The sound and pressure was insurmountable. With one blast it wiped out the earth, the moon, Mars and everything else, stretching out for millions of light years in all directions and the further it stretched, the faster it got. Destroying everything in its path, atomising all into tiny dust particles, unseen by the naked eye and there was no stopping it, it stretched out towards the edges of the milky-way and…
Clink.
There was a brief pause and then it started rolling backwards. It shot across the cosmos and in its wake, familiar and unfamiliar constellations appeared, flashing and dotting the universe with light of fantastic colours, some undiscovered by man and even those that had once been destroyed reformed. The sun burned into existence again and with it followed the eight planets and time slowed just enough to focus back into the bomb that hovered inches from the floor except this time, stood beside it was the Tesseract. She looked to the frozen faces of the Avengers and Loki then reached out and grasped the missile, turning it round. It creaked and groaned in protest, the air around it distorting oddly and even the Tesseracts strength was tried against the change of time. She pushed the missile until the tip pointed straight back up into the tear in space and took a deep breath and with a small tap of her hand, it blasted into the sky and as it did, the landscape below began to change. It was hard for the humans of the group to see what was happening but it was obvious to Thor and Loki that time was going backwards. The earth began turning clockwise and as the sun and moon raced across the sky, chasing one another, the earth began to grow into what it had once been.
Trees, buildings, people and animals jumped back into life. Stones flipped upwards into the air around the Avengers and rushed back to form the skyscrapers around them, roads flattened and cars cracked and crunched into place whilst inside them was a regurgitation of body parts until skin formed over fleshy insides then in flashes of light, their consciousness came back to them. But time didn't stop there.
It kept going backwards, still fast but growing slower and cars and people rushed through the ghost like bodies of the Avengers making them jump and flinch as they begin realising what was happening. Then the image of Thanos was there, standing over a car clutching Helena's body but instead of disappearing, he put her back down and they all watched, mouths agape, as the battle scene went backwards. It was especially weird to see the Hulk fixing things after he had smashed them or was that before, then time slowed right down and stopped.
The Tesseract stepped into the ghost like figure of Helen as she stood in the middle of the street and she looked over each of the Avengers and Loki, looking incredibly tired.
"Thanos will not be returning, I have secured all time lines. Everything has returned to the way it should be." Her body began to noticeably fade, "I have also annulled all weapons and information concerning myself. I will never trouble you again."
Time had stopped altogether and they stood in a strange empty silence, however the Tesseracts voice filled their ears with an abnormal echo that shouldn't have been there.
"You saved us, all of us. How can we repay you?" Thor asked.
A warm wind brushed against Loki's neck and he felt movement from his arms.
"I need no repayment, I have what I need." She blinked slowly, her strong form seeming to slip as she lost strength, "to know of every corner of the universe, all of time and the past and future is tiresome, so when you find something that fills you with warmth and excitement," She slowly titled her head and her gaze slipped towards Helena on the floor, "it is hard to let go."
Time started and noise blared at them from every angle. Car horns blared, people shouted, engines rumbled and seven individuals stood in the middle of the road looking pretty confused. Telephones and electricity hummed, engines chugged and the sound of life made their hearts soar.
"I don't believe it." Iron Man muttered staring up at his giant building, "she sent us back…she reversed time. Wow, I've got to get me one of-" he paused and stared wide eyed as an image of Pepper appeared on his screen as she called him and without a word to the others he blasted off into the sky.
Fingers curled around Loki's arm and he looked down, hardly allowing himself to believe it as a soft weight pressed against his chest and one brown and one blue eye looked up at him, crinkled in a warm smile.
"Hey handsome." Helen croaked gently.
Speechless and with tears of joy and relief streaming down his face, he pulled her into a bone crushing hug, burying his face into her hair, trying to hold back the sobs that racked his body.
"Don't you ever-" he sniffed and almost choked on his words, "d-don't you ever do that to me again."
Helen smiled and tried to hug him back but she was unbearably weak and so tired, so very tired.
"Bruce, you are on show again I see." Thor grinned and whipped off his cloak which Bruce gratefully took, wrapping around his bare form and Thor clapped him on the back, "your strength is unrivalled, I will have to put you to some Asgardian tests." He said cheerfully.
"Maybe another time eh?" Bruce grinned lopsidedly up at him.
"Well, I definitely think that's going to put me in therapy for a few years." Hawkeye said, clicking his bow so it retreated and shrunk in size which then fitted easily into a holster.
"Yeah, let's get out of the road first." Black Widow said, moving towards the pavement however when they all reached it, earning odd stares from the pedestrians, she looked back and found that Loki and Helena were gone; their space filled by yellow and black cars.
"I didn't think they'd stay." Captain America said, a small smile playing at his lips, "I think this calls for a much needed drink."
"But you can't get drunk Cap." Black Widow said as they all walked into Stark building and headed for Tony's penthouse.
"I can try my best." He smiled.