Children and Thanos

Vision had carefully explained what had happened as they made their course back to Earth which stood almost hauntingly in the distance. Great white clouds coated its surface, barely any green nor blue peeking through the thick atmosphere. Wanda was practically clutching to his arm as he told his story while everyone paid close attention to every last single detail.

"That doesn't make sense." Tony Stark stated the moment the android had finished. "Why did she take you only to... to send you back to Earth?"

"She told me that 'plans change'." Vision replied, the Mind Stone standing in his forehead sending a sudden foreign feeling of pain through his wires. He clenched his forehead with his free hand as Wanda stared worryingly at his pained expression. "I know no more than you, Stark."

"Is everything alright?" Steve Rogers questioned, standing on the opposite side as Tony to avoid all confrontation with the man. "You seem..."

"Uneasy?" Vision finished, his eyes flickering up at the Captain. "Just a tad. It's... It's just this damn stone." Another sudden hitch of pain attacked his sensors as he shuddered a little.

"Maybe she damaged some of the programming?" Wanda offered as Vision shook his head, his body twitching as he continued to hold onto his torn, damaged body, which Tony had promised to repair the second they landed back on Earth.

"No, it feels like... like the stone is... intentionally causing the pain." He shut his eyes before continuing. "As if it's... it's trying to warn me about something."

"About that?" Spoke up Natasha, immediately causing everyone to glance over at where the Black Widow was referring to.

And their hearts stopped when they spotted a ship that must've been at least the size of a country making it's way towards them, it's dark and ominous presence almost sucking all sense of hope out of the ship.

"Yes, that might be it."

Rose Waters was casually lying in her bed when Thanos showed up.

He walked into her room with purpose in his every step, a sharp look of anger and... slight betrayal apparent within his dark pupils as Rose Waters shifted into a better position to look at him properly. Within his left hand lied the Infinity Gauntlet.

And in his right hand was her sword that had murdered Maw.

"Explain." Thanos spoke rather harshly, his voice booming throughout the small room as he threw her prized sword onto the ground, staining Maw's still wet blood all over the ground. Rose Water's eyes flickered from the sword on the ground to her Father's face, but her eyes didn't even seem to hold the sense of fear, or, for that matter, any emotion in general. It was as if she was a lifeless mannequin.

"What?" Rose Waters questioned softly, which only seemed to enrage Thanos even further.

"I trusted you!" He yelled, the Power Stone that lied in his glove glittering into life. Rose's eyes glanced over at the stone, her entire being almost drawn to it. "I made you into the person you are today! Everything you have right now is because of me! Your status, your power, your ability, you skills, they're all because of me! Because I took pity on you when you were nothing, only to receive this... betrayal in return!" Then his voice turned into something no more than a whisper. A whisper that would forever drag goosebumps towards even a man of steel. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't end you right now."

"You didn't give me my ability." Rose Waters replied rather calmly her eyes glancing up at the Mad Titans'. "You helped me cultivate it. Helped me learn about how to hone it." Helped turn me into a weapon.

"Only to murder Maw and help one of my stones to run free!" Thanos snarled as Rose Waters only wrinkled her forehead in confusion.

"What?" She questioned, sounding genuinely confused, as if this information was new to her. But her voice didn't turn into a squeak, it simply stayed flat. Practically lifeless. "Maw is dead?"

"Of course he is! You helped murder him!" Thanos screamed as all of the stones on his glove flickered to life. "This sword was found next to his body!You killed him right before you helped Nebula escape!"

"I did no such thing." Rose Waters responded and scowled at the thought.

"Don't lie to me!" Roared Thanos, this time finally causing Rose Waters to flinch. "I didn't raise a liar!"

"I don't lie!" Lied Rose Waters as she suddenly stood up, her eyes blaring in fury. "If I did kill Maw, then why would I stay here!"

There was half a second of silence, just enough time to let Rose Waters know that Thanos considered the story, before she continued.

"There's a million and two places I could go to with a flick of my wrist." Rose Waters whispered, her voice low. "At least a million, and if I wanted to, I could go to all of them without another thought. If I killed Maw, then I should be dozens of systems away from you." She clenched her jaw and took a breath. "But I'm not. I'm not on another planet, system, or even in a different room. I'm not teleporting, not running right at this moment because you and I both know that I'm innocent."

"I'm disgusted that you would even think that of me!" Rose Waters spat out, her expressions suddenly morphing into pure fury. "After all we've been through, after all that I've done for you... After I just spent the past year trying to find you, you're willing to turn on me just like that!"

Rose Waters turned around and faced her wall of weaponry before she puffed out an exhale. She could just feel that the stones were no longer glowing as Thanos began to think it through. She didn't know if she had convinced him or not and half thought to teleport away before she took another chance. Her little home of a base didn't sound too bad right around now.

But then his voice appeared in her ear. No more than a whisper, his spit flying all around her earlobe which sent a shiver through Rose Water's spine.

