Inescapable

Ch. 40

Tony is exhausted as he reaches for his dilapidated helmet and taps at it and sighs. "This thing on?" The helmet finally scans Tony, and he leans back against the wall of the ship for support as he takes a deep breath. He internally realizes he looks like shit and that if and when this is found, his friends will have one hell of a sight. "Steve. If you find this recording, make sure it doesn't get online." Tony chuckles lightly, "well you might have to tell Widow to make sure, you know you being technologically inept as a Centenarian and all." Tony shakes his head and continues. "Hell, I don't know if you're ever going to see this. I don't even know if you're still... God I can't even say it... I hope everyone is still okay..." Tony brings a hand to his face, rubbing his eyes to try to focus again. "Today is day 21, uh 22." He stares off to the side, looking outside into the vast space. "You know, if it wasn't for the existential terror of staring into a void of space, I'd say I'm feeling better today. The infection's run its course, Thanks to the blue meanie back there. You'd love her. Very practical. Only a tiny bit sadistic. Some fuel cells were cracked during battle, but between the talking racoon, blue meanie and I, we figured out a way to reverse the ion charge to buy ourselves about 48 hours of time." Tony sighs. "But it's now dead in the water. We're 1000 light years from the nearest 7-11. Oxygen will run out tomorrow. And that'll be it." Tony sighs deeply again, looking off to the side at the prone figure laying just a couple of feet away from him. "Y/N... she's..." He stares back at the helmet. "She's barely hanging on. She lost a lot of blood, and her infection... she's been running dangerously high fevers. She might not make it past tonight..." He looked back towards her, tears welling up in his eyes at his inability to fix her, to keep her safe and alive. He cleared his throat, trying to mask his emotions, but knowing he wasn't fooling anyone. "I was hoping for a miracle you know? Pull off another amazing feat... but it looks like... well you can tell what it looks like Steve. I just wanted to tell you that being a part of this team... this family... has been one of the best things in my life, pal. Take care of them for me, will ya?" Tony tapped and turned off the helmet, and rubbed his eyes, trying to stave off tears.

Nebula walks up to him with a defeated look on her face. "She's..." Tony nods, cutting her off, not wanting to hear how he'll have to watch the love of his life die, before succumbing to death himself. Nebula helps Tony up and places him next to Y/N, then walks away dejectedly towards Rocket, giving them their last little bit of time together privately.

"I really wanted a miracle sweetheart. I really wanted that wedding..." He grabs her warm, almost burning hot, hand and closes his eyes. Knowing that if he drifts off dreaming of her, it would be the best way to go.

-.-

Steve is in his room, head in his hands, for once not the picture of the composed Captain that he always portrays. The sight of watching his friends, his best friend included, vanishing before his eyes into a pile of dust will forever be imprinted on his brain. Wakanda was a mess after half of everything disappeared. They had to continue fighting, until the last monster was defeated. Then they could mourn and catalogue the horrors. The King and Queen had lost both of their children to horror, the Avengers stayed to help as much as possible. But eventually they needed to go back home and catalog the worldwide horror.

It seemed half of everything, all living life had vanished into dust. The Avengers had lost Bucky, Sam, and Wanda. Pietro had been severely wounded, and the general worry was that he may never be able to walk again. Clint, once back stateside, discovered that his family had all been dusted, and it took the whole team collectively to keep him from running away and doing something he might regret later.

The Avengers no longer had legal troubles, since the world needed them more than ever now. Thankfully they didn't have legal troubles, since they discovered that their attorney Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson had disappeared as well. Only their secretary Karen remained.