ghostofjuliuscaesar

JAX GOES TO ZOOBLES BAR 🥹

“This is it.” Yelena stated as you both stood outside of the shop. “Anything look familiar?”

After looking over the dark sign, you began staring through the glass. You observed the seating and counter set up, mind taking in the vaguely familiar sight. When you spotted the worker behind the counter, a glimmer of recognition appeared in your mind.

“Actually… yeah.” You said absentmindedly, heading for the door.

“Welcome in.” The worker called out casually, eyes turned down to a book on the counter. As you stepped closer, the moment she looked up her eyes lit up with mild excitement when she saw you. “Hey! Good to see you again.”

The girl was familiar, her golden skin stood out against the bright colors of her uniform. Curly hair pulled out of the way of her face and a seemingly broken pendant hung on a chain round her neck.

“Woah! You’re alive!” A secondary voice yelled.

The source of the yell appeared into view with haste. A young man approached the counter dressed in street clothing. He was clearly not a working employee of the establishment, but he too looked familiar.

“Barely.” Yelena muttered quietly after a soft hum of laughter.

“Hello.” You responded timidly, still trying to gauge their reactions.

Yelena nudged you forward, attempting to give you a boost of confidence to approach the counter. You stepped up, fumbling with the receipt in your pocket. The boy’s face pulled into confusion, studying you before glancing to Yelena.

“Wait- wait! You were you off on some secret dangerous Avengers business?” He asked leaving over the high table.

“Ned, chill, just… back off a minute.” The girl behind the counter squinted at you, her eyes fluttering across the healing wounds on your face.

“I think she’s a little fucked up.” She noted.

“No- I.” You tried to explain. “I’m alright.”

You smiled. You could feel Yelena’s amused stare on the side of your head as you blatantly lied to them.

“If you say so.” She shrugged.

“Super secret Avenger stuff.” Ned uttered, eyeing his friend. “You know, I’m still waiting for that exclusive interview.”

“Right…” You nodded slowly.

“I really need to know everything you know about the Spider-Man.” He added in casually.

“Wait- who?”

The pair of familiar strangers exchanged glances and looked back to you with puzzled expressions.

"Um, no, she will not be answering any questions right now.” Yelena interrupted.

They looked more confused now that Yelena stepped in for you. You were grateful for her help, but she was just a tad overbearing.

“It’s not that I don’t want to…” You started to explain. “I uh- I can’t.”

They still looked puzzled.

“Not right now.” You added in.

The girl looked to Yelena, then at you, then to Yelena and back to you. She leaned across the table, motioning to you meet her halfway. Once you were close enough she gave Yelena a small once over and spoke in a low a voice.

“Do you need help?”

Your lips parted in stunned silence. Yelena muttered out something unintelligible in Russian, hand rubbing over her forehead. She thought civilians worrying for your safety was ironic.

“She’s fine.” Yelena answered for you.

“I asked her.”

Yelena’s eyebrows raised, clearly not enthused with the mild attitude. You jumped in before Yelena did irreparabledamage to you alleged friendship with these two.

“No, no no no. I’m fine. Seriously.” You said with a stern voice, trying not to laugh. “Just managing a concussion.”

“Another one?” The boy, Ned, interjected. Your brows creased in confusion. Friendly or not- Why did these two people know so much about you?

“Yeah.” You laughed nervously.

They both shared an unreadable look between the two of them.

“Do you even know who we are?” The girl asked, eyebrows raised.

“Michelle?” You tossed the name from the receipt out cautiously. Her expression was neutral, but pleased. She still eyed you both carefully as she stood up straight.

“What about me?” Ned asked like he hadn’t been addressed by name minutes earlier.

“… Ned.”

An awkward silence blanketed the cafe.

“Good enough for me.” Michelle shrugged as she took a step to the register. “You want your regular?”

“Uh- yeah.” You shrugged with a smile, assuming she meant what had been on the receipt in your pocket. “Please.”

She nodded, scribbling your order down. A small smile pulled at the corners of your lips at the thought of Michelle having your drink memorized. You figured that must come here a lot more than you originally thought.

