Steve sat upwards with a gasp. He grabbed his head, surprised to feel the weight of his shield on his arm. Last thing he remembered…

"Steve, are we on the moon?"

"...Bucky?"

Somehow, it was. His oldest friend, who he had watched turn to dust before his eyes, now stood over him looking very confused.

"Bucky?!" One super soldier gave the other a tight embrace.

"Hey," Sam Wilson tapped Steve on the shoulder. "I'm here too. And this doesn't look like Wakanda to me."

"Oh my, god," Steve whispered, racing to embrace his other friend. "Is, everyone back?

And they were. Wanda and Vision, Bruce and Nat, Clint, T'Challa, all of the Avengers Thanos had erased were now gathered on the Moon. But how?

Scott Lang was brushing himself off when he caught a flash of movement in his periphery.

"Hey, you," a voice said.

"Hope?"

The Wasp grew to her full size and the two shared a kiss. "I guess I missed the fight again."

"I'm glad you're alive," Scott scrunched his face. "Let me tell you,the end of the universe is no fun by yourself. I had to drive the van to New York with no radio."

"You took our van?" Hope raised an eyebrow. "How much did that cost you in gas?"

"Tell Hank if he covers the gas I'll cover the 10,000 mile tuneup."

Tony Stark was working out the physics of how his body could still have enough integrated brain cells left to work out the physics. And then he heard the voice.

"Mr. Stark?"

His whole body went numb. "Peter?"

"You saved us!" Peter exclaimed. Behind him Doctor Strange floated into view.

"I didn't really… oh shut up, kid. Come here," and Tony hugged the young hero.

"Nicely done, Mr. Stark," Strange said coolly.

"Option number fourteen million six hundred five still cut it awful close, Doc."

"You're right," Strange said. "Still, my hunch was well founded." He flashed the "angel" a wink and then followed with a stern glance, indicating that he had better return promptly to the past.

"GAMORA! Where is she? GAMORA?"

Peter Quill had scarcely gotten over returning to normal before shouting for his lost lover. Captain Marvel approached the group and introduced herself.

Mantis' antennae perked up. "You are that famous Kree warrior from Earth!"

"More like an Earth warrior from Hala. I've heard a lot about you guys too, though. I've never met a Groot before."

"I am Groot," Groot said.

"Well I don't believe that," Carol laughed.

Thanos returned to his physical form with a start. A great orb of light now hovered where Nebula once stood. He thrust his fist at it but was propelled backwards with immense force. As he picked himself up he realized that he was surrounded by formerly dead heroes. They stood in a circle around him, all hugging and kissing and exchanging cursory introductions. And then all at once they noticed him. And they didn't look happy.

With a final pulse the orb dissipated, revealing Nebula and Gamora. But few would recognize the blue alien woman who floated before them as Nebula. For this was not the twisted cyborg Thanos has made. This was Nebula as she could have been. As she should have been. And now as she was. Dark blue hair coursed behind her head, now uniformly the light blue of her natural skin. Her eyes were brighter, and blazed with purpose rather than rage. She wore the Infinity Gauntlet, though with only 5 Stones set in its back. Clasped in her gloved hand was Gamora's, the other sister glowing with orange light, the Soul Stone levitating on a pendant attached to her neck.

"What have you done, my Daughter?" Thanos looked up sadly at Gamora.

"Silence," Gamora's voice echoed across the moonscape. "All this has happened because of you. Did you think you could sin against every living thing in the universe without crossing its protectors? Everyone here has one thing on their mind. Destroying you."

And thus began the final battle against Thanos, though to call it a battle was to be exceptionally charitable. Once the first blow had been struck, Thanos was powerless to stop the onslaught of heroes from all sides, juggling him through the air and landing blow after blow. They afforded him all the mercy he had ever mustered in life. He was beaten and blasted, electrocuted and mangled, pierced and gouged. Hawkeye impaled him with arrows, Iron Man burned him with heavy plasma, his daughters sent the power of the cosmos coursing through his every cell, and finally Thor prepared to cleave him in half.

