"ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO GO?"
Today was the day for their flight to the airport, giving a group of students the chance to travel to Europe and explore more of the world outside of the States. And for one, Eszter was ecstatic to cross the world with her friends and leave her hero life behind for a while. A chance of Eszter and Peter having a normal week together as themselves and possibly letting the couple have a romantic date in Paris.
Eszter had completed her packing last night with the help from Wanda and Morgan, but the enhanced had to go through her suitcase to remove much of the little girl's picks--nothing matched, much to Eszter's dismay. Nevertheless, Eszter enjoyed the small moment of bonding time she had earned with Morgan, especially as the little girl was picking clothes for her dates with Peter. Growing fond of Eszter's boyfriend, Morgan approved of Peter and allowed the two to date--although it wouldn't be her choice, Eszter appreciated the concern.
On that note, Morgan and Eszter had grown close since the day they had met, and from the course of living together, the two were like sisters. Their connection didn't surprise Pepper because she had a strong feeling the two would like one another; the only surprising part was how alike they were, which baffled the woman. Strangely, the girls remind Pepper so much of Tony.
It was funny to Pepper.
They were almost like biological sisters, but only because they weren't blood-related didn't deny that Eszter and Morgan are definitely sisters by heart.
Currently, the small family is having breakfast one last time before Eszter, and the Starks depart, but not forever; once Eszter returns from her trip, she'll be meeting with Happy to take her to Georgia through their private jet. Pepper offered to take Eszter to the airport, but she informed the woman that Wanda would drop her off.
Eszter playfully rolls her eyes. "Your mom is such a worrier," she says to Morgan.
"Mommy says that's the job of being a mommy," she nods dramatically, popping a piece of scrambled eggs into her mouth as she beams.
"I was just asking. I'm allowed to be a little concerned."
"And I appreciate it, Pep, but you don't have to worry bout me," Eszter reassures. She barely eats her food, from what Pepper has gathered, and as far as she knows, Pepper knows Eszter wasn't fine. "I get that after the whole . . . Blip might've scared you, but I swear, I'm fine. It's just a little vacation. I'll be home after a week."
Scrambling for more excuses, Pepper continues. "Well, what about what happened at the charity? People will recognize you, or they won't let you cross the country because of your passport?" Pepper worries. Eszter doesn't respond right away, causing the woman to frown dejectedly as a horrible feeling brew in her chest. "I don't mean to annoy you, Eszter, but I'm just looking out for you."
"Funny you said that," Eszter suddenly drops her fork in annoyance, letting it clang against the glass plate. Pepper furrows her brows in confusion as she watches Eszter intertwine her fingers before laying her chin over them, staring at her with a strange look. "Wanda and I met with Mr. Martin the other day."
Pepper falters and tries to cover up, but Eszter could sense it. "You . . . did?"
Eszter narrows her eyes at Pepper, already inside Pepper's emotions as she could feel it changing erratically--one minute the woman is stressed and worried, the next, Pepper felt betrayed and hurt with a hint of sadness.
"Yeah, we wanted to see what we can do for Wanda to take me in her custody," instantly, Eszter felt the nervousness and the guilt bubbling. The lump formed in her throat as she could feel her eyes stinging with tears. "I know you didn't talk to Mr. Martin."
"You went to see the social worker behind my back?"
What gave Pepper the right to be angry at Eszter? How can she be infuriated with her after she had lied to her face, claiming something untrue? Eszter was furious. How can Pepper be selfish to betray Eszter and prevent her from reuniting with her only family left standing?
"You never want to go. What was I supposed to do? Sit around and wait for you to dictate my life?" Eszter's voice booms with bottled-up anger. This baffled Pepper, taking the woman off-guard. She had no clue where this much anger was coming from, but she knew it couldn't all be toward her, right? "What gives you the right to toy with my life? Wanda's my family, Pepper! Don't you get how much this means to me? To lose everyone I ever loved and have one left."
Suddenly, the darkness slams delicately to the ground as a violet string wraps itself around Pepper's neck. Gasping for air, Pepper's eyes widened in shock when her eyes stared back at Eszter, unsure of what was happening at the moment. Everything happened so quickly, and Pepper couldn't comprehend the situation until it was too late. She could feel her own emotions altering right before the air was no longer flowing through her lungs.
Eszter glares at Pepper, seeming to be under the influence of the anger that managed to consume her.
"You're not my mother," she seethes. The violet rope tightens around Pepper's throat, causing the woman to choke as her body jerked slightly. "So stop acting like it."
