A/N: This chapter was harder to write, but I hope I did it justice. There will be several chapters after this one. I'm still not sure how much I want to do yet. Let me know what you think.

They had been running for, well he didn't know how long. But they were definitely reaching the mountain soon. What frightened him the most about approaching the massive, and quite frankly, the only thing in this place worth running to, was that the more they approached it, the more green mist appeared.

It definitely baffled him at how great of shape she was in though. After what felt like several miles, and their actual death, her pace never waivered. He, however, needed a lot of help. He was steadier on his feet, but running for long distances seemed to wear him out quicker than ever before.

Everytime he thought about facing Thanos again, he remembered the feeling of the life being squeezed from him. He'd never been one for fear, but it was like the Titan's hand was to his throat all over again. He'd often stop, panting uncontrollably to claw at his throat.

Gamora turned around at the sound of him slumping to his knees.

"Loki," she jogged back towards him, easily closing the distance. "Loki, get up."

He couldn't even focus on her voice, all he could feel was death. As if it was happening all over again.

She dropped to her knees as well, "Loki, look at me." Her voice was relatively even, but bits of desperation were threatening to take hold of her tone.

He wanted to, he did. He wanted to appease his new companion, to find comfort in her words, her presence, but it was all hopeless. Wasn't it?

She grabbed his hands that had been busy grabbing at his throat in protest of Thanos' unseen grip. "Loki." She commanded.

He looked at her then, the painful sensation of yet another, drawn out destruction fading away.

Her eyes were deep and determined. The specks of gold seemed to swim in the brown of her eyes. It calmed him to know someone else was there. Someone else was real.

"I know what you're thinking. I know how this feels," She rubbed the back of her head then, making him wonder how painful her end must've been. "We have died over and over at the hands of my father. Hundreds of times, we've met the same fate. I will not let him get to you again." Her voice was confident, as if she could deliver on that promise without question. As if he should trust her without hesitation.

He took a deep breath, happy to find that it wasn't a struggle in that moment anymore. "How do you know this isn't real?" He didn't like the way his voice sounded when he asked that question. He felt weak. Pathetic. No one had seen him like this before.

She gave him a sincere look, "Because this is what he wants. He wants us to be afraid, he wants us to fail. But we have to trust each other in here. We're all we've got now." She grabbed his forearm and pulled him to his feet with her, allowing him to lean into her once more for support. He noticed a flash of sadness flicker across her features. It disappeared just as quickly as he had seen it.

He nodded then, allowing himself to put a lot of his weight on her for support. After several steps, he managed to job behind her on his own.

He was breathing heavily once more when they reached the base of the mountain.

"This way," She called back to him as she started up the steep path.

He started on the trail quickly, almost afraid to lose her within the mountain once they started. He made an active effort to watch her as she climbed. He recalled her mentioning this was where she had died. She had relived the same fate that he had, and he wanted to provide the support she had done for him if she ever needed it on their journey. They climbed in silence. Mostly because they were having trouble seeing far ahead of themselves. The mist had become an even darker shade of green, and was thickening within the air as they hiked.

Loki was so focused on not tripping over uneven ground within a cave atop the mountain that he bumped into her back. She flinched slightly at the contact, but her eyes didn't leave the sight in front of them. He walked around her, placing himself between her and whatever had caused her to stop in her tracks.

The Mad Titan himself stood several feet ahead of him, his arm behind him a little bit, as if he was guarding something that was no longer there. Loki noticed that he was in the same stance, only he was blocking Gamora from the scene.

"Is this where you perished?" He asked, turning his head slightly to get a look at her face.

She didn't look away from Thanos, but shook her head.

Loki took her wrist in his hand, leading her past Thanos and the hooded figure that was addressing him.

"Remember, it's not real." He offered as he led the way up the rocky terrain to the mountain's peak.

He didn't recognize the red faced figure that seemed to be guiding Thanos up the mountain behind him. Loki heard the figure answer a question that hadn't been asked by Thanos at all, and he turned back, trying to see if there was anyone else there. When he didn't see anyone else, he looked beside him to Gamora. She had clutched his hand in hers and was looking straight ahead.

She didn't have to look at him to know his question, "It's me."

He nodded, "This isn't real, alright?"

She didn't do or say anything that indicated that she had heard him. She just pressed on, stepping ahead of Loki once more to lead him. He didn't let go of her hand; they both needed some sort of connection to what was real now.

