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ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
x. LULLABIES OF WAR

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   RILEY STARK'S EARLIEST MEMORY was tranquil. She couldn't really remember much of it, nor did she recall the memory often enough to ponder upon the details; however, she did remember bits and pieces of it, and she kept those bits and pieces locked away in a special part of her heart. Riley's earliest memory was a lullaby sung by Athena O'Dair.

   At least, Riley naturally presumed it was her mother's voice she sometimes heard singing in the back of her mind. She couldn't make out the words of the lullaby, but Riley always found herself subconsciously humming the melody of the song whenever she wasn't preoccupied with something else. Riley liked to think highly of Athena after Rob ruined the image she had painted of him in her mind. She was thankful her first memory was of her mother.

   Still, Riley couldn't help but wonder: If she died in battle today, would her final moments be as peaceful as her first?

   Standing on the battlefield, the Wakandans gathered into formation. Warriors from every tribe united. The enemy was stuck on the other side of the barrier. For how much longer, they didn't know.

   Riley stood beside Bucky soundlessly, observing as Natasha, Steve, and T'Challa confronted two of their enemies, Proxima Midnight and Cull Obsidian.

   "Maybe if we ask nicely, they'll surrender," satirically suggested Riley to the Winter Soldier.

   "We could always take them out for lunch before fighting to the death," matched Bucky.

   Riley and Bucky wanted to get along. They really did. They knew a lot about each other through Steve, and they knew that they both meant a lot to Steve. If getting along through dark and poorly timed humor was the way to do it, then so be it.

  In the distance, they could see Proxima's arm shoot into the sky, sword brandished. Ships behind her raised their outer hulls, allowing their passengers to disembark.

  "Well, that looks promising," Riley muttered.

   The trio returned sooner rather than later. Steve and Natasha stood on either side of Riley, with Bucky on Steve's left. Sardonically, Bucky wondered, "Did they surrender?"

   "Not exactly," Steve matched.

   T'Challa took it upon himself to commence the leading of a war cry. "Yibambe!" he would cry. The chant warmed up the Wakandans, sparks of fire burning within each of them. Again and again, they shouted together. They were getting ready, preparing for incoming.

  Aliens Riley had never seen ran at the barrier on all fours. Flatly, yet unsettled, Bucky mumbled, "What the hell...?" 

   "Looks like we pissed her off," Natasha said.

  They could only stand and watch as the aliens charged at the forcefield. With each collision, they braced. There was no telling how long the barrier would stand for, nor did they know if the aliens could somehow find a way in. 

  As it turned out, they could, but it was not easy. Some managed to squeeze through the barrier, only to be bisected. "They're killing themselves," Okoye noted, startled. 

  They were willing to die just for the chance to kill them.

  When some of the aliens managed to squeeze through intact, the Border Tribe took a knee and raised their shields. The King's guard behind them leveled their sonic spears over their comrades' shoulders, and on T'Challa's command, they fired at the monsters.

   On the other hand, Bucky shot his machine gun at them, his aim rarely missing. Bruce, adorned in the Hulkbuster (otherwise known as a Hulk-sized Iron Man suit), fired his hand repulsors, and Riley shot her energy into the crowd. Her eyes glossed over with a purple-white light. With each hit, an explosion blossomed from the impact, killing or injuring others around it.

  But soon, she halted upon realizing how some of the creatures had begun to run around the defense shield instead of forcing their way in. They were circling the city.

   "Do you guys see that?" she called. 

   "Cap, if these things circle the perimeter and get behind us, there's nothing between them and Vision," Bruce said into their comms.

   Grimly, Steve replied, "Then we better keep 'em in front of us."

   Okoye looked back at T'Challa and inquired, "How do we do that?"

   T'Challa clenched his jaw, taking a moment to consider it. "We open the barrier," he stated. He raised his wrist to bring his comm closer to his mouth. "On my signal, open North-West Section Seventeen." There was a pause before T'Challa continued. "On my signal."

   "This will be the end of Wakanda," M'Baku mumbled.

   Okoye tensed her muscles. "Then it will be the noblest ending in history."

  Riley sharply inhaled, something between adrenaline and anxiety inflating within her. It spread to every muscle in her body as she focused. This was it. 

