04. Hello Newbie

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My dad, River and I went all around New York searching for a new place for me. More in the richer areas, some in small areas. The apartments were too bright or too big. The realtor was giving up, he had one last one to show me. It was in Hell's Kitchen, pretty far from my parents, pretty dangerous.

"Heres this one." She slides the loft door open and it was dark, the light from the billboard shining through, red, it didn't bother me. "Its on the cheaper side due to the scenery." She points at the billboard.

"I want this." I looked around, at awe at the space. It was perfect for me.

"Dev, are you sure? I mean-"

"Its the one I want." The realtor smiles and looks at my dad. "When can I move in?" After signing papers, telling my dad that this is the one, we decided on moving next week. During these days, I've been looking job, waiting for Oscorps approval, checking out the new loft. I had to tell myself that nobody was following me, that I'm okay, but i cant let my guard down. Plus pretending to be happy was a struggle, i felt out of place. I wasn't used to this life and I hated it.

In the building was quiet, there was a lot of empty lofts, but I do know that an old woman and some guy that lives above me. I stayed and let some people in to drop off my new furniture and stayed to organize and clean the place. It was already 6 pm and I had to go back to have dinner, which started at 8. I headed my way out until two men came up the stairs. I hated talking to people, especially new ones. I had to suck it up and face it. Time to fake smile.

"Oh you're new here!" The long hair blonde slurs. He was drunk, i can smell the bad alcohol on his breath. "You're the newbie."

"Foggy, this is the new girl thats moving in below me." Said the one who was wear red tinted glasses and had a walking cane. "This is Foggy, sorry hes a bit drunk."

"Hi." I awkwardly waved. "Franklin Nelson, at your service, my lady." The other man held him up, trying.

"Im Matt, i live above you." He sticks his hand out and I slowly shook his hand. Foggy smiles as he tries to shake my hand on top of Matts.

"Im going head out, you two take care."

"Should we call him a cab?" I asked as Foggy heads out.

"I called a cab earlier, its here, he just wanted to walk me up."

"You're a good friend." I leaned against the door, studying him. He seems nice. But there was something off. He did have a black eye but I cant throw that out.

"Hows the moving?"

"Stressful, im going to need a drink."

"Can I invite you for a drink?"

"Sure." I stuck my arm up to help him and to take me to his place. "You're not going to kill me right? I just want to make sure." I joked.

"A innocent blind man killing you?" He takes two beers out from the fridge, giving me one. He did get me there. "I think you're safe."

"I better be." I chugged my drink and sat on his leather couch.

"I never got your name." I cleared my throat and set the bottle down.

"Sorry, im Devon Hobbs." Its been a while since I even said that name, fully. I had my aliases, had a long list of them. When i was with Melina and Alexi, i went by Christina because well, they were looking for a young girl named Devon. When I said my full name for the first name, it almost sounded wrong in a way. "Devon Hobbs." I repeated.

"Its nice to meet you Devon." He smiles, then he frowns. "You're the girl that was kidnapped almost 17 years ago, I was 6 when it happened." Great...

"Yeah, thats me." I chugged the beer again. He noticed I got uncomfortable with that so he clears his throat.

"Sorry, but you were the talk of the city. I remember it. Im sorry that happened to you."

"Its not like you kidnapped me." I made another joke but he wasn't laughing. "That was mean, im sorry. Its just that-"

"You're trying to gain everything back again. I understand." I faced him.

"Its like, its a dream. Everyone is excited to have you back, but you're trying to relive again, be you again. It takes time after being away for that long. I barely know my brother. I just feel-"

"Out of place?" I nod. "I know." It felt good that he understood me. I met him 20 minutes ago and I somehow feel safe, trust him. But I cant. I know better. I was trained better.

"Yeah. Like you want to fit in again but you know that something in you is missing, and you don't know if you're getting it back." He nods. We had a couple of more beers, after hitting 6 bottles, I had to call it. "Thank you, for listening to a complete stranger go on about her random thoughts."

"If you want someone to listen to those random thoughts, you can always stop by, neighbor." I just nodded, told him goodnight and raced downstairs and drove back to Manhattan to have dinner. Barely making it inside, my parents and River were talking, laughing at the marble table as I hung my coat.

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One of the widows flipped me over her back, making me land on my back. She pressed her foot on my neck and was about to make me choke. I struggled to get out and Melina called it off.

"Time." She pushes her off of me.

"Weak." She spits on me and walks away. I held my throat and turned away. Melina stands besides me and sees me cry.

"No crying, remember?" I tried to stop but I couldn't. With all this, training, missions, im drained. I want to go home. "Whats on your mind?" She kneels besides me.

"You know what day it is?" I sniffed, wiping my eyes dry. mama didn't say a word, she knew but she stayed silent. "I turn 11 today..." i took a deep breath. "So does River." A deep sigh slips out of my mouth as I try to remember him, mom and dad, but I barely can. The memories were slipping away. "Im worried that I'll forget about them." A tear slips and I rushed to get it off. "Im scared that they already did." They probably lost hope, stop looking for me. Melina didn't say a word but nod her head. Another widow comes in and is ready to fight. I picked myself up and went to my stance, happy birthday River.

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We chatted about work and what we did. Mom headed to the office to start planning on a party and dad had a last minute business thing and it was just me and River in the kitchen. "Mom looks like shes going all out." I saw the books of the party she was planning, the lights, the dresses, the food, everything.

"She's goes all in. Even though this party is a month away." We chuckled as we sipped on our glass of wine and whiskey. "It kept her distracted when you were gone." I looked away. "Dad worked more, they did try to find you, dad and his buddies went to find you. But they came out empty handed."

"What about you?"

"Mom and dad sent me away to a private boarding school, where i was safe. What I didn't realize was they sent me there was because they didnt want me going through the damage."

"They didn't tell you?"

"They said I was too young to understand." He shrugs and adds more whiskey into his glass. "You know, i thought the bad men took you away."

"Bad men?"

"Remember when we were kids, dad would have these scary looking guys come to the house? They were big, deep accent voice?" I nodded. We used to hide to listen what our dad was doing. He was secretive about his job, and when these guys came, they were scary. "The older I got, the more I realized and knew what happened. I was so traumatized by what happened, I pushed it away." He watched me get taken. He was on the swings, crying and screaming. We were just kids. "It felt weird not having you here, it was all a storm, the person who found you shine light on us again." I grabbed his hand and he looks at me.

"Im never leaving, im here and im staying." I assured him. "Nothing like that will ever happen again, i swear to you." I took a minute to gather my thoughts to speak again. It was weird to speak to him, my brother, my own blood. I shouldn't be scared.

"Its just really good to have you back Dev." He pats my hand and we drank our drinks. We sat there in silence and watched as the bright lights of new york shine through the living room window. To be honest, if this is for real, if I get to have this again, i will do everything in my power to keep my family safe. Everything.