IN A FLASH the team reappeared back on the platform of the quantum tunnel and deactivated their suits. Tony had the briefcase containing the Tesseract, Scott had the Scepter, Rocket had the Aether, Bruce had the Time Stone, and Y/N held the Power Stone.

"Did we get 'em all?" Bruce asked.

Rhodey smiled, "Are you telling me this actually worked?"

Clint dropped to his knees, the Soul Stone in his palm. Y/N looked over at him, and his smile disappeared from his face upon noticing that Natasha wasn't with him.

"Clint, where's Nat?" Bruce asked.

Clint didn't respond and simply looked up at the Hulk. His eyes said it all, and the mood in the room became somber. Steve looked down in despair, and Banner got on his knees as well. He punched down onto the floor in anger.

• • •

OUTSIDE AT THE DOCK some of the team members sat by the water. They were still shocked about the loss of Natasha Romanoff. Y/N rested his elbows on his knees and buried his face into his hands. He had lost yet another longtime friend and basically family member.

"Do we know if she had family?" Tony asked.

"Yeah. Us." Y/N replied.

Thor walked over to the group after looking out at the lake, "What? What are you doing?"

"Just asked him a question." Tony answered.

"Yeah, no, you're acting like she's dead." Thor responded, "Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stones, right?"

Thor's tone became louder. He was not trying to believe that the Black Widow was actually dead.

"As long as we have the stones, Cap, we can bring her back. Isn't that right? So stop this shit. We're the Avengers. Get it together."

"We can't get her back." Clint abruptly spoke.

"Wha...what?" Thor turned to Barton.

"It can't be undone. It can't."

Thor laughed. Y/N kept shaking his head, saddened yet surprised at the fact that the God of Thunder himself was in denial the most.

"Look, I'm sorry, no offense, but you're a very earthly being, okay? And were talking about space magic." Thor began, "And can't seems very definitive. Don't you think?"

"Yeah, look, I know that I'm way outside my pay grade here." Clint replied as he got up, "But she still isn't here, is she?"

"No, that's my point."

"It can't be undone." Clint's voice broke, "Or that's what the red, floating guy had to say. Maybe you wanna go talk to him, okay?" Clint raised his tone, "Go grab your hammer and you go fly and you talk to him!"

Thor didn't reply. He nodded and looked back down at his hands.

"I should've gone...I'm connected in a way to that damn stone...it...things could've gone different." Y/N stuttered, guilt filling him.

"It wouldn't have made a difference, Y/N." Clint dropped his head, "It should've been me. She sacrificed her life for that goddamn stone. She bet her life on it."

Banner let out a loud grunt and pried the stone bench off the dock. He heaved it across the lake in anger.

"She's not coming back." Banner told them, "We have to make it worth it. We have to."

Steve got up and faced the doctor.

"We will."

• • •

TONY, ROCKET, and BANNER took the day to build a nano-gauntlet to house the stones. Once it was ready, they called the rest of the team into the lab. Everybody arrived sans Nebula, who Y/N noticed was acting weird lately.

"Question is, who's gonna snap their freakin' fingers?" Rocket asked as he handed the gauntlet to Stark.

"I'll do it." Thor volunteered.

"Excuse me?" Tony asked.

"It's okay."

"No, no, no. Stop, stop. Slow down."

Thor was eager to right his wrongs. He reached for the gauntlet but Y/N kept him back.

"Thor. Just wait." He told the Asgardian.

"We haven't decided who's gonna put that on yet." Steve added.

Thor chuckled, "I'm sorry. What, we're all just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?"

"We should at least discuss it." Scott chimed in.

"Look, sitting here staring at that thing is not gonna bring everybody back." Thor took a deep breath, "I'm the strongest Avenger. So, this responsibility falls upon me. It's my duty—"

"Normally, you're right." Tony interrupted, "It's not about that—"

"It's not that—"

"Hey, buddy..."

"Stop it! Just let me." Thor started to get emotional, "Just let me do it. Just let me do something good. Something right."

Y/N looked at Thor, feeling sympathy for him. He lost half his people to Thanos and failed to kill him before he decimated half the planet. Thor felt like a failure and wanted to make things right.

Tony understood, but he wasn't willing to sacrifice him, "Look, it's not just the fact that glove is channeling enough energy to light up a continent. I'm telling you. You're in no condition."

"What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?"

"Cheese Whiz?" Rhodey joked.

Thor wanted to rebuttal, but he continued, "Lightning."

"Lighting won't help you, pal." Banner joined the conversation, "It's gotta be me."

"Are you sure?" Y/N asked.

"You saw what those stones did to Thanos. They almost killed him." Banner walked over to the gauntlet on the table, "None of you could survive."

"How do we know you will?" Steve questioned.

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

There was no argument against the doctor's plan. Banner grabbed the gauntlet and looked at it.

"Good to go, yeah?" Tony asked.

"Let's do it." He replied.

Everybody started to get in position.

"Okay, remember, everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago you're just bringing them back to now, today." Tony explained, "Don't change anything from the last five years."

"Got it."

Steve wore his Captain America uniform and held up his shield, Scott activated the mask on his Ant-Man suit, and Rhodey closed the faceplate on his War Machine armor.

