The Prince and the Sol

Chapter 8

ELIZA'S POV

"How's Tony?" I ask Rhodey as I sip a cup of tea. He shrugs. Thor just continues silently eating his poptarts next to me, completely ignoring what happened this morning. Fine with me. 

"Bruce gave him a sedative. He's gonna probably be out for the rest of the day." I nod. It's probably for the best. He wasn't in his right mind last night. 

"You guys take care of him. And I'll bring him a Xorrian Elixir when I come back," Carol says, nodding to herself as she starts to leave the room. 

"Where are you going?" Nat asks, confused. 

"To kill Thanos." 

I gape at the others. "Hold on a second!" I hop up from my chair and grab her arm, stopping her from leaving. She seems surprised. "Listen, you haven't fought him. I fought him with a sorcerer, a genius, a human spider, and this weird space version of the Avengers. And we still lost. There's no way you can do that by yourself." 

"You know, we usually work as a team here, and between you and I, morale's a little fragile," Nat says, motioning Carol back in. 

"We realize up there is more your territory, but this is our fight too," Steve says. 

"Do you even know where he is?" Loki asks skeptically. She gives him an exasperated look. 

"I know people who might." 

"Don't bother. I can tell you where Thanos is." Nebula enters the room, taking a moment to survey us all. As if she isn't about to share crucial information. Just say it! "Thanos spent a long time trying to... perfect me. And when he worked, he talked about his great plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. I'd ask, 'where would we go once his plan was complete?' His answer was always the same: 'to the Garden.'" 

"That's cute." Rhodey says this like he's talking about puppies. "Thanos has a retirement plan." 

I snort into my drink. 

"So where is he?" Steve asks, leaning on the table. The raccoon, who introduced himself yesterday as Rocket and a friend of the Guardians, answers. "When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions. No one's ever seen anything like it. Until two days ago, on this planet." He points to a holographic image. Nat leans in, her eyes widening, while Steve paces behind her. I bend down to examine it myself. 

"Thanos is there," Nebula says, pointing to the planet. 

"He... used the stones again," Nat whispers. A sickening feeling settles in my stomach. What did he do this time? What else do we have to fix? 

"Hey, hey, hey. We'd be going in short-handed, you know." Bruce looks at us all apprehensively. I do see his point, but it's not like we can call in more of the team. We're all we've got left. 

"Look, he's still got the stones," Rhodey argues. 

"So let's get him," Carol interjects. Her eyes don't leave the hologram. "And use them to bring everyone back."

"Just like that?" questions Rhodey. 

"Yeah. Just like that," Steve says grimly. His blue eyes meet mine, and I instantly know we're on the same page. 

"Even if there's a small chance that we can undo this... I mean, we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try," Natasha adds. 

"If we do this, how do we know it's gonna end any differently than it did before?" Bruce asks, still not on board. 

"Because before you didn't have me." I hold my breath to see how the others take this bold statement. We are a team, after all. One person doesn't necessarily make a difference, but I have to give Carol props for her confidence. I would never say something like that. I'll leave the bravado to Tony. 

"Hey, new girl? Everyone here is about that superhero life," Rhodey snaps, glaring. "And if you don't mind my asking, where the hell have you been all this time?" 

"There are a lot of other planets in the universe," Carol says calmly, tilting her head to the side. "And unfortunately, they didn't have you guys." Steve's eyes narrow, considering this idea. Personally, I want to ask her, if she's so powerful, why she wasn't there to save Asgard, but now really isn't the time. Besides, the woman rescued me from the void of space last night. I don't need to get angry with her. 

Thor stands from his spot at the table and walks over to Carol, sizing her up. He holds out a hand, and Stormbreaker flies to it, whipping her blonde hair. She doesn't even flinch. A slow smile spreads onto her face as he nods in approval. 

"I like this one," he says, then chuckles.  

Steve's gaze slowly lifts from the hologram to us. "Let's go get this son of a bitch." Everyone scatters to go prepare. Before he leaves, I lean in conspiratorially to him, then whisper a word in his ear. 

"Language." He ruffles my hair, laughing a bit, then heads out. I move to go get my suit, but Loki stops me. 

"Where do you think you're going?" 

I mock Carol's answer. "To kill Thanos." 

He rolls his eyes, unamused. "You should stay with Stark. You don't have enough strength for something like this." 

"Try me," I say, letting golden magic swirl between my fingers. It's a simple trick and he knows it, but I don't know how else to show off my magic. "I'm perfectly able to go!" 

"Eliza, you're weaker than usual. Your powers are not back to normal, and a little golden light will not kill Thanos. It's not an insult to you. Everyone here knows your strength, and wants you to get better." 

"Listen, I've fought him twice already. That's two more times than some of the others." 

"And you almost died both of those times!" he argues. 

"But I didn't." He sighs and I grab his hand. "Loki, we need as many of us as possible to take him down. Please?" He looks ready to say yes until another coughing fit overcomes me. Crap. My husband offers me a cup of water, the ghost of a triumphant smirk on his face. "Oh, shut up." 

"Go find Pepper, love. She'll be able to help you. I'll be back soon." He gives me a kiss on the forehead and teleports away. Stupid attractive husband. I stomp off to find Pepper. 

How's everyone doing today!