Last Suit Up

The news of Natasha's Romanoff sacrifice was taken rather badly by everyone, especially by the people she stopped Loki's invasion all those years ago with. Steve, Thor, Tony, Bruce and Clint all left the Avengers headquarters and found themselves outside, on the dock by the lakeside not too far from the headquarters, where they grieved the loss of their teammate.

The group of five Avengers was faced with a silence, neither of them even knew what to say to each other, some of them were still trying to accept that Natasha Romanoff was gone. Thankfully it was broken by Tony, after a few moments, "Do we know if she had family?"

"Yeah." Steve replied, "Us."

Thor glanced in his direction, confused, not having a chance to hear Tony's question, "What?"

"I just asked him a question..." Tony explanation was cut off by the God of Thunder.

"Yeah, you're acting like she's dead. Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, Cap, we can bring her back, isn't that right?" He glanced around himself to take a good look at each one of them, "So stop this shit. We're the Avengers, get it together."

Clint looked up at him, speaking up for the first time since they returned to their times, "We can't get her back."

Thor turned to him, "Wha...what?"

"It can't be undone. It can't." Clint declared, shaking his head.

Thor gave him a rather dry laugh in response, "I'm sorry. No offense, but you're a very earthly being. Okay? We're talking about space magic. And "can't" seems very definitive don't you think?"

"Yeah, look, I know that I'm way outside my paygrade here. But she still isn't here, is she?" Clint asked him.

"No, that's my point..." Thor was cut off by Clint.

Hawkeye shook his head, " It can't be undone. Or that's at least what the red floating guy had to say." He raised his voice, starting to shout, "Maybe you wanna go talk to him, okay? GO GRAB YOUR HAMMER, AND YOU GO FLY AND TALK TO HIM!"

Thor just stood there, so did everyone else, listening to Clint's burst of anger, as his anger was quickly replaced by grief. His voice toned down,  "It was supposed to be me. She sacrificed her life for that goddamn stone. She bet her life on it."

In a burst of anger, Bruce grabbed a bench and hurled it clear across the lake. His anger vanished, he turned to the others with a resigned look on his face, "She's not coming back. We have to make it worth it. We have to."

Steve rised up from the ground, a determined look was on his face, "We will."

----

Azurite walked through the hallways of the Avengers headquarters looking for a certain Kratai huntresses. Tony, Bruce, Peridot and Rocket were currently working on constructing the new gauntlet that they were going to use bring everyone back. They were actually close to finishing it and send him, Amethyst and Garnet to get the others and bring them into the lab.

It's been actually a few minutes since he left the lab to find Shi'ra and so far, he couldn't find her anywhere, but then he heard someone firing a handgun in the shooting range. He made his way into the shooting range and saw Shi'ra firing the handgun at the wooden target in front of her. She most likely didn't heard him come inside as her ears were covered by a pair of safety headphones. During these five years when the Avengers needed their help with something and they had to stay in the headquarters with them, Natasha was often taking them to the shooting range.

The male gem approached her and gave her a pat on her shoulder, showing her that someone was in this room with her, "Hey."

The Kratai looked over at him, and removed her safety headphones, "Oh, hey."

"What are you doing?" He raised his brow.

Shi'ra gestured towards the handgun in her palm, before turning to the table behind her, intending to set it on it, "I came here to you know shot a bit?"

Azurite crossed his arms, "Shi'ra. I've known you for too long to know when there's something bugging your mind."

Shi'ra set the handgun on the table, turning towards him, "I just have been thinking about Nat and about what happened on Vormir."

Azurite sighed, letting out an "Oh" in response, before asking her, "What is this that's bugging you? You know you can tell me everything."

"It's just, do you think we could have avoided it if we figured it out earlier?" Shi'ra asked him as Azurite titled his head, "That we if figured out what really happened to Gamora when Thanos went with her to get the Soul Stone we could have find another way to acquire it, without having to lost one of us?"

Azurite bit his lips. Now that he thought about it, they could have figured out what happened five years ago on Vormir between Gamora and Thanos and why she never returned with him.

