Warning: Death and description of depression in this chapter.

Chapter 72: Perspective

Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh fuck oh shit-

Aunt May would kill him if she could hear his inner dialogue right now. But, to be fair, there were weird alien occultists trying to destroy the world, after some weird Titan guy already destroyed the world, so the language was maybe, probably, totally warranted. Peter swung through the streets of New York, not thinking about whether or not he could run out of web fluid here, or what would happen if he fell, and whether or not it was different than if he fell out in the real world (cause there's no way this was the real world). All he could focus on was getting to the literal burning tower of fire breaking into the sky, the heat of it hitting him even a full city block away. He could hear the sound of the Falcon flying behind him, and even further behind that, the sound of Mr. Bucky's boots as he ran through the streets. What would Mr. Stark say, knowing that he was teaming up with these two guys now to try and save the world? He imagined he'd say something along the lines of careful, kid, you never know what people are planning. But perhaps that was just in his head; after all, Mr. Stark had joined forces with weird aliens and wizards to try and take down Thanos, so maybe working with Falcon and the Winter Soldier wasn't too much of a stretch.

The same robed people were back in their circle, and even though they were short a member their power seemed to be the same, which was uncool but not entirely unexpected. Peter stopped as he reached the intersection, wondering if he should just go ahead and web them up again or if that would just be a waste of time. Falcon landed next to him, apparently having the same train of thought, and a few minutes later, Mr. Bucky skidded to a halt, his expression stony and serious.

"Back on their bullshit." Falcon said with a heavy sigh. If Peter didn't know any better, he'd say the guy sounded annoyed more than terrified that the very fabric of their existence was about to unravel.

"What're we gonna do?" he asked, not bothering to hide the fear in his voice. He'd already died once, and it had hurt! Bad! He didn't want to go through that again!

"I still stand by the river plan." Bucky deadpanned. "Or we can just take them out, they don't seem to have any extra physical capabilities."

"Besides that magic bullshit." Sam replied. The sky was starting to ripple and wave, meaning that they were going to have to make a decision, and quick.

"But we can't hurt them...can we?" Peter asked, only to be ignored by the other two. He wasn't some stupid kid, why were they always ignoring him?

"Aren't you supposed to be on a no-kill spree?" Falcon questioned him, and Bucky simply shrugged in response. Peter clamped his mouth shut at that; if everything was fair game, perhaps he didn't want to irritate the guy with questionable morals and a deep skill set.

"Survival is another story." he replied, and Peter wondered if it was his spider senses that picked up the odd tone in his voice or if it was obvious to everyone else too. That wasn't his main concern though, his heart rate immediately spiking at the implication.

"Whoa whoa whoa, no, we can't just - I mean - kill them?" he whispered the last part, as if the chanting people would hear them. If they'd even noticed their presence, they clearly weren't threatened by them. "I'm - I'm the friendly neighborhood Spiderman! I don't kill people!"

"We're not in your neighborhood, Spiderpunk." Falcon said, his voice turned militaristic. He put up a tough front, Peter knew, but he could also see the way his jaw clenched as he said it. He didn't want to kill them either, but Bucky was right, this was a matter of survival. And not just for them, either - for everyone. Speaking of, he looked between Falcon and Peter, and Peter saw the moment where something in his mind changed, though he couldn't exactly say to what. If they ever got out of this place, he was going to have to find someone to teach him how to read people.

"I got this. You two just cover me." the Winter Soldier said, pulling two knives out from his uniform. He didn't give Falcon or Peter any time to fight him on the matter, striding purposefully towards the circle of people. The ground underneath them was starting to shake and splinter; they were out of time. The Winter Soldier broke into a run, readying himself to take on the multiple enemies, but before he could reach them an orange rune circle appeared on the concrete, with tendrils spidering out and wrapping around each of the people. Dr. Strange appeared in the sky, physically pushing the column of fire down until he reached the base, a loud boom echoing around them when he hit the ground. More light and runes danced out from where he kneeled, running in a wave over the ground and the buildings until it was completely out of sight. Peter watched as the people stopped, tried to start again, and found that their powers could no longer take hold.

"What the fuck?" Bucky muttered, and Peter couldn't help but share his sentiments. He knew Dr. Strange was powerful, but this was completely different from what he'd seen on Titan. His shock at the turn in events was immediately overcome by his joy of finding just the man they were looking for.

"Dr. Strange!" he exclaimed, running to join them with Falcon not far behind. "See? I told you, this is the guy we needed to find. He knows what's going on, he can get us out of here."

