CHAPTER 5
A/N: Sorry I didn't update last month. I was on holiday and lost track of time ^^'
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters except my own. The characters belong to MARVEL.
CHAPTER 5 Home, sweet Home
Natasha Romanoff stared off into the distance. It was entirely unlike her to be inattentive. And she wasn't. On the contrary, her thoughts had never been clearer than in this moment. Around her, the remaining Avengers and Wakandans held a council on how to proceed.
There is nothing to discuss, really. They turned to dust. And we still don't know what happened to Tony since he went up into space.
"We lost," Okoye practically snarled at Steve. "I saw my king die right before my eyes. For the second time. We lost, Captain."
"There has to be something we can do," Steve shot right back. Natasha could see the circles under his eyes from lack of sleep. The loss of Bucky and Sam was definitely taking its toll on him. Even, if Steve would sooner die than admit to it. He had a role to fulfil. And at the moment that seemed to involve standing toe to toe with the only available remainder of T'Challa's inner circle. I don't even want to imagine, what Queen Mother Ramonda has to go through. Losing both her children like that…
"We need to find out if Tony is still alive first," Bruce said. "I'm sure, with his help we will figure something out."
Natasha almost laughed. Their little feud was not forgotten just yet. True, they were fighting as a team against Thanos, but that didn't mean anything. Not with the red in their ledger.
Natasha calmly looked up."Thanos did exactly what he said, he was going to do." She had their attention now. "He decimated everything by half. And without the gauntlet and the stones we are unable to do anything to avenge the fallen." Her eyes hefted onto Steve. He was their leader and he was the only one who needed the deeper message hidden in her words. "Until we find him, we have no chance of saving anyone."
"She is right," Thor rumbled. Since his return, he stood in front of the floor to ceiling windows and stared out at the battlefield in the distance. His need for revenge had only doubled after he had failed to defeat Thanos in combat and the snap happened. Natasha wasn't quite sure, if the King of Asgard blamed himself for what happened.
Thor looked back at the rest of the room; let his eyes trail over every single one of them and – it seemed – over everyone missing in the royal chambers. His eyes were dark. Natasha tensed slightly, feeling a prickle of electricity in the air. Mjølnir lost, Stormbreaker loosely held in his hand, Thor looked every part of the alien warrior he was.
"We must find Thanos. And we must take his head. I cannot rest before the fallen are avenged." Thunder rumbled outside the window. They didn't turn to look. Not even Okoye, who just met Thor. They all looked at Thor with grave expressions.
Natasha shifted her weight. "You're right," she nodded her head, "but first we need to find out who survived. We need to know what we're dealing with." The hitch in her voice was almost unnoticeable. Steve still looked at her expectantly, as if waiting for her to crack with panic or worry or something else. He should know better.
She raised her chin, made a show of looking at each in turn. "Once, we know the strength of our forces, we can find Thanos and kill him." The short blond strands brushing against her temples were suddenly annoying. I'm not a white lamb. I am no innocent. Whoever died did so because I – we couldn't stop Thanos. I hope Clint is okay.
As quickly as the thoughts came, she pushed them back. Unwilling to indulge them even for a minute. People died. Thanos won. They needed a plan to fix it. And that was that.
"Whatever it takes." Natasha calmly met Steve's eyes. The Captain knew her better than probably anyone else present.
A slight incline of the head was Steve's answer. "Whatever it takes," he repeated. The others soon repeated their words, a mumbled rallying cry to unite them all behind a common goal. To defeat an enemy.
Okoye was the only one not coming back to New York. "I swore my loyalty to the throne. Wakanda needs me," was all she said. No one argued. With both King and Princess gone, Wakanda was in a precarious situation. Okoye and Queen Mother Ramonda had enough on their plate as it was.
Natasha manoeuvred the Quinjet, more crowded than at their arrival, out of the Wakandan territory. In the back, Rocket and Thor conversed quietly. Opposite them, Bruce snored softly. A talking racoon… I shouldn't be surprised.
