Eagle (A Loki love story)

Chapter 163

Hello all,  I'm sorry this update is slightly later than usual.  I'm not in the greatest place mentally because of everything currently going on in the world, and I hope all of you are doing better than I am.  I don't have coronavirus or anything like that, I just don't like all the uncertainty about whether or not I'll go back to college in the fall, if my study abroad for the summer is going to get rescheduled at a time when I can go, or if my cat has cancer.

That being said, I'm sure some of you noticed that I couple weeks ago, I started updating the older chapters.  Nothing in the story is changing, I'm just going back and fixing typos and strange wording and I appreciate your patience as I continue to blow up your notifications.

I'm basically finished writing Eagle now, I just need to do the epilogue, but I still want to go back and finish polishing off the other chapters before I officially marking this story as 'complete'.

Thanks for bearing with me through this really long A/N, and stay safe and healthy!

Picking the teams had taken decidedly longer. Of the three time periods, Asgard was my only option. In the other two, I was either Most Wanted #1 or 'dead'. After much deliberation, we'd decided that Thor and Rocket would also come. Thor because he knew the territory and Rocket because he had the best chance of getting Thor to sober up and cooperate. No matter where Nebula went, she would be in danger, but after consulting her, she decided that Morag was her only option. Aside from Rocket, she was the only one who could track Quill in that day anyway. Rhodey would accompany her while Natasha and Clint took the Milano to Vormir. The biggest strike force went to New York and for the most part, it was the people who knew it best and still looked the most like themselves from eleven years ago. Steve, Tony, and Bruce. Tony wanted Scott along because he already had an idea of how he'd come in handy. We also figured that Bruce would have the easiest time getting to Bleecker and Sullivan. In that time, the subways would be down and no one would mess with the Hulk.

By the time the last ones standing–Tony, Natasha, and I–went to bed, it was two in the morning. Despite that, we all rose and met at seven to brief the others on our conclusions. There were no complaints from anyone. We also made an attempt to contact Carol, but had to settle for an email, since she didn't pick up. After that, Steve took point.

"Alright. We have a plan. Six stones, three teams, one shot." With the rising sun at our backs, we put on our suits and congregated at the portal while Bruce set the locations and times with each suit individually. Scott also shrunk the Milano and gave it to Clint. Once we were all ready, Steve made one final speech.

"Five years ago, we lost." Great start, "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 that 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 going to win. Whatever it takes. Good luck." While he was talking, I locked eyes with every single individual in the circle. It was going to take all of us to get this done, so we had to trust one another. Still, I was very nervous about this. Something unexpected was going to happen, somehow I just knew it. But what, I was not certain. But this was the only way forward.

"He's pretty good at that."

"I know, right?"

"Alright," Bruce had gone back down to the controls to engage the portal, "You heard the man. Stroke those keys, Jolly Green."

"Trackers engaged." I noticed Rocket looking at Clint as if he was holding his baby. In a manner of speaking, he was.

"You promise to bring that back in one piece, right?"