So, after that major mess up there, I went back through and saw all my spelling and grammar mistake.
Can't win, I swear...
Anywho, thanks to everyone for re-reading and putting up with that. Can't believe I messed that up...actually...I kinda can lol.
Welcome to the party TrimusicaDrag00n90, Musiclover3230, Timea, sade benjaminn, athousandyears23, Lu Mach, gearo1313, Dark Angel 792, luffymonky26, Kaitaiagirl, lem00066, Vgn Golley, StormGlassDragon, angelbg and FantasticLoser.
And thank you to rosafern, p0mel0, AliceCullen3, xRaspberryx, AnimeFreak71777 and Janeth16 for your reviews :)
And so...let the adventure continue. Hold onto your hats kids!
Enjoy
xo
Chapter 35
Oh
Steve and Lex hurried back through the halls of the building, trying to work their way back out without drawing anymore unwanted attention.
As they turned a corner, Lex spotted something that was cause for concern. "12 o'clock, we've got trouble." She lowered her head slightly, so as to ensure they weren't spotted straight away as Steve looked towards her indication. It was the lady from the elevator, and she was being followed by two military police soldiers.
Steve was quick to divert into a nearby office. They shut the door behind them and watched as the woman and MPs hurried past them, none the wiser. Lex heard muffled voices from behind them, looking to see another window that viewed into another office.
"Huh, she looks familiar," Lex murmured, peering through a window into another office. She looked back to Steve, who turned to look, and his face went almost white, like he had seen a ghost. He slowly walked over to the window to peer through at the woman moving around on the other side.
Lex frowned, looking back at the woman on the other side, and then it dawned on Lex. It was the woman in Steve's photo, the same woman whose pictured lined the walls inside the secret SHIELD archive. Agent Margaret 'Peggy' Carter. In all her 1970s glory. Lex looked back into the room, watching as Peggy seemed to be giving instructions to some men who were in the room with her. She glanced at the desk she stood behind, noticing some framed pictures scattered here and there. One, in particular, caught her eye, and she felt dismay for Steve. It was Peggy, with a man. And she was wearing a wedding dress.
Of course, she would have moved on when she thought Steve had died that day the Valkyrie crashed into the icy seas. That didn't make it hurt any less for Steve though, she was sure of it, as she looked back at Steve to see him staring at Peggy with a look of pain on his face.
Lex sighed, before reaching across and squeezing his shoulder. "Come on, Steve, we've got a job to do."
He nodded slowly, before turning and heading back for the door out of the room. Lex turned to follow, only for Steve to stop fast and turn back to look at her with a serious expression on his face. "Why did you do that?"
She furrowed her brow. "Huh?" she asked in confusion. "Do what?"
"Why did you…kiss me?" he demanded, seemingly hesitant to say it out loud.
Lex tried not laugh too loudly, worried that the agents on the other side of the glass might hear them. "Is now really the time to be discussing this?"
"Why would you do that?"
"Didn't anyone ever tell you that public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable?" she retorted rolling her eyes. From his reaction, someone had already mention that to him. "We needed a distraction, I got us a distraction. Who cares how I did it?"
"What about Bucky?" Steve hissed, stepping closer to Lex with an exasperated look on his face.
Lex squinted as she looked at Steve, not fully comprehending where he was going with this conversation and topic. Again, it annoyed her that he brought Bucky up again without any explanation as to why, like she was just supposed to know why he was relevant to the topic. "What about Bucky?" she demanded in a hiss. "How many times do I have to say it, he doesn't currently exist. Well, technically he does, but he's a blank slate assassin probably in a freezer around here somewhere at HYDRA's bidding who doesn't even know who I am and only knows he's supposed to kill you on sight!"
Steve stared at her for a moment, before shaking his head and removing his hat. He ran his hand through his hair, before placing his hands on his hips and looking back at her. "Seriously, Lex. What happens if Buck comes back, and he finds out what we did in that office?"
