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When the rumbling started, Malka was staring at the ceiling with her hands clasped around his dog tags which hang around her throat, lying in bed as if she could fall asleep. It hasn't been long, but it has been long enough. Long enough for Malka to hear that Barton is off the grid. Long enough for Malka to take stock of who disappeared. Long enough for Malka to miss the feeling of that metal arm around her so much that she's considering molding a spare pipe to hug her at night.
Pathetic, she knows.
Nonetheless, she pulls herself out of bed and rushes to the door, flinging it open to look in the hall. Steve, too, steps into the hallway with a frown as he meets her gaze.
It takes all of two seconds for them both to realize. "Carol," Malka breathes.
They break into a sprint, shouting through the building as they make their way outside. Natasha, Rhodes, Rocket, and Banner all join them, Pepper Pots rushing with them when they make it to the lawn.
Carol Danvers slowly lowers a large ship to the ground, the glow around her body dimming as she looks back at them, her brows furrowed in concern. The ramp to the ship lowers, and two figures stumble down the steps: Tony leans against a woman with blue skin and metal over her body.
Steve rushes to Tony's side while Malka stays put. The last time she saw Tony Stark, he was trying to kill Bu—
She presses her eyes shut. The last time she saw Tony Stark, she was Aura, taunting him about a time she can barely remember. Instead of joining in on the reunion, Malka silently makes her way to Carol who peaks out from under the ship. "You look tired," Malka sighs. "Should I make some tea?"
"I think I'd like that," Carol replies. "Get any sleep?"
"I'm not going to dignify that with a response."
"I'll take coffee, if you have it."
Malka shrugs as the group slowly trudges back inside the Avengers hub. She prepares coffee for everyone and sets a bowl of soup in front of Tony when he gets wheeled into the room, an IV attached to his arm. The soup is left over from the batch Malka made earlier in the week—her mother's recipe.
Her mother would always make it when they had nothing else. She would boil down leather for some semblance of protein, would cut up old vegetables on their last leg to throw in, would even sneak around the village and pluck a few things from other people's gardens so they would have enough to eat that winter. Despite the circumstances, it always made Malka feel better like they would walk through hell together and come out the other end to find this soup greeting them.
Some of her friends thank her for the drinks and offered soup—Rhodes, Steve, Natasha—while others just stare blankly. Unsurprisingly, Thor hadn't moved when she offered. He simply sits in his corner, staring at the holonet like everyone else.
