Well. At least nobody was dead, yet.
"What the hell are you talking about," Stark spat, angrily, and I tried to hide behind Rogers. It was easy to do, because the dude was very big, but then Loki pushed me forward and stared at me pointedly.
"Uh," I glared back. "You need to take care of Thanos's army."
"And what about Thanos? Are you going to take him on single-handedly? Tire him out with quippy comments and snarky one liners? Do you even know-" I pushed the mute button, or what I thought was the mute button, and apparently it worked because Stark went on with his rant on the screen completely silently. I shot Loki a say-something look.
"How do we convince him?"
"I thought this was a notification, not an argument." Loki replies, and man, the dude has guts. I, however, do not have the guts to say that to Iron Man.
I bit back a sigh, turned to Rogers. "Any ideas?"
He took a moment, looked at me, and turned back on the sound.
"-a freaking teenager, Rogers, are you insa-"
"Tony," Rogers said, pretty calm for a man being yelled at. "Eunseo knows what she's talking about."
"I'm not saying she doesn't, I'm saying it's danger-"
"Ask the Doc," I interrupted. "Ask him."
"What does Strange have to do with-"
"Because he's seen the future."
Utter, impeccable silence.
"If that is true, I am going to fucking-"
Rogers cut the call off, looking like he wanted to clamp a hand over my ears, which was stupid because I probably used many many more swearwords than Tony did. I laughed nervously, choosing to see humor of the situation instead of the fucking uncertainty of my decision. Huh. See? Swearwords?
"Okay, so, now the easier part of the plan." I drew in a shaky breath. "We kill Thanos."
"How, may I ask?" Loki tilted his head, materializing a dagger as one does when they are engaged in casual conversation. "You don't have a plan. Killing Thanos," his lips curled, "is not a plan. It's a course of action."
"Uh-huh, but we have something more, now." I said, and the two of them looked at me with expectant eyes. I shook my head. "Nope. Secret. No spoilers." Although I was pretty sure that if this was a movie, it would have cut out as immediately as I said something more, now, and left it all so fucktastically dramatic. But this was not a movie, this was my life, and I was left dealing with two glowering white men and ten hours to kill before we returned to Titan.
The one glaring hole in my plan was that Thanos, in order to be killed, also needed to come to Titan. And for that, we needed to...hit him up. I held my face in my hands as Loki, still sulking, punched the necessary buttons on the ship to connect to Thanos's Evil Warship. I don't know if he has Thanos's number memorized or something, but I couldn't deny the fact that it worked, and in a few moments, I was staring into the Titan's purple face.
"Hey, Purple." I said, a truly unoriginal insult, but understandable considering my racing heart. "How's life?"
He looked pissed. "I'll have you in my grasp once again, girl, and this time I won't hesitate to get what I need," his voice rumbled, promising a dark fate for me. I winced.
"I have something to help with that," I stated, unconsciously reaching out to grab Loki in his arm. For comfort, maybe. He gave me a look that clearly stated I was a distasteful creature, but otherwise stayed put. "Come to Titan."
Thanos shifted his head, his finger tapping the throne on which he sat. His question was simple. "Why?"
"I have a feeling you won't believe it if I said I was giving myself up," I muttered, and raised my voice. "Our last stand. Let's meet, pummel each other, and decide who wins. I'll be there when you show up."
"And what makes you think I will walk willingly into your trap?" He asked, which I thought was funny because there wasn't a trap, but I didn't laugh. I just gave a cocky smile, the one reserved for my best fuck-ups, and shrugged.
"Because I think you're confident enough? Because I think I'm a prize you'd die to win?"
Admit it or not, he knew what I knew was valuable, maybe even more than the Infinity Stones, and definitely more than his quest to destroy half of the universe. He needed me, as he had said himself. He needed something from me. And I knew Thanos wasn't the type to ignore his chances.
After a pause, he gave a curt nod, a cruel smile spilling onto his face. "I do miss your company," he murmured, to which I gave my shiniest smile, despite the shivers that ran down my spine. That fucking creep.
"See you then, I guess." And the connection cut.
