Title: "After Infinity"
Plot: Immediately after the events of "Infinity War", the Avengers struggle to pick up the pieces of the world left devastated by Thanos. They garner allies (old and new) along the road to recovery. [WARNING: Beware of Spoilers Below!]
Characters:
• Tony Stark / Iron Man (played by Robert Downey, Jr.): The leader and benefactor of a faction of the Avengers, a self-described "genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist" with electromechanical suits of armor of his own making. He struggles to come to terms with the death of Peter Parker while attempting to make it back to Earth with Nebula.
• Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth): The God of Thunder and the King of Asgard based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name. He struggles to come to terms with the deaths of Loki, Heimdall, and his people.
• Bruce Banner / Hulk (played by Mark Ruffalo): A genius scientist who transforms into a monster when enraged because of gamma radiation exposure. He struggles to come with terms with the Hulk not cooperating with him.
• Steve Rogers / Captain America / Nomad (played by Chris Evans): The fugitive leader of a faction of the Avengers, a World War II veteran turned super soldier. He struggles to come to terms with the deaths of Bucky, Sam, and the rest of the world's people.
• Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow (played by Scarlett Johansson): A highly trained spy, a former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and a member of Rogers' faction of Avengers. She struggles to come to terms with the world falling apart before her very eyes, as well as the deaths of Wanda and Vision.
• James Rhodes / War Machine (played by Don Cheadle): A U.S. Air Force officer and a member of Stark's faction of Avengers. He struggles to come to terms with the possibility of Tony and Sam (actually) dying.
• Okoye (played by Danai Gurira): The head of the Dora Milaje, the all-female special forces of Wakanda. She struggles to come to terms with the death of her king.
• M'Baku (played by Winston Duke): The leader of the Jabari, Wakanda's mountain tribe. He struggles to come with the deaths of his tribesmen and fellow people.
• Rocket (played by Bradley Cooper): A genetically-engineered raccoon-based mercenary and a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. He struggles to come to terms with the deaths of Groot and (eventually) the rest of his Guardians.
• Nebula (played by Karen Gillian): An adopted daughter of Thanos and the sister of Gamora. She struggles to come to terms with the deaths of her sister and fellow Guardians while attempting to make it back to Earth with Tony.
• Clint Barton / Hawkeye / Ronin (played by Jeremy Renner): A master archer, a former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and a member of Rogers' faction of Avengers. He struggles to take care of Lila in the midst of a global genocide.
• Scott Lang / Ant-Man (played by Paul Rudd): A former petty criminal with a suit that allows him to shrink in size and increase in strength. He struggles to take care of Cassie...who dreams of becoming a superhero like her father.
• Hope van Dyne / Wasp (played by Evangeline Lilly): The daughter of Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne who is bequeathed a suit along with the former mantle that belonged to her mother. She struggles to become a maternal figure towards Cassie and help Scott cope with his losses.
• Valkyrie (played by Tessa Thompson): A legendary warrior of Asgard who suffers from PTSD. She struggles with the failure of rescuing the other half of the survivors of Asgard's destruction.
• Shuri (played by Letitia Wright): The younger sister of T'Challa and the Princess of Wakanda who designs new technology for the country. She struggles to come to terms with the deaths of her brother, Bucky, and the rest of her people while attempting to rule Wakanda in the wake of T'Challa's death.
• Matt Murdock / Daredevil (played by Charlie Cox): A blind pro-bono lawyer in Hell's Kitchen whose four remaining senses are enhanced to become a masked vigilante. He struggles to recover after the destruction of Midland Circle.
• Jessica Jones (played by Krysten Ritter): A private investigator suffering from PTSD who runs Alias Investigations. She struggles to deal with the losses of her mother, her friends, and (apparently) especially Matt.
• Luke Cage (played by Mike Coulter): A former convict with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin who fights crime in Harlem. He struggles to move on with his life following the destruction of Midland Circle and the death of Matt.
• Danny Rand / Iron Fist (played by Finn Jones): A billionaire Buddhist monk and the co-CEO of Rand Enterprises. He struggles to move on with his life following the destruction of Midland Circle and the death of Matt, whom he promised to protect the city.
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Film Noir, Psychological Thriller, Science Fiction, Spy, Superhero
Rated: PG-13 / R

Think "Avengers: Breathe" (by stellarose) meets "Tony & Nebula: Post-Infinity War" (by the_girl_in_the_flower_dress) on delayed steroids when reading this.

Enjoy! If you can...

