I was watching some MCU clip on Youtube, and someone commented, What if Strange had been dusted, but not his cloak? And I kinda just had to write this.
Disclaimer: Do I look like someone who owns a whole movie franchise? I'll let you decide.
Also, the cloak is a character in the Doctor Strange category, but not the Avengers category?! Smh.
When the man housing the Hulk crashed in, the cloak learned a name: Thanos. Yet, it was still confident in its master's abilities to defeat him and find peace.
But its hope and confidence waned and waned as they were brought far from earth, as its master was tortured, as the ragtag group of morons came to ally with them. Perhaps this was one threat it would have to take seriously.
And take seriously it did.
Its master went to look at the possibilities of the coming fight. It came with him. And during those few minutes, they suffered heartbreak and endured pain over and over and over again.
It was almost all for naught, though, because there was only one where they would win, though that depended on the definition of the word 'win'. By the cloak's definition, they would never win.
And though it knew what had to happen, it still watched in growing horror as its master was turned to dust. It moved to try and catch the particles still falling to the ground. When it failed, it quickly moved up and down to try and shake what was left of its master off its fabric.
It didn't need that on its conscience.
It looked up, watching with the robot lady as the man wept, mourning for his child in all but blood; and it quivered, because death was in the air today.
For the first time in its long life, it sank to the ground and lay, hugging the dirt. Pretending to not be the Cloak of Levitation but simply a cloak. A cloak doesn't have a soul; and, therefore, it cannot feel pain. Perhaps, if it lay still enough, it would become part of the orange surface below.
Perhaps, it would cease to exist, like its master had before.
But soon enough, they had to go.
"Hey. Uh, Cloaky," the man said awkwardly. It looked up to see the pair watching it. "We're thinking of fixing that ship to go back to earth. You don't wanna stay here, do you?"
It didn't. So it flew up and levitated there, watching the two make the necessary repairs and helping wherever it could. It didn't care for all the dirt and dust and oil that had gotten into its fabric. (Half the world was no more, after all.)
It learned their names: Tony and Nebula.
And when they were finished, they got onto the ship and headed back to earth. (Oh, how it missed the Sanctum.) They spent much time with one another on that ship. It wrapped Tony in its cloth whenever he was cold or sad. It helped him teach Nebula how to have fun, how to live. They even asked it how it was doing and the like. It thought that if this was surviving, it wasn't so bad if you had people like them.
It learned the names of people they had lost: Gamora and Peter. A sister and a son.
But home was a long distance away, and the cloak was reminded of the frailty of humans as Tony got weaker and weaker. (Reminded of another human's mortality, one who had also been thrown into a fight he hadn't been ready for.)
When they finally, finally, made it back (courtesy of the woman with the power of the stars), he was shipped to the medics, and it and Nebula were forced to wait.
It learned more names during that time: Steve, Bruce, Natasha, and Thor; Rhodey, Carol, and Rocket. All survivors. All beings like it trying to navigate this seemingly new world after so much loss.
And even though the cloak knew it was setting itself up for heartbreak, it became quite fond of this group of heroes.
But when the heroes went and killed Thanos, the cloak did not come, favoring to stay and wait.
Despite claims to the contrary, the Cloak of Levitation is not a particularly violent relic. It only fights because it is the right thing to do, because there are others who need it. If given the chance, it would certainly choose mothering Stephen Strange in the Sanctum for the rest of its days. (Speaking of the Sanctum, Wong was no more. It missed Wong, as well.)
Instead of Stephen and Wong, though, the cloak had this group instead. Mind you, it didn't consider them a replacement, just...another group of brave people in need. It blanketed them when they slept, wiped away their tears when they cried, got them to eat and drink when they didn't (either through forgetfulness or weariness). It went to therapy sessions with Steve, tinkered with Tony, helped the community with Bruce, went on missions with Nebula, danced with Natasha, slapped Rhodey whenever he called it a cape, and spent time with Rocket to soften his exterior.
When Tony got married and moved to the cabin in the woods, it learned three more names: Morgan, Pepper, and Happy.
And Morgan, oh, little Morgan was the light of the world. Smart like her father, yet firm like her mother (a perfect combination, if you asked the cloak). She laughed and played and insisted that the cloak fly her around every day (only when Pepper wasn't around). She snuck into the garage to see her father's work, and snuck downstairs to steal juice pops in the middle of the night. She took in knowledge like a sponge, and the cloak was almost too happy to forget what was to come.
(It still missed Stephen.)
When it traveled to New Asgard, it learned more names: Valkyrie and Korg. If the people gave any indication that seeing a flying cloak was out of the ordinary, they didn't show it. It loved watching the people and playing with the children as they adjusted to life on earth. It loved looking at life in general, how a people could survive after most of their population and their home was destroyed.
What it did not like was Thor lounging around playing video games all day.
He was the king of his people, damn it, and if he wasn't leading them, then they wouldn't thrive. He was mourning. It knew that, felt it, too. But he couldn't be selfish.
(Even if the mess of names muttered in his sleep hurt the cloak in a place it couldn't pinpoint. 'Father' and 'Brother' and Heimdall and Sif and Fandral and Volstagg and Hogun and so much, so much more.)
So it may or may not have teamed up with the Valkyrie to confiscate all his drinks and his internet until he met his kingly duties. It was good for him. (It was needed, really.) The cloak couldn't watch him waste away when two of his friends would be dying next.
Live in the moment, it told itself often. Live in the moment. But had it been truly living all this time, or simply existing?
When the time came for a certain mouse to run over a certain button, everyone had hope, but the cloak had less.
(One might wonder why the cloak hadn't thought to free Scott sooner, but in one of those 14,000,605, it had, and it had all been for the worst.)
If it could, it would have cried the night that Tony invented time travel. Instead, it wrapped itself around his shoulders as he looked at the picture with the upside-down plaque, and shook its collar vehemently at Morgan's use of the word 'shit'.
It followed Tony as he met with the others and started coordinating the time heist.
It helped with their calculations, helped Tony sign his death warrant.
It hugged Natasha tightly (without an explanation) before she went off into space.
It went back in time with Bruce to hug the Ancient One, too.
It wiped Clint's tears and brushed the dust off of his clothes.
And it tried not to look too suspiciously at Nebula (not their Nebula) before she brought her Thanos (and his army) forward in time.
And later, much later, it would wrap around Stephen as tight as it could. He would pat it a little and cock his head. Is everything as it should be? The cloak would reluctantly nod. Yes, but I don't like it. He would sigh. I don't, either.
And then, after that, after the initial bout of tears and death, it would fly around Tony's funeral (Natasha's would be done much more privately the following week). It would watch and wonder whether it was really mourning if it couldn't cry. In its guilt, its red fabric would flutter to everyone's shoulders at least once, helping them feel safe for the time being.
The cloak would feel as if it knew everyone, from all the stories it had been told during those five years.
(Had it really been five years? It had felt like so much more and so much less at the same time.)
And later, so much later (time that Tony and Natasha and Steve wouldn't see), it would curl up with Stephen during many sleepless nights, wondering why they had been the ones chosen to hold the fate of the universe in their fragile and broken hands.
But for now, for now, it would help fight the battle, help the Avengers save the world.
Such was the job of heroes, after all.