★ ★ ★

Marlena loved Wakanda. She had always loved Wakanda. She loved how wonderful the people were, how hospitable they were. She loved the Dora Milaje. She loved the Kingsguard. She loved the royal family. She loved that T'Challa was willing to risk everything to help and protect Bucky. She loved that Shuri was willing to risk everything to help Vision. She simply loved the country and its people, so she couldn't deny how much it hurt to watch Thanos's army attempt to destroy it.

The wind whipped through Marlena's hair as she and the remainder of the team flew to the border on one of Wakanda's many hovercrafts. As the team talked amongst themselves, and as Okoye made indecipherable comments about Bruce in her earpiece, Marlena was watching the border. The smoke surrounding them was dark, and according to Rhodey the team now had a couple of visitors, but she wasn't ready to face them yet. There were still things she needed to say. Her anxiety was killing her, considering the situation. She'd always gone into a fight thinking it could never be as bad as the last, but there was a feeling gnawing deep inside her that told her everything they were about to get themselves into was worse than anything they'd ever encountered. The reality of the situation was weighing heavily on her chest, and she wasn't sure how to process it. All she knew was that she had things to say for the simple fact of fearing the worse.

"I want you to know I love you," Marlena spoke quietly as she grabbed Bucky's hand.

Bucky looked down at their entwined hands with worry etched onto his face. He knew exactly what she was trying to do and he didn't like it at all. "Don't do that, Marlena," he replied firmly.

"Don't do what?"

"Tell me you love me like you're never gonna see me again," he answered.

She looked up at him, her hold around his hand only growing tighter. "I just love you, okay?"

Bucky sighed and squeezed her hand gently. "I love you, Marlena."

"Good," she smirked, almost as if to show him there was nothing wrong. "Now, we've got some alien ass to kick."

"If I have to fight another war, I'm glad I'm fighting it by your side."

Marlena only smiled and kissed him before hopping to the ground as the hovercraft landed, followed by remaining team members and T'Challa's army. She found her place in line between Bucky and Natasha, her eyes falling to the two alien creatures approaching the border in the distance. She was sure they were the visitors Rhodey had been talking about, just as she was sure they were two of the three she'd encountered in Edinburgh not too long ago. She stayed back while Natasha, Steve, and T'Challa ran to confront them, though they returned just as quickly as they had gone.

"Did they surrender?" Bucky questioned his best friend.

"Not exactly," Steve replied with a shake of his head.

There was no more time for small talk. Within moments the rumbling of the ships caught everyone's attention. Those on the field watched with horror as thousands of small, alien creatures ran to the forcefield. Majority perished before they were able to completely breakthrough, but nonetheless the sight was still horrifying. Those that eventually managed to get through were shot down by Wakandan warriors with the help of Bucky, Sam, Bruce, and Rhodey, but no one could deny that there were too many of them trying to break through. They couldn't risk any of them getting to Vision.

"Cap," Bruce's voice came through comms. "If these things circle the perimeter and get in behind us, there's nothing between them and Vision."

"Then we better keep 'em in front of us," he replied.

"How do we do that?" Okoye questioned T'Challa.

"We open the barrier," he answered before raising his hand to his ear. "On my signal, open northwest section seventeen."

The team readied themselves for what was to come—Steve equipped his shield, Bucky cocked his gun, and Marlena allowed the bright blue of her abilities to harvest itself around her open hands. She watched and waited, and the moment the barrier was open she was running through the field along with the rest of her team. With a burst of energy she launched herself into the air above the aliens, only to barrel back to the ground with an energy blast so strong every alien creature within fifty feet of her disintegrated immediately.

"Damn good to have you back, Claire," Sam exclaimed through comms.

"Please," Marlena rolled her eyes and blasted another group of aliens. "Don't act like you've actually missed me."

"Believe me," Natasha said. "We all have."

"I can't exactly say the same considering I'm in a field in the middle of Africa energy blasting aliens into oblivion," she called back.

"Fair point," the blonde chuckled.

It didn't matter how much energy Marlena had, however. It didn't matter how much firepower the team had or how much kinetic energy T'Challa exerted. There were way too many aliens, and while fighting Ultron's sentries had been a lot for Marlena, she never anticipated something like this in her life.

"There's way too many of them," Marlena grunted as she blasted several more aliens trying to jump on her. Bucky was struggling, Steve was struggling, the entire team was struggling. Every last one of them knew she was right.

"She's right," Bruce forced out. "We can't hold all of them off."

Marlena took a breath and kicked an alien away from her before blasting two more. She turned around, more than ready to finish off more, but she could hardly focus on the fight. The numbers began to overwhelm her, and she was left struggling under a pack of aliens. The only thing preventing them from harming her was the thin, psionic barrier between her and them. She was growing annoyed. All she wanted was to be back home with her kids and Bucky, but the world had other plans for her. The world seemed to always have other plans for her.

