Last Night on Earth

- - - - -

Ana tried her best to ignore the looks she was receiving as she ordered her eleventh overpriced coffee at the cafe, barely able to make out Tony's mechanic handwriting on the small pink post-it note stuck to her palm. It was close to eight in the morning, with a sliver of amber sunlight hitting the corner store windows. The people in line behind her audibly cursed and groaned out complaints at the delay. Ana had half a mind to toss them all into an endless falling loop, then thought of how she would react if she was held up by an insanely large coffee request and opted out of it... this time. It was day one of brainstorming their how's and where's to pull off Scott's Time Heist — mission title still pending. Back at the compound, everyone was awake whether they liked it or not. Some were irritable, which was why Tony suggested a quick coffee run to ease some nerves and warm some bellies. Ana pulled the short straw and had to make the trip into the city. After handing the barista the stack of money, Ana stepped aside and pulled out her phone when it buzzed.

"Don't forget the pastries." Ana read out quietly, and sighed, responding to Natasha's text with a thumbs up. She glanced up at the male barista and gained his attention with a mediocre hands up. "Hey, um, how long until everything's ready?" She asked in her nicest voice.

He gave her a blank stare. "Gotta be at least 30 minutes. Troy is out back looking for our biggest cup for Brian's order."

"Bruce." Ana corrected, then snagged a napkin on the table in front of her, writing down her number. "Do you mind giving me a call once it's ready? I'll be right back."

He shrugged and turned back to his machines. "Whatever man."

Ana suppressed an eye-roll towards the lanky teenager and turned on her heel and walked out of the cafe. She turned to the alleyway next-door and jumped into a portal. She was bumped into from behind. A pair of strong arms encased her waist and she was drawn into Matthew's firm chest, smiling when she could feel the vibrations his body made from the way he laughed. He hid his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her sweet scent and pressed a light kiss on her shoulder. Ana closed her eyes with a delighted hum and covered his roughed up hands with her own, "Mmm, good morning Matty."

"Morning, Ana." His breath tickled the skin behind her ear and she held down a shiver. Ana turned around and she rushed to kiss his lips, missing his touch for the last couple of days. The feeling was more than mutual. Matt placed one hand on the side of her face, thumb running over her cheek bone and angling her face so he could deepen the moment between them. Ana ran her fingers along his waistband, finding his shirt was tucked into his pants. She broke away and looked down at his clothes, finally seeing him dressed in a suit, ready for an honest days work.

"Maybe later." She mumbled to herself and pecked his lips twice more. Matt's eyebrows rose from her statement and he smirked down at her, eyes hidden behind his crimson shakes. She didn't have to see them to know they shined with mirth. She shook her head silently and picked up each end of the tie that was loose around his neck, beginning a knot.

"You know, you now have a key to this place. Not that I don't like having you literally drop in out of nowhere..." Matt began to say, hands on her hips as he walked backwards, leading her to the round table behind him. He sat on the edge of the furniture and parted his legs enough for Ana to stand in-between them comfortably. He knew she had struggles with making a presentable tie.

Ana squinted at him. "It was a spur of the moment kinda thing, Red. Besides, the key is in my bag which is back at the compound. I'll be heading back there soon. We've got a lot of work to do." She told him.

Matt leaned in, nose almost brushing hers as he smelled the faint scent of freshly ground coffee beans on her coat. Ana lost focus on the material in her hands and paid more attention to their proximity. "Family meeting, huh?" He inquired.

Ana nodded soundlessly and went back to the royal blue tie. "Oh, you have no idea."

"Everything okay?" Matt asked, titling his head to the side.

Ana went to tell him about the things she saw. The alternate future. The death of her friends. It wasn't the right time. Nor was it something she wished to verbally revisit. She yanked at the tie around his neck and scoffed out a chuckle. "No. I can do this a lot quicker with a spell."

Matt narrowed his eyes down at the outline of her lips. He thought he heard a hitch in her heartbeat. "That spell makes me feel funny." He remarked.

