Chapter 3
I flick my wrist and he's caught in some wind, being carried back over to me. "What the Hell?"
"Stop being petty! I'm trying to do some good and you're making it harder than it has to be for me! So, you have fun. I'm not going to compete with you or anyone else. If you're going to do this shit every time I try to do something, I'll just make sure you don't know anything."
"I've donated plenty of money to education across the country, with T'Challa's help. And I've opened up safe spaces. Are you just mad because you didn't get to do it?" He smirks slightly and I drop him with a wave of my hand.
"Why are you being like this? I'm trying to do something good to make up for everything bad I've done and to help people... And you're making it impossible... I can't... I'm done... Here..." I give him my bank card and he looks at it. "That account has every last cent I have to my name in it. Do something good with it since you won't let me. Nineteen sixty-nine is the code to get in it and to withdraw money. Have at it, Tony." I leave and go to my floor where Pietro was waiting, going into his arms.
"He sabotaged you." He holds me close and I curl into him.
"He didn't... He just has more experience with money, people, and business than I do... I would've failed anyway so it's fine..." He kisses my head gently and I relax, falling asleep against him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wake up by myself on the couch and sit up, rubbing my face slightly. "JARVIS, what's up?"
"Raz, you should go to the gym."
"OK. Take me to it." I get on the elevator and get taken to the gym, stepping off to see Sammy, Dean, Castiel, Gabriel, T'Challa, Shuri, and Zemo had gotten here at some point.
"Razzle Dazzle, you shouldn't be here," Tony says carefully and I ignore him, going further into the gym before I freeze at who I see.
"Mom!" Gamora laughs and I stare at her. "I knew it! I knew Indri and Udonta were lying! I knew you weren't dead! You've gotta come back with me! Cap only gave me a few solar cycles and my times almost up! Come on! Gods, the others are going to be so happy to see you!" She steps toward me and I step back, making her freeze. "Mom? What's wrong?"
"Get away from me..."
"Mom-"
"Stop calling me that... I'm not coming with you..."
"But... Quill and Loki need you!"
"They didn't seem to need me when you all left me here..."
"We were trying to do the right thing!" She looks at me and her eyes land on my arm. "What have they done to you? What happened to your arm? Why do you have that thing?" She comes toward me again and I back up more, barely keeping it together.
"Mom!" A small weight slams into my side and I look over, seeing Quill.
"You all left me here... And you want me to just come back like it never happened?" I gently push Quill toward Gamora and she goes over to her, confused.
"We were trying to give you a chance at normal!"
"My normal was with you guys... You left me here like I was nothing... Like everything I'd ever done for you guys was nothing... I'm not coming back with you..."
"Yes! You are!" She presses a button and a portal opens beneath me, having me land in a cell on a ship. Gamora and Quill land in it next and I was trying to break open the door. "Mom, it's OK. We're gonna bring you back and fix you up. The right way." The ship starts up and I feel my heart start to race, another portal opening behind me.
I get yanked back into the gym and spin to look at the others while they keep their distance to give me time to calm down. I hear the ringing of a wrist com and look around, taking it from Castiel when he holds it out. I answer the incoming transmission and look at the people that had been my family, from the adults to the kids. "I don't know how to make this any more clear than I already have... If you send anyone else after me, I don't care who it is, I will send them back to you in a coma..."
"Rogue-" Aleta tries and I growl, letting both mindsets come out in it to shut her up.
"You are not my family anymore... You are not my crew... You are nothing to me... Just like I was nothing to you when you left me here... You can use whatever excuses you want to help yourselves sleep at night... But I am never coming back to the stars... So you guys... Can kiss... My fucking... Ass..." I crush the wrist com in my right fist before they can say anything and Pietro looks at me before coming over.
"Rebel?" He asks gently and I wrap my arms around his waist when he's close enough, resting my forehead on his shoulder as he wraps his arms around me. "It's alright, love... I have you..." I grip his shirt and he holds me tighter, gently petting my hair as he eases us to the floor. "They won't stop, will they?"
"They never listened to what I had to say about my life... They're gonna come... All together... The Captains, the First Mates... The kids... Indri... What am I supposed to do?"
"Make them stop coming after you."
"They won't... They'll just regroup... And try again... They're as bad as the damned slavers..." He gently kisses my head and holds me as I calm down completely to be able to think a little clearer.
"Better?"
"I guess... I still don't know what I'm supposed to do about them... Knowing them they'll be here soon enough..."
"Your floor?" I nod and he helps me stand with him. "Then we'll be waiting." We all head up to my floor and I sit on the floor by the chair Pietro sits in, closing my eyes as I cross my legs.
