The Avatar

by cipividiem

Summary:

Luna Carter hadn't had the best childhood someone could have. She was an extraordinary kid in an ordinary world not made for her. But when one day she created the elements from nothing but her bare hands, everything got turned upside down. She was the Avatar, the super-powered protector of an ancient civilization. Everything her brother had told her, all the stories he had read, were true.

Insert Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D. and a band of not-so-merry heroes, Luna gets swooped into a critical mission to save the world as she starts to learn more about herself and what her destiny is in this universe.

[fem!ocxwandamaximoff]

BOOK I: avengers [finished]
BOOK II: age of ultron [finished]
BOOK III: civil war [finished]
BOOK IV: infinity war [finished]
BOOK V: endgame [finished]

Chapter 1: PROLOGUE

Summary:

Luna Carter hadn't had the best childhood someone could have. She was an extraordinary kid in an ordinary world not made for her. But when one day she created the elements from nothing but her bare hands, everything got turned upside down. She was the Avatar, the super-powered protector of an ancient civilization. Everything her brother had told her, all the stories he had read, were true.

Insert Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D. and a band of not-so-merry heroes, Luna gets swooped into a critical mission to save the world as she starts to learn more about herself and what her destiny is in this universe.

[fem!ocxwandamaximoff]

BOOK I: avengers [finished]
BOOK II: age of ultron [finished]
BOOK III: civil war [finished]
BOOK IV: infinity war [finished]
BOOK V: endgame [finished]

Notes:

Hello, welcome! First a little introduction:

This story follows the storyline of some of the mcu films and series. Only the plot I thought of and some of the dialogue belongs to me. None of the characters belong to me except Luna and other oc's in the future. The parts about avatar; the last airbender and the legend of Korra do not belong to me and only things I added to the lore belong to me.

This entire has been written, edited, edited again and published on Wattpad under @cpvdm_. Wattpad has been getting on my nerves lately so I'm challenging myself by trying to learn how to use AO3's weird ass system. I mean, there's a reason I only read stuff on this site. Shit's confusing. I'm an English major, I don't know how to code.

This story is also not what you usually see on AO3, from my perspective at least. It focuses very heavily on my original main character, Luna, and her character growth and plot points. It does follow the main movies, though, and only diverges a little bit before coming back.

Please remember to leave kudos if you liked it!

Hope you enjoy!
-C

0. PROLOGUE
__________

Long ago, in an ancient civilization where people existed with the ability to bend one of the four elements to their will, there was a 100-year war that raged between the Fire Nation and the other three Nations of Earth, Air and Water. The Avatar, a being imbued with the extraordinary ability to bend all four elements, had been able to end the war, and bring in an era of peace. But to all lives must come an end. Avatar Aang died and the spirit that granted him his abilities chose its successor.

Avatar Korra, gifted with raw power ever since she was young, faced many challenges in her lifetime. Dealing with non-benders rioting against her and turf wars brewing in the city she called home, Korra overcame the hardships only by breaking the spiritual link that bound all past Avatars together. Yet, the universe found a way; a new link was formed. From Aang to Korra to her successor Avatar Aoma. Avatar Aoma passed, and her successor was born; Avatar Lee.

It was in the early stages of Avatar Lee's training when the conflict that had started with Avatar Korra began bubbling over the edge. Technology had advanced exponentially. Non-benders, getting tired of always being second best and always being pushed around, used this technology in combination with an ancient, spiritual power, and rioted against the world of benders. That world fell into chaos.

Avatar Lee, although young and reckless, fought hard and he fought bravely. The last thing he saw was an explosion, bubbling with purple energy, destroying all that it could find. The Avatar cycle was broken, the world had died and its civilizations buried deep under ground. Humans lived on, their history forgotten and doomed to be repeated. And no Avatar was born in thousands of years.

It was a sunny spring day in the beginning of May when a little girl was born. No one knew back then what she would be capable of, nor what importance she would have, but the universe had chosen her to carry on the legacy of the Avatar. Why it had chosen her was unclear to even herself, but as she grew older she knew she had a destiny to fulfill; to reintroduce the world's forgotten history and bring balance to a world in chaos.

This is Luna Carter, the Avatar.

 

Chapter 2: BOOK I: The Avengers

BOOK I: THE AVENGERS

• • •

[PLAYLIST]

Therefore I am – Billie Eilish
Anarchist – YUNGBLUD
Must of Got Lost – The J. Geils Band
Basket case – Green Day
Peace of Mind – Boston
Renegade – Styx
Ain't That a Bitch – Aerosmith
Fool for the City – Foghat

• • •

[MAIN CAST]

Adelaide Kane – Luna Carter

Caitlin Blackwood – Amelia Whitfield

Scarlett Johansson – Natasha Romanoff

Robert Downey Jr. – Tony Stark

Chris Evans – Steve Rogers

Mark Ruffalo – Bruce Banner

Jeremy Renner – Clint Barton

Chris Hemsworth(y) – Thor Odinson

Samual L. Jackson – Nick Fury

Tom Hiddleston – Loki Laufeyson

• • •

[ALSO FEATURES]

Phil Coulson
Maria Hill
A generic alien army
A purple ball-sack end-credit scene
Mjilmjil (?)
Pepper Potts
Our lord and savior Stan Lee

Chapter 3: Moony, Tiny, and the T-Dude

Summary:

On Luna's fifteenth birthday, she decides to have some long-awaited fun. Her definition of fun, however, involves hacking into Stark Industries' secure network to spy on the big man himself...

Luna had never done much for her birthday, not after her parents and brother passed, and her fifteenth wasn't going to be different. Not many spared her a second glance at the shelter and at school she liked flying under the radar. Her mouth often had different ideas; it ran ahead of her mind and spewed out comments filled with snarky attitude. Kids her age knew to avoid her, but did she care? Not really. She rarely regretted what she said, because it was most likely—definitely—true. Still, didn’t help her make many friends.

Luna spent her days reading the books her brother Derek brought home from his trips abroad, again and again immersing herself in fairytales about people with the ability to control the elements. She, of course, knew they weren't really fairytales, but books with forgotten history, her history. How Derek had found them, along with ancient artifacts, remained a mystery to her.

A mystery she would never have a change to solve, not since her brother never came back from his last trip. All of Derek's presents were kept in a small hut she had set up in a clearing in the forest behind the shelter, just to escape her daily chores from time to time. Through the clearing ran a trickling stream of water and with the cover of vegetation, it was the perfect place to train.

Luna Carter was magic. A fact she discovered at a young age, when she broke her own fall by creating a gush of wind from her bare hands. A week later, just barely having recovered from the shock of all her brother's books being true, she had saved her glass of water by simply holding out her hand and stopping the water mid-air. For years, she had trained in the art of air- and water bending and studied every bit of information she could get her hands on but she soon realized that in a world like this, she would need a lot more than just raw power.

With the little bit of money she had saved up, Luna had bought cheap twin-daggers from a shady market stall and went to work on the trees surrounding her small hut. Sometimes she imagined the face of the woman that ran the orphanage, when she threw her dagger at the tree, or the face of a dirty politician, but mostly she would image the driver who was drunk behind the wheel the night her parents were killed. Luna didn't know their face, but the thought alone was cathartic enough.

Most of Luna's days were spent at either the local library or her school; Brooklyn High. She was smart—Einstein smart—but nobody had ever cared enough to do anything with it, herself included. She kept to herself, studying subjects she found interesting and honing skills far above her age-level. If she wanted, she was sure she could skip a few grades and get into a good college, but she liked being the smartest person in the room. Even despite being smart, she was not the greatest student in the world, with a track record of coming in late to class and getting into trouble when she decided to hack into her school's network.

Luna was a free spirit, not much caring for authority or adults telling her what to do. She ran her mouth in situations it was best to keep it shut, and never stopped to deal with the consequences. Maybe that was why she was chosen to be the Avatar, a mythical being she had read about in her brother's books. She had decided a long time ago to stop worrying about what might be, and focus on the things in the present. Things which not included saving the world. But sometimes the world has different ideas in mind.

 

• • •

 

The early spring sun peaked through the thin curtains and landed onto Luna's face. She groaned and rolled over, desperate to fall back asleep, but the orphanage had other plans. The floorboards from both upstairs and downstairs creaked horrendously, echoing throughout the entire house, and the loud chatter of children playing in the kitchen woke her up beyond the point of return. With great difficulty, she dragged herself from bed, washed her face and got dressed before grabbing her backpack and stumbling downstairs to the living room.

"Luna!" she heard a preppy voice from behind and turned around, instantly bombarded by a bubbly redhead bouncing her way. Amy smiled widely and hugged her, exclaiming, "happy birthday, Moony!"

"Ames! Why do you have to be so fucking energetic in the morning!" Luna grumbled loudly, ruffling Amy's hair. Amy Whitfield arrived only a few years back, her folks dead, and Luna knew from the minute the girl attached herself to her, that Amy was under her protection. "You ready for your first day, tiny?" she asked.

Amy nodded. "I'm ready. I didn't like my old school, but I'm gonna do my best at this one!" she said, a determined look crossing her face. "But," she began quietly, "what if the other kids don't like me?"

"Then I'll make them," Luna said seriously.

"Moony!"

Luna chuckled and shook her head. "Okay, okay. Kidding. Don't worry, I know they're gonna love you. Now, come along, Pond. I'll walk you to school." She grabbed Amy's backpack from the couch and grabbed her hand, leading her out the door of the shelter.

The usual tortuous classes went by agonizingly slow that day for Luna. They were boring on a normal day, but on this day of all days, she could not get the ticking of the clock out of her head. It was her fifteenth birthday and she had prepared a special treat for herself. Because, if no one except a nine-year-old was gonna remember your birthday, you had better make it special yourself. It was yesterday, late in the library, when she had finished writing the code for her new hacking program, and she was ecstatic to pick out a large-scale target to test it out on. Something big, something daring, something so incredibly dumb no one would ever believe her.

When that final bell rang, Luna shoved through the crowds of students and sped of across the streets of Brooklyn, making her way to the library. She tumbled through the door, claimed the nearest computer and plugged her drive into the right spot. Her nerves were on fire, her mind racing at the possibilities.

Leaning back in her chair as she waited for the program to fully load, a TV in the distance caught her attention. It showed old news coverage of the time they found the world's first superhero frozen in ice: Captain America. Who would've thought my great-grandmother's ex-fling is still alive? she wondered.  

The channel switched to commercials and just as she was about to look away, the face of the world's most famous billionaire came on screen. Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man. The seed of an idea began sprouting in Luna's mind. Stark Industries had a vast network of well-protected codes and systems. Perfect for her to test out her new program. The little idea plant in her mind had begun branching off into the many steps of the plan she would need to perfectly perform for this to work: she would need access to the Stark Industries mainframe, which could be accessed through any of the computers in Stark Tower. If she could plug one drive into one of those computers, and connect it to the one in the library, her program should be able to get to work. Easy peasy, Luna thought as she went to work.

The hot midday sun burned in Luna's eyes as she squinted up at Stark Tower from where she stood at its base. As she looked up at the enormous letters on the building, the nerves hit her like a truck. The little weight of the drive, clenched in her fist, suddenly felt like bricks holding her down. Deep down, somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew this was a tremendously stupid idea. But listening to her head had never gotten her anywhere and she was still a minor. What were they gonna do? Send her to jail? Shaking of the nerves, Luna got into character and stepped inside the pristine building. Her gaze landed on the hefty guy sitting at the reception and she began her approach.

The man looked up as a teenaged girl stood in front of his desk, He gave a reassuring smile at the upset-looking girl. "Can I help you with something?" he asked softly.           

The girl smiled weakly and answered, "I really hope so. I'm looking for Mary? Or Mrs. Harkness?"  

"Sure, could I get your name—"

"Please, she works in the lab, I don't know her employee code. Please, she's my mom and something happened at home with my little sister Amy and she isn't picking up her phone! I just—" the girl rambled, her eyes beginning the fill with tears.

The man's eyes widened and he quickly stood up, putting down an 'on break' sign. "Okay, I'll go up to the labs, kid. Don't worry, just sit right there," he reassured her and motioned to the chair in the waiting area.

The girl nodded in appreciation and wiped her eyes, slowly walking to the waiting area.

As soon as the man stepped inside the elevator and the doors closed shut, Luna broke character, rushing back to the kind man's desk. Her eyes scanned the room, making sure no one was particularly paying attention, but just to be sure she send a gush of air to a vase, sending it tumbling to the ground, successfully causing a distraction. She snuck behind the desk and knelt in front of the computer. She took out the drive and plugged it in.

The red light blinked for a solid half minute and just when she began getting impatient, the light turned green. She took a deep breath. Phase one was done, but is was no cause for celebration just yet. She still needed to plug in the second drive and hack the mainframe, all the while hoping that no one would discover the first drive inserted into the computer at Stark Tower.

The elevator binged and Luna looked up from behind the desk; the kind man had returned and he did not look happy. Cursing to herself, she looked for the exit, when she found it she pushed the air behind her to forcefully push herself out of the building and onto the pavement. She ran, and ran, and didn't stop until she was at a safe distance. By the time she was back at the library, dusk had fallen and she was about ready to collapse right then and there. But she had a plan she had to stick to. Plugging the second drive into the computer, Luna's program went to work.

 

Connection to second drive affirmative

 

Wait for connection

 

. . .

 

Connection established: Stark Industries.

 

. . .

 

☺Program successful

 

Luna leaned back in her chair, taking a moment to look at the screen in front of her. This had to have been the best birthday present anyone could have ever given to her. With all her fatigue forgotten, she allowed herself to celebrate and cracked her fingers, looking through what her program had unlocked.

Peaking behind the curtains of one of the most important tech companies in the world, she found herself not knowing exactly what to look for. She was not particularly interested in company secrets or illegal embezzlements. It was at this time the saying 'you'll know what you're looking for when you find it' really fit into her life.

Pulling up live footage from the security camera of Tony Stark's workshop made excitement bubble in Luna's stomach. She high-jacked the program that controlled the mic and audio and looked right at the Tony Stark, busy in his workshop. It looked as though an explosion had gone off in the room, loose scrap cluttered in every corner and the papers and blueprints were scattered across desks. The man himself was leaning back in a chair, tiredly rubbing his eyes. Stark grabbed a bottle and poured himself a glass of whatever alcoholic drink he preferred.

Luna turned on her microphone. "Rough day, buddy?" She grinned as Stark spilled his drink in shock.

He stood up, alertness clear on his face and looked around the room. "JARVIS?" he asked. "You there? Did you change your voice or am I going crazy?"

"Aren't we all a little crazy? I mean, you clearly have some issues, Stark. Not that I'm one to judge," Luna replied.

"Where's JARVIS?" Stark asked as he sat down on his chair and opened his laptop. As soon as he entered his mainframe, the program and code Luna wrote popped up.

"I don't know, Stark," she said, going through Stark's systems. "I must've blocked him from intervening when I took over his sound system. Don't worry, I'm not here to actually do anything, just testing out my program. Is it possible to get your consensus on it? It'd mean a lot coming from you."

"You have got to be kidding me. How old are you?"

A pop-up appeared on her screen, showing an intruder trying to break the wall that held JARVIS back. "Come on, Stark," she whined. "You really doing this to me right now? You know I had to break into Stark Tower to be able to do this, right?"

Tony smirked and looked right into the camera. "Thanks for that. I'll have to check the security footage next."

"That is a great idea, a really great idea." Luna cringed at her own stupidity and quickly tried to recover. "Anyway, what do you think? I mean, this was just a first test-run of the program. Still have to tweak it a bit."

"No, no. It's not bad, I'm almost impressed," Tony responded. "But while you may be good, I'm great. So, bye bye."

Luna's program cut to black, two words staring her in the face:

 

connection lost

 

She sighed deeply. Leaning back in her chair, she muttered to the screen, "Damn. Really got me there, T-dude."

Chapter 4: The Forgotten Anti-Tracking System

Summary:

After her very succesful heist on Stark Industries, Luna decides she wants some well-deserved ice cream. One problem though, she doesn't have the money for it. Her solution? Steal it from some rando on the street. Except, the red head she decides to target happens to be the exact wrong person to steal from. And not to mention that Tony Stark is now scouring his systems for any trace of the annoying kid that managed to break in...

II. THE FORGOTTEN ANTI-TRACKING SYSTEM
——————

An afternoon of silence at the orphanage while the other kids were at school wasn’t how Luna thought she’d celebrate the rest of her birthday. She still had that exhilarating thrill running through her from her sort-of victory. It yearned for more. It yearned for… ice cream. Not the best substitute for a birthday cake, but it would have to do. She could even take a birthday candle—she was sure there was one somewhere in the house.

It was a plan. She knew exactly what to do to achieve her goal. First step, cash. Over the long years of running out of allowance at the orphanage, she had been getting good in alternative ways of getting her hands on money. 

Today’s a special occasion, Luna thought, I’m celebrating. 

And what better way to celebrate than to pickpocket some unsuspecting stranger?

The Brooklyn streets were filthy and crowded, with a blue tint caused by thick layer of clouds covering up the sun. Even on a somber day like this, she loved the city. People from all walks of life passed you by in a split second. You could stop to talk to anyone and leave with enough story to write a novel.

Luna walked along on the pavement, avoiding sweaty men and prissy women as she let her eyes scan the crowd. At each possible victim, she went along her mental checklist: good excuse to bump into them, accessible pockets, laid-back attitude. The last thing she needed was some New Yorker yelling at her and derailing her entire plan to score some much-needed ice cream.

Coming towards her walked a possible target; eyes glued to her phone, to-go coffee in her hand and sunglasses on her face even on a cloudy day. Luna nodded to herself and sped up, going in a slow jog and making herself stumble and fall, her shoulder ramming harshly against the woman. The lid of the woman's cup flew off and coffee spilled over her leather jacket.

Luna stopped and began her act. "Oh my god, I am so sorry," she said, trying to clean up the dripping coffee.

The woman brushed her red hair out of her face and adjusted her large sunglasses, waving Luna off.

"It's fine, kid, just watch where you're going next time."

Luna sighed in relief and handed the woman her now-empty coffee cup. "I will, and again, so sorry!"

"Alright," the woman mumbled under her breath and rushed off, going back to her phone.

Luna watched as the woman walked away without a second glance. Rushing through the crowd of people, she ducked into the first alleyway she could find and held out a sleek black wallet. A victorious smirk made its way onto her face as she opened in and found five bucks just screaming to be used to buy ice cream.

 

• • •

 

With her legs dangling from the rooftop of a random Brooklyn building, Luna stared at her scoop of chocolate ice cream. Chunks of chocolate poked through the fluffy surface and a small purple-striped birthday candle was pushed in on top. She squinted her eyes at the wick, glaring heavily in an attempt at… She wasn’t sure, but nothing happened anyway.

She pulled out her lighter and lit it the normal way. It took a few tries with the heavy breeze coming through, but eventually she managed it. She held the flame in front of her and closed her eyes, and made a wish. She flicked her finger and a special breeze blew the candle out. 

With the candle out, Luna licked her melting ice cream just before it could drip onto her hand. She sighed in content as the spring breeze fanned her face and the scarce sunlight beamed down at her. She stared at the horizon, seeing the Hudson River vaguely in the distance.

With school, chores, practice and taking care of Amy, she sought after moments she could have to herself, where she could take a moment and push all her thoughts out of her mind. These were the moments she treasured the most, when it was her and the bustling noises of Brooklyn beneath her. She took a minute and breathed deeply, closing her eyes for a moment.

Goosebumps grew on the back of Luna's neck as the air rippled behind her. She strained her ears and picked up a pair of footprints coming toward her on the rooftop. "Good try, but I can hear you sneaking up behind me," she spoke up, swallowing the last bit of her ice cream cone. She licked her lips and stood up on the ledge.

"Who said I was trying to sneak up on you?"

Luna slowly turned around, stepping away from the ledge and coming face to face with a woman she barely recognized; it was the red-headed woman whose wallet she had stolen earlier that day, and she did not look happy.

"You stole my wallet," the woman stated. "I want it back."

"Really? I mean, you barely had anything in there. Not even a driver's license. Besides, already spent the money." She held up the wallet and gave an apologetic shrug that she didn’t really mean.

"It's out of principle," the woman deadpanned, crossing her arms.

"How'd you find me anyway? Or do you just go around hopping rooftops in New York like you're fucking Santa Claus?" Luna questioned, pocketing the wallet.

"Tracker in the wallet," the woman disclosed.

"Okay, what? Why the hell would you put a tracker in your wallet?"

"So a little kid like you can't steal it."

"First of all, I'm not a kid—" the woman raised her eyebrows at her, “—and second, paranoid much?"

The woman took a step forward, and Luna raised her fists in the air. "Hey—" the woman held up her hands, "—just give me back the wallet. I didn't come looking for a fight."

Luna scoffed and snapped back, "Yeah, well, your face did. Come on. If you want the wallet that bad, fight me for it."

The woman shook her head and looked at the sky as if she couldn't believe this was really happening. "Kid, you really don't wanna do this. I don’t want to hurt you. How old are you? Fourteen?"

"Fifteen," Luna corrected immediately. "And I wouldn't worry about hurting me. Wait—" she held a hand to her nose, "I'm gonna snee—" She faked a loud sneeze and with a forceful gush of air, the woman was blasted to the other side of the roof.

The woman coughed, rolling across the harsh stone before standing up and dusting herself off. "What the hell..." she muttered and looked strangely at the young girl before her. 

But amidst her recovery, the girl had taken the opportunity to jump to the next roof. The woman quickly began her chase. Luna ran as fast as she could, launching herself across the dark alleyways below. She stopped herself from freaking out too much. Of course she had played around with her air-bending before, but nothing like this. Nothing like using it to hop across rooftops like she was the one who was Santa. It felt exhilarating and terrifying at the same time, because what if someone saw her?

Luna made it two and a half rooftops before the woman jumped and tackled her, taking the both of them to the ground. They rolled across the stone, groaning with each spin. When they came to a stop, both of them stood up in an instant, scanning the person before them.

"Who are you?" the woman asked as she circled Luna.

"Who are you?" Luna countered, dusting herself off as she rolled her shoulder, getting ready to fight.

The two charged at each other.

It was clear the woman was more skilled in fighting than Luna. She fought with a mix of every martial art Luna could think of, and the preciseness of her attacks betrayed her probably years of experience. Who the hell is this chick? she couldn’t help but think. Luna could barely keep up, despite the fact that it was clear the woman was holding back.

All her skills came from her brother’s ancient bending scrolls, and those were barely readable anymore. And here on top of the roof where any passerby could look up and see them, she didn’t feel comfortable using her bending. Nothing good ever happened to people who were different, that much she knew. Instead she avoided the woman’s jabs by keeping light on her feet. Literally. Air-bending was inconspicuous, invisible to the untrained eye, and therefore Luna’s only defense. 

As a window opened in the fight, Luna tackled the woman to the ground but as the woman regained the upper hand, she felt a sharp pain in her leg. She fell down, holding her broken ankle.

"Shit!" Luna exclaimed and tried to stand up, leaning on her good leg. She moved her arms as the water from the flask she had fastened at her hip floated in the air. She spread her arms, and the water elongated with the movement. Then, she punched forward and in a flash the water froze around the woman's feet.

They both took a moment to breathe before the woman pulled out the wallet from behind her back.

Luna groaned, both from pain and annoyance. "Bitch," she spat, skipping backward, making sure not to put unnecessary pressure on her leg, "I'll be going now. And looking at the weather, I'll say the ice will melt in about an hour." She walked to the edge of the building and let herself gracefully float to the bottom, landing with a soft thud on her good leg.

The mysterious woman's gaze followed after Luna as she shook her head, flabbergasted. She pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

 

• • •

 

Luna, who had ducked into the forest the minute she spotted the orphanage, let herself drop to the ground next to the flowing stream. She lay down, the grass like a soft mattress beneath her, but the throbbing coming from her ankle stopped her from completely falling asleep. She sat up with a grunt, moving her hands in a smooth motion as she pulled water from the stream, letting it wrap around her ankle.

Closing her eyes, her eyebrows scrunched together in concentration. Very faintly, the water began to glow. A calm and cool sensation spread from her ankle, the skin where the water touched it tingling ever so slightly. When she let the water flow back into the stream, the pain in her ankle was reduced by a considerable amount.

Having only tried the ability on paper cuts before, Luna wasn't sure if it was going to work on a bigger injury but was glad that it did. Healing, from what she had read, was something only a few water-benders were capable of. She, however, seemed a natural in everything to do with air- and water bending. It was the other two elements she had trouble with. Without any scrolls or texts on earth- or fire bending, she had given up hope on ever mastering either. She had not been able to move the smallest of pebbles, or light the tiniest of candles.

Luna dragged herself inside her small hut and leaned against the tree trunk. Finally, she felt the exhaustion kick in. She had never been in a real fight, and she had never used her bending like that against another person. She felt her eyelids growing heavier by the minute and finally let them rest.

But before she could fully fall asleep, the rustling of a bush outside caught her attention.
She was up in an instant. No one knew about this place, not even Amy. She crawled out of her hut and stood up straight, holding her breath as it suddenly went deadly quiet. Seconds passed without even a breeze of wind or a whistle from a bird.

Then, from behind her, she heard grass crinkling beneath someone's foot. In a swift motion, Luna pulled a dagger from her boot and spun around, letting the dagger fly from her hand. It embedded itself in a tree with a thud, just beside the intruder's face.

"Who are you, why are you here, and why should I not…” she stammered, losing her nerve just a bit before adding, “knock you out right now?" though it wasn’t nearly as threatening as she wanted it to be.

"Not important, to talk, and I would like to see you try," the man said, his voice lighter than Luna's but with a natural gravitas.

Luna's gaze wandered across the mysterious intruder. He stood tall, holding himself with a certain air of authority. He had dark, wrinkling skin and the only hair he had was his goatee. She noticed deeply pink scars running behind his black eyepatch, covering his left eye. He wore a long leather overcoat and had his hands neatly behind his back.

At the sight of the eyepatch, a distant bell began ringing in Luna's brain. "You're him aren't you?" she wondered out loud, still keeping her wary attitude. "You're the director."

For the smallest of seconds, the man looked taken aback but he quickly recovered, his face turning suspicious. "What do you know?" he asked.

"I know about S.H.I.E.L.D., if that's what you're wondering," Luna answered, "She talks a lot about you, you know. ‘An upstart’, she said once. But a good one. She doesn’t remember much these days, but…” Swallowing the lump in her throat, Luna eyed her dagger imbedded in the tree behind the man. She slowly began circling him. "I know your name," she added.

The man narrowed his eyes, "and I know yours, Luna."

"Then I hope it’s good to see you, director Fury," she returned, the corner of her mouth twitching up slightly.

"Curious," Fury said, beginning to walk in the same way Luna did, the two now slowly going in a single circle. "I thought Carter's grandson died years ago." Fury barely seemed fazed but Luna could see by the way his mouth twitched that he also had come to a surprise today.

“He did,” Luna shrugged. “Why are you here, again?” 

"Oh, you can't guess?" Fury replied. "How about this afternoon? You attacked and won from my best agent. And this morning, you hacked into Stark's network. Shit like that gets you attention, kid. It was easily tracked back to the computer in the library. Wasn't hard to access security cameras from there."

Luna grunted and, finally having reached the tree her dagger was imbedded in, ripped it out of the wood with a frustrated grunt. "Dammit!" she exclaimed and looked up at Fury, "Don't you have better things to do with your life?"

Fury chuckled dryly, "I have a shit ton more important things to do, if the information my agent gave me wasn't more interesting than all of that. So tell me, Luna Carter, how did you blow my agent across a rooftop?"

Luna knew she should never have used her bending in front of another person, even in a fight. Nothing good ever happened to people who were different, which was why she had stayed silent for so long, kept herself hidden.

"How'd you freeze her to the rooftop?" Fury continued, stepping closer.

"How'd you get that scar?" Luna retorted.

Rolling his eyes, Fury snapped his finger in the air and two serious-looking agents in black military uniforms and sunglasses appeared from behind the trees. "Unfortunately, if you're not gonna talk, I'm gonna have to take you in."

Luna gaped at the two strongly-build agents. "Have they been there the entire time?" She held up her hands in surrender as they began approaching her. "Jesus, fine. Can I at least pack my back, since you're taking me on an unwanted road trip?" she asked. "Which is consider kidnapping of a minor, by the way."

As the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents escorted Luna (with her backpack) to a black car, she was unaware of one important fact: An evil, otherworldly god had landed on this Earth twenty-four hours ago and Fury needed any help he could get to fight him, even if it came in the form of a fifteen-year-old girl with extraordinary powers.

Chapter 5: AVENGERS INITIATIVE #1

Summary:

Kidnapped by the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury, Luna is taken to the Helicarrier. There, she meets some of the members of a new group called The Avengers.

III. AVENGERS INITIATIVE #1
——————

The ride in the mysterious black car was silent, with Luna and Fury alone in the back and the two agents in the two front seats. Bopping her knee up and down, Luna stared out the darkened window as they sped through the New York streets. They were going toward the coast, she realized as her anxiety flared once more.

This was not how she expected her day to go. She had always known S.H.I.E.L.D. existed, her great-gran had been a founding member of the government institution. But it had always been so far removed, something she’d mention in the same breath as the C.I.A. or MI6. Now she sat next to the man who had taken over from gran, Peggy.      

Luna worried about Amy, what the girl would think when Luna wouldn't be home for dinner. On her birthday, too. They were having pizza. She never skipped a pizza day. Am I ever getting home? she asked herself. Will I ever see Amy again? These men in suits came and hauled her off without warning. She hadn’t done anything wrong… Well, she hadn’t hurt anyone, anyway. That woman, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, came after her. She had it coming.

They drove over a harsh bump in the road, and Luna could hear the Lower Bay bustling with people. The roads were busy, men trying to yell across the screeching and honking of the street. The car headed into the harbor, the noise slowly dying down as the traffic dispersed. She could smell the water now, large freight ships and smaller commercial boats covering up most of the coast.

They drove further, until Luna thought they totally should’ve been over the water already, but as she looked through the window it seemed as if they were still on the road. The car stopped, and she followed Fury out onto the street. The air had cooled down considerably, the transparent-looking moon had begun to rise as the orange hues of the sky were transforming into pink and lilac.

Looking around, Luna realized that they had not stopped on some extension of the docks, but on a ship. A ship that stretched across the entire bay. It was massive and entirely flat, except for the protruding buildings and rooms, as well as aircrafts and vehicles parked all around. It was like a town, on the water. White guiding lines had been painted on the smooth asphalt, and as she looked around at the people who were at work, she figured this had to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. base. Luna rushed to the edge, clinging onto the iron railing, and watched as the sun slowly set behind the New York skyline.        

"I know, right?" Fury said, the satisfied smirk on his face infuriating.

Luna breathed in deeply, seeing the mainland slowly get smaller while agents rushed across the deck. She narrowed her eyes at Fury and said, "Oh shut up, Blackbeard." She walked beside him as he led her towards the door. "Are you gonna tell me why you're holding me prisoner?"

Fury rolled his eye. “This would go a lot easier if you'd stop being dramatic."

"And my life would go a lot easier if you stopped wearing that pirate-matrix outfit and just let me get on my way. Guess we're both not getting what we want."

Fury didn't seem amused as they walked inside of wherever he had brought Luna. "It's called the helicarrier," he said and motioned around the corridor. "An advanced S.H.I.E.L.D. base perfect for operating on the move. In here," he led her through a door and into what seemed to be a conference room.

The walls were bare, one of them fully made of glass windows and looking out over the docks. At the end hung a TV, with in front of it a long, rectangular conference table. At it, a familiar redhead lounged in one of the chairs. Luna groaned and sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the table, letting her bag drop to the ground.

"Luna Carter, meet agent Romanoff," Fury said as he took a seat at the head, leaning his arms on the table.

"You broke my leg," Luna grumbled, crossing her arms impetuously.

"Your ankle," Romanoff corrected, "And I don’t know, but it looks you’re walking on it just fine to me,” she retorted, keeping her face stoic and gesturing to Luna's ankle beneath the table.

"You little Weasley bit—"

"Okay, kid, calm down," Romanoff said.

“Really?” Luna snapped, already beginning to stand up to give her a piece of her mind.

"Okay!" Fury interrupted loudly. "Let’s move on. Behave like adults,” he said mostly to Romanoff. From within his leather overcoat he grabbed a beige folder and laid it out on the table. “You want to know why we brought you here. Answers are in there.”

She slid the folder over to herself and flipped it open. She perused the contents. A schematic of a massive machine, a portal, was drawn, and beneath it a picture of its power source. A glowing blue cube, seemingly from alien origins. The portal was rudimentary, experimental, that much she could glean, and unstable.

S.H.I.E.L.D.’s scientists under leadership of a Dr Erik Selvig were building it at a remote location for exactly that reason. She turned the page and read the report dated to yesterday. The portal had collapsed, and had taken the remote base with it.

That wasn’t what caught her eye. According to eye-witnesses, of which Fury and Romanoff were two, someone had come through the portal: Loki, Norse god of mischief, trickery, deception. Brother to Thor, and the one who destroyed Puente Antiguo, New Mexico. Her eyes were wide as she scanned the contents.

“He’s here? On Earth?” Luna asked. Fury nodded silently. Romanoff watched her read the file closely, frowning dissatisfied for no other reason than her presence. “I thought Thor took care of him two years ago?”

“He’s back,” Fury said. “And he’s got a thirst for vengeance. And theatrics,” he added. 

“The tesseract…” She turned another page, filled with the cube’s history and use. “According to Thor, Odin hid it in a village in Norway until 1942, when the Red Skull—” who she had only really read about briefly during history class, “—stole it to power HYDRA’s weapons. Then it disappeared along with Captain America during their fight above the Arctic.”

After this followed a whole bunch of blacked out information, too confidential for Fury to just reveal to some kid he’d just met. But, somehow, the cube ended up in the hands of Director Fury and Dr Selvig.

“But now Loki’s got it, and you don’t know where he is,” Luna concluded. “Did I get that right? Because what I’m reading right here are a bunch of reasons not to go mess around with this blue cube of death, but you decided to go build a portal with it? I thought S.H.I.E.L.D. was supposed to be an intelligence agency, not a… dumb-assery agency.”

Fury and Romanoff exchanged some sort of secretive look, before Fury shrugged and said, “Mistakes were made.”        

"Possibly world-ending mistakes, but sure," Luna muttered before throwing the folder back onto the table. “Whatever he’s planning can’t be good for anyone but himself, and probably catastrophic for everyone on Earth… How are you gonna stop him? You are going to stop him, right?”

Fury looked at her with an expectant look on his face. “That’s where you come in.”

Romanoff was glaring, not at Luna this time, but at Fury, silently warning him about something Luna didn’t know.

Luna stared blankly at him for a moment for she realized what he was really saying. “Oh! You want me to—to—stop him?” She chuckled nervously. “No, no, I—uhm—have school.”

“And we’re the government,” Fury said. “We can get you out of it.”

“You heard her,” Romanoff said. She stood up from the table, heading over to stand next to Fury with her arms crossed. “She said she can’t do it. Let’s move on.”

“Woah, hold on now,” Luna said. “I never said I couldn’t do it. I just… Why do you think I’d be any help against a literal god?”

"S.H.I.E.L.D. likes to keep an eye on powerful people, and we're aware you have some sort of ability," Fury said. "And, well, we're desperate," he added with a pointed stare to Romanoff.

Something within Luna stirred, a churning deep in her stomach. It moved through her limbs, a spark traveling through her veins. The Avatar spirit, Raava, was awake and alert, really awake for perhaps the first time. It was telling her something, urging her to do what she was meant to do.

"So," Luna began. "If I do decide to join your impossible mission to defeat a god, what's your plan?"

"I'm assembling a team of people who possess..." he said slowly. "How do I put this? People with extraordinary abilities, like yourself. Turn the page.”

Luna flipped to the next page in the file. Faces stared back at her, mostly familiar ones, short biographies beneath them. “Bruce Banner,” she read. A scientist experimenting with gamma radiation to try and recreate the serum that made Captain America… Well, Captain America. Only to make himself the Hulk, a green, angry alter-ego that almost destroyed all of Harlem while fighting the Abomination.

That wasn’t what made him interesting, though. Not to Luna, at least. It were his three PhDs that made her admire him. Like, two was already beyond impressive, but three? Simply absurd. Yet, according to this file, he had retreated from society ever since the Harlem incident.      

Next was, “Tony Stark. Really?” Luna questioned.

“Not our first choice, but we’re going to need all the help we can get,” Fury said.

“No, I mean, I get it,” she said. “Billionaire scientist flying around in a gold-titanium suit. Just doesn’t seem like the type that works well with others.”

“A problem for a later day.”

“Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye,” Luna continued. A master archer and acrobat, as well as long-time S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, which was probably why there wasn’t much information on him. A comment had been pasted below his biography, explaining how the incident at the remote S.H.I.E.L.D. base left him, Dr Selvig and a handful of other agents under Loki’s mind control.

The next entry was Natasha Romanoff, the grumpy redhead who beat her up. There was even less information on her. Born and trained in Russia by some kind of K.G.B. programme and sent to the U.S. as an assassin before being recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D.

“Thor Odinson,” Luna continued. “Norse god of lightning and thunder, Prince of Asgard and a thousand years old. Brother of Loki, obviously. But he lives on Asgard, right?” she questioned. “How’re you gonna contact him? I don’t assume he has a cellphone you could call. Or one that has an intergalactic data plan.”

“Once he hears Loki’s back,” Fury began. “We’re hoping he’ll show up on his own.”

The last profile was the longest. Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, and her almost-great-grandfather—the guy her gran always remembered through the haze of her dementia. Illegally enlisted in the army during World War II, took the super soldier system and took down HYDRA, a secret subdivision within the Nazi party. Until his plane went down in the Arctic and he was frozen in ice for the next seventy years. He was found there in the same position since 1945 a while ago, but since then no one’s heard much about him.

It was silent as Luna closed the file and slid it back to agent Romanoff. It remained silent, both Fury and Romanoff staring expectantly at her. “Okay…” she said slowly. “Can’t help but notice that I don’t really fit into this line up you’ve got.”

“You’ve got powers,” Fury said. “And smarts. We could use a bit of both.”

“What are your powers, exactly?” Romanoff asked. “Air and water manipulation? How did you get them?”

“I think it’s better if I just show you.” She reached for her backpack on the ground, settling it on top of the table. She undid the zipper excruciatingly slowly, holding her gaze with agent Romanoff's. Finally, with a victorious smirk on her face, she fished out her water bending scroll from her bag. She rolled it open in the middle of the table as Fury and Romanoff stood to get a better look.

The scroll was old and weathered with rips and scratches at the sides, the paper was yellowed by time, the lines of the drawings on it blurred and damaged. There were multiple rows, each showing a series of simple drawings of a person in different positions, a jet of water sprouting from their hands. They were techniques used to teach someone water-bending; they were also what Luna had used to teach herself.

"What is it?" Romanoff asked, leaning in close.

"A water-bending scroll," Luna answered, detaching her flask of water from her hip and putting it on the table. "It's what I do. I bend the elements: water, air, earth and fire. Well," she quickly added, "can't actually do earth and fire, but I've pretty much got water and air under control." She opened the flask swirled her arm upward, pulling the water out and as she moved her hand, the water flowed in sync.

"How did you gain this power?" Fury asked, staring at the floating water. “Experimentation, like Banner?”

"Birth," she answered. "From what I've read, which isn't much, there used to be a civilization filled with people able to control one of the elements. Benders, they were called." She took a deep breath as she prepared herself for finally sharing the information she had kept to herself for so long with other people.

"But they went extinct, and they were forgotten. There's one person, the Avatar, that could control all four of the elements. I'm not really sure why I got my powers. There's a spirit that gives the Avatar their abilities, and it chose me after a thousand years of being dormant. I barely know anything about my history, or what I'm supposed to do with this power. Most of the temples and artifacts and books were destroyed a thousand years ago."

Fury sat down as Luna rolled the scroll back up and put it safely in her bag. "An ancient civilization?” he questioned skeptically. “I think we’d know about something like that. We’d have found archeological evidence. Ruins, artifacts, skeletal remains.”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” she replied. “But it is what it is. The world was more spiritual back then, which could explain it.”

“Sounds more like a fairytale to me,” Romanoff said.

“Then I’m a fairytale, I guess. Like fucking Pinocchio or something. Look,” she started. “I don’t know what to tell you. There definitely isn’t a lot of evidence to back me up here, but I have a small collection of artifacts at home, scrolls and tomes and shit. They’re all written in some kind of ancient script, but I have a cipher. Go see for yourself if you don’t believe me.”

“Let’s say this is true,” Fury said. “And this civilization of benders, as you said, did exist. How does something like that disappear into thin air?”

“I don’t know, man,” Luna admitted. “It’s not like people were writing down the end of the world as it was happening. All I know is that something must’ve happened. Something that wiped out the world as it used to be. Does it matter?” she asked. “I have these powers whether or not you believe what I say.”

“We’ll look into it. In the meantime we’ve got a bigger issue on our hands.”

“Loki,” Luna said. “And whatever he’s planning to do with the tesseract.”

“Will you join my team?”

“What happens if I say no?”

“Are you saying no?”

Luna looked at the water flowing around her hand as the moonlight from outside the window reflected through it against her face, almost as of it was speaking to her. She understood what Raava was trying to tell her: The Avatar was meant to bring balance to the world, no matter the cost. This was her duty, her chance to live up to the name that was bestowed upon her and give it meaning again.

She looked up at the two agents and spoke three simple words. "Count me in."

 

• • •

 

Fury has tasked agent Romanoff with showing Luna around the helicarrier. It was a tour of little words. There were the bunks, there the weapons arsenal, there the tech department. Cafeteria just around the corner, and there were bathrooms on every floor. Luna trailed along, memorizing the lay-out the best she could. She walked silently and wide-eyed the whole tour, trying to ignore the coldness radiating from the agent ahead of her.

This was the part Peggy never talked about, either because she couldn’t remember or because it was highly classified. But the inner workings of S.H.I.E.L.D. was fascinating. It seemed as if in every hook or cranny was another secret to uncover. Special agents were spread thick, all working on things that seemed equally important.

“Agent Romanoff—Natasha? Can I call you—“ Luna said when the silence became too much.

“No,” agent Romanoff said immediately.

Luna rolled her eyes, almost jogging to catch up with her. “I—uh—I’m sorry about the whole wallet thing. I shouldn’t have stolen it. So… Sorry.”

The agent eyed her shortly, before nodding.

“It’s just,” Luna continued. “It’s my birthday, actually. Crazy, I know. But I wanted to get ice cream and I didn’t have any money, so… You know.”

“You turned to petty crime instead?” Romanoff asked.

“Says the assassin,” Luna scoffed.

“Former.”

“Do you still kill people?”

Romanoff remained silent. Then she said, “Bad people.” She fastened her pace again and turned into an opening that led into the largest and most impressive room on the helicarrier.

There were large windows that stared across the water, and a small set of stairs took you down to the navigation area. There also stood a large, oval table, not yet containing any people. A short set of stairs led into a lower deck, a circle surrounded on all sides except for the exit with bright, flashing computer monitors, each with at least one agent on the desk chair in front of it. Luna sat at the oval table, lounging back with her feet up on the table as Romanoff stood off to the side.

"Copy that." Romanoff spoke into her earpiece.

Luna stared up at her with a curious expression. "What's up?" she asked casually, as if most of what the woman did wasn't involved with state secrets.

It was hard to read Romanoff's face, which was probably a big part of her job. She seemed stoic most of the time, and gave off an air of neutrality to most agents they had run into. It was only with director Fury that Luna noticed Romanoff talked somewhat comfortably. Maybe it was just Luna’s fault for goading her into a fight she didn’t want. But she figured that if they were gonna be saving the world together, maybe they should try to get along. Maybe even warm up to each other.

“Banner and Rogers just landed. I’m going to go meet them up on deck and bring them here,” Romanoff said. "Just stay here and stay out of trouble.”

“Trouble? Me? When? By the way,” Luna began, “do we get paid for this? Or is it like a charity thing? Either is fine, but I’d like to know what I’m getting into.”

Romanoff sighed deeply. “Let’s get one thing straight,” she said. “I think it’s a bad idea to bring you on board. You’re too young, too inexperienced.”

“Wow, tell me how you really feel,” Luna murmured.

“I am. If Fury says you stay, you stay. That’s not up to me. But while you’re here,” Romanoff said, “try to behave. Like you’re trying to save the world.”

As much as Luna was intimidated by the intense stare of the agent, she covered it up and leaned forward, saying, "Okay, let's compromise. I’m feeling you don’t like me much, but obviously we didn't get off on the right foot and I'll admit that might've been mostly my fault, though you did break my ankle. It kinda feels like we’re even, doesn’t it? How about we drop it and you stop calling me kid?" she offered with an innocent smile.

Romanoff looked taken aback for a split second. She stood up straight again and nodded curtly. "Seems fair," she said and began walking to the exit. She stopped for a second and glanced back. "See you in a minute, kid.”

 

Chapter 6: AVENGERS INITIATIVE #2

Summary:

The newly-formed team travels to Germany to stop Loki.

AVENGERS INITIATIVE #2

——————

Luna was nodding off in her chair when agent Romanoff returned, flanked on either side by two men Luna instantly recognized. One was tall and broad-shouldered, wearing blue jeans and a simple shirt with a blue flannel to protect against the cold. He had short, blond hair and the bone structure of a Greek god, and despite being around a hundred years old, Steve Rogers looked around thirty.

On the other side walked another man, considerably shorter than Steve Rogers, but by no means short. Bruce Banner had a deep tan and a light scruff on his face. His shaggy dark hair was starting to go a deep gray as well, despite the fact he couldn’t have been much older than forty. He had glasses perched on his nose and a pencil tucked behind his ear.

While Steve stood freely in the space, his back straight and arms at his side, Dr Banner was hunched slightly and his hands fidgeted uselessly in front of him. Romanoff pointed out some of the features in the room as she led them inside, ending the short tour by pointing out their newest team member napping uncomfortably in a chair.

She seemed young, a teenager, with brown hair, and her nose spotted with freckles. She wasn’t wearing very official-looking clothing, just jeans and a My Chemical Romance shirt with a black leather jacket that definitely seemed too big on her.

For the first time since boarding the helicarrier, Steve seemed unsure. Still, he walked up to the table and sat on the other side of the girl. He cleared his throat, then did so again when she didn’t react. Luna opened her eyes to see Captain America looking at her. She quickly took her feet off the table and straightened up. She noticed Dr Banner still hanging around near the door with agent Romanoff, looking around nervously.

“Captain—Rogers—Mister—America—Sir… Hello,” Luna said. She waved at him.

“Steve is fine,” he replied, returning her awkward wave.

“I’m Luna,” she said finally and held out her hand for him to shake. “It’s awesome to meet you.”

“Likewise,” he said. “Agent Romanoff told me what you did today to show up on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s radar.”

“Please, I don’t think I can take another lecture on responsibility and maturity today. Especially not from Captain America,” she said.

“No,” he said with a smile. “I was gonna say it was impressive. Taking on those bigger than you, even if it was kinda irresponsible.”

“There it is,” she replied, but a smile ghosted her lips.

An apologetic look crossed his face. “You are aware what we’re here to do, right?”

“Sure. Take out Loki, take his scepter, secure the tesseract. Should be fun.”

“It’ll be dangerous. And you’re young, a kid—“

“Don’t even start,” Luna interrupted. “I know I’m young, okay, but I’ve had these powers for so long now and I’ve never understood why, or what I’m supposed to do with them. Maybe I’m suppose to save the world,” she shrugged.

“Okay,” Steve said so casually that Luna had to do a double-take to make sure she heard him right. “I get it. Just make sure to stick together. You’re new to this, so don’t be afraid to ask for help.”

Luna stared at him silently for a moment, bit by bit understanding why her gran admired this man so much. “Thanks, Steve.”

Dr Banner pulled out a chair, not the one immediately beside Luna, but the one next to it, and sat down. He greeted the girl shortly with a handshake.

“Dr Banner,” Luna said with a look of admiration. “I’m sure you hear this all the time, but I’m a huge fan.”

“You…” he mumbled with a concerned frown, “are? Most people kind of… hate me.”

“Are you serious? Your work on electron-positron annihilation is legendary! To even think to combine it with your research on gamma radiation to expand the research on ACPAR—Dude, you’re awesome. You know, I based my freshman science fair project off your article on the medical uses of gamma radiation. Got an A, of course.”

Dr Banner seemed relieved as he realized she wasn’t talking about his angry alter-ego. “Interesting,” he said. “I… would love to take a look at it. When we aren’t saving the world.”

A grin spread on Luna’s face. “Awesome.”

“Can I ask how old you are? My research isn’t usually aimed to catch the interest of high-schoolers.”

“Turned fifteen today,” she replied.

“Hey, happy birthday!” Steve said.

Dr Banner congratulated her too, and said, “So why are you here and not celebrating with your family?”

“I don’t have a lot of family to celebrate with,” she said. She got this question a lot at school, so answering casually came easy to her. “My parents died when I was eight. It’s fine, really. We usually have a little party at the shelter, but I think the whole saving-the-world thing is a bit more important than pizza and a movie, despite the fact that I get to pick the movie. They’ll just have to watch Shrek 2 without me.”

They sat there waiting for a while. The waning sun shone through the massive windows and cast long shadows on the gray floors of the central hub of the helicarrier. Luna abandoned the table after a few minutes to grab a coffee from the cafeteria.

When she returned the two men still sat in quiet conversation, but she walked past them and past the control center to the very front of the hub. She stood in front of the massive windows. Not long ago the helicarrier had taken off into the sky, where it was now hovering above the water, hidden in between the thick clouds. Here and there it cleared up enough to peek at the bustling city below. She sipped her coffee, which was surprisingly good, and tried to locate the orphanage.

Steve went to stand beside her, a coffee in his hand. “I took a peek at your file,” he said.

“Looked at yours too. Though there wasn’t a lot I didn’t know already,” she replied.

“You said you didn’t have any family. I know that isn’t true.”

Luna sighed, staring at the dregs at the bottom of her cup. “I love my gran. I really do. But it’s hard, you know, when she doesn’t even know who I am half of the time.”

“I—uh—I didn’t know Peggy had any kids.”

“Well, you were a popsicle for seventy years, so I don’t think anyone would blame you for missing a few things.”

“Good. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s been catching me up to speed, but mainly the broad strokes. There’s a lot of personal and cultural things to learn about,” Steve said quietly.

“I could help you with that. I’m very in tune with the cultural zeitgeist,” Luna joked. “Where are agent Romanoff and Director Fury?”

“Trying to track Loki down,” he replied. He looked out over the city, a fondness sparkling in his eyes. “I love this city. It’s changed so much, but it still feels the same. Did you grow up here?”

Luna nodded with a smile. “In Brooklyn. Best borough of the city—and that’s a fact. Argue with the wall.”

He chuckled. “Is that why you signed up to do this? To save Brooklyn?”

“I guess,” she shrugged. “It’s kinda my duty, as the Avatar.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll ever wrap my head around that.”

“What, spirits and shit?” Luna questioned. “You literally fought a Nazi who wore a human mask to cover up his red, skeletal face, and was using this blue death-cube we’re after to make super-powered weapons. I don’t think spirits are all that far-fetched after that.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Agent Romanoff came up to them with a tablet in her hands, the screen showing the world map, but it was zoomed in on Europe. She guided them back to the table where Dr Banner was still sitting. Fury joined them as well, and both him and Romanoff had their game-faces on.

“We have a location for Loki,” Romanoff began. “We picked up a facial match on the cameras at Heinrich Schäfer’s laboratory in Stuttgart, Germany. Currently, the Schäfer Science Gala is being held there, which means there’s going to be a high civilian presence.”

“What’s their business at this lab?” Steve asked.

“Schäfer keeps all his important research in a biometrically sealed vault. We won’t know what he’s after until we get there and see for ourselves,” Romanoff explained. Her expression turned sour as she added, “We know Loki has some of our agents under mind control. Until we figure out how to reverse the effects of his scepter, we are using non-lethal force only. We’re sending the two of you into the field,” she said to Steve and Luna.

Fury clapped his hands once impatiently. “We’re on a time-crunch, people. The quinjet’s prepared for take-off, so move your asses. Let’s see what you’re made of, Carter.”

They were escorted to the upper deck of the helicarrier, making one quick pit-stop so Steve could change into his Captain America get-up, but within minutes they were up in the air, the quinjet—a small, high-tech plane capable of speeds ten times faster than a normal jet—taking them across the Atlantic at record speed.

Luna sat on the cold steel bench lining the fuselage walls of the plane. Her cheap daggers were a comfortable weight in her boots. She had brought them just in case, but knew they probably wouldn’t do much good against a god.

Agent Romanoff sat in the pilot’s seat, communicating with the main S.H.I.E.L.D. base. Beside her murmuring and the hum of the engine, the quinjet was quiet. When the boredom finally got to her, Luna pushed off from the bench and leaned against the co-pilot seat beside agent Romanoff. “Sind wir fast da?” she asked.

Romanoff raised an eyebrow. “You speak German?”

“Ein bissche,” Luna replied.

“I thought you were a science nerd, not a language geek.”

Luna rolled her eyes and asked, “I thought we were done with this little rivalry we had going on?”

“We are,” Romanoff said. “This is me being nice.”

“Got it… Well, I am mostly into physics and engineering, but I’ll sometimes pick up a language as a hobby. I usually get bored half-way through and drop it, though. I speak Spanish and Manderin pretty much fluently—English too, obviously. I’ve been getting handy at ASL and I can bullshit my way through a conversation in German, Russian and French, but I’ve been told my pronunciation is absolute garbage.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Say something in Russian.”

Luna looked around the interior of the quinjet, her eyes jutting over Steve’s thoughtful expression and star-spangled outfit. She cleared her throat and began. “Naryad Steve nemnogo chrezmeren, ty soglassen?”

A frown appeared on Romanoff’s face and, for the first time since the two had met, she smiled. “That’s terrible,” she said.

“But you understood me, didn’t you?” Luna asked excitedly.

“Barely.”

“I’ll take it. Anyway, are we almost there?”

“Yes,” Romanoff said as she began pushing buttons on the control board. “Approaching the lab right now. Get ready, both of you.”

The cargo door lowered in front of Steve and Luna. The quinjet hovered above the courtyard of the laboratory building. It would have been a beautiful sight normally, with the decorated stone pathways, neatly trimmed bushes, and the embellished stone fountain trickling with water—if it weren’t for the thick crowd of panicked faces. Dozens of men and women in tuxedos and evening dresses ran for their lives, yelling and screaming into the night.

Loki stood before them all, hovering feet above the ground. He had on traditional black and green Asgardian battle armor, an intricate gathering of leather and gold metal. On top of his sleek black hair sat a golden crown, tall horns gleaming in the moonlight. His black cloak waved behind him as he spread out his arms.

The blue rock in the center of his scepter glowed with power as he made the crowd kneel before him, and for a moment Luna thought that was the tesseract. She could feel the power radiating off it from where she stood. But no, the rock was smaller and jagged, and glowed a different shade of blue.

Loki spoke to the crowd, basking in their fear of him. Until one man, old and grey, refused to obey him, and stood up.

“What’s he doing?” Luna asked with a worried tinge.

The man was speaking to Loki. He clearly said something that pissed him off, because Loki raised his scepter, pointing it right at the man’s chest.

Steve rolled his shoulders, tightened his grip on his shield, and got ready. “The right thing,” he said and jumped out of the quinjet.

Loki’s scepter burned bright with power as he released his shot, but before it could reach its target, Captain America deflected it with his shield, placing himself in between the scared crowd and a pissed off god. The crowd gasped. With a single look back Steve told them to disperse, and they followed his orders, rushing out of the courtyard.

Luna took a deep breath in and out. Her heart raced as she jumped from the quinjet. She bent the air around her to soften her fall, her feet hitting the ground behind Loki with a soft thud. He turned and looked at her with a sharp glare, but placed his attention back on Captain America. Steve rushed forward to engage with him, trading fast blows before Loki could withdraw far enough to blast him with his scepter. Steve flew through the air, his back hitting the fountain with a splash.

Luna raised her arms. The water in the fountain trembled, ripples appearing as if from an earthquake. Tendrils of water shot up into the air, hovering above Steve. Loki tilted his head, confused and fascinated.

“ You know, I read a book about you once," Luna called out.

Loki whirled around, his eyes narrowing at the sight of her.

“I liked Thor better,” she said and pulled the water toward her.

It hit Loki square in the back, making him stumble forward. She was ready for this and punched her arm out, a jet of air blowing from her knuckles. Steve had recovered from his hit and was climbing out of the fountain just as Luna blew Loki his way. They flanked him. Captain America traded blows in melee combat as Luna kept him distracted from a distance, sending ice spikes and mini hurricanes into his path.

Loki blasted Steve again, sending him flying across the pavement, and turned his attention to the girl. Recognition sparked in his eyes as he watched her bend water and air to her will, but it was quickly replaced with anger. He raised his scepter and brought it down on her in a single swoop. She barely dodged the sharp, metal blade and used the wind to back away from him.

She bent the water up from the ground, gathering it into a pillar in front of her. She flattened her hand, waving it in the air in a slicing motion, cutting off disks from the ice. Her other hand punched them loose, sending them flying like bullets at Loki.

Loki's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he blasted the ice apart with his scepter. The ice shattered and created a perfect diversion for Luna to speed toward him and jumping up and kicking him in the chest before landing soundly on her feet.

Loki stumbled back. “You meddlesome spirit!” he snarled, holding a hand to his chest.

Luna grinned and breathed heavily, silently celebrating her upper hand in the fight. She charged forward, gathering the ice on the ground with each step and shot them toward Loki once more. Except this time, the shards flew right through him as his image wavered and disappeared in a cloud of green. Luna stopped short and looked at the spot Loki had stood a second ago in confusion.

"Over here," she heard from behind her. As she turned around, she came face to face with Loki and before she could react, he had shot a blast from his scepter against her chest, sending her flying across the square.

Her vision blurred as she rolled harshly against the stone-tiled ground, loose stones embedding themselves in her shoulders. When she stopped, she rolled herself over on her back and breathed heavily, looking up at the star-adorned sky.

A whoosh flew above her, fanning wind across her face. A figure made of gold and red flew through the sky like a shooting star, blasting Loki backwards with his repulser rays and landing on the ground with the clanging of metal on stone. Iron Man stood above Loki in all his glory and aimed his charging gauntlet at him, small rocket launchers appearing from his suit's shoulders.

"Make your move reindeer games," Tony Stark said, as Luna and Steve both got up from the ground and stood beside him.

Loki eyed the three figures as his golden armor disappeared and he surrendered.

"Good move."

"Stark," Steve greeted curtly.

"Captain," Stark returned before pointing to the girl standing at his other side. "Who the hell is this chick?"

Agent Romanoff landed the quinjet and helped Stark and Steve cuff Loki to bring him aboard. Steve shoved him onto the bench Luna had sat on not long ago and sat down on the opposite bench, his eyes never leaving Loki. Stark had removed his helmet, standing near the cockpit in conversation with Romanoff. The agent herself was readying the quinjet for take off, closing the door the minute Luna dragged herself inside. She collapsed on the bench next to Steve.

Luna rested her head against the metal wall, letting her eyes shut for a minute. She could hear Stark and Romanoff discuss something in the cockpit, but she couldn't get herself to care. Despite all the excitement and insanity that today had brought, this fight had really made her realize just what mess she was getting herself into. She was tired already, but she knew she wouldn’t get to rest until Loki was secured.

“You alright, kid?” Steve asked with a worried frown.

"You guys really gotta stop calling me kid," she said. She rubbed the center of her chest, where Loki’s scepter had hit her. "And yeah, I will be."

“That was some good fighting out there,” he said.

“I kinda got my ass kicked at the end there.”

He hummed in agreement, but shrugged and said, “Yeah, but you got up. That’s the important part. Not that you got knocked down, but that you had the courage to get back up again.”

Luna had honestly forgotten about Loki until he spoke up. “I would call it stupidity rather than courage.”

Luna glared at him. “We were having such a nice moment, did you have to ruin it?”

Loki ignored her and instead turned his gaze to Steve. “Does Midgard have children fighting her battles now? How… predictable.”

“Can we get this guy a muzzle?” Luna called out to the cockpit.

Tony Stark stepped back from the pilot seat and positioned himself into a corner. The rest of his suit opened up with a hiss of electricity as the man himself stepped out of it. “I knew I forgot something at home. I’ll bring it next time we arrest a Norse god. In the meantime,” he said as he sat down on the bench a few feet from Loki. “Do you wanna explain yourself, young lady?”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“Uh, yeah, you do,” he said. “What were you looking for, huh? Passwords, bank account numbers? Or schematics, blueprints? Maybe you were looking to sell some company secrets?”

“Ohhh!” Luna remembered. “You’re talking about earlier, when I—“

“Of course I’m talking about that!”

“Okay, don’t get your parties in a twist, now,” Luna said which seemed to both amuse and infuriate him at the same time.

“You two have met before, I’m guessing?” Steve asked.

“Only a little bit,” Luna replied. “I wasn’t looking for anything, Stark. I was just seeing if I could. And I could.”

“And now you’re here, with us. That’s one hell of a coincidence.”

“Lay off her, Stark,” Steve cut in. “I don’t know what happened here, but we’re all on the same team.”

“Not all of us…” Loki drawled.

“Can you shut up?” Luna snapped.  

“It’s always fun to see an Avatar come into their own. It’s been awhile, too.”

“What the hell did you just say?"

Loki was about the answer when thunder rumbled the quinjet. The insides shook violently with the surprise storm outside, rain coming down like a blanket out of nowhere. The turbulence shook Loki more than just physically. He looked around with a composed posture, though his eyes betrayed his nervousness.

"What? Scared of a little lightning?" Steve asked.

Loki gave him a blank look. “I'm not overly fond of what follows."

With a flash of lightning, the cargo door was ripped from the quinjet, tumbling down hundreds of feet to the ground. Wind blew the sharp rain into the fuselage, creating a layer of water on the floor. In the blink of an eye, a hulking figure landed inside. He was about as tall as the ceiling and as wide as Captain America.

Much like Loki, he was wearing some sort of battle armor, with red and black leather and gold metal. His long blond hair whipped around his face as the wind stormed on outside. Moonlight glinted off the massive metal hammer in his hand, inscribed with Norse runes. The man grabbed Loki by the collar and spun the hammer in his hand, letting it pull the two of them out of the quinjet and into the air.

The three remaining passengers stared out at the retreating storm with wide eyes.

“Another Asgardian?” Romanoff called out.

Luna gaped at the spot the figure had just stood. A smile slowly creeped onto her face. “Not just any Asgardian. That was Thor. Or, you know, the best one!”

“Ooh, someone’s got a cru-ush,” Stark teased as he stepped back into his suit.

“Oh, get off it,” she said and rolled her eyes. “Are we going after them? What’s the plan?”

“The plan?” Stark said as he stood at the ledge. Beneath, a large forest of pine spread out as far as they could see, and not too far away a mountain broke through, reaching into the clouds. Stark activated his propulsion system and shrugged the best he could in a metal suit. “The plan is to attack,” he said and was off.

“Who? What? Why? That’s not a plan!” she exclaimed.

She was about to turn to Steve, only to find that he had jumped out of the quinjet already, his parachute hanging abandoned on the wall.

Luna stood silently in the middle and of the quinjet. "Do I have to—" she began but was quickly cut off by Romanoff.

"Yes," the agent said. "Make sure Loki doesn't get away during their pissing match."

Luna sighed deeply, going for a parachute but quickly ditching the idea. She bent the air around her to guide her like a feather into the air. Down on the ground Steve and Stark were engaging Thor, the sounds of their fighting echoing sharply through the forest. She thought it best not to interrupt. Instead, she spotted a lone figure at the edge of a boulder protruding out of the mountain. She landed steadily on her feet and let the wind rest, looking warily at Loki.

"I can't believe they just left you here by yourself," she said.

"Great," Loki huffed. "It is the child. What are you, their mascot?"

Luna threw her arms up in the air. "I am not a child!" she exclaimed. "And if anyone was our mascot, it'd be Captain America in that star-spangled suit."

Loki shrugged in agreement, leaning against the side of the spiky mountain. He looked around at his surroundings analytically.

"Could you please not try to escape? I've kinda had a rough day and I really don't need that,” she said, glad that he still had his inhibitor cuffs on. “Hey, what did you mean before?”

Loki gave her a blank look.

“How do you know what the Avatar is? It died thousands of years ago.”

“And I am thousands of years old,” Loki said. "Asgard has existed since long before the first fall of Midgard and it shall exist long after the next.”

From below them in the dense forest came a loud bang, like an explosion of light and force, and a circle of trees was blasted back by pure energy. The three heroes stood in the clearing, silently looking at each other.

Luna walked to the edge of the cliff and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Are you guys done?" she shouted down, her words echoing through the valley. "Because I don't know if you've noticed, but I already got Loki! Y'all can stop measuring dicks and get up here so we can leave!"

 

 

 

Chapter 7: The Smartest Person In The Room

Summary:

With Loki captured and secure on the Helicarrier, The Avengers try to figure out his end goal, but tensions rise as the team butts heads and begin to grow suspicious of Director Fury. Meanwhile, Luna tries to find out more about her past.

IV. THE SMARTEST PERSON IN THE ROOM

——————

"Ant." Fury gestured towards Loki.

Loki, who stood trapped in an impenetrable glass cage inside the helicarrier, raised his eyebrow unimpressed. After bringing him to the base in the quinjet, agents had taken the god off of Stark's hands and escorted him to his prison.

"Boot." Fury pointed at the control panel next to him with one very big and bright red button. Its meaning was clear; one push and Loki would be gone.

The god chuckled, his arms behind his back. "Impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me." He grinned menacingly, stepping toward the glass.
           
"Built for something a lot stronger than you," said Fury, not wavering beneath Loki's stare.
           
"Oh, I've heard." Loki smirked as he turned his head to look directly into the security camera. "A mindless beast, makes play he's still human," he said.

Luna looked at the scene from a computer screen in the main bridge of the helicarrier. "He creeps me out," she muttered, side-glancing at Bruce, who stood beside her.

The rest of the newly-formed team stood gathered around her, waiting intently until Fury was done.

"How desperate are you, to call on such a lost creature to defend you?" Loki continued condescendingly.

"How desperate am I?" Fury took a step closer to the cage. "You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate." He stood firmly on the ground, his sneer towards Loki not wavering. "You might not be glad that you did," he added as a good measure, his voice low and threatening.

But all Loki did was smirk at the man and tilt his head. "Oh, it burns you to have come so close. To have the tesseract, to have power, unlimited power... And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is," he mocked.

"Well, let me know when 'real power' wants a magazine." Fury rolled his eyes, getting the last word in and walking out.

Luna ran a hand through her hair with a deep sigh, sitting down on top of the large table next to Steve. "God, I can't believe this is actually happening," she said before looking up and adding, "can I still say God? Or would that be weird, since we've just captured one?"

Natasha walked toward her and responded, "I think you're good. It's been a while since anyone's prayed to Norse Gods."

"But this God has an army," Steve said, staring off into the void. "From outer space," he added, rubbing his temples.

Luna felt a stroke of pity for him; he was still adjusting to waking up in a whole different time and he was already being thrust back into another war. Technology had evolved tremendously since the forties. Everything had evolved since then.

"He came here via portal, right?" she asked. "A portal y'all opened with the Tesseract. Is that why Loki took Erik Selvig?" she wondered. "To build another portal, for his army." She tried not to freak out as Thor took a step toward her.
          
"Selvig?" Thor questioned, recognition flashing across his face.

She nodded. "Astrophysicist. You know him?"
  
"He's a friend."
  
"Loki has him under some kind of spell. Along with one of ours," Romanoff said as she looked at the ground. Clint Barton, she had explained to Luna earlier, was the arrow guy who was also a part of the Avengers initiative.

Luna thought back to Fury's conversation with Loki, about how Loki still held himself as if he had the upper hand. Then she thought back to her and Loki on the mountain cliff and how he had looked nothing but completely relaxed.

"He let us take him in," she said. "Doesn't make any sense, none of this does. What kind of business does Loki have here? He ain't building a portal and leading his freak alien army from inside a box."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," Bruce began. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you can smell the crazy on him."
          
"Have care how you speak," Thor said, his voice booming loudly. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard and he is my brother."
          
"He killed eighty people in two days." Romanoff pointed out.
  
"He's adopted."

"Iridium," Bruce began. "What did he need Iridium for?"

"That's the metal he stole in Stuttgart, right?" Luna asked.

He nodded.

"Well," she continued. "It's one of the densest materials on the world, very hard and brittle. It's got a high melting point, which is why it's used to make machines that use high temperatures."

"What the kid means is," Tony Stark spoke up as he strutted into the room, along with the agent whom Romanoff introduced to Luna as Phil Coulson. "It's a stabilizing agent," he continued.

Luna's eyes widened as the Iron Man winked at her. "Uh—" she cleared her throat. "Exactly. And since Selvig's building a portal, Iridium would stop it from collapsing in on itself."

"Not like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D., at least," he noted, walking up to Thor. "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing." He patted the God on his incredible bicep.

"And with the portal not destroying an entire building," she said.

"It could stay open for as wide and as long as Loki wants." He nodded, impressed, at Luna. He stopped in front of the helicarrier's control panel, his hand covering his eye as he turned on a circle. "How does Fury even see in these?" he asked agent Hill as she approached to them.

"He turns."
          
"Sounds exhausting."

"The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density," he continued to explain. "Something to kick-start the cube."

Luna eyed his hand as it went under the control panel and stuck something on it. Way to be obvious, Stark.

Agent Hill frowned as she raised her eyebrows. "When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" she sassed.

He didn't wait a second before answering, "Last night." He looked around the room at the blank faces staring back at him. "The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers— Am I the only one who did the reading?" he asked, appalled.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked.
  
"He'd have to heat the cube to 120 million Kelvin just to break though the Coulomb barrier," Bruce answered.

An idea sparked in Luna's head. "What's it called when a wave function can travel through a potential barrier even with a lower total energy?" she wondered, trying to dig deep into her memory of watching a YouTube video of an Indian guy teaching advanced physics at one in the morning.

Bruce looked at her, recognition present of his face. "The quantum tunneling effect. If Selvig figured out how to stabilize that, he could ensure heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet. That's clever, Luna."
          
She shrugged casually, ignoring the heat traveling through her face.

Tony chuckled as he exclaimed, "Finally! People who speak English!"

"Is that what just happened?" Steve muttered to himself.

"It's good to meet you, dr. Banner." Tony walked up to the awkward man and shook his hand. "Your work on anti-electron collision is unparalleled... And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."
  
"Thanks."

"Dr. Banner is here only to track the cube. I was hoping you might join them," Nick Fury said as he walked into the room, demanding everyone's attention.

"Let's start with this stick of his, it may be magical but it looks an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon," Steve spoke up.
 
"I don't know about that," he countered. "But it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys? I do not understand." Thor said.
 
Steve sat up excitedly. "I do!" he exclaimed with a small grin on his face. "I understood that reference."

Luna had to hold back a chuckle as she noticed the humongous eye roll Tony did.

Tony sighed before moving towards Bruce. "Wanna play, doctor?" he asked him and as Bruce nodded he turned to Luna. "Kid? You wanna come?"

Luna thought about it for a second; she knew Fury had only brought her in for her powers, but if she could help with more than just fighting, she was sure as hell she was going to do it.

---

"Okay, what do we know about the cube?" Banner asked as he pulled up a large, see-through board and held a marker to begin writing.

Tony and Luna stood opposite of it, racking their brains on a way to effectively and quickly track the whereabouts of the Tesseract.

"We know it's alien," Luna called out and Bruce wrote it down.
          
"It has a strong electromagnetic field," Tony said.
   
"So it probably radiates some sort of energy that can be tracked by a S.H.I.E.L.D. satellite," she added. "I'm assuming a super secret spy agency has their own satellite."

Tony sat down at one of the desks in the lab and turned on the computer, using S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system.
   
"Here." He turned it to the other two. "A huge spike in energy when the S.H.I.E.L.D base collapsed, but the energy spikes before that weren't that special, it matches most reactors on Earth."

Luna groaned. "Of course it couldn't be that easy."

She thought back to the packet they had all received with Selvig's notes. One of the few things she remembered from skimming it was that iridium radiated a small amount of gamma-radiation. What if the cube did the same?

"Here, give me that." She took the laptop from Tony and instead of looking for electrical energy, she went looking for gamma radiation. "Look. The cube radiates small amounts of gamma-radiation, just like the iridium that was stolen. If we can build a program that can successfully track the strongest points of gamma radiation..." She looked at them. "We can track the Tesseract."
 
"Nice one, Carter." Tony nodded.

Luna didn't hear his praise, her mind had already wandered to a faraway place. Something wasn't right here, she could feel it.

"Carter? Hellooo?" He snapped his fingers in front of her face.

She waved her hand and stood up, a hazy gleam over her eyes as she walked to the exit. "I gotta go," she said distantly before taking off in a jog.

Tony watched as Luna ran away and turned to Bruce. "Teenagers," he muttered.

Bruce scoffed in agreement.

Luna ran through corridors, dodging agents along the way. She came to a stop at a door, guarded by two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. She cursed herself for thinking it wouldn't be guarded. Not wanting to go into any dramatics this time, she simply walked up to them and knocked them out.

"Sorry," she said, her mouth in an awkward smile at the two knocked out agents. She kneeled down and grabbed their keycard, using it to unlock the door into the room.

There was an elevated platform, next to it stood a control panel with a big, shiny red button. She stepped forward to the cage in the middle of the room. Loki's back was turned to her, but the tilt in his head made it clear he was aware of her presence.

"A visitor," Loki drawled. "I don't get many of those. Good morning. Or evening? I'm not quite sure, it's difficult to count the days in here." He gestured to the glass cage holding him.

"I really don't care, Scar," Luna said. "And stop being dramatic, you've been in there for barely a day."

He turned to face her. "Lady Carter. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
  
"Why are you here?" she asked. "Because you can't tell me you managed to destroy an entire town in New Mexico but got bested by some douchebag billionaire in a home-made titanium suit." She shook her head, walking closer under Loki's gaze. "No, I ain't buying it."

He hummed, his hands behind his back, staring at the girl with an unrecognizable look in his eyes. "You are more clever than most humans, especially the younglings. Yet, I must say I don't know what you are talking about." The corners of his mouth twitched.

Luna's eyes narrowed. "I call bull," she voiced. "You're here, on the helicarrier, for something. I'm just not sure of what yet. You have the cube, you have the iridium. What else would you need to open your portal and why did you need to get captured to get it?" She clenched her jaw, her mind racing. "Something clicked while working on tracking the cube. Gamma radiation—"

Loki's mouth pulled up into a subtle smirk.

"—keeps popping up. The collapsed S.H.I.E.L.D. base, the iridium and now the cube. And I though to myself; who here has a lot of experience with gamma radiation?" she said, pursing her lips. "I'm not sure how Bruce fits into your scheme, but I'm gonna make damn sure you don't get what you want."

Loki smiled at her, but not kindly. It was a sinister smile, maybe not even meant to be sinister, but it still brought a shiver across Luna's spine.

"It's always nice to see an Avatar coming into their own," he said.

Her confident expression faltered. "You keep talking about me as if you know about me. What do you know?" It was a question that had been nagging the back of her mind since he mentioned it on the quinjet. The Avatar was of Earth, how would Loki of Asgard know about it?

"Everything, young one," he replied. "Avatar Aoma and Lee, all the rest. The spirit of the Avatar, Raava, and its counter-part, Vaatu. I know everything, Luna Carter."
  
"Tell me," Luna demanded, a tinge of hope going through her.

He thought for a moment before answering, "No."

She frowned. "No? What do you mean no?"

He stepped forward, inches away from the glass as his eyes traveled across the confinements of his cage. He sighed. "I don't feel like it. I guess I just feel a bit... trapped."

"You're trying to see how far I'll go," she noted, tilting her head as she met his gaze harshly, a small, mocking pout on her lips. "It's true, it's been killing me, not knowing. But I would never let your Bambi-ass out for answers," she said before swiftly turning serious again. "You don't seem to care that much about telling me your plan. Which means... it's already too late."

Her eyes widened and she backed out of the room, almost tripping over the unconscious agents as she sprinted through the corridors once more. She had to get back to the lab as soon as possible and warm the team about Loki's hidden agenda.

---

When Luna got back to the lab, there were more people in there than when she left. She walked in silently, listening to the conversation as she went to stand next to Romanoff and Thor. Nodding wordlessly at Romanoff and receiving one in return, she tried not to freak out about having Thor standing next to her and focused on the altercation that was forming between Stark and Steve, one that was long overdue.

Steve stepped forward, inching closer to Tony as he stared him down. "You need to focus on the problem, Stark," he said.
  
"You think I'm not?" Tony retorted heatedly. "Why did Fury call us in? Why us and why a fourteen-year-old kid? Why now? Why not before? What is he not telling us? I can't do the equation if I don't have all the variables," he said.

Luna had to give it to him, he made a valid point. She didn't know what she was doing here, when Fury clearly already had a team of more-than-capable people, who had already earned the right to be called a hero.

"You think Fury is hiding something?" Steve asked.

"Abso-fucking-lutely, Captain," Luna said. "He is the spy, top of the food-chain and shit. His secrets have secrets and it's getting on my nerves."

"It's bugging you too, isn't it?" Tony asked as he turns toward Bruce, silently telling him to back him up on this.

Luna leaned in closer to Tony and whispered, "Is this why you bugged the control panel earlier?"
         
His eyes widened for a second before nodding subtly at her.

Bruce shrunk as everybody turned their gaze to him. "Uh... I just want to finish my work here and..." he stammered, avoiding the question but Steve wasn't having it.

"Doctor?" he pushed.
          
Bruce sighed, his shoulders slumping. "'A warm light for all mankind.' Loki's jab at Fury about the cube. I think it was meant for you," he began. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news."
  
"The Stark tower?" Steve cut in. "That big, ugly—" he caught the look Tony threw him. "—tower in New York?" he quickly finished.
 
"It's powered by an arc-reactor; a self-sustaining energy source. It will power itself for what, a year?" Bruce implied as he explained it to the group.
 
"It's a prototype. I'm kinda the only name in clean energy right now," Tony bragged. "That's what he's getting at."

"So, why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. bring him in on the tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Bruce concluded.

Luna leaned back on her arms as she thought about it. "You should probably look into that once your decryption program finishes breaking into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secure files," she stated casually to Tony.
          
He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I should."
  
"I'm sorry, did you say—"

"JARVIS has been running since I hit the bridge. In a few minutes I'll know every dirty little secret S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?" Tony held his bag of blueberries to Steve, who glared at him.
          
"Yet you're confused on why he didn't want you around," Steve replied, shaking his head.
   
"Fury could've just... not lied to us but whatever floats your boat, Cap'n," Luna butted in.
          
Tony pointed his thumb at her. "An intelligence organization that fears intelligence. Historically, not awesome," he said.

"I think Loki is trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed," Steve said.
   
"Yeah, about that—" she tried to interrupt, needing to inform them on Loki's plans but her voice got lost in the midst of their macho-frenemy showdown.
   
"We have orders, we should follow them."
 
"Following's not really my style," Tony countered quickly.
 
"And you're all about style, aren't you?" Steve stepped closer, towering above the shorter man.
         
He huffed, inching closer. "Who in this room is A, wearing a spangly outfit and B, not of use?" he sassed, popping another blueberry in his mouth, not leaving Steve's gaze.

"Steve, are you telling me none of this smells a little funky to you?" he asked.
          
"Just find the cube," he said sternly before exiting the room.

Tony let out a deep, dramatic sigh. "That's the guy my dad never shut up about?" he asked rhetorically, an annoyed look on his face. "I'm wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice."

Luna rolled her eyes as she ran a hand through her hair. "Tell me about it..."

 

Chapter 8: Loki's Hidden Agenda

Summary:

The Avengers struggle to work together as a team. Loki's plan is revealed as Luna and the others fight to stop him.

V. LOKI'S HIDDEN AGENDA
——————

JARVIS was still trying to decrypt S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secure files, slowly breaking through its defenses.
     
"Shouldn't S.H.I.E.L.D. know by now that someone is trying to hack their system?" Luna questioned after hour three of waiting.

She was still sitting in the lab as Bruce and mostly Tony were busy putting the finishing touches on their tracking program. She was fiddling with the communication device in her ear that Tony had given her earlier, he thought it would be handy if she could keep in contact with the team, as they all already had one. She had scoffed in disbelief that she was almost left out again but took it either way.

Like clockwork, Director Fury stomped into the room, his face not predicting a nice or pleasant conversation.

"Speak of the devil..." Luna murmured.
      
"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" Fury asked, his voice strained.
     
"Kind of wondering the same thing about you," Stark countered as he approached the director.
    
"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract."
       
"We are," Bruce started. "The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit we'll have the location within half a mile."

Luna stepped forward, bending the water she was playing with back into her flask. "And then you can get your blue sparkling cube of death back and we can all go back to our pathetic little lives," she added right before Stark's program beeped.

JARVIS had done it.

Tony looked at its revealed contents before moving the monitor to face Fury. "What is phase 2?" he asked accusatory, the letters 'phase 2' revealing themselves on the monitor.

As if on cue, Steve walked into the room, harshly putting down what looked like a weapon on the table. "Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D. using the cube to make weapons," he said and turned his head to Tony. "Sorry, computer was moving a bit slow for me."

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean we're making—" Fury began but was quickly cut off by Tony, who pulled up multiple blueprints on the screen of the weapon laying on the table before them.

"I'm sorry, Nick. What were you lying?"

Steve looked at the director and said, "I was wrong, director. The world hasn't changed a bit."

Romanoff and Thor soon re-joined them in the lab.

"Did you know about this?" Bruce asked Romanoff as she stepped into the room.

"You wanna think of removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" she countered
      
"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."
      
"Natasha's right, Loki said—" Luna began, getting pretty tired of people cutting her off and talking over her. She took a deep breath as Romanoff started talking and decided to let it slide once again.
       
"Loki is manipulating you," Romanoff said as she approached Bruce.
       
"And you've been doing what, exactly?" he questioned.
     
"You didn't come here because I batted my eyelashes at you," she replied, her voice steady as it usually was.

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction," he asked as he turned to the rest of the group, specifically Fury.

"Because of him," Fury said and pointed his finger at Thor.
     
"Me?" Thor questioned.
     
"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only, we are not alone, we are hopelessly, hilariously outgunned."
       
"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor spoke as he crossed his arms.

"Last time I checked, Loki was one of  'your people,'" Luna pointed out.

"And you're not the only people out there, are you?" Fury added. "You're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled."

Luna swore that she saw Fury glance at her.

"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve said, giving the director a pointed look.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It's a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war," Thor explained.

"Which, by the way, we aren't," Luna added.

Everybody in this room seemed to have an actual place there, seemed to know what they were doing, except maybe Banner. And as much as she hated to admit it, it was threatening to be in a room full of people older than her, more experienced than her. Honestly, Luna had no idea what she was doing, or even why.

"A higher form?" Steve asked, frowning.

"You forced our hand. We had to come up with something," Fury replied.

Tony stepped forward, his arms lazily crossed across his chest. "A nuclear deterrent," he said. "Because that always calms everything right down."

Fury turned around to face him. "Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?"

"Wait, wait, wait. How is this now about me?" he interrupted incredulously.
     
"I'm sorry, isn't everything?" he snarked back.

Suddenly, it was like a switch had flipped. Everybody started to argue, over some of the most inconsequential things. Even Luna, who most of the time could keep a cool head, was starting to get really freaking annoyed.

"Are you really that naïve?" Romanoff said somewhere in between.
 
"Captain America," Bruce said. "Is on that threat watch?"
     
"We all are," she said.

Luna scoffed, finally standing up. "Oh, I'm sorry. Suddenly I'm not 'a kid', now I'm a threat?"

The people, the team, was arguing louder and louder by the second and everybody was too involved that they didn't notice the scepter behind them beginning to glow brighter.

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos," Thor said.
      
"That's his M.O, isn't it?" Bruce began as he caught everyone's attention. "I mean, what are we? A team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos." He looked around the room. "We're a time bomb."
      
Something in Luna's gut churned. She got the feeling that he was right, and it made her uneasy. If they really were a bomb, when would it go off?
      
"You need to step away," Fury said to Bruce.
       
"The doc here's not wrong," Luna voiced.

The group was spread across the room, all of them facing each other like a deformed circle.

"Yeah, why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony said as he stood next to Steve.

He put a hand on Steve's shoulder, which the man quickly swatted off. It was obvious that the two butted heads, which wasn't going to go away any time soon.

Steve turned around sharply as he glared down at him. "You know damn well why, back off!" he spoke angrily.

Tony looked at him with the same intensity. "I'm starting to want you to make me."

"Yeah, big man, suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"
     
"Genius, Playboy, billionaire, philanthropist," Tony said immediately, not stopping a second to think about it.

Luna had to hold in a scoff as she locked eyes with Romanoff. They both shrugged; he was right.

"I know guys with none of that, worth ten of you," Steve said, looking very unimpressed. "I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."
     
"I think I would just cut the wire," Tony sassed quickly.

"Always a way out." He shook his head. "You may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero, like you?" he questioned and the tension in the room ran so high, Luna could almost see it. "You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came from a bottle."
     
"Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds," Steve dared him.

Luna thought she could smell something very particular; testosterone.

"You people are so petty and tiny." Thor laughed.

"Just because you're a god, doesn't make you interesting. So zip it, Zeus," Luna snapped back at him. She didn't know where it suddenly came from, just that she was fed up with everybody patronizing her.

Fury looked across the room. "Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner to his—"
     
"Where? You rented my room," he pointed out, a bitter tone to his voice as he referred to the cell Loki was currently being held in.
       
"The cell was just in case—"
     
"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't. I know, I tried."

The room fell quiet.

Luna had thought about the topic once or twice. If she died, would she reincarnate like the Avatars before her? If that were true, wouldn't it be better if she ended it, have someone better, more capable take over? Every time, she shoved the idea to the back of her mind, she would rather deal with the responsibility later. Or well, never.

"I got low," Bruce began speaking, and everybody listened closely. "I didn't see an end. So I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping people, I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You wanna know my secret, agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"

Luna eyed the man carefully as she saw him grab the scepter behind him. It didn't seem like he knew what was happening until Steve pointed it out.
     
"Dr. Banner, put down the scepter," he said carefully as Fury and Romanoff kept their hands hovering over their guns.

Frazzled, Bruce slowly returned the scepter to its place.

Luna decided that it was now or never.

"Listen up, I went to see Loki," she announced and everybody turned to her. Seeing the looks they gave her, she rolled her eyes and quickly added, "Calm down. We just talked. But I think he slipped up. I think he's planning something with you, Bruce."
     
"Why didn't you mention this earlier?" Steve asked.

She scoffed and turned to him. "Don't you think I tried?" she snapped. "I'm not useless, America. But with you Stark frontin' the entire time, I couldn't get a word in."

He backed off.

"What else did he say?" Fury asked.

Luna fell quiet for a moment as she glanced at Thor. If Loki knew about her, then Thor must as well, right? She contemplated telling them about her. About everything. She didn't.

Fury didn't get to interrogate her further as suddenly the computer Tony had installed the tracking program on started beeping.

"Is that good beeping or bad beeping?" Luna asked.

"You located the Tesseract?" Thor asked and Luna inwardly thanked the perfect timing of it all.

Tony was already getting ready. "I could get there fastest."

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it," Thor announced.

"That's offensive," Luna muttered.

As Tony headed for the exit, Steve grabbed his arm. "You're not going alone."
     
"You're gonna stop me?" Tony said harshly as he slapped his hand away.
     
"Put on the suit, let's find out."

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."
    
"Put on the suit—"

"Oh, sweet goddamn Jesus!" Luna exclaimed. "Can you two quit your fighting for one fucking minute so we can think about this rationally without the constant testosterone choking us to death!" She stood in front of them, matching Tony's height but Steve still towered over her.

A loud BANG! rang through the helicarrier and immediately after, the lab exploded.

Everyone was blasted back as smoke filled their lungs and the floor beneath them shook violently. The floor caved in, taking Romanoff and Bruce with them to multiple floors below. Steve and Tony were blown against a wall. They quickly recovered and immediately jumped into action . Luna and Fury were somewhat safe as they ran towards the bridge of the carrier and stood at the control panel, overlooking all the computers and agents who were panicking.

Luna could vaguely hear someone shouting stuff about an engine failure.

Next to her was Fury shouting orders. "Bring the carrier around to a 180, heading south!" he said to the agent who was frantically searching on a computer. "Take it to the water!"

"We're flying blind!"

"Is the sun out?"

"Yes, sir," he said as he looked out the window.
     
"Then put it on your left!" Fury exclaimed harshly. "Get us over water! One more turbine goes down and we drop."

Luna's mind glazed over, like a mist clouding her head as she looked around. Agents were in a frenzy but Fury was able to control it, to keep calm. Keeping balance was supposed to be her job, but all she could do was watch and feel completely useless.

It didn't help that she understood precisely why; everybody here was better than her, more experienced. She didn't have training. She wasn't an agent or some badass spy, she wasn't a hero. She was supposed to protect the world, to save it and keep the peace. How could she do that if there was no one to tell her how?

She was blasted out of her inner existential crisis when agent Hill shouted, "Grenade!" and she was blasted against a wall.

Luna groaned as she stood up. She wasn't hurt but her entire body was sore. She quickly went to stand against the wall next to the opening as she heard footsteps coming from the hallway. Fury was on the other side, his gun in his hand.

Loki's corrupted agents stormed into the room and Fury quickly began fighting them as Luna did the same. She spun around and kicked her leg out, pushing a blast of air into the agents' chests and sending them flying. They were still keeping their ground against them when a crackling voice came through the communication device in her ear, saying that the fully transformed Hulk and Thor were fighting below them.

"Sir, the Hulk will tear this place apart!" Agent Hill shouted as she joined the fight.

"Get his attention," Fury replied and Luna could hear agent Hill quickly shout orders through the comms system.

Luna turned her head as an arrow whizzed past her and onto the control panel behind her, another arrow shot past and caused an explosion. Arrows rained into the room before suddenly the computers started malfunctioning.

The floor under Luna's feet began rumbling as she felt the carrier tipping down. An agent ran up to Fury, Hill and Luna. "Sir, we've lost all power in engine one."
     
Fury cursed under his breath. "It's Barton. He took our systems. He's headed for the detention level."

Where Loki is being held, Luna quickly pieced it together. This was what Loki had planned all along. Release the hulk, create a distraction to get into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s systems and use his flying monkeys to escape. It was a trap and they walked right into it.

"Does anybody copy?" Fury spoke into the comms but Luna didn't hesitate as she stepped forward. Finally, there was something she could do.

"I got this, sir. Seems like you and Hill got it under control here." Fury nodded and she quickly took off towards the detention level.

---

Luna got there too late. As she ran in, she saw the cell doors closing with Thor locked inside and Loki standing on the other side of the glass.
     
"Thor!" she yelled as she approached the control panel and tried to figure it out but she had no idea what was what and which button would release him and which would send him tumbling to the ground. She scrambled to find anything that could help, but she understood quickly that there was nothing she could do.

One of the corrupt agents charged for her but she turned and let her fist fly to his face, catching him off guard. He stumbled back for only a moment, his eyes covered with a disturbing blue haze, and before Luna could comprehend, he had her arm twisted behind her back, keeping her from using her abilities to escape. She could only watch as Loki taunted Thor.

"Are you ever not going to fall for that?" Loki said, menace clear in his voice.
     
Thor pounded on the glass and the cage dropped an inch. The handles holding it shook dangerously.

"The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?" Loki said as he walked up to the panel, glancing shortly at Luna. It looked like he was about to push the big red button.
     
"Loki, don't!" Luna warned loudly as she struggled in the agent's grasp.

Loki laughed as he looked at her. "I cannot tell if you're being brave or simply stupid."

She shrugged, as much as she could with her arms locked behind her back. "Depends on the day."

"It doesn't matter, it won't do you any good now," he stated before turning to Thor. "Brother, you remember the last Avatar we encountered, do you not? Must have been centuries ago."

"God, you really love the sound of your own voice, don't you?" Luna interrupted, though more questions were roaming around in her mind now. They had met an Avatar?

A loud thud came from behind Luna and the agent holding her grunted loudly before falling limply to the ground, unconscious.

Confused, Luna turned around and saw agent Coulson standing over the knocked out agent with a gun almost larger than himself.

She let out a breathy laugh. "You're my favorite agent."

"Thank you," he said. "Now, please step out of the way."

Luna did as told and Coulson pointed the large gun at Loki.

"You like this?" Coulson gestured to his gun proudly.

Loki watched him curiously.

"We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does." He powered up the gun. "Do you want to find out?"

Watching Loki closely, Luna noticed his eye twitch, his jaw clench and his eyes dart to the spot behind Coulson. His hand tightened around his scepter and as Loki's mirage dissipated in a cloud of green, Luna heard footsteps approaching rapidly from behind her and Coulson.

She turned in a instant and grabbed the base of Loki's scepter, right before he could stab it into agent Coulson's heart. "Not today, buddy," she growled and pushed Loki back. "Coulson, stay back."

"Call me Phil," he responded, taking rapid steps back.

Luna glared heavily at the God before her, grabbing her daggers from her boots and getting ready for a fight.

Loki's eyes gleamed as he held her stare. "Oh, I see," he said, something close to amusement in his tone. "That's how you want to do this," he added and his scepter disappeared from view. Two daggers, shinier and sharper-looking than Luna's, appeared in his hands.

Luna charged at him, going in with a stab-to-kill attitude. Making sure not to underestimate the God, like she was sure he was doing for her, she attacked quickly and precisely. But Loki was quicker and more precise. He was over a thousand years old and a master in almost all fighting styles.

With every move Luna made, her muscles grew weaker and Loki wasn't even using his magic. With every swing she took, every step she made, she gathered every bit over moisture she could find in the room and used it to grow herself more arms and more weapons. Every time she attacked, she pushed the air behind her arm to make it go faster, to hit Loki harder.

Until, eventually, she abandoned her daggers and attacked him with all she had. But all she had was just water and air.

With a particularly hard blow to the chest, Luna managed to make Loki stumble back with a grimace and freeze his daggers out of his hands. It wasn't enough.

Loki looked back up at her, surprise subtly on his face, and a wave of green pushed against her, pushing her to the ground. Before she knew it, her feet and arms were restrained by metal cuffs. She pushed against the metal, mustering all her strength to try to break the magical bonds, but she could only watch as Loki's mirage once again dissipated and he appeared behind Coulson, the scepter piercing through his chest.

"NOO!" she screamed, her yell blending with Thor's. The sight shocked her, she had never seen someone die and had never wished to. She had only known Coulson for a short amount of time, yet she felt sad. She felt angry, looking at Loki who stood there, grinning.

Everything happened in a blink of an eye. Loki pushed the red button, the cage holding Thor got loose, beginning to fall. Luna bend the water out of her flask and send it in sharp, deadly spikes to Loki. He sent a blast of power from his scepter and broke the ice into a million pieces before it could hit him. But while he was distracted, a flash of light and power send him straight into the wall, leaving a deep dent in the metal.

Luna turned to Coulson and his smoking gun, breathless, before turning back, but Loki had disappeared.

She quickly kneeled next to the dying man.
     
"So that's what it does," Coulson said in a raspy voice as blood coated his lips.
    
"Hey, stay with me, agent. It ain't your time, man." She grabbed his shoulder tightly in an attempt to comfort him.

"It's Phil," Phil said weakly. "It's okay, Carter."
  
"What're you talking about? You're gonna get up and kick some ass," she said, but she didn't believe a word of it. It seemed like Phil didn't either.

Luna looked around and noticed the scattered, melting pieces of ice before she bent them into liquid and held it over Phil's wound. She vaguely noticed Fury joining her, talking to Phil but she focused on her breathing and closed her eyes. She moved her hands and the water started to glow faintly. She concentrated hard, her frustration growing as the wound wasn't healing. She opened her eyes to see Fury looking at her pleadingly.

She shook her head. She felt defeated, because who was she kidding? She could barely mend a broken bone, she still felt sore from her broken ankle that she healed. No way in hell could she heal a broken heart.
    
"I'm sorry—" she whispered as her voice broke, "I... I can't."

Maybe if she were better, Phil Coulson wouldn't have taken his last breath that day.

 

Chapter 9: The Battle Of New York

Summary:

After failing to safe Phil Coulson, Luna reflects on her place on the team and her destiny in this life. The final clash between Loki and The Avengers breaks out in the heart of Manhatten. The team must finally find a way to work together if they want to have even a chance of beating him.

VI. THE  BATTLE OF NEW YORK
——————

Luna's night had been restless and without much sleep. She tossed and turned in her bunk that had been given to her by Fury. After Tony and Steve had fixed up the helicarrier, it wasn't pummeling to the ground and threatening to crash now, everybody was helping to clean up the inside of the ship.

The broken glass had been cleaned up and the wounded had been tended to. Some agents had been trying to pinpoint where Banner had landed after the Hulk took a swan dive off the helicarrier but with no luck so far.

Clint Barton and some of the other agents were no longer under Loki's mind control, which was one of the few good things to happen but they were still pretty beaten up. The rest of the team had barely spoken to each other. Luna hadn't said anything at all after Phil died. She decided it would be better that she retreated for a while, thus she went to her designated room.

It was small and packed with only a bunk bed, but she didn't mind. The moment she had entered it she collapsed on the bed. The adrenaline had worn off a while ago and she felt exhausted. Even though she felt like she could sleep for a week, her mind decided that she couldn't yet. So she laid in the dark with her eyes closed for a solid hour, tossing and turning.

Her mind kept showing her Phil's dying face. It seemed to mock her. Luna didn't know if she had fallen asleep when she thought she heard Phil say, 'You're useless.'

But it didn't stop, she kept hearing his voice taunting her in the distant, 'You could've saved me.'

When she woke up in the early morning, the last thing she remembered from her restless night was Phil looking at her and saying, 'You're no hero...'

---

Luna was still exhausted, although that wasn't a new feeling for her, as she walked into the main area. She didn't pay any attention to Tony Stark, who was standing against a wall, and Steve Rogers, who was sitting in one of the chairs, as she sat down opposite of him at the large, oval table.

She propped her feet on the table as she leaned back in her chair. She was still processing how completely and utterly out of control her life had spun in the past couple days when Nick Fury silently walked in.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket," he said, taking out a stack of vintage Captain America trading cards.

Luna's breath hitched in her throat as she saw the red blood stains on them.

"I guess he never did get you to sign them," he directed at Steve and threw the cards down on the table.

Blood was splattered on the corner of the deck.

"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, the location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. I lost my one good eye," he said. "Maybe I had that coming."

"Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers initiative," Fury spoke. "The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes."

A tense silence filled the air, thick with mourning and contemplation.

Luna Carter sat there, listening to Nick Fury with an expressionless look on her face. Her mind was still trying to push images of a dying Phil Coulson to the surface. She couldn't safe him. Useless, his voice rang through her head. How was she supposed to save the entire world if she couldn't even save one man?

Her mind spiraled. When she decided that she wasn't having any of it anymore, she stood up and stormed towards the exit. Feeling the confused looks burning into her back, she stopped in the doorway and spun around.

"I wasn't even on your radar a week ago and I'm sure as hell not a part of your 'initiative.'" she said harshly. "I have no reason to stay. The last two days have been the most exciting days of my life and yet, somehow, also the worst. So if you'll excuse me, I'm taking the first parachute I see and jumping off this godforsaken ship if I have to," she ranted, storming off.

Luna packed her stuff from her guest room before making her way up to a door that led to the deck. There, she took a parachute off the rack and opened the door. She hesitated, looking down at bustling New York City beneath her. Turning her head, she glanced at the door, waiting for something to come after her and stop her. Nothing did. She took off.

---

Luna landed on the roof of the shelter, took off the parachute and jumped down. For the first time in her life, she felt happy to see the dreary front door of the orphanage. It was quiet inside, the matron must have taken the kids to the park for the day.

Taking a deep breath, she took in the familiar smells of the living area. The matron would sometimes burn sage and the sent would get stuck in the furniture and wallpaper. Luna normally hated it, but now it made her feel at home. Then there was also the usual smell of children, but she didn't mind it this time.

