~Broken Family~

Chapter 68

The giant spaceship hovered over the smoldering, smoking remnants of the mighty Avengers compound. Waiting.

A blue beam touched the charred earth from above, and as it faded, a tall, broad-shouldered purple Titan stood clad head-to-toe in golden armor, wielding a huge double-edged sword. He cast his gaze around the defeated enemy base in satisfaction, cautioning himself that the battle had only just begun.

"Daughter," he rasped as a blue-skinned cyborg marched confidently untouched out of the heaps of rubble. She had been watching for him. Waiting.

"Yes, father?" she called, standing at attention at his feet. It was funny, really, how small she was compared to him.

"So this is the future," Thanos mused. "Well done."

The girl peeled a metal plate she had stolen from the real Nebula off of her head and tossed it away as if it were a piece of filth. "Thank you, father. They suspected nothing."

"The arrogant never do."

He planted his sword into the ground, staking his claim, and hung his weary helmet atop of the blade. After seating himself next to it, he nodded to his daughter.

"Go," he ordered. "Find the Stones. Bring them to me."

"What will you do?" she asked cautiously. Thanos returned her blank stare.

"Wait."

***

Gwen dragged her eyes open groggily, a cough escaping her lips, which were gritty and tasted like dust. She pushed off whatever was pinning her down with a cough and gazed around at the rubble that towered around her.

A bomb must've hit the compound, came the frightened thought.

And then a more frightening thought.

"Ellie?" Gwen called. "Ellie?!"

A soft moan accompanied by hushed cries answered her from underneath a support beam. Suddenly feeling like she was going to throw up, Gwen used her strength to lift it and throw it to the side, along with the chunk of concrete it was attached to. The rubble groaned above her, but thankfully none of it fell to crush them.

The sight actually did make her vomit in her mouth a bit.

Ellie was curled on her side, Stefan held protectively close. Stefan looked untouched, but a huge red gash stood out against Ellie's forehead. Stefan's pudgy little limbs kicked out as he cried, his eyes still squeezed shut. Gwen wondered if the little boy had even ever had the chance to open them and see the beautiful world before the bomb hit.

Gwen threw herself down to Ellie, begging her to get up and calling for Natasha.

"Take--take Stefan," Ellie said in a low, gurgling voice. Fear lit up her eyes, a deeper fear than Gwen had ever seen. She knew.

"No," Gwen pleaded, a sob escaping her throat as Ellie's trembling, weak arms forced the wailing baby at Gwen. "Ellie, please---"

"Get him to safety." Ellie gave Stefan's infinitely small pinkie one last squeeze. "Get him out of here now. Do you understand?"

Gwen nodded. Despair was starting to strangle her, but she choked it down.

"I'm not going without you," she said firmly, draping Stefan over one shoulder and extending a hand to Ellie. "We go together."

"I can't." Ellie shook her head. "I...I can't..."

"Yes you can!" Gwen almost shouted. "Stefan needs you, Ellie! You can't give up like---"

She clamped her jaw closed, but the damage had been done. Ellie could have finished the sentence for her a thousand times over. The woman squeezed her eyes closed painfully, a tremor of heartbreak ripping through her.

"I can't move," she clarified weakly, her voice no more than a whisper. She took in a shaky break, tears tracing clean lines on her face in the dust. "I don't know why he did what he did. But maybe somehow he knew this would happen to me."

"Nothing is going to happen to---"

"Shut up," Ellie growled, suddenly stern. She steeled herself against the pain and continued. "Take Stefan and get out. If you can come back for me after making sure he's safe, do it. But I want my baby safe first."

With a miniscule huff that might have otherwise been a sigh, Ellie's eyes drifted closed. "You're such a bright soul, Gwen. Such a bright soul."