And so it begins, I hope notified everyone to this updated chapter. And if it did, welcome and welcome back. It's been over a month but just in case, there are ENDGAME SPOILERS AHEAD.
Enjoy.
"We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons. - Jim Rohn
The silence that hung over the Wakandan jungle was haunting. It took time for everyone that was left to come to grips with what had just happened. What was still happening.
They'd lost. They had actually lost, not just the battle, but they'd lost people, friends, family in some cases.
Everyone that was left stood in the clearing, were in utter silence and disbelief, as the reality of the situation sunk in. They stayed gathered in that clearing standing around Visions body for what felt like hours, but was only a few minutes before Okoye came rushing through the trees. She stopped short at seeing the haggard group, but the warrior was visibly shaking and her breathing was shallow and it couldn't have just been from the battle, because she also had tears streaming down her face that she didn't bother to try and hide.
"The King is dead." The warrior announced shakily.
Aphrodite looked away from the empty hole in Vision's forehead where the mind stone once sat, and looked up at the distraught warrior whom she'd met only moments ago, but what might as well have been forever ago with how much had changed in literally a split second. Rather the snap of a finger was more accurate.
"I must to go back to the palace at once," the warrior said straightening up, "Ensure that the princess and Queen Mother weren't," Okoye paused to regain her composure, "Amoung the fallen."
Aphrodite nodded and spoke since none of the others seemed to be willing, "Can we come with you?" She asked shyly to be sure.
"Of course."
"We can't," Natasha voice suddenly cut in sounding hoarse, "We can't just leave him here." She finished gesturing to Vision's body.
"We won't," Aphrodite told her friend, "I'll come back for him." Natasha nodded then the General spoke again.
"We need to move, now." She insisted before turning on her heel and leaving the clearing trusting that the others would follow, and if they didn't she didn't have the time to wait around for them.
After a few more seconds everyone started moving, getting up to go after the General. Movements were sluggish and slow, like it was taking all the energy in the world for people to put one foot in front of the other. Aphrodite stood and took another glance at Vision's grey body before moving over to Natasha and wrapping her arm around her shoulders as they began heading out of the clearing. Steve was the next to rise, followed by Thor both remaining silent as they followed behind the girls. Rhodey, Bruce and Rocket following as well.
Out on the field were the battle had been taking place, Wakanda warriors stood either frozen in place as shock settled in, or were running around distraught calling out for their fellow man in their native tongue. Thunder loomed overhead and the sky darkened as if the earth itself was feeling the effects of the devastating snap.
A fresh wave of tears sprung up in Natasha's eyes at the sight of the half empty battlefield and the greying sky reminded her, and everyone that this was all real. They had lost.
Aphrodite hugged her friend closer choking back her own wave of tears, as the general tried her best to put on a stoic expression as they all boarded on one of the Wakandan hovercrafts. Flying through the carnage wasn't any better, as dust particles that were once people flew about with every movement. Everything a reminder of their failure.
Landing the hovercraft expertly with an ease that had taken years to accomplish no doubt, the General climbed off and like before everyone followed her, and they were met at the doors to the palace by a beautiful regal woman with dark skin, and at intricately woven white headpiece on top of her head she was standing tall, but Aphrodite could see the slight tremor in her shoulders as well as the tears she was trying to keep at bay. She was flanked on either side by two pairs of guards dressed like the General, but with silver accessories instead of gold. Just by looking at her, Aphrodite could tell that she was royalty of significant status, which the General confirmed for her seconds later.
"Queen Mother," the General said bowing deeply and crossing her arms over her chest in the familiar Wakandan salute, "My sincerest apologies, the King is dead." The Queen's only response was a shuddering breath, as the General straightened up, "Where is Shuri?"
One of the guards that was with the Queen slowly shook her head and that was enough for the General to start crying softly again.
"Okoye," the Queen said reaching out and placing a gentle hand on the General's shoulder, "Wakanda is under your command now." Okoye looked shocked but straightened her shoulders nodding in understanding. "We need to meet with the council immediately," the Queen went on to say, "Those that are left."
Okoye nodded and banged her spear twice on the ground and two of the four warriors that stood alongside the queen stood at attention before flanking the general, and now leader of Wakanda, up the steps to the palace.
The Queen then turned to the remaining group of Avengers and offered them a gentle smile.
"You all are more than welcome to stay here," she said kindly extending her hands to the group, "I'm sure you all could use the rest after today."
