Resurrection

Chapter Eight: Ghosts of the Past

Chapter Eight: Ghosts of the Past

Wakanda was in ruins. Dust blew up in the air, making it hard to see. The ground was littered with bodies, both alien and human. Those who survived were assembled in Shuri's lab.

Thor was staring out the window. The view was once beautiful, but the damage done to the city and the heartbroken deaths of half the universe's population made the landscape seem like any other ordinary view.

It was quiet, except for the few sniffles and sobs coming from the group, until Bruce Banner broke the silence.

"What are we going to do now?" Bruce muttered to no one in particular.

Thor turned away from the window. The remaining Avengers and Rocket were sitting or standing in various places; all of them bruised, battered, and completely defeated.

"What is there left to do? We can find Thanos, but we are in no condition to fight," Thor pointed out.

"How do we even find Thanos?" Natasha asked from her spot standing next to Bruce.

"I'm sure Shuri can find a way," Bruce suggested.

"Shuri is not ready for that," the Wakandan warrior, Okoye, snapped and gestured the best she could toward the young girl. Shuri was crying into Okoye's shoulder ever since she heard the news about her brother. "None of us are."

"We can't let Thanos get away with what he did!" Bruce all but yelled.

"And how exactly are we supposed to stop him? You saw how powerful he was. There's no telling what else he can do," Natasha said calmly.

"I should have killed him when I had the chance," Thor muttered, causing everyone to stare at him. Thor shook his head regretfully. "I let my thirst for revenge cloud my judgment."

"Everyone makes mistakes, Thor. It's not your fault," Natasha assured.

Thor stared at her, his eyes misty. "Not everyone makes a mistake that impacts the survival of the universe."

Natasha looked away. Thor did have a point.

Rhodey spoke up for the first time since the battle. "What happened so that you wanted revenge on Thanos? Not to be rude, but you two haven't met before."

Thor took a deep breath before answering. "Thanos attacked our ship because it turned out that Loki had the Tesseract. He killed half of the remaining Asgardian civilians."

"Loki took the Tesseract? Why am I not surprised?" Rhodey said sarcastically.

Thor glared at his fellow Avenger. Natasha quickly stood up and placed herself in front of Rhodey. "It's likely that Loki would do something like that, but how did Thanos know he had it?" she asked.

Thor's anger melted away, only to be replaced by sadness. "Loki is connected to Thanos. During his time in the Void, he was being held captive by the Mad Titan. Thanos tortured my brother and gave him a 'mark' that connected the two together. He could hear and see anything that Loki did," Thor explained.

"Oh," Natasha said quietly.

"Speaking of Loki, where is he?" Bruce asked. "The last I saw of him was on the ship before I was teleported away. You never did say what happened to him."

A tear suddenly slid down Thor's cheek. The whole group was slightly shocked; they had never seen Thor cry.

"T-Thanos k-killed him. L-Loki s-saved my life," Thor stuttered.

"I'm so sorry," Bruce muttered. That was not the answer he was expecting.

Thor smiled sadly, tears streaming down his face. He didn't care that he was crying in front of his teammates. All he wanted was his brother back.