Phoenix Haynes
I stood with my arms crossed, watching Tony assemble the gauntlet with Rocket and Bruce.
The room was tense, I could feel the negative energy so heavily that I could cut it with a knife, if I really wanted to.
I mean I didn't want to, but I could.
Tony carefully placed the stones in the gauntlet, while Bruce and Rocket watched from a foot away, helping him when necessary.
Everyone else was waiting for us in the other room, but I just wanted to watch the gauntlet get assembled.
It was fascinating to me.
Tony manipulated the machine he'd built to assist the process, and carefully placed the sixth stone into the glove.
An eerie silence hung over our shoulders, and I smirked to myself, feeling the opportunity for a prank.
"Boom!" I yelled, and burst into laughter when Tony and Bruce visibly jumped.
Bruce turned around, glaring at me, making me shrug and smile at him.
"Nice!" Rocket chuckled, and I tried to cease my giggles, shaking my head to myself.
"Thanks, Rocket." I said, placing my hand on my mouth to cover my laughter.
Tony looked back at me, crossing his arms over his chest.
Uh, oh.
Dad mode activate.
"Not cool, Nix." Tony scolded, making me take my hand off my mouth.
"You can't hate on me, the opportunity was right there!"
"Sure it was." He said, making me smirk.
"Yeah, it was."
"You're grounded." Tony joked, and I rolled my eyes, giving him the middle finger.
"Absolutely not."
"You live under my roof, you live with my rules." He gave the fake dad speech, making me laugh.
"You suck."
"Correction, I'm the best." Tony smirked, picking up the gauntlet.
Yeah, he is.
We took the glove, moving into the meeting room where everyone was waiting, and I leaned against the wall, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Alright everyone, the glove's ready to go." I announced, making all heads turn to me.
"Now the question remains, who are we gonna pick to snap their fingers?"
"I'll do it." Thor said, raising his hand and making me gasp in surprise.
"Yeah, I don't think so." I said, everyone else agreeing with me.
"Excuse me?" Scott asked Thor, who clapped his hands together.
"It's okay, I'll do it."
"No, you won't." I scoffed, but Thor ignored me, and began walking towards the gauntlet.
Everyone jumped into action, silently agreeing that Thor was not mentally fit to snap his fingers.
"No, no, no, whoa." Rhodey said, and Tony placed his hands in front of Thor's chest, stopping him from walking any closer to the gauntlet.
"Stop, stop. Just wait a second."
"Hey, hey-" I started, but Steve cut me off.
"Wait, wait, Thor, just wait."
"What?" Thor asked, and everyone took a step back while Steve walked over to him, taking the lead.
"Thor, we haven't decided who's gonna put the gauntlet on yet."
"I'm sorry, are we just going to sit around and wait for the right opportunity?" Thor asked, and I shook my head.
"The right opportunity, no." I said, locking eyes with Thor.
"The right person, yes, we are."
"We should at least discuss it, is what we're saying." Scott agreed, making me nod.
"Thankyou, Scott."
"No, no, sitting here staring at that thing is not gonna bring everybody back." Thor argued, and gestured to himself.
"Now I'm the strongest Avenger, okay? So this responsibility falls upon me. It's my duty."
Is he the strongest Avenger?
I looked him up and down, subtly assessing everyone around the room.
Yeah, he is.
He definitely is.
"Just because you're the strongest Avenger, doesn't make you the most fit to snap your fingers, not right now." I pointed out, and Tony nodded, agreeing with me.
"Thor, it's not about how strong you are-" He said, but Thor interrupted him.
"It's not that– Stop it! Just let me!" He exclaimed, and I could see the tears forming in his eyes.
He was devastated.
"Just let me do it." Thor whispered, and I felt my heart tug for him.
"I'm sorry, Thor."
"Just let me do something good, something right." He whispered, but I shook my head.
"We can't bet your life on it, we care about you too much."
"Look, it's not just the fact that that glove is channeling enough energy to light up a continent, I'm telling you, you're in no condition." Tony said as politely as possible, and I nodded in agreement.
"Thor, you're not mentally stable, and that's okay." I tried to reason with him, but he didn't want to hear it.