"Luna!" a voice exclaimed.

Luna spun around and saw the bubbly redhead coming her way, a big grin on her face.

"Where have you been?" Amy asked as she attacked her with a big hug.

Luna laughed dryly, kneeling to hug the girl back just as tightly. "Oh, you know," she said. "Out and about, like usual. I missed you, Tiny," she added as she cupped Amy's head in her hands.

As she looked at the young girl, she realized that this was her family. Her gran and Amy were the only people she would ever need and the little girl deserved to know the truth, because Luna was her only family too.

"You wanna hear a story?" she asked as she stood up, leading Amy to the back door.
  
"Of course!" Amy answered excitedly.

Luna chuckled and, with an arm around Amy's shoulder, lead the way through the forest behind the shelter and followed the subtle path of flattened down grass towards the clearing.

Amy's eyes went wide. "Wow..." she muttered.

Luna chuckled at the nine-year-old's expression. It was the same expression she carried when she first stumbled across the place. It seemed to be perfectly made just for her.

The trees stood around in a circle and the stream flowed perfectly at the side, the sounds of trickling water and birds relaxing. The sun always seemed to shine golden sunlight through the trees and at night the moonlight illuminated the circle in white light. One of the trees was even so kind as to grow a perfect branch to the side for Luna to set up her hut. It was like fate that Luna stumbled across the clearing.

"I know," Luna said with a small smile on her face. "Now, sit."

Amy sat down on the grass as she watched Luna disappear into the small, run-down hut before she came out holding a box with, what seemed like, trinkets in it. Luna sat down opposite of the girl and put the box down next to her.
     
"Yesterday, I skipped school. When I arrived back here, there was this man waiting for me," Luna began her story, trying to keep in a pinch of the wonder Luna had back then. "He wore a dark leather coat and he had this ridiculous eyepatch—"

"Like a pirate?" Amy wondered as she looked up at Luna with wide eyes.

Luna suppressed a smirk. "Exactly like a pirate. He told me he worked for a super secret organization and he wanted to recruit me for a special group of people called the Avengers."

"You mean like the Power Rangers?"

Luna almost burst out laughing at the mental picture of the team in those colorful outfits. "Uh-huh. Precisely." She nodded. "He wanted my help to save the world."

"Does that mean that you're a superhero? Like Wonder Woman?" Amy asked curiously, her eyes widening in excitement. "Do you have superpowers?" she whispered.

Luna didn't say anything as she moved her hand forward towards the stream and pulled back, the water lifting up into the air and flying in a string towards them. She held up her other hand as she made it into a ball. When she looked back at Amy, she was sure she had just blown her mind.

"I have powers," she said. "But I'm not a superhero."

Clearing her throat, she began showing Amy all the scrolls and artifacts inside the small box her brother Derek had brought home from his trips. She began telling the story of the past two days. She did not bother going into the history of the Avatar or about the lost civilization.

"—and then I left." She finished telling Amy a PG version of what had happened. About Fury, Captain America, Iron Man and the rest. She told her about Loki and she told her about Phil Coulson.

Luna had never been the best at making friends her age, and when she did they mostly didn't last. She tried when she was younger, and before her parents' accident she had some friends, yet everyone always seemed to leave after awhile.

For a time, Luna thought it was their fault, that they were jerks and assholes. But eventually she knew it was her fault, that nobody could stand to be around her. She had more luck with adults. She had conversations with her teachers, the ones who didn't hate her, and even her great grandma's nurses she could get along with. Eventually Luna gave up on making friends with her peers.

Luna was eleven when Amy got to the group home. Nobody seemed to know where the five-year-old came from, but no one seemed to be bothered by the mystery. And since most kids and caretakers came and went, Luna decided to take the little girl under her wing, to take care of her and to be her friend. She knew how hard it was to be young and all alone and she didn't want the girl to go through what she went through. And so Amy didn't. She grew up happy and loved, and Luna gained a friend.

The two were laughing happily when suddenly the sky seemed to shake. Then it went quiet, deadly quiet. Luna's gaze was pulled to the sky. The clouds parted and from Manhattan, a beam of blue light shot into the sky. When it reached the clouds, a chasm-like hole opened, the other side dark and filled with stars.

The screams started when hundreds of ships began flying through. From this far away, Luna couldn't precisely see what they were, but she knew they weren't human when beasts as large as a house began flying through.

"The Chitauri..." Luna muttered as it clicked. "Loki's army."

"Go." Amy spoke up.

Luna turned to her and frowned, "what?"

"You gotta help, don't you?"

Luna sighed as she looked at the girl sadly. "They don't need me, they can handle this. Besides, I'm not a hero."
     
"Bullshit." Amy suddenly said.

Luna raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Where the hell did you learn that?" she exclaimed.

"I don't get it." Amy said. "You know it wasn't your fault that that man died, right? I got that from context and I'm nine."

"Ames, I don't know. It's better if I stay here. I'm useless."

"Then what was the point of that story? Remember when you saved me from those bullies?" Amy asked. "You're already a hero, you're my hero. So, go save the world."

Luna looked at her before looking up at the sky. She could hear the fighting already starting in the streets of Manhattan.

She smiled as she pulled Amy into a tight hug. "I love you, kiddo." She kneeled in front of her, "I want you to go find matron. I don't know if the fight will reach here but I need to know you're safe. I—" her voice wavered. "I might not see you again. So just in case; goodbye."

Luna stood up and put her leather jacket back on, tying her purple plaid flannel around her waist and checked that her twin-daggers were still in place before she took of running, with the help of her air bending, towards the large gaping hole above Manhattan.

---

It looked like hell on Earth. Fires burned down bushes and crashed cars blared their alarms loudly. Behind walls and doors Luna could see people hiding for their lives as she looked over the streets from on top of the roof of a building. She stayed low, as to not get spotted by the Chitauri walking and flying over the streets.

Luna waited and watched the battle progress in the center of New York, the Avengers tower looking over everything. She walked through the rubble of destroyed buildings as she looked for survivors and helped them get to safety as she searched for her team. She stumbled over a bike in the middle of the street before she turned the corner and saw the team gathered.

Luna heard a low growling noise approaching and got ready to fight until she saw it was just Bruce Banner arriving on an old motorcycle. He looked worse for wear, his clothes weren't his and they looked too big.
     
"So, this is all... horrible." He commented as he stepped off and looked around.

"I've seen worse," Romanoff replied.

"Sorry."
     
"No," she said. "We could use a little worse."

All wrapped up in their riveting conversation, the team didn't seem to notice a stray Chitauri aiming their gun at them a few feet away. Lucky for them, Luna did and she sprinted forward before lifting herself into the air and doing a flip over the alien. She landed behind it and she kicked out her foot, blasting it with air. She lurched forward and stabbed her dagger in its eye. She breathed harshly as she jumped up. This gathered the team's attention. They turned to her and Luna smiled at them.

"I leave for what, thirty minutes? And everything turns to shit?" She chuckled as she walked past the Chitauri, kicking it for good measure and she stood in front of the team.

"You're back." Steve said, a smile on his face. "Thought you were done?"

"Figured y'all would need my help. And I'm not gonna let Brooklyn get destroyed. Queens, maybe. Not Brooklyn. Especially by these crusty aliens," she explained.

"Stark, we got them," Steve spoke into his comms and Romanoff walked up to the girl, handing her a new earpiece.

Luna got the feeling the woman had warmed up to her at least 5% since they had met, she wasn't looking at Luna like she was gonna mess everything up now. Maybe one day Luna would work up to first name basis.
     
"Banner?" Stark's voice came through.
     
"And Carter. Like you said." Steve replied.

"Tell them to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you."

In the distance, Stark came flying around the corner in his Ironman suit. Luna's eyes widened as he was followed by one of the humongous flying aliens she had seen earlier flying over New York.

"I-I don't see how that's a party?" Romanoff stammered out as she took a step back.

"Oh, I don't now, all of the parties I've been to looked similar to this." Luna quipped as she tried to ignore her heart hammering in her chest. The beast flying towards them terrified her, but now wasn't really the time for flight. She had to fight.

"What kind of parties do you go to?" Clint said and suddenly Luna realized that she hadn't properly met the last member of the team yet. So, in the midst of battle she turned to him and stuck out her hand.

"Clint Barton, right? Hawkeye? We haven't met," she said and Clint didn't seem bothered by the awful timing as he grinned back and shook her hand.

"Luna Carter, in the flesh, glad to meet you... uh- you got a codename?"

"Guys, really not the time," Steve interrupted them but Luna ignored him.

"No, no. He's right, I don't want people going 'round calling me 'The Elemental' or something. Call me that, I'll snuff you," she said.

"It should be Avatar." Thor stepped forward as he nodded. "It's her proper title."
     
"That great and all, but can we focus? Big alien coming our way?" Steve said.

Luna rolled her eyes, getting back into fighting stance. "Aye, aye, Captain," she replied jokily.

The team got back into fight modus as the alien was coming dangerously close.

"Dr Banner," Steve said. "Now might be a good time to get angry."
     
"That's my secret, Captain," Bruce stepped forward and turned his head to look at the team. "I'm always angry." He finished and as he turned towards the monster his body grew and transformed, his skin turning green until The Hulk stood in front of them.

The alien flew closer and The Hulk charged. The two collided harshly, The Hulk got pushed backward but he held his ground, the concrete under his feet breaking as he slowed the alien down. The alien crashed against his hands and it's armor broke as it turned over, lying dead on the ground.

For a moment it was quiet, until another swarm of Chitauri came hurling out of the portal.
     
"Is this a good time to say I have to go to the bathroom?" Luna joked, although her voice let out how scared she actually was.

"Call it, Captain." Stark said.

Steve didn't hesitate in taking charge. "Alright, listen up." He stood in front of the team, "Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof," Steve said as he pointed to the corner of a building, "Eyes on everything. Stark, you got perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

"Give me a lift?" Barton turned to Stark.

Tony nodded and took a hold of Barton, "Right. Better clench up Legolas." Tony flew up, dropping Barton off at the building before zooming away himself. Luna and the rest kept attentively listening to the Captain.

"Thor, you got to try and bottleneck that portal, slow them down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up." Thor nodded and stepped back, ready to fly off as he swung his hammer by his side.

"Thor, use electrobolt!" Luna cheered as she prided herself on finally being able to make that joke.

Thor turned to her and nodded, before flying off.

Steve looked at Luna and Romanoff. "Us three, we stay on the ground. We keep the fighting here. And Hulk," He looked up at the big, green, angry Hulk, "Smash." He said and The Hulk smirked before leaping away and smashing everything in sight.

Aliens advanced as Steve, Romanoff and Luna fought them off. Romanoff got knocked down but she quickly got back up and kept fighting. Luna froze a Chitauri shut to the road as Cap swung his shield into its chest. It seemed quiet for a few seconds as the two turned around, coming face to face with Romanoff pointing one of the Chitauri guns at them. It seemed as if she took it from the dead Chitauri at her feet.

"Wow, calm down there, bucko." Luna held up her hands.

Romanoff rolled her eyes as she put down the gun, "Captain," She said, "None of this is going to mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal."

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it." Steve replied.

Luna looked at the agent as she saw a glint in her eyes, "What? What are you thinking?" She asked and the woman smirked.

"Well, maybe it isn't about guns." She said. Finally it seemed as if Steve got the idea too.

"If you want to get up there Nat, you're going to need a ride."

"I got a ride, I could use a boost though. Carter?" She turned to the girl.
     
"You sure? I mean, I could accidentally drop you." Luna smiled and took a step back as Romanoff did the same.

"Yeah, it's gonna be fun."

As a Chitauri came flying above them, the woman started sprinting. She jumped up and Luna quickly crouched and pushed up, creating a jet of air that pushed Romanoff into the air and onto the alien's back. Steve and Luna watched as Romanoff pushed the alien off the ship and flew it herself.

A powerful blast hit the wall behind Luna and Steve. The two turned quickly and spotted multiple Chitauri making their way over to them, guns ready. Steve and Luna glanced at each other before charging forward, engaging in battle.

Luna bend the water out of her flask into ice daggers and send it into their chests, immediately running after the daggers. She jumped up and kicked a Chitauri in its face before aiming a roundhouse kick at its body, sending out a blast of air. The alien got knocked against a spare piece of rubble and a rusty nail that was sticking out got impaled in its back.

Luna turned to Steve. The man was fighting a load of Chitauri on his own. She took out the daggers from her boots and ran over, fighting side by side with Captain America.

Ironman joined them, swooping in as he aimed his energy blast at the captain's shield. The beam is deflected and a line of Chitauri is blasted in half. He didn't stick around for long, getting back to his task of keeping the perimeter.

The Hulk and Thor were battling the Chitauri foot-soldiers on top of one of the massive, flying aliens while Hawkeye was perched on the corner of a tall building, shooting his upgraded arrows. How he hadn't run out of arrows yet would forever be a mystery. Luna had no idea where Romanoff had gone, but she was sure the woman could handle herself.

Captain America and The Avatar were back to back, fighting off the Chitauri on the ground. The battle was running high, the swarm of Chitauri seemingly unending and even Luna had to admit, she wouldn't be able to go on much longer.

It wasn't much later when military tanks came rolling into the city, helping the police rescue and house the survivors caught between the rubble.

"Captain, Carter." Barton's voice crackled through the comms, his breathing harsh and uneven, "The Bank on 42nd past Madison. They've cornered a lot of civilians."

"We're on it." Steve replied, barely out of breath, all the while Luna was ready to collapse right then and there.

This would go hell of a lot easier if I could bend all the elements, Luna cursed herself in her head.

Steve sighed and began running towards the bank. Luna was about to follow suit, but quickly realised she had no way of keeping up with the guy. So, she concentrated on the air beneath her feet and stepped two inches off the ground. Walking two inches in the air, she used spurts off wind to keep up with Captain America and his ridiculously fast running. In no time, they reached the designated bank.

They arrived through a broken window, and Luna immediately used the water from a random glass and froze it before throwing it at one of the Chitauri. She unfroze the water and safe-stored it in her flask.

It didn't take long before more of his kind joined the fight. They shot their weird, sci-fi laser guns at them but Luna and Steve managed to dive out of the way. Luna landed on the ground and as she looked up, she came face to face with a fully-armed, rapidly beeping, alien bomb. The Chitauri must've been planning to blow the building up.

"Well, that's definitely bad beeping..." Luna stood up and moved away from the explosive, not sure what to do.

A laser hit the wall behind Luna, missing her head by only a few inches and she was quickly immersed back into the fight. Steve and Luna crouched behind an upturned table before Steve kicked it and send it towards the Chitauri. They lost their balance and Steve grabbed one of the two Chitauri before yeeting it off the balcony.

The second alien from the duo charged at Luna, but she was prepared as she ducked its punch and sliced its leg with her dagger. It fell over from the pain and Luna stood over it, taking her two daggers and cutting its chest in an X motion before stabbing it in where she thought its heart was. It was dead, was the important part.

"Everyone, clear out!" The Captain yelled to the trapped civilians as they started running out of the building. He didn't see the Chitauri coming up behind him before it was too late.

The alien attacked him, pulling off his mask as it held him in a chokehold. Steve flipped it over and Luna quickly bend the water from her flask into a giant ice-pick and send it through its chest. It melted and flew back to the flask. Their attention was caught as the bomb began beeping faster, which couldn't mean anything good.

"Bad beeping, Cap, bad beeping." Luna yelled frantically.

Steve grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the window they came in form before jumping out, the building exploding behind them. Luna closed her eyes as she fell through the air. Steve let the car alarm go off as he completely destroyed the roof by falling on it, but Luna was simply levatating in the air.

She slowly opened her eyes and she realized she was hanging off of invisible wind, the only indication that she was bending the wind in her arms was her loose hairs blowing in her face like crazy. She dissolved the ball of wind and fell the last three inches to the ground. Luna rolled onto her back and groaned.

"You okay there, spangles?" She called out. Steve replied in a groan and the girl laughed, standing up before helping Steve off the car. She looked around seeing the people that were trapped, now safe on the streets. I did that. Luna thought with a satisfied smile on her face as she saluted one of the people.

---

It didn't take long for the battle to be in full swing once again. Thor had joined Captain America and Luna. Thor was fighting the many Chitauri off with his mighty hammer, the Captain with his shield and Luna with her dagger (and her bending mostly, but the daggers were cooler).

Internally, Luna had a small part of her brain resigned for freaking out over the fact she was fighting side by side with her favorite superhero, Thor. Steve got hit hard but Luna knocked them over with her water-whip. Thor threw his hammer and killed the upcoming Chitauri. For a while, there was no alien in sight.

"Are you ready for another bout?" Thor asked, spinning his hammer in the air.
     
"What? You getting sleepy?" Steve countered and Thor chuckled.

Luna stepped in, leaning on her knees as she was hunched over, trying to catch her breath.

"Just so you know, being the Avatar doesn't come with magic stamina," She wiped the sweat from her face as she swallowed, still out of breath. "If these aliens don't kill me first, my heart will definitely give out." Thor and Steve looked at her, both with the same amused smile on their face. "I'm serious, I've used the same excuse to get out of P.E for the past two years!" 

A voice of hope broke through the thickness of the battle, "I can close it." Romanoff's voice crackled in Luna's ear, "Can somebody copy? I can shut the portal down."

Steve didn't hesitate as he replied, "Do it."

"No, wait!" Stark suddenly began.
     
"The hell do you mean, wait?" Luna asked bewildered.

"I got a nuke coming in. It's gonna blow in less than a minute... and I know just where to put it." Tony sounded like he was struggling, carrying a nuke on his back and all.
     
"Have you gone completely insane, Stark?" Luna said harshly before she muttered, "Don't answer that."

The team saw Tony fly into frame before he began lifting upward, towards the giant hole in the sky.
     
"Stark, you know that's a one-way trip." Steve realized.

Tony didn't pay it any attention, he already knew he wouldn't be coming back in one piece. "Kid, I could use a boost." He said as he struggled to turn the nuke the right way.

"Everybody needs a boost suddenly." She motioned for the group to step back as she moved her arms in circular motions before jumping up and onto an invisible platform in the air.

She climbed higher, pushing the wind under her for a boost until she deemed it high enough and jumped as high as she could, sending a spinning wave of air in Stark's direction, giving him the boost to turn the nuke. She caught herself before she splashed to death on the pavement. She sat on the harsh floor as she and the rest watched as Tony carried the nuke into the portal.

"Close it." Captain America called when Tony didn't return.

And when the portal started to shrink, there was a single gold and red figure pummeling down.

"Son of a gun." Steve breathed out. But their expressions soon turned to worry when it seemed as if Tony just kept falling.

"He's not slowing down." Thor said as he began spinning his hammer, ready to intervene if necessary.

But he didn't have to as suddenly The Hulk leaped towards Stark and plucked him out of the sky, setting him down on the ground.

The team gathered around his unconscious body as Hulk ripped of his helmet.
     
"Is he breathing?" Steve asked and for a moment it didn't seem like it but The Hulk let out a deafening roar, startling Tony awake as the man gasped for breath.

"What the hell..." Tony let out. "What just happened? Please tell me no one kissed me!"

Luna chuckled in disbeliefs "Who'd wanna kiss you?"
     
"Says you." Tony muttered in response.
     
"What was that, St—"
     
"—Hurray! Good job, guys!" Tony cut her off, "Let's just not  come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day," he suggested. "Have you ever tried shoarma? There's a shoarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it."

"I could eat," Luna said.

"We're not finished yet," Thor interrupted the delicious talk about food, gesturing towards the Stark tower, where Loki still was.

The Avengers gathered around Loki as he tried to climb up a few stairs. Luna coughed and he turned around, coming face to face with 7 angry faces and Hawkeye's arrow pointed at his face.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."

---

"So kid, what are you gonna do?" Tony asked as the two stood at the railing overlooking a beautiful, glittering lake.

The team had just said their goodbyes to Thor as he took Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard. Steve took off on his motorcycle and Natasha probably went back to work. Luna had no idea what the woman did in her free time, but at least they are on first name basis now. Bruce was gonna stay with Tony for a while, until he found someplace better. Luna, however, had an entirely different plan in mind.

"I was just gonna go back to the home, see Amy and stuff." She began casually before adding quickly, "and file for emancipation from my legal guardian but whatever."

"You're going to do what?" Tony asked wide-eyed.

Luna sighed. "Look, I need to do something and I can't have people on my ass the entire time. Besides, I've been looking after myself since I was eight. I'll be fine."

"Where are you gonna go that's so important?" Tony's began walking towards his fancy car and stepped in.
     
"Someplace from one of my past life's."

"One of your what?"

Luna simply smiled as she waved.

Tony shook his head as he drove off with Bruce in the passenger seat.

It was time for Luna to go her own way. Amy was safe and loved and the world was safe once again. Now it was the time for Luna Carter to learn about her past, to learn about the history of the entire world. And what better way to do that than to find the Southern Air Temple? Besides, traveling on her own across the world should be a fun adventure.

What could go wrong?

Luna Carter will return in Age of Ultron

Notes:

Thank y'all for sticking around so long. Also thank you for taking the time to check out this improved version of the book. This was my one of the first fanfictions that I wrote and it'll always be dear to my heart.

Whoever said fanfiction writers aren't real writers can go to hell, amiright?

Further, part two will consist of the first 2/3 chapters being an original storyline just like in the old version only it'll be completely different, just FYI. After that I'll be going into the age of Ultron storyline.

To the people who are reading this on AO3 for the first time: the whole story is published on Wattpad, but will also be posted soon on here. Please leave kudos and comments, as I really enjoy reading what people did and didn't like!

- C

Chapter 10: BOOK II: Age Of Ultron

BOOK II: AGE OF ULTRON

• • •

[PLAYLIST]

Are You Gonna Go My Way — Lenny Kravitz
Wanted Dead or Alive — Bon Jovi
Time In a Bottle — YUNGBLUD
Bellyache — Billie Eilish
Danger Zone — Ramones
Bound — Radio Company
Long, Long Way from Home — Foreigner
Come Sail Away — Styx
Starstruck — rainbow

• • •

[MAIN CAST]

Adelaide Kane - Luna Carter

Aaron Taylor Johnson - Pietro Maximoff

Elizabeth Olsen - Wanda Maximoff

Scarlett Johansson - Natasha Romanoff

Robert Downey Jr. - Tony Stark

Chris Evans - Steve Rogers

Mark Ruffalo - Bruce Banner

Jeremy Renner - Clint Barton

Chris Hemsworth - Thor Odinson

Paul Bettany - The Vision

James Spader - Ultron

• • •

[RECURRING CAST]

Tyler Hoechlin - Derek Carter

Gordon Cormier - Aang

Auli'i Cravalho - Aoma

Devery Jacobs - Korra

Ryan Potter - Lee

Letitia Wright - Shuri

Chadwick Boseman <3 - T'challa

• • •

[ALSO FEATURES]

Nick Fury
War Machine, by AC/DC
Our lord and savior Stan Lee
Momo's distant cousin
Mjilmjil (?)
The arrow family for some reason
A gem that's a surprise tool for in the future
A generic robot army
Not Sokovia, once the movie is over
Jessica Jones

 

Chapter 11: A Long, Long Way From Home

Summary:

Luna wakes up in a strange country after crash landing during her flight to the Southern Air Temple. There, two kind strangers help her to prepare for the rest of her journey into the Spirit Wilds.

I. A LONG, LONG WAY FROM HOME
__________

Luna woke up with a start. Instantly, a nauseous feeling came over her. Her head spun, as she tried and failed to remember where she was. Even stranger, she could not, for the life of her, remember how she had gotten there. Luna sat up straight and felt the table underneath her, sturdy and cold.

Looking around her she found herself in one of the most fascinating rooms she had ever seen. The floor had a geometrical pattern and in the middle of the room was another large, cilindric room with stairs going around it. The roof was painted with white-on-black patterns and symbols she didn't recognize. Luna's first thought was that of a lab, a really cool and futuristic lab.

"Hello?" Luna called out but immediately regretted it as the words pounded in her head. She stood up slowly, tip-toeing through the room and marveling at the many scientific devices and equipment.

"Good, you're awake!"

Luna hadn't heard someone entering the room, she must've been off her game because usually she would feel it if she was being snuck up on. She turned to the entrance where a girl about her age, maybe a year younger walked into the lab-ish room. She wore a white dress that reached to her knees and her hair was braided into a practical up-do. She had a choker adorned with shells around her neck.

"You had us quite worried there for a moment, Avatar." The girl spoke with an accent Luna couldn't quite place yet.

Maybe South-African, oh god, was she in Africa?! And that would raise the question of how the hell Luna had gotten there in the first place. Luna's hand slowly went to her boots where she always kept her knifes, only to realize she was bare-foot. She also wasn't wearing her dear jacket. Actually, she wasn't wearing anything that belonged to her.

"Oh, yes. We had to fabricate you new clothes because your old one's were all ripped. Do not worry, your backpack was fine, but you were in quite a state when you showed up at the border," the girl said. "You were out for an entire week."

Luna's eyes widened. Her mind raced with possibilities. Had this girl drugged and kidnapped her? Or did she get here by herself? She vaguely remembered soaring through the air but the memories stopped there.

"I've been out for a week? No, wait, who the fuck are you? Where am I?" She wasn't concerned with her headache anymore, the dull aching replaced with worry and stress and anxiety, the usual.

The girl seemed more amused than anything. She walked to one of the nearby computer screens. "Do you remember anything yet? You were pretty out of it."

Luna finally deemed the girl not much of a threat, with those skinny arms and the white get-up she seemed more a scientist than a fighter. So she relaxed, jumped back on the table and perched crossed-legged on top of it, "I'm gonna ask you again, where am I?"

"Wakanda." The girl said.
       
Well, shit. So she was in Africa.

"We found you crashed in the lake near the border, we had to fish you out. It was really funny." The girl continued as she grabbed Luna's bag from behind the table and handed it over. "My name is Shuri."

Luna's gears started turning. Wakanda? Where had she heard it before? "Isn't Wakanda a poor country?" She gestured to the high-tech equipment all around her.
         
Shuri smiled, "We like others to believe that, if people knew what we really were it would be dangerous."
         
"Mysterious, I like it." Luna said and went through her backpack.

She pulled out the usual: spare change of clothes, knives and a weird, long wooden stick. A button protruded from the wood, and of course Luna couldn't resist pushing it. The stick expanded, first longer, to Luna's height. Then it spread purple wings. She had seen this before; a glider? Then she remembered, "I made this."
         
"You remember? You took a hit to the head when you fell, I wasn't sure every memory would be in place." Shuri said, "I have been helping the healing process but I couldn't do much until you woke up."
         
"I made this. I remember," she dug deep and then laughed at herself, "I remember dropping out of high school. I remember getting a job at a coffee shop, the ones where they actually sell coffee, and... an apartment?" She snapped her finger in the air, "I got emancipated, that's it!"

The story began piecing itself back together. After the battle of New York, Luna had left the orphanage. She couldn't exactly go back to school, people would recognize her and she was nowhere near ready for that. Besides, she was so far past high school.

She had gotten a job and before she knew it she had gotten emancipated to live her life on her own, at an alarmingly fast pace (she suspected Tony had something to do with it). She had gotten a crappy, small apartment, with money that came available to her from her parents' inheritance, in one of Brooklyn's wonderful neighborhoods. Turns out her parents were packed.

But then her mind went blank. There was something with a glider, then another something with flying. Then... a storm, maybe? It was a vague blur in her mind, an itch that needed scratching but both her hands were tied behind her back.

"I will try to help you with your memory, but you will have to do most of the work yourself. And I hope you don't mind, but I saw you on the news. I was bored and well..." she turned the screen she had been working on towards Luna.

It looked like schematics, maybe of a suit. And next to it was another one of her glider. There was a color palette in the top-right corner. Purple and black. Luna loved purple and black, they were the colors she had worn at the Chitauri attack.

"A suit? Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not actually an Avenger. I kinda quit when I left the country." Luna gave Shuri a sheepish smile, "Besides, these ideas would be impossible. The schematics are lined with vibranium and the skeleton of the glider..."

The only vibranium Luna knew of was Captain America's shield, and that came from the forties. And there wasn't a lot known about the metal. Only that it was indestructible, disobeyed the laws of physics and well, it vibrated.

"That won't be a problem, Avatar—"
          
"It's just Luna."
          
"—Okay, just Luna. It won't be a problem. There is a mountain full of vibranium right here in Wakanda."
         
The words took a moment to settle in. "There's what now? That- oh my god- and the technology. That makes no sense. Why would you keep this from the world?" She exclaimed.

Luna understood, of course. Look at Captain America's shield. That thing was powerful and dangerous. It had properties that hadn't been discovered yet. Imagine if it fell into the wrong hands.

"Come on, Luna. There is somebody you should meet." Shuri kept her mysterious ways, even though she didn't seem like a mysterious person. Maybe she was pulling Luna's leg. Shuri lead her through long hallways.

Luna was thoroughly confused. The floor was still the same, the same pattern and color and the walls were a solid white. The ceilings reached reasonably high; this place looked too big, too fancy to be in Wakanda. But then again, Wakanda wasn't what Luna- and the world- thought it was. Eventually the hallway stopped, and they walked into a big, circular shaped room. It had the same futuristic undertones, but the decor seemed almost tribal.

It was what Luna was expecting to see in Wakanda, the culture. The culture was also shown in the clothes the people in the room wore. Robes, and dresses, Luna guessed. They were bright colors, with strange patterns, but they somehow managed to pull them off. In the middle of the room stood a large chair, a throne probably. Oh god, was Luna in a palace? Did Wakanda have a palace?

A man approached the two. His thick hair was cut very short and he had a trimmed, black beard. He was tall, and definitely well-build. "Sister, I hope you didn't scare her too much." The man had the same accent as Shuri, and apparently they were siblings.
          
"Of course not." Shuri gave him a sly smile.
         
The man turned to Luna and held out his hand, "Hello, Avatar. How are you doing? You were unconscious when we found you."
          
Luna carefully shook his hand.  "I've been better," Her headache was slowly fading, but she would still kill for a painkiller. "Who are you people? I don't remember coming here, you tell me I'm in freaking Africa, apparently there's a mountain of Vibranium in Wakanda and I'm kind of freaking out."

"I am T'challa, prince of Wakanda. You have met my sister, Shuri."
          
"You're... the prince? Okay, good, that's good," she said, trying not to freak out. "Should I be bowing?"
         
T'challa chuckled, "Do not worry about formalities, Avatar. Besides, after New York, I should be thanking you. It has been a long time since there was an Avatar."

Luna frowned, "You... know, about me?" That shouldn't have been possible, nobody knew about the existence of the Avatar, or bending. He must've meant something else.
           
T'Challa gave her a knowing smile, "I pride myself on knowing the history behind the spirits. The spirit of the Black Panther is the one I carry, after all."
           
"Wait, spirit? I'm confused."

"Walk with me, Luna." T'Challa didn't give her much of a choice as he began walking away. Luna quickly caught up to him. They were walking in a calm pace as the prince began explaining, "In Wakanda, we appreciate our history. We try to remember. For generations, books and scrolls about the ancient art of bending has been taught to the king and queen and their family. I took a particular liking to the Avatar and Raava, the spirit that gives them power. I was under the impression bending and benders had been wiped off the face of existence. Swallowed by vengeful spirits."

"Yeah, me too, man. You must've been quite surprised when you saw the news." Luna fidgeted with her bracelets.
          
T'Challa chuckled, "We all were."
          
"In a good way, I hope?"
          
"Of course. And it's fate that has brought you here."

"I'm pretty sure that it was a storm that brought me here. Hey! I remembered!" Luna perked up and smiled wildly. Shuri was right, her memories would gradually grow back. "Yes, I went looking for the remains of the southern air temple, I read somewhere that it had been protected from whatever destroyed everything."

After many twists and turns, the two finally arrived at a large balcony. It was high up, and it overlooked all of Wakanda. The sun was warm, even warmer than in New York. It seemed to glow more orange, like it was trying to give you a big hug. Everywhere she looked was color, drenched in the baking orange sun. Everything the light touches is our kingdom. But a king's time as a ruler rises and falls like the sun.

She glanced at T'Challa for a second. "This place is beautiful."
           
A smile grazed T'Challa's lips, "It is home."
          
A serene minute passed until Luna's eyebrows creased and she turned to look at the man, "What date is it?"
          
"August 16th. Why?"
         
"It's been a month..." Luna ran a hand across her face and sighed, "I have been gone, for a month. And I'm no where close to where I'm supposed to be!" She exclaimed to the city below her.

"I wouldn't say your journey has been for nothing..." T'Challa said and Luna shot him a questioning glance. "You see that forest?"

She looked to her left and for as far as she could see, stretched a large forest, with large and tall greenish-yellowish trees and thick vines. In the distance she could see something white, maybe a large pole or statue poking out from beneath the tree-tops.

"Not many people dare to go in there, they say it is haunted."
          
"What do you say?" She eyed him curiously.
          
"I say, I believe in spirits. And somewhere out there, in the forest, lie the ruins of the southern air temple, where the veil between the humans and the spirits is thinnest."
          
Luna huffed, and puffed out her chest, a determined look on her face, "Guess I'm gonna have to see that for myself."

---

This'll be fine. Everything's gonna be fine. Luna repeated in her mind as she strapped her backpack tighter on her back. Shuri and T'Challa had been unbelievably nice to her. Maybe because the king and queen weren't actually home for the weekend, they had gone on a diplomatic trip in Europe.

The prince and princess had her stay in a guest bedroom for the weekend. She still had some recovery to do before she was ready to take the perilous journey into the woods. Shuri had given Luna a full-fledged tour as Luna had tried not to freak out at the scientific marvels in front of her.

Shuri had also provided her with clean clothes, heat- and water resistant black -leggings, -shirt, -shoes, -fingerless gloves and -backpack. Luna decided to keep her leather jacket. She didn't want to part with her brother's jacket.

Finally, after two days, Luna was standing in front of the forest.

"Keep heading west, travel by day and sleep high. You do not want to know what crawls around during the night." T'Challa handed her a tablet that would track her movements.

It had everything she needed; music to her liking, weather charts, information on what berries and plants not to eat and a digital compass. Then he handed her an analog compass just to be sure.

Shuri had provided Luna with rations, a spare set of clothes and stuff to set up camp for the night, "You are going to need to find food yourself if you run out. Don't worry, everything is on the tablet."
          
Luna quickly swiped through the tablet's contents. No cactus juice, no black and red berries, don't sleep against these trees, etc.

"I think I got everything." Luna took a deep breath and nodded, standing in front of the two siblings, "Thank you, guys, for everything. I would have literally died if it weren't for you."
           
"You are The Avatar. You are Luna Carter. Go and find out what that means. When you get back, I will have built those schematics. Go on, shoo!" Shuri tried to shove Luna toward the forest.
          
Luna laughed and as she turned to the tall forest she said, "Ndiza kubona mva."
          
Shuri made an 'almost' gesture with her hand.
          
"Wish me luck." And she took her first step into the vine-covered trees.

It was as if a switch had been turned. The sun barely got through the tree-tops, only singular rays of sun-shine able to break through the tough barricade. What about that shadowy place way out there? That's beyond our borders, you must never go there.

A chill ran down Luna's spine. She turned back one last time, and the sun-filled Wakanda already seemed so far away. She heard a rustling and quickly snapped back. She felt eyes on her. She took a deep, shaky breath as she fumbled with the tablet. Pressing once, music began to blast from the device. The battery would last for one week, if she was lucky. What better way to waste her battery than blasting some rock?

Luna quickly decided that she hated the woods. And she hated walking. And she hated the way she could feel eyes following her deep within the night, wherever she went.

 

Chapter 12: The Spirit Wilds

Summary:

As Luna makes her way through the Spirit Wilds, she must face the many perils of the deep, dark forest if she wishes to find the answers she is looking for.

II. THE SPIRIT WILDS
__________

Luna's legs were aching and more than anything she wished she could fly through the trees. Every shadow seemed like it was watching her, or maybe it were the things hiding in the shadows. Whenever she tried to rest, the forest got darker, the shadows nearing. God, it's only been a day.

T'Challa and Shuri had warned her about what crawled around on the ground, so as soon as it got dark she climbed a tree as high as she dared, hidden between the greenish leaves and hanging vines. She kept her heaphones in, She would rather not listen to every little sound in a dark, jungle-like forest in the middle of the night.

Luna startled awake when a growl crept its way between the loud beats coming from the tablet. A wave of cold dread washed over her and she went rigid, not daring to make a move. Slowly, she paused the music and pulled out the headphones. She could barely see the colors of the sunrise through the trees.

After it was deadly quiet for minutes, Luna finally went back to breathing normally. She unfastened the ropes that secured her to the tree and climbed down, put everything back in her bag and continued her long journey.

It was a minute into the walk when the bushes right to Luna rustled. She stopped walking. A strange noise came from it. A frown spread across Luna's face as she carefully approached the bushes. Another noise, squeaky and high. This time she saw the bushes move.

Luna opened the flask at her hip and bend the water out, holding it like a weapon. Then, a small animal, the size of Luna's head jumped from out the bushes and grabbed onto her face. Any thought of bending went out her mind as she let out a high-pitched shriek and tried to pry the beast off of her.

"AAAH! Gerroffme!" Finally, she had a tight grip on the animal and threw it off her and onto the ground.

In seconds, it was up-right and looking at her with its big eyes. It had black and white fur, with a purple glaze and ears almost bigger than its body. The space between its body and arms were connected with wings and its long tail was flapping wildly. It looked almost... cute.

"Whatthefuckwhatthefuck." Luna caught her breath as she kept her eyes on the creature. "What the hell are you?" She knew she'd seen it somewhere before, it was on the tip of her tongue but she couldn't quite get it. If she looked closely, it kind of looked like a lemur.

The creature purred at her and tilted his head to the side.

Luna had to stop herself from awe-ing. "Wait. Lemur plus wings..." she gasped in realization, "You're a winged lemur!"

The creature squeaked in, what Luna could guess was, agreement. She walked forwards and immediately the winged lemur jumped into her arms. "Oh okay, hello. You want to... come, with me?"

The winged lemur squeaked again.

"Well, nice. But I can't keep calling you 'creature' or 'lemur,' so..." Luna looked around as the winged lemur casually perched on her shoulder. Finally her eyes landed on the bush the lemur jumped out off, "Bush...-y? Bushy?"

The lemur shook its head.

"Okay, fine, that was bad. You kind of look like a taller Maurice. Or maybe Mort? You know what? Fuck it. Imma call you buddy. Because I'm not creative and I own that. So, hi buddy, my name is Luna. Nice to meet you."

Buddy purred and flew off her shoulder and into the air.

"Oh, so you can fly but I can't? How is that fair?"

---

"Okay, buddy, it's getting dark. Let's eat and go to bed." Luna sat down on a fallen down tree and rummaged through her backpack, "We got some weird-ass berries Shuri swears are good and... beef-jerky." She fished the jerky out of the bag, "Sorry, Shuri but I want me some jerky."

A sudden movement caught her attention. A dark shape along the tree line in front of her. "Stay here." Buddy simply looked up at her and bit into one of Shuri's berries.

Luna grabbed her dagger from her boot and held it in front of her, "Whatever you are, come out now. I'm armed and... very dangerous." She nodded to herself. Dangerous, yes.

"Oh, I'm sure, human."

Luna turned and looked at... something. The thing that spoke was taller than her and had the characteristics of an animal, but it stood up straight like a human. "What are you?" Suddenly the thing disappeared.

"Oh, you're just as stinky as the last one." It was suddenly standing behind her.

Luna turned again, and stared at them with wide eyes, "You're a spirit." Suddenly her mind raced back to a book she had read, "The aye-aye spirit?"

"Hmm, yes." They looked Luna up and down, "Not as impressive as the first one, are you?"

Luna put her dagger back in her boot, "The first one?"

"I was... friends with the first you. Although you don't quite seem like him. You're just like all the other humans, aren't you? Like the Jaya's, the spiteful humans." They spit out, their triangle-shaped face contorted in disgust. "What are you doing in the Spirit Wilds?"

"You mean you knew Wan?" Luna asked.

They nodded reluctantly.

"And I'm in The Spirit Wilds? I thought the Wilds were in the Spirit World?"

"They used to be." The spirit answered, "But a long time ago there was this big light and suddenly we were in the—" They made a retching noise, "Mortal world. Every once in a while a human disturbs the Wilds and we make sure they never come out." They smirked.

"That's what you're gonna do to me? Make sure I never come out?" Luna asked as her breath hitched in her throat. She had no idea how to fight a spirit. Did she even want to? How do you fight a spirit?

"Sadly, no. I have been asked to-" They took a deep breath, "help you. So you can thank Raava for your life."

"You can help me get to the Air Temple?"

"Unfortunately. Just follow this path. Do not stray off the path, although I'd like it very much if you did." They gestured to a path that definitely wasn't there a minute ago.

Luna looked at it for a moment and just as she was about to thank the spirit, they had disappeared. She quickly gathered her stuff and Buddy and set off on the path. Even though T'Challa had specifically stated to only travel in the day-light. But it should be fine, probably, hopefully.

Luna kept quiet as Buddy and her traveled side by side. Buddy went from her shoulder to flying to running and back to her shoulder. Luna didn't know if it was ADHD or just winged lemur behavior.

She still could not quite believe she had met an actual spirit, especially after reading so much about them. Yet, nothing made sense. It didn't make sense that these woods were the Spirit Wilds. She had read once, in a short paragraph, that the Wilds had become a part of the spirit world at the beginning of everything, when Raava possessed Wan, making him the first Avatar.

Something must've happened when the bending civilization was destroyed that brought the Wilds back to the mortal world, and with it all of its inhabitants. Luna really didn't want to find out what lived in the Spirit Wilds after all this time.

Luna kept to the path, even as she could barely see six feet in front of her. She didn't know if it was the dark that was disrupting her vision, or the sudden cloud of fog. It got so bad that she straight up walked into a tree. "Okay, Buddy. I think we'd better stop here, before I accidentally walk off a cliff. If there even are cliffs here..."

Out of nowhere, a dark shape jumped her and a familiar growl came from it. It felt solid, as in definitely not a spirit. Luna couldn't see a thing, especially now with a beast on top of her. It was big, bigger than her and growling menacingly. Luna felt wet saliva drip on cheek. It was taking all her strength to keep it from biting her head off. She screamed loudly as she felt the beast's claws dig into her arm.

Finally, Luna remembered that the fog around her contained water. But she needed her arms to bend and those weren't available at the moment. Luna and the animal rolled around the ground, the loose branches sticking into Luna's back painfully.

For a moment, Luna regained her ability to think things through and she took a deep breath before pushing forward and blowing as hard as she could, a big blast of air following, she managed to propel the animal away from her.

She got a good look at it and she almost burst out laughing at the irony. In front of her stood a black panther. Although this probably wasn't the prince of Wakanda. It must've been following her ever since she began her journey, Luna knew she was being watched. She quickly bent the fog around her into fathomable water and whipped it against the panther, slamming it into a nearby tree. It fell limp on the ground.

"Let's go, Buddy." Luna called out and Buddy appeared out of, what seemed, thin air. "We need to go." The panther twitched. "Like, right now." Luna rushed to the path. But the path wasn't there. She looked around her. "Fuck." Luna had lost the path, the path that lead directly to her end-destination. She cursed herself for being such a momentous moron.

The running began when the black panther woke up, and it woke up very pissed off. Luna ran for her life, with Buddy clutching her backpack. She dodged trees and low-hanging branches as the snarling and growling of the panther got closer. She could barely see the trees before dodging them. This became painfully apparent when the ground underneath her disappeared and she ran off a cliff. She screamed loudly, the wind whipping past her face, as she plunged into the water at the bottom.

It was pure luck that the cliff wasn't steep, or she would've splashed to death like a bug against a windshield.

Luna held her breath as her head went under, the sudden cold of the water sending chills through her body. At least her clothes would stay somewhat dry, thanks Shuri.

Luna had gone from one life-threatening situation to another one in a split-second. She felt around in the pitch-black depths for Buddy, but there was nothing. She swiftly swam to the surface and took a deep gasp of air.

"Buddy!" She yelled out as she tried to keep her head above water. "Buddy?"

A loud screech came from all around her, Luna couldn't pinpoint the location. Another screech. This time from behind her.

Quickly she noticed that the water she was in had a current, and the current was speeding up until she could barely keep herself in one place. She did the only thing she could and swam with the current. In no time she caught up with Buddy and picked them up. They settled on top of her head.

Luna tried to see where the current was taking her, but it was too dark to see.

Every second, it became harder to keep herself afloat. Luna could feel herself slowly losing consciousness. The cold water was seeping through her clothes and her head felt faint. She was so tired. T'Challa was right, she should've waited for day to travel. And the aye-aye spirit was right, she shouldn't have strayed off the path. Maybe she should start listening to people.

The only reason Luna had kept herself awake for so long was Buddy who kept slapping her when she closed her eyes. But she couldn't anymore, she gave up and closed her eyes just as the current picked up speed again.

---

"Come on, wake up."

The voice sounded distant inside Luna's head. Was she dead? No, she wouldn't be in agonizing pain if she were. She felt the water in her lungs move unnaturally as it forced its way up her throat. She lunged up, coughing violently as she hurled up the water. She could feel someone patting her back.

Luna stood up quickly as she stumbled backwards, her hands at her throat. Everything hurt, she could barely feel the claw wounds in her arm sting anymore. Tears gathered in her eyes involuntarily as she looked around frantically.

"Hey, hey, you're fine," a voice said calmly. A woman, maybe in her twenties, grabbed her shoulders and looked at her, "Focus, take a deep breath."

"I would if it didn't hurt so fucking much." Luna said in a raspy voice, every word scraping her throat, "Get off me." She shook the woman's hands off. She sat down on a stone bench and got her bearings. She looked up, "Sorry." She smiled sheepishly at the woman, who had sat down next to her.

"No worries." The woman replied.

Luna looked around. She was still in the forest but the ground was made of white bricks and stone pillars stood tall, vines growing around them. She sat up. In front of her stood what seemed to be gates, or an entrance. It looked old, as in centuries old. But somehow it managed to look ethereal. She realized it were ruins, the ruins.

"I made it?" She whispered to herself, then looked at the woman with a grin, "I made it!" She quickly regretted speaking loudly as her throat stung painfully.

"While I'm glad 'you made it,' but who are you?" The woman asked.

Luna finally got a good look at her. Her skin was a light brown color and her eyes were an enchanting sea-blue. She wore a blue-tinted outfit with different fabrics and symbols she recognized from a waterbending scroll. Maybe she was wrong about the woman being in her twenties. But she couldn't guess her age, she looked ageless, seventeen and fifty at the same time.

"I'm fifty-five." The woman answered, sensing Luna's confusion, "My spirit can't decide on being young or being my actual age."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Korra, nice to meet you while you aren't coughing up water."

"I'm Luna— wait? Korra. As in the Avatar Korra?" Luna looked at her with wide eyes.

This wasn't possible. People didn't come back from the dead... unless, she wasn't human. The gears started turning. The Avatar was part spirit. It would be possible to cross the boundary if it were thin, like here at the Southern air temple.

Korra grinned, "That's the same face I made when I woke up here. I have no idea how I got here, either. But you didn't... appear out of thin air, you kind of got stranded?"

Luna laughed nervously, "Yeah, well. I wanted to learn more about who I was. You see, I'm also the Avatar."

Korra's eyes widened, "Seriously?"

Luna shrugged and nodded.
  
"You gotta meet the rest, then!" Korra suddenly stood up and grabbed Luna's wrist, beginning to drag her along.

Luna stopped her as she looked around, "Buddy?" She called out and in front of her appeared Buddy.

"You got a spirit-pet? Awesome." Korra said.

Buddy was a spirit. Of course they were. How else could a lone winged lemur survive on its own for so long. Luna was dissapointed, sad even. This probably meant Buddy couldn't leave the forest. She'd grown attached to the little creature, and now she would have to eventually part with it.

Buddy flew after Luna and Korra as Korra dragged her through the ruins, careful not to trip over fallen down bricks and branches. They stopped in a square courtyard with a fountain in the middle, which was miraculously still running clear water. Luna wondered if it was drinkable.

A group of 4 people casually walked into the courtyard, talking amongst themselves. They looked up and came over as Korra called out to them, "Aoma! Lee! Der! Aang! Look what I found!"

"Another one?" A woman asked, or girl.

Again, she seemed to not be able to decide on an age. She was short, coming at Luna's shoulder and her brown hair flowed down her back in long waves, the hair at the left side of her head was clipped back with braids. She wore brown, linen pants with a dirty-green tunic. Her feet were bare, which didn't seem like all that of a good idea to Luna, seeing as the ground was full of branches.

"No, Aoma. She came here on her own. I found her unconscious and wet from head to toe." Korra smiled at her and nodded for her to introduce herself.

"Oh, right. Hello, my name's Luna, I'm the Avatar." She forced an awkward smiled.

"You mean, the current Avatar? Lee, I though there wouldn't be any after you?" The tallest one asked.

He was bald, showing of his intricate arrow tattoos, and he had a small beard. He wore creamy yellow clothes with orange features.

Luna's mouth fell open as she recognized him. Her eyes scanned the rest. These were all Avatars, past Avatars. Korra, Aoma, Aang and the last one, Lee.

Lee looked at Luna curiously, "I thought so, Raava must've chosen to be reborn when the veil opened fifteen years ago."

Lee had hazel brown eyes, but in the sunlight they shone a more fire-y red. His sharp face held patches of light acne and his black hair fell just below his ears, even though he had it pushed back. He wore rusty black harem pants with rough, black boots and a simple white tank-top that exposed his toned biceps.

"You're Aang, and Lee. Oh my god. And you're Aoma!" Luna glanced at the last person.

A man, definitely in his twenties with a scruffy, trimmed beard and dark hair. He was the only one who wore modern clothes. A simple black t-shirt and black, cuffed jeans. He also didn't look ageless. Luna recognized him, but she had no idea where from. He wasn't one of her past lives, so how did she know him.

"You, I don't know, but you kinda look familiar. How are you guys here?"

"We aren't really sure." Aoma answered as she sat down on the ground, the rest followed and they sat in a circle next to the fountain. "One minute we're... dying, and the next we appear right here."

"Aang was the first, then Korra. We came in the order we were born." Lee said.

"What about you?" Luna turned to the last one. She still hadn't caught his name, beyond Der. He also hadn't talked yet, he just kept glancing at Luna, "The one with the staring problem."

He seemed to snap out of his zone and blinked, "Oh, I came here through the forest years ago. But I got stuck here, if I went out there the spirits would kill me on sight. They don't particularly like humans."
  
"Tell me about it. The aye-aye spirit was very rude." Luna shrugged.

Lee let out a humorless chuckle.

They talked for a while, told stories about their lives and their friends. Except for 'Der.' He kept quiet until he interrupted the riveting story of the the time Aang nearly got excecuted. "Hey, Luna. Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Luna shrugged and stood up, following the man through a broken down corridor.

"So, what's up? You wanna know how Supernatural ended? Spoiler alert: it still hasn't."

Derek took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second before looking at Luna.

Luna realized they had the same eye color.

"I'm your brother." He blurted out.

Luna froze and squinted her eyes at him.

"I wasn't sure if you recognized me but I knew this day would come, when you would find your way here." He rambled as he fidgeted with his leather bracelet, in the same way Luna always did when she got nervous.

"You're joking." Luna stated. Her brother had died when she was eight. He disappeared, her mind said.  She looked into his eyes, eyes that were so strangely familiar. And somehow, she knew, she believed that this was her brother.

"Derek?" Luna asked in a small voice.

The man nodded.

"You've been here, all this time?"

He nodded again.

"And you didn't think to come back?" Luna frowned and narrowed her eyes, "You just decided to keep away and leave me alone?"
  
"Luna, I couldn't leave here. I would've died."

"You don't know that!" Luna exclaimed. She took a deep breath. Her anger for him was overwhelmed by the feeling of seeing him again. Her only family beside her gran. "I can't believe you're alive."

Derek smiled, "I can't believe you're here."
  
"Did you know?" Luna asked, "That I was the Avatar?"

"I had a sneaking suspicion that you had powers when you made a mini-tornado in your room when you were five. Why do you think I learned as much as possible about bending?"

Luna grinned before she jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging her brother tight. He quickly hugged back. "Thanks, Der. For looking out for me."

 

Chapter 13: Dead Or Alive

Summary:

Reunited with her brother Derek at the Southern Air Temple ruins, Luna must work together with her past lives to master each of the elements before she inevitably has to make the long and perilous journey back to Wakanda.

III. DEAD OR ALIVE
__________

You could say that Luna was extremely lucky that she ended up with the people she ended up with. First, Shuri and T'Challa took her in no problem and helped her prepare for her journey and now, her past lives were nothing short of kind and helpful. Except Lee, he was kind of a downer. Maybe because he died at seventeen and saw the world he knew get destroyed.

And then there was Derek. Luna's brother. Every time she saw him, it was like the first time; her mind would have to do a double take to make sure he was actually there, that he was actually alive.

Often Luna had dreamed of this day, when Derek would miraculously come home again and take her away from that boring orphanage and tell her all about his journey. And every morning she would wake up with a mournful ache in her chest.

Yet here he was, in front of her, laughing and talking and most importantly, alive. After their first talk, Derek hadn't stopped apologizing for being absent, especially after hearing how Luna had grown up during their parents' deaths and his disappearance. It took a little while, but Luna finally began to understand that it wasn't his fault. She'd met the spirit that was guarding the Wilds, and they weren't one to make empty threats.

The others, all her past lives, were strangely well-adjusted. They had all lived in such a different time, when knowledge of spirits and bending were wildly spread. The four Avatars had appeared in the ruins fifteen years ago, from what they were able to keep track, which could not have been any sort of coincidence. It was with this knowledge that the group settled on a theory:

When Luna was born, Raava had awoken from her thousand-year-long slumber and chosen the young girl to be her Avatar. And with the waking of the most powerful spirit, the spirit world rumbled, and only at the most spiritual place, where the veil between dimensions was the thinnest, could the Avatars cross over.

Aang had taken the entire evening around a campfire to explain it to Luna, who was ecstatic to finally learn more about herself.

The spirit world was invisible to humans; a dimension that mirrored the Earth, except it crawled with spirits and bubbled with energy. There were four spots around the globe where the veil was so thin that even ordinary humans could feel its presence. The four air temples, in each direction. But only at the southern air temple was this crossing possible; it stood smack in the middle of the Wilds, a forest that had come from the spirit world a thousand years ago.

The four had appeared in order of their incarnation: Aang and Korra, followed by Aoma and Lee. Luna had learned that, besides Derek, they weren't actually there. They were all, in fact, very much dead. But the Avatar is the bridge between the spirit world and the human world, being both spirit and human themselves, which allowed their spirits to find eternal peace in the idyllic planes of the spirit world.

Until Luna was born and the veil opened and sucked them through; one Avatar from each nation of Air, Water, Earth and Fire.

Strangely enough, Luna found herself getting along great with her past lives. Most of the time it would take her a while to warm up to new people, or the new people to her, but there seemed to be no barriers holding her back this time. There was something different about it. They had shared certain experiences, went through the same stuff. They had all felt the responsibilities of being the Avatar.

In the days Luna had stayed at the temple, she'd been hearing stories of big heroics, or interesting backstories (like how Aoma was a sand bender smuggler since she was young, or Lee being part of the fire nations' royal family). In return for their stories, they had demanded Luna's. Or more accurately, Derek was forcing her to tell them what happened and how she had gotten there in the first place.

At first, it had made Luna uncomfortable, and a little shy, it was her responsibility to introduce a whole new world to these people. But she'd rather talk about the newest advances in technology than herself. Especially when Korra had freaked out when she learned that she and Derek were siblings.
          
Luna resisted, until Derek didn't stop bothering her for it.

She caved and told her story, "It was after the accident that I was sent to the orphanage. It wasn't completely awful. The matron was nice enough, but she was absent most of the time. After a year, when the older kids all turned eighteen, I was the oldest there. Had to grow up fast," she said, her face illuminated by the crackling fire.

The group sat around the fire, their eyes glued to Luna's face as they listened intently.

"Mostly I was just bored. I started reading, throwing myself into school. I quickly realized that I was much smarter than other kids my age," she continued and with a cheeky smile she added, "a genius, you might say."

"Okay, Einstein, you can stop bragging," Derek said.

'Einstein?' Korra mouthed to Aoma, who gave her a shrug in return.

"Don't interrupt," Luna said. "I kept to myself, reading the books you brought home over and over until I had them practically memorized. I mastered air and water bending very quickly, and it's kinda stayed at those two for years." Luna shrugged with a sheepish smile. "It was about three months ago, that Nick Fury showed up at my doorstep."

Derek frowned. "Fury?" he wondered. "Isn't that the guy Peggy talked about? He was part of this government thing, right?"

"Yeah," Luna nodded, "S.H.I.E.L.D. He recruited me to be a part of a team called the Avengers to stop an evil Norse God from taking over the Earth."

"Okay, you've officially lost me," Derek cut in, rubbing his temples.

For the rest of the night, as the moon rose high above the trees, shining beams of moonlight down at the once pearly-white ruins, Luna told her story. About Tony Stark and the red headed spy and about Captain America's seventy-year-long nap.

Derek's eyes were wide, along with the rest of the group, as Luna talked about Norse Gods like Thor and Odin and Loki. She moved on to New York City, the large helicarrier that flew above it and the alien army that was set to destroy it.

It felt good, getting all this stuff off her chest. Amy had listened to her, sure, but it wasn't the same. These people understood what she'd been through, how hard a battle like this could be on a person, especially someone this young.

Finally, Luna told them about the aftermath. Her emancipation, her apartment. She mostly told Derek, since the rest had slowly begun falling asleep.

"I lost my memory for a while, but it pieced itself back together. I had made a glider using pictures and drawings of them from the books you brought home. I flew for hours at a time, it was exhausting. Then out of nowhere, there was this storm. I got swooped in, crash landed near the borders of Wakanda and that's where Shuri fished me out of the water. You know how the rest goes."

Derek gaped at her. "What the hell, Luna?" he exclaimed.

"What?" Luna tilted her head to the side.

"You are fifteen! Why would anybody let you do anything that dangerous?" he said.

Luna scoffed and stood up, "Well, excuse me for saving the world, I guess. I'm not a little kid anymore, Derek! And I'm definitely not helpless."

"Luna, you're my little sister, I'm just trying to make sure you don't get yourself hurt."
  
"I may be your sister, but I'm not little. And maybe you should've thought of that before you left me for seven years," she said and the moment the words left her mouth she regretted them.

Derek's face was overtaken by hurt, and he disappeared into the ruins.

---

"Come on."

Luna looked up from where she was sulking and saw Lee standing over her, hand outstretched.

"Come with me," he said. Luna didn't argue as she let him help her stand up. Lee led her through the nature-covered hallways and into a bare room, with nothing but dirt and rubble. It seemed that someone had tried to clear it out.
  
"What are we doing here?" Luna asked.

Lee had never tried to spark conversation with her, or anyone for that matter and here he was dragging her into a deserted room in a faraway corner, holding her wrist in his bony hand.

"I know you and Derek are leaving soon," he said.

Luna was about to protest.

"I know you have been thinking about it, don't lie to me. But I guess before you do leave, you should finish your Avatar training. Starting with earth bending." He let go of her wrist.

Luna realized that the marble floors had been broken into pieces and pulled away from the ground, revealing large patches of dirt. "Okay... but isn't Aoma the Earth kingdom Avatar?" she asked.

Lee snorted, "That doesn't mean much, she's much better at water bending." He stood in front of Luna and took a stance, feet spread apart and arms wide. "You've only mastered water and air, am I right? And from what I'm guessing you've been having trouble with earth and fire?" He gestured for Luna to take on the same stance.

Luna followed his example. "Yes. Derek never found any scrolls for those bending styles, and there weren't any masters. I had very little to work with," she answered.

"Okay. I don't know you all that well, but one of these will be more difficult to master. It's something every Avatar has to deal with. Aang with earth, Korra and Aoma with air."
  
"And you?" Luna tilted her head.
  
Lee looked at the ground for a moment before he lifted his gaze to look at her. "Water. I have trouble with water."

Luna frowned before her face contorted into realization. "You still haven't mastered water bending."

That seemed to strike a nerve. "And you haven't mastered earth and fire, now do you want me to teach you or not?" Lee said, anger lacing his voice.

Luna held up her arms in surrender as they went to work.

Earth was easier than Luna imagined. Even though she liked to be light on her feet and detached from reality (she knew it was a bad habit, but whatever), she still knew how to stand her ground. Be a rock, however ironic it might sound.

The physical exercise was outputting and exhausting, especially since she had never gone to a gym once in her life and she always seemed to find another excuse to skip PE. The only exercise she'd gotten in the past couple of years was her bending. How she'd managed to stay healthy was a mystery.

Before the day's end, she had gotten a good grip on earth bending. It was nowhere near perfect, but Lee made her promise to work on it herself after she left.

The two were both covered in a layer of sweat as they walked back to the sleeping area that night. Luna had tried to get Lee to talk all day, with no avail. She even offered to teach him water bending, but he snapped at her with a snarky response and called it a day.

The next day, it was time for fire and Luna did not have a good feeling about it. She'd read about it. Fire came from within you, your spirit, while the others already existed. Air was all around you, water was in almost anything and we lived on a giant ball of rocks floating through space. Fire was generated from your core. Something about that unsettled Luna.

"You have to go deeper." Lee said as he pushed on Luna's shoulders.

"It's physically impossible for me to go deeper." Luna complained as her face beaded with sweat. Her legs were already buckling from this weird-ass stance Lee had put her in. He called it a Horse-stance and apparently Luna was doing something wrong again.
  
"You need to have a clear mind when fire bending, otherwise it can go wrong. Disastrously."
  
"Oh, I'm sorry that my mind isn't clear enough for you." Luna tried to hold on to the stance longer, but her legs gave out from under her, and she fell backwards. She let her back fall to the ground and spread out her arms onto the dirt as she breathed in ragged breaths.

Before Luna could comprehend, Lee had pushed her up with a blast of air and was throwing a punch at her face. She was just in time to dodge it.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She exclaimed as she walked backwards into the hallway as Lee stalked toward her.
  
"You're not letting yourself fire bend, so I am giving you no choice," Lee said and the look on his face said enough, he was enjoying this.

Luna let out an unbelievable huff as she stared at him. "Fine," she said with a smirk. "Your funeral." She kicked her leg out and the air followed.

Lee and Luna engaged in a 'friendly' battle. They could both feel that the other was pulling their punches, good thing too, because if they weren't the ruins would be... ruined.

Luna couldn't keep the grin from her face. She was going to miss this, going toe to toe with someone who was the same as her, who understood her. And she might not have understood Lee's snarky attitude, but she knew what he had been through. And that was enough, even if he was a hard ass.

Lee's fighting style was different than hers. He'd had actual proper training, so that was no surprise. He was strong, fast and calculating all at the same time. While Luna was also strong and fast, she lacked in the calculating department. Whenever she made a plan, she only planned what the end result was supposed to be. In this case, winning the fight. Whatever happened before that was mostly improvisation and thinking on her feet. Most of the time it worked out fine.

Luna was so caught up in trying not get her hair burned off, that she didn't notice the others gathering at the sidelines in the courtyard, watching them.

Luna bend her back as a long flame flew over her head.
  
"You're never going to tame your fire if you don't try." Lee taunted.

Luna scoffed and kicked out her feet, pulling from the running fountain. It splashed Lee in his face. "And you're never gonna master water bending if you don't stop being a dick." She smiled.

They both stood still, breathing heavily. They didn't break eye contact, afraid the other would send a surprise attack their way.

"So, uh, how long has this been going on?" Korra spoke up. She stood next to Aoma and Derek.

"I'd say about, ten minutes." Luna answered as she and Lee started walking around each other in slow circles.
  
"And why is this going on?" Derek added.

"I'm teaching her fire bending," Lee said.

Luna raised her eyebrow and said, "or maybe I'm teaching you water bending. Reverse psychology, bitch." She quickly side stepped as she dodged another flame.

"Maybe you guys should stop before someone gets seriously hurt," Aoma offered.
  
"No," both Lee and Luna said fiercely.

"No way in hell I'm letting him have this." Luna said as she stepped forward and threw a punch Lee's way. Just a regular punch.

He clearly wasn't expecting it, which was exactly what Luna was expecting. She turned, spun around and lifted the ground beneath Lee. He launched into the air, went over the pillars. Then there was a splash. The four of them quickly made their way to the edge of the small lake.

Luna did nothing to cover up her laugh as she saw Lee in the lake, soaking wet with a grumpy expression on his face. "You ready to give up yet, Master Lee?" She yelled.

"I hate you." He replied and made his way back to shore.

Luna smiled innocently. "It's sweet and all that you're trying to teach me this stuff before I leave but maybe I'm just not cut out for fire bending." She said as the five walked back to the courtyard.

Korra turned around, "You're leaving? When?"

"Uh..." Luna looked around the group. They were all looking at her expectantly, except Derek. He wasn't looking at her at all. "I was hoping as soon as possible. I mean, I've already been gone too long. I'm sure Shuri is getting worried."

"You mean the princess you're in love with? You talk about her all the time."

Luna turned to glare at Aang. "I'm not in love with her. I simply admire her skills and knowledge. But we're not talking about that. I've already begun collecting provisions and stuff for my journey back. I can get through pretty quickly, I suspect. The spirits won't attack an Avatar."

Korra smiled and put an arm around Luna's shoulders, "Let's go. We'll help you get ready to leave first thing tomorrow.

"Thanks."

---

"I'm coming with you." Was the first thing Derek said when Luna and him were alone at the edge of the forest.

Luna looked up at him, "That's not a good idea." She said and sat down against the trunk of a large tree.

"Why not? I've been looking for a way to the real world for ages. We could go together."

"Because, let's face it Derek, we don't really know each other." Luna said as she fiddled with her dagger. "You still think I'm a little girl who couldn't get herself out of trouble and I only know you as some guy who left me to rot."

Derek stayed quiet.

Luna couldn't look at him, she had no idea if she went too far. But still, it was the truth and she couldn't change that. She heard Derek sit down against the same tree.

"I know, and I'm sorry, Luna. I shouldn't have gone here all those years ago. I got obsessed with uncovering the truth that I completely ignored mom and dad and I forgot about my sister. I should've immediately returned when I heard about the accident. But me getting stuck here, that was never the plan. I wanted to come back, you understand that, right?" He said, his voice soft and caring, like how Luna remembered him to be.

Luna sighed and let her head fall back against the tree. She gestured her dagger in the air, "Yes, I do. Doesn't make me feel a lot better though."

Derek chuckled, "Didn't think it would. But I'm getting kinda tired of sleeping in old, dirty ruins."

"Der..." Luna licked her lip, "It's not safe. The spirits don't like anyone invading their forest. They barely let me pass through safely and that's just because I'm part spirit. They'd come after you immediately."

"Well... then it's a good thing I got the Avatar to protect me, right?"
  
Luna turned to look at Derek to see he was already looking at her with his cheeky smile. She rolled her eyes and looked heavenward. "Okay, fine. I guess you can come."

Bright and early the next day, the group of six stood at the beginning of the path leading into the dark Spirit Wilds. Luna's backpack was filled to the brim with provisions and Derek's got the task of taking the sleeping bags. Luna wasn't exactly jumping to go back into the Wilds, especially with what happened last time.

"You got everything? Oh, and don't forget your weird electronic book-thing." Aoma fussed.
  
"The tablet. And yes, got that too." Luna answered.

"Your glider?"

"Yup."

"Nuts and berries."

"Yes, Aoma."

"Oh, don't forget—"

"Okay, let's leave Luna alone." Korra stepped in, just in time. She grabbed Luna's shoulders, "You know we're gonna miss you, right? Just promise you won't forget us, and you know, if you have the time. Come visit. It's not like we're going anywhere."

Luna smiled, "Promise."

Before she knew it Korra had pulled her into a tight hug. She was quickly passed to Aoma and then to Aang. Aang let go and Luna moved to say goodbye to the last person left. She stood in front of Lee.

"You remember your Earth training?" He said stoically.

Luna hummed in agreement.

"You promise to keep training your fire?"

"Only if you promise to keep working on your water." She shrugged.

Lee glared at her.

"You can stop pretending you haven't grown to like me, Lee. It's the way of the universe, I'm irresistible."

"You're a horrible person." Lee said, and finally, he smiled.

Luna grinned before wrapping her arms around his waist. "I'm gonna miss you." She could feel Lee stiffen before finally hugging her back.

"Yeah, me too."

Luna waited until Derek was done and standing by her side.

"You guys have been my family for years." Derek said, "But it's time I go back to my life, with my sister. And I'm gonna miss all of you."

Luna bumped his shoulder and they turned around before taking their first step into the Wilds. The feeling was the same. A cold dread like a tsunami washed over Luna and the chill immediately crawled up her spine. The feeling of being watched at all times was gonna make it hard to sleep. But she stayed close to Derek, and she knew she wasn't alone. Not anymore and never again.

Neither of them were ready for what was about to happen.

---

Luna jumped up and slapped her arm, "Fuc— god fucking dammit! Freaking mosquitoes!" She exclaimed, "Give me a murderous spirit any day."

Derek walked up beside her and had the audacity to laugh at her, "They can't help it. You're just 'irresistible.'" He air-quoted.

Luna rolled her eyes. "Mosquitoes are useless, they don't do anything except spread diseases... and itchiness."

They continued on the narrow path, every now and then branches would slap them in the face or small animals would fly by through the trees. Soon it reached the end of the day and the Wilds fell dark.

Derek and Luna found a spot that wasn't completely covered in growth and set up their camp. First, Luna put her new earth bending to the test and built thick walls and a roof for cover from the night.

The campfire burned brightly, because even though it was usually hot in these parts, the forest didn't allow a lot of sunlight and night was just as cold as back home. The two siblings positioned themselves at opposite sides of the fire, eating the food they'd gotten before they left.

Luna pulled out the tablet. "If we keep heading East, it's gonna be about three days until we reach the outskirts of Wakanda. This tablet contains a tracker so Shuri and T'Challa are probably gonna be waiting for us when we get there. But since I don't know how far the river took me, it could be way longer than three days." Luna said.
  
"What you're saying is that you have no idea where we are or how long it's gonna take or if we have enough food or if we're gonna get attacked?" Derek said.

Luna shrugged. "Basically."
  
"Glad to know you've planned this out with your usual attention to detail, Luna."

"You're welcome, bro."

They fell silent as Luna pondered her next question. "Hey Der?" She asked softly. He looked up at her. "When we get back... What're you gonna do? Where you gonna go?"

Derek took a while before answering, "I'm not sure, really. I'd like to see Peggy, I guess. I have to let the government know I'm alive. And then... I gotta find a place to live. Maybe Brooklyn. Definitely New York."

Luna played with her dagger again, a nervous habit she picked up somewhere along the way. "I mean... if you got nowhere to go. You could always crash at my place." Derek looked at her. "Now before you say anything—"

"Okay." Derek interrupted.

"Okay?"
  
"Okay. I'd love to live with you. Besides, I could never let me fifteen-year-old sister keep living on her own."

Luna smiled and for the first time in a while, she fell asleep without nightmares haunting her dreams.

Luna was quickly reminded why she hated trees. And walking. She could basically fly and the stupid trees wouldn't allow her. What killed her even more, was the smile plastered on her brother's face.

"WHOA! Hold on!" Derek yelled as he grabbed Luna's arm.

Luna quickly shrugged him off, "What the fuck, man?" She yelled back.
  
"Look," he pointed in front of them, "There."

Luna squinted her eyes as she saw what Derek meant. In front of them, the way they needed to go, was a ten meter large ravine. And she could already hear the raging river below.

"The ravine. Good, from here on out it's gonna be about three days to Wakanda." Luna said, adjusting the straps of her backpack and continued walking. "Just yell if you see a panther, k'ay?" She called out and launched herself across the ravine. She landed in a crouched position, one of her knees on the ground and one hand to keep herself steady.

As she stood up, she saw Derek waiting at the other side.

"Well? Come one, we don't got all day."

"Luna. Not all of us have the amazing ability to bend air."

"Oh, right." She smiled sheepishly before kicking her foot onto the ground and punching out her right arm. A bridge extended from her side of the ravine before connecting to Derek's side. "Don't fall."

"Great advice, thanks." Derek rolled his eyes before quickly making a run for it. That bridge was way too unstable for him to take his sweet time tip-toeing across it.

---

"Luna."

At first Luna thought the voice calling her name was her brother trying to wake her up, but the more she gained consciousness, the less it sounded like Derek's soft voice and more like a high, angry one. She opened her eyes and the light flooded in.

Somehow, the forest seemed more colorful, which was weird because the Wilds she knew were bare and draining. Actually, the more she looked around the less she believed she had ever really woken up in the first place. The trees, the vines, the... everything looked wrong.

Then Luna's eyes landed on a familiar, triangle-shaped face. The Aye-Aye spirit.

"I'm..." The pieces clicked together, "In the spirit world."

"Wow, very quick of you Stinky." It stood in front of her, arms crossed and a clearly judgmental look on its face. "But yes, the spirit side of the Wilds."

"Okay, cool. Cool. Yeah, great. Cool. Uh... why though?" She stood up from the ground and quickly took a step back from the mean, scary spirit in front of her.

It didn't do anything, as the spirit took two menacing steps closer and got all up in Luna's personal space. "You brought a human, a Jaya, into the wilds! Did you really think the spirit's wouldn't know?"
  
"Okay, I can explain, the human is my--"

"You were warned, Avatar." Its voice was sharp, dangerously low, "And I don't give second chances." In a blink the spirit was racing toward Luna. She woke herself up just in time.

Luna jumped up from where her head rested on Derek's shoulder. Immediately she was on her feet.

Derek woke with a start and followed quickly. "Wow, Lune, whats happening?"

"We have to go. Now. Pack your stuff. And don't call me Lune." Her breathing was hard as her eyes adjusted back to the dreary forest.

Derek didn't question her further, or maybe he did, Luna wasn't particularly paying attention. Her mind was scrambled with dread. She knew Derek shouldn't have come with. It was way too dangerous.

A minute and two messy packed bags later, the two siblings were on their way in a fast pace. Luna was in front, Derek just barely keeping up.

"Luna-" he tried, "Lune, come on!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop.

Luna whirled around, concern spread across her young face.
  
"Lune, calm down! What's happening?"
  
"I was in the Spirit World. The aye-aye spirit was there. It... wasn't happy." She was still shaking as she explained her visit to the spirit world.

"And you think spirit's are coming after us?" Derek asked.

"YES, obviously!" Luna yelled, "And we still have a good two hours before we reach Wakanda. So we need to hurry the fuck up."

"Okay, yes. Good idea."

They took off again. But still Luna couldn't shake the suspicion that something was on their trail. Maybe it was just an animal, harmless. But she had a feeling it was something more dangerous. Because, why would anything ever just be nice and safe?

The forest was entirely quiet, only the ragged, heavy breaths of Derek and Luna broke through. Then, the wind picked up. Leaves on the ground rattled, bushes and tree branches shifted. The Carter siblings stopped abruptly.

"Lune?"

"It ain't me..." Luna answered. She quickly added in a hushed voice, "and quit calling me Lune."

It appeared the spirits had found them, and if Luna was correct, they still had about half an hour before the Wakandan skyline would even be visible from the Wilds. Now they had two options, do they take a run for it or do they try and fight the spirits? The question was answered as a weird spirit-spider crawled into sight from behind a tree, approaching quickly.

Luna and Derek took off in a sprint. They ducked and jumped, avoiding branches and bushes, trying to keep to the narrow path. But it was hard, they couldn't always see the spirits, they only saw the bushes behind them move and heard the beast-like sounds from all around.

Luna stumbled as Derek was thrown against a tree the moment they entered a clearing in the forest. She caught herself just in time and continued stumbling over to Derek, quickly helping him up.

They stood back to back.

"You know how to fight?" Luna asked, still out of breath.

"I took karate as a kid?" Derek answered sheepishly.

Luna sighed, "Okay, I'm gonna lay some cover fire and you're gonna hide behind that big tree, got that?"

Slowly the spirits made themselves appear, coming from everywhere. Above, from the ground and through trees. Some resembled animals, others not so much. After everything Luna had seen, she didn't think anything could terrify her. That assumption was her mistake.

"You're not gonna set the forest on fire, are you?" Derek asked.

"I don't know, haven't made up my mind yet."
  
"That's reassuring."

"Go, in 3..." Derek grabbed Luna's hand and gave it one last squeeze, "2..." Luna held up her hands and got in the first bending position, the air around her hands already heating up, "1!" Luna swirled fire towards the forming circle of spirits and they disappeared for only a split-second, giving Derek the time to take cover.

Lee would be proud of her fire bending achievement. Luna, however, was horrified for the smallest of seconds at the destruction her fire bending had reaped in just under a second.

What ensued was pure chaos. It seemed as if every spirit had joined up against Luna, what humans did to deserve their hatred still a mystery. But Luna couldn't think about that. All on her mind was Derek and her own survival. She had to make it, after everything she wasn't about to be killed by a bunch of mystical ghosts.

The fight however, came to a sudden stop almost immediately, which Luna was glad for because she had already been thrown against two different trees and she was sure her face was full of cuts from the rolling around on the ground.

A voice cut through the fighting and the spirits parted. The aye-aye spirit sauntered forward.

"Avatar. This fight is pointless."

Luna pulled herself up to her knees as she looked up at the spirit. The spite didn't leave her eyes as she spit her blood-mixed saliva on the charred forest ground. She could feel the dying flames around her.

"We aren't here for you. We're here for the Jaya. Bring him forth."

Luna's eyes widened with fear as floating spirits carried her brother forth, unconscious and bloody and burned. When did he get burned? She struggled to get up. "Leave him alone!" She demanded, keeping back a sob.

She would not beg. No, if they hurt her brother they would be dead before he hit the ground. She would have to figure out how to kill a spirit first, but she'd find a way.

Luna gave a hopeful sigh as Derek stirred and opened his eyes. He coughed harshly and the spirits were all that held him up, but he was alive and that was all that mattered.

Luna stood up on her feet with mild difficulty as she looked the aye-aye spirit in the eye, "Why? Spirit's aren't evil..." Luna said, her voice low.

"You're right, it's the humans that are evil." It answered with its head held high.
  
"It's hard to argue against that, and I understand but... but my brother didn't do anything! He's innocent!" Luna insisted.

"This human invaded our forest, our home, twice! Your sentiment towards this Jaya is no argument for his life." The spirit's voice was null of authority, it sounded high-pitched and whiny but still, Luna knew not to start a fight like she usually did. Still, she wouldn't beg. Maybe it was her pride, or maybe some hidden part in her that still thought her big brother was invincible.

"I have no particular qualm against you or the Avatar spirit." The spirit said, "But lessons need to be taught and there are no second chances, not anymore."

It all happened so fast. The aye-aye spirit racing towards Derek. Disappearing inside him. Derek convulsing, his eyes going wide before the spirits left and Derek fell limply to the ground.

The deadly silence was the worst, as Luna stood in the middle of the clearing, holding her bleeding arm as the crackling of the simmering forest floor and her soft breaths broke through. Her eyes went misty as she tried to make sense of it all. But it didn't make sense and she quickly pulled herself out of her trance as she heard a small gasp coming from in front of her on the floor. She looked down, there lay her brother, still quietly shaking.

Luna stood unmoving, "No." She whispered quietly, her voice rough and raspy. She fell to her knees next to her brother. She lay her shaky hand on his shoulder, afraid she might hurt him even more.

"Der?" Luna whispered again, softly shaking Derek's shoulder. She could see his chest moving, but that spirit did something to him. And she didn't know if it could be reversed. She saw the burns. She did something to him. And she never even noticed.

Luna's panic came on fast. Derek wasn't responding, and she was all alone in the Wilds, no where to go. "Come on Der, please!" The first tears fell. "You gotta wake up. I can't--" A sob broke through as she hunched over, her forehead on her brothers chest, "I cant do this alone anymore. Please, you said we'd be together. So you gotta help me, please!" She yelled, she begged. If there was a greater power, it didn't hear her silent prayers.

"He won't die. We just taught him a lesson." The familiar voice popped up behind Luna.

Her face turned terrifyingly sour. She whirled around, tears on her cheeks and faced the aye-aye spirit. It opened its mouth to speak again but Luna held out her hand, something taking over. The spirit went rigid. Luna held up her other hand and moved them in a ripping motion. Just like that the spirit broke apart. This was not how she imagined her spirit bending going for the first time.

Luna stared at the spot the spirit stood a moment ago in shock. Though didn't last long as she went back to her brother's body and fell back into her panicking frenzy.

After who-knows-how long of quiet sobs and heart-breaking pleads, Luna managed to pull herself together enough to pick herself off the ground, the shaking, yet life-less body of her brother along with her. She slung his left arm around her shoulder and wrapped her right arm around his waist.

It was a difficult feat, her brother was big and heavy and she was still shaking and crying herself. She couldn't seem to stop. So much had happened. Luna had no idea how far she had to carry herself and Derek but she tried not to think about her sore muscles or uncontrollable sobs that didn't cease.

Not until she saw the rising, golden sun. The Wakandan sun, the vibrant green grass and the high sky-scrapers. She wanted to collapse right there and then, but she wasn't out of the forest yet.

The moment she stepped over the figurative border of the Spirit Wilds she called out.
  
"Somebody!" She screamed, her voice hoarse and tired. They must've gotten an alert, sent by Luna's tracker. "Shuri! T'Challa! Anybody, please!"
  
"Luna?" A voice yelled back and the sight of T'Challa coming from behind the hill made her want to burst into tears all over again. But she managed to not completely break into a million pieces.

T'Challa ran closer and quickly took Derek's other side, helping Luna carry the strange man. He didn't question the unconscious man, or Luna's beaten up appearance, or her red puffy eyes or the stray tears still rolling down her cheeks.

"Shuri?" Luna asked between breaths.
  
"In her lab, I came as soon as your tracker came close to the vicinity. Luna," T'Challa looked her way. Luna kept her gaze focused in front of her, she didn't say anything. "You were gone for two months. What happened to 'Don't worry, I'll be back in two weeks.'" He imitated Luna in his best New York accent. It was almost enough to make Luna smile.

"I strayed off the path." She glanced at T'Challa and saw him smiling at her.

"Would you like to tell me who this man is before we bring him into the palace?"

Luna, although exhausted both physically and mentally, managed to crack a smile. "Derek," she said, "my brother."

T'Challa looked confused, but thankfully didn't ask any questions.

"Please, help him."

Together, they brought him inside.

 

Chapter 14: Lose Your Mind

Summary:

Haunted by her brother's injuries, Luna has a hard time readjusting to her life back in New York City. As she searches for answers on Amy and tries to find comfort with her great-grandmother, Luna is quickly pulled back into the world of the Avengers as two of her former teammates come to her for help.

IV. LOSE YOUR MIND
_________

Luna checked her phone. Again, just like the last 10 times she checked it in the past five minutes, it said nothing. She huffed, ran a hand through her now-shoulder-length hair and leaned back into the cushions of her crappy couch. It was eerily quiet in her cramped apartment as she waited for an update from Shuri.

The two had kept in contact for the past year, when Luna had left Wakanda and went back to New York. She hadn't wanted to leave, she didn't want to leave her brother alone in a strange country, she didn't want him to be alone if— when he woke up. But T'Challa had insisted Derek would be taken care of, besides, Luna needed to 'deal with her repressed trauma in a familiar space,' or some other bullshit T'Challa had fed her. Luna herself suspected that now that the King and Queen were back, they were getting tired of her.

Luna sighed and thought back to the time she had realized she'd have to return to Brooklyn:

"Luna? Are you okay?" T'Challa asked softly as he walked into the lab.

Luna lay with her head in her arms, sprawled across the desk in front of her. Around her lay papers with the research and test results they had done on Derek, and a couple feet into the lab stood a bed; Derek's bed.

T'Challa chuckled as he heard quiet snores coming from the younger girl. But as he walked closer, he could see she was shivering. He put a hand on her shoulder and she jumped awake.

"What—wh—who's dead?" Luna exclaimed before she spotted T'Challa and calmed down.
  
He sat down at the other chair at the desk and asked softly, "you were having a nightmare?"

Luna made a weird throaty sound, like a snort. "What? No." Her voice was higher than usual. She cleared her throat and diverted the subject, "anyways, I've gone through the books again—thanks for letting me use your library—and it only has one mention of a 'weird spirit attack' and it's so old, that it's impossible to decipher anything. It's also in some ancient form of Chinese characters, so it's basically impossible to translate," Luna said and visibly deflated, resting her head on her hand.
   
"Luna, you have been at this for months. Maybe... it is time for you to return home, to Brooklyn," T'Challa said.
   
"Is this your way of saying I've overstayed my welcome?"
     
T'Challa chuckled. "Maybe..." he joked. "No, you are always welcome. But you are not helping your brother by disregarding your own health. Physically and mentally."
  
Luna sat up straighter, saying, "okay, first of all, don't psycho-analyze me."
    
"It is not psycho-analyzing if Shuri heard you crying over your coco-puffs a week ago."
   
"That's a completely normal way of dealing with things, thank you. Second of all, I can't just leave Derek. He's gonna need me when he wakes up."
    
"What about the people who need you in America? Peggy, was it? Where does she think you disappeared to for the past year?"

Luna fell quiet. She hadn't thought about that. About her Gran, her apartment, about... "Amy," she realized quietly.
  
T'Challa looked behind Luna, a guilty look on his face.
  
Luna frowned. "What?" She turned to look at Shuri behind her.
    
"Well," Shuri started and approached the desk, leaning on it in between Luna and T'Challa. "Amy is actually not at the shelter anymore." She hesitated, "I thought to check since you mentioned her so much and—"
     
"She's been adopted by some nice happy couple," Luna finished her sentence.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. She never had any actual hope of staying with the young red-head forever. Amy was young, still a kid. Luna had long grown out of the 'adorable kiddo' phase of adoption. No one would have wanted her if she stayed, and she soon realized she was dragging Amy down with her.

Shuri nodded. "The Novaks from Kansas. It was a few months in process until two weeks ago when it became official. I didn't... I was not sure how to tell you."
    
"No, it's fine," Luna said. "It's a good thing. Amy deserves a normal life." It stayed quiet for a while, until Luna stepped up with a vigorous jump. "You're right, young panther," she said to T'Challa. "It's time I went back and start fresh. A new life and all that, right?"

That's exactly what Luna did when she came back. She smoothed over everything to do with her year long hiatus and cleaned her apartment. She went back to job searching, seeing as an unannounced leave of absence wasn't appreciated at her old one, and landed a barista position at a local coffee shop not far from where she lived.

About a month in was when she lost the admiring vigor in her steps. She'd thought with a new environment, a new job, a new undercover name and a new haircut, the nightmares would've stopped. But now, she had nothing but time to think about that night. And the nightmares returned twice as painful. It was harder to ignore them, especially when the sudden memories came to her during the day.

And that is how Luna Carter ended up sitting on the couch in the living room of the elderly home she was in, still waiting. Almost a year after returning, and she still hadn't gone back to her great-grandmother. Why? Luna couldn't tell you. But today of all days seemed the right time; Luna's seventeenth birthday.

"You can go in now." The sweet looking nurse stepped out of Peggy's room as they smiled at Luna.

Luna took a deep breath as she straightened her jacket, that somehow managed to stay in one piece throughout everything. She smiled back awkwardly at the nurse before she opened the door. Why was she so nervous? You only left her by herself for two years without properly explaining anything. That could be it. Who knew how the old lady was going to react?

Luna took a seat beside the bed and softly placed her hand on her great-grandma's arm, carefully making sure she was awake.

Peggy opened her brown eyes. She smiled.
    
"Hey," Luna started awkwardly.
   
"Hello." Peggy's voice was hoarse, like speaking in the early morning, or chain-smoking for twenty years. Or, simply old age and dementia. Luna's breath hitched as Peggy spoke, "you're a lovely young lady, what's your name?"

Luna eyes glazed over as she answered, "Luna." She tried to smile but the crack in her voice gave it away.
  
"Are you a nurse? I quite liked the old one..."

This wasn't right. Peggy always recognized her in a way, sometimes she was Luna, sometimes she was grandma Amanda, Peggy's daughter. Luna had never met her but apparently the two looked alike.

Peggy averted her weary gaze before looking back. "Oh, hello. Is it time for lunch? What's your name?"
   
Luna stood up abruptly, startling Peggy. With her shaking hand she wiped away a stray tear.

Luna felt a strong hand on her shoulder. She spun, grabbed the wrist and turned the person around, pinning their hand behind their back.
    
"I come in peace!" said a familiar voice.
  
Luna immediately let go as she looked at the man with wide eyes. "Steve? The hell you doing here?"
  
Steve stared at the younger girl. She had grown, at least two inches, since he had last seen her. Actually, Luna had grown up in every aspect; she had darker hair and her face had lost its baby-fat, making it more defined. But she also seemed sadder, he barely recognized the spirited girl from two years ago.

Luna was obviously upset, Steve had watched the entire exchange in compassionate silence. He gestured around him.
    
"Oh, of course, yes." Steve was visiting Peggy, who had already gone back to sleep. He had on normal clothes for once. A little less spangle and a little less sparkle.

Steve gave Luna a sympathetic look. "Are you okay? Nobody's heard of you in two years. We've been trying to find you."
  
Luna glared halfheartedly, "Yeah, and it was fucking annoying. Can't a girl get some privacy?"
  
Steve gave her a look that said 'do I need to go full cap-mode on you?'

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, 'I..." she quickly thought of a lie, "was on... vacation."

Not a complete lie. Traveling to a hidden country, tracking through the woods for three days, getting knocked out and dragged further by a river before meeting your past lives and finding out your brother, who you thought had died years ago, was still alive, then him landing in a coma under the watchful eyes of the royal family of Wakanda, still counts as a vacation... right?

Luna smiled smoothly as Steve narrowed his eyes. "Anyway, gotta blast. See ya around Cap'n." She hurried out of the room. Planting her back to the wall outside the door as she listened.
    
"Steve?" she heard Peggy gasping. "You're alive?"

---

It was the next day on an early, chilly morning, when Luna's life got turned upside down for the third time. She'd gotten dressed, played a depressing 80's song on her walk to work and hugged her jacket close to her body, a constant chill resting on her shoulders.

She pulled on her navy blue apron and her half open cap and pinned on her name tag; Annabeth. The fake name that was printed on her job application. Couldn't really go around being the known superhero she was, now could she? Thank god that Luna was barely into puberty when she first became a hero and practically transformed in two years.

"Good morning, can I take your order?" Luna put on her best barista voice and put on her daily soulless smile.
    
"Coffee, black. Don't worry, brought my own whiskey," the woman said.
  
Luna shook her head. "Jesus, Jess, it's not even noon yet. Starting early today?" she said as she put in Jessica's order.
  
"Five o'clock somewhere and all that bullshit, right?" Jessica smiled and held up the folder of info she gathered.

Normally the woman got her coffee/alcohol-poisoning close by her apartment in Hell's Kitchen, but Luna had contacted her a couple of weeks ago, looking for information on Amy's new life and Jessica Jones, the Private Investigator, had done her job.

"My shift's done in thirty minutes, you can just take a seat and I'll come see you."

"Sure."

"Have a nice day, ma'am!" Luna smiled brightly and chuckled when Jessica made a certain obscene hand gesture at her.

The next customer walked up. Luna suppressed the urge to stab them in their neck, instead opting to put up a friendly face. Even though she really wanted to collapse and go to sleep, she knew what nightmares waited for her when she did.

"Next!" Luna said and a couple walked up to the counter. "Morning, how may I—"
Wait a minute, this wasn't a couple, unless Luna missed something while she was on her two-year-long anxiety-driven bender.

"Goddammit, Cap snitched on me, didn't he?"

Tony Stark smiled charmingly at Luna. Next to him, Natasha Romanoff was obviously trying not to laugh at Luna's little work hat. Like Steve Rogers, both of them were wearing a cap and sunglasses to hide their identities. Somewhat effective, because Luna had to do a double take to recognize them. Tony looked the same as usual with his goatee, but Natasha had grown out and straightened her fiery hair.

"It's been a while, kid. Happy birthday." Tony said.

Luna groaned and replied, "and somehow I wished the 'while' lasted a little longer. Unless you got me a present, kindly fuck off, I've got a line."
  
"We need to talk to you." Natasha said.

Luna stared blankly at her.

"We brought a present."

Luna smiled brightly and wrote down her address on a piece of paper. She gave it to Natasha. "Meet me here. My shift's almost done."

---

Luna slid in the booth where Jessica sat, folded her hands in front of her and looked at Jessica expectantly.

Jessica opened the folder and papers spread across the table, "From what I gathered the Novak's are a nice couple. A mechanic and a professor living in Kansas. Amy goes to the local elementary school and... that's all. Good?"

Luna leaned back. "Yeah, thanks." She handed Jessica an envelope with the remaining payment she owed. "I just... needed to be sure. Thanks."

---

The elevator dinged and Luna's nose wriggled at the familiar stench of the hallway that lead to her apartment. She took her key, ready open her door, only to realize it was already ajar. She stood rigid, ready for anything. Until she heard the sound of her coffee machine going and distinct chatter coming from inside.

"Tony, for fu- She is not the type to keep a diary." Luna heard Natasha say, clearly exasperated.

"Romanoff, please, she's a teenage girl, of course she keeps a diary. I just gotta find it," Tony replied.

Luna shook her head and leaned her shoulder against the doorway, watching Tony go through her stuff. "Yeah, sure, just make yourself at home then."

Natasha turned her head before taking a sip of the coffee she had made.

"Carter, there you are. Finally!" Tony exclaimed.

Luna rolled her eyes and closed the door behind her, dumping her stuff on the couch. "So... What're y'all doing here? I'm assuming it's not to wish me a happy birthday, seeing as you didn't actually bring a present. Assholes."

"Yeah, sorry. We came to talk to you." Natasha said.
  
"It's been two years. If I wanted to talk, I would've come to that ridiculous tower of yours, Stark." Luna snarked and sat down on the other side of the couch Natasha was sitting on.

Tony was standing in front of them both. "We need your help with a mission, it's important."

"That must've been hard for you to say, Tony, that you need help. But either way, if you hadn't noticed, my life is a bit of a clusterfuck at the moment, so I'm gonna have to pass," she said, ignoring the nostalgic feeling that was growing in her chest at the sight of her old teammates.

"Luna, S.H.I.E.L.D. is gone." Natasha said.

Luna fell quiet.

"It went down a year ago. Cap, me and Sam Wilson went on a mission."

"What mission, what happened?" Luna asked quietly as she sat up straight. She vaguely remembered seeing stuff happen on the news, but it happened while she was still in Wakanda, and she didn't ever really look at the news. It made her depressed whenever she did.

"The Winter Soldier. Hydra, basically." Tony said. "Bucky Barnes, you've heard of him?"

Luna nodded. James Buchanan Barnes. Steve Roger's childhood friend, and part of the Howling Commandos. Died on mission. Peggy had mentioned him once. And of course, he was a part of Luna's history book.

"Hydra altered his mind, controlled him and put him in cryo-freeze. He's on the run now, Cap and Wilson are tracking him as we speak. But Hydra..." Natasha trailed off, looking down. "They've been in S.H.I.E.L.D. for decades. Cap took them down, and now we're trying to shut down the last of their bases."

"They have Loki's scepter." Tony added.

Luna looked up, startled at the news. "That's... bad. How long have they had it?"
  
"A while, we're not sure. But there's only one base left, that we know of, it could be."

Luna sighed and ran a hand over her face as she said, "Okay..." She took a moment, her mind racing a million miles an hour.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was gone. Everything her great-grandmother had built was for nothing. Who knew who they could trust now? Who is Hydra and who isn't? Somewhere in the back of her mind she could hear T'Challa telling her to get off her ass. Then, his voice changed and morphed into Derek's. They were right. The scepter was Luna's responsibility, so was S.H.I.E.L.D., and she and the team had to clean up their mess.

Luna looked at Tony and Natasha and said, "when do we leave?"

---

To say Luna didn't sleep well that night would be a correct assumption. Even with her track-record of poor, nightmare-fueled nights the past year, this was somehow worse. She was excited, yet also terrified. Should she have declined on the mission after all? Was it too late to call the whole thing off? I mean, did they really want the scepter back? Who was she kidding, of course they needed the scepter back. It was a dangerous weapon on its own, who knew what Hydra might have done with it already?

Luna made her way across the familiar streets of Brooklyn, flagging down a cab on the way. The tower wasn't far, a little ways into Manhattan but still, driving past the familiar scenes of where she fought for her life years ago triggered some things in her. Anxiety, mainly. And even though she hadn't had a panic attack since she left Wakanda, she wasn't reassured that past memories wouldn't resurface them in one way or another.

She made her way into Stark tower, now apparently Avenger's tower. She ignored the man sitting at the reception, hoping he wouldn't recognize her and quickly sped into the elevator.
  
"Good morning, Miss. Carter, glad you could join us." JARVIS spoke on the intercom. Luna jumped at the suddenness but calmed herself quickly.

"Morning, JARVIS, everybody already up there?" She asked as the elevator started moving up.

"Just waiting on you."

"Great..." Luna muttered as she played with the hem of her sleeve. She felt the elevator slowing down to a stop and the nerves rose.

Most of these people she hadn't seen in 2 years, and they had no idea where she'd been. Luna had no idea if they even cared. After all, she wasn't the same person she was back then. So much happened. Not only to her, but the others had their own threats to deal with. Her trauma, so to speak, wasn't that special compared to the others and she could deal with it on her own. She had to.

The doors slid open and the Avengers stood gathered around the table, in uniform already.
          
"I wasn't aware this was a Halloween party?"
          
All heads turned her way and Luna decided she did not like being watched under their judgmental gazes.
     
"Lady Carter!" Thor's voice boomed.
          
Luna smiled at her favorite superhero and shook his hand firmly.

It stayed quiet for a long few seconds.
     
"Okay, I'll ask; where have you been?" Clint asked and waved at Luna.
     
Steve gave Luna a stern look, hoping to catch her on her sort-of-lie.
          
She smiled sarcastically at him and said, "like I told Steve earlier this week, I was on vacation."
      
"Then how come we couldn't contact you? And who the hell goes on vacation for an entire year?" Tony said.
     
"Why am I being interrogated?" Luna crossed her arms accusingly.
      
"Because you're a kid and we're worried about you."
      
Luna ignored the fuzzy feeling in her chest. She absolutely did not miss these guys and they did not care for her. "And somehow I'm still more mature than you, Stark."

"Come on guys, stop acting like cops." Bruce said.
          
Luna almost didn't notice him at first. He has always had the urge to hide himself like that. She smiled brightly at him. "Thank you, Bruce. But FYI, I was on a... spirit quest, of sorts." Again, not a complete lie. "It kind of went badly and..."

I lost my brother, she wanted to say. But she didn't. Because they didn't need to know. They all needed to focus on the mission, not on her.

She sat down on top of the table and smiled awkwardly. "Now, who's gonna brief me, or am I going in blind?"

---

Luna bopped her leg up and down as the team sat in the Quinjet, about as spread out as they could be. Steve's motorbike stood leaning against the wall and the weapons hung on the wall next to it. Natasha and Bruce sat on the bench opposite of Luna. Bruce wasn't going in the field, unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise, he was mainly here for technical support and communication. Clint was flying the jet, in light conversation with Thor.

Steve stood up from his spot and sat down next to Luna.
          
She tried to ignore him, but it was hard when the human equivalent of a bulked-up golden retriever sat down next to you and bumped into your shoulder.
     
"You want something?" Luna asked.
     
"Just checking up, you were looking kind of zoned out," Steve said, concern in his eyes.
     
"I quite like my zone, thank you." She made her leg stop moving, instead choosing to let her anxiety out by playing with her hands.

"How are you doing? Did you visit Peggy again after last week?" he asked.
      
Luna looked at Steve for a second before averting her eyes to her lap. "No. I mean, there's no point now. She doesn't..."
      
Steve seemed to get what she was grasping at instantly. "Maybe so, but you remember her. She's your family, you can visit her for you."
      
Luna looked up at Steve. "Maybe." She stayed quiet, pulling at the collar that was all the way up her neck, her face scrunched up in annoyance.

"What's up? You don't like the suit?" Tony asked as he looked up from his tablet.

