Making Things Right
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Disclaimer: OC's are mine!
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"It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth." Rhodey explained to a very weak Tony Stark and Carol. Images of the Avengers and friends who disappeared are shown with hologram pictures.
"World governments are in pieces, um the parts that are still working are trying to take a census. And it looks like he … did exactly what he said he was going to do." Natasha added. "Thanos wiped out 50 percent of all living creatures."
"Where is he now?" Tony asked. "Where?"
"We don't know." Steve answered. "He just opened a portal and walked through."
Tony sighed, then did a double take when he saw Thor. "What's wrong with him?"
"He's pissed." Rocket answered. "He thinks he failed. Of course he did, but you know there's a lot of that going around ain't there?"
"Honestly until this exact second I thought you were a build-a bear." Tony stares at the raccoon.
"Tony, please don't start." Jennifer said.
"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks." Steve quickly changed the topic to get it back on subject. "Deep space scans and satellites and we got nothing. Tony you fought him."
"Who told you that you're a fighter? No he went my face with the planet while the bleaker street magician gave away the store. That's what happened, there's no fights ok?"
"Did he give you any clues, any coordinates anything?" Steve asked.
Tony made a face. "I saw this coming a few years back, I had a vision I didn't want to believe it. My daughter's dreaming."
Steve stood up. "Tony I'm gonna need you to focus."
"We needed you." Tony said simply as he looked at Steve. "As in past tense. That trumps what you need, it's too late buddy. Sorry. You know what I need." He turned and started knocking stuff off the table with a shaky hand, small glass breaking as he stood from his wheelchair. "I need to shave." He looks at his arm that has an IV. "And I believe I remember telling you." He starts as he starts to pull out the IV.
"Tony, Tony." Rhodey tried to stop him.
"Alive!" Tony ignores his best friend as he rips off the IV and turns to Steve. "And otherwise that what we needed was a suit of armor around the world. Remember that? Weather it impacted our precious freedoms or not, that's what we needed."
"Well, that didn't work out, did it?" Steve asked.
"I said we'd lose, you said 'well do that together too.' Well guess what Cap? We lost!" Tony was starting to shake, emotion flowing through his body. "And you weren't there. But that's what we do right? Our best work after the fact?" He demanded as Rhodey tried to push him back to the wheelchair. "What are the Avengers? With the Avengers not the Pre-Avengers."
"Ok, you made your point, now sit down." Rhodey tried.
"No,no. Here's my but you don't want." Tony protest as Rhodey tried to push him into the wheelchair. "We need you." He points at Carol. "Your new blood, bunch of tired old meals, I got nothing." He moves towards Steve while pointing at him. "For you Cap."
"Tony, just to calm down." Jennifer told him, making him turn to her.
"Oh don't worry, I got some bite for you too. Your boyfriend is the cause of all of this."
"Tony." Rhodey tries to pull him back.
"He didn't start this blood bath mess." Tony continued to ignore his best friend. "I'll give him that, you tried to save him. Ignoring everybody and going against everything. And guess what? You failed!"
"Stop it Tony." Steve warned, Tony turns to glare at him.
"Why the hell not? All you had to do was simply sign the God damn papers." Tony growled. "And now where is everybody? Huh? Sure as hell not in this building."
"This is war." Jen said, making Tony turn to her again. "It was war. And people … good and bad people get caught in the crossfire."
"Oh? Like your boy toy?" Tony asked. "Are you even sure he died all those years go? How do you know he didn't just play you?"
"Tony!" Rhodey barked, as Jennifer starts to stalk to him, but Thor was faster and able to keep her back.
"If you didn't look so fragile, pale and wrinkled like an old man, you wouldn't have a nose!" Jennifer snarled at Tony.
Tony turns back to Steve, getting in his face. "I have to coordinates, no clues, no strategy, no options. Zero, zip … and not trust." He pulls off his arch, grabs Steve's hand and shoved the tech into Steve's hand. "Here take this! You find him, you put that on, you hide." He fell to his knees.
