*narrator pov*
The fingers round your neck tightened.
"Get... the fuck... off..." you struggled.
"I asked you a question. Who are you?"
"Get your hand off me unless you want to lose it."
"Mhm. I'd like to see you try" they laughed.
"Hmmkay. I warned you."
Your hands suddenly glowed purple and you grabbed the wrist behind your neck. You shot an energy blast onto him, burning his wrist. He let go as he yelped in pain.
You quickly turned and kneed the guard in the stomach.
You kicked him then turned to run out the room.
The guard pulled a small Asgardian blade and threw it at you.
It lodged itself in the back of your shoulder.
"OOWW FUCK!" you yelled, but continued to run.
Still running, you bit your lip and pulled the blade out your back.
"Shiiiiit" you muttered and threw it to the floor.
You ran round the corner and crashed into someone.
"No!" you cried, and was about to fire a ball of energy when you saw it was Thor. "Thank goodness it's you! Do you have the stone?"
"Yup. I got it. Now can we get outta here?" Rocket pleaded.
"Please" you cried.
You, Thor and Rocket took out your Pym particles, and together you returned to Earth, present day.
You saw the others, arriving back around the same time.
"Did we get them all?" Bruce asked.
"You telling me this'll actually work?" Rhodey sighed.
Everyone looked around, smiling, until they noticed someone missing.
"Clint, where's Nat?" Bruce wondered.
Clint didn't answer, but his silence said it all.
"No..." you mumbled. "No, no that's not fair. She can't be dead. She can't-"
You stumbled forwards to face Clint properly.
Tony caught you and stood you up straight.
"No... she's not..." you shook your head. You were breathing slowly, trying to process this. You couldn't even begin to imagine how hard this was for Clint.
They had been best friends the whole time you had known them.
Tony hugged you as he saw you were upset, but he was upset too, and he wanted someone to hold.
You pressed your forehead onto his chest as he ran his hand up and down your back.
You shut your eyes when everything had become blurry, and everyone's voices became distorted in your head.
The avengers consoled each other, as Tony was comforting you.
He looked over your shoulder at his hand that had been stroking your back.
"Y/n..." he said.
He looked at his hand, dripping red.
"Y/n you're bleeding..." he remarked quietly.
"That... that doesn't... it doesn't matter... Nat can't be gone. She can't" you muttered. "She... she..."
Your knees gave in and you fell out of Tony's arm.
The side of your body collided with the floor, and the others finally looked at you.
"Y/n!" Thor cried and ran over to you.
"What just happened?" Steve asked as he knelt down next to you.
Tony bent down and picked you up. He hurried out the room without saying a word.
Thor, Bruce, Rocket and Steve followed him to his lab.
Tony lay you down on the table and took off your shirt.
You had a large gash along your back.
"How did this happen?" Tony asked as he quickly gathered some supplies.
"I- I don't know. I had no idea she was stabbed" Thor admitted.
"She's gonna be okay, right?" Rocket wondered.
"She'll be fine" Tony assured, convincing himself as much as the others.
"Oh, the blade should not have been removed. She's losing a lot of a blood" Bruce pointed out.
"Yeah I can see that" Tony said as he tried to stop it.
"Her heartbeat is slowing down Tony" Steve warned as he was feeling your wrist for your pulse.
"Okay these comments aren't helping. Either shut up or get out."
"Sorry."
They watched in silence as Tony successfully cleaned and stitched your wound, then carefully bandaged your shoulder.
Steve left briefly and returned with Bucky's hoodie that you had been wearing before the mission.
He put it on you.
"Is she okay? What now?" Thor asked nervously.
"She's fine. We'll wake her in a bit, but let her rest for now" Tony sighed.
The others left to mourn with Clint, but Tony stayed with you.
He started working on the design for the gauntlet that they were going to put the stones in.
You were on the table on the other side of the lab.
After a while you rolled over in your sleep, ending up on the floor.
"Ow" you winced quietly.
"Y/n!" Tony stopped what he was doing and ran over to you. He helped you off the floor.
"Thanks" you groaned.
