"Y/n, call me back."
"Tony said something about Maine, I hope you didn't head up there by yourself..."
"Sweetheart, whatever happened, this isn't you. You're not your mother."
"Let me at least help you finish this, if that's what you want."
This, and about a dozen more messages from Natasha played on speaker as you made your way across state lines, heading to the only place where this all really could end. But there was one that stuck out, a glimmer of hope for an actual future, and you paused midchew of your chip to hear it.
"We found Strange, and he said it wasn't the spell that made you this way, but deep down, you always had-"
You ended it before it could finish and deleted that voicemail before speeding up a little, just hovering ten miles above the limit.
Making another pitstop at a station for some gas and the bathroom, going inside and getting plenty of concerned or frightened looks made you think maybe it was time to clean up a bit. So, you made your way outside after paying, to the restroom, and washed most of the blood off before tying off your shirt so that it looked more like a baggy cropped shirt instead of a torn up regular one. It wasn't the best, but you managed pretty well for what you had on hand.
About an hour more on the road and you were feeling guilty about having just up and left everyone without a word, so you first called Cory.
"Hey, love." They greeted sweetly, not knowing what was going on.
"Hey, so I did something bad."
"Oh no...okay," They sighed, and you could feel them nodding even though you couldn't see it, "What police station? Brooklyn again?"
"I didn't get arrested," You couldn't help but to chuckle at the assumption, "I'm heading up to Maine and just wanted to tell you how much I love you, 'm gonna call Val after this and-"
"She's here with me now," They cut you off, confused, adding, "Do you want us to join you? Are you still in the city?"
"Uh, no, I'm further out," You cleared your throat, "Cors, you remember that time in high school when-"
"Y/n, stop." They pleaded, their voice somewhat strangled, and you had a feeling they knew you all too well at this point.
"What?"
"Why is this starting to sound like a goodbye?"
"Tell Val I love her too, but I won't be calling," You tried to smile, but the tears stinging your eyes and your quivering chin would've had you pegged forever ago if she was in front of you, "We had a good ride, yeah? I know I wasn't always the most mature or sensible one, but..."
"Y/n," She begged quietly, and you heard a door close like she went into another room, "Please, don't do this, don't push yourself," She was convincing, but you already knew the mess was made, and you needed to clean it up, "Lately, your powers have been..."
Because of course you told Cory, not everything, and probably not as soon as you should've.
"Weak, I know."
"I don't think you have much longer, but if you stopped using them altogether, you could probably live much longer."
You considered what she was saying, truly believing if you just let the avengers take over, you could have a nice little life for however long, and it could make you happy. But your blood had long since boiled over and you needed this more than you wanted to admit.
"I can't let her get away with this." You gritted out.
"Y/-"
"Goodbye, Cory."
You hung the phone up and tossed it back on the dashboard, pressing even further down on the pedal, turning up the music that was playing on the radio to help drown out the noise inside your head, your gut telling you this was a bad idea.
But you were only about twenty miles outside the town you needed to be in, so it was a now or never type of situation.
And the next call you made was going to be even harder.
Or so you thought.
You reached over to search the contact that was listed under 'killer ass' but just before you could press it, something in the middle of the road caught your eye and it had you swerving over to the side. You held on tight as you hit the railing on the side of the road, jerking forward, and having the air bag hit you in the face.
"Fuck!" You called out in pain, squeezing your eyes shut as your ears rang and your nose felt broken.
You reached up to check your rearview and saw Paige loading her shotgun with one hand, the ever-grown Texas girl in her, so you reached over to your glove compartment as she did it.
"Oh, Y/n!" She called in singsong, knowing your powers wouldn't let you die that easily.
Pulling out a grenade, you rolled down the window, and pulled the pin out with your teeth before throwing it at her feet, getting down to brace for the explosion.
But she worked just as fast, using something to catapult it away from her and it exploded in the woods, making a couple of huge trees crack loudly. One started to fall, and you quickly crawled out the passenger side, getting the somewhat jammed door open, and leaving just before it came down, crushing the rental. Glass shards flew and the sound of grinding metal rang through the air, but you were out.
And then she was pulling you by your hair, dragging you across the grass and deeper into the woods.
"Been waiting for you," She was saying as you thrashed against her iron grip, "What took you so long, best friend?"
You grabbed her wrist the moment you got the chance and pulled her down, making her lose the grip on her gun. You took it from the ground, sweeping her ankle when she tried to get up, and then straddled her waist, loudly cocking it just to aim it inches from her face.
"Shut the fuck up." You growled out, completely pissed off, and then turned it to use the butt of the gun, smashing it against her face once to knock her out cold.
It was your turn to drag her by the hair as you led her back out, aiming your gun at the first oncoming car when you stood in the middle of the road, and it halted to a screeching stop before they put their hands in the air.
"Out," You demanded at their window, keeping the gun up, and they fumbled with their seat belt, getting out moments later, "Now, start running and don't stop."
They nodded frantically with wide, scared eyes, and then turned to run, making you smirk in amusement before you yanked the keys out to unlock the trunk.
You quickly moved the head and Paige's unconscious body into the trunk, slamming the door shut, and then getting in the front seat just as sirens in the distance rang out.
By the time you made it to the property, the sun had fallen, and a light drizzle started, but all of this was ignored as you looked around, thinking maybe this was all a joke.
"Fuck it." You mumbled, pulling out your phone with the hand that had the least amount of dried blood on it.
It only rang twice before they picked up.
"Where are you?"
"Hey, so I hit a bit of a rough patch..."
