Where the stones are
Kat couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she and Tony drove to the compound a few days later. She hadn’t told Steve they were coming back yet, she wanted to surprise him. He was outside when they pulled up, and smiled when she got out of the car, leaning down to kiss her when she reached him. “I told you.” She whispered in his ear.
“Why the long face?” Tony asked. “Let me guess, he turned into a baby.”
Steve sighed. “Among other things yeah.”
“It’s the EPR paradox.” Tony told him, getting out of the car and walking to the trunk. “Instead of pushing Lang through time, you ended up pushing time through Lang. It’s tricky, dangerous. Somebody should have cautioned you against it.”
“Tony.” Kat warned.
“You did.” Steve said.
“Oh, did I? Well thank God I’m here.” Tony replied. Kat rolled her eyes. She was regretting this already. “I fixed it.” He said, pulling his wrist up. “A fully functioning time-space GPS.”
“Turns out resentment is corrosive, and I hate it. We got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities. Bring back what we lost, I hope yes. Keep what I found, I have to, at all costs. And maybe not die trying.”
Steve shook Tony’s hand and smiled at him as he opened the trunk, sneaking a look at Kat. She had a giant smile on her face and he raised an eyebrow at her. Tony pulled Steve’s shield out and handed it to him. Kat looked up at him and he seemed so unsure. He’d been without it for so long. He’d told her the story about what happened with Tony’s parents, and how Tony had kept the shield. Steve felt like he didn’t deserve it anymore, but Kat knew he did.
“Tony, I don’t know.” Steve sighed.
“Why? He made it for you. Plus, honestly, I have to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding.” He said.
“Oh, that sounds fun.” Kat added. Tony gave her a look. “You’re a bad influence already.” He told her. She stuck her tongue out at him and watched with pride as Steve took the shield from him, sliding it on his arm like it had never left.
“Thank you, Tony.” Steve said gratefully. Tony nodded and smirked. “Keep that quiet, will you? Didn’t bring one for the whole team.” Kat laughed and followed the two men inside, Steve telling them that Bruce was going to find Thor.
Kat went into the room she shared with Steve and set her bag down. Tony was here. Bruce was on his way to get Thor, Nat to get Barton. Rhodey and Nebula were here. They could do this. She felt arms circle her waist and she leaned back, smiling.
“I missed you.” Steve whispered into her neck. She smiled and turned to face him.
“I missed you too Steve.” She told him, leaning up to kiss him softly. She pulled back and rested her forehead against his. “Do you think we can do this? I mean, really do this?” She whispered.
Steve sighed, running his hands up and down her back. “God, I hope so sweetheart. I don’t know what will happen if we don’t. We’ve given everyone so much hope, if this doesn’t work, it will truly break everyone.” He told her. She nodded and they just stood there for a few more minutes, taking in the last moments before they tried to complete the impossible.
Barton was standing in the middle of the platform they would be using. He had volunteered to do the test run; they were trying to figure out if they could bring something back. If they could do that, then they could get the stones. Kat slid her hand into Steve’s and gave it a squeeze. She knew that if they failed at this, he would take the blame for it, he always took everything as his responsibility.
“Clint, you ready?” Bruce asked. Barton nodded from the platform, giving Bruce a thumbs up.
“We’re going in three, two, one.” Suddenly Clint was gone. Bruce said it would only take about ten seconds before he came back through, and Kat felt like it was the longest ten seconds of her life.
Barton reappeared, stumbling to catch himself, holding up a baseball glove. Nat helped him up and he held it out, throwing it to Tony. “It worked.”
They all laid around the conference room, looking at all the stones on various screens. “We have to figure out the when and where. Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity stones.” Steve told them.
“Or substitute the word ‘encounter’ for damn near been killed by.” Tony cut in.
“Well I haven’t.” Scott added. “I don’t even know what the hell you’re all talking about.”
Bruce walked behind Scott, going over to stand in front of the screens. “Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each, and these stones have been a lot of places throughout history.”
“Which means we have to pick our targets.” Barton said.
“So, let’s start with the Aether. Thor, what do you know?” Steve asked. Everyone looked in the corner at Thor, who looked like he was asleep.
“Is he asleep?” Nat asked.
“No, no. I’m pretty sure he’s dead.” Rhodey answered. Kat picked up a notepad off the table and chucked it at Thor’s head, jolting him awake, rolling her eyes when he immediately took a swig from the beer can in his hand.
He finally got up and made his way to the front of the room, swaying on the spot. Steve took a seat next to Kat and sighed, sliding his hand up her leg, resting it on her thigh. She ran her hand through the back of his hair, trying to relax him, while they listened to the drunken tale of how the Aether got put into Jane Foster, then taken out. Tony eventually had to stop him, offering him some food to soak up some of that alcohol. He wanted a Bloody Mary.
Rocket was up next, telling them how Peter Quill came across the Power Stone. There were many Chinese takeout boxes spread across the table, so many Kat had lost count. The amount of food Steve could put away was impressive, but add in Bruce and Thor, and it’s a wonder there was any left for the rest of them.
“Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir.” Nebula explained.
“What is Vormir?” Nat asked.
“A dominion of death, at the very center of celestial existence.” She said. Everyone looked up at her with wide eyes. A little dramatic, if you asked Kat. “It’s where Thanos murdered my sister.” There was silence for a few seconds, various sighs from around the room. Kat put a finger to her nose, saying ‘nose goes’ at the same time Scott said, “Not it.”
After a small break, the team was back in the conference room, having found where all the stones were.
“Six stones, three teams, one shot.” Steve said. They would do it first thing in the morning.
Kat and Steve were both exhausted when they got back to their room. She stripped down to her underwear and flopped on the bed, pulling a half-naked Steve with her. Her mouth found his and she slid her hands around to his back, moaning when his tongue slid against hers.
“I thought you were tired?” He whispered against her skin, moving his mouth down her neck. She shivered, gripping at his skin wherever she could. “I’m never too tired for this.” She whispered back.
He gripped at her panties, yanking them down her legs, tossing them behind him onto the floor. He moved down the bed and settled in between her legs, placing a soft kiss on her center. He slid his tongue in her folds and she let out a breathy moan, one hand in his hair, the other gripping the bedsheets.
This wasn’t enough, she needed him. Now. “Steve…please…I need you.” She choked out, pulling ahis arms until he was above her. She surged up and kissed him hard, pushing on his shoulders until she was on top. She grabbed his cock and slid down on it, moaning when she was completely full.
She slowly moved her hips against him and he gripped her hips hard. Steve sat up and put his hands through her hair, pulling her close to him. He started thrusting up to meet her, hitting her spot every time. “I love you so much.” He moaned into her shoulder.
“I love you to Steve. So much.” She whispered, gripping his shoulders as she came closer and closer. She rolled her hips one more time, and it was enough to send her over the edge. She bit down on Steve’s shoulder to hide her scream, since the compound was pretty full of people.
Steve came right after, placing kisses on her neck while they were coming back down. He laid on his back and Kat slid off and curled up against him, pulling the blanket over them. She kissed him softly and watched him until he fell asleep.
She tried, but she couldn’t. Her mind was running crazy thinking about all the things that were going to happen tomorrow. She was worried it wouldn’t work, that they wouldn’t get anyone back, or that they would mess something up.
Mostly she was worried about what she was about to do.