One Impossible Future (May 2030)

Coming back to New York was probably the most dangerous thing they could have done. Bent and rusted metal and concrete were mostly what was left of the tall skyscrapers that, at one time, seemed to reach up into the heavens themselves. People by the millions once lived in this massive, bustling city. No longer. Logan had moved up to scout ahead and the rest of the team took refuge in the husk of a small house. It still had half a roof but weeds, plants and moss had taken up residence now and though it provided some shelter against the wind and the rain there was little else of value for them. Pharaoh cleared off a small end table that still stood near what could have been a couch but now was just a mass of broken pieces of wood, rusted springs and bits of fabric. He dropped his pack onto the table as Serena found an old wooden chair that was still in pretty good shape for her mother to sit upon so she could rest.

“Here,” Pharaoh said and proffered to Serena one of their plastic, green army canteens. It was completely filled with water and he had 2 others that were filled as well. Before he died Tony had made a portable water filtration system that could collect water from the smallest of puddles and suck it up through a tube, through the filtration system and into a canteen. Water they had an abundance of. Food...not so much. He handed her a small, square, plastic container that contained dried meat and carrots. Serena had come up with that invention herself but she had to use a few components from her and Isabella’s suit to make the dehydrator that they used to preserve the food they found. Without it food spoiled quickly and considering how difficult it was to find these days it was one of the reasons they were still alive.

Natalya was dressed in a mix of black and camoed gear. When she didn’t move it was difficult to pick her out even when someone was just a few feet from her. She had her 2 pistols that had interchangeable barrels for different kinds of ammunition that they came across. They also had scope attachments, laser sights and silencers. She also had a very exotic looking sniper rifle. It once belonged to Valentina Fontaine who she had killed when she had attempted to shoot Logan again. She still bore the scar on her thigh from that fight but in the end she stabbed Valentina’s own knife into her heart and ended her. She took her knife as well.

After Serena took a few pieces of meat he moved up to where Natalya took a knee as their lookout. “Natalya, food,” he whispered as he touched her shoulder. Isabella sat with a very long sigh. “You know I don’t like it when you fuss over me like this,” She told Serena. “I heard you again last night, you were dreaming of him again?” She asked as she reached out and touched Serena’s cheek softly.

Serena was still in shock over everything that had happened. She had been living her dream life. She and Peter had been happily married and had two beautiful children, Willow May and Anthony. She and Peter had been continuing to work for the Avengers and also for Stark Industries. When her parents retired Steve and Kate had taken over as the heads of the team, but her parents had continued to work closely with the team, although they were also happy just be able to spend time with their grandchildren and spoil them. That perfect world had been shattered though and now not only her life, but the world lay in ruins. Peter was dead, along with her father, Steve, Nick Fury, and Coulson. SHIELD no longer existed and the world was trying to cope with everything that had happened.

For now, Kate, Isabella, Natalya, Logan, Pharaoh, and herself were just trying to survive and get back to her children. She had left Willow and Anthony with Happy along with Kate's daughter, Sarah Katherine. There was no way of communicating with Happy, but she knew where he should be. No one knew how many people had survived the attack, nor did she know where William was or what might happen next. For now they were taking it one day at a time.

Her mother was injured and was not doing well. Serena had asked that they stop again so her mother could rest. Logan remained outside and on the lookout, while everyone else went inside the house (or what was left of it). Serena got a chair for her mother and insisted that she sit. She gave the water canister to her, but took a few pieces of dried meat that Pharaoh offered to her. When her mother mentioned her dream the night before she looked at her slightly. Since Peter's death the sparkle in her eyes had faded to a dullness. She carried around a constant weight of sadness and grief, but she knew that her mother, and Kate were both mourning their losses too. Serena had lost two people though, her husband and her father and that had been almost too much for her heart to take.

"Yes," she confessed. "I was dreaming about him again. I...I miss him so much," she said as tears came to her eyes. "I keep waking up thinking he's going to be there and he's not."

Isabella’s face turned down into a frown. Her daughter had lost everything and she did not know how she was able to go on. ‘She will not stop until she finds her babies’ She thought and a pang of pride hit her square in the chest. “You will find them Serena, I know you will,” she said then shifted quickly to muffle a cough. She groaned and cleared her throat but Serena smelled the coppery scent of blood on her breath. Isabella took another drink from the canteen then handed it back to her.