But when a frightened cry interrupted Eszter's trance, the enhanced glance at Morgan's trembling figure; the little girl was sitting in her chair across from Pepper, terrified as she was holding her mom's arm, crying in panic. Morgan looked back at Eszter, but it was that moment when the enhanced finally felt the little girl's emotions.
For a second, Eszter nearly didn't stop because it felt so good to let go of the anger the bubbles inside. However, Eszter stared at Morgan with scary eyes, looking like a scary villain in Morgan's movies. It was strong and overpowered the anger that Eszter held, and with all her strength, the enhanced snapped out it.
Gasping in horror, Eszter gawks at Pepper as she can see the woman on the verge of passing out, but something strange was happening to her. The violet string was pulsing and getting thicker, and there was a strange feeling in Eszter's chest. However, the enhanced ignores it as she swipes her hand, releasing her hold on Pepper. The tears in her eyes made it difficult for Eszter to see, though she looked down at her hands, wondering, what the hell was that?
"Oh, my God," Pepper gasps for the air, clutching her neck when the pressure was no longer there. The sound of Morgan's cries snapped Pepper into protective mode, and not sparing a glance at Eszter, she quickly consoles Morgan. "Hey, shh. It's okay, baby. Mommy's okay. It's okay. I'm okay."
However, a panicked Eszter pushes the chair back and jumps up, accidentally bumping the chair until it crashed to the ground, capturing Pepper's attention. Stumbling back, Eszter's knees buckled out of the blue, causing the enhanced to tumble to the ground in a fit of angry tears. This had never happened. Eszter doesn't even know what she had done, what that feeling was.
"What did I do?" Eszter mutters quietly to herself, staring at her hands. The power was practically surging in her hands, but Eszter clenches her fist to reduce that feeling. Visualizing the bottle and stuffing everything inside, Eszter gasps. "I'm sorry. I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry."
Her voice was barely a whisper, but somehow, Pepper could hear it.
Pepper presses a kiss to Morgan's head, hushing the little girl and whispering to her that everything was okay and no one was angry. Once the little girl was finally calm, Pepper steps up and continues to hold Morgan when she refused to let go of her mom. Instead, Morgan stayed attached to the woman as she stuffed her face into Pepper's leg, afraid to look at the one person she trusted the most, the person who had inflicted that pain.
Cautiously stepping toward Eszter, Pepper held her hand out as she slowly eases forward, still motivated to help her adoptive daughter. It didn't matter that Eszter had used her powers against her. She couldn't hold that against Eszter; Pepper had known the enhanced had been holding the events from the Blip inside, bottled and forced within. Although Pepper knew she couldn't let it slide, it was her responsibility to help Eszter through the rough ride she was going through.
There were no ill intentions, and Pepper knew that. Eszter hadn't meant to retaliate the way she had with her powers, but Morgan didn't know that.
"Eszter. Sweetheart," Pepper wept. She wipes her eyes clear from the tears, but they never seem to go away as she kneels in front of Eszter, wanting to reach out.
However, once Eszter's bugged-eyed met Peppers, the enhanced sprung back and scooted far from the woman and the daughter; she was mortified and angry at herself, and Eszter didn't deserve the warm touch. Eszter's cries broke Pepper's heart, and it hurt to witness how broken the enhanced truly was.
"Get away from me!"
Clenching her fists, Eszter weeps as she watches the dark misty smoke circling her, similar to the way it always does as if it's protecting her; however, Eszter wasn't sure if that was the case anymore. The enhanced struggled to keep herself in check, and even after everything, Eszter had let this break her.
Pepper shakes her head. "I'm not mad, okay? I'm worried, and you're scaring me," her voice trembles. With each step she took, Eszter would back away. "I just want to help, sweetheart."
"No! I'm dangerous!" Eszter pleads. She couldn't put them into any more danger. Sobbing on the dining room floor, Eszter smacks her hand on her mouth to stifle the heartwrenching sobs, but they continued to fall through. "I don't wanna . . . I don't . . . I don't wanna hurt you again."
"No, sweetheart, you won't. You know how I know that? Because you'd never hurt anyone unless you actually have to," Pepper slowly inches closer to Eszter, and once her fingers touched the enhanced's knees, she halts when the girl flinches. "You're scared, and you're angry--angry at me, I know. But I need you to listen to me because you're hyperventilating, and I don't want you to pass out, okay?"
Unable to fight Pepper, Eszter nods abruptly. "O--Okay."
