Author's Note: Forgot to mention in my Greetings and Preview chapter that we've reached a milestone! Five hundred reviews! 500 reviews! Thank you for the 500 reviews and counting that you have given me! It is so gratifying to have all of this positive feedback! Thank you!

Nuff said. Let's get to the story.

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Chapter Nineteen: Living with their Own Failures

Tony's idea was insanity, he knew that going in. But Pepper's life had been on the line, what other choice did he have but to bargain with Thanos? He would hand himself over in a heartbeat to save her and the rest of the team. And begrudgedly, he would hand over the Time and Mind Stones too. Or in this case, just the Mind Stone on account of Strange held the Time Stone close to him like his life depended on it.

He had been angry at Strange in that moment. Angry at his secretive nature and his unreadable expressions. And with the fact that the good doctor had given the Time Stone away only a few days ago and now he was all determined to keep it from Thanos's grasp. Just when he thought he could pin the guy down, he did something that completely changed his M.O.

Guess that was just the mystery that was Strange.

Tony was going to do it. He was going to step out from behind their hiding spot at the base of the Arch and hand himself and the beautiful yellow stone in his hand over. But then Loki grabbed his arm and yanked him backwards. "You are not going out there. Okay?"

Tony was touched by the trickster God's attempt to change his mind. It was nice to know that people cared. But he still shook his head rapidly. "I cannot wait any longer. We need to act now or they all are going to die." He knew that his desperation was starting to shine through and he was hoping that maybe Loki would find a way to understand that this was just something that had to be done.

Loki nodded and tried his best to be comforting, "I know." But what he was thinking was clearly written all over his face: under no circumstance was he going to let Tony go out there.

Again, Tony was touched. And again, he didn't have time for this. He would trade his life for his team, his family, without question. And he was the one Thanos was expecting. He had to be the one to do this. It was simple really. He would put Loki's mind at ease that it was okay, then he would hand himself and the Mind Stone over to Thanos, and pray that the stupid grape accepted his bargain to call off his army.

Tony was going to do this. Seconds away from telling Loki it was okay and that he shouldn't worry about him, when he looked up and saw that Loki's expression had dropped. It was like he was scared and yet determined. Like he just thought of the most wonderfully crazy and horrible plan in existence. Tony didn't like this at all. Was this how he looked when he thought up one his harebrained schemes? "Loki?" he asked, his concern dripping through the one word.

Loki didn't say anything for a moment, thinking quietly to himself. Then he glanced at Tony and murmured, "I-I…I have a plan." Tony watched as he took a deep breath, ran a hand through his hair, and then begin to explain what was on his mind. "We fought hard to get these two Stones and you were right, stealing back the Stones is the only way to bring all of those trapped souls back. We cannot give them up. And we cannot lose you either. You are too important, you keep this team together. But I'm…"

Tony blinked. "Loki, what are you saying?" He had a bad feeling wash over him.

Loki hesitated for a second, before deciding to continue on. "I could make myself look and sound like you and create the illusion that I have the Stones. I could negotiate with him to leave and spare the others-"

Tony started shaking his head and that bad feeling had turned to full-blown dread. "No."

"Let me finish-"

"No!" he said more firmly. "Loki, I am not going to let you walk into that monster's clutches again."

Loki sighed, his exhaustion from the battle and from the gravity of what he was suggesting to do suddenly weighing heavily on him. "It's not your decision to make, Tony. The entire universe needs the Avengers. And they will succeed, I know that now. But they cannot win this without their leaders. The Avengers need you."

Tony wanted to smack his forehead with his hand. "No, you idiot, we need you."

It was Loki's turn to appear touched. "That means a lot to me, hearing you say that. But my mind is made up." Tony's mind was racing. He had to stop him from doing this. He would stop him from doing this. He would find a way to stop him. He just had to. He was kidding himself. What was he going to do? He was just a man in a can. Well, a broken can. The pieces of his armor still needed fixing. The point was, what the hell was he going to do that was going to stop a literal God who also just happened to have magic? Oh, that's right, nothing. Loki let out a shaky breath, met Tony's eyes, and half smiled. "Whatever it takes, right? Just, tell my brother…Nebula…everyone actually, thank you. For everything. And that the sun will shine on all of us again."

Loki was afraid.

As much as he tried to hide it, it was so obvious.

That very fact made Tony feel worse about this whole thing.

"Loki," Strange started in a quiet voice. Tony and Loki both faced him, and jeez, the guy looked terrible. Tony figured they all must have looked lousy. Himself with this dread and pang of anxiety that Loki was really going to take his place, Loki with his fear, and now Strange with his not at all hidden guilt. "Might I suggest that you save some of your strength? Imagine what you could do with the combined power of your traditional magic and a certain reality bending stone."

Loki half smiled again. "Doctor, you may be overly secretive but you have some inspired ideas."

Strange shook his head. "I did not come up with it. Well, actually I did, but I only knew it because I saw it."

And there was Strange again talking in riddles. Did the magic man think life was a giant puzzle for everyone else to solve? Loki didn't waste any time on focusing on Strange's by now usual strangeness. He instead focused on what had to be done. With a flick of the wrist, green sparks of magic came from his fingers and then with another flick of the wrist, he conjured up the Reality Stone. Tony peered out at Thanos. The Titan guy hadn't reacted and when he slightly turned…Tony could see the Gauntlet and it looked like the ruby red gem was still in its place. Meaning, Loki had created a simple illusion so that Thanos would think that he still has the Reality Stone. When in reality, Loki had the stone.

Loki eyed the stone for a second and then closed his eyes to concentrate. At first nothing happened, but then again Tony wasn't really sure he knew what was supposed to happen. And then…a dim red light materialized over both of Loki's hands and it swirled around until it took shape creating something. Two somethings. When the red light vanished Loki was no longer holding the Reality Stone. He was holding the Mind Stone in one hand and Strange's necklace in the other.

But of course he wasn't really holding the two Infinity Stones. He just bended reality to appear like he was.

Chuckling to himself, Loki looked over the objects now in his hands. "Well, that's three…" Then the smile left him and he became determined, serious. Not exactly what you expect from a guy titled, "The God of Mischief". But Loki was more than just some silly Norse mythology title, wasn't he? He was an Avenger. Clearly. And because of that fact, Tony felt more powerless. Because he was supposed to protect the Avengers…Not stand idly by and watch as one of them gave themselves over to murdering megalomaniacs. "Wish me luck."

Tony tried one last attempt. "Loki, please-"

Too late.

Loki twisted his hands again and his green magic went over him, from head to toe. And then Tony wasn't looking at Loki. He was looking at himself. Under different circumstances, it would have been pretty cool to see Loki impersonate him. It'd be kind of funny. Tony wasn't laughing now. "Sorry," Loki said, but in Tony's voice, "bit busy. Trying to do my best impression of you. Yo, grape man." Then much to Tony's horror, he left their hiding spot, and began to negotiate with Thanos.

The only thing stopping him from shouting out that Loki get back here was his own shock that this was really happening. It was like the words were caught in his throat and all he could do was listen to Loki pretend to be him.

And the only thing stopping him from running after him, from stopping Loki from doing this, was Strange's firm grip on his shoulder.

Loki could handle himself.

He was pretty damn powerful and he could be pretty cunning when he wanted to be. Hell, he wielded three of the most powerful objects in the universe.

Tony had faith in him. But he knew how powerful and how cunning Thanos was too. And if Thanos found out that Loki had tricked him into calling off his army, into retreating, into releasing the fifteen then… Thanos would…

There was nothing in the world Tony could do. And dammit, did it make him feel like he wanted to scream.

…

Loki was with Thanos.

Loki was with…his brother was with that bloodthirsty bastard. He…no. No. It couldn't…but it was and…

Ever since Thor found out that Loki had been the one to go with Thanos, dark thunder clouds had not stopped rolling in. Thunder was booming in the distance and lightning was dancing on the edges of the scary looking clouds. Tony and Strange had quietly explained what had happened. How Loki had used the Reality Stone and his own magic to create his best illusion yet.

The revelation shocked everyone to their cores.

It was silent for almost a minute. Nobody wanted to say a word, nobody could say a word. The only sounds that could be heard was the storm clouds, a heavy breeze that had picked up with the clouds, and the distant noise of police sirens.

