Ensoulment
by Valerie Vancollie
valeriev84 at Hotmail dot com
Notes: Yes, the date below is 2018 as it's supposed to be set really quickly after Infinity War. I just didn't get it together until now :)
Oh, I also like to use the more proper Old Norse spelling for anything related to Norse Mythology. Hence I will have Ásgarðr instead of Asgard and Óðinn instead of Odin. The only times I won't do so is if I think the original spelling will interfere with recognition. So I will use Thor instead of Þórr.
Occasionally I shall also insert a Norse word or two, those will always be explained in the footnotes at the end of each chapter. But they may include seiðr for magic or draugr for zombie.
Space, 2018 A.D.
"We are not going to make it."
Tony scowled at the pronouncement.
"Now there's no need to be so pessimistic," he said. "Just because a few systems are having problems doesn't mean we're doomed."
"It does when those systems include life support and the food processors," she retorted.
For once Tony managed to catch the comeback that rose within him. It wasn't her fault the spaceship was so damaged. After everything which had happened on Titan it was a wonder the ship had survived at all. Still, her defeatist attitude was getting to him.
Especially since the absolute last thing that Tony Stark wanted to do just now was think of death. Either their own imminent ones if they couldn't fix the carbon dioxide scrubbers and food processors, or older ones. Particularly the more recent ones as he knew that if he allowed himself to dwell on them, and particularly Peter's, that he would crumble and then they'd surely be dead.
"Well aren't you the optimistic one," he said instead, unable to not say anything.
"I am merely being realistic."
Tony sighed, not at all sure what to make of her. That she wasn't entirely... organic was immediately obvious, but she reacted as if she truly felt emotion, something even JARVIS hadn't fully learned just yet when he'd... which JARVIS had not had.
"Hey, what's your name anyway?" Tony demanded to distract himself.
"Nebula."
"Nebula?"
"Something wrong with that?"
And there were the aggressive tendencies Tony had noticed in her earlier. While handy during the actual fight, it wasn't exactly a characteristic he liked in the person he was stuck in a failing spaceship with.
"No, it's just not a name on Earth is all," Tony replied. "I wanted to make sure I had it right."
"Earth?" she frowned. "You are from the same planet Peter was from?"
Peter? Oh, right, Quill.
"Yes."
And wow, how easily she acknowledged his death. Clearly Nebula and Quill hadn't been close even if they'd both cared deeply for that... Gonorrhea? Gamora?
"You are one of the ones who thwarted Thanos' first attempt to obtain the Stones there," Nebula stated.
"Yes," Tony confirmed.
"The one who flew the missile through the portal, that is why Thanos knew of you."
Shit. That... Tony quite liked being famous in general, it had a lot of advantages, but being famous for something like this, when the guy whose army it had truly been was still out there?
Before he could worry about the new information any further, a bright orange light flared to life across the room.
"What the-" Tony began even as Nebula was suddenly armed.
Where the hell had those knives come from? Had she had those earlier? He couldn't remember seeing them before.
Then there was a shout and someone came tumbling into the room with them.
"Wait!" Tony cried, recognizing the voice just in time to prevent Nebula from impaling their unexpected guest. "Strange, is that you?"
"Stark?" it definitely sounded like the wizard.
Tony shared a wide-eyed look with Nebula before he returned his gaze to the dead man who was suddenly back alive with them. But wait, if Strange was here, did that mean Peter and the others would return too?
A quick glance around didn't reveal any more people or lights and the ship's sensors seemed to be registering just the three of them.
"What the hell just happened?" Tony demanded as Strange pushed himself into an upright position.
"I think I just died," Strange said, looking as if he couldn't quite believe it.
"You did," Nebula stated bluntly. "Along with half the people in the universe. So how are you back?"
Well, Tony couldn't fault her for getting right down to business even if her manners could do with improving. The question was did that need to be taught or programmed?
"I-" Strange began before he frowned as he looked around. "Where are we?"
"The Benatar," Nebula told him.
"The spaceship the others came to Titan in," Tony explained. "Ours didn't exactly survive its landing, remember?"
"And this one did not survive the battle intact," Nebula riposted.
"Oh ye of little faith."
"What is she talking about?" Strange demanded.
"Just that we have a few minor repairs to make."
"This ship has been irrevocable damaged and will become our tomb," Nebula interjected. "You have come back to die once more."
Wow and Tony thought he could be dark at times!
"No, I have not," Strange countered. "We don't need this ship to return to Earth."
"We don't?" Tony asked.
"No, I can get us there."
"Wait, you had a simple way back the whole time?"
"No, I only just learned this one."
"Learned it? When? Where?"
