Running towards the man who tried to kill her was not something Anja wanted to do, yet here she was. Side by side with Loki and Layla, she knew they needed to get to the rest of the team as quickly as possible. They would need reinforcements, or else Thanos would surely get the Mind Stone, and it would be game over.

And as far as she was concerned, it was already looking more and more like their time was up.

Upon their approach, she saw both Steve and T'Challa cast aside like they were ragdolls by Thanos. Bruce was in the Hulkbuster still, but he was encased in a rock face several meters behind the action, rendered completely useless. Sam Wilson fared no better, as Thanos used the Reality Stone to turn his wings to rubber, grounding him. Rhodey flew overhead, firing his guns at Thanos with some degree of effectiveness- at least until he used the gauntlet to crush Rhodey's armor around him and tossed him to the side too.

Anja tried to run faster, but her legs wouldn't go any faster so all she could do was keep heading towards her adversary and teammates, watching as he continued to knock them aside one by one. Bucky was Thanos' next victim; his gun was no match for Thanos punching him using the full force of the Power Stone. Anja cringed at the thought of taking the power of that stone again. Thanos seemed to be preferring that stone, as he used it to dispatch Okoye with ease before he used the Reality Stone to wrap Natasha in unescapable bands of earth. Groot stabbed his hands into the ground, wrapping Thanos in cables of roots, which he broke with zero effort.

Anja couldn't bring herself to watch what happened to Groot, so she glanced over to the right, trying to see the progress Wanda was making on taking out the Mind Stone in Vision's forehead. She had just put both of her hands out, magic spewing out of them as she glanced over her shoulder at the chaos behind her. Anja didn't need to see Wanda's face to know how pained she was at destroying the Mind Stone; Vision would be destroyed in the process, and that was ultimately going to damage Wanda in unfathomable ways too.

They were closer now, and Steve had rejoined the battle. He slid under a blow from Thanos, coming up swinging his arm shields, punching Thanos in the gut and chin. Steve grabbed the gauntlet, somehow keeping Thanos' fingers unclenched. It was taking a huge effort based on the strain on Steve's face and all the yelling he was doing. They were close enough now to see the impressed look on Thanos' face before he slammed his other fist into Steve's head, sending him flying and rendering him insensible once more.

The three of them finally made it to Thanos, and it was Layla who made the first strike. At some point she had drawn her sword, and she swung it angrily at the Titan- only to have him anticipate it and turn the blade to rubber on impact. This just pissed Layla off, and she swung a flame-covered fist in his direction. Thanos extinguished the flames with a nonchalant snap of his fingers, and grabbed her fist with his free hand, tossing her cartoon-style over his head into a tree trunk.

Anja glanced at Loki, and with a quick nod, he used some of his magic, making several dozen duplications of both of them surrounding Thanos. Anja was sure it wasn't fool-proof, but it would buy them a moment before Thanos wiped them out of action too. In the brief moment of his confusion, Anja and Loki both blasted Thanos with a combination of their magic, a green blast of energy and ice.

For a moment, it seemed to hold him back as he struggled through the magical combination, but then in a flash of red light, all their duplications were gone, and the two of them were sent flying backwards into another large tree.

Anja blinked, shaking the impact off to the best of her ability as she started to try to prepare a second attack. But when she looked up after her vision cleared, Thanos was already fixated on a new target several meters away. He was moving towards Wanda and Vision with single-minded determination. Wanda glanced over her shoulder to see him approaching her unopposed, and she swung her left arm around to fend him off with a steady stream of scarlet energy, pushing him back a bit despite his blue-purple energy shield. But it was only a momentary victory. Within moments, Thanos started making slow headway.

At this distance, Anja couldn't hear the words Vision spoke to Wanda, but she was a pretty good lip reader now thanks to her love of hockey, and she could see his lips form the words, "It's alright. It's alright. I love you."

A tear rolled down Anja's cheek. She couldn't help it.

At those words, the Mind Stone finally started to crack. Vision's face was overcome by an expression of joyful peace. As the crystal fragmented completely, a pulse of pure yellow energy exploded around him, shuddering the trees several meters from his epicenter, including the one Anja and Loki had hit. Both Wanda's and Thanos' energy subsided, and he walked closer to her.

"I understand, my child. Better than anyone," he said to her.

Wanda wasn't having it. "You could never," she snarled. Anja was inclined to agree with her. She couldn't imagine the hell Wanda had just endured, having to kill the one she loved to save the entire universe.

Anja cringed as Thanos reached down to stroke Wanda's hair, presumably out of comfort. "Today, I lost more than you can know. But now is no time to mourn. Now... is no time at all."