After struggling for several more seconds, the aliens were knocked away. Marlena, confused as to what was going on, turned her head to a bright light. It disappeared in seconds and she was met with the sight of Thor, a man she hadn't seen in the better part of six years. He stood with a raccoon and a humanoid tree, something of which would've looked unbelievably ridiculous to Marlena a week ago. She breathed out a sigh of relief and stood up, watching as Thor ran at the multiplying aliens. He rose into the air and brought his weapon back to the ground, electrifying the beings with a strong bolt of lightning and putting a very pleased smile on the face of not only Marlena, but the remaining Avengers as well.

"It's about damn time," Sam's voice could be heard.

Marlena only chuckled and got back to work. Thor had only been a temporary relief, but, regardless, the aliens were still coming and she doubted they would stop. The only good thing about the fight was that it had brought her to Thor, and the two had more than enough to say to each other.

"You're getting brighter with time," Thor said as he watched her move so elegantly with her abilities. "It's very good to see you again, Marlena."

Marlena smiled at him and blasted at an approaching alien. "It's good to see you as well, Thor."

"Happy to see you're still kickin' it with the team," he chuckled.

"Yeah, well someone had to help Natasha get a handle on these idiots."

"Says the one who kicked me through a window in Morocco because she lost her contact lense," Steve's voice sounded, and even through the chaos Marlena managed a laugh. 

"I couldn't see, and you snuck up on me," Marlena reminded him. "You can do the math."

"Can you guys maybe shut up?" Bucky groaned. "It's hard to concentrate when your stupidly perfect voices are flowing through my ear canal."

"Love you, too, Buck," Steve teased.

While the three of them were more than ready to continue their conversations, the ground shaking beneath them is what eventually removed it from their minds. Marlena snapped her head over just in time to watch very large saws bursting through the soil and onto the battlefield. Her eyes widened at the sight of one coming directly for her, Steve, Thor, and now Bucky, and she cursed under her breath before bursting into the air and pulling Bucky and Steve up with her; Thor was capable of handling himself. Once in the clear, Marlena placed the two men back to the ground, but she remained in the air. She used her abilities to propel herself forward, chasing after any and every weapon she could see that threatened the lives of those on the field.

"I need you air bound, Marlena," Rhodey called through comms.

"Already on it."

Marlena caught one of the machines before it could tear through a group of Wakandan warriors and sent it flying towards the forcefield, where it was obliterated. She then looked back at the field where the weapons were still wreaking havoc and in that moment she wished Wanda was present to help. She was shocked to find her wish would come true, however.

"Good job, Wan," Marlena said with a smile on her face as she watched her younger cousin throw away the last of the weapons, all while protecting Okoye and Natasha in the process.

"What can I say?" the Sokovian joked.

It wasn't long until Wanda's absence from the lab proved to be a situation for Vision. Marlena very quickly heeded Steve's words and headed to Vision with Bruce following closely behind her. The only one missing was Wanda, but Marlena was too far to turn back for her.

Marlena landed in front of Vision in the trees outside of the battlefield. The alien creatures from Edinburgh were there, and she was quick to throw them away with a simple blast of energy. She took a protective stance in front of Vision, who was very disgruntled, and fixed her attention on the two beings, her glowing hands at her side.

"You're not gonna touch him," she warned the two of them.

"And here I thought Proxima was going to get rid of you both," the smaller creature spoke. "I guess I'll do it myself."

Before he could even get off a shot, Bruce landed in front of the both of them.

"Get him out of here," he instructed the brunette. "I'll take care of this."

Marlena only nodded and turned to Vision. He had collapsed on the ground due to the pain, but Marlena wasn't going to leave him there. She grabbed his arm and pulled him up, wrapping her own around his waist tightly before taking off into the sky, leaving Bruce to take care of the two below. Or so she thought.

A scream escaped Marlena as the hot blast from a gun knocked her and Vision out of the sky and back to the ground below. She slowed her landing with a burst of energy and worked quickly to make sure Vision made it back down safely, and once he was back on the ground, she ran over to him.

"Are you okay?" she asked frantically.

Vision opened his mouth to answer, but Marlena never heard a word. She could feel the pain throughout her body as she hit the ground, this time without the assistance of her abilities. She had been hit by something, but she wasn't sure what. All she knew was that Vision was in trouble.

"I need back up."

Marlena made an attempt to get up but was knocked back down.

"Stay down," Steve's voice sounded.

Marlena groaned and listened to his words. She wasn't sure how much time had passed before he was picking her up with Vision at his side.

"Are you okay?"

Marlena nodded her head. The pain was still there but it was becoming duller as the moments passed. She looked to Vision to find he was worse off than he had been when she arrived, and she immediately felt terrible for not being able to protect him better.

