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one
present day
ELENA ARMSTRONG woke up in a cold sweat that morning.
Flashes of a lingering nightmare clung to her peripherals, like a movie faded and put in the background, ready to be ignored. But she couldn't ignore them, no matter how are she tried. Pietro's lifeless body falling in front of her as he saved her life; the entirety of her vision going completely white as she lost control; her surroundings blanketed by fire and death.
Her door creaked open, and through her blurry vision, Elena could sense the red Vibes emanating from Wanda Maximoff. Neither of them said a word, Elena only opened her arms so that the hurting twin could fold into her embrace. They fell asleep like that, comforting each other through muffled sobs and heavy sighs.
When Elena woke again, she was alone.
Glancing at the small digital clock on her bedside table, Elena groaned. Tony would definitely not let her forget the fact that she never woke up before noon.
Slinking out of her bedroom, and shrugging on a hoodie she managed to snag, Elena made her way down to the kitchen.
Tony was already there, waiting for her, sipping on what she assumed to be coffee. Steve, Natasha, and Vision were seated at the dining table, and Wanda was huddled in the corner of the sofa, clutching a book.
"Wow, look who finally decided to grace us with her presence!" Tony exclaimed, once he noticed his foster daughter enter the room. Steve looked up from his tablet, shrugged, and tapped away; neither Natasha nor Vision cared enough to move, but Elena glimpsed a small smirk on Natasha's face.
Elena gave Tony a weak smile, brushing past him to reach the fridge, pulling out an apple. However, at seeing Elena's defeated expression, Tony's teasing smile dropped.
"Ellie, are the nightmares back again?" Tony whispered to her.
Elena shrugged, not wanting to think about it. She figured, if she didn't talk about it, they would just disappear. Tony sighed at this, because unbeknownst to her, he knew exactly what that was like.
"What's on the agenda for today?" Elena took a bite from her apple, wincing at how cracked her voice sounded.
"Well," Nat finally spoke up, clapping her hands together softly. "We're going to Lagos. Apparently, there's some HYDRA shit going down."
Steve glanced up from his tablet. "Language, Nat."
At this, Elena snorted into her apple. She loved the Captain, but she often forgot how old-fashioned her mentor really was.
