Avengers: Breathe (Avengers: Infinity War Major Spoilers)

Chapter 4

The Avengers discussed their plans until close to midnight, by which time all were exhausted, and Natasha had already fallen asleep. Unfortunately, they hadn't gotten far. Okoye had ended up in the Wakandan executive meeting, and had been unreachable, and curfew forced the Avengers to stay in their apartment. Natasha had spoken to Matt again, but due to his unique personal situation, he couldn't get access to the Lost Property desk at the NYPD. He'd also discovered that a number of his good friends were missing, and was dealing with that by taking up his own form of justice to protect New York. Bruce had FaceTimed Pepper, but she couldn't make heads or tales of the FRIDAY interface, and both she and Bruce were getting frustrated at the situation. Steve had told her to expect Nat's lawyer friend to call, and Pepper was grateful for that kind of help. Steve had also been in contact with Wong, though he was too tired to make much sense out of what the sorcerer told him. Thor tried to contact his acquaintances at NASA, but only Darcy answered, and she was stressed, rambling and generally unhelpful. Rocket sat on the floor, pulling apart pieces of equipment he and Thor had collected earlier, putting them back together in different configurations, and mumbling about insufficient transmitters.

The Avengers retired to their respective rooms, but Steve stayed in the chair by Natasha's side, as much because he didn't want to be alone as any need she had for him to be there. He woke at first light, and finding himself wide awake, decided to go and make the team breakfast. The fridge and cupboards in the small kitchen were well stocked, and he realised that the Wakandans must have planned to the Avengers to stay here before the battle, before everything went wrong.

Steve set about making stewed fruit and porridge, and brewed fresh coffee; keeping himself busy and his mind occupied to distract himself from the darker regions of his thoughts. They had to get back to New York as soon as possible, of that he was sure. He sipped at his coffee, stirred the porridge, checked the fruit.

He was close to going and waking someone up, anyone, even the racoon, just to have someone to talk to. Bucky couldn't be gone. Not like that. And not Sam too. Stir the porridge, check the fruit, sip coffee, repeat. The sun was beginning to rise, and the sky looked spectacular.

"I am yet to find a planet that does not have glorious sunrises," Thor said, his sudden presence causing Steve to jump. "Except for worlds with extreme atmospheres. Or that themselves are suns. Or that are in fact asteroids, and not connected to any specific solar system. Or - "

"Morning Thor," Steve said, wondering how anyone as big as the god could move as quietly as he could. Also, upon sizing Thor up, Steve wondered if the breakfast quantities would suffice. "Sleep well?"

"Well enough," Thor opened the fridge, took out the carton of orange juice, opened it, and drank it straight from the carton.

"Want a glass?" Steve suggested.

"This is fine," Thor said between gulps. Within moments he had finished it, and peered into the fridge in search of another.

"Maybe wait til the others are up," Steve suggested, putting the carton down the recycling shute. "The porridge is nearly ready, but maybe you'd like some bread and jam first?" He pushed the dark, grain-filled loaf towards Thor, who tore off a chunk and slathered it in jam. Steve shook his head and smiled to himself. Stir, check, sip.

Thor sat down at the table and ate the bread. Steve watched him.

"Hmm," Thor cast his eyes around the room.

"What?" Steve asked.

"Perhaps it is just the early morning light, or my mind is playing tricks. Allowing me to see what I want. Allowing me to feel as though this is all one elaborate trick of Loki's. I keep believing I see the light flicker in the corner of my eye, as his illusions would when they began to fade. That I shall turn and see my brother standing against the wall, doubled over as he laughs, hardly able to say 'oh brother, you should have seen your face'." Thor sighed heavily, "I want to believe..."

"Huh," Steve said. Last night, Thor had filled them in on his adventures over the past few years, finding Loki, finding Bruce, losing Loki again as Thanos came for them upon their ship. How Loki had gone back for the Tesseract when Asgard was crumbling, which had turned out to be one of the Infinity Stones. How Loki had stalled Thanos, Bruce had charged, Heimdall sent Bruce to Earth, Heimdall was killed, Loki was killed, the ship destroyed, Thor found by a team who called themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Thor sighed. "What I would not give for that to be the case. I must believe he knew what he was doing. It does not make sense otherwise. Loki must have known - something. I know he can act nobly. Perhaps he was just stalling for time. Giving them as much of a chance as he could..."

"Who's, 'them'?"

"Sorry?"

"Who was Loki buying time for?" Steve asked. This was new information.

"Valkyrie and Korg."

Steve sighed, sorry he'd asked. Naturally, this was only going to get weirder.

"We only had one pod capable of making the journey," Thor said, perking up as he spoke of his friends, swallowing a mouthful of bread and wiping his mouth with his hand. "Loki, whilst posing as my father, sent Lady Sif on a errand. For all my brother's total lack of judgement, that was one moment of wisdom. Though we only have a rough estimate of Sif's whereabouts, and it's possible that she knows naught of the destruction of Asgard or what has since followed, she - I need my team, Captain. And if Sif is all that remains, then by the Allfathers I shall move planets to have her back by my side."

"Half of everyone," Steve said quietly.

"I know," Thor said, finishing the bread. "But I need this. I need her. I need to believe. Were circumstances different, in another five hundred years or so, I quite believe that Lady Sif and I would have settled down, wed, and had a good handful of strapping children; fierce girls and fearsome lads. Or perhaps the other way around, knowing their mother."

Stir, check, sip. The fruit was done, and Steve turned off the heat. He knew what Thor was feeling. Futures that had once seemed so sure, which would now never be. The Howling Commandos. Peggy. Bucky. He had to get Bucky back.

"If Lady Sif and the others are out there," Steve said, "How will they know where to find us?"

"Sif will know to aim for Midgard, knowing that I've allies here," Thor said, "Valkyrie knows that too, though it has been a millennia since she were last here. If we can get a communication device working, and I believe the Rabbit can, then we I know we can reach them."

"When we get to New York," Steve said, taking the porridge off the heat, "I'm buying you a picture book of native America animals."

"Something smells all right," Rhodes said, shuffling into the kitchen.

"Timing's not too bad either," Steve said.

"Is there any OJ?" Rhodes asked, opening the fridge.

Steve glanced at Thor, who didn't seem to notice. "Don't think so," Steve said, finding a serving spoon and bowls, "But I've made fresh coffee and the breakfast is ready."

"Did someone say coffee?" Bruce asked, looking still half-asleep. "I need about a litre, then we gotta find some way to get to New York. I've been thinking about it, and FRIDAY is still our best hope for getting in contact with Tony or anyone else he was with. I can make it work, I just need to be there in person."

"The Captain requires a bookstore," Thor said, taking his bowl of porridge and fruit.

"We need clearance to leave, first," Steve said, portioning up the last of the porridge. Though he'd used all of the oats available, the Wakandans clearly hadn't bargained on catering for an ancient norse deity.

Rocket joined them soon after, and Steve made sure to put a bowl aside for Natasha, whom he decided to let sleep. As Bruce and Rhodes started on the dishes, Natasha appeared.

"Here she is," Steve said, smiling kindly.

"Feeling ok?" Bruce asked.

Natasha shrugged and looked aside. "Still no word from Clint," she said, almost choking on the words.

Steve got up and went and gently wrapped his arms around Natasha. She lent into him. He wasn't about to let Natasha fear she was alone. "We're going to New York," Steve said firmly, "We will get clearance, and we will go today."