illyris, p. parker ¹

vi. confrontations

Bruce entered the access code to the door and Rhodes turned around, his eyes widening in instant recognition of the long-lost Avenger.

"Bruce," he murmured with an air of astonishment. The scientist gave him a small wave and met with Rhodes who walked forward, his leg braces making small whirring sounds as he threw his arms around Bruce. Rhodes shut his eyes tightly, firmly patting the man on the shoulder. "Where've you been, man? It's been years."

"I've been out of town," answered Bruce with a small chuckle and pulled away. The two men turned around to face Thea who was standing by the doorway with a smile on her face. Realizing it was her cue, she stepped forward, the heels of her boots making small thuds against the shiny chrome floor.

"This is—"

"I know who she is," Rhodes answered. His gaze dropped to the panting dogs at her side and he raised an eyebrow, politely extending a hand out towards her which she shook. "If the world didn't already know about the Mother of Magic, they know now."

He led them to the living room partition and directed their attention to the flat screen that lit up on command. Thea's mouth dropped at the newscast playing out. The video was poorly shot but it showed her, Tony, and Peter fighting off Hammer and Squiddy. It wasn't the local Queens broadcast she was used to catching a glimpse of. It was international. Her heart twisted at the image of Tony Stark and the banner underneath: TONY STARK MISSING.

"After that little stint in Madripoor, your name's been everywhere," Rhodes spoke up. He switched the TV off. "You're lucky no one's come looking for you."

She let out a dry chuckle, her hand gently petting Rhaegon's pitch black head. "Wouldn't be the first time. Thank you, though, for letting the Valoqar and my dragons stay here. Seriously, it means—"

"Yeah, you're fine," he chuckled and the laugh lines deepened around his lips. "Dragon shit isn't fun to clean up but gotta say, they're pretty cool."

He scrutinized her for a moment and Thea suddenly felt pushed into the spotlight. She always thought of herself as some kind of artifact that should've been locked up in a museum but it was strange when other people thought so. Thea was a teenage girl, like the millions of others that lived on the planet. But she was making herself to be something more than just a Valaryen and soon, she was going to be a part of a battle determining life and death itself.

"Rhodey, we've got something big coming," Bruce began, his salt-and-pepper brows furrowing. He wrung his hands again as he explained everything to the best of his ability. Thea chimed in at times but it still didn't make Rhodes any less baffled at the outlandish things spilling out of their mouths. Still, he didn't deny any part of it.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, processing all the information dumped on him. "So this Thanos guy— he's going where now?"

"Wherever the Reality Stone is being kept," Thea answered. She sat down in one of the black lounge chairs. "And we can't really figure out where that is because Asgard..."

She locked eyes with Bruce and her words vanished. Looking down, she sucked on her teeth. "My powers come from the Reality Stone. I can... feel it, you know— the energy it emits."

"Where do you think is his next move?" Rhodes asked.

"Here," Bruce answered gravely. "For the Mind Stone... in Vision's head."

✧✦✧

"HOLY SHIT, THIS is insane."

Thea nodded at Bex's statement. Rhodes and Bruce had left her alone to a separate residence room for a moment, the former having received an immediate notice of a conference call with the Secretary of State. The bit of free time allowed her to FaceTime her best friend who had sent her a tidal wave of texts after presumably seeing what happened on Bleeker Street half an hour ago. Bex kept running her hands through her long, dark hair, shaking her head. She had arrived home later than normal as her jazz band rehearsal went over time. Though that wasn't the biggest concern occupying her mind.