As they ran over the battlefield, Keira became aware of how many aliens they had actually killed. They were forced to awkwardly jump over both corpses and body parts, all while they tried to not slip on the bloodstained ground.
A small part of her wished that she could fly, so she wouldn't have to lay eyes on the carnage, but she wasn't that lucky. And besides, it could never hurt with a reality check, could it?
The prickling in the back of her head had remained the same throughout the fight, although it was becoming more and more intense. But it didn't hurt, something she was deeply grateful for because the invisible wound in her abdomen was causing her enough discomfort.
When they finally arrived in the clearing, Keira's eyes immediately found Wanda, who was crouching by Vision's side. Just like she had suspected, the synthezoid was sporting a stab wound in the same place from where her pain was emanating from.
The Mind Stone was glowing more brightly than normal, and she just knew it was the same kind of warning that her own head was voicing.
"What the hell?" Natasha muttered softly from beside Keira.
The wind was picking up ominously, the leaves and trees rustling in the tense silence that had settled over the glade. All of them were looking around, waiting for Thanos to arrive.
Because they all knew he would be coming for the Stone.
Keira felt it before it happened, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. A disturbance in the air before a black cloud with blue streaks slowly grew above the ground. The portal that was forming wasn't too different from the one that had opened over New York six years ago.
Out walked a purple titan, tall and intimidating.
On his left hand, there was a golden gauntlet decorated with stones, with only its centerpiece missing. He held his head high, confident in his mission as his eyes trailed over Wanda and Vision, the two people furthest from him, but the ones he needed to reach.
"Cap, that's him."
Instinctively, Keira's feet carried her closer to Wanda. There was so much she wanted to say, but now, they were running out of time. When she turned to face Wanda, she found that her fiancée was already looking at her. Grey met green, and no words needed to be spoken to understand the conversation going on between them.
Keira had never feared death. Hell, at some points in her life, she had even wished for it. But now, she had too much to live for.
And there was too much at stake if they lost.
"Eyes up. Stay sharp." Steve commanded, readying his shield.
It was the cue for everyone to attack, but Keira stood frozen by Wanda's side. She could only watch in horror as Thanos calmly took one step after another, not faltering as Bruce charged at him. The Hulkbuster turned into a transparent blue and phased right through Thanos before it solidified, getting trapped in the cliff wall behind.
Steve was the next one to try and reach the titan, but a purple mist engulfed him, throwing him effortlessly to the side. T'Challa got grabbed by the throat before getting slammed to the ground and Sam's wings collapsed on themselves, sending the man crashing down.
Thanos didn't falter once in his steps as he took down some of Earth's mightiest heroes without even breaking a sweat.
"Wanda." Vision whispered weakly. "It's time." He had pushed himself into a sitting position and the wound on his torso was still wide open. His skin kept glitching, indicating the inner damages that had been done to him, and had he been fully human, his suit would've been colored a dark red.
Wanda shook her head resolutely. "No." She protested, her lower lip jutting out slightly. There was no way she would kill Vision unless there was any other option.
They still had time to win this, didn't they?
Keira's heart shattered at having to push Wanda to do this, but they didn't have any other choice. Thanos was getting closer by the second. She gently grabbed the redhead's wrist and then intertwined their fingers when the red mist that had been circling around Wanda's hand evaporated. "We're out of options, my love. No one but you have the power to destroy the Stone-"
"Don't." Wanda warned in a dangerously low voice.
Vision used some of his last strength to grab Wanda's other hand. "You must do it, Wanda. Please."
"I- I can't." Wanda's voice broke. Never before had she felt this cornered. She never asked for the responsibility of balancing the fate of the universe in her hands. She never asked to be forced to kill her closest friend in order to protect the world, and yet, here she was.
"Yes, you can. You can. If he gets the Stone, half the universe dies." Vision reminded her, rubbing the back of her hand soothingly.
Keira closed her eyes for a moment before cupping Wanda's cheek with her free hand, causing the redhead to finally make eye contact. "Vision's right. We can't let him have it. I know, it isn't fair. You have already suffered so much during the years and to have this put in your hands... It shouldn't be you, but it is." She finished sadly, wiping away a stray tear that was trailing down Wanda's cheek.
