❝like a phoenix, from the ashes she rises.❞
[the avengers: infinity war - the avengers: endgame]
[oc x t'challa]
[oc x steve rogers]
[oc x peter parker]
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Catalina banged on the door to the headquarters. "Open up! The Avengers are having a reunion!" Catalina shouted through the glass over and over until someone opened the door. They were met with the face of Bruce Banner. Catalina cocked her head angrily.
"Hey guys..." Bruce awkwardly spoke.
"What the hell! We did not walk for five fucking hours to see your ass here. Did Strange transport you here? Or did you catch a cab? You know what, don't tell me or else I'll be more pissed off." Catalina brushed past him to walked straight into the building and into the main conference room. Amelia shook her head at Bruce and followed Catalina in.
As soon at the two entered the conference room, they stopped in their tracks. Amelia's knees buckled and her eyes locked upon the faintly familiar face of the man that she loved. There stood Steve. Now, with longer hair and a full beard. Steve froze at the sight. He went pale, as if he had seen a ghost. Amelia ran into his arms instinctively and wrapped her arms tightly around him. "H—how?" He began to ask.
"It's a long story." Amelia sighed out in his arms. She didn't want to let go, she felt safe under his touch.
Steve looked down and grabbed her face, squishing her cheeks to be sure that she was real. "I don't believe it." He whispered.
Amelia's eyes filled with tears as she looked up at him. He looked horrible. His eyes her sunken. His forehead wrinkles were more prominent. His hair was browning. He seemed broken. She compared the last time she saw him to that very moment. "You look terrible." Amelia mentioned, sniffling.
Steve laughed lightly, his chest warming as he realized that truly was his wife. It wasn't some imposter. It was a ghost. It wasn't some trick. It was truly her. He grasped her more tightly than before and held her close. He didn't want to let go either, he felt like her death was his fault. He shouldn't have ever left her side, especially while she was pregnant. "I'm so, so sorry." Steve's voice cracked as he recalled the incident.
"It was never your fault." Amelia assured. Steve sniffed the top of her head, taking in that peculiar scent of hers that he once smelled every night when they'd go to bed.
* * *
Not only did Steve and Amelia receive their reunion, Amelia, Falcon, War Machine and Natasha rejoiced in each other's presence as well. Amelia was also introduced to Vision and Wanda Maximoff. Wanda, Vision, Amelia, Steve, Catalina, Sam, Bruce and Rhodey all gathered in the conference room to talk. "So we've got to assume these aliens are gonna come back." Rhodey spoke up.
"And they could clearly find us." Wanda added.
"We need all hands on deck. Where's Clint?" Bruce asked Natasha.
"Chose his family over the Avengers." Natasha huffed.
"Oh my gosh... okay look, Thanos has biggest army in the universe and he is not gonna stop till he gets Vision's stone and Amelia's half of the time stone. He already got Strange." Bruce decrescendoed his voice as he spoke, wanting to keep the bad news to himself.
"He has Strange?!" "Amelia has a stone?!" "Wait what?!" "Oh hell no."
Everyone's voice overlapped each other, making the noise sound like a screeching noise of a crowd rather than interrogatives being thrown out in the open. "Yes, Amelia has powers because she possesses one half of the time stone in her. And Tony is already on it to get Strange back." Bruce calmed the group.
Steve scoffed. "No way are we letting you go out there." Steve spoke to Amelia.
"I'd like to agree, after seeing what we have going against us with Tony. But, if anyone stands a chance against them, it'd be me, Vision, Wanda and Strange.
"Then we have to protect them." Natasha announced.
"No, we have to destroy it. I've been giving a good deal of thought to the stones. I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something very similar to its own signature, it's molecular integrity could fail." Vision interjected, looking at Wanda— insinuating she'd have to kill Vision and possibly kill Amelia.
"We're not having this conversation." Wanda growled at Vision.
"We're not going near Amelia with that plan either." Steve barked defensively.
"Destroying the stone is the only way Thanos can't get it." Vision retorted.
Wanda shook her head. "That's too high a price."
Vision caressed Wanda's face. "Only you have the power to pay it." Wanda brushed him off and walked away from him. She wanted nothing to do with killing him, her newfound lover, and Amelia, a legendary superhero.
Amelia and Catalina remained silent. They both knew there was no way in hell that the others would kill Amelia, especially after just so recently getting her back from the dead. Particularly Steve would die before he'd let her return to her grave. "Thanos threatens half the universe. Two lives cannot stand in the way of defeating him." Vision reasoned.
"Two very important lives. Two very unique and powerful lives. Lives that shouldn't need to die because they can defend themselves. I'm sorry, Vision, I know we just met and all, but, if you've heard anything about me— you'd know that I'm blunt as hell. And when I get short with people— ahem, or AI's like you— I start to fucking cuss. So, if you'd allow me to speak on behalf of my fucking self— on behalf of my own damned life—, I'd like to note that I'd like to live." Amelia popped off out of nowhere on Vision. She had been trying to keep her cool, because she was so sure that the other Avengers would never allow such a thing to happen to her, however, his advocation for destroying the stones were growing intensely strong and it was scaring the hell out of Amelia.
"We couldn't be certain that it'd kill you, though." Vision argued back.
"Exactly. When in doubt, don't do it!" Amelia wisely spoke.
"We don't trade lives, Vision." Steve spoke out, oddly calm. Amelia noticed his newly assumed character. He was so, exhausted and lifeless. His happiness and eagerness was sucked away. Hell, he didn't even wear the American flag as a suit anymore. His suit was now completely navy and bare. Even his flashy shield was missing.
On the other hand, Amelia was the same person. She was still the loud, obnoxious woman she was just before she died. It was as if all the time she spent six feet under didn't exist, and it was simply another day. "Captain, 70 years ago you'd put down your life to save how many millions of people. Tell me, why is this any different?" Vision approaches Steve in an intimidating way. Steve stepped forward and straightened up to assert more of his dominance.
"Because you might have a choice. Your mind is made of out a complex construct of overlays: JARVIS, Ultron, Tony, me, the stone. All of them mixed together. All of them learning from one another." Bruce spoke up before Vision and Steve began to bicker.
"You're saying Vision isn't just the stone?" Wanda inquired.
"I'm saying that— if we take out the stone: there's still a whole lot of vision left. Perhaps the best parts." Bruce theorized.
"That's just a hypothesis. We'd have to analyze the composition and structure chemically, organically, electrically and through its coding." Amelia scoffed, waving off the insane possibility.
"Can we do that?" Natasha questioned.
"Not here. Not me." Bruce huffed.
"Well you better find someone and somewhere fast." Rhodey spoke lowly.
Catalina smirked from the corner of the room. "I know someone who can help you." Cata snickered, thinking of her sister-in-law.
Amelia crossed her arms, pissed. "That's still doesn't sell me on destroying my half of the time stone. It may be what is keeping me alive right now. It may be what resurrected me." Amelia elaborated.
"We'll figure it out there." Catalina assured Amelia, waving her anger off as a petty insult.
