Saving Grace

Eighty Six

They're all in the conference room, projected screens displaying each of the Stones at the front of the room, where Steve and Tony are standing. Everyone else — Rhodey, Nat, Nebula, Rocket, Bruce, Clint, and Grace — is sitting at the table or in the chairs against the wall. Grace is at the table, in between Rhodey and Nat.

"Okay, so the 'how' works," Steve says. "Now we gotta figure out the when and the where. Almost all of us have had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones."

"Well, I'd substitute the word encounter for well near been killed by one of the six Infinity Stones," Tony corrects.

"I haven't," Scott interjects. "I don't even know what you're all talking about."

"Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each — minus one — and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history," Bruce says.

"Our history," Tony adds. "So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in."

"Which means we have to pick our targets," Clint says.

"Correct."

"Let's start with the Aether." Steve turns to Thor. "Thor, what do you know?"

Thor, however, doesn't seem to be listening. He's laid back, his eyes closed. Grace almost expects to hear snoring.

"Is he asleep?" Nat asks.

"No, no. I'm pretty sure he's dead," Rhodey says, and Grace gives him a reproachful look before getting up and shaking Thor awake gently.

He's confused at first. "Wh-What?"

"We're talking about the Infinity Stones so we can go into the past and get them. You know about the Aether, so..."

He gets up. "Ah, yes right, right." He walks to the front of the room while Grace sits back down, watching as the screen projects the Aether — aka the Reality Stone. Thor clears his throat. "Uh, where to start? Um... The Aether, first, is not a stone — someone called it a stone before. Um, it's more of a... an angry sludge sort of a thing, so someone's gonna need to amend that and stop saying that...

"Here's an interesting story, though, about the Aether: My grandfather, many years ago, had to hide the stone from the Dark Elves." He moves his hands as if telling children about ghosts. "Oo, scary beings. So Jane, actually-" he turns and sees a picture of her on the screen behind him "-oh, there she is. Yeah, so Jane was a- an old flame of mine." He smiles at this. "Uh, you know, she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time and- and then the Aether stuck itself inside her, and she became very, very sick, and so I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I'm from. And, uh, we had to try and fix her. We were dating at the time, you see, and I got to- got to introduce her to my- my mother-" his face falls, and he sounds as though he's going to cry "- who's dead, and um... oh, you know, Jane and I aren't even dating anymore, so... Yes, these things happen, though, you know? Nothing last forever. The only thing that-"

Tony steps forward, seeing that it's not going to get any better and Thor definitely needs a break. "Why don't you come sit down?"

Thor evades Tony's hands. "I'm not done yet. The only thing permanent in life is impermanence." He laughs at this.

Tony claps a little. "Awesome. Eggs? Breakfast?"

Thor shakes his head. "No. I'd like a Bloody Mary, thank you."

Grace gets up and walks over to him, while the others continue talking. "Thor?" she says quietly.

He turns to her. "Yes, child?"