The Nameless Avenger (MCU oc-insert) DISCONTINUED!!!

Chapter 52- Moving On

Rose woke up before opening her eyes, not sure if she was ready to face the world. Her head felt like a drum set was being playing in her mind, every inch of her body was sore, and her throat hurt which made her want to cough. Finally her eyelids pulled back and she could see the world around her. Bright white walls, light, and sheets covering her in a bed. The beeping of a machine drove her mad, only adding to the awful headache. Rose groaned as she brought a hand to her forehead, seeing the IV in her hand. She reached to rip it out, fear starting to seep in. Someone gently pulled her right hand down before Rose could remove the needle.
"Calm down, you have a concussion and have been unconscious for three days."
Rose turned to look at Steve, who was standing up. He himself had bandages and a bit of a limp, but not as bad as Rose. She was covered head to toe with bloody bandages, had a fractured leg from getting thrown by Thanos, a massive burn on her stomach, apparently a concussion, and a million other small things that only added to her misery.

"Can you speak? If not that's alright, you can just listen," Steve asked, making sure to speak quietly to not add to Rose's headache.
She tried to speak, but it only came out as a nearly silent wheeze. Rose made a gesture that she was pissed and angrily laid her head back down.
Steve took the hint and continued, "You, and everyone else, was dead for five years. So the world may be different from how you remember alright?"
Rose took a second to process the information. Was Aaron snapped, if he wasn't is he even still alive? What about Kylie, was she an adult now? Ned? MJ? Hell even Amanda... Rose really needed to call her sometime. It was odd, even Rose caught herself off guard by how she immediately became worried about her friends.

Steve crouched down next to the bed, suddenly he seemed even sadder, "Tony and Natasha... they didn't make it. The funeral for Tony is this weekend, everyone is going."
Rose froze, they were dead? How? She managed to take a deep breath and calmed down, there was so much overwhelming information at once. She only nodded, keeping a blank face as she stared at the ceiling. That wasn't all, the other Avenger in the room gently patted her shoulder.
"I looked at the hard drive, as you asked. You- ah how do I phrase this," Steve thought for a second, "I guess you don't want to hear 'I'm sorry for you' or anything right?"
Rose nodded, she hated when people gave her pity.
"You shouldn't have to keep that all to yourself, I can't imagine someone hurting a child like that."
The teenager shrugged, showing a sign of indifference to the whole situation. She assumed she wouldn't have come back, so being alive and having someone know her past gave her mixed emotions. She got a headache just thinking about it, that was a problem for another day.

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Rose was never one for funerals, she didn't like the concept of purposely dressing up to look sad along with everyone else. Sure someone dying was tragic, but collectively making each other more depressed never made much sense. That didn't stop her from attending Tony's, alongside his family and friends. He had a daughter, Morgan, everyone had a mutual agreement to help the girl if she ever needed it. As Rose stood after the funeral, in a black dress Pepper loaned her, someone joined her standing on the balcony. Rose knew who it was out of the corner of her eyes, letting out a small chuckle as she lowered her head.

"Hey Fury, long time no see huh?"
The one eyes Shield director leaned against the railing, "I must admit, I even believed you were dead. Then the blip happened, and I got snapped away. Now here you are, maybe not well but alive."
Rose ran her fingers through her blue hair, her arms and legs were still bandaged up. Turns out becoming a bomb of cosmic energy isn't good for the skin.
"At least I'm alive, that can't be said for everyone," Rose retorted.
"I wanted to speak with you about the New Avengers initiative, the Avengers need to serve as a pillar of support as the world pieces itself back together," Fury began to explain.
"They all think I'm dead."
"That can be changed."
"I'm aware, the question is if I want it to."
Fury pulled out his phone, "The UN wants the Avengers to hold a press conference to explain what happened. Your name was specifically requested, they were informed you were alive by Captain America five years ago."
Rose stood up straight, her headache had begun to fade finally, "Maybe another time Fury, I'm going to take a break. You should too old man."
She walked away, leaving the older in silence.

