"Hey," Natasha stops Carol from walking farther away and the blonde turns around. "You know, we usually work as a team here and uh... Between you and I, moral's a little fragile."
"We realize up there is more your territory, but this is our fight, too." Steve reminds her and Eve glances at the foreign woman. She appears confident and determined and strong, something they could need right now.
"What Steve's saying is that we will go with you. I've been training nonstop since everyone disappeared and I'm more than ready to kill this monster." Eve announces and Carol nods at her in approval, assuming that the black-haired is stronger than she might seem. "We just have to find out where he is."
"I know people who might know." Carol says and Nebula's voice echoes through the room.
"Don't bother." Everyone turns around to Thanos' daughter. "I can tell you where Thanos is."
"Didn't Aurora want to work on that?" Eve lifts a brow.
"She did, but it would only confirm my assumption." She states and without any further interruptions, they follow her back to the conference room. There, Rocket and Aurora look up when everyone enters the room, stopping their work. "Did you find it?"
Both Guardians nod and Nebula sounds rough and distant when she begins to let everyone in on. "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 asked where would we go once his plan was complete. His answer was always the same: To the Garden."
"That's cute. Thanos has retirement plans." Rhodey comments sarcastically and Eve scoffs.
"Hopefully, soon funeral plans as well."
"So, where is he?" Steve walks around the table to take a better look at the hologram that Rocket and Aurora activate. The planet Terra is projected and helps to visualize their explanation.
"When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became Ground Zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions. No one's ever seen anything like it until two days ago." The raccoon explains and Aurora moves from planet Earth to Planet 0257-5 with a swift hand move.
"With the help of our device, we could expand the space territory for the scans and found the exact same amount of cosmic energy on this planet." Aurora declares and shows how a yellow planet releases a colorful impulse, just like the Infinity Stones did on Terra.
"Thanos is there." Nebula confirms without doubt and Natasha stares in astonishment at the projection.
"He used the Stones again."
"We'd be going in short-handed, you know." Bruce reminds them, thinking it's ridiculously risky to go against Thanos without more help.
Rhodey sighs, "Look, he's still got the Stones, so– "
"So, let's get him." Carol decides, cutting him off. "We use them to bring everyone back."
"Just like that?" Bruce lifts a brow. It's easier said than done, they already lost once against Thanos, Thor and Bruce even twice.
"Yeah. Just like that." Steve's voice becomes firm and Carol nods in agreement with him. He shoots her a meaningful look as the two Captains just want to finish this mission as soon as possible to bring their loved ones back.
"Even if there's a small chance that we can undo this, I mean, we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try." Natasha sounds almost desperate and Eve can understand her well. At least, Natasha has the chance to bring someone back who she loves like her own child.
"Nat is right. We are the ones who have the best chance against Thanos. We go there, we kill him, we undo everything. That's the plan, no other options left." The harsh way Eve says it makes everyone glance at her. It sounds like she doesn't leave any room for discussion and Aurora is sure that the sleep deprivation only makes it worse for her childhood hero.
Bruce questions, "If we do this, how do we know it's gonna end any differently than it did before?"
"We are more prepared this time." Aurora pipes up, she just wants her family back. "We have witnessed what he can do with the Stones."
"And because before you didn't have me." Carol reasons.
"Hey, new girl? Everybody in this room is about that superhero life. And if you don't mind me asking, where the hell have you been all this time?" Rhodey is annoyed and she narrows her eyes, defending herself without hesitation.
"There are a lot of other planets in the universe. And unfortunately, they didn't have you guys."
"Oh, shit." Aurora mumbles and whispers to Rocket, "She's really badass. Reminds me of another friend of mine."
Thor finally decides to get up from his seat and leaves his food behind, no longer eating in frustration. Walking heavily towards Carol, she turns around until they stand face to face with each other. A tension arises between the two mighty heroes and Thor reaches out his hand for Stormbreaker. The deadly weapon passes Carol sharply, but she doesn't even flinch, only returning his stare with unshaken narrowed eyes. The demigod continues gazing at her, analyzing the woman until he nods with content.
"I like this one." Thor announces and Carol smirks in amusement. Meanwhile Steve's eyes are attached to the planet's projection. Thanos is there with the Stones, their only chance to undo everything.
"Let's go get this son of a bitch."
***
The whole team is flying with the Benatar to Thanos' Garden, apart from Tony who stayed in the compound to rest and also because he's still hopelessly upset. Deep down, Eve knows that Tony won't take another step into space any time soon, he was stuck there for long enough.
