I don't own anything except any original character and/or any original plot

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Chapter Thirty-Three: Endgame

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A/n: I'm sorry.

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Everyone was silent for a long time.

No one knew what to do. What could we do? We lost. Thanos had five out of six Infinity Stones. The final stone was Vision's, and even though I had faith in Wakanda and Cap's team, Thanos had decimated all of us, us only receiving a drop of blood as payment.

"Why would you do that?" Tony asked Strange quietly.

Strange stayed silent for a few moments, "We're in the endgame now."

Quill settled down on one of the meteors dropped from the moon. He stared straight at the ground. No words; No sarcasm, no complaint, no encouragement. He was broken. Drax, Nebula, and Mantis stayed close to each other, staying silent as well. Peter was staring off into space, Tony was dealing with his wound, and Strange was looking at the place his stone used to be.

"I'm sorry about Gamora," I sat down next to him, keeping a small distance between us, "I know I didn't know her, but if she was part of your group, then she must have been a good person."

"She was. She was trying to be more than what Thanos made her be. Saving people, making friends, all of that," Quill mumbled, twiddling his thumbs, "Is this my fault?"

"I don't think so," I assured, watching the others form a small circle in the main area, "After every battle, you realize things you could have done better. It's how you learn, you improve from your mistakes. You let your anger overcome your rationality. It's happened to the best of us."

"I just... knowing she's gone... I watched my mom die when I was younger, then I had to kill my dad, then the guy who was like a father died saving me. I thought Gamora was the one person who wouldn't leave me. And she's gone."

"When you're in love, and you don't have them with you, you're just lost," I instinctively looked to Peter, "But I'm sure Gamora fought, she wouldn't go out without a fight."

A small smile appeared on Quill's lips at the thought, "Knowing her she went down swinging." Quill sucked in a deep breath, standing up, "I should probably talk with the team, see what we'll do now. Thanks, kid, you give surprisingly good advice."

Nodding, I walked away as well, finding Peter hovering around Tony as he closed his wound with a device from his suit. He seemed confused. Heroes didn't lose. It wasn't just something from the books, they never lost. There were always casualties and difficulties, but in all the years of the Avengers and X-Men working as a team, they pulled through. Both teams had saved the world countless times. Losing the fight to save the universe wasn't easily recovered from.

"Come on," I tugged on Peter's hand to take him away from the group. Something told me that Strange and Tony wanted to discuss what they could do, and the Guardians were already planning as well.

We stopped behind a grouping of boulders that created a small, secluded area. Though we could still see everyone in case something happened. Though, Thanos had no reason to bother us again. He got what he wanted.

"I'm happy you're okay," Peter pulled me into a hug, resting his head next to mine, "What's going to happen now?"

"I don't know."

I really didn't. Thanos would be in Wakanda at that point, which would be the last line of defense to save the universe. With how well trained the soldiers were, and how many heroes they gathered there, I had faith.

But Thanos took down a Master of the Mystic Arts, an empath, a strong man, human trained in alien weaponry, a kid with spider-like powers, a mutant, and the Iron Man. He closed his fist and rendered all of us powerless.

How would the heroes of Wakanda fare against the man who controlled five out of six of the main elements of the universe?

"How are we gonna get home?"

"Maybe the Guardians will bring us back," I suggested. They seemed nice enough to do that.

"I hope so. May is probably losing her mind right now," Peter sighed, "I hope Ned told her what was going on."

My heart clenched imagining my parents staring at the TV, waiting for news about Earth's heroes, about whether or not they found my body.

"I'm sure he or MJ told her what was going on. I'm sure they told my parents too," I remembered back to the last conversation I had with Shuri, me telling the girl to tell my parents I was sorry if I didn't make it back.

"She's never gonna let me leave the house once she finds out I went to space," Peter groaned.

"When has that stopped you before?" I gave him a gentle nudge in the ribs.

Funny, how we could smile and joke in a time like that. But there was something about our relationship that allowed us the ability to share happiness, to create it together.

"Do you think Mr. Stark will be okay?" Peter looked to the others.

"He'll be fine. At this point he's immortal," I chuckled.

"He might be," Peter nodded, "We should go back, in case they need us."

"Yeah, at least we got a few minutes alone," we began to walk back before I grabbed Peter's wrist, "Hang on."

I pulled Peter in for a kiss, trying to stretch it out as long as I could. When we pulled apart, we held each other's' gaze for another few moments before we nodded at each other and left our seclusion entirely. We had our privacy, our moments to share our thoughts and worries before we put our brave masks back on for the others. Sure, we were the youngest, but that wasn't an excuse to act childish.

