Phoenix Haynes
I sat next to Nebula and Tony while they played paper football, thinking about Peter.
We were stuck in the endless void of space, and I couldn't help but think it would suck a little less if he was here.
But he's not.
"You don't need to do that, because you're just holding position." Tony told her, and she flicked the paper football towards him.
"Oh yeah, that was close."
Nebula flicked it towards Tony, scoring a goal.
"That's a goal, we're now one apiece."
"I would like to try again." Nebula said, her tone serious, but that was normal for her.
"We're tied up, feel the tension? It's fun."
I turned to look at the wall, thinking about Peter.
"That was terrible, now you have a chance to win."
Was there an afterlife for him?
Was it a nice one?
"And you've won, congratulations. Fair game, you're a good sport. Did you have fun?"
How was I going to go back to a life without Peter in it?
"It was fun."
"I'm gonna go to bed, goodnight." I smiled at Tony and Nebula, who were about to start another game.
Tony gave me a soft smile, and Nebula nodded, which was more than enough for her.
I sat in the copilot seat, wrapping myself in a blanket and looking out into the void of space.
We were stuck out here.
This was my nightmare.
Tony and I were going to die.
I tried to push the thoughts out of my mind, but I could only do so much.
Nebula tucked Tony in next to me,and he slowly slipped his hand in mine, both of us knowing our fate.
"I'm sorry, Nebula." I whispered, and she just gave my shoulder a soft pat before walking out of the room.
"You okay?" Tony asked me quietly, and I just shrugged, brushing his skin with my thumb as he sighed.
"Not really, are you?" I asked, and we locked eyes as he shook his head.
"No."
"Do you think we'll see Peter?" I whispered, turning to look out at the starts, making Tony sigh again.
"I hope so."
"For what it's worth, it's been a honour knowing you." I said, and Tony smiled softly at me.
"I know."
"You suck." I laughed, making him join in as we momentarily forgot what it was like to have our fates sealed.
We fell into a comfortable silence after that, both of us quietly accepting that what will be, will be.
Tony fell asleep first, and I felt his hand slip from mine, a tear falling freely down my cheek.
It's time.
I slowly closed my eyes, but before I could fully close them, a bright light made me sit up, covering my face with my hand.
What the hell is that?
"Tony, wake up." I whispered, lightly hitting his shoulder, and he groaned, covering his face like I did.
"Is that a girl?" I asked, and Tony squinted at the figure, nodding in surprise.
"Yeah, it is."
•••
We landed at the Avengers facility, and my heart leapt with joy.
We're home.
But, who was home?
I wrapped my arm around Tony's waist, and he put his carefully around my shoulders while I walked him down the ramp.
Nebula walked behind us, while her friend went to her aid.
Steve ran up to us, pulling Tony in for a hug.
"Couldn't stop him." Tony mumbled, and Steve sighed.
"Neither could I."
I locked eyes with Steve, and he gasped.
"Oh my god."
"Yeah." I shrugged, making him smile.
"So do I call you Phoenix, or Shadow?"
"Phoenix is fine." I smiled, and I was pulled into a group hug with Steve and Tony.
I was happy for a moment, until Tony spoke up.
"I lost the kid."
My heart dropped at the thought of Peter, and I dreaded what was going to come when we walked into the facility.
"Tony, we lost."
"Is, uh-" Tony cut himself off, struggling to ask about Pepper, but she ran up to us, crying.
"Oh, my God!" She exclaimed, and pulled Tony in for a hug while Steve gave me a hand.
"It's okay."
We walked inside, all trying to sit as comfortably as possible while a hologram displayed the fallen Avengers.
"It's been twenty three days since Thanos came to Earth." Rhodey said, and Nat spoke up.
"World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census." She said, looking at the holograms.
"And it looks like he did exactly what he said he was going to do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent of all living creatures."
"Where is he now? Where?" Tony asked, and Steve shrugged, looking defeated.
"We don't know. He just opened a portal and walked through."
"What's wrong with him?" Tony asked, gesturing over to Thor, who I had only just noticed.
He was sitting in the corner, looking worse for wear.
He felt guilty.
"Oh, he's pissed." Nebulas friend said, and I sighed.
"He thinks he failed, which of course he did, but you know there's a lot of that's going around, ain't there?"
"Honestly, until this exact second, I thought you were a Build-A-Bear." Tony asked, making him shrug.
"Maybe I am."
"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now." Steve said, gesturing to the holograms, but I couldn't look.
"Deep Space scans and satellites, but we've got nothing. Tony, you fought him." He said, but Tony shook his head.
"Who told you that?"
"Tony-" I started, but he cut me off.
"I didn't fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street Magician gave away the store. That's what happened. There was no fight."
"Okay."
"He's unbeatable." Tony said, and I put my head in my hands.
"Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?"
"I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision, I didn't wanna believe it. I thought I was dreaming." Tony asked, and I could feel a fight brewing.
"Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus."
