The Before [Prequel- Part 1]

"We lost. And you weren't there."

~~~Catherine's pov~~~

As it turned out, we didn't need to go far to find out what that shaking was. Before we could even get past the conference room, we saw Nat, Steve, Bruce, Rhodey, and Pietro standing there, looking at us in shock.

Well, more Loki than me, but still.

I was confused by their shocked expressions because I was sure that Thor had already told them Loki was awake, but then I saw who was behind them.

It was my dad.

My heart jumped into my throat as I stared at him. He was alive.

Without a moment's hesitation, I ran up to him and hugged him like there was no tomorrow. "Dad!"

This combined with Loki having woken up a few minutes prior made my hormones go crazy and I couldn't stop the tears that fell from my eyes.

I was so caught up in the emotion of the moment that I didn't realize Pepper was right beside me, hugging him and holding on like her life depended on it.

"I'm so glad you're okay, kid." I heard him murmur as he hugged me back, his voice weak.

The next few minutes were a blur as Bruce got my dad a wheelchair and an IV to get him some fluids and we started debriefing him on what was going on.

Now that the hormones had lessened, I finally took note of how sickly and exhausted my dad looked. To put it mildly, he looked like a walking corpse.

But if what Nebula said is true, he's been in space with no food, water, or oxygen for almost a month. His condition was a lot better than it should have been in that situation.

Oh, right. I forgot. Yeah, there's this blue alien/robot lady that was on that alien planet with my dad and she's been helping him survive. She's friends with Rocket, who is a walking, talking raccoon.

Apparently I've been so out of it this last month that I didn't notice that Rocket had been here since we left Wakanda.

I mean, how exactly do you miss a talking raccoon?

I think that just speaks to how distraught I had been.

"It's been thirty days since Thanos came to Earth." Rhodey started, pulling up various holograms of the people we knew for a fact had been affected by Thanos' snap.

I saw pictures of Sam, Wanda, T'Challa, Shuri, and countless others.

A small sob came to the surface when I saw James' photo go across the screen.

I just can't believe he's gone...

Loki seemingly sensing my sadness, quickly wrapped his arms around me pulled me back against his chest to comfort me.

"Thank you." My words, even in telepathy form, were still weak and grief stricken.

"World governments are in pieces." Nat spoke up next, her arms crossed as more people came up on the screen. "The parts that are still working are trying to take a census and it looks like he did... He did exactly what he said he was going to do. Thanos wiped out 50% of all living creatures." She then glanced over at me before correcting herself. "Well, almost 50%."

My dad furrowed his brows at her words, looking at all of us strangely. "What do you mean, almost? Did someone survive?"

"Well, yes, but-" Steve tried to explain but was quickly cut off.

"Great. Can we talk to them? Find out how they managed to resist the will of six Infinity Stones?" He questioned, making me feel sick to my stomach.

"It was me, Dad." I said quietly, the only thing grounding me and preventing me from throwing up being Loki's hands on my shoulders.