Here's the beginning of my first fic and yes, despite my username it's not Harry Potter. You'll see, after the Infinity War final I was hyped over a lot of thing's and I could't think in anything more than THAT movie and THAT final so I decided to write this with summer holydays start and publish it all around September but the story just got so big and than arrived University and then I wasn't sure about my english grammar (isn't my native lenguage, maybe you noticed yet) so clearly it's not summer but I thought today was the day, especially after that stunning and heartbreaking peace of trailer for Avengers Endgame (You Russos lied to me. I will never trust you anymore in all my life).
Chapter 1
One snap and half the Avengers, their teammates, their friends were vanished. No painful cry, no death bodies, just ashes...just puf... Sam Wilson, Wanda Maximoff, Bucky Barnes, king T'Challa, the cute young tree he didn't knew and who know what more friends around the world, maybe universe. Bruce's thoughts mixed with the full rage and incomprehension calls from Wakanda people while feel the Hulk was surprisingly in no mood for follow that rage, rather sharing his own shock and sadness. Then Bruce noticed he forget someone: universe, spaceships...
"Tony..." the few Avengers been left stared at him noticing the absence. Steve was the first to ask, past arguments with their losen friend forget in mind background.
"Where's he? Do you think he also..." with such worried look he and the others fix at him Bruce immediate move was ask FRIDAY although knowing surely the Iron Man would be away from the Earth.
"FRIDAY, can you make contact with Tony Stark armour?" Bruce wait for the A. I. answer hearing his heart fast beating anxiousness, out of hulking danger although.
"I can't Doctor Banner, Mr. Stark lose coverage 40 minute after you left New York. The last armour location I had access was..." Bruce keep waiting while the A.I. calculate "...58,540, 000 km away from Earth"
Bruce contained a gasp. That was higthly beyond Mars and if that wasn't far enough he was certain in one hundred per cent his friend was now far far away from there, surely out the milky way. For the pale faces the Avengers held at him he could say they had heard the A.I. too.
"How the hell he got him out of Earth?" Rhodey inquired, worried gaze and covered in sweet with his head out of his armour.
"Tony go inside one of Thanos spaceships when his minion abducted a wizard with a cape who had the Time gem."
They knit browns puzzled to the words "wizard with a cape" but seemed they had think better in order priorities.
"So Tony go up on a spaceship following the wizard and the gem for prevent that monster taken it... But Thanos had it on the gauntlet, he couldn't have turned minutes back in time for take the Mind gem before was destroyed if would be the other way." Natasha put pieces together and the way it fit in did Bruce get on a tragic also uncertain conclusion but before he could move on, general Rhodes seem to have the same though and talk it out.
"We must find and bring him here already, no matter where he is. We would possible still have time enough." Rhodey said urgent, complainig. The determination was shared for each of them. Question in terms was how if no one knew where exactly was Tony, not even Thor could go without knowing it. But then, before Bruce could keep considering ways for act towards his friend absence a raccon he didn't noticed before was muttering some names while pressing what seemed an earpiece comm but whoever he was calling didn't want or could answer, at least that's what Bruce though when the raccon turn the hoarse muttering on a yell.
"Shit! Drax!, Gamora!, Mantis! Quill fuck hell! Anyone, answer me! Fuck Thanos and his fucking stones! Fuck dust! Fuck Nidavellir! And fuck the shitty tech on this stupid semineandertal planet! You haven't discovered deep space long-term satellites yet or what?! I need a battery of 1000 GWh and a huge antenna! Now!" the raccon faced them up in such a bunch of angryness and range it would seem he would throw his fangs towards anyone who would dare to reject him but at the same time with such a helplessness behaviore it was clear it was just his way on dealing with an outcome that had let them bewildered, furious and shoked the same way around. Also it seemed he had a plan and although it would be no more than for search his friends and find out if they were...that... Steve seem to have right away realised how he could help us if we helped him, though they would have helped the animal anyway.
"Okey, easy there." Steve rabbed his eyes and toke his hair back on a clear sign of fatigue and sadness, trying to figure out what to do next. "Listen, I need to find some friends who are out there on a spaceship who knows how... but you are same as me, attempting to make contact with your friends you don't know in which conditions they could be. I'm wrong? Could you help us if we help you?" Steve asserted.