“Aaaand for your keeper?” Her head tipped to Yelena’s direction.

With a flicker of distain, Yelena gave the girl her drink order. Before you could fish around for your wallet, she also supplied a 20 dollar bill, and stuffed the change Michelle gave her into the tip bucket.

There was no silence while you both waited for Michelle to make the drinks. Ned talked all of your ears off about the alleged friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, explaining his plan for some website software for his fan club or something. When Michelle had finished with your order, she placed the cups onto the counter, a sticky note stuck on your cup caught your eye.

“Well, I hope your concussion heals up nicely.” She wished.

“Thanks.” You gave them a sheepish expression. “I’m sorry about not recognizing you.”

“My God it’s like looking into a parallel universe.” Ned uttered, face lighting up as he snapped to add, “OR like prime Avengers Sparks.”

His reaction had you hoping that you were not seen as some raging bitch to them at some point. Clearly their attitude indicated you were civil acquaintances of sorts.

“Knock that off.” She lightly scolded her friend as you both grabbed your drinks.

"Um- good luck with your spider fan club."

"We prefer the term Web Heads!"

“Right.” You nodded slowly, following to where Yelena had been retreating to the door.

“And by the way you don’t call me Michelle.” She said with a small chuckle. You nodded again, a little overwhelmed with the entire ordeal.

As you began to exit the shop you peeked down at the note on the cup. Yelena glared down at it from over your shoulder.

𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘟𝘟𝘟-𝘟𝘟𝘟-𝘟𝘟𝘟𝘟 - 𝘔𝘑

The name M.J. rolled through your thoughts, a reliving feeling of familiarity soon followed.

“Thank again, M.J.”

On your way out of the door you bumped into someone- or rather were nearly ran over by someone. The hit had you stumbling backwards, completely losing your footing. Yelena moved fast, grabbing for your jacket before you began to really fall.

“Hey!” Yelena scolded. “Watch where you’re going!”

You had both almost lost your drinks, but some miracle they both survived the collision. The stranger was quickly spitting out apology after apology crouched down on the floor to pick up the items he had dropped.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I am so, so sorry!”

He seemed very scattered and all out of sorts. Maybe even more so than you.

“You need to be paying more attention!” She shoved a pointer finger in his direction as he began to stand up. “Slamming into people like some dikiy byk.”

Once standing he stopped, standing still as a statue while he stared at you in surprise.

“Hey.” He breathed, expression resembling a kicked puppy. Your eyes looked to Yelena, seeing if she knew him. She still looked very irritated.

“Hi?” You returned the greeting, trying to decipher his expression. He awkwardly stared at you, more than a handful of seconds passed before he spoke again. If you were to be honest, it looked like he was ready to burst into tears.

“I’m-I’m Peter Parker.”

You blinked once. Unsure if you knew him or not. His tone suggested that you did. The more you looked at him the more familiar he seemed to get, but you still had no real clue.

“Do I know you?” You asked him bluntly, eyelids squinting to get a better look at him.

“No!” He answered suspiciously fast. “No- I’m just… a fan. Big fan of yours.”

You nodded slowly, still politely smiling at him. Yelena stepped closer now, finding the vibes of the stranger to be very weird.

“We should get going.” Yelena’s free hand was looking through your elbow again, gently tugging you.

“Yeah, um- it was nice to meet you.” You said to him with a smile.

“Oh yeah! Yeah- yeah! You too! I’ll see you around.” The cheerful words he spoke did not match the sad expression he wore.

Yelena tugged harder, successfully pulling you from your spot. You waved Peter goodbye with your free hand as you began to walk away, leaving him to disappear inside of the shop you had just exited.

“Chudak.” You heard Yelena speak under her breath.

You found yourself turning over your shoulder to watch him in the window. Something in your mind didn’t settle right. Outside of the amnesia, the way he tugged at your mind just made you feel wrong.