   "WAKANDA FOREVER!" T'Challa shouted out over everyone. He crossed his arms in the Wakandan salute and closed his Black Panther helmet, charging for the barrier. The heroes sprinted forward. When they were halfway to the barrier, T'Challa yelled into his comm, "NOW!"

  Aliens poured in through the sliver of an opening, no longer interested in looking for any other way inside. They pounced on each other, clawing and growling at each other for a chance to get in first. Blood already began to spill. It fueled the creatures. This was only the beginning. 

  Because of their enhancements, T'Challa, Steve, and Riley charged ahead of the cavalry. Whatever upgrades Shuri did to her suit were very much noticeable. Every release of ultraviolet energy that wasn't used seemed to be absorbed back into the suit and back into Riley, allowing her to maintain her strength for much longer than usual.

  She swung her arm, a long forcefield flinging at the crowd. It soared ahead, slicing through a large portion of the creatures. For those that were closer to her, she forged a spear made of UV rays, stabbing it into her closest enemies. Doing this like this always came easy. If she could form forcefields, she could form anything she wanted.

  She ducked as one leaped for her head, taking down another in the process. Blasts of light erupted from her, burning into the creatures over and over again. A silver blur suddenly zipped past her.

   "Riley!" Pietro's voice came into her comm. "Do you remember that trick we pulled in Germany a few years ago?"

   Riley hesitated, elbowing an alien in the skull. "Yeah!" she shouted. "What about—Whoa!" She ducked, stabbing into another. "What about it?"

   "On my signal!" Pietro called. A few seconds passed and by the time Riley turned around, an entire stampede of aliens were moving behind the silver streak. "NOW!"

   Riley jumped upward with a tightly clenched jaw. She formed a bubble around herself. Pietro Maximoff sprinted into the bubble at the last possible second, causing the duo to become a human hamster ball. They moved at highly rapid speeds, running over and flattening crowds and crowds of aliens in the process.

   Riley was just impressed that they managed to actually recreate one of the most iconic scenes in The Incredibles twice now.

  When the crowd was flattened and unmoving, Valor released the bubble and took a second to catch her breath. Pietro patted her back. "You good?" he called over the noise.

   "Never better!" she yelled.

   Screams and cries echoed into the atmosphere in the midst of explosions and alien growls. The lullabies of war blared into her ears.

  When a pack of Outriders targeted her, Valor managed to confuse them by turning invisible. She used this to her advantage, killing every last one of them. Skulls crushed in her grasp, heads went flying. If she was strategic, she could get them to kill each other by appearing and disappearing at random, screwing with their minds.

   Valor somersaulted forward, striking one after another. She raised her hands and created a closed forcefield around another pack of aliens. She raised them upward and released them into Rhodey's line of fire as he flew overhead. Then, Riley turned herself invisible and jumped into the air. She landed on a flat forcefield beneath her feet and rode it like a surfboard further into battle. Riley aimed her hands at the army and shot UV rays out of her palms.

  She turned visible, diving for the ground again and dodging another line of attack. She thought she'd been holding them off well, but that was when a pack of Outriders tackled her.

  A shriek escaped her as she desperately tried to push them off. But they just kept piling on top of her, teeth snaring at her face. She was like a treat to a dog. They wouldn't stop until she was theirs, even if that meant she was torn apart. 

   "There's too many of them!" Bruce shouted.

   "Come on, come on!" Riley desperately cried. She used as much strength as possible to push them off, but it was futile. Even trying to conjure a forcefield around herself wasn't working.

   Riley released a painful scream as one of the creatures sunk its teeth directly into her right forearm, piercing through her sleeve. "Goddammit!" she hissed, her eyes watering at the painful sensation. She cradled her arm against her chest, using her legs to push off the alien. This seemed to cause more to jump on her.

   She didn't know how much longer she could fight back without any help.

   Pausing, Riley then noticed that the creatures that had been on top of her had ceased to move. Thunder clapped in her ears, causing them to ring aggressively. Riley peeled open her eyes and dropped her disgruntled facial expression, pushing the carcasses off of her body. She grunted, sitting upward on the dirt ground. Her eyes widened in astonishment upon noticing a light from just a few hundred feet away. An axe flew forward in a boomerang-type manner. Three figures emerged from the light, one of whom being Thor Odinson.