Thor didn't pay attention to any of it and he only could think about one thing: Loki. Why would he do it? Hand himself over to Thanos? The answer was obvious and if his brother was here right now he could just image what he would say. Something on the lines of, "To save you and the others, you witless oaf." But his brother wasn't here right now, he was with that torturing murderer.

Oh, God…please don't let this be real. Please let this all just be a fantasy.

It wasn't.

Thor's hands clenched into tight fists. He felt a full range of emotions, fear, regret, guilt, sorrow, and anger. The anger welled up inside of him more than anything else and he just wanted to hurt who was responsible for this. Thanos was gone, so that wasn't going to happen. But it was still there, this overpowering need to scream and hit. Once upon a time, he was known for flipping over large banquet tables in the dining halls of Asgard when he was upset. Handling his emotions weren't his strong suit and on top of that he just wanted to be able to blame someone.

And he knew that it wasn't their faults but…

He suddenly looked to Tony and Strange and shouted, "How could you let him go?!"

Some of the Avengers and the Guardians flinched at his sudden outburst, but not Strange. He just glanced at the ground and remained quiet. Tony on the other hand… "Is that what you think?" Tony asked, his voice loud and his tone defensive. "That I just let him take my place like some damn coward? He wouldn't listen to me! He thought that the only way we would win was if I was here to help lead all of you people so he just went!" Thor regretted insinuating that Tony didn't try to stop Loki and therefore, didn't care, almost immediately. Tony began talking more to himself. "Mocks all of us for doing the sacrifice play and what does he do? He does the God damn sacrifice play!"

Pepper, who had not left his side since they were reunited, stroked his arm and tried to calm him down. It didn't work. "Tony, it's going to be ok-"

"No! It's not! It's not going to be okay!"

The silence following Tony's outburst was almost deafening. Clearly everyone was feeling something similar to what Thor felt. And he knew that. These people were Loki's friends after all. He just…he had been rash and stupid.

Nebula was the one to break the new silence. She said in a soft voice barely above a whisper, "If Thanos figures out that it is all an illusion, then…" She stopped talking. She didn't have to finish her thought, though. Thor knew what she meant. It was on his mind the second he found out that Loki had gone with Thanos. It was on everyone's minds. She was just the first one to voice it out loud.

If Thanos figured out it was all an illusion, he'd most defiantly try and kill Loki.

Quill suddenly stood up, determined. "Then we go after him. Rescue him."

Several people nodded their heads. There were a few who didn't. Then Scott took a breath, rubbed the sides of his head, and stepped forward. "Look, I…I want to go and get him back too but…God, I need a breather."

Thor just stared at the man. A breather? They did not have time to have a bloody breather! His brother was with his former torturer. Did Lang not understand that?

"Yeah, me too," Valkyrie suddenly muttered. Thor spun to look at her. Had everyone lost their minds? She was already looking directly at him, sympathy in her brown eyes. "And it wouldn't be wise to go in guns blazing when Thanos just beat us all senseless."

"Wouldn't it be a fair fight now?" Peter asked, looking around at their group. "I mean, he doesn't have any of the stones right?"

This was true. They now had five stones and Loki had the last. Surely, Thanos had to be less of a threat than before. Gamora brushed her hair from her face and kept a protective arm around her distraught sister. "He was the most powerful being in the universe before he had the Gauntlet."

"Yeah," Bruce said miserably. "He already was unstoppable."

Thor shook his head. He could see where this was going and he couldn't believe it. "No, no, no. We are not postponing this. We need to go now and get my brother back now."

Bruce walked up to him avoiding eye contact. He fidgeted for a second, looking like he was regretting what he was about to say, and then he finally said, "Thor, we will get Loki back. I promise you that. But we need to be clearheaded about this. We…Fifteen of us almost died, yourself included. Everyone has been beaten and bloodied up. We are of no help to Loki if we over exert ourselves."

Thor eyed the weary looking man. Was it his imagination or did Bruce have a few more gray hairs then he had before the battle? It wouldn't have surprised him if he did. He himself felt like he had aged several decades in the last few hours.

"Guys." Everyone turned to the sound of Bucky's voice. He and Sam had not left Steve's side since they ran over to him. Steve was still unconscious and the metal armed man found it hard to form his words. "Guys…he's…Steve's…"

"He's hurt pretty bad," Sam finished.

Shuri left her brother's hug to go to them, but T'Challa was close behind her. She knelt down by Steve's head and checked his pulse. The front of the soldier's uniform was stained with blood. "Oh dear…" She popped off a few of the beads from her bracelet and stuck them to his wounds. They lit up once in contact with his skin. "It will stabilize him," she told Bucky and Sam, "but we need to get him back to my lab."

T'Challa let out a small sigh. He turned back the group. "Then we must go back to Wakanda." He didn't look or sound happy about this decision.

Thor certainly wasn't happy about this decision. But…Steve was severally injured. He needed medical help now. He half-heartedly glanced around the group of superheroes. Bruce had been right, they had been beaten and bloodied up. Almost everyone had some sort of cut or bruise on their face or head. He knew that there was still some dry blood on the back of his own head and that more than likely he had a concession.

They needed to take care of their injuries. No one wanted to, that much was clear now based one everyone's guilt ridden faces, but they had no choice.

Thor barely nodded his head and said a very inaudible, "Fine. We'll go."

This did not feel like the right decision. All Thor could do was pray that Loki was okay and that if he wasn't, he would forgive them for not coming for him right away.

Tony crossed his arms, pointed a hard stare at Strange, and said rather harshly, "Sure, I'm game. How 'bout you Strange? Got any reason we shouldn't go?"

Strange ignored him and instead turned to open up a portal that would lead them out of this damn city.

…

Time was an illusion, a perceptive. It was subjective. To one person time might go fast, not so much for another person. But Clint figured that everyone was feeling this sudden shift in time that he was feeling. Everything just slowed down.

To an almost maddening pace.

Don't get him wrong, there had been this urgency to get Steve to Wakanda and get him patched up. The soldier had a concussion, a few fractured ribs, a broken wrist, and several bleeding cuts that seemed worse than what they really were. Upon reentering the African nation, T'Challa's right-hand woman, Okoye, and his and Shuri's mother, Ramonda, came running up to them. The two women were both overjoyed to see the king and the princess alive and well. It wasn't too long after that when everyone else came running. Friends and families back together. It was a brief reunion. It was certainly nothing like what they experienced the day before when the search party returned from the Soul World.

God. Damn.

That was only yesterday.

The tired pack of heroes told the others what had happened in St. Louis. How they had their asses handed to them by Thanos and his gang of goons. How the remaining fifteen had been captured. How Loki had…well…

Their first concern was of course Steve. They got him onto a floating gurney and Shuri took point in getting him back to her lab. T'Challa, Ramonda, and Okoye were following the princess, not wanting to be separated again. Sam and Bucky were close behind them, looking worried sick about their friend.

Steve was a fighter. A stubborn one at that. He would be fine, Clint was sure of that.

If only he could be as sure of a certain mischief maker's fate as he was of Steve's.

With the feeling of urgency deflated, it left everyone else just standing in a big room, staring at each other. No one could speak for a few long seconds and Clint couldn't speak for everyone but the exhaustion was starting to settle down on him. He had been going non-stop for far too long. As much as he wished he could just down a cup of coffee and then move straight to the next mission, the next step, he couldn't.

He sat himself down on some loveseat, couch thing, feeling about every muscle in his body ache in the process. Laura and his children were soon next to him. A few others, like Scott, his daughter, Hope, their talkative friend, and Peter Parker and his two friends, took his example.

Soon after, Strange walked to a table that was near the middle of the room, placed the three stones he had been carrying on the table as well as his clunky necklace that housed the green Infinity Stone, and then promptly left the room. Apparently he wanted to be left alone with his very obvious guilt. The only person who made a move to go after him was his girlfriend, Christine Palmer, but she stopped herself from continuing and stayed with the group.

Clint wearily eyed the stones. They were breathtaking, nobody could argue with that. And completely unlimited in their destructive power. They could rip families apart, mow down entire worlds, ruin lives, cause idiots looking for redemption to play the sacrifice card. He hated these rainbow gems almost as much as he hated the monster who wielded them in the first place. Tony was eyeing the stones in the same way Clint was and eventually he slowly made his way to the table and set down the Mind Stone that he had been carrying. Clint was pretty sure he hated this stone the most.

