Alright folks here's a little smutty rewrite of chapter 31 of my story The Phoenix Will Rise, basically foretelling what could have happened if Aphrodite went back to earth just a few hours earlier.
The first few parts of this chapter are basically inserting Aphrodite and Ares into other parts of Infinity War together, and no before you ask Steve and Ares did not get into a pissing contest over Aphrodite. Like everything in this book, this was an excuse to write smut. Gentle this time thought, not the slight hardcore Dom Steve we got in the last one-shot.
Like I said this is a rewrite, and a pretty long one at that, so feel free to skip straight to the smut.
Enjoy.
"You know you don't have to leave." Aphrodite said somewhat sadly. "You could come with us."
Ares huffed a laugh and slung his bag over his shoulder, "Let's see," he said standing, "Go with my ex-fiancée and her two older brothers, one of whom is now a king who hate me, and your oldest friend who might hate me as much as they do, to a planet that love you all, to meet up with my ex's current fiancé. Or find my own way?" He finished raising both hands as if he were actually considering weighing the options, "Real toss-up there, Ro."
"You forgot the part where my current fiancé would be about just as happy to meet you as you are to meet him." She finished sarcastically.
"Oh yes the Captain, can't imagine what that meeting would be like."
"Lucky for you, you'd never have to find out. Always a war to fight huh?"
Ares smiled and it seemed forlorn, like he regretted it as much as she did, "War is in my blood Ro, it's a part of me. Like the phoenix is a part of you." He said pointing to her.
Aphrodite nodded, unfortunately Ares would always be the God of War, and it was truly his destiny to continue on as such. With that in mind she grabbed an item off of a desk and handed it to him, "At least take this."
"And what is this?" he asked accepting it none-the-less.
"It's a transponder, it's linked to the vessel. So long as it's still operational, you'll be able to find the ship whenever you chose."
Ares slipped the band onto his wrist and pushed a few buttons, a hologram of the vessel appearing along with the number of people on board, "Thank you." He said sincerely closing the hologram.
"You're welcome," she responded in kind, "You know, maybe one day you'll find a woman that's willing to wait around for your war to end. Better still, one that will fight along with you."
Ares smiled and it was one that said we both know that's not going to happen, before he punched the button to open the door to the last of the life pods, then he reached out and took Aphrodite's hand placing a soft gentle kiss onto the back of it. Before he stepped into his pod she called out to him.
"You know Thor has Heimdall, and Brunnhilde. Whenever you do come back, I'm going to need a right hand man."
"I just might take you up on that." He said with a smile but before he could say more the transponder on his arm suddenly started beeping rapidly and they both looked to it to see it warning of an incoming attack. The two of them barely had a chance to glance at one another in shock and confusion before the side of the ship they were on exploded and they were sent flying back.
They hit a wall hard then landed on the floor seconds after even harder, Aphrodite landing awkwardly on her leg, however she ignored the slight twinge in the limb as she shook of the daze and looked over at Ares as they both realized something. There were families on board this ship, with that in mind, the two of them were quickly on their feet and rushing through the halls.
Stumbling when another explosion rocked the ship when a hand was at her elbow helping steady her, Ares didn't say a word and neither did she and they continued down towards the ships bridge as they did Aphrodite's eyes glowed as she reached out to everyone's minds currently on the ship urging them, forcing them to converge on the bridge.
"Are you alright?" Thor asked immediately noting her slight limp along with the small cuts on her face.
"I'm fine," she said quickly brushing off his concern. "What's happening?" everyone gasped when another explosion rocked the ship and she looked out of the large window at the front which was showing an uninhibited view of space only hours ago, now was blocked by an absolutely enormous spaceship. "Who is it?" she asked outloud, and the only one person who could actually know the answer, did answer.
"The Mad Titan," Heimdall responded sounding grim and Aphrodite could have almost sworn she heard Loki gulp, "Thanos."
As if saying his name had summoned him, there was a flash of purple and the large figure of the Titan was on board the vessel, and he wasn't alone. There was barely a glance spared at the occupants of the room, with little regard for the fact that it was made up of mostly families not warriors with no hope of winning any sort of battle, before they attacked.
It was a blur from there, Aphrodite somewhat registering the faces of the aliens that were slaughtering her people reading about them in some tome of another, but her heart broke with each person that was killed as she could feel their pain nearly down to her bones, she could hardly focus on that though because she was locked in a battle of telekinesis with the grey skinned alien known as Ebony Maw.
The alien hardly had to lift a finger as he moved the debris of the ship around forming it to his liking, which happened to be in the shape of sharps, and with a wave of his fingers threw them in the direction of a few of the living Asgardians, Aphrodite blocked it though shielding them with a force field and when the sharps met it they melting away into sand like fragments. The Maw decided then that this woman was going to be a problem and focused his attention on her for the time being while his adoptive siblings took care of those pesky Asgardians and the Titan himself made his way to the front of the ship.
Without an ounce of effort he throw a pipe at he but she deflected spinning it around and sending it back toward him full force, but he simply help up a hand and it split in half, since he was focused on that he missed when Aphrodite reformed the sands around her into the deadly shards the once were, he was a second too late to turn his head and one of them caught his temple and he grunted before getting rid of the rest of them. Then he waved his hand and two pieces of strip metal peeled away from the walls of the ship and forced them at her where they wrapped around her body picked her up and threw her a few feet towards the front of the ship, pushing her down a foot or so into the metal of ship for good measure, he clenched his hand slightly and the metal around her bent until it started crushing her.
