Rogue (An Avengers Fanfic)

Chapter 70: The Last Chapter For Fallen Heroes

Black dress, heels, minimal make-up and jewellery, sombre expression – everything one needs to attend a funeral. 

I was letting Stark, Falcon and Wanda hold me together, because if it was up to me, I'd completely fall apart. Walking into the church and seeing their pictures was enough to send me over the edge. But I wasn't the only one who'd lost people. Stark lost his best friend, Jessica lost her sister, Hope lost her father, the team had lost two leaders in Fury and Steve, we all had a reason to fall apart, which was why I had to keep it together.

I drowned out the words of the speaker, instead looking around the room. Everyone was here. Maria Hill, T'Challa, Stark had even persuaded Jamie Madrox to come, and I was grateful for it, particularly when it was my turn to say something.

"Thanks for coming everyone. I wanted to say something because, I've been through more grief in the last few weeks than I ever thought possible, and to be honest, I don't know how I'm handling it. I've lost parents, friends, my sister, and I thought that I wouldn't be able to get through this day. You see, I was never supposed to be a hero. I was a kid in Harlem who lived with her mom, doing the things that 12-year-old kids do, and I thought that this was all I'd be.

"Then someone took those memories from me, and turned me into the person who has electricity running through her veins, who can use force fields and mind control to protect people. But Nick Fury found me. He brought me to S.H.I.E.L.D and gave me something to hold onto. Then I met Natasha Romanoff, who quickly became my sister, the person I trusted most in the world. But I still hadn't found my purpose. That's when Fury suggested I join the Avengers. 

"At first I didn't want to, I didn't want anyone to know who I was or what I could do. But then I met Steve and the rest of the guys, and decided that 'superhero' wasn't a terrible occupation. And things went well. We saved the world from Hydra, and made some friends along the way. We created and destroyed a monster, and I met my best friend Wanda in Sokovia. I felt like, maybe, this was exactly what I was supposed to be doing. Then we fought amongst ourselves, and it was hard to decide who was in the right and who needed to be taken down. And our little Avengers family was fragmented. 

"So I joined Jessica Jones, trying to find a mind-controlling psychopath, not knowing that he'd be the cause of the deaths of all the people whose pictures are up here today. If I could talk to Kilgrave, I'd tell him how many lives he destroyed. But I'd also tell him that we can handle it. This is the worst thing we've ever been through, but we know how to get through it – together. Our unity is something that Kilgrave never had, and why his plan to destroy us didn't succeed. If anything, he's made us closer. I got through the deaths of so many loved ones because I had my team behind me, and I know that I can get through anything.

"I met my mom for the first time, and within minutes she was taken away from me, and I thought that I'd never feel anything but pain. But I'm okay. And I'm making sure that my team are okay, too. We're going to go on more missions, we're going to save as many lives as we can. We're going to live our lives without the burden of death, because that's what they would have wanted."

I sat down next to Wanda and grasped her hand. What I said was true, we were going to be okay. We were a team.

We'd changed a lot from that first meeting in S.H.I.E.L.D HQ, we'd gained so many. Scott Lang, Hope Van Dyne, Spider-Man, Jessica Jones, and Katherine the Super Soldier were now official Avengers. Our team was bigger and better than ever. I was bigger and better than ever.

Because I'm an Avenger. A lifesaver. A fighter. A Superhero.

I'm a Rogue.

The End.