   "Ahahahahaha!" Bruce joyously laughed, opening the Hulkbuster's helm. "You guys are so screwed now!"

   "Bring me Thanos!" Thor growled, charging into battle with his two friends trailing after him.

  An eager grin stretched Riley's face. Excitement electrified her seeing Thor again. She pushed herself onto her feet again. They could do this. 

   Valor delved right back into the fight. She was feeling somewhat more motivated and hopeful after seeing Thor. She flipped herself forward and jumped onto the back of one of the aliens. She twisted its head, breaking its neck with her thighs. This instantly killed the creature.

  Thor was a tsunami, pulling in the aliens and ripping through them with his new axe. Things were looking up again. As soon as Shuri finished extracting the Mind Stone and Wanda destroyed it, they would be okay. Just a little bit longer.

   Riley rolled onto her side, springing upward to stab another alien. She leaned forward, placing her hands on her knees out of exhaustion. She hadn't fought this long and hard in a while, not since Rob O'Dair at the very soonest. She had taken a lot of hits, but she had killed an extensive amount of aliens. That was a win, right? Riley glanced to her right to discover Steve breathing heavily beside her.

   "New haircut?" Steve panted. Riley's eyes traveled toward Thor, who had been standing a few feet away from the two.

   Thor grinned at his two friends. His eyes sparkled, happy to see them. Riley seemed to notice how one of his eyes was now brown, but she didn't bother asking. "Notice you've copied my beard," Thor teased. "Long time no see, Val! We should text sometime!"

   "Well, do you have a cellphone?" Riley asked with a dry throat, standing up straight again. She moved her headpiece to spit out blood before moving it back into place.

   Thor tilted his head to the side. "No, what for?" he wondered. Steve and Riley exchanged glances before briefly chuckling. Just behind them, a tree-like creature skewered three aliens with just his arm. "By the way, this is a friend of mine, Tree."

   "I am GROOT!" the tree snarled.

   "I... I am Steve Rogers," formally replied Steve while Riley waved and breathlessly said, "Riley... Riley Stark!"

  She stumbled forward, the ground rumbling beneath them. She looked back, discovering something speeding through the blazing forest between the troopships and the dome. When the disturbance reached the edge of the trees, it transformed into vast moving mounds of Earth that easily bypassed the barrier and emerged. These were Threshers — sets of massive, motorized spiked wheels, intended for nothing more than shredding everything in their paths.

   "Fall back!" T'Challa screamed. "Fall back now!"

  Though her stomach dropped, Riley found it in her to move. But instead of moving backward to safety, she rushed forward. The Threshers separated into individual wheels, beginning to veer across the battlefield. She sprinted to meet them. 

   "Focus that fire on the left flank, Sam!" Rhodey shouted.

   "I'm doing it!" Sam called back. The two flew through the skies, shooting at the Threshers. They couldn't seem to find a weak spot, so the Threshers kept barreling ahead. "Move back, Riley! Get out of here, NOW!"

  She ignored them, knowing exactly what she needed to do. Moving her arms above her head, a forcefield was raised. It was the largest she'd ever created, challenging the height of mountains and range of clouds. The wheels didn't stop upon colliding with her barrier, only continuing to push against it until she gave in and lowered her shield. She could hold them back, but she didn't know how long.

  An aggravated shout escaped her. She dug her heels into the dirt to keep herself standing. Her entire being was focused on holding back the wheels.

   Behind Riley, Natasha fought creatures that could come up from behind Riley with her escrima sticks. Okoye was by her side using her augmented spear. Sweat dripped down the side of Riley's head. Her muscles burned, straining intensely. Her eyes watered from the absolute pain that came with trying to push back the Threshers. She had never raised a forcefield this high before, never mind used it to push back an equally as strong force.

   Just when Riley was beginning to drop, a red figure landed beside her. Riley was too busy trying to keep it together to see who it was, but after the Threshers were lifted into the sky with a red enigma surrounding them, Riley didn't have to guess. Wanda Maximoff was right by her side. Releasing a breath of relief, Riley dropped onto the ground, lowering her forcefield in the process. Using this to her advantage, Wanda threw the Threshers back at the alien mob with a grunt.

   Watching Wanda with a pleased smile, Natasha nodded gratefully at the woman. Meanwhile, Okoye's eyes were wide. "Why was she up there all this time!?" Okoye demanded.