Tony let out a long tired sigh and rubbed his eyes. "Alright," he said addressing the group, "T'Challa or Shuri or someone is going to come in soon with some of those healing beads. Anyone who wants to be fixed up stays here. And I'm only gonna say this once: Rest up, unwind, sleep for a few hours, and do not screw around. 'Cause tomorrow morning, 6 o'clock sharp, regardless of people's feelings of being tired, we are going to go and get Loki back."

He turned on his heels, heading towards the door. "And where are you going?" Rhodey called out to him.

Tony replied, "I'm not tired."

"Really?" Happy asked, sounding unconvinced.

"Really," Tony snapped.

"Tony," at the sound of Pepper's voice, Tony halted and glanced over his shoulder. "Maybe you should stay here and see about your own wounds."

"I'll survive," he mumbled. Pepper gave him a worrying look that Tony tried to ignore. "Look, I…I am going to spend the next few hours that I'm stuck here looking at trying to understand these damn stones."

Stuck here.

Yeah…it did feel like they were stuck here, didn't it?

If Clint could wish for superpowers, like actual superpowers, it would be for increased stamina. That way he could keep going, not have to stop from the sheer exhaustion all the time.

Hope suddenly spoke up. "We could see if our Gauntlet is ready."

That was right. When the search party was in the Soul World, the others had been trying to stop the world from collapsing into itself but also looking into a way to save those trapped in the Soul Stone. The solution? Steal back the stones and put them in their own human sized Gauntlet made by some dwarf that Thor knew.

"And if it is, what do we do with it?" Jane asked. "Put the stones we have in it?"

"No," Bruce said quickly. He gained many confused looks. He fidgeted with his hands and sort of shrugged. "I mean, yes, eventually, but with this time," he looked to Tony, "we should think about Vision."

Tony had a look of realization on his face, which, good for him, but no one else knew what the hell Bruce was talking about. Wanda instantly turned to the scientist, her brown eyes wide. "What?"

"The systems in Vision," Bruce started, "they're still working." Wait did that mean…? "We figured that-"

"Well," Tony interrupted, "Loki figured."

Bruce tiredly nodded his head. "Yeah. He figured that if we put the Mind Stone back in Vision's head and had Thor give him a jolt of his lightning…"

Wanda stood perfectly still, absorbing all of this before she finally asked, "Vis can be brought back?"

Bruce nodded again. "Theoretically, yeah."

This little bit of information seemed to shock Wanda to her very core. She let out a gasp and took several steps backwards. To be fair, this was a bit of shock. A happy shock. A lot of times when a person died there was no second chance for them. The living had to mourn their loss and the dead had their peace. But Vision was part machine. The laws that affected human beings did not necessarily affect him in the same way. It made sense. Perfect sense that what brought him to be in the first place could resurrect him.

Leave it to Loki to be the first one to figure this out.

Wanda stammered, "W-Wh-how…t-then what are we waiting for? Let's go." There was a new sound of hope, of determination in her voice. After a day like today, hope and determination was sorely needed.

But Clint couldn't help but feel a bit protective of the girl. He apparently wasn't the only one. Tony rubbed the back of his neck and finally came completely back into the room. "Listen, Wanda, we are pretty sure this is going to work but on the off chance it doesn't, are you sure you want to-?"

Wanda didn't let him finish. Her words were filled with her unique fierceness. "I am going to be there. I'm going to be there when he wakes up." Tony waited a few seconds before nodding that yes, she was going to sit by as he and Bruce attempted to bring back her dead boyfriend.

Bruce glanced to Thor, who looked horrible by the way. Clint remembered how Loki had just shut down when Thanos had captured his brother. This was like some sort of eerie repeat but with the brothers flipped flopped in their role as the captured one and the depressed one. Bruce said, "Thor, we'll probably need you on standby." Thor didn't say a word. Maybe he hadn't even heard him. "Thor?"

"I heard you," Thor whispered and before anyone else could do anything he stalked out of the room. He didn't even wait for Wanda, Tony, or Bruce. Tony let out a deep sigh and quickly went after him. Wanda was soon close behind them.

Bruce went to the table and picked up the Mind Stone. Clint felt himself shiver at the sight of it. The stupid thing responsible for scrambling his brain to be a mindless, obedient minion. He could have sworn he saw Scott do something similar. The man might not have been mind controlled but Thanos had done something to him in St. Louis. Something that caused him to scream out such a horrible sounding scream.

"You'll have to get them some of those beads too," Natasha called to Bruce.

"I will," Bruce promised with a slight nod and then off he went to go with the others.

It seemed like forever before a couple of Wakandan healers finally came in. They went around the room sticking beads to everyone's injuries, turning them on with a wave of their hands, letting them glow and heal them up. The technology was far beyond anything Clint had ever seem. He had been injured before the whole Ultron thing happened and Dr. Helen Cho had healed him using some sort of cell regeneration machine. That had been amazing but these vibrainum beads could do what Cho's machine did in half the time. His burnt hand from his encounter with Thane looked perfect. It was almost like magic. After a while and after everyone was free of cuts, burns, and bruises, the healers left them. And so did a few others, claiming they needed to unwind or clear their heads. Some, like Nebula, didn't say a word as they left. The Guardians, along with Quill's grandfather, decided to go to their own room wanting a little privacy. Of course, Quill would want to catch up with his grandfather. A few people who stayed fell asleep, like Scott and Darcy. Hope and Natasha both seemed eager to move, so it wasn't a complete shock when Hope got up and left to walk around, and when Nat got up and said she was going to check in on Steve and then Bruce.

That left Clint, his family, Peter, his two friends, Pepper, Happy, Wong, Christine, Scott, his friend, his daughter, and the sleeping Darcy. Everyone else had left. This was a strange difference than before. After the whack-jobs Thane and Super Giant had shown up saying that doomsday was coming, everyone just seemed to latch onto each other, not wanting to leave. And sure, Clint had left to be with his family but still… Now, they were separated.

Scott suddenly woke up with a start, looking around the room surprised. "You okay, man?" Luis asked, equally surprised that his friend had awoke in such a state.

Scott quickly turned to him. "What? Ah…yeah. Good. Just-good…" The man seemed to have troubles catching his bearing for a while but when he did finally catch them, he noticed Hope was gone. "Where'd Hope go?"

"She and a few others went to think on their own," his daughter, Cassie, told him.

Scott nodded his head and then pressed his fingers into his temples. "I think I need some air and I need to think too…Peanut, do you mind?" Cassie shook her head no. "Luis, will you watch after her?"

"Sure thing, my man," Luis said with a half-smile and with that Scott left too. There was something weird about the little encounter. Scott had something on his mind, he probably was as traumatized as everyone else was from the Battle of St. Louis. Then why not just say that? Was he trying to save face because he wanted to be strong for his daughter? And what about his waking with a start? Clint was probably just reading too much into this. You could destroy the agency he had worked at for years but you could never fully take the S.H.I.E.L.D agent out of him.

He turned from Luis and Cassie when he heard Peter's friends trying to cheer him up. "Don't worry about the master of the mystic arts," M.J. said, attempting to sound like her causal, disinterested self. It seemed hard for her to do given Peter's tired, sad expression. "If he has one of these Infinity Stones, then at least he has some sort of weapon against the giant."

Ned nodded in agreement and patted his friend's arm. "Exactly, Peter."

"Yeah," Peter whispered, staring at the floor. "I know."

Clint felt for the kid. At the end of the day, despite how much he would argue it, he was just a kid. A kid who should not have seen the horrors of a war, let alone know what it was like to lose a close friend. A borderline mentor. But still, Peter Parker was not your average kid. He was smart and capable. A little quippy and zany at times, but hell, practically everyone Clint knew was. He'd be okay once this was all said and done. He could probably get through all of these "adult" stresses and responsibilities, and live a semi-normal life as a superhero.

Clint was pulled from his thoughts when Lila tapped on his knee and asked, "Do you think the nice wizard will be okay, daddy?" She asked with such genuine hopefulness that it took Clint aback. He always told his kids the honest truth because he wanted them to know about the real world. He would sugar coat things some times, sure, but he always told them the truth.

But the truth was…this didn't look good for Loki.

Clint smiled a tight, tired smile. "Of course. Loki, he's a resourceful guy. Always thinking on his toes."