Aurora sits next to Bruce, being for once just a passenger and not the pilot, because she wanted to see Carol's skills as a pilot, so Aurora only coordinates the location. The Benatar gives her a sense of familiarity and home and reminds her of her brother and the other Guardians. She's happy to see the galaxy right in front of her again, Terra just isn't what makes her feel like home.
"And here we are again, traveling together in space." Aurora half grins at Bruce and he chuckles lightly. They have left the atmosphere and are ready to jump.
"Okay, who here hasn't been to space?" Rocket asks and turns around to see how Steve, Natasha, Rhodey and Eve raise their hands. "You better not throw up on my ship."
"I suggest you to hold onto something now." Aurora warns them and counts down. "Approaching jump in three... two... one."
Eve's grip on the arm rest tightens when the speed fastens within the blink of an eye. The pressure forces her back against the back of her seat and multiple colors stream in front of her eyes. They jump to the location of Thanos' planet and are facing the gigantic planet now. Eve's heartbeat slows down when the ship begins to float calmly and she releases the breath that she's been holding the entire time. After all these years, she would've never expected to ever be in space, so far away from Earth. It's almost frightening how small she is in this endless universe.
Carol leaves the ship to check on the situation. "I'll head down for recon."
As she flies down, the team waits for her and a silence settles down between them. Eve notices how her best friend glances nervously at Peggy's picture in the compass that he carries around the whole time and her chest tightens. They were all fugitives when Peggy died and couldn't go to the funeral. Tony had to go all by himself while Steve was breaking down on this day.
"You want to greet Bucky with that face?" Eve's comment makes him almost smile vapidly and his look shifts to her.
"We're in space." He notes the obvious and she knows that his words mean a lot more than they reveal. The two have stuck together for an eternity now, literally through time and space, and Eve doesn't think there's anyone else who's been by her side as long as Steve has.
"Not the craziest thing that's happened to us." She shrugs. "If we can do this, then we can also bring everyone back."
"I know we can." His voice drops and his blue eyes sadden. "Because I don't know what I'm gonna do if we can't."
In this moment, Carol returns to report. A confident satisfaction lingers in her brown eyes. "No satellites. No ships. No armies. No ground defenses of any kind. It's just him."
"And that's enough." Nebula answers and they enter the atmosphere of the planet. Aurora's heart starts to race nervously and she tries to remind herself that she can't be scared of Thanos, not now when they face him. No time for trauma, she has to stay brave.
The planet itself is ironically beautiful and peaceful, the only thing that is remotely close to war is Thanos' armor hanging like a statue in the middle of field. Eve usually would be astonished about how different everything is on this foreign planet, not everyone has the chance to experience what she does, but her focus is solemnly dedicated to Thanos. His house isn't located too far away and Rhodey was right– it looks like Thanos has retired. Steve quickly goes through the attack strategy after they land the ship and everyone agrees.
Carol, Bruce in the Hulkbuster, Rhodey and Thor go in first and the demigod cuts off his hand without hesitation. A pained groan echoes through the place and Steve, Natasha, Eve, Aurora, Nebula and Rocket walk into the house. While the black-haired soldier's fists are clenched in rage at Thanos' sight, Aurora and Rocket walk to the gauntlet. The raccoon turns it around, only to see how it's nothing more than a burned gauntlet. The Infinity Stones are gone.
"Oh, no." Rocket mutters and Aurora's eyes widen in shock. This doesn't make any sense, he used them two days ago.
"The Stones... they're not there." The redhead informs them, and Eve can feel how the anger in her boils up and how her walls crack. She's too distracted to notice how Steve and Nat share a glance, having an awful assumption.
"Where are the Stones?" Steve snarls and Thanos hesitates until Carol tightens her grip around his neck.
"Answer the question." The blonde hisses in contempt and he finally opens his mouth.
"The universe required correction. After that, the Stones served no purpose beyond temptation."
"You murdered trillions!!" Bruce loses it and pushes Thanos to the ground but the Mad Titan gets up, being unharmed apart from the injuries that were already there.
"You should be grateful." He spits until the Hulkbuster punches him again.
"Grateful for your genocide?" Eve now speaks up with an incredible hatred, glaring at the Mad Titan. "Our name's the Avengers for a damn reason and we will bring everyone back, with or without your heart still beating."
"Oh, child. Perhaps you are mighty, but in the end your naive attitude will lead to nothing but disappointment." He glances at her in a way that makes Eve want to kill him even more. "Time will come when the universe is thankful and the vanished are forgotten, just like you will be one day. Nobody's gonna remember your or their names."
