Lost Our Minds |5| The Ascension

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Endgame-Hopeless

Three weeks later...

Pepper found Zosia in the training room at the Avengers Facility, punching out her frustration. When she stopped for a sip of water, she spoke up.

"You know, the others are looking to you to lead."

Zosia looked up, surprised, then shook her head. "Well, they shouldn't. I'm..." She bit her lip. "I can't do that. I can't be that person, not alone."

"You don't have to," Pepper assured her. "You know, Steve and Tony... they were both huge personalities. They clashed, and I wish they didn't, but... Testosterone does that. But just because they couldn't get on, doesn't mean we can't."

"I'd like that," Zosia admitted, unwrapping her fists. "But I still don't think I should lead."

Pepper chuckled. "Of course you don't. Which is exactly why you should. I've seen the press releases, the interviews, the reports. They all agree. The world just lost Captain America, and it's crying out for a new one."

Zosia snorted derisively. "Anyone can pick up the shield."

"Not everyone should," Pepper countered. "Look, I know we don't really know each other, and I know it's only been a few weeks, but... I think we should work together. With everyone that's gone, like it or not, we're what's left. We've gotta pick up the pieces. Maybe it's—" She cut herself off, looking around. "What's that noise?"

Zosia turned, searching for the source. Her eyes locked onto the weights, which were vibrating. "I think something's coming." They rushed to the window.

Outside, the lawn was lit with a glowing figure as it placed a plane-like spacecraft—the Benatar—onto the grass. Carol Danvers let the glow dissipate, then turned to the Avengers building.

***

Natasha sighed, watching as the faces of the dead floated in midair on a slideshow. "It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth. World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census. And it looks like he did exactly what he said he was going to do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent of all living creatures."

"Where is he now?" Tony asked. "Where?"

McKenzie's numb gaze was fixed on the images, watching as her husband's face appeared, followed by her brother's and most of her children's. Zosia bit her lip, knowing she wasn't properly with them. She knew how that felt. "We don't know," she answered.

"He just opened a portal and walked through," Rhodey explained.

Tony raised his eyebrows at Thor and McKenzie, both of whom were lost in mourning. "What's wrong with them?"

Rocket's eyes flickered to McKenzie, then to Thor. "He's pissed," he stated, deliberately ignoring the rest of the question. "He thinks he failed. Which, of course, he did, but there's a lot of that goin' round, ain't there?"

"Honestly, until this exact second, I thought you were a Build-A-Bear," Tony admitted.

"Maybe I am, pal, maybe I am."

Natasha rolled her eyes, crossing her arms next to McKenzie on the sofa. By now, the blonde's bump was showing—her pregnancy was as clear as her grief. "We've been hunting Thanos for weeks now. Deep space scans and satellites and we got nothing."

Zosia sighed. "Tony, you fought him—"

"Who told you that?" Tony cut her off. "I didn't fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street Magician gave away the stone. That's what happened. There was no fight."