Rogue: Annihilation (An Avengers Sequel)

23. Whatever It Takes

"No," Jessica said when I explained my idea, her eyes wide with shock. "Nope, no way, not doing it. Do you know how completely insane you sound?"

I crossed my arms, the hopeful expression falling from my face. "About as crazy as you sounded when you volunteered for the sacrifice."

"You're doing the exact same thing," she pointed out angrily. "Unless I'm missing something, your 'idea' makes you a goddamn hypocrite."

"For the last time," I said calmly, ready to explain the plan again. "It's not me that you'd be sacrificing, it's... me."

She scoffed, raising an eyebrow at Tony. "I think your wife is broken."

"Listen to what I'm saying," I pleaded with her, speaking slowly, as if to a young child. "We're going back to 2012 New York. 2012 me still lives in S.H.I.E.L.D's headquarters. We find her, she helps us kill Kilgrave, and then you take her to Vormir and sacrifice her."

Everyone seemed to squint or make weird faces, working out the logistics of my plan. As soon as it came into my head, I knew it was the only thing that made sense.

"How do we know that killing 2012 you won't also kill... you?" Scott asked hesitantly.

Nebula shook her head before I could respond, answering with her usual cold, detached tone. "Time travel doesn't work that way."

"Why doesn't it? Because you say so?" Jess asked her irritably. "I'm not doing it. Because if anything goes wrong, I'm not gonna be responsible for your death, Rogue. I'm not taking a mom away from her kid." She eyed me. "We both know what that's like."

I shook my head, sighing. Of course dying had occurred to me – after everything we'd all been through, the risk of dying was never far from my mind.

"Nati is my first priority, always," I reminded her, my tone almost forceful. "But Jess, if we're gonna bring everyone back, we have to get all the Stones. This is the only way."

"It might not work," she pushed, picking at some of the fraying material on her fingerless gloves. "Rogue, you know that I have your back... that you're the only person alive that I still give a shit about. Don't ask me to do this."

"I didn't," I reminded her. "Jess, you volunteered for this. If we do it my way, no one has to die. We don't have to lose anyone."

"You mean you don't have to lose anyone," she argued. "If you die, yeah, the world might be safe. But we're the ones who have to deal with your loss. Your daughter is the one who will have to deal with that for the rest of her life. I'll have to deal with being the reason that you're not here."

Everyone else was quiet. I couldn't tell if they agreed with my plan, or if they thought that I was volunteering to end my life.

"I'm not gonna die," I said, speaking to the whole group. "Whatever we do in the past won't affect what happens to us here." I looked at Tony. "We're creating an alternate timeline."

He sighed, crossing his arms. "It sounds like you've already made up your mind." I gave him an apologetic look, and his response was a small smile, telling me that he supported my decision. Or, at least, he thought my plan would work.

"Rogue, you're sure about this?" Steve asked, his tone betraying a hint of nervousness. "Because we might find another way."

I tapped my foot impatiently. "There is no other way," I reminded him. "If there was something else, we would have figured it out by now. And if we spend any more time talking about this, we're gonna talk ourselves out of it. We have to do this, and we have to do it now."