𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐃

19. 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲

     THE WORLD IS CRUEL. Not a second goes by that Eszter doesn't deny that she hates how life works. Balancing on edge between life and death, waiting for something to push you over and choose your fate. And to live in a world where violence always seems to be the answer to everyone's problem, creating chaos all around and risking too many lives.

     Pietro was one of those lives.

     All she wanted was to grow up and maybe become their own type of superheroes, better than the Avengers; Eszter wanted to protect her country and stand for her people, but nothing like that came true. Instead, they put Sokovia through hell. Sokovia is flying.

     "Hey, kid," Clint lays the child down as he tiptoes through the puddle of darkness, contorting his face warily as he watches the way it swims around him. But Clint pauses once he glances back at Eszter, noting the glare on her face and the way her eyes began to glow a menacing purple.

     Eszter could only see red. Even as the darkness surrounds her, spinning almost quickly, the enhanced huffs like a bull who sees red, glaring at the Quinjet in the sky. All she could think about was finding Ultron and making him pay for the pain he had caused. Eszter wants him to feel the same gutwrenching pain that she had to and look in her eyes while she tears his metal body apart piece by piece. His death wouldn't be realistic, but it would satisfy Eszter's burning anger. She wanted to inflict her own kind of pain.

     Like a pulse, the darkness pushes another wave of energy and alerting Clint. The hero couldn't determine what could happen if he sits in the darkness of Eszter's powers, but Clint couldn't let the enhanced react the way she is. There was no telling what she can do, and Clint would rather not be there to witness the outcome.

     "Kid, snap out of it! You're going to hurt people if you don't calm down," Clint shouts firmly, but he keeps his distance. Although he didn't have his electric arrow, Clint will have to prepare himself to do whatever it takes to stop Eszter. But that was the last thing the hero wanted. "We gotta get to the boat. Do you hear me?" The darkness retracts back into Eszter as the enhanced continues to cradle Pietro in her arms, her anger diminishing into grief. "Kid!"

     "I heard you," Eszter growls in annoyance.

     Clint swallows, nodding curtly as he continues to beckon the enhanced. "Come on. Let's head back to the boat."

     Blinking away her tears, Eszter shook her head. "I can't. I . . . I have to find Wanda," the enhanced sniffles, wiping at her eyes as she twists in turns from the floor, glancing around to find her sister. And then, Eszter's solemn frown curls into a deep snarl, sneering. "I have to find Ultron."

     "Look, I get that you're grieving, and I'm sorry, I really am, but we have a whole bunch of civilians that need to be taken to safety," Clint spoke softly, kneeling in front of Eszter as he lets the father side of him come through. Even if Eszter is an enhanced-being, the girl is merely a kid, and Clint couldn't imagine had it been his own in her shoes. "I promised your brother to look out for you guys. I can't let you go and do something stupid, not like this. Besides, I don't want your brother coming after me even in the afterlife."

     Shakily lowering her gaze, Eszter's lower lip wobbles as she tries to keep it from doing so, but the enhanced couldn't hold back. Sniffling loudly again, Eszter lifts her trembling hand as her fingers hovered over Pietro's eyes, slowly closing them. And at that moment, Eszter knew she was letting her brother go, dead in her arms. Quite traumatizing to witness. This wasn't supposed to be the end of Pietro; he was supposed to grow and live a life better than they had.

     Maybe become an Avenger or live a life where they can right their wrongs.

     Who knows, maybe he could've met a girl and settled down.