Trust | 2 |

Chapter Forty-Five

I couldn't breathe. My lungs ached when I tried to take in a breath and it left me wincing in pain. Every part of me was in pain, really. Many of my ribs were certainly bruised, if not cracked, and my metal arm was dislocated and messed up. The knife wound on my other arm was bleeding heavily and I was getting woozy again.

"Hear me and rejoice. You have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Titan. You may think this is suffering. No. It is salvation. Universal scales tip towards balance because of your sacrifice. Smile. For even in death, you have become Children of Thanos."

I coughed hard, blood coming out of my mouth. Internal bleeding, probably. That slimmed down my chances of living.

To my side, I saw Loki standing and looking around. He caught my eye and gave me a very quick nod. A thank you.

Moments before, I had tried to shield him from an attack as he was focused on someone else. That nearly costed me my life. Well, it just might. It depends how the next ten minutes go to see if this Thanos kills me, I die from blood loss, or if the vast and unforgiving space does.

I was doubting more and more that I would get out of here alive. Even if I did, how would I survive after this? I'm in the middle of space on a completely destroyed ship with very little chance of someone finding us and saving us.

I could remember how it had happened. We were milling about the ship, getting ready to go to Earth and find refuge. I was so thrilled to be going home and taking all of these new friends with.

Then, and alarm had started blaring through the ship. We had been hit. The others around me hurried to escape pods and evacuation vessels. I was an idiot. I ran towards the danger. My stupid heroic instincts are what's going to get me killed. Maybe Bruce was right, I'm a hero. And it's going to get me killed.

"I know what it's like to lose. To feel so desperately that you're right... yet to fail nonetheless." I looked over to the new, deep voice to see a very tall one in golden armor. Thanos. He picked up a body and started to drag it closer.

When I saw who it was, I tried to move to stop him but exhaustion had taken away my abilities at this point. "Thor..." I gasped out and tried to do something- anything. Loki was unmoving, but there was something about his tenseness that showed me he was truly scared. He was also surrounded by Thanos' "children" and I understood his still figure.

"It's frightening," Thanos continued. "Turns the legs to jelly. But I ask you, to what end? Dread it, run from it- destiny arrives all the same. And now it's here. Or should I say, I am."

He put Thor down and got a grip on his head, forcing him to look our way. His eyes went to Loki first, then he spared a glance at me struggling on the ground. There was a silent plea of 'please don't do anything, please' and so I stopped trying to move.

"You talk too much," Thor said with a rasp and some blood.

Thanos ignored the jab and stared into Loki's soul. "The tesseract," he demanded. "Or, your brother's head."

I choked on a bloody inhale and whispered, "No." My body failed when I tried to sit up to quickly and I dropped back to the ground in pain.

Thanos started to move the gauntlet with the glowing purple stone in it closer to Thor's head. "I assume you have a preference?" he then asked.

In this moment, I was silent begging Loki to please do something so Thor would survive. Something, anything, just nothing that resulted in death.

"Oh, I do," Loki replied. I didn't like his tone. There was no desperation or terror. He was too clam and collected. "Kill away."