The Woman in the Red Dress (Howard and Maria Stark One-Shot-- AU)

Chapter Fifteen

Ears buzzing and world shaking, slowly Maria found her feet. Dark clouds covered the sky; lightning shot into the soil. "Mom." Tony was beside her. "Mom."

    "Where's Howard?" She watched the field, vision blurring and clearing, blurring and clearing, blurring and clearing.

    "Peggy got him inside."

    A bullet shot toward Maria, and Tony stepped between. The bullet bounced off his suit. Placing up his hand, a grenade shot off.

    "He's safe?"

    "Yes. We need to get you inside."

    "I'm fine." Maria reached for Mjolnir, which was gone.

    "Mom, please."

    Maria wasn't able to tell which side was which. Hydra dressed too closely to SHIELD: all black uniforms, all the same guns, all the same look. "Where is Thanos?"

    Across the field, Thanos engaged with Captain America, Thor, Doctor Strange, Vision, Wanda, Hulk and Black Panther. The worst part was how easily Thanos fought them off. While there was struggle with Thor, Hulk, Strange, Vision and Wanda-- Captain America and Black Panther didn't look to be doing any harm to him. Hawkeye had taken position up at the top of the compound, focusing his arrows downward. Somewhere along the way more arrows had been made, and they weren't up to his standards, they had to do. Ant-Man and Spider-Man did what they did, engaging in hand-to-hand combat. It was Black Widow who easily jumped from one to one person of Hydra's side while taking them down. Falcon flew above, taking aim wherever he could.

    Tony watched, knowing he could try to end this now. Maybe a nuclear blast-- his father had to have a nuc lying around here somewhere; it wouldn't have been Howard Stark without one. He just needed to get Thanos away, or maybe he was able to get the rest out. He needed his father and mother gone. In the future, he had done it all, but what if none of this ever existed? Maybe it was for the best, if they ended it now? The Avengers were able to handle the rest; they didn't need Tony.

    "Stop," Maria said, her hand resting on his arm.

    His sad, brown eyes came down to her.

    "Don't think like that-- not now, not ever." She held out her hand, and a second later, the hammer to her her.

    "I--"

    "You won't admit it, but you're like your father." Out of breath and blood running down from her head, vulnerability crept into her eyes-- something that hadn't been there the whole time. "He gets that same look, as if sacrificing himself will save the world. It won't."

    "You do it," he said. "You sacrifice yourself for me-- for my future."

    "You're my son. There's a difference."

    "I'm trying to save the whole world."

    "That's not a good enough reason for me," Maria whispered. "What do you have back there-- in the future? What keeps you fighting here? I know you love me, but what makes you fight there after I'm gone?"

    "Her name is Pepper."

    "Fight for her now, Tony. The worst thing is not being able to say good bye." She kissed him on the cheek. Pulling back, she held out the hammer, and it dragged her body along.

    Flying through the air, Mjolnir went straight into Thanos' chest, barely knocking him back a step. A lightning bolt came from the sky and struck him. Thor released his own bolt, which made his eyes glow and his body shake. Wanda let loose a string of impressive moves as Vision attempted to push Thanos back.

    "We need the stone!" Steve yelled.

    "We need to get him back to the future!" the King of Wakanda countered. "We can fight him there. We have armies. We have allies!"

    "I have to agree with his majesty on this one," Vision replied. "We need more help."

    Thanos threw Maria off again, letting out a nasty growl. His Infinity Gauntlet glowed as power burst from it, scattering Avengers and Hydra soldiers alike. The only one to remain standing was Vision himself as Thanos charged forward, greedy to get another Infinity Stone. Iron Man zoomed in, spraying the large purple alien in a hail of bullets and explosives, whatever he had left in his suit. It worked to push Thanos back, even shake him off a bit. A crooked smile came from his ugly mouth, like somehow the Avengers played into his hands. In a way, they had.

    By pushing Thanos back, he the closest to a portal, a large stone monolith with blue and green coloring on it. The monolith split open, like a sea parting, showing the modern time, dressed in all the fashions, on the field where they had been before all coming back. Thanos, too, had an army-- a better one than this-- in the future. He got one more Infinity Stone; two more to go. Thanos knew the Avengers would follow him to the future; he counted on it. Now, more powerful than ever and with an alien army at his back, it was time to return to his ground.

    Dashing away, he entered the portal. Captain America rushed to follow him-- but the portal closed. Around Hydra soldiers stopped, with their black guns and uniforms, all watching as the portal closed. Outnumbered and about to be captured, they all bit down on the cyanide tooth within each mouth, collapsing on the ground. Two more heads would take the place, but how long until that happened?

    Maria stood, hammer in her hand and defeat on her face. Looking to her son, he kept his mask on, to hide his own disappointment.

    "We need to get back to the future now!" Thor roared, and the hammer flew into his hand. Maria was left back in her SHIELD uniform-- her face didn't show shock but annoyance and expectance, like somehow she knew this was going to happen. Standing among men, it almost certainly happened constantly. 

    Thor looked to Captain Rogers, who didn't appear to be listening, as he walked over the dead Hydra bodies to Bucky's, which laid in the center of the field. No one had cared that now he was dirty and messed up, kicked around when the fighting he began. Now that Thanos was gone, Steve was able to focus on what mattered to him most.

    Slowly bending down, Steve carefully placed his oldest friend's body in his arms. Silence grew across the field. Gathering around, it was a question of who would speak first, offer any kind words to Steve, the head of the Avengers. Oddly enough, it was Tony who stepped forward. He didn't expect it himself; he didn't expect his mask to pull back, and he didn't expect this grief that came to him.

    "I'm sorry. He did try to save my father." That was it.

    Steve didn't want to hear it, any of it-- this was the cost of war, he knew. He had seen soldiers die right and left. He had watched Bucky die once before, but it never got better. At least Steve had a life, coming out of the ice to experience something. Bucky had the Winter Soldier and then more isolation. He hadn't been in control of his life.

    Walking over, Maria stood next to Steve.

    The childlike Steve ignored her, thinking he would see happiness in her eyes.

    Bending down, Maria took Bucky's head within her hands. Steve tried to gently pull his friend's body back, but Maria didn't let go. "He is a hard soldier to kill," she murmured. Maria popped his head back into place, stood and walked toward the compound again, needing to find her own love. Other Avengers followed her inside, knowing it was time to leave the past behind. Thanos went back; it was time they did too.

     A moment passed, long and painful, as the seconds ticked by. Steve stared at Bucky-- hoping and waiting-- and then Bucky breathed, shallow and just a tremble, like he was starting to come back to his life. The abyss of his eyes started to glow as slowly life returned to him. His chest moved evenly, and Bucky was barely able to hold up his own neck. He was quiet about everything, as he came to life again.