Some scenes in this chapter were taken from Aragorn II Elessar's 'Avengers, Slayer, Devil and stones'. Thank you to him for letting me use it.
Ellie Bishop: They take it about as well as you'd expect. I think all of them but maybe Bucky know the truth. Clint mentions that he has kids to Wanda when he breaks her out of the Compound and Scott and Sam are a few feet away when Tony outs Clint's family. And T'Challa probably housed Team Cap before Clint and Sam turned themselves in.
Avengers Compound
Morning
On the fifth day after the battle in Wakanda, Sam walked into the living area, seeing Bruce and Scott at work.
"Anything new?" Sam asked.
"No, we still have nothing," Scott said gruffly.
Sam nodded, eying Scott in concern. The man before him bore little resemblance to the Scott Lang he met two years earlier. He was completely obsessed with finding Thanos, not that Sam could blame him. But Scott practically had to be forced by Hope to eat and Sam wasn't sure when the last time he slept was. He hadn't shaved recently, judging by the several days of stubble he sported on his chin.
Sam was about to say something when, with a beep, a holographic screen appeared in front of them. Scott swiped it and, just like with Scott, footage from the front gate was shown. Except this time, it was of an unknown woman with three kids, a teenage boy, a girl a couple years his junior and a boy around four years old standing in front of a car.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" the woman asked.
"Anyone recognize them?" Sam asked after a moment.
"It's Clint's wife and kids," Bruce breathed, a pit of unease settling in his stomach.
"It's nice to meet you Laura, although I wish the circumstances were better," Sam said kindly after he had let the Bartons in.
"Thank you Sam," Laura said politely although they could all see the strain on her face. "Look, I don't mean to be rude here, but my husband vanished five days ago, and I think you know what's going on."
"We tried to stop it," Bruce muttered, a painted look on his face.
"Stop what?" Laura demanded.
"Thanos, an alien warlord," Sam elaborated at her confused look. "He used these items called the Infinity Stones to wipe out half the life in the universe. Like Bruce said, we tried to stop him but…we couldn't do anything, no matter how much we tried."
"Nat, Cap, Thor…they're all gone," Bruce said looking wounded.
At this new piece of information, Laura looked ready to breakdown while Lila and Cooper looked gutted. Nate, while he didn't understand what was going on, knew the rest of his family was upset.
"God," Laura muttered, bringing a hand to her mouth to try and stop the inevitable breakdown.
"I doubt God has anything to do with what's happening."
Startled, seven pairs of eyes turned to the source of the voice. In a black leather jacket, wearing an eye patch, Nick Fury had somehow entered the Compound and entered the room without any of them knowing.
"Good to see you all in one piece," Fury said as he walked over.
"Uh, who is this?" Scott asked after a moment.
"Nick Fury, former Director of SHIELD," Fury introduced himself. "Nice to meet you Lang."
"Uh…likewise?" Scott said as more of a question than a statement.
"Banner, good to have you back," Fury said as he nodded at Bruce.
"Wish I could say the same," Bruce muttered as he looked down at his hands, feeling useless. "I don't suppose you have a backup plan sir?"
"No, afraid not. I figured things were bad when people started turning to dust, but this is beyond my imagination," Fury said as he reached inside his jacket pocket. "I might have backup, if she's still alive."
Fury pulled out, to their surprise, a pager.
"Is that a pager?" Scott asked in disbelief.
"A what?" Lila asked.
"A million years ago, before there were cell phones, that's how people would call each other out of the house," Cooper said tonelessly.
"A friend of mine gave this to me a long time ago. I turned it on when Hill disappeared but it shorted out," Fury explained.
"Can I see it?" Scott asked, holding his hand out.
Nodding, Fury handed it to him. Scott examined it for a moment as they all watched it.
"I think I can fix this," Scott said.
"Can you turn it back on?" Fury asked and Scott scoffed.
"Please. Give me ten minutes," Scott said.
They all turned around and nearly jumped out of their skin. Standing behind Fury was a woman with long blonde hair, wearing a uniform that bore an odd resemblance to Steve's Captain America suit, except it had gold instead of white in the color scheme and had the same symbol Scott saw on the pager on her chest.
