❝Whatever happens, just know that I never stopped trying.❞
. . .in which she must do whatever she can to protect the world and what's left of the ones she loves.
[BOOK THREE]
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★ ★ ★
It was almost impossible for Marlena to drown out the sound of Rocket's voice. She'd been listening to him drone on for about five minutes and each second that continued to pass was beginning to feel longer and longer. She wished the team would hurry up; she wished Tony wouldn't call everyone to the conference area at a specific time and not be on time himself. Marlena and Rocket were the only ones who'd arrived so far, and she wouldn't have put it past Tony to tell the two of them a different time. It'd been ten years, and he still enjoyed annoying the hell out of her. She couldn't help but love it, though.
"So, when did you and Captain Fancypants get together?" Rocket asked Marlena, a quiet laugh escaping him over the thought of it.
The brunette looked at him with bored eyes, her lips pressed to the top of the mug in her hands. She knew he wasn't finished saying what else he needed to say, so she remained quiet as she sipped away at the tea Tony made for her. It was pushing ten o'clock, and Marlena was just ready to figure out the game plan for retrieving the stones so she could take a nap.
"I mean, he's one of the few decent-looking humans I've ever seen," Rocket laughed loudly and slapped his hand to the table. "And he chose you?"
"Let me ask you something, Rocket," Marlena replied nonchalantly. She sat her mug down on the table and met his eyes. His words hadn't effected her whatsoever; they never did. She knew better than to take him seriously. "Say today I somehow miraculously get my powers back? How would it make you feel knowing I could permanently snap your jaw shut? Do you think you could handle never speaking again?"
"You terrans are a tough crowd," Rocket shook his head at Marlena and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Yeah, well, we're a lot tougher than we look," Marlena remarked.
Multiple footsteps could be heard, and Marlena turned her head to see Tony, Steve, and Natasha heading into the conference area, while the remainder of the team followed behind. The brunette held her arms up at Tony and scoffed. They were incredibly late.
Tony took a sip of his coffee and smirked at Marlena. "How long you been in here, Claire?"
Marlena rolled her eyes at him and picked up her mug. She knew he had told her a different time on purpose. "You're quite possibly the most annoying person on the planet," she grumbled before taking a sip of her tea.
"Yes, I know," Tony said and placed his cup onto the table. "By the way, I bought blonde roast for a reason, yet you fixed the dark."
"Yeah, you'll get over it."
"If you two don't mind..." Steve said to the two as everyone settled into their spots around the room.
Marlena sat back in her seat and pulled her legs up with her, thankful that she now had on leggings rather than jeans. Tony made himself comfortable standing at Steve's side. It made sense that the two of them were in charge of the meeting. She figured Thor could've joined them, but one look in his direction alerted Marlena he wouldn't be joining anyone any time soon. He was asleep, or at least that was what it looked like to her. She just wasn't sure how he managed to fall asleep so fast, but she figured it was the alcohol. It was the only explanation.
