New York, 2003

"G, I think you should check this", Grover shouts, pointing at the TV. Georgina sat beside him at the sofa. A reporter stands outside the same police station she had been to seven years ago, when she testified about her father's murder of her mom.

"It seems that, after seven years of search, the police finally caught Trevor Titan, infamously known as Thanos. Titan is reportedly responsible for at least twenty-eight murders, including of his wife, Diana Titan. Thanos has been active since 1972…"

Georgina doesn't hear the rest of the news report. Her father was caught! Perhaps there is a god out there, since her aimless prayers were finally heard.

"Does that mean your sister is coming back?", the teen beside her asks.

"I think they'll wait until after the trial, Groot", she answers, calling him by his nickname. "Hopefully it'll happen soon." She smiles widely and stands up. "We have to tell everyone!"

Groot smiles at her friend. Later, he tells her he had never seen her smile as widely as she did that day. She answers that she had rarely smiled like that in her whole life.


Gamora sees her sister for the first time in seven years at court, when she is brought to testify against their father. Gasps are heard when she walks in, no longer in a wheelchair, and also when she describes their mother's death in gruesome detail.

"Miss Titan", the prosecutor says after Nikki finishes her story, "there are rumours that the 'accident' that left you in a wheelchair for years had been, instead, result of domestic violence. Would you please tell us what truly happened at your old home at April 20th, 1993?"

Gamora holds her breath. Beside her, Peter squeezes her hand. "She's strong", he whispers, even though he never knew her sister. "She can do this." And yet, he is on point.

Nikki barely blinks. "It was due to domestic violence, yes. And if hadn't been for mom and my sister, I might have been killed."

"Can you please elaborate further?"

"I wanted to go to a party at my friend's house, who lived on Harlem. My f… Thanos didn't want me to go. He said all Harlem kids were drug addicts and criminals. I defended my friend, we fought, he got really mad and pushed me downstairs. Georgina managed to protect my head from colliding directly with the floor, but not my back. Thanos went downstairs still mad, but stopped when he saw mom calling the emergency. I think he realized he couldn't do more damage and still get away like he eventually did."

Later, Thanos' (Gamora now refuses to call him by anything other than his serial killer alias) lawyer asks why they never pressed charges at the time.

"We thought he had truly regretted his actions that night", she answers, sniffing. "But deep down we were scared of what he'd do if he found out."

Gamora is called next, and confirms everything her sister said. Romanov follows her, and describes what she and her friends saw on that fateful night. "Mr. and Mrs. Titan fought often. I'd witness many of these fights from my living room, and I think it's safe to assume there were many others I never got to see."

Romanov's friends don't have much more to add. Only Barton had seen anything on the Titan household before the murder, and his testimony is similar to her old neighbor's.

Gamora mentally entertains herself comparing those people to her memory of them in 1996. Natasha's hair, then long and curled, is now short and straightened; she spots a few fading blond strands. Clint has dark bags under his eyes and looks like he had his head shaved recently.

Stark has beard and mustache now, and his shoulders are broader. Rogers, once clean-faced, also grew a beard, bigger than Stark's. Odinson's once long hair is now cut really short, and one of his eyes seems to be of glass. Banner isn't wearing glasses like he used to (thought she can't tell whether he's wearing contact lens), and there already are a few white hair strands.

Nikki dyed her hair blue and cut it short. Gamora also spotts a tattoo on her left forearm.

Overall they look like more than seven years passed. Their time away seemed to have been rough on them, but they also look… wiser? Maybe it's not the best word for it, but Gamora can't find another at the moment.

It takes another week before she sees Nikki again, after Thanos is given a lifetime sentence in jail, without any possibility of parole. This time her sister is back for good.

Finally, after so long, the two are reunited. And Nikki comes to her walking, something Gamora never thought she'd see again.

Neither of the sisters shared a hug as tight as they do when Nikki shows up at her sister's door.

"We have so much to catch up", Gamora whispers into the hug.