Snakebite | Avengers: Endgame [8]

Chapter 13

5 Years Later...

"Yeah, we boarded that highly suspect warship Danvers pinged," Rocket said. "It was an infectious garbage pile," Nebula said. "So yeah, thanks for the hot tip," Rocket said snarkily to Danvers, who was two screens down. "Well, you were closer," Carol said. "Yeah, and now we smell like garbage!" Rocket snapped.

"You get a reading on those tremors?" I asked, leaning back in my chair. "'Twas a mild subduction under the African plate," Okoye said. "You get a visual? How are we handling it?" Nat asked, leaning back as well. "Nat, it's an earthquake under the ocean. We handle it by not handling it," Okoye sighed. "Carol, are we seeing you here next month?" I asked, changing the topic.

"Not likely," Carol said. "What? Gonna get another haircut?" Rocket asked, and I rolled my eyes. "Listen, furface, I'm covering a lot of territory. The things that are happening on Earth are happening everywhere. On thousands of planets," Carol said. Rocket mumbled something I was too tired to make out. "So, you might not see me for a long time," Carol finished.

"Alright. Well, this channel's always active. So, anything goes sideways, anyone's making trouble where they shouldn't, answer to me," Nat said, and they all gave sounds of acknowledgment. "I'm gonna go make some coffee. Nat, you want some?" I asked, and she nodded as everyone left. I got up and left the room, heading to the kitchen down the hall. I turned on the coffee machine after filling up.

As it was running, I leaned against the counter, cupping my hands around my mouth and trying not to cry. "You know, I'd offer to cook you dinner, but you seem pretty miserable already," I looked over to see Steve leaned against the doorway. "It's today, isn't it?" He asked. "Bingo, Rogers. She would've been 8 today," I said. "You here to do your laundry?" I asked, standing back up and pulling out two mugs.

"I'm here to see some friends," He said. "Clearly your friends are fine," I said, grabbing the mugs and we moved to the council room. "Here ya go," I said softly, passing Nat her mug. "You know, I saw a pod of whales when I was coming over the bridge," He said, leaning on some piece of furniture. "In the Hudson?" I asked, taking a sip.

"Fewer ships, cleaner water," He said. "You know, if you're about to tell us to look on the bright side, I'm about to hit you on the head with a peanut butter sandwich," Nat said. "Sorry. Force of habit," Steve put down his jacket and his keys, sitting down in the spare chair. "You know, I keep telling everybody they need to move on. And grow. Some do...but not us," Steve said. "If we move on, who does this?" I asked.

"Maybe it doesn't need to be done," He said. "I used to have nothing. Then I got this. This job. This family. And I was better because of it. And now...they're gone. And I'm still trying to be better," Nat said. "I think we all need to get a life," Steve said. "You first," I said, and he smiled slightly. There was beeping, and some audio started playing as Nat let the footage roll.

"Oh, hi! Hi! Is anyone home? This is, uh, Scott Lang! We met a few years ago, at the airport! In Germany! I'm uh, the guy that got really big. I had a mask on, you probably wouldn't recognize me," Scott said. "Is this old footage?" Steve asked. "Antman? Antm--I know yo--I know you know that!" The footage said. "It's the front gate," I said hopefully. "I really need to talk to you," Scott said.

I quickly pressed the button, opening the front gate to let hope walk into the building.

a/n Y'all, the Loki series is coming on June 11th! Also, I drew this a few days ago.