Charlie's POV:
The crippling weight of what is left behind after the snap is almost too much to bear. We got news from Clint that Laura, Lila, Cooper, and Nate all disappeared, and have heard nothing more from Clint. He refuses to join what is left of us at the compound. Still no news from Tony, Peter, or Doctor Strange. They were all on the ship when it left the earth's atmosphere.
The first day after the snap Steve and I just laid in the bed holding one another. Neither one of us saying a word. We're both just shocked. We lost friends and more importantly family. My eyes are dry and cannot cry anymore. And there's just silence. Nat knocks on my old room's door. "You two should really try to eat something." My eyes open momentarily to look at her before closing again. My breathing hitches as I feel a panic build up in my chest.
Steve pulls me closer to his chest. "Breathe." He whispers while rubbing on my back. We lay like this for what feels like hours. "I know you don't want to, but we need to get up. We need a plan to see if we can locate Tony and the kid, maybe locate where Thanos went." He's right. If there is a glimmer of hope we need to find our other comrades, find Thanos, and use the stones to bring everyone back.
I give him the weakest smile I can muster and he pulls me up by my arm, leading us into the kitchen. Nat slides me some graham crackers with peanut butter. "I figured you wouldn't be able to eat much." We sit in silence, and I realize just how weak my body is. I've never allowed myself to recoup after the war.
Numbly I slowly eat a few graham crackers. My body threatens to give away my grief as my eyes begin to fill with tears again. Steve senses it. He pulls me onto his lap, embracing me tightly and rests his chin on my head. "I'm sorry." I whisper out, my voice cracking.
"Princess, we're all sorry. We all failed. We have to find a way to fix this." He picks me up and takes us back to our room. He lays me on the bed and starts to walk into the bathroom.
"Steve?" He turns to look at me, sadness and grief written all over his face. His body doesn't show his true age, but in this moment his age and loss are written in his eyes. "Kiss me. Make me feel something real."
He slowly walks to me, gently placing his lips on mine and pulls away. I wrap my hands around his neck pulling him back to me and fiercely kiss him. At this moment all I can think about is how much I need Steve. I grab at the hem of his shirt, pulling it off of him, we both take turns eagerly taking each other's clothes off. When we're both naked, we waste no time before Steve pushes me back on the bed and comes over the top of my body. He pushes my legs apart before thrusting into me.
We feverishly kiss one another. Grabbing one another's face, just wanting to feel anything but the pain we've been feeling. No words are spoken between us. We just feel one another's presence. I feel my body heat up from my stomach, pulling Steve's face closer to mine. He speeds up his thrusts and I feel myself succumb to my orgasm. Steve rolls us over, never leaving himself from me. Once on top I grind on him. His hands make their way to my hips as he roughly holds on guiding my hips. I bring my hands on his chest, tracing the outline of his pecs, and quicken my pace. I hear his breathing speed up, knowing he himself is close. A few more seconds of grinding on him and I can feel the heat of his cum as he fills me up. I slow down my pace, milking him, and allowing him to ride out his orgasm.
He sits up, looking at me. His blue eyes are a bit lighter, but still hold on to his pain and guilt. I sweetly kiss his lips before rolling off of him. He lays us down on the bed and covers us up with the blanket. And we drift off to sleep.
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Steve's POV:
I wake in the middle of the night to a peaceful Charlie sleeping. Too many nights we've woke up with nightmares. I know she feels the loss of losing everyone, but more deeply feels the loss of Bucky. I can't explain her feelings towards Bucky versus her own feelings towards me, but I know she truly loved him, maybe more so than me. I untangle myself from her arms and walk into the bathroom to shower. I let the heat of the water try and wash away my aching muscles. For weeks we've searched for Thanos, Tony, Peter, and Strange. It's a draining feeling. Once I dry and dress I look back into the room. She's still peacefully laying there. I'm thankful we both need one another. Sex for us isn't the dominate relationship we had, it's just to feel something, and it's actually helping her rest.
