"Aubrey" Cap's voice stopped her from jumping off the edge of the landing pad. Wings flared and anger welling up inside, she turned, avoiding his gaze. She just wanted to leave. Leave this place behind, the place that held both happiness and sorrow. Not even bothering to filter the sadness-induced wrath from her voice, she snapped
"What."
"Where are you going?" Sympathy, sadness, and loss flickered in Cap's gaze, she heard the hurt note in his voice. Sucking in a shallow breath, he took a cautious step forward, looking worried. He knew she could fly away at any moment.
Hearing and seeing his hurt blew the angry winds right out of her and Aubrey swallowed back another angry retort. Her voice trembled with every word, threatening a tsunami of tears. "I...I need to go to the homestead."
"Are you planning on staying there?"
"I don't know...I need to check on my family."
"I understand...But we could use your help at the compound...Your welcome there" Something flashed in his eyes and heaving a shaky breath, she gave one last response.
"We'll see" with that, she backed off of the platform, wings flaring and jets humming as she pushed them to the max, hoping he hadn't seen the tears that had started to stream down.
Soon, too soon, she saw their valley coming up, with its two huts nestled by the trees and the animals with their wooden fencing. The world seemed to grow in and out of focus as she came to a shaky landing. Half of her expected Bucky to come out of one of the huts, a mischievous grin on his face as Glacier bounded behind him.
But no one came.
The homestead was silent.
"Glacier!-" she called, puckering her lips to create a high-pitched whistle. "Glacier, come!"
Several of the goats in the pen baahed at her, after closer inspection, she noticed that only a few of them remained. Unlatching the gate, she let them out, the unexplainable loneliness growing and twisting into fury….at herself….at Thanos….at those who could've done more.
"Why" the word came out sounding torn and broken and she couldn't stop the cascade of rage that followed. Turning and padding away from the goats, she went towards Bucky's hut, trying to swallow down the emotion. Pulling open the door, she took a step in, gulping down a sob. The walls started to close in and she stumbled back outside, sinking to her knees. Aubrey tilted her head down, eyes fluttering closed as she felt her cheeks wet.
"Why" the word was quiet but it seemed to echo through the empty valley. All the times they had separated before, Bucky had still been in the world. Now he was gone. Her ears strained to hear the sounds of Glacier but no one came. She stayed there for an unmeasured amount of time, tears shamelessly drifting down her face. The tears turned from clear to red, trailing paths of watery blood down her dirtied face. She hadn't cared enough to clean up before setting off to the homestead.
She still didn't care.
Bucky was gone
The only person in the world who understood her…..Who knew when to listen and when to speak.
Her friend.
And there was almost no hope that he would come back.
Caps' earlier words nipped at the back of her mind. Somehow, she found the strength to move, taking Bucky's blue leather journal and The Hobbit, silently promising that she would read it for him. A small seed of hope tingled in the back of her mind, wondering if there was any way to reverse it. But Aubrey let the seed wither away, knowing how powerful the Titan was. Her trip to New York was a blur, leaving the bloodbath behind in Wakanda.
She disappeared into her bedroom, avoiding the common area where the remaining Avengers were assembled. Aubrey washed the blood off of her face and cleaned her weapons before changing into clean clothes and carelessly stitching the gash on her cheek. She scrawled a note and left it on the kitchen counter, stating that she might come back, depending on who in her family was left. Aubrey set down a burner beside the note, logging in her number in case they needed her.
Then she was off, flying non-stop until she saw the familiar neighborhood and washed-out brick house her parents lived in.
The oak door swung open when she knocked on it, what was left of the lock clanging to the floor. Aubrey hissed under her breath, senses on high alert as she slid a knife out of her pocket, cautiously creeping into the house. The muscles ached and every movement brought the burning sensation that she had felt in Wakanda.
But she needed closure...to know who was left.
The sound of the steel-toed combat boots echoed through the house as she moved through the kitchen. Plates of cold food sat on the counter, forks scattered around the floor.
It was empty
They were gone.
She needed air. Pushing out the back door and onto the deck, Aubrey couldn't stop herself from slamming a fist onto the wooden railing, making an indent.
"Why?! Why couldn't I have been left, someone….Why did they all have to go...Where...How...how do I get them back" leaning back onto the siding, she sunk to the ground, resting her head between shaky knees. Tears dripped down her face, breaking free and splashing onto the stained wood, leaving small circles behind. The grief pushed its way through the mental walls she had tried to construct. Like a poorly made dam, it burst and the waves of sadness and loss rolled over her, leaving the feeling of drowning. Aubrey's breaths became shallow with hiccups in between as the late-evening sun beat upon her crumpled form.
A lone bird chirped, calling for the flock that would never be found.
Faintly in the distance, a cricket played a melancholy song, it caught on the wind and swirled through the empty neighborhood. It was these sounds that almost convinced her that she wasn't the only living thing left.