Strange shrugged. "Wherever I was. I didn't exactly have time to ask or investigate. As soon as I woke up, Heimdallr was there."
"Heimdallr," Tony repeated. "The Ásgarðrian Bifröst keeper? Mr. Voyeur? The snap killed him too?"
"No apparently he was killed before, but yes, he knows the secrets of the Bifröst and he taught them to me," Strange said before he waved a hand to cut off the comment Tony was about to make. "Time moved differently where I was."
"Okay. Earth first, explanations second."
"For once we are in perfect agreement."
Perish the very thought.
At least this way Tony didn't have to admit that he didn't have the first clue as to how to fix the damn ship. With enough time and some more tools, sure he knew he could figure it out, but both of those were in rather limited supply just now.
Just like he was missing all his suit sensors and Tony swore to himself that at some point he'd catch Strange doing magic where he could scan precisely what the guy was doing so he could figure it out. For now though all he could do was watch as Strange concentrated and mumbled under his breath. There were none of the funny light shows from before and just as Tony was about to ask if the magical well had run dry there was a rumbling sound and then everything was light and colors and he felt like he was being tossed head over heels through the whirlpool from hell.
It seemed to go on forever before he slammed into the ground and rolled, seeing sky and grass, sky and grass, sky and grass before he finally came to a halt, face down in the dirt. He sputtered, hearing similar sounds from nearby.
"What was that?" he finally demanded once he was sure his stomach would stay right where it was meant to.
"A first attempt?" Strange tried, finally relieved of his smug, know-it-all attitude.
"I think I'll skip the next, oh, hundred or so."
"Like your first try at something is ever fantastic."
"Hey!" Tony exclaimed looking up. "I'll have you know my Mark 0 suit kicked ass and flew me to safety after having been built in a cave."
Strange rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, the whole world knows of Iron Man's first flight."
"Hey!" Nebula cut in loudly. "Where are we?"
The question threw Tony off his intended reply and he looked around to find they were on the large lawn outside the Avengers headquarters. Not to mention that he recognized almost everyone running out to meet them, including some of whom he'd rather never see again. Figures. Thor, though, him he was glad to see again after what Bruce had said, especially now of all times.
"Earth," Strange said just as the group arrived.
"Tony!" Rhodey cried out, somehow leading the pack and making Tony think his friend must have flown at least part of the way. "Oh my God, are you alright? There was a flash of light and then all the alarms were screaming."
"I'm fine despite Strange's attempt to kill me."
"I'm the reason you're back on Earth rather than stuck on a dying spaceship!" Strange protested.
"What is that?" a dark skinned woman Tony didn't recognize demanded.
"Nebula," another new voice answered.
Tony turned to see who he was and his mouth dropped open at the sight. He shook his head once to make sure he wasn't seeing things, but no, it was still there. Warily he pushed himself to his feet before he looked at Rhodey.
"Did that racoon just talk?" he asked.
"I'm not a racoon!" the creature protested. "I'm Rocket."
"Rocket?" Strange repeated and Tony was glad he wasn't the only one.
"Okay, Rocket, sure, fine," he said. "Where did you come from?"
"We came from Niðavellir to help fight Thanos," Thor stated, stepping forwards with a dark look on his face. "And how did you come to use the Bifröst, Man of Iron? I was not aware you were familiar with it."
"He isn't, I am," Strange stated.
"Kinda," Tony snarked. "Though I wouldn't recommend traveling with him, he needs more practice first."
"How did you come by this knowledge?" Thor demanded.
"Uh-" Tony began, trying to get in first.
"Heimdallr taught me," Strange interrupted.
"Heimdallr?" Thor thundered, face hardening as lighting crackled along his fingers and geesh, that was new! "Heimdallr is dead, killed by one of Thanos' vassals."
"Yes, I know, he told me."
"He told you?" Rogers demanded, finally stepping forward and Tony scowled at him.
"Yeah, Strange was one of the people who died when Thanos snapped his fingers," Tony stated. "You know, the whole disintegrating away thing?"
"You came back from that?" the unknown lady asked sharply. "How?"
"Okay, stop," Tony held up a hand. "Introductions first and then we take this inside."
"I suspect we'll also need to compile a list of confirmed dead," Rhodey said softly, giving him a knowing look. "Pa- Spiderman? The footage from New York shows him there with you."
"Yes," Tony confirmed with a heavy heart. "He didn't make it."
"You took a kid off-world with you?" Romanov demanded.
"I tried to send him home, he wouldn't listen," Tony retorted. "And he wasn't killed during the battle, but after. And who invited you here anyway?"
"The time for petty grievances is over, Stark."
