Not Without You: Book 1 (Canon-Divergence Stucky Fix-it-Fic)

Twenty-Three

"You might need this," Cassie panted, covered in dirt and hair matted with debris as she handed the shield to Steve.

Worried about her being on a battleground, Steve unsteadily herded her away from where the fight was going to take place. "What are you doing out here?"

Narrowing her eyes at him, Cassie said, "I can take care of myself."

"Not out here you can't," Steve argued, knowing that she'd get hurt. Or worse. Glancing around, he wondered where Scott was. Shaking his head, he said, "You need to go. Now."

"If anyone else can fight, I can, too!"

From deep in the marrow of his bones, Steve sighed in frustration, understanding now what Bucky had gone through with him. Understanding how Cassie felt too, Steve agreed, "You stay out of the way and you only fight when you have to defend yourself, got it?"

Cassie beamed, "Got it."

Finally taking the shield from her, Steve headed for Thor, finding that Tony in his Iron Man suit was also making his way that way. For a moment, Steve could feel Cassie shadowing him, but was thankful when she listened about staying off to the side. His left, to be more exact. His far, far left.

"What's he been doing?" Tony asked, with all three of them watching Thanos just... sit there.

"Absolutely nothing," Thor answered.

Steve looked around at the destroyed landscape and questioned, "Where are the stones."

"Somewhere under all this," Tony used a wide sweep of his arm to gesture in front of them. "All I know, is that he doesn't have them."

"So, we keep it that way," Steve said, keeping his eye on the large purple titan.

"Good. Just as long as we're all under agreement," Thor replied. Thunder crackled through the sky as he stretched both hands to summon Stormbreaker and Mjolnir. Magically, his casual, comfy clothes transforming into his battle gear. "Let's kill him properly this time."

The trio walked through the -- mostly -- cleared path to confront Thanos. As they got closer, the titan started monologuing about some stupid shit that started properly pissing Steve off. Not only had this man taken away the love of his life, but he had the audacity to sit there and act like he was better?

His companions must have felt the same as him as Thor let out a battle cry and Tony charged. Steve ran up, too. Not caring if the man was stronger than him, Steve had more fight in him. This time, he was out for blood. Only getting angrier when the man simply shoved him away, sending him flying into a pile of broken foundation.

Not that a bunch of debris was going to stop Steve. Getting right back up, he'd fight Thanos tooth and nail for what he did to them, least of all, for what he did to Bucky.

Steve's anger fueled him through fancy, spinning kicks and every executed punch. Every time that Thanos got the upper hand on him, Steve was glad to have Tony and Thor fighting with him. A refreshing contrast to what it had been like all those years ago in Wakanda.

After Tony was flung elsewhere due to a poorly aimed Mjolnir, Steve rushed up to the purple titan. Managing to even land a kick to his face. If this wasn't life or death, he would've taken a moment to feel proud about that accomplishment. Of course, the pride didn't last long when Thanos sent him flying through a pile of dirt and concrete with a single punch.

Trying to catch his breath, Steve stayed there for a beat longer than he would've liked. How many times had Steve been on a battlefield and made it on the other side alive? How many of those was from just dumb luck?

Shaking his head, Steve pushed himself back to his feet. Taking a cursory glance around to make sure that Cassie wasn't stupid enough to try and fight. Luckily, she seemed to have the good wherewithal to be nowhere in sight. Which was definitely for the best when Steve found Thanos standing over Thor, pressing Stormbreaker to his chest, going for the kill.

Needing something far stronger than himself and the vibranium shield, Steve decided to try. Reaching out his hand, the way he'd seen Thor do, he clenched his jaw and hoped this would work.

Eventually -- faster than Steve had expected -- the handle smacked against his palm. Not taking a moment to pause, Steve threw the powerful hammer. Hitting Thanos's arm and causing his balance to waver as he stopped shoving the axe into Thor's chest.

When Mjolnir returned to him, Thanos stood, turning to face him with a look of awe on his face. Spinning the hammer off to his side as he charged for Thanos, who in return, ran towards him. Meeting in the middle, Steve slammed Mjolnir upward under Thanos's chin, causing the titan to fly up before crashing down.

If only he had stayed down.

Trying everything he could think of as he fought the man. Throwing his shield, which was blocked. Using the shield as a backboard as he threw Mjolnir and it bounced off, hitting Thanos in the back of the head. Even conjuring lightning.

However, Thanos soon regained the upper hand. Knocking Mjolnir out of his hand and slicing at the inside of his thigh. Steve didn't give up though. Not even with Thanos's large double-sided sword sent him flying. Sure, he might not have gotten up as fast as he had previously, but he refused to give up. He never gave up as a 90 pound runt from Brooklyn, and he wasn't about to give up now. Even if he was struggling to stand up.

"In all my years of conquest -- violence -- slaughter," Thanos started, "It was never personal. But I'll tell you now, what I'm going to do with your stubborn, annoying little planet, I'm gonna enjoy it. Very, very much."