A/N: Italicized text can represent several things (dialogue in another language, inner thoughts, flashbacks, etc.) please be aware of this and the context to better understand what is happening!


"We'll be entering the Wakandan airspace soon," Sam called back from the cockpit.

Odette jolted awake, feeling as though she'd only been half asleep during the flight. In the chair beside her, Steve was already wide awake. Odette quickly remembered where she was and what was happening as she looked around the quinjet. Wanda and Vision were seated together, with the young witch looking as if she hadn't gotten any sleep during the trip. Pietro and Brooke were leaning against each other, still asleep, with their hands intertwined together, and Pietro's head resting on top of Brooke's. Natasha and Rhodey were both in copilot seats, clearly having taken over for Sam at some point during the flight. And Bruce was awake and nervously bouncing his leg.

"The barrier," Odette turned to Steve. The Golden City was protected by a barrier, making it invisible to the outside world. To anyone outside the barrier, it appeared as a thick, dense jungle. Sam had never flown into the city before, so one of them had to warn him.

"I'll handle it." Steve said, patting her knee twice before he stood up and made his way to Sam. "You tell T'Challa we're here." He said before he turned back around to face the front window. "Drop to twenty-six-hundred, heading zero-three-zero." He informed Sam.

Odette held up her wrist, swiping until she got a hold of the barrier control, "This is Captain Rogers' quinjet," she informed the stern looking officer, "We are here with permission from the King."

"Identification?" The officer asked.

"Captain Rogers, Doctor Swann, and company." Odette answered.

"Entry way?" The woman asked.

"Riverside, south west." Odette informed her.

With the turn of her head, and a few silent taps on a screen Odette couldn't see, the woman turned back to her and smiled, "Welcome back, Doctor Swann. You are clear for entry. We will let King T'Challa know you are here."

Odette smiled and swiped the projection away, "Steve," He turned to her, "We're clear."

"Let's not keep them waiting, Sam." Steve nodded once.

Sam gave him a curious look before following Steve's command, "I hope you're right about this. Or we're gonna land a lot faster than you want to."

However, just as it seemed they would hit the trees, the barrier lifted itself just enough for the quinjet to fly through without crashing into the barrier. Odette stood up and gently shook Brooke's shoulders, effectively waking both her great-niece and Pietro with a start. "Where," Brooke hyperventilated for a moment before she remembered where she was, "Where are we?" Her tired eyes slowly focused on Odette as she shifted stiffly in her seat.

"We're in Wakanda." Odette informed them, "About five minutes from landing."

Brooke grimaced and quickly sat up and away from Pietro to give her curls a pat down, "Wait, are we, like, meeting the king?"

"You fought alongside him." Pietro yawned as he stood up and stretched. "Why do you care how you look?"

"I don't want to look like a bum." Brooke answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You never look like a bum." Pietro was quick to tousle Brooke's hair, earning him a shove to his stomach. He laughed.

"You look fine, kid." Natasha reassured her.

Odette looked out the front window with a smile.

Even though Odette knew the true reason the city was nicknamed The Golden City, Wakanda's capital certainly earned its nickname as the sun traveled overhead. When the sun crested over the mountains, the entire city seemed to alight in shimmering golds. She would never grow tired of seeing the cityscape of Birnin Zana.

Sam expertly followed Steve and Odette's directions until they made it through the city and to the Citadel. He gently put the quinjet down and lowered the back bay doors.

Odette led their slow-to-rise crew into the mid-morning sunlight. Steve and Natasha were on her heels, with Sam, Brooke, and Pietro behind them, Bruce and Rhodey behind them, and Wanda and Vision bringing up the rear.

She smiled when she saw T'Challa, Okoye, and Ayo, however, she stood aside to let Steve take the lead as they neared the king and the Dora Milaje.

"Seems like I'm always thanking you for something." Steve and T'Challa shook hands.

"What are you doing?" Rhodey whispered loudly behind her. Odette glanced over her shoulder and was embarrassed to see Bruce attempting to bow.

"Uh, we don't do that here." T'Challa put his hands up as if to show Bruce that he didn't expect him to follow their traditions. Which was fair, Odette very rarely expressed the expected Wakandan sign of respect for the King, but that was only due to his insistence that they had moved past her being a guest. She usually reserved such a form of respect for the Queen Mother.

T'Challa then turned to Odette, "Shuri is waiting in the lab." He motioned to his kings guard, "They will escort your teammate."

Without asking permission, Brooke and Pietro instinctively followed Wanda and Vision as they were led away from the group.

"So, how big of an assault should we expect?" He asked her, waving at them to follow him as he turned around and began to walk back towards the Citadel. They followed him.

"Uh, sir," Bruce spoke up, "Sir, I think you should expect quite a big assault."

"How're we looking?" Odette asked.

"You will have my kings guard, the Border Tribe," He turned over his shoulder, "What remains of them."

"Hmph." Odette held back a grimace at the mention of them.

"The Dora Milaje, and—," T'Challa motioned to the man that was stepping out of the Citadel and walking towards them.

"A semi-stable, hundred-year-old man." Bucky smiled at them.

Odette's breath caught in her throat as her heart skipped a beat. "Shuri must have finished his arm," she realized, unaware of how red her cheeks were growing as Steve and Bucky embraced each other. The arm was gorgeous. Composed entirely out of smoothed and polished black vibranium, with gold lining defining the muscles and joints in the plating. It moved as naturally as the arm he'd been born with.

"How you been, Buck?" Steve asked, pulling back to admire his friend's new look.

"Uh," Bucky shifted from foot to foot, flipping his loose hair out of his way, "Not bad, for the end of the world." He joked.