He shook his head, saying, "I don't think there was other way to acquire it."

"How do you know that there was no other way?" Shi'ra asked him, "Maybe if we..."

"Shi'ra." Azurite cut her off, walking closer to her, "I know you care about what happened to Nat. I do too. She was my friend too, and I wish that she came back with Clint, but I don't think there was other way to get the Soul Stone. Even he knew that when he got the Soul Stone five years, and if what Jasper and Peridot told us, he had three Infinity Stones when it happened."

Shi'ra sighed, if even Thanos wasn't able to find a way how to acquire the Soul Stone other than killing Gamora for it, then it maybe really was the only way how to get that stone, but she really wished that there was other way they could acquire, maybe if there really was other way, then maybe Natasha and Gamora would be still alive, "Maybe you're right."

"Maybe I am, or not, but you can't bit yourself over something you had no control of. What happened to Natasha, already happened, and it can't be undone. I wished it was as much as you do, but it can't." Azurite said as he put his hands on her shoulders, making her look straight into his eyes, "You can't bit yourself over this."

The Kratai nodded her head at his words, "Thank you, for this."

"At least this time I'm the one to cheer you up about something." Azurite stated, giving her a small smile, "You were always there for me, no matter how much of a wreck I could be at the moment. You never cared if it was either after Thanos cleansed Konoritos, or after he snapped his fingers, you were always there for me, willing to do everything you can to help me. It's the least I can do for you."

"Azurite, I was there for you whenever you needed someone, because that's what sisters are for." Shi'ra gave him a little smile in response, and paused for a second, "I feel like I owned it to you."

"What do you mean?" Azurite raised his brow, as he removed his hands from her shoulders.

Shi'ra let out a breath before replying, placing her hand on his shoulder, "You gave me friendship and showed how it is when not everyone thinks of you as a freak. Who would have know where would I be if I never came across you in that bar after I almost killed that guy for calling me a freak. I feel like the moment when you approached me to have a talk with me was a turning point of my life. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."

"It was nothing, Shi'ra." Azurite stated, "After I heard you shout that you didn't ask to be born different and treated like a scum because of it, I felt like I needed to to talk with you and show you that not everyone things about you like that. It was something like Darnel and Freddy did to me after I met them in the forest after landing on their planet and I felt like I needed to return the favor by doing the same to someone else."

The Kratai shook her head, "It wasn't nothing to me. I used to have nothing, but now I got this. I have place I can call home, I have friends that care that about me, I have family that cares about me, and this family isn't like my old one. It isn't like my father, or my mother, or my older brother who gave up on me the moment I was born because of being smaller than other females of my people. This is why I'm forever grateful to you for approaching me in that bar, I probably wouldn't have all of it if you didn't."

She walked up to him and embraced him tightly, "I have a place I can call home, I have family, this is all I ever wanted in my entire life."

It took him a moment but he embraced her as well. Azurite's mind was trying to process what she just said him. In all the years they knew each other, she never opened up about how much the moment when he approached her in that bar all those years ago meant to her. How much all of it, her home in Little Homeworld, the friends she made, or even the new family she mentioned that isn't like the old one meant to her.

He finally brought himself to say something to her, "That's what brothers are for, right?" 

Shi'ra chuckled, smilling, "I love you, brother." 

"I love you too, sister." Azurite smiled back, patting her on her back.

The two of them just stood there, enjoying the hug. They didn't care about the massive age difference between them. They didn't care that they were different spieces. They were brother and sister, and nothing would change that.

They released each other from the hug as Shi'ra gestured towards the exit from the shooting range, "I think we should check the progress they're making on the gauntlet."

Azurite nodded his head, as they walked out of the shooting range and began walking towards the lab,  "They're actually really close to finishing it."

"I can't wait to see all of them again." Shi'ra smiled to herself. 

"Me too." Azurite nodded his head in agreement as he opened his device. Then, he showed her a certain photo he took, "I can't wait to show this to Spinel, Orange, Drax, and the rest. I can already imagine them laughing at it."