"Thank you," Steve said speaking for the first time since the clearing, "But I think we've overstayed our welcome."
The Queen nodded, "I understand Captain." She said with a smile, "Please know that Wakanda will always be open to you, if you need us don't hesitate."
"Thank you." Steve responded sincerely.
"You all have a safe trip."
Steve thanked her once again while the others nodded in response to the Queen's kindness, then it was back to near silence among the group as the Queen departed and they were led to where the quinjet was parked by another guard.
More farewells and well wishes were exchanged as they boarded the quinjet, Aphrodite helped Bruce climb out of the Hulkbuster armour and put it into the storage at the bottom of the jet, while Rhodey sat in the pilot seat and Natasha took the co-pilot. Aphrodite took the seat next to her brother who was staring, without really seeing anything, to the other side of the jet with his axe laid on the ground by his feet and Rocket on his other side. Steve finally joined them on the jet taking a seat across from his fiancée next to Bruce as Rhodey began take-off.
They flew back to the compound in complete silence, Natasha and Rhodey, only breaking it to call out coordinates when necessary.
The Avengers Compound was exactly like she remembered it, large grey building resting next to a beautiful lake and a cluster of trees just beyond. Only difference was that it used to be buzzing with life, and now the grey building looked deserted and dreary. No recruits running the grounds, no continuous stream of cars going in and out of the parking lot, no jets undergoing repairs. Nothing.
The jet landed and they all filed off, Rhodey leading them through familiar hallways, now void of life. Unfortunately the only indication that there were actually people in the building recently, were the piles of grey ashes scattered around. The overturned chairs and scattered papers that showed the frantic manner in which any survivors must have left the building.
"All your rooms are still here," Rhodey informed them as they entered the dark conference room, "No one's been in them in years. You've got one too Bruce," Rhodey added nodding to the scientist, "Tony had one built for you just in case." Bruce looked surprised by the gesture but nodded none-the-less.
"Everyone get some rest," Steve said suddenly, "If you can," he added ducking his head a little, "We'll meet back here first thing in the morning."
Everyone nodded and veered off in different directions around the compound heading towards the different wings of the facility that housed the living quarters, and then Aphrodite and Steve were alone for the first time in years, the two of them hadn't spoken more than a word to each other in the time it took for Thanos to snap half of humanity out of existence, Okoye to be made the new ruler of Wakanda, the rest of the team to shamble back to the facility and bury Vision's body in an unmarked grave, nothing. On some subconscious level it was likely the two of them keeping a distance out if respect for the others.
Neither of them wanted to lose the other, but how was it fair that so many were lost and they still had each other. They were grateful of the fact, but refrained from showing it until they were alone.
"You can-" Steve paused clearing his throat, "You can take the bathroom first."
Aphrodite nodded and offered a quiet thanks as she made her way to their en suite pulling off pieces of her armour as she went, as Steve remained in the bedroom peeling away the top half of his grimy suit. He sat on the edge of the bed to take off his boots when he heard the quiet sobbing start from inside the bathroom, barely being heard over the sound of rushing water. Surprised that her breakdown had taken this long to come, Steve quickly shucked off his boots and pulled off the remainder of his suit as he went to join his girl in the shower.
His heart broke at the sight of her when he entered the bathroom to see her standing beneath the shower-head with her hand over her mouth, shaking from what he could see through the foggy glass door. He felt tears rimming his own eyes as he slid in the shower behind her closing the door as he did, she must have really been out of it because she didn't even register his presence until he reached out to gently grab her arm. She jumped and tensed slightly but relaxed seconds after when she turned around.
He pulled her into him, and she came all too willingly burying her face into his chest and wrapping her arms around his waist as the water continued to beat down on them. She cried into his chest, water blending with tears no longer distinguishable one from the other, and not bothering to try and be silent anymore. Steve held her close squeezing his arms around her and dropping his head to rest on top of hers, finally letting his own tears slip out and melt into her hair. His body shaking alongside hers.
Neither of them was going to lie to the other and tell them that everything was going to be alright, because they couldn't, because they didn't know if everything was going to be alright or what was going to happen now. But for now they had each other, and would be forever thankful for that fact, so they held onto one another and cried, up into the water in the shower ran cold, then they cried some more. And they weren't the only ones, trying and failing to hold themselves together.
