Flower - Marvel Fanfiction

Eighteen

R A I N F L O W E R

A single lamp post lit up the abandoned parking lot. It flickered, but that didn't scare Elena. In fact, she found it comforting. It was a light in the dark, and she needed that. Especially given the fact that the ruins of the old lab stood in front of her.

Sitting in the car, Elena watched the shadows. Even though it was only the thirtieth, she expected Lieselotte to pop out of a corner. It wouldn't surprise her. She was a villain, after all. Who knew what they planned?

Elena pulled out a pad of paper, biting down on her lip. She sucked in a breath. Why was it harder to write a note to Lieselotte than the others? It made absolutely no sense.

Then again, nothing made sense.

How could it? The universe was riddled with aliens and magic. The only thing that made sense was that nothing made sense.

Sighing, Elena clicked open her pen. She frowned and began to scrawl a note. As much as she wished to have nothing more to do with Lieselotte, she didn't want the Avengers to have to deal with her. It was better to leave a note.

She stepped out of the car, tearing the paper out of the notepad. Elena slowly approached the ruins. She gulped as her hands began shaking. Her eyes flashed, and soon, her whole body began to tremble.

Elena saw stars. Coughing, she bent down. She struggled for breath, and her eyes watered. Panic ensued. The note flew out of her hand, but she didn't care. With her hands free, she covered her eyes and choked out a scream.

She couldn't do this.

She should just turn back.

She should just stop.

Stand firm. We must finish this.

Just stop.

Stand firm. We should just finish this.

Stop.

Stand firm. We should just finish this.

Elena screamed again. She grabbed her head, screwing her eyes shut. Why couldn't Lieselotte just leave? She gasped for breath, but what little was returned to her was spent on more cries.

She slammed her fists into the ground until they bled, and even then, she did not stop.

Elena didn't even know how she stopped, but the next thing she remembered was the white labs, the big machines. The screaming.

Why did she have to survive? Out of everyone, she deserved it the least.

Why did she have to be different?

Why?

Elena looked up at the blank sky. She bit on her tongue in an attempt to stop shaking. Her fingers found their way to the note she had written, and her fists closed around it. It crumbled in her hand, and she dropped it back onto the ground for the wind to blow away.

She turned away, and it wasn't until she was back in the car when she let out a breath. Groaning, she buried her face in her hands. She couldn't even bring herself to look at the old lab without seeing what it had been before.

And yet, she couldn't just leave either. Elena rubbed her wrist. She focused on her breathing, but whenever she thought she would be okay, she wasn't.

More than once the thought of just driving through the lab popped into mind, but she couldn't. She didn't want to imagine the pain that would bring. And she couldn't just ruin Tony's car. She was borrowing.

So she just sat there at a loss, pulled in two opposite directions like a game of tug-o-war. Elena closed her eyes. Really, there was one thing she wanted to do.

But the thought of what would happen if she did made her heart stop.

Because she didn't know what would happen.

Elena's hand hovered over her phone like a cat ready to pounce. The hairs on her arm bristled, and blood had drained out of her face. That was a question, wasn't it. What in the world would Christine Palmer do if she texted?

Would she be angry? Would she be sad?

Would she ignore her?

Sweat dripped down the sides of her face, and she almost threw her phone to the back with the rest of her things, but one look at the lab pushed her over the line.

Elena opened her phone, wincing at her wallpaper. She really needed to change it. Her breath hitched when she found her text thread with Chrstine. Her heart hurt.

EF: christine

Almost immediately, the little text on the bottom screen appeared. Read 12:48 AM.

No answer. She tried again.

EF: christine please

Again, the little text appeared. Elena wanted to scream, but she couldn't just give up when Christine was right there. She was so close.

EF: i need you

The tears started up again, and she sunk down in her seat. "Christine," she softly whined. Her voice was hoarse. Then, a text bubble popped into view.

Elena stopped breathing. She sat up so fast she almost hit her head on the roof of the car. She could have screamed at the three dots. Never had she thought she'd be so happy to see them.

CP: Where are you?

Covering her mouth, Elena drew a shaky breath. She wiped away her tears.

EF: the old lab

CP: Can you wait fifteen minutes?

EF: yes

If she wasn't already sitting, Elena would have collapsed right there. She brought her knees to her chest, hugging them as if they were a life line. She still cared.

Christine still cared.

True to her word, Christine pulled into the parking lot in fifteen minutes. She parked next to her and climbed out of her car. Elena opened her door, staring at her friend in disbelief.

She looked exactly as she had remembered.

Elena slowly rose to her feet, mouth opening and closing. Now that she was here, she didn't know what to say. It had been so long, and they didn't end on a high note.

"Elena," Christine said.

Elena's heart skipped a beat. "Christine," she whispered, pausing. She hesitated. "Can I—can I hug you?"

When she nodded, Elena thought her chest might explode. She didn't need to be told twice, throwing her arms around her. She didn't even realize she had begun to cry again.

"I missed you so much," she murmured.

Christine wrapped her arms around Elena, squeezing hard. When she spoke, her voice was thick. She was crying too.

"Me too," she said. "I missed you too."

...

Everyone needs a friend like Christine. Like seriously. Elena and her are friendship goals, and I'm living for it.