Hi everybody !
Ony two chapters before this fiction is wrapped !
Let me know what you thought of it !
The plan had gone sideways, of course -but only partially. Thanos had reacted only after two of the stones were safe, so it was already a small victory. They had had time to retrieve the space and the time ones. The reality stone had been secured just before the arrival of Thanos on the planet, that had been a close call. But as for the last, the mind one…
It was a good day after the launch of their attack, the Titan had long understood their plan, so he had been hell bent on stopping them. And had showed up with some of his insects, and the power stone.
Luckily, Rocket and Nebula had been on the mission to retrieve the mind stone, so they managed to hold him for some time with their team. The other teams had slowly began regrouping anyway, so they didn't have to stay on their own for more than half an hour. Steve and Nat and their team were the first to arrive, then Bruce, Tony and Brunnhilde followed suit and finally Thor, Clint and Rhodey, and their respective teams.
Some scavengers and other people from Terra -it was still strange to think like that- had come to their help, while Thor, Bruce and Natasha re-joined Danvers in their search for the soul stone. They probably would have benefited from the extra help, but they couldn't let escape this opportunity -and that was without saying that if Thanos went to retreat, he would take the stones with him and they would probably be lost forever.
So they had been fighting, and fighting, since that moment. For what had felt like days but might actually only had been half one.
The people without special abilities had been the firsts to either die or be evacuated. Something like ten -or thirty- minutes ago, Rhodey's suit had been damaged while he was fighting next to Steve. The armored man had been sent flying and Thanos had been about to hit him again, but Steve had jumped his front of his friend. Unfortunately, had hadn't had the time to prepare himself for the blow, so he went flying a rather sharp rock in the process. He probably gained some cracked ribs in the process, but it had been worth it. Clint and Tony had came shooting on Thanos at that moment and Brunnhilde and Nebula had proceeded to place Rhodey in relative safety.
Back-up in the form of Nova corps was finally arriving. According to the plan they had designed, the group was going to be divided. It would be harder to fight, but it was to ensure the mind stone would not fall in the hands of Thanos again. Clint had been injured just before Rhodey, so he had moved onto helping how he could on the ship. Tony and Rocket would be going with Akhona and Kraglin -whose arrow had proved really useful-, so that left only Brunnhilde, Nebula and himself, along with their back up, to distract the mad titan.
They fought for a good half hour without major change. There were still a lot of insects to fight, not only that purple asshole. Distantly, Steve registered people being injured, or killed. Others were being transported to ships to go back to Terra or some other base, but he could only focus on Thanos. After all, they were only three to fight him.
Suddenly, Steve was face to face with Thanos' fist. Just like in Wakanda. But this time, rather than only knocking him aside, the giant caught Steve's right arm. The grip in itself was slightly painful, but he didn't stop here. He twisted until everyone heard a snap. A shot of pain coursed through Steve's body. He probably had a broken bone, but he would still fight. But apparently Thanos anticipated it, because within seconds, he kicked the blond's kneecap, causing him to fall on his knees. Then he threw Steve aside with a powerful punch that knocked the air out of him.
Steve was hurting everywhere, but it felt like a small victory, because while Thanos had been occupied with him, he hadn't seen Nebula approach. She managed to injure him a first time, then helped by the Valkyrie, did quite serious damage.
In the meantime, a Nova Corp officer had helped him get up. He learned that the team that went to secure the mind stone was almost back -hardly a handful of minutes left now. Also the one that had gone for the soul stone had just found it.
They were about to win, they just needed to hold a bit longer. So Steve did what he knew best, he went back to fighting -shutting down the protests of the officer. Slowly, but surely.
They just needed to distract him a bit more. With that in mind, Steve launched himself again at the weakened titan. But weakened didn't mean powerless, far from it. Apparently, the monster had had enough of this puny human, because he hit him in the abdomen with something sharp. A blade or a sword maybe, but Steve hadn't had the time to see what it was nor where it came from. He frankly he didn't care. Whatever it was, that hurt like hell. The blood had started oozing almost instantly. He was only able to duck a fatal blow thanks to the arrival of Tony, distracting the titan by shouting Steve's name in anguish.
The blond then fell to the side at the same time Kraglin's arrow pinned one of Thanos' feet on the ground. Steve heard somebody saying that the others were almost there, finally.
After that everything went by in a flash, Steve barely conscious of what was happening, but forcing himself to watch. Thanos was brought to his knees and just at that point, Thor and the others arrived. The god's axe went directly into the titan's neck this time. That was it. They did it.
