-The Benatar ship, Space-
Twenty days have passed since the dusting, and Tony and Ashley were marooned in space on Quill's ship The Benatar, along with Nebula who was the alien woman who crushed Thanos with her ship. They were using The Benatar to keep safe in, as it had food and oxygen to help keep them alive. For the first couple of days, together they worked together and managed to get the ship working again. But it was only for 48 hours, and after that it was dead. The food on board was now running out and the oxygen was going to run out by the next morning. As you would expect, it was taking it's toll on Tony and Ashley, and quite quickly they realised that no one was coming for them and that they were lost in space, with the big possibility that could die in a matter of hours.
At the moment, Tony was teaching Nebula a small game they could play to help pass the time, whilst Ashley was taking charge of distributing the food for the day. As she did so, something was running through Ashley's mind which was making her give more food to Tony than herself. She figured out why Stephen was so quick to give the time stone to Thanos to save Tony's life. It all made sense to her when she realised that Tony was the key. Everything that happened was part of the one way they win, and that Tony was the reason they won. She was going to make sure Tony was able to do that, even if it meant she had to suffer and let go of her own life by keeping him going. She felt weaker everyday, and today was one of the weakest she had felt. She swayed where she stood, feeling lightheaded all of a sudden. She started to fall back when Nebula came from behind and caught her. She helped steady Ashley on her feet, and pulled a stool out from under the table.
"Careful." Nebula told her, guiding the super solider to sit on the stool. Ashley nodded to her as a thank you, and rubbed her eyes that were finding it hard to stay open.
"How's Tony?" Ashley asked, her head almost falling onto the table. Her energy was at an all time low, and she could actually feel that there wasn't a lot of oxygen left with every breath she took. Not even the serum could help her this time.
"He's tired. But as it seems, you are worse." Nebula pointed out. Ashley ignored her comment and went back to sorting out the food, pulling the food packages towards her and opening one. It was a plain cracker, and she held her hand out to offer it to Nebula. But the alien shook her head and pushed Ashley's hand back towards her. Ashley said nothing and split the cracker into uneven parts, the biggest part going onto Tony's plate. She then noticed Nebula watching her and her action.
"Don't tell him I'm doing this. He'll just go against it completely."
"Can understand why. You're killing yourself so he lives."
"Bingo! And you probably don't even know what bingo is."
"I don't. But it sounds unimportant." Nebula said, making Ashley sigh heavily.
"Think about it. Stephen gave away the stone after he told us he would let any of us die before Thanos got a hand on it. He swore an oath to protect the stone and he just gives it away to save Tony? He only did that after he saw that one way out of 14 million that we win. It was all part of the plan, Nebula. Tony does something to let us win, so if keeping him alive means killing myself, then there's no hesitation from me. The fate of the world and getting him back to Pepper depends on it." Ashley ranted, and Nebula hesitantly nodded. She understood, and even though she'd only known her a few days, she could tell Ashley wasn't one to defy. "Just do me a favour." Nebula nodded for her to continue. "When my body get's taken back to earth...."She had to pause as tears blurred her eyes and her emotions were starting to get the best of her. "Please bury me with my parents. Ask Tony about it, he'll know." Nebula only gave a nod. "Thanks."
Nebula didn't know what to do or say seeing Ashley get upset and emotional over the possibility of dying. But she stepped foreword and awkwardly wrapped her arms around her, something her sister gave her a while back. It made her feel something nice within her stomach, something she had never felt before. So she thought she could give a hug to Ashley in hopes to make her feel it too.
"Are you hugging me?" Ashley asked, surprised at this action from Nebula.
"Yes. It is working?"
"Is what working?"
"Is it making you feel better?" Nebula asked, making Ashley sigh and wrap her arms around Nebula.
"A little. Thanks. " She replied. " Is it helping you? I know I said it before but I'm sorry about your sister."
"Thank you. And yes. It is helping me." Nebula replied, and Ashley rubbed her back gently.
"So this is where you got to." Tony spoke from the doorway to the room, making Ashley and Nebula come out of each other's arms. "And here I thought you were enjoying our little game." He said to Nebula, then saw Ashley quickly wiping tears away from her face. "You okay, Ash?"
"Yeah. Just another moment of mine. Ignore me." She gave a fake smile. "Oh here." She took the plate of Tony's food and walked over to him, holding it out towards him. "Not exactly 5 star."
