Our team settled into the arrangement of chairs in the Conference Room. We circled around the table, but faced the screens against the wall, which, currently, projected a bold label dubbed 'The Time Heist'.
I was in charge of the tablet that controlled the screens, so I sat directly across from it. Natasha sat beside me, a notebook in her lap, and a pen flipping between her fingers. Scott was on my other side, claiming he needed the best view, because he knew little of the Infinity Stones.
"All right, so the how works. Now, we figure out the when and where," introduced Steve, standing beside the screens. "Everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one Infinity Stone."
"Or, substitute the word encounter with damn near been killed by one of the six Infinity Stones," said Tony passive-aggressively.
"I haven't!" said Scott, nodding excitedly. "I don't even know what the Hell you're all talking about."
"Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one roundtrip each and these Stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history," explained Bruce.
"Our history. So, not a lot of convenient spots to drop in," admitted Tony.
"Which means we gotta pick our targets," said Clint.
Tony nodded. "Correct."
"When I still had my powers, I tried to follow them through time, to see if maybe there were other people who had encounters, who knew maybe how we could fix this. I could tell you where the Time Stone, Mind Stone, and Space Stone have all been definitively," I explained to everyone.
As I mentioned the Stones, I projected photos of them on the three screens. Two Stones on each screen appeared, with labels underneath, and space for me to write down bullet point notes of what we would learn about them individually, but also of where they had been in time.
I pointed at Nebula and Rocket. "But the Power Stone I know you both know more about, and I found little on the other one."
"The Aether," said Steve, nodding. "Thor, why don't we start there?"
When silence met our ears, everyone turned to where Thor had been slouched down in the corner chair. His sunglasses were still on, he still had a beer in his hand, and he hadn't moved when Steve spoke directly to him.
"Is he asleep?" asked Natasha.
"No. Pretty sure he's dead," said Rhodey.
I snapped my fingers underneath the table. When Kona's eager nose touched my hand, I pointed at Thor, and she trotted over to him and hiked her front paws on his stomach, licking his face aggressively. When he jumped awake with a battle cry, startled, he almost punched Kona across the room before he realized it was her.
"What, what?" he asked.
"The Aether," repeated Steve. "What do you know about it?"
Thor grumbled and stood from his chair. He walked, almost in slow motion, to the front. Once in front of us, he shimmied off his sunglasses and blinked rapidly at the brightness of the fluorescent lights.
"Uh, where to start... Uh, yes, the Aether. It is not a stone, someone called it a stone before," he pointed at Steve, who furrowed his brow. "It's not a Stone, it's more of an angry sludge thing, so someone's gonna need to..." Thor paused to tilt his head back and put in eyedrops. "...Ammend that and stop saying that. But here's an interesting story though! Many years ago, my Grandfather had to hide the Stone from the Dark Elves. Oooh." He twinkled his fingers for dramatic effect. "Scary beings. So, when jane. Oh, uh Jane.. SHe was an old flame of mine. She stuck her hand inside a rock 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 try and fix her. We were dating at the time and I got to introduce her to my mother, who's dead, and Jane and I aren't even dating anymore, and, well, you know nothing lasts forever!"
During Thor's entire speech, we had all been sharing looks of second-hand embarrassment between each other. Bruce tried waving his hand horizontally at his throat, gesturing for him to cut the story. Thor didn't notice. He didn't notice our disinterest in the story, he only saw Scott enthusiastically nod a few times and assumed to keep going.
Tony stood from his seat and started to rub Thor's arm sympathetically, forcing a smile, and saying quietly, "All right, Thor, good story, thank you--" but he was cut off by Thor.
"The only thing permanent in life is impermanence!" finished Thor.
Tony paused, waiting for Thor to continue. When he didn't, he clapped his hands. "Awesome. Eggs? Breakfast?" he offered Thor.
"No, I'd like a Bloody Mary," ordered Thor, nodding happily.
Tony denied him and nudged him kindly back to his seat in the corner. When Thor sat back down, I rubbed my temples and suggested maybe we should all eat, and we decided to intercept for lunch.
We ordered Chinese and distributed everyone's Styrofoam boxes. Once we had about an hour to talk about things that weren't related to the Time Stone and fill our stomachs, we went back to work.
"Okay," said Steve, reclining in his chair. "Power stone next? Clara, where'd you see it?"
"Uh, it was, like in a vault. It sat there for years and years until Quill found it, but he got ambushed by some people," I recalled briefly.
"By Ronan's troops," said Nebula.
Rocket cleared his throat loudly. He laced his fingers together and then stretched them out, cracked his neck, and then climbed on top of the table. He crossed his wrists behind his back and started to pace on the table. I watched him try to ignore Kona as she started to jog circles around the table, her tongue flopping out of her mouth, eagerly eyeing him.
