He's dead

Jessica tried to shut the words resounding in her head. She stood silent for the rest of the journey to New York. She couldn't talk. She couldn't believe what she'd been told. 

Peter is dead

She needed to know, to see how it had happened. It felt surreal, just as when he disintegrated with the blip. She had convinced herself she didn't care about the boy, but she had lied to herself. She wouldn't handle loosing him again. More thoughts intruded her mind and she squished her eyes shut to get them out.

Is he dead?

What happened?

HE'S DEAD

Sooner than she realised, they had arrived in New York. She was forced out of the quinjet to see they had landed in the roof of SHIELD's headquarters. She followed the three agents around, without objecting. She had no strength to do so, after the news she had been given. 

"I see you've already met." Nick Fury greeted the group. He sounded as usual, which was a relief for Jessica because she had expected a long suppressed scold. Maria Hill stood next to him, not saying a word as she watched them come into the room. "You should feel lucky, Stark. I haven't met many heroes whose parents are still alive."

She turned to the one-eyed agent in bewilderment. "What?"

"Yeah, Fury..." Mark stepped closer to Jessica, trying to get a peek at her reaction. "She didn't know."

"So?" Fury scoffed. Then turned to Jessica again. "Don't make a big deal out of it. Kid, that's your mother. Now, let's get to work."

She looked at the woman who had brought her here. Apparently, in more ways than one. She didn't look back, and seemed to be hiding behind the Winter Soldier. Now she wasn't as tough as she had presented herself before. 

"I suppose you're up to date." Fury said as he turned on the monitors in the front of the room. He gestured Jessica to sit down, and she took the place next to Mark. "Parker is not with us anymore and after what's happened with Maximoff, I'm gonna keep an eye on every enhanced individual I have knowledge of."

"What's happened with Maximoff?" That wasn't the only thing she wanted to ask. What's happened with Peter? But she was too scared of the answer. She hadn't liked how unaffectedly Fury had talked about his late coworker. Then again, Jessica had learned not to answer Nick Fury impertinently. 

"She hasn't been following the news." Mark reminded Fury, the same way he had reminded the couple in the quinjet.

"Wanda was so devastated by the death of her partner that she created a reality from her own subconscious." Hill explained as she display a few pictures in the monitors. Jessica saw a whole town surrounded by an energy field. It looked similar to the ones she could make, but this one was bigger and had a darker colour. 

"Why is that bad?" Jessica asked.

"She held an entire town hostage." Fury talked again. "The people were completely controlled and submitted to her orders."

"And now she's gone." Hill added. "We have no idea where she is."

Jessica shrugged her shoulders, not knowing what that had to do with her. "I'm not going to create a new reality, if that's what you're worried about."

"We're trying to convince the government that Beck's death was in your defence." Fury said. 

"They believe us, but you'll have conditions."

"What conditions?" Jessica sat straight at that reveal.

"First of all, you'll be under constant surveillance." 

"I'd expected that." She nodded. 

"Your name is going to stay out of Stark Industries management. Maybe Pepper will change that in the future, but at least for the time being you're not eligible for the CEO position." Hill continued.

"Oh..." Jessica was surprised at that one, but she wasn't going to protest against that. It was the right thing, after all she had done. "Okay."

"And one more thing." 

Fury stepped closer to her. "You're not to use your powers in public. Actually, it's better if you don't go out in public at all. No contacting with old friendships or acquaintances..." 

"What?" Jessica looked at Hill and then at Mark for help. She didn't expect her old friendships to welcome her back, but it was at least worth trying. 

"People hate you." Mark whispered as if he didn't want to hurt Jessica's feelings, but she already knew that. 

"Yeah, I know." She said while rubbing the bridge of her nose. She could already see how hard adjusting to that new life was going to be. "So, what now? Where am I going?"

"You can't stay with Pepper." Said Maria Hill. "She's got too much influence, and is continuously in the spotlight. People'd find out you're with her, and she could face serious repercussion."

"So?" Jessica raised an eyebrow. Waiting to know where she was going to reside. "I'll have to live alone?"

"By no means." Said Nick Fury, clearly annoyed at that assumption. "You're not going to be alone ever again." He said and paused. "You're going with them."

He nodded at the couple that had abducted her. 

"What?!" Jessica stood up from her seat in an outbreak of outrage. She would prefer to be put with a complete stranger than with someone who claimed to be her mother but she knew nothing about her. "I don't even know them!"

"Of course you do!" Exclaimed Fury. "They're your mother and your new step-father."

"But-"

"No buts." He seemed very crossed. "I've lost too much because of people like you. This is your one chance of getting your life back. If I see that you raise objections to the conditions you're given, I assure you, I'll let you go down." He spat, glaring at Jessica, who tried to keep her composure. "And I won't do anything about it." 

She kept silent, looking away from him. Mark approached her, and placed his hand on her shoulder. It made her feel a bit better, but not enough to raise her head. "We'll see each other soon." 

After that, Mark left with Hill and Fury. He looked back once more to say goodbye to Jessica, but she couldn't even look at him at that moment. She wanted to run away again. Leave everything behind and be free as she was before, even if she had to work long hours and live in the smallest apartment. 

"C'mon kid, we have to go..." The Winter Soldier approached her after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence. Jessica didn't look at them, she just looked down as she made a fist with her hands. The rage was starting to take over her.

"Jess..." 

The woman called her, and that was the last straw for her. 

"You don't get to call me that." Said she with a hoarse voice to avoid breaking into tears from the wrath she felt at that moment. She stormed out of the room, hoping to be left alone, but the woman followed her. 

"What? I gave you that name!" Said she as she tried to follow her pace. "Your father wanted to name you Gregoria. You should thank me." Jessica didn't stop until she was grabbed by the forearm. They stood in the middle of a hall filled with SHIELD workers walking back and forth. None of them talked though, the only thing making sound in that corridor was a small TV hanging from the ceiling that displayed the news.  "Jessica."

"I don't-" She shook her hand off. "Where have you been all this time? Dad told me you died in childbirth."

"Yeah, the truth's not much better than that." The woman explained. "HYDRA got to me. They brainwashed me, used me as a weapon and put me in hibernation for years."

Jessica processed those words. She remembered her dad telling her that her mother chose her name, and now that she thought about it, it was making more sense. She looked at her long-lost mother warily. "What about now?"

"It's over now." She said, putting her hands up. "I would've reached out before, but I saw you in the news. You had a new life, a new family. I didn't want to ruin that."

"Yeah, I ruined that myself." Jessica said, her eyes getting watery. "I lost everything."

"No one is ever too lost." The woman said, placing her hand on the girl's shoulder. Her sleeve moved back with the movement and Jessica noticed her distinctive arms. Alice recognised her forearms were made of Vibranium, what explained why she couldn't poison her before. 

"Your arms are cool." She said, a bit more friendly. The woman smiled, but the moment was interrupted by the Winter Soldier. 

"Anna!" He strode towards them. Jessica supposed that was the name of her mother. He pointed at the TV hanging above them, "Look at that."

The news showed a man waving to a crowd with his left hand, and holding the Captain America shield with his right. Jessica knew without a doubt that man was not Steve Rogers.

"Who the hell is that?"