The Garden

- - - - -

"What are you still doing up here?"

Ana tore her eyes away from the black sky to find Thor standing beside her, hands stuffed into his grey hoodie pockets with a small frown on his lips. She was sitting on the edge of the facility's rooftop, wearing only black sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt with the Avengers symbol stitched onto it. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, but she got to watch the sun set and the stars fill up the darkness. She didn't concentrate on the temperature drop or the fact that her stomach was growling at her to be filled with food. Ana felt she couldn't stomach anything yet. Not until she knew they were safe — Tony, Stephen and Peter.

Ever since Carol left a couple days ago to search for their whereabouts, Ana couldn't sleep. She didn't want to miss it. Ana wanted to be there when they arrived. More than anything, she wanted to hold Peter in her arms again, knowing he was safe. She kept thinking how she was going to break it to him that May and Ned were gone. Part of her didn't want to tell him. She only wanted to shield him from further pain and suffering. He took it hard when Ben passed away. Losing May and Ned would only pull him back into the deep, dark waters of mourning and grief. Ana was worried she wasn't strong enough to help him deal with his losses when she was struggling to come to terms with her own.

"I, uh..." Ana swallowed thickly, shaking her head to rid herself from her own hazy mind as Thor sat down next to her. "I'm waiting up for them. That's all."

Thor noticed Ana fiddle with her fingers in her lap. He reached over and held one of them, placing them both on his knee. "You haven't slept in days." He said.

"That's because I can't." Ana bit out. She lifted her chin and turned her head away. She felt the cool breeze graze her jaw, and breathed out as it passed on. "Every time I close my eyes, I see them. I see my father. Marc was the only one I saw it happen to. I was holding him so tight, thinking that I could stop it somehow. I felt him drift off. I felt him leave. I think... a part of me left with him." Ana's eyes met with Thor's. He blinked the blur away from his vision and ducked his head, concentrating on their hands. "I just don't know which part of me is left..." She whispered.

Thor didn't hear that last part.

"I know." Thor mumbled. "I don't blame you. It's easy to lose hope, even harder to find it again."

"But I have to try." Ana's shoulders slouched forward and she shook her head. "If not for me, then for everyone else. We have one more chance to stop him and bring them all back. I heard Rocket earlier. He's closer than ever in tracking him down. Using those parts from the alien ship that was in orbit helped him expand his parameters."

"You aren't aware of how that ship came to be?" Thor questioned.

Ana shook her head. "I think we were all preoccupied with Thanos. I did some digging with Natasha. Turns out that Inhuman called Quake was responsible. She was dealing with some retired Air Force general who wanted to pick the planet apart for Gravitonium. I doubt she did it on her own — not that I'm undermining her skill set — which was why I reached out. Sent her an encrypted message. If there are more allies out there, we're gonna need them in the long run. Especially someone with the power to destroy the world." She explained to Thor.

"Has this Quake sent word back?"

"No. Still waiting on a response."

Thor tugged at Ana's hands to get her to face him, and when she did, he frowned. "When we face Thanos again for the last time, you have to promise me something."

"What is it?" Ana questioned.

"Let me finish it." Thor said.

Ana's hands twitched. "Thor..."

"You saw what happened when he wielded the Infinity Stones all at once. It almost killed him. Out of us, I'm the only one who can handle that kind of power." Thor rushed to say. He wanted to establish this. That he was willing to reverse the effects of the Snap and make everything right again. There was a weight on his shoulders that he couldn't shake. A shadow that always followed him around. He knew what it meant. And he knew what he had to do to get rid of it — no matter the cost.

"But... you could die." Ana argued, drawing her hands back.

"That's up to Fate to decide." Thor remarked.

"And if Fate comes to a decision I don't like? Thor, I can't lose you." Ana gazed up at him, desperation in her eyes.

"I never said I was going to go quietly." Thor pointed out, earning a half-hearted scoff out of Ana. "Valhalla will have to wait a dozen more centuries before they can claim me."