The fields of Wakanda were deathly silent. Half of its occupants had disintegrated, and the other half watched in horror as they did so. For a long good moment, nobody spoke out, cried out, or even breathed out. Steve, Thor, Natasha, Bruce, Rhodes, and Rocket stood there surrounding the corpse of the one person they swore to protect from Thanos. Alas, the Mad Titan fulfilled his destiny...and took him along with him.

"Bucky..." Steve murmured to himself, still seated on the grass. Natasha, knowing how much the death of his aforementioned fallen friend meant to and affected him, allowed herself to stumble forward and help up her fellow Avenger. She didn't hesitate to motion one arm over his shoulders in comfort, and he in turn didn't protest. It must be all of the shellshock, then.

"Has anyone seen Sam?" Natasha managed to make out.

"As far as I can tell," Rhodes ambled forward, "it's safe to assume that he's gone already. And Wanda..."

"And Groot," Rocket kicked a rock on his way.

"And my King," Okoye approached with M'Baku and Ayo.

"Oh...definitely end times," Banner aptly commented while inside the Hulkbuster suit. Another moment passed before...

"Steve..." Natasha's breath hitched as she swayed lightly and leaned against Steve, who grabbed her before she could fall down. Alarm and dread ran through him, for he believed it was her time to go now. "I... I can't breathe..."

"Miss Romanoff took a hit earlier," Okoye approached to scan Natasha's body for the injury in question. "Once the adrenaline from the heat of battle wears off, the pain and shock will set in, so I'm not surprised she requires medical attention. She took the hit most boldly, I must add."

Steve practically forced himself to remain calm as he held on to Nat, "Hey, Nat. You're...you're gonna be ok. Just – "

"Is it just us?"

"... What?"

"Is it just us?" Natasha repeated her question, "or is everyone else...gone too?"

"Yes," Thor advanced. "Half of everyone, at least."

Their worst nightmare all but certain, the remaining group glanced around in worry that they too may disintegrate at any possible moment. At Thor's reply, the realization hit Steve what Natasha was thinking. Where was everyone else? Clint? Scott? Dr. Selvig? Dr. Cho? Fury? Hill? The President? Peter? Pepper? Tony? Even with his head hanging down, Steve could feel the others' eyes on him. A newfound determination building up in him, however, he nodded and faced them.

"We have work to do."

"I agree," Okoye nodded in succession, "We must return to Wakanda and try to keep order; people will be frightened and confused. We must do what can done."

Everyone nodded in return and began their walk back to the Golden City. Steve continued to support Natasha while Thor carried the body of Vision, Rocket walking beside him, and Okoye was joined by M'Baku and Ayo. The former Captain couldn't help but think: Tony, wherever you are... I hope you're safe.

"Get up, Stark. We've got work to do."

The tone of Nebula was decidedly belligerent, yet Tony opted to gaze longingly down at his hands, which held in the palms a pile of ashes. Peter's ashes. Peter... The waterworks began to turn again and he hung his head in defeat, teardrops plummeting down to the planet's rocky surface. He was lost, both figuratively and literally.

"Stark." Nebula repeated, a metallic hand placed on his shoulder. At that, Tony's head shot upwards and his eyes widened like saucers, followed by scrambling up and glancing at anywhere but her. His bloodshot eyes were an indication to her that this was an empty shell of his former self. He was now a man with nothing to lose. Case in point, she watched as he tugged at his hair and screamed...a heartbroken, gravely, and rage-filled scream.

"Motherfucker!" Tony yelled into the burnt-orange and empty heavens above, snatching up random pieces of debris and hurling or kicking them into the air. It was too much. It was all too much for him to handle. My God... Who else would be gone? Pepper? Rhodes? Nat? Steve...? Oh My God... I never forgave him. He slumped downward and hugged himself before rocking back and forth. Following this traumatic outburst, something in Nebula's expression changed to something akin to that of sympathy. Rage, agony and sorrow... No doubt she could relate to them all too well. Kneeling down at his side, the metallic hand was placed much more softly on his shoulder.

"... I'm sorry, Stark." A rare hint of softness within her tone of voice, Stark halfheartedly turned to look at Nebula.

"Thanos has gone too far, but we can't let him win. We have to find a way to stop him so Thanos can pay for what he's done. The universe has fallen apart, and he is the only one with the power to do anything about it."

Tony blinked in surprise at Nebula's quite out-of-character monologue, despite knowing her for a few moments during the battle with Thanos. With that said, her face hardened again.

"Now you must get up. We're going to Earth to figure out who is left...for we can't do this alone."

Tony took several deep breaths and a moment's notice to contemplate. Nebula was right, even if he found it in himself to cry, wallow in his misery, or even scream in mad curses at the gods responsible for his fate. Holding out a hand and gripped his arm, she hoisted him to his feet.

