❝ NIGHT TERRORS ❞
( KEEPERS OF THE STONES )
xviii. the heroes have lost
chapter eighteen

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AVENGERS TOWER, TWO YEARS AGO

             Sloane was awoken by the feeling of shifting weight on the bed and the coolness of the air as the covers were suddenly tugged off her legs. She sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she squinted in the darkness, the only light source being the moon peeking through the curtains that guarded the window across the room. Sloane could make out Tony's outline beside her, the man twitching and grasping at his chest as he muttered something in his sleep.

                " Tony. " Sloane whispered, pulling her legs up to sit on her knees; she gently placed a hand on his arm, " Tony, hey, Tony, wake up, "

                   With a sudden gasp, the man shot forward, sitting up abruptly, making Sloane flinch as he heavily panted, hand still stuck to his chest, where the arc reactor scars were. Even in the darkness, Sloane could see wet trails reflecting down his face. He seemed to just realize where he actually was, quickly looking over at Sloane with an expression of panic before he squeezed her forearm.

               " Sloane, I—I. . . " It was like he couldn't catch his breath, continuously panting as his eyes darted around rapidly, scanning her face for some sort of reassurance before they fixated on her eyes as the nightmare he had just woken from flashed through his memory again. " I. . I. . "

                   " Tony, it's okay, just breathe. " Sloane said in a calm voice, eyebrows pulled together in a concerned look as she placed her hand over his, which was tightly gripping her forearm in fear; she soothingly rubbed his knuckles with her thumb as she tried to comfort him. " Breathe, babe, you're okay. It's just you and me, okay? You gotta breathe, just breathe, "

                  That wasn't the first night terror Tony had experienced, and it surely wasn't the first one that Sloane had been a part of. For years now, ever since she had met Tony, he had been having nightmares. He used to have one every night, and, thankfully, it had been reduced to about one a week. Still, when she was awoken in the middle of the night by Tony's terrified shouts or quiet cries, she was startled, but she eventually learned how to handle them.

                  Sloane did her research, and she even asked Bruce for some advice. He had told her that she just needed to try to calm him down, and that when he came to his senses that he would be okay. It was easier said than done most nights, and each nightmare was equally as bad as the last. Sloane could remember a particular instance when she had heard a crashing noise from the guest room of Tony's Malibu beach house. She hurried in to his room to find him sitting against the frame of the bed, a vase shattered beside him, nearly choking on his own breath as he muttered something about the Chitauri.

                 For the most part, Sloane was able to get him calm and collected within minutes, and then she would ask him if he wanted to talk about it. Usually, he said no, and they would go back to bed without anymore questions, but Sloane was sure to keep an arm wrapped around him to try and ward off any oncoming nightmares. Tony couldn't endure two in one night, it would send him into another sleepless strike.

                 Tonight, though, when Sloane looked deeply into Tony's panicked eyes, she knew he wouldn't say no this time.

                He slowly lowered his hand away from his chest, eyes locked on to Sloane before him, trying to ease his breathing, but she could still see the excessive rise and fall of his chest with each breath. Tony cautiously extended his hand, as if he forgot that he was already holding on to her forearm, and carefully placed his calloused fingers to her face, even sighing in relief as he laid his hand against the side of her face, like he hadn't expected her to be real.

                 Sloane raised her hand to grab his, giving him a small smile with her restless eyes as she quietly said, " Hey, you okay? "

                  " You're. . you're okay. " Tony finally said, lifting his other hand from her arm to meet the other at her face, clasping it between his hands before leaning his forehead against hers and looking at her eyes briefly before closing them with an exhale.

                   Sloane didn't need to ask to know that Tony's nightmare was about her being hurt, or something worse. She held onto both of Tony's hands, watching his face relax as he began to breathe normally again.

                     " Yeah, yeah, I'm okay, " She confirmed softly, pulling his hands down with hers, squeezing them reassuringly before his eyes opened, leaning back away from her with an exhausted look on his face; she waited a moment before she asked the routine question, " You wanna talk about it? "

                     " No. "

                     " Okay. "

                    Then, the two of them shifted on the bed, Sloane leaning her head back against the headboard, Tony's head laid on stomach as one of his arms stretched across her body to grab her hand. Sloane kept an arm draped over his back, rubbing circles against the soft fabric of his t-shirt. She'd often wait to fall back asleep until he did, just so that she could wait a few minutes to make sure he didn't fall back into another nightmare. However, as she waited to hear the somewhat obnoxious snores come from Tony, there was nothing but the sound of the drizzling rain against the roof.

                And, then, after the silence, Tony spoke.

              " You were dead. "

               Sloane has assumed that was the content of his night terror, but it didn't make her heart drop any less. She lifted her hand to his head, running her fingers through his short strands of brown-graying hair.