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Sam, Bruce (who Rose noted was now the hulk simultaneously), and Steve all stood by some machine. Steve was supposed to take the infinity stones and Thor's hammer to their "correct places in time," whatever the hell that meant. While Bruce was getting everything set up, Steve took Rose to a small clearing in the woods. Thor's hammer was sitting on a tree stump.
"What's all this?" Rose questioned.
Steve gestured to the hammer, "Try and lift it."
"What?"
"Try and lift it, I want to test something."
Rose walked slow circles around it, examining it closely, "Only those who are worthy can lift it, I've read Norse mythology Rogers. I've done some awful shit, I'm not worthy."
Steve shook his head, "Thor explained to me that it isn't based on your past, it's based on who you are now."
She wrapped her hand around the leather handle, getting a tight grip. Something in Rose made her hesitate, how could she possibly be worthy?

Rose let go, never giving it a try. Steve didn't seem bothered, only having a satisfied nod.
"Natasha did the same thing, that was the night Ultron got out," Steve commented, walking over to take the ancient Asgardian weapon.
Rose tapped on his shoulder before he returned to Bruce, "Rogers."
"Yea Rose?"
"Give Peggy that dance would you?"
Steve laughed, "How do you know about that?"
Rose walked away with a smirk, "My dad told me."

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"Why hasn't he come back?! Bring him back Banner!" Sam yelled, Steve hasn't returned after the five seconds he was supposed to.
"I'm trying! I don't know what went wrong!" Banner was frantically checking the machine to ensure it hadn't broken.
Rose coughed, "Sam."
"What?" Sam's voice was clearly on edge.
Rose pointed to a bench by the lake with an old man sitting there. The other two men went silent, Sam took the hint and walked over to talk to him.
"Wonder if that dance was worth waiting for," Rose wondered.

Rose caught up with the older Steve Rogers as he walked back to his car.
"Rogers!"
He turned around, stopping in his tracks, "Hey."
"You look old as hell now."
Steve chuckled a bit, he seemed happier than when Rose talked to him only two hours ago, "Can I have a least some respect."
She put a finger to her chin like she was thinking, "Hmm... since I'm feeling generous."
He walked over a placed his hands on Rose's shoulders, forcing the younger to make eye contact.
"Rose, I want you to listen to this old man speak for a second alright?"
"Speak away."

"I had a son, he had so much potential to do some good. When he was older he disappeared, only leaving a message that he ran away to 'save his child.' I tried to find him, find you, but I obviously couldn't," Steve made sure Rose was paying attention, her eyes were determined and focused.
"Don't blame yourself, he did kill my cancer after all," she replied.
"That's no excuse to hurt someone, I don't want you ever telling yourself it was justified."
"It's alright Rogers, he hurt me and I hurt him back. The bad equals out, leaving only the good," Rose was rambling at this point, "So the math means that relative to me, he was good."
"Do you truly believe that?"
"...nah, he was a piece of shit."
Steve let out a sigh of relief, "Good, you had me worried. Anyways I want to make up for everything he did, I've been thinking about this since before he was ever born."

Rose held her hands up, "You don't owe me anything Rogers, you have done more than you know."
"Do you remember what I told you back in Wakanda all those-, well I guess for you it hasn't been that long."
"Go be a kid, correct?"
He nodded, "Yes, and I realised I cannot give you that. Listen Rose, I want you to go live a life completely separate from all this Avenger's nonsense. If I stuck around... well that wouldn't be possible would it?"
Rose thought about it, she couldn't imagine how hard this was for Steve. He had the chance to be apart of his granddaughter's life, and yet was refusing to so that she could be happier.

"I-I get it... I get it Rogers."
"I expect at least visits once in a while, or at least send me a Christmas card."
Rose gave a sad smile, "You got it grandpa, now go play golf like all the other old white men."
The two parted ways, but not before Steve pulled the teenager into a hug. Rose grabbed her phone out of her backpack, noticing the hard drive was in there too. She pulled it out, examined it, then dropped it to the ground. Rose stomped the small piece of tech until only bits remained, a weight lifting off her chest instantly.

"Whew," Rose dusted off her hands, "Now to find Aaron."