of mischief & requiems

looking at her mother, morgan could not be happier at this very moment, she really had missed her, she needed someone familiar around, someone she loved. All she wanted was for things to be normal again. “I am just so glad that you are here now, I don’t care how long it took you, as long as you are here now and are going to stay I a happy.” morgan said and smiled at her mother. when she then heard what she said about her father morgan lost a tear, god how much she wished her father to be here as well. “I hope he would be proud. you think he is watching us from up there?”

  tony wasn’t here. and so, it was pepper’s job to keep their daughter safe, no matter what. she might have been all grown up now, but.. she was still her little girl, at least in pepper’s eyes. “i’m not going anywhere, honey, i can promise you that.” she commented, reaching for her daughter’s hands and gripping them tightly. “god, look.. look at you. you’re all grown up. are you studying here?” she asked, never taking her eyes off her daughter’s face. she loved her so, so much, hence why pepper couldn’t understand why she had failed to remember the other until a few days ago. it was strange. in fact, it was more than strange but for now, she decided to not think about it too much. morgan was here, that was all that mattered. “i think so. i think.. he’d be very proud of the young woman you became. in fact, you know your dad, he.. he’d be proud of you, no matter what you chose to be. just like i am.”

 listening to the other she could not believe it, yes of course this really was her mother. god how she had missed her, without her mother Morgan had felt so alone and lost. “It really is you.” she whispered before taking a deep breath and looking into her mothers eyes. “Morgan, Morgan H. Stark is my name.” the girl said as she was trying not to cry at this moment. “I missed you so much mom.” she then said and just wrapped her arms around the other. Morgan knew that her mother probably already would feel sad about that she had missed a lot of morgans life but there was nothing to do about it, all that mattered now was that they both where here and they both could spend more time together again.

              she looked so much like her father that it hurt.  pepper hadn’t remember anything until a few days ago - not tony’s return to earth, not their wedding, not.. not even her daughter but now, as she stared at the other’s face, it was like everything was slowly coming back to her. how much she loved the other - how much she’d die for her if need be, just like tony had. “it’s me,” she couldn’t help the tears that had started to fall down her cheeks by now as she wrapped her arms around her daughter, bring her close to her chest. she looked so much like tony that it hurt, especially since pepper remembered everything she had to remember now, including the moment she had returned home to morgan, to give her the bad news.  “i missed you too, honey. more than anything in the whole world. i.. i’m so sorry it took so long for me to find you again.. i never wanted to be apart from you for so long. look at you, though. you’re beautiful and.. you look so much like your dad. i know he’d be so, so proud of you..”

65. My muse comforting yours after a nightmare.

        her daughter. her beautiful daughter. how could pepper have forgotten her? it was nearly impossible and ever since their reunion, she felt.. she felt like she had a new purpose in life, something that she hadn’t left in a very long time. morgan, who loved cheeseburgers, like her father once had. morgan, who had stayed so strong as she told her what had happened to tony, only crying when pepper told her it was okay to. morgan, who had grown into a beautiful young woman and was here now - morgan, that she was never letting go again. god, how was it impossible to forget someone you loved more than anything in the world? staring at her daughter’s sleeping features, pepper sighed, running her hands through the other’s hair. they had spent the entire day catching up on everything they had missed with each other and now, morgan had fallen asleep - head on her lap, just like she used to do when she was little.  she didn’t know how long it had been but a few seconds later, morgan steered wake, breathing heavily. a nightmare? pepper reacted immediately, reaching out for her daughter, hands passing through her hair in a comforting gesture.  she had enough practice with comforting tony after a nightmare, after all - this shouldn’t be so different, considering she had plenty of nightmares of her own. “sweetheart, are you okay? it was just a nightmare, it’s not real. i’m here. go back to sleep, i’ll keep you safe.” she kissed her daughter’s head, before slowly pulling her into her arms. “i love you, more than anything in all of the galaxies combined. ” i love you 3000 had been something only morgan and tony shared and pepper didn’t dream of getting in the way of that. they had their own phrase, after all. 

 When Alice felt someone tapping her shoulder she looked up, a little confused to who the person was, but once she spoke it mase sense. Everything Edgar had said now made sense. A older version of Polly, that was crazy because she had missed out on so many things, but having her here was all that mattered now. “Polly? Is it really you?” she said and just hugged the girl back for a moment before she listened to her words. “Edgar is here yes, he told me quite some things. But look at you, you are so grown up.” Alice said and smiled lightly. “God I must have missed so many things in your life. how is this even possible that you are this old. last thing I remember was you still being a little girl, and now Edgar told me you are all grown up and even have children.”

