Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“There is no escape from death. Every species, no matter what they are, can find common ground here, whether it's people, animals, plants, or anything else for that matter.”

“ The process of death is well known to me, I've been in close proximity to it a few times. ”

“ Even for a god...Even for you, seeing something is not the same as grasping it. ”

“ It isn't about living forever Loki, but rather about creating something that will.”

…

“ Are you happy, Steve ? ”

…

"The only thing you really fight for is yourself." Steve said, his words punctuated by the cold look of disapproval that shone in his eyes. "You know you may not be a threat, but you'd better stop pretending to be a hero."

He doesn’t see the flash of pain in Toni’s eyes, or maybe … thinking back on it , he just can’t bring himself to care at the time .

…

“ Are you satisfied ? Knowing you got what you wanted, that the great paragon of justice and ‘all things good’ Steven Grant Rogers got his long sought after ‘happily ever after’ with the girl of his dreams-all at the cost of mine .”

…

“ That up there, that’s … that's the endgame . " Toni says, looking over each and every face. Her so-called ‘friends’.

“How were you planning to fight that ?” She challenges, stepping forward. 

It was always her against them, wasn’t it ? No one else saw it, and if he did, he never openly spoke about it.

God, how he wishes he could go back and change things. Change everything .

“ Together .”

…

“ Do you know how … agonizing it is ? To basically be told by everyone in no small amount of words-no, by the whole fucking universe really-” the borderline hysterical tone of her voice is tinged with desperation and grief. Steve knows it’s his fault-” that you just-you don’t matter. I mean, not when compared to the great, infallible ‘Captain America’. ”

Her eyes go over each and every one of them, the look of utter hatred on her face causing all of them to reel back as one-

“To be told your pain, your grief is nothing compared to pretty much anyone else’s !”

  She meets the eyes of the red-haired witch standing at the ‘good’ captain’s side, unflinching and unwavering. And for once, it is the Scarlet Witch who cowers.

“To be told no one can trust their back to you because, well-God forbid if I cause more irreparable damage, but to hell with it if someone does it to me !” The two spies of the group are visibly shaken, Clint’s protege Kate, is at a loss for words and something in Yelena’s expression shifts ever so slightly-the blonde widow looking like she might actually be able to relate.

“Toni  don’t do this. We can-we can still fix this-”

“Oh, I am fixing it Captain, I am. I’m finally fixing the mistake that was letting all of you think you’re so fucking irreplaceable. So irrefutably right and without equal that no one or thing could ever dispute it. I’m fixing the world that decided I was so very expendable. I’m fixing the whole damn universe that sought to rip everything that I love like it didn’t even matter-like I didn’t matter !”

Steve and the others can’t put into words how sorry they are, how much regret they feel in that moment. Looking into the eyes of someone they called a friend, hearing the price of their actions, their every word against them.

“But then, that’s how it was always going to be, wasn’t it? You or me Steve, and everyone … in every single fucking universe will always, always choose … you .”

…

“ Toni, he’s my friend .”

“ So was I .”

"You may hate the dictator, but something... far worse is gonna fill that void if you depose him. I've lived a million lifetimes. I've gone through every, every scenario. This is the only way."

“Worse than you? I find that hard to believe.” Sylvie’s words were laced with years of bitterness.

And though he held his tongue on the matter, a small part of Loki couldn’t help but agree.

“Well, believe me, it’s the truth.” He who remains insisted calmly, losing the near carefree smile and demeanor all at once. His eyes when brought up to meet Loki’s were … haunted. Like a man that had seen much, one too many horrors to ever speak of.

“We make our own demons, Mr. Laufeyson. And your brother helped make a damn unconquerable one.”

Something in Loki froze at that, not entirely unlike when he first discovered he was a frost giant. No, this was…It was more alarming, because if this individual meant his brother Thor, then…-

“What do you mean? You mean Thor -”

“ Not just him. A monster like this one ,’ he began again, gaze dropping in a telltale sign of regret whilst shaking his head. “A being like this is not forged from one set of hands, a single being’s wrongs, if you will. She is-was-”

“She?”

Loki’s voice was a mere whisper now. Everything he’d witnessed up to this point, everything he felt. It was all being brought up to the surface as he broke down and asked the one question that deep down he knew he’d never be able to handle the answer of.

“ Who is she ?”

“ I know how it ends.”

“How what ends.”

“All of it.” Kang’s voice resounded through the long, dark halls. Looking from father to daughter, back to father, turning fully and fixing Scott Lang with a gaze that spoke of years of strife and timeless fighting. Endless sorrow and pain.

“You can thank your father for that.” There was no anger, none of the bitterness that seemed to always be drawn out whenever the so-called ‘Avengers’ stood before him. Maybe it was because, deep down, this version of Ant-man was no Avenger.

“W-what do you mean? What did I-” Scott Lang’s voice faltered, brows furrowed in uncomprehending thought.

Then he decides to abandon it altogether. Scott’s primary focus is and always will be Casey, after all.

Kang knows this. Deep down, he respects it, just as she did.

“You know it’s funny, actually,” Kang begins, deciding to indulge the foolish man. “In one of the many, many universes I met her in, she kills that one ,” he looks back over to Casey and something in Scott’s eyes has darkened. Good. “As a recompense for what you did to her. Taking her away from her child, she does the same but in reverse, at first wanting to avoid the bloodshed but … Then you just had to go and taunt her with that line of yours, didn’t you ?”