"That's my girl," slowly, Pepper pulls Eszter into her arms while the enhanced tensed at the touch. As careful as she can be, Pepper was able to lay Eszter into her lap, running her fingers through her hair to soothe the enhanced. "Just focus on breathing."
Once Eszter had calmed down from the panic attack, the enhanced curls into a ball. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I was so angry, and I couldn't hold it in. I didn't know that I--" Eszter cries at the memory. Clenching her eyes shut, Eszter found herself gripping Pepper's pants in her fist. Whispering under her breath, Pepper almost didn't hear it. "I should've never took the dampener off . . ."
No words were exchanged after that, leaving the three in complete silence. All Eszter could think is how she could let herself hurt Pepper the way she had? Exhaling, the enhanced couldn't shake off the guilty feeling. She couldn't let go of Pepper as her hand slides up to find the woman's hand, and Eszter grips it tightly in her own. Not daring to let do, the enhanced mutters more apologies.
How does Eszter always manage to ruin something good?
💜
Later in the afternoon, Eszter had walked out of her room with the suitcase rolling by her side. Looking for Pepper, Eszter meekly walks around the oversized house and searches for the woman, not wanting to leave until she finds Pepper. Still, Eszter felt awkward and disconnected from herself, but even as she tells herself Pepper wasn't upset, it was difficult for the enhanced to accept what she did.
"Pepper?"
"In the living room!"
Eszter shuffles towards the direction of Pepper's voice, tugging her suitcase. Walking into the living room, Eszter halts in her place upon seeing Morgan sitting with Pepper but frowns upon noticing the little girl hiding behind Pepper. Feeling a pang in her chest, Eszter drops her gaze to the floor as she didn't feel worthy of being within the same room as the two.
"I'm heading out now," Eszter meekly informs.
"Oh," Pepper frowns. She sat there for a second as her eyes trailed onto the enhanced's figure, noticing the way Eszter stood uncomfortably. Standing from the couch, Pepper walks toward the enhanced and hugs Eszter. "Have fun, okay? I love you and be safe."
Mustering a smile, Eszter hugs Pepper back as she nods. "I will," pulling away from the woman, the enhanced glances nervously at Morgan. "Hey, M. I'm sorry for scaring you." She tries, but Morgan merely looks away with a bit of hesitancy, making Eszter hate herself even more. "I would never do anything that would hurt you or your mom. I just want you to know that."
Morgan pulls her legs up on the couch, hugging them close to her chest. "Okay," she responds softly.
Eszter continued to stare at Morgan, but the enhanced was flabbergasted; Morgan no longer hated Eszter, nor did she feel terrified of her. The little girl was slowly relaxing and easing back to the enhanced, noting that Pepper was okay. If her mom was fine and said she was, then Morgan can trust Eszter. Her mom seemed to be okay with the girl, so that means she should be, too.
Turning away, Eszter starts making her way toward the front door as she wasn't going to receive much from Morgan, but the enhanced stops upon hearing a call from Pepper. Releasing the handle of her suitcase, Eszter pulls out her phone to send Wanda a quick text message, letting her know that she'll be out in a minute.
"Wait, wait. Here, you're gonna need this," Pepper holds her hand out, but once Eszter registered what it was, the enhanced looked at the woman weirdly.
"That's money," she notes.
Pepper makes a funny face. "Yeah, I know that. It's for you."
"No, Pep, I'm not taking that."
But the woman wouldn't take no for an answer.
"It's fine, sweetheart. I want you to buy whatever you want and spend the time with your friends," Pepper decides to grab Eszter's hand when the enhanced refused to grab the money, stuffing the wad of cash into the girl's grasp. "You know, most teenagers your age wouldn't hesitate to take this money."
Eszter rolls her eyes playfully. "I'm not most teenagers, Pep," she glances down at the money, twisting it between her fingers. "Thanks. I'll get them exchanged once I get to Italy. See ya in a couple of weeks."
With another farewell, Eszter makes her way out the door where she met Wanda standing outside her red car. Helping her sister toss the suitcase into the trunk, the sisters make their way into the car.
"Excited?" Wanda chuckles. She began pulling out of the driveway and turning down the street, clicking the signal.
"That, and a little nervous," Eszter swipes her hands across her thighs.
Wanda raises a brow. "You've been in a Quinjet and an alien ship. Thought you weren't afraid of flying?"
"I'm not," Eszter clarifies. "I'm more nervous because I'm hoping that Peter and I can have our first date as a couple there."
"Oh--wait, couple?"