Marvel (Character/Cast Short Stories)

Steve Rodgers: Lost

"I told you... You die for that."

I rushed onto the scene just as Thor pushed his hammer into Thanos' chest, witnessing his screams of anguish. His body went limp and struggled to hold itself up, even with Thor's reinforcement. The gauntlet, now complete with all six infinity stones, hung from his fist.

"You... you should have..."

"Thor." I warned, seeing Thanos murmur. He didn't spare a glance over his shoulder, didn't even blink at my presence. He was so entranced with a weakened Thanos that he failed to see his remaining strength. "THOR!"

"You should have gone for the head."

But just before he could snap his fingers, I thrust all my energy at him. A great gust of wind bellowed as it knocked trees down, uprooting the grass around us. A BOOM from my force echoed on the Wakandan battlefield as Thor was blown aside, sending his body smacking against a tree from the brush and crumpling to the ground. Thanos roared in anger as the white light beaming from my hands held his thumb and forefinger apart, mere inches from each other. Thanos was inches away from wiping out half of the universe, and I wasn't about to let that happen. And after all we'd fought for, I didn't care what it took; I would risk almost anything to kill this son of a bitch once and for all.

Still, Thanos had one more trick up his sleeve. "You carry something... something of immeasurable value." He whispered, grunting as he forced his fingers closer together.

"NO!" I screamed, watching as the white ball of energy shrunk. My veins, now electrified by the color of pure light, were coursing with the agony this amount of strength was causing me.

"You... Sarah, daughter of Ethan and Holly Lane... you are special." Thanos urged on, his piercing eyes antagonizing.

All around me, I could hear that the battle had ceased. Thor's breathing from the left pulled the slightest bit of my attention, but I immediately refocused and tuned out all other life. It was just me and him, and if it wasn't, it would cost us the entire battle. So instead of continuing to remain unresponsive, I knew I had to keep him occupied. Sweat dripped from my forehead and back, but I still found something within me that gave me the strength to respond.

"Don't you dare say their names."

Thanos only chuckled in response. Despite the way my energy bound his body and his fingers, he willed himself to continue. He clearly had a point to make. "I know what it is to have a daughter... as do they. As will you."

That gave me reason to freeze. My energy still pulsed through me, lighting up my skin and my eyes, but my stomach had plummeted far from the heavens.

"What?"

"You didn't know?" Thanos grinned, his stare intense. I gritted my teeth from the effort, fighting the urge to scream. "What you carry—your daughter."

I inhaled sharply, both from the effort and from the news. And whether it was from the shock or the raw emotion itself, my energy became magnified. It pulsed through the air, and swept through the ground. I began my slow walk towards him, the force causing my footsteps to shatter the earth below me. Soon, Thanos and I were face to face, eye to eye for one last time.

I knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to forfeit my hand, to force me to give up. It was the only possibility; it was the only thing I could accept. So I stared Thanos straight in his malicious blue irises, realizing that they were the color of the sky.

"You're lying."

"DO NOT CALL ME A LIAR!" Thanos roared, smacking me aside with his free hand. I flew through the air, my energy stream broken, and tumbled a few feet away. "I AM NO LIAR, SARAH LANE!" I lifted my cheek from the ground, forcing myself to sit up. Coughing, I brought a hand to my abdomen before pressing a finger to my lips, seeing red. Then, Thanos knelt to the ground in front of me.