OUR LIFETIME « Pietro Maximoff

28 /| there was silence

*•.* [chapter twenty-eight]

EARTH

THE MOMENT THANOS ARRIVED ON EARTH, there was silence. Savannah had gone numb when her legs hit the soft earth. The sudden change in gravity did nothing for her worn out body. She didn't know where they were, but the sun shone brightly and the trees and grass were green, and there was nothing out of the ordinary aside from Thanos and her, along with her other teammates readying to have a go at the titan. She was sure there was fighting somewhere else too, as Thanos's army never failed to be of use to him. She could also see the battered and bruised faces of her friends. There was no Pietro, though, and maybe that was a good thing.

She closed her eyes for a second, mustering up some strength and drawing on Thanos's energy, its essence now easily discernible. His current quest for power had distracted him enough that he hadn't realized, and because the stones were being used elsewhere, his own energy was able to spend more time in the forefront.

It still felt wrong.

Yet, it was enough for her to jerkily rise to her feet, just as he punched Steve unconscious and began to descend upon Wanda. Savannah lifted a barrier before him, halting his path. He pushed against it and she felt herself pull with it, but she did not waver. He turned toward her, a sneer on his face, and directed the power in his gauntlet at her. She threw up a shield before the blast could blow right through her, pushing her back several yards. She glanced past him, where Wanda stood, her powers blasting into the stone at Vision's forehead.

She must be trying to destroy it, Savannah thought. Sav wasn't sure how well that would go over, not with Thanos's perseverance, and not with that damned time stone.

Thanos pushed harder and both barriers fell. The beam of power nicked the top of her shoulder as she rolled away from it. She hissed in pain, the feeling overwhelming for a second. She didn't dare glance down at her charred skin. She'd gone numb once again. Distantly, she heard a voice call out her name then she felt a burst of energy. Wanda.

Savannah could pinpoint the exact moment she felt the time stone's energy permeate the air, and she knew then that there was no use in trying to stop him now. She could only hope that Strange's one future had taken root.

Suddenly, Thanos was screaming. Savannah strained her neck to see Thor standing over the kneeling titan, a large axe protruding from the latter's chest. The god whispered something to him and Thanos struggled to get something out in response but he managed it would seem because Thor's face went white and his eyes widened. Savannah couldn't watch as Thanos lifted his gauntlet covered hand and put his middle finger to his thumb. She heard the snap, and squeezed her eyes shut tightly, forcing the tears that had gathered in her eyes onto the sides of her face.

"What did you do?" She heard Thor yell, and his pure anger caused her to glance. When she looked though, Thanos had turned toward her, his eyes pained. He reached for her and she hovered into his grasp, and together, they fell backward into a portal. Savannah couldn't bear to survey the damgage he'd done but she did see Vision's lifeless body, a sight that would now haunt her forever.

°°°

SPACE

Savannah knees hit the fine sand of the planet. She looked around seeing everything, but not allowing herself to take any of it in. The cold air of the planet burned her nose, her lungs, her skin.

She shivered and coughed against it. "Why did you bring me here?"

Weakly, he turned to her. I could kill him, she thought, but one glance at the ruined gauntlet and those bright stones told her he would kill her first. "You asked me to bring you here."