Charlie's POV:
Tony, Rocket, and Bruce use their brilliant minds to create a gauntlet to house the Infinity Stones. The atmosphere in the compound is tense and thick. No one says much to one another. Just wait around, thinking. Wondering what could be next.
Steve walks over to me, "How are you feeling princess?" I just glance up at him. I'm prepared for what can happen, for Nat, but to say that I'm exhausted would be an understatement. "We're bringing them back. We're bringing him back." There he goes with wanting to bring up Bucky. I'm beyond thrilled at the prospect of having Bucky back in my life, and hopefully not with so much time and space in between us. But Steve seems very pushy towards it.
I nod at him. "I know...that's our goal."
"We can do it. Everything will be okay." His bright blue eyes that have the bit of green around his pupils look at me with the utmost sincerity and I melt. When I came to the compound all those years ago, I was arrogant, thinking I knew everything. I wanted to make a difference, so Clint could retire. I was beyond infatuated with Steve. He was my crush. I fell in love with him, and then our love turned to an understanding, and now I feel our love is that we are best friends. I would follow him anywhere, and I would do anything for him, but I am not in love with him. For years I knew that I didn't see a long life with Steve, not the way we've forced it. The time is coming to let him go, and I just don't know if I can.
"I love you, no matter what, Steve. Even if..." my voice cracks as I try to speak my feelings.
"I love you too, even if, we're just friends?" He finishes. I nod my head, and he scoops me up into his arms. We inaudibly agree, that this is it.
I look at my left hand, and begin taking the ring off my finger. Steve shakes his head with tears in his eyes. "Steve, this doesn't belong to me. Not anymore."
"We don't know if we're going to be successful. Keep it." Tears form in his eyes as he looks away and whispers, "Please."
"This is the last thing holding us in a relationship we forced to work. I don't regret any of my time with you Steve." I place my hand on his cheek. "You're my best friend. I couldn't have made it to this point, without you by my side." He slowly brings his lips to mine, and we press together. It's not sexual, but it lingers. I take my ring of, placing it in his hands and closing his fingers.
"I'm sorry." We both whisper together. "You deserve better." I tell him.
"And you do, too. No more lying to each other or ourselves. And I will fight like hell to continue to keep you safe, princess...should I still be calling you that?" He sighs a laugh.
"I think it's okay, as long as we know that inflection behind it." I look over in the corner, seeing Thor watching us. He nods at me, "I'm sorry lady Charlie. I shouldn't have been listening."
"It's okay, Thor. Everything is going to be okay." He gives me a weak smile and turns and walks away, heading to our genius trio.
Steve and I both look over to them. They've completed their task. Rocket stands over the gauntlet. "Alright, the glove's ready. Question is, who's gonna snap their freakin' fingers?"
Thor speaks up, "I'll do it."
"Excuse me?" Tony asks, he knows that Thor really isn't stable enough for the task.
"It's okay." He assures everyone coming over to where Steve, Clint and myself are. Steve gives him a pained expression not sure how to break it to the big guy that he shouldn't be the one to snap.
Tony rushes over to him before he reaches the glove, "Stop, stop. Slow down."
Steve puts his hand up to Thor's chest as well. "Thor. Just wait. We haven't decided who's gonna put that on yet." He speaks to him in such a calm and gentle way. The same way he talks to Maggie if she's misbehaving.
"I'm sorry. What, we're all just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?" He asks Steve, and glancing at me, hoping I'll side with him. I can't.
"We should at least discuss it." Scott says.
"Look, sitting here staring at the thing is not gonna bring everybody back. I'm the strongest Avenger, okay? So, this responsibility falls upon me. It's my duty." He only looks between me and Steve.
"Normally, you're right." Tony responds, his voice has softened with him as well. "It's not about that."
"It's not that." Thor shushes, hoping everyone will hush and listen, "Stop it! Just let me."
"Hey, buddy..." Tony stands directly in front of Thor, quietly wanting him to see that he doesn't have to feel the need to do this.
"Just let me do it. Just let me do something good. Something right."
"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." Tony still tries to calm Thor's fears.
"What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?" Thor asks.
"Cheez Wiz?" Rhodey tries to lighten the mood.
