The REM Trials

Chapter 36

A/N: So since this book is soon coming to a close, I wanted to announce a little something. It's gonna be called "Phantom Facts." I'll be opening up comments to questions about this story—plot details, character quirks, etc. There, you can find out more about the story and how it came to be!

Hope to read and answer your questions soon!

...

My head is spinning, or maybe it's just the world. Probably my head. It's hard to tell with how fuzzy everything is. I take a deep breath and force my eyes open.

That's about when it hits me.

I have a body. It's here. I can feel it all the way down to my fingers and toes that I remember turning to dust. I died, but now I'm back.

Hundreds of questions flood my mind. What happened? Is Dad okay? How long have I been gone? What happened to—Peter? Peter.

I barely think as I push myself to my feet and hope to find any clues as to what happened. My knees nearly buckle when I see the familiar metal red and blue suit. "Peter," I shout and run straight into him, "You're here. You're okay. We're okay."

"Oh my god. Lia, you're—you—I—did we die?" He questions as he holds onto me like our lives will be over again if we let go. "You—you had turned to dust, and then I didn't feel so good."

"I'm sorry." I whisper and cry against his neck. "It's gonna be okay. We're back now, which means something changed, right?"

"It did, but the war isn't over." Strange calls as he approaches us. "We've been gone for five years. Now, comes the final battle."

Five years. We've been gone for five years?

The words hit me like a bullet. No, I've been shot, and this hits harder than that. I can't process it. I was dead, left Dad to mourn, missed out on life for five whole years.

"No time to waste, we have to go." Strange says as he uses his magic to open up one of his sparking portals.

"Then let's go. I need to kick some ass." I reply with gritted teeth and teary eyes. "What do you say, Pete?"

"I say it's been about five years overdue." He tries to force a grin on his face, but both of us know that it's only made up of pain. As hard as we're trying to put on brave faces, it's hard to ignore the reality that keeps crashing over us.

But we can't focus on that now.

Peter grabs my waist and starts to swing us off. We land on a large piece of concrete and lower our masks. It takes me a moment to realize what we're looking at. For a long moment, I wonder if we're still on an alien planet, but then I see the familiar emblem in another piece of rubble. "We're home." I whisper, looking across the battlefield where Chitari, freaky animals, and the ugly purple Titan are. There's also my family—Dad, Cap, Sam, everyone—some of whom I have only heard about.

I grab Peter's hand with a shuddering breath. My comm crackles to life, and I hear the voice that I've grown up with. "Lia, pleasure to have you back." ARTI calls with what sounds like would be a smile if he had a face. "Connecting you to the updated system."

Someone lands in front of us in an Iron suit, but I don't recognize it or the colors used. I don't get much time to think about it as I spot my Dad, and Strange turns to another wizard to ask, "Is that everyone?"

The wizard looks at him with disbelief. "What? You wanted more?"

There's a crashing sound to the left, and a giant Ant Man emerges from some rubble, opening his hand to reveal Hulk, War Machine, and a racoon holding a gun—which I assume is Rocket, one of the Guardians I didn't get to meet.