                  " I watched you die, I let you die. It was my fault. " Sloane could hear his voice crack, and she frowned to herself. " I. . I don't know how it happened, but, one second you were standing there smiling at me, and the next. . . I was holding your dead body in my arms. . "

                       " It's okay, Tony, that wasn't real. I'm here, with you. I'm okay. " Sloane tried to reassure him, but she could feel his slight trembling from his hand entwined with hers. " We're okay, Tony. "

                      " It felt so real. " He mumbled, and Sloane closed her eyes briefly, her chest aching to hear the pain in his words. Tony held so much pain and stress in his mind that it was tricking him into causing more.

                       " You can't get rid of me that easily. " She insisted, " I'm not going anywhere, Tony, you don't have to worry about me. I promise. "

                    There was another beat of silence, like he was trying to decide how true her pose really was, in terms of fate and how the universe truly worked.

                     " Sloane? " He asked in such a quiet voice that she almost didn't hear him; it was only in situations like this had she ever seen Tony Stark in a vulnerable position, in a moment where he wasn't overly confident in himself.

      
                    Sloane hummed in response, raising an eyebrow with closed eyes, even though he couldn't see it.

                    " Thank you, for being here. For not leaving. "

                      Sloane half smiled to herself before she responded, " I love you too much to leave you, Tony. "

                        They were both silent again, and then, before Sloane could feel sleep beginning to settle back in, Tony finally said,

                      " I love you, Sloane. "

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WAKANDA, PRESENT DAY

Helena's eyes were glued to the spot where Thanos had been, just five seconds earlier. Now, he was gone, and the universe was changing. Steve appeared from the tree line, a hand clutched to his abdomen, panting as he approached the two Asgardians, eyes looking around rapidly.

" Where'd he go? " He asked, and, noticing their silence, he turned around briefly before looking back at the two, " Thor. Helena. Where'd he go? "

Helena couldn't even look at the man known as Captain America, instead staring at the ground while Thor just met the man's questioning eyes with an exhale.

" Steve? " Bucky called, walking towards the three of them; the trio glanced over at the sound of his voice, and they watched in confusion as his vibranium arm began to disintegrate, turning to dust and drifting in the wind. Then, his legs started to disappear until he fell to the ground, vanishing in a cloud of black dust.

Helena's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion as she looked to where Bucky's gun had fell in his place. Steve approached the spot where his best friend had just been, kneeling beside it to stare at the ground, trying to figure out what had just happened. He slowly glanced up at the Asgardians, and Helena began to shake her head as she realized that this was it. This was Thanos' plan.

" He won. " She whispered in defeat.

From across the woods, Itai gripped his pounding head, seeing T'Challa standing before him, pulling him to his feet.

" Are you okay? " T'Challa asked, and Itai nodded, even though the simple action sent a shockwave of pain throughout his skull; together, they walked over to a fallen Okoye. T'Challa bent down and extended his hand to her before insisting, " Up, Okoye, up. This is no place to die. "

As Okoye gripped his forearm, T'Challa's began to dust away before he disappeared into the air within seconds. Itai quickly reached out, grabbing at nothing but empty space as T'Challa vanished. Itai looked at his hand, eyes wide as he and Okoye stared at the air. Okoye slowly stood on her own, her eyes wider than even Itai's.

" My God. . " She mumbled, then she began to scream in panic, " My God! "

Around the forest, Rocket watched as the last of his family, Groot, disappeared from existence. Then Wanda, who kneeled beside Vision's grayed body. And Sam, who laid fallen in the bushes.

Itai left Okoye to find the others, rushing up to Helena, Thor, Steve, and the others that had gathered around. He could head Rhodey calling for Sam. Itai noticed Helena's fallen expression. He didn't think he needed to say it, but he did.

" They are gone. "

Helena's eyes dragged over to her fellow Keeper, and she held the most defeated expression Itai had ever seen. From what he knew of the Asgardian, she was determined and full of fire, but her kohl-circled eyes were dull and she looked nearly dead with the open wound in her stomach.

Then, he felt something odd start to happen. It was like a strange emptiness throughout his body, and he instinctively looked down at his fingers, seeing them begin to disappear. His eyes instantly flashed to Helena, who tilted her head, shaking it slowly in denial as she met his eyes, briefly looking at his hand.

He stumbled towards her, holding out his other hand as the dusting trailed up his arm slowly. Helena weakly grabbed onto him, her lack of blood and strength causing her to fall to the ground with Itai in her arms as she heard him muttering something.

" I don't want to die alone, I don't want to die alone, " He pleaded, and Helena couldn't even manage to give him a reassuring smile, she just held his upper body in her lap as his legs began to vanish, crawling up his body.

