A/N: There are only six more chapters left AH I feel like I want to chat to you guys in the author's note bit while I still can :( I tried starting to plan for my next Loki slow burn but I'm still way too in my feels about finishing this fic, so I think it'll have to wait a while! I love giving you guys a chapter a day; your comments make the hours of writing all entirely worth it  <3

...

You landed on your knees, keeping your eyes closed for a second, still seeing Asgard as though you were there.

"Did we get them all?"

Your eyes flew open. Everyone was back on the raised glass platform, all of you looking around frantically at each other's hands.

Rocket was still holding the Aether. Tony was clutching the Tesseract in its case (your heart stopped for a second when you saw it, remembering the last time you'd seen it), Bruce had the Time and Mind stones. Rhodey was holding the Power stone.

From your first, frantic glance around the circle you only counted five stones, and you froze, fearing the worst.

Something was definitely wrong, you could feel it, but it was taking your brain a moment to catch up with your eyes. Finally you realised: someone was missing.

Clint.

Nat looked up, ashen faced, and opened her hand to reveal the Soul stone. Relief hit you square in the face, right before her grief over losing her friend. You were still reeling from seeing Asgard, and Frigga, and now this. You weren't sure how much more you could take.

Steve moved first to comfort Nat, and you stood up to move towards her too, but before you'd taken so much as two steps Tony had reached you and grabbed you into a fierce hug.

"Are you okay?" he asked, emotion pouring off of him in waves. You hugged him back tightly.

"I'm fine. Did something happen?" you asked, pulling away from the embrace to look at him.

"No, I'm... I saw my Dad." he told you. Your mouth fell open. How had he seen Howard? They'd only gone back to 2012. You were saved from trying to think up a reply by Thor bursting into tears, still on the floor behind you.

Nat was a mess, being comforted by Steve and Bruce, Rocket and Nebula were embracing and Rhodey was moving towards Tony. Scott was sat on the floor, looking a bit spaced out.

You left Tony with Rhodey and went to look after Thor. Time travel had messed you all up pretty badly, but you'd done it. You'd done it.

Well, you specifically had been pretty useless, but that was beside the point.

You had all six Infinity stones in the room. That meant that you could reverse everything.

...

You, Nat, Tony, Steve, Thor and Bruce went down to the lake for a few minutes of respite. Clint's absence hung heavily in the air around you. Nat had ceased crying, but was now sat with a blank expression on her face which scared you more than when she had been sobbing minutes previously.

The silence stretched on for so long that finally you began to grow restless. There were six Infinity stones up in the compound, and you wanted to use them, even if the thought of it scared you beyond belief. You understood, however, that being Asgardian had made time travel a lot easier on you and Thor than the others.

"Why are we acting like he's dead?" Thor asked suddenly, angrily. You all turned to look at him.

"We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones, Cap, we can bring him back, isn't that right? We need to stop this shit; we're the Avengers. Get it together." he continued heatedly. He was in shock from talking to Frigga and seeing Asgard again, you could feel it.

You were too. You felt the same sense of detachment and loss as when you'd lost Loki, just on a much smaller scale, but this time you were able to put a name on what you were feeling, having experienced it before.

"We can't get him back." Nat said hoarsely.

"Wha- what?" Thor asked, confused.

"It can't be undone. It can't." Nat emphasised. You felt awful for her. You hadn't been into her mind; that was something that you didn't want to see.

Thor laughed dryly and Steve frowned at him. You shook your head infinitesimally at him, stood behind Thor. He didn't need to be made any more angry.

"I'm sorry, no offence, but you're a very Earthly being, okay? We're talking about space and magic. And 'can't' seems very definitive, don't you think?" Thor asked.

"I know. But he isn't here, is he?" Nat asked, anger flashing behind her eyes.

"No- that's my point-" Thor started, but Nat wasn't about to be shouted down.

"It can't be undone. It can't." she half yelled, standing up and glaring at Thor, fresh tears filling her eyes. Then she sat back down heavily and buried her head in her hands.

"It was supposed to be me. He sacrificed his life for that stone. He bet his life on it." she told you all, her voice muffled by her hands.

"He's not coming back. We have to make it worth it. We have to." Bruce said, watching Nat sadly.

"We will." Steve said in determination. Thor was still stood facing Nat, now looking embarrassed. You put a hand on his arm gently and he shifted to put his arm around you, holding you to his side.

"Tony... you said you saw your dad?" you asked him, trying to draw the subject away from Clint.

"Yeah, we had to go quite a bit off-piste thanks to Reindeer Games." Tony told you. Hearing him refer to Loki as though he was alive knocked you off balance, and it took you a moment to realise what he'd said.

"What does that mean?" you asked, removing yourself from under Thor's arm.

"He stole the Tesseract and just... disappeared." Steve said to you. You stared at him, unable to comprehend why they sounded so nonchalant about the situation.

