Age: 20
Word count: 2702
Requester by: -EJWrites-
Summary: After her mother's death and her dad brought back the stones, Alena's desperately trying to find a way to go back to things were before. Her plan involves asking Wanda to find her a universe where her parents are alive, to which she agrees. This causes her to wake up in an all-to familiar universe where things are ... different.

December 1st, 2025, Alena's universe:

,,Wanda please, I need you to do me that favor. I'm all alone, I don't wanna be here anymore, I want my parents back"

Alena pleaded while chasing after Wanda, who she tracked down after the whole multiversal madness she'd gone through. She'd heard all about what the witch could do and figured this was her only chance to ever see her parents again.

Wanda on the other hand, didn't wanna hear it. She did it once and saw that there wasn't a way to do it without hurting anyone. She learned her lesson ... or did she?

,,Alena no, I told you I can't do that. How did you even find me, I'm literally in the middle of nowhere"

The woman shut down the idea. As much as she wanted to help her niece, she couldn't risk it.

,,But you found your sons, you found yourself a universe where you could be happy. Why won't you help me, Wanda??"

The 20 year old countered, her voice straining. She was desperate to see them again, especially with her Mom's birthday coming up. Truth was, she'd chosen to simply ignore all events involving each of her parents, so her birthday, their birthdays, their anniversary, everything.

This probably wasn't the best way to go, but she didn't know how else to cope. But, Alena was determined, not to ignore another one of her Mom's birthdays, but she also swore to celebrate it with her.

Wanda stopped, causing Alena to almost run into her, before the witch turned around, a look of defeat on her face.

,,Okay let's get you back to Natasha"

She agreed, although her expression displayed a mixture of insecurity and reluctance. Wanda was smart enough to understand that her honorary niece wouldn't budge and just a little part of her wished for it to go just the way she wanted it to, even though she knew it'd go horribly wrong in a way.

Alena let out a relieved sigh. This was her chance to finally see her parents faces again.

,,Thank you, Wanda, thank you, thank you, thank you"

She flung her arms around her auntie, grateful for the help. The woman in question closed her arms around the 20 year old, although she couldn't shake the feeling that not everything would go as smoothly as they wished it to go.

Soon, the two women had gone inside, hatching a plan on how to get Alena into a universe where both Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers were alive and well.

Eventually, they found one. Earth 616, year 2022. Little did either of them know what fate awaited Alena's parents in that very universe.

,,Okay, I think I can get you there. Alena, please be careful, messing with time and reality is even more dangerous than only messing with reality"

Wanda warned, her lips slightly pursed and her brows knitted together. The more she thought about it, the more unsure she got.

Alena on the other hand was nothing but excited. She just chose to ignore every sign screaming at her to let it be, simply too blinded by the allto perfect chance that presented itself to her.

,,I'll be extra careful, I promise"

She assured, her eyes beaming with joy for the first time in a long time. This was the moment she'd waited for, for over a year.

Wanda gave a nod, her gaze lingering on the 20 year old for a few seconds, before she made a hand gesture. Red strings of magic erupted from her fingers, engulfing Alena in midst of them. Just seconds later, she was gone.

As the redhead inhaled the red smoke-like magic around her, she grew more tired by the second. It almost felt like her body was fading with the slight breeze around her. And then, she finally closed her eyes, loosing consciousness completely.

December 2nd, 2022, Earth 616:

Alena woke up on what felt like one of the beds in the med-bay of the compound. Everything seemed just a little darker than it was in her own universe, but still very familiar.

Suddenly, a voice pierced the air from afar, a voice the redhead had craved to hear for over a year.

,,I dunno, she just appeared, I found her passed out in one of the guest rooms"

The Natasha Romanoff of this universe explained to Steve Rogers. Both looked tired, probably from figuring out a plan to bring back everyone ... if that even happened in this universe.

Something about the way her parents interacted, threw Alena off. They weren't as comfortable around one another and she noticed that her dad didn't look at her mom with the same love he always did in her universe.

Both came to a halt in front of the 20 year old. Natasha stared at her, studying her face, a mix of confusion and suspicion written on her face.

