*ducks away from the rotten tomatoes and rocks* So...was last chapter shock enough?
I'm not going to lie, the entire impetus for this chapter was a discarded idea from Order of Arcadia, and the song "Loyal, Brave, and True" from the new live-action Mulan.
"Who am I without my armor, standing in my father's shoes? All I know is that it's harder, to be loyal, brave, and true."
Chapter Three: Death Doesn't Discriminate
Tony was 99.9 percent sure that his current situation was real, only because even his messed-up brain would dream something like this.
Strange, gone. Quill, gone. Peter...gone.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
His mother had grown up Catholic, and young Tony had occasionally gone to funerals. The strange ramblings of the priest had meant little to him, but that phrase had always stuck in his mind. He had no idea how true it would prove.
A hand tapped his shoulder. It was the weird blue robot girl. He'd have to ask her name later.
"We need to go." she said, urgency in her voice. "This planet is doomed. We need to get the ship in space."
Tony looked blearily at the ship. "How? It's a wreck."
"We will find a way. Drax is looking at it now."
Drax. Right. The Orange-Blue guy. The one still weeping over his fallen comrades.
"You are a craftsman of some renown on Earth, correct?" Blue Girl asked.
"Uh, yeah, something like that...w-what's your name, by the way?"
The girl blinked, like she wasn't used to being asked questions about herself.
"Nebula."
"Nebula, huh? Nice. Suits you, since you're all...blue, and stuff."
Tony groaned and awkwardly tried to stand up. He felt like one giant bruise.
Nebula awkwardly put her arm around his shoulders and escorted him to the remains of the Donut Ship.
"So you are...I'm sorry, who exactly?"
"I am...I was a daughter of Thanos. He made me."
Tony winced. "That's gotta be rough."
"He was not gentle with me, no."
"That's a shame. Having been the sort-of parent to one android…" Tony's face changed in an instant. "God...oh, god. Vision…"
"...that was his name?"
"Yeah. And he had the Stone in him. I guess...for this to work...oh, god…"
Nebula grasped him firmly. "You cannot avenge him if you let yourself perish."
"Maybe I wanna perish…" Tony raged suddenly.
Nebula stopped, and looked closely into Tony's wide, brown eyes.
"Do you?" she asked, more softly than she realized.
Tony crumbled. "...no." he muttered.
"No. You do not. We are alike, Tony Stark. We have too much to live for. So we need to fix the ship."
On the ship, Drax was looking over the machinery and wiring.
"You look terrible." he said, upon seeing Tony. There was no malice in his tone, simply bare fact.
Tony snorted. "You don't exactly smell like a rose yourself, Big Guy."
"Why would I smell like a rose? What is a rose?"
Tony sighed, remembering from Quill that this guy apparently didn't do metaphors. "Never mind. What are we doing?"
"You need medical attention." Drax added. "Terrans are more fragile. Nebula, help him sit down…"
"No!" Tony shook himself. "No, I can't just...I can't sit, I have to do something…"
Drax looked at him with something like pity. "Then at least let us tend to your wounds."
Tony nodded jerkily. "That's fair. And then we can see about hot-wiring this bucket of bolts."
It took a while, but they finally found a med kit. Drax wound a bandage around his broken ribs. Nebula smeared a strange, oozing substance over his many cuts and lacerations.
"You're...surprisingly good at this for a robot and an alien berserker."
Drax shrugged. "I had a daughter. And Quill and Rocket always got injured."
"...I have a daughter, too." Tony shut his eyes. "I hope she's okay. She's only a year. Too young to know…"
Drax smiled grimly. "I hope so, for your sake."
"Done." Nebula pronounced, looking Tony over. "You look less terrible now."
Tony sighed. "I think less terrible is about the best we can go for at this point. Show me the wiring, huh? Maybe I can connect it."
Christy lost track of how far she ran. She lost track of the screaming and the shouts and the calls for her to come back. She lost track of everything but the pounding in her own heart.
Dead, dead, dead, dead, dead...all dead, all dead, all dead….
She ran like one possessed, until she reached a small hill in a clearing. It was quiet. A few birds still chirped. Their song sounded like defiance.
Christy practically threw herself onto the grass, tears still streaming down her face.
They're all gone! We tried, and we lost. We lost.
"You promised!" she cried, voice loud and shrill. "You promised you'd always come back! Y-you said you were hard to kill! You promised!"
But nothing answered her out of the void.
"Stupid Thanos! I hate you! I hate you!"