"Wha- what does that mean?" you stuttered, looking between Tony and Steve in confusion.

"Kid, it's nothing to worry about. Reindeer Games is just out there having fun with the Tesseract in some other timeline which doesn't affect this one." Tony told you. If it was meant to make you feel better, it didn't work. Thor didn't seem to be overly reassured by this either.

"Why did you let him get away?" he asked angrily.

"It's not like we gave it to him Lebowski. He stole it from us." Tony told Thor heatedly. You shot him a look which said 'don't'. The fact that there was a timeline where Loki was out in the universe with the Tesseract, and thus would surely never meet you, was weighing heavily on your mind.

"Y/N, there are a gazillion different timelines. Don't get caught up in it, it'll only drive you mad." Bruce told you. He made a good point.

"That doesn't explain why you saw Howard." you said, turning back to Tony.

"After Reindeer Games took off with the Tesseract we had to jump back further in time to get it back." Tony told you, looking at Steve.

"But- if you used the Pym particles to get there then... how did you get home?" you asked.

"There were more Pym particles at the SHIELD base we infiltrated." Tony said, looking out over the lake. You frowned at him.

"Did you know that there would be more particles there before you went back further in time?"

"Yes, obviously." he replied, avoiding eye contact. You looked at Steve who was sat with one hand still on Nat's back, who raised an eyebrow at you as though to say: 'what do you think?'.

Tony was such a hypocrite! He'd told you to come home no matter what, and yet he'd gone off even further into the past without knowing if he could get home safely.

He had come home. With the Tesseract. But that wasn't the point.

"Tony! What if-"

Nat stood up abruptly and you fell silent, looking at her.

"Let's do it. No point sat here talking about 'what if's'." she said, before turning on her heel and starting back up to the compound.

"She's right." Bruce said, starting after her. The rest of you followed in silence.

"What happened on Asgard?" Tony asked you quietly as you reached the compound.

"We saw Frig- Thor's mother." you replied under your breath, still unable to believe what had happened.

"That makes sense. He's not right." Tony said, looking over to Thor who was walking away from the rest of you.

"He hasn't been right for a while." you replied sadly.

"And you stole a sword." he said, gesturing to the sword which you were still holding on to.

"I- yes."

"Come with me to the lab."

Tony had already made a new gauntlet; now all you had to do was get the stones into it. And someone had to snap their fingers.

You became very involved in the moving of the stones into the gauntlet after you revealed that you could hold the Tesseract.

"No! Don't touch it." Tony yelled at Rocket as he opened the case the Tesseract was in and made to pick it up.

"Why not?" Rocket asked, jerked his hand back as Tony shouted.

"Because it will kill you." Tony said plainly. You frowned, and summoned the Tesseract to your hands. Tony gaped at you.

"Asgardian." you said by way of answer, staring down at the Tesseract which sat cold and smooth in your hands. Thanos had almost killed you for this. Loki had almost died for it. You felt a sudden surge of hatred towards it.

Tony nodded in shock for a few seconds, staring at your hands, and then beckoned you over.

"Come on then. I guess we don't need this device which took me four days to construct to get the stones in."

"We can still use your device." you protested, trying to make him feel better.

"No, it's fine. You can just do it." Tony sighed, and you hopped off of the table and made your way over to him.

Fifteen minutes of stress and shaking hands later, you placed the last stone into the gauntlet.

"Boom!" Rocket yelled as you let go, and you, Tony and Bruce all jumped a mile, before scowling at Rocket, who was shaking with laughter.

"Go and get the others." Tony said, shooing him away, turning back to look at the new gauntlet, now adorned with all six stones. It didn't take the others very long to arrive; within three minutes you, Tony, Nat, Steve, Bruce, Thor, Rocket, Rhodey and Scott were all stood in a circle around the gauntlet.

No one noticed Nebula's absence, not even Rocket.

"All right. The glove's ready. Who's gonna snap their freakin' fingers?" Rocket asked.

"It's a gauntlet, not a glove." you corrected him. You were nervous, still not allowing yourself to believe that this might possibly work.

"I'll do it." Thor said, stepping forward. You shook your head violently.

"No."

"Excuse me?" Scott asked in disbelief.

There was a barrage of protest as Thor moved into the middle of the circle.

"Wait, wait. Thor, just wait. We haven't decided who's gonna put that on yet." Steve said, holding his hands up.

"I'm sorry, what, we're just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?" Thor asked in annoyance.

"We should at least discuss it." Scott said.

"No, no, sitting here staring at that thing is not gonna bring everybody back. I'm the strongest Avenger, okay? So this responsibility falls upon me. It's my duty."

"It's not about that-" Tony started, but Thor cut across him.

"It's not that- stop it! Just let me!" he shouted, tears filling his eyes, emotion pouring off of him in waves.

