Andrea's p.o.v
It was 3AM. The moon shined in our room and my blonde wife was fast asleep, her eyes scrunched in what was probably a nightmare. I wanted to wake her up, but I knew she would be upset because we all need sleep.
But I couldn't sleep, I had too much on my mind. We had managed to clean up and we would begin our search in the morning.
I stood up and got out of the warmth of our bed and crept out of the room, hoping I wouldn't wake Nat up. It didn't take me long to arrive in front of Wanda's old room. My hand hovered over the door handle but I couldn't bring myself to open it.
A part of me was worried Tony had it destroyed after we went on the run. I don't know if Tony would ever understand why we did what we did. Steve had explained more had happened with Tony while I was in prison, but he didn't delve into too much detail.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed down the door handle and walked into the room, shocked to find it completely unchanged. Like she had never left. I looked around, finding her bed neatly made. Her dresser was open from when she packed as much as she could for going on the run. Not that she kept any of it.
I glanced at the picture of her and pietro on one side and the picture of me and her on the other. The floorboards creaked as I walked along them and grabbed a sweater from a hanger and smelling it carefully, gripping the fabric with everything in me.
It didn't smell like her anymore, it had been too long. But I closed my eyes anyway, trying to remember everything about her. Tears fell down my face and onto the fabric as I pictured her easily. She was my only family, I needed to get her back.
I scrunched my eyes tightly as a throbbing arrived in my mind.
Vision:
I stood in darkness hearing a voice echoing around me. I couldn't quite understand what it was saying and I had to take a deep breath and close my eyes to hear what it's saying.
"Your mission is to get her back at any means necessary. It will come at a great cost which you must be prepared to pay." It repeated over and over again and I held my head as the pain became more unbearable.
End vision:
I gasped as I found myself back in Wanda's room clutching her sweater. I jumped when I heard the door creak open and Natasha walked in tiredly. "Hey, you okay?" She asked, her voice raspy from having just woken up.
Under normal circumstances I would have found it hot, but we weren't in normal circumstances. Half of the universe was gone and it was up to us to bring them back. And all of that started today. With the first step, finding Tony, or any of the team for that matter.
So, I slowly got up and put the sweater back where I found it. I then strolled over to my wife and placed my hand on her cheek, staring deeply into her eyes, taking in every single feature. I didn't know why, I just needed this moment to appreciate her beauty and know that after everything I've lost, I still had her.
For a moment she closed her eyes and held the hand that was on her cheek, taking a deep breath.
"We're gonna get them back," she said confidently. "And if we don't?" I asked. I could tell that she was worried about me. For the past few days I hadn't been eating, sleeping. I had barely talked to her.
I didn't want her to worry about me, I wanted her to be happy and the only way I could think of that happening is if we got everyone back.
"I'm going to go and get us some food from the store to fuel up for finding Tony. Are you okay to set everything up so we can talk to Carol?" I asked, to which the blonde nodded her head. For a second she hesitated on what she wanted to do before she simply kissed me chastely, just showing me that she loved me no matter what, and I appreciated it.
"I'll be back soon," I whispered, kissing her cheek lightly before leaving her in Wanda's room. All of Tony's cars were still here so I took the opportunity to take one to drive to the centre of New York. I opted for his Black Range Rover sport and drove out of the compound for the first time in a very long time.
It was so early it was still dark, but considering it was doomsday in the world right now, I figured it would be okay for me to go to the store. As I drove through New York, I felt a nagging at the pit of my stomach and bile in my throat at the sights around me.
Debris all along the roads, cars abandoned, windows smashed. There was no power and I was thankful the compound ran electricity sustainably on its own. I drove around for a while and finally arrived at a store that had been looted but I could see some food.
I leant over to the glove compartment and grabbed the Glock 26, hiding it in the back of my pants before getting out of the car and walking into the store. It was empty and glass was on the floor, it crunched underneath my boots.
I picked up a shopping basket and walked down each of the aisles picking up useless items, but made sure to grab bread, peanut butter and jelly as I knew Nat loved the sandwich.
My whole body froze for a moment when I heard a second pair of footsteps and I braced myself for maybe having to use my gun as I walked around the aisles to see who it was. I soon came face to face with a random person. They looked rough, bags under their eyes, tear streaks and pale.
"I thought it was you," he said, his voice cracking as he spoke. I didn't say anything as I saw him turn into a defensive stance. "You're an avenger. What the hell happened out there?! Why couldn't you defeat him huh? I lost my son! Try explaining to a 7 year old girl that her brother just turned into dust in front of her! My wife is inconsolable! The worlds gone to shit and you just stand here buying snacks?! How do you sleep at night!" He seethed, clearly looking for someone to blame.
