Time Bomb

Chapter 24

—awhile into the fight—
"Everyone on my location. We have incoming." I heard Steve say over coms. I looked at Dani who looked right back at me and we both ran to where we had seen Steve run off to not long ago.
"Since when did aliens decide to start making their own version of dogs?" She asked as we ran side by side.
"Who the hell knows but I don't like them." I chuckled.
"Had Thor not come in when he did, a couple of our guys including you would likely be dead. I gotta remember to thank him later. Oh and ask about the new hammer. Or technically axe. It looked really cool." She said as we both jumped over a fallen log. Suddenly the ground started shaking. Just in the distance we could see Steve and a few of the others.
A giant blueish black mist or fog of sorts appeared a ways behind him, revealing a giant bulky alien man.
Everything happened so fast. One minute everyone started to charge at this guy and then suddenly everyone is down for the count. Vision was dead, this guy ripped the stone out of his head and added it to the gauntlet on his hand. Wanda is bent over his body. Steve is down, clutching his hands to his chest. Plenty more around just down for the count.
I pushed the log that had suddenly been on top of me off and stood up. I jogged over to Dani who's clutching her side.
"You alright? I don't even know what happened, it was all so fast." I asked, helping her to her feet.
"I don't know either. I think he punched me. This.. Thanos guy. I overheard Bruce yelling at him before.. well.. that." She said and pointed to the cliff side where Bruce was engulfed in the stone.
We both stopped in our tracks as we headed to Steve when Thor's beam of lightning struck down somewhere behind the trees in front of us. Gaining back out senses, we ran closer to it and saw Thanos with Thor's new axe in his chest.
"I said... you'll die for that." We heard Thor say. Thanos groaned in pain and looked up at Thor.
"You should have gone for the head." Thanos said as his hand came up and was ready to snap his fingers. Thor looked over and saw it. But before any of us could do anything, Thanos snapped his fingers.
"What did you do??!" Thor yelled, but Thanos didn't answer. He simply created another portal and left, dropping Thor's axe to the ground.
Steve managed to get to his knees and looked around.
"Where did he go?" Steve asked, but none of us could answer. Words simply not forming.
"Thor? Where did he go?" Steve asked again. Thor just looked around, a blank stare in his eyes.

—Dani's POV—
I watched as others around us started to burst into dust. I gripped tightly to Bucky's hand.
"Dani? Steve? I don't feel so.." Bucky started to say but before he could even finish his sentence, he fell to the ground in a pile of dust. I felt my entire insides fall apart as I fell to my knees.
"Dani?" Steve called out to me, limping his way over to me.
"What's going on? People are just disappearing into dust... Dani, what's wrong?" Nat asked as she came around a corner and kneeled beside me.
"He's gone... Bucky's gone." I said, barely even a whisper.

After awhile, the ones of us left managed to get back to a quinjet and left. I sat alone, clutching to the gun Bucky had dropped when he got dusted.
I saw Steve sit beside me, putting his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to his side.
"I have no words of comfort for you. Just know I'm here for you, Dani." He said quietly and that's when the tears started. I put my head to his chest and cried.
I managed to stop crying long enough to get to my room at the compound. No sight of the one person I need right now. I don't know if he's dead or alive but god I really need Clint right now.
It started with just me throwing things around my room before I finally collapsed to the floor, unable to control the tears flowing from my eyes. I screamed as loud as I possibly could. Not caring that Steve and everyone else who's left could hear me. It hurts. My entire body hurts.
Bucky's gone. T'Challa. Sam. So many others. Clint is MIA. Tony is missing too apparently. Peter Parker. Whoever the guardians of the galaxy are gone except a falling raccoon named Rocket and a blue robot chick named Nebula. Wanda is gone. Vision is dead. Stephen is gone. But the one that hurts most. The one that's literally killing me... is Bucky.
I stood up from the floor and opened my door. Steve and Nat standing there ready to engulf me into hugs. I pushed them away and went to the door beside mine. Bucky's room. I opened the door and went in. I curled up on his bed, the side he normally would sleep on and clutched the extra pillow to my chest. The tears started up again and I couldn't hold them back. I let them flow down my cheeks and splatted to the pillow under my head.
I know Steve and Nat are watching me from the open door and I don't care. It's already taking so much out of me to keep this bomb in check. If I allow them to be a part of my grieving, I'm afraid I'll lose that control. And I don't want them to be gone too.