"Xandarians didn't put up this much of a fight." Maw sneered tightening his fingers again.
"This is the Asgardian refugee vessel. We are under assault, I repeat, we are under assault. Engines are dead, life support failing. Requesting aid from any vessel within range, our crew is made up of Asgardian families, we have very few soldiers here. This is not a war craft, I repeat, this is not a war craft." The distress signal played on a loop and Aphrodite felt tears spring to her eyes, not because of the pressure still crushing her body, but because of all the dead people around her, the people that she couldn't protect.
"Here me and rejoice," Aphrodite blinked through bleary eyes, the haze and smoke filling her lungs causing her to cough, "You have had the privilege of being saved by the great Titan. You may think this is suffering. No. It is salvation. Universal scales tipped toward balance because of your sacrifice" Ebony Maw drawled out as Proxima Midnight drove her spear through another helpless Asgardian. "Smile for even in death you have become children of Thanos."
Maw finished as the Titan himself turned to reveal himself in all of his mad glory. "I know what it's like to lose," he told the Asgardian king leaning over him slightly, "To feel so desperately that you're right, yet to fail nonetheless. It's frightening," Thanos spoke to Thor, crouching down a little so Thor was in his line of sight, "Turns the legs to jelly. I ask you to what end? Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same, but you know all about that wouldn't you, Asgardian?" Thanos mocked leaning down over Aphrodite then reached down to grab Thor by the front of his armour and drag him behind him. "And now it's here. Or should I say I am." He finally finished raising a gloved fist and brandishing the power stone.
"You talk too much." Thor spat through a mouthful of blood.
"Now," Thanos ignored him speaking to Loki, the man he once used as a servant and was very close to becoming one of his children. "The Tesseract, or your brothers head. I assume you have a preference."
Loki hid the concern on his face instead covering it up with one of his signature smirks. "Oh I do. Kill away."
Thanos was impressed and didn't hesitate to power up the stone and press it to the side of Thor's head, Thor's responding cry of pain had Aphrodite crying out as well and she finally broke hallway through Maw's restraints freeing her arm and giving her some room to breathe, the breath she let out was a slight cry as she begged the Titan.
"Please! Please, stop!"
"Alright stop!" Loki finally shouted as well and Thanos did.
"We don't have the Tesseract, it was destroyed on Asgard." Aphrodite explained looking over at the Titan and examining Thor as best she could from her current predicament.
Thanos barely spared her a glance looking back at Loki with a knowing glint in his eye and Aphrodite looked down at him as well.
Loki was ashamed and he didn't meet anyone's eye as he raised his hand and in it appeared the Tesseract.
"You really are the worst, brother." Thor scoffed.
Loki finally looked at them, so broken at the feet of Thanos, as he started to climb the steps where Thor's throne once sat. "I swear to you both, the sun will shine on us again."
"You're optimism is misplaced Asgardian." Thanos said opening his hand for the Tesseract.
"Well," Loki said not handing it over just yet, "For one thing I'm not Asgardian. And for another, we have the Hulk." As if on que the Hulk roared and threw himself at Thanos.
Loki dropped the Tesseract without a care, and dove to the side out of the way of the two brawling giants taking Thor with him, landing near Aphrodite. He crawled on his knees over to her as she finally fully broke free of her restraints taking a few deep breaths.
Loki helped her sit up and looked her straight in the eye and leaned down to briefly touch his forehead to hers, "I'm sorry." He said before disappearing into the shadows leaving Thor who was staggering to his feet by her side.
She was confused as she could here Thanos' grunts and had hope for a moment that they could actually win. Until she heard Maw's voice again.
"Let him have his fun." He warned the Black Dwarf and Aphrodite didn't like the sound of that one bit. Then it was the Hulk groaning in pain as Thanos landed hit after hit on him that had the green giant stumbling. Then Thanos simply just picked him up and threw him down onto the ground. Concerned for her friend Aphrodite disappeared and reappeared by Hulk's side, looking him over for injuries, but he appeared to be only unconscious. Then she heard someone groan nearby and turned to the sound. "Ares?" She called seeing him getting to his feet holding some kind rod in his hands. "Ares!" She cried when he swung it at Thanos only for it to break across the Titan's helmet.
Thanos didn't look angry, only annoyed and slightly even amused as he kicked the God of War away from him as if he was nothing more than an insignificant bug landing in a crumpled heap near her and the Hulk.
Ebony Maw made to pick up the Tesseract but stopped to ensure that the other living Asgardians wouldn't be a problem anymore, and chained Thor up in the same manner he did to his sister moments ago with the debris from the ship. Heimdall seeing all this struggling to sit up straighter and held out his hand towards where she, the Hulk and the God of War were.
"Allfathers," he said calling on the powers of the supreme Gods. "Let the dark magic flow through me one last time." Then he felt it, and with the last bit of strength in him he felt the Bifrost activate.
As soon as Aphrodite realized what she was doing she surged to her feet. "Wait!" She cried but it was too late and covered both the three of them whisking them down to earth.
Aphrodite, Ares and the Hulk were flying through the bright lights of the Bifrost, both completely blind to where Heimdall had sent them. Hulk only now beginning to gain consciousness after being beaten down by Thanos.
"Beast!" Ares cried seeing the other end of the bridge starting to close which could only mean one thing.
The Gatekeeper was dead.
They entered the atmosphere at an alarmingly fast pace and Hulk one arm around each of the Gods tucking them into his body and turned so that when they landed his massive body would take the brunt of the impact.
