Purple Lights
On earth-2999, a brown-haired girl peppered with bruises from head to toe ever so slowly stood from where she was lying in the middle of the living room, surrounded by empty bottles of alcohol.
She stood and quickly grabbed her black hoodie, putting it on as she tiptoed around the room. She stopped when she felt glass dig into her bare feet. She winced at the sound and froze, glancing at the couch where her foster father was passed out.
She quickly got out of the house and before she knew it she was swinging through Queens, dutifully avoiding old locations — or really any place where she risked getting spotted — until she got to the desired location.
The Avengers Tower. Well, not anymore. Not since she was little.
After the Avengers defeated Thanos, things ever so slowly started going to shit — of course, the whole world was coming down from the blip so it wasn't that noticeable at first but after a while the absence of the world's greatest heroes started to be noticed — and bit by bit, as the world kept spinning and time kept passing, the superheroes legacies faded away.
The Tower was one example of it. There had been a few attempts at keeping it afloat, but soon enough it was deemed pointless, and now, almost seventeen years after the Earth's mightiest defensors languished, the building was devoid of any light or life; safe for the countless animals and critters that undoubtedly took refuge in the deserted building.
Morgan landed with a thump on the top and tried not to wince at the way her ribs tugged at her insides painfully.
She pulled down her hood and tried to breathe as deeply as possible without doubling over in pain.
She glanced around, it was peaceful up there. The sky was just starting to get dark as the sun hid and the moon rose. The city hadn't settled just yet but because she was so high up her ears shouldn't be able to pick much of it. Her enhanced hearing could — just the same as her other senses — but that meant having to actively seek out those sensations and right now she couldn't focus enough for that to happen.
Instead, she focused on the feeling of stillness that overtook her, and she was just barely aware of the aching in her body and the discomfort between her legs as she walked over to the ledge.
She sat down at the edge and let her feet dangle.
This was it . She thought.
There was nothing left for her. Her days would blend together. She would tramp her painfully barren life with nothing to hope for.
She would be left alone. Alone until an unwelcome body joined hers. Alone until unwanted hands left an icy trail of dread in their wake. Alone until every night she wasn't anymore.
She stood up and stared into the deep ocean of black stood below her.
She would be left alone. Alone for a couple more years until she turned eighteen and she'd leave the system and wouldn't look back.
She put one foot forward until there was nothing beneath it and closed her eyes.
Alone until she was free. And then alone again.
She let one final breath out, and then she let herself fall.
She let herself go and it felt good, peacefully, and-
A flash of purple forced her to open her eyes and then she was falling and falling and falling. This time it didn't feel good.
———
On earth-49993, a blonde sophomore rushed through the endless hallways of MIT with her phone to her ear for the tenth time.
She'd been calling the same number over and over since she saw the news. Something about a terrorist attack in Moscow and Nick and-
“Shit!”
Someone's books flew to the floor and so did her phone.
“Damn girl, watch where you're goin’!” It was Riri.
“Sorry, I wasn't… um, I wasn't paying attention. Sorry Ri.”
“No worries,” Riri handed her the phone as they both rose from the floor, books on hand, “You good Sash?”
Sarah glanced at her phone screen — not even rolling her eyes at the nickname like she usually would — as the call fell through, again. And then her phone rang.
She didn't think twice before picking it up, sending her roommate a very false apologetic look and mouthing an ‘I’m fine, gotta go’ before picking up the call and sprinting outside.
“Clint?” She sounded worried and probably on the verge of a panic attack but she couldn't keep the emotion out of her voice.
“Hey kid,” Came the reply, “you seen any TV lately?”
Sarah could hear someone else speaking from Clint’s end but couldn't bother to try and figure out who.
Apparently, she got a little too quiet because Clint sighed and spoke again, “Listen kid, Laura and I are in New York.” His voice was calculated and soft, too soft. “How about we go pick you up and we can talk, uh?”
“Um, yeah I,” She took a shaky breath and sat down on the steps outside the building, “yeah… yeah okay. I'm in school right now, uh, sitting outside.”
She looked around as Clint spoke, “MIT?”
Sarah nodded her head and when she realized he couldn't see she spoke, “Yeah.”
“We're not too far, about five minutes out.”
When she didn't reply he spoke again, “You wanna stay on the phone?”
“No.” As an afterthought, she added, “It's fine.”
“We'll be right there, okay?” Clint sounded tense, uneasy, “Don’t go anywhere kid.”
The line cut off.
“Fuck.”
Sarah ran her hands through her hair and then looked down at her phone. This wasn't good.
She unlocked her phone and started looking through her contacts until she found the one she was looking for. Nick Fury.
She debated whether or not to call him. Surely he would explain what the fuck she just saw on TV, but would he? She hadn't seen him since before the blip and everything was way too confusing right now and she could feel her chest closing in and she needed answers and fuck-
Someone tapped her shoulder, “Sarah.”
She looked up and exhaled, “Clint.”
“Hey, kid." She stood up and he draped an arm around her shoulder, "C'mon, Laura’s in the car.”
She followed his gaze to the bright red truck, “Subtle.”
Clint snorted, "It grows on you.”
. . .
The three made it to Kate's apartment — she'd kindly invited them to stay for as long as they needed with the promise that they would walk Lucky and organize the chaos that hadn't been touched since the whole Christmas disaster — in relative peace.
