tainted dreams | chapter thirteen
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Rosalie didn't want to leave the darkness of her bedroom. It was a mess of dirty clothes, books and tissues. But the blonde didn't mind, as the disarray of her bedroom mirrored the tempestuous feelings she had been dealing with for the past five hours.

She hadn't had enough time to grieve the death of her mentor when a knock sounded on her bedroom door.

Softly lifting her head from the pillow, her puffy eyes identified a figure just outside her door.

Tony.

The man didn't waste any time before closing the door behind his back, sitting by Rosalie's side and embracing her. Tears that had already been dry from hours of just laying there, started to fall down her pale cheeks once more.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered, pain noticeable in his words. He had also lost someone very close to him, but he knew too well the pain Rosalie was feeling. She lost a motherly figure, her support, her mentor. The only one that was there for her when everyone else abandoned her.

Including him. And her parents.

There was a minute of silence during which both heroes simply cherished their embrace, happy that the other was still alive and breathing. Although she had lost so much already, Rosalie was glad that not everything and everyone she cared about was taken from her.

At least she still had Tony. She had her Tony back.

"I know you probably don't want to hear this -after the shitty day you had- but I need to tell you." Tony leaned back and grabbed Rosalie's face, eyes staring deeply into hers. "I can't find enough words to apologise for what I did. It's not acceptable, you were as lost as I was -probably even more lost due to all your friends turning to dusting but-"

"I know." She nodded, tears once again tickling their way down her cheeks. "I get it."

The two shared another hug before Tony spoke whatever he had been trying to say when he got there. Rosalie already knew was was happening outside, as she had heard Bruce's outburst from the solitude of her bedroom.

"The team's all gathered at the small lake by the northside of the compound." Tony explained and the blonde nodded, getting ready to face everyone after her outburst at the platform. "Let's go."

She did as Tony told her, too frail and broken to speak against his words. Rosalie wanted to pay her respects to the only person who never left her side, even when darker times clouded their lives. Nat was always there for her.

As she would always be there for her mentor.

A new wave of tears threatened to spill from her tired eyes, cheeks numb from the long hours she spent crying and rubbing them away -with a strange strength that made her skin feel raw.

The entire walk through the compound and towards the lake was silent, both of them relieved by their reconciliation but devastated by the loss of an important team member.

When they finally got there, Steve, Thor, Clint, and Bruce were already sitting on whatever spot they could find first, mourning their fallen teammate and friend.

On their way out of her room, Rosalie grabbed a special item without Tony noticing. It was so meaningful to her and it demonstrated the incredible bond that she had with her mentor.

Nat had started paining along the way. She always said that is was her way of releasing the accumulated stress she felt whenever they came back from unsuccessful missions -or when she was told some really bad news from her teammates scattered across the universe.

So, while Rosalie went on her rampage and killed dozens of people with her powers, Nat felt so alone that she didn't have anyone to talk to about everything that had been happening. Yes, she had Steve. But Steve wasn't Rosalie. Her little apprentice.

When the blonde came back to the compound all those years ago, Nat gave her that object. A small paining of an angelic figure, no bigger than the palm of Rosalie's hand. The cherub had expressive blue eyes and blonde locks just like the girl holding the painting.

Just looking at it, Rosalie felt her heart clenching inside her chest. This was the last physical memory she had of Nat.

Her mourning was interrupted by the men's conversation, one that she deliberately wanted to ignore but couldn't due to their loud voices.

"Do we know if she had family?" Tony asked, standing by Rosalie with his hands behind his back. His posture didn't fit the gloomy atmosphere around him, but the blonde knew his eyes hid the immense amount of pain he was feeling.

"Yeah. Us." It was Steve's reply that warmed her heart, just a tiny little bit.

"What?" Thor sounded extremely surprised, which led Rosalie to believe he didn't actually think Nat was dead.

"Tony just asked him a question, it's okay." Rosalie said, a tired smile making its way to her equally exhausted face.

"Yeah, you're acting like she's dead." He laughed lightly, eyes roaming around the now deadly silent group. "Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the stones, right? 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."

Everyone shared a look. No one wanted to shake Thor out of his delusional state. He hadn't known Nat as much as they had but it was clear her death was affecting him.

She took one for the team, after all. And it costed her life.

"We can't get her back." Clint found enough strength to speak, the words barely audible.

"Wha -what?"

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

Thor dryly laughed as Rosalie stepped back, hand covering her mouth before sobs could rise to the surface. She had her back to the rest of the team but their fear was very present inside her mind.