And take the impact he did as they crashed through the roof of a building then another wooden structure before settling in the crater they'd created. Ares crouched protectively over the Beast, who was transforming back into the man he usually was while Aphrodite tended to him, when two figures blocked the light streaming down into the hole they created shields of gold covering their hands.
Before Ares could utter a word of warning to the two men, from behind him Bruce was muttering loudly enough for them to hear.
"Thanos is coming," the scientist said breathing hard. "He's coming."
The two men above the hole glanced at each other but it was the taller man in the red cape that spoke.
"Who?"
Aphrodite recognized the voice and looked up, around Ares' body to the men one of whom she knew.
"Stephen?"
"Aphrodite?" Doctor Strange said immediately lowering his shields and urging his companion to do the same, seen as there was no immediate threat.
"Stand down." Aphrodite whispered to Ares who reluctantly did as asked sheathing his swords and turning to help Bruce up to his feet.
"What happened to you?" Strange questioned offering a hand down to help her out of the crater, which she accepted.
"It's a long story."
It was a long story indeed and Aphrodite explained it while the other two men, Strange and Wong, she learned his name was, listened avidly and appeared to grow more grim with every word she spoke looking down at the time stone with forlorn but determined expressions. From there Stephen opened a portal directly to Tony Stark, who they would need for this mission, and the Iron Man took one look at his friend and former lab partner, then the two Gods and knew that this was important.
"From the dawn of the universe, there was nothing," Wong, spoke as he used his magic to create an illusion across the ceiling of the Sanctum, further explaining the situation to Tony, "Then, boom!" the projection suddenly exploded, sending out six very specific colours of light, "The Big Bang sends six elemental crystals, hurdling across the very universe. These Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of existence."
"Space, Reality, Power, Soul, Mind, and Time," Strange added, waving a hand over the bottom of a necklace hanging before his chest, opening it to reveal a green glowing gem that matched one of the stones in the projection just before them.
"Tell me his name again," Tony spoke.
"Thanos." Aphrodite responded glaring at the projection of the stones still floating above them
"He's a plague, Tony," Banner continued the explanation, "He invades planets. He takes what he wants. He wipes out half the population."
"He sent Loki." Aphrodite added, "The attack on New York, all those years ago? That was him."
"This is it," Tony murmured to himself standing, before clearing his throat, "What's our timeline?"
"24 hours, maybe more, maybe less." Ares answered.
"He has the Power and Space Stones," Aphrodite pointed out, "Which means, as of right now, he is the most powerful being in the universe. And if he gets all six,"
Strange nodded finishing, "He can destroy life on a scale hither to undreamt of."
Tony blinked and turned to look at the man, "Did you seriously just say 'hither to undreamt of?'"
Strange just scoffed, looking at where Tony was holding one hand on a Black Cauldron on a pedestal as he stretched out his leg, "Are you seriously leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos?"
Tony glanced at the Cauldron, "Is that what this is?" when he moved to peek into it Strange's cloak acted on its own and slapped him on the arm. He pulled back and turned to look at the doctor, his gaze flickering down to the cape as it moved on its own again, "I'm going to allow that. If Thanos needs all six, why don't we just stick this one down the garbage disposal?"
"No can do."
"We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone with our lives," Wong added.
"And I swore off dairy," Tony rolled his eyes, "But then, Ben & Jerry's named a flavour after me, so..."
"'Stark Raving Hazelnuts,'" Strange muttered
"It's not bad."
"A bit chalky."
"'A Hunka-Hulka Burning Fudge' is our favourite," Wong remarked.
Bruce looked at him with a scrunched face, "That's a thing?"
"Do I have one of those?" Aphrodite questioned sounding intrigued, before Ares loudly cleared his throat making them all look at him as he glanced pointedly at the time stone. "Right."
"Our oath to protect the Time Stone cannot change," Strange said jumping right back on track, "This stone may be the best chance we have against Thanos."
"And still, conversely, it may also be his best chance against us."
"Only if we don't do our jobs."
"What is your job exactly, besides making balloon animals?"
"Protecting your reality, douchebag."
"Ok guys," Bruce cut in, "Can we quick table this discussion right now? The fact is that we have the stone. We know where it is, Vision is out there somewhere with the Mind Stone, and we have to find him, now."
"Yeah, that's the thing..." Tony began.
"What do you mean? I left him with you?" Aphrodite questioned.
"Two weeks ago, Vision turned off his transponder. He's offline."
"What?" Aphrodite asked and Bruce echoed, finishing her thought, "Tony, you lost another super bot?"
"I didn't lose him. He's more than that. He's evolving."
Strange shook his head, "Who could find Vision, then?"
Tony shrugged, "Probably Steve Rogers."
Aphrodite nodded, that made sensed but beside her Strange only groaned, "Oh, great."
"Maybe. But..."
"Call him," Bruce insisted.
Stark sighed, "It's not that easy. God, we haven't caught up in a spell, have we?"
"No."
"The Avengers broke up. We're toast."
"Broke up? Like a band? Like The Beatles?"
"Cap and I fell out hard. We're not on speaking terms."
"Tony," Aphrodite said getting his attention, "Thanos is coming, we need all the help we can get. It doesn't matter who you're speaking to right now. Call him."
Tony nodded, finally realizing how serious this was and pulled out the phone, muttering angrily about flip phones as he did, but before he could press the button to call as sudden crash was heard outside and he turned to the others to see if they heard it to, only to notice something peculiar.