Eve takes a step towards him but her best friend stops her by placing his hand on her shoulder. She just glares at Thanos, threatening him. "Voltricity. Remember my name. You should know why you'll die."
Steve lets go of her when she doesn't take any more steps and controls her temper. Meanwhile tears are formed in Natasha's eyes and even though she knows the answer, she asks the question anyway. "Where are the Stones?"
"Gone. Reduced to atoms." His response paralyzes Aurora and she's too much in shock to process what he just said. Trillions died and they can't change anything anymore. It's too late.
Bruce objects, "You used them two days ago!"
"I used the Stones to destroy the Stones." Thanos clarifies and "It nearly killed me, but the work is done. It always will be. I am inevitable."
Thanos' words echo through Eve's head and her body starts to tremble. This was their chance, their only chance to bring everyone back. She will never see any of her friends, her family, again. They're all dead. With an enraged scream, Eve loses control and the lightning streams through her body, glowing through her eyes. Tackling Thanos to the ground, she blindly punches him with her electrified fists.
"Liar!! Where are the Stones?! WHERE ARE THEY?!" She shouts furiously and Carol is the one who pulls her back. Luckily, the blonde manages to remain mostly unharmed by her electricity while Eve still punches wildly around her. "Tell me where they are!!!"
Thanos' face is now even more burned than before, his injuries bleeding and he groans in pain. The Titan pants heavily and can barely move, his flesh is sizzling. Still, it's not even close to the revenge any of them wanted.
"We have to tear this place apart, he- he has to be lying." Rhodey attempts to pull himself together and looks around while Eve pants slightly, Carol talking her down.
"As much as I want him dead as well, we need him alive to find the Stones. He's right, Thanos is probably lying." The blonde reminds her and Eve finally manages to calm down, regulating her breath. The electricity vanishes.
"Y-You're right. He also lied about Tony being dead." She turns back to Thanos who appears only pathetic being on the ground.
"My father is many things." Nebula says, her voice heavy with the weight of the truth. "A liar is not one of them. And he left Tony to die on Titan, just like he left me."
Aurora knows that Nebula is telling them the harsh truth. Thanos also kept his word concerning his deal with Loki, he spared her life for the Tesseract. She can't believe that this is it.
"Ah, thank you, daughter." A disgustingly proud tone laces his words, recognizing and even appreciating her defense. "Perhaps I treated you too harshly– "
In the next second, Eve shoots a lightning at Thanos and he screams in pain. It's her signal for Thor and he lifts Stormbreaker, removing Thanos' head with one swift swing. Aurora flinches at the suddenly brutal act, the purple blood spreading through the room now and Thanos' head lying five feet apart from his smoke-erupting body. Nebula silently wipes off her father's blood from her face and Eve just stares at the dead Titan. This is what she and Thor trained for. The demigod sends her a short but respectful glance.
"What... What did you do?" Rocket is stunned and Thor's voice is cracking.
"I went for the head."
With these words, Thor walks off and Nebula closes her father's dead eyes. She feels no satisfaction about his death because it has brought her nothing but bitterness and pain. The silence is interrupted by Eve's words.
"I- I can't– I can't do this anymore." She splutters and suddenly pants heavily, the air growing thin in her chest. Panic attack. The mask she has carried throughout the last weeks is now shattered and the emotions and fatigue are overwhelming her. Now that Thanos is dead, she has no goal and it didn't feel as satisfying as she imagined.
"Eve, try to to breathe." Steve is immediately by her her side and catches her when she loses her balance, gently guiding her to the ground.
Her chest is rising and sinking rapidly and she can barely phrase any comprehensive words, only blank panic is reflected in her green eyes. Bucky is gone. Sam is gone. Wanda is gone. T'Challa is gone. Vision is gone. "I can't– I can't believe– it was our last chance. No- no other option– "
"I know." Pain grows in Steve's eyes. "Look at me. Come on, breathe with me. Inhale. Exhale."
She follows his instructions, it's not the first time that they're doing this. It takes a while until Eve can calm down as all the others are quiet out of respect. As soon as she can breathe regularly again, she is too exhausted to move and her head is leaned on Steve's chest. Eve's mind drifts off, she is just too tired and passes out from the exhaustion in the last days. Steve then picks her carefully up and signals the others to return to the ship.
They're going home empty-handed and with failure burdened on their shoulders.
A/N- Update number one this week :") Two more to go! I decided to update more this week because you guys were so active and supportive in the last chapter, so thank you ❤️