Relapse In Time

𝕥𝕖𝕟

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*twenty two days later*

          Veda found herself sat in her room, staring out of the window onto the lake, wishing the hours away until it becomes bed time.  The avengers compound is far from her normalcy, far from any normalcy she's ever known.  There's no free roaming wild animals, no farm crops to grow, no hut, no summer sun, and no bucky... She wipes her tears away as the thought of him reappears in her mind again.

A faint knock on her door breaks her from grieving as she looks over her shoulder, "you should eat" Steve enters her room. She looks out at the lake again, "m'not hungry" she mumbles. Steve places the plate on her desk, "I miss him too" he sits down on her bed. She sighs, "I want him back" she looks up at him, tears blurring her vision. Steve stands up and moves to sit on the windowsill too, "me too, V" he pulls the teenager into a hug. She sobs into his chest, "I know, it's hard..." he rubs her back. They stay like this for a while as they mourn the loss of their best friend, even nat came to the door after hearing Vedas sobs. Her heart aches for the kid, and Steve... Although a while, meant more like half an hour.

"Where's this plant from?" Steve points to a fancy looking plant on her desk. Veda sniffles and chuckles, "it was buckys favourite flower" she smiles. Steve raises an eyebrow, "he liked plants?" He snorts a laugh. Veda smiles, "once i forgot to water it, and he threatened to feed me to the lions..." she nods, "he would want me to look after it" she adds, "at least until he comes back..." she looks away. Steve sighs to himself, it's been two weeks since Veda started saying that he's going to come back, that they all will. He doesn't want to crush the kids heart anymore than it's already crushed, so he agrees and tells her what they'll all do when bucky and Sam return.

"Uh, Steve?" Veda taps his leg. Steve looks out of the window to see a flash of light growing closer, followed by the shape of a jet, barely visible in the moonlight. Veda jumps up and follows Steve out of her room, leaving her room for the first time in twenty two days. She could only secretly hope it's bucky and the rest of the missing people returning, although she didn't want to get her hopes up too high.

"Oh my god..." Steve rushes over as the doors of the jet open and Tony comes stumbling down the ramp as nebula holds him up. Veda looks down, feeling disappointed that it's not bucky, but happy that Tony and the new person are safe. Nat wraps her arms around Veda, knowing the kid needs a shoulder to lean on right now. Veda leans into her shoulder, "you're not alone, Veda. We're here with you" nat whispers. Captain marvel shakes Steve's hand before entering the compound and leading everyone inside, despite her never being here before.

~

          "He didn't give me any hints, no ideas, none, nothing, zilch..." Tony waves his hands in Steve's face.  Steve sighs, "okay, okay..." he nods, trying to ca him down, "y'know what, how about you take this. Keep it, use it, for when you're here next time" he pulls the triangle from his chest and slams it into Steve's chest.  Rhodey steps forward to try and de-escalate the situation, "I'm fine..." Tony swats everyone's hands away as he crumbles to the floor, "plus, who brought iron fist back? Last time I checked she was a killing machine..." he points at Veda who is stood in the corner watching them speak about thanos' whereabouts.

Nat steps forward, "she's not a killing machine" she shakes her head. Veda looks down, "no offence kid..." Tony mumbles in response, "none taken" Veda speaks quietly, feeling a little hurt by his comment.

~

Veda couldn't really sleep, given that she still has no bucky to reassure her that all will be okay, or anything to help her sleep. Between the loneliness and sense of loss she feels now, and the nightmares from her past, it's tricky... very tricky. She sighs and stands up, slipping her feet into her slippers, and heads over to her her door. It's probably around 2am by now, but who cares?

She needs to get something off of her chest, and she needs to do it now, so she navigates her way around the compound until she reaches Tony's room where pepper is sat by his side; the pair of them chatting away.  The pair stop talking when pepper notices the kid stood outside of the door, Veda felt a little guilty for snapping them out of conversation.  Tony watches as his girlfriend goes to investigate, "hi honey, is everything okay?" Pepper smiles weakly, whispering since everyone is asleep. Veda nods, "yeah, I uh, I just really need to apologise to mr stark" she sighs. Pepper smiles, "c'mon then, he's awake anyways" she holds the door open.

         "What do you want, kid?" Tony sighs, causing pepper so shoot him a warning glare.  Veda looks around for anything else to stare at instead, "I just wanted to apologise for nearly killing you, y'know, a while back. I never got to say I'm sorry, and it's been killing me..." she laughs awkwardly, "so, I'm really sorry..." she looks at him.  Tony stares at the kid as the IV drip continues filling the noise with droplet sounds, he doesn't say anything for a while so Veda takes that as a sign to leave. 

      "I know it wasn't your fault kid, and I'm glad you got your mind back" he stops her before she can leave the room.  Veda nods thankfully, "but don't lose any more sleep over it" he adds.  She smiles weakly before nodding and leaving him to rest.  However, instead of going back to bed, she decides to head downstairs and onto the front yard area instead. 

         As dramatically as she possibly can, she flops down on the grass and lays on her back, with her body in a starfish shape.  The stars are bright tonight, and she can't help wonder if bucky and the other guys are up there.  Maybe they're watching earth from wherever they are, or maybe they're still here and just invisible? "What're you doing?" A kind of familiar voice snaps her out of thought. She looks up to see Clint stood in her peripheral vision, "star gazing" she hums. Clint sighs and lays down next to her, "what's going on in that crazy brain of yours?" He sighs, staring at the sky too.

"What if we could get them back?" She tries to locate shapes in the stars. Clint sighs, "I'd like that too but unfortunately we haven't got time travel, kiddo" he looks at her. She raises an eyebrow, "what? So we got aliens and big purple guys but we can't go back in time?" She chuckles dryly. Clint nods, "yeah, it's crazy" he shrugs. She nods, "I just want him back, and Sam, and wanda, and everyone..." she rambles. Clint nods, "I lost my family too, and I'd do anything to get them back. I feel your pain Veda, but we have to look forward, we have to keep going" he smiled weakly. She nods in return, "I know, it's just hard. Bucky was all I had, after hydra and everything, he was the only person I could rely on. But now he's gone" she wipes a tear away.

"I don't know what you've been through, and I'm glad that you had bucky and Wakanda to keep you safe, and the chance to share similarities with each other. But you have us too, we're all family kiddo" Clint stands up, "you should try get some rest" he holds his hand out. She sighs and accepts his help, "thanks, Clint" she smiles as they head back inside, "anytime, now go on. It's bedtime..." he points to the guest room hallway. She chuckles and walks away, wondering how on earth she can move on after all of this...