Notes: Kinda shorter than usual, this one is around ten thousand words which I know is a few thousand less than usual sorry. But the battle is the focus and I don't like drawing out fight scenes unnecessarily. I also could have gone further in the end, but decided to save material for next week just cuz it'd fit better that way. As usual, I did some on my phone, so autocorrect might be a pain in the butt. Let me know if something is off. Enjoy!
Everyone changed from their quantum suits or past outfits, with Cap putting the 2012 costume back on the shelf in favor of his modern one. Loki found himself switching to Midgardian clothes, with a long sleeve black shirt on black pants. Over the last month he'd found himself wearing their clothes infront of them more often. In the past, Wren had gasped at his use of Midgardian pajamas. What she didn't know is that he'd lounge in their style of clothing often, though he'd never let anyone see. Keeping his Asgardian clothes on for show was such an afterthought in the midst of the last month's events that he'd simply not cared enough to change before coming down.
Everyone waited impatiently for the nerd boys to get the stones in order. It took longer than they thought, with Rocket, Tony, and Bruce doing everything as slowly and carefully as possible. They had to crack open the Tesseract, get the mind stone from the scepter, and consolidate the Aether into stone sized containment. They managed to accomplish the third chore by extracting the Aether from the box holding it. Using essentially the same device they'd have needed to get the darkness from Jane, they pulled the red sludge from one source and injected it into another.
Lastly, they had to design the glove and move all of the stones into position. Rocket jump scared Tony after he delicately placed the stones in Stark tech gauntlet, earning him a glare from the billionaire.
The team gathered around as the finishing touches were completed.
"Alright, the glove's ready," Rocket said, "Question is, who's gonna snap their freakin' fingers?"
"I'll do it," Thor stepped forward.
"Slow down," Tony said, stepping in his way.
"Thor just wait," Cap added.
"What, we're all just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?" Thor asked, "Sitting here staring at that thing isn't gonna bring them back. I'm the strongest Avenger, okay? So this responsibility falls upon me."
He wasn't as emotionally flustered as in Endgame. He wasn't a broken man trying to do something good when he felt he hadn't in a while. He was genuinely trying to take the weight on his shoulders for the team because he thought he should.
"He's not wrong," Loki said, "Both of us could survive the damage. In theory."
"In theory?" Scott asked, "Well maybe we should discuss it more then?"
"Loki's just being stupid," Thor waved him off, "We could survive it. So one of us has to snap, and I'm not letting him do it so---"
"And what makes you think I'd let you do it?" Loki countered, pushing off of the table he was leaning against to walk to his brother, "You're not the one who let all of this happen---"
"Loki---" Thor began.
"No, Thor, I don't need to hear it. I know what you're going to say. Mistakes were made by everyone, we don't know how things would have gone, all of the advice you've already given." Loki let out a sigh, a sad look in his eyes. "It doesn't change what I did. And it doesn't make me feel any better. Not really, not enough."
"Guilt's part of the job description," Tony said, "If that were the requirement for who snaps we'd need a few more gloves."
"Why are we arguing when Cap knows who does it?" Clint asked.
As if realizing that for the first time, everyone turned to Rogers.
"Thor isn't in any condition to do it in Endgame," he said, "So---"
"I do it," Bruce cut him off.
Cap met his eyes, nodding gravely.
"And he lives?" Rhodey asked.
"Yes," Steve answered.
"The radiation's mostly gamma. It's like...I was made for this."
"But I'm in condition now," Thor said, "So he doesn't have to hurt himself."
"The Hulk can handle it, buddy," Bruce assured him, "Maybe even more than you. Remember, Hulk literally heals me. I shoot myself in this form, he makes it so it never happened. If anyone's body can take it, even more than a god, it's him. You'd probably live, but I'll take less damage."
"Not to volunteer you, pal, but couldn't Vis do it?" Clint asked, "I mean, he's vibranium."
"I don't mean to sound horrible or anything, but would the snap even work if he did it, because you're not...well, cuz you're you know, not a person, flesh wise I mean! You're a great person," Scott sputtered out awkwardly.
"No you're right," Vision assured him, "We don't know if it would work. And if it did, my vibranium doesn't have the luxury of being real enough to heal itself over time. It would require fixing, which we could do, but if my circuits are fried, so to speak, it'd be like rebuilding another robot."
"One that might not be you," Bruce nodded.
"Which is a sacrifice I'd more than willingly make, as you all know. But given the current status of our argument, I understand advocating for such a course of action would be futile."
"It's ok, Vis, this one's on me," Bruce stepped forward.
No one spoke, waiting for someone to argue.
Bruce walked over, transforming as he did. Grabbing the glove in his hands, he gave another look around the room.
"Good to go, yeah?" Tony asked both Bruce and the group.
"Let's do it," Bruce confirmed.
"Okay, remember, everyone Thanos snapped away a month ago, you're just bringing them back to now, today," Tony stated, "Don't change anything else."
"Got it," Bruce nodded.
People started getting in defensive positions as Bruce readied himself. Steve's helmet was now on and shield on his arm. Scott closed his suit, as did Rhodey. Thor held an arm up in front of Rocket, who pulled goggled over his eyes. Nebula, who was next to him, seemed unfazed.
"Oh, forgot to check," Rocket whispered to her, "You really you?"
"Even if I wasn't, the me from a few months ago was also against Thanos," She answered, eyes never leaving Bruce.
"Ok, good point," Rocket muttered, turning back to the show about to begin.
Korg pushed Miek behind him, and Vis positioned himself slightly in front of both. Loki looked to his right, seeing Zemo standing without protection and not looking to find any. Loki took a small step over, placing himself in front of him. Zemo caught his eye, and Loki tried to instill as much "I'm doing this cuz I should, not cuz I want to" as he could in his look. Zemo just smirked back, and Loki had to refrain from appearing amused as he rolled his eyes and looked back at Banner.
Tony brought up a shield, holding it in front of Clint.
"Friday, do me a favor and activate Barn Door Protocol will ya?"
"Yes, boss," she answered, blast doors beginning to close around the room and overhead.
Clint turned to instinctively make sure Nat was protected behind him as well, but she wasn't there. Clint looked around confused, and would have called out for her had Bruce not spoken first.
"Everybody comes home."
