Ch.9: You can't carry it with you if you want to survive.
Following Nebula's suggestions, they first arrived in Xandar. Their government had held and protected the Power Stone until Thanos appeared and nearly leveled the planet, demanding they surrender the stone. The Xandarian army put quite the fight, but for the second time, the Nova Corps were obliterated.
Thor had a short lived moment of happiness when he realized the Asgardians that survived Thanos' attack to the cruiser, and the snap, had been led by the Valkyrie to Xandar, and were currently helping the devastated citizens trying to make some sense of the chaos.
Steve and Tony went to have a talk with the head of the Xandarian commander, Irani Rael, while Thor and Loki went to check on the Asgardians. Sigyn asked Natasha and Bruce for help with finding and treating injured people.
Irani Rael had nothing but bad news for everyone. After Thanos attacked them, and knowing his plans for genocide, Xandar sent distress signals to every world in their reach. Their severed armies were no good to engage in a chase, so they set up defenses with anything they had left. The remaining asgardians arrived in the middle of it, and immediately after came the snap. Whatever intel they had was obliterated. The only place she thought they could find information was Knowhere.
As soon as the ship was restocked, they were on their way. The Valkyrie and some other creatures joined them in another ship.
When they arrived in Knowhere it was as chaotic as everywhere else, but at least this time they had a clear lead. They only needed to catch up with Thanos.
Jumping from one planetary system to the next was frustrating. Thanos seemed to slip away from their grasp every time. As if he had just left before they arrived.
Suspicions arose between them, their tactic meetings became almost battlefields where they would throw the blame around. Sigyn usually tended to stay away from them, occupying her time in trying to come up with a tracking spell. She had tried with Nebula, but since she wasn't Thanos' biological daughter, it was in vain. Besides, he still held on to the gauntlet. Sigyn feared that she using magic could make it even easier for him to track them down.
The frustration was so high that Loki and Nebula were suffering from a great amount of backlash. No matter what the rest of the team said, they clearly didn't trust any of them. The only thing that kept Nebula from leaving was Rocket, and the only thing keeping Loki from exploding was Sigyn.
Yet another failed incursion, and the team was ready to make some heads roll. It was Thor's idea to make Sigyn read everyone's minds, in secret, and for the first time, she joined them under the excuse of keeping an eye on Loki.
The initial conversation was predictable: once again they lashed out at each other, accusations growing loud in the makeshift room. Sigyn worked her magic into reading everyone's minds, which was confusing and disheartening, but behind the regular noise, there was something else. A distant murmur, as soft as waves, that didn't belong to anyone.
"It's as if he knows exactly what we're doing!" Steve groaned loudly. "How is that even possible? The stones?"
Some agreed with the notion of Thanos using the stones, but Sigyn knew he still had to be somewhat connected to them to track them this well. The background murmur became louder, a foggy and misshaped presence hidden just behind the veil of reality. Sigyn's breath picked up slightly. He's here?
"You're right." Sigyn suddenly interrupted, looking around at the startled faces. "Steve is right."
"What?"
"He knows what we're doing." Sigyn started. "He's being led-"
Sigyn couldn't finish her sentence when the Valkyrie jumped up, immediately attacking Loki. He hastily summoned a blade and blocked her blow. Dragonfang made a ringing sound when it hit the necrosword.
"You bear the marks of Hel." She growled, lashing at him. "You are the traitor here!"
Helped by Sigyn's foresight, Loki deflected her attacks, easily. The Valkyrie got even more wound up with each strike that didn't hit its mark.
"You sold yourself to the Goddess of Death herself! What's stopping you from doing the same with Thanos!?" She shouted. "You have no honor! You should've stayed dead and accept your punishment! Now you're going to kill us all!"
Thor was uselessly trying to catch up with her, and the rest of the team was staring, some of them silently agreeing. Sigyn stared daggers at them.
"Would you calm down, Brunnhilde?" Sigyn said in a low voice.
The Valkyrie stopped abruptly, and turned to look at Sigyn, shocked and bewildered. "What-"
"That's your name isn't it? Before you went with Scraper-142 and sold slaves for a living. Very honorable."
"I did what I had to do to survive." She said, biting the words bitterly.
"And I did what I had to do to get out of Helheim. What makes my choice less honorable?" Loki snarled. "That the being I stroke a deal with is your enemy?"
"An enemy of Asgard!" Brunnhilde shouted, trying to keep her voice from shaking.
