"Ok, I think we're about all set." Talos tells Soren, and a couple of the other Skrull, on the bridge.
"According to Fury, we aren't missing anyone." Soren responds.
"Fuel is set, and so are coordinates." another Skrull responds.
"Alright then, time for take-off." Talos responds. He flips a few switches, pulls out a microphone like device and does his best to imitate a flight attendant from Earth. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are preparing for liftoff, so I ask that you fasten your seatbelts, and have all your luggage stored in the overhead compartments, safe and out of reach."
Soren smiles and shakes her head, laughing at Talos's sense of humor.
"It is currently 2:45PM, the weather is great, and we expect your flight to take about 170 hours or so, depending on turbulence."
"What the Hell is he doing?" Nick Fury asks, elsewhere on the ship.
"I would like to remind you that restrooms are in the back of the plane, and as always, no smoking." Talos smiles at the other Skrulls on the bridge, proud of his imitation. He raises three fingers and silently counts down before pointing toward the Skrull in charge of the engines. "Ladies and gentleman, it's time for liftoff."
The ship roars to life and it does not take long for people to feel the inertia of the giant hunk of alien metal pulling away from Earth's gravity. The ship lifts a good ten meters off the ground and hovers there for a moment. Talos grabs the mike one last time. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to ask you one last time, to fasten your seat belts."
He does not count down this time as he points to the engineer. A few buttons are pressed and levers are operated as the ship begins to ascend into the air rapidly. "Whoa!" Talos says as he feels the effects of gravity intensify due to the increased speed.
Randomly across the ship, Wakandan Warriors, and other passengers have to grip corners, walls, or just sit down as the ship pulls away from the planet.
"What is going on?" Rocket shouts loudly in the Benetar.
"I don't think they know how to run this ship." Star-Lord answers, before gravity increases again as they pick up speed. She is now grabbing her stomach due to nausea.
The ship is shaking aggressively now, causing several of the Avengers to grab onto their nearest surrounding. Some of the stronger one's like Thor and Valkyrie chuckle at the silliness of the situation.
A handful of other passengers have to sit down or lay on the floor, because the inertia is now getting too strong.
Tony Stark activates his armor and he tries to rush toward the cockpit. He spots an angry Nick Fury also trying to make her way forward. He catches her as she is about to fall over and after a quick nod to each other, they both make their way to the bridge.
Tony and Nick Fury see Talos and the other Skrull laughing and smiling at their mischief.
"What the HELL are you doing?" Nick Fury shouts. She pushes off Tony and makes her way toward one of the control panels. The Skrull piloting the engine slows it a bit, making it easier for Nick Fury to move.
She reaches the panel she was aiming for and presses a few buttons. A moment later, the inertia from the ship seems to clear up entirely and both Nick Fury and Tony Stark are now able to move freely.
"What the Hell is wrong with you?" Nick Fury starts to shout at Talos. "You know most humans can't handle terminal velocity! You could have killed someone!"
"It was just a little bit of fun." Talos says with a guilty smile. "Aren't most of your friends super, anyway?"
"That's no excuse!" Nick Fury shouts. "I've half a mind to kick your happy ass off this ship. After all the things I've done for you!"
"Oh come on, Nick. I was just a joke." Talos says.
"Don't call me Nick!" Fury responds. "I warned you about that. You're lucky I don't call Thanos up myself and tell him he can just have you."
"Now that is a terrible idea Mr. Fury. Why would you do that?" Talos asks with playful sarcasm.
"Keep playing like that, and I might!" Fury adds with a very stern look..
"How would you even call him?" Talos asks. "It's not like you have the number to his cell phone."
Nick Fury continues to glare at Talos for a moment longer before turning away and storming off.
Talos looks at Soren awkwardly and shrugs his shoulders. He then turns toward Tony and asks, "Thanos doesn't have a cell phone does he?"
Tony is now studying Talos's face with intensity. "You guys are not from around here, are you?" He asks.
"Well, I uhm..." Talos looks toward Soren again, a little worried that maybe he'd just blown their cover.
She just shakes her head.