With that, he began sliding his hand into the glove. The tech grew, spreading around his hand and wrist. When it closed into position, bolts of light shot from the stones, coursing up his arm like veins. Bruce yelled immediately, dropping to one knee as his skin near the end of the glove began burning, spreading up his arm.
"Take it off! take it off!" Thor shouted.
"No wait!" Steve held up a hand, "Bruce, are you okay?"
Bruce's head pulled back to the ceiling as he continued groaning and yelling in agony, the damage now up to his shoulder.
"Talk to me, Banner," Tony said.
"I'm okay," Bruce forced out, "I'm okay."
Thor held two thumbs up, his terrified look showing he was trying to comfort himself more than anything.
It took a few more seconds of panting and struggled grunts to lift the glove in the air. With a final shout, Bruce brought his fingers together. There was a flash of bright light, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. Bruce fell on his back, the glove slipping off his arm.
"Bruce!" Steve said, rushing to his side.
Clint kicked the smoking gauntlet away as everyone gathered around.
"Don't move him," Tony ordered, quickly spraying something to cool and seal the burns.
"Move," Loki said, pushing Tony aside as he knelt down next to him. He held his hands over the arm, a green light releasing over the wounds.
"Is he gonna be ok?" Korg asked, looking worried.
"Did it work?" Bruce said through gritted teeth, clinging to Steve's arm.
"We're not sure, it's ok," Thor hushed him comfortingly.
The doors began opening again, and Scott walked into the next room to look outside. Clint's phone began vibrating where he'd left it, and he walked over quickly. There was Laura's face. Not wanting to believe it until he heard her voice, he slowly picked up the phone.
"Honey?" he choked out.
"Clint?" her voice called back to him.
"Honey," he repeated, tears building in his eyes.
"Guys," Scott said, "I think it worked."
All hell broke loose.
Projectiles tore through the roof, sending the room into chaos. Explosions erupted around them, the floor breaking apart. When the bombardment ceased, the team was scattered throughout the wreckage.
Bruce struggled to hold chunks of building off of himself and those who had fallen with him.
"I can't breathe! I can't breathe!" Rocket yelled from under the rock on top of him.
"Canopy! Canopy! Canopy!" Rhodes yelled, his suit opening so he could slide out.
"Guys, get out of here!" Bruce shouted.
He made to crawl to Rocket, but Zemo was already there, lifting the debris off of him. Instead, Rhodes turned to make sure Miek was alright. With everyone in the immediate surroundings safe for the time being, Rhodey flopped on his back, taking a moment to catch his breath.
"Was this part of the plan?" Zemo said through panted breaths, wincing as he pushed himself up.
"Rhodey!" Bruce yelled again, trying to warn them about the flood of water rushing their way.
"Mayday, mayday! Does anybody copy? We're on the lower level. It's flooding!" Rhodey's voice rung in Scott's ears as he pushed himself free from the rubble around him.
"What?" Scott said, a bit deliriously.
"We are drowning! Does anybody copy? Mayday!"
"Wait! I'm here!" Scott yelled, "I'm here, can you hear me?"
There was no response, but Scott started off anyway, running to get them.
***
Loki, Korg, and Nebula had fallen in the same area.
"Alright?" Loki asked, helping Nebula up.
She nodded.
"Korg?" he called to the Kronan, who was ducking under busted pipes to get to them.
"Yeah, I'm alright man. You good?"
"Fine."
"What the hell happened?" Korg asked.
"My father," Nebula answered, confirming Loki's fears.
"How?" Loki shook his head in frustration, rubbing his hand over his mouth, "How did he get here?"
"Was anyone missing from the room?" Nebula asked.
"What?"
"Minutes ago, was anyone missing from the room?"
"I--I don't know," Loki fumbled, trying to think back.
"Natasha wasn't there," Korg said.
"You're sure?" Loki asked as Nebula's head lowered.
"Yeah bro, I saw her leave while Bruce and Stark were finishing the glove with the little squirrel."
"Why didn't you say anything?!" Loki snapped before he could stop himself. Of course he knew Korg wouldn't think anything of it.
"Was she in trouble?" Korg asked worriedly.
"I fear she is," Loki said sadly.
"She must have been compromised on Vormir," Nebula said.
"How? You were all there, you said everything went fine!"
"I don't know."
"She's got to be here," Loki said, "So let's go find out."
***
Clint stumbled to his feet, groaning as he leaned against the wall for support. Turning on his flashlight, he looked around. There was a hole above him where he'd fallen, roots and dirt indicating he'd dropped below ground level. He was in the lower levels, red emergency lights dimly lighting the hall.
"Cap?" he called up, but heard nothing in return.
A few feet from him sat the glove. He moved some rocks, brushing it off. A low growl stopped him. He straightened a little, reaching slowly for an arrow before whipping around with it drawn in his bow. The arrow had a light, which he shot down the corridor. Clinging to the walls, making there way to him, were those damn space dogs again.
"Okay," Clint muttered, retracting his bow, grabbing the glove, and running off in the opposite direction.
He splashed his way around a corner, throwing arrows to the walls and ceiling as he went. The explosion sent him flying forward, yet a few dogs got up in the flames. Shooting his grappling wire above him, Clint began rising through the shaft. Any dog that climbed after him was met with an arrow shoved forcefully through them by hand.
Clint landed, yelling as he readied for another animal to jump through after him, but they were all dead. Laying his head back on the ground, Clint sighed, allowing himself a rest.
Footsteps made him look up.
"Oh thank God," Clint breathed, laughing a little in relief, "You're ok."
Nat didn't bother with pretenses this time. There was no smile, no hint of affection as she leaned down to take the glove from him.
"Master," she called into an earpiece, causing Clint to lift his head, "I have the stones."
"What the hell Nat," Clint started, trying to get up, but Nat's foot in his chest held him down...and the gun she drew kept him from trying a second time.
She cocked the weapon and made to pull the trigger.
Loki dove in, tackling her off of Clint. Barton scrambled to his feet, running to Loki's aid.
Nat was putting up a fight, having whacked Loki in the head with a broken pole. She flipped him off of her, making to swing down on him again when Clint grabbed her arm. Nebula grabbed the other and they pinned her down.
"Hold her still!" Loki said, leaning over her.