He reached forward, his gauntleted hand in a clenched fist as an emerald filigree surrounded his wrist, making a gesture Anja had never seen before but assumed was related to the Time Stone based on its color. In response, a bead of yellow light started to gather in on itself as time seemingly reversed itself, growing and solidifying into an intact and very conscious Vision.

"No!" Wanda screamed as she lunged for Vision, only to be swatted away by Thanos with ease.

Thanos picked Vision up by the throat- causing Anja to wonder if this guy had a weird choking fetish or something momentarily- lifting him to eye-level. Thanos dug the fingers of his right hand into Vision's forehead, prying the Mind Stone out. Once the stone was loose, Vision went limp and colorless in his grasp. Thanos tossed the lifeless android aside like trash as he brought his gauntleted hand up, slowly moving the Mind Stone over to the last empty setting and dropping it in. Energy surged around him, more than what it had the last time Anja had seen him acquire a stone, his torso wreathed with iridescent static as he bellowed from the sensations.

The gauntlet was now complete, and Anja's stomach churned at the thought of what was coming next.

But before she had time to contemplate their ultimate demise, as Thanos studied the completed gauntlet, he was struck by a massive bolt of lightning, digging him into the ground and grinding him back several meters. Anja and Loki both looked to the sky, searching for the source of the lightning, even though both of them knew the likely culprit. Sure enough, Thor had arrived, his eyes glowing as he surged with power as he came down from the sky like a bird of prey. For just a moment, Thor paused his attack, only to reverse his position and raise Stormbreaker above his head and hurl it directly at Thanos. The Titan fired back with the whole might of the gauntlet against it, but it only created a rainbow-like bow shock, not slowing Stormbreaker at all as it slammed directly into Thanos' chest. Anja couldn't resist smirking; Thor got him.

Thor landed in front of Thanos, who was now kneeling in pain on one knee. "You die for that!" Thor stated, the hatred dripping from his voice. Anja wasn't sure what act in particular Thor was talking about, but she supposed literally anything Thanos had done to this point was worth killing him over. Thor took hold of the back of Thanos' head, and used his other hand to force Stormbreaker deeper into his chest, staring angrily into his eyes while Thanos cried out in pain.

"You should have... You," Thanos said weakly, before he paused and his voice was suddenly stronger. "You should've gone for the head!" He raised the gauntlet and quickly snapped his fingers.

"No!" was all Thor could manage as a blinding flash of light covered the area for a few moments. When the light finally faded, Thor stared at him in horror. The gauntlet was now scorched and distorted from whatever Thanos had just done, the stones no longer glowing in their settings. "What did you do? What'd you do?!"

Instead of dignifying him with an answer, Thanos simply used the Space Stone and teleported away, leaving Stormbreaker behind on the ground.

Slowly, the team started to regroup, stumbling out of their various places, with varying degrees of injuries. Within a few moments, Anja, Loki, and Layla were all beside Thor, concern plastered to all of their faces as Steve hobbled into the clearing with them, holding his left side. "Where'd he go? Thor... where'd he go?"

"Steve?" Bucky's voice interrupted. They all looked over to him, and as he approached them, he suddenly stumbled over and collapsed into a pile of ashes.

Anja covered her mouth in shock as Steve walked over and touched the ground where Bucky's ashes had just evaporated. The look of disbelief on Steve's face said it all, as the realization started to sink in for everyone. Thanos had accomplished his goal, and it was only a matter of time before more of them disintegrated before their friends' eyes. Anja quickly scanned the clearing and the surrounding areas, heart racing as she slowly began to panic. Any one of them could be next.

Her eyes watched as T'Challa reached for Okoye on the ground. "Up, General. Up! This is no place to die," he stated, but his words were meaningless as he turned into ashes right in front of a very anguished Okoye who fell right back onto the ground.

Not far away, Anja spotted another tragedy unfolding.

"I am Groot," Groot said weakly as he started to slowly corrode into ashes near Rocket.

"No... no. No. No," Rocket pleaded. "No! Groot, no..."

Anja felt tears welling in her eyes, silently hoping that she wasn't about to lose someone close to her like her teammates had. Her eyes fell on Wanda some distance away, mourning over Vision's lifeless gray body. Wanda looked to the sky, and then turned into ashes too, almost looking relieved. Anja supposed if she had been in Wanda's shoes, she would've wanted to go too. Going on without the love of your life didn't seem like a life anyone would want to live. Especially with the way he went out.

