Rumors and Ghosts

xiii. birds sing and phones ring

AVENGERS HQ - QUANTUM PLATFORM

Everyone looked around to see all the recovered Stones.

"Did we get them all?" Bruce asked.

"You telling me this'll actually work?" Rhodey questioned.

There was a pause as everyone started to realize someone was missing.

"Clint, where's Nat?" Bruce wondered.

The silence from Clint told them all they needed to know. The mission was completed but at a dire cost. Sadness overtook everyone. Bruce fell to his knees and pounded the floor in grief.

OUTSIDE HQ - LAKESIDE

Tony, Steve, Thor, Clint, Anastasia and Bruce were mourning their fallen teammate and friend.

"Do we know if she had family?" Tony asked.

"Yeah. Us," Steve replied.

Thor, confused, questioned, "What?"

"I just asked him a question–" Tony was cut off.

"Yeah, you're acting like she's dead. Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the Stones, right? As long as we have the Stones, Cap, we can bring her back, isn't that right?" He growled. "So stop this shit. We're the Avengers, get it together."

"We can't get her back," Clint said.

"Wha– what?" Thor asked.

"It can't be undone. It can't."

Thor dryly laughed. "I'm sorry. No offense, but you're a very earthly being. Okay? We're talking about space magic. And "can't" seems very definitive don't you think?"

Clint said to Thor, "Yeah, look, I know that I'm way outside my paygrade here. But she still isn't here, is she?"

"No, that's my point–" Thor was cut off.

"It can't– be undone. Or that's at least what the red floating guy had to say." He shouted. "Maybe you wanna go talk to him, okay? Go grab your hammer, and you go fly and talk to him!" Clint's anger was quickly replaced with grief. "It was supposed to be me. She sacrificed her life for that goddamn Stone. She bet her life on it."

In a burst of anger, Bruce grabbed a bench and hurled it clear across the lake. His anger spent, he turned to the others with a resigned look on his face and said, "She's not coming back. We have to make it worth it. We have to."

"We will," Steve and Anastasia reassured.

"We must," Anastasia added quietly.

AVENGER'S LAB

Tony carefully placed the Stones in the gauntlet he made while Bruce and Rocket watched. With nervous precision, Tony manipulated the machine and carefully placed all six Stones into the gauntlet.

"Boom!" Rocket cried.

Tony and Bruce jumped a bit, and quickly groaned at Rocket's joke.

---

Everyone gathered around the finished gauntlet in another room.

"All right," Rocket said. "The glove's ready. Question is, who's gonna snap their freaking fingers?"

"I'll do it," Thor told them.

"Excuse me?" Scott asked.

"It's okay."

Everyone held up Thor. "No, no, no, whoa. Stop. Stop. Wait a sec. Hey, hey–"

"Wait, wait, Thor, just wait," Steve told him. "We haven't decided who's gonna put that on yet."