One word turns into a war

Is it the smallest things that tear us down?

Battlefield – Jordin Sparks

-o-

Chapter 141: There was Something Different

There was something different about her.

Doctor Stephen Strange could tell right off the moment she rejoined the group and went to her husband's side.

Her magical signature was already distinct, especially when mixed with the energy the Space Stone was giving off, but now there was something even more alien that was mixing with her.

Something completely different from anything he had ever come across before.

Her husband and brothers did not notice the change, which meant that she was blocking it amongst the web of links she was the anchor of. It was not what he was expecting when he had seen the two timelines where they had actually won against the Titan. One timeline had them losing this fight to come with more casualties that spanned the entire universe. The second timeline…

There would be losses, there was no getting around it, but not at the level of devastation as in the first one.

The second timeline would have personal losses to those directly involved in this fight but…

Whatever Ana had just done…

Strange let loose a heavy sigh as he made his way over to the raging couple, studying Ana as her brown eyes flicked his way.

"Ana, can I speak to you a moment?" His gaze flicked over to Doctor Bruce Banner, giving a slight nod in acknowledgement. "If it's all right with you, Dr. Banner… I just wanted to go over a few strategic points and spell work with your wife… Seeing as she is the only other Master of the Mystic Arts who can help me here."

At that statement, Ana's eyes widened slightly in shock, the question could clearly be seen in her gaze. She looked at her husband, who looked at her in turn, before he gave a jerky nod of his head. Whatever they needed to discuss, he would not begrudge them the lack of privacy. The look on her face softened and she leaned up to press a warm kiss against his lips, her nails gently running along the scruff of beard of his jawline. Banner returned the kiss, a large hand pressed against the small of her back to draw her closer before he released her, his movement reluctant.

Strange could see the communication between them, the words unsaid but the emotions on their faces were clear. They loved one another fiercely, even after all this time apart.

Not for the first time, Strange envied the man who stood just across from him.

To win the love of such a woman – women, for one could not discount Erin's love – and to have such unyielding loyalty with that love… It was a lucky, lucky soul.

Strange could see that Banner was well aware of this fact, the clenching of his fists and the muscle ticking in his jaw any indication as he watched his wife walk off. Strange gave another nod to the other doctor before he turned to follow after his former apprentice.

Ana led the way, putting some distance between the larger group and themselves but still within eyesight of her mate and brothers. Once they were far enough, Ana came to a stop and turned around to look at her teacher.

"Master?" She studied him under the yellowish light of the sky above, her confusion and disbelief more pronounced then before. "I don't believe I heard you correctly, mon ami."

Strange gave a hesitant smile as he looked down at her, his blue-green eyes filled with distant affection. He always did have a weakness when she spoke French around him…

"Well, technically you are a disciple, Ana," he said. "With all of the training you had done, your own personal journey to find your husband, and now this fight to come… Well, I think you have long since earned the rank."

"Shouldn't this be a decision discussed with the other masters?"

"Under normal circumstances," said Strange as he sighed heavily. "At the moment, we have more pressing matters and, in dire situations like this, it is accepted that a disciple can have the authority to grant an apprentice the higher rank so…"

Without another word, Strange reached out and took her left hand. A brief clasp of hands and flash of a spell. What could only be describe as a feeling of something springing free from within overwhelmed Ana before it disappeared just as quickly. A brief moment of silence passed before she let out a soft smile and nodded in understanding. "Thank you Stephen…"

Strange nodded in return as he let her go and moved around her to have his back to the diverse group behind them. "With that done, I must ask… The decision you made just a while ago… With the recent change you have undergone…? Are you sure this is the path you wish to take?"

At this question, Ana stiffened and her brown eyes zeroed in on his. "My decision…" She turned to face him. "You used the Time Stone?"

Strange nodded, not denying the fact.

Her gaze faltered and she looked away. "You would have seen…" She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh. "In how many timelines did we win against the Titan?"

"…Only two."

"…and my decision… this causes one of them to pass?" She opened her eyes and glanced back up at him.

