'Bruce gave him a sedative,' Rhodey explained. 'He's gonna probably be out for the rest of the day.'

The team gathered in the meeting room. Carol Danvers, the woman who brought Tony and the spaceship back to Earth, stood with the Avengers as its new addition. Nebula, the woman with blue skin and black eyes, was also with the group. They hadn't officially discussed who Carol was or why she saved Tony, but they knew that Director Fury had contacted her before he was blipped. She was powerful and that's what they needed.

'I can see that you're capable of taking care of him,' Carol looked to Susan, who she had observed closely ever since entering the compound. 'And I'll bring him a Xorrian Elixir when I come back.'

'What's an Xorrian Elixir?' Sue asked and Carol offered her a smile; the only one that she had shown all day.

'It'll help with his malnutrition.'

Susan nodded and Carol turned away. The woman headed for the door and the team glanced at each other with raised eyebrows.

'Where are you going?' Natasha inquired and Carol stopped on her pursuit.

'To kill Thanos.'

The team followed Danvers out of the meeting room and down the hall. Steve caught up with her and insisted that they may be out of their depth with a fight off of Earth, but it was their battle too. Nebula added that it would be impossible to find Thanos, while Rocket showed a hologram of a plant that emitted waves of cosmic energy.

'Thanos is there,' Nebula pointed to the planet.

Sue's head pounded with the back and forth that ensued. There was mention of the Infinity Stones, and Carol looked confident that she would be able to take on Thanos regardless. Everyone seemed keen to hunt down the titan, while Sue was reluctant. The first battle against him proved unsuccessful as they barely wounded Thanos in Wakanda. There was also the consideration of what everyone lost due to the battle. Vision lost the Mind Stone and his life despite their best attempts and the Avengers lost everything. Sue didn't think she would be able to go through that again, even if she lost nearly everything the first time. But with Tony back, she felt like she needed to spend time with the only person she had left. 

'Let's go get this son of a bitch,' Steve's cursing made Sue snap back into the conversation. Everyone dispersed to begin suiting up, while Sue stayed put. Her hands fiddled with the cuffs of her jumper, which were yellowing and were in dire need of a wash. It was only now that she realised how gross she felt and how much she wanted to have a shower. Being stood with the whole team for the first time in weeks humbled her to say the least.

'Sue? You coming?'

She turned her head and saw the lifted brow of the Black Widow. Sue bit her lip and struggled to think of what to say. She didn't want to seem like she was letting the team down, but she didn't want to face Thanos while wishing she was at home with Tony. Being even slightly distracted in battle could be fatal, especially against a titan with six Infinity Stones. It was suicide to walk in with reluctance and Sue wouldn't be able to bare it if someone got hurt because she wasn't concentrating. 

'I-I... I don't think I am...' Sue mumbled and prepared for the questions. Why? Are you afraid? You shouldn't be. You're amazing, Susan. Don't put yourself down, Susan. We need you.

But none of it came. The Storm looked up to see Natasha with soft eyes. Even though the Black Widow was trained to be expressionless and hard, Sue had seen nothing but understanding and kindness from Natasha Romanoff. Especially during Susan's rough period, the woman tried to coerce her out of bed and serenade her with comforting words. They never worked, but her kindness didn't go amiss.

'Going into space got you freaked?' Natasha joked and a small smile broke through Sue's lips.

'I'm one of the few of us who has already gone into space, thank you.'

It was music to Natasha's ears to hear the sarcasm in Susan Storm's voice. But as much as she wanted to stay and talk, Natasha had to suit up. She gave her another fond look before heading down the hallway, leaving Sue in the meeting room.

---

True to Bruce's words, Tony was out of consciousness for the rest of the day. He slept dreamlessly and still, the bedsheets unruffled for the entirety of his slumber. When he did wake up, FRIDAY alerted Sue, who was in the kitchen preparing a small meal. She was yet to accustom her stomach to eat properly since her poor habits in the past month were etched into her system. But she was able to hold down light meals that consisted of apple slices, plain bread and sometimes maybe soup. After showering and brushing her hair, Sue felt better and spent most of her time by Tony's bedside. But in true Stark fashion, Tony awoke when Sue wasn't in the room.

'Miss Storm, Mr Stark is awake,' FRIDAY sounded.

'Thank you, FRIDAY.'

Sue put down the knife she used to cut her apple and headed to Tony's bedroom. She backtracked at first and made sure to fill a glass with water from the fridge's dispenser. There was no doubt that Tony would be thirsty after sleeping for a whole day. She wasn't sure how much water he had access to on the spacecraft, but she didn't think there was gallons of it available.

The team had left the planet the day prior and were yet to return. For the first time in a while, the compound was empty besides its two residents. Sue took the time to recollect herself and attempt to slide into some natual habits. Her morning consisted of making sure her hair was clean and her face was washed. She washed the clothes she spent most of her time in and did her best to act normal again. But with the constant voice in the back of her mind telling her that things could never be normal, it made it difficult to be completely in denial.

'Oh, you're the Jesus of our time,' Tony Stark sighed in relief when he saw the glass of water in Sue's hand. He wasted no time in taking it from her and downing the liquid at lightning speed.

