BOMBSHELL. ❪ Steve Rogers ❫ ✓

eighteen

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Everyone met in a room in the mansion, brainstorming how the "time heist" was going to go down. Holographic screens were projected, containing files on the stones.

"Okay, so the how works," Steve announced. "Now we gotta figure out the when and where. Almost everyone in this room had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones."

"I'd substitute the word encounter for 'damn near killed by one of the six Infinity Stones,' " Tony corrected.

"I haven't," Scott chimed. "I don't even know what the hell you're all talking about."

"Regardless, we only have one Pym particle for one round trip each, and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history," Bruce explained.

"Our history," Tony corrected. "So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in."

"Which means we have to pick our targets," Clint concluded.

"Correct," said Tony.

"Let's start with the Aether," Steve demanded. "Thor, Ophelia, what do you know?"

Everyone turned to watch Thor who was sitting at the corner of the room with sunglasses on his face.

"Is he asleep?" Natasha asked.

"No, I'm pretty sure he's dead," Rhodey retorted.

Ophelia huffed, standing up from her seated position to walk over to Thor. She grabbed the hoodie of his hoodie and shook him a bit before slapping him.

"Wake up, you utter oaf!" she shouted.

"I'm up, I'm up!" he sluggishly retorted.

She rolled her eyes before letting go, causing him to fall back against the chair. She walked over to her seat and sat down, crossing her legs silently.

"I'm sensing hostility," mentioned Tony.

"You're sensing right," said Rocket, recalling how Ophelia threw bottles of beer at Thor on the ride to the compound.

Thor begrudgingly got up to explain. "Waking me up for nothing," he muttered.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" questioned Ophelia.

"Nothing, nothing," he said. "Uh - where to start? Umm..." He took off his glasses, blinking frequently. "The Aether, first, is not a stone. Someone's called it a stone before. It's more of a... An angry sludge, sort of thing. So, someone's gonna need to amend that, and stop saying that. Here's an interesting story though, many years ago, my grandfather had to find the stones from the Dark Elves." He wiggled his fingers to imitate a ghost. "Woooo...scary beings. So Jane - " An image of Jane Foster popped up on the screen. "Oh - there she is. That's Jane... She's...an old flame of mine. She... She stuck her hand inside a rock this one time, and then the Aether stuck itself inside her, and she became very, very sick. So I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I'm from, and we had to fix her. We were dating at the time, you see. I got to introduce her to my mother...who's dead, and um... Oh - you know Jane and I aren't even dating anymore. These things happen though, you know," Thor said. "Nothing lasts forever."

"Why don't you sit down?" Tony asked, attempting to push Thor back into his chair.

"I'm not done yet," Thor retorted. "You see, the only thing that is permanent in life, is impermanence."

Tony clapped his back. "Awesome. Eggs? Breakfast?"

"No, I'd like a Bloody Mary."

Ophelia sighed, getting up from her seat again and grabbing Thor's jacket in order to drag him away. "We'll be back!" She dragged him to the kitchen before letting go and pouring a glass of water for him. "You're an utter mess. Look at your gut."

She gestured to his whole body with her right hand before handing him the glass of water with her left hand.

"There's a ring on your finger," he pointed out, taking the glass of water and pouring it down the sink.

She sighed. "Yes."

"Why is there a ring on your finger? On that finger?"

"Steve proposed."

He nodded. "I see."

"Don't ask if you're not interested, and don't waste water. When's the last time you had actual liquid that wasn't alcohol? What would Mother say?" questioned Ophelia.

"Nothing because she's dead. Very dead. Oh, she was so pretty, just like you," he blabbered.

Her exterior softened. "I miss her too. She was wonderful. I miss all of them. Now, will you please just drink one glass of water?"