Wanda couldn't get herself to answer but she kept shaking her head faintly as her lower lip trembled. Her eyes were stinging, and she tried hard to swallow down the lump in her throat.
Vision looked up in sorrow at the redhead and raised his other hand to grip Keira's forearm, connecting the three of them. "Wanda." He began slowly, trying to underline the weight of his words. "This... this isn't fair. But you two taught me more about humanity and what it meant to be human more than the internet ever could. I will forever cherish our memories together. The movie nights at the compound or when we watched through entire seasons of some of your favorite sitcoms. Our monopoly nights as we traveled through Europe, those moments mean everything to me."
He would've said that he would cherish the memories for as long as he lived, but since his life was about to end, there was no point. "You could never hurt me, Wanda. You are my closest friend." Glancing at Keira, he gently squeezed her arm. "You both are. Just... Promise me one thing?"
The two women looked down on him, ready to promise whatever dying wish the synthezoid had.
"Take care of each other."
"We promise. Always and forever." Keira said serenely. She didn't think she could take it any longer without crying, so she slipped out of both Vision's and Wanda's grasp but not before giving Vision a sympathetic nod.
Even at this moment, they had to keep their secret, no matter how much it hurt them. "I'll buy you as much much time as I can." She added in a whisper, pressing what might be the last kiss ever, to Wanda's cheek before turning around to face Thanos.
"Always and forever." Wanda whispered, her bottom lip quivering badly. With a shaking breath, she stretched out her hand and let her powers emerge. The red wisps grew slowly, almost reluctantly as her inner conflict was messing with her. "Until forever falls apart."
Everything within Keira was screaming at her to stay put, to stay by her fiancée and friend's side until the very end, but fate was cruel.
An ending where they all stood united together, alive and breathing wasn't written in the cards.
A small gasp left her lips as she instantly felt Wanda's power connect with the Stone. It was a different sensation from the times before. She had expected excruciating pain that would make her knees buckle, ringing in her ears at such an agonizing volume that she wouldn't be able to move.
But it wasn't like that.
Granted, the world was slightly blurry, as though she was seeing it through a heat haze. Meanwhile, on the inside, it felt like ice drizzled through her veins. It calmed her down and seemed to give her enough strength to ignore the painful throbbing of the nonexistent wound on her torso and to fight the titan in front of her.
Keira unsheathed her katana, and her knuckles turned white from how hard she was gripping the handle. If she had only one mission today, it would be to at least make Thanos bleed.
She could only watch as Rhodey's armor got crushed around him, sending him to the ground. Bucky and Okoye were both sent flying by the same purple mist that had thrown the Captain moments before.
It was as if her feet were glued to the ground, and only when she watched Natasha being trapped underneath sharp spikes of rocks, did Keira finally manage to get herself to move. The tree that had accompanied Thor tried to bind the titan to the ground, but Thanos broke apart the thick roots as if they were nothing more than brittle twigs.
With herself as the only person between Thanos and the Mind Stone now, Keira leaped into the air with her sword over her head, ready to swing it down on the titan. But a massive hand grabbed her around the throat, and as her body started to scream for oxygen, her arms fell limply to her sides. Gasping for breath, she swung her sword upwards, but the titan stopped the simple assault by grabbing the blade in his gauntlet-covered hand.
"What did you hope to accomplish with that, child?" Thanos asked, his baritone voice the only sound that could be heard in the silent clearing.
Keira heard the blade being crushed in his hand, the metal shattering into little pieces. Somehow, she managed to glance down, and to her surprise, around five inches of steel was still attached to the handle she was convulsively holding onto.
Due to the pressure around her throat, the world was starting to shrink around her, the edges of her vision becoming shadows. With a tremendous effort, she buried the short blade in Thanos' chest. "Make God bleed, and people will cease to believe in him." She hissed, desperately trying to free herself from the titan's grip.
Thanos looked down at the blade before raising his other hand and pressing a finger to Keira's chest. "You got heart, little one. But I am more than a god." He shook his head, almost pityingly before throwing the nearly unconscious woman from him.
Keira's back collided hard with a tree, and a gasp of pain left her lips as she fell down to the ground.
Wanda shut her eyes tightly, the tears welling over and slowly streaming down her face. She didn't have to turn around to feel Keira's pain, she felt it in her heart. But she couldn't abandon the mission now. She had to stop Thanos and upon hearing him getting closer, she used both hands to focus her powers on the Stone.