She yelled every curse word she knew. What did it matter? Dad wasn't around to tell her to mind her language. And she thought that even he would forgive this moment.
"Give him back! He's the best and you took him!"
And again, the void was silent.
She sat up, shaking with anger and grief. She sniffed.
"I want him back." she whispered. "I just want my dad back."
Life doesn't discriminate, between the sinners and the saints, it takes, and it takes and it takes…
She wrapped her arms around herself and rocked, the way she had as a little girl, on the night she never talked about. The long, dark night between when her mom had died, and her social worker had shown up and taken her to the foster care center.
I am the one thing in life I can control…
She didn't have the words for what she felt, back then. But she did now.
Shakily, she stood to her feet.
"I am the one thing in life I can control." she sung, body shaking. "I-I am inimitable, I am an original…"
It was stupid, probably. It felt a little stupid. But right now, the words were the only thing holding her together.
"I-I'm not falling behind, or running late...I'm not standing still, I am lying in wait!"
Shuri had taught her about waiting, when she had made her lion suit, two years ago. They had still been hiding in Wakanda, after the mess with the Accords. Shuri had insisted on making it her special project.
It was like the Blank Panther suit, but less for complete stealth. It shone in mottled brown and bronze and gold, like a lioness.
"Do you know what makes lionesses such good hunters? It's not because they are the fastest or the strongest, but because they are the most patient. They know how to catch their prey. They lie in wait, until the opportune moment to strike. Remember that. Strength is not always the answer. It is rarely the answer."
Clearly, strength had not beaten Thanos. It could not. Now, all they could do was lie in wait, for the right moment to come. Then, they could strike back.
Christy took a deep breath. And once more, she sung:
"I am the one thing in life I can control! A-and if there's a reason, I'm s-still alive, w-when everyone who loves me has d-died…"
She crumpled to the ground.
"I-I'm willing to wait for it…"
Damian Jackson was trying not to show how absolutely terrified he was.
It wasn't working.
Nineteen might have been old enough to smoke, vote, or join the army, but it sure as hell wasn't old enough to watch your parents disintegrate on the couch.
The news blared on the television like a bad soundtrack. They had tried every number they knew. No one was answering.
Damian was too young to remember 9/11, but he wondered if this was what it had been like.
"Damian…" Tally looked at him, eyes wide and head shaking. "He's not gonna pick up. He's gone."
"He's gone? W-what do you mean, he's gone?"
"I mean I just got a text from Christy! He's gone!"
Damian almost leaped on his sister's phone, but she snatched it out of his reach.
"Damian! Mom and Dad are...are gone. Aunt Lily isn't picking up. And Mr. Steve...can't. You need to call Mr. Sam."
Damian shook his head slowly. "Where are they? The Magical Land of African Magic?"
"It's called Wakanda, smartass. Yeah, they're there. C-call Mr. Sam."
"What if they don't get cell service?"
"Then use Skype or FaceTime!" Tally gave him a look indicating she didn't think highly of his intelligence at the moment.
Damian wanted to shoot back a smart remark, but he bit it back and sighed instead. "Tal. I don't wanna fight. Please, let's not fight, okay?"
Tally nodded. Her eyes were full of tears.
"Hey...look, I ain't leavin', okay? I'm still here. I'm an adult, you won't get taken away. We'll stay together, I'll get a better job…"
Tally hugged him tightly. She had been with them so long, Damian occasionally forgot she was adopted at all.
But she was, which was how they knew Christy. And all of the weird and wonderful people associated with Christy. Plus the fact that his dad had worked for SHIELD before everything went sideways five years ago.
Damian found his FaceTime app and scrolled until he found "Sam Wilson". He clicked to dial.
The app rung for what felt like centuries. When it finally connected, the picture was grainy and the sound was lagging.
"Damian? Is that you?" Sam's voice sounded tired and far away.
"Y-yeah, it's me...Mr. Sam, I'm sorry to bother you, but...but we need some help."
"...are your parents gone?"
Damian swallowed around the lump in his throat. "Yeah."
"...damn. I'm sorry, kid. Are you and Tally okay where you are?"
"Yeah, there's food in the fridge and stuff. We still got power. But our aunt isn't picking up, an' she's supposed to be our emergency contact. I don't know…"
Sam winced. "Look, sit tight. We won't be staying where we are long. We'll come back to New York, to our Base. I'll see about getting you two then. In the meantime, stay inside, okay? Don't go wandering. Watch Netflix."
