AVENGE THE FALLEN | AN ENDGAME READER INSERT STORY

part eight

"Hey, you got that bowl of parts over there that I need?" 

You lifted the pair of goggles - your father's safety things - off your head. "Yup," you said. You grabbed the bowl and slid it across the table at Rocket.

He stopped it with his paw without looking. It had been four days of working nonstop in the lab together, besides taking short breaks for showers and meals and tiny increments of sleep, and you were getting used to each other.

He was singing the lyrics to some old song while he worked on the weapon that he was making. 

You'd sent the message out three days ago. Your expectation of an answer was getting tinier and tinier, but you nor Rocket had much time to think about it as you built weapons from the old, outdated ones your dad kept around.

"We need music playin' in here," he commented. 

"On it," you said. 

"And none of that new crap you played yesterday!" he said. 

"Alright," you said. You flipped on the old stereo your dad had. You weren't sure why he still kept it around; FRIDAY was able to do anything he asked of her. But you didn't have access to FRIDAY; something was wrong with her and you weren't sure how to fix it. 

You flipped through the channels, spinning the same dial in the same direction to find an oldies station. When there was nothing but static, emergency broadcast sounds, and news reports full of weeping people telling sad stories, you flicked it off.

"Or not," he said. 

You sighed. "Easy to forget this is the end of the world sometimes," you said. 

"Yeah." He grabbed a bottle of liquor; your father's stash that you gave him access to. He took a swig directly from the bottle, wiped his face with his entire arm, and slammed it down roughly. "I always remember when I try to sleep."

"Yeah," you said. "I do, too."

He coughed awkwardly. "Anyway, you got anything else that plays music 'round here?" 

                                                                                   ***

An hour or so later, Rocket was singing along quietly to a song playing from your father's old iPod. You were working on your own project when the door slid open. You glanced up, seeing Thor and smiling-

"We need you two out here," he said urgently. 

Your eyebrows furrowed. "What is it?" You dropped what you were doing and got up. Following Thor out the door, you rounded the hallway and went down to the main room. 

Rocket scrambled up your back, perching on your shoulder. He held a bomb in his hand.  

"What are you doing? Put that away," you said to him. Then you turned into the room and froze. 

A woman was standing in the middle of the room - a woman that you had never seen before. Her eyes were on you. Nat was closest to her, her hand on one of her swords that were attached to her back. 

"You sure you want me to put this away?" Rocket muttered. 

You swallowed thickly.

"This is her," Thor said to the stranger. 

You looked at him, confused. Why did she have to speak to you?

"She wanted to see the person in charge of us," he said. 

A bit of pride filled you. You weren't quite used to taking over your father's position yet. 

You approached the woman slowly. The symbol on her suit was familiar to you, but you couldn't place it. "Who are you?"

"My name is Carol Danvers," she said.

"___ Stark," you replied, cautious. Your hands were curled into fists, just in case. "How did you find us?"

She nodded to the table. Turning your head, you saw that it was the pager that Fury had left behind. The symbol, your realized. Your lips parted, ready to ask questions-

"Ask her-" Nat jerked her head in your direction, "What you asked us."

"Where is Fury?" she asked. 

"It was for you," you said, looking at the symbol on her suit. "He was calling for you."

"Is he here?" 

You pressed your lips into a tight line. "No," you told her, "he isn't. Over a week ago, we fought a war. We were up against a Titan named Thanos, but we lost.

"We lost a lot of people," Thor said. 

You nodded. "Thanos was able to take out half the population of all living things with a simple snap of his fingers. As far as we can tell, the pattern of people dying was random. But Nick was one of the casualties. I'm so sorry."

Her jaw hardened and hurt flashed in her eyes. She nodded shortly, and started to walk around the room, observing it. Everyone remained in silence. 

"We all lost people," Steve said.

"I can see that," she replied. She approached the screens that showed the lost so far. "He called me to fix this."

"But who are you?" you asked. 

She looked at you. "I'm Captain Marvel."

"Why in the heck would the Fury guy call you?" Rocket asked. "What's so special about your powers that could help us win this thing after all?"

She looked at him, then quickly threw her arms forward. A blast of bright blue, hot energy was thrust into the wall. 

Your heart was in your throat. You knew that power. You had that power. 

Tears in your eyes, you looked back at her.

She had it, too. 

Everyone fell silent. They were all looking at you. You stepped forward and held out your hands. Rocket stayed still on your shoulder as you let your power ignite across your arms; blue tendrils of energy surrounding them. 

Her eyes flashed. "You have this power, too."

You nodded.

She stepped forward and held up your hand. You didn't know if you should trust it, but you did-

You touched your fingertips to hers. She smiled as the energy got brighter. 

It used to be Peter that made you feel not so alone. Recently, you didn't feel alone when Rocket was letting you hang around. But in this moment, you felt completely understood. She shared your powers. They were the same. 

You weren't the only one.

"I thought I was the only one," you said. 

"Me too," she replied. She slowly dropped her hand. 

Her eyebrows were pulled together. "So who are you guys, anyways?"

"We're the Avengers," you said. 

Her lips twitched into a smirk, a twinkle of something you didn't understand in her eyes. "Avenger, huh?"