             nodding slightly, polly wrapped her arms tighter around her mother’s waist, smiling at the other. she was so relieved to have found a familiar face, after all this time. she wasn’t worried about juniper, her daughter would be safe under the care of everyone at the farm, but her mother was different. betty could get to her. and as far as polly was concerned, whenever her sister was involved in something, it meant only trouble for the rest of them. “god, mom, i’ve missed you so much. yes, it’s me. who else would it be?” she asked, laughing slightly, before nodding. “i’m fine, mom. i would have been better if were still back in the farm, but.. since edgar is here, i’m sure we can start a new one, away from all the trouble that comes with riverdale.” she told the other, reaching for her mother’s hands and nodding. “i’m glad he got to you before i did, because otherwise.. you might not even recognize me at all.” she chuckled. “trust me, you were there for every single one of them. my graduation, when the twins were born.. you were the most mother anyone could hope for. after.. after what dad did and what he was, you thought you could never be happy again. but we found that happiness, together. with edgar and evelyn and the farm and the twins. they took us in, after what dad did. i don’t think we’ve ever been happier in our entire lives, mom.” she nodded, whipping out her phone. “as always, edgar is right.” she handed alice her phone, showing a picture of the five of them together; polly, juniper, alice, edgar & evelyn. her perfect family. “that’s my daughter, juniper - she has your eyes and loves sleeping in your lap and.. well, you, me, edgar & edgar’s wife, evelyn. our family.” polly grinned, with absolutely no intention of even mentioning her sister. “frankly, we’ve never been better. i think dad was holding us down, with all of his serial killer tendencies. we found our place at the farm, mom.”

     when her sister spoke gamora nodded, knowing to well that she should have said something, but this whole situation was pretty confusing to her still, because so much happened in such little time. “I know, but what then? maybe you guys would have come looking for me. I needed time to think about all this. After all it is not every day that you go to the future.” she said and sighed lightly before she then listened to her again and nodded lightly. not that she really cared what this guy thought about her because she didn’t know him anyways, but somehow it still hurt a little that he thought she was lying. “Right, you are smart sister, so if I was a lying I could have been dead the moment you saw me.. This place is pretty strange too tho to be honest.”

        nebula was annoyed. she didn’t want to admit it, but she was. she had gone through hell and back to get gamora back, even if only to redeem for everything she had done previously, only to realize that her sister had left after the battle, disappearing off to god-knows-where.  “i understand. the situation was complicated, especially after tony.. after he did what he did and snapped our father out of existence. not that anyone is going to miss him, of course.  “ after spending almost two months in space with him, nebula had grown quite fond of the man, so much that it had hurt to see him die. it was thanos’ fault, as gamora’s death had been, just like mostly everything on nebula’s life was.  “i know you,” she told the other, gaze moving up to look at her. “more than anyone. more than your pack of morons. so if it wasn’t you, i would have shot you down immediately, make no mistake in that.” she told the other, arms crossed over her chest. “i have yet to understand anything about it. it isn’t the place for us, i’m sure of that. i.. i am glad to not be alone in here, though.” i’m glad you’re here, she added silently.

  when morgan heard the voice of her mother she finally looked up to the other and there she was, her mother standing there. how was this even possible? Morgan had grown so old and her mother looked still like the once she remembered from when she was still just a child. “Mom?” she then just said and smiled lightly, nothing could have made her happier at this moment, well probably her father being back, but he was dead and she knew that, he would never come back. “I uhm, i’m sorry you just look a lot like my mother and sound a lot like her.” morgan then said and smiled lightly at the other, if this really was her mom then she could finally start to make this place feel like home.

                   it couldn’t be, could it? the morgan she remembered was a little girl - not the young woman in front of, who looked so much like tony that it hurt. morgan had been a little girl, six years at most and this girl was.. what? twenty-five at most? it couldn’t be. thinking about it made her terrified, because if this was morgan, she had missed most of her daughter’s life. pepper potts-stark wasn’t an absent mother. no, she would have gladly died for her daughter if need be, she wouldn’t leave her behind. not now, not ever. “i- who are you? ” she asked, voice nothing more than a whisper as she moved closer to the other, trembling hands held at her side. “i’m.. pepper. pepper potts-stark, but.. there’s no way you’re my daughter. my daughter was a little girl, six at most, when i saw her for the last time it’s just not possible i’m missing twenty years of her life..” could she not remember most of her daughter’s life, just like she didn’t even remember tony was dead and that she had a daughter, up until a few days ago? “what’s your name, honey?” she asked, even if deep down, she already knew. 

