We need you one last time

7/31/22

An arrow was being nocked into a bow. The archer behind firmly gripped it tight as it was aiming towards the target and Clint was holding up a few arrows while mentoring his daughter, Lila on shooting one.

"Okay, hold on. Don't shoot. You see where you're going?" Clint said.

"Mhm." Lila said.

"Okay, now let's worry about how you get there." he said and corrected her foot to the proper position, and adjusted her shooting stance. "Here. Can you see?"

"Yeah."

"You sure?"

"Mhm." she said and he pushed her hair in front of her face while covering her left eye.

"How about now?" he said and they giggled. "Alright. Ready your fingers."

The rest of the family was having a picnic in the field.

"Nice." Cooper said.

"Nice throw, kiddo." Laura said.

"You go."

"Hey, you guys want mayo or mustard, or both?" she asked and Lila looked at Clint.

"Who wants mayo on a hotdog?" Lila asked.

"Probably your brothers." Clint said and looked at Laura. "Uh, two mustard, please! Thanks, mama." he said while Laura looked a Nathaniel.

"Mayo or mustard?" Laura asked.

"How about ketchup?" Nathaniel asked.

"Ketchup?" she asked and looked Clint and Lila. "I can do ketchup."

"Mind your elbow." Clint said and Lila released the arrow and it hit the target directly in the bullseye. "Hahaha! Good job, Hawkeye. Go get your arrow."

"Hey guys! Enough practice, soup's on!" Laura said.

"Alright, we're coming; we're hungry." Clint said and looked behind him but nothing but dust was being blown away by the wind. "Lila, let's go." he said and started looking around. "Lila?" he said and started moving and looked around, and picked up the bow she had. "Honey?" he said and looked around to see Laura and the boys, only they are gone now. He looked seriously panicked and confused as he hurriedly dropped the arrows and jogged over to where they were. "Hey, babe! Babe? Babe? Boys? Boys? Laura?" he said and lightning crackled.

Somewhere in space Nebula and Tony were on the ship playing paper football.

"Wrra!" Nebula said frustrated and put her hands in a fighting stance while looking at Tony.

"You don't need to do that. Because uh... you're just holding position." Peter said and flicked a paper football towards him. "Oh yeah, that was close." he said and she flicked a paper football towards him. "That's a goal. We're now one a piece."

"I would like to try again." she said and flicked a paper football towards him.

"We're tied up. Feel the tension? It's fun." he said and flicked a paper football towards her. "That was terrible. Now you have a chance to win." he said and she flicked the paper football towards him. "And... you've won. Congratulations." he said and reached his hand out to shake her hand. "Fair game. Good sport." he said and she shook his hand. "Have fun?"

"It was fun."

Later Tony's hand was on his busted Iron Man helmet and his hand reached forward to turn on the helmet. He was sitting on the floor of a gloomy Benatar. Then he tapped the helmet with a sigh.

"This thing on?" he said and the helmet scanned him so he leaned against the wall while taking deep breaths and looked skinnier and weak with malnutrition. "Hey, Miss Potts... Pep. If you find this recording, don't post it on social media. It's gonna be a real tear-jerker. I don't know if you're ever going to see these. I don't even know if you're... if you're still... Oh god, I hope so. Today is day 21, uh 22." he said and stood at a window to stare out in space, waiting for his impending doom to arrive. "You know, if it wasn't for the existential terror of staring into a void of space, I'd say I'm feeling better today. The infection's run its course, Thanks to the blue meanie back there." he said and saw Nebula sitting in the back of the Benatar. "You'd love her. Very practical. Only a tiny bit sadistic. Some fuel cells were cracked during battle, but we figured out a way to reverse the ion charge to buy ourselves about 48 hours of time." he said and they were working on the fuel cells of the Benatar. "But it's now dead in the water. We're 1000 light years from the nearest 7-11. Oxygen will run out tomorrow. And that'll be it. And Pep, I ... I know I said no more surprises, but I was really hoping to pull off one last one. But it looks like... well you know what it looks like. Don't feel bad about this. I mean, if you grovel for a couple of weeks, and then move on with enormous guilt. I should probably lie down. Please know that... when I drift off, I will think about you. Because it's always you." her said and turned the helmet off.