"Say Doc, you wouldn't happen to be moving your hair would you?" Tony questioned warily pointing out the few locks or dark hair that were indeed twitching in a non-existent breeze, Aphrodite's tri-coloured locks doing the same.
"Not at the moment, no." Strange responded.
From there the six of the journeyed outside where it was pure chaos, cars crashing in the streets and people running tripping over each other as they tried to get to safety. Then they were facing off with two of Thanos' children, Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian as they fought their damndest to try and get Strange's stone. They fought them off even being joined by Stark's protégé the Spider-Man before Strange was beamed up in a portal along with the Spider-Man and Stark following closely behind.
"Shouldn't we go after them?" Ares asked only slightly winded from the battle that had just taken place.
"Stark will take care of it." Aphrodite said, and she really believed that he could too. "C'mon, let's get back to the Sanctum."
They found Bruce and Wong in the streets of New York as Bruce plucked something out of the debris that was left behind.
"Where are you going?" She questioned Wong as they approached and he opened up a portal.
"The Time Stone's been taken," Wong said shrugging, "The Sanctum remains unguarded. What will you do?"
"I'm gonna make a phone call." Bruce said holding up the flip phone for emphasis, Wong nodded and stepped into his portal closing it behind him. "Do you wanna'?" Bruce trailed of showing her the phone and Steve's name and number that was there.
"No," Aphrodite shook her head, "It's best he doesn't know yet, we need him to bring us Vision.."
"Alright," Bruce nodded, pressing his finger to the green call button and holding the phone up to his ear, after a few seconds he spoke again, "Hey, Cap. It's uh, Banner, we have a problem."
Rhodey sighed as he stood across from where the holographic image of Secretary Ross was at a table with a handful of his colleagues, questioning him yet again.
"Still no word from Vision?" Ross asked for what felt like the hundredth time since Vision disappeared.
"Satellites lost him somewhere over Edinburgh." Rhodey responded evenly.
"On a stolen quinjet with four of the world's most wanted criminals."
"You know they're only criminals because you've chosen to call them that, right, sir?" Rhodey shot back, his arms folded across his chest and Ross raised a brow.
"My God, Rhodes, your talent for horseshit rivals my own."
"If it weren't for those Accords, Vision would've been right here." Rhodes snapped having had enough of the Secretary's snide comments and overall attitude.
"I remember your signature on those papers, Colonel." Ross reminded him with warning in his tone but Rhodey scoffed.
"That's right. And I'm pretty sure I've paid for that."
Rhodey gestured vaguely to his legs, only mobile thanks to help from Tony's mechanics, and it was Ross's turn to scoff.
"You have second thoughts?" Ross challenged but movement in the doorway distracted Rhodey and he smiled before responding to the secretary.
"Not anymore."
Ross followed the colonel's gaze and his eyes fell on first Steve Rogers, standing at the front of the group as they strolled into the base they had left over two years ago. The Secretary's eyes then flickered briefly over Natasha and Wanda on the side, and then Sam and Vision before coming back to Steve as the Captain greeted politely.
"Mr. Secretary."
"You got some nerve." Ross sniffed, staring at the group. "I'll give you that."
"You could use some of that right now." Natasha returned as they gathered around Rhodey, who smiled warmly at his friends.
"The world's on fire." Ross said incredulously. "And you think, all is forgiven?"
Steve leveled the secretary with a firm gaze his words meaning little to him, and he told him as much, "I'm not looking for forgiveness. And I'm way past asking for permission. Earth just lost her best defender, so we're here to fight. And if you wanna stand in our way," he stepped down to be at level with the hologram, "We'll fight you, too."
Ross nearly foamed at the mouth, before his eyes went to Rhodey as he ordered, "Arrest them."
"All over it." Rhodey promised nonchalantly before shutting off the hologram, shortly after a beeping noise sounded from the computers. "That's a court-martial." He informed the group though his tone said he could have cared less for the Secretary's demands.
Natasha was the first to smile reaching forward to give Rhodey a warm hug, he hugged her back before reaching out a hand to Steve.
"It's great to see you, Cap." Rhodey admitted honestly and Steve smiled.
"You too, Rhodes." Steve answered as he shook Rhodey's hand while the colonel looked them over.
"Well. You guys really look like crap." He said lightly. "Must've been a rough couple of years."
"Yeah, well, the hotels weren't exactly five star." Sam quipped back cheekily banter flowing between them like no time at all had passed.
"Uh, I think you look great."
They all turned at the new voice, and Bruce inched his way into the room nervously wringing his hands together, as noted the looks of surprise that flitted across several faces while Steve remained silent. "Yeah. I'm back." Bruce explained to the ones who looked surprised.
Sam, Wanda and Vision glanced at Steve, who kept an innocent expression on his face and was even sporting a small smile. But Natasha had her gaze fixed solely on the scientist as she spoke "Hi, Bruce."
"Nat." Bruce answered inclining his head towards her slightly as he fidgeted.
"This is awkward." Sam piped up, making them all smile and relax just a little.
"Where's the other one?" Bruce asked gesturing to Wanda after taking another look at the group. "There were two of you right? Your brother? Pete? Peter?" Bruce snapped his fingers trying to remember the kid's name.
"Pietro," Wanda answered for him glancing down before looking back up at Bruce. "He didn't make it." She explained and that was enough for Bruce.
"Oh, I'm sorry." He said sincerely.
"So am I." Wanda responded, she had made peace with everyone on the team for what she did to them back when she was with Ultron, save for Bruce whom they all thought was dead.
"It's alright." Bruce responded.