"Mind if we join our friends?" Natasha asked, nodding towards the four other Avengers who were boarding a transport.

"Of course." T'Challa obliged.

Steve turned back to Odette, "Odette, you and Sam okay staying here as lookout?" He asked.

Sam nodded, "No problem, Cap."

"We'll be fine." Odette reassured him with a smile.

"I'm staying too." Rhodey said, "I gotta get the suit on before shit hits the fan."

With a nod, Steve turned to catch up with Natasha, and Bruce as they decided to follow Vision to the lab. Sam followed Rhodey back to the quinjet, clearly not wanting to be around Odette and Bucky for what was to follow.

Odette waited for everyone else to follow T'Challa before she stepped back up to Bucky. "I'm sorry for bringing the fight here." She apologized, "But Vision's wounds were beyond what I, or even Bruce could handle."

Bucky shook his head nonchalantly, "It's fine." He smiled at her. Then he looked down at his new arm. He tightened his fist, the artificial muscles of the arm flexing as he did so. "Do you like it?" He asked, glancing at her.

"I love it!" Odette wanted to blurt out. Instead, she swallowed, her mouth and throat dry, "Do—do you like it?" She asked, wanting to be sure he liked it before her opinion influenced his.

Bucky glanced behind her, obviously keeping an eye on Sam as he loomed in the background. "Once I get to use it, I think I'll love it." Bucky said in a low voice with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Odette swallowed a gasp before she could alert Sam to what he'd said. "James Buchanan Barnes!" she whispered between her teeth. She swatted his chest and pressed her lips into a tight line so she wouldn't smile and give him the satisfaction.

Bucky smirked, "Full name, huh, Farm Girl?" he asked.

"If you're going to be filthy about it, yes." Odette said, trying very hard not to blush or smile. After they'd both calmed down, Odette reached out and gently laid a hand on Bucky's arm. "Did they tell you what we were up against?"

Bucky frowned, "No."

Odette took a deep breath, "I'm not entirely sure myself. Bruce goes into near hysterics anytime he tries to describe it." She turned to watch Sam and Rhodey talk at a distance, "All I know is; he's an alien hellbent on destroying half of the universe."

Bucky looked at her as though she'd just sprouted a second head, "An alien?" he asked. Odette nodded. "What, like, from outer space?" He asked.

"Yes." Odette nodded again, "We fought some of his 'children'." Bucky's eyes widened even more if that was possible. "It's how Vision got hurt." She looked off in the direction of the lab. "If anyone can fix Vision, it's Shuri." She thought. "They're after the stone in Vision's head."

"Stone?" Bucky asked.

Odette paused, realizing that she hadn't caught Bucky up on everything that had happened since Thor first came to them with the knowledge of the Infinity Stones. "It's a long story," She reached down and took his free hand, "just trust me when I say that; if Thanos gets ahold of any more stones, we may not win this fight."

Hell, even with the two they knew for a fact that Thanos had, Odette wasn't entirely sure they could take him on.

Bucky frowned, his eyes flickering over her face as if trying to see if she was lying to him. When he couldn't find anything, he sighed. "Can't ever rest, huh?" He asked.

"I'm sorry." Odette apologized once more.

Bucky only nodded, his lips pressed in a thin line, "Someone's gotta make sure you and Steve don't do anything stupid." He said.

"Uhh, Doc," Sam called from his spot on the landing pad. Odette turned around, but Sam was not looking at her, he was looking at the sky. Odette and Bucky craned their necks back as a shape careened through the atmosphere, burning up as it slowly drew closer and closer.

Odette, with her eyes never leaving the object, jogged over to Sam, ready to teleport him, Bucky, and Rhodey to safety if she needed to. "Call Steve." She ordered under her breath, her mouth going dry.

"Hey, Cap, we got a situation here." Sam pressed a finger to his comms piece in his ear.

The object, whatever it was, burned up, but kept hurtling itself towards the city. It exploded as it impacted upon the barrier and a hush fell across the city. Odette watched, horrified as the barrier shook.

"God, I love this place." Bucky said, his neck arched backwards to watch the explosion.

"Yeah, don't start celebrating yet, guys." Rhodey looked across the city towards the mountains, "We got more incoming outside the dome."

Sure enough, about half a dozen more of the burning crafts were falling towards the Earth.

Despite the barrier protecting the city from the blast of debris tossed up by the crafts embedding themselves in the earth, they could still feel the tremors under their feet.

"Steve?" Odette called over the comms line, praying that they hadn't been cut off.

"We're on our way." Steve finally answered. "The Hulkbuster is in the quinjet, get it out and ready for Bruce."


They loaded up in transports, filled to the brim with the kings guard and the Dora Milaje. Sam and Rhodey flew in their suits as they traveled to the edge of the barrier.

"How're we looking, Bruce?" Natasha asked over the line.

"Yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of it!" Bruce answered. Odette watched as Bruce flew by in the Hulkbuster, shouting as he tried to steady himself before he was forced to land and start running alongside their transport ships. "Wow! This is amazing, man! It's like being the Hulk without actually—," He tripped, shouting in their ears from the shock of his tumble.

If they hadn't been riding towards the terrifying unknown, Odette would have laughed. However, she was more concerned that Bruce would be a liability more than he would an asset on the field. "Oh boy." She sighed.

"I'm okay." Bruce called. Odette turned back to watch Bruce stand up. The Hulkbuster was now covered in grass stains and dirt. He wiped himself off. "I'm okay."

"I've got two heat signatures breaking through the tree line." Rhodey informed them.

The transports slowed down and turned just enough for everyone to hop off before they turned around and returned to the city. Odette landed in the knee high grass and could hear the chants of the Jabari men growing louder as they joined the front ranks. Odette stood to Steve's left, between him and T'Challa, as the soldiers flanked out behind them.

