Author's Note:I really wanted to finish this story before endgame came out, but it's looking more and more like that won't happen. I'm still working on it, but I'm it's going to take me a little longer than I thought to write and edit it. Thanks for your patience.
Death Was Arrested - Chapter 7
*Deep Space*
Tony was sitting on the cold, hard floor of his pod. He had tried everything to get it started again, to no avail. He had found a change of clothes, potentially some of Quill's old clothes from when the Guardians traveled with Nebula at one point. He had lost count of the days, even weeks or months that he had been lost in space, and he had lost hope of rescue days ago.
He had used the remaining power of his nanotech unit to have it form a helmet, and placed it on the ground. He stared at it for a moment, before pushing a button on the underside of the helmet, a small light came on, signaling that it was recording.
"This thing on?" Tony asked aloud. "Hey Ms. Potts. If you find this recording, don't feel bad about this. Part of the journey is the end. Just for the record, being adrift in space with zero promise of rescue is more fun than it sounds. Food and water ran out four days ago. Oxygen will run out tomorrow morning. And that'll be it. When I drift off, I will dream about you. It's always you."
He reached out to turn off the device, ending the recording. He continued to sit on the floor, bringing his hand to his face to rub his forehead. After a moment, he slowly moved so that he could stand. He stumbled a bit, but finally stabilized himself on one of the consoles behind him, and then sluggishly walked towards the window of the pod, allowing him to see beautiful expanse of space.
"If I gotta go out, at least it's with a view," he sighed. He stood there for what felt like hours, admiring the beauty of the stars, while also trembling at the knowledge that this was where he would die. A quick beeping noise startled Tony, and he looked over to the side console where the controls of the ship were. He rushed over and punched a few of the buttons, but there was no response. Another beep, and Tony stumbled around trying to find it. Finally he looked back over to the helmet that he had recorded his message on. He walked and knelt down to see a flashing light. He looked at it curiously, before he heard something else. A brilliant circle of orange light that opened a doorway into the pod appeared.
"I... am I hallucinating?" He asked himself. "I... this can't..." Before he could finish, Rhodes stepped through the magical doorway.
"We found you," Rhodes smiled. Tony, overcome with emotion embraced his friend.
"You're alive..." Tony replied. "I... I wasn't certain who survived."
"We'll talk about it more at HQ, we're waiting for you." They gingerly walked back through the doorway, entering a white room that had Wong, Banner, and Rocket in it. Bruce ran to his old friend and hugged him while Rhodes kept his arm around him to support his tired body. They broke apart, and Rhodey guided him to a chair to sit in.
"I'm so glad we found you," Bruce replied. "Where's Strange, Spider-Man?"
"They didn't make it," Tony replied sullenly. Wong merely grunted, while Banner and Rhodey sighed. Tony turned his sights to Rocket and smiled. "You must be Rocket."
"How would you know me?" The raccoon asked.
"I ran into your crew on Titan, that's where we fought Thanos," he replied. "They mentioned that you had gone with Thor... you and a tree looking thing named Groot?"
"You found Quill?" Rocket asked, a sense of joy evident in his voice for a moment, before he realized that Tony was alone. "Where is he?" Tony looked sadly into Rocket's eyes.
"I'm sorry," he could barely choke out. "He, along with the rest of your crew, disintegrated. Nebula was the only one left, and we got separated due to an attack on her ship." The news visibly affected Rocket, as he turned and audibly growled. After a few seconds, he made his way to a corner and began to weep sorrowfully, body-wracking sobs that caught Banner and Rhodes by surprise. Tony however walked over to him and knelt down beside him and placed his hand on his shoulder.
They sat there for a while, before Tony finally felt the effects of dehydration and starvation, and quickly fainted. The remaining group rushed him to a medical wing within the facility, and hooked him up to fluids and a heart monitor. After he was stabilized, Steve came to talk to Rhodes and Bruce, while Wong went to rest and Rocket locked himself away in his quarters.
"He must have been without water for days," Bruce explained to Cap. "His body finally gave out, but the fluids and nutrients we have on hand should help him get back to full strength soon."
"Good," Steve replied. "Let's re-integrate him slowly. I'd imagine I'm probably the last person he should talk too. Has anyone called Pepper?"
"I will now," Rhodes replied, leaving Bruce and Steve in corridor outside Tony's room.
