Flower - Marvel Fanfiction

Twelve

P A N S Y

Few stars were scattered across the night sky. The lights of the city drowned them out, but usually, the moon would have been seen. Tonight, however, that was not the case. It was a new moon, the sky a bit darker. A bit blacker.

Leaning against the balcony rail, Elena half scoffed, half laughed. It was fitting, really, that the night she decided to get a bit of fresh air was the night of a black moon. It was as if the world was trying to tell her something. That is, if she believed in that kind of stuff.

Her shirt clung onto her skin, her body aching and hot from sweat. She had just gotten out of a training session with Clint and Natasha, and to her satisfaction, she was able to decently pull back a bow. She wore a jacket over her shirt, the night still chilly despite how hot she felt.

Staring off into the blank sky, Elena cocked her head to the side. She would have thought that after being stuck in her own head for four years, she would have accepted all the mistakes she had made. But as the days went on, Elena found that she hadn't really been thinking about all her problems at all. She only began questioning them when she came out of her isolation.

And that only made her mad. What had she been doing in her time alone? She couldn't have just sat in a chair and whined about seeing cells. That was just a waste of time.

But it was exactly what she had done.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Steve moved to stand next to her, letting his arms rest on the rail. He looked up at the sky and laughed at her answer.

"Why would I need a penny? They're useless."

"Not if you have enough of them."

Elena shook her head, turning to face him. "There's such a thing called dollar bills."

"Pennies exist too."

Snorting, she looked away. Silence barely settled over them before Steve spoke again. 

"Come on. You've been here for a little over two weeks now," he said. "I barely even know you."

Elena frowned. "You know that I was a former doctor who was cursed after an experiment four years ago. Since then, I haven't been seen until the day you so graciously saved me from Lieselotte."

"You make it sound like a bad thing."

"I could have taken him out on my own."

"Yeah, right," he muttered under his breath. Elena glared at him, but he only chuckled. "Natasha's beaten you every training session. And you've only just recently gained the strength to draw a bow."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Steve laughed, and again, the conversation died down. Elena shifted where she stood. There was something about Captain America that made you want to be the best person you ever could. Clint had said something along those lines in a training session, and he was right. Steve Rogers was a good man, so much so that it was scary.

Elena hated it. She didn't hate Steve, but she hated the way he made you want to be good. She hated that she didn't want to let him down. Sighing, she supposed that there was no point fighting it. "You want to know what I'm thinking?"

He looked at her in surprise. "I actually don't have a penny."

She rolled her eyes, turning to the sky. She stared thoughtfully at the blank space where the moon would have been. "Heiyue," she murmured darkly.

"What?"

"Fan Heiyue," she said. "That's my actual name. Black Moon."

"Heiyue," Steve repeated, butchering the pronunciation. He followed her gaze to the empty spot in the sky. "It's beautiful."