"Really?" Lila said, a happy spark filling her eye.

All Clint could do was nod his head, like he believed it one hundred percent. While his daughter was convinced, Laura could see through him and see his uncertainty. Laura ran her fingers through Lila's brown locks and told her, "Lila, why don't you and Cooper go and play with Cassie. She looks a little lonely over there."

Lila's already happy look just intensified. She nodded her head like one of those bobble heads. Copper nodded too, getting up from the couch. "Okay. C'mon." Clint watched his two eldest run over to Cassie, who was still being watched by Luis.

His forced smile was falling more and more the farther they got away.

Laura held the sleeping Nathanial closer to her, waiting for Lila and Cooper to get out of earshot. Once, they were she whispered to him, "Seriously, what do you think?"

Clint shook his head. "I don't know. It could go either way honestly… I made things right. I said sorry and everything was good. I said that he was an official Avenger. And like a true Avenger, he tries to get himself killed two minutes later."

Laura grabbed his hand and gave it a little squeeze. "There was nothing you could have done to stop him."

"Oh, I know," he said, massaging his temples with his free hand. "But that still doesn't stop me from feeling guilty… If I had just trusted him from the beginning…" He trailed off, not knowing how to continue. Because he couldn't go back in time and slap some sense into himself. And even if he could, he wasn't sure if it would have made any lick of difference.

It didn't matter anyways, because two seconds later Natasha came back into the room. She looked like he felt, like she was so tired that she could sleep for several days.

"Nat," Laura greeted, softly.

His partner in crime fighting seemed lost inside her own head for a second. That wasn't a good sign. Natasha was almost always acutely aware of her surroundings and was a few steps ahead of everyone. Well, when you're an assassin with trust issues, what else could you expect? He had seen her during the few times where she was pushed out of her comfort zone. Those few times where she was quiet and thinking deeply of something far more important than her surroundings. She snapped herself out of this state real quick. "Hey. Where's Scott? I thought he was asleep."

"He was," Luis told her. "But then Scottie woke up with a start and was all like, I got to go get some air and think. He turned to me and said, watch out for Cassie and I said, sure thing my man."

Wong stared at Luis with the most unamused look ever. "Why must you answer questions in the longest ways possible?"

Christine softly hit Wong's arm and said, "Be nice."

Natasha made her way to Clint and Laura. Once she sat down next to Clint, Laura asked, "How's Bruce?"

Nat muttered, "Taking it hard." She looked like she was taking all of this hard.

"He didn't want to-?" Clint stared to ask but Nat was quick to cut him off.

"He didn't want to talk. He just wanted to focus on his work."

Clint nodded. "Steve?"

"Stable."

"Good. That's good."

"Yeah…yeah."

Clint reached his free hand over to Natasha and took her hand. She didn't say anything, didn't even glance over, she just squeezed his hand. Clint tried to relax a little or be comforted by the fact that his best friend, his wife, and his kids were close by and more importantly safe. But he couldn't help but see Happy and Pepper off by themselves looking concerned about Tony, and Wong and Christine looking concerned about Doc Strange. Peter and his teenage friends looked exhausted and even though Cooper, Lila, and Cassie all were attempting to have fun listening to Luis tell some crazy story of how met a ghost woman who could phase through walls, all three children were clearly worried. Clint would rest but he wasn't even going to try and relax or be comforted.

There was no point.

Not until the mission was finished.

…

Rhodey considered himself a simple man. A man who did not question things like authority or fate. Oh, he wondered about it though. Wondered if those in command had the people's best interests, wondered if fate was as set in stone as it was made out to be. But he wasn't like Tony or Steve or his other superhero friends who seemed to defy everyone and everything. He defied orders only twice in his life, and one of those times was only a few days ago.

Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross, the big dumbass, had wanted Steve, Nat, and the others arrested on the spot when they entered the Avengers compound. Rhodey wasn't going to arrest them. He couldn't. It felt so…wrong.

So, he ended his call with Ross instead. That was a court martial. His first one. Well, who knew? Defying authority could be the right thing to do. And to think, all these years he thought Tony did it just for the sheer hell of it. He questioned authority now…cool. But fate, that was a completely separate entity, wasn't it?

It felt different.

It felt like something you couldn't control, like the breeze. It just sort of happened and you dealt with it as if affected your life. But now… after seeing his friends become so distraught over Loki's capture, and he was upset too, he had to wonder about fate now. This seemed wrong. So wrong. There was no way that something like this was fated to happen. At least that's what he hoped.

He had needed fresh air, so he decided to walk the streets of Wakanda. It felt like this was the first time he was truly taking in the African city and its wonders. He wasn't even sure how long he was walking for or how far he was going until he saw the golden colored fields. He stopped when he reached them, standing with his arms crossed just looking out at them. The first battle of this war had happened here, not too many days ago. Then the Asgardian refugees landed their pods in the fields and then this was where the search party had left for and returned from the Soul World.

The fields were burnt in some areas, stained in others with the blood of fallen Wakandan warriors and those bastard aliens. The Asgardian pods were all still scattered throughout the fields and-wait a minute… Rhodey squinted his eyes to try and see if he really was seeing what he was seeing. And it turned out he was. Nebula, the scary blue chick, was climbing onboard one of the abandoned pods.

He wasn't sure why he was running over, but he was. When he finally reached the pod she was in, he saw a pile of supplies laying on the ground next to the boarding ramp. It didn't take him long to figure out that she was planning to leave. "Mind if I ask you what you're doing?" he asked.

Nebula started at the sound of his voice, but when she turned to look at him there were no signs of being startled in her expression. Only that death glare she was so good at. "I am not waiting around any longer."

"Oh. I see." Rhodey crossed his arms and stepped out of her way when she came down the ramp to grab up her supplies. "You were just going to steal one of these pods and go on a suicide rescue by yourself."

"I know what I am doing," she snapped, going back up the ramp.

"Sure. Where will you go?"

"I will have to think like my father to know where he would go."

"Okay. And when you get to wherever you are going, with absolutely no backup, how were you planning on saving Loki?"

Nebula suddenly threw all of her supplies to the ground and stomped back down the ramp. Well, Rhodey must have pissed her off. This was confirmed when she started yelling at him. "You have no idea what Loki went through on Thanos's ship! The daily torture, for months! I saw what he went through and I did nothing to help him! I was trapped in Thanos's web of insanity. My only concern was staying alive, but things have changed. I'm free of that monster and I will not stand idly by and let my closest friend be put through any more pain."

Rhodey was silent, listening to her shout with such rage, with such guilt. Behind all of it was a very passionate need to get Loki back. Rhodey tried again. "I understand…but you didn't answer my question." Nebula opened her mouth but nothing came out. Her determination and guilt was fueling her to leave but she very clearly did not have a plan to rescue Loki. Rhodey sighed, "Look, about ten years ago, and I can't believe it's been that long, Tony was in an accident and he was kidnapped. I headed the search party but as the days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months, everyone started to lose hope. But I kept believing that he was too stubborn to die somewhere in the desert. Not Tony's style to die quietly. I kept having search planes look for him and one day, after six months, we found him. My point is, I didn't give up on him and I trusted my team to find him. Even when I wanted to go out on my own, I knew I shouldn't because possibly getting myself captured or killed would not help Tony and it would probably create another problem. I understand that you want to go now, but it will be better to go with backup."

Nebula seemed to understand but her eyes shined with something else. Distress? Sorrow? Something like that. She shook her head and lowered her head. "I thought I lost him once…I just want him back…" It was Rhodey's turn to lower his head at the longing in her voice. She wasn't the only one who wanted him back. Rhodey wanted the trickster God back too, if only to get everyone out of this cloud of depression they were stuck in. It seemed more personal for Nebula though, she and Loki were best friends after all. He glanced up at her and really looked at her for the first time. Her skin was either blue or grafted metal and Rhodey had to wonder what kind of pain she had been through to receive her metal, machine based parts. Nebula caught him staring at her and shrunk away from his gaze. "I wasn't always like this," she told him.

"Me either." He motioned to the braces that allowed him to walk. "We just take what we get, right?" Nebula slowly nodded her head. Maybe fate was unchangeable and that's all they could do. Just take it and hopefully, try to move on.