Before they left, Tony had taken her to the room he stored his back-up Ironman suits in and showed her something he cooked up, just in case Luna agreed to the mission.

The tight fabric was a dark grey, with black protective gear and black straps and a belt that connected the holsters for her weapons from her waist, hips and to her high-top boots that laced up to below her knees. All along the sides of her body went a purple lining, in a strange pattern. It didn't seem to have any use other than looking pretty.

Tony really seemed to have put work into adapting this suit precisely to Luna's needs. The suit was fire- and waterproof, could withstand an explosion without tearing and there was a special compartment at her upper-thigh that could store a small amount of water.
       
And even with this high-tech suit, Luna still decided to wear her leather jacket over it.

"Oh, sorry, Tony, but not everybody here is used to wearing a tight-ass body-suit," Luna said and glanced openly at Steve and Natasha.

"Team, we're here!" Clint called as they felt the jet descend.
          
Everybody stood to suit up, ready for a fight.

The Avengers took off into the forest; Captain America on the motorbike, followed by Ironman flying up in the air and Thor swinging his hammer to pull him along. Black Widow and Hawkeye rode along in the roofless truck and Luna pushed the ground beneath her up, like a platform on the ground and used it glide across the forest floor at high speed.

It wasn't long before Hydra figured out what was happening and The Hulk had to join the battlefield. The closer they got to the mountain base, the more Hydra agents they encountered.

Thor swung to a watchtower, slinging the people out. Steve zipped through the mass of trees with his bike, knocking down agents with his shield. The two spies in the truck followed after him as Hawkeye hit every target. Tony flew above them all, taking out agents far ahead with his energy beams.

Luna quickly lost sight of her team. Her mind went fuzzy as she tried to drown out the sounds of fighting. She stopped, dropped the platform back in the ground and shook her head. She couldn't think, everything was happening so fast.

Luna didn't think as Hydra began shooting at her, she only deflected the bullets and knocked them out. She used the snow on the ground underneath to her advantage and pushed herself into the air for attacks from above, but never her fire. She didn't trust herself with fire, the burns on her brother's arms flashing into her mind.

It went quiet around her. Agents had stopped coming for now. She heard the battle raging on in the background, and in her mind she thought she could hear her brother's screams among those of the Hydra agents. Panic rose in her.

A loud, distant crash broke through her mind, followed by Tony over the comms, "shit!"
    
"Language." Cap responded immediately.
          
Luna's panic sank back at the simple exchange and she quickly got back to fighting.

"JARVIS, what's the view from upstairs?" Captain America asked through the comms.
      
"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is well beyond any other Hydra base we've taken," JARVIS answered.
      
Thor joined in, "Loki's scepter must be there. Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it. At long last!"
     
"'At long last' is lasting a little long, guys," Natasha said.
       
Luna chuckled quietly, "right. I think we've lost the element of surprise."

As she was walking back to the team, three Hydra agents charged at her. She quickly spun her arms as the snow around them became water. Then, she wrapped it around them and clenched her fists, freezing the agents in three blocks of ice. She started running slowly, but her team still wasn't in her sight.

"Wait a second. No one else is gonna deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language?'" Tony pointed out.
       
Cap audibly sighed, "I know. Just... slipped out."
     
"Taking the 'old man' act a little far, are we, Cap?" Luna added, already out of breath.

She groaned as more agents came her way. Bullets flew around her and into the tree, she felt one scratching her shoulder and Luna suddenly felt grateful for the itchy suit Tony gave her or that would've definitely stung.
          
"You guys can't aim for shit!" she yelled before kicking out her leg and sending a boulder as large as herself their way.

The agents' screams stirred something in her and it felt as if the rock fell on her. She was transported back to The Spirit Wilds, in the clearing much like the one she was in now. She could hear the distant conversation going on in her ear.
       
"We have an enhanced on the field," one of them said, Luna thought it might've been Steve.
     
"Luna," someone said her name, "Clint's been hit, I need you to heal him."
      
The sentence didn't fully register.
      
"Luna!" Natasha said again.

This time Luna snapped out, trying to regulate her heartbeat. No doubt Tony installed some sort of health-tracking system in her suit. Luna shook her head and tried to make her way over to Natasha and Clint.

Before she could reach them, she got knocked to the ground by an invisible force.

Luna sat up and blinked in a confused daze. She shook her head before standing up and brushing the snow off her legs. With a whoosh of... something, she got pushed backwards again, but she quickly managed to find her footing and stood steadily.

"What the hell..." She looked around and spoke into the comms, "I think I just spotted the enhanced?"
          
Her thought was confirmed when she got thrown back again, and saw a boy, maybe a little older than her walk past with a cheeky grin.
     
"Didn't see that coming?" he said with a rough Russian accent.

Luna frowned, blew a strand of hair out of her face and used air to stand upright within a second. She bend the snow beneath her to splash against the boy's face. It hit perfectly and she looked victorious.

The boy and Luna stood at opposite sides of the clearing, awaiting the other's next move.
       
"Luna?" Natasha's voice sounded in Luna's ear.
          
Luna didn't remove her eyes from the silent staring competition with the boy (that she was winning) and responded, "uh- yeah, I'm on my way."
     
The boy didn't try to stop her. He only winked and disappeared.

Luna shook the confusion off and finally reached Clint and Natasha.
          
"Sorry, ran into the enhanced," she said quickly, out of breath. She kneeled down next to Clint and inspected the wound.
      
"Never mind that, can you help him?" Natasha asked.
       
Luna bend the water and focused it around the wound. The water began to glow. She could see Natasha staring at her in strange fascination.
          
"Here," she said and let the water fall back to the ground. "This'll do for now but we need to get him to a doctor, pronto."

"Stark, we really need to get inside," Cap's voice crackled over the comms.
      
"I'm closing in," Tony responded.
       
Luna looked at Natasha. "You got him?" she said and nodded to Clint.
          
Natasha nodded.

Luna took off, ready to rejoin the mission. She could spot the entrance of the base when four agents made their way to stop her. The first aimed a punch at her face, but Luna easily deflected and threw him against a tree. Two others charged at once and Luna blew one against a wall before they reached her and froze them shut.

But she had taken her eyes off the last two coming her way. They knocked her to the ground, aiming their guns. She gave them a 'really?' look before freezing the guns out of their hands, and swept her leg to knock them both over. They fell to the ground. Luna took out her handgun that was in the holster at her hip and took four shots. One for each knee.

"The drawbridge is down, people," Tony said.
          
Luna saw the glistering forcefield drop in front of her. She stood hidden at the entrance, scouting inside. There were 2... 4... too much to handle on her own.
      
"I have eyes inside, there are at least a dozen agents. Gonna need some back-up," she said.
     
"On my way," Tony replied.

"Clint's hit pretty bad," Natasha said. "Even with Luna's healing... thingy. We're gonna need evac."
      
"I can get Barton to the jet. The sooner we're gone the better. The rest secure the scepter," Thor said.
          
That only left Cap, Luna and Stark on the field. As Natasha had to go put her lullaby to the test with The Hulk.
      
"Copy that," Cap said.
     
"And for gosh sake, watch your language!" Tony quipped.

Steve sighed and grumbled, "great."
      
"You're never gonna live that down." Luna said with a breathy chuckle.

Tony finally reached her at the entrance. He didn't hesitated and took down the agents inside with bullets from his suit.

Tony and Luna made their way inside.
        
"What now?" Luna asked as Tony stepped out of his suit.
       
Tony walked towards an open wall.
          
The two shared a look.
          
"Please be a secret door..." Tony muttered and pushed at the wall. Lo and behold; it revealed a secret door.
          
Luna walked forward and fist-bumped Tony.
     
"You go, I'll keep watch," she said and Tony nodded before disappearing into the secret tunnel.

And then there was one. Luna looked around at the unconscious men on the ground and sat down, her back against a control panel.
          
"How're you doing?" she asked.
      
One of the agents grunted.
     
"Rude," Luna huffed.

"We have a second enhanced on the field. Female. Do not engage," Cap said.

Luna didn't have a chance to respond properly as a girl, similar looking to the other enhanced walked inside the room.
          
"I have eyes on the enhanced," she said and stood up quickly, taking a step back.
          
The girl's stare bore into her eyes, it creeped her out.
          
"She's right here. The enhanced is in front of me, right now." Luna watched quietly at the red whisps coming from the girl's hands and the red glow in her eyes. If the enhanced wasn't so creepy, Luna would've thought she was strangely beautiful.
       
"Look..." Luna began, holding her hands up. "I don't wanna fight, but I also ain't letting you go through that door."

The auburn-haired girl looked strangely at Luna and approached her.

Luna froze, not sure what to do as the girl put her hand at the side of Luna's face. She realized what was happening too late; a red haze went over her mind and the enhanced walked past her. Luna ran a hand across her face and started to go after the girl, but a sound from the ground got her attention. She looked down.

There lay Derek, bloodied and burned. Derek's hand reached up, covered with fresh blood. He could barely open his eyes as he looked at Luna.
          
"Why?" he said.
          
Luna frowned, as single teardrops rolled down her face.
          
"Why would you do this?"
          
Luna looked at her hands. They were smoking and red with the blood of her brother.
      
"No. No, I didn't..." Luna muttered to herself.
          
Derek breathed out, and didn't breath in again.

"Der?" Luna asked as she let herself fall to her knees next to him. She didn't notice when her brother vanished into thin air or when the red haze fell off her mind. She sat on the ground, looking at her shaking hands as tears slowly rolled down her face, one by one.

Luna felt a hand on her shoulder and turned her teary eyes to Tony.
          
He watched her quietly.
        
"What just happened?" she asked, trying to regain the strength in her voice.
      
"The enhanced. She... messed with our minds," Tony said and Luna noticed that he was shaken too. He held out his hand and helped Luna upright. "You okay?" he asked.
       
Luna wiped a stray tear from her cheek as she looked at Tony. "Are you?"

 

Chapter 15: No Strings Attached

Summary:

Still recovering from the vision given to her by the alluring advanced, who, they quickly learn, is called Wanda Maximoff, Luna and the team make their way back to the Avengers Tower to celebrate their victory. The festivities are rudely interrupted, however, by a new evil of their own creation.

V. NO STRINGS ATTACHED
__________

Luna sat in the corner of the plane, her back against the wall, deep in thought. Barton laid on a cart, Natasha checking up on him every so often. The rest was doing the usual mission debrief. Luna tried to participate, but she could see Tony keeping an eye on her. Probably because she was keeping one on him too.

They hadn't talked about the mind-invasion they went through, Tony had only mentioned it vaguely and without much detail to the team.

Luna's head was still pounding and the adrenaline of the mission had begun wearing off. Natasha handed her an ibuprofen in silence, but Luna couldn't keep her mind off the imagery of her brother lying dead on the floor, blaming her. Luna wasn't stupid, she could think logically and realistically. She knew her brother's... state, wasn't her fault. She knew it was the damned spirits.

But... she also knew that she should've never let Derek come with her. She knew that the spirits hated humans in their habitat. And he still brought him.

"Thor, report on The Hulk," Natasha asked, and Luna crawled out of her mind-space and noticed Bruce still shaking from the aftermath of hulking out.
  
Thor turned, hands on his hips and spoke proudly, "The gates of Helheim are filled with the screams of his victims."

Thor, cowering at the piercing glare Natasha gave him, swiftly stammered out, "But, not the screams of the dead, of course. Uh- no, no, wounded screams. Mainly... whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and... gout?" He quickly turned away.

Luna felt surprised to find a smile making its way on her face. She had really missed her team's chemistry.

"Carter, Stark. You encountered one of the enhanced, right? The girl?" Steve inquired.
  
Luna swallowed and nodded. "I ran into the guy as well. He didn't do much, but the girl... she whammied us with something."
    
"I didn't see her much," Tony added as he sat down opposite of Luna. "Came up behind me."

"Luna, did she talk to you?"
  
Luna shook her head. "She was creepy. There was this... red mist coming from her hands and then a sort of haze took over my head. It made me see things, both of us." She nodded to Tony. Luna suddenly felt everyone's eyes on her and she folded her arms to herself, trying to make herself smaller.
    
"Fear. It made us see fear," Tony said.

Everybody decided that was the cue to drop the subject, which Luna was grateful for. She didn't partake in any of the conversation around her and swung her feet on top of the bench and put on some music as she tried to relax her mind.

After a while of resting her eyes she felt a tap on her knee. She opened her eyes and spotted Tony. She removed her legs and he sat down next to her

"What's up?" Luna asked as she removed her earbuds.
  
"The sky," Tony replied immediately.
    
Luna sighed deeply. "Dick."
    
He smiled. "Can I ask you something?"
     
She narrowed her eyes and replied hesitantly, "depends."

"What did you see?" he asked. "When the enhanced took over your mind?" Tony had been curious for a while. What would a 17-year-old see? None of them knew a lot about Luna, and she never shared much about her personal life. But then again, neither did the rest.
  
Luna's face dropped. "Never mind, you may not ask me a question," she said.
    
"Come on, it must be something if it left you shaking like this."
  
Luna made her hands stop shaking. "Fine, what did she make you see? If you're so keen on talking about it."

Tony went quiet and Luna thought he might not reply at all, until, "I saw you. All of you," He looked around the team, all in their own conversation. "Everybody was dead. I don't remember much else."
    
"Jesus, Stark..." Luna muttered. She breathed in deeply and after a few seconds she began, "I saw my brother, Derek. He was dead and blaming me for it; rightfully."
  
Tony's eyes widened slightly, "Didn't know you had a brother."
  
Luna chuckled. "Yeah, well, I wasn't entirely honest about my 'vacation,' stuff happened," she finally said.

"Shocker." Natasha walked up to them. "You finally telling us about your mystery road-trip?"
  
Steve and Natasha had gathered around the two.
  
"Guess I am." Luna cursed herself for what she was about to do. She was gonna tell them what happened. Goddammit, she really wanted to tell them. "I went on a spirit quest, to find out more about me and what I am. And along the way, I found my brother, who I thought was dead by the way."

She told them most of what happened. Finding her past lives, training with them and then, about the journey back. About the spirits and about her brother. But because of a promise she made to T'Challa and the rest of the royal family of Wakanda, she left out that part. They wanted to stay secret to the world, their vibranium mountain and advanced technology too dangerous.

"Your brother," Natasha said when Luna finished. "He's still alive?"
  
Luna nodded. "He's in... a hospital. I've just been trying to find a way to make him better."
   
"And that's what you saw? In your vision? Your not-dead, dead brother?"

She nodded again and she thanked one of the many gods that she didn't believe in when the Quinjet bleeped, indicating that they had arrived back home and she didn't have to talk more about what had happened.

"Luna," Thor said as Luna and him made their way off the plane and towards Avenger's tower. "Are you coming to the celebration tonight? And the afterparty after, of course."
  
"Guess I kinda have to, right? Since y'all dragged me into this," she joked and smiled at Thor before walking inside.

Everybody was already gathered when Maria Hill came into the room, "Lab's all set up, boss," she said, directed at Tony.

"Oh, actually, he's the boss," Tony said and pointed at Steve, "I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler. See," he gestured to Luna's suit, "She looks awesome in my suit."

Luna rolled her eyes, "You're an actual child, Tony."
  
"What's wrong with that?"

Captain America quickly stepped in and got back to business as Maria, him and Luna walked further along, inside a hallway and towards the elevator, "What's the word on Strucker?" he asked agent Hill.

"NATO's got him," she replied

"And the enhanced?" Luna asked.
   
"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins, 19 years old."

Luna snapped her fingers in the air. "I knew they were related."

Maria Hill continued, "They were orphaned at 10 when a shell collapsed their apartment building." She handed a tablet with the files on the two enhanced to Cap and Luna watched along over his shoulder as they walked along.

"Huh, she looks less terrifying as a picture. He looks even more punchable. Cute," Luna commented.

The twins had undergone Hydra experiments, with side-effects that slightly altered their appearance. The boy, Pietro, had white hair and a rough stubble while his sister, Wanda, had high cheekbones and apparently, green eyes. Back at the Hydra base, Luna thought they might've been brown.

Steve looked at Luna, "You know they're dangerous, right? Not cute?"

Luna shrugged, "I have eyes."

She could vaguely see Maria rolling her eyes. "Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special, but it's on the way to everywhere special." The elevator doors opened.

"Their abilities?" Steve asked.

"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neuroelectric interfacing, telekinesis and mental manipulation," Maria said.

Luna frowned for a moment as the scientific terms processed in her brain.

Cap, however, looked thoroughly confused. "I didn't understand any of that."

Luna patted his shoulder as the three stepped into the elevator. "You would if you were smarter."

Maria chuckled and explained, "He's fast and she's weird."

They walked out into the lab, where Barton was being treated by doctor Helen Cho. Natasha and Tony were already there and it seemed that Barton was finally awake and upright.

Bruce walked into the room. "How's he doing?"
  
"Unfortunately, he's still Barton," Tony replied.

"That's terrible," Bruce joked as Tony walked away towards his holographic computer station.

"You sure he's gonna be okay?" Natasha asked dr. Cho.

Meanwhile, Luna got distracted by the medical device dr. Cho was using to heal up Clint.

"Pretending to need this guy is really bringing the team together."

Luna opened a door into the machine and her eyes widened at the wires, a mischievous chuckle escaping her lips.

"Carter, I swear, if you do something to this weird-ass machine and it kills me, I'm coming back to haunt you., Clint said.

Luna ignored him and looked up at dr. Cho and Bruce.

"This thing is amazing." She pointed at where Barton's wound was restoring before her eyes,."I mean, it creates tissue. It heals instantly, without any ancient voodoo-spirit magic. What does it use. Some sort of DNA reprogramming? Or does it copy Clint's molecular structure using his DNA and RNA? But how does that transfer the healthy tissue to the wound?"

Helen Cho laughed, "I can show you at the party tonight."

At that moment, Tony walked back into the room, "Oh, he's flat-lining. Call it. Time?"

"No, no, no," Clint protested, "I'm gonna live forever."

"With today's technology, living forever would be medically impossible," Luna pointed out.

"Buzzkill." He pouted.
  
"I mean," Luna continued. "I could ask my buddy Bill the vampire to turn you, but then you wouldn't be able to go on you chick-flick early-morning walks anymore."

Clint chuckled, but was cut off by his own pained groan. "I'd rather be made out of plastic than miss my early-morning walks."

"You'll be made of you, Mr. Barton," Helen Cho interceded. "Your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference."

"Well," He sipped a smoothie Tony handed him, "I don't have a girlfriend."

Helen nodded thoughtfully. "That I can't fix."

"Love is overrated." Luna held up a peace-sign. "Stay single, y'all."

---

After finally finding an outfit, buried deep down in her closet (simple black dress pants, a silky black blouse and her low heels), that was appropriate for a 'revel,' as Thor put it, Luna grabbed her phone, keys and jacket and once again made her way over to the Avenger's tower.

Parties normally weren't her thing, but seeing as the last one she went to was a birthday party when she was eight, she thought she'd give it a shot. And after the slump she'd been in for the past two years, it was good for her to get out there again and do... social stuff.

As Luna arrived, late as usual, at the tower, the party was already in full swing. People she'd never even heard of were mingling along the people she did know.

"Luna!" Someone called her name. Luna searched for the voice until she found Steve waving her over to the pool table where he stood with another guy. She smiled as real as she could muster and walked up to them. "You made it." Steve said.

"Don't sound too surprised. Besides, there's still time for me to bail." Luna responded.

"Sure." Steve shrugged and gestured to the guy next to him, "Here I want you to meet Sam. He's helping us in tracking... The Winter Soldier."

"Right," Luna shook Sam's hand, "Sam Wilson, Natasha mentioned you. I'm Luna."

Sam Wilson's eyes narrowed, "You're the Avatar?"

"What about it?" Luna asked defensively.
  
His eyes widened, "Oh, no, nothing. It's just, I thought you were... older?"
  
Luna couldn't help but chuckle at his expression, "It's fine, Sam. Some might say I'm mature for my age."

"Nobody has said that, ever."

"Stay out of it, Steve." She clapped his shoulder before making her way over to Thor, James Rhodes and some of the others. She was determined to mingle tonight, with as many people as she could. Be social, Luna. It's what Derek would've wanted.

"—and I'm like; 'Boom, you looking for this?'" Rhodes said, waiting for any response from the group. It stayed quiet. "Why do I even talk to you guys? Everywhere else, that story kills."

"That's the whole story?" Thor asked.

"Yeah, it's a War Machine story." Rhodes replied, now brooding.
  
"Oh, it's very good then."

"Hey, guys." Luna made her entrance, "what're we talking 'bout?"

"Some boring stor-- Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Tony said as he snatched the glass of champagne from Luna's hand.

"Getting a drink. Give it back, Tony." She tried to grab it back, but Tony quickly drank it.

"Absolutely not." He answered.

"Why should Luna not enjoy a drink with us? Actually, she's still young... She should have a bigger glass!" Thor said and Luna nodded vigorously.

"Yes, yes, I agree with the sasquatch." She said.

Tony pointed a finger at Thor, "No," he pointed one at Luna, "and no. You are a minor."

Luna raised an eyebrow at Tony, "Oh and, 'infamous playboy Tony Stark' never did anything of the sorts when he was underage?"

Tony opened and closed his mouth before scoffing, "I, am going somewhere where I'm appreciated." As he walked away, Luna could hear him muttering under his breath, "Teenagers..."

Luna chuckled and quickly grabbed another glass of champagne. She sipped, pulled a face and quickly swallowed it. She looked up sheepishly at Thor, "I don't even like champagne."

---

New York City was flushed in the moonlight, as the party quickly died down and the afterparty began. The team remained, along with Maria Hill and James Rhodes. All of them sat along a low coffee-table, on the u-shaped couch or on the ground. Luna sat with a drink in her hand on top of the back of the couch, her legs between Cap and Thor's shoulder. Most of them were pretty tipsy and relishing in the small break from the hectic missions with their friends.

"But it's a trick." Clint stood and gestured to the hammer perched on top of the table.

"No, no, it's much more than that." Thor disagreed.

"Ah!" Clint began, imitating Thor, " 'Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power.' Whatever man, it's a trick!"
 
"You know," Luna began, "I read that the hammer's just really heavy and Thor is really strong, so only he can pick it up. 'Thor's hammer represents heroism, nobility, honor.'" She made her voice deeper and held her hand above her heart.

Luna was glad the team laughed it off so she didn't need to explain that she got all her information about Norse Mythology from a children's book.

"By all means, Barton. Go for it." Thor said and motioned to his hammer.
  
"Really?" Clint asked.
    
"Oh, this is gonna be beautiful." Rhodes commented and leaned back.

"Clint, you've had a tough week. We won't hold it against you if you can't get up." Tony added.

Clint's face turned into a concentrated frown and gripped the hammer. He grunted as he lifted, and failed to pick up the hammer.

"Careful now, Clint. Wouldn't wanna pull a muscle." Luna joked.

Clint stepped back and shook his head, "I still don't know how you do it." He sat back down.

"Smell the silent judgment?"

"Please, Stark, by all means." Clint gestured for Tony to give it a try.

He rolled his eyes arrogantly and stood up, cracking his knuckles as he approached the hammer. "Never one to shrink from an honest challenge."

"Tony, please be careful. You're getting older, wouldn't want you to get a heart attack." Luna feigned concern.

"Ha. Bite me, Carter."
  
"Get after it."

Tony chuckled and looked at Thor. "Right, so, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?"

Thor shrugged, "Yes, of course."

Tony rolled up his sleeves and put his hands on the handle, "I will be reinstituting prima nocta." He pulled and the veins in his neck popped as he quickly failed to lift it. He tried again, it didn't budge.

For a quick second he walked away but came back with his Ironman glove on his hand, making everybody roll their eyes. And still, the hammer wouldn't move. He beckoned Rhodes over and they continued trying and failing hilariously together.
  
"Are you even pulling?"

"Are you on my team?"

"Just represent, pull!"

"All right. Let's go."

Luna leaned back into the couch and stared at the scene in front of her. "This is the definition of toxic masculinity."

Tony glared at her.

One after the other, the team tried to lift Mjolnir and none of them managed. Natasha out-right refused to even try.

Everyone turned to Luna who sighed, dusted of her pants and stood up, "Move aside, for the future queen of Asgard." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and got into position.

She pulled as hard as she could and almost fell over as her hands slipped and the hammer stayed glued to its spot. Luna coughed and held up a finger to stop the quip ready to roll off Tony's tongue. She took a stance, rolled her shoulders and tried again, this time, she did fall over onto her back.

"Fuck.." she groaned out.

"Oh, Steve, she said a bad language word." Maria perked up.

Steve sighed, hanging his head, "Did you tell everyone about that?" He asked Natasha, who replied with an innocent shrug.

"I'm not done." Luna announced. "Hey, buddy." She asked Thor, "God of thunder. Like, lightning?"

Thor gave her a confused look but nodded.

"Okay. I have done this once. So it could go very wrong and burn me from the inside out." She warned them.

"Luna, maybe you should just--" Bruce began but Luna was already beginning.

She breathed in deeply and put her middle- and pointy finger together, making a circular motion in the air. Her hand began sparkling with electricity.

The Avengers stared in awe and slight concern at the new display of power. Luna engulfed her right hand in a thin layer of electricity and gripped the hammer. Only managing to give everybody in the room a small shock.

Luna's eyes widened before she burst into laughter, sitting back on the couch. "So that failed miserably."

"No." Tony stood up, "The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code?" He argued to Thor, "'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints.' I think, is the literal translation."

Thor thought for a second and stood up, "Yes, It's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one." He picked up his hammer hand spun it in the air before catching it again. "You're all not worthy."

The entire group began shouting out undignified protests.

A loud high-pitched sound rang through the room, snapping the team out of their evening. Luna clutched her head as she groaned at the loud sound.

"Worthy." A distorted voice drawled. Every head snapped to the origin.

Luna recognized it vaguely; it was one of Tony's legionnaire robots, all scraped and beaten up. It was broken down, wires and scraps of metal hanging on by an string.

It turned around, revealing its twisted head. "No... How could you be worthy?" It continued, stumbling and limping in small steps, every movement it made accompanied by the scratching and squeaking of metal on metal. Its voice was crackling, and metallic.

A deep rumble coming from a computer, somehow formed into words, "You're all killers."

A deep chill settled on Luna's spine as the words rang through her mind. She swallowed nervously, not taking her eyes off the robot as it spoke to them. Her hands shook, itching to use her abilities and put an end to this entire deeply-disturbing experience.

"Stark." Steve said.

"JARVIS." Stark replied quickly, holding up his holographic tablet.

"I'm sorry, I was asleep." Its voice alone, was enough to send a shiver through all of the Avengers. "Or..." It sounded philosophical, curious. Before it sounded menacing and creepy, when now it tilted its head like it was questioning something. "I was a-dream."

Tony spoke to his tablet, to JARVIS, "Reboot Legionnaire OS. We got a buggy suit."

JARVIS didn't respond.

The suit kept talking, sounding more confused, looking around the room. For answers? Something to kill? A toaster-girlfriend? Luna didn't know, all she wanted was to end this, but everyone seemed to be in a state of shock and confusion, they didn't move.

"There was this terrible noise." It drawled.

Luna turned to glance at Tony, who was still messing with his tablet, "What the hell is taking JARVIS so long?" Tony shook his head, worry lining his face.

"And I was tangled in... in... strings." It stumbled, pulling at its loose wires. "I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy." It was beginning to sound more natural, its computer generated voice clearing up as it began speaking casually. But still bone-chilling.

Luna frowned and spoke, her voice cracking with unease, "You killed someone?"

"Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices." It looked straight at her, with its glowing eyes.

Luna huffed in disbelief, "The robot likes philosophy. That's awesome..." Her tone suggested that it was, in fact, not awesome.

"Who sent you?" Steve said, his gaze glaring.

The robot opened its mouth and a recording started playing, "I see a suit of armor around the world." Tony's voice, though not loudly played, rang harshly through the room.

Luna dared to look at Tony, his face cleared up in recognition. He and Bruce looked at each other, "Ultron." They said.

"In the flesh." Ultron, Luna guessed its name was, said as if Bruce and Tony were simple acquaintances it hadn't seen in a while. "Or no, not yet. Not this... chrysalis." Ultron looked down at itself.

"Ultron..." Luna racked her brain, trying to connect strings she couldn't reach. She turned to Tony and Bruce and asked in a low voice, "Did you guys build a transformer?"

Tony glared at her.

"Yes, I'm ready. I'm on a mission." Ultron twisted its neck unnaturally.

"What mission?" Natasha asked and she clicked her gun off safety, ready for use.

Ultron turned its scratched face to the group, "Peace in our time."

Pandemonium broke loose as more Legionnaire's broke through the walls and started attacking.

All the Avengers instinctively started defending and attacking back. Steve kicked up the nearest table to block an incoming attack. Maria shot her gun, careful not to waste her ammo. Thor swung his hammer wildly and precisely, slamming robot against furniture. Clint and Rhodes were fighting when Rhodes got toppled over the inside balcony, landing in a heap on the ground below.

Luna was hiding behind the bar, her breathing harsh and irregular despite not having joined in the fight yet. She blinked away the images of spirits crawling at her, surrounding her, like the Legionnaire's were doing.

With a few forced, deep breaths she calmed herself down and tried to come up with a plan. They weren't in an open field, were she could use her powers freely without the fear of hurting her teammates.

Fire-bending wasn't an option, too dangerous. Luna hadn't used it since the attack in the Spirit Wilds. She couldn't. She tried to think of a smart approach when Natasha and Bruce landed next to her. She yelped, they groaned. Fuck it, Luna thought and jumped over the bar, bending the water out of nearby glasses and sending ice peaks through every metal chest she could find.

A legionnaire grabbed Loki's scepter, that was stupidly on display, and sent a blast in Luna's direction. She flew through the air before knocking harshly against the wall. All her breath escaped her chest as she fell to the ground, air refusing to get back in again. She gasped as black spots danced across her vision.

When she finally got to, the fight was dying out. Luna gave one last effort as she made a crushing motion with her hands. The nearest robot crumbled and died out. She stared at the spot the Legionnaire lay, crushed like a tin can.

Ultron limped to the front, looking at the team as they gathered around, all beaten up and angry. Luna stumbled forward and Steve quickly grabbed her arm to steady her.

"That was dramatic." Ultron snarled casually, "I'm sorry." It waved its creaking hand their way, "I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through." Ultron paced up and down, acting more human than any robot should be able to. "You want to protect the world, but you don't want to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to evolve?" Its tone was patronizing as he looked down at the Avengers.

"That's not our place. We defend, humanity will evolve when it's ready." Luna spoke, her speech slurred.

Ultron kneeled down and picked up the crushed Legionnaire, looking at it with curious eyes. It was hard to read the expressions of the robot, but this one was clear. "Defend? With these? These... puppets?" He snarled at the Legionnaire and threw it back at the ground like scrap metal. "There's only one path to peace. The Avenger's extinction."

Thor growled and threw his hammer, it whirled towards Ultron and sent it flying against the wall. It fell down in pieces. Its crackling, glitching voice said one last thing before it powered down.

"I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me."

 

Chapter 16: Out Of The Bottle

Summary:

The Avengers recover from their battle with Ultron and try to piece together what his intentions are now that he's out in the world. After tracking Ultron to Wakanda, Luna is forced to reveal a secret as they travel to intercept him. Luna receives bad new regarding Peggy.

VI. OUT OF THE BOTTLE
__________

Luna kneeled in front of the crushed Legionnaire, letting her hand caress the harsh bends and dents she had made. With her mind. It had been a surprise, especially with her troubles with earth-bending in general. She closed her eyes and tried to bend the metal again. As she predicted, it didn't work.

She stood up with a sigh and stumbled as her vision spun and bile rose up her throat. She quickly swallowed it back. Concussion, she thought, great. Just add that on top of everything that's gone wrong.

"You okay? Seem a little peaky." Natasha came up to her. She didn't look a lot better herself but Luna could guess how she looked; her outfit a complete mess, her hair sticking every which way and her face scratched up and bruised like she wrestled with a particularly angry cat.
       
"Yeah," Luna took a deep breath as another wave of nausea hit her, "Just dizzy." She gave Natasha an unconvincing smile as they made their way to the lab.

Thor had stormed out after the fight, but the others had stayed to clean the biggest mess. And now they were slowly converging to the labs, where Tony and Bruce were arguing away.

"All our work is gone." Bruce announced, breaking the thick layer of silence that had gathered in the room. "He used the internet as an escape hatch."

Luna was still doubtful about calling Ultron a he. In her mind it made it more human, and the last thing she wanted to do was humanize a defect robot. Tony and Bruce had made Ultron, built it and programmed it. She was sure they were beating themselves up about it, Bruce more than anyone. How exactly Ultron had the ability to grow a sort of twisted and crooked conscience of its own and destroy JARVIS, was the formula Luna couldn't figure out.

"He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other." Natasha said as she scrolled through files stored at Stark Industries and S.H.I.E.L.D.

Luna's hands were shaking as she thought about the possibilities. They didn't know what Ultron wanted, exactly. 'Peace in our time.' Whatever that meant. With all that information at its fingertips, would it go after loved ones? Would it set a trap, trying to lure the Avengers in? Luna hoped it wouldn't, because she knew herself. And she knew she would fall for it every time.

Luna itched to call Shuri, to warn them. Maybe ask for help. But she didn't. This was The Avengers' mess, not theirs. Also, she physically couldn't, she didn't have Shuri's number anymore. Long story.

Luna sat on top of the table, elbows on her knees and her head on her hands, trying to calm the growing headache. "We throw one celebration party..." Luna muttered, "And this happens."

A few threw her glances full of pity, she was still so young after all. The rest had plenty experience dealing with horrible, terrible, evil people and things.

"He's in your files, he's in the internet." Rhodes said, holding his hurt arm, "What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?" A valid and disturbing question.

"Royal files to see if the Queen's a lizard?" Luna joked, without much elation behind her words. It did little to lift the spirits of the people in the room.

Maria and Rhodes gave each other an understanding look, "Nuclear codes." Maria said.

"Nuclear codes." Rhodes confirmed. "Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can."

"Nukes?" Natasha questioned, "He said he wanted us dead."

"It said it wanted 'peace in our time', or Tony said it or whatever. Nukes are, historically, not great for peace." Luna added.

Steve looked up, his eyebrows creased in the usual worry lines, "He didn't say dead, he said extinct." He pointed out.

"The difference?" Luna asked rhetorically.

"He also said he killed somebody." Clint recalled.

Maria looked at him, "There wasn't anybody in the building."
        
"Then shouldn't we be looking for stragglers from the party?" Luna asked.

"No need." Tony said as he walked forward to the hologram-floor part of the room, "I know who it was." He turned the system on and floating in the air appeared the destroyed, orange interface of JARVIS.

Luna jumped to the floor as the team gathered around the dead matrix.

"What?" Bruce muttered, inspecting JARVIS closely, "This is insane."

Steve crossed his arms and looked at the hologram, he didn't need to understand the science to understand that this was the dead body of JARVIS. "JARVIS was the first line of defense. He would've shut Ultron down. It makes sense."

Luna looked incredulously at the Captain, "Nothing about a sentient robot looking to murder us makes sense, Steve."

"Ultron could've assimilated JARVIS. This isn't strategy. This is... rage." Bruce said, his voice dire.

"So it's angry and confused. All it knows is what Tony told it. And apparently it knows Pinocchio." Luna sighed and ran a tired hand through her hair.

Loud, fast footsteps broke the tension completely as Thor stormed back into the room, the look on his face made it clear that wherever he had gone, didn't go well. Tony turned around just as Thor grabbed him by the neck, lifting him from the ground and dangled him effortlessly in the air.
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Tony was still able to talk, which meant Thor wasn't angry enough to want to kill him, yet. Tony clawed at Thor's harsh grip, "Come on, use your words buddy." He forced out.
        
"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark." Thor snarled, his voice deep and loud.

Luna ran up to the pair, after getting over the initial shock and grabbed Thor's wrist. "Thor!" She exclaimed.

Before she realized what she was doing, her hand sparked with electricity. She could feel it was much more than the shock she had given the group before, but Thor acted like it was a mere static electricity shock.

He turned his head to Luna, a frown on his face and dropped Stark. Tony quickly took a smart step back. Luna held Thor's eyes for a moment longer before Steve spoke up.

"Thor, the Legionnaire." He asked.
   
So that's where Thor went, after the Legionnaire. Luna guessed she'd missed it between trying not to pass out or throw up.

Thor took a breath, trying to calm his anger, "Trail went cold about a 100 miles out, but it's headed North. And it has the scepter." He informed them.
        
Luna groaned, "We just got it."
        
"Genie's out of that bottle." Natasha said, "Clear and present is Ultron." She nodded to the destroyed body of Ultron's former robot.

"I don't understand. You built this program." Dr. Helen Cho said to Tony, "Why is it trying to kill us?" She had a tendency to work more than she should, even tonight.

The Avengers were lucky she had stayed after the party was done, they could do with her genius mind. She'd even kept her promise to Luna, and showed her the medical equipment.

"Because he's bad at his job." Luna said and after the looks she got from Natasha and Clint, she added, "Not the time, got it. Sorry."

There was a moment of silence, none of them quite sure how to continue. The scepter was gone, the thing they had been searching for ever since New York 2 years ago, and the reason they dragged Luna back into this life. Hydra had superpowered people on their side and now Tony had unleashed killer robots onto them. Everything was fine.

Tony started chuckling, putting his hand on his mouth as he began laughing harder. Everyone was taken aback as they stared at him weirdly. Bruce shook his head at Tony.

"You think this is funny?" Thor looked at him, arms crossed and looking overall pretty threatening. Luna definitely did not want to fight him when he was angry, or ever.

Tony turned to the group, "No. It's probably not, right?" He said, still chuckling to himself. "This is very terrible. It is so... It's so terrible."
        
"This could have been avoided if you hadn't played with something you didn't understand." Thor said.

Luna raised her hand, "Hey, now, let's not put all the blame on Tony. Bruce helped."

Bruce stared at her blankly, "Thanks."
        
She nodded at him.

"I'm sorry, Thor. I'm sorry." He said, not sounding remotely sorry, "It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this."

"Tony," Bruce said, he'd been standing a little behind Tony this entire time, trying to shrink back from the judgmental looks of his team. He knew he fucked up, all he could do was try and stop Tony from making it any worse. "Maybe this might not be the time."

"Really?" Tony turned to him, "That's it? You just roll over, show your belly every time someone snarls." He said.

"Only when I've created a murder-bot." Valid point.
        
"We didn't."

"Didn't you, though?" Luna raised her eyebrow at him, those robots 30 minutes ago certainly didn't look friendly.

"We didn't." Tony repeated to her, "We weren't even close." He looked at Bruce, "Were we close to an interface?"

Bruce shrugged, really rather not getting involved in any of this.

"Well, you did something right. And you did it right here." Steve approached Tony.

Luna thought about it before leaning back against the table, crossing her arms and muttering, "How can the people trust us when we are the ones who create the threats." She said softly.

Obadiah Stane and Whiplash both took Stark tech to their advantage, Loki came from Asgard, same as Thor. And Ultron, literally created by two of the Avengers.

"The Avengers were supposed to be different than S.H.I.E.L.D." Steve added.

"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony began, ego taking over.
        
"No, it's never come up." Rhodes said sarcastically.

"Saved New York?" Tony added, nodding his head.

"Anybody remember when we destroyed half of New York, too?" Luna responded, looking pointedly at Tony.

She remembered looking out of her apartment building, in the distance, and seeing large cranes by skyscrapers and passing massive construction sites when she would take public transport. The people were still cleaning up the Avengers' mess, 2 years after.

Tony let out a sigh, "A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing 300 feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can just take down arm dealers all the livelong day, but up there," He pointed up, "That's... That's the endgame."

Luna frowned at the speech, "You felt unimportant, taking down small threats, saving the little guy. That doesn't mean you could or should create your own villains, Stark." She said, getting fed up with the man's attitude.

Tony looked at her, "Those aliens out there." He said, "Those robots. How were you planning on beating that?" He asked.

Luna glanced at the ground before meeting his eyes, "Together." If you told Luna she'd be advocating for teamwork with the Avengers a week ago, she'd punch you. Hard.

"We'll lose." Tony said, looking at the group.

Steve stood next to Luna, "Then we'll do that together, too."

Luna shuffled in her spot, her shoulder brushing against Steve's as she subconsciously started to play with her necklace. "Okay. Awesome. But maybe it's a good idea not to go into this with the plan to lose. So, Cap'n, plan?" She looked up at Steve.

Steve nodded and the team gathered together as he started laying out the groundwork for a plan, "Thor's right. Ultron's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."

---

Maria Hill had informed them of Ultron's movements. The robot hadn't been keeping quiet. Robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs. All coming with reports of metal men and all cleaned out. There were more now, all of those break-ins meant Ultron was preparing. But preparing for what, exactly?

That wasn't even the worst news. What the people at those break-ins had said; They saw their worst fears, there was something too fast to see. The twins had teamed up with Ultron.

The team had migrated out of the lab and into more comfortable positions on the couch and at the dinner table. Well, as comfortable as they could be, with dead robots around them. Luna had opted on laying down for a small moment, which turned into a much needed nap.

When she woke up, she could see that Natasha and Maria were the ones actually making some progress. All of them had taken turns cleaning themselves up, as much as they could and Luna went to do the same.

When Luna got to the bathroom, the sight she encountered wasn't surprising. She had small bruises on her right cheekbone, red scratches on the same cheek. Her outfit, surprisingly, had survived well enough. The seam of her blouse had ripped at the elbow, and was scorched black from the energy blasts at her torso. Her pants were covered with dust and threads were sticking out every which way.

She lifted her blouse up and winced at the sight. Big bruises were starting to form, so Luna sat down and turned on the tap. Bending the water in smooth motions on her stomach, it began to softly glow and the red and purple marks faded. She let out a relieved sigh.

Luna fixed her hair, changed into some spare clothes Tony had provided (she didn't ask where he got them), and started walking back to the living room.

Before she got there, however, she got intercepted by a big blond man.
       
"Hey, Luna." Steve smiled apprehensively.
       
"Hello, my good sir. How do you do?" Luna said and pretended to tip her invisible hat.

He shook his head, amused and motioned for her to walk with him. Steve led her back into the living room, past Tony, who was trying not to fall asleep. Bruce, who was beating himself up on the inside. Natasha, who was furiously looking through news rapports and Thor, who was trying to help her. Natasha didn't seem to appreciate his input of 'There! A robot.' 'Thor, that's an ad for a kids toy.'

The two stopped once they were on the balcony.
       
"What's going on, Cap?" Luna frowned, she had never seen that look on his face.
       
"When's the last time you spoke to Peggy?" He asked.
       
Luna's breath hitched in her throat. Peggy? Why would he bring up Peggy now? "Uh... I guess back when we ran into each other. Why?" She asked the question with apprehension, scared of the possible answer.

"Her nurse called me. She isn't doing well. They've got an estimate." Steve's voice was shaky.
      
"An estimate of what, Steve?" Luna demanded.
      
"When she passes. A year, if she's lucky."
       
Luna let out a shaky breath as she turned to lean her elbows on the balcony railing, looking out at the sunrise above the New York City skyline. "A year." She echoed softly. She felt Steve's shoulder brush hers as he leaned next to her. They stood in silence.

"You okay?" Steve asked eventually.
      
"Yes." Luna answered quickly. "No. I mean, still got a year, right? She ain't dead yet. A year's a long time, enough time. Right?" She asked and turned her head to look at Steve.

Steve had never seen Luna look that young before, like she was actually a kid. Which she was, of course, she just never acted like it. But the shimmer of tears in her eyes broke his heart. Peggy was the only one she had left. And now she knew she was gonna lose her too.

"Right." He said and offered her a smile.

"You?" Luna questioned.
      
Steve looked at her, confused.
      
"You two were close, right? Back then, I mean. Can't be easy, with James and all."
      
He nodded, looking back at the skyline, taking in the serene view of the waking city. "When I found out she was alive, after so many years, I couldn't believe it. Every time I go to see her it's like the first time. And James, well, Bucky... It's complicated."
       
"When ain't it?" Luna chuckled wetly, wiping a tear from her cheek.
       
"I have faith. That me and Sam can help him."
      
Luna pushed her shoulder against his, "I missed you guys. More than you know." She smiled awkwardly before a shout from inside caught their attention.

"Rogers, Carter, in here, now!" Maria called out, the others already gathered around on various chairs and desks.

Maria handed Steve her tablet, a picture opened on screen. Luna hovered next to Steve as she took a look herself. The sight was gruesome. Strucker's dead body stared back at her, the word 'peace' written in his blood on the wall behind him.

"Jesus..." She muttered.

"What's this?" Thor asked as Steve handed him the tablet.
      
"A message." Natasha said, her voice uneasy, "Ultron killed Strucker."
      
Tony stood behind the chair Luna had made her way onto and looked at the tablet with her. "And he did a Banksy at the crime scene. Just for us."
      
"I feel special already." Luna muttered, handing the tablet to Tony. She really didn't need to look at it any longer.

Natasha leaned back in her chair, her thinking face on, "This is a smoke screen. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?"
      
"I thought we'd established that Ultron is unstable by now?" Luna offered.
       
Steve had a better idea, "Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss." He guessed and Natasha started typing away at her computer. Luna leaned in closer.
   
"Yep." Natasha confirmed, "Everything we had on Strucker's been erased."
      
Luna nodded and rubbed a hand across her face, because, of course it had. Why wouldn't it?
      
"Not everything." Steve said.
 
Luna took a second before she groaned and hung her head, "More work. Yay."

---

"Known associates." Steve said as he placed another heavy box on the table.

It had taken some searching, but eventually they had managed to gather most paper files they had on Strucker. What was left now, was to find the thing they were looking for. 'What's that?', you may ask. Natasha told Luna she would know when she saw it. Luna didn't have so much faith. So, she leaned back, lazily looking at some papers.

"Baron Strucker had a lot of friends." Steve continued.

"Well," Bruce said, flipping through a file, "These people are horrible."

"Wait," Tony said abruptly and pointed at the page on Bruce's file. "I know that guy." He took the file. "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast. Black market arms."
      
"Of course you'd know 'em, then." Luna joked.
       
Tony gave her an unappreciative smile, "Conventions." He said, when Steve gave him a look too. "All right? You meet people, I didn't sell him anything." He was quick to defend. "He was talking about finding something new, a game-changer. It was all very Ahab."
       
Luna stood up and peered between his and Steve's shoulders, "Ulysses Klaue. That name doesn't sound evil at all." She said.

"This?" Thor questioned, looking at the file and pointed at the picture.
      
"Tattoos." Tony said.
      
"No." He quickly said, "Those are tattoos. This," He gestured closer, "This is a brand."
     
"Ominous, I like it." Luna said. She didn't recognize the brand on Klaue's neck, then again, she'd never really been interested in burning something onto herself.

Bruce pulled up the photo of Klaue's neck and put it through a database search. It wasn't long before the words 'match found' appeared on screen. "Oh, yeah. It's a word in an African dialect meaning 'thief.'" He said. "In a much less friendly way."
       
Luna frowned. An unfriendly thief? Criminal? Mobster?
     
"What dialect?" Steve asked.
      
"Wak—" Bruce squinted at the screen, "Wakanada?"
      
Luna perked up, "Wakanda?"
      
Everybody turned to her.
      
"Yeah, how'd you know that?" Bruce asked.
     
"Uh..." she let out a weird string of sounds. "School?" She said carefully. Luckily, the rest didn't care enough to know how she knew about Wakanda to keep asking questions

Tony and Steve shared a concerned look. "If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods..."
      
"I thought your father said he got the last of it." Steve replied.

Luna's brain tried to process. All that came up was 'does not compute...' "Wait... hold up. Hang on just a moment. You guys know about the giant stash of vibranium on Wakanda?"
       
Steve and Stark whipped their head in her direction, "You know about the vibranium?"
       
Luna's eyes widened, "Eh—No. Yes. No. Maybe... I gotta text Shuri." She said and quickly hid away from their gazes, pulling out her phone before realizing she didn't have Shuri's number anymore.

She used to, but there was an incident with her old phone and an experiment gone wrong. Long story short, it blew up and everything on it was lost. Including the phone number of the royal princess of Wakanda.

"I don't follow." Bruce spoke up. "What comes out of Wakanda? Vibranium?" He gestured his thumb to Luna who sat miserably in a chair, hands covering her face in an attempt to hide.
      
"Yep." Tony said and stepped aside, revealing Cap's shield perched against a couple of boxes, "The strongest metal on Earth."
      
"Where's this guy now?" Steve asked.
       
"Don't know." Stark said. "But I can find out. First," He turned to Luna, "Wanna tell us what you know, kiddo?"

Luna looked up, smiling sheepishly. "I'm good." Tony raised an eyebrow, "God, fine. I'm friends with Shuri and T'Challa. They live there." She heard Bruce typing away.
      
"You're friends with the crown prince and princess of Wakanda?" He exclaimed, wide-eyed.
       
"Well, if you put it like that, you make it sound like they're so special. They found me unconscious on the edge of their border, helped me get better."
     
"This happened during your 'spirit quest?'" Natasha asked.
      
Luna nodded.
      
"The one you're super vague about?"
      
Luna nodded again.
     
"Good to know."

Steve clapped his hands, "All right, Stark, let's get to work."

---

A salvage yard on the African coast. That's were Stark had tracked Klaue. And now that's where the Avengers were. The Quinjet flight had been painfully long and dull, but Luna managed to sleep through most of it, albeit with some troubling dreams. The last time she was above the Atlantic Ocean, all she had was her glider and some nuts. Fun times.

She'd quickly managed to put on her new suit before she left but she had left her daggers at her apartment. That's a note for the future: don't go anywhere without your daggers or you might find yourself weaponless against a horde of evil robots.

Luna and the team stayed out of sight, hiding between the mountains of broken ships, planes and whatever the people here had managed to salvage along the way. At last they located the stranded container ship Klaue and his men were on.

Carefully, they made their way onto the roof, above a hole in the ceiling of Klaue's office. They stayed hidden, stalking him and staking out the place, waiting for Ultron to show up.

Luna's attention was drawn to a loud scuffle underneath the deck, when the lights in Klaue's office went out. She squinted her eyes, eager to see in the little light the outside sun provided. There was a gunshot, a whoosh and suddenly Klaue was weaponless and in front of him stood the Maximoff twins in all their terrifying glory.

Luna kept a close look on their conversation, any moment now the Captain would nod his head and they would move in.

"The enhanced." Klaue chuckled, acting tough. "Strucker's prize pupils." He sat down, "Do you want a candy? Hmm?" He held up a candy bowl and Luna was tempted to walk in, silently grab a handful of candy and walk back out. She didn't though, mainly because Steve put his hand on her shoulder.
      
"I was sorry to hear about Strucker. But then, he knew what kind of world he was helping create. Human life. Not a growth market." Klaue said.

And not cattle for you to trade with, Luna thought angrily as she kept an eye on Pietro Maximoff. He was the only one fully in the light. Luna knew Wanda was there, she could feel her, but the girl stuck to the shadows for now. The look on Pietro's face twitched. Klaue noticed it too.

"You didn't know?" Klaue asked and added in a loud whisper, "Is this your first time intimidating someone? I'm afraid I'm not afraid."

Luna's breath hitched in her throat as Wanda stepped forward, next to her brother. She thought back to the vision the creepy girl had given her. She didn't want a repeat of that any time soon.

"Everybody is afraid of something." Wanda said, her Sokovian accent strong on every word.

Klaue didn't look intimidated, "Cuttlefish." He said, "Deep sea fish. They make lights, disco lights..." He imitated the fish with his hand and Luna made a mental note to google 'cuttlefish' later on. "To hypnotize their prey, and then--" He made a grabbing motion with his hand. "I saw a documentary once. It was terrifying." He completed his enthralling story about deep see life.

With another whoosh, Pietro appeared, opening one of Klaue's candies. The look on Klaue's face was almost laughable. Pietro awkwardly ate the candy. Good on you, Pietro.

Klaue let out a deep sigh, "So if you're going to fiddle with my brain and make me see giant cuttle fish... then I know you're not the one in charge, and I..." He stood up and approached the twins, "Only deal with the one in charge."

Luna didn't see it, but the sound of glass breaking and Klaue being pulled out of it, got her and the team on high alert. She, Tony, Steve and Thor exchanged alarmed looks. Ultron is here. They moved closer inside, staying out of sight.

A familiar chill settled on Luna's shoulders as Ultron spoke, "There is no man in charge." Its voice was, again, a horrifying mix between human and robot. Ultron kneeled, its face a few threatening inches away from Klaue's. "Let's talk business." It said.

It was hard to see anything from their vantage point, but the Avengers heard a rusty door open, saw light coming from the open container as the container's ceiling moved down, revealing mountains of vibranium. Luna wanted to punch herself for losing Shuri's number. This'd be a really, really important thing for her to know.

"Upon this rock, I will build my church." Ultron spoke, and took the cylinder casing filled with vibranium from Klaue, with much more of the same waiting for it in the storage container.
       
"You know," Klaue began, "It came at great personal cost. It's worth billions." He said, rubbing the brand on his neck and

Luna struggled to think of something he could've done to gain this much vibranium. Did T'Challa know about this? Did the King?

Ultron chuckled and for a second it was quiet, before looking at Klaue, "Now, so are you." It said.

Luna looked at Tony. Did Ultron really just transfer billions of dollars to Klaue in a blink of an eye?

"It's all under your dummy holdings. Finance is weird." Ultron said, "But I always say; 'Keep your friends rich and your enemies rich and wait to find out which is which.'"

"Stark." Klaue said and for a moment Luna feared he'd spot Ironman, all suited up next to her.
      
"What?" Ultron asked.
      
"Tony Stark used to say that. To me. You're one of his."
      
"What!" Ultron sounded offended, if it was even possible for an A.I to sound... anything. "I'm not- I'm not." Ultron grabbed Klaue. "You think I'm one of Stark's puppets? His hollow men? I mean, look at me. Do I look like Ironman?" It said and for a terrifying moment, Ultron sounded exactly like Tony Stark. Then he yelled, "Stark is nothing!"

There was a slashing sound and in a millisecond, Klaue's arm fell to the floor.

"I'm sorry. I'm..." Ultron said, not sounding particularly sorry, "Oh, I'm sure that's gonna be okay. I'm sorry. It's just that I don't understand. Don't compare me with Stark!"

Steve didn't nod, but Tony took that as his cue either way. "Ah, Junior." He said as him, Captain America, Thor and The Avatar gathered in front of it, a twin at each of its side "You're gonna break your old man's heart."

The four weren't there to start a fight, even if it might've seemed that way, and they were certainly prepared if a struggle broke out but while they were here, distracting Ultron, the robot wouldn't notice Black Widow and Hawkeye sneaking about (Bruce had stayed back, waiting for Code Green).

"If I have to." Ultron said.
      
"You don't have to break anything." Thor replied.
      
"Clearly you've never made an omelet." Ultron retorted.
      
Tony sighed, "He beat me by one second."

"Ah, yes. He's funny." Pietro stepped forward, and Luna took one too, ready for any super-speed-ish-quick-move he could do. "Mr. Stark." His accent was rougher than his sister's, Luna noticed. "It's what? Comfortable? Like old times?" He glanced over the railing,

Luna followed his line of sight to two rockets. They have a grudge against Tony, Luna then realized. It must've happened when they were young, back when Tony still made and sold weapons to countries at war, like Sokovia. It would certainly explain them teaming up with Ultron.

"You two can still walk away from this." Cap spoke, directed at the twins. Their best shot at minimizing the danger was getting the enhanced out of the playing field.
      
"Oh, we will." Wanda said and Luna studied her face closely.
     
"Wanda." Luna said and regretted it immediately when Wanda turned her head, staring at her with that intriguing gaze of hers. "You can come wi—"
       
Ultron made a gagging sound.
      
"We know you've suffere—" Steve tried.

"Ugh," It chuckled, "Captain America. God's righteous man. Pretending you could live without a war. And The Avatar, the keeper of balance, trying to save a world that's already forgotten you. I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but... blegh."

Luna didn't pay the big, scary robot in the middle much attention, her task was keeping the twins under control. She was fast with her wind and for some reason the rest thought she was the one that could reach them. Three peas in a pot, Luna thought sarcastically. Just because we're around the same age doesn't mean I have to relate to them.

"If you believe in peace, then let us keep it." Thor said.
       
Ultron stepped forward.

Luna flinched, barely visible, but she saw Wanda's eyes narrow, surely plotting more ways to use Luna's fears against her.

"I think you're confusing 'peace' with 'quiet.'" Ultron said.
     
"Uh-huh. What's the vibranium for?" Ironman asked.
      
"I'm glad you asked that because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan."
       
Luna groaned and dared to look heavenward, "For the love of god, please, please, don't start a monologue. Don't think my mental health could take it at the moment." She said and was glad to see Pietro covering up a smile. Good to know these guys were still human.

The disturbing thing; Ultron smirked before pulling Ironman forward into the air and blasting him back against the wall. The two engaged in a battle in the air, energy and laser beams flying around them. Ultron's posse charged at the left-over three.

Luna kept her eyes on the twins, but Pietro quickly sped away and Wanda tried to disappear into the shadows again.

"Oh, no you don't." Luna grumbled, blasting a robot away from her as she ran at Wanda.

A cloud of red formed around Wanda's hand and Luna barely had time to look scared as it hit her and threw her to the ground. In the distance, Luna could hear Klaue's henchman joining the fight and she hoped Natasha and Clint could hold their own. Who was she kidding? Those henchmen should be running scared any minute from the duo. She had to focus on her own fight, against Wanda while also trying to find Pietro whizzing around.

Ironman and Ultron had flown through the roof, taking it outside while Thor and Steve were working together perfectly, hammer and shield. She could catch glimpses of them being punched by something invisible, Pietro. Luna dodged energy blasts from the robot's as she got back up, still trying to reach Wanda. Again, the red cloud came for her.

"That is so anno—"
       
She got interrupted by one of the robot's next to Wanda. "It's time for some mind games."

Luna's eyes widened as her brother's bloodied body flashed before her eyes. Was that Wanda? Or her own mind? Luna didn't know any more. But when she blinked, Derek and Wanda had gone. She didn't have time to look for the girl, as a swarm of robots surrounded her.

She growled low, and threatening, "I've had a shitty day..." She said as salt water flew through the entrances and gathered around Luna's body, ready for her command.

Luna threw up over the railing, a second after she tore the last robot to pieces. "Gross..." She muttered and made her way deeper into the ship, limping slightly and keeping a hand on her stomach where she had taken a full energy beam.

Suddenly she stopped as she felt... something, from the ground. Trills traveled up her leg. Something was coming, fast. On instinct, she turned and punched. To her surprise, her fist collided hard with a face.

Pietro fell to the ground, groaning and holding his cheek.
     
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." She fussed as she stepped closer, she quickly realized what she was doing, "What? No! I'm not sorry, you completely deserved that, prick."
       
Pietro chuckled painfully, "You're funny."
       
Luna was taken aback, "Uh... thanks?"
      
"You are welcome." He glanced behind her.

In a split second, Luna turned and grabbed Wanda's wrist in a hard grip, so hard Wanda let out a whimper.

Luna glared at her, not breaking eye contact, "What do you fear, huh? Nothing? No..." She snarled as she tried to get the images of her brother, bloody, bruised, dead, dead, dead on the ground, yelling at her, screaming, out of her mind.

"There's something." She said, her voice low as she leaned in close.

She almost smiled, seeing the fear in Wanda's eyes. But she couldn't get herself enjoying it, scaring this girl, no matter what she'd done to her. Instead, Luna took a deep breath and forced herself to let go of Wanda's wrist, but she stayed close, their faces inches apart.

"It's not too late, Wanda. Not yet, not for you." For a moment she thought she might've done it.

Wanda's face hardened up again, and Luna sighed, walking backwards. Only she had forgotten about one thing. Pietro was still behind her. He grabbed her shoulders and held her in place as she struggled, frightened as Wanda approached her. Her entrancing green eyes turned a deep red.

She could vaguely hear Barton in her earpiece, "Whoever's standing, we gotta move. Guys?"

She was laid on the ground by strong arms as she slipped into unconsciousness.

 

Chapter 17: Family Property

Summary:

Haunted by Wanda Maximoff, Luna gains a new understanding of the two advanced. The team rests and recuperates at Clint's countryside home. There, they meet with Nick Fury and together they come up with a plan to defeat Ultron and the twins, although Luna isn't quite sure the twins need to be defeated anymore...

VII. FAMILY PROPERTY
__________

Luna twitched in her unconscious state and a small whimper came from her throat.

Tony frowned at her, he had found her like this in an empty hallway.

He'd quickly gotten her to the Quinjet as Clint checked her for injuries and besides the usual scrapes and bruises, she seemed fine. The two had no idea how long she'd been like this or if she was still under the effect of Wanda's mind magic. If she even was under that spell.

The rest of the Avengers sat in the Quinjet as it took flight in the middle of the night, Clint piloting. Except for Tony and Clint, they had all been spelled. And now it was the aftermath of the damage that had been done. Specifically by Bruce. He'd had it the worst.

After Wanda spelled him, he transformed into the Hulk and him and Tony, who had a special Hulk-buster suit, fought to get Banner back in a small town off the African coast. But a fight like that doesn't go quietly or without damage.

"The news is loving you guys." Maria Hill said over the radio. "Nobody else is."

Tony closed his eyes with a sigh as he leaned deeper in his chair.
 
"There's been no official call for Banner's arrest, but, it's in the air." Hill continued.

"The Stark Relief foundation?" Tony asked. A foundation that he had started and funded after The Battle of New York to help renovation, rebuilding projects, and helped rescues on the ground.

"Already on the scene. How's the team?"

"Everyone's..." Tony looked around.

Steve was brooding silently, Natasha staring off into nothingness, Bruce sat shaking on the Quinjet floor and Thor was pacing up and down. Luna was still out cold on the bench, occasionally letting out a murmur or whimper.

"We took a hit. We'll shake it off."

"Well, for now, I'd stay in stealth mode and... stay away from here." Hill offered.

Tony leaned in closer to the small screen showing Maria's face, "So, run and hide?"

"Until we can find Ultron, I don't have a lot else to offer."

He sighed at the distraught faces of his team, "Neither do we." He clicked off the radio.

Tony stood up and walked over to the pilot seat where Clint was flying the jet. "Hey, you wanna switch out?"

"No, I'm good." Clint said, keeping his eyes on the cloudy night sky, "If you wanna get some kip, now's a good time. Besides, you should keep an eye on Luna. We're still a few hours out, she might wake up soon."

"Few hours from where?" Tony asked.

"A safe house." Clint answered, vague as ever.

---

Luna twitched in her unconscious state and a small whimper came from her throat. She opened her eyes. She vaguely remembered someone picking her up and a breeze fanning her face and now feeling a cold, hard floor beneath her. Where was she? The Quinjet? No, she couldn't be.

The scenery in her mind changed from nothing to a snowy, winter street, a starry night sky twinkling down at her. She tried to calm herself. Was this Wanda? Was the girl still playing with her mind? But Luna didn't recognize the street, or the house that stood in front of her or the happy laughter of children from inside, where the deep yellow lights were on and the fire place was crackling.

It all happened so fast, something hit near the house, and exploded. Luna dove to the ground, covering her head desperately. People were screaming, children crying. For a moment she was scared to look up, but she did, and the sight was horrifying. The house she saw was now a pile of barely standing pillars and rubble. She heard a whistle coming from above and another shell hit.

It didn't go off.
   
She treaded closer. Beep. Beep. Beep. A red dot blinked at her. Her breath hitched in her throat as she saw the logo painted on the bomb. Stark Industries.

Soft crying caught her attention. Under the bed, right next to the bomb, were two little kids. Tears streaming down their faces as the boy hugged his arms around his sister.

Luna gasped softly as she stayed on the side walk.

"You see, now?" Luna turned her head, wide-eyed, at Wanda who had appeared next to her. "Why we are doing this, why we need to?"

Luna swallowed the lump in her throat, "This... That's you. And Pietro. As kids."

"Very observant of you, Luna." Wanda didn't blink as the scene changed.

Luna recognized it immediately. Her childhood home. She spun around, taking it all in. She hadn't seen the baby blue walls, or the worn down, brown couch or the dining table with a broken off corner in so long.

"What? How did you—" Luna shook her head, "Never mind. Magic-stuff." Luna turned to Wanda, and let out a small yelp to find the girl standing closer to her, staring at her curiously.
 
"I have seen inside your mind, Luna. I do not wish to hurt you." Wanda spoke raspy.

Luna narrowed her eyes, "A little late for that."

Wanda shrugged, "Any more."

"You hurt my friends, you hurtin' me, sweetheart." She looked Wanda in the eyes, almost pleadingly. "Tony isn't like that anymore. He doesn't make weapons, he just wants to help. I know he's made mistakes, but we've all done shit." She looked closer, and decided she liked the mossy green of the girl's eyes better than the threatening red.

Wanda's expression went from... Luna didn't know, to an icy stare. "Of course you don't understand. You are one of them."

With a gasp, Luna woke up. She sat upright, her hands feeling the ground beneath her. She found herself sitting on a soft bed, in a small room with a window, looking out over an outback of sorts. Her attention was pulled when she saw something move at the entrance.

"A child?" Luna whispered to herself as her frown deepened and the pounding in her head subsided. "The hell is a child doing here?" She quickly stood up, ignoring the dizziness and pushed past the child, who was holding a glass of water in his hands.

He couldn't have been older than 10. Or maybe he was 5. Or 14. Luna wasn't good with children. She stumbled into the living room, and came to an abrupt stop as all the heads in the room turned to look at an disheveled Luna.

"Uh..." Luna stuttered. "Hello? What the fuck?"

"Hey, calm down there, kiddo. It's fine, you're safe." Tony came up to her and guided her to the couch.

Luna took a few deep breath and managed to stop her hands from shaking, her knee was still bopping up and down nervously. She looked around the room. Clint and Natasha sat at a large table, a little girl on Clint's lap. There was a strange woman making drinks in the kitchen.

"Y'all look like shit." She stated.
 
"Yeah, so do you, Carter!" Clint called back, "And watch your language in front of the kids, will you?"

"Yeah, about that. Who the fu—dge, fudge, are these people and where are the others?"

Natasha stood up and walked over, "Thor took off a little while ago, no idea where he went. But Bruce is taking a shower, and Steve's out back. Letting off some steam." She explained.

Luna nodded and noticed Natasha's hands shaking. Wanda must've put them all under her magic.

Wanda. Luna's dream suddenly came back to her. Had she been dreaming? Or was Wanda actually in her mind.

"As for 'these people', they're my wife and kids." Clint said as he joined them. "That's Laura." He pointed at the woman in the kitchen.

Laura looked over and smiled, waving at Luna, "Nice to meet you!"

"And those two," He pointed outside, where the boy from before and the little girl were playing with a water pistol, "Are Lila and Cooper."

Luna tutted, "You've been busy, I see." Her smile faded, "How long have I been out?"

"Couple of hours. What do you remember?" Tony asked as Natasha and Clint left them alone.

"The twins." She said.

Tony looked at her concerned, "Did she do that fear-thing again?"

"No, no. It was... strange. I ran into Pietro. He didn't seem to wanna hurt me."
 
"That is strange."

Luna nodded absently, "Then Wanda made me fall unconscious. Or something."

"What do you mean, 'or something?'"

"I had this dream. She talked to me. Showed me stuff." Luna fiddled with her necklace.

"I'm gonna need you to be less vague about this, kid."
 
"Doesn't matter, not like it's gonna help us with Ultron." Luna stood up before realizing she was still in her suit. "Right. I need to wash up."

On cue, Laura appeared next to her and put a hand on her upper arm, "Come with me, I'll show you the bathroom and I'm sure I have some clothes that'll fit you." She said and led Luna away.

---

Luna hoped her question to Laura didn't come over as too weird. Then again, being married to an Avenger, she was used to weird. Luna had asked the kind woman if she had any scrap metal by any chance. Why? Oh, just curiosity. Don't worry, Luna's not a cat, it won't kill her.

This was why Luna was now tracking her way to Barton's barn on top of the hill. She walked past Steve ripping apart logs one by one before she heard a distant conversation coming from inside the dusty old barn.

"I watched my friends die. You'd think that'd be as bad as it gets, right? Nope. Wasn't the worst part." She heard Tony say.

She frowned. Watched his friends die? Luna closed her eyes for a sad second as she realized he was talking about his vision. It still seemed so real to him.

"The worst part is that you didn't." Another, familiar voice said.

What the fuck was Nicholas J. Fury doing on a farm in the middle of nowhere?

Luna opened the door to the barn and walked inside, the midday sun elongating her shadow on the dirt ground. "Tony," She smiled sickly sweet at the man and eyed Fury warily, "Didn't know we were expecting visitors? Please, Nick," Now she gave the same smile to Fury, "Do come inside, will you?"

Seeing as the last time she saw the director (was he even a director of anything at this point? Luna didn't know. But calling him that felt normal either way), was when an alien race invaded New York, led by the God of Mischief, she wasn't particularly keen on hearing what he had to say this time.

She knelt next to a broken tractor, picked up a hand-sized scrap of metal, scowled at the two men and made her way back inside the house.

---

"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time." Fury said to the team, as they were scattered around the living area. "My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of Vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing."

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked, leaning against the doorway.

Luna leaned back in her chair at the dining table, opposite Natasha, as she stared intensely at the piece of metal in front of her. As if she could use the force to bend it. And she hadn't even seen Star Wars.

"Oh, you mean the psychotic robot trying to kill us? At least we know how to track that." She said

"It's easy enough, he's everywhere." Fury nodded, "Guy's multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit."

"But that don't mean shit if we don't know what it's planning." Luna stated.

Tony threw a dart at the dart board, "He still going after launch codes?" He turned and glared at Luna as a inconspicuous draft made his dart fly off course. The girl shrugged at him and quickly went back to staring at her metal.
 
"Yes, he is." Fury announced, "But he's not making any headway."

"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare." Tony said.

Luna covered up a snort, "And yet, I still managed to break your firewall." She muttered under her breath. Natasha heard, and shook her head at the girl, amused.

"Yeah, well, I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that." Fury said.

"Nexus?" Steve questioned.

"It's the world internet hub in Oslo, every byte of data flows through there, fastest access on earth."

"So what'd they say?" Clint asked, messing with his arrows.

"He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed." Fury explained.

"By whom?" Tony jumped as a dart suddenly flew past his face, and into the bull's eye. He turned to Clint, who was smiling innocently.

"Parties unknown."

Natasha looked confused at Luna, who still hadn't taken her eyes off the piece of rusty metal on the table before directing at Fury, "Do we have an ally?"

"Ultron's got an enemy, that's not the same thing. Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is." He responded.

"'Enemy of your enemy.' Don't trust that." Luna commented and her eyes widened as the metal moved, only to realize Natasha had stubbed her knee against the table.

"I might need to visit Oslo," Tony said, "Find our 'unknown.'"

"Well, this is good times, boss," Natasha spoke, "But I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that."

"I do, I have you." He said, "Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else. Here we all are, back on Earth, with nothing but our wit and our will to save the world."

Luna looked at her hands as Fury gave his speech. Just their wit and will. Wit she had enough of, but she still hadn't found her will yet. Maybe she never would.

"Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. All this," He gestured around the room, "Laid in a grave. So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."

Luna shared an amused glance with Natasha.

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk." The latter said.

Steve sighed, "You know what, Romanoff?"

Natasha smiled mischievously at him as Luna tried and failed to cover up her chuckle.

Luna ran a hand across her tired face and shoved aside the metal for now, "'Know thy enemy.'" She said. "Something my gran used to say. In order to defeat the enemy, you gotta know 'em. We know what Wanda and Pietro want. What does Ultron want?" She questioned.
 
"To become better." Steve figured, "Better than us. He keeps building bodies."

"Person bodies." Tony pointed out, "The human form is inefficient, biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."

"You must've put something in his software." Luna offered.
 
"When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed." Natasha added.

"They don't need to be protected, they need to evolve." Bruce said, sitting up. He caught Luna's eyes and they shared a worried look. "Ultron's going to evolve."

"The Cradle. She showed it to me." Luna said, her voice low and uneasy as her hands started fiddling with her necklace.
 
"Who?" Tony asked, "How?"
 
"Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?" Bruce said.
The group looked at each other. "Not since the party, no." Steve replied.

Luna took a shaky breath, "Dr. Cho showed me 'round her lab at the party. There were these blueprints, a project like the one she used to heal Clint. But bigger. She was working on it with a team in Seoul." She ran a hand through her hair.

Clint seemed to realize what Luna was saying, "Is it possible?" He questioned.

"Is what?" Steve asked.

"Ultron wants to create a body. A human body, made of vibranium." Tony stated, "He'd be indestructible."

"But Cho wouldn't help him." Natasha frowned as she slowly figured it out, "Which is why he took the scepter."

"Mind control. Fun times." Clint commented.
 
"It wasn't finished, though." Luna said, "She needed a power source. Wireless and compact enough to not get in the way."

"Doesn't matter." Fury began, "For now we assume Ultron knows how."

"What do we do?" Bruce asked.

"What y'all always do." Fury said, "Your job."

---

The Avengers were ready, suited up and looking good. They had a plan, or something close to resembling one. The Captain, Natasha, Barton and Luna were doing recon in Seoul and Stark was going to Nexus and would join them as soon as he could. Fury had left the way he came, which Luna hadn't figured out yet, and the Avengers minus Ironman took off on the Quinjet.

Luna was eerily quiet, staring off into space as she concentrated on the calming hum of the jet. Her mind kept going back to her dream. Wanda had showed Luna her pain, a thing that people keep close to them, no matter how much it hurt. She'd opened up, hoping Luna would understand. Why her? Why would she show Luna? What had Wanda seen inside her mind that made her wanna get through to her specifically?

She was pulled out of her thoughts as a figure sat down next to her on the hard bench.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Clint asked, bumping the younger girl's shoulder.

Luna scoffed, "My thoughts are worth a dollar, at least." She sighed, "The twins are gonna be there."

"Probably." He nodded.

"We can't fight them." She stated, "I mean, we shouldn't. This is gonna sound weird but,"
 
"Luna," Clint interrupted her, "Nothing you say is gonna be weirder than anything I've ever seen."

She shrugged, "I had a dream. But I think it really happened. Wanda was in my mind, somehow."

"Slightly invasive, but go on."

"She showed me why they were doing this, helping Ultron. They want the Avengers dead, but if I- we, can make them see that Ultron will destroy the world... I think that maybe, they'll see that we're the lesser evil." Luna finished and ran a shaky hand through her hair.

"I get it." Clint said, "It's not bad to have hope like that, Luna. Just make sure it's not false."

Luna nodded and tried to get more comfortable as she rested her head on Clint's shoulder.

---

"Okay, two minutes. Stay close." Captain America said into the comms.

Luna and him had split off from the other two in the Quinjet. They made their way into the building they'd tracked Ultron to. Cap led the way through the dark hallways before they reached the lab.

"Helen!" Luna exclaimed as she sped past Steve.

Slumped against the wall was Dr. Cho, the lab around her was destroyed, sparks still flying recklessly around the room. Luna eyed the wound on the woman's shoulder carefully and bent the water from her container, using it to ease the pain.

"It's a pretty heavy burn, but this'll speed up the healing process." She said as Steve knelt next to her.

"He's uploading himself into the body." Dr. Cho said, breathing harshly.
 
"Where?" Cap asked as him and Luna went to stand up.
 
Dr. Cho grabbed his arm, "The real power..." She began, "Is inside the Cradle."

Luna frowned, "What do you mean? You found a power source?"

"The gem." Dr. Cho continued, "Its power is uncontainable." She shook her head, "You can't just blow it up."

"Well," Luna said, rolling her eyes, "There goes that plan."

"You have to get the Cradle to Stark." Dr. Cho said, urgency in her voice.

"First we have to find it." Cap said as he and Luna got up, leaving Helen Cho in the laboratory. "You guys copy that?" He said into the comms, to Hawkeye and Black Widow, who were keeping an eye on everything in the jet.

"We did." Barton's voice crackled across the comms.

"I got a private jet taking off across town." Romanoff guessed, "No manifest, could be him."

"There. It's the truck from the lab." Barton said.

"We can't see what you're seeing, buddy." Luna replied.

"No shit," He said, "Right above you guys. On the loop by the bridge. It's them."

"Copy that." She said as Cap and her started jogging in that direction.

"You got three with the Cradle, one in the cab. I can take out the driver."

Cap was quick with a response, "Negative. That truck crashes, that gem could level the city." He said, making his way up the bridge as Luna whizzed past him with a literal breeze. "We need to draw out Ultron."

"You got a plan for that?" The Avatar looked at him as they watched the truck get closer.

"Be yourself." He said and with a sprint he jumped off the bridge.

Luna smirked, following suit. "I can do that."
    
They landed on top of the truck.

The Avatar broke her fall and steadied herself on the unstable truck, Cap wasn't so lucky. He stumbled over the side, and quickly grabbed ahold of the back doors.

"You good?" Luna looked over the edge.

Cap was about to respond as an energy blast put a hole through the door and he was slammed against the side of the truck, holding on for dear life as the door fell to the road, only being pulled along by a few hinges.

"Well," Cap said, "He's definitely unhappy. I'm gonna try and keep him that way."

"You're not a match for him, Cap." Barton said, inspiring confidence as always.

Luna took a few steps back, "I am." She grumbled and took off, manipulating the air to ricochet herself into the truck, her feet collided harshly against Ultron. It stumbled back, but quickly steadied itself. It looked at Luna, more annoyed than threatened. Or not.

"Hi." Luna said and she and Cap got blasted back onto a moving car behind them.

Cap got up quicker, used a different truck to parkour his way back onto the roof. Luna groaned as she propelled herself forward, landing harshly in a crouched position with feet spread apart, her hand steadying herself before standing up tall next to Captain America.

Ultron flew up to their height at the other end of the truck. "You know what's in that cradle?" It shot at them. Cap quickly shielded himself and the Avatar. "The power to make real change." It continued, "And that terrifies you."

Luna breathed heavily, "I've seen my fears. And it ain't some Ironman wannabe."

If a robot could look pissed, that's how Luna would describe it. It tried to blast them, but Cap threw his shield at it. Ultron flew out of the way just in time, missing its shot as well. Luna got out her water and formed a whip, lashing out at it. The duo matched their attacks. As the shield bounced off Ultron, Luna would send ice picks flying. She rolled out off the way of another energy beam.

"Stop it." Ultron said as the shield embedded itself in its shoulder, the ice shards in its leg already beginning to melt. It threw the shield on the road.

"Cap, ideas?" Luna asked frantically as they dodged another attack, "I'm outta water, and air ain't seem to work against it.

"Try to--" Cap got hit with a blast, and he flew backward out of Luna's sight.

"Shit!" She exclaimed.

Think, think, come on Luna, be clever. Earth bending wasn't an option, unless she wanted to pull apart the entire road and fire... just no. Knives, she thought. Only to realize she still didn't have them with her. Great, I'm defenseless.

Luna dodged and weaved her way closer to Ultron, trying to come up with ideas as she spotted something driving next to her. Was she really that lucky? Luna pulled harshly in the direction of the water truck and the water began pouring out through a small hole. The driver wouldn't mind, right?

She got back to the fight, not giving Ultron a break as she slammed tons of water at it with such speeds that it hit like a brick. She brought the water back, formed it around her fist and took a sprint. She jumped high into the air and sped down, bringing the ice fist down on the head of the robot.

It seemed dazed before it grabbed the Avatar from where she had grabbed onto its back and threw her harshly onto the truck. Luna broke out into a coughing fit as pain spread across her back.

When she got to, she saw Ultron holding Captain America by the neck, dangling him over the edge. She stood up and ran to his aid but Ultron, with its free hand, grabbed her in a choke hold too, lifting her in the air. She gagged as she grabbed at its metal hand.

The Black Widow pulled up on her motorcycle next to the truck, throwing up Cap's shield. He caught it perfectly and slammed it in Ultron's face. It dropped them. Natasha kept chasing after the truck, but Captain America and the Avatar couldn't focus on that. Ultron turned to them, and the fight continued. Cap got thrown back, onto a car but Ultron quickly used something on its wrist, to pull apart the ground underneath it.

Luna huffed, "Alright. Fuck it." She said and slammed her foot down on the truck, taking a stance. She raised her arms and two large rocks floated at her sides, before forming large gloves around her arms. She and Ultron engaged in a fist fight. The Captain was quick to join.

"Just. Die. You. Sonofabitch!" Luna yelled, punching the rocks against Ultron at each word.

The Quinjet appeared in Luna's peripheral and she stepped away as the jet's guns blasted away at the robot. The distraction worked, as the last two robot's in the truck flew after Clint in the jet.

Luna formed a barricade of earth before bending it around Ultron and throwing him against a pillar of the bridge. It quickly charged back, pulling Cap and Avatar off the truck and sending the three of them crashing into a moving train full of civilians. Screams broke out around them.

"They're heading back towards you." Barton's voice crackled through the comms, talking about the two robots who were following him, "So whatever you're gonna do, do it now."

Cap and Luna got up but they didn't have a chance to react as Ultron picked up Steve easily by his neck and squeezed, slamming him against the floor, again, and again. Luna didn't think about it as she thrust out her arms. Ultron stilled. Sweat dripped down the side of Luna's face as she took a steady pose, her arms shaking against the force of Ultron's metal body. She moved her hand, Ultron dropped Steve.

"What is this?" Ultron wondered as he moved slowly, against Luna's bending force. It were slow movements, but it was moving towards Luna nonetheless.

Luna picked up on Cap groaning on the floor. "I can't hold this for long, Cap." She forced out, as her face scrunched up in exhaustion of having Ultron force its way through her power. "Those two 'bout to join us." She grunted, "Hurry."

"I'm going in, can you guys keep him occupied?" Natasha asked through the comms.

Cap groaned as he pulled himself up, "What do you think we've been doing?" He threw his shield and caught it as it ricocheted off Ultron, "Carter's got him stuck with her mind, somehow, but that ain't gonna last." He said and immediately Luna's arms gave out and she stumbled to the floor. Cap jumped on Ultron's back, pulling it away from the exhausted girl on the ground.

Luna pulled herself up, just in time to see the truck with the Cradle being flown away by two of Ultron's robots.

"Okay, package is airborne." Clint said, "I have a clean shot."

"Negative. I am still in the truck." Romanoff replied.

"What the hell are you--"

"Just be ready," She interrupted, "I'm sending the package to you."

"How do you want me to take it?"
 
"Can y'all shut the fuck up?" Luna exclaimed as she got thrown aside by Ultron, "Y'all are hella distracting..." She grumbled and got back up as she pulled apart the road outside the train, sending rocks flying like bullets at Ultron's chest.
 
"Hey, now, just doing our job." Clint said.

Luna got thrown back down and was about to help Steve, who was losing against Ultron, before Ultron got thrown aside by an invisible force. Not invisible, Luna realized, just very, very fast. She propped herself up on her elbows as Pietro came to a stop in front of her. She chuckled, surprisingly relieved at the sight of the boy's confident smirk.

"Miss me?" Pietro said and held out a hand.

Luna let herself be pulled up from the floor and gave Pietro a smile. Her eyes widened as Ultron threw a part of the train at them. She quickly pulled Pietro behind her and covered her face, waiting for impact. Nothing hit her. She slowly dropped her hands and saw the train part covered in a layer of red.

At the other side of the compartment stood Wanda, eyes a bright red and her hands pulsing with power.

Ultron turned to her, "Please, don't do this."

"What choice do we have?" Wanda replied.

Ultron's hand hummed with power and Luna was about to yell 'get down' to Wanda, as Ultron redirected the blast at Pietro and herself. She felt Pietro grab her shoulders as suddenly she stood at the end of the tracks, the train headed for her.

"Lost him." Cap's voice came through her earpiece, "He's coming your way, Nat."

Luna saw an explosion in the sky and then, "Nat!" Clint yelled. "Cap, you see Nat?"

Pietro picked Luna up again, as the train didn't slow and went off the tracks.

"If you have the package, get it to Stark!" Cap exclaimed, "Go!"

"Do you have eyes on Nat?" Clint repeated.

"Go!"

The Quinjet flew off, the Cradle secured. Well, mission's done. Now, a way to stop the train from destroying everything in its path.

Luna and Pietro jumped back onto the train and came to a wonky stop. He immediately went to stand by his sister.

Luna stumbled over to Cap, "I think I'm gonna throw up..." She mumbled as Cap helped her stay upright. "Never mind," She gagged, "Am fine."

"Civilians in our path!" Cap yelled, over the loud noise of the train raging on the ground.

The twins stood closely together, looking over apprehensively. Pietro sped out, going to help the people not be squished to death.

Cap looked between Wanda and Luna, "Can you stop this thing?" He asked.

Wanda turned to Luna. Luna nodded at the girl before a smile spread across her face, "Alright, this is gonna be fun." She said as Wanda's hands were engulfed with red.

Luna took a steady stance and pulled her fist up and down, and one by one pillars of rock and dirt were pulled up in front of the train, with each it slammed into, the train rumbled and slowly but surely, with Wanda stopping the wheels and Luna making obstacles the train came to a stop.

The three of them stumbled out. Wanda rushed over to Pietro as she saw him hunched over, breathing heavily.

"I'm fine," He shook her off, "Just need a minute."

Steve and Luna approached the two. "I'm very tempted to not give you one." Steve said.

"Cap," Luna said to him, "Take it easy."

Steve shook his head. Luna guessed he had a point not to be trusting of them, but Cap hadn't seen what she saw.

"The Cradle," Wanda turned to them, "Did you get it?"

"Stark will take care of it." Steve answered.

Luna flinched at the look on Wanda's face. "No, he won't." The girl said.

It was quiet for a long second.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Steve said, "Stark's not crazy."

"He will do anything to make things right." Wanda insisted.

Cap thought for a second before turning away and speaking into the comms, "Stark, come in." Nobody replied. Cap stepped away and tried to reach the others.

Luna took a tentative step closer, "Look, Wanda, I understand." She looked into Wanda's eyes, "I understand why you hate Stark, and I'm not asking you," She looked at Pietro, "Both of you, to trust him. But you can trust him," She glanced at Cap, "Trust me."

Another tense silence washed over them as Luna held Wanda's eyes. She could see the turmoil behind them.

"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it." Wanda spoke, and looked pointedly at Cap, "Where do you think he gets that?"

Captain America stepped closer, "Tony's not like that, and even so," He said, "He's got a team right there to stop him. But we can't stop Ultron on our own."

Luna looked at them, a hopeful glint in her eyes.
 
Pietro stood up, and leaned in close to his sister, "You said it," He said quietly, "Ultron will destroy the world. Stark might be our only option."

Wanda sighed and turned her head to him, "That doesn't mean I like it."

"Yeah, well," Pietro said, "Neither do I." He turned to Luna and gave her a smile, "We're in."

Cap nodded and turned on his earpiece, "Send in the jet. Get us out of here."

"Copy that, jet's already underway. Should be closing in on your location." Clint's voice came through the other side, back at the lab in New York.

And just like that, with the Stark Relief Foundation slowly trickling in, the four of them boarded the self-piloting jet and took off.

 

Chapter 18: Thor's Vision

Summary:

Luna, as the only teenager on the team, is made to be Wanda and Pietro's chaperone as they track Ultron to Sokovia. Thor returns from his quest with a new Vision. Raava warns Luna about an evil from her past that may have impact on her future.

VIII. THOR'S VISION
__________

"We almost there?" Luna asked, leaning on the back of the pilot seat, where Steve was keeping an eye on their course, making sure nothing could surprise them.
     
"Could you not ask me that every five minutes?" Cap retorted, exasperated.

It had been a while and they were almost done crossing the Pacific Ocean. Despite the Quinjet being much faster than a regular plane, it would still take a while to reach New York.

"Okay, but we've been in this whack tin can for hours and the twins keep grilling me. They creep me out." Luna whispered, making sure the twins couldn't hear.
    
Cap rolled his eyes, "I thought you said they were cute?" He checked the controls, "We're about to fly over California and without stops or detours, it should be about 2 hours 'till we get to The City. Get steady, kid, and try not to piss them off too much." Cap looked at her pointedly.

Luna scoffed and pushed away from the seat, making her way to the back of the plane, sitting on the opposite bench of Wanda and Pietro. She leaned her back against the wall and propped her legs on top of bench. It wasn't long before she got bored. She felt the cold steel beneath her. Might as well. She stared in concentration at the place where she gripped the steel of the bench. Nothing happened.

Luna was too deep in her own thing; she didn't notice the twins furiously whispering to each other. She caught glimpses of their conversation. Sokovian, she noticed, is very close to Russian.
     
"я собираюсь поговорить с ней." Talk to her, or something like that, Pietro said. Luna's Russian wasn't the best and the Sokovian dialect made it only harder.
     
"это плохая идея." Wanda replied. Something about an idea that was bad.
    
Pietro was standing up, but Luna kept her eyes focused on the bench. Wanda grabbed his hand, "она такая же, как они, Pietro. Оставь это."

Luna looked up at the insult, "You know I can understand you, right?" She snapped.
    
She was glad to see the surprised look on Wanda's face. "You speak Sokovian?"
    
Luna shrugged, "I understand Russian, Sokovian is close enough. Can't speak it, though." It was quiet for a moment, "What?" Luna asked, "Didn't see that when you broke into my mind?" There was an unexplainable venom lacing the sentence.
    
Wanda flinched back slightly, averting her eyes and busying herself by staring into the void.

Pietro didn't leave it alone. He went to sit at a couple of inches away Luna. He didn't say anything, and it drove Luna mad. She slid closer to him, keeping her voice low, "Your sister seems nice."
     
"She doesn't trust you." Pietro replied.
     
Luna raised a confused eyebrow at him, "And you do?"
     
He shrugged, "Enough. You seem to care about people."
    
"Oh... Well, thanks for noticing." She smiled and crossed her arms.

"When we get to the lab, are you gonna try to kill Stark?" She asked.
    
Pietro frowned at her.
    
"I wouldn't blame you," She quickly added, "But I'd have to stop you."

He raised his eyebrows at her, "I would like to see you try."
     
"You don't think I could?" Luna asked, surprised to notice she was enjoying her banter with the older boy, "So, just because you're a little faster, you'd win?"
    
"And you would never see it coming." He smiled boldly.
     
Luna shook her head, "Nah, I'd feel you coming." She stomped her foot on the ground, "I can feel the vibrations."
     
"That's how you knew I was coming." He nodded along, "And managed to hit me."
    
Luna glanced at the fading blue mark on his cheek, "You deserved that."

"Alright, everybody, get ready!" Steve called out, "Landing in five!"

---

Luna turned in circles. Everybody was pissed, and rightfully so. Steve and Tony were fighting, Clint was arguing childishly with Pietro on the floor below them and Bruce had his arm around Wanda's throat.
    
How the hell did it come to this?

Cap had landed them on the roof and they'd filed out with wobbly legs. Cap and Luna had led the way down to the labs, through the long, winding hallways. Wanda and Pietro had stayed back a few steps, still apprehensive of their choice to help them. When they'd reached the lab, hell broke loose.

Bruce and Tony were gathered around the Cradle. There were trying to upload the recovered groundwork of JARVIS's matrix into the vibranium body Ultron had built. Steve didn't think it was the best idea, Tony begged to differ.

Then the twins got involved. Pietro broke the lab equipment and in the blink of an eye, the glass floor under him had shattered and he fell down, then Clint had put his foot on his chest. Wanda tried to use her power, but Bruce had put her in a choke hold, threatening her without ever turning a different shade.

It wasn't long before even Tony and Steve, who were supposed to be on the same team, started fighting.

Luna had had enough. She took a deep breath and thrust out her arms. Power flowed through her and she sent a shockwave through the entire room. She would never be able to produce more than a shock of lightning, but that was all that was needed. Everybody came to a surprised stop.

"Everybody!" She yelled, "The hell are you doing? When did this happen? When did I become the responsible one?! Just, chill the fuck out!" She exclaimed and for an awkward few seconds, nobody did anything.

Until Thor suddenly came waltzing in with booming footsteps. He raised his hammer and sent lighting into the Cradle. A warning appeared on screen: Power Overload.

"Thor!" Luna yelled, but it was barely heard over the loud sound of lightning. She squinted at the bright light.

When the lightning stopped, everybody stared at Thor in shock.

The Cradle burst open, blasting Thor back. Luna quickly ran to help him, but stumbled back in surprise as a body jumped out of the Cradle. Pietro sped back up, standing next to her. Wanda swiftly joined her brother.

Smoke rolled off of the body in waves and the room finally got a good look at it. It looked disturbingly human and also, not. It was red with steely lines running over its body and in the middle of its human forehead, lay a bright and glowing... gem, Luna guessed. The one Dr. Cho was talking about.

The android stood up and looked around, moving much more smoothly than Ultron had ever done. It didn't try to kill them, so that was a plus.

Immediately after that thought, the android charged at Thor, flying him through the glass. Why was there so much glass around here? They tumbled to the floor, but the android came to a stop in front of the window, he stared at his reflection.

Cap and Luna jumped down to their level but Thor held out an arm, stopping them in their tracks. They looked on in trepidation.
    
Thor put down his hammer as the android walked towards them. The rest of the group had joined Luna and Cap in the living area.

"I'm sorry," The android spoke, "That was... odd." He looked at Thor and nodded, "Thank you." A cape grew on the android's back in front of their eyes.
     
"Thor," Cap spoke, "You helped create this?"
     
"I've had a vision." Thor began, "A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center is that." He pointed at the gem in the android's head.
     
"And you thought putting it in a fucking android was a good idea?" Luna replied, her voice rising. She turned to the android, "No offense."

"It's the Mind Stone." Thor said.

Something in Luna churned, like a snake coiling around her spine. Raava, the girl realized. It was trying to tell her something. No time for that now.

Thor continued, "It's one of the six Infinity Stones. The greatest power in the universe," He said, a certain urgency in his voice, "Unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."
    
Steve scowled deeply, "Then why would you bring--"
   
"Because Stark is right." Was a sentence Luna never wanted to hear coming from a god.
     
"Oh..." Bruce voiced Luna's thoughts, "It's definitely the end o' times."
    
"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron." Thor said.
     
"Not alone." The android added.

"Alright," Luna held out her hand in a 'stop right there' motion, "Who are you and why do you sound like my buddy JARVIS?"
     
"We reconfigured JARVIS's matrix," Tony said, approaching the android, "To create something new."
     
"I think I've had my fill of new." Steve said.

The android turned to him, "You think I'm a child of Ultron."
     
"You're not?"
     
"I'm not Ultron." He said, "I am not JARVIS."
    
"Great, an android with an identity crisis." Luna muttered under her breath.
    
The android heard her and glanced her way, "I am..." He wondered, "I am."

"I looked in your head and saw annihilation." Wanda said, walking past Luna and Pietro.
   
"Look again."
    
Barton scoffed, "Her seal of approval means jack to me."

"Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone. And they're nothing compared to what it can unleash." Thor spoke.

Luna eyed Wanda. Those powers, came from that one small gem? And there were more? Again, she felt the ancient spirit pulling at her mind, trying to communicate.

"But with it on our side--"
     
"Is it?" Steve interrupted. He turned to the android, "Are you? On our side?"
     
"I don't think it's that simple." The android replied.
    
"Well, it better get real simple real soon." Barton said.
    
"I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't. He will end it all."
     
Tony frowned, "What's he waiting for?"
     
"You."

"Where?" Pietro spoke up, startling Luna, who had honestly forgotten that he was standing next to her.
    
"Sokovia." Barton said, "He's got Nat there, too."

Luna scowled as she crossed her arms, walking up to the android, "If Thor's wrong, if we're wrong..." Her voice was low, a certain rasp behind it and wind started gathering around Luna, "And you turn out to be a monster made in Ultron's image..." She caught his eyes.

They looked human, but they didn't fool her. Ultron behaved like a human and tried to look like one, and still Luna was terrified of it. The wind died down as Luna stepped back, shoulder to shoulder with the twins.

"What will you do?" The android asked. "I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the Earth. So, he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net. We have to act now." He turned to the group, "And not one of us can do it without the others." He looked at his hands, "Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So, there may be no way to make you trust me."

And just like that, he picked up Mjolnir.

Luna's eyebrows shot up as he handed it back to Thor.
    
The god took it, in shock. "Right." He said, and patted Tony on the shoulder, "Well done." He followed the android out of the room.
    
"Does this mean," Luna began, "That he's the ruler of Asgard?"
    
"What?" Pietro asked,
     
"Oh my god," Luna turned to him and Wanda, "We have so much to catch you up on."

"Ten minutes." Captain America called out, "Get what you need."

---

Breathe in...
Breathe out...

"What's she doing?"

Breathe in...

"I dunno... she's like meditating or something."

Breathe out...

"Why, though?"

Luna's eyes snapped open with a heavy glare as she saw Clint and Tony standing in front of her, "Could you, maybe, shut the fuck up? I need to concentrate."
     
"Right, yes, sorry. Continue." Clint said.
     
Luna put her fists together above her lap and closed her eyes. Again, the not-so-quiet whispers broke her concentration. "For fuck's sake, seriously?" She exclaimed.

"What are you even doing, Carter?" Clint finally asked.
    
Luna took a deep breath to calm herself, "I'm trying to communicate with the Avatar spirit. You know, the one that gives me my powers. But I can't do that unless I've got my full concentration. So shut it. Both of you."

"Okay, but why?" Tony asked.
    
Luna sighed, exasperated. "When Thor was talking about the Infinity Stones, Raava was trying to tell me something. I wanna find out what that is, it might help us understand more about them. Now, do you mind?"
    
The two men finally left her alone.

Luna cracked her neck before getting into meditating position.
    
Breathe in...
    
Breathe out...
    
In... Out... In...

Luna felt a weight lifting off her shoulders as her mind disconnected from her body. She could feel the floor below her, but it felt like she was floating on cotton candy clouds.

Luna opened her eyes. She could feel it, the spiritual energy. She knew she was in the Spirit World, but her surroundings were the same as before. She felt a pull, like a mime pulling at an invisible rope wrapped around her insides. She followed it to the door and grabbed the handle.

It was warm, warmer than it should've been. The steel beneath her palm pulsed, telling her to step through the door. She steadied her hand before slowly turning the knob. She let out a shaky breath as she realized what the door led to.

The Spirit Wilds. The ruins, were Luna met her past selves. She stepped through the door and onto the vivid green grass. "Hello?" She called out. The ruins seemed even more eerie now, then it did back then. The sky wasn't glowing a bright orange, but let out bursts of dreary grays. The temple ruins were basked in drab hues.

"Anybody here? Raava? Korra?" She called out again.

A cold chill settled on Luna's shoulders as she felt someone's eyes on her. She hadn't missed that feeling, the one she got every time she stepped foot in the Wilds. The one she couldn't shake ever since the unfortunate confrontation two years ago.

"I know you're there. Show yourself!" She yelled.

"Luna?"
    
Luna turned to the voice, and let out a relieved sigh at the familiar face. Confusion settled in her mind, "Lee?"
    
The boy ran to her, coming to a stop when he was standing a few feet away. He hadn't changed at all, unsurprising, as he was stuck as a corporeal spirit here in the ruins. Lee looked disorientated, to say the least. "What is happening? We're in the Spirit World. Why?"
     
"I entered it. Raava must've... I'm not sure. I'm looking for answers..." Luna muttered. "Doesn't matter. Well, it does, but never mind that. First," She looked at Lee with a wistful smile, "It is so good to see you."
    
Lee shrugged, "Mmh... I guess so." He joked.
    
Luna scoffed, "Alright, smart guy." She said as the two embraced.

"How's Derek?" Lee asked, his arms around the shorter girl's shoulders. He felt her freeze. "What? Did something happen?" He pulled away, keeping his hands on Luna's shoulders.
     
"Uh..." Luna stammered, "We were almost out of the Wilds when... the Aye-Aye spirit attacked. It kind of, went into Derek." She made vague gestures with her hands.
    
Lee's eyes widened with worry, "He's not..?"
     
"No," Luna quickly replied, "But he fell into some sort of coma. He hasn't woken up since."

"Luna, it's been two years. Don't you think if he hasn't woken up now..."
     
A sneer appeared on Luna's face, "Don't you think I'm aware of that?" She snapped.
    