She narrowed her eyes at Steve again. "We kissed, to give us an excuse to be in that office and gain the information we needed to achieve a means. 'Whatever it takes' remember? As if he would care, anyway." She murmured her last words, and suddenly she felt a tightening in her chest that she had only felt a couple of times before. It was like someone was squeezing her heart with their bare hands.
She moved her hand to her chest, wincing slightly. When she glanced back to Steve, he was staring at her incredulously. "You can't seriously believe that?" Steve moved closer towards her, cocking his head to one side to better look her in the face. "Do you seriously have no idea about the way he felt about you?"
She thought about how she had felt around Bucky, about how he moved around her and she him, how comfortably they seemed to fit in with each other. He never balked at her more malevolent tendencies, and she was always fine with supporting him when he was feeling down about himself, seeing him for what he was, not what HYDRA had wanted him to be. Steve had raised this topic with her once before, and she had shoved it away before it could fester and annoy her. Now, all those thoughts came back at once. And it was annoying her.
She raised an eyebrow at him, before sneering and stepping back slightly. "It doesn't matter now anyway, he's gone, and that is that." She turned and walked towards the door to leave.
"It does matter. I know my friend, and I know he cares about you, more than he cares about himself, Steve said, not moving from where he was standing.
She stopped before the door, looking over her shoulder. "Cared. Past tense. If that was the case, at all. Either way, that kiss we shared, means nothing. I saw a way out and I took it." She turned her head back to look at the door as she put her hand on the doorknob, a smirk on her face. "You just happened to be a convenient ride out." She opened the door and strode out, motioning for Steve to join her.
She watched as he sighed and shook his head, clenching his jaw as he did so, before following her out.
They caught up with Tony outside the building where he was waiting, still carrying his briefcase, and they hurriedly exited the base, headed back towards the back alley where their gear was stowed and waiting for them.
Steve could feel Tony's eyes darting between the two of them, and it was starting to annoy him.
"Did I miss something?" Tony finally asked as they entered the alleyway. "You two seem a bit… tense?"
"Don't worry about," Steve murmured, glancing over at Lex, who refused to meet his gaze. She had been quiet since their conversation in the office. He honestly couldn't believe how stubborn she was. Bucky sure knew how to pick them.
"Uh…okay…Super Widow, you got anything to say about this?"
"Steve's a prude. That is all."
Steve glared at Lex, while Tony's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"I'm sorry, what?" Tony exclaimed incredulously when he finally recovered as Lex knelt beside a small hole in the wall of the alley. She reached inside and pulled out a small bag, standing up again and beginning to pull out their time jump suits.
"Just leave it," Steve warned Tony, catching his suit as Lex threw it at him.
"I don't think I can, this sounds juicy," Tony replied, pretending to appear enamored with Lex as she began to undo the buttons on her uniform blouse. Steve was quick to turn away.
"I rest my case," Lex muttered bluntly, making Steve shake his head.
"Yeah we all know that, but this sounds way juicier," Tony said, clearly trying to egg Lex to enlighten him.
"Hurry up and suit up," Steve ordered, beginning to strip out of his own uniform, revealing his Captain America suit underneath as he undid his shirt. "It's time we bring everyone home."
He turned to look back at Lex, to find she was just zipping up her own suit, her face expressionless as she tossed her cap into the rubbish skip nearby. She met his gaze, but said nothing in return.
The time jump still made her feel unsteady as they landed back on the Quantum Platform back in Avengers Headquarters. She checked the Quantum watch, it confirmed that she was back in 2023.
She looked around and she wasn't alone, as the others began to pick themselves up from the platform, some unsteady, others unperturbed. As she removed her helmet, she glanced around at those around her. She narrowed her eyes, taking in her comrades. Something was wrong.
"Did we get them all?" Bruce asked, looking around as he removed his own helmet.
"You telling me this'll actually work?"
"Clint…" Lex murmured, beginning to walk towards the former SHIELD agent. Everyone else's attention was drawn to him, as she noted his down cast expression and sunken eyes. He had been crying. And he was alone.
