Hello! Still alive, I swear! There will be three more chapters after this and an epilogue-ish sort of chapter at the end to finish up "Endgame," leaving this story as complete! I will leave this and the following chapter up for a bit, then post the next two, before leaving the final one for a little later (partially because cliffhangers are fun and also because I feel dropping it all at once will ruin what I have planned).

Hope you all enjoy it though, and please let me know what you think!

Check for updates on what I have planned on my profile(s) for all my other stories as well. :)

"This thing on?" Tony questioned, sitting alone in the cockpit of the ship he and Nebula were stranded in, testing his helmet. "Hey, Jess. If you find this recording, don't post it on social media. It's gonna be a real tearjerker," he grunted out, exhausted and starving but finally having the courage to make another video for Jess.

If she's even still out there…

"I don't know if you're ever gonna see these. I don't even know if you're still…" He couldn't bring himself to say it. "Oh, God, I hope so. Today's day… twenty-one? No, uh, twenty-two. You know, if it wasn't for the existential terror of staring into the literal void of space, I'd say I'm feeling a little better today. Infection's run its course thanks to the blue meanie back there. Oh, you'd probably butt heads with her, but secretly love her. Very practical, only a tiny bit sadistic. Reminds me of you."

He managed a small chuckle before it faltered.

"So, the fuel cells were cracked during battle and we figured out a way to reverse the ion charge and bought ourselves about forty-eight hours of flight time. Uh, but it's now dead in the water. Thousand light-years from the nearest 7-Eleven. Oxygen will run out tomorrow morning and that'll be it. I was really hoping to pull off one last surprise for you, Jess. I just… I hope you're not blaming yourself for this. I know how you can get when things go wrong, and with your visions and everything, I just… I'm worried for you, Jess. I wish I could just be there to let you know it's okay. Even if it was the last minute of my life… I just want to see you."

He buried his face in his hands, taking in a shuttering breath and letting it out.

"I should probably lie down for a minute. Go rest my eyes… Please know, when I drift off it'll be like every night lately. I'm fine. Totally fine… I dream about you. Because it's always you."

He reached out and shut off the recording, wrapping his jacket around him and lying beside the helmet, closing his eyes for what felt like the last time. He didn't feel Nebula placing him in the pilot's seat, just a vague shifting until there was a rumble and a warmth on his face. He blinked open his eyes, blocking the light with his hand before staring in shock at the woman who hovered right before the front window of the ship. It wouldn't be his last night after all.

He barely understood what was happening as she easily took the ship, bringing it down to Earth and landing it on the front lawn of the Avengers headquarters, drawing out those within to stare in amazement. Tony was helped out of the ship by Nebula before Steve rushed over to help in her stead.

"Couldn't stop him," Tony apologized.

"Neither could I."

"Hang on, hang on," Tony breathed, stopping. "I lost the kid."

"Tony, we lost."

"Is, uh…" He looked towards the group on the lawn, feeling his chest begin to fill with anguish. "Jess…?"

Steve hesitated, not sure how to tell him. "Tony, there's something we need to talk about."

They moved inside and Rhodey was given a nod to bring up the information Tony needed to see.

"It's been twenty-three days since Thanos came to Earth."

"World governments are in pieces," Natasha explained. "The parts that are still working are trying to take a census and it looks like he did… He did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent of all living creatures."

Images of lost Avengers and known associates flickered across the holograms in front of them, making the newly arrived Captain Marvel solemn at the sight of Nick Fury being listed among one of those vanished. Tony though, had yet to see the face he'd expected and there was a tension in the room he didn't like.

"What about Jess? She's not here. She's not showing up in your files. Is she… Is she like the others?"

Steve nodded to Rhodey, who changed the image to old news castings from almost a month ago. It showed Jess, alive and well after the snap, facing the shattered governments and the people who were questioning whether the Avengers were to blame.