"I can, yeah" answered the raccon.
Bruce noticed Steve keeped his natural calling for leading and get adviced his team even before the worst situations, yet before the most tragic ending they had come out ever. Something was off on their Captain, of course. He had fougth almost all his life for hold on a world which even between little havens of peace always breaked down itself at the end and he had seen, lived the worst falls on humanity history and still hold up. The Captain had finally found out a team who understanded and whished the same thing as him, whom he had attached to almost as if it was his familiy. However each of them notised he missed something, someone from his real time to help him carry on on this frenetic, chaotic modern world. Natasha was who understanded and did helped him the best cause she could seem lethal and cold but when she trusted someone she was everytime there for being as loyal and strong as she could be and for her to do so with Steve was the easiest, even Bruce could see that but never bothered him. Then the Captain found out his best friend from childhood, Bucky Barnes, was still alive and without been a matter for him that Hydra had turned his friend on a killing mindless machine he cared for him and fighted his moral code, his loyality towards the superiors, his doubts and his team for get his old friend back. Rhodey didn't explained him much more on about what happened in two years but his position sit down on the floor and his feable tone of voice was enough singal how painful was for him to lose in a heartbeat what costed him practically is life and it wasn't just Bucky, it was Wanda, it was Sam, it was Vision and next could be Tony. Their Captain was debasted and even then he used all his might to set the tone and that was the reason Bruce respected him.
At this point the Captain only needed a nod for made Bruce to know what to do next. In spite of being a raccoon if it was intelligent enough for talk clear English (how if he came from space? No idea, but it was), wear an armour, hold a weapon and understand technology he could be a grate help and Bruce would work with him without problem.
"Fine. Grab me and I would carry you to the labs on the city." the raccoon climbed to the armour shoulder and Bruce drive the Hulkbuster up towards the city.
He lacked one arm propellant but didn't prevented him for arrive to the city and land on Shuri's laboratory coming throught the broken window. Rhodey was on his left and facing them appeared Shuri wearing two shooting clawns and a helmet mid-ripped from the battle.
"He won, isn't true? He did the ashes?" she said quite consience of what this mean.
Rhodey noded, a deflated and apologising expression on his face while Bruce tried to take over the armor.
"My brother?" she asked on a steady but urging glance.
"Sorry princess" Rhodey said, denying the little hope she could still grab on.
On the contrary of what Bruce would have expected Shuri noded, closing her eyes and letting a deep breath go. She was accepting her lost, her big brother's death calmed and resolutive as she must have learned since childhood on her sever education as a princess who would have to assume and confront the most tragic situations for her country benefit, would be the next queen or not.
"Fine, I need to search my mother now and if I can't... find her then maybe couldn't turn back for help you on all what you need but I would entrust you my lab and give anything you request for"
"Thanks princess." Quite inmediatly rambled around his head multiple ideas and lists on instruments, ways, mechanism they needed for search Tony and the racoon's friends, for try to find him and never allow to enter his mind the possibility he was... he would be as the other's. But there was no time for think like that now. "Where's the biggest communications antenna on this place and the fastest computer?" Shuri looked confused but answered at all.
"On the last hight floor on this tower we have a computer room, a deep space scaner and a ten meters antenna.
"I can use that" said the racoon.
Rhodey glared at him and said "I'm coming with you for phone Pepper once we would know for sure if... where he is"
"And me" this time talked Thor who had landed on the lab just some minutes now, as strong as someone could be in his situation with a heavy shadow on death and guilt up his shoulders anyone attentive enough would have been able to see, at least that was Bruce's opinion.
I just could nod and hope he understanded the gest while we set off to the hight floor. There as the princess promised we found a room with some regular computer tables facing a large control table and a displayer which reminded him of the control NASA room on a smaller size. The racoon, who's name Bruce didn't knew yet, entered the room, turned on the keyboard and started to play with the bottons, strip down some wires from the cage and disemboweled the comm with such promptness Bruce didn't dare to doubt again on him. On any other situation if he would have found a racoon unplagging and collecting wires again he would have though his "multipersonality problems" had turned him mad finally but now he looked through the racoon working, apart for leaving him speechless, it made inquire himself from where he come and who would have been as ambitious as numb for doing this. For Bruce was easy to come to the conclusion this animal was the result of some mad experiment and from the scars he wore from the neck and down there one quite painful; before that much animals he did experiments with on his past at universitiy and the military basement and now... But then the racoon stoped his train of though, giving him back to the issue they were at hands.