…

Peter Quill had been the one to suggest that his grandfather and the Guardians go to another room after the Wakandan guys with the magic healing bracelets came to fix everyone up. Honestly he just wanted some privacy to catch up with his grandpa. It had been over thirty years since he had last seen him and he had a feelings that their reunion would actually be a cheery one. That fact was part of the reason he thought they should leave.

The Avengers were in such a depressed state that it felt wrong to have a cheery reunion in front of them. But he didn't just want to abandon his own team either, which is why he invited them to come along. Peter sat with his grandpa on a couch. Mantis sat cross legged on the floor looking up at Drax and Groot who were sitting in some chairs. They appeared to be having their own little conversation. Gamora stayed standing near the group but she looked eager to leave. She probably just wanted to go find Nebula, 'cause the blue lady was one of the first to leave the main group and who even knew where she disappeared to. And then there was Rocket. He literally just stayed by the doorway acting all anti-social.

"By the way," Peter said, "this is not at all how I thought we would meet again."

His grandpa smiled a little. "Me neither. In fact, I figured you were…well, long gone."

Peter felt a twinge of guilt for that. "I'm sorry."

"Jesus, Quill," Rocket snapped, rubbing his forehead in a tired matter. "All you've been doing for the past half hour is apologizin'. Stop it!" It had not gone unnoticed that ever since they got back to Wakanda that Rocket had been acting like an asshole. Not that he didn't act like an asshole before, it was just…worse than usual. Peter figured he knew why.

"The raccoon is right, Peter," his grandpa said with a soft, knowing look. "It's okay. To learn that you are alive after all of these years and not just alive, but a hero…happiest and proudest moment of my life."

Peter smiled a little at that. "Thanks…um, well, I've been so concerned with apologizing that-"

"Which has been annoyin' as hell," Rocket interrupted.

Peter chewed on the inside of his cheek, trying not to snap back. That wouldn't help anything. "Yeah, I got that." He turned back to his grandfather and said, "I never got to introduce you to my team."

"Okay," his grandpa said with a nod.

"Guys." He got everyone's attentions and motioned for them to get closer. They all did, except for Rocket. "This is Drax the Destroyer," he said pointing to Drax, "but don't let his name scare you off. He's a big softie."

Drax looked confused and ran his hand over his left arm. "I do not feel that soft."

Peter suppressed the urge to yell that it was only a metaphor and instead pointed to Mantis. "This is Mantis."

"Hi," Mantis said softly. She took his grandpa's hand in her own to shake it and her antenna lit up. She smiled for the first time since they got back. "You really are so proud of your grandson!"

His grandpa looked at the girl with a curious expression. "She feels emotions when she touches people," Peter explained. "It's a whole thing."

His grandpa nodded. "I see. Nice to meet you dear."

Groot waved at the gray haired man. "I am Groot." His grandpa nodded again.

Peter told him, "FYI, Groot only ever says those three words so if you wanna talk to him, you'll need one of us to play as interpreter." He looked to Gamora, still seeming like she was anxious to leave, and said, "This is Gamora. My girlfriend."

"Oh!" his grandpa exclaimed a bit excitedly.

"Mr. Quill," Gamora said, forcing a smile, "it is so nice to finally meet you. Peter has told me a lot about you."

"He never mentioned anything to any of us," Drax said.

Peter scoffed, "Yeah, well, I'm not dating any of you guys."

Mantis finally let go of his grandpa's hand so that he could shake Gamora's. "Gamora," he repeated. "Lovely name."

"Thank you," Gamora said, a genuine smile pulling at her lips.

Peter couldn't help but smile a little himself all things considered. The family he had made for himself was meeting part of the family he had left behind. And they were getting along! After all of the problems with Ego, the Ravagers, and Thanos, he honestly thought he was just destined to have family slash in-law troubles. Speaking of trouble, he still had to introduce one more member of the Guardians. "And that irritable raccoon is Rocket."

"Hello," his grandpa said.

"Hi," Rocket muttered before suddenly heading to the door. "Bye."

"Where are you going?" Mantis asked.

"I need to think and this happy family crap is startin' to make me sick." With that, Rocket left.

Peter told his grandpa, "He's not normally like that."

"Yes he is," Drax said.

"Drax."

"What?" Drax asked, innocently.

Peter shook his head and tried again. "No, I mean, it's worse today. We…we lost a friend today."

His grandfather nodded his head, sympathy in his eyes. "Close were you?"

Peter nodded as well. "He's an honorary Guardian."

"The one who took Mr. Stark's place?"

Wow, he put the pieces together fast, didn't he? "Yeah. Him." Peter didn't want to think about Loki's predicament if he was being honest with himself. I mean, sure, he wanted to go rescue the guy and he was just counting down the minutes before they could finally leave to save him. But…he still felt that the attack on St. Louis was his fault. He had forgotten about his own grandfather and because of that fact, St. Louis was ravaged, the fifteen were captured, and Loki got to play the part of the hero.

If he thought about it too hard he came to the horrible conclusion that this was all because of him. And call him selfish but he really did not want to feel this extreme, heavy guilt right now. He just wanted to make sure his grandpa was okay and happy and that the Guardians were their usually plucky selves, whatever plucky meant.

After no one said anything for a while, Gamora spoke up. "If you will excuse me, I really should be looking for my sister. She disappeared soon after we got here, so…"

"No need to look for your sister," a familiar voice said. Peter turned and saw Rhodey walk into the room, Nebula close to his side.

"Nebula," Gamora said walking over to her sister. "I'm glad you came back."

Nebula didn't look like she wanted to be here. "Yeah…Maybe we could talk. Somewhere else."

"Of course," Gamora said nodding. "Let's go."

The two sisters left together. Rhodey hesitated for a second before nodding to the Guardians and turning to leave as well. Peter shook his head. "Right. Cool. I guess…" What to do now? He rubbed the back of his neck and told his grandpa, "There's just so much to tell you."

The elderly man shrugged and happily said, "I'd love to hear it all." Peter smiled at this.

Then Drax suddenly said, "Tell him about the dance-off to save the universe."

His grandpa looked confused. "The what?"

Groot suddenly got all excited. "I am Groot!"

"Yes," Mantis agreed, "I love that story as well."

"Okay, okay, I'll tell it," Peter said shaking his hands. Drax, Mantis, and Groot all quickly sat back down, ready for story time. "But we gotta start from the beginning. So there was this shiny orb that was a total McGuffin straight outta the movies, right?"

…

Hope needed to clear her head. Actually what she needed was an aspirin and a stiff drink. Hell, she'd even settle for some coffee. Anything to make the pounding headache and the stress of the day go away. She told Luis that she was going for a walk. Luis nodded and off she was.

Scott had been dead tired, rightfully so, and after a brief reunion with Cassie, the man fell asleep in a cushy chair. She sat for a while after that and then she really just wanted to be alone for a second or two. Dealing with losses was nothing new to her. She lost her mother when she was only a kid, in many ways she had lost her dad for several years too. Now, both of her parents were trapped in the Soul World, freezing to death or burning in the sun or even running away from some more giant alien creatures.

The thought scared her but oddly enough it almost made her smile. A small, tired smile. Her parents in some pocket universe, out in the elements and seeing things from other worlds…being scientists they probably were making a lovely vacation out of it. A sort of survival second honeymoon. That thought put her at ease.

Sort of. She'd still worry about her parents, there was no avoiding it but maybe it would be a bit easier to think about it.

That wasn't the case with Loki.

There was no small, tired smile. There was just…God. It was just a big freaking mess wasn't it?

She rounded a corner and suddenly she stopped in her tracks. That dark haired Asgardian woman was sitting on the ground, her back to the wall, running a rock or something along the edge of her sword. Hope hadn't expected to see anyone alone, let alone this particular person. Valkyrie was her name. Not her actual name, Loki had called her something else, but it was the name she went by most of the time. "Hey," Hope greeted.

Valkyrie greeted her back. "Hey."

"I didn't expect to see anyone alone after today."

"What do you mean?" Valkyrie never even looked up from what she was doing.

"I just mean that after all the close-calls, everyone else is latching onto their friends and family like their lives depend on it."

"You're not "latching" onto Lang. You're here, talking to me."

There was a bit of a sarcastic undertone to her voice. It made Hope blink in surprise. "True. But we were for a while, but he had to worry about his daughter and Luis. And not surprisingly, he fell asleep so…here I am."