"Barely any of us are."
"What do you- What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?" Thor asked, and we fell into a silence.
"Cheez Whiz?" Rhodey asked rhetorically, making me roll my eyes.
"Inappropriate."
"Lightning." Thor responded, making me shrug.
"Yeah."
"Lightning won't help you, pal." Bruce spoke up, and I could tell he meant it, after he'd been deep in thought the whole time.
"It's gotta be me."
"Bruce?" I asked and he looked at me.
"Why?"
"You saw what those stones did to Thanos, they almost killed him." Bruce pointed out, looking at all of us.
"No offence to any of you, but none of you could survive."
"But how do we know you will?" Steve asked the important question, making Bruce shake his head softly.
"We don't."
"Well, shit." I scoffed, but Bruce seemed determined to do it.
"Listen, the radiation is mostly gamma." He said, looking down at the gauntlet.
"It's like I was made for this."
"Well alright, I think we found our guy." I said, and everyone nodded in agreement.
"Let's get this show on the road, then." Steve said, and Tony gave Bruce an uncertain look.
"You're good to go, yeah?"
"Let's do it." Bruce responded, and I kept my position against the wall.
"You remember, everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago and just bringing them back to now, today." Tony said, slight desperation in his tone.
He had to keep Morgan.
If he didn't, I don't know what kind of devastation he would lay on the universe.
"What he's saying is, just don't change anything from the last five years." I said, and Tony walked over to me.
"Got it." Bruce said, and I watched everyone suit up to defend themselves, incase something went wrong.
"Friday, do me a favour and activate Barn Door Protocol, will you?" Tony asked, getting his shield up and holding it in front of us.
"Yes, boss."
The Avengers facility went on lockdown, and Bruce took that as his cue.
"Everybody comes home." He whispered to himself, and I held onto Tony.
"If this doesn't work?" I asked, and Tony sighed.
"I have no idea."
Bruce put on the gauntlet, which nanobotically expanded to fit his hand.
Here we go.
The power surge overwhelmed him, and I heard him yell in pain.
"Take it off! Take it off!" Thor exclaimed, but Steve shook his head frantically.
"No, wait!"
"Bruce, are you okay?" I asked, but he was unresponsive.
Shit.
"Talk to me, Banner." Tony said, and I heard the slight fear in his tone.
He and Bruce were really close, after all.
"I'm okay, I'm okay!" Bruce responded, and I let out a big sigh of relief.
"Oh, thank god."
Banner screamed, fighting through the intense pain coursing through his body, but eventually managed to snap his fingers.
"Yes!" I exclaimed, but I quickly felt the excitement diminish when he fainted, and the gauntlet slid off his arm.
Clint kicked it away while everyone rushed over to Bruce, but I gave him some space, staying against the wall.
"Bruce!" Steve exclaimed, but Tony stopped Steve before he touched Banner.
"Don't move him!"
"Did it work?" Bruce asked, desperately grabbing onto Steve's arm, and Thor shrugged.
"It's worth a shot."
"It's over, it's okay." I said, and watched Scott walk toward the windows outside as the lockdown lifted.
Clint's phone started ringing, and he slowly picked it up, struggling to speak.
"Who is it?" I asked, and he looked over at me, looking incredibly overwhelmed.
It's definitely Laura.
"Honey, honey."
I quickly ran to my phone, finding Peter's contact before ringing, but he didn't pick up.
He didn't pick up.
"Nix, what's wrong?" Tony asked, and I showed him Peter's contact, which had gone to voicemail.
"He didn't come back." I whispered, and Tony pulled me in for a hug.
"We left him on Titan, remember?" Tony asked, rubbing soothing circles in my back.
"There's no reception on Titan."
"Well, now I feel stupid." I laughed softly, and Tony chuckled.
"You aren't stupid, you just miss him."
"Yeah, I really do." I said, making Tony smile.
"I do too."
"Guys, I think it worked!" Scott exclaimed, and I smiled at Tony.
The happiness was short lived though, and the last thing I saw was a missile heading straight towards us.
It exploded on impact, and the base was destroyed, sending everyone flying in different directions.