Yep! I'm not dead! This "chapter every other Sunday" schedule works much better for me, I am gonna stick with it while I have spring classes. I have a month or two off before the fall semester though, I am going to try to get ahead on writing then so I can update weekly for a while.

Also, I am going to incorporate the events of Civil War, but Dani hasn't seen the movie! She was sent to the Marvel Cinematic Universe before it even had an advertisement out, so she will be going it with only her extra sense to help her save the day.

-Stax

Chapter 14

"Uh... what did you say?" Dani asked the boy in a dubious tone. He gave her a weird look and stuck out his hand.

"Just call me Phil" he said, nodding with finality. Dani hiccuped and stared at him.

"Phil Coulson" she said, still coming to terms with things. Her new companion frowned and shifted his weight.

"Now, see here" he began, "If I am going to have an imaginary friend who is NOT Captain America-" Dani interrupted him with an indignant noise but he continued- " If I am going to have an imaginary friend who is not Captain America, then that means that I can still play Captain America" he finished with a nod. "And you can be Bucky."

"Excuse me?"

"Bucky is so cool, he kinda-" Phil mimed a punch, squinting one eye. "And then he kinda-" Dani jumped as the boy kicked over a trash can.

"Calm the frick down, I'm not gonna be Bucky" she grumped.

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"You make the best Bucky ever!" Giggled a tired Phil. Dani, far from exhausted, crouched beside the panting child.

"Next time, I get to be Captain America and you have to be me" she said as she fake glared at him. Glancing up, she noted that the sun was low. "You had better go home, Phil. It's gonna be your bedtime soon" she told him. Still chuckling, they parted ways. Dani sat on a street corner and tried to ignore the horrible feeling she got in the pit of her stomach as she looked around the familiar settings.

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Dani was getting sick of Sphere's shit.

"HOW MUCH MORE OF THIS!?" she screamed at the sky. Just like every other night, nothing responded. She wasn't sure why she was here or when she would see sphere again- it had been an additional three years on her phone since she had met Phil, and with all of the jumping ahead, he was now in his mid twenties.

And Dani was not in the mood for another day of this. She hadn't seen the sphere since before she saw Phil for the first time. Since then, not one thing had happened that she had to correct. Not one event that endangered the timeline. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Dani was just so tired of being unable to do anything except interact with the exuberant fanboy who thought she was merely an imaginary friend. She was bored, she missed her family-

Do I really miss my family!? She stopped, that thought crashing in. Sitting down on a street corner to analyze the situation, she came to the shocking conclusion that she hadn't really thought of or missed her family in the twelve years she had been gone. She buried her face in her hands. I can't even make myself miss them! What is wrong with me? She wondered. Why, she couldn't even-

She stood up in shock.

"I don't remember my family's names!" She shrieked, panicking. "How do I not know their names!?" Pacing down the street, she thought hard. Still nothing. Involuntarily her eyes started to water. This is awful! What kind of person am I? I don't even want to go home again...

She remembered a familiar face, one from back home. God, she couldn't even remember her family's faces, but this she remembered. She even remembered his name. How could she remember his name but not her family?

She wanted to go home for him. If not for anything else, for him. She would finish what sphere wanted of her. Then, she would go home and tell him how she felt and stop being a coward like she was before.

With that still in her mind, she curled up on a doorstep to rest.

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The next morning was warm, sunny, and full of-

"AUUUUGH!" Dani shrieked.

"I didn't know that imaginary friends needed sleep" Phil said, his face inches from hers. Dani hissed disapprovingly.

"It's to rest our minds, not our bodies" She retorted, feeling angry for some reason.

"Well, today the company has an important meeting about the serum development," her twenty-some-year-old friend informed her. "You could come, it'll be fun!" Dani stood up. Phil worked for the newly created S.H.I.E.L.D., who had recently discovered a possible way to recreate the super soldier serum.

Dani appreciated the offer, but she really didn't want to be reminded of Steve and Bucky and her past failures. She opened her mouth to decline-

And a rush of images came to her mind of people dying. She didn't recognize most of them, but... Natasha. Natasha was one of the people who would die. Shutting her mouth, she stepped off the porch. Her mind had been decided for her. In spite of the fact that she knew lives were going to be at stake today, she felt excitement bubble up in her chest at the thought of something REAL happening.

"Sure, let's go" she grinned.

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"You have to do it."

"I'm not gonna do it."

"DUDE YOU HAVE TO DO IT!"

"What did you just call me!?"

Dani facepalmed. Phil didn't know what "dude" meant, of course, that wasn't a common slang term now. But she didn't have time to argue with him now.

"Phil, you know how the serum works. It magnifies who you are as a person as WELL as your body. If you don't take it, then someone else will and it's not gonna be pretty."

The small subsection of SHIELD had chosen Phil to use the experimental serum. He didn't want to. Dani kept getting the visions- he HAD to take it. Some other guy, a hydra agent in disguise, was next in line if Phil refused.

"I can't do that, Dani. You don't know that'll happen, and besides, I have Mom to take care of. What if something goes wrong!?"

"What would Captain America do?" She asked him. He froze.

"Don't you use him to pressure me" he said frustratedly.

"Phil, what do I gotta do to convince you" she urged, "you need to take the serum and you need to do it soon." He looked her in the eye tiredly.

"You aren't gonna let this drop, are you" he asked. She shook her head. "And I can't just imagine you away, sadly" he added, shuffling his feet. She shook her head again. "I'll... I'll think about it" he mumbled.

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"get the crash cart, GET THE CRASH CART!" The nurse yelled. Another began compressions on Dani's prostrate friend.

"Oh God, Phil, I'm so sorry" Dani wispered as her friend's face began to drain of colour. Dani sent a silent barrage of cuss words at whomever had given her the visions. Who would have thought that the serum would stop his heart...

It didn't take long for the doctors to give up. Dani began to cry. It's just one more thing that I've screwed up on. The crash cart was wheeled away. Dani knelt down next to the procedure table.

Phil's body jerked.

Dani sat up.

Phil's body jerked again. Then he started breathing.

Dani cried happy tears.

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"I'm still mad."

"But you're alive!"

"But I died for a bit" Phil said, just sounding tired. "And it wasn't fun. I'm still pretty mad at you" he added. The doctors wound up deciding to discontinue development of this strain of the serum after Phil had died and resuscitated himself several times. It had been a scary few hours for Dani.

She could tell that he was very angry with her but he was hiding it. To be honest, she was very angry with herself as well. But now she knew how he was alive when the Avengers were... assembled. The serum should take care of that.

She could feel a familiar, subtle tug on something in her chest, and knew that she was going to go to a new person soon. So, she leaned over and gave Phil a hug.

"Phil."

"What?"

"Uh... I have to leave now..."

"Ok."

"...no, I mean leave for good."

Phil gave her a strange look.

"Can you even do that?"

"Yeah... and it's gonna be in like a few seconds..." She stood up and he did as well, the anger out of his eyes.

"Will I ever see you again?" He asked. She smiled.

"I don't know, but you are gonna meet someone much better, I promise" she said as she hugged him goodbye. He's gonna be so exited when he meets Steve... He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could utter a sound-

She was falling.

Legit falling, with no end in sight. An involuntary scream slipped from her throat before she calmed herself. It was dark, she couldn't see the bottom, she had no clue where the hell she was.