Steve let his head rest on the ground. It was okay, they didn't need him anymore. He barely registered coughing, just the taste. It was kind of… metallic ? Ah, blood, probably. He somewhat heard someone calling him and asking about his injuries, but he was too tired to answer. He directed the little attention he had left towards Danvers, who he had seen pass next to him in a hurry.
His head felt like it was surrounded by cotton, his ears were ringing and he noticed he had stared trembling. Somebody shouted something about bandages and suddenly his chest was cold. They must have opened his suit. Finally he saw Wong's portals and Danvers taking the stones. Then somebody with a soothing voice cradled his head and told him that she had started to reverse the process…
They are saved. It's gonna be okay, Steve thought. Then exhausted by the fight, and finally able to release the pressure, he collapsed while they lifted him to bring him to the ship back to Earth.
Slowly, Steve woke up. Only to find himself stripped from the upper half of his uniform. He spent some seconds assessing his surroundings : metallic ceiling, cargo-like structure, relatively quiet- not too hot or too cold. He went to sit, but a hand on his shoulder prevented him.
"Lay back Steve, you have to rest."
Natasha ! He was so relieved she was okay.
"Nat", he croaked. He wanted to ask her if she was okay, how were the others. But he was too tired.
"I'm okay Steve. Our friends too. We all have our bruises, but nothing major. Except Clint, you should expect him to swing by soon, complaining about his broken arm." He chuckled at that. "Seriously, though. I think you really are the most injured of all of us."
"I'm… still alive."
"That's true. You have a handful of broken ribs, a gash as long as my hand, lost a lot of blood, your left feet and probably your forearm broken, and your right shoulder was dislocated." She said, frowning. "You were lucky. We couldn't get you quickly enough on the ship, especially when you were loosing so much blood. If Thor hadn't remembered you were wearing a scarf underneath, thing would have gotten more complicated."
A scarf. That was true, he had been wearing Bucky's scarf. Wait.
"Nat. The … did they "
"They are bringing people back right now. They brought back people whom planets had been alerted by the Nova corps first, but it's pretty tiring. Carol is amazing, but she has to take breaks. I think they said the Kree planets were the next on the list. Then it should be our solar system. Now try to rest, we still have some hours before we are back to Earth."
The next time he woke up, someone had put him an oversized t-shirt and it was Rhodey who was smiling at him. He informed the blond of the current situation : six hours had passed since they left, everything was going relatively fine where people were being brought back and apparently a certain Queen was pissed at him for being so reckless. They talked a bit after, it was a nice companionship. Not as quite as Sam's, but still. He had missed Rhodey those last years.
Landing in approximately fifteen minutes. Please put an end to any no necessary activity and locate the nearest zone to seat.
That was it. They were finally back to Earth after almost ten hours of travel.
His feet was in an sort of plaster slowly repairing itself, as was his forearm -maintained by a sling -, his gash had been closed, he had a sort of corset around his ribs, and apparently sported an nice assortment of colourful bruises.
"Haha ! Sleeping beauty is awake at least ?" … Clint.
"Yes. And trapped in a stupid bed. I told them I was fine, but they wouldn't let me get up again." Steve mumbled.
"Wow. Easy tiger. You got your ass kicked and handed on a silver plate by that maniac. Don't rush." The archer said before taking a seat next to him.
"But I'm fine." Clint raised an eyebrow. "Okay. Not that fine, but I don't need to be in this bed ! I could walk earlier ! And that sling is itching. I don't need it, I can hold my arm on my own, come on. And that thing around my ribcage is not comfortable either, I don't like it."
His friend chuckled -he had let him rant without saying a word. "Steve… Did they give you something ?"
"I … think so. I think I heard them talking about a painkiller for enhance people."
"Hunhun. That would explain your pouting then." Steve huffed "That doesn't make my sayings wrong."
Clint snorted and mumbled something about a 5 year old then leant back in his seat.
They didn't really talk after that, each of them lost in their thoughts. A nurse came to check on Steve and secure his bed for the landing. The blond tried to negotiate to get out of it, but to no avail. It made Clint laugh again, though.
Landing in five minutes. Please direct yourself to the nearest seat and fasten your seatbelt.
Steve started drumming his fingers on the sheet, nervous with anticipation. Almost there.
Much to his disappointment, he had to wait longer. Because of his injuries. He had thought that he would be able to get out of this ship just after its landing, but because he had been injured he had to stay put. Technically he should have gone to a hospital, but because he was Steve stubborn Rogers, he managed to get released. It only took a quarter of an hour. As soon as the doctor left the room, he detached the sling and all but ran from the room.
When he stepped outside of the ship, almost nobody was there. Everyone was either already gone or on their way to the point of reappearance. Slowly he started to walk into that direction too.