Romanoff & I

Dead

Your eyes open slowly, and see Natasha holding your hand. Tony is pacing up and down the room, and you cough slightly. All eyes turn to you and tears flood your eyes. "What day is it?" you cough again dryly, and Steve hands you a cup of water. The others help you up and stare at each other intensely expecting you to forget about your question. Natasha breaks the silence, "Sydney..." she stutters, "you were gone for 6 years". She avoids eye contact with you and you look at her in disbelief. You slowly feel your energy coming back and you stand up, stumbling. "I guess that makes sense" you mumble, "with everything that happened" you glare at Natasha's hand and she tucks it in her pocket.

After a couple minutes of silence, Peter says "Sydney, what happened to you?" The others moan his name hinting he was being insensitive. "I don't want to talk about it now...but I'm just happy I'm back". You and the others all go in for one big hug and Tony speaks up, "we won't rush your for answers, Sydney. Just try to get used to your surroundings first" you nod and thank him. "We will give you your space" Thor says, stroking your shoulder. Everyone walks out and you call to Natasha asking you to say behind. The doors close and it's just you two in the room. You stare at each other from other sides of the room and you smile softly. You run towards each other and embrace each other. You hear Natasha start crying and a wave of sadness flies over you. You don't move and Nat says, "I can't believe you're alive" she says through tears, "I thought you were dead- that I'd never see you again" You look in her eyes and cup her face with your hand. "Well I'm here now, aren't I?" She laughs softly and smiles, "you're here"

You try hide your feelings of despair and anger from the last couple years, and you just try to forget and move on. It wasn't the right thing to do, but you knew that. You thought many times about choosing to forget if you ever got out, and every time a different scenario played out through your head. You thought knowing would make you a stronger person, but what if it done the complete opposite? What if it slowly broke you down and you crumbled into nothing.

With a deep breath in, you put on a fake smile and say, "who's the lucky person?" Natasha looks and you confused and ushers you to sit down with her. "Oh" she rubs the back of her neck,"just the girl from the coffee shop" You feel a wave of guilt and disappointment rush over you, but it's not what you feel. You let go off Natasha's hand and the feelings disappear.  You think what has happened is just a coincidence and you decide to move on from it.

"I don't blame you...for moving on" Natasha raises her eyebrows."6 years is a long time, and we didn't exactly end things on the best note" your mind flickers once again to Steve's words, and you say, "when you never know when the last time you see them will be, a lot of things can happen"  Natasha scoffs and nods. She lays you down and and stays up. "I'll let you get some rest, Sydney". You nod and yawn.

The door closes as Natasha walks out the room and the last thing you wanted to do was rest. That's all you were doing for 6 years, except when you wasn't. You pull out your phone and message Loki, expecting a reply, but nothing. You scroll through the news from the last 6 years and catch yourself up on all of the details.
However, the name Loki appears in one of the recent news articles, and you become concerned. One word stands out from the rest and your heart skips a beat when you read it. "Dead?!"