They reached the top of the mountain before Thanos had. Gamora released his hand and walked over to the edge of the cliff. Much to their surprise, the green fog was beginning to fade into lighter blue mist steaming off from the ground far below the cliff.

"It's the Space Stone." He said, beginning to feel wary of Thanos once more.

She nodded, "He's using it to find the Time Stone."

Loki took a couple deep breaths, "How do you know?"

She raised and lowered one shoulder, "I don't think there'd be anything here if that wasn't the case." She looked behind her, seeing Thanos standing a few feet away, listening intently to someone beside him that was no longer there. She knew Thanos was listening to her. She realized what was about to happen then.

"Do you think the mist will lead us to where Thanos actually is? Out of the Stone?" Loki had been pacing across the cliff's edge, staring down into the bottom.

"Loki," She started, feeling something grip her arm. She glanced to her side and saw nothing. When she looked behind her, Thanos was grabbing into the empty air, stalking towards the edge of the cliff.

Loki was several feet away from her, scratching the back of his head and looking around the edge of the cliff's face.

"Loki!" She called.

He turned to her then, "Whoa, what's happening?"

She felt a strong force dragging her closer to the edge, the same ironclad grip that was ingrained into her memory now. It was happening again.

Loki took off towards her, quickly covering the distance between them.

The feeling of her father's grip on her became stronger the closer he got to her. By the time his stance overlapped with Gamora's, she felt herself being tossed backwards off the ledge.

Loki skidded to a stop at the cliff's edge. His fingers barely grazed hers before she was dropped off the ledge.

"Gamora!" He shouted as she fell through the blue smog below.

He suddenly was overcome with a feeling that he'd only felt once in his life. A feeling he'd experienced in regards to his brother. He took a deep breath, diving off the cliff after her. He didn't know where this would end, or if it ended at all. He did know that they made a promise to stay together while they were in this world.

He could barely see through the mist, and it was only seeming to get thicker as he fell. He thought of Gamora's death. How far she must've fallen before the end. How long she must've laid broken on the ground below before finally taking her last breath. He wondered if the last thing she saw was Thanos, or if she had been a little more lucky than he had. He hoped she had been spared with any image other than her father's.

Far in the distance, he saw the silhouette of her falling. He attempted to call out to her, but nothing came from his mouth. He saw the tunnel of blue mist they were flying through begin to narrow, almost as if it would split off into different directions. The closer he got to that split, the more he felt as if he was splitting apart too.

Loki shook off this growing feeling of wariness. He needed to get to her before that happened. Before the tunnels split. He couldn't be alone again. He couldn't leave her alone again either. She swore to him she wouldn't let him die at the hands of the Mad Titan again, and he needed to make sure he'd do the same to her.

He forced himself to focus, thinking only of closing the distance between them. The further he fell, the harder it was to see. After what felt like an hour, he felt himself gripping her ankle. She kicked her leg and began to yell.

"It's me!" He managed.

He used her weight to pull himself forward, gripping her shoulders to keep her close to him. Once he knew she was safe, he allowed this feeling of becoming truly undone to overtake him. He felt his eyes roll back and then succumbed to the darkness.

He woke up feeling cold, but different. She was sitting next to him, her hand on his wrist. He realized then that she was checking his pulse. She released his hand when she saw he was awake. "You're alright." She murmured with a smirk.

He sat up slowly, allowing her to help him once more. "So are you." He quipped, mirroring her expression.

She nodded, "Yeah, thank you for jumping in after me."

He scoffed then, "You were the one who made that big speech about not letting each other die. I had to one up you somehow."

She chuckled at that, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it. "Well, I'm glad we both made it out."

He sat up straighter, craning his neck to take in their surroundings. "Where did we make it out to?"

She looked around along with him, "Titan, I think."

His eyes widened, "This dump is Titan?"

Gamora stood up then, extending her hand to help him do the same. "Did you expect something prosperous?"

He got up with her, "No, I suppose not."

She motioned far to her left, "I heard something that way while you were out. We should try it."

Loki nodded, "Do you think it's Thanos?"

She walked beside him, "It might be, but I don't think Thanos is here."

"How do you figure that?"
"We fell through the path of the Space Stone. If Thanos was here, I think we would've ended up landing closer to him." She sounded really self assured, but she gave Loki a strange look.

