They stood on a grassy plain, carefully watching the titan. Steve was the angriest person for miles, and he intended to wreak vengeance upon Thanos.

He started forward, but something held him back, and he turned to see that Natasha had grabbed his arm. The look he gave her must have been terrifying, because she quickly let go and moved back to stand with the others.

Steve glared at the rest of the team, daring them to try and stop them. Thor stepped up and placed his hand on the Captain's shoulder. "Go for the head," he advised, and stepped back towards Rocket, who nodded minutely at Steve and gave him a diminished thumbs up.

Tony stood next to Rhodey, watching Steve approach the genocidal bleached raisin. He could hear his footsteps come to a halt, and his voice quiver as he asked, "Were they in pain?"

Thanos smiled. "No more than it hurt you."

Steve swung upward, attempting to strike Thanos, but was stopped by the gauntlet. Nobody could see Steve's face, but every person in the small group of survivors was forced to watch as Captain America struggled to land a hit on the titan.

Eventually Thanos grew tired of the blonde gnat buzzing around his head, and closed his fist, causing three bright green bands to circle his wrist. He turned his hand counterclockwise, and the Captain froze.

The only person who could see the fear painted on Steve's face was Thanos as he felt his beard gradually disappear and watched his suit change from navy blue and silver to red white and blue.

Bruce could hear Thanos' voice echo across Wakanda as he spoke.

"I leave you a choice. Call off your team and return to being a soldier, or continue to try and attack me, and go back to being a five-foot asthmatic."

Steve looked back for the first time to see his team watching him intently. So many people were missing. He saw Shuri standing next to Okoye, still mourning the loss of her brother. He saw Tony, with an empty gaze after watching Peter die in his arms. He saw Thor, who had lost his best friend and brother at the hands of this psychopath. He saw where Vision and Wanda would have stood next to Clint, where Sam and Bucky would have rooted for him.

Oh god.

Bucky.

Bucky would have been at Steve's side the entire time, might have been able to stop him from fighting another battle he couldn't win.

Suddenly Steve knew what he had to do. As he drew his arm back, he could feel searing pain wash over him as the serum dissolved from his body.

(AN)
Sorry sorry sorry