16 | RHEA AND REBIRTH

Tony and Amelia sped over to the Avengers headquarters the next morning, eager to share the news. When they arrived, they spotted Steve standing somberly at the entrance, feeling hopeless about the situation they were in. Banner must've not made any progress on time traveling on his end. Tony rolled down the window as they rolled up next to Steve. "Hey hottie, you single?" Amelia joked as she poked her head out the window of the car.

"I can be for you, just don't tell my wife." Steve grinned, playing along with her.

Tony chuckled then hopped out of the car to open the trunk. Amelia turned off the engine and got out of the car to greet Steve with a kiss. When she parted, she grabbed his face and smiled. "What's going on?" Steve asked, confused as to why she was so happy.

Amelia rose her hand and showed the device she and Tony had hastily assembled the night before. "We figured it out. A fully functioning time-space GPS." Amelia announced.

Steve smiled and held back his urge to cheer. "Our goal is to bring back what we lost and keep what we have now." Amelia explained to Steve.

"Exactly. So that means you can't screw up once we get started. You have to protect Amelia or else Morgan will kill me if her favorite person— other than me, of course— goes away." Tony shot a threatening look over at Steve.

"I don't plan on losing her, she's my favorite person, too." Steve assured Tony.

"Hey, back off buddy, Morgan's already claimed her." Tony rose his hand, jokingly, at Steve.

"I have a gift for you two." Tony waved over Steve and Amelia over to peek into the trunk. Tony picked out Steve's gift and rose it so that they could see it. It was his shield. Tony handed it to him.

"Tony," Steve sighed, "I don't know."

"Why? He made it for you." Tony referenced his father, Howard Stark, who had made Steve's classic vibranium shield for him and made many gadgets and suits for Amelia. Amelia grew anxious to see what Tony was going to give to her.

Tony picked out an outfit that was carefully folded and handed it to Amelia. Amelia opened it up and instantly recognized the suit to be the first suit Howard Stark had ever made her. She almost traded up at the sight. The lightweight, impenetrable cloth had the same scent of perfume Amelia used to wear all those decades ago. The navy blue suit was so nostalgic she almost felt like she was seeing it for the first time in mirror. Amelia was speechless. She didn't know what to do except engulf Tony in a tight hug. Usually, Tony wasn't one to accept hugs, but he knew how much it meant to her to see the suit again. And he was glad he could bring back some happiness in her life because of it. "I found it in some old box I hadn't gone through before." Tony explained.

"I love it."

* * *

Amelia was sent with Rocket to go retrieve Thor to complete the team of Avengers in order to go back in time and retrieve the infinity stones. "You shouldn't have come." Valkyrie shouted at Amelia from afar. She barely knew the girl, but did know she was a kind friend to Thor.

Amelia simply waved her off and headed over to Thor's temporary home. She knocked a few times before opening the door to let herself in. Rocket sniffed the air and gagged. "What the— whew, something died in here." he noted.

When Amelia turned the corner, she spotted Thor rummaging about in the living room. "Thor?" She called for his attention, noticing the immense amount of weight he had gained. He was a slob and reeked of alcohol. Beer bottles were thrown about the home and a fresh pack was sitting on the coffee table waiting for him.

Thor looked up and saw Amelia. He instantly lit up and hurried over to hug her. "Amelia! Hey, these are my friends Miek and Korg." Thor pointed over to his extraterrestrial friends on the couch.

"Beer's in the bucket. Feel free to log into the WiFi." Korg offered, quite kindly.

"Thor, are you okay?" Amelia asked, worried.

"Fine. Why, don't I look alright?" Thor asked, confused.

"You look like melted ice cream." Rocket bluntly told. Thor chortled.

"So what's up?" Thor asked Amelia.

Amelia folded her arms across her chest. "We need your help. We have a chance to fix everything." She told.

"Like what? The cable?" Thor wheezed.

