Tony Stark had never been one to make a quiet, unassuming entrance anywhere, and this time it would be no exception. The unnerving silence that had come after the arrival of Thanos and the snap felt around the universe was no longer, replaced by the roar of the ship's thrusters and the grinding metal of broken wings that were barely connected to the body of the vessel as it careened closer and closer towards the unforgiving ground that you still stood on.

You had barely been given a glimpse of Tony's face as he tried to keep the ship level and gave everything he had to make as much of a safe landing as he could salvage, but you had seen enough to know that he was terrified behind the stoic exterior that he was scarcely maintaining.

"(Y/N), move!" T'Challa commanded one more time, only now, he wouldn't listen to any argument, and he grabbed your arm with a strength that he normally reserved for battle. You had no chance in stopping him this time, and the two of you tumbled behind a small gathering of rocks to use as a barrier in case Tony might finally lose control.

But believing in him fully as you did, Tony brought the ship in for a safe landing. Well, for the most part. A few parts of the vessel were strewn across the ground from where a wing had tipped and scraped, and a window had blown out from colliding with a tree that refused to give way. It was still safe enough that the two passengers hurried down the ramp and onto the grounds of Wakanda with purposeful strides that would lead directly to you and T'Challa without so much as a glance in any other direction.

"Where is he?" Tony asked urgently and without greeting, his words spilling out as if the force couldn't be stopped. "Thanos! Did you see him? Is he still here? This is where he did it, right? Does he still have all six stones? The gauntlet? (Y/N), did you see him?"

"Tony, breathe," you tried, but before he could hear what you had said, his arms were around you in a crushing hold that shook you just as violently as his tremors were doing to him. You were something real; you were alive, and little did either of you know yet the true scope of how rare that had become to experience. "Yes, I saw him, but he's not here. Not anymore. We don't know where he is."

But your answer did nothing to quell his nerves; the experience of fighting the Titan had shaken Tony to his core and well beyond. You had yet to realize just how close to death he had come, and you might never know if he chose to keep it tucked away as he did with many of his traumas. Maybe this was different now, and more jarring to finally get the man to allow any of you to help him, so you would wait to follow his lead. He was always willing to help you when asked, and you yearned to return the favor as you continued to hold him.

"Okay," he finally sighed, "I'm sorry for rushing at you like that." He released you slightly and stood straight, pushing himself back barely a step so that he could get a better look at you. His mind still chose skepticism in its belief that you were alive. "I just don't understand, and for the first time, I have no idea what to...do..." he paused as his eyes traced down and saw the one blaring change in your appearance that he was ashamed to have not noticed sooner. "Oh, (Y/N)...no, sweetheart, I'm so sorry..."

"I can't talk about that right now, Tony, so let's get everyone who's left together and try to figure out our next move, okay?"

"Right, okay...if that's what you need."

"It is."

Tony took a pained breath and furrowed his brow, wanting to say so much more, and to do anything that he could to console you in your loss. There were many gone now, many of whom had yet to be known, but this loss seemed to strike him harder than any other thus far. "T'Challa," he turned, "I'm sorry. I can't imagine what this is like."

"Thank you," the King answered, "I appreciate your kindness."

"Of course," Tony nodded, giving the man a solemn and supportive hand on his shoulder. It was a kind lie that he had offered, because he did know what this felt like. Perhaps not to the same extent, obviously, but he had just lost Peter; he was as close to a son as Tony had ever known, and the pain was a knife buried deep in his chest, with an agony worse than anything that Thanos had done to him. He wanted to tell you, to keep himself open, but he couldn't bring those words out just yet. "Alright, I already know that I don't want to hear this, but who do we have left?"

"Thor, Rhodey, Nat, Bruce, and Rocket."

"My god. That's all? Steve too?" He dropped his gaze to the ground, and you swore you could see the start of a tremble in his chin, but the sniffle of held back tears was unmistakable. "Okay...okay," he inhaled sharply and raised his head with his best attempt at renewed purpose, "pulling it together. So, we've got Thor...wait...who's Rocket?"

"I'm not completely sure, but he came with Thor. He told me that the rest of his group had split up to follow Thanos to some place called Knowhere."

Tony's mind began to race, and with that rush of adrenaline came a sense of relief that his brain still worked in some capacity. "They must have been the ones who met us on Titan."

"Titan?"

"It's where Thanos-"

"Rocket!"

The three of you turned at the sound of Nebula's voice calling out and echoing around you as Rocket emerged and came into her view. The sight of the blue woman running at an amazing speed with her slim and mechanical form took you aback, and you weren't sure what to make of her. She was definitely aggressive and powerful; you could tell that right from your first look, and it gave you relief to have her on your side.

"Nebula!" he called back, breaking into a run to meet her. "The rest of the team...where are they? Did they make it?" When she met him and knelt on the ground to pull him into her arms in a reluctant hug, she paused, lowering her eyes and refusing now to so much as look at him. It wasn't because there was no love lost between the two, but rather that she hated being the one to have to bring him the worst news he could hear. She cursed Thanos under her breath for bringing her to this moment, and for the pain he had caused to both her and the pleading creature staring back at her with pointless hope. "Nebula, tell me. This can't get that much worse. I've lost Groot. I'm the only one of us here."