But as Stormbreaker came down with a terrible crash, Thanos' body turned blue and allowed the hammer to pass straight through his head.

"That's enough," Nebula stated plainly. "We will take it from here."

The assembled heroes watched as a portal streaked with red and blue formed from the ground and swallowed Thanos whole.

"Bring him back, Nebula," Drax shouted. "I have not yet finished with him.

"Believe me, Drax, I understand. I could spend the rest of my life hurting Thanos, and thanks to this Gauntlet both my life and his could be made quite long. But it would never be enough. It has to end."

"Who are you to make that kind of decision?" War Machine pointed at her.

"She holds the Gauntlet, Colonel Rhodes," T'Challa said gravely, "How are we to stop her?"

Gamora jumped to Nebula's defense. "We will give him the fate he deserves. You need to trust us. We have already restored your lives."

"And for that we must be grateful," Vision finally spoke up, "But a great many of us require closure, and witnessing the Mad Titan's death for ourselves - morbid though it may be - will go a long way towards that."

"Hold, everyone."

A number of people were shocked to see the God of Thunder raise his arm for silence.

"Thor," Bruce said softly. "You of all people should want this monster dead. He's taken more from you than anyone."

"That isn't true, Banner," Thor shook his head. "I ran afoul of him but once. They lived with him their whole lives."

He looked at Nebula. "The fatal blow is theirs."

Nebula nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Thor."

She turned to address the group. "Now there remains one thing to do."

"Gamora nodded. "We need to bring everyone back. Undo everything, if we can."

"But there's a problem," Nebula continued. "The Decimation heavily damaged the Gauntlet."

"That doesn't sound like a problem at all," Rocket chimed in. "The frickin' thing is a weapon of mass destruction. It needs to be destroyed, and that should mean a lot coming from me."

"I think what she means," Doctor Strange put his hand on the Raccoon's shoulder. "Is that the Gauntlet was built to restrain the power of the Infinity Stones, but now those restraints are nonfunctional. Using it to undo the Decimation will leave its wielder open to the raw energy of the Stones."

"Certain death," Drax rumbled. And for a time everyone was silent.

"You have the Mind Stone, yes?" Wanda's face was hard. "Why not force Thanos to put it back on and do it? Two birds, one stone."

"Using the Stones is a matter of intent," Gamora's eyes flashed orange. "You cannot will the universe to act in a way unless it is your own will."

Star Lord threw up his hands. "Well if the stones have a will of their own why can't they just do it themselves?"

"Because they are still only objects, Peter," Gamora replied with an exhausted tone. "They can't actively do anything."

Nebula looked at Steve and placed the Gauntlet on the ground in the middle of the group. He took a step towards it.

Tony cleared his throat. "Well, we've put this off long enough. I'll take it. I need to make it right."

Steve looked at the glove by his feet.

"Cap?"

He picked it up.

"Steve, c'mon, stop playing around. Give me the damn Gauntlet."

Steve chuckled. "You know when we first met I never thought you would risk your life for others. Now you're jumping at the chance to die for us."

"I guess you're a bad influence, now give me the glove so we can end this," his voice sounded urgent.

"Tony, it's okay."

"No. No, it's not! I can't be the one who keeps… surviving."

Steve crossed the lunar plain to Tony. "You have a life, Tony. You keep getting chances to live it. Don't waste them like Thanos did."

"And what about your life?"

"My life… is in the past. And I'm happy to have had more time. These last 8 years with all of you have been the best of my life. But, the loop needs to close. It needs to be me."

Nebula gestured for him to follow her.

He lowered his voice. "You knew it would be me."

Nebula closed her eyes. "I don't know you very well, Captain, but right now I can feel the minds of everyone on this moon. The feelings you inspire. It's overwhelming. It's what will ensure we succeed."

T'Challa came up behind him and clasped his shoulder. "Wakanda will sing of this for the rest of its history."

"Thank you, your majesty. For a lot of things."

He saw Scott and Hope watching him pass.

"I feel like we don't deserve to be here, Cap you're… a legend," the words caught in Scott's mouth.

