Rhodey was standing beside the unconscious form of Tony Stark. Following his collapse, Tony was taken to the infirmary. Rhodey had been with him every minute, along with Pepper, who sat on the other side of his bed.

He took off Tony's eyeglasses, and set them carefully on the small table next to the infirmary bed. Then he left the room. Standing outside were Steve, Carol, and Nat.

“Bruce gave him a sedative,” Rhodey told them. “He's gonna probably be out for the rest of the day.”

“You guys take care of him, and I'll bring him a Xorrian elixir when I come back,” Carol promised.

Rhodey had no idea what a “Xorrian elixir” was, but he bet it was probably something beneficial.

“Where are you going?” Steve asked.

“To kill Thanos,” Carol answered, matter of fact. It was the logical course of action.

She started to leave, when Nat blocked her path.

“Hey, you know, we usually work as a team here,” Nat explained to the newcomer. “And between you and I, morale's a little fragile.”

Steve glanced upward. “We realize up there is more your territory, but this is our fight, too.”

“You even know where he is?” Rhodey wondered.

Carol looked at Rhodey, then down the hall at Nebula. “I know people who might.”

* * *

“Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me,” Nebula disclosed to the team. “And when he worked, he talked about his Great Plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. I'd ask where would we go once his plan was complete. And his answer was always the same. ‘To the garden.’ ”

Nebula was leaning on a table in the lounge. She looked over her shoulder, and saw Bruce Banner looking at her. No, not her. He stared at the table, as a hologram projector turned on, showing an image of the Earth.

“So, where is he?” Steve wanted to know.

Rocket was standing on the table, near the hologram. “When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions,” he noted. “No one's ever seen anything like it. Until two days ago.”

Nebula watched as a blast of energy emanated from the holographic Earth, slicing out to the cosmos. Soon, Earth was replaced by an image of space, as the holograph bounced from planet to planet, before coming to rest on another world with a similar burst of energy. Smaller than the one they had seen on Earth, but so very much like it.

“On this planet,” Rocket said, pointing at the hologram.

“Thanos is there,” Nebula declared. Her tone was cold, but she bristled with angry energy.

Natasha looked at the hologram, as Steve paced behind her. “He used the stones again,” she determined.

Thor sat at the table, not reacting to Natasha, not noticing the hologram. It was like he wasn't even in the room. There was a bowl of food on the table, and a drink next to him. And he just sat there, not saying a word.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Bruce jumped in, putting the brakes on the conversation. “We'd be going in short-handed, you know?” He didn't want them to take on a suicide mission.

“Look, he's still got the stones, so ...” Rhodey began.

“So, let's get 'em,” Carol decided, ready for action. “Use them to bring everyone back.” Simple plans were the best , she thought. Less room for mistakes .

“Just like that?” Banner asked, his voice coated in skepticism.

“Yeah,” Steve concluded. “Just like that.” He was ready to do something. Sitting and waiting wouldn't accomplish anything.

“Even if there's a small chance that we can undo this ... I mean, we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try,” Natasha agreed with Steve.

Bruce wanted to believe it was possible, but his cautious scientific brain wasn't letting him get carried away. “If we do this, how do we know it's gonna end any differently than it did before?” he asked.

“Because you didn't have me,” Carol stated with well-earned confidence. But the others didn't necessarily accept her certainty.

Bruce turned his head to look at Carol. He was just about to say something, when Rhodey beat him to it.

“Hey, new girl?” Rhodey said. “Everybody in this room is about that super hero life. And if you don't mind my asking, where the hell have you been all this time?”

Carol tilted her head to look at Rhodey, all business. “Lot of other planets in the universe,” she pointed out. “And unfortunately, they didn't have you guys.”

At last, Thor rose from his seat. He walked around the table, and stood directly in front of Carol. She looked him right in the eye, as Thor held his hand out next to her. There was the sound of rushing wind, and then suddenly Thor's weapon, Stormbreaker, flew into the lounge, seeking Thor's hand. The mystic weapon soared so close to Carol's head that it blew back her hair, coming within millimeters of her skull.

She didn't flinch.

She only smiled.

“I like this one,” Thor decided.

Steve turned his attention away from his teammates, to the garden planet in the holographic display. He took a deep breath, and said, “Let's go get this son of a bitch.” JxBvy8MqHzBvpPugtTUNQqLRCzY/5SXJTeXLItzBiIADRwihTrFUBf50iO8k3aXg