*** One Week Later ***
"Hey rabbit, get me a beer." Thor asks, lounging on one of the benatar's passenger seats.
"We don't have any beer, you drank it all." Rocket replies. She is sitting next to Groot, grooming dry leaves off his head.
"What do you mean, I drank it all." Thor asks. "We had two months worth."
"And you drank it all!" Rocket responds. "What are you still doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be out there with your friends?"
"They don't want me out there." Thor grumbles. "They're mad at me."
"For what? Drinking all their beer?" Rocket asks, which makes Groot laugh.
Thor gives Rocket a guilty look, and decides not to answer her.
"Don't tell me you drank all their beer too!" Rocket snaps.
"No!" Thor answers. He picks a crumb of something off his vest and tosses it on the floor. "They cut me off."
"I am Groot." Groot adds. Rocket starts laughing.
"Hey," Thor complains. "That was uncalled for!"
"Well, you are getting pretty fat." Rocket comments. "And when's the last time you shaved?"
Thor begins to mumble, but before he can respond, Star-Lord comes rushing in.
"Ugh! I can't take it anymore!" Peter Quill says loudly. "Rocket, can you go in there and tell them to shut up?"
"I don't want to walk into that!" She says, pointing at Drax's room. "It's bad enough they both walk around half naked all the time."
Peter Quill does an exaggerated cringe motion at the thought of Drax and Nebula naked. "Why don't you go tell them?" She asks Thor who is slowly spinning the seat he's on.
"Me?" Thor asks, pointing to himself. "I don't know them. They're your friends."
"Our friends?" Rocket asks angrily. "What happened to your sworn in battle brotherhood?"
"Well yeah, Nebula is my brother in arms but... well..." Thor looks back and forth between Star-Lord and Rocket, fishing for an excuse. "Bros before hoes?" he asks while shrugging his shoulders.
"That's it!" Rocket snaps, standing up to jump at Thor. Star-Lord manages to stop her before she can leap.
"Hey. Hey. Take it easy." Star-Lord says.
Rocket looks at her and forces herself to calm down. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stress you out." She places a hand on Peter's stomach, which Peter doesn't protest since she has already given up trying to explain that she isn't pregnant.
"Shh.. It's okay, Rocket." Peter starts petting the fur on Rocket's head, and she lets her. Thor feels a little distrubed by this. "Listen," Peter addresses Thor now. "If you're not going to help with these two," she points at Drax's room, "Do you think you can at least go find Mantis? We haven't seen him all week."
"Mantis?" Thor asks. "Is that the Green one with the antennae?" Thor makes a quote-like gesture over his forehead.
"Yeah, her... I mean him." Star-Lord answers.
Thor frowns, crosses his arms, and leans back against his seat aggressively. "Him? Well, he's probably off with his new best friend right now, and I don't want to see either of them."
Star-Lord and Groot look at Thor with confusion.
*** Across the ship near the designated mess hall ***
Mantis and Valkyrie are laughing at something Clint and Natasha just told them. They all have various drinks around the table and they are also joined by Scott Lang, Hank Pym, Janet and Hope Van Dyne.
"Your adventures are so funny." Mantis tells Clint.
"That's only because we've been at this for a while." Cling responds. "I'm sure you've got plenty of good stories to tell. You get to travel all over space."
"Oh, I don't have that many." Mantis responds. "I've only been traveling for a short while."
"Really?" Clint asks.
"Yes, I used to live alone on the planet Ego, with Captain Peter's father?"
"You were stranded on a planet alone with just one man?" Natasha asks, raising his eyebrows.
"Oh, he wasn't a man. He was a God?" Mantis replies.
"He sounds like the high and mighty type." Clint responds with a chuckle, taking a drink.
"Kinda like this one." Scott Lang comments while pointing at Hank. The others at the table laugh, and Hank just waves it off with a bit of a chuckle..
Mantis keeps laughing with the others but adds to her comment, "Yeah, I was his servant. He needed me to help him sleep." He keeps laughing.
The others however all stop and look at Mantis with sad concern. It doesn't take him long to realize they don't fully understand.