Steve shook his head. "No, thank you for coming Scott. I know what it cost you to go out on that airstrip. And you too, Clint."

The archer's face was twisted in grief. "Principle of the thing, Steve. I'll never back down from a fight like that. Or this."

"He turned to Hope. "And you must be Miss Van Dyne. Scott's mentioned a thing or two about you. Heard you have a talent with that tech."

"Thank you… Cap. I wish I could have gotten to know you a little more."

A bit away from Steve the Guardians of the Galaxy huddled together.

"I am Groot."

"I agree, Mantis said. "This is not our time to speak."

Doctor Strange floated ahead. He didn't say anything. His face was grave. He was looking at his hands.

Carol Danvers hovered over to Steve. He nodded at her. "Captain."

She frowned. "Captain."

"I'll need you to keep these guys in line. Think you can do that, Airforce?"

"Hey, I resemble that remark," Rhodey interjected. He shook Captain America's hand one last time.

"Captain America?" Peter called out.

Steve smiled "Hey, Queens, right?"

"You remembered!"

"I've been following you since Germany, kid. Keep doing good. All the good you can. Even when they tell you you can't, or you shouldn't. You've got a good heart."

Spider-Man quickly put his mask back on to hide the giant grin on his face.

Steve approached Thanos' throne, where Gamora waited. He put on the Gauntlet, and she placed her hand in his. He seated himself in the chair to compose himself. Nat, Bruce, and Thor approached.

"Steve, you don't have to do this," the Black Widow was shaking like a leaf. "Any one of us would do it instead."

"And I would never live it down," Steve touched her arm with his right hand. "Apologize to Sharon when you see her. Tell her it's my fault. And Bruce?"

"Cap?" Banner couldn't quite believe what was happening.

"Remember what I told you. You deserve to be happy too."

Thor yanked Cap from the chair and gave him a bear hug. "I swear on the Odinforce itself, we will see each other again, Steve Rogers."

"I'd like that, Thor. I can't speak for everyone on Earth but I'd be glad to give your people a home there."

Wanda and Vision walked up, hand in hand.

"You gave us both a chance when few others would," Vision smiled sadly.

"I know what it's like to be doubted," Steve said. "Look out for each other."

And lastly, Sam and Bucky came to say goodbye.

"We always seem to miss each other, Buck." Steve choked slightly.

"I… don't even want to know where I'd be right now without you, Steve," Bucky said. "You stuck your neck out for me, more than I ever deserved."

"Stick with this guy," Steve gestured to Sam. "He taught me everything I know about loyalty."

"We both know that's not true," Sam laughed. "But if the 'White Wolf's' farming days are over, I can show him a thing or two."

"Captain Rogers," Gamora started as the stone around her neck began to glow. "We should do this now, before it gets even harder."

She placed her hand back on the gauntlet and the other Stones glowed in response. Tony was hanging in the back of the assembly this whole time, but now worked his way forwards to join the other four founding Avengers.

"Aren't you going to give us one more impromptu speech?"

Steve laughed. "I really don't know what I'd say."

Tony placed his hand on the Gauntlet. "How about I say. Thank you."

Tears welled up in Captain America's eyes. "That's a short speech, Tony."

Tony blinked back a tear of his own. "Yeah, would it kill you to take a hint? We aren't paid by the word."

He backed away, and the Galaxy's mightiest heroes watched as Steve Rogers stood. He held the glove aloft and closed his eyes. Then a white light enveloped the Moon. The force shook the onlookers as they flinched from the glare. Natasha adamantly stared straight ahead, only averting her eyes when Bruce pulled her close. The light grew and spread, to every corner of the universe…

...Steve opened his eyes. Everything around him was bathed in a warm glow. And as the mists parted and the woman before him came into focus, the tears finally rolled down his face.

"Steve!" she cried.

"I know," he walked over to take Peggy Carter's hand in his own. "I'm late."

Nick Fury found himself in the middle of the street. All around him people were brushing themselves off and shouting in disbelief and joy. Strangers embraced and throngs of people were cheering. He leaned against the car and exhaled deeply. Another crisis averted.