"Hmm."

Hope narrowed her eyes at the woman, trying to understand her seemingly emotionless state. "What about you? Not going to talk with Okoye or Thor?"

"Okoye has other things to worry about. We'll talk later."

"And Thor?"

Valkyrie paused and finally set her sword aside. She met Hope's eyes and crossed her arms in her defiant way. "What does it matter to you anyways?"

"It doesn't. I'm just curious as to how a person you care about, who has just lost someone precious to them, is sitting off dwelling on their own misery and here you are just sharpening your sword. Like it's no big deal and you don't care."

"Perceptive," Valkyrie chuckled. "No wonder Loki likes you." Her expression dropped at the mention of Loki's name. She blew a few loose strands of her hair from her face and tried to explain herself. "Look, I…I've spent so many years…I guess, I am just trying to, well, forget my hardships, my pain and I guess…I've become a bit detached. I'm…worried for Thor, of course, and I want to comfort him I just…I-I don't know how."

Hope sighed, understanding that feeling only too well. How long had she felt like she couldn't talk to her own dad about how she was feeling, let alone how he was feeling. Scott had helped her close that gap that opened between them. She would always be thankful to him for that. "Just be there for him. It doesn't matter in what capacity."

"She's right you know." The two women both turned to the sound of the new voice. It belonged to one Jane Foster. "Being there is better than not."

"Hey," Hope greeted.

"Hi." The female scientist stepped closer and fidgeted with her hands. "Sorry about eavesdropping. It's Hope and Valkyrie, right?"

"Yeah," Valkyrie said, eyeing Jane. "And you're Jane Foster. Thor's ex."

"And your Thor's new girlfriend?" Jane asked.

Valkyrie half laughed and half scoffed. "You know, we never really discussed what we are. So, no. Not yet. But we're friends to be sure."

Hope looked between the two woman and then the idea popped in her head in an instant. "Why don't you two both go to Thor?"

"Huh?" Valkyrie said, eyes slightly widened.

"Pardon?" Jane asked, looking similarly confused.

"Well, you both care for him." She looked directly at Jane, "You're kind," then she looked to Valkyrie, "you're realistic. You two should be able to balance each other out and comfort him."

Valkyrie shook her head impressed. "Seriously, perceptive… I'm fine with it."

Jane seemed a little caught off guard by Valkyrie wanting to do this but she quickly nodded in agreement. "Alright. I was wondering how he was doing anyways. Let's go."

"Yeah, let's." Valkyrie jumped up and grabbed her sword. She sheaved it and motioned for Jane to lead the way. Jane did and together they left. Hope let out a small sigh. Well, she hoped that she made the right call by having those two go together to comfort Thor.

…

So, Rocket left the too happy Quill, Grandpa Quill, and Guardians so he could vent out his frustration. And by "vent out his frustration" he meant, find an abandoned room and completely destroy it. It was certainly more effective than taking his anger out on grass like he had after he learned the Guardians were gone. He was actually kinda surprised how much damage he actually had inflicted upon the room. All the furniture was scattered on the ground, some of it broken, the shards all over the floor.

Still this was nothing compared to how Loki had destroyed that room. Rocket flinched at the thought. He sat down on the floor and dwelled on his strange mixture of feelings. Agh! Feelings. Stupid, complex crap that made life so unnecessarily difficult. "Um…" a shocked voice said, shaking Rocket out of his thoughts. He glanced up and saw that guy had walked in. That Wakanda guy who wore all the fur. M'Boo or M'Baku or something like that. The guy examined the state of the room in a silent shock for what felt like an eternity until he finally met Rocket's gaze and said, "Do you care to explain this?"

"Explain what?" Rocket grumbled. He wasn't trying to play stupid but he also wasn't in the mood to try and explain what was going through his head, which he would have to do if he explained why the room was totaled.

M'Baku's eyes widened and he motioned his hands to the entirety of the room. "What? What? The state of this room. It's-it's-"

"It's completely destroyed?" Rocket offered.

"Yes. That."

"You know, you're not the ruler around here, so why do you care?"

M'Baku looked a cross between wanting to let out a laugh and shouting at him. Odd mixture of emotions if you asked him. M'Baku finally let out a deep sigh and sassily said, "My territory to rule over or not, I care when talking animals destroy priceless rooms."

"Priceless?" From Rocket's understanding the Wakandan Princess was responsible for basically everything in Wakanda, so couldn't she just whip together a few more lousy metal chairs and lamps and call it a day?

M'Baku hid his face in his hands for a few seconds before trying again. "We are getting nowhere. Why did you destroy a room?"

"To deal with all of this damned drama," Rocket told him before he could stop himself. He internally cursed himself for telling the fur guy that. It wasn't any of his damn business how he was feeling or anything really. And he really did not want to talk about all of this damned "drama" that had been going around. So, in an attempt to change the subject he muttered, "Everyone's got a way to deal with things."

"And this is how you deal with stress and anger?"

"Not normally. I borrowed it from a friend." Rocket cursed himself again. He didn't want to talk about it and yet he brought up Loki in the conversation. He was such a dummy sometimes. Then again, M'Baku would have no way of knowing that Loki dealt with his losses from the snap by destroying that room.

"Ah, I see. Well, if you ever want to deal with stress and anger in a less destructive way, you can talk to me."

"You?"

"Problem?" M'Baku said sounding offended by his attitude.

"No," Rocket said quickly. "I just…I don't want a new friend so quickly after havin' one been taken away."

"Then I leave you with your broken room…" M'Baku started to leave but quickly turned back around. "Oh, I should mention that T'Challa, although very wise and a stoic, gets upset when things, like rooms, are…disheveled. So, good luck with that." With a small smile and a nod he left for real.

Rocket quick glanced around the room, realizing that he might just have to pick all of this shit up. He let out an agitated huff and shouted, "Yo, fur guy! Get back in here!" M'Baku slowly came back into the room, that stupid smile still on his face. "Shut up and help me pick all this shit up."

Instead of helping, M'Baku crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. "You destroyed the room, not me. Why should I help?"

Rocket growled at him. "Because I said so!"

"I may not be the ruler of Wakanda as a whole, but I am the ruler of my tribe and I do not need to do as others tell me to do."

"You are so freakin' confusing!" Rocket shouted. "First you're concerned about this stupid room, then you're concerned about me, which I do not need right now! Then you're gonna respect my wishes and leave but you did some reverse psychology crap on me so I call you back to help me with the stupid room. And then you say you're not going to help me?! What the actual hell?!"

"Are you actually mad at me?" M'Baku suddenly said.

Boy, did Rocket feel his head want to explode after hearing a idiotic question like that. "Am I actually-you-what? Of course, I am mad at you-you big obnoxious fur ball! Why else would I be yelling?!"

"Because you are upset over Loki's situation."

Rocket was ready to argue anything M'Baku said. Ready to shout until he was out of breath. But he hadn't expected the guy to so calmly, so matter-of-factly state the real reason why he was so upset. Rocket opened his mouth to yell, realized what M'Baku had said, and stopped. He tried several times to say something snarky but eventually he gave up and muttered, "Yeah. Okay. You got me."

M'Baku came fully into the room, picked up a turned over chair, set it up right, and sat down in it. "It is not just that he was taken that has you so angry, is it?"

Rocket suddenly felt a very weird feeling of déjà vu. Loki had been the hot mess who had destroyed a room and Rocket had been the perceptive one who tried to be friendly and helpful. Now, somehow, he was the hot mess and some random guy in far too much fur was the perceptive one? He shook his head and he let himself say, "I'm angry that Loki decided to play the role of the hero but I'm not surprised. What really pisses me off is the fact that we are here wasting valuable time when we could be going after him. But no, I gotta endure everyone sittin' around lookin' sad and Quill havin' a joyful family reunion with his grandpa like it's no big deal that Loki is with the bastard who tortured him. No big deal at all!"

M'Baku let out a sigh after Rocket was done ranting. "I know the anxious feeling you get when you just want to act. However, action without thought behind it, without clear mindedness, will become destructive. I believe you and your friends need a few hours to regroup, clear your minds. Then, the course of action will come to you and you will be able to save your friend. As for Quill having a family reunion, as you previously stated, everyone deals with things differently."