"I did everything I could. He was too strong. Everyone's grieving but we're gonna figure it out," I gulped, tears appearing in my eyes making me feel weak. "You screwed up! You ruined everyone's lives. Everyone knows about you being a part of Hydra, you probably helped that alien destroy everything!" He growled and I shook my head as I walked up to the till that was empty. I ruffled around in my pockets and pulled out some cash, placing it on the counter.
"Hey! Where are you going?! You don't get to just walk away from this!" He shouted, grabbing my arm. Call it PTSD, trauma, I don't know. All I know is that the moment he grabbed my arm I had memories of all of it, and automatically grabbed the Glock in my pants and pointed it at him.
"Step away!" I shouted and watched as his eyes widened in shock. He pulled away immediately and put his hands up in their air to protect himself. "I'm doing everything I can to get everyone back! We all lost people okay? But let's get one thing straight here, I did everything I could. I died fighting that-that monster! I'm lucky to be alive right now, don't you dare accuse me for something I couldn't control. I didn't see you, or anyone else on that battlefield! We did everything we could and we're doing everything we can. Now if I catch you accusing any of the avengers I will hunt you down myself and put a bullet in your skull. Leave," I growled out and watched as he backed out of the store.
Once the man had got a distance away he ran as fast as possible and I felt guilt settle in my chest. I was being harsh, I would never follow through on my threat. He was grieving just like me, just like everyone.
Shaking my head, I put my handgun back and threw the food in the back and drove back to the compound, speeding down the roads without a care in the world.
When I walked in, I couldn't hear anyone so I called out for my wife. "Nat?!" I shouted and heard a small "in here," come from another room. I strolled in and threw the food on the counter.
"Hey, you okay you look shaken up?" She worriedly asked when she looked up from the computer to me. "An encounter with someone. I'm fine," I told her. She lingered on me before accepting it and averting her eyes back to the screen.
"Carol has come back with recon of sightings of a spaceship across the galaxy. She's following leads after it's looking like it is the ship Tony left on. Could you get in contact with Rhodey? He mentioned something about Clint and I wanna know what he's doing," she told me. I nodded my head and pulled my phone from out of my pocket, leaving the room.
I dialled the man's number and took a moment to take a deep breath while it rang. "Hey," he said sadly over the other end. "Hey, how are you holding up?" I asked with genuine concern. The man was still struggling with his disability and now he doesn't have the support of his best friend.
"I'm good, listen. I wanted to talk to you about Clint," he cleared his throat and I nodded my head despite him not being able to see me. "So I went to his house. He's nowhere to be seen but his suit's gone. I followed a lead all the way to Mexico and when I arrived there were dead bodies surrounding the building," he said solemnly.
"Was Clint one of the bodies?" I asked quietly, not wanting Nat to hear. "No, based on what other people are saying I think he killed them all," he informed me, making me gulp. "Why?" I whispered. "I think he blames them. Or he's looking to blame people. The people he killed were a part of a gang of some kind. I'm gonna keep following leads in hopes I can find him, but I'm gonna be honest Andy. He doesn't seem to want to be found," he told me.
"Okay, thank you Rhodey, keep us updated," I told him. "Will do, speak soon," he replied before ending the call. I rubbed my eyes tiredly and sighed knowing I'd have to explain to Nat that her best friend has gone rogue.
I slowly opened the door and she looked up at me hopeful. I shook my head and explained it to her, my heart breaking as her face dropped. Clint wasn't just her best friend, he was her family. He had saved her numerous times, he had made her an aunt to 3 beautiful children, he was like a brother to her.
"Rhodeys still looking for him. We can get him back," I nodded and she smiled sadly at me before agreeing with me. Although I knew she had doubts, she knew him. If he didn't want to be found, he wouldn't get found.
"Has anyone talked to Thor?" I quizzed, breaking the silence. "MIA also, mourning. I think he's mad at himself, blames himself. I'm hoping if we find Thanos we can give him something to be proud of. Killing that asshole," she told me.
"Oh and Steve's doing some community initiatives to get things up and running again. Power, stores, he's working to put the world back to normal. Well, as normal as it can be with half the population," she smiled a little, it was exactly something Steve would do. Anything to help the people.
"So everyone's got jobs to do. And I think we've got the hardest of them all. Getting everyone back."