The only thing this does is make Thor realize how far he's fallen. "Lightning." He says confidently. Tony agrees. "Lightning."
"Thor you have nothing to prove to anyone. No one does. We have to choose the person best suited for this." I look up at him. "Breathe." His eyes find mine, as he inhales deeply, nodding his head.
"Lightning won't help you, pal." Bruce finally speaks. He's been awfully quiet, contemplating the best person for this job. "It's gotta be me." Thor pulls back from Tony, shaking his head, admitting defeat. "You saw what those stones did to Thanos. They almost killed him. None of you could survive."
"How do we know you will?" Steve asks.
"We don't." Bruce has made his way over to the glove, looking at it. Collecting these stones caused us to lose Nat. We have to make the right decision. She sacrificed her life for our success. "But the radiation's mostly gamma. It's like...uh...I was made for this."
Bruce picks up the glove in his hand. It looks too small, but I know since it's made from Tony's nano tech it will stretch to accommodate his size. "Good to go, yeah?" Tony asks walking around Bruce trying to read his face.
"Let's do it." Bruce says softly and hopeful.
"Okay, remember, everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago...you're just bringing them back to now, today. Don't change anything from the last five years." Tony reminds him.
"Got it." He whispers.
We all gear up, just in case. I tap my ear piece releasing my glasses, Steve stands in front of me, placing the shield in front, covering us both. Scott and Rhodey suit up, masks over their faces. Thor places a protective hand over Rocket, while Tony taps his Arc Reactor as his suit forms around his body, he creates a shield to cover him and Clint. Clint readies his bow, looking over at me and nodding, I return the expression.
Bruce looks around the room, making sure we're all present and ready. "F.R.I.D.A.Y. do me a favor and activate Barn Door Protocol, will ya?" Tony instructs F.R.I.D.A.Y. she responds with a "Yes, boss."
The lab closes up. We're taking no chances, just in case. We're not sure what will happen. Once the compound is fully locked up Bruce brings the glove to his hand, which stretches and contorts to form perfectly to his hand, "Everybody comes home." He says sure of himself. Once it's fully formed on him the stones light up, the power flows through his veins and Bruce let's out an awful groan. I grab ahold of Steve's arm, bracing myself.
The power from the gauntlet increases, almost emitting rainbow lightning through Bruce's body and outside of the glove. Bruce screams in pain, which scares Thor, "Take it off! Take it off!"
"No Thor! He can do this."
"No, wait. Bruce, are you okay?" Steve asks, extending his hand over to Thor to silence his objections.
"Talk to me, Banner." Tony says.
"Bruce, center yourself. You've got this."
"I'm okay." He responds. "I'm okay." Relief washes over Thor's face as he gives us two thumbs up.
Bruce screams out, using his left hand to lift his gloved hand. Agony runs through his body. His two fingers forcefully connect and he snaps. The glove falls off his hand and he collapse, passing out. Steve and I rush to his side, "Bruce!"
Clint kicks the glove aside and comes over to me, checking Bruce over. Tony rushes to Bruce and demands, "Don't move him." He releases a spray on Bruce's arm, cooling down the arm.
Bruce groans and grabs Steve's arm, bracing himself. "Did it work?" He asks.
"We're not sure. It's okay." Thor reassures him.
The lockdown on the compound opens up. I look out the window, before grabbing ahold of Steve's shoulder and standing up. Scott follows past me out to the windows, looking out. Birds fly around whistling. I hear a phone vibrate, when I look at the phone, I know who's it is. Laura flashes on the screen. "Clint." I whisper before I say louder, "Clint. It's..." he barely moves towards me, almost like this is a cruel joke.
He looks at the phone seeing it is in fact Laura and answers, with his mouth trembling. "Honey." His voice cracks.
"Clint?" My eyes go wide and he wraps his arms around me, pulling me as tight as he can. "Honey."
I look towards Steve, smiling. "He did it princess."
Before anyone can further react, a shadow falls over the room, and then an explosion. Clint tries to let loose of my body, but I hold him tighter, trying to activate whatever hovering I can as we fall through the abyss of the exploding compound. "Hold on tight, papa bear." I scream. Realizing what I'm doing he holds on as I scream, finding anything to vibrate off of so I can hover us. I finally feel the ground getting closer and we land, not as soft as I would like, but it wasn't painful.