"He's right," a shaky voice made them all freeze as Aphrodite stepped out from behind the same corner Bruce had been behind and she wasn't alone, "You all look great."
Aphrodite's gaze roamed over the group made up of her friends and the love of her life, who looked frozen rooted to the spot.
It was Natasha who made the first move stepping away from the group a beaming smile breaking across her face as Aphrodite moved to met her halfway, "Blue."
"Tasha." Aphrodite said as the two women embraced in the middle, it was Sam that had to give a nudge to a frozen Steve and he nearly stumbled off the steps he was standing and whipped around to shot Sam a glare to which he only shrugged innocently.
The brief scuffle did catch the attention of the girls though who released from their embraced to look at the super-soldier, this time it was Natasha who nudged Aphrodite slightly.
"Go get him."
Aphrodite immediately moved to do as she said and Steve finally snapped out of his stupor when his girl crashed into his throwing her arms around his neck, and in turn he wrapped his around her waist hugging her tightly to him. The others in the room were staring with varying degrees of contempt, but neither of them cared to wrapped up in each other for the moment.
Ares hated to be the one to break up the couple's happy reunion, but someone had to be the one to do it, "Ro," he called out making the couple separate slightly to look at him, and also bringing everyone in the room's attention to him. Not that he much cared. "We're on a clock."
Aphrodite sighed, but nodded slowly unwinding her arms from around her fiance, "Right."
"Who are you?" Natasha questioned although could probably already guess.
"I'm Ares."
And she was right.
"It's a long story," Aphrodite told the group, out loud but speaking mostly to Steve, "Right now we have a bigger problem."
"Well, we gotta assume they're coming back, right?" Rhodes said bringing attention to the matter at hand which were the aliens that were invading earth, what they were here for, and what was coming, after everyone had been caught up courtesy of Aphrodite, Bruce and Ares.
"And they can clearly find us." Wanda added.
"We need all hands on deck," Bruce said pacing, "Where's Clint?"
"After the whole Accords situation, he and Scott took a deal," Natasha explained, "It's too tough on their families. They're on house arrest."
"Who's Scott?"
"Ant Man," Steve answered.
"There's an Ant Man and a Spider Man?" Bruce looked around in confusion, but it was Rhodes who nodded as if to say yeah things have gotten weirder.
"Hardly important right now Beast." Ares reminded him
"Right, right," he nodded, "Thanos has the biggest army in the Universe. And he is not gonna stop until he gets Vision's stone." He said the last part softly, almost reluctantly.
"Well then, we have to protect it," Natasha said stepping forward as if it was that simple.
"No, we have to destroy it," Vision himself said firmly while staring out of a window even as everyone turned to him in shock, but he continued to speak gesturing to the stone in the middle of his forehead as he did, "I've been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head, about its nature. But also its composition. I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something very similar to its own signature, perhaps" he began to make his way over to Wanda and holding onto her upper arm, "Its molecular integrity could fail."
"Yeah, and you with it," Wanda reminded him, "We're not having this conversation."
"Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can't get it."
But Wanda shot her boyfriend a fierce glare, "It's also too high a price."
"Only you have the power to pay it," Vision said quietly to Wanda, and her face fell slightly as she turned away from him
Steve watched the couple talk and felt a strange sense of Deja-vu wash over him as he recalled he and Aphrodite having a very similar conversation years ago, albeit it was under much less serious circumstances but still, he could hear her voice in his head clear as day, as he looked at her standing by his side and recalled the words she spoke to him, "We don't trade lives, love."
Vision sighed bringing him back to the present, "Thanos threatens half the Universe. One life cannot in the way of defeating him."
"But it should," Aphrodite argued looking straight at the android and her friend as Steve finished on her behalf, "We don't trade lives, Vision."
"Captain, 70 years ago you laid down your life to save how many millions of people? Tell me, why is this any different?"
"Because you might have a choice," Bruce answered calling the attention back to him, "Your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. Jarvis, Ultron, Tony, me, the stone. All of them mixing together. All of them learning from one another."
"You're saying Vision isn't just a stone?" Wanda asked, sounding hopeful.
"I'm saying that if we take out the stone, there's still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best parts."
"Can we do that?" Natasha asked looking back and forth between the android and the scientist.
"Not me. Not here."
"Well you better find someone and somewhere fast," Rhodes reminded them, "Ross isn't just gonna let you guys have your old rooms back."
Steve listened silently then nodded to himself, "I know somewhere."
"Drop to 2600, heading 0-3-0." Steve instructed leaning over the back of the pilot's seat Sam was in and staring out the windshield
Sam glanced back at his friend before he spoke, "I hope you're right about this, Cap. Or we're gonna land a lot faster than you want to."
Steve was confident however, and he waited as Sam flew the jet right into the trees, and right through the hologram barrier to Wakanda. The air shimmered as they passed through the force field, having obtained permission in the fly-over from America, and the illusion dropped revealing the beautiful hidden country that was Wakanda.
Sam expertly landed the jet on the runway that was laid out, and outside the jet there was the familiar figure of T'Challa surrounded by his bodyguards.
As they disembarked the jet, Bruce who was at the back with Rhodey and Ares whispered to Rhodes as he shrugged into this coat, "Should we bow?"
"Yeah, he's a king." Rhodey answered casually without missing a beat.
Steve ignored their banter instead smiling warmly at T'Challa as he reached out to shake his hand.
"Seems like I'm always thanking you for something." T'Challa smiled back and he shook Steve's hand before he nodded to the rest of the group when the clearing of a throat caught his attention and he turned to see Bruce getting ready to bow towards him respectively, only for Rhodey to look at him in disbelief.
