A/N: This story is about what happens to the characters that Thanos killed before the snap. It's going to be about where they ended up, and what they do in that place.
He was choking.
Struggling for air.
He'd killed many people in his lasting lifetime, but never in this way.
He thought of the effort it would take him to strangle the life out of someone before crushing their windpipe completely, as what was happening to him in this moment.
Even for the Mad Titan himself it was taking some effort.
Or maybe he wanted to draw it out, Loki wasn't entirely sure.
There was one thing he was sure of, however. This was the end.
"The sun shall shine on us again."
He tried his hardest to look to his brother.
His brother who had endured the worst of anyone he'd ever known, and still managed to be the best person he'd ever known.
He knew this was his end. There was no again for the God of Mischief. No sun to shine for him once more.
But for his brother? Well Loki had hope.
His brother needed to survive this. There was no other way. He would not die until he was sure the sun would at least shine on his brother once more.
He felt his kicking legs grow weaker and weaker. He felt his face begin to lose feeling, and as his breaths became harder to take, he knew he needed to take his moment.
His final moment.
"You will never be a God."
Then it all went black.
He'd come to reliving the entire experience more times than he could possibly count.
She was falling.
Again and again and again.
He would grab her arm and throw her from Vormir's cliff.
She would plummet to the rocky surface below, seeing on his face as she met her fate.
She would feel her bones crack on the impact. The loss of her warm blood pouring out of her head as her lungs burned for air and her mind tried to focus on something that wasn't his face as she drew her last, pain riddled breath.
Again and again and again.
She didn't die as soon as she'd hit the ground below the cliffs, as she had prayed for each time she was flung. She would have to endure three minutes of unimaginable pain as she saw his face staring down at her.
The last thing she'd ever see was him. The man who "loved" her more than anything else. Her abductor. Her abuser. Her father, the Mad Titan himself.
In her last moments, all she could think of was her family. Of Peter. She fell to her end thinking only of the man she loved more than anything.
It was the 465th time he had thrown her from the cliff when she screamed on the way down.
"Stop!"
Suddenly she wasn't looking at Thanos anymore.
The speed slowed as if she was floating, and she was.
She was falling through space onto a ship that had been laid to ruin, probably from her father.
She wasn't affected at all by the conditions of space, it wasn't like before when Nebula blew her from her pod.
But before she was still alive. She felt her chest tighten at the memory of Peter risking his life to give her his mask so she could survive space years ago.
Her chest tightened even more at the fact that she'd never get to see Peter again.
She landed hard on her side, barely getting a visual on the scene she had landed in before it all dematerialized before her, and she began to fall again.
This time it was quicker, and the scenery changed again.
She landed in cold, black sand. She rolled onto her back to see the yellow sky above her. There would clouds in orange and red shades, and there was water down the sand dune next to her. It was crystal clear and completely calm.
She heard something else hit the sand several yards away.
She rolled onto her side, pushing herself up quickly.
She gripped her side, grasping for her sword before remembering she'd left it on Knowhere.
She still squared her shoulders and stood on the balls of her feet, prepared to fight whoever had joined her, wherever she was.
She couldn't tell from her position who or what had followed her here, but she took her time approaching. She couldn't hear any movement, maybe it was someone who had died on that ship.
She stalked across another small sand dune before getting a clear view of what had landed in this place with her.
"Loki?" She called, jogging towards the unmoving figure.
He had landed face down in the water, and his skin looked purple. She pulled him from the water, dragging him up the hill on his back.
She pulled back quickly, biting back a gasp once she saw his neck had been completely crushed. No doubt her father's doing.
She sat back onto the sand, drawing her legs to her chest.
She only knew Loki for a short time. He'd promised to get the Space Stone from Terra for Thanos years ago, before she had betrayed him. Thanos has given him an army and the promise that Terra would be his to rule if he got the stone for him. Thanos had even considered sending Gamora to Terra with him to ensure he'd deliver.
In the end, Loki had failed, and Thanos searched far and wide for him. She guessed Thanos finally found him.
Loki's coughing snapped her out of her haze. He had shot up quickly, gasping for air. His hands went around his throat frantically. As if he knew what had killed him already.
She leaned forward then, placing a hand on his chest. "Hey, you're alright."
He pushed her hand off, panting heavily before turning to look at her. His eyes were wide, and it took him a moment to recognize her.
"Gamora?" He pushed some of his sweat covered hair from his face. "What are you doing here?"
She sat back once she knew he'd be alright. "I'm dead, same as you apparently." Her voice came out shakier than she had intended. She almost felt like crying. She'd never even known Loki, but anything was better than dying over and over again. Seeing Thanos over and over again.
He pushed himself into a sitting position then, "Well, what a pair are we?"
She let out a dry laugh at his sarcasm, "So it may seem."
He looked around before attempting to stand. Gamora hopped up quickly, bending down to help him stand. He leaned into her more than she had expected. It didn't bother her much because as they walked, she found her legs were shaky as well.
For awhile they just leaned into each other, walking over sand dunes and avoiding the small pools of water when they could. Neither of them said anything, and Gamora was thankful he wasn't trying to make conversation. She didn't know Loki well before, but she wasn't really looking for a heart to heart. The only thing they had in common was that they were both dead, and it seemed that Thanos was the one that had killed the both of them. All that, and the fact that they seemed to be all alone in this strange place.
