Hell's Kitchen
Morning
After a log night of searching, Matt Murdock entered his apartment, feeling completely defeated. They were all gone. Foggy, Karen, Maggie, Jessica, Luke, Danny. Everyone he cared about in this world was gone.
Matt's hair stood on end as he realized he wasn't alone. He heard two heartbeats in the room with him. He heard the sound of something firing and something came soaring towards him. Instinctively, Matt caught it, stopping it inches from his neck as he realized it was a tranq dark.
"I'm impressed Murdock," Fury noted where he sat on Matt's couch. "So, looks like Midland Circle falling on you hasn't affected your skills at any rate."
"Who are you?" Matt demanded.
"Nick Fury, former Director of SHIELD. I've been watching the Devil of Hell's Kitchen for a long time," Fury said and Matt stiffened. "We have a proposition for you."
"Who's 'we'?" Matt demanded.
"What's the matter Red, don't recognize me?" Frank said and Matt started. "Matt Murdock. Shoulda known."
"What are you doing here Frank?" Matt demanded.
"Like I said, we have a proposition for you. The world is at a tipping point. Governments are in disarray with lack of leaders. It would be easy for the world to collapse right now. What it needs is a group of remarkable people to give it hope again. I'm gathering a team to do just that," Fury explained and Matt raised an eyebrow.
"So what, you're putting together a new Avengers? And you think Frank and I can be what, the new Captain America and Iron Man? And you're on board with this?" Matt asked, almost laughing as he looked over at Frank.
"Trust me; I thought it was a bunch of bullshit at first to. But the guy makes a lot of good points," Frank said as he began rummaging through Matt's fridge. "Don't you have any beer?"
"Frank, focus," Matt snapped.
"Right. I've always been what I need to be. The world, whether it would ever admit this or not, needed me to be The Punisher and you to be Daredevil. Maybe now it needs us to be something else. Maybe now, it needs us to be the next Avengers," Frank said, finding a beer and taking a drink as he looked back at Matt. "I'm a military man Red; I'll always answer the call to action. Will you?"
Avengers Compound
Same time
"Cool," Cassie said in awe as Freya led her and Scott inside the compound.
"Looks like there was a fight here," Scott said as he noticed some of the damage from when Barry and Rhodey had fought the Children of Thanos.
Freya waved her hand and Scott and Cassie watched, awe struck, as it glowed red before the damage was repaired.
"How'd you do that?" Scott asked amazed.
"I'm the daughter of The Flash and Scarlet Witch," Freya said simply and Scott nodded.
"Right. Still having a little trouble with the whole time travel thing," Scott said as he looked around. "Can't believe I'm actually standing here."
"Well, like I said, make yourselves at home. I'll be back. I need to get some people. Living room is down the hall, kitchen is two rights and a left," Freya explained.
"You know this place well?" Scott asked.
"I practically grew up here," Freya said before speeding off.
Wakanda
Same time
Barry made his way into the dining room, where Thor was eating solemnly.
"Man of speed," Thor greeted as Barry sat down.
"Thor," Barry greeted.
For a moment, it was silent, the pair of them simply lost in their own heads, their own guilt and loss to say anything. Then, Steve walked in.
"Captain," Thor greeted dully and Steve nodded.
"Thor," Steve said before his gaze shifted to his other teammate. "Barry."
"Steve," Barry got out of his feet. "About last night, I-"
"It's okay," Steve assured him as he walked over and put a hand on Barry's shoulder. "We all lost something, some more than others. You don't have to apologize for how you chose to mourn."
"Still, I should never have taken it out on you. I'm sorry," Barry said and Steve simply nodded.
"Can't change the past, but we can change our future. We have to find Thanos. The stones did this, they can undo it as well," Steve said and Barry nodded.
"So, what is your plan Captain?" Thor asked his full attention given to Steve.
"We leave in a few hours," Steve ordered. "The world needs to know we're still alive. We're heading back to the Compound. Rocket is trying to see if he can reach his friends on their ship, but considering they were going after Thanos, we can only assume the worst. And we still have no idea if Tony, this Spider-Man and Strange survived their encounter with Thanos or not."
"So the odds aren't in our favor. Nothing new," Natasha said as she and Clint entered the room.
"Nat," Steve said as he looked over at her, seeing she seemed to have put herself back together.
Although how much of it was true and how much was for show, Steve didn't know.
Natasha walked over to Steve and, in a rare moment of vulnerability, hugged him. Steve, although taken back, returned the gesture.
"It's gonna be okay, we'll get him back," Natasha said as she pulled back, although Steve wondered if she was trying to convince him or herself. "We'll get them all back."
"I know. Because I'm not sure what I'm gonna do if we don't," Steve admitted.
Meanwhile, Clint walked up to Barry.
"How you doing kid?" Clint inquired.
"About as well as you probably are," Barry said and Clint nodded.
"Yeah, still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that's she's gone. Every time I think about it just…I feel like this weight is pressing down on my chest," Clint admitted and Barry nodded.
"I know what you mean. I've known loss and death; I'm no stranger to tragedy. But…seeing Wanda and Cisco disappearing in front of me, knowing I couldn't do anything…," Barry trailed off but Clint understood.