"That's rich coming from someone who betrayed Asgard and fled." Loki said with a sardonic smile. "Wasn't your duty as a Valkyrie to come back and follow your King's command to victory or death? You're as much of a traitor before Asgardia Law as I am. You will find yourself not at the gates of Valhalla once you die."
Brunnhilde's grip on her sword slacked, and the blade clattered on the floor. She clenched her jaw, trying to collect herself, and stood silent beside Thor. Loki made his necrosword disappear and slumped on the wall, crossing his arms.
"Is no secret that all of you here suspect me as much as you suspect the luphomoid." Loki said, glaring distinctly at Thor. "Say it. Say that you don't trust us, that the only reason you agreed to have me here is because you don't want me stealing that gauntlet."
"Won't you?" Tony spat, making Loki roll his eyes.
Sigyn again felt that buzz of someone being in the room. Decidedly ignoring the new discussion, she focused her stare on Tony. His thoughts were very clear, if scattered and chaotic, but so inherently his. Deep inside, there was a background noise, something that didn't belong inside Tony's head.
It was the only way. Stephen's last words echoed in her memory. Tony must be the key to reverse this.
"Stark." She finally said, interrupting the ongoing argument. "It's you."
"What?!"
Everyone started shouting and demanding answers, accusing her of lying to protect Loki. The only quiet one was Thor, who shared a meaningful look with Sigyn. He gripped Stormbreaker tight, producing a small static blast, leaving everyone slightly shaking, and very much silent.
"Stephen saved your life for a reason, and I can see in your head what Thanos told you before he killed half the universe." Sigyn explained calmly. "You were shown, remember?"
Tony stood stiff and straight. "Are you saying Thanos can read my mind or something?" He scoffed.
"It's more complicated than that, but yes." She said. "He chose you, and he can sense you." Sigyn watched Tony clench his jaw. "You can feel it too, but since you can't understand it, you brush it aside."
Tony didn't answer. He knew Sigyn was right, what was the point of denying something to a being who could read his mind? At least she hadn't divulged the nightmares and momentary blackouts. And at least now he knew the real reason behind them wasn't just the stress.
"Something doesn't add up." Natasha said, breaking the heavy silence. "If he knows we're after him, and he still holds the stones, why does he keep running away? He already beat us once."
"Because he never does the dirty work himself." Nebula offered. "He will watch us chase him around and enjoy how we destroy ourselves while failing at it."
"Then we have to change the rules." Bruce said. "Find some way to - block him out? Throw him off?"
"You worked inside Bucky's head." Steve turned to Sigyn. "Think you can do the same this time?"
"I could try." Sigyn shrugged. "It would be hard without Thanos noticing. If he realizes we know, he could kill Tony."
"On the plus side, we could manage to build a tracking spell." Loki added. Sigyn bit the inside of her cheek, and nodded.
"Hello!" Tony waived his arms in the air. "Why are you talking about me as if I'm not even here? Do I get a saying in all this? What does working inside my head means?"
Steve had to ignore Tony, and stared at Sigyn questioningly.
She sighed deeply. "I would have to knock him out, otherwise he won't let me."
Steve gave Tony an apologetic look. "Do it."
"Wait, what-?"
Sigyn circled the table faster than Tony was panicking. A small touch to the back of his head and he knew no more.
.-
It's my fault.
I told you, I don't want to join your super secret boy band.
I am Iron Man.
I am the man who killed the Avengers.
You're not the only one cursed with knowledge.
My only curse is you.
I hope they remember you.
Tony's thoughts were scattered and violent. Unlike Bucky's, it was hard for Sigyn to tell the difference between memories and nightmares, probably because, unlike Bucky, Tony was fully aware of what was happening. His choices were his own, as were his mistakes. And his hopes. So inherently human he was, he dared to hope. As a silver glow that enveloped everything, that hope was the motivation behind every action, every decision, ever move he made.
Cause his hope had a face, and Sigyn took that to her advantage as she navigated Tony's mind. She shrouded her presence with Pepper's memories and disguised herself as her.
Sigyn noticed the silver glow was keeping the darkness at bay, two forces fighting over control of Tony's mind. But the darkness that wasn't Tony's alone. She followed its edges, tracing back to the source, as careful as she could be, identifying pieces of Thanos' magic in it.
The hardest choices require the strongest wills.
"I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart!"
Watch the sun rise on a grateful universe.
