Long Chapter! Bear with me here! Probably the last one of the weekend, but I'll be working more through the week so we'll just have to see. I'm so glad you all love to predict the future in my comment sections lol. I get so nervous that I'm making my foreshadowing too obvious, but I'll take the guessing as a compliment! Thank you so much for commenting too!

The Tower- The Tower in Tarot is oftentimes associated with bad omens. Great loss and upheavals in your life are predicted when you pull this card. Prepare yourself for hardship and grief as you adjust.

IDon'tOwnMarvel

I sat on my knees with tear-soaked cheeks and Asgardian Warriors laying dead and contorted beside me on the ground. Only fifteen men had been left out of the portal to earth. They shoved others ahead of them, and having spent their lives fighting for Asgard, they felt the safety of their people was far more important than their own lives. Then, as I had tried to usher them through as well, they stood their ground and decided to fight alongside their Kings.

I begged them. Really, I did.

Thor and Loki had heard my desperate attempt to get them to go through the portal together with the rest of everyone else, but they didn't listen. Because 'an enemy of Asgard could not be left unintimidated'. They heard me tell them they couldn't win, but they didn't listen and instead turned to face a Titan with a gauntlet that scared the life out of me.

Now, as I sat trembling on the ground with little fight left in me, I tried to shove those feelings down.

"Hear me and rejoice." Ebony Maw said, his voice splitting through the air and making me squeeze my eyes shut and purse my lips. "You have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Titan. You may think this is suffering...no. It is salvation."

These men had made a choice for themselves. They heard me tell them what would happen and instead of turning and leaving to watch their people, they decided on a suicide battle. I told them they didn't have a chance. They knew.

"Universal scales tip towards balance because of your sacrifice. Smile…" The Maw ran a blade through a gasping warrior who had been choking on his own blood. "...for even in death, you have become Children of Thanos."

I didn't do this. I tried to assure myself, keeping my eyes shut with the crushed sling ring resting in my hands and taunting me. I could only pray that TC had gone through in the panic. It's not my fault. It's not my fault. Why can't anyone listen?

Thanos stood still by the window while Heimdall stirred finally a few feet in front of me. I could tell he was looking at me, but I didn't want to open my eyes and face what was around me again.

Thanos' voice filled the room next, making me flinch from just the sound. "I know what it's like to lose. To feel so desperately that you are right...yet to fail nonetheless."

The Titan picked up Thor by his chest plate and I opened my eyes only a little to look at him being carried towards us. It was a bad image that I knew was going to be stuck in my head for a while. God forbid I know how to take a lesson from The Ancient One these days. If I wasn't so busy being paralyzed by fear, I might be able to take Thanos down now. What he had in his glove was all I needed.

I didn't have to test it to know. I could feel the energy in it- how it gravitated towards me like I was Electro sitting in front of an arc reactor. I wanted- no, needed it.

"It's frightening. Turns the legs to jelly. I ask you, to what end?" Thanos mused, holding tightly to a panting Thor. "Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same...and now it's here. Or should I say...I am."

Thor wheezed, and coughed out a response. "You talk...too much."

Thanos ignored him and turned to his younger brother who happened to know when he was beaten long before he looked like a pulp. "The Tesseract...or your brother's head. I assume you have a preference."

"Oh I do." Loki grinned, masking whatever fear or uncertainty he had before. "Kill away."

I squeezed my eyes shut again and turned my head away, shutting my hands around the crushed gold when the Power stone connected with Thor's head. The screaming got to me very quickly and I could only sit and shake with new tears falling down my face.

"He doesn't have it!" I shouted finally, looking at Loki so I didn't have to see how Thanos' eyes pierced me in the new heavy silence. "It's not here. It was destroyed on Asgard."

Loki looked back only for a moment before looking down and away. He didn't have to say anything as the feeling of betrayal hit hard.

"You're fucking joking." I coughed back in the smoke, giving him a dark glare. "I hope you know you've damned the universe. When he kills everyone, that's on you this time."

He simply raised a hand and materialized the cube in it, looking up at Thanos.

"You really are the worst, brother." Thor said too, voice raspy from the hits he had taken earlier.

