You didn't know it then, but you had only ten more minutes.

You should have spent them with Loki.

Instead, you sought out Sif. She was alone in a corner, gazing out of a window, so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't notice you approach her until you cleared your throat.

"Can I sit?"

A pause, and then she nodded.

You talked to her for a while, explaining and apologizing in a big, messy monologue, and when she still said nothing still you just sat with her, waiting.

"Fandral and Volstagg are dead too." finally she spoke, her voice cracking. It wasn't what you'd been expecting to hear.

"I know." you whispered, "I was there when... when she..." you were unable to finish the sentence. Even after everything that had happened in the last two days, it was still raw.

"Good. So they weren't alone." Sif said, her face blank, her emotions raging.

"Fandral used his dying thought to call me a traitor." you told her, your voice catching.

She looked at you properly for the first time.

"He was right."

It would have hurt less if she'd run you through with her sword.

"But you're his friend, and he would have forgiven you in time. Just like Volstagg and Hogun. And me." she finished. You fought not to let any tears escape, you had no right to cry.

"Thank you." you managed. And then the first missile hit.

For the second time the ship lurched to the side, but this time no one knew what had caused the commotion. You and Sif both got to your feet hurriedly; the beginnings of fear were starting to taint the previously quite pleasant atmosphere.

Fear, burning hot and cold at the same time, ran through you. It wasn't your fear.

"What was that?" Sif exclaimed in horror, and then another missile hit. This time there were screams.

This couldn't be happening. You'd just saved everyone, barely half an hour ago you'd finally relaxed, and now everyone was in imminent danger again.

"I need to go." you whispered, and teleported to Loki. He was stood next to a window speaking urgently to Thor; when you appeared he grabbed your arm.

"What's happening?" you barely got to the end of the sentence before you saw the enormous ship looming ahead of you which stopped you in your tracks. Thor grabbed your shoulder, squeezed, and then ran out into the main room. His authoritative voice echoed through the ship as Loki seized your shoulders and turned you away from the window to face him.

"It's Thanos."

Fear gripped you.

"No." you whispered, shaking your head. This wasn't happening.

"This is happening, and I need you to listen to me." Loki demanded, moving you away from the window as another explosion rocked the ship. More screams from the refugees. You closed your eyes in despair.

"No, Y/N, look at me." Loki said, shaking you slightly. You opened your eyes again. Terror was coursing through the two of you in equal measures.

"He's after the Tesseract."

"What? Why?"

"It- because it's powerful."

A drop of indignance infused with the overwhelming senses of confusion and dread you were feeling.

Tell me.

It's an Infinity stone.

What's that?

It doesn't matter. All that matters is that he can't get his hands on it, otherwise...

What?

It will be bad. Awful, in fact. But he knows I have it, somehow. That's why he's here.

Your head was spinning. Yet another explosion; this one sounded and felt like it had hit home in the centre of the ship. The silence which followed was a thousand times scarier than the screams had been.

"He, Thanos, doesn't know about you, about us. And he cannot find out, understand?"

"No, wait, stop, stop." you said desperately, shaking your head and grabbing at his arms. Things were happening too quickly for your brain to keep up with. Loki was worried Thanos would try and use you as a bargaining chip. Worried didn't even begin to cover it.

You need to hide, okay? Cast the strongest illusion you can and stay as far away as you can from wherever they go. And don't try and talk to me through your mind, one of his minions is a telepath. And-

"What are you going to do? About the Tesseract?" you asked in unease.

"I-" Loki started, but was unable to finish his sentence, shaking his head and staring into your eyes as though the answer he was looking for was written somewhere within them. His grip on your shoulders tightened as he clenched his jaw: a reflex as he tried to stay calm.

He didn't know. A sob rose in your throat but you caught it and forced it down into your chest, moving forward to comfort him out of instinct, even though there was no comfort to be given.

Promise me you'll stay hidden. Even if things get bad.

This time you couldn't stop the tears, laying your forehead on his chest in defeat. He took your face in his hands and gently forced you to look at him. He was so frightened.

Promise me.

Yes.

Swear it, on my life.

You kissed him instead, until the next and final explosion rocked the ship so violently that it was all you could do to stay upright; you felt the heat of it through the wall.

"Don't die. Not for a stone." you told Loki, your voice so constricted it hardly sounded like your own.

