Marvel rp: Post-Civil War ENDGAME SPOILERS

Cap:

This was what they had been waiting for. Steve hadn’t seen Tony — nor talked to him — since that fateful battle, and even after giving him a phone to contact him, Tony had never called. If he hadn’t called, perhaps it meant that Tony had moved on and he didn’t need Steve anymore. Or maybe it meant that Tony hadn’t forgiven him and never would. But, in the end, they were still family. Families could still fight, and often it was a family’s fight that hurt the most, went the deepest, was the most personal, was the hardest to forgive. But Steve did. Deep down, Steve forgave Tony — always had — and he knew that, even divided, they were still on the same side. The side that called themselves the Avengers and fought for the world, risked their lives for the world. No matter their different opinions, Steve knew that they’d always both be there to fight. And he knew it even when Tony hadn’t shown up in Wakanda for that battle. He knew that Tony was somewhere else, somewhere still fighting, just the same as they all were. And that was how Tony had gotten himself stuck in space.

That everyone around him had disappeared was hard enough to bear; to hear the news that Tony had possible perished with them was worse. He couldn’t lose anymore people. When Carol offered to find their lost team members, his heart had flittered with the slightest hope that maybe things would get better. That if Tony was okay, it meant Thanos hadn’t taken everything. And if Tony was okay, maybe one of the world’s greatest minds could help them fix things. But — and this was the worst of it all — no one knew what state Tony was going to be in. Three weeks in space and on the verge of death...? Steve wasn’t sure what kind of man they were going to be welcoming back. But it would be a relieved welcome. A welcome that meant a small victory for them, at least.

So, when he heard Carol arriving, saw it out the window he’d been anxiously waiting by, he ran out the base to greet them in the field, wind blowing back his hair. The run hadn’t fatigued him, but he was breathing heavy by the time he’d stopped to look up at the spaceship. The spaceship. Man, the world was a crazy place. And even crazier was that Ironman was aboard it.

(I'm not sure where Night is, but I'm sure he's probably busy! I don't want to make the decision for him, though (: )

Tom and Eveline stood very far back from it all, but it seemed like they had been waiting just as long. Not for Carol to find Tony - that had taken longer than anyone could stand there - but for the spaceship to land. Eveline's head was tilted to look upward at the metal ship, unable to keep the thought that it was beautiful out of her mind.
Tom was keeping a careful distance from Eveline, a couple of feet between them, but from the length of which they stood away from the Avengers it was clear that they were not 'one of them' and instead just along for the ride. And what a ride.
While Eveline watched the ship, Tom watched Tony and the various others milling around him or supporting his weight. His lips twitched in almost a grim line. He said nothing. That was unusual. Distance or not, in a little less than three weeks, everyone had come to be pretty familiar with the fact that Tom talked. Eveline did not. It was as simple as that. It was the complete reverse when it came to how useful they were to any sort of situation, but Eveline didn't seem to offer that effort until Tom was there to push her and Tom didn't work unless Eveline was there to glare. It balanced out.
But right now, Tom was quiet. Deathly still and tight lipped.
It was Eveline who said, voice low, "I believe it advised to get indoors. Least someone catch their death of cold." It wasn't likely. The comment wasn't literally. From anyone else, it would have been scathing, impatient that the meaningful looks and questions could be exchanged indoors where they were more equipped to help. But for Eveline, the words were emotionless, blanketing and muffling the swirling pools of concern and worry and fear that rested under her dark eyes.

Cap:

Steve wasn’t surprised that Tony could barely manage off the ship himself, and his heart ached at the sight of the Avenger. What have we become? He glanced down at Alyona with a frown and then made a move to help Tony, but he barely made it half a step. Alyona and Pepper were there, and it was probably better that it be them to help the man anyways.

After all they’d been through, Steve wanted to help Tony, but he wasn’t sure if Tony felt the same. Even just being there, one of the first faces to greet him back from his near-death, Steve wasn’t sure if that made Tony happy or beyond mad. He knew Tony could hold a good grudge. Not to mention Tony wasn’t a man who asked for help lightly. Asking Steve, the super soldier with the perfect teeth (Tony’s words), for help probably wasn’t an option Tony wanted to visit.