Loki stepped closer to Thanos with the tesseract in hand. "I assure you brother...the sun will shine on us again."

"Your optimism is misplaced, Asgardian." Thanos replied, making a memory spark up in my head while I started to wonder if I had seen Bruce run through that portal too.

Loki smirked at the Titan. "Well, for one thing, I'm not Asgardian. And for another...we have a Hulk."

As if on queue, I heard the tearing of metal and a roar echo through the ship as the Hulk threw himself at Thanos. I looked to Loki again who exchanged an unreadable glance with me after having grabbed his brother away from the titan. The betrayal hurt more than I wished it would, but it was enough to get me sliding over to Heimdall and listening to a whisper from Kevin in my ear.

I held a hand over his chest and whispered the healing spell, trying and failing to not draw any attention to myself.

"Don't play games, human." One of the female aliens, a child of Thanos, picked me up by my arm and tossed me so I went stumbling towards the two gods.

Loki caught me before I fell, but I was quick to push him off me as I gained my footing again and the gold piece fell to the already littered ground. Thor picked up a metal pipe, standing up again straight with me and Loki as we watched the Hulk finally start to crack under the pressure and then eventually get lifted up and slammed down on the ground by his opponent. I tried to bite back the slight pain in my ribs when I turned to look at Loki again.

"Go stand near Bruce." I snapped, giving him a serious look with a hushed voice. "What you're going to try will and always has gotten you killed. In every universe. Go stand near him."

Thor threw himself at the Titan next, taking his turn and ultimately failing. Squidward tethered him down with metal before long.

Loki opened his mouth to protest, only for me to cock my head at him in warning.

"Now."

He only looked back at me for a second longer before turning to move over to where the Hulk laid unconscious on the ground. I exchanged a glance with Heimdall that Thanos saw, but not before it was too late. The Bifrost lit up the room and raised Loki and Hulk into the air before they both sped away faster than anyone could hope to grab them.

Thanos looked down at Heimdall with a low growl. "That was a mistake."

My mouth dropped open with a desperate gasp as his sword plunged down into the Gatekeeper. I had no plan for him. My job was to get him through the portal with everyone else. That plan went down the drain as soon as Thor decided that he wanted to stay and fight.

"My humble personage…" Ebony Maw knelt before Thanos and presented him the tesseract while I too fell back to my knees for other reasons. "Bows before your grandeur. No other being has ever had the might, nor the nobility to wield not one, but two infinity stones."

I opened and shut my mouth before scoffing and looking away. At least I'd gotten a few of them out.

"I don't suppose you have another wise comment." Thanos addressed me, breaking open the tesseract and playing with the stone in his hand.

I looked up at him finally and pushed down every bit of me that said I needed to be upset and scared. The tears still came, but my voice was clear. "I just know that you're wrong."

"You have such little life knowledge, child." He hummed back as if he was humoring me for amusement. "Do you believe your mission to be righteous?"

"I believe that killing half the universe is a stupid plan." I mustered back, taking a deep breath and looking to Thor. "Nothing constitutes genocide."

He looked at me, contemplatively as if he was sizing me up again after I put up such a fight earlier. "So much misplaced confidence. Once upon a time I may have considered taking interest in your training. Now…I have a schedule to keep."

Thanos dropped the Space stone into place on his hand, grimacing and stiffening as he absorbed the power. I swallowed the lump in my throat, wishing that I could be anywhere but here. And while I had some experience in space, jumping into it with nothing but a plucky attitude and a teaspoon of grief wasn't that reassuring.

The ringing of the infinity stones being used stung my ears and I crawled over to Thor as the ship shook. Streams of purple shot up in the cracks in the floor, practically begging me to grab for the source of the power.

I could only manage a glare at the Titan. "I know everything that has been and will be. And very soon, you will be forgotten and never known."

He only stared back before a cloud of blue enveloped him and his misfit crew of 'children'. Thor gasped as the metal fell off him and I had to grab his arm to steady him and stop him from falling forwards.

"Hang on to me." I looked in his good eye. "This isn't going to tickle."

