Sorry I'm a little later than normal, folks. Work was busy this week and life didn't give me much time to write. But I finally managed to get out this chapter.

Bring tissues, probably. But writing this was very cathartic for me. I got to write a scene that I had imagined ever since watching Infinity War.

Enjoy the ride!

Chapter Four: And We Keep Living Anyway

"You're pregnant?"

Sharon tried her best to smile brightly at Christy's very confused face, as they sat across from each other on the apartment couches. "Yep, that would be me. You won't be able to tell for another couple months, really."

Sam and Bucky were in the kitchen, talking in quiet tones-probably sorting out logistics, now that her big news was out to a few people. She'd catch up with them later. Right now, she had more important matters to deal with.

Christy reached out her hand, and then hesitated. "Can I touch?"

"Not much to see, but yeah, go ahead."

Christy touched her fingers to Sharon's belly. "Hi, baby…" she whispered. "I-I'm your big sister. I'll take care of you, I promise. I promise!"

Sharon squeezed her shoulder. "He or she will be very lucky to have you."

"...I just wish they could meet Dad."

Sharon nodded. "I know. I do, too. I wish a lot of things."

"I'll help out. Rock the baby so you can sleep and buy stuff you got weird cravings for...except alcohol, I can't buy that…"

Sharon cut her off. "Christy, shh...you're the best helper already."

Christy looked up, wide blue eyes full of tears. Even though Sharon knew she inherited nothing genetically from Steve, she still had his same stubborn, earnest, 'I-can-prove-myself' face.

"I wanna stay with you." Christy murmured.

"And why would you not?" Sharon asked. "You're my daughter."

"Not really…"

Sharon snorted. "The papers aren't official...and might not be for a while with all this mess. But when I married Steve, I didn't just take him. I took you, too. That doesn't change just because he's gone."

"You could send me with Uncle Bucky."

"Do you want to go with him?"

Christy glanced over at her favorite uncle and shook her head. "I want everyone here, though. He's still in Hebron."

Sharon sighed. "You know why he's staying. He needs to be there for Clint and Nate and the Twins."

"I know...but I miss him."

Sharon hugged her close. "You've been so brave...it is okay to cry, you know."

Christy sniffed. "Some days, I wake up and feel okay. And then I remember and it hurts. It feels like there's an ache in my chest all the time, like part of my heart got ripped out. I can't just relax because I'm always remembering. I'm waiting for the ache to go down, and then I can live again. That's what happened with Mom. But I'm tired of waiting to be normal. I wanna speed-grieve."

Sharon bit her lip to keep from laughing-or crying. "Unfortunately, no one alive can speed-grieve. You're right, it will ache less eventually. But it's okay to walk around wounded. The whole world is, right now."

Christy looked away and took a deep breath. "Sharon? What are we gonna name the baby?"

"Well...if it's a boy, what would your Dad have liked?"

"James." Christy said, absolutely no hesitation in her voice.

Sharon actually did laugh at that one. "James it is. What about for a girl? Margaret?"

"Or Sarah. That was his mom's name."

"I like Megan. Megan Sarah."

A tiny ghost smile appeared on Christy's face. "James Samuel."

Sharon smiled back. "I like that. Though we had talked about adding Carter as a middle name for a boy."

"So give him four names, like me. James Samuel Carter Rogers."

"That's quite a mouthful for a little baby."

Christy shrugged. "You get used to it. I know mine like it's no big deal. Crystal Elizabeth Allen Rogers. Because I kept my old last name."

"Then four names it is." Sharon glanced at Bucky and Sam, still in discussion. "Do we tell them, or leave them in suspense and let them cry at the hospital?"

"...tell if it's a girl. It won't make them cry as much. But if it's a boy, hide it."

Sharon gave a mock salute. "Sounds like a plan."

If anyone had bothered to ask Tony what he imagined he'd being doing at the end of the world, playing paper football with an alien robot would not have been high on the list.

Drax had been banned from playing after he flicked two paper pieces so far that they still hadn't found one. But Nebula had shown a surprising aptitude for the game-one Tony got her to stop being so competitive.

She'd even admitted it was fun.

But now was the time for his most important ritual of the endless days and nights. He tapped the button that turned on the recording feature of his Iron Man helmet. A weak light pulsed on.

"This thing on?" he muttered, tapping it. He sat back with a wince. "Hey, Miss Potts. If you find this recording, don't post it on social media, it's gonna be a real tear-jerker."