"Afraid not, Peter." Dr. Strange said. He eyed Falcon and Bucky, and both of them had the impression that, even if he couldn't get them out, he knew a lot more about what was going on than the rest of them. Peter faltered, unsure of where to go from here but determined to remain optimistic.

"But you at least know how to deal with all of this, obviously, I mean-" he gestured at the occultists, who were still trying to start up their fire again. Peter wondered how long they had until they turned on them. "You stopped them. You changed something in this place. So you can fix it all, right?"

"Unfortunately that's not how this works." he said. He stamped his foot on the ground, and the orange light spread until it shocked the occultists, knocking them completely unconscious. "I was able to seal it so that no one could destroy it from the inside. But for us to be released, we'll need help from the outside."

"So what you're saying is, we're stuck here." Falcon said lowly, putting his hands on his hips. He muttered a few swears under his breath, letting his frustration at the situation show. Peter stammered for a minute, his mind whirring as he tried to come up with a solution.

"But your powers, the magic, the - the - the portals! You can just portal us out of here, right?" he asked. There we go! Problem solved! It would take some time to get through everyone, sure - or maybe they could gather as many people as possible, and create one big portal-

"You can make portals to other places?" Bucky asked, a sudden eagerness in his voice. Oh shit! His wife! Peter had completely forgotten about her. How could he have forgotten about her? Well, probably because he was trying to save the world. Again.

"Yea he can! Dr. Strange, Mr. Wint-I mean, Mr. Bucky here needs to get his wife, and I told him that if we can find you that you can help, cause she's not here in New York she's in...uh…" he trailed off. Where was she again? Had Bucky even told him? He couldn't remember. So much had happened already, it was hard to keep it straight.

"That's not how this works." he reiterated. "We're not on earth, Peter. My traveling requires one solid reality to function. We're stuck in a conglomerate of billions of realities."

"But then how did you get here?!" he asked. He wasn't from New York, he knew that much. Wasn't he from some other planet? Or another dimension? How did he get all the way to New York in such a short time?

"I'm from Philadelphia, I walked." he stated, his words twisting the knife in Peter's gut.

"Oh." he said lamely, deflated. It was all he could think to say. He'd hedged all his bets on the wizard, and turns out Bucky was kind of right - he was just a man behind the curtain. Granted, this man behind the curtain was also able to shut down people trying to destroy whatever reality they had left, but he couldn't get them out of there. Falcon was right, they were stuck. "So we just...wait?"

"We wait, and we hope that everything happens the way it's supposed to." he said. Peter didn't really like that answer, and it didn't seem to sit well with Falcon or Bucky either. The latter nodded resolutely, taking a step back from them.

"In that case, this is where I leave." he said, and once again panic flared in Peter's chest. Didn't he know what happened when the party split up? Bad things! Terrible things! He moved to be in front of him, and the look he gave him made him actually, legitimately afraid for the first time since they'd teamed up the day before. It must have shown on his face (May did always say he was terrible at hiding his thoughts), because Bucky let the intimidating look fall away, leaving him just looking tired. "Move, kid."

"No, no we have to stick together." Peter tried to reason. But what reason could he give him now? There was no one trying to burn down the world, and the wizard couldn't help him. He had every right to walk away now.

"There's going to be disorder. People will need help to stay safe." Dr. Strange offered, and for a second Peter was surprised that he was helping. Once again, he got the annoying impression that he wasn't saying everything he knew.

"All the more reason for me to find my wife then." Mr. Bucky replied. Falcon gave him a nod of approval, and Peter wondered if he knew her, if they were friends. In fact, he almost looked like he wanted to join him.

"She will protect herself." Dr. Strange said, and Mr. Bucky's gaze hardened. His tense muscles gave off such an energy that Peter actually took a step back without thinking about it.

"I am getting really tired," he said, his voice so calm and controlled that it was scary, "of people telling me not to go find my wife."

"There's a reason-" Dr. Strange began, but Bucky exploded.

"Fuck your reasons!" he exclaimed. "The world is shit. Everything has gone to shit. And you expect me to stay here while my wife is out there, dealing with God knows what, and simply wait because of this bullshit or that. I'm done dealing with this." He tried to walk away, but an orange rune circle appeared beneath his feet, freezing him in place. His metal fist clenched, the plates clicking softly and the machinery underneath it whirring as he built up power. "Let. Me. Go."

"All the important players are coming here." Dr. Strange explained. "You leave now, you miss her. You will pass like two ships in the night, and I cannot promise that you will be able to meet again."