After awhile of walking, they both stopped and sat down on top of a taller hill.
Loki rubbed some sweat off his forehead, panting a little bit, "Do you know where we're going?"
Gamora ran her hands over her face, "I don't even know if there's a place to go to."
He sighed, "Right. Is this a planet?"
Gamora rolled her eyes, becoming frustrated with the the lack of results from their journey, "I don't know, does death lead to another planet?" She rubbed her temples gently, a headache developing. "Aren't you a god or something? Shouldn't you know all this?"
Loki shrugged, pulling his knees to his chest, "Not that kind of god."
"Ah," she nodded, "All hope is lost then?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"I suppose," he wiped more sweat off his brown.
After a few seconds of silence, Loki sat up straighter, snapping his fingers. "How many times did you die?"
She gave him a shocked look, "Why?"
He rubbed his fingers together as if he were thinking, "Was it over and over again? Your death?"
She nodded, "Yeah, yours?"
He looked at her then, "Yes."
"So, it was like a loop." She wondered aloud. "Is that what death is?"
Loki shook his head, "Well neither of us have ever truly died before, so I can't be sure. But-"
"But what?" She asked, leaning closer to him, as if he could somehow provide some information that could undo all the damage that had been done.
"I wasn't the only one that died on that ship." Loki finished.
"Well, did Thanos kill everyone?" She asked.
"No, his children did."
"Did he kill you?"
He looked off then, absentmindedly rubbing his throat. "Oh yeah."
She nodded, looking out into the bright yellow sky, "Me too."
"Okay," he started, "So we're not the only ones that have died today, but we are the only ones that we know of that Thanos actually killed."
Loki continued to ramble, but she kept her eyes on the sky, taking their surroundings. As she did so, she noticed this chain of thinner looking clouds that were a rust color that seemed to be heading southwest. She hadn't noticed them before. She turned her head to see if there was anything they were leading to that she could see. She cranned her neck, becoming uncomfortable. She turned her whole body then, following the clouds with her eyes. Just as she had suspected, there was a black mountain that looked hauntingly familar far off in the southwest outreaches of this planet.
"Vormir," She said out loud, standing up then.
Loki turned his head to see where she was going, "What?"
"Vormir," She repeated, turning to help him up.
He took her hand but was steadier as he stood this time. "The planet? What about it? It's barren, no life at all."
Her voice was frantic, "No, I died on Vormir. He killed me there."
"Why? What's on Vormir?" He asked, searching her eyes for some kind of clue as to what she was getting at.
"The Soul Stone." She muttered. "I think we're still on Vormir. Or some version of it."
"How do you figure?" He asked, unsure of how she seemed to suddenly connect these dots.
She pointed to the mountain at the edge of their horizon behind her, "That mountain. He threw me off it to get the Soul Stone."
Loki stopped for a moment, "Oh."
She couldn't tell what look he was giving her, it looked a little like realization mixed with sympathy, but she wasn't in the mood for any of it. "So Thanos kills me, I relive my death on Vormir. Thanos kills you, you relive your death-"
"In space." He cut her off, snapping his fingers again.
"Yeah, that I don't get." She said, running a hand through her hair.
"I gave him the Space Stone." Loki admitted, rubbing the back of his head.
Gamora became confused, "Wait if you gave him the stone, then why did he kill you?"
"I didn't give it to him willingly," he explained, "He was gonna kill my brother."
"Thor?" She asked, putting two and two together.
He nodded, "You know him?"
"We pulled him from the wreckage." She said, remembering her team once again, her family.
"So he's alright?" Loki asked, hope brimming in his eyes.
She nodded, "He's with two of my companions, Rocket and Groot. Went to get a new weapon."
Loki allowed a small smile to play on his features, "Good."
She looked down then, unsure of how to really address any emotional discussion with Loki. She just wanted to figure out where they were, and if there was any way they could get out of here.
"So, we're on Vormir," Loki started up again, having burried his feelings about his brother's survival. "You died here, the Soul Stone was here, and now we're stuck here?"
"I think so," She nodded.
"How does that make any sense?" He asked, "I mean unless,"
"Unless we're in the Soul Stone." Gamora finished.
He ran a hand over his mouth, "Is that what it does? We died today, and we end up inside the Soul Stone?"
Gamora tilted his head, "I don't think the afterlife divides us up by people who have been killed by one specific person. And even if it did, there would be a lot more people here than just us two."
Loki nodded, "True. So the stone has our souls? Does that mean we can get out of here?"
"I don't know," Gamora paused for a second, running a hand through her hair, "It still doesn't explain why we were stuck reliving our deaths. It was like we were stuck in some time loop"
"Yeah that wouldn't make any sense. Unless…" He trailed off.
"Unless?" She pressed, leaning towards him again.
"Did Thanos have the Time Stone when he got to you?" Loki asked, his eyes looking desperate.
She shook her head, "No. As far as I know, he has the Power, Space, Reality, and Soul Stones."
"And if we're in the Soul Stone, we're technically part of Thanos' weaponry. Which he basically compands with his will to commit these actions. His mind."
Gamora nodded, "So, we're in the Soul Stone, but we're stuck living the same moment over and over again."
"But he doesn't have the Time Stone yet," Loki added, "which means what?"
Gamora looked back at the moment, the clouds surrounding it were beginning to turn green. "It means he's making play for the Time Stone."