"What's wrong with her?" Clint asked, frightened for his best friend. She was writhing and lashing around, trying to break free. Her eyes were full of hatred, and she was practically growling as she groaned and screamed to be let go.
Loki's open palm made a slow pass over her face and head, though he never actually touched her skin. Wherever his hand had passed over was now like a brief x-ray, showing the veins within...and the red-black energy coursing through them.
"Is that?" Clint started.
"The Aether," Loki finished.
"That's bloody disgusting," Korg said.
"How do we get it out?" Clint asked, struggling to keep Nat still.
"The same way we would if it were Jane," Loki answered, holding his hand out to the side. In his grasp materialized the syringe-like device. "Korg, keep her head still for me."
Korg hurried around, dropping to his knees behind her.
"Be careful," Clint told him as he took her head in his hands.
Loki readied the device next to her neck, taking a breath.
"Do it," Nebula encouraged.
Loki pressed the end, driving the needle into her skin. She cried out, clenching her teeth as the tube filled with the red virus. Nat stopped struggling, her eyes widening. They filled with a red swirl, before fading to her normal color as the last traces were pulled out of her. Her eyelids closed and her body went limp.
The others let go of her, but Clint moved his hand immediately to the back of her neck, lifting her head gently.
"Nat! Nat, can you hear me? Please, please, Nat, don't do this, come on. Come on."
He was shaking her gently as he spoke.
Loki felt her pulse. "She's alive."
"Wake up, Nat, come on," Clint whispered.
Movement behind her lids made him perk up, leaning forward.
"Nat?"
She opened her eyes slowly, blinking a few times.
"What?" she groaned, looking around with narrowed, tired eyes, "What the hell---" she started again, but stopped as realization, or her memories, hit her. "Ugh," she dropped her head back, taking a deep breath, "That wasn't fun."
Clint laughed, squeezing her hand.
"So you remember what happened?" Loki asked.
"Yeah," she said, using Clint's help to sit up, "I'm sorry guys."
"Hey, don't," Clint looked her hard in the eyes, "This wasn't your fault."
"Where is everyone?" she asked, waving Clint off as she stood herself up.
"We don't know," Clint said, looking around at the damage, "They could be anywhere in all of this."
"We know where three of them are," Loki said.
"We do?" Korg asked.
"If this is Endgame, and Thanos is here...that means the final battle's started."
"The Big Three," Nat said. Wren had talked enough about the three OG's versus Thanos for them to know.
"It's going on now, shit," Clint grumbled, scanning the room for the best way out.
"Which means if this all is playing out, his army will be coming next," Loki said.
"Yeah, well..." Clint shrugged, "So will ours."
***
"I'm sorry."
Loki's face was there. You blinked, or so you thought you must have, and he was gone.
Your body went from cold to slowly gaining feeling. You didn't know what was going on. You turned from where Loki had just been, looking down at your arm again. Your hand was returning, the dust coming together to form flesh. Your feeling came back to it, and you opened and closed your fist, staring with wide eyes.
I was dying. Why didn't I die?
Your brain was firing too quickly to keep up, and you didn't know what to think. Additionally, you were still mourning! You'd just lost everyone. Your face was still wet with tears. That pit in your stomach was still there, making you feel sick. Now you weren't dead? You hadn't died? What had happened? Was it a dream? Why did you remember a darkness? Everything going black? The arm disappearing and growing back?
Wait, I've seen that before.
Your brain had calmed down enough to think logically, but the realization it came to only sent another wave of fear.
I did die.
"Wren?" Bucky's voice called, and your eyes shot from your hand, which you were still holding in front of you, to the man on his knees across the opening.
"Buck!" you started crying immediately, running to hug him.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Guys?" Wanda said behind you, turning both of your heads.
You just smiled through your tears, standing to run to her.
"You were gone," you cried into her shoulder, breathing shakily.
"We're back," she said, holding you comfortingly.
Dust started swirling next to the three of you. You watched as it formed into a person, and that person became Yelena.
"Nat?" she asked, looking around, eyes as wide as everyone's had been. She landed on the three of you, freezing. "Did we all die?"
"Yeah I think so," you chuckled at the way she said it.
"That was not fun," she shivered squeamishly, walking over.
"How're we back?" Buck asked.
"I...I guess they did it," you said, "They brought us back."
Your mind was racing, and you were still shaking from the fear and grief you'd experienced mere minutes ago.
"This is..." you shook your head. Your leg buckled a bit as you took a step forward, but Wanda steadied you. "Sorry," you tried smiling, but it was a scared and weak smile. For some reason, your eyes were still glistening.
"It's ok," she said, hugging you again, "It's a lot to grasp."
You sniffed as you pulled back, wiping the tears away.
"Wait, if they snapped us back," Yelena said worriedly, "Did they get the stones from the Thanos we just saw, or did they go back in time?"
The fear on her face was understandable. If they had to go back in time for them, someone had to die for the soul stone.
Though your face couldn't do anything to comfort her, for you were thinking the same thing, you tried with your words.
"I told Cap everything about Endgame. The time travel missions, what goes wrong, everything. If I know them, they found another way. And they certainly wouldn't have let Nat jump."
"So what happens now?" Bucky asked.
"Can't it ever just be we take a damn second to breathe?" Sam asked, walking through the trees with T'Challa.
You ran to him, nearly tackling him with your hug while the others greeted T'Challa.
"Well look who loves me now," Sam said as he held you tightly.
"Shut up," you chuckled.
"You know we just saw each other like a second ago."
"And you know I was the last to dust, meaning I just had to deal with you dying seconds ago," you slapped his arm.
"Hey Sam," Bucky said, giving a genuine sad smile. It seemed no one knew entirely how to deal with dying and coming back, or how to act.
"Hey," Sam said back, patting a hand on his shoulder as he walked into the group.
"You good T'Challa?" you asked the king, who gave you a smile and nod.
"As far as dying goes, that was painless at least."
"Yeah, kinda just numbing I guess," you agreed, "Does anyone kinda have like a memory of like black, but the kinda black where you don't know how long it's been? Like it feels like everyone was there one second and gone the next, but at the same time when I try thinking back to it it feels...distorted?"
"Like a dream kinda, really foggy," Bucky nodded, "Like we fell asleep or something."
"I don't know, it's real trippy though," you added, "Messing with my head."
