Space. You were going into space. No big deal right? You tug at the straps of your harness casually, testing the strength. "Okay," Rocket says, "Who here hasn't been to space?"
Nat, Steve, and Rhodey all raise their hands, and rolling your eyes you raise your own, quickly dropping it back to your side. "Why?" Rhodey asks suspiciously.
Rocket just turns around, fiddling with some controls, "You better not throw up on my ship," he warns.
"Approaching jump in three...two...one!" Nebula declares. Suddenly the ship lurches forward with a sickening speed and you feel like all of your internal organs bounce off of your spine. After what seems like no time at all the ship slows down and hovers above a planet you recognize from the hologram. Danvers appears in front of the ship, glowing faintly.
"I'll head down for recon."
"This is gonna work Steve," Nat says gently as you prepare to depart the ship.
"I know it will," Steve says, but his voice sounds resigned, "'Cause I don't know what I'm going to do if it doesn't."
"No satellites, no ships, no armies, no ground defences of any kind," Danvers informs you as she returns, "It's just him."
"And that's enough," Nebula says darkly.
You enter the building last with Steve and Natasha, your finger hovering over the trigger as the barrel of your gun automatically finds Thanos' head. You take in the scene, the gauntlet is on the floor, still attached to Thanos' arm. Based on the blood dripping of Stormbreaker, you had to assume Thor was the culprit. Good. You hoped it hurt.
You watch with a calm satisfaction as Rocket walks over to it and kicks it over. For a second you can't breathe as you take in the empty hollows in the surface of the metal. The stones were gone.
"Where are they?" Steve demands.
"Answer the question!" Danvers shouts. You can't take your eyes off of the gauntlet.
"The universe required correction," Thanos responds, "After that the stones served no purpose beyond temptation."
"You murdered trillions!" Bruce pushes him to the ground, powered by the Hulkbuster armor.
"You should be grateful," Thanos says before Bruce's fist hits the side of his face. That snaps you out of it.
"That doesn't answer the question," Your voice is quiet compared to Bruce's shouts, "Where are the stones?"
"Gone. Reduced to atoms."
"You used them two days ago," Bruce cries.
"I used the stones to destroy the stones," Thanos explains, "It nearly killed me. But my work is done. It always will be. I am... inevitable."
"We have to tear this place apart," An edge of panic is creeping into Rhodey's voice, "He-he has to be lying."
"My father is many things," Nebula says, "A liar is not one of them."
"Ah, thank you daughter," Thanos says quietly, "Perhaps I treated you too harshly."
You knew then that there was no fixing this. The Thanos in front of you was useless. You step forward, sliding your short sword from the holster on your back as you move. "(Y/n), no!" You hear Steve shout, but you ignore him. It wasn't time for words, it was time for blood.
He hits you from the side, knocking you to the ground. You try to throw him off but he plants his knee against the small of your back, using his weight to keep you down; so he has absolutely no chance of stopping Thor as he summons his axe and charges forward, slicing off Thanos' head with a single blow. You watch as the head lands on the floor, inches from yours, with a buzzing satisfaction.
"What...What did you do?" Rocket demands, horrified.
You stare into Thanos' dead eyes as Thor responds, voice thick, "I went for the head."
You hear his footsteps retreat and then Steve's weight disappears. You climb to your feet, brushing the dirt from your suit before turning to face him, your face sticky with the Titan's blood.
You expect anger, or horror, or something, but Steve just looks at you with a hollow resignation. Finally he reaches for you, fingers brushing over the back of your hand. "Come on," He says quietly, "Let's go home."