The White Phoenix 10: An Avengers: Endgame Fanfiction

Chapter 8: How, When And Where

'Alright, so the 'how' works,' Steve was saying to all of us, as we sat in a room, with holograms of the Infinity Stones showing up in front of us. 'Now we gotta figure out the when and the where. Almost all of us has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones.'

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

'Or being experimented on by one of said Infinity Stones,' I piped up.

'I haven't... I don't even know what the hell you're all talking about,' Scott spoke. I shook my head.

'Regardless,' Bruce Banner said, 'we only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each, and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history.'

'Our history,' Tony piped up. 'So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in.'

'Which means we have to pick our targets,' Clint spoke.

'Right on the money, Barton,' I piped up again.

'Correct,' Tony said. Then Steve spoke up.

'Let's start with the Aether. Thor, what do you know?' We all turned to see Thor, his sunglasses on, and his hand half down his ragged pants.

'God, that's gross,' I spoke. I rolled my eyes and looked away.

'Is he asleep?' Natasha asked.

'Nah, I'm pretty sure he's dead,' Rhodey replied. I hid my mouth behind my hand, trying not to laugh.

A few moments later...

'Quill said he stole the Power Stone from Morag,' Rocket Raccoon announced.

'Is that a person?' Scott Lang asked, his mouth full of noodles.

'Morag's a planet. Quill was a person,' Rocket snapped back, obviously impatient with the lack of knowledge. And so far, I was thinking the same.

'A planet? Like in outer space?'

'Dumb-ass,' I scoffed, rolling my eyes for perhaps the hundredth time that day. Rocket marched across the table and started to ruffle Scott's hair.

'Oh, it's like a puppy, all happy and everything. Do you wanna go to space? Do you wanna go to space, puppy? I'll take you to space.' A few moments later, we were all listening to Nebula talking about the Soul Stone.

'Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir,' she said.

'What is Vormir?' Natasha asked in a business-like tone, while scribbling down notes for the 'plan-to-save-the-universe,' as I had dubbed it.

'A dominion of death, at the very centre of Celestial existence. It's where... Thanos murdered my sister.'

'Great! Sob story number 2!' I declared, pumping my fist in the air. An awkward silence kept falling over the room.

'Not it,' Scott said. Many more moments later, the Time Stone popped up on the screen in front of us. Tony and Natasha were lying on the table, surrounded by scraps of paper, and Bruce was laying on the floor. I was laying on the floor as well, my feet up on a chair as I flipped idly through my exhaustive notes.

'That Time Stone guy...' Natasha trailed off.

'Doctor Strange,' I spoke out.

'Yeah, what kind of doctor was he?' Natasha asked.

'Ear-nose-throat meets rabbit from a hat,' Tony replied sarcastically.

'Nice place in the village, though,' Bruce said. I laughed.

'Yeah, Sullivan Street,' Tony replied.

'I think it was Bleecker, Tony,' I shot back.

'Wait, he lived in New York?' Natasha asked.

'No, he lived in Toronto,' Tony replied. I shook my head.

'Guys,' Natasha spoke out, 'if you pick the right year, there are three stones in New York.' Bruce and I both sat up in surprise as I threw down my notebook.

'Shut the front door,' Bruce and I both said at the same time.

All of the stones popped up on holograms in the planning room. The Soul and Power Stones were in space in 2014 on Vormir and Morag, the Reality Stone on Asgard in 2013 and the Space, Mind and Time Stones in New York City in the year 2012. Steve walked up, with the rest of us coming up behind him.

'All right, we have a plan. Six Stones, three teams. One shot,' he said.

Moments later, we were all gathered on the platform, all dressed in our respective time travel suits, ready for the jump into the Quantum Realm, on our way to saving the universe. Steve began to speak to all of us as we gathered in a small circle.

'Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends... we lost family... we lost a part of ourselves.' I smiled softly as a hasty tear dripped down my cheek, thinking of Bucky and Wanda. I wiped it away very quickly and Steve subtly reached for my hand and I clasped it gently. He gave my hand a squeeze, then went on. 'Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. It doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives... and we're gonna win.' Tony and Steve shared a small look. 'Whatever it takes. Good luck.'

'He's pretty good at that,' Rocket said, referring to Steve's speech.

'Right?' Scott replied, looking perhaps a little too excited.

'All right, you heard the man,' Tony said, breaking into the playful banter. 'Stroke those keys, jolly green.'

'Tractors engaged,' Banner replied. Rocket turned to Clint, who had a shrunk form of the ship that the Guardians of the Galaxy owned, called the Benatar.

'You promise to bring that back in one piece, alright?' he asked, almost scolding the poor man.

'Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I'll do my best.'

'As far as promises go, Clint, that was pretty lame,' I called out. He laughed. Next to me, Natasha was smiling excitedly.

'See you in a minute,' she said, smiling at both me and Steve. I winked at her as our helmets closed over, as well as Tony's, Steve's, Thor's, and everyone else's helmets. I nodded as we all shrunk into the Quantum Tunnel, ready for our missions.

New York City, 2012.

Tony, Steve, Scott, Bruce and I landed in a nearby alleyway, close to where the fight was happening with us OG seven Avengers. Our time travel suits disappeared, revealing our Avenger suits, with the exception of mine being white instead of red. The cape trailed behind me as I put on my now-white helmet, which I hadn't worn in years. Arranging my hair behind me, I waited for Steve's orders.

'All right,' he said, coming up to the four of us. 'We all have our assignments. Two Stones uptown, one Stone down. Stay low. Keep an eye on the clock.' He came up to me. 'Really, the helmet?'

'It's just in case I run into my 2012 self. Just for keeping her out of my head.' Just then 2012 Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk, came running through, smashing Chitauri soldiers and cars along the way. I saw Bruce wince and raise a hand to his forehead.

'Feel free to smash a few things along the way,' I called out to Bruce.

'I think it's gratuitous, but whatever,' he spoke. Ripping his shirt off, he sarcastically attempted to smash a car and throw a motorcycle and I nearly doubled over in laughter. When we were all arranged in our places, I spread my wings and flew off towards the Stark Tower, with Stark on my trail.