"Drop to 2600, heading 0-3-0," Steve says as he approaches the pilot seat. From the window you can see nothing but the tops of the trees, an unbreaking wall ahead of you.
"I hope you're right about this, Cap," Sam says doubtfully, "Or we're gonna land a lot faster than you want to."
Your fingertips curl around the arm rest of your seat reflexively as you approach, and then the ship slides through without resistance, a forcefield flexing around you momentarily before you finally see the city.
"Take us down," Steve tells him. He gives you a small smile as he passes your seat, which you return a second too slow; he's already facing the doors. Sam lands the ship gently, and the backdoor slowly opens. You let everyone pass you before you stand, giving Wanda a reassuring look.
"You need any help?" You gesture to where her hand is wrapped around Vision's arm protectively.
"No, I've got it," She tells you firmly, her eyes focused straight ahead of her. You try and imagine putting yourself in her position; could you kill one of your friends to have a chance at saving the world? Could you put a knife through Bucky or Sam? Send a bullet into Steve's heart? Your mind jerks away from the mental image; you may be a killer, but you can't imagine that.
You follow them off the ship, standing behind Bruce and Rhodey. "Should we bow?" Bruce asks quietly.
"Yeah," Rhodey says seriously, "He's a king." He peers over his shoulder, sending you a grin.
"Seems like I'm always thanking you for something," Steve shakes T'Challa's hand.
T'Challa's eyes rake over the rest of you, and Bruce takes the opportunity to bow. Rhodey turns to him with a fake expression of surprise and says, "What are you doing?"
"Uh, we don't do that here," T'Challa waves his hand and Bruce straightens up, cheeks tinged with red. "(Y/n), it's good to see you again."
"I just wish it was under better circumstances," You tell him.
"So, how big of an assault can we expect?" T'Challa gestures for you to follow him, and begins to walk towards a nearby building.
"Uh, sir," Bruce picks up his pace, "I think you can expect quite a big assault."
"How we looking?" Nat asks.
"You will have my Kingsguard, the Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, and…"
"A semi-stable, 100-year-old man," You let out a breath you didn't know you had been holding as Bucky appears, a smile as he sees Steve. Behind you a group of the king's guard help Wanda and Vision towards another building.
Bucky sees you and his grin widens, you walk past the group to meet him. "Wow, that hair is absolutely out of control," You grin, "They don't have barbers in Wakanda?"
"Good to see you too (Y/n)," he says with a roll of his eyes.
"I think you look great," Steve says from your side, before embracing his friend, "How you doin' Buck?"
"Uh, not bad," he replies, "For the end of the world."
Bucky follows you back to the quinjet while the others go with T'Challa and Shuri to figure out the Vision problem.
"So, anything not terrible happen while I was under?" Bucky asks as you pull out the weapons storage and begin stocking your combat gear.
"The only thing you missed was shitty food and even shittier motel rooms," You slide a straight sword into the holster on your back.
"So you and Steve," Bucky shakes his head, "God, I never would've guessed."
You give him a look over your shoulder, "You don't know anything, so don't pretend you do."
"Hey, a guy can tell," Bucky grins, "Good for you two." You shake your head and put your last pistol in place. "Hey, you using that rifle?"
"No, but I want it back in perfect working order," You warn him, "I really like that gun."
The two of you join Sam outside, where he looks up at the sky. Alien ships appear on the skyline, "Hey, Cap," Sam says into his comm, "We got a situation here."
Overhead one of the ships is torn apart as it hits the forcefield at full speed.
"God, I love this place," Bucky grins, your gun in his arms.
"Yeah, don't start celebrating yet guys," Rhodey warns, "We got more incoming outside the dome."
"You really don't like my hair?" Bucky asks and Sam snorts.
"It's very… Bohemian," You tell him gently, before something else grabs your attention. Even more ships land, destroying the land outside the dome; dirt and debris smash into the side of the dome.
"We should move," You say slowly, "Meet up with the others."
