Title: A Snap Gone Wrong
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I only wish I did.
Author's Note: Hello! I am posting this as a part of an assignment for my creative writing class. We needed to create a fic, post it, and get feedback from readers about what we could do better. I'd really appreciate any comments I could get so that I can improve as a writer. Thanks in advance!
He felt unstoppable with Mjolnir, more invincible than ever. The dependable weapon swung relentlessly at his will, actually giving them a chance at winning this battle as it scored hit after hit. Thanos was no match. The hammer put more distance between them than his shield had, and he was growing more comfortable with this advantage with every throw. Thanos fell to a knee, lowering his head so as to hide his obvious frustration. But Cap knew.
They were winning.
Steve was growing closer now as Thanos weakened. The crowd of fighters around them was dwindling against the Avengers. Everything ached and wounds pulsed as the adrenaline pushed his bloodstream to new speeds. He couldn't care about pain as victory grew close.
Pure malevolence shone in Thanos's dark eyes, that malevolence becoming overshadowed by his growing annoyance. Steve had started to hear his name over the shouts consuming the battlefield, but the sound was drowned out by this sea of noise. It was when Steve had gotten close enough to touch Thanos that he finally heard Strange.
It was hard for Steve to look away as he battled for his life, but every few seconds, when Thanos suffered just a moment, he had time to glance. Strange was in his own battle, waving his hands which emitted fiery orange energy. He struggled to look at me too. When Thanos had fallen to a knee again, Steve spun, letting their eyes meet. He could see the tragedy in them from across the field. Strange's movements were getting less forceful, his hands rising too slow. He allowed the inevitable blows. His hands fell.
"It's over," Steve saw him mouth. Strange's opponent shot him like it was nothing.
"What?" Steve mumbled to himself, realizing that Thanos was on his feet again, standing tall, but there was no hit that followed. He smiled, breathing a sigh of relief that had dread replacing the adrenaline in Steve's veins. The sounds of war were dying.
One of Thanos's guards emerged from the rubble surrounding them. Clint hung from his fist like a ragdoll, grasping at his collar in frantic attempts. The gauntlet dangled at the soldier's side, the stones it adorned glinting teasingly in the falling sun.
Clint's gasps for air became audible as the soldier neared Thanos. Cap's stomach stirred at the sound. Thanos snatched the gauntlet from the soldier's hand, holding it up in the diminishing sunbeams. The gauntlet slipped onto his hand like it had never left, and the energy coursed through him as he roared: the most powerful being in the universe.
Steve's breath came in stuttered gulps as the exhaustion became reality. He dropped Mjolnir, accepting their second defeat. There was no choice, but they would be back.
"We'll never stop. Never," he said through gritted teeth.
Thanos could only smirk, a small chuckle slipping through. "We'll see."
He raised his hand in triumph, and what was left of his army cheered at the sight. His fingers moved.
"No—!"
He awoke to a roaring thud that had the room upside down. Everything was too loud. There was a pulsing behind his eyes, melting everything that dared to invade his vision. Steve blinked, trying helplessly to get a clear image. He needed to find Tony, come up with a new plan—
"Hey, punk, you alright in there?" Steve felt his hair being rustled. A familiar voice and a familiar warmth.
"B...Bucky?"
His vision cleared enough for him to focus on his best friend, the dark locks he had known for so long coming into view, as well as the charmingly soft eyes. Steve's surroundings stayed a misty smudge.
"Did we win?"
Bucky only gave an amused smile, a drunk laugh erupting in bubbly fits.
Steve's breath was coming out in great heaves. Every word took too much effort. "The date...what's the date, Buck..."
"Your birthday, pal. The big two-O." He giggled. "Jesus, you really are gone."
Steve hadn't been drunk in what felt like a millennium now; the serum had made it impossible for alcohol to taint his perfected system, no matter how much he craved that topsy-turvy feeling. He groaned into the bar table, partly because he could barely lift his head, and partly because reality was registering.
1938.
Bucky was laughing again, the noise quiet but very apparent to Steve's fine-tuned ears, all due to the alcohol currently rushing through his system. Everything seemed to thunder in that moment.
"We gotta.." Steve started, but even words—thoughts were too much. He couldn't figure out which way was up and which was down.
"Gotta what?" Bucky asked.
Steve's time of serving came to mind, this past—no, this present, maybe. Steve could faintly hear the sound of Bruce explaining all the mechanics of time travel, but the words slipped out of his memory like water from a faucet. There were more important things to worry about in this time period.
Steve's head shot up, a sudden bolt of energy jolting every vertebra. "Oh God, Hydra—"
"China?"
"No, no, Buck—" Steve ran his hands down his face, tugging a bit too hard around the eyes and having them see drunken stars. "A-and Thanos—"
"Who?"
"You don't remember—?"
"Remember what, Stevie?"
Bucky didn't look to be fooling around anymore. His smile had fallen into a fine line, actual curiosity and worry stealing the mischief from his eyes. The room had cleared enough for Steve to see another being approach, glass in one hand and towel in the other.
"Another round?"
Bucky simply held out his hand. "This loon'll be taking the big one if he has another gulp."
Bucky left two Washington's on the table before taking Steve's arm, hoisting him by the support of his shoulder.
"M'fine," Steve slurred, but the moment he slipped from Bucky's hold, the floor turned into pudding. It was all coming back in big flashes, each one melting away before Steve could begin to register it.
Nat, Vision, Peter…
Wanda, Sam...
Tony.
The name had something sparking in Steve's brain, nerve endings firing together to form at least one coherent idea.
"Howard...need to find Howard."
"Yes, yes we do," Bucky humored.
"Bucky, listen to me!" Steve was becoming distressed now, pulling his limp arms up to grip Bucky's shoulders. "The snap, you remember that? You were gone, and for so long...we were fighting for you, and—and he got the gauntlet again—I—"
"I never took you as a good storyteller, Stevie, but you're sounding better than Fitzgerald right now."
"No...Buck, I wouldn't lie, would I?"
Bucky didn't pay Steve a glance, eyes determined and serious as he began to drag Steve along again. "Sober, maybe."
"Okay...you don't know Thanos, but...Hydra?" The hope was so desperate in Steve's last attempt at any reminders. "They nearly killed you before I found you, and I was different then, remember? Finally had some meat on these bones, and a lot of it too."
"You oughta get yourself a girl, Stevie, keep your mind outta such lonely places. Let's go dancing, maybe. 'Long as you can find the use in your legs."
There was no use. Steve was alone in this dilemma, left to save the world by his own efforts. He would have to enlist again, have to impress Dr. Erskine all over…
But was this already another time branch? Would this reality all lead to the same evil and chaos? This was the same Steve that had been toe-to-toe with Thanos only minutes ago, but was this that same universe? Steve could waste another seventy years of his life before finding out.
There was a decision to make.