Rhodey sat beside her, staring intently out into the open. "We'll find them," Natasha said. "And Tony can take care of himself."
"Damn right," Rhodey responded. "Still. I don't like it."
"No one does." Steve leaned against Rhodey's chair. He looked tired. As if leaving Wakanda and the spot Bucky had collapsed at had sucked all of his remaining energy right out of him.
Natasha flicked one of the switches before glancing back at him. "You should sleep. There's nothing you can do for now, Steve. Get some rest." She knew even before his rueful smile lit his face, that he would decline. "I mean it," she went on. "For once take Bruce as an example."
Steve chuckled softly. It almost sounded like before. Before they had to run, and fun had been a luxury they couldn't afford often. But Steve's eyes were clouded. There was no happiness in them.
"I order you to sleep, Soldier," Natasha tried another tactic. She felt Rhodey's eyes shift to her, drawn by their interaction. "Go, sleep." And quieter, "We need you fully functional, Captain."
With a nod, Steve drew back. He got into a seat near Bruce, buckled himself in and leaned back. Natasha turned her attention back on keeping them safe on their flight back to New York.
Rhodey still watched her. "Can you teach me how to do that?" he asked. "In case Tony is in one of his moods."
"Oh, I'm sure you know enough methods to get Stark to sleep."
"I do, but none involve just ordering him to."
"It's all a question of will, really." Natasha threw another look over her shoulder. Bruce snored. Thor and Rocket seemed to rest as well. Steve at least had closed his eyes. "A question of will and trust."
Rhodey settled back in his seat. "Still impressive. Wake me, if you want to rest."
Although she nodded, Natasha didn't plan on resting anytime soon. There were thoughts to think. Thoughts she could only order in the silence of her resting comrades.
Thanos did what he claimed he was going to do. He snapped half of the universe. We have to find out who is left. Who we can work with. Other countries won't be able to re-organise as quickly as Wakanda. The world needs to be stabilized in political matters as quickly as possible. Too many countries falling at once could destabilize Earth even further. We don't have time to deal with reigns of terror. Not any more than caused by the snap.
Citizens will need to be treated for trauma. Survivor's guilt. Centres for treatment, weekly meetings. Pitching the idea won't be a problem. Let's hope there are enough therapists and volunteers available.
Whole economies might crash, but that is not our responsibility. That is the job of the government. Even though stabilizing them would help with the organization of everything else. We need an international conference about how to go forward from here. We need to be prepared to assist. Push some buttons to shove decisions into the right direction.
A small smile played over her lips. It had been forever since Black Widow had last messed with any type of government. Natasha let her eyes travel over the horizon, taking in the endless beauty of nature. Looking from above, one would not suspect what just took place. She narrowed her eyes.
I just hope Clint is okay. After we failed to contact Nick and Maria…
Her lip curled.
Focus. You tried. You failed. Live with the consequences. We need a plan. Back to New York, contact officials and see how much damage Thanos caused. Contact any other remaining heroes. Clint. Scott. Find Tony. Bring him back to Earth. Locate Thanos. Find a way to revert the snap.
Natasha clenched her teeth at the thought of the challenges before them. There was not much they could handle simultaneously. Not to think of the unforeseen twists they might have to deal with. But there was no sense in thinking about them now. She had analysed the situation. The next steps were clear, and she had hours left to contemplate the order in which they were best to be taken.
I just hope Clint and Tony are okay. We need them.She closed her eyes for only a second. I want my best friend by my side through this mess.
The hours seemed to crawl. Land changed to sea. Day turned into night. Natasha was careful to keep the quinjet steady as to not wake any of her comrades. Silent breaths all around. It was calming.
Entering New York was hard. Not because of any turbulences. But the damage inadvertently caused by the snap was shocking. Ruins, accidents, wrecks of helicopters and other flying objects that had fallen from the sky with the sudden lack of pilots. For a second, Natasha thought about landing in the street and searching the burning carnage for survivors. A single look behind her dissipated that thought quickly.