You stand between Steve and Bucky on one of the Wakandan carriers; it hovers smoothly on the ground as it moves, and you can't help but marvel at the technology. Bruce, in an apparent "disagreement" with the Hulk, runs alongside the carrier in Stark's Hulkbuster armor. "How we looking Bruce?" Nat calls into the comm.
"Yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of this!" Bruce exclaims, "Wow! It's like being the hulk without actually-" You look to the side just in time to see him faceplant. The Hulk was much more coordinated, "I'm okay, I'm okay."
"I got two heat signatures," Rhodey warns, "Breaking through the tree line."
The carrier swerves into u-turn and you take the opportunity to slide off the craft. The Wakandan warriors are shouting, and a shiver goes through you. You may have been created to be a Supersoldier, but you had never seen war.
"Those your friends from Scotland?" You ask Steve, eyeing the two figures that appear at the edge of the forcefield.
"I wouldn't call them friends," Steve responds darkly, moving to approach the barrier. You start to follow, but he stops you with one hand. "I'll be back."
"You better," You relent, stepping back into line. You watch, body tense as Steve, Nat, and T'Challa approach. You can see them talking, and then the three turn around, heading back to your position.
"Did they surrender?" Bucky asks as Steve takes his position.
"Not exactly," Steve responds through a clenched jaw. Another war cry goes up as some kind of dog-like creatures bound towards the forcefield.
"What the hell?" Bucky's quiet exclamation reaches your ears through the din.
"Looks like we pissed her off," Natasha's lips curl in anticipation.
"They're killing themselves," You hear one of T'Challa's warriors say, horrified. Though sheer force some of the creatures make their way through the barrier intact. You pull your own machine gun from your back and open fire on the creatures.
Sam swoops overhead, firing, "You seen the teeth on those things?"
"Alright, back up Sam," Rhodey warns, "You're gonna get your wings singed." Rhodey flies over the creatures, dropping a barrage of bombs over the highest concentration.
You shoot with patience, you're holding them back enough that you have time to make each shot count; your ammo was not infinite, and you doubted this was all that was coming your way. A pack of the aliens break away from the rest and begin to run towards the perimeter of the forcefield.
"Cap, if these things circle the perimeter and get in behind us there's nothing between them and Vision," Bruce says.
"Then we better keep them in front of us," Steve says grimly.
"How do we do that?" The same female warrior from before asks; you wished you knew her name.
"We open the barrier," T'Challa says grimly, raiding his communication device to his mouth, "On my signal open North-West section seventeen. On my signal."
"This will be the end of Wakanda," The man to T'Challa's right sounds horrified. You can't help but agree with them; there are too many of them and not enough of you.
"Then it will be the noblest ending in history," The female warrior responds fiercely.
Next to you Steve gets into position, while the border Tribesmen disengage their shields and stand at T'Challa's command. "Wakanda, Forever!" T'Challa shouts, crossing his arms over his chest before his helmet closes. Your hand reaches out involuntarily and grabs Steve's; he gives it a firm squeeze. You can't bring yourself to look at him. And then the signal comes from T'Challa in the form of a single word: "Now!"
With his signal you all surge forward, T'Challa and Steve pull ahead, and you match their pace, Bucky falling into line next to you. The alien-like dogs swell through the opening in the barrier. You open fire, concentrating on doing as much damage as possible without worrying about accuracy.
"Jesus there's too many of them," You pant, slicing through one that gets too close with your sword before you yank the pistol out of its holder and take out one coming around Bucky's blind spot. He shoots you a thankful look and then resumes firing. The breath leaves your lungs in a startled gasp as one leaps in your direction and hits you square in the chest; your back hits the ground and you struggle with your free hand to keep it's snapping teeth away from your face. You manage to get your other arm free from where it's pinned at your side and bring your gun to the thing's snarling chin and pull the trigger. Blood splatters over your face and you toss it's body aside, grimacing as you're once again forced to dodge a snarling dog.
