My breathing was ragged as I stared at my dead brother. This wasn't how this was supposed to end. Everyone should be here. Natasha was gone- and now Tony. It was like a red-hot claw dug its talons into my chest and I couldn't breathe or think.
I screamed, unable to contain it any longer. Rhodey ushered Peter away as the air around us turned frigid. It echoed across the silent field, and I let another loose. My eyes glanced around wildly, itching to hurt something- someone. I didn't care.
Stephen had opened several portals, most of the people who had fought on our side already leaving. They needed to tend to their wounded, and it was easier to do it in their own homes. Our eyes met and the conversation from earlier popped into my head. He was staring at me funnily.
"Did you know?" I screeched, taking several steps in his direction. His lips thinned out, giving me the answer with that action alone. "How could you? You just let it happen, Stephen!"
Steve pulled me back, worried that I'd actually attack him. Wanda hovered nearby, gazing at me sadly. She knew this pain too well. She had lost her brother years ago. How had she done it? I surely wanted to die, take his place. I shoved Steve angrily; all I could see was red. The grief was too much.
"Don't. You promised," I sobbed, turning on him, "I told you I didn't wanna involve Tony in the first place! You promised that you'd make sure nothing went wrong. Tony is dead, Steve!"
I hit his chest half-heartedly when he tried to reach for me. His face was already so heartbroken, my words only making it worse. This was my fault. I let us push him. We should have never had done this. Not if this was the outcome. The field was nearly empty, only a handful of us left.
"Melanie, I'm so sorry baby," Steve choked, trying to calm me. I stepped back, ice shooting out from under me. I was losing control.
My eyes locked onto Pepper and something inside me snapped. Morgan. Morgan with no father. Just like Tony and I. It wasn't a life I wanted for her. Pepper deserved better too.
My gaze drifted back over to Tony and settled on the stones still in his suit. I sucked in a breath as an idea formed in my head. Everyone would kill me, but I didn't care. I looked back over at Stephen, and he had that same look on his face. The one that he had when teaching me when he was trying to make me see without actually saying anything. When I was supposed to trust myself. That's when I decided. When I knew I had to do it. It explained the look on his face before as he had stared at us.
My hands twitched as I prepared to take out anyone who stood in my way. I didn't give a damn what I had to do. Wanda met my eyes; she had been watching me and realized what I was going to do. She'd help me. I flashed a dark smile at her, blue wisps swirling around my hands.
"Mel-"
I dashed toward Tony, taking everyone by surprise. Thor stepped into my path in confusion, but I hit him with a beam, knocking my poor friend out of the way. There was shouting and a lot of movement, but my eyes were trained on the gauntlet.
A hand grasped my arm, but I whirled around punching without hesitation. Steve blocked it, but I knocked him back with a blast of energy, feeling slightly guilty. Pepper didn't attempt to stop me as I reached down and pulled the time stone out of the glove. I could hear several feet approaching and I quickly portaled behind them.
Wanda landed next to me, knowing what was coming next. I had never used the time stone before, but I had seen Stephen use it and read about it. I held it between my fingers and made a circle motion in front of me, focusing on what I was trying to do.
Everyone stopped moving, freezing as I manipulated time. I waved a hand at Wanda, pulling her out of it as everyone went back in time. Tony's death reversed and he moved past us to where he had snapped, but I kept going.
"You're sure you know what you're doing?" Wanda asked breathlessly as she watched.
"Yeah, I can fix this. I have to."
"I trust you."
Thanos and his army reappeared. I realized now why Stephen had been emptying the field as much as possible. I took a breath and waved a hand at his figure across the field. He twitched and then was free. He was still holding the funnel but smiled at me knowingly.
"You'll have to pull them all so they're in one area. I can create a shield with Wanda's help," he called. He knew what I had to do.
