A/N: I know fanfiction was having issues last week making it so some of you guys couldn't see the last chapter, but hopefully everything's working now.


Chapter 98

Toni hadn't wanted to leave Titan. How could she when her son's ashes were still scattered all over the planet? He had died here. All that remained of him was here.

But when Nebula had insisted they leave, she hadn't had the strength to say no. Because she was right. They needed to leave the planet or they would die. There was no food or water left on the deserted planet after Thanos had finished with it the first time, and after the second time, the battle they'd just had, there was very little planet remaining.

Her son was dead.

Her grandson was most likely also dead.

What did she even want to go home for?

She thought of Steve. Of how he wouldn't have any idea what happened to her on the planet and that had been what finally convinced her to leave the planet. She owed her husband the truth. That she hadn't been enough to protect their son. That she'd failed him, and now he was dead.

She wondered if he would have been safer on Earth.

After the first ten days of travel, she'd started to open up to Nebula. She could tell that the half mechanical alien was jaded herself, and well, if they were going to be alone in space together then at least she could make an attempt to get to know them.

"His name was Peter," she'd said, on the eleventh day, as her voice broke. "Peter Benjamin Parker Stark-Rogers."

Nebula had looked up with interest. It was the first conversation they'd had that wasn't pertaining to trying to survive. The first conversation they'd had about what had happened.

"He wasn't my son by birth. But I've been in his life for most of it," she said, as she shed a tear. "He was the smartest kid I knew. Hell, I think he's smarter than me. I adopted him a few years ago with my husband, and my life hasn't been the same since. I didn't think I was capable of loving another human being like I love him and my daughter, and it's my fault he's gone. I should have insisted he stayed home. Should have turned the ship back around when I realized he was on it or made him sit the fight out at a safe distance. Maybe then he'd still be here now. It's all my fault."

Nebula didn't dispute her. But she also didn't try and comfort her, and she appreciated that. Because what could anyone say to make this better? Thanos had won. He'd snapped his fingers and with that, taken out half of all life on the universe.

"Gamora was my sister," Nebula offered in response. "We both were children of Thanos. Not by birth, but by adoption. She was always his favourite. I tried and tried to be better. To be good enough for him but I never was. And every time I failed, and she won in a fight, Thanos took me apart and tried to make me even better. But at the end of the day, she was the one who got out. she'd never forgiven him for what he'd done to her planet. And I spend so long hating her. Hating her for being better. For getting out of his grasp. We'd made amends towards the end, but at the end of the day, he'd still killed her. She'd known where the Soul Stone was, and he knew that because he'd captured me and looked in my memory clips. If he hadn't seen that, then she'd still be alive now. She wouldn't be gone. It's all my fault that she's gone."

"What a pair we make, huh," she'd reflected herself, as she'd clutched her stomach.

That was twelve days ago.

And today was their last day of oxygen.

Nebula would survive, they'd hypothesized. She was more machine than human at this point, and they'd hoped it be enough.

She took a deep breath as she started the recording.

"Hi Steve," she said, as she tried to force a smile, "I know we'd promised to always come home to each other, but I think I'm going to have to break that promise. Today is day twenty-two. I'm feeling a lot better; the infection from the stab wound has run its course. Nebula's been a great nurse. I think you'd like her if you ever meet her. She's very practical. The ship was damaged during the fight and some fuel cells were cracked, but we were able to reverse the ion charge to buy ourselves about forty-eight hours of time."

She paused, "But it's dead in the water now. We're about a thousand lightyears away from any planet that has fuel for us to restock, and well, I just don't know how we're going to make it out of this."

"I lost Peter," she told him, voice cracking. "I tried so hard to keep him safe, Steve. I wish I could have been stronger. Maybe if he'd been with you instead of me, you'd have been enough to keep him safe. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I won't be able to say any of this to your face. But know this. I love you. I've always loved you and I always will love you. And when I drift off, I'll be thinking about you. Because you were everything to me."

She turned off the recording as she wiped her eyes. She wasn't sure how she hadn't run out of tears to cry yet, but somehow they always kept springing from her face. She walked over to where Nebula was and closed her eyes, knowing it wouldn't be long now.

Until a bright blue light lit up in front of them.

She opened her eyes back up as her jaw nearly dropped in shock.

Standing there, well floating there outside the ship, was a woman she'd only seen in Aunt Peggy's SHIELD case files. In fact, it was her one last true case before HYDRA's attack on her had started to get the best of her and forced her to step down.

It was a woman she'd seen pictures of from her time on Earth.

And now she was floating outside their ship.

Captain Carol Danvers.

Or Captain Marvel.

Holy shit.