"Just let me do it. Just let me do something good. Something right." he finished, his face crumpling. You wished he was strong enough to do it.

"Look, it's not just the fact that that gauntlet is channelling enough energy to light up a continent, I'm telling you, you're in no condition." Tony told Thor, gesturing at him.

"What do you- what do you think is coursing through my veins right now?" Thor asked him in confusion.

"Cheez Whiz?" Rhodey suggested.

"Lightning." Thor stated.

"Lightning won't help you pal. It's gotta be me." Bruce said, moving forward and putting a hand on Thor's arm. You moved towards him and led him back away from the gauntlet.

"You saw what those stones did to Thanos. It almost killed him. None of you could survive." Bruce said, looking at the gauntlet.

"How do we know you will?" Nat asked hoarsely, looking at Bruce worriedly through her red-rimmed eyes.

"We don't. But the radiation's mostly gamma. It's like... I was made for this." he said slowly.

"So... good to go, yeah?" Tony asked him.

"Let's do it." Bruce said firmly.

"Remember, everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago and just bringing them back to now, today. Don't change anything from the past five years." Tony stressed.

"Got it." Bruce nodded. Everyone moved back as far as they could; you summoned a shield of magic which covered you, Nat, Thor and Rocket. Tony activated his suit and activated two shields to protect Steve and Scott; Rhodey activated his suit.

"FRIDAY, do me a favour and activate Barn Door Protocol, will you?" Tony asked the AI.

"Yes boss." FRIDAY responded, and the facility began its lockdown procedure.

"Everybody comes home." Bruce said in determination. Your heart was racing, your adrenaline powering the shield which would protect you.

You all watched with bated breath as Bruce put on the gauntlet, which expanded to fit his hand as he slid it on. The power surge overwhelmed him quickly, and he yelled out in pain, dropping to one knee.

"Take it off! Take it off!" Thor yelled in a panic, trying to move forward towards Bruce. You didn't let him, your eyes fixed on Bruce, who had fallen to his knees.

"No, wait! Bruce, are you okay?" Steve called to him.

"Talk to me Banner." Tony said urgently.

"I'm okay. I'm okay." Bruce panted, painstakingly raising his hand and crying out in pain again. No one tried to move this time, all watching in anticipation and fear and hope. The intensity of the energy which was radiating from the gauntlet was frightening you; it was making your ears ring.

Bruce gave a final shout of agony, shrouded in energy, before he managed to bring his fingers together in a snap. The energy which filled the room as he did so caused you to take a step backwards, your breath catching in your throat.

You could feel everyone's emotions in your chest as though they were your own; it was almost overwhelming.

Bruce slumped to the floor, passed out, and the gauntlet slid off of his arm. You dropped your shield of magic and Steve rushed forward to kick the gauntlet away; Tony used his suit to spray Bruce's arm with cool water. Steam rose from his arm, which was burnt and blackened.

"Bruce?!" Steve called, crouching next to him.

"Don't move him." Tony said sharply.

"Did it work?"

The voices of the others sounded far away; you stood where you were, wondering what was wrong with you. Then it happened.

The void in your chest disappeared.

You hadn't even realised it had still been there, but now that it was gone you realised that it had been there all along, as large and as suffocating as the day Loki had died.

You could breathe.

Five years had made you used to it. But now it was gone. You felt light. Your vision was blurry as you realised what it meant.

"Oh my god."

You staggered backwards, all thoughts of controlling your limbs gone in a heartbeat, and your back hit the wall.

"Y/N?" Thor was in front of you, looking concerned. You barely heard him, sinking to the floor in shock.

"Kid? What happened?" Tony was crouching beside you, looking up at Thor.

You'd been breathing into pea-sized lungs. Now they felt as large as football stadiums. You felt dizzy with euphoria, waiting for your body to catch up with what you felt.

"Y/N, talk to me." Tony said, scared. You looked at him with wide eyes and you saw understanding dawn behind is eyes.

"Is she okay?" you heard Nat ask, worry in her voice.

He's alive. He's alive. He's alive.

If you said it enough times to yourself in your head would it make you truly believe it?

"Did- did it work?" Tony whispered, watching you in disbelief. You drew a deep breath, your face splitting into a wide, wide smile, tears spilling from your eyes. Tony grabbed you into a hug, pulling you to your feet and laughing happily over your shoulder.

When he let go of you, you turned to Thor, who was watching you with his mouth open. Scott was pointing out of the window at some birds which had just appeared. Someone's phone was ringing. Steve and Nat were hugging each other.

You put your hands on Thor's arms, your eyes filled with tears. You were feeling, properly feeling, for the first time in years.

"It worked." you whispered gleefully.

You just had time to register the joy on Thor's face before the world around you exploded, and the floor fell away beneath you.