Shi'ra shook her head, "I still can't believe you took a photo of me and Scott when we came back as a babies."

Azurite just shrugged his shoulders in response, "Well, I already said to you why I took it."

The Kratai pointed her index finger at her brother, "And I already said that I understand your point why you did it."

Azurite just gave her a smile, which she returned as they made their way to lab where everyone, except for Nebula was already waiting for Tony, Banner, Peridot, and Rocket to finish the gauntlet. They were so close to finishing it the Azurite and Shi'ra stepped into the lab.

Tony carefully placed the stones in the Nano Gauntlet while Bruce, Peridot and Rocket watched. With nervous precision, Tony manipulated the machine and carefully placed all six stones into the Nano's Gauntlet hand, in the exact same places as they were first time around. Each one of the Infinity Stones glowed brightly, as all four of them backed away for a bit, just in case if they were any side effects.

"Boom!" The talking raccoon suddenly shouted, making the other three jump back a little. He smirked, at their unamused expressions, but it quickly faded from his mouth as Jasper approached him and punched him, lightly, but it still hurt him, a lot, making him grunt in pain.

"Thank you, Jasper." Peridot thanked the orange gem.

"Anytime." Jasper nodded her head, approaching Azurite and Shi'ra, "You're just in time. They just placed the stones on the gauntlet." 

Azurite and Shi'ra gave a nod of their heads in response to their roommate voice as the claws Tony used to place the stones into the Nano Gauntlet, lifted it up from the containment and rested it on a small stand against the table.

Peridot gave the glove one last look, just to make sure everyhing was alright. She nodded, declaring, "Looks like the glove's ready."

Rocket looked up, his eyes meeting each one of the Avengers in the room. He sighed, as he turned his attention towards the Nano Gauntlet, "Question is, who's gonna snap their freaking fingers?"

In an instant, Thor raised his hand in response, "I'll do it."

Everyone turned to the God of Thunder who already began approaching the Nano Gauntlet as if it was decided already who was going to snap his fingers to bring everyone back. 

Scott was the first one to voice his thought about Thor's decision, "Excuse me?"

Azurite quickly followed, "What?"

Thor nodded his head with a smile on his face, not understanding what Ant-Man and Azurite  meant by that, "It's okay."

Steve and Jasper quickly moved over to stop Thor somewhere in the midway of the distance between him and the Nano Gauntlet, with Captain America placing his hand on his chest, "Wait, wait, Thor, just wait. We haven't decided who's gonna put that on yet."

Thor stopped walking and lowered his head, "I'm sorry. What, we're just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?"

"Let's discuss about who should be the one to snap it." Garnet stated.

"She's right, Thor. We can't just get to it immediately." Shi'ra agreed with the fusion.

"No, no, sitting here staring at that thing is not gonna bring everybody back." Thor pointed out, pointing towards the Nano Gauntlet with his right hand, "I'm the strongest Avenger, okay? So this responsibility falls upon me. It's my duty."

The others were not even close to being convinced. He may have looked different, but everyone could clearly recall what a mess Thor was when he first stepped inside the headquarters after Banner, Rocket and Azurite conviced him to help them in their mission. Some of them already knew why he wanted to do this. He wanted to sacrifice himself to make up for his failure.

"It doesn't matter, dude. You maybe the strongest around here, but we don't know what this will do to you." Amethyst tried to convice him to back away from the gauntlet.

"It's not that– Stop it! Just let me!" Thor hushed everyone up, starting to tear up, "Just let me do it. Just let me do something good. Something right."

"How? By getting yourself killed?" Jasper asked him. Thor simply shrugged his shoulders to her question.

"Look." Tony began, "It's not just the fact that that glove is channeling enough energy to light up a continent, I'm telling you, you're in no condition.

Thor placed his hands on Stark's shoulders, asking, "What do you... What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?"