I look at myself in the mirror, stroking my beard that I know Charlie is fond of. I fear it may make her miss Bucky more. His undone appearance. I grab at some shaving cream and razor and begin to shave it off. The beard held a time of when we were on the run, trying to survive and not get caught. I glance in the mirror only to see Charlie wrapped in a blanket sauntering towards me.
"You shaved." She states.
"I felt like it was time." She nods her head and leans up against my back and wraps her arms around my waist. I rub on her hands; thankful I didn't lose her as well. She places a gentle kiss on my back, and then a rumbling through the compound begins. Vibrating the walls and fixtures. I grab at the mirror as it shakes. "Get dressed."
Charlie runs into the room, haphazardly throwing on some jeans and shirt, I myself pull on a black shirt, and we run outside. An air craft is being flown by a glowing entity from the outside. The remaining Avengers follow closely behind. I pull Charlie closer to me as we look up at what's coming onto the lawn of the compound.
We meet Pepper outside as she stares up at the craft, tears in her eyes. The closer it comes we see that the entity is a woman and she lands the aircraft to the ground with ease. The woman turns to look at us as the steps to the aircraft open and two figures walk down. One is Tony, Charlie and I rush over to him. I bring my arm to him to help him walk. He's weakened and lost too much weight. He's been missing more than twenty days since the snap.
He looks at me with shock in his eyes and back at the woman. "I couldn't stop him." He breathes out.
"Neither could I." I answer calmly.
"Hang on." Tony turns to fully look at me. His eyes show the pain we've all felt this past month. "I lost the kid." He whispers
"Tony, we lost." The grief washes over both of us as I think about all the people, we lost that he doesn't even know about.
"Is, uh?" He pauses and Pepper rushes up to Tony. "Oh, good."
"Oh, my God!" She cracks out and brings his body closer to hers, feeling him. "Oh, my God!" Pepper begins sobbing on Tony's shoulder, and I pull away to be with Charlie, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and kissing her temple. She stares blank faced at the couple.
Tony kisses Pepper's cheek, and finally notices Charlie. He reaches his hand out to her, which she briefly takes in her own and gives it a squeeze. "It's okay." Tony whispers to Pepper, but I know he's saying it to Charlie as well. Pepper walks Tony back into the compound and we all follow suit.
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Steve's POV:
When we walk back into the compound Rhodey pulls up the computer of our missing allies. "It's been twenty-three days since Thanos came to Earth." Bucky's image flashes on the screen and I turn towards Charlie. A tear escapes her eye and she quickly wipes it away and brings herself closer to me. I grab ahold of her and bring her close to my side. I hear her trying to steady out her breathing as she looks at the other disappeared people. When Sam's image comes on the screen, she takes a deep breath and squeezes my hand.
"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." Nat explains.
I look over at Tony. He's weakly sitting in a wheelchair with IVs hooked up to him. His bones protruding out on his frail body. He's trying to take all the information in of who all is missing and it's overwhelming to him. "Thanos wiped out...50% of all living creatures." Nat has been a rock for all of us.
Charlie looks over towards Thor. She told me that he feels everything is his fault. She wants to use her empathy to help him, but in her state of grief her powers aren't working. Thor numbly listens as everyone's image flashes on the screen. He rubs his hands together and looks down clenching his teeth together.
"Where is he now? Where?" Tony angrily speaks.
"We don't know." I respond. "He just opened a portal and walked through."
Tony sighs, looking at Thor. "What's wrong with him?"
"Oh, he's pissed." Thor looks at Rocket before his gaze is on Charlie. "He thinks he failed. Which of course he did, but you know there's a lot of that going around, ain't there?"
"Honestly, until this exact second I thought you were a Build-A-Bear." Tony hasn't lost his sarcastic humor.
"Maybe I am." The raccoon responds.
"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep space scans...and satellites, and we got nothing." I say looking at Tony. "Tony, you fought him..."
"Who told you that?" He angrily asks. "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, 'cause he's not beatable."
"Okay. Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?" I'm trying to remain calm, but I see the agitation growing on Tony's gaunt face.
