A/N: End of Infinity Wars! Be brave!
"ALLIE!" Hawkeye's anguished scream rang through the comms, and everyone knew what had happened as they saw the archer go into battle with a calm-eyed ferocity. Natasha's psyche shut down on realizing her daughter was gone - she was all Black Widow now, cold-hearted steel and electricity.
Thanos knew he had struck a blow, and pressed his advantage. He smote Captain America where he stood, leaving his still body in his wake as he pressed forward. The Winter Soldier (not Steve! his inner voice cried, but was ruthlessly suppressed) scooped up the battered shield and kept fighting.
Iron Man saw Spider-man go down under a wave of alien soldiers, and knew that without a miracle, the Earth was lost.
The miracle came in a flash of multi-colored light and a Nordic stamp in the grass. Thor, Loki, Peter, and Gamora stood there, looking triumphant. Two seconds later, as they took in the damage and the battle, they sprung into action. The two Guardians of the Galaxy plunged into the fray, and Thor brought the silver pyramid out from his cape. He put in his earpiece. "I have the soul stone," he said. "Who has the gauntlet?"
"Thanos has the only one," Iron Man replied grimly, dodging a blast of pure unadulterated Time. The ground underneath him vaporized.
"Then we must take it from him," Thor said grimly. "Where is Allie? I will fly the pyramid to her so we can use this stone."
Iron Man couldn't reply.
T'Challa took up the comm. "She's dead," he said, and tore into another alien. "Set it in the cannon and we can-"
Thanos' power took out Wakanda's pulse cannon a second later. "Never mind."
"There's no time," Iron Man said, and Tony's futurist brain ran the calculations, ran the math, the risks, and the rewards. "Give it to me."
"What are you going to-"
Iron Man swooped down and plucked the pyramid from Thor's hands, twisting it open to reveeal the glowing orange stone. He picked it up, and shoved it into the arc reactor of the suit. He shuddered as the suit supercharged, and concentrated.
They watched in amazement as Iron Man directed a unibeam of energy at Captain America's lifeless body, recalling his soul and reviving him instantly. Spider-man gasped with life under the pile of dead aliens. As Iron Man turned the unibeam to Thanos' forehead, he willed with all his might that Allie would be alive and safe at the end of this.
Thanos was mesmerized by the power of the Soul stone as he gazed into the depths of the beam, the Iron Man suit crumbling around it. Thanos' hands fell limp at his sides as he envisioned all the death that would make his Mistress proud...
The gauntlet slipped from his grasp just as Iron Man died, and the stone tumbled from the crumbling wisps of the suit.
Captain America raced forward to pick up the gauntlet, and with a roar of anger, Hulk plucked the soul stone from the air and threw it at Cap. "END THIS!" he howled angrily.
And Captain America did just so. He brought the Infinity Stones to bear upon the one who would think to wield them, and froze the Mad Titan in his tracks, preparing to either crush him or throw him to the ends of the universe.
A giant hand reached out from the sky, and plucked Thanos off the ground.
Like some cheesy cartoon, everyone stopped, and everyone's heads swiveled up to stare at the sky.
There stood a man, or rather, a humanoid-shaped being, twenty-two thousand feet tall: a mountain of a god walking amongst mortals. "I'll take it from here," the being informed them kindly.
Captain America blinked, and then called upwards, "Where are you taking him?"
"To a place where he won't harm anyone in the name of his mistress," the being replied. "He won't be bothering you again. This planet is far too interesting, and needs further development. If you were able to defeat him, you must be kept alive."
"Who are you?" Cap asked, squinting to try and see the being's face.
The being chuckled, and the sonic boom that resulted tipped over a skyscraper. "I am The One Above All," he declared, "brother to the one you recognize as Ego."
"A Celestial," Star Lord breathed in surprise.
"And the Gauntlet?" Cap asked.
The being waved a hand. "No, no, you take that. We have high hopes of you humans." He disappeared in a shimmer of white light, and was gone.
No one on the battlefield remembered anything about him.
Captain America blinked at the empty space. "Thanos is gone," he said into his comm, and closed his eyes against the surge of power that rose from the Gauntlet. "I think, I can fix everything."
"Do it," Thor said.
Iron Man was ressurected. Scarlet Witch was freed from her mental prison. Vision was given back consciousness, but without the trappings of the Mind stone. One after the other, people were brought back into realitty and given back their minds and souls, and the time they had lost. As Steve healed the city, and used the power of the Infinity Stones on the whole world, people began to report their legs growing back, their vision returning, their developmental disabilties disappearing, their mental illnesses vanishing. Peter's Celestial genes reappeared in his DNA. And the cities ravaged by the portals stood whole once again.
Steve's mind wandered back to Peggy, too soon gone, and his old friends. He could easily bring them back here, to live in the present-
Bucky dared to reach out and touch his arm. "That's good Stevie," he said quietly, his voice rough with emotion, "you did good. You're done."
Steve's eyes glowed with power. "Don't you want your life back, Buck?" he asked, his voice otherworldy with power.
"No," Bucky said quietly, "I'm good."