As we're trying to get our bearings about us, as we look around. "Clint, we've got to get out of here." I tell him. He shines a light around, and up through what was once the compound. "Steve?!"
"Charlie, looks like it's just you and me kiddo. Let's find a way out of here."
We walk around, and Clint finds the glove. "We'll need that." He clears the area around the glove, before something catches his eyes. He stands and pulls out an arrow. "Charlie, grab it." I grab up the glove and stand beside him, readying a pistol.
At the last second Clint spins, firing an arrow through a dark tunnel, it lights up the tunnel to reveal the demon space dogs, "Shit! Not them again." We both spin on our heels and run in the only other direction there is, hoping that we eventually make it out of blown-up compound. Both of us take turns, firing behind us, killing as many of the demons as we can.
Periodically I call through coms, "Steve? Tony? Anybody?"
"We must be down, since we're so far under. I figured Stark would have given you better tech than that."
"Yeah, well he didn't think of that."
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Steve's POV:
I panic looking around, "Charlie? Charlie?" I glance around trying to decipher where I'm at, "What happened?"
Tony comes by my side, "You mess with time, it tends to mess back. You'll see."
"Where is everyone? Where's Charlie?" I ask as he pulls me up.
"We've lost connection with them. They're somewhere under this rubble. I'm sorry, Cap. She'll be okay."
We walk out into an opening where Thor is standing, staring at someone. Thanos. He did this. "What's he been doing?" Tony asks.
"Absolutely nothing." Thor whispers.
"Where are the stones?" I ask, hoping he hasn't located them.
"Somewhere under all this." Tony responds, all of our eyes stay glued on Thanos. "All I know is he doesn't have 'em."
"So, we keep it that way." I say with the utmost authority I can raise.
"You know it's a trap, right?" Thor asks.
"Yeah. I don't much care." Tony responds.
"Good." Thor agrees. "Just as long as we're all in agreement." His eyes light up and a lightning crack is heard in the distance. Thor is letting his powers and his determination run wild. The lightning courses through his body, extending its way out of him, he raises both arms, calling Mjolnir and Storm Breaker. Thor's confidence is finally back, Charlie would be proud. The lightning crashes around his body as his clothes change into his suit and the weapons are brought into his hands. "Let's kill him properly this time."
We all head towards Thanos. "You could not live with your own failure. Where did that bring you? Back to me." He still sits there, watching us. "I thought by eliminating half of life...the other half would thrive. But you've shown me...that's impossible." We split up, circling around the Titan. "And as long as there are those that remember what was...there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be. They will resist."
"Yep, we're all kinds of stubborn." Tony shows off his ever-charming sarcastic wit.
"I'm thankful. Because now...I know what I must do. I will shred this universe...down to its last atom. And then...with the stones you've collected for me...create a new one...teeming with life...that knows not what it has lost...but only what it has been given." He grabs up his double-sided sword, readying himself for the battle.
Thor bring lightning to run through Storm Breaker and Mjolnir. "A grateful universe."
"Born out of blood." I scowl at him. He's a monster.
"They'll never know it. Because you won't be alive to tell them."
We've reached the point of not wanting to listen to his monologue. Thor lets out a battle cry, his eyes glow with the lightning. Tony is the first to reach Thanos, his suit created a sword that he jumps and swings at Thanos. We all take turns, throwing everything that we can at him. Vengeance is rampant in all of our faces. We want him dead.
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Charlie's POV:
Clint and I continue to race through the winding hallways. With everything destroyed we can't really tell what anything is anymore, we're just running from the demon dogs and trying to move up whenever possible. Clint prepares bomb arrows, stabbing them into pipes as we continue running, I turn back shooting at the monsters. Once the arrows explode, they propel us forward into another hallway.
We look at them, and most are still alive. Clint looks up and sees an opening, "Grab a hold of me." I instantly grab a hold of him as he shoots a harness up, and it retracts pulling us up higher, I use my gauntlets to fire a sound wave at the demons below us, making them pause momentarily, shortly after the continue their path to us. We reach the top and Clint jerks out his katana and before we land is able to cut the demon in half at the waist.
