chapter sixty-six
gone but not forgotten

𝐒𝐀𝐌. 𝐁𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐘. 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐀. 𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐃𝐘.

So many people had disappeared in a pile of dust—half the world, to be exact. Grace held her head in her hands, glancing at the screen that continued to show the rising death count, currently at three point two billion.

"This is a nightmare," Steve muttered, staring at the screen in disbelief. She tilted her head in agreement, rolling her neck. She still had no way of knowing if Tony was among the dusted; as far as she knew, he was still stuck in space with Peter Parker.

"I've had better nightmares," Natasha replied.

Grace stood up from the table and locked eyes with a familiar photo. "Liv..." she whispered, shaking her head and closing her eyes. "She's sixteen..."

"Hey." They looked over when they heard Adelaide's voice and Grace couldn't help but notice how puffy her eyes were. "So that thingy just stopped doing whatever the hell it's been doing."

"It's called a pager, Addy," Grace replied, letting out a breath and walking out of the room. Steve and Natasha trailed after and they found Bruce analyzing the pager. "What's going on with that, Bruce?"

He tilted his head. "Whatever the signal is sending, it finally crept off."

Steve furrowed his brows. "I thought we bypassed the battery."

"We did," Bruce said with a nod and Grace crossed her arms. "It's still plugged in, it just... it just stopped."

"Reboot and send the signal again," Steve told him.

Bruce looked up at the soldier. "We don't even know what this is," he countered and Natasha shrugged.

"Fury did," she said. "Just do it, please. You tell me the second you get a signal. I want to know who's on the other end of that thing."

Grace tilted her head at the pager. "It looks oddly familiar..." She turned around and immediately jumped. "Oh, for the love of—Carol."

"Where's Fury?" Carol Danvers asked and Grace let out a breath. "I gave him that pager if he ever needed something."

She nodded. "That's why it looked familiar..." she muttered, running a hand through her hair. "Nick isn't here. We're having... a bit of an issue. Half of the universe has disappeared."

Carol furrowed her brows. "What?"

"It's a long story," Grace said with a sigh. She glanced around the room and noticed everyone was staring at the woman in the middle of the room. "Oh—right. Uh—everyone, this is Carol Danvers, better known as Captain Marvel. She—uh—she was born here and was an Air Force pilot who got exposed to the energy of the Tesseract and got powers. She came back to Earth with no memories, which she eventually got back. She also knows Nick. We met in the eighties."

Adelaide nodded slowly. "Alright, then..."

"I need a favor." Grace turned back to Carol who looked at her. "We haven't been able to reach Tony. For all we know, he's—" She sucked in a breath. "I need you to find him. He's somewhere in space, we just—we just don't know where."

She nodded. "Sure."

"Thank you."

"When I get back, I need you to tell me what happened," Carol said and Grace nodded. "I don't know how long it'll take, but whenever I find him, I'll bring him back."

"I don't know who he's with either," Grace told her. "There might be a teenager with him. I don't know..."

Carol nodded. "I'll be back."

Everybody's eyes widened when she began to glow and flew out of the Avengers Compound. Grace let out a breath, letting her head fall. "Well, now we wait, I guess..."

She ran a hand over her tired face and walked out of the room. Steve glanced at Adelaide who was leaning her head on Pietro's shoulder and he rubbed her back, staring at the photo of his twin sister on the screen. The atmosphere in the room was tense and defeated; they had lost.

Thanos won.

Steve followed after Grace and found her sitting in front of her computer, desperation filling her hazel irises. He watched her eyes travel back and forth, the light of the screen illuminating her tired features. Her hair was unbrushed and pulled into a loose braid that fell over her shoulder. She was wearing one of his sweatshirts that was far too large for her.

"Hey."

Grace looked up from the laptop and locked eyes with Steve. "What if he's gone?" she asked hoarsely, her voice barely above a whisper and full of defeat. "I—I was the first visitor they had after Tony was born, and I promised to always protect him. Maria made me his guardian in case something ever happened to them. He—"

The words caught in her throat and she swallowed thickly, closing her eyes before letting her head fall into her hands. Steve tilted his head and began to walk towards her when she shook her head at him.

"I'm sorry about Bucky." Steve looked down at her. She met his gaze and her eyes softened. "I know how much you love him. And you only just got him back."

