Twenty Three Days after the Snap
Two pink lines stared up at her. She didn't know why she felt compelled to take a test. (A/N: Yep. I'm interrupting your reading. If you do not like kids, keep your comments to yourself. I'm tired of moderating this particular chapter. I've had to delete many comments and break up fights. This is suppose to be a positive, welcoming area. You never know what someone is going through while reading this story. They could struggle with infertility, miscarriages, etc. Frankly, I don't want to read some of disgusting comments either. It's immature. We were all kids at once. If you don't like pregnancy stories, there are plenty of other ones to read. Thank you.)
She figured the nausea and raging hormones were an effect of everything they went through almost a month ago. She couldn't have been too far along. She put the test on the counter and looked in the mirror. She was pregnant. Her husband was gone and she was going to be left raising their child alone. She had never been more scared in her life.
There was a rumbling outside. She could feel in the bathroom. She quickly shoved the test in a drawer and went outside to investigate what was causing the sound. She could see Natasha, Steve and Bruce outside and she walked over to see what they were gaping at. She looked up to see a blonde woman, carrying a ship.
The ship landed and the door opened. Catherine couldn't believe her eyes. Tony. He was alive. He looked terrible, but he was alive. Steve and her ran up to help him down.
"I couldn't stop him." Tony managed.
"Neither could we." Steve admitted.
"I lost the kid." Tony said brokenly referring to Peter Parked. "Is Pepper?"
Pepper ran up to Tony and wrapped her arms around him sobbing.
"Catherine." Tony manages.
"I-I...I'm sorry." Was all she could say.
The last time she saw Tony, the two of them had got into a fight over her marrying Bucky. They group went outside and helped Tony into a wheelchair and Bruce started an IV. They all sat in the living room looking at a hologram with everyone who had disappeared. When her eyes landed on Bucky's picture, she felt overwhelmed. She missed him so much. It had been a little easier, but not much.
"It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth." Rhodey told Tony.
"World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census. And it looks like he did... he did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent, of all living creatures." Natasha explained.
"Where is he now? Where?" Tony asked.
"We don't know." Catherine told him.
"What's wrong with him?" Tony asked looking over at Thor.
"Oh, he's pissed. He thinks he failed. Which of course he did, but you know there's a lot of that's going around, ain't there?" Rocket said.
"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep Space scans, and satellites, and we got nothing. Tony, you fought him." Steve explained.
"Who told you that? I didn't fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street Magician gave away the store. That's what happened. There was no fight. He's unbeatable." Tony told Steve.
"Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?" Steve asked.
Tony scoffed. "I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming."
"Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus." Steve said.
"And I needed you. As in past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late buddy. Sorry. You know what I need? I need to shave. And I believe I remember telling all you-" Tony said lunging at Steve, but Rhodey stopped him.
"Tony..." Catherine trailed off.
"No. No. You don't get to say anything. My own sister turned against me. For what? A killer?" Tony sneered at her.
Catherine's eyes dropped to the ground. She knew he was still mad. She was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt that he had been trapped in space for a month. She sat quietly as she listened to Steve and Tony argue to the point where Tony collapsed.
She watched as Tony laid in a bed, unconscious. So many things were running through her head right now. Tony. Bucky. Their baby.
"Where are you going?" Natasha asked Carol.
"To kill Thanos." Carol answered.
"Hey, you know, we usually work as a team here, and between you and I, morale's a little fragile." Natasha told her.
"We realize up there is more your territory, but this is our fight too." Steve said.
"You even know where he is?" Rhodey asked.
"I know people who might." Carol said.
"Don't bother. I can tell you where Thanos is. Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me. And when he worked, he talked about his great plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. I'd ask "where would we go once his plan was complete?". His answer was always the same: "To the Garden."" Nebula explained.
They watched as a hologram of space was shown in the room. Rocket explained that there had been a power surge unlike anything they had ever seen before. The group discussed what their next step was going to be. There were going to space. Catherine has never been to space before and she had to admit she was nervous. But if this would bring Bucky back, she would go.
Catherine tightened the straps on her seat and let out a shaky breath. She didn't know if the nausea was from the ship or pregnancy. She closed her eyes and breathed as the ship lurched forward in an effort to keep her dinner down. She looked out the window to see a planet coming into view. Carol has gone down to make sure that everything was safe for them to enter. Once they were given an okay, they landed.
