I promised an update within a day or two, so here we are!

This story is so close to finished, and that's a little exciting and a little bit sad too.

Thanks to new followers Domea, 3, and LordPeverell

And don't worry, I double checked before posting...this is the right chapter _

Enjoy

xo

Chapter 38

Breaking Down

Bucky and Lex ran through the battlegrounds, fighting off aliens as they tried to overrun them and wipe them out. Back to back again, Bucky felt like nothing had changed, as they fell into form with each other again, watching out for one another.

"I miss my apartment," Lex groaned as she slashed at another alien.

"What, your apartment in Bucharest?" Bucky asked incredulously as he continued to shoot at aliens that were trying to pursue Spider-Man as he swung by them.

"Exactly."

"Have you even been paying rent?" he asked, using the butt of his rifle to knock away an alien that got too close.

She was quiet for a moment as she dodged an Outrider that tried to lunge at her, slashing its head clean off its shoulders. "The landlord got snapped, so no."

"I think your rent is overdue then," Bucky replied in amusement as he glanced at her. She snarled slightly, before pulling her own rifle from her back and firing into the mass of aliens that were now attacking Spider-Man who had somehow managed to come in possession of the gauntlet. He stepped up beside her and also began targeting the aliens.

They continued firing, but soon there were too many. "Parker! Get out of there!" Lex shouted, moving to try and help him, stopping as another Outrider jumped in front of her. She kicked out at it, knocking it backwards before shooting it at close range.

"I got this. I got this!" Peter shouted, his iron spider legs working hard to try and fight off swarms of aliens. Lex moved to try and help him but was tackled by another alien. Bucky turned his attention to her, trying to get a clear shot of the alien as she also tried to fight it off. He heard Spider-Man shout behind him. "Okay, I don't got this. Help! Somebody, help!"

"Shit."

"Don't worry…about me!" Lex shouted back at Bucky as she wrestled with the alien that was on top of her, punching at it. "Help the kid!"

Deciding he had faith in Lex, he turned and began shooting at the aliens attacking Spider-Man, but there were still too many.

"Hey, Queens. Heads up," Bucky heard Steve shout. He continued firing, seeing Thor's hammer fly overhead. The kid fired one of his webs, catching onto the hammer and using it to pull himself out of harm's way as it flew past.

Bucky turned his attention back to Lex, just as she broke the alien's jaw, ripping it from its face and throwing the whole alien aside. Her eyes were blackened, blood dripped from her neck and a slash across her face. Several other aliens that had been close by stopped and seemed to reconsider their actions for a moment. It was all the time Bucky needed, he opened fire on the aliens, dropping them all where they stood while Lex launched herself at the one's that he didn't fire upon.

Finally, they got a moment to breathe, and Bucky carefully moved towards Lex, releasing his gun and holding his arms up to show he wasn't armed. "Are you okay?" he asked, paying close attention to the colour of her eyes. The colour wasn't easing, and she was breathing heavily.

Her gaze shifted to him, but she didn't say anything as she lifted her gaze skyward, before she lunged at him, much to his alarm. She dove at him, knocking him to the side. They rolled down further into the hole, Lex holding onto Bucky all the while, until they both came to rest up against a piece of concrete debris left-over from the Avenger complex.

"What the-" he exclaimed, looking to defend himself in case her trigger from the extra component in her blood had adverse effects, but there was soon an explosion close by. Bucky was quick to move and cover her, placing his body over hers, as another blast hit the ground, sending dirt and debris flying into the hole with them.

Thanos' ship was firing on them. As Bucky peered out of the hole while still trying to protect Lex, he could see multiple blasts fired from the ship, blasting giant holes in the ground. He saw Spider-Man knocked to the ground, still carrying the gauntlet.

"We've got to get to Peter," Lex murmured as she tried to get up, but Bucky could see was starting to struggle with multiple injuries.

"I think we need to get you to safety," Bucky said, moving to try and keep her safe from the explosions happening around them.

"I'm fine, let me up," she argued. He noted that her eyes had returned to normal, albeit her dark brown eyes showing how tired she was.

"Wait," he said trying to stop her, but she pushed past him, climbing out of the hole and looking up. Bucky followed her, noticing that the explosions had stopped. They both looked up at Thanos' ship and saw that it's weapons had changed their trajectory of fire.

"What the hell is this?" Sam asked in confusion, swooping low overhead of the pair.

