Dawn of the End ||6||

7. The First of Its Kind

The blackness tried its hardest to make me stay under. But a voice—no, voices—were fighting it.

While it was all garbled to my brain, I honed in on it. I wanted to hear the words. I wanted to know where I was. I needed to know how long I was out.

We did it. Wanda destroyed the Mind Stone. Thanos lost!

But as I opened my eyes, and my vision slowly grew clearer, something told me that what I had seen last had not been the final outcome.

For one thing, Steve fretted over me, as though he had lost me. His hair, sweaty, shook as his whole body did. I felt wetness on my face that I was certain didn't belong to me. His eyes were closed, so he hadn't realized yet that I was, in fact, awake.

The air sounded much quieter than I had expected.

I wiggled in Steve's arms, and at the movement he decided to open his eyes. He didn't speak a word, just pulled me even closer into his arms.

Steve, I'm right here. I didn't go anywhere.

I was sure...

A sharp throb in the back of my skull sent a wave of tears to my eyes. I remembered hitting solid rock wall. I was lucky my skull hadn't cracked open like an egg. No, I'm here. I just have a really bad headache.

Steve's hand gently touched the back of my head. His fingers brought back blood, and a few loose strands of blonde hair.

Steve and I untangled from one another. My vision pulsed in-tune with my head, so it took extra time to gather what I was seeing. Far across the field, a colorless Vision lay, with Wanda over him in mourning. Thor, with his mighty ax in hand, had a thousand-yard-stare about him.

"Steve," I said uneasily.

"Steve?" This one came from Bucky.

I watched in confusion as Bucky stumbled into view, before collapsing into ashes. His gun fell to the ground, ownerless. Some part of me wondered how come his bionic arm went with him. Really, I want to think about that right now? "What..." I sputtered.

Steve left me to go to where his best friend once was. He knelt beside the ashes, his fingers reaching.

Wanda followed Bucky's fate. As she tilted her head to the skies, she dusted. Aria cried out in horror before she too suffered the same fate. No, not her. Not them. Oh no.

I looked out beyond the trees, wondering who else was becoming ash. No...He won. Thanos won. But...but...

I didn't know how long I was out, but I clearly missed a few important things.

Slowly, a few more comrades emerged between the brush and trees. The raccoon in clothes that stood on two feet. Bruce in the Hulkbuster armor. Rhodey still in his suit.

Steve went to Vision's body, kneeling beside it. Incoming feet alerted us to another survivor. Natasha skidded to a halt as she saw who was still standing.

"What is this?" Rhodey asked. "What the hell is happening?"

Steve had his eyes fixed on a point nowhere specific. His mouth parted slightly. "Oh, God."

Oh, Gods. Panicked, I took to the skies, heading straight for the Wakandan battlefield. In the distance, I could see more creatures—and people alike—becoming dust in the wind. Oh, Gods. No. No. No. No...

Another strong pulse in my head made me cry out. Black spots took my vision, and I was spiraling downward for the forest ground.

* * *

"It's better if she stays here until she's cleared," said a voice. "We have the tools to help her heal faster so you can return home."

"Is there going to be any permanent damage?"

"It doesn't look like it. She is very lucky. She will have some bone-bruising, we will keep an eye on internal bleeding just to be safe. She will be fine, Captain. She just needs to stay here, rest, and let us do our thing."

"Can I get a say in that?" I asked weakly.

I sat up, eyes still closed. Once I didn't feel everything was spinning, I opened my eyes. I was still in Wakanda, I could see outside the huge windows. I wasn't in Shuri's lab, though. This seemed to be an infirmary.

"I wouldn't move unless you really have to." I now recognized the voice as T'Challa's right hand woman. Another survivor of...whatever this was.

I looked around at other faces. In addition to her were Steve, a few medical staff, and—

Todd. Oh, thank the Gods he's alive. He stuck by the window, seemingly interested in something going on outside rather than his best friend waking up. It took him a few seconds to realize that I was up. With a somber smile, he went to my exam table.

"How long do you think it'll take before she's good to go?" Todd asked the right hand woman.

"We'll monitor her day by day and go from there. If you will excuse me, there are things I need to see to. I'm sure you would appreciate the privacy as well."

"We really owe you guys for this. Thank you, Okoye."

Okoye said no further response to Todd as she left. There was a heavy, clinging air in the infirmary.

"We lost, didn't we?" I asked when the medical staff was out of earshot.

Todd and Steve exchanged grim looks.

"W-who else...?"

"The king is gone, so is Shuri," said Todd. "Sam, that talking tree I saw...Wanda, Aria, Bucky..." He rubbed his face. "Countless Wakandans and others. It's...it's bad."

And it will only get worse. "Well, aren't we lucky?"

"I'd call it far from lucky."

I put my head against my knees. For the first time, the Avengers lost. And it was a crushing blow. A villain truly got his way in the end. All six Infinity Stones at his disposal to wipe out half the universe.

And here, in Wakanda, was just a taste of what the damage would be worldwide.

How could one person want half the universe gone? Who even thinks of such things? The more questions that came to mind, the more my skull pulsed in pain. "We should really go home," I said reluctantly.

Steve shook his head. "Not until you're cleared by the medical staff. We found you when we were leaving the forest. You made a nice rut in the dirt, Kiara."

I wrinkled my face at the picture. "I was so worried...about Todd." I looked to my best friend. "I didn't...I wanted to make sure you hadn't..."

I saw the dusted in my mind. Bucky. Wanda. Aria. Those were the ones I had seen physically get wiped off the earth. The others unaccounted for, they were somewhere in Wakanda.

My stomach felt sick, like I could vomit at any second. I wasn't sure if it was the scale that this defeat was on, or of the fact that we lost in such a devastating manner.