Converto - Marvel Studios [8]

thirty-nine.

I sat on top of a metal table in Lab Alpha, having pushed aside all the stray wires and steel that had been thrown onto it. My feet hung over the side, covered in a pair of black socks that made the floor sun the compound too slippy. I hadn't been bothered to pull on a decent outfit for this meeting, wearing grey sweatpants and Steve's old SHIELD hoodie drowning me, my hair partially falling out of the bun it had been pulled into hours ago. Steve stood leaning against the table to my side, blue checkered pyjama pants on to match the long sleeved blue t-shirt he was wearing.

The lights weren't on, the ones from the hallway barely illuminated the room through the walls, the glass ceiling allowing the hues of orange from the sunset to flood the room. We all stood crowded around the empty space in the middle of the room, Thor slouched over in a chair as he held on tightly to a can of beer. Clint was sitting on the small step next to the door, his hands clasped and resting in front of his mouth as he stared ahead at nothing. Rhodey was the only one who looked like the shell of a human being, wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Even Tony, who normally wore some kind of rock band tshirt, had a hoodie pulled over his head to accompany the grey pyjama bottoms he was supporting. It looked like we had all rolled out of bed 5 minutes before the meeting, and to be fair that was exactly what I had done.

It was a sight; earths mightiest heroes sitting in their pyjamas.

"How are we gonna do this?" I asked, my hands gripping the metal table that was under me as I kept my eyes down on the ground. Nebula drew her eyes towards me, staring at me for a moment before she snapped her head away mechanically. "I'll make a gauntlet of some type" Tony replied quietly, standing against the glass wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "And then?" I asked, wiping my nose with my sleeve as he shrugged his whiskers lazily, raising and eyebrow at me. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked, a little too much sass lacing his voice that I would have called out under any other circumstances.

"How do we know if it'll work?" Scott asked, standing to the side of the room with his arms crossed over his chest, looking extremely uncomfortable. "The last snap got rid of half of the population and what if this one does the same?" he added, his eyebrows scrunched together as Rocket shook his head rather violently in protest. "That's not how they work" the racoon grumbled, giving his eyes a slight roll as I stared at the hairy creature. "Not all of us are space stone experts" I retorted quickly, his eyes drifting to stare at me as he opened his mouth to presumably hit me back with a snarky reply.

"Can we just" Steve said, holding a hand out in front of him as he let out a sigh, clearly not wanting me to get into an argument with a racoon. "Get to the point please?" he finished, Rocket's mouth snapping shut as I bit my tongue. "Whoever is using the stones just has to wish that everyone who is gone comes back" the racoon said instead, crossing his small arms back over his leather attire.

"So it's like blowing out your birthday candles?" Rhodey asked, holding out a hand as he looked at Rocket, the pair staring at each other for a moment. "I don't know what that is?" Rocket retorted, his furry eyebrows knitting together as Rhodey continued to stare at him. "You know making a wish while you blow out your candles" Rhodey replied simply, Rocket pointing his hands at the man as he shook his head. "What are you even saying to me?" He asked, shaking his head as Rhodey nodded his head slowly, setting  hand on his chin. "They don't do that in space, huh" the man said as I rolled my eyes at the pair of them.

"He's a raccoon" Scott clarified for Rhodey, shrugging his shoulders with the explanation as the room fell silent for a moment. "Anyway" Rocket continued, giving Scott a funny look before drawing his eyes away from the man, taking a step into the centre of the room. "The stones aren't sentient beings they will do whatever you tell them to do" he said, everyone taking in that information as silence fell over us again. It seemed too easy. It seemed wrong almost. To do the exact same thing that got us into this position in the first place.