"I'm sorry. No offense, but you're a very earthly being. Okay? We're talking about space magic. And 'can't' seems very definitive don't you think?"

"Look, I know that I'm way outside my paygrade here. But she still isn't here, is she?" Clint was beginning to raise his voice as rage was evident in his every word.

"Now that's my point-" Thor was interrupted by the blonde, who never turned back to look them in the eye.

"It can't... be undone." Taking a deep breath, she continued. "Or that's at least what the great floating guy had to say."

Rosalie's anger was quickly replaced with a deeper feeling of grief as she lowered her head and let the sobs out into the world.

"It was supposed to be me. She sacrificed her life for that goddamned stone. She bet her life on it."

As Rosalie cried, Bruce grabbed a bench and hurled it clear across the lake in a burst of anger. His anger spent, he turned to the others with a resigned look on his face.

"She's not coming back. We have to make it worth it. We have to."

"We will." Steve stood and grabbed hold of Rosalie's free hand, determined to finish what they had started.

So he guided them all to the Avenger's Lab. They had work to do.

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Rosalie had watched as Tony carefully placed the stones in the gauntlet he made while the rest of the team breathed down his neck. With nervous precision, Tony manipulated the machine and carefully placed all six stones into the gauntlet.

If that tiny stone hadn't costed her mentor's life, the blonde would have stared at its beauty for hours. But she wouldn't stand there as they decided who should snap everything back to normal. Not when Nat wouldn't come back with the rest of the world.

So she decided to wait at a comfortable distance, near the windows.

Until Tony asked F.R.I.D.A.Y. to activate Protocol 8.

"Yes, boss." Her robotic voice was heard all over the compound as the entire facility went on lockdown.

Every door, window, entrance and exit was closed shut with heavy metal doors. No one was to get in or out of there without things going back to normal.

"Everybody comes home."

Bruce's words could be heard from Rosalie's spot and she shook her head.

"Not everybody." She whispered softly, still gripping the small painting she had grabbed from her room.

Shouts and grunts of pain were heard but Rosalie didn't move a muscle. She just stood there, back turned and hands gripping each other. Her eyes would open once they told her it was finally over. She didn't have the courage to open them a single second before.

Otherwise it wouldn't work and their efforts would go down the drain.

Out of nowhere, she felt something.

There was a strange feeling bubbling inside of Rosalie. Like her insides were burning, arms stinging and legs giving out beneath her. She could no longer hold herself up, slowly succumbing to the ground and breathing heavily.

"What is happening to me?" She yelled out along with Bruce, who merely laughed and looked at her straight in the eye, both writhing in the floor in pain.

"Don't fight it, Rose." He said, holding the arm where the gauntlet was. "You'll thank me later."

Yelling and thrashing around one last time before collapsing, Rosalie's mind couldn't find a plausible reason for what was happening. Why would Bruce choose to do something to her?

And what exactly was it that he did?

Her mind wasn't unconscious for long. She was awoken by Clint's phone ringing once Bruce passed out as well. From where she laid, eyes now wide open, Rosalie couldn't read the caller id but she had a pretty accurate guess about who it was.

It was his wife. The one who had dusted away that fateful day.

"Honey. Honey." Struggling to speak from sheer happiness, Clint smiled brightly for the first time in years.

"Guys...I think it worked!" Scott spoke in an oddly cheerful tone.

Rosalie looked up and gasped loudly, body still aching.

"Oh no."

There was an alien ship floating in the sky above the compound, a single missile heading towards the base. It blew everyone away. Rosalie hit her head on the now rocky ground with immense force and a crack was heard.

It hurt like a bitch but her powers were faster than her mind as they protected and healed the wound in speed record.

Then a continuous array of missiles destroyed what was left of the base and everyone sunk below to the underground. Debris covered Rosalie's small body from head to toe, making it hard for her to breathe.

Coughing, she found a breach near her head and she could see that her team members were saved by Bruce, who was holding up the heaviest of debris from collapsing on top of them. Like Rosalie, Rocket was stuck underneath some rocks.

But they were too far away from her and didn't seem to see her.

"I can't breathe. I can't breathe! I can't breathe." The animal yelled, urging Rosalie to act.

All she had to do was clench her fists, black mist enveloping what was left of the compound and lifting it from her body.

More debris fell between her freed body and her teammates. Yelling out their names, no one heard her over the deafening noise of their own screams.

She trusted them enough to know they would get of out that situation alive. Nonetheless, she commanded a portion of her powers to stay behind and guide them to safety, hands forming a circle and letting a medium-sized ball of pure darkness float towards her friends.