Steve nodded slowly, and dropped his arm, relaxing his hand. The stones dimmed, and one by one, fell out of the Gauntlet, inactive, on the floor.
Steve's eyes rolled back, and he crumpled.
Bucky caught him before he could hit hte ground. "MEDIC!" he roared, pressing his human hand to Steve's neck. He caught the steady heartbeat, and slumped in relief. "Idiot," he murmured into Steve's hair as he bowed his head, the adrenaline leaving him in a rush.
Tony Stark rolled out of his suit, feeling both exhilarated and traumatized, and grabbed Peter Parker in a hug. "Don't do that again," he scolded, half-laughing in relief.
"I won't," Peter promised, hugging the older man tightly.
Hawkeye ignored the cheers of the civilians and the Wakandan soldiers, and raced through the city. "Allie!" he called, searching for the little girl desperately. "Allie!"
"TINY!" Hulk bellowed, joining in the search. "TINY BABY VENGER!"
She was not in the city.
A~A~A~A
Halfway across the world, Pietro woke up from his daze, the power of the Mindstone no longer driving him. He lay on the ground for a moment, gathering strength, and then he reversed course, heading for Wakanda. He didn't know what was happening, but he needed to be there for Wanda, who, in his head, sounded distressed.
A~A~A~A
Allie woke up in an alley. She blinked at the dirty floor for a few moments, and then carefully sat up. She glanced around for any of the Avengers, and on finding herself alone, ventured into the street. Avengers Tower gleamed proudly a few blocks away.
A woman rushing past paused, and glanced at the filthy child. "Oh, you poor kid, did you lose your parents in the rush?" she asked.
"The rush?" Allie asked, dazed. "What rush? Where are we?"
"The aliens are gone and the city is fixed!" the woman said cheerfully. She held out a hand. "My name's Esther. Come with me and I'll take you to the police station."
"Um, no, that's okay." Allie pointed to the Tower. "That's where I live."
"Really?"
"Really. Thank you, though." Allie turned into a bird, and fluttered away above the crowds. She flew to the front door, turned herself back into a girl, and went inside. She went up to the front desk. "Happy Hogan please," she said.
The receptionist knew her. "Allie?" she asked, standing up and coming around to the front. "What are you doing here?"
"I don't know," Allie said honestly. "What's going on? Did we win?"
The receptionist grinned and hugged her. "We won, honey. Come on, I'll take you up."
They went up to the common room, and Allie said, "FRIDAY, call my dad."
"Allie!" FRIDAY said, shocked. "Where did you come from?"
"Outside," Allie replied, going into the kitchen. "I don't really know what's going on but I'm starving." She opened the fridge and took out a slice of cold pizza. "Can you call the Avengers?"
"I'm putting you on comms," FRIDAY decided.
Allie spoke up. "Guys? Daddy?"
On the other side of the world, Hawkeye dropped his bow. "Allie?" he whispered, not daring to believe it.
"Allie, is that you?" Tony asked, eyes widening.
"It's me," Allie said. "I don't know what's going on."
"Where are you?" Clint demanded hoarsely, grabbing for Natasha. She clung to him, shuddering with relief. "Baby? Where are you? We'll come get you."
"I'm at the Tower," Allie said. "I woke up in that alley where you found me and I came home. I'm eating pizza. Did we win?"
Clint broke into tears of relief. "Yeah, we won," he choked, wiping at his eyes. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Is, is everyone okay?" Allie asked hesitantly. "Mommy? Steve? Everybody?"
The Avengers and assorted associates sounded off one by one, almost delirious with relief. "How did you get all the way over there?" Wanda asked.
Tony spoke up. "I think that was me. When I had the Soul stone, I wanted Allie to be alive, and safe."
"So you sent her home," Rhodey said, slinging an arm around him in a hug.
Allie felt something go wibbly in her stomach. "I died?" she asked quietly.
Everyone froze. "Uh..."
"Lots of us died, dwarf, get over it," Rocket said irritably. "You're fine now."
Groot smacked him upside the head. "I am Groot," he scolded.
"Listen to me, Allie, malyshka, listen," Natasha said. "You're fine, baby. We're all fine, okay?"
Loki poked at Dr. Strange. "Get her over here, now," he whispered harshly.
Strange shrugged him off and opened a portal. "Allie, young one, get into the portal and you'll be here in one second," he said over comms.
Allie took a leap of faith - and ended up in Clint's arms. "Daddy!" She hugged him tightly. She wasn't exactly sure how to handle being dead and then alive again, so she started crying.
The waterworks in general started, as Clint and Natasha were crying, Steve
Bleedingheart Rogers started crying happy tears that everyone was alive, Peter started crying because he was overexhausted, and poor Mantis started crying because everyone else was crying.
The Wakandans took care of everything, and in the aftermath of the Infinity Wars, the Avengers finally got to vacation in Wakanda.
Allie was given the dubious distinction of joining the Coulson club - revived by sheer willpower.
A~A~A~A
A/N 2: Hope you enjoyed my take on the Infinity Wars! Stay tuned for more chapters!