Searching for the dead

Steve Rogers would have said it was one of the more memorable days of his life just half an hour ago, and that was when it had only been the alien invasion, giant purple guy with a metal glove, the talking tree-man, and Thor returning in a crash of lightning whirling an axe.

Now, though, things had gotten so much stranger.

Something had gone over the battlefield, in one instant everything seeming to change. It was hard to put his finger on exactly what, just that something seemed… over.

He’d relaxed, and then he’d seen her. A flicker of green energy in the air, and…

“Peggy?” Steve said.

She looked just as he remembered, from all those years ago, back in the forties. Dark hair in curly waves, pulled back tightly so it didn’t get in the way of her work. A distinctly 40s face of make-up, eyes that were simultaneously baffled and enthralled by her new, Wakandan surroundings.

And then she caught sight of him, and her gaze softened.

“Steve?” she said, a note of wonder in her voice.

He never thought he’d see her again. And, for that matter, he never thought he’d see so much of her.

Sure enough, Peggy Carter, young and beautiful, was standing utterly naked in the middle of what had been moments before a battlefield.

Steve stared, and the part of him that believed firmly in being Captain America, role model and icon and hero, liked to think it was purely because it was wonderful to see her face the way it was when he’d first met her.

But if anyone had asked him later, he’d nevertheless have been able to describe in great detail how the rest of her looked. Bare shoulders, down to pale tits that her uniform really hadn’t done justice too, then lower still. The flare of dark hair between her legs, all the way down her legs and to her bare feet on the battered ground.

Maybe she followed his gaze, maybe she’d felt the breeze, maybe it was the ground against her skin. Whatever it was, a moment later Peggy suddenly became aware the same fact as him.

She was somehow, miraculously alive, young, here, and nude.

Peggy screamed. She flailed for a moment, arms trying vainly to hold her tits back, crossing both and barely managing to cover her generous bust, blushing furiously. She struggled, only to shriek again when she realised her nudity extended beyond mere toplessness.

Cheeks hot, she let one arm dip lower. A lone hand was sufficient to cover up a pussy at least, even if it was too late, but a lone arm did an even worse job with her chest. It seemed like half her tits were still in view, not helped by her trembling meaning her hand sometimes shook enough for a glimpse of a nipple to peek into view.

She stared incredulously bat at Steve, opening her mouth, then faltering, trembling, humiliated, as she accepted the dual realities that yep, somehow Steve wasn’t lost in the ice, and yes, she was stark naked in front of him.

“Steve, wh-what’s- wh-what’s happening?” Peggy said, her voice shaking.

And that was when Steve’s day got weirder. Again. Out of nowhere a powerful wind whipped up, and a somewhat small ship descended over them.

A scruffy looking man stuck his head out of a window.

“Hey, shield guy! Don’t suppose you’ve seen a talking racoon and a tr- whoa! Guys! Land here! Land here!”

Steve blinked. Peggy shrieked again at the newcomers suddenly greeted by the sight of her.

As the ship touched down on the ground, she stumbled forwards, overcoming her initial panic. Tits threatening to spill free from her arm, she hurried closer to Steve, eyes wide.

Wordlessly, he handed her his shield. She took it gladly, squeaking as she exposed her chest again to do so, and held it in front of herself. She had to bend her knees slightly, but so long as it was between her and the strangers…

The top of the shield blocked maybe half her cleavage, though the bare shoulders and the beginnings of a curve did little to give the illusion that she was anything other than nude. Similarly, her legs were still bare beneath it, a little less than half her hips sneaking into view.

The shield shook slightly, Peggy still trembling from her situation.

“Hey! I’m Star-Lord,” the man said, now out of his ship. At Steve’s sceptical expression, he sighed. “Peter Quill.”

Peggy squeaked, shifting to make sure she faced him. From the front at least, she felt different. Though knowing her ass was still utterly bare wasn’t helping her blush.

Behind him, a handful of others emerged from the battered looking ship. The one Steve knew as Spiderman, a black-and-red alien, and then another woman with wider, black eyes and a distinctly alien looking form matched with a very human reaction to the fact she was as naked as Peggy.

“Uh… Steve Rogers,” Steve said.

Yep. Today was weird.

“So, same question,” Peter said, gesturing and acting as though he was talking to Steve, as though it wasn’t incredibly clear that he was staring at Peggy. “Don’t suppose you’ve seen a talking tree or racoon anywhere around here?”

“Uh…” Steve pointed wordlessly.

