Guardian Angel | Steve Rogers

23

"Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends. We lost family. We lost apart of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round-trip each. No mistakes, no do-overs. Most of us know where we're going. That doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives, and we're gonna win. Whatever it takes. Good luck." Steve spoke proudly. 

"He's pretty good at that." Rocket mentioned, looking around.

"Right?" Scott agreed.

"Eh, could have been shorter." Arden teased Steve, smirking at him. 

"You heard the man." Bruce said aloud, typing onto the keys away from the projecting board.

"Stoke away, Jolly Green." Tony joked. 

"Trackers engaged." Bruce announced. 

"See ya' in a minute." Nat smirked, looking at Steve then at Arden. 

"Arden..." Steve said to her, looking deeply into her eyes like he wanted to say something important, and she felt his nerves.

"Tell me after it's all over." Arden smiled weakly. 

They engaged their helmets, taking a deep breath before hitting their buttons to activate the Pym Particle, sending them into their assigned times. Arden was sent to Asgard in 2013 with Thor and Rocket, sneaking past the jails where she took a peek at Loki, smiling to herself before remembering why she was there. Making their way up to the suites, they hid as Jane and other servants went into the room, allowing them to come out of hiding. 

"All right, here's the deal, tubby." Rocket started, jumping off a statue. 

"You're gonna charm her, she's gonna keep guard, and I'm gonna poke her with this thing and extract the Reality Stone, and get gone lickety-split." Rocket informed Thor. 

Thor sniffled, holding up his finger, inching away. "I'm gonna be right back. The wine cellar is just down here. Our father used to have this huge barrel of Aakonian ale. I'll see if the scullery has a couple of to-go cups." 

"Hey. Hey! Aren't you drunk enough already?" Rocket whisper yelled at Thor. 

They heard a door open and close, Arden pulling Thor to hide behind the pillar, when they noticed their mother walking with a few other maids. 

"Who's the fancy broad?" Rocket asked. 

"That's our mother." Arden answered in awe, watching her walk in the distance. 

"She dies today." Thor adds somberly. 

"Oh, that is today?" Rocket feels for them. 

"I can't do this. I shouldn't have came. I think I'm having a panic attack." Thor hyperventilates. 

"Hey. You think you're the only one who lost someone?" Rocket asks, smacking Thor across the face. "What do you think we're doing here? I lost the only family I ever had. Quill, Groot, Drax, the chick with the antenna, all gone." 

"I get you miss mother, but she's gone. Really gone. And there are plenty of people who are only kind of gone and you can help them." Arden jumped in, turning Thor's large body towards her. 

"So is it too much to ask to wipe those disgusting crumbs out of your beard and talk to Jane?" She asked, trying to make her brother look presentable. 

"When she's not looking, suck the Infinity Stone and help me get my family back." Rocket demanded. Thor sighed, looking away, sniffling. 

"Is he crying? Are you crying?" Rocket asked disappointedly.