Everything's Going to Change

A Resolution

He had the gauntlet. I was frozen as I watched Thanos triumphantly raise the hand that held the gauntlet with the Infinity Stones glowing, almost mocking those of us who tried to stand against him. It was hopeless, everything all of us had done, because we were about to vanish to dust... again.

"No!" I watched the glowing lady fly out of nowhere and try to pry the gauntlet off of the mad titan's hand. She was doing well, until he used a power stone to send her reeling backward. It was her hitting the rocks that snapped me out of my daze and I darted forward to stand in front of the purple maniac, not paying attention to Steve and Bucky yelling at me to stand down.

"Hey!" I cried, grabbing his attention as tears started to streak my face. "I did not spend five years apart from my family for you to just rip us apart again!" Thanos glared at me with a gleam in his eyes as Wanda walked over to stand beside me, the two of us facing off against the man who took so much from us. As we stood shoulder to shoulder, with my dads worrying in the background, I couldn't help but think about the first time that we tried to fight him, and how badly it had gone.

"So much hatred from those I have yet to meet," Thanos mused as he studied us. "Yet your suffering was necessary for the greater good of humanity."

"Don't talk to us about the greater good," Wanda snarled. With that, we both ran at him, Wanda lunging at him with her fists glowing scarlet, and me throwing my dagger at any weak spot I could see. He pushed me away as easy as swatting a fly and used a stone again to send Wanda flying next to me. We were gasping for breath as we tried to sit up and see what was happening. We both watched as Tony flew and grabbed the gauntlet in a last ditch effort. He lasted two seconds in that fight and so did everyone's hope. Thanos grinned and raised the Infinity Gauntlet once more.

"I am inevitable." I was sobbing, thinking about how I was about to lose my whole family all over again, but then Thanos snapped... and nothing happened. I looked at him in confusion, but that cleared as another voice rang over the field.

"And I am Iron Man." we all watched in horror as Tony wielded the Iron gauntlet before snapping his fingers and sending a burst of light all around.

"Папа, Dad?" I stumbled out from over the rocks with Wanda, but we stopped at the sight in front of us. My dads and several other people were huddled around something I couldn't quite see, but clearly Wanda could, because she gasped and pushed me back to where we had come from. "What is it?" I asked anxiously as I tried to pull away. She shook her head and tried to stop me, but I yanked my hand away and darted over to where everyone else was. Once I reached the group however, tears immediately jumped to my eyes as I saw Tony lying motionless against a rock with his arc reactor flickering from a dim blue to off. I was about to run towards him, but Bucky turned to me at the last minute and wrapped me in a hug so my head was buried in his shirt as I cried. "He can't be dead," I sobbed. "It was his choice Sweetheart," Bucky said softly. I looked up as Steve walked over and stood with us.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

"Now? I don't know..."

A Few Weeks Later


"Charlie, Wanda! If you two aren't down here in five minutes I swear to God I'll give your breakfast to Bucky!" I pushed my girlfriend out of the way before sprinting to the staircase and all but tumbling down the steps. "What was that?!" Steve called suspiciously.

"My shirt fell," I groaned from my tangle of limbs at the bottom of the steps.

"That sounded heavier than a shirt..."

"I was in said shirt." I heard Bucky choke over his laughter as Steve rushed out of the kitchen to check on me as Wanda gracefully floated downstairs. "I hate you so much," I grumbled as I pointed up at her.

"Love you too," she said slyly, pressing a swift kiss to my cheek as we went to grab our breakfast and hear the news Steve had about Tony and the Infinity stones.

"Alright, so Tony is dead, I think it's no surprise to anyone that he's chosen Peter as his protégé" Bucky, Wanda, and I all collectively nodded in agreement. "That being said, we still have the outlying problem of the Infinity stones which I am taking care of today, with the help of Bruce."

"You get to go back in time?!" I exclaimed "No fair!" Steve laughed softly before resting his hands on the table.

"Something else I'm taking care of is Captain America," Steve said resignedly. I frowned at this, trying to understand.

"Are you, going to go back in time and kill yourself?" Bucky snickered before ruffling my hair. Steve looked at me tiredly and shook his head.

"No, Charlie I'm not killing my past self," he answered with a small smirk. "But I am retiring and passing the mantle onto Sam. He'll be going on all the missions and Bucky will be accompanying him if he wants."

"Sounds like a wonderful murder spree." Bucky grinned even wider, if possible, at this before leaning back proudly in his seat. Wanda discreetly moved her hand and sent him toppling to the ground in a string of curses.

"Yeah," she said "I think we're all going to have a lot of fun."