He looked around feverishly at the purple flames before catching my hand with his and staring back at me. "I-"

I shook my head, "No, I get it. Save your breath."

"Thank you." He croaked out. "You can go in peace, Lincoln. You've saved my people and my brother. Valhalla holds a place for you."

"No, we're not dying." I tried to reply. "Really."

"That's right." He smiled and patted my hand, making me actually smile and then laugh from how he was looking at me.

"No. Thor." I laughed and tried to whisper back. "We're fine. We're gonna be okay."

"We are." He kept the low voice, giving me that comforting look while the ship groaned around us.

I could only laugh like I was crazy and wrap my arms around his neck for a hug. "It's gonna be okay."

He hugged me back tight and I laughed harder with a slight wheeze until the ship released a final low groan. Everything was just so funny all of a sudden, even as the dark cold of space gripped us tighter than we could ever hope to hold each other.

"That's the point I'm trying to make." Tony said, walking alongside Pepper in the park after she insisted they need a break from all the superhero stuff again. "Apropos of that, last night, I dreamt, we had a kid. So real. We named him after your eccentric uncle. Uh, what was his name?"

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Right."

"Morgan!" The name came to him and he smiled. "Morgan."

"So you woke up and you thought we were…"

"Expecting." Tony finished for her.

She nodded. "Yeah."

His excitement only spiked further as he looked at his Fiancée "Yes?"

She shook her head with a short laugh. "No."

"I had a dream about it." He sighed longingly. "It was so real."

"What about your other kid?" Pepper looked at him expectantly with a small smile of her own.

Tony shrugged it off like it was unimportant "Lincoln's her own person now, but she can come live with us too and this…'hypothetical Morgan'. This is something different, don't change the subject."

"She called you 'dad' once and you wouldn't stop talking about it for a week." Pepper deadpanned before shaking her head at him. "Besides, if you wanted to have a kid, you wouldn't have done that."

Tony looked down at the arc reactor on his chest that she had just tapped. "I'm glad you brought this up, 'cause it's nothing. It's just a housing unit for nano-particals."

She sighed and they stopped in their place. "It's not helping your case, okay?"

"No, no, it's an attachment. It's not a-"

"You don't need that." Pepper added, insistent.

"I know. I had the surgery. I'm just trying to protect us." Tony held out his hands on her arms, knowing that he couldn't actually worry her with the real reason why he started carrying it around more. "The future. That's it. Just in case there's a monster in the closet instead of…"

"Shirts?"

He smiled at her, hoping to win her over. "You know me so well. You finish all my sentences."

"Shirts." Pepper said, slightly exasperated. "You should have shirts in your closet."

He opened his mouth to add something else but they were both cut off by the sound of a whooshing portal. Tony hated to admit how he snapped his head to look as if it might be Lincoln stepping through. However, he was not met with his favorite prophet when he looked over.

A man he was less enthused to see stepped out. "Tony, I need you to come with me."

Pepper frowned at Strange. "Anything with Lincoln?"

"Sort of." Strange furrowed his brow and then waved a hand vaguely. "Uh, congrats on the wedding, by the way."

Tony tried to look past him and moved over closer. "Is she in trouble?"

"You'll have to see for yourself." Strange replied in that vague way that Tony always despised. "Look, it's not overselling it to say that the universe is at stake."

"Is it…" Tony glanced back a Pepper only briefly before narrowing his eyes at Strange. "The...purple-"

"Thanos."

Tony's eyes shifted to the new man appearing beside the wizard and smiled with a feeling of pure relief running down his spine. "Bruce."

"Hey, Tony." Bruce only gave half of a smile back before pulling Tony into a hug that he really felt like he needed from his missing friend. "You are never gonna believe where I was."

"Let me guess- outer space?"

Bruce gave him a look of confusion when he stepped back, only for it to morph into a more annoyed frown. Tony smirked knowing exactly Bruce's train of thought.

Banner shook his head. "That kid is gonna drive me insane. She's almost 22 now. Did you know that? And she's got this-"

He gestured at his ears. "When did she pierce her ears? You guys are friendly?"

Tony snorted at that and shook his head, getting a smile from Pepper too. "I have so much to tell you."

