Glory Days ↠ Marvel One Shots

AU 05 | It'll Pass

  Next time. And yet, it's never her.

  It's why she thinks, for a sliver of a second, that she might survive when she takes the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos and snaps her fingers, just as he did five years ago.

  It works. She kills Thanos, kills his army. The fighting ceases, the gunfire quiets, the noise stops. Except Riley is still screaming.

  The eternal energy of the Infinity Stones surges through her, slicing into her arm. The stones hiss in her ears as they sear her skin, clawing into her to drink her sunlight, to rejuvenate themselves one last time. The pain shears with such violence that Riley, in the fog of her agony, thinks that she's never known true pain until this. She has been killed and revived and sliced and shot and ripped in half, yet nothing compares to the vengeful bite of the dying Infinity Stones.

  The Gauntlet melds into her skin, making a home of her body like a parasite. Riley knows this, despite the ringing in her ears, despite the burn of her nerves and the hoarse cries shredding her vocal cords apart, because she can feel Tony trying to tear it off her. He's as desperate as the stones. The war is over, yet Riley is still fighting. Fighting the stones, fighting to keep her heart beating, fighting Tony as her body resists letting go of the Gauntlet.

  "Talk to me, FRIDAY," Tony commands, voice trembling. He's trying to contain himself. There's no use in breaking down now. There's still time. He's not losing her, not when he just got her back. "JO, I need a full body scan NOW."

  The battlefield, streaked in soot and blood, is eerily silent as the heroes of Earth rush to come closer, to see what could possibly be going wrong now. They won, didn't they? Didn't they just win? Then, why does it feel like they're losing again?

  "What were you thinking?" Tony mutters. "What were you—? You shouldn't have— God, how do I get this thing off of you? Hold on, Ri. Hang on, okay?"

  "T-T-T," Riley tries to squeak through clenched teeth. The debris behind her digs into a wound in her back, but it hardly makes a difference now. Her diaphragm spasms as she struggles to greedily breathe in. That's all she needs to do. Breathe in. Breathe out. In, and out. But she can't. Tears wash the grime on her cheeks as JOCASTA blears life alert statuses to Tony. "T-Tony— Dad—"

  "Don't try to talk," Tony warns. His hands and suit are drenched in Riley's blood now. "Just— Just try to— I need to— DAMMIT! GET THIS THING OFF HER!" Riley cries out as he tries again. The Gauntlet doesn't budge. "COME ON!"

  The heroes draw nearer, but Riley can't see out of her right eye anymore. Her focus is on Tony until she hears Pepper on her left. She's doing that thing where she rambles uncontrollably, voice tottering like she's trying not to cry. For a second, Riley thinks that's a good sign. Pepper always does that; it's her nervous tick. It's normal. And if there's an ounce of normalcy in this battlefield, then maybe Riley still has a chance—

  Riley screams a soundless cry, veins bulging against her neck. The Gauntlet won't budge. Stop, Riley thinks, but she can't say it. Stop, stop, STOP, STOP, STOP.

  "Tony," Steve warns, blue eyes frazzled. He pushes himself to stumble closer, despite his exhaustion. He reaches for Tony's shoulder. "Tony—"

  Tony swats him off. "Don't—"

  "You're hurting her—"

  "YOU DON'T THINK I KNOW THAT?"

  "Tony—!"

  "What, Steve? What do you want from me? Let me try—!"

  Don't treat me like I'm dying, Riley barely manages to think. She's weakly frustrated that no one is reading her mind. Stop, stop, stop, stop.