I swear people that yell about Freeze Peach have no idea what it means. If you provoke someone and then they act on that provication, then it’s on you, not them.
tony looked up at nebula, didn’t set down the tools he had patched together, kept his hands on the ship to hide the way they still trembled.
“and if we don’t,” he replied, “i’ll die here.”
she paused, and then slowly nodded.
“better to die trying than giving in, i suppose.”
-
“can’t get a view much better than this,” tony muttered to himself, staring out the window on their second day in space, studying the stars as if they could give him hope, or some answers.
he didn’t hear nebula behind him, and she didn’t speak.
he was an odd man, this tony stark, she thought.
not a bad companion to drift through space with, though.
-
tony’d never felt comfortable in silences, always needed to fill them, to deflect and distract and keep things flowing smoothly.
that didn’t work with nebula.
she was deadly quiet, blunt and to the point, and silences were natural around her.
he decided he might just like that about her.
-
they got used to each other, after awhile, though it was awkward and stiff and sharp at the beginning.
they found they have some things in common.
they were both grieving, both angry, both living their lives trying to prove they were more than just machines.
they did have one, fundamental difference, though.
one of them had given up.
the other couldn’t do it if she tried.
-
they were sitting three feet away from each other, backs to the walls, both resisting the urge to drown in the black void around them.
“what was she like? gamora, i mean.”
there was a tense silence, and for a moment he thought she might just kill him now.
her voice was quiet, but it was there.
“she was…brave. fierce. caring. she deserved happiness. after everything she’d been through, she deserved happiness. i-should have been a better sister.”
she stopped talking abruptly, and he assumed the conversation was over, and it was, for a moment.
“what…what was he like? your son.”
he tried to talk, but the words got caught in his throat, and he couldn’t bring himself for a moment.
“he was-pete was…he was smart. funny, sweet. one of the best kids i’ve ever known. he had a future, he-i should’ve been a better dad.”
she tilted her head slightly, regarded him cooly, replaying the footage of the boy and the broken man in front of her in her mind, every detail sharp and clear.
“you were a good one,” she said eventually, when the footage was over and the silence was too much, even for her. “he loved you.”
-
tony found nebula shaking with mechanical sobs on their sixth day in space, clutching a jacket that belonged to her sister as she curled up in the remotest corner of the ship, doing her best to stay silent and unnoticed.
he moved forward slowly, let her know he was there, watched her immediately stiffen and straighten up, angry and fierce.
“get out.”
he didn’t move a muscle.
she loved him a little for that.
-
they were out of food, out of water, oxygen was running low, and nebula was watching the man of iron (her…friend? were they friends? she hadn’t had many friends. she didn’t know. perhaps they were, given everything.) slowly break, his body giving up on him.
she almost wished she was human enough to join him, there on the floor.
but she wasn’t, and so she stood in front of him, hiding any sadness and saying, “you might want to leave a message.”
i’ll get it back to earth for you, she wanted to say. i’m sorry. i’ll avenge you, avenge them. i won’t forget you, stark.
but she didn’t.
he knew what she meant anyways.
-
tony was dying.
the air was getting thin, and he was so hungry, so tired.
he forced himself to give nebula one last weak smile, whisper out another stupid nickname.
she’d only ever rolled her eyes, and never gave him a nickname of his own, simply calling him stark.
he was okay with that.
it was nice, having a friend here, he thought. even if she was cold and new and quiet, even if they barely knew each other. they were friends, and that made it better.
he thought pepper would like her, if they ever met.
pepper.
he wished she was with him.
but she was, in a way, as he drifted off to the vision of her, stunning in white.
it’s always you.
-
nebula saw him slump over, kneeled next to him as he faded, held his hand.
she wasn’t sure if it helped him, but, god, she needed to do something.
his chest stopped rising and falling, and she felt her systems slow for a moment, everything too fast for even her to process.
“stark.”
“tony.”
“tony.”
“please.”
“please, wake up.”
-
nebula sat in front of the window, the iron man helmet on her lap.