"Clint, where's Nat?" Bruce asked.
Clint didn't answer, refusing to meet anyone's eyes, turning away from the group slightly. The mood in the hangar dropped and silence reigned. Bruce fell to his knees, pounding his fists on the floor and causing the Quantum Platform to shudder slightly, but still no one said anything. Lex moved to Clint's side, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Her heart ached once again. Natasha was like a sister to her. Kindred spirits, more or less. While she and Bucky could relate on one level, her and Natasha bonded over their experiences in The Red Room. The little Black Widow always seemed to be there to bolster Lex's spirits if they got down in more recent times, after she returned State side. And now, she was gone.
They all stood outside, gathered by the lake as they mourned for Natasha.
They formed a small semi-circle, and although Lex was still annoyed at Steve for pushing these strange emotions onto her again, she had taken her place right beside him. Without Bucky or Natasha, Steve was the only comfort she really had now, she wasn't as close to the other Avengers as she was to him.
"Do we know if she had family?" Tony asked after a few minutes of silent mourning.
"Yeah. Us," Steve answered quietly. Lex shifted a little closer to Steve, feeling the gravity of his words fall heavy on her.
"What?" Thor asked in confusion, looking from Steve to Tony.
"I just asked him a question..." Tony began to explain, obviously thinking that Thor was drunk again.
"Yeah, you're acting like she's dead," Thor interjected. He looked around at the others. "Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, Cap, we can bring her back, isn't that right? So, stop this shit. We're the Avengers, get it together."
"Thor, I don't think it works like that…" Lex said quietly. "Not existing, and death, are two very different concepts," Lex tried to reason.
"We can't get her back," Clint added, his voice full of sorrow. Lex's heart went out to Clint. He had explained to Lex in detail what had happened. They had both wanted to give up their lives to save the ones that had been taken. The stubborn and cunning little red head had won, like she always did.
"Wha- what?" Thor demanded, seemingly not believing either.
"It can't be undone. It can't," Clint replied curtly.
Thor laughed mockingly, and Lex began to get annoyed with the Asgardian. This was not what they needed now. "I'm sorry. No offense, but you're a very earthly being. Okay? We're talking about space magic. And 'can't' seems very definitive don't you think?"
Clint stood up and moved towards Thor, but Lex was quick to step in the way, putting a hand to Clint's chest and stopping the smaller man easily. "Look, I know that I'm way outside my paygrade here. But she still isn't here, is she?"
"Now that's my point..." Thor replied, seemingly oblivious to Clint's anger.
"It can't... be undone," Clint shouted, finally bursting with anger that now consumed him. "Or that's at least what the, great floating guy had to say. Maybe you wanna go talk to him? Okay? Go grab your hammer, and you go fly and you talk to him." He pulled away from Lex and walked further away from the group, kneeling down by the water with his head in his hands as grief washed over him again. "It was supposed to be me. She sacrificed her life for that goddamned stone. She bet her life on it."
There was silence throughout the group as they all took in Clint's words, grief washing over them all again. Lex moved to kneel beside Clint, placing her hand on his shoulder again. She wasn't much good with words like Steve, but she could at least offer this sort of comfort.
Suddenly, there was a roar from behind them, as Bruce's anger got the better of him and he picked up one of the nearby benches, hurling it far across the lake. Lex narrowed her eyes as she watched it splash into the lake, at least a kilometre away from them. Impressive.
Bruce took a few deep breaths, garnering Lex's attention back to him, as did the others. "She's not coming back. We have to make it worth it. We have to."
Steve looked resolutely around the group. "We will."
Steve walked through the hallway towards the room where the others were gathering. The gauntlet was now complete, and they were about to discuss what to do next. He was looking for Lex, he hadn't seen her since they had mourned for Natasha at the lake. He noticed one of the balcony doors was open and stepped outside, finding Lex there, looking out towards the lake.
He knew she had probably heard him from several hundred metres away, so felt no need to make his presence known before stepping up beside her. He waited a moment to see if she would speak first. She didn't. "It's ready."
