ARC 2: End Game

It was quiet as night's blanket fell over the Avengers facility. Very quiet.

In a bathroom that was really too big for one person, Steve stood before the sink. Lit only by the softest and most minimal lighting possible, he gently scraped the razer under his chin one last time before finally washing up.

Did he maybe spend a little too long making sure there was not a single trace of shaving foam left on the small metal tool? Perhaps. And did he maybe wipe a little too carefully at his face, removing every hint of anything that wasn't smooth skin from his ears to his chin? Yes - but Steve's mind was too far away to notice how meticulous he was being, too preoccupied to realize he'd fallen into his old army habits. Because while his body was in that bathroom that seemed designed to make one realize just how small they were, Steve's mind was still in the lab he had vacated earlier that evening.

The lab his wife hadn't left in weeks.

Steve placed down the towel in his hands and he leant against the sink with both hands, head lowered. He needed the physical support against the heartache that throbbed like an old wound when he thought about Arianna.

Arianna had remained out cold for a good few hours after fainting when they (and Steve closed his eyes again when he thought about it) had lost their son. Exhaustion from the battle and the shock had hit her hard; and it was only after they were back on the quinjet and headed back to their base, leaving behind a devastated Okoye to look after her kingdom and it's people, that Arianna had finally stirred.

Arianna's behaviour since waking however had been even more worrying. At first, after getting up and realizing Thanos hadn't been a nightmare, Arianna had just sat in complete, unmoving silence and stared numbly at her feet. She'd noticed nothing; not when Steve pulled a blanket over her shoulders nor when he took her hands in his, and not even when Steve finally moved from her side, feeling somewhat hurt by her non-acceptance even if it wasn't exactly rejection, and Natasha replaced him on the quinjet bench.

It was only once they had landed at the Avengers facility that Arianna seemed to regain herself. Or to be more accurate, she started to react - but not in any way that gave Steve or Natasha comfort. Instead of mourning or spending time recovering, Arianna threw herself into the lab where she (aided by Bruce) fell into a frenzied search for any clue that would help them undo what Thanos had done or at least track him down. Each day, Steve tried to extract Arianna for at least an hour and each day she brushed him off until they found an answer.

It was now twenty two days and still counting.

Natasha had since joined in the search and Rhodey did his best to help as well, all while throwing Arianna worried glances and exchanging looks with Steve. Steve didn't need to be able to read minds to know what they were thinking: they were all too painfully familiar with Tony's habits to misunderstand Arianna's new self-destructive pattern.

Steve tried, Natasha tried, Rhodey gave a half-hearted attempt, to get Arianna to take a break, to take some time to really come to terms with what had happened. But perhaps Bruce was the wisest of them all as the older scientist kept his mouth shut and engaged with Arianna the only way she would: through their work. While Arianna shrugged off all her friends and continued to search, stopping for nothing except for occasional sips of the coffee that Steve kept filled beside her or bites of food that Steve and Natasha all but forced down her throat, she would engage in discussions with Bruce. And even when she stopped even pulling away from her friends' hands, instead ignoring them completely unless it was to take an unwilling bite of food they forced in her face, Arianna would would frequently emerge from whatever thoughts were in her head to ask Bruce for his opinion on some theory or plan she had come up with since the last time she'd spoken.

It had been on the fourth day after they returned that Natasha broke her pattern of silently bringing sandwiches for all of them to eat, and nudged Steve gently away.

"There's no need for both of you to plough away as if you aren't in pain." Natasha reasoned gently as she guided Steve, however unwilling he was, out of the lab.

"Go, wash up, take your time, and take a breath - we'll still be here."

Then, with a glance over her shoulder at the brunette woman who was still poring over some readout or other, Natasha added softly, "She needs you; whether she realizes that now or later. To be there for her then, you have to be strong for the both of you right now."

And while it stung to see how Arianna apparently failed to even notice his leaving, Steve knew the truth in Natasha's words and he'd allowed Rhodey to accompany him out of the lab as the colonel left to do his daily limb exercise.

But Steve couldn't help but wish every day that it would be the day that Arianna finally emerged from the crazy determination that had fueled her since their return; couldn't help but pray that his wife would come back to him. But every day ended the same as the day before, with Natasha pushing Steve out to wash and take some time alone while it looked like Arianna showed no sign of returning from the brink she'd pushed herself to.

And so it was that once again, Steve was standing in front of his reflection where he looked like the national hero he had once been: gold-haired, clean-shaven, strong body. But his eyes told the reality: once bright with determination, the blue hues were dimmed now and full of an unspeakable pain.

