The Seventh Stone (Stony Marvel Story)

(Chapter 9)

We almost had him in restraints.

Not Thanos, of course. I mean, that was the intended goal, but it turns out Steve was not the best for digesting informtation.

"I ju- she sa- I... WHAT?!" He flew out of the chair, and Nat had to hold him back from latching out in fear. "You can't... I- You're all insane. INSANE. You know that?" He sank back into his chair, waving a finger at all of us. Scott snickered, and I kicked him under the table.

Steve did have a point. He never did well with accepting the fact that he missed fragments of existance.

"Try to relax, Steve," Bruce said calmly, and Cap simply shrouded in his shoulders. He was trying to process everything we had told him. "So..." He laid his hand on the table, flitching as if the table was too modern for his touch, "this is 2023?"

"Yes," Nat replied. "Pretty nice, right? I mean, do you feel these chairs? They are just amazing," I grinned toward him, spinning around in a circle. Steve managed a small smile, then turned back to Nat.

"And we lost?"

"We lost."

"Half of the population?"

"Gone..."

"BUT," I interjected, placing my feet on the ground to stop the chair. "This is why we brought you here. We think, because of this lad," I rested a hand on Scott's shoulder, and he jumped at the impact, "that we can reverse the snap." Scott beamed, mumuring, "Quantum Realm baby."

"It just, it sounds insane." Steve laughed nervously, looking around. All of us stared back, unamused (except for Scott, who was now whistling to Don't Stop Me Now ). "You guys are crazy, I'm sorry," Steve got up, the chair hitting the wall. " I don't know... maybe this is a crazy dream, maybe I went crazy in that portal thing..."

"Quantum Realm," Scott intersperced.

"Yeah, in ...that... guys, we don't know what matters of mass we are playing with. We don't know how to get there, or if we can get back. It's just too much of a risk."

With that, he got up to leave the room. I ran up to him and blocked him from the door.

I caught onto those mesmerizing eyes yet again.

"You trust me, right?"

Steve, no longer hesitant, replied, "Of course."

"Then trust me when I tell you that we are going to defeat him. All of us," I gestered around the room, to Bruce, Nat, Scott and a knocked out Thor. "You have to believe me when I tell you that we can do this. We're going to defeat him, together."

"Together?"

"I'm not letting you do this alone. Together, Cap."

Steve looked as if he was going to burst into tears. He sighed, looking at the ground and the ceiling, all around but toward me. "This time..." He bit his lip worridly, "I wouldn't leave your side. I promise."

"You broke that promise last time..." I whispered.

"I wouldn't leave this time."

"You said that before too. How do I know you're not gonna run off and break that again too? Cause, last time I checked, you had NO problem leaving me on my own," I spat, grimacing at the anger twitching through my jaw.

"That was in the time before. And now, I can look you dirctly in the eyes and tell you I will not leave your side ever again." Steve studied my face intently, locking serious eye contact.

Sparks choked my throat. My heart stopped beating for a moment.

"Even if that meant losing again?"