A/N: It's a miracle, I'm alive. Seeing that it has been eight months since I last updated and I still have writers block pertaining to Power and Reality, I'm skipping them for now. I'm sorry, but if I wait until I have inspiration for those two chapters, this story is going to get abandoned, so if you were looking forward to those, I'm sorry. Moving on, here is a new chapter, finally.
Nebula sat up, the water streaming off in orange streams. The orange Soul Stone was resting in her palm. Grief threatened to overtake her as she remembered what her sister had done. She only allowed herself a few moments to grieve. She had a mission to do. She grasped the Stone tighter, focusing on the rage instead. Thanos had murdered her sister for this Stone. He had murdered her because he believed he loved her. It made her sick. It made her shake in rage. A part of her felt jealous. She and Loki were the same in the way that they both had craved their adoptive father's approval. A voice whispered, he wouldn't have loved you enough to sacrifice you. She hated, how after all this time, she still craved the approval of a madman.
She remembered the day Thor killed him, the confusion she had felt. She should have been glad that the madman that had stolen her life and murdered the two people she had ever cared about beside those from her first life, was dead. Yet she still felt the loss. She had still knelt down and closed his eyes. No matter how much she hated him, he had raised her, albeit only to use her in his genocidal dreams, but he had raised her nonetheless.
Thus the jealously still persisted. It was always there, like a cancer. Gamora was the better fighter. She was the favorite daughter. She escaped. She had someone, albeit who was an idiot, who truly cared for her. Nebula was weak. She was alone. Alone, because Thanos had loved her sister enough to murder her. She was alone because even Loki, the only other person besides Gamora who cared for her, had Thor. Loki would always leave. Whether to "protect" her or to escape or simply because he thought the others were better off without him.
She sighed, an inexplicable sense of unease settling in her gut as she plugged in the coordinates. It was probably just from watching her sister die. Watching her give her life for you. Stop, she commanded herself. She had a mission to do, she couldn't afford to mourn now. She pocketed the Soul Stone.
She felt herself shrink into the Quantum Realm, a tear streaming down her face as she navigated the maze that was much like her own emotions. Twisting and dizzying; easy to get lost without the proper tools. Only in the Quantum Realm, she had those tools.
She was spit out of the machine, the others landing around her in varying thumps. She discreetly took stock of the others, a habit she hadn't realized she'd picked up. She'd gotten better at reading emotions over the past five years, though some were still a challenge.
Thanos had always viewed emotion as weakness. He always said emotion stopped people from seeing that what he did was saving them. He said that emotion dulled the sense of logic. Of course, he was always a hypocrite. He himself was blinded by the loss of his home planet and the need to feed his ego and prove himself right.
Regardless, feeling emotion, nonetheless showing emotion was trained out of her quickly. Well, except for rage and jealousy. While five years was hardly anything compared to her time with Thanos, they had had their influence.
Loki by far was the easiest, though that was mainly because of the time they spent together and the fact that he had taught her how to read people in the first place.
She could tell when Rocket missed his (their?) family, though he didn't show it much. Thor was always drunk, so he was a little unpredictable, though at the same time, always depressed. She didn't blame him. She knew what it was like to be a failure. Only she had someone to blame, so she simply focused on the anger. The only people Thor could blame aside from himself were dead. He had lost Loki at least three times, his home had been destroyed and he blamed himself for Thanos' victory. All of which were things she could relate to.
She could read the others if she tried, but it was much harder. She didn't know them as well and they were, for the most part, more reserved. However, today there was an emotion that was extremely rare on any of the faces she had learned to read. Hope. As well as cautious joy. Or perhaps shock. She drank all of this in before her gaze landed on Loki.
He was swaying, likely would have already fallen down if it weren't for Thor, who had both a hand on his back and arm. He was pale, his hair hanging in a curtain around his face. In his hands was a gauntlet, much like the one Thanos had used.
Shestrode over to him, wordlessly taking the gauntlet and searching his eyes. His eyes always betrayed his words. Though when on the receiving end of his barbs, most people didn't bother to study them. Or they were just clueless. He shook his head nearly imperceptibly, but she got the message. Later. She lowered her gaze, taking the gauntlet to the table before returning back to his side.
She must have zoned out, as the others had seemed to come to an agreement to meet up in half an hour, in order to give everyone a break. She tightened her grip on her remaining sibling, the sense of unease she had felt earlier coming back. She couldn't explain it, but she felt that they needed to do the second Snap now. She realized that even if she convinced them to, right now, they couldn't.
While the seidr itself didn't drain Loki, it reflected his energy level. He was nearly going to pass out, thus his seidr would be weak as well. She felt him stiffen and abruptly push against both she and his brother.
"I'm fine. I do not need assistance standing." Simply to prove him wrong, she released him. Thor must have been following his train of thought. The god of Mischief stumbled forward, falling to his hands and knees in the process.
"Yes, I can see that." He simply glared at her.
"Come on. You need rest." He rolled his eyes.
"Yes, mother." One side of her mouth quirked into a ghost of a smile. She knew how much he loved his mother.