T'Challa and M'Baku faced each other and shook hands. "Thank you for standing with us." T'Challa said.

Odette, however, was looking out towards the barrier. "Sam, did you get a closer look at those two heat signatures?" She asked.

"One of them is our old friend from the train station." Sam confirmed. "She brought her big brother this time."

Odette grimaced. "Penny for your thoughts?" She asked before turning to look up at Steve.

Steve squinted in the sunlight towards the barrier, "They're here. Which makes me wonder where the other stones are."

"Why send an army after just one stone, unless…" Odette trailed off. Steve looked at her, realization settling over both of them. "Unless this is the last one…" she couldn't even say those words...because if that were the case...Vision would have less time than they'd originally anticipated.

"Do you think they would tell us even if we asked?" T'Challa asked incredulously.

"No. But they will." Steve said, and then he stepped out of line to march towards the barrier. Instinctively, Odette followed him, and out of her peripheral vision, she saw T'Challa do the same.

"They won't leave." Odette said, "Not until they get what they came for."

"Then we'll just have to distract them and keep them away from the lab." T'Challa held his head high.

As they drew closer to the barrier, Odette watched the horned alien drag her sword across the barrier. Sparks of electricity arced off the sword, but she could not penetrate the barrier. She only lowered her weapon when they stopped on the opposite side of the barrier.

"You're new." Odette squinted in the sunlight as she nodded to the big alien beside her. She turned to the horned alien, "Lose your other one?"

She didn't seem too bothered by Odette's mockery, "You will pay for his life with yours."

"So he is dead. Well. One less one to worry about." Odette thought.

"Thanos will have that stone." The alien truly believed that.

"And that answers that." Odette realized, her heart pounding in her chest. She did her best to keep her expression even, despite the chill that ran down her spine. Thanos most likely had the other five Infinity Stones, and if he didn't, he likely would soon. Vision, Wanda, and Shuri were all that stood in their way.

"That's not gonna happen." Steve's voice was even, and dangerously low.

"You are in Wakanda now." T'Challa spoke up, "Thanos will have nothing but dust and blood."

"We," The alien said with a smirk, "Have blood to spare." She then grunted as she raised her weapon overhead.

The ships that had landed in the forest beyond the barrier began to open up. Inhaling sharply, Odette grabbed Steve and T'Challa, teleporting them back to their ranks.

"They surrender?" Bucky asked as they turned to watch the ships open up.

"Not exactly." Steve answered.

T'Challa stepped in front of the ranks, starting up a chant to organize his kingsguards, the Dora Milaje, the Border Tribe, and the Jabari.

Odette's heart hammered in her chest as a growing thunder shook the ground. "What the hell…" Bucky breathed out as a mass of writing, furious creatures came rushing from the tree line.

"Looks like you pissed her off." Natasha mumbled out of the side of her mouth to Odette.

"Something like that." Odette couldn't tear her eyes away as the aliens rammed themselves into the barrier. They clawed and tore their way through, but the barrier quickly seared their flesh and dismembered them before they could get through. They landed, dead on the ground inside the barrier, but none got in.

"They're killing themselves." Okoye said, watching in horror as the aliens swarmed the base of the barrier.

However, a few sturdier aliens managed to tear holes into the barrier just long enough for them to slip in. The Border tribe put up their shields, protecting the farther back ranks. Odette gripped her new rifle, taking deep steadying breaths.

She raised her rifle, adjusting it into the pocket of her shoulder, and stared down the scope.

On T'Challa's command, she, along with everyone else with a ranged weapon, open fired on the ones that made it inside. Odette had to let her mind wander as she fired. She was using just a regular rifle to shoot down aliens—ALIENS! Dr. Luce had never prepared her for this kind of work!

"You see the teeth on those things?" Sam called over the lines as he flew ahead and deployed explosives across the field.

"All right, back up, Sam." Rhodey called, "You're gonna get your wings singed." Rhodey circled around the edge of the barrier, dropping much bigger explosives which sent the aliens still outside the barrier in separate directions.

"Cap," Bruce spoke up, "If these things circle the perimeter and get in behind us there's nothing between them and Vision."

"Then we better keep them in front of us." Steve muttered under his breath.

"How do we do that?" Okoye asked, looking to T'Challa for orders.

"We open the barrier." T'Challa answered.

Odette snapped back into her body and turned to him, lowering her rifle, "What?" She asked incredulously. "We'll be overrun."

"If we don't, they will still overrun us, but they will be closer to the lab." T'Challa pointed out. Odette could do nothing but watch as T'Challa put a finger to his earpiece, "On my signal, open North-West Section Seventeen." Someone responded to him, which only he heard. "On my signal." He confirmed.

"This will be the end of Wakanda." Odette heard M'Baku on the other side of T'Challa.

"Then it will be the noblest ending in history." Okoye responded through gritted teeth.

On T'Challa's command, the Border Tribe lowered their shields and he stepped before their small army and into the field.

"Wakanda Forever!" T'Challa shouted, crossing his arms over his chest, and pulling up the cowl to his suit. The armies shouted back in agreement and everyone took off in a mad dash down the field. Odette kept her rifle down, memories of the war flashed in her head and her training instinctively took over. There would be no time to think. She had to survive. She had to make sure everyone survived.

They made it halfway to the barrier when a small slit, only about ten feet wide opened in the barrier.

And, like floodgates opening, the aliens mindlessly rushed inside.

Steve and T'Challa charged to the front of the pack, jumping across the creek and meeting the first wave of aliens. Odette dug her feet into the soft earth, kicking up dirt as she came to a stop in the midst of the army. She raised her rifle once more, took aim and fired.

