A Staggering Loss

Athena and Captain America looked up as the world around them fell silent and eerily still, as always seemed to happen in nature when a danger was near. Captain America quickly opened the communication device between him and the rest of the team, "Everyone on my position. We have incoming."

"What the hell?" Athena could hear Natasha speak through the communicators as the Avengers rushed to try and get to their point.

Athena tightened her grip on her sword and shield, staring as a ripple in the air appeared few feet in front of them, swirling purple and black in nature. It began to expand as though a cloud were forming and she knew it would be mere moments before Thanos truly arrived on Earth.

"We need Thor," Captain America spoke quietly to Athena, turning to her and giving her a pointed look.

Thor had arrived to the battle too late to be given a communicator of his own. He was currently preoccupied with destroying the different ships that Thanos's army had taken. He would be too far away to notice the other Avengers leaving the field of battle to gather in the woods. And while Athena understood having every conceivable advantage when it came to a battle, she could not see how her departing in order to get to Thor would be a wise strategy.

"I have my blade," Athena reminded him, gesturing to the sheath on her hip where her old blade was resting, locked away so she would not be tempted to use it during the battle. It was with that thought that she felt a coldness pass through her, to her own ears she had sounded too eager to remain there and use the blade.

"And Thor has that axe," Captain America countered, "If Thanos is as tough as you say, we're going to need all of you. You and Thor are our best bet to finishing this guy. We can hold him off long enough for you to get Thor, you're the fastest among us," he had seen that proven when Athena bolted past even him and the Black Panther earlier, "Go."

There were many things Athena could do in that moment, argue, pull rank, disregard the order. She was the Goddess of Battle, that would always and forever outrank a minor human captain. She could have turned on her communicator, called out to whoever was farthest away to try and get Thor's attention to bring him there so she could remain beside the rest of the Avengers as they faced Thanos. She could have even run towards the steadily growing portal, bringing up her sword ready to stab Thanos straight through the heart, before he could even realize what was happening.

Instead, she gave Captain America a firm nod and turned to take off out of the forest, heading towards the field of battle once more.

She couldn't deny that there was something inside of her that hesitated at the thought of having to pull out her sword and use it against Thanos even while a larger part of her was eager to do just that. Having it in her hand once more had nearly overwhelmed her in Rome, using it a second time, using it for a purpose, actually taking it to battle with her with the intent to use it to finish off an enemy, would do her no favors.

And she wouldn't deny...she was scared.

She wanted Thor beside her when she went after Thanos. She needed him with her, she needed to see him after she used her sword to know that he was really there, to know he had survived Thanos's first attack, that he was alive. A brief moment in the heat of battle was not enough to make up for everything that she had felt in the last few hours since Thanos attacked the sanctuary ship. In such a short time she had had her heart ripped out of her and crushed into pieces, and it had only just begun to be pieced back together and beat once more. But it needed more time to heal, and the more fragile her heart was more fragile she was. It wasn't in terms of a female weakness, to need a man beside her. She needed Thor there with her for his brute strength and skill in battle, for when it was all over. She didn't know what would happen after, having him with her was for peace of mind.

She would only get one chance to use her sword against Thanos with the Infinity Stones he possessed in play. The blessings she had gathered were so old, her family had been so removed from earth for so long that it would have worn away at some point. She had been lucky that the blessings were still there in some form. But she was entirely certain her sword could only defend one attack from Thanos using the stones. Once that attack was finished, her sword would be merely a sword again. And incredibly powerful, Thanos-killing type of weapon for sure. But susceptible to the Infinity Stones again. If she failed, she needed to know there was someone else there that could go after Thanos while she at least distracted him.

Another part of her was brave enough, at least, to admit that, if there was any other way to stop Thanos besides using her blessed sword she would always choose that option first. Thor's axe was enough to do extensive damage to Thanos's army and the ships they landed in. She could practically feel the power radiating off of it. The fact that Eitri himself had made it, for she recalled no other Dwarf with such skill, that it was a weapon clearly designed for the king of Asgard, his most powerful creation yet, gave her all the hope she needed that it could be used to take down Thanos instead. It tore her apart inside just to go get the sword, to know why she had left it there, the shame and the disgrace that came with it. She tried to convince herself that if she could use it to take down a threat like Thanos, then it was at least for something good. But no amount of saying it could actually make her believe it.