It surprisingly only took a few hours for Danvers to land their ship. She had no idea what kind of powers the woman possessed, but clearly they were ones of great magnitude.

She stumbled out of the ship, barely managing to hold herself up. It had been days since she'd had any food, and she was still weakened from her injury.

"Toni?" Steve said, as soon as he laid eyes on her. His face was filled with relief at the sight of her. He immediately ran over to her and scooped her up in his arms. "Oh God. I thought I'd lost you."

"I couldn't stop him," she said, as she held on tightly to her husband, taking comfort in his arms. "I tried, Steve. I tried so hard. Peter…He didn't make it."

She couldn't stop the tears, and she felt him stiffen at the loss of their son. "It wasn't your fault," he told her hollowly, and she wondered who else was gone.

"Who?" she asked, pulling away enough to look at his face. She could see the pain plainly etched on his face, and she knew the losses had to be high.

"Let's get you inside first," he tried to distract her, "You look like you could use something to eat. When was the last time you had any food?"

"Our food supply ran out six days ago," Nebula said, unhelpfully. Steve gave her a once over, and she knew her husband had many questions. But there were other priorities right now.

"Steve, who else is gone?" she asked him firmly, refusing to move.

He looked down, "Sam. Wanda and Pietro. T'Challa. Bucky. Ava and Harry. Vision," he said, before pausing, "Morgan."

"No," she let out, as she felt her knees grow weak.

Her family was all gone. Her cousins. Her son and daughter. Her grandson.

No.

They couldn't be gone. It couldn't be possible.

She didn't even feel herself fall to the ground.

"Toni!" Steve exclaimed worriedly, and she could see the rest of the team make their way outside to see her.

"Steve, we need to get her to the Med Bay," Bruce said, looking her over. "She looks malnutritional and dehydrated. Who knows how injured she is? We need to get her inside."

Rhodey and Steve helped her to her feet, and Steve scooped her up in his arms as they led her inside.

He walked her inside, and she rested her head against his shoulder, praying for something to make this better. Her family was gone. Her children were gone.

What was left for her to do?

"What are we going to do, Steve?" she asked, as he gently placed her on the bed. Bruce began putting IVs into her with Helen Cho's help. So much for not being a medical doctor.

"We'll figure it out, together," he told her, just like he always said. But what was there to figure out? Her children were dead. Her cousins were dead. Her friends were dead.

He kissed her head, and she wanted to stay awake and fight, but the exhaustion took her over. Either that, or there were sedatives in whatever was in that IV bag.

When she woke up what must have been hours later, Steve was by her side, asleep, as he held her hand. And Aunt Peggy sat on her other side.

"Aunt Peggy," she said in a whisper.

"Rest now, Ducky" her aunt said, as she stroked her face. "You're going to be okay."

"They're gone," Toni sobbed. "What am I going to do without Peter or Morgan? Or Ava and Harry? Vision? I don't know how to go on with my family gone."

She could see the pain in her aunt's eyes, knowing she felt the same grief that Toni did. The loss of family was no small thing.

"I know, Darling," Peggy said, with grief in her eyes. "I know. I don't know how to make this better. There's no one left to fight to save them. They're gone. And I wish I could do something to help. But there's nothing we can do. We need to be strong, Ducky. We need to be strong for them."

"I feel like an awful mother," she sobbed, "Peter was on that ship because he didn't want me to be alone. He wanted to fight by my side. Maybe if he'd have been here, he would have been safe. He was so scared, Aunt Peggy. He begged me. He cried. He knew he was going to die, and he begged me to keep him safe. And I couldn't do that for him. I couldn't save him."

"It wasn't your fault," Peggy told her strongly. "Our family is filled with fighters. Even if not in battle, they fight for the people they love. They'll do anything for the people they love. Peter wanted to be by your side. Just as you needed to fight against Thanos. That monster took our families, and he'll pay for what he's done. I promise you that, Sweetheart. And after, we'll move forward all the same. We'll get through this. We'll rebuild. It won't ever be okay. But we need to keep living."

"I don't know how," she cried, as she felt Steve stir. "I don't know how."

"Neither do I," Peggy admitted. "I was never supposed to outlive my children. I'm sure you feel the same way. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. But we'll figure it out. Together."

She closed her eyes, as she felt the drowsiness flood over her once more.

"Sleep, Ducky," Peggy kissed her head. "You need some rest. We'll figure it out when you wake up. I promise."

She closed her eyes, and she prayed when she woke up that this would all have been a nightmare.


"No," Steve said firmly, and she looked at him in shock. Throughout their marriage and even before their marriage there had never been a time where he'd told her firmly, she wasn't allowed to do something.

"Steve," she started, and he shook his head.

