Insane in my Russian Brain - P. Parker

Chapter Twenty Eight

"Steve?" Natasha knocked on his door gently, her knuckles throbbing at the impact. She had been training all of that morning and the week prior, and to say she had been easy on herself would be a major understatement.

She waited at the door for a few minutes in silence, before Steve walked out. His eyes were bloodshot like he had recently finished crying. She looked past him at the mess that had been made of his apartment, clutters of junk filling the area.

"Hey, Nat." He nodded at her, stepping aside to let her inside. "I'm sorry for the mess. If I had known you were coming I would have cleaned up a bit."

He took a glance over at her bruised knuckles as he sat down next to Natasha on one of the coaches in the apartment. "What was it that you wanted to talk about?"

"Have you heard from any of our supposed missing yet? I know in the past couple of weeks we've come to terms that they're gone, but are you completely sure? Any confirmed cases?"

Steve stared down at his folded hands, shaking his head. "I know who you mean specifically, and for that, I have not. We haven't gotten any messages from space where Tony and the kids are, but I think it's safer to assume the worst."

Natasha scrunched up her eyebrows, biting her lip. "You've just come to terms with this? That this is how it's going to be?"

"Nat, don't say that. You know it's for the better. I promise I haven't given up searching, but I think we've reached a dead end. We've heard nothing, and it's been weeks. What happens when it's months? Years, maybe. What do we do then?"

She shrugged, resting her hand against Steve's. She knew he was hurting in a way that nobody else could understand. "She's our daughter. And no matter what, I'm not giving up. I've searched for her for my whole lifetime, and I'm not ready to lose her all over again."

"Our?"

Natasha shook her head, letting a small, genuine smile show. "Don't make me regret saying it."

⧗ ⧗ ⧗

"Hold your hands out with your second fingers touching each other. You'll try to flick the triangle into the goal. Here, try."

Tony nodded at Nebula, who scrunched up her face. "I don't understand this stupid human game."

Tony sighed, standing up from his chair. "Kat, you want to take my place to explain to her how to play?"

He turned to where she was sitting, staring out the window. She had been like that for days, and no matter what he tried, he couldn't get her to move. "Please kid, oxygen runs out tomorrow morning and you should have some fun before then."

When he didn't get a response, he turned back to Nebula. "How long do you think she has left?"

She looked at the table, shaking her head. "Hours. Even after I fully sealed her wounds, she had already lost enough blood to be dead. And now, she won't take any oxygen."

Tony buried his head in his hands. "I'm gonna head out. I think this is the end for all of us, and I want to leave a message for my wife."

"I'm sorry this is happening." Nebula was shocked at her own words. She would never apologize for anything, especially when it wasn't her fault. But she knew that Tony needed to hear it.

Tony pursued his lips, nodding. "Thank you."

As he walked away, Nebula stood from the table. She walked towards the window where Kat was sitting, staring out into the abyss. Her eyes were closed, and she looked peaceful. Of course, it wasn't real. Who could be peaceful after losing their loved ones?

Nebula adjusted Kat's hair so it was behind her shoulders, resting her head against the wall. She checked her pulse, which was weakening. Only a few hours. What Nebula didn't say was that Tony was in a very similar situation as her, and both Avengers would be dead by the end of the day.

It truly was a sad thing, she had to say.

Over in the other room, Tony sat propped against a chair. He had just finished recording a message for Pepper and was trying to get some sleep. But that was difficult with such bright light coming from outside the ship.

Wait... bright light?

Slowly, Tony cracked open his eyes, squinting. A large beam of light was in front of the ship, getting closer by the second. But as it did, it started to resemble something more... human.

And that human smiled, a smile that promised good things. Safety, reassurance.

A trip home.

⧗ ⧗ ⧗

Steve stood in front of the bathroom mirror, whipping excess shaving cream off of his face. The remaining Avengers had convinced him to take his and Kat's stuff to the compound, where they would be staying until the threat vanished.

Or should be staying. Only one of the two was there at the moment, and no one knew if Kat was one of the lucky ones to still be alive.

The room began to shake, a thundering sound booming from outside the compound. Steve turned, watching as the mirror shook in its place. Something was happening, and he had to know.

Running from the room, he alerted Natasha, Rhodey, and Bruce of what was happening. Of course, they had already noticed and were on their feet as well, but Steve just had to make sure. This could be something terrible, or it could be something great.

They walked outside across the grass, a small smile appearing on Steve's face when he saw a spaceship being flown to the ground. A woman he had never seen before was flying it down to Earth, making sure it landed safely.

And when it did, and the doors opened, Steve's smile dropped. Tony was standing with the help of what the talking raccoon had said was Nebula, but there was no sign of Kat.

Anywhere.

Steve ran forward to take Tony from Nebula's grasp helping him to walk down the rest of the stairs. "Couldn't stop him."

"Neither could I."

"Hang on." Tony paused, looking Steve in the eyes. "I lost the kid."

Steve felt his chest hollow. No, Tony had lost her. She wasn't there. "Tony, we all lost."

Steve turned back to face Natasha, who had her eyes trained anywhere besides the spaceship. She had heard their conversation, and she knew that Kat was gone.

Pepper ran up to Tony, kissing him. "Oh my god, oh my god."

Awkwardly, Steve went to Natasha's side, resting his hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Nat. I can't-" someone cleared their throat in front of the two, making them look up.

Nebula held Kat in her arms, being she was unconscious. Natasha gasped and went to take her daughter from Nebula, holding her close to her chest.

"Kat... Ekaterina, baby, I thought I lost you." She kissed Kat's forehead, pushing her hair out of her eyes. She turned to Steve, who had tears filling his eyes. "I think we should get these two on an IV drip, what do you think?"

Steve only nodded, smiling even in the dim situation they had been placed in. "Yeah, let's do that." He turned to Kat, his face becoming more serious. "God, you really scared the shit out of me."

"Language."

Natasha and Steve turned to Tony, who was hurt but still found a way to lighten the mood.

God, it was good to be back.