"I'm sorry. I should explain." Mantis tells them. "I had to touch him, so he could sleep."
"That's not much better." Natasha says with very serious concern now.
"No, you misunderstand." Mantis tells him. "Here, let me show you." Mantis reaches across the table and places his hand on Clint's hand. Clint's eyes droop and his head rolls forward as he falls asleep and slams head first into the table.
"Whoa!" The others start laughing loudly. After a few seconds, Clint wakes back up and is very energetic. "What happened?" he asks, with a red bump on his forehead.
"That's so cool!" Scott Lang responds. "What else can you do?"
"Well, I can give people emotions." Mantis places his hand on Hope's, and hope immediately starts giggling then loudly laughing.
"Wow!" Hank says. "I don't think I've ever seen her laugh that much." She places her arm around Janet, and they both smile at Hope.
"I can also read people's feelings." Mantis lets go of Hope's hand and reaches for Hank's. He grabs the tips of her fingers and after a moment smiles. "You're so in love. I like that feeling." Janet looks at Hank, and despite her being a woman now, she is happy that she's still loved.
Mantis smiles and moves his hand from Hank's to Scott's. He feels the love Scott has for Hope and it makes him smile, but the smile is only short lived when he catches hints of concern, worry, and fear. Mantis pulls away abruptly, which does not go unnoticed by Hope.
"What was that?" Hope asks, somewhat aggressively. Mantis is not sure what to say and chooses to stay quiet.
"It was just static." Scott says defensively. I just zapped him.
"Are you sure that's what it was?" Hope asks, disbelieving her.
"Yes! Don't act this way right now!" Scott raises her voice, suddenly annoyed. It catches Hope off guard.
"What is that supposed to mean? Right now?" Hope demands.
"Honey, it's okay." Hank tries to interject, but Hope ignores her.
"What's going on?" Hope asks, angrily
"Listen! Now is not the time!" Scott snaps back unexpectedly. "Can we talk about this later?" She is not sure why she suddenly feels so hot and upset, but she realizes that she is really angry at Hope for some reason.
The look in Hope's eyes is very studious, and he peers up and down at Scott, contemplating if he wants to continue arguing. "You're acting funny." He says, before turning away and choosing to drop the subject.
"Fine, let's get back to talking." Scott responds, before looking away also.
Natasha and Clint are watching them both intently before Nat decides to change the subject. "So," He directs the conversation back toward Mantis. "Can you do two people at once?"
Mantis tilts his head to think. "I don't know. I have never tried, but I suppose I can."
He reaches across the table and grabs both Natasha and Clint's wrists. He has to close his eyes to concentrate. "Wow!" He says with legit fascination. "So much love! And pain... and history."
Clint raises his eyebrows and turns toward Natasha, almost as if he doesn't believe what he is hearing.
"How could you love so many people?" Mantis asks, still fascinated.
"Well, I have a family." Clint responds. "My wife, she's..."
"And each other!" Mantis continues. "I have never felt love like this before." Mantis opens his eyes and looks back and forth between both of them. "It's like you are one and the same person. Meant to be."
Clint quickly becomes nervous and slowly pulls his arm away. Natasha continues to stay and only smiles at Mantis. Mantis lets go first, and sits quietly basking in the emotions he just felt.
"I want a love like that." He whispers to himself.
Mantis then looks up toward Valkyrie who smiles, raises his drink, and says. "I'm good. I like to keep my emotions private." Mantis laughs at this, but is still feeling the aftershock of Nat and Clint.
"Oh, Hey Bruce!" Natasha says unexpectedly. They all turn around to see Bruce Banner rushing by. She is wearing a short white dress with spaghetti straps and short heels. When she looks up at the others, her face is all red and she appears emotional.
"Hi, Bruce!" Mantis shouts happily. He jumps up from his seat to greet her. Valkyrie is caught off guard by this and seems bothered by Mantis leaving.
"Want to come join us?" Mantis asks. "We're drinking... and talking about love." He chuckles a bit as he leans toward Bruce happily.
