INERTIA ↠ AVENGERS FANFIC

TWENTY SIX- MEMORIES

Zara was surprised Tony was still alive. 28 days with no food really did him in. The skinny, frail man laid unconscious in her ship, with an oxygen mask to reduce the risk of Hypoxia. Beside him slouched a tall blue woman who looked more robot than she did human. She had a hand on his shoulder, and looked at him soberly as he slept. Nebula, she said her name was?

It had taken Zara two days to find them in their battered and beat ship. 

We ran out of food 13 days ago, Nebula said. We were on our last day of oxygen. 

Zara flipped switches on the command centre of her ship, preparing it for Hyperdrive. It would be faster to use the closest Jump Point to get back to Earth, but Zara wasn't sure Tony could handle it in his current state. 

"I never thanked you," Nebula said standing behind Zara's chair. She moved slowly, like a spy. Hell, she probably was. "I know you came for him, and not me, but I'm still grateful." The woman spoke quickly, like the words were heavy and took a toll to speak. 

Zara didn't respond. She didn't know what to say. She looked out the window to the vast space  around her, millions of galaxies, millions of planets, that were now torn in half. 

"I don't know when I started caring about other people but life was a lot easier when I didn't."

Nebula slouched into the co-pilot chair beside Zara. "I know a thing or two about that."

"My god, you guys are cynical," came a small voice from the back of the ship. An awake Tony tried to prop himself up, and fiddled with his oxygen mask until it came off. "If either of you had a huge bag of weed, I wouldn't say no."

 Zara looked to Nebula. "He's alive," she said sarcastically. Nebula rushed over to help him sit up, and Zara pandered over to the food storage area after routing the ship to auto-pilot. "No weed, but I've got chicken noodle soup."

"Keaton. You're about the last person I expected to see." She warmed up the meal and handed it to Tony, who took it with shaky hands. "Relieved nonetheless."  He took his time sipping the broth, savouring the first nutrition he'd had in weeks. "God, I think this is the most depressing meal I've ever had. Half the universe dead and two brooding women who aren't doing the mood any favours. And no music, can we at least get some music?"

Right, thought Zara. I still haven't fixed the stereo. 

"I'm giving this place a one-star review on Yelp, once we're back on Earth," Tony said as Zara went to get her tools to finally fix the stereo. "That's where we're going, right?"

Zara opened the tool chest, trying not to look at the spot she had seen Carol last. 

Don't think about that. She's gone. Just fix the stereo.

---

As the door to Zara's ship opened in the front yard of the Avenger's compound, Nebula helped Tony hobble out as the remaining Avengers came running. Steve was the first there, cautiously but quickly approaching his old friend. "I couldn't stop him."

"Neither could I."

Rocket and Nebula shared a sorry glance, accepting the lost hope of finding the rest of their family, but savouring each other's company. It was bittersweet to see them reunite, families mended and torn apart at the same time. 

Again, Zara considered her loss, the only woman she'd ever considered family turned to dust in front of her. They'd been together three short years, but the bond they created was stronger than either of them ever thought possible. 

They were each other's best friends. Family. Carol taught Zara how to care, her voice of reason. And now, without her, who was there to comfort her? Who was there to subtly remind her that she was worthy of love?

Zara followed the rest of the Avengers inside, walking on her lonesome until the grief, the sadness, was so heavy she felt as though she couldn't take another step. 

"I'll meet you guys in a minute, I just gotta move... the ship..." she trailed off as she realized no one was listening to her. They were all tending to Tony, and rightfully so, as the man looked about three minutes away from starving to death. 

Zara hurried back to the ship, each step getting harder and harder to breathe, until she finally plunked down in the pilots seat. 

What would Carol say?

She'd say get up. Take a breath. Vulnerability is what makes you strong. Emotions are your greatest strength. 

Carol had told her that she'd been taught the opposite by Zara's own brother. And when she finally realized he was wrong, it was a lesson she'd never let herself forget. 

It had been a while since she'd cried. The one person who she considered family was gone. 

Maybe this is how it's supposed to be. Maybe I'm better off alone.

Zara's mind was flooded of memories with Carol. Good and bad. Dark and light. 

Carol and Zara watched the glistening space of the galaxy laid out before them as they made their way from Xandar to Knowhere. The two women were tracking an arms dealer, but he wasn't the target. Supposedly, he had information on an even bigger fish, a trafficker who got rich off selling kids to the highest bidder. 

Carol relaxed into her seat."You know, sometimes I wonder what life would be like if there was just the smallest change. If I was born in a different state. If I had a brother. Things like that, you know?" 

Zara nodded. "I had a brother. Trust me, not as great as you think it would be."

"Really?" Carol asked. "You never told me."

"Yeah, I don't really like talking about him much. He was such a shitty asshole. His name was Yon-Rogg, and he'd always go around-"

"Wait," Carol interrupted. "You... he was your.. brother?"

"You knew him?"

"I had the displeasure," Carol explained. "He was my unit's Star Force commander back when I was Kree. Pretty much organized my brainwashing, used me for my powers... god, he was a..."

"Shitty asshole."

Carol nodded in agreement. "Well, that explains where you get your... you from," she joked. "What happened to him?"

"Back when I was on Earth him and the Star Force tried to take this powerful weapon. Me and a couple others fought them off. He died in battle."

"He died, or..."

"I killed him."

"Right."

Silence ensued, with remembering their experience with the man, and both thinking about what Zara had done to him. 

"Hey, when I first got taken to Hala they replaced my human blood with his Kree. Does that make us... blood related?"

Zara smiled and looked to Carol. "Sure does, sis."