He paused.

"I don't know if you're gonna see these. I don't even know if you're still…"

He swallowed, determined not to cry. Again.

"Oh, God, I hope so. Today's day...twenty-one? Uh, twenty-two. You know, if it wasn't for the terrifying existential dread of staring into the literal void of space, I'd say I'm feeling better today. The infection's run its course, thanks to the Blue Meanie back there. Oh, you would love her. Very practical. Only a tiny bit sadistic. So, the fuel cells were cracked during battle and we figured out a way to reverse the iron charge, bought ourselves about 48 hours of flight time. Uh, but it's now dead in the water. 1,000 light years from the nearest 7-11. Oxygen will run out tomorrow morning... and that will be it."

Tony could feel his body shaking and the tears slipping, unwished for, into his eyes.

"I know I said no more surprises, but I gotta say, I was really hoping to pull off one last one. But it looks like... well, you know what it looks like. Don't feel bad about this. I'm mean, actually, if you grieve for a couple weeks...and then move on with enormous guilt…"

He paused again, trying to gather his scattered thoughts. His brain felt like it was swimming, likely from the dehydration and lack of oxygen.

"I should probably lie down for a minute, rest my eyes. Please know, when I drift off and be like everything lately, I'm fine. I'm totally fine. I dream about you. Because it's always you, you and Morgan. Tell her I'm so sorry I couldn't make it home. Tell her that Daddy loves her. Please...don't let her think I don't love her. I love you both. Bye, Pep."

And at that, Tony Stark lost consciousness.

Nebula found him about five minutes later.

"He's not going to last more than two days." she told Drax bluntly. "Let's move him to the Captain's chair."

Drax nodded, his face solemn for once. "He should pass with dignity."

He reached down and scooped up the fragile genius as though he were a child, and settled him in the chair. Nebula turned his face to the void of space, bathing him in eerie blue light.

"Come." Drax said. "Let's leave him to rest."

Tony was dimly aware of being moved, but too weak to protest. It was sort of nice, really, so he lay back and let his mind drift to Pepper and Morgan.

He was brought back to reality by a sudden beam of light across his eyes.

It wasn't the eerie blue space light that barely lit anything, but real, warm, and bright. Tony blinked and raised a shaky hand to shade his eyes.

What the hell…?

Tony was fairly sure that angels weren't real. But then again, his world had been torn apart by a purple alien from space, so maybe he needed to start re-thinking what did and didn't exist. Because 'angel' was the only word he could think of to describe the being that floated just outside the window.

She was, quite literally, bathed in light. Tall, blonde, imposing, with an odd frown on her face. Something about her reminded him of Steve, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Maybe it was because the same overwhelming feeling that always flooded him when Steve was around flooded him now-that somehow, everything would be okay.

Whatever the reason, for the first time in twenty-two days, Tony didn't think that he was going to die.

Bucky was shaving when Christy burst into his bathroom at Avenger's HQ.

"Uncle Bucky! There's a ship that just landed in the backyard!"

Bucky threw down the razor and immediately dashed out to join the others. He, Sam, Natasha, Pepper, and Clint ran out just as the ship touched down.

Pepper had a look of quiet, desperate hope on her face as the ship was gently grounded by a blonde woman in a bright space suit.

More aliens… Bucky thought. Lovely.

Tony was brought out, swaying and gray-faced, by a blue robot girl. Bucky and Natasha instantly ran to him.

Tony looked between them, wild-eyed. "I couldn't stop him."

"Neither could we." Natasha murmured.

"I-I lost the kid." Tony added.

Bucky sighed. "Tony...we lost, period."

Tony looked at him fully for the first time. "Where the hell is Steve? Bruce? Rho-no…"

Bucky nodded, a single sad jerk. Tony looked ready to collapse. Mercifully, Pepper rushed forward and caught him.

"Oh, my God…" Pepper breathed out in a desperate rush of air, as they embraced.

"Where's Maguna?" Tony asked, eyes darting frantically.

"Asleep." Pepper whispered. "She's okay. She's here, I'm here…"

Tony looked massively relieved. "It's okay...it's gonna be okay."

Under the cover of dark, Rocket Raccoon had slipped quietly out to the great ship, where Nebula and Drax were waiting for him. He sank down in sorrow beside Nebula and nodded.

Their only family was decimated.

Two hours later, Tony was settled in a wheelchair with an IV drip while they took stock of the last month.