"What are you doing?"
"Thinking..." I was meditating to finish something Zemo, Shuri, and I had started on for making myself a third mindset with the best of both worlds and it had required that I meditate for at least an hour a day to continue to set it up. But, she's been made so I just have to meditate to prepare her in case I need her because she's way back in my head.
I hear the telltale sound of one of Krugarr's portals and stand, looking at my former family. "Girl," Yondu greets and I stare at him. "Yer comin' with us."
"No, I'm not. I'm with my family and I'm not a Ravager anymore." Indri looked guilty and I notice one kid was missing.
"Your youngest stayed with Odin and Frigga on Asgard," Stakar supplies and I look at him.
"Good. I'm not coming back. Ever."
"Rogue, please," Indri begs and I look at him, maintaining my resolve. "It was my idea and it was terrible! Please, come back!"
"No."
"You swore to protect me!" He yells and something in me snaps as I make a gust of wind shove him over to me so I can grab him by the duster.
"Don't you dare imply I didn't keep my promise to Dad and 'Mora! You're the one that did wrong here, Indri!" I shove him away from me and he stumbles into Charlie. "I didn't leave your family, you left me! This is the last time I will ever speak to or see any of you again!"
"So you're going to leave your children without a mother too?"
"They've been without a mother for this long, they'll be fine."
"You're going to abandon me? Again?" Quill asks and I feel my heart shatter slightly but ignore it.
"I never abandoned you, to begin with. But... Here, let's make it simple. I have no grandfathers, I have no grandmother, I have no uncles, I have no Moddy," Doc's face falls so much and it hurts me to say that one but I continue. "I have no brother, and I have no children!" I end in a bellow and Petey looks like a knife got twisted in his heart.
"Alright..." The kids go through a portal with Doc and Segs and the rest of the Captains and First Mates look at me.
"Tha's it," Yondu growls and attacks me. I let Feral Tundra out and attack him back, easily overpowering him. Kraglin attacks me to get me off of Yondu and I flip over Yondu, kicking Kraglin in the face to send him to the ground. I throw Yondu on top of him and look at the others in a fighting stance matching when I was Feral but having the lax of the Tundra Soldier. Martinex attacks me and uses his powers to make ice appear on the floor, trying to put me at a disadvantage.
That doesn't happen and I go slightly lower, flipping him over me onto the floor before sliding him into Charlie and Stakar's feet as they charge me too. "Sleep!" I avoid Mantis' hand and look at her.
"Mantis, you were always a good friend to me. I don't want to hurt you," I say slowly and she tries to touch me again. "I'm sorry." I only let her touch my right arm and throw her on top of Charlie.
Branches wind themselves around me and I look at Groot and Rocket. "Sorry, kid," Rocket says sadly and I look at them. I send a sharp vine through the branches on me and roll away, looking at Drax as my Katana from Gamora is slid to me along with the sword from my wedding with Loki. I pick them up and look at them for a moment. Drax charges me with his twin blades and was aiming to injure me.
I block the blades and go into a full-on sword fight with him, the others watching. "Ro- Raziah. I wish that you'd come back with us. But, I get why you won't. You beat him, we'll stop coming after you," Aleta says and Drax freezes so we can both look at her. "I give you my word." I offer her my hand and she shakes it.
"Alright." I come back to myself by rolling my head on my shoulders and look at Drax, both of us circling each other as the others back up a bit.
"Ahhh!" He yells as he attacks and I block it, kicking him away easily before going into a flip. I flip my hair back as I land and stand, spinning my swords around my hands quickly. "You have gotten... What is the phrase? Rusty? You have forgotten everything Gamora and I taught you."
"You've gotten old and senile since I last saw you." I move quickly and swing my swords just as quickly, mimicking Gamora during training from when I was a kid.
"And you still talk too much." He hits my hand with his blade and flings my Katana away from us, having it lodge in the floor by Pietro. "And get distracted much too easily." He tries to attack me and I block them easily, bracing the blade with my left hand before I shove him away.
"Says you. You were the one that always got distracted." I spin my sword around my shoulder and shift into a better stance, keeping my eyes trained on him as I crook my fingers at him. He attacks me and I block most of his attacks, spinning away from one as he slices the air. It cuts my hair and I narrow my eyes at him. "That took me ten damn years to grow."
"You never cared about hair before. What's the difference now?" He smirks and I notice Pietro move over slightly. Drax attacks me and I slide under one of his blades, skidding to a stop next to my Katana before I pull it out of the floor. I stand and he attacks me. I block them and work on disarming him carefully so that I don't injure him.