Two hours later it was approaching evening time. The streets were full of commuting cars and pedestrians trying to get to their destinations. You had been to Kate’s apartment and met the dogs. Now on the returning loop of the walk, Fanny and Lucky were leading the charge back to Kate’s apartment. You happily watched as they walked they sniffed everyone and everything they found interesting. Yelena held the leashes, per your earlier deal.

Recognizing how close we’re growing closer to your retuning destination, you finally worked up the nerve to ask Yelena a question. One that had been nagging at the back of your mind causing you a lot of anxiety.

“Hey I wanted to ask you something.”

“You can try.” Yelena sang.

“I don’t really know how to phrase it.” You worried your hands.

“Don’t think too hard, you’ll give yourself another concussion.” Yelena joked despite her own feelings of anxiety that formed. Luckily for her you laughed along at her words.

“Did I…. do something?” The question was vague. Yelena didn’t respond, gently tugging Lucky back on track.

“Before my accident, I mean.” You filled in.

“You’ve done lots of things.” Yelena answered casually with a shrug.

“No- like.” You were frustrated trying to find the right words. “To you?”

Yelena made a small sound of distain, hoping you didn’t pick up on it. You did.

“Oh no,” you said in a soft voice. “I did, didn’t I?”

Yelena opened her mouth to protest.

“Fuck.” You cursed. “I’m sorry.” You apologized.

“I swear I wasn’t always like that.”

The way you spat out the final word with so much hate made Yelena’s chest ache. She figured you must be remembering more of yourself from the more recent years you’d lost. The worry in her mind grew with the thought. She tried to interrupt you by calling your name, but you didn’t listen.

“I know you won’t believe me, but I’ve received awards for my outstanding service and merit from S.H.I.E.LD.” You barked out a laugh. “I guess it means nothing now.”

The more you spoke about yourself the more nauseous Yelena grew. Because of course you recived awards for all your achievements.

“Please, shut up.” Yelena cut you off with a breathy laugh. You were silenced immediately.

“You said you remembered the gas station?” She asked.

“Mhm.” You nodded. Yelena took in a steady breath, mentally preparing to be really honest with you for once.

“We had never met before that day… and I was not kind to you.” She admitted, eyes still focused ahead.

Yelena was thankful you were walking, she didn’t want to have this sort of conversation face to face. She didn’t think she had the stomach for it.

“I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that.”

You were quiet. Yelena let you simmer with the new information. She silently prayed you would let the topic of conversation go.

“Is it funny if I think I did deserve it?” Your voice had dropped, every word sounding small with emotion.

“It’s like,” you paused. “Like with every bit of memory I get back… the less I think I like about myself.” You took in a steady breath.

“The last time I saw my mentor,” you began to laugh. “I wanted to-“ You huffed a laugh, obviously losing confidence in your words.

“I think I wanted to kill him.”

Like the universe wanted them to suffer, both dogs took an interest in a tree planted along the sidewalk causing you to stop in your tracks.

“I did try.” Yelena blurted. You finally tried looking into her eyes wearing a puzzled expression.

“Last Christmas.” Despite your stare, she kept her eyes on the dogs. “I came to New York to kill Clint Barton because I believed that he murdered my sister.”

Silence blanketed over the two of you, whizzing of passing cars the only sound. Yelena felt weight of your gaze on her face, while the admission hung heavy in the air around them like a toxic cloud. The very niche shared feelings and experience laced through the both of your minds.

Fanny interrupted the tense moment by nosing her head between your knees, nearly tripping you with the leash. Yelena instinctively reached her hand out to grab your arm.

“Why didn’t you do it?” You finally asked.

Yelena sighed.

“I realized she wouldn’t have wanted me to.”

You nodded slowly.

“Why didn’t you do it?” She asked in return.

“I was at a funeral. Bad etiquette.” You joked, pulling a breathy laugh from Yelena before she turned her attention to the two togs tangling their leashes together.

“You’ve sniffed the tree enough. Let’s go home.”

You both bagan the mildly awkward walk back to Kate's apartment, successfully making it without incident. Yelena unleashed the dogs and let them in first.

“I still can’t believe you have a dog.”