Steve closed the eyes that betrayed him and bowed his head again. A quote from a movie Arianna had enticed him to watch one Thursday night several years ago, suddenly sprang to mind. "No parent should have to bury their child," The King of Rohan had said in the second Lord of the Rings movie.

The line had resonated with Steve even back then, bringing to mind the countless childless mothers or even fathers he had met during the War. Steve himself had lived for so long without parents that it had been quite striking to see the other perspective, to see parents mourning the losses of their children who had barely begun to live their lives.

But, Steve thought as he felt that ache in his heart once again, it was indeed a very different experience to feel that pain personally. How strange that even after he'd lived through the loss of his parents, his best friend, and his first love, he could still be cut in an entirely new way by the loss of his son.

A sudden rumbling noise broke Steve from his thoughts.

With a puzzled frown, Steve touched the small face mirror that hung beside the larger bathroom mirror. The metal frame, which had started to tremble when the noise outside started, was beginning to shake more and more as the noise got louder and louder. Realizing that something was approaching, Steve tossed his towel into the washing basket and strode quickly out of the bathroom.

Natasha, Bruce and - to Steve's faint relief - Arianna were also emerging from the lab when he entered the living room while Rhodey came hurrying out from the medical ward at the far end of the corridor.

"What's going on?" Rhodey demanded as he joined the others in making for the door.

"Something just entered the Earth's atmosphere and is coming right for us." Bruce answered as he tugged on a jacket.

"Something?" Steve checked and Natasha shook her head.

"That's all we know - none of our systems recognized it but it's a spaceship, no question."

"So he's back?" Rhodey asked, immediately on alert.

But Arianna answered curtly, "I don't think so - the spaceship's engine reading came back completely dead."

"So how did it-?"

Rhodey's question was answered as they all hurried out onto the grassy plains around the facility where a huge spaceship was beginning to descend from the sky. They could all clearly see the small, brightly glowing thing at the ship's underbelly which appeared to be holding the entire thing up - but more shockingly, they soon realized it was a person.

As the ship got close enough for them to get a good look, it became apparent that the figure was about as tall as Arianna and definitely humanoid. She even looked human with her peach-coloured skin beneath the gold glow and her flowing golden hair, although there was no possible way the female was human if she had carried the gigantic spaceship into the Earth's atmosphere.

The five Avengers slowed their approach, watching the ship warily as it was landed not too far from where they were. Pepper had already beaten them to most of the way, having clearly just arrived from New York as her car was parked some ways away on the road where she had apparently abandoned it upon seeing the spaceship arrive. As they arrived beside the CEO of Stark Industries, Steve glanced briefly at the humanoid figure who had stopped glowing now that she had landed.

The woman looked even more normal now that she wasn't shining like a beacon although her outfit was definitely not of Earth. But Steve's attention, once he asserted that she wasn't an immediate threat, was pulled immediately back to the spaceship that was just lowering it's ramp. What they saw inside shocked them all.

"Tony." Arianna breathed.

Steve reacted immediately, rushing to help his former friend as Tony was half carried down the steps by a blue-skinned humanoid who Steve guessed was female by her body. Whoever she was, she was clearly the only thing keeping Tony from falling down the stairs, and Steve ran up to help take Tony off the female's shoulders. Not that he looked like he would be much of a burden for the strong female: Tony was so emaciated that Steve could feel every fragile bone as he gently took Tony and supported him down the rest of the steps down the spaceship.

Tony leant on Steve heavily after the blue-skinned woman handed him off, furthering Steve's assertion that he was extremely starved, and his voice was weak when he spoke.

"Couldn't stop him."

He sounded like he was speaking from a fever, barely coherent and his eyes were somewhat glazed. But Steve understood the feeling and so he just nodded, answering in a similar hush.

"Neither could we."

"Hang on." Tony muttered, stopping Steve as his legs buckled. But it was the man's haunted gaze that really made Steve pause because it was a look that was far too similar to the one he was now familiar with in his own reflection. He realized why a moment later.

"I lost the kid." Tony got out, his voice catching, and Steve's heart constricted.

"We lost ours too."

Steve spoke quietly, barely able to say the reality out loud. Yes, he'd had three weeks to come to terms with it… but saying it somehow made it so final. Like knocking the last nail into the coffin.

The pain must have been clear on his face, because Tony's face softened just a little bit although his brows continued to furrow with his own grief.

"I'm sorry." He muttered. "I heard you'd had your kid, but I… Sorry."

Steve nodded once to show he had heard but he said nothing else. Tony's throat was tight and his voice thick but he had to ask.

