Forgotten Ghost | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 85: 0259-S

So in the end, they all wound up in the library again. It had become the Headquarters for the Thanos operation. Katya didn't mind, she loved the room and leaned with her back against the side of the bookcase, arms crossed and head dropped back as everyone waited for Nebula to explain.

The blue woman was... weird, to say the least. Traumatized from childhood by Thanos, mistreated and used as his personal spy. It was sad, but it had turned her into a powerful woman who had finally managed to get out of his grasp.

Katya made sure to stay out of her way. An enhanced alien wasn't someone she liked to pick a fight with. She had no energy to fight anyway.

Nebula gathered her thoughts, leaning against the wall opposite the Russian. They let her and waited patiently. ''Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me. And when he worked, he talked about his great plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. I'd ask "where would we go once his plan was complete?". His answer was always the same.'' 

She pushed herself away from the wall and towards the round table in the middle of the room. It pained her to think back to those years, and she had to force the answer out. 

''"To the Garden."''

''That's cute, Thanos has a retirement plan,'' Rhodey scoffed from Katya's left. She sent him a little glare for mocking Nebula. The woman clearly struggled with her past and the alien who had used her. They were lucky she helped them in the first place.

''So where is he?'' she quickly asked, keeping her voice gentle to put Nebula at ease. ''The Garden'' didn't mean anything to her, but she admired Nebula's help. It mustn't been easy to betray Thanos like this, even if he mistreated her. He was still family and that was always hard to betray.

Rocket, who stood atop the table since he was so small, swiped his hand and the Hologram from Earth appeared again. ''When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions. No one's ever seen anything like it... Until two days ago.'' The image shifted and Katya joined the small circle formed around the table so she could see it better. ''On this planet.''

A different planet came into view. It didn't have a name. Only ''Planet 0259-S''. From the outside, it looked a lot like Earth. Blue for water and green for land. Perfect living conditions for someone who wanted to escape. 

''Thanos is there,'' Nebula confirmed. 

Katya had a hard time wrapping her head about space travel, but this planet didn't look too bad. But even if it had been pitch black or poisonous, they would have found a way to go, to get revenge, to turn it all back. Because their only lead was this.

Natasha took an even closer look at the shockwave of power traveling over the surface of the planet. It had the same signature as the one from Earth. These had to be the Stones. Had to be Thanos. ''He used the Stones again,'' she muttered hopefully. She glanced back at Katya, who saw the glimmer in her green eyes return. Katya couldn't help but reach out and give her hand a squeeze.

Bruce sensed the general plan already and started to protest. ''Hey, hey, hey. We'd be going in short-handed, you know.'' It was a bit different to go against Thanos with only a couple people instead of a whole Wakandan army.

''Look, he's still got the stones, so...'' Rhodey started. He was in favor of the plan. Go there, get the Stones, use them to bring everyone back. Sounded simple enough, but Bruce was right, they were short-handed. However, the second the strange planet came into view, Katya had known she was in. They had to make this right, whatever it took.

''So let's get them,'' Carol shrugged like it was no big deal. It was the first time she spoke up. ''Use them to bring everyone back.''

''Just like that?'' Rhodey asked skeptically. He didn't hold her confidence and saw the dangers of going in and fighting him again. It sounded way too easy.