"I think that I'll uh, wait outside." Thor stated, before heading towards the door, leaving them alone. She felt herself grow serious again, which really wasn't that much of a change. Still, Loki must have felt her mood change. He was always good at that.
"Truly Nebula, I'm fine."
"Obviously. That's why you've made absolutely no move to try to get off the floor."
"Perhaps it's more comfortable down here."
"You mean because you're exhausted? Stop playing games. What happened out there?" When he raised his gaze to hers, she could see the indecision in his eyes, both wanting to tell her, yet not wanting to let his old walls down.
"The Time Stone had very old defenses around it, as well Useriøs seidr." Her Æsir was a little rusty, most translators didn't pick it up, because of the seidr incorporated in it. The same was true with both the Svartalheimr and the Alfheimr. Loki had taught her some, as well as used a little of his seidr to "enhance" her translator. However, he, unlike Thanos, had done it both painlessly and with her permission. Still, she was pretty side Useriøs meant rogue or wild or something along those lines.
Useriøs seidr quite literally goes insane from the separation from a user. It tries to poison the mind and ultimately shows you, as well as anyone that touches you, your worst fears." She winced internally. That in and of itself was one of his worst fears. Well, aside from losing his family and power.
"I'm guessing Thor touched you." He let out a humorless laugh.
"You could say that."
"That still doesn't explain why you look ready to pass out." She pointed out.
"Ah. Yes. That. The Dwarves were being rather uncooperative. I didn't exactly have a choice. I may or may not have used a Dukkefører spell." Before she realized what she was doing, she smacked him on the back of the head with her right hand.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"You know full well what that was for. Last time you tried that spell, Ebony nearly killed you."
"Well I'm still here aren't I?" She was pretty sure she heard him mutter "Not for lack of trying."
"Well stop trying. I've already lost you and Gamora too many times." He looked at her curiously.
"What happened on you mission?"
"Nothing." Somehow he managed to stand, green eyes boring into hers.
"You've cried recently." She was speechless. Unlike humanoids, it was a lot harder to tell when she cried.
She shook her head, her throat closing up. He seemed to sense it.
"Would you show me?" He asked tentatively. She nodded, knowing if she didn't trust him now, she'd truly be alone forever. As long as she didn't fight him, it wouldn't take much energy on his behalf. He placed his palm against her forehead, her consciousness speeding back to the moment she landed on Vormir.
They watched her wait for Thanos and her sister, watched the floating red guy appear. They watched herself climb the pinnacle, Thanos asking the red guy questions.
They watched Red give her Thanos the answer he sought, then prepare to throw Gamora over. They watched herself leap off the cliff, twisting as she grabbed Gamora. Watched in horror as her sister kicked off the cliff side.
They watched her wake up in the orange water, with the Stone in hand, tears in her eyes. But then something unexpected happened. Her past self passed out, with Thanos walking towards her. She looked at Loki in alarm. Her earlier sense of unease must have been from the block in her hippocampus. Which meant Ebony Maw had been there. Which meant the dark sorcerer had probably made copies of the Pym particles.
She was back in the present.
"We need to-"
"Warn everyone and do the Snap now, I know."
"FRIDAY? Tell the other Avengers to get here with the Stones, Now!"
"On it, Mr. Odinson."
"Can you fight if we have to?"
"I'll be fine. I've been drawing energy from the Time Stone, and should be fine in a bit."
Thor was the first to arrive for once, followed by the ex-SHIELD agents, Steve, Bruce, Tony, Rhodey, Rocket and finally Scott.
"Where are the Stones?" She demanded.
"Right here, Blue. What's the problem?"
"Thanos." Loki spat before she could.
"What do you mean, brother?"
"He means that Thanos is coming, we need to do the Snap now so that we can return the Stones as fast as possible."
"FRIDAY?"
"Yes, Boss?"
"Activate Operation Barn Doors."
"Yes Boss."
"So who's going to do it?" Rocket asked.
"I will." Said Thor, Loki and Bruce.
Both Thor and Loki turned to each other.
"You're in no condition, Thor."
"Neither are you."
"It has to be me. Most of the energy from the Stones is Gamma energy. It's like I was made for this." The others seemed to ponder this, and Nebula had to admit, he had a point.
"Perfect. Let's get it done now." Everyone went over to the table, where the Gauntlet sat. Such a simple device, yet it controlled the most powerful artifacts in the universe.
Loki got Time out of his interdimensional pocket, placing it in its place. She did the same with Soul, Natasha with Space, and Tony with Mind. Loki opened the Orb with his seidr, delicately maneuvering it into its place. The only one left was Reality.
"It's still in liquid form." Thor stated.
"It'll join its breathren when it's released."
"Are you sure?"
"Nope." With that, Loki let it loose. At first, it tried to attack him, then it changed course, and solidified in its spot in the now complete Gauntlet.
Bruce put it on, falling to his knees immediately. He let out a guttural scream, straining to get his thumb and middle finger to meet.
SNAP.
For a fleeting moment, she actually thought they had won. Then the facility rocked with explosions.
She knew in her heart that she would never escape the one who was firing. Thanos had made it.
A/N: Again, I am so sorry for thé super long wait, I promise I didn't abandon it.
Translations : Norwegian
Dukkefører- puppeteer.