  Wanda smiled at them, the comment actually distracting her for a moment. Offering Riley a hand, she pulled her onto her feet again.

   Huffing and puffing, Riley asked, "Remember what I taught you?" She knew how Wanda got when it came to environments like this. Neither of them could afford to shrivel up or fall apart now.

  Wanda nodded. "Focus on your thoughts, not theirs."

   The girl of red and the girl of the sun stood together. They were no longer two entities, two soldiers. They were not separated, no longer divided. One did not take offensive while the other took defense. Instead, they joined forces. Flashes of red and purple sparked as Riley and Wanda fought together. Forcefields and bursts of energy shot from them, bodies and eyes illuminated with power. They moved as one.

   "Guys, we got a Vision situation here!" Sam's voice came into their earpieces. Riley glanced up, seeing Vision flying out of the laboratory.

   "Somebody get to Vision!" Steve yelled.

   "On my way," Wanda said, only to get clobbered by Proxima Midnight's pommel. She rolled down the large ditch created by the Thresher.

  Valor turned to strike Proxima, only to get smacked the second she turned. She dropped onto the ground as she jumped down beside Wanda. 

   "Sensing numerous contusions and hemorrhages," JOCASTA informatively said into Riley's ear. "The alien seemed to have bitten you where one of your bigger arteries are. You're losing blood fast!"

  Ignoring her, Riley's rage boiled over. She threw herself onto her feet and descended toward where Proxima was confronting Wanda.

   "He'll die alone," Proxima snarled to Wanda, "as will you."

   "She's not alone," Natasha's voice came from beside Riley, standing tall. Proxima cocked her head to the side with a furrowed brow. Okoye joined them, brandishing her spear on the opposite side of Proxima. The women had the alien surrounded.

   Releasing a battle cry, Proxima leaped for Natasha, who joined her sticks into a full staff. She blocked Proxima's blow with an electrical crackle. Okoye ran around the slope to attack from the front. Riley went in from behind, rolling forward and going for the legs.

   "Guys! Vision needs backup now!" Bruce yelled.

   "Dammit, I'm on it!" Riley declared.

   She took a few steps back before jumping upward onto a flat forcefield, lucky that Proxima didn't catch her in time. She flew out of the ditch and headed toward where she last saw Vision, maneuvering through the air swiftly. Her energy sluggishly returned to her, her body relieved she wasn't moving endlessly again.

   She was nearing the place she last saw Vision when unexpectedly, she was struck from the ground. With a gasp, she tumbled toward the dirt, just to find Bruce in the Hulkbuster suit and Cull Obsidian.

  Her head slammed against the ground hard. With every hit, she became more and more frustrated, more and more irritable. She was tired of getting hit so much, tired of fighting. She just needed to find Vision. 

  Rolling onto her stomach, Riley propped herself up on her forearm that hadn't been rapidly losing blood. "HEY!" she yelled with a hoarse voice.

   She struggled to get up gracefully as Cull Obsidian began to approach her. She nodded toward his arm that had been replaced with a weapon of some sort after it had been chopped off in New York. Riley spat out, "Cool hand, Captain Hook!"

   Sneering, Cull swung his chained hammer at her. She created a forcefield over herself, causing a miniature explosion to occur. It sent Cull and Bruce tumbling backward. She lowered her forcefield, proceeding to use her anger to her advantage. Enough was enough. She was going to kill this alien once and for all.

   Riley released a battle cry of some sort and extended her arms to the heavens as Cull rose again. She screamed and summoned the sun's energy. Large, various rays surged downward onto the battlefield. One of these aforementioned rays entrapped Cull, burning him up and quickly killing him. Any other creature that was caught in Riley's rays on the battlefield faced the same fate.

   "Holy shit!" Bruce yelled from the ground, using the Hulkbuster arm that hadn't been blown off to prop himself up. "Guys, Riley is badass!"

   Rising to her feet, Riley stumbled forward and panted heavily. Bruce lowered his helm. "Hey, maybe you should take a minute, Riley," Bruce suggested, also breathing laboriously.

  "Later," she spat before rising into the air again.

  It wasn't long before she finally found Vision. He leaned against a fallen tree, a pained grimace on his face. "Vision!" she greeted, stumbling toward him. 

