The Forgotten -Marvel 2-

Chapter 26

The dream appeared suddenly in her mind. Lydia was asleep on the floor when the dream emerged.

She was running quickly, almost frantically. There was movement, rocks falling over and scattering against the tile floor. She could hear voices screaming, but they weren't familiar to her. They were strangers.

She stumbled, hitting the ground hard but still attempting to crawl away. Behind her was a creature. It was large, almost appearing to be made of boulders. Lydia created a force field around her as it attacked her. The creature hit the force field before bouncing off. The force of the blow took her by surprise.

That's when she noticed her uniform. It was a suit, her suit. It was made of black armor with purple intertwined throughout. Her hair was much shorter, sitting at her shoulders.

The creature raised its arms again. Lydia moved quickly. She used a force field to launch herself into the air. She kicked off the wall, grabbing a sword from her bag. It was electric. Using the force from the blast, she rammed the sword into the creature's neck. It growled, throwing her backward.

Lydia hit the ground, sliding down the hallway. The building rocked from the force of another blast. Behind her, a voice screamed in pain. She looked up, noticing Wanda. She was struggling to fight off two of the creatures. Above her, the roof was starting to cave in. "Wanda!"

Wanda looked at her with wide eyes. Her brown hair was matted to her head. Lydia pushed onto her feet just as the girl sent the two creatures up through the roof. The impact of the creatures breaking through the building was enough to crumble it entirely. "No," she whispered in realization. The building was going to collapse, and Wanda was in the center. "Wanda!" Lydia had to save her.

She created a force field bubble around Wanda. "Lydia, don't!" Wanda screamed, but it was too late. Throwing her arm back, she forced Wanda out of danger. Above Lydia, the building crumbled. Unable to do anything to protect herself, she fell with it, getting lost in the rubble.

Lydia gasped, sitting up in her makeshift bed. Her body was shaking. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Recently, her dreams were all the same. They were always of Wanda. They were always together, either fighting something or running for their lives. But no matter the dream, it always ended the same. It ended with Lydia dying in order to save Wanda.

It was strange, but Lydia assumed it was her guilt for leaving Wanda in Westview. Dreams were always strange for her. She used to dream of Natasha. She dreamed of their life together. For a while, the dreams were good. They were happy and full of potential. Then they changed. They became dark. Every night, Lydia would experience the loss of Natasha and then Tony. It was horrible.

Now, she was dreaming of Wanda. Lydia glanced at the bed where MJ slept. She was fast asleep, an arm draped over her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she laid back down. Lydia thought about the situation she was currently in. When she lived with the Avengers, all she ever wanted was to be normal. She dreamed of doing ordinary things, but back then, it was a dream. A dream Lydia never thought would become real. Now, she was living an incredibly normal life. She was having a sleepover with MJ. It didn't feel real. But it was. This was reality, and reality was amazing.

Lydia smiled to herself. She knew that Natasha would be proud. A normal life was all she ever wanted for Lydia. There wasn't much she would change. Natasha and Tony were gone. No amount of wishing would bring them back, but Wanda was still alive.

Lydia felt as if her dreams were telling her something. She needed to find Wanda and rid herself of the guilt of leaving her behind. But that was a problem for the future. She needed to focus on herself before figuring out how to rekindle her relationship with Wanda.

Rolling onto her other side, she closed her eyes. Lydia quickly fell back asleep.

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Lydia walked through the living room, MJ following behind her. "Leaving already," her mother asked. "It's only ten."

"Yeah, my dad is pretty strict," she explained with a smile. "Thanks for letting me stay. I'll see you later, MJ."

"Bye," MJ shyly waved at her. "See you around." Opening the front door, she slipped out. Lydia hadn't packed any personal belongings. The idea to stay at MJ's the previous day was rushed and not thought out, but she enjoyed her time. In fact, it was one of the best nights of her life. Lydia enjoyed every moment.

Rushing down the stairs, she made it to the ground floor. As expected, Happy was sitting out front in his car. At the sight of her, he visibly relaxed. The man rolled down the window. "It's five past ten. I almost went up there myself." Lydia laughed as she entered the vehicle, shaking her head slightly. "So, did you have fun?" She never had a chance to respond. "What did you guys do? There were no boys, right?" He started to backtrack. "Or other girls?" He wasn't sure. "Did you do anything-"

"Happy," Lydia cut him off. "Breathe." He did as told, keeping his eyes on the road. "Yes, I had the best time. It was great. We did magazine quizzes, ate a lot of pizza, and watched a movie."

"Good, good." He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "Good. I'm glad to hear that. Good." Lydia noticed his weird attitude almost instantly. "Good."

It didn't take a genius to figure out what was wrong. "I have more fun with you, though," she added. "It was just nice to experience a normal teenage thing."

Happy stopped drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, his worries dissipating. "You have more fun with me?"

"Of course." Lydia loved living with Happy. Living with him felt like home, and that was something she never thought she would feel again. "I like our nights, even before Peter and May joined. I wouldn't change anything."

He beamed. Lydia didn't realize how much her words meant to him. "I like having you around, kid."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he confirmed.

"I like being around." Lydia wouldn't want to be anywhere else. She was nineteen, but her life was different than others. Most nineteen-year-olds were eager to leave home and start their lives, but not her. Lydia knew that finding a place that felt like home was the most important thing, and living with Happy felt like home. That wasn't something she was willing to give up. Not now. Not ever.