She wouldn't even care that she had gotten the sword for nothing if Thor was able to take down Thanos with his axe. The amount of dread she felt at even the thought of having to use her sword once more...

She swallowed hard and shook her head, focusing on her mission, she needed to find Thor and fast.

Her communicator was still active and she could hear the conversation that the other Avengers were having in her ear, "That's him..." Banner spoke.

She pushed herself harder, running as fast as she could as she spotted Thor, the man was already flying back towards the field of battle, the ships that the army had landed in all destroyed.

"Thor!" she shouted, and he seemed to hear her as he landed before her with a gentleness and ease she hadn't been expecting. When he had first arrived on the battlefield, it was with an explosion of the Bifrost and every move he had made after that was one of strength and power, taking down his enemies. And while she knew she was far from an enemy to him, it was still something she had braced herself for, a landing that would have sent her stumbling back from the energy of it.

"Where are the others?"

"The army when after Vision," she told him, "Captain America and I held them off, but..." she trailed off for just a moment, hearing Captain America's voice in her ear just at that moment, 'Eyes up. Stay sharp.'

"Athena?" Thor frowned, seeing her get distracted.

She looked back up at him, serious and tense, "Thanos is here," she continued, "The Avengers are about to attack him, they need our help."

She could hear it in the earpiece, the sound of Captain America's new shield activating. There was only one reason he would give the order to stay sharp and keep focused, the battle against Thanos was about to begin.

Thor nodded, understanding exactly how serious that was as he strode forward, winding his arm around her, before thrusting the axe into the air, lifting them off of the ground in a high jump, meant to take them closer to the others. She had missed this, she allowed herself just the briefest of moments to think, about how it felt to have Thor's arm around her once more, to feel him against her. zshe tightened her hold on him, just wanting to be a little bit closer, constantly reminding herself that this was real, that he was there, he was alive and returned to her.

But then a noise sounded in her ear, and she was thrown back into the reality of the situation, reminded of the battle that was happening just below them. From how high up she and Thor were at that moment, she could just barely see through the trees to where the Avengers were fighting Thanos.

There was a faint glimmer of blue that had just faded, and within that haze she could see Banner was trapped now. The thick battle armor he had been wearing was now embedded in a large stone behind Thanos. It didn't take much to guess that he had run towards the enemy, who had then used the Space Stone to phase the armor into the rocks. From what she could tell, Banner hadn't even been able to land of blow on Thanos, the purple monstrosity was still stalking towards where Wanda and Vision were kneeling on the ground a few feet away.

"We need to stop him getting to Vision!" Athena shouted over the wind whipping past them from how fast they were traveling.

Thor nodded and urged the axe to make them go faster.

She could see Captain America taking his own shot at Thanos, running straight at the man, but then the purple-pink stone began to glow. Thanos had activated the Power Stone to send the Captain flying to the side with a mere wave of his hand, winding the fallen Avenger.

"I have an idea," Thor spoke to her loudly in her ear, "Trust me?"

"Always," she said without hesitation.

She could see the Black Panther leaping into the air for Thanos as Thor began to take them a lower, but Thanos reached out and grabbed the Black Panther by the neck, stopping his attack. Just as she and Thor landed on the ground she could see the Power Stone flash as Thanos threw a punch right at the Black Panther's face, knocking him off to the side.

"I need to gain height," Thor told Athena quickly, shouting a "Distract him!" to her before he took off into the air once more.

Instantly, she knew exactly what attack he was going to try to make, to get as high up so he would have enough momentum when he came back down to use his axe against Thanos. It explained why he had set her down, it would be harder to attack with two people than just himself.

She nodded firmly and begin to run back towards the Avengers, seeing Falcon firing guns at Thanos as he flew towards the purple monster, but with a flash of the Space Stone it appeared as though all of the weapons phased right through his hands, causing him to drop them, and his wings short-circuited, forcing him to fall right out of the sky in a heap.

The nearer she got, the more she could hear of what was being said between Wanda and Vision, the robot clearly trying to get Wanda to agree to destroy the Mind Stone while it was still embedded in his skull, but she paid them little mind, focusing on the main enemy.

