Trust | 2 |

Chapter Twenty-Two

4.5 Month Later

The air nipped at my exposed face and I attempted to burrow inside of my scarf and hood just a bit more. There was a cafe up ahead and I scoped it out. It had some outdoor seating where multiple people were, there were giant open windows that opened into the cafe building itself that allowed me to see a giant shelving unit filled with coffee bags, mugs, and reusable cups.

I took a closer look at the people sitting outside. There was a woman with a laptop bag who looked to be alone and preoccupied. With a quick nod of my head, I tore a shelf out from inside the cafe, causing a giant avalanche of coffee and ceramic mugs. The noise was loud enough to draw everyone's attention towards it. I passed the woman and grabbed her laptop bag with my left hand and slung it over my right shoulder without slowing down at all. With a small squeeze to the top of the bag I felt the laptop inside and smiled.

It hurt to see that this was how my life turned out, but I couldn't complain much. This was what I chose and this was what I was going to stick with.

King T'Challa and his sister Princess Shuri were extremely kind people and were also dealing with a lot of grief over their murdered father. I didn't want to get stuck in the middle of that family drama so I left. The only people who 100% know about my decision are Barnes (who caught me sneaking out), Wanda (I could never just leave her without warning), and Shuri (I made sure she knew not to set up the cryogenic tube). The others may have their suspicions about what I've done, but they don't know.

After I was about two blocks away from the cafe and the victim of my petty crime, I finally felt comfortable enough to slow my pace down just a bit more. There was still a good crowd around me so I took advantage of that crowd to pickpocket a few unsuspecting people. They were easy targets, either having open pockets/bags, being on the phone distracted, or they were just slow. I didn't try to go for any 'harder' pickpocketing because I wasn't going to use my powers or risk getting caught by police.

With a quick glance at the street sign on the corner, I turned to the right and made my way down to 'my' apartment. It wasn't technically mine, but rather an abandoned place that was crumbling a bit that I decided to claim. Most people stayed away when they saw there was someone currently in the crumbling room, but every now and then I had someone try to take my territory. It was mostly easy to get them gone without any sort of altercation but there were an occasional few that I had to use some of Nat's combat training on.

I almost never used my powers at this point in my new life. If I even tried to use my powers, I would totally get caught by someone. The point of me running off and being on my own was so I could figure this out on my own and not get caught by authorities. An exception to this is if I need to cause a distraction large enough to draw peoples' attention, i.e. what I did at the cafe.

The door to the building was a sad little piece of wood that you didn't even need to open to enter. I stepped over the little bit that was sticking up and entered the building. The staircase in the very front was absolutely demolished, and you could only tell it was a staircase by the remaining framing left on the floor. There was a second emergency staircase in the very back, down a sad little hallway with about seven apartments, that were all occupied, that everybody used. I had yet to run into any neighbors, and was hoping it would stay that way.

The door to the staircase was slightly open as if someone had opened it not too long ago. I figured it was most likely a neighbor of mine, so I didn't worry. Of course I was still ready to attack if needed, but wasn't on high alert.

Up the stairs, all 23 steps, and I made it to my floor. That door was completely shut. I opened it, and kept my head down as I walked down to 'my' apartment. There were some random druggies in the hallway and we only acknowledged each other with small, downward nods; that was the extent of my relationship with my neighbors.