"What happened?" She demanded as she looked straight at Fury.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Scott asked once he overcame his surprise.
"Everyone, meet Carol Danvers. The backup I mentioned," Fury explained.
"Where is Thanos?" Carol asked once they had all been caught up to speed.
"We don't know, he went through a portal and vanished after he…" Bucky trailed off, not able to say it.
"I am Groot," Groot said as they all looked at him.
"You're sure?" Wanda asked and he nodded.
"I am Groot."
"What is he saying?" T'Challa inquired.
"He says he might know someone who knows where Thanos is. His team was going after Thanos before he and Rocket split up with Thor," Wanda translated. "If any of them are still alive, they might be our best bet to find him."
"Where are they?" Carol asked Groot.
"I am Groot."
"They'll be in his ship," Wanda translated.
"I am Groot."
"It has a homing beacon, follow it and you'll be able to find it," Wanda translated.
The Benatar, three days later
Peter was slumped against the side of the wall, barely conscious.
A few hours after the snap, he and Nebula had realized they needed to get off Titan if they wanted to survive. Peter had helped Nebula repair the damaged fuel cells as best as he could (he was smart, but not that smart) and, after a few days, they were moving through space. Unfortunately, after two days, the engines had died on them and the ship was simply a movie prop now.
Nebula had helped Peter stretch out the Guardian's food supply enough for two weeks, but unfortunately, that meant eating smaller portions and the hunger was starting to get to him. They only had about four more days of water left, so they needed to ration it. Nebula didn't need food or water as much as Peter, but he still felt bad.
Peter was starting to drift off to sleep as light started shining through the ship's wind shield. Opening his eyes groggily, Peter looked up to see a glowing, blond woman hovering outside the ship.
"Nebula, I think we're going home," Peter called out after a few moments.
Avengers Compound
Later that night
"You need to eat Scott," Hope said gently as she put a sandwich down in front of him.
"I'll eat when I have my daughter back," Scott said gruffly.
"You won't be any help in bringing Cassie back if you collapse from exhaustion. Scott, you need to eat," Hope said firmly, pushing the plate towards him.
After a moment, Scott picked it up and took a bite out it. He'd barely swallowed when, suddenly, the entire building started to shake.
Not long after, Scott and Hope ran up behind Sam, Bucky, Wanda, T'Challa, Bruce, Groot, Fury, Pepper and the Bartons as Carol flew down, gently placing the ship down on the front lawn.
They all watched with anticipation as the ramp lowered. They weren't sure what they were expecting, but a blue cyborg helping a teenage boy down wasn't one of them.
"Is that the Spider-kid?" Bucky all but whispered to Sam.
"Spider-Man," Peter mumbled as they reached the ground.
Acting on instinct, Scott raced over, helping Peter stand as Nebula stepped back. He's so young was Scott's first thought. And he could see it reflected in the eyes of everyone else.
"We couldn't stop him," Peter muttered.
"Neither could we," Sam said as he overcame his shock.
"I'm sorry," Peter said as he looked over at Pepper's shocked eyes. "Mr. Stark…there was nothing I could do."
As Pepper put a hand to her face, trying to muffle her sobs, Groot had walked over to the ramp, sitting down beside Nebula.
"I am Groot," he said softly.
Nebula silently reached over and grasped his hand, the two united in their grief.
Later, everyone was inside the Compound. Peter was sitting down, not having the strength to stand on his own right now.
"It's been eight days since Thanos came to earth," Sam began as holograms of those they lost began appearing.
Sam and Bucky both looked grim as they saw Steve's picture, their feelings of loss hidden by dark masks.
T'Challa winced upon seeing a picture of Okoye, the image of her turning to dust before him forever burned into his mind.
The Barton family all looked ready to break down as they saw the pictures of Clint and Natasha.
Pepper looked like she was going to curl into a ball while Peter looked sad as Tony's picture was shown.
Bruce looked guilty the whole time while Wanda simply stared impassively, still numb to it all.
"World governments are in pieces," Sam continued after a moments. "The parts that are still working are trying to take a census. And it looks like he really did it. Thanos wiped out...fifty percent of all living creatures."