"Not much in there to mess with in the first place," Sam snorted.
"Really? I just cried over you and you gonna start already?"
"How long has it been?" Wanda asked.
Everyone looked like they'd forgotten about that.
"Holy shit we could have been dead for a while!" you gasped.
"Not five years though, right?" Buck asked.
"Was Scott stuck in the little realm place?" Yelena said.
"Even if he was, the others knew to find him. And that's if they had to go back in time," you said, "Maybe they found Thanos before that? Though...I don't know how they would. In theory it should have taken Captain Marvel the same amount of time to find Tony, given how everything is playing out. Which means they probably found Thanos' garden too late."
"So they find Scott and go back in time right away," Sam said.
"Except..." you said, eyes growing wide at the thought. It may not be five years, but being dead for any amount of time was unnerving.
"Except what?" Sam pushed.
"Except it takes roughly 23 days for them to bring Tony back...meaning they'd have had to wait at least that long for his help navigating the quantum realm."
"We've been dead 23 days?" Buck said in disbelief.
"34," Okoye said, walking into the clearing with a handful of the Dora Milaje and Shuri. She smiled broadly, bowing to T'Challa and speaking something in their tongue. The two broke what was probably etiquette by hugging.
"The one time I'd have been in charge with you gone and I had to die too?" Shuri shook her head, walking up to her brother.
"So sorry you weren't around to enjoy my death," he smiled, hugging her warmly.
"It's been over a month?" you asked Okoye, and her smile dropped.
"I'm afraid so."
"Did the others have to go back in time?"
"Last I heard from Nat, that was the plan. I take it they were successful."
You and Yelena exchanged worried looks.
"Ok..." you said thoughtfully, pacing a bit back and forth, "So if I told them how Thanos gets through, that means they would have done something to prevent it. Which means we won't need to fight, which means Tony won't need to snap."
"Yeah we thought Infinity War wouldn't happen either, but look where we are," Sam said.
"Thanks for rubbing salt in the wound," you groaned, "Why not give me a paper cut and squeeze lemon juice on it while you're at it?"
"I didn't mean it was your fault."
"It kinda was, it's fine," you waved him off, "There's so much I wanna know though! How did they do it? Did they do the same missions? How did they get the soul stone, cuz I know they'd never have sacrificed anyone for it. And Loki he's..."
"He's what?" Buck asked.
"He's...he's alone with the Avengers."
"So?" Sam said, "I thought you trusted him? And it's not like he hasn't been alone with us before, you're not always together."
"No, I know, it's just...guys, if you think we have guilt over losing, Loki's gonna beat himself up ten times that."
"Or blame it on everyone else," Sam added.
"Exactly! But even when he does that it's usually to push any blame from himself. But I--I really don't know how things woulda gone with him."
"I'm sure he was fine," Yelena said, "Maybe some destroyed furniture he'll have to pay Stark for, but come on the man isn't a child. Ok, so the man isn't always a child. We'll find him at the compound with everyone else."
"Ok, so can we get back?" you said eagerly, "We have to make sure they're all ok."
"We can call them back at the palace," Okoye said, motioning for everyone to follow.
A yellow circle stopped all of you in your tracks.
"I'm supposed to tell you to prepare for battle," Wong said, not bothering to come through all the way.
"Wait, Wong why?" you asked.
"Oh, so you're the universe traveler," Wong nodded, "Then you should know why."
Your mouth dropped. "No."
He gave an understanding look. "Be ready in twenty."
The circle closed, leaving everyone stunned.
"What the hell was that?" Buck asked.
"Dr. Strange kind of magic," Sam explained in your place, because you were too shocked and terrified to speak.
If the battle was still on...that meant Thanos had still found a way through. Which meant Tony might still have to snap. You didn't know how, but you were not going to let that happen. You had failed on so many levels thus far, but you promised yourself this would be the one thing you'd get right. Even if it meant snapping yourself.
"You heard him," T'Challa said, taking control, "Twenty minutes."
Everyone rushed back to the speeder Okoye had brought over. Twenty minutes never flew by so quickly. The city was in a rush, the Border Tribe and King's Guard being assembled as hastily as possible. You straightened yourself up, re-braiding your hair, grabbing a new spear, and drinking some much needed water. After all, for you the Battle of Wakanda had just finished. Now you were on your way to the biggest climactic event in movie history.
In the blink of an eye you were back in the field, lined up once again like the day was restarting itself. A circle appeared, with Dr. Strange popping through quickly.
"Everyone ready here?" he asked T'Challa.
"Waiting for your signal."
"Good, you'll probably be first," Stephen nodded.
"Is everyone ok?" Sam asked, "I'm trying to reach Steve, but I can't."
Strange smirked. "You will in a second."
"Do me a favor will you?" Sam asked before Strange left, "Open the portal on his left."
Strange looked like he was about to ask why but gave up on caring. "Fine," he shrugged, walking through his portal again.
Sam caught you smiling at the look on his face.
"Don't tell me I don't do this in the film, we both know I would."
"Gives me chills every time I watch it."
"Well turn that earpiece up and get your sweater cuz you're about to see it first-hand."
"I guess that's a plus," you smiled, trying to calm your nerves.
A couple seconds later, Sam's hand went to his ear. You heard it too. The static. As if it was connecting to the others, finally able to reach.
"It's your time," you grinned.
"Hey, Cap, you read me? Cap, it's Sam, can you hear me?"
The distinct change in audio showed Cap had opened his end, as if to speak back.
"On your left."
The sparkles started ahead of Shuri, T'Challa, and Okoye, who walked through the circle first. Sam took off from next to you, flying in over head. A few seconds passed before T'Challa started the chant, and you almost wished you were on the other end of this circle, watching everyone come in. You had to mentally slap yourself to get it together. This wasn't a time to fangirl. The circle grew large enough for the army to begin marching forward, repeating T'Challa's chant back to him. Bucky moved forward, you and Yelena with him.
Stepping through the portal, you couldn't believe your eyes. There it was. The battlefield. Faint rays of sun fought to break through the thick swirl of smoke that darkened the sky. Flames decorated the ground, sending embers dancing through the air on the wind. The landscape was a series of broken ground, scattered debris, pits and craters. You couldn't help but feel horribly sad over what had become of the land, no matter how epic it looked. The paths you'd walked, the place that had been your home for the past months, it was all gone. Your room, the kitchen, courtyard, training center, living room, everything. Yes, it was petty to grieve over something so materialistic, but you never knew how sad the destruction of the compound was until you'd lived in it for so long.