"Tony is okay," he said in certainty, sitting down on the desk in front of her. "He's gonna be okay because he's been through much worse."

"I don't know if that's comforting..." she muttered, her fingers lightly grazing his hand before linking their hands together. "That he's been through so much shit in his life. And you... You haven't stopped fighting since the war."

He shrugged. "Well, now's not the time to stop."

She nodded and stood up from the chair. She walked over to the window of the room, staring out at the scenery. In a matter of seconds, billions of people's lives were changed. Families were separated; children lost their parents.

"I'll believe you when I see him again," she said, turning back to look at Steve. "But I need to be able to hold him first. I need him here."

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

𝐈𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-three days since Thanos snapped away half the universe and Grace had still not seen Tony. It seemed as though her eyes were permanently puffy after crying herself to sleep every night.

"You know, I was a fan of the beard."

Steve looked away from staring at his reflection in the mirror at Grace who was leaning in the doorway, tilting her head. "I know you were."

She walked over to him, her hand reaching for his now-bare chin. Her hazel eyes met his blue ones, and she smiled lightly up at him. Adelaide passed the bathroom, pausing when she saw Grace and Steve. She peered around the wall, a small grin reaching her face at the sight. She had seen the first picture taken of them during the war at one of his USO tours. She practically had it memorized, down to the outfit Grace had been wearing.

Steve still looked at her the same way, only this time with more love.

Though Adelaide was sure Steve had been falling in love with Grace during his USO tours, he just didn't know it.

Nodding to herself, the blonde continued down the hallway towards Pietro who was sitting with Rhodey and Natasha at the table. "I think the lovebirds are back," she said quietly, sitting down beside him. Pietro furrowed his brows, glancing at the blonde. Before he could say anything, however, the compound began to shake and Adelaide looked up. "What the—?"

"What is that?" Steve asked, walking out of the bathroom and Grace trailed after him, reaching for the wall as the compound continued to shake, more violently.

She paused. "Oh, my gosh..." Before anybody could process anything, Grace ran out of the building towards the front lawn.

"What?" Adelaide called out to her, the group following after her. "How do you know what the shaking means? Gracie!"

The brunette stopped and looked up at the sky. "It's Carol," she said breathlessly, looking back at Steve. "That means she found him. Steve! It's—"

Carol Danvers was carrying the spacecraft through the air, gently lowering it to the ground. The landing gears appeared once it touched solid ground and the doors opened, revealing Tony being supported by a woman. She looked to be part robot and was blue.

"Do you know her?" Adelaide asked Rocket Raccoon, a member of the group who had found Thor floating through space following the destruction of an Asgardian ship.

He nodded. "Her name is Nebula. She and Thanos have a... complicated history."

Grace ran towards the spacecraft. "Aunt Gracie..." Tony said weakly the moment he had reached her and she took him in her arms. "I—I tried. I couldn't stop him."

"Tony..."

"I lost the kid." Grace's face fell and she pressed her lips together. "Aunt Gracie, is—uh—?"

She rubbed his cheek, shifting her body so he could see Pepper running towards him in relief. "Oh, my God! Oh, my God!"

Grace slumped against Steve as Pepper helped Tony back into the compound. His hand instinctively wrapped around her waist protectively and pulled her closer to him, pressing small kisses in her dark hair.

"He's here," she whispered, craning her neck to look up at him.

He nodded. "He's here."

The group gathered in the living room of the compound and Adelaide sat next to Grace, leaning her head on the brunette's shoulder. "It's been twenty-three days since Thanos came to Earth," Rhodey said, looking around the room.

"World governments are in pieces," Grace added quietly. "Some have been in contact due to SHIELD's history. The parts of the governments that are still working are trying to take a census, but it's taking a while."

Natasha nodded. "It looks like he did—he did exactly what he said he was gonna do," she muttered, biting the inside of her cheek. "Thanos wiped out fifty percent of all living creatures."

"Where is he now?" Tony asked. He was sitting at the table with a bag of blood attached to him with an IV. "Where?"

Steve shrugged. "We don't know," he replied, shaking his head. "He just opened a portal and walked through."

Tony glanced at the god who was on a bench a short distance away from the group. "What's wrong with him?"

Grace followed his gaze, sighing quietly to herself at the sight of the defeated man. "Oh, he's pissed," Rocket said to Tony. "He thinks he failed. Which of course he did, but you know there's a lot of that going around, ain't there?"