"Uh..." Tony sarcastically sputters and salutes me. Nat looks at him with an exasperated look. We are all trying to remain patient with him. He hasn't rested and clearly hasn't eaten properly. "I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming."
I stand up from the table I was leaning on, I drop my hand from Charlie's and walk closer to him. "Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus."
"And I needed you." He spits at me. "As in, past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late, buddy. Sorry...You know what I need? I need a shave." Tony's hand knocks a bowl over on the table as he stands. "And I believe I remember telling all youse..." He reaches to his arm pulling out his IVs.
"Tony, Tony." I try to plead with him.
"...alive and otherwise, that what we needed was a suit of armor around the world." His voice is raising. I glance back at Charlie, hoping she can find it in her to make Tony calm down and rest. I see her steady her eyes at him, she's going to try. "Remember that? Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not. That's what we needed."
"Well, that didn't work out, did it?" I tell him, still trying to hold my voice steady and calm.
"I said we'd lose. You said, 'We'll do that together, too.' And guess what, Cap? We lost. And you weren't there. But that's what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We're the 'Avengers.' We're the 'Avengers,' not the 'Pre-vengers.'" Rhodey walks over to him, placing his hands on Tony's arms, "Okay." He tells Tony, he's definitely made his point.
"Right?" He scoffs at me.
"You made your point. Just sit down, okay?" Rhodey tells him.
"Okay. No, no, here's my point. You know what? She's great by the way." Tony points over to Carol Danvers, the woman responsible for bringing him home.
"Tony, you're sick. Sit down. Charlie, some help here." Rhodey tells them. Charlie focuses harder on Tony, wiggling her fingers.
"We need you. You're new blood." Carol looks over to Tony. "Bunch of tired old mules. I got nothing for you, Cap." Tony stalks over to me. Charlie steps closer to me. She's determined to get her powers to work. "I got no coordinates...no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust, liar." He pulls off his Arc Reactor, placing it in my hand. "Here, take this."
Charlie reaches up to grab Tony's arm. "Rest! Sleep! Calm!" I hear her shouts to Tony in my own mind. He looks at her before stumbling back. His body is reacting to her words. "You find him, you put that on...you hide." He focuses back on me. His eyes glance at Charlie. "What did you do?" Between the missing arc reactor and Charlie's words, Tony collapses to his knees.
"Tony!" I reach down to steady Tony.
"I'm fine. Let me..." "Catch him." Charlie casts to me. I bring my arm over right before Tony passes out.
Rhodey helps me carry him to a bed and Bruce connects his IVs back up to him. Charlie walks over to Tony, placing her hands over his head. "Serene dreams." She casts in his mind and Bruce injects something into his IV before Charlie walks over to me. "Thank you, princess. We need you to be on. We can do this."
"I know." She takes my hand and squeezes it.
"Bruce gave him a sedative. He's gonna probably be out for the rest of the day." Rhodey explains.
"You guys take care of him..." Carol tells us. "And I'll bring him a Xorrian elixir when I come back."
"Where are you going?" I ask as she heads out of the room.
"To kill Thanos." Carol never turns to look back at us as she answers, continuing her stride.
Nat looks at me and Charlie before calling back to Carol. "Hey! You know, we usually work as a team here...and, uh, between you and I, morale's a little fragile." Carol finally turns to look at Nat.
"We realize up there is more your territory, but this is our fight, too." I also respond.
"You even know where he is?" Rhodey asks.
"I know people who might." She shrugs.
Nebula walks over to us. "Don't bother. I can tell you where Thanos is."
I look at Nebula confused. "Charlie, read her." She wiggles her fingers before answering me, "She's one of Thanos's daughters." Now that there's a chance of killing Thanos, Charlie's grown more confident in her powers. She's not as broken as she was.
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Charlie's POV:
"Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me." Nebula begins telling her story of her life with Thanos, her "adoptive" father. He's a monster for the experiments and altercations he put Nebula through. "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? And his answer was always the same. 'To the Garden.'"
Rhodey raises his eyebrows, "That's cute. Thanos has a retirement plan."
"So, where is he?" Steve stalks closer to Nebula.