Peter watched as Mr. Bucky closed his eyes, his forehead scrunched in a ton of emotions that he couldn't make sense of. "If this turns out to be more bullshit," he said lowly, threat lacing every word, "then we are going to find out if you can die in this place."

"Trust me, my own sense of self preservation is strong enough that I do not make empty promises." he replied, letting go of the circle. They stood in silence for a moment, Falcon and Peter looking at each other awkwardly while Mr. Bucky refused to meet any of their eyes. Frustration was coming off of him in waves, and Peter wondered if everyone could feel it, or just him. A commotion started a couple blocks away, with the distinct sounds of yelling and fists hitting bodies. Three of them looked towards it, trying to tell the exact direction. One stayed staring at the concrete, but faced his body directly toward it.

"Fine. Let's go." Mr. Bucky said through clenched teeth, stalking towards the sound of the fight. Peter, Falcon, and Dr. Strange could do nothing but follow him.

…

Day Three

We finally made it to the apartment. The weird sky thing happened again, but this time it stopped out of nowhere, and then after that, some weird symbols appeared on the ground. They were only there for a second. Is this just a thing that's going to happen? This place is fucked up.

It's strange being in my old place - our old place. There's signs of you everywhere. Even our wet clothes from your birthday are still where we threw them when we came back in. The sheets are still torn from when we had-

Day Four

Elena and Nicolae's apartments were empty, and Hans wasn't in the pub. I didn't care to look for Alexei, considering the first thing I'd do if I saw him again was punch him in the face. I know you've long forgiven him, but I will probably hold a grudge either till I die or until I'm able to hit him.

I went into your apartment today. It's exactly as I remember it of course. Your journal was there, but all the pages were blank. I guess that's what I get for being nosy, but really I just wanted to see your thoughts from when we first met-

Day Five

Sometimes I wonder if this is actually hell and no one told me. Why else would I be stuck with Dominic instead of with you? I miss you. I miss you so much. It kinda pisses me off, if I'm honest-

Day Six

The bed is too big without you-

"What the fuck are you doing?" Mika screeched, and while the volume kind of hurt his ears, he made an effort to keep his calm exterior. After all, she was the one writing shitty journal entries crying about how much she missed her weird neighbor guy. Fucking pathetic.

"I was curious about what you were scribbling down every night. Turned out to be even worse than I expected." he said, snapping the journal closed. He could see the anger on her face, and couldn't help but smirk. God, it was still so fun to piss her off. She stomped over to him and snatched it away from him, holding the book close to her chest like a middle school diary.

"And what exactly were you expecting?" she asked through clenched teeth. Oh, he'd really done it this time. He felt a sense of pride at her response; after a week of minimal contact, it felt good to pester her again.

"Well more about me, for starters. Even if it is negative." he replied, trying not to sound as salty as he felt. He'd done everything she asked of him, and yet she still couldn't be bothered to give him more than very minimal attention. Once again, she was missing out on everything he was doing for her. She rolled her eyes at his words, putting her journal in her bag and going to the kitchen, pulling out a large knife from the drawer. He shot to his feet and moved so the couch was between them, his hands out in front of him like he was trying to placate a mad crocodile. "Now now, love, no need to get hasty, I was just taking a peak-"

"This isn't for you, no matter how much I wish it was." she said sharply, pulling the little cardboard sheath from the kitchen knife. She went to the front door and pulled it open, but didn't go down the stairs, instead turning towards the large wall next to her apartment and carving into it.

"Have you gone mad?" he asked, still wary to go near her when she was holding such a sharp weapon. He tried to see what she was carving, but the angle was too acute. "Or is this a new art installation? Taking after your younger sister now?"

"You don't ever get to talk about my sister." Mika said, pointing at him with the knife, and for the first time he realized that she probably did know how to use it. When he held up his hands in fake innocence, she turned back to her wall. That's when he noticed that she was dressed in her boots and jeans again, and the bag she'd tucked the journal into wasn't the small purse, but instead a larger one.

"What's going on, Mika?" he asked. She didn't answer, instead just cutting deep lines into the plaster. "Mika!"

"Same shit, different day." she replied, not taking her eyes off her task. He felt anger boil in his chest, his neck growing hot with it. She always thought she was so goddamn smart with her stupid, cryptic comments. He opened his mouth to snap at her, but she stopped her motions, stepping back to look at the final product. Without another word, she tucked the knife into her bag, grabbed her baseball bat from the door, and started down the stairs. Dominic stared after her for a moment before scrambling into the hallway, watching as she descended with a purpose. He turned to the wall to see what she'd scribbled on it, swearing loudly as he read the short message.