"We've been hunting Thanos for the past week," Hope picked up where Sam left off. "Deep space scans, and satellites, and we have nothing."
"Look kid, I know you've been through a lot, but is there anything you remember from your fight with Thanos? Anything at all that could lead us to him? Maybe even something you don't think is significant?" Sam said gently.
"No. No, I'm sorry, but Thanos didn't really talk a whole lot about what he was going to do after his plan. He just said he'd rest and 'watch the sun rise on a grateful universe'," Peter said.
"Grateful. He murders my daughter and who knows how many other people and he wants us to be grateful!" Scott snapped angrily.
"Hey, Scott, calm down," Hope said gently, pulling him back.
"The kid's just telling you what Thanos said," Bucky pointed out.
"You're right," Scott said, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I-"
Scott suddenly swayed. Hope barely managed to catch her boyfriend before he fell to the ground as everyone looked in shock.
Later, Scott was in the infirmary, hooked up to an IV as Hope addressed the others outside.
"He's gonna be fine, he just needs rest. He's barely eaten since he found out about Cassie and he hasn't slept either. I'm surprised he lasted this long without collapsing," Hope mused.
"Well, you guys take care of him and I'll bring him a Xorrian elixir when I come back," Carol said as she started to walk out of the room.
"And where are you going?" Bucky asked.
"To kill Thanos," she called back, stunning them all.
"You know where he is?" Wanda perked up, the first sign of emotion she'd shown since the snap.
"I know some people who might," Carol said and several pairs of eyes stared at her in disbelief.
"Really? That's all you got?" Bucky asked incredulously.
"Look, this is all our fight. Instead of rushing off halfcocked, let's try to come up with a plan," Sam tried to play peacemaker.
"Don't bother," everyone looked over at Nebula. "I can tell you where Thanos is."
"Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me," Nebula started as they all stood in the living area. "While he worked, he talked about his grand plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. So I'd ask where we'd go once his plan was completed. His answer was always the same: to the garden."
"I'm sorry," Laura said, feeling sympathy for the alien woman.
"So where is he?" Bucky asked.
Silently, Nebula turned on the holograms, showing earth as a great burst of energy was shown.
"When Thanos used the stones, earth was flooded with cosmic energy that was unheard of. Until two days ago," Nebula said as she searched for a different planet, which had the same energy burst.
"He's using the stones again," Hope realized.
"Hey hey hey, we'd be going in shorthanded, ya know?" Bruce pointed out.
"I hate to say it, but Dr. Banner is right. Thanos still has the stones, "Hope pointed out.
"So let's get them. Use them to bring everyone back," Carol said.
"Just like that?" Bruce asked in disbelief.
"Yes, just like that," T'Challa said in agreement.
"And how would that end any differently than last time?" Bruce inquired.
"Because before, you didn't have me," Carol said simply.
"Then where were you?" Wanda demanded and everyone turned to her. "Where were you when Thanos was going after the Stones?"
"There are a lot of other planets in the universe and unfortunately, they didn't have you guys." Carol said.
"Oh bull," Bucky scoffed.
"My father would have known if someone like you were interfering in his business," Nebula sneered.
"From what Bruce told us, Thanos has been going to planet after planet, wiping out half the population, he's known throughout the galaxy," Wanda said, looking at Bruce for confirmation and he nodded. "Clearly, whatever you were doing, you weren't doing it properly."
"Hey," Fury tried to interject but Sam held up a hand.
"That's enough, all of you," Sam said before looking over at Carol, who had gone silent. "They're right though. They're out of line, but they're right. If you're as strong as you say you are, you could have stopped Thanos before he got the stones. So why didn't you?"
"I-I knew about Thanos." Carol said as she looked up at them all. "But I was too afraid of him. So I continued trying to find a home for the Skrulls."
"Well, the entire universe is now suffering because you chose to be a coward," Hope said, anger entering her voice as she looked at Carol in disgust. "Think about that the next time you want to tell everyone how strong you are."
"Look, right now it doesn't matter what we think of each other. What matters is Thanos," Sam said as he looked down at the holographic planet. "Let's go get him."
