The unthinkable has happened. The Avengers lost. Thanos used the Infinity Stones to bring the balance he felt was needed to the universe, resulting in the death of half of the universe's population. Fractured, the surviving Avengers struggle togethe...
Seated on the spacecraft alongside Steve, Bruce, Natasha, Carol, Rocket and Nebula, Thor contemplated the mission that lay ahead of him with a sort of singleminded determination. Though he knew better than to place all of his hope into a thing, he also knew that he needed this. He needed this to be true- that he needed only to kill Thanos, claim the Infinity Stones, and then Dean would be back in his arms and his mistake would be undone. He needed the distraction and he needed the sense that he was doing something; he needed to atone for his failure and his recent lapse of hope.
"Okay, who among you hasn't been in space before?" Rocket asked as he manned to flight controls.
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Thor smirked as he watched Natasha, Bruce and Steve slowly raise their hands.
"Oh, you guys are going to hate this. Just try not to puke in my ship, alright?"
Thor lapsed into a sort of trance. The color of the cosmos and the rushing sensation that accompanied their jump to light speed were lost on him. He could only sit in silence and think of Dean. When they arrived, he was barely cognizant of Carol vacating the ship and heading down to the mysterious planet for reconnaissance.
"Thor?" Bruce asked as he began suiting up in the Hulk Buster armor.
"I'm fine," Thor said in a gruff voice that invited no further conversation. He picked up Stormbreaker and stared at the sharp edge.
Bruce looked over at Steve and Natasha, who shared his concern. Steve cleared his throat and walked up to Thor. He gently laid a hand on the god's shoulder. "Listen, Thor. No matter what happens down there...you know you have all of us, right?"
Thor smiled vacantly. "Right," he said before walking away from him and toward the airlock. He stood there, waiting for the moment it would open.
"This is going to work," Natasha said with forced hope as she walked up and stood next to Steve.
"I know," Steve said, never taking his eyes off of Thor. "Because I don't know what we're going to do if it doesn't."
"I'm worried about him, too," Natasha admitted. "I've never seen him like this before."
Thor's fighting spirit and typically upbeat persona were part of the fabric of the Avengers. Seeing him this broken hurt.
Carol returned to the ship, which was floating in the planet's atmosphere. She hovered outside, speaking through their communications links. "He's alone down there. No guards, no surveillance. No weapons. It's just him."
"Makes sense. What does he need all that for when he has the Infinity Stones," Bruce pointed out.
Steve scowled. "What's he doing?"
Carol shrugged. "Gathering fruit from the field. And he looks vulnerable. Not wearing armor. Noticeable limp."
"Then he's vulnerable. He doesn't think we're going to do this," Steve said as he turned and addressed everyone on board. "Thanos thinks he's won. He thinks we're all off in some dark corner mourning over our losses. He doesn't expect an attack to come. We use that to our advantage. Between Thor, Carol and Bruce in the Hulk Buster armor we've got heavy hitters. So we hit him heavy. I want the three of you to go in hot. Restrain him immediately and get that gauntlet off of him. He cannot, under any circumstances, be allowed to use the Stones again."