"She stood up for us," Steve informed Tony as he watched in sorrow and amazement. "Even when nobody else would."

"She was recording," Bruce added, wringing his hands. "Nothing too invasive, but enough to show we were trying to stop it. She's the reason we're even still allowed to be living here."

"So, where is she?" Tony asked, feeling as though they were holding back something and then, the news clips changed to a video of Jess in handcuffs being escorted out of a building. "No…"

"They needed someone to blame," Steve murmured. "Secretary Ross—"

"I'll kill him," Tony snarled, making to get up, but he was still too weak and sank back into his chair with a pained whine. "God, not her. Why? She always just… She just wanted to help."

Steve swallowed thickly, knowing he too had blamed Jess for a while after the snap—his feelings about Bucky having pushed past any rational judgment.

"I… I think it was a punishment," Natasha spoke up, knowing just as well as Tony that Jess wasn't the type of person to do anything without reason, especially if it would have hurt someone. "She was blaming herself for this, Tony. Why?"

He was silent for a moment, hating that his nightmare was coming true. "She'd had dreams… Ever since the first New York attack, the Tesseract gave her glimpses of the future."

"She never mentioned this," Steve pressed. "She said she had visions, but she never once said anything about Thanos or, or this sort of destruction."

"She didn't know," Tony explained. "After a while, I suggested making notes of her dreams and they were almost always the same. A large man. A snap. People screaming. Fighting. Ashes. No one could have known what that meant. Not until it was all put together right in front of you. She showed me her notes and even I didn't know what it meant until today."

"Then, why blame herself?"

Tony let out a bitter chuckle. "That's just who she is. The least selfish human being on the planet. She'd take on the world's problems if she could, but instead, she decided to take on ours. She's blaming herself because she didn't want anyone else to, especially not those trying to stop it."

Steve felt guilt welling up in him, understanding now, why Jess hadn't once fought back against him that day. Why she hadn't argued and why she'd immediately said out loud that it was all her fault. She wanted them to blame her because it meant they didn't blame themselves for not being fast enough, strong enough, smart enough.

"Where is she now?"

Surprisingly enough, it was Captain Marvel who asked, before Tony could.

"She escaped from prison almost three weeks ago," Natasha informed them, flipping the hologram files to one that labeled Jess a wanted criminal. "She's been off the grid ever since."

"And Thanos?" Tony asked. "Where is he now? Where?"

"We don't know. He just opened a portal and walked through," Steve replied, making Tony sigh and adjust his wheelchair, looking to Thor.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Oh, he's pissed. He thinks he failed. Which, of course, he did but there's a lot of that going around, ain't there?" Rocket replied. "That woman, Jess. She tried to convince him otherwise, but he wouldn't let her."

"Honestly, until this exact second, I thought you were a Build-A-Bear."

"Maybe I am."

"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now," Steve explained, rather surprised Tony was handling Jess's disappearance so well. "Deep space scans and satellites and we got nothing. Tony, you fought him."

"Who told you that?" Tony asked innocently, adjusting the robe that barely hung on his thin shoulders. "I didn't fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street magician gave away the store. That's what happened. There was no fight because he's not beatable."

"Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?"

Tony blew a raspberry, having nothing. "I saw this coming a few years back. Jess even more so. Thought I was dreaming."

"Tony, I'm going to need you to focus."

"And I needed you," Tony countered. "As in past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late, buddy. Sorry. You know what I need? I need a shave," Tony announced, knocking over the dishes from his meal and making them flinch. "And I believe I remember telling all youse alive and otherwise, that what we needed was a suit of armor around the world!" Tony snapped, pulling out his IV as Rhodey tried to calm him down. "Remember that? Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not. That's what we needed."

"Well, that didn't work out, did it?" Steve argued.

"I said, 'we'd lose.' You said, 'we'll do that together too.' And guess what, Cap? We lost and you weren't there. But that's what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We're the 'Avengers.' We're the 'Avengers,' not the 'Pre-vengers.' Right?"