"Yeah, well," Lincoln appeared next, stepping through the portal too and getting more relief from Tony. "It might have to wait."

Something loud snapped in my head, shooting adrenaline through my body and making me shoot up from my previously asleep state. A gasp of air reached my lungs too at the same time as I sat up and started to cough.

"Fuck." I wheezed, getting steadied in my place with a hand gripping my shoulder.

"Steady, Lincoln." Thor patted my back next. "I suppose Valhalla is not ready for us yet."

"Yeah, I told you." I pulled my knees up and scrubbed my face. "Oh my god. So many people died. I'm so bad at my job."

"What's happening?"

The sudden voice from right by my ear that I failed to recognize had me jump half a mile with a small scream. Luckily Thor caught me again while I covered my mouth with a hand and stared at Chris Pratt.

"Oh my god." I squeaked under my hand, looking around at the others quickly before finding my cool a little and noticing how Thor was literally holding me up to keep me from falling off a table. "Okay. More aliens."

I patted his bicep and got off the table then, standing in front of him with his hand still on my back.

"Lincoln, these are the travelers that responded to our distress call." Thor spoke up in the silence while I turned my eyes to look directly at the raccoon.

"Oh, okay," I nodded, staring back at the group of the six most exciting beings in the world. "Dude, play it cool. These guys are badass."

"Thank you." Quill responded, looking to his peers for the validation as if proving a point to them. "See? We're the big tough guys here."

"Yeah, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool." I patted my hands on my sides, "Hey, uh. Lincoln from Earth. This is Thor of Asgard."

Thor nodded in confirmation. "That is correct."

"And normally…" I felt over my sides and noted the missing tarot cards. "Have you seen a deck of cards?"

They exchanged glances in a silent knowing conversion before Mantis spoke up. "Peter locked them in the cabinet."

I huffed a sigh and looked around again. "What cabinet? They're gonna be pissed."

That's when we all heard the sound of a pop from another room over that could have easily been a really big balloon. The wave of purple dust that came falling out of the doorway ever so gracefully too had me turning to practically run over and see who I dreaded was there.

"You're supposed to be home!" I shrieked, making TC jump and turn around to look at me while the cards came flying to my side and wrapped around my waist again. "What are you doing?!"

TC just glared a little back and I could tell he was giving me sass long before I picked him up.

"I sent you through the portal to go home!" I gestured wildly for him, scared out of my mind now. "This is not a safe trip! You think chasing a Titan is some sort of luxury arena with an opponent half your size?! This is war, TC!"

"Why is she…" Drax started to say, only for Thor to wave them off and leave the room with them following behind.

TC huffed smoke out of his nose and I about had it with his moodiness.

"You know what?" I snapped, "I don't want to hear shit from you about this. You're gonna listen to what I say. We both know what's going to happen and I need you to keep out of the way so I don't have to save you every five minutes."

He tried to put off a more comforting vibe as if trying to calm me, only for me to shake my head and march back out of the room with him on my shoulder.

"Don't even." I warned him, heating up my shoulders with my power for him anyway since he felt a little cold. "I'm still mad. Doesn't mean I don't love you. But I'm mad."

"What was Thanos doing on your ship?" Gamora asked while Mantis handed Thor a blanket and soup.

I frowned a little at that, wishing that someone had thought to get me soup.

"He was searching for the Tesseract." Thor moved to sit down with the soup, eating it carefully before noticing my stare and offering it out carefully.

"The Tesseract?"

"The space stone." I filled in, reaching over to take the food from Thor and sit down on the table opposite of him. "Daddy's finally committing to his plan. Remember that?"

Gamora flinched and her gaze darkened. "He's not my father."

"Yeah, okay. My bad." I kicked my legs, bringing the spoon to my lips to sip on it. "Touchy subject. I get it. Anyways, his plan being that he wants to wipe out half of all life. He's collecting the stones now, so we're running out of time."

"How many does he have?" Quill asked, looking between me and Gamora.

I held up two fingers. "Power and Space. The space stone was supposed to be destroyed on Asgard, but someone messed that up."

He caught my gaze and shrugged. "You didn't have to save his life."

