AVENGE THE FALLEN | AN ENDGAME READER INSERT STORY

part ten

The ship landed a little rocky. The wind whipped across your face, stinging your eyes and messing up your hair.

Rocket was wringing his hands together, ears pressed down, leaning forward. He kept muttering, "C'mon... c'mon... Quill, Drax-"

The ship opened slowly, with a long and ear piercing hiss. It was pretty much how you imagined a spaceship to open, minus bursts of smoke and fog.

Two figures stood against the blue light from inside. You could pretty much sense Rocket's uneasiness. There were only two, and he was expecting four friends.

The figures descended down the ramp. Your knees went weak when the first one ahead stepped off.

"Oh, God," you choked, sending a prayer of relief and thankfulness upward. You staggered forward, arms open. "Dad?"

Your father, looking sickly pale and scared out of his mind, was there.

He sighed in relief when he saw you, bottom lip quivering, tears spilling over. "You're alive. You're alive, thank God-"

You launched yourself at him, wrapping your arms around his neck. He hushed you as you sobbed loudly. You were falling apart in his arms, but in a good way. You couldn't stop smiling.

Meanwhile, the second person had stepped off, and you could tell it wasn't who Rocket was expecting.

"No," he said, sounding very much like how he did when Groot disappeared. He walked over to the blue woman and held a hand out. "All... all of them?"

She nodded solemnly.

He dropped to his knees, face in hands.

You turned out of your dad's hold to look down at him. Rocket was sobbing on the grass; your dad was kissing the side of your face, and then you realized something.

"Peter!" you said. You looked at your dad. "Where's Peter?" Ignoring the blatantly obvious, you pushed away from your dad and started inside the ship. "Peter?"

Your dad grabbed your wrist, forcing you to a stop. "He isn't in there, honey," he said in a soft voice.

"No," you whispered.

"Yeah."

You shook your head. "He... he didn't..."

He nodded. "He did. I am so sorry. There was nothing-"

"No." Your voice broke. A lump formed in your throat, making it tight.

"Honey," your dad said. "I know, I'm-"

You collapsed in his arms. Your best friend. Your hilarious, brown eyed, super genius and superhero best friend taken from the universe like that. Like he deserved it.

Slipping out of his arms, your knees hit the grass. You cried out, the sound more like a scream than a sob.

"Oh, God-"

Your dad was pulling you up. Or he was attempting to.

"No, Dad-"

"Honey, honey - you gotta... please-" His voice was breaking, too. "Please-"

"Dad!" you exclaimed, and you pushed him. He staggered backwards in shock. "I don't want to hurt you."

He nodded and you got up and ran away. You had so many emotions in your brain that the power was coursing through your legs, bursts of it coming from your feet. You singed the ground and kept going, until you took a leap off the ground and off towards the sky, power shooting from your fists.

"___!" Tony yelled. His shaky fingers started to move around his chest to prepare his suit.

"I'll get her, Tony," Rhodes said, and he put his own armor on. "Someone get Pepper."

"She's already running here," Nat said. Rhodes took off and Pepper screamed Tony's name.

She threw herself at him, crying, and planted multiple kisses on his face. He put his face in her hair and inhaled, a gutted sob coming out of his throat.

"I couldn't save the kid," he said.

Pepper pulled back. "Oh, God. Where... where is she?"

Tony looked up at the sky. Pepper gasped, seeing you - a tiny speck against the foggy sky - exploding in bursts of energy. "Oh gosh, Tony - she's going to hurt herself up there!"

"I'm going up there, too," Carol said.

Tony didn't even get a chance to ask who she was. She was taking off towards the sky, a streak of energy just like his daughter's following her.

Up in the sky, your energy left your body with every pained scream. You couldn't stop feeling it. The excruciating agony of your grief.

You'd foolishly convinced yourself that he had lived. After all, he was Peter. He was pure and good. He was your Peter.

And he was gone.

You couldn't even remember the last thing you'd said to him. But you knew it wasn't anything significant, like you're my best friend or I love you.

More energy.

"___!" Rhodes shouted, his flying slowing as he neared you. "You need to stop and get to the ground, okay? Now."

You turned your head and looked at him. "He's dead," you said.

"I know, but we were coming up with a plan to save 'em all, right? Don't give up on that plan." When you didn't say anything, he said, "Plus you got another friend down there mourning his own losses."

Your eyes flickered to the ground. Guilt pulsed through you. Rocket.

Energy consumed your body, knocking your own brain out of concentration. You cried out and started to plummet.

"___!" Rhodes yelled, but Carol was under you, her arms catching you easily.

She hurriedly took you to the ground. Laying you in the grass, your dad was there, grabbing your arms and lifting you.

"Dad," you whimpered, and he looked at you. "Dad, I am so sorry."

He shook his head. "What for?"

"I wanted to go, too," you admitted. "I want to go."

He looked away, pained.

Carol was behind you, hand on your shoulder. "Let's get you inside," she said to you. "You've drained yourself."

"Who in the world are you?" Tony asked.

"Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel. Friend of Nick Fury, friend of your daughter's." She nodded shortly.

"Oh, well, if you're all of those things..." he muttered.

You looked at Carol. "You have to get Rocket inside. Don't let him leave. We still need him, whether he realizes it or not. I need him."

She gave you a sincere look. "I will get him inside," she said. "Pepper?"

Pepper was at your side at once, taking you in her arms, pushing your head gently to her chest. She hushed you and looked at Tony, who nodded and put his arm around her.

All smushed together, your family walked inside of your home.

But things weren't the same.