"It'll do." He replied, taking the plate. "There's some power left in my suit if you want to record a message for whoever is still alive down there. I've recorded one for Pepper, and I left enough room so you could record one too. You can record one for Pepper if you like but, it's your choice."
"I'd like to record something. Thanks, Tony." Ashley smiled weakly, using all the strength she had to not keel over in front of him.
"I'll bring it to you." He spoke, giving her hand a squeeze before disappearing. Ashley sighed and ran a hand through her very knotty hair.
"You should eat too." Nebula came over, holding Ashley's plate of food out for her. Ashley hesitated but took the plate, taking the small part of plain cracker and taking a small bite.
"Here you go." Tony reappeared, holding out the helmet of his suit. Ashley set down her plate and took the helmet in her hands. "It's only got a couple of minutes left. Is that enough?"
"Yeah."
"Just press the button on the side to record."
"Thanks." She nodded, closing her eyes to keep the tears away before she took her plate and headed into one of the rooms nearby. She set down her plate on the floor and gently put the helmet on the table. She faced it towards her and took a deep breathe, preparing herself with what to say to the people she loved who may or may not be still alive. She had to assume they were for the message. She let out a breathe before pressing the button on the side of the helmet, which made it begin to record her where she sat.
"So." She spoke, rubbing her hands together. "Its been 22 days since everything happened. Oxygen will run out tomorrow so, that's a thing. I'm only recording this cause I'm not sure if we'll make it." She took a shaky breathe before looking into the camera that was recording her. "To anyone who is alive and seeing this, if you are seeing this, I'm probably dead. And you should know that if I am, it was my choice. I did what I had to do to save everyone. To whoever is listening, I ask you to show this to the people I list. They're the one's most important to me. To Bucky, I'm sorry that I didn't help you as much as I should have done when you were framed for something you didn't do. I hope you can forgive me for being that way. I love you Buck, and if she's still alive, talk to Natasha some more. I think you two would be cute together. Um. To Bruce, I'm sorry this had to happen. If Thor is alive, give him a hug from me and tell him that I'm gonna miss him. I'm gonna miss you all so much. To Natasha, know that you were always better than me and I give you the authority to take over from me as Avengers leader. You were the bestest friend I had, after Peggy, of course. To Pepper, Rhodey and Happy, god I love you guys. My family from another time. Always there for me and Tony and to that I say thank you. And to my godsons. My beautiful godsons, Fred and George. Oh god." She then looked down to her hands, tears falling down both her cheeks before she looked back to the camera. "I love you two so much and I want you two to live your best lives. Please be happy, for me. And last but not least, Steve. My Steve." She smiled softly at the camera. "If you're alive, know that I regret taking so long to talk to you. Now that my life is flashing before my eyes, I wish I talked to you sooner. If I somehow make it out alive, we can talk. I promise. But if I don't,...." She began to sob, a hand going over her mouth. "...know that I'm so sorry for what I'm doing. I'm doing it for the world, for you, and for Tony. When I fall asleep and my life runs out, all I'll be thinking about is you and what we could have been if I wasn't so stubborn. I love you, Steve. Always have and always will." She got to say, before the recording ended and the helmet powered down one last time. Her lips began to tremble and she pulled her knees up the her chest, sobbing uncontrollably into her legs. That may have been the final goodbye to all the people she loved, with one of them not even knowing that she did love him, and she couldn't believe it had come to this.
Tony heard her sobs as he walked past the room, so set down his food and went to the door. He found her in a state he had only ever seen her in once, and that was when Peggy died. He sat next to her on the bed and put his arms around her, putting her head into the crook of his neck.
"It's okay, Ash." He told her softly, kissing the top of her head. "It's going to be okay."
"Why was I so stubborn? Why did I punish myself like this?" She asked, wiping tears away with her hand. "Why couldn't I have just called Steve and told him how I truly felt?"
"You believed something so you did what you had to do. You put yourself first for once in your life."
"And it came back to bite me." She replied, moving to now sit up.
"None of us could have known how this was going to go. It just happened this way." Tony said, keeping his arm around her. "But I'll tell you what, I'm glad it's you that I'm going to float away with. Seems fitting us two get stuck up here together. I wouldn't want to go with anyone else."
"I wish I did more for you."