We ready our body in case of more oncoming demons. When we realize that there's not more coming, we fall back with a grunt. "Well, that was fun. And we still have no idea where we are." I pant.
A shadow looms over us and we both look up seeing Nebula. "Oh, hey. I know you." Clint says handing her the glove.
She grabs at the glove and speaks through her ear piece, "Father..." Both Clint and myself look up at her, realizing what she just said, "I have the stones."
"Wait." I say.
"What?" Clint asks.
She pulls a gun on us, and I pull up both my gauntlets, ready to immobilize her for a minute. Before we can do anything, a green woman comes through the doorway. "Stop." She points a gun at Nebula, who's holding a gun at Clint. I have one hand pointing at each female.
"You're betraying us?" Nebula asks her.
Another Nebula walks in another door. I'm too tired for this. The first Nebula takes the gun off of Clint and points it to the new Nebula. Clint rolls over and picks himself up, pulling my arm to follow. I follow his lead, still keeping my hands pointed at the women.
"Come on Charlie." Clint pulls me back into an alcove. "I think we have our Nebula and the past one, let's let it ride out for now."
"You don't have to do this." The present-day Nebula tells her.
"I am this." Past Nebula responds.
"No, you're not." Green woman answers.
"You've seen what we become." Present Nebula tells her.
"Nebula, listen to her."
"You can change." Present pleads with her. The green woman drops her aim off the past Nebula.
"He won't let me." Past Nebula points a gun at the green woman, aiming to kill before the present Nebula shoots her.
Clint and I walk out the alcove and he picks up the glove, hugging it to his chest. "We've gotta get this thing out of here, and to the right timeline." I tell them.
"Let's go." Nebula leads, "This is my sister Gamora. Before my father murdered her." Clint clenches his jaw, knowing now why Gamora was murdered, Nat faced the same fate. We follow the women out of rubble.
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Steve's POV:
"Okay, Thor. Hit me." Tony expands the back of his suit and Thor rains down lightning powering up the suit, Tony uses the extra power to hurl beams towards Thanos. Thanos is able to spin his double-sided sword to deflect most of the beams.
Thor throws up Mjolnir and hits it with Storm Breaker, launching it towards Thanos. Thanos grabs Tony up and holds his body up as a shield as the hammer hits Tony instead. The hit knocks Tony out, his suit radiates with lightning. I come up, flipping around and landing kicks on Thanos. He hits the shield hard with his sword sending me flying backwards.
Thanos slings his sword at Thor, which he's able to slide underneath it, advancing on Thanos. He slings Storm Breaker at his head continuously, determined not to make the same mistake twice. Thanos blocks every hit Thor throws at him. Thanos picks him up by the neck and slings him around like a ragdoll before throwing him into a tree. He comes back to Thor punching him in the face, before throwing him aside again.
Thor lands against a rock, and Thanos slams his foot on his chest, and punches him. Thor's hand goes up to call Storm Breaker, Thanos catches it first and begins pushing it into Thor's chest. Thor struggles to keep Thanos from completely pushing it into his chest.
I come to. Putting my hand up to call Mjolnir. I know years ago I was able to, this should be no different. I feel my hand glow with the power of Thor's lightning. It circulates through my body, once the hammer finds my hand, I use all the force I can evoke and heave it towards Thanos and calling it back. His attention is no longer on Thor but me, holding my shield and the hammer. I glower at him. This needs to end.
Thor gasps out a, "I knew it!" Thanos gives him a hard kick to the head. I spin the hammer around, running towards Thanos, hitting him under the chin as his body flies back. He gets back up and I throw the shield at him. As I get closer and am right on top of him, I use both the shield and hammer to hit as many blows as possible, trying to eliminate this behemoth once and for all.
I use the hammer to harness the power of the lightning and launch the lightning towards Thanos. I continue to hit him with lightning, calling down as much as my body can absorb. Ending with a jump on him, but he moves last minute. Picking my body up and slamming me to the ground. He's found his footing and anger as he storms towards me, using his sword anyway he can, even slicing my leg. He's able to get the hammer out of my hand. His sword comes down on the shield, and it cuts through. Shocking me. Blow after blow he hits at the shield as it falls apart a piece at a time. He knocks me down and when I try to get back up, he uses his sword to sling me away.