Snapping back to reality, mentally this time not literally, you looked around at the growing army. Wanda had landed dramatically, and Tony was standing up. You assumed the Big Three had been fighting Thanos. Seeing Vis stand from the battlefield and fly over to land next to Wanda, you realized he'd been out there too. At least something hadn't gone exactly like the movie. That was a good sign, right? You were grasping at straws, but just seeing Vis alive and in the final battle where he wasn't supposed to be gave you hope.
You craned your neck to try and find everyone, but the line-up was now massive. You were close to the front with the others, with Cap catching your eye as you walked down with Buck. You smiled back at him, before both of you looked away to take a tally of others. Thor was alive, pushing himself up as he looked around at everyone. It was hard to miss the large Asgardian army, with Odin, Heimdall, Brunnhilde, and the Warriors Three in the front. You couldn't be sure, but you were nearly certain Lady Sif was standing with them. Who else would be with that trio?
Please, Nat, be here! And where's Loki? Or Korg or Miek?
Quite a few were missing, and you hoped they were just somewhere you couldn't see right now.
As if on queue, you looked to your left and saw Loki, Nat, Clint, Korg, and Nebula walk in for what would have been their standing ovation moment in theaters. Loki's eyes were fixed on the army ahead of him, and rightfully so. Only you would be the idiot that looked around trying to spot your friends like this was a school assembly in the auditorium. He wasn't standing far from you though, brandishing his daggers as he stood at the ready.
A rumble started to shake the ground, and a large form broke through the wreckage of the compound. It was Scott, grown to his giant size. He opened his hand, and you sighed in relief upon seeing Rocket, Miek, and Rhodey jump off. You squinted a bit to try and make out the fourth figure.
Who the hell am I missing?
There was no time to ponder, for Cap started saying the famous line.
"Avengers!" he shouted, Thor landing next to him. Mjolnir flew to Steve's hands, and you held in your smile. "Assemble."
"Daaaaaa, da da DA DAAAA, da da da," you started singing the Avengers/Portals theme to yourself, needing to do something to lighten the panic of charging straight into a bigger army than you'd fought an hour ago. And those Leviathans were huge!
You tried to block everything else out as you leaped off of an elevated position right into the swarm.
Just keep blasting and whacking, you told yourself as you rolled, shot, and stabbed better than you ever had.
Surprisingly, this battleground had a lot more room in terms of the surrounding capacity of the enemy at any given time. Most likely the reason was the increased numbers on your part, forcing the opposing side to spread and take on more.
Drax was on the back of Obsidian, stabbing him routinely as Korg lifted his hammer into the creature's face. You ran in behind the Kronan, protecting him from the back.
"Hey buddy!" you grunted over your shoulder.
"Wren!" Korg said happily, slamming his hammer on a head next to him. The momentary pause after gave you enough time to hug him. "You have no idea what you missed! We got these very nice suits that took us through some really weird tunnel. I almost lost my lunch, I'm ashamed to say, but I did hold it in. And then we were on a beautiful planet with some big mountain and we fought some creepy dead-looking guy and his massive friend, who actually looks like that guy I just hit---"
He turned to fight some more, you doing the same.
"We'll catch up later, Korg, ok?" you smiled, though it was more of a frenzied half-hearted smile as you looked around at all of the work to be done.
"Yeah, no problem," Korg waved, before screaming and charging off in another direction.
You fought your way around, not going anywhere in particular, just trying to kill as many as you could and stay alive. You tried staying to one area, especially if it was well protected, but no one stood in one place for very long. So there was no piggybacking off of T'Challa or anyone.
"As epic as you remember it?" a voice called from behind, and you paused your shooting to whip around.
Zemo was flipping a man over, stabbing down on him with a sword he must have gotten from them. When he looked back up, breathing heavily, he managed an adorable little "all good" smile.
"Zemo???" you said, trying to piece together why he was here.
"Duck!" he ordered, and you dropped down.
When you stood back up, the animal with the sword in his chest showed just how distracted you'd been.
"Pay attention," Zemo smirked, walking to grab his sword, "Wouldn't want you dead after all the effort we put in to get you here."
You didn't care why he was here, you just threw your arms around him. He placed his hand on the back of your head, hugging you in that comforting father kind of way.
He quickly pushed you off, swinging at a lunging enemy.
"Maybe now isn't the time for this," he said.
"If Peter and Tony can do it, I'm hugging anyone I want."
You turned to blast some more, being occupied for a few more minutes. When you turned back, Zemo had moved further away.
"You have explaining to do!" you called.
"That's all you can focus on right now?" he yelled back.
You smiled, facing away again and letting the flow of battle carry you forward.
"You're alive!" you said, blasting one direction while Nat shot in another.
"Yeah, the mountain looked fun and all, but I passed."
"So you went to Vormir?"
"Oh yeah, it was loads of fun."
"I'm so confused."
"Explain over a girls day out?" Nat asked.
"Yeah sounds good," you panted, twirling your spear around your back to stab up into a guy on the other side.
Nat moved off, and you made to move away as well, when a fist caught the side of your head. The man, or Chitauri or whatever it was behind that mask, that you'd stabbed wasn't dead. Though weaponless, he'd hit you down and was on top of you now. He was holding onto your spear, which you had horizontally in your hands, unable to break it free. He kept pushing, trying to bring the rod down to your throat and strangle you with your own weapon. Just before you lifted your leg to try and maneuver him off, he was sent flying off you in a flash of green.
Loki charged him, stabbing his dagger down into his chest. But he didn't stop. He kept on stabbing the lifeless corpse over and over, shouting with every swing.
"Hey, hey, I think you got him," you said calmly, grabbing his arm to pull him back to his feet.
Loki's chest was heaving from his efforts as he stared in disgust at the now mangled body.
"You ok? Been a while since you let out some steam or something?" you teased.