"A suit of armor around the world."
Why Thanos had chosen Tony became clearer with each step Sigyn took.
You're not the only one cursed with knowledge.
Knowledge… That's the lead.
Sigyn navigated Tony's mind to the parts where feelings and emotions were scarce. Thanos cannot deal with them. At last, a small energy reading that wasn't Tony's at all, a tiny parasitic thought kept at bay by his humanity. She knew she had little time, and the lead was already cowering from her and the emotions she evoked. Quickly, she focused on it, trying to do two things at the same time: Trace it, and block it.
Sigyn could feel Loki behind her, his magic trying to assist her, but she resisted it: Thanos was way too familiar with Loki, he could give them away and ruin everything. In the back of her mind she wondered why Loki was so adamantly pushing his magic onto hers. But she had no time to figure Loki out. Finally, she got a reading, and a trace.
"Vormir." Sigyn muttered, dizzy and drained, falling against Loki. "Thanos is on Vormir." She repeated more clearly, coming back to herself. Everyone was staring in shock.
Only then she noticed the pain that was spreading through her body. Her hands were charred black, with deep gashes all over her arms, her nose was bleeding, and she understood why Loki was pushing his magic on her.
"Stop resisting." Loki muttered between teeth. Sigyn allowed his magic to help her heal. Loki took her into his arms to take her to rest.
"Aren't we waking Tony up?" Natasha asked.
"No, I couldn't block it." Sigyn explained briefly. "If we wake him up, Thanos will know."
Loki didn't wait for anyone else to make any more question and carried Sigyn away. He could hear the small commotion, but he decidedly ignored it. They could deal with finding Vormir in the archives and taking everyone there by themselves.
.-
The eternal twilight of Vormir served as a cover as they approached the planet. Sigyn tried to guide them as close as possible, the stealth tech on the ship allowing them to get there. Tony was still in a sort of trance, as they needed to take him with, but couldn't yet wake him up.
As they descended from the ship, Loki covered them in a dark fog, and they had to rely on Sigyn and Thor to guide them. The more they walked, the more restless they grew, until finally Thor signaled them to stop. At the top of a hill, two large stone pillars pointed to the sky, in between them, they could see the familiar spirals of smoke.
"How do we get up there?" Steve asked.
"There's a passageway and a staircase down that road." Nebula pointed out.
"We have to split up." Natasha suggested. "It will take us forever to get up there, but a few of us can fly."
"And teleport." Loki added.
Steve took the stance he always took when he was about to give orders. "Thor, you must take Tony with you so Sigyn can wake him up as soon as you're up there. Keep him occupied and distracted until we get there. Whatever you do, don't let him use the gauntlet."
Thor nodded curtly and looked at Brunnhilde. The two of them managed to steady Tony and hold him so Thor could take off. Loki circled Sigyn's waist with his arm.
"Ready, my love?" He asked with a smile. Sigyn nodded, and they disappeared in a flash of green.
The rest of the team was already sprinting up the stairs when Steve saw them appearing on top of the plateau. He could see Tony was already awake: laser and lightning fought together against the Titan, with the occasional flash of green and gold. They sped up, reaching the summit not long after.
"Care to share how I got here, Cap?" Steve heard on his earpiece.
"You took a very needed snooze." Steve said, hearing the chuckle on the other end. "Status?"
"Mr. and Mrs. Mischief are at the other end of the flat, apparently Thanos is not above jumping into an abyss to escape." Tony summarized. "Thor and the Valkyrie are keeping him occupied enough. You get to cover the stairs."
Steve signaled his party to cover and block the passageway to the stairs before they joined the fight. Nebula was the first one to jump into action, alerting Thanos of their presence. The titan looked around with a smirk.
"Your thirst for vengeance will be your undoing, Avengers." Thanos spoke. "You've come a long way from home to die."
"Not this time." Loki was the one to answer, daggers at the ready.
Thanos scoffed. "You're much harder to kill than I thought. I won't be making that mistake twice."
Sigyn saw it before it happened: Thanos tried to use the gauntlet. As battered as it was, it still held more power than they could go against. That gave her an idea.
Sword.
Loki summoned a necrosword, and Sigyn steered it toward Thanos. The blade grazed the top of his arm.
"I thought by now you would've learned to go for the head." Thanos' laugh rumbled deep, making the earth shake.
"But is not your head I want." Sigyn stared back with a smirk.