I stumbled down in my seat, and there was a terse silence, one accentuated by the sound of the engine whirling and my shaky breathing. This was the absolute worst, running on adrenaline and fear and the knowledge that the world, in which my family and I lived in, was in the balance. I wanted to curl up and die, but I didn't because I couldn't, I couldn't stop going. If I stopped, I didn't know if I could start again.
"Hey," Rogers said quietly. "You should get some rest."
I should. I didn't know if I could. I nodded slowly and stood again, ignoring the ache in my, well, entire body. I trudged down the ship to the barracks, trying not to think about Loki and Rogers left back there, trying not to make every fucking problem into my responsibility. I had my limits, of course I did. It wasn't my fault some people refused to get along.
I chose the bed with the deep-blue bedding, because it probably was Gamora's. And wow, she was dead. I refused to cry, and snuggled into the bed sheets, closing my eyes.
My last thought was that this could be the last time I ever slept.
Red Skull was in a three-piece suit, a one with a double-breasted jacket and a tasteful red silk tie to match his complexion. He had sunglasses on, sitting in the table seat out in the open, under roof of a corner shop café I knew like the back of my hand. It was a few blocks from my apartment in Seoul, and I used to go there all the time with a laptop to work on my school assignments. Red Skull...didn't fit in, to make an vast understatement, but none of the passer-bys gave him a second glance.
Oh, I realized. This was a dream.
In a blink, I was sitting next to him.
"Am I dreaming about you?" I said out loud. "My subconscious is an asshole. Oh shit, is this a date?" I almost stood, and would have, if he didn't grab my wrist, his skin a surprisingly a smooth texture.
"Sit down, Eunseo Lee. I am merely a visitor."
I gave him a suspicious look, and tugged my arm away. "So you're in my dream. How?"
"You have the soul stone," he stated tonelessly, sounding impossibly bored for a guy in my dream. "I am under it's control."
I frowned. "Uh, what does that mean?"
"It means," he snapped his fingers and a coffee appeared in front of him. He took a sip while I glared at the empty air in front of me. Where was my caramel macchiato? "The soul stone speaks through me. And the stone has an offer for you."
"Oh so now, rocks have offers. Great," I muttered, and he set down his coffee back on the table, took off his sunglasses. His eyes...not very aesthetic. Then, his pupils dilated, and the background noise snapped off, leaving a tangible mark in the silence. I stared as his eyes turned molten gold, not a sliver of white to be seen.
"Save the world, and I will give you back your world," he hummed, voice diluted, as if it was ran through a filter.
I gaped, but then understanding settled in. "But—you were the one who made me sacrifice—"
"There is another sacrifice left, of course," Red Skull, no, the Soul Stone (with capitalized letters) said, a crooked smile I could hear all so clearly. "You cannot have two worlds, Eunseo Lee."
Oh, fuck. I closed my eyes with a resigned sigh. "You dick."
He hummed again. "I have heard many things, Eunseo. None of them will faze me."
"You dick," I repeated nonetheless, and planted my head in my arms. "Why is this happening to me? Why me?"
"Because you asked for it," he replied, as if it was obvious, and when I whipped my head up he just smiled. I opened my mouth, as the gold of his eyes spread and spread and consumed the table, his coffee, my arms, and everything was golden, even the back of my eyelids.
Save the world, I heard echoed one last time, and I opened my eyes to the darkness of space.
I clenched my eyes back shut, blinked, and sighed deeply. "That dick."
A/N : Oh god it's been ages, yes. I hope you still find the fic amusing, and if you like this story, you will definitely like the blog me and my friend, Chloe are working on. It's lacemessed . com, (the weird blank spaces are because we can't plug in the link in the story, so you can go to my profile and jump on the link if that's easier) and while we don't have that much content up yet, if you subscribe, notifications will lead you to many stories and fics there soon.
Please please do so, and also I do have one excuse for why my name there is Regis: My original name was Tara, but then a situation arose where I had to change it, and long story short I ended up naming myself after a fic character that I made up. A bit messed up, but please check out our blog. You won't regret it.
Love you guys so much for hitting five hundred followers :)