"Is, umm-"

Tony's question was answered as Pepper, who had followed Steve at a much slower, human run, finally arrived.

"Oh, good." Tony breathed while Pepper took him into her arms, her eyes raking over him in sheer relief before she hugged him tightly.

"Oh, my God."

Pepper whispered over and over again as she held Tony close while he clutched at her like she was the only thing keeping him afloat in a thrashing sea.

"Oh, my God."

Steve watched the couple silently, feeling a different throbbing in his chest. Movement from behind caused him to look back up the stairs of the spaceship and Steve frowned when he saw the strange blonde woman who had landed the ship before appearing at the top of the ramp. It seemed she had slipped back aboard while Steve had been preoccupied and she returned carrying a black-haired woman in her mid-thirties who looked even further on the verge of death than Tony.

"Who...?" Natasha asked as she and the others joined Steve and Tony at last, the former redhead's eyes on the dark-haired woman being carried down the stairs.

Tony glanced back at Natasha's faltering question and he grimaced.

"That's Maya… forgot her last name."

Tony rubbed his face with his hand, looking even more tired than before as his gaze fell back onto the mysterious woman as the blonde carrying her reached the bottom step on the ramp.

"She's in bad shape." He added unnecessarily and Steve patted Tony's back.

"We've got her." Steve promised. "You just worry about yourself for now."

Tony glanced at Steve, staring at the supersoldier for a long and silent moment. Steve met his gaze squarely and the tension seemed to thicken like a humid fog all around them. They all felt it and the others looked uneasily between the two former friends - well, most of them did. Arianna appeared to be staring intently at the ground although what was going through her mind was anyone's guess.

It was Tony who broke eye contact first as he just nodded, his jaw clenched but no longer because of his physical weariness. Pepper glanced at Steve as well before she half-led and half carried Tony back toward the facility. Rhodey stepped in to help her while Steve watched Tony hobble away with an unreadable expression.

"It's been twenty-three days since Thanos came to Earth."

The group listened silently as Rhodey stood in the middle of the living room that was their make-shift meeting room and pulled up various holograms of their findings over the prior three weeks for the newcomers. Included among the various images was a hologram of the Earth which showed the Earth's population in little dots, and flashing images from the files of the people from their team (current or former) or other acquaintances of each of them who were now either dead or missing.

Rhodey's voice, which had been mostly even, shook a little as Dr. Strange's image was replaced by Sam's. Steve looked away from Bucky's image while the mysterious blonde woman who had introduced herself as Carol Danvers stared a little too stoically at the image of Nick Fury. The images were then replaced again and Tony watched from his wheelchair as the images of Erik Selvig, Shannon Carter and Wanda Maximoff all flickered to life before fading away while Natasha took over from Rhodey.

"World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census."

A woman called Hope van Dyne appeared, then Scott Lang… then Peter Parker. Tony's arm tightened around the armchair of his wheelchair but otherwise he just listened as Natasha continued.

"And it looks like he did…"

She paused, needing to take a breath as Shuri and T'Challa's faces appeared next before she went on.

"He did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out.. ...fifty percent of all living creatures."

There was a long silence following Natasha's explanation, before finally Tony broke it.

"Where is he now?"

Tony raised his head to look at Steve.

"Where?"

"We don't know." Steve answered heavily. "He just opened a portal and walked through."

Tony huffed in disappointment before turning his head in his chair; and he frowned.

"What's wrong with him?"

Tony gestured outside where they could see Thor sitting on a bench with his arms on his knees, as he had been for pretty much three weeks.

"He's pissed."

The talking racoon who had belatedly introduced himself as Rocket, spoke with a sigh.

"He thinks he failed. Which of course he did, but, you know, there's a lot of that goin' around, ain't there?"

"Honestly, until this exact second, I thought you were a Build-A-Bear." Tony deadpanned, pointing at the racoon who just smiled without humour.

"Maybe I am." Rocket answered quietly.

Steve interrupted Rocket's brooding as he explained to Tony, "We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep space scans, and satellites, and we got nothing."

Tony saw Steve glance briefly at Arianna, who had been unusually quiet and still in a corner of the room, before he looked back at Tony.

"Tony, you fought him-"

"Who told you that?" Tony interrupted Steve, staring at the supersoldier.

Everyone turned to him questioningly, not understanding Tony's sharp injecture, but Tony only had eyes for Steve as he corrected his former friend bluntly.

"I didn't 'fight' him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street magician gave away the stone after his girlfriend, that woman over there," he gestured vaguely toward the medical ward where Pepper had taken Maya to be treated, "was almost murdered. That's what happened. There was no fight-"

"Okay."

