Once Upon an Avenger

Chapter 11: Wake up!

Hope awoke to a deafening silence.

She stood up, studying her surroundings; it was dark, a single torch lit the room and the walls were made of mirrors that stretched from ceiling to floor. A floor that was as black as a raven's wing and as hot as the fires of the Underworld. "This place seems so familiar..." She said softly to herself.

"That's because I told you about it," a voice sounded from behind her, one that she would recognise anywhere.

She turned around, hoping to find him stood there. "Henry?" She called, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm over here, sis," this time it came from her left, next to where the torch was fastened. Hope ran towards Henry, but instead of the brother she wished so desperately to hug, she found only his reflection in the mirror she stood before. "At least, as here as I can be..."

"So, this is it?" She asked, placing her hand on it.

Mirroring her movements, he sighed. "Why did you do it?"

"It was the right thing to do, I had to save them."

He pulled his hand away. "You chose them over us, you chose to save them over saving your family!"

His sudden change in demeanour startled Hope. "I had to, I'm sorry! It's what heroes do! You know that, Henry."

"Just because we are heroes, it doesn't make you one, Hope!" Another voice said from her right.

She glanced at the mirror to see who it was. "Grandma?"

Suddenly Regina appeared in the mirror next to her brother. "Your mother should have given you up for adoption instead of Henry..."

"You don't mean it! This is Melinoe..." Her voice was beginning to crack as she held back the tears. She wouldn't give in, she wouldn't let them fall, this was all just a bad dream, one Melinoe had conjured.

"She's right, honey, I gave up the wrong child. Your brother is so much better than you; he has the heart of the truest believer, he saved me in a way you never could..."

"Mom..." Hope's heart sank at the sound of her mother's voice, but she still needed to stay strong, she couldn't let Melinoe win, not like this.

Soon enough, her whole family was stood in the mirrors in front of her, each of them whispering their disapproval. "You were supposed to save us"; "You failed us, Hope, you're nothing but a failure,"; "You bring shame upon our family,"; "How could you choose them?" These were just some of the things Hope could decipher from the tsunami of scornful murmurs they sent her way.

It was too much; she knew that this nightmare was of Melinoe's doing but she couldn't help feeling consumed by the guilt of leaving them all behind. She sat on the burning floor and wrapped her arms tightly around her legs. She could feel her heart trying to break into a million pieces, the only thing keeping it together was the thought that the Avengers were now safe.

At least, until she heard his voice from the opposite side of the room. "How could you do this to us, kiddo?"

Hope lifted her heard and turned to face him. "Tony... it should have worked, you should be free now."

"It didn't work, Swan," Sam said, standing in the mirror next to Tony.

She slowly rose to her feet and walked over to him. "I'm so sorry, Sam..."

"I was right not to trust you, was this your plan all along?" Steve was now a part of the mirrored illusions too. "Use your witchcraft to break us apart?"

"No, Steve, of course not. I did this to protect you, all of you."

The glue that was holding her heart together was slowly beginning to come unstuck, but she tried her best to ignore it, no matter how hard it was.