Summers' Purpose

Chapter 44

Y/n lay half-awake on the couch, an arm under her head as her other hand reached towards the ceiling. Dark blue wisps twirled between her fingers as they danced in the dark, illuminating her surroundings slightly. She absent-mindedly played with her powers, letting them trace invisible paths from her fingertips to the air as her thoughts were seemingly everywhere and nowhere at the same time. She watched as the wisps turned darker and she felt a weight returning in her chest. Worry.

A few days after the incident in the jewelry store, Y/n had tried to reach out to Monica and Rowan. To her despair, neither of them picked up the phone. She considered going to SWORD's headquarters to look for them, but couldn't bring herself to face the possible truth just yet. Y/n's thoughts went to Natasha and Steve, finding herself occasionally worrying about them. Despite how guilty she felt for leaving, she couldn't bring herself to return back to the compound. Whether they're still going strong or are pretending to be, Y/n felt they would be better off without her around.

With so many questions in her mind, Y/n looked for ways to deal with them. Ifshe couldn't solve her own problems just yet, then she could at least try to stop otherproblems from surfacing. At least that was her thought process. Y/n ended up helping the community around her as much as she could, clearing the streets and trying to stop those with bad intentions. At the end of the day, she would make them forget that she was ever there just to be safe. And just like that, days past by with not much meaning to them. Y/n decided to hurry to the food bank to top up on her food, seeing how empty the cabinets were already.

It was nighttime when Y/n walked down the road with a brown bag full of supplies in her arms. In the distance, Y/n could see a group of teenagers approaching her. They were talking loudly, laughing amongst themselves. It was when Y/n was a few feet away from them that one of them shushed his friends. "Hey!" He called out to Y/n, trying to get her attention. When Y/n ignored him, he called out louder. "Hey, you! That's a full bag of goodies you got there. You feeling generous today or should we take it from you?" His friends snickered quietly, looking at each other before they turned their attention to Y/n.

Y/n sighed, already sensing that these kids were looking for trouble. She stopped and turned to face them, addressing the boy from before. "What do you want? Make it quick, I don't have the time."

"Really? Where are you rushing to that's so important?" A younger girl asked, raising her eyebrows at Y/n as she smirked.

Y/n looked over at them, guessing that they were around 14-17 years old, except for the older boy who couldn't be older than 20. "Why are you guys out at night? It's dangerous nowadays, bad people everywhere. Where are your parents?"

The older boy from before rolled his eyes but Y/n didn't take offense. She could feel him being protective over his friends despite his tough exterior. He reminded Y/n of Louis, making her smile slightly at him. "What's it to you? And who said we're not dangerous? Give us your stuff or we'll take it from you."

"If you want some, all you had to do was ask nicely. I know you guys are hungry. Here," Y/n handed them some items from her bag. They looked at her confusedly but started to dig in soon after. Only the older boy looked at her suspiciously, still hesitating to eat. Y/n decided to ask further. "Parents not around?"

"Most of them are gone. Those who are left don't really care or can't figure out what to do with themselves to care about us. So, we became our own family." A young boy explained as he took a big bite off a candy bar as a twinge of guilt poked at Y/n at his reply. The older boy shoved him slightly, his face slightly annoyed at the younger boy for talking too much. "What?" The boy asked innocently, his cheeks still full as he chewed slowly.

Y/n turned to the older boy, giving him the brown bag. "Here. Ration it out well. If you need more, there's a food bank and shelter two blocks away from here, down that way," Y/n pointed behind her. "If you guys don't have a place to stay, please stop by there. It's not much but it's something. It's safe."