I looked sharply to Steve, almost as though I didn't believe what I heard. That sounded a lot like Sam Wilson.

"Cap, it's Sam. Can you hear me?"

No way...

"On your left."

Steve and I stepped aside at seeing a yellow ring coming from nowhere—no, it was a portal. Familiar faces—Okoye, T'Challa, and Shuri—emerged. I laughed deliriously as Sam soared above them from that same portal in his Falcon suit.

"Steve," I whispered in awe. Surprisingly, having tears gather in my eyes wasn't as painful as I had expected, given everything else that hurt at the moment.

Dozens of portals began to open behind us. Reinforcements from all around the world—a lot of unfamiliar faces I had never seen before—emerged. I could spot Wanda's red magic, Aria taking flight from her wind power...Spiderman with a bunch of other heroes I had never met before.

Asgardians. Wakandans. And so many more.

Bloody hell.

The Wakandans began their familiar chant, one that I somehow still remembered from five years ago. It sent a jolt of energy through my body, and another sensation—the sudden rise of hope.

In the throng of the vast amount of bodies, I saw armor (purple and gold) that could only belong to one other person other than Tony Stark.

Pepper?! I asked. Where's Gracie and Morgan? Are the kids—?

They're in good hands, Kiara.

Well, I was glad Pepper thought ahead. Nice suit.

I took a good, long look at our sudden swell of numbers. Minutes ago, I had been prepared to die. Been prepared to fight every last alien until I couldn't anymore. I was ready to confront death with my husband fighting alongside me.

"We can do this," I whispered to myself. I looked to my husband. "Steve, we can do this."

Bursting from the rubble was Scott Lang, or rather, Giant-Man. Rhodey was in the air in his War Machine armor, Rocket hitching a ride on his shoulder, his own gun at the ready. Bruce leapt from Scott's open hand.

Now everyone was up in arms with their own war cries. The fatigue that had overtaken me, their chants evaporated it.

I was part of the front line, along with Thor, Wanda, Tony, Steve, and countless others. This is the fight for our universe. Time sent a destroyer to stop us. It's time for us to put an end to him, once and for all.

"AVENGERS!" Steve rallied in the loudest voice he could. He had an open hand outstretched, to which his newest ally flew into. "Assemble!"

The collective battle cry sent everyone in a thundering charge. Good and evil charged for one another, with Thanos's ships above as waiting spectators.

I gave a few limps before I took the skies with the others in the air. I dived, sending my body alight before making another crater into the earth. Both sides collided all around.

It was absolute chaos. Aliens fighting heroes. Some friendly fire. I aided heroes I had never met before. I didn't need to even know their names or faces to know that they were on the side of life.

A few aliens crowded around me, but incoming blasts sent them all away. I cast a quick glance above. Tony and Pepper in their respective suits were defending up in the air. I couldn't help but watch the pair in action. I wasn't sure I had ever thought Pepper Potts would join a fight, let alone on this kind of scale. Ever.

As Tony shot away, Pepper landed beside me.

"I guess this was an all hands on deck situation," I noted to Pepper as I stabbed an incoming enemy with my blades.

Pepper thrust a few blasts of energy to give us wider breathing room. "This was something I couldn't be benched for."

"Who's watching the girls, Pepper?"

"I told you, Kia, they're fine."

Eventually, Pepper and I separated, and I found myself battling alongside Aria. She threw a bunch of tornados throughout the battlefield, sweeping up both enemies and allies. I sent a circle of fire around us before building it up into a dome. I could see quickly that it wasn't one of my stronger ones.

"I must've missed them, but we're missing a few people, aren't we?" Aria asked breathlessly.

"We've...we've lost some along the way," I said thickly. "But we can't mourn, not now."

"Right. See you at the end of this."

I let down the fire dome as Aria shot off into the skies. Above, flying monsters roamed, entangling with our forces in the air.

"Cap," came Clint's voice over comms, "what do you want me to do with this damn thing?"

"Wait," I exclaimed as I shot myself up into the air. Amidst all the fighting, it was hard to find any familiar faces. "Since when did you get the gauntlet?"

"Now isn't the time for storytelling, Kia."

"Get those stones as far away as possible!" Steve urged.

"No!" said Bruce. "We need to get them back where they came from."

"How?" I retorted.

"Firefly's got a point," commented Tony. "No way to get them back. Thanos destroyed the Quantum Tunnel."

"Hold on!" Scott exclaimed. "That wasn't our only time machine."

