𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃 - Bucky Barnes

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

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❝ 𝐋𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡. ❞

IT WAS THREE weeks, well, 22 days since Thanos snapped his fingers, murdering half the galaxy. Or, that was what Thaea assumed, as she had only witnessed the genocide on Earth. Her friends, what she would call her family, gone. She was counting the days, the hours since it happened.

A rumbling shook the Avengers compound. Thaea stuck her head out of her room, only to see Steve, Rhodes, Natasha and Bruce all do the same. Pepper Potts burst out of Tony's old office and darted toward the door. The rest looked worriedly to each other before running outside. The landing strips were empty, and the field outside was dark as a small bright light descended to the ground. It was a woman. In her arms, she carried an unfamiliar spaceship, the word Benatar painted crudely on the side. She carefully set the ship on the ground, her blond hair blowing as the light swirling around her dimmed. Her suit was red, blue, and gold, and she turned back to the group with a concerned look in her eye. Even Rocket, which is what Thaea learned the Raccoon's name was, walked forward, eyes hopeful but sad at the sight of his ship.

The ship's deck lowered, a set of dimly lit stairs emerging from the hull. Two silhouettes began to descend. Thaea recognized Tony, even though he was thin and pallid, but not the other. The woman had no hair, and seemed to be made half of metal. Her purple and blue skin stood out against the red uniform she wore. She helped Tony down the steps and Steve ran to help. Tony was panting, looking frantically toward Steve.

"I couldn't stop him." Tony whispered.

"Neither could I." Steve replied, disturbed by the lack of weight in his arms.

"Hang on." Tony rasped. They stopped on the grass. "I lost the kid."

"Tony, we lost." Steve replied. Tony blinked at him.

"Is, um-" Pepper ran toward them, tears flowing down her face.

"Oh, god." She said, taking in his malnourished form before wrapping him in her arms. Their embrace was touching, and Thaea felt her heart clench. "Oh, my god." Tony planted a soft kiss on Pepper's forehead as she guided him toward the compound. Rocket went over and sat next to the blue woman. Thaea walked up to the blond woman, sticking out her hand.

"I don't believe we've met." She stated. The woman shook her hand.

"Carol Danvers." The woman said, a small smile on her face.

"Erythaea." Thaea replied, nodding. Carol blinked, her eyebrows furrowing for a moment before nodding slowly. Thaea dismissed it from her mind. She brought Carol inside and they went into the conference room, preparing for a meeting.

"It's been 23 days since the Blip." Rhodey announced, pressing a button on the projectors so they displayed the names, faces, and statistics of their friends turned to dust. She stared at Bucky's photo, feeling guilty. She had no reason to be, but after all the time she spent with him, all the time he spent trying to better himself and make the world a safer place, she couldn't help it. He was gone. It was for nothing. Well, no. Not for nothing. Never for nothing. It was for him.

"World governments are in pieces." Natasha continued, explaining everything to Carol and Tony, who had changed out of their suits and into more comfortable loungewear. "The parts that are working are trying to take a census, and it looks like he did... he did exactly what he said he was going to do. Thanos wiped out 50% of all living creatures." Tony glanced up. He was sitting in a wheelchair, an IV taped to his wrist as he tried to get more nutrients into his system.