"You don't need to blame yourself for this," Vision breathed out. He was the only other person aside from Wanda capable of peering into her mind, so he knew exactly what she was thinking. He just wished she wouldn't think it.

"I can't help it," Marlena said to him. "I was supposed to do better."

Silence followed until Wanda landed amongst the group. She ran over to Vision immediately to make sure he was okay.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

Vision didn't answer. He only doubled over in pain as the mind stone lit up, leaving Marlena and Wanda both working to figure out what was wrong.

"What is it?" Wanda asked frantically.

"Talk to us, Vision," Marlena followed after a moment of silence.

"He's here," Vision answered breathlessly as he gazed around his surroundings.

In an instant, Marlena's stomach had dropped and she was looking around the current battlefield alongside Vision. Thanos was coming, which meant their fight had only just begun. The whirring wind and the eery silence alerted the team that something wasn't right, and their superstition proved true the moment a blue haze lit up the forest. Marlena swallowed the lump in her throat and took a step back at the sight of who she knew to be Thanos. He was ruthlessly determined to get what he had come for, and Marlena could see that just by taking in his demeanor. He wasn't there to play fair, play nice, or play at all. He was there to do a job—a job he believed he needed to complete. Marlena didn't want to fight him, but she had to for the sake of protecting her family, and she would do so until she no longer could.

"Marlena," Wanda spoke breathlessly as she took a protective stance in front of Vision.

Marlena didn't answer. She only stepped in front of Wanda and allowed the blue of her energy to surface.

After confirmation from Bruce that the burly being at the opposite end of the field was, in fact, Thanos, Steve started forward, urging both Marlena and Wanda to stay back and defend Vision. Marlena couldn't stand it, though. The sight of Thanos using the Infinity Stones to incapacitate her teammates made her feel sick inside. Thanos was way too powerful, and while she hated bearing such a thought, she knew that no matter how hard they tried, they wouldn't be able to defeat him one-on-one or even two-on-two. It wasn't a fair fight, but Thanos wasn't there to play fair.

"It's time," Vision spoke urgently, capturing the attention of both the girls.

"What?" Wanda's breath was shaky. "No!"

"I'll try to hold him off," Marlena said to the two of them before hurrying away. She wouldn't ruin that moment for them despite everything she was sure was about to happen. She loved Vision—he was family—but she wouldn't forgive herself if she wound up taking away her little cousin's last moments with the love of her life.

As Marlena hypothesized, though, the team was not strong enough to take Thanos on alone. He was so powerful, and Marlena had never seen anything like him in her life. Everything was happening so quickly she couldn't do much for anyone, though the moment she was able to find an opportunity, she took it. Marlena jumped in front of Bucky before Thanos could do anything to him, but she underestimated the power behind the stones, and she, along with Bucky, found themselves flying through the air. Marlena very quickly wrapped a tight arm around Bucky, and with a burst of energy from her hand, the two were landing much softer than anticipated.

Marlena groaned and rolled over on the ground, her eyes falling on Bucky's figure. Despite nearly being thrown into oblivion by a mystical space rock, Bucky still couldn't help the smile on his face at the sight of her. The only thing that made things better was the fact that Marlena had just saved him; Bucky had always found the combatant side of her incredibly attractive.

"What the hell makes you think an all-powerful god can be defeated with an AK-47?" Marlena forced out.

"It's an M249 SAW," he retorted. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at her over-dramatization. She had been trained and taught the names and mechanisms of every firearm just as he and Natasha had been.

"That's not the point," she replied and looked to see Thanos getting closer and closer to Vision. She looked back at Bucky quickly and sighed. "I have to go."

She moved to get off the ground, but he stopped her. The last thing he wanted was Marlena at the mercy of Thanos. He knew she was strong, but Marlena had never fought a being of such strength before—none of them had.

"Don't go."

"I have to, baby," she spoke firmly but softly. "I need you to stay here, okay?"

Marlena ran off before he could say anything and moved to intercept Thanos before he reached Wanda and Vision. Wanda was working on destroying Vision's stone, a sight that broke Marlena's heart, but she couldn't let Thanos stop her. She picked up the pace and rolled in front of Thanos. She raised her hands immediately, using her abilities to hold him back. He was strong, but so was she now that she could concentrate properly.

Marlena could see the surprise on Thanos's face as he looked at her, looked at Wanda, and looked back to her. The two were incredibly powerful, and not only could Thanos sense it, he could see it in the way Marlena so effortlessly thwarted his attempts to break through her energy using the Space Stone, and in the way Wanda was succeeding in her attempt to destroy the Mind Stone. He looked back at Marlena with a rather disgruntled expression on his face, though it changed to that of complete and utter disbelief as he watched the blue of Marlena's psionics begin to meld with the dark red hue of the otherwise inactive Reality Stone. The sight shocked Marlena as well, but before she could even think about what was happening, her ears were ringing and she was rolling across the ground.