Ana reached up and pulled him in for a hug. She hadn't done so in a while. Thor softened at the embrace and wrapped his arms around her back, resting his head against hers. They stayed there for a moment in silence. Then, the rumbling sounded. They looked up at the moon as a large shadow loomed across it. The Benatar.

"Danvers." Ana breathed out. She shared a look with Thor, who had gone quiet. He was anticipating the arrival of the people onboard. Ana wasted no time and slid down the building using the drainpipes, the soles of her shoes squeaking against the slippery metal as she descended. Carol was holding the underbelly of the Benatar, her illuminated form lighting the way down.

Steve, Natasha, Rhodey, Bruce and Pepper were already standing on the field, waiting for the ship to open its doors. Richard and Rocket stepped out, meeting with Ana. She looked at them, Rocket in particular when she recognised his team's ship, and offered her hand to him. He climbed along it and sat on her shoulders, sighing heavily. Now, Ana was eager to see the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

"I'm... I'm feeling a little sick to my stomach." Rocket confessed to her.

Ana moved forward with Richard in tow. "Same here, bud." She told Rocket. "I'm right here with you, alright?"

"Yeah." Rocket said softly.

When the ramp lowered, out stepped Tony with Nebula holding him up. Ana couldn't contain her sigh of relief. She practically bent over when the tightness in her chest eased just that little bit more. Rocket bounced from Ana's shoulders and approached Nebula while Steve raced to Tony. Ana put one foot in front of the other, eyes glued to the inside of the ship, waiting for the others to come out. Each step heavier than the last when no one else appeared. She heard Pepper and Tony express their relief seeing that the other made it. Their voices were difficult to piece out as the blood pumping in Ana's ears grew louder. Before she knew it, Ana was a few feet away from Tony. She reached out, and held him. Tony was weak, Ana knew that. She held him gently, fixated on the ship.

"You don't know how happy I am to see you, Tone." Ana said, swallowing thickly when the lump in her throat doubled in size. She pulled back and looked him over, "Where are Stephen and Peter?"

"I-I'm sorry, Ana." Tony breathed out.

All heads turned as Ana ran inside the ship, calling out the names of the people she demanded to see alive and unharmed. The soles of her shoes thumped against the metal floor of the hull, the sound bouncing off the walls. The first thing she noticed was the panels that were removed from their places on the ground, exposing mended fuel cells and electrical wiring. She stepped over everything, tiptoeing around littered objects. She didn't know where she ended up, but it was clear there was no one else on the ship. The lights were out. It was dark and cold. More exposed wiring. Tony had done his best to reroute power to the ship's vital systems. It looked like the Benatar was on it's last legs.

Ana must have circled inside the ship at least five times, wandering in a daze, unable to comprehend the fact that Peter and Stephen were gone along with the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy. She ran her fingertips along the stereo mounted into the wall behind the cockpit, and sat down on a nearby crate, leaning forward with her face in her hands. It was quiet before she started to cry. Then came the shallow breathing and heavy heaving. Her lungs were on fire. She lurched upright and placed a hand over her chest with a pained groan, shoulders slagging forward as she tried to stop her weeping. She couldn't let herself feel the entirety of it.

"He really took all of them, didn't he?" She murmured.

Rocket and Nebula were there. Both had downed expressions on their faces. There was a time, not too long ago, where the ship was lively and full of the greatest heroes in the galaxy. Ana would give anything to see Peter belt out the lyrics of his music while Gamora reluctantly danced with him. Drax would be telling Mantis stories of his youth that led her to burst out in uncontrollable laughter. And meanwhile Groot would follow Rocket around, saying the same three words over and over again but with different context. Ana missed them greatly.

Rocket stepped forward and rested his hand over her forearm. "The best ones." He mumbled quietly.

"Gamora wasn't one of them." Nebula spoke up. "Thanos got to her before he made it to Titan."

"So, she's..." Ana trailed off, closing her eyes. She couldn't even bring herself to finish the sentence. Could this get any worse?

