saw me staring, glared at me, and walked away. Roara wheeled herself over to me, her jet black wheelchair matching her dress. Her face had calmed down a bit, but her eye was still bruised and puffy, her nose still at a slightly odd angle.
"He's still being very friendly to me." I muttered to her.
"Don't mind him. He's just," she sighed, "he's still being very protective. What with my leg and all." She glanced down at the dark green casing around her leg. Tony had made it overnight, to aid her mobility but also set her bones.
"Are you two?" I raised an eyebrow.
She shook her head. "No, we're not dating if that's what you're asking. I don't know what we are." She paused. "Ali, I wanted to talk to you."
I settled myself on the arm of the couch closest to me. "Oh yeah?"
"I wanted to apologise. We left things kind of cold, and I never apologised for, you know." She looked down at her knees. "I'm sorry, for everything."
"Ro, you don't need to apologise. You were justifiably angry, and I should have told you." I took her hand. "Are we cool then?"
"We're cool." She glanced over her shoulder. "No, no, no, go back and change."
Loki groaned. "Again?" He was wearing black Asgardian fighting leathers with gold embellishments across the shoulders.
"I told you what to wear, this isn't a party, it's a funeral, have some fucking respect." She jutted her chin out, clearly not taking no for an answer.
Loki rolled his eyes, vanished, and reappeared a moment later, his arms spread out. "Are you happy now." He was wearing a black suit, hair clean and swept back.
Roara wheeled herself over to him and gestured for him to bend down. She dusted off his blazer and set it straight. "Much better."
Nat walked in, high heels clicking. She was in a pencil dress, black of course, with her hair straightened around her face. She gave me a small smile and then went to sit with Clint. Aditi was stood in front of him as he diligently tied the bow in the back of her dress, making sure to get it even. Nat turned her around and adjusted her hair before whispering something to her.
"Hi." I glanced up. Steve was in front of me, hands in his pockets. It was a sad day, but Steve in a suit like that definitely made it a little bit better. "How do I look?"
I stood up off the couch armrest and straightened his tie, pulling it slightly closer to his neck and made sure it was level. "You look good." I murmured. "But you still look like you're going to a funeral."
"We're matching." He noticed, looking me up and down, taking in what I was wearing.
"Practically everyone here is in the same thing." I gave him a look. "Besides, is it so strange to see a woman in a suit?"
"Not at all. I wouldn't have expected anything different."
"The cars are here." Pepper announced. "Roara go at the front, that one has a ramp set up for you." Roara glanced nervously around but Bucky was already there to push her along, saying something in her ear that made her smile a little.
"What do we think about those two?" I asked Steve, nodding towards them, as we made our way with everyone else to the elevators.
Steve scratched the back of his head. "Maybe don't tell anyone this, but Bucky was actually engaged to someone back in the day."
I pouted at him. "Were you jealous?"
"Me. No. Of course not." He coughed. "Anyway, I don't think he remembers her. It was while I was off being Captain America in the 40s. Apparently the girl dumped him without a word, headed back to the country she came from. He didn't talk about it a lot though." He pressed the first floor button on the elevator. "But maybe his heart is still set on that girl, even though he doesn't know it."
"Well he shouldn't be if she left him like that." I shrugged. "I'm not sure he's right for Ro anyway."
"Are you saying something about Bucky?" Steve asked gruffly. "I know you two aren't exactly friends but..."
"Not at all." I replied as the elevator opened back up again. "I mean maybe they're a good pairing? He does seem to get her to calm down but," I bit my lip, "love is complicated. It feels like right person, wrong time. I can't put my finger on it."
"How about you Stark?" Steve opened the door of the black SUV for me. "Found anyone yet?"
My eyes rested on Nat who followed behind us, and walked around to the front of the vehicle, getting into the passenger seat. "Yeah, but I don't think it'll work out." I ducked into the car.
"Why not?" Steve asked.
"She doesn't see me like that." I muttered.
"Who?" Nat turned around to face us.
"Stark has a crush." Steve grinned.
"Anyone would be lucky to have you Ali." She winked and put her seatbelt on. I felt my cheeks go bright red.
I thanked her sheepishly and rested my head against the window. Steve was saying something about them having a spare wheelchair in the back in case I needed it but I wasn't really paying attention. I was thinking about Fiona, how she'd just walked up to the Avenger's tower, an army of animals in her wake, and just asked to come in. How she'd stayed calm under pressure every time, and the impact she'd made on the group despite not being with us long at all. Poor Bruce must be in agony. She was his niece. I had to say we weren't exactly close, but that didn't mean I didn't care about the guy. We'd spent hours and hours in the lab together now, going through tests, cross checking results. He was more committed to bringing down the Ascendency than anyone, except perhaps me.
I knew it would be wrong for me to pretend as though I didn't want revenge. I did. I absolutely did. And I knew, deep down, I would do anything to get it, no matter the sacrifice.
"Ali, we're here." Nat was leaning across me, unstrapping my seatbelt. "Do you need help to get out?"
I nodded and she helped me get out of the car, my legs wobbling slightly from the numbness. It was so embarrassing that I was still in this shape, hopefully the side effects of using my abilities for that length of time would wear off by tomorrow.
