The Before [Prequel- Part 1]

The Snap

~~~Loki's pov~~~

I didn't waste a single second and put a stop to the torture the Mad Titan was inflicting on the woman I loved. "Alright, stop!" I yelled, my chest heaving.

He could hurt me, torture me, even kill me, but I would allow the world to burn before I let him lay a hand on Catherine or our daughter.

As soon as the words left my mouth, Thanos deactivated the Power Stone and the screams stopped.

Staring into Catherine's pained face, I knew I only had one choice. I lifted my hand and revealed the Tesseract to the Titan.

"Let. Her. Go." I demanded, tears pricking my eyes.

Thanos smiled a sick smile and released Catherine from his grip, leaving her to crumple to the floor.

I dropped the Tesseract and ran to her side instantly, checking to see if she was even still breathing after going through something like that.

To my relief, she was still conscious, which made it easier to teleport her out of the way when Banner tackled Thanos before he could place the Space Stone in his gauntlet.

I teleported us behind a large rock, far out of the Mad Titan's line of sight, and hugged her tightly before examining her face for any injuries.

She was just tortured with an Infinity Stone. The fact that she's alive right now is remarkable.

"I'm so sorry. I just couldn't let him..." I blinked back tears, half expecting her to hate me. I just let her get hurt because I wouldn't give up a rock.

I could have lost my family over something as ridiculous as that.

"I couldn't lose you." I whispered teary eyed, resting my hands on her stomach where our daughter was.

~~~Catherine's pov~~~

I tried to muster up the strength to speak, even though my entire body felt like it was on fire and every time I moved, it was like knives slashing at my chest.

Despite the pain, it was important to me for Loki to know that I didn't blame him. Thanos would have probably killed me either way. He was put in an impossible position, and some part of me knew that there was no world in which he let me and our daughter die at the hands of that monster.

"I know." I nodded with tears running down my face. "And I would never want you to. I-" My words were cut off by Thanos throwing Bruce into the ground a few feet away.

My breath quickened as I realized what this meant.

There was no one left to stop him now.

Loki and I stared at the scene with wide eyes and when he looked back at me, I knew he'd made a decision.

"I have to stop him." He said quietly and started to stand, but I just grabbed his hand and dragged him back down behind the rock.

"Loki, he will kill you." I emphasized the last four words heavily, fear creeping into my voice. "You can't."

My heart sank when he shook his head. "I'm the reason he has all six stones. If I don't stop him, half of the universe could be dead in the next minute." His voice was low, but I could hear fear in it as well. "I love you." His eyes looked into mine earnestly, as if this was the last time he'd ever say it.

My heart ached, knowing that him doing this was practically a death sentence, but also that I couldn't stop him.

All I could do was give him an incentive to survive.

"I'm not going to say it back until you come back to me. To us." I brought his hand to my baby bump as I held back tears.

He looked at me lovingly, knowing what I was trying to do, and kissed me softly before teleporting behind the Titan with his daggers.