╒ "The thing about light
is that it casts a shadow."╛

Light is everywhere. And anywhere light can be so can Emily. It's a part of who she is.

But in the grand scheme of everything, what's the point? It's said that Inhuman powers aren't random and are given to fill a need at the time.

So what's her "destiny" supposed to be? What's her grand purpose? To constantly push herself to the limits until she finally goes too far? That's where it looks like her life is going. It's fine. It is what it is. Goodness knows she's no stranger to death. They're old friends.

"Emily, are you listening to me?" Bruce asks, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Have I said hi? Or even hey? We don't see each other for two years and the first real conversation we have is you stitching me up and telling me how close to dying I am. You don't find that even a little messed up?"

Bruce sighs, rolling his chair back and pinching the bridge of his nose, "Why in the world would you go to space alone? How could you have possibly thought that was a good idea?"

"I was trying to find you."

"T-the Valkyrie from Asgard said you had been to Sakaar several times as a bounty hunter. Is that true?"

"The who? You mean Brunnhilde? Wait- you were on Sakaar? Are you kidding me? I was so-"

"As a bounty hunter?" Bruce repeats. "For that man? You killed people? Em, how could you?"

Emily's eyes narrow, "One, I didn't kill anyone. Two, even if I had you would not have any moral high ground over me. You of all people cannot judge because last time I checked you spent the last two years killing innocent people who were wrongfully imprisoned. Three, we can do this when this whole thing is over. We have a war to fight."

"No. No"we". You can't fight. You can barely even walk."

Emily purses her lips together, "We don't have that kind of luxury. The suit Tones made should-"

"God, you really are just like him," Bruce mutters under his breath. Emily starts to object but Bruce keeps talking."It is only a suit and you are in it. One strong hit and you're a goner. You need to stop or else you'll die."

"And if we don't stop Thanos, everyone else will. People I care about. That's more important. Everyone else comes first."

Bruce shakes his head, "Not to me. I'm benching you."

Emily's mouth gape open in shock, "Are you actually trying to tell me what to do right now? Because last time I checked-"

"Sorry to interrupt but we were feeling a little awkward," Sam interrupts, the rest of the worn-down Avengers behind him.

Emily chuckles softly, her demeanor instantly shifting. It feels like it's been years since she's last seen them. She takes in the group who looks almost completely different from the last time they saw each other. There's so much to say. So much to talk about. There's a whole essay worth of things she wants to tell them. But she blurts out the first thing on her mind. "You guys look like crap."

Sam smirks, looking her up and down. " You're one to talk. What the heck happened to you?"

Emily doesn't even acknowledge his question. She lets out a soft breath. "I missed you guys."

Natasha frowns slightly, studying the girl who quite literally looks like she's been in hell."We're not the ones who dropped off the face of the planet."

Emily brightens up the best she can, gently pushing a strand of hair out of her face, "Oh you have no idea."

"I think you look great," Bruce remarks, his eyes fixed on a certain blonde. Spoiler! It's not Steve.

Natasha smiles softly at her brief old love, "Hey Bruce."

He returns the soft smile, "Nat."

Emily makes eye contact with everyone, not knowing where to look or what to say, "Well, this isn't awkward."

"Those people who attacked you were Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive. Self-proclaimed children of Thanos. They'll do anything to please him," Emily explains, staring at the holographic images of Proxima and Corvus.

"So we gotta assume they're coming back, right?" Rhodey studies the alien projections before swiping them away.

"And they can clearly find us," Wanda adds.

Emily purses her lips, diverting her attention to the window, "We have to assume he already has the Reality Stone. If his children fail then he'll come for Vision himself."

"You seem to know an awful lot about this," Rhodey observes with a slightly accusing voice.

Emily scoffs dryly, "We don't have time for this."

"We need all hands on deck," Bruce pipes up, taking the attention off of his daughter despite their strained reunion. "Where's Clint?"

"After the whole Accords situation, he and Scott took a deal. It was too tough on their families, they're on house arrest," Natasha explains.

Bruce pauses briefly, "Who's Scott?"

"Ant-Man," Steve answers.

"There's an Ant-Man and a Spider-Man?"