"Cheez whiz?/The best Asgardian liquor?" Peridot and Rhodes said at the same time, titling their heads towards him, not even caring that they said something at the same time.

Thor paused for a moment, pointing his right hand at them for a second, before turning his attention back to Stark, "Lightning."

Tony sighed, "...Yeah."

"Lightning won't help you." Banner spoke up, slowly approaching the Nano Gauntlet. Everyone in the room turned towards him. A rather anxious expression overcoming his face, "It's gotta be me."

Everyone simply stared at him, each one of them having different reactions to his declaration as he approached the table, his eyes gazing at the Nano Gauntlet. His voice sounded to be completely hopeless as he spoke up again, " You saw what those stones did to Thanos. It almost killed him. None of you could survive."

Steve raised his brow, concerned for him, asking, "How do we know you will?"

Banner shook his head, his eyes not leaving the gauntlet, responding, sadly, "We don't. But the radiation's mostly gamma. It's like...I was made for this."

No one stepped forward upon hearing his  words.  Not even Thor who was just arguing with everyone that he should be the one to snap his fingers to bring half of the universe back to life. He just stepped back.

Tony watched how Banner picked up the gauntlet, asking him, "Good to go, yeah?"

Bruce stared at the Nano Gauntlet in his his hands, taking his gaze away from it for a second to look at Stark, offering a nod of his head to him, "Let's do it."

"You remember." Tony began, feeling how his heartbeat speed up his heart rate, "Everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago and just bringing them back to now, today. Don't change anything from the last five years."

Banner nodded his head again, "Got it."

Steve took a few steps backwards, standing right behind Bruce, holding him shield tightly. Scott Lang  who stood on his left raised his hand and pressed the button on his finger, the Ant-Man mask covering his face. James Rhodes followed him, the War Machine's mask covering his face as well, his eyes shining red.

Peridot activated her Iron Gem armor with with a single press against her Arc Reactor. The armor overcame her entire body, her mask's golden eyes shined brightly. The short green gem held out both of her hands forward. Two energy shields appeared right in front of Jasper and Shi'ra who used it to shield themselves from whichever was going to happen in the next few moments.

Garnet and Amethyst, the two Crystal Gems stood by each other sides, the latter using Garnet as some sort of defensive shield, which the fusion didn't minded at all. Rocket stood on the table, right behind Thor. The talking raccoon put his goggles to protect his eyesight while the Asgardian put a protective hand on his chest.

Tony pressed his Arc Reactor. In just a matter of seconds, his entire armor overcoming his whole body, ending in the moment when his mask shut itself over his face. Just like Peridot, he held both of his hands forward and the energy shields that formed in front of him were gladly used by Clint Barton and Azurite as defensive shields. Clint stood on the left, while Azurite stood on the right.

Bruce glanced over at Tony when everyone was in position, waiting for the confirmation. He couldn't read Stark's expression because of his mask but got his answer when Tony called out to his AI, "Friday,  do me a favor and activate Barn Door Protocol. Will you?"

Friday's answer was quick, "Yes, boss."

The whole room began to go into a full lockdown. Steel shutters slid down every window, every doorway, every entrance and exit, and even covered the roof, completely shutting this room from the outside world.

"Everybody comes home." Banner stated, determined, beginning to put his hand into the Nano Gauntlet which began expanding itself so it could match his hands' height. 

With each passing second, more and more of his hand was being placed in the Nano Gauntlet until it finally clenched itself around his hand. All of the Infinity Stones glowed and energy flows bursted through the entire gauntlet. Those flows eventually reached Banner's arm and shoulder. He cringed in pain as the power all Infinity Stones, the power of the universe itself brought him to his knee.

He groaned, his groans quickly turning into growls as he slowly began to raise his hand. Each one of the Avengers could only watch in horror how the energy was starting to burn his jumpsuit. Not only that, just a moment later, they saw that it was much worse. The bursts of energy began consuming his entire hand, practically burning his skin.

Thor couldn't take more of his agonizing growls of pain. He waved his hand to the left, screaming to him, "Take it off! Take it off!"

