Media: Marvel Cinematic Universe; Avengers: Infinity War

Timeline: 2018

Genres: Angst, Family, Friendship, Romance, Superheroes, Tragedy, War

Summary: A study of the deaths in Infinity War

Notes: I know it's gonna break all of our hearts. So sorry. My friend and I have been unpacking the deaths and found a lot of heartbreak, info, and hope and I had to write about it.

Heimdall lay forgotten on the cold floor, injured and surrounded by the corpses of his people. Half of Asgard was dead. His wounded king was trapped in a contraption of Thanos' own making, Loki was trying to save them all, and Hulk was getting his butt kicked by Thanos, a feat no one expected to witness, ever. Heimdall's golden eyes made contact with Loki's. The god of mischief gave him a slight nod, which he returned. He knew this day would arrive sooner or later. He saw all, did he not?

"All fathers," he gasped. "Let the dark magic flow through me one last time." Heimdall reached his hand out towards the defeated Hulk. A golden power channeled through him and created a portal straight to Midgard. Like a vacuum, the portal sucked Hulk out of the fight and sent him to Midgard to warn the Avengers. The portal closed and Heimdall could feel the power drain to almost nothing. He lay helpless as Thanos approached him with annoyance and frustration in his eyes.

"That was a mistake," Thanos growled, taking a member of the Black Order's staff. With that statement, Heimdall knew he did something right that would lead towards the destruction of Thanos. He gazed into the eyes his best friend for the last time. The purple alien stabbed Heimdall's stomach with the tip of the staff and twisted it cruelly.

"NOOOO!!!" Thor screamed in anguish. Then the golden light in Heimdall's eyes faded and he was gone.

Loki was in a panic. Thanos, the man who revived and tortured him all those years ago, was standing above his kneeling figure. Loki had a plan, but for the first time, it wasn't a brilliant one. It may not even work.

In a blink of an eye, Loki drew out his hidden knife and thrust it at Thanos' throat. Before the tip could touch the purple skin, the knife was suddenly stopped by a blue glow. The Space Stone. Loki grunted and twisted his frozen wrist in vain. Thanos smiled.

"Undying," Thanos mocked Loki's words from before. "You should choose your words more carefully." Loki's heartbeat quickened as the alien grabbed his arm and pulled the god towards him. Thanos wrapped his gauntlet hand around Loki's throat and squeezed, lifting him into the air. The god choked and struggled as the metal tightened around his windpipe, cutting off the air to his lungs. His veins popped out on his pale face and he felt blood trickling out of his nose. An awful popping sound echoed through the silence.

"You... will never be... a god," Loki choked out with the last of his breath. A loud crack rang out and Loki, god of mischief, ceased to struggle.

A muffled scream of denial and grief escaped from the older brother. He couldn't stop the death of his best friend and his brother. Thanos tossed the limp corpse of Loki before Thor. The younger brother's eyes were glassy.

"No resurrections this time," Thanos sneered.

When Thanos and the Black Order left, Thor was freed from his bonds. He rushed over to his brother's body and checked for a pulse.

  Come on, brother. Please tell me this is all just another of your tricks.

No pulse. Thor's glimmer of hope disappeared. He sobbed over his brother's cold body, burring his face into Loki's chest and letting out all his anguish.

"I assure you, brother. The sun will shine on us once again," Loki had told him. But it was all just another lie.

"A soul, for a soul," Red Skull declared in a dark tone. Thanos turned toward his adopted daughter with horror on his face. Then he gazed over the side of the cliff. Gamora was so relived that she almost laughed. Thanos could never win now.

"You asked it for a prize, and it told you 'No'," she almost laughed. "You failed. And do you want to know why? Because you love nothing. No one."

Thanos faced Gamora again with tears in his eyes.

"Really? Tears?" she scoffed.

"They're not for him," Red Skull informed her grimly. The warrior glanced at the villain and the smile on her lips died as realization dawned on her. Thanos loved her? No...

He will sacrifice her for the Soul Stone. Thanos approached her and Gamora backed away.

"No. This isn't love."

"I ignored my destiny once. I cannot do that again," Thanos whispered sadly. "Even for you."

Gamora stared at the ground for a moment. The cold wind blowing white snowflakes into her red hair. Then she made her decision. She refused to be sacrificed for a tool that could wipe out half the universe, like her home planet. She glanced up at her adopted father's face. Then she instantly turned around and drew out the handle of her hidden knife.

Goodbye, Peter. I love you.

The blade shot out of the handle and Gamora stabbed herself in the abdomen. Suicide wasn't the way she had planned to die. None of this was the way she wanted to go. She had been surrounded by enemies her whole life; she would have been grateful to die among friends. Instead, she will die on this cliffside alone for the sake of the whole universe.

She felt no pain along with the absence of a blade in her flesh. Horrified, she opened her palms and bubbles floated out. The Reality Stone. Just like when Peter tried to kill her.