"Okay, you made your point," Rhodey pressed. "Just sit down, okay?"

"Okay. No, no. Here's my point. You know what? She's great, by the way," he said, pointing to Captain Marvel as Rhodey tried to push him back into his seat. "We need you. You're new blood. Bunch of tired old mules. I got nothing for you, Cap. I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero, zip, nada. No trust, lair. Here, take this."

Tony took off the piece on his chest and placed it in Steve's hand, much to their amazement.

"You find him, you put that on, you hide." Tony sagged and they hurried over to help him. "I'm fine. I need… I need to find Jess."

Then, he collapsed.

"Bruce gave him a sedative," Rhodey explained to those waiting. "He's gonna probably be out for the rest of the day."

"You guys take care of him," Captain Marvel hummed. "And I'll bring him a Xorrian elixir when I come back."

"Where are you going?" Steve asked.

"To find his fiancée," she answered, stepping out. "Then? To kill Thanos."

Natasha took a second to run that through her mind, before hurrying after her. "Hey. You know, we usually work as a team here and uh, between you and I, morale's a little fragile."

Steve agreed. "We realize up there is more your territory, but this is our fight too."

"You even know where he is?" Rhodey asked.

"I know people who might."

"Don't bother," Nebula said, drawing their attention to her. "I can tell you where Thanos is… but why find his fiancée?"

Captain Marvel smirked. "Because she's something new."

I sighed, breath coming out as fogged as I stepped back into the small cave I'd situated myself into. I dropped the carcass of a downed rabbit onto a stone slab and set up my gathered sticks into a decent, long-lasting campfire setup before snapping my fingers. Sparks ignited the dead grass at the base, and I blew on it a few times to ensure the fire would go strong and I could allow my abilities a break for a bit. Even heated up as I was, I could still feel the chilling bite of the icy wind while I was outside, but it was good practice. One week of sneaking into the New York Sanctum and getting Wong's attention long enough to give me easy access to Nepal meant two weeks tucked away on Everest, far away from outside contact. Other than the occasional mountain climber I saved and helped out, I was on my own.

A part of me said I shouldn't have broken out of prison. That I deserved to be shut up in the Fridge like Secretary Ross wanted. Half the world was gone and the more I ran through what had happened, the more I felt that there was something I could have done. I couldn't even feel the stones anymore, which didn't bode well. I didn't know if Tony had turned to dust like the others. And if he hadn't, I hoped he wouldn't have to see me again. He deserved better.

I grit my teeth, cursing when I pulled out the rabbit I'd been cooking to find it burnt because I'd allowed a hint of my power to slip past my control and double the size of the fire in front of me. I can't keep doing this. I need to either work through this or just lock myself back up in the Fridge. My control had gotten so much better, but it still gets fucked up when I'm emotional. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out before getting up. The rabbit was inedible now. More charred ash than meat, so I would have to go back out again. It'd taken more than a day to get this one, having to travel far down the mountain and back up to get it. If I didn't want to go as far, I'd be hunting the goats, but they tended to have more meat than I could handle. It just seemed like a waste.

I sighed, grabbing my thick, fur-lined coat and throwing the hood over my head once I'd put on my tinted goggles and pulled my scarf up over my nose. Well-heated or not, I was working on maintaining my body temperature at a normal level despite the cold. I'd only really heat up while practicing, hunting, or bathing—since the waters were well beyond survival temperature up here. I started my trek down the mountain and found a place to rest near a small spring. I knelt down, removing my gloves and heating my hand as I grabbed water to drink, only to freeze.

I was being watched. The one plus side to my self-isolation was knowing when I wasn't alone, and as the person—no animal would have come up directly behind me—stepped onto the snow, I flipped over my arm and threw water up at them. Since I'd superheated myself, the water turned to steam and blocked their vision as my boots splashed into the stream with a hiss, allowing me to throw myself forward with my hunting blade. It was almost against their throat as the steam vanished, revealing a blonde woman who raised a brow, despite the red-hot knife at her throat.

