Chapter Ten — Grumpy Bitch.

❝Pain is universal, but unique at the same time. I don't know what you feel, or how you feel, but I can empathize and feel for you. However, I will never be you.❞

Patricia Wayne had hoped that she would be able to change that tragedy, to prevent it from happening by entering the battle — something she shouldn't do anymore. Thinking, completely foolishly, that she would be able to make things a little more bearable for those involved. But it was too late when she realized what was happening; time was changing, the future was being remade right before her eyes, and the consequences of her actions were becoming present.

She should have learned her lesson years ago — in fact, after so much time dealing with her power, it could easily be considered ridiculous to see her still trying. She knew she could, but sometimes, her stubbornness got the best of her.

The moment her eyes met Steve Rogers', and the countless possibilities flashed through her mind as she looked at the enhanced soldier, consequently making her dizzy for a brief moment, she knew it was too late.

— "What the hell are you doing here, Captain?" — The last line came out dry as if it were some kind of insult. Patricia didn't even bother to seem sympathetic or kind.

Steve, as was to be expected when he saw such rudeness being directed at him, especially how intense the woman's gaze was in front of him, raised his hands in an automatic movement, and slightly frowned, evidently confused by that behavior.

— "Excuse me?" — Rolling her eyes, Wayne once again didn't bother to seem admired or anything related. She knew that countless people would give a lot to be in her place; in the presence of the so-called first superhero in the world, but to be honest? She was never a big fan.

— "You were supposed to be with Harley" — She said, squeezing her eyelids to emphasize what she said. The woman didn't want the Avengers to know more than they already did, but Patricia needed Rogers to go somewhere else before her vision could come true. — "You don't belong here."

— "What do you mean?" — Steve asked, lowering his arms, a determined look now dominating his features.

This, surprisingly, irritated Patricia.

— "You'd love to know, wouldn't you?" — There was so much mockery and disgust in her tone of voice that the blond blinked a few times, a little surprised as he took it in. However, the enhanced soldier remained firm, not intimidated by that attitude. — "Aren't you capable of following orders? Isn't that what you were made for?"

That speech hit such a high note that some people on the comms were surprised, wondering where that woman had come from, and why she seemed to be taking her frustration out on someone like Steve.

— "Look, miss, I don't know who you are or what happened" — He began after a long minute of silence, trying to be diplomatic about the whole situation. — "But I just want to know what you know, so we can save the civilians."

Expelling a muffled laugh from her lips, rolling her eyes once more, Wayne closed her eyelids tightly, counted to ten in her mind as fast as she could, and found herself ready to deal with that man they called a hero.

— "Fuck it. I can handle this." — She muttered to herself and, even though she knew Rogers could hear her, she couldn't find it in herself to care.

Another long minute passed until the dark-haired woman found herself, and she was sure she was ready. Opening her eyes, the woman moved her hands; raising her arms, making an X symbol with them, Patricia moved them again, this time bringing them up to her head, pressing her temples for a brief moment. Soon some clones appeared, surrounding the two as if they were a large group of people.

— "Okay. I'll help you for now, but only for the safety of the civilians. Don't think, even for a moment, that I want to be part of your circus, Captain."

Through the communicator, Steve was the only one who heard Tony's provocation: — "Tell that to Director Fury when he finds out about your existence."

Ignoring the billionaire's speech, Rogers nodded, saying that the choice was hers, after all. 

Then, Wayne sighed deeply, thinking of a plan. — "First of all, I'm going to need a communicator, in case we get separated in this chaos. Do you have one with you?"

As she had expected, Steve agreed, then handed her a device a little bigger than the size of a grape, and didn't take long to put it on. A now confident expression dominated Patricia's expressive features, who knew what to do. — "Okay, now, I need you to trust me, and not ask stupid questions. We need to go to the side-"

— "Trust you?" — Stark was quick to ask the question, even though it was rhetorical. His voice dripped with a mockery that was already characteristic of his personality. — "We don't even know your fucking name."

— "Look, this doesn't happen often, but I agree with Tony." — It was Morana Isleen's turn to speak, however, unlike the philanthropist, her voice was calm. — "If you want our trust, you need to give something in return."

Patricia snorted, completely unhappy with those words. Seriously? In the middle of a battle? Who cares?

— "Are you serious?" — She asked, skeptical. — "We're in the middle of a crisis! You can't-"

— "You're a stranger in this situation. Everyone else knows each other by sight, knows each other's abilities, or at least their first names." — Morana spoke once more, her tone of voice firm as a rock, leaving no room for weak statements. — "Helping is the least you can do. And if you have the power to do so, you should do it. So, telling us your name shouldn't be too difficult when it comes to fighting these aliens, right?"

