"Thor! Thor!"

The Asgardian turned his head towards the voice, discovering a somewhat disheveled Bruce Banner running to him. The scientist took a moment to catch his breath, Thor watching him with the slightest of smiles cracking his face. Still, the meaning behind his rushing to greet him was not lost upon Thor. What could have possibly happened in the mere hours that he had absented himself from the team?

"Took a while… to find you," Bruce half wheezed in between breaths before fully regaining his composure. "Hey, you missed the meeting we had with Tony—Tony's awake by the way—so before anything else, you gotta take this comms device so we can keep you in the loop."

Thor fiddled with the earpiece in his hand, eventually jamming it square into his right ear. "Thanks Bruce." So far, the timid scientist had been the most approachable of all the Avengers, though he chalked up their connection up to their adventures on Sakaar and witnessing Ragnarok. But the others? Thor suspected that this 'Civil War' he heard tidbits from dug deeper than he had expected, but then again, it had hardly even been over a day since their failure against Thanos. There was no going back to that team camaraderie they had before Ultron. In fact, Thor suspected it died off the instant Ultron was created.

Midgardians, everything's so temporary with them. That was what intrigued Thor about Earth in the first place: The way their lives came and went and how they looked to make strides in such a short time. Even though Thor would outlive them all by at least a good couple of millennia, it was truly beautiful to see the progress being made through generations. Unfortunately, he had forgotten about the tediousness of politics, stagnation, conflict, and all the other plagues that could often consume humanity.

"… just wanted to give you an update. Steve, Nat, and Rhodey went off to the UN, you remember them talking about that plan, right?" Bruce had continued speaking while Thor was lost in his thoughts, and it took a moment to process what he had just said.

He gave a nod. "Yes, I do, but I thought Nat wasn't going," he replied.

"Changed her mind last minute," he said simply with a shrug, which wasn't really all that shocking to Thor. The woman certainly had her ways.

A question popped up in his mind then, one he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to. "This might not be my place to ask," Thor began before lowering his voice, "but have you and Nat well, 'reconnected' yet?"

Bruce let out a slight huff of relief at the question, having expected Thor to ask him something much more daunting. His relationship issues, or lack thereof at the moment, he didn't really mind discussing that. Well, at least not for an extended period of time. "We, uh, had a few moments here and there, but nothing really clicked, you know? Maybe it's like you said earlier, Hulk is the fire, and like it or not, he's a part of me, or another me, I guess."

"I-I didn't really… mean that when I said it on Sakaar," Thor explained awkwardly. "It was just a ploy to draw out the Hulk."

"Yeah I know, but maybe there's some meaning behind it. What happened with me and Nat, I don't think we're going to be reconnecting anytime soon, it's just a part of my past that's… lingering for now."

Thor nodded, not wanting to press him any further. The conversation only reminded him once more of how quickly things could change. "Any other news you wanted to bring me?"

Bruce was surprised, but also relieved at the change of topic, so much so that he lost his train of thought for a moment. "Oh… uh, right. Right. Tony's up and about, yeah, though I think he's leaving soon, Pepper's been worried for him."

"Stark's leaving already? This quickly?" Thor asked in a bit of disbelief.

"Surprised me too. He hasn't really tried to tinker with any of the vibranium here, which let me tell you, it's even better than they advertised. Having access to the stuff they have here is like giving a kid the keys to Disneyland for a guy like Tony. Though for him, I guess family should come first, especially in a time like this."

"Tony had a child while we were gone?"

"No, I meant, uh, he and Pepper are finally tying the knot," Bruce elaborated.

"Oh," Thor said dumbly, his mind retreating to the night he and Tony had compared girlfriends. How far their relationships had diverged from that moment on. "I suppose it was only a matter of time."

"Yeah," Bruce replied, a silence hanging in the air before he continued. "Hey, can I ask you a question?" he asked, Thor giving a nod as he prepared himself for his turn in the relationship inquiries.

"How'd you get that other eye?" Thor wanted to laugh at the simplicity of the question, at least this would be something he could answer easily.

"Well, Rocket had a spare one, so he—"

"Rocket? You mean the raccoon?" Bruce asked, almost incredulous.

"Yes, that's him."

"Huh, he must have some sort of body part fetish. He already tried stealing some prosthetics from the lab," Bruce recalled, chuckling slightly before he remembered the sight he had seen while running to Thor. "But Thor… I think he's leaving too."

