POWERLESS HERO

After the hurried reunion, and the baffled gaze at Scott's presence, Natasha and Steve led the trio inside. Curio tried not to let his gaze linger around the compound too long, his eyes finding memories in all of the nooks and crannies of the walls. Beneath it all he could see the pain left by Octavian's leave - the grooves in the wood of the table Curio carved when he'd been thinking about what Octavian was up to, the closed door to the study that used to hold the conversations he and Octavian would have... rarely. Whilst this compound had been his home, it had also been his prison. His thoughts often took to those he could no longer see; Messalina forever gone, Locusta forever frozen in time, and Octavian forever detached. 

He shook off all of the dark memories, reverting his attention to the backs of the Avengers. 

"This is weird... right?" Octavian whispered, his hand blindly slapping the air near Curio. He imagined it was Octavian's way of trying to grab his arm and give it a squeeze, but couldn't find it quick enough. 

Curio nodded his head, taking a beat to respond. "I hope we're not here too long." 

Their conversation was cut short by the Avengers leading them into the office, Natasha instantly falling into the chair and propping her feet on the table, with Steve leaning on the door frame behind her. The trio stopped at this, waiting for words to follow their inquistive looks. 

"How did he get here?" Natasha asked Curio, her head nodding in Scott's direction. "We thought he was snapped like everyone else." 

Curio shrugged. "Beats me, he was too busy wolfing down anything he could eat and sleeping in the back of my car to tell us anything." 

Octavian scoffed, discreetly hiding it as a cough. Though he couldn't see it, he could sense Natasha's focus snap to him. Before anything could be asked, Steve interjected. 

"How's Locusta?" 

This time Octavian didn't hide his scoff. "Still frozen." 

"Sorry," Steve turned to Scott, looking at the man suck off crumbs from his shirt sleeves. "Can you tell us what happened?" 

Scott stopped in his tracks, his mouth paused licking his shirt sleeve. In an instant he recovered, clearing his throat. And at this point, he completely lost Octavian and Curio. 

Scott went on a spiel about the quantum realm, something that went over Octavian's and Curio's heads the moment he started talking about it. They both stared at the man, brows furrowed, as he finished his explanation. 

"Can you sum that up, with less science?" Curio asked. Octavian smirked at this; normally, Curio would've elbowed him hard, but now wasn't the time. 

"I think there might be a way to travel back in time." 

In that moment, it dawned on the pair. The hope Octavian had been holding out for his older sister was reignited. He felt his heart race and he instantly became more alert. 

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Curio didn't blame Steve for asking it - it seemed too good to be true. For so long, grief consumed the population. Now, they might be able to make it so there was never a need to grieve at all. 

"We can bring them back." The awe in Natasha's voice reflected what everyone was feeling. It could be undone. Loved ones could return. 

"Wait," Curio interrupted, his brain running at a million miles an hour. "How on earth are we going to do this?" 

Curio knew Steve's answer the moment he saw his face. "We speak to the smartest man we know." 

There was no time to complain. Everyone bar Curio remained on the spot, him staring at their backs as they moved further away. "He's not going to like that!" 

He heard no response. Sighing, he reluctantly followed the group to speak to a man who could save half the universe. 

*

The pair took the chance to escape as soon as they could. As soon as they got to Tony's house, they followed the group to the porch, watching as Tony came out. He gave Octavian and Curio a bright smile, gesturing his thumb to the house behind him - "She's waiting for you." 

Not waiting for any further instructions, the pair made their way into the house, getting a friendly pat on the back from Tony as they passed. They could hear the start of the conversation filter through, about how they wanted to convince Tony to create time travel and save the world. 

They were very grateful to be away from that. 

When they stepped into the house, thundering footsteps came down the stairs. Before either of them could prepare, the little girl screamed. "Uncle C! Uncle O!" 

She thrust herself into their arms, squeezing them both tightly to the point where they nearly couldn't breathe. They didn't complain, hearing Morgan smile and laugh made it all worthwhile. 

Finally she let go, giving them chance to catch their breath. 

Curio crouched down, getting closer and ruffling her hair. "How's the best princess in the world?" 

Morgan scrunched her face up. "Princesses are boring. I'm a superhero - like mommy and daddy!" 

"You are? What's your superpower?"

Morgan giggled, shaking her head. "You don't need powers to be a hero, silly." 

"Right," Curio smiled at her. He couldn't imagine why she wanted to be a hero, people died and the chance of dying yourself was high. He'd never found the concept appealing, so being forced to join Libertas always made him feel like a fraud. 

"Morgan?" Pepper shouted the girls name, rounding the corner. She smiled upon seeing the two men, her gaze falling to the window behind them, her smile dropping slightly. "Sweetie, why don't you go save daddy?" 

Not needing to be told twice, Morgan sprinted off to save her father. 

"Why are they here?" The concern seeping into her voice told it all. She knew something was coming, and she knew there was a threat that could tear her family apart. 

"We think there's a way we can stop what happened five years ago." This was the most lively Curio had ever seen Octavian. "They're seeing if he wants to help."

"Is it dangerous?" 

"Isn't everything?" 

Pepper promptly stopped talking, having been shot down by Octavian. She sighed heavily, leaning on the door frame behind her. Her hands found the bridge of her nose, pinching it ever so slightly. "You do realise what they've done?" She didn't wait for answer. "They've made him responsible." 

Curio reached out, giving the woman's arm a tight squeeze. She didn't react at all. Octavian remained impassive. 

"He struggled to sleep as it was - something never felt right, he said. He said it felt like something else had to be done." 

"Survivors guilt can wreck havoc on a man." 

Pepper nodded, another deep breath wracking her body. The door behind them swung open and shut - she shot up. Her entire demeanour changed, a smile pasted on her face and false happiness woven into her eyes. "Are you okay?" 

Both Curio and Octavian spun around, seeing Tony standing by the door with Morgan on his hip. "They just wanted to check up on me, no big deal." 

The lie was so poorly fabricated it even rose Morgan's suspicions. But never the less, the ignorant blindly accept lies to force themselves to forget the truth. Pepper didn't show that she knew he was lying, and just carried on smiling. 

"So, are you two staying for dinner?" 

-

i'm not going to lie, i'm currently struggling to write for this. i do write, but its no where near the standard i'd like it to be. at the minute i dont know what i'm going to do.

anyways, thank you for reading!

-thirdwheelchurchill