She took a deep breath, folding her arms across her chest. "Well, I guess we find out if this was all for nothing now."
"It'll work."
"Obnoxiously optimistic as ever," she retorted, and Steve could practically hear the eye roll. He gave a small smile, before leaning against the railing to look at her. They needed to clear the air before they faced whatever was about to happen next. It was now or never. She turned her head slightly to meet his gaze. "I wish I could be more like you."
"You could. If you really wanted to," he replied, offering her an encouraging smile.
She scoffed slightly. "I feel like there's an undertone of another meaning to that sentence," she replied, raising an expectant eyebrow.
"I don't think you need to change. Buck likes you the way you are, and if its good enough for him, it's good enough for me."
She narrowed her eyes at him and looked suspiciously at him. "I'm not sure whether to feel disgusted or disgusted."
Steve laughed. "I mean, he loves you for who you are. And if he loves you like this, who am I to try and make you change. You're his girl."
Lex stared at Steve for a moment, blinking a few times. "How can you still be using the present tense like that? He doesn't even exist right now, and you still speak like he is."
Steve shook his head, she was as oblivious as ever. Now he knew how Bucky and Sam felt about him sometimes. "I can't believe out of that entire sentence, that's what you're concerned about," Steve said with a sigh standing upright and turning to face towards the lake again.
He looked at her from the corner of his eye and saw her brow furrow again as she began to take in what he had said more thoroughly. He grinned when he saw her expression change to be dumbfounded and her cheeks turn pink. "Oh."
"Yeah…Oh."
She was silent for a minute, her mouth moving a few times as she appeared to try and form some kind of comeback for him. Finally she spoke. "You're pretty sure about that, huh?"
"Take it from me, Bucky looked at you in ways I've never seen him look at any of the other girls he had back in the 40s." He smiled to himself when he thought back to the way he looked at her in Wakanda or even when they were in Leipzig. He sighed and looked back to the female Super Soldier. "Come on, either way, it's time we bring everyone back," he slung his arm around her shoulders and dragged her back inside.
They stood in a large room with no windows or glass. Thor, Bruce, Steve, Tony, Scott, Rhodey and Rocket all stood around the gauntlet, while Clint, Nebula and Lex stood against the wall, watching the proceedings with varying degrees of interest.
"All right. The glove's ready. Question is, who's gonna snap their freaking fingers?" Rocket said finally, looking around at the Avengers gathered around him.
"I'll do it," Thor quickly volunteered, moving to grab it.
"Excuse me?" Scott was quick to stop him, looking at him incredulously.
"It's okay." He moved to take it again.
"No, no, no, whoa. Stop. Stop. Wait a sec. Hey, hey..." everyone around the gauntlet began to hold him up, stopping him from grabbing the gauntlet.
"Wait, wait, wait, Thor, just wait," Steve ordered, stepping between him and the gauntlet, causing Lex to stand up, watching to ensure that Thor didn't move to strike at Steve in his eagerness. "We haven't decided who's gonna put that on yet."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Thor replied, clearly mocking Steve. "What, were you just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?"
"We should at least discuss it," Scott reasoned.
Thor narrowed his eyes as he looked around at his fellow Avengers. "Look, us sitting here staring at that thing is not gonna bring everybody back. I'm the strongest Avenger, okay? So, this responsibility falls upon me. It's my duty."
"Matter of opinion," Lex scoffed, hiding her snide remark behind a fake cough, which earned a quiet laugh from Clint. Thor seemed to catch her comment, glaring at her.
"It's not that..." Tony reasoned, drawing Thor's attention back to the conversation.
"It's... stop it!" Thor shouted, looking around at the others pleadingly. Lex furrowed her brow and stared at Thor as he began to tear up right in front of them. "Just let me. Just let me do it. Just let me do something good. Something great."
"Look...It's not just the fact that that glove is channeling enough energy to light up a continent, I'm telling you, you're in no condition," Tony began to try and explain cautiously. Lex could see why. Depression could be a hell of thing, and it was obvious, Thor was not coping with the events of five years ago. From Rocket's accounts, he blamed himself for allowing his ego to get in the way of finishing Thanos off when he had the chance.