Steve interrupted Tony, this time his tone forcibly soothing as he tried a different tactic.

"Did he give you any clues? Any coordinates, anything?"

"Uh, pft!"

Tony sputtered, pretending to think. Natasha sighed, leaning back in exasperation at the fight they could all see was brewing, but Tony didn't notice or care as he glared at Steve.

"I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming."

Tony leant back in his wheelchair, the IV swinging on his twig-like arm. His attitude clearly stated he wasn't interested but Steve was not about to rise to the bait as he insisted, "Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus."

"And I needed you."

At Tony's words, the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees and a frigid air seemed to blow as the former friends and leaders of the Avengers faced off against each other. Steve's jaw had locked but Tony's gaze was cool as he stared at Steve with almost contempt.

"As in, past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late, buddy. Sorry."

Steve's jaw tightened in response, but he held his cool. Barely.

"Tony, I know you're angry but I can't give up, not now. We've lost too much-"

"I said we'd lose."

Tony slammed his hand on the table - although it did nothing except upset the bowl of oatmeal Rhodey had left there for him, that was how weak Tony was. Not that one would think it from the bite that was present in every one of Tony's words.

"And you remember what you said?"

Tony glared harshly back at his former best friend while Steve drew back slightly as Tony threw his past words back at him.

"You said, 'We'll do that together, too.' Well guess what, Cap? We lost; you weren't there."

Steve's eyes narrowed but it wasn't the blond captain that spoke up next.

"You think you lost, Tony?"

"Ria."

Natasha spoke softly but her tone held clear warning as she glanced at the younger woman.

But Arianna ignored the older spy. Instead she focused her attention solely on Tony who had turned around to face her as well and the tension in the room seemed to increase threefold as the former best friends glared at one another, both sets of eyes dark as coal.

It reminded Steve of the last time he and Tony had seen each other, the last time Arianna and Tony had seen each other. But where the last time it had just been Tony who was hurting - was in furious anguish at the betrayal of his friends - this time, Arianna was in just as deep, was as unchecked in her emotions as her eyes stared balefully back into Tony's angry ones.

"You think you're the only one entitled to sob because Barnes killed your parents? Because Steve knew about it and I knew Steve knew something, and we didn't tell you? Well, boohoo, sorry for you." Arianna spat, uncaring at the way Tony recoiled just slightly at her words before he straightened and his gaze hardened even more.

"Ria."

It was Steve who tried to intervene this time, sensing that things were about to turn decidedly ugly. He reached for his wife, trying to grab her arms to restrain her and pull her away from the room if necessary.

But Arianna pulled away from him roughly.

"No, shut up and let me at him."

Steve let his hand fall but it was with great reluctance. Arianna's expression was dark and filled with a brewing anger that filled Steve - and Natasha - with unease. Natasha had seen Arianna at her lowest many times before, back in their SHIELD days when Arianna's humanity had been on the brink of burning amongst the flames that swallowed their targets. But each time, Arianna had clung to her rational mind, had pushed through with Clint and Natasha's help. But now… not even in their darkest days at SHIELD had Natasha ever seen Arianna ever look quite as frighteningly unpredictable as she did now while she continued to address Tony.

"You think you're so clever, that you're the only one who was smart enough to see something like this coming? You think you're the one who was betrayed and left alone? You, the creator of the goddamned robot that killed thousands of people in Sokovia, including Pietro-"

Rhodey grimaced and Bruce flinched but neither Arianna nor Tony noticed as locked in an intense stand-off as they were.

"All because you were afraid of that same vision you claim you saw coming? You think that just because you tried to make up for that sh*t show, you're the only one who's clean now? Did you ever stop to think that all this time, we're the ones who have constantly paid for your mistakes? It was you who made the decision to create Ultron and caused an entire city to be decimated. You decided to support the Accords that were made because you, not us, are ungovernable and gave Zemo an opening to tear at us and divide us. It was your inability to forgive anyone, even yourself, that was the reason his goddamned plan worked and my family was on the run for over a year; the reason we were separated when Thanos came."

Arianna's gaze was fury-filled while Tony's jaw was locked against the pain that Arianna was slashing into him with her cutting words that were unstoppable now that she had begun and her voice grew only louder and louder while she walked closer and closer.

"Barnes wasn't even in his right mind when he killed your parents; you knew that, and yet you blamed him for something he would have had to carry in his heart for the rest of his life, not you! But you don't see that, do you, Tony? You're so fixated on thinking about what you lose each time something comes around that you don't see what you've gained, what you've avoided, how lucky you've been. You think no one else suffers like you because you think no one else has a brain as great as yours, when the reality is that you have too damned big of an ego to realize that there are other people who suffer too!"