"I'm sorry," she answered quietly, "they're all gone. I tried, Rocket...I really did. I wasn't enough this time, but I won't allow that mistake to happen again, I promise you that."

~~~

"He's here, I saw him," Gamora offered to the rest of the group, looking back at her like they were as lost as she was feeling in their new home of the Soul World, "whatever he did with the gauntlet, it trapped him here with us."

"Then we find him," Steve immediately jumped in. "He's not going to get away with this, and he's going to undo all of it. Did he still have the gauntlet when you saw him?"

Gamora quieted and closed her eyes, turning away from the Captain as she ran the memory through her mind. The others around her waited as patiently as they could, but patience was never much of a virtue for any of them. Drax groaned and huffed under his breath as he watched, only frustrating Gamora until she finally broke. "Oh my god, Drax, shut up! I can't think when you're whining like that."

"I wasn't whining. I was audibly discontent."

"So...whining," Peter offered. When the man who was more than twice his size looked down at him with a murderous stare, Pete scurried off to hide behind Steve to wait out the rest of the conversation in silence. "Sorry, Cap. Mr. Stark isn't here, so..."

"I've got you," Steve smirked, turning back to Gamora. "Anything that you can remember is helpful at this point, ma'am. Even the smallest detail might be something we can use."

"I'm trying," she nodded, again closing her eyes. Her memory visibly shook her as her body shuddered under the recollection of Thanos and his hands dragging her towards her demise for his gain. Really? Tears?She scoffed at him, the realization not hitting her until it was forced into her mind by another. They're not for him.

Bucky pushed himself up next to Steve and a still cautious Pete, who's eyes were still locked on Drax. He had seen so many things on this day that he could never have dreamed up in a million years, but Bucky knew that now wasn't the right time to try to understand; now was the time for action and the explanations would have to come later. The kid next to him was shaking in his boots, even though he was trying to hide it, just as the others around him did the same. Bucky had been in some terrible fights in his day, but this was on another level, and all he could do was to take some solace in having Steve and Sam there with him. "I sure hope she's got something to help us get back," he whispered carefully, "or I'm pretty sure that game's over."

"We don't even know if there's a back for us to get to, Buck," Steve sighed. "We don't know if we're dead or alive here, and we need to accept that there may not be a way out of this."

"If that's true, then so be it," Gamora finally spoke again. "But when I saw him, Thanos looked like the power had drained from him after he used the gauntlet. He may be weakened, and we need to use that advantage to stop him while we can. If we can't find a way out, then we need to find a way to protect those who are still out there."

~~~

It was a long, painful, and silent walk back into the city and to the palace, where the remaining members of your already broken team were congregated in one of the conference rooms to try to make some semblance of a plan. T'Challa had stepped away to meet with the tribal elders, doing his best to offer some peace for their losses and a promise of reparation whether or not he could even offer it. You could have joined either group at any time, but you felt as if you had nothing of value to offer, when your mind and body could focus on nothing other than your debilitating fatigue.

Walking the halls of your new home and towards your room, you paused at broken relics and cracked structures that had withstood the attack, but had still felt the pain of it all. Even barefoot, you didn't pause at stray pieces of glass that found their way into your path; you barely felt them in your stupor. T'Challa would come to you soon, you knew that as well as you knew your own name; in a time like this, he would never think to leave you alone for long, as any second could bring an end to any one of them without warning.

After changing your clothes into the first comfortable thing you could find, you didn't waste time with anything else, crawling up and into your bed to pull the lush blankets over your head to darken the world around you away, and to offer you an overblown sense of protection with nothing more than a layer of cloth. Oddly enough, that layer felt more protective to you than anything you had worn in the last few hours; even your suit felt exposed now, after what you had seen. You would stay in the black void of this self-made cocoon for an eternity if T'Challa would allow it, but of course he wouldn't.

"My love, can I join you? Are you awake?"

"I am now."

T'Challa waited until you rolled to face him, and when you pulled the blanket away so that he could see your face. You had welcomed him into the bed to join you by lifting the cover next to you, but the look in your eyes would be the most telling as if you meant it or if you were placating him in allowing him at your side. "I'm sorry, I can go. I don't think that I'll be able to sleep, and I don't wish to keep you awake. Go to sleep, I'll take one of the other rooms tonight."

"No, you can stay. Please," you urged softly, "I'd like you to stay."

He smiled down at you and sat just on the edge of the bed, doing his best to not jostle you as he removed his shoes before turning to lay with you. You could sense his apprehension as he moved to press himself against your back, his arm lazily draping over you until his hand rested on your stomach. A quiet gasp escaped his throat and he pulled his hand away, the shock of what he felt, or rather what he didn't feel, leaving him frozen in disbelief. "I have yet to accept what's happened, (Y/N)," he whispered against your hair, trying to press a kiss against it but failing when his tears began to spill and he couldn't catch his breath. "With a simple snap of the fingers, so much has been lost. So many are gone."

"I don't know how to handle this, T'Challa. I feel like I'll be in this bed forever, hiding away from the world just to avoid more pain that I know we can't escape. Every time I close my eyes, I see Steve looking at me with terror that I've never seen from him before. I can feel him disappear from my arms. I can feel..." you stopped, swallowing away the choking lump in your throat, "I feel alone now. I know that you're here, and that we have some of our friends left, but a part of me is gone. I know that I have to move forward, and the only thing making that happen is that we have to find where they went. I can't accept that they're dead, T'Challa. I won't believe it.