Hiding in the Shadows

Chapter 44 - Too Many Questions

As the gauntlet closed around my arm, a rush of power surged through my body. I could feel my body desperately trying to adjust to the increased amount of energy within me, making me fear that perhaps I wasn't able to wield so much power. However like a wave ebbing back into the ocean, the energy soon settled and I opened my eyes to find Loki grasping onto my arm.

I gently tugged it out of his grasp and stood up straighter, trying to brush off the moment of weakness I had felt. He looked at me in concern as I left his touch, as though afraid that I was about to spontaneously combust.

"Incredible," he muttered under his breath. "You can wield five infinity stones."

"Well, the last one's still in Vision's head so I can't wield six of them, can I? You said that it's the blue one that helps me teleport, right?" I questioned, examining the gauntlet now resting on my arm.

He nodded, "but I would suggest that you be careful, I know that your father will blame me if anything were to happen to you."

"You're not scared of my father, are you?" I teased him, although thankful that he did seem to care about me. Before he could give a response I activated the space stone, teleporting to the planet Titan, where Tony and Peter had battled Thanos.

I stepped onto the dull colored planet, immediately missing the lush greens of Wakanda. There was a group of people standing not far from me, one of them being the man who had been fighting alongside my father earlier that day and the rest of people I had never seen before, but I assumed they were aliens. My father was sitting on the ground, clearly having been injured in the battle with Peter by his side.

"Dad!" I called out, running to his side to see how badly he was hurt.

"(Y/N), what are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay at the compound? How did you get here?" Tony began to berate me with questions as he pulled me close to his chest. He then pulled away and noticed my arm, "why are you wearing the gauntlet? Where's Thanos?"

"God dad, you gotta give me time to breathe," I replied, tears of relief spilling from my eyes. "But first I need to know how badly you're hurt."

"I'll live," he responded with a smile on his face, brushing away my tears.

"And Peter, you're ok?" I asked as I pulled away from my father and wrapped my arms around my boyfriend.

"I was beginning to think that you had forgotten about me," he joked, holding my close to him. "But yes, I'm fine."

"I could never forget about you," I assured him, placing a kiss on his cheek.

A cough sounded from behind me as the man who I had met briefly earlier that day spoke, "Miss Stark, do you mind explaining what happened with Thanos?"

"Oh, right sorry. Well, he arrived in Wakanda and tried to get the mind stone from Vision, but I may have teamed up with Loki a while ago and we killed him. I'll be explaining everything more in depth later, I promise, but first I need to get everyone back to Wakanda," I briefly explained, glossing over the details.

"Did you just say Loki? As in New York Loki, isn't he supposed to be dead?" Peter piped up while I could tell Tony was angry at my choice of words.

"No, he paid a visit to earth not long ago with with his brother Thor," the man, whose name I still did not know replied, while the alien group continued to watch us in confusion.

"(Y/N), you know what that man did, how could you team up with him?" Tony finally asked, once again disappointed in my life decisions.

"Dad, I promise I will explain everything, I just need to get you guys back to earth first. Also, who are these people and do I need to bring them back with me?"

The human looking man of the group of aliens spoke up, "we're the Guardians of the Galaxy and we would like to take that gauntlet if you don't mind. Nothing against you, we just don't trust anyone with it."

I rolled my eyes, "I'm not keeping it, I'm just using it to teleport so I don't pass out when I get back. We're planning on dismantling it and redistributing the stones throughout the galaxy."

"Well in that case, you're going to need us there with you. No offense, but you people from earth don't really know what's out there in the galaxy. My name's Starlord, by the way."

"Well, Starlord, I can assure you that we do have knowledge of the galaxy, we have two Asgardians waiting for us back home. However, your input may be valuable so I will allow you to come with us."

I helped my dad up from the ground, letting him rest some of his weight on my shoulders. Taking advantage of the gauntlet I had taken from Thanos, I utilized the Space stone to transport the nine of us from Titan and back to Wakanda. We emerged right outside the palace, asking one of the guards to bring us to Shuri's lab so that she could fix up Tony.

While we waited, I turned to the group I had following behind me, "so what are all of your names?"

"Dr. Strange," the man from earth spoke, making me frown a little bit, assuming it was his superhero alias.

"I am Mantis," the woman with antennae protruding from her forehead replied.

The other two introduced themselves as Drax, a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Nebula, the daughter of Thanos. I formally introduced myself as (Y/N) Stark as I removed the gauntlet and deactivated my suit. While we were waiting for Shuri to finish up with Tony, Peter removed his suit as well, making us look somewhat out of place as these two random teenagers in the midst of all of the superheroes.

It did not take Shuri long to seal up Tony's wound and soon she was leading us to the room where the rest of the Avengers as well as various Wakandans were waiting. I strutted into the room with confidence as I threw the gauntlet down on the table and took a seat in front of it.

"Alright now that we are all gathered, we have to discuss what to do with the Infinity stones," I opened the meeting, causing one of the Wakandan generals to glance at me in confusion.

"Is there a reason that we are letting a teenager lead this meeting?" He asked King T'Challa.

"This teenager is one of the smartest people in the room right now, so I would shut your mouth," Shuri snapped, glaring at the general.

"While I trust my sister's judgement of you, I would prefer you to explain exactly what happened to allow you to kill Thanos before we begin," T'Challa replied, causing Shuri to roll her eyes.

"Very well, though it may take a while," I spoke before launching into the details of what had happened between Loki and I. I attempted to stress that I did not immediately trust him in order to try to decrease any anger rising inside the Avengers when hearing that I teamed up with someone they once considered their enemy.

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(A/N): I have to admit that I just had to let Loki live, I despised how he literally tried using none of his powers in infinity war. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter!