stark, peter parker

xviii. if you need anything, ask anyone but me

dakota found herself back in the avengers compound, once again standing on top of the quantum platform. as she looked around her, she saw the other avengers appearing on both sides of her, most of them holding infinity stones in their hands.

"did we get them all?" bruce was the first to speak.

rhodey was in awe as the group all held up their stones. "are you telling me this'll actually work?" he asked.

the group all paused as they finally took in the group around them, noticing that someone was missing. "clint..." dakota asked hesitantly, looking over at the man. "where's nat?"

clint's silence said all that she needed to know. dakota fell to her knees, feeling a stabbing ache in her gut. natasha had been both a mentor and a friend, someone she'd looked up to for years. through the tears that pricked in her eyes, she could see bruce pounding the floor in grief across from her. maybe their mission had been completed, but was it worth the cost?

⎊‎⎊‎⎊

the group now stood by a lake, still grieving over the loss of not only a teammate but a friend. "do we know if she had family?" tony asked.

steve nodded. "yeah. us."

thor looked up, confused. "what?"

tony tuned to him. "i just asked him a question–"

the other man nodded. "yeah, you're acting like she's dead. why are we acting like she's dead? we have the stones, right? as long as we have the stones, cap, we can bring her back, isn't that right?" he walked closer to the group. "so stop this shit. we're the avengers, get it together."

clint looked up at him. "we can't get her back." he sighed. "it can't be undone. it can't."

thor laughed dryly. "i'm sorry. no offense, but you're a very earthly being. okay? we're talking about space magic. and 'can't' seems very definitive don't you think?"

clint nodded. "yeah, look, i know that i'm way outside my paygrade here. but she still isn't here, is she?"

"no, that's my point–"

"it can't– be undone." clint explained. "or that's at least what the red floating guy had to say." he began to shout, moving closer to thor. "maybe you wanna go talk to him, okay? GO GRAB YOUR HAMMER, AND YOU GO FLY AND TALK TO HIM!" he yelled. his anger quickly morphed into grief as he looked down. "it was supposed to be me. she sacrificed her life for that goddamn stone. she bet her life on it."

in a burst of anger, bruce grabbed a bench, hurling it across the lake. he turned back to the group, sighing. "she's not coming back." he said, defeated. "we have to make it worth it. we have to."

dakota stood up from her spot on a bench, where she had been dejectedly sitting the whole time. "we will." she assured him.

⎊‎⎊‎⎊

tony, with nervous precision, carefully placed each of the infinity stones into the red gauntlet he had made. the avengers all gathered around it, waiting for someone to say something. "all right." rocket finally said. "the glove's ready. question is, who's gonna snap their freaking fingers?"

dakota looked over at the silent group. "not it." she said, watching as they all turned to her. "i.. i can't snap."

her father furrowed his brows. "you can't snap?" he asked, shocked.

she held up her hand, rubbing her fingers together to no avail. "nope." she replied, attempting once more. "i already did my part. if you need anything, ask anyone but me."

"i'll do it." thor finally said.

scott looked over at him. "excuse me?"

"wait, wait, thor, just wait." steve said as thor attempted to reach for the gauntlet. "we haven't decided who's gonna put that on yet."

"i'm sorry." he replied. "what, we're just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?"

scott turned to him. "we should at least discuss it."

thor shook his head. "no, no, sitting here staring at that thing is not gonna bring everybody back. i'm the strongest avenger, okay? so this responsibility falls upon me. it's my duty."

tony turned to him, shaking his head. "it's not about that–"

thor hushed him. "it's not that– stop it! just let me!" he began to tear up. "just let me do it. just let me do something good. something right.

"look–" tony said. "it's not just the fact that that glove is channeling enough energy to light up a continent, i'm telling you, you're in no condition."

"what do you– what do you think is coursing through my veins right now?" thor practically laughed.

rhodey shrugged. "cheez whiz?" he answered, making dakota snort a laugh.

"..lightning." thor corrected.

"lightning won't help you, pal." bruce said. "it's gotta be me."

kodie looked between bruce and thor. "okay, so how about you arm wrestle for it?"

thor looked over at her, shaking his head. "no, that's not fair, he's half hulk now, obviously he's at an advantage!"

"okay," dakota nodded, "so he should do it."

bruce ignored their banter. "you saw what those stones did to thanos." he began. "it almost killed him. none of you could survive."

steve turned to him. "how do we know you will?"

"we don't." he replied. "but the radiation's mostly gamma. it's like...i was made for this."

the group prepared for the snap, all suiting up. dakota and her father both held out their nanotech shields, protecting clint, who didn't have as good armor.

"remember–" tony said to bruce. "everyone thanos snapped away five years ago, and just bringing them back to now, today. don't change anything from the last five years."

bruce nodded. "got it."

"friday," dakota said, "do me a favor and activate barn door protocol, please."

"yes, boss." she said, making tony gasp, pretending to be offended. the facility went on lockdown, all doors and windows now blocked up.

"everybody comes home." bruce said, putting on the gauntlet. it nanobotically expanded to fit his hand, but the power surge overwhelmed him.

"take it off!" thor yelled. "take it off!"

steve looked over to him. "bruce, are you okay?"

"talk to me banner." tony spoke.

bruce nodded. "i'm okay. i'm okay."

dakota gave him a double thumbs up, mouthing a 'you can do it!'. he screamed, fighting through the pain that was no doubt coursing through his body. he managed to snap his finger, fainting immediately after. the gauntlet slid off his arm as he fell, and clint kicked it away from him.

"don't move him." tony instructed, kneeling next to him.

bruce held onto steve's arm. "did it work?" he asked.

thor nodded. "worth a shot. it's over. it's okay."

dakota followed scott to the window, looking around in awe at the birds and plants that now filled the space. scott looked over his shoulder at the others. "guys–" he said. "i think it worked!"

the happiness was short lived as the sanctuary ii shot a single missile. it hit the base, blowing scott and dakota away from the window. a continuous array of missiles then destroyed the base completely, sending everyone sinking through the rubble.