Rocket shook his head. He was agitated. "I've got to get back. We need to find him, now."

Nebula went to follow after him, but stopped and turned to face Ana. She seemed hesitant to say something. They didn't really know each other that well. But with what little time Nebula had spent with the Parker boy, she realised just how much he meant to Ana. He had mentioned her name throughout their journey on Titan. Even in his last moments, all Peter wanted to do was make Ana proud of the person he strived to be. Nebula tried to see Ana's loss in a way that would relate to losing Gamora. It brought pain. The type she thought would last a long time. "You should know, the Spider-Boy was a fighter. He fought well against Thanos. Lasted longer than some of the most ruthless beings my father's encountered in the galaxy. You should be proud of him."

Ana peered up at Nebula, surprised by her statement. Grateful for it. She could always count on Peter to help others. It was in his nature. But the thought of him being in pain in his last moment crept up in her mind, forcing tears to form in her eyes. She blinked through them, and nodded at her. "Thank you, Nebula." Ana managed a smile, "But I was already proud."

Ana stood up off the crate and approached Nebula. She reached up and placed her hand on her shoulder. The action was unfamiliar to the blue skinned woman. She tensed because of it. Ana didn't seem to be bothered by it. "I'm so sorry about your sister." Ana said sincerely.

"No more than me."

- - -

"It's been twenty-eight days since Thanos came to Earth."

Ana listened to Rhodey as he began catching Tony and Nebula up to everything that had happened. They were all standing in the conference room with a large hologram of the casualties flickering in front of their eyes. She didn't understand the need for bringing up the dead, which was why she continued to avoid the faces she so desperately wanted to return. Looking around the room, Ana realised they were all having difficulty with it too. Carol was brought to tears when Fury's image came up. Tony lowered his head when Peter was next. Thor didn't even seem to be paying attention. Rhodey turned the display off.

"World governments are in pieces, as you can imagine. But the parts that still work are trying to take a census. It looks like he did what he said he was going to do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent of all the living creatures on Earth." Natasha explained.

"Where is he now? Where?" Tony asked.

"We don't know. He just opened a portal and walked through." Steve answered. "Ana went after him with her father..."

Ana crossed her arms over her chest and interjected. "And we couldn't do jack against him even after the Snap wore him out."

Tony pointed at Thor who was sitting off to the side. "What's wrong with him?"

"He's pissed." Rocket said. "He thinks he failed. Which, of course, he did. But there's a lot of that going around, ain't there?"

Tony turned to see Rocket for the first time. "Honestly, until this exact second, I thought you were a Build-a-Bear." He said, amazement on his face because of the talking raccoon.

"Maybe I am." Rocket drawled.

"We've been hunting Thanos for four weeks now — deep space scans, satellites — we got nothing. Tony, you fought him—"

Tony squinted at Steve. "Who told you that? I didn't fight him, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street magician gave away the store."

Ana frowned at that. "Wait, what?" She mumbled.

"There was no fight because he's not beatable." Tony continued, having not heard Ana.

"Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?" Steve pressed.

Tony resulted in making a fart noise with his lips and mockingly saluted Steve. Steve, Natasha and Rhodey all sighed at his behaviour while Ana kept going back to his words about Stephen. Strange willingly gave Thanos the Time Stone. She wanted to know why. She also knew she wouldn't get any answers while Tony was in this state, breathing in natural oxygen for the first time in weeks and being hooked up to an IV.

"I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming..." Tony babbled, avoiding Steve's questioning.

"Tony, I need you to focus..." Steve began.

Ana narrowed her eyes at Steve. He wasn't helping. Tony needed rest. "Steve, maybe we should..."

"No, Ana—" Steve went to say but again, was interrupted.