“Thanks!” Peter said brightly. He paused, still looking at Peggy. “Are… you ok?”

Peggy whimpered.

“Mantis, can you help?” Peter said. “She might be able to say more about what’s happened, if she was… calmer”

‘Mantis,’ the nude alien, squeaked. Then she stumbled forwards, away from hiding at the back of the group, tottering a little faster as soon as she got forwards.

Steve’s reactions were still a little slow, caught off guard by… well, everything. He couldn’t respond until Mantis was by Peggy, and ducking behind the shield same as her. Peggy yelped, then-

“Relax,” Mantis said, her own voice still sounding slightly panicked.

Peggy blinked. Then like it was nothing, let go of the shield; Mantis clung to it with one hand, crouching even more than Peggy had to try and hide behind it, with her other hand on Peggy’s temple.

There was a slight glimmer of light, but apparently Peggy had stopped worrying about her situation. Steve couldn’t help the double take, watching her go from flustered and blushing, to perfectly casually standing, offering a full view to anyone nearby, arms dropping to her sides.

“What…” Steve said, slowly.

“Don’t think she’d have been great at conversation if she was still embarrassed,” Peter said. “So, uh, who are you and where are your clothes?”

“Peggy Carter,” she said. “I don’t know. I ended up here like this.”

“You weren’t here before?” Peter said. “Did you… turn to dust, or…”

“I was in New York,” Peggy said. She turned to better face Peter, unconcerned about her tits. “Not… wherever this is. And Steve was… gone.”

“Peggy…” Steve said softly. “That was seventy years ago. At least.”

“Seventy?” Peter said. She glanced back. “Huh. Look good for it.”

“No, she’s…” Steve said. He hesitated. “This isn’t her. Well, it is, but it’s… I was at her funeral, but now she’s back again, and young, and… naked.”

"So this is some Back to the Future thing?"

"I... don't know that reference," Steve said.

"Pfft, get with the times man," Peter said.

Peggy glanced at Steve, curiously; Mantis groaned under the strain of suppressing Peggy’s embarrassment.

“Huh,” Quill said, slowly. “So whatever made Mantis lose her clothes can… bring back the dead? And… keep… them…”

His eyes widened, but before he could say anything two newcomers strode into the clearing.

“I am Groot!”

“No, I told you that it’d be them, wasn’t one of Thanos’s ships,” Rocket said. He waved to Peter via a metal arm he’d picked up from… somewhere. Steve stared.

Mantis yelped, the two Guardians of the Galaxy coming up from behind her. She whirled around, turning to hold the shield between her and them, only to do so she had to let go of Peggy.

A second later and it was Peggy who screamed, realising that not only had she ended up showing off everything, again, to the strangers, but now there were people looking at her rear!

Hastily she snatched the shield back from Mantis, nervously holding it over her front and sidestepping behind Steve, using his body to hide her behind, and staring at Groot and Rocket, as incredulous as she was flustered.

Rather than fight, Mantis squealed and sprinted back towards the ship, ducking inside, antenna twitching as just her head peered out. Peggy whimpered.

“Gamora!” Peter said. “If the dead are coming back, that must mean… Gamora’s out there! Somewhere! And she’s- uh- we need to find her!”

“That’s, uh, great,” the other Peter said, taking a step away from Quill. “Good luck. But I, uh, as cool as that would be I probably shouldn’t be in space again. For a bit.”

“Sure kid,” Peter said, distracted. “Drax, Groot, Rocket, Mantis, we’re gonna find her! And… Peggy, want to come along?”

“Uh. No. Definitely no,” Peggy said.

Now the Guardians were all together, she’d come out of Steve’s shadow, still holding the shield over her, holding it tightly against her front to try and hide from any side views.

“I am Groot,” Groot offered.

“Yeah, I don’t think the fact you’re naked too is going to persuade her,” Peter said. “Not like you’re showing off any-”

“I am Groot.”

“Those are your what?!” Peter said. He took a quick step away. “Ok. Moving on and never talking about that again. Let’s find her!”

*

On a very distant world, Gamora took slow steps forwards, jumpier than she could recall being. She kept glancing back over a bare, green shoulder.

Ok, she could just keep her arms crossed. It was… it was a perfectly normal pose. Yeah.

She wouldn’t complain about a rescue. Just generally, there was no harm in having a team, or trusting them. Although she’d very much prefer it if they’d come rescue her after she found her jumpsuit, or found anything.

Nude, Gamora wandered on.