Shine Again (An Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame Story)

Author's Note

Hi everyone! I know I have been talking about this story for what seems like an eternity now, and I think I am finally ready to start posting it. This is truly my first dabbling in the Marvel universe, and I have never written any of these characters before now (with the exception of one in a short one shot I wrote in November 2017 that I never finished), and I think that is where most of my apprehension about posting this comes from. So I apologize in advance if any of the MCU characters are off. I'm trying!

Right off the bat, this is very different than anything else I have ever written- if only because I haven't exactly toned down its contents for a younger audience, if you will. Normally I have altered my writing to be more PG/PG-13, and this time is definitely not the case. Not to mention it is a war, and all the stuff that goes with that is hard enough to make tame, let alone the rest of what I have planned. So read at your own risk.

I feel like this is also a good time to explain the beginning of this story a bit. I know Infinity War picks right up where Thor: Ragnarok leaves off, but I um... deviate from that. I wrote the beginning of this story long before Infinity War was released, and I wrote it with a glimmer of hope that maybe things wouldn't be so bad.

Boy was I naive.

Didn't realize I was going to have my heart ripped out and stomped on in the first five minutes of the movie, but uh... here we are!

So while The Statesman was not intercepted in this story, I do still have a plan for that opening scene of Infinity War. After all, Thanos does still need to get the Space Stone to complete his vision (much to my dismay). I'm not sure how much I am actually going to diverge from the real plot of Infinity War. A lot of this story's plot takes place concurrent to the canon plot, but due to what I had envisioned initially I will have to change a lot of things. The first half of the story definitely will be different than how Infinity War played out. The second half still has much of the original plot intact (just with a few other characters involved- although I am not entirely sure who will survive at this point). Honestly I will probably not finish this story before Avengers 4 comes out, so it could prove to be interesting. We have a bit before that happens (both the movie and the ending of this story) so I won't dwell on it right now.

I also feel like the first bit of this story is kind of goofy but I swear it won't stay that way! Once things get going, it will get much more serious.

Another brief thing to explain... one of the main characters is named Anja, and I know many will probably pronounce it phonetically. It's pronounced "On-ya." I think her name is the only one that could trip anyone up. The other two original characters are Layla and Spencer, and I don't think either one of their names are tricky.

Those three are fictional, and any resemblance to actual persons- living or dead- is purely coincidental.

Marvel owns the remainder of the characters in this story.

Special thanks to MrsDButler and allyycatt for making Layla and Spencer for this story. They're the real MVPs. For that and tolerating me bothering them with story stuff literally all the time via Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, Facebook, and many, many text messages. Also allyycatt made the cover for this story and is likely making more art for it once she finishes her classes and has more free time.

Only other thing I think I should tell you is that I am now officially a mother as of September 1st. That being said, I do have some chapters prewritten (they may just need some editing), and once I get through those I won't have any just ready to go. I am unsure to what extent my writing patterns will be changed with our little princess's arrival, but I am almost certain I won't have as much time to sit down and write for hours like I did. It will be more broken up, so it will probably take me longer to get a chapter written. Especially since this story seems to have longer chapters than any other I have ever posted here.

In a week, I will be out of town for the weekend so that could either hurt or help my writing. The husband surprised me and bought us tickets to go to a convention in Chicago. And well... I get to meet Tom Hiddleston! I'm super excited about it! I've been waiting since 2011 for this moment, and for it to finally come to fruition means the world to me. I'm probably going to cry like I did when I met the cast of Supernatural, but this will probably be much much worse. Needless to say, my husband spoils me rotten.

So I appreciate your patience with me in the coming weeks (and likely months). This is going to be a HUGE adjustment for me, my husband, our pets (our husky and two cats all have been good so far), and our families. These are exciting times, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't incredibly nervous about it too. These first five weeks have been a major adjustment for me.

Also, special shout out to thirdwheelchurchill for encouraging me to actually post this, both with kind words and for posting the one story I am stupid excited about right now. Seriously. If you don't read it already, go read Veni, Vidi, Vici. It's my favorite, and it deserves all the recognition in the world and then some more!

Lastly, a special shout out to Always_Hufflepuff for giving me the final push for me to post this! Lord knows I needed it!

Anyway, I think I have rambled enough in this author's note, so without further to do... I now present to you all Shine Again.