Swan Song ✧ STEVE ROGERS [✓]

80 - He Is... Inevitable

HALF AN HOUR PASSED, AND RAEVANNA NOW STOOD OUTSIDE TONY'S ROOM, TALKING TO NEBULA AND ROCKET. Pepper was by Tony's beside, while Diana leaned against the wall in the hallway across from the door as she watched Tony, and Rhodey, Carol, Natasha, and Steve stood across from Diana, also watching Tony. Diana had been silent since she had spoken with Steve, and though her face didn't show it, Raevanna knew she was still upset with them. Still, Raevanna had hope that she wouldn't let her anger get in the way of their mission. 

"So lemme get this straight," Rocket said to Raevanna. "You're this... magical creature called a faery, but you look, sound, and act like a human?" 

Raevanna nodded. "That's right." 

"Well, where are your wings, then?" Rocket asked. "Didn't you say faeries have wings?" 

"They do," Raevanna said. "But I also said that I don't have them out all the time, I usually hide them when I don't need them or when I need to be inconspicuous." 

"But why must you hide them so often?" Nebula asked. "From what you and your friend have told me, your wings are beautiful. Why keep them out of sight, even when you don't need them?" 

"Because, Smurfette," Raevanna said with an eyeroll, "Wings aren't something that's normal here, and if I were to walk around with my wings out all the time I would get captured, shot, or worse." 

Both aliens were silent for a moment before Rocket grinned and nudged Nebula's leg with his elbow. "I like her," he said. 

"Bruce gave him a sedative," Rhodey said, catching the trio's attention as he referred to Tony. "He's gonna probably be out for the rest of the day."

"You guys take care of him," Carol said from her spot beside them. "And I'll bring him a Xorrian Elixir when I come back." Then, without waiting for a reply, she turned and walked away.

Raevanna frowned in confusion. "Where are you going?" she asked.

Carol didn't even look back as she said, "To kill Thanos."

Natasha and Raevanna shared a look before walking after her.

"Hey, you know, we usually work as a team here," Natasha said to Carol, causing the blonde woman to stop and face her. "And between you and I, morale's a little fragile."

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

That was when Diana finally spoke. "Do you even know where he is?" she asked, causing everyone to look at her.

Carol raised an eyebrow at Diana. "I know people who might."

"Don't bother," Nebula said from her spot behind Carol. "I can tell you where Thanos is." Everyone faced her, so she explained, "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, Thanos has a retirement plan," Rhodey commented.

"So where is he?" Steve asked.

That was when Rocket stepped forward. "When Thanos snapped his fingers," he said, "Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions. No one's ever seen anything like it... Until two days ago." He brought up a hologram of a planet, with a shockwave visibly traversing the surface. "On this planet."

"Thanos is there," Nebula said.

Natasha nodded. "He used the stones again."

"Hey, hey, hey," Bruce said, jumping in quickly. "We'd be going in short-handed, you know."