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Lost And Found

Summary:

AU
When Thanos is defeated in Wakanda Proxima and Corvus are all that remains of the Mad titans' forces, until they come across a familiar face they'd long assumed dead. The way of life they've always known is gone, as is the only family they ever known, can they find a new life, and even a new family?

possible out of character-ness despite my best attempts

Notes:

I've basically taken Kaldera's character from the brief apperances I've seen of her in the comic books and created, what I'd imagine a movie version of her would look/be like - please let me know what you think.

Chapter 1: Safe

Chapter Text

 

Proxima quickly laid down the unconscious body of her husband Corvus on the floor of their Q ship, quickly checking his wound she was relieved to see the bleeding had stopped and his flesh already starting to knit itself back together thanks the invaluable powers of his glaive. Reassured, Proxima moved to the pilot’s seat and maneuvered the Q ship out of the earths’ atmosphere. Deeming them to be at a safe distance and seeing they were not being pursued by Earths’ Mightiest Heroes – The Avengers, Proxima typed in a set of coordinates and set the ship into autopilot.

Proxima sat in silence for a moment, dragging her hands over her face and through her hair, letting the gravity of their situation sink in.

After a moment she took a breath, and got to her feet. Kneeling beside her husband who still rested on the floor of the ship, Proxima placed a hand on his shoulder

“Corvus?” she spoke softly, her husband stirred and his eyelids flickered

“my love” he rasped, putting his hand to his chest where he had been stabbed with his own glaive.

The wound had almost completely closed up by this point and his strength had returned so Corvus sat up,

“The sanctuary is too far for us to reach with the amount of fuel we have left but there’s an inhabited planet about five hours away where we should be able to get fuel and supplies.” she added efficiently.

Corvus nodded, still pale from blood loss, before frowning

“Cull?” he questioned

Proxima’s shoulders slumped, she’d dreaded this moment but it could not be put off any more. She shook her head

“I’m sorry my love” she said with surprising empathy

 

“He fell before Thanos arrived, There was nothing I could do” she stated, feeling her heart clench at the look of shock that crossed his features – after his mothers’ death Corvus had gone to find his father, finding not only him but a younger half-brother in Cull Obsidian. When their father had died two years later the brothers were left alone besides each other - until Thanos found them and recruited them into the Black Order.

Even as they reached adulthood and Corvus found the love of his life in Proxima Midnight, he and his brother remained close.

Now Cull Obsidian was dead – as was their leader, their adoptive father figure, Thanos. Corvus closed his eyes, his claws scraping against the steel floor.

Proxima stayed at his side but didn’t try to touch him nor comfort him verbally, instead she waited. She would wait as long as he needed.

After almost twenty minutes Corvus exhaled deeply, a snarl creeping in without his permission.

He got to his feet and Proxima followed. Corvus didn't speak, and simply grasped her wrist and lead them to the bed in the far corner of the ship, Proxima shed her layers of armour and Corvus dropped his cloak, lying on the bed and curling his body protectively around Proxima, holding her close with her forehead resting on his chest and her hand tracing soothing patterns in the skin of his neck.

Not only could regenerating be exhausting for him, but in the span of a few hours their situation, the very direction of their lives, had changed entirely.

Proxima stirred two hours later, feeling Corvus ‘claws lightly scratching her scalp as he toyed with her hair. Corvus could tell she was awake but the pair simply lay together with only the whir of the Q ship engine to break the quiet.

It was Corvus who broke their shared silence a long while later

“what are you thinking”

His hand was still in her tangle of navy hair, while his other hand cupped her jaw, his thumb brushing against the area where her horn met her skin.

Proxima was still resting her forehead against his chest, eyes open but not looking up at his face

“Where we go from here. You?” she answered,

Corvus hand stilled

“the same. It’s all I can think about” 

In he Black Order he had been Thanos’ most trusted strategist – mainly since it was in his nature to analyse situations and plan around any possible issues and outcomes.

Knowing his mind, like hers, would be running a thousand miles an hour trying to figure out a plan of action, Proxima curled closer to his body, tightening her hold on him; reassured by his warmth, his presence here with her.