So, Steve hung back, concern on an otherwise calm face all the while, and he tucked his hands into his pockets. It was only when Tony met his eyes with a pure look of confusion and pain upon his face asking how? that Steve finally stepped forward. He was silent as he stood by Tony’s side beside Pepper and Alyona because he simply didn’t know how to answer. We lost, the hang of his head said. We lost everything. Which is why just having Tony back was a relief. They needed some sort of win.

He then shook his head, letting out a deep sigh. “Alright, give him some space and get him inside,” Steve said, agreeing with Eveline. “And make sure we’ve got plenty of food on the table,” he said, with a sorry glance towards Tony. “This man has waited long enough.”

(It might take me a while to respond XD I’m on vacation )

Captain Marvel:

Carol followed the others inside without saying a word. She would let Stark recover enough to hopefully carry on a conversation and explanation, but it would be better if he spoke with the Avengers, those he knew and was quite familiar with, whether they were on good terms at the moment or not. Unlike herself. Questioning him about Thanos probably wouldn't go well, especially right after he'd gotten home. So, she simply watched from the edge of the room as he sat and ate.

She was no doctor, but as Carol watched Stark wolf down his sandwiches, she had to wonder if his stomach would be able to handle so much so quickly after as long as he went without. If it didn't stay down for long, though, they could figure that out later. The food did seem to be making him feel better, and once he was less focused on hunger, he was more focused on words.

The first words Catol heard from Stark told her a lot about him. Everyone responded differently to failure. With guilt, anger, frustration, despair, blame. And with Stark, apparently, giving up. Seeing no use in trying at all. Now, she knew he was clearly not in the state to be thinking straight, and he could just be ranting to blow off some steam, but to lose hope so quickly and completely? Didn't he know that there was still a chance to fix this?

His words had weight, though. Did Carol really know they could fix this? Was Thanos simply too strong to defeat?

No, she told herself, pushing her doubts aside. Last time, they were divided, and I wasn't here to tip the scales. Next time, it'll be different.

Though, really, she could only hope. And let Stark finish venting, whether he meant what he was saying or not, so he could possibly offer some tips for the task at hand afterwards.

And yet, if he refused to cooperate, there wasn't much she could do about that besides work with what she already knew.

"Maybe I did," said Tom, voice so cool frost would have formed on it and so calm that you couldn't see the ripples. "Maybe I held a daughter or a son or my husband or wife to my chest, never to see them again? Would you know, Tony Stark? You do not. You can't use that argument against me. You don't know me. But I can tell you I am in as much pain as you and that you have no right to hand over their lives and memories to Thanos any more than I have a right to hand over the ones you hold." He completely ignored Natasha's similar statement. It didn't matter to him. To him, Tony was a foolish, grieving man. But he was taking it out on other grieving people and that deserved to be called out.

"I don't think you're grateful," Tom said, and once again his voice was cool and calm. "I think you wish it was you who'd turned to ash, just so you didn't have to feel like someone had removed your heart from your own chest and stabbed a thousand knives through it. That isn't giving up. That's loss. Something we can't afford. No one on Earth can. If you want to pretend that you really have given up, you will spend the rest of your sorry life thinking about all the ways you could have made things better."

The man finally looked away, relenting a little. "But you're no alone. You're right ... there isn't a plan. But in case you hadn't noticed, your friends are willing to help you come up with one, and maybe it's time you started treating their loyalty to your love and the people we all lost like something a little more important than dirt. If there was no hope, then we'd all be dead. And I for one am not going to listen to you wish yourself or all of us away. Not yet. Not now."

And with that, Tom seemed to completely stand down. Not without a glance toward Carol, glad she seemed to be on his side, at least when it came to Thanos.

He was surprised to see Eveline ... raising her hand. As if this was school and she somehow needed permission to speak. Even when he looked at her, the hand was still raised. She also seemed to be ignoring him, and looking to the room at large to perhaps notice the hand she had up.

(I keep intending to make my way back here, and then not, every couple of months, so I think it'd be best if I give up my characters at this point. Sorry guys.)

(Eh, probably not; this is literally the only thing I come here for and I only do that every couple of months, start reading backlog, and then give up and don't do anything. I miss the old forums; as hard as they tried, this place was just never quite the same.)