Bruce looks at Mantis then the others and shakes her head. "I can't join you guys. I need a moment." She says emotionally before rushing off.
"Is she going to be alright?" Natasha asks the others.
"Did I say something?" Mantis asks sadly as he watches Bruce rush away.
"It's okay, I'm sure it wasn't you." Valkyrie says, as he approaches Mantis from behind. He hesitates a moment but decides to place both of his hands on Mantis's arms. The shock of feelings that Mantis gets from Valkyrie completely dissipates his concern and he is suddenly interested in Valkyrie.
Valkyrie lets go of Mantis's arms long enough for him to turn around and locks eyes with him. He places his hands on Mantis's arms once again and they both share a private moment.
"Hi." Mantis says with a shy smile. No one else seems to notice because they are all still concerned for Bruce.
*** Earlier that day ***
Bruce wasn't sure what it was about today, but when she woke up, she had one thing in mind. She knew it was crazy, but she couldn't think of anything else.
She got washed, and felt a little embarrassed, because she actually shaved her legs for the first time. Afterwards she spent a long time deciding what to wear. At first she was going to wear one of the outfits that Pepper had given her, but it suddenly felt wrong. Instead she chose a cute short white frilly dress given to her by Shuri. She also chose some nylon foot socks and white short heeled slippers with tiny gold buckles.
After brushing and drying her hair, she put on a little perfume that she purchased in Wakanda. She wanted to wear makeup, but she was worried her inexperience with it would show, so she went with a natural look.
Although Bruce had never been shy before, she felt a little embarrassed walking out today. Bruce knows the people of Wakanda are very polite, particularly their warriors, but she still feels conscious of their looks. None say anything, but she does get the occasional smile from a person or two.
She passes the designated infirmary, and sees Dr. Strange talking to someone. She then passes the designated mess hall, near where she wanted to be, and she can hear several people laughing loudly and joking. They are clearly speaking English, so she assumes it is her friends. She peaks in quickly, but when she doesn't see who she is looking for, she sneaks by without them noticing her.
Bruce makes her way toward the dock area, passing a few more Wakandan's as she does so. She works her way toward the back corner where the HulkBuster armor is sitting and spots someone working there. He is bent over some equipment and seems to be drawing something. Bruce walks up behind him, unnoticed because her target is wearing headphones, which seem to be set very loudly.
She contemplates tapping his shoulder, but decides to be bold and place both hands on his back. Tony only lightly jumps at being startled. He is wearing a thin white muscle shirt, and she can feel the warmth of his body coming through it. She smells a hint of Chocolate Axe Body Spray come off him as he stands up from his work.
"Bruce? Hey, what's up?" Tony asks.
Bruce takes a couple of steps back and sways lightly in the dress. "Hey, I just thought I'd come check up on you."
Tony lets his eyes wander a bit before saying anything. It does not go unnoticed by Bruce as she smiles lightly. "You look nice." Tony says, trying to be friendly.
"You think so?" Bruce asks. "I got this from Shuri. It really fits me." She twirls around, hoping he'll enjoy it.
"Yea, it looks really good on you." Tony responds. "She has good taste."
The compliment toward Shuri bother's Bruce, but she chooses to ignore it for now. "So, what are you working on?" She asks as she playfully approaches Tony, walking on her toes.
Tony gets the feeling he knows what's happening, but secretly hopes he is wrong. He turns back to his work and starts explaining it. There are several papers stacked on top which Tony moves to the side and quickly hides. He then starts showing Bruce one of the ones that was underneath. "I was working on finding a way to reinforce Sam's wings, so they can lock into the suit. You know, kind of give him a bit more control of both."
Bruce moves in really close to Tony and stands just behind his left arm, leaning in to look at the diagrams. She is sure she is close enough for Tony to smell her perfume. "I didn't realize you were still working on his suit." Bruce says, leaning further in. "What were you thinking of changing?"
The diagram is a drawing of Sam's back wings. "I was thinking of adding little docking connectors here and here, so the suit and the wings can communicate." Tony points to the joints of each wing first right then left.