'You could at least sit up properly,' Sue tried. He propped himself up on a bony elbow and ignored her. She sighed and waited for him to empty the glass, which he did in a total of eight seconds. With a deep sigh of bliss, Tony opened his eyes that had slid shut during his much-needed drink. He stared ahead to process the chill that ran down his throat before his eyes moved to Sue, who settled herself into the chair that was permanently stationed next to his bed.

'Thanks. I needed that,' he said through pants and leaned back against the headboard. 'But how are you? I never asked.'

'I'm... fine.'

Her teeth were hot with the lie. But Tony wasn't gullible, and Sue knew that. Tony's gaunt face dropped as he analysed the woman he last saw in New York. He was over the moon to walk off the spacecraft and to be engulfed by Sue, but he hadn't considered the effect everything had had on her. Her heavy-lidded eyes and colourless face were unlike her and the smile he loved so much was absent. Even when she spoke, there was no hint of joy or content in her voice. The way she used to talk with a growing smile was something Tony loved dearly about Sue, but now it was gone, and Tony didn't realise that something so beautiful could be taken away.

'How's Pepper?' he decided to ask about the situation in a round-a-bout way.

'I haven't heard from her much. She was there when... it took Morgan. And when she found out about Johnny... she fell apart.'

'Oh, god,' Tony pulled his hand up to cover his eyes and his voice quivered. The image of his daughter's smiling face and dark brown eyes made his heart shatter. It was like she never existed. She didn't die, or went missing, she was wiped out. Dissolved into atoms and spread across the universe with the billions of other living creatures. It was so cruel to take something that they tried so hard to keep uninvolved, yet Morgan suffered anyway. 

'The kid went too,' Tony mumbled. 'He wasn't even meant to be there. God... this is... a mess. The biggest mess.'

'Peter?'

Tony nodded and Sue swallowed. Another person who wasn't meant to be involved. Susan's eyes stung but she willed the tears away, allowing one sniffle before she resorted to squirming in the chair. She thought of Peter's Aunt, May Parker, and how she must be feeling. Or if she had been blipped too. If she hadn't, she would have seen Peter before he went off to school that day. And that was it. She would have had no choice but to assume the worst, seeing as the news reported the mass extinction that selected at random.

'Where's uh... where's the team? Where's Steve?' Tony rubbed at his eye that let a tear fall. He turned his face away from Sue before turning back to appear as if nothing had happened. But of course, the Storm was too observant.

'They went to kill Thanos,' she replied tonelessly, and he let out a 'tsk'.

'You know what I say to that?'

'Not your circus?'

'Not my monkeys.'

Sue's lips hitched up into a half smile. At the sight of it, Tony did the same. With a gesture of his head, Sue leaned out of her chair and carefully shuffled onto the bed. The Stark did his best to edge over, but it took a while and a whole lot of strength. Sue waited for him to do what he could, before she wrapped her arms around his thin shoulders. She was gentle as she leaned over to be close to him and let her head rest against his. Tony used the rest of what little strength he had to embrace Sue's middle, and the two sat in silence in their gentlest of hugs. Neither of them wanted to grip too hard in fear of hurting the other, but they sighed into the hug and let themselves drown in each other's sadness.

'So, this is it, huh?' Tony mumbled into Sue's shoulder. 'No more fighting. No more Iron Man. No more The Invisible Woman.'

'I'd say our last battles broke us for good,' Sue whispered back.

'The hothead would've found my beating very comical. Might have been his opportunity to beat the shiny Bruce Willis.'

'The surfer was there? With Thanos?'

She felt Tony nod against her shoulder. Johnny's ongoing feud with the silver surfer was somewhat humourous, but it was tainted when knowing where Johnny resided now. Sue's head pounded with the image of Johnny's disintegrating body before he was gone. His expression of acceptance before he left was burnt into her mind and she knew how Pepper must be feeling.

The Potts was at the Avengers Headquarters in a state when they arrived back at the compound all those weeks ago. She was distraught with her orange hair in a mess and her hand clutching her phone, which had been desperately trying to connect to Johnny's. The woman staggered over to Sue, who walked numbly with the team whose heads all hung low. Pepper grabbed Sue's forearms and looked frantically around her, eyes flooded with tears and confusion smoking her mind.

'W-What the hell is going on, Sue?! E-Everyone's gone! Everyone!' Pepper cried and her hands shook. 'W-Where's Johnny?! D-Don't tell me. Don't tell me he's-'

Sue broke down into a fit of tears and Pepper did the same. The Storm's shoulders shook, and Pepper muttered 'no' continuously, before falling against Susan. The women sobbed together, and the team left them in yard, their own losses etched into their hearts.

That was the last time Sue saw Pepper. Bruce had been the one to try and contact her, but when the call did connect, there wasn't much to be asked. He learnt that she had stepped away from Stark Industries and Richards Inc., which was understandable. She was at home in Malibu and was mourning the loss of her new husband. But other than that, she was in a similar state to Sue.

'Are we going back to Maine?' Sue asked Tony, the two still wrapped in each other's arms. Tony let out a hum and thought of their home.

'There's nothing I'd like more.'