Rocket put on his goggles as Thor got in front of the raccoon. Y/N transformed into his Specter form and made a shield out of psionic energy. Tony tapped on his reactor and formed his Iron Man armor. Hawkeye held his bow as he stood beside him.

"Friday, do me a favor and activate Barn Door Protocol, will ya?" Tony spoke to his A.I.

"Yes, boss."

Steel shutters began to close the windows and doors of the lab. The room got darker as the stones within the gauntlet each glowed their respective colors.

"Everybody comes home." Banner muttered to himself.

The gauntlet began to fit itself onto Banner's right hand. It locked in place, and the glove began to whir and surge with power. Bruce groaned as he tried to handle the pain.

Everybody watched as his sleeve began to burn off because of the immense power. Lines of bright light shot up the veins of his arm.

"Take it off! Take it off!" Thor yelled.

"No, wait." Steve called out. "Bruce, are you okay?"

"Talk to me, Banner." Tony spoke to the groaning Hulk.

"I'm okay....I'm okay."

Y/N sighed in relief as Thor put two thumbs up in response.

Bruce screamed as he raised his hand. He repeated one single phrase in his head.

Bring everybody back.

Bring everybody back.

Bring everybody back.

He snapped his fingers and a bright flash filled the room. Y/N shielded his eyes, and upon looking at Banner he saw that the doctor dropped the glove and fell to the floor.

"Bruce!" Y/N shouted.

"Don't move him!" Tony ran over and coated Banner's burnt arm with a healing solution to ease the pain.

"Did it work?" Banner asked as he clenched his teeth.

"We're not sure. It's okay." Thor replied.

The shutters began to open, letting light back into the room. Scott walked out of the lab and into the foyer, noticing more plant life and birds outside the window.

Clint's phone began to vibrate on the table. Only him and Y/N noticed this, and Barton gave a look of awe at the young man.

Did it actually work?

Clint ran over to the table and picked up phone. He saw that it was his wife, Laura, and he started to tear up. He answered the call, "Honey?"

Upon hearing that single word, Y/N knew that they succeeded. He felt a feeling of elation that he never thought he'd feel again. He'd get to see his friends again...his family.

Wanda.

Scott continued to look out the window, "Guys. I think it worked."

Y/N smiled at his remark, and looked at Banner on the ground being tended to by the rest of the team. The room started to become darker though, as if a large cloud covered the sun. It confused them.

Banner looked up through the skylight, and his expression changed upon seeing a large ship. Y/N saw what he was seeing, and quickly reacted when he saw missiles shooting down.

Specter formed a force field to shield him and the team members near him, but the sheer impact and power of the multiple rockets still knocked them down and destroyed the infrastructure of the building they were in.

• • •

SPECTER WAS SHAKEN AWAKE by a set of hands. Y/N let out a gasp as he opened his eyes and saw Captain America and Iron Man.

"That's it...rise and shine, Casper." Tony said and helped him up, "Good try with the force field."

Y/N was still pretty dazed and confused, "What the hell happened?"

"You mess with time, it tends to mess back." Steve answered.

Tony glanced at Cap, "Yeah, I said that to you a minute ago."

Nebula turned out to be the 2014 version who switched placed with the real Nebula. She activated the quantum tunnel and ended up bringing the Sanctuary II ship to 2023.

The three walked through debris and regrouped with Thor near a ledge. He looked ahead at something and upon nearing the Asgardian, Y/N saw the warlord below sitting beside his sword.

Thanos.

"What's he been doing?" Tony asked.

"Absolutely nothing." Thor answered.

"So this is a Thanos from the past right?" Y/N questioned, "If I can recall, Thor already killed this grape-looking piece of shit."

"That is exactly the case." Tony responded.

"Where are the stones?" Steve asked.

"Somewhere under all this. All I know is that he doesn't have 'em."

"So we keep it that way."

"You know it's a trap, right?" Thor chimed in, eyes still staring at Thanos.

"Yeah...I don't much care." Tony replied.

"Good. Just as long as we're all in agreement."

Thunder began crackling as clouds formed in the sky. Thor raised his arms and called over both Stormbreaker and Mjölnir. Lighting shot down and summoned his Asgardian armor as well.

"Let's kill him properly this time."

The four Avengers walked up to the waiting Thanos. The Titan saw the heroes ease themselves closer, and he smirked.

"You could not live with your own failure." He began, "Where did that bring you? Back to me."

They stood quiet, still walking closer to Thanos. They stopped several yards away from him as he continued.

"I thought by eliminating half of life...the other half would thrive. But you've shown me that's impossible. And as long as there are those that remember what was there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be. They will resist."

"Yep, we're all kinds of stubborn." Tony said.

Thanos chuckled, "I'm thankful. Because now...I know what I must do." He got up and began to put on his helmet, "I will shred this universe down to its last atom. And then with the stones you've collected for me...create a new one..."

He pulled his double-edged sword from the dirt and held it, "...teeming with life that knows not what it has lost but only what it has been given. A grateful universe."

Thor raised his weapons and charged them with electricity, prepared to fight.

"Born out of blood." Y/N responded to Thanos's plan.

"They'll never know it." He rebutted.

Thanos got in a stance, ready to take on the four heroes.

"Because you won't be alive to tell them."