The Avengers were failing, with War Machine attacking next, only for Thanos to use the Space Stone to crush the sides of his metal armor, throwing him off to the side. She was nearly there, she could see the Winter Soldier firing his own gun at Thanos but, much like with Captain America, he used the Power Stone to cast the man aside. She grunted as she managed to put her sword away into a strap on her back, using her shield as she ran closer. Black Widow and Okoye were closing in on Thanos, the Wakandan warrior hurling a spear at him. Again, with the use of the Power Stone, Thanos froze the spear in midair, tossing it and her to the side with its power. Black Widow didn't even manage to get an attack in as the ground began to shift around her, rising up as spikes shot out from the earth, trapping her underneath them.

Athena nearly stumbled herself as the ground around her shook from the move, but a creature that looked like a tree stepped up, using its own roots to try and trap Thanos within them. But the man was too powerful even without the stones and brushed them aside. A flash of red caught her eye and she turned her head to see Wanda had finally decided to destroy the stone, using both of her hands to try and get it done faster as the Avengers were falling around them.

She was merely feet away when Captain America stepped up to stop Thanos once more, the only one left in the path between him and Wanda. She watched as he skid under an attack and jumped to his feet before Thanos. He managed to get a swift punch to Thanos's head and then grabbed the gauntlet as Thanos moved to grab at him. She could see the strain on his face the nearer she got. Just as Thanos made a move to punch Captain America, Athena slammed into him, managing to use his distraction of Captain America's attack to slam the titan back a few more feet. Instead of using the Power Stone to throw her to the side like he had with the others, he used it to levitate a boulder and send it flying at her. But she used her shield to knock it to the side.

She use the momentum of her swing to tilt her head just enough to peek into the air, she could see Thor already in his descent, coming back Earth, ready for Thanos. He just needed a few more seconds. She felt herself shoved to the side as Thanos activated the Power Stone to cast her off. But she caught herself mid-fling and landed on one knee and the other foot, but to the side of Thanos as he continued his approach to Wanda.

"You took the man I love!" she shouted, seeing the titan stop at her words, "I won't stop till I have taken everything you love," she continued, watching his body language closely, almost able to feel the rage that filled him at the words, "Starting with your precious children."

It was all too clear to her in that roar of pain and anguish Thanos let out as he turned to face her that Proxima Midnight had in fact given him the warning she had ordered the woman to do. He began to use the Power Stone recklessly, throwing more rocks at her, using another stone to shake the ground like he had with the Black Widow, the roots and earth itself reaching up to grab her, holding her down.

"YOU killed my children," he growled as he stalked towards her, away from Wanda.

Athena smirked darkly at him, "And I took enormous pleasure in it," she spat at him.

Thanos raised the Infinity Gauntlet in a fist, all of the stones glowing with the force of his rage as he moved to punch her in the face...

When an enormous explosion knocked him a few feet back, his concentration broken as the mound of rock and root fell away from Athena, dropping her to the ground, her shield up immediately to block the energy from Wanda and Vision as it expanded.

And in that moment, Athena knew Wanda had succeeded in destroying the Mind Stone.

Thanos seemed even more enraged by that fact, that the stone he had sent his Children to Earth to apprehend had been destroyed. Athena couldn't stop her eyes from flipping back and forth between Thanos and the sky...when she saw the green Time Stone beginning to glow on his gauntlet. It didn't take goddess of wisdom to know what he was planning to do.

He intended to turn back time to before the stone had been destroyed...but Athena smiled, because he would never succeed.

Thor threw himself out of air at just that moment with a roaring battle cry that drew Thanos's attention. He fired the energy of the Infinity Stones at Thor as the man approached with his axe, but Thor was able to hurl it through the blast, the axe more powerful than the five stones, until it embedded itself in Thanos's chest. He landed on the ground, looking over at Athena, and she nodded that she was alright. She slowly reached to her side to pull out her old sword, keeping the move hidden behind her shield so as not to give away the advantage.

Thor's attention returned to Thanos who had fallen to his knees, "I told you..." Thor warned as he reached out to grab the other end of the axe and push it more into Thanos's chest, unintentionally mimicking exactly what Athena had done to Proxima Midnight, "You'd die for that."

