"We are healed of a suffering only by experiencing it to the full." - Marcel Proust
Pepper arrived to the facility in tears as she had not heard a word from her fiancé since he boarded the Q-Ship and could only assume the worst had happened, she was pulled into an embrace by Natasha then Aphrodite and they could offer no words of encouragement. Only support, with her came Happy and he brought them a peculiar little device that he told them Friday had identified as belonging to Nick Fury, whose vehicle the AI identified on the drive up, confirming their fears on Fury and Maria Hill's fate. No word yet on Sharon Carter but by now the same could most likely be said about her.
Steve made the executive decision to hook up Fury's device, a pager, to keep the signal alive to however he was trying to contact. Fury was obviously trying to reach someone that he thought might be able to help them, which was good enough for them. Pepper and Happy settled down in the facility with the remainder of the Avengers to wait out the horrible storm that was Thanos' snap.
However there was some good news, Rocket was able to track down his and his friend's ship which was still operational although he couldn't quite reach it to send or deliver any messages but it meant someone had been flying it, which gave the raccoon hope that he desperately needed, they all needed, but no word from the Asgardian ship. Meanwhile the death tolls on the screens just kept on rising, for days now the numbers kept pouring in, the digits on the holographic screen increasing by the second and they could do nothing but wait for it to end. For have the population to be completely wiped out.
"This is a nightmare," Steve said as he continued to stare at the screen, leaning over the table for a better look.
Natasha by his side hadn't taken her eyes off the screen unless she absolutely had to in the days that passed, her eyes were still wet as it seemed she was constantly crying. "I've had better nightmares." She mumbled in response.
"Hey guys," Aphrodite called entering the room from the hallway bringing both their attention to her. "That thing just stopped doing, whatever the hell it was doing." They glanced at each other for a brief second before Natasha gave a resigned sort of nod and they followed her out the room.
"Whatever signal it was sending finally crapped out," Bruce explained as the five of them stared at the pager in its case that had been used to plug the device in so that it would have unlimited battery life.
Steve stared at the device, "I thought we bypassed the battery?"
"We did. It's still plugged in, it just, just stopped." Rhodey added, having been watching the pager as carefully with Bruce and Aphrodite as Steve and Natasha had watched the numbers pour in from around the globe.
Steve looked up at the case that had been giving Fury's device life before looking back to it, giving orders to Bruce, "Reboot it. Send the signal again."
"We, we don't even know what this is-" Banner warned gesturing to the device.
"Fury did." Natasha breathed, on the verge of her seemingly never ending stream of tears again at the thought of her mentor and friend, before she turned to Rhodey, "Just do it, please. Let me know the second you get a signal. I wanna know who's on the other end of that thing."
As she turned to leave Aphrodite and Steve made to follow her before they were stopped in their tracks at the sight of a strange woman standing there clad in a red, blue and gold suit, standing tall with her fists clenched.
"Where's Fury?" The woman asked shortly looking straight at Natasha.
"Who the hell are you?" Natasha asked in response.
"Captain Marvel."
"Cute." Aphrodite scoffed. "Who are you really? Where did you come from?"
The woman's eyes shifted to her, "My name is Carol Danvers. I'm a friend of Nick Fury's. I gave him that pager so he could reach of me in case of emergency, I haven't heard from him in over twenty years. Why is he paging me now?" Carol demanded, taking a step closer to Aphrodite who gave little reaction.
"Fury's dead. Along with fifty percent of living things in the universe."
"How do you know Fury?"
"He was a friend." Natasha answered and the women seemed to be beginning to let her guard down. "And the Director of Shield."
"Half the universe?" Carol mumbled to herself, "That explains it."
"Explains what?" Steve questioned.
"It's been nothing but chaos out there for the past few days, I've heard nothing but distress calls from planets throughout the galaxy."
"You never answered my question," Aphrodite cut in, "Where'd you come from?"
"From outer space." She answered easily with a shrug. "I'm half Kree. It's an alien race. Long story."
"I'll bet," Aphrodite said nodding, before growing hopeful. "Have you heard any transmission from a refuge ship? Asgardians?"
"I haven't, sorry."
Aphrodite shoulders slumped and she nodded again, before Natasha stepped forward bringing Carol's attention to her, "C'mon, I'll explain what's been going on." Natasha led the newcomer from the room, Bruce and Rhodey following them out.
As soon as they were gone Aphrodite released a breath she didn't realize she was holding in and slumped back against the case.
"Hey," Steve said rushing to her side, "You alright?"
"Yeah," Aphrodite said nodding and taking a deep breath, "I just wish I knew where they were, how I could reach them."
"I know," Steve said placing his hand under her chin and nudging her so that her eyes met his, "Look you're gonna find them okay?"
"They were the last of our people Steve, if they're all gone to." She shrug, "What'll we do? What will we have left?"