"How did you find him?" Steve asked.
"We were right about the tech that Scott brought back from the future," Bruce explained. "We were able to lock onto a similar signal, and when we got the location, Wong was able to make doorway to the other end of space. It took a few tries, but it finally worked."
"Good work," Steve commended.
"You should know that there were no other survivors," Bruce confessed. "Spider-man, Strange, and Rocket's team were all wiped out." The news didn't phase Cap, but he nodded and placed his hand on Bruce's shoulder. Without saying a word, Steve walked back to the lounge area and sat down and let out a big sigh. He shut his eyes and, without warning, his emotions got the best of him. A tear slid down his face, and he was tempted to drive his fist into the sofa that he sat on.
"Are you ok?" A gentle voice asked behind him. Steve quickly wiped away the tear that stained his face, and looked to find Kimberly.
"I get the feeling that even if I said yes, it wouldn't matter," Steve replied.
"I tend to be pretty good at knowing when people are feeling off," Kim smiled. "Do you mind if I sit with you?" Steve hesitated for a moment, but as Kim continued to slowly approach the sofa, he nodded his head. She sat beside him, leaving some distance between them.
"He was a kid," Steve blurted out.
"Who was?" Kim asked.
"Peter Parker, Spider-Man," he replied. "He was just a kid from Queens. How many others, like him, are gone because we failed?"
"This has always been more for you than Bucky, hasn't it?" Kim asked. "Bucky was your best friend, right?" Steve nodded.
"Whatever fight I've walked into, against all the odds, I've been able to protect the ones I care about," Steve replied. "But there are just some things I can't beat. Death is one of them. I just wish that wasn't the case."
"You remind me of Jason," Kim replied. "He was the first ever red ranger, one of the best leaders I've ever known."
"He was wiped away too?"
Kim nodded. "He was a good friend, and an even better man. But one of his greatest flaws was that he would take on the burdens of other so deeply, that he couldn't let go when he needed too. His greatest fear was to let his friends down." The description made Steve crack a small grin.
"Sounds like we were cut from the same cloth."
"You were," she replied. "Don't lose hope, Steve. We're going to get them back."
"I hope you're right," he replied. "I don't mean to be nosy…" he started, changing the subject. "But is everything ok between you and Katherine? It's seemed fairly tense between you two." Kim sighed at the question.
"I don't know," Kim confessed. "I mean, I knew things would be weird between us. We both dated the same guy and all, but I didn't think that would affect us so much now. Honestly, I thought things would be harder with Tommy, but that hasn't been hard at all. In fact, it's been surprisingly great to be around him again. I just wish I knew why Kat was so cold towards me."
"Why don't you just ask her?" Steve countered.
"Well… I mean, honestly…" Kim fumbled her words a bit, trying to figure out how she felt. "I think I gave Tommy up all those years ago because I just assumed he liked her, and I knew she loved him. I think I've always associated Kat with someone who stole my man."
"Despite the fact that you dumped him?"
"Yeah… I guess that doesn't make sense."
"Look, I get there's hard feelings," Steve replied. "When Tony finally heals up, we probably won't have the most pleasant greeting. But if we're going to get through this, we need to move past whatever issues that hinder us." He paused to find Kim hanging on every word. "Kat's been through a lot. We all have. Remember that, because it will give you compassion, even when you don't want to be compassionate."
"Thanks," Kim replied. "I needed that."
"We all do," Steve smiled. "We would do well to remember that no one here is our enemy, even when it feels like it." Before Kim could respond, an alarm rang throughout the facility.
"That doesn't sound good," Kim responded. The pair ran down to the war room, joining the rest of the rangers, Clint, Natasha, Scott, and Rhodes. "What's going on?"
"Remember how I said in the future that Red Skull was going to come and conquer earth?" Scott asked. He pointed to the screen which showed the very familiar face of the former HYDRA villain. At least, familiar to Steve. "I didn't realize you called him Red Skull because his skull was actually red. If that were the case, I'd have called him ugly face or something…"
"I heard that," he spoke with his ominous, accented voice.
"I meant that in the most flattering way possible…" Scott started, but Steve cut him off.
"What do you want, Schmidt?" Rogers asked.
