𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐑 𝐄𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐒𝐄 ➳ 𝙥𝙟𝙤 // 𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨

v

" And I hate to make this all about me

But who am I supposed to talk to?

What am I supposed to do

If there's no you? "

Steve sat in his chair with his head in his hands. He was thinner. Older. Emptier. He looked up from the ground and smiled at the man next to him.

"So, I went on a date the other day," the man said.

"Good job, Bobby. Back in the game," the man across from Steve replied encouragingly. 

"Thank you, Jimmy," the man named Bobby sighed. "First time in five years. I sat there at dinner thinking, what are we even supposed to talk about?"

Steve looked at Bobby. "What did you talk about?"

Bobby let out a humorless laugh. "Same old crap. How much things have changed. How much we miss the Mets. My job, his job. Then it got kind of quiet." Bobby paused. "He cried during the salads."

"What about you?" said an older man to Steve's left.

Bobby thought about it. "I cried... just before dessert. But I'm seeing him again tomorrow, so..."

Steve nodded. "That's great. You've already done the hardest part. You took the jump, didn't know where you'd come down. And that's it, those... little brave baby steps we've gotta take. To try and make us feel whole again. To find purpose..." Steve looked up at the rest of the group.

"The world's been left in our hands. If we don't do something with it... then Thanos might as well have killed all of us." The group murmured in agreement, but Steve himself sounded unsure.

— — — time skip named by the first comment — — —

"We boarded that "highly suspect warship" Danvers pinged." Holographic Rocket said to Natasha. She sat in a spinning chair, looking at the holograms of Rocket, Carol Danvers, Nebula, Okoye, and Rhodey.

"And?" Nat prompted.

"It was an infectious garbage scow," Nebula said unenthusiastically.

"So thanks for the hot tip-" Rocket was cut off.

"You were closer," Carol smirked.

Rocket scoffed. "And now we smell like garbage!"

Nat looked annoyed and turned to Okoye. "You get a reading on those tremors?"

"Minor subduction in the African Plate," Okoye replied.

"Do we have a visual? How are we handling it?" Nat asked, concerned. 

Okoye sighed. "Nat. It was a mild earthquake. In the ocean. We handle it by not handling it."

Nat looked a little stressed. The conversation went on for a little bit longer, updates on all the chaos happening around the world, until everyone except Rhodey signed off.

"What's up? Where are you?" Nat asked him.

"Mexico. Got some news." Rhodey replied solemnly.

Nat looked skeptical. "Okay..."

"Federalés found a room full of bodies outside Juarez. Cartel guys. Guns still in their pants." 

"Could be a rival hit, or that di Angelo kid-" Nat argued.

"But it wasn't. The di Angelo kid's been off the grid ever since your encounter. And it was the Same MO as Marseille. And Kiev." Rhodey gave Nat a knowing look. "It's definitely Barton."

Nat didn't want to accept it.

Rhodey continued, tired. "What he's done here.. what he's been doing... I got to tell you, part of me doesn't want to find him." 

Nat grimaced. 

"Oh, and one more thing Nat, one of my sources tells me he was spotted in Long Island this morning. Could be a cold lead, but it doesn't hurt to check it out." Rhodey gave Nat a small nod. 

"Thanks, Rhodey," Nat sighed, and with that, the holographic Colonel Rhodes disappeared.

Steve walked into the room, his arms crossed. He leaned against the doorframe with a small smile. 

"I'd offer to cook you dinner, but you seem sad enough already," he joked lightly.

Natasha turned to  face him. "Come by to do your laundry?"

He shrugged. "And see a  friend."

"Your friend's fine."

"She leave the house today?"

Nat scoffed. "Nothing out there I really want to see."

"I spotted a pod of whales in the river on my way here."

She raised an eyebrow. "In the Hudson?"

The two talked for a while until Nat threatened to hit Steve in the head with a peanut butter sandwich. 

Steve tried to lighten the mood but he could tell Natasha was still thinking about Clint.

It was then the two heard a loud "ping!"

They swiped to the CCTV cameras to see the familiar face of Scott Lang.

Steve's eyes widened. "Is this an old message?"

Nat shook her head in disbelief. "It's the front gate."