Her thoughts were shaken by Rhodey's voice calling out to Sam Wilson. "Sam? Sam?! Where you at?!" Anja only assumed due to the lack of response that Sam had already turned to dust without any of them noticing. Somehow that was almost worse; the man would've had his last moments completely alone.

Anja quickly glanced around again, taking a tally of who was still standing, making sure everyone was still accounted for. The rest of them were still here, all in varying states of disbelief and horror, but they were here. For wiping out half the universe, Thanos' snap had so far left more than half of their group intact; it seemed too good to be true.

Mostly because it was.

"Thor," Layla's voice interrupted her thoughts. Her best friend's voice was uncharacteristically shaky, and that alone told Anja all she needed to know.

"No," she breathed.

Thor's attention was immediately on Layla, unable to hide the concern on his face despite how he tried to keep her calm. "It's going to be okay," he assured, despite seeing his girlfriend beginning to turn to ash from the feet up. "You're going to be okay."

"I love you, you big oaf," Layla replied, a sad smile on her face and tears swelling her eyes as she succumbed to the ashes, crumbling to the ground.

"Layla, no!" Anja cried out, the tears falling from her eyes unchecked. Not her best friend, not her sister. And then her mind wandered to Spencer. Was she gone too? And even if she wasn't- would she ever see her again? This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be real.

Her legs collapsed underneath her, and lucky for her, Loki was there to catch her as her quiet tears surged into full on sobs. She buried her face in his chest, clinging to him tightly, beyond terrified that he was about to be ripped from her too.

"Shhh, everything is going to be okay," Loki said, although his voice didn't sound as reassuring and confident as it normally did. He gently grasped her chin, forcing her to look up at him. His eyes were on the verge of spilling over with tears, and the sight only made the sinking feeling in Anja's stomach worse. His next words didn't help any matters. "I assure you, min kjære, the sun will shine on us again."

His exact words from a few days prior on Knowhere, spoken just shortly before he nearly died at the hands of Thanos. She didn't have long to dwell on that; Loki pressed his lips to hers, and for a moment as she kissed him back passionately, Anja had a glimmer of hope. She still had Loki, and somehow things were going to be alright.

But that moment was fleeting.

Only a few moments after the kiss began, Anja felt Loki's embrace loosening on her, his lips pulling away from her. She opened her eyes just in time to see him turning to ashes just like everyone else had.

Anja fell to her knees, palming the ground where his ashes had fallen, the tears streaming from her eyes and wetting the dirt below. "No, no, no," she sobbed. "Loki..."

The young woman wrapped her arms around her stomach tightly as she fell forward, crying hysterically. What else was she supposed to do? Thanos had taken everything from her. Why did she get to survive while Loki and Layla both didn't? This wasn't fair. Anja silently hoped she would be next, that she would turn to ashes like they had. Now she definitely understood why Wanda was so relieved to be taken; death was better than feeling her heart and soul being torn to shreds.

She felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder, causing her to look up. It took her a moment to make out Thor's features through her tear-blurred eyes. He wasn't crying, but the somber look on his face was telling enough. He would never show weakness- even if the two people he was closest to were ripped from him too- but Anja knew he was feeling just as horribly as she was. He didn't speak a word to her, but he didn't need to.

She looked away from him, staring back at the ground where the love of her life had just disintegrated before her eyes once more. She choked out another sob as Thor removed his hand from her shoulder as Natasha ran up to them. The woman knelt down beside Anja, wrapping an arm tightly around her. Anja turned and sobbed into Natasha's shoulder.

"I know, I know," Natasha said quietly.

Anja didn't reply, as she heard the rest of the team talking once again. She raised her head for a moment to see the rest of the team gathered around Vision's bleached corpse. Steve turned his body over, a look of complete disbelief on his face.

"What is this?" Rhodey asked incredulously. "What the hell is happening?"

Steve didn't say anything for a moment, and then looked to the sky. "Oh, God."

Somehow, Anja didn't think that 'oh, God' was enough to describe the absolute hell they had all just been through. The Avengers had lost, and it cost the lives of half the universe. Their loved ones were gone, and there was nothing they could do about it. They failed spectacularly.

She looked away from them once more and pulled away from Natasha, fixating on the ground once more. She knew her words were futile, but she still spoke them through tears anyway, just in case someone could hear her.

"Come back to me. Please come back."

*****

Spencer took a deep breath, trying to sort out her thoughts as she sat next to Doctor Strange. Thanos had five stones, and was likely on Earth now, killing her friends. And worst of all- there was nothing she could do about it. She was stuck on Titan, defeated. At this point, she knew if she ultimately survived this and made it home, things would never be the same again.