"What are you doing?"
"Uh, we don't do that here." T'Challa said kindly waving a hand to stop his bow. Everyone smiled in amusement expect for Bruce who cast an embarrassed and disbelieving look at Rhodes.
Then they turned serious again as T'Challa asked, "So how big of an assault can we expect?"
His guards moved as he spoke, opening up a path that T'Challa took, leading them away. The group followed quickly while Bruce piped up politely as he explained, "Uh, sir, I think you can expect quite a big assault in the next day or so."
"How we looking?" Natasha added, addressing the king with a similarly concerned frown on her face.
"You will have my King's Guard," T'Challa listed. "We are gathering the The Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, and-" He gestured to the side just as a familiar, dark-clothed man stepped out of the building to greet them by the door.
"A semi-stable, 100-year-old man." Bucky grinned as he spoke while Steve's face lit up releasing Aphrodite's hand so he could pull the man into a hug clapping him on the back a few times.
"How have you been, Buck?"
"Not bad," he shrugged looking down at his new black vibranium arm, "For the day before the end of the world."
Aphrodite looked over the man and was overall pleased with what she saw, Bucky looked healthy for the first time since she'd known him. Clearly his time in Wakanda was kind to him. She gave him a kind smile when his eyes drifted over to her.
"In the meantime," King T'Challa said bringing everyone's attention to him, "We have set up rooms for you all to rest. We will meet in the labs at first light to see about that stone." he gestured for people to step forward who had been standing silently obviously awaiting their orders.
As he passed Ares gave Aphrodite a questioning look to which she responded with a single nod, which he returned and allowed himself to be led into the palace.
T'Challa was a wonderful host as one would expect, in between discussing strategies and him introducing them to his little sister, also known as the tech genius that fixed Bucky's mind and would be the one to see about removing Vision's stone the next day. T'Challa had also graciously treated the group to a delicious dinner. While that was all greatly appreciated, Steve and Aphrodite were itching at the chance to finally be alone together.
Which came much later than they would have liked.
The guards led each of them to their respective rooms for the night, with Steve and Aphrodite being the last to be dropped off, their room being situated at the very end of the hall. Stepping inside the couple finally got their long overdue time alone together.
"Did I get a chance to tell you, how beautiful you are?" Steve questioned as he closed the door behind them leaning back against it.
"I don't think you did." Aphrodite answered stepping into the warmth of his body.
"Well you are," he said raising his hands to cup her cheeks on spread his fingers so that he could tangle them into the hair at the back of her head, "And your hair is incredible."
Aphrodite hummed placing her hands on his side and leaning up on her toes to brush her lips just slightly against his, the soft bristles of his beard tickling her upper lip as she did. "And you are so handsome." She whispered as they continued to tease each other with the brushing of their lips together, "I was right about the beard," she said with a smirk and he huffed a laugh, "Sexiest nomad I've ever seen." She added and he snapped, closing the last few centimeters between them to press his lips to hers with a passion they hadn't been able to Express when they first reunited.
His hands slid from her cheeks to curl his fingers around her hips and pull her closer to him while hers slid over his bearded jaw familiarizing herself with the new facial hair.
Steve broke away far enough that she could still feel his hot breath puffing against her lips, "I missed you so much." He groaned before diving back to her lips.
"I missed you too." She told him in between increasingly ravenous kisses.
"I'm never letting you go again." He rasped into her ear, nipping the lobe before trailing hot kisses down her neck.
Aphrodite moaned at the implication of his words, and at the rough scratch of his beard on her neck, as she moved her hands to the panels at his side to start undoing his uniform. His didn't cease their assault on her neck even as he took his hands away to peel the top part of his uniform off his shoulders and down his arms. Then replaced his hands on her, running them up and down her sides, over her back, down across her ass, as if he was trying to re-remember everything about her, every single curve, and dip that he missed so much and the touch that his hand could never quite live up to.
She tugged on the hair at the back of his head, and pulled his lips back to her as his hands went to the back of her corset, pulling at the strings to begin undoing it. He fumbled a little at first having been out of practice for a few years, but finally got all the strings undone. As he pulled it away from her body, he nearly let out a groan at the sight of her bare breasts. Steve Rogers was an ass man through, and through, but damn if he didn't appreciate the perfect handfuls of breasts that his fiance possessed.
Their lips locked again briefly before she was impatiently tugging at the skin tight shirt he wore under his uniform, he obliged leaning back to tug the shirt up and over his head. Then he wrapped his arm around her back and tugged her up onto her toes so he could lean down and take a nipple into his mouth. He used both his hands and his mouth in a nearly coordinated attack that left her all but dying, and completely desperate for his touch elsewhere. Like he was the mindreader in the relationship, one of his hands slid down the smooth skin of her back, dipping into her leather pants, that had little give, squeezing her ass cheek hard before continuing his descent, until he reached his destination finding her hot and wet for him.
"Fuck," he groaned into her chest his fingers playing with her the little bit that he could in that angle, "So wet."
She moaned as his touch reaching down and buckling the front of his pant, reaching down into his underwear and wrapping her fingers around his hardening cock. Steve let out a shaky moan against her chest, her hand felt exponentially better than his.