Then, it reached his neck, and she whispered, " not alone " before he was gone, and the weight was lifted off her arms.

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TITAN, PRESENT DAY

Vero grabbed Tony's forearm, helping him stand to his feet with the help of Peter. He watched his dad stumble to gain balance, but he steadied himself rather quickly. Vero still kept a hand on his arm, more for himself than for his father.

Mantis looked around at the dark space sky as she felt something change in the atmosphere, chills running down her back as she insisted, " Something's happening. "

Then, as they all waited for her to elaborate, she disappeared before their very eyes, turning into nothing but dust floating in the air. The defeated heroes stared at her missing presence, no one able to voice their confusion before Drax spoke up.

" Quill? " He called, eyes narrowed questionably as the leader of the Milano glanced over to see the last of his crew disintegrate beside him.

Tony grasped Vero's arm tightly as he marched closer towards Quill, who had an utterly helpless expression on his face as he turned to look at them.

" Steady, Quill. " Tony said, but they watched as Star-Lord, too, began to dust away with nothing more than an 'oh, man'.

" What the hell is going on? " Vero questioned, glancing around before his eyes landed on Strange and Lucina; everyone was silent as they tried to soak in what had just happened.

They barely got a second to, though, as Lucina swallowed thickly and talked in a deadly calm voice, " Stephen. . . "

Strange glanced down to see Lucina's hand no longer gripping his, in fact, it was not there at all. She was disappearing more and more by the minute, and Strange only gave her a reassuring expression, a solemn look on his face, completely contradicting the panicked look on the woman's face.

" I will find you, Lucy, don't be afraid. " He promised her, and then the Keeper of gone; Vero could feel Tony's grip on his arm tighten, as if he was trying to keep his son from disappearing, too.

Then, shaking him out of his trance, Strange spoke, " Tony. . . "

The aforementioned man slowly turned around to look at the wizard, who was already halfway gone, and Strange insisted, " There was no other way. "

And, with a final breath, he was gone, too.

But, before Strange was even completely gone, Peter called out, " Uh, Mr. Stark. . "

The two Starks both turned around at the teen's voice, and the elder held denial on his face as the younger's eyes widened in horror. Peter took a slight step towards them before he continued.

" I don't feel so good. " He looked down at his hands, expecting to see them disappearing before him like the others.

" You're alright. " Tony insisted, denial laced in his voice as Peter stumbled several steps forward.

" I don't know what's happening, I don't know, I don't— " Peter rambled before suddenly falling into Vero's arms; Tony flinched and moved towards the two of them as Vero was forced to kneel as Peter's legs disappeared from underneath him. " I don't want to go, I don't want to go, Vero, "

" Pete, Pete, hey, " Vero's voice cracked as he gripped Peter's hand in his, Tony kneeling on the other side of the boy, watching in both fear and helplessness as the dust began to trail up his body. Peter looked up between the two Starks, bottom lip trembling as he locked eyes with Vero, who let out a shuddering breath as he tried to keep the tears from falling down his face. " Pete, you're okay, you're gonna be okay, Pete, I. . "

Vero knew he should say it, Peter was vanishing right in his hands, he had to tell him now, he had to say it. The moment was slipping between in fingers, and he couldn't risk not saying it if he never saw Peter again.

" I'm sorry, " Peter breathed, and Vero squeezed his hand as tightly as he could to remind himself that he was still there.

" I. . I love you, Pete. " Vero managed to choke out before tears streaked down his cheek, his throat tightening as his fingernails suddenly dug into his own palm, and he glanced down to see Peter's hand had disappeared.

Tony's eyes were glued to the ground as Peter finally disappeared without another word. Vero sat on his knees, clutching his hand shut as he stared at the ground, shoving his other hand down onto the surface of the planet, as if he could pull Peter back into existence.

Vero felt himself suddenly being pulled into an embrace, his father's arms wrapping tightly around him; the boy choked out a sob as soon as he was in his father's grip, weeping into his shoulder. Tony kept one hand on the back of Vero's neck, the other tightly around his torso, keeping him close to him. The only thing on his mind now was that Vero was disappear before his eyes, too, and he couldn't let that happen, so he kept his grip as tight as he could. Tony closed his eyes as he felt tears in them, too, his body shaking with his son's own cries.

Nebula looked away guiltily, giving them a moment of silence before she emotionlessly stated, " He did it. "

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note.

ouch.

all that's left is the epilogue now!!

If you have any feedback about this chapter, I'd love to hear it! What'd you like about it, what'd you dislike about it? A specific character, relationship, or scene caught your eye? Brotps? Otps?

Any predictions or worries for the future chapters? Anything else you'd like to mention? I'm all ears!

until next time,