"Wow... This place looks like shit." Rocket mutters in disbelief when he stares at the ruins of Xandar. Thanos really succeeded in messing up this place. The beautiful capital that was once drowning in neon lights and green nature is now gone and just dust and ashes are left. The life and diversity that the planet captured have died and it's now completely deserted. Seeing what the Mad Titan had done makes Aurora sick and she looks around with a sad expression.
"All the slaves Loki and I freed... gone." She mumbles with a heavy weight burdened on her chest. They managed to save so many children from Mistress Fortuna with the help of the Nova Corps and now they're all dead.
"Ah, there you are." Denarian Dey walks towards them when he spots the three Guardians and their familiar ship. He ordered them to come to Xandar for an assignment. Though he frowns when he realizes they're not as many as they used to be. "What happened to the others?"
"Dead." Nebula answers shortly with a cold voice and he almost winces.
"I'm glad you survived though." Aurora attempts to brighten up the mood and he sends her a half smile. She and Peter were always troublemakers for the Nova Corps but this doesn't mean he wouldn't care about them. "What happened here?"
"Thanos attacked the planet to get the Power Stone, then he killed half of our people. And his plan apparently succeeded since half of our remaining people then disappeared." He sighs with sorrow. "We had to evacuate the survivors to Zori since this one is way too destroyed. Most of the Kree slaves didn't make it, I'm sorry."
"It's okay..." Aurora mutters, pressing her lips to a thin line. She knows by now that the world is merciless and cruel, and the only thing she can do is to be the opposite. Death is greedy and takes every soul, no matter if innocent or not.
"And what do you expect us to do? Do you even have any cash to pay us?" Rocket raises a brow in the air and Aurora smacks his head for the insensitive questions.
"I'm sorry, what he means is that we will gladly accept the assignment." She corrects Rocket. "What exactly is the problem though?"
"Here are lots of remaining relics with incredibly great values lying around. We try to collect as many as possible, but some of the Kree folk constantly attack our planet and try to steal them. I'm asking you to guard this place for a while, maybe even find some of the missing relics." Denarian Dey then opens a hologram, showing them a list of the relics that are yet to be found.
"Holy shit, you have the amethyst pyramid???" Rocket is astounded and gazes at the hologram. "That thing is worth 500,000 units! We would be stupid rich if we– I mean, cool that you have it."
Aurora's punch has stopped Rocket's rambling and she sends the Xandarian a friendly smile. "We'll work on it."
"I also called support in case you need help." He adds and as if on time, Carol Danvers comes flying down. The blonde woman smirks as soon as she recognizes the Guardians. "This is Captain Marvel. I hope you'll get along with each other. She's an expert on Krees and their strategies as she's a half one herself."
"Oh, don't worry, we already got acquainted with each other." Aurora smiles brightly and pulls the new guest into a welcoming hug. Meanwhile Dey leaves them to take care of the remaining Xandarians on the other planet, waving to them goodbye. "Hey, Carol, it's been such a long time since we've seen each other! How have you been??"
"Pretty busy." Carol laughs at the warm embrace and they let go of each other. The last time they had met was shortly after Thanos' death. Though they're staying in touch with the Avengers through the conference calls that Eve and Nat are doing monthly. "It's nice though to see a familiar face. The last time I saw you, your hair wasn't as long as it is now."
"Yeah, I'm letting it grow." She shrugs and places her hands in her pockets. "I kept it short for practical reasons since it's better for fights, but now... there are no more fights."
"Maybe I should cut off mine then." Carol half smirks. "I'm just going to stay for a bit, there's some unfinished business I have with the Supreme Intelligence."
"The Supreme Intelligence?!" Aurora blurts out in astonishment and shudders at the memory. "I mean they once helped me to defeat Mistress Fortuna as they agreed that she was a bitch. But apart from that, I'm no fan of them or the Kree. Well, most of the Kree, it's a personal matter, not a racial one."