"Like Thanos." Amelia blatantly told.

Thor's uplifted mood was quickly killed and a frown made its way on his face. He was no longer happy, he was now somber, almost furious, at the sound of Thanos' name. Thor clenched his jaw and turned his face away from Amelia. "Don't you say that name." He sniffled, holding back angry and regretful tears.

Amelia placed a hand on Thor's shoulder. "I know how you feel. But, if we have the chance to actually defeat him, why wouldn't you take it? I know you're scared—" Amelia began.

"Why—why would I be scared? I killed that guy. Anyone else kill that guy? No. I didn't think so." Thor choked up in between his words.

Before Amelia could say anything else, a roar of thunder was sounded from the sky. A flash of light lit up the outside and could be seen through the window's of Thor's home. Within seconds, a loud crash of something landing could be heard from outside of Thor's home. Everyone in the house turned to face the front door as they suddenly heard footsteps approaching. The door was slammed open and there revealed a tall, beautiful, caramel skinned woman. Her hair was blowing straight back behind her and a seemingly purple glow of light engulfed her. She was dressed quite casually for such a display of power, but her presence alone overpowered every superheroes' presence in that room. "Rhea?" Thor cocked his head, almost unable to identify her since it had been so long since he had last seen her.

Rhea's heart dropped when she saw how broken Thor looked. She and Thor were longtime friends and at one point lovers before Thanos came and ruined their lives. Thanos had directly affected her before the snap. He had kidnapped her sisters, Cassiopeia and Phoebe, and she hadn't seen them since then. She had searched long and hard for them, but they had just disappeared. She had spent her years searching for them instead of helping the Avengers defeat Thanos because she thought that the key to ending him would be to save her sisters. Yet, they were no where to be found. And Thanos had won, regardless of their presence.

Rhea noticed Amelia's presence in the room. Rhea was a goddess, created by the creator of the universe himself, along with her two other sisters. She had various powers and used them only for good. Many compared she and her sisters to angels sent from heaven to protect the innocent. But, she had felt like she failed the universe by not obliterating Thanos, her only true enemy other than death herself. Rhea spent many years in hiding from Thanos on Earth, giving her plenty of time to catch up on the major news on earth. She learned about the famous Captain Chronos, a belligerent beauty that fought against foreign hostiles to protect earth. "Captain Chronos, it is my greatest pleasure to meet you." Rhea bowed her head at Amelia.

Amelia felt incredibly honored to be respected by such a figure. "I am Rhea, a goddess of the universe." She introduced herself.

"I am pleased to meet you, Lady Rhea." Amelia wasn't sure how to address her, but she knew it had to be with some kind of formality.

"May I speak with Thor alone?" Rhea asked, her voice soft and soothing. Everyone obeyed as if she had the power of compulsion, like Amelia.

Once everyone scurried out of the room, Rhea wasted no time to embrace Thor, holding him close, sympathetically. She could feel the pain he was in just by the look of his face, and she knew exactly how he was feeling. He was feeling the exact same way when she had lost her own sisters to Thanos. "It's okay." She entangled her fingers into his blond hair. Thor felt comfortable in her arms and allowed himself to break down. He began to sob uncontrollably.

"I couldn't save them." Thor sniffled.

"I know," she hushed him, "I couldn't either. I wanted to be there with you, but I couldn't. I had to find Phoebe and Cassiopeia. I had to come up with a plan to end him, once and for all. But, Amelia has a plan now. And you cannot give up now. Hope is our strongest source of power, and once you lose that, you might as well be dead. Amelia came here to revive hope, and revive the universe."

"What if it doesn't work?" Thor asked her.

"It is a risk I am willing to take. Are you?" Rhea asked him.

Thor broke their hug and hesitantly nodded. "I missed you." He admitted. She was the light of his world. He truly loved her. He almost forgot how to love after Thanos. But, her return reminded him what it felt like. It felt like hope, peace, and most of all, life.