"He's what?!" Thor couldn't believe this. Just when he thought maybe he could salvage some friends, they begin to disperse like birds fleeing a nest.

"Yeah, saw him loading some supplies onto the ship on my way here. That, uh, blue cyborg lady was with him too. I don't think they're gonna be here much longer, no one can get through to them."

"… Why is he leaving?" Thor rested a hand on his forehead in worry.

"No one knows. You're the only one here who seems to be on good terms with him, at least from what I can tell."

"I should…" Thor trailed off, pondering if it was even worth trying to convince Rocket and Nebula otherwise of their decision.

"Go," Banner said resolutely as he noticed Thor's hesitation. "If nothing else, just find out why he's leaving. I'll hold down the fort here." He motioned towards the Asgard and Sakaarian refugees.

Thor smiled gratefully. "You're a good friend, Banner."

A nod of thanks was Bruce's response in return, along with a slight smile of his own. With the matter settled, Thor called Stormbreaker to him, careful not to damage any of the infrastructure potentially in its path. He flew in the air once more, scanning the area for the spacecraft he had seen docked on the Wakandan landing port. Sure enough, as he got closer, he noticed the ship with Rocket on the exit ramp, hauling away what appeared to be some pilfered vibranium.

"Rocket! What are you doing?"

The raccoon shot a glance at Thor, making his way down to level ground so they could talk. "What does it look like to ya, Thor? I'm leaving this bluey ass planet."

"But why? Rocket, we… we need you here," Thor managed to sputter out, trying to maintain his composure.

"Do ya? The humies here haven't exactly been the most welcoming, though I'll give em credit for their tech being more impressive than I expected," Rocket motioned to the vibranium resting on the foot of the ramp.

"I know things don't seem good right now," Thor said, the obvious statement earning him a snort from Rocket. "They're in grief right now though. We all are. And once we get past that, you'll be able to see what makes us Earth's mightiest heroes."

"Yeah? Hmm, I think I'll bet against that. Maybe when they swallow their egos, sure."

"Sometimes grief can also cloud your own judgement," Rocket's head snapped up at those words, the raccoon narrowing his eyes slightly. "I just need to know, Rocket: Why? Why leave now? I know the universe is vast and full of beings more powerful than the people here, but you won't find any team more united towards a common goal right now."

"Wasn't your team broken up until now when Thanos showed up, Thor? Really united there," Rocket commented snarkily. "And to answer your question, I'm leaving to kill Thanos, obviously. After all, what else do I have to lose at this point?"

Thor froze as his own words were thrown back at him. Still, he wasn't going to give up yet in getting through to a dead set Rocket. "Please Rocket, I ask you to reconsider. We can work this out, find a—"

"Will we?!" Rocket shouted, the inevitable outburst finally surfacing. "I mean, all your d'ast Avenger friends ain't even avenging properly. Instead, it's all about 'regrouping', living to fight another day. Which is great and all, but I can't do that! How do you move on, regroup from the shit we saw? Way I see it, there's only one way to do this!"

"Avenging isn't just about charging into battle," Thor stated calmly, thinking back to his own experiences, back when he wanted nothing more than to subjugate all his enemies with his power. Naturally, the most recent memory of invading Jotunheim in such a premeditated fashion flashed to the forefront of his mind.

"Every day was a battle until I became part of the Guardians," Rocket said, this time quietly before a look of anguish passed on his face. "Without em, there's nothing else I can do other than avenge em with Thanos's head!"

"I understand where you're coming from," Thor agreed, doing whatever he could to get Rocket away from the emotional precipice he was on. "But to defeat Thanos, we need to work together as a team, form a plan. It will take time, Rocket. We'll have to locate him first, and we can't just charge into the fight once we do. And I know you're a capable fighter in your own right, but we need a strategy first."

This time, Rocket actually took a moment to consider the words before shooting the idea down. "I like you Thor, really, and I like your plan for the most part too. But the thing I can't stand is all the waiting. How long until we actually put it into action? A month? Years from now? Never?" he said heatedly, before taking a breath. "I can't just sit on my paws and actually give a damn about what happens to Earth like your friends, Thor. At least this way I can say I tried."