With his hands now free, he ripped out the blade from his chest and inspected the shattered remain before tossing it to the side. Nothing more stood in his way as he continued his journey towards the Stone. But he was hindered as the supersoldier crossed his path.
Keira gasped for air, her hands clutched around her stomach as she shakily tried to get back on her feet. She watched as Steve engaged in a fight with the purple titan once again and despite getting some good punches in, it seemed like they didn't phase Thanos at all. Thanos reached for Steve's head, but the supersoldier grabbed the gauntlet before his skull had a chance to get crushed.
For a moment, it seemed like Thanos was surprised by Steve's strength, the titan tilting his head curiously.
But in the end, Thanos had a purpose and wouldn't be stopped by a supersoldier so he punched the Captain across the face, knocking him out.
There was no one left between Wanda and Thanos.
The Stone was still intact, although it was breaking apart. They needed more time. Wanda swung her left hand around to push Thanos back, still while trying to destroy the Stone with her right.
But with five Infinity Stones, Thanos was able to fight back. It was truly remarkable how Wanda was able to keep Thanos at bay while still focusing her powers on destroying the Stone.
It didn't feel as if Keira could get enough air into her lungs, and in the back of her head, she could feel the Stone crumbling. Somehow, she managed to push herself up to her feet, her back flush against the tree as she used it for support.
Her eyes frantically searched around for ideas. There was no way she would be able to reach Thanos herself in order to distract him, but she needed to do something.
The ice that was traveling through her veins seemed to slow her mind down, allowing her to think clearly but Vision's wound was affecting her heavily, draining her energy and making her weak. Her eyes landed on the shattered pieces of her broken sword, and an idea popped into her head.
Keira pushed herself away from the tree, and the few steps she took, nearly caused her to fall flat on her face. The world was still looking as if she saw it through a heat haze, and it had also begun to wobble slightly. It was only with all the focus she could muster, that she reached out a hand and let the diamond flow freely from her palm to the sharp pieces of her former sword.
The metal pieces quickly became encased in the diamond, growing bigger and sharper thanks to the crystal. All to make sure that they would do as much damage as possible.
Honestly, Keira had no idea if her plan would even work, because she had never tried it before. But as she raised her hand, focusing all she could, the pointed pieces slowly rose from the ground, trembling slightly as they did so. Only when the pieces were hovering high enough above the ground did Keira flick her hand, which sent the sharp shards flying.
Their target? Thanos' back.
But just before the fragments were about to dig themselves into the titan's back, a black and blue cloud appeared, swallowing them whole and making them disappear from view.
Keira didn't get a chance to react before she heard something crackling behind her, and she screamed as each and every one of the sharp shards pierced her back, burying themselves deep into her flesh. The mere force from them caused her knees to buckle and she fell to the ground.
The diamond evaporated into a cloud of fine dust and the newly released metal pieces clattered down on her back, barely even scratching the surface of her clothing. But now, the blood could flow freely from the multiple wounds in her back.
Iron already invaded her taste and smell, but she couldn't tell where it came from. If it was external or internal.
Gasping for breath, she could only inhale in short, ragged wheezes. Anything deeper would cause a surge of pain to overtake her and threaten to blackout her vision. Somehow, by just pure will, she managed to lift her head enough to catch a glimpse of Wanda.
The only sound she could hear was her own blood pulsating in her ears, but if her eyes weren't deceiving her, Wanda was screaming her name. With some of her last powers, she mustered a smile and a faint nod, her cheek rubbing against the ground as she told Wanda it was okay.
And with Keira's approval, Wanda pushed her powers even harder. The Stone finally split open, and she caught a glimpse of Vision's relieved smile before his body was obliterated in an explosion so powerful that it sent both Wanda and Thanos stumbling backwards.
The force of the explosion reached even Keira, and she allowed herself a small inhale of relief. They had done it. Thanos couldn't get the last Stone. Half of the universe didn't have to die to fulfill a mad titan's wish.
Black spots were dancing across her vision and the wounds on her back stung with every single breath.