,,Hi"

Alena greeted the woman, who in her universe, was her mother. Her gaze lingered on her face, taking in every little detail she had slowly started to forget about over the past year.

,,You look familiar"

The older redhead stated as she approached the girl who looked like she could be her child. From the hair, over the shape of her nose and the way her lips curled into a smile, to the almost identical jawline, Natasha felt like she was staring at her younger self. The only thing setting them apart were Alena's baby blue eyes.

Alena didn't know what to say. She felt like she'd be declared crazy if she just went 'oh I'm from another universe, where by the way, you and him have a daughter, Hi'.

,,I'm your daughter"

She blurted out, forgetting about everything she decided not to do two seconds ago. Natasha's brows furrowed.

This was impossible, she wasn't able to have children. Besides who would the father be?

,,What?"

Steve entered the conversation, his eyes meeting the ones that resembled him more than he'd ever thought someone would. Something connected him to this girl, he just couldn't say what.

Alena cursed herself for leading with this, since now she had to explain the whole truth and possibly alter their knowledge of time and space forever.

,,This isn't my universe. You see, there's something called a multiverse, that means, every interaction, every choice you made, lead to this exact moment in time. If you made a single different choice along the way, a new timeline is born. A branch of some sort, I don't get it myself. I just know that there's millions of thousands slightly different universes from our own"

She explained as well as she could. The only way she knew about all this was because Dr. Strange had once told her about it ... in the same sentence where he told her she couldn't just run away into another universe because the TVA would find and bring her back to her own universe.

Alena was officially a variant. The TVA was probably already out for her. She'd done the exact thing the wizard with the knowledge had told her not to do.

,,Guys, there's a guy in a onesie and a fancy coat out there, asking for Alena Romanoff-Rogers?"

Tony informed, before his gaze met Alena. He stood there for a good minute, before concluding:

,,She looks just like you, Romanoff. If you had a kid with capsicle here"

,,Oh shit"

The girl in question swore, looking at this universe's Iron man with a mix of fear and cluelessness. What was she supposed to do? Run? Stay and talk to the person?

,,Language!!"

Steve pointed his finger at his daughter, who wasn't really his daughter in this universe. Still, he felt a sense of responsibility for the time traveller.

Alena smirked and met her Mom's gaze to check for her usual reaction. A light chuckle and an eye roll. She waited for it to come, but it never did. Instead, she looked almost unbothered.

,,What the hell is going on here?"

She muttered to herself while she started to piece together that things were more different from her universe than she thought they were. Apparently, her parents weren't her parents, had no idea that she was even a possibility and they didn't seem to be romantically involved whatsoever.

The lack of romance, the choice to just be friends was the one thing that triggered this universes timeline. It was just in the slightest way different from her own, but in a way, it felt like everything was different.

Alena came here to celebrate her mother's birthday with her, to finally be reunited with her parents, to live the life she could've had if her mother hadn't sacrificed. And yet, here she was, feeling like a stranger among the people she had once felt so close to.

,,You okay, kid?"

Natasha asked, ripping the 20 year old out of her thoughts. Alena felt her heart clench at her mother's question, or more specifically, the nickname. This wasn't her universe, this wasn't her life, still, she just wanted to pretend like everything was fine, pretend like she had a place in this world.

,,Hm, yea, sure Ma- Natasha"

The redhead assured, quickly wiping the tears that managed to escape. Before she could say anything else, the door swung open, revealing a familiar face. Stephen Strange had managed to find her.

He scanned the room for the time traveller, before his gaze met hers. She didn't look as happy as he though she would, but still, it seemed like she had at least some of her bright personality back.

,,Alena, a word, now"

Strange demanded, his voice firm. As much as he wanted to let Alena be happy, he couldn't let her do that in a universe where she didn't belong.

The girl in question pursed her lips, a guilty expression making its way to her face. She knew she screwed up the minute the doctor entered the room.

A minute later, she found herself in one of the guestrooms, sitting on the bed while Dr. Strange paced in front of her.

