Retaliation

Chapter 33 Proof

We were currently holding Jasmine's funeral at our house in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I didn't think many people were going to show up but literally everybody came. From T'challa, Shuri, and Okoye from Wakanda. To Thor and the guardians of the galaxy from space. Old man Steve and Dr. Strange. I was even surprised to see Nick Fury and Captain Marvel hanging back on the porch. 

I hope you are seeing this up from wherever you are.

Me and Ryan stood at the edge of our dock, between us we were holding a ring of jasmine flowers and roses. In the center was a white little box that had the words 'proof Jasmine Xenon wasn't a monster'  printed black into it. In the box was Jasmine's new wire bracelet. It may not have been much, but to me, this was everything. Ryan and I slowly and carefully bend down and together we let the ring float off into our little pond. 

I couldn't hold it any longer, I leaned into Ryan's shoulder and I began to cry for what felt like the millionth time. She wrapped both her arms around me and pulled me closer into a hug. After a couple of minutes, I gathered the strength to finally stand up. I turned around to meet the saddened faces of Sam and Bucky. They stepped aside as they let us walk by and stepped up toward the end of the dock to pay their respects. Standing at the end was Tony followed by Bruce, patiently waiting for his turn as he was too heavy for the dock to support. 

Once everyone was finished at the dock, we all kind of just congregated in and around the house. I stayed near the living room table where we displayed the urn containing Jasmine's ashes. We had her body, but we never found her head despite sweeping the area several times. Even Tony was stumped. 

I looked up as I saw Nick and Carol approach me. "Just wanted to let you know that we are continuing to investigate what is left of DRAKO." 

"Have you found Dramik yet?" 

"No. Little bugger scurried off in quite a hurry. Could be anywhere with his ability to shape-shift into any living creature. This investigation could take a while. Their leader may now be gone but the other half that was Blipped back are still out there. Oh, I almost forgot, we did find your ship a couple of miles down south, it appears he was using an old warehouse as a base." 

"Really? That's great." 

"You're free to keep it if you would like, if not I'm sure I'll have a field day with it." 

"I'll keep it, thank you. There's stuff in there I would like anyway. Thank you, Fury. I appreciate you doing this." 

"It's the least I could do for the ones who helped bring me back, even if I didn't get to meet the one that stopped a moving train and punch Thanos. I apologize for not being able to stay longer but I have a lot of work to do." 

"I understand. Thank you for coming." Nick walked away leaving me with the intimidating Carol Danvers. 

"Hello, I don't think I've introduced myself properly, I'm Elara." I stuck my hand out for her to shake. She looked down at it for a few seconds before she awkwardly obliged. I caught her sneaking glances toward the urn. "I can't help but notice you have mix feelings." 

"We didn't exactly meet on good terms."

"I understand. Ours wasn't on the best of terms either." 

"Now isn't the appropriate time to tell those stories. All that matters is that she helped and defeated Thanos. No matter what happened between us, that act deserves respect." 

"I appreciate you being able to look past the bad." 

"Yeah...I've got to get going too. There's still a lot of places in the universe that need my help."