"Ash, you've done more for me in the past few years than anyone. You've stuck by me through thick and thin, and have kept me in a straight line as best you could. You've done more than make up for the years away."
"I will never be able to make it up to you for that. I was so awful to you then and I will never be able to take it back or make it right."
"I'd say you've made up for those years and then some." He then cupped her chin and pulled her face so she was looking at him. "I forgive you." His words made tears come to Ashley again.
"Tony-"
"And I'm not saying that cause we might die tomorrow, but because I've needed to tell you for so long. I forgive you." He said into her eyes, and kissed her temple. He could see the tears filling her eyes once again, so wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her arm up and down. "I forgive you." He whispered.
"I love you, Tony." She said as she cried.
"I love you too, Ash. My greatest friend." He replied, resting his head on hers and closing his eyes.
"I'm with you till the end of the line." She told him. He nodded and squeezed her into his chest. She'd always thought Tony would die before her, and yet it seemed she was going to be the one to go first. She could feel the energy in her body disappearing and her eyes becoming even heavier. "I think I need to get some rest." She spoke up. "Make sure you get some too, okay?"
"I will. Don't you worry." He reassured, before kissing her head and getting up to let her sleep. "See you in a few hours, yeah?"
"Yeah." She nodded, even though she could feel that maybe she wouldn't make it to a few hours. Tony gave her a small smile and then left the room. When Ashley knew he was gone, she fell back on the bed like a bag of bricks and her eyes closed, her breathing becoming slow. Before she fell asleep, she prayed that Tony stayed alive so he could save the world.
A couple of hours went by and Tony was now sat in a seat in the cockpit, trying to rest his eyes and waiting for the inevitable. But then a bright light appeared in front of the ship and woke him up. He squinted his eyes at the bright light and the light faded to show a person, more specially a woman, floating in the mass of space. He frowned in confusion as she gave a satisfied smile, before she flew underneath the ship and began to carry it back to earth.
It didn't take very long for the ship to enter the earths atmosphere, with Tony almost crying with joy at seeing the greenness of the grass and the Avengers facility appear below the clouds. Waiting for them on the lawn was Pepper, Rhodey, Natasha, George, Ollie, Rocket, Bruce, Thor and Steve. They watched as Carol carried the ship down and placed it on the ground.
"Ash..." Tony spoke quietly, struggling to stand from the seat. "Ash, we're home." He slowly made his way out of the cockpit to find Ashley. But when he did find her and saw how she looked, he quickly knelt next to her and felt her pulse. His breath was taken away as he could feel her pulse was weak. So so weak. "No. Ashley, wake up." He gently shook her. "Ashley, come on. We're home. We made it." He whispered.
"We need to get her help." Nebula spoke from the doorway, making Tony nod and allow her to help him walk out of the ship as quick as possible. The steps came down from the ship, and Tony and Nebula walked down them. Steve rushed foreword when he saw them and helped to get Tony down the final steps.
"Ashley, she's-" Tony could only say.
"No. No, not Ashley." Steve shook her head. The past 22 days had been hell for him, as not only was there no word of Tony, but there was no word of Ashley too. He woke up everyday with the fear that she was gone and there was nothing he could do about it.
"She's in the ship. But she needs help. Please." Tony begged, and without wasting a second, Steve and Natasha rushed into the ship together. They checked multiple rooms before they came upon where Ashley laid on a bed, lifeless and knocking on death's door.
"Oh my god." Nat gasped in shock as Steve knelt down and cupped Ashley's face. He listened closing to her chest and hovered a hand over her mouth.
"She's still breathing but she looks like she hasn't eaten in days. Get a room ready." He told Natasha, who nodded and immediately rushed back out the ship.
"Is she okay?" Pepper asked Natasha as she came down the steps.
"No." She replied, looking behind her to see Steve carrying Ashley out in his arms. She wasn't dead yet, but she was closer than she'd ever been.
"Oh my god." Pepper gasped at the sight, holding Tony closer to her.
"Bruce, help us." Steve ordered, walking as fast as he could towards the building. Bruce didn't hesitate to follow, with Thor, Carol and Natasha following close behind.
"Ashley." George tried to get to her as Steve passed, but Ollie held him back.
"They'll help her." Ollie reassured, rubbing George's back as he began to cry into his shoulder. Both George and Ollie felt numb the past 22 days. The people they loved were dusted in front of them and they had not heard of Ashley at all. She had done so much for them, been there for them when they needed her. Losing her would break them in ways unimaginable.