Almost
Cap shifted from one foot to another, avoiding his own gaze in the bathroom mirror. Three weeks had passed without word from Aubrey and he was starting to worry that she had done something reckless. Bucky was gone…..and she probably felt more alone than ever. Captain Marvel had left soon after she had gotten to Earth. Hopefully to find Tony and Peter… His gaze flashed to the burner that sat on a nearby counter but a sudden rumbling caused him to jump. Everything rattled as he grabbed the burner and headed downstairs to see what, or who had arrived.
"Hello?" She paused, clearing the phlegm from her throat as a familiar voice sounded. It took Aubrey several seconds to place it.
"Aubrey, we've found Tony, you need to come back, we could really use your help," Captain America asked, an odd tone in his voice. There was something he wasn't saying.
"Why, what could you possibly do to bring back everyone that's been lost" her voice was devoid of emotion, she felt numb. Like the world had fallen apart as she watched from afar, helpless.
"We can track down Thanos and get the stones back. We have Captain Marvel to help and some other new people….Aubrey if there's a chance...we need to take it"
"Is there a chance Cap? Or are you stretching the truth just to get me there... What's really going on?" Shoving off of the countertop, she stored away the mop and made sure the new security system was programmed to alert her. If her family wasn't there to take care of the house, she would do it until they came back.
If they ever came back.
Pushing away the dark thought, Aubrey waited for him to respond.
"You're right...and wrong. Tony's condition isn't good and we are going to find him...Thanos"
"How bad is Tony?" The words were quiet but Cap heard them.
"He took the arc reactor off, he's resting now but I think you should talk to him."
She went silent, thinking about the offer.
"I'll come, but only for Tony. I owe him."
The moon's glow had dimmed and its face had fallen. No longer was the "face" full of joy and happiness, as though the whole world was mourning the loss.
If you listened hard enough, you could almost hear the stars scraping against the sky.
Aubrey watched as they half-heartedly twinkled, wings steadily flapping. The Compound was nearing and with every flap of the powerful Nanotech wings, dread weighed heavier in the pit of her stomach. Only a few lights glowed dimly in the darkness as she landed beside the door, taking a minute to let her shaky body adjust. Pushing her way through the doors and finding her way through the winding hallways to the rooms Tony preferred, it didn't take long to locate where the remaining Avengers should have been.
But the rooms were empty and a glance out of the window told her the Quinjet was gone too. Unsteady footsteps sounded, but the gait was familiar enough.
"They just left."
Puffing a breath out of her lips, Aubrey slowly turned, a forced smile on her face.
"I gathered that"
"I'm sure you did. Wipe that phony smile off of your face, I know you better than that" Tony leaned against the door as she took in his frail frame.
"You're okay?... It's okay I'm here? Cautiously, she paced closer, propping up against one of the leather chairs. Heaving a sigh, Tony ambled past and shuffled through a cabinet in the kitchen. She saw the grief weighing down on his shoulders and he wore it like a cloak.
Maybe she looked the same.
"Aubrey….-" Tony started, not meeting her eyes "-I had a lot of time to think on that ship in space….and...I'd rather forget you were a part of that."
"A part of what?" The grin this time was real. For the first time since the snap, she felt something foreign warm her heart. She wanted to defend Bucky and make a point but Tony was here, he hadn't been snapped and she needed that...him….a friend.
"I bought a cabin...by a lake...I thought you should know…-" He mumbled, biting the edge off of a granola bar before rephrasing "-I...I meant that it has extra bedrooms and...and we'd love to have you...Pep and I."
"Thank you Tony...I….I'll keep that in mind...For now...I just need time...Cap told me you needed help...so I'm here" Her voice quieted with every word and Aubrey blinked, feeling tears rising.
The two lapsed into silence, sucked into the grief and loneliness that had become a constant plague.
"I lost the kid," Tony finally murmured.
"Oh, Tony...I'm sorry. I would've liked to meet him…..-" she paused, collecting her emotions "- I lost my best friend...my dog….and my family.
Tony's face flashed but he looked away " I'm sorry…"
"We can be as sorry as we want to be but that won't change the fact that it happened. And no one can do anything to fix it" Her words came out angrier than intended and Aubrey paced to the window, resting her forehead on the cold glass. She used the prickly feeling to center herself...lock away the anger that threatened to burst forth at any moment. It wasn't Tony's fault...not solely at least. They were all at fault for not being more prepared and knowing the enemy better.
"So I take it you're not going to stick around," he said it as a fact, not a question.
"I...I need time. I want to go back home and be with my…-" she paused, stuttering over the words "-be in my family's home...get things organized."
"But you'll be back? Or at least stop in?"
"I'll...be around. Is everything okay Tony? Do I need to know something?" Suspicion started rising in the back of her mind.
"Well..I...Don't bring too many friends...or any to the cabin because...We only have five bedrooms, and we need three of them."
"What?... Tony what?-" she paused, processing what he said. "-You mean...Pepper… you're" Shock worked its way through Aubrey.
"I'm gonna be a dad" he sounded in disbelief himself.
"Really?... I mean...what?...Tony-" The emotions that rose up were not negative ones, joy...something she'd never thought she would feel again. "You're gonna be a dad" her smile was real, and big, and happy.