The Soldier

Loss

              Steve watched as Alex let out her deafening scream. The pain in her scream made him drop to his knees. He could hear commotions of other crying out for their friends and loved ones. Thanos had wiped out half the planets civilians. Steve finally got the strength to rise and make his way over to Alex. She held Buckys dog tags close to her chest. Steve dropped down to her and pulled her slowly into his chest holding her. He was in pain watching Bucky vanish like that. But hearing Alex's scream, made him feel like a failure.
              "Alex, I'm so sorry..." Steve finally let out, he held the girl tighter as more tears fell down his bearded face.
              "We got to get him back Steve, we have to get Bucky back." Alex said in the middle of her sobs. Steve shut his eyes tight, he was unsure if there was any way.
              "We will Alex..." Steve replied, he knew he might not be able to keep that promise. Alex was still shaking violently over the loss of Bucky.
              "There's gotta be a way to get him back Steve. We have to try..." Alex whispered. Steve held her tight against him, he looked down at the pile infront of them and then Bucky's gun.
              "Alex, we gotta go." Steve reached across to gather Bucky's gun. Before he grabbed it, he reached down and touched the spot where Bucky had dropped. Alex inhaled sharply and grasped the dog tags tightly.
               "Where are we going to go Steve?" Alex slowly peered over to him. Steve frowned and sighed closing his eyes.
               "Home." Was he reply.

               Steve landed the jet, they were back at the Avengers Compound. It was a silent ride back. They had gathered some of the fighters left behind. They arrived with Natasha, Bruce, Rhoades, Rocket, and Thor. Alex remained in her seat as the jet engines turned off. The door opened, and the members started to leave the jet. Rocket looked over at Alex, her face stained with tears. He looked and saw the dog tags in her hands. He walked over to Alex and placed his tiny paw over her shaking hands. They were shifted back into their skinned form. Alex's red puffy eyes glanced over to the creatures face.
               "I'm sorry you lost him..." Rocket shared his condolences. Alex shut her eyes and swallowed heavily.
               "Thanks, by the looks on your face. You lost someone too?" Alex opened her eyes and looked at Rocket. Rocket sniffled and nodded his head.
               "Yeah, I lost everyone." Rocket explained. Alex sighed and brought her hand up to Rocket's small head. She placed it upon his head and he sighed.
               "I'm sorry Rocket." Alex apologized. He chuckled.
               "You're lucky. The last person that touched my head lost a arm and a leg." He tried to lighten the mood. They were alerted when they heard footsteps enter the jet. Pepper's pale face came into view. She stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes widened as tears immediately fell down her face. Alex felt her heart drop again, tears fell down her damaged face. Rocket took a step back so Pepper and her could reunite. Pepper immediately ran over to Alex and took the girl in her arms. They sank to the ground. The two cried hard, Rocket decided to step out. He walked past Happy who had survived. He stared confused at Rocket who waved at him as he left the jet.
                "Did Dad make it Pepper?" Alex asked, her tear stained face buried into Pepper's chest. Pepper inhaled deeply.
                "I don't know Alex. I can't reach him." She spoke the truth. Alex felt her heart sink more. That was all she needed to hear to completely lose control of her tears. Now she didn't even know if her father survived. Happy stood there, trying to keep his emotions intact.
                "We should head inside Pepper." Happy cleared his throat. Pepper and Alex both agreed. Alex was still very weak from what Happy could see. He walked over to the women and helped Pepper get Alex up. They carried her off the jet. Steve ran over to help. Pepper and Happy allowed him to lift Alex up and carry her inside.

                 Steve had brought Alex to her old room, he gently placed her on the bed. She winced in pain as he set her down. Steve sighed and sat on the bed and reached for his pocket. Alex brought her hand up slowly to her gaze, watching Bucky's dog tags swing in the slight breeze. Steve opened one of his pouches and pulled out a small piece of paper. He sighed and brought the paper over to Alex.
                 "Whats that?" Alex frowned at the paper before taking it from him, he let go and dropped his arm.
                 "Something to help with your grief. Something you should have." Steve responded as he stood. Alex slowly sat up on her bed, opening the piece of paper. Tears formed in her eyes again, it was a picture of Bucky from the 1940's. In his old uniform when he fought in World War Two.
                 "I'm making a promise. No matter what I have to do, we will find Thanos and make him pay. We will get everyone back." Alex promised, gritting her teeth. Steve looked at the girl with a smile on his face.
                 "We will find him Alex, just give it time. But for now, rest. Your gonna need to be ready when that happens." Steve reached over and gave her shoulder a squeeze. Alex nodded and laid back down, holding the photo and Bucky's tags close to her chest. Steve rose from his seat and walked over to her doorway, he turned his head and watched Alex close her eyes. He shut the light off and closed the door behind him.

                 Morning came, it was eeriely quiet. Alex's blue eyes opened and squinted at the sunlight. She sighed and looked over at her end table and noticed the photograph and the tags were now placed on it. Alex frowned and sat up fast, regretting it as she grabbed the back of her neck. She was still in a huge amount of pain from the battle. She growled and hung her head, there was a knock on her door.
                 "Yeah? Who is it?" Alex called out, she rubbed the back of her head.
                 "It's Natasha, can I come in?" The Russian's voice emerged from the doorway.
                 "Yup." Alex replied before she laid back down, she had developed a sudden headache from sitting up too fast. Natasha walked in, Bruce accompanied her.
                  "How are you feeling kid?" Bruce asked, Alex chuckled and looked at the ceiling.
                  "I feel like I got my ass handed to me by a whole bunch of aliens." Alex replied with sarcasm in her voice. Natasha set down a breakfast tray and sat in the chair near Alex's nightstand. Bruce slowly sat on the edge of her bed.
                  "I came in last night to check on you, but you were fast asleep." Natasha spoke, she looked at the dog tags and photograph.
                  "That explains who moved those." Alex retorted as she rubbed her head. Bruce chuckled and looked at Natasha.
                  "Sorry, they were close to hitting the floor. So I figured to put them on the end table." Natasha smiled back at Alex.
                  "Thank you." Alex looked back over at the photograph of Bucky. There was a knock at the door, Thor was at the doorway. All three of them snapped they're heads over to Thor.
                   "Come quick, we found Stark." He announced.