B-

Went to NY.

-M

"Shit shit shit-" Dominic ran after Mika, pissed that she was leaving without asking him and even more pissed that she didn't seem to care to let him catch up. He shoved the front door open and ran to catch up with her, remembering with a half second to spare not to grab onto her. "What the fuck, Mika?"

"You're home, Dominic. Our trip is over. I'm going to New York to find Bucky." she said resolutely, still walking. God, he hated when she was so stubborn!

"So you were just going to leave, then? No goodbye, no nothing?" he asked. She didn't look at him; in fact, she had the most irritating smirk on her face.

"I don't need your permission. You asked to come with me to Bucharest, and we're in Bucharest. You're on your own from here." she said. She looked like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Was she actually happy to get rid of him? After everything?

"You didn't ask yourself why Bucky didn't come here for you?" he said, digging in deep in a place that he knew would hurt her. He didn't want her to go back to her sham of a marriage; she was supposed to stay here with him. That was the plan. But her steps didn't falter.

"He has a habit of getting tangled up helping people, even if it hurts him." she said, casting a wayward glance at him. "So no, I didn't ask myself that, because I trust that he's waiting for me."

"You're delusional." he stated.

"And you're a prick." she retorted.

"Do you even know how to get to New York?" he asked, a last ditch effort. He felt everything spinning out of his control, and he hated not being in control. Mika shrugged in response.

"The coast is west. I'll start there." she said, gripping the strap of her bag tightly with one hand. Ah, so she was a little nervous.

"And what if the weird sky thing happens again?" he dug in more, trying to make her doubt this trip even as she continued her strong pace down the sidewalk. Up ahead of them, two men stood on a balcony, arguing loudly. Across the street, a woman and her child sat on the curb, playing with some toy he couldn't see. People were starting to get used to this life, if it could even be called that.

"Then I'll find a place to stay, just like I did all those other times." she said. Was she implying that he did nothing to help them? Sure, he didn't find them shelter, and perhaps he'd forgotten the route back to Bucharest, but still! His presence kept other men from bothering her, and she should be grateful for that!

"You're going to get hurt." he said, and despite his anger, worry started to simmer beneath the surface. He'd already lost her once...okay, twice...okay, four times, but he would not lose her again. Not this time. Not when fate was clearly pushing them together.

"I can take care of myself, thank you." she said. The argument down the street was louder now, but he couldn't tell if it was due to their proximity or if it were simply escalating. It made his nerves feel on edge.

"You don't know that. You don't know who you could meet out there. There could be crazy people." he said, making her roll her eyes.

"Always so dramatic." she sighed. "We're stuck in a stone. I think I can handle anything that comes my way."

The two men were yelling full on now, shoving each other around the balcony. Their words were completely mixed together so that they couldn't even get the gist of their argument. Dominic didn't know why his eyes were drawn to them, but it was probably because they were almost directly overhead, and their voices so loud that he couldn't even hear himself think. He saw as one guy pushed the other too hard, time seeming to slow down as his back hit the railing, then as his momentum and whatever form of gravity they had here slowly tipped him over the edge. The other guy's face changed immediately, his hands fumbling to grab onto the man's legs, but the first man was free falling. Dominic grabbed hold of Mika's bag strap, ignoring her protests and pulling her backwards. She started to yell at him, but saw the man too, both of them stopped with their jaws dropped as he fell and landed on the pavement in front of them. The noise was sickening, and the silence that followed even more so.

They thought they couldn't get hurt in this world, but one look at the man told them they were wrong. Mika ran up to him, shaking off Dominic's arm and going to kneel next to him. There was no blood, but his eyes were unfocused, his mouth spasming as he tried to form words with the little air his lungs could produce. Something was wrong with the back of his head, but they didn't want to move him to find out exactly what. Mika held his hand and tried to talk to him in soothing tones, but he was clearly fading fast.

Dominic soon realized that he wasn't just figuratively fading, but also literally fading. As he died, his body started disintegrating, turning to dust just the way they had when the snap first happened. Soon there was nothing but a pile of ash, and Mika's hands were stained grey with the man's remains. Well, this certainly changed things.

"Please don't leave me on my own." Dominic said, his voice shaking despite his best efforts. He was scared, and the only way he was going to keep himself alive was to be honest about it. "Please, Mika, you can take care of yourself I know but I...I don't know if I can. I don't know how to fight, or to protect myself. I know I've fucked up with you but...please." he said. Mika rolled her lips in, staring long and hard at the dust before closing her eyes and sighing.