"Fury," Maria Hill darted around the corner to find her boss.

"Agent Hill," he said. "If you plan on hugging me, I suggest you think of something else."

"What? No. Um, no I just got a priority call from Agent Romanov. We need to get to Wakanda right now. Rogers is down."

The whole of Wakanda came out to throw a wake for Captain America, the man who saved the world. But in a secluded part of the palace, the Avengers sat in silence.

Sam walked over to Clint with another drink. "You get in touch with Laura yet?"

"Yup. Everything is safe and sound."

"Are they coming here for the ceremony?"

He shook his head. "It's a lot of travel for the kids. The Doctor is gonna teleport me home and back tonight but she doesn't really trust 'magic' and all that."

"I hope you know, we don't blame you for what you did during the Decimation. It was… grief."

"And we all deal with grief in our own way," Clint said motioning to the other side of the table where Natasha sat with Bruce, her hair hanging down over her eyes.

"Don't see Bucky or the king either," Sam changed the subject.

"T'Challa has a lot of things to oversee. And Bucky has a lot of goodbyes. He's kind of a celebrity around here."

"He's doing it for Steve," Sam put down his glass. "Otherwise I don't think he'd ever leave."

"Hard to blame him."

"The world doesn't like the Winter Soldier, but it doesn't know much about Bucky Barnes."

"Lady Nebula, a word?"

She turned to see Thor joining her on the balcony.

"I'm sorry, I'm not really used to such large groups."

"That's understandable," Thor said. "And not why I'm here. I know what you have planned for Thanos. And I respect it. But I thought it wise to tell you that - should Thanos ever blight the universe again - I will kill him."

"That won't happen," Nebula said sharply. Then her face softened. "But if it does, you'll be the first we call."

The next day Wong and Clint returned to Wakanda via portal. Everyone gathered in the fields outside of the capital, where the ceremony was set to begin. T'Challa had gone to typically lavish ends to accommodate his newfound allies. Everyone filed into their seats until Tony and Rhodey entered, both classes in tuxedos. A small ensemble of Asgardian musicians began playing. Everyone turned around to watch the arrival by boat of Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan, the redheaded CEO dressed in a long white dress with a sheer veil.

Happy walked her through the gathered guests, first a gallery of curious Wakandans and the line of Dora Milaje keeping a careful eye on the proceedings. Then they reached the small and peculiar group of guests Pepper and Tony had invited; a few relatives and co-workers of Pepper's on one side, and a wide gamut of aliens, superhumans, and vigilantes on the other. Sitting on its own chair between Bucky and Natasha was Cap's shield.

The old pastor, still wearing his tinted aviators to block the African sun, rose now and addressed the wedding guests. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to… uh, hang on I lost my place."

Tony tapped his soon-to-be wife on the arm. "It's officially too late to leave me at the altar Miss Potts."

"Tony I know we wanted to be spontaneous with this whole engagement thing but this is a little crazy," Pepper whispered.

"Look, the king said it was okay, and really how many times are we gonna hear that in our lives. You look beautiful by the way."

"Thank you. And thank you for getting all the guests here on such short notice."

"Who has the ring?" The pastor asked, flipping through his notes.

"Oh that's me!" Peter Rose from his chair and handed the ring to Tony.

"Do you, Tony Stark, promise to love and cherish this woman, to keep your vows to her til death do you part?"

"I do." That meant it was time to hang up his suit, for good this time. Start a family, the way they had been trying for years now.

"And do you, Virginia Potts, promise to take this man in sickness and in health?"

"Oh man, you mean I didn't have to before we were married?" She asked to laughter from the guests. "I do."

"Then I pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Tony Stark! You may kiss the bride!"

Everyone rose to their feet in applause as Tony and Pepper shared their first kiss as a married couple. The Wakandans in the back cheered.

"Excelsior!" The pastor shouted. "Oh, I love a happy ending!"

[A/N]: And that's how Thanos was defeated and the universe was saved. But the story doesn't end there. In fact, it hasn't even begun... In chapter 3, a new world begins.