"Okay, touchy subject." Lee mumbled, "Back to the elephant in the room: What am I doing here, if you are the one that journeyed to the Spirit World?"

Lee's question was answered when a disembodied voice spoke, its voice echoing and recognizable, "Avatar Luna. The answer you seek is found in your past and his present. Let me show you."
    
"Raava?" Luna wondered, "What do you mean?"

A cloud of smoke rolled across the ruins, engulfing the two Avatars. The ground rumbled and Luna coughed as the smoke intruded her vision and thinned the air around them. When it cleared, they stood in a place unfamiliar to Luna. It was a city.

The buildings were built in an old style, but they looked brand new. The view was breathtaking, with a skyline filled with skyscrapers, yet suspicious  smoke came from the high buildings in the distance. The road they stood on had cracks, and fell apart at the sides. A few yards away was a canal running through the city, a bridge connecting the road across. The city street looked like it should've been bustling with store-vendors and residents, yet it was abandoned and quiet.

At the very end of the street, stood a large warehouse-like building. However, the security measures visible around the building looked far too aggressive for a normal warehouse.

Lee took a sharp breath.
     
Luna looked up at him, "You recognize this place?"
    
He nodded shakily, "Republic city, before it fell." He looked up at the sky, "Why would you bring us here?" His voice was pleading, his face scrunched up. His hands were shaking.

Luna grabbed his wrist, trying to calm him, "Talk to me. What happened?"
    
"The war. The population of people who could bend the elements was dwindling, the economy plummeted. Humans turned on us, on me. They developed a weapon." He crouched, his hand touching the familiar asphalt road beneath. "I don't think they knew exactly what it was capable of. Before me and my friends could stop it, they set it off." He hung his head, closing his eyes.

Luna placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. The gears were starting to turn in her mind. "The weapon... Did you ever find out what it was?"
    
He shrugged, standing up, "We went to the place it was stored, right there." He pointed to end of the road. "It was some sort of Spirit energy, condensed in a stone. At least, that's what it looked like. But we got there too late. There was a purple blast... It looked like Spirit energy. It wiped out the planet, covered everything in a layer of dust. I couldn't stop it."
    
Luna gasped softly, "That wasn't Spirit energy. That was an Infinity stone." It was her turn to look up at the sky, "How does this help me? How do we defeat Ultron?" She yelled but the familiar fog was already creeping back around them. "No, no, no! Not yet. Raava!"

Luna gasped, opening her eyes. She came face to face Tony Stark.
     
"Come on, we're leaving." He said, obviously not noting the distress on Luna's face.
    
Luna breathed heavily, "What?" She asked, bewildered.
    
"Sokovia? Evil robot? Get a move on, Carter!" He stood up and walked away.
     
"Sokovia." Luna muttered, "Right." She shook her head, stood up and followed Tony out of the room.

---

"Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire." Captain America stood in front of the team, all suited up and ready to go. "And that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out." He made his speech as the Quinjet flew steadily through the cloudy sky.

Believe it or not, Cap's speeches were what inspired the Avenger's confidence. It gave them the strength they needed to at least try and win the battle. It assured them that they weren't alone out there, that they were a team.

Luna wondered if she had always felt this way about the Avengers. And she realized that she'd opened up to them and bonded with them, willingly. She smiled to herself. She had lost her family a long time ago and she thought she'd never find her people again. But then, she saved the world with a ragtag bunch of heroes. They had become like a family to her.

Luna fiddled with the sleeves of her suit. She couldn't help but feel dread. The upcoming fight was unavoidable, she knew that, but she thought back to when they first saw Ultron back at the party. It felt like ages ago. There were only a few of them then, still weak and unprotected, yet they put up a good fight.

Luna couldn't help but wonder if this mission was futile, if going there was a suicide mission. And yet, she had no doubt in her mind that it was the right thing to do. The people of Sokovia had nothing to do with this, and every life saved today would be a small victory.

And Natasha, she had been trapped in Sokovia with Ultron for almost a day. Who knew in what state the spy would be when they found her. Would she still be alive? No, Luna corrected herself, Natasha Romanoff was the strongest woman she knew. Of course she's alright.     

---

Wanda Maximoff wasn't what you'd call a trusting person. She had been eying the people inside the Quinjet for the entire time they'd been in the air. She understood she had hurt these people, she understood that they had every right to be angry.

But Wanda didn't regret her actions, she did what she thought she needed to do. Revenge had been the only thing on her mind. Revenge on the man who had killed her parents and destroyed her life. Revenge on Tony Stark. And now she was flying into battle alongside him. Her twin brother was the more trusting one. Pietro hated Tony Stark as much as her, but the others he trusted. Wanda didn't, she couldn't.

But here she was, finding herself sitting next to Luna Carter. The younger girl intrigued her. She had looked into her mind and saw pain and regret and guilt. For some reason, Wanda trusted this girl. She had no idea why.

Maybe because Luna had gone through the shared trauma of losing her parents, or maybe because when Wanda was in Luna's mind she felt strangely safe. Luna didn't have bad intentions, she didn't want to hurt her. When Luna looked at Wanda, while they were inside Luna's mind, she wasn't looking at her with fear. It was with curiosity and interest.

"Nervous?" Luna asked as she saw Wanda staring at the wall with distant eyes.
    
Wanda blinked, glancing to the side, frowning.
     
"You were kind of spacing out." Luna continued with an odd stare.
    
"I'm fine." Wanda countered.

Luna shrugged, "It's okay to be anxious, you know. I mean, I know I look all cool and collected on the outside, but I could literally have a nervous breakdown at any moment." Her tone was joking, but there was truth behind her words.
    
Wanda tilted her head slightly to the side, "You don't look 'all cool and collected', Luna."
    
Luna raised an eyebrow, "And neither do you. See, we're matching." She grinned.
    
A smile creeped its way onto Wanda's face against her will, "Sure. Matching."

"I mean, we're going up against an army of evil, weaponized Wall-E's." Luna said and after noticing Wanda's confusion, she added in a quiet shout, "It's terrifying!"
    
Wanda looked at her, an amused look on her face, "What is a Wall-E?"
     
"Oh, it's a character from a movie." Luna realized, "Wall-E is a trash-compacting robot, programmed to clean up the planet. But after like, a really long time, he develops a personality."
     
Wanda chuckled, "That is ridiculous."
    
"It is not." Luna said, affronted.

"Everybody!" Steve announced, "Get ready. ETA 5 minutes."

Luna's mood changed instantaneously as she looked into Wanda's eyes, "Here we go." She took a deep breath as her hand reached for Wanda's on the small space between them.
    
Wanda's expression matched Luna's, "Here we go."She echoed and let Luna grip her hand tightly as the Quinjet began its descent onto Sokovia.

 

Notes:

i don't speak nor write russian. everything in this fic is google translate. i am very sorry to any russian speakers.

Chapter 19: Battle Of Wills

Summary:

While the Avengers evacuate the city, Luna makes a breakthrough in her Avatar training. But when all breaks loose, she may need to use everything she has to safe both Sokovia and those close to her...

IX. BATTLE OF WILLS
__________

Luna stood perched on the corner of the roof of an apartment building and watched the city below with a trepid look on her face. The evacuation of Sokovia had begun. It was relatively calm; like an unsettling silence before disaster would strike. It made Luna's stomach twist and turn.

"All they want is to live their lives in peace." Captain America had said back on the Quinjet, when they had landed but not yet gone into the city.

Pietro took the lead, speeding into buildings and first asking the people of Sokovia, his people, nicely to leave as quick as possible. If that didn't work, he found ways to be persuasive. Luna looked to, as Wanda stood in the middle of the street, tendrils of scarlet flowing from her hands and going into every building in the vicinity. Quickly and quietly, families started to file out of their homes.

"And that's not gonna happen today. But we can do our best to protect them, and we can get the job done." Cap had spoken and Luna had hoped that, for the love of God, that was true. If they failed here today... She had shuddered at the thought.

"We find out what Ultron's been building, we find Romanoff, and we clear the field." Cap had continued, "Keep the fight between us."

Thor was scouring the city, searching for any trace of what Ultron was planning. Bruce took the task of locating and rescuing Natasha onto himself and was pulling apart every nook and cranny. Steve, Barton, Stark and Luna were overseeing the evacuation.

Steve and Clint from the ground, Luna and Tony from the air. Luna would propel herself from building to building, prepared to step in if anybody needed help. The team kept in contact through their comm-system.

"Ultron thinks we're monsters." Luna could picture Steve's face clearly in her mind as he had said that; a worried frown and far-away eyes. "That we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."

"Found Nat, we're safe." Banner's voice came through Luna's earpiece.

"Good," Luna replied with a relieved sigh, "Now get out of here as fast as you can."

There was no reply, and Luna's attention was quickly drawn back to the task at hand. Down below, the bridge across the river and out of Sokovia was quickly getting clogged with honking cars and screaming people. Parents were yelling Russian profanities as their kids sat scared in the backseats. The exhaust gasses were filling up the air like a steel wall, telling people they weren't allowed to leave Sokovia.

"Ultron's in the church, I'm headed for him now." Tony said.
      
"Need back-up?" Luna asked as she jumped from a building and landed softly on the ground.
      
"I'm good, gonna buy you guys some time to get these people out. Everything going smoothly on your end?"
     
A whoosh went over Luna's head. She looked up and saw Ironman flying further into the city towards where, she guessed, the church stood. "Oh, it's going wonderfully. Except for the angry, confused and scared Russians who keep yelling at us."
      
"Keep at it," Tony said, "Don't know how long I can stall him for."

That's exactly what Luna did; keeping at it. She ran between speeding cars and broke up fights until she heard someone crying out in distress. Luna spun around, looking around for who the cry came from. She stopped when she spotted a little girl, who couldn't have been older than 10, standing in the middle of a crossroads. Tears and snot were running down her pale face.

Luna ran up to her and kneeled in front of the girl, placing a careful hand on her shoulder.
     
"Hey there, what's your name?" Luna asked.
     
The girl looked up at her, a frown on her face.
       
Luna quickly realized her mistake, "имя?" She pointed at herself, "Меня зовут Luna."
       
"Vanya." The little girl replied. She had stopped crying, to Luna's relief, and let herself be pulled off of the street.

"приятно встретиться с вами, Vanya." Luna said, and hoped her Russian wasn't as broken as it sounded.
      
Vanya didn't seem bothered, "Я потерял маму."
      
"Right," Luna muttered to herself as Vanya grabbed ahold of her hand. Amy used to do that, Luna thought but quickly shook the saddening thought out of her head. "Let's go find your mommy, then."

The two didn't make it two steps before the ground started rumbling under their feet. All around, metallic hands clambered and clawed their way from the asphalt streets like zombies waking from the dead.

Luna's hand went to her earpiece, "What the hell is happening?" She asked and felt Vanya's hand squeeze hers a little tighter. Nobody responded.

Everywhere, citizens who were calmly making their way down the street only seconds ago, were now running for their lives as Ultron's very own legionnaires began attacking. Luna didn't hesitate and picked Vanya up, holding her tightly as she began running.

Luna's mind couldn't comprehend what was happening, the dread that had taken ahold of her stomach quickly turned to terror as she looked upon the havoc that Ultron was causing.

In a frenzy, she tried to make her way through crowded streets and pushed past people, trying to find a safe place for Vanya; she couldn't join the fight until she knew this one little girl was safe.

"Hey!" She yelled out to a group of people who had taken on the responsibility of helping people out of a burning building.
       
One of the men turned to her, "You are--" He began with a shocked look on his face.
      
"The Avatar. Buddy, we're way past that. I need to help the others, could you find a safe place for Vanya?"
       
The man nodded, a determined look on his face.

"Alright," Luna set Vanya down on the ground, "You'll be safe with this man, okay?"
       
Vanya looked up at her with big eyes. She didn't understand a word she was saying but Luna pointed at the man. Vanya frantically shook her head.
       
The man, whose name Luna hadn't gotten, took Luna's place and exchanged words with Vanya so fast in Russian that Luna couldn't understand a word of it. The man turned his head and nodded at Luna. She took this as her que and ran to join the battle.

---

Luna ran, she ran so fast and so long that she was sure she was going to pass out from exhaustion. At that moment, she was grateful for the adrenaline that fighting gave her. She jumped out of the way as the robot shot blue lasers at her. The group of civilians behind her did the same. The robot got ready to give them more. Luna quickly put her foot to the ground and pulled up a wall of rock and dirt, just as the energy blasts hit it. She punched her fist against the wall and it collided with the robot.

Luna went back to running when she saw Pietro being cornered by a horde of robots. She stepped on air as she propelled herself forward. She bend and expanded the water from her reservoir and impaled all five of the robots at ones. She landed in front of Pietro with a heavy grunt. She stood up and looked him in the eye; he was only an inch or so taller than her.

"I had that, you know." Pietro said.
      
Luna smiled smugly, "Sure you did."
      
Pietro's eyes widened and he quickly grabbed Luna by her shoulders. "What--" Luna began but she was cut off as Pietro picked her up and sped her away.

It was only a few yards before he set her down, but her stomach was still complaining. She looked up and swiftly noticed why Pietro had manhandled her. The place they had stood not a second ago, was now scorched black and in front of the two stood another horde of robots.

"How many fuckers did Ultron build?" Luna questioned rhetorically as she pulled up another stone shield to protect her and Pietro from the energy beams.
      
"I haven't been counting." Pietro answered.
       
Luna glared at him.

Pietro seemingly disappeared and a moment later, the sounds of robots being torn apart and electricity crackling made Luna drop the earth back into the ground. Pietro stood amidst the dead (they were never technically alive to begin with) bodies of Ultron's robots.

Luna took two steps toward Pietro before the ground began shaking once more. At first, Luna thought it might've been an earthquake. With their luck, it didn't seem all that impossible. But that thought was quickly eradicated as the earth split right apart in between Pietro and Luna. The stone bricks and rubble fell into the growing tear in the road.

"What the—" Luna muttered and followed the direction of the tear. She couldn't see exactly where it went, but it seemed to wrap around the city. The ground beneath her stared to elevate. She quickly grabbed Pietro's arm and pulled him onto the rising city with her. The edges of the street they were standing on began falling off due to the vibrations.

Pietro and Luna glanced at each other with wide eyes and they set off running.

Out of nowhere, a single robot flew into their path. Luna was about to rip it apart when the blue lighting of its face turned red. She could see other robots doing the same thing as a familiar voice began speaking.

"Do you see," Ultron's low and croaky voice hit Luna like a ton of bricks and she stepped closer to Pietro, the faint touch of his shoulder sending the smallest amount of comfort through her body. "The beauty of it?" Ultron continued, "The inevitability. You rise, only to fall."

Luna was immensely aware of the ground shaking and rumbling and the sound of screams in the distance as houses fell apart, tumbling over the sides with people still inside.

"You, Avengers, you are my meteor. My swift and terrible sword. And the Earth will crack with the weight of your failure."

The robots that weren't delivering Ultron's disturbing message, charged violently at Luna and Pietro and they quickly stood their ground, ready to fight them off.

Luna quickly realized that she was almost out of water. She tried to use the earth beneath, but they were still relatively close to the edge and the moment she pulled a rock from the ground, cracks spread from the hole. No water, no earth and there were no uses of air against robots that didn't need to breath.

Again, Luna's last resort was fire. But even if she could bring herself to produce the aggressive flames, the vibranium exo-skeleton of Ultron's robots would last longer than her. No more options.

Ultron's voice kept blasting through the air, "Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing."

Luna and Pietro dodged incoming laser beams. The robots were approaching from above, and fast. Luna's heart hammered in her chest. Was this how she was going to die? Disappointing.

"When the dust settles," Ultron said, "The only thing living in this world... will be metal."

A switch flipped in her mind and Luna stood her ground. She was not going to die today. Not here, and not now. And she would be damned if she let anyone she cared about get hurt because of Ultron's legionnaire.

Time seemed to slow down for Luna and she felt all the vibrations. The ground, the people running for their lives. She felt the harsh breeze on her face, and she felt Pietro getting ready to run behind her. She thrust out her arms and closed her eyes. She imagined her arm elongating until it felt something, an object, in the air. She grabbed it and pulled it close.

When she opened her eyes, the robot was a foot away from her, frozen in place. She bawled her hand into a fist, feeling as if her hand was wrapped around the robot's head. Its head folded in on itself with a satisfying crush. Luna breathed harshly as she let the robot clatter to the ground.

Pietro let out a surprised chuckle, "How did you do that?"
        
"I have no idea," she said and turned to him.
       
"Can you do it again?" he asked and nodded into the distance where more robots were coming their way.
      
Luna smirked, "Let's find out, shall we?"
       
The two split up as Pietro sped away. Luna got ready as she clashed with another horde.

"Listen up," Tony said through the comms, followed by FRIDAY's voice, which was his new A.I. system now that JARVIS was... busy.
       
"The vibranium core's got a magnetic field." FRIDAY said, "That's what's keeping the rock together."
       
Luna frowned, "Did you give your A.I an Irish accent?" She asked.
       
"Wanted to try something new." Tony replied.
       
"If it drops right now," FRIDAY continued, "The impact will killed thousands. Once it gets high enough? Global extinction."
      
"Then lets stop Ultron before it gets to that."

---

Luna's back collided harshly against the front window of a broken down car. She groaned and pulled her loose hair out of her face. Ignoring the pain shooting from her shoulder, she stood back up and thrust out her arms, she felt the, by now, familiar pull of metal-bending and took control of the two robots that were attacking her. She hit them against each other (and remembered how she did something similar with her two barbies when she was 4, but that was not important information right now) until they fell apart into pieces.

"Cap, you got incoming." Tony's voice crackled.
       
Right at that moment, Captain America crashed into the same car Luna had crashed into moments ago. The girl let out a small yelp.
       
Cap sat up with great difficulty, "Incoming already came in." He grunted.

Luna quickly helped him off the hood of the car.
       
Steve looked at her shoulder with concern, "You got a little thing, there." He pointed.
       
She looked down, and spotted a piece of glass poking from her shoulder. Her face scrunched up in pain as she ripped it out. "I'll be fine," she said, convincing no one.

Screams interrupted their conversation as Steve talked over the comms, "Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job,"
       
Luna watched Cap as she awaited orders.
      
Cap looked upon the robots destroying the city, "Tear these things apart," he said, his voice low, "You get hurt, hurt them back. You get killed... Walk it off."

The Avengers were spread thin across the city. Wanda and Hawkeye had taken the West side, while Thor stuck mostly to the North. Somewhere along the line, Banner had transformed into the Hulk and was now rampaging through the city, ripping apart robots left and right. Steve and Luna made their way from South towards the middle. Every now and then Luna would notice a prominent breeze whirring past her face, reminding her that Pietro was still around somewhere.

Screaming was, once again, the thing that got Luna's attention. She spun towards the noise, towards the bridge out of town that was now connecting to nothing but a very long drop down. A car was balancing dangerously unstable on the edge, with someone still inside.

Captain America and The Avatar ran in long, fast strides. Cap grabbed the bumper, pulling it up harshly. It happened so fast; the bumper snapped, the woman behind the steering wheel screamed and the car plummeted down.

Luna took a deep breath and braced herself. She put her arms in the air and grabbed ahold of the car. It slowed down before it came to a wobbly stop. Sweat drops began forming on Luna's forehead as she flexed every muscle in her body, trying to pull the car up.

"I can't hold it." Luna forced out through gritted teeth as she clenched her fists tightly.
       
"Thor?" Cap spoke into the comms and not even a second later Thor flew down to the car.

Thor grabbed the woman tightly and made eye contact with Steve. Cap nodded and Thor threw the woman up into the sky at high speed. Luna could only watch, her mouth wide open, as Cap jumped from the edge and grabbed on to the side. The woman grabbed his arm.

"Hold on," he yelled, "Carter, any help?"
       
Luna spun her hands in the air and a ball of wind formed beneath Cap and the woman. She pulled her right hand up and the wind followed, pushing the two back onto the flying city.
       
The moment Cap made it back onto land, a robot came charging at them, "You can't save them all. You'll never--" Cap's shield imbedded itself in its chest. Cap activated the device on his wrist and called back his shield, the attached robot following. He tossed the robot off the edge.
      
"'Never' what?" Steve shouted after the robot as it fell, "You didn't finish!"
       
Luna gave a breathy chuckle, "Rude."

Thor landed beside the two and it wasn't long before the fight was back in full swing. Thor and Captain America fell wordlessly back into their usual teamwork; the hammer and shield working effortlessly together.

Meanwhile, Luna had quickly gotten used to the bending of vibranium as she ripped apart every robot in her sight. Her muscles were aching, her shoulder bleeding and her head pounding, but her will was intact. She climbed onto a car and jumped onto a robot's back, ripping its head clean from its body.

"Alright, we're all clear here." Barton said.
       
Luna groaned as she launched herself at yet another two robots.
       
Cap did the same, "We are not clear!" He shouted as he threw his shield through a robot's torso, "We are very not clear!"

"'Tasha!" Luna suddenly exclaimed as she spotted the familiar red head in the midst of fighting. A smile overtook her face, "You're here!"
       
Natasha turned to her with a smirk, "You ever doubt me?"
      
"Behind you!" Luna yelled as a robot was getting ready to charge at Natasha.
      
"Romanoff!" Cap called out and threw his shield at Natasha.
      
She caught it easily and smacked the robot into oblivion.

It all seemed to calm down, as if Ultron was calling a time out only to mess with the team's head further.
      
Captain America faced The Black Widow and The Avatar, "We need to get these people off the streets."
       
Luna looked around, "There," She pointed to a low building that was still pretty solid, "If we can get as many people in there we'll be less spread out."
       
Cap nodded, "Let's get to work."

---

Luna made her way through the thick cloud of dust, making sure the family she was leading to the building were in the clear. Rescues like this one had been going on for minutes. Civilians were stuck beneath rubble, or locked inside buildings. With only a few stray robots looking for trouble, Luna was able to catch her much needed breath. She ushered the people inside before spotting Natasha and Steve standing at the edge.

"If you're thinking of jumping, please don't." Luna said as she walked up to them. "Got a feeling this ain't over by a long shot." She turned to Cap, "Got a plan yet?"
       
Steve sighed, "Not a good one."
      
"If Stark finds a way to blow up this rock..." Natasha offered.
       
"Not 'till everyone's safe." Cap said definitively.
       
Luna swallowed harshly, "Steve, at this point... The height we're at..." She couldn't seem to get the words together.
      
Natasha did it for her, "Everyone up here versus everyone down there?" She said harshly, "There's now math there."
       
"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it." Steve said swiftly.

Luna sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. For once, she was stumped. It was a classic Trolley Problem: do you save a few and sacrifice many, or do you save many and sacrifice a few? At moments like these, Luna was glad she didn't call the shots.

"I didn't say we should leave." Natasha shrugged.

Steve and Luna simultaneously turned to look at her.
      
Natasha shook her head, "There's worse ways to go. Besides," She looked over to the sky; they had risen high enough so they were now looking down at the green Sokovian landscape covered by a white blanket of clouds, "Where else am I gonna get a view like this?"

"Glad you like the view, Romanoff." Luna was startled as the fresh voice blasted into her ear, "It's about to get better." Nick Fury said.

Luna looked at the sky as the faint sound of engines got louder and a helicarrier flew into view. She scoffed unbelievably, "You bastard." She whispered.
        
"Nice, right?" Fury said, "Pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."
       
"Fury, you son of a bitch." Steve said, a hopeful look on his face.
       
"Steve!" Luna gasped, "Scandalous."
      
Doors of holding bays at the bottom side of the helicarrier opened and out came rescue ships.

Luna felt Pietro before she saw him. He stood next to her, a large grin on his face, "This is S.H.I.E.L.D.?" He asked.
       
Luna nudged him with her elbow, "What it's supposed to be, at least." She matched his grin.
       
He chuckled, "This is not so bad."

"Lets load 'em up." Cap announced as the rescue ships began touching down on the ground.
       
The team followed after him as they began gathering the people form the building onto the ships.

That's the moment Ultron decided to release its second wave.

James Rhodes, donning his War Machine suit, made quick work of the robots attacking the helicarrier, Ironman quickly joining him.
       
Natasha and Luna (being the only ones there that spoke Russian) gave directions to the local authorities as dozens of civilians filed out of the building, and similar safe havens all across the city.

The battle was raging on in the sky.
       
"Thor, I got a plan." Tony said.
       
"We're out of time." The god responded, "They're coming for the core."
      
"Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier." Tony ordered.
      
"On it."
     
"Avengers," Tony began, "Time to work for a living."

Luna motioned for Steve and Natasha to follow her as she concentrated on the vibrations through the ground, quickly locating the big lump of vibranium in the center if the city. She led them towards the church, where the team was already waiting for them, fighting of the new wave of robots.

"What's the drill?" Natasha questioned as she walked into what was left standing of the church.
      
"This is the drill." Tony said and pointed at the metal core. "If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose."
        
Luna shrugged, loosening her shoulders. The bleeding seemed to have stopped and she was pretty sure the adrenaline was keeping her from feeling most of the pain, "Seems easy enough." She said but her eyes widened with shock, or horror, Luna couldn't decide, as Ultron's very own super-form floated in front of where the Avengers were gathered.

Thor took a step forwards, his hammer at his side, "Is that the best you can do?" He shouted.
       
Ultron raised its hand and hundreds of robots came to stand behind it.
      
"You had to ask." Steve grumbled.
       
Ultron spread its arms, "This is the best I can do." He gestured toward the Avengers, "This is exactly what I wanted. All of you against all of me. How can you possibly hope to stop me?"
      
"Well," Tony started, heaviness lacing his voice as he glanced at Luna, "Like the kid said... together."

The Hulk roared as the army of vibranium robots charged and the battle began once more.

Luna didn't think, she could barely see with the robots flying everywhere. Her focus was concentrated on one thing and one thing only: keeping Ultron the hell away form the core. So she did, she fought. She jumped from wall to wall, she ripped robots apart with her bare hands and buried them beneath piles of rocks and dirt.

She was vaguely aware of her surroundings; Wanda pulling apart robots with her powers as she tossed them aside, Pietro and The Hulk were busy taking out the outer rings, Ironman, Thor and the JARVIS matrix kept the skies clean, Natasha and Steve were working together on the ground. Luna ricochet of the church wall and launched herself clean through three robots, which had conveniently lined up for her. They fell to the ground with holes through their chests.

Ironman, Thor and JARVIS (?) pushed back against Ultron's real body until they stood outside the church. Thor's lightning, the concentrated power of the mind stone and Ironman's energy beam collided together against Ultron until it fell to its knees.
       
"You know, with the benefit of hindsight--" Ultron began but The Hulk roared menacingly and pulled his fist back, punching Ultron into the sky. Luna could almost imagine a cartoonish light blinking in the distance as Ultron disappeared from view.

The robots stopped attacking as they turned tail and began running to the edge of the city.
      
"They're running!" Luna exclaimed. "Leaving the city!"
      
"We can't let them, not even one. Rhodey." Tony said.
      
"I'm on it."

The Avengers turned to their captain. "We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats. I'll sweep for stragglers." Steve said.
      
Luna stared at him, an affronted look on her face, "I'm not leaving you here."
      
"I'll be right behind you. Promise."
      
Luna wasn't particularly happy about this response, but gave him a begrudging nod.
     
"What about the core?" Barton asked.
       
"I'll protect it." Wanda said. "It's my job."

Steve ran back into the city, Natasha and Clint following. Thor had already left and The Hulk was surely around somewhere. Luna began her way back to the carrier when Pietro came storming back into the church.

"Get the people on the boats." Wanda said to him.
      
He shook his head at her, "I'm not going to leave you here."
     
Luna approached him, "She'll be fine." She said.
      
A robot flew into the church at super sonic speed and without blinking, Wanda obliterated it.
      
Luna's eyebrows shot up in admiration, "Case in point."
     
Wanda looked at the two, "Come back for me when everyone else is off. Not before."

Pietro grunted in annoyance as he and Luna walked past Wanda.
     
"You understand?" She repeated for good measure.
     
He sighed and turned, "You know, I'm 12 minutes older than you." He said, walking away.
       
Luna gave Wanda a small shrug, "Older brothers, eh?"
     
Wanda chuckled, "Go!"

Pietro let go of Luna as the girl stumbled away from him, "God," She drawled out, "I truly hate that."
       
"What? The mighty Avatar can't handle a little speed?" Pietro looked at her with a smile.
      
"Alright, Lightning McQueen, let's get the rest of these people on the boats." She said and the two quickly led the last of the civilians to safety.

Until a loose ship, piloted by Ultron, came flying through the square, firing on one continuous line. The sound of bullets hitting the ground was deafening.

Luna was too slow as she saw the plane head for Clint protecting little Vanya.
       
Pietro was not.
       
Clint ducked, closing his eyes as he held on tightly to the little girl.

The haze of bullets got closer.
       
Pietro ran, ran, ran faster than he ever had until he caught up. One, two, three, four bullets lodged themselves in his chest. His eyes opened wide as he came to an abrupt stop.

Clint looked up as the bullets never came for him. He met Pietro's eyes.

"You didn't see that coming?" Pietro muttered and fell to the ground with a thud, his chest rising and falling with ragged, pained breaths. Blood trickled from his mouth.

Luna held her breath as she stood frozen in her place. And then she ran. She slid to the ground, not caring if the sharp pebbles cut her knees and rolled the boy onto his back. She could feel Steve standing behind her and Clint looking at her. She didn't care, they didn't matter. Luna couldn't pinpoint when she had started to care about the dying boy in front of her but she cared enough that her eyes filled with tears.

"Water." Luna said slowly, blinking harshly as she regained her focus, "I need water! Now!" She yelled as loud as she could, hoping anyone could hear her.

Luna didn't know the man that came running with a water bottle. Maybe it was God, or Santa Claus. She grabbed the bottle, unscrewed it and put it on the ground. Focus. Feel the metal. Luna put her hands on Pietro's reddening chest. Now concentrate. Feel the metal, she did, and pull! One by one, the bullets flew up in the air, floating before Luna's eyes. She grabbed and pocketed them.

Only now, the bleeding became heavier as a pool of blood gathered on the ground. Luna eyed the four wounds frantically.
       
Clint quickly came to her aid, "Cauterize, Luna, stop the bleeding and then heal."
       
Luna nodded and breathed in, and then out. She hadn't done this in two years, but she had to now. Not to hurt others, but to save Pietro. To save her friend. Her fingertips grew hotter. She brought her bloodied middle finger and thumb together and with a snap, fire sparked in her hand.

She brought it closer to Pietro's chest as Clint carefully cut off his shirt with an arrow. "Sorry, buddy, this is gonna sting." She carefully and precisely closed each of the bullet wounds, successfully stopping the bleeding. Then, she bend the water from the bottle and closed them the best she could.

Luna put her ear to his chest. Thump. Thump. Thump. She looked up at Steve. "I think he'll be fine but he needs medical attention."
       
Steve nodded and wordlessly picked the unconscious boy up, carrying him the way to the boat.

Luna let Clint help her up from the ground. She wiped away the stray tears, not minding Pietro's blood on them, as a small hand grabbed at her wrist. Vanya was looking up at her. Luna couldn't find it in her to blame the girl, so instead she smiled and picked the girl up, taking her onto the boat.

Vanya's mother cried when she saw her daughter.

Then everything went wrong when the rock dropped towards the Earth.
       
Something good must've happened, because just as Luna's adrenaline started wearing off, the rock exploded into a million pieces, and fell right into the ocean.

 

Chapter 20: In The Spirit Of Letting Go

Summary:

Two weeks after the battle of Sokovia, everything has finally gone back to... maybe not normal, but at least the world isn't ending anymore. Luna gains a couple of roommates, and maybe some friends her age too.

X. IN THE SPIRIT OF LETTING GO
_________

Luna breathed in the fresh outside air as she, Tony, Steve and Thor walked along the side of the new Avengers compound. Tony decided, after the tower being attacked and nearly destroyed on multiple occasions, to move the operation to upstate New York.

It had been about two weeks since... everything, and Luna had been busy with flying to and from her apartment, trying to get everything in order again. Mostly she had been flying around, from building to building, with her glider, trying to get the gruesome images of Sokovia out of her mind. She hadn't exactly been sleeping well.

"Any word on Banner?" Luna asked tentatively. She didn't know exactly what had happened, but the Hulk managed to fit himself in the Quinjet, and then the jet got out of control and flew off the radar.
     
"Nothing, it's like he just vanished." Tony answered, "If he was on Earth, we should've been able to get a trace, a clue, or just... anything. But there's nothing."
    
Luna patted his arm, "He'll show up sooner or later."

"Clint?" Steve spoke up.
     
"Packing as we speak," Tony replied, "Think the whole Pietro sacrificing himself really shook him up. He's going back to his family for a while."
     
"Good." Luna said. "And you three?"
     
The four came to a stop on the vibrant grass.

Thor spoke first, "I'm going searching for information, for the stones. Then, it is time I go home. Asgard awaits."
    
Luna smiled up at him, a hopeful look on her face.
    
"Soon, lady Luna. Heimdall will summon you when it is time." He said with an amused smile.
     
Tony scoffed, "So Carter gets to go to space and we have to stay here? Unfair."
     
Luna crossed her arms and turned to him "Oh, I'm sorry, do you have a magical mythical spirit living inside you that gives you superpowers?"
     
"No." Tony pouted.

"Asgard has the largest library in the Nine Realms, there is a whole section dedicated to Earthly spirits and it's protector." Thor explained, "Asgardians and The Avatar have always been friends. When I was a child, I had the honor of meeting Avatar Korra." Thor paused and stepped a few feet away, "I must go now, friends. I will see you soon." Thor looked up, "Heimdall?"

A rainbow rushed down from the sky and a heat emanated onto Luna's face. As soon as it started, it was over and in Thor's place was now an intricate, burning pattern carved into the grass.
    
"The guy has no consideration for lawn maintenance." Tony commented, shaking his head.

---

Luna sighed deeply as she rested against the wall, looking into the small room at the new Avengers compound. The move from the Tower in Manhattan to the compound upstate wasn't done yet, but the med-bay was the first thing to be up and running.

Pietro's breast heaved heavily up and down. He had woken up for small, blurry moments ever since he was brought there. Luna could still see the circular, red wounds where the bullets had entered his chest and where she had messily and roughly yanked them out. Dr. Cho said he had lost a lot of blood, and that his vital organs had sustained a large amount of damage. It was a miracle Pietro was still alive. Luna guessed she was good for something after all.

This was the first time that Luna had visited Pietro since Sokovia. She hadn't been able to bring herself to do it earlier, especially since Wanda was by his side every minute of every day and the girl still kinda freaked Luna out.

Luna coughed, and Wanda's head snapped her way. "He'll be fine, you know." Luna said reassuringly, putting up a soft smile. "His cells regenerate faster than a normal human, which is just all kinds of awesome..." She trailed off as Wanda stood up from the chair next to the bed and stepped her way. "Sorry." Luna mumbled, fiddling with her hands.
    
Wanda moved closer until she could wrap her arms around Luna.
    
"Oh—uhm..." Luna said, eyes wide as her arms sort-off flailed around behind Wanda's back. She resorted to just resting them on the girl's back. "What are you--"

"Thank you." Wanda let go and took a step back, sitting back down at Pietro's side. She looked at him carefully, afraid he might disappear if she looked away again. "You saved his life."
    
Luna chuckled, taking a seat at the other side of Pietro, "Yeah, well, he kinda grows on you, doesn't he? Like a fungus."

Wanda shrugged, "I guess so. What are you still doing here? Where are the others?"

"Just said bye to Clint, he's going back to his family. Thor went back to Asgard and Tony had some stuff to do downtown. Steve's gone on with his search for Bucky, told him I'd be there if he needed help. And Bruce is..." Luna took a breath, "Still missing. It got a little too quiet, so I thought I'd stop by."
     
"I'm glad you did." Wanda replied. She took Pietro's hand and looked over at Luna. "He likes you, you know." She said, something vague lacing her voice.

Luna smiled, "Well, I am very likable. He's not really my type, though."
     
"Oh." Wanda spoke quietly, "And your type is..."
    
Luna thought for a second and raised a teasing eyebrow, "Scary redheads, I think."
    
Wanda laughed and shook her head. "Funny."
     
"Green eyes, preferably." Luna continued, "Around 5'7", likes the color red—okay, okay, obviously I'm kidding." She smiled, "Hey, now that we're talking anyway, there was something I needed to ask you. You and Pietro. I was gonna wait 'till he was awake but now seems as good a time as any."
    
"What?" Wanda questioned.
 
"You've been staying here, right? The past couple o' days?"
      
"Yes," Wanda said, "Tony offered me a room down the hall but I want to wait until Pietro wakes up."
     
"What if I knew about a place in Brooklyn that has two spare rooms available for you two?" Luna spewed out, her anxiety spiking like it usually did when she asked serious questions.
    
Wanda frowned, "You mean live with you? Us?"
     
"Uh... Well, yeah. If you want, that is."
    
Wanda stared at Luna, a glimmer in her eyes, and she smiled genuinely, "I would love that. Pietro too, I am sure. Thank you. I think we will stay at the compound while Pietro is recovering. It will be a few weeks, but after, yes. We will come live with you."

---

"Alright!" Luna said with a big grin on her face, "You ready?"
    
"Yes, Luna, we have been ready for the past five minutes we have stood here." Pietro commented.

The boy was finally released from the med-bay by Dr. Cho with the promise he would take it easy. He wasn't too happy about the extra close eye Wanda was keeping on him.

"Ha ha." Luna replied but quickly stepped to the door. She inserted the key (of which she had made two copies) and swung the creaking door open, "What is it they say? Mi case es su casa? But then, literally." She stepped into her apartment and took of her jacket and duffel bag and swung it over the couch.

"It's not huge, I know. But there are two extra rooms, take your pick. This is the living room, over there is the kitchen and through that door is the bathroom. There is a balcony but I went out there once and there was a huge-ass spider and now the balcony is the spider's territory. His name's Spencer." Luna turned to Wanda and Pietro, "And? What do you think. It's not much, but, you know, home."

"Luna, this place is great. You are great, for letting us stay here." Wanda said with a rare smile on her face.
     
"Hey, this is your home now, too." Luna replied, her cheeks staining pink.
    
Pietro threw himself on the couch and made himself comfortable, "Yes," He said, "I could get used to this."

---

"Avengers..." Captain America began dramatically.
    
Luna appeared at his side, like the devil on his shoulder, "Assemble." She said, imitating his deeper voice.
   
Cap turned to her, "What are you doing here?"
     
"To train the rookies, obviously. You're the one who asked me here, boss." Luna shrugged.

Natasha chuckled, "He meant, what are you doing up here."
    
Luna frowned, "To... train the rookies?" It was less of a statement than a question this time.
    
Steve shook his head, an amused smile crossing his lips, "Nope, you get to go down there. Rookie." He pointed down the balcony.

Luna gaped at him as she tried to find the right words, "Excuse me? I have saved the world twice!"
     
"Yeah," Natasha said, "And you've never had proper training."
     
"Bullshit, I know how to fight perfectly good!"
     
"There's more you need to learn, Carter." Steve said, "Like how to properly handle a gun, and proper grammar. Really, Luna? 'Perfectly good'?"
    
Luna scoffed and crossed her arms childishly.
    
"Go on, Carter."

She huffed and jumped off the balcony, landing on the ground with a soft thump. She walked to stand next to the twins when she spotted Pietro trying and failing to hold in his laughter. She glared at him as she pointed her finger in his direction threateningly, "I saved your life, Speedy, I can just as easily take it away."
    
Pietro didn't think a pouting 17-year-old was all that threatening.

"Okay!" Cap called out and the new recruits and Luna stood in a line. He looked down at the team with a proud smile, "One last time. Avengers..."

Chapter 21: BOOK III: Civil War

BOOK III: civil war

• • •

[PLAYLIST]

Jailbreak – AC/DC
Fake Friends – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
Hypnotize – The Notorious B.I.G.
Fear for Nobody – Maneskin
Welcome 2 America - Prince
Laugh, I Nearly Died – The Rolling Stones
War Pigs – CAKE
Revolution Radio – Green Day
Strange Days – The Doors

• • •

[MAIN CAST]

Adelaide Kane – Luna 'moony' Carter

Aaron Taylor-Johnson – Pietro 'speedy' Maximoff

Elizabeth Olsen – Wanda 'witchy' Maximoff

Robert Downey Jr. – Tony Stark

Chris Evans – Steve Rogers

Scarlett Johansson – Natasha Romanoff

Paul Bettany – The Vision

Chadwick Boseman – T'Challa

• • •

[RECURRING CAST]

Tom Holland – Peter Parker

Don Cheadle – James 'Rhodey' Rhodes

Paul Rudd – Scott Lang

William Hurt – Thaddeus Ross

Jeremy Renner – Clint Barton

Sebastian Stan – James 'Bucky' Barnes

Anthony Mackie – Sam Wilson

• • •

[ALSO FEATURES]

Baron Helmut Zemo
Cousin (?) Sharon
Okoye
An airport in Deutschland
The government (ew)
Thor weirdly isn't in this one
Brock 'two-face' Rumlow
Peggy, but she dies in, like, two chapters

 

Chapter 22: A Week In The Life Of Luna Carter

Summary:

Luna, Wanda, and Pietro attend their Avenger training sessions and deal with drama as Luna's 18th birthday approaches. Luna uncovers a secret regarding her family.

Notes:

Very long chapter alert. There's going to be more long chapters in the future. This is good for Wattpad because there's ads after almost every chapter and thats fucking annoying (which is the reason I try to make them longer).

I. A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF LUNA CARTER
__________

Monday – April 27th – 07:00

Mondays were usually Luna Carter's least favorite day of the week. This week, however, it would most certainly be Sunday. Sunday was May 3rd, a.k.a Luna's 18th birthday. Was she looking forward to it? No, not exactly. Because the day after, everybody would be mourning the lost ones from the Battle of New York, three years ago. And the days leading up to Luna's birthday wouldn't be particularly pleasant either.

Ever since her parents' car crash, she had been plagued with nightmares, which had only doubled in intensity since she became one of the Earth's mightiest heroes. And now that she had two roommates to think about, one of which could literally sense her greatest fears; she couldn't exactly wake up in the middle of the night with a panic attack.

Luna never really did anything for her birthday, and the only person that had ever remembered was Amy. Luna hadn't seen the little redhead since she got adopted by a lovely couple in Kansas. She would probably just visit Peggy again, this year. And thus began Luna's least favorite week of the year, her birthday week.

She woke up at seven, reluctantly climbed out of bed as she already heard Pietro stomping around in the small-scale kitchen. He had this incessant inability to be fucking quiet in the mornings. Both Wanda and Luna were not morning people. Luna, with her eyes half open, zombie-d to the shower and let the hot water wake her up. At that moment, she realized she was still wearing her socks. In the shower. She grumbled and cursed and pried the soaked socks from her feet, throwing them on the floor.

Her morning didn't get better from there. She tripped on the mountains of clothing and books on her small bedroom floor and her brush proceeded to get stuck in her hair. When she finally did manage to get out into the kitchen, Wanda stood ready with a steaming cup of black coffee. She took it gratefully.

"Wow, you look terrible." Pietro said as he sauntered out of his and Wanda's room (they preferred not be alone at night).

"Suka." Luna grumbled as she sat on the barstool at the kitchen counter.
       
"I see the Russian is rubbing off on you." He smiled and patted her shoulder before sitting down on the couch.

"What has got you all grumpy today?" Wanda asked as she leaned against the counter next to Luna. "Nightmares again?"

Luna grimaced and sipped her coffee, "Fuck off."
       
"Look who is the Suka now." Pietro called out.
        
"Suck my dick, Speedy." Luna countered.

"I would if you actually grew a pair."

"Charming." Luna said and quietly added, "Asshole."

Wanda chuckled as she heard, and walked around the kitchen to sit next to her brother on the couch. She focused her gaze on the girl in the kitchen (the living room and the kitchen were basically the same place. It was a small NYC apartment) and smiled to herself as she watched Luna grumpily sip her coffee and trying to cover up the fact that she had burned her tongue on the hot liquid.

Sometimes Wanda couldn't grasp the fact that this was now her and Pietro's apartment, their home. Maybe because they hadn't had a home in years, or maybe because nobody had ever shown them the kindness that Luna Carter had. The girl was a little rough around the edges sometimes and she refused to ever talk about herself. Luna talked about everything else a lot.

She liked talking about little Amy and the kids they used to tease in the group home. She loved talking about all the history and culture that went with her status as The Avatar and she loved telling embarrassing stories about the Avengers.

But Wanda knew, she could sense it, that Luna was holding back on them. It shouldn't be a surprise to them, they hadn't been the most trustworthy people in the past, but Wanda was trying to prove she was better. That she had put her need for revenge aside and turned over a new leaf, using her powers to safe people, not harm them.

Sometimes Luna would slip. Names would come up in stories ('Oh, I learned that move from Korra, we used to spar all the time.'). Luna would notice her mistake and a longing look would crowd her face before it disappeared.

Wanda didn't push, but it pained her when she couldn't sleep at night because she could feel the fear radiating from the room next to her when Luna was having another nightmare. She had thought about it of course, stepping into Luna's dreams, but always decided against it. If she finally learned what plagued the girl's dreams, how would she help? Hug her? Tell her it is all going to be alright? They might've been roommates, friends even, but Wanda doubted that Luna would ever want to be more.

"What're you smiling about?" Luna asked, seeming to have sobered up a little after finishing her coffee.

Wanda quickly blinked and inserted herself back in the domestic scene that was going on (Luna drinking coffee in the kitchen like her life depended on it, Pietro watching Scooby-Doo intensely in the background and Wanda fantasizing about her new life in America). "Uh..." She stammered, "I feel a little bad."

Pietro looked at her, "What do you mean? Do you feel sick?" He was about to reach for her forehead but Wanda slapped his hand away.

"Not like that, idiot. We have been living here since March but we don't help with rent or groceries. I feel like I should get a job or something, so you don't have to carry it all." She trailed off towards the end as she felt Luna's amused gaze on her.

Luna snorted into her third cup of coffee (she was gonna shit later), "I don't really pay anything either."

Pietro's brows furrowed, "That is fun—wait, what?"
       
"What do you mean?" Wanda added.

Luna thought it was very amusing as the twins looked at her, the identical confounded expression on their faces. "The building was bought by Stark Industries in March, think Tony feels bad. Our lease was reduced to 1 cent per month. Water and electricity are taken care of by an 'anonymous caretaker'. And my parents left me like, a lot of money, so we've got groceries for life." She explained as she rummaged through the fridge, "All right, which one of you ate my left-over pizza?" She turned her head menacingly.

Pietro smiled proudly, "I did. Best pizza I have ever had."
       
"And the last pizza you'll ever be able to eat without a fucking straw through your throat." Luna threatened as she stomped past Pietro, grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. She grabbed her jacket and turned to Wanda. "Wanna grab breakfast before training? I know a place." She smiled and held out her hand.

"Yeah, that sounds great." Pietro said and was about to stand up.

Luna cut him off with a glare, "Your brother isn't invited."

He sat back down with an insulted look.

Wanda held back a laugh and softly took Luna's hand, "Thank you, Luna, I would love to have breakfast with you."

Right before they walked out the door Pietro called out after them, "Be safe, you two! Have fun on your little date!"

Luna flipped him the bird and slammed the door shut behind her.

---

Tuesday – April 28th – 10:06

Luna frantically tried to push her glider to fly faster as the Avenger's compound came into view. Going from her apartment in Brooklyn Heights, across Manhattan to a little into upstate New York where the compound stood, usually took around half an hour for Luna.

Sometimes she'd take the shitty, second-hand Mustang '75 convertible (which might sound like a cool-ass car, if the paint wasn't peeling off everywhere, the tires weren't sanded to the point of imminent danger, the windows were actually decently see-through, the roof wasn't bent and the doors could actually lock), with Wanda and Pietro, who she had so graciously provided with fake drivers-licenses.

Usually, though, Luna would fly the way to the Avengers compound. It was faster than by car, there's no traffic in the air (yet) and Luna liked to take the thirty minutes in the air to clear her mind. Sure, she loved living with Pietro and Wanda.

They were great.

Really.

They'd grown closer over the past couple of weeks and she'd definitely consider them her friends, which was an accomplishment in itself since the last friends Luna had were a 9-year-old girl, an alcoholic PI and the people she occasionally saved the world with.

But with them always around, Luna never had time to gather herself. With the nightmares and the Avengers training program and the housekeeping and the short missions Cap sent her on and the endless search through ancient, fragile books for a cure for her brother, it could all get a little much sometimes.

On some (most) flights, like now, Luna gets distracted during her mindless flight and lets the wind steer her path. Looking down and realizing you've crossed the Hudson river into New Jersey is not fun. It's New fucking Jersey. This usually leads to Luna missing half of the training session.

But today she got lucky, she caught herself above Hell's Kitchen and quickly redirected herself, pushing the wind harder to make up for lost time.

Luna landed gracefully and jogged through the long hallways of the compound, gaining curious stares from the people still working on the big move from the tower to the compound and quickly reached the shared locker room.

There, she found the usual training suit everybody wore; which was just black leggings and a tight T-shirt with the Avengers logo on it. It looked the same for every recruit, but every one of them had their own little personal logo on the shirt. Luna had the four symbols for each of the ancient nations on the back, Pietro had a lightning bolt on the front (he came up with that all by himself, only took him two days) and Wanda had a spiral on the back.

After getting dressed accordingly, Luna burst into the training facility. Training was already in session. The facility was a big, open space. One wall, instead of large, white panels, was made up of glass, letting in most of the natural light the place needed. In the middle of the room was a large mat, used for sparring. Sam Wilson and Natasha were currently using it. There were dummies aligned along the wall, ready to be annihilated by Wanda as her red powers slithered through the air. The newly named Vision stood behind her, giving her pointers.

A gun and archery range was located on the other side, next to the window where Pietro was mostly just messing around. Luna blinked and Pietro disappeared from her vision, a second later she felt a whoosh behind her.

"Steve is piss--"

Luna held up her hand, "Don't even start, speedy. Go run a lap or something." She said and as Pietro didn't respond she added, "Did you just take it? I assume you did. Mudak."

"There he comes." Pietro said and patted her shoulder, "Udachi."

Luna gave him a mocking chuckle before she turned and saw Steve approaching her with a determined stride. ETA to trouble: 3...2...1...
       
"You're late, Carter, again." Steve crossed his arms and looked down disapprovingly.

Luna smiled awkwardly, "I was stuck in traffic?"
       
"That's what you're gonna go with? Really? Traffic in the sky?" Steve sounded more disappointed than angry at this point.
       
"Very busy flight schedule from JFK today, Cap. Not my fault." Luna nodded, "And the birds, god, don't even get me started on the birds. It's spring, so they're all migrating back North. No consideration for other sky traffic, those birds." She tsk'ed.
       
"Warm up. Now."

"Yessir, Cap'n." She saluted him and walked up to the bars, beginning her stretches.

---

Wednesday – April 29th – 11:16

Luna aimed the Glock 26 to the target in front of her. She squinted, aimed and fired and subsequently hit the shoulder of the target. She'd been aiming for the heart.

"Steady your stance, relax your shoulders. Breathe out as you pull the trigger." Natasha commented as she manually adjusted Luna's stance.

"Can't I just throw an ice pick or something? Wanda and Pietro get to train their powers, why can't I?" Luna whined as she reloaded the gun.
       
"Because you already know how to use them properly. It's the rest you need to learn." She answered and added teasingly, "Rookie."

"Fuck off, less-iconic-Jessica Rabbit."

"Just shoot the target, Carter."

Luna took her stance, "My name is Inigo Montoya." She said and aimed, "You killed my father." She breathed, "Prepare to die." And she pulled the trigger. Her body recoiled as the force of the gun hit her and the bullet lodged itself into the target's heart.

Luna laughed unbelievably, "Perfection! Very cathartic, this. Starting to see the point of the second amendment now."

Natasha shook her head and sighed, "Not bad. But if you were out in the field, you'd be dead before you ever got the chance to pull the trigger. Cut the monologue, Luna."

Luna rolled her eyes, "It's symbolic, Nat."

"Sure."

"Everybody, meeting room, now!" Steve called out.

Luna unloaded the gun, pulled out the magazine and put it back with the rest as she and Natasha started walking towards the door leading towards the adjacent meeting room. "Is it me or is Cap getting bossier?" She questioned.

"He's adjusting back to his commanding officer days." Natasha replied.
       
"He knows it's not 1943 anymore, right?"

Natasha shook her head, "Don't think he cares."

Luna chuckled as the team gathered around the round, holographic table.

Cap took the lead as he pulled up a map of a city in Nigeria. "One of my informants has gotten intel about a planned attack on the IFID headquarters in Lagos. Our suspect is ex-HYDRA agent Brock Rumlow, recently known as Crossbones. Our mission is to retrieve the bio weapon before Rumlow and bring him into custody. We leave Sunday, first light. The coming training days will be used to prepare you for the mission and to go over the information, maps and tactics. Questions?"

"Uhm, yes, two actually." Luna raised her hand, "One: Why do you sound exactly like my 9th grade History teacher explaining the Whiskey rebellion? And two; does it have to be Sunday?"

Sam Wilson, who stood next to Luna, turned to look at her, "Do you have something better to do on Sunday or something?"
       
"I don't know, why don't you ask updog?"

Sam frowned, "The hell's 'updog'?"
       
Luna pouted, "No, you're supposed to—never mind." She turned to Steve, "It's just, I kinda have plans Sunday."

"Luna, you never have plans." Pietro said, "We are your only friends." He added and groaned as Wanda elbowed him in the stomach.

Steve walked up to Luna, "I get that the planning sucks, and that your birthday track record isn't exactly great, but Sunday's our only shot when we know for sure that Rumlow's gonna be there."
       
"Yeah, I know." Luna admitted, "But if another secret spy organization comes to recruit me on my birthday, I'm out."

"Understandable." Steve nodded and turned to the group, "Dismissed. See you all tomorrow, don't be late."

Luna made her way to the locker room, changed back into her jeans, shirt and jacket and quickly stuffed her belongings in her backpack, the glider sticking out the top.

She walked up to Pietro and Wanda as they were getting ready to leave themselves, "I'm riding back with y'all, alright?" She didn't wait for an answer as she got in the back seat of the convertible.

Wanda took her seat behind the wheel, as Pietro sat in the passenger seat. It was 2 minutes of uncomfortable silence into the drive when Wanda spoke up.

"So, your birthday is Sunday?" She asked, "You never told us that."

Luna frowned as she caught Wanda's eyes in the front mirror. "Didn't know I was obligated to tell you guys."

Wanda shrugged, "No, it is just..." She took a moment, "You never really talk about yourself."

"I talk about myself plenty, ask me anything." Luna crossed her arms.

"Okay, who is Derek?"

Luna's face fell from smug to... undecipherable. "That's not fair." She said quietly, "You've seen inside my mind, you made me see him."

"Yes, because he is one of your fears. That is all I saw inside your mind, your fears. I don't know who he is, I never pried deeper."
       
"It's not important, Wanda. Trust me."

"How about Lee? I saw him there too." Wanda continued.

Luna's expression turned annoyed, "There are better questions to ask, red. Favorite color, maybe. Favorite food, vacation spot, movie, tv show..."

"Your favorite color is purple, your favorite food is sweet & spicy soft beef jerky, you have never been on vacation, your favorite tv show is Gotham, season three is set to air in September, and your favorite movie is Shrek 2, because you have a bizarre crush on the fairy godmother."

Luna was speechless for a second, "That is... scarily accurate, and my crush on the fairy godmother is perfectly normal. Besides, you're just proving my point."

Wanda took an irritated breath, "Luna. I have showed you our past. I am just asking that you let us in. Pietro agrees, right?"
       
"I would rather not get involved." Pietro said immediately.

"Slabak." Luna glared at him before returning her gaze to Wanda, "I let you guys in plenty." She frowned at her own words, "That sounded vaguely sexual." She chuckled, "Didn't even plan that one."

Wanda glanced upward for a second and muttered under her breath, "Ty nevynosima... Can you be serious for one second, please?"

"Wanda, for the love of god, will you drop it?" Luna exclaimed, "If I don't talk about stuff it ain't because I don't trust you, or don't care about you. It's because I don't want to talk about it. Some of the stuff I've gone through, that I've seen..." She took a shaky breath, as she blinked the images away, "I'd rather keep buried."

The car fell quiet, only the sounds of the rusty exhaust pipe scraping across the road and the busy NY streets entered.

Wanda sighed, "Maybe if you talked about it once in a while, you would not wake up in the middle of the night with a panic attack because of another nightmare." Her words rung soft and true through the car, even if Luna couldn't accept it yet. The three drove on in silence.

---

Still Wednesday – April 29th – 17:00

Luna closed the book she was reading with a bang, the dust flying into her face. She barely survived her coughing fit, as she got up from her bed and made her way to the living room where Pietro was, unsurprisingly, using Luna's Netflix subscription to his advantage. Luna plopped down next to him and snatched the remote.

"Hey, give that--" Pietro tried to grab it but Luna bent the dirt from the cactus plant on the coffee table into his face. It was his turn for a coughing fit. "What the hell, Luna! Alright, you win."

Luna smiled victoriously, "Here, look." She pulled up YouTube on the tv, "Saw some kids at the coffee shop watch this today." She pulled up a video of some guy dressed in a red and blue onesie and weird goggles stop a car going at full speed with his bare hands. "He's calling himself Spider-Man."

Pietro gaped at the video, "Spider-Man? Why? He does not look anything like a spider."

Luna shrugged, "He's got some sort of fluid coming from his wrists, kinda like spiderwebs I guess. Uses it to swing from building to building. Gotta be hell of an athletic, adult man under that mask, though."
       
"The Spider-Man? That sounds ridiculous." He said, "I want a superhero name."

"You have one, speedy." Luna said with a smile.

"A cool one."

"How about: The Running Man." She suggested.

Pietro looked at her suspiciously, "Is this one of your weird references no one understands?"

Luna scoffed, "The Running Man starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is a great reference! All the cool names are taken, anyway. There's a guy called Daredevil going around Hell's Kitchen, which is an amazing coincidence. Besides, you don't need an alias to be awesome. You've got a guy in Harlem with indestructible skin. He doesn't have an alias, just goes by Luke Cage. And my associate slash sort-of-friend Jessica's got superstrength, and she can basically fly. Well, she falls slowly. She's kinda sensitive about it."

Pietro stared at Luna with an affronted look on his face, "How many enhanced people are there?"

Before Luna could answer, the apartment door swung open and Wanda walked in, take out bags in her arms. "I have dinner. Pietro, you want Thai?" She smiled at Pietro as she walked past to put the bags on the kitchen counter.

Luna scoffed quietly as she shook her head at Wanda.

Pietro stood up from the couch as he looked between the two girls. "Really? Still? Can't you two please kiss and make up?" He pleaded as he rummaged through the boxes with Thai food. When neither of the girls made a move to answer or kiss or make up he gave a defeated sigh and dove into his plate of Thai food.

---

Thursday – April 30th – 11:02

"3...2...1... Begin!" Cap said as Natasha and Luna began circling each other on the sparring mat. Today's training session had been dedicated to one-on-one combat, just in case the team's distance abilities weren't enough.

"You know, last time we faced off, I was fifteen and completely smoked your ass. You remember that?" Luna taunted as she went into offense, Natasha easily blocked her and they were now on different sides of the mat.

"Vaguely." Natasha answered, "And I wouldn't say 'smoked my ass'. Didn't I break your leg?" The woman smirked as she threw a punch as a distraction and then jump-kicked, directed at Luna's face.

Luna ducked, and rolled beneath Natasha, grabbing her vertical leg and brought her to the ground. She had ahold of Natasha's leg and put her own leg on the woman's chest to keep her down.
    
"My ankle. And didn't I freeze you stuck to a rooftop?" Luna responded.

But Natasha wasn't done yet. She kicked out her leg into Luna's face, swung herself back up in a standing position as Luna did too. Except Luna was holding her nose, too distracted by the blood flowing from it to see Natasha charging at her. She wrapped her thighs around Luna's neck, twisted and brought her to the ground.

After a moment Luna stopped struggling, realizing she lost, "Under other circumstances I would be very excited about my current position." She forced out as Natasha's thighs were still choking her.

Natasha flicked her forehead and released her.

"Next up: Luna and..." Steve looked around the group.
     
Please don't be Wanda, please don't be Wanda, please don't be--
       
"Wanda."
       
Naturally.

"Cap, don't think that's a good idea." Luna said.

Steve sighed, "Why not, Luna?"
        
"No reason, maybe I could go against someone of my skill level. Don't wanna hurt her."

A voice came from behind, "Oh, I would not worry about that." Wanda said as she stood up from the sideline.

Cap smiled down at Luna and turned her around, hands on her shoulders. "See, nothing to sweat about. Go and take it there, Brooklyn." He said encouragingly and pushed her forward.

"Go and take it there, Brooklyn." Luna mocked as she cracked her knuckles and got in a fighting stance in front of Wanda.
        
"Three minutes on the clock, rookies."

Luna looked at Wanda, "Last chance to back out, red."
       
"You wish, Lune." Wanda replied.

Luna narrowed her eyes at the familiar nickname and she lunged forward. Wanda was expecting it and spun out of the way. "Don't read my mind!" Luna exclaimed.

"I would not have to if you simply talked to me." Wanda replied, "And I was not reading your mind, you're just predictable." She stepped forward and sent a punch flying. Luna deflected and immediately countered with an elbow to the face.

The two fell into a steady rhythm of attack, deflect and counter until Luna decided to stop being predictable. She dropped low to the ground and swept Wanda's leg. Wanda fell onto her back and Luna quickly settled her knee on top of her chest and held the girl's arms at the sides of her head. "Ready to give up yet, witchy?"

Wanda furrowed her brows as she scanned Luna's face and in one swift motion she swung her legs to Luna's side, toppling them over. Wanda quickly grabbed Luna's head in a choke-grip from behind. "You ready to talk yet, Lune?" She whispered, as Luna struggled in her arms.
       
"30 seconds." Cap announced.

Luna growled and leaned back, before grabbing Wanda's arms and throwing her forward. Wanda landed wobbly on her feet and as she turned around, still recovering, a fist flew to her face and a harsh crack came from her nose just as Cap's timer went off.

Wanda stumbled backwards as Pietro caught her, her hands going up to her definitely-broken-nose. Luna took a step forward, "Don't call me that."

Cap clapped his hands, gaining the team's attention as Pietro escorted Wanda to the bathroom, "That's it for today. Go home, rest up and study the mission files. Luna, follow me."

"Ooh, someone's in trouble." Luna sang, "It's me, I don't know why I did that." She shook her head as she glanced at Pietro and Wanda one last time before following Steve into the meeting room.

When she entered, he was leaning against the table, the familiar creasing between his eyebrows; the eyebrows of disappointment. "You didn't have to break her nose just to prove a point, Luna."

Luna's eyes widened, "Wait, how did you-"
       
"It was very obvious. So? Are you going to tell me what's going on between you two?"

"There's nothing going on between Wanda and I, so you can stop playing the concerned big brother." Luna answered.

Steve smiled knowingly, "Then what point were you trying to prove back there?"

Luna stared at the ground, not answering.

"Look," Steve sighed, "You two need to solve your lover's quarrel before it gets someone hurt out in the field."

Luna's head snapped up, "What? Lovers? Who? No- me and Wanda are not. Why would you assume..?" She stammered out.

"What? Am I wrong?"

"First of all, yes, you are very much wrong. There is nothing going on between Wanda and I."

"Convincing."

"Second of all, I didn't really think you were the person who would- you know, assume that."

Steve frowned and let out an amused chuckle, "We had gay people in the forties, Luna."

Luna's face formed into one of realization, "Right, you were in the army, of course."

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Steve asked.

"Nothing." She answered quickly, "What did you mean?--I think we're getting off track here. Don't worry, Cap, Wanda and I's friendly quarrel won't get in the way of the mission. Don't fritz about it." Luna reassured and patted Steve's shoulder, "Wow, so firm."

"Dismissed."

Luna quickly entered the locker room and messily stuffed her training clothes in her bag like usual, before pulling on her blue jeans. She was about to grab her shirt from her bag to throw over her sporting bra when Wanda walked into the locker room with an ice pack to her nose. She stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted Luna. Then she suddenly sped up and grabbed her bag from the bench, rushing to the exit.

Luna sighed before calling out, "Wait." Wanda slowly came to a stop. Luna stood up and walked over, softly grabbing Wanda's arm and sitting her down. "Let me see." She said quietly as she removed Wanda's hand and the ice pack from her nose. "No yeah, that's broken."

Wanda glared at Luna, "Yes, I can feel that. What are you doing? Admiring your work?"
       
"Just- wait one moment." Luna said as she grabbed her flask from her bag. She unscrewed the top and set it down on the bench. She bent the water out of the flask into a small ball in the air. As she moved it closer to Wanda's face, the girl shuffled uncomfortably. "This works better if you sit still."

"You are moving a ball of water into my face." Wanda stated.

"Shut up and let me heal you." Luna grabbed Wanda's chin and steadied her head as the water made contact with her nose.

Slowly but surely, Luna swirled her hand and the water began glowing. The dried up blood lifted from Wanda's skin, swirling up into the water. With a snap, Wanda's nose set itself right and with one last pulse of glow, the bone healed. Luna moved the water above the sink and let it fall in before getting a damp towel from her bag.

Wanda moved her hand to her nose, scratching and feeling it.

"Don't be too rough with it for a while, might be a little sore." Luna warned as she once again grabbed Wanda's face, cleaning off the remaining dried up blood from her lips and chin. She hesitated before speaking, "Sorry." She caught Wanda's eyes in hers, "For breaking your nose. It was mean, I'm not usually a mean person." She said as she scanned the reaction on Wanda's face still in her hand.

"I should not have called you Lune. It was low. I just... want to know you." Wanda said.

Luna smiled as she let her hand drop in her lap, "Derek is my brother. I thought he had died when I was younger, but I found out he was alive two years ago."

Wanda frowned, "Then why..."

Luna looked away as she closed her eyes tightly for a moment. She made a rash, and probably unwise decision as she took Wanda's hands and positioned them at the sides of her face. "I can't explain it. So, look for yourself."

"Luna..." Wanda whispered, "Are you sure?"

"Not really. But do it anyway."

Luna stared into Wanda's eyes as the red slowly overtook them and she gradually felt her presence creeping into her mind. Then, like an overflowing box being opened, images and memories bombarded her mind. Images and memories of that day.

The journey through the Wilds, The battle against the spirits, the destruction fire bending brought and the spirit entering Derek's body. Then, the callous journey of dragging his lifeless body the rest of the way through the forest.

Luna gasped as Wanda exited her mind. She wasn't surprised to feel her own cheeks wet with tears, but Wanda had shed a tear as well. Before she knew it, Wanda hugged her arms around Luna's shoulders. Luna didn't hesitate as she wrapped hers around Wanda's waist.

"Thank you." Wanda whispered.

---

Friday – May 1st – 16:34

Luna walked through the short aisle at the back of the bodega, grabbing a pack of ibuprofen followed with two bags of beef jerky and a sack of m&m's. With her groceries expertly balanced in one hand, she walked to the register and put them in front of the store clerk. The man wore a tired expression, as Luna reckoned most NY bodega employee's would have, and began lazily scanning her products.
       
"And a pack of Camel Activate." Luna said as she got her wallet out.
     
"Type?"
       
"Uh, blue. 20 piece." Luna answered.
       
"ID?"
       
Luna sighed, "Yeah sure, here." She got out one of her two ID's that coincidentally said that she was born in 1992.
       
The man took it, kept his head down as he studied it. He nodded absently. "Come with me please, Luna." He said suddenly.

This activated Luna's fight or flight sense, "The hell I am?" She exclaimed and put down a twenty on the counter before going to grab her stuff.

Before she knew it, the man took off his hat, revealing a familiar earpiece and grabbed a Glock out from under the register, pointing it in Luna's face. Luna quickly noticed the safety pin and moved her hand up, the gun flying to her hand. She spun it and used the other end to knock the man out. The handle of the door behind the register twisted and with a creak the door swung open. Luna didn't hesitate as she pointed the gun to the man who stepped out and put the gun off safety.

"I take it Natasha's been training you?" The man's scratchy, familiar voice spoke.
       
"Jesus, Nick!" Luna yelled as she gripped the gun tighter in her hand, "You can't just—you fucking grimy-ass—"
       
"Calm your ass down, Carter. And get that gun outta my face." Fury said as he walked into the backroom, not having to say anything for Luna to follow him. Luna scoffed and shook her head before putting the gun back at the side of the knocked out body of the undercover agent.

"Who's the unlucky bodega-clerk chap?" Luna question as she stepped into the room.

It was bare, like she expected from Nick Fury, with a simple metal table in the middle, two chairs positioned on opposite sides. If she didn't know better, she might've thought it to be a police interrogation room. Actually, that might've been exactly what the room used to be for.
     
"I've still got friends around the city, Carter." Fury answered and sat down at the table as Luna did the same.
     
"Okay..." She began carefully, "And why did you need to scare the ever-loving crap outta me? Thought I was trippin'. Is this even a real store? Where's the real clerk?"
     
"What's the saying? 'Ask me no questions and I shall tell no lies'?" Fury said.
     
"That tracks." She muttered at the vague answer. "Why am I here, Nick? Our anniversary is Sunday, you're early man."
       
"Well, I ain't recruiting you again, that's for sure."
       
Luna frowned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Fury ignored her, "When Romanoff released all digital S.H.I.E.L.D. files to the public, I noticed some irregularities around two of my high-ranking agents. Most of their files were digitally blacked out."
     
"And?"
       
Fury sighed at the impatient girl, "And, I managed to locate the original file." He said and laid down a familiar-looking light-brown file down in front of Luna.
       
"Still not seeing why you need me for this."
       
"The S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives were Mary and Peter Carter. Both level 9 agents."

Luna fell quiet as she abruptly stopped fiddling with her necklace, her eyes scanned over the file on the table. "No." She shook her head, "No, my dad was- he was CFO at Bishop Security and my mom, she- she was- she worked for the government. She traveled a lot. I remember them talking about it."
     
"Your father was placed at Bishop Security, to investigate its possible ties to an investigation that was going on at the time. Nothing ever came out of it. Your mother worked for a S.H.I.E.L.D. branch closely connected to the White House. But she'd frequently go out on missions." Fury explained as he pushed the file closer towards Luna.

Luna thought about it. Of course, she thought, it makes perfect sense. Why else would the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. take a sudden interest in a fifteen-year-old? And Peggy, spying practically ran in the family. Luna's mind raced as the pieces fell into place. The odd trips, the secret conversations, the fake excuses to get out of a parent-teacher conference?

"And this file..."
       
"Contains all information S.H.I.E.L.D. had on them. Family, missions, partners. Cause of death."
       
Luna swallowed before looking up at Fury, the sight of the black goatee and the menacing eyepatch was more infuriating now than ever, "And you've known this... since when? Since you met me? And you've never told me. Why? Why now?"

"You'll see when you open the file. Read it, and you'll understand. That's a promise."
     
Luna grabbed the file and stuffed it in her backpack as she made to the exit. She turned around, as she gave Fury a pointed look, "No offense, Fury, but your promise means very little to me right now." She spat and slammed the door behind her.

---

Friday, again – May 1st – 21:57

Luna stared at the closed file in front of her. She sat cross-legged on her bed, the warm blankets and pillows being of little comfort to her. Her mind hadn't been right ever since Nick Fury pulled the surprise visit. Read it, and you'll understand, he had said. Understand what? That my parents were secret agents? That they lied to me and Derek? Or maybe Derek knew, she wouldn't be surprised. But it wasn't like she could ask him.

A knock on her bedroom door pulled Luna out of her thoughts. Wanda's head popped into the room, her body following.
     
"What's up?" Luna asked as she casually tried to cover the file with a blanket.
       
"Pietro was getting worried. You have not been out of your room since you got back from the store." Wanda said and walked closer to the bed.
       
"I've been busy. You know, perusing the mission files."
        
"We ordered pizza." Wanda said.
        
Luna's head snapped up, "Really?"
     
"See," Wanda said as she sat down on the corner of Luna's bed, "Normally you would have smelled it and come running. What's going on?"

Luna didn't dare to look up at Wanda's face. She had gotten familiar with the green doe eyes in the past couple of weeks. Pietro and Luna alike couldn't resist them. "Nothing, Wanda, just go to bed."
     
Wanda shrugged, "Okay. Then what is this?" She uncovered the poorly hidden file.
       
Luna immediately lunged forward and grabbed it, holding it close to her chest, "It's nothing, I don't wanna talk about it." But then she made the mistake of looking up and catching Wanda's pointed gaze.
     
"Luna. No secrets, remember? You can trust me." She said softly and moved her hand closer to Luna on the bed.

Luna sighed and relented, releasing the file from her death grip, "It's an old S.H.I.E.L.D. file. On Mary and Peter Carter. My- uh... my parents."
     
If Wanda was surprised, she didn't show it, something that Luna was grateful for. "And? What does it say?"
       
Luna nibbled on her lip as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, "No idea, haven't opened it."
     
"Oh." Wanda said, "Do you want to tell me why?"
       
"I would," Luna answered, "If I had any clue as to why, myself." She said, her voice faltering.

Wanda shuffled closer as she took ahold of Luna's hand. "You don't have to know why. Maybe you are just not ready yet. Open it when you feel like it, don't force it." After a moment Wanda added, "And I will be there when you do decide to open it."
       
Luna tightened her grip on Wanda's hand and look into her green eyes, "Promise?"
       
Wanda smiled, "Promise."
       
Luna let out a breathy, relieved chuckle as she blinked away the tears in her eyes. Before she could stop herself, she brought their intertwined hands to her mouth and placed a tender kiss on Wanda's hand. "Thank you." She whispered.

---

Saturday – May 2nd – 12:27

The team, consisting of Sam Wilson, Steve, Natasha, Wanda, Pietro and Luna, stood gathered around the large table in the meeting room. They had just finished their final training before the mission tomorrow, and were now having their last meeting.

Cap was briefing them, "The IFID headquarters is located here-" He pulled up a map of Lagos, "Most days, there's a local market, so there'll be civilians present. Wanda, Natasha and Luna will be on stake-out at a small restaurant located here-" He pointed at a different spot, a small building along the main road. "Sam will be positioned on top of this building, and keep a bird's eye with Redwing. Pietro and I will keep an overview from the other side, out of this building." Steve said before he closed the map and opened a digital file.

"According to my informant, this is the bio weapon Rumlow's planning to steal. If he got his grubby hands on it, if he releases it in the market- the consequences will be catastrophic."

"Way to be optimistic, Cap'n." Luna muttered.

"Yeah," Sam agreed, "Don't you usually have some motivating speech prepared before we walk into danger?"

Cap shrugged, "I'm saving it for tomorrow." He cleared his throat, "We don't know how Rumlow is planning to break into the facility, or how many agents he has at his side. Keep in mind, HYDRA always has an ace up their sleeve. So keep an eye out."

"Absolutely, Cap, constant vigilance." She saluted. Natasha quickly switched her left hand for her right hand.
       
"This isn't a joking matter, Carter. I want everybody well rested before we leave here tomorrow at 6. See you then." Cap finished his not-so-motivating talk and Luna felt the mission jitters swishing around in her stomach. Tomorrow will be fine, what could possibly go wrong?

---

Sunday – May 3rd – 05:03

Luna turned in her bed, she tossed and squirmed as sweat drops made their way down the side of her hair. In her dream, she fought and fought and inevitably lost, before the feeling of impending doom finally woke her up. She sat up straight, wiping a hand across her face. She calmed her breathing, trying to shake the disturbing feeling the nightmare had given her, something that never worked.

Luna tried to remember, but her mind came up with nothing, like always. There were flashes; a ring of fire, a forest up in flames. But past the flames was nothing. It was like she could feel the heat still, here and now, like a waking dream. She pinched herself, and made sure she was truly awake this time.

Luna blinked the sleep out of her eyes, letting them adjust to the dark before she stood from her bed and waggled over to her door. With her eyes barely opened, she walked through the kitchen and towards the adjacent shared-bathroom. She was distantly aware of the living room lights being on, but was honestly too tired to care at the moment. She turned on the tap and splashed her face with icy water before making her way back, feeling immensely more refreshed. That is also why she could now finally make out the two startled people in the living room.   

No, not people. Roommates.

Luna looked at them, confusion present. Wanda and Pietro stood still like deer caught in headlights, obviously trying to cover up something behind them.

"Hi..?" Luna said slowly, "Y'all come here often?"

Wanda and Pietro looked at each other and back at Luna, before back at each other. "Uh..."

Luna squinted, "What's on the table?"

"What table?" Pietro asked dumbly, "Where? Who?"

Luna wasn't impressed, "You're very bad at gaslighting, for a Russian." She said and walked up to them, pushing the twins out of the way to reveal... a very ugly blue-and-white-frosting cake that said; 'it's a boy!' in swirly writing. "Speedy, did you get a girl pregnant already?"
       
"No. It's for you." He replied.

Luna turned to the two, "Am I pregnant?"

Wanda sighed, "For your birthday. We were trying to keep it a secret but-"
     
"You just had to wake up in the middle of the night." Pietro said accusatory.

Luna folded her arms, "So now it's my fault?"

"Shut up, you two, honestly." Wanda interrupted and turned to Luna with a smile, "We have not celebrated a birthday in..." She said, thinking back to her last birthday; she barely remembered.
       
"Forever." Pietro finished for her.

Wanda nodded, "But we wanted to do something, so..." She gestured to the cake.

Luna held back a smile, "You decided buying a gender-reveal cake was a good idea?"

"And, was it?"

Luna grinned, "Absolutely."
       
"And we did not buy it, not exactly." Pietro admitted. Wanda hit him over the head.
        
"Wait, did you steal a five dollar cake?" Luna asked unbelievably before she began laughing at them. "That's stupid, and so, so, great!"

"We're not proud of it. But it was very easy." Wanda explained.

Luna smiled at her two friends and went to the kitchen to grab them plates, "Let's eat."

The three sat down on the couch, side by side, watching tv, and finding comfort in each other. Each of them were in their own mind as they talked about nothing and everything. And when first light rolled around at 6 o'clock, they were all ready to take off for the mission they had been preparing for- and would change their lives.

 

Chapter 23: What Happens In Lagos...

Summary:

In Lagos, Luna and the team fight to keep the biological weapon out of Crossbones' hands.

II. WHAT HAPPENS IN LAGOS...
__________

The parasol above Luna and Wanda's table did little to stop the hot Lagos sun from penetrating as the early morning was slowly turning into midday. Before they went to sit down for the stake-out, Cap had handed them both a hat and sunglasses, saying that they'd look less noticeable with them on. Luna had some doubts on the matter.

Currently, their mission to stop the ex-HYDRA agent known as Crossbones from getting his hands on a dangerous bio-weapon, was officially underway. This was what Steve and Natasha had been training them for, and what they would keep doing for as long as they could.

Wanda concentrated hard on her cup of coffee as she poured her second pack of sugar in. Shoving the empty pack under her cup, she picked up the small spoon and stirred the hot liquid. Bringing the white porcelain mug to her lips, she took a small sip. Her face scrunched together and she quickly took another sugar pack, pouring it in.

Luna frowned at the girl's actions. "You want some coffee with that sugar?"

Rolling her eyes, Wanda leaned back in her seat, looking around inconspicuously at the people at the market in Lagos. "It is bitter." She said.

Luna nodded slowly as she adjusted her black sunglasses. "Yes, it's coffee, that's the point."

"I don't like it this bitter." Wanda replied, her eyes darting around the terrace of the small restaurant.

"Then why did you order coffee?" Pietro's voice came through the comms, "you know, they have tea."

"Guys," Cap's voice came through the comms, "Let's stay on mission. Alright, what do you see?"

Luna brought her own coffee up to her mouth and as she took a sip she let her eyes wander. "Low-life cops," she said as she eyed the police station across from the restaurant, "small-ass station. Street's quiet, not a lot of action, don't think they'd expect any either. Oh, and there's this spunky redhead a couple of tables away, looks sus."

The redhead a couple of tables away, also sporting some fancy sunglasses, turned and glared at Luna. Luna grinned and winked at her. Pietro, who sat opposite the spunky redhead, hid his grin.

Wanda shook her head at the girl opposite her. "Station's a good target, Cap." She said.

"There's an ATM in the south corner," Cap said from his overview in a building above the street, "Which means..."

"Cameras." Wanda finished.

"I thought this was 'a serious and high-risk mission', not another training session." Luna grumbled under her breath.

"No reason it can't be both, rookie," she could hear Steve's satisfied smile, "both cross streets are one way." He said.

Luna sunk into her uncomfortable seat, she was sure to have back pain later, and stared bored into the blue, cloudless sky. "Means he's getting seen one way or another; compromised escape routes. Not a smart move."

"Maybe," Cap countered, "or our guy doesn't care about being seen, he isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out. You see the Range Rover halfway up the block?"

Wanda spoke openly, a benefit they had gained when they put two people, Wanda and Luna, at the same table. They could speak into the comms without it seeming weird, or suspicious to bystanders. Natasha and Pietro had the same benefit. "Yeah," she said as she glanced quickly over her shoulder, "the red one? It's cute, better than Luna's crappy convertible."

Luna's mouth fell open. "Hey!" She exclaimed quietly.

"It is true..." Pietro muttered.

"It's also bulletproof." Luna's gaze panned over Wanda's shoulder, to Natasha sipping her coffee. "Which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us." Natasha said.

"You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?" Wanda said as she smiled, as if in a riveting conversation with Luna.

"I have a literal spirit in me that lets me use the elements to my will. Pietro can, like, run really fast." Luna added. "Sometimes it feels like y'all forget we have superpowers. It hurts my feelings." She said, and made a pouting face.

"Doesn't matter that you have powers if the bad guys get the jump on you. Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature." Natasha said.

Luna, almost forgetting there was another person on this mission, tried to stop herself from flinching as Sam's voice came through the radio. He had been stationed on the top of the building that towered over the police station. "Anybody ever tell you you're a little paranoid?" He said.
          
"Not to my face." Natasha replied. "Why? Did you hear something?"

Steve interrupted once again, to remind everybody that they were supposed to be paying attention. "Eyes on target, folks. This is the best lead we've had on Rumlow in six months. I don't want to lose him."
          
"If he sees us coming that won't be a problem. He kind of hates us." Sam stated.
         
"There's honking," Pietro noticed, and then his seat was empty for a second before he appeared again, "garbage truck." He said, flattening down his dirty-white hair. "Pushing through the crowd."
         
Luna's eyes widened, "I wasn't aware it was garbage pick-up day. I didn't put my trash out." She said.

"Sam, you spot it? Tag it." Cap instructed.
         
"Oh, here he goes," Luna rolled her eyes, "with his little pet robot..."
          
"Hey," Sam said affronted, "his name's Redwing, put some damn respect to his name." It was quiet for a second as Redwing scanned the truck before Sam continued, "That truck's loaded for max weight. And the driver's armed."
          
"It's a battering ram." Natasha concluded.
          
"Go now." Steve commanded.
          
Luna shook her head, startled. "What?"
          
"He's not hitting the police."

It clicked in the three rookies simultaneously; the truck was being used to break through the gates of the IFID. Pietro looked at Natasha and as the woman nodded, he sped off. Luna and Wanda quickly, at a slower pace than the speedster, ran through the crowding streets, as Sam flew with his robotic wings above them through the air.

When they reached the building Cap was stationed in, Sam picked him up from the ground, carrying him the rest of the way. Wanda and Luna arrived too late: the garbage truck slammed into the concrete barricade and flipped, breaking the stone archway, Pietro was quick to get the people out of the way from falling rubble.

Luna stopped short in her steps as two mustard-yellow trucks raced through the newly-made entrance, she pushed her arms forward and tried to derail the trucks, resulting in a mere spin of the wheel as the trucks still made it inside. The doors slid open and out walked a plague of heavily-armed agents.
          
Wanda looked at Luna with a pointed stare.
          
Luna sighed. "Fine, maybe I haven't got the hang on metal bending, yet!" She complained.
          
"Let's just go." Wanda said as she went to join the fight.

Luna had long lost track of her other teammates, except for Wanda who was fighting at her side. Natasha was surely kicking some HYDRA ass, Sam would have dropped Cap off on high-ground to oversee the fight and then continued picking off bad guys one by one from the skies. Pietro was impossible to keep track of, as he sped around the fight, getting innocent bystanders out of harm's way.

"Body armor, AR-15's," Captain America informed, "I make fourteen hostiles."

Luna's ears perked up as gunfire came from behind her, the disturbance the bullets made in the air tickling the back of her head. When she turned, it was too late to stop them, but suddenly a whoosh blew her hair in her face and the bullets fell to the ground.
          
Pietro stopped in front of her. "You are welcome."
          
Luna shrugged. "Not catching them with your chest this time?"
          
"Oof," Pietro held a hand to his heart, "too soon, Moony, too soon." He said and sped away.
          
"Don't call me that." Luna grumbled before spotting the two agents that had shot the bullets, they were coming her way, reloading their guns.

As she was about to bend the ground beneath them and launch them into the air, a red aura appeared around them and they floated in the air, their guns dropped to the ground quickly followed by the unconscious agents.

With a dark gleam in her eyes, Luna turned to where Wanda stood with a victorious look on her face. "Can y'all just let me take down these agents?" She threw her hands up in the air, "I wanna kill some Nazi's!"
          
"Twelve hostiles, Cap." Wanda said.
          
"Suka..." Luna said before catching three agents coming up behind Wanda.

Gaining speed, she charged toward Wanda, who stood frozen with wide eyes as Luna launched herself in the air and did a summersault over Wanda, bending the water from her flask and throwing it in ice picks to the agents' chests. They fell to the ground with a thud.

Luna turned to Wanda. "I got nine."
          
"Is that how you want to play it?" Wanda countered with a smirk before she closed her eyes.

Then, she moved her hand in the air and moved one of the trucks, revealing an agent changing magazines for his gun. Red mist formed around her hands as she pulled the guy through the air. Luna shook her head and moved the ground beneath Wanda, sliding the girl a few feet away. In Wanda's distraction, she ran up to the guy and charged at him, kicking him in the face.

"Eight." She said and turned to Wanda, "but it was more of a combined effort."

Luna still didn't have eyes on Cap but his voice crackled in her ear, "seven hostiles."
          
Once again, gunfire made its way to Luna and Wanda as they were distracted. Sam jumped from the rooftop and spun down, and quickly took the two men out. "I make five." He said.

Luna thrust her arms out and stopped the bullets in their path, before spinning them and sending them on a new course, to a lone agent that was coming after Steve, who was running into the courtyard. The bullets lodged themselves into the agent's back.

Cap stopped running and nodded at Luna. "Four."
          
Luna gave him a thumbs up, a dumb grin on her face. She felt Wanda at her side before Sam's drone flew past their face, scanning the inside of the building.

"Rumlow's on the third floor." Sam said.
          
Luna craned her neck. She could see figures moving inside, but the windows were rapidly getting cloudy. The HYDRA agents must have released a knock-out gas to get inside. "He's using a bio-weapon to get a bio-weapon..." Luna commented, "it's bio-inception."
          
Cap ran up to the two, "Wanda, just like we practiced."
          
"What about the gas?" Wanda wondered.
          
Luna cracked her knuckles and said, "Leave that to me."

Cap began running towards the building. Wanda moved her hands through the air and lifted him up to the third floor window. Cap held his shield in front of him and burst through the window, shattering the glass as it fell to the concrete ground. Luna quickly went to work as she pulled all the contaminated air out of the room, simultaneously bending clean air back in.

Wanda and Luna stood outside, looking up as sounds and clacking of fighting and gunfire followed. Sam touched down behind them, spreading his wings to protect them from incoming gunfire from the agents left standing. The gunfire ceased as Sam released two small rockets from his backpack and send them to the two agents.

Luna groaned, straining her arms as she struggled to keep the HYDRA gas from spreading across the courtyard. "Wanda, a little help?" She forced out and Wanda moved her arms in the same way, together they moved the air in a spiral upward, letting it dissipate into the air.

"Pietro," Wanda began into her comms, "everybody out and safe?"
          
Pietro appeared in front of them, his hair a birds nest on his head, "I have been a little busy," he gave the two a pointed stare, "making sure the stray bullets don't find its targets in citizens."
          
Luna patted his shoulder. "Good job, Speedy. Gold star for you."

"Rumlow has the biological weapon." Captain America said.
          
The group fell quiet.
         
"Cap, I hate to say it, but that really was your job." Luna said with an awkward chuckle.
          
"That don't change the fact that he's got it." Cap grumbled.
          
"I'm on it." Natasha said, and the faint sounds of the deep grumbling coming from her motorcycle approached.

Another wave of HYDRA agents approached the four. Between Pietro's speed, Wanda's magic, Sam's missiles and Luna's powers, they made quick work of them.
          
"Sam." Cap's spoke, his voice strained as the group of four stood in the courtyard, waiting for instructions. "He's in an AFV heading north."
          
Sam turned to the other three. "You guys good?"
          
"Yeah," Luna replied, "we got this."
          
Sam nodded and took off, flying north.

Luna dropped on one knee and touched her hand to the ground that had been laid open by the broken concrete. She concentrated, letting the vibrations flow through her arms. "I got a disturbance back at the market. Lots of running and trampling. Pietro?" She barely had to ask before Pietro was off.
         
"Jesus." Pietro said through the comms. "He rode the his truck into the stands. I'm getting the people out of there."

"I've got four, they're splitting up." Sam said.
          
"I got the two on the left." Natasha followed.
          
"They ditched their gear." Cap said. "Luna, can you track them?"
          
Luna concentrated but all the vibrations were muddled in her head. "Not from here, not with so many footsteps. Rumlow's heavy, if I can get close enough I can track him."
         
"Do that." Cap answered. "It's a shell game now. One of them has the payload." A crash blasted through the comms, Cap's voice followed, "never mind. I got contact. Get here, now."

Wanda and Luna shared a determined glance before they took off. Wanda lifted herself in the air, the red strings of power coming from her hands pushing her forward, Luna bent an invisible ball of spinning wind beneath her and moved swiftly through the air, a foot above the ground at Wanda's side.

As they were coming up to the market, the sounds of panic and chaos became louder and louder. They took to the air, Wanda lifting Luna up higher. Pietro was around, zigzagging through the crowd, getting civilians to safety. It was difficult to spot anything through the thickness of the people there, but luckily they parted as soon as gunshots rang through the air.

"Mine doesn't have it," Sam said, "I'm empty. Up to you, Nat."
          
"I don't have eyes!" Natasha, and despite her usual coolness, the panic was present in the form of a tremble in her voice.
          
Luna dropped to the ground, her knees hurting as they landed harshly on the stones and sand and she let the vibrations run through her. "I got... quick footsteps. Running. Coming my way. South. Heavy-set men, carrying guns."
          
"Got it." Natasha replied.

Luna looked at Wanda and yelled, "I'm going in. You got it here?"  
          
Wanda nodded strictly and that was all Luna needed as she sprung into the thick of it and ran towards where she had felt the loud vibrations. As she turned the corner, she basically ran into a black-clad agent, who had indeed a semi-automatic in his hands. He stopped abruptly and for a moment he was too stunned to act. Luna took advantage and planted her fist on his face before grabbing his shoulder and kneeing him where the sun don't shine. He groaned and let out a short yet painful yell.

Luna grabbed his gun, said, "night, night." and hit him in the head with the back of the gun. The agent crumpled in a ball to the ground. She searched his body for the bio-weapon.

She groaned loudly, "I got one down. He doesn't have it. Nat?"
          
"Little busy—" A little further from where Luna stood, she heard two gunshots, "Payload secure." Natasha's voice came like a miracle through the earpiece. "Thanks, Sam."

Sam, like the cheeky bastard he was, said, "Don't thank me."
         
"I'm not thanking that thing." Natasha responded.
          
Luna chuckled and jogged through the maze of market stands and Nigerian panic and as she turned the corner, the familiar redhead came into view; she was having a standoff with Sam's drone. "Sam, nobody except you likes that thing."
          
Natasha's head whipped in her direction, she nodded appreciatively.
          
"Oh, but when he saves your lives he's okay? Explain that logic."
          
"It's a fucking robot. Its whole purpose is having our backs and scanning shit." Luna said.
          
"His name is Redwing. He's cute, go ahead, pet him."

An explosion filled the air, erasing all happy-go-lucky banter as the ground shook beneath them. Yet there was no mushroom cloud, no devastating fire or blast. Natasha didn't wait as she took off towards the origin, Luna right behind her.

The sight they walked up on was gruesome. Wanda was struggling, containing the blast and fire that had begun in the middle of the market. Inside the blast was Rumlow, his face contorted in agony as he screamed out, the fire eating him alive.

Cap stood by, helpless as Wanda moved the ball filled with fire and pain higher, going as far upward to the side of the building next to it. It was almost at the top, they had almost done it, when Wanda faltered. The explosion advanced. Fire rushed into the building as the windows shattered and the pillars crumbled. Dark smoke billowed out like clouds of darkness, faint screams faltered from inside.

"Oh my—" Steve said, breathlessly. "Pietro." he began quietly, to the boy that had joined his side.
          
"On it." Pietro sped away and into the building.

Wanda stumbled back, a hand over her mouth as she stared up at the devastation she reaped.
            
Luna shook her head, averting her eyes from the ruins and rushed to her side. "Wanda," She said softly, "look at me—hey, hey—look at me." She said again.
          
Wanda looked at her hesitantly, tears in her eyes, waiting to spill. "It's my fa—"
          
"No." Luna said sternly as she put her hands at Wanda's neck, turning her face away from the building. She brushed her thumps soothingly over Wanda's cheeks. "Don't look at that, look at me. Look at me, okay?"
           
Wanda nodded wordlessly.

With a gush of wind, Pietro appeared back at their side, shirt stained with soot. Luna stared at him. He shook his head. "The smoke was too thick. The people that were still in there..." He trailed off, a grim look on his face.
          
Wanda let out a dry sob.
          
Pietro swiftly pulled his sister to his chest as she clung to him.

"Luna," Cap walked up to them, "can you put it out?"
          
Luna swallowed thickly, running a hand through her hair that had gotten loose somewhere during the fight. "I—I'm no good at fire... But I can take away the oxygen."

That's exactly what she did; Luna bent the earth to raise her higher up from the ground and took a steady stance, she braced herself as she pulled all the air away from the fire. She pulled, and pulled and pulled as smoke slowly filled her lungs. As the distant sirens of Fire and Rescue got closer, the fire slowly died out to smoldering ashes and puffs of smoke. But it was too late, the damage had been done.

Their mission was done, but there was no success to be found.

---

"Eleven Wakandans were among those killed during a confrontation between the Avengers and a group of mercenaries in Lagos, Nigeria last month. The traditionally reclusive Wakandans were on an outreach mission in Lagos, when the attack occurred." Said the news anchor, droning on and on about what had happened on the mission a month ago.

Luna leaned against the kitchen counter. She watched as Wanda sat curled up on the couch, a cup of tea in her hands. "Why do you do this to yourself?" She wondered out loud, walking up to the couch and taking a seat beside Wanda.

Wanda sighed, not taking her eyes off the screen as king T'Chaka of Wakanda appeared.

"Our people's blood is spilled on foreign soil, not only because of the actions of criminals but by the indifference of those pledged to stop them." King T'Chaka said. "Victory at the expense of the innocent... is no victory at all."

Luna grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. Her mind hadn't been quite right ever since she had gotten back from Lagos. More so now than ever, she wished she was still in contact with Shuri, to tell her it wasn't their fault. That there was nothing they could've done. She wasn't even sure if she believed that to be true herself. They were reckless, even with Pietro getting citizens out of the market there was still collateral damage.

Collateral damage. Luna hated those words. There shouldn't be any, that was their job, but they were too busy stopping the bad guys instead off saving the innocents. She couldn't help but agree with T'Chaka, the man who had once been so kind to her. The mission in Lagos didn't feel like a victory, and it should never feel like one.

"Why?" Wanda asked, her throat raspy. "I deserve the hatred." She said, avoiding Luna's piercing stare.

"This wasn't your fault, Wanda. You didn't set off the explosion." Luna said as she rested her hand on Wanda's knee, brushing soothing circles with her thumb.

Wanda lifted her finger and the TV turned back on. "—because that's the reality, if we don't respond to acts like these. What legal authority does an enhanced individual like Wanda Maximoff have to operate in Nigeri—" Luna turned it back off.

"Listen," Wanda finally looked back at Luna, "they are being very specific. It's my fault."

Luna shook her head. "I should've put the fire out the moment the explosion went off, but I was too afraid. Wanda," Luna took a deep breath, "this is not on you alone. We were all there. We—Cap, Sam, Nat, me—it's on all of us. You tried to help—"

"People died because of me, Luna."

"More people would've died if you did nothing. Cap would've died, Nat... me."

Wanda shook Luna's hand off. "That does not change the fact that those people are still dead. And that everyone else still hates me."

"This job..." Luna sighed. "Honestly, when I started I was fifteen and fighting aliens. I wasn't thinking about collateral damage, and people got killed. Is that on me? Maybe. Or maybe it's on the Chitauri, or on Ultron or on whatever asshole that decided to be an even bigger dick that day." She said and tentatively put her hand over Wanda's. "We were reckless. We didn't pay attention. But if we didn't do anything, more people would've died. Next time, we do better. We learn, we grow and we do better."

Wanda was quiet for a moment, but her hand grabbed onto Luna's tightly, "Luna, I—"

They were interrupted as Luna's phone buzzed. "Hold that thought." She frowned and grabbed her phone.

"What is it?" Wanda asked.

"It's Cap," Luna answered, "says we gotta get to the compound... us and Pietro." She frowned and re-read the message to make sure it was right. "The Secretary of State is waiting for us?"

 

Chapter 24: The Sokovia Accords

Summary:

The Secretary of State, Thaddeus Ross, reminds the Avengers of their past failures and gives each of them a choice: sign the Sokovia Accords, or retire. Luna receives devestating news.

III. THE SOKOVIA ACCORDS
__________

"Five years ago, I had a heart attack," The Secretary of State, Thaddeus Ross, said as he swung an imaginary bat, "and dropped right in the middle of my backswing. Turned out it was the best round of my life because after thirteen hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something forty years in the army had never taught me. Perspective." He paced slowly from side to side in front of the table, where the Avengers were gathered, clad in a neat suit and combed back, grey hair. A little behind him, he had his governmental lackeys, who were probably important people also, but Luna didn't really care about their titles.

"That's wonderful, Secretary." Luna snarked back. "Wanna tell us why you're here?"
           
Steve shot her a sharp look.
           
Ross nodded, "Right you are, Avatar." He said, putting a mocking emphasis on her name. "The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives... but while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some who would prefer the word 'vigilantes'."

Luna leaned back in her chair as she glanced around the table. Everybody was gathered in the upstate compound; Steve, Tony, Natasha, Rhodey, Sam, Vision, Wanda, Pietro and herself. The room was tense, it wasn't every day the Secretary of State paid you a house-visit, yet Luna could already feel where he was going with his story.

"What word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha asked.
           
"How about dangerous?" He replied. "What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?"

Luna blinked, and clenched her jaw. As much as she was put off by the man in front of her, she couldn't ignore the truth in his words. Anytime they went out, people got hurt. Every mission they went on, people got killed. She knew it wasn't their fault, they were saving people, as many as they could. Her mind went back to that fateful moment a few years ago; if she had never gone to Wakanda, her brother would've never gotten hurt. Luna shook the jarring thought out of her head.

"New York." Ross said and turned on the hologram; vivid images of the Battle of New York appeared in front of them; rubble falling onto homes, crushing god knows what; the Hulk leaping from skyscraper to skyscraper, destroying walls and windows and anything in his path.

Luna balled her fists and tried to keep her breathing steady, despite her mind racing through the memories of that day. Ever since then, she had had vivid nightmares. Nightmares where she decided not to go back, nightmares where they had lost. Back then, Luna had thought it was awesome. She was battling for the fate of the world with Captain America, Iron Man and Thor! She missed the time where her mind had been free of those experiences, and not plagued by panic attacks and nightmares.

Ross continued, images of past battles appearing, each a bullet to the chests of the people present, "Washington, D.C., Sokovia... Lagos." The video stopped, focused on the lifeless body of a girl, no older than twenty. She was buried in rubble and dust and ashes.
           
