The Valiant (The Seventh Avenger)

Chapter 77

I wake up to the compound trembling, the walls vibrate and shake as the floor groans at the sudden movement. A bright light flows through the window before disappearing and I jump to look outside. A large space ship descends to the ground and I knew what that meant.

Tony is home.

I burst through the door and take off down the hall, tears flowing down my cheeks to finally seeing one of my best friends safe and sound. Steve holds Tony up as the two of them walk down the ramp.

Pepper, who came over last night, grabs and kisses her husband-to-be. Anticipation trickles in all eyes as they gaze at the home-comer. My footsteps send everyone to look in my direction once I get close enough, but I stop a few feet from Tony. I don't know what his opinion on me is now. I don't know how he thinks of me. If he blames me for our loss or if he hates me now or doesn't want to see me. It is my fault.

Tony and Pepper gaze at me, their eyes softening, just a little. I take a step forward. Then another. One foot in front of the other as I finally see and can touch my parents after two long years. Their arms wrap around me and my nerves relax at the feeling. It is a different type of hug compared to others, I feel safe in their arms. I tremble in the warmth, in the comfort. I don't deserve to have my family here. But there are still empty spaces in the picture.

After a few moments, Tony kisses the top of my head. Tears trickle down his cheeks when he looks at me.

"I'm so sorry, Grace," he says and I embrace him. He knew that Peter meant a lot to me, but I knew he was a son to Tony. I can't imagine what it must be like to lose one of the people you take under your wing. "I lost him." He whispers.

My arms wrap tighter around him and my heart throbs at the feeling of his ribs. My gaze flows up to his face and sees the battles he faced both eternally and externally. His skin has a yellowish tone and red rim his irises. The two of us release each other and make our way into the compound to figure out the next steps to defeating Thanos.

Tony sat in a wheelchair and the rest of us waited for him to eat the oatmeal that sat in front of him on the table. The pictures of our fallen friends and family surround us on the projectures. A picture of Peter appears on the one in front of Tony and the two of us look away from it. I rub my eyes and look over at a Carol with tear-filled eyes as she stares at Nick's face, confirming I was right. So many people we know disappeared, so many people and creatures were affected by this.

"Thanos wiped out fifty percent of all living creatures," Natasha explains to Tony of our situation. Thor looks up at us, his eyes telling a story of guilt and regret about not going for the head. We all have regrets from the fight. I should have done more for everyone... and maybe everyone would be alive.

"Where is he now?" Tony looks back up at us, his eyes still contemplating a plan.

"We don't know, he just opened a portal and walked through," Steve crosses his arms and leans against a table. His gaze locked on the floor in defeat. Tony rolls his chair away from the table and points at Thor.

"What's up with him?"

"Oh, he's pissed. He thinks he failed," all our gazes travel to the talking raccoon. "Which, of course, he did. There's a lot of that going around here."

"Honestly until this exact second, I thought you were a build-a-bear," Tony replies. A smirk plays on my lips at Tony not knowing about Rocket. It's nice to have him back.

"Maybe I am."

"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks, now," Steve cuts into the conversation, it was always him that stayed on task. Sometimes I wonder what my job on the team is. I can't just be the child everyone keeps an eye on, I can't be the girl with the ability of the stones. I just can't. "Deep space scans and satellites and we got nothing. Tony, you fought him."