Fandom: MCU
Pairings/characters: Steve Rogers x reader, Thor, Thanos and everyone from Endgame
Words: 2077

Summary:
It's the final battle against Thanos and Steve is about to give up. But then he hears her voice in his head...

Note: Inspired by this. This is basically part of the final battle in Endgame, so naturally I have used dialogue from that, and you will recognize most of what happens. That said, I do not own Marvel, The Avengers or characters or anything else you recognize. I have simply taken part of the movie and written it in my own words, to make it fit with the idea I came up with. The definition of fanfiction, basically. And I hope I haven't made it too boring... Writing your own spin on something in this way that I have done, can be pretty boring, and out of all the stories I've read like this, I can count on one hand how many of them were done in an interesting way. I hope I have managed that.

This was not going well. Steve was sure everyone had been crushed under concrete and wood and glass and dirt. It had been only him, Thor and Tony. But now Tony was thrown somewhere, unconscious or... dead. Thor was still fighting, and Steve would too. He'd keep fighting until his dying breath, but he had to admit it was hard to keep the hope up.

There was the sound of something whooshing past his head as Stormbreaker flew through the air towards Thor's raised and shaking hand. Steve was about to charge forward to help him, but then Thanos grabbed the axe. There was a struggle and then, to Steve's horror, Thanos gained the upper hand. The sharper side of the axe pressed into Thor's chest, the god of thunder crying out in agony and Steve's heart jumped out of his chest in fear for his friend. He had to do something.

He looked around, his mind quickly forming a plan involving his shield, but then, in the corner of his eye, he saw Mjølnir. It seemed like a million thoughts ran through his mind in one second. A flash of a memory, a party all those years ago, when Thor challenged them all to lift the hammer. Steve had wrapped his hand around the shaft and felt something budge, but he'd been so surprised he loosened his grip. And when he tried again, the hammer had been stuck as if welded into place. He wasn't sure he could do it now, and he's not sure what made him try, or even how it was done, but Steve raised his hand and willed Mjølnir to come to him. Heart beating hard in his chest, he watched the hammer almost shiver on the ground, until it lifted and flew towards him as if it had been waiting for him.

He didn't even give himself a split second to marvel at what he had just done, as he threw it with all his might right towards Thanos, hitting the purple bastard square in the shoulder and knocking him away from Thor. The hammer came flying back and settled into Steve's hand, and now he could feel the strength and the power of the weapon surging through his arm. It was like his blood had become electrified, it was buzzing and crackling inside his veins. It was an amazing sensation.

"I knew it!" Thor's croaking voice brought Steve back from his split-second pause, just in time to see Thanos stomp down on Thor's face with a sickening crunching sound before storming towards Steve.

Steve moved his grip to the leather strap and starting swinging Mjølnir just like he had seen Thor do so many times. It gathered momentum, and he too charged towards Thanos, pure anger fuelling Steve's exhausted legs. There was a bang as he swung the hammer right up into the titan's jaw, sending him flying several feet back. Without losing his stride, Steve jumped and spun in the air, throwing his shield with all the strength he could muster. Shield and Mjølnir and fists and feet, Steve bombarded Thanos, pushed him back, never giving him the chance to get a single shot in. Pulling on the power he felt surging through his veins, he drew energy from the air, pushing Thanos over with a jolt of electricity, lighting him up like an ugly Christmas tree. If the situation hadn't been so desperate, Steve would have laughed out loud from feeling mightier than he had done in his entire life, even mightier than when he realised he was no longer sickly or too small for war. Instead, he grit his teeth and shot his hand into the air, pulling thunder and lightning from the heavens right down into his enemy. While Thanos was writhing and convulsing on the ground, Steve jumped to give the final blow, but Thanos rolled to the side, scrambled to his feet, and before Steve knew it, he was thrown to the ground.

Shock surged through Steve's back, but he ignored the pain and got to his feet. But now Thanos advanced on Steve. Blade swinging, Thanos grunting. Steve ducking, dodging. More pain to ignore as Thanos stabbed Steve in the thigh. Mjølnir was knocked from his hand and he just managed to get his shield in front of him as the blade came swinging down. In disbelief and fright, Steve saw it cut through the vibranium as if it was butter. Again and again, hacking off piece by piece by piece, until Thanos finally swung hard and Steve flew through the air like a ragdoll.

The air was knocked out of him. Hope went with it. He closed his eyes and finally felt how tired he was. How exhausted every fibre of his being was. The shield was half broken. There was burning rubble all around him. Nothing left of the compound. Tony was out, Thor was out. They were not going to win this. This was it, the end.

And Steve welcomed it.

He had fought for so long. He wanted it all to be over, so he could finally rest. Be with his love and his friends again, at peace.

Come back to me, Steve.

His heart skipped a beat. Now he was hallucinating. Hearing her voice in his head, a voice he never thought he'd hear again. It wasn't real. She had been dusted. He wasn't even sure they had managed to bring everyone back. Before he'd had a chance to check, the building had come down on them. And he didn't know if anyone had survived that. Bruce, Scott, Clint, Nebula, Rocket, Rhodey... And where was Carol... As far as Steve knew, it was only himself left, and he couldn't do it anymore.