"Not entirely what I expected, but impressive," she mused, making me frown and lift my goggles, eyeing her with golden eyes, not willing to risk cooling down until I was certain of who she was.

"Sorry, do I know you?"

"Doubt it."

"Right," I murmured. "So, why shouldn't I just kill you?"

"Two reasons," she mused, eerily calm. "One, you wouldn't be able to. Two, I know your fiancé."

I stiffened at that, tightening my grip on the blade, but not removing it. "A lot of people know him," I grumbled.

"I brought him home. I mean, he's unconscious after throwing a rather impressive tantrum with Captain America, but he's alive."

I was conflicted. Overjoyed that Tony was okay but suspicious of this woman and why exactly she was here telling me this.

"I can take you to see him if you'd like."

"Why?" I blurted out, slowly lowering the knife.

"You don't want to see him?"

I do. Of course, I do, but… I turned away, cooling off and tucking the blade away. "You should go."

She didn't, of course, trailing after me as I continued down the mountain. "I plan on going to kill Thanos."

"Good for you," I grumbled, lifting my goggles to eye the landscape briefly along with the sky. Storm might be moving in. I'll have to take shelter before I get to where I need.

"You're not angry about what he did?"

"I don't know the reason behind what he did," I countered. "Sorry, who are you again?"

"Captain Marvel," she replied with a shrug. "Or Carol Danvers. Former USAF pilot."

I eyed her once more, feeling something from her that reminded me of Wanda and Vision. "Another enhanced by the Space Stone apparently. Joy." I looked away, continuing to walk. "Why are you bugging me?"

"Because I find it curious you're blaming yourself for something out of your control, and I've been told you're different than most people."

I was beginning to get frustrated now. "So, what? Am I not allowed to blame myself for something that I could have stopped?"

"Who said you could have stopped it?"

"The stupid—" I cut myself off, gritting my teeth and turning away—the excuse sounding a bit stupid even to my ears. "… those damn stones."

"You can understand them?"

I sighed. "Understand them, speak with them, whatever. They showed me visions of this stupid mess and when it was actually happening, I sat around and twiddled my thumbs even though they said I could change things. I did something wrong, obviously, because shit still happened. People died, turned to ash, just as I was shown. Just…" I snapped my fingers. "Dead. All the Avengers and an army of Wakadan people couldn't stop him. What the hell did they think I could do?"

"Good point. Why are you so special?"

My brow twitched and I hardly noticed the snow melt under my feet as I kept walking and she continued.

"I mean, you're just a human who happened to get engaged to Iron Man, right? Take away the suit and what's left?"

This woman…

"And your fire ability isn't that great either, right? What could you possibly—"

"Are you done?" I bit out, eyes flaring gold as she smirked.

She'd been trying to rile me up and succeeded. "That depends. Are you? Because the way I see it, you don't believe any of that. And sure, maybe there was something you could have done, maybe there wasn't. What's the point of beating yourself up over it when there might still be something you can do?"

I scoffed, turning away and cooling down once more. "It's over. There's nothing left to do, and I'm not joining your little revenge party, thanks."

I've had enough revenge for one life.

"So, what? You just want to sit up here on a mountain and cry until you freeze to death?"

"I'm not crying."

"You might as well be."

I grit my teeth, before letting out a hot breath through my nose. I really need to stop letting her get under my skin. "What do you want me to do?"

"Me? Come with us, I suppose. I've grown curious about the woman who's gotten under Fury's skin. I'm usually the only one who can do that. But it doesn't matter what I want. What is it you're trying to accomplish up here? Self-punishment? For what? The only one who blames you is yourself."

Tony might blame me. Steve already does. Who knows how the others feel… Maybe that's what I need, someone else to tell me it's my fault. "If I go with you, will you leave me alone?"

