Alright, yes I rushed this chapter. I just want to get back to (Y/n) because she's so fun to write about! Sorry if this seemed rushed. Also I decided to sum up the Knowhere scene and Captain America scene, but I think it's really poetic!

IMPORTANT: I'm going on vacation for three days starting Monday, so if I don't update that's why. I don't know if there'll be internet, sorry!

Enjoy the chapter!

~~~

Hazel's P.O.V.

The Guardians and Hazel all decided they've had enough of the tense atmosphere, so they started singing to Quill's jams. At first, Hazel didn't recognize any of the songs because she's more of a modern girl, but then she started making song requests and everything was fine. Now that Quill has his new Zoom, he feels like the king of the world!

The next song that Hazel suggests is called The Rubberband Man by Electric Six. Quill, Gamora, and Hazel sing along. "Hey, y'all, prepare yourself for the RUBBERBAAAND Man! You've never heard a sound like the Rubberband Man! You're bound to lose control when the Rubberband starts to jam!"

"Sing it, Drax!" Quill yells, unaware that Drax is snoring away. Hazel laughs because she knows what's going on, making Gamora look over at Drax. Gamora smiles as well, seeing her sleeping companion.

Rocket yawns, waking up from a nap he also took. "Quill, why are we going out here again?!"

"It's a distress signal, Rocket. Someone could be dying." Gamora replies in an obvious tone. Hazel agrees with her, but doesn't want to think about the worst case scenario where Thanos has already gotten the Power Stone. Maybe this is some other distress signal.

"Yeah, I get that, but why are we doing it?" Rocket scratches his back and rolls his eyes.

"Because we're nice!" Quill says sternly, looking at his furry companion. He gets another idea though, and a smug look forms on his face. "And maybe whoever we are saving will give us a little chili cheese for our efforts."

"Which isn't the point!" Hazel and Gamora say at the same time.

"Which isn't the point..." Quill ponders for a second whether or not he should say it. "But if they don't pay up..."

"Then we loot his ship!" Rocket finishes.

"B-B-Bingo!" Quill laughs, but stops when he sees Gamora's judging glare. Hazel bends down and covers her mouth to hide her chuckle.

"We are arriving..." Mantis breaks the upbeat atmosphere and Quill lowers the music. Drax wakes up slowly and looks out the big front window.

Without even thinking, Hazel unbuckled her seatbelt to stand up and gasps. She covers her mouth as tears form in her eyes. "How...?"

"What happened here?" Quill asks and looks up toward the saddened blonde.

"Try to contact the Nova at Xandar!" Hazel turns to Gamora who seems to be already on it. The green alien holds the headset up to her ear, but nothing comes through from the other side. She keeps asking if anyone's there, but all she receives is static.

"How did Thanos get the Power Stone already?! We were just there..." Hazel asks herself, but it was a bit louder than expected. All of the Guardians take turns looking at each other and they start to fly through the rubble.

The ship can barely be recognizable. Chunks of metal of all shapes and sizes float aimlessly around Space, but what shakes Hazel up the most are the bodies. Hundreds of Asgardians already dead. One of the single best and strongest race in the universe, and half of them are gone.

It seems like the Guardians and Hazel fly around the debris for a longer time than in the movie, making it feel more real. But then Hazel spots someone and whispers to herself, "Thor."

Clunk!

"Ahh! Wipers! Get it off!" Rocket leans back in his chair and makes hand gestures representing wiping Thor off the window. Despite the unnerving and sad atmosphere, Hazel manages a smile. Thor opens his good eye and all the Guardians scream. After a quick debate, they let him into the ship.

Hazel helps Gamora and Quill lift Thor onto the table. Hazel wipes away some stray tears and says, "He looks horrible."

"Woah..." Drax seems to be in awe as he gazes upon Thor's form. "It's like a pirate had a baby with an angel."

"What? He's just another man like me!" Quill puffs out his chest making Gamora hold back a laugh.

"No, you are not a man. This is a man." Drax seems to want to pet Thor's hair. "A beautiful, muscular man."

