Avengers Compound
Morning
In the woods behind the Compound, Fury stood in front of a grave, a solemn look on his face as he read the words carved into the headstone.
Phillipe J Coulson
Agent of SHIELD
An Avenger
Fury stared at it for a moment before he turned around. Directly behind him, from left to right, were Tony, Thor, Steve, Natasha, Clint, Bobbi, Mack, and Fitz. Further back, Barry, Freya, Caitlin, Bruce, Scott, Cassie, Matt, and Frank stood with Fate lingering behind them, not quite part of the group but not completely part of it either. Tony, Thor, Steve, Natasha and Clint all wore emotionless masks while Mack and Fitz had tear trails on their faces. Bobbi simply looked numb.
"I first met Phil Coulson when he was in college," Fury said gruffly. "One of my agents had told me about an under grad looking into SHIELD for a paper. They thought he might have been a threat, suggested he be taken out. I made a different call, recruited him instead. One of the best decisions I ever made. Coulson was one of my finest agents, as well as a good friend. He looked for the best in people, but he also knew the world was full of evil, of people that needed to be stopped. He knew that the world may not want us, but it needed us. It's why I chose him as director; it's why I brought him back. Because he could inspire people in a way I never could. He was the best of us. Rest old friend, your fight is over."
For a moment, silence washed over all of them, everyone's emotions running high. Then, that silence was broken.
"Do we know if he had any family?" Steve asked softly.
"Yeah. He had us," Mack said, his voice gruff with emotion.
"What?" Thor asked roughly, walking over to Steve
"I just asked a question," Steve said as he looked over at Thor.
"No, you're acting like he's really gone. Why are we acting like he's gone? We get the stones from Thanos; we can bring him back with everyone else. We're The Avengers, get it together Cap," Thor snapped.
"We can't," Mack said and everyone looked at him. "That's not what he wanted."
"Who cares what he wanted, we can bring him back so let's do it!" Thor snarled.
"You weren't there!" Mack exploded and Thor was taken back as everyone looked at Mack in shock. "You weren't there when he told us he was dying, you weren't there when he told us over and over again that he had made peace with it and wasn't looking for some magical resurrection! The man died seven years ago and got brought back; he's had almost nothing but pain since then! Let him finally rest!"
For a moment, it was silent, the only sound Mack's heavy breathing.
"He died having faith in us, in all of us," Clint said after a few moments, looking around at all of them. "He bet his final breath on us. We have to make it matter. Make his death matter."
"We will," Natasha said as she put a hand on his shoulder.
Fitz stared down at the grave for a minute before looking down at his hands. Finally, he turned and walked away from the others, causing them to look after him in confusion. Fitz walked over to Freya, stopping in front of her.
"What do you need me to do?"
West house, Earth-1
Same time
Wally walked down the stairs and found something odd: His dad was usually up before him. But Joe was nowhere to be seen. And he'd left some papers on the table in the living room, which was very unusual.
"Dad?" Wally cried out in concern.
Warehouse
Same time
Joe dropped a bag at Thawne's feet, glaring at the madman hatefully.
"There, you have your tachyons," Joe said furiously.
"First, let me check," Thawne said before kneeling down and opening the bag, pulling out the spherical container. "Took you longer than I expected."
"Yeah, well stealing from Star Labs isn't as easy as it used to be," Joe said angrily and Thawne nodded. "We had a deal. I get you the tachyons, you let Laura and the kids go."
"You should know by now I can't be trusted," Thawne said with a smirk as he got to his feet.
Before Joe could do anything, Thawne had grabbed him and slammed him against the wall, knocking his head hard. Hearing something clatter to the floor, Thawne looked down to see it was Joe's cell phone. Joe had activated the panic button.
"You should know by now I can't be trusted," Joe said mockingly before he passed out.
Wally had gotten the alert from Joe's phone and quickly changed into uniform before speeding over. As Thawne dropped Joe to the floor, out cold, Wally could only stare as he sped in.
"Harry?" Wally asked and Thawne could only chuckle.
"Hello Wally," Thawne said as he turned around to face him. "We have never been properly introduced. I am Eobard Thawne."
"You're the guy who killed Barry's mom," Wally realized, stiffening as Thawne smirked.
"That's right Wally," Thawne said with a smirk as he circled Wally.
"What do you want?" Wally demanded.
"The same thing I have always wanted: to make Barry Allen suffer. And you're going to help me with that," Thawne said lowly.
"Like hell!" Wally snarled, speeding towards Thawne.
Thawne then sped out of the warehouse they were in, Wally following right after him. They raced through town where, to Wally's shock, a second Thawne appeared mid run. A time remnant, Wally realized.
The second Thawne ran off as Thawne turned around to face him. Wally tried to punch him but Thawne was too fast, grabbing him and tossing him into the side of a building. Wally got up as the second Thawne returned. The three speedsters traded blows in a blur of movement far faster than the human eye could keep up with. Wally, due to his training under Barry and The Avengers, did okay at first, but facing two versions of Thawne was difficult to say the least. One Thawne landed a lucky blow before the other grabbed him and threw him into electrical equipment. Wally was then grabbed by one of the Thawnes and thrown as the other slugged him hard at high speed before slamming him onto the ground, hard. The dazed Wally stared up as the two Thanwes became one again.
"I told you Wally, you're going to help me whether you like it or not, "Thawne told him before Wally lost consciousness.
Avengers' Compound, Earth-66
Not long after
"We brought you all the material you need to make the gauntlet," Freya said as she stood in the lab with Fitz, her father, Clint, Steve, Tony, and Mack, pulling out a bag and opening it, pouring machinery onto the table. "Almost."