,,What were you thinking, Romanoff-Rogers? You can't just run away because your reality isn't the way you want it to be. Do you have an idea how dangerous that was??"

He reprimanded the 20 year old, pointing his shaking finger at her. He radiated with disappointment, his lips curled into a deep, tight-lipped frown.

,,I didn't wanna be alone"

Alena admitted, her own expression rather stoic. Still, she spoke quietly, her voice portraying all the hurt and devastation her face didn't.

Strange stopped pacing and lowered his finger, his body language changing from mad to ... pitiful?

,,You don't know what's gonna happen in this universe, Alena and you don't want to. I ... cannot let you stay here"

He explained as he sat down next to the redhead. Other than her, he knew what fate awaited the people on earth 616 and even though it wasnt all that different from their own universe, he couldn't let Alena know. It would shatter her all over again.

,,What do you mean i don't wanna know?? They might not know it but they're still my parents. Of course I want to know what happens!"

The redhead inquired, her eyes growing wide. She had to know, those were the people she loved. Even if this wasn't her universe, they were still her parents.

Stephen shook his head.

,,You don't. We don't have time, kid, we need to get you back to our universe"

He cut her off, his voice firm. Alena could tell that he began to get annoyed with her. Still, she had no intention of going back.

Instead, her lips curled into a frown, her eyes almost begging for more time. She knew she couldn't stay here forever, but just a few more hours would get her the closure she so desperately craved.

Dr. Strange sighed, his expression a mix of annoyance and reluctance. Yet, when he turned back to her, he had a slight smile on his face.

,,You get one hour. Nothing more"

He decided, pointing his finger at her. Alena's eyes brightened. She'd finally have the chance to have one more conversation with her Mom.

,,Thank you, thank you, thank you, Stephen"

She exclaimed, before she was off, finding her mom to soak in every last moment she'd ever get with her.

As Alena was about to reenter the room she'd first woken up in, she hesitated. Was it really that smart of an idea to just blow up everything her parents' understanding of time and space was? Was it necessary for them to know that she was an option? Did they really need to know what it was like in her universe?

But then again, she already told them that she was their daughter in another universe. She'd already told them how she got there. The only thing she hadn't told them was, which fate awaited them in her universe.

Little did she know that that same fate waited for them in this very universe, only that their motivations for the way their story ends was different.

Natasha wouldn't jump to save her daughter's life, she'd jump to save Clints. She'd jump because it was the logical choice to do. Because Clint had a family and she ... didn't.

Steve wouldn't go back into the forties to live with Peggy because they were short of pym particles when brining back the stones. No, he'd go, because he wanted a life with the love of his life, because in this universe, it was what he was supposed to do.

And Alena, whether in this universe or her own, would have to learn to deal with the fact that this was her destiny. To learn to live on her own, to learn to move on, to learn to heal.

In that very moment, she knew what to do. Had she made a different choice, she would've changed not only her own, but the future of this entire universe. Changes she wouldn't be strong enough to comprehend.

So, Alena let go of the door handle, backing away from the wall that separated her from this universe's mightiest heroes.

,,Let's go home"

She asked of the wizard, who had been observing her from further away. He knew she'd do the right thing, he knew her decision even before she did.

Dr. Strange gave a nod, before he opened a portal to take them both back to where they belonged. Their own universe, with their own story, their own future and their own past.

It was that day that Alena realised that one single choice could lead to very different outcomes. If her parents had never acted on their feelings, 22 years back, she would've never been born. If her father never had sacrificed his life in the 40s for the greater good, if Clint hadn't made a different call the day he met her mother, if she'd reentered that room this very day, everything would've been completely different.

That day, Alena began healing and moving on from the many hits the universe blew her way, she began moving on. It was that day that she realised that she wasn't all alone, she wasn't done, she didn't give up.

A/N: Wow, this took a very deep turn towards the end. I debated with myself for a long time on whether or not I wanted Alena to have that conversation, but ultimately decided against it, because it just didn't feel right. Also, this doesn't make a whole lot of sense, just pretend it does, you know the drill.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, have a great day/night, stay amazing and I'll see you around <33