"And I needed you. As in, past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late, buddy. Sorry." Tony said, becoming antsy and unstable. He looked around at everybody, found that they were staring at him, waiting for him to go off. "You know what I need?" He tried to get up from the wheelchair, leaning over the table in front of him and knocking over the bowl of soup and glass of water meant for him. "I need a shave and a burger, not a bowl of soup." He ripped the IV from his arm, ignoring Rhodey's calls for him, and stared back at Steve. "And I believe I remember telling all of you, alive and otherwise, that what we needed was a suit of armour around the world! Remember that? Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not. That's what we needed."

"Well, that didn't work out, did it?" Steve replied.

"I said we'd lose, you said 'We'll do that together, too.' And guess what, Cap? We lost, and you weren't there. But that's what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We're the Avengers! We're the Avengers, not the Pre-vengers—"

"Okay." Rhodey nodded, trying to push Tony down into the chair.

"Right?" Tony looked at everybody.

"You made your point. Just sit down, okay?" Rhodey requested.

Ana stepped forward. "Tony, please."

"No, no. Here's my point. You know what?" Tony pointed at Carol. "She's great by the way. We need you. You're new blood." He shrugged off Rhodey's hands from his arms and walked up to Steve, "Bunch of tired old mules. I got nothing for you, Cap. No coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero, zip, nada. No trust. Liar..." Tony ripped the RT from his chest and forced it into Steve's unwilling hands. "Here. You take this. You find him, you put this on, you hide."

Tony fell to his knees with Steve instantly leaning down to grab ahold of him. "Tony!"

"I'm fine." Tony said breathlessly.

Ana circled around the table just in time to catch Tony before he could collapse onto the floor and hurt himself further. She lowered themselves down, kneeling in front of him when his eyes fluttered shut. Tony succumbed to unconsciousness and Ana was left to hold him up. "Dammit, Tone." She muttered through clenched teeth, lightly tapping his sunken cheeks. In her arms, Ana could tell just how much weight he lost during his time in space. She held him like glass. Careful not to bruise his weak muscles.

"Bruce!" Ana shouted for the doctor. In a second, he appeared. He helped Ana load Tony onto the wheelchair.

"He's too weak." Bruce sighed, and asked Rhodey to wheel Tony into the medical bay. Ana watched them go, still kneeling with one leg on the wooden floors. She traced her mouth with one hand as she replayed the events in her head.

Ana stood and spun around to face Steve. "You pushed him too much."

Steve's jaw clenched. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have."

Natasha could see how Ana was standing up to Steve. Challenging him, even. Part of Natasha agreed with Ana, pushing Tony to think beyond his own understanding was asking too much of him. He just got back. But the other part of her wanted to know where Thanos was, and time was running out for all of them. Ana could tell her words caught Steve off guard. His eyes squinted slightly while his lips parted. That was unlike her. She took a beat. She didn't mean to come on too hard and too fast. "We just have to wait for Rocket to pull up a report. He's been working on it day and night. Soon, we'll have something. And then we can fix everything." She reminded him. He nodded, and looked down.

There it was again. Ana held back a breath. The painful reality of a future where they couldn't save the people that were snapped away. It latched onto her mind. She tried to shake it. She lifted her hand to the back of her head and excused herself from the group, fists clenched tightly at her sides.

Natasha watched closely. Ana hadn't been acting like herself lately. She wanted to chalk it up to the Snap. But there was something else. Something familiar. Something to do with her HYDRA programming. That much strain on a person sharing a mind with her dead father's memories was bound to lead to some serious issues. The last time Natasha confronted Ana about her HYDRA background, it didn't end well. It was as if she had poked a rabid bear inside a cage. Ana was forced into a time where she had to relive painful memories. She closed up and left. Natasha wasn't ready to do that to her again. She didn't want to lose Ana, no matter how much of her was left.

Carol's brown eyes narrowed when the room went silent. It was uncomfortable as hell. "Who's in charge around here?" She asked.

Steve looked back at her. For a moment he had forgotten she was there. "It's more of a team effort."

Carol motioned to Ana who was standing by the windows overlooking the small garden. "Some team. You all talk to each other that way?"

Natasha's lips pressed tightly together. "Difficult times. Everyone's on edge."