They'd made about as much of a plan as they could before Drax- the big, burly guy, as they'd finally managed to all get proper introductions to one another- could nod off. All that was left to do now was wait.

Peter and Katya were perched on top of what was probably once a building, ready to swing down at a moment's notice. The first few moments were tense, but after the next few, and the next few, and still no sign of a spaceship or opening portal, they had started to relax a bit.

"I'm glad he goes by Quill," Peter muttered, one leg dangling off the rooftop they were perched on. Katya was on her back, playing with one of the throwing knives that came with her suit, tossing it up like a ball before snatching it out of the air right before it could hit her face. She caught it and turned to face him.

"Star-Lord sounds pretty pretentious."

"No, I mean like, his name's Peter. But my name's Peter-"

Katya snorted and rolled back over, returning to her knife throwing. "You're still the superior Peter, pauchok." She let out a small laugh. "You'll always be, in my eyes, anyway."

"Aw, thanks." He sounded genuinely touched, before he added, "Missulena."

Katya scowled and mimed as if she was going to throw the knife at him. He threw his hands up in defense.

He brandished his hands like he was unveiling a movie title. "Spiderman and Missulena-"

"In space!" Katya finished for him in a deep, overly dramatic voice, sending them both into fits of laughter.

"It's still a good one, though," Peter managed, after their laughs had died down. "You know, if you decide to keep it."

Katya shrugged and caught her knife again, this time just as it touched the tip of her nose. Peter looked away to hide his slight panic.

They were all clearly- except for maybe Drax, who seemed to function in a perpetual state of semi-consciousness and Mantis who, no pun intended because she was an alien and all, seemed to be in her own little world- exhausted, nerves frayed. Katya could see from their vantage point Tony and Dr. Strange speaking to each other, but even with the echochamber the lifeless surroundings seemed to create, she couldn't hear them. Probably going over the plan- for the zillionth time.

Hide out, use Dr. Strange to draw him in, then ambush him and hope none of these Guardians of the Galaxy- as they called themselves, which in turn caused deep concern in Katya's mind for the state of the galaxy if these were the guys protecting it- got in the way and fucked it up somehow. Thanos wasn't something to mess with, he already had at least four of the stones that they knew about- none of them had had any contact with earth since they'd left, so who knew what was going on down there- so get in, get out, as quickly as possible, to reduce as many casualties as they could.

Casualties. The word struck an uncomfortable nerve in Katya- on one hand she was used to it, and it was easy for her brain to wrap around because she'd spent so much of her life referring to people as things like casualties and human capital- inhumane, detached sentiments. But shoving aside how terrifying it was for her that her brain could revert back to that type of detached mentality so easily, she knew and loved everyone who was about to join in on this fight. Okay, so she knew them, some better than others, and only loved two of them- in very different ways, of course- but even just having names to put to faces that she'd had at least a single exchange with made the idea that they might not all make it out of this alive all the more terrifying.

She caught her knife again, and stuck it back into the holster near her ankle, where it remolded into the suit, and rolled over on her stomach so she was close enough to Peter to grab his hand.

"I know you know what's coming." She said, her tone suddenly solemn. She didn't want to say what she was about to. "But remember, our target is the Gauntlet. If something happens, and I get subdued, or something, you have to understand that our target is the gauntlet." She looked up at him, making sure he could see, once they'd made eye contact, how serious she was. "If it's the gauntlet or me, you have to pick the gauntlet."

Peter looked away, pulling his hand out of hers, though it twitched in his lap like it regretted doing so. "We're not having this conversation."

"Pauchok-"

"We are not. Having. This conversation." He told her sternly- Katya'd never heard him use a tone like that with her before. Part of her wanted to push him, but she stopped herself, because it verged on exposing her as a clear hypocrite. She already knew what choice she'd make if the roles were reversed, and the universe wouldn't like it.

Suddenly there was commotion from below them, and Katya could see sparks emanating in the small clearing between the wreckage where no one stood, indicating a portal was starting to materialize. She ducked back and she and Peter scrambled into position, taking a quick mental inventory of everything she knew her suit could do. Peter reached down to grab her hand as the portal grew larger and finally an enormous, lumbering figure materialized through it.

—- —- —-

"Oh, yeah," Dr. Strange said, almost casually, from the spot they'd strategically picked for him to be waiting by, on the steps of a long-gone building. "You're much more of a Thanos."

"I take it the Maw is dead." Thanos replied in his way of greeting. The Maw must have been the alien that was on the ship with them. "This day extracts a heavy toll." He began to near Strange, slowly. "Still, he accomplished his mission."

"You may regret that," Dr. Strange replied, his tone dark, "He brought you face to face with the Master of the Mystic Arts."

Katya peeked her head up just a little bit so she could get a better vantage point as to what was going on, but still in army crawl position, nothing to give her away.

"And where do you think he brought you?" Thanos's voice was clear as day thanks to the natural echo chamber.

"Let me guess. Your home?"

"It was." Something glowed red on Thanos's gauntlet, but nothing happened, as far as Katya was aware - though something changed in Dr. Strange's expression to signal otherwise. Katya's eyes darted around furiously to try to find what she was missing, but came up with nothing. Just the same, empty, dusty landscape they'd spent the last few hours in- no new approaching enemies or threats that she could see. Maybe the red stone was projecting something directly-and only- to Strange.

"And it was beautiful." Thanos continued, with a tinge of nostalgia behind his words, "Titan was like most planets. Too many mouths, not enough to go around- and when we faced extinction, I offered a solution."

"Genocide." Dr. Strange countered.

"But random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike. They called me a madman. And what I predicted…came to pass."

"Congratulations," Dr. Strange said sarcastically, "You're a prophet."

"I'm a survivor."

"Who wants to murder trillions."

Katya couldn't see Thanos's face from her vantage point, but his tone sounded like he genuinely thought he was in the right. He was a madman.

"With all six stones, I could simply snap my fingers, and they would all cease to exist. I call that mercy."

Dr. Strange stood up. "And then what?"

"I'd finally rest. And watch the sun rise on a grateful universe." He paused. "The hardest choices require the strongest wills."

"I think-" Dr. Strange deployed his mandala shields, "You'll find our will equal to yours."

"Our?"