Hidden on Titan (Infinity War x Fem!Reader)

Chapter Nineteen

Two days had passed since the final slaughter of Thanos and his mission to create some sort of unnecessary and incomplete form of balance throughout the universe. The Guardians remained on Titan and so had the three Avengers. It's likely that others from Earth were trying to get into contact with Tony, Strange, and Peter--especially Peter. 

However, there was something off about one person out of the entire group and that was Quill. He'd brought up a woman's name--Gamora. For a little bit, the three Avengers didn't understand the significance of the name. Not until Quill decided to fill them in on the missing pieces.

"Gamora is my girl," He said, voice cracking simultaneously. This caused him to clear his throat and cross his arms against his chest, "We had originally been on Knowhere. I wanted her to stick by me, didn't want her to leave because she made me promise that if Thanos ever got to her, she wanted me to kill her," Quill looked down at his feet, kicking at the ground absentmindedly, "And now I don't know where she is. I don't know if she's alive or dead," A loud sigh fell into the atmosphere. However, as easy as it could've been to anyone else, he couldn't bring himself to look up into the eyes of anyone in the group. 

The three Avengers observed the Guardians as they stood there, distraught. They didn't know what to do. None of the Avengers even knew what to tell them to do. 

"Is there any way that we can help?" Peter asked, a woeful expression decorating his face, "Like, at all?" 

Mantis placed a reassuring hand on Quill's shoulder. Everything he was feeling suddenly washed into her body like a soul transfusion. Even so, she didn't remove her hand. Quill's pain was immense; he was confused and pessimistic. Anything terrible could've happened to her and he knew that which was the worst part about it all. 

"The only thing we can do is wait and hope that word of Thanos' death travels quickly in the galaxy," Quill shrugged, sniffling momentarily, "Enough about that. Where's this (Y/N) girl? Did she just vanish, too?" 

Peter shook his head, "No. Strange is the only one who knows where she is."

"Is that why he hasn't been here for the passed two days?" Tony asked, annoyed.

The young boy nodded but did not utter a single syllable. 

"Are they a thing or something?" Quill mocked but somewhere deep down he knew that could've been true at any given moment. 

Tony shrugged as well as Peter. It wouldn't have really made sense for them to suddenly be a thing. It's likely he could've gone to her to give her comfort, but how could she want that anyway? Comfort from a stranger? It seemed unreasonable. 

---

"My right hand has been swollen since I defeated Thanos," (Y/N) murmured. Her hand was submerged in water, attempting to do anything to make the swelling go down, "I'm not sure if it's because something is wrong internally or if it's because of my powers. Either way, it's excruciating." 

Strange nodded, checking the temperature on the water to make sure it's suitable for her injury. 

Two days prior, Strange had told his group that he was going to go rummaging throughout Titan. While that was semi-true, he couldn't help but feel guilty for only doing that for a little bit and then, once he happened upon his own savior, he quit completely. He'd found (Y/N) sitting in a field where architecture was nonexistent. Dark purple ashes coddled to the dirt beneath them. Exhaustion, shock, and pain were all evident on her face and through her body language. To thank her for her bravery, Strange thought it would be a good idea to accompany her on her road to recovery. Seeing as though it'd be unreasonable for her to decline, (Y/N) accepted. It'd been a long time since somebody cared for her. 

"Do you really think it's all over?" Strange suddenly asked, "With Thanos gone, could there be more to take his place? Achieve his ultimate goal? Fulfill his prophecy?" 

She shrugged.

The only murder she cared to commit had been the death of the big guy. She didn't really care about anything else. People could attempt to overthrow her planet again all they wanted to, they'd never win. 

"I'm hoping his death will cause an uproar throughout worlds. Maybe it'll make them fear me. If they're scared, they shouldn't bother." 

"But what about the resurrection of Titan? How will you continue to care for it?" 

This caused (Y/N) to look down at her hand, a deep wave of exhaustion coming over her.

"Alone. Like I have been." 

Strange shook his head and lifted her chin up to look him in the eyes, "There are others here for you now. You aren't alone anymore." 

Without reason, a faded pink decorated her cheeks and she snapped her gaze away from him and back at her damaged hand, "What if I want to be alone?" 

"There's no way, after all these years and now you have an opportunity to be with people, you want to be alone." 

"I'm not a human, Stephen," She muttered, "Being alone is not terrifying to me. I don't need to depend on others for happiness or love or excitement." 

"I know that, but--" 

"--but nothing!" Her hand swung out of the water, immediately splashing Strange in the face. 

Wiping away the water, Strange stood, hands behind his back, "As you wish." 

A sudden rage filled her. She couldn't understand why. Of course this human was attempting to get her to feel things. It's unfortunate he couldn't read her better because she could always feel everything. For the first time in her entire life, she was finally given the opportunity to feel numb; even as lonely and depressing as that sounds, it comforted her. Throughout all of her years of living, she only knew stress, sorrow, small amounts of happiness, and pain. That's all her life had ever been. And now the opportunity to feel nothing at all was in her hands? Of course she was going to take advantage of it.

"Why did you even want to care for me?" She asked, her voice quiet now. 

Strange gave her a warm half-smile, fiddling with his hands behind his back, "Your powers are incredible, you just defeated someone who couldn't be killed, you're intelligent, and you are completely capable of thriving on independence. Even with all of those traits, you can still hurt. You can still feel sorrow. You can still feel exhaustion." 

"Yeah, and?" 

"You're probably one of the most important people in the cosmos now," He commented, rather irritated with her snippy response. He turned so his back was facing her, almost ready to head back to his group when, for just a moment, he looked only slightly behind him, a small warning playing off his voice, "I would watch my back if I were you."