3.2 billon. That was number that I saw on the computer when I dared check the screens. 3.2 billon lives gone before their time.

It was enough to make me want to get sick.

How does the world move on from something like this? This can't be the permanent new normal, it can't be. Even in the facility things did not feel the same.

I couldn't speak for the remaining heroes, but I'd never felt so...alone. Humiliated. Defeated. The emotions would get magnified every time I looked at the casualty counter. Every digit it increased mocked us, reminded us just how badly we'd lost.

I knew we couldn't save everyone, it had been a tough lesson over the years, but this...this was on a different scale.

"Looking at it isn't going to make it stop," said Steve.

"I wish it could." No matter how much I hated to look at the numbers, I always came back—maybe in the hopes that one day the number would stop growing.

"What's done...we can't reverse it."

I put my hand against his that stopped on my shoulder. "It's unthinkable. No one could have ever...Did we not do more, Steve? Was there more in our power that we could have used to stop him?"

A heavy sigh came from his mouth. "I don't know. I'd like to think that we did."

"I was so sure we'd won...I thought I was in another universe when I realized things didn't end the way I had thought." I'd prefer that universe.

"Is it still going?" came Todd's greeting. Natasha was right behind him.

"I can't wait for the time to tell you that it isn't," I said grimly.

"This is a nightmare," said Steve.

"I've had better nightmares," said Nat.

"Hey." Rhodey walked in. "So that thing just stopped doing whatever the hell it was doing."

Right. The pager. In the wake of returning home, Natasha had brought up the idea to find Nick Fury. Though not the Director of anything anymore, he would be able to give direction. Unfortunately, Nick Fury was another Dusted. So was Maria Hill. We'd found his car abandoned in New York—a scary thing, for New York to be so quiet. We'd found this device nearby. We weren't sure what he had been doing with it. When we'd found it, it had red, yellow, and blue colors with a yellow star in the middle. Nobody was familiar with what it could mean.

The five of us went to the chamber where the pager was stored. Bruce was there, analyzing it. The colors we had seen from before were gone.

"What have we got?" asked Nat.

"Whatever the signal is sending, it finally creeped off."

"I thought we bypassed the battery," said Steve.

"We did," said Bruce. "It's still plugged in, it just...it just stopped."

"Reboot and send the signal again."

"We don't even know what it is."

"Fury did," said Nat. "Just do it, please. You tell me the second you get a signal. I want to know who's on the other end of that thing."

Just as Nat began to leave, I turned to watch her go. Her path was blocked by a woman who'd just appeared out of thin air. How did she even get in here?

My fists glowed with fire. Instinct told me to attack but Steve cautioned me with a look.

"Where is Fury?" the woman demanded. Her brown eyes told she wasn't looking for a runaround answer.

"Mixed with ashes of thousands of other people in New York," I said bluntly.

She clearly didn't like my answer.

"Surely you happened to notice how quiet the city got when you were on your way over."

"Who's responsible for this? Are you?"

"Gods no. You're..." I recognized her suit's color scheme. "You're the one Fury contacted before he turned to..."

"Yeah, I modified his pager so he could reach me. And he was to use it for emergencies only."

"I'd think half of the universe dying would qualify as an emergency."

"You want to tell me what led to this? Or do we need to duke it out?" She held a fight stance, and I was more than prepared to throw a few punches her way. She intruded in the facility, to me that classified her as a potential threat.

"Nobody's fighting anybody," Rhodey called us to order. "Let's just talk it through and all get on the same page."

"Short version: a big giant maniac named Thanos has collected six powerful stones in order to wipe out half of the universe. We're what remains," I said in a clipped tone. "Good enough for you?"

The woman regarded me still with a guarded look. "For now. Who are you guys?"

We each took turns introducing ourselves morbidly. The stranger introduced herself as Carol Danvers.

"Fury never mentioned you," said Natasha.

"Feeling's mutual."

"To be fair, Fury had secrets. His secrets had secrets," Steve reminded Nat.

"How do you know Fury?" asked Carol.

"He recruited us for an Avengers Initiative—basically a group of superheroes to help defend the Earth." Carol's eyes showed a hint of recognition, but she didn't mention what from. "There're more of us...but we don't know what's happened to them. How does he know you?"

"He and I shared a mission back in the nineties," said Carol.

"And you've been MIA since then and just now happen to appear?"

"Fury paged me, I didn't believe it was a prank call. He'd get his ass kicked for it if it was."

"Well, I guess we should be glad you're here," I said warily. "He wouldn't have paged you if he believed you couldn't help." I was still skeptical of Carol Danvers, though. "There are a few others here that you may or may not meet. This place is kinda big, and...honestly, we're all still licking our wounds."

We talked with Carol some more, those who were willing. Todd remained quiet, studying Carol. Nat must've taught him some deeper, sharper observation skills. Any other time he would've happily been gushing over another superhero. He would've had his reserves in the beginning but they would've disappeared fairly quickly.

Between being an agent and our recent loss, my best friend had hardened.

Slowly, one by one, everyone dispersed from Carol. I was giving her the benefit of the doubt on this. If Fury had called her for help, then she could be trusted. Only...why did Fury wait so long to page her? Why not call for her when all of this initially went down? We could've certainly used her help then.

"The air's pretty cold in here," said Carol.

"Like I said, we took a big hit," I told her solemnly. "We're just trying to find our way. You can stay as long as you like. I don't...I don't know how much help you'll be, though, considering the damage is already done. The longer you're here, some of us will warm up to you. Don't take it personal. How did you even get in here?"

"I've got my ways."

Cryptic. No wonder Fury liked her. "Well, since we're all still moping around, I suppose it's only fair that I give you a tour. I'll figure out a room for you in case you decide to hunker down here."

"As of now, I have no other plans to travel long distance, so a room would be nice."