"Steve," she moaned as she started to stroke him and he doubled his efforts working his fingers slowly in and out of her and reaching up to trace her clit when he could. She pulled his cock fully free of his pants and started stroking him in earnest, twisting her wrist in just the right way and working him over so masterfully in the way only she knew how, and he felt himself teetering on the edge far too soon for his liking. Thank god for super serum and his blessedly short refractory period. He thought to himself as he brought his head back up and kissed her again, tongue sliding against hers in a familiar dance, she she brought him closer and closer to the edge.
She could read the signs all to well by now and whispered to him, "Tell me when your gonna come," before moaning and licking into his mouth when he dipped two fingers into her. His response was a pitched moan that she recognized. "Yeah?" she breathed, "You coming?" his nodded his head jerkily his mouth falling open, as she slipped from his arms dropping down to her knees to take his leaking cock into her mouth and she moaned at the taste of him, bobbing her head up and down, dragging her tongue all along his cock, before his fingers curled into her hair in warning, and she sucked him down just seconds before his release. He came hard down her throat finally finding his release as he gave into the pleasure she brought him, falling back, nearly sagging against the door as she cleaned him up.
He reached down pulling her back up to her feet, plundering her mouth with his tongue while he walked them backwards towards the bed. He sat her down on the edge on the bed instead of tossing her straight onto it like the was expecting, then sunk down to his knees in front of her, reaching forward and taking her ankle into his hand pulling her leg straight out and admiring her heeled boots for a second, before finding the zipper at the side and pulling it down, then tugging the boot off before doing the same with the other. Then he reached forward, and she lifted her hips to assist him in pulling the leather pants from her legs which seemed determined to cling to her stubbornly and they shared a laugh as he fought with the restricting garment, until he finally pulled them all the way off, followed shortly by her lacy black panties.
Then he stood and lifted her slightly to push her towards the center of the bed, he rid himself of the remainder of his clothes shucking off his boots before he joined her, laying his body down on top of hers, bracing himself with his elbow on either side of her head as she spread her legs to welcome him..
"I really missed you." he whispered, before kissing her again, tongue sliding lazily against hers like they had all the time in the world. And to them they did, being locked away in their own little bubble for now.
"Say that again?" she begged pulling back and cupping his cheek running her thumb along his plump bottom lip.
He smirked and pursed his lips, pressing a kiss to her thumb before nipping at it, "I," he said as he kissed her lips moving slowly down her body nipping her skin as he did with each word he spoke, "Really," he nipped her neck following it up with a kiss, "Missed," a nip to her breast, "You."
He took his time making his way down her body, mapping it out all over again with only one destination in mind. Kissing every little scar and slight imperfection she had, some old scars that he recognized, some newer that he didn't and those he paid special attention too. Until he finally dipped his tongue into her belly button before laying down between her legs.
She was never one to be bashful, happily spreading her legs for him and he took a long look at her glistening pussy, before locking up and locking eyes with her before he leaned forward and simply inhaled. And something about it made her tremble as if he'd actually touched her. Then he closed his eyes and took one long like from her hole to her clit stopping only to groan, 'So fucking good', before setting to her with everything he had. He fingers grappled at the longer blonde locks at the top of his head, pulling at them when he curled his hands around her hips and hauled her as close to his mouth as he could get, even rolling her weight back so that her hips were entirely off the bed and resting in his hands, while her legs wrapped around his head. He seemed blissfully unaware that he was nearly holding her up in midair, completely focused on eating her out. Sometimes it was difficult to tell whether he did this for her pleasure or his own, with the way he groaned with delight everytime her juices hit his tongue and he shook his head from side to side. Regardless he absolutely adored the act, and she got pleasure from it either way to it was a win- win.
"F-fuck," she whined when he dipped his finger into her hole while his tongue fluttered rapidly against her clit, "Steve, right there, right there!" hearing that she was nearing her end, he pumped his fingers faster and sucking her clit into his mouth and she was done, coming so hard that she saw stars, half accidentally sharply tugging on his hair to which he groaned as he continued to stroke her with his tongue as he helped her down from her orgasm. He unwrapped his arms from around her and tugged her legs free from around his head, crawling up her body so he could kiss her again briefly, before pulling back and settling on his knees.
"Flip over?" he softly suggested as he stroked his hardening cock into completion, and she returned his soft smile rolling over onto her stomach and settling down beneath him.
She smiled when he gently brushed her hair from the side of her face and neck, leaning down to pepper kisses all along the skin there, continuing down her spine, briefly dipping his tongue into the dimples of her lower back, before curling his fingers around her hips again, tugging them upwards intentionally this time, until she was on her knees before him with her ass raised high. Which he quickly took advantage of by pressing a soft kiss to one cheek.
"This ass baby." he muttered appreciatively, and Aphrodite smiled, feeling utterly loved and cherished by him, especially when he buried his face into her pussy from behind, and licked all the way over her asshole and back up her spine. He leaned over her, and she shivered when she felt his cock pressed against her hole. He continued to kiss and lick and suck all along her shoulders holding himself up with one arm, while his other hand guided his cock into her.
They both moaned as he slid into her inch, by glorious, and Steve realized something right away.
"So fucking tight baby." he groaned placing both hands on her hips pulling her down slowly as he stretched her, giving her a moment to adjust to his size before they started moving. She started first, once she' fully adjusted, she began slowly rocking back and forth burying her face into a pillow to muffle her moans and mewls of pleasure. Steve began rocking with her, and for a moment they kept the pace slow and languid, letting their bodies to readjust to being so intimately joined, before primal instinct began to sink in and he slowly picked up his pace. She was right there with him, meeting him thrust for thrust as the pace steadily picked up as his hand went to the back of her head pushing her down into the pillows making her all but powerless beneath him as he continued to pump his hips at that almost bruising pace, she could do nothing but moan and whimper, digging her fingers into the bedsheets to hang on for the ride.
