『ᴀʀᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇʟ || ᴀ ᴍᴀʀᴠᴇʟ ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ

Ch. 49: Hey

I turned to Steph, my fingers fidgeting with the necklace around my neck. I looked at her before shaking my head, letting out a shaky breath, "Yeah why don't we go back to the tower, I'm not really liking this idea now-"

"Come on. We're already here Nicki. What's the harm in saying hi? I know you haven't done that yet," Steph smiled, placing her hands on my shoulders.

"No. I can't Steph. This is just... I don't know. I don't know how I will feel about this. I mean, Steph, it's them! How will they end up reacting?"

"They are your parents. I'm sure that they'll be relieved that you're still alive. Considering that you haven't visited them since the explosion."

I glared at her, "Not helping."

"I'm just giving you the straight up truth! How else am I supposed to convince you to visit your parents?"

"By not doing it. I haven't seen them in years. They think I'm dead. How are they going to feel when I come walking up to their door saying 'Hey! I've been risking my life by protecting this planet on several different occasions!' They're going to freak out just as much," I retorted, shaking my head as I continued to fiddle with my necklace.

Steph turned around to face me entirely, staring down into my eyes, "Stop this. They are your parents. They were so broken when you had disappeared all of those years ago."

"Yeah, I know," I sighed, shutting my eyes as I let out a hum, "How would you tell your parents that you're still alive?"

"I have."

I opened my eyes and looked at her, tilting my head slightly as I looked at her. She had a straight face as she looked back at me, "What? You told them? How did you even gather the courage to do that?"

"Quite simple really. I walked up to their house, knocked on the door and saw them again. I wasn't really stressing over it like you are. Just knock on their door before they start getting suspicious of us standing out here."

I shook my head, taking a step away from her and from the house, "No, yeah, I'm good. I'll just go back to the facility instead."

"This will forever be on your conscious Nicki!" Steph complained, walking towards me with her hands out, "Just see them. Give them the relief they need. Let them know that you're still alive."

"And make them freak out over me being an Avenger? Over us being Avengers? No, I'm good- they're going to try to do everything they can to make me stay. I don't really feel like having that happen."

The door knob twisted and the door slowly started to open. I whipped my head towards it, my eyes widening as Steph grabbed onto my arms. I glared at her as her grip tightened, "Please. They need it."

"Traitor," I whispered.

A woman peaked around the corner, looking at the two of us. She looked at Steph before turning to me, her eyes widening as she let go of the door, putting her hand over her mouth as her eyes started to tear up.

"Honey, what's wrong? Who's there?"

A man opened the door wider, looking at his wife before turning his attention to me. He met my eyes and stood still, looking at me with wide eyes. The woman cleared her throat, a question passing through her lips as she lowered her hand, tears threatening to spill, "Nicki...?"

I sighed, prying my wrists from Steph's hands as I looked at her, smiling softly at her. I took a step towards her, reaching my hands out for hers. She leaned forward and grabbed them, squeezing my hand tightly. A choked sob rang out into the air, "Hey Mom."

She launched forward, wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling my close, her silenced cries now audible. I tensed up in shock, before hesitantly wrapping my arms around her. She leaned back, grabbing onto my face before pressing a kiss to my forehead, "You're here. You're... you're okay!"