He grimaced rather than smiled.

"It's not just a stone-"

"I don't care what it is or what Thanos is going to do with it. You stay alive." you told him furiously, fueled by a sudden surge of anger, fear and love.

The conflict raging behind his eyes was clear to you both in his face and mind.

"They're here." he said suddenly, looking at the wall which was now all that separated the two of you and Thanos; fresh fear washed over you both.

"I love you, so much. Hide." he said, pulling away from you, resisting your attempts to hold on to him. His hands shook as they left yours. And then he was gone.

You pressed a hand to your mouth as though that would do anything to calm the overwhelming panic which threatened to engulf you. Loki was just on the other side of the main room; you could feel his presence, but he might as well have been on the other side of the universe for all the help you could give him.

He'd told you to hide, but you didn't think you were physically capable of moving away from instead of towards your soulmate while he was facing up to his biggest fear, one which had plagued his dreams and caused him years of torment. He'd also told you to cast the strongest illusion that you could; that you could do.

When you teleported to the very edge of the main room to watch what was going on, it was all you could do to stop your knees from giving out. Dead Asgardians littered the floor so densely that you could barely see any actual flooring, and the smell of blood was almost overpowering. In your shock your illusion flickered, and a hideous alien looking creature which was walking among the dead bodies turned sharply to look towards you.

The fear which shot through you powered the strength of the illusion which you promptly reinforced, and the alien only stared for a few more moments before moving on. That must have been the telepath Loki had told you about.

Loki. He was stood among some other horrific looking aliens about twenty feet away from your hiding spot, deathly pale, watching Thanos, who was stood before them all surveying the scene before him. Thor was on the floor at his feet, apparently unconscious.

Your heart leapt as you spotted Heimdall, severely injured but alive, on the floor. The alien walking among the dead began to speak.

"Hear me, and rejoice. You have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Titan. You may think this is suffering... no. It is salvation. Universal scales tip toward balance because of your sacrifice. Smile, for even in death, you have become Children of Thanos."

Universal scales tip towards balance because of your sacrifice? Was he trying to justify this mass murder? You turned your attention towards Thanos. Hesitating for only a moment, you delved into his mind.

Within seconds you had to retreat. He wanted to murder half of the entire universe. And all he needed to do it was six stones. One of which Loki was hiding from him.

Your heart was beating far too fast and loud in your chest; you were sure it was going to give you away. Never in your life had you felt fear such as this. Now you understood. Loki couldn't let him have the Tesseract. But Thanos was prepared to kill everyone here to get it.

There was no way out.

Thanos was looking out of a window which hadn't been destroyed by the missiles.

"I know what it feels like to lose. To feel so desperately that you're right... yet to fail nonetheless." he said, reaching down casually to lift Thor up by the neck of his breastplate. Thor struggled feebly, but to no avail. He was covered in blood and looked half dead; you had to stop yourself from stepping forward to go to him.

"It's frightening." Thanos continued, "Turns the legs to jelly. I ask you, to what end? Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. And now, it's here. Or should I say... I am."

He then held up his hand to reveal that it was encased in a huge golden gauntlet; there was a purple stone glowing in one of six holes the gauntlet hosted.

He already had one stone. The fear you felt was growing by the minute; the alien which had looked towards you before was looking back towards your hiding spot.

"You talk too much." Thor growled, blood drooling from one corner of his mouth.

Thanos looked at Loki, addressing him.

"The Tesseract or your brother's head. I assume you have a preference."

No, you mouthed, actually taking a step forward this time. It had been unintentional, an intrinsic reflex to be closer to Loki, but it had cost you everything. In the next instant the alien who had been looking towards you stripped your illusion and had a tight hold on your arm.

Got you.

His voice was clear in your head, as clear as you had only ever heard Loki's voice in your head. Panic gripped you. How had he stripped your illusion so easily, and how was he inside of your head?

Stupid girl, my abilities are far superior to yours.

And then you were stood before Thanos.

"No." Loki said, stood just behind you, his voice hoarse with dread. You tried to turn to him but the alien used his powers to force you to look at Thanos, who dropped Thor back to the ground unceremoniously as he turned his attention to you instead.

"No, don't-" Loki sounded like he was cut off mid-sentence by the alien's powers. You should have listened to him when he'd told you to hide.