Ana grinned. "You say funny, I say freaky—"

Matt seized her waist, pulling her closer, now chest to chest, and Ana shut up immediately, face flushing pink. She sucked in her lips and watched his mouth intently, hypnotised by the way he flashed her a handsome smile. She covered her mouth with her hands and shook with laughter. Soon enough, Matt joined in. He wrapped his arms around her and she held him close, enjoying the feel of him in her embrace. She couldn't believe how easy it was to let the heavy memory of her first time jump fade into the background when she was with Matthew. He had this way about him. Ana couldn't tear her eyes away from his face. She wanted to see every smile and hear every laugh. The sight and sound alone filled her with so much contentment. She cherished these moments in time. Loving every second she spent in his company.

"I get off work early today so I've got some time before I put the mask on tonight." Matt said, chin resting on the top of her head. "Can you come over?"

Ana nodded against his chest.

"I'd love to, Matthew."

"Use the key this time."

"No promises."

The Holo-Boards set up at the front of the living room showcased the Infinity Stones. Mind. Space. Time. Power. Reality. Soul. And above each word, their respective forms pictured. Loki's Sceptre. The Tesseract. The Eye of Agamotto. The Orb. The Aether. And for the last, taking into account as none of them have physically seen the form it took, a question mark was positioned above Soul. Ana handed out the last of the coffees, placed the box of assorted pastries on the centre table, and took her stance on the right side of Steve, who was standing in front of everyone, taking point on today's session.

"Okay. Now that we've got how, we're going to need the where and when. Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones."

Tony strode past Steve, one hand in his pocket and the other lifting a take-away cup to his lips. "Or substitute the word encounter for damn near been killed by one of the six Infinity Stones." He said.

"Well, I haven't. I don't even know what the hell you're all even talking about." Scott piped in. They all sent him looks. He lifted his shoulders slowly. "Just saying."

Bruce wandered the room, "Regardless, we've only got enough Pym Particles for one round trip each. And the Stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history."

"Our history." Ana added.

"So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop-in." Tony said.

"Which means we've got to pick our targets." Clint stated.

Tony pointed at him, "Correct."

"Let's start with the Aether." Steve said, and nodded his head at the Asgardian wearing sunglasses inside sitting across from him. "Thor, what do we know?"

Everyone turned to face Thor. It was quiet while they waited for him to respond to Steve. Ana tilted her head. Heard a steady heartbeat, and sighed.

"Is he asleep?" Natasha questioned, brows furrowing.

Rhodey crossed his arms over his chest as he openly sent the God of Thunder judgmental looks. "No. I'm pretty sure he's dead."

"Buddy?" Ana walked over to Thor, who was startled awake by her hand on his shoulder. He tipped his sunglasses, stared up at her with bloodshot eyes, and sniffed. "Oh, it's my turn?" He asked.

Ana went to help him up. He waved his hands dismissively at her and she stood awkwardly, watching as he drunkenly walked up to the front of the room. He shoved Steve out of the way, chortling with a loud belly laugh when the Captain tripped over his own feet into Clint. Ana shook her head slightly and walked backwards, plopping down in Thor's seat with her legs hanging over the armrest. She turned her head to face Natahsa who was on the sofa next to her. The women shrugged their shoulders at one another before facing the front.

"Uh, where to start? The Aether is firstly not a stone. Someone called it a stone before. It's more of a kind of an angry sludge sort of thing. So, someone's gonna need to amend that and stop saying that." Thor removed his shades and pulled out a small eye-drop container. He put a drop in his left eye, ignoring the robotic one Rocket gave him years ago, and resumed his presentation.

Meanwhile, Ana pursed her lips and typed on the holographic keyboard that blinked into view on her lap which was connected to the displays. She backspaced the 'stone' part in the Aether's profile and added 'angry sludge' to it. Rocket snickered when he noticed.

"Here's an interesting story though, my grandfather, many years ago, had to hide the stone from the Dark Elves in a rock between dimensions that can only be accessed every 5000 years. So Jane," An image of Doctor Jane Foster popped up on the Holo-Board. Thor took a second to admire the beautiful scientist. "Oh, there she is. That's Jane... She's an old flame of mine. She... she stuck her hand inside the rock this one time and then the Aether stuck itself inside her... And, she became very, very sick. So I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I'm from. And we had to try and fix her. We were dating at the time, you see. I got to introduce her to my mother... who's dead," Thor's eyes started to glisten as his speech became more broken, voice wavering as he continued. "And oh you know, Jane and I aren't even dating anymore, these things happen though you know, nothing last forever. The only thing—" Tony began pushing him back to his chair. Thor resisted. "I'm not done yet, the only thing permanent in life is impermanence."