She watched as Mantis propped Quill up, and Peter helped Tony to his feet. Drax and the blue woman limped over to the rest of the group on their own. They made for a very disheveled group, all beaten and bruised from the fight that seemed like it was only moments ago.

"Something... is... happening," Mantis muttered, sounding very concerned. Before anyone had time to react to that, the woman disintegrated into ashes.

Oh no, was all Spencer could think as she watched on in horror. With little to no effort, she could feel the fear emanating from all of the people surrounding her. A moment her powers were- without a doubt- a curse.

"Quill?" Drax asked, his body starting to dissolve just as Mantis' had done moments ago.

Quill stared at the space his friend had been standing in only moments before, panic striking his features.

"Steady, Quill," Tony said calmly.

"Aw, man," was all Quill had time to mutter before he too disintegrated in ashes.

Spencer took a deep breath, trying to steady herself and calm down as all her teammates turned to dust. This couldn't be happening. She clearly hit her head too hard; she was imagining it. There was no way this was actually happening. Thanos couldn't have won.

Her racing thoughts were interrupted when Doctor Strange spoke up calmly, finally looking up. "Tony, there was no other way," he said. Moments later, he turned to ash.

Spencer wanted to scream, wanted to cry, but she didn't have time to mourn. Not yet. The worst was still coming. She could sense it, but nothing would've truly prepared her for what she was about to witness.

"Mister Stark?" Peter said, his voice clearly panicked. "I don't feel so good..."

No.

Tony was trying his best to be calm, but his shaking voice as he looked at the teenager in horror broke his cover. "You're all right," he assured, probably to himself more than anything.

Peter was stumbling as he moved towards Tony, unable to hide how terrified he was. "I don't know what's- I don't know what's happening. I don't-" He fell into Tony's arms, clutching onto him tightly as he sobbed. "Save me, save me! I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go, sir, please. Please, I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go..." There was a brief pause before he added, "I'm sorry."

And just like everyone else, Peter disintegrated into ashes, right there in Tony's arms.

By this point, the tears were streaming from Spencer's eyes unchecked. If all their teammates here had been turned to dust, what of their friends at home? What of Anja? Layla? The rest of the team? Spencer was horrified with even the thought that her friends were all gone. And even if they had survived whatever this was, they likely thought she was gone too.

She watched through tear-blurred eyes as Tony stared at his hands in disbelief, falling to his knees for a moment before sitting down and cradling one of his hands close to his face. He was a man of little emotion beyond snark, but Spencer knew he was reeling from losing Peter to this too. She struggled to her feet, and made her way over to him, sitting beside him. She knew there was nothing either of them could say to each other right now to make this better, but she would much rather be close to her friend while they both mourned than be on the other side of the battlefield.

The blue woman was still here, and she glanced over at the two of them from where she stood some several feet away. "He did it," she said solemnly.

Neither Tony or Spencer said anything to her. How could they? Behind the tears, Spencer was furious. They did everything right, and they still lost. Their best wasn't enough. People she loved were dead. Gone, turned to dust in a blink of an eye. And there was no bringing them back. No matter how hard they tried, no matter how badly they wanted it, this story didn't have a happy ending.

Thanos had won.

*****

Hello everyone! First of all, I am so sorry for what I just did.

Second of all, I am sorry for the delay once again. Life has been very busy since my last update. I suppose I will start with that.

Some already know this, but I am currently just over 21 weeks pregnant with my and my husband's second child. We are overjoyed and are very excited to welcome our son end of July/early August. Our daughter is pretty excited too! He is doing well and is healthy, and ultimately that is what matters. I- on the other hand- have been feeling very fatigued and generally not well for most of this pregnancy. This last week has been the best I have felt since the beginning of December (shortly after finding out). So unfortunately that meant my writing time has been very limited, as sleeping has often seemed like a better option. (Although I admittedly was dragging my feet writing this chapter too.) Anyway, with this pregnancy ultimately kicking my butt more often than not, I will be done working after this upcoming weekend, so maybe my energy will be a bit better in the coming weeks. My bosses and I have decided this is best for all of us, and I will eventually return to work when I am ready.

That being said, things will be crazy here for the coming months between appointments and adjusting to our new normal life. I appreciate all of you for sticking around and bearing with me. I'm going to do my best to get as much of this written as I can before the baby arrives. We're at the "half way" point now that we have reached the end of Infinity War and now I can begin work on the Endgame half of the story.

As always, thank you for your support. It means a lot to me. I hope you're all doing well.

~arty_writes