"What?" He asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Your body completely shut down when we were in the path of the Space Stone." She wondered aloud, continuing to walk beside him.

Loki thought about it for a moment, remembering how weak he felt when they were deep in the Space Stone. "I hadn't thought about it being because of the Space Stone."

"You died once he got the Space Stone, right?"

Loki nodded, "Right. So do you think we're somehow linked to the stones we died for?"

Gamora tilted her head, "I'm not sure. I haven't felt any effects from the Soul Stone."

"Well hopefully you won't ever have to." He muttered.

They walked in silence for several minutes, climbing over fallen debris that are covered in dust and dirt.

"It's as if we're walking the gravesite of an entire planet," He thought aloud, looking around at fallen buildings, preserved by the uncertain conditions of planet.

Gamora nodded, "It's not the first time I've felt that way." Her voice was strained, as if she was recalling all her regrettable moments in life.

"Hey," he started, stopping and grabbing her arm.

She turned then, stopping as well and raising her eyebrow at him. "What?"

He motioned all around them, "You see this?"

She nodded, "Unfortunately."

"This wasn't you." He ran a hand through his hair, "Even the things that used to be you, aren't you."

She scoffed, attempting to mask the way his words were resonating with her. "I know that." She removed her arm from his gentle grip and walked ahead.

He stood there for a moment, a little surprised by her sudden distance. But hold on, why did he care? He felt awkward as he stood there watching her walk away. He didn't understand why her resistance bothered him so much. It wasn't like he knew exactly how to provide her with comfort, but he wanted to know. He knew she felt guilty about her time with Thanos, and he could relate in all honesty. He wanted to help her. To say something. Something about this woman reminded him of all the reasons why he wanted to be better when he was still alive.

He had been so lost in his confusion he didn't notice how far ahead she had gotten before she called to him. "Loki! You can't stay here alone."

He jogged a little to catch up, but stopped short when he heard the commotion.

"Oh yeah, you're much more of a Thanos."

Loki looked to Gamora, who had stopped as well. She was staring ahead of them. They could hear that they weren't alone, but he wasn't able to see anything.

"Do you see anything?" He asked.

She shook her head, looking around for the source to that voice. They seemed to be entrapped in a maze of broken down buildings and other rubble. They were surrounded on all sides by the ruin left from Titan, unable to see where this strange voice was coming from.

He heard the Mad Titan's booming voice then. He flinched, but was amazed to find that Gamora reached for a weapon that was no longer there.

"Damnit," she muttered.

He smirked then, happy to have the feel of swords materialize within his fingertips. Even in death, no one could best the God of Mischief.

"Looking for something?" He asked before tossing her a sword.

She smiled as she caught the weapon and examined it. "Asgardian?" She asked.

He nodded.

"Nice," was all she offered as a dangerous glimmer filled her eyes. He knew that look. Thor himself had often gotten it before battle. She was ready for a fight.

Before either of them could take a step forward, the planet changed. The sky became blue and the grass was green. The buildings were suddenly rebuilt, and the planet seemed to be restored to its former glory.

"The Reality Stone." She muttered, looking around the new environment.

Loki was taking in the new landscape as well, but stopped short when he saw Thanos standing a few hundred yards away, talking to that damned sorcerer that trapped him in a falling realm. "There!" He motioned towards them, getting Gamora's attention.

She caught sight of them and took off running towards Thanos.

Before long, the atmosphere returned to its current state of ruin, but Loki and Gamora had made it to the scene before it changed back. A fight had broken out as they arrived on the scene. The sorcerer was using his magic to transport different weirdly dressed fighters to attack Thanos at every angle.

Gamora threw her sword as if it was a spear, and the two of them watched it fly towards Thanos. The sword passed through his chest as if Thanos was an illusion, like the ones Loki had casted of himself many times before.

"They can't see us?" She whispered, watching as some kid dressed in a red and blue Ironman costume shot webs at Thanos' guantlet.

"We got out of the stone, but we're ghosts here." He wondered aloud.

"Give me your sword." She demanded, sticking her hand towards him.

"It won't do anything, Gamora." He reminded her as he watched the fighting unfold.

"I have to try." She barked as she drew back the sword. She stopped short once another fighter appeared from the sorcerer's portal. He looked as if he was from Earth, but was wearing a smuggler's universal clothing. He was dressed as a Ravager.

The sword slipped from her fingers and disappeared on the ground.

"Peter," She breathed.