The next morning Aphrodite and Steve detangled themselves from one another, having fallen into a sleep that was far from restful, after their shared cry session in the shower. Unfortunately the facility was still uncomfortably quiet and the two assumed that they were the first ones up, as they pulled on some old clothes that were left on the drawers. Rhodey was right, their room showed no signs of being lived in over the years, and neither did it look like anything had changed. Their clothes still in the drawers and closet, toiletries still in the bathroom, and the room still was kept surprisingly tidy, which lead Aphrodite to believe that someone, probably Tony bless his heart, had continued to pay the cleaners to maintain their room. Possibly in the hope that a reconciliation was possible.
Heading through the lifeless halls to the conference room, they assumed to be the first ones up, but they weren't they discovered upon seeing Natasha sitting at the head of the table, unfortunately not looking like that had slept at all the night before. Her red puffy eyes looking like she'd spent the whole night crying, which wouldn't have been surprising.
"Morning." Natasha greeted them in a raspy voice.
"Morning." Aphrodite said touching her friend's shoulder briefly.
"Have you heard anything from Barton?" Steve asked softly getting straight down to business.
"I tried calling, but there's no answer. Not his cell or his home phone."
Steve nodded, "We need a headcount of all the people that might have disappeared in the Snap, how far this stretches, world leaders, authorities everything. Then we'll figure out who's left and what we can do from there."
Natasha nodded typing on the computer as several holograms came up showing the multiple digit death tolls coming in from around the world. As depressing a sight that it was, it was necessary.
"Anything from Shield? Fury? Agent Hill? Sharon?" Aphrodite questioned.
"I've sent out calls and messages, if there's anyone left they'll respond."
"Good."
"I just got off the phone with Pepper," Rhodey announced walking into the room while pocketing his phone. "She's on her way up, Happy's driving her."
Steve nodded, "Still nothing from Tony?" Rhodey shook his head sadly, "For right now we have to assume the worst, hope for the best, yes. But assume the worst."
The others trickled into the conference room, and Aphrodite addressed the raccoon right away, "Rocket, you wanna get on one of these computers and see if you can get a signal from your ship?"
"Yeah," Rocket mumbled jumping on top of the table, "That's a good idea."
Then Thor spoke for the first time since Thanos, "While he's doing that, he can look for the last of the Asgardians." He suggested gravely.
"I thought that he-" Natasha began in a confused tone.
Aphrodite cut her off. "When Thanos attacked our ship, half of the people on board escaped, led by one of our own. If Thanos really is a man of his word and he wanted to wipe out half of all life, then they're still alive. We'd just have to find them."
"So what do we do now?" Bruce asked shaking his head at the rising numbers and the faces of the people that they knew.
"We wait, we watch, until we find something useful. Then we do what we can." Steve said leaning on the table top, and from there it was silence, aside from the noises coming from the machines in the room, as they could do nothing but, like Steve said, watch and wait for something to happen, for the death numbers to stop rolling in, for a miracle, they didn't know. But anything would be better than what they had now.
BlueBloodsSVUOrder: Ask and ye shall receive.
Perpetualnotion: In regards to the latter half of this review, you're right, Aphrodite is an OG so therefore she should be with the OG's (and Steve obviously) in regards to the second half of this review, see the end of this response section.
Guest 1: Noted, see the end of response section for a full breakdown of my plans.
xLaBellaVita: Sorry to disappoint darling, but I felt the second ending was necessary so I could keep my options open. But here we are, all the OG's alive and well. For now.
BrittStar1199: I understand love.
Guest 2: See the end of response section.
Voicesofmelodies: Sorry to disappoint, but see the end of the response section.
STTNBC: I know! Your wish is my command.
Faora: Your wish is my command.
Guest 3: :) :) :)
teller. winchester. salvatore: I DIDN'T
Apologies for the short chapter.
All aboard the pain train 2.0 choo-choo :'(. Oh boy, Endgame was a ride wasn't it folks? And now we bring that emotional rollercoaster here so get ready for that.
So I got a lot of comments suggesting that I write 2 books, one with the ending where Aphrodite lives, and the other where she dies, and I first I was against it especially after seeing a frustrating lack of the Soul World in Endgame, but I still think a version where Aphrodite dies would be really interesting to write and I could always make up my own soul world. And the story would be told from Steve's POV in the real world, then Aphrodite's POV, in the Soul World. Then eventually meet up during the final battle. I plan to do that, but it won't be until this book is completely finished because I have a lot of plans for it.
And so we have begun there's so much that happened in that movie and so much to cover on this book, so let's get into it.
As always let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in the future. Leave me a review too, as you can see I'll be answering/responding to the ones can. So feel free to say or ask me anything.