"And I needed you, as in past tense." Tony seethed, and I looked up to see the two head to head.
"That trumps what you need. It's too late buddy, sorry."
I looked at the holograms, and felt like I was going to throw up when I saw Peter's face.
"You know what I need?" Tony asked, standing up and accidentally pushing things off the table, the clatter making everyone jump in surprise.
"I nneed to shave, and I believe I remember telling all you-"
I watched him make a move for Steve, and Rhodey quickly stood between them, hokdi g his hands up to Tony's chest.
"Tony, Tony, Tony!"
"Alive and otherwise, what we needed was a suit of armour around the world!" Tony exclaimed, looking around the room.
"Remember that? Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not, that's what we needed!"
"Well, that didn't work out, did it?" Steve asked, making me sigh.
That'll only make it worse.
"I said, 'we'd lose' and you said, 'we'll do that together too'."
No one said anything, so Tony kept talking.
"Guess what, Cap? We lost, and you weren't there."
"Tony-" I tried to reason with hi again, but he just shook his head, making me bite my tongue.
"But that's what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We're the Avengers, not the Prevengers."
"Okay." Rhodey said, trying to get his to sit down, and Tony looked at everyone.
Everyone was tired.
Everyone was sad.
"You made your point, just sit down."
"Nah, here's my point." Tony argued, and Rhodey shook his head.
"Tony, you're sick."
"She's great, by the way." Tony said, pointing at Carol, who just stared back at him.
I guess she didn't want to interfere when she didn't understand the tension.
Smart.
"We need you, you're new blood. Bunch of tired old mules!" Tony exclaimed, walking up to Steve and lowering his voice, but still loud enough for me to hear the venom in his tone.
"I got nothing for you Cap! I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero, zip, nada, no trust. Liar."
Everyone fell silent after that, watching the angered expression on Tony's face, and the defeated one on Steve's.
After what felt like hours of waiting in anticipation for either of them to say anything, Tony ripped the arc reactor out of his chest, putting it in Steve's hand.
"Here, take this. You find him, and you put that on. You hide."
Tony fell to the ground, and quickly lost consciousness, making everyone share worried expressions.
"I'll take him." Bruce said, and we watched him and Pepper take Tony into a seperate room, before Rhodey clapped his hands.
"Bruce gave him a sedative. He's gonna probably be out for the rest of the day." Rhodey said, and I let out a sigh of relief.
He needed some rest.
"You guys take care of him, and I'll bring him a Xorrian Elixir when I come back." Carol said, starting to walk away, and I smirked.
"Where are you going?"
"To kill Thanos." She responded, and my smirk grew wider.
How cocky.
"Hey, you know, we usually work as a team here, and between you and I, morale's a little fragile." Nat said nicely, and Steve cleared his throat.
"We realize up there is more your territory, but this is our fight too."
"Do you even know where he is?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest, and she looked at me.
"I know people who might."
"Don't bother." I shrugged her off, and Nebula stepped forward.
"I can tell you where Thanos is."
"Yeah?" Rhodey asked, and she nodded.
"Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me, and when he worked, he talked about his great plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. I'd ask 'where would we go once his plan was complete?'. His answer was always the same." Nebula said, and we stayed silent, letting her continue.
"To the Garden."
"That's cute, Thanos has a retirement plan." Rhodey scoffed, making me chuckle quietly.
"So where is he?" Steve asked, and I looked back at the hologram, seeing Stephen Strange's face.
"When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions." Rocket said, standing on the table so everyone could see him.
"No one's ever seen anything like it, until two days ago." He said, and a hologram of a planet pops up, with a shockwave visibly traveling the surface.
"On this planet."
"Thanos is there." Nebula said, and I gasped.
"He used the stones again."
"We'd be going in short-handed, you know." Bruce pointed out, and Rhodey nodded in agreement.
"Look, he's still got the stones, so-"
"So let's get him, and use them to bring everyone back." Carol cut him off, and I rolled my eyes.
"Oh sure, just like that?" I asked sarcastically, but Steve, to my surprise, nodded.
"Yeah, just like that."
"Even if there's a small chance that we can undo this, we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try." Nat said, and I looked back to see Peter's face.
"If we do this, how do we know it's gonna end any differently than it did before?" Bruce asked, and Carol crossed her arms over her chest.
"Because before, you didn't have me."
"Alright, let's dial that back." I scoffed, and Rhodey nodded.
"Hey new girl, everyone here is about that superhero life, and if you don't mind my asking, where the hell have you been all this time?"
"There are a lot of other planets in the universe." She responded, looking at all of us.
"And unfortunately, they didn't have you guys."
Thor stood up, walking over to her, and I leaned back in my chair.
This'll be interesting.
He raised his hand, summoning his weapon, holding it tightly while the two eyed eachother off.
"I like this one."
Do I hear wedding bells?
Definitely not
"Let's go get this son of a bitch." Steve said, and I sighed, slapping my hands on my thighs and standing up.
"Fine, for Peter."