This is my first fanfic where I'm writing about humans, so forgive me if it's horrible. Please note that the POV changes from chapter to chapter, so don't get confused. Rated T for swearing.

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Chapter 1

I haven't been in a car in five years.

This perfect piece of technology, this thing humanity could not live without. When the car was first invented in the 1800s, they didn't know these things.

They didn't know how much it would improve the Earth. We can now travel farther and look cool while doing it; but this machine also destroys the planet. We're letting gases into the air that will destroy the ozone layer and strip the air of oxygen. They didn't know how much people it would hurt.

They didn't know that on May 6th, 2016 (yes, I did look this up) a bitch would climb into the front seat and take off down the streets of New York. They didn't know that he would flip over five times, and if the fence wasn't there he probably would've drowned.

If I could've chosen whether I drowned or suffered the things I did, I would've just drowned right there, right then; because I wouldn't be in the backseat of Tony's car right now, with the engine roaring and the music even louder.

Thor is wearing a pair of jeans and a hoodie, reaching forward to let the window down. A blast of cold air hits me in the face, and for a horrible second I can't breathe. "Relax." His yellow hair is whipping around so much I can barely see his face. "We'll only be in here for a week longer."

I think I'm going to start digging my own grave.

Tony laughs. "Stop scaring him. We've all gone through these things."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Ninety percent of the time, someone becomes a superhero from an accident." The driver protests.

"You consider me a superhero-" I chime in.

"You saved us all during the Infinity War."

"I only saved your life." I cross my arms. "Two times. It's not like I did it every day for years." At this, Tony gives me an excellent view of his middle finger.

"You son of a gun, Strange."

I smile somehow.

"Stop." Thor puts his arms behind his head. "This is going to be a long ride."

This was your idea, I want to say. You wanted to help me get over my "fear". The cracks of lightning and pounding rain sound in my head, and I try to push the memories away. I fail.

"Stephen, you're squeezing my arm."

A small "sorry" escapes my mouth as my hand retreats back into its crossed position. In the next instant, I'm breaking my own arm.

A silence falls over us. It's the kind of silence that makes you want to grab an oxygen mask, because you've been inhaling sound, you've been living off of its noise but when the silence comes you have no more air left to breathe.

Tony breaks the silence. "I know a good campground down in Connecticut, and a nice ski resort in Vermont. Where should we go first?"

"Which way are we headed?" Thor wants to know.

"I've been driving in circles for the past hour."

Shit.

"Let's head south." I decide. "I've never been to Connecticut."

Tony nods. He pulls over into the exit lane and soon enough we're going down a ramp.

"Why would we go to a ski resort in October?" Thor asks.

"It snows up there in September sometimes." Tony answers.

"Oh."

"Wait, I have to put in the address." We pull over into the breakdown lane. Tony punches in numbers on a screen that is blocked by the seat in front of me.

"Isn't all your stuff, like, voice controlled?" I mention.

"But this is your car." He retorts. "Man, I don't know why you even have a car anymore, and I thought you were poor."

"It's called after the war when nobody had any shit to take care of." I roll my eyes. "The world was actually perfect or a month or two."

"In New York, it was." Thor leans on the back of the driver's seat. "In Norway, there was plenty of shit."

"You're welcome." I spit.

"Can we just get back on the road?" Tony grumbles. "Don't moan like we aren't having fun."

"But we aren't." I object. Thor nods agreement.

Soon we're waiting at a red light. Tony suggests we stop at Burger King; but he is quickly silenced.

"We should just grab some sushi from Whole Foods." Thor's voice is thick with sarcasm.

"Nobody eats sushi at ten."

"I packed pancakes."

"I hate you."

"There's also some goldfish…"

"Just. Stop."