I get his blades from him and have him on his knees while my swords are in an X against his throat. "We'll stop coming after you," Aleta says softly and I take my swords away from his throat, backing away. "Have a good life, Raziah."
"I do." Groot comes over to me and I look at him. He leaves with Rocket without a word or gesture and that hurts me so much. The portal closes and I sink to the floor, leaning against a wall.
"You got to defeat them all one last time," T'Challa says and I nod slightly, looking at my Katana. "Who is it from?"
"Gamora gave it to me... It was a Christmas gift... And an inadvertent twenty-second birthday gift too... Cuz I always said that I was a space pirate and there was a severe lack of sword fights..." I run my fingers over the blade and get slightly annoyed. "The assholes couldn't even maintain it after stealing it from me."
"You don't have to use a sword anymore, however."
"I know. But this was a gift from someone who isn't here anymore because I didn't react the right way to the Kree about fourteen years ago..."
"That wasn't your fault, kid," Bucky says and I shrug one shoulder, getting more annoyed at the terrible shape my Katana was in.
"I've got to find someone who will fix this up for me..."
"I can," Shuri says and I look at her. "I can sharpen it, clean it. If you would like."
"I'd appreciate it a lot..."
"Then I shall do it." I sheath it and pass it to her at her insistence. "Any upgrades to it?"
"No. Just... Just like it is now, but in better condition."
"I can do that."
"Thank you."
"And the other sword?"
"I'll figure out how to do it myself."
"Is that the one from your wedding with Loki?" Nat asks, shocked, and I nod. "God... What did they do to them? The blades are duller than Steve's humor and there are stains on them from blood."
"No one cleaned or sharpened them. That won't be happening again, though." Pietro looks at me as I look at my marriage sword with sadness and he sits next to me.
"I'll help you with them."
"Thanks..." I smile a bit and he smiles back. I run my thumb over the edge of the sword and was less than pleased at the lack of blood it draws. "Gonna have to talk to Odin to find the best way to clean and sharpen this so I don't ruin it," I murmur to myself and he looks at me. I look up at him and furrow my eyebrows slightly, confused. "What?"
"You are a marvel, you know that?"
"I've been told that so many damned times. Yes, I know. I like swords and they need to be maintained properly or they don't look good."
"Why?"
"I was taught that by a woman who cared about her swords more than her husband! OK?"
"I'm sorry... What?"
"Gamora fought Dad over a spare room on their main ship that he wanted to turn into a disco and she won. So... She turned it into a place to store her swords, clean them, sharpen them, fight with them, and train with them. That fight was amazing," I laugh slightly and he smiles. "She wiped the floor with him in two minutes flat. She was an amazing fighter because of Thanos and Ronan. Not long before I got taken in by the Nova Corps for the false charge of kidnapping and the Kree, the two of us fought and she kicked my ass faster than she kicked Dad's. But, she got that I was exhausted and promised me a rematch after I got some sleep, more crew, and some food. Seven years happened, Pops died, then they did and I never got that damned rematch I was promised..." I bend my knee and rest my left arm on it then rest my chin on my arm.
"Did you two get along?" Zemo asks and I think back to my childhood with a small smile.
"Yeah... We had a lot of fights to help me train and she let me bitch about Dad or the crew or anything if I needed to... She taught me about swords, blades, anything I asked about... I taught her about bows and arrows... It was just nice to be around her... She looked ready to kill when the Stealing of the Bride was mentioned... They both had rings to propose to each other and Gamora beat Dad to it so I suggested a Stealing of the Groom..."
"That makes sense. Only you would think of that."
"Yeah, I also tried to give her a high five for breaking gender norms and no one understood what I was talking about."
"New subject. Did you stab someone with a fork?" Morgan asks and I think a bit, laughing after a moment.
"Oh, man. I forgot about that! Yeah, I stabbed them in the hand. I was in the middle of my latest hyper fixation and he took the holopad it was on from me! I could've done so much worse. He wanted me to joke with them about Jay, who I had just met. He had the biggest crush on me and would call me kid, shorty, Ro, and sweet girl. One of the first things he said to me to show off the crush was that I was pretty. In front of the crew in Mess. During a quiet moment. When I say that nearly every one got whiplash with how fast they looked at us, I'm not over exaggerating. Dad hated how much time we spent together and we spent more time together just to piss him off more. Dad got so pissed about us spending time together that he had Stakar take Jay with him."
"How'd you react?"
"The only way someone reasonable does. I stowed away with them."
"That's something someone reasonable does?"