"What are we gonna do Mr Stark?" Peter questioned.

"I don't know kid," Tony sighed, a new level of hopelessness in his voice.

Everything fell into another silence. At this point, the Guardians had dispersed, each one looking as lost as the next. Everyone's attention was drawn to Mantis when she spoke up suddenly.

"Something's happening," Mantis looked down at her hands before she disappeared into dust.

I put a hand over my mouth, eyes wide with fear. Was this it? Did Thanos successfully get all six stones?

"Quill?" Drax disappeared as well.

Quill stared at his fallen team before looking to Tony. The hero gave the man a sympathetic look.

"Steady Quill."

"Oh, man," Quill sighed as he disappeared.

The Guardians were gone. The ones with us anyway; Nebula's position was apparently complicated and two of them went with Thor. I looked to Strange as he sat up. He seemed accepting, somberly content.

"It was the only way," he stated before turning into dust.

"Mr. Stark I don't feel so good."

My breath caught in my throat, a sob rising just below it. Peter looked so scared, terrified beyond compare. It took all I had not to scream out. Not him, anyone but him.

"I don't- I don't know what's happening-"

Tony helped Peter lie back as his body slowly disappeared, his enhanced healing and spider-sense helping him fight it off.

"You're fine."

"No, no, no, no!"

This was my nightmare. Peter, my Peter was disappearing in front of my eyes. But this time, I wasn't helpless. No matter how unsure Strange seemed about being able to heal someone without a body, I had to try.

I ran to Peter, the kneepads on my suit scuffing as I dropped next to him. Releasing what little water I had left in my stores, I raised my hands near Peter's rapidly disappearing torso.

"Woah, kid, an eye for an eye, remember? This probably won't even work," Tony took a cautious step forward.

"For once Stark shut the hell up," I snapped, voice cracking, "It has to work... I have to try."

The water around Peter was essentially holding him together. Through the haze of the liquid, you could see that the ashes were turning back into skin and suit. Relief flooded through my body upon seeing that. It worked. I beat the odds.

I knew what Peter's life returning meant, but I couldn't care less. How could I when Peter was coming back to life in front of me?

"Wait no, (Y/n) stop!" Peter voice became even more panicked as he put the pieces together, "Don't!"

It was too late. I leaned back as Peter's body became whole again. My mutation fixing an effect from the six Infinity Stones. It made me faintly wonder how powerful mutations were at their core.

"No, no, no," Peter moved me to his former place against the rock, "You were chosen to live!"

"Life without you wouldn't be living," I whispered. I lifted my hand as it lost feeling. Sure enough, it was turning to ashes, slowly floating away as if it were never there in the first place.

My enhanced healing would extend my death, giving me more time, and like Peter, the knowledge of what was happening could counteract it as well. But, in the end, I couldn't decide if having a stretched out death was better or worse.

"The last time I saw Cap he said we don't trade lives," I laughed better, taking notice of the look Tony was giving, "I'm sorry for not telling you I was talking to him. Thank you, for everything. You've made mistakes but you're a hero."

"You've always done good, kid," Tony was fighting back tears.

"Peter," I lifted my remaining hand to Peter's cheek, trying to draw his attention away from my disintegrating legs, "Stay good, stay you."

"I will," Peter lowered his head, tears staining his cheeks/

"I love you Bug-Boy."

"I love you too Blue."

The secret message held within our 'I love you' meant nothing now. We couldn't spend forever together. We couldn't grow up, get married, develop as heroes and as people. A genocidal maniac named Thanos stole all of that. The smallest of comforts came when I realized Thanos lost me. He wouldn't get me as a daughter. Even the winner lost too.

I pulled Peter for a kiss. Then I was gone too.

~*~*~*~

Peter stared at the ground in front of him. (Y/n) was there. She was just there, and now she wasn't. There was a simplicity to what happened that made Peter want to pull his hair out. She just wasn't there. She was gone. She was... Peter couldn't bring himself to even think the real word describing her situation.

Half of the universe was gone, he knew that. He just watched the people he fought with disappear, he didn't know who was alive on Earth, but that didn't matter anymore.

It didn't matter because (Y/n) was gone. She could be sitting where he was, alive. Instead, she sacrificed her life on the blind faith that her mutation would be able to save him. She died because she loved Peter, and because of that, Peter had to live in a universe where she wasn't there by his side.

How cruel love could be.