Loki and I stood, panting as we watched the Titan slump away from Thor, his gloved hand hitting the ground with a dull thud. Thor marched over, ripping the glove from Thanos' hand, tossing the weapon to Captain Rogers.
"I told you that you'd die for that." Thor breathed, yanking Stormbreaker free from Thanos' chest. Thor collapsed to his knees, breathing deeply in relief, and closing his eyes.
"They have been avenged, brother." Loki said, coming to stand behind Thor. "This day, they smile fondly from Valhalla."
"How?" Thor whispered. "How could you leave us again, with no word of your plan?"
Loki's face fell as Thor spoke, guilt washing over his face as he reached out for my hand.
"I know your tricks preserve you, and in this case, us as well." Thor said, trying to calm down. "But was there no way to tell us your plan? To warn us of what was coming? You had to leave (Y/N) and I with nothing but the memory of you laying dead, your neck snapped?"
"I tried to tell you as best I could." Loki murmured. "My original plan was to take him to earth, away from you. I knew that I would not survive such an ordeal, but I saw no other way to protect you. When I saw that wasn't going to work, I realized that the only true way out would be to distract him, to satisfy him with my death. I had scarce enough time to make sure my protective spell for (Y/N) would hold before I had to focus on Thanos. I alluded back to Svartalfheim, I tried to make you understand without saying directly."
"It pained me immensely to have to watch you both grieve so deeply, so needlessly. But I could not risk coming out until after Thanos had left." Loki sighed, gripping my hand. "Once I was sure that he wasn't returning, the ship exploded, and I could no longer find you once I woke. It wasn't until (Y/N) placed my helm on her own head that I was alerted to your whereabouts. I never wanted to leave you-"
Loki was cut off by Natasha tackling him to the ground, fist raised to electrocute him with her wrist cuffs.
"I've got him! Steve, help me get him…" She paused, looking around at us, "Steve? Thor? Why is no one helping me?"
"Because he's on our side, blondie." Rocket grumbled, toting his gun over his shoulder.
"Is he dead, Steve?" Bucky asked, approaching carefully with his rifle still pointed at the Titan.
Steve simply nodded, breathing heavily and leaning against a tree.
"It looks like it." Steve breathed. Nodding to Loki, he added, "He's also with us now. I wouldn't be here if he hadn't helped me out."
"Are you sure?" Natasha asked, slowly getting off of Loki.
Steve nodded, and I moved to help Loki to his feet.
"What are we going to do with this thing?" Steve said, tossing the gauntlet to the ground.
"We should return the Mind Stone to Vision." Wanda said, her voice wavering. "He does not deserve what has happened."
"I agree." Natasha said. "How are we going to separate the Mind Stone from the gauntlet? How are we going to do that with any of them? They shouldn't be housed all together."
"We can ask Shuri." The man in the panther suit said, joining our group. "If anyone will know how to transfer the stones without damaging them, it will be her."
O~O~O~O~O~O
"So I can relax the bond that the Stones have with the gauntlet," Shuri said, her eyes scanning over several monitors, "but I'm unsure of how to actually remove them. The stones are extremely volatile, and any equipment I would use runs the risk of exciting the stone into activation."
"The stones are obviously intelligent, I mean look at the Mind Stone. It made Vision." Bruce said, gnawing on the end of his glasses. "Would it require a person to hold them, the touch of a living being to prevent them from going berserk?"
"I can't say for sure." Shuri responded, turning away from her monitors. "But your proposal does make a good argument. Who here do we know that has been able to handle an Infinity Stone? They are no small amount of power."
"Strange should be able to handle the Time Stone." Bruce said, "Whenever he gets back."
"Yes, the wizard would be more than able to handle its power." Thor agreed.
"I will take the Mind Stone." Wanda said, "My power is born from it, and I should be able to remove it without any harm."
"The Reality, Soul, and Power stones should be stored separately." Shuri said, "Even alone, they are intensely more powerful than we could ever hope to control. Wanda, do you think that you could remove them as well?"
"I can definitely try." Wanda nodded.
"What of the Space Stone?" Shuri asked, looking around the room. "Do we know of anyone strong enough to hold it?"
"Loki has done so. On numerous occasions." Thor said, patting Loki's shoulder.
"No offense intended, Thor," Steve said, "But given what happened the last time the Tesseract was in Loki's possession here on earth, I think we would prefer to find someone else."
"I understand your concern." Loki said, "However, I don't think you will find anyone else that has any experience in that area."
"Except me." I said, stepping forwards. "I have held the Tesseract in me before."
"That was only a portion of its power." Loki stressed, "The stone itself is exponentially more powerful, it would destroy you."
"I'm willing to risk that so we can end this." I said, squeezing Loki's hand. "Besides, I'm only taking the stone out, I'm not keeping it."
"Exactly." Shuri said. "I'll start relaxing the bonds between the stones and the gauntlet. Wanda, are you ready?"
Wanda nodded, stepping towards the glove as the rest of us backed away. Cases were set out for the removed stones, each one covered in the same Vibranium that made Cap's shield. Vision's lifeless body was brought in, a new Stone placement having been fashioned from Vibranium.
Shuri altered some settings on her monitor, nodding to Wanda. The Stones gave off a dull glow, and Wanda began to use her magic to remove one stone after another. Each stone was delicately lifted from the gauntlet, starting with the Power Stone. Wanda began to tire, lifting the Mind stone lastly from the gauntlet, and gently placing it inside Vision's forehead.
Shuri moved to begin re-attaching the Stone to Vision, and Wanda looked to me.
"I will try with the Space stone as well, but I am tiring." she said. "Have the case ready, please."
I nodded, picking up the only empty case left, holding it open next to Wanda. Her hands trembled, and her brow was furrowed, a light shimmer of sweat appearing. She moved her hands, the magic not quite strong enough to lift the stone from its resting place inside the glove. With one last, heaving effort, Wanda tried to remove the stone. The stone remained in the gauntlet as Wanda hobbled over to the table Vision laid on, sinking to the ground in exhaustion.
I looked to Loki and Thor, smiling to them as I reached out to grasp the Tesseract. Loki moved to stop me, but Thor restrained him with a strong grip on his shoulder.
I placed my hand on the Stone, and the familiar heat pulsed through me. My fingers grasped the edges of the Stone, and I pulled it out of the gauntlet. I balanced the Stone in my palm, gazing into its glowing blue center, smiling slightly.
"See? I told you I could do it." I said, walking towards the case the stone was meant to be placed in. The stone never made it into the case.
As I took my steps, the stone melted into my hand, disappearing into my skin as its flaming energy seeped through my bloodstream.
"Oh no."