I lay on the ground, trying to catch my breath. Almost admitting defeat, "Steve! Get up, you're Steve Rogers, the strongest man I know. We will kill Thanos!"
"Charlie?"
"It's me Captain. Get up. We're almost there."
I struggle as I moan to get myself back up. My body has taken a beating, but Charlie is right, I'm Steve Rogers.
"In all my years of conquest...violence...slaughter...it was never personal. But I'll tell you now...what I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet...I'm gonna enjoy it...very, very much."
I look up and the Black Order enters onto our battlefield. An army to end all armies, and currently I'm the only one available, but I am Steve Rogers. Inhale and wince as I stand back up. My hands shake as I tighten my shield on my arm. I walk closer to Thanos, not backing down without a fight.
"Hey, Cap, you read me?" I pause at the sound of Sam's voice. "Cap, it's Sam. Can you hear me? On your left."
Tears in my eyes, I turn to my left and see a circle of fizzing lights. Out walks T'Challa, Shuri, and Okoye ready for battle. They're here, Bruce did it. I'm overcome with emotion, looking at my long-lost friends. A man I was able to fight side by side. A man who helped us out immensely, more than he may ever know. Sam flies through one of the portals, I smile seeing him fly out, when he comes back to the ground, I see Charlie immerging from the rubble smiling at me, and then to circle portals where everyone is coming out of. I watch her as she searches. I know she's looking for him.
The glowing circles continue to pop up, more and more people come through. People I've met and people I've only heard of. All ready to end this. T'Challa and the other Wakandans begin their chant, "Yibambe! Yibambe! Yibambe!" I glance back at Charlie. Her eyes light up as I see her running. She runs right up to Bucky. He engulfs her in a hug and they share a quick and fleeting kiss. She spins back around, advancing with him. Depending on how this goes, I know I'm making the right decision, even though it will hurt, it will hurt a lot of people.
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Charlie's POV:
Standing outside the rubble I watch as our army forms. Some I know, most I've only heard about through stories the past five years. I look over to my broken-down best friend, seeing everyone here is bringing light back to his eyes, but I can't help but scan the faces. I want to see his face. The place he was at was in Wakanda, so any of the portals that look like Wakanda I search. My eyes move at an alarming speed. And I don't have to hide it from Steve.
I hear a faint, "Doll?" in my head and smile, knowing he's here and can see me. My eyes find his and I run to his side. He picks my body up into a hug. All the anger and hurt I felt for the last five years, melt away by his touch. I look up at his perfect steel blue eyes and we slam our lips together hard, the kiss doesn't linger, we have more pressing matters.
"Oh, Bucky, I've missed you these past five years!"
"Five years?"
"Yes, but let's kill this son of bitch so we can go home."
"Sounds like a plan to me, doll."
We begin our march to Thanos' army. Determined that this will be the end for him. It has to be. More and more people continue to come through the portals. Our numbers are rapidly growing. Scott's giant body comes crashing through the remainder of the compound. His hand extends down as Bruce, Rhodey, and Rocket get off. We all made it out of the compound. At some point of running to the top to check on Steve I lost Clint. He has a more important job, of guarding the stones.
I see Thanos look around at the army we have created, fear peaks through his eyes. I look over to the Captain, he screams, "Avengers!" his hand flies up as he catches Mjolnir, I smile, Thor knew it, "Assemble!" Pure adrenaline streams through my veins as we all run forward, crashing weapons down on any enemy we see.
Even though Bucky can run much faster, being a super soldier, he stays right by my side. Without hesitation he throws my body up into the air, of course he isn't aware of my heightened abilities from the last five years. I shoot at all of the enemies that I can. Extending my stay for far longer than he anticipated because he looks up at me curiously. "Long five years huh?" He asks.
I land beside him with a smile, "You have no idea." Still looking at him I shoot at one of the Black Order.
"I can't wait to see what else your little body can do."
"Time and place, Bucky. Time and place." He lets out a quick chuckle.
