Worthy

Part 52 - Let Me Go

All eyes are on you. Everyone has stopped fighting at the sound of the blood curdling scream that's escaped you. The only movement is Quill, desperately trying to pull you closer to the Bifrost. But your only thought is getting to Tony. Conjuring all the strength you can, you finally push away from your brother, practically sprinting over, ignoring everyone's pleas for you to stop. The only people not following your trail is Thanos and Tony; their eyes locked on each other.

"You put up a good fight Stark, I hope she'll remember you for it." He goes to raise his sword one more time: the death blow, while Tony is down on one knee.

"STOP!" You yell out, finally getting the Titan's attention. He takes a step back as you move to stand in front of Tony, tears streaming down your face. "I'll go with you." You stutter as you hear Tony groan behind you. "Spare his life, all of their lives and I'll go with you."

"Don't Kate," You ignore Tony's painful grunt as you stand tall. Despite the tears, your face is resolute.

"Fine." Thanos nods, looking across and signalling to his team to back down. The smug grin etched on his face almost makes you sick. "I'll give you some time to say goodbye." As you turn towards Tony, his giant hand grabs you, the size of him alone could break your arm. "If you deceive me in any way, then I'll kill them all."

As he and his followers march off you finally turn, getting on your knees and grabbing Tony's face, ripping some of the broken helmet so you can see him. "Why did you do that?" He pants out, as your hand reaches his wound, putting pressure on it. "We were going to save you..."

"You were going to die," You sob. "And I couldn't watch that. I couldn't lose you." You wrap him in a tight hug, as Rhodey places a hand on your shoulder. "My life is not worth yours." You kiss Tony on the forehead, before standing, letting Rhodey take over.

The next person you see is Parker, his Spiderman mask off, and eyes full of tears. "No Kate," His voice is just a whisper. "You can't... I won't let you..." His voice completely goes as he wraps you in a tight hug.

"I'm sorry kid," You sigh, desperately trying to keep it together, just returning the hug. "Look after Tony for me OK," Your voice wobbles. As you try to pull away, Parker clasps onto you even tighter, not wanting to let you go. "Steve?"

Steve gently unclasps his arms from you, holding on tightly to Parker and leading him away as he sobs. "Eyes on the prize Brooks," he salutes before walking off.

"Sure thing Cap," You nod, before looking over to your brother. Quill just drops his head, before pulling you into a tight hug. "I'm sorry." You mumble into his shoulder. "But it was the only way." Peter doesn't say anything, just grips you tighter. You hear a thud behind you, and instantly you know who it is. Peter lets you go and you turn to face him: Thor.

"Kate," his voice is a hoarse whisper. "No." He can barely speak as he tries to get his breath back, but also because he doesn't know what to say. He grabs your hand, leading you away slightly from the rest of the team who have now surrounded Tony, helping him back to the compound. You both take a look, ensuring he gets inside, while you see Nat heading over to try and calm a still very angry Hulk.

Turning back to Thor, you wrap your arms around his neck, pulling him closely. He instantly drops Mjolnir and lifts you in his arms. His embrace is almost crushing, but you can feel the nerves radiating through his body. "You cannot go," he whispers in your ear. "I won't let you go."

"I have to," You reply, pulling him closer, burying your face in his neck; taking in his warmth, taking in his scent, helping stopping the tears from falling, and also giving you comfort. Your not sure what's more terrifying; leaving him, or going with Thanos. "I won't lose any of you."

He puts you down, gripping your face. "What about me? I cannot lose you." His tone is angry and harsh; you understand why, but you try and swallow down the tears. He pulls you into a soft kiss; one full of desperation and fear. When he pulls away his face is angry. "We have time, I can still get you to Asgard..."

You put a hand up to stop him, gently caressing his face. "I'm sorry." You whisper. "I can't." His eyes are getting darker as the rage surges through him, sparks of lightning explode from his fingertips as they are embedded in your waist, holding you in place. There's a slight pain, almost like a constant nip, but you swallow it down too, not wanting to hurt him anymore than he already was. As soon as you had agreed to Thanos' demands, you knew Thor would be the one to fight back the hardest. You grip his face tightly in your hands. "I love you." Pulling him into a passionate kiss, one letting him know how much he means to you, letting everything that was you and him pour out into that one exchange.

Resting his forehead against yours, his breath is staggered. You can feel his tears drop onto your face. As your hands move down his neck, over his arms and chest; you just want to remember every part of him. Make sure it's all embedded in your mind. "I love you." His voice breaks as you finally pull away from him. Thinking he's going to let you go, you turn and let the tears start to fall. But Thor wasn't going to let you go that easily, with one swift movement he grabs onto your wrist. "I'm sorry Kate, but I can't. I won't."

Looking at him with his face completely broken makes you crumble even more. "You have to." Reaching into your pocket you find the trigger; as you pull it out, Thor looks down at his arm, finally noticing the circular disc stuck there. He hadn't felt you attach it to him, adrenaline had been coursing through. "Let me go." You whisper, but he shakes his head.

"Never." He replies defiantly.

"Don't make me do this," You sigh, your heart completely breaking.

"It's time to go little one," Thanos' voice booms over the entire compound. The harshness echoing over the silent ground as all eyes are on you and Thor.

Thor grits his teeth, rage pulsating over him. The sparks of lightning leave his finger tips again, this time you react to the pain, making him instantly letting you go. You take your chance and step back quickly, making your way to Thanos. Once again Thor means to follow you. "I love you, remember that." You shout out to him, before you push the button on the trigger.

Instantly Thor hits the ground, his whole body convulsing with the electricity running through him from the disc. He meets your eye, his face completely heartbroken. Not being able to withstand looking at him in that state, you look around to see who's closest, and see Loki timidly marching towards you. You throw him the trigger; no words need to be said between you and Loki, not physically anyway. "We will find you and bring you home." Loki says in your mind.

Taking a deep breath, desperately trying to curtail the sobs, you nod at Loki, before turning and making your way towards Thanos, and his 'children'.