"You'll have me," Steve said in earnest and she gave him a soft smile, nodding. "Right? You'll have all of us. Whatever happens, we'll figure it out together." Steve nodded with her and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. Then he led them both from the room where they were met halfway by Bruce as they entered the conference room while Carol was speaking with Natasha and Rhodey.
"She's going back up to outer space, says she's got a few other places to check out, but she'd gonna keep an eye out for Tony." Bruce explained to the couple.
"Keep the pager running," Carol said scanning Tony's picture onto the device in her forearm, "If I find anything out there I'll send a message. I'll look for your people too." She added nodding to Aphrodite.
"Thank you."
Carol nodded as she marched outside of the base and the others followed to see what she was going to do, "If you need to reach me you know how." She said before taking a running start and shooting off into the night sky like a star.
"She thinks we can fix this," Natasha said softly like saying it too loud might shatter any bit of hope that she had left, "She thinks we can bring back everyone we've lost." She told the couple who were absent when Carol told them that she as confident that things could be fixed, then she looked to them like she was asking permission to be hopeful.
"I think we could use someone like her," Aphrodite answered her friends pleading eyes, "Someone from outside might be just what we need."
"I need a favour," Natasha said the next day walking into the conference room where Steve and Aphrodite were seated talking about nothing.
"Anything." Aphrodite responded moving her feet from an unoccupied chair so that Natasha could take a seat. It had been days since Carol had left and they hadn't heard a word from her yet.
"I need you to come with me to Clint's farm."
Steve sucked in a sharp breath, "Nat."
She cut him off, "Please something is telling me that he's still alive, and if he's," she stopped like she couldn't bring herself to say gone, or dead, "I need to see it."
Aphrodite sighed and looked past Natasha's puppy dog eyes, over her shoulder to meet her fiancé's eyes where he was shaking his head back and forth and mouthing the word 'No.'
"Of course I'll go with you." Aphrodite told Natasha ignoring Steve's quiet but vehement protests.
Natasha let out a short sigh of relief, "I'll meet you on the jet in ten minutes."
Aphrodite stood and made her way to their room to grab a jacket and Steve followed closely behind.
"Please, don't say it Steve." She told him as he entered the room behind her closing the door.
"Don't say what," he mocked, "That I don't think this is a good idea."
"Yes, Steve that." She responded sternly, "Why does it bother you so much?"
"We all know that Barton is probably gone," Steve said lowering his tone, "I'm sorry but, we all have to start accepting it. What will going to his house prove anyway?"
"Closure Steve," Aphrodite sighed, "Tell me you wouldn't do the same thing for Bucky, or Sam. Or me."
"You know that I would."
"Then just let her have this," she said placing his hand on his bearded cheek and he leaned into it, "There's still a chance we're wrong."
Steve didn't respond to the only leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers, "Just come back in one piece."
She nodded, "Always," she said before pecking him on the lips, "We'll be back before dinner."
The skies were still dark nearly a week after Thanos' snap, the ashes of those that fell floating up into the sky and atmosphere, a constant reminder of what had happened. Natasha and Aphrodite flew the quinjet to Clint's family farm in Missouri, silence between them only being broken by the hum of the jets engine.
"Nat?" Aphrodite called softly breaking the companionable silence between them, "I don't want to have to ask this."
"Then don't," her friend cut in but Aphrodite continued, "What if he's not there?"
"Then I'll know." Natasha said with a sigh nodding to herself after a short pause.
Shortly after they arrived at the farm Natasha easily landing the jet in the green expanse of yard.
"You ready for this?" Aphrodite asked and Natasha took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Then nodded, "Let's go."
With that she lowered the ramp at the back of the quinjet and the two ladies began to make there way out. A sense of dread filled Aphrodite the same way it had when they first arrived to the Avengers compound after Wakanda as they took in the empty silent house.
Then she noticed something that made her breath hitch, "Nat," she called shakily pointing at the picnic table sitting not to far from where they'd landed a bevy a untouched food items laid out that told them everything they needed to know, Natasha paled at the sight before darting into the house.
"Clint!"
"Nat!"
Natasha burst through the unlocked door then immediately headed for a set of stairs, running down them clearly looking for something, and Aphrodite was hot on her tail. Turns out Natasha knew exactly where she was going, and downstairs turned out to be a small armoury, with a variety of weapons all around the room, and a case that was very obviously meant to hold a bow and arrow set, which was currently sitting empty. There was also a work bench in the center of the room with a few tools laid out on it and, a government issued ankle bracelet, that was no longer attached to the archer.
For the first time in days Natasha's shoulders sagged in what looked like relief, clearly this was the kind of sign she was hoping for to tell her that Clint was still alive. However the archer was suspiciously absent, and Aphrodite had no doubt that, that would weigh down on her friend soon enough. But for now they could focus on the slight silver lining here.
"He's alive," Aphrodite said stepping forward and placing a hand on Natasha's shoulder, "Nat, he's alive."
Natasha nodded taking a few deep breaths, blinking hard as she did, then turning and hugging her friend burying her face in her shoulder as she did, "We'll give him a few days, then we'll look for him."