"No, but I couldn't just let your brother die." I played it off with a shrug. "I don't mean to be blunt, but you have lost a lot this week."

Thor nodded back in thanks.

"Great, now that we're on the same page, I have a plan." I sipped the soup again before deciding it was not as good as I hoped and setting it back down to get up.

I turned again in a circle, looking around before picking a direction and noticing the escape pod. It had a four digit password required to operate, so I started making guesses.

"What are you doing?" Quill asked, pulling me out of my thoughts a little after they had all followed me, Thor picking up the soup along the way.

I shook my head, punching in all the obvious four digit code ideas. "Thor needs your pod."

"I do?"

"Yes." I huffed back, abandoning the pin number with a frown. "You're going to Nidavellir."

He smiled, "You're right. I need a hammer."

"Of course I'm right."

"Stop!" Quill said in a much deeper voice than before. I turned to him with an amused glare while he continued. "You will not be taking our pod today, ma'am."

"Ma'am?" I repeated, wrinkling my nose at him.

Rocket gave him a small look of amusement too. "Quill, are you making your voice deeper?"

"No." Star Lord responded in the same gruff tone as before, very obviously still doing the 'voice'.

"You are. You're imitating the god-man." Drax said, shifting in his place. "It's weird."

"No, I'm not."

Mantis gasped. "He just did it again!"

"This is my voice!"

I watched Thor take a few steps towards Quill, clearly trying to intimidate him too. I rolled my eyes when they started muttering.

"Testosterone." I hit my chest a few times at the fake cough and got half a smirk from Gamora. I walked up and slapped them both upside the head. "Knock it off."

"She's right." Gamora added, "We need to know where Thanos is going next."

Quill looked incredibly offended by the head slap, but Thor didn't skip a beat. "Knowwhere."

"He must be going somewhere." Mantis said, frowning at us.

"No. Knowwhere?" Quill asked as I leaned back against the wall. "It's a place. We've been there. It sucks."

Gamora looked between myself and the god. "Thor, Lincoln,...why would he go to Knowwhere?"

I cut Thor off before he could speak, holding up a hand. "That's where the reality stone is. Some guy, the Collector, has it. You know, I met his brother. Real asshole."

"How do you know he's not going for one of the other stones?" Gamora directed her question at me, probably assuming I was the more knowledgeable of us both.

Which, to be fair, I kinda was.

"Valid worry," I tucked my thumbs in my cloth belt loop, rolling on my feet. "Though, there are only four other stones out there. Two are on Earth with the Avengers-"

"The 'Avengers'?"

Thor answered Quill for me. "Earth's mightiest heroes."

"Like Kevin Bacon?" Mantis leaned forward in excitement.

"No." I shook my head, "Time and Mind are on Earth, and the Soul Stone hasn't been seen in trillions of years. Therefore, he is going to Knowwhere to retrieve the Reality stone."

I didn't miss the flinch on Gamora's face from the mention of the Soul stone. While I knew that she had a fate there, I was still working on about half of a plan that might royally fuck me over. I didn't love it, but at this rate, I was ready to die just to stop Thanos from going too far on his all-holy mission.

Gamora looked at me again with a nod. "Then we need to go to Knowwhere."

"Uh, no, sorry Gamora. We need to go to Knowwhere." I gestured between a few of us before pointing at Thor. "He's going to Nidavellir."

"That's a made up word." Drax accused, stepping forwards.

I hummed at him. "Yes, all words are made up."

"Hold up. Nidavellir is real?" Rocket climbed up onto the table with an increasingly gleeful expression. "Seriously? I mean, that place is a legend. They make the most powerful, horrific weapons to ever torment the universe. I would very much like to go there, please."

"The rabbit is correct and clearly the smartest among you." Thor said, earning another eye roll from me. "Only Eitri, the dwarf king, can make me the weapon I need. I assume you're the captain, sir?"

"You're very perceptive." Rocket replied with a smile.

Thor smiled back at the raccoon. "You seem like a Noble Leader. Will you join Lincoln and myself on our quest to Nidavellir?"

"No, only you and the rabbit." I shook my head again. "Sorry, man. I have to stay with the Morons and Gamora."