Kate barely spoke these days. Steve was dead and she never found out what happened to William. She had nightmares about that. Dark, evil dreams where he systematically destroyed their world. Everyone knew it was William that did it but they knew who was really behind it. Loki, but no one knew why, not even Thor, his brother. Pharaoh brought the container to her but as she shook her head he insisted and she took several pieces of the meat from him. In truth she was starving, they all were, only slowly. Was Sarah alive? Was she happy or surviving like they were? Guilt and worry were Kate’s world now. That and the crushing sense of loss she felt for her husband and her son.

Natalya noticed that Logan was no longer where she had last seen him. She saw his tracks but knew she could not go very far away from Pharaoh. Korvac’s search drones could be anywhere and Pharaoh was able to mask their heat signatures from them though he couldn’t really explain how he did it. Something about sensors being easily fooled or some such but regardless of the ‘how’ it worked as long as they stayed close to him.

Kate, staying low came up behind her. She was dressed almost in the same camoed clothes as Natalya was. She had a convertible assault rifle that had all sorts of attachments and can break down into a pistol or be pieced together into a sniper rifle as well. SHIELD had been very generous to them with the gear that they carried. Now it was likely the last of it they’d ever come across.

“Logan is long in coming back, do you think he found trouble?” She whispered, though her voice was a cold, monotone as if she neither cared if she lived or died. If he did they could not seek him out, they all knew that but she could tell Natalya wanted to. Out of them all, Logan, besides being a bit thinner than usual, was the least affected by what had happened. He was the pinnacle survivor and he had gotten them out of several tough spots in the last few months. She and Logan were closer than ever, often working in close concert together. Natalya had sharp eyes and her armor piercing rounds made short work of the drones and she never missed.

Natalya and Logan would only be separated by death. Though they were not married in the traditional sense, they shared a bond that was so deep and profound that they did not need to be married. They were a team and were now essentially the leaders of the group. They fiercely protected the others, especially Serena and Kate who had children who needed them. They only had each other and they had already had a private discussion over what to do if the other one went missing. Their number one priority was getting Kate and Serena to their children.

Natalya glanced over at Kate as she approached her and then looked back in the direction Logan had gone. “I’m not sure,” she answered honestly. She wanted to go look for him, but that was against their rules. If he didn’t show back up by the time they had agreed to leave then they would leave without him. She reached up and absent mindedly touched his dog tags. He had given them to her and she wore them under her shirt and close to her heart.

A drone had passed high overhead, a sign that they had overstayed their time here...wherever ‘here’ was. Logan had still not returned and the sun, a gray haze behind the endless blanket of dark clouds, rose ever higher into the sky. “We need to go Natalya,” Isabella said. “We can’t,” She began but then they all heard three chitters, 2 long and 1 short. Logan’s call that he was coming in. Without that call Natalya might have shot him just based on the movement.

Out here the moment any one of them let their guard down it put their lives in danger. In the city, even as ruined as it was there were scavengers and dangerous animals that had moved in from the surrounding forests and began to reclaim what had been taken from them as the populations of the world began to wane. Kate had nearly been taken by scavengers when they had let them get to close but the others showed them the error in coming into their camp.

Logan had seen the drone fly by and it mystified them all how he had evaded it as he came toward the ruined house. He held a burden on his shoulder and covered in sweat as he was he breathed heavily as if he had been running. He saw the relieved faces and his eyes darkened when he realized that he was the cause of that. As if they didn’t have enough to worry about already.

“Something for your dehydrator Pharaoh,” he said and he pulled forward what looked to be the carcass of an animal. He had cleaned and skinned it for him and no one asked him what it had been. Meat was meat and food was in such short supply that they had long since stopped being so choosy on what filled their bellies. Pharaoh grinned when he saw it and nodded. “Alright, give me 15 minutes to cut it up,” he said then moved toward his pack and got to work.

Logan took a sip from his canteen then handed it to Natalya as he came to sit down just behind her. “There was a pack of them out there and I tried chasing them at first then decided to play dead. One...got to close,” he said as he saw the dark look in her eyes. “I’m sorry I took so long coming back but it was food,” he said with a grin. “And besides, I would have followed,” he added as he settled back. “You didn’t have any bad dreams again last night. Though how could you when life in general is as bad as it gets,” he said with a chuckle. He caught Serena’s gesture that told him he was talking to loud. He returned it with one that said he understood. When she just looked at him he sighed.

“So, whats a guy gotta do to get a date around here?” he whispered. A code they used when he was asking her if they could have sex tonight if they were in a position to.

