iii. 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 - 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐥

𝟎𝟎𝟑

Clint stood in the middle of the platform in his suit as Bruce set up the quantum tunnel. Steve, Everett, Natasha, Rhodey, Thor, Nebula, and Rocket all stand watching.

"All right, Clint," Bruce says. "We're going in three, two, one." He pushed a button and Clint was sucked into the Quantum realm. Natasha walked in and watched the platform.

"Three, two, one."

The tunnel opened, and Clint came back, shouting "Lila!" over and over. He collapsed on all fours, grunting and coughing. Everett shouted his name and ran up the runway to her brother's side to help him stand. Natasha was right behind her.

"Hey, hey," Nat said. "Look at me. You okay?"

Clint nodded, showing Everett what was in his hand.

A baseball glove.

"It worked," he said, his voice thick.

He tossed the glove to Tony, and a huge smile crossed the genius's face.

"It worked," Clint repeated. Everett let out a victorious laugh.

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The group moved to the main meeting room to get a debrief on the Infinity Stones and where they were in history. The screen in the front had images of the Stones and the words "Time Heist" on the top, and "Brainstorming..." across the bottom.

Steve and Tony stood in the front.

"Okay, so the how works," Steve said. "Now we gotta figure out the "when" and the "where"."

He faces the group. "Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with one of the six Infinity Stones."

"Or substitute the word 'encounter' with 'damn near been killed' by one of the six Infinity Stones," Tony replies.

Scott shrugs. "Well, I haven't, but I don't even know what you're all talking about."

Everett rolled her eyes.

Bruce walked around Scott towards the front. "Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one round-trip each. These stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history."

"Our history," Tony amends. "So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in, yeah?"

Clint looked up. "Which means we have to pick our targets."

Tony pointed at Clint. "Correct."

Steve nodded. "So, let's start with the Aether. Thor, what do you know?"

All eyes turned to the God of Thunder. He was wearing sunglasses and wasn't moving.

"Is he asleep?" Nat asked.

"No, no," Rhodey said. "I'm pretty sure he's dead."

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Thor stood in the front and removed his sunglasses. He looked very different from when Everett had seen him last, but she wasn't about to judge.

"Uh, where to start?" Thor said. "Um...The Aether, firstly, is not a stone. Someone called it a stone before. Um, it's more of an angry sludge sort of a thing, so someone's going to need to amend that and stop saying that." Thor squirted eye drops into his bloodshot eyes. Rhodey and Clint shared a sidelong glance of confusion.

"Here's an interesting story, though, about the Aether. My grandfather, many years ago, had to hide the stone from the Dark Elves. Ooh, scary beings."

Everett tilted her head but listened closely. In his drunken rant, Thor might provide some useful information.

"So, Jane, actually...Oh, there she is." A picture of a beautiful woman popped up on the screen. Thor tapped the screen with his glasses. "Yeah, so Jane was an old flame of mine. You know, she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time and then the Aether stuck itself inside of her, and she became very, very sick and so I had to bring her to Asgard, which is where I'm from, and we had to try and fix her. See, we were dating at the time, and I got to introduce her to my mother...who's dead, and um... And you know, Jane and I aren't even dating anymore, so... But you know, these things happen. Nothing lasts forever. The only thing that-"

Tony cuts him off and tells him to sit down, but Thor pushes him away.

"The only thing that is permanent in life is impermanence."

Those words feel like a punch in the gut. Everett inhales a sharp breath, trying to tamp down her emotions. She feel the ice creeping over her body again. She can't fall apart now. Not when they're so close.

Tony claps a couple of times and puts a hand on Thor's shoulder. "Awesome. Eggs? Breakfast?"

Thor chuckles. "No, I'd like a Bloody Mary."

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Rocket stands on the table to talk about the Power Stone. Everett studies the images on the screen, wondering where she fits into all of this.

"Quill said he stole the Power Stone from Morag," Rocket says.

Bruce looks up from his food. "Is that a person?"

Rocket looks at him incredulously. "No, Morag's a planet. Quill was a person."

Scott looks up as well. "Like a planet? Like in outer space?"

Rocket turns to him. "Oh, look. It's like a little puppy, all happy and everything. Do you wanna go to space? You wanna go to space, puppy? I'll take you to space."

"Whatever, Rocket," Everett snaps. "Anything else?"

Rocket looks at her, as if he's surprised that she's talking, then sits down.

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The screen transitions to the Soul Stone, and Nebula steps up.

"Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir," Nebula says in her breathy voice.

"What is Vormir?" Nat asks without looking up from her notebook.

"A dominion of death, at the very center of celestial existence." Everett watches as grief comes over Nebula's face like a dark veil. "It's where Thanos murdered my sister."

The group shares a look. Scott looks down as he says, "Not it."

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Everett rubbed the bridge of nose and inhaled a sharp breath. She hadn't slept in almost 48 hours, and it was taking a toll. But she couldn't stop. Not when they were so close.

Footsteps approached from behind her.

Nebula stepped into Everett's peripheral. Nothing was said for a beat.

"How do you do it?"

Everett turned and looked her in the eyes. "Do what?"

Nebula held her gaze. "Keep going, after everything that you've lost."

Everett sighed. "There was a time when I didn't. I stopped. I gave up. But now, now that I realize that I have so much to be fighting for? It feels wrong not to. Because I owe it to everyone not here. I owe it to them. To pay them back for everything they did for me."

Nebula studied her. "I can see it in your eyes. Your determination."

Everett gave out a dry laugh. "I have to believe that this will work. Because if it doesn't, I don't think I'll survive it."

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Their entire group gathered in the meeting room for one final session.

"Alright," Steve said. "We have a plan. Six stones, three teams, one shot."

They all stood, focusing on one goal.

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LONGER CHAPTER

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