As the conversations began to fade out and the team found themselves lost in memories of years gone by and the relationships that they had come to know, Rhodey couldn't help but notice that Sam and Bucky had yet to join in. They were still alone, sitting quietly together with their backs to the group and not showing any interest in moving. He had an idea of what they were talking about, and normally he wouldn't have interfered, but he had a unique offer to give them, and now more than ever, it couldn't wait.

"Hey, guys," he greeted hesitantly, coming armed with two beers in hand, "mind if I take a minute?"

"Sure, man," Sam nodded, a quick swipe of his hand over his eyes that wasn't lost on Rhodey, "what's up?"

"Well, I was noticing that you two haven't had much to say. I think I might have an idea why."

"Because it's a fucking depressing conversation?" Bucky answered heavily, taking the beer that was offered, nearly emptying it in one swallow. "Can't imagine why we'd keep our distance from that."

Rhodey followed suit and took a drink from his own bottle, sucking in a harsh breath at the pain he felt just by standing next to these two. It wasn't like they were the only two feeling it, but they sure were the two wearing it the most openly. "So, like I said, I have an idea. You two get a license yet?"

Sam and Bucky looked at each other, confused, clearly trying to have a conversation between them without so much as a word spoken, but all it did was muddle up their thoughts even more. It would seem that so much time together did nothing for their couple's communication, and Rhodey couldn't help but laugh at their ineptitude.

"Guys," Rhodey continued with a dry chuckle, "in case you've forgotten, I'm ordained. We can do this right now if you want to."

~~~

"Do I look okay?"

Bucky turned from the mirror to face you, his eyes filled with panic that he wasn't going to fill Sam's expectations, despite there being no way that it would ever be true. Steve's suit fit him pretty well, only a few buttons pulled to their limits, and a little extra length in the legs, but overall, as far as you were concerned, he was perfect. Tony had given him a pair of cufflinks to borrow, but the wrist of his metal arm was too big to make that side work so he wore only one, and he couldn't stop staring at the omission.

"You look great, Buck."

"You sure, doll? I feel like something's wrong."

"It's just because we're rushing, and it's not the way you had it planned," you tried to reassure him, "but like you said to me in the beginning, it's not about flowers and suits and what to serve at dinner. It's about you two, right?"

"Right," he sighed, dropping his shoulders in relief, "yeah...you're right. Thanks, (Y/N)."

You took a step closer and ran your hands over the jacket slowly, then reached up to straighten his bowtie, though you weren't seeing your friend at all. Your mind had taken you to when you had last seen Steve in this suit, and how handsome he was in it. Trying to meld the sensation in your fingertips to the images in your mind, you closed your eyes to allow yourself the moment, pushing away the sadness trying to take it over; it was trying to destroy your memory by reminding you that you might never see him in it again.

"Doll?"

"Hmm?" you mumbled, opening your eyes again with a shake of your head to clear it. "Sorry...I'm sorry, Buck, I just got distracted."

"Hey, I've told you, this isn't the end," he smiled weakly, "and we can't believe that it is, okay? If we go into this with that idea, we'll make it happen that way because you know as much as I do, this team has shit for luck."

"You got that right," you snickered, finishing with his tie and giving him a satisfied smile. Even at your own wedding, when he had a tuxedo that actually fit properly, Bucky hadn't looked this good then or really any other time that you could recall. Despite the extra roll in the pants to keep from stepping on the material, and the missing cufflink, and the lopsided grin on his dorky face as he spun around for you one last time, he was perfect and you knew exactly why. "Buck, when this is all over and we get our lives back to normal-"

"Our lives are never normal, (Y/N)."

"Okay, as normal as we can," you conceded, "we'll do this again, and we'll do it the way you guys want to."

Bucky stopped his turn at the sight of himself in the mirror, taking a step closer to give his suit one final look, and to run his hand through his hair for a final time. "I shoulda shaved," he muttered to himself, almost too quiet for you to hear. When he woke up this morning, this definitely wasn't anywhere in his mind as a possibility, and despite how rushed and almost fatalistic it felt to be doing, it still felt like the only thing he wanted to do today. He could only hope that on the other side of the building, Sam's sentiment was the same.

"Alright, I think this is as good as it's gonna get. You're sure I look okay?"

~~~

"Wow, I look damn fine," Sam smiled, looking at himself much as Bucky was at that same time. His hand ran down the front of the jacket, smoothing it slowly, though it didn't need it. His tie was perfectly set, and his shoes didn't have a single scuff mark or smudge to dull their shine. If Steve had known better, he might have considered that Sam had been planning this all along.

"Yeah, Sam, you look good," Steve chuckled quietly, "but are you ready?"

"Pfft, I was born ready for anything. Please, don't insult me."

"Hey, just askin."

Sam paused and straightened the tie that didn't need it, and bent down with a lift of each pant leg to be sure that his socks really did match for at least the hundredth time. His hand shook just a little with each check of his own cufflinks, his given to him by Rhodey, and it didn't escape Steve's notice. But when he tried to move forward to give his friend the support that he thought he needed, Sam came back with his usual, confident persona to block him. "Okay, I think we're set."

"Sam, what is it?"

"What?"

"Really? You're gonna act like I can't read you after this many years? What's going on?"

"Nothing, Cap, I'm good," Sam continued to deflect, this time taking the initiative to push past him and towards the door. "A little nervous is expected at these things, I suppose? I mean, I just...I just don't want to mess up, ya know? We get one shot at this."

"We'll do this again, after everything settles down," Steve reassured with a firm slap on Sam's shoulder. He wasn't sure if he believed it himself, but he had to wear his best poker face to be sure that Sam focused on what this day was turning into, and not the potential for what tomorrow could be. "Take it from me, just live this from minute to minute, and try to remember everything. It goes by faster than you think, and before you know it, you're trying to just get through each day as a parent of three teenagers with powers that could knock you on your ass. You crawl out of bed, counting down the minutes until you can crawl back in to get a decent night of sleep, feeling every ache and crack in your body like you're a hundred years old."