Thor opened his mouth to reiterate to Rocket just how much of a suicide mission his quest to kill Thanos almost singlehandedly would be, but Nebula intervened at the worst possible time, poking her head out of the ship's entrance.

"Rocket, ship's supplies are fully stocked and engines are operational," she stated plainly.

"Great, let's get out of this dump!" Rocket proclaimed.

"Rocket, wait!" Thor shouted before he could rush away towards the entry ramp. Rocket gave him a look as if to say, 'Just say it already'.

"If you ever need anything, you know where to find me," Thor held out his hand to shake. Rocket hesitated, possibly because he wasn't familiar with the gesture like Thor had been when he first arrived on Earth, but more likely because he hadn't argued further on the subject of him leaving. After a few seconds of that, Rocket extended his paw and shook rather loosely.

"Thanks," he said gruffly, doing his best to avoid letting his emotions show. Thor was probably the best friend he had now and probably would ever have going forward, not that he would admit that. It pained him to leave with the antagonistic Nebula of all people, but it was simply a matter of not belonging. Even if Quill had roots here, he was in no way grounded to the blue planet whatsoever. His first exchanges with other Terrans outside of battle likely made sure of that.

As the ramp to the ship folded up and Rocket disappeared inside, Thor sighed. Another two allies gone. He watched as the ship flew up out of the horizon, squinting as hard as he could with his enhanced eyesight until he couldn't see it any longer. Still, he tried to remain optimistic. Their chances of actually finding Thanos and having their death wish be granted were slim to none.

They would be back, he was sure of it.

"Well, here we are. Good ol' Geneva."

Steve startled awake from his quick power nap to find Rhodey craning his head towards him and Natasha from the cockpit. The latter was much more attentive than him, a steely determination already evident in her eyes for what was to come.

"You guys ever visited before?" Rhodey was speaking again in an attempt to lighten the tension for the imminent meeting.

"Think I might've ran an ops mission here once or twice," Nat said casually, though Steve remained brooding in thought as opposed to answering.

A few more lighthearted pleasantries were exchanged between the two, but he tuned it out, still concerned about how the world would react to his first public appearance in two years. And as a fugitive, nonetheless.

As they landed the Quinjet in an airport a few miles away from the UN building, Steve was already making plans for a potential escape route if need be. The walk was sobering, though the three of them still wore their traditional hats-and-sunglasses disguise as a precaution.

It took only a half hour for them to reach the building, even with Rhodey's handicap deterring their speed slightly. At the entrance, there was a long driveway spanning for a good quarter mile or so, flags bunched up on both sides, waving high. It felt like an eternity since Steve had donned one with so much pride and patriotism, which it may as well have been considering how he had only truly fought for his country back in World War II. His thoughts then shifted to words buried deep in his mind up until this point, ones uttered by his enemy Red Skull at the time, the one who represented everything he stood against.

I have seen the future, Captain. There are no flags.

It was scary how much foresight the totalitarian had. He had scoffed at the idea in the heat of battle at the time naturally, but the words resonated with him now. With time, anything pure and good could be molded into something far more corrupt, even with the best of intentions. Steve understood now that it wasn't just black and white, fighting with a nation's colours. Sometimes you had to cut off the head of the snake before the plague infected an entire colony, like he did with SHIELD.

They were escorted inside by a few official looking peacekeepers who didn't have orders to detain them immediately, much to Steve's surprise. Detouring past the visitors' section of the building, they found themselves inside the more official part of the UN, guards stationed at practically every corner. What Steve saw next actually made him freeze though.

There, standing next to Agent Everett K. Ross, was Sharon Carter. Steve did his best to steady himself and the surging tingle in his heart as they approached. Ross waved the guards away, nodding at the three of them by way of greeting.

"It's been a while since we've seen you guys," Ross started, raising a brow slightly at the two fugitives.

"They're here now, Ross. That's what matters," Rhodey emphasized, trying to remain diplomatic while vouching for them.

The agent simply smiled politely. "Of course, Colonel Rhodes. That's why we granted you this meeting. The world needs some sense of unity in a time like this."

"Really?" Natasha responded in a slightly mocking tone. "Interesting to see you change your tune now."

Steve quickly interjected before Ross could potentially respond, although his face showed no visible signs of him being upset. He probably expected such words. "What time's the meeting?" he inquired.

"Glad you asked. About a half hour from now," Ross replied cordially.