"That is unfortunate." He mumbled before standing up straighter. "While I am not ready to part ways, Lincoln, one of us must stay to lead the rest to the reality stone."

"Hey," Quill interrupted again. "Am I invisible? You can see me, right?"

Gamora just patted his shoulder comfortingly.

Rocket had readily agreed to take up the quest to get a new hammer with Groot, I was left standing alone with the remaining crew and my best friend draped across my shoulders. It was a little rough having to say goodbye to Thor, especially since I was starting to wonder how I could prepare for forever. I didn't know how I was going to pull off anything big yet, but I did talk to TC about what I thought I might be able to do.

Quill gave me a wary look too before setting a course for Knowwhere. I was already wishing that I could just portal home, but without my Sling Ring, I was starting to feel suffocated. So, I sat down with my Tarot cards and started some simple questions. More than once, I got the Hanged Man. This trip was going to require a bit of sacrifice for sure.

Gamora came to sit down across from me at the table after a little bit and watched me. It took her a little bit before she decided to speak up.

"How do you know my name?" She asked, "I've never met you."

"Uh, just one of those things I do." I replied, waving a hand vaguely with TC on my lap. "I know people's names, their future, our future. It's a lot."

"So you know how this all ends?"

"I know a possibility." I clarified, setting my deck of cards down. "I know how this will play out and I know how to change it. Hell, I already have changed it. And trust me, it's not as fun as it sounds."

"Do we stop him?" She asked then, watching the deck of cards on the table as it started to shuffle itself a little.

I shrugged, watching Kevin too. "Like I said- I know a possibility. There's about 14 million different ways this could go."

"Do you know my name?" Drax asked, making me turn my head fast from where he appeared in the doorway.

"Drax." I looked around at the others who had managed to sneak up on me. "Mantis, Peter Quill...and Rocket and Groot just left with Thor."

"That's incredible." Drax nodded approvingly, getting a smile from me.

"Thanks."

Drax and Mantis brought out their own cards at one point to try and show them off. I got to play their space card game for about an hour with no trouble since we were still two hours out from Knowwhere afterwards. They also gambled with Zarg-Nuts from a bag and I'm not ashamed to admit that I had no trouble not sharing my bounty whenever I won. That food was damn good for some reason.

After about twenty more minutes of Mantis being on a winning streak though, I gave up and went back to trying to read everyone's future. Eventually, I took the last hour of the trip up to the cockpit to address Gamora with my important info for her.

"You know that thing you told Quill about?" I started casually, leaning on the doorway while she was leaned up against a wall. "The thing you said only you know about? Yeah, well, I know it too."

"How?" She shifted in her place, standing up a little straighter and cocking her head. "That's impossible."

I shrugged haphazardly, tucking my thumbs in my belt again with TC tensing a little on my shoulders. "I know everything. In fact, I know way more than you do about the process of getting the soul stone as well."

"That's how you knew about my connection to Thanos?" Gamora raised an eyebrow, moving in a little to stand close across from me.

"Yeah, pretty much." I nodded, finally tearing my eyes away from her piercing gaze. "Look, you have to understand that if it comes down to Thanos taking you or me, it has to be me. He cannot, under any circumstances, take you there."

"Do I have to shoot you too?" Quill interrupted, moving more in between us.

I turned to walk away. "Sure. Go for it."

"Why does it have to be you?" Gamora asked, eyeing me carefully as I backed out of the hallway to stand in a room where I wouldn't be cornered in.

"That's a secret." I waved her off and moved to go sit down again. "Consider that your life might depend on it."

TC and I settled down in a chair together with me petting him through the remainder of the journey. It was stressful walking into this with so little confidence and few last minute plans. Perhaps if I wasn't so paralyzed on the ship with Thor after my sling ring was crushed, I wouldn't be in this situation. Why hadn't I just thrown everything I had at Thanos like I did to stop the Hulk? Would it have made a difference?

The images of the dead warriors and the memory of me throwing up shields while holding the portal open flooded my brain again and I did feel my gut churn anxiously. If Thor had just listened to me and taken his men to Earth, we could all fight Thanos together instead of in these little petty groups.