"I don't have to kill every one of them," Odette thought as she took down two aliens back to back, "I just have to keep them back until Wanda can destroy the stone." A shriek was strangled in her throat as a familiar shoulder bumped against her back.

She looked over her shoulder, desperately blowing the loose curls out of her face as Bucky stood beside her, taking out any of the aliens that managed to slip by her. "What?" He asked over the snarls and shouts of the aliens and Wakandans, "Did you think I'd really let you win?"

Odette resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she turned back to the battle, "Keeping track of Nazi's was more fun than keeping track of aliens." She informed him, grunting as she kicked the snout of an alien that tried to snap at her ankles. She turned and rapidly fired into the alien's skull, thick, tar-like blood splattering her boots. "The stakes are a little higher here."

"You're saying you forfeit?" He asked, a cocky smirk on his face.

"James," Odette turned to lecture him on the appropriateness of playing a game when the fate of the universe was at stake. Instead, she watched in horror as an alien leapt from the lines and dove straight for Bucky. "Bucky!" His gun was tossed aside as it tackled him to the ground. She quickly teleported to the weapon, dropped to her knees to grab it, and dodged a sonic blast from their own side. She turned, kicking up dirt as she aimed Bucky's rifle down at the alien. Bucky had pulled out a knife from his belt and was repeatedly stabbing it. It grunted and squealed in pain, but with the pull of the trigger, the alien's body shuddered and fell limp on top of him.

Odette let go of the breath she'd been holding and ran over. With a grunt from both parties, they managed to roll the heavy beast off of him. "I'm winning, by the way." She panted, giving Bucky a hand up.

She handed him his gun and shouldered her own. "No more toys." She told herself. Taking off in a run, Odette began to rip aliens apart from the inside. With some difficulty, she even managed to tear a hole in space and suck a good chunk of aliens into it. She grabbed aliens that got too close, opening holes within their skulls that caused their bodies to implode.

All the while, she heard Bucky's gun protecting her six. She held up a force field, protecting herself as a pair of aliens charged at her. She screamed as they rammed into the force field at full speed, pushing her back and forcing her to dig her heels into the dirt. They continued to ram into her force field and push her back. She grunted in pain and pushed back against them, but as more and more aliens began to swarm her, she realized she would have to lower her guard eventually in order to kill them and get them off of her.

Her back hit Bucky's chest and he grounded her, wrapping his arms around her outstretched arms in order to keep her powers steady. "Easy there!" He said beside her ear. "I've got you!" Even though he had to shout for her to hear him over the sound of alien jaws snapping and their feral screeches, he still sounded quiet. The aliens continued to swarm the force field, forcing Odette to enclose the two of them in a dome.

"We're not going anywhere!" Odette realized as panic began to set in.

Over the comms line she could hear the rest of her team fairing just about as well as they were. Sweat built up on her brow and back as she struggled against the weight and force of the aliens on her force field. Then, through the writhing flesh of alien bodies, Odette saw a blindingly bright light.

She squinted as the light broke through the bodies, and then realized that the aliens were being knocked off her force field. She watched, panting heavily as she lowered her force field, as a large, electrified axe swung its way across the battlefield, knocking out dozens upon dozens of aliens before being caught in a storm at the center of the blinding light.

Odette had to force herself to breathe again and a smile broke out on her face, "Thor!"

The God of Thunder himself stepped out of the blinding light, which immediately receded. Bruce had been mistaken! Thor wasn't gone! He was here! He was alive! He had a tree and raccoon with him—

He had a tree and raccoon with him?!

She did a double-take. Sure enough, a raccoon holding a gun, and a walking tree stood beside her friend.

"Ah ha! You guys are so screwed now!" Bruce laughed.

"Bring me Thanos!" Thor shouted as he took off in a run. As the next wave of aliens charged at him, Thor leapt into the air, summoning a storm of lightning to his side as he slammed his axe into the ground. The earth shook and cracked as lightning poured from the sky.

There wasn't much time for celebration, as Odette and Bucky quickly had to resume their protective offense for each other. Thor's little raccoon friend was shooting an alien rifle wildly at the aliens that charged at them and the two looked at the animal in shock when he began to smack talk the aliens.

Odette tore open holes in the ground as they were charged from the front. The aliens whimpered and screeched as they were sucked into the earth before being buried alive.

"Yeah! Come get some, you space dogs!" The raccoon shouted gleefully.

"Get down." Bucky ordered. He picked up the raccoon and turned in a circle, using their combined fire power to take down the next wave that charged them from behind. Odette obeyed, dropping to her knees. Hot, fiery energy smoked off her hands as she felt the dirt under her rumble from the battle.

"Come on! Get some! Get some!" The raccoon laughed.

Odette stood back up as Bucky dropped the raccoon. "How much for the guns?" The raccoon asked, motioning to the weapons they had.

"Not for sale." Bucky grimaced as he raised his rifle once more.

"Okay, how much for the arm?" The raccoon asked.

"Get the hell back out there and fight!" Odette shouted at the little creature. She picked him up by the scruff of his neck. With a charged shot, she launched the raccoon into battle. A hot blue trail of energy tailed after the screaming raccoon.

Odette turned and watched as Bucky advanced on another wave. She teleported to his side. "I've got to get to the thick of this." She panted, "Maybe if I can get enough of them out of here, we'll have a chance."

Bucky glanced at her as he continued to fire his gun, "I don't want you leaving my side." He said over the gunfire.

"We don't have a lot of options here." Odette could see her team coming together in the densest part of the battle. "If I can get to my team—,"

But Odette was cut off as Bucky grunted and grabbed her hand. He forced her palm open, forcing her to put up a force field around them. With his free hand, and in one swift movement, he shouldered his rifle and cupped one of her cheeks.