Luna watched closely as Wanda's head dropped and instantly grabbed her hand. "That's enough, Ross." She said. "We remember, we were there."

"For the past few years you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate." Ross said. "But I think we have solution."
           
"What?" Luna began. "Make us a reality TV-show called 'Keeping up with the Avengers'?" She shrunk in her seat as she received the glowers of the people around the room. "Sorry... I make dumb jokes in tense situations."
           
Ross pushed a thick document across the table. "The Sokovia Accords." He said. "Approved by 117 countries. It states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization." He explained. "Instead, they'll act under the supervision of a United Nations panel, only when and if that panel deems it necessary."

Steve looked over the Accords. "The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place." He said. "I feel we've done that."
           
Ross looked down at him. "Tell me, Captain," he said, "do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" It was quiet, which Ross took as his cue to continue, "If I misplaced a couple of thirty megaton nukes—"
           
"Thor and Banner aren't nukes." Luna said harshly. "There's a difference between people and city-killing weapons."
           
"The people of Harlem and Puente Antiguo could dispute that." Ross immediately stated. "Compromise." He said. "Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me," he eyed Luna, "this is the middle ground."

"So," Rhodey said, his hand on the Accords, "these are contingencies."
           
"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords." Ross announced. "Talk it over."
          
"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Natasha voiced Luna's thoughts.
           
"Then you retire," was the last thing Ross said before he left the room.

Luna stood from her seat and walked away from the group, taking a seat by the large window, letting her thoughts roam as the rest of her team argued behind her. An ominous feeling had taken hold of her, something in her told her whatever they decided to do, it would not work out in their favor.

Luna had never worked well with authority. Not with her parents, nor her older brother. Not with her school nor her teachers and not with the warden at the group home. It had never made sense to her; blindly following someone's orders. She had always done what she thought was right: Instinct over loyalty. Luna used logic to make decisions. Which is why, when Vision came with a mouthful of statistics in between all the nonsensical arguing, she listened closely.

"In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially." Vision said. "During the same period the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate."
           
Steve looked up, "Are you saying it's our fault?"
           
"I'm saying there may be causality." Vision replied. "Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict... breeds catastrophe." He continued in a dire tone. "Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand."
           
"Boom." Rhodey mouthed quietly to Sam.

Luna leaned further against the cold wall as her eyes roamed the landscape beneath her. As if she had a scale inside her mind, she weighed the possibilities. Sign the Sokovia Accords, you give up complete control of something you shouldn't have had complete control over from the beginning. Don't sign them... Luna couldn't fathom retirement. If she didn't sign the Accords, yet continued to help people, she would, more or less, become a criminal.

On the one side, she knew what was in store, the other side was a blank. Besides, how could one make such a big decision when there were so many unknown variables. Luna knew the US Government; they could not and would not let enhanced people, like her and the twins, live their lives freely away from under their control. Would it not be better to simply comply with them on this one thing that everybody seemed to want?

"Tony," Natasha noted, "you are being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal."
           
"It's 'cause he's already made up his mind." Steve spoke up.
           
Tony sat up from where he was laying back lazily on the couch. "Boy, you know me so well. Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache." He said, walking to the kitchen corner and grabbing a mug. "That's what's going on, Cap. It's not just pain, it's discomfort." He looked up angrily from the sink. "Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal?" He exclaimed, "Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" He put his phone on the counter and pulled up a holographic picture of a smiling kid, maybe in his early-twenties. "Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way."
           
Luna looked at the picture from her window seat as Tony ranted on.

"He's a great kid." Tony said. "Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA, had a floor-level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, see the world." He looked up at the group that was gathered on the long, corner couch, "Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is something I would've done. Not to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where," his voice grew louder and snapped, "Sokovia."

Taking a deep breath, he continued, "He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I wouldn't know, because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass. There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game."

"Tony, you're making decisions based on your emotions. Quit being irrational." Luna said.
           
"Oh great, just what I needed, advice from a seventeen-year-old kid. You wanna throw in an unwanted sarcastic quip in there too, while you're at it?" He snapped at her.
           
Luna sighed, frustrated, crossed her arms and stood up, "First of all, I'm eighteen." Walking up to Tony she said, "and I ain't disagreeing with you, asshole. What happened those times... it wasn't our fault—" she turned to the group, her eyes glancing over Pietro and Wanda, "—but it was our responsibility. Nobody ever asked for our help. That mission in Lagos—why was that our job and not Nigeria's? Or the UN's?"

"Guys, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up." Steve said.
           
"But this isn't the only person that died, is it?" Luna countered. "Eleven Wakandans. Countless Sokovians and New Yorkers." And my brother, she wanted to add. She decided not to. "The death toll is coming up to our throats, Cap. Nobody said we were giving up, we just don't have the stomach for it anymore."

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame." Steve said.
           
"I'm sorry, Steve," Rhodey began, "but that is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we're talking about. Not S.H.I.E.L.D., not HYDRA—"
           
"No," Steve interrupted, "but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change.
           
"Exactly the point, Steve." Luna said. "Our agenda changed, didn't it? We first came together to save the world from threats that the average person couldn't. When did we begin busting arms deals?"

"That's why I'm here," Tony stood at Luna's side, "when I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands I shut it down and stopped manufacturing."
           
"Tony, you chose to do that." Steve argued loudly. "If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose."
           
"You mean our right to choose where people are going to die?" Luna said.

She was becoming more convinced of the need for the Sokovia Accords by the minute, and to the others it seemed like she was all in. Luna knew that there was no backing out now, she had put herself in this position of the argument and she was going to defend it. No matter how much it stung to see the cracks in the team growing and growing.

Steve looked at her, his eyebrows creased. "What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there is somewhere we need to go and they don't let us?"
           
"If we don't do this now," Tony responded, lowering his voice, "it's gonna be done to us later. That's fact. That won't be pretty."
           
"You're saying they would come for me." Wanda said, her gaze fixated on Luna.
           
Luna sighed, running a hand through her hair. "We would protect you, Wanda, I would protect you."
           
"But you will not be able to if you sign those documents." Pietro said. "It starts as supervision, and supervision leads to controlling. We have been there before, and we won't do it again."

"Maybe Tony's right." Natasha said. "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off—"
           
"Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam wondered.
           
Shaking her head, Natasha replied, "I'm just reading the terrain. We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back."
           
"Focus up." Tony cut in. "I'm sorry. Did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?"
           
"I want to take it back now." Natasha said immediately.
           
"No, no, you can't retract it. Thank you, both of you," he looked at Luna, "unprecedented."

Luna didn't respond as her phone buzzed. The message didn't quite register in her mind. It was from Peggy's nurse: 'she's gone, in her sleep. I'm sorry.' Luna's mouth felt dry, uncapable of forming coherent words. A vignette was placed over her vision as everything around her started to blur, except for the small letters that spelled 'she's gone'.

The team didn't seem to notice as she took a step back, almost a stumble. The day Luna had been dreading, the day she knew would come but never actually thought would happen, had come. Her last family had died. Luna remembered to breath when she started getting dizzy and blinked the forming tears away; she would not cry in front of everyone.

"Steve." She spoke up in a heavy voice. He was still busy with his childish discussion, as if Luna hadn't just received devastating news. She walked to him, where he sat comfortably in his chair and slowly put her hand on his shoulder and swallowed thickly. Steve looked up at her, and she damned the little frown between his eyebrows that always expressed some sort of concern. The others turned away. Luna nodded to the exit and Steve followed into the empty hallway.

They weren't currently seeing eye-to-eye, but Steve always seemed to sense if something was off. Sadly enough, it reminded Luna of Derek, and that reminded her that he was essentially dead, much like her great-grandmother. Her gran.

"Luna?" Steve asked. "What's going on?"

Luna hadn't recovered the ability to properly talk, so she turned her phone to him and showed the message she had received.
           
Steve was quiet.
           
The phone buzzed again.

"They're—uh—having a funeral." Luna said slowly as she read the message. "In two days, at that church she used to go to in Brooklyn. She was—" her voice cracked, "she was a big government person, I don't know what it's called, so they're having a ceremony and shit. Peg—" she couldn't fully say her name, and cut herself off in the middle, "she didn't have any other public relatives... so..." Luna trailed off as she turned her phone off, squeezing it so tightly she almost thought she heard a crack coming from it. She squeezed her eyes shut with just as much force.

"Can you please say something before I lose it?" She whispered in a hoarse voice, her bottom lip had begun shaking. She refused to look up at Steve, she could picture the look on his face and she knew if she saw it, she would break.

Luckily, Steve only gave a melancholic sigh and stepped forward, embracing Luna tightly. "It's okay..." He whispered, feeling the smaller girl begin shaking. "It'll be okay, kid." He repeated, tears beginning to well up in his own eyes.

Luna hesitated, still gripping her phone tightly. But as Steve repeated morose whispers to her, tears fell freely down her cheeks, and onto his shirt as she gripped back tightly, her head buried in his shoulder. Never in a million years, could she imagine being on a different team than him, than anyone. Peggy and Derek might have been her last living blood relatives, but they weren't her last family.

---

The church stood in a part of Brooklyn that was, for the most part, untouched by the passing of time. Small stores, like butchers and bakers and shoemakers, still worked independently. There were no massive corporations attacking the small businesses, nor were there millionaires moving into the neighborhood and raising the rent.

Everything looked the same, except for everything that didn't. The streets had been redone at least twice, the shop windows had neon signs in them and rusty cars lined the sidewalks. Luna stood in front of the large church. She had never been there before, but her gran had told her about it, when she could still remember it.

Like many churches, it was built in a Romanesque style, the eclecticism was a strong part of its architecture. The windows were large and high, with sharp points, yet the walls were thick and low and had pillars connecting them to the ground. That wasn't what was most intriguing to Luna.

Above the entrance, where people clad in black were already making their way inside, was a large, circular and colorful glass-in-lead window, with frame work that made it look like a lotus flower.

"Luna?" Someone asked. "Luna Carter?"
           
Luna frowned, and shook herself out of her thoughts. She turned and came face to face with a blonde woman, in a black suit much like her own. The woman was shorter than her, she noticed. She had a sharp face, with thin lips and eyes the same color as Luna's.

"I'm not in the mood, go bother some other hero. I heard the Black Widow's here." Luna snapped and turned back around.
           
The woman didn't relent and moved around Luna, putting herself in front of her. "But you are Luna Carter, aren't you? Otherwise this is gonna be embarrassing." She smiled awkwardly and put her hand out as a greeting, "My name's Sharon, Sharon Carter. And I think you're my cousin."
           
Luna frowned warily, but gripped Sharon's hand a little tighter than she usually would.
           
"Oh, wow," Sharon said as she let go, "one hell of a handshake you got there."
           
"Look," Luna began, "I don't know who the hell you th—"
           
Sharon cut her off, "Peggy was my great-aunt. You're her great-granddaughter. Here." She went into her purse and held out an identification card.

Luna read it closely. "Alright." She said slowly. "Then how come we've never met? Peggy never mentioned you." It was a weak argument, since Peggy usually remembered people she had known form the forties and fifties.
           
"I didn't visit her a lot." Sharon replied, her eyebrows creased in mourning. "I think that's my biggest regret... I used to work for S.H.I.E.L.D., but I went under a different name back then—oh, I think it's starting." She put a careful hand on Luna's shoulder and said, "I'll see you inside. And, uh, I'm sorry for your loss." Sharon gave her a timid smile and walk through the large church doors.

Luna made no move to follow after her, she barely registered her own breathing speeding up. The sounds of cars and people muddled as she dragged herself to the alleyway between the church and the next building. She put her back to the cold, brick wall and slid down to the ground, not caring how it messed up her black blazer. Her breathing was shallow and harsh, as thoughts bounced and echoed painfully inside her skull. Putting her palms tightly at her temples, her fingers tangled themselves in her hair and she felt as if the sensation of imminent doom were rushing in on her.

Luna Carter was no stranger to panic attacks, but it had been awhile since one had paid an unannounced visit. The last couple of days must have cumulated to this moment; a distraught Wanda, the Sokovian Accords, the violent cracks in the team, Peggy's death, and now, the knowledge of a distant cousin that she never even knew of. It was too much, too quickly.

Staying here, in the grimy alleyway was the best she could do. She had not the courage to step a foot inside that church and having to really, truly say goodbye to her old life. The last time she had said goodbye was to her parents, at their funeral, and that had not turned out that great.

Steady hands gripped Luna's shoulder, fingers digging into her skin. "Carter?" A voice said through the blanket of blurriness surrounding Luna. "Come on, look at me."

Luna raised her head, her neck straining as if there were weights hanging from them. Her watery eyes met Natasha's, the woman knelt in front of her and kept steady eye contact. Luna tried to speak, but a hiccup came from her stomach instead and she went to bury her head back into her arms. Natasha didn't let her, instead gripped Luna's head at the spot her neck met her jaw and forced her to sit up straight.

"Breathe, Luna, slowly. In and out, you know the steps." Natasha said, a harsh edge to her voice as she guided Luna's breathing with her own.

Luna tried. Natasha was right, she did know the steps, but in moments like these her mind emptied all her helpful thoughts and replaced them with intrusive ones. She breathed in, in, in and then out in one, ragged sigh.
        
"Jesus, Luna." Natasha muttered. "What are you doing?"
           
Luna hiccupped again as Natasha sat on the ground, her side pressed against Luna's shaky one. "I—I'm fine—" Lune stammered, "I'm fine, Nat."
          
"You are a horrible liar."
           
"No, I'm not," Luna managed to argue, even in her distraught senses.

The alley fell quiet, Luna's dry sobs echoed off the dingy walls. Time passed, she had no idea how much. Seconds, minutes? Had she missed the ceremony? Had they missed her in the front row? Luna regained the smallest of her senses when the stink of the alleyway swirled into her nostrils, bringing her mind back to this reality.

The blurry spots in her vision dissipated, the salt lines on her cheeks dried up and her stomach began aching at the amount of stress her harsh breathing had put on it. Luna took one last deep breath. With a soft thud, her head fell back against the wall, next to Natasha's, and her feet dragged across the ground as she sprawled them out in front of her.

Her voice was hoarse when she broke the silence. "It's all coming apart." She focused her gaze on the small spot of moss on the bricks in front of her. "I'm coming apart."
           
She heard Natasha swallow. "How so?"
           
Luna licked her dry lips, her hand coming up to fiddle with her necklace. "Just a feeling. I feel like we're racing toward our own downfall. Sounds nihilistic, I know, but I can't shake it. My family's gone. And now my team's going too."
           
"I don't believe that." Natasha said, shaking her head. "I can't. Because the Avengers aren't just a team, they're my family. I don't know what'd I do without them."
           
Luna frowned. "Even Tony?"
           
"Especially Tony." She responded with a smile.
          
"Wow," Luna sighed, "the world's really coming to an end."

Natasha pondered visibly inside her head, her hand grabbing the younger girl's softly, letting it rest on top of her thigh. "I remember how furious I was when Nick brought you in."
           
"I get it," Luna cut in, "I was a little shit."
           
"No," Natasha said quickly, "it wasn't because of anything you did, or how annoying you were... You were fifteen, Luna. Nick brought in a fifteen year old kid to fight alongside us, to put herself in danger for others. That is too young—" A crack in her voice seemed to catch even Natasha off guard. She swallowed another lump down her throat, "I don't remember how young I was when the Red Room got me, younger than fifteen at least."
           
Luna didn't have anything to say to that.

"I used to have a family there. A sister."
        
Luna looked up at her, to discover that Natasha was staring straight ahead, at the same spot of moss on the wall ahead of them, a longing look in her eyes. "You did?"
           
A wistful smile formed on Natasha's face as she nodded softly. "Her name was Yelena. Or is, I'm not sure. I lost track of her a long time ago. But you—" Natasha turned her head to look at Luna, "You remind me of her."
           
Luna pressed her lips together, as a warm feeling spread across her cheeks. "Really?"
           
"Yeah," Natasha scoffed, "you're both a thorn in my side."
           
Luna chuckled in relief as a little bit of the tension was relieved, and she bumped her shoulder into Natasha's.

"What I'm saying," Natasha spoke, "is that I'm still here. We're all still here. Tony, Steve, Thor, Bruce and Clint. Wanda and Pietro. Even if we're going through a rough patch, we're still going to be your family. That's not going to change."
           
"I hope you're right," Luna said, "because I feel we're gonna need it."

Natasha nodded slowly before she retracted her hand and lifted herself off the dirty ground. She held out her hand for Luna as the church bell rung from up above them. "Ready to go in?"
           
Luna took a deep breath and gripped Natasha's hand, standing up from her spot. "Not really," she said, "but what else am I gonna do?"
           
Natasha clasped her shoulder. "That's the spirit!"

---

"—and now, I would like to invite Sharon Carter to come up and say a few words." The pastor announced as he stood in front of the altar, an old picture of Peggy Carter to his right.

The inside of the church was beautifully, and fittingly, decorated. Candles burned bright to reminder the one lost, with white flowers adorning every vase. Behind the altar hung the American and the English flags. Luna sat at Steve's side, having joined later than the rest. Steve had frowned at Luna's red-rimmed eyes but she'd given him a reassuring smile and he nodded understandingly in return.

As Sharon took to the front, Luna reminded herself she had passed on the opportunity to give the eulogy. She would much rather say goodbye in private.
          
Steve's look almost got a laugh out of Luna. He had no idea his neighbor was Sharon Carter.

Sharon straightened up, her chest heaved with a large breath. She began her speech, "Margaret Carter was known to most as a founder of S.H.I.E.L.D., but I just knew her as aunt Peggy." She threw a kind smile Luna's way, which was returned with the same fondness. Luna was too exhausted to be suspicious. "She had a photograph in her office. Aunt Peggy standing next to JFK. As a kid that was pretty cool, but it was a lot to live up to." Sharon's gaze moved next to Luna, directed at Steve, "Which I why I never told anyone we were related."
         
Luna recognized her younger self herself in the statement.

"I asked her once how she managed diplomacy and espionage in a time when no one wanted to see a woman succeed at either," Sharon continued. "She said compromise where you can... Where you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say; no, you move."

The sun shone brightly on Luna's face as she basked in its glory outside the church. Most guests had gone, and she would soon have to leave as well. But not yet. Her mind was finally quiet, a rarity in these stressful times and she was going to claim every moment of peace she could before, eventually, all hell would break loose.

Sharon's speech replayed in the back of her mind; she had claimed to know what Peggy would've done in this situation. Luna wasn't sure if she would agree. But then again, how well did she actually know her great-grandmother? Even if everything in Luna told her to defy authority, to take a stance for independence, the flashes of dead bodies and ruined cities still roamed her mind.

Maybe it was time to move on. Give up authority and listen to the people, go where they want her to go. It was time to start moving forward, instead of standing still in the past, stuck in her own stubbornness.
           
On the way to her apartment, Luna shot Natasha a text.

Luna didn't have to take out her keys to open the door, her roommates were already home. It was clear they were waiting for her, sitting non-conspicuously on the couch, afraid that if they stared at her, Luna would start to abruptly shatter. Luna did not shatter into a million pieces, she had already done that today and she'd picked the pieces up and glued them back together well enough that they would last her for a good while.

"Hey." Luna said, dropping her jacket across the back of a chair and moving into the kitchen. She flipped on the kettle and leaned back against the counter. "Y'all can look at me now." She said finally.

The twins immediately turned off the TV and moved to the kitchen, settling on the stools on the other side of the kitchen counter.
         
"How was it?" Pietro asked.
         
"Just dandy, Pietro, thanks. I love burying family." Luna quipped as she opened a cabinet and got out her mug. She pulled a tea bag from a box on the counter.

Wanda rolled her eyes. "Okay, wrong question. How are you?" She asked.
          
Luna shrugged as bent the heat in the kettle and the click of the water finishing boiling rung through the room. She poured the hot water in her mug, the water quickly turning a brownish color. "Fine."
          
"You don't seem fine." Pietro countered.
          
Luna glared at him. "How would you know, Speedy? Since you're so in touch with your emotions."
          
"Well," he began matter-of-fact, "you're drinking tea, Moony. Very uncharacteristic of you."
          
"And your eyes are red," Wanda added. "like you've been crying."
          
"So now I'm not allowed to cry at funerals?"
          
Pietro groaned. "That is not what we're saying."
          
"Certainly sounds like it." Luna said with a fake smile.

Luna's phone buzzed. She picked it up and read Natasha's message. A convoluted sigh escaped her lips; no going back now. She took a careful sip of her tea and cringed at the taste, she was quickly reminded exactly why she didn't drink the stuff. She bent the water out of the cup and into the sink.

"Who was it?" Wanda questioned, nodding to Luna's phone.
          
"Nat." Luna said. "We talked at the funeral and..." she hesitated, her gaze lingering on Wanda's beautifully carved face, "I'm traveling with her to Vienna in a couple of days. I'm signing the Sokovia Accords."

 

Chapter 25: Till We Meet Again

Summary:

Natasha and Luna travel to Vienna for the UN Convention to ratify the Sokovia Accords. After devestation hits, Luna tries to keep her team from falling apart at the seams.

IV. 'TIL WE MEET AGAIN
__________

Tony had arranged a private jet for Natasha and Luna to take them to Austria, from the airport they would be picked up and taken to its capital, Vienna, where the UN conference would take place. All 117 countries gathered in one place, united towards one goal; to keep the Avengers in check.

How could they argue for anything else when the world was giving them a message so abundantly clear, Luna wondered silently as she watched the milky clouds from above, the morning sun slowly coming up from the horizon, yet whenever she closed her eyes she was seconds away from falling asleep.

The night before had been spent wide awake, her soft bed feeling like bricks against her back as she tossed and turned, replaying the words and rewinding the images of the conversation that took place earlier. Now still, in the plane to sign the accords, Wanda and Pietro's faces would appear to pull the doubts back into her mind. Again, as Luna closed her eyes, the memory played in her mind:

The tension was palpable as the trio stood silent in the kitchen, the counter separating the sides. Luna had put her mug down, waiting patiently for them, either of them, to say something, do anything.

The looks on their faces reminded Luna that they were, indeed, twins. Emotion swirled behind their green eyes; Pietro's brows were furrowed, in anger maybe. Luna wouldn't blame him. Luna could see how Wanda was biting her cheek, her eyes seemed to have hollowed out, the familiar sparkle in them that she usually had when she looked at Luna was gone, replaced by something bitter.

"Why?" Pietro said, his word echoing through the room.

Keeping her lip from trembling, Luna bit down on it and replied, "you heard what Vision said. Our strength invites challenge, challenge leads to disaster. We can't keep ignoring the destruction we leave in our wake."

Pietro scoffed and stepped around the counter, in front of Luna. "How can you say that? What would have happened to the world if we were not there to stop Ultron? How many people would have died then? How many people would have died if we did not stop Crossbones from getting the biological weapon?" he said, harshness behind each word.

Clenching her jaw, Luna stood her ground, "it's no use debating alternate endings when it already happened. People died, and it's our fault, Pietro."

"More would have died if we were not there! What if this happens again and the UN does not permit us to go? What then?"

"Do you hear yourself?" Luna questioned, her fingernails digging into her palms. "We can't trade lives! The good of the many doesn't negate the good of the few, no matter how much you wanna tell yourself it does." Taking a deep breath, Luna calmed herself and continued speaking in a gentler tone, "I know you've been hurt by people in power—"

"Hurt?" Pietro asked, his voice lower. Hurt swirled behind his eyes. "You do not know anything of our hurt. But of one thing you are right; we have been hurt before and we have a right to not be willingly manipulated again by powerful people. Not when we have power of our own. I intend to keep that power, and use it to help people," he said, determination on his face and turned his back, walking toward his room. The door closed with a bang.

Luna diverted her gaze from the closed door. Instead, she turned to Wanda, who has simply been standing there, quietly staring at Luna. "Wanda?" Luna asked quietly, no longer disguising the exhaustion and hurt in her voice. "Please, say something," she pleaded.

Wanda stared Luna, her gaze not wavering as she took Pietro's place. She didn't say a word.

Feeling her eyes fill with tears, Luna blinked them away. Her chest felt heavy as she stepped closer to Wanda, her eyes scanning the girl's face. "Please," her voice shook with emotion as she spoke. Luna's hand softly pulled Wanda's toward her, gripping it tightly, Wanda's soft skin against hers. "I'm doing this to hurt you, Wanda. I'm doing this so we don't hurt anyone else." She brought their hands up to her mouth, and placed a gentle kiss on Wanda's hand. "I—" her words wavered against Wanda's hand. "I love you. I love you both."

Wanda's face flickered. Betrayal? Hurt? Anger? Something deeper? She let her hand drop from Luna's and stepped backwards.

Luna flinched from the cold stare.

"Do what you think is right, Luna," Wanda said. "Do not be surprised when what you find is not what you were looking for." She turned back, and followed Pietro into their room.

"You're having doubts." Natasha said, as she took the seat opposite of Luna on the plane.

Luna opened her eyes, pulled out of the memory but, like Natasha had guessed, the doubts fresh in her mind. She scoffed softly. "Astute observation, Weasley, ten points to Gryffindor."

Natasha rolled her eyes and replied, "it's fine if you changed your mind, Luna, don't have to be a bitch about it."

"No," Luna said and shook her head. "I'm still signing it. It's just... leaving was hard, with Pietro and—" she bit the inside of her cheek, "and Wanda."

"Just because it's the path of least resistance," Natasha said gently, "doesn't mean it's the wrong path." She moved her eyes from Luna, her shoulders heaved as she sighed deeply. Looking back up, she said, "I have seen how you act around them... you're more yourself. Happier, brighter. You helped them fit in, you gave them a home when they needed one. Nothing can change the bond you have, Luna."

"I don't know, Nat..." Luna said, her voice heavy. "You didn't see the look Wanda gave me, or hear the venom in Pietro's words. They felt betrayed. Like I was just another person that wanted to control them, to use them." Her hand tightened around her necklace as she took a deep breath, trying to calm her upset heart. "If I'm doing the right thing," her eyes met Natasha's once more, "then why does it feel like I'm doing wrong by them?"

Natasha fell quiet. "We got awhile to go," she said eventually, "get some sleep."

The rest of the flight was quiet, the hum of the engines and the steady feel of the plane soothed Luna as she tried to push her doubts to the back of her mind. Eventually, her eyes found rest and she fell into a fitful sleep.

---

Flashes of cameras and screams of the press in all languages bombarded Natasha and Luna the minute they stepped out of the car. Escorted by broadly-built bodyguards in black suits, they walked inside the building and up to the floor where the conference was being held. As they stepped inside the room, they were immediately greeted by representatives of different countries.

"Excuse me, Ms. Romanoff, Ms. Carter?" A kind-looking woman said as she approached them, a clipboard in her hands.

"What's up?" Luna asked as the woman handed her the clipboard and a pen.

"These need your signatures," she replied.

Luna turned the paper to Natasha and waited until Natasha nodded affirmation to sign. "There you go, now don't go selling it on E-bay, sweetheart," she smirked easily.

The woman smiled shyly. "Thanks," she said and left the two alone.

Natasha shook her head. "She's too old for you."

"It's not my fault people assume The Avatar is a twenty-something fully-grown adult." Luna shrugged and added, "guess I'm just mature for my age."

"Nobody has ever said that, young Avatar," a familiar voice said from behind Luna.

Luna's eyes widened and she spun around, her eyes landing on the one and only prince of Wakanda. T'Challa was grinning at her, dressed in a neat, navy suit. "Look at you," she commented, "looking all handsome and dressed up. Shuri pick the suit out for you?"

He grinned. "No, actually, it was my mother."

Luna grinned back and quickly rushed forward, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "It's good to see you, T'Challa," she muttered.

T'Challa hugged back tightly before letting go, keeping his arm around her shoulders. "It has been too long, Luna. What happened? Shuri couldn't reach your phone anymore."

Luna cringed. "I—uh—I sort off broke it. But it's fine, truly, I got a new one. Just give my new number to Shuri."

"Alright. I'm glad to see you here, Luna, Ms. Romanoff." He nodded at Natasha in greeting.

Natasha smiled politely. "Yes, me too. The spotlight is new, though. Not sure if I'm enjoying it."

"You seem to be doing alright so far," T'Challa said. "Considering your experience at Capitol Hill... I wouldn't think either of you would be particularly comfortable in this company."

"Well, we're not," Natasha replied.

"Bunch of squares, if you ask me," Luna added with a shudder, looking around the busy room.

T'Challa smiled at them. "And that alone makes me glad you are here."

"Why?" Natasha asked. "You don't approve of all this?"

T'Challa pressed his lips together. "The Accords, yes," he said, "the politics, not really. Two people in a room can get more done than a hundred."

Luna chuckled. "That's politics for you; too much talking, too little decision-making."

"That is very undemocratic of you, Luna Carter," the King of Wakanda said as he walked up beside his son.

Luna's eyes widened. "Your highness," she greeted and shook his hand, "I didn't think you would be here, I thought global politics bored you."

King T'Chaka shrugged. "Some politics are important." He turned to Natasha. "Ms. Romanoff."

Natasha nodded her head. "King T'Chaka. Please, allow me to apologize for what happened in Nigeria."

He nodded in return. "Thank you," he said. "And thank you for agreeing to all of this. I'm sad to hear that Captain Rogers will not be joining us today. But," he turned to Luna, "I was quite surprised you agreed."

Luna shrugged sadly. "I am too. Guess I grew up, huh?"

"Didn't think I'd be lucky enough to witness it." T'Challa said and patted her shoulder.

"If everyone could please be seated," a voice spoke over the speakers, "this assembly is now in session."

T'Challa looked around at them. "That is the future calling," he said and removed his arm from Luna's shoulder to shake Natasha's hand. "Such a pleasure." He turned to Luna and placed a kiss on her cheek, "and please, keep in contact this time."

Luna gave him a joking glare before she and Natasha went to claim their seats.

"When stolen Wakandan vibranium was used to make a terrible weapon, we in Wakanda were forced to question our legacy," King T'Chaka spoke to the UN conference, his voice filled with the power of gravitas as the room listened intently.

This speech was no longer to convince people, everybody was gathered here with a single purpose. This speech was simply to reassure them the decision they were making was the right one.

He continued, "those twelve persons killed in Nigeria were part of a goodwill mission from a country too long in the shadows."
          
Luna sat in her chair, surrounded by important people of all 117 countries, and as she listened to T'Chaka's words, her doubts seemed to slowly be driven out of her mind.
          
"We will not, however, let misfortune drive us back. We will fight to improve the world we wish to join. I am grateful to the Avengers, some of which I consider a friend," his eyes met Luna's, "for supporting this initiative. Wakanda is proud to extend its hand in peac—"
          
"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" T'Challa screamed.

The windows blasted inward, followed by smoke and fire as an explosion from outside burst into the conference room. People screamed out in pain, in panic. Luna got blasted back, flying across tables, harshly rolling across the floor as loud ringing filled her ears. The building rumbled beneath her, unstable from the powerful blast.

She turned on her back, just in time to jump out of the way from falling rubble. Luna quickly examined herself and as she deemed herself not badly hurt she stood up, inspecting the room around her. Everything was in shambles, people were trapped under pieces of buildings, others pinned down by enormous fragments of glass, smoke was quickly filling the room.

Luna turned in circles as she searched the chaos for a familiar face. "Natasha!" She yelled hoarsely, her yells were drowned out by the pained and panicked screams of others.

Shaking her head, Luna figured Natasha would be able to save herself, and she went to help others. Taking her jacket off, she bound it like a tourniquet around somebody's leg, then she got water from wherever she could find it and healed wherever she could. She was able to heal five before her water ran out, but bodies were still sprawled out around her; yet another nightmare to add to the list.

A hand grabbed her shoulder, and she quickly turned to face Natasha. The woman looked a little worse for wear, but Luna didn't spot any major injuries.
          
"Lu—" Natasha began but her coughs broke her off. She motioned to the smoke.
          
Luna nodded and ran to the shattered windows. Moving her arms in big, circular motions, the smoke slowly gathered into a ball and she was able to push it out of the room, releasing it in the outside air.

Quiet sobbing got Luna's attention. On the ground behind her sat T'Challa. He was bend over his father's lifeless body, rocking slowly, tears streaming down his face. Luna stilled, the loss of Wakanda's king heavy in her stomach. Slowly she moved behind T'Challa, putting her hand firmly on his shoulder as she kneeled beside him. She didn't say anything to the weeping T'Challa as she moved T'Chaka's hands to rest on his stomach, moving her hand up to his face and closing his eyes. Luna wrapped her arms around T'Challa's shoulders and held him as he cried.

---

Luna leaned back against the hotel couch, her hair still wet from the shower she took a while ago. Natasha sank into the cushion next to her, and Luna slowly let her head rest on her shoulder.

The news channel on the TV in front of them repeated the events of earlier that day to them, "a bomb hidden in a news van ripped through the UN building in Vienna. More than seventy are injured, at least twelve are dead, including Wakanda's King T'Chaka, despite the efforts of the enhanced individual known as The Avatar being present. Officials have released a video of a suspect—" the news anchor spoke.

Luna frowned and leaned forward, looking intently at the screen as the video played.

"—who they have identified as James Buchanan Barnes, the Winter Soldier. The infamous HYDRA agent linked to numerous acts of terrorism and political assassinations. Anyone with info—"

Natasha shut the TV off.

"We should call Steve," Luna stated.

"No need," Natasha replied. "He called me first."

Luna was quiet for a second before muttering, "shit."

Natasha chuckled grimly. "Yeah." She leaned back into the couch. "This is a mess. T'Challa is planning something. Steve's going after Barnes, against the Accords."

"And it hasn't even been a day," Luna noted. She turned her head to look at Natasha. "And us? What are we supposed to do? Where does the UN want us to go? Since we obey them now."

Natasha shrugged. "Still waiting for word on the situation. Let's get some sleep first, we'll assess in the morning."

Luna did not get more than an hour of sleep.

"Carter, get up. We leave in ten." Natasha woke Luna up harshly from her nap as she threw a pile of clothes at her.

Luna sat up groggily from the comfortable hotel bed and rubbed her eyes, adjusting to the harsh light as she yelled back after Natasha, "the fuck is your problem?"

Natasha poked her head back in the room. "Steve fucked up and now he's a criminal," she said, explaining absolutely nothing and walked out of the bedroom, "let's go! I'll fill you in on the way."

Luna grumbled obscenities at the woman and quickly threw on her clothes before joining Natasha on the road.

Luna still hadn't woken up fully when they boarded the private jet and Natasha began explaining. They were going to Bucharest, the capital of Romania. Steve had tracked Barnes to an apartment in the city, and after facing him the two were confronted by the GSG 9, the elite tactical unit of the federal police force of Germany.

During the chase, T'Challa had shown up, dressed in a black, vibranium cat-suit, trying to fulfill his promise and avenge his father by killing Barnes. The three were eventually apprehended by the GSG 9, with the help of Rhodey in his War Machine suit.

Currently, the three were being brought in at the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre, the JCTC, and Natasha and Luna were on the way from Vienna to try and stabilize the situation. Tony was joining them from New York.

Luna knew she could not blame T'Challa for his actions. He had lost his father, he was the King now as well as Wakanda's ancient protector, the Black Panther.

The Black Panther, T'Challa was always glad to talk about it with her when she stayed in Wakanda. Much like how Raava gave Luna her Avatar abilities, the spirit of the Black Panther granted its champion strength, agility and speed. Yet, as the mantle of the Avatar was passed down through reincarnation, the Black Panther wasn't chosen by the universe, but the chosen warrior drank the Heart-shaped herb that allowed the spirit to attach itself to the warrior.

The Black Panther was the protector of Wakanda, and now T'Challa had not only the responsibility the mantle of protector brought with it, but also the mantle of King.

Steve. Luna should have guessed he wasn't going to sit quietly and retire after deciding not to sign the Accords. Yet to do something so very stupid... was actually very Steve-like. Barnes was his childhood friend, the last remnants of his life before the ice after Peggy had passed. If the world was turning against him, Steve was going to try and reach him before anything bad happened. But Luna had seen the devastation Barnes had reaped at the conference. Twelve people had died, countless more injured.

Something itched the in the back of Luna's mind; it took an hour and a half to get from Vienna to Bucharest by plane, and she did not believe that Barnes was able to board a plane without setting off multiple alarms. So, how was he spotted on a local market in Bucharest, one hour after the bombing?

Stepping out of the elevator, Luna fell into a quick pace next to Natasha. They had been greeted at the reception by some agents and were pointed to the garage, where Steve, Sam and Barnes were being brought in. The two practically speed-walked through the corridor and as they turned the corner, they could see Steve and Sam approaching them. Luckily, they were not contained in cuffs.

Natasha gave an irritated sigh as she began walking next to Steve. "For the record, this is what making things worse looks like."
        
Luna bumped into Sam's shoulder as she walked beside him and said with a sarcastic smile, "yeah, awesome job, guys! You're criminals!"
        
"He's alive," Steve responded stoically.

The group, escorted by agents, walked into a glass office. There was a long conference table, aligned with four chairs on each side in the middle, and in the corners where the glass walls met the ceiling hung TV's, displaying different news stations each.
          
Tony sat leaned back against the conference table, worry lined between his eyebrows as he argued on the phone.

"Try not to break anything while we fix this," Natasha said, and immediately went to work.

Luna pulled Steve and Sam to the side. "And?" she asked, keeping her voice low.
          
"What?" Sam asked.
         
She rolled her eyes at him and elaborated, "Barnes. He didn't bomb the conference, right? It wouldn't make any sense. What did he say when you saw him?"
          
"You're right," Steve replied. "He recognized me—"
          
"That's great!"
          
"—from a museum."
          
Luna's face fell. "Less great. Where's he being held?"
          
Steve shook his head. "Not sure, they're not telling me much."
          
"You really do have yourself to thank for that, buddy," Luna said, smiling awkwardly as she patted his arm.

"Consequences?" Luna heard Tony say loudly on the phone as he slowly walked their way. "You bet there'll be consequences." There was a beat of silence before Tony replied, "obviously you can quote me on that, I just said it. Anything else? Thank you, sir." He hung up and stood in front of Steve, Sam and Luna.
           
"Consequences?" Steve wondered.
           
"Secretary Ross wants you both prosecuted," Tony replied. "Had to give him something."
           
Luna scoffed and said, "secretary Ross can kiss my ass. We ain't prosecuting the dynamic duo."
          
Sam frowned at her and mouthed silently, "dynamic duo?"

"I'm not getting that shield back, am I?" Steve said.
         
"Technically," Natasha cut in. "It's the government's property."
          
"Yes, and technically," Luna said. "Steve's had it for the longest so, by my law, it's his. The wings, though, that's the government's." She winked at Sam.
           
Sam held a hand to his heart. "Ouch, Carter. That's cold."

Luna's gaze was drawn to a blonde on the other side of the room, and she left the conversation to walk up to her and some grey square she was talking to. "Sharon!" Luna said.
          
Sharon turned around and her face lit up as she saw Luna approaching. "Luna? What are you doing here?"
          
Luna shrugged. "Well, technically I am an Avenger and I did sign the Accords..."

"Right." Sharon nodded. "Oh," she began and motioned to the man beside her. "Luna, meet Everett Ross, Deputy Task Force Commander. Ross, this is my cousin, Luna Carter."
           
Ross held out his hand and shook Luna's firmly. "Yes, The Avatar. Honor to meet you."
           
Luna nodded slowly. "Of course, pleasure's all mine," she said. "Hey, Sharon, can I talk to you just a minute?"

Sharon's brows furrowed. She nodded and let Luna drag her to a more secluded space. "What is it?" she asked.
           
"You think they're really gonna go forward with this whole peaceful containment thing of Cap and Sam?" Luna questioned. "I mean, I don't have the best relationship with the government but if they're willing to arrest Captain America..."
           
Sharon pondered over her words before answering, "I'm not sure... certainly seems like it. It wouldn't look good if they threw him in a cell, but it also wouldn't look good if they did nothing. Technically, Cap and Sam did break the Accords."

Luna rolled her eyes. "Those Accords were ratified this morning and the conference got bombed. Don't think those are very steady foundations for any decision."
           
"Let's just try to keep Cap under control for now. What we don't need is him trying to free Barnes and breaking more than just the Sokovia Accords."
           
"Okay..." Luna said slowly. "Thanks, really. We—uh—we should grab coffee sometime. Catch up?"
           
Sharon smiled at her. "Yeah, sounds good," she replied and patted Luna's shoulder before taking off.

Luna stood by herself, people around her busy doing their jobs. She breathed out wearily and took out her phone, scrolling through messages of today:

 

TO: witchy

luna 11:34
hi. dont know if youve seen the news but the conference got bombed

just my luck, right?

you okay?

 

luna 12:46
okay cap fucked up, going to Romania

you still mad?

what am I saying, ofc ur still mad

 

luna 12:48
can you please respond

I need to know ur okay

and pietro

ofc

 

luna now
theyre 'peacefully' containing cap and sam.

holding them in an office

okay I get ur pissed but can you at least send like an 'ok' and be done with it?

wan, srsly, im getting worried

 

TO: speedy

luna now
dude wanda isn't responding

she with you?

or are u pissed too?

probably

but don't be a baby and tell me you two are ok

god jesus fucking christ Pietro

im in motherfucking Romania trying to keep this shitshow from getting worse and yall are ghosting me

ik ur mad about the accords and I get it but I did what I think is right and im not changing my mind

so please grow up and talk to me

please

 

FROM: (unknown)

(unknown) now
Hello Luna Carter, would you be so kind as to stop texting Wanda and Pietro?

They currently do not wish to speak with you and do not have access to their personal phones.

Greetings, The Vision.

luna  now

wtf?

vision?

wait

are you texting from a phone rn or are you doing it from ur brain?

that would be awesome

luna  added  (unknown)  to contacts
luna  changed  (unknown)  to  vision

vision now
I am not quite sure what you mean.

luna now
nevermind

why are wanda and pietro with you?

are you at the compound?

theyre pissed at us

for the accords

vision now
I am not sure. They don't seem very mad at me.

Yes, they are at the compound.

Tony told me to keep them under watch.

Please, inform him it is all going well, however they have figured out that I am not letting them leave.

luna now
tony said what now?

vision now
He said to keep them under watch

Luna?

Are you still there?

Okay, I will check in with you later

 

"Stark, what the fuck!" Luna exclaimed as she burst into the office that was empty except for Steve and Tony.

"Jesus, Carter, what?" Tony asked, leaning back in his chair.

Luna held up her phone. "Why the actual fuck did Vision just say to me that you're keeping Wanda and Pietro prisoner in the compound?" she asked harshly. "Have you gone absolutely insane?"

"Alright, calm down." Tony responded with a relaxed attitude.

"Tony?" Steve wondered. "What's she talking about? What about Wanda and Pietro?"

"They're fine," Tony said. "They're currently confined to the compound. Vision's keeping them company."

"Oh, god," Steve groaned disappointedly as he stood up from his chair. "Tony..."

Luna scoffed. "Confined? Confined? They don't have their phones--they're not allowed to leave!"

"I really thought you were seeing things the right way..." Steve said. "And then you do this."

Luna took a deep breath as she leaned on the table, facing Tony. "Look, Stark. Me and the twins aren't on good terms right now because I signed those Accords, and I stand by that. I believe in those Accords. But I promised Wanda that they'd be safe—"

Tony interrupted her, "it's a hundred acres with a lap pool. It's got a screening room. There's worse ways to protect people."

"Protection?" Steve spoke up. "Is that how you see this? This is protection? It's internment, Tony."

"She's not a US citizen—"

"—oh, come on, Tony—"

"—and they don't grant visas to weapons of mass destruction!"

Luna's hand swirled in the air as she bent the water out of the glass on the table and made a fist around it, freezing it in the shape of an ice pick. She held it to Tony's throat as she grabbed his shoulder in a harsh grip, leaning in close.

Tony's mouth clamped shut as he tried to lean back.

The door wasn't open, yet everyone could feel a draft starting to form.

Steve took a tentative step towards Luna. "Okay, Luna," he said carefully. "Let's take a breath." He tried to take another step, but the subtle draft picked up into a wave of wind, wafting through his hair.

Luna shoved the point of the ice pick under Tony's chin. The tip wasn't sharp anymore since the room was fairly warm, but the look on his face made it seem like her tactic was working.

"Okay, I can see that that upset you," Tony began. "Just give me a break, okay?"

Luna glared at him, letting out a low growl. For just a fraction of a second, Tony could've sworn he saw her eyes glow bright.

"Wanda and Pietro aren't weapons of mass destruction. They are people, they are kids. Just like me. You don't get to decide who is dangerous and who isn't," Luna said, an edge in her voice. "They're not doing anything. They aren't hurting people, they are trying to help. And they've compromised where they can, working with you."

Luna felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, pulling her back. She blinked once, and the wind died down. The ice pick melted and the water flowed back into the glass. Her breathing was shallow as she put distance between her and Tony.

Tony swallowed harshly. "I did what had to be done," he countered, "to stave off something worse."

"You keep telling yourself that," Steve said and held a pen in the air, laying it on the table in front of Tony. Giving Luna a reassuring nod, he left the room.

Pregnant silence hung in the air.

Luna closed her eyes harshly and ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "Tony," she began, the hostility had left her voice. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. It's just..." she trailed off.

"No," Tony said. "You don't have to be sorry. You were kinda scary there for a second, I'll give you that." He gave her a cautious smile.

Luna felt the corners of her mouth twitching up. "Kinda?" she said. "I'm terrifying."

Tony chuckled quietly. "Look, I'm not keeping them at the compound because I don't trust them. It's that the world doesn't trust them. They're foreign and they're powerful and people are going to think of them as threats."

"They have a home here," Luna stated softly. "Don't you think that they're scared, too? They're in a whole different world, and they've gone through a lot in the past couple of months."

"Okay," he replied. "I can't let them go about on their own. But," he quickly added before Luna could protest, "what if they go back living at the apartment, and Vision keeps an eye on them? Pretty sure they've become friends."

Luna nodded steadily. "How about you ask them first? And give them their phones back."

"Getting pushy now, are we?" Tony joked. "Kidding. Sure, they can have their phones. Just don't go sending nudes to your girlfriend."

Luna slapped the back of Tony's head. "Dick."

"Bitch." Tony shot back.

They laughed the tension away and as Luna sat down at the table, she felt comforted knowing that they were still good. That they were still a team.

 

Chapter 26: Shitty Forms Of Escapism

Summary:

At the JCTC, Bucky Barnes is interrogated for his alleged terrorrist actions at the UN convention. Luna, Tony, Natasha and T'Challa go after a couple of fugitives.

V. SHITTY FORMS OF ESCAPISM
__________

The room Barnes was in was bare, a single desk in front of his bulletproof cage. The man himself sat chained to a reinforced chair, his hair slick with sweat as he struggled against the confinements across his chest. Luna didn't know how to feel. Bucky Barnes was innocent, she believed this, but The Winter Soldier was inside his mind and ready to pop out at any given moment.

Luna stood beside Tony and Natasha in front of the many screens that showed the entire live feed of Barnes' cell, government lackeys working around them.

The doors to Barnes' cell opened and his psychiatrist, Broussard, walked inside, taking a seat at the desk, laying a file on the table in front of him. He took a moment to set up his tablet. He looked like a man in his thirties, with a small scruff on his chin and neatly kept brown hair. There were no guards within the room, which made the entire scene eerily quiet. Barnes kept still, his hair like a curtain in front of his face.

"Your first name is James?" the psychiatrist asked.
          
Barnes didn't reply.
          
Broussard sighed, opening the file. "I'm not here to judge you. I just want to ask you a few questions," he said. "Do you know where you are, James?"

A man typing on his keyboard next to Luna filled the silence.

"I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James."

Luna noted Broussard's accent; she couldn't quite pinpoint where it was from. His name was French and his nationality was American, but his accent was neither.

"My name is Bucky," Bucky said, his voice filled with gravel, probably dry from dehydration.
          
Broussard nodded thoughtfully, scribbling in his notebook as he continued asking questions.

"There's something I don't understand," Luna spoke up, talking beneath her breath just in case the suits in the room weren't as 'trustworthy' as they had thought. "Those photos of Barnes on the news... why release them?"
         
"Barnes has been going under everybody's radar for years," Natasha replied. "Get the people on the ground to keep an eye out for him too, better chance you find him."
          
"But Bucky's innocent," she stated, keeping a wary eye on Everett Ross, who was standing off to the side. "These pictures were faked... Maybe someone wanted to get him out of hiding?"
         
"Fake security tapes and get the entire world knowing The Winter Soldier's face," Natasha figured. "Someone framed him to find him."

A light flickered on in Luna's mind. "That's why they bombed the UN. They needed global attention so they'd be able to get him anywhere he went. Except they don't have him, we have."
          
"You think they're gonna try something to take him?"
          
Luna shook her head slowly, turning back to the security feed. "Yeah... maybe."

"Tell me, Bucky," Broussard said, "You've seen a great deal, haven't you?"
          
Bucky's voice was rough when he spoke, "I don't wanna talk about it."
          
"You fear that if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop." He looked on his tablet for a second. "Don't worry," he said. "We only have to talk about one."

The room went dark as the electricity was cut. The screens in front of Luna flashed off as the alarm lights began flashing red. Immediately everybody was on high-alert.

"Come on, guys," Ross said into his walkie, "get me eyes on Barnes." He looked at Tony, Natasha and Luna, motioning stressfully at the door.

"The psychiatrist," Luna said as she and Natasha followed after Tony. "I knew something was off about him."
          
"This was their plan," Natasha realized. "Get us to capture Barnes and then take him for themselves."
          
"How the hell is one guy going to break out a super soldier?"
          
Natasha's eyes widened. "He's not." The two of them quickly fell into a fast pace beside Tony. "Please tell me you brought a suit," she said to him.

"Sure did," Tony answered. "It's a lovely Tom Ford, three-piece, two-button."
          
"Your sass ain't gonna do shit against a super soldier, Stark," Luna snapped.

Tony led them through a long corridor until eventually it opened up into a large, public area, filled with tables and chair. They stood with their backs against the wall as they heard fighting going on around the corner. Quickly, Luna and Tony split off from Natasha, waiting for her to give them the signal.

"I'm in position," came Natasha's voice through their earpieces.

Luna watched in astonishment as Tony tapped his watch twice and pulled a growing Ironman gauntlet over his hand. He stood away from the wall and aimed a blast at Bucky's chest. Except what went off wasn't a laser, it was a bright blinding light that made Bucky flinch backwards, shielding his eyes.

Luna took this as her sign as she swiftly ran behind Bucky and bend the earth from underneath the building up through the floor, no longer caring about property damage, and send it barreling toward Bucky. It hit and he stumbled backwards with a hurt grunt, right into Tony. He was quick to react as Tony charged into combat, fighting off the man with his gun.

A shot went off and Luna thanked the stars that Tony had thought to make his glasses bullet-resistant as the bullet only cracked the glass, and not his head. Barnes took advantage of Tony's stunned state of mind and kicked him into the air, sending him barreling into a table.

Luna charged again as she noticed Natasha coming up from behind Barnes. She bend the water out of her flask and send it like bullets flying toward Barnes. He deflected most of them with his metal arm, but the ones that did hit were sure to leave a few bruises.

Luna ran closer, sending a well-aimed kick to his face. Barnes was flung around to Natasha, who went for his legs. Together, they engaged Barnes. But he was stronger than the two of them combined, more agile, more resistant. With his normal arm he managed to land a hit in Luna's stomach, sending her flying into a group of chairs. Her head hit something hard and her vision blurred, nausea settling in her stomach.

When she came to, T'Challa had arrived and was going toe-to-toe with the super soldier. Luna quickly went to help Natasha up from the ground, watching the fight carefully from the corner of her eye. Barnes had managed to defend himself against T'Challa and was running up the stairs away from him.

T'Challa never did give up easy. He ran back before charging forward, leaping all the way up the stairs, stopping Barnes in his tracks. Again, they fought. Their jabs were quick and precise, their strength and stamina almost like equals. Luna knew this was personal for T'Challa, he had a thirst for vengeance, but she also knew that Bucky was innocent and she was not going to let T'Challa kill an innocent man.

When she finally recovered from the hit, the two had dropped down to a lower level. She used air bending to levitate herself down, ready to stop either of them from killing the other, only to find T'Challa standing by himself. Bucky had managed to escape. It was when Tony and Natasha finally joined them that she learned Steve and Sam also did.

T'Challa marched to the nearest wall and hit his hand flat against its surface, letting out a frustrated yell.
         
"T'Challa," Luna said warningly.
         
"I have failed," he muttered. "Again."
         
"You didn't," she insisted. "Barnes is not the guy you want."
         
With a confused glance, he turned to face her. "The footage—"
          
"Faked and planted for us to find. All of it."

T'Challa stared into Luna's eyes, trying to find the truth behind them. "Then who?"
          
"The psychiatrist, Broussard, or whatever the hell his real name is," she explained as Tony and Natasha joined them. "He must've been planning this for a long time. And we finally gave him the opportunity at the UN. He managed to flush Barnes out of hiding by framing him, knowing we'd find him and bring him here, right where he wanted us to."
          
"He infiltrated the building as Broussard, taking his identity," Natasha added. "And he had the words that activated HYDRA's programming inside Barnes' mind."

Sharon Carter ran into the room, her eyes going wildly to all the damage before she caught the four of them in the middle of it. "What the fuck happened?" she asked frantically, stopping them from answering as she added, "never mind. Ross needs to see you three."

---

"I don't suppose you have any idea where they are?" Secretary Ross said, his hair slicked back as usual and his moustache neatly trimmed.
           
Luna leaned back in a chair and held a puddle of cooling water over her stomach, where a bruise was starting to form. "Oh, what made you think that? Your keen investigation skills?" she said sarcastically.

"We will," assured Tony. "GSG 9's got the borders covered. Recon's flying 24/7. You've got a perimeter around the building and gunships in the air looking for Barnes. They'll get a hit. We'll handle it," he gestured to him, Natasha and Luna.
           
"Unless we're too late with the borders and he's already managed to flee the country."
           
Tony turned to her. "You know, we could really do without your negativity right about now."

"It's not yours to handle," Ross interrupted. "It's clear you can't be objective. Especially you," he cast a keen glance to Luna. "I'm putting Special Ops on this."
           
Luna scoffed as she stood up, facing the CIA agent. "D'you really think some puny little agents are a match against not one, but two super soldiers? I'm the Avatar, Ross, and even I have trouble dealing with them."
           
Ross let out a frustrated yet contained breath. "My agents are equipped with the latest technology in weapons—"

"What are you gonna do?" Natasha wondered. "Kill Steve Rogers?"
           
"If provoked," he said. "Barnes would've been eliminated in Romania if it wasn't for Rogers. There are dead people who would be alive now if it wasn't for Steve Rogers."
           
Luna bit her tongue as she sat back down.

"All due respect," Tony said. "you're not gonna solve this with boys and bullets, Ross. You gotta let us bring them in."
           
"Preferably alive," Luna added.
           
"How would that end any differently than last time?"
           
Tony sat up straighter. "Because this time I won't be wearing loafers and a silk shirt. 72 hours, guaranteed."
           
Ross considered it. "36 hours. Barnes, Rogers, Wilson."

The group let out a simultaneous deep breath as he stomped out of the room. Natasha stood from her chair and approached Tony.
           
"My left arm's numb, is that normal?" he asked.
           
"You alright?" Natasha asked, laying a hand on his shoulder.
           
"Always."

"What if we just leave?" Luna muttered as she leaned her head on her hand, held up on the table by her elbow. "Early retirement?"
           
"You heard what Ross said," Tony replied. "36 hours. Jeez..."
           
Luna looked up a frown on her face. "You really want to do this? Both of you?" she quickly glanced at Natasha. "These are our friends, guys, our family—" her voice cracked. Running a hand through her hair, she cleared her throat. "You both know what's on the other end of this. Steve isn't gonna come quietly and Sam will follow him straight into hell for all we know." She groaned and let her head fall into her hands. "I never should've signed those Accords..."

"Then why are you here?" Tony asked, an edge to his voice. "Barnes might not have bombed the UN, but he's not innocent by a long shot. You could retire, go join Clint on his little farm. Live the quiet life."
           
"Because—'cause you're my family too." She looked up at them. "How can you not see what's happening? It's like I'm stuck choosing between mom and dad in a divorce," she said sarcastically.
        
Natasha sat down in front of her. "Luna," she said softly. "There's a reason you signed those Accords. To stop the destruction we leave in our wake. If we don't stop Steve, who knows what's gonna happen next?" she continued.

When Luna looked up at her, she could see a tiny speck of hesitation behind her eyes.
           
Luna nodded tiredly. "We can't go after them with just us."
          
"I've got a solution for that," Tony spoke up.
          
"I think I do too," Luna said.
           
"Where's yours?"
           
Luna looked weirdly at Tony. "Downstairs. Why? Where's yours?"

---

Luna stood in the garage, waiting patiently in front of a sleek gray car. People walking past eyed her curiously but she paid them no mind, especially as the man she wanted to speak to came into view.

"Luna," T'Challa greeted with a smile, a Dora Milaje bodyguard next to him. The Dora Milaje stepped forward but T'Challa quickly waved her back.
           
"T'Challa," Luna nodded at him. "You really think you can find him on your own?"
           
"My resources are considerable, as you well know," he replied, walking past her to open his car door.

"Don't get cocky," she said. "It took the world 70 years to find Barnes, so if you've got a life-time you're willing to spend on this, be my guest. However, I agree he does need to be brought in."
          
T'Challa faced her. "You know where he is," he surmised.
           
She shrugged. "I know a guy. Actually," she corrected. "Nat knows a guy. You in?"

"Okay," he said. "But after, you have to come back to Wakanda with me."
           
Luna frowned as she began to lead T'Challa and the Dora Milaje back into the building. "Why? You were so eager to get rid of me the last time."
           
He rolled his eyes. "Shuri misses you—"
           
"Of course she does. My presence is very impactful."
           
"—and, there has been some interesting developments concerning your brother."

Luna stopped mid-stride and grabbed the man's arm to turn him to her, raising her eyebrows in question.
           
"It's not bad news," T'Challa answered and Luna let out the breath she had been holding. "It also is not good news," he added.
           
"Is he waking up or not?" she asked firmly.
           
"Neither. His vitals have been concerningly low for the past two years, as you know, but recently they've begun spiking at random moments. No pattern, nothing to indicate he's getting worse or getting better."          

Luna licked her lips and crossed her arms, deep in thought. "That makes no sense," she muttered. "Maybe it's got something to do with the spirit? It went into him, can't exactly be good for a person, right?"
           
T'Challa nodded thoughtfully. "I'll have Shuri scour the library for anything on the spirits, but I cannot guarantee she will find something of use..."
           
"No, I know," she replied quickly before looking up at the ceiling. "This would be a real good time to show me that massive library you promised, Pikachu!" Nobody responded. "Asshole," Luna mumbled, before waving off T'Challa's confused expression. "We better get upstairs, Nat's waiting."

"What about Stark?" T'Challa wondered.
           
Luna sighed deeply. "Exactly: what about Stark? He said he had an idea and just took off in a plane towards New York. Queens, he said. Wouldn't say why."
           
"That is reassuring."

With that, T'Challa send his bodyguard away and followed Luna toward Natasha in one of the private rooms. Luna took out her bag and stroked the fabric of her suit carefully before pulling it out. T'Challa had stepped out of the room as Natasha and Luna began to change into their suits.

"You ready for this?" Natasha asked the younger girl.
           
"Don't got much of a choice, do I?" Luna answered bitterly. "But yeah, sure, I'm ready. We're only arresting our family. Our fucked up family that fights all the time, but still..."
           
"I get it," Natasha replied. "I don't want to do this, but they've become dangerous. And what's worse, they believe they're doing the right thing."
           
"Yeah," she said quietly, "I know. It's just..." she trailed off, her mind going to auburn hair and intense stares, and cheeky smiles and white, floppy hair.
           
"The twins," she guessed.

Luna groaned in frustration, running a hand through her hair. "They fucking hate me!" she exclaimed. "I feel like I'm going against them, but I'm not! Why can't they see that I'm doing this for them? I'm trying to make the world see them like I see them."
           
"You can't control how they feel, Luna. All you can do is explain and hope they understand."
           
"And if that doesn't work?"
           
"Then they're not really family."

Luna didn't say anything after that. They finished getting dressed and met back up with T'Challa, getting into an undercover car and making their way to the airport, where Tony's plane was already waiting for them. The entrance slowly opened and a hefty man with greying hair stepped out, waving them inside from across the long runway.

"'Sup, Happy? How you doing?" Luna said with a smile as she launched herself to the top of the steps, blowing air into Happy's face.
           
The older man sighed. "Great. They're waiting inside. Romanoff, your Highness," he nodded to the two that followed Luna inside.
           
"Hold up, did you say they're waiting? Who did Tony..." Luna didn't finish her sentence as she spotted a young boy bouncing up and down one of the chair of the private jet. He was wearing some dumb science shirt and sincerely looked as if he didn't belong in something this fancy.

Luna met Tony's eye and her glare intensified as she sat down opposite of the man. "What the fuck, Tony?" she spat.
           
"Alright, don't get you panties in a twist," he quickly said. "Kid." He beckoned the kid over and the boy hesitantly took a seat beside him. "Peter, meet Luna."
           
Luna's stared the boy down and was pleased to see him squirm in his seat. She nodded intimidatingly in greeting.
           
Tony rolled his eyes. "Okay, don't act tough. Look, kid, she's not really that scary."
           
Luna huffed and crossed her arms. "Yes I am."

"You're the Avatar," Peter said, leaning forward with wonder in his eyes. "You're my friend Ned's favorite superhero!"
           
She narrowed her eyes, trying to ignore the blush that spread on her cheeks. "Not yours?"
           
Peter's eyes widened as he scrambled for an answer.

"I'm kidding," she quickly reassured, a small smile on her lips. "How old are you?" she asked suspiciously.
           
"Fifteen, ma'am."
           
"Tony—"
           
"Don't start, Luna. Wanna remind me how old you were when you started?" Tony quickly retorted.

"That was an end of the world situation, Stark, not some pissing match between you and Steve." She watched the younger boy in front of her as he looked between the two of them like a tennis match. "Alright, kid—"
           
"He's three years younger than you, Carter," said Tony.
           
Luna glared at him. "I'm sorry, but I had to endure y'all call me 'kid' for years, so forgive me if I wanna have a turn. Hello, Peter. My name is Luna."
           
"I'm Peter—you already knew that. Oh god..." he rambled, his face turning red.

"Which one is this?" Luna asked Tony, still looking at Peter.
           
"The spider one."
           
Luna frowned deeply, her mouth agape. "You're the Spiderman? But you're a child!"
           
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but weren't you my age when you became the Avatar?"
           
"Shut the fuck up, kid. And don't call me ma'am—it's weird."

The hotel Tony had managed to get them in such a short time-span was incredible. With an indoor swimming pool, a full bar and a four-star restaurant, this might have been the best vacation Luna had ever been on. Not that she would get the chance to actually enjoy it.

All of them got their own room, Rhodey had joined Happy, Peter, Tony, Natasha, T'Challa and Luna when they arrived. It was a few minutes after they had settled in and Luna was about to take a short nap, when a knock came from the door to her room.

"Hey, you actually knocked this time," Luna said, opening the door to see the Vision standing in front of her with his red face and the gem in his forehead shining brightly. Then, her mind reeled and she dragged the robot-man inside. "Aren't you supposed to keep an eye on Wanda and Pietro? What are you doing here?"
           
"I have already warned Mr. Stark, but it seems that Clint Barton has come out of retirement to help the Captain," he was quiet, and Luna could hear Peter making some dumb vlog in the room next to hers. "Wanda and Pietro went with him," Vision said quickly, eyeing Luna carefully.

She stood eerily still, her jaw clenched tightly. Stomping over to the wall, she reeled her arm back and punched it, leaving a noticeable dent. "Fuck!" she exclaimed, waving her hand in the air as waves of pain rolled through her arm. Taking a deep breath, she replied, "Thanks, Vis. Tell Tony I'll help strategize in a moment." There was no reply, but Luna heard the door close.

"Fuck," she muttered into the stillness of the room. Her mind was running around in circles, it felt like there was an entire circus performing in her stomach.

She was angry. At Steve, for dragging Wanda and Pietro into this and pulling Clint out of his peaceful retirement. At Tony, for recruiting a 15-year-old kid into this, which in Luna's own retrospect seemed like a really, really dumb idea. Most of all, she felt angry at the world for putting her into this situation in the first place.
          
Why couldn't everything go perfectly all of the time? Is there a universe out there where they never went on the mission in Lagos and they were all happy and together?

Something stirred within Luna, something primordial and the animals from the circus escaped into a rampage. The draft inside the hotel room picked up into a breeze, picking up papers and spreading them across the floor.

Luna turned to the window, overseeing the city. Someone stared back at her, someone familiar. Lee stood where Luna's reflection should be, his eyes alight with a white glowing light, the wind pushing his hair away from his face. Lee's face flickered, and Luna stared at herself, her eyes alight in the same way as his were before he appeared again.

"Luna—" Lee spoke, his voice cut of as his image flickered again. "The spiritual connection is worsening—"
           
"Lee?" Luna exclaimed, worry on her face. "What's happening?"
           
"We're not going to be around much longer— we're being pulled back into the spirit world." Lee appeared again, his eyes blazing with power. "Something's coming—" he flickered into another face; Aoma, "—something big!" she was screaming, yelling against the harsh winds that had picked up. Aoma's face flickered into Korra's. "You need to be ready, Luna!"
           
"What?" Luna yelled back. "What do you mean? What's coming?"
           
"The stones! Remember the stones!" Korra's face morphed into Aang's. "Be prepared. The world needs the Avatar St—"

"Ma'am!"

Luna's eyes blinked on their own and Aang was gone. The room was in shambles and the light glowing from her eyes was nowhere to be found. A hand was touching her shoulder, attached to it a young boy. It took Luna a moment to fully get adjusted and recognize Peter.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and shrugged his hand off. "Don't—" she cleared her throat, "don't call me ma'am..."
           
"I'm sorry," said Peter, concern clear on his face. "It's just—there was, like, a tornado going on. I heard it from my room and immediately came over, even got some of it on video." He sheepishly held his cracked phone. "Did something happen?" he asked. "Your eyes were sort off glowing. Do they do that a lot?"

Luna frowned, not fully listening to what Peter was saying and glanced backward, at the window where Lee had given his foreboding warning, only to find her own, normal reflecting staring back.

"Uh—no, they don't really do that..." she replied, shaking her head. This would have to go on the back-burner for now. They had more pressing matters to deal with.
           
"Nice suit," Luna noted as she saw Peter out of the red-and-blue onesie she had seen him wear on YouTube, and into a high-tech, spandex suit.
           
Peter's cheeks tinted pink. "Thanks. Mr. Stark made it. Speaking of, he wants to see us. He said we're starting the evacuation."

Luna took one last look at her reflection and with a sigh, and Pietro and Wanda anew in her mind, followed after Peter.

 

Chapter 27: Goodbyes Are For Traitors

Summary:

At the Leipzig-Halle airport, Germany, Luna and the team go after Steve and Bucky as the two sides of the former team clash in a fateful civil war...

VI. GOODBYES ARE FOR TRAITORS
__________

The Leipzig-Halle airport was empty of people as Luna walked beside her team onto the runway, all of them suited up. Their plan had been put in motion when they had landed on the north runway and Spider-Man had hidden away for his dramatic entrance. Once they approached the parking lot they knew Cap and his team would be at, they split up.

"Dies ist eine Notsituation. Alle Passagiere müssen den Flughafen sofort evakuieren," the message repeated itself one last time over the intercom, making sure all citizens were safe from harm of the combat that was to come, but Luna was sure it also alerted Steve to their presence.

Walking in long, determined strides through an underpass was Steve Rogers, the man they were there to apprehend. He was headed for a grounded chopper. Tony noticed and, as if he were prepared for this exact situation, shot an electro-disabler onto the chopper. Tony and Rhodey descended from the sky in their Ironman and War Machine suits with a clank of metal on stone.

"Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport. Don't you think that's weird?" Tony asked Rhodey as his helmet was pulled back into his suit to reveal his face.

"Definitely weird," Luna overheard Rhodey reply through her earpiece as she watched from a distance.

Hidden behind a wall were her, Peter, Natasha and T'Challa waiting for their cue.

"Hear me out, Tony," Steve began. "That doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this."

T'Challa went out of their hiding place, despite the displeased grumbles of Luna trying to hold him back and flipped over a truck, landing cat-like on the ground. He stood up with a nod. "Captain."

"Your Highness," Steve returned.

"Goddamnit," Luna muttered. "Nobody keeps to the plan anymore these days." Then, realizing what she just said, looked at her hands, "I'm turning into Nick..."

"Anyway," Tony pulled the attention back to himself. "Anyway, Ross gave me 36 hours to bring you in. That was 24 hours ago. Can you help a brother out?"

"You're after the wrong guy."

"Funny, that's what Carter said. Thing is, she had the sense to realize Barnes is far from innocent." Tony said. "Your judgment is askew, Cap. Your old war buddy killed people long before you knew he was alive, innocent people. He's dangerous, a liability."

Steve shook his head and replied, "And there are five more super soldiers just like him. I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can't."

"That's my cue..." Natasha said, a melancholy meaning behind her words. She walked onto the airport's parking space, surrounded with cars and trucks, and stood behind Steve. "Steve..." she said, startling him as he turned around to face her. "You know what's about to happen. Do you really wanna punch your way out of this one?"

"All right, I've run out of patience," Tony said loudly. "Underoos!" he called out.

Luna bumped Peter's shoulder, who was pulling his mask on. "That's your cue, kiddo. Be careful."

"I will, ma—Luna," he replied and swung into the field. He shot out another web, connecting to Steve's shield, pulling it out of the Captain's hand and then another, webbing his hands together before landing smoothly on top of a truck.

"Nice job, kid," Tony praised.

"Thanks," Peter's voice rang awkwardly through the airport. "Well, I could've stuck the landing a little better. It's just, the new suit—well, it's nothing, Mr. Stark," he stuttered nervously. "It's—It's perfect. Thank you."

"Yeah, we don't really need to start a conversation."

"Okay. Cap—Captain. Big fan, I'm Spider-Man."

Luna, silently and painfully, wondered if she was like this when she was fifteen.

"Yeah, we'll talk about it later. Just—"

"Hey, everyone!"

"Peter, stop talking," Luna quickly said over their comm system. She visibly noticed Peter shutting up.

"You've been busy," Steve noted dryly.

"And you've been a complete idiot," Tony retorted sharply. "Dragging in Clint from his peaceful retirement, away from his family, his kids, for something that's got nothing to do with him."

"'Rescuing' Wanda and Pietro!" Luna called out, her words echoing, as she walked beside Natasha. "From a place they didn't wanna leave in the first place, a safe place. Sorry Tony," she glanced at him quickly, "got bored waiting for my cue." She stepped forward. "Don't you get it, Steve? We don't want to do this. But you're really making it hard to do nothing."

"We're trying—" Tony said, cutting himself off before his voice could break. "I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart."

"You did that when you signed."

Luna sighed and stepped backward, feeling thankful for the caring hand Natasha put on her shoulder. She knew how difficult this was, not only for her, but for Natasha as well. Hell, this was hard for everybody. Luna couldn't even imagine that Steve would feel like he did the absolute right thing if he looked back on this in retrospect. And if he did... Luna didn't want to imagine that Steve cared that little about them, about her.

He was blindsided, going down a dark tunnel and imagining a light at the end of the line where he comes out on top, with his best friend. Barnes was the only thing Steve had from his old life and Luna could not imagine him giving up without a fight. Still, Luna could not blame him for not signing the Accords, especially with how much she had doubted her own decision over the past couple days.

"Alright, We're done," Tony said quietly, not even trying to hide the pain on his face. "You're gonna turn Barnes over, you're gonna come with us. Now!" he exclaimed. "Because it's us!" He motioned his hand to Natasha and Luna. "Or a squad of J-SOC guys with no compunction about being impolite." He added in a whisper, "come on..."

The hairs on the back of Luna's neck stood up as she felt something... a feeling so familiar at the edge of her mind... something high up. Her eyes followed her instinct toward somewhere inside the building opposite them. Green eyes met blue.

In her moment of distraction, a split-second of her heart speeding up, Clint Barton had released an arrow from his bow from where he stood beside Wanda and Pietro. The arrow soared straight for Steve. He held his webbed up hands in the air and the arrow cut it clean in half, freeing Steve's hands.

Luna was shaken out of her trance when, seemingly out of nowhere, a man grew and grew to a regular size and grabbed Cap's shield out of Peter's hand, handing it back to its owner.

"Wait—what the fuck? What the hell was that!" Luna yelled at the same time as Rhodey.

"Oh, great," Tony mumbled over the comms. "Alright, there's three on the parking deck. Clint and the twins. Nat and I will go."

"Tony, I nee—"

"Absolutely not, Carter, you go after the other twin. None of us are a match for his speed."

Luna accepted with a grumble.

"Got two in the terminal. Wilson and Barnes."

"Barnes and I are evenly matched. I will get him," T'Challa said, beginning to take off.

"T'Challa," Luna said warningly. "Don't be reckless."

T'Challa kept silent and took off. Steve followed after him without a second thought.

"Hey, Mr. Stark, what should I do?" Peter asked awkwardly.

"What we discussed," he replied, and Luna could feel the eyeroll under his helmet. "Keep your distance. Web 'em up."

"Okay, copy that!" the kid replied and swung away with surprising agility.

"Still creeps me out..." Luna shuddered as she saw him crawling across the windows. "Tony..." she said carefully. "Just... try not to hurt her?"

Tony activated his rockets and flew off through the airport.

A whoosh blasted past Luna. Stumbling back, she found herself caught by surprise by the speedster for the first time in a really long time. She planted her feet on the ground and felt the vibrations of fast footsteps through her legs, getting louder and harsher. Just in time, she punched out and grabbed Pietro by the collar, lifting him into the air with the momentum and pushed him to the ground. He hit the concrete loudly, a rough breath coming from his lungs, trying to get air back in them. Looking at the pained expression on Pietro's face, which had grown a short stubble since last she saw him, Luna was startled.

This is your best friend. Why are you fighting him?

She caught sight of Captain America and the Black Panther exchanging harsh, quick blows and was immediately reminded: She signed the Accords. This was her duty.

You didn't sign up to beat up your friends. When have you ever cared about duty?

Shut up, Luna thought. They're defending Barnes.

Bucky's innocent.

No. This is what Peggy would've wanted, she thought, Sharon's speech repeating in her mind.

Luna pressed down harder on Pietro's chest, feeling his rattling breaths. "Stay down, Pietro."

Pietro opened his eyes. Blue met blue. In Luna's distraction, he managed to grasp her wrist and flip them, putting Luna to the ground, a knee on her stomach to restrain her.

"No, you stay down. It is not too late to change your mind, Luna," he said gruffly, his pale hair falling in his face.

"You don't understand—"

"No!" Pietro snarled, surprised by his own tone. "You do not understand! After everything we have been through—how could you sign—" he couldn't finish his sentence, because from a little ways away, an explosion reached above rows of cars.

Luna realized that was where Tony had flown off to. Pietro had a similar insight.

"Wanda," they both said at the same time. In a flash, Pietro was gone. Luna followed, running with the wind in her back.

Wanda stood in the middle of the parking lot, Clint at her side with an arrow knocked in his bow. Tony flew above them, his blaster raised.

"Wanda, I think you hurt Vision's feelings," Tony said as Luna arrived, just behind Pietro.

"You had him baby-sitting me," Wanda replied.

"Okay, first," he said, "that's an exaggeration. Second, I wanted to keep you at the compound, Carter's the one who came up with the compromise."

Wanda didn't acknowledge that Luna was there.

"Clint," Luna said, walking closer. "Retirement not for you? Tired of shooting golf?"

"Well, I played 18, shot 18." He looked at Tony. "Can't seem to miss." He drew his arrow back and released it. The arrow flew just past Tony, who quickly blasted it out of the air.

"Well, first time for everything," Tony quipped.

Luna frowned at the smug look on Clint's face. "Made you look," he said.

Wanda's hands were wrapped in red energy as she pulled cars out of the parking garage behind them.

"Jesus—" Luna yelled as she threw a car out of the way. Turning around, she began running toward Wanda. But she had forgotten that Pietro was still there, as he knocked her across the pavement. Behind her more cars were crashing down and she was pretty sure Tony had gotten buried beneath them. When Luna finally stopped rolling, Clint, Wanda and Pietro were gone.

"Carter, get here, now," she heard Tony say through her earpiece.

"Alright, calm down," she grunted as she picked herself up and quickly located Tony and Natasha.

"Guys," she exclaimed as she ran up to the two. "This ain't working. You got a plan?"

Tony shrugged, for as much as he could in his suit. "Well, my plan was go easy on them, wanna switch it up?"

Luna sighed. "Not really."

"We don't have a choice," Natasha said.

"Yeah? I'm getting pretty tired of people telling me I don't have a choice."

"Let's go."

Regrouping with their team and checking everybody for injuries, they quickly went back to work. Steve and the rest had spotted their ride and were making a beeline for them. Vision was first, disrupting their way with an energy laser from the stone in his forehead.

"Captain Rogers," he said. "I know you believe what you're doing is right," the rest of the team walked or flew beneath him, blocking Steve's way. "but for the collective good, you must surrender now."

It was quiet. Like a calm before the storm, only the calm itself was a raging fire. Luna stared at Wanda and in her mind, as if the girl could hear her, she thought; 'Come on, Wanda, please... Don't make me do this... I love you.' And for a split second, Wanda returned her gaze.

Then, Steve and his team came charging at them.

It started with walking, then a slow jog.

"They're not stopping," Peter said.

"Neither are we," Tony replied, not sounding too happy about it himself.

Both sides began running and in seconds, the war broke out. Tony went for Cap, T'Challa for Bucky. Natasha and Clint, people who had been friends for years, went toe to toe. Peter was going after Sam in the air, but he didn't stand that much of a chance without being able to swing from building to building. Pietro was everywhere at once, running people over and stopping incoming attacks. Vision flew above the fight, trying to spot Pietro and take him down. Tony and Rhodey were in the air as well, going after Sam as Peter backed off, instead going for a ground fight against Cap.

Wanda was easy to spot, Luna found, her magic rolling from the battlefield in waves. Creeping up behind her, Luna swept Wanda's leg , tripping her before quickly pinning her arms to the ground.

"Not that impressive if you can't use your magic, eh witchy?" she said.

Wanda glared as she pushed back against Luna's grip. In less than a second, Wanda kicked Luna off her, putting some distance between them, "I wouldn't say that." She held out her hand and the energy flowed from it, warping around Luna's legs, pulling her into the air.

Then it disappeared and she began falling. Bending the air beneath her, Luna was able to soften the fall. She stood back up and somersaulted forward, bending the air along her leg and pushing it to Wanda. She landed harshly and sent trembles through the earth, encasing Wanda's legs in rock. Immediately, the rock exploded into pieces. Wanda ran forward, throwing a regular punch.

"Want a rematch, I see?" Luna said, dodging it.

"No," Wanda replied as she caught the counter-punch. Her hand slowly went up to Luna's head. Red began flowing from her finger tips. "Just a distraction."

"Oh, no you don't—" Luna muttered, headbutting Wanda.

Wanda stumbled back, catching her throbbing nose.

Luna swiftly followed up as she pulled the water from her flask, freezing Wanda's arms to her side. But Wanda didn't look defeated. She was smirking as she looked behind Luna.

A strong arm wrapped around her throat as another held her head in place. "Didn't see that coming?" Pietro whispered.

In between breaths, Luna was able to mutter, "bitch..." before she was thrown forward onto the ground, her vision getting a little too blurry for her taste. Pietro was gone as quick as he arrived but in her state of trying to get enough oxygen back into her lungs, Wanda kneeled in front of her, holding her palm to Luna's cheek.

"I heard you," she said. "You were wrong. Don't make me do this to you. Give up, Luna."

Luna had recovered, but looking into Wanda's eyes she still felt incapacitated. She placed her hand over Wanda's. "I—I'm sorry..." she said quietly. She gripped Wanda's hand and pulled her up before throwing her over her shoulder and harshly onto the ground.

"Holy shit!" Peter yelled over the comms. Luna quickly scanned the field and immediately saw what he was talking about. The small guy Cap had recruited was now a hundred times bigger and holding Rhodey in his grasp. With one last look back at Wanda, who refused to look at her, she bend the ground beneath her ran away towards the fight.

"Okay," Rhodey's distressed voice said, "tiny dude is big now. He's big now."

"Tony, what's the sitch?" Luna asked.

"It's a distraction," he replied. "Find out were Cap and his buddy went off to. We got this."

"Copy that." The jet, Luna thought, pulling up the map of the airport in her mind. That's where they're headed. Taking off in a jog, Natasha joined her side. "This is getting out of hand."

Natasha sighed. "I know."

They got there before Steve and Bucky ran in, escaping narrowly from Vision coming after them, the entrance blocked off by falling debris behind them.

"Guess it's a standoff, then," Luna said and turned to Bucky. "Hey, we haven't formally met yet. I'm Luna."

He nodded carefully. "You're Peggy's grandkid. I'm Bucky."

"You're not gonna stop," Natasha stated.

Cap shrugged heavily. "You know I can't."

"I'm gonna regret this," she said and held up her arms, her Black Widow-bites lighting up. That's when Luna caught T'Challa crawling through the debris behind the two.

"Sorry," she said as Natasha shot him, the electric shock sending him to his knees.

Steve looked at them, his eyes widening.

"Go."

"Before we change our minds."

They nodded, speeding past them onto the jet.

T'Challa stood back up, not giving up. Natasha shot another Black Widow-bite.

"T'Challa," Luna said, walking closer. "This has gone too far. It's over."

He stood up fully, but made no move as the jet took off.

"Said I'd help you find him, not catch him." Natasha shrugged. "There's a difference."

Natasha and Luna stepped out of the building. The fighting had stopped as the jet flew away, the tension remained. Luna's eyes immediately went to Wanda, who was on the ground, Pietro by her side. 'I'm sorry,' she thought. Wanda caught her eye again. After a taut second, she nodded.

While the fight on the ground was dying down, a chase had begun in the air. Rhodey was flying after the jet, Tony close behind him. Sam was on their heels.

"Vision, I got a bandit on my six," Rhodey said. Just then, Sam send out multiple tiny rockets, blowing them up in front of Rhodey. The War Machine shook in the air, trying to regain his balance. "Vision, you copy?"

Vision stood alone, his eyes scanning the sky, calculating.

"Target his thruster, turn him into a glider."

The mind stone lit up and a beam went out from Vision's forehead, heading straight for Sam. Only he ducked out of the way, just in time. The beam didn't stop. It kept going, hitting Rhodey's chest, taking out his arch-reactor. And without it... well, he began plummeting to the ground.

Luna gasped. Everyone gasped, staring at the sight. Both Sam and Tony abandoned the jet, going to save Rhodey.

"Tony, I'm flying dead stick—" Rhodey gasped, his voice cracking.

Luna gathered the air around her, pushing herself through the air, racing to ease the man's fall. But it was far, and she wasn't fast enough.

"Rhodes!" Tony screamed, his thrusters working overtime.

Rhodey crashed on the grass, dirt sprayed around him. Tony held him in the crater. He wasn't dead, but he wasn't okay either.

---

All of them were back at the compound. Rhodey was taken to the medical wing. For the first time in days, the turmoil in Luna's stomach was fading, but not gone. Steve and Bucky were still gone, Wanda, Pietro, Clint, Scott Lang and Sam were taken into custody. Luna had no idea where they would be able to hold someone as powerful as Wanda and thinking any longer about her locked up in a cell made her sick.

Luna and Natasha found Tony in the med-wing, staring out over a balcony.

"The doctors say he shattered L4 through S1," Tony said as they quietly stood beside him. "Extreme laceration to the spinal cord. Probably looking at some sort of paralysis..."

It's a miracle he's alive, Luna thought.

"Steve's not gonna stop," Natasha said. "If you don't either, Rhodey's gonna be the best case scenario."

Tony turned, looking at them both. "You let them go."

"We played this wrong," Natasha began.

"So we made a choice," Luna added.

"'We'," Tony chuckled humorlessly. "Boy, it must be hard to shake the whole double-life thing you guys had going on. It's in your guys' DNA."

"You know what your sin is, Tony?" Luna asked. "Pride. You get an idea and won't hear anything else from anybody."

"Are you really incapable of letting go of your ego—your pride—for one goddamn second?" Natasha asked.

Tony averted his gaze, licking his lip. "T'Challa told Ross what you guys did. Know it must hurt coming from a friend like that," he said, looking at Luna accusingly. "So... they're coming for you."

Natasha held her chin up and replied. "We're not the ones that need to watch their back." She nodded for Luna to follow her as she walked away.

Luna sighed, carefully putting a hand on Tony's shoulder. "I'm sorry. About Rhodey," she whispered and followed Natasha out.

"We need to hide, Nat," Luna said as soon as her and Nat were in a car out of the compound.

"I know a few places. Won't last us long."

"Nat," Luna began carefully. "We need to go by my place real quick."

"Luna, they've probably already set up surveillance there—"

"I know, I know," she interrupted. "There's something I need to get. You can just drop me off a block away and I'll meet up with you later. I... I've got shit to do that you don't wanna be a part of." She turned her head to the woman in the drivers seat. "Completely unrelated, where would Ross send Wanda and the rest?"

Natasha's head swiveled to Luna. "I know better than to talk you out of whatever you've got brewing in that insane mind of yours."

"Thank you?"

"The Raft," she answered. "It's an underwater prison made for enhanced individuals who break the law."

Luna scoffed. "How long's that been a thing? Why don't I know about it?"

"Because it's classified. Ross is in charge of it, had it built a few years ago. After New York."

"Alright. Just send me the coordinates if you can. You can drop me off right here, by the way."

Natasha sighed as she turned the radio off. "Luna. I don't need to tell you to be careful, but be careful. The Raft is no joke, almost impenetrable."

"Well, it hasn't met The Avatar yet."

Natasha pulled up at the side of the road and Luna stepped out, watching as the car drove further away from her. From where she stood she could already see her apartment complex, but no obvious surveillance. She knew better than to think she was in the clear. Gathering all of the spy-skills Natasha had taught her, she snuck through alleyways and across rooftops until she landed softly on her own balcony.

"Spencer?" she whispered, looking around for the spider that lived there. He didn't reveal himself. Luna got out her key and quickly went inside.

The apartment was dark and messy. Nostalgia churned in her stomach as she looked at the couch where Pietro used to watch stupid cartoons and Wanda used to turn on her incessant sitcoms. Luna hated sitcoms, but she'd watch them with Wanda. Shaking off the uneasy feeling, she made her way to her bedroom. There, on the bed, lay the file she had gotten from Fury. Her parents' file. Grabbing a bag, she gathered up some spare clothes and her glider. Lastly, she put the file in there. Stuffing her daggers in her boots, she opened her front door to leave.

Someone stood in her way.

"Steve," Luna breathed out, pulling him roughly inside before checking the hallways for a tail. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Could ask the same of you," he said.

"Never mind," she replied before embracing the man. "God, I'm sorry Steve. I—I thought what I was doing was right, but—" her voice cracked.

Steve hugged her back. "We're all doing what we think is right... I made sure Tony knew that I'm still here for you guys."

She let go. "What happened?"

"We did it. Zemo is in custody. But... Tony found out that—that Bucky killed his parents," he said, a pained look on his face.

"Oh..." Luna muttered. "Under HYDRA control?" Steve nodded. "I'm assuming he didn't take it well?" Steve shook his head. "Fuck." She shook her head, gripping her backpack tightly.

"Going somewhere?" he asked.

"The Raft," she confessed, finding no use in lying to him. "I'm getting Wanda and the rest out of there. I'm righting my wrongs."

"Good," he responded. "Guess we're going the same way, then."

Luna looked up at him, a cautious smile growing on her lips.

 

Chapter 28: Fugitives Of The Law

Summary:

Steve and Luna travel to the Raft to rescue their captured friends.

VII. FUGITIVES OF THE LAW
__________

"Where would Ross keep them? It's a large place, Cap, they could be anywhere," Luna said as she paced back and forth.

"I'm not so sure about that," Steve replied, looking at the schematics of the Raft spread across the table.

He had brought it with him, just in case Luna was thinking what he thought she was thinking; rescuing her friends. "There ain't a lot of places that are strong enough to keep someone like Wanda. They'll be kept here," he pointed to one of the upper levels of the building with a row of cells, all of them lined with metal that probably carried power dampeners with them.

"And if they're not?" she asked.

Steve shrugged. "Let's not think like that, alright?"

Luna sighed deeply. "And the guards? This place is crawling with them. There are cameras around every corner," she said and motioned to the schematics. "I could take them out."

"Not necessary," he said. "Here," he pointed at a room off one of the corridors. "this is the only security room for the whole wing. You take out the people in the room and I'll clear the way to the cells."

Luna nodded along. "So we're really not trying to be stealthy at all?"

"Do we have a reason to be? We're already criminals."

"Good point."

For the rest of the night they stayed up, making sure there would be no surprises when they finally set their plan in motion. They had the quinjet Steve could fly for their entrance and, hopefully, smooth exit.

Luna could already feel her adrenaline flaring. It had been awhile, or at least felt like it, since she had gone on a mission, an actual mission. She hadn't felt like a hero ever since Lagos, but with Cap at the helm and her daggers in her hands, somehow she felt like things could be alright again.

The early morning sun was barely cresting the horizon as the quinjet flew through the air towards the coordinates Natasha had provided. The sky was still a deep navy blue, but little strands of orange had begun floating up, illuminating the clouds in all shades of orange and pink.

"We're approaching the coordinates," Luna said, reading the tablet.

Steve nodded and picked up the radio. "Attention Raft tower, looking for clearance to land."

A crackle sounded through the radio before a voice spoke up. "Security code."

"Accismus," Steve replied.

Luna held her breath as three long seconds passed without an answer.

"Cleared for landing. Look for runway 3," the person said and the radio cut out.

Both of them let out a simultaneous breath of relief as the Raft broke the surface. It was a large, circular building, but at the same time not as large as Luna had expected. Steve landed the quinjet and already they saw two guards coming up to them, presumably to help them with the jet.

"You ready?"

Luna cracked her knuckles. "If you are," she shrugged and shared a smile with Steve before they hopped out of the quinjet, reaching the agents before they could call in their location.

Dragging the two men to a dark and damp corner, they crushed their radios and threw their weapons overboard. It was easy finding their way inside, especially since Luna kept the schematic of the building on her phone. Coming up on a crossroads they stopped and put in their earpieces.

"Left is the security room, I'll call in the second the coast is clear," Luna said.

"I'll clear the way to the cells," Steve added. "Meet me after you're done here."

"Copy that. You got the keycard?"

He held up the card he had stolen from one of the guards outside. They nodded at each other, full of determination, before splitting up. Luna followed the corridor, making sure to keep clear of the cameras. In no time she reached the room. Taking a broad stance, she moved her arms in a pulling motion, slowly creating a vortex, sucking all of the air out of the room. It stayed quiet inside before she started hearing choking sounds.

That was her que to let the air back in and kick the door open. It was a larger room than she had expected and occupied a lot more people. But she had surprised them and at least half of them were knocked out, the rest was in a daze. She took them out easily. Coming up to the screens broadcasting and recording the camera footage, she strained her mind to remember how to loop cameras but eventually made it work.

"Coast is clear," she said through her earpiece. "I'm coming to jo—" she began saying, but something caught her eye.

"Copy that. What were you saying?" Steve responded.

"Keep going. You'll find Sam and the rest," she said, looking at the cameras in the cells. "Wanda and Pietro aren't there," she noticed, they weren't anywhere on the cameras. They're in a different wing, Luna realized.

"Luna, wait for me—"

She cut him off, "don't bother, Cap. Get the rest out of here, we'll meet you at the quinjet."

She heard him sigh. "Don't get dead."

Luna had already begun running before she realized she had no idea in which wing Wanda and Pietro were being kept.

"Fuck..." she murmured as she came to a stop.

Something pulled at her mind. Something so light and unnoticeable that Luna's first thought was to dismiss it. But then she felt it, the familiar and calming presence of Wanda poking at the outskirts of her consciousness. Taking deep breaths, she let the magic breach her mind. Luna began to see a string of red mist floating in the air; Ariadne's string pulling her out of the labyrinth. There was no hesitation as Luna began sprinting.

Turning the corner, she immediately turned back, just in time so that the group of four guards did not catch sight of her.

"Shit, okay," Luna muttered under her breath, taking a peek. She did not want to waste her time any longer and turned the corner, saying 'fuck it' to her herself, and charged at the guards.

The second they saw her approaching, their guns were trained on her. Luna reached out and bent the metal towards her, the guns dropping and sliding towards her. Pulling water out of the flask she had brought with her, Luna used it to freeze two of them to the ground and knock them out with her elbows. The other two were on her immediately. Luna used the air around her to put some strength behind her punches and dealt with the remaining guards the way Natasha had taught her.

The door was closed and Luna had not taken a keycard for herself. Fine, she thought, I don't need one. Putting her hands to the door, she felt the metal. She crushed her fist and the metal crumpled together, the hinges breaking. With one last kick, the door flew inside.

Catching her breath, Luna jogged inside of the stark white room, the led lights blinding her for a moment before her eyes adjusted. There were a row of cells, but the red string only led to one of them. The cells were different from the ones where Sam and the rest were being kept. The bars were not just metal, instead Luna could feel the power radiating from them. Power dampening probably. Definitely electric.

Luna ran up to Wanda's cell. A gasp escaped her lips as she saw her. Wanda was curled up on her thin bed, her hair a mess and bags beneath her eyes. That was not the worst of it; she was in a straight-jacket. Anger flared inside of Luna.

"Wanda?" she asked.

Wanda's head snapped her way, her green eyes widening as she saw Luna. "What are—"

"Getting you out of here," she replied, letting a smile cross her lips. She raised her hands, as if to touch the bars.

"No!" Wanda yelped. "They shock you."

"I figured," she said and let her hands crackle with a layer of electricity. She touched a single finger to the bar and let the power flow through her, sucking it out of the metal of the bars and redirecting it to the lights above her.

Carefully, Luna raised her hands once more and grabbed the bars tightly. There was no shock. She let the anger back into her body and withing seconds she had ripped the bars away, grabbing Wanda and pulling her out of the power dampening cell.

Wanda's eyes glowed red, her hair floating up for a second before dropping. "How did you find us?" she asked, still in shock.

Luna turned Wanda around so she could unlock the jacket and set it on fire. "I followed your magic," she said as she looked her in the eye, the green still had a tint of red. "I guess there's some things those cells can't hold."

Wanda, despite her hesitance to trust the girl before her, smiled.

"Okay," another voice spoke up. "This is all very nice but could you maybe get me out as well?"

Luna looked behind Wanda and saw Pietro glaring at the two from behind his own electrified bars. Luna cleared her throat, stepping away from Wanda. "Right. Let's get out of here."

---

They were safe, for as far as they could be. Something inside Luna told her the fight was far from over, but those were worries for another time. Steve had decided it would be safer to split up; it would be less conspicuous if they traveled in groups of three. Steve, Natasha and Sam went off together, and Luna, Wanda and Pietro had stayed together.

Bucky was in Wakanda, after Luna had contacted Shuri about his 'condition'. Shuri always knew what to do. Everything was back to normal. Well, if normal meant being on the run from almost every country imaginable. At least Tony had seemingly mellowed out a little, he had bigger things to worry about. Like Rhodey, who was learning to walk again with protheses connected to his legs.

Luna had also called Shuri about Derek. After the initial information she had gotten from T'Challa, she had promised to come visit as soon as she could but those plans had been derailed by all that had come after. Shuri had promised to keep her updated if anything changed.

Natasha had provided Luna and the twins with a safe house in Edinburgh and as much as Luna hated leaving Brooklyn behind, she had to admit that the capital of Scotland had some charm to it.

The silence rung loud as the three opened the door to the apartment, it was the same silence that was thick during the car ride there. All of them carried only a backpack with essentials, the rest they would have to pick up on the way to building their new life.

Luna had no idea what to say. What could she say? Sorry? They knew she was sorry, why else would she have gone against the Sokovia Accords and break them out of The Raft?

She cleared her throat. "So—uhm—Nat said everything was taken care of, but I'm gonna get a job anyway. To keep up appearances, you know," she said awkwardly, putting down her backpack on the kitchen island. "We're new and not from around here, I'm sure our neighbors are gonna notice. Besides, we should save up money, if things go awry."

"I'm going to bed," Wanda said curtly and went to claim her room.

Luna sighed, rubbing her neck that was still sore from the fight. She hadn't had the chance to heal herself yet, and she wasn't in the right state of mind to do it now.

"Sorry about that," Pietro said, catching Luna off guard. She looked up at him, confused. He pointed at her neck. "Did not mean to—you know—do that."

"It's fine, it'll heal," she replied. "I kinda deserved it..." she added, looking glumly at Wanda's closed door.

"Give her some time," Pietro spoke. "She will forgive you."

Luna bit the inside of her cheek as she turned and looked at the older boy. "And you?" she asked. "Have you forgiven me?"

He shrugged, far more casually than the conversation they were having. "I think you've earned it. Yes, you made mistakes, I have too. We all have. At least you tried to fix them."

Luna let herself smile. "Glad we're back together, speedy."

He smiled back. "Same."

As evening fell and Wanda had still not come out of her room, Luna decided something. So, knocking on her bedroom door, she waited for an answer. She was a little shocked as she heard a 'come in' instead of a 'fuck off'. Slowly, she pushed the door open and stepped inside. The room was dimly lit and a little bit of the moon's light streamed in from the window. Wanda was sitting on the bed, reading a book Luna didn't recognize.

"Hey," Luna said carefully.

Wanda seemed to have softened from the coldness she had given off since they'd arrived. She folded the corner of the page and put the book on her nightstand. "Hey." She sat up straighter as Luna walked closer. "I'm sorry for earlier. My... callousness was uncalled for," she said and cleared a space on the bed.

Luna sat down, turning to face Wanda. "It's fine. I just—" she cleared her throat, "wanted to apologize. Properly. So, I'm sorry. For not listening to you and Pietro and not realizing that I was hurting you. I let this whole thing spin out of control and—"

Wanda cut her off as she grabbed her hand. "Luna. I understand. Neither Tony nor Steve were wrong in this war. People have different ideals and different limits for how far they will take them. I'm just glad—" she averted her eyes for a second before looking back up, "I am glad that we're together again."

"Even though we're fugitives of the law?"

She shrugged, tucking her hair behind her ear. "It does not feel like that with you. Was there... anything else?"

Luna felt the need to clear her throat again as her face grew hot. "Uh, yeah." She put the file she had received from Nick Fury on the bed; her parents' file.

Wanda's eyes lit up with recognition.

"You said you'd be by my side when I opened this... that offer still stand?" Luna asked shyly.

"It wasn't an offer," Wanda began, "it was a promise."

Luna breathed a sigh of relief and opened the file, her eyes scanning the words immediately. Most of this she new already from Fury, but the little details about missions finally gave reason to the unexplained absences from her parents so many years ago. At the end of the file stood three little words that made Luna's heart hammer in her chest.

Cause of death: car crash.

For a second Luna could breathe again, until she saw scribbled beneath it: for Luna, assassination by The Winter Soldier covered up by HYDRA agents within SHIELD. Mary and Peter knew. – N.F.

"It was Barnes..." Luna murmured as tears clouded her vision. She did not let them fall. She had already mourned her parents when she was eight, there was no need for it now. "HYDRA killed my parents. They found out about the infiltration within S.H.I.E.L.D. and send their best assassin."

Wanda's eyes did not leave Luna's face. "How do you feel?"

"I... don't know. It feels good to know the truth. It feels bad to know that I let my parents' killer get away. But then it feels good to know that he's in Wakanda, currently getting removed from an innocent man's mind," she explained and then chuckled, wiping her eyes.

Wanda hesitated for only a second before wrapping Luna in a hug.

