Caffeine Rush (Avengers Fanfic)

Chapter 35: Rush Returns

I came crashing back through the compound, running into doorways, glass walls, and tipped over the couch in my desperate attempt to reunite with my espresso machine. I could sense people gathering as I frantically blitzed around my coffee station, thanking all the caffeine gods that be for their existence and continued support of my efforts as I made shot after shot until my mug was full. I slowed to normal speeds, my hands steadying with this pure and unholy coffee monstrosity in my grasp. Tipping it back, my tongue immediately regretted it, but I drank down every last drop.

Drinking espresso like water after running for six weeks straight is probably not the best idea I've ever had. That thought hit me as dark spots appeared in my vision. "Someone better catch me if I faint." I said in an 'or else' tone while trying to support myself against the countertop. Black spots could also mean that I was bottoming out on my calories, universe juice was a poor substitute for pizza on an empty stomach. I miss Uncle T's cooking, totally loaded with all the Italian calories one could ask for. Great, now I was sad and hungry, depressed eating is not good for the digestive tract, or mental health.

"Tony, why can't you make ultra high calorie protein bars for me?" I whined as my body slowly slid to the floor like a child having a tantrum.

Tony, somewhat perplexed, looked down at me and offered, "Uh... because I'm not a food science expert?" It sounded like half a question as if he was unsure himself before declaring in an almost nonchalant but definitely no room for discussion tone, "I'm a mechanic." Most downgraded job description I've ever heard but okay, let's go with that. He's a mechanic and that's why he couldn't Cisco-fy my calorie intake. Disappointing but understandable.

"I want pizza." I grumbled, stomach growling loudly. My brain felt fuzzy, like the moments just before sleep takes you when you try to fight to keep your eyes open and you slip under for a few seconds at a time because it's so easy to. I hadn't had a proper sleep in about the same amount of time but I could hold it off a moment or two to get some food. What was the important thing I was gonna tell them once I got back?

My thoughts were quickly distracted when someone offered a sizzling hot slice of cowboy pizza with banana peppers, which I immediately grabbed and devoured, and then a second, and a fourth, and a ninth. "Jes, what happened when you were gone? You look like you haven't slept or eaten in a month."

"That's cuz I haven't." I nodded in a childish resolution, "it was too important, I couldn't stop running, not for something so trivial." I waved off the thought with my fourteenth slice of pizza, brain fuzzy with fatigue, the coffee had already started wearing off.

"Like your health?" Steve offered sarcastically.

I pointed at him, playfully scrutinizing his face before swinging my arm around wildly. "When it comes to the death of the multiverse, the health of one little speedster doesn't seem like much in comparison, now does it?" I should not be saying so much, these were speedster secrets, but if we couldn't stop the snake from waking up, it wouldn't matter anyway. Maybe I could consider being a bit more loose-lipped, especially if it meant a better chance of cooperation.

"Yeah, I'm gonna need more than that." Tony cut in, a certain, almost invisible edge of concern creeping into his voice.

I offered a crooked grin when the thought from earlier returned to me. "We need to open the bridge." Explanations could come later, they needed to know what the next step was now.

"Why would we want to do that? You remember how dangerous it is, you were the one who explained it." Bruce questioned from the back, but I could already see the calculations going through his head, what might be required, always thinking three steps ahead.

I nodded comically up and down, "very dangerous, very bad. But the snake needs to go back to sleep so we need to open the bridge." I offered Lokitty a small piece of crust which he nibbled out of my fingers, contentedly sitting on my lap.

"How much of this are the rest of you getting?" That was Sam, the Birds were very smart logical thinkers; cause becomes effect. Without explanation, or context, my jumps in conversation were harder to follow, but now was not the time to explain speedster lore or world ending prophecies. They needed to know what the next step was, and if they trusted me, they would go through with it in the event that I passed out or was otherwise incapacitated without requiring that explanation.

"Not a lot, keep talking Rush, tell us about the bridge, what does the snake have to do with it?" When did Dr. Strange get here? I didn't remember inviting Gandalf to my tea party.

"Considering that I didn't have to give you those boots, I think I deserve a compulsory invitation." Must've said that out loud then, oops. I appreciated that he just went with it though, maybe have to reward that later. "Where do the snake and the bridge connect, Jesse?"

Lokitty started kneading the biscuits against my leg, a green and gold wisp of magic encasing his paws with light. I immediately felt more clear headed and stroked the length of his body in appreciative thanks, playing a little with his silky soft tail. "If they can't stop their foe from waking the snake, they will force an incursion by any means necessary as a backup plan."

"Potentially causing an incursion is . . . a backup plan? Am I getting this right?" Bruce questioned. I think it was to himself, but it was loud enough that I heard it, and he sounded confused, maybe I should use an analogy. Lucky in this particular situation, it wasn't really a separate thing, just a much smaller comparison, much smaller.

"I really shouldn't say anything, none of you have the qualifications to know multiverse secrets of this magnitude." I sighed, knowing what needed to come next, if for nothing other than my own personal satisfaction with the events to come. "To hell with it, maybe you'll understand the reasoning when I explain it like this. The death of two leaves is better than the entire tree. If the snake wakes, he will rot it from the inside, devouring everything, the tree dies with no leaves remaining. That's why they're willing to risk an incursion, to stop the poison from spreading, so to speak."

"Then why so many attempts to create a bridge? Why so many rifts?" Tony pulled up a hologram of the timeline with points along it marking each rift event, the location, what they had faced, and the number of casualties. The number was high, much higher than I would have liked, seeming to increase substantially with each new mark on the timeline. "There have been more rifts in increasing frequency since you left."

"The attempts were to test the barrier protection to see if they could break through it without assistance from the other side. That's why they chose this universe, because they knew there was someone who could let them through, I should have seen it sooner. The situation must be getting more dire on their end, hence the increase in frequency."

"Then a decision must be made," Gandalf decreed, "by the people in this room. Do we take down the barrier or not?"