Kissing Bucky was like jumping headfirst into a frozen pool. It jolted her senses and made her feel alive. And slowly, but not always, it got hot. Even in the midst of a battle for the universe, Bucky somehow made Odette feel as though they were the only two beings left in a vast emptiness.

Kissing Bucky reminded them both of what they had been through, and how far they had come. Tortured and experimented on. Kept apart. On the run. All the words they never got to say to each other were felt in this moment with this kiss. It was short, though the seconds felt like hours, and there was a needy desperation that filled Odette with a need to come back for more.

Eventually, though, they had to part to breathe, and Bucky pressed his forehead to hers. "I don't want you leaving my side." He repeated himself.

Odette swallowed, trying to bring herself back to reality, "I have to go." She whispered looking up at him. Turning back to the battle she spread her fingers. The force field shot backwards across the ground, dragging aliens and dirt along with it before it dispersed. She turned to Bucky, "I'll be right back, I promise." She reassured him, teleporting above the densest part of the battle.

Allowing her mind to go blank, Odette clenched her hands into tight fists. As she dove back towards the Earth, hot white, and fiery blue energy engulfed her arms. She landed on one knee with her fists pressed into the dirt. The energy snaked off of her body, arcing off across the field and ripping aliens off of the ground. Several dozen alien bodies were suspended in midair, hovering gracefully, as though not fully affected by gravity. Then, with a sweeping motion of her arms, Odette stood up and pressed her hands to the sky with a scream. A force field appeared under every alien that had been engulfed in her powers, and they suddenly shot upwards into the air like squirming, squealing rockets. Once they were a safe distance above the battle, Odette crossed her wrist over her head and pulled them apart in a tearing motion. Each alien exploded, being torn apart from the inside.

She panted heavily, her eyes slowly rolling back forwards in her skull and she swayed on her feet. A hand steadied her as a familiar voice asked, "Have you always been able to do that?"

She forced her breathing to get under control as she looked up at Thor. "No." She admitted. Then, she reached out and cupped Thor's cheek, still in disbelief that he was here and alive! His hair had been brutalized, chopped very close to his scalp, and one of his eyes was a different color.

"Had they always been a different color?" Odette wondered as an adrenaline fueled laugh bubbled out of her. "It's so good to see you." She whispered over the sounds of the battle.

"It is good to see you too, Odette." Thor admitted, smiling down at her.

Behind her, Steve jogged over and turned her towards him, "What the hell was that?" He asked incredulously.

"Language, Captain." Thor teased.

Odette waved off Steve's concerns, "I'm fine. Sometimes I just," she shook her head helplessly, "move on instinct."

Steve nodded, breathless, "We could use some more instinct." Then he looked at Thor. His brow tightened and he tilted his head curiously, "New haircut?" He asked.

"Noticed you've copied my beard." Thor answered. Nearby, the walking tree was running aliens through with its extended arm. "By the way," Thor noticed Odette and Steve staring at it, "This is a friend of mine, Tree." He motioned to Tree with his axe.

"I am Groot!" The tree yelled angrily over its shoulders.

Steve put a hand to his chest, "I am Steve Rogers."

Odette nodded politely with her greeting, "Odette Swann."

A distant rumbling in the trees turned the three Avengers back towards the battle. Amidst the fire and debris by the fallen space ships, the earth began to shift. Odette was sure she stopped breathing as the ground undulated, something underneath digging its way under the barrier where it suddenly burst from the ground.

Large, wheel-like, bladed machines chewed up the earth and anything on its surface. Bodies, friend and foe, were tossed into the air from the initial explosion from the earth, or torn to shreds within their blades. Five of these machines deployed from the initial attack, tearing up the ground as they wheeled dangerously across the battlefield.

Over the comms line, Odette could hear T'Challa shouting for them to fall back.

"Doc, come on!" Steve pulled Odette further back and away from the machines.

Odette quickly turned and grabbed Steve and Thor, teleporting them away from the machines as they drew closer.

Odette turned around, expecting to see the machines advancing towards them, however, she was shocked to find that they had been halted by a red mist. "Oh, I hope she got that stone." Odette finally forced herself to breathe as Wanda absolutely obliterated the machines and took out a good chunk of the alien army around her.

Then Odette felt a cold chill run down her spine, "If Wanda is on the field—," Odette began to spin in circles, desperately searching the familiar and unfamiliar faces around her.

"Odette, what..?" Steve began to ask her.

Odette cupped her hands around her mouth, "Brooke!" She couldn't focus on the battle, "Brooke!" Her heart pounded so furiously in her chest, she was terrified she may just drop dead of a heart attack. She couldn't find Brooke or her speedy shadow anywhere! "Brooke!"

Steve slowly put two and two together, but he grabbed Odette before she could do anything rash, "Odette, stop. Odette, look at me!" Odette stopped screaming, her throat raw. She swallowed, her mouth going dry. "If she's out here, she's with the twins. She's safe." He reassured her.

"Guys!" Sam called over the line, "We got a Vision situation here."

Steve turned to Odette, "Get to Vision, I'll find Brooke." He ordered.

Odette wanted to protest. They did things together, that's what made them a team—a damn good team! Nothing good ever came from separating Steve Rogers and Odette Swann.

"Go!" Steve shouted.

Odette teleported to the base of Shuri's lab. Steve's voice called over the line, "Somebody go as backup for Odette. Get to Vision!"

"I'm on it!" Bruce called.

"I'm on my way." Wanda answered.

"Shit! Be right there!" Brooke shouted.

