Battle Scars (A Bucky Barnes Fanfic)

Sixty-Three

(A/N: I'm changing Tony's death scene a bit and I'm sorry in advance if you end up crying)

Pepper lands next to Okoye, followed by Mantis, Shuri, the Wasp, 2014 Gamora, and Nebula. Thanos' army charges while the women help Carol Danvers go through the Outriders, Sakaarans, and Chitauri. 2014 Gamora takes out a gorilla, while Okoye takes out Corvus Glaive. Wanda and Valkyrie destroy two leviathans. I take out Outriders and Chitauri left and right with both my powers and my dual blades. Carol then starts flying towards the van with the Gauntlet, flying past enemies and going through enemy blockades that are in her way with ease. Thanos, seeing this, starts running to Carol Danvers, but is stopped by Pepper, Shuri, and The Wasp, who blasts him backward.

Thanos throws his double sword at the van, destroying it and the quantum realm tunnel, throwing Carol backward and losing her grip on the Gauntlet which falls to the ground. Doctor Strange steadies the water after the explosion. In the final brawl for the Stark Gauntlet, Dad moves one of Thanos' enemies aside and sees the Gauntlet. He runs to get it but sees Thanos, who Dad tackles. Thanos smacks Dad away, knocking him out. Then Thor arrives with Stormbreaker and Mjolnir in an attempt to pin Thanos' arm down with help from Captain America.

However, Thanos overpowers them and knocks them both out. After picking up the Gauntlet, Carol arrives, punching away at Thanos while he is holding the Gauntlet. She keeps punching him, but Thanos grabs her by the arm and flings her away. Thanos puts on the gauntlet, gamma radiation from the stones eating at him as he tries to snap, but Carol raises again and stops his fingers from snapping, opening up his hand similar to what Captain America did in Avengers: Infinity War.

Thanos headbutts her, but it does nothing. Just as Carol is gaining the upper hand by rising up and forcing Thanos onto his knees, Thanos pulls the Power Stone out of the Gauntlet and uses it in his free hand to hit Carol away. Dad looks in question at Strange, who simply raises one finger, reminding him that the one win over Thanos he foresaw is now at risk. Or is it? Dad nods. Thanos puts the Power Stone back into the Gauntlet, yelling from the gamma radiation coursing through him, until Dad makes one last attack on Thanos, pulling on the Gauntlet before Thanos punches him away. I realize what is about to happen; I shake my head and try to make my way to Dad, but I am still surrounded by Outriders.

"I am–inevitable," Thanos says.

Thanos snaps his fingers, but nothing happens except a metallic "clink." He sees the Infinity Stones are missing. Dad has the stones on his own gauntlet, the gamma radiation coursing through him, to Thanos' shock.

"And I–am–Iron Man." Dad pants out. I fight like hell, releasing as much of my power as possible, the Outriders around me fall dead and I start running for Dad.

Dad snaps his fingers with a loud "CLANG". Rocket fires at a Leviathan and before it devours him, it crumbles into ash. The Black Order starts crumbling to ash. T'Challa and Quill look around in surprise; Steve looks on in exhaustion, knowing that they have won. Thanos, in horror, looks around and sees his entire army disintegrate. He looks at Steve, who just stares at him. Thanos sits down and mourns before slowly being erased from existence himself.

I fly towards Dad. The power of the gauntlet's raw energy has left his entire right side fatally injured. He stumbles for a bit before his body collapses beside a pile of debris.

"DAD!" I scream and rush towards him.

Rhodey reaches him first and goes up to Dad to see his long-time colleague and friend fading away. He touches his face. He bows his head, knowing the damage was done. Peter soon flies in and sees Dad collapsed on the ground, Rhodey gives him space.

"Mr. Stark?" Peter says he runs up to his fallen mentor. Tears start to form in his eyes. "Hey–Mr. Stark? Can you hear me? It's Peter. Hey. We won, Mr. Stark–We won, Mr. Stark. We won. You did it, sir. You did it." He kneels in front of him.

Dad is unresponsive. Peter breaks down and hugs him.

"I'm sorry–Tony–"

Peter is gently led aside to grieve. I rush over to Dad.

"Dad," I say, tears forming in my eyes, the eyes I inherited from him.

"Hey Vega," he says weakly, a slight smile on his face.

I choke on a sob "I'm here." I say softly, choking back a sob "Please don't leave me"

"I'm sorry," he says, and I know it's about more than this.

I shake my head "No, Dad. You don't have to apologize to me for anything. I've forgiven you for everything that I ever needed to a long time ago. There is nothing you need to apologize for"

Dad smiles and looks over my shoulder, I notice Bucky is a bit behind me. Dad looks at him intently.

"I forgive you, I know it wasn't your fault," Dad tells him.

A few tears slip down Bucky's face. "I'm so sorry" Bucky answers.

"Just take care of my daughter and your son"

Bucky nods "Of course, sir"

Dad smiles and looks at me again "Remember your promise to me"

"I know. I will."

"I'm so proud of you"

"I'm proud of you too," I reply.

"I love you"

Tears fall fast down my face "I love you too"

I kiss his cheek before backing away, making room for Pepper. Pepper then sits in front of Dad.

"Hey," Pepper says to him, her voice soft and full of sadness.

Dad can barely move his head but manages to look Pepper in the eyes.

"Hey, Pep.." Dad says quietly.

Pepper places her hand on Dad's Arc Reactor and Dad rests his hand on hers. Pepper inspects Dad's fatal injuries.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y.?" Pepper asks.

"Life functions critical." FRIDAY softly replies.

Dad smiles with tears in his eyes. I choke down a sob as I watch them.

"Tony. Look at me." She makes sure Dad gets a long look at her smiling face "We're gonna be okay. You can rest now."

With that acknowledgment, Dad's arc reactor flickers off for good. Pepper can no longer contain her grief and starts crying on his shoulder. Tony Stark, Iron Man, Earth's Best Defender, is gone.

I stumble away, passing everyone until I'm far enough away. I feel eyes on me but I ignore them my body shakes with horrible cries and I let out a howl that is laced with pained screams, fire, and ice flaring out around me, leaving the proof on the ground, shadows swarming around me. I let it out again as I fall to my knees, tears flowing freely.

I break down, sobbing, letting the pain wash over me. I feel a hand on my shoulder, but I ignore it. Then Bucky moves into view, kneeling down in front of me. I meet his eyes, his steel-blue full of sadness and pain and tears. He pulls me into his arms and lets me cry as he strokes a hand through my hair.