"Chitchat's nice but getting the job done and stealing some of the relics is nicer, so let's move our asses." Rocket speaks up with annoyance and Nebula nods agreeing.
"We should get out of here as soon as possible, this hell place is disgusting." Thanos' daughter snarls unpleasantly and Aurora activates the device around her wrist.
"I'm gonna scan the area for the missing relics. Dey sent me the serial numbers, so it should be easy to find– "
"Watch out!" Carol suddenly cuts her off and flies with full speed towards the sky against the missile that was coming down at them. As she crashes against the rocket, an explosion follows and the pressure throws everyone off. Aurora lands in a pile of dust and ruins and groans at the harsh landing, her sides aching. Her ears are ringing and the voices that are so close to her seem distant and muffled now.
Aurora finally manages to look up and the fire around her makes her freeze instantly. The whole place is on fire, just like the Statesman was after Thanos' attack. Her heart suddenly tightens and crumbles until it stops existing and she can't move a single muscle. Curling up, the auburn-haired squints her eyes in panic and focuses on breathing, her hands covering her ears. Aurora's whole body is trembling, hiding in the ashes and smoke.
She doesn't know how much time passes, it feels like an eternity even though deep down in her mind, she knows that must have been minutes. Everything's blurred out and Aurora hopes that this nightmare is over as soon as possible. The ruins and the fire combined have abducted her back to her trauma and now she's beyond terrified.
"Shit, the Kree must have waited for Dey to leave the planet and didn't hesitate to attack." Rocket growls when it's over and he walks to Aurora. "Good that Danvers reacted quick and took care of these bastards– Aurora? Hey, 'Rora?"
"What's wrong with her? Is she injured?" Carol questions after she lands on the ground again. The Kree ship got torn apart by her and they're defeated, the threat is gone, but Aurora's been too distracted to pay attention the things that are happening around her.
"I think she's having a panic attack again." Rocket mumbles with a low voice and Carol's expression softens. She kneels down and places her hand cautiously on Aurora's shoulder.
"Hey, Aurora? Aurora." She calls her and gently shakes the Half-Celestial. Completely startled, Aurora winces in fright and finally opens her eyes. She's no longer on the Statesman but back on Xandar.
"S-Sorry. I'm sorry." Aurora stutters and sits up quickly, sweat and dust covering her forehead and she regulates her breathing.
"Everything okay?" Carol tilts her head and her brown eyes are somehow calming. Nodding, Aurora gets up and knocks off the dirt of her green coat.
"I'm fine..." She mumbles and sounds entirely lost as she walks off. "I'll– I'll go look for the relics, you just be on air patrol in case they come back with an actual army."
The three just watch how Aurora walks away, looking like nothing but a traumatized, lost child.
***
"Here's Steve Rogers. Leave a message in case I'm not able to answer your call." Steve's voice on the voice mail drives Eve crazy and she hangs up before she can leave a message there since she hates to solve personal matters like that. It's been over a year now and he still doesn't see her. Eve understands that everyone's grieving in their own way and Natasha also told her that Steve is ignoring her, too, meaning that there are no personal reasons behind his behavior towards her. Still, Eve misses her best friend.
She considers to find one of Steve's support group meetings and talk to him until her phone's suddenly vibrating. The red SOS message of Bruce appears on the phone screen and Eve's eyes widen. There's an emergency, a really urgent one. Something must have happened in his private lab that he got after Thanos' death.
"Shit." Eve mutters and leaves the compound to get in the car and drive to his gamma lab. She's racing like a mad woman although the location isn't too far away and arrives there within ten minutes. There's a thick, green smoke spreading through the area and that almost gives her a heart attack.
"Bruce!" Eve yells in worry and runs in haste into the building, entering the lab. "Bruce?!"