Again, Strange nodded in confirmation but did not go into details.

Ana did not ask.

She closed her eyes instead as she reached up to wrap her arms around herself. The soft glow of the nanite casing with the tiny arc reactor still imbedded her left hand conflicted with the brighter violet glow that pulsed from her right. For the briefest of moments, her copper brown curls had fallen to the side and her left ear could be seen, a slight point giving it what could only be called an elven quality.

It was the only hint that Ana had acquired something more in that brief break she took.

The silence stretched on for a few heartbeats before she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Does my family survive this? All of them?"

Strange closed his eyes as he went over his memories of the second timeline he had seen. A muscle twitched in his jaw. "They will be spared…"

More silence.

Ana turned away from him and gave a nod. "Then that is all that matters."

Strange could not believe what he was hearing as she took a few steps away from him. He reached out to gently grab her arm. "If you go through with this Ana… there is the chance that it might not work. You might not…" He hesitated, not wanting to affect her decision but also not wanting her to go in blindly.

She looked back at him and gave a sad smile. "It's a chance, right?" Her eyes flicked between his before she let out a soft watery laugh, gently pulling away from his grasp. "I remember telling you when we first met that I would not go gallivanting off on some mystic crusade with you…"

"Yet, here we are," he said with a chuckle as he dropped his hand to his side. "While we have this moment, I'll fill you in on the plan we came up with to fight this Thanos. I have a back up plan as well. It will help increase your chance of succeeding in your plan."

Strange leaned in close and spoke in low tones as he discussed the coming strategy to subdue the Titan and get the gauntlet from him. As he spoke, his tone grew softer as he told her of what he needed her help with and the reasoning behind the choice. Most of it hinging on the decision she had recently made. As he spoke, Ana's eyes widened as the shock slowly gave way to a growing sadness.

After a heartbeat, she gave a nod and closed her eyes.

There was a brief moment, a fluttering of heartbeats as a quick spell was unleashed. A flash of a green glow that quickly faded...

Ana trembled from the strong energy that had now merged with her body. Her half of the Space Stone let out a strong pulse as she struggled to maintain the new force that was reacting to it in turn, trying to control the instinctual power of breaking this force apart. A shuddering breath eased passed her lips as she finally managed to calm it down and she opened her eyes to look at Strange.

They stared at one another, the mutual understanding and respect passing between former master and apprentice. It was Strange who finally broke eye contact and glanced off into the distance. "Ana… I…" He paused and cleared his throat, the sudden emotion catching him off guard. "I wanted you to know… I…" He paused again, trying to find the words without really saying them. "…If things had been different…"

Ana gave a small smile as she took a step back, her deep brown eyes filled with understanding and sadness. "I know Stephen…" She looked off toward the group, seeing her husband and brothers. "In another life…" She closed her eyes and gave a shake of her head, telling him to say no more of it.

The silence that stretched between them was heavier this time and Ana turned, heading back to her husband.

Strange could only watch her go.

-o-

Ana had come to a stop beside Bruce, automatically reaching out to take his hand.

"Everything ok?" He looked at her, studying her with increasing concern.

"I am no longer an apprentice," she said as she glanced at him, a tired smile playing on her lips. "My access was limited to the magical forces… Now, well, since those binding spells were removed it's… freeing."

Bruce frowned, his concern growing. "Is it going to be a problem with the Space Stone in your hand?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "No… It should help actually."

He wasn't sure if he the believed her but he didn't have any real understanding of these forces they controlled. All he knew was that his wife did look a little better compared to earlier so he didn't press the issue.

At least for the moment.

Tony came over to them at that moment, his hazel eyes glancing between the two of them. "All right?"

Bruce and Ana could only nod.

Tony studied them, his eyes lingering on Ana as he studied her healthier appearance. "Good, good… Well, here's what we have planned for when Thanos gets here. We figured it would be better to use you two as a last resort of things go belly up..."