"Awesome. Eggs? Breakfast?" Tony asked.

"No. I'd like a Bloody Mary." Thor answered.

"Maybe when it gets dark, yeah?" Tony patted Thor on his back and pushed him in the direction of his previous seat, which was occupied by Ana. Thor tugged at Ana's ankle that was propped up on the armrest and she vacated his chair, going to take her place at the front.

Ana sent everyone a smile. "All good to go on?" She asked. They send her a mix of nods and shrugs. She mirrored both of them and swiped her hand horizontally along the Holo-Board, revealing the Mind Stone next. Across the boards, clips and reports on the Infinity Stone populated the screens. "Most of you are aware of this guy." She focused on a phone recording of Loki attacking New York with his sceptre. The frame paused on a close up of the God of Mischief. Loki's golden helmet reflected the sunlight and his striking eyes were set directly on the person who was caught recording him, lips turned up into his signature mischievous grin. "Remember him? I sure as hell do. Unlike his brother, Loki wanted nothing more than to be a King. A ruler. Someone at the very top. And to get there, he made sketchy deals. Befriended bad people. Tricked his way into getting what he wanted." Ana said. "Thing is, after Loki disappeared from Asgard around 2011, Thanos snatched him up. He tortured Loki. Physically and mentally. Played into his ideals of being a King. Humoured his ambitions. Gave him false promises. Made him into one of his generals. Sent him to Earth with the sceptre so he could test out the waters. See what, or who, would try to stop a relentless God with an Infinity Stone. I'm sure Thanos was shocked to see us all banding together for the first time to stop Loki's invasion. He lost the chance at having both the Mind Stone and the Tesseract, the Space Stone, while also losing a battalion of Chitauri soldiers because of a failed invasion."

Ana took a breath while Tony glanced at the Avengers, giving them a thumbs up. "Good job team."

Clint stepped into Ana's view, hands in his pockets as he nudged his head at Loki's image. "How do you know about Loki being tortured? Sounds like you two got close."

Ana folded her arms over her chest defensively. "I got to know him better on Sakaar. Unfortunately, I started to like itty-bitty parts of him. When he wasn't trying to worm his way up the top, he was actually intelligent, somewhat thoughtful and funny to mess with. I'm not saying I forgave him for all the things he had done, but I know if there was a chance for him to be a better man, he would've taken it." She turned to look at Thor who was staring up at the boards, eyes on his late brother. "Thor and I ditched him on Sakaar, and instead of taking over the planet in the way he always wanted, he chose to come to our aid on Asgard. He saved his people. Fought by our side. I can't ignore the impact his actions had. For a moment there, Loki was a hero. Then he went and stole the Tesseract which was what caused Thanos to attack the Statesman in the first place."

The tenseness on Clint's face was still there. Ana smothered a grin. "I may have also pulled a Hulk and tossed him around by his cape for good measure."

Clint's eyes glimmered. "Nice."

Ana returned to the board, clearing all signs of Loki and brought up a closer look at the Mind Stone. "Back to the subject. The Mind Stone. Been through a lot of places throughout our early run as Avengers. After New York, HYDRA managed to get their hands on Loki's Sceptre. They studied it in Sokovia. Used it for human experimentation." Ana averted her gaze when Wanda and Pietro's protesting video that had been on the local news years ago popped up. "We stormed the castle in Sokovia that was testing it on our hunt for any remaining HYDRA loyalists and bases and Tony took the sceptre back. He then used it to create Ultron."