Yelena was going to respond, but her attention was diverted to the open window. An arrow whizzed past the small distance between your faces. You jumped back in surprise, following where it to the training bullseye Kate had had set up on the far wall. It had landed in the center circle of the target perfectly. Your eyes were turning for the window in surprise before you looked to Yelena who was already moving towards the window. When you looked back to the arrow you noticed the string tied around it.

You pulled on the string, freeing the paper that was folded around it.

𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴, 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳. - 𝘏.

You blinked at the words on the piece of paper, immediate placing a guess as to who the sender was. Nobody else you knew would confidently shoot an arrow between your heads like that. You doubted it would be Happy.

It was actually three papers rolled up together. The handwritten note, one copy of a printed photo and one copy of a newspaper clipping.

The photo you didn’t exactly recognize, you were sure you had never seen it before. You did vaguely recall the day. You recognized the setting and the people in it with you, but it drew blank in your mind. Despite how old you looked in the photo were wearing the insulating sleeves designed by S.H.I.E.LD. when you were first taken in to prevent accidents. You wore them daily until you were old enough to get a handle on shocking things around you, but the context of the photo explained your use of them.

In the photo you were surrounded by children of the Barton family, clearly engaged in some sort of game of dodgeball. The sleeves were simply a precaution of the children, especially the young Nathan barely able to participate in the game. The other side of the photo included the opposing team of Laura, Clint and Natasha.

The print out of the newspaper was a photocopy of a real clipping, bright creases of the folds indicating it had been well worn.

The image of the paper displayed a very recent photo of yourself, an older middle aged man and a gaggle of children smiling brightly while sat on a tractor. You had absolutely zero recollection of the photo.

𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬! 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐖𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐭𝐲. 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.

You knew that you only get back to the North East for Bucky’s campaign, but anything before that was a toss up. You still had no idea what you really did. Apparently you did a lot.

“So you went on a some sort of mission trip? This must be why people like you so much.” Yelena assumed looking at the newspaper from over your shoulder. You handed her the photo of the Barton family for her to get a better look while you studied the newspaper.

You had heard the tractor sputtering a mile back. As the sound grew louder you saw the large tractor appear on the hillside, stranded in a half plowed field. When you squinted to get a better look, you could see a man getting clearly frustrated as he was trying to start it.

You stopped on the shoulder of the road as you weighed out your options. Keep walking for who knows how long. Or. Give your legs a break and help this farmer.

You chose the latter.

You trudged your way through the tall plants, careful of each of your steps.

“Hello there!” He greeted with a wave.

“Howdy!” You quintes out a smile against the blinding sun. “Need some help?”

“Not unless you got some jumper cables and a 12 volt in that pack of yours.” He gave a friendly laugh.

“Don’t need one.”

He gave you a look of pure confusion, studying you like you were as crazy as you must have sounded. After a moment of staring his expression brightened up.

“Good Lord.” He uttered in disbelief. You smiled.

“I can give you a jump.” You offered.

“I can’t even believe my eyes.”

He began to climb down the steps of the tractor, removing his hat and extending his hand to you.

“Michael.” He introduced himself. You opened your mouth to speak, “Oh I know who you are.”

He continued to shake your hand excitedly for more than a few extra seconds before he dropped his grip.

“You are a miracle!”

“It’s the damn battery again.” Michael grumbled. “Piece of junk died on me last week, too.”

“Um-“ You looked at the intimidating machine. “Can you lift the hood?” You motioned to the engine.

“Yeah, yeah!” He nodded rushing to help lift the metal.

“My kids ain’t gonna believe this.”

Michael shook his head as he worked open the cover. You laughed lightly, climbing up to get a better look at the engine. He watched as you inspected the components, checking the battery for any external damage. You had never jump started a tractor before, but you assumed it was the same was a car.

“It looks fine just a little old, but I think you should still replace it sooner than later.”

“It’s a 12-volt… You sure you ain’t need no cables? Gloves or nothin’?”

You shook your head, raised your arms to him to present your hands while giving them a little shake.

“I got these.”

“Alrighty Little Miss, go on ahead.”