"We'll get them back kid. And then, I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch," Clint said darkly.
England
Slightly later
Bobbi threw a man across the room in the run down hotel room, pulling out a gun as she stalked over to him.
"Tell me!" Bobbi snarled, grabbing by the collar and slamming him against the wall as she put the gun to his head. "Or I'll blow your brains out."
"I swear I don't know! No one knows what happened," the man stammered, his English accent getting thicker as his fear increased.
"You always know what happens, there's always some sliver of information that reaches you," Bobbi snarled.
"Well not this time!" the crooked information said panicked. "I swear on my wife's head!"
"You don't have a wife," Bobbi sneered.
"From the looks of this place," I'd say that's obvious."
Bobbi stopped, looking over her shoulder. Freya looked around, her nose wrinkling in disgust at the conditions of the apartment.
"Who the hell are you?" Bobbi demanded.
"Freya. Now not to tell you about how to do you interrogations, but rather than going through all your contacts, hoping they might have a lead on what the hell happened, how about you let these sleaze ball go and I'll tell you what happened. More than that, how about I tell you how we bring Hunter and everyone else back," Freya said, peaking Bobbi's interest.
"You know how to bring him back?" Bobbi asked, a raw vulnerability entering her voice and eyes.
"Yeah. So, let him go; let's get out of here, and we'll talk," Freya told her.
Wakanda
Same time
Steve was in the room Okoye had given him. He'd been trying to avoid this. He'd spent all night trying to avoid dealing with his losses, helping Barry and Natasha and then figuring out his next move. But now, he had nowhere else to run. He sat down on his bed, putting a hand to face as he finally allowed himself to grieve Bucky, Sam, and all the others he'd lost when Thanos had snapped his fingers. Hearing someone knock on the door, Steve pulled himself together, wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Come in," Steve said and the door opened, revealing Caitlin on the other side.
"Hey," Caitlin said quietly.
"Hi Cait," Steve said softly, gazing at her in a way that made her heart race.
"I wanted to see how you were doing," Caitlin said as she walked into the room, shutting the door behind her.
"Honestly? Pretty bad," Steve sighed tiredly and Caitlin noticed how worn out he looked. "Bucky, Sam, Wanda, they're all gone. T'Challa is to, Tony might be as well. And I couldn't save them."
"No one could've," Caitlin said as she sat down next to him. "I had this conversation with Barry last night. Steve, it wasn't your fault."
"I was leader, that makes it my fault," Steve said sharply.
"Steve, you're not a god. We do the best we can, sometimes that isn't enough, but that's when we find out how strong we really are," Caitlin said gently and Steve looked over at her, a vulnerable look in his eyes.
"I've missed you…more than I can say," Steve said after a moment of silence, the air filled with the tension between them.
"I missed you to, but you had to go," Caitlin said softly.
"I thought of you. Every day," Steve said softly.
"I thought of you to. I tried to move on, but…every guy I went out with, I ended up comparing them to you," Caitlin said as she put a hand on the side of his face. "And the whole time, all I could think about was you."
For a moment, they just stared into each other's eyes. Then, slowly, they leaned in until their lips met.
The Lighthouse
Late morning
"Good to have you back sir," Davis said as Coulson walked in with him, Piper, and Mack.
"It's been less than a day Davis," Coulson pointed out. "I thought I could live my last days in peace. Apparently, the universe had other plans. What do we know?"
"Yesterday afternoon, for reasons that remain unclear, half the population disappeared, disintegrated," Mack said as Piper brought up a new feed, showing people disintegrating as people panicked. "Governments all over the world are in shambles because of a lack of leaders. There's chaos sir."
"Thanos," Coulson said grimly and Mack looked over at him.
"The guy The Confederacy warned us about?" Mack asked and Coulson nodded.
"They said his lackeys were here and now half of the human race has been wiped out. I doubt it's a coincidence," Coulson muttered.
"Fitz always said you were smart. As usual, he's right."
The pair of them turned around to see a dark haired woman with green eyes wearing a familiar red leather jacket they'd seen only in footage of Avenger duty. But it was blond haired woman with her that had their attention.
"Bobbi?" Mack breathed.
"Hey Mack, sir," Bobbi said with only a shadow of her usual energy.
"Hunter, is he…" Mack trailed off as he saw the answer in Bobbi's broken eyes.
"There was nothing I could do," Bobbi said brokenly.
"Save your tears, there's work to be done," Freya said as they all looked over at her. "You're right Coulson, Thanos is responsible. He wiped out not just half the life on earth, but in the entire universe, on every planet."
"How the hell could he do that?" Piper asked.
"The six infinity Stones, the most powerful objects in the universe. Thanos used them to wipe out half of life in the universe. But there is a silver lining," Freya said as they all stared at her. "The stones, just as they destroyed half of the life in the universe, they can also bring it back. We just need to get the stoned away from Thanos."
"I don't know if you've noticed, but we're a little short staffed…" Coulson said, trailing off as he realized he didn't know her name.
"Freya, my name is Freya," she introduced herself. "I'm well aware that we don't stand a chance against Thanos. Which is why SHIELD cannot act alone. A new age of SHIELD is dawning Coulson. It's time for you to step out of the shadows and into the light. It's time for you to rejoin The Avengers."