"Hey, are you moron listening? Could you take thus controls there and move the antenna for being upwards the sky? "
"Sure" Bruce did so and saw as the antenna moved on, visible through the window wall on the room.
"Hell, the comm just does noise still." and he shattered what he had assembled for now.
"Maybe the satellites would be inoperating. They work on machine remote control but habitually monitored by someone so if what Thanos did affected all the globe... The chaos should be unprecedented" Bruce looked opposit him his refletion on the display off. Think about his friend Tony out who knows where was so difficult when the imagines of half a city turning dust with it's logical consequences come to your mind. Minutes before he could talk with F.R.I.D.A.Y but...hmm
"Rhodey, could you go down and get hold off the Hulkbuster helmet and your armor helmet please? Thanks" Bruce wouldn't be certain on his reasoning until he would chek it but for that needed a Stark's armour connected with the A.I.
While seeing the general leave the room Bruce saw Thor seat down on the floor, staring him and the racoon without really paying atention. He wore the worst appearence of the remaining team until now, no doubt, and this time Bruce knew, sorry had seen, exactly why.
The relation betwen Bruce himself and the Hulk was changing, developing in a way he was able for the first time to remember everything and as always though it wasn't nice and not for the reasons he used to though but worse because for him and for Thor this dreadful day begined with the alarms. The Thanos spaceship just a minute before come across with them launched the first missile and the asgardians remained silent in terror and anxiety, waiting for it to be a simple failure but it wasn't. Afterwards the captain on the other ship requesing us to allow them to enter peacefully if we didn't want a forceful entrance. Of course we weren't opening but neither could allow the other ship to attach the spaceship because we have no weapon so while hundreds of asgardian families begined to shift disorganized in search of their relatives, their friends or us for ask what we were gonna do Thor remembered the rescue little ships. Thanks him and Heimdall we were able to reorganize the asgardians and ask them for go abourd them but what we didn't knew was there weren't enough rescue ships and right then begined the chaos. Each asgardian family had to make the decission on who would go aboard the rescue ships, never knowing if they would see the friends and relatives who would remain, and who would be left on the mother spaceship that was just delaying minutes on it's reach for his sure death sentence. Miraculously they had time enough for board until fill up each rescue ship but inmediatly after that Thanos and his minions forced the ramp door open and after Cull Obsidean assured us they wouldn't kill anyone if we didn't move on, his alien dogs attaked the first civilians and the massacre begined.
Bruce remembered every slash and stab on the remaining asgardians, as well the civilians as the few soldiers, remembered every yell, every cry and didn't want to remember more. The last thing he remembered was Thanos give the Hulk the biggest beating on his life so just could wonder what more Thor losened on the battle. Loki wasn't with him nor with Thanos so unless he would broak out of some way...
And Thor arrived Wakanda giving the last battle a hope it would be done with a victory, the confidence the mad titan goal would arrive to it's end and stabbed him through all his fucking purple chest. Bruce would swear he though Thanos had died instantly but early he knew it was just the desperate anticipation of his mind. And then Thanos give Thor the last blow on his mood as if he hadn't suffered enough. "You should have gone for the head" Thanos said, that asshole. That last blow, that last words before the snap were a definitive reason for let Thor on the deep silence and sorrow he remained since after yelling at him what the hell had he done. A sorrow and dark aura that Bruce wasn't brave enough to go through.
At that moment Rhodey arrived out of his suit, the two iron helmets on each arm, giving Bruce out of his memories and back to his though on the work to do.
"There. I though mine could be useful too. Why you asked them for?"
"Public satellites doesn't work but the Stark satellite does. Other way I wouldn't have been able of contact FRIDAY. If we mix our contact with the amplified signal on that alien comm we should been able on contact Tony or the racoon friends." Bruce said while opening each helmmet mechanism and bring them open to the raccoon.