"Hmm, yeah, I suppose you're on point with that," Sam agreed readily, "if only we get to be so lucky."

~~~

Moments later, both Sam and Bucky had worked up enough of their nerves to leave the rooms they had spent the better part of an hour getting ready in, making their way to the living room where the rest of the team was waiting. No one had really taken the time to change their own clothes, instead focusing on making the room around them as festive as possible, with Grant lighting every candle that Brooklyn could draw out from all corners of the building. Stephen worked up a little magic for decoration, Tony opened up his best and normally reserved liquor stash, and Pepper was working frantically to round up a caterer at the last second.

You and Steve entered the room first, moving to the front where Rhodey was waiting, with each of you taking your respective sides; Steve standing for Bucky and you for Sam. FRIDAY began to play the music that you had originally chosen for the formal ceremony, but you stopped her, wanting to keep the hope alive that this would be done again and how they wanted it, just as you and your husband had both promised them. Before she began your second musical choice, another guest arrived and took his seat, trying to be inconspicuous and failing miserably.

"T'Challa," you smiled, hurrying to steal a quick hug, "I didn't know that you were coming in today?"

"I've apparently chosen quite the day to arrive. Was I to bring a gift?"

"No, don't worry about that, this just all came together in the last couple of hours." The music began and you saw your two friends enter the room, leaving you to give T'Challa a hurried kiss on his cheek, "I'm so happy that you're here! I'll talk to you after, okay?"

"Yes, definitely."

In an effort to give the event at least some formality for the pair, as the music began, everyone stood to watch them enter the room, smiling at the sight of their embarrassment at the attention and not letting them shy away from it for one second. Sam locked his eyes on you and took very measured steps, as if he were worried that he would fall or somehow get lost on his way there, and it actually warmed your heart to see him so worried about messing up. Bucky was no better, having straightened his tie and pulled at his collar at least a dozen times since entering the room. It was adorably clear that neither of them were worried for themselves, but for messing it up for the other.

"Gentlemen," Rhodey greeted them with a wide grin, "how are we doing?"

"Good."

"Mmm hmm, yeah."

"Okay, let's get started then." Rhodes turned and waited for Tony to hand him a book that you couldn't quite make out the cover of, but it looked to be something very fragile, as if it had been used in many events like this, and had been handed down to others over many years. He opened the pages slowly, carefully, with great attention to exactly where the lines he wanted to quote would be. "Now, I've only done maybe two of these, so bear with me, fellas. This might be a little bumpy-"

And, as fate always had it, and just as Bucky had made so clear only moments ago with the continuation of the team's shitty luck, the ground rocked beneath their feet and left anyone standing to stumble off of their stance. Silence fell over the room as the team froze and looked to each other, waiting for ideally nothing more, or for the ball to finally drop and for fate to intervene. Of course, it would be the latter.

The building shook again around you, and in your periphery you saw the sun begin to darken and the sky that was such a deep and clear shade of blue seconds before, turn into an ominous haze of black. Your friends immediately fell into their Avenger personas, rushing to get their gear and get outside as fast as they could, but before that could happen, couples ran to each other to steal one last moment before there were no more guarantees of having another.

"Wait!" Rhodey called out to Sam and Bucky over the chaos and voices churning together all around him, running to meet them before they could reach the elevators. "Sam! Do you take him?"

"Yes!"

"Bucky, do you-"

"You're damn right, I do!"

"Great, congratulations," he panted, giving them each a firm slap on the arm before turning to run, "now let's get through this so we can celebrate with a drink, alright? We're all gonna need one!"

Your trio were quickly at your side, along with Steve, standing with wide eyes filled with terror, but doing their best to look brave for your benefit. You wanted to tell them to run and hide, to take a portal to the other side of the world, but you knew full well that a safe place didn't exist, and even further, none of them would listen to you anyway; they were always going to be a part of this, and only now did you realize that years ago when Stephen Strange walked through your door for the first time, this was what he meant.

"If you don't need to fight, then you don't," you warned, pushing back tears. "You lay low and out of sight as much as you can, okay? I don't care if you see your dad or I in over our heads or hurt, you stay clear. We need you guys to promise us that so we can do our jobs."

"We will, Mom," Anthony agreed first, urging his siblings to do the same. "We promise. Just promise us that you'll both be careful, and don't do anything stupid."

"Hey," Steve braved a smile, "you talking to us? We would never!"

With a quick but crushing hold, you both hugged each of your children and whispered quick words of how much you loved them all before directing them to go. As they left your sight, you took a step to follow and get to your gear, but Steve grabbed your arm and spun you to him, giving you what he worried could be the last kiss you would ever share.

"I love you, (Y/N)."

"I love you too, Steve."

You could see that he wanted to say so much more as he looked into your eyes, the sadness and defeat stealing away the glimmer and shine of the blue that you had loved for so many years. There just wasn't time for any of it, but you both knew each other so well and knew what would be said, that a simple nod of understanding conveyed enough. Then, as if an official announcement were even necessary or that introductions needed to happen, one came anyway.

"The day you have awaited, and the day you have brought upon yourselves shall wait no longer to arrive, though I find no pleasure in your resistance. I am a man of my word, if of nothing more," Thanos called out to you all, his voice echoing from every wall around you, "and death as it has been promised will be realized in spectacular glory, though I award mercy where due. Your efforts of valor, though futile they may be, will be spoken of in universes yet to be found, and I will dine on their false hopes in your name. The time for destiny has come, Avengers."