For the first time he seemed to come back to himself, turning to face you. You saw the relief in his eyes, the joy. He pulled you in for the most aggressive hug he'd ever given you, arms wrapped around your shoulder like you might disappear if he let go. You held on to him equally as tight, content to just be held at the moment. The last you'd seen of him, he'd looked so terrified, almost as much as you'd felt at that time. Not only that, but for you it had been only an hour roughly since you discovered he was alive. You'd had an entire day of fearing he was dead. And then you got him back, only to have to leave him. You couldn't believe it had been a month for him, and you were touched by how happy he was to see you alive. And you'd never been prouder of him. He'd done this with them. He'd brought you back.
"I told you once," he said into your hair, "That if you died, we were going to have some issues."
You laughed but didn't let go.
"It's weird, we just did this like half an hour ago for me. The whole hugging cuz one of us was dead or presumed dead thing."
"We both came back though."
"You know how convenient it is that there's a long enough break for us to hug?" you asked, "Plot armor's the best."
"You can never just let a moment happen, can you?" he pulled back, the happiest smile on his face. It looked like he'd never been more thrilled to be able to chastise you.
"I was just saying," you shrugged, blasting a few rounds to give the two of you more time.
"You have no idea how much I've missed you 'just saying' everything."
You smiled, but were caught off guard by the sincerity and emotion on his face when you turned. It was that look again. The one you'd seen creep on his face before. The same tone, like on New Year's Eve.
This isn't the time to let old thoughts make you weird again.
You couldn't help it though. Your stomach did somersaults. Looking at that face, that was filled with such kindness and adoration...how could you not get butterflies? You weren't sure if he loved you. Actually, you were rather certain he didn't, not in that way, because that was still ridiculous. But standing there, seeing him here...you realized you couldn't lie to yourself. You realized you'd been lying to yourself probably for a while now, and you never knew it. Thinking you'd lost him had put things in perspective, even if Thanos coming had cut off any chance of this realization happening in Wakanda when the two of you had reunited then. Now, with the abnormal amount of time the universe seemed to be giving the two of you, you admitted it to yourself. You loved him. You must have for a while. It had never been just something weird that stemmed from a love of his character. There was a reason you'd never been able to push it away. You'd focused on his reciprocation as justification for why you didn't or couldn't love him like that, but now you didn't care about reaching for justification. He was your best friend, but you loved him more than he'd ever know. More than you had even known until now. More than you'd loved someone before.
"I missed you too," was all you were able to say, trying to seem normal. Not that his looks were doing anything to help. If he was going to stare with that fondness in his eyes, so were you.
"Cap, what do you want me to do with this damn thing?" Clint's voice broke the two of you from your thoughts.
"Get those stones a far away as possible!" Steve yelled.
"No!" Bruce said firmly, "We need to get them back where they came from, remember?"
"No way to get em back, Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel," Tony noted.
"Hold on!" Scott's voice chimed, "That wasn't our only time machine."
You heard the musical horn of the van, smiling as you and Loki continued to fight those around you.
"Anyone see an ugly brown van out there?" Steve asked.
"Yes," Valkyrie answered, "But you're not gonna like where it's parked."
"Scott, how long you need to get that thing working?" Tony asked.
"Uh, maybe ten minutes?"
"Get it started," Steve ordered, "We'll get the stones to you."
"We're on it, Cap," a voice answered, and you knew it must have been Hope.
"Guys forget about the tunnel," you grunted, "Cap, remember you guys don't get them there before he destroys the van? Someone strong enough has to snap, that way Tony isn't forced to."
"Who do you volunteer, Wren, cuz we're kinda out of options," Tony said.
"Thor or I can do it," Loki said.
"No!" you yelled quickly, "I didn't mean you!"
"You said someone strong enough. Thor and I can do it."
"Loki's right," Thor backed his brother, "We should be able to survive."
"Should isn't good enough," you argued.
"She's right, we're not risking your lives if we don't have to," Steve said.
"This is gonna sound terrible, but did Danvers ever come in? Cuz everyone's pretty sure she could have done it and lived. Girl doesn't take an ounce of damage like ever."
"She's away right now," Tony said.
"You let her leave!"
"We didn't think we'd have an epic battle, ok?" he shot back.
"Wren, let's try to get them to the tunnel," Cap said, "It's our only play right now."
Not if I get to the stones first.
You looked around for Clint, running off when Loki was distracted. At one point a bunch of guys around you were lifted in purple beams, before sucked into the ground.
"Oh my God!" you shrieked, jumping back at the unexpected occurrence.
You started looking around for the cause, turning to find Strange landing.
"Oh yeah, forgot about that thing ya do," you breathed, leaning against your spear, "Pretty cool."
He didn't say anything but gave you a look.
"Alright," you rolled your eyes, "I get it, you were sorta right."
"Looks like I was more than sorta," he nodded to the battle around you.
"Only if this ends worse than the film. Does it?"
Before he could answer, Tony landed.
"Hey. You said one out of 14 million we win, yeah? Tell me this is it."
"If I tell you what happens, it won't happen."
"You better be right," Tony pointed, walking past him to you.
He didn't say anything but hugged you.
"You see Peter yet?"
"Yes, we had our hug," he answered, knowing what you were getting at.
"Good," you smiled at him when he pulled away.
He gave you a smile back, and you saw the same relief in his eyes that he has with Peter. It still shocked you to think you meant something to the Avengers, let alone on a scale equivalent to the Tony/Peter relationship. He closed his helmet, blasting off again.
"Hey," you stopped Strange before he could fly away, "Seriously though. The whole not telling someone or it won't happen, is that actually true? If someone snaps, just tell us who it is so they can do it now or someone more suited for it can snap."
"Kid, you don't know what you're dealing with---"
"No, you don't know what it's like to have to sit here and pretend that any of their plan is actually going to work, knowing damn well one of your friends might have to die in the next ten minutes!" you lashed out, "So please...tell me they all make it."
Stephen lifted his head a little as he sighed.
"I can't. I'm sorry, kid."
You closed your eyes, shaking your head as you turned to enter the battle again.
"But," Strange stopped you, "Just...keep doing what you're doing."
Your brow furrowed, and he gave you a wink, flying off without another word.
Keep doing what I'm doing? What was I doing? The stones! Right.
You ran off, continuing your search for Clint.
Does this mean I snap my fingers? If he wanted me to keep going for the stones?