Rocket makes a hologram appear of earth. "When Thanos snapped his fingers...Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions. No one's ever seen anything like it. Until two days ago...on this planet."
"Thanos is there." Nebula studies the hologram planet.
Nat gets closer, "He used the stones again." Steve paces around. I put my hand out to him, and he takes it in his.
"Hey, hey, hey." Bruce chuckles. "We'd be going in shorthanded; you know?" He looks around the room at each of us.
"Look, he's still got the stones, so..." Rhodey responds, knowing we need to do this, but with Thanos and the stones, and our diminished numbers, it's not looking good.
"So, let's get 'em." Carol says expressionless. "Use them to bring everyone back."
"Just like that?" Bruce asks. His mind is more practical, thinking of all the outcomes, including the bad ones.
"Yeah." Steve and I both say. He looks at me. "Just like that." Steve responds looking at everyone else.
Carol nods her head at us. "Even if there's a small chance that we can undo this...I mean, we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try." Nat's body language is hopeful. She would do anything to get our family back.
"If we do this, how do we know it's gonna end any differently than it did before?" Bruce asks.
"Because before you didn't have me." Carol arrogantly states looking at him.
"Hey, new girl? Everybody in this room is about that superhero life. And if you don't mind my asking, where the hell have you been all this time?" Rhodey's anger rises in his voice.
"There are a lot of other planets in the universe. And unfortunately, they didn't have you guys."
Rhodey looks over to Steve, he raises his brows at Rhodey with a smirk.
I look over to Thor. He's been quietly eating, but I can read his mind; he's determined that this will in fact work. He stalks over to Carol, towering over her, trying to intimidate her. He reaches his arm out to call Storm Breaker. The ax rushes into Thor's hand, the wind from it causing Carol's hair to blow around her face. She doesn't flinch or back down from Thor's gaze. He nods his head at her, "I like this one." He looks over to me. "We can do this lady Charlie."
Carol smiles at him. Steve gives my hand a squeeze before looking back at the hologram planet, "Let's go get this son of a bitch." He coolly responds before looking amongst the other teammates.
We all separate to suit up and ready ourselves. "We'll get them all back." Steve says pulling my body to stand in front of his. He rubs my arms before pulling me into his chest. "I'll get him back for you." "You want him back, too, Steve." He kisses my temple and leads us out onto the lawn to the Benetar Milano.
We load on the ship. My seat is slightly behind Steve's, while Thor sits to my right side. Carol and Rocket are the one's piloting the ship. "Lady Charlie, are you ready to go into space?"
"No, but ready to kill this bastard, Thor." He smiles at me before looking straight ahead, expressionless.
"Okay. Who here hasn't been to space?" Rocket asks looking back at us. Everyone but Thor and Carol raise their hands.
"Why?" Rhodey whispers.
"You better not throw up on my ship."
"Approaching jump in three...two, one." I grab ahold on the armrest of my seat. The ship speeds up throwing all our heads back into the seats. I stare out in front of me wide eyed, as the flashing lights pass by us. We speed through the jump and come out on the other end before the ship slows down.
"You okay Captain?"
"Yes, princess. And you?"
"I think I lost my stomach back there." He huffs out a laugh.
Thor slaps my hand. "Not so bad, huh, Charlie?" I look over at him cocking an eyebrow in his direction.
"I'll head down for recon." Carol says over coms before flying down to the planet.
I stand looking out the window, Steve pats on my holsters, making sure that I'm fully armed before pulling out a compass and looking down at it. A sadness flashes in his eyes and I look at the compass. Peggy. I take my gaze off of the compass. I was right, he's looking for a ghost, and I'm taking her place. I know that we both love each other, but everything makes sense. This confirms my thoughts. Clear your mind, Charlie. I cast in my own mind.
Nat looks over Steve's shoulder seeing what he's staring at then at me. She gives me a weak smile. "This is gonna work, Steve." She finally breaks the silence.
"I know it will. 'Cause I don't know what I'm gonna do if it doesn't." He turns his gaze to me, and places a kiss on my forehead.
