Warnings: None.
2023, Earth.
Destiny's POV:
We all sat outside (minus Nebula, Rhodey, Scott and Rocket) by the lake as we mourned Natasha, who hadn't survived the journey.
"Do we know if she had any family?" Stark asked.
"Yeah, us." Steve said.
"What?" Thor questioned, confused.
"I just asked him a question..." Stark explained.
"Yeah, you're acting like she's dead. Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, Cap, we can bring her back, isn't that right?" My brother ranted.
"Thor..." I said quietly.
"So stop this bullshit. We're the Avengers, get it together." Thor continued, ignoring me.
"We can't get her back." Clint said.
"Wha— What?" Thor questioned again.
"It can't be undone. It can't." Clint clarified.
"I'm sorry. No offense, but you're a very earthly being. Okay? We're talking about space magic. And "can't" seems very definitive don't you think?" Thor stated.
"Thor." I commented, speaking up a little more.
"Yeah, look, I know that I'm way outside my paygrade here. But she still isn't here, is she?" Clint asked.
"No, that's my point." Thor said.
"It can't– be undone. Or that's at least what the red floating guy had to say." Clint explained before turning around. "Maybe you wanna go talk to him, okay? GO GRAB YOUR HAMMER, AND YOU GO FLY AND TALK TO HIM!" He yelled.
Everyone stayed there, surprised by Clint's sudden outburst.
"It was supposed to be me." Clint explained, sitting down again. "She sacrificed her life for that goddamn stone. She bet her life on it."
Bruce, in a sudden burst of anger, grabbed a nearby bench and hurled it into the sky and towards the forest in the distance.
"She's not coming back. We have to make it worth it. We have to." He said.
"We will." Steve reassured him before we all went inside again.
***
"Boom!" Rocket shouted, making several people in the room jump.
Stark, Rocket and Bruce brought the new nano gauntlet towards the rest of us.
"All right. The glove's ready. Question is, who's gonna snap their fricking fingers?" Rocket asked.
"I'll do it." Thor volunteered.
"Excuse me?" Scott questioned.
"Wait, what?!" I questioned at the same time.
"No, no, no, whoa. Stop. Stop. Wait a sec. Hey, hey..." Everyone said in unison.
Thor reaches for the gauntlet anyway, but I grabbed his wrist and stopped him.
"Wait, wait, Thor, just wait. We haven't decided who's gonna put that on yet." I said.
"She's right." Steve remarked, nodding in agreement.
"I'm sorry. What, we're just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?" Thor asked.
"We should at least discuss it." Scott remarked.
"No, no, sitting here staring at that thing is not gonna bring everybody back. I'm the strongest Avenger, okay? So this responsibility falls upon me. It's my duty." Thor argued.
"I actually think I am the strongest Avenger." I countered.
"It's not even about that." Stark interjected.
"It's not that– Stop it! Just let me! Just let me do it. Just let me do something good. Something right." Thor pleaded, tearing up.
I continued to hold my brother's wrist.
"Look– It's not just the fact that that glove is channeling enough energy to light up a continent, I'm telling you, you're in no condition." Stark explained.
"What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?" Thor asked, ripping his wrist from my grasp.
"Cheez Whiz?" Rhodey sarcastically remarked.
"Lightning." Thor corrected.
"And probably alcohol." I muttered.
"Lightning won't help you, pal. It's gotta be me." Bruce interjected. "You saw what those stones did to Thanos. It almost killed him. None of you could survive."
"How do we know you will?" Steve asked.
"We don't. But the radiation's mostly gamma. It's like... I was made for this." Bruce said.
We all glanced around at each other before nodding in agreement. Bruce approached the glove as he got ready to put it on.
"Good to go, yeah?" Stark asked.
"Let's do it." Bruce said.
"You remember, everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago and just bringing them back to now, today. Don't change anything from the last five years." Stark explained.
"Got it." Bruce stated.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y, do me a favor and activate Barn Door Protocol. Will you?" Stark ordered after putting on his Iron Man suit.
"Yes, Boss." The A.I responded.
The compound went into lockdown mode as everyone stood back.
"Everyone comes home." Bruce declared before he grabbed the gauntlet.
The gauntlet expanded to fit his hand as he put it, a huge surge of power going through his arm as he began to grunt in pain. Due to my powers as Goddess of Life, I began to feel some of that pain inside me. I held it together, like I always have though.
"Take it off! Take it off!" I shouted, having trouble seeing my friend in such pain.
"No, wait! Bruce, are you okay?" Steve asked.
"Talk to me, Banner!" Stark exclaimed.
"I'm okay! I'm okay!" Bruce yelled out.
He continued to scream as he fought the pain coming from the gauntlet and raised his hand, giving himself enough strength to snap his fingers. As soon as he did that, he fainted, the burnt up gauntlet falling off his hand. Clint was quick to kick said gauntlet away.
"Bruce!" Steve called out.
"Don't move him." Stark said.
I crouched down next to Bruce and reached my hand towards his arm in an attempt to heal the damage, but the arm was way too hot for me to press my hand down as I backed my hand away.
"Did it work?" Bruce questioned as he woke up slightly.
"Worth a shot. It's over. It's okay." Thor said.
I let out a happy and relieved sigh, not just because Bruce hadn't died, but because we had done it.
"Guys, I think it worked!" Scott exclaimed as he looked outside the window.
We were all smiling, happy that we had managed to reverse what Thanos had done five years ago. That was, until we suddenly began getting shot at by an array of missiles. The entire building collapsed and we all began to fall into the underground. I hit the ground hard, hitting my head on a piece of debris and a rock before falling onto the ground completely unconscious.
A/N: So... I couldn't really think of much to say this chapter so I hope you enjoyed it and I'll see y'all in the next one. Bye!
A/N 03/21/2023: Funny how I forgot to make a remark about how Destiny basically feels other people's pain. She's gotten better at controlling it since she became queen but it's understandable that this gauntlet would hurt like hell.