CHAPTER WARNINGS: Descriptions of character death and body recovery [Mild]

Probably not even warning worthy but... *shruggs*. It gets a smidge dark, but in IW we clearly see car crashes, helicopters smashing into buildings that are likely still populated, ect, so I consider it cannon-established violence/death. Lighter chapters are coming (I want to get to the fun slice of life stuff so bad!) but I have to establish the world and relationships to get there first.

Chapter Title from "Into the Ocean" by Blue October

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Chapter 15: Into the Ocean (Part 1)

Now waking to the sun,

I calculate what I had done

The cycles on this planet weren't too far removed from the universal time used for space faring ships, a rare convenience, but a welcomed one nevertheless. The first cycle was lost largely in a haze of hasty repairs to her sister's ship- just enough to keep it from crumbling apart for one round trip, really- and the looming dread of what she would find in the Garden.

The second was spent on arguments with strangers in a sick bay, and dodging shadows of her father, then more repairs to the ship until the scrape of metal and rumbling of engines chased away the phantom clinking of metal instruments in trays, and the smell of leaking fuel lines burned the antiseptic from her nose. The third was half-way over before she knew it even began, and only the fox's needling forced her to remember to eat and drink.

His time with the Guardians had made him soft. Or maybe he was always like that. Maybe without the twig to look after he had simply found a new target for his obnoxious mothering. She wouldn't really know, and there was no one left to ask.

The Terran-Tony- was hardly any better. But at least the grease of the 'hamburger' made it easier to pretend not to smell the medical ward so long after she had left it the last time. And unlike the fox, he was isolated to the medical ward and could not pursue her across the compound to 'ensure she didn't drop dead somewhere.'

Nothing stopped the ghostly feeling of a large hand weighing on her shoulder, or the echo of heavy boots every time she closed her eyes.

Cycle four was spent dodging these so called 'Avengers' which appeared to come and go with no real schedule or regularity. This feat was made a little simpler by the fact that most of them were gone more often than not. The effects of Thanos's snap were still rippling in waves of disaster across the planet, and they were kept busy scrambling to gain a foothold against the fallout. It was a testament to the poor preparedness and isolation of the underdeveloped planet in Nebula's opinion.

"Okay, so like, that's the boss man- he leads the team."

The fifth cycle found her slumped into a ridiculously plush chair while the Terran pointed at an oversized and somewhat outdated screen every few moments and babbled ceaselessly about characters and storylines. As far as she could tell, there was no real purpose to these 'television dramas,' but Tony insisted she 'give them a try' and Rocket, for some inconceivable reason, took his side.

A burst of laughter came from the uplift from where he sat on an overstuffed sofa across the room. Perhaps she had let him rise too far in her opinion.

Tony had been moved from the small medical ward to a more standard room sometime the cycle before. It still smelled faintly of antiseptics and was located on the ground floor to avoid the obstacle of stairs, a fact which the Terran had complained about quite loudly during her first visit, but it was much more tolerable than the previous room. The bed he remained confined to was now much larger. The thick blankets looked nearly heavy enough to crush his still frail body.

Pepper had been forced to relinquish her permanent spot at his side as well, another fact he had been sure to impress upon her as a terrible thing. Apparently, like the other Avengers, she had duties which she could only ignore for so long. Tony had mentioned something about his business, and visitations to another hospital, but Nebula hadn't much cared beyond the fact that this meant she could count this room among her places to hide from the strangers that crawled about the compound.

She had yet to come to any real decision for where to go from here. She had no reason to stay, but somehow even less call to go anywhere else.

Thanos was dead. Gone. A fact that still felt crooked and unreal, like if she poked at it hard enough it would peel away and she would find some detail she had missed that proved it a lie, and her father would appear to congratulate her for finding the trick, then punish her for taking so long. But she had held the weight of his severed head in her hands and wiped his blood from her face until her skin was raw and burned. He was dead and she was alive. It wasn't a trick. And even if it was, the best thing to do was to move forward cautiously until she found the punchline. The problem remained that she hadn't determined which direction was forward from here. He had been the driving force and center point of her universe for every breath she could remember. The hopeless struggles for his approval, desperate attempts to survive his wrath or apathy, and then the all consuming drive to see him pay for what he had done to her. One way or another, her entire existence had revolved around the Titan from the moment he had murdered her parents and scooped her up from her homeworld.

Gamora was dead. With the stones gone there was no way to even consider bringing her back, and Thanos had died before he deigned to tell her how her sister had gone. Nebula doubted he would have ever told her, even given all the time left in this rotten universe. In his own sick and twisted way she was certain this was his final play at favorites. A way to make sure that his favorite daughter was his, and only his. She would belong to him eternally in death, if he could not have her in life. It was fortunate neither one of the sisters had ever held much stock in an afterlife, or Nebula would have to pity her sister for the eternal insult.