"No, Toni," he said, cupping her face, "You're barely able to stand on your feet. Do you really think you're up to going back to space to face Thanos? That you're well enough?"

"I have to fight him," she said, voice breaking. "If there's any chance he can undo what he did; if we can use the stones against him and bring everyone back, then I need to try. Please. I can't have the rest of my family go back up there and not know if you guys are okay. I can't sit this one out. I'll be in the suit the entire time."

He sighed, and she knew he knew exactly how she'd felt. That sitting it out felt like being left out. and it felt like giving up.

He'd agreed with the promise that she'd hang back unless she was absolutely necessary.

They were in space again for exactly twelve hours until they reached 'The Garden', or 'Thanos' retirement plan' as Rhodey had called it sarcastically.

Twelve hours, and now they were going to face Thanos for a second time.

"I'll head down for recon," Carol said, as she suited up. "See what we're up against."

Steve gave her a nod, as they each prepared, gathering up everything they needed to face Thanos.

"This is going to work," Natasha said, not really sure who she was speaking to. The woman looked hallow, and it was clear she felt the same pain as the rest of them.

"I hope so," her husband responded, not really sounding all that sure of himself. She squeezed his hand, and she prayed it did. Because she wasn't sure what she'd do if she was unable to get her family back.

They saw Carol fly back to the ship.

"No satellites. No ships. No armies. No ground defense. It's just him," Carol said, and she felt a sinking feeling. Either he was real confident in his own abilities, or he didn't have anything to fight for.

But even when it was just him on Titan, they hadn't stood a chance. And that was before he had all the stones.

"And that's enough," Nebula said, with a nod. "We need to be ready."

Rocket, or the talking racoon, landed the ship, and she walked out to a farm. The planet looked plentiful and she wondered how many he'd had to slaughter to have it to himself.

How many planets had he destroyed to have one perfect one? How many lives did he take?

They saw Thanos before he saw them. He was in the middle of the farm field, and it was clear that his arm was blistered, a result of having used the infinity stones, as he struggled to walk. This was the Titan who'd killed her son and daughter. The Titan who'd took her family from her.

And now he was struggling to stand on his own two feet. He dragged himself back into the shed he'd lived in with his harvest in his arm.

Carol was the first to fight him, flying in as she knocked him down, as she wrapped her legs around him and grabbed his neck. Bruce ran in next, in the Hulkbuster armour that JARVIS had repaired for him while she was gone. He seemed to be having issues Hulking out, and honestly, she couldn't blame him.

The gauntlet was still firmly on his arm, and Bruce grabbed it, stopping him from activating any more of the stones. It wouldn't do to have him snap his fingers and end them before they even had a chance to fight. Rhodey took his other arm, to stop him from punching them away.

Thor went in next, slicing off his gauntlet, taking his arm off cleanly with his new weapon.

The group walked through the doors then, ready to face Thanos. Steve stood by her side as they stared down the Titan who'd taken everything from them.

She felt rage when she saw him. She felt anger and pain, and she wanted to cut him down for the pain he'd caused her. But that wouldn't bring her children back. And she needed to bring them back. All of them.

Rocket walked over to the gauntlet, kicking it over to carefully avoid touching any of the stones, and she felt her heart drop.

Shit.

It was empty.

"Oh no," Rocket said, as realization dawned upon them all.

"Where are they?" Steve asked the man, in a tone colder than she'd ever heard him use before.

"Answer the question," Carol squeezed his neck tighter when he didn't answer.

He struggled to breathe, and she knew whatever he'd done had left him greatly scarred.

"The universe required correction. After that, the stones served no purpose, beyond temptation," Thanos said simply.

"You murdered trillions!" Bruce said furiously, pushing Thanos down to the ground. His voice shook as he spoke, and she could feel the pain in his voice. The same pain they'd all felt over the loses.

"You should be grateful," Thanos said simply, no fight in his voice, and Bruce landed a solid punch on him. Good. She wanted to do the same.

"Where are the stones?" Natasha asked, asking him again.

"Gone. Reduced to atoms," Thanos said, and she looked at him incredulously.

"You used them two days ago," she said, the armour uncovering her face.

"I am pleased you survived," Thanos offered her. "I used the stones to destroy the stones. It nearly killed me. But the work is done. It always will be. I am... inevitable."

She nearly laughed out of hysteria.

The stones were gone.

The stones he'd used to take Ava and Harry, Bucky, Sam, Wanda and Pietro. Strange. Morgan and Peter. Those stones. Were gone.

"We have to tear this place apart," Rhodey said, in disbelief, "He-he-he has to be lying!"

"My father is many things," Nebula said. "A liar is not one of them."

