LIES
“Don't get lost, cowboy”,she teased him in a low voice.
Steve chuckled, though his smile appeared somewhat blank. Theo took notice of the one too many changes on him in the past hours- if not days. Actually, if someone was to ask her, Theo would need to admit that Steve had grown a little distant,gradually and slowly, but she could feel it.
“I won't”,he replied in a deep voice, almost too quiet to be heard.
He pulled her close to a kiss; a soft,affectionate one. The kind you give someone you love, someone you expect not to kiss in a long while afterwards. This was a goodbye kiss, although Theo couldn't have possibly known at the time.
“Come on now lovebirds”, Tony almost sang. “Time to restore the shit we messed up”.
Theo gave him a warning look; one arched eyebrow and lips pulled to a thin line. He was patched up pretty good. Seated on a wheelchair with his right hand inside a cast; too many bandages and bruises all over him to go along.
He was the one who suffered the most- he and Thor, having been the ones to wield Thanos' gauntlet,enough to face the aftereffects; Thor was limping, only walking with the aid of crutches,much to his displeasure.
Bruce was gone; if it hadn't been for him, Tony would have made the snap himself. Even Bruce wasn't enough though. Thor had to help him,as much as he could. Still- it was too much for Bruce to take. They had only held his reception the day before, along with Clint's.
Natasha wasn't in her greatest shape either. Could have been Clint's sacrifice that did the damage, but even before that she hadn't been herself in a long,long time.
Theo's left arm was as good as a stick; her tendon was severely damaged, enough to make sure that she would never be able to use it in it's full capacity again.
Steve's fingers brushed gently the most visible scars; the deep cut under her right eye, causing her iris to split into two colors: brown and gray. Her busted lip, the burn along her collarbone.
“Are you sure you're up for this? I hear Parker here's been dying to do some good old fashioned time travel”,she joked,faint chuckles following after her words.
But Steve didn't laugh at all. He merely smiled weakly as he kept looking at her, studying her every detail; as if he needed to take it all in at once, as if he had never truly seen her before, for this would be the last time he'd be able to.
To trace her dimples, and the lines formed on the corner of her lips any time she smiled; the bite marks on her right shoulder caused by a nightmare of a tag game done in kindergarten. The highlighted parts of her red hair falling down her chest, always braided delicately, as if performed by a ritualistic compulsion.
“Theodora..”,he dragged her name on his lips,humming.
Theo turned abruptly,as if ready to punch. “Want me to get you out of that wheelchair for good,Stark?”,he almost growled at him.
Tony pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows. This wasn't a surprise, nor something to be taken personally by him.
After all, it was no secret that in all her pretty much seven years now working as an Avenger - on the book at least, Theo had never, not once, been able to get along with Tony. To be honest, this worked two ways. Theo and Tony absolutely loathed each other's presence,since day one.
Steve finally managed to chuckle, even though it didn't last all that long. He kissed her again, a briefer kiss this time. He was afraid that he was stalling the inevitable.
“We've talked about this,Tee”,he whispered to her. “Play nice”,he smiled as he raised his eyebrows at her.
Theo sighed deeply,as if she was trying to master the courage and regain her cool.
“Fine”,she shrugged, her voice slightly pitched.
“We gonna do this, or not?”,Pietro finally huffed out, his arms crossed against his chest.
“Yes”,Steve nodded.
He pinched Theo's cheek,and she couldn't help but smile as she watched him get on top on the platform. Peter walked towards her, and it looked like he wanted a better view of the spectacle.
“S'that your first rodeo?”,she asked jokingly.
Peter snorted, choosing to dismiss her teasing. Wanda patted his shoulder,while her brother found a chuckle to be more fitting.
Steve closed off his helmet, his eyes never leaving Theo's. She was still smiling.
What she didn't notice was how Tony was also starring at her. His eyes though, weren't suggesting anything good. As Wanda thought, having seen him only by chance, they looked sorrowful; regretful,for some reason.
Theo looked over at Thor as he struggled to walk a little further away, and walked towards him,her arms crossed against her chest. She took a big breath,counting down the seconds as she looked over at the sky.
It seemed unfamiliarity clear; so incredibly vibrant. She chuckled; it was almost poetic,she thought to herself. The war was over.
Thanos was gone. The ones they'd lost had come back.
It was a day of celebration. Both for those who died, and those who lived.
“What's up there Big Guy?”,she asked him, her lips curved to a half smile.
Thor sighed, “Ah. Theodora. Still up for that drink?”
“You know I am”.
Thor seemed hesitant for a few seconds. Theo thought that to be strange,and so she relaxed her shoulders.
“I...”,he shook his head, “I never properly thanked you, Theodora”.
“Hm? What for?”
Thor clenched his jaw,raising his glance to look over at the far distanced horizon. “For keeping me company”,he huffed out in an awkward smile which faded too quickly off his face. “These passed five years.. You were the only one who kept on coming. Despite..you know, me being as I have been. Thank you for that”.
“Don't be a moron”,she mumbled. “We're friends”.
“..Yes”,he smiled. “That, we are”.
She smiled at him, feeling a warmth all over her body. This was a good place to be at, she thought. No more battles, no more fighting. Not for a while,at least.
They had managed to rent an apartment down in Brooklyn a couple weeks ago, though her and Steve still hadn't be able to get inside. The moving was challenging.
But it was alright. It was better this way,she thought to herself.
They'd go get a drink or two, celebrate in New Asgard as Loki was preparing a feast,as he had said so himself. Can't go wrong when the God of Mischief himself is throwing a party,now, can you – she figured.
But something was off.
“Shouldn't he be back by now?”,Bucky asked,stepping forward.
But Tony didn't answer at first. He looked awfully guilty,for whatever the reason.
“Stark- where's Steve?”,Theo said,ready to walk towards him,her fists already tightened.
“Damn you Rogers- “,he mumbled to himself. “You're gonna get me killed..”
But Sam turned around; he noticed a man a bit further from where they were standing, walking towards a bench. He tapped Bucky's shoulder ans whispered something.
“Wait-”,Bucky grabbed her arm.
“What? Damn it, James, if it's-”
“Theo”,he called her name more seriously, forcing her to stop talking.
Theo turned her head around.
The man was watching them all, waiting for something. Waiting for one of them to come closer.
Theo took a step forward,knitting her eyebrows together as to see a bit more clearly. Her glance fell over at the shield the man was carrying.
All of a sudden her expression changed completely; in matter of pure seconds, her hardened by anger face turned into a mourning,devastated one. Her eyebrows fell down, her eyes opened up widely as her lips parted.
Bucky noticed how the white of her eyes lit up by faint dark purple electric rods; she was unstable enough by the realization to having activated her powers without her knowledge.
“Theo..”,he tried to touch her, but he was jolted away.
Tony was holding everybody else in place,even Thor whom was insistent on going to her side. He was explaining to them what was going on, asking to not go near her at all.
Bucky felt his entire back aching from both the fall and the electricity spreading through his body. Energy Manipulation was a rather unstable and dangerous ability for one to hold, especially when that certain one what in that state of psyche.
Sam didn't dear and move. He saw how her fingertips were emitting the same faint rods in between them, but all he could do was lower his head and sigh.
“He...”,she stuttered,her voice cracked and low, “..he wouldn't. He..didn't. Did he?”