Sarah had refrained from asking more questions in the car after they told her that they would talk once they got to the apartment, and as soon as the door closed behind them Sarah opened her mouth.
“What the fuck is going on.”
Clint and Laura shared a look but before either of them could speak Sarah continued, “I saw the news and I don't know what that was all about but just tell her to stop fucking around and answer my calls…”
The rant died down when she saw the expressions on their faces. Clint seemed devastated, almost repentful. Laura looked just as defeated and both their eyes were rimmed red.
It was like after the blip all over again. Like after Tasha all over again. Like after Tasha and Toni and Steve.
Fuck.
Fuck.
“Honey, how about we sit down huh?”
She didn't want to sit down but someone was leading her down to the couch anyway. And then someone was taking her hands and-
“Breathe.”
“It's alright Sarah, just breathe.” She thought that might be Clint.
“Deep breath in, deep breath out. C’mon hon, you know this.” Laura was rubbing her hands.
Maybe it was a little hard to breathe right now.
Laura was letting go of her hands and then something cold was in their place. Ice.
She started to become more aware and took a few deep breaths.
Her hands clamped tight over the ice, which was rapidly melting and dripping onto the floor.
“Better?”
She looked up at Clint. “What are you doing here?”
She was deflecting from the actual question but neither adult seemed to mind. She needed time to process and they weren't about to stop her.
“Unofficial Shield thing.”
“ Not getting a new car,” Clint spoke at the same time as Laura, throwing her a faux dirty look as he safeguarded his precious truck.
Laura rolled her eyes at him and for a moment the room almost seemed lighter.
“I thought you were retired.”
“Yeah, we still get the occasional call.” Clint nodded his head to his wife's response.
Sarah hummed and looked back down when Lucky came over and started licking her wet hands.
She chuckled and patted his head. “Where's your human, huh?”
Laura sat to her right and let the dog, not so gracefully, sit on top of her feet as she started talking again.
“Kate’s with the kids back home.”
“Kate ‘I broke the clock tower and almost New York’ Bishop is babysitting?” Sarah snorted, “How’d that happen?”
“She joined forces with the kids,” Clint fondly shook his head as he spoke and reached a hand out to Lucky, “We just gotta hope she doesn't burn the house down.”
“Oh, she's not that bad.” Laura scratched behind the dog's ear.
The mood slowly died down and all three of them were left in silence. Each dreading the conversation that was meant to take place.
“She’s not-” Her voice broke and she looked up at Clint, "She can't be.” It was more of a plea than anything else.
Laura sighed next to her and took her hand again, “I’m really sorry sweetheart.”
“How did it…” She breathed deeply, “What happened?”
“We're not sure.” Clint’s voice sounded raspy all of a sudden.
Laura continued for him, “We called Fury but-”
“He shot her.”
“Sar-”
“No.” she stood up.
“Maria is dead,” Her voice broke, “She’s dead and Nick Fury is the one who killed her.”
Clint ran a hand through his hair as he stood up as well.
Laura just sat silently as her eyes watered.
Sarah dug the heels of her hands onto her eyes, “Fuck.”
She turned on her feet and went out the door. She ran until she couldn't hear Clint and Laura calling after her and she didn't stop even when tears blurred her vision.
She was running and running and running and she wasn't going to stop and-
There was a flash of purple and then she was falling and falling and falling.
———
It was uncharacteristically quiet in the Avengers Compound.
It was the middle of the day and they had made themselves scarce. Thor was off-world. Steve was outside, training with the newest additions to the team. Clint was off with his family and Pepper, well, no one really knew what Pepper was doing half the time — dealing with Stark Industries would be the safest bet though.
This left Tony and Bruce putting together God knows what in the middle of the kitchen with the additional quips from five-year-old Morgan while Natasha cuddled with Maria on the couch.
Every couple of minutes they could all hear a THUMP coming from outside, followed by an ‘Again!’— probably Steve.
Right as Morgan giggled at something her father said to Bruce the space started shaking slightly which caused all Avengers to stop what they were doing.
Before anyone could say anything there was a flash of light and then two bright purple portal-looking things opened right below the ceiling.
Tony took Morgan in his arms while Bruce stood tense. Maria and Natasha both moved away from the couch and prepared themselves, the latter of the two ever so slightly positioning herself in front of the little girl in her father’s arms.
Two blurs fell from the portals and straight to the floor. Two girls.
The blonde girl got to her feet first, face puffy and hair disheveled.
The other girl, a brunette, followed shortly after. She was a mess, her face was bruised and bloody, her jeans were falling apart at the seams and her bare feet were dirty and injured, if the blood showing from under them was any indication.
They both spoke at the same time, seemingly not noting the other people in the room just yet, “What the fuck.”
Upon hearing a second voice they both turned to each other, something akin to relief washing over their battered faces.
The blonde girl exhaled, “Morgan.”
The other girl — Morgan — started limping toward her, “Sarah…” , leaving bloody footprints behind her.
They embraced, still not taking note of the other people in the room, and then separated to look each other down.
Sarah grinned as her eyes shone with tears, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you aren’t looking too good.”
Morgan, looking increasingly pale, didn't hesitate to answer, “Right back at you,” she swayed on her feet, “… Princess.”
Morgan barely finished the sentence before she plummeted to the ground.
“Fuck, Morgan!” Sarah threw herself forward but she wasn't quick enough to prevent the sickening crack that resonated all over the room as Morgan’s skull made contact with the cool floor.