Damian nodded and Tally gave a watery smile to the camera.
"Mr. Sam? Is Christy there?"
Sam's face fell and he shook his head. "Christy….needed to be by herself."
Tally nodded. "Tell her I'm sorry. Tell her that people still need her, okay?"
"I will. You guys stay where you're at. Let me know how things are going every day, alright?"
"We will." Damian assured, face grim. "We won't go out."
"I'll see you in a couple of days, then. Stay safe, you two. Call me if you need anything."
"Yes, sir."
Sam ended the call and stared blankly at the phone for a moment. His mind was whirling in fifty different directions.
Bucky looked over at him. "What's wrong?"
Everything? Sam thought. Out loud, he just said, "That was Tally and Damian. Their parents…"
Bucky's face went slack with horror. "God...are they okay?"
"As okay as they can be. I promised I'd get them, when we got back to New York. They've got an aunt, but she's not picking up…"
Bucky nodded. "They stay with us, then. One of us, any of us. Plenty of room."
His eyes strayed to where Wanda and Pietro were sitting with Natasha. They were trying to reach Clint. Anish and Shanta clung to their mother, both of their faces blank and numb.
Shuri-proud, confident, Shuri-was openly sobbing into her mother's shoulder. Okoye stood near them, gripping her spear.
And then, there was the Raccoon. He had come with Thor, and a Tree...thing. The Tree was gone. Thor was gone. Now the creature sat in the great Throne Room, dazed and confused.
Sharon came up behind them.
"She's outside. Said she wanted to be alone. I said that's fine, as long as she came back."
Bucky nodded. "That's fine. Let her do what she needs."
"Has anyone heard from Stark?"
Sam shook his head. "Still no dice. But we don't have to stay here any longer than we need or want to. The Queen Mother has things well in hand."
"Is Shuri going to be queen?"
"I think so. At least in name. Poor kid. But she's got help."
Sharon sat down cross-legged on the gleaming tile. "I want to fall asleep and wake up, and this is a dream."
Bucky gave a heavy sigh. "Believe me, sleep doesn't always solve your problems. But we should rest. There's enough to think about, and we'll need all the strength we can get."
Pietro was so wrapped up in Natasha trying to get a hold of Clint, he didn't notice his own phone ringing.
Shanta looked over. "Pietro, your phone is ringing."
Mindlessly, Pietro reached for it and answered the call, without checking to see who was on the other end. "Hej, Pietro je…"
"Pietro? Why are you talking funny?"
That snapped him out of his funk quickly. It was Nathaniel.
"Oh, Bozhe, Nate! Mali prijatelju, where's Dad?"
Nathaniel sniffed. "H-he's looking for Mommy and Lila and Cooper. They disappeared. He left me with his phone."
Pietro fought the urge to groan, even if it felt like one of the archer's own arrows was piercing his heart.
Trust Clint not to take his damn phone.
By this point, Natasha and Wanda had noticed the call, and Natasha was motioning for the phone. "Nate, buddy? Stay on with us till your Dad gets back, okay? He should come back soon. We're all gonna come to you guys, okay?"
Nate nodded. "Are other people gone, too?"
Natasha swallowed back tears. "Yeah, kiddo...a lot of people are gone."
"Oh? Why?"
Natasha sighed. This wasn't her thing. Someone like Thor or Tony or that Dr. Strange guy should be explaining this. Not her. She didn't understand this monster and magic stuff.
All she knew was that it was robbing her of the only family she had ever known.
"There are aliens, Nate." Wanda said, twisting her red tendrils around like fire. "Aliens, good and bad, just like people. And one very bad alien decided that there were too many people in the whole universe. He wanted to get rid of them."
Nate's eyes were huge. "There are a lot of people...but we should just share stuff instead. Why did he take Mom away?"
Wanda sighed. "He didn't care. He didn't think. I don't know. But we are all going to have to be very brave, mališa. It will be hard. But we will be together."
They stayed on the phone with Nathaniel until Clint came back to the house, a mess of dirt and tears and torn jeans.
His face was numb, but his tears finally flowed when Natasha told him the truth.
"Thank you…" he whispered. "Thank you for letting me come home."
"I didn't have to give you permission." Natasha argued.
"We both know you did."
"Is Pepper okay?"
Clint nodded. "I called her. She's frantic, has no word from Tony. I think...I think I'll go to Tony's place. The new place. Then neither of us are alone. Where will you go when you come back?"