Korath had died long ago in the skies of the planet Xandar, killed by their sister's new family. Nebula hardly found it in her to miss him or pity his end, but his loss, along with the Black Order, left a strange emptiness in her already very tiny world. Really, all she could drag to light when she reached for any sort of acquaintance left in the living, was the d'ast uplift, the half-dead Terran, and, maybe, the last of Yondu's Ravager crew, Kraglin, assuming he had not been lost to the culling or killed by more common means.

Even he was a pitiful stretch, she had not spoken to him once since seeing to the death of half his crew. But she'd known his name, and they'd parted ways with neither party holding a gun to the other's head. That was more than she could say for most. They'd killed a god together, after all. So she would count him.

Rocket gave another burst of laughter, dragging her wandering mind back into the here and now and slapping one paw against the leather patch over his knee while Tony chuckled along. Whatever had happened on the screen was apparently hilarious.

"Oh man!" The uplift wiped at his eyes as his laughter faded out. "Oh, this is just- so DUMB! Who writes this stuff!? It's as bad as that movie Thor made me watch! Another- play another!"

The menu screen opened as Tony happily switched to the next recording.

When they had first joined him, he had been skipping between recordings of news broadcasts. Most of the efforts now were focused on rescues that were more often than not sliding into body recovery. Occasionally, short recordings and photos of the 'Avengers' would flash on the screen, answering the unasked question of what many of them were doing when they left the compound.

A dated recording had shown a woman who Tony was quick to point out as Natasha carrying a young child on her hip. The boy clung to her neck with thin, emaciated arms as she handed him to medical personnel. A voice explained that the children had come to a fishing cabin with their father for a family vacation. It was believed the father had vanished while gathering firewood. The landlines in the area had been damaged due to several vehicle collisions into poles, and the father's cellular phone had vanished with him. Distant family members had reported them missing, but none knew where they had gone, so they had all been assumed vanished until a local had found the children wandering in the woods. They'd attempted to walk the roads back to town when they'd run out of food, and gotten lost on the many timber roads that crossed the mountains.

An older human with dark, greasy hair had stared into the screen with glassy red eyes as he narrated the discovery of an elderly couple, apparently wasted away of neglect when their caretakers had vanished in the snap. According to the reporter, and the subtitles scrolling across the bottom of the screen, the couple had lived far removed from their village, and had no relatives left to check on them or report them missing. By the time rescue efforts had made it to their house, it had been too late. This was far from the only case like this to be discovered too late.

A younger reporter, who's haunted eyes didn't match her youthful face, stood roadside as she recounted the discovery of a missing family at the bottom of a canyon. Evidence suggested the driver had been turned to ash while traveling down the narrow winding road, and the vehicle had plunged over the edge with his wife and three children still inside. The brush along the bottom of the canyon had hid the van for several weeks until it was discovered when the leaves began browning for winter.

Rocket had made a strangled joke about how at least their death would have been quick which had only made an already very pale Tony look like he was going to vomit.

Nebula had been to enough planets devastated by war, disaster, and her father's idea of salvation through sacrifice to expect the fallout when he finally retrieved the Stones to be cascading, -no matter what her father raved, his goals never came about as cleanly as he pretended- and was in agreement with Rocket about the mercies of a swift end. She kept these thoughts to herself, however, and neither she nor Rocket made any attempts at conversation after that. Tony had quickly switched to what he called 'television dramas,' anyways.

"Knock knock!"

Again Nebula was drawn from her musings as she half-dozed on the chair more comfortable than most of the things she had ever called bed. A new man leaned his head in through the open door. She faintly recognized him. He'd come with them to the Garden, and she'd seen him a handful of times around the compound and circling Tony's rooms, but managed to avoid any direct conversations thus far.

"Rhodey!" Tony sat up straighter and greeted the man with a toothy smile. "Please tell me you're here to smuggle in Pizza! Pepper's been watching my diet like a hawk. I'm so sick of healthy food. One hamburger was not enough."

"No such luck," Rhodey chuckled. "I'm not stupid enough to undermine Pepper. Some of us value our lives."

Tony made a face at that.

"Nah, I was actually hoping to luck out and find Natasha here. The coastguard thinks they've picked up some readings of a ship drifting around in open water. I can get there a heck of a lot faster. I don't know what I'll find, though, how many survivors. No one's answered any of the messages they sent out. Could be no one. Could be more than I could carry out on my own. I'm gunna need some bigger wings just in case- and that means a pilot to hold her steady." He glanced at Rocket and Nebula, flashing them both an easy grin that neither one bothered to answer. "Didn't mean to interrupt your movie night. I'll find another-"

Rocket gave a groan and made a show of standing from his couch and stretching his limbs. "Don' bother. You got your pilot right here."

The new man's face mirrored the surprise Nebula felt at the unprompted offer.

"Wait, seriously?"

"What?" Rocket demanded, flashing his teeth. "You got some sorta issue with that?"

Rhodey was quick to raise his hands in an easy surrender. "Oh, no, I'm not complaining. I just didn't realize you were doing milk runs for the Avengers. Don't think I've seen you on any missions that weren't with Thor..."

The fire drained from the uplift, his shoulders slumping a bit too low for the nonchalance he was trying to feign. "Yeah, well, he's not runnin' any missions right now 'cept to the liquor store and toilet bowl."

