FOUR

                                    

                                          
CENTURIES | ENDGAME
Chapter Four
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AVENGERS COMPOUND
       AS CAROL GENTLY PLACED THE large ship across the field of emerald grass, Melissa had immediately gotten out of her seat to help Tony. Nebula beat her to it however, and she was caught off guard as Allison called out to her and motioned for her to follow, which the hybrid obliged.
"She hasn't slept since it happened..." the Ice Demon said softly as she stood by the open door, nodding to the room and specifically the teenager curled up in the corner.
The sight of Elizabeth caused a frown to appear on Melissa's face, her eyes doing a quick scan over the girl's body, spotting the array of injuries her body possessed. The hybrid didn't say anything as she understood what Allison was insinuating, gently crouching beside the teenager and sliding her arms under her limp body. The speedster stirred in her slumber, face scrunching in pain, before relaxing with her head curled into the crook of Melissa's neck, her soft breathing showing a sense of relaxation amongst the terror surfacing in her mind.
"I can't believe it," Laurel muttered as she watched Nebula help Tony down the steep staircase. Natasha murmured an agreement from beside her, not believing her eyes as she watched Steve meet the broken Iron Man halfway.
The other Avengers stayed silent as Tony was passed to Steve, the super soldier letting Tony lean his weak figure in his stronger build.  Tony gripped tightly onto Steve's arms as if expressing a silent form of relief at the sight of his old friend before he struggled to lift his heavy head. "Couldn't stop him," he murmured faintly.
Steve shook his head slowly and sorrowfully. "Neither could I," he replied softly.
"I lost the kid..."
"Tony... we lost."
Tony barely showed a response as his head shifted slightly to looked down at the emerald green grass before he met Steve's empathetic gaze again. "Is, uh..." he struggled to get out before Pepper emerged from the small crowd of heroes in tears, unable to form a proper sentence of relief as she pulled Tony's weak figure into a tight and much needed embrace.
Steve's gazed passed over the reunited couple as Melissa glided down from the staircase, her arms gently cradling Elizabeth. Behind him, Thor could barely utter a word when he met Melissa's exhausted gaze, picking up on the words she mouthed. "This is her." Thor silently bowed his head, brushing away the tear that fell as he thought about all those who died, about Animalia, because he couldn't do more. His last hope was the messiah, but even that faded as he saw how beaten up the speedster was, knowing that even she failed to stop Thanos and would feel a similar sense of guilt as the rest of them. 
The Avengers slowly dispersed and left with each other, and it left Rocket outside, looking back up to the Benetar where Nebula sat half way down the staircase. Her head was bowed with solidarity, and the sight of just her caused Rocket's heart to sink as it fell apart. His eyes filled with tears before he gasped as another figure emerged from the doorway, Allison's thin body slowly sitting beside Nebula, fingers gently grasping the power dampener that hung around her neck. 
"Alli!" Rocket exclaimed in disbelief, falling to all four paws and dashing across the short distance. He leaped right into Allison's open arms, the Ice Demon breathing out a faint 'thank god' as she held him tightly and let a tear slip down her cheek as she realised Rocket survived, Groot did not.