Wanda lay on the ground, her entire body screaming for rest. The energy it had taken to destroy the Stone was exhausting, and with tears leaking from her eyes, she managed to crawl over to Keira, who lay a couple of feet away. "Ria? Come on, look at me." She pleaded silently, carefully cradling the mutant's head in her lap. Ignoring the splatters of human and alien blood, she carefully brushed a few blonde strands behind Keira's ears.
It scared Wanda to see how very pale the mutant was. Her skin was as white as porcelain, and Keira looked as if she would break at even the softest of touch.
"Please, open your eyes, Ria."
Keira's eyes fluttered open, not that it made her any good. Black spots were fighting for her attention, but between the holes of darkness, Wanda illuminated her vision. A weak smile managed to paint her lips. "H- Happy to o- oblige, my love." A cough rounded off her words, and she could feel something warm drizzle down the corner of her mouth.
Wanda gently wiped the blood away with her thumb, shaking her head. "You're not dying, you hear me? You're not allowed to. So keep those eyes on me." She ordered shakily, not even trying to hold back the tears anymore.
She couldn't handle losing Keira too.
The blonde had been there by her side through it all. Always helping her through the hard times. Helping her to cope with Pietro's death, with her nightmares, and whispering gentle words when her mind was beating her down.
How would she ever be able to live without Keira?
"B- Bossy." Keira choked as she coughed up more blood. One of her shards must've punctured a lung or something. "I love y- you, Wanda. A- Always will, u- until forever falls apart." She paused, swallowing down the blood that was threatening to choke her.
The black spots were slowly taking over her field of vision, so she kept her eyes trained on Wanda's. It was her time to go, and the last thing she would be looking at would be the emerald eyes she loved more than life itself. "I just wish I had time to say it more."
Wanda couldn't help but smile at Keira's badly timed joke. The blonde always found time for them even when it came to life and death. But at the following words, it faded away and as the mutant's eyes fluttered closed, Wanda shook her head. "No! No. Open your eyes. Please, Keira, open your eyes!" She cried, leaning her head down so their foreheads touched.
"But now is no time to mourn. Now is no time at all."
Wanda hadn't paid Thanos any mind at all, not with the love of her life dying in her arms but at these words, she slowly sat back up, her hands still cradling Keira's head.
The titan was slowly walking towards the place where the Mind Stone had been destroyed and made a strange motion with the gauntlet. Green symbols encircled his wrist and the Time Stone glowed brighter than the rest as the titan reversed Vision's death.
"No!"
Wanda's scream caused Keira to jolt back to the land of the living. Her eyes snapped open, but it barely did her any good at all. The black spots were impairing her vision so badly that she could barely see Wanda at all anymore, and all around her, the world was spinning so fast it made her nauseous.
"Hey, you're okay, you're gonna be okay. Stay with me." Wanda cried, leaning down and pressing a kiss to Keira's forehead. "We promised each other forever, remember? And we don't break our promises." Her hands were fondling the mutant's cheeks, silently praying for Keira to make it.
Thanos didn't even bother to look at the crying Avenger but instead gripped the synthezoid by the throat and dug his fingers into Vision's forehead, ripping the Mind Stone out. The synthezoid's body turned a sickly grey and the titan threw him aside like he was nothing more than a broken toy.
Placing the last Stone into his gauntlet, the titan felt the victorious flame burn bright in his chest. The energy from the stones crackled with all the colors of the rainbow but just as he lifted his hand to complete his life's mission, a bolt of lightning hit him in the chest and sent him sliding back.
The lightning was followed by Thor, who buried his new weapon in the titan's chest. And with Thanos kneeling in front of him, Thor felt the anger surge through him. "I told you... you'd die for that." Pushing the axe further into Thanos' chest, he watched with satisfaction as the titan's eyes widened and screamed.
"You should have... You should..." Thanos tried to speak as if they were his final words. But the titan lifted his head slightly, triumph gleaming in his eyes. "You should have gone for the head." He rasped out before lifting his hand and snapping his fingers.
"No!"
A blinding and powerful wave crashed over them all. It only lasted a second, but they all felt it. This was something else entirely.
Keira's field of vision turned completely black by the force of the wave, and had her head not been resting securely in Wanda's lap, it would've been whipped back to the ground. She couldn't even muster the strength to lift her fingers, let alone her hand, wanting nothing more than to feel Wanda's skin against her own one last time.
But it seemed like her fiancée had read her mind, because trembling fingers intertwined with her own.
