I finally got some rest and slept for 20 hours straight.
Just woke up...
I'm a bit confused, and it might not be written well. Please point out any problems, and I will revise it.
There will be another chapter later.
For five years, Lynn did not run away again.
He limited his activities to the Earth.
He spends most of his time with Natasha.
Tony and Pepper's wedding was a grand affair.
The location is a private estate on Long Island, New York.
Tony, dressed in a suit, stood in front of Pepper and put the ring on her finger.
Pepper didn't cry that day, but her ears were red the whole time. Later, Tony came over to offer a toast, and Lynn raised her glass, saying, "Take it easy next time, don't drive Pepper Potts away." Tony downed his drink in one gulp and said, "She has the right to inherit now, so I'm not going to be angry with her."
Fireworks rose from the lake after the wedding, their colors illuminating half the night sky. Natasha leaned on Lynn's shoulder, watching the last few sparks fade away.
He simply turned her hand, which was resting on her knee, over and gently clasped it in his own palm.
Morgan was born in the spring of the fourth year.
When Tony called Lynn, his voice was softer than ever before, as if he were afraid of waking his daughter.
"Come and take a look at her. She has really big eyes, like Pepper."
Lynn took Natasha there. Morgan was very small, wrapped in a pale pink blanket, with fine hair, sleeping peacefully. Tony stood beside her, reaching out to touch her every now and then, then pulling his hand back.
Pepper leaned against the headboard, looking unwell.
That year, Lynn did the same thing.
Tony helped him build a complete regeneration system based on the Cradle.
Lynn spent several weeks, with the help of the Cradle, gradually repairing the part of Natasha's body that had been taken away by the Red Room.
There was no pain, and the process was very quiet.
After each session, Natasha would sleep for a long time. Lynn would sit beside her, occasionally glancing out the window and then at her.
When she wakes up, she'll tell him a thing or two about what she dreamed about that day.
The dreams were all quite ordinary; some were about the yard where he grew up, others about the seaside. Lynn simply listened quietly.
"Are you sure this is okay?" Natasha suddenly asked him once.
"Of course," Lynn said.
"Then don't you think I'm being too greedy?"
"If you weren't greedy, I wouldn't be here."
Natasha didn't say anything more. That night, she turned over and hugged Lynn from behind, holding on for a long time.
After that, they slowly wandered around the earth.
From the west coast to the east coast, from a small southern town to the snowy northern plains.
He took her to a gas station late at night to buy two cups of instant coffee, and they sat in the hood watching the big trucks pass by. She didn't ask about the next stop, but each time she said, "Let's go," Lynn would put the car keys in the ignition.
The five-year deadline is drawing ever closer.
In the last month of the fifth year, news from Carol began to come intermittently. Sometimes it was just a coordinate, sometimes just a few voices with static.
There was no good news. She looked in many places, but some were too cold, some too hot, some lacked atmosphere, and some were too far away. None of them were suitable.
Lynn didn't rush her. He wrote down all the information and marked it on JARVIS's star map. Until only a few days remained in the fifth year.
That afternoon, Lynn and Natasha were at a flea market in Brooklyn.
Natasha flipped to a picture book filled with photos of different coastlines.
She was pointing to a page when Lynn 'Lynn communicator suddenly rang.
He glanced at it; it was Gravik.
"I'm going out for a bit," Lynn said to Natasha.
"Go ahead," she continued flipping through the picture book.
Lynn walked outside the store and pressed the answer button.
Gravik's voice came through the communicator, deep and without pleasantries. "It'll be five years in a few days."
"Yes," Lynn said.
"So, what was the result?"
"I will contact you before the due date."
Lynn leaned against a lamppost, watching a fruit vendor packing up across the street. "If we still don't hear from her, SSC will keep its promise. After that, it's just a matter between SSC and her."
Gravik was silent for a moment, then said, "Hmm."
The communication was cut off. The wind on the street blew a few pieces of paper up and they rolled past Lynn's feet. He stood there for a while before turning back into the bookstore. Natasha was still standing in front of the art book stall. She closed the art book and said, "Buy it." Lynn nodded and paid.
Two days later, JARVIS picked up a signal from Carol.
Lynn contacted Gravik and told him only one sentence, "Come to SSC."
Gravik did not delay. Twenty minutes later, he appeared at the base entrance on time.
Lynn went downstairs to meet him. The two didn't say anything and went to the main conference room together. The conference room was very quiet. Lynn asked him to sit down first, and then walked to the window, looking at the helipad outside.
"When will she arrive?" Gravik sat at the table, his arms resting on the surface.
"Almost there," Lynn said, "Just reached Earth's orbit."
A few minutes later, a golden light appeared in the sky above the tarmac, growing ever closer. When Carol landed, her short hair was disheveled, and her face bore the marks of wind and sand. She walked into the conference room, first glancing at Lynn, then at Gravik.
Then she sat down opposite Gravik, took a data pad from her waist, and pushed it across the table.
"We've found the place," she said.
The data panel slid down in front of Gravik. He looked down at it for a few seconds but didn't pick it up.
"It contains coordinates, atmospheric data, hydrological data, soil data, and landing sites available for the first batch of immigrants."
Carol said, "It might not be the best. But there was no war, no looters. I ran everywhere I could for five years; it was the optimal choice."
Gravik reached out, flipped the data panel over, and looked at it for a while. He ran his fingers lightly along the edge before saying, "I'll send someone to confirm."
"Yes."