Bucky saw Lex grin in the corner of his eye. "It's about bloody time," she murmured.

"Oh, yeah!" the racoon shouted, appearing on Lex's other side. Bucky stared up at the sky, until he saw an energy beam shooting towards Thano's ship. It was bright, appearing to be made up of orange, red and blue energy bolts.

"She's finally back," Lex sighed, looking down at Rocket.

"Wonder if she got a new haircut," he retorted, causing Lex to smirk and shake her head.

"Her?" Bucky asked, raising his eyebrows as he looked between the racoon and Lex.

Lex winked at him, lifting her rifle up in a relaxed manner. "Watch." She nodded back towards the energy bolt as it struck the ship, piercing its armour and shooting straight through it, appearing out the underside of it.

Bucky stared in disbelief as he realized why Lex called it a 'her'. The energy bolt was actually a person, and she was now turning around and flying straight back towards the ship again. As she struck it again, the weapons on the ship stopped firing, the energy lines on them shutting off.

They heard Steve through their comms. "Danvers, we need an assist here."

"Time to get back to work, Bucky," Lex said, smiling at Bucky as she smacked him on the arm, before turning and running away.

"Hey!" he called after her. She stopped and looked back at him expectantly.

"Be careful."

She raised an eyebrow, narrowing her eyes at him slightly, before a small smile slipped across her lips. "You too."

Peter lay on the ground in a ditch, cowering with his arms wrapped around the gauntlet as the ground all around him had exploded from the bombardment from Thanos' ship. When it finally stopped, he looked up, as a woman floated down to the ground.

"Hi. I'm Peter Parker," he greeted her quietly, as someone else leapt down next to her. "Alexia?"

"It's Lex. Good to see you again, kid. My, how you've grown," she greeted him, dropping down into the hole and moving to help him up. She looked different from what he remembered, older and more tired, and she didn't have a malevolent smile on her face like the last time he saw her. She looked genuinely happy to see him as she reached down with her hand.

"Uh, thanks," he replied, taking the hand she offered with a dubious look on his face and letting her help him to his feet. He glanced up at the other woman as the light surrounding her subsided.

"Don't let Captain Marvel scare you too much, she just likes to think she's intimidating," Lex whispered loudly, glancing over at Danvers as she pushed him towards her.

She gave Lex a sardonic look, before looking back at Peter and offering him a friendly smile. "Hey, Peter Parker. Got something for me?"

He stepped forward, moving to hand her the gauntlet. "I don't know how you're gonna get through all that," he said, motioning towards Scott Lang's van that was now up and running, the Quantum tunnel activated and visible from where they were positioned across the compound from it.

Lex reloaded her rifle, as Wanda Maximoff landed beside Captain Marvel.

"Don't worry," the Scarlet Witch replied, looking confidently down at him too.

The Dora Milaje General appeared beside Lex, swinging her spear around as she walked. "She's got help."

Peter looked all around as he saw several women moving to support the newcomer, including Pepper Potts, wearing an armour that looked similar to Tony's Iron Man armour. They were an awe-inspiring sight to see for the teenager as he stared at the group, taking a step back. For the first time since they started fighting, he really believed that they were going to win.

All the women turned and began running for the Quantum tunnel, Valkyrie flying over-head as they began taking on the aliens that turned their attention to Captain Marvel. Scarlet Witch fired the first shot, a blast of red energy knocking the first lines of aliens that charged at them out of the way as Valkyrie dove low on her Pegasus, slashing her sword at a Chitauri Leviathan as it dove towards the group, causing it to veer off course, explode and crash to the ground. Lex, Pepper and Shuri opened fire in an effort to clear a path of Outriders for Captain Marvel.

As they fired at the oncoming Chitauri and Outriders, a group tried to flank them, charging at Pepper. Lex heard their growls and snarls as they approached, turning and shoving Pepper out of the way, firing her weapons at the group, but was soon overwhelmed as they outnumbered her. She tried to jump back and out of the way, but Pepper soon reappeared in front of her, firing all of her arsenal on the aliens. Lex recovered quickly, assisting her until the flanking aliens were no more.

"You okay?" Pepper asked, deactivating her helmet and looking back at Lex.

"Sure, yeah, thanks," she replied, panting slightly, and turning back to look at the aliens charging towards Captain Marvel.

"No, thank you," Pepper replied, before following Lex's gaze towards the aliens. "Come on!" she reactivated her helmet, jumping up and activating her thrusters, before reaching for Lex and grabbing her by the arm.