"Are you okay? Do you know where you are? You know who I am?"
"Tony, I'm pretty sure getting stabbed in the back won't give me amnesia."
"Yeah I know. I'm just making sure" he smiled lightly at you and helped you to sit in a chair.
"How are the others? How's Clint?"
"Coping. I think. Barely."
"I can't believe she's gone. Do you know if she had any family?"
"She had us."
You looked down at your feet in despair.
"Hey you know what, let's think about something else."
"Yeah? Like what?"
"Like... I finished the gauntlet."
"Really?" you looked up excitedly.
"Really. Why don't you go find the others. I think they're outside."
You jumped up and rushed to the door.
The others were still outside like Tony had said.
"Tony finished it" you blurted, and they turned to look at you. "He finished the gauntlet. It's ready."
"This is actually happening? We've actually managed this?" Rhodey exclaimed.
You nodded.
You faced Clint and bit your lip nervously.
He knew what you wanted, and he raised his arms accordingly.
You stepped towards him and hugged him. You chose not to say anything as you stood in his arms.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, are you?"
"Mhm."
"Wanna go save the universe?"
"Sounds fun" he smiled softly.
You held his hand and walked inside.
You returned to the lab where Tony was patiently waiting.
"It's done?" Bruce asked, and Tony nodded.
"All right. The glove's ready. Question is, who's gonna snap their freaking fingers?" Rocket wondered.
"I'll do it" Thor offered.
"Aha! No you won't" you said.
"It's okay" he shrugged.
"No no no no no! No!"
"Y/n it's fine. I'm the strongest avenger, so this responsibility falls upon me. It's my duty."
"Thor-" Tony started.
"Just let me do it. Just let me do something good. Something right" Thor teared up.
"Look– 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" Tony explained.
"Exactly!" you exclaimed. "You can't do this."
"What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?" Thor asked.
"Cheese whiz" Rhodey joked.
"Lighting" Thor said, ignoring him.
"Lightning won't help you, pal. It's gotta be me" Bruce argued. "You saw what those stones did to Thanos. It almost killed him. None of you could survive."
"How do we know you will?" Steve asked.
"We don't. But the radiation's mostly gamma. I was made for this."
Tony took the gauntlet and handed it to Bruce.
"You're sure about this?" you asked.
"Yeah" Bruce nodded.
"Good to go, yeah?" Tony wondered.
"Let's do it."
"You remember– everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago and just bringing them back to now, today. Don't change anything from the last five years."
"Got it."
"F.R.I.D.A.Y., do me a favor and activate Barn Door Protocol. Will you?" Tony requested.
"Yes boss" the AI replied.
Everyone suited up as the compound locked down.
"Everybody comes home" Bruce nodded while looking at the gauntlet.
He put it on, and it reshaped itself to fit his fist. The power surge overwhelmed him.
"Bruce are you okay?!" you gasped.
"Take it off! Take it off!" Thor pleaded.
"No wait!" Steve objected. "Bruce are you okay?"
"Talk to us Banner" Tony said.
"I'm okay. I'm okay" Bruce nodded.
He started to scream through the intense pain that was coursing through his entire body.
You turned and buried your head in Thor's chest, and he hugged you to cover your ears.
He snapped his fingers, and suddenly fell to the floor as he fainted.
The gauntlet slipped off his fingers and Clint kicked it away.
"Bruce!" Steve exclaimed.
"Don't touch him" Tony warned.
"Did it work?" Bruce asked.
The window opened, and you walked towards it with Scott. You saw plants and birds, that hadn't been there before. You and Scott smiled at each other.
On a nearby table, Clint's phone started to ring.
He quickly picked it up, but was struggling to speak through his overwhelming happiness. It was his wife.
"H-honey. Honey" he spoke to the phone.
"I think it worked" you whispered.
"I think it worked!" Scott repeated louder.
Bruce, still on the floor, opened his eyes and grinned. But the grin was wiped off his face when he saw a large ship hovering in the sky.
He saw a missile heading towards the base.
It blasted through the window, blasting you and Scott backwards.