"I'm sorry, little one." Thanos grabbed her wrist and started dragging her towards the edge. Gamora screamed and fought, but her cries fell on deaf ears and her punches were ignored. Despite her strength, Gamora was not strong enough for the stronger, larger Titan. With great reluctance, Thanos tossed his daughter over the side. Her bone chilling screams echoed around the canyons. The Titan watched his little girl fall to her death with tears streaming down his face. He felt regret, but this was necessary for his success to save the universe.

Peter Quill's face flashed before Gamora's mind. "I love you, too."

Then the world suddenly turned black.

"I can't!"

"You can," Vision assured her. Tears filled Wanda's eyes while her lover held her hand. "If he gets the stone, half of the universe dies," he reminded her gently. Wanda stepped back, her lips mouthed a silent 'why'. "It's not fair." The android shook his head. "It shouldn't be you, but it is." The girl's lip trembled. "It's all right," he soothed.

Vision knew it would end like this. His friends tried to defend him, which was a dramatic change from when he was first created, but there was really no other way. And the android excepted his fate. What hurt him is that Wanda, his lover, was the only one powerful enough to destroy the stone... and himself. It tore the girl from the inside. She already lost so much.

All around them, their friends tried to buy them some time by holding Thanos back, but he was too powerful with five Infinity Stones. Finally, Wanda stepped back and focused her scarlet energy on the Mind Stone. Vision cried out in pain while Wanda was having an emotional break down, but she did not stop.

Thanos tried to attack her from behind, but the Scarlett Witch held him back with one hand, destroying the Mind Stone with the other.

"I love you," Vision whispered to Wanda, then closed his eyes. A huge explosion threw everyone back and Vision was gone.

Thanos straightened, breathing heavily. Wanda was still on the ground, sobbing her heart out.

Wanda watched in horror as Thanos used the Time Stone to reverse time and bring Vision back.

"NO!" she screamed, launching herself at the Titan. Thanos casually knocked her aside and grabbed the now revived android by the throat with the Infinity Gauntlet. Vision choked helplessly as the enemy reached for the last stone he needed to end the universe. His huge fingers pinched the stone, crushing Vision's forehead, and pulled it out. The moment the stone was out of his forehead, Vision's body became limp and turned gray. Thanos dropped the body, ignoring Scarlet Witch's cries. She had witnessed her lover die not only once, but twice. The first time by her own hand, and the second time she was helpless to stop. Her sacrifice was all for nothing.

They had lost. Thanos had snapped his fingers and disappeared, leaving the heroes on Wakanda in an eerie silence. They all held their breaths, not knowing what would happen.

Bucky glanced down at his body and gasped. He was crumbling into ash.

"Steve?" Bucky called, unsure of what was happening. His friend turned around and watched in horror as Bucky Barnes crumbled into nothing. The gun Bucky had used clattered to the ground. Steve rushed over to the spot his friend had fallen and touched the ground. A bit of dust stuck to his fingers.

Steve had lost Bucky for the third time.

"I'm with you till the end of the line, pal." This was the end of the line.

Okoye propped herself up. All around her, Wakanda's warriors were dying. Her eyes widened in fear. What was happening?!

Her king crawled over to her and Okoye relaxed slightly; at least T'Challa was alright. But there was a worried expression on the king's face.

"Up, General! Up! This is no place to die," T'Challa encouraged her, offering a hand. Okoye took it and prepared to pull herself up. Suddenly, the man's arm disintegrated, causing her fall back as her hand gripped empty air. Her eyes widened in horror as the rest of his body disintegrated with his arm. And there, before her own eyes, her king and best friend was gone... again.

What will be of Wakanda? What will she tell Shuri?! Is Shuri even still alive? She stood up, her breathing quickened in a panic as her fellow warriors turned to dust all around her. Wakanda was not forever.

Groot lay against a log with Rocket standing before him. Already, his wooden body was turning to dust.

"I... am... Groot," he called to Rocket. His teammate's eyes grew wide.

"No, no, no. Groot, no," he whispered. He tried to caress the young tree's face, but teenage tree crumbled into dust. Rocket lost Groot a second time.

Rocket just stood there for a long time, tears stinging his eyes, as the tree's last words echoed in his mind.

"Dad."

Wanda, kneeling over Vision's body, glanced down and noticed her own body was disintegrating. She didn't care. Her lover was dead and she had failed to destroy the Mind Stone. She stared up at the sky and her body disintegrated completely, her ashes blowing over Vision's cold body. Scarlett Witch was more than glad to die. She will see Pietro and her parents again.

Sam struggled on the ground, his legs turning to dust and crawling up until he completely disappeared. Falcon died alone.

"Sam!" Rhodey called worriedly for his friend. "Sam! Where are you at?" His cries grew more desperate. But no matter how long or how far he searched, he never found his Falcon friend.

"Something's happening," Mantis announced gravely. Everyone stared at her. They could all feel that something was off, but Mantis seemed to be able to sense it better than anyone, maybe even better than Spider-Man, who also seemed a bit off. Suddenly, her body turned to dust and blew away in the wind, dusting Peter Quill with her ashes.