He stopped and pointed at her. "Will you control that beast?"
"Rocket, she's fine. She just wants to be your friend," I assured.
"Or to eat him," suggested Tony, lazily throwing his wrist in the air.
I rolled my eyes. "Stop. I've got her, Rocket. Go on."
Rocket continued to pace, projecting his voice for all to hear. "All right. Quill said he stole the Power Stone from Morag."
"Is that a person?" asked Bruce.
"Quill's a person," I muttered as I hurried to type Rocket's information into the tablet. I glanced up, ensuring my typing was showing up on the projected screen as well.
"Morag is a planet," finished Rocket.
Scott's head flew up, his eyes swelling with wonder. "Like a planet? Like in outer space?"
"Aw, look, it's like a little puppy, all happy and everything," cooed Rocket, mocking Scott. He bent over to ruffle Scott's hair. "Do you wanna go to space? Do you wanna go to space, puppy?"
Rocket continued on to tell the story about how he and Groot intercepted the Power Stone from Quill and Gamora, which landed them in prison, and then the rest was history. He let us through the path the Power Stone took with himself and the other Guardians.
Kona continued to pace as Rocket walked. I tried having her sit with me but she was being entirely too distracted by his claim to the center of attention, so I excused myself and the two of us went on a walk around the Compound.
I assumed further discussion went on. I had listened to Rocket's story, though my mind found itself wandering. Steve remembered that five years ago, when I was still Agamotto, I had tracked the paths of the Infinity Stones. I barely remembered the knowledge I acquired from that; some of it came back to my mind when he reminded me of it. I took Kona on a walk to help soothe Rocket's annoyance with her, but also to try to be encapsulated by the quietness outside and recall whatever information I could of the Infinity Stones paths from my memory. Five years hadn't seemed like a long time to recall from until I tried to do so.
I declared to myself it was easiest to grab the Power Stone right before Quill grabbed it, as he could lead whoever went straight to it. If not, there was ample time when he touched down on Xandar and before he tried to sell it to infiltrate. Any time after those two instances would create too much leeway for things to go awry.
The Aether, now that I knew what it was called, remained our easiest Stone. It was on Asgard. Thor would be the one to go and retrieve it, because he knew when and how to acquire it in the most efficient way.
The Time Stone had stayed between the Sanctum Santorum and Kamar-Taj, in Nepal. I tried to think logically about when it would have for sure been in New York, before I sent myself to the wrong time and screwed my one shot. Mumbling the city over and over, pushing my brain, it was instantaneously when I came to a stop.
New York City. The Time Stone hopped between New York City and Nepal, but two Stones had spent the majority of our encounters with us in the latter, and, even better, at the exact same time. I knew of their matching locations, but the team inside, the original six Avengers, would know more information than I had read in the report on the Battle of New York all those years ago when I worked for S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Kona," I said, grabbing her attention. "Inside!"
I ran through the Hangar and sprinted up the stairs. I skidded to a stop in the doorway of the Conference Room, where everyone turned to stare at my panting self and the crazy dog that followed right on my tail.
"Uh, oh. She's got it," grinned Tony excitedly.
"I so do," I breathed, shuffling to the projected screens. I hadn't been gone long, and they hadn't moved much further in their discussion without Steve and I both keeping everyone on topic. I turned on my heel and clapped my hands together, pointing my conjoined hands at Nebula. "What else do we know about Vormir besides your sister not coming back? We know where it's located?"
"Yes," said Nebula curtly.
"Then a team goes to Vormir to get the Stone. The Power Stone another team grabs if you go to Morag, you wait for Quill, and then you let him lead you right to it," I introduced. I tapped my fingers together, then remembered the next Stone, and pointed at Thor. "Thor, you're going to have to be on Asgard to locate the Aether."
"If you pick the right year, there are three Stones in New York," continued Natasha boldly. She looked up from her notebook and surveyed the surprised looks. She raised her eyebrow at me, as I was the only one who knew what dots she had connected. "Right?"
"The Battle of New York," I agreed enthusiastically. We grinned at each other. "The Time Stone would be there, I know it. Whoever was guarding the Sanctum at that time would have to help kill any Chituari that escaped far enough."
Steve watched me with admiration. I could feel his love for this version of myself, the one he hadn't seen in years. Our eyes met, we shared a hopeful smile, and he spoke to the group. I always found it interesting to hear the change in his demeanor, his voice when he spoke to anyone who wasn't me. With me, he was soft in every way, he relaxed. When he spoke to the team, he couldn't show that vulnerability. He was our leader. He needed to exert that confidence that made us want to follow him, he needed to remain stoic, and focused on our endgame.
"We need to pick teams strategically," he told the team. "We'll have to intercept or act as our past selves to get both the Scepter and the Tesseract. I don't recall a time where they are alone long enough for us to grab them."