"What happened to her?" Rhodey asked Tony, putting an arm around him to help him walk to the HQ building. Pepper was helping him on the other side.
"I don't know. I thought the serum would help her more than me." Tony replied. "I don't know, buddy." He shook his head, feeling absolutely exhausted.
"She wasn't eating as much." Nebula spoke aloud, which made Tony stop walking and frown his eyebrows at her.
"What do you mean not eating as much? As much as us?" He asked, and Nebula simply nodded.
"She was giving portions of her food to you."
"What? Why would she do that?"
"She said to keep you alive." She replied, making Tony even more confused.
"Wha...Why? What, she was just ready to kill herself for me? What the hell for?" Tony's anger rose with every word. He couldn't believe she could see her life as unimportant compared to his.
"You can ask her when she wakes up but we need to get you inside, Tony." Rhodey urged, and Tony nodded before he began to walk again.
Meanwhile, Steve carried Ashley into the facility, through the corridors and to a medical room. With the help of Natasha and Bruce, they quickly got her on a bed before Bruce started putting a drip in her arm.
"She's so thin." Natasha thought out loud. "How could she get like this?" She asked, with no answer being given as Steve and Bruce were occupied getting Ashley comfortable. Thor then appeared in the doorway of the room, and when he saw the state of Ashley, his stomach dropped and his jaw tightened.
"Will she live?" He asked.
"She's dehydrated and it seems to me she hasn't eaten very much. She'll be very weak for a little bit but she should soon wake up and then recover with the right medicine and treatment." Bruce replied as he unzipped Ashley's suit just enough to attach wires to her chest so he could monitor her breathing and heart rate.
"This is all my fault." Thor mumbled, the others not hearing him before he then left to whenever he was going. He had Thanos right in front of him, and instead of going for his head, he went for his chest. This allowed Thanos to click his fingers, and take the people that were cared about. Not going for the head haunted Thor to no end, and the blame was eating away at him. He had never felt like such a failure in all his life.
"We got to her just in time." Natasha spoke, her voice wavering before she gulped from seeing Ashley so ill. She knew that another day up there and Ashley would have died for sure.
"Yeah. Thank god." Bruce spoke, feeling almost sick just looking at Ashley. The serum kept her muscles, but her skin was so tight on them you could see her bones. Tony was thin too, but not to this extent. Then Carol appeared in the doorway where Thor just was and sighed heavily from seeing the state her friend was in, before walking into the room.
"How is she?" She asked, moving to the end of the bed to get a better look. The computer's showed that Ashley's heart rate was slow and her blood sugar levels were almost to the floor.
"She'll be fine in a couple of days. We got lucky." Bruce replied.
"Thank you." Steve said to Carol, getting her attention. "You've saved her and Tony's life, and I will forever be grateful." He said, and Carol nodded as a you're welcome.
"You said you knew her?" Natasha asked Carol. "How?"
"I met her when I fell to earth in the late 90's. She and Fury helped me work some things out and find who I was. I haven't seen in her a few years but I'd still call her my friend." Carol explained.
"Well, thank you again." Natasha said this time. "We really do owe you."
"Help me kill Thanos and that'll be enough." Carol replied, taking one last look at Ashley before leaving.
"She'll be okay, you two." Bruce reassured softly, seeing how full of worry their faces were.
"I hope so. Cause if she doesn't they'll be hell to pay." Natasha replied, crossing her arms.
"What she said." Steve nodded to Natasha. "I'll keep an eye on her. Go check on Tony." He told Bruce, who nodded, then checked Ashley's vital's before he left to see to Tony. Natasha hesitated for a couple of seconds, before placing a kiss on Ashley's forehead and then going over to rub Steve's shoulder.
"She'll be okay." She told him softly, before she too left the room. After she left, Steve sighed heavily and took Ashley's hand in his. He knelt down next to the bed and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, caressing her head with his other hand.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I should have been and I'm sorry. Please make it, Ashley." He whispered to her, lifting her hand to kiss the back of it. Even though it seemed she would be okay, he still feared the worst was yet to come. And if she did make a recovery, nothing was going to prepare her of the news of who else they had lost. He wanted to be the one to tell her about Bucky and the others.
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A.N. Part of the journey is the end. And the end has begun.
-Emma x