The Weight of the Universe | Avengers

25. Silver Lining

"Don't ever tell Nebula to throw me again." Rocket groans, still catching his breath next to them.

"Hey, I'm not the one who activated some secret mechanism that almost let us fall into a toxic trash tub." Aurora pants and slowly gets up, knocking the sand off her clothes and her long hair. "Ugh, I start to regret letting my hair grow."

"Barnes is calling." Nebula informs them when her bracelet is blinking, notifying them that they're receiving a call. "I think it's time for the conference call."

"Let's get back to the ship and leave this shit hole." Rocket huffs and the three of them return to the Benatar, leaving the planet as fast as possible. As soon as they're back in space, Aurora answers the call and the holograms of all Avengers are appearing. Though instead of Eve, just Natasha and another man next to her are there.

"Hey, Natasha. Hello, Okoye. Hi, Carol. Hiya, Rhodes. And hey... ?" Aurora greets everyone since Rocket is only glaring very pissed at Danvers and Nebula hates greeting people, she at least nods at Rhodey though.

"Clint. Clint Barton." The archer introduces himself with a casual wave and Aurora lifts a brow.

"Ah, Natasha's boyfriend and the Avenger who was gone. Got it." The auburn-haired nods and lifts her thumb. "Great to finally meet you. The more, the merrier."

"Didn't know you were back." Rhodey frowns and Clint sighs, shrugging. He leans into his chair, stretching his arms and placing his hands behind his head. Meanwhile Natasha makes a peanut butter sandwich.

"It was time for me to stop bitching around."

"Looks like you and Danvers go to the same hairdresser." Rocket laughs and Carol rolls her eyes, annoyance growing on her face.

"Okay, since everything's clarified now, let's start the meeting." Natasha announces before Carol can reply anything and turn it into an argument. Aurora furrows her brows in confusion, she thought a certain black-haired would still join their conference.

"Wait a moment, where's Eve?? Usually, she or you two are in charge of the meetings. Is she busy with a mission?"

"She left last week." The redhead confirms shortly and Okoye tilts her head.

"Left?" The General of Wakanda repeats in disbelief and the others share a similar reaction.

"What do you mean, she left?" Rhodey scrunches up his face and Natasha sighs, sharing an exhausted glance with Clint. They both know it doesn't sound like Eve to just leave all of sudden, but they respect their friend's decision.

"Look, she's been doing this job with Nat for five years now, plus she also cooperated with the government to clear our names, especially mine. She's done more than enough, give her a break." Clint defends Eve without hesitation and Aurora nods in understanding. "Nat and I decided to do this for a while now, then we'll see how it'll continue afterwards."

"Alright." Carol nods, respecting Eve's choice, so do the others.

"So, is there anything important to report?" Natasha asks and Rocket almost scoffs.

"Yeah, we literally just boarded that highly suspect warship Danvers mentioned last week." The raccoon glances at Carol with a look that is far from friendly.

"It was an infectious garbage scow." Nebula hisses angrily and even Aurora isn't too fond of that experience.

"The garbage was literally bubbling and smoking, and for some reason, growing. We almost went diving in there." She presses her lips together, reminding herself to upgrade and work on her jet boots later.