I was in the kitchen taking my chicken nuggets out of the oven when I heard the word 'Avengers' come from the TV. I quickly laid the pan on the counter and threw the oven mitts off, running into the living room.
"The Avengers can be seen here boarding the Avengers Aircraft for their latest mission on planet Titan, facing, who we know, as Thanos."
I watched as footage of everyone boarding the aircraft popped up on the screen. Tony was wearing his iconic black suit and red-tinted sunglasses. He stopped at the top of the ramp and faced the camera, blowing a kiss. I smiled with tears burning my eyes.
...
The next day I was sitting in class twirling my pencil around my fingers while the teacher talked nonstop about photosynthesis. I couldn't think about plants right now, I still hadn't heard from Tony since the previous day!
The next couple of days continued the same way; I woke up, nothing, went to school, still nothing, then got home and went to bed with absolutely no communication from Tony. I was terrified something had happened to them.
On the third night, I laid in bed and stared at the necklace in my hands. I pressed the button on the back to communicate "I love you" to Tony, then laid the necklace on the pillow next to me. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh, tears burned my eyes and leaked out onto my pillow.
Suddenly, a blue glow made my eyes shoot open. I sprung up and grabbed the necklace, quickly writing down the code.
"I love you more."
...
I woke up the next morning to the sound of something loud, it sounded like an airplane and I groaned. But then I remembered, the Avengers Aircraft. I shot up and looked out my window. Low and behold, there it was. I didn't even bother getting dressed, running out of my room and down the stairs, into the front yard in my pj's. The aircraft landed and blew my hair back.
The platform lowered and I waited impatiently. Then, Steve and Thor appeared with Bruce's arms draped over each of their shoulders. They all looked exhausted and had bruises and scratches all over them. I ran to them and jumped into Steve's arms, wrapping my arms around his neck tightly. He spun me around.
Natasha walked out next with a limp, Clint next to her. Then, Peter.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
My eyes couldn't hold anymore tears and I broke down, falling into his arms. He grunted when I did due to his injuries but hugged me back. He fell onto his knees and I cried into his shoulder. I looked up and we both smiled, he wiped my tears.
I sniffed, looking back at the ramp, expecting to see Tony next, but it didn't happen.
"Where's Tony?" I asked Peter. He swallowed, his eyes turning red. I looked at everyone else, making eye contact with Steve. "Where's Tony?" I asked more sternly this time.
My heart started pounding out of my chest and my stomach did backflips. I stood up and walked weakly over to Steve, falling forward into his arms that, thankfully, caught me in time. I sobbed into his jacket and he knelt down on one knee to hug me.
"He said you'd win! He promised!" I yelled.
"I'm so sorry, Victoria..." Steve said.
"No! He's not gone!" I began pushing Steve away from me in anger, but he didn't let go. I hit his face but he just pulled me closer to him.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"It's going to be alright, it'll be alright..." he whispered in my ear.
He picked me up and I laid limply in his grip, sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder and soaking his shirt. Everyone accumulated in the living room and sat around in silence for a couple minutes, Steve sat with me in his lap, my face still pressed to his neck. Bruce, despite his injuries, was healing some of the scratches on Peter's face.
After a while, I got off Steve's lap and sat next to him under a blanket Natasha grabbed for me. I stared into nothingness, silent tears streaming down my face.
"Victoria..." Steve placed his hand on my knee and I flinched away. "It's going to be okay—"
"How?" I croaked. "My father is dead." There was another moment of silence. "I have nobody left."
"You're not alone, you have me, and Natasha and Bruce, and Thor and Clint, and Peter."
"Tony..." I squeezed my eyes together, making more tears fall, and sobbed a couple times.
...
For the next week, I lived at Steve's house. We'd discovered that Thanos' snap had also taken Pepper and Happy, along with a bunch of people from my school.
I refused to go to school since the incident and barely left my bed unless I had to go to the bathroom, eat or shower. Bruce visited almost everyday to make sure I was doing okay health-wise, which was hard because I rarely spoke. He continued to ask me questions every time he came, even though I never answered. Poor Bailey looked just as sad as me, he'd given up bringing me toys to throw for him and just laid at the end of my bed now.
Finally, after a week and a half, I decided to leave my room and made it to the backyard where I sat on a little white bench and closed my eyes, letting the sunshine kiss my face and wind blow my hair back. I heard Steve's squeaky back door open, but didn't look, keeping my face angled upward. I felt someone sit next to me and slowly peered to my side.
"Thought you could use some company." Peter smiled. I didn't speak and looked back at the mountains in the distance. "Everyone's really worried about you."
"They shouldn't be." My voice was dry from not talking for so long.
"I am, I want to help you, I know what you're going through."
"I know." I looked at him with tired eyes. "Thank you." I wrapped my arms around him and leaned on his shoulder, he seemed taken aback at first but soon hugged me tightly.
OMG what?!?!? I'm so sorry this chapter was so hard to write, but don't worry, do you really think Victoria is going to let this just happen??? 😛
