It's a promise

Chapter 39

Steve's POV

I looked at the gauntlet in the cradle, the six stones embedded in the back. We all looked at the glove which had a lot of similarities to Tony's suit. The last days Tony worked on this with Rocket and the unlikely duo argued as much as they worked. It was time to do it and because we didn't know what could happen I sent Rylee to Pepper. We had a little fight but she gave in after she talked with Tony. I didn't know what he said to her but I was curious.

'All right. The glove's ready. Question is, who's gonna snap their freakin' fingers?'

We started to discuss who should snap the fingers. Thor wanted to do it and I realized that he wanted to make up for the fact that he didn't kill Thanos when he had the first chance. He still blamed himself for the snap so he saw this as a possibility to make it right. And as the god of thunder he thought he had the best possibilities to survive this.

'Lightning won't help you, pal.' It's the first time Bruce said anything in this discussion. 'It's gotta be me. You saw what those stones did to Thanos. They almost killed him. None of you could survive.'

'How do we know you will?' I knew I would not like his answer. He studied the gauntlet for a moment before he made a step towards it.

'We don't. But the radiation's mostly gamma. It's like... I was made for this.' It didn't feel good to let him do this but we didn't have another option. We already wore our suits and armors, just in case something went totally wrong.

'Good to go, yeah?' Tony walked around the room and Bruce took the gauntlet in his hands.

'Let's do it.'

'Okay, remember, everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago you're just bringing them back to now, today. Don't change anything from the last five years.' Tony stopped pacing through the room. He was afraid of losing Morgan and I started to assume that this was the reason he sent Rylee to them.

'Got it.' I put on my helmet and grabbed my shield. We were ready for anything that would come. I didn't know what to expect. Maybe the gamma radiation would be so bad that it would kill Bruce. I just hoped for the best and prayed a little. We all stood around Bruce. I saw how Thor hid Rocket behind himself and Tony protected Clint and himself with a nano shield.

'Friday, do me a favor and activate Barn Door Protocol, will ya?' I never heard of that protocol but I wasn't really surprised when steel doors slid shut all around the workshop. Tony was mostly impulsive but he was prepared for every possibility.

Bruce took the gauntlet and slipped it over his hand. The power of the stones nearly threw him off his feet and he slipped down to one knee.

'Take it off, take it off!' Thor started to scream when Bruce groaned because of pain.

'No, wait. Bruce, are you okay?' When somebody could do this, it was him.

'Talk to me, Banner.'

'I'm okay. I'm okay.' Thor took a step back.

Bruce yelled and snapped. A bright surge of energy raced up his arm and he roared loudly before he fell on the floor. The gauntlet fell off and rolled over the floor. Bruce's whole arm was burnt, also a part of his side. I rushed to him to check his pulse but Tony said we shouldn't move him. He used his suit to cool up the burning on his arm. I didn't think he could ever use it again.

Bruce grabbed my arm. 'Did it work?' For a moment of worry I totally forgot what we just tried to do but I didn't know if it was successful. The blast doors opened and I saw Scott walking to the big windows. I turned my attention back to Bruce. His eyes were clear. He was alive. We heard a phone buzzing and I looked over to Clint who got his phone immediately.