"A girlfriend?" Thanos asked Loki in scorn, looking past you to him.

"Soulmates, my Lord." the alien informed him, sounding positively gleeful. Thanos 'ahh'ed in understanding.

You could feel Loki fighting to try and break free from the alien's restraints behind you.

Ebony Maw.

The alien wanted you to know his name before you died.

Thanos walked slowly towards you, watching Loki rather than you, enjoying his fear. Your mind went curiously quiet as you watched the Titan approach you; you wondered if you were going to pass out.

"Y/N-" you heard Thor groan your name from the ground behind Thanos.

"Change of plan." Thanos said, turning you around surprisingly gently to face Loki and the rest of the aliens. You didn't know what you'd been expecting, but seeing him so scared and vulnerable and helpless was surely worse than any torture Thanos was about to inflict upon you.

I'm so sorry.

Ebony Maw allowed Loki to speak.

"Don't hurt her." he said, his voice barely a whisper.

"The Tesseract." Thanos said, lifting the hand which wasn't holding you, the hand donning the gauntlet, to your head. Loki looked at you, and broke.

I told you to hide.

I know. I'm sorry. You can't let him have it.

For a split second you were able to register the confused look on his face. He hadn't realised that you'd worked out what Thanos wanted with the Tesseract.

Then Thanos gripped the back of your neck, lifting you into the air. You closed your eyes, unable to bear the look on Loki's face anymore.

Don't give it to him.

"No, NO!"

He pressed the purple stone which was in the gauntlet into your temple.

You hadn't thought anything could have been worse than the psychological pain of seeing Loki in the state he'd been in.

This was worse. This was physical, bone deep, gut wrenching pain which made you forget which way was up. This was anguish as you'd never experienced it before; it obliterated any sense you thought you'd had of the word and revealed itself to be a whole different world of nightmares. Every nerve in your body was alight with agony, waves of torturous pain surging through your veins and causing your muscles to convulse in absolute torment. You were unable to even think, every part of you entirely consumed by burning anguish.

The only good thing to be said about it was that it barely lasted ten seconds.

When the agony ceased, the aftershock rendered you absolutely useless; you couldn't even find the strength to lift your eyelids. Your throat felt raw, had you screamed?

After another few seconds, during which you were aware of nothing but a loud ringing in your ears, Thanos released his hold on your neck and you felt yourself drop to the ground, almost passing out as your aching limbs made hard contact with the ground.

Then there was a roar and a large collision above you, and you waited to die. Instead you felt someone picking you up, it hurt, and then everything became quieter as you were teleported away.

Y/N, Y/N look at me. Open your eyes.

Everything ached; you didn't want to move. But Loki was panicking.

You opened your eyes to see him knelt before you with tears running down his face. He could hardly breathe.

"No." you said sadly, trying to sit up properly so that you could reach him. He leaned towards you instead and pressed his forehead against yours, shaking violently.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

Stop, it's my fault. I-

No. It's not your fault.

What's happening? Where's Thor... where's the Tesseract?

He didn't move, didn't speak.

You didn't let him have it-

I had to.

No-

Yes. I did. You were dying-

There was a loud, familiar sounding roar from behind you and a loud crunch.

Hulk?

Yes, but he's only a distraction.

Where is the Tesseract? If we can get it-

You moved painfully to stand up, but Loki caught hold of your arms gently.

There's no point. We have no way out.

Just then Hulk crashed to the ground ten feet away from where you were hidden, having been flung aside by Thanos. Loki let go of you and stood up, casting an illusion so that he could watch what was going on without being seen. He was looking at Thor, who, having tried to fight Thanos with Hulk, was now bound in metal debris from the ship by Ebony Maw.

You stood up shakily and cast an illusion of your own, ignoring the pain, which was potent throughout your whole body, moving towards Hulk.

The next two seconds seemed to happen in slow motion.

In the first second you became aware that someone was using astonishingly powerful magic, and were then suddenly encased in a blindingly bright light, along with Hulk five feet ahead of you.

In the next second you were able to work out that Heimdall had summoned the Bifrost and that you and Hulk were inside it. Loki span to look at you in shock, and then unmistakable relief spread across his face. You made to step towards him, reaching for him, opening your mouth to say his name.

And then you were swept away into space.