The bells tolled as the funeral procession continued forward. Despite the bright, sunny day and cheerful chirping of birds in the graveyard trees, it was a very sad day. More than 200 people had gathered to send off one man – Zander Welsh, to his final destination.
Amelia had been present thorough the whole ceremony, so she hung in the back, sick from all these people giving her their condolence. Did they think she didn't know?! Did they think she wasn't feeling like them? No, in fact she felt even MORE terrible than them! He was her father, damn it! Her last remaining parent had died, for God's sake!
Tears streamed down the girl's face; some snot even started to drip from one of her nostrils. Making her face seem puffed up, red. She was ugly crying but she didn't care, wiping herself on the sleeve of her suit.
'Why…? Why, dad?!'- she sobbed.
===A few days ago===
Amelia was nervously pacing her dorm room at Wescoast University. She, as well as all other students were let go as soon as the news of Metropolita and several other big cities were under attack of villains. The scariest part was that it was clearly planned. Someone had planned all this, there was no way all those villains would attack so swiftly with such a good timing. The whole country was in a state of panic. Schools were closed, travel between cities was forbidden, not a single pedestrian could be seen outside, only the occasional policeman or small-time hero could be seen, but even those were rare as most of the force was concentrating on keeping the attackers at bay and not letting the fighting spread even more.
She fiddled with her phone for a little while and decided to try again. She called her father's number but no matter how much she waited, he never picked up. The last news she had was from 3 days ago- hearing on the mews that Metropolita was under siege by an unknown group of villains and that the local heroes and CIA agents were helping control the situation. A brief flash of her father carrying out an injured man to the medics and rushing back into a building was caught by one of the cameramen but then the broadcast was cut short by an explosion and haunting screams of terror.
She swayed on her feet, feeling dizzy and having to sit for a moment.
'I guess barely getting 6 hours of sleep in the past 3 days is coming to bite me.'
She couldn't sleep, dark circles forming, she could barely eat, her cheeks losing their healthy luster.
*Broing Broing!* - her phone rang and she suddenly felt resentful towards the silly ringtone she put jokingly not even a month ago.
"Amelia Welsh speaking, who is it?" – she decided to pick up the phone.
[Yes, hello. You are the daughter of Mr. Welsh, Zander Welsh, right?] – a soft male voice spoke.
"Yes. What bout my father? Is he OK?! Can I speak with him, if he's around?" – she jumped up and almost fell to the floor, a tiny seed of hope sprouting in her chest.
[I am one of the Medics on-site. Your father was just brought in. He- He was caught in the attack on CIA headquarters and is in critical condition. We're going to send him to a hospital away from the fighting as soon as we can, just… I wanted to tell you in advance.]
Her knees felt weak. She couldn't make a sound.
[Miss? Ms. Welsh?!]
The phone fell on the cold, hard floor and its screen shattered, just like her hope. Amelia also fell soon after.
===end===
The young woman had been there, had waited in the hospital as doctors and nurses struggled to keep her father alive, only for it to fail. Zander Welsh died in his hospital bed.
She had prayed, she had begged… He wasn't even conscious when he passed away. She couldn't even say goodbye…
The day after Zander's death, the news broadcasted the joyous news- the villains were stopped. Instead of feeling joy, she only felt hollow, yet she still dragged herself to the secret emergency meeting.
"You are the director's daughter! You HAVE to come!" – was the absurd reasoning of one of the board members.
She- a young woman that had lost her father the other day was forced to attend some stupid meeting she shouldn't even have been called to! ABSURD! Amelia had been tempted to ditch those bastards right then and there, let them have their stupid meeting! Now though… Now she was glad she attended that meeting.
She stood next to the hole as her father's coffin was lowered in, to be covered by the dirt and never see the light again. She dropped a few white lilies – her mother's favorite flower(at least that was what her father had said was the reason he always kept a vase full of them in his office), and cast one final look at the coffin as they started to fill the hole.
Amelia sat on a bench further away from the many people that had also come to send off her father, some complete strangers he had helped, some close friends, some colleagues…
All she wanted right now was some peace and quiet, not a group of people telling her how hard it must be for her or how they are sorry for what happened. Nothing could return him! Nothing!
The uncut gras rustled behind her. She turned back to say she wanted to be alone but froze. In the three's shadow, the tall, slim figure, bucket hat and gray skin looked dangerous, menacing… She almost screamed but she quickly recognized him.
"Hey, how are you feeling?"
"Oh, He-Hat. I didn't think I would see you here…" – he offered her a handkerchief and she blew her nose.
"Haha! You know me, once I set my mind on something, no one can stop me!" he smiled but it was a forced one and his expression quickly became serious "He was my friend – my best friend. I couldn't miss this, even if the higher-ups don't like it." – he crossed his arms but wordlessly cursed.
One of his claws had caught on the sleeve of his shirt.
"Here." Amelia offered the pair of gloves that came with her suit but she decided not to wear "These might be a bit tight but it should help until you can trim them or do something."
"Thank you. You can't imagine how often they snag, scratch or tear something." – Hat quickly put them on and flexed his fingers, humming a bit in approval.
"So…" she looked him in the eyes "How exactly did you manage to come? Last time I checked, they had decided to keep you under strict observation until everything settled down a bit."
"Well, I technically AM under observation." he jabbed his thumb at something behind him.
Amelia looked back and saw Quint – a friend from the CIA special squad waving at her from the bushes.
"I-I see…"
"You know, you don't have to hold back. I am here for you too." – he put a hand on her shoulder but didn't dare do much else.
It was like the floodgates had opened. All the frustration, the tears… everything she had been trying to hold somewhat back poured out in one big wave. Amelia hugged him with all her strength and buried her face in his shoulder. His shirt must have been soaked with all the different liquids that were streaming down her face, but he gently held her and patted her back.
Amelia sniffled and enjoyed the silent company. If she closed her eyes and tried to ignore all the people trickling away from the fresh grave, really tried to ignore the annoying beeping of a tracking collar, she could pretend she was again a little girl. The little girl whose father was still alive, whose super awesome, cool friend had come to say hello and give her an autograph and a big hug. That everything was fine and they were all back together.
===End flashback===
Amelia looked fondly at the picture on her desk – the three of them grinning like fools, wearing those ridiculous rabbit ears and looking at the camera. Sometimes… Sometimes she wished she could go back to those days.
Her phone rang and she picked it up.
[Amelia. We need to talk. It's urgent.] - White Hat's voice came from the other side, sounding very serious.