Darkness. Nothingness.
And then suddenly, they were back.
Mantis was rocketed into a crashing cascade of emotions before she realized she existed again. She didn’t even have time to look around and see where she was; it just enveloped her.
The feelings were intoxicating, overwhelming, all-encompassing. Confusion from the reappearing figures, relief, fear, ecstatic joy poured at her from every angle. Positives and negatives gave her whiplash as she careened through the feelings of people realizing their loved ones were back, some realizing their loved ones were not. She was laughing, but crying, and gasping and afraid, but laughing again.
Where was she? Terra
What happened? Thanos
What the fuck was going on? She knew, why did she keep asking herself when she knew the answer-
Everything was so much, so strong, she could practically hear their thoughts-
-Steve! Where is St-
-back, my brother is back he’s over th-
-sion died before the dust. He isn’t comin-
-believe you followed me, how stup-
-it-
-where was I where were we where is-
-it-
It was so loud.
-t do you mean, dea-
-ughter get her to me right now get out of m-
Unbearable.
Her eyes screwed shut, hands pressed to her ears, she was spinning in a circle, drowning. She wasn’t an individual anymore. She was just a bucket filled with the emotions of the entire world, overflowing, a bag bursting at the seams, nothing of Mantis left except for the smallest twinge of fear (would she ever be herself again?), her body and emotions whirling somewhere distant and incomprehensible, and she might have been screaming but she wasn’t sure, couldn’t tell, how could she be screaming when she no longer had a physical body anyway, but screaming was all she was-
Someone was saying her name. She felt it more than heard it. Felt the anxiety rolling off of it, the worry for a family member coming in bursts. Peter.
He didn’t know what to do. It was obvious. He’d seen her and was staring, startled, scared. Whatever was left of Mantis was scaring him because he had no idea what to do to bring her back to herself, might not even realize what’s going on.
He said her name again and she felt rather than saw him reach out, try to take her by the shoulders and stop her spinning, and then leap back. It was probably because she screamed again, and distantly she felt bad about that, but how could she have helped herself when he was stabbing her with that fear, twisting her insides around a blade of terror and trying to rip her open?
Someone else was near.
Two strong arms surrounded her and she yelped through her hysterical tears, but nothing darted out to consume her this time. Vaguely, she registered a cold, robotic hand taking hers gently and moving it up to a soft, warm neck as the other arm wrapped itself around her shoulders, pulling her face towards a solid front that smelled of metal, motor oil, and fresh air.
And suddenly the overwhelming wave was crashing against a wall of calm and then fading behind it. She gasped in relief, clinging to the solid mass Nebula was emanating towards her. Underneath, she could feel Nebula’s usual flurries of pain, anger, fear. And the waves of relief and joy as well. But she had forced all of that down and was focusing on pure peace, the tranquil, undisturbed love she was projecting enough for Mantis to start to breathe again.
“I’ve got you,” Nebula murmured, resting her chin on Mantis’s head. She took deep breaths, burying her face into the cyborg’s chest, hands dropping from her face and falling to wrap tightly around Nebula’s waist.
“Thank... thank you,” she panted, her voice muffled. “It’s too much. Everyone. Is feeling so much. Everyone.”
“I know.”
“I can't stand it.”
A swell of empathy, sadness, worry, love battered against the calm and then faded again. “I know. I’ve got you. It’ll calm down soon.”
Peter stepped forward. “Are you alright, then? Scared me shitless when I saw you freaking out like that.” He was trying to be lighthearted about it, but she could still feel the desperation in the fear he’d unwillingly thrown at her.
Nodding into the red leathers pressed against her face, Mantis dared to crack an eye open and look out at him. “I will be. Sorry for yelling. I was overwhelmed.”
“Don’t apologize,” he said softly. She felt his gaze shift from her to Nebula, felt the woman who held her stiffen every so slightly. “You got this?”
“Yes,” she said shortly, then opened her mouth, hesitating, hopeful. “Go see if you can find...”
“Right. I'll make sure you're first to know if she's back.” Peter nodded at them and then was jogging away, eyes scanning the crowd.
Mantis gulped, her breathing almost back to normal. “How are you doing this? Feeling so much... calm," she chuckled roughly, "you aren't usually this calm."
Embarrassment (and just a tinge of defensiveness, annoyance) appeared this time, expanding gently towards the surface and then receding again, leaving a trail of ripples in its path. “I just...”
Her feelings surged, thoughts bursting into Mantis’s brain like fireworks.
Saw you. Lost myself in you. Wanted to protect you. Needed to help you. Loved you.
Did it for you.
Through her tears, face still pressed against the person she loved back, Mantis fully came back to herself and smiled.