If that was the case, you'd made your peace with it. Mainly because there was too much adrenaline right now to think too deeply about or fear anything.
Running down a slope and around a chunk of roofing, you slammed on the brakes. Wanda was facing off against Thanos. As epic as that would be to watch, you were way too close for comfort.
"I've got it!" Peter's voice rang through the coms.
You looked past Wanda, seeing Peter swing in to get the stones from T'Challa.
"Shit," you mumbled taking a slightly longer route around the big boss battle.
Peter was getting surrounded, his instant kill slowly getting overwhelmed.
Gotta get there before Steve helps him.
The missiles that began bombarding the battlefield put a wrench in that plan. You were thrown backwards by one, standing up and trying to run forward again. You stumbled left and right as near misses still shook the ground and threw chunks of earth at you.
"Uh, is anyone else seeing this?" Pepper asked, and you knew she meant the lake was flooding in.
Strange can get it.
"Help! Somebody help!" Peter's voice reached your com, and you cursed at what you knew was about to happen.
"Hey Queens, heads up," Steve said.
You watched as Peter latched on to Mjolnir, flying away with the stones. Keeping track of him through the air was difficult, as he bounced around from Pepper to Brunnhilde. Still having to fight and dodge was an added problem. Eventually he got blown from the sky, and you marked where he landed. However, he'd been shot down because the firepower from Thanos' ship seemed to increase...meaning you were now in a similar predicament.
You catapulted forward as one landed just behind you. You scurried against some wreckage, covering your face from the flying rocks sent your way. Vis landed next to you, crouching over you with his arm up to protect you.
All at once, the attack stopped. Vis slowly lowered his hand, helping you up as the two of you stared at the sky with everyone else. The guns had changed their focus, firing off into the clouds.
"What the hell is this?" Sam asked.
"Friday, what're they firing at?" you heard Tony ask.
"Something's just entered the upper-atmosphere," she answered.
"It's about fucking time," you sighed, watching as Captain Marvel flew in.
You were off before she made it to the ship, not needing to watch what you knew would happen. You had to get to Peter before she did.
"Danvers, we need an assist here," Steve said.
Yeah, for you to snap your frickin fingers! you thought angrily. You knew it was wrong to not care if she potentially died as long as Tony didn't, so you kept your thoughts to yourself.
You got to Peter just as she did, and you had to try to hide the irritation on your face.
"Hi, I'm...Peter Parker."
"Hey Peter Parker. You got something for me?"
"I don't know how you're gonna get it through all of that," he said as he stood up, handing her the gauntlet.
"Don't worry," Wanda said, dropping down.
"She's got help," Okoye said.
"Like she needs it," you scoffed, exhausted and irritated at this point, "Did you see her a second ago? She blasted through that entire ship! And she's just gonna fly through them as stuff magically blows up around her, not getting so much as grazed by anything, while we clean up the scraps. And how the hell did we all end up at the exact same place in this massive battleground for the female superhero strut?"
"Wren," Nat said, smirking at you, "You're killing the mood."
"Sorry," you sighed again, "Fine let's have our moment."
With that you marched forward with the rest of them.
As predicted, Danvers just flew through the hoards like they were a swarm of gnats, while you struggled to make it through what was left. You could have taken your time looking like a badass with the rest of them, but you needed to be there when that gauntlet was knocked from her hands.
You ran past Shuri as she, Pep, and Hope blasted Thanos to give Carol a clear path. But you knew it would all be fruitless.
Thanos threw his blade into the van, the explosion sending a wave towards you. Shielding yourself did little, for you were still sent several feet in the air, flying back into an uprooted tree.
Your eyes felt heavy, your vision going black for a second before you blinked the dreariness away. Pushing yourself off of the tree, you saw Thanos and Marvel going at it.
How did I miss Tony, Cap and Thor fighting him? you thought as you tried making up the ground you'd lost. It dawned on you that your eyes may have gone dark for a few more seconds than you noticed.
Thanos grabbed the power stone, launching Danvers away.
Damn damn damn damn!
You didn't bother looking to Strange, because Tony clearly already had. He was grabbing the gauntlet on Thanos' hand, drawing the stones into his own glove.
Thanos threw him off, straightening the gauntlet. You couldn't hear what he was saying from where you were, but you got close enough to hear Tony's response.
"And I...am..."
"Friday!!" you shouted running at Tony.
"...Iron-Man."
He made to snap...but Friday had detached the glove of his suit.
You'd never broken your sprint, hoping beyond hope that she'd know what you wanted. What you'd jokingly discussed early that week. Well, week for you, over a month for her.
You slid in, catching the new glove before it even hit the ground. You knew trying to get it on and snapped now wasn't going to work, not with Thanos charging.
"Wren!" Tony yelled in concern throwing himself in the way to give you time, "Get out of here!"
You ran up a hill, seeing Thor fly in to cover your escape. None of them knew what you had in mind. Leave it to Cap to catch on though.
"Wren," he grunted, having awakened from Thanos' punch. He was now fighting the Titan, keeping him at bay as long as he could. "What're you gonna do with those?"
You paused a distance away, seeing some of the army, and Maw, making their way across the field, eyes fixed on you. Now was the time.
You took a deep breath, closing your eyes as a tear escaped it. You told yourself you'd be brave when the time came. But one doesn't get to choose to not be afraid. You weren't so much afraid of death as you were of leaving them. Of never seeing Loki or any of the others again. Of never getting to say goodbye to your parents.
It's ok, you told yourself, they'll be safe. All of them.
You smiled, reaching to pull the glove on.
"Darling, don't!" Loki said, hands held worriedly in front of him. He looked cautiously from the gauntlet to you, taking a slow step forward.
"Loki, I'm not letting Tony snap! And I can't ask anyone else to risk it. Not even Captain Marvel! Cuz if I'm wrong, then I've killed someone! And I can't do that anymore," you said, eyes filling with tears, "Look around! I've killed so many already because I've never seen the urgency in any of this! I was thrown in a movie world and I took it as fun! I said I knew it was real, that I knew it wasn't fantasy. But if that were true I'd have talked about Infinity War and Endgame like they were real threats! I'd have told Thor to go for the head! I'd have made sure we destroyed the Tesseract immediately, no matter what good reasons we had for keeping it around! I'd have done so many things differently. Please, let me do this one thing right."