Arianna jabbed her finger into Tony's thin chest, her fingernail clicking against the metal of his arc reactor. Her face was now contorted, an angry red flush covering her pale skin like a rash, and her voice rose into a near scream.

"You lost a kid you were mentoring? Don't joke around with me! You have no idea what it feels like to lose your child. You have no idea how it feels like nothing else matters when it's your flesh and blood that's paying for the mistake that you made. For your failure! You know nothing, and one day, you're going to realize that and you know what? It'll be too late, just like you were too late to know your parents!"

Tony visibly flinched, recoiling as if Arianna had shot him straight through the heart.

It was also at this time that Steve finally decided that enough was enough - that it had been far more than enough. Looping an arm around Arianna's waist, Steve hauled her up and away, carrying her out of the room. She went surprisingly quietly, but Steve didn't dare risk putting Arianna down out of fear that she might physically assault Tony next or, what Steve was more worried about, that she'd hurt herself more than she already had.

Steve's assertion was only furthered when - apparently regaining his use of his tongue even if he hadn't regained his head - Tony yelled after them.

"Yeah? Well, I'm not the only one with a history, Ria! Who was it that, for years, murdered anyone Fury pointed at like an obedient puppy? Who lied and cheated like scum no better than the kind I fought?! I'm not the only one with blood on my hands and I'm not the one who put it there willingly! It's called karma, Aria! And, just in case you never knew, it's a b*tch!"

Steve heard Rhodey and Natasha trying to stop Tony just before Tony cut off rather abruptly just as Steve managed to get out of hearing range. But Steve couldn't quite worry about what had happened to Tony just yet. Steve could feel Arianna growing rigid over his shoulder, her entire body stiffening before doing what he had dreaded she would do - shutting down, pushing everything and everyone out the way she had done what felt like lifetimes ago.

Finally reaching the hallway that ultimately led to the Avengers' respective bedrooms and was far enough away from the others that he couldn't hear them or be heard, Steve bent over to set Arianna down before him. She just stared blankly ahead as Steve straightened up, a fact that only increased his worry.

Still, he couldn't stop himself from pointing out quietly, "You shouldn't have said that to him."

"Someone had to." Arianna replied darkly, her glower deepening although she was still staring into empty space and not meeting Steve's eyes.

"No, they didn't."

Steve's expression was grim as he held Arianna's face and forced her to look right at him.

"You really didn't have to."

"And you really didn't need to hide the fact that Bucky killed Tony's parents." Arianna snarled back. "But here we are. Earth's mightiest heroes."

Her lips pulled back into a bitter sneer and Arianna added in a low voice, "Fury was crazy. We were never a team, never could be more. Thanos proved that - that we were nothing more than fools desperately trying to pretend we were something more."

Steve pushed back the hurt, the flinch that threatened, at Arianna's harsh words. He knew her better.

"You don't really believe that."

"I do." Arianna shot back.

Steve's gaze tightened, as did his grip on Arianna's chin.

"No, you don't. I know you don't." Steve insisted, staring back into Arianna's eyes and searching for the telltale signs he had been sure would be there as they always were when she lied. Even to herself.

But Arianna's hazel eyes were filled with nothing but loathing, and Steve felt dread and despair pool in his stomach at what he found instead.

"Ria-"

Steve's eyes filled with pain as he read the self-loathing in Arianna's eyes. At his reaction, Arianna shook him off.

"Don't." She warned harshly as she pushed her way away from him. "Don't say it."

"Ria, it's not your f-" Steve began but Arianna cut him off sharply in a voice that cracked with emotion.

"I said, don't. Don't say it, I can't hear it, not right now. I don't know what I might say or do if I do."

Arianna stalked away, heading deeper into the building and toward the training room where there was likely still the entire wall of training knives she could throw. Steve could only watch helplessly as she left, his own heart clenched tight.

'It's my fault.'

He shook the thought from his head, clearing it before it could sink in, before the guilt could incapacitate him as he had seen it do to many people before. No, that wasn't right. Thanos was the one responsible. If they could just find him, could get back the gauntlet and the stones… they could still right the wrong. And they would. They had to.

*A/N Thank you to everyone who waited so patiently for this to be continued! But things are already looking grim and about to get worse…? For anyone who is confused, Maya is an original character from my Doctor Strange fanfiction, "Tale as old as Time". There is no need to read the story to understand this one.