"Tony!" Steve and Rhodey are right there.
"I'm fine." The billionaire then fainted.
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It was now five years later, and what was left of the Avengers had separated to try and move on as they lick their wounds.
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In Central Park, Steve and a blonde young woman walked down a sidewalk, arm-in-arm. "I'm sorry I've been such a downer the last few days." Steve apologized.
"It's ok." She smiled as she laid the side of her head of his arm. "You've been thinking about the population."
They stopped walking and he turns to her. "Lydia." He starts. "I'm at a standstill." He admits. "Today was the 5th year anniversary of what happened."
She leaned up to kiss him. "It was not your fault." She told him lightly. "You did everything you could."
Steve looks at her. The two had met shortly after The Snap when a guy tried to steal her purse and Steve interjected, the guy had gotten scared when he saw Captain America and dropped the purse before fleeing. After that Steve and Lydia have been together ever since. "I don't even nowhere to begin." He admits.
"I'm always right here."
He grins. "Now that, I know." He kisses her gently. "Come on, we still have places to go today."
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Inside a small suburb, Jennifer is sitting on the steps of her small two story home as she looked up at the sky. The front door behind her opened to reveal a little girl with dark hair.
"Mama?" Five year old Rosetta Daisy Barns walked out.
Jen smiled as she turned to the child. "Hi sweetheart." She held out her arms. "Come here." The child quickly went into her mother's arms.
"Are you ok?" Rosetta asked, looking up at her.
"I'm ok." Jen forced a smile. "Your mommy just misses your daddy."
Rosetta smiled sadly. "I wish I had a memory of him."
That almost broke Jen's heart. "I wish you did too baby." She hugged her child, just as they hear a car and looked up to see a familiar car pulling into the driveway, then Steve climbs out of the driver's side, while Lydia stays in the passenger seat.
"Favuncle!" Rosetta cheered brightly as she raced up to Steve.
Captain America smiled as he scooped up his niece. "Hey sweetie." He approached the front porch. "Got the pull-ups you asked." He told his sister, who smiled.
"Thanks."
"Are you ready to head to the Avengers facility?"
Jennifer took a deep breath. "Yeah, let me grab my coat, do you mind getting her in the booster?"
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Natasha sat in her office, just seconds of breaking down.
"Aunty Nat!"
Natasha whipped her tears and took a breath just before a small body collided into her. "Hi." She smiled as she hugged the little girl.
"You look like you've been awake for 72 hours." Jennifer commented as she, Lydia, and Steve walked into the office. "Still looking for Clint?" She asked the obvious.
"He was spotted in Mexico." Natasha answered as she leaned back in her chair behind her desk.
Steve moved further in the office, picking up Rosetta, he sat down in a chair and placed her in his lap. "Maybe it's time to start over." He suggested as Rosetta snuggled into his broad chest.
Natasha stares at him. "What? Say we do? Then who does this?"
"Maybe it doesn't need to be done." Jennifer added. "We had a good run as Avengers. The world is destroyed, there's nothing left to protect."
Natasha looked down. "I use to have nothing." She said. "Then I got this. This job. This team. This family. And I was better because of it. But I never would've had any of this without Clint. Now he's suffering." Tears shined brightly in her eyes with a trembling voice. "And there's nothing I can do to help him."
"You did everything you could." Lydia told her gently. "All of you."
"Then why did we fail?" The only red head asked in a whisper.
Suddenly a beeping is heard, the Black Widow brought up the severity video from the front gate.
"Hello? Anybody home?" Scott Lang waved his arms in front of the camera. "It's Scott Lang. We met a few years ago. In Germany."
"Is this an old video?" Steve asked as he, Natasha, Lydia, and Jennifer rose from their chairs.
"It's the front gate." Natasha answered in a breath.