Natasha sighed. "The Base. We have to sort this out. Everything is gonna start combusting and falling apart at the seams if we don't do some damage control."
Clint gave a half smile. "Funny, we're usually the ones starting the damage."
"Well...like Tony always said. If we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn sure we'll avenge it."
"Tasha...what the hell can we avenge? How?! They're gone."
"Clint, listen to me. You still have one son. Two, actually, and a daughter. And we both know damn well Laura would want you to live."
Clint blew out a long, shaky breath. "I can't do this on my own, Tasha. I need her."
"And I need Bruce." Natasha shot back. "But we don't have either of them."
"Tasha, I'm not trying to play 'who has it worse'..."
"I know. Clint...we have to live. We can't die. We're a part of something bigger than us, and the best part of that is, we're not alone. We're broken and wrecked and damaged, but we're not alone. So don't go off and do anything stupid until I'm back in America."
"Taking a page from Barnes' book, huh?" Clint's face fell. "Damn. Damn that bastard for taking our best…"
"It was random, it wasn't like he knew…" But Natasha's face echoed the same sentiment.
"He was finally content...I'd never seen a man so happy."
"He got to live a dream. We should be grateful for that."
"How's Christy?"
"Alive. Sharon and Bucky and Sam collectively aren't letting her far. I've got the kids with me."
Clint shifted. "Okay. You guys get the hell back to the States. And then we can talk. See you soon."
"Hey, dork, call me when you get to Pepper, yeah?"
Clint gave a sad smile. "I will. See ya, Tasha."
He ended the call. Nathaniel came out of his room with a bulging duffel bag.
"I packed, Dad. See?"
Clint swallowed, hard. "Y-yeah, bud, I see. W-why don't ya help me pack, then, huh?"
Nathaniel nodded eagerly. "Okay, Dad. You can't forget underwear."
Against his will, Clint laughed, remembering an ill-fated vacation trip that ended in buying two packs of briefs from Wal-Mart at 10 pm.
"I won't forget underwear, buddy. Let's get packed and go see Auntie Pepper and Morgan, okay?"
It was late at night, two days later, when they finally reached the base.
Christy was asleep on Sharon. Shanta was asleep on Natasha. Anish was trying to pretend he wasn't asleep on Bucky.
"Home sweet home." Sam muttered, as the plane dipped down onto the Base's runway.
Pepper hurried out to greet them, with Clint not far behind.
"Oh, thank God…" she cried softly. "Let's get inside."
Christy stirred sleepily. "Mom? Are we there?"
Sharon helped her to her feet. "We are, baby."
Christy whimpered slightly, hearing her Dad's endearment. "Can we make hot chocolate?"
Sharon glanced at Bucky. Bucky was smiling a bittersweet smile.
"Yeah, honey, I think hot chocolate is a good idea."
An hour later, Christy lay in front of the Base's fireplace with Shanta, Anish, and Nate. Baby Morgan was the only one that seemed unaffected by the chaos.
"My friend and her brother are coming to stay, too." Christy said quietly. "Sam's going to get them tomorrow. Their parents got Dusted."
"What are they going to do about Thanos?" Anish asked. "Can they find him?"
"I dunno. Maybe. Maybe they can make him undo everything. He still has the Stone that turns back time. And we need to find Peter and Dr. Strange and Uncle Tony."
Nathaniel frowned. "We can get everybody back?"
"Maybe. I hope so." Christy hugged him. "But I don't know."
"Can we do anything?" Shanta asked.
"Christy can, she has a suit!" Anish said, in a tone that indicated he wished he had a suit, too.
"Battle's not fun, Anish." Christy said tiredly. "You should be a scientist like you want to already."
Anish frowned but nodded. "I just want to do something. I don't want to be a useless kid!"
"We aren't useless. Not if we train." Christy looked serious. "We're the next generation. We're lucky; we live with superheroes. Now's our chance to learn to fight for real."
Nathaniel looked adorably serious. "I can practice w-with Lila's bow."
Even Shanta, who hated fighting, nodded. "I will learn."
Christy shifted her mug to the side. "Everyone, put your hands in the middle. We're going to swear an oath."
"Why?" Anish asked, even as he did it.
"Because it's the end of the world and I feel like being dramatic. Okay, everyone repeat after me: I solemnly swear…"
"I solemnly swear…" three voices attempted to echo.
"That I will train to keep the world safe."
"That I will train to keep the world safe."
Christy gave her best imitation of Steve's 'decisive battle nod'. "Good."