Not for Rocket's lack of trying. He'd vanished a number of times the last couple cycles in attempts at rallying the Asguardian to some semblance of functionality. Even gone so far as to try to drag him into the repairs for the Benatar much to Nebula's distaste, though she hadn't voiced her objections out loud. He'd come back from that attempt kicking at loose wires and immediately snapped at her to 'shut up. I don't want to talk about it!' She hadn't said anything, and had no intentions whatsoever of asking about his strange relationship with the supposed 'God of thunder.'

"My ship'll get there faster than any of the dated crap you're flyin', and it could use a test run. Not like any of you humies could fly it, even if I was willin' to let you. So I'll go."

"Wait." Tony spoke up. He had that same sick look to his face from before. "You might need more help. I could-"

"No." Rhodey shot him down immediately. He pointed one threatening finger at his friend. "No freaking way man. Your ass stays in that bed."

Tony was already tugging the heavy blankets from his legs with visible strain. "But I-"

Suddenly the comfortable chair she was sitting on was too soft and cloying, unstable if she needed to move quickly. The room was too small, a death trap with only one exit. The peaceful atmosphere from a heartbeat ago was now the eerie stretch of calm in the eye of a storm and she needed to get on her feet before it returned in full force. She could almost feel the back of the chair dip behind her as a heavy phantom hand leaned against it. "I'll go. That will be more than enough bodies."

Tony paused his struggling when she stood, staring at her with one foot still on the bed and one just brushing against the floor. "Are you sure, Space-girl?" His voice was small, but like the hypocrite he was quickly proving himself to be, he added; "You don't have to. You're not obligated."

Of course she wasn't, and she may have told him as much if she wasn't so desperate to flee this room as quickly as possible. She didn't belong here. It was too mundane, too... domestic. She was as out of place here as she had been on the planet of the Sovereign, A filthy vagabond in rags, wandering the gilded halls of a planet of diamond and gold. Only, there, she hadn't cared in the slightest about whatever dirt she tracked in. Here, she felt like a mangy dog spreading its disease with every breath. She didn't belong. And things that didn't belong...

She blinked and she was halfway down the hallway to the Benatar. She hadn't even said goodbye.

-x-

"Man, I said it before and I'll say it again; we gotta get one of these!"

The new Terran was leaning against the window of the Benatar, watching the ocean pass by underneath them with a bright grin.

Rocket gave a bark of laughter from the pilot's seat, looking livelier than he had since she'd come to Earth.

"So Space-girl," Rhodey ventured, still with that easy grin, "Tony tells me-"

"Don't talk to me," She snarled from where she slouched in the co-pilot's chair, feeling strange in the seat the Terran had occupied for so long, but Rocket was currently in hers. "We're not friends. And my name is Nebula."

The new Terran nodded and returned his attention to the ocean. "My bad." The smile remained in place.

Rocket gave another snicker and they continued in silence until the Terran spotted their target.

"Oh, slow down, I saw something. I think that's our ship."

They slowed to circle around a small vessel, bobbing lifelessly along the tiny swells. "You call that a ship?" Rocket huffed under his breath, jabbing at the controls to set the Benatar to hover.

"Alright," the man sighed out, approaching the drop hatch as it opened up. "Let's see what we got." The tech around his lower body expanded as a cold breeze filled the hull with a sharp salty air that made Nebula's eyes water and nose sting. A moment later he was diving from the Benetar in a tarnished silver rendition of Tony's suit.

Nebula gave him enough time to make it to the ship below before kicking the free end of the lift cable over and watching it land on the deck of the tiny ship so she could follow him down.

End

Chapter 16 preview: "...Ah. I knew I should have brought Natasha," he was muttering under his breath now. "I have not been keeping up on my languages... My name is... They call me Rhodey... Came here..."

Nebula stepped forward to end the pitiful attempts at conversation that was setting her translator chittering madly in her ear as it struggled to read his poor iterations. "We are here to retrieve you and bring you to safety..."

.

Sorry sorry sorry! It's been a very busy and sometimes not super fun set of weeks. Most of my time and energy has been taking care of my horse and trips to the vet. I've had very little time to write, and when I did, I had no energy or inspiration. I thought I was going to have this and part two done last weekend, but then I didn't like how the second half was, deleted about 1.6k works and started it over. Since it's taking me so long, and this is a longer chapter, I'm going to post this chapter as a Part 1 and Part 2 so I can put something up at least. I didn't want to post part 1 until I was sure I needed to split it, and knew I wasn't going to be changing it again, as I had to adjust a few minor lines in the first half.

Next week will be busy as well by the looks of it.

I also got some work done on Astro which I am personally excited about, another 1k+words. Still a long ways from done, but progress.

And I went back and fixed all the places where I called the Benatar the Milano in the last chapter. Completely blanked. Can't believe I missed it. In Astro, the team's on the Milano, so I guess I just wrote that without thinking? I dunno.

Anyways, thank you for your patience. Hope you all had a Happy Halloween.

-OMaM