"Yes." They roll their eyes slightly and I smile. "He took us back the next day and we got to clean the entire hangar. I got good at it. And at cleaning vents. And ships. And the mess hall. And the gym. And doing dishes. And scrubbing floors in the med bay. I got good at cleaning a lot of stuff in those twelve years as a crew member. But, especially good at being a mechanic, engineer, and tech."
"Wow. A triple threat."
"Ha! Funny! I wasn't a triple threat. I was just a threat. I still am."
"I don't believe that. How could you be a threat?"
"You're adorable," I say easily in Gaelic, and Steve and Bucky look at me in shock. "Yeah. I'm fluent in Gaelic. And more."
"Like?" Tony asks nervously and I smirk slightly.
"You and Peter like to talk shit in Italian."
"Oh, God..."
"Yeah. You and Loki would talk shit in Norse," I say to Thor and his eyes go slightly wide. "Yeah... I didn't learn English until I was three."
"I want to see something." I look at Strange and he waves his hands. "Speak."
"OK. Pineapple. Belongs. On. Pizza. Because. It. Is. Delicious. And. You. Can. Not. Change. My. Bloody. Mind," I say each word in another language and he looks at me, surprised.
"That spell is only supposed to allow you to speak in your native language... How did you speak Mandarin, Japanese, Russian, Gaelic, Italian, Spanish, Norse, Filipino, German, French, Arabic, Finnish, Korean, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish?" He waves his hands again and I shrug.
"I spoke Mandarin and Japanese with Keiko and the others with my Mom."
"But you didn't understand me when I said a little that one time."
"I understood, but I couldn't place the words with the language."
"Why did you need to study Russian, then?"
"Just because I was already fluent in it doesn't mean I know how to write or read it. Or any of them, other than Japanese, for that matter. I can speak languages easily. Writing and reading them? Yeah, no. That takes more effort."
"Do we even want to know what other languages you know?"
"For here, I know... Coding languages because Keiko was into that for a while, morse code because she was obsessed with that, American Sign Language thanks to Clint, and... Latin because of Dean and Sammy."
"You scare me," Dean says simply and I shrug cooly.
"I am rather terrifying. Roar," I say sarcastically and Sammy laughs while Dean glares at me. I smile charmingly at him and he rolls his eyes.
"I hate you sometimes, you know that?"
"That's fair. I know how to speak more languages because of the Ravagers but not useful now... Hm. And I know so many more languages here. You guys might even get to hear them at some point."
"What are you?" Scott asks and I look at him.
"I'm a fucking Goddess, dude, but cooler." I wave my right hand slightly and a fireball appears in my palm. "See?"
"You've finally become Aang!" Morgan says excitedly and I laugh with a bright smile, nodding.
"Yeah, I guess I did. Took long enough, huh?" She nods and I smile, looking at her for a moment. "You're turning twenty-one tomorrow, right?"
"Today, but yeah. Why?"
"Oh, kiddo... We're celebrating."
"Aren't you a little... Old for the kind celebrating I think you mean?"
"Old? Ha! You got jokes."
"You're, like, forty-five."
"So?"
"So shouldn't you stay home and knit or something?"
"Wow, you got jokes. Good ones too." I stand and sheath my marriage sword, for now, leaning it against the wall carefully. "Get up. We're celebrating."
"What? Now?"
"No, in an hour. Yes, now. Come on."
"How are you going to celebrate her twenty-first birthday?" Pepper asks suspiciously and I smile.
"You're welcome to come too. Hey, give me back my card. Or two hundred bucks." Tony hands me two hundred dollars and I take it with a slight nod, pocketing it. "Dope. Let's go, Morgan. It'll be fun!" I wrap an arm around her shoulders and she looks at me suspiciously.
"We have different definitions of fun, Raz..."
"So you don't want to go to the bar downtown that has the theme of Hamilton?"
"What?"
"Cuz, if not..." I start to take my arm away and she grabs it.
"No! No! I wanna go!"
"You sure? I mean... We have different definitions of fun, remember?"
"What? I never said that! I don't know what you're talking about! Come on! Let's go!" She tries to tug me to the elevator and I won't budge.
"Chill. We've got time and I need more money. Tony?"
"Why'd you even give me your card if you're just going to bug me for money?"
"So I could bug you for money in retaliation for you being a prick. I need like... Three hundred more bucks."
"Christ..." He hands me the money and I grin slightly.
"'Preciate it, Tones. Alright. Let's go so we can get food before they open."
"Are we gonna ask Happy for a ride?" I scoff and toss her a spare helmet.
"Nope. We're taking a ride. It's been too damn long since I've rode my bike."
"Yeah, that makes sense."