Pull | Infinity War

Chapter 19: "Kick names, take ass."

Now Playing: The Humbling River: Puscifer

It'll take a lot more than words and guns

A whole lot more than riches and muscle

The hands of the many must join as one

And together we'll cross the river

In the end, Iris did pass out, but only for about two seconds. Then she woke up on the ground, with Stephen slapping her face.

Not the first time that'd happened, but hopefully, the last.

She didn't actually lose consciousness until Stephen had safely portaled them out of the ship and onto solid ground. Maybe it was the stress? The lingering feeling that everything was not going to be okay? Whatever it was, it dimmed for a blessed few seconds when Iris touched the planet's surface.

Up until then, everything was a blurry haze, her eyelids were heavy with fatigue, but she fought to keep them open, and her brain semi-alert. The instant she collapsed and the ship began its free fall, Stephen wrapped one of her arms around his shoulders, using the same one to support her waist as he hauled her to her unsteady, wobbly feet.

His other hand, adorned by what seemed to be a two-finger ring, formed precise loops in the air. A circle opened up in midair, and on the other side, was their entire group, gathered waiting for them. Stephen shuffled forward, dragging Iris with him, and crossed through the sparking, orange portal. It closed behind them and Iris collapsed entirely. 

Stephen lay her on the dusty, red ground with the help of Tony and Parker. The Guardians remained on standby, watching the ship crash through old structures, and, to the unforgiving ground. 

Then he started slapping her cheeks. Iris was told later by Peter that she was incredibly pale, and when Stephen had taken her pulse, it was scarily slow. "Iris, dammit wake up."

Wake up she did. It wasn't a jolt, where she'd sit up with a start, no this was a 'fluttering of eyes' situation. Like the shutter of a camera lens, Iris's eyes opened to the sight of Stephen leaning over her. She groaned and found her throat was dry as hell.

Dry as hell? Is hell dry? I always assumed it was full of fire.

You hurt my head sometimes.

Iris moaned rolled onto her side, "Five more minutes." She couldn't tell if it was Stephen or Tony who laughed at her response, but whoever it was, the other mumbled about how much of an idiot she was. 

Nevermind, that was Stephen, Tony would be the one laughing.

Stephen put a hand on her shoulder, "Can you stand? Please don't tell me you're going to pass out again, I don't want to slap you." Iris did not quite know the answer to that question.

The pain had faded, though there was a still a dull, constant throbbing in her temples and her throat was still drier than a desert. Her eyelids were incredibly heavy like someone had attached dozens of weights to them. In other words, like waking up early on a Saturday morning. Torture.

"You slap me again and I'll throw you into Tomorrow Land." Tony laughed again, and Iris could've sworn she heard Strange roll his eyes.

"My question still stands. Pun intended."

"I hate you."

"Whatever floats your boat."

"If I wasn't so tired, I'd smack you back to New York."