Anja glanced around the Benatar at the remaining Avengers. The ship was packed to the brim with all of the able-bodied allies they had left. Everyone but Tony was aboard the ship, decked out in their choice of armor, buckled in and preparing for the jump point, and for hopefully finding Thanos and putting an end to this once and for all. Anja wanted to be optimistic, wanted to believe that in a few short hours she would have Loki and Layla back, as well as everyone else. But deep down, she somehow didn't think they could get that lucky. Nothing was ever that easy. Not for the Avengers.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Rocket asked, "Okay, who here hasn't been to space?"

Only Steve, Natasha, and Rhodey raised their hands.

"Why?" Rhodey asked.

Rocket scoffed. "You better not throw up on my ship."

    If anyone was going to have a hard time not throwing up, it was going to be Anja, not that she would admit to anyone right now. No one needed to know that now. However, no one had time to counter him before Nebula interrupted, "Approaching jump in 3... 2... 1!"

    At the end of the countdown, the ship jumped forward into a wormhole. It wasn't the first time Anja had experienced travel like this so she knew what to expect, but a few of the other occupants of the ship had not. Distracting herself so she didn't get sick, Anja glanced around at the rest of the team. Most of them were relatively unphased by the jump in speed since they had been in space before, but Steve was holding onto his seat for dear life. She was honestly surprised he wasn't screaming. Natasha and Rhodey were much more calm, which somehow wasn't super shocking to Anja.

    After a few moments, the ship slowed down, hovering in orbit of the planet they observed in the hologram Rocket showed them only hours before. It looked calm, peaceful- certainly hard to believe Thanos was hiding out somewhere on its surface, likely waiting to ambush them.

    Carol came into view, hovering in front of the Benatar's windshield. "I'll head down for recon," she announced.

    As Carol flew off to check out the planet, the rest of the team shared uneasy glances. What would she find down there? Would there be another army to fight? Anja was almost afraid to know. They barely survived their first encounter with him; surely a second time in a weakened state would only be worse.

    "This is going to work, Steve," Natasha broke the silence in the ship.

    "I know it will," he agreed. He glanced down at an old compass in his hand. "'Cause I don't know what I'm going to do if it doesn't."

    Anja didn't usually agree with Steve, but for once she could completely get behind something he said. She needed this to succeed. She needed to get her loved ones back. Now more than ever. Her hand absent-mindedly traveled to her stomach, closing her eyes as she took a deep breath. She needed for them to reverse the Snap, and for this nightmare to end. She'd give anything to have things back to normal again.

    She didn't have much time to dwell on any of it, as Carol reappeared in the windshield with her findings. "No satellites, no ships, no armies, no ground defenses of any kind. It's just him."

    "And that's enough," Nebula uttered.

*****

Rocket landed the Benatar some distance from a small shack on a farm- far enough away the landing wouldn't alert Thanos to their arrival. Anja and the rest of the team trudged through tropical flora, quietly making their way towards the shack. Approaching the farm, Anja took notice of a scarecrow adorned with Thanos' armor from the battle a few weeks ago. She hoped this meant he wasn't prepared for a rematch and they'd be able to overtake him with ease. Although with the Infinity Stones still in his possession, who really knew what to expect?

When they finally reached the shack, they waited outside the door as they listened for signs of life inside. Anja could just make out the sounds of someone shuffling around and what sounded like a pot of water boiling. If what Carol said was true and there was no one else on the island, then Thanos was definitely inside, likely about to have his dinner ruined.

Everything happened so fast; next thing she knew, they were all busting into the shack, moving in their own ways to neutralize Thanos. Carol burst through the roof, knocking him down, putting him into a chokehold. Bruce in the Hulkbuster armor came up from the ground, grabbing the arm that contained the Infinity Gauntlet. Rhodey grabbed his right arm, and Rocket had his gun aimed at Thanos' head, just as Thor flew in and sliced the Infinity Gauntlet off Thanos' left arm. Even though Thanos was very much so handled, Anja couldn't resist adding to the mess and immediately cast ice towards Thanos, further ensuring he was incapacitated.

Anja kept her focus on the Titan as Steve, Natasha, and Spencer stepped into the shack, observing the face of the man who took everything from her. His whole left side was burnt, blackened with blisters. Something had gotten him good since their last encounter, but Anja wasn't sure what could've caused injuries like that- other than a fire. Either way, Thanos deserved to suffer.

It wasn't until Rocket went over to the sliced off Infinity Gauntlet and kicked it over that the severity of the situation hit. The gauntlet was burnt as well, the metal melted in places. But what was the most jarring was the fact that there were no stones in it. The Infinity Stones were gone.