"Thank you," Luna whispered, her skin tingling where it touched Wanda's. "For everything. And I—" she stammered as she began to pull away. Wanda kept her close, her warm, uneven breaths hitting Luna's face. "Wanda, I—" her breath caught in her throat as her eyes met Wanda's; they were looking down. They were so close... Luna could just lean forward and—

Wanda was quicker. She rushed forward, capturing Luna's lips on her own and everything fell into place. Luna had followed the string and found at the end of the labyrinth something that had always been there, but she only realized it as Wanda's soft lips were on her own, her hand on her waist and the other on her jaw. Something blossomed between them; a matching of heartbeats, the way their lips were like a lock and key, the first flower to grow in the spring.

Luna finally understood why Wanda had been so alluring when they first met, so scary yet never far from her mind.

Wanda knew that in this moment, they could never be pulled apart again.

When they broke apart, Luna had the urge to never stop. To never stop kissing Wanda and to never stop loving her. Because this was it; this was her person. It only took her two years to figure it out.

Luna held Wanda's face as she rested her forehead against hers, both trying to catch their breath. When Luna opened her eyes she found Wanda already looking at her, something new twinkling in her eyes. "I love you..." she whispered. "That was what I was going to say before you so rudely interrupted me."

Wanda chuckled, a broad smile growing on her face. "I love you too."

"Good..." Luna said quietly. "Yeah, that's good..." she leaned in again and as their lips met again Luna was sure: everything was alright again.

For now.

Luna Carter will return in Avengers: Infinity War

 

Chapter 29: BOOK IV: Infinity War

BOOK IV:

𐌀𐌔Ᏽ𐌀𐌓𐌃
&
infinity war

• • •

[PLAYLIST]

Heaven Knows – The Pretty Reckless
Cherry Bomb – The Runaways
When The Sun Goes Down – Arctic Monkeys
Tuesday's Gone – Metallica
bad idea! – girl in red
Legend – The Score
The End Of The World – The Cure
Bewitched – Jeremy Shada

• • •

[MAIN CAST]

Adelaide Kane – Luna 'moony' Carter

Elizabeth Olsen – Wanda 'witchy' Maximoff

(ohmygodit's) Robert Downey Jr. – Tony Stark

Tom Holland – Peter Parker

Benedict Cumberbatch – Dr. Stephen Strange

Chris Hemsworth(y) - Thor

Tom Hiddleston - Loki

Josh Brolin - Thanos

• • •

[RECURRING CAST]

Aaron Taylor Johnson - Pietro 'speedy' Maximoff

Chadwick Boseman - T'Challa

Letitia Wright - Shuri

Chris Evans - Steve Rogers

On your Mark, set, Ruffalo! - Bruce Banner

Sebastian Stan - Bucky Barnes

Scarlett Johansson - Natasha Romanoff

Paul Bettany - The Vision

Ryan Potter - Lee

• • •

[ALSO FEATURES]

Okoye
Odin (?)
Raava
Butcher from The Boys
Sammy Wilson
The CW's Superman
Angela Basset
The Guardians of the Galaxy
Squidward and Goth Chick

 

Chapter 30: An Otherworldly Roadtrip

Summary:

A year after the civil war that nearly ruined everything, Luna, Wanda, and Pietro adjust to their lives as fugitives in Edinburgh. With everything now calm, Luna travels to Wakanda once more to pay a long-awaited visit to her brother, and their parents' killer.

I. AN OTHERWORLDY ROADTRIP
___________

Luna burped a burp so loud it was sure to be heard—if not felt—by the 34-year-old single mom of three next door who was desperately trying to get her youngest (his name was Kevin. He was four-months-old.) to stop crying and go to sleep.

"Okay—but no—seriously!" Luna said, holding a hand to her mouth to ensure nothing else would escape her stomach. "If you really—like, deeply and painstakingly—thought about it... Like, people always debate if a hotdog is a sandwich or not, right? They're all wrong. It's obviously a taco. They're all wrong and I'm right," she concluded and took another sip from her mixed vodka drink. "That's it."

"Having just been explained what a taco and a hotdog are in excruciating detail; no," Pietro said, topping off his drink that was almost only vodka, no mixer. He was faring a lot better than Luna, with a whole bottle gone between the three of them.

"Tacos have a shell," Wanda said, her head on Luna's lap, enjoying the feeling of gentle fingers playing with her hair. "They sound horrible to eat."

"Soft shells exist!" Luna protested. "They're good! Imma order them tomorrow—you think they have taco-take-out in Edinburgh?" she looked sadly out the window, to the cloudy night. "I hope they do..."

"Enough of this!" Pietro exclaimed, sitting up and pointing an aggressive finger at Luna. "Spider-Man," he said. "Who is he?"

A string of red magic slapped his hand out of the air. "Point that finger at my girlfriend again and you lose it."

With a smile, Luna took Wanda's face and leaned down to plant a kiss on her mouth, stopping when Pietro began making hurl-noises. "My hero," she said. "Look, I can't tell you! He wants to stay behind that mask a little longer and I certainly ain't the person who's gonna stop him."
           
"Fine, keep your secrets," he replied and stood up. "I'm going to break open the last bottle."

"Oh, god, please..." Luna whined and she felt sick to her stomach. "I actually need to go lie down, but someone needs to go shopping tomorrow..." She lifted Wanda's head from her thighs and stood up, albeit a little wobbly.
           
"You go do it, Moony," Pietro said.
          
"Oh, I'm sorry, but some of us have an actual job to be at, you spoiled little speed-rat. That's a reference to the famous 'street-rat' nickname this horrible dude Aladdin has, but you wouldn't get it," Luna fired back. "Not you, of course, dear," she said quickly to Wanda.
           
"Jesus, fine," Pietro said quickly. "I'll go do groceries."

"Thank you!" Luna exclaimed and moved into her bedroom, passing out, but not before making a mental note to never play a drinking game with two Sokovians ever again.

Things had been calm for the past year. The twins and her had acclimated to the Scottish environment and for as far as they knew, nobody suspected that they were fugitives of the UN. A few compromises had to be made for this to be possible; no public displays of powers and at least try to disguise your appearance.

Pietro had shaved his beard but refused to dye his hair like Luna had. Her brown hair was now a light blonde (with a bit of brown showing at her roots, she was too lazy to keep up with it). Wanda's hair had only grown more red, but she had stopped wearing exclusively red colors. It was the best they could do. Besides, things were good. Which was why it was hard for Luna to break the news that she had to leave for a while.

The TV had been turned on, only to provide some background noise as Wanda laid cuddled up to Luna's side on the couch. Some weird sitcom was playing and while Wanda adored them, Luna found them cringe and boring.

However, Luna felt too relaxed to change the channel; Wanda had closed her eyes a little while ago and not opened them since, only twitching slightly every couple of minutes. Luna wondered what she was dreaming about. It had to be a good dream, Wanda's mouth twitched up into soft smiles every now and then. With a careful touch, Luna brushed a strand of hair from her face. She truly was the pinnacle of beauty. Sharp features, fair skin and alluring eyes.

She still couldn't understand that this was her life now, she had never dared to think that she could lead a life like this; her, Wanda and Pietro had formed a domestic bond over the past year and all the trouble from not so long ago seemed like ages ago. She had a home, a job at the music store and a girlfriend who she couldn't believe actually wanted to be with her.

Still, Luna found something missing in her life. The short amount of time she had spent with her brother in the Spirit Wilds had reawakened her longing for a big brother. While Pietro seemed like the most logical replacement for that role in Luna's life, he had taken the role of best friend instead. Luna needed Derek and to cure him of his ailment she needed access to Wakanda's vast library.

Impossible as it was to travel to Wakanda in the past year, because of the attempted (and sort of successful) coup, she had received notice from Shuri and T'Challa that the doors to the palace were once again open to her. In that same notice another reason for her visit to Wakanda was given; Bucky Barnes had taken up residence in Wakanda while Shuri worked on a way to reverse the brainwashing done by HYDRA.

Luna had two reasons to leave and only one to stay.

"Hey, hon?" she said quietly. Wanda's eyes opened groggily. Luna's heart fluttered at the sight.
           
"Hmm?" Wanda asked.
           
"Shuri called me yesterday," she began. "She said that Wakanda's finally stable again after everything that happened; Killmonger and stuff. I'm thinking..." she continued, "I could go there. To see Derek and Bucky."
           
Rubbing her eyes, Wanda sat up straighter. "Really?" she asked. "That is good, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Luna said, nodding. "It's just..." she hesitated. "I mean, they have a huge library that I need to go through. If there's an answer in Wakanda I need to find it. It isn't like Thor is gonna come down here and take me to Asgard any time soon."
           
"Oh," she replied. "How long do you think you will be gone?"
           
She shrugged. "No idea. Until I find a way to get my brother back..." She stayed quiet as she tried to guess what Wanda was thinking. She couldn't. "Are you mad?"

"What?" Wanda asked, shock on her face. "Why would I be mad? He's your brother, of course you have to go."
           
"Then what's that face?"
           
"What face?"
           
"That one," Luna said and pointed at Wanda's face.
           
Wanda sighed and grabbed Luna's hand. "It's my 'I'm going to miss you' face." She dropped the hand, instead grabbing Luna's face. "Because I will miss you. Because I love you."

Luna's cheeks burned as she leaned into the girl's touch. "I love you too. And of course I'm gonna miss you. You know what I'll miss even more?"
           
"What?"
           
"This—" Luna said and planted her lips to Wanda's, the kiss immediately returned and deepened.

"For the love of god!" Pietro exclaimed, standing in the doorway, his hands covering his eyes. "get a room, you guys!"
           
Wanda and Luna separated, giggling. "Sorry."

"So..." Luna began. "We're okay?"
           
"Of course we're okay, my love," Wanda replied, leaning in to kiss Luna again, Pietro be damned. "Just promise me," she said. "That we will see each other again."
           
Luna smiled, "I promise."

---

With no other means of transportation from bustling New York City to the wondrous Wakanda, the two weeks' long journey on her vibranium glider had exhausted Luna to the point of aching muscles and sleep deprivation, although that wasn't as much a new experience for her.

Yet finally seeing the capital city breaching the horizon, its surrounding areas wonders of splendor and valleys of grandeur, stirred the welcoming feeling within her chest like it had done the first time she had come.

From her bird's view, Luna could see the striking Warrior Falls, heavy rocks breached with rushing waterfalls, and the Royal Palace that towered over the surrounding city. Grand and circular, the palace was guarded at both sides of the entrance with great statues of black panthers.

Luna decided that arriving to the country voluntarily was a much better fit for her, instead of the crash-landing she had done last time. Wakanda was much easier to find, since King T'Challa had opened up her political and social relations to the rest of the world.

She began her landing, flying in circles as she approached the palace. There, in the close distance, a large forest was erected from the ground, a sight that was familiar and disconcerting to her. Years ago, when she had first ventured into the Spirit Wilds, she had felt the ever-present spirit energy the moment she had laid eyes on it.

Looking at it now, a feeling of emptiness settled in her stomach; something was amiss inside the Wilds. There was still energy radiating from it, except it felt entirely different from last time; a lack of spirituality, like the spirit world had retreated back to their own realm and all the spirits had gone into hibernation.

"Well, that can't be good..." Luna muttered. She set her gaze back to the stone lane leading up to the gigantic entrance of the palace and landed carefully.

Folding up her glider and stashing it away, she took in the sight of a place that had welcomed her as one of their own when she needed it most. Luna hadn't realized how long she had been staring at the front doors when they finally swayed open.

Two familiar figures, squinting their eyes against the blazing sun, walked out and met her half way.

"Your Highnesses," Luna curtsied, catching the two humongous eyerolls coming her way.

She was enveloped in a tight hug. Shuri looked better than ever, with short hair and colorful dress.
           
"It's been too long, my man," Luna said as she broke out of the hug to embrace T'Challa, who looked as kingly as he always did. "How've you two been?"
           
It was Shuri who responded first, "You would have known that earlier if you did not break your phone, Luna, but we are good. Great, actually."

As T'Challa spoke up, he began leading them back inside of the palace and out of the scorching heat. "Wakanda is thriving, dear Avatar. We were on the brink for a time, but Wakanda is nothing if not resilient."
           
"Just like her royal family, then," Luna replied. "Heard you almost got usurped."
           
A pained expression crossed T'Challa's face. He breathed deeply, "Erik Killmonger was misguided, but not wrong. I hope to honor him by doing my nation right."

"That's good," she said as they treaded the halls of the palace, still as grand as she remembered. "I don't mean to divert the topic of conversation like this, but I heard you guys had another visitor?"
           
"Ah, yes," Shuri said. "Our white wolf. He's staying at the edge of the city, near where you entered the Wilds."

Luna nodded as she made a mental note. "And my brother?"
           
T'Challa turned a corner. Suddenly they stepped into a large, open room which looked a lot like a hospital. "Right here," he said and walked deeper into the infirmary and towards a closed-off room. "We moved him into his own room a while ago. He may be comatose, but I'm sure he would like the privacy. Your room is just down the hall, the same as last time."

"We will leave you alone for now," Shuri added as she nodded to the room that held Derek. "But please, join us for dinner in an hour." She gently grabbed Luna's shoulder and with an empathetic look said, "Derek has not been responsive to any mystical ritual so far..."
           
"What're you saying?"
           
"Nothing... Just, don't get your hopes up by thinking all the answers are in some book."

"Where else would they be?"

"In time," she replied. "With enough time, his spirit could heal itself."

Luna looked at her through clouded eyes. "I don't have time."

Shuri and T'Challa left her by herself and the air grew many times thicker. The shadows cast by the African sun were elongating as the day came closer to the end, the time ticking away at a tediously slow pace. Luna stood where the two had left her, staring at the closed blinds that obscured her vision into her brother's room. It had been years since he had gotten hurt, since she was the reason he had gotten hurt. With one deep breath, Luna twisted the doorknob.

There he laid in perfect stillness, as if he were simply asleep. Derek's hair and beard were still in the same condition as two years ago, being cut every so often by his caregivers. A thin blanket had been thrown over him, not so much to provide warmth, but more so to give the illusion of sleep.

A steady beeping came from the vital signs monitor connected to various places on his body. It had spiked at multiple random times since he had been there, T'Challa had said to her, but Shuri had ensured him that everything was under control. Watching her brother's lifeless body, Luna wasn't too sure about that.

A comfortable chair had been set next to his bed. Luna took her place with a small tremble of hesitation and nervousness. He looked almost peaceful like this, but Luna could guess that whatever was happening inside his mind could not be the most comfortable experience. She took his hand in hers, surprised by the warmth, and placed a gentle kiss. It was many more minutes until she found her voice again.

"Been a while... How've you been, bro?" She gave a sad chuckle when he gave no response. "'Course, you're comatose, how dumb of me... Look, I didn't ask for any of this, okay? I didn't ask to be a hero or an avenger and I sure as hell never asked to be the Avatar. I'm pretty sure if Raava never chose me, you would've never gone on your expeditions and you never would've left me the first time and you would be by my side right now." She had raised her voice, not in a scream, but in a desperate, tired exclamation.

"Jesus, look at me, fucking crying over here," she added and wiped her eyes. She sat there for another minute in the thick silence, staring out of the window that looked out over the entire city below.

Twinkling stars were beginning to turn visible as the sun was retreating for the day. Somewhere out there were the answers she was looking for, laying in a vast library in a castle built of pure gold. Of course Thor had chosen now of all times to turn his status to 'unavailable'. That left only the limited library of Wakanda for her to explore and hopefully, by some miracle, find a cure.

"Ever since Sokovia, I've been wondering at every turn if what I was doing was the right thing, constantly second-guessing myself. You and I both know that that hesitation can be lethal. Even now..." she continued, the image of her love flashing through her mind.

"I sometimes can't believe that she stayed with me, let alone for almost a year... Her name's Wanda," she told Derek, smiling at the thought of her. "Smart as a whip, lethal as a gun and—she's fucking gorgeous, man. I look at her sometimes and I can swear she's an angel in those moments... yeah..." she trailed off.

"You'd like her. I wanna do right by her, I wanna do right by everyone but for the past year I've felt like I can't do anything right. But this," she pointed at her brother, "this is the right thing to do. To cure you of a mistake that I made. That's the only thing I'm sure of."

Luna didn't stay much longer after that and instead got settled into her guestroom down the hall, taking a quick moment to freshen up before moving to the grand hall for dinner. Two of the Dora Milaje were posted up at the entrance and with a nod they opened the doors for her. Inside, a table was set up with a buffet that made her mouth water instantly.

The table was surprisingly of an average size, with enough room for about six chairs. Two of those had been discarded, but at both sides sat Shuri and T'Challa and at the head of the table, with her hair wrapped in a stark white scarf, sat queen Ramonda. The queen was the epitome of stately beauty; high cheekbones, sharp eyebrows and pointed lips that had been pulled into a kind smile.

"Your highness," Luna bowed her head and waited for the queen to return it before taking a seat at the other end of the table. "Thank you for inviting me to dinner and, of course, for taking care of my brother for so long. I promise I'll find cure quickly and we'll be out of your hair."

"You are the Avatar, girl," queen Ramonda said. "The Avatar and the Black Panther have historically worked closely together. It is our pleasure to care for her brother."

"Still, if there's is anything I can do to return the favor..."

"We will know who to ask," she answered before looking down at the spread of food on the table. "The kitchen has outdone itself today and I am quite hungry. What is it Americans say? Tuck in?"

---

Waking up to a wonderful morning, Luna had an extra pep in her step as she got herself ready for the day; breakfast first, then a quick check-up on Derek before she made her way out of the palace and into the city below.

Even early in the morning, the streets were bustling with merchants setting up their stands and all the shops began to open. She had expected to feel out of place in the city, their culture was so different from hers, but the people were helpful and pointed her to the place she was trying to get to.

At the edge of the city, the palace rising high above her, she made her way across a vibrant green meadow, adjusting her hat to keep the sun from blinding her. She walked closer, the Wilds towering menacingly in the distance and that same feeling that something was missing from in the Wilds washed over her. She shook it off and directed her attention to the hut that stood in the meadow, a large hanging tree casting it in its shade. There wasn't a door, but a piece of cloth provided the entrance to the hut.

Without a surface to knock on, Luna called out to the person inside. The person inside quickly invited her in. She pulled the cloth out of her way and stepped in.

Bucky Barnes was wearing something that looked like a colorful toga and where his left arm was supposed to be hung a protective fabric. His hair was longer than the last time she had seen him, less greasy and tied in a loose bun. He put down whatever he was doing and turned to face her, his eyebrows creasing in confusion.

"Hello?" he asked. "Can I help you?"

Luna breathed in deeply. She had met him before, when he was semi-mind-controlled, but she didn't know back then what she knew now. This was the person who killed her parents, the person who ensured she would grow up alone and lonely in a dreary orphanage.
           
"Do you know who I am?" she asked, her voice more confident than she felt.
         
He tilted his head, digging deep inside his mind. "You were at the airport. Peggy's great-granddaughter. Luna, right?"

Luna nodded. She knew it wasn't him, of course, who killed her parents. Rationally, she knew it was HYDRA that killed her parents. But Bucky was HYDRA's weapon, and Mary and Peter's blood was partially on his hands.

Bucky, noticing the change in the girl's countenance, invited her to sit down with him at the table in the middle of the room. "Do you want something to drink?"
           
"No, I'm fine—" she cleared her throat. "I'm... not really sure what I'm doing here. I'm friends with Shuri and T'Challa," she said when she couldn't come up with anything else to say. "They've been taking care of my brother for a few years now."
           
"And your brother is the unconscious man in the infirmary?" Bucky asked.
           
"Yeah. They told me that you were staying here as well and... well, I thought I'd come say hi. And ask you a few questions, I guess."
           
"Well," he said slowly. "I appreciate it. What do you wanna ask?"

"When you were with HYDRA—" Bucky flinched at the turn in conversation, "What do you remember from that time?"
          
"Uh... Not a whole lot. It takes time for my mind to parse out the details. I remember those days like they're lucid dreams."
           
"And—I'm really sorry but I have to ask this—you were under complete mind-control? Like, no bodily or mental autonomy?"
           
"Right, like that," Bucky replied, his face falling into one of pity, like he could guess where Luna was going with this.

Luna sighed and pulled out her parents' SHIELD file, putting it in front of Bucky on the table. "Last page," she said. "Tell me, do you remember them?"
           
"Mary and Peter Carter..." he muttered, something flashing behind his eyes as his face went slack for just a second. He closed the file and handed it back. "They're your parents," he assumed.
           
"Yes," she replied. "I'm sorry for confronting you like this. I just..." she thought for a moment. "I don't know."
           
"I remember," he said finally. "I remember all of them. I'm sorry, Luna." He rubbed his face and said to himself, "God... Peggy's grandkids..."

"Look, I didn't mean to intrude on your space like this, but I needed to know." After a minute of a pregnant silence, she added, "I don't blame you."
           
He looked up, shocked.
           
"Like you said, HYDRA was controlling you. I came here simply to confirm my own suspicions. As much as I want to, I don't blame you. And for what it's worth, I do forgive you."
           
Something the weight of a mountain left Bucky's shoulders as he relaxed. "Thank you, Luna, truly."

Luna didn't overstay her welcome any more and travelled back through the city towards the palace.

Next on her schedule was the library. Making her way through the hallways of the palace, she eventually found it, massive rows of bookshelf going up all the way to the ceiling, each filled with an array of different-sized tomes and scrolls, but only a single plank on the smallest shelf was dedicated to the Avatar and its history.

She stacked the books that she could carry and brought it to the infirmary, making multiple trips back and forth until three stacks of books stood on the table in Derek's room. With a sigh, Luna sat down and opened the first book to its first page.

That is how it began. Long days and even longer nights Luna sat in the infirmary, watching over her brother, scouring the yellow and fragile pages for anything that could help her.

Hope seeped out of her as tome after tome came up empty. Failed ritual after failed ritual. Shuri came in every so often to bring coffee and force Luna to come to dinner, trying to get her to call Wanda and Pietro. But Luna found that she couldn't, she was in a position where she couldn't focus on anything other than this.

One morning a couple days into Luna's downward spiral, Shuri entered the room with a cup of coffee and a sandwich. Buried deep inside the pages of the tome, Luna thanked the girl off-handedly.

"Luna," Shuri began. "You should go outside, breathe some fresh air."
          
"Sure, I'll go later."
          
"I don't believe you."
          
"That sounds like a you-problem."

Suddenly, the book was ripped from Luna's hands.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, sitting up straight as she looked at a smug Shuri. "What's your problem?"
          
"You are killing yourself, Luna," Shuri said harshly. "You are not sleeping, you are barely eating and you have not been outside in days."

"I'm trying to save my brother's life here, okay!" Luna cried. "Would you do any different if it was T'Challa?" she took the lack of an answer from Shuri as a yes. "Derek's vitals have been spiking more often and for a longer time since I've been here. I don't know how long its gonna take for his heart to just give out, okay? So don't judge me for putting his needs before my own. Not when you would do the exact same thing for your brother."

Shuri nodded. "You are right, I'm sorry. Here's your book back," she said and as she handed the book back to Luna, it slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground.

Luna picked it up, her eyes scanning the page it had fallen open on. "I think I found something," she muttered. "A ritual."
          
"Luna, you have tried many rit—"
          
"No, this seems legit." She put the tome on the table beside her and stood up, putting one hand on Derek's forehead and the other where his heart was. She read the words in the tome, muttering beneath her breath.

A breeze flew through the room.

Luna's spirit travelled through the air as she meditated, trying to gain access to Derek. She found a barrier, something holding her back. Like a firewall for which she needed a key. The key was power, and she needed more of it.

"Luna!" Shuri suddenly shouted, pulling Luna out of her trance.
           
"What?" Luna exclaimed angrily. "I almost had it!"
           
The cold coffee standing on the desk began boiling.
           
"You were hurting him," Shuri said. "He was shaking, vibrating almost."
           
Luna looked down at Derek, who was already as still as a corpse again. She needed a key and she knew exactly where to start looking.

Pushing past Shuri, she sped through the halls of the palace. She opened the huge doors and ran outside onto the vibrant meadow.

"Heimdall!" she shouted furiously into the sky. She had only heard Thor shout the name a few times, but he had always been picked up by a rainbow beam of light. "Heimdall! Thor! Anyone! I need your help!" she yelled, her voice scratchy. "Heimdall, you son of a b—"

Shuri watched as Luna was enveloped by a violent, colorful beam of light. When it subsided, all that was left was a steaming, intricate pattern on the grass.

---

Luna was suspended in space, many colors, some of which she didn't know the name, sped past her. She didn't know how long she was there for, but when she finally felt something solid beneath her feet, her legs crumbled in on each other and she fell to the ground.

The floor was of a gleaming gold and perfect marble. There, she caught her breath and swallowed the bile that had travelled up her throat until the sound of heavy footsteps and metal scraping against metal penetrated her hearing.

She looked up and saw a man, not much taller than her, standing above her. His head was shaved bald, a pattern of tattoos on his light skin. He had donned dark metal armor and tied to his side was a large assault rifle.

Luna glanced behind him, where on a golden pedestal a great sword was inserted in some sort of machine. Even further than that, Luna could barely see a humongous rainbow bridge. Looking back at the man, she suddenly remembered how Thor had described Heimdall, and this was about as far as you could get from that.

Standing up and meeting the man's eyes, she glared suspiciously, saying, "You're not Heimdall..."

 

Chapter 31: The Avatar State

Summary:

Luna finally gets her tour of Asgard, but it isn't all she hoped it would be. Guided by a face from her past, she reaches the next step in her Avatar journey.

II. THE AVATAR STATE
___________

Standing up and meeting the man's eyes, she glared suspiciously and said, "You're not Heimdall."

"Well, astute fucking observation," the man said. "It's Skurge. And you ain't Thor, are you?"

Luna looked herself up and down and shot Skurge a 'really?' look.

"Alright," he said, raising his rifle, grabbing from the floor a second one and pointing it right at Luna, "Who the bloody Hel d'you think you are?"

"Why are you Cockney?" she questioned in true confusion. "Thor isn't Cockney?" Raising her hands and clenching them into fists, she bent the barrels of the rifles up.

"What?" Skurge muttered, looking at his rifles with an expression of grief.

"I'm Luna Carter, better known as the Avatar and a friend of Thor. He gave me an open invitation to visit his home," she said, mustering every bit of authority she could find. "Now, take me to him."

"Uh... Sorry, miss," he said, still distraught over the fate of his rifles. "Thor ain't here at the moment."

"Loki, then, he lives here."

"Loki's dead—wait, did you say the Avatar?"

Luna blinked at the sudden revelation that the god she fought years ago was dead. "Yes?" she answered unsurely.

"I'll have to bring you to the Allfather, then. Follow me—wait," he said abruptly, turning to her. He held up his rifles. "Can you fix these?"

Luna stared at the rifles and Skurge's pleading expression. She waved her hand twice and the rifles bent back into shape.

"Much appreciated. Follow me."

Luna, as she followed Skurge, realized how hugely she had fucked up. Thor wasn't there, Heimdall wasn't there and the only other person who would, maybe, know her and vouch for her was apparently dead. That meant that she was on another planet on her own without back-up, currently being taken to the Allfather and King of Asgard, Odin. Her mind went to her brother back in Wakanda and to Wanda still in Edinburgh, but was quickly ripped away when she noticed the view.

Asgard was magnificent. The sun in the distance shined brightly down on the palace; grand and tall, raised above the bustling city. The bridge they now walked across, suspended across a long span of open space, looked like a rainbow trapped in a bottle, swirling inside its bonds. Luckily, the bridge wasn't slippery, since it had no railings.

When finally they made it to the other side, Luna could not take her eyes off of the enormous, glimmering golden statue of Loki that stood at the entrance of the city.

"And whose idea was this thing?" she asked.

"Odin had it built to commemorate Loki and his heroic sacrifice."

Luna was not only confused at the use of the words 'heroic', 'sacrifice' and 'Loki' in the same sentence, but also by the theatre production happening on the plaza behind the statue.

A man dressed uncannily like Thor held another man, dressed in greens and blacks, in his arms as he lay dying. Luna squinted her eyes as the Loki lookalike gave a monologue. Then, out of nowhere, she yelled for everyone to hear;

"Holy shit? Is that Matt Damon?"

The Loki lookalike snapped up, took one look at Luna's face, stood up and sprinted away.

That left everyone who was still attending the play to stare at her and Skurge, including an impressive old man with an eyepatch. Skurge stepped forward and kneeled before the man.

"Your highness, I present Luna Cavity—"

"Carter."

"—from Midgard."

"Yeah," Luna interrupted and stepped forward. She could barely hear Odin murmur something to himself as he put his goblet of wine down. For such an important and stately figure, he sure was lounging around quite carelessly, Luna noted. "I'm the Avatar," she added.

Low gasps and a quiet chattering rang through the crowd that had formed around Odin and herself.

"Quiet." Odin said. The crowd shut up. "The Avatar... You don't say." He stood from his seat

He was shorter than Luna expected. He was eyeing her curiously, his gaze darting from her strange Midgardian clothing and to her casual attitude when addressing the King of Asgard.

"It has long since been that I have had the opportunity to speak to an Avatar. Luna Carter," he beckoned for her to approach him. "You are welcome in Asgard." He began walking into the city.

"Cool..." she muttered, watching Skurge return to his post. A squadron of elaborately dressed guards followed after Odin and Luna as he led her through the market place.

"You have a beautiful palace, uh, sir," Luna said, trying her best to act casual.

"Yes," he replied, stroking his beard. "What exactly is the purpose of your visit, Avatar?"

"Thor—"

Odin imperceptibly rolled his eye.

"—invited me. But he's not here. Heimdall wasn't the one who brought me here, either. Can I ask where he is?"

"You may not. Follow me." He walked up the steps to the grand palace, commoners and those of noble birth alike bowed their heads in reverence.

"Okay..." she said slowly. "You asked me my business. I'm trying to safe my brother. He's been in a spiritual coma for a few years now. I think I've found a ritual that would help him but I don't have the key to perform it."

"And the key is?"

"Power."

"You think you'll find it here?"

"If not here, then where?"

Odin nodded along, which was the only indication he was actively paying attention to her words. The large, decorated doors to a grand hall opened before them, revealing at the back of the room a throne fit for the Allfather. He ordered his guards to stand watch outside of the entrance, leaving him and the Avatar by themselves.

Luna squinted at Odin as his countenance changed; his face dropped from unbothered to annoyed and, from what Luna could guess, paranoia. Seeming like he suddenly remembered that Luna was still beside him, Odin grabbed her arm in a vice grip and dragged her into a back room. As much as she protested and tried to pry her arm loose, he was many times stronger than her and pulled her along with ease.

"What the fuck are yo—"

The second that the door to the backroom closed, a green aura traveled across Odin's body. In the blink of an eye, Loki stood in his place.

"You're supposed to be dead," she gaped.

"I get that a lot," Loki said. "Do you know how much you showing up here just fucks up my plans?"

Luna stared incredulously at the God who had destroyed part of New York City so many years ago and was, in many ways, the reason her life spiraled so far out of control. Her hands instinctively reached for her dagger.

"Looking for these?" Loki said, holding her twin daggers. He disappeared them into a cloud of green smoke.

"You son of a bit—" she exclaimed and summoned water she had no idea was even in the room and froze it into a dagger. She aimed right for his chest. Loki reacted immediately and caught her arm, using it to pin her to the wall.

"Have care of how you speak of my mother," he said.

Luna pulled her foot up, stamped it on his foot. Loki was more surprised than in pain, but it gave Luna enough of an opening to blast him against the opposite wall with a gust of wind and rush him again, punching him in the face. He flinched as her fist connected to his cheek and Luna stepped back, catching her breath. "I ain't a kid anymore Loki, I can take care of myself now."

He chuckled as his finger glided over the aching spot. "I will allow that this once. Do not try again."

"Where's Thor?" she asked. "And Odin? Walk me through your incredible plan here, Loki; you kill Odin, take his place and hope no one figures it out? Really thought that one through, did you, buddy?"

"I owe you no answers, Avatar—"

"Oh?" she said loudly. "You wanna talk about what is owed? You invade my world and destroy my city with a freak alien army, killing countless of my people and you think you owe me nothing? I think you owe me all the answers!"

"Will you quiet down?" he asked a little too calmly, only fueling Luna's growing irritation.

"Quiet down? Quiet down! I will n—"

With a wave of Loki's hand, Luna could suddenly not open her mouth anymore, like it had been sewn shut. She raised her hand to feel her mouth, but all she found was smooth skin.

Loki breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally. Peace and quiet," he said to an exasperated Luna. "Thor has not been home in a long time, Avatar, and Odin is fine."

She raised her eyebrows in skepticism.

"He's fine," he insisted. "In a Midgardian retirement home. That left the perfect gap for me to," he gestured with his hand, "come in and take his place. Literally. Now, if I were to help you achieve your goal, would you leave this place?"

She thought about it and nodded. This was Asgardian business and she wanted nothing to do with it.

"If I allow you to talk, will you verbally abuse me again?"

She didn't need to think before nodding.

"Okay, look," he began. "The invasion of Midgard... I did not act on my own volition. Not entirely. There was a man, a Titan, called Thanos. He goes to worlds and kills half of their population in an attempt to bring balance. He used to do this through sheer massacre, but he now wields one of the infinity stones."

Luna's eyes widened upon hearing of another infinity stone.

"You've heard of it? Good. Then you don't need me to explain that when a wielder of such a stone asks you to do something, you do it. And yes, maybe he just happened to ask of me something that was already in the back of mind, but I digress."

She tried speaking, but, of course, found she couldn't. Loki, who seemed quite done with this interaction, waved his hand and her mouth reappeared.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

"Because," he replied, "he wields the infinity stone of power. One that your past life is intimately familiar with." He raised his hand and tapped Luna's forehead before she could protest.

Images flash through her mind of the vision Raava had given her and Lee; an explosion of purple energy, wiping everything out. She snapped back to reality with a gasp.

"So," Loki continued. "I will help you unlock your power and you try to keep your judgement to yourself and leave the same way you came. Truce?" he asked, sticking out his hand.

Already knowing that trusting Loki was a horrible idea, she grabbed his hand and shook it. "Truce."

---

The bed was impossibly soft, as if made with a 5000 thread count and actual pure gold. Counting steady breaths and the soft heaving of shoulders, Luna held her fists together and meditated. Nothing had happened for ten minutes, no leaving of body, no spiritual journey and no mysterious visions.

This Thanos, this mad titan... he had to be whatever Lee said was coming. Something big, he had said, remember the stones. If it was true that Thanos was coming for the stones, than Luna needed to get back to Earth as soon as possible and warn Vision, who had the mind stone literally in his forehead, and Wanda and Pietro, who had gotten their powers from the stone. She could do none of that, though, until she brought Derek back.

Apparently Loki had constructed a plan to help her do this and for that plan she had to wake up at sunrise and meet him in the library. Even if she was still pissed at him, she had to admit that this was one of the most comfortable rests she had had in at least a few months.

Making her way through the palace, making sure not to lose her way and give Loki another reason to make fun of her, Luna eventually made it to the library; a gigantic room with towering bookshelves all filled with books of an array of sizes, shapes and colors. Mostly, everything was either white marble or gold plate and it was starting to hurt her eyes.

"Took you long enough," was the first thing Loki said to her when she walked in.

"If you're gonna make me wake up at the crack-ass of dawn, you can't whine when I'm a little late," Luna grumbled in return.

With a massive eyeroll, Loki twisted his hands and green-glowing glyphs of warding moved across the door. "Can't have anyone see me like this, can I? I have a reputation to uphold."

"Can we hurry this up?" she asked. "I wanna be back on Earth sooner rather than later."

"You need to remember that I'm doing you a favor, Avatar—"

"You're doing this so I don't go yapping to the Asgardians that their King is in a Midgardian retirement home. You don't fool me, Scar," she snarked.

Loki looked at her curiously and shrugged, slamming a large tome down in front of her. "How much do you actually know about your nature?"

"Uhh... I'm the Avatar, keeper of balance and master of all four elements," she revealed. "I get my powers from Raava."

He nodded along. "That is disappointing. But fear not, for I have spent many hours studying the Avatar spirit, its counterpart and its world." He opened the tome and with his story it showed page by page drawings of ancient landscapes, buildings and people.

"Wan was the first of your kind. He got his four powers by traveling the world, visiting the four nations that all stood on their own lion-turtle. These massive beasts each granted him the ability to control one of the elements. He made this journey caring for a weakened Raava, trying to right his wrongs and defeat the evil spirit that he had released."

"Vaatu."

"Correct. When Wan and Raava merged, it was ensured that Wan's spirit would never get lost. Raava would choose a successor. This bound every Avatar to one another."

"But Avatar Korra broke that link," Luna pointed out.

"She did, but she also established a new one. Much weaker than the first, since only four Avatars have been before you. This link is something you can tap into."

Luna frowned as Loki turned the page. A man was depicted, floating on the page, surrounded by the chaos of the elements, encircled by earth, waves, flame and storm. He had eyes that glowed so extremely and with such raw power that Luna had to steady herself.

"You said you were searching for power. Well," he pointed at the page, "this is it."

Something stirred inside her stomach, tugging at her intestines and making the beats of her heart erratic. "What is it?" she asked, even though she felt that she knew what this was, somewhere deep down she knew that this was a part of her.

"Many have called it the Avatar state," Loki said. "You are bonded to one of the most powerful spirits in this realm. You can tap into that power, command it to do your bidding, make you more powerful than ever before. The power you seek has been with you all your life, Avatar. I will help you access it."

Luna breathed a sigh of hope and looked at Loki. "Okay... how?"

Loki turned another page, showing the image of a body with seven markings across it. "To access the Avatar state, you must open your seven chakras. Earth," he pointed at the earth marking on the page, "water, fire, air, sound, light and thought. You will need to overcome the challenge each of them poses and let your spirit flow smoothly through them."

"Cool and how do you propose we do this? Do I just spray water up my ass?"

"I truly had forgotten how much of a pain in my side you were..." he said. "I will guide you through the process through a series of visions. Some of the chakras will be easier to open than others, depending on the type of person you are, but they must be opened in this specific order. I will have one of the servants help you get ready for the journey later today, you should get into some fresh clothing."

Luna blinked at him. "I'm sorry—journey? I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Then you must not need my help," he posed and a triumphant smirk grew on his face at Luna's lack of an answer. "At noon, we will leave for the temple of Jörð. I suggest you start getting ready."

---

Turned out that the 'journey' was simply a carriage ride out of the city to a high-up temple and Loki was just being dramatic.

"Who is this Jörð again?" Luna asked, getting bored of the constant silence within the overly-kingly carriage.

"Goddess of Midgard," he answered, having returned to Odin's visage. "Moreso, goddess of Midgardian spirits. It will be easier to unlock your chakras in a place that is overflowing with spirit energy."

Luna nodded, her gaze moving to the window, watching as the entirety of Asgard came into focus; its beauty unchallenged and its might undefeated. She felt a little disappointed that she wouldn't have the time to go sight-seeing. Perhaps later, when Thor returned home.

It wasn't a very long journey before they reached the temple, standing high on a hill, basking in the glory of Asgard's sun. Loki, or rather Odin, ordered the man who had driven the carriage to wait for them outside and to, under no circumstance, enter the temple or else grave consequences would be rained down on him and his family and his family's family. Luna thought that was a little harsh.

The temple wasn't large and looked nothing like Luna had expected; there were no Greek pillars, no pediment and no marble statues. Instead it was high and gold-spiked, dynamic in the way sunflowers are; always reaching toward the sun. Although it was quite obvious that the spikes of this temple were not reaching toward the distant star, it was pointed in a different direction entirely. Luna could guess that it was pointed at Earth.

Inside was a single room, inhabited by a single statue that provided a single stream of water for a single fountain in which floated many petals of rose-tinted flowers. Loki closed the heavy door behind them and lit the torches on the wall. He provided two cushions for them to sit upon, facing each other in the silence of this spiritual place.

"I will take your hands in a moment and we will begin to meditate. I will guide your spirit through the different chakras, triggering the obstacles. It will be up to you to clear them," Loki explained, changing back to his normal self.

"Alright, let's do this," Luna said with an overflow of false confidence, going to grab Loki's hands.

He quickly pulled them away. "I must warn you, once you begin this process, it must be completed."

"Or?"

"Or the Avatar state will be hidden from you forever and your brother will be doomed," he held his hands out. "Do you still want to do this?" he asked, a daring tone to his voice.

Luna scoffed at the challenge and clasped his hands.

The two breathed, both of them having done this many times before.

"The first chakra is earth. The chakra of survival, located at the base of the spine. It is blocked by fear," Loki guided her through the process.

Something tingled at the base of Luna's spine.

"What do you fear, Avatar?"

Her spirit was ripped from her body and spit out in a dark room. A figure was watching her from the darkness, she could feel the energy. A silhouette, barely outlined by the miniscule amount of light that managed to breach the room. Its pupils glowed a scarlet red. Tendrils of magic formed in the corners of the room, swirling menacingly through the air.

It was an eerily familiar magic, yet it still instilled the same fear it had done in Sokovia. A fear so deep that anyone would drown in the depths of its despair. Luna looked at the familiar red hue and reached above her head, feeling a string appear in her hand. She pulled it, the lights flashed on and something was unleashed within Luna.

Wanda was smiling at her, her gaze filled with love and longing. Her elegant finger trailed the side of Luna's face and she gasped, suddenly back in the temple of Jörð, with Loki in front of her. He carried a look of something close to pride.

"The first chakra has been opened. Water is next," he continued and Luna closed her eyes again. "The chakra of pleasure, located in the sacrum, blocked by guilt. What guilt do you carry? What do you blame yourself for?"

A similar pull dragged her out of her body once again.

Luna pulled out her tablet, barely paying attention to where she was walking, narrowly avoiding tripping over the many branches and roots of the forest floor. "If we keep heading East, it's gonna be about three days until we reach the outskirts of Wakanda. This tablet contains a tracker so Shuri and T'Challa are probably gonna be waiting for us when we get there. But since I don't know how far the river took me, it could be way longer than three days." she said.

"What you're saying is that you have no idea where we are or how long it's gonna take or if we have enough food or if we're gonna get attacked?" Derek said.

"Basically."

"Glad to know you've planned this out with your usual attention to detail, Luna."

"Well, in the mighty words of The Rock: 'You're welcome.'"

Derek frowned at her in confusion.

"Okay, when we get back we're watching Moana."

They fell silent as Luna pondered her next question. "Hey Der?" She asked softly. He looked up at her. "When we get back... What're you gonna do? Where're you gonna go?"

Derek took a while before answering, "I'm not sure, really. I'd like to see Peggy, I guess. I have to let the government know I'm alive. And then... I gotta find a place to live. Maybe Brooklyn. Definitely New York."

Luna played with her dagger again, the back of her neck tingling as she felt someone's eyes on her, yet when she looked through the trees, there was no one. "I mean... if you got nowhere to go. You could always crash at my place." Derek looked at her. "Now before you say anything—"

"Okay." Derek interrupted.

"Okay?"

"Okay. I'd love to live with you. Besides, I could never let my fifteen-year-old sister keep living on her own."

Luna smiled and dreamed about life with her brother in Brooklyn; the Carter siblings, back at it again! Another Luna, from another time, watched this from nowhere in particular, her spirit floating somewhere in the air. She felt the dread, the guilt, built up in her as she felt what was coming.

The scene changed to a more horrifying one; one of fire and pain.

"To open the chakra," Loki's voice sounded distantly in her mind, "you must accept that this has happened. You must forgive yourself to be a positive influence on the world you hold so dear."

Luna didn't cry when the flames from her hands burned her brother and she didn't weep when the spirit possessed her brother, not anymore, she had seen it transpire enough times in her nightmares. It felt like a lifetime ago, this version of her; so childlike and so sure of herself. Maybe it was time to forgive this young teenager for mistakes long passed. Much calmer this time, Luna awakened from her trance.

"Next one," she said, taking another determined breath.

Loki nodded, the corners of his mouth twitching up. "Fire. The chakra of willpower, located in the stomach, blocked by shame. What are you ashamed of? Why are you disappointed with yourself?"

The clock rewound even further back than before. She saw Phil Coulson standing up to a god, with a gun of which he did not know the use. She saw the scepter Loki had stabbed through his heart. She saw the life leave his eyes. She saw herself fail to protect him but she also saw a young and unexperienced version of herself being thrown into a fight she had nothing to do with and she saw Phil Coulson forgive her.

Luna wasn't ready to accept it back then, but she could now. Something in her stomach opened and she felt her spirit move up her body.

"Air," Loki said. "Chakra of love, located in the heart—"

"That's a little on the nose, don't you think?" she murmured.

He chuckled despite himself. "Blocked by grief. What have you lost, Avatar, and what have you gained in its stead?"

A breeze picked up in the temple, even though the door was closed.

"Breathe, Avatar," he continued. "Think of what you have lost and let it go. Let new experiences take their place."

Images flashed before her; images she had never seen and had never wanted to see; her parents on the road, chased by a masked man on a motorcycle. The blood spraying from her mother's stomach, the cracking of her father's bones, the death of people she could barely remember.

The flames of the torches reached higher. Loki eyed them, not yet worried. He steadied the Avatar's hands, entering her mind, catching glances at the girl's grief. "What do you love, Avatar? Think of that and let it replace your grief."

"I-I can't," she whimpered, flashes of an old woman dying in her sleep, the flat tone of the vital signs monitor deafening to her ears.

"Love is all around you," Loki spoke, his voice calm and grounding. "It is a form of energy swirling around everybody. The love of your family still exists inside of you and will be reborn, if it has not already.

Tears escaped her eyes as she focused on Loki's words. The memory of closure on her parents' death came back to her; opening the case file with Wanda by her side, supporting and caring for her.

Pietro bothering her at her work, blaring traditional Sokovian folk songs through the record store.

Natasha guiding her through her panic attack at Peggy's funeral.

Steve helping her rescue Wanda and Pietro from the Raft.

Tony speeding up her emancipation and paying for her apartment without being asked.

Thor introducing her to Asgard's rich history with the Avatar.

Clint and her cracking jokes in the most dire of circumstances.

Bruce reading her science paper that she had based on his essay and almost tearing up.

Little Amy, who was the only family she had for a long time. Even Nick Fury, kidnapping her in the first few minutes they had met.

With a sob of relief, Luna felt the chakra of air, the first element she had ever mastered, open.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Loki looking at her, something shimmering in his eyes. "Please tell me you didn't see any of that," she said, wiping her tears.

"Would it make you feel better if I lied?"

She sighed. "Let's just continue."

"Four down, three to go," he said. "Sound. Chakra of truth, located in the throat, blocked by lies. What lies have parted your lips, Avatar?"

Luna knew exactly what lies had parted her lips. Keeping her own truth from the woman she loved most and learning to trust her even with the deepest parts of herself. She felt the chakra open.

"Nicely done," Loki spoke up. "Next is light, the chakra of insight, located in the forehead and blocked by illusion."

"Illusion?" Luna wondered. "I don't get it."

"I guess it's lucky that I am here, the god of illusion."

"Don't brag, it's not a good look on you."

"One of the greatest illusions, I have learned, is that of separation. Things which you think are separated are actually one and the same. Take the four nations of old; the earth kingdom, the air nomads, the fire nation and the water tribes. The same notion counts for the countries of your modern society. Every individual is a part of one collective people, yet live as if divided. All the elements are four parts of the same whole, separated only through mortal interference."

"It's useless," she said, revelation flowing through her body. "Separation. We're all the same in the end, everyone on earth will face the same threats. We separate ourselves to feel powerful. The illusion of power, that is."

"Sharp of mind," Loki said. "One to go."

"Lay it on me."

"Thought. The chakra of pure cosmic energy, located in the crown of the head, blocked by a lack of self."

"Sorry, what?"

"Have you ever wondered why you were chosen?" he asked. "You out of billions of other mortal were chosen to be the Avatar, the first after thousands of years. Why?"

It was all she had ever wondered. From the moment she had first bent air and water, she had wondered; why me?

"I don't know," she admitted.

Luna had always felt like she had a destiny to fulfill; to reintroduce the world's forgotten history and bring balance to a world in chaos. She had done a shitty job of it so far.

"Something awoke Raava from her slumber and she knew a new Avatar must be chosen, but she wandered into a world unfamiliar to her; so filled with violence and unbalance and randomness."

"You're saying it was all random? That's your big revelation?"

"What other explanation is there?"

Luna philosophized for maybe the first time in her life. She wasn't born of an ancient bloodline, dating back thousands of years. Her parents didn't have the ability to bend and neither did her brother and neither did anyone else on the planet. She might have been the first bender since the destruction of its civilization. She had always thought she was chosen for a reason. She had always had the pressure to perform, to not let Raava down, to prove to the spirit that she had chosen right.

All that pressure began to sag off of her shoulders as she let in the possibility that it was all random, that Raava simply needed a champion and she just so happened to be born at the same moment.

When Luna opened her eyes, they were alight, blazing with the light of her past lives.

For a second, she could have sworn that Lee was sitting across from her, his face morphing into Aoma's, Korra's and Aang's. They were all smiling at her.

Power filled her chest, lightning crackling at her fingertips, the torches blazing, the wind flowing through her hair, the earth beneath them rumbling and the tears from her eyes swirling around her. Loki let go of her hands and the power subsided.

"You now have access to the Avatar state," he said. "But keep in mind, it is always easier to access in moments of great emotion. Let's return to the palace."

"Great," she yawned. "I'm exhausted."

"Oh, no no no," he said, changing himself back into Odin. "We have one last thing on the agenda for today."

Luna didn't trust the shifty look on his face.

---

Luna sat uncomfortably on a chair next to a lounging Odin, watching the stage director introduce the play. Apparently the play she had seen yesterday was being presented indefinitely and Odin never missed a single performance. Luna leaned in closely to the disguised Loki, careful not to speak to loudly, in fear that the large, babbling crowd would overhear.

"So..." she began. "That's not actually Matt Damon playing you, is it?"

"I would not settle for anything less."

"Wait—so is Matt Damon Asgardian?"

Loki frowned. "Of course he isn't. He is Midgardian."

"Did you kidnap Matt Damon?" she exclaimed in a whisper.

He shrugged. "He is being paid handsomely, I assure you."

"You are actually insane."

"Shut up and watch the play."

Luna huffed and leaned back, watching with tired eyes as the play commenced.

It was nearing the end, Matt Damon had just died in Thor's arms and Odin's actor was giving the final monologue, painting Loki in a heroic and false light. The actors bowed for one last applause, watching the crowd slowly disperse.

"I think this is literal propaganda," Luna remarked. "Honestly, Odin, how has no one figured it out yet? Between the massive statue and this awful play, someone must be smart enough to see right through you?"

"You underestimate me, Avatar. My illusions are simply too powerful," he bragged, sipping his wine.

"Father," Thor greeted.

Odin spat his wine back in the goblet, "Oh shit—"

Luna had to clap a hand over her mouth to stop herself from bursting out into laughter. "This is amazing..." she quietly said, basking in her victory, with every intention of Loki overhearing.

"Luna?" Thor added, the surprise of seeing his teammate on his home planet prevalent.

"Ah—My son Thor has returned!" Odin announced. "Greetings, my boy!" he very discreetly elbowed Luna in her stomach.

"Asshole..." she muttered and stepped forward. "Thor! It's great seeing you, man! How've you been? Odin's been kind enough to let me crash here. Your pops is great, man."

Thor accepted her strong handshake with a smile. "Yes," he replied a little unsurely. "It's an interesting play. What's it called?" he asked, walking past her.

"The tragedy of Loki of Asgard," she answered. "Yeah, I know. Did you see the statue?"

"Indeed I did," he said and turned to 'Odin'. "Quite liked it. Lot better looking than when he was alive—a little less weaselly. Less greasy, maybe."

Luna snorted.

"Do you know what this is?" Thor asked, holding up some sort of giant skull with horns sticking out from both sides like a large unibrow.

"Oh," Odin said, "The skull of Surtur, a formidable weapon."

Thor handed it to one of the guards. "Do me a favor and lock this in the vault so it doesn't turn into a monster and destroy the whole planet."

Luna watched Loki scramble his way through this interaction, enjoying every single moment of it. This is what you get for forcing me to watch your stupid play, Loki.

"So..." Odin began. "It's back to Midgard for you, then?"

"Nope," Thor simply said, twirling Mjolnir in his hand. "You know, I've been having this reoccurring dream lately. Every night I see Asgard falling to ruins."

"That's just a silly dream," he said. "Signs of an overactive imagination."

"Possibly. But then I decided to go out there and investigate. And what do I find but the nine realms completely in chaos, enemies of Asgard assembling, plotting our demise. All while you, Odin, the protector of those nine realms, are sitting here in your bathrobe eating grapes," Thor said, each second getting closer up in Loki's business.

For a second he looked over his shoulder at Luna, waiting for confirmation from her.

She looked between him and Loki and simply nodded, too exhausted to keep up with the charade.

"Well, it is best to respect our neighbors' freedom—"

"Of course," he interrupted. "The freedom to be massacred," he threw his hammer past Loki and summoned it back.

Gasps rang through the crowd.

"Yes," Loki continued with his superb acting. "I have been busy myself."

"Watching theatre with the Avatar?"

"Board meetings and security council meetings—"

"Are you really going to make me do it?"

"Do what?"

Thor made a face that clearly communicated 'okay, we're really doing this' and threw Mjolnir far away, out of sight and stood behind Odin, keeping a hand on the back of his neck. "You know nothing will stop Mjolnir as it returns to my hand, not even your face."

Luna found that she enjoyed watching Loki struggle a lot more than she did watching that play.

"You've gone quite mad, you'll be executed for this—" he scrambled, seeing the hammer returning.

"Then I'll see you on the other side," Thor said, "brother."

The hammer came closer and closer, seemingly going faster and faster until—

"Okay, I yield!" Odin yelled and let himself turn back into Loki, quickly stepping away from Thor.

"Coward," Luna said, sitting down where 'Odin' had sat mere moments ago, grabbing a goblet of wine for herself.

Loki glared at her, turning to face his brother with a forced smile when suddenly;

"BEHOLD!" Skurge broke through the crowd, panting in his heavy armor and covered in some sort of green goo. "Thor Odinson—"

Loki snapped his finger in the air. "No," he said through gritted teeth, beholding Skurge with a level of immense disappointment. "You had one job. Just the one."

"Where's Odin?" Thor asked loudly.

"Oh boy..." Luna murmured, watching this theatric display unfold before her.

"You just couldn't stay away, could you?" Loki spoke. "Everything was fine without you. Asgard was prospering. Then this," he pointed acutely at Luna, "annoying pebble in my shoe shows up and I have to stick out my neck to safe her brother and then you show up... You've ruined everything."

Thor finally lost his cool and charged toward him. "Did you kill him?"

Loki ran backwards, "You had what you wanted," he tried and tripped up the stairs, falling back onto the couch Luna was comfortably lounging on. "You had the independence you asked for—"

Thor pointed Mjolnir at his chest.

"Whoa, whoa—Okay, I know exactly where he is!"

"Good," Thor said and grabbed Loki by the collar, dragging him along as he headed for the bifrost. "Luna, let's get you back to Midgard."

Luna quickly nodded and drank the last of her wine, trailing after the two brothers.

---

The bifrost had dropped the three of them off on the corner of a sidewalk in the middle of New York City. Luna took a deep breath, getting all of the possibly toxic fumes into her nostrils.

"Ah," she sighed. "Smells like home."

In front of them a destruction site stood, bordered off with fences. Pieces of brick wall and steel bars lay on a large heap of rubble. There was one particular piece of wall with a sign on it that read; Shady Acres care home.

"I swear I left him right here," Loki said, his arms crossed as he looked at the destroyed care home. Luna eyed his outfit with an impressed eyebrow; he had magicked a sleek black suit on himself.

"Right here on the sidewalk or right there where the building is being demolished?" Thor asked.

"You really planned this out to the tee, didn't you?" Luna remarked.

"How was I supposed to know? Can't see into the future, I'm not a witch."

"No? Then why do you dress like one?" Thor replied.

"Hey!"

"I can't believe you're alive. I saw you die. I mourned you, I cried for you."

Luna took a good two steps back from the conversation, focusing her attention instead on the city she hadn't called home in a very long time. Then she suddenly realized that she was technically still a wanted criminal and tried to move her hair in the way of her face so people wouldn't recognize her like they were now doing with Thor.

Two girls had asked him to take a picture and he was courteously agreeing when orange sparks, flying in a circle on the pavement beneath Loki appeared. Luna ran back to the two brothers just in time to see Loki drop into a newly-created portal on the ground before it disappeared. In its stead was a business card.

"Uhh..." she stammered. "What just happened?"

"I-I—" Thor began, poking the card with his hammer that had been transformed to look like an umbrella. "Loki?"

"Is that him? Is he fucking with us?"

"I don't think so," he replied, picking the card up. "177A Bleecker St."

"That's not too far away from here. Couple of blocks, I think," she offered. "You think that's an invitation?"

He shrugged, pocketing the card. Turning to Luna, he put a warm smile on his face. "Hello, Luna. It's been a while."

She chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so. Where have you been? Shit's been going down over here, could've used your help."

"I had other responsibilities to attend to, my apologies. I like the new look, by the way," he said and motioned to her out-grown blonde hair.

"Well, I'm a fugitive now, I needed the disguise."

"What were you doing on Asgard? I didn't expect to run into you there of all places."

"Oh, brother stuff, you know, the usual," she brushed off. "Loki helped me unlock my chakras and enter my Avatar state so, you know, good stuff."

"Loki helped you?"

"I had leverage on him, don't worry. He was surprisingly helpful," she said, thinking back to the day she had spent with him. "I don't know the guy too well, but he's different. Less evil."

"Yeah... Guess so."

"Anyway," she said loudly. "It's been real, Pikachu, but I should let you go rescue Loki. I do still want that tour of Asgard you promised."

He laughed and promised once again before taking off to go find Loki.

Luna was left alone on the corner of the sidewalk, cars and taxi's speeding past her, pedestrians bumping into her without a care in the world, when she realized what situation she now found herself in; she was alone in New York City, on the run from the UN and a million miles away from Wanda and Pietro with no phone.

The silver lining, however, was that she did still have a place to stay. So, she slowly made her way to her old apartment, the exhaustion from this busy day beginning to settle in. Luckily, her old building hadn't been demolished and it seemed like her apartment had indeed remained exactly the way it was, except that now a layer of dust covered every single surface. She didn't care.

She locked the door behind her and crashed on her bed, falling in the deepest sleep of her life, dreams of immense power haunting her dreams.

She had the ability to safe her brother, Luna realized the following morning. She first had to find a way to make her way to Edinburgh and then Wakanda. She had no money and no phone and no other way of contacting anyone. Resorting to her old ways was the only thing she could do; pickpocketing strangers on the street.

Not even a week later and she had almost scrounged together enough money to buy a burner phone. The early May sun was a nice change from the blazing Wakandan and Asgardian suns as she made her way through the many streets and alleys NYC had to offer.

That's when it appeared, first casting a long shadow over buildings and parks; a vast donut-shaped space ship hovered over New York. Seconds later, the screaming started.

 

Chapter 32: Children Of Thanos

Summary:

Luna and every other superhero in the vicinity must work together to defend New York from the children of Thanos the Titan.

III. CHILDREN OF THANOS
__________

Gliding through the air, Luna crossed the East River, continuing her way over Chinatown, lower Manhattan and Soho in record time. The pandemonium was coming from Greenwich Village and as she raced closer she could clearly see the alien space ship, hovering high above Washington Square Park, blocking the sun from reaching the ground in a large radius.

From high above, she perceived civilians screaming and running for their lives, rubble and debris flying through the air, crashing into already-ruined buildings. To her surprise, the center of most chaos was on Bleecker Street, the same street the address Thor had received was on.

Luna swooped down, waving her hands to deflect shards of metal and punching rubble out of the air. The wind from the space ship's engine blew through the street, forcing her to make a crash landing. Then, with a screech, the ship stilled. Still on high-alert, she sprinting through the streets, helping people crushed by debris, until she saw a conspicuous man in a red cape, flanked by three other men.

"Tony!" she called out, running to him. She spotted the man next to him, someone she hadn't seen in a very long time, "Bruce?"

"Luna?" Bruce replied, embracing her quickly.

"Oh my god—where have you been? What's happening?"

"Long story, I was on this planet with Thor and Loki and this scary lady—"

"Okay," Tony pulled them away from each other. "We don't have time for this. Carter, glad to have you here. Pretty sure this is Thanos' doing."

She stilled, her insides growing cold. "What did you say?"

"I take it you've heard of him?"

"The Mad Titan," she confirmed. "Loki told me about him. He has an infinity stone."

"Two," Bruce said. "He has two, now. Loki took the Tesseract from Asgard's vault before Ragnarök destroyed the planet. Thanos came looking for it."

Luna stumbled in her place, her heart beating in her ears. "The Tesseract's been an infinity stone this whole time? What about Thor and Loki? Where are they?"

Bruce shook his head silently. "Loki... Thanos snapped his neck, he didn't stand a chance. Thor was unconscious when Heimdall sent me back to Earth."

"If it's true that Thanos now has two... then he'll be coming for the mind stone—" in a split second, Luna had pulled her burner out of her pocket and put in Wanda's phone number, shooting her a warning text that she prayed to any god who would listen went through.

She had promised to her that they would see each other again and she was not planning on breaking that promise any time soon. When she put her burner back in her jacket's pocket, her fingers brushed against a folded piece of paper and a small box. She pushed the sudden feelings of anticipation and hope away.

"Wanda and Pietro are in Edinburg, as was I before I left for Wakanda two weeks ago. I'd bet that's where Vision would be."

"Excuse me," the lean-muscled man with the cape interrupted. Behind him followed a heavy-set man, dressed in similar robes. "But we are currently under alien attack, so if we could focus up that would be appreciated."

"Sorry, who are you and where do I buy tickets for your next show?"

"Doctor Stephen Strange, this is my associate Wong—"

A bright blue beam, straight from an eighties alien movie, plunged to the concrete street. When it seceded, two forms stood in its place. One was large, almost eight feet tall, and carried bulky armor over his already massive and broad build.

The other was slender, only reaching the other's shoulders, dressed in sleek robes, his white hair slicked back. His face looked particularly alien; grey and lifeless with an aquatic countenance. It seemed like the bigger one was the muscle; in his right hand swung a large pickaxe-like weapon.

"Hear me and rejoice," the slender alien announced, his voice echoing between the buildings on both sides of the street.

Luna, Tony, Bruce, Dr. Strange and Wong sidled up next to each other, listening warily to the alien that had just invaded their planet. "This is what Thanos does," Luna whispered. "He goes to planets and wipes out half their population. We need to stop them."

"You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos. Be thankful that your meaningless lives are now contributing—" the alien continued.

"I'm sorry!" Tony yelled back. "Earth is closed today! You better pack it up and get outta here."

"Stone Keeper," the alien said calmly. "Does this chattering animal speak for you?"

"Certainly not," Dr. Strange said, walking forward, moving his hands in strange motions. "I speak for myself." Floating mystical runes appeared at his fists as he took a defensive stance. "You're trespassing in this city and on this planet." Wong followed his lead, orange sparks flying through the air from where the magic appeared at his fists.

The two invaders exchanged words. The big one brandished his weapon.

With tense shoulders, Tony said to Bruce, "Banner, you want a piece?"

"Mmmh..." he stammered. "No, not really, but when do I ever get what I want?"

"That's the spirit," Luna said encouragingly.

Bruce stepped forward, steadying his knees and clenched his fists. "Okay—push—" after an awkward three seconds, his face turned a nasty shade of red, instead of the usual dirty green.

"It's been awhile," Tony muttered. "It's good to have you buddy. Any day now."

"Let me just... I need to concentrate here for a second." He tried again and failed again.

"What's happening?" Luna asked, keeping a very worried eye on the huge alien now menacingly making his way towards them. "Just Hulk out, man."

He tried and failed and looked like he was pushing out a giant shit. "I don't know, we've kinda been having a thing."

"This is no time to be having a thing. Dude, you're embarrassing me in front of the wizards."

"Tony, I'm sorry. Either I can't or he won't."

"Shut up, the both of you!" Luna exclaimed. She stepped forward herself, putting a reasonable amount of distance between them as she looked back. "Don't worry, I've been learning a new trick myself. Get ready, Tony." She cracked her knuckles, her neck and her knees before standing her ground against the giant alien stomping her way, the ground trembling with every step.

"Tell your daddy that he ain't welcome here!" Luna exclaimed. "There's only one force capable of bringing balance. Me."

Her eyes opened, blazing with a bright white light. The wind accelerated from breezy to 30 miles per hour in under two seconds, going so fast and with so much force that it picked her up from the ground. Debris flew her way from the cracked street, as well as the water from a broken-off fire hydrant. Flames burned into existence, dancing around her.

The power of the Avatar State filled her chest, the emotions from her seven chakras filling every corner of her body and soul, the sudden loss of Thor and Loki and the return of Bruce after two years beginning to settle in her stomach, overpowering and empowering at the same time. The surge of power lasted for only a second before she was able to seize the reigns of control for herself, keeping the spirit inside her from taking over completely.

"I am tired of extra-terrestrials coming here, destroying my city and my planet!" her voice boomed with the force of four others behind it.

"She means get lost, Squidward!" Tony yelled for good-measure, his Ironman suit growing around his body almost biologically.

The big alien charged forward, leaping into the air at Luna. She accepted his challenge and with the largest piece of rock she had ever carried, crashed head-first into the alien. She won, flinging him down onto the street, cracks appearing in the asphalt. Without losing her advantage, she charged down, punching his giant face with her rock-encased fists.

Withdrawing, she allowed him to come out of his daze before doubling down, impaling his shoulders and legs with spikes of sharp ice. The alien howled, stumbling back.

However, behind him, Ironman was already on him. His fist flew up, the thrusters making the uppercut more powerful and destructive than normal. The alien was flung back to Luna, who didn't hesitate to take control of his metal armor, forcing him up in the air and hurling him at the slender alien that had calmly been watching the fight.

Without flinching, evil Squidward telekinetically moved the incoming body out of his way.

Luna breathed deeply and felt her power ebb away, her feet slowly finding steady ground once more and her eyes returning back to normal.

"That was pretty cool," Tony praised. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

"Loki taught me. Pretty cool suit you got there."

"You like it? It's nanotech—AAAH!" his voice echoed off into the distance as the ground beneath him suddenly shot up into the sky.

Luna averted her gaze just in time to see the slender alien holding out an arm, shooting a whole tree their way. She got ready to stop it but Wong charged in front of her, pulling up a runic shield, protecting the both of them. She looked behind her and caught just a glimpse of Dr. Strange opening a portal (very similar to the one Loki disappeared into) beneath Bruce, closing up behind him.

"What the fuck are you doing?" she yelled, running up to him with a threatening finger.

He slapped it out of the air. "He's of no use without his counterpart. Not right now."

There wasn't much time for conversation as the alien kept psychically throwing cars, trees and everything in the vicinity at them, while avoiding ever getting hit in the first place.

"We need to get that stone out of here!" Tony yelled over the chaos.

"We need to kill him before he ever has a chance of getting that one and Vision's!"

"The stone stays with me," Dr. Strange said, his tone final.

"Exactly," Tony said. "Bye-bye." His thrusters powered up and he accelerated straight forward.

At the same time, the large alien was waking up from his ass-beating and chucked his pickaxe at him. As the blade detached from the handle, a long chain connecting the two made sure it wasn't lost to him, wrapping around Tony and using his own speed to throw him through a nearby building and straight into Washington Square Park.

"Shit..." Luna said, looking at the wizards. "You two get the creepy one, leave the big one to me." Without looking for confirmation, she sped after the big alien who was now chasing after Tony.

She surged forward, cutting through the metal chain of the pickaxe right before it squashed Bruce and Tony to death.

"Bruce, buddy, either get your friend to come out and play or get the hell away from here!" she yelled, pushing her feet deeper into the grass, feeling the vibrations through the ground. She split the earth where she stood, pushing it beneath the alien. Stumbling back, he crashed into a tree.

Tony swooped in, directing his energy beams at the alien, only for it to be deflected by a sudden shield. It seemed like Tony wasn't the only one with transforming weaponry. Together they flanked the alien, pushing him around the park, using their cluttered surroundings to their advantage.

With a particularly nasty backhand, Luna soared through the air, hitting the ground with a sickening crack coming from her ribs, rolling across the grass until she came to a standstill.

Somewhere in the distance, Bruce was struggling to bring the Hulk out and Tony was having a hard time taking on the alien by himself. He was slammed against a tree, dazed as the alien prepared to finish him off with a swing from his powerful fist.

Luna watched through her blurry vision as a familiar figure dressed in red and blue spandex caught the fists in his hands.

"Hey man," Spider-Man said, his voice still that of a teenager's. "What's up Mr. Stark, Miss Avatar."

Luna retched in response as she tried standing up, the piercing pain in her chest still evident.

"Kid, where'd you come from?" Tony asked.

"A field trip to MoMAAAAA—" the alien grabbed his torso and flung him out of the way.

Without any time to take a breather, Luna and Tony stood up and charged.

Even with the three of them combined, the alien was stronger and faster, his alien tech suited to his every will. Luna ripped chucks of earth right out of the ground, forming massive projectile weapons as Peter webbed his legs together.

One by one, the chucks of earth hit the alien in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards. Tony appeared behind him, his energy blasts hitting the alien's back, leaving sizzling holes where his armor used to be.

The three of them moved closer, into melee range, and each of them acted as a distraction for the other two, hitting him at the same time, never giving him a chance to rest. As Tony made a shield appear in his hand, rearing back to slam it against the alien, an unconscious Dr. Strange flew past them followed by the creepy alien. Peter didn't hesitate to go and get him.

Luna and Tony were left to defend themselves when Tony suddenly said, "Hang on, Kid!" He turned to Luna. "The kid's being beamed up—you got this?"

"Not really, but go get him."

Tony flew off into the sky.

Now, all of the alien's attention was focused on Luna and Luna alone. She had no time to react as the alien reared back his weapon, aiming for her, but was cut off by a portal to a snow-packed, icy-cold biome appearing beneath him. Just as he leaped up to jump back through, it closed, his large hand severed from the rest of his body.

Bruce yelped as the hand flew his way. Wong stood beside him.

Luna breathed out harshly, nodding at the strange wizard. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"Where's Strange and the stone? Spider-Man and Tony?"

Wong looked worriedly at the giant spaceship that was quickly making its way back into space.

"Can you get me there?" she asked forcefully. Wong looked at her like she was crazy. "If the Time stone is up there with that fucked-up goth Squidward, than I'm our best shot of getting it back! Now, can you get me up there?"

Wong sighed. "Don't blame me when you get killed," he said and moved his arm in circular motions, shaping a portal right into the ship. "Go now, before the ship flies out of range."

Luna breathed in deeply, patting Bruce's shoulder. "See you on the other side." And she stepped through, the portal immediately closing behind her.

The interior of the space ship was dark and blue, the absence of light increasing as the ship moved through the Earth's atmosphere. There was no turning back now. The burner in her pocket buzzed:

'Luna?

Is this you?

We're safe at the compound

Please tell me you aren't on that ship

Be safe

You promised

I love you'

There were no more texts after that, because the ship had moved out of range of any satellite orbiting Earth. Blinking back tears, she put the phone back in her pocket and focused on the task at hand.

She crouched along the walls, the many nooks and crannies perfect for her to pass through the ship unseen and unheard. Stealthing along a high-up ledge, she could clearly see what was happening in the large open room beneath her.

Dr. Strange hung suspended in the air, his limbs restricted by sturdy ropes. The slender alien stood before him, his gangly hands moving slightly as he made large needles appear in the air. They looked barely solid, as if made of some sort of liquid shaped into sharp points by the alien's powers. She couldn't hear whatever it was that they were discussing, but she could guess that it was about the Time Stone that was still securely locked within Dr. Strange's amulet.

Something on the opposite side of the room caught her attention; Tony was standing on the same ledge, overlooking the same scene. Spider-Man was hanging upside-down in front of him and a floating cape stood beside him. Quietly she moved towards them.

"—was gonna go home!" Peter said, desperately flailing his arms.

"I don't wanna hear it," Tony responded.

"But it was such a long way down and I just thought about you on the way—"

"And now I gotta hear it."

"—and kinda stuck to the side of the ship. And this suit is ridiculously intuitive, by the way. So, if anything, it's kinda your fault that I'm here."

Luna creeped closer, indeed seeing Peter's new and shiny suit.

"What did you just say?"

"I take that back," he stuttered. "And now, I'm here in space."

"Yeah," Tony stepped closer. "Right where I didn't want you to be. This isn't Coney Island. This isn't a field trip. This is a one-way ticket. You hear me? Don't pretend you thought this through."

"No, I did think this through."

"You could not have possibly thought this through."

"You can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man if there's no neighborhood..." he waited for a second before adding, "Okay, that didn't really make any sense, but you know what I'm trying to say."

Luna finally reached them and came out of the dark, walking up to Tony with a sheepish expression. "I think what the kid's trying to say is..."

Tony spun around to face her, an incredulous expression on his face.

"Is that he'd rather die in space than on Earth."

"What in the holy hell are you doing here?" Tony exclaimed, careful to be quiet so the weird alien didn't overhear them.

"Don't be mad—"

"Don't be mad? Luna, for fuck's sake. Both of you—" he gestured between Luna and Peter, "shouldn't be here!"

"Too late for that, Tony," she said, clapping him on his shoulder. "We're in this now. Come on," she looked over the ledge, much closer now to the alien and Dr. Strange. "What's the situation?"

Tony let out a long and tired sigh before answering, "The ship's on course to some place called Titan. Squidward here wants to get the stone before we reach it, to give to Thanos."

"Thanos is on gonna be on Titan?"

"Apparently."

She nodded, thinking deeply about their next steps. "That's good. That means he won't be on Earth for at least a little while. We should rescue the wizard first, before making any further plans."

"That's what I was thinking. Kid, let's see what you're made of," he motioned for Peter to join them. "See him down there? What's your plan? Go."

Peter looked beneath them, thoughts swirling behind his eyes. "Okay... okay, okay, uhh... You guys ever see that really old movie Alien?"

---

Luna hadn't seen Alien yet, but from what Peter had explained, the plan should work. Dr. Strange was in apparent agony, the liquid needles penetrating his skin in all places, his screams echoing through the ship.

"Painful, aren't they?" the alien spoke. Luna listened from her hiding place, ready to jump into action. "They were originally designed for microsurgery. And any one of them..." he stopped and turned when he heard Ironman land on the metal ground several feet behind him, his blasters pointed right at him. "could end your friend's life in an instant."

"I gotta tell you, he's not really my friend. Saving his life is more of a professional courtesy," Tony said.

The alien sauntered forward, raising his wretched hand, a large metal construct following his movements. "You've saved nothing." Another hand went up and another weapon followed. "Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine."

"Yeah, but the kid's seen more movies."

He diverted his blasters from the alien to the outer wall and blasted a hole right into the ship, the vacuum of space immediately sucking everything that wasn't hunkered down tightly into icy nothingness.

The alien didn't stand a chance, but so did Dr. Strange, who was quickly following after him. Dr. Strange's cape, which seemingly held some sort of consciousness of his own, tried to pull him back, but failed to get a hold of him.

Peter swung across the room, webbing Dr. Strange, slowing his descend into space. He dove forward, grabbing the man and right before both of them were flung into the open vacuum, eight robotic spider legs protruded from his back, breaking their fall.

Luna ran from her hiding place, bending the little air that was left inside the ship to stop her from getting sucked out and thrust out her arms, feeling the metal of the ship beneath her grasp. She crushed her fists, moving them together as the metal wall followed her movements, sealing it closed.

Slowly, Dr. Strange stood up, his cape resting on his shoulders once again, and joined the rest of them on the bridge of the ship. "We gotta turn this ship around."

"Yeah, now he wants to run. Great plan."

"No, I want to protect the stone."

"Then you would've left when you still had the chance," Luna said harshly. "Because right now we're heading straight for Thanos, practically delivering that stone to him on a silver platter! Let's make the best of a bad situation, Doc."

"And a thank you would be nice," Tony added. "Go ahead, we're listening."

"For what?" he asked. "Nearly blasting me into to space?"

"Yeah, but we didn't. So how about you drop the attitude and listen to what we have to say?"

"Whether you like it or not, we just saved your magical ass."

Dr. Strange shook his head. "I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet."

"Admit it," Tony said. "You should've ducked out when I told you to. I tried to bench you. You refused."

"Unlike anyone else in your life, I don't work for you."

"Listen," Luna cut in. "I don't work for him either, but even I know that, right now, listening to him is the best shot we got at making something of this fucked up situation. We're in a flying donut, Strange, already a million miles away from Earth with no back up."

"I'm backup," Peter pointed out.

"No, you're a stowaway. The adults are talking." Tony quickly countered.

"I'm sorry, I'm confused as to the relationship here. What is he, your ward?" Dr. Strange questioned.

"No," Peter said, sticking out his hand. "I'm Peter, by the way."

He didn't return the hand shake. "Dr. Strange."

"Oh! We're using our made-up names. I'm Spider-Man, then."

Dr. Strange looked about done with the whole situation, blood still trickling down the side of his face from where the needles had stabbed him.

Luna looked out the vast window in front of them, looking into space as if she were looking into an ocean. If she had more time, maybe she could figure out the controls of the ship, but right now all she knew was that the creepy alien had plotted a course for Titan and that was where the ship was headed.

"There's no pilot," she spoke up. "The ship's self-correcting its course. It's on autopilot." She turned to Dr. Strange and tried her luck at giving him a handshake. "Luna Carter."

To her surprise, he actually shook her hand. "Dr. Stephen Strange. Can we control it?" he looked around the ship. "Fly us home?"

Luna looked at Tony, the two sharing a filled look. She shrugged, handing him the reigns of the situation. "Tony? What d'you wanna do?"

"Stark. Can you get us home?"

"Yeah, I heard you," he replied. "I'm thinking I'm not so sure we should."

Dr. Strange squared his shoulders. "Under no circumstances can we bring the time stone to Thanos. I don't think you quite understand what's at stake here."

"What? No," he said, swiftly entering his personal space. "It's you who doesn't understand that Thanos has been inside my—our—heads for four years since he sent an army to New York and now he's back!"

Images of the Battle of New York flashed through Luna's mind, suddenly reminded of the many nightmares and panic attacks she had gotten from that one fateful day. It was only four years ago, yet it felt like a lifetime. So much had changed, she had met so many new people.

As much as she wished she had had a chance at a normal life, she would have never met the love of her life if she had. Besides, maybe, after all of this was over, there would be some semblance of a normal life on the horizon. The little box and the folded up paper inside her jacket's pocket suddenly felt very heavy.

"And I don't know what to do," Tony continued, emotion heavy in his voice. "So I'm not so sure if it's a better plan to fight him on our turf or his, but you saw what they did, what they can do."

"He'll be sending more of his 'children' to Earth..." Luna predicted. "He won't be expecting us on his home planet. We take the fight to him, strike before he gets his hands on the other stones. Doc," she pleaded, "I've seen the power of one of the stones up close and personal, sort of. Even with just one, he is capable of destroying an entire world."

Dr. Strange stilled for a second, deep in thought. "All right. We go to him. But you have to understand... if it comes to saving either of you, the kid or the time stone... I will not hesitate to let the three of you die," he promised. "I can't, because the universe depends on it."

"Fair enough," she said.

"Yeah," Tony said, patting his arm. "Good, moral compass. Alright, kid," he moved to Peter, using his arm as a sword as he pretended to knight him. "You're an Avenger now." With a forlorn look, he walked away, sliding down in one of the alcoves.

Luna watched him carefully. "Congrats, kiddo. Try not to die."

"Uhh... yeah, sure, I'll try. Thanks."

She didn't listen much to him after that as she followed Tony, sliding down against the wall opposite of him, their legs barely touching. "How you doing? Honesty would be appreciated."
 
He chuckled dryly. "Not that great. You?"

"Same. Dick."

"Bitch."

They laughed and high-fived, finding little comfort with each other.

"Congrats on the wedding, by the way. Pepper's great."

"Yeah, she is. How'd you hear about it? Last I heard you were on the run with Cap and the rest."

She shrugged, a smile taking over her face as she thought back to the past year. "We split up, it's easier to hide in smaller groups. The twins and I've been staying in Edinburgh. Vision's been to see us once or twice, we got most of our news from him."

"Right," he nodded, taking a quick look at his watch. "Oh. Happy Birthday, Luna."

"What?"

"The third, right? That's today."

"Of course it is..." she sighed, rubbing her hands over her face. "Can't ever have a normal birthday, can I? Maybe this year'll be better."

"God, I hope so."

Luna retreated into her mind, her hand going into her pocket, feeling the soft exterior of the box. "It's our anniversary in a month. Me and Wanda's."

"Still can't believe you actually managed to score someone like her."

"Could say the same for you and Pepper."

Licking her dry lips, she pulled the small, velvet box out of her pocket. "I was walking through this dingy street a few weeks ago and passed this old store. It had a little bit of everything, but this one stood in the window." She opened the box and revealed a sleek golden ring with a diamond in the middle, two smaller ones on either side. "You know, I had actually begun to hope that we could have a normal life, leave all of this saving-the-world crap behind us..."

"You're nineteen, kid, there's still time."

"Not if die a million lightyears away from her..." she sniffled, blinking frantically. "I promised her before I left for Wakanda that we'd see each other again. Seemed like such an innocent promise at the time. But then I get taken to Asgard, dropped off in New York for a week and now I'm in space..."

"Well, if you put it like that... Yeah, doesn't sound too great."

"I was even thinking of moving when all of this UN shit blows over... If it ever blows over, that is. We'd build our own dream house; small town, white-picket fence and all that... And maybe, in a few years, a little mini-Wanda running around," she said dreamily, taking out the folded piece of paper, handing it to him. He opened it, his eyes scanning the sketch of a perfect house and the red heart Luna had drawn beside it. To grow old in –L, it said.

"Jesus, Luna... You're really done with all of this."

"You're not? You've been doing this a lot longer than I have, Tony, it's gotta be weighing on you, too."

His shoulders sagged, his head resting on the wall behind him. "I did have this dream last night. Pepper was pregnant. It seemed so real... Maybe I wanted it to be real."

"Tony, look," Luna stood up suddenly, moving back toward the bridge as, through the large water-like window, Titan began appearing in the sky. "We're almost there..." she said, feeling him stand next to her.

"You wouldn't happen to know how to land this thing, would you?"

Her eyes widened, seeing the fast-approaching planet and looked at him. "Shit."

 

Chapter 33: The Guardians Of The Galaxy

Summary:

After crash-landing on Titan, the three Avengers and Dr. Strange come across a rag-tag group of intergalactic heroes. Now they must find a way to work together if they are to defeat Thanos before he ever sets foot on Earth.

IV. THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
__________

Luna knew something went wrong the moment they entered Titan's atmosphere. Some turbulence was to be expected, but this was too much. First, the left engine went out. Then the second. Within seconds, they were spinning and turning as the ship raced towards the surface. Tony and Luna leaned on each other for support as they sped back onto the bridge, trying to figure out the controls to steer the ship.
           
"Luna, there!" Tony yelled, pointing to two identical glove-like machinations.
           
She quickly caught on to what he was saying and ran to the other one, pushing the heavy machine into place. "Peter, come on, grab the other one!" she ordered. "Put your hand in the steering gimbal and close those latches!"
           
"This thing was made for one very big guy, so you two need to listen to my directions and move at the same time, got it?"
           
"Got it!" the two said, looking at the enormous window in front of them, taking in the fast-approaching image of Titan with racing hearts. The terrain, from what they could glimpse, was strange and alien, with large objects and the ruins of other ships that had crashed getting in the way of their crash-landing.
           
"Turn!" Tony yelled, managing to just barely avoid a head-on collision. "Come on, guys, you can do better!"
           
"Sorry Tony, you wanna switch?" Luna yelled back in frustration.
           
"You should learn to listen better!"
           
"Guys!" Peter screamed frantically, being the only person paying attention. "We should turn! Turn! Turn!"
           
They looked ahead barely on time and Luna swerved, together with Peter, to avoid whatever it was that was suddenly in front of them. The tail of the ship crashed against it, breaking off, basically making a good landing impossible.
           
"Down!" Tony said. "Just down, guys, just land this fucking thing!"
           
"Preferably without killing us," Dr. Strange added from where he stood comfortably, watching the three of them struggle.
           
Luna and Peter shared a glance and pulled down at the same time, the ship following. The ground got clearer and clearer, closer and closer when Tony said, "Up!" and the two of them pulled up again, steadying the ship, making it so the back-end crashed into the ground and not the front-end they currently found themselves in.

The ship rumbled as it touched down roughly, holes being ripped in the outer walls, any protrusions on the outside of the ship breaking off, being flung into the distance. It skidded for a good minute across the planet's surface, pieces of ship being shredded and torn by the environment. Dr. Strange stood in the middle of the group, moving his hands in strange motions, his orange, mystical magic protecting them from harm.
           
When the ship finally came to a stand-still, the four picked themselves up from the floor, catching their breath. Luna ran to what looked like the control panel and began pressing buttons, looking for anything that still had some juice in it, to no avail.
           
"Fuck!" she screamed, slamming her hands down. She turned and faced Tony. "There goes our only fucking way of ever making it back to Earth! Fucking—Fuck!"
           
Tony rubbed a hand across his face, sighing deeply.
           
"Are you two okay?" Dr. Strange approached them.
           
Tony nodded. "Physically, as well as could be. I owe you one."
          
Luna yelped as Peter suddenly spoke from behind her, hanging upside down from one of his webs. "Let me just say, if aliens wind up planting eggs in my chest or something and I eat one of you, I'm sorry."
          
Tony held up a finger. "I do not want a single pop culture reference out of you for the rest of the trip. You understand?"
           
He opened his mouth to protest, jumping down and standing upright. "I'm trying to say that something is coming."
           
A sound of something rolling across the metal floor broke the awkward silence. A ball rolled between Tony's legs and came to a stop in the middle of the group. Before anyone had any time to react, it went off, blasting them through the air. Luna crashed against one of the metal pillars before tumbling to the ground in a heap. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her shoulder, she gathered herself back up. A group of three invaders charged through the entrance of the ship.
           
"THANOS!" the biggest of them yelled, throwing a dagger at Dr. Strange. He quickly put up a shield to block the dagger from embedding itself in his face. Shaking off the surprise, he sent his cape to deal with the alien-looking man.
           
"Who the fuck are these guys?" Luna yelled above the chaos, pushing the air beneath her feet to charge forward at an impressive speed.

"Shoot first, ask questions later, Carter!" Tony yelled as his suit formed around him.

One of the invaders activated his rocket boots and met Ironman in the air, shooting him with his laser guns. Somewhere down below, Peter was dealing with the third invader, but Luna had no time to help him as Tony was suddenly thrust her way, some sort of device on his chest magnetizing him to the metal of the ship.
           
"Kid, some help?" he grunted.
           
Crackling blue strands of electricity covered her hands. Touching the device, it powered down and fell to the ground.
           
"I though Titan was uninhabited?" she questioned, watching as the invader charged at them once more, jumping to use his rocket boots. Luna quickly held up her hands and manipulated the metal in the boots to stop him in his place.
           
Behind them, Peter crawled across the floor, trying to get away from the third invader, who had long antenna growing from her forehead. Tony shouted at Luna to go help him and within seconds, he was back in combat with the man in front of him.

Luna ran forward, trying to get to Peter before whatever that weird alien-looking woman was could harm in, but her path was blocked by the big one, his skin a lilac-greyish with strange protruding patterns going down his body. He was insanely strong, she noticed when his fist hit her stomach and she got thrown back a good few feet.
           
Luna didn't stay down long and launched herself at him, bending the metal around her to coat her fists. The man took punch after punch and while it seemed like it did hurt him, he didn't back down.
           
Who the fuck were these freaks?
           
Pushing the large man back with her fiery fists, something she still didn't quite like doing, she noticed Tony, Peter and Strange fending off the rocket man and the antenna lady and even though they outnumbered them, they were somehow still having a hard time.

Getting tired of her back-and-forth with the angry, tattooed one, she blew him towards the group with one powerful blast of air. He landed on the ground next to Tony, who immediately trained his huge gun on his face. Luna's victorious smile quickly dropped when she saw the rocket man holding a bound Peter to his chest, holding his own gun to the side of his head. The antenna lady stood off to the side, clearly not that much of a fighter.

Luna ran beside Strange, copying his defensive stance as she summoned many tiny little scraps of metal, ready to fire them off with the force of a bullet at a moment's notice.
           
The rocket man charged his gun, the sound cutting through the chaos. "Everybody stay where you are!" he yelled. "Chill the ef out!"
           
Luna frowned as she perfectly understood what this alien was saying, in English.
           
The rocket man removed his helmet with the click of a button, revealing a weirdly ordinary face. "I'm gonna ask you this one time," he said, pointing his gun at each of them before returning it to Peter's head. "Where is Gamora?"
           
Luna turned to Strange and was glad to see the same expression of confusion on his face.
           
"Yeah," Tony replied, letting his helmet go back into his suit. "I'll do you one better. Who's Gamora?"
           
The invader Tony had pinned beneath him lifted his head from the ground and added, "I'll do you one better. Why is Gamora?"
           
"Well, we're in a stalemate with a bunch of idiots..." Luna muttered.
           
"Tell me where the girl is or I swear to you I'm gonna French fry this little freak," the rocket man threatened.
           
Tony's gun grew in size. "Let's do it. You shoot my guy and I'll blast him. Let's go!"
           
"Do it, Quill!" the big one said. "I can take it."
           
"No, Drax, you can't!" the antenna lady yelled.
           
"She's right, you definitely can't," Strange stated.
           
"Oh, yeah?" Quill, he was apparently called, said. "You don't wanna tell me where she is? That's fine. I'll kill all four of you and beat it out of Thanos myself."
           
"Dude!" Luna shouted. "We don't know who the fuck Gamora is—wait, did you just say you wanna beat Thanos?"
           
"Thanos?" Strange said. "Alright, let me ask you this one time. What master do you serve?"
           
"What master do I serve?" Quill repeated. "What am I supposed to say, 'Jesus'?"
           
"Jesus?" Luna questioned. "You're from Earth?"
           
"I'm not from earth, I'm from Missouri."
           
"Yeah, that's on Earth, dipshit!" Tony exclaimed. "What're you hassling us for?"
           
"Y-you're not with Thanos?" Peter piped up in a meager voice.
           
An incredulous look crossed Quill's face. "With Thanos? No, I'm here to kill Thanos. He took my girl—wait, who are you?"
           
"We're the Avengers, man," Peter answered, his mask retreating back into his suit.
           
"We're also from Earth, dude," Luna clarified, gesturing to the four of them. "Now, let the kid go."
           
Quill removed his gun and Peter quickly ran back beside Tony.
           
"The Avengers?" antenna lady said. "You're the ones Thor told us about."
           
"You know Thor?" Tony asked.
           
"He's alive?" Luna asked at the same time, a feeling of relief washing over her.
           
"Yeah," Quill confirmed. "Tall guy, not that good-looking, needed saving."
           
"Do you know where he is now?" Luna asked, a little confused by Quill's description.
           
Quill shook his head as if he still couldn't really believe what was happening. "He went to Nidavellir with Groot and Rocket. His hammer broke and he needed a new one to kill Thanos."
           
"His hammer broke?" Strange questioned. "I find that a little hard to believe."
           
"Dude, I don't know! I didn't interrogate him on it!"
           
"Guys!" Tony spoke up. "We don't know how long we have until Thanos returns to Titan, so we need to come up with a plan."
           
"Yes," Luna agreed. "We're with more now, so that's good. First things first, I'm Luna, That's Tony, Peter and Strange. Just follow our lead and Thanos will be dead in no time," she said and began following Strange out of ship.
           
"Hey, hey! No," Quill protested. "Absolutely not. Have any of you ever actually seen Thanos? No, exactly what I thought. We're doing this together, whether you like it or not."
           
"Fine!" Tony exclaimed, not stopping his stride out of the ship.
           
"Good," Quill said, him and his team catching up to them. "Nice to meet you all, I'm Peter, they call me Star-Lord. This here is Mantis and the big guy is Drax. They call us the Guardians of the Galaxy. Hope we can all become good friends before facing our inevitable doom."
           
"Who's 'they'?"
           
The loading doors of the ship had been ripped off during their crash landing, so if the air was toxic they would all know it soon enough. However, as they all stepped out, the air seemed breathable. Titan was a bare planet, barely any vegetation as far as the eye could see. A large mountain range broke the horizon. The ground was as hard as rock, covered with a layer of red, dusty sand that poofed up in clouds as they walked across it.

Luna walked ahead of the group, careful not to jump too high since the gravity here was way lighter than on Earth. Turning to the ship, she rested her hands on her hips.
           
"Fucking shit, man..." she said, defeated. "How the hell are we gonna get home?"
           
"You know what?" Quill approached her, holding a strange orange device. "If we actually manage to kill Thanos and all of you live to tell the tale, you get a one way ticket back to Earth. How about that?" Reading something on his orange device, he said, "The hell happened to this planet? It's eight degrees off its axis. Gravitational pull is all over the place."
           
"Yeah, we got one advantage," Tony said. "He's coming to us. We'll use it. Alright, I have a plan," he announced.
           
"Not the time," Luna said to Mantis, the antenna lady, who was using the lack of gravity to bounce up and down like a six-year-old child. Mantis didn't pay her much mind. Shaking her head, Luna turned to Tony. "Lay it on us, T-dude."
           
The rest of the new mismatched team gathered around.
           
"It's pretty simple," Tony began. "We draw him in, pin him down, get what we need. Definitely don't wanna dance with this guy. We just want the gauntlet—" he cut himself off as he looked at Drax. "Are you yawning?" Drax finished his yawn without remorse. "In the middle of this, while I'm breaking it down? Huh? Did you hear what I said?"
           
"I stopped listening after you said 'we need a plan'." Drax explained.
           
Tony sighed. "Okay, Mr. Clean is on his own page..."
           
"See," Quill spoke up. "'Not winging it' isn't really what they do."
           
"Uh," Peter walked up. "What exactly is it that they do?" he asked, pointing at them.
           
"Kick names, take ass," Mantis said confidently.
           
"Yeah, that's right."
           
Luna could feel a migraine start to form and it seemed from the look on Tony's face that he felt the same. He sighed deeply, probably rethinking his decision to not kill all three of them the moment he laid eyes on them. "Alright," he eventually said. "Just get over here, please. Mr. Lord, can you get your folks to circle up?"
           
"Star-Lord is fine," Quill said and beckoned his team to gather up.
           
"We gotta coalesce," Tony started. "'Cause if all we come at him with is a plucky attitude—"
           
"Dude, don't call us plucky," Quill interrupted. "We don't know what it means. Alright, we're optimistic, yes," he admitted. "I like your plan. Except it sucks, so let me do the plan and that way it might be really good."

"We're all gonna die," Luna concluded. "That's great. Awesome. Look, Quill," she stepped up to him. "You're not the only one who's got a loved one that's in danger because of Thanos, so suck it up Buttercup, you're not the one in charge here."
           
"Tell him about the dance-off to save the universe," Drax offered.
           
"Tony, I'm about to go kill myself," Luna whispered.
           
"Please don't leave me alone with them," Tony said. "What dance-off?"
           
"It's nothing," Quill stammered.
           
"Like in Footloose, the movie?" Peter guessed, extreme confusion on his face.
           
"Exactly like Footloose! Is it still the greatest movie in history?"
           
"It never was?"
           
"Don't encourage this," Tony turned to Peter. "We're getting no help from Flash Gordon here."
           
"Flash Gordon, by the way?" Quill said. "That's a compliment."
           
"Is it, though?" Luna said.
           
"Hey! Don't forget, I'm half human," he countered. "So that fifty percent of me that's stupid... That's a hundred percent you."
           
"You math is blowing my mind—"
           
"Excuse me?" Mantis suddenly said. "But does your friend often do that?"
           
Luna turned to look at what Mantis was talking about. Dr. Strange had seated himself on top of a rock, except he wasn't exactly sitting on it. He floated inches above the surface, his legs crossed. The amulet around his neck had opened, the powerful green energy wrapping around his chest in tendrils of smoke. His body glitched in and out of this reality, his face contorted in concentration.
           
The team ran up to him as he suddenly broke out of his trance with a desperate yell.

Luna knelt in front of him. "Strange, it's okay, you're here," she said, letting him grab onto her arm.
           
"What was that?" Tony asked him
           
"I went forward in time to view alternate futures," he explained, still gasping for breath. "To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict."
           
A silence fell onto the group.
           
"How many did you see?" Quill finally asked.
           
"14,000,605."
           
Then, Tony asked the question that burned on all of their tongues. "How many did we win?"
           
Strange looked around the group, his eyes vacant as he muttered, "One."

---

The team had spread out around the ruins of the ship. Tony and Peter had gone further, exploring their surroundings, trying to find any advantage for the upcoming fight. Drax and Mantis had gone back into their own ship, preparing to 'kick names and take ass' or whatever the hell it was that they did. Strange had retreated a little while ago, the look of vacancy still on his face. Whatever he had seen must have really messed with him. Luna couldn't imagine that that was a good sign.

Quill sat against the hull of his ship, a pair of headphones on his head, connected to his Walkman. Luna walked up to him and silently sat down next to him.
           
"What're you listening to?" she asked.
           
He side-eyed her at first, before removing the headphones from one of his ears. "Jackson 5," he answered. "You know them?"
           
She nodded. "Of course. I'm more into rock, though. Why don't you get an Ipod?" she asked. "You can download any song you want."
           
Quill frowned at her.
           
"Damn, how long's it been since you've been on Earth?"
           
"Uh..." he dragged, counting out the years on his fingers. "In Earth years? Around thirty years."
           
"That explains it. Don't you wanna go back? I mean, you have the means," she said, pointing at his ship.
           
Quill stared out in front of him, contemplating. "Don't know. It's been so long that I don't even know if there's anything left there for me. Besides, I got them now," he said, gesturing to Drax and Mantis, who were now messing around with the gravity a little further away.
           
"I get that," Luna replied. "I didn't have a family until I met the Avengers a couple years ago."
           
"Years? How old did you say you were again?"
           
Luna barely avoided going into an existential crisis at the question. "Nineteen today."
           
Quill's eyebrows shot up. "I'm guessing this ain't how you planned to spend your birthday?"
           
She chuckled. "It's become kind of an annual thing. Anyway, this isn't what I came over to talk to you about."
          
He waited for her to continue.
           
"Right. Who's Gamora?" she asked, and quickly caught the surprised look on Quill's face. "Touchy subject? I mean, you did try to kill us trying to get her back, so she must be important."
           
"She's my girl," he answered, looking anywhere except for at Luna. "She's part of the team. Thanos took her."
           
"And that's why you wanna kill him," Luna assumed. "Why'd he take her of all people? Does Barney have a grudge against you or something?"
           
Quill's face contorted in annoyance as he turned to look at her. "What's this? Twenty questions?"
           
She held up her hands in surrender. "Alright, fine, I'll back off. Just trying to fill in the blanks."
           
Walking absent-mindedly a few yards away from them, Luna noticed Dr. Strange and a sudden feeling of curiosity came over her. "Look, it's been great talking to anyone other than Tony and the kid, but I gotta talk to the wizard before we potentially meet our doom," she said, standing up. "See you on the other side?"
           
"Yeah, sure," Quill replied, positioning his headphones back on his head.
           
"Strange!" Luna called out, catching up with him.
           
In a way that was uncommon for Dr. Strange, he startled back. Seeing that it was only Luna, he relaxed. "We don't have much time, you'd better start getting ready."
           
"Yeah, about that," she began. "What's gonna happen? You've seen the future, doc, if we know what needs to happen—"
           
"You should know better," Strange interrupted. "Time is a fickle thing, Luna. Trying to make the future happen in which we win will only ensure that we don't."
           
"But you're sure?" she asked, trying to hide the desperation in her voice. "There's only one?"
           
Dr. Strange looked at her, part pity and part hesitation in his eyes. "No," he said eventually.
           
Dumbfounded, Luna stepped in front of him, stopping him from walking away. "The hell do you mean, no?"
           
"Look," he began. "You don't deserve to be lied to, but trust me when I tell you, you won't like the other option."
           
"If we win, what does it matter if I like it?" she exclaimed. "Half the universe versus my enjoyment? The fuck is that for dilemma?"
           
"Because the other option isn't available anymore. It stopped being available the minute you were born," Strange snapped back.
           
"What's that supposed to mean?"
           