"Captain America, we meet again," Red Skull cackled. "I must say, I was hoping you were still alive. It will be a pleasure to kill you myself, to pay you back for sending me across space all those years ago."
"What are you talking about?" Steve asked. "I didn't send you anywhere."
"Not intentionally. I know that now. But your interference in my plans granted me with knowledge and wisdom that was beyond my grasp before."
"What are you talking about?" Steve asked.
"I led Thanos to the soul stone, before that, I was its guardian. I learned much about the infinity stones, and I know they have judged me worthy to survive. And now, because of my service to the stone, I have been rewarded."
"Rewarded?"
"Thanos has given me his army. He has judged me as able to lead whatever world I choose, since I served the stone for decades faithfully. I choose earth. If you stand in my way, you will face my wrath. The rest of you have 48 hours before we arrive on your planet. Bring the Captain to me as a peace offering, or stand and be destroyed with him."
"Look pal, there ain't going to be a peace offering," Rocky challenged.
"Then you'll all die meaningless deaths, following an inferior soldier," Red Skull mocked. "See you soon, Captain. I look forward to exacting my revenge." The screen went black after his final words. The group sat quiet for a moment, until Natasha broke the silence.
"You okay, Steve?" She asked.
"I never thought I would see him again," he spoke somberly. "It feels like a lifetime ago when we fought."
"What can we expect with him?" Tommy asked.
"When he worked with HYDRA, he was all about harnessing the power of the gods," Steve replied. "He found the tesseract, which I believe was one of the infinity stones, and used it to make some of the most powerful weapons to ever be used on earth."
"Do you think Thanos gave him the infinity stones to use now?" Tanya asked.
"I don't know," Steve replied. "And... I'll be honest, I'm not sure what we do next."
"We wait," the voice of Thor rang in the air as he entered the room. "When Stark awakens, we'll devise a plan to defeat this Red Skull, and then figure out a way to get Loki and I into space with Rocket."
"What if this guy has the stones?" Adam asked.
"He won't," Thor replied. "Just one of these stones would destroy a normal human because of their sheer power, even Thanos needed a master dwarf to make the gauntlet so that he could possess and wield their power."
"Wait... if these things are so powerful, how are we going to steal them from Thanos when the time comes?" Scott asked.
"Hopefully with the zeo crystal," Tommy replied. "We may not be able to steal the stones, but we might be able to harness their power."
"Tommy, do we know how many stones there are?" Kat asked.
"There are six stones," Thor answered. "Power, space, reality, soul, time, and mind."
"Six stones, five sub-divisions and shards of the crystal," Tanya realized. "That leaves us one shard short."
"Unless if we can find a way to reorganize the crystal so that it would give us six sub-divisions. Six rangers."
"I thought the zeo rangers had a sixth?" Clint asked.
"We did, but he wasn't powered by the zeo crystal," Tommy answered. "If we're able to do this, Kim could be the sixth ranger, and we'd be able to harness their power."
"That sounds all well and good, but we still have no idea if we can actually do that," Natasha replied skeptically. "Not to mention, we still have no idea where Thanos is, and if we can't find him, we might be in serious trouble when it comes to defending a broken world from a power-hungry maniac."
"We'll need some help," Steve responded.
"No offense, but where else are we going to get help from?" Clint asked. "We all ready have the power rangers, who exactly could we ask." Steve hesitated for a moment, before he answered.
"Ross."
"What?!" Clint reacted.
"Steve, are you out of your mind?" Natasha questioned.
"Who's Ross?" Tanya asked.
"Only the guy who locked us up for trying to save the world!" Scott quipped.
"I all ready tried him, Cap," Rhodes answered.
"And?" Steve asked.
"Nothing," Rhodes replied. "No answer. I don't know if it's because he's screening his calls, or because he's been wiped away."
"Look, I'm going to keep trying. If he's dead, then he's dead. If he isn't, he could be valuable to us. He may still be unreasonable, but for those of us who were in Wakanda, do you remember how tough those aliens were? How many of them there were? We had a whole army of Wakandans with us along with a number of other skilled fighters. They aren't here now. If we're going to fight a war, we need an army. We need to at least try."
"For the record, I don't like it," Natasha replied.
"I don't like it either," Steve agreed. "But I'm going to make a phone call."
To be continued...
Thanks for reading, feel free to leave a review.
- Googz333