Benatar
Later
After Nebula, Hope and Bruce had used some of Tony's equipment from the workshop to repair the fuel cells, the three of them, Sam, Bucky, Wanda, Carol, T'Challa, and Groot all sat in the ship, Nebula in the pilot seat. Nebula took off, leaving earth's atmosphere.
"Approaching jump in 3.. 2.. 1." Nebula said and pulled a lever as the speed increased and soon, they passed a jump point.
When they emerged next, they were right in front of the planet the other surge of energy had come from. Carol unbuckled as the ramp lowered and she flew out into space.
"I'll head down for recon," Carol said before flying down to the planet.
As they waited, Bucky gripped his metal arm tightly, pent up anger flowing through him.
"This is gonna work Bucky," Sam said gently.
"I know. Because I don't know what I'll do if it doesn't," Bucky said after a moment.
Sam opened his mouth to respond but, at that moment, Carol returned.
"No satellites. No ships. No armies. No ground defenses of any kind. It's just him," Carol said.
"And that's enough," Nebula said darkly.
On the planet, Thanos returned to his hut after gathering some food. He had finished making it into stew when suddenly; a blast of energy came through the window. Thanos used his hand with the Gauntlet to block the energy before Carol burst in. She punched him, sending him to the ground before she jumped on his back, putting him in a headlock. He tried to overpower her when something burst out of the floor. It was Bruce, in the Hulkbuster armor. Bruce grabbed one of his arms, restraining it as T'Challa jumped in, grabbing his other arm. Groot then rushed in, one of his hands in the form of an axe. He swung his hand and Thanos cried out in pain as the hand with the Gauntlet fell to the floor.
"I am Groot," Groot said darkly as he glared at Thanos hatefully.
The others then entered the hut. Hope immediately went to the Gauntlet, turning it over. But, to her shock, the stones weren't there.
"No no no," Hope said in horror as everyone stared at the Gauntlet.
"Where are the stones?" Sam demanded.
"Answer the question," Carol sneered when Thanos remained silent.
"The Universe required correction. After that, the Stones served no purpose beyond temptation," Thanos grunted.
"You murdered trillions," Bruce snarled, pushing Thanos away and he fell to the ground.
"Where are the stones?" T'Challa demanded.
"Gone. Reduced to atoms," Thanos said to their horror.
"You used them two days ago!" Bucky snarled.
"I used the stones to destroy the stones," Thanos explained as they noticed for the first time that one side of his body was badly burned. "It nearly killed me. But the work is done. It always will be. I am… inevitable."
"We have to tear this place apart, he has to be lying," Hope said in denial, thinking of Scott and how he would react to hearing Cassie was gone for good.
"My father is many things. A liar is not one of them," Nebula noted.
"Ah, thank you daughter," Thanos said as he turned to Nebula gratefully. "Perhaps I treated you too harshly."
Suddenly, Thanos leaned back, glowing red. Everyone turned to Wanda as she made a crushing motion with her hands and a burst of purple blood flew out as a hole was torn in Thanos's chest where his heart once was. The blood splattered on the wall, some of it getting on Nebula's face as the lifeless body of Thanos slumped to the side.
"What have you done?" T'Challa asked after a moment of stunned silence.
"I made him understand," Wanda said hollowly, feeling more numb and hollow than she ever had.
Wanda then turned around and walked out of the hut as everyone else stared down at Thanos's lifeless body. Thanos was dead…but they had still failed. He'd won.
And that ends the first arc of the story.
So, Fury's alive but Hill was still a victim of the snap for plot purposes.
Now, Carol. I'll be honest. I don't like Carol, I don't like the way she was brought into the MCU and the reasons listed in this chapter are just some of the reasons why Carol's absence in the MCU up to Endgame makes no sense. But I couldn't figure out a better way for Peter and Nebula to make it back to earth realistically. She really won't appear in the story anymore.
And now that this is over, we can get to the Buffyverse characters once more. The story's second arc of the story will be split up into two storylines, an MCU storyline and a Buffyverse storyline. They will largely be separate for the most part but it's for story purposes.
There will be a time skip but it won't be nearly as big as five years.