Thanos wheezed out something, trying to speak, "You..." he managed murmur weakly, "You should...you should have aimed...for the head."

Thor's eyes widened as he saw the green Time Stone begin to flash again, but he was quickly distracted by Athena who let out a war cry of her own. He looked up to see she had a sword held high above her head. Thanos turned his attention to Athena too, activating all the stones in a last ditch effort to save himself, but it was as though the beam divided as it reached Athena, the sword in her hand glowing in a mix of red, blue, purple, orange, and green, until she had pushed past the attack and brought it down with a fierce swing...slicing right through Thanos's arm just after the gauntlet ended, severing it.

Athena panted as she fell to the ground, rolling quickly away, the gauntlet and half of Thanos's arm clutched desperately in her grasp to keep it away from the titan. She looked up to see Thor making quick work of pulling his axe out of Thanos and using it to do just as the man had remarked, slicing his head off. He looked to her, his eyes searching for any injury, and she nodded that she was fine, jerking her head to the side towards the others. He gave her one in return and hurried off to help the other Avengers where they'd fallen, checking on them as well. She quickly forced herself to shove her sword back into its sheath, feeling a weight lift from her with the move. She had survived the many battles she'd faced, in one piece, and still herself. All her fears for after the battle started to fade with that knowledge, a relief filling her instead. She closed her eyes tightly, her hands trembling despite the warmth that was radiating from the gauntlet, they had done it, they had won.

"...Vis?"

Her head snapped up to the side, seeing Wanda looking around, frantic, the girl's eyes wide and full of tears that were streaming down her face. She didn't utter another word as she seemed to realize why Vision was nowhere to be seen. The girl had destroyed the stone…but the blast had been too much and taken Vision with it.

Athena watched, silent, as Wanda sank to her knees, sobbing, utterly devastated to have lost the man she loved. This girl, who had lost her parents, her home, her brother, her freedom, and now her love. She watched as Wanda's soul was bared for all to see, the heartbreak written in every movement, the anguish of her loss raw.

She could understand exactly how Wanda was feeling. She had landed on this planet fully believing that the man who held her heart was gone, ripped away from her by Thanos. She had blamed herself, that if she had just fought harder, been better, moved faster, she could have stayed with Thor, she could have made a difference. She had felt that loss clawing at her from the inside, as though someone had their hand around her heart and was squeezing it without end. The battle was over now, the fighting should be finished, they had done this to save the universe from Thanos. But what's more SHE had done this to keep anyone else from ever feeling what she had felt when she was pulled away from the sanctuary ship.

She had fought in this battle not just to avenge Thor, but to protect anyone else from having their heart ripped out, from experiencing the loss of the person they loved with all their being. Everyone else was safe, but not Wanda. Exactly what she had been fighting against had happened, and she blamed herself again. If she had just gotten to Thor sooner, if they had made it back faster, if she had been quicker and braver to act with her own blade, maybe Vision would still be there. And now Wanda was feeling that same heartbreak ten times over to be the one who had taken Vision from this Earth.

It wasn't fair...

She felt a pulse beneath her hands and looked down at the gauntlet she still held, her gaze drawn to the glowing green stone…the Time Stone. Time…

Her gaze flickered back to Wanda and back to the stone…and then drifted to her left hand, her graying skin visible through her wrappings. It was dangerous to even think such a thing. She closed her eyes tightly, hearing Wanda let out a sob, her thoughts turning to how selfish SHE was being. She had a chance, she had the ability to, and she was sitting there actually debating while another person's heart was breaking the same way her own had.

She looked up and over at Thor, the man SHE loved, watching him for just a moment as he hurried to help Captain America to his feet, the Winter Soldier rushing over to help as the Captain stumbled. Everyone here had their love, their friends safe, but Wanda…they had saved every life on Earth with their actions, but lost the one that meant the most to Wanda.

"Vis…"

Athena swallowed hard, looking back at Thor one final time, feeling tears filling her eyes as she watched him, watched the others getting up. Her friends, her allies, the man she loved…the people she had fought beside, the people she trusted, and the people she had lied to ever since she landed on Earth with Banner. She had lied to them even before the ship had been attacked, had lied to Thor. She had kept something from all of them, she could only hope they would forgive her.