"There's too many of them!" Bruce echoes your concern over the comms, you turn just in time to see him fall while the aliens dig at the plating of his armor. You start shooting, trying to free him from the animals when a beam of light shoots from the sky, burning a familiar pattern in the grass just feet from you. An axe flies past you, tearing through the surrounding beasts before returning to the light. It slowly fades, revealing Thor along with something that looks like a tree and what suspiciously appears to be a raccoon with a gun.
"Lady (Y/n)," Thor nods solemnly while Bruce shouts from behind you.
"'Bout time you showed up," You tell him breathlessly.
He gives you a tight lip smile and then launches into the air, "Bring. Me. Thanos!"
You slap a fresh clip into your pistol and resume the fight.
"You got an extra clip for the 249?" Bucky asks from your right and you let out a snort.
"Always saving your ass," You tell him, reaching into your ammo pouch and tossing him the clip. He stands at your back, and you take out every alien that catches your eye, moving in tandem like you had done hundreds of times before.
"Come and get some, space dogs!" You watch somewhere between confusion and amusement as the raccoon starts firing from a few feet away, looking like he's having an absolute blast. A large section of the dogs break away and head in your direction. Bucky grabs the raccoon, lifting him up and turning; you drop to one knee, dodging the fire, and take out as many as you can from your position. Once Bucky drops the raccoon he looks up at him impressed.
"How much for the gun?"
"It's my gun," You tell the raccoon, "And if we survive this, it's all yours buddy."
"Okay," The raccoon says agreeably, "How much for the arm?" Bucky raises his eyebrows at you and shakes his head.
"Call me crazy," You tell him as you both head towards the largest concentration of the creatures, "But I swear to god that was a talking raccoon with a fucking gun."
"He tried to buy my arm," Bucky deadpans, and you both laugh.
You get about two seconds of reprieve before the motorized spike wheels appear on the battlefield. They're faster than they look and you and Bucky are forced to launch yourselves in opposite directions to avoid being shredded.
"Fuck me," You groan, sending a barrage of bullets into the wheel with no effect.
"Focus that fire on the left flank Sam," You hear Rhodey over the comms and in the distance you can see the two of them trying to destroy one of the spike-wheels with no luck.
"Guys, we got a Vision situation here," Sam calls.
"Somebody get to Vision!" Steve shouts.
"I got him!" Bruce exclaims. You're once again forced to launch yourself out of the way of one of the spike-wheels and then Steve's there, pulling you to your feet.
"Hey stranger," You give him a smile.
"Hey yourself."
"Ah jeez. Incoming, 12 o'clock," Steve turns as you pull out your assault rifle and open fire on a mass of the snarling aliens.
"Guys!" Bruce yells over the comm, "Vision needs backup now!"
Steve looks at you, "Go!" You tell him without ceasing fire, "I'll cover you!"
"I'm on it," Steve radios back before taking off. You take out the dogs that break away from the fight to chase him until he's out of sight. Within a minute or two the fight on the ground starts to clear up considerably, and then inexplicably the aliens begin to retreat.
"What the-" Suddenly there's a shift in the air and you pause as an eerie feeling settles over you.
"Do you feel that?" You hadn't noticed his approach, but when you look to your right Bucky is there, blood-splattered and exhausted. Before you can respond, your comm crackles to life.
"Everyone on my position," Steve says darkly, "We've got incoming."
Your blood runs cold when you first lay eyes on the purple giant standing in the field; Bucky runs in without hesitation, open firing on the man. It said something about the scale of him, that it isn't until you see the golden gauntlet punching Bucky to the ground that you even register it and what the colored glowing stones inside it mean: This is Thanos, of course it is, you could feel the power emanating from him the moment you laid eyes on him. You leap over Bucky, landing agilely on Thanos' broad shoulders and pull the trigger of the pistol you have against his head. You watch, wide eyed as bubbles float out of your gun. You slam the butt of the useless weapon into the back of your head with all your strength, but it may as well have been a caress for all of the damage it does. One large hand reaches up and closes around your throat, pulling you off of him. Your fingers dig into his own as you gasp for breath; he eyes you speculatively for a moment before he tosses you away.