"Ah, so no one, you just decided to drop by, a group of wanted criminals."
"Look, Stark-" Rogers began.
"You're wounded," Bruce interrupted, eyes wide as he stepped forwards.
Oh, right, Tony had forgotten about that.
"Don't worry, I already sealed it," he said.
"What happened?" Bruce demanded.
"Thanos impaled him during the battle," Strange stated. "The metal was in an alien environment so the wound should be properly cleaned, sealed or not."
Tony scowled at the wizard, but he could hardly argue with his logic.
"Inside it is then," Rhodey declared. "The infirmary should do and Friday can check the current status of anyone we need to know about. But Tony, we lost both Fury and Hill."
Great, so there went any potential buffer between himself and Rogers. This day just kept getting better and better.
Wounds tended to, Tony reluctantly moved to join the others, still reeling from the revelation Rhodey had whispered to him as Bruce had looked him over. How Pepper was among those killed when Thanos had succeeded. There she had been so worried about him and it had never even occurred to him at the time that perhaps he should have been worried for her. Of course that had been before he knew about Thanos' plan, but still the irony of it remained.
The introductions were crazy and the list the others had already compiled of the missing and confirmed dead was depressingly long. He was startled to see Barnes' name was on the list and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. Since Siberia he had been able to think about the whole situation far more rationally and with the additional information he had managed to lay his hands on through a variety of different means, he had come to the conclusion that Barnes was an unwitting and innocent victim in all of this. He had been weaponized and used as the tool and Tony of all people knew only all too well how the weapon itself could hardly be blamed.
So no, Tony no longer felt the need to either kill or blame Barnes, but the fact remained that it had been his hand that had wrapped around his mother's throat and choked her to death. And that Steve Rogers had known about it for years and never told him.
That Tony had not and would not either forgive or forget.
"Before we begin, I have a message for you, Thor," Strange said.
"A message?" Thor frowned but Tony was pretty sure he could see grief there too. He understood it well. "From Heimdallr?"
"No, from the other guy."
"Other guy?" Tony demanded. "You didn't mention another guy earlier."
Strange threw him an arrogant look. "We didn't have time to go into every detail and I hate repeating myself."
Ha, unlikely. Strange seemed like the kind of guy who loved the sound of his own voice. Tony should know. Though he had never met the wizard before, he had heard of him (as two of New York's elite how could he not have?), and how they were quite two peas in a pod as Pep would say.
"Who was the second guy?" Rogers demanded, cutting in and Tony transferred his glare from Strange to the captain.
"He's the one who actually resurrected me and sent me to the Benatar," Strange replied. "I saw him after Heimdallr."
"And you've never seen him before?" Romanov questioned.
"No, at least not from what I could see. Though humanoid, he was definitely not human," Strange explained. "His whole body glowed as if alight and kept shifting from pale to blue to... incandescent, I suppose. His eyes were orange and he had very long black hair that swirled around him."
"Swirled?" Tony nearly laughed. "Are you sure you were brought back sane? Lost a few marbles along the way, perhaps? Or did those go at Hogwarts?"
"Stark-" Rogers started.
"No!" Tony snapped, raising a finger at Captain Self-Righteous. "You don't get to tell me what to say or do, not after what you did."
"Be serious for once in your life, Stark," Romanov interjected.
"Oh, trust me, I am, Blondie," Tony retorted sharply. "Feel free to test me on it but just remember, I designed and built this place and my girl Friday is embedded into every aspect of it. You're only here now because I have allowed it!"
"Tony," Bruce began.
"And, no, you weren't here, you don't get a say," Tony said, though he tried to modulate his anger.
"What happened next, Mage?" Okoye asked.
"As I was saying, the figure's hair swirled around him as if in a wind, though I felt none," Strange finally continued. "I believe it had something to do with all of the raw magic I felt."
"It can cause that?"
"Aye," Thor stated. "If powerful enough it can."
Tony had never heard Thor sound quite so vulnerable before and the big guy even looked almost teary. They'd not had a great deal of time to talk earlier, but 'Ásgarðr's been destroyed and my people are almost all dead' spoke volumes with very few words.
"Did he say who he was?" Rogers asked with a frown.
"No, simply that we were to prepare to fight Thanos," Strange replied. "Then he told me to tell Thor, and I quote, the sun will shine on us again."
Ta da, the first full chapter! Can you guess what's coming? Or any guesses overall given what was in the prologue as well as here? I'd love to know.
For those of you unfamiliar with me and my writing, you will find I'm a big fan of cliffhangers wherever possible, so do get used to them.
Also, I do not yet have a beta for this fandom so if anyone is interested please drop me a line.