I did as he said, pulling everyone from our side, all of them close to Stephen now. They glanced around in confusion as I finally stopped. Steve called out for me, and he and Tony tried to run to us, but Stephen and Wong created a dome like shield around everyone, blocking them in. I broke my eyes away from everyone I loved and focused on the task ahead.
Wanda and I were the only ones out here, next to a frozen Thanos. I glanced up at her and said, "As soon as he's dead, get over there and help him. His army will still be an issue that I have to deal with."
She didn't ask what I was planning to do about them but nodded confidently. I sighed and picked up my trident that was only feet away. Turning to Thanos, I unfroze time, letting it flow naturally again. He never had a chance. Wanda used her magic to hold him there, the red wispy tendrils snaking around the titan.
Using all my built-up rage from before, I stabbed my trident into his unsuspecting back. He cried out in anguish, but I shoved harder, crying out from the effort. It dug in deep enough, and I let a large chunk of energy flow through the weapon. He stopped moving, and the blood stopped oozing from the wound as he slowly froze from the inside out. I jerked it out of his enormous, now fragile body and smashed the side of it into him. He shattered, the pieces falling loudly from the impact.
I nodded to Wanda, unable to waste any time. That had been the easier part. She thrust herself into the air and soared through a hole that Wong opened for her. Stephen said something I couldn't hear, and she followed his instructions, lacing her own magic with theirs to reinforce the shield around them.
"Melanie," Steve breathed through comms, "What the hell are you doing?"
I turned my head to look at him, not daring to approach the shield as Thanos' army turned on me. I grunted as I pooled my own power reserve, taking everything I could. Tony didn't have to be the one to make the sacrifice. And we didn't know if anyone could survive the snap.
"I'm fixing it," I told him softly. Tony was cursing, blasting the shield with his repulsors to no avail. Pepper, Rhodey, and Peter were trying to calm him down. Morgan needed him. I had to do this.
"Mel- please," Steve begged, his tone pure terror, "There has to be another way. You can't face them alone."
I shakily replied, "I'm so sorry, baby. I can do this. I have to. I love you so much. Until my last breath."
His expression twisted and he began yelling. At me- at Wanda- at Stephen. He begged him to let him out, to let him come to me. Stephen didn't budge. I smiled at my family, all the people I loved and turned to Thanos' remaining army.
The air began to chill, the temperature dropping as I walked toward the aliens. Stephen and I had discussed this particular skill before, but trying it was too dangerous. We didn't know if I'd even survive my own powers. Absolute zero. I'd create absolute zero. And I'd have to do it on the first try.
The ground began to freeze over, and I stopped walking, focusing on pulling more and more energy. The sky darkened directly above us until it was the darkest shade of grey. Snow began to fall, quickly turning into a blizzard as the wind picked up. I gasped as sharp pains exploded in my skull, but I kept pushing, holding my palms out in front of me.
One glance showed me that the shield was holding, protecting them from what was going on out here. Frost began covering my own skin, but it didn't hurt. My immunity to the cold was a godsend. The temperature kept decreasing, nearing my goal.
His army slowed down, unable to combat the weather around them. My own energy was nearly depleted, and I had been pulling dimensional energy, but I could feel myself nearing the point of no return. I needed more. I gritted my teeth as I kept using more and more energy, wobbling to stay upright.
My breaths came in pants and finally, the army stopped entirely. I knew I had hit absolute zero when their bodies began breaking apart, causing them all to disappear entirely. It had worked. I had done it. Holy crap. But I wasn't done yet.
This had to be reversed. My knees hit the cold ground, my body shivering for the first time in years. My vision slowly began to blur as I worked on quickly reversing it. Stephen's warning about pulling too much energy popped into my head, but I had remembered.
My eyes drifted back over to Steve one final time as I used the remaining drags of what I had left. I prayed he would forgive me. I smiled softly at him and mouthed a final 'I love you'. My body fell back, hitting the ground with a light thud. My vision went in and out as I struggled to breath. I could feel the lifeforce fading from me. Darkness swept over me, and I was no more.