Vision's pained grunts drew Odette's mind away from the sheer relief that flooded her upon hearing Brooke's voice. "Vision!" She ran through the wooded area towards his voice.

The alien Odette had assumed was dead kicked Vision down and Odette teleported between Vision and the big alien from earlier. She put up a force field, but had to dig her toes into the earth to keep from being knocked completely backwards as the big one swung a hammer towards them.

"Doctor Swann," Vision grunted.

Odette kept her force field up and glared at the two aliens, "The Stone?"

"It's no use." Vision sounded exhausted.

Before Odette could retaliate against the two aliens, Bruce landed the Hulkbuster armor between them, and Pietro was suddenly at Vision's side, helping him up.

"Oh, no, you don't." Bruce held up the gauntlets on his armor, charging up an energy pulse, "This isn't gonna be like New York, pal." Odette turned back, making sure Pietro had Vision before she encompassed all three of them within her force field.

"What happened?" Pietro asked.

"We were attacked." Vision held his injured side with one hand and his head with the other. He looked to be in a lot of pain.

"This suit's already kicked the crap outta the Hulk." Bruce continued to warn the aliens off. Unfortunately, as soon as Odette turned around to grab Vision and teleport him back up to the lab, Bruce let out a startled scream. She turned back around in time to watch Bruce and the big alien fly off into the trees.

"Shit." She cursed, her hand flying to her comms line in her ear, "Guys! Back up! Now!" She turned to Pietro, "Get him back to the lab!" Pietro nodded. Odette lowered her force field, ready to attack the smaller alien when he charged at her and grabbed her by the neck.

A scream got strangled in Odette's throat as her feet left the ground. She kicked and clawed desperately at the alien's thick hand, panic setting in as she felt something pierce her chest, just below her sternum. "All of this," His voice had a robotic cadence to it as he snarled down at her, "for a machine." Odette screamed in pain as his spear drove deeper into her chest. She dropped her hands from the hand crushing her neck, to the weapon embedded in her chest. She tried furiously to push it back out of her, but to no avail. Blood pooled behind her lips and gunked up her lungs. She couldn't breathe! She tried to teleport away, but the spear blinded her with a brilliant blue glow. A pain she hadn't felt since she had been tortured in the war sent arcs of energy through her body. It felt as though her limbs were drifting apart, her body held together with volatile energy, her blood was on fire! It was as if her own body was attacking her all over again.

"Hey!" A blur sped by them, tearing the alien off of Odette where she collapsed to the ground. To her surprise, Vision was beside her, helping her sit up. Odette clenched her jaw and hissed deep breaths in and out between her teeth. Blood sprayed from her lips, staining the earth beneath her red. When she looked up, she spotted Pietro (or at least, the blur that was Pietro—"damn, when did that boy get so fast!") continuously beating the alien down and back. He moved so fast, it was as if he were in multiple places at once.

Odette risked a look down at her chest where a growing blood stain was causing her a bit of concern. "It should have been me." Vision said, laying a ginger hand on the wound.

"No." Odette shook her head and looked up at him. The stone was still firmly lodged in his head. "You are far more important than me." Vision opened his mouth to protest, "I am a relic, an echo of the past, but you—," Vision's faded eyes never left Odette's, "you are the future...you are everything." Vision had been a protector for Brooke and the twins, he'd been their savior in Sokovia, he was the Avenger's legacy.

Pietro let out a strangled scream as the alien caught him with his spear and put the young boy in a choke hold. "Pietro!" Vision tried to stand up, but his own aches and pains kept him knelt beside Odette.

Pietro grabbed the spear that crushed his windpipe and kicked his legs out in wild directions as the alien lifted him off the ground. However, before any final blow could be delivered, Steve and Brook came bursting through the trees. Steve barreled into the alien, knocking the three of them down.

"Pietro—Odette!" Brooke screamed. She ran over to Odette and Vision and dropped down on the other side of her wounded aunt.

"Get him out of here!" Steve ordered.

"Odette can't move!" Brooke shouted back.

"Take Vision and go." Odette ordered, pulling Brooke's attention away from the wound, which now felt numb. "Don't worry about me."

"Doctor," Vision began to protest.

"Odette, I," Brooke's eyes widened in panic, "I…"

Odette reached up with cold hands and pressed Brooke's chin between her index finger and thumb, "I'll be okay. Go."

A gargled cry of pain drew their attention across the clearing. Somehow, Pietro had ended up with the alien's spear and he ran him through before he could bring down a killing blow to Steve's head. Panting heavily, Pietro helped Steve up.

For the first time since his arrival, Steve turned to Odette and the others. "I thought I told you to go." He said, stepping over the fallen log that separated them. He paused and the tension in his brow melted away when he saw Odette.

"We don't trade lives, Captain." Vision said, shaking his head.

"I'm fine." Odette tried to reassure Steve as he ran across the forest. He dropped to his knees, skidding to a stop beside her. "Stop," She said sharply before Steve could even begin to worry about her, "We need to get Vision back to Shuri's lab." Every sentence had to be forced out in one breath, the pain making it hard to breathe and speak.

Just then, a wave of red washed over the forest floor and Wanda landed on her feet. "Oh my god," She gasped, covering her mouth.

"Steve, I'm in no state to move right now," Odette shook her head, "You and Pietro need to get Vision up to the lab. I'll walk Brooke through—,"

Just then, Vision gave out a cry of pain. The stone in his head glowed brilliantly, and Wanda was beside him in an instant, helping him stay upright. "What? What is it?" She asked, worried.

We are here

Odette's blood ran cold.

"He's here." Vision confirmed her worst fears.

A silence fell over the team.

The wind blew through the trees.

Odette's breath came in jagged gasps.

