It takes a minute to come to, and a moment longer to become aware of what's going on around me. There's a rock pressing into my back and a boot settled on my chest making it hard to breathe. People are shouting somewhere nearby.

I open my eyes to see the giant prune looming over me. He's staring down someone in front of him, but I can't turn my neck to see who. "Stark." Thanos calls.

"You know me?" Dad asks in reply.

"I do." Thanos grimaces. "You're one of the few cursed with knowledge. From what I have seen, it seems your child is too."

Even though I already felt like throwing up, his words somehow make it worse. I don't want to be known by Thanos. I just want this to be over—for the universe to be safe, to have a moment of normalcy and peace.

"The only curse is you." Dad snaps, and I can hear the whistling of more rockets heading towards Thanos.

"Come on." Thanos seems to antagonize as he holds pressure on my chest to keep me down and uses the gauntlet to block the blasts. As he raises it, I can see a glimmer of hope—a crack in the gauntlet and a trail of maroon blood running down burns on his arm.

He's not invincible.

I crack a small smile at the knowledge that it was me who did it.

I made a Titan bleed. I made him burn.

Still, Dad uses the window and shifts the feet of his suit into one large piece that rams into the titan's chest and knocks him off balance. It's enough to cause him to stumble and release pressure from my chest.

I swallow deep breaths as I struggle to get back up and help my Dad fight. He locks himself into place and rams Thanos's chest until he falls back. I stand next to him and use what little strength I have left to dodge and land blows at the right times.

Thanos rips Dad's helmet off his suit. It quickly reforms thanks to the perks of nanotech, but he still suffers a blow to his face. "Dad!" I shout and run to his side.

"Get out of here." He wheezes as I help him to his feet and looks back to Thanos, who rips the device from the gauntlet so he can once again close his fist. I can hear the panic rising in Dad's voice as he shouts, "Now!"

"You know I can't." I retort as I we both put up shield to block the stream from the Power Stone that pushes us back. "This isn't just your fight."

"Yes, it is." He yells back, and I can practically see his expression despite the helmet that hides his face. "Now, go."

I'm shoved to the side as he swings out of the blast zone. It makes me feel like a small child being told to stay in the corner as I crouch behind the remains of a brick wall. I know he wants me away from this particular fight, but I can't let him do this alone.

He's always done things alone. Carried the weight the weight of the world, fought every battle, taken on every burden on his own.

I can't let it happen again.

Dad pins the gauntlet beneath his foot and clamps it into the ground and uses a modified rocket powered fist to punch Thanos. The latter pants and touches his cheek before letting out a small laugh. "All that for a drop of blood."

In the blink of an eye, Thanos lifts his hand, which sends Dad flipping backwards. I run towards them as Thanos beats my dad down into the ground, again and again. He blasts him backwards with the Power Stone, and I rush to stand next to him and guard him with a shield of shadows as he levels a blaster stream towards the titan.

"I thought I told you to get out of here." He manages to wheeze as he uses the nanotech to repair the destroyed pieces of suit and add a second beam of power barreling towards Thanos.

"I'm a Stark. We don't listen well." I tease and use my free hand to add a stream of remaining Supernova and shadow energy to Dad's. "Plus, you're not alone anymore."

Thanos seems unfazed by it all as he methodically steps closer to us. He swings an arm at us that destroys Dad's mask and cracks one of my ribs. It makes it even more painful to breathe than before, but I grit my teeth and keep hitting Thanos in the hopes of knocking him off balance.

Dad uses his suit to create a blade, but the moment he tries to use it against Thanos, the titan grabs and snaps it off like a twig. One hand grabs my throat as the other stabs the blade through Dad's gut.

I'm tossed so violently against the ground my mask cracks against the dirt. All I can do is watch helplessly as Thanos walks my Dad backward with the blade still in his stomach. The pain is clearly written on his face with every small movement.

"You have my respect, Stark. Both of you" Thanos says as holds onto my Dad's head. "When I'm done, half of humanity will still be alive." He takes a step backward as if to survey his gruesome handiwork. "I hope they remember you."

Tears build in my eyes as I try to crawl towards them as if I could do anything to stop this. I keep going, pulling myself through the dirt, desperate to help in any way, or even to stop Thanos as he raises the gauntlet towards Dad.

My body is healing quickly, but I barely manage to push myself up on my knees before Strange's voice echoes out one simple word, "Stop." He groans as he pushes himself up. "Spare his life—" his eyes trail over to me, "spare their lives, and I will give you the stone."