Rocket had to nod his head in agreement with everything M'Baku so calmly and accurately said. He knew Quill was a puzzle to him sometimes when it came to coping with things and he knew that if they had gone straight after Loki, about half of the team would have collapsed. This was the smarter choice. But damn did it make him feel like the worst friend in history.

Eventually he glanced up at M'Baku and said, "You know, ruler or not, you got a way with words."

M'Baku smiled a bit and boasted, "Of course. It is one of my strong suits. That and my sense of fashion."

"Fur's not fashion."

"Matter of opinion."

Rocket half chuckled, "You're also an idiot. Care to help me pick up this freakin' room now?"

M'Baku exasperatedly said, "Oh, if I must." He stood up and got straight to work picking up the stupid room. Rocket got up and started to help too. He wasn't in a mood to make a new friend, especially so soon after Loki, but this M'Baku guy…he was okay.

…

Stephen closed his eyes in concentration.

He sat at a large table in one of the many sitting rooms filled with the uniquely Wakandan décor. On the table was a worn book with tearing yellow pages. It was open to the middle and an old spell was written across the pages that he couldn't read without the help of Google Translate.

Nothing happened for several seconds. He was beginning to wonder if he had done something wrong. Maybe he had said the spell incorrectly? Maybe this was a sign. A sign that he shouldn't be doing this.

But then…He could fell warmth around both of his wrists. His eyes popped open.

Black and purple magic was twisting around his wrists, entangling together. Stephen let out a shaky breath and muttered, "Okay." Slowly he lifted up his right hand to eye level. He wore his by now usual yellow gloves. They covered up the scars from his accident. Nothing could cover up the tremor that affected both his hands. He focused on the magic, hoping, praying, that this would work. And then slowly, painfully so, the ring around his wrist began to branch out and tangle itself around his fingers and his palm.

And not just around his hand, but inside his hand.

He could feel it, the glowing magic in his veins, his muscles, his bones. And then for a brief moment, his hand stopped trembling.

He had done it.

He had channeled cosmic energy directly into his hands.

"Strange." The semi-cold greeting surprised him enough to lose his concentration. The tremor came back. He shouldn't have been so startled, he knew Tony was going to come see him. He shook his hands and the rings disappeared. He shut the book and turned his chair towards the door. Tony stood in the doorway, arms crossed, harsh glare from earlier still in place. Strange felt a twist in his stomach. This was finally going to happen, wasn't it? "I just needed a break and I thought I would walk around…And how are you doing?" Tony asked, pretending to be nice.

"Honestly…terrible." Stephen sighed and rubbed his temples. "Everything will turn out fine in the end."

"You telling me or are you trying to convince yourself?"

Stephen met his gaze. "Tony, the last few days have been the most stressful in my life and the only thing that has given me any sort of consolation or hope has been my constant reassurance."

Tony glanced at the floor. "Yeah…Most stressful? Understatement." He slowly made his way into the room and walked around the table. "Fighting and losing to a giant purple monster isn't nearly as fun as it sounds… I'm not stupid you know."

It was happening.

Just like he saw it.

"I know."

Tony continued on. "I may act like I don't know what is happening sometimes but I-"

"No, Tony," Stephen interrupted. He slowly stood up, slightly fidgeting with his hands as he did so. The table was the only thing between them. "I mean I know. Ever since we got back you have been thinking about the beginning. How all of…this happened. And while you were reliving the disaster, you remembered what I said at the Arch. How I didn't come up with the idea for Loki to use the Reality Stone, I saw it. You remembered when we were on Titan and I looked forward into the future…and I told you that we only won one out of the millions of possible outcomes."

Stephen said it all slowly, carefully, though he would much rather just spit it all out. Tony's eyes widened in shock. And realization. Yes, he had thought all of this. Yes, he thought he knew what Stephen had been doing. But to hear it come directly from Stephen… "So, is this you confirming that you've been holding out on us?"

Stephen closed his eyes and when he opened them he avoided Tony's distrusting and disbelieving stare. "Look, amenity at this point is the only way this will work. They have to make their own decisions. I know what they will do and I help them if necessary but I cannot-no. No one can interfere with their choices."

Tony scoffed and rubbed his face with both his hands. Then he let out a tired little humorless chuckle. "You knew what was going to happen the whole time. The snap. Everything with the Soul World. St. Louis."

"You finding out."

"Guess it gave you time to rehearse how you would explain yourself, huh?" Funny enough, Stephen never once thought about how to "explain himself". He had been too concerned with trying to keep all the pieces from falling apart. Tony had grown quiet, had grown more serious than before. And in an eerie whisper he asked, "Did you know about Loki making the sacrifice play?"

Stephen let out a sigh and tried to find the best words. "I wished there had been another way to-"

"Don't bullshit me, Strange." Tony was mad. More than mad, he was furious. Rightfully so. "Come on. You had to know that question was coming."

Stephen met Tony's eyes again and nodded. "Yes. I knew." Tony let out a small gasp and took a few steps backwards like he had been struck. The guilt Stephen had been carrying for a while now, just seemed to amplify. He tried again. "And if there had been any other way for this to work, I assure you-"

"I do not want your hollow assurance."

"Tony, it was the only way."

"Does he live?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Or what? The universe will implode?" Tony asked, borderline sarcastically.

Stephen tightened his resolve. "Or, what is supposed to happen, will not happen." He said those last three words with emphasis, knowing that Tony would understand, at least for now, that there was nothing he could tell him.

Tony just started mumbling to himself, his own guilt about Loki's situation coming through. "All the guy ever wanted was some acceptance…and the world beat him down every single time. He was labeled a monster, a murderer when the whole time he was being controlled. He does not deserve anymore pain."

Stephen slowly stepped around the table, getting slightly closer to the man. He wanted to put his hand on his shoulder and tell him everything. Tell him how the next few days were going to go. Tell him not to worry, tell him to worry. Tell him exactly how they were to defeat Thanos. But he couldn't. All he could do was say, "I know…I'm sorry."

"No," Tony said, shaking his head rapidly. "No, you don't get to do that."

"Fair enough… I hope you do not think too poorly of me, Tony. I cannot think about just one person when billions of lives are on the line." That last part felt like a lie. Because he couldn't stop thinking about Loki.

"Yeah, well…" Tony trailed off, too upset to go on. He quickly found his words again. "I can't do that. Just one person is all I ever think about. But if you can live with this then fine. Whatever. Who am I to judge?" Then he shoved past him, leaving in a huff.

Now all Stephen wanted to do was crumble to the ground with the stress of too much knowledge pushing down on him.

…

Bruce had just wanted to work. Work on reinstalling the Mind Stone into Vision's head. Talking would have been good to get everything that was cluttering his mind out into the open. But…he didn't have the…courage. Didn't have the courage to talk to Tony or Natasha and say, the fact that Hulk won't come out was really starting to piss him off and that he thought he knew why. Why wasn't the other guy wanting to come out and fight Thanos and his army? Simple, the "incredible" Hulk was scared of him. Hulk had no problem wanting to come out and put Clint back into his place, but Thanos? Hulk remained quiet. Maddeningly so.

So, he focused on the work, turning Natasha away when she came to check on him. He still had been working when Tony said he needed a break and left for a few minutes. When Tony came storming back in, it was clear he was pissed about something. But Bruce didn't ask. He had just enough energy to work on Vision, but asking Tony, Wanda, or Thor how they were doing with all of this… Yeah, no.

Vision's gray body was lying on the same metal table he had been earlier. Bruce and Tony both had a computer telling them how far they had come along. And they had come along way. The Mind Stone was securely placed back in the broken crater that was Vision's forehead. The systems were, of course, still working. They were just waiting for the stone and the systems to conjoin, then they would need Thor's lightning, and then-

"Hey." Bruce glanced up at the voice and saw that Valkyrie and Jane Foster had walked in together. It took him a second before he realized that Valkyrie had said 'hey' to him. He nodded to her and she nodded back. Then she focused all of her attention on Thor.

Jane was already doing just that, but she stopped for two seconds to ask, "Hi, you don't mind if we come in and talk with Thor do you?"

She didn't want to interrupt and when Tony did not say a word for several long seconds, Bruce quickly said, "No. That's fine. Yeah."

Valkyrie and Jane both tentatively sat next to the hurting thunder God. He glanced from side to side at the two women and muttered, "You two together? I don't know why, but I thought you'd hate each other."