"He hasn't said a word since Thanos snapped his fingers," Grace piped up, glancing back at him. "It's like we can't get through to him."

Tony looked at the raccoon. "Honestly, until this exact second, I literally thought you were a Build-A-Bear."

Rocket shrugged. "Maybe I am."

"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now," Steve said, getting the conversation back to the mad titan. "Deep space scans, and satellites, and we got nothing. Tony, you fought him."

"Who told you that?" Tony asked in surprise before shaking his head. "I didn't fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street Magician gave away the store. That's what happened. There was no fight."

"Okay."

"He's unbeatable," Tony continued.

Steve sucked in a small breath. "Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?"

"Pfft!" Tony scoffed in disbelief. "I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming."

Grace stood up. "Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus," Steve said as she reached the two men who were starting to argue.

"And I needed you!" he countered harshly. "As in past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late, buddy. Sorry. You know what I need?" Tony stood up from the table and pushed off all the objects from the table making everyone wince at the sound. "I need to shave. And I believe I remember telling all you—"

"Tony, take a breath," Grace interrupted, placing a hand on his chest when he tried to move towards Steve. "Tony..."

"Alive and otherwise what we needed was a suit of armor around the world!" Tony continued. "Remember that? Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not—that's what we needed!"

"Well, that didn't work out, did it?" Steve asked, tilting his head.

Grace let out a breath. "Steve—"

"I said, 'We'd lose,'" Tony said, interrupting his aunt who pressed her lips together. "You said, 'We'll do that together, too.' And guess what, Cap? We lost. And you weren't there." Grace glanced between the two former friends. "But that's what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We're the Avengers, we're the Avengers. Not the Prevengers."

She nodded. "Okay."

"Right?"

"You made your point," Rhodey agreed with a nod, joining Grace between the two men. "Just sit down."

"Okay..." Just as Tony was about to sit down, he shook his head and forced his way into a standing position once more. "Nah, nah. Here's my point. You know what?"

Grace sighed. "Tony, just sit down."

"She's great, by the way," he said, pointing at Carol and they looked at her. "We need you. You're new blood. Bunch of tired old mules!" Tony forced his way out of Rhodey and Grace's grasps and marched directly to Steve. "I got nothing for you, Cap! I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust. Liar." Grace stepped between them once more as they continued to stare at each other before Tony ripped the arc reactor out of his chest. "Here, take this." He shoved it into Steve's hand. "You find him, and you put that on. You hide."

Suddenly, he fell and Grace caught him before he hit the floor. "Tony!"

A short time later, Tony was lying in a bed while Pepper sat beside him, rubbing his hand with her thumb. Grace let out a breath and rolled her neck as she left the room. "Bruce gave him a sedative," she said to the group waiting outside for news. "He's probably gonna be out for the rest of the day."

"You guys take care of him," Carol said, walking up to them. "And I'll bring him a Xorrian Elixir when I come back."

Adelaide narrowed her eyes in confusion. "I don't even know what that means..." she muttered. "Where are you going?"

"To kill Thanos."

Steve and Natasha glanced at each other. "Hey, you know, we usually work as a team here, and between you and I, morale's a little fragile."

"We realize up there is more your territory, but this is our fight, too," he added, the two of them following the retreating blonde.

"You even know where he is?" Rhodey asked, crossing his arms.

Grace clicked her tongue. "I know she's new to you guys, but she's a hell of a fighter," she spoke up, tilting her head. "Don't doubt her."

"I know people who might," Carol answered Rhodey.

"Don't bother," Nebula said, standing behind Carol. "I can tell you where Thanos is. Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me." Adelaide looked at her. "And when he worked, he talked about his great plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. I'd ask 'Where would we go once his plan was complete?'. His answer was always the same: 'To the Garden.'"

"That's cute," Rhodey muttered sarcastically. "Thanos has a retirement plan."

Grace shook her head. "Rhodey."

"So where is he?" Steve asked.

"When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions," Rocket replied. "No one's ever seen anything like it... Until two days ago." A hologram appeared in front of them. "On this planet."

Nebula pointed at the hologram of the planet. "Thanos is there."

"He used the stones again," Adelaide pieced together, a frown tugging at the corner of her lips. "Lovely..."