Cap:

Steve had been heart-broken at first -- they all had -- and he still was. He couldn't deny the fact that, while he tried to act like the leader he was and lift his head high, he was hurting just as bad as any of them. He couldn't wear a smile, and he was a hypocrite for thinking that they could move on so easily when he knew he'd never forgive himself for what had happened. But, he couldn't believe what he was hearing of Stark. They'd never given up before, and they certainly weren't going to give up now, were they? They couldn't. He knew it was just Tony's grief talking, but the last time Tony's 'grief' talked, they'd had a civil war... and that's what had divided the Avengers in the first place. They all needed to get their heads on straight best they could so that they could figure this out like rational human beings. Because, yeah, they'd all lost someone.

Steve could still hear Bucky saying his name, and he could feel himself turning around at that exact moment to see his best friend disappear again. He'd lost Bucky during the war, he'd lost Bucky again after the battle in Germany. He'd only just gotten his friend back when he'd been taken away again. Tony lost friends as well, and he'd lost a kid who'd been like a son to him. But they'd all lost someone. They'd all lost someone. And if Tony wasn't willing to put aside his pain and save those people, what did that say of him? Steve knew what it was like to think all hope was lost, but as he looked around the room, he saw a team of people with extraordinary gifts who had never backed down before.

"I'm not giving up," Steve said, swallowing back tears. "I know you think you've lost it all, Tony, but we can get them back." His gaze fell on Carol for just a moment, and he offered a brief head nod. He still wasn't quite sure her role in all of this, but he saw how powerful she was just by the mere fact that she'd brought Tony back, and if Fury trusted her, he did. Because Fury wasn't one to give out trust easily. "We'll get them back."

John:

For the first time, John, who'd gone off to sit by himself to brood, got up and walked over to the group. He stepped beside Eveline and Tom and looked at Steve and then Tony. "We all lost someone," he agreed. "And we have to stop comparing our grief and realize that there's a bigger threat out there, a threat that is still out there, while we all fight about who's lost the most hope." He crossed his arms, eyes narrowed. "I'm not giving up, either. I will get my brother back." And then he let out a sigh, and his voice quieter, almost a mumble, he said, "I'll do it myself if I have to." 

John is OG

Also, if you guys are in school, working, whatever, life is important!! I understand!!

—-

Alyona could sense the tensions rising in the room. It was like a situation of people cornering an exhausted, hungry but yet ferocious dog that was giving plenty of warning signs to back off. Her mint green eyes shifted up to Steve, now flinching when John spoke. Everyone was equally as right, but sometimes backing down from a losing fight was better than stupidity. They hadn’t many leads to Thanos- and it’s been three weeks already.

She couldn’t justify anymore that everyone had lost someone- to try and influence Tony to see that. It was clear the man was set in his ways, and from the emotion she had absorbed, it was clear he wouldn’t have the heart to change for a long while. He was too stubbron, and if anyone dare criticize what he won’t do in this given situation, he’ll ignore them and continue doing what he does best.

Alyona mulled over the words of everyone. John was pretty brave. In her own mind, she believed everyone would do it themselves within the end. However, this was different. Not everyone could give Thanos what they all believed he deserved. Not at this moment. They were down half of their manpower, and he was missing. In which, her mind immediately switched to how he was missing. No one found really any leads to him, only stalemates. Perhaps it was just best to forget it?

As it would be, the stress and odds of someone finding him alive and with all the stones intact were slim to none. Tony might be giving up- but he realized the fate and hand they had been dealt. Maybe within Alyona’s mind of the relentless pursuit from her brother, she knew exactly what its like. At this opportune moment, there was no hope. She was well aware of that, but soon a situation would present itself and it would be at that time they would strike. Her gaze lowered, hands now clasping together to keep from openly shaking.

“Maybe Tony is right...” she muttered softly. It startled Natasha, her gaze turning from John to her. “Once someone disappears you have little to no chance of finding them, no matter the situation. Its how Borya and I lived for so long.” She explained gently. With that, she felt like she said her piece for good and turned. Alyona’s smaller figure disappeared from the room in a silent excuse from the simmering tension.

Tony looked to Steve then, those big brown eyes shifting and glittering with a bit of frustration, and grief. “Someone from your group understands,” he shot back a bit bitterly. Though, before his thread of conversation would snap with his growing frustration, his head turned and he prepared to push himself up to his feet. “What?” He almost growled out at Eveline, his exhaustion now barreling through his system as adrenaline was starting to calm down. It wouldn’t be long before his body collapsed, but Tony figured he’d push himself until then. “If its to tell me how wrong I am and that I shouldn’t be selfish, go ahead and talk. I want to hear how you’ll be the next person to defeat Thanos.”