Bucky throws me up again and I hover into the air, and Tony catches me, "So Hunger Games, not the best time, but I hear the wedding is off?" I laugh, another man who doesn't understand time and place. "Just wanted to let you know, I approve." My eyes look at him. "He's not Steve but he's a good guy." His helmet flicks down to Bucky, "I knew it all along, Hover Girl." he flies me higher in the air as I expand the wing suit shooting people from ahead before landing beside Bucky. His eyes are wide as he looks at me, but never says anything, he still doesn't know the extent of my powers, I'll keep it that way.
"It's mostly the suit you know."
"Yeah, I'm sure it's all the suit." He answers sarcastically. I bring up my gauntlets and release a sound wave immobilizing some of the enemies before we both kill all of them.
"See the suit." Bucky just grins and nods before throwing me into the air again. Instead of hovering I go a bit in front of Bucky and crash onto the earth, causing a rippling effect around me that knocks down the surrounding enemies. Bucky shoots all that are on the ground before I can.
"Just the suit." Bucky nods, sarcasm dripping through his smile. I spot Clint out of my eyes finally as he passes the gauntlet to T'Challa, and then I see Wanda. She's burning with rage as she on takes Thanos. He deserves whatever her body throws at him.
Thanos' ships began to shoot at the ground, Bucky wraps his arm tightly around me, pulling me into him and under one of the shields that the sorcerers conjured. "I've got you." He screams. One he realizes we're okay and safe we continue our assault on the enemy, keeping the sorcerers safe. And then it stops. We look up to the sky.
"It's Carol!"
"I don't know who that is." He deadpans.
"Captain Marvel. We've got to help them get those stones to the time machine."
"No, you've got to stay with me, so you don't get hurt. I'm not losing you again. They can handle it." The fear in Bucky's eyes leave me stationed where I'm at. A ripple goes through the ground as we look around, trying to figure out what is happening. Thanos destroyed our last time machine.
"Thanos has the stones!" I scream at Bucky.
"No! I won't lose you again." I walk over towards Thanos and Tony, they are in their own fight, trying to get the stones; Bucky reluctantly follows before holding me back. "Don't look." He pulls me into his chest, and I'm not sure why. The battlefield gets quiet and I pull away. Thanos's army is being dusted away. Tony did it! He got the stones from Thanos, and snapped.
I pull at Bucky's arm as we run to find Steve. When I see him, he has a pained look on his face, staring at Tony. I look at him too. Casting in his mind, I feel him fading. I walk over closer, not daring to get too close. This should be Pepper's time. Peter is a hot mess with Tony telling him that we did it, Pepper comes closer to pull Peter off of Tony. Before she does Tony glances over at me, "We did it Hunger Games."
Tears flow freely down my eyes, Pepper kneels in front of Tony, "Hey." She whispers.
"Hey, Pep." Tony is barely able to get out.
Pepper puts her hand on the Arc Reactor. "F.R.I.D.A.Y.?"
"Life functions critical."
They gaze at one another sweetly. This is their final goodbye. He looks off a bit. "Tony? Look at me." Tony's eyes find her. "We're gonna be okay. You can rest now." Pepper caresses his back, keeping her eyes on Tony.
"Protect them. Tell her, I love her." I listen into him a moment longer. There's nothing more. His heart fades into nothing. Pepper kisses his cheek, telling him bye and her head rests against his shoulder as she finally allows herself to cry as the pain washes over her.
One by one we drop to our knees, bowing our heads. Giving respect to Tony for sacrificing his life, to change the world. I think about Nat and how she sacrificed her life as well. None of this would be possible without them. We stay like this for a moment before standing. I go to Pepper helping her stand, and she just wraps her arms around me and cries. She didn't just lose Tony, she lost her best friend, her husband, Morgan's dad. Tony was a lot of things, and he was Pepper's soulmate. She pulls back from me, "Happy has Maggie and Morgan they're safe."
"I know."
She lets me go as Rhodey grabs a hold of her, helping her to get some space and ground her. I look over to Steve who comes and wraps me in a hug before looking at Bucky and hugging him as well. Sam walks over to us, "We need to get his body out of here, Cap." Steve nods his head. The remaining original Avengers go to Tony's body and remove it from the battlefield. So many will never know exactly all that Anthony Edward Stark sacrificed.