Chapter Text
Tony stared at the patch of ground where Thanos had lain. "Yeah. That happened." He decided to stock up on gourmet cat food, just in case. Tripod came over to Tony and rubbed against the legs of the Iron Man suit. What the hell. Think of Tripod as a small, furry Hulk. He's got it under control. He's cool.
"So." T'Challa looked around at the smoking hulks of Thanos's ships, and the piled corpses of Outriders. "It is time to care for the wounded, and count the dead."
"Yes, my king," one of the nearby warriors said. People were already going over the field sorting out the wounded for treatment, without waiting for orders. Aircraft lowered wherever there was space, and let down ramps to accept them. The dome over the palace went down, and doctors and nurses who'd been pressed against the barrier ran out with hovering gurneys, dodging around alien corpses to retrieve the wounded people.
T'Challa wrinkled his nose. "And perhaps burn the..."
"Outriders," Nebula said. She gazed at the battlefield and frowned. "Usually I just move on after a battle. Burning sounds like a great deal of work. Isn't there some way of recycling them?"
T'Challa coughed. "If they were edible, the black panthers might take a few... but so many."
"I could help," Charley said. "Make them...flowers. Or trees."
"Charlotte," Edakeen said gently, "We should only watch."
Charley pushed out her bottom lip. "But... flowers."
"We are watchers," he said.
Charley suddenly grinned and pointed at herself. "Half!"
"Yes, and so long as you do not use too much power, the Council will not take notice of you," Edakeen said. "You've done enough for one day. It is time for you to go home to Rose Hill. I will visit when I can."
Charley sighed. "Yes, dad." She shimmered and shrank back into the girl Tony remembered, a tall, normal looking girl with blue eyes and light blonde hair, dressed for a day of gardening in her tomato patch with well worn trousers and a red striped t-shirt. The only thing that stood out was the crown on her head. She touched it and the crown shimmered too, and became a sky blue ball cap covered in brightly colored rhinestones, with three very large ones in the center, red, purple and orange. "Good?"
"Very good," Edakeen said.
"Erm," Quill said, "is it safe? I mean, leaving the three of them with one person?"
Edakeen said, "Charlotte will Watch over them."
Tony said, "Odin told me it was too dangerous to keep even two of them on Asgard."
"For Asgard, it would have been too dangerous as two would have worked together to draw others. The six Stones have an affinity for each other. They will be content here on Earth." He smiled slightly. "If you wish, you may separate these three and set them in the rings you have prepared. So long as they remain on the same planet, there should be no problems."
Charley shrugged and took off the ball cap. "Who wants?"
Rocket reached out, and then he shook his head. "Nah. But hey, you know, if I'm giving up one of those rocks, how about we get paid? We got expenses! You think it's cheap flying across the galaxy every time someone needs the Guardians?" He pointed at Bucky. "I'd take that arm as a down payment."
"Rocket, no," Quill said.
Charley reached into the pocket of her trousers, and pulled out a squashed plastic bag. "Want this?" She handed it to Rocket.
"What is this?" Rocket ripped open the bag and stuck his nose in. He sniffed. "Oh, yeah." He pulled out a marshmallow and ate it. "Ok, gimme an arms' worth of them, and we're good."
Barnes said," Um...I don't know what it's worth. Stark custom built it."
"Ottobock North America makes a nice arm for $60,000," Tony said. "Of course, it's not a custom job." Tony looked at Rocket. "Tell you what, let me have a look at your tech and I'll get you a lifetime supply of Stay-Puft."
"That was a good movie," Quill said. "The one with the giant marshmallow man. Hey, did they ever make a sequel?"
"Yeah. Two of them," Tony replied. "The second one they switched it up by putting women in the main roles."
"Huh," Quill said. He had his arm around Gamora. "Cool. I love strong women."
Gamora rolled her eyes. "Of course you do. Doesn't everyone?"