𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐃

23. 𝗹𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲

THE TIME HEIST IS OFFICIALLY IN ACTION. Darcy was sitting at the table littered with books and papers, all scattered across the table; the woman sat in the front, making sure to leave space for Rhodes to see. Everyone chose their spot, some more silent than others, but as of now, it didn't bother Darcy. She was more focused on the task at hand. Now that the time heist idea actually works, they can now get down to business and situate when and where the Stones are, which might be tricky. Darcy can't even remember the last time she's had an encounter with any of the Stones--has she ever? Other than the fight with Thanos, Darcy is pretty sure she hadn't.

A brow flicked up towards her hairline, her hazel eyes catching the hologram flashing 'operation . . . TIME HEIST' and 'BRAINSTORMING SESSION.' Darcy snorts at the name given for this plan, but it disappears when the Infinity Stones shown on the screen.

"Okay, so the how works," Steve starts to speak. Darcy continues to eye each of the Stones. They all had different forms than some. "Now, we gotta figure out the when and the where. Almost everyone in this room had had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones."

Tony walks into the room, adding his input. "Or substitute the word 'encounter' for 'damn near been killed' by one of the six Infinity Stones."

"Well, I haven't," Scott interjects, still a little confused. "But I don't even know what the hell you're all talking about."

Darcy glances over her shoulder to see Scott was genuinely confused; she had forgotten that the man was trapped in the Quantum Realm.

"Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one round-trip each. And these Stones have been in a lot of different places through history," Bruce says, making his way up to the front of the room.

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

"Which means we have to pick our targets."

"Correct," Tony confirms.

"Well, this should be fun," Darcy grimaces. She heard a chuckle from Natasha, which causes her to grin.

"So, let's start with the Aether," Steve glances back over towards Thor, who is sitting in the far back with sunglasses on, a can in his hand, and completely still. "Thor, what do you know?"

Turning around to wait on Thor, Darcy frowns in near concern; the god was sitting there with a Coke can in his hand and the other resting on his belly. She wondered if he was even breathing. It was strange because Thor was so still.

Natasha clicks her pen. "Is he asleep?"

"No, no," Rhodes shakes his head. "I'm pretty sure he's dead."

Natasha kicks his leg to wake her friend up, and fortunately, the god jerks awake, smacking his lips as he stretches. He wondered why everyone was staring at him when he looked around, but then the woman directed up to the front. So, Thor stood up, smiling at the group as he makes his way to the front of the group. He looks at the picture of the Reality Stone.

"Uh, where to start? Um," Thor struggles over his words. He removes his sunglasses so that he could see better without the dark shades. He was so out of it. "The Aether, firstly, is not a stone. Someone called it a stone before." Thor furrows his brows as he scans the room but then recalls who might've, so he pointed at Steve. Darcy stifles a chuckle; she couldn't take Thor seriously. "Um, it's more of an angry sludge sort of thing, so someone's gonna need to amend that and stop saying that."

Thor squirts some eye drops into his eyes. Darcy shifts her gaze over to Steve, giving him an unsure look because there was something odd about Thor. In fact, it was noticeable, and though Darcy doesn't know exactly everything, it was apparent. The blond hero just shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.