𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘯𝘦𝘥

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘖𝘯𝘦

☆゜·。。·゜゜·。。·゜★

The rain came down sideways in the boroughs of New York.

Puddles splashed against her boots as Addison walked through the graveyard, sloshing against them while she followed the path that had been ingrained in her brain since she was just a child. Through the locked iron wrought gates of Hell's Kitchen Cemetary, she took two right turns, followed the path for fifteen steps, and turned left, walking past the two big mausoleums that housed some politicians. She finally reached the gravestone at which she had practically resided for the majority of her teenage life. Her boots sank into the grass, and the wind howled through the trees and stones as she dropped to her knees, sitting in front of her father's grave.

No one knew she was here.

Her blonde hair was matted to her face from the raging storm; thunder crashed around her as lightning flashed in the sky. It was like the world knew she was about to commit herself to an act of insanity and was trying to warn her from it. The earth was telling her to run, but it never specified which way, so, as usual, she was running directly into danger instead of away. Her middle name may as well be Danger at this point. But instead of panicking, she sat silently in front of the very grave that had directed all of her life choices, and she just stared. Lost in thought, or maybe it wasn't thought she was lost in at all. Maybe, she realized, she was lost in the reality of her life.

Instead, she leaned forward and pushed the mud off the Barnes Family Ring that now sat embedded in the ground. Her father was a made man, and she smiled faintly as the B flashed in the lightening. "And here you thought daddy," her voice was lost in the howling wind, "That you'd never make it as a mob guy, I say you've done a pretty damn good job as one."

She was stalling. There was no way around it.

The truth was, she was absolutely terrified of going back to Russia, of facing Vaughn again. He would be crueler, and he would make her life a living hell. She escaped, and that embarrassed him. Now, it was only a matter of time before she was face to face with the monster that was Bucky's maternal grandfather. So, she sat here at the cemetery, letting the rain soak her clothes, making them heavy and causing her body to hunch over.

It was so cold, bone-chilling cold. Yet, she found no reason to move.

She stared at her father's headstone, the etched words reaching into her heart as she tried to come to terms with what she was doing. All her life, she had to survive; she survived the streets, the loss of two parents, and abuse at the hands of a motorcycle gang. She's watched the first person she ever loved "die" in front of her, only to have him come back to haunt her life. She'd stood at the end of countless guns, cheated death so many times it was almost comical. Addison felt no fear towards anyone anymore. Or so she thought.

She feared Vaughn Novikov.

But the truth was, she feared not doing anything to help Mila more.

Her father gave his life so she could have hers. And while it had been a shitty life, it was still life. She still got to breathe air and walk the earth. Addison still experienced heartbreak and joy and love. And she got Bucky. If her father had decided not to give his life, to let Charles end that six-year-old under the bed, she would be here, and she could bet neither would her parents. They died so she could live. And she swore to herself she'd not let that sacrifice go in vain.

Addison felt her father all around her, in the wind, the stars, and the rain. But she felt him sitting in front of her, watching her as she watched his gravestone.

"You gave your life, Daddy," Addison whispered as the wind howled around her in an eerie song, the rain nearly turning to sleet as she sat in the mud. "You gave your life so I could have mine, and I know you'd do it again just to make sure you're little girl is safe." Addison leaned forward, wiping the sludge of dirt and rain from the Barnes family ring. "I'm going to make you proud. I'm going to help Mila and Luella, and I'm going to live, so your legacy and sacrifice for me and mom doesn't go unnoticed, that you're never forgotten." She leaned forward, resting her forehead against the chilled stone, "I'm doing this because not only is it the right thing to do, it's what you would do too. You'd walk into the lion's den and come out unscathed. I'm going to do the same."