"I have to find Steve."

If she wanted to find whoever did this, she would have to find the man himself -Steve. It was as if, wherever he went, danger followed him. And Rosalie was sure he would be right in the centre of all that trouble.

So she would go to him and help him in battle. To avenge Nat. To avenge all the fallen ones she had lost.

And to possibly find her friends and Peter.

Strangely, the main entrance of the compound was still standing. Rosalie found Tony walking towards Steve, who was unconscious on the ground right in front of her.

But that wasn't what caught her eye.

The mirror that Nat chose specifically for that spot. The giant floor-to-ceiling mirror was still intact and that fact wasn't exactly surprising to her.

Her reflection was.

Rosalie looked younger. She felt younger. Not younger in a rejuvenated way, like she felt whenever she came back from a mission or took a calming bath that lasted for long hours.

She was, in fact, younger. Her face wasn't marred by the scars and worry wrinkles that haunted her for the past five years. In fact, it looked like the past five years hadn't even happened.

Like... Like she was back to being seventeen. The exact same age she had five years prior to that day, when they fought Thanos and lost.

Her hands touched her rosy cheeks, tears clouding her vision. That was what Bruce did for her.

He brought the old Rosalie back.

Laughing through her tears, she shook her head. That was a matter for later.

Walking towards the duo, Rosalie heard Tony speak as he gave Steve his shield back.

"What happened?" The blond man asked, clearly disoriented from the multiple missile bombs that had fallen upon them.

Remembering how she looked, Rosalie cleared the grey dust from her face as much as she could with the sleeve of her black suit. Would Tony notice in the middle of all that mess?

"We messed with time. It tends to mess back. You'll see."

The three walked towards the open space where the compound had once stood. Thor found them along the way and joined them.

They soon found Thanos.

"That's impossible." Rosalie chuckled humourlessly, not wanting to believe her own eyes. "We killed him."

"Time." Tony simply said before asking the other two men. "What's he been doing?"

Thor, who had apparently been keeping an eye on the unmoving creature, replied.

"Absolutely nothing."

"Where are the stones?" Steve asked as he remembered the reason why Thanos could be here for.

"Somewhere under all this. Bruce was near me when shit went down so the gauntlet is probably near him." Rosalie shook her head and the three men eyed her strangely.

"Why do you look-" Thor started.

"I don't know-" Steve continued.

"Younger?" And Tony finished.

"Long story but I think Bruce reverted my age back to seventeen when he snapped." Shrugging like it was no bit deal, Rosalie looked back at Thanos. "We'll talk about this later."

Thor was the one who broke the silent staring contest between the heroes and the villain.

"You know it's a trap, right?"

"Yeah. And I don't much care." Tony smirked, looking godly powerful in his Iron Man suit.

"Good. Just as long we are all in agreement." Thor shared his mood and quickly summoned both Stormbreaker and Mjolnir. Rosalie whistled loudly. "Let's kill him properly this time."

"On it." The girl walked alongside them over to confront Thanos face to face. "Leave his head back as a trophy for me, will you?"

They were then stopped by that annoyingly familiar voice, one that haunted every single one of them for ages. Memories of that fateful day filled Rosalie's mind with unpleasant thought, her powers screaming inside her body, pleading to be allowed out and into Thanos' breakable body.

Not yet. Patience. 

"You could not live with your own failure. And where did that bring you? Back to me." He stood taller as he spoke, like a true tyrant preparing for battle. "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." Rosalie shrugged and enjoyed the small raise of Thanos' eyebrow.

"I'm thankful. Because now, I know what I must do. I will shred this universe down to its last atom." Thanos put on his helmet and his face twisted into a disgusting smile -or at least it looked like he tried to smile. "And then, with the stones you've collected for me, create a new one. Teeming with life, but knows not what it has lost but only what it has been given. A grateful universe."

"Born out of blood." Steve looked disgusted by his words, like the rest of his team. 

"They'll never know it. Because you won't be alive to tell them."

"Oh, you wanna bet, purple man?" The blonde remarked, eyes glowing red and hands warming up with unreleased power.

Steve and Rosalie shared a glance, nodding as they prepared to jump into battle.

It was time to fight Thanos for the last time. And she was about to make sure that the monster met his final destiny.

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this story is almost over guys!
i'm so sorry for the long wait but i've been healing a pretty broken heart and couldn't find it in me to write :( i'm better now, not 100% healed yet but definitely getting there!! 
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