"Perhaps. Depends on whether you prove my trip was worth it or not."

I shot her an annoyed look before snow landed on my nose, making me look up. "Fine, but only because a storm's coming in and I won't make it to my shelter if I'm stuck talking with you."

She rolled her eyes, grabbing my arm. "Definitely Stark's fiancée."

In a flare of blinding light, I stumbled, being held up by the blonde's arm as my body got used to having someone flown ridiculously quickly to the Avengers headquarters in under a minute. Once stable, I blinked and pulled up my goggles, giving her a once over as she let my arm go with a smirk.

"Holy shit."

"Language," a familiar voice chided, making me turn to see a smiling Steve, which made me stiffen, causing his smile to falter. "Jess. I really am sorry for how I acted before. With Bucky… I just…" He shook his head, coming forward. "It was stupid. I'm sorry."

I frowned a bit, not really expecting the apology—though it is Steve. I doubt the man can hold a grudge. I leaned around him, spotting Natasha and Rhodey and eyeing them.

"And the rest of you? What do you think?"

Natasha shrugged. "I doubt you could have done anything to fix this, much less when a whole army couldn't."

Rhodey scratched at his chin. "I wasn't sure at first, but it seems stupid to place the blame on one person, doesn't it?"

I sighed, pulling off my hood with a hand a bit annoyed. "You lot are making this harder than I wanted it to be. Where's Tony?"

"Asleep," Steve replied. "Banner had to sedate him after he went off on Steve."

I shot Steve a look and he held up his hands.

"I was just asking if he got any information about where Thanos ran off to."

"He asked about you," Natasha added. "He was worried."

"Yeah, well…" I muttered, unsure about whether I should be glad or not.

I still had no idea what he felt as far as whose fault it was. His judgment scared me the most.

"So… where exactly were you?"

"Huh? Oh." I pulled off my coat and outer layers. "Mount Everest."

"Mount what!" Rhodey squeaked out and I shot him a look.

"I'm capable of superheating myself and just took a vacation in Nepal recently where I actually had a chance to relax. I needed somewhere off-grid. No cameras, no cell reception, no people. Or, well, limited people. And when you're bundled up in enough layers, it's not like people can recognize you."

"Did you even need to bundle up?" Natasha teased and I rolled my eyes.

"I walked up in a pair of shorts and a tank top, so no. Not really."

"Are you coming with us then?" Steve asked and I jabbed a finger over my shoulder.

"She won't let me ditch."

Captain Marvel smirked proudly before a blue woman cleared her throat.

"You want to know where Thanos is, or not?"

"Who's she?" I asked, earning a sigh from half the group as Natasha nodded to the meeting room.

"I'll give you a rundown."

"Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me," Nebula explained. "And when he worked, he talked about his Great Plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. I'd ask, 'where would we go once his plan was complete?' And his answer was always the same." She moved to the table and leaned on it. "'To the Garden.'"

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

"It's more than what most villains have," Jess commented. "Most just work their damnedest to get the plan finished. Don't give a second thought as to what they're going to do after."

"So, where is he?" Steve asked and Rocket brought up a hologram.

"When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions. No one's ever seen anything like it. Until two days ago, on this planet."

The image changed and Nebula confirmed.

"Thanos is there."

"Sipping margaritas on the beach," Jess sighed, tipping her chair back as Natasha eyed the image.

"He's used the stones again."

"Hey, hey, hey," Bruce stepped up, nudging Jess's chair back down. "We'd be going in shorthanded, you know."

Rhodey agreed. "Look, he's still got the stones, so—"

"So, let's get him," Captain Marvel cut in. "Use them to bring everyone back."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah. Just like that," Steve agreed, noticing that Jess was being oddly silent now.

"Even if there's a small chance that we can undo this," Natasha brought up. "I mean, we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try."

"If we do this, how do we know it's gonna end any differently than it did before?" Bruce asked, still having issues understanding how this was a different scenario.