Bruce hadn't woken the entire flight. Rocket whimpered in his sleep. Thor's brow was furrowed; defensive sparks sprang between his fingers. Steve was the only one not to show physical signs of fatigue, which was just as bad. Rhodey and Bruce are only human. But Steve is bound to end up on a suicide mission, if given the chance. Let's sleep first and help second. For once I think the people can handle it.
Natasha's eyes scanned the streets. With her decision in mind she found groups of survivors huddled in the streets around some of the smaller fires, keeping each other warm and comforting strangers. They didn't need immediate help. That time frame had passed approximately when they had crossed the Atlantic.
The quinjet touched down at Avengers Compound. The giant building was dark and empty. Tony hadn't miraculously returned to them.
Rhodey startled awake. "Where are we?"
"New York."
Instantly, he sat up straighter. "You flew all the way here? You could have woken me. That was reckless of you." Rhodey paused as he noticed the ongoing silence around them. His eyes found Natasha's. She was perfectly still, didn't even look like she had just flown hours upon hours from Wakanda back to the US. "None of us woke."
"You needed the rest," Natasha simply responded. "You all were awake far longer than healthy."
"And you weren't?" Rhodey frowned. "You were awake just as long as we were. And if even super soldier Cap had to sleep…"
As if on cue, groaning in the back announced someone waking up. Natasha and Rhodey turned back to see, who it was. Thor and Steve were the first to stretch their limbs. Several joints cracked. Rocket rubbed at his eyes. "Man, that was good rest. Say, do you guys have a toilet? Ah, don't bother." The racoon waddled from the quinjet into the night.
Bruce was the last to rise, stretching and yawning. "Ouch." He rubbed his neck, then twisted and turned in an attempt to loosen his muscles. Another grunt and he massaged his back.
Thor stood from his seat. "I need to search for the remaining Asgardians. My people need their king. And a safe place to stay. Rest." His eyes fell to the floor, his voice thick. "If there are any left at all."
Bruce looked unsure how to respond to that. He patted Thor's arm and mumbled a few words too quiet for Natasha to hear from her seat. Natasha's eyes flickered to Steve for any indication. Captain America was nodding along with Thor, as if he had expected nothing else, but didn't react at all to Bruce's words. He sorted his own thoughts to get us out of this situation as well. The Man with a plan might just have a battle strategy figured out. We might need to compare notes sooner rather than later.
"Of course, Thor. Help your people. We'll contact you as soon as we find anything on Thanos." Steve paused. "And," he went on quieter, "if you hear anything from Tony."
"Do not worry, I will bring the Man of Iron safely back to you, should I find any lead on him."
"Thank you."
With one last nod and look around, Thor left the quinjet. The Bifrøst flared to life in all its colours. Then, Thor was gone.
"Do you think they all have to be bi to access that?" Rhodey murmured.
Natasha tilted her head to the side. "Well, it's a rainbow bridge." A slight grin tilted her lips. "So there has to be something to it."
"Actually, Doctor Foster discovered it as a variation of an Einstein Rosenbridge," Bruce piped in. "So, it really is more of a connection between two places without any …"
"Are you really discussing that now?" Steve looked tired as if he hadn't just slept for hours on end. Maybe he truly hadn't after all.
Natasha and Rhodey rose from their seats, following the rest out of the quinjet. The lawn in front of the Avengers Compound was still empty and dark. As if nothing lived out here.
Rocket rejoined them, looking around. "So, you live here, huh? Pretty impressive how empty a single perimeter can be." He gave a half-hearted laugh, before going still.
He just realised, where he is. That his friends aren't going to appear around the next corner any time soon.As if nothing changed…
Natasha started towards the compound. Steve would take care of the immediate mourning. He would soldier through it, swallow his own sorrows and see to it that other's felt better. As for Natasha, she had seen enough governments crumble to mourn any of these ramifications. Besides, they would get their friends back. One by one. There had to be a way to undo the snap with the help of the stones.
That's what we're here for. Locate anyone, who might help us. Tony. Clint. Scott. Defeat Thanos. Whatever it takes.