So this is my first Avengers fanfiction . I hope that it is worthy of being read, considering it was written by such a sleep deprived mind. But I've been playing around with the idea for a while, and hopefully it's okay. Please read and enjoy and review :)

A/N I do not own anything from Marvel

Thanos looked at his cowering subordinate with a mocking grin. He was in a good mood, since he had just obtained his third infinity stone. If he had been in a foul mood, that subordinate would be nothing more than a pile of ashes right now. But since he was pleased with how quickly he was gaining power, he decided to hear out the poor man. He spoke in his booming voice, the one that was known for sending even the toughest men bawling for their mothers. "What?"

The man stood there meekly for a moment, unsure what exactly he should say. He finally chose to go with the truth. "Sir, the stones… they're all… um... talking…"

"Bring them to me." The man nodded and scurried off. He returned within the hour, three different containers in his hand. Even through the cases, Thanos could hear the muffled voices. He snatched the containers and opened them all, taking in the beautiful sight of all the power sitting on his lap.

As soon as they were free, there was a hologram coming from the different colored stones, green, yellow and orange. The holograms all looked exactly the same, and moved in sync with each other. It was a man, dressed in viking garb, so Thanos knew him to be an Asgardian. The holograms all flickered in the same places as well. He watched the man speak.

"This is a warning to any who hold one of these infinity gems in their possession. They are immensely powerful and dangerous in the right hands, and in the wrong hands, they could mean the end of existence as we know it. If this message is playing, then three of the gems have been united. That means that a powerful enemy could be awakened, and will stop at nothing to regain possession of these gems. I hope that it has been awhile since we entrapped her, so that our sacrifices were not in vain. Please, re-scatter these gems throughout the universe, do not allow them to fall into the hands of-" The hologram flickered. "-ever. You must take this warning seriously. The future of the universe, and everything beyond, depends on your next choice." The hologram flickered again, and then disappeared. Thanos frowned. With three of the stones in his possession, there was no one alive who could even hope to take him on.

Thor frowned at the completion of the message. He was unaware that he was seeing the same thing that one of his most powerful enemies was seeing, as well as a curious collector and a protector of the gem on Xandar. This meant that someone, somewhere, had three of the stones in their possession.

He turned and left the vault. He wanted to return to earth and discuss this with the other Avengers. Maybe they would know how to solve this problem. He made sure the doors were closed and properly guarded before heading to the bifrost.

Less than a minute after he left, there was a soft thump coming from inside the vault, too quiet for the guards to hear. The pounding continued, and if anyone was in the room, they would have been shocked to realize that the sound was coming from one of the large stone coffins that had been in the room for as long as anyone could remember.

There was an annoyed curse, and more pounding. The person inside the confined space was exhausted and frustrated. Even though this coffin was sealed with a spell, she should have been able to easily remove the lid. Or at least punch through the thick stone until there was a big enough space to crawl out. And there was an insistent buzzing in the back of her mind, like something was trying to catch her attention.

But she felt helpless and weak. As she pounded against her prison, she felt a sharp stinging on her hands, something she had never experienced before. She tried to inspect her hands but there wasn't even a drop of light inside. But she could feel the sticky liquid on her hands, and her eyes widened in surprise. If she didn't know any better, she would say that was blood. And that would make the strange sensation pain.

She sighed. She did know better. She couldn't bleed, she couldn't feel pain. She never had before, so why would she magically… her thoughts trailed off as she remembered the moments leading up to her imprisonment. She felt the anger surge through her. Those damned Asgardians! She would get her revenge.

It had taken over a thousand of them just to contain her long enough to strip away her powers and lock them inside some colored rocks. The last thing she had heard before she fell asleep was the leader of those 'gods' saying that she would wake up when there was a chance for her to change. She snorted. They wanted her to change, they wanted her to become a 'better person' by stealing everything she valued and then locking her away?

She shoved against the stone, but it was useless. The stinging in her hands were back, and now that she had identified it as pain, she knew that she never wanted to feel it again. If this is what everyone else felt when they were injured, then she felt sorry for them. Well, if those idiots truly believed that she could change, then maybe they would start by letting her out.

She screamed until her throat was raw and her voice was scratchy, and the feeling of pain returned, so she decided to stop. She took a deep breath. There had to be some way out. The Asgardians knew that she would wake up eventually, and it would be without her powers, and they wouldn't want her to be trapped forever.