Shattered glass is lying on the ground and the red alarm light is constantly blinking. The mist that fogs her sight is reeking of chemicals and the room is unusually warm, Eve doesn't have a good feeling about this. She hopes that the fume is not too toxic, it's at least not difficult to breathe for her. Taking out her phone, she's about to call Tony until a familiar voice finally responds.
"I'm here." Bruce answers weakly and Eve's heart almost drops in relief. She keeps walking through the room until she finds a huge silhouette sitting on the ground.
"God, I was bloody worried. What the hell happened– " She abruptly stops in the middle of the sentence when the fog slowly vanishes and the big shape emerges into a familiar friend. It's the Hulk, but he looks different. His expression is no longer monstrous but human. Incredibly human. With widened eyes, Eve stares at him and doesn't know what to say, so she only repeats her question. "What the hell happened?"
"Thanos kicked my ass and I couldn't turn anymore, so I permanently merged my brain with the Hulk's body and strength." He mumbles and Eve is honestly speechless, still getting used to the visible image of Bruce in the Hulk. Odd would be an understatement. "As you can see, it actually worked."
Eventually, she finds her voice again and kneels down in front of him. "It's... unusual to see you like this, let alone to see the Hulk again after all these years. Are you okay though? Do you need anything? How are you feeling?"
"Just a bit exhausted, but actually fine." Bruce seems content and Eve just decides to sit down, leaning against the table behind her, so they're face to face with each other. "Don't worry about the fog, I already activated the ventilation and filtration. It's just taking a while because I hit my head there when I turned."
"The fog's not what I was concerned about." She exhales, relieved that he's okay. "Well, I'm glad that the elastic pants are still working."
"I might need a few more clothes in this size now." Bruce actually chuckles, and it's still strange for her to see the Hulk chuckle. A smile is plastered on his face. "I know it must be weird to see a talking Hulk with other emotions but rage."
"I won't lie, it really is. But you know what's great? A few years ago, you thought you were a monster. Because of the Hulk, you felt cursed. And it turns out, you were the cure all along." The corner of Eve's lips twitches up for a fleeting moment, the back of her head leaned against the table. "Though I've never had a problem with the Hulk. I've never thought it was necessary for you to fix yourself. Both of you were my friends."
"I know. I've never felt that bad when I was around you." He returns gently. "But you changed too, Eve. When you lost someone a few years ago, you went through a really dark time. You were depressed. And now look at you. You're on your own feet now, doing the job, still helping people despite what happened. How can you do that? Everyone else just quit."
Eve swallows and hesitates, her hand clenched to a fist. Tony, Pepper and Morgan are living their life together, Thor is in New Asgard and ignores everyone, Natasha is looking for Clint and Steve has quit being Captain America. No more Bucky, Wanda and Sam. Eve's the only one who's still doing her job as an Avenger, sometimes with Nat by her side.
"When I helped building this orphanage in Washington, the children called me their hero. I could give them hope, and that's what the people need." She admits, shrugging. "I can't let them down. Someone has to take care of the mess this world left and I'm capable of doing it."
"But what about your feelings?" He frowns, concerned about the way she's coping now. Bruce can sense her denial, she refuses to deal with her feelings.
"I'm fine." Eve assures him, trying to convince him and herself. "I first continued to do this for him. I started to be the person he fell in love with because that's the version of myself that I like most. But after a while, I realized I'm also doing this because it's the right thing to do."
Bruce only nods and a comfortable silence settles down between them. What they both like about their friendship is that words aren't always necessary and they can stay in a peaceful quiet. Soon, Eve realizes something and looks at him.
"Did you actually call anyone else or only me?" She asks in bewilderment and now he smiles.
"Just you. I knew you'd come. And you're the first person I wanted to meet the new me."
A/N- I'm so sorry if this chapter is boring af, but I really wanted to show Aurora's trauma and Eve and Bruce's friendship :(
The next chapter will have the big time jump and more separated point of views again! We are diving back into the Endgame plot, oh boy.