"Almost?" Tony noted.
"We still need Vibranium to stabilize the gauntlet so we don't end up in a similar situation to Thanos. Of course, we're dealing with the six most powerful objects in the multiverse, so there's no guarantee. This is all based on theoretical data Fitz, the Fitz from my time, gathered for a year after you managed to bring him home and tell him what had happened," Freya explained and it was silent in the lab for a minute.
"Would this work for the Vibranium?" Steve asked as he pulled out the shield he had received from T'Challa before the battle in Wakanda.
"That's perfect," Fitz said, taking it as he looked at it. "It'll have to be broken down, but it'll work. I think."
"No, you're right, it's perfect," Freya said with a smile, beginning to feel hope. "You can do this Fitz. I know you can."
"You don't even know me," Fitz pointed out.
"I've known you practically my whole life," Freya said simply. "You, dad, and Grandpa Clint all worked together for years on this. This was your plan. You can do this Fitz. I know you can."
"She's right Turbo. You got this," Mack said, placing a hand on Fitz's shoulder.
"Okay," Fitz breathed a shaky breath before putting the shield down on the table. "Show me the blueprints again."
With a smile, Freya pulled out the floppy disk like device again and pressed the button, causing the blueprints to appear once more. Fitz took it from her, studying it with an intense look on his face.
"Okay, give me some time to work. I need to focus," Fitz said as he put the blueprints on the table, beginning to move through the machinery.
Nodding, everyone began to move out of the room. As they did, Clint lingered in the doorway, looking back at Fitz.
"Phil saw something in you kid, he had a tendency to pick up on people's potential. Looking through the old SHIELD database, I can see why he thought so highly of you. Make his death worth matter," Clint said before he followed after the others.
"I will," Fitz said softly before he got to work.
"Okay, so Fitz makes that gauntlet, we still need the stones," Tony pointed out as they walked down the hall.
"In order to get the stones, we still need to find Thanos," Steve pointed out,.
"Freya, do you know where Thanos is?" Barry asked his daughter.
"No," Freya said, to their disappointment. "But luckily, there's someone here who does."
A little later, they stood in the briefing room, everyone staring at the person in question.
"Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me," Nebula started slowly. "He talked while he worked. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. So I'd ask where we'd go once his grand plan was completed. His answer was always the same: to the garden."
"Thanos has a retirement plan?" Scott asked incredulously.
"What's the garden?" Barry asked as they all waited for Nebula's answer.
"A planet far from earth, unhabituated. Thanos plans to live out the rest of his days there," Nebula explained.
"Supervillain retirement. How cute," Frank muttered.
"Fate can get us there through a portal," Freya said as she gestured over to the man in the helmet, who had been silent this entire time.
"Wait, you can make portals? So then why did we waste time by coming back here in a space ship?" Tony asked angrily.
"Because I must use my abilities sparingly," Fate said simply. "You see, the helmet which gives me my powers also acts as a double edged sword. I have used it for so long that each time I remove it takes a toll on my body, depending on how much of my powers I use. The next time I remove the helmet will surely kill me."
"Well, you're a downer aren't you?" Clint asked dryly.
"If I use too much of my powers, it will kill me before I remove the helmet," Fate explained and Freya winced. "But I will take you to where Thanos is. You have my word."
"Thank you, we appreciate your sacrifice," Steve said gratefully and Fate nodded at him.
"Um, guys? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we'd be going in shorthanded," Bruce pointed out.
"Yeah, because he killed all our friends," Rhodey said gruffly.
"Even if there's only a small chance we can undo this, we owe it to everyone not in this room to try," Natasha insisted.
"And how would that end any differently than last time?" Bruce asked incredulously.
"Because this time we're together," Tony said with a look over at Steve, who nodded.
"Together," Steve repeated.
"Before you make further plans, there is something you must know," Fate said and everyone looked over at him. "We must split into two groups. One will go with me to get the stones while the other will go to Earth-1."
"Earth-1?" Matt asked confused before they heard Freya let out a strangled gasp.
Everyone looked at her and were shocked to see she had turned several shades of pale. She stared at Fate with a look of complete horror on her face.
"It's today?" she asked weakly and he nodded. "Why didn't you tell me!?"
"I assumed that you had known," Fate admitted.
"I wasn't even two when it happened and no one ever talked about it growing up! How could I have known it was today?!" Freya exclaimed angrily.
"Hey, Freya calm down," Barry walked over to his daughter and put his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm. "What's today? What's got you so freaked out?"
Freya took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She knew this wasn't going to be easy for him to hear, but he needed to know.
"Thanos, he's not working alone. He's working with Thawne dad," Freya said.
Shocked, Barry's arms lowered to his sides as he and Caitlin both stared at her in shock.
"Thawne? He's working with Thawne?" Barry chocked out and she nodded.
"Yeah. I know I should have told you before and I'm sorry," Freya apologized.
"That's why you told me about Thawne, because he's still alive," Barry said as he whirled on Fate. "How?"
"When you created Flashpoint, a Time Remnant of Thawne was created. This Remnant has been able to survive by harnessing the power of The Negative Speed Force," Fate explained.
"Negative Speed force?" Barry repeated.
"I guess he really is the reverse of you in every way Barry," Caitlin said sadly as she looked over at him.
"What's today?" Clint asked as he looked over at Freya. "What happens today? What's going on Earth-1?"
As everyone looked to her, Freya tried to compose herself. She knew they weren't going to react well and she couldn't blame them. She wished she'd known what day it was, but now, all she could do was tell them the truth.
"Today's the day that Thawne kills Grandma Laura, your kids, Papa Joe and Wally."