Worthy

Part 49 - No Spoilers

*3 months later*

It had taken some time, but the changes in your life that had seemingly happened overnight finally started to settle down. After giving all the information they could give about Thanos and the power stone; while also spending a lot of time with Peter, the Guardians decide their time would be better spent back in space. With a promise that he was only a 'phone call' away Tony and Rocket had managed to create a way for you both to keep in touch over the distance.

Other than that life had went back to normality, almost. Fury was still on constant infinity stone alert, driving everyone insane at the amount of pressure being put on all of you. But despite the ever pressing thought of Thanos, life had been the happiest.

You and Thor had spent the last 3 months almost permanently attached to each other every moment you could. A fact that Tony, amongst others, never failed to try and tease and torment you about.

Loki had also been making great strides in opening up. Not only to Thor but also some of the others. Most people were still skeptical of his motives whenever he walked into a room, but a select had been more open; particularly Bruce, who seemed to be enjoying the ever growing friendship that had developed between them.

"Daydreaming about He-man again Kate?" Tony interrupts your thoughts. You weren't even sure what you had been thinking about; eyes reading the same line over and over again in yet another file Danvers had sent over. The monotonous routine Fury had you on was one you were used to, but these last few days had really taken it out on you.

"Very funny," You reply, half yawning. "I'm not getting anywhere with this." You close the file and stretch in your chair as Tony sits next to you. "These things are ancient, and mostly from up there, how the hell does Fury expect me to find any more information out about them!"

"Wow," Tony lets out a little laugh. "Someone's definitely frustrated. That's the first time I've heard you complain about research. Here I thought Lord Thunderbolt never missed the mark."

"You're hilarious," you swot at him, but miss as he rolls back his chair a little. The teasing had been taken up a notch this last week, ever since Thor and Loki had returned to Asgard for a while. Fury had once again determined a 'check' on the tesseract was needed; while Thor was simply happy to be returning home with a renewed relationship with Loki, desperate to show this off to his people. He had asked you to join them, but Fury had been firm and you were more than happy to give the brothera their time together.

"I'm serious, I'm going to send a message to Asgard demanding he get back here. I thought a 'god' would take better care of his woman."

"Clearly you know nothing about any mythology," you laugh, reaching over and drinking your now stone cold coffee. "Besides, it's not that. TRUST me!" You emphasise your last point, making him smirk.

"Talk to me Goose," Tony laughs, rolling closer towards you and lifting the file you were looking at before. "What's the problem?"

"Normally I can find the answers Tony. I go through every detail." You sigh, before pointing up to the holographic display in the office. "But it's this damn last stone. We've got the mind and the time stone here on Earth. The space stone in Asgard, the reality stone with some weirdo called the Collector. And Peter just told me they managed to find somewhere safe to hold the power stone." The only blank space on the board was under the soul stone. "I've been through every single detail we have here on Earth, everything Danvers passed on. There is not a single mention of the soul stone in any of it."

"And Thor hasn't been able to get more information about it?"

"Pfft, Odin doesn't trust a mortal in the Asgardian library. And he's forbidden Thor from it too."

"Wow, he seems awesome!" Tony lets out a sarcastic laugh. "And your slippery new BFF?" You slap out at him again.

"Surprisingly he's more open to the idea of breaking into it than Thor was." You half laugh. "Last time I checked in with Peter, Gamora said she would get back to me once she followed up on something. But it's been a week and nada!" You look up at the clock. "Euch, and Fury is expecting an update in an hour."

"Screw Fury," Tony stands up and pulls you to your feet too. "You need to take a break. And I have the perfect distraction."

"Unless it's chocolate I'm not interested." You laugh as you follow him, heading towards the lab.

"Hmm, then maybe I'm setting myself up for failure here." He places a hand on his chest, feigning hurt. "Nah, who are we kidding, this is me we're talking about."

"Never one to down play your ego are you Tony." You laugh as you walk in, only to be met with Parker nearly knocking you off your feet.

"Oh my god Kate you're not going to believe..."

"That's enough kid!" Tony stops him firmly. "Don't give the whole game away!"

"Right, I forgot. No spoilers." Parker sheepishly laughs as you pat him on the shoulder. You start following Tony as he walks through the lab.

"So come on Tin Can, what's with all the myst..." But you're not able to get the last word out as alarms start ringing throughout the entire building.

"FRIDAY what's going on?" Tony shouts out, instantly tapping his chest, Iron Man suit ready to go. Parker copies him, clearly one of the surprises Tony had planned, having finally upgraded his suit.

"Boss...something...can't tell...some thing's coming in fast..." Her garbled Irish tone keeps fading in and out. Something strong clearly messing with her system. Eventually something pops up on the screens, showing a small ship as it descends just over the compound. You recognise the signature.

"It's the Milano," You stammer, a sense of dread welling up in you. Instantly you run from the lab, heading for the front door, Tony and Parker yelling at you to wait. You hadn't paid enough attention to the monitor, not seeing the colossal ship that seemed to be following them.

You're just about at the front door when you hear the crash, feel the earth vibrating under your feet, the shock almost throwing you to the floor. The dread turns into full blown panic as you realise. "Petey?"