"Hey! I'm muscular!" Quill squeezes his biceps just to be sure. Hazel laughs, thinking of her friend (Y/n). If (Y/n) was here right now, she'd be blushing mad! She has a tiny crush on just about every superhero.

"U-umm...Well, you have gotten a bit..." Gamora starts, but trails off when she makes eye contact with Quill. His heartbroken gaze makes her trip up. Drax on the other hand, doesn't hold back and makes hand gestures toward his chin and stomach.

"Oh, don't listen to them, Peter. You're the same as before. They're just jelly." It seems only Quill put together the reference, but it took him awhile.

Drax, on the other hand, didn't. "I am not a product of smashed grapes."

Hazel crosses her arms and Quill responds, "No, it's alright Haze. If that's what they think, then I'm gonna commit! This is a real wake up call for me."

It seems their debate on Quill's weight will never end, so Hazel turn to Mantis. "Wake him up, please."

Mantis nods and puts her hand on Thor's head. An overwhelming sense of loss and sadness seeps into her mind. A few tears escape her eyes, but Hazel knows they aren't hers. "W-wake."

Like a bolt of lightning, Thor wakes up and jumps off the table. He breathes heavily for a few seconds and turns around to find the six Guardians in battle stances and Hazel waving. "Who the hell are you guys?"

"That's a great way to say 'thank you'!" Quill says, not putting down his gun.

After reassuring each other that they mean no harm, Thor sits down with a blanket and some soup. Hazel was a great help in the debate, explaining that he is one of the Avengers. Thor also seems to trust Hazel the most out of the group since she helped back him up.

Thor also explained everything to the Guardians about what happened. All about Thanos and his four minions. But something was new in his explanation that caught Hazel's attention. Thor said that Thanos was also looking for a human girl named (Y/n).

She escaped, Hazel thinks to herself as Gamora starts talking. "The whole time I knew Thanos, he only ever had one goal. With all the Infinity Stones he could do it with a snap of his fingers like this." Gamora snaps her fingers to demonstrate.

"You seem to know a whole lot about Thanos." Thor says in an annoyed tone, making Hazel shudder.

"Gamora... is the daughter of Thanos." Drax says and Thor stands up.

"Your father killed my brother."

"Y-yeah, but for the record, she hates him as much as you do, if not then even more." Quill tenses up and gets ready to attack if necessary.

Thor walks up to Gamora and breaks the tension by putting a hand on her shoulder. "Families can be tough. Right before my father died, he told me that I had an evil sister who was coming to destroy my homeworld. So, I fought her and she took out my eye. But, here we still stand."

"Well, since you put it that way, I had to watch my mom die and then kill my own father because he turned out to be an evil planet. That seems way harder than killing a sister. Plus, I came out with both my eyes, so..." At the beginning of Quill's rant, Thor turns to him and sips his soup loudly, not really listening.

"I need a hammer, not a spoon..." Thor puts down his soup and heads to the back of the ship. He finds a keypad on the right and starts trying to guess the code. "Hmm, four digits? Maybe, uh, a birthday?"

Rocket clears his throat. "And what do you think your doing?"

"I'm taking your pod." Thor says without looking up from the screen. In all honesty, Hazel thinks all this talking is just wasting time. Thor needs to get to Nidavellir and make his axe!

This time, it's Quill who clears his throat, but to make his voice deeper. "No, you are not!" This catches Thor's attention and he turns to Quill who continues. "You are not taking out pod today, sir!"

"Are you mocking me?!" Thor walks right in front of Quill, closing the space between the two. Since Quill is shorter, he backs down only for a couple steps.

"Are you mocking-"

Hazel cuts Quill off, knowing where this petty fight is going. "Would you guys stop it?! Thank you!" She takes a deep breath and continues, "Now, as we know, Thanos has two Infinity Stones, making him the most powerful being in the universe. We can't defeat him without the proper tools. Thor, would you like to explain where you're going with their pod?"

Thor and Quill glare at Hazel for interrupting their fight, but they don't continue it. "Of course I'll explain. I'm going to Nidavellir to make a Thanos-killing weapon."

