The Final Initiative

19.

      Her hand closed around the glowing green stone, which immediately exploded in an array of vivid images inside of her mind. Thousands, millions, maybe even more than that. She saw places, people, explosions, smiles, memories, some from her own life and some from others.

She could feel Peters hand holding hers, next, it was her old home in Malibu being demolished by missiles, following that was Steve Rogers grinning at a joke inside one of the glistening parties at the Avengers Tower.

      Clint Barton was sitting on the terrace, Natasha bent down in front of Jessi to pull her back up to her feet. Coulson laid lifeless against the wall with blood pouring from his chest. A woman with green skin was being thrown off the side of a tall, monstrous cliff to her demise. Loki was staring in pain as his father collapsed on a staircase. Peter faded away. She let go of her father's hand and plummeted into the fire. The light in Ames Justice's eye faded. Mjölnir sparked to life. Her mom waved goodbye to her at the front gates of the school. She pulled Strange from the car. Steve laid in the fetal position, protecting everyone from a fake grenade thrown out just to test him.

      Thanos stood in mournful agony, the energy from the tesseract engulfed Carol. Tony stood in the flashing red carpet lights. Steve turned the nose of the plane down towards the ice. A black and white photo of a woman was present in his compass. Bucky killed Howard Stark. The guardians held the purple stone together. Doctor Strange held up his finger. Steve stood alone before an entire army. Peter pleaded. A battered hand rested against Tony's worn down, broken face. Jessi looked up to Thanos, all of the dreams that had plagued her nights over the past decade finally made sense.

      She lifted her head up from her arms, blinking in the daylight that poured inside the window. Tony still laid asleep on the bed. She leaned back in the chair, the everlasting pit in her gut seemed to grow larger. That dreadful day felt to be growing closer and closer. Who knows when it will arrive. Jessi looked at her father one last time before getting up from beside the bed. She stepped into the laboratory down the hall and went to the mirror. Slowly, she began to remove the bandage that wrapped around her arm. Her flesh clung to the material which stung sharply  as she removed it.

      She set the cast down on the table, wanting for the healing wounds to feel some air for a little while. There was a blue holographic button built into the lab table which she pressed, and out popped the files for the missing Avengers and associates. The first one was the king himself, T'Challa of Wakanda. Following his floating image was his sister Shuri. Jessi swiped her hand in air, flipping through the dozens. Sharon Carter was up there, including old friends like Stephanie Morgan and Matthew Westbrook.

      She got to know Peter Parker at the age of fourteen, but he was gone far too soon. His photo popped up before her eyes, sending the painful wave coursing through her stomach once again. Under his name was labeled missing. Her blue eyes studied his face, his features, as if one day she may forget what he looked like all together. Peter truly was gone, just like Bucky, Sam, Wanda, and Vision.

      Somewhere in the galaxy, there has to be a way. A one in a million chance. That's all she has left to hold on to. It's almost as if she can feel them. They're still obtainable, and she will find them "It's time to go" Steve called from the entrance, dawning his Captain America attire. She turned to look at him, acknowledging that she heard him. The final holographic missing photo to pop up in the air was Stephen Strange. Jessi turned the holographs off and got up from the stool, beginning to wrap the cast on again. This mission has to work.

      Steve had his uniform on and was prepared to go. Space was their future, neither one of them had been up there before. The vast expanse that lay above their earth left Jessi feeling eerie. One time, six years ago in New York, her father was almost trapped on the other side of the portal. Ever since then, she had been afraid. Today was the day she'd face her fear, her fear of the universe "What if we see him?" Jessi asked nervously, knowing that they already would.