You can do this, Steve. Walk it off. Fight. I believe in you, my captain. My love.

He opened his eyes and took a deep breath. It's not real. You’re not real. But he turned over. Everything hurt as he pulled himself up to his knees and stopped to catch his breath.

"In all my years of conquest... violence... slaughter... I was never personal." Thanos was talking. Steve glanced at him. A cocky look on that purple face as he was looking around at the destruction he had caused. The rubble, the dark smoky skies, the little fires burning everywhere. It looked almost like he was admiring paradise.

That's it, Steve. Up. The voice in his head was still there, making his heart beat so fast it scared him. Not real. But I am getting up.

"But I'll tell you now..." Thanos turned his gaze on Steve, looking him straight in the eyes. "What I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet... I'm gonna enjoy it. Very, very much."

Steve hated Thanos. So much. His mother had taught him not to hate, and he never had. Didn't like it, didn't want it. Hate poisoned people, broke them. Ruined their lives. But right now, it surged through him like the lightning from Mjølnir. It boiled his blood and burned in his lungs. Steve hated Thanos for everything he had done, everything he would do, everything he was.

At the very back of his mind, there was some part of him that thought they really should have done what Rhodey had joked about, gone back in time just to kill baby-Thanos.

A bright light suddenly erupted in the sky and shot down to the ground. Figures emerged from the brightness, and Steve recognized Thanos' henchmen from Wakanda. But they were not alone. Behind them came hundreds, thousands of soldiers. He recognized Chitauri and Outriders and god knows what else. Leviathans slithered down from the sky. Battle machines powering up. Giant creatures roaring to fight, the ground shaking with every step they took.

Steve stared at the ground. He stood no chance against all of them. In his state, he’d take out maybe twenty of the Chitauris. There were still thousands. Thousands who would have free reign over the planet, causing death and destruction everywhere. He couldn't do it. But he'd be damned if –

Up, Steve. On your feet. We're coming.

No, you're not. But I will fight. Until my dying breath. And take as many of these things down with me as I can.

Grunting, Steve pushed away from the ground and staggered to his feet. He could taste metal in his mouth and his knees were just about to give up on him, but he grit his teeth and straightened up. He gripped what was left of his shield and pulled the strap tight. Pain shot through his arm and he looked down. Blood was dripping from a nasty looking cut, full of dirt. He didn't even realise he had it until now, it was just one more pain among everything else. But that didn't matter. More would come.

I can do this all day. I can do this all day. I can do this all day. Every step forward was an effort. The stiffness in the stab wound on his thigh felt awkward, and there was something in his lower back that would seriously worry him had it been any other day.

"Hey, Cap, you read me?"

Steve stopped short. It wasn't funny, the tricks his mind played on him. First her and now Sam.

"Cap, it's Sam. Can you hear me?"

It sounded so real. There was some static, as if he was just out of reach. Steve touched his earpiece, to check if it still worked, he hadn't heard anyone speak in it since before the attack.

"On your left."

Steve felt tears sting in his eyes, hope swelling up in him. Had they come back? Were they really coming? In the corner of his eye he saw something light up, and he turned around. A golden circle had appeared, growing and crackling like a sparkler. It was as blinding as the sun, only broken when the silhouette of three figures appeared. Steve recognised them as they came closer. But how was it possible...

Last he knew, Okoye was in Wakanda. And T'challa and Shuri were gone. But here they were. Bruce had managed to bring them back? Somehow, they were here, the brilliant sunlight of Wakanda shining through to the darkness where he was.

Relief flooded Steve's entire being and he bit down on a sob.

And then, Sam came flying out of the sun, circling them and Steve had to blink away tears. More sparkling circles began to appear all over the sky and ground, growing and growing, revealing sceneries he recognized and some he didn’t. One by one, the people they had lost came back. And so many more. There was Wanda. And Bucky... And... He felt lightheaded and his knees almost gave up on him. There she was, walking right next to Bucky. Fire in her eyes as she met his gaze, hair crackling with the power she possessed. She smiled and winked, and there was something in her eyes that made him wonder if her voice in his head had actually been real. He could ask her later, because now... He knew there would be a later.

There were Asgardians and Dora Milaje, Valkyries and Wakandan warriors, mutants and old Shield agents. There was a whole army of what looked like the magic people Bruce had talked about. There were so many, not as many as Thanos' army, but many enough to win.

Then Steve almost jumped out of his skin at the sound of rumbling, thinking the battle had begun already, but out of the rubble that was left of headquarters came Scott, big as a skyscraper, bringing with him Bruce, Rocket and Rhodey.

Steve breathed. They were here. They were all here. He felt the presence of everyone he loved and cared for behind him. Everyone he had been fighting for, for five years. He turned around and let their presence him fill him with confidence and strength. Then he lifted his hand and summoned Mjølnir. The gasp he heard, followed by the way the hairs on the back of his head suddenly stood on end, told him she was standing right behind him. He wanted to turn around and hold her and reassure himself that she was really back, whole and undamaged. But there was no time right now.

Instead, he looked straight into Thanos' unbelieving eyes.

Let's get that son of a bitch.