She took a deep, shuddering breath, her hands curling into fists beside the gauntlet. Before she reached up, quickly, and grabbed her necklace as it dangled around her neck, yanking it off and dropping it to the ground. She shifted the gauntlet in her hand, not even flinching when Thanos's arm slid out of the metal casing and dropped to the ground. She looked back at Wanda once more, before she grabbed the gauntlet…

And put it on.

Athena screamed as the power coursed through her, worse than when she had grabbed her sword after it had been imbued with the blessings of her family, drawing the attention of the others, of Wanda, of Thor. She fell forward a moment later, the red stone, the Reality Stone, glowing as the gauntlet shrunk to fit her arm, the rest of the stones beginning to crackle with energy as her hands curled into fists from the pain.

"Athena?"

She was sure someone had said her name, but her ears were ringing, her lungs feeling as though they couldn't get enough air, her world was spinning, her head throbbing, she couldn't focus...but she needed to, there was something...something she had to do...

"What have you done!?"

She didn't know who was speaking, the world was blurry around her, but there was an…energy…rushing through her, a power unlike anything she had ever felt before…

"Athena!"

Thor…that was his voice just then, she knew it, could feel it breaking through the overwhelming sensations. It was just enough to put her world in focus once more.

Her eyes snapped open, she wasn't even sure when she had closed them, her mind rushing to remember, to remember what she was doing, why she had done this. She looked down at her arm, then to her other hand…where the gray speckling was expanding, spreading across her skin, up her arm, moving fast.

She didn't have long.

She quickly lifted her left hand, the Time Stone glowing brightly, freezing time around her. She looked up to see the horror in the faces of the others, one or two of them already in the process of running at her. But now they were immobilized, harmless...she could pick them off one by one if she wanted to, but that wasn't what she wanted. She had to physically shake herself from those thoughts, pushing herself to her feet, her legs shaking, her world spinning, but her gaze focusing on Wanda. She staggered over, her body trembling now, a coldness settling into her bones, spreading along her like the gray patches she now glimpsed on her legs too.

"No," she murmured to herself, fighting a force she felt rising in her, "No!"

She fell to her knees only a few feet away from Wanda, screaming again and clutching at her left arm. She opened her eyes from the power of her scream and fell forward, trembling, shaking her head as she saw her reflection in the gauntlet…her eyes weren't grey any longer.

She was running out of time.

She held up her hand, forcing herself back onto her knees, gripping her wrist with her right hand, and focusing, she had to do this, she had to or it was for nothing. She watched as the green stone began to glow, the air before her open palm rippling, particles and small bits of red rushing backwards, reforming…

Until Vision was kneeling before her.

The man looked down at himself, at his hands, startled to be alive once more, and his gaze jumped up to Wanda, seeing her frozen. He looked to the side, right at Athena, his eyes widening at the sight of her.

Athena winced, struggling with the force trying to claw its way out from inside her, and opened her palm more, freezing Vision in place. She held her breath as she reached out with a trembling hand, her fingertips touching Vision's forehead, the orange Soul Stone in the gauntlet starting to glow, encasing Vision. Her fingers twitched, the purple-pink Power Stone illuminating as she carefully touched the yellow Mind Stone, plucking it as gently as she could manage from Vision's forehead, watching, focusing with the last of her strength, the last of her focus, as the orange glow filled into the center of the void the yellow gem had left behind. She needed to do it, she needed to give them every advantage...

She stepped back, stumbling to her feet, the yellow gem in her hand and looked down at the gauntlet, closing her hand into a crushing fist around it, her arm shaking with the resistance of it...but it wasn't enough, SHE wasn't enough to stop it...it was too late...

~8~

Wanda gasped as time resumed, seeing Vision kneeling before her, the robot's hand flying to his forehead, stunned to find the gem gone but himself still there, before Wanda was crashing into his arms.

"Athena…" Thor called out, seeing her standing there, looking down at the gauntlet, the now completed gauntlet, ripples of power running up her arm.

But…it wasn't Athena any longer, he knew that. Her skin was a faint gray color, her hair had returned to its original brown though it seemed darker than he could remember it being, the aura radiating off of her cold and deadly and, when she looked up at him, he could see her eyes blazing red.