"Woah, wait! Nidavellir is a real place?! I thought that place was a legend! They make the most powerful weapons in the universe! I'd very much like to go there, please," Rocket says, not being able to keep quiet any longer.

"The talking Rabbit is correct, and seems to be the smartest among you along with the green-eyed human. Would you two like to join me on my quest to Nidavellir?" Hazel and Rocket both yell 'yes' at the same time. "Great, then we can hurry to the Collector on Knowhere."

"Thor, why would you go to Knowhere?" Gamora asks, probably already knowing the answer.

"Because the Reality Stone has been safely hidden away with the Collector for years. Thanos already has the Power and Space Stones. The Power Stone he got when he destroyed Xander today. The Space Stone was taken from me. The Time and Mind Stones are safe on Earth with the Avengers. As for the Soul Stone, well, no one knows where that is. No one's ever even seen it! Therefore, Thanos is heading to Knowhere for the Reality Stone." Thor explains and Gamora tenses when she hears about the Soul Stone.

Quill turns to Hazel, an angry expression on his face. "You knew about this. THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" He grabs her by the shoulders and pushed her against the wall.

"What?! Quill, I don't know-"

"YOU DROVE US AWAY FROM XANDAR! YOU SAID YOU NEEDED TO GET TO EARTH, BUT THAT WAS JUST A DISTRACTION! W-WE COULD HAVE SAVED THEM!" Quill squeezes his eyes shut, trying to keep himself from crying. It fails miserably.

"Quill, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I never meant for them to get hurt! I swear, I really did want to get to Earth! Please, I'm sorry, I never meant to drive you away, I'm sorry!" Quill drops Hazel and leans on the wall. Hazel runs to the other side of the room next to Thor.

Gamora rushes over to Quill and strokes his back. He quickly turns around and hugs her tightly. "I'll kill him..."

"Can I take your pod, then?" Thor gestures to the vehicle behind him and Quill nods into Gamora's shoulder.

"Come on, Groot, let's go with them." Rocket enters the pod with Hazel and Thor, followed by Groot. "And would you stop playing that video game?!"

Right when the pod door closes, Quill pulls away from Gamora and runs over to Thor's group. "Hazel, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I just..."

He puts his hands on the glass and Hazel walks up to him. "It's alright, Quill. I understand, and I'm glad you love the people on Xandar that much. You have heart." Hazel puts a hand on the glass, matching his. "Just promise her, and pull the trigger. It'll be ok."

And with that, Thor drops the pod, leaving a confused Quill behind.

Just like she said, he promised. Just like she said, he pulled the trigger. That was the hardest thing in the world for him to do. Even killing his own father was easier than pulling that trigger. But, honestly, what was worse, was the fact that it didn't work. Thanos got her anyway, and he has the Reality Stone.

Now his team is split, he doesn't know where to go, and the person he cares most about in the galaxy is in danger. Xander is gone, Knowhere is gone, Quill's hopes are gone.

***

On the other hand, Vision and Wanda had to postpone their marriage discussion. After an epic fight, Wanda and Vision were saved by the Captain himself, along with Black Widow and Falcon. They went to Rhodes for a safe place to discuss things.

Out of the shadows, Bruce Banner emerges. He carries nothing but a (f/c) backpack. Natasha was the most taken away. Setting aside emotions, the team discusses what to do. Steve refuses to kill Vision, as does Wanda. The only person who seems up to sacrificing him, is Vision himself. But we don't trade lives.

Steve knows of a place they can go to get the Stone out of Vision's head. On the plane ride there, Steve asks Bruce what the backpack is for. He tells him he got it from a girl named (Y/n) who's from a different world. He also tells him that she was kidnapped for the second time by Thanos' minions.

In Wakanda, the team greets King T'Challa. He takes them to the lab where they discuss with the head scientist about the surgery. Shuri, the head scientist and the king's sister, explains that she can do it but needs time. Everyone agrees to the plan, not only because it would save everyone, but it would save Vision too.

We don't trade lives. Every life has value. And that's Thanos' flaw. That's what he doesn't understand.

But our heroes understand it. They prove to understand it. And no matter what, they will keep fighting for each individual person.