Once Upon an Avenger

Chapter 38: A bittersweet goodbye

"Swan!" Sam shouted, flying as fast as he could over to Hope. He was first to reach her, but the rest of the team wasn't far behind. "You're going to be okay; you can fix this with your magic."

"Sam--"

"No, please, don't do this to us, Swan." Sam was shaking his head, tears clouding his vision. "You're not dying on us; I won't let you."

Hope placed a shaking hand on his as he desperately tried to stop the bleeding. "I have to, it's the only way..."

"No!" Loki shouted, collapsing on the floor next to her. "There has to be another way!"

"There isn't," she choked out. When Hope saw the engraving on her sword, she knew instantly what needed to be done. This whole thing had started with a sacrifice that led to bloodshed and heartbreak. It had to end with the beginning, a sacrifice for a sacrifice, blood for blood. "I understand now that the Dragon was showing me the way."

"True love can break any curse," Steve said, thinking out loud.

"Like the curse you let the Dragon inflict on her!" Loki snapped, his anger getting the best of him as he tried to process his emotions.

"He cut her with a cursed blade, a curse that the magic in her blood fought off. He showed her that her blood was the answer." Kneeling at her side, Steve gently placed a hand on her thigh, tears threatening to fall as he watched the woman he loved begin to slip away, still trying her best to stay strong as she coughed up blood. "It's okay, Jones, you don't have to hold it back anymore. You won't hurt us, I promise. It's time for you to break the dam."

A small smile crept across her lips as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Hope closed her eyes and waves of magic pooled out of her body. A shimmering, white bubble formed around herself and the Avengers; Hope knew that this was it. She was ready to see her cousin once more in the Underworld, but she wasn't going to go without one last bid to protect the unlikely group of misfit heroes that she'd grown to love as she let the pain finally consume her.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y., read vitals," Tony ordered once it had disappeared, even though deep down he knew the answer; they all did.

"I'm afraid I can't detect a heartbeat, boss."

He shook his head, letting the others know what the AI in his suit had said. Then, suddenly, the Hulk let out an almighty roar, one so loud that it had birds fleeing from nearby trees that shook from the sheer heartbroken ferocity of it.

"Mr. Stark," Peter's voice rang through the comms, "why did Dr. Banner's friend just roar like that?" The radio silence had him worried, so he tried again. "Mr. Stark, it's Spiderman. Is everything okay?"

How were they going to tell him? He was still only a kid, it was going to break his heart, just as it was breaking theirs.

"We'll be there in a minute," Natasha eventually said.

"Oh, okay," he said, relieved that someone had answered him. "I'll just, um... I'll be waiting here for you."

"When she let her guard down, she spoke to me." Wanda's voice was hoarse from the tears that had finally run dry. "She asked me to tell Loki not to let this ruin all the hard work he's done, because he's a hero."

"She's right." Sam was still holding Hope in his arms, Loki to his left. He reached for the God's hand and placed it between his own and Hope's. "And I'm not going to let you fall back into your old ways, with or without her. Our agreement still stands." It was only as Sam finished his sentence that Loki let his own tears fall, his brother and Sam both there for him.