"Shall we get going then?" Rhodey asked before Nat could get another word in.

"Absolutely. Though as for preparations, all you three really have to do is get to your seats. So you may feel free to well, roam for a bit if you want."

At that, Ross turned around and headed into the conference room, while Natasha wandered to another corridor of the building. Rhodey sighed in resignation at this, nodding wearily towards Steve.

"I'm gonna keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't piss off someone else," he said. "You two just stay here."

He took off then, leaving only Steve and Sharon left standing near the door. For a minute, neither one of them spoke, only taking in each other's presence, Steve struggling to keep his composure. It had been brief and two years ago, but there had always been a somewhat unspoken attraction between them, mild at first but steadily rising. The thing that frightened him was that it may have not even reached its peak yet, if that was what they wanted.

"Hi," she finally said.

"Hi," he said back.

"You forgot to shave."

"You're still working as an agent." Steve was referring to when she had gotten the fugitives their equipment out of custody, which they both thought at the time would certainly cost Sharon her job.

"I cover my tracks well," she replied with a nod.

"Who got blamed for it?" He wasn't sure why he was asking, probably because they didn't have much else to discuss. They went as the conversation flowed.

"I don't know. Do you know what happened two days ago?"

"Always been in the thick of things, Sharon, you know that."

"As expected," she said with a hint of smile crossing her face. "Are you gonna tell me the why's and how's of it all, or is it just…"

"One of those things," he finished for her.

"Yeah."

That was the conversation. They caught up with one another quickly, hardly even missing a beat. No one would be able to tell they hadn't had contact for the past two years. There were some laughs like when Steve told the story of the worst hotel he and the other rogues came to, one where the TV had been infested with bullet ants. There were some playful gestures and flirting mixed in there as well, such as when Steve withheld details regarding who had been the loudest snorer, earning him a light smack on the arm. Or when Sharon had lamented her 'boring' daily routine at the CIA in comparison to Steve's 'thrillers' on the run, leading to him giving her a consolatory pat on the shoulder.

They had certainly enjoyed each other's company, even when discussing the more serious, sensitive topics. Both were attentive and willing to hear the other out. By the time Steve had to convene for the meeting, there was a certain charge in the air that they could both sense. Though the impulse was there, neither of them acted on it in the moment, maybe feeling it was a bit too soon.

Even so, as Steve walked into the conference room, looking back at Sharon momentarily to flash a smile of appreciation that she mirrored, he felt content for the moment. The tingle in his heart had certainly bloomed in the past half hour, perhaps into something more.

And that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

The trek along the vast, orange tinted land created by the Soul Stone was arduous, time-consuming, a bit tedious at times, mind-numbingly boring, and just about every other negative verb Dr. Stephen Strange could think of to sum it up. Though it was necessary based off the brief glimpse of the future he had seen up to this point, it didn't mean he had to like it. He hadn't liked a lot of the things he had to orchestrate into place to ensure the winning scenario, and was close to cracking himself once it came down to micromanaging all the details.

He supposed it was only inevitable before he broke; after all, he was only human.

Gamora must've noticed the change in his demeanour, either that or she used that intuition of hers again to read between the lines. She stopped walking abruptly once they passed what Strange thought was at least their thirty-thousandth identical tree by that point, casting a look of concern in his direction. He motioned for her to continue moving onward, but she remained firm on her stance regarding the situation.

"Why are you stopping?" Strange asked, shooting her a puzzled look.

"We're stopping because you don't know where we're going," the Zehoberei retorted.

"Still reading me like a book, huh?"

"If you knew where we were going, you would've used one of your portals to take us there already," she pointed out.

"I told you, Gamora, it isn't that simple. Timing is everything here," Strange wouldn't concede to her argument yet, but he could tell it was hers to lose. Still, he wasn't going to back down. "I thought you were in full agreement with my plan when I explained to you."

"I was, until it became clear you're beginning to doubt that plan yourself. You said you only caught glimpses of the future before we came back," she stated, Strange reaffirming this with a nod.

"Yes, I did. What are you getting at?"

"I'm not…" she sighed to air out her frustration. "I just want to be sure. If everything has to go exactly as you planned for even a chance to win, we can't have any uncertainty."

"Well, what do you propose we do then, Gamora? Sit here and wait for everything to fall into place?" Strange fired back.

