A Selfless Man's Sacrifice (Avengers short story)

The End of an Era

The gauntlet was there, a few feet away from him. But Thanos was holding him back from it. None of his teammates were available to help him right now. He was on his own.

He fought and fought, but alas, he was no match. Thanos pushed him away, and he got slammed against some rubble. He watched in horror, as Thanos picked up the red gauntlet to put it on. Steve felt defeated, but then he remembered something; he scrambled to his feet and held out his arm, please work, please work, Mjolnir came flying into his hand, hitting Thanos and causing him to fall on the ground.

The gauntlet slipped from his grasp and landed near Steve. Thanos was already starting to get up, so, with a broken shield in his left arm, he put Mjolnir down and quickly put on the gauntlet.

He quickly felt the energy coursing through his right side, he fell on his knees, breathing heavily and hoping the pain would ease out a bit. 

Thanos was back on his feet, watching as Steve wielded the gauntlet and looked at him with a piercing glare. And he snapped. Thanos looked around him, watching as everything he'd worked on his whole life turn to dust. And soon, he was nothing but dust.

Suddenly, Steve found himself in a different place. Everything around him was orange. His battle suit was now replaced with his military uniform, his hair was neatly groomed and the gauntlet disappeared.

He looked around him confused, then a voice came from behind him, "Steve," he quickly turned around. There, with a stunning red dress, stood Peggy.

    "Peggy?" Steve asked, moving towards her.

    "You did it, Steve," She smiled.

    "I...I, yeah, I did,"

Just then, music started playing from somewhere. He immediately recognized the song. It's been a long, long time played. Peggy extended her arms out, "Shall we, Captain?" 

He gladly took it. They started swaying to the soft song, both enjoying the moment down to its milliseconds. Just as the last note played, Peggy pulled away.

    "Guess it's time," Steve said, a disappointed--but understanding--look on his face.

    "Yeah, it is," Peggy looked up and locked eyes with him, "Thank you, Steve," 

    They hugged tightly, "Thank you, too, Peggy," He said, as everything around him disappeared. He was back on the once-battlefield. His suit was back, with all the pain. 

Steve leaned on the big piece of debris behind him, a satisfied look on his face. This is it, he thought. 

He saw Tony, Bucky, and Sam rushing towards him. "Steve? Hang in there, buddy, we'll get you fixed up," Tony told him, kneeling in front of him.

    "Tony, I'm sorry," Steve said, his voice soft.

    "There's nothing to be sorry about, Cap," Tony was holding back tears as best as he could.

    "I'm sorry about the problems with the accords. The fight wasn't worth our friendship,"

    "It's okay, Steve. Don't worry about it," Tony smiled sadly at him, before standing up to let Sam have a few words with him.

Sam looked at him, choking back tears, "It's hard to see you like this," He said. Steve smiled, he slowly lifted his arm that still held the shield, "If you're gonna be Captain America, you're gonna have to get it fixed,"

    Sam carefully took it from him and gave him a nod, "I won't let you down," He promised.

    "I know,"

After Sam, came Bucky. Steve was in his final moments before darkness consumed him. Bucky lunged at him, tears streaming down his cheeks. Steve painfully brought up his arm and wrapped it around his friend, "Just because it's the end of the line, pal, doesn't mean I'm not still with you. I love you, Buck," 

    "I love you too, jerk," Bucky said, crying. Steve's arm fell to his side. And that was it. The universe was saved, but not without losing two great heroes.

***

The next day, everyone attended Natasha and Steve's funeral. The two heroes were buried next to each other. No one had the heart to separate them because they were family and they always will be.

Tony returned home with Morgan and Pepper after the funeral. Tony was sad, of course, because despite all the conflicts and fights with Steve, he still considered him a friend--a brother, even-- and Tony was not letting his and Natasha's sacrifice go to waste.

That night, he sat in the side patio, the same place he worked in to create the time-space GPS. Pepper came down the stairs.

    "Morgan wants you to tell her a bedtime story," She told him, as she walked up to his side. He instinctively wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in, "I'll be up in a minute,"

    "That's what you've been working on the whole day?"

    "Pretty cool, huh?" He said, spinning the hologram of the new Avengers Compound.

    "Yeah, it looks amazing," 

***

Tony went up to his daughter's room. She sat on her bed playing with an Iron Man plushie, waiting for her dad to tell her a story. Tony sat on the little chair next to her bed, "So, you want a bedtime story," he said, amused. Morgan laid down and snuggled under the blanket.

    "Tell me a story about Uncle Steve and Auntie Tasha,"

Tony smiled sadly, recalling all the happy memories he had with his team, "Sure thing."

Morgan tried to stay awake for the whole story, it was so intriguing and she wanted to hear more, but she was way too tired, so she closed her eyes, listening to her father tell a story about her new favorite heroes, Steve and Natasha.

***

Six months had passed since the final battle. The compound was now rebuilt, and housing the Young Avengers. Tony took the responsibility of training them to become the new team of Avengers. 

Outside stood two statues, one of Steve Rogers and one of Natasha Romanoff. The sun shone above them, reminding people of them, and their sacrifice.

Natasha and Steve may be gone, but they will forever be remembered in the hearts of their friends and family.

The End