───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰ ───

The gauntlet was left with no defense in the middle of the battlefield, almost challenging anyone to step in and take it.

Thanos made his way up to the glove and was about to grab it when Tony stopped him with a tug of his arm. The titan was able to shake him off and tossed him to the dirt at the same time that (Y/N) regained her footing, having seen the entire thing. Her blood boiled at the sight of her husband laying on the ground defeated, so she thrusted her feet against the floor to fly in that direction.

At that same moment, Thor jumped in to fight Thanos off, his axe crackling with lightning as he used it to try and slice at the skin. (Y/N) joined the fight from behind, using her strength to restrain Thanos in a chokehold that allowed Thor to get a flew blows in.

Thor summoned his hammer too, and he used both of his weapons to keep Thanos from moving due to the crackling of lightning that these weapons had. The god's eyes were glowing in an electric blue light identical to the lightning around the axe, but that power didn't last for long. Thanos head butted Thor and punched him once his grip on his hand was free. He reached his other hand backward and grabbed a hold of (Y/N)'s hair, pulling onto it to throw her aside.

He grabbed the gauntlet but Y/N) jumped back in to kick him in the back of the knee to bend it over. Carol flew to assist her, but Thanos grabbed her by the arm and spun her around before tossing her away. He threw a punch with left hand that hit (Y/N) square in the jaw, giving him enough time to grab the gauntlet and placing it on.

The energy surged through his arm and he let out a groan at the sensation, but (Y/N) grabbed his gloved hand and tried to take it off. He fought back against her harsh grip and he tried to punch her again, this time not having the same effect as before. She grinned at him and removed one hand from her grip on the glove, extending it in the air in hopes that the weapon might come to her.

The Mjolnir landed on her hand and she gripped the handle. With a smirk, she swung it forward and it smacked Thanos right in the side of his head with enough force to knock him back. (Y/N) didn't even wait for him to stand up before she raised the hammer in the air and thunder rumbled, a streak of lightning falling from the sky and into the weapon. She redirected the lightning in Thanos's direction, hitting him in the chest. She used her unoccupied hand and balled it into a fist before firing a blast of her own, doubling the damage.

Thanos growled in pain and all he could do was raise his gloved hand in an attempt to cover himself, though that didn't work. He removed the Power Stone out the gauntlet and held it in his other hand. He let out a groan at the pain of the stone coming in contact with his skin before he used it against (Y/N). Her eyes widened at the powerful blast coming her way and she wasn't quick enough to block it, which threw her back a few feet.

Tony regained consciousness and caught a glimpse of (Y/N) battered and bruised a few feet away. He swallowed the lump in his throat before he found Stephen's gaze between the battlefield, who responded by lifting a single finger in the air.

Tony knew what he meant by that and although he didn't want to reach this ending, he figured they had no other option. He just hoped (Y/N) could find a way to forgive him one day.

Thanos placed the Power Stone back in its rightful spot and the surge of energy ran through his arm again. Before he could snap his fingers, Tony gripped tightly against the glove and tried to take it off. Thanos smacked him away with two punches, watching him hit the ground.

A satisfied smirk appeared in his lips, raising the hand high in the air. "I am inevitable."

He snapped his fingers in hopes of feeling or seeing anything extraordinary, or even the faces of the people he thought he had defeated. But the glove only made a clanging sound, which made him turn his attention to the gauntlet; he found it empty, with no sign of the stones.

His attention turned to Tony, who was kneeling on the ground where he had tossed him the last time. There, in his hand, the Infinity Stones claimed their rightful place, setting up a powerful source of energy once they were set. The different rays of energy that flowed up and down his arm caused an inexplicable feeling down his arm, but he shrugged it all away to stare at Thanos.

"And I. . ." he panted. "am. . .Iron Man."

And he snapped his fingers.

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰ ───

The remaining creatures of Thanos's army began disappearing the same way she saw all of her friends do five years ago. They disintegrated into piles of nothing but dust, leaving Thanos completely speechless. He found the strength to sit down one last time before he disintegrated like the rest of the others, the nightmare that he was finally coming to an end.

Tony found enough strength to pull himself together and rest against a wall for support, his knees giving up under him. The ones that were the closest to where he laid placed themselves in front of him, forming some sort of barrier. Almost all of them feared what the reaction of a specific person might be.

Rhodey landed a few feet away from him, reaching out a hand to touch his shoulder.

Peter set himself down on the ground and approached him, his voice shaking in the process. "Mr. Stark?"

"Hey! Mr. Stark. Can you hear me? It's Peter," he continued. He got up close to the point where he knelt down to his eye level to make sure he was hearing him. "Hey. We won, Mr. Stark. We won, Mr. Stark. We won! You did it, sir, you did it."

(Y/N)'s blood ran cold as she heard the same phrases being repeated over and over again, hoping it was just a bad dream. A sense of deja vu washed over her when she saw the barrier they were creating in front of someone, and she did her best to push against them to see for herself. She ignored their protests and their attempts to stop her, her mind set on one thing only.

"I'm sorry."

(Y/N) found herself staring at the thing that had haunted her nightmares for the last couple years. It was still her adored husband, but at the same time, it wasn't him. The side of his face and arm were badly burnt to the point where she could see the cauterized blood in his flesh. The sight made her knees go weak, but she was strong enough to step forward.

(Y/N) saw Peter kneeling over Tony, hoping to receive an answer. She reached forward to touch his shoulder and guide him away from the scene before he could be more haunted than he probably already was. Pepper brought the kid into her own embrace, turning him away like she had read (Y/N)'s mind.

"Hey," (Y/N) knelt down at his level.

His head lolled to the side and he did his best to smile. "Hey, (Y/N)."

She placed a shaking hand on his arc reactor and he noticed this. He was able to gather enough  strength to place his barely warm hand over hers to calm her down, although it did the opposite.

"FRIDAY?"

"Life functions critical."

He looked tired, too tired. The sight made (Y/N) want to take his suffering away and endure it instead. She could see how hard he tried to grasp onto the last strings of life he had in him, but she knew there was something still holding him back. She remembered their previous talks, their own promise to prevent a situation like this from happening and ruining the precious life they had built together; but they should've known better.

"Tony?" she called out his name for what seemed to be the last time. "Look at me."

She searched his eyes in hopes of seeing the same ones she fell in love with, but it was the complete opposite. His once beautiful dark brown eyes were replaced with ones that had a red hue all over the sclera.

"We're gonna be okay," she whispered in hopes to calm him down. She recalled the conversation they had a few days ago, and she never imagined she'd have to remember it in this scenario.

"You can rest now."

He stopped all the sounds coming from his body. (Y/N) saw the exact moment where life left his eyes and just when she knew he couldn't see her anymore, she took it in herself to let out a sob. The light of his arc reactor died out and the hand that grasped onto hers dropped limp, adding more fuel to the fire of reality.

She pressed a last kiss to his cheek as a way of farewell. She did not want to make him feel like he wasn't loved in his last moments.

She hoped for a miracle. A stupid, ridiculous miracle that only happened in the movies. A sudden reassurance that everything was going to be all right and that it was just another one of her dreams. She wished he'd move and press one of his usual kisses to her temple, but it never came.

In that moment, he became more than just her husband. He had become her own weakness.