"Wha!" Lex exclaimed, not prepared to be taking off as Pepper flew towards Captain Marvel.

Scarlet Witch used her powers to try and keep the Chitauri Leviathans away from Captain Marvel as she began to launch herself at the Quantum Tunnel, flying with great speed towards the van.

Thanos saw them, moving to intercept Captain Marvel, but Pepper who dropped Lex to the ground, Shuri and Wasp flew through the smoke, firing their energy blasts and rifle at him and knocking him from his feet. He was thrown back several feet, staggering back to his feet as Captain Marvel blasted by towards the van.

Just as they thought she might have been clear, Thanos shouted angrily, before throwing his double sword at the van. The sword smashed into the Quantum Tunnel, overloading the energy tunnel and causing it to explode just before Captain Marvel could reach it. She was thrown backwards, dropping the gauntlet as she tumbled along the ground.

Lex was startled awake as an energy blast surged over where she was lying, she sat up quickly, groaning almost immediately as she felt all her pain at once.

"I am, officially, too old for this shit," she muttered to herself, looking around. Her eyes went wide as she saw Thanos, wearing the gauntlet. She scrambled to her feet, moving to try and stop him.

As she ran towards him, he began to lift his gauntleted hand into the air.

"No, no, no!" she shouted desperately. As she lunged at him, so did Captain Marvel, catching him around the hand as Lex latched onto him around the neck. Lex started punching him as hard as she could, while Captain Marvel worked on ensuring he couldn't snap his fingers. "You are not doing this again!" Lex snarled as she dug her finger-nails into his eyes.

"Arrrghhh!" he screamed angrily, reaching up with his free hand and grabbing her, before tossing her to the side, where she landed roughly on a pile of debris. He snarled at Captain Marvel, before trying to head butt her. However, he was stunned when she didn't move, glaring back up at him. They continued to struggle to outpower each other, until finally Thanos reached for the power stone off the gauntlet, causing a blast of purple energy to knock Captain Marvel away.

"Danvers!" Lex shouted, watching as Carol was knocked several metres away. Lex hurried back to her feet, running towards Thanos again as he replaced the Power Stone on the gauntlet. Tony appeared before her, lunging at Thanos and grabbing him by the gauntlet. Thanos looked down at Tony in disgust, kneeing him in the gut once, before trying to hit him with his free hand.

Lex felt her rage building as she sped towards him, finally launching herself high in the air. She smashed into Thanos, grabbing his other arm and pulling it back in an effort to stop him from hitting Tony.

Tony looked across at her, grim determination on his face as they continued to wrestle with Thanos. Tony nodded at her once, and Lex understood what he was trying to do. She immediately grit her teeth, turning back to look at Thanos with an angry snarl on her face. She lunged forwards at him again, knocking him slightly off balance and beginning to punch him wildly, knocking Tony away in the process with a wild swing. She was so angry, she couldn't see straight, tears filling her eyes.

"You…stupid…bastard…why…don't…you…just…die!" She belted him, again and again.

Finally, Thanos found an opening, reaching up and grabbing her roughly around the neck with his free hand. He squeezed her neck tightly, and she began gasping for air. "Because, my child…" He threw her to the ground with such force, she could actually feel several of her bones break, even in her triggered state. She lay still, her eyes following Thanos as he stood back up, sneering down at her. He raised the gauntlet in the air, looking at the world around him. "I am... inevitable."

Thanos snapped his fingers, a resolute look on his face. There was silence for a moment, and then laughter. Maniacal, uncontrolled, laughter. He looked down, seeing Lex laughing uncontrollably.

"Ow, ow, ow…please don't make me laugh, it hurts," she muttered as she held her abdomen, grimacing while laughing.

Thanos snarled at her, before looking at the gauntlet on his hand incredulously. He turned it around to analyse the stones, only to find they were gone. He looked down at Lex, who still continued to laugh at him, before he kicked her away.

She landed roughly, not far from Tony, coughing as blood began to seep from her mouth. He looked over to her as he struggled to his knees. She tried to push herself up too, breathing heavily. She nodded to him, and he offered her a grim smile, before looking back at Thanos, raising his own hand, his face determined.