This must be part of the plan. It has to be.

I repeat it over and over in my head. After all, Strange said he would let us all die if it meant protecting the Time Stone, and I can't imagine that sentiment changing in the span of a few hours. So it must be necessary to win, right?

"No tricks." Thanos states, and Strange shakes his head in reply.

"Don't." Dad grits, and I can hear the desperation dripping from his voice. It hurts to see the anguish and disappointment on his face. I know why it's there. Because I've felt it too.

He was ready to go.

Strange plucks the Time Stone from thin air, and Dad looks away as Strange sends the Stone to Thanos's outstretched hand. I feel like everything we've done, all this fighting and pain is now for nothing as it locks into place on the gauntlet. I swear I can see the barest glint of a smile as he says, "One to go."

Yells erupt as Quill flies in and fires a series of blasts at Thanos, but the latter remains unfazed as he disappears in the same cloud of smoke he arrived in. I push myself to my feet and stumble over to my Dad.

"Where is he?" Quill shouts as he continues to point his blasters all around. Dad patches himself up and only offers a look in reply. "Did we just lose?"

Tears stream down my cheek as I lower my mask and look at Dad. He barely returns it as he looks to Strange, "Why would you do that?"

Strange remains stoic for a moment, and all he says in response is, "We're in the endgame now."

"Endgame? This was the endgame." Dad retorts, "The mission was to stop him, and we failed."

"We may have, but there's still one stone he doesn't have yet." I reply and feel the pain subsiding as my speed healing does it's work. "There's still hope. It may not be much, but it's all we have left."

Everyone nods, too defeated to pose much of an argument. So we all collect together. Peter and I help Dad to his feet and move around. When he's stable on his feet, I turn to him and wrap my arms around him. "I'm so sorry, Dad."

"It's not your fault, bug."

"I—I should have done more. I should have stayed away like you said. Maybe if I had, things would have happened differently." I sob and grip onto the back of his sweatshirt. "I'm so sorry."

"Amelia Claire Bright-Stark," Dad whispers as his hands hold my face, "You were so strong back there. I'm so proud of you, okay? You did everything right."

"I learned it all from you." I whisper back. "You taught me all the important stuff."

"I did my best."

"It's all anyone can do, and whatever happens next, we did everything right." I tell him as that foreboding sense of dread and knowing returns. "It will be no one's fault but Thanos's."

"She's right. There was no other way." Strange adds, and I refuse to look at him.

Peter's hand finds mine as we silently make sure the other is okay, and the moment I know he is, I pull him in an impossibly tight hug. "It's gonna be okay, right?" I ask him, as the tears return. "I don't care if it's a lie, just please, tell me we'll be okay."

"We will be. I know we will." He rests his forehead against mine, and I know we both sense that the worst is yet to come. For now, we just hold onto each other like the other will be gone if we just let go.

It only happens when Mantis utters the words no one wanted to hear, but Peter and I could already feel, "Something's happening."

We blink, and she turns to dust.

I grip onto Peter's hand like a vice.

There's a static in my limbs, but I ignore it.

Drax is gone next. He fades a little slower, able to manage a single word, "Quill?"

The remaining of us look at each other in horror and panic, which only increases as the last guardian sways on his feet. Dad takes a step towards him, arm extended as he calls, "Steady, Quill."

It's already started though.

His body is suspended in the air as his legs quickly fade. "Oh, man." He mumbles and becomes dust that blows away in the wind.

My heart thunders in my chest, trying to beat itself free from my chest.

"Tony," Strange calls, and I realize my fingers and toes feel like they are being stabbed with hundreds of large needles, "There was no other way."

"Pete? Dad?" I screech as my knees give way under me. "I dont—I don't feel well."

They both hover at my sides. Peter holds my hand as Dad brushes through my hair. "You're gonna be fine, bug. I promise. It's gonna be okay."

"No." I mumble as the dust slowly creeps into the breeze, "But it's not your fault. It's no one's fault."

"You can't leave, Lia. We need you." Peter cries and squeezes my hand tighter as if the simple action will save me from oblivion.

"Remember your promise." I wheeze as my hands start to fade. "I'm sorry. Love you both, so so mu—"

The words die in my throat as it too turns to dust.

All I can see is both of their somber faces a teary eyes before it all fades away. There's no light and shadow—nothing. It's just empty.