Aphrodite nodded despite having the feeling that their friend would rather not be found, "If that's what you want."
Natasha nodded and hugged her friend a little tighter, despite her trying a few more tears slipped out still.
"Well?" Steve questioned later that night sitting up in bed in his pyjamas waiting for his fiancée to get back from her excursion.
"He's alive." Aphrodite said taking off her jacket and laying it on the back of a chair as he entered the room.
"Where is he?"
"We don't know." She responded sitting on the edge of the bed and taking off her boots, "He wasn't there, Nat wants to give him a few more days too cool off." She sighed and laid her palms flat on the bed hanging her head, "His family, Steve."
Steve sighed as well, she heard him close his book then the seats rustling as he edged his way closer to her he leaned his head on the back of her shoulder, "How's Nat?"
"A little bit better know that we know he's alive. That's what she was most afraid of."
He nodded and kissed the back of her shoulder, "You missed dinner."
Aphrodite smiled, happy to talk about something so mundane for a change, "I know, we heated up some leftovers. It was delicious."
He snorted, "Your just saying that," he lifted his head and looked into her eyes the two of them sharing a soft smile, before he leaned in and placed a soft kiss to her lips, "Thor didn't come out to eat, again."
She sighed against his lips, "I'd better go talk to him." She said standing up and he was quick to do the same to intercept her.
"You sure you wanna take that on tonight?" he questioned in earnest, "I'm sure dealing with Nat and Clint was enough. I don't want you being overwhelmed."
Aphrodite smiled, "I'm sure." She said turning and pushing him back down onto the bed, "I'd like top deal with this sooner rather than later, I don't want him to slop further into his funk." She mumbled before kissing him again, "Get some rest, I won't be long."
She made the trip to where she knew Thor was in silence, the only sound echoing throughout the quiet facility were her foot falls on the tiled floor. She found him sitting where he had been seemingly unmoving for the last few days. A bench just outside of the conference room on the patio, a sulking God sat alternating between staring unblinkingly up to the stars and then back down at his hands, Stormbreaker sat in a corner of the conference room
She approached the door that led to the outside and opened it joining her brother on the bench without a word, he acknowledged her presence with a slight shifting in his seat but otherwise did and said nothing.
"You've been really quiet since we've gotten back," she spoke softly, "I haven't seen you out, I've hardly seen you eat anything."
"I haven't been hungry." Thor responded, his voice slightly raspy from not being used in days.
"You're always hungry." She pointed out gently, leaning her head onto his shoulder and taking one of his larger hands in his so that he'd stop wringing them together, "Tell me what's really on your mind."
"I failed." Thor answered after a pause, "I failed to kill Thanos, billions of people, things, creatures paid the price and I," he cut himself off turning his head to look at her and Aphrodite shifted so she could do the same, lifting her head to look into his multi-coloured eyes, "I failed you."
"You didn't fail me." Aphrodite protested immediately.
"You died," he emphasized, "So that I could get my axe, and I promised you I would kill Thanos with it, for you, and I didn't." he said with pooling in his eyes. "I failed."
"We all did," Aphrodite spoke shakily, hating seeing her brother so sad and so guilty and it made her want to cry just thinking about her brother who was normally sunshine in a body so downtrodden, "None of us could have known what was going to happen. But now we have to deal with it. We have to live with it, look at me," she demanded and he did, "Because we're still here, and that has to count for something. That has to be for a reason right?" He nodded, "We're going to do whatever it takes to fix things. But I need you, here, not in here," she said tapping his temple, "Now more than ever." By the time she was finished they were both crying silently.
"I need you too." Thor said with a sniffle before pressing his forehead against hers then embracing his sister tightly, holding tight to the last bit of family he had left, and praying to every deity there was that he wouldn't fail or lose her again.
Fin-Fish Jun-Tenshi: Aaaahhhh!
xLaBellaVita: Wow, I didn't even think about that, thanks for letting me know babe. I have big plans for our girl in Endgame.
Leilani101: Thank you!
Ivana Bocanegra: Lol, I've been busy.
Guest: Thank you, thank you.
RedPlanetGalaxy: Thank you, I think in the long run it was better to keep Aphrodite alive, she just fix so perfectly with everything that happened in the movie that it would have felt wrong to keep her dead. I have big plans with this story.
MidnightPenguin: Many thanks as always my lovey, and that's for me to know and for you to find out ;).
ZabuzasGirl: Thanks.
ForeverTeamEdward13: ;)
STTNBC: Yes my darling, we will be cramming those 5 years full of things, one or two things that your guys might not expect.
Pikapikachuuuuuu: Welcome darling, and I had no plans to abandon this story.
Sorry this chapter took so long folks, I really have no excuse this time.
But the next chapter is already halfway done and should be posted in the next few days, and it's the chapter where Tony comes back we all know how emotional that reunion was for everyone. So what would you like to see happen there?
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.