You were crying now, pleading with him through your tears.
"None of it's your fault," he started.
"It all...is," you said through gulps, "Please just...don't make it harder. I-I-I already c--can't, it's already hard, I just...I don't wanna say bye."
A sob escaped you as you finished your words, but you sniffed, trying to reel in your emotions. Thanos was getting closer, and Maw was making his way through the others.
"Then don't," Loki said, eyes watering, "Just hand it over. We'll find another way."
You knew what his other way was, and you weren't going to let that happen.
You slid your hand in.
"I---" you started saying before you were thrown backwards, the glove ripped off your hand before it even secured itself around your wrist.
You had been unprepared, landing hard on your back. You groaned, rolling a bit back and forth as you gingerly waited for the pain to stop. You caught your breath, propping yourself onto an elbow.
Loki had the gauntlet on, the colors visibly coursing through the veins on his neck. Thanos had reached your position, and Loki's attention was on him.
"You'll...never be...a god," he struggled out with a smile, "But I am."
With that, he brought his fingers together.
You couldn't even shout, mouth hanging as the bright flash dimmed. Thanos stopped his advancement, looking around in horror. One by one his army dusted away until he was all that remained. Walking to a rock, he sat down. His eyes met yours. There wasn't anger or hatred in his gaze. It was the look of failure. He'd lost.
He lowered his head, blowing away into the wind.
"Loki!" you exclaimed, rushing to his side.
He had stumbled to prop himself up, slumping down to lean his head back against his support.
"Hey, you're ok," you started whispering, smiling as more tears snuck down your cheeks, "You're gonna be ok, alright? Just, just talk to me Loki, please."
You had his hand in yours, placing your other on his cheek. The others were gathered around.
"Look at me, can you hear me?"
Loki's eyes seemed more aware than Tony's, and the damage seemed to stop around his neck. You prayed his body hadn't taken fatal injuries.
He met your eyes, nodding once, though it hurt him to do so.
"Oh thank God," you breathed.
Loki opened his mouth, but you cut him off.
"No no no, it's ok, don't try to talk. We're gonna get you out of here ok?" you rubbed his cheek with your thumb, "You're gonna be fine."
Thor kneeled next to you, placing his hand gently on his brother's shoulder. Loki managed to turn his head to his brother.
"I told you we could survive," Thor smiled.
"So...did...I," Loki smirked, ignoring your orders not to talk.
"Well, you said in theory," Thor teased.
Loki managed a classic eye-roll, even in his condition, making you laugh.
"Is he gonna be ok?" Korg asked.
"It's my brother," Thor said loud enough for all around to hear, "When does he ever die?"
Loki smiled, and there were a few relieved laughs around the group.
"We did it," Cap sighed.
"You did it," you whispered so only Loki could hear.
The two of you just held eye contact for a while, as Tony had Friday scan the damage on the god.
"Hey hey hey, stay with me!" you said, seeing Loki's eyes start to close.
"I'm not...dying," he said slowly, smirking a little, "I'm tired."
"Yeah me too, you don't see me giving you a heart attack by closing my eyes like a classic death scene!"
He coughed out a little chuckle, letting his eyes close the rest of the way. Though he was asleep, you didn't let go of his hand.
Odin walked over, kneeling next to his son. He passed his hand over Loki's wounded side, muttering something under his breath.
"He's gonna be fine, right?" you asked.
Odin looked up, smiling kindly. "Yes, my dear, he'll be alright."
You nodded, wiping away your tears with your free hand.
"But we should get him back to Asgard," Odin continued, standing up.
Fandral and Volstagg walked over, reaching to pick up the god. You reluctantly let his hand fall away, backing up.
They walked a few feet away with him, readying for departure.
"You should go with him," Steve said, and you turned to find practically everyone still there.
"Look around, Cap. We have a lot of cleanup."
"Kid, none of us will be doing that," Tony snickered.
"I know, but how many dead are there? How many people who need someone to take care of them? To help?"
"We can take care of it," Nat said.
"You should be with him when he wakes up," Sam said, smiling sincerely rather than teasingly, "As cliche as I'm sure that sounds to a movie buff."
You chuckled, looking around the group.
"You sure?" you asked.
"From someone who shouldn't be standing here right now...go," Tony nodded.
"The second person who shouldn't be here agrees," Nat smirked.
"I guess while we're at it, the third says get out of here," Vision smiled.
"You've done enough," Cap said kindly.
You couldn't stop the tears from coming as you let out everything. The stress, the horror, the grief, the guilt, the fear. Everything that had been building like a tidal wave ready to drown you. You were able to release it all at those words. The confirmation that you'd done enough. That you'd done it.
"Come here," Tony waved you over, and you stumbled into his hug, "It's ok, Smiley. It's over."
You stayed in his arms for a minute longer, shaking with the force of your sobs. He never made to pull away, letting you stay as long as you needed. When you were calm enough that it wasn't embarrassing, you let go.
"I'm sorry," you laughed, cleaning your face, "That was such an ugly cry breakdown."
"We all know Barton's having one somewhere," Tony said.
"I'm right here," Clint spoke from behind him.
"Oh, look at that," Tony peered over his shoulder, "You been there the whole time? You are one of those unmemorable, invisible faces, it's hard to remember when you come or go."
"You should go," Steve said, "Looks like they're wrapping up."
"I'll see you all soon, ok?" you said, backing away. You saw Zemo near the edge of the group. "Will you be here when I come back? I don't really know what the hell happened, like are we all friends now or---"
"No," Zemo said, "We're not. And..." he looked down the group, "I'd like to be here when you do, but it's up to your friends."
"He'll be here," Cap gave you a reassuring smile.
No one argued, all waving as you made your way towards Odin.
"Mind if I come along?" you asked him.
"Who do you think we're waiting for?" he smiled.
You chuckled and shook your head.
"You always know don't you?"
"At my age, child, you'd better have learned to read people. Or your life has been a vastly unobservant one."
"Are we ready?" Strange asked, stepping to the group that would be journeying up to Asgard first. This included the Warriors Three, a handful of guards, Loki, Odin, Heimdall, and yourself.
"Yes," Odin nodded.
"See ya later, kid," Strange flashed you one of his smirks, sending a circle over the group.