Tony snapped his fingers with remembrance. "They were both in the Tower. After we close the portal, after we get Loki cuffed, do you remember? S.H.I.E.L.D came and tried to take the Tesseract from us before Loki and Thor used it to go back to Asgard. Thor and I fought with Pierce about it."
"They took the scepter from me, too," muttered Steve, shaking his head with discontent. Looking back on it, I was sure he was frustrated knowing how easily he trusted S.H.I.E.L.D. It was then he decided he wouldn't make the same mistake, this time, and he declared he would retrieve the Scepter for us.
"I'll get the Cube," called Tony, throwing his hand in the hair.
"I'm going to New York," I decided, crossing my arms over my chest. "Nobody in the public knew I had powers. I can get by as a civilian and grab the Time Stone from the Sanctum."
"I want him," decided Tony. He pointed at Scott across the table, whose lips split with shock. "There's no time where I could sneak in as myself and grab it. It stays on me through lunch, til we send Thor off. But, I know you're all thinking: well, Tony, however do we get it, then? Answer: I still had the Arc Reactor. If Scott shrinks, sneaks into the Reactor, snaps some plugs, I get a heart attack, and the case somehow gets misplaced among the panic over my oncoming death..."
"It works for me!" agreed Scott, happily. He was ecstatic to be chosen for a vital role so early on in the plan.
I declared the four of us Team One. I shimmied the tablet from Steve's hand, laying my head briefly on his shoulder as a thanks, then pushed the Time, Mind, and Space Stones together onto one screen. I put the Aether on its own screen, knowing Thor would be leading that mission.
"Who will join me on Asgard?" bellowed Thor, raising his beer in the air, eager to cheers when he found a partner.
The remainder of the team refused to make eye contact with him. Thor continued to stay frozen, beer in the air, mouth wide open, waiting for someone to speak up.
"Well, um, we need one of you to be on Morag to identify Quill. Clint, Nat, and Rhodey have never met him," I admitted slowly. I looked back and forth between Nebula and Rocket, praying they would pick up on my widened eyes, begging them to take one for the team and join Thor.
Rocket groaned. He slouched down in his seat, grumbling that he would join Thor, because he knew Nebula would never agree to it. Thor didn't recognize how much Rocket didn't truly want to be paired with him, and he still cheered, sipping his beer gleefully by himself.
"Uh, all right," I muttered, turning back to the screen. "Um, that leaves the Power Stone and the Soul Stone."
Natasha rolled her head to Clint, raising her eyebrows at him. "You feel like going on another mission with me?"
Clint rolled his eyes. "Vormir, it is, then."
I updated the projection, then turned back to the remaining three members of our team.
"I'll be on Morag," said Nebula.
"Care if I join you?" wondered Rhodey. When Nebula shook her head curtly and one single time, Rhodey smiled at me, and I updated the projection.
"Bruce, you kinda get to choose where you wanna go. Anywhere's game, I'd say. Except Asgard. I don't think you would blend in well there," I explained to him.
"I'll just play it safe. I'll go to New York with you guys," agreed Bruce.
As I updated the projection aptly, Steve spoke to update everyone verbally. "Okay, then we have a plan. Six Stones. Four teams. One shot."
"Tomorrow morning at dawn, meet at the platform. Wear what you'll need to blend in, to fight, whatever. Just rest, you guys. Tomorrow, we change the world. I need you all rested," I begged kindly.
After our team went around the circle and verbally agreed, we dismissed the meeting. Steve and I assured everyone we would set up for tomorrow morning while they got a head start on settling down for the night. Once they cleared the Conference Room and retreated to their rooms, Steve and I headed down to the Hangar.
I assured everyone's assigned Quantum Realm suits were hanging nicely on the rack and had apt Pym Particles for everyone in a container on a table beside the suits. I assured Steve's old suit from the Battle of New York had been cleaned and ready to go, that Scott's Ant-Man suit was hanging and ready to go, that Bruce had a folded version of the ripped brown pants he had during the Battle. Clint and Natasha had gotten upgraded suits I had hanging, as well. Tony's S.H.I.E.L.D armor hung beside theirs.
Nebula and Rocket didn't have to worry of their gear and they kept everything they deemed necessary on their body or on their ship. I didn't worry of them. Moreso, Nebula than Rocket, as I was pretty sure Rocket was trying to shank my dog at some point.
Thor, on retrospect, should have cared of his outfit, but he didn't. No one bothered to argue with him on it.
Steve set up an arrangement of ten Watches together. He placed them spaciously from the necessary weapons and put them on the opposite side of the table. Steve's shield lay on the table, with Stormbreaker lazily tossed there by Thor, Clint's bow and quiver, Natasha's Widow Bites, batons, and dual guns.