I was still thinking about that as we landed on Knowwhere and I climbed out after the rest of them with TC actively refusing to stay on the ship. I bickered with him for a little too long about it until the Guardians started moving without me and I compromised by letting him sit on my shoulders with the plan to throw him off as soon as the real plan went down.

He hummed, all proud of himself and moved up to my shoulder when I stood to head to the door.

Quill brought the ship down somewhere outside the Collector's… collection room. We stepped out and I was already incredibly uneasy, even with small waves of comfort coming from my best friend. I knew what was already happening here and while I didn't often have one plan, Loki had decided to be a bitch and limit my options. I've had to improvise and come up with plans on the way before. They weren't ever perfect or desirable, but the outcome was always the best I could manage.

"Hey," I caught Gamora's arm before we went too far in and gave her a look while the others continued. "Titan. Take your crew there after this. That's where you'll find help and stop Thanos."

She looked towards the room. "Not now?"

"Well, if it is now." I wavered my hand. "It's gotta be exactly perfect. But if it doesn't work out, you know where to go.

Gamora nodded at that. "I don't trust you."

"You don't have to."

The collection room looked like it was tossed by a bunch of wild monkeys with broken display cases and trinkets all scattered across the room. It didn't look horrible, per se, but it wasn't really picture perfect either. Of course, it was all just an illusion right now and the actual room was burning, but the made up room looked decent enough.

"I don't have it!"

I perked up at the sound of the Collector's voice while we crept into the room.

"Everyone in the galaxy knows you'd sell your own brother if you thought it would add the slightest trinket to your pathetic collection."

Poking my head over a piece of rubble, I could clearly make out Thanos and the Collector further into the room. I ducked my head back down and continued taking careful steps behind the guardians. Quill put up a fist to indicate that we should stop. I did stop initially, but upon seeing that no one else had, I continued walking, patting Quill's shoulder on the way.

Thanos' voice rang across the room again. "I know you have the Reality Stone, Tivan. Giving it to me will spare you a great deal of suffering."

He pushed a boot down on the Collector's chest, earning a strained wheeze from the Elder.

"I told you. I sold it." The Collector reached up to tap his chest. "Why...would I lie?"

"I imagine it's like breathing to you."

"Like suicide." The illusion of the Collector added, clearly thinking that he'd get out of this situation.

"So you do understand." Thanos mused, "Not even you would give away something so precious."

The Tivan leader shook his head. "I didn't know what it was."

"Today…" Drax's voice had me snapping my head away from the conversation. He had his eyes trained on Thanos with a scary kind of determination. "...He pays for the deaths of my wife and daughter."

With mild panic, I looked to Quill who was desperately trying to stop Drax. "Drax waaaait."

Drax drew a long dagger from his leg scabbard and started towards Thanos and The Collector.

"Drax, Drax, Drax." Quill stepped in front of him to get him to stop. "He doesn't have the stone yet. We get it, then we can stop him. We have to get the stone first. Yeah?"

Drax looked at him in a silent mental debate before shaking his head and pushing past him. "No, no. For Ovette. For Camaria-"

"Sleeep." Mantis slid a hand up to the back of Drax's head, knocking him unconscious.

Drax fell to the floor with a loud crash and I grimaced before immediately ducking behind a broken display case with the others. TC was twitching with adrenaline on my shoulder, looking at Thanos too like he was another opponent in his old arena on Sakaar.

"Alright." Quill took careful deep breaths with his gun close to his chest. "Gamora, Mantis, you go right. Lincoln and I-"

Before he could finish, Gamora leapt out towards her adopted father.

"The other right!"

I climbed out from behind the display case too just in time to see Gamora stab Thanos in the throat with a shard of a broken sword. She brought a red, double blade dagger down into his chest immediately after and I stood upright, feeling a bit useless at the moment.

Wait for it…

Thanos gasped and choked on blood, sinking to the floor. "Why you, daughter?"

Gamora fell to her knees, heavy tears already starting to fall with her shoulders slouching in defeat. In all fairness to her, the idea that you had just killed your own adopted father, evil or not, is not an easy thing to do outright and not be upset after. I felt a little uncomfortable though seeing her cry and exchanged nervous glances with Quill.