Steve stood up, his eyes immediately scanning the vicinity, "Everyone, on my position." He pressed a finger to his comms line, "We have incoming."

It didn't take long for those nearby to answer Steve's call. Bruce came back with one less arm on his suit, but he reassured them it was still functional and that he wasn't hurt. Sam flew into the trees, bringing Natasha with him. T'Challa and Okoye stood, listening to their land as the very air itself seemed to shift in a dangerous direction.

"We are out of time, Doctor." Vision breathed out beside her.

"No," Wanda shook her head, "No, we can still do this."

Then, in the path the Hulkbuster armor had torn through the trees, a familiar collection of smoke and shadows coalesced together, but it wasn't Odette who summoned forth the portal through space. Instead, The Mad Titan, Thanos, stepped through. Smoke and shadow melted off of his form as he stepped softly onto the earth beneath him. Energy and electricity, fiery and glowing a brilliant blue, arced off his body and into the void where it dispersed behind him.

We bring salvation.

Thanos was massive, easily over eight feet tall, nearly matching the Hulkbuster in height alone. And he was built of solid muscle. The casual way he stood across the forest from them made Odette's heart stutter to a stop.

"You need to go." Odette whispered to no one in particular, as it seemed she had been talking to brick walls the entire time. Brooke, Wanda, and Pietro formed a protective circle around Odette and Vision.

"Cap." Bruce spoke up, confirming their worst fears, "That's him."

"Eyes up." Steve gripped his Wakandan shield, "Stay sharp."

Bruce charged at Thanos. With a glow from his gauntlet, Thanos turned Bruce and the Hulkbuster incorporeal and tossed him with ease into the rockface of the mountain behind him. The armor was half submerged in the rock.

"We have to go." Odette grunted again as she pushed herself up.

"Easy, Doctor." Vision aided her.

Every part of her body felt numb, but she had to move. Despite the open and actively bleeding wound in her chest, getting the stone out of Vision was more important than her own comfort or life.

Steve charged next. Thanos didn't even let him within arms reach before he tossed Steve into the air like he was an old newspaper.

Odette gritted her teeth and began to push Vision with all of her body weight away from the battle.

One by one the Avengers charged at Thanos.

T'Challa was slammed into the earth where his suit unwillingly released all of the energy it had stored.

Vision would not take another step.

Odette was helpless as he turned and took Wanda's hand. "Wanda," Vision panted heavily, he let go of Odette and knelt before the woman he loved, "It's time." He looked up at her, still holding her hand.

"No." Wanda's voice shook as she held back tears.

"They can't stop him, Wanda," Vision shook his head, "But we can," he grabbed her hand again as she turned away.

Sam's wings were disabled and he crumpled to the ground at Thanos's feet.

Odette looked past the two as Thanos approached. She staggered around the two of them and planted her feet firmly on the ground.

"Look at me," Vision urged, "You have the power to destroy the stone."

"Don't." Wanda's voice was low.

With the wave of Thanos's hand, Pietro was knocked across the clearing, landing on top of Steve who was struggling to get back up.

Odette clenched her hands into fists.

"You must do it, Wanda, please." Vision's voice grew quieter, "We are out of time."

"I can't." Wanda whispered.

"You can." Vision reassured her, "You can. If he gets the stone, half the universe dies. It's not fair. It shouldn't be you, but it is.

Turning back, the palm of Thanos's gauntlet emitted an energy wave similar to Brooke's and knocked her to her knees.

Odette spit out the blood that had coagulated under her tongue and glared at Thanos through her curls. "Come on, then." She panted out under her breath.

"It's alright." Vision said, "You could never hurt me." Wanda was silent. "I just feel you."

Rhodey's suit was crushed with him inside and Thanos tossed him aside as well.

No further

Odette wrapped the shadows around the forest and pulled up a force field, protecting herself, Vision, and Wanda within. As the darkness consumed them, Odette watched through fading vision as Thanos tossed Bucky and Okoye aside and crushed Natasha in the earth.

Odette kept her force field up, even though her heart told her to go to her friends.

No further.

Despite being in total darkness, Wanda's red energy glowed brilliantly behind her. Vision's heavy, pained breaths slowly turned into gasps of relief as magic and energy flooded his system. Odette couldn't turn back to watch, but she stepped back, her knee pressing into Wanda's to let the other girl know that she was there.

"You're doing great, sweetie." She whispered, though she doubted if Wanda even noticed.

Choking back a sob, Wanda raised her other hand, using it to speed up the process of destroying the love of her life. Odette extended her senses, feeling Thanos stepping closer and closer despite her friend's best efforts to keep him back.

She could hear Steve screaming. And then he was silenced.

No…

Odette closed her eyes and panted heavily. The pain was getting to be too much. But she kept the shadows up, hoping beyond hope that she could turn Thanos around in the darkness.

A fiery blue glow, similar to Odette's own, ripped through the blackened force field.

NO!

Odette screamed as she struggled against Thanos and the space stone.

The shadows slowly ebbed away from the forest, melting off of the trees and seeping back into the ground from whence they came. Odette stood firm, bleeding out, half conscious, in the worst pain of her life. But she could not let Thanos take another step forward.

She pushed back against him, glaring at him through the sweat and her curls as she took a shaky step forward. Thanos dug his feet into the earth to keep from behind pushed back.

Another step.

Thanos pushed back, glaring back at her.

Odette's arms began to shake. Her knees wobbled. She looked beyond Thanos. Her fallen friends were scattered across the forest floor. She gritted her teeth and doubled down on her stance.

She had kept Steve and herself safe from death for nearly seventy years!

She had kept a helicarrier from falling out of the sky—four times!

She had kept half of a city from rocketing into space!

But this?

