Swan Song ✧ STEVE ROGERS [✓]

87 - From the Future

RAEVANNA, THOR, AND ROCKET POPPED OUT OF THE QUANTUM REALM, APPEARING RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROYAL PALACE IN ASGARD, YEAR 2013. Raevanna looked around, slightly in awe; she had never been to this part of Asgard before, and even though they weren't outside, it was still magnificent. 

"Where are we?" Raevanna whispered. 

"The prison cells," Thor said. 

Raevanna crossed her arms, huffing slightly. "Pretty nice for prison cells." 

"Hey," Rocket snapped. "Listen, we ain't got time to marvel at the buildings. We got a job to do, so let's get it done and get out, alright?" 

Both Raevanna and Thor nodded, and with Thor in the lead, they snuck through the room. As they moved, Raevanna noticed Loki sitting in one of the cells. Her jaw tightened, but she pushed aside her anger and continued on, moving past the cell. Then, they stopped at a pillar a few meters away from the room where a lovely brunette woman was - Jane Foster. 

"That's Jane," Thor said. 

"All right," Rocket said. "Here's the deal, Tubby. You're gonna charm her, and then Wings here will knock her out so I can poke her with this thing-" He held up a device. "-and extract the Reality Stone and get gone, lickety-split." 

"I'll be right back, okay?" Thor said. "There's a wine cellar, that's just down there. My father used to keep a huge barrel of ale. I'll see if the cellar has a couple of-" 

"Hey!" Rocket snapped, cutting him off. "Hey! Aren't you drunk enough already?" 

"Rocket's right," Raevanna said. "The last thing we need is for you to drink more than you already have." 

Suddenly the door opened, leading Raevanna, Thor and Rocket to try to hide. Then, several Asgardian ladies led by a regal-looking blonde woman walked past. Raevanna recognized her as Frigga, the queen of Asgard and Thor's mother. When Raevanna was very young, her adoptive parents had taken her to Asgard to meet with Frigga as a cultural exchange. Raevanna had liked Frigga right away; she was kind and benevolent, and very wise. 

"Who's the fancy broad?" Rocket whispered. 

"It's my Mother," Thor said.

"Frigga," Raevanna added softly. 

Rocket glanced at her in surprise. "You know her?" 

"Yeah," Raevanna said. "My parents and I met her once, when I was small." Raevanna smiled softly. "She was very kind to me." 

Thor turned to her, seemingly surprised by her words, before he turned back to watch his mother and said quietly, "She dies today." 

Rocket blinked, shocked. "Oh. That's today?" 

Thor immediately began to panic, breathing heavily as he muttered to himself, "I can't do this. I can't do this. I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't have come. This was a bad idea." 

Rocket huffed quietly, moving to stand in front of Thor. "Come here." 

"No, no, no," Thor continued. "I think I'm having... I'm having a panic attack. I shouldn't be here... this is... this is a bad-" 

"Come here," Rocket said, cutting him off. "Right here." Then, he suddenly slapped Thor right in the face. 

"You think you're the only one who lost people?" Rocket snapped. "What do you think we're doing here? I lost the only family I ever had. Quill, Groot, Drax, the chick with the antenna, all gone. Now, I get you miss your Mom. But she's gone. Really gone. And there are plenty of people who are only kinda gone. But you can help them. So is it too much to ask that you brush the crumbs outta your beard, make schmoopy talk to Pretty Pants, and when she's not looking, suck out the Infinity Stone and help me get my family back?"