Lynn had already returned to the table and sat down between the two. "The SSC will also send an unmanned reconnaissance ship to confirm simultaneously. If it's true, we'll discuss the next steps."
Gravik stared at the data panel. After a long while, he put it in his pocket and stood up.
"15 days! If the verification is successful, the first group of people will leave Earth within 15 days. However, we need SSC's help to establish a home."
He walked to the door, paused, and without turning back, thought, "I hope this time, you haven't lied to me."
After the door closed, the conference room fell silent again.
Carol leaned back in her chair and let out a sigh. Her eyes were closed, and her face was full of exhaustion.
"There will absolutely not be a next time," Carol said.
Lynn looked at her and simply said, "I hope so."
That evening, Lynn returned to his apartment. Natasha was sitting on the sofa, the coastal sketchbook spread open on her lap. She looked up at him. "Is it over?"
"It's over." Lynn walked over and sat down next to her. He glanced at the page in the book; it was a photograph of a Scotland beach, with grey-blue waves and a lighthouse in the distance.
"This place," Lynn said, "I'll go check it out in a few days."
Natasha smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. "Okay."
A breeze came in through the window, lifting a small corner of the curtains.
The team that verified the message was personally selected by Gravik.
Lynn didn't ask any questions. He gave Tony the coordinates of the planet and had JARVIS conduct a reconnaissance mission first. The results came back quickly: the atmosphere was breathable, the gravity was within the Skrulls' tolerance range, there were two continents and a shallow sea, and the freshwater reserves were better than expected. There was little vegetation on the land.
Five days later, the people of Gravik set off. They didn't take an SSC ship. Lynn didn't know where they got the spaceship from, nor did he intend to ask.
After that team set off, the base remained quiet for a few days. Lynn went to the lab every day to check on the signal reception.
Tony would jokingly say, "You're giving me trouble again," but he always examined the data very carefully. Carol also stayed on Earth.
Sometimes she goes to the hangar to check on her fighter jets, and sometimes she stays alone on the roof. Lynn didn't disturb her. She needed a little more time.
On the evening of the twelfth day, the signal returned from Gravik.
JARVIS connected the communication screen to the main screen. The Skrulls stood on a gray-green wasteland, with low rocky hills behind them.
The wind whipped their clothes up, but there was no sandstorm on the ground. In the foreground, someone squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil, and slowly released it. Black soil seeped through their fingers.
It's true!
Lynn stood in front of the screen, silent. Tony walked over and handed him a data report, "Environmental data from the third day after landing. No highly intelligent life detected, nor any trace of activity from high-risk organisms."
Lynn nodded and looked at Carol. She was standing a few steps away, also looking at the screen. Lynn didn't say anything.
He contacted Gravik.
"Your people have all arrived; you should have received the message by now," Lynn said.
"I saw it." Gravik's voice was deep, as if he was trying to suppress some emotion.
Lynn said, "We'll start whenever you're ready. For the relocation, SSC can provide transport ships and basic infrastructure machinery."
"Two weeks," Gravik said. "We need to sort things out."
"Line."
The two weeks that followed were the quietest and busiest period in the entire SSC.
The transport ships were made by Tony; they were two older models that had been refitted for environmental adaptation.
Peter was called back at the last minute to help load supplies, but ended up spending half a day in the cargo hold before Sam dragged him out from a pile of compressed food bags.
Yinsen was also called back to oversee medical records, compiling a list of common potential physiological problems. Wanda and Pietro were also called in to help.
Lynn went there on the day the first Skrulls left.
He was standing beneath the massive transport ship with only Natasha Gravik in his arms, talking to several of his tribesmen. He paused when he saw Lynn. Lynn walked over, took a small object from his pocket, and handed it to him. It was a tiny metal piece.
"A backup plan," Lynn said. "If you find anything wrong when you get there, contact me using this."
Gravik took it and glanced at it. He said nothing, simply tucked the metal plate into his coat, patted Lynn on the shoulder, and turned to board the ship.
The wind was strong when the ship took off. The last group of Skrulls who hadn't boarded yet stood there, watching the transport ship disappear into the clouds.
Lynn and Natasha stood at the back of the crowd, which included elderly people and children among the Skrulls.
"Let's go home," Natasha whispered.
"Hmm," Lynn said.
They turned and left. The wind was still blowing behind them, slowly dispersing the traces left by their takeoff.
That evening, Lynn sat on the balcony of his apartment. He unusually opened a bottle of wine and poured Natasha a glass as well. The two of them didn't say anything, just looked at the New York sky. The night sky was clear, and a few faint stars could be seen.
"Is it over?" Natasha asked.
"Almost." Lynn took a sip of his drink.
"You don't actually have to worry about it, "Natasha said.
Lynn turned his head to look at her. She wasn't asking him anything; she was stating a fact. Lynn smiled, extended his cup, and lightly touched it with hers.
"But we can't actually let someone steal the Earth."
Natasha smiled too. She leaned her head closer, barely drinking any of her wine, just quietly resting against him. The night breeze blew in from the other side of the city, carrying a lingering warmth from the approaching end of summer. Lynn finished his wine and placed the glass on the ground.
"Where do you want to go tomorrow?" he asked.
"I'm not going anywhere," Natasha said. "I'll just stay home."
"Okay."
They didn't speak again.
Lynn reached out and took Natasha's hand. Her fingers were a little cold.
The moon peeked out from behind the clouds, shining its light on the two people.
That concludes the story of the Skrulls.
Lynn leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.
He knew there would be other troubles to come, but tonight, he just wanted to sit with Natasha in his arms a little longer.