"Because before, you didn't have me," Captain Marvel replied, earning disbelieving looks from the others.

"Hey, new girl? Everybody in this room is about that superhero life. And if you don't mind my asking, where the hell have you been all this time?" Rhodey questioned her stiffly.

"There are a lot of other planets in the universe. And unfortunately, they didn't have you guys."

Thor, who'd also been quietly listening, got up and approached Captain Marvel, standing before her and summoning his ax right past her head. She didn't even flinch, staring him right in the eyes.

"I like this one," he commented, before Jess got up—chair scraping on the floor getting everyone's attention.

"Here's a question. What did he use the stones for the second time?"

The group frowned as she lifted a finger and spun the image of the planet, stopping it on the origin of the blast Thanos had let off.

"What does that matter?" Rocket asked, stiffening when she glanced at him over the image.

"You're telling me that a man—who thought up this whole taking over the universe thing, succeeded, and retired with all-powerful stones—just used them again for no reason? He's obviously smart if he's gotten this far. He wouldn't use the stones again for anything ridiculous. Ignoring that would be stupid."

Rocket's nose crinkled at being called stupid, but he could see her point.

"What are you thinking, Jess?" Steve asked, wondering if she had an idea for what he used the stones for.

She turned, leaning against the table and eyeing Nebula. "What did you say his reasoning was for this whole Great Plan thing?"

"Cleaning the universe. His home planet was starving, and his solution was…"

"Genocide. Partial, anyway," Jess concluded, tipping her head back to eye the ceiling in thought. "I hate to say it, but I can see where he's coming from. Less people fighting for resources means more resources going around."

"Are you saying you're fine with what he did?" Bruce gaped.

"Oh, no. Genocide has no excuse. He honestly should have looked into alternatives. Moving some people to another planet, creating genetically modified food. You know, all that sci-fi shit you see in movies before some alien apocalypse."

"Jess, please be serious," Steve sighed, and she rolled her eyes.

"Look. All I'm saying, is that based off what sort of idea he had for this Great Plan? I don't think he's stupid enough to use the stones again for any selfish reason."

"So, what did he use them for?"

"You're not gonna like it," Jess muttered, pushing off the table and moving over to peer out the window.

Steve wouldn't let it go though, coming up behind her. "Jess, anything you can tell us, it's important we know."

"If it were me? I'd destroy the stones."

Steve's eyes widened as the others looked shocked.

"What? Why?"

Rocket agreed. "Why would you want to get rid of all-powerful stones?"

Jess held up two fingers. "One? To prevent people like us going after him and using them against him after he's finally reached his goal."

"And the second reason?"

"Temptation. Thanos is almost… religious, in a sense. Everything was done for the self-preservation of a species. That was the only reason he went far enough to gain all this power, for one final swoop. Keeping them would only tempt him to alter things further, cause harm to his own plan. So, my guess is that the second power spike was him destroying the stones. There's literally no point in going after him. Not that there honestly was in the first place other than petty vengeance."

"Rude," Rocket grumbled.

Jess shrugged though, face colder and more expressionless than anything Steve had ever seen from her. She'd changed in this last month, and not for the better.

"Even if he had the stones and we took them, reversing everything, he'd just come back after us. We wouldn't destroy them, because that's just how we are. So, Thanos would gather his army and probably destroy the entire planet just to get them back."

"Not if we killed him first," Thor declared, and Jess shot him an icy look.

"And how does that make you any better than him?"

Thor bristled, tightening his grip on his ax, though he swore it felt oddly heavy in his hands all of a sudden.

"We're still going after him," Steve declared, and Jess sighed.

"Then, leave me out of it. I want no part in this. Enough people have died."

She walked out, leaving a bitter taste in everyone's mouths, but they weren't about to back down now. And even once Thanos was dead—Jess having been proven right about the stones—not one of them felt any better about what happened.