"What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?" Thor demanded, looking around at everyone, before reaching for Tony's arms and holding him in place.
"Cheez Whiz?" Rhodey asked, causing both Lex and Clint to stifle giggles.
Thor ignored the mocking response. "Lightning."
"Yeah…" Tony replied slowly, clearly unsure of how to proceed.
"Lightning won't help you, pal," Bruce said, putting his hand on Thor's shoulder and pushing him to the side. He looked at Tony and Steve. "It's gotta be me." Everyone was silent for a moment, waiting for Bruce to further explain his reasoning. "You saw what those stones did to Thanos. It almost killed him. None of you could survive."
"How do we know you will?" Steve asked, looking at Bruce expectantly.
Bruce shrugged. "We don't. But the radiation's mostly gamma." He leaned down, taking a closer look at the gauntlet. "It's like...uh...I was made for this."
Lex frowned slightly, considering everything she knew about Bruce, which to be honest, wasn't much. She had no argument for why he shouldn't handle the gauntlet.
As she considered their options, she looked around the room and noted Nebula was now missing. She furrowed her brow and looked to Clint. "Where'd icy blue go?"
Clint also looked around, although his manner was much more nonchalant than her own. "Probably got sick of the posturing."
Lex pressed her lips into a thin line, but her attention was soon brought back to the conversation as a decision seemed to have been made.
"Good to go, yeah?" Tony asked, looking pointedly at Bruce.
"Let's do it."
It took them an hour to make the preparations, Bruce putting on his Quantum Time suit in the hopes it might offer some protection to the massive amount of power he was about to play with.
"You remember... everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago and just bringing them back to now, today. Don't change anything from the last five years," Tony implored.
Bruce nodded. "Got it."
Everyone suited up and took their positions, in case the situation turned sour. Lex and Clint took up position furthest away from the gauntlet. Lex knew Steve had paired her with him to protect him if need be. Unlike her, he wasn't enhanced in anyway. A decent blast could very easily end it all for him very quickly. And Natasha wouldn't like that.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y., do me a favor and activate Protocol 8," Tony called out to the AI that controlled a lot of the Headquarters.
"Yes, boss."
The facility went into lock-down, shutters closing down over all the windows, doors locking and all air systems being rerouted to the rooms they were currently inhabiting.
"Everybody comes home." Bruce looked around the room one more time, before moving towards the gauntlet. He carefully lifted it and slipped his hand inside, the power immediately beginning to surge through his arm. Power tendrils began to fly throughout the room as Bruce fought to maintain control of the gauntlet. He grunted in pain and clenched his teeth.
"Take it off. Take it off!" Thor shouted urgently, seeing Bruce struggling.
"No, wait," Steve shouted, waving down Thor from interrupting. "Bruce, are you okay?"
"Talk to me, Banner," Tony called out to his fellow scientist.
Bruce took some deep breaths. "I'm okay. I'm okay."
Lex glanced over to Clint, who looked as skeptical as she felt, before she looked across the room to Thor, who was huddled in a corner, before offering two thumbs up to Bruce. As she took in the scene around her, she thought she heard a strange crashing come from further in the facility, straining her ears to try and see if she could hear anything else.
It was no good, as Bruce grit his teeth, before screaming, bringing Lex's attention back to their current situation. Lex stared in amazement as she watched the power practically burning its way through his body. "Bruce! Come on!" she shouted finally, urging the scientist to finish the job.
He finally snapped his fingers, a surge of power shooting from the gauntlet and knocking the breath from her lungs for a moment. Bruce finally fainted from the effort of holding the power in his body, the gauntlet sliding off his arm. Lex hurried to Bruce, rolling him onto his side with a great effort and checking him over quickly, while Clint kicked the gauntlet away.
Here we go guys...As a great doctor once said...'we're in the Endgame now'
xo
Krayzee