This was without a doubt one of Steve's favourite positions, he could watch her ass bounce off his pelvis all day, but he found that this night in particular he wanted to see her face as she came and be able to stare deep into her eyes. So he slowed down his thrusts, and choked on a laugh when she tried to move her hips to pick the pace back up again as she whimpered. He shushed her gently taking his hand off her neck to grab a hold of her hips and slowly pull out of her.
When she turned to look at him questioningly over her shoulder, he rubbed her back as he whispered, "Turn around sweetheart." and she did with haste turning over onto her back and spreading her legs over his thighs offering herself to him again, and he smiled reaching down to slid his hands under her back lifting her to straddle his lap and slip into her in one motion. They both moaned in sync, something, perhaps being face to face, made the position so much more incredible, and intimate.
Aphrodite started moved on top of him, rolling her hips, back and forth and up and down, digging her nails into his shoulders as she rode him deeply. Steve happily let her control the pace as he gripped her ass in his hands, lifting her and assisting her a little but mostly just holding onto her, as his face buried into her neck and sucked deeply surely leaving a mark that would fade by the next day, but certainly not before the next morning's meeting, not that either of them cared. Distantly, they both knew what was happening her, besides just two people that were utterly in love reuniting for the first time it years. It was also a distraction from the unavoidable battle that was going to take place tomorrow, like they could fuck away all the bad thoughts that came along with tomorrow's war.
There was no possible way for two people to be closer, by Steve tried his best crushing her to him almost desperately as she gripped at his shoulders and back and whatever she could reach, holding each other so tightly that had either of them been non-enhanced they would have surely broken.
Steve held her to him still, even as he laid her back down on the bed, following her closely leaving absolutely no space between them as they kissed and licked at each others lips, and Steve continued to roll his hips against hers, the rough patch of hair at the base of his cock brushing against her clit just right that she felt another orgasm creeping up on her. She wrapped her legs around his waist pulling away from his lips to bury her face into her neck as she moaned increasingly, Steve wasn't too far behind pumping his hips faster and faster hitting her in all the right places, wrapping his arms around her back so he could hug her to him.
"I love you." he whimpered into her neck as he felt himself nearing the edge. "I love you so fucking much."
"I love you too." she whined, her moans increasing in pitch as she started to come undone beneath him, "Fuck Steve." she cried raking her nails down his back.
He moaned at the bite of pain and knew that he was done for, "Now Aphrodite, come for me," he rasped feeling his rhythm start to falter, "Come for me." and she did, following his instructions without really intending too. But her orgasm hit her like a wave nonetheless and she shook beneath him moaning loudly as he followed her off the edge unable to hold out any longer with her pussy tightening and contracting and all but strangling his cock. He came with a loud groan that tapered off into whimper, as he sagged on top of her. She welcomed his weight happily wrapping her arms around him and she pressed soft kisses to his sweaty forehead. He lifted his head to catch her lips with his as he slid out of her and they both groaned before he fell to her side, their lips still connected tongues sliding lazily against each other until the both drifted off into sleep.
Steve woke hours later confused as to where he was for a moment until it all came rushing back as he took in the familiar weight on his chest. He smiled and leaned down slightly to press a kiss to her forehead without stirring her before setting back down into the pillow.
His fiance was curled into his side with her head resting on his chest and her leg tossed over both of his, her left hand resting just in front of her face with her engagement ring glinting slightly in the dim light of the room. He brought his hand up from where it had been resting on the bed behind her and started gently toying with her hair, simply enjoying being with her again.
Only a few short moments after he woke did Aphrodite take a deep breath in through her nose as she too started to stir. He could feel her lashes flutter against his chest as her eyes blinked open.
"Morning." he whispered not wanting to break the calm atmosphere they were currently encased in.
"Good morning," she whispered back running her fingers through the tuffs of hair on his chest, "What time is it?"
Steve craned his neck to look up at the holographic clock that was displayed, "6:30," he responded settling back down, "We've still got some time to ourselves." Aphrodite hummed and they rested there in peaceful silence for at least another ten minutes, until Steve broke it bringing up his other hand to capture hers and press a kiss to her knuckle just above her ring, "Everything's gonna' change after today isn't it?"
"Yeah," Aphrodite whispered sadly, "I think it is."
She lifted her head, resting her chin on his chest so that she could see his face clearly as they stared at one another, Steve continued running his fingers slowly along the back of her left hand as dawn began to break over the Wakandan jungle and the morning light began to seep into their room. It cast a soft glow around Aphrodite and Steve couldn't recall a time when she looked more gorgeous, more ethereal. And he didn't think it was possible to fall even more in love with her, he'd never been more happy to be wrong in his life.
"Do you still want to marry me?" he asked softly not knowing why this literally Goddess of a woman chose to be with him.
She smiled like she knew just what he was thinking, maybe she did for all he knew, before she leaned up and pressed a short but passionate kiss to his lips.
"I do."
Have you guys seen Endgame yet? I swear that movie broke me, put me back together, then broke me again. And I loved every moment of it.
If you was TPWR, my inbox is currently open and taking suggestions, PLEASE DON'T POST ANY SPOILERS ON THE STORY ITSELF, WE DON'T KNOW WHO ALL HAVE SEEN IT AND WE DON'T WANT TO RUIN IT.
I have an idea of which ending I want to go with, but I'd love to hear your guy's opinion too.