"You know that's not what I meant," she replied with a frown.

"Please do elaborate, by all means." There was a slight edge to his words.

"It's just that without the stone, how do you truly know we're on the right path?"

He was fed up to the bones with this question, everyone had pestered him for details and outright questioned his reluctance to share on Titan, but not quite to this degree. It was enough for him to break character for once. "Well, maybe we aren't! Maybe we're all screwed because this timeline's already diverged from the winning one! Maybe we should just give up now, what's the point in trying?!" Strange shouted, finally releasing the whirlwind of frustration and emotion that had been building up for so long. He slumped down onto the plain grass of the meadow they had traversed to, dejected with his feelings on their current dilemma well out into the open for the first time.

Gamora crouched down to sit beside him, and fortunately he had enough self restraint in that moment to avoid doing something irrational. They simply stared in silence at the seemingly never ending, lush meadow that stretched for likely beyond what the mind could comprehend. It was a clever tactic by Gamora to get him to calm down at the beautiful sight before she started speaking again.

"I'm sorry, that was… cruel of me to question you like that. I knew you were already in some anguish—the Soul Stone made sure of that—and I still pressed you for answers I knew you didn't have."

The silence teetered onwards for a bit, until Strange finally uttered one word: "Risk."

"Huh?" Gamora flashed him a confused look.

"Risk, Gamora. We can't always rely on a mystical artifact of power in order to succeed. Life is all about taking risks. Chances. Calculated risks based off what you already know. However, I believe that our current case involves little to no risk."

"What are you saying? No risk?"

"It's simple. We can't escape from here on our own, someone from the living world will have to do that. Nothing we do here will change the timing of that event. We just have to gather everyone we need before that happens, so when we do it doesn't matter, so long as it's before a rescue attempt is made."

Now Gamora seemed convinced of his word, though Strange opted to reiterate his point in a different manner, just to fully get it across. "Think of it like this: The Soul Stone is like a river, what we do here would be like throwing rocks into the river. The current is disturbed by a ripple, but it soon returns to its natural state. What happens in the real world, that's the waterfall pouring into the river, a constant that can be manipulated and have a permanent effect on the river."

Gamora shot him a half-hearted questioning look, but didn't argue with Strange's—well, strange—example. It probably would've made more sense to Terrans, she supposed.

"Shall we, then?" the phrase still felt slightly foreign to Gamora, but it must've been the right one in this case, because Strange nodded and took her hand to get up.

"Yes, we ought to leave. Better to find everyone now before we find out the rescue attempt is happening earlier than I anticipated. Come on."

However, before they continued their trek, Strange looked awkwardly to Gamora, averting his eyes when she met them. "I just want to say… sorry for my outburst back there. I know you were only concerned, and rightfully so. We just started off on the wrong foot, so… bygones?"

"What?" Gamora still shook Strange's hand, although whatever 'bygones' were still eluded her.

"Never mind. Let's just start over, actually work together this time. It'll be important down the road."

"Did you see that in the future?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"No, just a feeling."

Thanks for reading everyone! And no, I am not a total Steve/Sharon shipper if you're wondering, though I think their relationship would be a lot better if it got more screen time in the MCU (like the deleted scenes of them in Civil War). Still, I like the pairing enough to give it some spotlight here, but I left their status together somewhat ambiguous for future chapters to come. Mainly because I like to keep you guys on your toes, and also because I barely even plan two chapters ahead nowadays so I don't want to write myself into a corner. :P

More Soul Stone shenanigans here, these appearances from Strange and Gamora won't be quite as frequent at least for a few more chapters as it's mainly more of the same stuff (searching for souls) once we check in with them. I'm gonna be honest, this part will probably be the toughest for me to write for this fic, mainly because of all the characters and clashing personalities interacting with one another down the road. Also, I know bygones was a word dubbed by Shakespeare in the 1600's, but I'm gonna assume Quill didn't learn it in his brief time on Earth and that even if he did, it was a word he never adopted into his vocabulary once he got into space.

Anyway, if you've read this far, appreciate it! Thanks for the support on this story guys, any and all reviews, comments, and follows/favs mean a lot to me! Also glad to say this story's hit 3,000 views too! :D

Adios fellow avid Fanfic readers, may the everlasting legacy of Stan Lee (R.I.P) carry you forward,

-BasketballIsFun