In the midst of weapons clashing, screaming, and cries of pain, a weird song came blasting through the air. I hoped it wasn't a battle anthem, it certainly didn't sound like one.

"Anyone see an ugly, brown van up there?" asked Steve.

"Yes!" came a vaguely familiar voice. I believed it was Valkyrie. "But you're not gonna like where it's parked!"

"Scott, how long you need to get that thing working?" asked Tony.

"Maybe ten minutes," came Scott's reply.

"Get it started," said Steve. "We'll get the stones to you."

"We're on it, Cap," said an unfamiliar female voice.

If anyone can hear me, I said through thought, help an ally out. Band together. Don't let them single you out. We have to keep Thanos and his friends from getting the gauntlet. Do everything in your power to make sure they don't get their hands on those stones!

I swooped in low, just over a lot of the battles, firing off fireballs at any allies who needed help. The battlefield felt so vast, there was so much to lose track off, let alone keep tabs on.

I cried out as something grabbed one of my feet, yanking me down to the dirt. Snarling, I shot out a stream of fire, setting an alien ablaze. With a kick, I got myself free. My leg throbbed but it was okay to stand on.

I barely stood for thirty seconds before the ships in the air rained fire on all below. Ground, dirt, bodies were kicked up upon impact. I pulled a tight fire dome around myself to prevent debris from hitting me. Above, shields in similar colors to the portals from before protected everyone's heads.

As the firing became somewhat sporadic, I launched myself up again, finding Wanda slowly picking herself up off the ground, with enemies closing in. I threw down warning fireballs before landing near her, giving her a hand up.

"Welcome back," I half-teased.

"Good to be back, though circumstances could be way nicer," the witch commented. "You've...looked better."

"Yeah, I've felt better too."

Wanda and I fought back to back, with me alternating between my fire and my blades, Wanda primarily sticking with her magic. Cannons from above ceased to fire on all of us, redirecting themselves up towards the skies.

"What the hell is this?" said Sam over comms.

Oh my...A bright light burst through the clouds, tearing its way through the ship. Explosions bloomed throughout, and once of the spot of light rose above the ship, I realized there was only one person who could give off that aura.

Carol freaking Danvers.

"Danvers," said Steve, "we need an assist here."

Wanda and I kept our eyes to the skies as Carol flew over. With a nod, the witch and I took flight to keep close. We kept high up, watching as Carol spoke with a very frightened, beaten up Spider-man, who lost his mask at some point during this chaos. I knew he had sounded young from our first encounter, but damn if he didn't look old enough to be partaking in this. Tight in his death grip was the gauntlet. He handed it over to Carol.

"I don't know how you're gonna get it through all that," the boy commented.

"Don't worry," Wanda called from above as she and I landed. Nearby, other women started to gather and form a line along with Carol.

"She's got help," said Okoye.

Pepper, Aria, and few other familiar faces came to aid Carol. As one, we all took charge, air and sky, to meet a fresh wave to stop us from securing the gauntlet. Aria, Wanda, and I took to the air, helping to clear Carol's path.

"Look out!"

Before I could find Aria, she found me, her body colliding with mine. In a tumble, we fell into no man's land, pulling apart. My vision shook, and Aria was on all fours, vomiting. In a stumble, I rushed for her. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve as I helped her up. While part of our squad was still fighting, I lost sight of Carol.

"She'll be okay," I said, whether to Aria or myself, it was hard to say.

With Aria a little wobbly, I bought her time, killing any aliens that came our way. I had to yank the girl back by her collar so she didn't get swiped in the face by an alien claw. As a few jumped for us at the same time, she produced a strong wind gust to shoot them all over the battlefield.

"Are you good to fight?" I asked her.

"I-I think so." Her eyes screwed shut as she placed a hand against the side of her head.

"Hang in there. Keep fighting."

With a firm nod, the two of us launched into the air again. Aria separated from me, and I took a sweep above, aiming fire at any lone aliens I could find.

Kiara. Kiara.

I dove low to snatch an alien and haul it into the sky. With a grunt, I tossed it as far as my arms would allow me. I took another sharp dive, allowing my fire to shield me all around. I barreled through aliens, knocking them over, setting them afire. I stumbled on my landing, igniting my hands. My blades were ready if need be.

Hey, Kia. KIA.

I grunted as I dispatched another alien. Tony, I'm a little busy right now.

Yeah, so is everyone else. I need a favor. You nearby?