  Vision couldn't tell if he was relieved or worried that she found him. He didn't know when the next attacker would come.

  She sat down beside him, lungs on the brink of collapsing. She tiredly said into her comm, "I'm-I'm with Vision. Safe for now. Any word on Shuri?" 

  She pressed down on her deepest wound, wincing in pain as she cradled her bitten arm against her chest. As they waited for a response, Vision studied her warily. "I'm fine, don't worry. Just... tired," she promised. She paused, observing his grimace. "You're gonna be fine, right?"

   Vision didn't know what to say. He had known Riley for a long time, nearly as long as he had known Tony. He considered her a friend. No—Riley was Vision's family. He watched her grow up to an extent throughout his days as JARVIS. Vision didn't want to say goodbye, but he knew he would have to at this rate.

  "I wouldn't want to lie to you—" he started.

  "I don't care," she interrupted. She glanced up at the Mind Stone, watching it spark. "Just... answer me."

  Vision faltered, holding his breath. Whatever he'd been through while she was fighting had taken a lot out of him. This much was clear. Still, he nodded and said, "I'll be fine. We both will."

  It was then when Wanda found them. "Are you okay?" she immediately asked. She joined them, crouching beside her partner. But before he could answer, he flinched in pain. "What? What is it?"

  "He's here," Vision whispered.

   Riley's eyes widened. She looked over at Vision nervously. The wind picked up and suddenly, the world around Riley felt strange, eerie almost. This was it. Thanos was here, and he wasn't going to leave without the Mind Stone.

  The Avengers assembled, slowly but surely. Riley could hardly bring herself to move. She joined Steve, who had been the one to save Vision before she found him.

  "Everyone, on my position," grimly said Steve. "We have incoming."

   As more of the team joined them, Riley looked around warily. He could be anywhere. For all she knew, Thanos could have snuck up on them and was preparing to strike down on the heroes all in one swing. The final stroke of the battle. They had to win.

  Suddenly, a group of bluish-black clouds materialized just a few feet away from the defenders. Thanos stepped forth, scars carved into his face. A golden gauntlet sat comfortably in his hand, the stones glimmering under the sunlight. He walked forward, calm, collected. There was no fear nor hesitation on his face. He was here to claim what he wanted.

   "Cap," Bruce quietly said, "that's him."

   Steve slowly nodded. "Eyes up. Stay sharp," he ordered.

  The fear pulsating through Riley's body was enough for JOCASTA to depict through her vitals alone, but she didn't care. She ignored all of the warnings JOCASTA reported into her ear. Instead, her gaze became locked on one thing. On Thanos' gauntlet, the Time Stone was locked into place.

  No... Did that mean...?

   Thanos had defeated Doctor Strange. Thanos had defeated the Guardians of the Galaxy. Thanos had defeated Peter Parker. Thanos had defeated Tony Stark.

   Bruce reached Thanos first, lunging forward with his fist in the air. The Space Stone was used on him, rendering him immaterial until the Hulk Buster was half-buried into the stone cliff behind him. Steve was sent flying before he could do so much as strike Thanos. T'Challa was grabbed by the throat and punched into the ground.

  Sam stooped, strafing with both Steyr pistols, but he fell when his wings turned to rubber, unable to sustain flight. Pietro went sprinting in, only for Thanos to use the Time stone to slow him down before punching him into the ground.

   Rhodey fired next, but Thanos just used the gauntlet to crush his armor and toss him aside. Bucky went sprinting in, firing his gun, only to be punched away by the Power Stone. Okoye went to throw her spear, just to be pushed aside, whereas Natasha was trapped under inescapable bands of Earth. Groot stabbed his hands into the ground to wrap him in cables of roots, but Thanos broke it without even batting an eye.

  One after another, the Avengers fell. With the stones, Thanos was the strongest person in the universe. He just needed one more, and the only thing still standing was Riley. But she only stared at him, frozen with shock.

   It was then when Riley realized she was the only Avenger left standing in the area. "Child of the Sun," greeted Thanos, "why do you stand so still?"

   "You killed them," was all Riley could whisper. Hatred swirled in her irises, body numbed with wrath. Thanos didn't respond. "You'll pay."

