The White Wolf

XXXII

Guilt swarmed up from Thor's gut, to his chest and through his neck. He had taken away her love. At least, he believed he did. He looked down at the ground again, taking a shaky breath after he swallowed down the lump in his throat. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry-"

"No," Ava looked up at him. "Thor, it isn't your fault." She said. "I don't blame you. Nobody blames you except yourself. We'll get them back as soon as we find Thanos. We can fix this."

When Thor looked up at her again, tears shimmered behind his lashes. "How can you be so sure?"

She shrugged a little, shaking her head back and forth. Honestly, she wasn't sure. How could she be? There wasn't a clear answer on how they'd get everyone back yet. "I don't know. I just have to believe it to stay sane."

A tear slipped down his cheek and he turned away, holding his breath to hide a sob as he closed his eyes. Ava frowned and scooted closer, wrapping her arms tightly around him in an attempt to make him feel better.

**********

Steve was leaned forward, his hands resting against the back of the chair he stood in front of. Ava was stood beside him, her arms crossed over her chest, and Natasha stood by the desk as they all three watched the numbers skyrocket every second. Numbers under each country name as census data was polled in, counting the number of vanished persons. The numbers went ever higher- never slowing down as they ran up and up and up. 

It made them all sick to their stomachs to watch, but they had to try to monitor it all to get an idea of what exactly happened when Thanos snapped his fingers. Any data they could collect might help them find him and prepare to fight again. 

Ava ran her hand over her face, letting out a shaking breath. Steve frowned and stood up taller, eyes still on the holographic screens. "This is a nightmare." 

"I've had better nightmares." Natasha whispered as she held back her tears.

"Hey." Rhodey entered the room from the door behind them. Ava turned around to look at him, as did the other two, waiting to hear what he had to say. "So, that thing just stopped doing whatever the hell it was doing." He said, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. The pager- the modified pager that Rhodey had found when searching for Nicky Fury to get his help. The screen had been blinking red and blue, a golden star logo centered in the two colored halves.

Ava and Nat glanced at each other, both wondering what it could have meant. Nat nodded toward the door, and they followed Rhodey into the next room with Steve. Bruce stood in front of the pager that was connected to wires and monitors within a glass case, fumbling with his glasses. Nat let out a sigh, looking to him when he turned around as they neared. "What do we got?"

He shrugged and turned back to the small device that no longer blinked. He raked a hand through his salt-and-pepper curls and then pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Whatever signal it was sending finally crapped out."

"I thought we bypassed the battery." Steve frowned.

"We did." Rhodey said and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's still plugged in. It just stopped."

"Reboot it. Send the signal again."

Bruce turned toward him, shaking his head as he motioned his hand toward the device. "W-we don't even know what this is-" He stammered.