Scott still doesn’t understand. Why would he? But he knows something has changed. He knows he did something to someone somewhere and it had unforeseen consequences, consequences he has yet to feel the full brunt of.

“Believe me Mr. Lang, you want me to get out as much as I do. Because if I don’t, she will come and that same, inescapable fate will befall you. If you treasure your daughter, if you want to protect her … then all you have to do is let me go. Understand ?”

“ W-We’ll stop her! W-whoever it is you’re talking about, we’ll-”

Casey doesn’t get to finish though, not before Kang has her suspended in the air again. And is slowly but surely squeezing the life out of her. Scott is yelling at him to stop, to release his little girl.

“If even I couldn’t stop her, then none of you have any chance. The damage has been done and believe me, a few measly superpowered ants and can-do attitude is nothing before someone-some thing -like her.”

He releases Casey and Scott backs off at the haunted, merciless look he flashes towards him.

“You did this, Mr. Lang. You and those others, you made her and now everyone is paying the price for it.”

.

.

.

“ Never trust a Stark .”

Scott feels the air leave his lungs. Ice filling them instead, because the words Kang has just uttered fill him with a fresh sense of horror. Because the person Kang is referring to, she isn't alive anymore and yet …-

“ H-how do you … k-know that name !?” The words are a slurred mess, with blood spurting out in-between the syllables.

Kang is smiling now. Not a victorious or triumphant one, but a grim and evil one. It’s the face of a man who is finally being freed from his demons, after having transferred them onto someone else. Someone like Scott.

“ Where one life ends, another shall begin .”

Scott’s body moves, desperation fueling him. There’s a voice gnawing at the back of his mind that reacts to the words, that is seriously debating leaving Kang with the tools to get out because … Because …-

Pepper crying. Heroes knelt before a half-charred corpse. The dulled glow of the infinity stones.

- he’s not sure he wants to face the future waiting for him if he does this. If he actually manages to stop Kang.

It’s Kang’s final words though, that have Scott unable to speak. Seeking the familiar comfort of Hope’s embrace and the assurance of his daughter’s presence.

“ Maybe you should’ve chosen a better side .”

Scott Lang’s life has been full of mistakes, but somehow, he thinks his biggest one may have come as a full-grown adult.

“ She mentioned you .”

America Chavez’s voice is enough to stop the small bickering between Wong and Stephen Strange, her fearful gaze fixed solely on Stephen now. Uncertain and so very, very afraid.

“Who? Cristine?” Wong responds, still thinking they were talking about the wedding.

America shakes her head, both Stephen and Wong can see the tears falling.

“Th-the one who told me to find you. She doesn’t like the one who was chasing me,a-and when the you I was with got killed she- ”

America is shaking. Like she has seen something straight from a horror movie and does not wish to relieve it in any way, shape or form. Although Stephen can’t help voicing his curiosity, feeling a pinch more concerned now.

“Who told you to find me ? Was it a friend or foe ?”

“ I love you three-thousand .”

Both sorcerers turn rigid in their seats. Stephan’s face morphs into a pained-shock. 

“I watched her kill the Scarlet Witch in one world, and Captain America in another.” America’s voice is soft, yet terrified. It’s a terror that Stephen and Wong soon share as things take a more horrific turn. “There were so many heroes-Thor,Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye-all dead. I saw the Guardians of the Galaxy try and take her down, I saw them fail.”

“Wait, wait, wait! Just-...Just hold on a second.” Stephen interrupts because … because the person America is talking about, they- she is dead. Stephen saw it with his own eyes. And even before that, she never had the kind of power America is talking about her having, the power to conquer and defeat so many of Earth’s strongest and…and-

“It’s not possible. What you are saying is not the future I saw .”

America’s face when she looks at him is the undeniable proof that what she’s saying is not a ruse, that all of this, somehow and somewhere, has happened.

Something has gone wrong, and he doesn’t think it’s something that Thanos did. The snap seems irrelevant, the time lost for him and so many others…meaningless.

.

.

.

“- I am Iron Maiden .”

“ We make our own demons. Maybe you should have thought things through a bit more, reconsidered some things .”

“ You’re too late, he belongs to Mistress Death now !” The inhumane being laughed, triumphant and turned, preparing to teleport with an unconscious, limp Loki in tow. Thor couldn’t let that happen , he wouldn’t -

“ Wait !”

“ Watch your universe, and every other universe, crumble before Her might !”

Stephen Strange shot awake. His blue-green eyes blown wide with panic and fear, his skin clammy with sweat.

His fingers trembled uncontrollably while running through his hair.

“Stephen, what is it? What’s wrong?” Wong came rushing in. The Elder sorcerer appears taken aback by the look in Stephen’s eyes. A few of the lower grade disciples linger in the doorway. When Stephen finally speaks, his voice is little more than a hoarse whisper:

“What day is it?”

Chapter Text

Sorry, while not an official chapter I do have something to share.

Since last I posted, a lot has happened. I’m sorry for the delay, but I’ll be updating and posting new content soon. I also plan to revise some earlier posts to improve flow and style, focusing mainly on Marvel content. To help decide which story or ship to prioritize, I’ve created a new poll—check it out!