Before he can remove his finger from pointing at the left joint, Bruce reaches out and points at it also. "Right here?" she asks. The hairs of his arm lightly brush her arm, and it's apparent that she does not plan to move it.
"Yeah," Tony responds, as he slowly lifts his arm away, a little more certain of Bruce's intent. "I might actually put some at the base as well." Tony says, trying to pretend he doesn't notice. He takes a bit of a step back, trying to create some distance. It's the wrong choice.
Seeing her opportunity, Bruce passively forces her way in between Tony and the diagrams. Tony gets a whiff of her shampoo and a little rush of adrenaline as the curls of Bruce's hair brush against his lower chest and the back of her dress brushes against his upper leg. She leans forward, just a little bit, pretending to smooth out the diagrams.
Tony lightly grips the stack of diagrams in his right hand and looks down at Bruce's head.
"Bruce, what are you doing?" He asks.
"Me?" Bruce asks coyly as she looks upward toward Tony.
*Tink* Her head hits the triangular Arc reactor centered on Tony's chest and she loses concentration. "Ow!" she says as Tony takes another step back and she forces herself to turn around.
"Are you ok?" Tony asks.
She rubs her head for a long moment. Tony sets the diagrams he was hiding down and helps her check the spot around the back of her head, but doesn't see anything concerning. When he finishes, he notices Bruce's hands are on his abdomen.
"Bruce?" Tony addresses her.
"Yes." Bruce answers back softly looking up toward Tony.
"I know you think something is going on here," Tony starts to say, "but this can't happen."
"But why not?" Bruce asks, lightly gripping Tony's shirt now. She can tell he's breathing a little heavy, and his eyes keep darting between both of hers. From her studies in meditation, she recognizes this as signs of uncontrolled emotions.
"I'm married, Bruce." Tony replies. "And you know, this is only temporary, right?"
"But what if it isn't Tony?" Bruce asks. "What if we stay like this?" Tony can't help but look down at her body, ever briefly. He's certain Bruce noticed. "What if I stay like this?" Bruce continues. She pauses to make sure he's listening. "There are no promises Tony."
"Bruce..." Tony responds. "We're friends. I've never thought of you as anything more." He is still breathing heavily. His eyes dart to her lips briefly then her shoulder, hoping she didn't see. Bruce drinks up every detail.
"I don't want that Tony." Bruce tells him.
Tony grabs Bruce by the shoulders, staring into her eyes for a very long moment. Bruce can only assume he is thinking about it.
"Tony, this stupid thing still doesn't fit!" Steve Rogers shouts from out of sight.
Tony turns in a guilty surprise, letting Bruce go and losing the moment.
"I think we need to adjust the size a bit more." Steve Rogers approaches them, not seeing Bruce behind Tony. "Are you ok?" She asks.
"Yeah, I was just talking to..." Tony steps aside to reveal a flush and red faced Bruce Banner.
Bruce immediately notices that Steve is wearing what looks like a sports bra, and tight thermal pants. She is carrying some random material and a measuring tape.
"I'm sorry." Steve says. "Was I interrupting something? Should I come back?"
"No!" Tony replies a bit too abruptly.
Bruce is still shocked by Steve's sudden appearance and trying to figure out what is going on. She looks at the measuring tape, fabric, and what she is wearing, then turns around to look at the diagrams that Tony was working on.
The slightly crumpled top most diagram that Tony was hidding are on top. They are clearly for a different suit. She presses down on it, and the light from the table shines through to reveal a silhouette. Bruce instantly recognizes it as Steve Rogers, and it is very detailed. 'Why was he hiding this from me?' Bruce wonders.
Bruce turns around, looks at Tony, then Steve. Tony is very flush, and Steve looks confused, but there is a hint of concern, maybe hurt in her eyes. Bruce notices that Steve is becoming red and flush also.
"I made a mistake." Bruce mutters, assuming something was going on. Before anyone can reply, she rushes off so they won't see her cry. Tony has to resist the urge to stop her.
"Is she going to be alright?" Steve asks a few seconds later. She is confused and legitly concerned.
"I don't know." Tony says as he takes a moment to try and catch his breath.