"That was quick." Quill muttered, looking back at the dead body of 'Thanos'.

It was the aggressive cheering of the Collector that cut through the eerie quiet of the room. "Magnificent, Magnificent!"

"Is that sadness I sense in you, daughter?" The disembodied voice of Thanos filled the space around us once again and I did my best not to shudder. "In my heart, I knew you still cared. But no one ever knows for sure. Reality is often disappointing."

TC's bear puffed up a little from my shoulder in a threatened motion as the room started to strip away. The walls shimmered down a line of red, reveealing a much more heavily damaged room. Small fires were lit up in various locations and cast smoke into the air while decimated display cases and tables had splintered and broken pieces littering the floor.

I had to fight the urge to slip away as I stood there, my plan firm in my mind. I can do this. I can do this. I'll trap us both.

"That is...it was." Thanos mused with the reality stone shining on his gauntlet. "Now...reality can be whatever I want."

Gamora's face was still wet from the tears, as her face contorted into a weak glare. "You knew I'd come."

"I counted on it." The Titan caught sight of me next and tilted his head only slightly before turning back to his daughter. "We have much to discuss, little one."

Gamora swung the broken blade at Thanos again, only for it to be caught easily as if the attempt was made by a child. He spun her around, holding her by the neck and I stepped forwards to speak with a deep breath.

"Thanos!" Drax yelled, popping awake again and interrupting my statement.

He only took two steps towards said Titan before crumbling to the ground in a variety of cubes. Matis gasped and covered her mouth, revealing herself to Thanos. Next thing I knew, she was slashed on the floor like a pile of ribbons. It was honestly horrifying and I had to look away quickly, freezing in my place in order to keep from making a noise over that.

Quill had his gun trained on Thanos. "Let her go, grimace!"

"Peter…"

"I told you to go right." He hissed back at her.

Gamora had fresh tears brewing in her eyes. "Now? Really?"

"Jesus, stop it." I snapped finally. "No one is getting shot right now."

"You." Thanos finally acknowledged my existence, turning his gaze to look at me.

"Yes, me." I wanted to roll my eyes but resisted the urge and just stared back. "You don't need Gamora. Leave her with her friends and take me instead."

"Tell me." He insisted calmly, clearly entertained by my confidence once again. "Why would I do that?"

"It's simple." I squared my shoulders with my heart pattering fast in my chest. "I know more about the soul stone than she ever will. I know where it is, what it costs, and how to get it. Not to mention, I'll come in handy when you want the Time Stone. Dr. Stephen Strange cares an awful lot for me. Killing two birds with…one stone."

Gamora looked at me quickly. "You don't stand a chance."

"Possibly." I replied, not taking my eyes off the Titan. "Hopefully not."

Thanos looked between myself and the woman he had held close. "Why do you care for my daughter?"

I opened and shut my mouth before looking back at Peter Quill. There wasn't exactly a perfect answer just waiting in my head since I never expected him to ask. Though, I guess he might be curious considering that I had been trying to kick his ass only a day ago. My jaw tightened and I looked to Gamora next before casting my eyes down in shame.

Thanos freaking bought it.

"You love her." Thanos deduced while I got a shocked look from Quill. "Do I misinterpret the relationship between her and the fool?"

"No, no," I bit my lip, shifting awkwardly in the lie. "You got it right. I just- I didn't tell her."

Thanos inspected me, trying to read for a lie for a moment and I was praying to god that he was actually considering my plan. I had spent two weeks with the god of lies himself, so I was pretty good when it came to trying to get away with deception. He gave one last look at his daughter before releasing her and tossing her against Quill to throw them both off balance. I was grabbed by the arm and yanked backwards into Thanos' hold.

I grabbed for my lizard then at the same time and yanked him off my shoulders, unfortunately a little rough. As I went to toss him in my panic, a wash of cold fear fell over me when I saw Thanos snatch his arm out too to grab TC and hold him up with a smirk.

"No need to leave all your friends behind." Thanos said, right as the cloud of blue enveloped us both and pulled us back out of the room of the Collector.