Ashes.

THREE MONTHS LATER

The Avengers decided to have a meeting and they were kind enough to invite Jack to it. This was the first time they saw each other since…you know. It was so hard going back to the workshop and telling Sophie that their family wasn’t coming back. She was devastated. She cried in Jack’s arms for about an hour and he tried his best not to cry too. He failed.

Now he was back with these people. They seemed nice but he felt out of place there. He felt out of place everywhere. His thoughts were interrupted when Natasha started speaking.

“Okay everyone, this may still be going on, but this world needs heroes. We still need to be there for them.” Natasha and Jack share a knowing look. “So we’re keeping this team going. Making all of you that weren’t Avengers before, Avengers now. Today we don’t have much to do so I figured we should just talk. Sometimes we just need someone to talk to so just find someone so you don’t have to talk to everyone.”

Jack just stood and took a deep breath as everyone gathered into small groups of discussion, leaving Jack alone.

Rocket then called out to him, “Hey new kid! C’mere.”

He went and sat next to him and Nebula.

“How have you been doing?” Rocket asked him.

“Honestly…not good at all. I have all these responsibilities and at times I feel like I’m not good enough.” Jack exhaled. “The Guardians were the only family I’ve had in centuries and now they’re gone. All that’s keeping me here and doing my job is one of my first believers, Sophie.”

Rocket and Nebula looked confused. “The Guardians? What do you mean?” Nebula asked.

“The Guardians of Childhood. You know, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Sandman…Jack Frost.”

“I might have heard of you before. Quill probably said something about this.” Rocket said.

“Quill?” Jack asks inquisitively, “Like Peter Quill?”

Rocket looks confused and slightly defensive, “Yeah…How did you know?”

“I just–he was a kid that I stuck around with when he was young even if he couldn’t see me. I stuck around to keep the happiness up because he wasn’t really one to have a lot of company. Then when he was around eight years old…he disappeared,” Jack said.

Rocket just stared and nodded, processing the words with a melancholy expression on his face and his friend decided to take over.

“And you’re Jack Frost…right?” Nebula guessed.

Jack nodded. “And being spirits and Guardians means you need believers. Especially as a Guardian. You need believers to survive. After a couple years of being a Guardian, I have a decent amount of believers but now the others are gone and the chances of them losing believers without mine and Sophie’s help is large. So, we are keeping the magic going whether they’re here or not.

“That’s thoughtful.” Rocket said. There was an awkward silence for a while until he started to speak again. “I was in a team too. Nebula kinda was also but not officially. We were Guardians too. Guardians of the Galaxy. We ventured from planet to planet protecting others and…trying to be heroes I guess. Now they’re all gone. They were the only family I had too. I didn’t even get to be there with most of them in their last moments. I was here on Earth with Groot, meanwhile Quill, Drax, Mantis, Gamora, and Nebula were in space. Then Nebula came back. I found out that Quill, Drax, and Mantis disappeared and Gamora was killed by Thanos for the soul stone.”

Jack didn’t know what to say, “I-I’m sorry.”

“So am I. I–....I shouldn’t have taken them for granted.”

“My biggest regret was that I didn’t make amends sooner with my sister.” Nebula said.

“Your sister?” Jack asked.

“Gamora.” She clarified.

“W-wait, Gamora was your sister. Thanos was your father. Thanos killed your sister, so Thanos killed his daughter?” 

“We’re not actually related. We also didn’t truly think of Thanos as our father. Besides, he would never give up his plans for us.”

Jack truly didn’t know how to respond so he just stayed quiet. The only sound in the room was others talking.

“On the bright side, we’re still standing right? We can still…help somehow….” Jack said, taking a page out of North’s book. “After all that we lost, after doing this job that takes more than it gives we’re still here,” They nodded.

“Yeah, we’re pretty damn awesome aren’t we.” Rocket said.

“You’re right…we are pretty damn awesome.” Jack agreed.

The conversation became less sad and more positive. Jack loved talking to Rocket and Nebula. He thought that they were very fun to be around. It made him feel less lonely.

Maybe he’ll make it.