Odette was fighting against the pure power of the Space Stone as it worked in tandem with four other Infinity Stones.

She had to win.

She had to.

An explosion of energy knocked into her back, sending Odette face first into the dirt.

"She did it!" Was Odette's first thought, her heart leaping into her chest. Beside her, she could feel Wanda's body against hers. "She must have fallen from the explosion, too." Odette realized. She began to push herself up, trying to move as gently as possible so as not to disturb her wounds. The ringing in her ears deafened her to Thanos's footsteps. It was only once his massive feet were beside her head that she shot up. Instinctively, Odette spread her arms wide, nearly falling back against Wanda—who had fallen beside her—in order to shield and protect her.

Thanos looked down at both of them before his eyes firmly landed on Wanda, "I understand, my child." Thanos's voice was deep and gruff, but heavy with an indescribable burden. "Better than anyone."

Wanda's breath came in ragged gasps, "You could never."

"Maybe don't taunt the evil alien when he's standing over us." Odette's delirious thoughts began to spin.

They'd destroyed the last stone. Thanos had lost. So, what would become of them? He didn't seem like the type to just hang up his coat and go home? He'd come this far—

Thanos reached down as if to touch Wanda's head. With the last of her strength, Odette unshouldered her rifle and stabbed his hand away. She glared up at him, panting heavily. "Don't touch her." She seethed, blood spraying from her lips.

Thanos sighed and closed his eyes, "Today, I lost more than you could know." He opened his eyes, "But now is no time to mourn." He stepped past the two women, who turned and watched in wide-eyed horror as he looked to The Golden City. "Now is no time at all." He said. He clenched his fist and the air hummed with energy as it began to glow in shades of green.

Opening his palm, Thanos turned his hand counterclockwise.

"No...no." Wanda breathed as the explosion that had just knocked them down suddenly reversed. Vision's body reformed, building itself up until the stone settled back into his forehead. "No!" Wanda screamed. She stood up, knocking Odette aside to charge at Thanos.

Thanos easily backhanded Wanda across the forest floor.

Stop!

Odette wasn't sure if she said it or if the Stone had done something, but she was suddenly on her feet between Thanos and Vision. She held up her hands to block Thanos from reaching for the stone, but, as if he were anticipating her, Thanos swiped his gauntlet out at Odette. She turned incorporeal, misting away as a shadow of smoke in the wind. She could do nothing but scream as Thanos reached through her and grabbed Vision by his neck.

Try as she might, no matter what Odette did, she could not lay a finger on Thanos. No amount of force fields, or wild right hooks could land on him while he kept her a ghost.

Thanos pinched the stone in Vision's head, crushing the metal skin encasing it before he yanked it out from the circuitry within. Vision immediately went limp, the colors draining from his synthezoid body in an instant. With as much care as one would take to handle garbage, Thanos tossed Vision's body aside.

Odette stood before Thanos, watching in horror, with her heart in her throat, and her body still ethereal, as he admired the Mind Stone for a moment before he slid it into his gauntlet.

A burst of energy exploded from the gauntlet and Odette became corporeal once more. She stepped back as light, energy, and radiation crawled up Thanos's arm, tracing the veins under his skin as he screamed towards the heavens. Once his body had resumed control of the power Thanos glared down at Odette.

She took another step back, but she didn't need to.

A storm of lightning hit Thanos square in the chest, knocking him backwards across the forest floor. Odette watched as Thor's new axe spun through the air, tearing through the pure energy Thanos shot off of his gauntlet. For a second, the axe slowed and Odette feared it would not make the final stretch it needed to hit The Mad Titan.

But it did.

The axe lodged itself in Thanos's chest and he gasped in pain, dropping to his knees and gripping the metal tightly as Thor landed in front of him.

"I told you." Thor panted heavily, "you'd die for that." He pressed the axe further into Thanos's chest, causing the Titan to scream. His face grew tight and contorted with pain, but Thor did not ease up.

Growing limp, Thor put his hand on Thanos to keep him on his knees. Odette crept forward, her eyes flickering between Thanos and the gauntlet. Thanos wheezed, finding it difficult to get a full breath in with an axe shoved between his lungs.

She was so close.

Just a little further.

Thanos made eye contact with her.

No…

Thanos glared up at Thor, "You should have gone for the head."

"NO!"

An explosion of light blinded those who could witness it.

And just like that, it was gone.

The wind blew through the trees.

"What did you do?" Thor demanded. Odette's eyes did not leave the destroyed gauntlet. "What'd you do!?" He shouted.

Thanos gritted his teeth and clenched the destroyed gauntlet into a fist. He disappeared into a shadowy vortex, the same as he came. Thor's axe clattered to the ground. Thanos's blood was still on it.

Thor looked up at Odette.

She looked at him.

"Where'd he go?" She turned around, Steve was hugging his side, clearly injured. He turned around, looking desperately for Thanos. "Thor?" Thor couldn't answer, "Where'd he go?" Steve asked again.

Odette looked beyond Steve as Bucky picked himself up. She began to stagger towards him. He was looking curiously at his arm, and Odette was fearful that perhaps he'd damaged it in some way.

"Steve?" Bucky called, "Odette?" She picked up her pace, her voice getting caught in her throat as the edge of Bucky's fingers began to disintegrate.

"Bucky," She reached him and desperately grabbed onto his remaining arm before his legs turned to dust and his body gave out in her arms. Odette collapsed from the shift in weight, her knees hitting the ground with enough force to shake her teeth in her skull. His gun clattered to the ground beside her, but Odette didn't hear it.


Thank you to everyone who has already favorited/followed!

I love the smell of trauma on a Thursday, don't you?

That being said, I'll see you Tuesday!