...exactly like a mural he had seen on Olympus meant to remind Athena and her family of themselves during Dark Days they fought their way out of.

"No…"

Athena just smirked in a way so unlike herself and lifted her gauntleted hand to wave her fingers at them in a taunting manner, just as the blue Space Stone flashed and a portal appeared behind her.

"Athena!" Thor cried, rushing towards her, his shock worn off, but he was too late, she was gone, stepping through the portal and closing it after her.

"What the hell just happened?!" the Winter Soldier called out, "Did she just…"

"She took the gauntlet," Bruce stated, dropping out of the stone he'd been shoved into, none of his scanners picking her up.

Thor shook his head, turning to face them, his posture detailing just how terrible a thing this was, his shoulders hunched, his head bowed, his face grim.

He had failed.

He had failed to keep the promise he made to Ares. The last time he and Athena had gone to Olympus, his only time visiting the place, he had met a number of her family. He had met her younger brother Ares, the God of War. Many would think him hot-tempered, brutal, aggressive, and they would be right. However, over the years since Athena and her family had left Earth, it had transformed into a protectiveness over his family. Ares feared for Athena most of all, being so distant from their family now, in a different world, a separate realm, where they could not easily travel. He had been tested by the God of War, as one would expect family to do with a new suitor. He had been found 'acceptable,' which he had take as approval. And he had had more conversations with Ares than he had any other member of Athena's family. One of those talks had stayed with him.

Ares had asked him only one thing, to protect Athena, to make sure she would be alright, and look out for her when her family, when he, couldn't. He had given the man his word, he had sworn nothing would ever cause harm to Athena. He would never let it. She would always be safe with him.

He had failed.

He swallowed hard, "She has been consumed by the darkness."

Captain America seemed to be the only one to understand what that meant as he straightened. Anyone with eyes could tell something was wrong with Athena, her skin, her eyes, the way she'd looked at them, like they were prey to be toyed with...it wasn't her, it couldn't be. The gauntlet had corrupted her, that much was clear, and with that came a dreaded realization.

She was now their enemy.

And that was infinitely worse, his mind raced with the implication of it. With Thanos, they knew his goal, they knew what he intended to do with the gauntlet once it was completed. He wanted to wipe out half the life in the Universe.

But Athena?

They had no idea what she was going to do. To make matters worse…they truly didn't know what she was capable of. Watching her fight that one Child of Thanos had shown him that much. She had been vague, talking to him about 'the Dark Days,' but she hadn't really TOLD him anything about what she was like during it. He got a feeling they were about to get front row seats to a reenactment though.

"Oh God," Captain America breathed.

"What do we do?" Black Widow called.

They all looked to Thor, the man was the only one who knew Athena better than all of them, but Thor was crouched where Thanos's hand was lying on the ground.

"Thor!" Captain America shouted.

Thor looked up at them, a string dangling in his hand with what looked like an old coin hanging from it.

"We're going to need some help."

To be continued...in...Courage!

A/N: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Are you screaming? I'M SCREAMING! Holy moly, I really hope this shocked you, I really do. I've been trying to drop hints about Athena's darkness and potential for a while. Sort of just like a 'well, little bit here, and if it never works, ok, it'll just be her backstory' and then INFINITY WARS gave me the opening I wasn't daring to hope for and BAM! I severely hope I have not just written myself into a corner with this twist, lol, but fingers crossed Infinity War part 2 works out ;)

Oh jeez, this is really going to be...bad. Like SO bad. In the movie Thanos erases half the universe, right? Pretty bad. But HERE? They are all STILL THERE! They're going to need some serious courage to take down the GODDESS of BATTLE, don't you think?