"Never." He grunted out, his tone sounding like death itself. Not like that scared Rose Waters anymore. "Speak. To. Me. Like. That. Again."

As if just to make sure that his message was clear, he grabbed Rose's thin arm and squeezed tightly. So tightly, that she felt the blood circulation cut off almost immediately before he let go and walked out of the room. The moment she knew he was gone, Rose Waters shut her eyes and let out the softest of exhales. She was safe, but the trust... the trust and respect that Thanos once had for her was gone. She would have to do something big to earn it back, and she didn't think that she had it in her to do anything for him ever again.

With a simple blink, Rose Waters faced her bed, a solemn expression on her face before she noticed the sword still lying on her steel bedroom floor. Without another moment of hesitation, she leaned over and picked it up, the handle familiar within her sweaty palms. With her bare hands, she smeared the blood off of the metal, causing it to drip all over the floor and her hand, leaving only shiny, silver metal. But her eyes weren't on the metal. No, they were on her hands, on the dark blood that coated it.

"Since when did you get so good at lying?" A voice questioned, causing the sword to be drawn, the tip almost pressing against the invaders throat without Rose Waters even looking up from her hand.

When Rose Water's eyes flickered up at the intruder, it was only to face Proxima Midnight, the last lady left on the Black Order. Her ghostly white skin almost seemed to glow in her room.

"Get. Out." Rose Waters hissed, her eyes showing that she truly wasn't playing any games. However, when Proxima Midnight didn't move an inch, Rose Waters narrowed her eyes and pressed her sword against her throat a little more, only to have Proxima Midnight to calmly move the sword out of her way. Surprisingly, Rose Waters let her.

"I never asked, just what did you do when you were on Terra?" Proxima questioned as she leaned in closer to her face. "You don't seem to have a hard time remembering the ships layout, and it seems quite easy for you to jump from system to system."

"I was looking for the Time Stone." Rose Waters whispered through gritted teeth as she narrowed her eyes at the opposing lady.

"Uh-huh," Proxima responded, her face crawling closer and closer to Rose's. "And what else, Rosie? Did you take some pictures as a tourist? Did you finally get to relish being so close to your pathetic, useless species-"

Rose Waters stood up, her sword falling onto her bed as she grabbed Proxima Midnight by the chin, her eyes burning in the color of early dawn. "I'm not repeating myself. Get. Out." Her spit splat onto Proxmia's cheek as Proxima simply grabbed her hand off of her chin and gently stroked it. For someone who murdered more than Rose Waters may ever see, her hands were surprisingly soft.

"Father might think that you're still the sweet, obedient blooming little Rose that he knew." A sneer appearing on Proxima's face as she rested her hand on Rose Water's pale cheek. Her fingers were still wet with Maw's blood from Rose's own hand. Rose flinched and took a step back. "But you changed, Waters, and I know you killed Maw."

Proxima Midnight took a step back into the darkness before she spoke up again, a nefarious, sadistic grin still on her face.

"And I'm going to prove it."

"Board the ship." Thanos spoke up as all of his children gathered around him to look at the ship with the red A glowing on it. "There's... power in it. A stone... I can feel it."

"Shall we go give them a fair welcoming, Father?" Corvus Glaive questioned before Thanos gave them a quick nod for a yes. They all began to walk towards the boarding ship before Thanos spoke up.

"Rose shall stay here."

Rose paused as everyone raced off, her head slowly turning to face Thanos, who still stared out into the view of space. Somewhere in the distance lied Earth, which Rose Waters did her best not to look at. She knew first hand just what was going to happen when they landed on it.

"Do you know what your Terra name was?" Thanos whispered, causing Rose to visibly tense up. But her reply as quick and fluid, as if the subject wasn't touchy at all.

"No, sire." She truthfully replied, her hands behind her back as she stood by his side.

"Me neither." He responded, his eyes still only on the view outside. "So when Proxima found you with that... that power as nothing more than a toddler, I was the one who received the honor to name you." He must've said this story at least a thousand times, but he just loved it when Rose Waters listened along.

"I know." Rose Waters responded, her voice fleeting at the end of her sentence. She almost asked for the conversation to cease, but Thanos continued before she got the chance to interrupt. And there was no stopping him in the midst of a story.

"At first, I didn't know what to call you." He shifted his gaze over to Rose Waters, who still only paid attention to the window, yet, she was fully aware that Thanos was staring at her. "You weren't like the rest of them. You were scared, quiet, and seemed to have no sense of what anger meant. Graceful in a sense. That is until we trained you, that's when you became ruthless."

"So it was Rose. A simple Terran name for the most unTerrain being in the galaxy. Graceful and beautiful, yet it'll cause you immense pain if you come too close. Rose. Waters for the family name, because we are the element that helped you blossom into the young lady you are today."

Rose Waters blinked and nodded ever so slightly.

"Make sure you're worthy of your name, Rose Waters."

"Don't fail me."

Early update thanks to all your reviews for motivating the heck out of me!

I hope you all enjoyed!

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~Emily