"Hey, hey, hey." The group looked at Bruce who glanced among them. "We'd be going in short-handed, you know..."

Rhodey shrugged. "Look, he's still got the stones, so..."

"So let's get him," Carol suggested as if it was easy. "Use them to bring everyone back."

"Just like that?" Adelaide asked.

Steve nodded. "Yeah," he agreed, sharing a look with Carol. "Just like that."

"Even if there's a small chance that we can undo this..." Natasha let out a breath. "I mean, we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try."

Bruce cleared his throat. "If we do this, how do we know it's gonna end any differently than it did before?"

Grace gestured towards Carol. "Because before, you didn't have me."

Rhodey scoffed at her confidence. "Hey, new girl, everyone here is about that superhero life." Carol looked at Grace who shrugged. "And if you don't mind my asking, where the hell have you been all this time?"

"She has a life, Rhodey," Grace replied sarcastically.

"There are a lot of other planets in the universe," Carol said, crossing her arms. "And, unfortunately, they didn't have you guys."

Suddenly, Thor, who had been quiet during all of the arguing, stood up and walked over to Carol. Grace raised her eyebrows, seeing him lift his hand and she quickly moved next to Steve. His new hammer, Stormbreaker, flies to the God but Carol does not flinch despite it missing her head by inches.

Instead, she smiled up at the God which he returned. "I like this one."

"Let's go get this son of a bitch."

Grace looked up at Steve, sucking in a breath.

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 compound with Tony and Pepper and, after a lot of arguing with Steve, Adelaide sat beside Pietro in the ship that Carol had brought with Tony and Nebula. "Okay." Rocket turned in his seat to face the heroes. "Who here hasn't been to space?"

Steve, Adelaide, Pietro, Natasha, and Rhodey all raised their hands. "Um—" Rhodey cleared his throat. "Why?"

"You better not throw up on my ship."

"Approaching jump in..." Nebula announced from her place next to Rocket. "Three... two... one!"

The ship jerked forward and Adelaide winced at the sudden motion. All around her, it was glowing through the wormhole and her eyes widened at the sight. "Can I change my mind?" she asked once the ship had slowed down.

"I'll head down for recon," Carol told the group, hovering outside the ship.

Adelaide looked up at Pietro. "Stay safe, okay?" she said and he glanced down at her. "I don't want to lose more people I love." She pressed her lips together. "Um—"

He smiled lightly. "I love you, too," he replied, pecking her lips just as Carol returned.

"No satellites, no ships, no armies, no ground defenses of any kind," she informed them. "It's just him."

Nebula nodded. "And that's enough."

The plan was for Carol to ambush Thanos first. Bruce, in his Hulkbuster armor that Grace had repaired for him, followed her to grab his arm where the Infinity gauntlet was. Thor was the third to fly in and sliced off his arm.

Adelaide trailed behind Steve and Natasha, peeking around the blonde man's frame at the gauntlet that had no stones. "What—?"

"Where are they?" Steve demanded, looking directly at Thanos.

"Answer the question!" Carol seethed, continuing to choke the mad titan.

"The universe required correction," Thanos answered them calmly. "After that, the stones serve no purpose, beyond temptation."

Bruce looked furious. "You murdered trillions!"

"You should be grateful."

"Where are the Stones?" Natasha asked him.

"Gone. Reduced to atoms."

Bruce pushed Thanos further into the ground in fury. "You used them two days ago!" he shouted.

"I used the stones to destroy the stones," Thanos told them and Adelaide shifted in place. "It nearly killed me. But the work is done. It always will be." He sat up more straight. "I am... inevitable."

"Please tell me he's lying," Adelaide said, looking at Nebula.

She shook her head. "My father is many things," she replied. "A liar is not one of them."

"Ah, thank you, daughter." Nebula looked down at the ground, looking uncomfortable at his words. "Perhaps I treated you too harshly."

Before anybody could properly react, Thor reached for Stormbreaker and sliced Thanos' head off. His limp body fell to the floor and Adelaide stared at the mad titan's dead body. "What... Thor, what did you do?"

He looked down. "I went for the head," he whispered, leaving the shed in defeat. "Like he told me to."

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

━ author's note:

i am so sorry for the month-long wait.

we are now entering the five-year gap of endgame which means you get all of my original chapters! i don't know how many there will be, but it's like domestic grace & steve, so... :)