The plan was hinging on all those present doing their particular parts to a T. No deviations, no set backs, they all had only one chance to pull this off. Once Tony had finished laying it all out, he looked between Bruce and Ana, his face filled with uncharacteristic worry. "We need to do this. Half of the universe is depending on all of us." His eyes focused on Ana. "We need to get back to our family… We've been separated for too long for this dipshit to come and fuck it all up."

Ana smiled at her brother and gave a soft laugh. "Agreed… Thank you for coming for me big brother. I love you…"

The worry on Tony's softened to a shadow of his usual smirk, his hazel eyes sparking with affection. "Love ya too, kiddo…"

"Hey Mr. Stark," the familiar voice of Peter caught their attention. He came to a stop next to their little group as he pointed a thumb over his shoulder, gesturing to the group of Guardians. "Uh… the other dude, Star Landlord or whatever, he's uh… telling the others about a strategy that we uh… didn't agree on…"

"Damn it," Tony muttered as he glanced in Quil's direction before quickly making his over without another word.

They watched him go before Peter turned his attention to Bruce, a beaming smile showing as he reached out a hand. "Dr. Banner, it's an honor to officially meet you. I'm Peter, Peter Parker. Mrs. H didn't say much about you while you were gone but I could tell she really missed you. She really loves you. She's the best mentor I could've asked for and-"

Bruce could only stare at the teenaged boy in slight shock as he reached out to take his hand to shake. Peter kept going on and on in his rambling as he shook Bruce's hand over and over.

"-read all of your published work. Mrs. H gave me access when I asked, she is like… the best and-"

Ana was struggling to hold back a laugh as she watched her little brother continue to make her husband uncomfortable.

God, she loved her family…

"M-Mrs. H?" was all Bruce could manage to ask in between Peter's rambling.

Peter heard him and his smile grew. "Oh yeah, short for Mrs. Hulk!"

This time Ana blushed as Bruce's eyes focused on her, the question clearly seen.

She looked at him and smiled. "You missed a lot while you were gone…"

Peter finally let go of Bruce's hand as he turned his attention to Ana. "Mrs. H, so what do you think of the plan? It sounds like we might win this one. I mean, I didn't mean to get back on the ship but I was worried and-"

His rambling was cut off as Ana pulled him into a tight hug. He stopped talking, caught by surprise, but quickly fell into the embrace. It was one of many they had shared over the past year.

"I would prefer if you were safe at home… but there is now helping it now." Her embrace tightened a heartbeat more before she pulled away and stared into his eyes. "We will win this and we will make it home. You are my little brother always… comprenez vous?"

Peter swallowed back the lump that had formed his throat as he gave a shaky nod.

Satisfied, Ana pulled away as a flurry of movement caught the corner of her eyes.

They all looked to find Tony waving them over to the rest of the group.

It was time to prepare.

-o-

The smoky streams and blue light of unique portal came into being. Emerging from the black void that was the center of this portal, Thanos stepped foot on the rubble that used to be the foundations of a great civilization.

As he walked forward, his eyes taking in the yellow tinted sky, the remains of buildings and other debris floating, he was on alert of anything that would seem out of place. It was not the first time that his enemies had tried to use his home world to enact some sort of revenge…

They never won.

This time though, this time he was on edge.

He had never come across a living Celestial in his millennia of cycles living, even if it was some watered down half breed of one.

There was the ever slightest chance that Thanos would admit he was looking forward to the fight.

"Oh yeah…"

The deep male voice that spoke caught his attention and he looked in the direction from where it came from.

Sitting on a piece of debris at the top of some steps of what used to be a building was a Terran bedecked in a deep red cloak. There was something about this Terran that set Thanos on a slightly higher alert then others he had come across.

The Terran was tossing a small piece of rock within his right hand, piercing eyes studying the Titan with just as much focus. "You're much more of a Thanos…"

-o-

A/N: -=Rubs her face=- coming to the home stretch… Next chapter is going to be the culmination of everything I've been writing for… I'll be taking my time with it and making it good so hang in there y'all. Thank you for sticking with me.