"You're right..." Tony shakily nodded, "Let's go." He suddenly felt the strong urge to get away from this cursed place, and Nebula undoubtedly agreed. They had to keep going. There was literally no other choice.

Of course, with the ship damaged beyond repair, the journey proved easier said than done.

Tony waited on the ground while Nebula went to work on the ship's mechanisms and functions, attempting to get it to function with little-to-no success. He observed the barren, wasteland that was the surface of the planet. A light breeze drifted through the wind and ruffled his damp hair. Dusky orange and earthy brown tinted everything from the ground to the atmosphere and it could almost have been described as uniquely beautiful...had it not been for the pain and destruction that occurred her today. He realized how alone he felt without Peter and his endless optimism filling the silence. He wouldn't admit it before, but Peter was something of a son to him – someone who he valued greatly in his life. What would Aunt May say to me when she found out...if she found out? Was she even still alive?

A newfound determination stirring with him, Tony's main priority was getting back to Earth. Back home.

Don't you worry, kid. We'll work this out.

"Shit." Tony heard Nebula mutter and turned toward her...and then toward the incoming spaceship entering the atmosphere. Gathering the last of his technology to build makeshift repulsors, he readied to go down fighting alongside her, who got into a fighting stance with her electroshock batons. As the vessel landed before them and the backdoor opened, their guards lowered at the person who strutted down.

"Kraglin."

"Nebula." The former Ravager member greeted the semi-Guardians member and her acquaintance, "What did we miss?"

"We?"

Another person exited the spacecraft and stood beside Kraglin. She was dark brown with a pale smoke battle uniform that was complemented by golden armor plates and an azure plates. A macaroon cream-handled sword was resting in her black-and-silver thigh scabbard, as were dual daggers in mid-waist back sheathes.

"Mr. Stark? My name is Valkyrie. I understand that you are a friend of Thor."

The city of New York was in a state of decay, emergency, and ruins. Everywhere you went, you would find people disintegrating en masse and the vehicles driven by them crashing into surviving innocent bystanders. Any remaining members of the police forces collaborated with additional authoritarian figures to help round up any survivors and quell the fear of an apocalypse beyond the people.

Detective Mercedes Knight was one of them.

Of course, she wasn't exactly doing her job at the moment. Instead, she walked down the panic-ridden streets of NY and ducked into an alley to have a conversation with an associate of hers.

"What the hell is going on, Misty?"

"I was about to ask you the same question, Rand."

Meanwhile, as this conversation was taking place, a high school student was matching down the sidewalk with both hands in both pockets. This student was a female with black hair, brown eyes, a red jacket above a white collared shirt, and black jeans with matching boots. Glancing around the destruction around her, she was entirely focused on the mayhem that she failed to notice the object she stepped on and nearly broke. Glancing down at said object and crouching down to pick it up from the ashes, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. The object in question...was a 1990's pager that flashed a golden starburst pattern on a red-and-blue background. It's still intact...? But how...?

Let beauty come out of ashes
Let beauty come out of ashes
And when I pray to God all I ask is
Can beauty come out of ashes?

The girl's ears perked up at the song, prompting her to turn around and gasp. A girl her age stood a few feet from her, wandering aimlessly around the street. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and an all-too-familiar black hairband. I know that voice anywhere.

"Betty!"

The blonde girl turned to the source of the voice calling out for her and gasped in astonishment.

"Cindy!"

Both girls ran toward and engulfed each other in a heartfelt hug, sobs emitted and exchanged. When they broke apart, it was Betty who asked and stated the obvious.

"What the hell is happening, Cindy? People are disappearing!"

"I know, Betty. My mother and younger brother are gone, too. But..."

"But what?"

After a mental debate on whether or not to show Betty her discovery, Cindy ultimately bit the bullet. "I don't think we should worry." She displayed the pager for her to examine. Taking it from her and doing just that, confusion and intrigue plagued her just as it did for her friend.

"What is it?"

"It's a pager, obviously. I think someone was trying to send a signal for help."

"Okay..." Betty nodded in understanding, "...but to who?"

"... I'm still trying to figure that part out."

"Right. You think we should go to the police?"

"No. Not yet. Not until I figure out who was sending the signal to who."

"You mean 'we'?"

Cindy glanced at Betty, who merely shot her a smile. Even in the world's end, she stood by her. She needed someone to look up to following Liz's departure.

"I was hoping you would say that, actually."

"Well, I'm glad I did."

Cindy and Betty exchanged smiles before taking off into the depths of the city...unaware that a mystery man was watching them from the shadows.