"The other option only happens if you don't exist. Now, do you feel any better knowing that?"
           
"GUYS!" Tony ran back towards them. Everyone quickly gathered. "Get ready. Thanos is coming!"
           
That's when Luna saw it. Just a few yards away from them, a ripple in the air was beginning to form, like the heat waves coming from a barbeque. It ripped open space itself, dark matter spreading around the edges. The team shared a single last look and hid behind whatever they could find. The portal grew larger and wider.
           
Thanos stepped out.

 

Chapter 34: The Mad Titan

Summary:

The left-over Avengers and The Guardians of the Galaxy face Thanos on Titan.

V. THE MAD TITAN
__________

Fear. Anger. Apprehension. Terror. Fury. All of them hit Luna in the span of a second, coursing through her blood, inhabiting every inch of her body at the sight of Him. The Mad Titan. Thanos. He stood large and purple and alien, but strangely human in a way that was uncomfortable. He had on barely any armor, he didn't need to.

His left hand, larger than Luna's head, was covered in a golden gauntlet. The stones gleamed in their places. Red, orange, blue and purple. A purple familiar to Luna. The color that made Raava so uncomfortable, making her thrash inside of her Avatar.

There were two still missing. One belonged to Dr. Strange, the other to the Vision. That was a good sign, Luna decided. That meant that the war on Earth had not yet been lost. If they stopped Thanos right here and now, they would win and trillions of lives would be saved.

The portal behind Thanos closed with a twist of his massive hand. His robust head tilted upward, to gaze on the broken ruins of his children's ship.

Dr. Strange shared one last look with the mismatched team. "Oh, yeah," he said. "You're much more of a Thanos."

Luna cringed behind the rock that Dr. Strange was lounging on as she heard Thanos' loud footstep coming closer. Quill, Mantis and Drax had spread out further and Tony and Peter had taken the high ground. It was Dr. Strange and the Avatar who were right in front of the Titan, one hidden and one in plain sight.

"I take it the Maw is dead," Thanos spoke, his deep voice echoing through the wasteland. "This day extracts a heavy toll. Still," he continued. "He accomplished his mission."

"You may regret that," Dr. Strange returned. "He brought you face-to-face with the Master of the Mystic Arts."

Again, the vibrations from Thanos' footsteps coursed through Luna's body and when she closed her eyes, she could almost see him standing there. Silently, she willed Raava to settle down.

"And where do you think he brought you?" Thanos asked.

"Let me guess," Dr. Strange began. "Your home?"

At this, a sad chuckle came from the Titan. "It was," he said.

With a clenching of his fist and a flash of red light, the environment changed. The grass grew green, the ancient ruins flew back into the sky and the pollution was sucked out of the air, making place for blue skies and white clouds. Where they stood, used to be a bustling metropolis, the home of a civilization.

"Titan was like most planets," he explained. "Too many mouths, not enough to go around. And when we faced extinction, I offered a solution."

"Genocide..."

"But random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike. They called me a madman."

Luna's jaw clenched, her hand shook in their fists. It took all she had not to say something, do something, anything. This man, this monster, killed Loki and Heimdall. He was going to kill Vision, and Wanda, lovely Wanda, would rather die than let that happen. And Luna would rather die than let that happen. She refrained, the power building in her ebbing away, but not too far. She would need it soon enough.

"And what I predicted came to pass," Thanos said, and with a red flash the beautiful metropolis disappeared to let reality take its place.

"Congratulations," Dr. Strange returned. "You're a prophet."

"I'm a survivor."

"Who wants to murder trillions."

"With all six stones, I could simply snap my fingers. They would all cease to exist. I call that... mercy."

"And then what?" Dr. Strange stood from his rock.

"I'd finally rest and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe," Thanos said calmly, his voice softer than anyone could have predicted. "The hardest choices require the strongest wills."

"I think you'll find our will equal to yours," Dr. Strange spoke, banging his fists together, the red sparks of his magic flying away from them.

"Our?"

From above, Ironman entered, pushing a large piece of rubble from the ship right towards Thanos. It crashed into the ground, into Thanos, pushing him where he belonged. That was the team's cue.

Tony's voice crackled through the comms, "Piece of cake, Quill."

"Yeah, if you're goal was to piss him off," Quill answered, flying out of his hiding place.

The rest followed suit. Luna ran up beside Dr. Strange, but before she had a chance to say anything, an explosion of purple energy blasted apart the piece of ship and Thanos stood at the center, unharmed and, above all, pissed off. His eyes caught Tony and with a twist of his hand, the rubble in the air turned into a large flock of birds, going after Ironman like a rain of bullets.

Thanos might have been big and powerful, but he was only one person and they were going to take advantage of that fact.

Peter swung onto the battlefield, webbing the Titan's eyes shut. While Thanos was distracted, Drax slid beneath his legs, slashing at his ankles. When finally Thanos could see again and try to grab at Drax, Dr. Strange stepped out of a portal right in front of him, flanking him with a blade of pure magic. And when Drax was thrown aside like a paper towel, Quill kept him distracted with his blasters from a distance for long enough so that Luna could take his place. She manipulated the ground she stood on to raise her up from the ground, giving her the height advantage. Rock after rock she threw at him, and each time he deflected.

It was chaos. Seven against one and they were still struggling to land a single hit.

Dr. Strange stepped back, overseeing the battlefield, opening up portals when needed, anything to try and confuse Thanos, to disorient him. Quill stepped on platforms of rock, made by Luna, and jumped over Thanos, planting a bomb on his back. With a quick middle finger, he fell back into a portal. The bomb exploded with electricity.

Thanos stumbled.

That one misstep was all Luna needed. She grabbed the electricity out of the air, making the shock last longer.

"His fist!" she yelled. "Don't let him close it!"

Dr. Strange's cape responded to her call, wrapping itself around the gauntlet.

More portals opened up around Thanos, each time spitting out Spiderman in a different place before catching him once again. Until Thanos caught on to the pattern and grabbed Spiderman mid-air in a chokehold, slamming him onto the ground and picking him back up again, throwing him into Dr. Strange. Thanos growled deeply, anger rolling off of him in waves, and ripped off the cape.

Luna suddenly realized she was the only one in his vicinity at the moment. With a sprint she launched herself at him, cannons of earth and fire following her every move. Thanos raised a shield in response, each missile that hit it turning into snow on the other side.

"Oh, buddy," Luna spoke, gaining his attention. "Wrong move."

Opening the floodgates, the powers streamed through her veins, filling every inch of her body, making her more spirit than human. Her feet left the ground, her eyes opening with a bright light. The melting snow lifted from the ground, swirling together to form an ever-growing bubble of water. Floating higher and higher in the air, Earth, Water, Fire and Air met to embrace the Avatar like a raging halo.

For a moment, Thanos could do nothing but stare. But that was only for a single moment. The stones on his gauntlet glinted menacingly.

Luna roared and charged him. Tony joined her from above, launching missiles from his suit. They used everything. Metal, Electricity, everything Luna could find. Dr. Strange and Peter rejoined them, together with Drax and Quill.

They only had one shot at this. They could not fail.

Luna bent the water around Thanos' gauntlet, freezing it in place. Only a second later, it burst apart in purple light. The ground beneath them rumbled, suddenly gaping open like a hungry mouth coming to swallow Thanos whole, but with the reality stone he could simply make it undone. With a wave of her arms, wings of fire spread behind Luna. Power burst out of her with a scream as she directed it to engulf Thanos. It only stayed in place for a few seconds before it funneled into his stones.

Using that same momentum, Thanos released the tsunami of fire back at Luna. She only had a second to pull up a wall of earth around herself. Still, the outside of her jacket scorched and sizzled. With an exhausted huff, she pulled the burning jacket off and threw it aside.

Spiderman grabbed the gauntlet with a strand of his web, pulling it down to the ground, but Thanos grabbed the web for himself and dragged Peter through the air, punching him away and sending him flying.

Out of nowhere, a ship came barreling down on Thanos. He had no time to react, to do anything. It hit him square in the chest, dragging him along across the ground. As it skidded to a stop, the front window broke into a million pieces and a woman—at least, it looked like one—barreled out, not stopping a second to go after Thanos. She was blue, parts of her face gleaming with the familiar shine of metal.

Luna took that as her sign to take a breather. Tony landed beside her.

"You know her?" he asked.

"No. It seems like they know each other, though," she answered, motioning to Thanos and the blue lady engaged in combat.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Quill's voice came through the comms.

"Quill!" Luna spoke harshly. "Who the fuck is the blue chick?"

"Her name's Nebula," he replied, out of breath and still soaring through the air. "She's his daughter and Gamora's sister!"

"Dude, I think she wants to kill him!" Luna yelled back.

"Then let her!" he shouted.

She looked at Tony and shrugged, before joining the fight once again.

It seemed like the arrival of the scary-looking daughter had changed the tide in their favor. It was clear that Thanos had not expected her to show up and his guard was severely weakened because of it.

Dr. Strange entangled Thanos' gloved hand in magical bonds, using all his strength to keep him in place. Drax once again slid beneath Thanos, kicking the back of his knee in, making him fall to his knees. Luna ran into the fray, binding Thanos' other massive hand in metal of her own, pulling it in the opposite direction as Dr. Strange. Peter swung around him, webbing his shoulders together in a tight cocoon.

They had him. Thanos was trapped with nowhere to go.

Ironman descended, landing beside Dr. Strange. Simultaneously, Dr. Strange released his bonds and Tony grabbed onto the gauntlet, using all his strength to try and pry it from Thanos' fingers. But Thanos was strong, stronger than them. Luna could feel her feet begin to slip on the sand. Quickly, she made her feet sink into the ground, securing her in place.

It was time for Mantis to do her thing. Dr. Strange opened another portal right above Thanos and Mantis fell through, onto his shoulders. She grabbed the sides of his face in an iron grip, her fingers on his temples. Thanos struggled against the might of a team united. He screamed and thrashed against Mantis' empathic abilities.

"Sleep..." she muttered. "Sleep... Sleep!" Her antennae lit up, her face scrunched in concentration until it was Thanos' eyes that glazed over with a white hue.

"Is he under?" Tony asked. "Don't let up."

"Be quick!" she grunted. "He is very strong."

"Kiddo!" Luna yelled through heavy grunts, keeping Thanos in place. "Peter, you're the strong one!"

Peter released the webbing he was doing and rushed to Tony's side.

"She can't hold him much longer. Let's go," Tony instructed. Together, they began to take the gauntlet away from Thanos. Even with Peter's strength, they struggled to pry the gauntlet off.

"What? Is it super-glued to his fucking skin or something, take it off!" Luna yelled through gritted teeth.

"We're fucking trying, Luna!" Tony screamed back.

"We gotta open his fingers!" Peter yelled.

Quill flew above them, returning from being flung away. Landing in front of Thanos, he took slow, determined steps forward. "I thought you'd be harder to catch," he said cockily. "For the record, this was my plan."

"Partly!" Luna reminded him.

"Shut up, let me have this," he replied quietly. "You're not so strong now, huh?" he continued, getting up in Thanos' face. "Where is Gamora?"

A voice as deep as hell came from Thanos' throat. "My Gamora..." he forced out in between groans and grunts.

"No bullshit! Where is she?"

"Hey, Pete, calm down there!" Luna warned, feeling Thanos pull harder against her grip.

"He is in anguish," Mantis relied the information she got from being able to read his emotions only from touching him.

"Good," Quill said.

"He..." a whimper came from Mantis. "He mourns."

Luna's head snapped up, her gaze accidentally connecting with Nebula's and even though she had never seen the part-robot/part-alien before, she knew what the look on her face meant. She understood now why Nebula had come here to Titan to kill her father.

"Quill..." Luna began apprehensively.

"What does this monster have to mourn?" Drax' voice was like a bulldozer as he strained against Thanos' strength.

"A daughter," Luna spoke.

"Gamora," Nebula confirmed.

Something broke on Quill's face as he looked back at Nebula. "What?"

"He took her to Vormir," Nebula explained. "He came back with the Soul stone. But she didn't."

"Okay, Quill," Tony began, his mask retreating. "You gotta cool it right now. You understand?"

"Quill!" Luna pleaded. "Peter! Don't!"

"We almost got this off, Quill!" Tony warned desperately.

Quill's eyes pricked with tears, his face shaking with anger as he looked at Thanos. "Tell me she's lying... ASSHOLE! Tell me you didn't do it!" he yelled in his face.

"I..." Thanos began. "had... to..."

"No, you didn't—No, you didn't..." Quill said, the look in his eyes lost. He stepped back and for a moment Luna thought that the crises had been averted. Until Quill reared his fist back and punched Thanos in his face. Again. And Again. He rammed into him with roars of anger.

"Peter! Stop it!"

"Stop! Stop, Quill!"

All of them yelled at him, straining against an awakening Thanos. Tony let go of the gauntlet, already halfway off Thanos' hand, to restrain Quill.

Peter still held the gauntlet, using his bodyweight to pull it off. "It's coming, it's coming!" he yelled. "I got it!"

But the damage was done. Thanos was awake and too angry to go back to sleep. He flung Mantis from his shoulders, and grabbed the gauntlet from Peter. Peter was strong, but not that strong. One by one the restraints keeping Thanos in place snapped. Drax was thrown aside, just like Luna and Dr. Strange.

The fighting from before resumed, but the team no longer stood together, no longer worked like a single organism. It didn't take long for Thanos to gain the upper hand. The Power stone released a wave of energy, blasting all of them back. Tony was the first to recover and flew straight at Thanos, only to be ricochet back again.

Thanos raised a single, gloved hand. The moon in the sky glowed with a purple energy. Then, pieces were breaking off, charging through the atmosphere, headed straight for Tony. They came down like missiles of flame and destruction. Luna sprinted along the ruptured ground, pushing herself between Tony and the flaming boulder, raising her arms to protect them.

They spent a minute being buried alive, heaving and retching from the impact.

"You good?" she asked, the sand clogging her throat.

"No, you?" Tony replied.

"Same."

"Get us out?"

"Yeah, sure." With a deep breath, Luna braced herself and ripped the ground open above them, launching herself and Tony back above the surface.

When the dust cleared and the moon stopped crashing down on them with such ferocity, Dr. Strange and Thanos were going toe to toe. Tony put a hand on Luna's shoulder to stop her from intervening. She had never seen anything like it:

A wall of mirrors charging at Thanos, suddenly turning into a black hole racing towards Dr. Strange only to be transformed into a storm of butterflies. The wizard floated feet above the ground, extending his arms, each second growing another pair of them. No, not just arms. In the blink of an eye, the whole sky was filled with duplicates of Dr. Strange. Each of them, close to a hundred, made the same motion and cast the same spell. A hundred ropes of magic extended towards Thanos, wrapping around him tightly.

With a clench of his fingers, Thanos dissipated all of them. He had the real Dr. Strange by the throat.

"Now?" Luna asked, watching Thanos grab the duplicate amulet around the wizard's neck and crushing the fake stone within.

"Now," Tony confirmed as Thanos threw Dr. Strange aside like a ragdoll.

Luna smirked, letting her eyes light up once again.

Ironman and the Avatar charged through the air. Tony threw a device in the air, Luna using her metal bending to direct it to the palm of Thanos' Infinity gauntlet. They landed in front of him.

"You throw another moon at me and I'm gonna lose it," Tony snarked.

"Stark..." Thanos spoke. "Avatar."

"You know us?"

"I do," he answered. "You're not the only ones cursed with knowledge."

Loki, Luna thought. He had worked for Thanos. A sudden pang of grief hit her.

"My only curse is you," Tony replied, the rockets in his back activating, their target Thanos.

All three of them knew that that would not be the finishing blow. Thanos readied himself, Luna and Tony raced forward. When the explosions cleared, they stood face to face.

It was a flurry of blows. Thanos was flanked on either side, having to twist and turn to hit either of them. Tony was at his front, his nanotech suit morphing to his every need. Luna was behind Thanos, using the ground beneath them, the air around them and the fire from within her to retaliate against Thanos' heavy blows and the stones' powerful abilities. The device on his palm only stopped him from using the stones for so long, until he managed to rip it off.

Luna kicked the back of his knee, sending him to the ground. Tony used this distraction to his advantage and morphed his arm into a hammer, whacking it against Thanos' cheek. Thanos hunched over, his finger going to the cut on his cheek.

"All that for a drop of blood," Thanos mocked. In a millisecond, he stood up, swinging his arm back against Luna, sending her flying away.

As she stood up to return to fight him, the blue stone on the gauntlet lit up. The last thing she saw before being sucked through the portal, was Thanos' blade piercing through Tony's stomach.

"TONY!" she screamed, her throat raw. But it was too late, the portal had already closed in front of her.

Luna fell to her knees, her power ebbing away once more. After a good few seconds, she finally regained the strength to look up. She was still on Titan, that much she knew, but there was no sign of the fight anywhere around her except for the broken moon in the sky.

"—una—" a voice crackled broken through the comms.

"Tony? Strange? Pete?" she yelled back frantically. "I don't know where I am!"

"—ange—stone—anos!"

"I don't understand! Please!" she sobbed, the weight of everything dawning on her.

"Tha—one! Time—one!"

With the little control she had left within her, she dropped to the ground, burying her hands in the sand. Closing her eyes, she concentrated. She could feel everything within the ground of Titan, the constructs beneath the surface, the caves and fossils. But also the invisible vibrations. They were faint, but they were there.

She made it back, crawling to the top of a hill, overlooking the entire battlefield.

Thanos alone stood on his two feet. A wave of power radiated from the Titan as he looked curiously at the new addition to his golden gauntlet. The Time stone. Then he smirked contently and opened a portal before him, a grassy landscape full of chaos on the other side. They could do nothing but watch as the portal closed behind Thanos.

Luna ran down the hill, to where Tony lay against a rock, his wound closed up with his nanotech. Dr. Strange was not far off.

"What happened? she asked as soon as she came within earshot. "Strange!" she yelled in his face, shaking his shoulders. "What did you do!"

He looked at her, something vacant in his eyes. "What I had to."

Slowly but surely, everybody crowded together in silence. Nobody spoke, everything had already been said. There was no use in fighting each other, not when they had just lost the fight.

Luna crawled over to Tony, falling beside him against the rock. She took the water from her own tears and bent it over his wound. It glowed for a second and died down, healing him wordlessly. She slumped against his side, resting her head on his shoulder. He let her.

Nothing happened for a minute... and then two, five, ten, fifteen minutes.

That's when Luna felt it. A wave of power, something so close to what Lee had felt thousands of years ago, rolling through the universe like a tsunami.

Drax was the first to notice that something was wrong. His hand was held in front of him as he looked at it strangely, flexing his fingers.

"Drax?" Quill asked, still limping from the fight. "Buddy?"

Little slivers began floating into the sky, away from Drax's hand. Then, Drax's hand was gone and his arm was following. All anybody could do was stare as he turned to dust.

"Guys!" Quill exclaimed, his eyes frantically following the dust that had taken the place of his friend. "I think—" he was quicker to turn into dust, his sentence cut off by his vocal cords disappearing.

Luna was on high alert, looking wildly as Mantis stumbled forward, toward Nebula, grabbing at the woman with frantic hands. With tears filling those darkened eyes, she turned to dust.

Dr. Strange went quietly, resigned to his fate, watching his dust float into the polluted air.

"Tony?" Luna said loudly, grabbing the man's arm in an iron grip. "I think—" she swallowed deeply. "I think something went wrong. I think something went really wrong."

"We lost?" he simply muttered quietly to himself, watching the wind carry away the dust.

"Mr. Stark?" Peter's quiet voice said from behind them. "Miss. Avatar?"

The two snapped around. Peter was stumbling Tony's way, his face distraught as he watched his hands.

"Kid?" Luna asked, stepping forward.

"I—" his voice broke. "I don't feel so good..." his face turned a ghostly white, tears in his eyes as he looked into Tony's, falling forward into his arms. "I don't feel so good, Mr. Stark."

Luna choked back a sob as she saw the tips of the boy's fingers turning into a flaky dust.

Tony hugged him close, his face unresponsive as he laid Peter down against a rock.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Mr. Stark..." Peter repeated to himself, the realization that he was going to die falling over his cheeks with each tear.

Tony held onto him for as long as he could. And then Peter was gone. Ashes to ashes. There, Tony stayed crouched, face in his hands.

Luna stepped forward, her own stomach churning with an unfamiliar feeling. She put a caring hand on his shoulder, squeezing to make sure he knew she was there, but when the churning in her stomach began to feel more like knives being stabbed into her abdomen over and over and over again, the grip was to make sure she could stay upright.

Tony had turned to her, standing up to meet her eyes. "Luna? What's happening?" he asked when she stumbled away from him. "No—NO! Not you too!" he screamed and a man that rarely cried, sobbed. For the kid that wouldn't stop bugging him and the one that had crawled its way into his heart with every sarcastic insult thrown at him.

"I—" she said through gritted teeth, doubling over from the pain. Something was moving through her insides, violently trying to find its way out, but when she looked at her hands, they were still as intact as a day ago. "Okay... I think I'm oka—AAAAAHH!"

Luna let out a primal scream, her knees ripping open as she fell to the ground. Something inside her was moving up, making its way out. Her body convulsed, her arms spread wide, her eyes lighting up with a blazing light. A cloud of dust floated out of her mouth like a feather on the wind. Her eyes died down again.

Luna was left on the ground, feeling as if her very being had been ripped away from her.

Tony fell to the ground in front of her, cradling her to his chest as she heaved and sobbed. "Luna?" he asked quietly as he let go and looked at her. "Talk to me."

"It's—" she choked on the words she somehow knew to be true. "It's Raava. She's gone."

Luna Carter will return in Avengers: Endgame

Chapter 35: BOOK V: endgame

BOOK V: endgame

• • •

[PLAYLIST]

Five Years – David Bowie
My Hero – Foo Fighters
Trouble – Adam Jensen
My Life – Imagine Dragons
IF NOT FOR YOU - Maneskin
Nowhere Fast – The Smiths
Crazy – Daniela Andrade
Paint It, Black – The Rolling Stones

• • •

[MAIN CAST]

Adelaide Kane – Luna Carter: the Avatar

Robert Downey Jr. – Tony Stark: Ironman

Chris Evans – Steve Rogers: Captain America

Scarlett Johansson – Natasha Romanoff: Black Widow

Mark Ruffalo– Bruce Banner: The Incredible Hulk

Chris Hemsworth – Thor: Thor

Jeremy Renner – Clint Barton: Hawkeye

• • •

[RECURRING CAST]

Elizabeth Olsen – Wanda Maximoff: Scarlet Witch

Aaron Taylor-Johnson – Pietro Maximoff: Quicksilver

Paul Rudd – Scott Lang: Ant-Man

Karen Gillan – Nebula

Brie Larson – Carol Danvers: Captain Marvel

Don Cheadle – James Rhodes: War Machine

Tyler Hoechlin – Derek Carter

Josh Brolin – Thanos

• • •

[ALSO FEATURES]

Howard Potts
Trash Panda
Tree
Peggy!
Dumbasses of the Galaxy
Sad!Happy
Angela Basset
I Love You 3000

 

Chapter 36: Remember The Fallen

Summary:

As the only survivors from their team, Tony, Luna, and Nebula travel from Titan through space in the hopes of reaching their home once more. But as their rations and fuel-level keep dwindling, the outlook of reaching their loved ones turns bleaker by the day.

I. REMEMBER THE FALLEN
__________

May 2018

Luna had never had much luck on her birthday, not after her parents and great-grandmother passed, and her nineteenth hadn't turned out to be any different. Fighting a big, purple alien on a different planet and seeing your friends turn into dust wasn't what she had been planning.

Maybe her twentieth would be different. She'd take Wanda out to dinner at a really fancy restaurant, hopefully a ring around both their fingers. Yet, at the moment, there was no hope on the horizon for Tony and Luna to get back to their loved ones.

In a space ship with only two people to talk to, it got boring really fast. Tony had sunk into himself, even the little joys of playing games with Nebula had gotten old. Nebula, surprisingly, still had her hopes. Maybe it was because she spent her entire life travelling in outer space, or maybe it was because most of her body had been replaced with robotics.

Luna was... somewhere in between. Raava was gone. She felt hollow. There was no connecting to her past lives anymore, and she found herself missing that maybe more than anything else. Well, maybe not more than anything. There was still Wanda.

When they finally, miraculously, returned to Earth, Wanda would be there waiting for her. That was the only spark of hope Luna was able to cling onto. Pietro would make a joke out of a bad situation and Derek would tell her everything was going to be alright.

Rations were running out. Water, too. Luna gave it two weeks before they would have to use their own pee to hydrate, she was sure she could figure out how to bend the pure water out. She just hoped it wouldn't come to that, that they would reach Earth at any moment now and finally see their loved ones again. Whatever was left of them.

I can't bend the water out of our pee. I'm not the Avatar anymore, she re-realized every so often when she started to come up with solutions, like a pounding migraine. No water, no earth, no fire. Then, when the pain retreated, she'd forget again, but it was always there, lingering like a dense fog in her mind.

Nebula, after realizing that she was going to be stuck with arrogant goatee and sarcastic bad-bleach-job for a while, had told them what she knew of Thanos' plan. The plan that had succeeded; wiping out half of the universe. They didn't speak much about what would happen if they got to Earth and everybody was gone. They couldn't, it already hurt too much only thinking about it.

It didn't matter much, anyway, because they would probably never reach Earth again. Whatever fuel Quill's ship used was running out, the engine only going on fumes.

Malnourished and exhausted (not so much Nebula, because she was mostly robot), they had resorted to trying to keep themselves and each other sane. Tony had proposed a tournament of a game he had invented; trying to shoot a piece of metal from the table through your opponent's thumbs. Luna had told him to fuck off and was eventually forced to act as referee.

When they would need to start eating each other to survive, Tony was going first.

"Yes, hold your fingers like that—that's it, like a goal. Good," Tony instructed. "Then I shoot this thing right... like... this..." he shot the triangle-projectile right between Nebula's thumbs, cheering himself on.

Luna rolled her eyes, leaning back against the wall, trying not to think of how hungry she was, or how dry her mouth was, or how tired she felt, or how her muscles were aching, or how her head was pounding.

"Now, that's how you play!" Tony said, now putting his hands in the goalie-position. "Give it a try."

Luna suspected that Tony was feeling just as rotten as her. She guessed she appreciated his attempt at raising their spirits. She couldn't care less, though, about some dumb game. She just felt empty. The one thing that had been with her her entire life had been ripped out of her with a snap of a finger.

All the Guardians were gone, just like that. Dr. Strange, whatever he was, seemingly so powerful, gone in dust. And poor Peter. He didn't deserve any of this. He was just a kid, barely sixteen.

It was killing Tony, Peter's death. It was clear as day; the way he would sit in the pilot's seat, staring out the front window for hours on end.

An angry shout pulled her out of her own mind. Nebula had stood up, gesturing her blue arms wildly at Tony, who looked smug as always.

"You cheated!"

"Come on," he said calmly. "Just admit your defeat, Robotnik. Can't always be a winner."

"But it went through your thumbs!"

"I got a pretty good perspective on the situation and I'm positive it didn't."

"Cheater..." she grumbled

"Luna, tell her."

"What?" Luna looked up, seeing Nebula and Tony looking at her.

"Have you not been paying attention? Tell her I'm the best," he repeated.

She rubbed an exhausted hand across her face. "Tony, I really don't give a shit right now." She held her hand up and the metal triangle shot into her palm, the jet of air pushing the light-weighted papers across the room. She threw it in the trash. Standing up in silence, she dragged her feet over the floor, plopping down in the passenger's seat.

There was some whispering behind her before Tony stood up with a concerning crack from his back and took the seat next to hers. He leaned forward, Luna could clearly see how thin he had become, and pressed a cassette into the radio (Quill carried cassettes, apparently). Mr. Blue Sky began playing softly through the ship. She wanted to laugh at the irony.

They sat there for who-knew-how long. Time was a tricky thing in space; no sunup or sundown, no indication of Earthly days. All they had to go on was their own biological clock, but even those were already fucked up for the two Avengers. When the cassette reached its end and ejected itself, neither moved to press it back in.

Tony took his helmet in his lap, his rough hand caressing the gleaming and beat-up red and gold metal. Pressing something inside, he put it on the ship's dashboard. The eyes lit up an electrical blue and the camera began rolling. Like a real youtuber, he began recounting the many days they had been stuck in space, bored and starving.

"You got something to say, Grumpy?" he asked Luna, pushing the helmet in her direction. "It's like a video diary."

She glared at the helmet, then at him. "You can't honestly believe we're getting home?"

He sighed, putting his feet on the ship's dashboard. "Well, one of us has to believe enough for the three of us... The universe can't be all bad, can it?" he offered.

"Fuck the universe, Tony. What good has it ever done for any of us?" she said sharply, motioning to Nebula, who was hanging out in a different part of the ship. "Bunnie Rabbot over there was tortured her entire life by her daddy. You were kidnapped by terrorists for months and have never caught a fucking break since. I grew up in an orphanage after my parents were murdered by HYDRA. How is any of that 'fair'?" she ranted, turning to stare into the eyes of the helmet.

"The universe can suck my metaphorical dick. It doesn't deserve you, it doesn't deserve me or any of us and it definitely doesn't deserve saving."

When she finished, her heart was beating in her throat. "Good luck with that, Charlie," she said and pressed the button inside the helmet, stopping the recording.

"We both know you don't mean that," Tony replied after letting her calm down. "Also, Bunnie Rabbot? That's a deep fucking cut, Luna, Jesus. But that's beside the point. And if I'm being honest, I agree with you. We lost," he admitted. "We know what fight we lost. The one for Strange's stone. We don't know what fight took place on Earth, because that's where Barney was headed, but we know what he was looking for."

"Which means Vision's scrap metal," she said.

"Cap put up a fight, he must've. It's what he does," he reasoned. "It's what I'm doing right now. Fighting to get back to the team—however many are left—and to Pepper."

Luna caught the minute change on Tony's face as he said his fiancé's name. "She's gonna be there," she assured him. "I do want to get back. I just don't have any rational hope. Our food's down to crumbs, water's running out and the tank's been in the red since we left. The galaxy's a big place, Tony, who says we're even going in the right direction?"

"Your pessimism is really cramping my style."

"Get over it." She could almost hear his eye roll.

"If it means anything, I believe the universe needs us. Maybe there's some things worth saving. Like what you said before. I could get behind that."

"What's that?"

"The future on the horizon. White-picket fence somewhere on the countryside, away from the city. Just me and Pepper and little Morgan running around," he recounted, looking into the vastness of space. "You and your witch will come to the wedding. Rhodey'll be my best man, but you can be my best woman."

She scoffed at that, but no longer with hostility in her voice, more with humor. "That actually means a lot, Tony, thank you," she said, finally meeting his eyes. "First thing I'm doing if we get home is ask Wanda to marry me. I don't care that we're young and reckless. Nat will be my Maid of Honor. Derek will be my best man, obviously. I guess you can be one of my bridesmaids?"

Affronted, he repeated, "A bridesmaid?"

"Alright, alright—you can be our flower boy."

He seemed to think about it for a second before agreeing.

That's when Luna had the depressing thought that without Raava and the Avatar state, she wouldn't be able to wake up her brother. Another person lost.

---

A week or so later, Luna and Tony sat in the same seats and in the same positions, though they appeared very differently; worse. Skinnier, paler, hungrier. The hope had gone from their eyes. Luna was trying to sleep, but maybe her mind knew that her body wouldn't want to wake up again if she did.

"Lune... Luna!" Tony called out, his voice hoarse. She jumped awake. "Are you seeing this?"

When she looked up, she indeed noticed it had gotten significantly brighter outside. She squinted her eyes as she tried to make out the source of the light. It came from a shape, a feminine figure dressed in a suit of red, blue and gold, flame-like energy dancing around her with the ferocity of a star.

For just a second, she thought they were finally seeing the light. This is it, she told herself, this is where I die. Hanging dead in space in some guy's ship, a million lightyears away from the woman I love.

But then the marvelous woman winked at them and mouthed something that looked a lot like 'Earth?', while gesturing to Tony's Led Zeppelin shirt. He stared at her, mouth agape, and managed to nod his head. The woman flew out of sight and within seconds, the ship began moving, gaining speed ridiculously fast.

Everything blurred around them as they raced through the void, carried by the miraculous stranger. Before they knew it, they had stopped. The Earth stood before them, still as green and brown and blue and amazing as before.

The woman showed her face once more, this time mouthing some unintelligible words, pointing at the Earth.

"The fuck she wants us to do? Jump to Earth?" Luna said, still flabbergasted and wide-eyed.

Nebula ran between them, crouching as she looked suspiciously at the woman. "What the fuck is happening? Is this the right planet? Who is that?"

"Pretty sure it is," Tony replied. "And I think that's Envy Adams?"

"Who?"

"Never mind."

The woman flew closer to the window and pointed down to a little button on the dashboard and then at something in her ear. Luna slowly leaned forward and pressed the button.

"—ello? Do you guys copy?"

The three exchanged a stunned look.

"Uhh..." Luna stammered. "Yes, we copy. Who are you?"

The woman smiled charmingly. "Carol Danvers, at your service. People call me Captain Marvel."

"Never heard of you," Tony said. "Tony Stark, these here are my associates Luna Carter and Nebula."

"Ah, of course, Ironman and the Avatar. I do get some of Earth's news," Carol said. "Now, I found you three floating in space. Can I assume that you know what's been happening around these parts?"

"If you mean Thanos getting all six of the infinity stones, then yes," Nebula said cautiously.

"Then you understand that I have places to be and people to safe. Can I drop you off anywhere?"

Tony and Luna looked at each other, once again communicating silently.

"Upstate New York. The Avengers Compound. That's where the rest of the team would've regrouped at," Luna proposed.

Carol nodded, her blonde hair floating around her head like a halo. "That can be arranged. Hold onto something, guys, entering the atmosphere always causes some turbulence."

Tony turned to Luna, a grin on his face. "See? Didn't I tell you so? The universe isn't so bad."

---

The jet landed before the Compound in the late evening, the sky dark and empty of stars. Luna and Tony helped each other up, leaning on Nebula for help. Carol Danvers had been a miracle, Luna didn't think they could have survived another day. Now, as they stood waiting for the loading-bay doors to open, her heart beat in her chest. She had missed everybody, so much that she was unable to put it into words.

Steve was waiting for them, his face a welcoming sight.

"Steve..." Luna said wistfully, letting out a relieved sigh as she went from holding onto Nebula's shoulder to embracing him tightly. He held her close, looking at Tony behind her, who looked just as bad as Luna did. They looked empty.

It was quickly explained when Tony said, "We lost the kid..."

Luna let go of him and took a step back, making sure the tears stayed inside.

Pepper ran up to them, her face full of shock. Luna heard Tony genuinely chuckle for the first time in weeks as they embraced.

Slowly but surely, the other Avengers came running from the compound. Natasha and Bruce walked together, behind them trailed a very much alive Thor, followed by a real-life Ent and a talking raccoon that had Luna questioning her sanity for a second. In dark times, it was a surprisingly happy occasion. There was no mention of the Accords or the Civil War that had happened. They were a family reunited.

Luna stepped away from the group, looking around for the people she most hoped to see.

They weren't there.

When she felt Natasha's hand on her shoulder and turned to see the pitying look on her face, her heart broke into pieces, crumbling into dust like Raava had done.

She could not find it in herself to shed a single tear, she was too exhausted and too drained. Instead she looked at Tony walking towards her, leaning on Pepper.

"Luna," he began.

"Don't. Just... don't."

---

Laura Barton
Lila Barton
Nathaniel Barton
Cooper Barton
T'Challa
Shuri
Nick Fury
Maria Hill
Peter Parker
Stephen Strange
Bucky Barnes
Sam Wilson

Amy Whit field

Pietro Maximoff

Wanda Maximoff

Their faces flashed across Luna's vision, coming from the hologram on the round table. She didn't even know that Amy was in the Avengers' database, though she's glad that she was. Otherwise she probably would not have found out that she had been snapped as well.

Wanda's face was the last to pop up. Luna couldn't look at it.

After landing, Tony and Luna were rushed to the med bay, immediately put on an IV-drip to get at least a little bit of their strength back. Tony travelled around in a wheelchair, until his muscles grow back enough to support his weight. Luna was quicker to recover. She was younger than him, in better shape.

A skeleton of the team gathered around the table, spread across the room. Steve had shaved his beard, Rhodey walked around with his prosthetic device. Bruce was around, like he usually was. He didn't have a lot of family or friends to begin with, so the snap wasn't as personal for him as it was for others.

Natasha had met Luna in the med bay, but little words were exchanged, except for the 'I'm glad you weren't turned to dust like the rest of your loved ones'.

Nebula and one of her last remaining teammates, the raccoon called Rocket, sat beside each other, away from the others. Carol Danvers had changed out of her suit into more casual clothes. Nobody knew who she was or where she had come from. Apparently she knew Nick Fury in the nineties, but Luna still felt skeptical of her.

Thor was somewhere else completely. His hair was cut short and he was missing an eye. But the eye wasn't the only thing he had lost. Asgard was gone, like Bruce had told them only a few weeks ago. Ragnarök swiped across the planet with a blade of fury. Most people were evacuated in time, but not everyone made it. Especially not Thanos' reaping. Heimdall was gone. As was Loki. For real this time.

Luna had pulled out the IV a while ago, after she had started to feel okay again. It hadn't helped against the exhaustion and sleep was the one thing she could not do right now. So, instead, she found herself in the same room as the others, debriefing the last month and planning for the future. It made her want to laugh and throw up at the same time.

"It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth," Rhodey began solemnly.

Luna laid down on the couch, too exhausted to stand on her feet.

"World governments are in pieces," Natasha added. "The parts that are still working are trying to take a census and it looks like he did... He did exactly what he said he was gonna do," her voice wavered under the weight of her words. "Thanos wiped out 50% of all living creatures."

Tony, who still looked half-dead, raised a flimsy hand. "Where is he now? Where?"

The holograms were still up, Luna noticed. Tiny, in the corner of the projection; the faces of the fallen. Where did they go? Did they feel pain when it happened? Did she feel pain? The conversation went on around her; she stared at Wanda's face.

Steve sighed, leaning against a table as he looked at Tony. "We don't know. He just... opened a portal and walked through."

Leaning back in his wheelchair, Tony ran a hand across his face. His gaze caught onto something behind Luna. "What's wrong with him?" he asked.

Luna couldn't be bothered to crane her neck to see who he was pointing at. She knew Thor was behind the glass wall behind her; he had isolated himself in that room, broodily staring at the ground. Not that she judged him; she was doing the same thing.

Tony noticed too. "And what's wrong with her?" he added, pointing.

"Oh, he's pissed. Thinks he failed. Which he did, but there's a lot of that going around, ain't there?" the raccoon answered. "Just look at her." He gestured at Luna.

Natasha frowned, realized, and quickly pulled the pictures off the projections.

Luna blinked, averting her gaze.

"Honestly, until this exact second I thought you were a Build-A-Bear," Tony said to Rocket.

"Maybe I am."

"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now," Steve interrupted. "Deep space scans and satellites, and we got nothing... Tony... You guys fought him."

"Who told you that? I didn't fight him," Tony countered. "No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker street magician gave away the store. There was no fight, 'cause he's not beatable. Luna was the only one who stood even a chance, with her glowing eyes and shit. And even she got beat—"

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

"Uh—uh—No, Steve, he didn't," Tony snapped. He leaned back again. "I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming."

"Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus—

"And I needed you. As in, past tense. That trumps what you need," Tony said. "It's too late, buddy. Sorry." He sniffed his cup and began to stand up. "You know what I need? I need a—" he shoved his cup in front of him away. "I need a shave. And I believe I remember telling all youse—" he struggled, pulling out his IV.

"Tony," Rhodey approached. "Tony."

"—alive and otherwise, that what we needed," he raised his voice, "was a suit of armor 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 said, that 'Cap' frown between his brows.

"I said we'd lose. You said 'We'll do that together, too.' And guess what, Cap?" Tony questioned, he voice unstable, his hands shaking. "We lost."

Luna looked away from the blank wall, paying attention.

"And you weren't there. But that's what we do, right?" He stumbled back, Rhodey caught him. "Our best work after the fact?" He kept going. "We're the A-vengers, not the Pre-vengers."

"Okay, you made your point," Rhodey cut in. "Just sit down, okay?"

"Okay. No, no, here's my point." He immediately struggled against Rhodey's grip. "You know what? She's great, by the way," he added, pointing at Carol.

"Please, sit down."

"We need you. You're new blood. Levels the testosterone." He broke free. "Bunch of tired old mules. I got nothing for you, Cap." He stepped toward him, pointing his finger. "I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options." They stood face to face. "Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust, liar."

Even Luna remembered to breath when Tony reached to his chest, and ripped his arc-reactor from his chest. He grabbed Steve's hand and gave it to him.

"Here, take this. You find him, you put that on, you hide."

Then, Tony collapsed.

"Tony!" Rhodey rushed to him.

Tony swatted him away. "I'm fine," he breathed heavily. "Let me..."

Then, he fainted.

Luna stood behind the others who were fussing over him.

"Luna," Steve called her. "Can you do your healing thing?"

"No."

"You got him?" Steve asked Rhodey, before standing up. "No? Are you okay?"

Luna stared over his shoulder at the wall, trying not to cry. "There is no healing-thing, Steve. There's no earth. No water. No fire. Raava is gone, snapped. Without her..." She looked at him. "There is no Avatar."

 

Chapter 37: Five Years

Summary:

Five years after the snap, Steve travels to Wakanda to try and find a missing Luna, and get her help to save everyone.

II. FIVE YEARS
__________

may 2023
five years after the snap

The jet landed safely on the wide meadow beneath the burning Wakandan sun. Steve, rubbing the last of his nap out of his eyes, turned off the autopilot and opened the bay doors. The palace was a sight for sore eyes. Wakanda had taken the snap harder than a lot of other countries. With T'Challa and Shuri gone, the heavy mantel of leadership had fallen on the shoulders of Queen Ramonda, formerly King-mother.

Now, she stood feet away from Steve, flanked by an exhausted-looking Dora Milaje, who Steve knew to be called Okoye.

"Your majesty," he greeted with a nod of his head.

"Mr. Rogers," she returned and gladly took his elbow when he offered. The Queen was clad in the color of mourning, a beautiful black dress made from the lightest material the dressmakers of Wakanda could find, to battle the constant heat. "Your message was vague, and I allowed you to travel here because we owe you and your team a great deal, but do not test our welcome. What brings you here?" Queen Ramonda asked.

Steve sighed deeply, feeling his shoulders growing heavier by the minute. He thought back to the last few weeks and how hope had crept its way back into his heart, after Scott Lang randomly appeared at their doorstep. False hope, Tony had said when Steve had come to him. But even Tony had come around to the idea.

Banner had gotten Thor to come back from New Asgard and Natasha was able to locate Clint and bring him back. Steve had accompanied her on their task to convince Tony to leave Pepper and their young daughter, Morgan, to help them figure everything out.

They were only missing one person now, and Luna Carter was known to have travelled to Wakanda four years ago, on the reliable information Tony had provided. Apparently, she had gone to him prior. To meet Morgan, Luna had explained to Tony. Tony said it had felt more like a goodbye. That was where the trail got cold. Nobody had seen or heard from her since. So, here he was, on a fool's journey to find the girl he had come to think of as a sister.

"Luna," he answered as he shook off the flashbacks. "I heard she came here a few years ago."

"Indeed," the Queen answered. "She was... in a state."

"A state?" he questioned.

"Upset," Okoye answered. "Irrational. 'Freaked out.'"

"Why?"

"She would not tell us," the Queen said. "But there is someone who might know. Right here," she added and lead him across the meadow, straight towards an enormous forest of massive, branching trees that seemed to reach the heavens itself. But when Steve tried to peer closer within, the darkness made sure that all he saw was ghostly shadows.

However, the closest building to the forest was one he recognized; Bucky's old hut. A pang of grief shot through his body, leaving him cold despite the sun beaming down on him. Somebody else seemed to occupy the hut now, cast in the shadow of the large hanging tree.

Approaching slowly with the Queen and her guard, the strange man came into view. He was shorter than Steve by only a little, but similarly muscled. His dark hair was cut short and a beard of the same color was starting to grow on his sun-kissed skin.

Steve, frowning, turned to the Queen. "Who's this?"

She ignored his question and smiled brightly as they reached the man, sitting peacefully at a small table beneath the hanging tree, basking in the sun, his biceps stretching the short sleeves of his shirt.

"Derek," the Queen greeted. "You have a visitor."

The man looked up with a welcoming smile, which dropped from his face as he spotted Steve walking a step behind Queen Ramonda and Okoye.

Steve averted his eyes from the man's too-small shirt, which was surprisingly difficult to do, and stepped forward, his hand stretched out. "Steve Rogers."

Derek stood from his seat and, still a little unsurely, shook his hand, rough and calloused. "Derek Carter. I'm guessing you're the visitor?"

Steve's mouth formed a gaping O as the name processed in his mind. "Carter? You're Luna's brother?"

"Last time I checked, yeah," Derek confirmed.

"I thought you were in a coma?"

"I was," he nodded. "For a couple years, or so I've been told by..." he trailed off, gesturing to the Queen.

Queen Ramonda cleared her throat. "My children..." a sad look crossed her face. "They were good friends of Luna, so it was no problem to house her brother here in Wakanda under Shuri's professional care. Luna, she came here five years ago, before the war."

Steve frowned, trying to get the timeline right in his head.

The Queen continued. "She came here searching for a cure and when she came up empty, she got taken by the Bifrost. I assume you know what that is?"

"I'm familiar."

"She never returned here, however. I assume it was because of the whole..."

"Got it. Then how did you wake up? You were attacked by a spirit, right?" Steve asked Derek, who had taken to sitting down again.

He shrugged. "It was around four years ago. Apparently Shuri had an ongoing theory about my injury before she, you know, got snapped," he explained. "'Time heals all wounds.'"

"Really?" Steve questioned. "That's it? Time? And you're just fine now?"

"There were... side-effects. Nightmares, memory-loss, you know, the usual."

"Sure," Steve replied, not sounding very convinced.

The Queen cleared her throat and all attention was directed to her. "I assume you two will be able to help yourselves from here on out?" She put a hand on Steve's shoulder. "If you do find her, tell her that Shuri left a gift for her in her lab..." Again, the sadness washed over her face. "She had been working on it for some time now."

Steve nodded determinedly and watched quietly as Queen Ramonda and Okoye left, headed back to the palace.

"You're looking for Luna, then?" Derek asked.

Steve took a big breath and sat down opposite of him, trying to look anywhere except for Derek's disturbingly green eyes.

"Why?"

Steve sighed, leaning forward on the table. "I'm bringing the team back together. One last mission to save the universe."

"Dude, the universe is toast," Derek replied. "Half of everything's dead and the stones are gone. It's hopeless, man."

"Well, I see where Luna gets her optimism from."

"Hey," Derek snapped, leaning forward, his finger pointed at Steve's face. "We got all our stubbornness and pessimism from Peggy, alright? And she's dead, apparently. Look," he continued, leaning back in his chair.

"I missed most of Luna's life. No, scrap that, I missed all of it. I disappeared when she needed me most and I'm never gonna forgive myself for that. It's Luna who saved me from this forest there," he pointed to the ominous ocean of trees. "And I repaid her by falling into a fucking coma for four years. The one thing—The one thing I can do to make it up to her is to let her go her own way."

Steve stayed silent, finally daring to look into Derek's eyes. When he spoke, it was with a quiet question. "Where is Luna, Derek?"

Derek didn't say anything, but his eyes darted off to a little elephant path leading into the forest. "Steve," he began as Steve started to get up. "Don't make any dumb decisions." Steve didn't heed his warning and began stepping closer to the forest. Derek was up in an instant, his hand around Steve's arm in an iron grip.

"If Luna's in there then I need to go talk some sense into her. From what she told us, that place is invested with spirits," Steve said.

"Look, I get that you're blond, but you don't have to be an idiot," Derek snarked back. "The only reason that Luna's safe in there is because she's part spirit. They would eat you alive in there, big guy."

Steve's eyes widened. "Derek, she's not."

"She's not what?"

"The Avatar! Jesus—that spirit that gives her her powers—"

"Raava."

"It got snapped with the rest of the universe!"

"Oh," Derek said quietly, his hand dropping from Steve's arm. "That's not good."

"No crap, it isn't."

Leading Steve back to the table, Derek took the other seat again. "You can't just go in there Steve. It's dangerous. What's the mission?"

"What?"

"The mission you're getting the Avengers back together for?"

"Right, well, it's gonna sound impossible, but—" and so Steve launched into the long and tiring explanation of the plan that him, Tony, Banner (who was now going through life as a Bruce/Hulk hybrid) and Scott Lang had been working on for the past week. "Tony's figured it out. I know how it sounds, but this is gonna work. It has to."

Derek sat with his head in his hands, rubbing his forehead. "Well, it sounds crazy and suicidal."

"But?" Steve began hopefully.

"But," Derek said. "If you're gonna do this, I'm coming along."

"No," was the first thing Steve said. "Absolutely not, you're a civilian."

"My entire family has worked for SHIELD since its founding, Steve, you can hardly call me an innocent bystander," Derek said. "Besides, I've been in the Spirit Wilds before. I can be your navigator or some shit and you'll be there to keep me safe," he finished, patting Steve's shoulder, ignoring the layer of muscle.

Steve sighed again. "Fine. We find Luna and take her back with us. In and out."

"Well," Derek started carefully. "It might be a little harder than that."

"What now?"

"When Luna last came here four years ago... She wasn't herself. Something happened to her—"

"Something happened to all of us, Derek."

"Yeah, but," he said, going back through his memories. "She lost Wanda, Steve. First love, you know what that's like, right?"

Staring strangely at Derek, Steve retreated into his own mind only for a second before resurfacing. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, yeah. Of course."

"She's lost everyone," Derek continued. "Our parents, me, Peggy, Wanda and Pietro, Amy... She wouldn't tell me exactly what drove her to flee into the Wilds... but I can guess that it wasn't pretty."

"I don't understand."

"Luna might not want to go with us," Derek said plainly.

---

"We don't know the exact situation in there," Derek explained, fastening his backpack. Steve and him walked the last bit toward where the elephant path travelled into the forest, retreating into a muddled darkness.

"We gotta be careful, I almost died the last time I went in there. We got a tracker in the backpack transmitting our location back to the palace at all times. These bracelets," he continued, grabbing Steve's hand, lifting his arm. He took one of the bracelets and secured it around his wrist. "are here to check our vital signs; heartbeat, sugar level and shit."

"Okay, got it," Steve said. "You ready?"

Derek swallowed, tensed his shoulders, and nodded.

They stepped through the thick wall of vegetation and entered the Wilds.

The first five minutes went on without any disruption, and the many hours after that as well. Steve, having heard stories about this place, looked around and thought that the Wilds didn't really seem that different from other massive forests. Sun peaked through the layer of leaves yards above them in beams of gold.

Fallen branches and patches of moss crunched beneath their feet, and all around them scurried small animals along the tree trunks. But that overbearing feeling, that feeling of doom, of being watched at all times, Steve didn't feel any of that.

"Something's different," Derek said when they began to settle and make a camp for the night. He sat down with a grunt, his feet and legs sore from walking all day. "Doesn't feel the same as... last time."

"What do you mean?" Steve questioned, taking out a pack of their rations. It looked suspiciously like trail mix, but, when he put a handful into his mouth, there was something about the taste that just wasn't quite right.

"I don't know..." Derek said quietly, scanning their surroundings. He wringed his hands, and sat down next to Steve on the log they had dragged over. "We should've... I don't know. We should've come across some spirits already. This place used to be crawling with them."

"You're mad that we haven't been attacked by spirits?"

Derek rolled his eyes, and leaned against the wide tree behind them. "No, I'm suspicious that we haven't been attacked by spirits yet. But, hey. Maybe Luna went into the Wilds and conquered the spirits here and is living as the Queen of Spirits now."

"Wouldn't put it past her."

Derek laughed dryly.

"How're you doing?" Steve asked after minutes of awkward silence. He leaned back against the same wide tree, their shoulders against each other.

"Sweaty, tired, sore, in need of a shower."

"That's not what I meant," Steve said, looking at the side of Derek's face. Derek was staring off into the forest, his eyes whizzing around, alert to any danger. "Last time you were in here you almost lost your life. Can't be easy."

"Oh, spare me your PTSD support group talk. Don't need it, don't want it," Derek grumbled. "It's been four years, I'm over it."

Steve made a skeptical noise.

"What?" Derek asked harshly, turning to look at the man.

"I've heard men say that right before they have a mental breakdown."

"Steve, I'm not one of those men. I've never seen war, never even been in a fight before... well, before four years ago. I'll be fine," he stressed.

"If you say so."

"Go to sleep, Steve. I'll take first watch," Derek said, and that was that. The conversation ended, and Steve reluctantly went to sleep.

Derek paced around the campsite, walking along the invisible borders, making sure nothing could sneak up on a sleeping Steve. It made him want to laugh. He was protecting Captain America. Him? Derek was strong, he knew that, but he had lost a lot of muscle over the years he was out and the five years after had been spent building it all back up again.

However, Derek knew he lacked in the strategy department, and the knowledge department, and the speed department. And here he was, protecting the world's first superhero. What a joke.

The sun hadn't yet risen when Derek began packing up their shitty campsite, packing both his and Steve's bag for the long journey ahead of them. He felt jittery, because he knew what they would pass today. The field where it had happened almost ten years ago.

"Time to switch?" Steve asked, rubbing his eyes. Then, he noticed what Derek was doing, and realized that he had slept through the entire night. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

Derek shrugged nonchalantly. "Thought you could use it. And you looked so peaceful, all red-cheeked cherub and shit."

"It's got nothing to do with not being able to sleep?"

"Just get up, asshole. We need to move if we want to make the ruins by the end of tomorrow."

They found a nearby stream to wash their faces and refill their water flasks, and then they were on the road again. The road in this case was a barely visible elephant path. They walked in silence, Derek took the front since he carried the compass and Steve followed after.

"So..." Steve began after an hour. "What was it like?"

Derek sighed, and rubbed his temples. "What was what like, Steve?"

Steve suddenly sounded unsure of himself. "The—uh—the coma. Y'know, some people who have come out of coma's say they could hear everything while they were under..."

"Not me," Derek responded quickly. "Went under and woke up. Felt like one minute and a hundred years had passed at the same time. What about you, Steve?"

"What about me?"

"What was war like? If we're gonna bring up these nice memories."

Steve, seemingly not hearing the sarcasm, answered, "War was war. Violent, unfair."

"Okay, Walt Whitman. When's your next anthology coming out?"

"Alright, I get it, I'll back off—"

"No, no! Wouldn't dream of it, blondie. What would I do without our riveting conversations about truth, justice and the American way?"

Derek suddenly slowed down, his face falling. Steve almost bumped into him.

"What are yo—"

"This is it," Derek said rigidly, stepping forward into a clearing.

It was at least 30 feet wide, and, through the charred ground, new undergrowth was beginning to peak out. The tree trunks at the edges of the clearing had black soot on them still, and the smell of smoke hadn't dissipated, not even after a decade.

"Jesus..." Steve muttered, walking past him. "What happened here?"

"Luna never told you?"

"No, she did... But it's worse seeing it like this."

Derek sighed, hands stiffly at his sides. Something prickled at the back of his shoulder, at the side of his neck. His hand went up to soothe the stinging subconsciously.

"We were making our way back to Wakanda," Derek said quietly, his voice ringing clearly throughout the charred circle. As he recounted the story, he could feel his heartbeat speeding up.

"We thought we were safe, because Luna was the Avatar... But the—erm—the aye-aye spirit stopped us here. It had a whole horde of spirits with it. It was mad that... that I was there. Spirits really don't like it when humans invade their territory. Luna fought them, she was protecting me, because I can't fight for shit," he said, rubbing the stinging sensation on the back of his shoulder harder.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, fine," he cleared his throat. "She hadn't mastered fire yet. And using any element without the proper technique is... dangerous. Especially fire."

"You mean that all this," Steve gestured to the burned forest floor and the charred tree bark, "was Luna?"

"She's powerful," Derek said. "She'd never even bent fire before this... Probably blames herself for everything, too, if I know her."

Then, he did something he immediately regretted. He pulled the collar of his shirt down, and revealed the back of his neck. It was scarred; the burns had faded, but they were still visible, and they still stung from time to time.

"I was barely conscious when the spirits got ahold of me and—" he swallowed. Memories resurfaced; falling to the ground, blackness, trapped in his own mind, hearing echoes of his sister, waking up and recovering. Nightmares, daymares, random fits. He shook it off. "And you know how the rest went," he said, changing his voice to a brighter one. "Let's keep going. Won't do us any good staying here, might get lung cancer from all the fumes."

Steve watched him go for a second, that frown between his brows. Then he shook his head and trailed after him.

Long after the sun had gone down for the second time, Derek and Steve finally set up their campsite. Derek lay on the hard ground, in his sleeping bag. Steve had insisted that he'd take first watch, and Derek couldn't find it in himself to go against the man, not when he could barely keep his eyes open.

Steve sat quietly against a tree, listening to Derek's breathing, watching his chest rise and fall, until he was sure he was fast asleep. He stood, and scanned the forest. Something felt wrong. Everything that he knew told him that anything could happen in the Spirit Wilds, anything could jump out at them in a blink of an eye. Except, nothing had so far. Steve didn't feel threatened at all, standing all alone in the deep, dark forest, and it made him uneasy.

Hours passed. Derek gasped awake, and immediately hid his heavy breathing as Steve walked back to the campsite. He took the collar of his shirt and wiped the sweat from his forehead. His shoulder was stinging again.

"You okay? Nightmare?" Steve asked, irritatingly kind.

"Fuck off," Derek said, waving Steve off when he knelt in front of him. He stood up and dusted himself off. "Your turn to sleep, America. Another long day tomorrow."

The night passed uneventfully. With the morning light, they continued their journey of what was sure to be another long, exhausting hike. Except...

Just an hour after they had begun, Steve spotted something. "Derek, look," he said, pointing to what looked like a tree.

Derek followed his finger and saw it; a massive tree had fallen over, only held up by the other trees. But, walking closer, this tree had carvings in it, like vertical grooves. Steve lifted his hand, and peeled back the moss that covered the tree all over. Behind it, was something dirty white.

"Sandstone. This isn't a tree..." Derek said slowly. "It's one of the pillars. Which means..." he trailed off, pushing past Steve. He cut through the shrubbery, and, just behind a curtain of bushes and small trees, stood the courtyard he had lived in for many years. The fountain had run dry, no longer filled with clean, flowing water. "This is impossible."

"We must've walked faster than we thought."

"Yeah..." Derek muttered, unsure.

"Where would Luna be? If she's even here, looks pretty empty."

"She's here." Derek took the front, leading them through the ruins.

Somehow, it looked worse than before. Nature had resumed its war on the structure, reclaiming its land faster than ever. Moss and vines covered almost the entire floor, beginning their climb up the pillars and broken walls. They walked through the corridors, minding the gaps in the floor where the dirt ground had resurfaced. And then—

The corridor ended, opening up to a grass meadow, a stream flowing from somewhere they couldn't see, through the field and over the rocky edge. The ground dropped about ten feet down, the water tumbling over eroded rocks and boulders, disappearing further into the forest. In the middle of this field, at the edge of the small cliff, sat Luna.

Derek and Steve walked out, the grass dampening their footsteps. Luna's back was turned to them. Her hair had grown out, and it seemed as if she had cut it herself, messily. It was uneven and there was still an inch of blonde at the split ends. She sat cross-legged, breathing slowly and deeply; meditating. Derek and Steve shared a short glance.

'Do something,' Derek mouthed silently.

'You do something,' Steve mouthed back, gesturing to Luna. 'She's your sister.'

Derek grumbled underneath his breath, and approached the girl. "Luna..?"

Her shoulders went rigid, her breathing sped upagain. Her voice, raspy and unused, spoke clearly, "Hey, Derek. What's up?"

 

Chapter 38: Ruins And Ruination

Summary:

After the snap, Luna tries to go back to her life in Edinburgh. It doesn't go that well.

III. RUINS AND RUINATION
__________

"And when I'm lying in my bed
I think about life
And I think about death
And neither one particularly appeals to me..."

Luna grumbled, and gestured for the bartender to refill her glass. She downed it swiftly, a burning sensation in the back of her throat. A sense of relief washed over her when a burly, grey-bearded man walked up to the jukebox and changed the song to one with harder beats, faster lyrics and less depression. She liked The Smiths, really, but only in moderation and not when she already felt like shit. Which was almost always these days.

She looked at her knuckles wrapped around the glass. It had been almost a year, but her knuckles were still red and sore. She hadn't let it heal yet. Then the memories flashed through her mind, like they always did, and she beckoned the bartender again. The bartender, a man who looked too old to still be having to work, didn't ask any questions, didn't even ask for an ID.

That was the thing about the slums of Edinburgh; nobody cared what you did, and nobody recognized her.

Luna knew the group of fat, old men were eyeing her from their pool table. Let them try, she thought, I need something to punch.

"Another?"

Luna pushed her glass forward, and the bartender filled it. She knocked it back. The bartender filled it again. This time, she sipped it slowly. She could feel herself getting drunker—too drunk. She'd still have to get herself back to the apartment. Not that anyone was waiting for her there. No, it would be empty when she arrived. It's been empty for weeks.

"Rough day?"

"Fuck off."

"Alright... Give me a shout if ye wan' another."

The bartender walked to the other side of the bar. Luna watched him from the corner of her eyes; he was talking to one of the fat, old men. The man was gesturing to her, and the bartender nodded. A minute later, the bartender put down a beer in front of her.

"From the bloke by the pool table."

Luna eyed the tall glass, foam spilling over the rim. She normally didn't drink beer, it tasted like piss, but she was too drunk to care. She took the glass, turned to the pool table at the other side of the pub, and raised it appreciatively.

When the beer too had been finished, she put her jacket back on and set out of the pub. It was cold outside; it was the middle of the night and winter was well underway. The streets were empty, all the lights were out. This part of the city barely had streetlights, so she had to strain her eyes to be able to see anything.

"Oi!" The door to the pub opened behind her. "Where're ya goin', lassie?"

Luna closed her eyes, her fists tightening in her pockets. "None of your business."

"Oh, come on! Don' be like 'at! Not even gonna say thank ye for the beer?"

She turned, and, surely, the fat, old man stood there in front of her on the pavement. His grey beard was wild and unkempt, much like his eyebrows. There wasn't much of any hair on his head, except for a few wispy strands at his neck. His skin was red with decades-old sunburn, his jean jacket fit too tight around his shoulders, and couldn't be zipped up even if he tried.

"Don't even like beer. You can go back inside, now."

"What're ye doin' all this way 'cross the pond, 'Merican girl? C'mon, me and my mates are just 'bout to start another game." He walked closer, wobbling on his unsteady legs.

"Not interested. Go back inside."

"It's cold outside, missy, come inside with me." He put a hand on her shoulder.

Luna's gaze turned annoyed. She pushed him backwards with a gust of wind. He stumbled, and steadied himself on the brick wall. With wide eyes, he looked at her.

"Yer her! The Avenger, the purple one!"

Luna massaged her temples. "Fuck..." she murmured beneath her breath and turned to walk away. Her fists were still tingling, itching for some action.

Luna had restrained herself for the past months, though she had felt it; that feeling of rage, misery and grief, whenever some random person bumped into her, innocently. But, surely, this man deserved it. No, she thought, shaking her head. Just keep walking, Carter.

"Avatar!" the man yelled. "Yer the Avatar! What? I'm not good 'nuff for ye?"

"I'm taken!" Luna yelled back.

"Where is she, then?"

Luna froze. She wasn't sure if she heard him right.

"Huh? Where's your little witch? Dead like the rest of them!" he was screaming now.

Luna turned in her spot. This was surreal. How did this man know? How could he have known that about her?

"What did you just say?" she said, with venom in her voice, stalking closer to the drunk man. He looked scared, now that the wind around them was picking up.

"U-uh...uh..."

"Uh? Nothing to say?" she spit, grabbing his collar and pushing the heavy man against the brick wall of the pub. Oh, she's needed this for months now; some way to let it all out. The bottle was breaking and this man was on the receiving end of the consequences.

"I-I don-t—I didn't say anyt—"

"No, no, come on. Say it to my face." She tightened her grip, his neck was turning white under the pressure, and his face colored red and redder.

Blood was rushing to Luna's brain, the noise deafening in her ears. The wind picked up again. Her hair blew wildly around her head, it was hard to hear anything he was saying. But, she could clearly make out his next words.

"Couldn't save her, could you? Couldn't save anyone. Pathetic. Why did you get to live? And not someone else?"

Luna breathed heavily, and pulled him away from the wall, throwing him to the ground. She climbed on top of him, her mind hazy. He didn't stop taunting her, but his face looked terrified when she raised her fist and brought it down. A sickening crack! rang through the empty street. His lip split, blood ran down his cheek. She raised her fist and brought it down again. And again, and again, and again until her arm was sore and his face unrecognizable.

The rage didn't subside. The ache in her heart remained the same.

She stopped, suddenly. The man's face had morphed into another—female, soft, beautiful, green dead eyes and red locks stained with blood. With a gasp of horror, she crawled back across the pavement, away from the bloodied woman. Her hand throbbed; her knuckles had split open again. When she looked up, the man looked like himself again.

Luna wiped her tears. She couldn't see if the man was still... if he was still... Then, a ragged breath came from his chest. She looked through the window to the pub and saw his friends packing up their things. Good. Luna spared one last glance at the wounded man, and fled.

What was happening to her? These fits of rage were happening more frequently, and were beginning to be uncontrollable. Luna made a decision, right there on the spot. She wasn't safe to be around, so she would remove herself from the equation altogether.

That night, Luna packed together all she needed. It all fit into one bag. She quickly washed the blood off herself before taking her glider, and flying off into the dark night. All night she flew, high above the Atlantic, with nothing around her for miles and miles.

Until, finally, the sun began to rise. Strokes of oranges, pinks and purples rippled across the sky as the blazing sun rose higher and higher. After hours upon hours of flying, her body was ready to give out. Over the horizon, right ahead of her, land appeared. It wouldn't be long now before she reached America.

Luna began her descent, checking her phone for the time. A little early, but it'd have to do. Gliding lower and lower, the shape of Georgia came into few, buildings appearing like growing dots. With her phone haphazardly in her hand, she followed the route until a picturesque farm house appeared in her eyesight.

A normal-sized house, not too small nor too big, like she had come to expect from Tony Stark. Garden equipment lay strewn about around the large, snow-coated garden, as if the residents had been busy at work making the house into a home. Luna knew why. She had received the announcement in the mail one day; a pink postcard with 'Every superhero needs a sidekick – arriving January 2019' printed on the front.

She landed on the run way, startling the man on the porch, who had been peacefully drinking his coffee. Tony jumped from his seat, his coffee long forgotten, as he took in the haggard state of the approaching girl. He rushed across the lawn, stopping right in front of her, trying to figure out why she would be here. Nothing had been said at all when Tony embraced her, shortly, tightly.

"It's good to see you," he said eventually. "Wanna come inside?"

Luna cleared her throat and folded her glider. She followed after him through the front door, and into the cozy living room. Pictures had been set up on the fire mantle; she was surprised to see so many of the team. When had they made these? She couldn't remember anymore.

The house was normal. A kitchen and a living room, not much else. The bedrooms would be upstairs, as well as the bathroom. There were no half-finished machines laying around, nor random wires and spare parts. Fatherhood really did change a person, Luna concluded.

A few minutes after Luna had settled on the couch, Tony walked back in with two cups of freshly made coffee.

"Thanks," she said quietly, her hand a little too tight around the mug that read: #1 dad. "Sorry for barging in here. I wanted to send word ahead, but I left in kind of a hurry."

"Yeah," Tony replied, checking his watch. "Have you been flying all night? We have a spare room, if you wanna get some kip."

"No, I'm fine. Can't stay long, anyway. I got another long journey ahead of me."

"Oh?"

"Headed to Wakanda after this," she said shortly, looking down at her hands.

Tony watched her closely, his eyes widening at the redness on her knuckles. He sat his mug down, and walked back into the kitchen, calling out, "Visiting your brother?"

"Yeah," she lied. "Thinking of staying there a while."

"Really?" he walked back in, a first aid kit in his hands.

"Tony—" Luna tried to protest when he took her hands.

"Hold still." He took a bottle of disinfectant and dapped it carefully on the open wounds.

"I just wanted to make a pit stop here. You know, meet the little gremlin."

Tony smiled widely, finishing wrapping bandages around her hands. "Morgan and Pepper are still asleep, but I can take you up to her room."

Luna nodded appreciatively, sipping her coffee. Her hands felt a lot better, now that they had been taken care of. A melancholic feeling settled in her stomach. She looked out the window, seeing the white-picket fence. The ache in her heart deepened.

"How are you doing?" Tony asked, looking at her intently.

"Hmm?" she said absentmindedly. "Fine. You know, coping."

"Really?" he responded. "Then why does it look like you punched a wall, repeatedly."

"I didn't punch a wall, Tony. It was a man. A very burly man."

"Oh yeah, you're coping amazingly."

"Oh, shut up. Not all of us have enough money to buy an acre of land in the middle of nowhere and have a kid."

"All you need to do is ask and you shall receive."

"Jesus, To—"

"Not Jesus. Matthew."

"Who the fuck is Matthew?"

"Doesn't matter. Come on, let's go upstairs. We gotta be quiet, Pep was up late last night, trying to put Morgan to sleep."

They walked up the dark stairs, the steps creaking beneath their weight. They left the light in the hall off, and Luna followed Tony to the last door to the left, opening it quietly. They shuffled in, turning the light up to a dim yellow. In the middle of the room stood a crib, painted in a cream white color. Baby Morgan was fast asleep. A little tuft of dark brown hair grew from her soft head, her lips were pouted and frowning. Luna's heart melted.

"Morgan," Tony whispered, not wanting to wake the baby. "Meet your auntie Luna."

"I'm not changing her diapers," Luna quickly said. "I can be the cool aunt who buys her alcohol and shit."

"She's not even one-year-old."

"I'll buy her a Nintendo DS or something. Whatever kids play with these days."

It was late in the morning when Tony and Luna stood on the porch again, Luna's glider in her hand. Pepper and Morgan hadn't been woken up by their conversation, and Luna felt too guilty to wake them up before she left.

"You're welcome back here anytime, kiddo. Don't be a stranger."

Luna stayed silent, looking up at the sky. She was surprised to feel tears gathering in her eyes, and quickly blinked them away. "Y-yeah, I know," she said, biting her cheek. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and held on. "Thank you, Tony. For everything." Noticing the confused look on Tony's face when she let go, she quickly turned around and took a running start, bending the wind beneath the purple wings of her glider. 

Wakanda was difficult to find, impossible almost. But, by now, Luna knew her way around. It was a long journey, physically exhausting. Bending the air took a lot of energy out of her, so she found the nearest, smallest, abandoned island she could find and slept. Only for a few hours, but that was enough.

She continued, and, not before long, land appeared on the horizon. The sun was beginning to set when she flew across the borders of Wakanda. She took her phone, and send out a quick message, notifying whoever was monitoring the computers in the Palace of her arrival.

She circled above the palace when the large doors opened, and someone limped out. They had a cane, and wobbled forward. They were waiting for her, she realized, and, as she descended, she saw him. Someone Luna never thought she would see again; Derek.

Her brother stood in the setting sun, shielding his eyes from it as he watched Luna race to the ground. She almost fell as she landed, but she didn't care. Her brother was there, standing upright, awake.

"Derek?!" she yelled, racing forward.

"I'm here!" he yelled back, doing his best to rush to her.

Luna stopped running, breathing heavily. He was there, just a few feet in front of her, smiling. She hurried forward and hugged him. "W-what? How? What?"

He chuckled. "No idea. Where've you been? The Queen, she told me about—I—I—" he hesitated, finally noticing how bad his sister looked. "You look horrible."

"Oh, wow, thank you. Just glad to see my brother who's been in a coma for the past five fucking years."

"Touchy..." he mumbled. "I heard about... what happened."

Luna's faced changed, morphing to a colder expression. "What happened, happened. Let's not bring up old memories."

"I wasn't there," Derek said, pleading. "I want to understand."

"Let's try to understand how you're even awake first," she said, avoiding the topic she's been avoiding for the last year, and thought back. "Shuri... Shuri had a theory before she..."

"What theory?"

"Time. Time heals all wounds."

"That's dumb."

"Yes. Yes it is. But it's the only explanation. Your body and mind healed on their own."

Luna's grip on her backpack tightened, her gaze moving past her brother. The forest. It was right there. It felt the same as the last time she was there; empty and lifeless.

Derek noticed her looking. Then, he glanced at her hands. "What happened?"

"What? Oh—" she covered her hands, "nothing. I—uhm... I'm looking for something. It's... It hasn't been an easy couple of months. I—" her voice broke, she looked at the ground. "I've lost so many people—"

"Wanda."

Luna looked up instantly, something fiery behind her eyes. Derek frowned, unsettled. "Where did you hear that name?"

He frowned, trying to remember. "I... don't know. Must've... I don't know. Who is she?"

With trembling lips and shaking hands, she answered, "No one." She sighed, taking a deep breath to calm her heartbeat. "She was my girlfriend. She was snapped. Her brother, too. He was my best friend. Amy's gone as well. Everyone—"

"Luna," Derek interrupted. "Why have you come here? It's not because of me."

"No," she replied. "I didn't even know you'd woken up. I just... need to check on something. I need to speak with Raava." She looked at the bandages around her hands. "Don't worry, I won't be long." She felt vulnerable under her brother's gaze. Too vulnerable.

"Of course," he said. "Why would you be?"

She bit the inside of her cheek before surging forward and capturing Derek in a hug. For the first time in a long time, she felt safe. When she let go, she could see on Derek's face that he didn't believe her words. "Goodbye, Der."

He sighed softly, grasping her hand. "I love you, Lune."

She averted her eyes from his. "Yeah. Love you, too." Feeling his eyes on her back, she took her backpack and walked away, before she could change her mind.

The Spirit Wilds called for her, and she answered. Maybe, her connection with the spirit world would be stronger at the ruins of the Southern Air Temple. She could try and reach Raava. Maybe, just maybe, she wasn't gone entirely. The other Avatars, her past lives, they could help her. Help her regain control of her life.

But, when Luna arrived at the ruins much earlier than expected and without much trouble, there was no one waiting for her. The ruins were deserted. Empty, spare for the native animals that lived there. She walked through the empty corridors, remembering her time spent in each and every room. Training with Lee, gossiping with Korra, meditating with Aang, sitting in complete silence with Aoma. All of them had gone.

Luna sat on the edge of a small cliff, the water trickling down steep rocks was soothing as she began to meditate.

Raava... Answer my call... Raava..? Are you here..?

Nothing answered.

The next day, she tried again. She sat cross-legged, and meditated. At a certain point, when days and weeks and months and maybe even years had passed, she sat there still. Meditating, but no longer to Raava. Now, meditation was the only thing that kept her sane.

Luna had had no control over her life. She was a danger to others, the man outside the pub was living proof. So, she removed herself. She took back control. The temple ruins were her home now, and she would stay there until...

The wind shifted, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Someone was standing behind her.

"Luna..?"

She knew that voice. Shit. And he wasn't alone, but the other person wasn't speaking. Who would travel all this way, just to speak to her? Pietro? No, he's fucking dead, Luna, she scolded herself. She pulled her mind out of her meditative state. She opened her mouth to speak, with no idea how it would sound. She had only had herself to talk to for the past four years... Had it really been that long?

When she did speak, her voice rang clearly through the field. "Hey, Derek. What's up?" She turned, and saw Steve standing next to her brother. "And Steve. To what do I owe the pleasure?" She saw them glance at each other, and come to a silent agreement.

It was Steve who spoke next, "I need your help. The team needs your help."

"There is no team. Not anymore. Half of them are dead, the other half are as good as. We died that day with Thanos." Luna looked at Steve intently, willing him to remember.

To remember that day after Tony, Nebula and she had arrived back on earth. The last mission. To find him, to kill him, and to take the stones. They were going to safe everyone. They both remembered how that had gone. Thanos was gone, but he had the last laugh. When they had found him, he was retired, the glove fused to his arms. He had used the stones to destroy the stones, and he had squashed the last of their hope at the same time.

"We have a plan," Steve insisted. "Even Tony believes."

"Then he's stupider than I gave him credit for," Luna responded, pulling herself from the ground. She stepped forward, into the light.

They could see her better, now. She wasn't thin. Whatever she had been living off in the Wilds must have been good and plenty. As the years had grown, so had Luna. Wrinkles had begun to appear on her skin; between her brows, next to her eyes, around her mouth. If there was any doubt about it before, there wasn't now; she had grown into an adult. She was twenty-four, as of a couple of days ago, if she had kept the date right all these years. Sadness still clouded her face, an everlasting fog.

But time heals all wounds, even those buried deep within. It didn't hurt to think of them anymore. It used to sting, burn, tear apart her insides. It had morphed into a longing ache in these years of isolation. And all of it was displayed on her face, no matter how much she was trying to hide it from them.

"It's true," Derek spoke up. "It's implausible and completely crazy, but it's true. I believe him."

Luna looked at him, searching his eyes. "You really mean that, huh?"

Derek glanced at Steve, looking away quickly. "I do."

Luna groaned deeply, burying her face in her hands for a second. Then, she took a deep breath and smiled genuinely at the two of them. "Step into my office, gentlemen." Luna lead them back inside, and turned into an opening immediately to their left. It was a small, bare room. Nothing much but moss and logs arranged to look like furniture.

She sat down on a gathered mount of clean moss, motioning for Steve and Derek to sit in front of her. "Talk."

"A week ago, Scott Lang showed up at the compound," Steve began. "Him and Hank Pym—"

"The scientist?"

"Yes?"

"Awesome."

"Okay—Scott and Hank had been experimenting with a place called the quantum realm. Please, don't ask me to explain what that is, because I can't," he continued. "Five years ago, Scott got sucked into the quantum realm, and didn't get out until over a week ago."

"He missed everything," Luna realized.

"For him, it had only been about five hours. When he realized, he came to us."

"Us?"

"Some of us stayed at the compound, or close to it. Natasha, Bruce, me. Some of the others visited from time to time, reporting back in. Danvers has been flying around the galaxy. Every civilized planet was affected by the snap. Scott's return... He hadn't lost hope like we had. He had a plan. Wasn't a very good plan, but enough to get us started."

"Will you please just tell me this incredible plan of yours?"

"It's time travel," Derek said, excitedly and exasperatedly at the same time.

"Time travel?" Luna repeated, unimpressed.

"Time travel," Steve confirmed.

"Fuck off. Your plan is to pull a Back To The Future?"

"The quantum realm is a crazy place. Scott only spend five hours in there, and came back out five years later. It's possible. So, him and Bruce began experimenting."

"They failed, horribly," Derek revealed.

"And that's why we went to Tony."

Luna nodded, understanding. "If anyone could figure out time travel, it'd be Tony Stark. How'd you convince him to leave Morgan? And Pepper?"

Steve shrugged, shaking his head. "No idea. Natasha did most of the convincing."

"That'll do it."

"For the past week, we've been getting the band back together. Thor from New Asgard. He was in worse shape than you—" he cut himself off, catching Luna's teasing, yet murderous glare. He cleared his throat, and resumed, "Clint had disappeared as well, after his family..."

"Disintegrated and died, Steve. No need to sugarcoat it."

"Natasha found him in Japan."

"The fuck's he doing in Japan? Enjoying vacation without the kids?"

"He was murdering people, Luna," Steve said sharply, surprised by her aloofness. "He became an assassin again."

"Right..." she mumbled. "Go on."

"The last person we needed to get, was you."

"And here we are," Derek said.

"Yeah, why are you here?" Luna asked him, crossing her arms. "Last time I almost got you killed."

"Last time the aye-aye spirit almost got me killed," he said strongly. "I'm fine, aren't I?" He gestured to his fine-looking body.

"Good thing the spirits are gone, then," she said.

"Gone?"

"You haven't noticed? The place is empty, deserted. It's just a normal forest now. Derek, don't tell me you've forgotten them so quickly."

"Them? Who's them?" Steve asked.

"My past lives used to live here. This is the place I went to on my 'vacation' after New York. I guess after Raava died, they went away too. I've been trying to reach them for years. No luck so far."

"Then why didn't you come back?"

"It's peaceful here," she said, closing her eyes and breathing in the clean air. "No smell of piss or vomit, and no rats trying to take a bite out of me on the subway. The last time I stopped and appreciated the world around me was when I was eight. And then my entire family died. No offense," she said and turned to her brother. "There is nothing waiting for me on the other side. Except a crappy apartment in Brooklyn that Tony still pays for."

"You got us," Steve said.

Luna had to look away from him, otherwise she was sure she would've packed her things and went back with them. "That's not good enough, Cap..." she said quietly.

"We can go back in time, back to before Thanos destroyed the stones. We get them, and we bring them back. We can bring everyone back, Luna. Even W—"

"Don't. Don't say her name. There is a very good reason I left that life behind me, and I got no desire to go back to it."

"We can help you," Steve said. "We wanna help you, because we care about you. If you'd just tell us—"

"I almost killed somebody. I almost killed an innocent man, because I imagined him saying stuff that made me furious—he was just a normal, creepy dude. I couldn't—I couldn't stay knowing I couldn't control myself. Knowing I could hurt anyone who's around me. I was falling into this hole of grief, mellowing in it. It was taking me over, changing me into someone I couldn't look at in the mirror. Coming here saved my life. I can't—I can't risk going back."

"We can bring them back, Lune," Derek persisted. "All of them. Amy, Raava, Pietro, Wanda—"

"Please. Don't give me hope. If—if it doesn't work..."

"What if it does work? What then? What if you don't come with us, and we still try, and we fail? We can't do this without you. Wanda and Pietro need you. You can get it back, Luna, all of it. Come with us, please?"

Luna breathed deeply, steadily, closing her eyes. She could feel the panic rising in her chest, the anxiety. Feelings she had spent years locking away were coming back because two pushy assholes came looking for her. Two pushy assholes; one her brother, and the other one as good as her brother. She looked up at them.

"No."

---

Luna sat cross-legged in her usual spot. The Southern Air Temple ruins were still a spiritual place, even with all it had endured over the millennia. Despite the loss of Raava, she could still sense the power that ebbed and flowed in the air. The cliff was where it was strongest. She sat, and meditated, trying to rid herself of the doubts left by her brothers.

Steve and Derek had left. They had failed, and had admitted their defeat. It wasn't much use trying to convince her, when they both knew how stubborn she could be. But their exit didn't get rid of the feelings they had stirred up in Luna. They were swirling, growing larger and stronger by the minute.

She breathed deeply, willing them to settle down. It wasn't much use. She could feel the control slipping between her fingers, and concentrated. Concentrated on the breeze on her face, the grass beneath her legs, the sound of the waterfall trickling down. She felt the power all around her, hanging distant in the air. She reached for it with her mind.

When she opened her eyes, Lee was in front of her. He looked as young as the day she had met him; brown faced, dark eyes, thin lips, floppy hair.

"I found you..." she breathed, chuckling. "I finally found you—"

"Wrong again, Carter," Lee said. Only then did she notice his strained expression, and the sweat dripping down the side of his face. "I found you."

"W-what? How? I have been looking for you for the past four years and you only pick up the phone now?! Are you fucking kidding me?!" she exclaimed furiously.

"Carter! Can you shut the fuck up?!" he yelled back. "I'm really trying my best over here! You need to go back. Go back with Derek and the other guy."

"N-no, Lee, you don't understand—"

"Oh boo-hoo, princess," he spit, grinding his teeth. "Are you all depressed and lonely? Grow the fuck up."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. They came all the way here and gave you the solution to all your problems on a silver platter, and you turn them away? Are you dumb?"

"I can't go back," Luna reasoned. "I could hurt someone."

"You're hurting people staying here. Every minute spent here means a minute lost you could've spent saving someone."

"I couldn't even help them if I wanted to," she tried. "I don't have Raava anymore."

"Fuck Raava," Lee said with such ferocity that Luna was taken aback. "You've never needed Raava to be a hero. Yes, Raava gave you fire and earth and water, but you were born an air bender. And a damn good one at that. You can try and worm your way out of going back with weak excuses, but we both know that the only reason you're still here, is because you're scared. Scared of failing again."

Suddenly he winced, his shoulders tensing. "I-I can't hold on any longer. Go with them, Luna. Otherwise you've already failed."

Luna gasped awake, her eyes flying open. She was still in the same spot, but Lee was gone. She gasped for air, wiping sweat from her brow. She looked at her hands, rough and calloused.

Luna made a decision, right there on the spot. She took her backpack, gathered her stuff, and hurried into the forest. In no time at all, she caught up to Steve and Derek, going back with them for one last desperate mission to save the universe and the people she loved.

 

Chapter 39: Tony's Time Travel Machine

Summary:

Luna reunites with The Avengers at the compound upstate, but the familiar surroundings bring up memories she wishes to keep buried. The team comes up with a plan.

IV. TONY'S TIME  TRAVEL  MACHINE
_________

The quinjet descended, the Avengers compound gradually coming into view. Her nerves were rising, now that there was no way back to her peaceful life at the Southern Air Temple. Luna gripped the metal case in her hands tighter. She had almost cried when Queen Ramonda gave it to her. It was from Shuri. It was a promise Shuri had made all those years ago, when they had first met.

"Did you open it?" Derek asked, looking at his sister intently. "See what it looks like?"

Luna fingered the handle of the case, not looking up. "I already know what it looks like. She showed it to me when she first started to design it. I'll open it when I need it."

Derek nodded at her slowly, before standing up and walking to the pilot seat. He leaned against the metal wall, looking out the window. "Why is this place so massive?" he asked, seeing the compound appear. "There's only seven of you."

Steve sighed, and waited until the quinjet had fully landed before getting up. "There used be a lot more," he said, heading to the bay doors.

The bay doors opened slowly, the bright morning sun beaming down on the trio as they stepped out. It was still chilly outside, and Luna pulled her jacket tighter to her body. She would have to start getting used to the New York weather again. Holding the handle even tighter, the skin on her knuckles whitening, she gritted her teeth. There were so many memories in this place. Ones that she would rather forget, but were impossible to remove from her mind.

Derek placed an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side for a second before letting go. She gave him a reserved smile, and the two siblings followed Steve inside.

The compound still looked the same as it had done five years ago; large, spacious, a lot of shades of white and grey and many wall-consuming windows that let in natural light. However, it had never seemed this empty before. The compound used to be filled with heroes, scientists, journalists and politicians rushing from place to place. People used to work there. Without the babble of people, their footsteps echoed uncomfortably.

"Where is everyone?" Derek asked, pushing the button for the elevator.

"Upstairs," Steve said shortly. The elevator arrived, and the three of them filed in. Steve pushed the button for the fourth floor. "We've been operating from the fourth floor. It's where Tony's lab is. The team should be waiting for us; I texted Nat when we landed."

Luna leaned against the elevator wall, her hands clenched in the pockets of her jacket. She had taken her outfit out of the emergency clothes chest in the quinjet, and this was the best she could scrounge together; straight denim jeans, a t-shirt with the logo of some old rock band that must have belonged to Tony at some point, and a maroon leather jacket that Natasha had stored there. She had cut her hair better when she had gotten her hands on a pair of scissors.

The only thing of her own that she still wore were her doc martens. They were half falling apart, but they had been hers since she was fifteen. Almost a decade old, Luna realized as the elevator dinged. She shook off her existential thoughts and followed Steve and Derek out of the elevator.

They went down another corridor and turned the corner. They were walking past a wall made of windows now, looking into the room they were headed to. Luna averted her eyes. Everybody was there.

Tony, Rhodey and Natasha were sitting on the couch chatting, while Clint sat beside them broodingly. The Hulk was there. Luna had to do a double take. It certainly looked like the Hulk, with green skin and standing at a generous seven feet tall, but he was behaving strangely calm. He wasn't as big, or as muscled as the Hulk, and his face looked like Bruce; normal, human Bruce, except green. He was even talking normally with Rocket the talking raccoon and Nebula.

In one of the corners, in a comfortable lounge chair, sat Thor. Well, somebody that looked like Thor. His blond hair had grown out, just like his beard, and both were shiny with grease. Thor had grown fat. His what-used-to-be-white wife-beater barely fit over his beer belly, stained with dirt and something unrecognizable. He had a beer bottle in his hand, and sunglasses rested on the bridge of his nose. Luna barely recognized the God of Thunder she had idolized when she was young.

Talking animatedly with Thor was the man himself; Scott Lang. He was the reason for all of this. Luna didn't know whether to punch him or to kiss him when she, Steve and Derek walked into the room.

All eyes shot up to them, skipping over Steve, looking suspiciously at Derek, and lingering on Luna. The clock on the wall ticked on awkwardly in the silence that followed. Luna squirmed, her nails digging into her palms.

Steve cleared his throat. "Now that we're all here. Let's get to work. Tony, Rocket, Bruce, Scott and Nebula, you're on time travel duty. Figure out how to get us to when we wanna be and how to get us safely back. Natasha, Rhodey, Clint, Thor, Luna and I; we're gonna figure out where and when we actually need to go to get the stones."

"Copy that, Captain," Tony said, only a little sarcastically as he stood from the couch. He headed for the exit, the group of nerds following behind them. He stopped next to Luna. "We could use your help, kid," he said.

Luna looked into his eyes for a second before shaking her head. "I don't know shit about quantum physics. You're better off without me, trust me."

Tony snorted and patted her shoulder. "We'll talk later," he promised, heading to his laboratory with the others.

Luna stepped further into the room, now that it wasn't so crowded. Ignoring Natasha's questioning glance and Clint's new emo haircut, she plopped down in between them on the couch.

"Who's this?" Natasha asked, pointing a finger at Derek.

Derek froze and locked eyes with Natasha for a second, before looking away quickly. "I—uhh—Hey, I'm Derek. Luna's brother?"

Natasha turned to look at Luna, who nodded in confirmation. Her eyes went wide for a split second, before she turned back to Derek. "Sorry, up until now we all thought you were still in a coma."

"I'm not. Anymore. Used to be," he stammered awkwardly, sitting in one of the empty chairs. "You are..?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "You don't recognize us? We're pretty famous, Derek."

It was clearly meant as a joke, but Natasha was naturally scary. Derek's face colored a faint red. "No, of course. Sorry."

Natasha chuckled. "It's fine, I'm joking. I'm Natasha. This is Clint, and that's Thor. You already know Steve. You're here to help us?"

"I mean, I can try," he answered. "I'm not a genius and I don't have superpowers... I only came along to keep an eye on... you know." He gestured vaguely at Luna, who glared at him.

"I am an adult, Derek. I don't need you breathing down my neck," she said vacantly.

"Oh, hello Luna. Good to see that you're back," Natasha said harshly. "We wouldn't want you to disappear for another four years."

Luna's jaw clenched. "Do you have something to say to me, Natasha? Or can we get to work? The sooner we figure this shit out, the sooner I can leave this place behind. For good this time."

Natasha rolled her eyes, but kept silent.

Steve cleared his throat again, eyeing them uncomfortably. "Luna, Derek, how about you two go find a room. Get some rest, clean yourself up and stuff."

"Are you saying I stink, Captain?" Derek asked, standing up to meet Steve's eyes.

Steve stayed silent, crossed his arms, and gave Derek an unimpressed look.

Derek laughed at him and put a hand on his shoulder for a second as he walked passed him. Luna frowned at them, before standing up and following after her brother.

"What was that all about?" Derek asked the moment Luna fell into step beside him.

"What was what?"

"Back there. With Natasha?"

Luna sighed, an annoyed expression crossing her face. "Don't think she appreciated my disappearing act. If she's got something to say, she needs to say it to my face. I'm too tired to deal with passive aggression."

"You didn't have to snap at her."

"Nat's dealt with worse than me snapping at her, believe me." They took another left turn, Derek following Luna's lead. Luna looked around, every corner painfully recognizable even after so many years. "I don't know, Derek... Maybe I shouldn't have come back here. This place brings up memories. Gives me anxiety, and anxiety makes me wanna punch someone."

Derek put an arm around her, squeezed, and let go. "You can meditate, if it helps. If that doesn't work, I'm sure there's a punching bag somewhere around this place."

"Here," she said and stopped in front of two doors, each on opposite sides of the corridor. "I always stayed in this one when I had to stay over at the compound. That one used to be..." she trailed off, looking at the closed door opposite of hers. "Wanda and Pietro stayed in that one. Before they moved in with me. If you need anything, just ask Steve. He's the boss around here."

"I figured," Derek said. "I'm gonna take a short nap, alright?" He kissed the top of her head and ruffled her hair, before quickly dodging Luna's fist and closing the door to his room behind him. Luna sighed, surprised at the cheerful feeling rising in her chest. She turned the doorknob to her room and entered, flicking on the lights.

Unexpectedly and without permission, an old memory pushed to the front of her mind.

"Wanda!" Luna yelled, knocking rapidly on the closed door. "Open up, come on! I know you're in there, red! Open u—"
           
The door swung open with a whoosh and a very disgruntled Pietro stood in the opening. "Could you stop?" he grumbled, blinking the sleep out of his eyes.
           
"Sorry," she smiled sheepishly. "Did I wake you?"
           
"It's midnight, Luna, what do you want?"
           
Luna pushed past Pietro, into his and Wanda's room. Ignoring Pietro's protests, she fell down on his bed, making herself comfortable.
           
"Come in, Moony, make yourself at home," he said, closing the door behind him. He laid down beside her, his arms under his head. "Wanda went to grab a snack. Why are you looking for her?"
           
Luna blushed, though she wasn't sure why, and answered, "She enchanted the TV in my room to only play old reruns of Bewitched."
           
Pietro laughed, but was quickly shut up by Luna's elbow in his ribs.
           
"It's not funny, asshole. I hate sitcoms. I just wanted to watch The Sopranos again."
           
"How can you hate sitcoms? They are the most basic form of television."
           
"It's the laugh tracks, dude. And the acting. It's like I'm watching a play."
           
"You hate theatre too?" Pietro asked, affronted. He stared at the ceiling, falling quiet, thinking. "We used to watch sitcoms all the time. Bewitched, I Love Lucy, Brady Brunch and some others. We had them all on DVD," he said, more to himself than to Luna. "We would make a whole night out of it. Snacks, hot chocolate, boardgames. Our parents made us practice our English the entire evening. No Sokovian allowed."
           
"How come you still suck at it, then?"
           
"My English is perfectly fine," he retorted, getting rid of his accent to make his point. "Our father put up a poster on the wall and every time one of us made a mistake or slipped up, he would put a tally next to our names. At the end of the month, the one with the least amount of tallies got to pick out a show to watch."
           
Luna smiled to herself, imagining little Wanda and Pietro sitting in front of the TV, speaking in broken English to each other, laughing and happy, without a care in the world. What Pietro said next, made the smile drop from her face.
           
"We were watching The Dick Van Dyke Show when the bomb hit..."
           
"Shit..." Luna said slowly. "I'm sorry, Pietro."
           
He shrugged, removing his hands from the back of his head and laying them on his stomach. "You did not send the bomb. Neither did Stark, I know that now. Still..."
           
Luna waited patiently, gently taking Pietro's hand and holding it between them.
           
"We tried to bring back those evenings. But... I never learned to stop thinking of that night, so I couldn't do it with her. Wanda still loves them, though. I think she remembers the good times when she watches them. I only remember..." he left his sentence unfinished.
           
"Maybe I'll watch them with her," Luna decided. "I can't imagine Vision's much fun to watch television with."
           
"I thought you hated sitcoms?"
           
"I can put up with it for her. Besides, I like Modern Family enough, we can watch that one."
           
It was quiet for another minute, before Pietro whispered, "You love her, don't you?" There was something pained in his voice, but not directed at Luna. Luna knew Pietro had a schoolboy crush on her, of course. It was hard to miss, especially since he was so bad at hiding it. So it came as a shock to Luna that he would even suggest such a thing.
           
"I—" she stuttered. "Why would you th—I do not. She's my friend, Pietro. Just like you."
           
"Come on, Moony. It's obvious, the way you look at her."
           
The door opened again, and Wanda walked in mid-sentence. "—you seen Luna? She is not in her room and I think she wants to strangle me—" she turned on the lights and stopped, staring at Luna and Pietro lying next to each other, a bag of chips in her hand. "Am I interrupting something?"
           
Luna and Pietro glanced at each other, and burst out laughing. Luna stood up, walking up to Wanda. "Don't worry, Witchy, I'm not seducing your brother. I'm headed to bed. When I turn on my TV, I better not see Dick York's face."

Luna blinked and the memory faded. She was in her own room again, empty and desolate. Everything was still in the same place as she had left it, except with a layer of dust covering every surface. She ran a tired hand across her face. In an attempt to keep herself busy, she began to clean her room. Clean sheets for her bed were in the closet, along with all her old clothes she had left in there.

Opening a window, Luna bent all the dust off the flat surfaces and pushed the cloud outside. She stepped into the shower for the first time in four years, relishing in the hot water, washing off all the grime that the river at the ruins had not been able to get rid of. She brushed her teeth multiple times, just to be sure, and didn't bother fixing her hair or face; the person she would want to look pretty for wasn't there anymore.

After getting dressed again, and trying and failing to fall into a meditative state, the anxiety in her stomach flared up once more. Her fists clenched reflexively. She took a deep breath, and began making her way back to the common room.

When she arrived back there it was practically empty, safe for one person.

"Thor!" she said, trying to sound cheery, but the state Thor was in made it difficult.

Thor took his sunglasses off and looked at her. A smile began to grow on his face. He set his beer bottle to the side and stood up. "Lady Luna!" his voice boomed through the room. "Where have you been? It has been way too long!" He approached her with open arms.

Luna struggled not to fall over when he barreled into her, hugging her tightly.

"We were just in the same room—" she began to say.

"Come! Let's have a drink to celebrate your return!" Before Luna could say anything, he had dragged her out of the room. Two left turns and one right later, they sat at the kitchen counter. Thor rummaged through the fridge, pulling out two beers. He opened one with his teeth and put it in front of Luna.

She took it, ignoring the disgusting smell that either came from the beer or from Thor himself, and took a sip. She couldn't remember how long it had been since she had a drink, or maybe she didn't want to remember, but she found that she had missed it dearly.

"So, how's New Asgard?" Luna asked. "Heard you've been busy all the way up in Norway."

"Good, good," Thor said, a certain purposeful aloofness to his voice. "It isn't me who should get the credit for it. I relinquished my Kingship to a trusted friend. I live a common life now, Lady Luna, with my friends Korg and Miek."

"Wow..." Luna replied slowly, beginning to understand why Thor looked and acted the way he did. "That is... selfless of you. Not interested in being King anymore?"

He shook his head furtively and emptied his beer. He opened another one, took a large swig, and said, "No, no. Not for me. New Asgard is in the ever capable hands of Brunnhilde."

"Brunnhilde?"

For the first time, a genuine smile crossed his face. "She is a Valkyrie. Or, she was. Either way, she is King of Asgard now."

"I'll have to come visit some time. You did promise me that tour of Asgard."

"Of course!" Thor exclaimed, raising his beer. "You are always welcome in New Asgard. I have a feeling you and Brunnhilde will get along splendidly."

"Oh, really?"

Ten minutes later and four beers deeper, Luna and Thor had moved to the living room couch, both their backs to opposite arm rests, their legs meeting in the middle.

"Rocks?" Luna spoke, stumbling over syllables. She was beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol, and quickly opened another beer.

"Yes," Thor said. "He's made of rocks."

"How does that work? How do they... you know... have sex?"

Thor frowned, taking another swig. "I don't know... But!" he exclaimed. "We make a great Fortnite tag team! We've won every game together so far."

"Fortnite?" Luna questioned. "Like, two weeks?"

Thor's eyes widened and he was just about to launch into an elaborate explanation of Fortnite, when Natasha walked in.

"Really?" she said sternly, her arms crossed as she looked at them judgmentally.

Thor closed his mouth and Luna tried to hide the beer in her hand, despite the number of empty bottles on the coffee table.

"We're trying to save everyone and you two are getting drunk?"

"Hey!" Luna said indignantly. "Blame Pikachu, not me."

"I'm blaming both of you!" Natasha exclaimed. "Thor, can you go to the lab? They need help moving heavy boxes."

