Eternals Oneshots

[REQ] Sersi - Out of time (pt.4)

(Final part! Thanks to @JamesNWKB84 yet again for this request!!)

READER PRONOUNS: HE/HIM

It felt as if the world was crumbling around you as you watched Tony die.

He'd been your friend for a long time, and he'd always seemed to invincible, no matter how much he got beaten up.

But here he was, laid down against rubble, and he'd never looked smaller.

Your throat was closed so tight you knew that if you spoke you'd cry, so you stayed silent by Steve and Bucky's side.

Peter sobbed, clinging to Tony's shoulders desperately, telling him that you'd all won.

Pepper gently pulls him away, and Peter nearly collapses.

Being the closest to him, you wordlessly wrap your arms around him as he cries into your shoulder.

"I'm sorry, kid." You manage to choke out, and he inhales shakily. You glance up at Bucky, who looks stoic, whereas Steve is on the verge of tears, much like you.

A couple of weeks later...

Tony's funeral was nice, the perfect way to say goodbye to him and a chance for you to finally meet his daughter, Morgan.

It also gave you a chance to reflect and reminisce, standing alongside Sam and Bucky.

But you were all back on mission as soon as possible, giving just shy of three days for everyone to mourn before needing to be Avengers again.

All you had to do was to return the stone to where it needed to be, so you landed with the one you'd taken originally.

You bid your goodbyes to Sam, Bruce, Bucky and Steve, although there was a certain air of knowing between you, Bucky and Steve.

You didn't plan on coming back.

You were going to find Sersi, and you were hopefully going to be with her again because who were you to lie to yourself? You were still as in love with her as you'd ever been.

So as soon as you'd put the stone back, you travelled further back in time and took off the suit and stashed it away in a small bag that you'd bought. You knew that Bruce would be freaking out now you'd missed your time slot but you couldn't bring yourself to care.

You were going to be with Sersi again after all these years.

Two years later...

You'd been so stupid. Stupid to miss your time slot and stupid to think that you could find Sersi, or even that she'd want to be found.

Now, you had no way back to the future, and no one around.

Your fruitless search for Sersi had plunged you deep into a depression and you had no way out of it.

You knew Sersi was an Eternal, so you assumed she was back with them. With her family.

The thought of a family brings images of Steve and Bucky reeling through your mind again, so you distracted yourself with drinks that could never get you drunk thanks to the Super soldier serum.

Could nothing go right in your life?

2023

You place down the old black-and-white photo you'd been holding. It was of a beautiful girl with dark hair and kind dark eyes. Sersi. The girl you'd loved when you were young.

The nurses flitted in and out, checking vitals and making sure you were comfortable because it was obvious you didn't have much longer.

Steve, Sam and Bucky had visited you, and they had been forced to watch as you struggled to remember them.

You were old, no one could deny that, so it was only to be expected.

When they left, you'd expected no more visitors, but the nurse informed you that you had one more for the day.

You'd nodded, and expected to see another person that would call themselves an Avenger, but instead, a woman walked in.

She had long, dark hair falling down her shoulders in waves, and gentle brown eyes that regarded you to tenderly.

"Hello, Y/N." she whispers.

"Hello, young lady. How can I help you?" You ask, and she frowns slightly.

"Don't you recognise me?" She ponders, which makes your eyebrows furrow.

"I'm afraid I don't recognise many people these days. I'm old, dear." You tell her. You notice the way her eyes fill with tears and you feel a sense of guilt.

She sits down on the chair next to you, silent for a few moments, just looking at you.

A spark ignites in your brain and you sit up a bit. "Wait," you say, "you look like the girl in my photo!"

She tilts her head in confusion, so you reach over to your bedside table and pick up the photo.

"Sersi, her name was. The love of my life." You inform the woman as you hand her the picture frame.

She gazes down at it, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "It does look like me." She says in a strained voice.

You hum thoughtfully and she smiles up at you through teary eyes.

"You know, I risked it all for her, for Sersi. I.. I travelled back in time," you tell her, and when she looks at you with mild surprise you laugh, "I know it sounds a bit silly but I did. But she wasn't there. I guess I just missed her."

The woman laughs, and you give her a small smile.

You stare at her for a moment longer, tracing over her features with your eyes.

"You do look so much like her." You murmur, and she presses her lips together.

She rises from her seat and you gasp. "Sersi?" You whisper. She nods, a sob leaving her lips as she leans down for a hug, which you reciprocate.

"I'm sorry, Y/N. I'm so sorry. I saw it all. You putting the plane in the water, fighting alongside the Avengers, looking for me, I swear I was with you the whole time!" She cries.

You just hold her tighter as she cries.

She pulls herself together and straightens up, breaking the hug. Still teary, she informs you she's going to get you some water, and turns to leave the room.

"I love you, Sersi." You mutter, and she turns to give you a smile.

"I love you too." She says, before pushing the door open in search of water.

Later...

Sersi walks back down the hallway with two cups of water in her hand, but she stops dead when she sees the blinds drawn in your room and nurses and doctors walking in and out.

"What's going on?" She asks, heart dropping to her stomach with dread.

"You're Sersi?" A nurse asks, and she nods to confirm it. "I'm so sorry, but Captain L/N has passed." She informs.

Sersi drops the cups, spilling their contents all over the floor. The nurse gives her a sympathetic look as she begins to cry.

She crumples to the floor, hugging her knees to her chest as she cries. She knew you'd have to die one day, but she never thought she'd have to be there to experience it.

And so it seemed that you, the man who'd loved her so much and travelled across the years to find her had finally, after a long life, run out of time.