Rogue: Annihilation (An Avengers Sequel)

20. You Have No Idea

"I'm just saying, we have to be practical," Tony said, rolling the car windows down. "Do you want her to be raised by strangers?"

I rolled my eyes, staring out the window. "Why do you keep acting like we're all gonna end up dead?"

"Because we probably are," he responded without missing a beat, no hint of a joke in the tone of his voice.

I raised an eyebrow, trying not to let annoyance get the better of me. "I gotta tell you, honey, your pessimism is putting a dampener on the whole mission."

He focused on the road. "Look, I'm doing this because I think our plan will work. But if it doesn't... I'm just trying to make sure Nati still has a family."

I looked over at him and sighed guiltily. He was right – just because I was optimistic about our mission didn't mean that everything would go according to plan.

"Banner's her godfather," I reminded him, shrugging. "I'm sure he'd be more than happy to take her in. Or there's Petra from the PTA – you know, the one-"

He scoffed, cutting me off. "Not that one, her kid's annoying, Nati doesn't need a bad influence. And why does a preschool have a PTA anyway?"

I ignored him. "So, Banner?"

"Banner's going into the Quantum Realm with us," he told me. "We need someone who can guarantee their own safety, as well as Nati's."

"Well we're running out of options," I unhelpfully reminded him. "Half of S.H.I.E.L.D. got decimated, Steve's going into the Quantum Realm too... you think Carol wants a teeny-tiny sidekick? Or Nebula?"

"What? So our kid can spend more time in space than on Earth?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing... Nati would probably love it," I said, saying the words aloud even though I didn't want to think about them. The last thing I wanted to consider was the possibility of us not coming home. "All we have left is Thor, who's on Asgard, Okoye in Wakanda, or Jessica Jones, and I haven't seen her without a drink in her hand for at least a year."

We had finally reached our destination; the winding road that led to the Avenger's Compound.

"Then we have to make sure that we don't die," Tony shrugged, way too nonchalant for the subject matter.

I nodded defiantly in agreement. "Nati comes first," I confirmed, taking a breath. This was earlier than I wanted to have this conversation, but it seemed like it was now or never. "If something happens to me-"

"We're not discussing this," Tony immediately cut me off, staring at the road with far more concentration than he needed.

"Just listen," I commanded. "If something, anything happens to me, it's not your job to try and save me," I told him sternly. "Your job is to get the hell out of there and back to our daughter, okay? Promise me."

He stopped the car in front of the Compound and looked at me. "Nati needs both of her parents."

"But she needs one of us more than none of us," I responded, taking his hand. "I'm not expecting anything to go wrong. I'm just saying... one of us needs to go home to her. Deal?"

After a second he nodded, squeezing my hand. The prospect of our daughter being an orphan was one so terrifying that neither of us wanted to think about it for longer than we had to.

"Deal."

As we exited the car, Steve walked out of the Compound. When he spotted us, his expression became a cross between surprised and wary.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, mostly to Tony. He stood at least a foot away from us, as if he didn't quite know what to expect.

"Turns out, resentment is corrosive, and I hate it," Tony replied with a casual shrug, his tone slightly snarky despite the fact that he was being genuine.