#runawayagent

{ @runawayagent || continued from here }

“Yeah, no shit,” he agreed, taking the cup with a grateful smile. “Thank you.” He glanced out the window at the fluffy white flakes floating down to the slush that bordered the wooden slat walkway between the bunkhouses. “But with the food that’s went missing over the last couple weeks and the idiots trying to start up protests practically anywhere they can stand on something elevated, it’s looking like the rumors might actually be true.”

@runawayagent

5 years. It’s been five years since Luca found himself all alone. At first he didn’t know what happened, wasn’t aware that in an instant his life had completely changed leaving him an isolated man in a world with too much pain. The grief didn’t settle in at first, it didn’t register. Many people took months to even begin to accept what happened but it was more common that it wasn’t solid as a reality until the one year mark had passed. When the news came out, when it was finally addressed what happened with The Avengers he was angry. Luca found himself stewing in his anger for a large part of the time it was a half-populated Earth. His sister had been fighting for New York and she didn’t even know why. It was just the job. Luca knew by six months that she’d been caught in the Avengers mess, that luck of the draw of fifty-percent snap had gotten her. 

Luca tried to keep himself busy over the years with work, tried to keep up with his spy work. That crumbled as he had no one to lean on. Charlotte and Leah were gone. His mother was the only one left and the pain was too much for him when he visited. They kept it to the concessional phone call every couple of months. Eventually he stopped answering only responding with a single picture or and I’m still here text. He stopped keeping up on things that were superhero related. Luca simply didn’t care anymore. 

As the five year anniversary came to pass he found himself in his loft outside the city. He kept himself afloat by becoming a consultant but he wasn’t active in the field, he was at home 90% of the time and conducted business over the phone. A sudden ringing phone startled him as it sung out a ringtone he hadn’t heard in years. With a shaking hand he reached forward to pick it up only to see a picture of Charlotte staring back at him. Unthinking he answered, hand trembling as he put it to his ear. “Ch-Charlie? Is this a prank?”

I lost you once...            I never want to lose you again.

Smile creeps onto her lips at Charlotte’s words.  The two of them had probably been a little too drunk the night before to make any decent decisions.  She honestly couldn’t remember if they’d done anything or not, though judging by the fact that they were both naked and in Charlotte’s bed, if she had to guess, she would say they had.  

It had been a slow day and Stephen desperately wanted to leave the Sanctum for a little but, just for a change of scenery. He decided he would walk to a nearby coffee shop   He emerged from the Sanctum, feeling comfortable in his regular civilian clothes, taking a deep breath of the New York air. Fresh was probably the last word he would use to describe it but it still felt good.