There was enough room inside for her to turn over on her stomach, but it was a tight fit. She shoved as hard as she could, and to her surprise, she felt a little bit of give. She shoved some more, and she felt the strain in her elbows, but she kept pushing. After what seemed like hours, she had finally moved back the stone a centimeter, and that was just enough to let in a sliver of light.

She realized that she must have been pushing against the floor before, somehow she had been upside down. Maybe it was those damned Asgardians' version of a joke. At this rate, it was going to take forever to get out. But maybe that tiny opening was enough to get her voice through. She gulped a few times, then screamed for some help. A couple of minutes passes, but there was still no response.

She jammed her arms against the heavy lid over and over, even after she could feel the slick blood dripping onto her face. Soon there was almost an inch of space, and she gulped in the fresh air. It was much better than the stale air that she had woken up with. The light was blinding, and it took her almost an hour to adjust.

But this small victory was just that: small. So after that little break, she began to push again, immediately reopening the scrapes that had just stopped bleeding. She didn't care. It was worth it if it meant she could get out. And as long as she focused solely on her escape, she could push the pain to the back of her thoughts, and almost pretend like it wasn't even there.

Once there was enough space to slip her fingers through, it got easier. She gripped the edge of the lid as tightly as she could, and pushed from the side. It made her arm bend at an awkward angle, but that wasn't important. It was another half hour before the lid was pushed back far enough. She turned sideways to sit her shoulders through, and slowly stood up.

She looked around once she had stepped out of the coffin. There was so much light everywhere, it was a painful assault on her eyes that had been emerged in darkness for so long. She blinked and turned her head slowly. Her entire body felt stiff from lying on stone for who knows how long.

She looked down at her hands. She had known she was bleeding, but this was much worse than what she had expected. They looked like the mangled chew toy of a fierce mutt. She chuckled as she recalled past experiences with letting dogs chomp on flesh, though it had never been her own. She frowned. Had that hurt those people as much as this was hurting her?

She shrugged off the feeling. There was nothing she could do to change the past even if she wanted to, which she didn't. She stretched carefully, not wanting to abuse her already sore muscles. She felt like she had depleted all her energy, and just want to close her eyes. This must what was known as tired.

She glanced around, but saw no threats in the room. There were no people inside, just shelves full of things, and most of them looked fairly useless. Then that buzzing from earlier got louder, and took up more space in her head. She could feel herself being drawn over to a golden pedestal. Resting on it was a glowing blue cube, and she reaches out to grab it.

As soon as she touched it, feelings of recognition rushed through her, and she knew exactly what was in the cube. But there was something blocking it off from her. She groaned as she recalled some of the Asgardian's words. "Each of these gems has a different strand of your power inside. You'll never be able to get any back unless you can reunite all six of them. And I doubt that'll ever happen. You may change someday, but I don't think there will ever be a time that anyone deserves the amount of power you have."

She cursed the Asgardian again. Well, at least her collection was off to a good start. One down, five to go, and she didn't even know where she was yet. She looked down at her clothes. She was still wearing what she had been that day, and for all she knew it could have been just yesterday. But even if it felt like more time than just a day had passed, her clothes were still immaculate other than a few blood drops on her tunic.

She even still had the pouch that was tied around her waist, and she slipped the blue cube into the leather satchel. Then she straightened, and went to the door hesitantly. She had no idea what she was walking into, and in this vulnerable state, she had to be careful. Well, no matter how long she had been trapped, she still looked the same, so she should be able to pull off a decent story.

She smeared the blood from her hands over her face and shirt. She made sure that the bag was securely hidden in the folds of her skirt, and she gulped. She was already experiencing so many things that had never affected her before, and she thought that perhaps those experiences would extend to death. She had always been immortal, invincible, but she had also never bled before, so she wasn't sure what to think.

There was a tiny flutter in her stomach, perhaps what most would consider fear. She had never felt afraid before, because she had never been able to get hurt or die, and she was always the most powerful one in the room. She shivered. They were either going to believe her or not, but either way, it would be best to get this over with.

She pushed on the giant doors, but the didn't budge. She rammed her shoulder against them, and that must have been loud enough for the guards outside the room to hear. The doors slowly opened, and she stumbled out. It wasn't even an act for the most part, she really did feel dead on her feet. She saw two Asgardians, and she wanted nothing more than to smite them where they stood. But that clearly wasn't an option at the moment. Instead, she went with what her exhausted body demanded, and she passed out.