The soft and gentle touch finally allowed Keira's eyes to flutter shut. It seemed like it had been the sign she had waited for, a silent okay to let the darkness engulf her, and her form slowly went limp in Wanda's arms.
"No! Keira, open your eyes right now!" Wanda felt her heart shatter into a million pieces, tears streaming down her cheeks. The love of her life was dead. It didn't even matter to her that Thanos had succeeded. How was she supposed to survive without Keira? She cradled Keira's body as close to herself as she could, burying her nose in the blonde mess of hair. "I love you."
Thor watched in horror at the smoking gauntlet. "What'd you do?" He exclaimed. "What'd you do?!"
But Thanos had no intention of answering. Instead, he used the Stones, a cloud of blue and black appearing behind him and he disappeared through it, leaving nothing but the bloodstained axe behind.
Everybody was moving slowly, they were battered and bruised. But they all realized what had happened.
They had lost.
Steve stumbled out from the trees, clutching his ribs. "Where'd he go? Thor. Where'd he go?"
Thor couldn't get himself to answer. He still couldn't believe that he had failed the universe. Had he only gone for the head, this would've never happened. He failed.
"Steve?" Bucky's last words were directed to his best friend, and he already felt the funny feeling tingling in his fingertips. His metal arm began to break into small flakes, slowly disintegrating. It spread from his fingers, up his arms, and then it started by his legs. He stumbled, but before he hit the ground, he was nothing more than a pile of dust.
Just like Thanos had promised, half of all life started to disappear.
Natasha rushed forwards, frantically searching for her best friend. And when her eyes landed on the bloodstained mutant in Wanda's arms, her heart stopped.
Keira, dead? No, this couldn't be.
Natasha fell to her knees on the other side of Keira, feeling her eyes burn. "It's gonna be okay, Wanda. It's gonna be okay." She whispered, meeting Wanda's tear-stained gaze.
Wanda tore her eyes away from Keira's face and met Natasha's eyes. She could feel it happening. It started in her toes, a weird sensation as they turned into nothingness. "Yeah, it is." She breathed before turning her eyes to the sky. Her expression relaxed as she watched the fluffy clouds pass by above, completely unaffected by what had happened below them. A weight had been lifted off her shoulder and she felt relieved.
Relieved, because she realized that she wouldn't have to live in a world without Keira.
Natasha could only watch in horror as Wanda disappeared in front of her very eyes. Half of all life in the universe faded into ashes, as if they never existed in the first place. No trace was left behind except the flakes that lay on the ground or swirled away into the wind.
With no Wanda left to hold her, Keira's body fell to the ground.
Pushing down her shock at seeing Wanda vanish, Natasha frantically shook her head. Just like the redhead had done before, she too cradled Keira's head in her lap and pushed two fingers to the side of the mutant's neck, desperately searching for a pulse.
"No, no, no. You don't get to do this." There was no way Keira was dead. The mutant was too stubborn to die. "Come on, don't do this to me. You said I would see you on the other side, Key. This is not the other side." Natasha muttered, closing her eyes and just praying that she would feel something. As the seconds ticked by, the dread in her stomach grew. It just couldn't be. Seconds turned into minutes. Maybe she needed to face the dreadful truth.
Thump.
Natasha's eyes snapped open. It hadn't been her imagination, she was sure of it. There was definitely a pulse. It was dangerously low, and Keira was literally dancing on the edge of death, but there was still life. Without further ado, she rolled the mutant onto her side while screaming for help.
The number one rule when you're shot or stabbed, is don't lie on the side where the wound is. You'll bleed out quicker. So, if you're stabbed in the front, then you lay on your back, and vice versa. If the wound goes all the way through, you lay on the side. Simple survival tactics.
Keira was unconscious, unaware of the reality around her. She didn't know that half the universe had died. Sam, T'Challa, Peter, Bucky, and Groot were just a few of the many victims.
Wives, husbands, daughters, sons, moms, dads, and grandparents. Everyone in the universe would be a victim of their failure.
But most of all, Wanda.
The love of her life was gone.
~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Aaaaaaand we're finally at the moment that broke my heart in the cinema.
So, Wanda is gone, and Keira is alive... kinda at least. Gotta love the sad moments that are up ahead. Woho!
Also, yes I loved naming this chapter hahahah.