Not My Choice

Only Once

"Anton, you know what you had to do and you failed."

"She'll come back, I know she will."

"You're letting her be her new self. You're letting her get away. She's slipping through your fingers."

"I know what I'm doing, okay? You entrusted me with this mission because you knew I could do it."

"Wrong, Anton, you're here because you're her brother. We're here because we can do what you can't."

"I can do it, Finn."

Finn shook his head, "You've got a month before I send in my troops and you won't like what happens then."

"I'll get her back, just you wait, Finn. She'll come home."

"Yes, she will whether she's dead or alive. Remember we only need her blood."

Anton sighed, he knew Finn was right. He was assigned to this mission because he was Nadine's sister. He only accepted it because he thought he could do what was needed to be done. But once he saw Nadine and how much she didn't remember, how much it hurt her, he couldn't. Anton wouldn't let Finn lay a finger on his sister.

~~~

After my final goodbye to Peter that night I made my way up to my bedroom. I was glad I came out of my room, I was glad I had people who cared about me. I plopped down on my bed. I bounced up and down when something fell off. I reached down and picked it up it was a necklace box. At first, I thought it was from Peter but when I opened it I realized it was not. It was a silver cornflower, Nadine was engraved on the metal. Under the necklace read, "Made in Germany". It was from Anton. When I pulled the necklace out I found a note that read,

"Go home, it's the only way to truly figure out who you are."

I slipped the necklace around my neck and tucked it under my shirt.

~~~

I walked around downtown, watching the commotion. I was pulled out of my thoughts when I felt something licking me. I looked down to see a puppy licking my ankle. I bent down but no collar. He went up to my knees, almost looked like silver fur with black spots. One of his eyes were blue the other was brown. Its fur was matted. It looked like it hasn't had a home in a long time. "What's your name? Do you have a home?" I stood up and looked around, maybe he just got away from his owner. "Come on, let's get you washed up."

~~~

"She's not keeping that dog!" Tony said.

"Tony, it's just a dog."

"No, Steve, it's a dog in my tower. It's not staying here."

"What do you think?" I stepped out of the bathroom with the dog close by. I had spent several hours washing it, combing it, just getting it to look presentable. "I named it Lucky. I know it's a stupid name but I'm lucky to have you guys as a family just as Lucky is lucky to us as a family." I bent down and wrapped my arms around Lucky's neck

"See she already named it," Steve smirked.

"Fine, the dog can stay." Tony groaned.

~~~

It's been about two months after I found Lucky, I've seen Anton rarely, I'm now able to take Natasha down, I've worked on growing my powers (breaking several things in the process).