4 years since Spider-Man's disappearance •
"You know something... I never expected in all the scenarios of my life that I'd die with you, Maria."
"Same here, Natasha."
Maria Hill, former SHIELD director, was now kneeling amidst the rubble and smoke, beside Natasha Romanoff, the spy known to the world as "Black Widow." The abandoned building they had taken refuge in was collapsing around them, the heat rising, and the explosion set off by Green Goblin still echoed in their ears.
Natasha was in a pitiable state. Half of her left side was scorched by the flames, her left arm and leg completely severed, and her breathing was labored, each inhalation seeming like it might be the last.
Maria, despite her own injuries and the burns that marred her left side, didn't think of running.
There was nothing left to save. No heroes, no organization, no world.
She sat beside Natasha, holding her burnt fingers. Amidst the wreckage, amidst the void, amidst the end.
"At least... we won't die alone." Natasha said with a cracked smile.
Maria swallowed her bitterness, and silence settled between them.
But Natasha slowly turned her eyes toward the scorched sky and said
"Do you remember... when I lost my memory? When I became Nancy?"
Maria blinked in surprise, those days felt like another life.
"Yes, Peter was with you back then, wasn't he?
"
"Yeah..." Natasha whispered, "He was the only one who didn't exploit my weakness. He treated me like I was normal. He loved me... and I ran from that."
A tear fell from her right eye, landing on her charred cheek.
"When I regained my memories, I rejected Nancy. I rejected everything she experienced because I saw her as a weak woman, someone I wasn't. But the truth? I was scared. Scared of love. Of stability. Of being something other than a weapon."
"And you left him." Maria said, her eyes staring into the void.
"Yeah. And I knew he wouldn't hate me, even if I did. I knew he'd try until the very last moment to fix everything, even when the world was collapsing... even when I knew he was working on a project... something about DNA... maybe it could have helped with my problem... but I destroyed everything before I even found out the truth."
Maria didn't say anything. She just placed her hand gently on Natasha's shoulder.
"And you?" Natasha asked after a heavy silence.
Maria smiled bitterly, "Me? I believed a damn newspaper."
"The Daily Bugle?"
"Yeah. I believed everything they said about Spider-Man. I waited for the first chance to put him in jail. I thought I was doing the right thing, enforcing order... and now?"
She fell silent, then continued in a choked voice
"Now, I'm just one of the reasons he disappeared. One of the reasons this world fell apart. One of the reasons innocent lives were lost... Fury... and everyone who believed in good."
Tears poured down her face, mixing with the ash and blood.
"I'm sorry, Spider-Man..." she whispered, as if her confession had come too late by years.
Natasha smiled, despite the pain.
"Seems like we share something else other than espionage."
"Yeah." Maria replied.
The building shook once more. The groaning of steel beams and the roar of fire grew louder. The ceiling began to collapse above their heads.
Maria closed her eyes and said
"I wish we had a second chance."
Natasha let out a faint, twisted laugh, her voice marred by pain
"A second chance? That's impossible, Maria."
Then, just before everything exploded, a voice was heard...
Soft, clear, and contradicting all the rules.
"Nothing is impossible."
And then everything turned white.
.
.
END OF CHAPTER
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