7: The Monument

S H E   S T O O D   A  few feet away from the tall mound of stone and marble that cast a shadow over her from the setting sun.

For an unknown reason, Natasha found herself visiting that place more than once in a week, just to let out the day's weight and gaze upon the twenty-foot statue of the Blue Streak which captured him in a sprinting position and the large lightning bolt emblem plastered to his chest being the only thing that had color as a blue glowing lamp enclosed in a glass case was attached on top of it, highlighting the emblem.

The rest of the sculpture was a solid dark grey with one of his feet, the right one, erected onto a pedestal while the left one was raised and bending almost forty-five degrees to give the perfect running position.

          TO   WHOEVER   SEEKS  TRUE  STRENGTH  &  BRAVERY

"A little off-putting, don't you think?" came a voice from behind, making Natasha smile.

She turned to find Carol standing there, holding a small container labelled Strawberry Ice Cream.

She was referring to the words that were carved out on the pedestal that the Blue Streak statue stood.

Natasha and Carol had grown to be really great friends over the years and would meet a lot, especially at the Blue Streak Memorial, which was where they currently were.

"He must've been a great hero, I guess," Natasha said, taking a scoop of her ice cream with the tiny plastic spoon that came with it.

"Yeah, he was," Carol responded, almost in a dazed tone, "but they made a mistake."

"What?"

"Well, I can tell you for a fact he wasn't that muscular!"

Natasha chuckled before turning to look at Carol.

"You've been talking about him like you kinda knew him. I mean, they don't say a lot about him in History class."

"He saved me once."

Natasha's face lit up a little and Carol raised a hand.

"He saved a lot of people."

"Did you ever get to see his face?"

Carol shook her head in denial.

Natasha turned her head to the statue and sighed.

"What is it with superheroes and masks? Doing all those things and never showing people who you really are... that must feel so lonely."

Carol looked up at the statue too.

"You forget one thing. They also have families and friends whom they wish to protect and maybe that's why they put on masks."

"I wonder who the Blue Streak's friends and family were..." Natasha said softly before adding, "even the pink speedster wears a mask."

Carol turned to her, observing her face while she still kept her gaze on the statue.

This is your dad, Nat and I'm the pink speedster.

The two things that Carol always longed to tell her but she knew she couldn't. Not after Jenna made her swear never to tell her daughter the truth.

Natasha shook her head.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just so funny how the Blue Streak and my... my dad died on the same day."

"Yes. The day that he saved you from that accident," Carol responded, adhering to the words Jenna had picked out for her, every time Natasha would broach the subject about her father.

Natasha instinctively rubbed a hand just right between the base of her neck and her right shoulder, feeling that small line of skin. The scar that she got from the accident that took her father away from her—or so her mother had told her.

Natasha moved closer to the statue, passing two people—a man and woman who were taking a selfie with the statue in the background.

Carol felt a buzz from her pants's pocket. Her phone. She took it out.

Natasha...

It was the eerie voice again. The same one from her dreams and she began to feel the crackling sound of electricity filling up her ears. She felt as if she was being drawn to the statue—or something else?

The crackling grew louder.

Natasha...

Natasha...

Natasha...

"Natasha?" it was  Carol who was calling her.

"What?" she blinked, turning away from the statue.

The crackling noise was gone.

"I just got a call from Carter."

"From CarterLabs?"

"Yeah, you wanna come?"

"Sure."