The Cosmo Wolf: (Avengers x Male Reader)

Chapter 68: 2014 and 2010

"In order to take the stone... you must lose that which you love." Red Skull told him. Pietro looked at him in confusion, tapping Clint so that he could turn to face them, too. "It is an everlasting exchange. A soul for a soul."

"You're saying that one of us needs to die?" Clint asked with a tint of anxiety in his voice. Red Skull nodded to him, making him scoff and pace around.

"No. No, that's... that's got to be bullshit." Clint exclaimed as he clenched his fists. That couldn't be the truth.

"What would he have to gain by lying? It has to be true." Link shook his head, not seeing why the guy would be wrong. He sat with his legs crossed, biting his finger as he tried to accept what had to happen.

"Why should we trust the guy? I mean- he could..." Clint growled as he couldn't think of an explanation. He kicked a rock in frustration, sending it tumbling over the edge of the cliff.

"Clint, he's telling the truth! If we don't do this, we won't get the stone. We won't be able to bring anyone back." Link said, standing back up and pulling in his hair in anger.

"Thanos left this place with the stone and without his daughter. That's not some weird coincidence, okay?" Link locked eyes with Clint, grinding his teeth. The two glanced off in separate directions, taking deep breaths.

"Whatever it takes." Link said, making Clint nod from behind him.

"Whatever it takes." Clint agreed. "

"We need that stone. If we don't, billions of people stay dead." Link whispered.

"I'll do it..." Pietro caught both their attention. He looked over the end of the cliff, feeling like he was the best option.

"No, Pietro. You're not doing it-" Link tried to sway him, only to be cut off.

"Link, both you and Clint are more important than me. Clint has family. You have more useful skills than me. It has to be me." Pietro slowly approached his friend, sparing a glance at Clint and remembering their time together in Sokovia. "Whatever it takes."

"Kid..." Clint said, letting the name hang in the air. Link shook his head, a small hitch in his breath.

"No. You can't. What about you? You have friends, too. You have family. What about Wanda?" Link tried to keep himself steady as his voice cracked. Him and Pietro had become such good friends in the last 5 years... he couldn't do this!

"(Y/N) will take care of her. I know he will." Pietro smiled, even during such an emotional and heartbreaking situation. He didn't want them to be sad. He hadn't even contributed that much in the years he'd been with the Avengers. In his own opinion at least. Almost everyone would say otherwise.

"Tell Wanda I love her." Pietro's words sank deep into Link's heart as he turned and began walking back to the cliff edge.

"No!" Link tried to run forward and stop him, but Clint grabbed him and pulled him back. "Clint, let go of me! Damn it!"

"He has to do it. I'm sorry." Clint felt a tear start to form in his eye as he watched Pietro place one foot on the end of the cliff, turning around to give a look back at him and Link. Link managed to wriggle from Clint's grip and run towards Pietro, but he wouldn't make it.

"Goodbye." Pietro inched backwards, falling back first through the air as he began to approach the bottom of the cliff at an increasing speed.

"No!" Link reached a hand out over the cliff, even though his friend was already halfway down. Pietro hit the ground, his life force disappearing as soon as it happened. The sacrifice had been given...

Both Clint and Link slowly awoke back at the bottom of Vormir. The two rose from the water, confusion filling them as they had just suddenly appeared down there. Link raised his right hand, looking inside it at the glowing orange stone that was now in his palm.

"Pietro..." Link sniffed in air, being overwhelmed by his emotions. He punched the water below him as tears streamed down his face. Why... why did it have to be him.

"Kid..." Clint wiped his eyes as he too felt his emotions start to flare.

2010

(Y/N) burst back to his original size in a large corridor. The place was silent, seeming empty. It wasn't empty, he knew that. The agents that were supposed to be stationed there were busy fending off his 15 year old self. He had to be quick.

(Y/N) ran through multiple other halls, including doors. With a hard look into his own mind, he'd managed to remember the massive armoured door he was looking for. He could hear faint gunshots in the distance, making him glance back for a second.

"It's now or never." He whispered, blinking onto the other side of the door. A small pedestal rested in the centre of the room, just like he remembered. Bingo!

In a hurried walk, (Y/N) moved to the Tesseract as it sat upon the pillar.

"Hello, Cosmo." He said musically as he reached out to grab the cube.

"Hello, (Y/N)." The man jumped into the air as he spun around to see Cosmo in her manifested form. Lord, why did she have to do that to him? After a few seconds of gasping for breath and wondering trying to remember which way is left, he finally found the words he wanted to use.

"What the hell. How do you know my name?" He asked the woman, causing her to tilt her head in confusion.

"Why wouldn't I know your name?" She asked.

"Because you're 2010 Cosmo. Not my Cosmo." (Y/N) said, picking up the Tesseract in his hand.

"I think you're mistaken. I'm your Cosmo, but I've taken this body." She pointed at the artifact in his hand. How did that work? "I've been hidden in your mind for the past 5 years since my original body was destroyed. I've been waiting for you to bring me here like Era said you would."

"The Time Stone?" He asked, earning a nod.

"Listen. Now that I can communicate with you again, I need to tell you something." Cosmo stepped forward. (Y/N) looked at her curiously, now wanting to know what was so important.

"I'm listening." He told her.

"The bodies of me and the other stones will have to be returned to these specific times." She began, making (Y/N) nod as he kind of understood what she meant. She was saying they'd have to return the stones.

"But before you do that. You must use Era's powers to bring back our original bodies that were destroyed by Thanos. Therefore your universe will be protected from darkness again." Cosmo held her hands together, making her look and seem way more innocent than she actually was.

"Fine. Is that it?" He asked her as he wanted to get back to the others. The sound of banging from behind the door made his eyes widen as he expected he was going to be meeting his younger self a second time if they didn't hurry.

"That's all, (L/N)." She nodded to him, just as he was about to go back to his original time, he paused for a moment longer.

"It's good to see you again, Cosmo." He smirked at her, seeing her wink at him just before he shrank back down and returned to his own time.