Patricia clenched one of her fists, feeling her sharp nails pierce her skin, hurting her. 

Steve noticed this act, but chose not to comment, not wanting to interrupt Isleen's speech.

— "I can't believe I'm listening to a fucking witch." — Wayne grumbled last, before finally saying what the woman wanted to know. — "My name is Patricia Wayne, I'm Bruce Wayne's daughter, I'm 33 years old, my marital status is single..." — The sarcasm she used when pronouncing each piece of information was so great that it could have gone head-to-head with Anthony Stark himself. — "Are you ready for enough information or do you want to know my SSN too? What is this? A job interview?"

— "As Bruce Wayne's daughter, I'm amazed that you know what a job interview is." — Clint Barton teased through the communicator, which made Patricia hold back an eye roll, recognizing that voice from somewhere. However, she easily ignored the curiosity that filled her chest.

— "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, archer. Now, can we get back to what matters? You know, there's a woman who needs help."

— "Is someone in danger?" — Steve asked, the tone of his voice changing quickly, clearly taking on the Captain's character he was known for.

Wayne wasn't surprised by the tone, but internally she was grateful for him finally getting back to the subject that interested her, that was important.

— "Yes, Harley is in danger right now, if you don't-" — She stopped herself from continuing. Her brain was practically giving her a little lecture about giving too much information to that group. As much as she didn't like keeping them in the dark, Patricia knew it was the best thing. For her, obviously.

Besides, after so many years of living with her powers, learning to deal with them as they gradually grew, Wayne was no longer averse to leaving out a thing or two to people. She had to do it to keep herself safe, after all.

— "Forget it. Just... just follow me, Captain. I know the way. And there's no need to worry about that area, my clones will take care of everything."

⠀ ●⠀●

Patricia and Steve ran alongside each other, without exchanging any words other than what was strictly necessary, both expressions were serious, a great contrast when compared to the other dynamic duos of the superhero group known as the strongest on Planet Earth — and Morana Isleen; the sorceress did not want to be seen as one of the Avengers, especially after so much time running away from the spotlight (although the woman was dating Anthony Stark of all people), she was just fighting alongside them for a common interest: saving people. She was all for the civilians, just like Wayne.

Patricia and Steve, even though they were not on the best terms at that moment, were a good team, despite the millionaire's obvious dislike for the soldier. She knew exactly where they needed to attack to reach their destination as quickly as possible, and she warned him in advance, which the blond quickly understood, using his shield when her clones died to protect them, and the two soon started running again.

It was practically a race against time, and the dark-haired woman hoped that they would be able to beat it.

However, when Captain America and Wayne turned a new corner, entering an open area full of alien corpses, Harley Quinn of all people having a crisis in the middle of that chaos, covering her ears as she fell to her knees on the ground after delivering the last blow to one of the Chitauris, crying uncontrollably, Patricia knew it was too late.

But not even Patricia, who felt like a human version of an oracle, would be able to wait for the scene that passed before her eyes. After all, she only saw that vision in one of the countless possibilities of Harley's future, and considering her experience with her powers, she thought it was just that: one possibility among many others.

Apparently, Destiny liked to be a grumpy bitch.

On her knees in the middle of hundreds of Chitauri corpses, muttering words that Wayne didn't even try to understand as she approached with the super soldier at her side, things happened so fast that if Patricia had blinked, she might have had trouble understanding what had happened.

One moment, she only had Harley in her field of vision, the next, a stubborn alien, who refused to die without taking the chance between his fingers, raised his gun with his last shred of life, pointing it at the fallen blonde, having a sensory overload, with a look that the mutant assumed was evil.

And in the next instant, a man ran towards Quinzel, taking the shot for her, right in the middle of his chest, towards his back; a huge hole appeared in the place of the blow; His expression turning into one of shock, as if his body was unable to comprehend that pain. He didn't scream, he didn't cry, he just fell to the side, next to Harleen, who remained mumbling words after words, completely oblivious to the human corpse next to her, to the man who saved her life.

— "No..." — Wayne whispered in a whisper, completely shocked by the scene happening right in front of her eyes. — "We're late."

Rogers also stopped running for a moment, not impressed by the scene, but by the teenager further away, watching everything with an expression of horror the whole time, as shocked as the two heroes. And when Steve took a step to run again, Patricia was quick to duplicate herself — ignoring the stab of pain that dominated her head, which she only felt because of the lack of mental preparation necessary to use that power —, holding the enhanced soldier with at least three clones, knowing that she alone would not be enough to stop him.