“You know, if you were just maybe 15 percent less cyborg, you’d actually be pretty hot Nebula. Unfortunately, your obsession with killing people to please people kinda gets in the way of that on first dates, huh?” Quill quipped, closing his eyes as he knocked back yet another shot. “Maybe you should consider yourself lucky that somebody wants to keep you company after all of this shit that’s recently happened. Heard about what you did with the other Avengers. Saving the world and reversing that big purple space turd’s snap and everything…” he spoke solemnly but quietly. “Takes a big hero to stay brave in the face of danger and save the world and literally all of existence,” he continued, as he raised his hand high above them, “that’s like high up in terms of accomplishments and shit, right next to saving the galaxy on several occasions.” Was he actually congratulating Nebula on saving the galaxy and being able to recognize the hero within herself? That she could actually do good instead of serving an evil space overlord hellbent on shaping the entire universe in his image? “Gamora’s still out there somewhere Nebula, probably halfway across the damn universe for all I know. She’s probably already been reunited with Rocket, Groot, Drax, and Mantis. I just–” he paused, holding the side of his head in pain. The binge drinking had seemingly already started to do its thing, but for now the Guardians leader could manage; he’d keep the damn headache at bay for the moment. “See now, if Rocket were here, he’d be pointing at the both of and criticizing the hell of us. Probably saying something along the lines of us looking like a bunch of drunken moronic losers being stumped in our misery or something like that. I miss that trash panda sometimes. I miss being in space enjoying adventures across the cosmos and saving people. It’s beyond bounties and units at this point for me I’d like to think…I miss being a Guardian, but more importantly I miss being with my family.” Quill found himself extremely surprised by Nebula’s rather genuine and nice gesture; perhaps she did have humanity within her after all. “Look, you may look like a cup of blueberry yogurt on the outside Nebula, but all in all I guess you’re not so bad when you’re not trying to constantly kill me, or Gamora. Or the rest of the Guardians. Or me, again. Or Gamora. Or me, again,” Quill bantered on, before letting out a huge belch. “You like wings?”

      she sighed. of course he’d go this way. even being stranded on space, with no possible rescue until captain marvel had showed up was better than this. tony was better company than this. “shut it, quill. before you lose an eye or worse. i’m not my sister, i don’t find every single thing you say interesting or even funny.” her sister’s love for peter quill had been something she could never understand and yet, something she admired. it showed that gamora was the very best of them because, unlike nebula, she hadn’t been ruined by thanos the point where she couldn’t feel anything but anger and hatred.  she threatened, returning her attention to the glass in front of her. terran drinks were terrible, nebula was sure of that. much like everything else about this place, she despised it. “we gave thanos what he deserved,” nebula commented, drinking the rest of the contents of her glass, before ordering another. “for gamora, for the rest of your pack of morons.. for every single person who was hurt by the snap. the only thing i regret was that a good man’s life had to be lost, in order for it to happen. ”  she was about to add that quill was the reason they had lost against thanos in the first place, but.. after everything he had been through already, he didn’t deserved that. 

   “if there’s anything i know about all of you, it’s that you always find your way back to each other. you did it when your father threatened to tear you apart and then again when the snap happened. i wouldn’t doubt that the rat will be here soon enough, telling you about his latest theft.” was she trying to comfort him? maybe. not that she’d ever admit it, not out loud, of course. quill deserved it, though, after everything he had been through. she rolled her eyes. “keep on coming up with new insults and your blood will be decorating the floor soon enough. i haven’t forgotten how to kill a man, terran.” it wasn’t a threat, not at all - a hint of a smile spread through nebula’s expression as she said it, turning back to him for a moment. “gamora doesn’t deserve to be killed. not after everything she went through.. everything she went through, for me.” her sister had agreed on giving up the location of the soul stone for her - nebula hadn’t forgotten that, not at all. “wings?” she asked, slightly confused. “i’m not very found of the food here, at least, the ones i’ve tried.”

 when she heard the familiar voice gamora turned to look at her sister, she was truly happy to see her here as well. after the battle Gamora had to think, let it all suck in on what had happened to her in the future, but one of the things she was happy about, was that her a nebula became sisters. “I wasn’t running away Nebula, I needed time. I had to think about all this, knowing what had happened to me in the future was a lot to take in.” she said and sighed lightly. “But it’s funny how you don’t scream at me as well, telling me the piss off because I apparently am a Skrull. it’s what this Quill guy things I am.” Gamora told her and crossed her arms. “You know it’s me right?”

             observing the other for a moment, nebula nodded to herself, moving in a little bit closer. multiple possibilities crossed her mind - from thanos returning from the dead and using the reality stone to trick her, to a skrull taking over her sister but.. this wasn’t it. this was gamora - not the sister she had lost, but the one from the past - the one who had chosen to help them in the battle against thanos, no matter what it cost her. the sister she loved. “you could have said something,” she answered bitterly, curling her hands into fists. “instead of just disappearing into thin air. i thought..” for a moment, she had believed her sister to be among the deceased that had resulted from tony’s snap, considering she was from the past. she shook her head at the mention of quill’s reaction, sighing. “give him time. he’s an hard-headed idiot but he’ll get there. he mourned you, just like i did. probably more than anyone.” she had seen how gamora’s death had affected quill first-hand, when he had ruined their chance of going against thanos the very first time. “i would have shot you by now if i wasn’t certain.” she told the other, a hint of a smile crossing her expression. “it’s good that you’re here. this place was growing incredibly boring.”