Tony's eyes hardened as he recalled the Age of Ultron. It was a tough subject, one Ana didn't want to talk too much about. "Look, I'm not gonna touch that. We were all there. We know what happened. One of the only good things to come out of it was Vision. Instead of being used against us as Ultron's ultimate weapon, he stood with us. Helped us end the Platinum Bastard. The Mind Stone couldn't have been in safer hands than with the Vision. And yeah, towards the end, Wanda was able to destroy the Stone in his head. The Mind Stone was the piece that would connect all the Infinity Stones together. Linked them up so they could act as one. Thanos knew this." Ana said sharply. She didn't know she could get this worked up over a memory. Her pulse was racing. Breathing was choppy. Knuckles white and hands balled into fists. "It was the last piece of his puzzle. He had five out of the six Stones by the time he got to Wakanda. Way too powerful for any of us to stop him collectively. We didn't stand a chance..." Her voice had settled to a soft mumble and she stared down at her shoes. Too embarrassed to look anyone in the eye, Ana closed her presentation on the Holo-Boards. "That's all for now, folks." She could feel multiple pairs of eyes on her with each step she took on her way to sit at the back of the room. She rested against the glass windows and crossed one knee over the other, fingers nervously picking at the tears in her denim jeans.

Scott turned in his seat to face her. "I thought that was a great lesson, by the way. I know more about the Mind Stone thingy now than I did before — which was nada."

Ana reached out to bump her fist against his raised one. "Thanks, bud."

"So, Ana..." Steve called as he stood at the front of the room once again. "Your recommendation?"

Everyone turned to Ana. "Anytime between Loki's arrival and just before we leave Sokovia with the sceptre. We can't have a doomsday robot learn about our plan to collect all the Infinity Stones. Can you imagine what would happen if Ultron figured out what the Infinity Gauntlet could do?"

There was a collective look of horror flashing across their faces at the possibility of Ultron wielding the Infinity Gauntlet.

"Yeah, let's try to avoid that outcome at all costs."

- - -

"Quill said he stole the Power Stone from Morag." Rocket said, standing on the dining table as they all ate their lunch.

"That's a person?" Bruce questioned, holding up a spoonful of Hunka Hulka Burning Fudge ice-cream.

"Morag is a planet. Quill was a person." Rocket answered.

Scott's eyes went wide. "Wait, like a planet... like in outer space?" He asked in disbelief.

Rocket pinched Scott's cheek. "Aw, look. It's like a puppy, all happy and everything. You want to go to space, puppy? I'll take you to space."

Ana grabbed her third box of Lo Mein and tapped her chopsticks at Rocket. "Don't leave out the best part."

Rocket covered his eyes with his paw. "Oh, Ana, don't say it. I've been trying to forget that day since it happened."

Ana stood up from her seat and wagged a finger at him. "You guys won the Power Stone back from Ronan because of a dance off! That is insanely cool!"

Steve frowned. "Dance off?"

"You've gotta be kidding me." Natasha chuckled.

Ana wasn't done. "And... to not die from holding the Power Stone, the Guardians joined up and shared the strain. Rocket, you should be proud of that day. I wasn't even there and I am."

Rocket shrugged. "You're right. We kicked all kinds of ass."

"Wait. What happens when you hold the Power Stone?" Clint asked.

"It eats away at organic matter." Rocket explained. "So try not to drop it."

- - -

Scott, Steve, Natasha, Clint, Rocket, Bruce and Ana all sat quietly in the meeting room, listening to Nebula, as she gave them a small insight to the Soul Stone. Ana looked up at Nebula sympathetically. She could tell Nebula wasn't all too eager to talk about the Infinity Stone she was tortured by Thanos to reveal the location of seeing as that day was the last time she ever saw her sister Gamora. A map of the Helgentar star system was on the Holo-Board next to Nebula, with the sixth planet highlighted and enlarged.

"Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir." Nebula explained, tapping the planet of interest.

Natasha was scribbling away on a notepad she brought with her to every discussion. "And that is...?"

"A dominion of death at the very centre of celestial existence." Nebula's jaw clenched. "It's the place where Thanos murdered my sister."

A moment passed as the rest of them took a second to take it in.

"Not it." Scott said softly, breaking the silence.

Ana looked to Nebula, "Do we know what the Soul Stone can do? I've read in ancient texts that it can trap souls into some kind of Soul World."

Nebula tilted her head in thought. "I've heard the same. Everyone has their own theories about it. But as I mentioned earlier, unlike the other Infinity Stones, the Soul Stone in particular hasn't been used by many since it was created. No one really knows its full capabilities."