With a cough, Marlena opened her eyes and raised her head to see what was happening. She could feel the deep pain associated with Vision's loss. She could hear Wanda sobbing from her spot on the ground. She could see Thanos as well, but the fact that he was headed straight for her with a mixed expression of curiosity and anger across his face, scared her tremendously. She tried to pull herself up to get away from him, but he was too quick. He grabbed her by the arm and drug her over to Wanda, who was sitting up behind Vision's body. There was a gaping hole in his head and a bright yellow stone sitting perfectly in Thanos's gauntlet, leaving Marlena to wonder how long she'd actually been out if he found a way to get the Mind Stone.

There was another stone missing, however. Marlena noticed an empty space on the knuckle of what would be Thanos's ring finger. She knew the stone was red, she knew it was the Reality Stone, but she also knew it wasn't actually a stone at all. What she didn't know was how she knew. It was just a feeling, one she wasn't feeling too comfortable with given the fact she could see in Thanos's mind she was to blame for its absence.

"Return the stone," Thanos threw Marlena onto the ground by Wanda, "or she dies."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Marlena breathed out and moved closer to Wanda.

Thanos tilted his head at Marlena and grabbed Wanda up from the ground, eliciting a pained squeal from the brunette. He raised his fist, and Marlena watched as the bright purple stone lit up.

"No," Marlena pleaded with him as he brought the stone closer and closer to the side of Wanda's head. "Please, don't hurt her!"

Thanos didn't believe her, so he only continued with his threat. It only took a matter of seconds for Marlena to retaliate, however, and it was then both of them received the answer to a question they weren't aware they needed the answer to.

"I said no!" Marlena exclaimed angrily, her abilities manifesting under an almost-black hue. She immediately withdrew her hands at the sight and practically fell back to the ground in shock. She stared at her hands, and in an instant she had the answer to a question she'd been asking since she and Tony had last spoken. She wasn't just of the Mind Stone but of the Reality Stone, and there was nothing more frightening to her than the fact of possessing the power of the two. She couldn't utilize that power the way she needed to because she'd never known it before, and that was something Thanos figured out.

Thanos dropped Wanda to the ground and grabbed Marlena once again. He had a smirk on his face. He had won.

"A child of reality yet the fabric of reality is not yours to alter."

Thanos immediately raised the gauntlet in front of Marlena and the Power Stone lit up once more. Marlena screamed in pain. She felt as if her insides were being pulled apart, but as quickly as the pain came, it went, and Marlena was crumbling to the ground. It was almost as if a part of her had been ripped away, leaving a dull ache pulsating throughout the entirety of her body. She watched the gauntlet light up, and just as Thanos was ready to snap his fingers, he was forced back with a pained scream.

"I told you you'd die for that," Thor's voice came.

Thor's axe was imbedded into Thanos's chest, and the team watched hopefully as Thor continued to force the weapon deeper into his body. That hope was shattered, however, the moment the pained expression on Thanos's face disappeared and he snapped his fingers. Marlena watched and waited for something to happen, but until Thanos disappeared everything seemed fine. It was the opposite, however.

"What happened?" Marlena breathed out as she pulled herself to her feet and very slowly walked over to her teammates. She nearly collapsed again, but Steve caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Where'd he go, Thor?" Steve asked him as he looked around the forest. "Where did he go?"

"Steve, Marlena..."

The sound of Bucky's voice caught both of their attention. A relieved Marlena walked away from Steve to get to Bucky, but she stopped the moment his body crumpled to dust in front of her eyes. Suddenly, Marlena forgot about the pain of having the Reality Stone siphoned out of her and ran to the site where Bucky had just disappeared. She fell to her knees and placed her hands in the strange ash, her body now crippled with an intense fear.

Bucky was just...gone.

An eery silence followed as those around watched others—their friends, their families, their teammates—disintegrate to nothing but a pile of ash on the ground.

"What the hell just happened?" Marlena forced out as she turned to look at Steve.

The soldier only stared at the ground where Bucky was stood and looked around, his eyes stopping on Vision's body and the pile of ash sitting exactly where Wanda had been only seconds ago. Marlena followed his gaze and her eyes widened. She couldn't feel Bucky or Wanda anymore. She searched for Sam's mind but found nothing. She listened for T'Challa's smooth accent in her mind but heard nothing.

They were gone.

"What is this?" Rhodey asked as a very exhausted and emotional Steve fell to the ground by Vision's destroyed body. "What the hell is happening?"

"Oh, God..."

There was nothing more but silence as the team began to process what had happened, but the unfortunate fact of the matter was that none of them had any idea what they planned to do about it.