Steve extended his hands towards him, shouting, "No, wait. Bruce, are you okay?"

Peridot was cringing underneath her Iron Gem armor at Bruce's painful growls, as she asked him, knowing that it was a pretty stupid question, "Are you alright?"

"Talk to us, Bruce." Garnet told him, her normally stoic expression showing concern for him.

Somehow, Bruce managed to find strenght inside of him to nod his head and reply, "I'm okay. I'm okay."

None of them had a clue what Nebula currently doing while they locked themselves away from the world just in case if something had happened. The cyborg was working on the Quantum Tunnel, pressing and pushing some buttons, intending to activate it. She typed the coordinates for the date from which she came from to these times  and watched how the screen in front of her displayed that the gateway for year 2014 was opened. She glanced over at the platform as the mechanism began to move. 

She looked up at the platform and just waited for something to happen, thinking if she managed to turn this machine on or not.

She quickly got her answer when Sanctuary 2 bursted out of the Quantum Tunnel and bursted right through the roof of the Avengers headquarters, making a huge hole in it. 

Using all the strength he had, Bruce tightly clutched the gauntlet with his other hand, practically forcing every nerve in his body to corporate with him at this moment. They were so close to actually reversing Thanos' snap. He had to do it. Everyone counted on him. He will do it, even if it would be the last thing he'll ever do. He screamed at the top of his lungs, some of the people inside of the lab flinched a bit his scream of agony as he lifted his arm.

His screams only became louder through every second of raising his hand until it was above his head. It took everything in him, every last piece of strength that was left in him to press his middle finger and thumb against each other. 

SNAP!

He let out one last, agonizing scream as he snapped his fingers. A bright light covered the entire area, blinding everyone for a moment. When it cooled down, everyone were able to see Bruce again. They saw him collaps on the ground, the Nano Gauntlet falling off his arm.

"Bruce!" Steve shouted as he was the first one to fell on his knee to check Bruce's state.

Amethyst fell on her knee and started talking to him, to keep him conscious, "Hey, big dude. You did it."

"We need to patch his arm." Garnet stated as Clint kicked the Nano Gauntlet away from them. Tony's and Peridot's answer was instant. They held their hands above Bruce's arm, releasing a spray into his arm to heal the burn on Banner's hand.

"Did it work?" Bruce groaned as he grabbed Steve's hand.

''Worth a shot. It's over. It's okay." Thor told him.

"We'll see." Peridot said, her mask disappeared from her face, revealing a comforting smile she sent to Banner, "But for now, just rest."

The steel doors were opened as the lockdown shut down. The entire headquarters began to open itself for the world after a few moments of complete lockdown. Scott turned his attention to a nearby garden when a certain noise rang through his ears.

He wasn't the only one. Clint's attention was focused on his cellphone. It layed on the table. He quickly went over to the table and stared at the screen as if he was staring at a treasure. His wife was the one calling him. He picked it up and answering the call, putting it right next to his ear.

It took him a few seconds to say something the person calling him, "...Laura?"

He quickly got the response from the other side.

"Clint?"

He gasped, feeling how tears were forming in his eyes. He wanted to say something, he tried to bring himself to do it, but he couldn't. A weak stutter was the only thing he could say in response to her, having no idea what he should say to her after these five long torturous years.

Azurite quickly opened his device and started calling Little Homeworld to ask Centi and Biggs if something had happened. To see if it worked. To see if they brought all of their friends back to life.

Scott slowly walked over to the glass window that was showing him the garden. He stared at the chirping birds landing on the tree branches.

"Guys..." A smile formed on his lips, "I think it worked!"

Bruce opened his eyes and looked up at the shadow that completely covered the sun and fell over the Avengers headquarters. Everyone followed his example. Azurite's confused expression turned into a horrified one upon seeing the massive warship in the sky.

It was the last thing they spotted before Sanctuary 2 fired a few missiles heading towards their base...

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Here we go, story just went into it's final phase. Only 5 more chapters left to go!

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