"I'm not a raccoon. My name is Rocket" he said on a neutral, impatient tone of voice still busy on take apart the usful portions on the helmets.
"Sorry. I'm Bruce by the way." he said. More as a reflex act than as something though away he offered the hand.
"So what?" for what it seemed Rocket was always like that so Bruce let it go and turn to keep talking with Rhodes.
"But why Stark's satellite works when the others don't?"
"Tony never trusted anyone on such important works, not even himself, so his satellite is completly self-winding." Bruce answered as matter of fact he knew from their first days working together on the tower after the chitauris.
"Bless Tony for that." a knowing sad smile crossed Rhodey's face with that answer and with the conversation closed go to seat on a study chear.
When he turned aroud again to where Rocket was intertwining some wires and saw he had build up out of nowhere some type of walkie-talkie half splited, thought this one should work for contact deep space interactions. He seemed to work alone quite well and Bruce didn't want to ruin something he understanded rather halfway so decided to keep helping in other ways. Shuri said somewhere in this room they had a deep space scanner and if it worked well it could be useful for search and track spaceship motions therefor it could find out the asgardian rescue ships or Tony's ship if he was still on board one. It would be processing empty space with some whistle every so often as he could also see on the screen with the graphics. The search could be carring for hours so while left the scan work alone Bruce get to seat besides Thor, determinated to say something, show he was here as his friend.
"I turned on a scanner search for pinpoint the rescue ships. I know they would be safe with Korg and Valkyrie but I though you would want to know for sure where and how they are." Bruce tried talk with him on eye contact but Thor remained distant, deep quiet for some time until he made his mind up.
"They won't be any pleased for see me. I'm the reason our home and half my people had been decimated. Now sure more than half becouse of my childish, haughty mistake." Thor talked on a hoarse, deep voice coming from phisical and emotional fatigue, hopeless and resignation Bruce couldn't blame him for although he could say something.
"If that demented monster...hell, worse than a monster, would have killed all my people and threatened to kill more I would have wanted to rub his defeat in on his face too." Hulk growled on the back of his mind in agreement.
"He killed my brother after Heimdall get you off there. That bastard squashed his neck as if it wasn't more resilient than a match." His voice did a slight crack which had broken anyone's heart. "And I let that to infurate me until be so blind to attack before think. Exactly what Loki warned me not to do since we were children."
Bruce rubbed his shoulder on effort for bring him commfort. Bruce wouldn't lie, he didn't get on well with Loki but knew Thor cared about him and Loki the same so the best he could do was bring support while saw how Rocket seem to have found something away from the noise... but it go straight away so Bruce let it go.
"I'm sorry. It seemed he was conceading he cared about you too. In spite his...ambitions" the same time he said so Bruce believed to have heard a voice from the walkie and Rocket was trying to talk with it but it go away fast again.
"He was the best adversary, wasn't he?" Thor was still talking about his brother and didn't noticed so Bruce tried to close up the conversation.
"He was and forever will be." Bruce got up and get closer to Rocket for lifting up the walkie searching better range.
"Hello?" the voice from the walkie made Thor lift up his head. Wasn't it?
"Hi, who is it? This is Bruce talking from Earth."
"Hush a second. It's a lost message, think" he followed Rocket's advice and keep listening.
"Is this working?-noise- lack on-noise-." Bruce couldn't recognise the voice well but he was sure it seemed familiar. "Our ship is-noise- we are lack on-noise- help noise- refugie -noise- asgardian ship civilians." He stared at Thor finally recognising the voice. It was Valkyrie! "help-noice- location -5 point 087 -noise- wo 11 -noise- and then the message repeated itself. There wasn't anything new, only what they were able to here.
"Is she, no doubt. The refugies ships are safe, told ya." Bruce stared Thor again. Offered some good mood towards the god but it faded mainly when he understanded what this call mean. Thor was determinated, he wasn't remainig here wating for Tony's call. " Told me at least you know where are they?"
"Yeah. I need to go, sorry" Bruce noded in understandment and Thor lifted up his new axe. Though Rhodey doesn't seemed on the same opinion.