Nathaniel curled up on the carpet. "I miss Mom."
"I miss Baba…" Shanta echoed.
Christy bit her lip and looked at Anish. She could tell they were both thinking the same thing.
You're the oldest. You can cry later.
"I know…" she whispered. "You can miss them lots. Just...don't only sit around and miss them. You have to do stuff, too. Okay?"
"Okay." Nate echoed, snuggling on Christy's lap.
Anish smiled at her a tiny bit. "You are like him. A good leader."
Christy took a deep breath. "I try."
Sharon could barely hold back her shock as she considered the document before her.
"That...is a lot of money."
Bucky laughed. "Yup, it absolutely is."
They were sitting in the apartment, the one she and Steve had put so much love and care into. Sharon had decided that she and Christy would stay at the Base until things were a bit more sorted, but that they would come back. Sam agreed with this, and was also planning to return with Tally and Damian.
Bucky was still considering his options.
"I mean, I knew Steve had old back pay money from being technically MIA and from Howard Stark's funds, but this…"
"I think Howard put some money in stocks for him." Bucky said. "IBM and some other stuff. And then Steve made a few other investments. He's done well. Did...well."
Bucky heaved a sigh and looked out the window. It seemed almost criminal for the sky to be so blue.
"It's been a week and still nothing from Tony."
Sharon sighed. "He's in space. He could still be alive. We can't just give up."
"You sound like him." Bucky's face had the ghost of a smile. "He'd never give up, either."
"How are you doing?"
Bucky shook his head. "How am I doing? I still can't believe it. If I'm honest...it was supposed to be me."
Sharon pressed her lips together. "We don't get to make that call."
"No, we don't."
"And we don't get to…" Sharon looked away, this time. "We don't get to choose when things happen."
"No."
"Bucky...I just…I found out yesterday. I haven't told anyone, not even Christy."
"You...found out..." Bucky repeated slowly. "You found out that you're…?"
"Pregnant." Sharon whispered. An odd mix of pride and sorrow shone in her eyes.
"How much?"
"I'm not sure, but...at least a month? Maybe?"
Bucky breathed out slowly. "God. Oh, God...little Steve…!"
"I know! I-I...I really hope he or she is okay. Not sick or anything."
"Well, apparently he wouldn't have been as bad off nowadays…" Bucky mused. "Aw, Sharon, you honest?"
"I'm honest, Barnes! I wouldn't lie about this."
"I-I know, I know, I just...you gotta tell Sam and Christy."
"I was meaning to tell them next. And Nat. But you...I felt like you needed to know. He's not gone, Bucky. And now he never will be."
"...is it bad I hope he's a boy?"
"Will you love her if she's a girl?"
"Absolutely." Bucky replied, voice ringing with confidence.
Sharon smiled indulgently. "Then he or she will be the safest child in the universe."
"That's a tough thing, to be safer than Morgan. Tony has drones assigned to her."
Sharon laughed. "You'll beat him, somehow. C'mere, softy."
They hugged. Bucky could feel Sharon trembling a bit, so he held on slightly longer than normal.
"Can I tell Wanda?" he asked.
"Y-yeah, her...but tell her not to tell Pietro. Or for Pietro not to tell. I just don't want everyone to know right now."
"I understand." Bucky squeezed her shoulder. "You're gonna do fine."
Sharon sniffed, eyes red. "I hope so. This baby deserves it, being born into a world gone mad. Christy's basically started her own private army with the kids. They train every day. It's inspiring but kind of…"
"Terrifying?" Bucky finished, smiling wryly. "I understand."
"They're just kids, and they're acting like they have to fight."
Bucky heaved another sigh. "In my day, kids bought War Bonds and collected scrap metal and grew Victory Gardens. They had rationing and blackout drills. Kids need to feel like they're doing something, in a crisis. It hurts to see, but it's natural."
"I hope so. I don't want to fail her...or Steve."
"Hey! His last words, he said how awesome you were. He planned that, I know he did. He wanted you to know how much he appreciated you. Besides...there's still a chance."
Sharon nodded, and rested her hand on her stomach.
"And in the meantime, there's enough to do on Earth."
Yes, there will be a Baby Rogers coming soon. I couldn't kill Steve completely. And, given that this IS a re-working of Endgame, all "deaths" are and can be negotiated. You can put away the threats on my life.
Tune in next time for: a visitor from outer space, a re-worked Endgame opening, and a horribly Pyrrhic victory.
Review are Steve's investments.