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It was finally over. Thanos had been defeated and she got the satisfaction of severing his head herself. Now though, she didn’t know what to do with herself. She was staying at the compound with Tony, but she felt out of place. She didn’t know these other people or this planet and so kept to herself, often finding quiet corners to work on her repairs and figure out where to go from here. She was left alone for a week when her somber routine was finally broken.
“There you are! I had to have Friday track you down. I want to show you something, follow me.”
Nebula was frozen for a bit watching the man wobble past her on his crutch. He was looking for her? He got to the door then turned around eyebrow raised expectantly.
“Well? Aren’t you coming? I promise it’s cool, trust me?” Tony asks, voice going softer at the end.
The absurd thing was, Nebula did trust him, this crazy man. With all that had happened, she trusted him.
“You aren’t supposed to be walking around yet.” She says, walking up to him. He just beams at her.
“Too many things to do to be sitting still! I am going mad! Plus, I needed to see my children, who knows how much trouble they’ve gotten into, so I snuck away while Rhodey took a nap.” Tony said brightly, continuing to walk down the hall. Nebula followed at a distance, watching him closely. He still hasn’t fully healed and he was already breathing quite heavy from the short walk across the compound. She was watching him so closely, she didn’t even notice when they had arrived at his destination. At the sight of all the machines she stopped short in the door.
“Here we are!” Tony said arms open wide as he walked into the lab without a second thought, obviously at home. At the sound of his voice three robots emerged from the corners of the lab and chirped excitedly, rolling in circles around him. She watched him gently touch them, checking them over with obvious affection. Tony is laughing...She hasn’t seen him so at peace, even after the defeat of Thanos. He turns back to her and holds out a hand.
“Come in! Come in! I’ve got to introduce you!” Tony urges.
At his beckoning Nebula takes a few hesitant steps into the lab and towards Tony and his machines. Tony still has his hand out expectantly, so she slowly puts her hand into his. He gives it a gentle squeeze and places it on top of the robot closest to her.
“This is You, next to him are Butterfingers and Dumm-e. These are my bots, guys, meet your new sister, Nebula. We are gonna help her get set up alright?”
Nebula got stuck on that word, sister. Tony was talking about seeing his children? Were these who he was talking about? So would that mean he considers her his…
“Come over this way, I asked Friday to have them set up a spot for you next to Peter’s. He has is own space to work on his suit and lab projects.”
Confused, Nebula followed him to a side of the lab with a set of tables which were covered in a variety of tools.
“All right, now this space is for you. I haven’t had the chance to get many ideas down since I was being held hostage in bed by Pepper and Rhodey, but, I’ve sent what I did on my tablet to the table here, do you know how to work hologram tables?”
“Yes, I know how.” Nebula answered, forcing her voice calm.
“Good! Have a seat, have a seat! I know you needed some repairs after the fight and I wasn’t sure if you got any of that taken care of so I wanted to show you what you can do here. If you need any help with schematics or getting something fabricated you can ask Friday or myself. You have access to all the tools and materials here to make whatever you want.” Tony said enthusiastically.
“Make?” Nebula asked softly.
“Yeah! I figured you might want to replace or update, maybe add a few knives, that’s always pretty popular. If you want ideas, I did say I have a few, but it’s your body so I figured I would let you do your own thing. You have your own private server to save everything on, so I cannot access without express permission. Any questions for me before I try and make it back before my guard wake up?” Tony asked, leaning heavily against the table.
Nebula just stared at him trying to comprehend the implications of what he was giving her. Everything made would be hers, her ideas, her body, her life. A new identity, a new path. Maybe...Just maybe, she could find a place here. She looked up and met Tony’s eyed and this time it was her reaching out a hand. When he took it she smiled at him.
“Thank you Tony, for everything.”