───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰ ───

The phone line beeped again, signaling another unsuccessful call. (Y/N) moved the phone away from her ear and let out a curse under her breath, the anxiety inside her chest tightening every single time the phone line rang for countless second with no answer. Her unoccupied hand was stuffed inside the pocket of her jacket, trying to contain herself from playing with her ring because it added more fuel to the fire.

(Y/N) called all the numbers that were registered in her phone, the ones that she had absolutely no clue if they were still alive or not. The Rambeau residence, Pepper, Happy, Maria Hill, Fury, and even her brother Charlie. None answered. It felt like a sick joke from the universe's part.

She also tried to reach Carol with the communicator she'd programmed almost 20 years ago, since this marked as an emergency. But when she did so, it beeped and detected an error in the system and said that the line was occupied. This obviously frustrated her even further and amplified her emotions, which led to almost throwing the phone against the wall for its uselessness.

(Y/N) felt her head pounding profoundly as time went by. She had no way to know where Tony was or what state he was in, and that terrified her. After she saw the Time Stone in Thanos's gauntlet and heard his name leave his lips, (Y/N) had this horrifying feeling that she wouldn't be able to see Tony again. But she had to keep a positive mindset, even if it was impossible.

She was about to continue her spiral of thoughts until someone knocked on the door of the empty room she was in. When (Y/N) flickered her attention to the door, she saw Rhodey waiting on the threshold with a tense look on his face.

"What?" (Y/N) asked, not liking the look in his eyes.

"We found something."

(Y/N) stuffed the phone back in her pocket, eager to know more and hopefully prepared to hear some good news. Rhodey gestured for her to follow after him and she did so without a word. She trailed behind him through the large halls and floors of the compound, the place where all the survivors found themselves back in after not being together for 3 years.

"Is it Tony? Is it Fury?"

Rhodey shook his head. "Not exactly."

"Then what did you find?"

"That."

(Y/N) turned to the side where Rhodey was pointing at, having not realized that he had guided her to the lab in the midst of all the countless possibilities in her mind. There, in the examination table, held up in place by a large metal tweezer, stood the communicator from all those years ago. It was turned on with the blue and red colors in the small screen, indicating that a signal was being received and that's why (Y/N) couldn't dial it herself.

Her eyes widened and she didn't realize she had pushed through Steve and Natasha inside the lab to get a better look at the device. It had been a while since she had seen it, but it still looked like the last time Carol held it in her hands.

"Oh my god," was all that left her lips.

Bruce stepped in the room, wearing his glasses. "Whatever signal was sent crapped out."

"I thought we bypassed the battery," Steve spoke up for the first time, looking between the others.

(Y/N) snapped her head in their direction, finally snapping into reasoning. "Did you touch it?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Did you stop the signal?"

Natasha frowned at the questions, eyeing her friend suspiciously. "(Y/N), do you know what this is?"

"Answer me, where did you get it?"

"It was in Fury's belongings."

(Y/N) sighed through her mouth, placing her hands on her hips, serious eyes on her friends. "And it was turned on when you found it?"

"Yeah."

"We tried to cut the battery but it's still running," Steve explained once again, stuffing his hands on the pockets of his pants.

Bruce took off his glasses and hooked them in his dress shirt, nodding to his words. "It's still plugged in and just stopped."

"Yeah, because it's programmed to work that way."

"How do you know?"

"Because I was the one who did it."

All eyes were on her now. Steve exchanged a look with Natasha, who shrugged as if to silently tell him she had no idea too. (Y/N) got closer to the device on the other side of the glass where it was being displayed, trying to see if there was any change on the signal.

"Reboot it," Steve ordered to Bruce, determined. "Send the signal again."

"We don't even know what this is."

"(Y/N) does, and I trust her," Natasha told him firmly. Her eyes trailed to her and gestured for her to follow. "Come on, tell me who's on the other end of that thing."

(Y/N) took a step backward to follow after Natasha, but when she saw how she halted firmly on her step, she frowned. She peaked on the right side of Natasha's immobile form, and she froze in the spot too. There, standing in the middle of the room, stood her childhood best friend Carol Danvers, looking the exact same she did 20 years ago.

Her eyes were firm, as if she hadn't noticed the presence of her friend in the room and had a mission in her mind. "Where's Fury?"

(Y/N) knew she had to step in, otherwise her friends would have no clue what was going on. She moved around Natasha and entered Carol's line of sight, who's eyes easily softened once they settled on her form.

"(Y/N)," her name left her lips breathless, relieved to see a familiar face.

"Carol."

"'Carol'?" Rhodey whispered under his breath, looking amongst the others for a same reaction, but everyone ignored his words.

Then, (Y/N) did the unexpected and pulled her old friend into a bearing hug, one that was desperately needed. Carol accepted the hug, though there was a part of her that was embarrassed to show this side of her in front of unfamiliar faces, yet she closed her eyes to savor the action.

(Y/N) pulled away. "You got the signal."

"Emergencies only," Carol nodded toward the device behind them. "I panicked and came in a hurry."

"It's good you're here."

"Hold on," Rhodey interrupted again. He held up his hands up in a 'pause' motion, and all eyes were on him this time. "Who is this?"

(Y/N) shared a look with her friend before turning to the group. "This is Carol Danvers. The inspiration for the Avengers."

AAAAH FIRST CHAPTER OF THE LAST ACT 
i'm so nervous and excited for this

can't wait for the fluffy, angsty, and wholesome moments of this act

-see you soon, bex <3