Thanos looked at her gratefully, and she wanted to punch him in the face. After everything she'd heard of their relationship, he didn't deserve to look at her with gratitude.

"Thank you, daughter," Thanos said, as he looked at Nebula with a new found sense of understanding. "Perhaps I treated you too harshly."

"Do not speak to her," Toni said, stepping in front of the woman protectively.

She could see the rage fill Thor's face. It was the rage they all felt when they realized it was too late. That there was nothing that could be done.

The stones were gone.

And with it, their hopes of bringing back all those who were lost.

Thor raised Stormbreaker, and before she knew it, he'd brought it down, cleanly slicing Thanos' head off his body.

His body crumpled to the ground, as she stared at the sight in shock.

"What did you do?" Rocket whispered, echoing what she was feeling.

"I went for the head," Thor said, as he turned and walked out of the room.

She felt despair fill her, and she wondered just how they were going to make it out of this one.

There was nothing left to do.

No one to fight. No one to triumph against.

For the first time in her history, she was left feeling lost, without a sense of direction.

The Avengers had lost.


The world was in disarray. No one knew what happened. No one knew why it had happened. They just knew that one moment they were surrounded by people, by friends, family, strangers, and the next moment those people were gone.

Planes had crashed because pilots had disappeared. Cars crashed. People operating heavy machinery disappeared. Surgeons disappeared. Parents disappeared. Children disappeared. There were no patterns. No logical reason why those who'd turned to dust had gone and why those remained were okay. No reason to explain what had happened.

People wanted answers. And it was up to the remaining Avengers to give it to them.

It was why they stood on the stage at the press conference, ready to answer everything that came their way. Ready to tell the world the truth of what had happened.

She stood beside Steve, with Bruce on one side of her, and Natasha on the other side of Steve. Thor stood off to the side, brooding, and Rhodey between him and the rest of them, to make the distance seem smaller. Aside from Clint, and with the addition of Rhodey, it was the original group of Avengers.

It felt almost poetic.

Almost.

"I know all of you have questions," Steve said, taking the podium to take charge. Usually it had been her who gave these conferences. Who gave speeches like this. But she didn't have the strength to talk. She didn't have the willpower to talk about what had happened. So Steve had taken charge of the event.

"I wish I had better news to give you. I wish I had answers that would be able to make everything better," Steve said, "The truth is, twenty-five days ago, Thanos attacked. He fought half the Avengers in Space after Iron Woman, Doctor Strange and Spider-Man teamed up with the Guardians of the Galaxy," he said, gesturing to Nebula and Rocket whom was all that remained from their group, "And later, he came back to Wakanda to fight the rest of us. He sought something called the Infinity Stones, and he won. His intentions were to take away half the life across the universe in order to conserve resources in a highly misguided attempt to save the lives of those who remained."

"We fought him yesterday in space," he continued, "Hoping to gather the stones and undo the damage that he'd done. We hoped that we could bring them back. We hoped that we could fight against him and win. But he'd destroyed the stones. And he'd destroyed any chance of bringing back everyone who we've lost."

He took her hand in his, and she squeezed it tightly. She knew the grief was evident on her face, but she didn't try and hide it. She'd worn masks so many times in front of the press, but she didn't have the strength to pretend that she was brave. That she was strong enough to get through this. Because honestly, she wasn't all that sure that she was. Not when everyone she loved was gone.

"I wish I could tell you that we were enough, but the truth is, we weren't," Steve said, "I know many of you have lost loved ones. You are not alone in your pain, and I beg you to remember that others are grieving just as you are. All of us have lost people close to us. Toni and I, we lost our children."

His voice cracked at the last part, and she struggled to keep her composure.

"In times such as this we need to remember our compassion," Steve said to them all, "We need to be brave. We need to be strong. We need to be united. We need to overlook our differences. Differences between races and genders. We all need to come together as the human race and move forward together, the best that we can. None of this will be easy. Nothing about this will be without pain. We will survive this. We'll move forward together, as a planet. It won't be easy, and it will be with its hurdles, but I know we can do this. Together."

The questions started then, and Steve dutifully answered one after another, as she felt herself unable to focus. And when it ended, Steve wrapped his arm around her and guided her off the stage.

He was right. They still had each other, even if everyone else was gone.

And it had to be enough.


A/N: I'd like to start off by saying I'm sorry for all the angst and feelings, and the loss of Peter and Morgan had me in tears. That said, prepare for an angsty couple of chapters.

When I started planning this story, it was before Endgame came out. And as a result, it will not follow the plot of Endgame, other than ever so loosely. I had certain scenes imagined in my head, and hopefully you guys enjoy the direction it goes.