After a long time of silence we make it to the others where Clint reappears on the glass platform in front of us. He is breathing heavily and shaking as he's kneeled, we frantically run towards him at the sight.

"Hey, hey. Look at me. You okay?" Nat gets to him first and sits wide eyed.

"Yeah, it worked. It worked." He lifts a baseball glove with sweat gleaming on his forehead.

"You went back in time?" I rose my eyebrows and he moved his head upward.

"You look possessed." Clint observed and I adjusted my eyes to reappear. Clint swallows at the sight, "I think that made it worse."

-

Holograms display the stones before us as we sit around a table. Tony, Steve and Bruce are pacing at the front, leading the discussion we're holding. I feel Clints eyes stuck on me and I rise my hair as if I'm hanging upside down. Snapping my face toward him creepily. I see him shiver until I release it and turn my attention back to the front.

"Okay, so the "how" works. Now we gotta figure out the when and the where. Almost all of us has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones." Steve says.

"Well I'd substitute the word encounter for damn well near been killed by one of the six Infinity Stones." Tony objects.

"I haven't, I don't even know what the hell you're all talking about." Scott adds.

"Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each, and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history." Professor Hulk informs.

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

"Which means we have to pick our targets." Clint's tone reminds me a lot of how mine has been these past few years. Hearing it makes me question a little of myself. Seeing him so worn and hurt makes me question even more...

"Correct." Tony answers.

"Which stone do we start with?" I question.

"Let's start with the Aether. Thor, what do you know?" Steve turns his attention to Thor. He sits with his sunglasses over his eyes. Thor doesn't reply and we all wait.

"Is he asleep?" Nat asks as if she heard my thoughts.

"No, I'm pretty sure he's dead." Rhodey jokes but i tense when Thor gets up suddenly.

"Where to start? Umm... The Aether, first, is not a stone, someone called it a stone before. It's more of a... an angry sludge thing, so... someones gonna need to amend that. Here's an interesting story though, many years ago... My grandfather had to hide the stones from the Dark Elves..." Thor rambles.

"Interesting." I murmur.

"Wooooh, scary beings. They look like Isabelle but with pointy ears." He wiggles his fingers to imitate a spooky ghost.

"Move on." I growl and the others try to keep a serious facial.

"So Jane," An image of Jane Foster pops up on the screen, "Oh, there she is. That's Jane... She's... an old flame of mine... She she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time... and then the Aether stuck itself inside her... And, she became very, very sick. So I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I'm from. And we had to try and fix her. We were dating at the time, you see. I got to introduce her to my Mother... who's dead," Thor hesitates from time to time but now he seems more pained.

"Thor..." I whisper and catch his eye. "Off topic."

"And oh you know, Jane and I aren't even dating anymore. These things happen though you know, nothing last forever," Tony starts to push him back to his chair to stop Thor, "I'm not done yet, the only thing permanent in life is impermanence."

"Awesome. Eggs? Breakfast?" Tony says.

"I'd like a Bloody Mary, thank you." Thor grins slightly.

-

After we've given food Rocket paces, "Quill said he stole the Power Stone from Morag."

"Is that a person?" Scott asked confused.

"Morag's a planet. Quill was a person." Rocket clarified.

"A planet? Like in outer space?" Scott beamed.

"Oh, look. It's like a little puppy, all happy and everything." Rocket begins talking to Scott like he's a dog, "Do you wanna go to space? You wanna go to space, puppy? I'll get you to space."

"Can we please stay on topic." I suggest again and everyone groans at my tone.

Rocket continued, "It is protected in a orb shell. Anyone can handle it with the stone inside."

"It's easy to get then." Steve rose an eyebrow.

Rocket began chuckling, "Oh not at all... It is protected all around and if you touch the seal it will surely burn off that body part."

"I can manage." Nebula admitted finally speaking.

"There are people who might be after it or guarding it." Rocket shrugged, "I don't remember which Quill had mentioned."

"Helpful." I observed and he snickered.

Rocket pointed at me with a animal grin, "Great observation Nebula."

The first time I heard Nebula speak was just a sentence before. I had never met her but our expressionless face and emotionless voices were identical. Especially as I responded, "I'm Isabelle."

"Couldn't tell." Rocket glances between us still unsure, "Are you sure...?"

"We'll get them name tags..." Thor gulped a beer down, "Cause I cannot tell either... everything's very blurry..."

-

In the planning room Nebula stands before us scarily. Nat writing notes for their plan.

"Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir." She tells seriously.

"What is Vormir?" Nat questions, ready to write it all down.

"A dominion of death, at the very center of Celestial existence. It's where... Thanos murdered my sister." Nebula looks away. Her eyes are black but are strangely saddened. It's silent as Nat writes the information down.

