How To Deal With Death

Chapter 1- Espresso For Your Depresso

In this story Nat never died so Hawkeye never happened, they still met Kate and everything but Yelena wasn't trying to murder Clint.

Clara lay back on the bright green grass, her black jeans and dark red shirt collecting grass stains. Her hand rested over her eyes, getting damper with each second, her breathing was ragged as she tried to catch her breath. She knew nobody would look for her here, Lila, Clint, Cooper, and Nathan had left for New York about an hour ago.  They had offered to take her with them but she declined, not wanting to go back to the city that held too many memories. She had no idea where her sunglasses had fallen off and she didn't care, her hair was messy and would take ages to brush out the knots. Lila was the only one of her so-called friends who still talked to her after Westview, the only one who took the news of her being the Midnight Witch okay-ish. The red phone next to her buzzed but she didn't care to check it, the phone kept buzzing. Clara groaned in annoyance and tried to dry her face, eyes flashing a deep blue, "I'm fine, Laura, really, I'm just-".

"Do you not check caller I.D?"

A smile pushed onto the 18 year old's face, "Peter, hey. Sorry, I kinda-".

"Got overwhelmed and ran?"

She sniffled, "Something like that, yeah".

"Wanna share?"

"You first, still too nervous to talk to MJ and Ned?"

She stood up, brushed the grass off her and shook her head, "I'm gonna take your silence as a yes. Bug Boy, you re-told me, and the Bartons. Ned's your best friend, and MJ's your girlfriend, you'll be fine".

"They were, Sunshine-".

"Pick me a new nickname, just 'cos my name means sunshine does not mean you can call me it".

"Shut up, let me finish. MJ doesn't know who I am, she hasn't known me for two years, we don't talk, and Ned-".

"Is the same. You're scared, I get it, not everyday you accidentally cause a rift in the multiverses and lose the most important people in your life"

"See, you get it-".

"But if you're not gonna talk to them, stop following them, get closure Pete. Close that book and open another one, you're just gonna hurt yourself".

"Because you're doing that too. You're constantly reading, trying to figure out how to bring the boys back. They weren't real-".

"It doesn't matter Peter, they're still my brothers. I have no fucking idea where Pietro or Vision went. I can't even get into the white room anymore to bring back Tony, or Aunt May. I'm trying, their family, that's the reason you won't give up on MJ and Ned, they're your family. The boys may have only existed inside the hex, but they're my brothers, and I will do everything in my power to get them back. That's what you're doing, no matter what we tell each other neither of us are gonna open another book until we get the ending we want, maybe that'll kill us, but it's damn well worth the risk. So don't you dare say my brothers weren't real, because they were real. Good-bye Peter".

She hung up the phone and ran a hand through her hair, wincing as it got stuck in the tangles, her red vans were dirty, picking up leaves and breaking sticks as she walked back to the house.

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"All I'm saying is, Wanda Maximoff created this anomaly two years ago with her daughter, and just disappeared. It's off,  Clara's apologised and gone back to living a normal life,  but where did her mother-".

Clara turned off the TV and slumped onto the couch, tears filling her eyes again, "Hey kiddo".

Laura sat down next to her and pulled her into her arms, "Wanna watch Netflix? Or we could watch Scream with cookies and hot drinks".

Clara sniffled and nodded, "They were talking 'bout her again".

The mother's eyes softened at the sight of the girl's face, "How bad?".

"I went to the woods again, and then I came back and they were still going on about it. Saying it's weird she disappeared. How she was a monster-", her voice broke, "She was grieving, we both were. She's not a monster, she just-".

"Wanted her family back", Laura offered, "Now c'mon, as Lila would say; Time to get you some espresso for your depresso".

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When Lila finally returned home, Clara was able to breathe, her best friend was home, her rock, her sister. "Bumped into Sophi and Oakley".

Clara hummed in response, "Asked if I was still hanging out with the witch. I of course said yeah, she's my sister, they kept going on about Westview, so I told them to shut the fuck up. They didn't know what happened so they have no place to say shit like that, 'specially if they won't talk to you anymore".

"What about Rocki?"

"Last I heard she and Sam moved. You and Peter talk?".

"Same as always, gave the same advice, and then when he wouldn't listen said the same thing I always do. They're family".

"Girls! Lights out!"

They slipped under the covers of their beds, Lila snoring within five minutes, Clara staring at the ceiling. When her eyes finally closed she appeared in the white room, pictures of Westview hung up. There was a picture of her with Natasha after everything, Oakley had moved out with Sophi, Steve, and Steve's new wife Peggy. Steve apparently had more than enough Pym particles to successfully complete his mission and bring him and Peggy back. Clara was on Natasha's back, shoving an ice-cream cone into the adults face, smiling from ear to ear. 

"Lara-Bear?"

"Tommy?"

"Clara!"

"Billy?"

Her two little brothers appeared in front of her, "He said we could come back. Well you said we could. But we can't tell mom-"

"What?!"

"Please, Clara. You need us, by having us you'll get our family back".

"No I won't. Dad- I don't know where dad is. Mom won't talk to me, she's somewhere, trying to bring you back. If she finds out I can do this I'm gonna be in big trouble".

"Didn't you tell Peter that you'll do everything in your power to get us back, this is your chance".

The room melted away and Clara shot up, screaming with tears streaming down her face. Lila fell out of bed at the sound, Clint and Laura's door opened and multiple pairs of feet rushed towards the bedroom. Clint slammed the door open, letting it hit against the wall, he rushed to Clara's side, wrapping her up in a hug, soothing her. "Boys, go to bed".

"But-", Nathan protested.

"C'mon, I'll let you watch some TV", Laura pushed the boys downstairs. 

"What happened?".

Lila perched at the edge of Clara's bed, "T-Tom-Tommy a-and Billy".

"Breathe", Clint cooed into her ear, rubbing her back and moving her hair from her face.

"They said I could bring our family together again. I just had to bring them back and not tell mom. Oh my god- I was in the white room. No, no, no, no, I can't, I won't do it".

Shadows appeared at the door frame, Clara screamed as Lila fell off the bed again, hitting her head against her arm. Clint let go of the red-head and stood up.

 "Remember not to tell mom"