You hit a tree several feet away, which cracks under the impact. Your vision browns for a moment as your head meets the truck of the tree and then sharp pain brings you back to the present with startling speed. You look down, letting out a soft moan as you see the issue: a large sliver of the wood, still connected to the tree is stabbing through your thigh, essentially pinning you to the collapsed tree. Smaller splinters litter your body, the worst of which sticks out just above your right hip bone. You were going to live, but god damn it hurt.
You sit up slightly, trying to assess the fight, when you see Steve grab Thanos' fist, fighting to keep his hand open. You realize with growing horror that the yellow stone is set into the gauntlet; you weren't fighting to save Vision anymore. You were fighting to stop Thanos from destroying the entire universe. You struggle to free yourself, ignoring the way your body shuns the idea of pulling your leg up from the splinter. It's no use, the splinter is too long and you can't pull your leg up high enough from your current position. Helplessly you watch as Steve too is punched to the ground.
Thanos studies the completed gauntlet for a moment, and then a bolt of lightning hits him, digging him into the ground and pushing him backwards.
And then the axe comes; Thanos sends the combined power of the stones at it to no avail and a moment later the axe is deep in Thanos' chest.
Thor lands in front of Thanos, who has fallen down onto one knee. "I told you. You'd die for that!" Thor grabs Thanos' head and forces the axe deeper into his chest.
"You should have...You…" Thanos raises his head "You should have gone for the head."
"No!" You scream out as Thanos' fingers come together and he snaps them once. Thor lets out a roar of disbelief and you feel the hope you have collapse within itself leaving you feeling empty. Thor looks back at you helplessly.
"What did you do?" Thor screams, turning back to him, "What did you do?!" Before your eyes Thanos disappears, leaving Thor's bloodied axe laying on the ground where he stood.
"Where'd he go?" Steve asks, stumbling towards the Asgardian, "Thor… Where'd he go?"
Thor shakes his head, looking around dizzily. "(Y/n)," he says after a moment. Steve's head snaps in your direction and in a moment they're both at your side.
"Nothing happened," You say shakily. "Did it work?"
"Let's get her up," Steve ignores your question, and you grit your teeth as together him and Thor life you straight off of the wood shard; immediately the blood starts to soak through your pants. "We need to get pressure on that," Steve says, scrambling for your wound; you push him away, limping towards where Thanos had disappeared. "Forget that-is everyone okay?"
"Steve?" Bucky stumbles forward suddenly and you freeze as he collapses into ashes before your eyes.
"No," You're dimly aware of Steve grabbing you by your arms before you can fall to the ground. You whirl around with wide eyes. In the distance you can hear Rhodey yelling for Sam. You grip Steve by his forearms, nails digging into the fabric of his suit. You stare at his blood splattered face, "Don't you dare," You whisper, "Don't you dare go. That's an order Captain."
"Yes ma'am," You can feel a slight tremble in your palms, but you don't know if it's you or him. After the other's start to appear, looking shaken, the two of you relax slightly; whatever rapture had happened, you both were still here.
You sway on your feet; alarmed Steve helps you to the ground. You press one of your blood stained hands against the constant stream of blood from your thigh; the other still hadn't released Steve's arm.
"Here," The raccoon says quietly, handing you some kind of bandage, "Might help." He looks a little like you felt and you wondered who he lost. How much he lost. You weren't sure who was left, but you, Steve, Thor, Rhodey, Nat, Bruce and the raccoon were the only ones nearby. But hopefully not the only ones left. This couldn't be everyone.
"What is this?" Rhodey sounds panicked, "What the hell is happening?"
Steve stares at you, his face pale. "Oh god," His voice trembles and his eyes finally leave yours as he buries his head in his hands.