Avengers Facility, Upstate New York - Earth
2023
"Uh, how did you get in here?" Tony asked.
"I opened a portal in the fabric of time, space, and reality," she answered simply.
"Right..."
"Yeah, that's casual," mumbled Rocket.
"Not gonna lie, that's not the craziest thing I've heard today. And you're not the strangest thing I've seen, no offence."
"None taken, Anthony Stark."
"You really don't have to keep calling me that."
"How do we know you're not really working for Thanos?" Steve asked, remaining cautious in her presence.
"I never worked 'for' him, I always worked 'with' him."
"My mistake," Steve sassed back.
"And what makes you think that I would be?"
"You were with him when we encountered you the first time."
She laughed. "He stole my Stones, wiped out half of all life in the universe, killed our daughter... No, I'm not working with him any more."
"If you're the 'Keeper of the Stones', then how did you lose them in the first place?" asked Clint. "Seems to me that those aren't something you want to misplace."
"I didn't misplace them, I ripped them from my very being, breaking our connection. They serve as my life force and without them, I was essentially dead. Thanos collecting them all and bringing all six back together was what awoke me."
"But why did you separate yourself from them in the first place?"
"I needed some control. Thanos wanted to use them to complete his mission, but I wouldn't do so. I knew eventually he would gain control of them, so I acted desperately. I have been preparing for this for centuries. If I could prevent him from gaining the Stones, even if just delay him, I would do it. But destiny had other plans, it would seem, and he found them eventually. The universe works in strange ways."
"Sure does," agreed Tony. "I saw this coming, years ago. Only I didn't really know what it meant then, the full extent of it."
"I know - it was a warning, my warning. Thanos was not the only one inside your head, Stark."
"Was that supposed to be comforting?"
"If you wanted to keep them from Thanos, why not just destroy the Stones?" asked Rocket.
"No!" Her sudden cry startled everyone. "The Infinity Stones are pieces of the fabric that binds the universe and holds it together. What do you think would happen to everyone and everything in the universe were you to destroy them? There would be no time, no space, no reality... Nothing to hold the universe together. Everything would all just cease to exist... Much worse than this already is, I can tell you."
"Okay, yeah, scratch that."
"Hang on a second, you stole the Stones from him that day in the Garden," reminded Thor.
"Yes, I did." She held up her hand, the six Infinity Stones materializing in her palm.
"Oh, so we don't actually need this?" Tony gestured to the brand new gauntlet, which was still sizzling and smoking from Bruce's attempt to use it.
"Yes, this is interesting." She eyed the new gauntlet, complete with its own set of Stones. "You know, I have seen a great deal in my time, but never have I witnessed something such as this: two sets of Infinity Stones, together, side-by-side. How exciting. But again, that won't work. They are too powerful for any of you to wield - even you, Odinson," she quickly added when Thor opened his mouth to speak, mostly likely about lightning again.
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For Eternity - Avengers: Endgame (Thanos Love Story)
Fanfiction"Thanos did exactly what he said he was going to." And more... Part 2 of 'Into Infinity'! Thanos has accomplished his missions: he has wiped out 50% of all living creatures, leaving disaster in his wake and the Avengers defeated and broken. He has a...