“We joined Thanos, motivated only by what we endured in our pasts, we have both known hunger and hardship and survived – we will again” she stated firmly.

Corvus buried his nose in her hair, inhaling her scent, reassuring himself of her continued existence.

She was still here. She was still with him

“It is not the life I promised you” he said in a severely discouraged tone.

Proxima looked up at him

“Yet here we are” she responded with a more accepting tone.

Corvus nodded once, his thin lips twitching into a half smile

“Yet here we are,” he repeated.

There was no way of fixing their situation or getting their old lives back. And when you cannot go back, the only thing left is to go forward.

 

After landing the Q-ship on the outskirts of the city, Proxima and Corvus strode through the marketplace, buying supplies. Corvus conversed with one of the stall-owners, bartering for spare machine parts and fuel.

Out of the corner of her eye Proxima was a pair of cerulean skinned Kree, apparently quarreling over the price of something. Proxima kept a subtle eye on their surroundings, she was tense and on edge.

 

After agreeing on a price for the desired parts they needed, Corvus transferred half the payment and arranged to collect the fuel canisters and machine parts in an hours’ time and pay the rest then.

Turning back to Proxima, he saw that she was watching a pair of Kree nearby.

“Something wrong?”

Proxima narrowed her eyes as the Kree roughly tried to grab at something, but whatever it was slid from their grasp and ran towards an alley

“No!” the creature screeched in defiance.

A flash of red caught Corvus’ eye as the Kree caught the end of the chain that trailed behind whatever creature it was they were chasing,

Corvus felt Proxima bristle beside him

“Is that-“ he started

Proxima tightened her grip on her spear “I think so” she replied emotionlessly.

 

A second later she’d darted from his side

‘Only one species I've come across has a tail like that’ she thought to herself.

Just as she approached, the creature bit down on the Kree males wrist, causing him to cry out in anger, he kicked the humanoid creature hard in the ribs, sending it rolling across the dirt.

Proxima fired a warning shot in the Kree’s direction from her spear, they jumped and glared at her

“What the he-“ one shouted, only for another shot to be fired.

 

This one narrowly missed his head, he and his colleague turned and fled.

Proxima turned into the alley way, curled against the back wall was Kaldera. She had been a slave under Proxima’s ownership; she’d gone missing while on a mission for her mistress and presumed dead over six months ago.

Proxima stepped closer to see that Kaldera’s wrists were bound with metal bands that ended just below her elbows with a short chain binding her together with another metal band around her neck with a long chain connecting to the short chain binding her hands.

Another chain attached to her collar was gathered in her arms; Kaldera was also muzzled and dressed in a red leather vest, cropped to her navel with matching shorts and her feet were bare.

Proxima got to one knee in front of Kaldera, whose mismatched eyes displayed her shock at seeing Proxima, whatever sound she made in that moment was muffled by her muzzle. Proxima roughly took Kaldera's jaw in one hand, looking over the bruises and scratches on Kaldera’s face, as well as her thin frame. She looked to Corvus, who already knew what she was thinking; she didn’t have to say it, he nodded silently.



Two hours later Corvus piloted the freshly re-fuelled Q ship while Proxima finished taking an inventory of the supplies they’d purchased in order to work out how long they could travel for before needing to stop and re-supply again.

Kaldera, still muzzled for now, sat on the bed with her legs crossed and her hands between them; imitating the way a dog would sit as her red forked tail swished and twitched behind her.

 

She watched Proxima intensely as the older woman approached and began to unfasten the muzzle and collar binding Kaldera. When Proxima got a better look at the young girl, not quite sixteen by human standards, she was in worse shape than originally thought – as a servant of the black order one learned to hide their weaknesses perfectly.

But as Kaldera sat uncharacteristically silent with her back to Proxima, the adult female could see every notch in Kaldera’s spine, even through the thick leather of her vest and her ribs jutting out alarmingly, her sharp elbows even more pointed. And there was a cold, dead look in her eyes where there had once been a fiery, often insolent, determination.

Kaldera winced suddenly and gave a yelp as an involuntary twitch made pain shoot through her frail body

Proxima paused for only a microsecond and then continued to work on the stiff fastenings of the muzzle

“It won’t hurt if you remain still” she directed impatiently, Kaldera only frowned, touching reddened skin where the muzzle had rubbed it raw.