The church was packed. People stared as we came in, eyeing us closely. Bucky wheeled Roara to one side, sitting her on the end, and took her hand. Her face was stony, and I could tell she was trying to ignore people who were craning their necks to inspect how battered she looked. Poor Aditi was gripping onto Peter with one arm and Bruce with the other, her face so creased that she looked like she was in physical pain. She couldn't use her headphones here, it would seem rude, so she'd just have to stick it out. I sat between Steve and Nat, with Sam, Pepper and Tony all in the same row. Happy was behind me, and silently forced me to take some tissues even though I knew I wouldn't need it.
The funeral was nice, or as nice as a funeral could be. Her step-dad talked about her love of nature, her kindness, her love of literature. He couldn't talk for long though. When he began to cry, Bruce ran up to the pulpit and helped him down. He jogged back up to the podium, took out a piece of paper, and then put it back in his pocket.
"Hello everyone, I am Bruce, Fiona's uncle. I spoke to Michael who most of you know, and he's asked me to finish this eulogy." Bruce coughed and continued. "I didn't think I'd ever have to stand here, like this. Fiona is, was, my niece so I half expected her to give mine." He made a small sound in the back of his throat which was probably an attempt at laughter. He looked at his piece of paper again and then slipped it back into his jacket. "I had written a couple of things just in case but I don't think anything I've written down will do Fiona justice. Fiona was many things, but a coward was not one of them. On her tenth birthday we were on our way to her favourite theme park when she made the car stop on the side of the road so that she could take care of a fox that had been hit by a car. She stood by the side of this busy road, cars racing past her, and she never even flinched. She just took off her jumper, wrapped it around the poor thing, and got back into the car with it. Didn't even back away when it snarled at her. She got the whole family to go on a detour so that she could take it to an animal sanctuary. Didn't get to go to the theme park, but we got a call a month later saying the fox had been rehabilitated thanks to her. She said it was the best birthday she'd ever had. She was selfless and she was brave. She always wanted to help others and didn't even consider herself. She was unashamedly herself and never one to back away from a fight." He pushed his glasses up his nose with a finger, and just for a second, I saw a glimmer of Fiona in him, in that gesture she always used to do. "I think that's something she'd like to be remembered for. For fighting to always be kind, for fighting to help those in need. When you leave here, I want you all to remember the girl who stood up for others. It would be good if we were all a little bit more like Fiona." He nodded and walked back to his seat.
When we left the churchyard, it was like all the animals in the tristate area were there, peeking out behind bushes and chirping in the trees. I'd never seen so much wildlife apart from when Fiona had been around. It made me smile.
"Did you hear what Tony did?"
It was after the funeral, all of us subdued and having a small drink in the tower. Nat had sidled up to me, glass in hand.
"What did Tony do?" I asked, swirling my wine around in my glass.
"He donated some money to the animal sanctuary where they took the fox Bruce had talked about." She replied. "I don't exactly know how much, but when it's 'some money' in relation to Tony I'm guessing it's a lot."
I smiled into my glass. "I think she'd have liked that."
"I think so too." Nat smiled. "I told Peter first. He's been crying all day, but hasn't let anyone see."
"Poor kid." I looked at him, sitting in a corner. Tony walked over to him and sat beside him, a clapping a hand on his shoulder. Aditi had gone to her room, unable to stand the emotions of everyone any longer, and Wanda had gone with her. I'd met Aunt May for the first time, and she was having a conversation with Roara about something, both of them glancing at Peter every so often.
"Roara tried to save her, you know." I said softly. "I think she blames herself for not being able to bring her back."
"In this job you learn you can't save everyone. Even those closest to you." She sighed and put her glass down. "I'm just glad the rest of us made it out to fight another day."
I nodded. "It feels very strange to be here without her."
"It'll be like that for a while." Nat sighed and pulled me in for a hug. "I just wish I could have done more."
"You didn't even know." I sighed, squeezing her tightly. "All we can do now is bring down the bastards who took her from us."
After people had left there was a quiet buzz in the air, as though we were all thinking the same thing.
We had to eliminate the Ascendency.
Hey guys! I'm so grateful for everyone who's made it this far! I absolutely love watching you guys reading (I can tell when you binge chapters when you star them as you go) and it fills me with so much joy to think that you're liking the story!
I definitely want to give Alina a love interest, but I've been getting conflicted ideas as to who I should pair her with, so I'm going to let you guys vote! I know her love story hasn't really been concentrated on (it's mostly been Roara and Loki with a touch of Bucky!) as I haven't felt that her love story has been the most important part of her character, however it will definitely be something I'll be concentrating more from now on. Any results of voting won't be final, and the way I picture it she'll be getting more than one love interest throughout this story and beyond (I've already started planning a sequel!) so you can definitely vote more than once! Just comment beside the name of the character who you want her to have a pairing with! These are all the possibilities that people have mentioned to me over the time of writing this book:
Nat
Steve
Peter
Bucky
Sam
Thor
Thank you all again so much for your support! It means so much to me <3