Within a week or so following Sierra's arrival in her hometown, she was already quite busy with her own attempt at doing home renovation.

Following the bullshit that was the Sokovia Accords, Nat had brought Sierra to Clint's farm in upstate New York. It was mainly to keep Sierra out of SHIELD's radar, as Nat didn't want her to be targeted like Wanda was.

And the time spent there ended up being beneficial for Sierra. Clint's wife, Laura, took Sierra in like a child of her own, alongside Lila, Cooper, and then baby Nathaniel. She became like an older sister to the three kids, helping them out with various chores, and sort of helping them with their homework, if she could.

She also took great enjoyment out of showing off her powers to the kids, always under the careful watch of either Nat, Clint, or Laura. Clint taught her various skills on the farm, even with the maintenance and upkeep of the tractor and other machines, something she picked up surprisingly quickly.

In some one-on-one time with Laura, the mother showed Sierra how to care for Nathaniel while he was a baby. Sierra had been unsure about it, doubting she could help care for a baby, no less be trusted to hold on. But Laura's patience persevered, and baby Nathaniel took to Sierra, rarely fussing in her embrace. It was then that Sierra realized and understood that she was capable of so much more than what SHIELD had conditioned her to believe.

Her memories of the past 10 years continued to swarm her mind as she diligently cleaned the kitchen to the best of her ability. She was wary of using her powers too much, not wanting to attract attention from neighbors, even if she was in the countryside. It didn't matter, she knew how on edge people still were, understandably so. It was such a conflicting time, and she didn't know where she stood.

She moved trash and other messes outside with her telekinesis and used the destructive side of it to destroy piles of garbage. She could only do so much, though. She did her best to repair the plumbing, though she would need to get the water turned back on, and that was a process she wasn't ready to deal with yet.

Soon though, the kitchen was as clean as it could be, with the consideration of new flooring and replacing broken tiles. She had set up her main "office" space within the kitchen. On a makeshift table, she set up her SHIELD-assigned computer and laid out important files. In the main living room, she turned it into her temporary bedroom. With more of her boxes of personal belongings, as well as a stash of her weapons, including tasers that Nat had gifted her once.

It wasn't a great situation, but it was better than nothing at all. It was under her control, and she would go at her own pace to rebuild her life.

Two weeks later, Sierra finally worked up the courage to go into town to get groceries, tools, and other supplies. Her hometown had grown in size and in population over the past decade, but the old family-owned businesses that had been here when she left were surprisingly still around. Which included three family-owned restaurants, one of which was a bar.

Having spent so much time on the East Coast, primarily just outside of DC, Sierra had gotten used to the types of chain businesses run there, including the dollar stores, grocery, and drug stores. And of course, it shouldn't have been a surprise, but the Midwest was quite different.

In the end, it didn't really matter all that much. Sierra intended to keep to herself as much as possible, and genuinely try to avoid trouble.

As she made her way into a hardware store, she paused to breathe in the musty air inside. Somehow, all hardware stores smelled the same.

She had pulled her short hair into a half-up/half-down style, and she did not put on the SHIELD facial disguise tech to hide her face marking or her eyes. She was going to show herself to the public, and it was the public's problem if they didn't like it.

She wove her way through the aisles, holding a basket of stuff she needed, checking items off her list. As she made her way to the tools section, she glanced at the various types of hammers, which she found to be a little silly, but yet, at the same time, she fondly thought about Thor. He had told her about what happened with Mjolnir, and how his sister, Hela, destroyed it. And now he had a new hammer caller Stormbreaker. And it was an impressive weapon. Then the thoughts turned sour as she recalled Thor's state when she was Blipped back. He looked awful, a shell of the powerful god she knew him to be.

Wanda was no better. Even with the few interactions they had, Sierra could sense the grief and bitterness radiating off of the older woman. Vision was gone forever, and Sierra had only caught a glimpse of the android's gruesome death as she and Nat charged at the mad titan tearing the Mind Stone from Vision's forehead. While Sierra and Wanda shared little interaction, Sierra empathized with her, sharing similar situations and trauma; both losing their families violently, their brother(s) taken, forcefully and unwillingly given powerful abilities, and left alone. Sierra did want to try and develop a friendship with her, but it was clear Wanda didn't quite reciprocate those feelings, so Sierra kept her distance.