At last the muzzle fell away and Kaldera gave a deep exhale; the uncomfortable restraint finally allowing her to breath normally for the first time in a very long while

“Why?” she said quietly, turning her head slightly so that she could watch Proxima’s face with her crimson eye, the jade one remained concealed by the spiked bangs of her cropped brown hair.

Proxima gathered the muzzle, wrist cuffs and chains used to restrain Kaldera, moving to a shelf nearby and dropping the items in a small empty storage crate.

It was Corvus who replied

 

“Thanos is defeated.”

He set the ship into auto-pilot he came to Proxima’s side, shooting warning glances at Kaldera; she’d bitten his throat and torn out his jugular once many years ago, before she was properly trained and since then Corvus placed very little trust in the youngling.

Kaldera’s eyes widened as she regarded the pair, Proxima continued where her husband led off

“The masters army was defeated soon after; Chitauri, Outriders…we are all that remains of the Order so far as we know” she explained, glancing at Corvus

“There’s no signal nor word from The Maw” he told her silent inquiry before looking back to Kaldera

“What?” he demanded, the youngster seemed to be fighting the urge to lay down…or pass out

“Nothing” she snapped back, she respected Corvus the same as he trusted her – very little.

With a defiant glare at Corvus Kaldera got to her feet, Proximas' sharp eyes caught the way her knees shook under her own weight

“Find yourself something to eat and be quiet.” She ordered, taking the co-pilot's seat, while Corvus went back to piloting.

Kaldera sat with her back against the wall noisily digging into a bag of Zarg nuts.

Corvus tapped the control panel and addressed Proxima

“We have enough food for about a week, but we should work out a way to acquire a less conspicuous ship – these are easily recognizable as part of Thanos fleet, I do not wish to be thrown into a Nova Corps cell – their security is irritatingly sufficient.”

Proxima chuckled

“Worry not my love, I know someone who can help with that” Proxima leant forward and Corvus withdrew his clawed hand from the control panel, watching as his wife typed in the co-ordinates

“Ah-ha! There” Proxima pointed to a red dot indicating the desired destination.

“Two days travel. I’ll make contact and have them meet us somewhere discreet and we can acquire a ship” she smiled at her husband who returned with a chuckle of his own.

Her efficiency and level-headedness were just two of the countless things that drew her to him

“I love you” he stated, offering his hand to her between the gap between their seats, she took it without hesitating.

A second later the balled up packet from the Zarg nuts Kaldera had been eating soared past their entwined hands.

The couple turned to glare at Kaldera, who had been watching with growing disgust which she decided to voice in that moment

“Yuck. I see you two haven’t changed” Kaldera pointed out.

Corvus sneered

 “If you don’t like it, don’t look at it” he retorted, his thumbs tracing the back of Proxima’s hand.

Suddenly alarms started to blast loudly and the ship lurched forward, then back again, Kaldera yelped as she tumbled across the floor; not secured by a safety belt, and Proxima grunted as her spine hit the backrest of her seat hard

“What happened?!” she questioned as Corvus got to his feet and looked over controls and small screens, he growled in anger

“Those Orloni-looking scum!” he thundered, hitting controls and flicking switches

“The bastards only filled the fuel tank enough for two hours instead of two weeks!” He spat, sitting back in his seat heavily.

Proxima glanced at the fuel indicator, it was practically empty

“The ship is still set on auto-pilot, it’ll take much longer but we can still reach our destination and acquire a fully fuelled ship, one the Nova Corps won’t recognize” she replied.

Corvus sighed

 “Yes but it will take at least a month with no fuel; the ship will simply float to where the auto-pilot has been set. We only have a weeks’ worth of food. Including a third passenger” he looked pointedly at Kaldera who got to her feet, flicking her tail in agitation at Corvus’ comment. She hadn't asked to come aboard with them after all!

Proxima laid her hand on her husband’s wrist

“The oxygen level is stable, we’ll manage, we always do” she told him with a certainty she, deep in her heart, did not feel; at least, not entierly.