With his last class having been let out early for the day, that freed up the king of Wakanda to focus on other endeavors for the moment. He had quite the laundry list of items on his list he needed to tend to, but the first and utmost important item of business was to check on the progress of his herbs he’d began planting in the greenhouse. As soon as T’Challa started off in that direction however, he felt a solemn but firm tap on his left shoulder, and to his surprise he noticed a rather…peculiar looking individual? He would’ve been more surprised had he not seen other individuals from far away lands and strange places pop up wearing various garbs of clothing and attire that certainly made them stick out like acne on picture day or a sore thumb for that matter. “No need to apologize,” T’Challa did a brief bow of respect, “you are not bothering me at all. As for your question, that seems to be the subject on everyone’s mind these days. I myself was on my way to a business trip to deal with royal business and was inadvertently redirected here after a major crisis and well…” T’Challa paused momentarily, studying the blonde once more. “I’m quite sorry, but have we encountered one another before? You carry the bearing of…royalty,” he surmised.

He may have been over seven shots in, but Quill knew he could recognize Nebula even when he found himself in a drunken haze. It wasn’t that hard to spot and notice a blue alien when you’d seen all types of aliens across the galaxy, but it was even easier to spot Nebula here on Earth when she was pretty much the only one of her kind here. Not that he hadn’t come across other strange or rather powerful individuals, but come on. This was Nebula. “You’re here to drink with me? Not sure if I should celebrate the fact that someone wants to drink with me or if I should feel even shittier because you’re the one who wants to drink with me. I suppose it’s better than that frog looking guy over at that booth. Here, have a seat,” he freed up room for the rather estranged ally of his, sighing in a mixture of deep relief but frustration at the same time. If there was anyone in the world who understood Gamora just as good as he did, if not better, then it had to be her very own younger sister. Gamora told him the story several times to the point that it was engraved in her head. He knew of Nebula’s tortured soul and suffering, and all of the personal hell Thanos put her through. It was mind numbingly disgusting if anything. But if there was anything they shared in common, it was the green skinned deadliest assassin in the galaxy. “Yeah yeah, I know you miss her too,” Quill slurred, taking another shot. “She probably wouldn’t want to see me like this either, but she’s not here to see me like this, is she?” he grumbled, reaching to the left of the bar table to pour himself up another shot. “She’s out there driftin’ off into space someplace, probably headed to nowhere and me n you are stuck here, doing what exactly? Teachin’ at colleges? That’s bullshit Nebula…”

        she scoffed. quill managed to annoy her already, even if she hadn’t even spent ten minutes in his presence. it was ridiculous, really. “you should consider yourself lucky that someone wants to drink with you, in the miserable state that you’re in.” she commented, looking him up and down. gamora would be so disappointed, nebula was sure of it. but still.. it wasn’t her job to keep quill safe. it was her job to find her sister and keep her safe, not to take care of her boyfriend. but still, with everything she owed gamora, this was the least she could do. “i suppose i can keep you company for now, just to make sure you don’t accidentally trip and break your neck. wouldn’t want to attend another funeral after what happened in the last one, even if it would be quite enjoyable to see you in a casket and for you to finally shut up, of course.” after what had happened with tony, she.. she couldn’t lose anyone else. nebula was sure of that. taking a sip out of her own drink, nebula sighed. dealing with quill was like dealing with a stubborn child, who despised being told no. the same stubborn child her sister had fallen in love with, somehow. “snap out of it and stop being an asshole, before i put a bullet between your eyes and finally make you snap out of this. maybe you’d even like that, uh?” she asked, turning back to him, knuckles gripping the glass in anger. he didn’t know how lucky he was to be alive, when so many good people were dead, thanks to thanos. “gamora would despise seeing you like this. she’d tell you to snap out of it, much like i did.. because this is not you. you might be a stubborn idiot, who’d probably be better off dead, but.. you’re a good man, quill. i suppose that’s why she loved you and.. i’m not sticking around and seeing you disappoint her like this. i’ll kill you before that happens.” she told him, arms crossed over her chest. “you have two choices. snap out of it and help me look for her or be miserable in here, alone and hope that death comes for you as soon as possible.” she despised seeing him like this, so much she wanted to make him snap out of it, even if she had to strangle him herself. “she’ll show up here. i know she will.” and in one stupid gesture of hope, she placed her hand on top of quill’s, before removing it as quickly as she placed it there.