And seeing Steve return from his time-traveling to return the other Infinity Stones as an old man was incredibly jarring. Alongside Nat, Sierra had been close with him, seeing him as an older brother figure. He gave his treasured shield to Sam, and thus, the Captain America mantle. Yes, Sam was certainly the right person and Sierra held much respect for the veteran, and she knew Sam would uphold the standards of such a title, but it was a little too much to take in at once. Sierra wished him congratulations while also giving a quick nod of respect to Bucky.

God everything was changing way too fast. There were so many people who had gotten involved, and everyone had lost something in this battle.

"Uh, excuse me…?" A voice suddenly spoke up. Jumping nearly out of her skin, Sierra turned to see a man in his 30s staring at her. She hadn't realized her face marking was glowing. It did that whenever her emotions were starting to unravel. Fuck.

"Shit… sorry…" She frantically grabbed what she needed, scurrying out of the aisle, trying to cover her glowing face. She wasn't ashamed, not of her face marking, or her powers, but embarrassed. People didn't need to see this! Not now, and not like this! She made her way to the register, seeing that there was a short line. But the other customers saw her face, and shifted out of her way, not wanting to get in her way.

"No, no! Please, pay for your stuff! I'm fine!" She tried to reassure them, but no one stopped staring. Especially a little girl with her father. Sierra couldn't quite read the expression on the girl's face. A mix of awe and fear… uncertainty perhaps? Sierra wasn't sure. The girl's father pushed her behind him, shielding her.

"Please... I'm not going to hurt anyone… I just want to pay for my stuff…"

"Then fucking go. Pay for your shit and leave!" A gruff older man hissed from her left. The father quickly covered his daughter's ears but didn't say anything. And Sierra begrudgingly made her way to the cashier, who had an unreadable expression. They asked her a couple of short questions, to which Sierra declined, anxious to get out of the store. She paid in cash, and left, getting into her car.

"Fuck fuck fuck!" She cried once she got inside, locking her doors. She was lucky it was just her face glowing. In trying to calm herself down, she was startled by her phone ringing. Picking it up to see who it was, she was surprised to see Chris's contact pop up. With a shaky sigh, she answered.

"Chris… hey…"

"Sierra. How're you doing?" Came the older man's reply. She groaned, rubbing her face.

"Currently not great…"

"What happened?" She paused, gathering herself, slowly relaying what had just happened in the hardware store, expressing her embarrassment. A heavy sigh was heard on the other end, and Sierra could immediately visualize his reaction.

"You weren't hurt? Nobody pulled anything on you?"

"No, physically I'm fine. My face just glowed… that's it." She didn't mention it, but the glowing hadn't fully subsided. She had even felt a slight energy surge in her hands, but was aware it was due to her stress. She was slightly relieved she had only felt the energy surge and it wasn't physically evident, no purple light emitting from her palms. That said, she had to find a way to calm down and avoid more attention.

"That's good at least. By the way, how's the house?"

"The house is… somewhat better. It needs a lot of repairs. And probably a forensic team," she joked, but Chris didn't laugh. "How're Lucas and Des? I haven't heard from them recently." She inquired, switching the topic.

"Lucas is still trying to do some damage control with Maria, as for Des, she's still sticking by him, there's some shit going down that Hill requested his help with. But he did let me know he and Des wanted to pay you a visit."

"Oh…"

"Unless you're not ready yet,"

"No, no… it's… it's fine. I've just got a lot on my plate. But I could use the company and the help. But what about you?"

"Don't worry, I'm not leaving you hanging. I just need to make sure Ari, Eric, and the family are in a safe spot, but I'm planning on coming with Lucas and Des."

"Alright, give them my best…"

"Of course, I'll let you know when we're heading your way."

"Cool… bye Chris."

"Bye Sierra." The call ended, and Sierra leaned back in her seat, exhaling deeply.

This was going to be a long week.