You got a good grip terminals, minding the soon to be moving parts of the machine while he climbed back into the cab.

“Ready?” You hollered.

“Ready!”

You generated a small surge of electricity, just enough to kick on the battery, listening as the tractor roared back to life.

Michael began cheering loudly from his seat. You carefully shut the hood

“You’re a miracle!” He shouted over the noise. “Saved me a few mile walk back to the barn!”You gave him a sheepish smile.

“Glad I could help!” You were ready to grab your backpack and bid him goodbye to continue your journey.

“How can I pay you back? You need some money? Water?”

“No need!” You waved him off still smiling.

“You know what- hop in! Let me give you a ride up the road. Save you some miles too.”

You reluctantly agreed, climbing onto the tractor with your new acquaintance. He drove you back up to his main property where you spotted a few different structures and fences in pastures littered with various animals.

You spotted a group of children running towards the sound of the approaching tractor. Two boys and a younger girl trailing behind them. You assume d they must be the children he spoke of earlier. Immediately the group of kids were rushing right up to the machine as he parked it.

Michael cut the engine, letting you to hop off first.

The children’s shouts for their father quieted as they recognized you. Soon all three began yelling over on another excitedly the young girl shamelessly grabbing at your shirt as she hopped up and down. You couldn’t even focus on one voice to understand an ounce of what they were saying.

Hearing all the commotion, a woman appearing to be around Michael’s age emerged from the barn. She was wearing a floral long sleeve under a baggy pair of overalls that she had tucked into her boots. A wide hat obscured a lot of her face to you as she approached.

“What in the world is all the fuss about?” She shouted at them, clearly irritated he wasn’t still working the field. The kids quieted down as she approached.

“That damn battery!“ He started to explain. “Thankful for this little lady passing by to give me a jump- asked the lord for some juice for the battery and he sent me an angel.” You laughed along with him at the comparison.

The woman tipped her hat back, revealing her sun-kissed skin. A look of surprise wiped across her face.

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph.” The woman’s face contorted into a look of recognition as she reached to shake your hand. Her free hand then reached to clasp around your hand in hers fully. You smiled, while you introduced yourself properly to his wife.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what has got you out all the way out here?” She asked you.

That was a good question. You had been hitchhiking around for a few weeks now with no plan in sight. You shrugged a little with a small laugh.

“Sightseeing, I guess.”

The young boys snickered.

“What kinda sights you think you’ll be seeing out here?” The older asked in a sarcastic voice, distaste layered in his tone.

“Gabriel.” The woman scolded him.

“Momma! Momma! Can she please stay for supper!” The little girl on your arm tugged you again.

“Well, I don’t see why not? It’s the least we can do as a thank you.”

The woman’s eyes shifted to you with a quiet plea, expression shining with sincerity.

“Well, maybe if you ask her real nicely, she might just say yes.”

“Um-um,” the girl messily pushed hair out her face as she began to speak, wide eyes staring up at you. “Will you- can- do you wanna eat supper with us?”

The look on their parents face gave you a feeling they wouldn’t take a no very kindly.

“I would love to.”

The girl jumped as she squealed in excitement still gripping the flannel you wore. Her brothers looked equally excited as well.

“Can she show us her lightning?” The younger boy asked his mother.

You laughed. You had absolutely nothing to do with the weather.

“Idiot!” The older boy pushed at his brother. “That’s Thor!“

Their mother scolded them with a pointed expression.

“What? I’m right!” He defended himself.

“We do not call our bother’s names.”

The girl on your arm began trying to tug you over to a pasture.

“C’mon! C’mon! I’ll show you all of the am-nals!” She excitedly stumbled over her words. “And- and I’ll tell you all their names!”

“His name was Michael.” You randomly blurted.

“What?”

“The farmer.”

“You remember that?”

You shrugged.

“Not sure how I ended up in bumfuck Oaklahoma, but, yeah, they were a nice family.” Your brain supplied you with more information on the memory.

“How cute.” Yelena hummed.

You were interrupted by three quick heavy knocks on the door to Kate’s apartment.