Carol returns, "No satellites. No ships. No armies. No ground defenses of any kind. It's just him."
"And that's enough." Nebula responds.
We land on the planet. If we weren't here to right Thanos's wrong this would be an ideal place. A place I dreamed of taking my vacation with Bucky. Bucky. The planet is green, serene, and untouched. But we have a mission. We walk with Carol as the lead, since she was able to scout the area. She knows exactly where Thanos is.
Once we see his cabin, she takes off flying through the air, crashing in the roof. Bruce in the Hulkbuster suit and Rhodey come up from underneath the cabin, grabbing ahold of his arms, Carol on his back, arms wrapped around his neck. Thor flies through with Storm Breaker before cutting Thanos's arm that has a singed gauntlet on it. He lets out a rumbling scream. Steve leads me and Nat up the stairs and through the door. He glares at Thanos.
Rocket walks over to the gauntlet and flips it over, revealing the lack of stones. "Oh, no." He whispers looking up at Steve. We walk over to the gauntlet and seeing it is in fact empty.
Steve catches my eye, pity seeping out on his face. He turns to look at Thanos. "Where are they?"
Thanos just groans. Carol tightens her grip around his neck, "Answer the question."
Thor's eyes go wide and desperate as his breathing quickens. His chest heaves up as he realizes we might not get the ending we were hoping, "Thor, slow your breathing." I cast in his mind. His breathing steadies a bit more.
"The universe required correction. After that, the stones served no purpose...beyond temptation." Thanos chokes out.
"You murdered trillions!" Bruce screams using his suit to push Thanos's body back further in the cabin.
"You should be grateful." He growls at us. Bruce punches at his face.
Nat's eyes get glassy as she steadies her breathing, "Where are the stones?"
"Gone. Reduced to atoms."
"You used them two days ago!" Bruce shouts at him.
"I used the stones to destroy the stones. It nearly killed me." Steve's body stiffens up. We've failed. "But the work is done. It always will be." Thanos is proud of what he's done. "I am inevitable."
I sense Thor's crippling anger growing in him, and look towards him. He clenches his jaw and stares bitterly towards Thanos.
"We have to tear this place apart. He has to be lying!" Rhodey says helplessly.
I focus my mind on Thanos's thoughts. "I'm not lying, little witch." He responds to me when I get the answer I was searching.
"He's not." I weakly tell Rhodey.
"She's right. My father is many things. A liar is not one of them." Nebula walks closer to Thanos, ashamed she ever wanted to please the monster.
"Ah. Thank you, daughter. Perhaps I treated you too harshly." He softens his look towards her.
A flash of Thor's mind casts in my vision, "Thor, no!" He swings Storm Breaker at his neck, decapitating Thanos, his lifeless body falls to the ground and his head rolls close to Nebula. She wipes the purple blood that splattered on her face, relieved she's officially out from under his influence. He's gone.
"What?" Bruce croaks out. Thor straightens his body, his eyes only on Thanos's corpse.
Rocket looks at him, "What did you do?"
"I went for the head." Thor's voice cracks, and he further realizes we failed. In his mind only he failed. We're mortal and he is a mighty god. He feels worthless and shame.
"Thor, look at me. Let me absorb your guilt, please." He backs away from the corpse, turning his body. His eyes never meet mine. "Thor! Let me help. Thor!"
Nat gives into the tears that have been threatening to fall out. Steve wraps both arms around me, pulling me close to his chest. I bury my head in his chest. Bucky's gone. I'll never get him back. Steve will never get him back. We're one in the same, both searching for a ghost of the past. "I'm sorry," he whispers to me. "Me too."
Steve pulls me away and leads everyone back to the ship. We silently fly back to earth. Everyone almost goes a separate way. Thor flies off without another word. Bruce says he needs to go find himself and research. He hugs Nat and briefly kisses her. Rocket and Nebula stay on the ship. Rhodey quietly walks into the compound before us, retreating to his room. Nat, Steve, and myself walk into the compound. We fall asleep on the couch together. I don't want Nat to be alone. We're all broken now.