The Iron Man suit was reforming, moving the Infinity Stones into position on his hand as Tony raised it up, the power of the stones beginning to flow up his arm. He gasped in pain, his breath becoming ragged as he worked to control the power now flowing through his suit. Lex could see the power was already starting to affect his body as he tried to control it, the tendrils of power eating away at the arm.

Thanos stared at Tony in shock as Tony moved his fingers into position.

"And I...am... Iron Man."

Tony snapped his fingers with a resounding CLANG and a blinding flash of light. Lex dropped her face to the ground in an effort to shield her eyes from the debris. She continued to breath heavily, starting to feel the full effects of her injuries as the extra component in her blood stopped taking effect.

When she looked up again, she could see Thanos' forces beginning to crumble away, little by little. A Leviathan ashed just as it was about to devour Rocket. Thanos' children disappeared in clouds. His ships began to float away on the wind, scattering into the air.

Tony and Lex continued to watch as Thanos' forces slowly disappeared from existence, leaving nothing but the debris from their battle behind. Thanos looked around in horror, watching as his forces disappeared right before his eyes, moving to sit on a rock. He too disappeared on the breeze as his body turned to ash.

Lex sighed finally, looking over to Tony. He was in bad shape, much worse than she was.

She pushed herself up, ignoring the pain she was feeling and moved to Tony's side. "Come on, Stark, let's get you more comfortable." She pulled him up, dragging him out of the hole they were lying in, pushing past her own pain and leaning him up against the remnants of a wall so he was sitting up. She checked over his arm and face, but the wounds were quite clearly deep and well seeded. His injuries were definitely fatal.

She looked at him grimly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Can you ever, I dunno, not be the hero?" she asked quietly, clumsily moving to sit near him, wincing as the movement jostled all of her injuries.

"What can I say, I'm Iron Man," he mumbled, his breathing ragged and labored.

She chuckled as she settled off to the side of him. "Yes, yes you are."

She watched on as War Machine flew overhead, waving him down as he flew by. He turned and landed, deactivating his helmet as he hurried to Tony's side. He checked over Tony's injuries, fear and concern etched on his face, before looking resigned and bowing his head. He glanced over to Lex, who could do nothing but look down sadly. She knew that Rhodey and Tony were long-time friends. Rhodey had been there when Tony became Iron Man.

Lex struggled back to her feet, wanting to allow Tony some privacy with his closest friends and family, making to limp away. She only made it a few feet before her legs began to give way beneath her and pain shot through her back.

Before she could hit the ground, strong arms caught her, wrapping her up tightly in their embrace and holding her up. "Whoa there," the familiar voice murmured as he carefully lowered her into a sitting position by a pile of debris. When he finally moved away, Bucky knelt beside her peering into her face, his expression full of concern. "How are you feeling?" he asked, his Brooklyn accent suddenly standing out to her.

She stared at him for a moment, taking him all in. It was strange to her, but she felt like this was the first time she was fully seeing Bucky. His long hair, stormy, blue eyes and strong jaw all standing out to her. When he furrowed his brow and frowned, she realized she should answer him, offering a warm smile. "Hey."

He raised his eyebrows slightly, before smiling back at her. "Hey."

Hearing sobbing, both turned to look towards Tony, seeing Peter Parker sobbing uncontrollably beside Rhodey who comforted him, as Pepper Potts knelt in front of Tony, talking quietly to him. Lex swallowed heavily, she could see that Tony didn't have much left in him.

They were both silent, watching on as Tony finally lay motionless, all life disappearing from his eyes. Pepper Potts sobs reached their ears and they both bowed their heads.

Lex could feel her eyes heating up, and a large lump was forming in her throat. She knew this feeling now, she had been feeling it quite regularly over the last five years. The tears began to form at the corners of her eyes, and she tried to hold them back, dropping her head forward and putting her hands on the ground, refusing to look at anyone.

That was until she felt a strong hand rest on her back. She looked up in surprise, seeing Bucky's arm rubbing her back as he looked across to where Tony and Pepper were. She could see the sadness and remorse in his eyes too, staring at him for a moment until he looked back to her. The understanding in his eyes finally broke her as his gaze met hers, and she broke down, beginning to sob.

She lifted her hands to face, covering her eyes quickly, not wanting him to see her breaking down. What she didn't account for was him grabbing her and pulling her into his chest. He hugged her tight, his Vibranium arm holding her tightly to him, while his other hand rubbed up and down her back, and this just made her sob even harder.

*Sad Reacts Only*

K Thanx

xo

Krayzee