Avengers: Destiny Arrives

A Bad Liar

Since her abduction on Knowhere, Gamora hadn't spoken a single word. Despite Thanos's attempts to pull her into a conversation, she'd remained completely silent, her expression stoic. She would not speak to him. She wouldn't give him even the slightest opportunity to betray the secret she kept close to her. A secret no one else could ever know.

In the depths of the ship, Gamora sat near Thanos's throne and stared down at her boots. Just stay quiet, she told herself. Stay quiet and he can't have what he wants. The universe will be safe.

"I thought you might be hungry, little one," Thanos said as he walked up to her, a cup of soup in his hands.

Gamora ignored him and kept her focus on her boots. Thanos leaned down and held the bowl within her line of sight. She stared at her reflection on the surface of the soup, noting the sadness in her face. And Thanos was the cause. In sudden rage, she plucked the bowl from his hand. She stood up and pivoted, throwing the the dish at the throne where it shattered into pieces.

"I always hated that chair," Gamora muttered. Despite her vow to be silent, she couldn't help but confront him. There were things she'd always wanted to say. Things she may never get the chance to say again.

Thanos sat down on the steps that led up to his throne and stared at her. "So I've been told. Despite your hatred, I'd hoped you'd sit on it one day."

Gamora began to pace. "I hated this room, this ship. I hated my life!" she raged as she hatefully gestured at the space around her. "Every time I looked at anything it was a reminder of the trap I was stuck in.

"Yes, you told me that too. Every day, for almost twenty years. Maybe not with words. Your actions, your...demeanor...they were sufficient messengers."

"I was a child when you took me," Gamora said as she turned her back to him, refusing to look into his eyes. "A child."

"I saved you."

Gamora spun around. "No, you didn't save me. We were happy on my home planet.

Thanos sighed and shook his head. "No, Gamora. You know better than that. Your people were hungry and full of want. They lacked so many of the necessary, fundamental elements of survival. You don't remember going to bed hungry because the adults of your planet sacrificed so that you and the other children wouldn't know want and hunger.

"I came to your planet when it was on the brink of collapse. And I stopped that. I did what no one else would do. The hard choice. I killed half of the population so that the rest could live. And now? Now your planet is nothing but full bellies and clear skies. It's a paradise, Gamora. The children play carefree in the streets and their parents don't have to spend their days scrounging for scraps to feed them. They don't have to feel the constant gnaw of worry that they won't be able to provide for their children."

"Because you murdered half of the planet," Gamora grunted. "Was there no other way? No other action that could have been taken?"

Thanos extended his arms. "It was a small price to pay for salvation."

"You're insane."

"Little one, it's a simple calculus. This universe is finite, its resources finite. If life is left unchecked, life will cease to exist. It needs correction-"

Gamora had heard enough. She turned on him and screamed "you don't know that!"

Thanos ignored her words and stood. "I'm the only one who knows that, Gamora. At least, I'm the only one with the will to act on it. You used to feel the same. You fought at my side, daughter. And you believed in the work I do."