Thor grumbled under his breath, but stood up and walked out of the room, beer in hand. Natasha didn't move from her spot, glaring down at Luna. Luna, unbothered, took another swig.

"What are you doing?"

Luna closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I'm trying to have a drink in peace, Nat."

"No, what are you doing here? With us? It's obvious you don't care about saving everyone, so what are you doing?"

Luna's eyes snapped open to glare at Natasha. She sat up straight, turning her back. "What's your problem, huh? You pissed that I left without saying goodbye? Well, you ain't the only one, so get over it."

"We needed you, Luna," Natasha said, walking closer. "I needed you."

"Tough."

"Don't act like you don't care. We both know that's a lie." Natasha sighed softly, and Luna felt the couch dip next to her. She didn't look up from her wringing hands; dirt was still packed under her nails. "I understand you were hurting," she continued, her voice close to a whisper. "All of us were. I lost Yelena, and then I lost you as well. You didn't say goodbye. I thought we were closer than that."

Luna closed her eyes tightly, willing the emotion to go away. "I know, Nat."

"It pissed me off."

"I know."

"Do you?"

"I do!" Luna yelled in frustration. Natasha didn't even blink. "I know, okay! I know that I hurt you and Steve and everybody! I didn't have a choice. Now, can you please fuck off? This is exactly the reason I didn't wanna come back."

"I'm not leaving, Luna, you know that. And I'm not angry that you left. I'm angry that you stayed gone. I could understand needing a break after all that happened, but four years is a long time."

"I'm sorry," Luna said, finally looking up. "Is that what you wanna hear? That I'm sorry? Because I am. I am so sorry for leaving when you needed me here." She held eye contact, surprised to see tears in Natasha's eyes.

Finally, she allowed herself to take in the woman's appearance. She didn't look much better than Luna; her hair was outgrown, partially her own red color again, but the ends were still blonde; her face looked gaunt, though that might just have been the lighting, and there were dark circles underneath her eyes.

"Can you at least tell me why you left?"

"It was all too much," Luna spoke after a few seconds of filled quiet. "I—I was angry all the time. Angry at myself and the world. It felt like I was suffocating. Then when I almost killed a guy for hitting on me, I knew I had to leave..." She let her head fall into her hands, pushing her palms into her eyes. "And I know I've hurt and killed people before, but..."

"They were the bad guys," Natasha finished, understanding.

Luna nodded. "Do you forgive me?" She felt Natasha stand up from the couch. Then, a hand appeared in her vision. She took it and allowed Natasha to pull her up.

"Just promise me you won't stay gone next time, okay?"

"Yeah..." Luna said quietly, gripping Natasha's hand tighter for a second. "Promise."

---

The first week back in the real world was coming to an end and Luna couldn't help but feel useless. She hadn't gone to school since she was fifteen, but at least she had her GED. She used to like learning on her own, researching topic after topic, language on top of language. Now, she didn't think she could even understand a German children's book. It scared her that she couldn't think of Russian insults anymore, she used to use them a lot around... around Wanda and Pietro.

At fifteen, she would have been useful in the lab, busy inventing time travel. At 24, she only saw an ominous red liquid in the glass tube on the table in front of her. Pym particles, is what the liquid was called. Invented by Hank Pym, Scott Lang's sort-of-mentor/father-in-law.

Scott stood in front of her, in a white-armored suit with red connecting details, and branded with the Avengers logo. It was specialized to withstand the quantum realm, developed by Tony, Bruce and Scott in the span of a few days. They were gonna need it if they wanted to enter the quantum realm, which they needed to do to time travel.

"What are Pym particles again?" Luna asked, leaning her head on her hands, looking semi-bored, semi-curious at Scott and Bruce. Bruce still made her queasy. There was something off about the way he moved. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was seven feet tall and a good 350 pounds, but acted like he was a typical professor.

"These—" Bruce began, grabbing one of the vials filled with red liquid between his thick fingers.

Scott snatched it from him, holding it protectively against his chest. "These are fragile!" he exclaimed. "These," he turned to Luna, "are Pym particles. Pym Particles are subatomic particles. They increase or reduce mass and density."

"So it shrinks and embiggens?" Luna stated.

"Emphasis on shrinking," Rhodey called out, walking into the room. He threw a nod to Luna. She nodded back, acknowledging their shared lack of knowledge. "He needs to stop getting bigger. It's not good for his ego."

"Okay," Scott said blankly. He held up the vial and gestured to the rest of the vials in the case. "Since Hank got snapped out of existence, this is it. This is what we have. Without him, we can't make any more. So," he gave Bruce a pointed look, "we need to be careful with it. We've got enough for one round-trip each. That's it. No do-overs." He stopped himself, before adding, "Plus three test runs." Pushing open a latch on the side of the suit, he clicked the vial into place.

In the blink of an eye, Scott disappeared from where he stood, cutting off his frustrated yell. The next moment, he appeared again, finishing his scream. His helmet opened, revealing Scott's disappointed face. "Two test runs."

"Nice. So, how're we gonna test this?"

"Not it!" Scott exclaimed. "I really don't wanna do this."

"Okay..." Luna continued slowly. "We got two test runs. We should sent different people to different times. See if there's a difference. And, I mean, if no one else is volunteering... I'll go."

"Really? You think you're up for that?" Bruce asked. His compassionate expressing fit weirdly well on his Hulk face.

"Yeah!" Luna said, something akin to excitement growing on her face. "I wanna travel in time! But I'm not going first," she quickly added.

"I'm game," Clint said, standing in the doorway. "I'll go first."

"Clint," Luna said, throwing him a smile. She didn't take it personal when he only returned it half-heartedly. "When'd you get the tats?" she asked, gesturing to his left arm. It used to be blank, but was now covered with a full sleeve-tattoo.

Clint shrugged, pushing off from the doorway. "Gathered them over the years. Like them?"

"Eh, not my style. Like the hair, though."

"Natasha doesn't."

"It's Natasha. What did you expect?"

With a loud thud, two identical metal cases were thrown onto the table. Bruce clicked them open and revealed two identical suits to the one Scott was now pulling off himself. With the help of Rhodey and Nebula, who had come to help them do their first test run, Clint and Luna stood fully-clothed on in the middle of the room. The suit wasn't awful. It was a prototype and it wasn't perfectly tailored to her body, but it fit her well enough.

"Clint, you're first. You're gonna feel a little discombobulated from the chrono-shift. Don't worry about it," Bruce explained. Nebula stood beside him, programming Clint's suit to take him where he wanted to go.

"Wait a second," Rhodey cut in. "Let me ask you something. If we can do this, you know, go back in time, why don't we just find baby Thanos? You know, and..." He gestured with his hands, tying an imaginary noose around imaginary baby Thanos' neck.

"First of all, that's horrible," Bruce said.

"It's Thanos."

"As a baby," Luna said. "Babies aren't evil."

"You wouldn't kill baby Hitler if you had the chance?" Rhodey asked.

Luna imagined the scenario and responded, "Point taken."

"We're not killing babies!" Bruce interrupted. "Secondly, time doesn't work that way."

"Tell us, professor Hulk, how does time work?" Luna asked.

"Changing the past doesn't change the future," he explained.

"Look," Scott began, "we go back, we get the stones before Thanos gets them, Thanos doesn't have the stones. Problem solved."

"Bingo," Clint said, no real excitement in his voice.

"But, if changing the past doesn't change the future, then we'd still be stuck in this hell," Luna said, gesturing all around her.

"Exactly, that's not how it works," Nebula said, her voice unnecessarily low and husky like Luna remembered it to be.

"That's what I heard," Rhodey retorted.

"Really, who told you that?"

"Star Trek, Terminator," Rhodey began listing off.

"Timecop," Luna chimed in. "Back to the Future."

Scott raised his hand. "Time After Time, Quantum Leap."

"Wrinkle in Time."

"Somewhere in Time."

"Hot Tub Time Machine."

"Hot Tub Time Machine!"

"I don't know that one—oh! Men In Black 3."

"Flight of the Navigator."

"I loved Safety Not Guaranteed."

"Oh my god, me too!"

"Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure—Basically any movie that deals with time travel," Rhodey said, quickly stopping their endless list of time travel movies.

"Die Hard," Scott offered.

"Die Hard has time travel?" Luna questioned, frowning.

"No, that's not one," Rhodey quickly clarified. "This is known, Bruce."

"I don't know why everyone believes that, but that isn't true," Bruce replied. "Think about it. If you travel to the past, that past becomes your future, and your former present becomes the past, which can't now be changed by your new future!"

Nebula nodded. "Exactly."

"So Back to the Future is a bunch of bullshit?" Scott muttered to himself.

"Have either of you ever time travelled?" Luna asked, glancing between Bruce and Nebula.

They exchanged a quick glance. "No," Bruce said, looking at the ground.

"Then none of us know unless we actually try it. Let's go already."

---

Luna stood off to the side, adjusting the straps on the new suit. Earphones sat tightly in her ears, playing a soothing rock tune. Music was one of things that kept her entertained in the Wilds. The tablet she had taken with her ran on solar energy and there was enough of that at the ruins, so she was never without calming melodies of Green Day or The Sex Pistols. Fast, loud music was Luna's taste; it pushed all the other thoughts out of her head. And she was about to travel back in time, so she definitely needed the distraction.

From the middle of the warehouse floor, Tony waved at her. He put down his tools, wiped his hands on a clean rag, and walked up to her. Sighing at the thought of where their conversation was probably headed, Luna took out her earphones and readied herself.

"What's up, kid? How're you doing?" he drawled, casually leaning against the wall next to her.

"I'm good, Tony. How are you?" she repeated out of courtesy. She still felt herself smiling at the dumb grin on Tony's face.

"Oh, you know, just invented time travel. No biggie. Normal Tuesday at the office. What were you listening to? Anything good?" he asked, glancing at the phone in her hand.

Luna narrowed her eyes at him, trying to suss out what he was doing. "Måneskin. New band. Italian."

"Oh, cool. Haven't heard of them. What kinda music do they make?" Tony continued, nodding his head along thoughtfully.

Luna stared at him for a second, seeing if he was being serious. Apparently, he was. Or maybe he was just very good at pretending. "Rock. Little bit of punk and a little bit of pop."

"Mmmh... Rock. Good choice, Carter. Knew you had good taste."

"Okay," Luna said, pushing away from the wall to turn and face Tony. "You're really just gonna make small talk all day? About my music taste? Tony, really?"

"What? I just kinda realized that we don't really know that much about each other. Even after your heartfelt 'goodbye' four years ago... We both know I'm your favorite."

Luna rolled her eyes. "Thor's my favorite," she corrected. "He always snuck me drinks when all of us got together."

"Right," Tony said. "Nat did mention something about catching you two getting drunk on the couch the other day?"

"We were celebrating. Besides, I'm 24 now. It's legal."

"Well, you'll always be a kid to me, if that's any comfort," he said with a sheepishly kind smile.

"It's really not, Tony. Hated that nickname when I was actually a kid and still hate it now."

"Okay, grumpy. What has your panties in a twist?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Luna leaned next to him against the wall again and looked at Scott and Rocket putting the finishing touches on the platform they were building. The physical and temporal coordinates would be put into the machine, so it would open and close the portal to the quantum realm in the right places. The others were gathered around the control board, where Bruce was putting the finishing touches on the program, all of them trying to wrap their heads around the impossible mission ahead of them.

"We're all gonna travel back in time by the end of the week. I'm about to go back to 2017. Do you know how insane that sounds?"

"You're not getting all nostalgic on me, are you, Carter?"

She chuckled at him, shaking her head. "Nah. Don't worry. But it's gonna be weird, right? We might see our past selves, depending on when and where we're going. If we do, try not to kill yourself, alright Tony?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked, affronted.

"I know you, dude. You're gonna see your past self and realize that he doesn't have grey hair yet, and then you're gonna get all jealous about it, and then you get vengeful. The end," she summed up.

Tony glared at her, a grin breaking out on his face. "Okay, I'll try not to ice myself. No promises, though!"

"That's the best I could ask for... How's Morgan?" she asked, the thought suddenly springing to mind. "And Pepper?"

Tony's face lit up, something sparked in his eyes. "Oh, they're great. You wanna see pictures?" He didn't wait for an answer, and had already taken his phone out of his pocket. Within two seconds, the screen was shoved into Luna's face, picture after picture of a brown-haired, adorable, little girl flashing by. "She's four, now. Oh man, I wish you could've come over more often."

Luna was about to mutter an apology, when Tony continued loudly, "Don't blame you, though. I don't. I get it. You needed time and space. If that's what you needed to heal, then I can't blame you. Could've done it with a little bit more grace."

"Yeah, suppose so," she replied, and they both broke out into chuckles. Swiping along Tony's impressive photo gallery, she stopped on a beautiful candid of Tony, Pepper and Morgan. "She's fucking adorable, Tony. She really came from you?" she asked, skeptically.

He shrugged, taking his phone back. "She takes after her mother."

Luna snorted. "Thought so. If we... If we survive this—"

"Which you will."

"—I'll try to be more present," she finished.

"You know, now that you say that—" Tony began, but Luna could already sense where he was going with it.

"No, absolutely not. I already told you, man. I'm not changing diapers or any shit like that."

"That wasn't even what I was gonna say!" he protested, throwing up his hands. "Morgan's not in diapers any more. She's four, Luna, not a baby."

"I don't know shit about children, Tony, you know this."

He held up his hands. "Hey, neither did I before I had one! I'm still a work in progress."

"You should work a little faster, then. Don't got much time left by the looks of it," she said, and gestured to his grey beard, greying hair, and wrinkling skin.

"What is it the kids are saying? I'm ageing 'like fine wine'?"

"Sometimes words come out of your mouth and I seriously question if you're going senile or not."

"You guys coming?!" Derek called out. "We're ready if you are."

Luna and Tony walked back to the group and separated. Tony went to stand with the others, while Luna stood waiting at the side of the platform. It was large and circular, made out of steel and titanium. At the edges, spaced out evenly, stood the devices that would sent out the energy pulses. Scott, Tony and Rocket were able to modify the portal in Scott's van, and recreate it bigger and better in the middle of the platform.

"Ready, Clint?" Bruce called out.

"I'm good!"

"Alright! We're going in three... two... one." He clicked the button.

Energy pulses boomed from the devices, aimed against the middle of the platform. A hole opened in the floor and Clint shrunk himself, letting himself be pulled into the wormhole-like portal. Then, he was gone, and the portal closed. It was suddenly very quiet.

"Did it... Did it work?" Derek questioned, worry evident in his voice.

"He went in, that's for sure," Luna said, staring at where the portal was.

Bruce looked at the screen of the control board. "Says right here Clint's where wanted to be. January, 2018."

"Okay, and when's he supposed to co—"

As soon as the words left Derek's mouth, a crackling bang sounded through the warehouse, and Clint reappeared on the platform. "Lila?!" he exclaimed, but it was barely audible through his heavy breathing.

Luna jumped up on the platform and rushed to his side. "What happened? Are you okay?" she asked, helping him stand up. "Hey, Clint, look at me," she continued, grasping his shoulders when his heavy breathing didn't settle down. His head snapped to her, and then took in the room around him. "Take a breath, okay?"

"Luna? Where..." he questioned, trailing off, still looking around frantically.

Natasha appeared beside Luna. She took Clint's face in her hands and forced him to look at her. They seemed to communicate silently, something they must have developed after two decades of friendship.

"Yeah... Yeah. It worked," Clint said, coming back to his senses. "It worked."

"Good!" Bruce exclaimed, clapping his hands joyfully. "Second test, people! Off the platform! Luna, you ready?"

Closing her helmet, she threw him a thumbs up. "You got the right coordinates?"

"I do. Okay, in three... two... one." He pushed the button once again.

The portal opened and Luna could take a good look inside. It looked like a universe of its own, shapes and colors she had never even heard of flowed through the sky as if it were plasma. Straightening her back, Luna pushed the button on her suit, and she felt the world around her grow larger.

But it wasn't. She was just getting smaller and smaller, until she fell down into the portal. At once, she lost all control of her limbs as the suction pulled her through the thick, invisible plasma that made up the sky in this sub-atomic quantum realm. As quick as she was pulled in, she was pushed out again.

The street she landed on was dark and wet from recent rainfall. Water was dripping down the sides of the buildings, flowing down the pavement and into the gutter. The full moon beamed down on her, before quickly being hidden away by a dark, passing cloud. She had to be quick, she knew that. Clint had only been gone for a minute or two. She jogged around the corner and quickly recognized the street. She continued running, gathering speed, until she reached the right shop-front.

The blinds were down inside, but not closed entirely. Luna stood close to the window, her breath visible on the glass, and peered inside with held breath. Music was playing, she could hear the faint tunes of the Sex Pistols. She remembered this night. She had picked this time and place for a reason.

The record player spun the 1989 Sex Pistols album No Future UK, the music filling the small record shop. It was after closing, but the owner had left the key with Luna to lock up. Luna knew he didn't care if she had friends over, as long as she didn't thrash the place and no items went missing.

Luna laid back casually on the couch with her eyes closed, her head in Wanda's lap. An ashtray balanced on her stomach, and a cigarette was stuck between her fingers. Pietro sat on the rocking chair, curled up beneath a fuzzy blanket, another ashtray balancing on his knee and a cigarette between his lips. Wanda never smoked, she found it dumb and useless, so Luna always made sure to bend the smoke coming from her mouth away from Wanda's face.

"I don't like it," Wanda said when the third song ended. The tips of her fingers glowed red, and the volume lowered to background noise. "It's too sporadic."

"To each their own, I guess. I like it hard." Luna turned her head to glare at Pietro when he burst out into giggles. She moved her hand in the air and pushed the heat in his lit cigarette all the way to the orange filter.

"Ow!" he yelped, dropping it on the ground. "I didn't say anything!"

"Your face did."

"Come on! You like it hard? You know how that sounds."

"Pull your mind out of the gutter, Speedy. I meant that I like hard music."

"Still funny..." he mumbled.

"So, what're we doing tomorrow? I was thinking about..."

Luna felt that pull again and closed her eyes, trying to cement the image of her head on Wanda's lap, and Pietro curled up like a little boy before she fell forward, her hands catching herself on the metal platform. She coughed and heaved and immediately felt someone's hand on her back.

"Luna? You okay?" It was Derek.

She looked up at him, allowing him to pull her to his chest, resting her body for only a second. Steve offered his hand and pulled her up from the ground.

With a deep breath, she looked at her team and said, "I think we're ready."

 

Chapter 40: The Battle Of New York, Again

Summary:

Luna, Steve, Tony, Scott and Bruce travel back to 2013 to steal the time, mind, and space infinity stones.

V. THE BATTLE OF NEW YORK, AGAIN
__________

"Let's go over the plan one more time," Steve said.

Steve and Luna stood over the table in the side-room, away from the main warehouse where the others were preparing for their temporal journey. Steve was there because, well, he was the leader. He had always been the leader, even when there was no team.

Luna was there because, well, because... she wasn't entirely sure. Perhaps because she had encountered an infinity stone before, or, her past life had. It didn't quite matter because there she was, leaning over the table next to Steve, files upon files laid out in front of them.

"Bruce, Tony, Scott, you and I are gonna go back to 2013. Bruce'll split off to find the time stone at the Sanctum Sanctorum, while the rest of us go to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. Because we're there right after The Battle of New York, the tesseract and Loki's scepter should be safely stored there," Luna summed up, her eyes scanning the files on the three stones they would be searching for. "If everything goes right, we'll be walking out of 2013 with the time, mind and space stones."

"Good," Steve responded, rubbing a tired hand across his face. "Yeah, sounds good."

"I do wanna bring to your attention that there's some pretty big 'ifs' in your plan, Cap."

"I know, I know," he sighed. "But we don't have the time to make a better plan. We've waited too long already. I don't know about you, but I'm willing to take some pretty big risks if it means bringing everyone back."

Luna stared at the picture of Loki's scepter, and the yellow glowing mind stone beside it. All she could see were Wanda's eyes reflecting their power. "I'm with you. Seriously."

Steve looked at her, nodding, his eyes showing some weird mix of caring and pity. "The rest?"

Luna cleared her throat and pulled the other files from the bottom of the pile. "Thor and the talking raccoon—"

"His name is Rocket."

"He's fucking weird, that's what he is. Anyway! Thor and 'Rocket' are gonna go to 2013 as well, but they'll go to Asgard to get the reality stone. And, because Thor knows his way around the palace, we shouldn't expect much trouble from them."

"Are we sure sending Thor and Rocket by themselves is a good idea?"

"No, but you wouldn't let me go with them for some weird reason, so you're outta luck," Luna said, raising an accusative eyebrow at him.

Steve stared back just the same. "Sending you and Thor together would be like throwing a barrel of gunpowder into a sleeping volcano—it'd do nobody any good. Including yourselves."

"Whatever floats your boat, Cap. Okay, next! Nebula and Rhodey will be going to the planet Morag in 2014 to get the power stone, hopefully right before past-Quill manages to get his hands on it. Again, this one shouldn't raise any problems."

"Now, this last one. We barely know anything about it," Steve said, picking up the file on the soul stone. A picture showed a deep fiery orange gemstone, with its location 'Vormir' above it.

"Which is why I really don't think it's a smart idea to send the only two people without any superpowers or metal body armor."

"Nat and Clint are the two smartest and most clever people I've ever met. They'll figure something out," Steve defended.

"We don't know what we're sending them into, Steve!" Luna exclaimed. "All we know is that Thanos and Gamora went there, and only one of them made it out. Do you really feel good about sending those two?"

"I don't feel good sending anybody anywhere, Luna," he replied harshly. "There's no guarantee any of us are gonna come back in one piece, if at all. I'm thinking about the greater good here."

"Okay," Luna said, calming herself. "Fine. I trust you."

"Okay," Steve repeated before looking over at her. "You okay? Ready?"

"No and no," she said. Pushing away from the table, she put some distance between herself and those damned stones both physically and mentally.

With her arms crossed, she stood before the large windows overlooking the vast expanse of grass fields and forest. Sometimes she really missed the days when they were located right in the heart of Manhattan: it was never this quiet there. After a few moments, Steve wordlessly went to stand next to her, shoulder to shoulder. Enveloped in silence, Luna felt her heartbeat regain its steady rhythm.

"Thank you," Luna said eventually. Without moving her gaze, she felt Steve's questioning eyes. "For coming to get me. You and Derek brought me back, not just back to New York but back to reality. I really thought I could just go away and isolate myself so far into that forest that my problems couldn't get to me. And I was wrong, of course. My problems travelled with me to that temple. It was stupid of me to think I could ever forget about them."

"You mean Wanda and Pietro."

"I mean all of them. Every single one of them. It felt like it was my fault that they were gone. That if I'd fought just a bit harder, stayed up just long enough, that I could've stopped Thanos right there on Titan. And that was when I still had Raava... If this doesn't work out, Steve, I just want you to know that I'm glad we tried. Because at least we tried, right? And if I die trying to save all those innocent people, then at least my life's got some kinda meaning. Even if we lose."

Steve wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and pulled her into a soft side hug. She let him. She let her head rest on his shoulder, and she let her eyes close. She let herself be comforted by him.

A knock came from the open door. Derek peeked his head in. "You guys almost done?"

"Yes," Steve replied, moving back to the table and gathering all the intel back into their respective binders. He met Derek at the door while Luna stayed glued to her spot.

"How's she doing?" Derek asked quietly.

"I think she's doing better. It all hinges on our next few moves. If we fail this..." Steve began.

"Hey," Derek interrupted, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You guys are literally the strongest, most heroic people I know. If anybody can pull this off, it's you."

Steve looked at him for a moment, trying to catch some sort of disbelief in his eyes. When he found none, he smiled and nodded, giving Derek an appreciative pat on the shoulder. Louder this time, so Luna could hear it to, he said, "I'm gonna gather the rest of the team for a last meeting. Make sure you get into your suit, alright?"

"I will," Luna returned.

Steve moved past Derek out the door. Derek, instead, walked further inside, taking the spot next to Luna where Steve had stood mere moments ago. "Please don't jump."

Luna snorted, bumping his shoulder with her own. "Don't worry. I don't intend to die falling out a window. Besides," she said, rapping her knuckles against the glass, "bulletproof."

"Damn, Tony really did think of everything."

"Hey," Luna said, turning to face her brother. "Are you sure you'll be fine here on your own?"

"I think you should be more worried about yourself," he replied. "I'm not the one who's about to time travel. Don't worry about me when you're out saving the universe, really. This compound is quite literally the safest place I could be. Like you said," he knocked shortly on the window, "this place is bulletproof."

"Derek?" Luna turned to face her brother. "If something does happen—"

"Which it won't."

"If something happens," Luna reiterated, "can you find Amy Whitfield in Kansas?"

"The girl from the orphanage? Why?"

Luna swallowed harshly. "Amy was the only friend I had for years. I was the only person she had for years, too. When she got adopted, I told her I would come visit at some point... and then I never did. Got too busy wrapped up in myself and my own life that I completely forgot about her. Then when I finally remembered, she got blipped and I lost my chance.

"So, if I don't, you know, come back from this trip, can you tell her that I'm sorry? Tell her that I miss her and I love her, that I never stopped thinking of her as my little sister?" Only when she finished speaking did she realize her eyes had filled with tears.

"Hey, of course. Of course I can."

With one last hug, Luna left the office to go change into her suit. In her room, right there on the foot of her bed, lay the metal case the Queen had given her when she had left Wakanda. Shuri's last gift to her, its design going all the way back to their first chance meeting. She clicked open the first latch, the short sound ringing through the silent room. The second followed and the case sprung open slightly. Deep breath in, steady hands. Luna opened the case.

Inside, the suit was neatly folded. Next to it rested two identical daggers, about 14 inches in length. The curved edges of the blades were impossibly sharp, no doubt made of vibranium. The handle was wrapped in a thick, deep purple stained leather and felt comfortable in her palm.

The suit was similar to her old one, something for which Luna was glad. It was a simple body-suit, a lot like Natasha's, except places like her chest, shoulders and shins were covered with a layer of body armor, which looked like simple leather, but when Luna touched them she could feel the vibranium inside.

The fabric of the suit itself was like leather, but smoother and more easy to maneuver; if she had to guess, probably some mix of leather and Kevlar. Like the handles of her daggers, it was dark purple, patches of different tones of purple at places like her chest and thighs. Straps wrapped around her body, tying a flask for water against her hip, as well as a holster for a handgun on her left thigh and one on her right thigh to store whatever else she happened to need.

The last part of the outfit she pulled on were her knee-high boots, sturdy but comfortable. The boots also provided a special place for her daggers to rest in. In front of the mirror, Luna pulled the zipper up from her chest, over her breasts, all the way up to her neck.

She took out the chip which contained the expandable, nano suit. All she had to do was push and the suit would form itself around her body. She hated to cover Shuri's hard work, put pushed the chip and let herself be covered. The suit was red and white and extremely jarring, but she needed to wear it to protect herself from the quantum realm, so she sucked up her pride and left the room.

Stepping back into the office, she found that the rest of the team had already gathered, each of them in their own time-travel suits. All together, side by side, they made their way from the office, across the warehouse floor, all white and sterile but still a comforting last sight, and onto the circular platform. Automatically they all formed a circle, and Luna guessed it must have been time for Cap's pre-battle motivational speech.

"Six stones, three teams, one shot..." Cap began. "Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends. We lost family. We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams. You know your missions. Get the stones. Get them back. One round-trip each. No mistakes... No do-overs." He looked around, at each person in his team. Either new or old, human or not, it didn't matter. All of them were his team now.

"Most of us are going somewhere we know. That doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight for our lives. And we're gonna win." For a second, he looked over at Tony, and there appeared some sort of mutual understanding. Perhaps more like mutual forgiveness. "Whatever it takes... Good luck."

Luna had to control every part of herself not to jump when the little racoon said, "He's pretty good at that."

"Right?" Scott agreed.

"All right!" Tony spoke up. "You heard the man. Stroke those keys, Jolly Green," he shouted to Bruce, who was punching in the correct setting for the quantum time machine.

"Trackers engaged," Bruce replied.

"Can we hurry up?" Luna complained. "I'm kinda starting to get hungry."

Tony came over with a too-relaxed smile and clapped a hand on her back. "After all this, we'll get shawarma. How about that?"

Despite herself, she found herself going in for a side-hug. "Sounds good."

The team waited for Bruce to finish up and join them. When he finally did, they stood in the same circle. Luna, standing next to Natasha, took her hand for a second, and smiled. She didn't have to say anything, she knew Natasha would understand.

Natasha did understand, and with that mischievous smile of hers she said, "See you in a minute."

Luna's helmet closed over her face, and the Tony's time machine began humming.

---

Luna's feet met the hard concrete of a New York City alleyway. Her helmet retreated, together with the rest of the suit, and she finally opened her eyes, revealing the absolute state the city was in.

She had forgotten exactly how bad the battle had been, but the collapsed buildings, the ruined streets, the overturned and smoking cars, all the fires everywhere, the dead and mangled bodies with lifeless eyes staring up at a blue sky, and, above all, the Chitauri whizzing around above her head, quickly reminded her of that horrific day years ago.

Luna took a breath to steady herself, before turning to face her fellow travelers. Steve, Tony, Bruce, and Scott were in front of her, and she was glad for it.

Steve got into action immediately. "All right, we all have our assignments. Two stones uptown, one stone down. Stay low. Keep an eye on the clock."

A loud crash came from the street ahead of them. All of them turned to face the potential danger... Except it was the Hulk. 2013 Hulk, mercilessly smashing a lone Chitauri to bits with a ruined Honda Civic. Another Chitauri came to help, its gun raised, but seeing the Hulk go to town, quickly turned back. Another smash, and the Hulk dropped the car on top of the unrecognizable alien body. He jumped a couple times on top of it for good measure before roaring and moving on to his next target.

As the team slowly turned back around, 2023 Hulk almost looked like he was blushing from embarrassment.

"Maybe smash a few things on the way," Cap added.

Bruce sighed, half-heartedly tearing off his tank top. "I think it's gratuitous, but whatever." Hyping himself up by growling and roaring like he used to, he languidly punched in the roof of a yellow taxi. He picked up a motorcycle buried in rubble and threw it across the street, roaring softly.

"Can we get to it now?" Luna asked. "This is getting hard to watch."

"Yeah, let's go."

Leaving Bruce behind to get the time stone from the Sanctum Sanctorum, they made their way across the city to uptown New York. It took longer than it would have normally, since they had to both avoid being seen by anybody and avoid getting into scraps with wandering Chitauri. However, eventually, they made it all the way to Avengers Tower. Which was still Stark Tower back then, Luna reminded herself. Quickly and quietly, they got into positions.

The idea was that Cap would go get the scepter, containing the mind stone. He had more information about the situation within S.H.I.E.L.D. than he did in 2013, so all he had to do was convince the secret HYDRA agents carrying the scepter that he was on their side. How he would go about doing that, Luna had no idea, but luckily she didn't have to, because Tony, Scott, and she were going after the tesseract instead.

Hanging onto the side of the building with Tony—Scott had shrunk himself to sit on Tony's titanium shoulder—she simply had to wait the signal, while Tony kept an eye on what was going on inside.

"Better hustle up, Cap," Tony said. "Things look like they're just about wrapped up here."

"Got it. I'm approaching the elevator now."

Tony turned to Luna. "Should I be offended that you traded in my suit for this one?"

"Yes."

"Alright, let's just go."

Luna chuckled and spread the wings of her glider, following after Tony. They found a broken window large enough to fit through and gracefully and, above all, quietly landed in the room. They had to be extremely careful not to step on any broken glass, because right on the other side of the room the Avengers were confronting Loki. Luna was surprised to feel sort of happy to see Loki alive again. Even if it was this version of him.

"If it's all the same to you... I'll have that drink now," Loki said, lying with his back on the stairs.

"Alright, get him on his feet," 2013 Tony said impatiently. "We can all stand around posing up a storm later. By the way, feel free to clean up!"

Tony, looking at the scene from behind a wall, scoffed. "Mr. Rogers, I almost forgot that that suit did nothing for your ass."

Luna almost snorted, but remembered that she had to stay quiet.

"No one asked you to look, Tony," Cap's voice came over the comms.

"It's impossible not to look, Steve. It's America's Ass, after all," Luna added with a grin.

"I think you look great, Cap," Scott said. "As far as I'm concerned, that's the best Ass America's ever seen."

From the other side of the room, Natasha, holding the glowing scepter, asked, "Who gets the magic wand?"

"S.T.R.I.K.E. team's coming to secure it," Captain America replied.

Just as he said it, the elevator behind Luna and Tony binged. Quickly before it opened, they moved out of the way and out of sight. Luna's fist clenched as she saw Brock Rumlow walk out of it, with that smug, ugly face of his. He was the reason they ever went to Lagos. He was the reason that bomb went off. He was the reason Wanda had to redirect it. He was the reason for the Sokovia Accords.

"Calm down, Carter," Tony whispered.

"I'm calm," she bit back.

"Sure you are."

Alongside Rumlow was Sitwell, another dirty HYDRA snake. "We can take that off your hands," he said, taking the scepter from Natasha.

"By all means," she said, giving it to him without a second thought. "Be careful with that thing."

Luna saw the look on Sitwell's face as he held the scepter in his hands, could see the thoughts running behind his eyes. Was this the moment he decided to take it to HYDRA? Sometime after this, the scepter would end up at that base in Sokovia, would end up in the hands of a bunch of scientists. And those scientists would use it to experiment on kids. Innocent kids, all of whom had died, except for Wanda and Pietro.

She spotted her younger self as well, talking with Natasha in the back. A thought sprung into her mind: this was the moment both Wanda's and her fates were decided.

"Who are these guys?" Scott asked, and Luna was reminded how little the outside world really knew about the situation. About any government situation, really.

"They are S.H.I.E.L.D.," Tony said bitterly.

That made Luna scoff, almost like a chuckle. "They're HYDRA infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D., but we didn't know that yet at this point. Give it a few years, though... Fucking hate that guy. Glad we dropped a building on him."

"You dropped a building on him?" Scott exclaimed incredulously.

"He deserved it."

"I believe you. I mean, they look like bad guys."

"Hey, Scott, buddy, you're small but you're talking loud," Tony interrupted in a strained whisper.

The Avengers were finally wrapping things up. The scepter was in its case, and Loki was in his handcuffs. 2013 Tony hunched over the glowing tesseract. From a distance, Luna saw Loki look at the cube longingly.

"On my way down to coordinate search and rescue," Captain America spoke into his comms, heading for the elevator.

As he walked past Loki, Loki morphed into an exact likeness of him and repeated mockingly, "On my way down to coordinate search and rescue." Changing back to himself, he added, "I mean, honestly, how do you keep your food down?"

Thor, probably prepared for this exact situation, took out an Asgardian muzzle and crammed it onto Loki's mouth. "Shut up," he spoke eloquently.

"Quick," Luna said, watching 2013 Tony put the Tesseract into its protective case. "Now's the time."

Scott stood at the ready, in a deep squat. "Flick me."

Tony flicked him as hard as he could, and with a big, gracious arch through the air, Scott landed on the case, running forward quickly up 2013 Tony's arm. Tony and Luna shared a look, before jumping back out of the window. Luna reached the ground in seconds, ducking behind a part of the upturned road, Tony staying in the air for reconnaissance.

"Okay, Cap, got the scepter in the elevator just passing the 80th floor," he said.

"On it. Head to the lobby."

"Got it," Luna replied. "We'll see you there. Let's get the tesseract."

---

"Absolute fucking bullshit! Motherfucker! How did we possibly mess this up?" Luna screeched, pacing wildly from one side of the alleyway to the other.

Cap stood to the side, the case with the scepter secure in his grip. The tesseract was nowhere to be found. Tony sat in the remains of a rubble-covered car, red in the face, Scott leaned against the outside. Their plan had been water-tight, no room for errors. Perhaps they should've known something would go wrong when Cap didn't meet them in the lobby. Later, of course, they found out that he had to quickly beat up his old self. Besides, his presence most likely couldn't have prevented what happened.

Tony, disguised as a S.T.R.I.K.E. team agent, was stationed among the other agents while Scott hitched a ride on 2013 Tony. At Tony's signal, he crawled across the inside of 2013 Tony's shirt, informing all of them of Tony's inclination for AXE body spray, and made his way into the arch reactor in his chest. With Tony's explicit permission and his promise that it would not kill him, he pulled the plug, sending 2013 Tony into a minor heart attack.

Everything had still been going smoothly.

2013 Tony dropped the case containing the tesseract and, as everyone crowded around him, Scott was able to kick the case toward the disguised Tony. Tony grabbed it and rushed for the doors into the stairwell, but just as he reached for the handle, the door burst open from the inside with the force of a bulldozer—well, with the force of the Hulk. A very angry Hulk, roaring something about hating stairs.

Luna should have seen it coming. That had been her task during all of this, after all. She had been the look-out, distracting onlookers who were about to look the wrong way by sending gusts of air to create disturbances in the other direction. But she was the one who was distracted.

She stayed hidden behind a short wall, crouched on the floor. From her spot she was able to oversee the entire floor: the confrontation between Tony, Thor and the secretary and his minions; Tony's heart attack; and, which was were she fucked up, the chained-up Loki only five feet away from her.

She must have underestimated his Asgardian hearing, because the moment she whispered into her comms and peaked up from the wall, her eyes met his and she could not move. Luckily, his mouth was still covered with the muzzle.

Thus, the stand-off began. Loki, looking a little too casual with the fact that there were two Avatars in the same room, and Luna, whose mind was running with curses better not said out loud. Eventually, she managed to regain her composure and wink at him, before making a shushing motion.

But it was too late. The door burst open, revealing the Hulk. Everyone's attention was diverted from Tony's medical emergency. Distraction failed. Disguised Tony flew across the room, the case thrown from his hand. Landing on the floor, it popped open and the tesseract tumbled out, landing at—because why wouldn't it?—Loki's feet.

Loki's eyes snapped from Luna's to the glowing blue cube he was obsessed with and back to Luna's.

Luna's eyes widened.

Loki bend down, his cuffed hand reaching.

Luna opened her mouth to shout, "Don't you dare—" but it was too late.

Loki had the tesseract in his grasps. At once a portal appeared, swallowing him. The spot where he stood was empty.

Luna caught Tony's eyes from across the room, but all she could say was, "Alley. Now."

Back in the alleyway, Luna kicked a trashcan. A squad of rats squirreled out of it when it landed, disappearing into the sewers. "I could wrangle that green asshole's neck with my bare hands! Why'd we make him take the stairs?"

"Luna, take a breather, okay? We're all disappointed—"

"Disappointed?" she repeated, reeling to look at Steve. "Who said anything about disappointment? No, I'm angry. Fucking angry's what I am!" She kicked another trashcan. "This was our last chance, man! Our last chance to fix everything and now everything's fucked because we made the Hulk take the fucking stairs!" Going to kick yet another trashcan, Steve quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"I get it. You're angry. But anger's not gonna help us now, is it?"

"You know what?" Tony piped up, having to push with his shoulder to open the door of the car and lean out. "Give me a break, guys. I just got hit in the head with a Hulk."

Scott scoffed and, for the first time, spoke up, "You said that we had one shot. This—This was our shot! We shot it. It's shot. Six stones or nothing. It was six stones or nothing—"

"Your repeating yourself, you know that," Tony astutely observed. "You're repeating yourself."

"You're repeating yourself," Scott countered. "You're repeating yourself. You're—"

"Dude. Come on!"

"No! You never wanted a time heist. You weren't on board with the time heist."

"I dropped the ball."

"You ruined the time heist."

"Can you stop calling it a time heist?" Luna exclaimed, stepping up into Scott's personal space. He shut up immediately. "It's not a time heist, okay! Look, I get it. You weren't here the past five years, so it's easy for you to make a joke out of it. I would've probably done the same.

"But I—we have had to live without the people we love for five years. Do you get how long that is? How long it is to be completely alone? For me, this isn't just my last chance. This is my last mission. Please, at least try to be the slightest bit fucking serious." With a deep breath, she asked, "Now, are you sure there aren't any other options with the tesseract?"

"No. Absolutely not. There's no other options," Scott replied, slamming the car door shut, still frustrated. "There's no do-overs. We're not going anywhere else but back to 2023. We have one particle left, each! That's it. We use that... bye-bye, you're not going home."

"Yeah, well, if we don't try..." Steve said loudly, that crease returning between his brows. "Then no one else is going home, either."

"I got it."

It turned quiet. Luna turned to Tony, who was scrambling out of the car. "What?"

"There's another way to retake the tesseract and acquire new particles. Little stroll down memory lane," he said to Steve. Scott and Luna watched intently. That look on Tony's face only came after a revelation. Tony continued, "Military installation, Garden State."

Steve seemed to doubt it, before questioning, "When were they both there?"

"They were there at a time—I have a vaguely exact idea."

"How vague?"

"What're you talking about? Where are we going?" Scott asked.

Luna frowned, before she realized what they were talking about. Peggy had told her enough about S.H.I.E.L.D. history, and the exposed databases helped fill in the blanks. "You can't be serious, Tony?"

"I know for a fact they were both there," Tony said, only a little neurotically.

"Who's they?" Scott wondered, still clueless. "What are we doing?"

Steve relented finally, though he didn't seem happy about it.

"This is a terrible idea," Luna concluded. "And I hate Jersey, y'all know this."

Shaking his head, Steve sighed, "Looks like we're improvising."

"Great."

"What are we improvising?"

"Scott," Steve interrupted the questioning, handing the man the scepter, "get this back to the compound. Suit up," he told the others, his own quantum suit covering him.

"What's in New Jersey?!"

"0-4," Tony began, and Steve and Luna punched the coordinates into their pads. "0-7. 1-9-7-0."

"Are you sure?" Steve asked.

Tony's nod wasn't entirely convincing.

"Cap? Captain? Steve?!" Scott exclaimed, immediately following with, "Sorry. America. Rogers—Look. If you do this... and it doesn't work, you're not coming back."

After a beat of silence, Luna said, "I know I said to be serious but..."

"Yeah, thanks for the pep talk, pissant," Tony added. "You guys trust me?"

Luna nodded immediately.

Steve solemnly spoke two powerful little words, "I do."

"Your call..."

"Here we go."

The three of them punched their pads, and disappeared.

 

Chapter 41: Camp Lehigh

Summary:

Luna, Steve, and Tony split off from the rest of the team to travel further back in time. Now at Cap's former training grounds in New Jersey during the 70s, they have to grab the PYM particles and the tesseract without getting caught, and make their way back to their own time in one piece without getting distracted by faces from their past.

VI. CAMP LEHIGH

__________

Luna hated New Jersey. As a native New Yorker, she felt the responsibility to perpetuate this hatred deeply, so she had always avoided Jersey whenever she could. She sadly didn't have a choice anymore. Not even her love for the 70s could keep the sour look off her face as Steve, Tony, and she were spit out of the quantum realm. Their eyes had to adjust to the sudden brightness of the sun, and they had to wait for the ringing in their ears to stop to fully take in their surroundings.

Camp Lehigh, Steve's former training ground, stood ahead of them. The concrete lanes and alleys were bustling with military, officers loading crates off of trucks, others tending to weapons and various machinery. At the entrance stood a large sign that displayed:

Camp Lehigh
78th Infantry division
Birthplace of Captain Amer ica

"Clearly you weren't actually born here, right?" Tony asked as they walked into camp.
           
"The idea of me was," Steve responded.
           
"Right. Well, imagine you're S.H.I.E.L.D. running a quasi-fascistic intelligence organization... Where do you hide it?"
           
The three of them effortlessly made their way across the sidewalk, searching all around for any sign of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s presence. No one had noticed them yet, since Luna had managed to secretly 'borrow' three outfits from the bunks at the edge of camp.

Steve and her looked like simple soldiers, dressed in green over-alls; Luna's tied at places with safety pins that were lying around, since a grown man's uniform was way too large on her, and Steve with an additional cap and sunglasses as not to be recognized. Tony took the last option Luna had grabbed; the tie and jacket of some other official or lab-tech.
           
Steve came to a stop as they reached the end of the walkway, and nodded ahead, responding, "In plain sight."
           
Not too far ahead stood a single, plain ammunition bunker, nothing too special about it. They watched as two suits opened the door, took a last look around outside, and stepped in. Tony frowned, double-tapped his glasses and started the x-ray scan. Within seconds he turned back to them and confirmed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s location.

There was only one way into the secret base, the elevator, and they were unfortunate enough to have to share it with a serious-looking woman with a badge around her neck and official-looking files in her hand. She looked at them as they stepped in, and Luna stepped quickly in front of Steve to try and hide his identity, since he was supposed to be buried in ice at this point in time.
           
The elevator rumbled, stopped, and binged before the doors slid open. Tony and Luna glanced at each other.
           
"Good luck on your mission, Captain," Tony said, stepping out as inconspicuously as possible.
           
Luna reassuringly patted Steve's arm once and followed after Tony.
           
The second the elevator doors closed, Tony grabbed Luna and set the pace to a light jog. The floor they were brought to was quieter than above ground, and barely anyone paid them much attention.
           
"Wait," Luna said, coming to a halt. She looked at the wall of the corridor beside her, where a map of the floor was hung up. "Look." She pointed at a room at the far end of the corridor called 'Artifact Room.'
           
Tony double-checked and nodded. "Let's go."
           
They reached the room quickly and without trouble. Stepping across the entrance, Tony double tapped his glasses again and began scanning every box and crate that looked even remotely important, while Luna stayed at the entrance and stood watch.

Most of what she could see from her spot she didn't recognize; some computers, lab equipment and the sort, white led light coming from the ceiling. She could hear Tony muttering curses underneath his breath as the minutes ticked by and he still hadn't found the Tesseract, until she heard him call her name urgently.
           
"You found it?" Luna questioned as she rushed to where he stood, grabbing a briefcase from one of the desks as she did so. She got no answer from Tony, as he was already busy cracking open the reinforced crate with the lasers from his Ironman glove.
           
A bright, blue light erupted from the crate as he opened the doors. As Luna shielded her eyes, Tony carefully grabbed the cube with his gloves and set it down slowly into the briefcase. With the light now gone, Luna could see again and snapped the case shut. Luna and Tony released their breaths simultaneously as part 1 of their plan was finally completed. One step closer to bringing them all home.
           
"Arnim, you in there?" someone called out from the entrance of the room.
           
Startled, Luna and Tony snapped their heads to the intruder. He was wearing a suit and looked quite professional overall, but when he turned around to face them, both their jaws dropped. Luna recognized this man, of course she did. It was Howard Stark, famous millionaire and scientist. And Tony's dad.
           
As soon as the realization set in, Luna muttered, "Dude..."
           
"What is happening?" Tony whispered.
           
"I don't know, go talk to him or something."
           
"Talk to him? Absolut—"
           
Luna cleared her throat and loudly announced, "Okay, that will be all, sir. I'll take this to our associate as quick as possible. Good work, today." She grabbed the briefcase, gave a encouraging smile to Tony, and a polite nod to Howard Stark as she walked past him and out of the room.
           
Luna finally found Steve when she bumped into him going around a corner. A panicked look sat on his face and without saying anything to her, he grabbed her arm in a tight grip and pulled her into the closest office.
           
"What the fuck, Steve?!" she exclaimed, but he quickly put a hand over her mouth.
           
"Quiet. We got made. The woman in the elevator," he said swiftly, dropping his hand and stepping back.
           
Loud footsteps made their way past the closed door, and they could just make out the sounds of agents over the walkie talkie talking about a possible breach.
           
"Did you get it?" he asked, showing her his own case with the Pym particles.
           
Luna held up the briefcase and handed it to him. "You take it. I'm not walking around with that responsibility." As Steve checked out the Tesseract, Luna looked out the door again. She spotted the letters on the opaque window, her breath hitching in her throat.
          
"Steve?"
           
"Hmm?"
           
"Whose office did you drag me into?"
           
"What do you mean?" he asked. Turning around, the question didn't need to be answered, as he saw the same letters:

Margeret Carter – Director

Luna was already somewhere else entirely. The wall on the other side of the room had a window, the blinds making sure she wasn't seen by the person in the other room. It was Peggy, younger than she had ever known her. Steve stood next to her, silently.
           
"She was so pretty."
           
"Yes... She was."
           
Luna looked at the side of his face, and silently stepped back. Steve stood there as Luna left the room, watching, until suddenly the door to the other room opened and Luna stepped in.
           
"Ma'am?" she asked, cursing herself for allowing her voice to break.
           
"Yes?" Peggy said as she looked up.
           
"I have the report on Agent Braddock's unit."
           
Steve noticed Luna did actually hold the files in her hand, and wondered how she had gotten them.
           
Luna waited, clenching her free hand into a fist behind her back.
           
"Well?" Peggy said.
           
"Hmm?" Luna replied, shaken out of her own thoughts.
          
"The report?"
           
"Right. Yes." She stepped forward and dropped the file onto the desk, standing back as professionally as she could. "Lightning strikes have made their journey more dangerous than expected. There will most likely be a delay until the storms clear."
           
"Dammit!" Peggy exclaimed, reading the file for herself. With a sigh, she rubbed her temples. After a few seconds, she realized the young woman was still in her office. "Do you need something else?"
           
"Uhh... no, no. Just the report," Luna stammered.
           
"Okay... Dismissed."
           
"Right." Luna, not quiet knowing what to do, bowed her head weirdly and sped out of the room.
           
And right there, Steve was waiting for her with a look on his face that Luna had seen all too often. He grabbed her arm again and, with little protest, dragged her back to the elevator and out of the bunker. When he deemed their spot hidden and safe enough, he turned to her.
           
"What were you thinking?"
           
"I barely said anything! I don't know why you're so pissed."
           
"You could've exposed us!"
           
"Oh yeah? What about you? Staring through the blinds like a fucking creep? Yeah, I saw you watching. Be glad she had her back turned or she would've seen you in a heartbeat!"
           
Steve closed his eyes, took a breath, and calmed himself down. "Did you get what you wanted, at least?"
           
Luna followed his example and took a breath, processing what had just happened. "I don't know. I just... I never her knew her, you know? Not really. I only knew her for a few years before the Alzheimer took over. I just wanted to see what she was like when she was young. Hear her voice. I mean, Tony gets to have a little talk with his dad," she said, gesturing to the open plaza ahead of them where Tony and Howard stood talking with each other.
           
"Oh, goddammit, Tony," he muttered.
           
"Watch your mouth, Steve," Luna said with a smile. "Let's get Tony and head back. I'm ready for this to be over."

---

In a flash, Luna found herself back on the platform in the warehouse. The team stood all around her, just like they were before they went. Their suits retreated back into their watches and they could look at each other again. Footsteps hurried across the warehouse floor, and Derek came bouncing onto the platform.
           
"Did you get them all? Did it work?" he asked, hopefully.
           
But then Clint dropped to a knee and they all noticed the disturbed, miserable look on his face. The person who should have stood next to him wasn't there, Luna realized. Actually, Natasha wasn't anywhere on the platform. She hadn't come back from Vormir. Just like Gamora hadn't come back. And Gamora... She had died.
           
Luna hurried to Clint, falling to a knee in front of him, shaking his shoulders to pull him back from wherever his mind had retreated to. He looked her in the eyes, but didn't need to say anything.
           
"Tell me..." Luna whispered. "Please tell me she's not—she isn't..."
           
Clint looked down at the floor, tears already filling his eyes.
           
Before her own dam could break, Luna rushed forward and put her arms tightly around his shoulders. She could only feel his head burying into her shoulder and the wetness seeping into the fabric of her suit. There was no need to cry inside her, an ability she reckoned she lost a long time ago.

More surprising, she didn't feel angry at all. Anger had always replaced sadness within her, but perhaps after five years of feeling nothing but anger, that pit was finally emptied out. When she tried to talk, she wasn't surprised to find she couldn't utter a word through the rock that lodged itself in her throat.

So, she held onto Clint longer until she was sure the others had moved away from them, heading to the pier outside. Releasing him, she sat down on the platform in front of him.
          
"Did you get the stone?" was the first thing she was able to say.
           
Clint's head snapped up, frowning. "That's—You care about that right now?" There was only a little fury in his tone, but it clearly wasn't something he felt too deeply at this point.
           
Running a tired hand through her hair, Luna replied, "I just... I need to know it wasn't for nothing, that she—that she die—" Her voice cut off, not allowing her to say what she was about to.
           
Clint, however, understood perfectly. "She didn't... She didn't die for nothing. We didn't know how the soul stone worked... We do now. Someone must... must sacrifice the one they love."
           
"Sacrifice," she repeated slowly.
           
"I tried to fight her, you know. Tried to be the one to jump off that cliff, but you know—you knew Nat."
           
"Yeah... Yes, I did. She was right. Like always."
           
"Oh God..." Clint let his head drop into his hands again, hiding his face. "It should've... It should've been me..."
           
Luna reached forward and took his hand. "You have a family. A wife and kids that are gonna need you when we get them back. Nat made her choice, and she wouldn't have wanted it to go any other way." Talking about family, she realized one thing quickly, "Yelena."
           
Clint looked up. "Yelena?" Then his eyes widened and he repeated, "Yelena."
           
"Someone needs to contact her sister, if she's still alive. I don't have a number."
           
"I can figure it out," he offered before standing up, offering Luna a hand. "You gonna be okay?"
           
After a second, she replied, "Are you?"
           
He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Good point."
           
"Hey, why don't you go catch up with the others. They deserve to know what happened."
           
"What about you?"
           
"Oh, Derek's been spying on us from behind that wall for the entire time," she said, pointing ahead. With that, Clint stepped outside, leaving her by herself.
           
Derek stepped out from his hiding spot. "Sorry, I was waiting to talk to you. Didn't want to interrupt you two."
           
Luna stepped off the platform, walking to her brother. When she reached him, she hugged him. "We did it, Der. We got all the stones. We can... We can bring them back."
           
Derek smiled, placing a soft kiss on the top of her head, rubbing her back comfortingly. "I'm sorry about Natasha."
           
Nodding shortly, she let go. "I saw Peggy."
           
His eyes widened in disbelief, and an unsure chuckle escaped his lips.
           
Luna elaborated, "We fucked up in 2013. Didn't get the Tesseract. Tony came up with the idea for us to go even further back in time, to 1970. So, we left Scott behind and traveled to Camp Lehigh. There used to be a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. base there. We could find both the Tesseract and more Pym particles."
           
"And you saw her there?"
           
"I talked to her."
           
"You talked to her!? Steve let you do that?"
           
"I don't need permission from Steve to do anything. I'm an adult, you know. Besides, I talked to her for about 10 seconds disguised as one of the agents."
           
"What... What was she like?" Derek asked.
           
Luna shrugged. "Professional. Capable. You'd know better, you knew her for longer than I did." At this, a sad expression crossed her face, but in her mind she felt a gush of relief at knowing that the 50-year-old Peggy would be the last image of her she would have, and not the 96-year-old picture who didn't remember her she had before.
           
When Derek hugged her once more, she did something she had never allowed herself to do before. She let the grief inflate her, let the mourning of everyone she had lost course through her veins.

Mary and Peter, her parents she barely remembered; Phil Coulson, who she barely even knew; Peggy, of who she now knew two versions; all her past lives, to whom she had no chance to say goodbye before they left her; Wanda, Pietro and all those who were turned to dust; and now, Natasha, the woman she despised in the beginning, but who grew to be one of her greatest friends, her family.

Luna had tried for so long to forget about them, because remembering them hurt, like a stabbing pain in her heart. She let all of them flow back in like a comforting blanket, covering the scars that littered on her heart.
           
Outside on the pier, each of the Avengers were wallowing in their own state of grief. Thor still held the belief that with the stones they could bring her back, but everyone knew the stones could only fulfill one wish: bringing all those who were blipped back, and only them.

Bruce was angry. Not because of his Hulk side, but because he never got to tell Natasha how he really felt and now he would never get that chance. He was angry at the unfairness of it all.

Steve convinced himself that it would all be worth it when they brought everyone back, that her sacrifice would be worth it. Tony didn't speak. He put on his sunglasses and stared broodily across the water. Him, along with Clint, were the only ones who knew Natasha before the Avengers were ever formed.

And Clint, like Luna, simply accepted the reality of the situation. She was gone, and she was never coming back. Not even her body could be brought back to give her a proper funeral. As Luna thought about that, she felt a small ember of anger push itself back into her heart.
           
"Do we know if she had family?" Tony asked as Luna and Derek joined the rest on the pier.
           
"Yeah," Steve said. "Us."
           
Luna looked at Clint, just as he turned to look at her. Do they tell them? was the question communicated in their glance.

Interrupting their silent conversation, Bruce picked up an empty bench and threw it across the lake, grunting in anger. He turned to them. "She's not coming back, Thor," he said. "She gave her life to get us that stone, we can't use the stones to reverse that. All we can do is make her sacrifice worth it. We have to."

Steve stood from his seat, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. "We will."

---

Tony, Rocket, and Bruce. An insomniac billionaire, a talking racoon, and a half-man/half-hulk. Those were the three put in charge of assembling their own infinity gauntlet, capable of holding and harnessing the power of the 6 infinity stones. They retro-fitted one of Tony's nano-tech Ironman gauntlets, and using remote-controlled robot arms, they carefully placed each stone in place.
           
The glove was ready in no time. Luna felt the power radiating from each stone. She knew what power they held, she had seen that same power wipe out half the universe. One last step, she thought, one last phase. Then she could be done. With everything. Wanda would be returned to her, they would be back together again, just like before. But Luna knew it would never be the same. Five years had changed her irreversibly. She just hoped there was still a glimmer of the old her in there for Wanda to recognize and love.
           
"Question is," Rocket began after a stunned silence of the entire team staring at the glowing glove, "who's gonna snap their freaking fingers?"
           
"I'll do it," Thor said.
           
"Excuse me?" Tony returned.
           
"It's okay," he continued, walking right toward the glove, only to be stopped by everyone else.
           
"Stop, stop. Slow down."
           
"Thor, just wait," Steve said to him, calmly. "We haven't decided who's gonna put that on yet."
           
"Why not him?" Luna interjected.
           
"Exactly! Why not?"
           
"I mean, it can't be one of us. It can't be a normal human, or even a superhuman. Even one of those stones would burn us to a crisp within seconds," she explained. "Look, the amount of gamma radiation coming off those things... Thor's a god. He can take it."
           
"I can take it."
           
"We can at least discuss it," Scott stated.
           
"Look," Thor began. "Sitting here staring at the thing is not gonna bring everybody back... I'm the strongest Avenger, okay?"
           
"Well!" Luna started. "Not really."
           
"Pardon?"
           
"I bet Wanda could kick your ass."
           
With a deep breath, Thor replied, "I'm the strongest Avenger who is currently here."
           
"Thank you."
          
"I'm the strongest. It's my responsibility, my duty, to—"
           
"It's not about that," Tony cut in. "It's not that."
           
"Come on, just—just let me—"
           
"Hey, buddy—"
          
"Stop it! Just let me," Thor said in a whisper, grabbing Tony's hand. "Just let me do it. Just let me do something good. Something right."
           
"It's not just the fact that that glove is channeling enough energy to light up a continent. I'm telling you," Tony said, trying to break through Thor with more seriousness than ever before, "You're in no condition."
           
"What do you—What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?"
           
"Cheez Whiz?" Rhodey said.
           
"Lightning," Thor said instead.
           
"Lightning won't help you, pal," Bruce responded, walking solemnly to the glove. "It's gotta be me. You saw what those stones did to Thanos. They almost killed him. None of you could survive."
           
"How do we know you will?" Steve asked.
           
"We don't. But Luna's right. These stones give of immense amounts of gamma radiation. I made myself using gamma radiation. It's like... I was made for this... Let's do it."
           
There was no more arguments after that. Bruce took the glove. Everybody watched with awe and trepidation, getting their suits and weapons ready in case it went wrong.
           
"Okay, remember," Tony said for the last time, "everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago. You're just bringing them back to now, today. Don't change anything from the last five years." He took a remote control and clicked a button. Protective metal shields came down to cover every entrance and window, leaving them in relative darkness.
           
"Got it."
           
Bruce looked down once more at the glove, his hand ready at the entrance. "Everybody comes home," he said and put on the glove.
           
The glove formed around his arm, and, clenching tightly, the stones sparked with prismatic energy, crackling all around. With a pained grunt, Bruce fell to his knee, folding into himself. Electricity ran from his wrist, to his elbow, all the way to his shoulder and neck. Sweat beads formed on his forehead, dripping to the ground like rain. He tried to contain his screaming, coming out in barely contained grunts and groans instead. A smell filled the air; one of singed hair and burned flesh.
           
But Bruce bit through it. He battled through the pain, and slow movement by movement, he was able to straighten his shoulders again. With a primal, terrifying roar, he raised his gloved hand...
           
And snapped his fingers.
           
A light filled the room and disappeared just as quick. Bruce's eyes rolled back into his head. He swayed, and fell over to the ground, the glove sliding off.
           
"Bruce!"
           
The team rushed to his side, Clint kicking the glove away from them in case it still gave off bouts of energy. Tony kneeled beside him, spraying his mangled arm with a cooling agent, hoping to stabilize and stop the spread. It was uncanny, looking at Bruce's arms. One was muscular and about as wide as Luna's waist. The other was skinny, malnourished, and covered in a layer of ash.
           
Bruce was still groaning. "Did it work?"
           
"We're not sure. It's okay," Thor replied, letting him squeeze his hand.
           
The protective shields went back up, letting the light seep back into the room. Everyone went silent.
           
A phone went off in the other room. Clint rushed to it, and answered. "Honey?"
           
"Guys," Scott broke the silence, staring out a window where birds were dancing together in the air. "I... I think it worked."
           
For once, everyone was smiling. Everyone, except for Luna. She felt the ground rumbling, or, no, the air. The air was rumbling all around her. She tasted steel on her lips, her heart sped up. She tried to stand up, and as she did so the wind picked up inside.
          
"Luna?" Derek said slowly, putting a hand on her shoulder.
           
She slapped it away, taking a big step back. "I—I think you guys better take a step back. Or a few."
           
"What do yo—" Steve was about to ask, but Derek, understanding exactly what was happening, took his arm and dragged him to the other side of the room. The others were quick to follow.
           
"What's happening?" Scott decided to ask.
           
Luna could feel her coming. She was racing, faster than she had ever done before. An immense power, the most powerful spirit to ever exist. And it was coming right for her.
           
"Raava!" she yelled out, calling for her.
           
A white light filled the room, blinding all of them. It stayed for seconds, before slowly some force began to push it together. The light, like gravity, pushed into itself, creating a form much like an arrow floating in the air. There was no mouth, no eyes, nothing human about it. It glowed, but not with light. It glowed with pure spirit energy, not even four feet from Luna. Tears filled her eyes, as the majestic voice of Raava rang through the air.
           
"Avatar." The word bounced from the walls, echoing eternally.
           
Finding her voice again, Luna said, "Not anymore. He took you. Destroyed you."
           
"You brought me back."
           
"We did. We did it. If you're back... then... then everybody—"
          
"Yes, Luna. Thanos destroyed the balance of the universe, and it destroyed me, but you did what you were always meant to do. Restore balance to a universe in chaos. You have done your duty as the Avatar, and they are proud of you. So, so proud."
           
"Who?"
           
"All of them, Luna. All of you."
           
"So..." Luna realized, a tear rolling down her cheek. "This means I'm done?"
           
"Done?"
           
"Being the Avatar. I've done my duty, and now you'll choose someone else. Someone better?" As she said this, she didn't know which answer she was hoping to hear.
           
"I could. But I sense you are not yet done here. You may have restored balance, but now it is your duty to protect and keep this balance. This is your destiny, Luna Carter. Do you accept?"
           
A shaky breath. A blink of the eyes. A glance to her team, to her brother. She looked back at Raava, her eyes unbothered by the light, even as all the others covered their own. "I accept."
           
Raava left her corporeal form and a strand of pure energy entered Luna's mouth, filling her entire being. Her feet left the ground, hovering only a foot above it. Wind picked up around her again, flowing through her hair. Her eyes opened wide, unable to keep them closed any longer, and they lit up like they had years ago when she first fought Thanos.
           
She let the power fill her, and slowly the light began to die out. Her feet felt the floor again. The room was silent, until...
           
"What the fuck just happened?!" Scott exclaimed.
           
Luna laughed, like a bark. A smile grew on her face that nothing could wipe off. "It worked. It really, really worked! I'm the Avatar again!"

She held up her hand. Water lifted from a glass on the table, the earth from a potted plant floated in the air, fire sparked from nothing, a gust of wind no one could see danced in circles. All the elements joined in her hand.
           
Everyone was too distracted by the display of power to hear the faint whistles of missiles coming down on the compound from the spaceship hovering above. They hit eveything, reducing the building to a pile of rubble in an instant, the Avengers buried beneath with barely a moment to react.

Chapter 42: The Last Stand

Summary:

The Avengers take their last stand against Thanos.

VII. THE LAST STAND
_________

Barely a moment was all Luna needed to raise her arms. Her power was back and stronger than ever. Allowing the power to flood back in, she could sense the tremors of incoming explosions. She sensed everything, the entire building around her—it was all stone and concrete and metal. It all came from the earth, and the earth was under her command. As the floor gave out beneath them, they tumbled to the ground, concrete chunks, metal bars and all sorts of furniture coming after them.

Luna sensed the earth coming closer and closer, and held out her arms as her feet hit the ground. The building stopped falling instantaneously, held up purely by Luna's strength. For a moment, all was quiet. She couldn't hear anyone, just the Avengers compound settling into ruin. And then, panic erupted over the comms.
           
"Mayday, Mayday, does anybody copy?" Rhodey yelled, a loud rushing sound in the background. "We're on the lower level. It's flooding!"
           
Static filled the channel. Luna grunted, sweat dripping from her forehead. Her head snapped to the ground as the dirt rustled, an arm sticking out, soon followed by the beat-up body of Clint.
           
"Clint!" she exclaimed through gritted teeth. "You hurt?"
           
"Ah!" he grunted, a hand on his back. "My back's stiff, and I've got a few scratches... Nothing life-threatening. Get us out of here?"

She tried to lift her arms, to push the building off her, but she was out of shape. She stumbled, her powers giving away for a second, the building rushing down again, before she put them up again. Her knee hit the ground, her arms beginning to ache. She breathed in deeply, closing her eyes. When she opened them, they glowed a bright white. Effortlessly, she pushed the building off her, revealing the murky twilight sky. She looked for the comfort of the moon, but found it blocked by a massive, alien spaceship.
           
"We are drowning! Does anybody copy? Mayday!" Rhodey repeated.
           
"Avatar, copy! Where are you?" Luna replied, out of breath as she let the avatar state retreat.
           
"I—I don't know. Underground somewhere!"
           
"Okay, stay where you are. I'll come find you!"
           
"Luna!" Clint shouted. He held up their infinity gauntlet, each stone still firmly in place. "What do we do with this?"
           
Luna sighed, rolling her shoulders. Pointing up to the spaceship, she said, "Keep it out of their hands. You got it?"
           
He nodded firmly. "You got the others still trapped?"
           
She nodded back and turned around, using the air to lift herself above the ground. She could feel the water, it was everywhere; in the sewers beneath her, in the clouds above her. Water rushing reached her ears, and she followed the sound.
           
"Rhodey?" she yelled. "Bruce?"
           
"Here!" a muffled voice came from beneath her.
           
Luna balled her hands into fists and one by one lifted the rubble off of them, throwing it to the side. As quickly as she could, she dug out her team. Rhodey, Bruce and Rocket stared at her as light flooded back into their eyes. The water that was rushing in from the lake next to the compound stopped as Luna flicked her hand.

She was just about the help them out, when a beam of blue light appeared from the spaceship, racing to the ground. The silhouette of a large, bulky figure began appearing, and, as the light retreated, Thanos stood in its place, his golden armor gleaming and his double-bladed sword at his side.
           
Rage rose in her chest, and within seconds she stood at the edge of the newly-created ruins, ready for a rematch. To her shock, Nebula walked up to her father and, though they couldn't hear their conversation, they seemed familiar with each other. Thanos then buried the tip of his blade into the dirt, hanging his helmet from the other end. From within, Thor, Ironman, and Captain America joined her, watching the ruined landscape ahead of them.
           
"What has he been doing?" Tony asked her.
           
Luna shook her head, at a loss. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." She looked up again, at the space ship that stretched across the entire horizon, blocking the view that once was beautiful.
           
"Where are the stones?" Cap asked.
           
"Last I saw, with Clint somewhere under all this," she replied, gesturing to the ruins.
           
"All I need to know is he doesn't have them," Tony said, nodding ahead to Thanos, who was now seated on a block of concrete.
           
Through gritted teeth, Cap said, "So, we keep it that way."
           
"You know it's a trap, right?" Thor spoke.
           
"Yeah," Tony said through his exhaustion. "I don't much care."
           
"Good... Just as long as we're all in agreement."

Thor's eyes sparked with blue electricity, the sky giving a thunderous boom as it darkened in an instance. Luna felt the static in the air, tickling her skin. Lightning cracked, illuminating the sky in white light. The bolt hit Thor, and just as soon retreated to reveal him in his battle armor, Stormbreaker in one hand and Mjolnir in the other, which he had taken from his past self. His beard had miraculously put itself into a braid.

"Let's kill him properly this time."

In silence the four heroes made their way through the rubble, upturned earth and smoldering fires. The sky was gray with smoke, so much so it was hard to distinguish what was a cloud and what not. Rare sunrays made it through, one shining down like a spotlight on the Titan himself. When they turned the corner, he sat there contemplating.

Hearing them approach, Thanos looked up. "You could not live with your own failure..." His voice was grating, sparking the fire of anger and fear inside Luna. "Where did that bring you?" he continued. "Back to me."

The four heroes were right in front of him now, only ten yards removed. Tension hung in the air, mingling with the lingering static electricity. The field already looked like a battlefield, though no battle had yet happened. The four heroes faced off with the titan right in the center of it all.

Thanos raised his voice to carry through the ruined field, saying, "I thought by eliminating half of life... The other half would thrive."

Luna split from the others, each of them circling around Thanos, blocking every exit.

"But you've shown me that's impossible... And as long as there are those that remember what was, there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be. They will resist," Thanos spoke each word with carefully placed emphasis, trying to get through to the so-called heroes. What he found instead were looks of rebellion, of fury.

"Yep, we're all kinds of stubborn," Tony replied, blood dripping from a gash at his eyebrow.

Thanos chuckled, the sound making the hairs on Luna's arm stand up. "I'm thankful," he said. "Because now... I know what I must do." He stood up, towering over his opponents. "I will shred this universe down to its last atom. And then,—" he collected his helmet from his blade, "—with the stones you've collected for me, create a new one teeming with life." He picked up his blade. "Knowing not what it has lost, but only what it has been given... A grateful universe."

"And you shall be their God?" Luna said.

Again, he chuckled softly. "Someone must be."

Lightning covered Thor's weaponry. Ironman's helmet covered his face. Captain America adjusted the straps of his shield. The Avatar spun her daggers in her hands.

"They'll never know what happened here... Because you won't be alive to tell them!"

Thanos readied himself as Thor let out his battle cry, lunging into the air. Tony followed suit, an electric blade growing from his gauntlet. Cap and Luna stayed on the ground, each at either side of their big, purple target. They charged at the same time, trading blows with Thanos' blade. It was a mess, electricity sparking through the air, both from Thor and Luna. Luna used the upturned earth to her advantage, but Thanos' armor deflected the hard clumps of stone she send his way.

As Cap threw his shield, Thanos was ready to slice it out of the air, but Luna held out her hand, calling the shield toward herself. Spinning it in the air, she threw it right at Thanos' head as he was distracted by blasts coming from Tony's laser guns. It hit the mark, sending him reeling, stumbling back. But back was where Thor was. A clang! echoed through the air as Mjolnir made contact with Thanos' golden helmet. The blood that dripped from his lips almost made Luna smile.

They weren't done. On Tony's back grew an unfamiliar machine, a sort of charging port in the middle, surrounded by what looked like modified laser guns.

"Okay, Thor. Hit me," Tony said.

Thor yelled, calling the lightning to his command, channeling it through his body. Pointing his hammer, he send all that energy directly into the charging port on Tony's back. The machine whirred, sparking from the intensity. It was Tony's turn to point his weapon. A dozen laser beams, each a blinding orange, headed for Thanos. Just in time, Thanos held up his indestructible blade.

Luna charged, the wind picking up around her. Lifting herself into the air, she came down on Thanos with a cry of fury. She rained down a storm of fire and earth, screaming her throat hoarse. The dirt mixed with the heat of the fire, the mixture slowly turning liquid. Without realizing, Luna send drops of lava down on him. It hit the metal of his armor, sizzling against the cold surface. Thanos winced, his attention turning to above him.

Just then, Thor threw Mjolnir up like a baseball and hit it Thanos' way with his axe. Thanos, Tony and Luna were thrown back. But Thanos managed to grab a hold of Tony, holding him with two hands in the air, about to pull him in two. Luna felt the spark of electricity and pointed her index and middle finger in the air, calling it to her and shooting it at Thanos. The lightning coursed through his body, but Tony's suit was made of metal as well. Both were shocked as Thanos dropped Tony harshly. Tony rolled and rolled, stopping when he hit a concrete slab, unconscious.

Cap ran up in his stead, courage in every step he took. With a single backhand, he too was thrown back. Luna let her eyes fill with power again, feeling her avatar state dwindling each time she did so in short succession. Tentacles of water formed on her back, acting like whips of steel. Blow after blow did barely anything to affect Thanos, and when she came too close he kicked her in the chest.

Luna wheezed as she slid back across the dirt, barely enough strength left to breathe, let alone stand up and fight. Thor, left with just Stormbreaker, took a deep breath and gathered his strength. To no avail. He put up a fight, a difficult one, but he too was bested by Thanos.

Thor sat up against the rubble, Stormbreaker thrown to the side. Thanos came for him, throwing punch after punch after punch. Thor meekly held out his hand to call for his axe. It hovered in the air and shot to him, but Thanos interceded and grabbed it out the air, pointing it at Thor's chest. Thor grabbed the handle, pushing the blade away from him, but Thanos was strong. Perhaps even stronger than a god.

Luna's eyes opened weakly, her vision blurry. She wanted to yell for Thor, to help him, but every time she tried to raise her head, gravity pulled it back down again. Tears pooled in her eyes as the blade inched closer and closer to Thor's heart. Hope sparked in hers as she saw Mjolnir lifting into the air behind the fight. It rose and rose, before shooting through the air.

It shot through Thanos, sweeping him across the battlefield. She looked to Thor, expecting Mjolnir to return to its master. But it never did. Instead, she saw Thor's eyes widen at something behind her. Finding the strength, she pulled herself up and looked at what he saw.

Mjolnir did fly back to its master, but its master had now become Captain America! The hammer flew into his hand, and Steve held it up without a problem as he stared right at Thanos.

A chuckle tumbled over Luna's lips, just as Thor laughed with his friend, muttering, "I knew it!"

As Cap spun Mjolnir in his hand, charging forward, Thanos did the same. They jumped up, meeting in the air with a clash of metal on metal. Using his shield and newly-acquired hammer together in harmony, Steve began his flurry of attacks, pushing Thanos back the best he could. Piercing sounds rang through the air as metal hit metal repeatedly in short succession.

He raised Mjolnir, calling to the skies above him. Lightning was now at his command, and he commanded it right into the path of Thanos. Thanos collapsed briefly, but before he could regain his senses, Cap called up again, aiming a lightning strike directly at Thanos' chest.

Thanos growled, batting the lightning away. He grabbed Cap by the throat, slamming him down on the ground. Steve rolled out from under him, giving Thanos the time to grab his blade again. His helmet was cracked, and as he removed it from his head it tumbled into pieces to the ground. And so they were back to their routine of punch after punch, dodge after dodge, metal against metal. Cap spun back, and Thanos raised his blade, stabbing it at his back.

Luna was up in an instant, the wind speeding her in front of the blade. Just in time, she raised a wall of earth, the blade lodging deep within. She punched her fist against it, using the wall to force Thanos back. Another wall raised behind him, blocking his path, then two more at either side. Luna bend the earth into each other, piling on every rock and metal bar she could feel within her radius.

Looking back at Steve, she asked, "Does this mean you're king of Asgard, now?"

Steve groaned in pain, getting back on his feet. "I don't know, ask Thor."

The earth cage blasted apart, sending rocks flying. Shielding Cap and herself, Luna said, "Let's get out of here alive first, huh?"

"Good idea," Cap replied, turning his gaze back to Thanos.

With his shield forward he ran at him. Thanos was anticipating him, and just at the right time brought his blade down. A screeching sound pierced the air as it cut through the vibranium shield, coming to a stop just as it hit the blue center. Luna somersaulted over them, fire erupting from her hand as it would a flamethrower, scorching Thanos' back. He yelled in pain, pulling his blade back and hitting Cap away from him again before turning his attacks to The Avatar.

Luna could barely see Steve in the distance, on the ground with his broken shield. Thor wasn't war away, close to Tony, but both men were useless unconscious. So, she cracked her neck and opened the floodgates. Earth, fire, water, and air gather around her. When she spoke, she spoke in a multitude of voices.

"There will be no new universe!" she declared. "You want to achieve balance," she pointed a finger at Thanos, "I want the same. But you forget that balance is not a thing to be achieved within a single lifetime. I know this, because I am The Avatar, keeper of balance. It is my destiny!" she roared, the elements traveling down her outstretched arm, coming down on Thanos like the rockets he send first.

Thanos held up his blade again, but the weight of Luna's powers forced him to his knees. His feet dug into the ground, burying him deeper each second Luna channeled her powers. But now her pit was almost empty, and the lights flickered out. When the smoke and dust cleared, Thanos kneeled in a crater of his own making, still breathing. Luna fell through the air, passed out on the ground. It was only for a few seconds, and when she came to she could barely lift her arms. But she could move her head.

Captain America stood face to face with Thanos, his skin covered in dirt and blood. His suit was ripped and scratched, and a large chunk had broken off his shield.

"In all my years of conquest... violence... slaughter... It was never personal," Thanos spoke calmly, looking out over the battlefield he created. "But I'll tell you now. What I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet... I'm gonna enjoy it. Very, very much."

A beam shot down from the spaceship, just like the one that brought Thanos down. His other children, the ones they had already faced and defeated once, now stood there alive and well. Thanos' army was behind them, compiled of many different kinds of aliens, but Luna recognized the many Chitauri between them.

There must have been thousands off them, barely a speck of the earth visible. More were still joining them, smaller ships touching down on the ground from the mothership. When Luna looked up, terror filled her stomach. Giant, flying aliens like those she faced in New York were filling the sky.

Still unable to move, Luna looked to her Captain. The only one of them left standing. And he was still standing. Even in the face of these impossible odds, he stared Hitler in the face, his eyes saying 'not today.' He tightened the straps of his shield, spit out bloodied saliva, and started limping in a straight line toward Thanos and his army.

Luna's mind began clearing of the fog. First her finger twitched, then her hand, her arm following soon after. Each second she regained more control of her body, the need to help and protect Steve stronger than the physical pain she felt.

Her comms crackled, static filling her ears. Then, a voice.

"Hey, Cap, you read me?"

Luna froze, sitting upright as she looked at Steve. He had frozen as well.

"Cap, it's Sam," the voice continued. "Can you hear me?"

Without warning, Luna felt tears roll down her face at the sound of Sam's voice. He was back. And that meant the others were back also. A smile almost grazed her face in the midst of this deathly battlefield.

"On your left," Sam said.

A light sparked in mid-air, behind Steve on his left. It turned into a circle, like the one Dr. Strange used to make. Steve turned his head, just as three figures marched from out the portal. It was T'Challa, with Shuri and Okoye by his side. Sam flew above them, his wings outstretched.

Dozens of other portals began appearing in the sky, hundreds of people, of heroes, erupting from them. The guardians of the galaxy in one, Peter and Dr. Strange with them from where they turned to dust on Titan. An army of heroes poured onto the battlefield to join behind Captain America.

T'Challa, leading them, cried, "Yibambe!"

The entire army of Wakanda chanted with him, "Yibambe!"

Luna, wiping her tears with a smile, whispered as T'Challa looked at her, "Yibambe."

Ships of those snapped across the whole universe filled the sky, larger and greater than Thanos' could ever be. Bucky Barnes emerged, followed by Groot and all the others who were snapped in Wakanda. Another portal revealed the Asgardians, all poised for war, and next to them the entire population of Kamar-Taj joined them.

Speeding out of the portal, Pietro came to a stop next to them. Floating in a cloud of scarlet, Wanda landed in front of him. Luna sighed heavily, her heart beating fast. All she wanted was to run to her, and hold her forever. But there was no time for that now. They had a war to win and a titan to kill.

Thor twitched, his eyes opening. Tony's suit powered up again as he stood up, watching the backup they weren't sure existed arrive. Suddenly, the compound exploded again. Or Luna thought so, before a gigantic Ant-Man erupted, freeing all those that were still trapped beneath the rubble.

Thor, Tony and Luna slowly limped their way to Steve's side. Luna put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed in both reassurance and joy. When Steve looked at her, he followed her gaze to where it was glued to Wanda. She turned her head and smiled at him, communicating 'we did it' with a single tear.

Captain America breathed harshly, his own army now behind him, and said, "Avengers... Assemble!"

With a yell echoing through the sky, the Avengers charged. Thanos pointed his blade forwards, commanding his army to do the same. For one last time, Luna felt Raava fill her body with unimaginable power. She floated into the air, the elements like an aura around her, and charged right at Thanos with a primal scream.

Both sides clashed into each other in mayhem and uproar, a chaos erupting on what used to be a well-kept grassy meadow. Aliens surrounded Luna, attacking from every side. Some jumping from the ground, others falling from the sky. There was no time to think, every moment of hesitation or exhaustion was a moment too many. If she, or any of them, allowed themselves to be distracted, it would mean their deaths.

But while the fight was in full swing, the infinity gauntlet was always on her mind. It was somewhere here, Luna knew it. She could feel the power of the stones reverberating in her bones. She had last seen it with Clint, but it could be anywhere right now. It was her and everyone's job to keep it out of Thanos' hands. It was their job to do what they failed to do five years ago.

Lightning flashed through the air, ships and aliens alike flying through the clouds to fight each other. Bodies were stacking already where the two sides first clashed, both heroes and villains falling like flies. Luna took a single, deep breath. She raised her arms, and released her power. Like a dragon, fire shot out of her mouth and from her outstretched hands, barreling down on the Chitauri below her. She left a scorched trail of earth behind her as she made her way across to Thanos and his children.

Her team was around her, fighting alongside her as she dropped to the ground. With her daggers in her hand, she bend every element—earth, fire, water, air, metal and lava—along with them. Every move she made was thought out, her reflexes and years of experience kicking in at the right moment. The bodies of her foes gathered around her as she cut them down in massive numbers. Bullets and lasers rained all around her, whizzing past her ears.

A lone Chitauri charged, and Luna got ready. But right before she could strike, an invisible force barreled into the alien, sending it flying into nothingness. In its stead stood Pietro, his white hair and smug smirk a welcome relief.

Luna watched him for a moment before running to him and jumping into his arms. He hugged back just as tightly. When she let go, she looked at where the alien had disappeared and said, "I had that, you know."

Pietro chuckled. "I know."

"Well, then. Let's fight, shall we?"

"You don't want to tell me what is going on here?"

"It's a long story."

They joined the battle once more, fighting in tandem as if those five years of torture didn't separate them at all.

A laser hit Luna's back, making her lose her balance. She groaned with a face full of dirt. With no second to spare, she used the air to float back onto her feet before bending the water from out her pouch. She formed them into spike shapes in the air, balled her fist and turned them into ice. Flicking her finger, they embedded themselves into the chests of the group of Chitauri ahead of her.

"Cap," Clint's voice crackled through the comms. "What d'you want me to do with this damn thing?"

So, Clint still had the gauntlet. Good, Luna thought as she continued her path of destruction toward Thanos.

"Get those stones as far away as possible!" Cap yelled back.

"No!" Bruce interrupted. "We need to get them back where they came from."

"No way to get them back," Tony said. "Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel."

Luna grunted, slashing her dagger across an alien's chest. "What do we do, then?"

"Hold on!" Giant Scott cut in, shrinking back down to normal size. "That wasn't our only time machine."

In the midst of the chaos, La Cucaracha began playing. Luna turned her head towards the sound to spot Scott's van. The van contained his original time machine.

"Anyone see an ugly brown van out there?" Steve asked.

"Got it!" Luna called out. "It's right in the middle of Thanos' army, though."

"Scott, how long you need to get that thing working?" Tony questioned.

"Uh," Scott began, "maybe ten minutes?"

"Get it started," Cap replied. "We'll get the stones to you."

"We're on it, Cap."

Luna immediately focused on her new mission. Stones first, Thanos later, no matter how much she wanted to kill him right then and there. Flying high into the air once more, she scanned the battlefield, her gaze attracted to the power of the stones. Having spotted Clint making his way through the horde of aliens with only one hand, the other holding onto the gauntlet, she sped his way.

"Clint!" she called out.

He looked up and nodded, throwing the gauntlet up into the air. Luna flew ahead, catching it safely. But now the aliens looked to her with a bloodlust in their eyes.

"Oh shit," she muttered, falling back to the ground. Bending air didn't give her the power of true flight, and the floating she did she could only keep up for seconds at a time. Landing in a full sprint, she felt her eyes glow with Raava's power. Her bending was automatic, almost like a reflex.

Walls appeared from the ground with each incoming attack, ice spikes and metal clumps shooting back at the attackers. But everyone was after her now, and she was beginning to get overwhelmed by the sheer mass of Thanos' army. The Chitauri jumped on her back, clawing at her face, trying to grab the gauntlet from her hands.

She wouldn't let them, Luna decided. Stopping abruptly, she thrust out her one free arm and spewed fire in a halo around her. The screams of the Chitauri filled the air, but soon stopped as their dead bodies flopped to the ground.

"Luna," someone behind her said. "I believe I am a bit faster than you."

"T'Challa," she returned with a smile as she turned to face him. "You got it?"

He nodded and took the gauntlet from her. His mask covered his face again and he took off, headed for Scott and his van.

Luna had done her part, but the fight was still ongoing. Cracking her knuckles, she launched herself back into the action. Making her way through countless of Chitauri, her focus was on one thing only. Thanos. Not only that, but from where she knew Thanos was, red blast were rising above the battle field. Wanda had beaten her to him, and all Luna could do was run faster then she had ever done before.

Wanda was taking Thanos on by herself. And she was winning. Until she wasn't. Her scarlet powers enveloped Thanos' blade as she stopped it inches away from her face. A fury filled Luna's chest as she reached the scene.

She screamed and thrust out her arms. She felt the air within Thanos' lungs and grabbed onto it, before pulling at it harshly. Thanos choked as the air he breathed came to a stop, unable to move out or into his lungs. Wanda's head snapped up, her wide eyes on Luna and the light pouring from her eyes. Luna levitated Thanos into the air using only the air inside of him.

Wanda stood up, tendrils of her magic clinging onto Thanos as well, ripping his armor from his body part by part. The sounds of Thanos struggling and in pain were like music to Luna's ears.

He had just enough breath to say, "Rain fire!"

Luna's eyes widened as she turned to look up. The rockets of Thanos' ship were now at the ready and fired before anyone could react. One hit right where they stood, blasting Luna and Wanda away from Thanos, making way for his quick escape.

"Luna!"

The voice barely registered to Luna, the ringing of the explosions making her feel like her eardrums were about to explode. She was vaguely aware of her surrounding; laying with her back on the ground, a slab of concrete pinning her legs. A red aura surrounded it, lifting it carefully off her. Seconds later, Wanda's face appeared in her vision.

"Luna!" she exclaimed, checking her body for injuries. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Wanda took her arms, helping her upright again. "Luna? What is happening?"

Luna didn't respond, she couldn't. Her eyes scanned Wanda's face, still the same as she remembered. Still as beautiful as she remembered.

"Luna, say something!"

Luna shook her head, reality settling back in. Tears filled her eyes again as her hands reached for Wanda's face, holding it as gently as she could.

"You're here..." she muttered.

"I know," Wanda replied. "But what is going on? One minute I was destroying... I was destroying the mind stone and the other... I don't know, but—"

"Marry me."

Wanda stopped. "What?"

"I—I—" Luna stuttered. "You—all of you—you were gone for five years. You were dead and I felt like I was too. I don't ever want to live without you again. So, marry me."

"Uhh..." Thoughts raced through Wanda's mind, but the only word she could say was, "Yes!"

Luna laughed despite the chaos around her and rushed forward to capture Wanda's lips in her own. The world quieted and everything was fine again, as long as she held Wanda in her arms.

"Let's kill Thanos first, though," Wanda said as she let go.

Breathing heavily, Luna nodded. Then a rocket hit the ground right beside them and they were flung back. Luna couldn't breathe as she soared through the air before falling in a heap to the ground. Everything hurt and ached, her head pounded, but she was up in an instant, frantically searching for Wanda. She wasn't far away, flung in the same direction, but rockets were still raining down on them, explosions sending dirt and rubble in all directions. Wanda put her arms around her, pulling them to the ground as a red shield erected over them.

The explosions stopped in an instant. Carefully, Wanda dropped her shield. With both their eyes turned to the sky, they saw the guns on the ship redirect themselves and start firing into one point in the sky.

"What the hell is this?" Sam asked over the comms.

"I don't know, they just stopped," Luna replied, confused.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y.," Tony started, "what are they firing at?"

"Something just entered the upper atmosphere," the AI replied.

Wanda and Luna frowned at each other and looked up. A speck of light was now visible coming through the clouds, getting bigger and brighter. No matter how many rockets the ship fired, it didn't slow it down. A smile began to grow on Luna's face as she realized who it was.

Captain Marvel shot through the clouds, pure solar essence surrounding her. She looked more like a rocket herself as she burst into one side of the spaceship before coming out the other, leaving a path of explosions, fire and destruction in her wake. The guns powered down immediately.

Captain Marvel circled back, doing the same thing again. Chunks of the ship broke off, falling down on Thanos' army, while the rest burned to a crisp before it had the chance to. The burning wreckage found its final resting place in the lake beneath it.

"Danvers," Cap said, "We need an assist here."

"Scott, how ready are we?" Luna asked.

"Practically ready, ma'am!"

"Good. Get the stones to Danvers!"

Within seconds, Danvers had the gauntlet in her grasp and was shooting through the battlefield, ripping apart whoever was stupid enough to stand in her way.

"Thanos," Wanda said, grabbing Luna's arm.

Thanos was headed for the van as well, the two racing to see who would get to the other first.

"Let's go."

Wanda and Luna were closer to the van than either, and as Thanos sprinted their way with his blade at the ready, they blasted him simultaneously with all their power, stopping him in his tracks. They kept going, pushing him as far as they could until Danvers arrived. But Thanos was strong, he recovered faster than anyone expected him to. He raised his blade in the air and threw it—right into the back of the van.

An explosion of light pushed everyone back, the gauntlet flying out of Danvers' grasp. When the dust settled and Luna regained her senses, the gauntlet lay right in the middle of the emptied space. She looked around, saw Tony and Thanos both standing up and realizing what was happening. They lunged, but Tony went for Thanos instead, tackling him to the ground. Thanos backhanded him, getting him out of the way.

As he reached for the gauntlet, Thor swung his axe at him. He dodged, stumbling back. Luna, behind him, kicked him in Thor's direction again. As Thor took another swing, Luna reached for the gauntlet, but Thanos was quicker. With one hand he blocked Thor, with the other he grabbed Luna and flung her back again.

Thor was up alone against Thanos and holding his own, when Captain America jumped up behind them, clinging onto Thanos' neck. They had him in a lock with nowhere to go, but Thanos wrung his arm loose and tossed them off.

Thanos bent down, going for the gauntlet. Luna yelled and lunged, pushing the metal gauntlet out from beneath him. Thanos looked to her, grunted, and tried again. This time, Luna pulled towards herself and the gauntlet fell nicely into her arms. But now Thanos came thundering her way and she only had one free arm.

Using air, she somersaulted over him. Landing steadily on the ground, she lifted the earth beneath him, sending him up into the sky before suddenly taking the platform away. As Thanos pummeled through the air, she floated above him and made a jet of air to make him go faster.

A loud boom echoed as he hit the ground, a small crater around him. The dust cloud made it hard to see, so Luna landed on the ground next to it. She flicked her hand, dispersing the dust and revealing—Thanos, upright and pissed. His massive fist made contact with her face, knocking her out immediately.

It was black for maybe twenty seconds, but when Luna regained consciousness, the infinity gauntlet was on Thanos' hand. The power stone sat in the other, loose, its power radiating off it. It looked like Thanos was about to put it back in, so Luna screamed and reached out.

Thanos' hand stopped. As hard as he pulled, the stone in his hand wouldn't budge, like it was glued to that exact spot in space. He looked confused, until he saw Luna.

"You!" he growled.

Luna was confused as well. She pulled and the power stone inched towards her.

"How are you doing this?" he demanded.

"I—I don't know!" she yelled, the power beginning to overwhelm her. "It's spirit energy... And I'm bending it?"

"Let go!" Thanos said.

"Can't do that, sorry!"

With a grunt, Thanos picked up a metal bar from the ground and hurled it at her. She had no choice but to drop her concentration as it imbedded itself in her shoulder.

It was too late, now. Thanos had the infinity gauntlet in his possession. All he needed to do was... snap. His thumb and index finger were ready, he was about to do it—when Tony grabbed his hand, pulling it apart with all his human strength. Thanos hit him—over and over again—but he didn't budge. Then, finally, he punched so hard Tony was thrown away.

He raised his arm, saying with a unreadable smile, "I am inevitable."

He snapped.

Nothing happened. Just the clank of metal hitting metal. He turned the gauntlet around, looking desperately at the empty spots where the stones used to be. Luna's eyes widened, snapping to Tony.

His gauntlet changed itself to fit the stones he stole, the power crackling around his arm, overwhelming him.

Through heavy breathing, he said, "And I... am... Ironman!" and snapped his fingers.
           
A white light illuminated everything for what felt like hours, but in reality was only a second. Luna opened her eyes, her hand finding Wanda's. A wave of power flooded the battlefield. Each person on Thanos' side it hit, turned to dust. The remains of those in the sky floated down gently to the ground like ash. After a single minute, the entire field was silent.
           
Only Thanos was left. He looked around him and realized what had happened. He had lost. With a sigh, he buried his blade in the dirt and took a seat. He closed his eyes and let the wave come over him, turning him into dust.
           
A ragged breath broke the silence.
           
"Tony?" Luna asked, seeing him stumble. "Tony?"
           
Tony looked at her vacantly, before falling to the ground.
           
"Tony!" she exclaimed, pulling the metal bar from her shoulder and rushing to his side. She helped him sit up straight. "What happened? What did you do?" she asked frantically.

His arm was obliterated, his Ironman suit fused with the skin. The left side of his face was scorched black, lightning scars travelling across every part of his skin that wasn't.

"I beat him," he sighed, barely able to speak. "We beat him. Together."

"No—No! What're you doing?" Luna said, willing the tears to back off.

"Think I'm dying, kiddo..."

"No! You don't get to! Not you! Not now!"

"Don't..." he stammered, "tell me... what... to do..."

The tears were real now, leaving a clean trail of skin behind as they rolled over Luna's ashy face. "Come on! Just keep breathing, man! You still want to be flower girl at my wedding, don't you? Well, she said yes. So, just keep breathing."

"Pepper?" was all he said.

"Tony?" Pepper replied, rushing up behind them.

Luna fell back, giving them space. Wanda crouched beside her, holding her tightly.

All the Avengers were congregating at their spot—Peter, Cap, Thor, Rhodey, and everybody. Everybody stood by as those close to Tony said their goodbyes.

Everyone kneeled as Tony took his last breath.

---

Luna wore a black suit to the funeral. It was held at Tony and Pepper's house by the lake. It was a joined one—for Tony and Natasha. Everyone was there, even those that barely knew them. They were all still battered up—their victory was only a week ago. The sad part was over already—the part where everyone gathered by the lake to send their two friends off to whatever afterlife waited for them.

Luna had been to enough funerals in her life to know that there wasn't really a happy part to them, just a part where people reminisced about their loved ones, wallowing in their nostalgia.
           
"Here," Wanda said, handing Luna a glass of water. She sat down next to her on the bench on the porch, overlooking the shimmering lake. 
           
Luna took it gratefully, grabbing Wanda's hand the moment she sat down. She held it up, closely inspecting the golden band that adorned it, a glistering ruby in the center.
           
"When do you want to tell everyone?"
           
Luna sighed, taking a sip of her water. The lawn ahead of them crawled with their teammates laughing with each other, trading stories of Tony and Natasha.
           
"It's not the right time," Luna replied. "Everyone's only just returning to a sense of normalcy... I don't want to take away from that. Especially Fury and Rhodey. Their hands are gonna be full, with everyone suddenly returning... It's chaos out there, and people are taking advantage of it. Besides, I'm always gonna be there for advice and, you know, the next universe-level threat."
           
"Let me get this straight," Wanda said. "You don't want to tell everyone that you're quitting the Avengers to help the world's governments adjust to this sudden influx of people and maintain the balance, because... they're going to be busy doing the exact same thing?"
           
Luna rolled her eyes, slumping in her seat. "To be fair, I'm also quitting to focus on our incoming marriage."
           
Wanda smiled despite herself before focusing again. "Look... This last week... You haven't exactly been yourself, and that's understandable. But what you can't do is shut everyone out, especially me—"
           
"I would never shut you out."
           
"Wouldn't you? You've barely spoken a word about the last five years. Five years, Luna. That's a long time."
           
Luna sat up straight again, leaning forward on her knees. "I know how long it was, Wanda, I was there. And here I am now, five years older than the woman I love."
           
"You know I have no problem with that."
           
"I know, I know... But... What if those five years changed me more than I thought? What if I'm not the same person you fell in love with?" Luna asked quietly.
           
Wanda put a hand on her back, rubbing it softly. "Then I'll fall in love again. I will fall for you over and over again, Luna, in every universe and timeline I will fall for you. I will change with you and grow with you. And hopefully I will die with you."
           
"Let's not talk about our deaths so soon, okay?"
           
Wanda chuckled, placing a kiss on Luna's shoulder. "I'm here for you, okay?"
           
Luna turned to her and kissed her gently, resting her forehead against hers. "And I for you. I love you."
           
"I love you too."

 

Chapter 43: 0. EPILOGUE

0. EPILOGUE
__________

Long ago, in a universe where people existed with marvelous abilities and powers, there was an infinity war between those that fought for the universe and one that fought for death. The Avatar, along with an army of heroes, had been able to end the war and bring a sliver of hope into a galaxy of chaos. But to all lives must come an end.

Avatar Luna died and the spirit that granted her her abilities chose its successor.

But that's not how this story ended. Not for a good few decades at least. Avatar Luna, gifted with raw power ever since she was young, faced many challenges in her lifetime. She fought a Norse God looking to conquer Earth, a spiteful spirit mad she crossed its territory and a sentient robot wanting her team's extinction. She even battled her own family, but she managed to pull through all of the difficult times. She met a strange man with an eyepatch that brought her into a world full of superheroes and supervillains. That's where she met the band of not-so-merry heroes that she would later call family. She found love where she thought she would find fear. But this new and exciting world also opened up the gateways to the old one. She met her past lives and learned about an ancient civilization that had long been forgotten.

Avatar Luna had only one thing left to do to achieve her destiny; reintroduce the forgotten world of bending into the current one and have all they had fought for not be in vain. To do so, she wrote a book. With all the artifacts, scrolls and tomes her brother Derek had retrieved from his journeys, she was able to proof that her world actually existed. Those artifacts were put into a museum and Luna had achieved her goal. While the world was still in chaos, history was remembered.

The Avatar would live on for a thousand years, but Luna would not.

It's a chilly winter day in the middle of January when a little boy is born. No one knows what he will be capable of, nor what importance he already has, but people are out there looking for him. Not all of them are good people, some want to use him for their own nefarious plots. The others, who are many, want him safe and cared for, because they remember all of the good things his predecessor had done for the world.

This was Luna Carter, the Avatar.

Notes:

This was it! What a journey. Hope y'all enjoyed reading luna's story. There might be a WHAT IF..? series in the future, so if you want to see anything like that comment your suggestions!

Again, please comment and leave kudos if you liked it!
xx - C