I took a quick scan of the battlefield, looking for his signature red-and-gold armor. It took some time through the battles around to see him. Yeah. What do you need?

A distraction. For Thanos. I've got an idea.

I'm not going to like it, am I?

Truthfully, firefly, I'm not gonna like it either. But...this might be our only shot. I want you to help me.

I swallowed. Tony...what are you going to do?

Thanos gave away his location by his yell of pain. The familiar colors of the Infinity Stones surged through his body as he donned the gauntlet.

One distraction for a purple madman, coming up. I took flight, ramming all my weight against Thanos' side. He stumbled away upon impact, rolling along in the dirt. My fists were consumed by blue fire. You took my best friend from me. I'm going to take away your victory.

Thanos met my charge, and my feet dug into the dirt. I sent up fiery uppercuts, but nothing seemed to take him down. I leapt, ready to bring a fist down on his head, but his arm smacked me back into the ground. He stomped on my chest for good measure before moving away so I wouldn't be able to pull a quick move on him.

I was lucky to have a beating heart.

Tony, no! Tony jumped into the fray, leaping for the gauntlet on Thanos' hand. It was a struggle, one which my friend didn't win. Thanos delivered him a serious punch, sending Tony flying.

Every inhale hurt when I tried to recollect my air. I rolled onto my side, tears gathering in my eyes. In a really desperate last-ditch effort, I began to crawl towards Thanos, everything in my chest screaming at me.

"I am—inevitable," said the madman.

"No!" I screamed as he snapped the gauntlet fingers.

There was no bright flash of light. Only a confused look upon my face, and Thanos'. He inspected the gauntlet, to find the stones gone.

Tony. I found my friend a good distance away, the stones climbing themselves onto his gauntlet. I started to try and get up as the power surged through Tony's body.

"And I—am—Iron Man."

The moment I blinked, white light flashed in my vision.

While I couldn't get to my feet, sitting, for now, would do. I looked around. Thanos' forces were dusting. It allowed our allies to be spared a few close calls. Tony did it. We won. It's all over.

In waves, Thanos' allies blew away in the gentle wind that had decided to bless us with its presence. The madman himself wore a shocked expression. You underestimated us, big guy. You can never harm this planet, or anyone, ever again.

In defeat, Thanos slowly found a spot to sit down and reflect on his loss, before becoming dust himself.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Tony, still alive, hobbling, looking for a place to crash. With a new burst of energy, I fumbled to my feet, rushing to his non-injured side. His complete right side was burned, an unfortunate side effect to his actions.

We did it, I thought. But at what cost?

Though Tony never spoke a word to me, he gestured for me to allow him to rest in a nook of debris. I let out a choked breath at seeing the full extent of the damage from his snap. It was astounding to me that he was still alive.

When I heard feet approach, I knew my time was up. It didn't need to be said that Tony Stark was living his last moments.

I might've imagined it, but I could've sworn Tony's good arm reached for me as I left to make room for the others.

Don't...go...Kiara.

I stopped midstride, conflicted. If I went back to him...I wouldn't be capable of hiding my tears. He didn't need to see the pain on my face in his last moments. What got me the most was that he used my full first name. There were rare instances that Tony Stark used my name like that.

I'm still around, I thought sadly, though I wasn't sure it reached Tony.

"I..." I wasn't sure what I was going to say when I intercepted Pepper. She offered me the saddest of smiles before putting a metal hand on my shoulder, squeezing. "If I had known..."

Knowing that Tony was going to be surrounded by Pepper, Rhodey, and the kid who called himself Spiderman, I went in search of Steve. He found me first, having been with Thor. I hobbled to him, hugging him lightly. His hold felt rather tight.

"Honey, in pain," I rasped. "You don't have to let go, just...ease up." I gave a thin smile. "Be honest, did you worry about me?"

"Me, worry about my Asgardian wife? Never." Our foreheads pushed together gently.

My body shook. I maneuvered slowly, fitting against Steve's side. My eyes fell onto the solemn, bitter goodbye before me. I refused to eavesdrop—while I was sure I wasn't the only one watching, I didn't want to be snooping on the words.

With Pepper's bowed head, I knew it was done.

Around us, those who had lingered to be with Tony in his final moments took a knee in respect to the fallen hero. Steve and I went to both knees, me leaning on him hard. I covered my mouth with my hand at remembering what Tony had wanted more than anything out of this.

He saved his family, but paid the ultimate price.

**Since I really loved the deleted scene I had to throw it in here. It just felt right.**