Especially considering they have no idea what's coming next. They don't know Athena's next move. They don't know what she's fully capable of. Worse yet, neither does Thor, he wasn't there during those days, he never saw what she actually became, only her family did...which means we may get the Olympians in the next story! :D I wonder how they'll react to the return of Dark Athena? }:D

But, even worse, Athena knows them. I hinted at it when Thor first encountered Athena, the way she observes her enemy, studies their moves, tests them, catalogs their strengths and weaknesses so she can better face them in battle. But there's more to it than that, she studies her enemies so that she can use her mind to beat them, if she's victorious it's because of a strategy NOT because she was more powerful than them. That's the gateway for her, power, that's what led to the corruption in her family, having power over others, BEING more powerful than others. Fighting those undead soldiers, she couldn't use a strategy against them, she HAD to be more powerful than them to stop them :( And that was the start of her 'dangerous path' :( The gray patches were a warning sign, the flashes of red she kept seeing in her reflection for her eyes, what we saw of Athena at the end, that's how she was during the Dark Days, gray, red-eyed, dark hair, she saw the signs and she knew she had to get away from places of power, to return to her family for help, to get back to her old self, to stabilize once more :( But she didn't have a chance, it was battle after battle, each with her needing to be more powerful as it went :( She knew the danger of using her sword on Thanos, that she might become more corrupt, might fight to stay on Earth and take back the planet, so she got Steve to promise they'd force her back to her family, because they are the only ones that would know how to contain her. Then she had hope when Thor came back, when she managed to put her sword away, that she'd be ok, that she could tell Thor they could go to Olympus and use her family's resources to find his people, give them a home there, that her family would help her sort herself out, but it never happened :( She didn't think, in either scenario, she'd be as far gone as she ended up being because the gauntlet made her THE most powerful, and it ended up corrupting her fully :( She tried, she really did, to use it for a good reason, bring Vision back, and maybe if the gray hadn't been appearing long before that moment, if she hadn't been struggling against that corruption already, she could have done it and thrown the gauntlet away, but it was too late. She tried to destroy the Mind Stone, but she was too late to stop herself from using it instead.

But, just because she was more of the mindset of brute-strength/power at the end, doesn't mean Athena hasn't been using her typical observation in battle before this. I can't imagine she WASN'T doing that around the Avengers }:) Athena's been watching, observing, getting to know all of them. She knows their strengths and weaknesses and how they plan things out, how they work together and where to prod at them. She's also someone that Thor loves, who the others respect and consider a friend now turned enemy and those are the hardest to fight because there's always that hesitation. They'll feel it, but Athena may not :( At least she had the forethought to know she may not come back from using the gauntlet and tried to give them every advantage against her in leaving her necklace behind };)

I know a lot of people were rooting for a Will/Elizabeth Pirates style wedding between Thor and Athena, but Athena has been heading in a direction this entire story that doesn't put her in the right mind-frame to do that. She has been falling into a pattern of sort of tunnel vision when it comes to battle, she sees/hears almost nothing but the battle. If Thor even tried, she might not even notice he was doing it :( He was lucky his entrance was so epic or Athena may really have not even realized he was back :(

Just two more quick notes, first is that I'm going to be posting the one-shot of Thor's time on Olympus near early December, a midway point between the end of this story and when Avengers 4 comes out in theaters ;) And the next movie-story I'll be posting is going to be Captain America and Olivia's version of the Avengers in hopefully no more than a week ;)

Finally, I really have to say thank you guys SO much! Really, I give each and every reader/reviewer/favoriter/follower/ko-fi giver/anythinger a virtual hug because you guys are amazing :) I write for you guys and I'm just so touched that you all liked the story and am truly thankful that you're enjoying Athena and Thor :) I'll do my very best to keep it up in the future, because you guys most definitely deserve it. I love you all :')

Some notes on reviews...

Well, they definitely stopped Thanos and his finger snap...but they may have just made everything worse for it }:)

Athena's technically still there...just sort of went off the deep end. The sword certainly didn't help her resist the corrupting power of power itself in the gauntlet :( Now we just have to worry about how the Olympians will react to this O.O

Athena has slowly been fighting against the corruption that first took her family all those years ago :( The gray was a warning sign to her of it coming back and that she needed to get away from people she could have power over to recover :( Sadly the battles only fueled those negative emotions and made her unable to fight the power of the gauntlet :(

I could see Wonder Woman's moments there yup :) Athena will very much be struggling with so much more in the next story };) But we'll get some sort of family reunion in the next story, whether it'll be a good thing or bad remains to be seen };)

It definitely went through in a very, VERY bad way for Athena yup :(