"What will you wear tomorrow?" I heard Steve ask behind me.
"Honeslty, haven't thought about it. I don't know. Probably just some zip-up jacket, some jeans or yoga..." I turned, having finished my duty, and I saw him holding a box for me in his hands. I raised my eyebrow. "Or this, apparently."
I set the box down on the table and unfolded what he had gotten me. It was a black, skin-tight, flexible suit that stretched over my entire body, but stopped at my ankles and wrists. At my chest, it split into a zipper, giving me the option to zip up to my neck or leave it loose. It had clear padding throughout it for protection. A patch of the white 'A' for our team was on the left bicep of the suit. I laid the suit down and pulled out an emerald green harness. It crossed over my back, met in a belt at my waist, and then ran down both sides of my legs to hold a knife holster and a gun holster on either side. There was a flattened pouch underneath the knife holster.
"I think green suits you," I heard him say softly to me. "I know how much that Stone meant to you. I know it's hard for you to think about losing it, but that doesn't mean you can't appreciate its memory for what it did to for you instead of what it can't, now."
I exhaled a shaky breath. I loved him. It was all I repeated in my head, that I loved him, but I managed to mutter, "You and Stark decided to upgrade me, huh?" through my moved tears.
Steve scratched the back of his neck. "We also might have misplaced your old suit in the move."
I laughed and waved my hand to forgive him. "It's okay. I love this. Thank you, Steve."
Steve nodded appreciatively. He clasped his hands in front of him, his eyes soft as he watched me smile at him and wipe my face from the few tears that escaped my eyes. I wasn't sure if he meant to speak the words he said, as he looked surprised with himself after he did, but some part of him blurted out, "I like this hopeful Clara I'm seeing."
I leaned on the table behind me. I extended my hand to him, bringing him to lean on the table with me. We were quiet as we observed the contraption that served as our Quantum Tunnel. Our fingers danced around each other playfully. I put my head on his shoulder.
"We're going to get our family back," I whispered to him. "Sam, Bucky. I'll have Strange back, and Peter. Everyone. How could I not be hopeful?"
"But what's going to change between us if they come back?"
Again, I exhaled. I let go of his hand and let my head fall straight back onto my body. I crossed my arms on my body and gripped my shirt. I didn't look at him. I closed my eyes, frustrated, and mumbled, "Steve, I thought we were going to talk about us after they came back."
"You can't blame me for wondering about it," he said without remorse.
"And I don't. But you have to understand that I'm not going to wake up one day and suddenly be okay with our lives, Steve. You have been patient with me and my grief, and I appreciate it beyond any way than I can repay you. I love you. I love Kona, I love what we have built together over these ten years, but the last five? Settling down? Staying? It's not me. It's not where I've felt like I belonged to stay," I admitted to him. We both didn't look at each other, just at our feet, nervously. We were both terrified of saying the wrong thing. Our marriage was tense, it was at a stand-still, and we both feared of saying something we could never go back from. I tried to be honest with him without hurting his feelings; I thought about my words before I spoke them. "But doing the UN stuff, doing this, meaning something, doing something meanful, this is where I feel I belong. I belong to you in my heart. I know that. I just don't know that I can do this domestic thing any longer."
"So, maybe it's time for me to change, then," he said quietly to himself. He pushed himself up from the table and stood in front of me. He raised my chin with his finger to connect our eyes. My eyes welled with tears as soon as I looked into his. "I'll ask someone to take over my Support Group. Let's pack up some stuff, let's take Kona, and travel. We can do the UN stuff together. You can travel, and I'll follow you."
My lip quivered. "You would go with me?"
"Clara, my love," whispered Steve, his eyes squinting as he forced a sad smile on his lips. He kissed my forehead. "You spent five years trying to give me what I wanted. Settling, kids. It's my turn to try for you. So, when we get them back, when Sam and Bucky are here with us, when they're okay... We can try giving you what you want and we can go travel the world. If you feel in your soul that you're meant to be traveling, I'll follow you anywhere."
"You would do that for me?" I mumbled.
Steve cupped my face as he chuckled. "What do you think I married you for?"
"Technically, I asked you to marry me," I managed to say through my tears.
"I implied it first," he said.
"But I asked," I whined.
"Shut up," he laughed at me, and pressed a kiss to my lips. "I know this is hard. We were both never meant to be where we are. I've been willing to navigate this crazy life with you for such a long time, Clara, and I'll never stop. Maybe somewhere in exploring what we want, we'll find a compromise to exist in."
"Maybe," I agreed, laying my forehead on his chest. "The only thing I can promise you is I'll never stop loving you, Steve. I'll never stop trying to make us work."
Steve kissed my head. "I know, love. Me, too."