"It's been twenty-three days since Thanos came to earth." Natasha said grimly. "World governments are in pieces, and the ones that aren't are trying to take a census. It looks like he did...exactly what he said he would. Thanos wiped out fifty percent of all living creatures. Including half of the original Avengers."

Tony started. "Thor, too?"

"Thor, too. Not Loki. He apparently is with the rest of the survivors from Asgard. We're not exactly sure where that is."

Tony slumped. "Right. Right. Of course. Where is Thanos now?"

"We don't know." Wanda said, red tendrils pulsing.

Pietro nodded. "I saw him. He just opened a portal and walked through. Bastard."

"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks, now." Sam added. "Through face scans and satellites, so far we've got nothing. Tony, you fought him…"

Tony bristled, causing Pepper to quickly walk to his side. "What are you talking about? I didn't fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleeker Street Magician gave away the store. That's what happened, there was no fight…"

Sam held out his hands, attempting to placate the clearly distraught man. "Okay, understood. But did he say anything? Any clues, any coordinates?"

But something had clearly snapped inside Tony. "I saw this coming a few years back, you know. I had a vision, but I didn't want to believe it. Now it's true."

"Tony, please, we need you to focus…" Bucky pleaded. "Did he say anything…?"

"Need, huh? What about when I needed my parents, huh, Barnes?"

Bucky recoiled, and Sam stepped forward. "Tony, now is not the time for low blows."

"What're you, Wilson, Cap 2.0? What we needed was a suit of armor around the world! Remember that? Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not, that's what we needed!"

"Well, it's a little late for that." Clint snarked.

"I said we'd lose. He said, 'we'll do that together too.' Well guess what, Cap? We lost and you weren't there. Now you're gone! But that's what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We're the Avengers? Not the Prevengers, right?"

"Tony, enough." Pepper said firmly. "You've made your point. But we need you, anything you can give…"

"I've got nothin' for you!" Tony yelled. "I'm a failure, and you should know it! I've got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options! Zero, zip, nada."

Before Pepper could hold him back, Tony ripped out his arc reactor and shoved it at Bucky.

"Here, take this. You'll find him, if you put that on. You hide-"

Tony slumped, unconscious.

Pepper took a shaky breath and looked at Sam, the only other remotely qualified medical person in the room. "He's…"

"He's delirious." Sam affirmed. "Let's sedate him and let him rest."

Bucky was still frozen against the wall, heart thumping in his ears. He felt a graceful hand slip into his.

"He did not mean it." Wanda whispered in his ear. "He's out of his head."

Bucky sighed. "Still...he brought it up."

"I know. But he will apologize. It's only the stress...we all feel it."

They got Tony sedated and laid out on a medical bed. The strange blonde woman (who had introduced herself as "Carol Danvers-Captain Marvel") streaked by.

"You take care of him here...and I'll bring him a Zorian elixer when I get back."

Bucky raised his eyebrows. "Look, lady, thanks for bringin' our guys back, but could ya slow down for five seconds? Where ya goin'?"

"To kill Thanos."

Bucky, Sam, and Natasha shared a three-way look. Natasha moved quickly after Carol, shoes clicking.

"We usually work more as a team around here." she said firmly. "We could use you."

"We know up there is probably more your territory." Sam drawled. "But this is our fight, too."

"Do you even know where he is?" Clint added.

"I know people who might." Carol replied, eyes wide with adrenaline.

"Don't bother. I can tell you where Thanos is."

All eyes swerved to Nebula, leaning against the door frame. Rocket stood by her side.

"...well why didn't ya say so?" Bucky mumbled. Sam shot him a look and motioned for them to go back in the conference room.

"Okay, spill." he said, when they were all seated.

Nebula frowned. "Thanos spent a lot of time trying to perfect me. And while he worked, he talked about his great plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. I'd ask him, where would we go once his plan was complete. His answer was always the same-to The Garden."

Clint snorted. "That's cute. Thanos has a retirement plan."

"So where is he now?" Bucky asked.

Rocket clicked a remote, and a hologram map appeared over the table. "When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero of a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions; no one's never seen anything like it. Until two days ago...on this planet."

Rocket moved the map and zoomed in on another planet. Natasha peered in close.

"Thanos is there." Nebula intoned.

"He used the stones again." Natasha said, a look of hope in her eyes.

"Hey, hey...we'd be going in shorthanded…" Sam said, stretching out his hand. "He's still got the Stones…"

"So let's get 'em." Carol said. "And use them to bring everyone back."