Catherine walked onto the beautiful planet with shaky legs. A hut came into a view and the group surrounded it. Once Steve gave the okay, Carol flew in first knocking Thanos down and grabbed his neck. Bruce walked in next, grabbed Thanos' arm with the gauntlet on it and Thor cut it off. The rest of the team entered and Rocket flipped the gauntlet over to see it was empty.
"No." Catherine managed to say.
"Where are they?" Steve asked.
Carol tightened her grip on his neck. "Answer the question."
"The universe required correction. After that, the stones served no purpose, beyond temptation." Thanos told them.
"You murdered trillions!" Bruce yelled pushing Thanos down.
"You should be grateful." Thanos said.
"Where are the Stones?" Natasha asked.
"Gone. Reduced to atoms."
"You used them two days ago!" Bruce yelled.
"I used the stones to destroy the stones. It nearly killed me. But the work is done. It always will be. I am inevitable."
"We have to tear this place apart, he-he-he has to be lying." Rhodey stuttered.
Catherine reached out to grab something. The room felt like she was spinning. The stones were gone. Any of hope of getting Bucky back was gone. She reached her hand to touch her stomach. She could see Steve glancing at her to make sure she was okay.
"My father is many things. A liar is not one of them." Nebula admitted.
"Ah, thank you, daughter." Thanos told her.
Catherine looked over at Thor who looked pissed. He raised his hand and the Stormbreaker appeared. Suddenly, he raised his weapon and sliced Thanos' head off. She let out a gasp and ran outside to throw up. She gasped for air and kept her eyes on the ground.
"Catherine, are you okay?" Steve asked.
"N-Not really." She admitted standing straight again. "We're never going to get them back. He's gone Steve. I can't do this alone."
Steve took a step closer to her. "Do what alone?"
"I'm pregnant Steve."
Steve opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He just stared at her.
"Why would you risk coming here? You could have got hurt." Steve said.
Catherine felt tears burning behind her eyes. "I-I wanted to be here to see him come back. I was going to run to him and tell him about the baby. That doesn't matter anymore though because the stones are gone."
Steve wrapped his arms around her and she began to sob into his chest. Her whole world was crashing around her and she didn't know what she was going to do.
****
Catherine wanted to go to sleep. She didn't know if she was just emotionally drained from the last morning and day or if it was the pregnancy or if it was a combination of everything that had happened. She just wanted to be alone. Bucky was really gone. Her child would grow up without a father. She would have to raise a child on her own. Many parents had done it, but not every parent was a former assassin turned agent turned Avenger. She tried to imagine Bucky's excitement when she told him she was pregnant. She hoped he would have been excited at least.
She wanted to go to sleep, but then she walked past the room Tony was being kept in. It was empty with the exception of his frail body. And then it donned on her that he didn't know she had married Bucky and that he didn't know he would be an Uncle one day. None of that mattered though. She just wanted to be near her brother she assumed had been dead. She walked into the room quietly, not wanting to disturb him and she sat down on the chair that was next to the bed.
"Based on that face, I would assume your little confrontation with Thanos didn't go well." Tony said.
Catherine looked over at him. Like her, he was using humor and sarcasm to hide his anguish. He wanted the plan to work just as much as everyone else did. "No, it uh, didn't."
"What happened?" Tony asked as he sat himself up.
"Thanos destroyed all the stones and almost killed himself in the process. Then Thor actually killed him. That's about it." She explained. She blinked away tears. "E-Everyone's gone. Bucky's gone. They aren't coming back. How am I..."
Tony narrowed his eyes slightly. He very rarely saw his sister so emotional. His eyes landed on her hand and then he saw the rings. He hadn't seen them when he first returned to Earth, but now he understood. She had married Bucky. He reached with his thin hand and gently squeezed her's. "I'm so sorry, Catherine."
"I'm pregnant, Tony." She spat out. She didn't mean to be so blunt with her statement, but she had to tell him.
Tony froze. Catherine had never once mentioned that she wanted a family. He didn't even know she wanted to get married until she told him she was engaged months ago. He fought to find words to comfort her, but he couldn't. There was nothing he could say that would make it any easier for her.
"I'm pregnant and alone and I'm terrified. What am I going to do, Tony?" She asked in between sobs.
"Hey," Tony whispered. "You're a Stark. You are strong and resilient and you are not alone. I'm here for you and so is Pepper. You aren't alone."