“Tony!” Pepper scolded angrily.

Tony’s gaze didn’t soften, it simply remained filled with his grief and regret, all fronted with a bitter anger. He didn’t have the time nor energy to waste on Steve any more. Tony had a life to live, a wedding to hold, and his own future to have. When they found Thanos and if Tony wasn’t too weak, then they might have a chance. Until then, wherever Thanos was, he would remain undisturbed. Maybe another powerful worldly being got to him? An amusing thought gave brief reprieve from his whirling brain. Though, it didn’t last long as he awaited for Eveline to speak.

Cap:

"But, Bucky..." Sam... Steve muttered so quietly that it was barely even a whisper. How could Alyona forget? How could any of them forget? He knew they all dealt with grief differently and they'd all faced pain in some way in their lives. None of the Avengers, in fact, had perfect lives, and most of them had faced hardships to get where they were now. But... they'd just never given up before. That's how they made it to this point, and that's why people trusted them, when it came down to it, to save the world. Maybe Alyona and Tony believed that once you lost someone you had to move on, and maybe Steve had learned that bit when he'd suddenly woken up in the present day to find that all his friends had died long ago. But... then he'd found Peggy and he'd found Bucky again. And then he'd made new friends. Steve never really had lost everyone, not really, and giving up just wasn't part of his vocabulary. If there was any chance -- any -- that his friends were out there, alive or stuck in another dimension, Steve knew that somehow he'd figure out how to move all the ends of the earth to get them back (or die trying. Because he'd done that before, too).

But maybe Alyona and Tony were right. Tony had just gotten back, and he obviously wasn't in his right state of mind. And Steve understood. After all he'd just gone through -- after what they'd all gone through, really -- he knew exactly why Tony was acting the way he was, and there was no telling how Steve would have coped in that situation. He was fortunate it hadn't been him stuck in that ship, but he almost wished it had been him instead... or at least that they'd been together. Tony hadn't been alone, but he would have liked to be there for the other Avenger.

"It's not how all of us live, Alyona," Steve finally said, lifting his head to look at the woman. It wasn't an argument, it was just a calm statement. "Some people give up, but... not us." His eyes drifted over to Natasha for a moment, and he wondered what the other woman was thinking. Was she on his side? Or was she on Tony's side? It wasn't really about sides, but he wondered if he was alone in his line of thought.

Just as quickly as his eyes had turned to Natasha, though, he heard Tony speak again, and he watched the man. This wasn't a place to argue, and he could tell that Tony was holding back. But Steve didn't want to fight, either. They'd just gotten their friend back, and that should have been their focus. Not on Thanos. Not yet. Because, if Steve had anything to do about it, they'd get Thanos when they were ready and they'd somehow get everyone back. But right now? He took a step back, and, letting out a breath, said to Tony, "We're just glad you're back. It's good to see familiar faces. I think that's what we all need right now."

And then, with another sigh, he saw Eveline's hand raised, and he lifted an eyebrow in her direction, curious.

John:

His hands were curled into tight fists as he watched the others, and his heart was beating fast. Losing people wasn't something that he accepted, and neither was taking orders from others. But John needed to chill, and he also needed to remember when to keep his mouth shut. He was used to being the leader, and he was used to fighting. He was a soldier, after all. And this really wasn't much different. They needed to think about what they were going to do and make rational, unemotional decisions. Right now, they were all a little emotional, and rushing into making decisions probably wouldn't benefit them in the long run. John knew all about that and needed to learn to abide by those rules himself, considering most of his decisions were pretty rash to begin with. Still, he just wished he could get out there on his own and just search for Thanos.

But, he had no idea who the big guy was or what had happened, really, other than what he had been hearing from the rest of them. To go off on his own would be foolish and asking for a death wish. Besides, these were the Avengers. A little disbanded and dysfunctional, but they were still the people best suited for this job, and he was sticking with them. So, he decided to keep his mouth mostly shut, save for some mumbling in agreement with Steve, so that they didn't all vote to kick him out of the squad.

If he disagreed with anything they said or wanted to go off by himself to search for clues of what happened to his brother, he knew other mutants in hiding. He knew people with secrets. And he could go to them and report back to the Avengers. That way he could still do what he wanted and refrain from making a scene.