"Just like that?"

"...yeah." Bucky said. "Just like that."

"Even if there's just a small chance…" Natasha argued. "We owe it to everyone who's not in this room to at least try."

"If we do this, how do we know it's going to end any different than last time?" Sam countered.

"Because last time, you didn't have me." Carol said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Look, new girl, everyone in this room is a superhero. You're not the top dog." Clint said. "And if you don't mind me asking, where the hell have you been all this time?"

"There are a lot of other planets in the universe…" Carol's face softened. "That unfortunately didn't have you guys."

A small shadow had been in the door, watchful and wary. But at that moment, Christy strode into the room, looking Carol full in the face.

Carol visibly unstiffened. "Hey, kid."

"Hi."

"You got a name?"

"Christy Rogers."

Carol looked at Bucky. Bucky nodded.

Christy considered her subject a few seconds more, and then nodded. "I like her." she pronounced.

It was as if the spell of tension on the room was broken.

Sam grinned. "Alright. Then let's get this son of a bitch."

"Language." Bucky replied, straight-faced as possible.

"Like hell you're going!"

Half of the Avenger's team was off preparing for a little revenge journey to space. The other half was awkwardly standing around watching Christy and Bucky have a battle royale.

"Thanos killed my dad. I'm going to avenge him." Christy set her jaw and looked at Bucky with eyes full of fire.

Bucky clenched his own jaw.

Dammit, kid! You're not his, but you're his. Why you gotta be so damn stubborn?

"Sharon's not going." he tried.

"Sharon's…Sharon can't go." Christy said, stopping herself at the last moment. Sharon still hadn't announced her pregnancy fully. "I fought in the last battle. Dad let me. Besides, someone has to go for the next generation."

"Christy…" Bucky glanced around pleadingly. "Kid, who's gonna watch you?"

"I don't need to be watched! It's just one Thanos, not an army!"

"I concur." said a smooth, silky voice, from the back of the room. "You all are surely not underestimating her abilities. The Captain never did."

Heads whipped to the right. Loki stood in the doorway.

"...how the hell did you get in here?" Sam asked.

"Don't bother asking." Natasha replied. "You'll sleep better at night. Loki, what are you doing here?"

Loki grinned cheekily, but with a biting undercurrent. "Isn't it obvious? I'm here to avenge my brother."

No one could really argue with that.

Bucky looked around the room, and then to Sharon.

"I'm not telling her no." Sharon replied. "She'll do what you say."

"Will she?" Bucky sighed. "Kid, go suit up."

Christy's face lit up, before she carefully schooled it back to serious. "Yessir."

Bucky rolled his eyes. "G'wan about it. I need a drink…"

"Not before battle." Pietro snarked, entering the room clad in his own suit. Quieter, he added, "I will watch her. But she needs this. It will be...it will close everything."

"Closure. Yeah." Bucky shut his eyes. "God, Stevie, don' hate me for this…"

Carol wasn't sure what she expected from Earth's Mightiest Heroes. She had known that Fury was planning something ever since their first meeting. But she expected something a bit more...Fury.

Although, she supposed it would be exactly like Fury to recruit a bunch of rag-tag misfits. Half of them with families and children.

She was doing what she did best: people watching. It had allowed her to survive among the Kree, and before that, in the army. Watch what others do, and you stay alive.

"They're all weird, huh?"

A civilian woman with hair like hers sat down beside her.

"Yeah." Carol replied, not really interested in the company, but not willing to be outright rude. "So, you, uh...married Captain America."

"That's me." Sharon said dryly. "The lucky one. Don't feel very lucky now."

"...sorry for your loss. And for the kid's. I like her."

"Most people do. Very like her father."

"Did he actually…?

"She's adopted."

"Ah." Carol nodded. "That makes more sense. There's um...a lot of kids around here. Not exactly what I expected."

Sharon snorted. "This team is nothing like what anyone expects."

A small flash of brown and black caught Carol's eye. She turned and saw another child almost hiding behind the Lay-Z-Boy chair.

"Hey." she said. "You can come out. Who're you?"

The girl edged closer. "I'm Shanta. That's my Ma," she added, pointing at Natasha. "My Baba was dust. Dusted. Can you kick Thanos for me? Ma says I'm too young to go to space."

Sharon was trying not to laugh, or cry, or both. Carol nodded very seriously.