Scott breaks the awkwardness with his announcement to the info, "Not it."

-

Nat has been to every meeting, every investigation, and every conversation. Between exchanging info and planning I would rush to train with whomever needed it. I battled Nebula, which I lost to immediately. I fought with Clint, he grew more vicious within the past 5 years. And Steve again, which Nebula and Clint left for.

"If you can't win against Nebula then Thanos will kill you." Clint had said before leaving, "If you can't fight me then you're screwed."

"Why are you pushing me out the door?" Nebula argued Clint but the door slammed before he could explain.

"They aren't wrong." Steve nodded with crossed arms as I steadied my panting. I brushed my loose hairs back as I looked at him. I just listened, "You ready for round two?"

"Ok." I replied standing tall. Steve took large steps toward me before stopping inches from my face.

"I'm not holding back. You have won against me before." Steve reminded.

"You're not a mass murderer or a robot alien." I argued and Steve didn't even express anything other than seriousness.

"I could still kill you if I wanted." Steve breathed warningly, no anger or threats but only truth. I readied myself when he said that, cracking my neck. Steve took that as an ok and slammed his foot against my own foot. I yelped kneeing him in the crotch which made his eyes gloss. He aimed his fist to my left ear in response and I caught it with my hand. My nails deepened in his palm. He turned it, using the other hand to slam into my stomach. I bit my tongue and felt blood leak in my mouth.

"Now you're playing dirty." I knew he was using all of his strength because I could've sworn it felt like a gunshot to my gut. Blood drooling down my lip and I wiped it before head butting Steve as hard as I could. He fell backward but didn't wait to give me another blow. His leg aimed for my throat and I squatted to miss it. When I leaped back up I led my elbow toward his chest. When it hit I pushed down as hard as possible. While doing that my hand pushed his jaw so his neck would stretch. He laid his palm against my back gently. The touch was a test and I knew it. It made me mad enough that ice sharpened on the end of my elbow. It cut deep in his chest making him grunt.

"Ok ok you're good." Steve slammed his hand against the ground multiple times and I released him. I sat beside him as he rose up.

"You're not a worthy opponent." I claimed quietly and he only looked at me seriously.

"Are you hurt?" He asked and I spit blood beside him. Steve glanced at the spot before returning his gaze to me. We stared at each other for a moment. "Let's go again."

"Really?" I gestured to his chest and he didn't flinch. "I almost killed you."

"Thanos will kill you. Don't ever think the fights over." Steve suddenly leaped at me and we rolled a couple times before I kicked him off. I kneeled like a cat before running at him full speed. He got up swiftly. We both threw punches and kicks. Swinging our physical powers at each other till we were bruised head to toe.

"What have you done these past 5 years." I panted while throwing more and more punches.

"Getting over you." Steve huffed as he blocked them. He swung his leg tripping me but I did a couple flips to catch myself.

"Did it work?" I slammed my fist into his nose and he groaned.

"Yes." Steve grabbed my retreating hand and yanked it forward. His large palm clasped around my throat but he didn't tug or choke. "And no."

"So it didn't work." I hadn't smiled at all these 5 years but my lips curled at the edges. His eyes widened and he pulled me by the neck to his knee. Hands first I caught it, pushing his force with all my might. I used my wind to send it flying backward.

"You gave me no choice." Steve kept going even when he was wearing out, "You forced me to move on. I knew that was your plan. I knew you well enough that you would make me hate you in order to give me a better life."

"Was that out of love?" I growled as our fists collided. Steve winced and backed off. He gestured, warning me he wanted to take a break from the shock. "I'll teach you something. Words are just as valuable in a fight if you know the right information."

"Did you ever get over me?" Steve's voice was hoarse as he asked, unwrapping his hands, "only fair for me to ask since you asked me."

"I can't feel anymore." I gargled water and spit back in my cup, "So I have no idea."

"Why don't you release yourself and find out?" Steve rose his eyebrow as he unwrapped his other hand, "You owe that to yourself."

"After this conversation I'm done talking about this. We have a battle to face." I cleaned any open wounds.

"I couldn't agree more." Steve finished and headed toward the door. His words weighed on me. Had I wanted to be mistaken for a robot or hated by my family? Was I saving myself or hurting others this way? While everyone else grieved I didn't, was I making a mistake..?

"Can I hear it again?" I closed my eyes and listened to the silence in my soul. Ice melted slowly around my chest, heat thudding suddenly. It hurt at first. But the warmth was thrilling. It yelled when it released and the powers kept doing as I asked as they unraveled the cell. I wanted to feel it, wanted to know what was hiding for years. Tears stung my eyes, "Is it not working anymore? This wall? ...Have they gotten to me already?"