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'Inner dialogue/thoughts'
"Normal dialogue"
[System]
[Diary entries]
(Word Count: 1,121)
~ An hour later with Natasha ~
"Finally, some down time." Natasha muttered as she sat on her couch. She had just come out of the shower after the long day she had been through, which had ended with her report to Fury an hour earlier. Currently, Natasha was deliberating whether she should head to the Maximoff twin's apartment to check in on them.
She had been the one to bring the siblings back from the forward base, but had been told by Pietro that he and Wanda would be fine by themselves and that they just needed some time to themselves. What worried Natasha the most was the little changes she noticed in Wanda.
'Is this a by-product of Wanda awakening her powers? Our interference with the siblings in bringing them out of Sokovia should have been reason enough that Wanda would not have awakened her powers without external help. And yet today, she did. But that's not all, after awakening, she seemed to have undergone some miniscule changes that only one with a keen eye would notice. It remains to be seen whether this is a good or bad thing.' She pondered.
'I can't tell Fury just yet. While I trust him and he is trustworthy as the diary had pointed out, but Wanda is still just a kid.' Indeed, Natasha had not told anyone about seeing Wanda's powers in action, not even to Fury himself. She did not want Wanda to be put on a tighter watch by Fury due to her powers just yet, as she still wanted Wanda to experience as normal a life she possibly could.
'I'll keep it to myself for now. Maybe I'll tell Luke about it if it get's out of hand, he seems to be the only one with deeper knowledge regarding Wanda's powers. Hopefully he would know what's happening to her.' As she finished her musings, she took out the familiar black-gold Diary in order to try and find any other clues she could get regarding Wanda's powers.
[Today should be taken as a huge wake up call. The Abyssal Covenant, they are here. And they are not messing around if Marak already sent a Horde as his introduction to this world.]
However, her eyes widened when she saw that Luke was already writing the sixth entry so soon after the battle.
[The battle was fierce, and there were moments where if I had been a little too late, it could have spelled a disaster for the rest of the occupants of this world. The Avengers do not exist yet, it's still only just me here. Thankfully, I gained these new abilities, because I am almost one hundred percent certain we would have lost if I hadn't.
But this should have come at a great cost to Marak. The size of this Horde was too large for him to create, especially since I know that he has been greatly weakened when he appeared before me. If my calculations are right, Marak should be going into hiding now, and we won't be seeing him for a long time as he attempts to re-gain his strength.
In the end, we managed to come out victorious. The Abyssal Covenant, the enemy from my world, had been defeated once again.]
'The covenant. . . So, it truly was Marak who appeared before us. If Luke was not with us, then. . .' Shaking her head, Natasha did not want to think about the what ifs. Instead, she was glad that Luke had been with her and was on their side during the battle.
[But instead of feeling triumphant, there's just a quiet sense of relief. Its strange, really. We've faced so many villains threatening the Earth, celebrated so many victories, but this one feels different than the others.]
Natasha could almost hear Luke's voice through the words she was reading, a mix of exhaustion and nostalgia. She knew exactly what it was like to win a hard-fought battle and feel only a hollow relief instead of joy.
[I remember the celebrations we used to have. Tony had always loved to host the parties, providing the venue, food, drinks, entertainment, just about everything really. Thor would bring out the best Asgardian mead, claiming he had 'borrowed' it from Odin's hidden stash.
Steve would be able to out-drink everyone, insisting that the serum had made him immune to getting drunk, and Natasha would take on the role of bartender, mixing drinks with a such skills that neither of us could ever hope to possess. Huh, I wonder if the Natasha in this world would have the same skillset?
Clint would talk about his plans to retire with his family, while Bruce and, although she would never admit it, even Natasha would both listen to him, a longing look would sometime appear on their faces, envying the simplicity of it all.]
A smile tugged at Natasha's lips, 'It seems that they truly weren't just a team. They were a family.'
[Thor, in his usual grandiose fashion, would sometimes smash a glass or two, declaring it an Asgardian tradition to honour the 'Midgardian' drink. It would always end in laughter and mock boos toward him, but all of us could feel the camaraderie within the team.]
When Natasha reached this section of the entry, she had finally confirmed that Thor was the Thor Odinsson from the Norse mythology. 'No doubt that Fury would be able to come to the same conclusion as I. Which means that there could be some truths to Legends of old. But this is not my problem to think on, but Fury's. So, I'll let him deal with it instead.'
[But tonight, there's no party, no laughter. Just me, alone by myself, staring at the night sky and reminiscing of old times. It's not that I'm unhappy with the outcome. But, at times like these, it just isn't the same without having all of them around.]
[I miss them, those moments, more than I can express.]
A tinge of sadness washed over Natasha, 'He's been through so much, and now he's here, trying to find his place all over again.'
- End of Chapter 67-
Next time in C68 - Secrets of Fury
"I miss them too, Luke." Wanda muttered, her eyes threatening to shed tears. Reading through what Luke had written regarding the Avengers, Wanda had felt a strong connection and a sense of nostalgia washing over her. Suddenly, Wanda's eyes widened when she realized what had just happened.
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[Author's Note]