Rogue (Under Rewriting)

Chapter Fifty

Upstate New York, 2023, seconds later

"Did we get them all?" Bruce's voice barely made it through Alex's thoughts and pain.

"You telling me this'll actually work?" Rhodes voice sounded off as he held the power stone.

"Clint, where's Nat?" Bruce voice asked those words that Alex so desperately didn't want to hear.

Her knees hit the platform below her as she let out a small gasp. The tears that were once small in her eyes were now large and free falling.

The silence from Clint was one that Alex never wanted to sit in. She so desperately wanted the soft and smooth voice of the red head to break through the silence. The mission was completed but at a dire cost. The grief that over take everyone pounds on Alex's heart and mind.

The silence didn't last long, however. It was broken by an earth shattering scream. A scream so loud and so broken that the group was forced to cover their ears. The flow of purple wisp exploded from the source of the scream before she disappeared altogether.

*****

"Do we know if she had family?" Tony questioned as the stood and sat scatter around the dock of the compounds lake.

"Yeah. Us." Steve answered with a sigh. "Alex, Kota."

"What?" Thor asked as he walked to to Tony and Steve with betrayal on his face.

"I just asked him a question–"

"Yeah, you're acting like she's dead. Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, Cap, we can bring her back, isn't that right? So stop this shit. We're the Avengers, get it together."

"We can't get her back." Clint informed, sadly.

"Wha– what?"

"It can't be undone. It can't." He said again as Thor laugh dryly.

"I'm sorry. No offense, but you're a very earthly being. Okay? We're talking about space magic. And "can't" seems very definitive don't you think?" Thor argued.

"Yeah, look, I know that I'm way outside my paygrade here. But she still isn't here, is she?"

"No, that's my point–"

"It can't– be undone. Or that's at least what the red floating guy had to say. Maybe you wanna go talk to him, okay? Go grab your hammer, and you go fly and talk to him!" Clint argued back as his voice grew louder. His loud voice then became soft and filled with grief. "It was supposed to be me. She sacrificed her life for that goddamn stone. She bet her life on it."

In a burst of anger, Bruce grabs a bench and hurls it clear across the lake. His anger spent, he turns to the others with a resigned look on his face. "She's not coming back. We have to make it worth it. We have to."

"We will." Steve assured before a small, nearly quiet swishing sound filled their ears.

The group turned to face a heart broken Alex. Her faced held the streaks of tear and pain that had flowed down her face minutes prior. Her lip still quivered from the sobs that shook her shoulder. She took a deep breathe that came out shaky.

"She's gone?" Her broken voice was barely heard by the group.

"Yeah." Clint was the first one to speak up as he slowly walk towards the small woman.

"There's no way to get her back?" She let out a small sob as Clint continued to walk closer.

"No, not that we know of." He confirmed. He gently took the blondes small shoulders in his arms as he brought her into a comforting embrace. Her cries started again as she came to the realization that she would never get to see the love of her life ever again.

Her shoulders shook as Clint slowly lowered them to the ground of the dock. His shoulders started to light shake as he too grieved the loss of his best friend. Steve softly walked up to them and joined the hug. Soon enough all of the remaining Avengers joined the hug and silently grieved the tragic loss they all suffered from.

*****

"She hasn't moved from that spot since we put her there three hours ago." Steve spoke softly as he watched the couch that held Alex and Clint. They weren't speaking, just sitting in each other's  presence.

"She's grieving. What do you expect from her?" Tony asked as he stood beside Steve.

"She hasn't talked since the dock. Hasn't eaten anything since before we left to get the stones. I'm worried about her, Tony."

"We all are." The billionaire admitted. "But we can't force her to do anything. We have to go at her pace, let her lead the way."

"I know, I just- I just wish there was more that we could do."

"The only thing we can do for her is letting her know that we're here and not going anywhere."

"Yeah." Steve reluctantly agreed with a sigh.

"Gloves finished by the way. If you want to try to gather everyone." Tony informed before walking away.

Steve took a few steps forward into the room before speaking. "The gloves finished. If you want to come watch."

Alex silently shook her head as Clint stood from the couch. He glanced at Alex before walking away with Steve into the next room. Alex could hear the talk from the room but let on no clue that she was listening.

"All right. The glove's ready. Question is, who's gonna snap their freaking fingers?" Rockets voice asked.

"I'll do it." Thor volunteered.

"Excuse me?" Scott questioned in bewilderment.

"It's okay."

"No, no, no, whoa. Stop. Stop. Wait a sec. Hey, hey–" The group protested.

"Wait, wait, Thor, just wait. We haven't decided who's gonna put that on yet." Steve stated.

"I'm sorry. What, we're just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?"

"We should at least discuss it." Scott answered Thor.

"No, no, sitting here staring at that thing is not gonna bring everybody back. I'm the strongest Avenger, okay? So this responsibility falls upon me. It's my duty." The god insisted.

"It's not about that–" Tony insisted.

"It's not that– Stop it! Just let me! Just let me do it. Just let me do something good. Something right." The tears could be heard in Thor voice.

"Look– It's not just the fact that that glove is channeling enough energy to light up a continent, I'm telling you, you're in no condition." Tony said, calming Thor down.

"What do you– What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?"

"Cheez Whiz?" Rhodey retorted.

"Lightning." Thor corrected after a pause.

"Yeah."

"Lightning won't help you, pal. It's gotta be me." Bruce's voice spoke over the others. "You saw what those stones did to Thanos. It almost killed him. None of you could survive."

"How do we know you will?" Steve asked.

"We don't. But the radiation's mostly gamma. It's like...I was made for this." He spoke before the group reluctantly agreed.