Chapter 44

                                    

                                          
TONY'S POV:
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"Do we know if she had family?" I ask, looking up. "Yeah. Us." I close my eyes at Steve's response, thinking about her. "And (y/n). Poor kid's gonna be devastated."
                          
My heart breaks at my own words.
                          
Oh, god, (y/n).
                          
How on earth will she take it?
                          
AFTER HULK'S SNAP/ WAKANDA/ YOUR POV:
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My eyes open, and I clutch my throbbing head. I blink as my eyes adjust, hearing the quiet sounds of wildlife and nature. The ground around and under me is soft, fresh-grown grass swaying in the gentle breeze. I look around, seeing familiar trees, my eyes landing on a patch of land in front of me. 
                          
I stand on rickety legs and walk toward it. The vegetation is slightly burnt-out and less renewed than the grass around it, and I lean down to touch it, knowing that something extremely powerful took place here. Standing up straighter, I take stock of my surroundings, catching a group of scents that are extremely old, undisturbed for a while. And then I remember.
                          
Wakanda.
                          
What the hell happened here?
                          
A small movement a few feet away catches my eye, and I look over to see particles of dust grouping together, forming a figure of a human stumbling forward.
                          
"Bucky?" I ask, running over and steadying him so he doesn't fall. "(Y/n)? Jesus Christ, what happened ?"
                          
I shake my head, looking around to see Wanda kneeling on the ground and Sam standing up a few yards away. "We have to get to the palace," I hear from behind me, and I turn around to see T'Challa walking towards us. I nod, shifting and running through the woods to spread the word to Rocket and Groot, heading towards the battlefield. I come to a firm halt at the barrier, reverting back to human form and watching as hundreds of Wakandan and Jabari Tribe warriors reappear, still in fighting positions with weapons held tightly.
                          
A snap of a twig sounds from behind me, and I turn to see T'Challa speaking through the comms. "Can anyone hear me?"
                          
I wait for a response, and I overhear one from T'Challa's earpiece after a minute, staticky and wavering.
                          
"My king?"
                          
"Yes. Open section North-West Seventeen."
                          
TITAN/ PETER'S POV:
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I groan, my head rolling to rest on my left shoulder as I start to regain consciousness. It continues to move until my chin hits my chest, and I immediately sit up, eyes snapping open. I'm still on that weird planet from before.
                          
What happened?
                          
"Good, you're awake." 
                          
I turn my head to the side to see the Doctor Strange dude looking over me. I stumble to my feet, looking around as I see the other 'Guardian' people off to the side. 
                          
"Uh, Mr. Doctor Strange, sir? What's going on? Like, what happened, because I can't remember anything except passing out or something, but we were fighting Thanos before that, and oh my god where's Mr. Stark and the blue lady, like where'd they go because I'm really confused right now and I would really like to know what's going on and considering that you, like, looked into the future or whatever with your really cool magical wizard Harry Potter necklace time-traveling-stone-thing you probably know what all happened and what's going to happen, and oh, hold up, is this the situation where we win or one where we lose because I would kinda like to know, also, is Thanos alive or dead because if anyone knows, it's you, right? OH MY GOD WAIT DO YOU KNOW IF MY BEST FRIEND IS OKAY BECAUSE I TOLD HER I'D BE SAFE HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN PLEASE SAY IT'S BEEN LIKE TWO MINUTES BECAUSE I NEED TO GET BACK TO HER AND MY AUNT I CAN'T LET THEM BOTH FREAK OUT SIR, PLEASE, I NEED TO KNOW IF THEY'RE OKAY."
                          
I pause for breath as Doctor Strange just stares at me with a concerned look on his face. He shakes his head in wonder, turning around and muttering to himself, "How the hell did Stark put up with this kid?"
                          
LATER/ THE FACILITY/ NARRATOR'S POV:
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Wincing, Steve tightens the strap on his shield to help stop the flow of blood coming from his arm.
                          
'No matter what, Steve, you always stand up.'
                          
Listening to his mother's words, he looks up as he rises to shaky feet, facing the thousands of creatures that make up Thanos's army. He takes a deep breath, preparing to fight and most likely die trying. But then something buzzes in his ear.
                          
"Cap, you hear me?"
                          
He freezes.
                          
"Cap, it's Sam. Can you hear me?"
                          
He reaches his hand up to respond to the voice he hasn't heard in five years, his fingers never touching the earpiece.
                          
"On your left."
                          
A sound of static comes from the side, and he turns to face it.
                          
T'Challa, Shuri, and Okoye walk out of the bright portal, standing by his side in a time where all was lost. The familiar silhouette of The Falcon appears, soaring through the sky as hundreds of portals begin to form. Every warrior that was lost to the snap, even those who weren't, even if they were never known, from different galaxies or just miles away, they all appeared. 
                          
Except for one.
                          
Just one.
                          
And as Tony landed beside his captain, as Peter swung to the front of the group, they both frantically scanned their eyes for the one girl they were needing to see.
                          
And she wasn't there.