A GODS WEAKNESS [l.laufeyson]

THIRTY SEVEN

     Astrid was sat in one of the rooms of the ship alone. She looked at the rings on her finger fiddling with them. It had already been too long since Loki last touched her and she was desperate for him. She cried to herself some more unable to keep her tears hidden. Her heart had completely shattered. Mantis had heard her crying and rushed in to comfort her again. Mantis seemed to like Astrid and already looked to her as a friend. She was new to comforting people but always tried her best as she wrapped her arms around Astrid.

"It will be okay." Mantis spoke.

"It hurts, it hurts so much." Astrid had felt pain before. But this was on a whole other level. She hated it. "Please make it stop."

Mantis brought her hands up to Astrid's head, feeling all of her emotions with her. They cried together before Mantis manipulated her emotions, calming her down once more. Not enough to stop the tears completely, but enough stop Astrid from shaking and losing control.

"Thank you." She thanked the alien girl, showing a small smile of gratitude.

"Sucks. Doesn't it?" Both girls shot their heads to the side at the voice who made them jump. They saw Drax in the corner.

"Drax. We talked about this." Mantis warned the muscled creature at the side.

"How long have you been standing there for?" Astrid questioned. She hadn't heard him enter the room.

"About 40 minutes. I've mastered the ability, of standing so incredibly still, that I've become invisible to the eye." This shocked Astrid and creeped her out a little. How did she not see him there?

"You've been watching me all this time?"

"I know what you're going through." Drax thought back to the time Thanos killed his family.

"You do?" Astrid only received a nod as Drax sat down next to her. The thought that Thanos had done this to many people already made her skin crawl. She would hate for anyone to experience a lose like this. "I'm so sorry."

"Thanos ordered an attack. Ronan killed my wife, Ovette and my daughter, Camaria. He slaughtered them where they stood." Drax telling his story was just bringing flashbacks of Loki to Astrid. "Ever since, it has been my goal to kill Thanos."

Astrid placed her hand on Drax's arm. She was now more determined than ever. "Then we will do it together."

~

The group enters the collector's collection room which is in ruins. Thanos stands before them threatening the collector while the guardians and Astrid hide behind the rubble.

"Today, he pays for the deaths of my wife and daughter." Drax slowly makes his way towards Thanos.

"Drax, wait! not yet, not yet, not yet. He doesn't have the Stone yet. We get it, and then we can stop him. We have to get the Stone first. Yeah." Quill tries calling for Drax but he seems to ignore him.

"No. No. For Ovette. For Camaria."

"Sleep." Drax is knocked out by Mantis, as he falls he causes a ruckus which seems to grab Thanos' attention.

"Okay. Gamora, Mantis, Astrid you go right. I'm-" Gamora moves towards Thanos, completing ignoring her boyfriend. "The other right!"

In that moment, Gamora attacks Thanos, stabbing him twice which seemingly kills him.

"Why? Why you? Daughter..." He falls down holding his hand out to her, blood pooling out from his neck wound as Gamora breaks down in tears.

"That was quick." Quill speaks up.

"Too quick." Astrid instantly knew something wasn't right. If it were that easy then he wouldn't of been able to trap Thor and kill Loki.

While the collector is cheering, Thanos' disembodied voice fills the room, and the scene disappears. Everything is levelled and Thanos is more than alive. Astrid's eyes widen at the realisation that the reality stone is in the infinity gauntlet. With one more stone added, he is now stronger.

"Is it sadness I sense in you, daughter? In my heart, I knew you still cared. But one never knows for sure. Reality is often disappointing. That is, it was. Now... Reality can be whatever I want."

"You knew I'd come." Gamora should've know better.

"I counted on it. There's something we need to discuss, little one."

"Thanos!" Drax runs out and with a flick of  Thanos' hand, both Drax and Mantis are 'destroyed' in rather comical ways before Thanos grabs Gamora. Astrid could only stare in horror at the sight of her new friends.

"Let her go, Grimace!" Quill pulls his gun out toward Thanos.

"Peter..." Gamora begs.

"I told you to go right."

"Now? Really?"

"You let her go!"

"Ah, the boyfriend." Thanos figures it out as Astrid steps out beside Quill, holding daggers in her hands. Not just any daggers, they were Loki's. Thanos' eyes meet hers and he seems to recognise her. "I remember you... Ah yes. I still remember the feeling of his bones crushing in my grip."

This angered Astrid so much, all she wanted to do was slice his head off there and then. She could've attempted it. But she had to be smart, she couldn't risk her baby's or everyone else's life around her.

"Let her go." Quill grabs Thanos' attention back to him.

"Peter..."

"...Or I'm gonna blow that nut-sack of a chin right off your face!"

"Not him." Quill hesitates. "You promised. You promised!" Gamora pleads with her boyfriend and once again Astrid feels useless.

"Oh, daughter. You expect too much from him." Thanos looks to Quill. "She's asked, hasn't she? Do it." He shoves Gamora towards Quills gun, egging him on. "Do it!"

"I told you to go right." Quill begins to tear up.

"I love you, more than anything."

"I love you, too." This only brings memories back to Astrid. It was like watching Loki's death all over again. Telling each other how much they love one another before one is sacrificed. It was too much.

Quill pulls the trigger, but a stream of bubbles comes out. He looks to Thanos only smiling back at him. He was playing him.

"I like you." Thanos teleports away with Gamora as a stunned Quill watches as his friends recover from their 'deaths'.

"Not again." Another loved one had been taken away.