Forgotten Ghost | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 79: No Time To Lose In This Intergalactic War

''Who were they? What did they want?'' Wanda asked the team, interrupting the tense silence in the jet. It wasn't because of her own mistake to report in, but because everyone was nervous and stressed about the fight ahead. Another alien, but this time it was far more serious than an Asgardian god with daddy issues.

The Stones, they scared the team. Another unknown quantity they couldn't pin down. And this Thanos guy, nobody knew too much about him either. But it was unlikely he would be coming alone for Vision and the Doctor. A war was already here.

Vision glanced up from the floor for the first time since he sat down, adding some explanation. ''The Stone... this is what it was warning me about.'' Because apparently that is what it can do too.

Steve furrowed his brows, leaning forward in his seat. ''It can sense the other Stones?''

Vision nodded once, sadness flickering behind his eyes. ''I can, yes. They have been corrupted.''

Steve sighed now that there was confirmation Thanos had at least two Stones. ''We can't do anything about the two Stones not on Earth. We have to consider them lost.'' 

It was a necessary sacrifice, something out of their reach. They simply didn't have the tools to protect those Stones too. So they focused all their energy on the ones they could.

Katya had been following the conversation from the cockpit and twisted her chair around. They had been flying over the ocean for so long, but land was finally in sight. She had nervous feelings in her chest at the idea of being home. The Compound was still her home after all, and she had missed it and her other friends a lot. 

''Don't forget Tony. He is on that alien ship, maybe he can do something to prevent Thanos from getting here.''

''We have no way of contacting him, so we'll have to focus on the Mind and Time Stone,'' Steve responded. His faith in Tony was a lot less than hers, but he was also right in some way. They shouldn't worry about the things they couldn't do, and instead focus on Earth. ''We regroup with whoever is left at the Compound and think of a plan.''

Suddenly, Vision's Stone started glowing and he gasped softly. Wanda's protective and anxious traits came back and she scooted closer to him. ''Vis, what is happening?''

It didn't look like he was in any kind of pain, but everyone was on high alert because of the unpredictability of the gem in his head.

''Thanos, he has another Stone,'' he announced, and more impatience and worry flooded Katya's chest. She didn't want to give up just yet, that wasn't like her at all, but every Stone he got made it harder to fight him. Somehow, this fight was unlike anything she had ever been in. This wasn't a fight for a city or the Earth, this was for the Universe.

''Which one?'' she asked, rising from her seat to stand closer to the group, leaving Natasha at the controls.

Vision glanced at her. ''Reality.'' It was hard to understand what each Stone did exactly, but she imagined whoever had this one, could somehow mess with reality, creating things that weren't there or alter things. 

''So that leaves him with three,'' she summarized, tugging the braid out of her hair so she could run her fingers through it, a nervous tick that gave her some feeling of calmness. The black strands blended in with her jacket.

''Yes, and he is not far from obtaining the other one.''

Katya nodded, dropping back into her seat, willing the jet to go even faster than it already did. ''We need to get home.''

Those fifteen minutes it took to reach the Compound and land the jet were horrible. Part of her wanted nothing more than to go home, go to the place she had been genuinely happy before the whole Accords, but another part of her was scared. Scared things had changed and she wouldn't feel the same after stepping in. Scared she had lost another home.