Everyone stared at where Mantis once stood in horror. Thanos had done it. They had lost. This was the beginning of the end.

Star-Lord turned to Drax in disbelief and horror after Mantis had died. First Gamora and now Mantis! 

"Quill?" Drax whispered, glancing down at himself and watching his buff arms crumble. It seemed like it should hurt, but it didn't. With one last gaze at his leader and friend, Drax faded away, joining Mantis and Gamora in death.

Peter Quill's breathing turned to gasps like he was having a panic attack. Two members of his team had just turned to dust in front of him. Gamora, the girl he fell in love with, is dead and who knows what happened to Groot and Rocket.

Star-Lord's eyes met with Tony Stark's. Peter detected fear and panic from Stark. The entire universe was feeling those same emotions.

Despite starting off on the wrong foot, everyone had connected with each other as they risked their lives together. During the battle, they all unconsciously entrusted their lives into the hands of the people they fought alongside.

"Steady, Quill," Tony practically begged. That's when Peter realized he was turning to ash like Mantis and Drax. Guilt and regret sank inthe pit of his crumbling stomach. All of this could have been avoided if he had just followed his own plan. He destroyed half the universe.

"Oh, man," Quill whispered. He disappeared completely and joined his fellow Guardians in death.

"Tony," Stephen Strange called to attract Iron Man's attention. Tony turned quickly to face him. "There was no other way," Dr. Strange told him.

Strange knew that he would die. He glimpsed the future. To set the Avengers on the path to stop Thanos, he and a few other brave souls will be sacrificed. Finally, Stephen faded away into ash, in hopes that the Avengers can set things right.

"Mr. Stark?" A youth full voice called.

  No. Please not him. Tony turned around, dreading of what will happen. Peter Parker held his stomach as his weak legs struggled to hold him up.

"I don't feel so good," Peter confessed. His breathing turned into gasps like Quill's as he stumbled on shaky legs. His spider-sense was giving him an migraine and his accelerated healing working overtime to keep him alive, which put his body through agony. The teen stared at his shaking hands in fear. He had just watched the heroes he had fought alongside to turn to ash. Was his body about to do the same? The thought was terrifying. Peter eyes met Tony's for answers.

"You're all right," Tony assured him, trying to calm the boy down. Tony hated lying to Peter, but what else could he tell him?

"I don't know... I don't know what's happening," Peter stuttered as he stumbled towards his mentor. "I don't know... save me. Save..." The boy's legs gave out and he collapsed into Tony's arms.

Both were reminded of that awkward moment when Peter thought that Tony was giving him a hug, but as actually opening the door for him, claiming that they weren't at that point in their relationship yet. Even now, this isn't a hug. This is Tony holding Peter up because he could stand on his own and helping him cling to life.

"I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go." Tony heard the sobs in Peter's voice, and it broke his heart.

Peter didn't want to die. He was too young. He didn't even finish high school. He would never go to college or have a girlfriend. When Peter became a superhero, he knew that he was risking his life. But he still wasn't ready to die. What would happen to Aunt May and Ned or even MJ?

"Sir, please. Please, I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go," he begged, the sobs and pain clear in his voice. Finally, Tony couldn't hold the teenager up anymore with his stab wound. Refusing to release the scared boy, they both fell onto the ground with Tony hovering over the teen. Tony's hand was pressed against Peter's warm shoulder as the youth's glistening brown eyes met Tony's. "I'm sorry," Peter whispered.

  "And if you died, I'd feel like that's on me. I don't need that on my conscious." Peter knew that Tony would blame himself for his death, and that hurt him. It wasn't Tony's fault and Peter didn't want his mentor to live with the guilt on his conscious.

"I'm sorry."

Peter's eyes rolled to the back of his head and his body turned to ashes. The boy was gone. Tony's hand that had been resting on the teenager's shoulder fell through empty space. Iron Man stared at his blood-stained hand and noticed some of Peter's ashes had stuck to the blood, imprinting a gruesome image in his mind. He quickly tried to brush it off, but the dust stuck to his hand. So Tony Stark just sat there with his eyes closed, silently mourning while Nebula stood some distance away in silence.

Everywhere around them, civilians were turning into dust and fading away. Maria Hill stared down at her own body and realized to her horror that she too was turning into ash.

"Nick?" She called.

"No!" Was all she heard before fading into nothing before her boss, partner, and friend.

  Nick Fury quickly activated the device in his hand. Out of the corner of his only eye, he noticed his left hand turning into ash like Agent Hill.

"Oh no," he groaned. "Motherf-" He was cut off from his curse when his face turned into dust. The last part of his body that turned into ash was his right hand, which dropped the device when it crumbled. The device fell to the ground, forgotten. Little did anyone know, hope was on the way.

Thanos snapped his fingers and destroyed half the universe, making sure the victims were random. But did he just destroy half of the universe, or half of their universes as well?