"Sure, kid, I'll kick his butt for ya. On my honor."

Shanta nodded back and then threw her tiny arms around Carol's neck. "Thank you. I miss Baba…"

"Well….maybe we can find a way for him to come back. Okay?"

"Okay." Shanta looked up with her melted-chocolate eyes. "Can I sit with you?"

Carol felt any stubbornness she had drain away, with those eyes.

"Yeah, kid, whatever you want…"

"Okay, hands' up if you've never been to space."

The Milano could only seat nine, so in the end, it had been Natasha, Sam, Bucky, Carol, Nebula, Rocket, Christy, Pietro, and Wanda that piled in the jet. Clint had given Natasha detailed instructions on where to hit Thanos.

Six pairs of hands went up, in response to Rocket.

"Alright, you better not throw up on my ship."

Everyone chuckled weakly.

"Making the jump in three...two...one!" Nebula called.

Christy felt like every rollercoaster she'd ever ridden was combined into one for about thirty seconds, and then, the ship was suddenly still. They were staring into a green and orange planet.

"I'll head down and do some reconnaissance." Carol said, teleporting herself outside the ship.

"I wish I could float like that." Pietro whispered to Wanda. "Very useful."

Bucky gazed out at the swirling mass of space, chewing on his lip.

"This is gonna work, Bucky." Natasha said softly.

Bucky sighed. "I hope it will. Because I don't know what I'm gonna do if it doesn't."

After a few minutes, Carol reappeared, looking puzzled.

"There's no shields, no army, no ground defenses of any kind." she reported. "It's just him."

Nebula nodded. "And that's enough."

"Then let's go mess the bastard up." Sam replied, smacking a fist into his hand.

Thanos' hideout certainly deserved being called "the garden". It was almost insultingly pretty.

And their "victory" was insultingly easy.

Too easy.

Carol knocked Thanos blind with a beam of light and caught him around the neck. Wanda pinned him down and Pietro (literally) ran circles around him. Bucky pried the glove from his hands.

But it was too late. There were no stones in the glove.

"Oh, no…" Rocket whispered.

"Where are they?" Sam demanded.

Carol tightened her grip. "Answer the question."

"The universe required correction." Thanos gasped out. "After that, the Stones served no purpose other than temptation."

"You murdered trillions!" Pietro cried, delivering a punch to the Titan's jaw. "For what? A happy universe? Do we look happy to you?"

"You should be grateful." Thanos spat.

In answer, Pietro delivered two more punches.

There you go, Clint.

"Where are the Stones?" Natasha asked again.

"Gone. Reduced to atoms."

"You used them two days ago!" Bucky cried, feeling like his heart would jump out of his throat.

This could not be happening. It had to be a nightmare.

"I used the Stones to destroy the Stones." Thanos answered, so solemnly that everyone knew in their bones he was telling the truth. "But the work will always be done. It has to be. I am...inevitable."

Everyone looked around, horror and disbelief on all their faces.

"He...he lies." Pietro tried, vain hope in his voice. "We can look…"

"No." Nebula said. "My father is many things. But a liar is not one of them."

"Ahh…" Thanos murmured. "Thank you, daughter. Perhaps I treated you too harshly."

Nebula took an involuntary step forward. For once, she was receiving the praise she had always craved. But a small hand pulled her back.

"He doesn't deserve you." Christy said, bitter hate in her voice. "He's a murderer and a destroyer. You've got better people to be with."

"And who are you?" Thanos asked, faintly bemused.

"A kid from Manhattan." Christy answered.

Bucky bit back a cry of pride.

"Was it worth it?" Christy continued, crossing her arms.

"Pardon?"

"All the people that are dead because of you. All the families broken and lives ruined because of you. All the ecosystems out of whack and people crying and planets a mess because of you. You're the reason the whole universe is broken. Was it worth it?"

"...yes."

Christy threw back her head and screamed. Just as a stealthy figure slipped behind the Titan and decapitated him.

For a moment, no one spoke. They just stared at Thanos' severed head, and the bloody knife in Loki's hand.

"Well, brother." Loki whispered. "I hit him. Now, what?"

Thanos is a terrible person. But he's also a terrible person convinced he's doing the right thing. Which is thankfully something we NEVER see in real life, right folks? *insert eye roll emoji here*

Tune in next week for Shuri and Loki adjusting to life in the spotlight and Sam Wilson, Actual Therapist.

Reviews are Loki's knife.