Red, White & Blue | Bucky x Reader

Chapter Ten

Following the tug on my mind, I lead us through the trees, soon coming to a small clearing where we find the others. Moments later, blackish-blue clouds appear ahead of us, creating a portal for a huge, muscular, purple alien to step through. On his hand, he wears a gold gauntlet, set with five Infinity Stones. Only one is missing, Vision's stone.

"Cap, that's him," Banner states. "That's Thanos."

"Eyes up," Steve orders. "Stay sharp."

Banner moves first. Lunging toward Thanos fist-first. Without hesitation, Thanos lifts the gauntlet, using the Space Stone to render Banner immobile as he buries him into the stone wall behind us, trapping him in place. Steve charges next, only to be sent flying by purple energy before he can get close enough to land a blow.

Beside me, Vision turns to Wanda. "It's time."

"No," Wanda states.

"They can't stop him, Wanda, but we can," Vision argues. "Look at me. You have the power to destroy the Stone."

The rest of our group charges forward, but I stay by Wanda's side, prepared to defend her. T'Challa, armor fully charged with kinetic energy, leaps at Thanos with his claws extended, but Thanos easily grabs him by the throat and punches him to the ground, T'Challa's armor discharging violently. Sam swoops in from above, firing both pistols at the big, purple alien, but quickly drops from the sky as Thanos turns his wings into rubber.

"You must do it," Vision urges. "Wanda, please. We... are... out of time."

"I can't," Wanda whimpers, holding back her tears.

"Yes, you can," Vision soothes. "You can. If he gets the Stone, half the universe dies."

"I'll do it," I cut in, understanding Wanda's pain and hesitation. "Wanda, I'll do it. It shouldn't be you."

Slowly, Wanda takes a breath and kneels beside Vision, wrapping her thin arms around his shoulders. "I want to stay with him... until the end."

"Of course," I nod. "But I'll need you to watch my back. Keep Thanos away from us."

Wanda nods in agreement, and Vision gives me a small smile as I lift my hand, beaming my blue energy at the Mind Stone in his forehead.

Glancing over my shoulder, I watch as Rhodes joins the fight, firing his weapons at Thanos. However, Thanos uses the gauntlet to crush Rhodes' armor around him before tossing him aside. Bucky charges forward, but Thanos punches him away with the force of the Power Stone behind his fist. My instincts scream at me to run to him, but I hold my ground, knowing that in this moment, my task needs to come first.

Okoye activates the Vibranium-powered elements of her spear, flinging it at Thanos, but he stops it in midair before tossing it away, knocking Okoye back as Natasha rushes in. She only makes it a few feet before Thanos uses the gauntlet to throw her to the ground and wrap her in inescapable bands of earth.

Seeing that I'm running out of time, I raise my other hand, firing a second beam of light at the Mind Stone.

Steve launches himself forward once again, ducking under Thanos' blow and swinging his arm-shields upward, punching Thanos in the gut and chin. Steve grabs the gauntlet, straining the keep Thanos' hand open to prevent him from using the power of the Stones. For a split second, Thanos looks impressed by Steve's strength, but lets out a shout as he slams his fist into Steve's head, rendering him unconscious.

With no one left to stop him, Thanos takes a step toward us, but Wanda keeps her word, raising one of her hands in his direction as she creates a red wall of energy to block his path. Thanos struggles against it, moving closer inch by inch, but Wanda pushes back, preventing him from getting any closer.

I push myself harder, mustering up the last of my strength and focusing it at the Stone. As I feel my energy waning, the Stone finally begins to crack, and, knowing the end is near, I hear Vision whisper to Wanda, "It's all right. I love you."

The Mind Stone shatters in an explosion of pure, yellow light, and in her grief, Wanda's hold on Thanos slackens. He punches me away, the power of five Infinity Stones behind the blow, and I fly backward, hearing a dull crack as my head hits the hard ground. Through my blurry eyes and the ringing in my ears, I hear the rumble of Thanos' voice before seeing a flash of green and yellow light.

"No!" Wanda shouts, my vision focusing as Thanos swats her away.

He picks up a resurrected Vision by the throat, lifting him to eye-level before digging his fingers into Vision's forehead and ripping out the, once again whole, Mind Stone. Vision goes limp and grey, and Thanos tosses him aside before slowly moving the Mind Stone over the last empty setting of his gauntlet, dropping it in. Energy surges around him, his torso wreathed with iridescent static as he shouts from the power surging through him.

When it stops, Thanos lifts his hand to examine his completed gauntlet, and a massive bolt of lightning strikes down on him, forcing him into the ground as he slides back a few meters. Like a bird of prey, and his eyes glowing with his power, Thor descends from the sky, hurling his axe at Thanos. In defense, Thanos uses the whole might of his gauntlet against it, but it does nothing to stop the axe as it embeds itself into Thanos' chest.

"I told you, you'd die for that!" Thor states as he lands in front of Thanos, grabbing the back of his head and forcing the axe deeper into his chest. He stares angrily into Thanos' eyes as he cries out in pain.

"You should have... you..." Thanos mumbles weakly before finding the strength to continue. "You should have gone for the head."

"No!" I shout, teleporting to them as Thanos snaps his fingers.

There's a bright flash of light, and when my vision returns, I see the gauntlet is scorched and distorted from the heat of the Stones.

"What'd you do?" Thor demands. "What did you do?!"

Thanos doesn't seem to notice us. Instead, he uses the Space Stone to open a portal, quickly being sucked through before it disappears. Thor's axe drops to the ground.

Thor and I stand in stunned silence as Steve stumbles toward us, clutching his side. "Where'd he go? Thor, Y/n, where'd he go?"

I turn to my friend, air trapped in my lungs as I whisper, "I don't know."

"Y/n?" Bucky's voice floats to my ear, and I turn toward him as he stumbles forward, dropping his gun before turning to ash before my eyes.

I stare at the ground, unable to comprehend what just happened. Only seconds ago, Bucky stood before me, and now only ash remains. My focus shifts to Steve as he kneels beside me, his hand outstretched to touch the ground. Realization finally hits me, and my throat fills with a silent cry as I fall to my knees. My power pools in my chest as the air fills with the sound of my scream, and a shockwave of blue energy emanates from me in an explosion more powerful than anything I've ever created.

Bucky is gone, and once again, I couldn't do anything to stop it.