"Wait! How are we gonna pick up Tony without you!" Too late. Thor had convene the Bifrost before listen Rhodes. "Why you allow him to go like that?!"
"I don't do the choices for him! Besides, he would have gone anyway. I want to find Tony as well as you but we can search another way." Rhodes was about to answer in disagreement when suddenly the scanner whistles turned on fast and madly. It did found something and Bruce run towards the computer for check it out but... it couldn't be.
"What? What happens?" Rhodey asked from behind.
Bruce tried to talk above the constant whistle "The scanner detected something. Can't be Thor, the computer search is for objets from 30 meters to more. Like the Quinjet or bigger."
"You think is Tony?"
"Don't know. It's leaving exosphere, don't coming to." Bruce got to a little displayer to see the speed and size registers. Still bewildered searched for more indications about the object but wasn't more and the whistle was keeping him nervous. Luckly Rocket found a bottom for switch the noise off while the objet still was visible on the displayer.
"It has 39 metres between hight and widht and it goes on a speed of 53.4KN." Rocket pointed outfor looking us next a little bewildered. "Why you two so amezed? It's a regular medium-sized spacechip"
"Cause Tony had one exactly like that on the compound for emergency situations." Bruce answered the raccon and all off a sudden,at the same time, Rhodes phone zoomed out. He picked it up, select the projector option and what they saw left them as crazy as understanding it was logical.
"Pepper!? Oh don't say me. It was you who board on and drive the Rescue Star, don't?" Rhodey appeared he was going to have a heart attack.
"Of course it's me!" she seemed quite angry and determinated to do whatever the hell she was planning. "The last thing I heard from Tony was he boarded on that spaceship 10 hour ago and just wanted to say goodbye like it was forever. I called you later but you didn't picked up nor called back! Given that neither of you all wanted to say me what was going on I called Fury. Yeah don't you dare give me that face, of course I know he's alive and of course I have his phone. I'm Tony's fiancé and Stark Industries C.E.O. not some stupid trophy wife! So after come to the conclusion that no one would say me nothing and the people was just little hours ago vanishing in ashes I take the decission for doing it all by myself and pick up Tony wherever he would be, he wants or not." Pepper furious call left them speechless and for the first time aware about what the usually patient and sweet women was equally capable to do if she wanted. None of them was daring to berate her for so simply they focused on the projection. She wasn't driving the spaceship but seemed she had hired an astronaut from the NASA (she weared and official suit and was driving as puzzled as they were, as if she haven't had time to assume how and why she had agree with this crazy woman) and was wearing herself one of Tony's armours but this one white and purple.
She lowered her voice pitch this time coming back to her normal were of being "I don't know why but I know he is alive and maybe not for so long. I'm sorry if I'm doing things more difficult for you but I can't keep waiting, okey? I'm going with a true professional on space so I would be fine, seriously. I called for you to not worry about me okey? And if you can give us some help we would thank you for that. You have?" Pepper expression was soft and pleading, showing them she was as scary as them for rise like that, without direction nor a earth's team to help them on a dangerous travel for space but there was nothing who seemed would been able to stop that woman for search and rescue her man so Bruce and Rhodey only could agree with her.
"We hadn't find nothing yet, sorry Pepper. We would keep following your ship from here. Okey?"
"Thank's guys. Well, bye" and she hunged up.
Last upload on this chapter, I promise. The next upload would be the second chapter. Maybe you couldn't see it yet but this multichaptered story would be focused on Bruce Banner and all that will come inmediatly after the snap in Wakanda and between the Avengers. Why Bruce Banner? He was apparently the only person who didn't lost any loved one, he was a subplot character for some Avengers movies and without the Hulk is the last one fans could care about right now. Well, that's exacly the reasons why I chosened him, he isn't talkative which also means he is quite observant, the perfect quality for perfect narrators and the other reason is the actual step on his arc character. If you are intelligent or listened the Russo brothers Q&A about Infinity War you know the Hulk never had fear of Thanos, his reasons for not to come out where because of his troubling relationship with Bruce Banner but what means that? it would have a solution? that and more is what I'm about to answer on this multichaptered fanfic Dust and Ashes.