"Well," Valkyrie crossed her arms and slouched down in her seat, "I might have been jealous of your oh-so-pretty ex for like five minutes but then I realized I was being stupid and we're not even dating officially so…so why get mad?"

"Besides," Jane said never taking her worried eyes away from Thor, "we both wanted to see how you were doing, so we figured we'd do it together."

Valkyrie shook her head. "Actually that lady, Hope, figured we should do it together. She's pretty smart."

Jane nodded. "Yeah, she is… How are you?" Thor did not answer her question and instead just continued to glare at the floor. "Do you need to talk or…?"

Thor rubbed his forehead and gruffly said, "Thank you for your concern, both of you. But I'm okay."

Bruce couldn't help himself from scoffing, "Yeah, alright."

Thor's sharp blue eyes turned to him. "What would you like me to say, Bruce? That I'm feeling miserable? That ever since I learned that my brother went with that mad man, I have felt nothing but guilt? That if I had just killed Thanos when I had the chance, then none of this would be happening right now? That it's my fault?" Thor had spat all of it out in a matter of seconds, his eyes filling with more and more tears as he went on.

Jane laid her hand on his wrist and wrapped her fingers around it. "What happened to Loki is not your fault."

"She's right, Thor," Valkyrie said, sounding softer than Bruce had ever heard her. "Blaming yourself is not going to help anyone."

Thor shook his head, looking like a sad puppy dog. "You weren't there. I had my axe in Thanos's chest and if I had just aimed for the head then-"

"Then what?" Tony asked almost challenging. The man had been quiet for so long that his sudden loud question almost started everyone in the room. "Then everything would be peachy-keen and we all live happily ever after? There is no use in going over the what-ifs in your head, because we cannot change what we have done. Maybe…" Tony trailed off, thinking something over. "Maybe some things just happen for a reason. And maybe…everything will turn out fine in the end."

"He's right," Valkyrie said, standing up, gaining Thor's attention. "Loki getting himself taken…sucks, alright? But if he saw you or anybody else moping around, he'd yell at you idiots. "Stars above! I give you people five Infinity Stones to create your bloody human size Gauntlet and what do you do? You all sit around like a bunch of depressed jerks. I can handle myself, I am the God of Mischief after all.""

She did a pretty good Loki impression.

Jane half chuckled, "Yeah. He'd say something on those lines."

Thor wiped some of the tears away from his eyes. "I just…I want him to be okay."

"He will be." Bruce honestly didn't recognize his own voice. He sounded so tired, like a dead man walking.

Thor looked up and whispered, "And if Loki dies, it's my fault."

"And it's mine," Tony said, fully putting that responsibility onto his shoulders. "But if that does happen, it will also be Thanos's fault. Remember that… Whatever happens to Loki or to any of us, we have to live with ourselves. With the actions we make."

"And our failures?" Thor asked, still sounding miserable.

Tony nodded, looking sympathetic. "We definitely have to live with those too."

Living with failure was something Bruce had slowly learnt to deal with but the idea of Loki dying felt worse than failure. It felt like a defeat. But Thor seemed to finally agree that whatever happened, he would have to live with it and most importantly, Thanos was to blame for all of it. "When did you start acting like that Captain Rogers guy?" Valkyrie asked Tony after a while.

Tony shrugged and said, "Like four hours ago." Suddenly the computers started beeping that the systems and the stone were ready. "Bruce…"

"I see it," Bruce picked up his computer, "Thor, whenever you're ready."

Thor slowly stood up and walked over to Vision's lifeless body. Valkyrie took a step backwards and Jane stood up but made no move to get closer. Both women were intrigued by what was about to happen. Wanda, who had been mostly quiet this whole time, stood up as well. Bruce and Tony watched Thor place his hands on Vision. One hand was on his chest, the other hand was on his head. Thor inhaled and then his lightning sizzled and sparked around his hands, hitting Vision directly. It was almost too much to watch, the lightning striking Vision's body making it twitch and jump.

Three more seconds of Thor using his lightning later and it started to spark out too much. And before you knew it, the computers and lights in the room were completely shorted out. Thor quick pulled his hands away, his lightning diminishing as he did so.

Wanda ran to the table, her hands shaking as she reached out for her boyfriend. "Vision? Vision?"

She did not get a reply. Tony was already hurrying around the room trying to get the lights and the computers back on. "Hang on." When that didn't work, he finally pulled out his phone and ran a scan over Vision. It felt like the scan was taking forever and once it was finally finished, Tony didn't move. But his expression slowly morphed into a sort of grief.

It hadn't worked.

Bruce let out a sigh and covered his eyes with his hand, the stress and loss pushing down on him harder than before. After a while of silence, Wanda closed her teary eyes and turned away.

The Wakandan electrical mainframe was set up to automatically fix shortages after a certain amount of time, hence why the lights and computers suddenly came back on. Had anyone been paying attention, they would have seen that when Bruce's computer came on, it was telling them how close Vision was to being complete. The process was at 98 percent and climbing…

98%…99%…100%

Vision's eyes popped open and he let out a gasp.

Everyone turned and stared at the android who was slowly regaining his red hue. Wanda's jaw dropped and she was quickly back at his side, exclaiming, "Oh, my God! Vis, you're alive! You're actually alive!"

Vision's eyes scanned his surrounding before settling in on Wanda. His eyes were no longer the gray lifeless orbs they had been before. They were back to having a spark of life. "Wanda?" Vision said, his voice was hoarse, but otherwise he sounded normal. "W-where are we? Are we…still in Wakanda?"

Wanda's head bobbed up and down, those tears in her eyes fell onto her cheeks. "Yes. Yes." Vision reached his hand up to her face and wiped the tears away. Wanda grabbed his hand, keeping it on her face.

Bruce managed to steal his eyes away from the happily reunited couple and glanced at Tony, who looked as speechless as he felt. "It worked," Bruce whispered.

Tony nodded his head, still shell shocked. "It actually worked." Maybe about two seconds passed before the utterly flabbergasted feeling faded away and was replaced with pure, giddy excitement. "It worked!" Tony shouted, practically jumping up and down.

Bruce nodded and clapped Tony on the back. "It did!" A weight had been lifted, some of the guilt had receded. They hadn't failed at this. Vision was alive. The joy was contagious as Thor chuckled at the two scientists' reactions and Valkyrie and Jane both smiled at the turn of events.

Vision turned his head to look at Tony and Bruce. "Mr. Stark…Dr. Banner…I could have sworn I died."

Tony nodded, "Technically speaking, you did. But we brought you back."

Vision's eyes shined with appreciation. "Thank you."

"Don't thank us," Bruce told him. "Thank Loki. He's the one who thought we could bring you back in the first place."

"I gotta tell everyone you're alive," Tony muttered to himself, still looking indescribably happy. "Some good news for a change." He ran off to the doors and was reaching for the door handle but at that moment the door swung open, and Tony almost crashed into the person on the other side of the door. And who was on the other side of the door? None other than Captain Carol Danvers.

Tony half jumped backwards at the woman's sudden appearance, but Danvers seemed un-phased. "I'm sorry to interrupt your happy moment," she said glancing to Vision and Wanda, "but I wanted to talk to you Avengers as soon as possible."

"Who's that?" Jane asked. Being that she hadn't been in the room when Danvers had messaged, it made sense that she would have no clue who Danvers was.

And Danvers promptly answered the question. "I'm Captain Carol Danvers…Captain Marvel."

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Author's Note Again: The plot thickens!

Again!

And, no Loki in this chapter! Sorry, but I needed this chapter with the others on their own. (There's nothing more fun than everyone being sad and depressed! Oh…wait…) Besides, it gave me a chance to explore other characters' P.O.V.s. And it is always fun to write the story from other people's points of view.

Scott just seemed to disappear. Hmm…any ideas? The little interactions were fun to write. Especially Quill with his grandfather and Rocket and M'Baku. And Tony knows about Strange knowing the outcome of things. Yikes! Am I scaring you all with Loki's fate? (I'm an evil kind of person, aren't I?) Vision's back and Captain Marvel is here! Oh, boy!

Anyways, if anyone is interested in taking a look at my Stranger Things fan fiction ("The Bonds that Connect Us") I am always appreciatory of feedback. Hope this was worth the wait, sorry about the wait, and I look forward to hearing from you. Ta-ta!