Bird Set Free | Natasha Romanoff ✓

Chapter Fifty-Two

"Okay, so the 'how' works. Now we gotta figure out the when and the where. Almost all of us have had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones."

"Well I'd substitute the word encounter for damn well near been killed by one of the six Infinity Stones

The team had gathered together in the conference room, the hologram screens each projecting the six individual Infinity Stones as Steve and Tony spoke to the team at the front. 

"Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each, and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history." Bruce cut in. 

"Our history. So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in."

"Which means we have to pick our targets," Clint replied. 

"Let's start with the Aether," Steve announced, looking towards Thor sitting in the corner. "Thor, what do you know?"

Every single pair of eyes drifted to the same corner, looking at the God. A pair of sunglasses rested close to his face, a can of beer balanced precariously on his belly. 

"Is he asleep?"

"No. I'm pretty sure he's dead."

After Thor had eventually decided to join the rest of them in their planning session, he stumbled his way to the front of the screens, struggling to read what the screen actually said. 

"Where to start? Um. . . The Aether, first, is not a stone, someone called it a stone before. It's more of a. . . an angry sludge thing, so. . . someone's gonna need to amend that. Here's an interesting story though, many years ago. . .My grandfather had to hide the stones from the Dark Elves. . ."

Aquila rolled her eyes, leaning back on her chair. She could already tell that no useful information would actually be extracted from Thor at such a time. 

"So Jane, oh, there she is. That's Jane. . . She's an old flame of mine. . . She. . .she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time . . and then the Aether stuck itself inside her . . . And, she became very, very sick. So I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I'm from. And we had to try and fix her. We were dating at the time, you see. I got to my Mother. . . who's dead. And oh you know, Jane and I aren't even dating, anymore, these things happen you know, nothing lasts forever."

The whole team let out a sigh as Tony began to push Thor back towards his seat.

"Awesome. Eggs? Breakfast?"

"I'd like a Bloody Mary, thank you."

Even hours later, their brainstorming session wasn't even close to being over, as every single encounter with the stones was gone over, looking for the best spot within their histories to drop in. Shoveling Chinese takeout into their mouths, Rocket stood on top of the table, pacing back and forth, explaining the Power Stone. 

"Quill said he stole the Power Stone from Morag."

"Is that a person?"

"Morag's a planet. Quill was a person."

"A planet? Like in Outer Space?" Scott asked, excitement completely lighting his features. 

"Oh, look. It's like a little puppy, all happy and everything," Rocket walked over to Scott, ruffling the hair with each word. "Do you wanna go to space? You wanna go to space, puppy? I'll take you to space."

Aquila's eyes met Keira's from across the room, both of them biting back a laugh at all costs, but looking at each other had been a mistake. 

It had already been a long enough day which had prompted many of the team to give up for the night, but still many continued on, determined to formulate their plan as soon as they could. 

Nebula now stood in front of the remaining team, the holographic screen of the Soul Stone beside her. 

"Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir."

"What's Vormir?" Natasha questioned seriously, writing down notes of anything they could use. 

"A dominion of death, at the very center of Celestial existence. It's where. . . Thanos murdered my sister."

"Not it," Scott mumbled. 

By the time, the Time Stone got around to being mentioned, pretty much everyone had gone to bed and the moon was the only source of light in the room. But, Tony, Bruce, Aquila, and Natasha still continued on.

Bruce was lying on the floor, playing with his glasses, Tony was laid across the table, Natasha lying next to him while Aquila was lying across both of them, her head in Natasha's lap while her legs dangled across Tony's. The only thing they had left to was to stare up at the ceiling, their brains still working at a rapid pace as fatigue slowly overcame them. 

"That Time Stone guy-" Aquila started. 

"Doctor Strange."

"What kind of doctor was he?" Natasha continued.

"Ear-Nose-Throat meets rabbit from a hat."

"Nice place in the village, though."

"Yeah, Sullivan Street."

"Hmm. . . Bleecker."

"Wait, he lived in New York?" Natasha asked.

"No, he lived in Toronto."

"Guys," Natasha said, moving quickly to a sitting position, moving Aquila who had quickly realized the exact same thing. "If you pick the right year, there are three stones in New York."

"Shut the front door."

Sunlight shone brightly through the large floor to ceiling windows, illuminated the figures as they all moved together confidently, toward the Quantum Realm Generator. 

The team circled around, everyone standing in their teams, determined to succeed. 

Tony, Keira, Steve, Bruce, and Scott were headed for New York for the Time, Space and Mind Stones. Nebula, Rhodey, Natasha, Aquila, and Clint were headed for Morag and Vormir for the Space and Soul Stones. Thor and Rocket were headed for Asgard for the Reality Stone. 

"Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends. . . We lost family. . . We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. But it doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives. And we're gonna win. Whatever it takes. Good luck."

"He's pretty good at that."

"Right?"

The team moved to place their hands together in the middle, sharing one last look with each other before moving back into their designated teams. 

"All right. You heard the man. Stroke those keys, jolly green."

Aquila Cadman looked around at the people that had become her family. Not too long ago, she had had nothing left. For years, it had just been her and an empty bottle. Now she had the whole world and she would do whatever it would take to make sure the rest of the world experienced the same feeling. 

Natasha looked over towards Aquila and Steve, the two most important people in her life, sending them both a bright smile. 

"See you in a minute."

The team stood tall as their helmets covered their heads, the generator coming to life. 

And with just a bright flash, the Avengers disappeared into the Quantum Realm. To succeed. At whatever the cost. Whatever it takes.