Sinners [4] Far From Home

Twenty

Chapter Twenty:

Hazel jumped, turning so quickly she stumbled. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the women.

Her hair was pushed back from her face, and she looked just as she did the day she didn't return. Hazel took a step back, shaking her head.

"You might want to watch where you're stepping." Natasha whispered, "You might fall of the edge."

"What?"

"There wasn't any light, you know."

Hazel said nothing, only watched fearfully.

"I didn't see anything but darkness, that horrible silence that you know you'll never be able to escape. There was no light, and there never was."

"You're not real."

"Who says I'm not real? You see me. Whatever you want to see, that's real." The women crossed her arms, "Besides, what's really real? Is anything?"

"Stop."

"Stop what?" A new voice asked, Hazel turned to see Steve standing behind her. He wore his suit, the helmet gripped in his hand while his shield hung from the other. She missed seeing his old self, and she hated the way her eyes lit up at the sight of him.

How sweet. Beck's voice filled the illusion, How you long to see them again.

Steve stepped forward, Bucky peeking out from behind him. She only continued to watch, having no idea what else to do.

Natasha moved first. She stepped right in front of Hazel and cupped her face, smiling kindly. Hazel gasped, eyes widening.

She saw Natasha and Clint on that cliff, then watched once agin as she fell and he weeped. It changed to Steve fighting Bucky atop a plane, giving up as he stopped squirming from underneath the other man. Bucky landed another punch before the plane exploded and Steve went falling down into the lake beyond.

Hazel couldn't move, could only stand frozen while everything around her shifted and changed.

It was Bucky and her mother, and then a flash as she fell to the ground. She saw everyone on that damned planet disappear and then watched as Tony slowly died in Pepper's arms.

"I've seen this before." Hazel shouted, "This won't work—"

It all disappeared, and everything turned white. Hazel looked around, searching for anybody or anything.

"Stop hiding, Beck!"

"Hiding?"

She turned, running right into little Morgan. But that hadn't been her voice she had heard, it had been Tony's.

"Morgan?"

She looked up with her big brown eyes, "Hazel, Hazel, Hazel—"

"This isn't real."

"Why do you keep saying that?" The little girl asked, "Saying it isn't real doesn't make it any less real."

Tony walked from behind her, making Hazel jump as he stood beside his daughter.

His face softened as he looked at Hazel. "Hey, kid."

She frowned, "You look—"

"Handsome? Amazing?" He shrugged, "Meh, I mean, sure hold back all the comments but I know what you're thinking."

"It's good to see him all happy, isn't?" A female voice questioned, linking an arm through Hazel's. Natasha grinned at them all, "I missed you."