Every person on the team had a different call that they used to indicate that it was them. This was for safety purposes and worked very effectively. They never wanted to shout because that would possibly give away their location. They needed to be as stealthy as they could and realized very early on that they could trust no one outside of their group. Happy was supposed to be at the old SHIELD HQ with Willow, Anthony, and Sarah, but if he hadn't felt it was safe there then he would have moved and taken the children with him. Natalya was hoping that he was still there. There was no way of communicating with anyone at this point and she knew that Serena and Kate would go crazy if they didn't know their children were safe.

Natalya was relieved to see Logan come back safe and also with food. Their food supplies were running low and getting one's hands on food was scarce. Grocery stores had been looted and they now had to hunt and forge for food. Thankfully, they were all trained for difficult situations, although this one was truly beyond any training any of them had ever received. It was taking a toll physically and mentally on them all.

Natalya glanced at Logan when he whispered the code they used for sex. She glanced at the sky and saw it was getting dark and also looked like it might storm. "Hey guys, we should camp here tonight. It looks like it is going to storm and it's getting late in the day."

Everyone was in agreement and they agreed on the watch schedule. Pharaoh agreed to the first watch and Logan and Natalya went to go find a private place in the house. Thankfully, they were able to find a room away from the rest of the group, although they did have to keep their voices down. Natalya didn't want to flaunt their relationship in front of the other women who had lost their husbands. Any affection displayed between them was in private. When they were around the others it was strictly business.

Meanwhile, Serena found a spot in another room where she could be alone. She sat down on the floor in one of the corners with her blanket around her shoulders and pulled up the video Peter had sent her. There were already tears in her eyes as it began to play.

Peter slowly appeared and there was just a little bit of static. There were sparks that went off behind him and he was obviously in the alien ship. Peter definitely looked older and he had the makings of a beard. He had a gash on his forehead and a bruise on his cheek.

“Hello Serena. I wanted to just...Oh, I don’t know. Talk to you for a minute. Since the event we barely ever talked anymore,” he said as he smiled at her. “I hope your well and holding our kids right now. Tony’s getting tall. I think he’ll dwarf me in just a few years. And Willow,” He said but his face broke slightly as he tried not to cry. “She ‘s so beautiful Serena. I see so much of you in her,” He said as tears rolled down his cheeks. He wiped his face and nose with his right hand and leaned into the camera slightly as he regained control of himself.

“The hack didn’t work baby. We only have one choice now and that choice isn’t going to bring me back to you,” he said, struggling to hold it together for her. “I wanted to see them grow up with you Serena. I really did and to share the rest of our lives together as we planned to. You are the one Serena, the only one and I can only hope that I’ve shown you the love that you’ve shown me over the years,” he said as tears began to fall again.

“We need you Pete!” Tony said off camera and Peter shifted his head for a moment then returned it into the camera view. “I love you Serena. And tell Anthony that he’s the man of the house now. And he needs to take care of his ladies. Tell Sarah that...her father really loved her,” He said as the ship lurched and smoke began to pour all around him. He squinted and looked into the camera.

“You bring them home Serena. You...bring...them...ho... “ then the video faded to black.

Serena had watched the video only a few times because each time she did she cried. She missed Peter so much. Her heart ached without him and she felt as if apart of her soul was gone. They hadn't just been husband and wife, but they had been best friends. He had known her better than she knew herself. He had been her soulmate and she saw so much of Peter in Anthony, her son. She was sobbing by the time the video faded to black. She kept wishing he could be there to put his arms around her and comfort her like he always had. She knew she would need to be strong for her children and so she tried to get all of her tears out now.

Down the hallway, Natalya could hear Serena crying as she lay there with Logan after making love. Her heart went out to her. "She's really taking Peter's death hard."

Logan laid back with his head on his arm. Natalya was mostly on top of him, kissing his chest and raised up on one elbow to talk to him.

“I know...I miss him to. I miss them all,” Logan said softly as he ran his free hand through her dark waves of hair. “We have to find those kids...somehow,” he whispered. “I don’t know what she will do if their not there,” he said. “But I will tell it to you straight. Korvac is going to find us eventually,” he said though she did not appear to be surprised by that. Like him Natalya was a realist. And she knew as well that there time was short.

“I don’t know if he’ll hurt the children but I know what he’ll do to the rest of us. We won’t fit into his Utopian plans,” Logan said as he looked up at her. “God your beautiful,” he murmured as his eyes looked into hers. “Bartender, how bout another round?” He said then shifted and pulled her hips up so he could kiss her lips and make love to her once more.