The trip passes in a blur. I am only able to sleep for a few hours at a time, and I have several nightmares. Nebula sleeps while I am awake, and I am under orders to awaken her if I notice the ship beginning to veer off of the set course. When both of us are awake, neither of us speak unless necessary. I learned after the first day that if she didn't want to tell you something, and you tried to force her, bad things would happen. I had gotten her to tell me a little bit about how she knew Thanos, but she had clammed up after only the basics.

It took fifty-two hours, but we were finally back on Earth, or Terra, as Nebula insisted on calling it. We are in orbit around the planet, so we can identify ourselves as non-hostile after the catastrophe a few days ago, and I am apprehensive, to say the least. Who will be left? Am I alone? Will I still have Aunt May, did she even survive the snap?

Radio static interrupts my train of thought. "-iy yourself. Spacecraft in orbit around earth, come in. Identify yourself. Spacecraft in orbit around earth, come in." Nebula grabs at the radio.

"This is Nebula, currently captaining the craft 'the Milano', formerly captained by one Peter Quill, formerly of Earth. Non-hostile, will provide video messaging to confirm. One citizen of Earth currently on board. Requesting permission to enter the atmosphere."

There is radio silence for nearly thirty minutes, before a raspy voice cuts in. "Finally got this freakin' thing to work, and you guys are trying to take it from me? I don't think so. Build your own if you're so desperate. Earth to Milano, this is Rocket. Where's the rest of my team? Is Peter on board that ship? Did you guys find Gamora?" There is more scuffling noises in the background.

Nebula glances at me, hesitating for a moment before she answers. "I have Peter here. Requesting permission to land? We need medical to check him over."

A few minutes later, a strangely familiar voice comes through the radio system. "This is Steve Rogers speaking, permission granted to land in the country of Wakanda. Coordinates being sent to your ship. We expect your arrival in the next hour and a half."

"I understand. Receiving and inputting coordinates now. Estimated arrival is forty-five Terra minutes to one hour." She turns the radio off without waiting for a response. "Look, kid. This might be a rough ride, I don't know if the landing gear was damaged or not, so you better strap in."

I nod, then strap into the co-pilots seat. Looking at the seat belt, I question its integrity, so I use my webs to reinforce them a little bit. I try not to think about the last time I had to use my web shooters. Nebula begins the descent into Earth's atmosphere, and, as she said it would be, it's a rough ride. I lose consciousness for a moment, and come to with her smirking in my face.

"Gah!" I try to jump backwards, but am held in place by the new and temporarily improved seat belt. Nebula laughs, and it is the first time I have heard her do so. It almost makes her seem more human.

"We will be arriving in a few minutes, and we'll need to get you checked by medical. They have told me that it is going to appear that we will crash land into a mountain, but that it is only an illusion. So do not panic. After that, we will be landing in a field, where we will be met by the leaders of Wakanda, as well as a group that calls themselves the Avengers, and a talking fox and tree, they never go anywhere without the other. Any questions?"

"Uhhh, yes? Talking tree and talking tree? Wait! Crash land? What? Are we sure this isn't a trap?"

She looks at me over her shoulder, and we make eye contact. "No." With that, she points the ship towards the ground and accelerates.

I'd like to say that I keep my cool and don't scream, but that is a lie. I'm terrified, and to my horror, I can hear faint laughter coming from the other end of the radio. 'Well,' I think, 'at least I can bring joy to these strangers - who are apparently trying to get me killed! - in these troubling times.' After several seconds without colliding into the ground, I risk opening my eyes to take a peek, just in time to see it rushing up to meet us. I don't have time to close my eyes again before we go through the illusion.

Ahead of me, I see a beautiful city. It has high skyscrapers, and it looks like a scene straight from a movie set in the future. And in between us and the city, the ground appears to have seen recent battle. Parts of it are still smoking, despite Thanos having left almost three days ago. Despite all this, however, the sight is still breathtaking to behold.

We are only in the air for a few more minutes, then we land. There are several people there to meet us, including several of the original Avengers and multiple spear-wielding Wakandan warriors, along with a regal, but mournful young woman. She is probably around my age.

Stepping forward, she begins to speak. "I am Queen Shuri of Wakanda, state your business here. If you plan to attack, know that you will fail. This planet has suffered great loss, and we will not stand for any more than is necessary. Attempts at attacking us will be met with your failure and your return to space - without your ship."

I look at her, fidgeting slightly, trying to decide what to say. Unfortunately, the only thing I can come up with doesn't really fit the situation, so I try to hold my tongue. "So, just… YEET? Just like that?" I failed.

She looked at me with a grin. "Colonizer, I am so glad you said that. Now, I am certain you are from Earth. Forgive me for being harsh, I wish we had met under better circumstances. We have all lost many important people, and we are trying, but it is difficult to bounce back from something like this. I lost my brother - our king, and we have lost many of our warriors."

Nebula moves from standing awkwardly to the side. "This is great and all, but we need to fix this. There must be a way to fix this. We can't-" She cuts off. "The entire galaxy has just been culled by fifty percent. We need to rest up, figure out where he is, and learn how to reverse this."

The Avengers look up, hope on their faces for the first time in a long while. "Is that even possible? To reverse this? It's so much death and destruction, think of the time lines, and the, the paradoxes that could create! Would it really be safe to try to undo this? Are we even able to?"

I begin talking. "Mr. Ban - Dr. Banner, sir." I stand up a little straighter, squaring my shoulders. "Do you truly think it is the wisest choice to do that? Not only to leave possibly hundreds of billions of people dead, but also to leave that much power in the hands of someone who doesn't hesitate to have that much death on their hands? Don't think of the science, think of the people. I think science has long since left this conversation. " I shake my head. "No. If you guys won't help me, I'll figure it out myself." I look down, thinking of Uncle Ben. "I was once told that if I had the power to stop something bad from happening, and I didn't, then it would be on me. And you know what? We do have the power to fix this. You guys are the Avengers! That doesn't necessarily mean you guys stop a threat. That word means you make the other guy pay."

I look each of them in the eye. "I have looked up to each of you, for different reasons, since I was a child. Every kid wanted to be like you. Don't let them down now."

Shuri nodded. "We have the tech, and we have time on our side. It is unlikely that he will expect us to come after him, so we most likely also have surprise as well. For now, however, we must rest. Get you," she gestures at me "checked over in my lab, and we will di-" She is cut off by a raspy scream.

"You told me you had Peter! Where is he? Where is my team? That's Peter's ship, where is he? You said you had-" His voice breaks, but he launches himself at Nebula.

"I am sorry, but you were the only one who responded. We needed to figure out where to go to fix this, and you enjoy fighting to much. Once I heard you, I knew you would be in the thick of it. And I didn't lie - his name is Peter." There is no sympathy in her voice.

"I'm all alone now. I'm the last one left."

A/N: I know, I know, that was terrible of me to do to Rocket. Sorry? (I'll fix it I promise) ( Eventually)

Anyways, I would love comments telling me what you thought, even if it's just y'all saying that I'm evil.

Next chapter will probably feature a bit of May, Pepper, Tony, possible Bucky, and have a bit more of what's happening in the soul stone