"And a talking tree, raccoon, dog, and duck. Not to mention Death. She's actually pretty chill,"Emily adds, feeling everyone look at her. She shakes her head, "Anyway, Thanos has an army. You remember those fellows you fought in 2012? That was him. It's grown three times since then. He's been planning this for decades and he won't stop..." Emily glances at the wounded Vision,"...until he has all the Stones."

"Well then, we have to protect it," Natasha proclaims like it's obvious. Emily shuts her eyes, walking over to the couch. They have no idea how serious this is. It's not the world in danger this time. It's the universe.

"No, we have to destroy it. I've been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head, about its nature. But also, its composition...," Vision meets Wanda's eyes as she gets closer to him,"I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something, very similar to its own signature, perhaps... its molecular integrity could fail."

Wanda shakes her head without a second thought,"And you, with it. We're not having this conversation."

"Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can't get it."

"That's too high a price," Wanda flat out refuses.

Vision takes her face gently in both hands,"Only you have the power to pay it." Wanda walks away, distressed."Thanos threatens half the Universe. One life cannot stand in the way of defeating him."

"Vision, no. You can't possibly be considering this," Emily takes a step forward as if she had any right to lecture anyone about self-sacrifice.

"How is this any different from anything you've ever done? If I recall correctly after Doctor Banner left-"

Emily flinches visbly before Steve cuts him off abruptly,"That's enough. We don't trade lives, Vision."

"Captain, 70 years ago, you laid down your life to save how many millions of people. Tell me, why is this any different?"

Emily meets her dad's eyes for the first time from across the room."There might be a way..."

Bruce quickly catches on with a small smile ,"You might be right. Vision, your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. J.A.R.V.I.S., Ultron, Tony, me, the Stone. All of them mixed together. All of them learning from one another."

"He could make it without the Stone," Emily concludes with the exact smile.

It's like their brains are one. The two of them begin to gravitate closer to each other. Bruce runs his fingers through his hair, "If we take out the stone, there's still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best parts."

Emily pulls a face, "But us? I mean I wasn't even there was Vision was made. Unlike you, I only have like one PhD.

"Well-" Bruce stops mid-sentence. "Since when do you have a PhD?"

"I flashed my last name around and managed to fast track the process. Also the dirt I have on some people may have also helped," Emily chuckles a little at the end.

Bruce can't help but beam with pride, a part of him disappointed that he wasn't there to see it. He reaches out to touch her but quickly recedes his hand, "Wow, that's-"

Emily takes a step back, an invisible chill passing through the space between them. "Yeah."

There's an awkward silence between the two of them. It's not going like either of them thought it would. It's a bittersweet reunion.

Natasha breaks through the tension, "If you two can't do it then who can?"

Steve looks up, "I know somewhere. Wheels up in 10."

Emily walks out of the room before everyone else,  beelining straight for the bathroom. She grips onto the edge of the sink, letting out a sharp gasp of pain. Broken strands of light float out from her mouth.

"I'm no doctor but I'm guessing that's not good," Natasha comments from the doorway.

"Not in the mood, Romanoff," Emily snaps, smoothing her dirty hair out and turning to face the assassin.

"What's up with you and your dad, kid?"

"I don't know. Back then, I  was so emotionally vulnerable. Maybe I wasn't seeing things clearly. Maybe I fell in love with the idea of him."

"That's harsh. You guys were almost normal for a second back there. What happened?"

"Why are you so interested? It's not like you're my mom or anything. Nothing ever really happened between you and Bru- Dad. Nothing ever happened between you and Dad." Nat cocks an eyebrow and Emily deflates, letting out a soft sigh, "I'm sorry. That was mean. You are basically my mom. You know that right?"

"Is it bad again?"

That question. She knew it was coming and she was dreading it because the longer it went unasked, the worse the answer got. Emily laughs nervously, wringing her hands together, "Considering the world is about to end, it's not really great but I'm managing."

"Your dad's right. You can't fight like this."

"You mean I shouldn't. I shouldn't fight. Not in my current mental state and not in my physical condition.But the moment I stop, I basically sign my death sentence. This fight is bigger than any of us. Everything else can wait until we win."

Steve shouts something from across the Compound. Emily walks straight past Natasha, stopping briefly, "Blonde?"

Nat smirks,"At least it's clean. C 'mon, let's go."