   Without wasting another second, Riley extended her arms and shot a blast of UV rays at Thanos. Instinctively, Thanos shot back at her using the stones. Riley threw her hand upward, creating a forcefield. The blast was deflected by the forcefield, moving back towards Thanos. Grunting, he went falling onto the ground, only to use the stones to teleport behind Riley.

  She shouted in pain as he punched her from behind. She used a forcefield to prevent herself from falling entirely. Energy surged from her hands as she shot at him, trying to handicap him. She tried detaining him in a forcefield, but he kept using the stones against her. This fight went on for only a minute longer before he was finally able to push her off. She was pummeled into a tree, and this time, she stayed down.

  Bones cracking was a good enough reason to stay down, at least for a minute. Red spilled onto her suit, blending in with dirt and alien venom. If Riley lived to see another day, she knew she would never forgive herself for not being able to hold him down longer. Maybe if she did, Thanos wouldn't have gotten to the Mind Stone in the end.

   She laid there for a long time, completely and utterly distraught and drained. It seemed futile to try standing up, so she just laid there. Tears streaked her face, her mind wandering back to Tony and Peter. The only way Thanos should have been able to retrieve the Time Stone was if he killed them. They were gone.   Two of the most important people in Riley's life were dead... just like that. Riley's heart ached with pain.

   From the corner of her eye, Riley watched as Thor jumped down from the skies and struck Thanos with his axe.

  There it was again — relief. Thor did it. He actually did it. Thanos was right where he wanted him. "I told you you'd die for that!" Thor hissed, pushing the axe further into Thanos's chest.

   Thanos cried out in pain. "You... You..." Thanos whimpered. "You should have..." Thanos suddenly was fine, dropping his facade. "You should have gone for the head!"

   Riley gasped as Thanos snapped his fingers.

   She sat upright instantaneously, feeling dizzy and shock in one mixed bundle. Riley had lost too much blood and knew she was definitely going to pass out unless something else happened beforehand. She didn't need JOCASTA yelling in her ear to know this.

  They failed.

  They... actually failed.

   After everything, after all of the fighting, after all of the deaths on the battlefield, after all of that... they lost?

   A moment passed of Thor screaming at Thanos, repeatedly yelling, "What did you do!?"

   Thanos kneeled with the gauntlet in his hand, completely scorched. The stones were no longer glowing. Then, without a word, he used the Space Stone to teleport away, leaving Thor's axe behind on Wakandan ground.

  Steve stumbled into the clearing, holding onto his left side. "Where'd he go?" he asked frantically. "Thor... Where did he go?"

  Bucky walked toward them, hesitant. "Steve?" 

   Riley gasped as Bucky fell over, collapsing into dust.

   Riley lowered her mask, revealing a long line of dried blood and bruises all over her youthful face. The line undoubtedly continued down her body. She peered back at Steve as he kneeled where Bucky had disintegrated. Tears continued to cascade out of her eyes and down her cheeks as she looked out at the horizon below.

  One after another, dust consumed the fighters. It was awful watching. No one knew when it would come or what it was. They didn't know who it would take. The dust just kept coming. More and more people turned into dust. It didn't matter if you survived the fight because this was the end of the war, and it was killing whoever it wanted.

   A strange sensation overtook Riley Stark seconds later as more people turned to dust. She stumbled backward, falling onto the ground. She didn't know what was going on.

   "What's happening to me...?" she whispered. Her head was pounding aggressively, washing out any voices that asked if she was okay, telling her to stay with them.

   They sounded so far away.

   The world around her was growing darker and darker by the second. Over her throbbing headache, Riley could hear something else in the mix.

   It was a song, a lullaby of some sort. Riley could hear her mother's lullaby, just like from her very first memory. Was it possible that these were her final moments? Would her final moment truly be as serene as her first?

   And just before her world around her faded entirely, all she could hear was Thanos's voice echo quietly alongside the alluring melody of her mother's lullaby.

   "Your fate will be decided by the snap... Yes, that's what I'll do with you. And should you survive? Well... we'll be in touch, Valor."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:

ahahaha fuuuuuuck.

i wish i could tell yall how many times i cried writing this because i had to rewatch infinity war so many times to write this. that PLUS the tears i shed thinking about endgame.... WHEW!

ALSO... make sure you don't skip the intermission chapter...

just saying.