Captain America stopped, but not before looking at her with a confused expression, asking a question without having to say words. Patricia raised a hand and pointed in the direction of the teenager from before, which the older man followed, still without understanding, but when he looked at her, he had his answer.

The girl cried silently, still in complete shock, without moving an inch towards the now dead man, and when Steve thought it was distressing enough, he was surprised to see the teenager's blonde hair begin to turn silver; from root to tip the strands turned white, at such a fast speed that the soldier was sure something would come soon after.

And that's what happened. The girl screamed, her scream resounding throughout the area quickly, like a powerful wave. She fell to her knees on the ground, not even flinching when her jeans ripped against the sharp rocks below her, with what Rogers was sure were the remains of buildings destroyed in the invasion. And as if that wasn't impressive itself, Steve witnessed the power of the now platinum-haired girl destroy the remains of the dead aliens' corpses on the ground, as if they had never existed in the first place.

Unfortunately, the sound wave also served to double Harleen Quinzel's pain, who began to struggle, pressing her palms to her ears harder, looking for a way out of that pain that she didn't understand where it was coming from.

Noticing this, the Captain took a step forward, ignoring the protests of an exasperated Patricia Wayne, who was trying to talk to him. Steve didn't even realize he was next to Harley, only when he tried to talk to her, trying to take her out of her pain, that he notice it.

From afar, Patricia rolled her eyes as she watched that scene, already feeling the headache that would come from that situation. However, she soon volunteered to help him, committed to taking care of the girl suffering on the other side, fully aware of what it was like to end up dealing with the mutant gene from one moment to the next.

Of course, their powers were completely different from each other, but when Wayne got something in her head, few things were able to stop her.

— "Hey, girl. Can you hear me?" — She tried to get the attention of the youngest girl still on the floor. Unfortunately, she didn't even open her eyes, she just kept crying, shouting once again that she wanted her father, seeming not to notice the presence of the person trying to help her, mumbling about how she was now alone.

— "Daddy, please-" — She murmured, sobbing at the end, almost choking on her saliva in the process. — "Daddy, please don't leave me."

Feeling her chest ache for the youngest girl, Wayne made the mistake of touching the girl; it was something quick, just a touch on her shoulder to make her realize her existence. However, this only served to worsen her situation; she opened her eyelids for the first time, but the pain and fear reflected in her amethyst eyes, making Patricia shrug her shoulders when she realized her mistake.

— "LET ME GO!" — She ordered in a scream, worsening the situation of the blonde girl further away without realizing it, being supported by the enhanced soldier. Realizing this, the woman was quick to move away, raising her arms to her chest, trying not to make the situation worse.

Before she could address the teenager, Patricia noticed the way Harley winced in pain, mumbling something that she could only understand the word 'child' above all the others. With that, the brunette turned her body towards the Captain and Quinzel, not taking long to order Steve to take Harley away from the girl, understanding that she was having a sensory overload.

Watching Rogers do as he was asked, running with a Harleen Quinzel now in his lap, Patricia knew that the blonde would be fine, so she returned her attention to the teenager.

— "Hey, calm down, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." — Her voice was soft and apprehensive, especially knowing what could happen in the next few moments.

There were so many decisions that Wayne could make, so many things she could say, and yet, she felt that nothing would be enough to calm her down. The girl had just lost her father in an alien invasion, it was obvious that nothing could improve her situation. However, that wouldn't make the brunette give up.

— "Are you hurt?" — She asked, and nothing. — "Did they hurt you?" — Once again, the girl didn't answer. — "Can you tell me your name?"

To her surprise, this question seemed to reach the silver one, who did nothing more than murmur something simple: — "I don't want to be alone."

That made Patricia's heart ache. Not only because of the situation in general but also because she felt complacent about the younger girl. She wanted to help her, and she would do it. Deep inside her, hidden behind the mask she wore, there was also the identification; those were exactly the words Patricia had said, many years ago, when Bruce Wayne found her on the street, almost dying of hunger.

— "You won't be alone. I promise you." — She said, with confidence in her tone of voice. She would do whatever it took to help that girl, even if it meant doing something she didn't want to do, which was the last thing she wanted at that moment in her life: getting mixed up with superheroes.

In the end, even though she had to dodge several paths in that chaos, all to not end up crossing paths with that group of enhanced people, strange witches, and literal gods, her plans didn't turn out as she had expected, and Patricia would have to join that group of superheroes and enhanced people for a while.

And to think that Wayne had tried so hard not to end up by Harley's side that day, knowing, the moment her eyes met the blonde's hours ago, at the coffee maker a few minutes before Loki opened a wormhole in the sky of Manhattan, that their paths should never cross again.

Fate must like being a grumpy bitch.

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞?

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