The Avengers Whump & Bromance Anthology

End of the Line

Whumptober 2020

PenPatronus

Prone on his stomach, struggling to shake off Thanos' latest blow, dizzy and bleeding and quickly running out of hope, was a trembling Tony Stark who looked up in time to see Steve Rogers wrestle the Infinity Stones out of the Titan's grip, roll head-over-heels backward from the momentum, and then leap to his feet and put the gauntlet on his own right hand. "Cap, don't!" Tony yelled. Nearby, Thor shouted, "No!" Steve heard his friends' cries. His eyes met Tony's and – for the love of – he winked. And then – snap.

It took three tries for Tony to get to his feet. When he did, he limp-sprinted past the disintegrating Thanos, ripped the gauntlet off Steve, and caught his friend in a hug as he collapsed, gasping, burnt, shaking, and bleeding. In a smooth sweep, Tony lifted Steve up into a bridal carry and took him over to the nearest and most stable looking pile of debris. He set him down and looked him over and counted all the parts of him that were burned or bleeding or broken or all three and…

"Oh my God," Tony whispered, the true situation dawning on him. "Oh, no. Oh, God, no." He gently removed Steve's cowl and wiped the dirt off his exposed skin. "Not like this."

"Exactly like this," Steve gasped, struggling to breathe. "I always thought it would be… Like this." Someone ran up behind Tony, hesitated, then rushed to Steve's right side and put a hand on his chest. "End of the line, eh, Buck?" Steve whispered to his friend.

Bucky's bottom lip trembled. "Wanted more for you," he said. "Wanted longer. We were supposed to be old men sitting on a porch." Steve smiled at him, at the thought.

Sam flew in. He shrugged off his wings. Approaching slowly, face blank, unsure, he finally knelt before Steve and put a hand on his knee. "Hey, Cap."

Steve spoke quieter. His gasps for breath got more desperate. "You two," he said, barely gesturing with his left hand at the Winter Soldier and the Falcon, "continue."

Sam nodded. "Yes, Sir." Bucky nodded, too.

Steve smiled at the pair. The smile was gone when he returned his attention to Tony, replaced by some expression between wistfulness and admiration. "Look after them for me."

"I will," Tony vowed.

"Keep going."

Tony lowered his face and clenched his eyes shut. When he opened them again, they were flooded. "Without you?" he whispered. "All those years I spent hating you… I finally have you back and… And…" Steve wrapped his left hand around Tony's. "If I could have those years back…" Tony shook his head. "This should've been me…"

Behind Sam stood Thor, Bruce, and Clint. Bruce put his uninjured hand on Clint's shoulder. Thor reached past Clint and put his on Bruce's shoulder. No dry eyes there.

"I'm proud of you," Steve whispered to Tony.

"What?"

Steve squeezed Tony's hand. "And proud to have known you. Your father… He would've been proud, too."

"Cap…"

"It's ok," Steve wheezed, "it's all right… A favor," he whispered, tears in one corner of his eye, eyes only on Tony. "One favor."

"Anything." Tony meant it. "Anything."

"Tell Morgan about me."

Tony's whole body seized with emotion. "I will. I promise."

"Tell her…" Steve slumped to the right and landed on Bucky's shoulder. His grip on Tony's hand faltered. "Tell her my life… It was good. Because of… Because of my friends." And then, with no fanfare, with nothing but silence only interrupted by crackling fires nearby, Captain America slipped away.

The End