"Let's go." she said quietly, not even looking up at him. She didn't sound happy, or scared, or even annoyed. She just sounded tired. Dominic didn't even care, he was just glad she didn't say no.

…

Nicoletta was at a complete loss.

She'd meant to go back home - back to Germany, or Romania, or wherever her plane landed. She'd meant to hold a service for her sister, and her mother, and her brother-in-law. She'd meant to tell Steve it was okay, she understood, that she knew that he tried his best. She meant to comfort him as he was hurting from the loss of his family too. But the night he'd returned, they'd laid down in bed, and she just hadn't managed to get back up again.

Get up, she could hear her mother saying to her. You're fine. It's just your feelings. You always feel too much.

Stay and rest, her sister's voice came to her. Let me make you cookies and tea. We'll watch Netflix until you feel better.

"Hey." Steve's voice interrupted her thoughts as he came to sit next to her on the edge of the bed. He was quiet, subdued, just as he had been for the past few days. She adjusted so she could see him, but the idea of picking her head up was still too much. He reached out, gently brushing her hair away from her face. God, it must be so tangled by now. "How is it today?"

"The same." she sighed. Her family was still gone. He reached down and pulled up a bag.

"I got you something." he said, revealing a large sketchpad and her favorite brand of pencils. Her eyes watered at the gesture, and she wished she could feel any sort of excitement, but she still just felt empty. She ran her fingertips over the cover of the pad, the familiar cardboard calling to her. Maybe she didn't feel empty. Maybe she was so full of emotions that she had to get some out in order to feel any of them. She slowly sat up, her joints protesting and her head swimming at the movement. Steve put an arm around her to steady her, and she leaned into his side. He was solid, he was here, and she'd abandoned him.

"How do you do it?" she asked, half into his shirt. It wasn't what she meant to say; she'd meant to apologize. But she could do that later. He leaned his head against hers, and his shoulders sagged with the weight of everyone they'd lost.

"Not well." he finally responded. "I keep hoping today will be the day someone will figure something out...and when they don't, I'm just on autopilot."

"Hm, autopilot." she said with a half-hearted laugh, even though it wasn't amusing at all. "Isn't that what got you into this mess in the first place?"

The joke was lame, and horrible, and she shouldn't have made it. But he snorted at it, which made her giggle, and soon they were both laughing too hard at the bad gag. She wasn't even sure what they were laughing at at that point, but damn did it feel good to laugh.

"Ah, shit." Steve sighed, finally getting himself under control. Nicoletta shifted, letting her legs fall off the edge of the bed so that she was sitting next to him. He grasped her hand, hers feeling small and cold as he held it. The color was coming back into her face, though he knew it would still be a while before she was smiling like she used to. She put a hand on her stomach, her brows furrowed deep in thought. His brows rose at the action; what was she thinking? "What? What is it?"

"I think I'm..." she trailed off, and a billion different endings went through his mind before she finally said, "hungry."

"God, gimme a heart attack." he said, shaking his head. "Well hunger, I can deal with. What do you want me to bring you?"

"I kind of want to go down to the dining room." she said, nodding to herself as if she were still deciding it. She looked up at him then, and he gave her a small smile.

"To the dining room it is, then." he said softly, as if afraid to scare her back under the covers. She nodded again, then paused.

"I think I need to shower first." she added, cracking a small smile. He grinned in return, shrugging his shoulders.

"I mean, I wasn't gonna say anything, but…" he left the tease hanging, and she pouted and pinched his elbow, just as she would have before. They were both hurting, both still trying to figure out what they were going to do and how they were going to deal with all of this. Circumstances had brought them together, when they probably would - or should - have never even known each other. But now, they were one of the few left behind.

And together, they'd figure out how to heal, too.

So much drama! I hope y'all like the occasional switch in POVs, cause it's super fun for me. Anyone else sick of Dominic? No worries, lads, his time is almost up, and our faves will reunite soon!

So with a whole year until Falcon and Winter Soldier, I'm trying to figure out my plan for this story. So, what would y'all like? Little slice of life chapters? An AU story for Mika and Bucky? Or a completely different Bucky story? (I've got one in the works!) I'd love to hear your opinion!

Thank you so much for the reviews! I'm sorry I had to take a couple weeks off, but I hope you like these recent installments! Please let me know what you think!

-XM