"Oh no," Rocket muttered.

Steve shared a glance with Natasha before he looked at Thanos incredulously. "Where are they?"

Thanos panted and grunted, in obvious pain between his missing arm and Carol's arm wrapped tightly around on his throat.

"Answer the question!" Carol demanded, tightening her grasp on his neck ever-so slightly.

"The universe required correction," Thanos stated, gasping for air. "After that, the stones served no purpose, beyond temptation."

"You murdered trillions!" Bruce yelled. He pushed Thanos back, clear out of the grasp of his teammates and onto the floor as the ice from Anja shattered about him.

Anja brought her hands to her side, keeping the ice idle just in case it was needed again. It was hard to say with Thanos where this was headed, missing an arm or not, and she needed to be ready.

"You should be grateful," Thanos mused before Bruce punched him in the face again.

"Where are the stones?" Natasha asked again.

"Gone," Thanos admitted with a smirk. His voice was taunting them, even though he was incapacitated. "Reduced to atoms."

"You used them two days ago!" Bruce yelled.

"I used the stones to destroy the stones," Thanos continued, unfazed. "It nearly... killed me. But the work is done. It always will be." He sat himself up a little straighter. "I am... inevitable."

Anja felt her heart sink with the news of the stones' destruction. The hope of getting Loki, Layla, and the others back... down the drain. The little glimmer of hope she clung to was gone, and now it no longer mattered. They were never coming back, all thanks to Thanos and his twisted beliefs. A lifetime without her favorite people by her side. The rage built inside of her as she fought back tears, the ice flurries around her hands intensifying.

"You're a real piece of shit, you know that?" Anja hissed, blasting Thanos in the face with ice, much like she had back on Knowhere. Impulsive, sure, but he had taken everything from her, and what little self control she had left had long abandoned her. She wanted him to pay for what he did. Whatever torture she unleashed on him would be nothing compared to the hell she would now have to endure for the rest of her life.

Thanos didn't respond, much to her dismay.

Instead, Rhodes tried to be a voice of reason. "We have to tear this place apart," he stated, although there was a bit of panic in his voice. "He-he-he has to be lying."

"My father is many things," Nebula muttered, stepping through the shadows. "A liar is not one of them."

Spencer sighed. "He's not lying." Anja assumed she must've used her powers to know that.

"Ah, thank you daughter," Thanos expressed. Nebula looked down, the uncomfortableness obvious on her face. "Perhaps I treated you too harshly."

From the corner of her eye, Anja noticed Thor tense up so she diverted her attention to him. His eyes filled with rage as he lifted his hand to summon Stormbreaker. In one swift motion, and before anyone could protest, he raised the ax and sliced Thanos' head clear off, sending it flying across the room. The Titan's limp body fell to the floor with a dull thud as Nebula wiped some blood spatter from her face. It was over. He was dead.

"What... what did you do?" Rocket asked incredulously.

Anja had gotten used to seeing Thor look depressed and defeated over the last month, but even still it broke her heart seeing her once cheerful friend look absolutely broken.

"I went for the head," Thor answered, his voice shaky.

Before anyone could say anything to him, he turned and walked out of the shed aimlessly. Anja knew she couldn't let him be alone, so she shook her hands free of ice before she trailed after him. Anja caught up to him a few moments later, placing a hand on his arm. Thor glanced over at her briefly before looking straight ahead once more.

"Thank you, sister," he said quietly.

"No thanks needed," she replied back.

Thor said nothing more, and continued to walk back towards where Rocket had parked the ship. Anja walked beside him in silence. There was nothing more she could say. She and Thor were enduring the same losses, and she knew there was nothing that could console her. All she knew was that now there was no hope of getting Loki and Layla back, and now she had to prepare for a world without both the love of her life and her best friend. The emptiness was heavy, and even though the setting sun shone brightly in her eyes, the light in her life was long gone. She knew it was always darkest before dawn, but dawn seemed like it would never come again.

*****

Hello everyone! I promised it wouldn't take me 8 months to update again, although I cut it real close at 6 months. Sorry once again for the delay. Things have been crazy since my last update. Lots of health issues, balancing of life with the kids and all that comes with them, work... It's been an ordeal. I think I finally have perhaps figured out a good writing time again, and while I can't guarantee it will be daily/nightly like it used to be, I do think I can make it more frequently than it has been.

As always, thanks for your patience with me. I feel like the last... two years honestly have been the most insane I've ever had. I thought by now I'd have this story (and One More Night, too, for that matter) finished by now, but here we are. Life's weird sometimes.

Hope to have another update up for you all sooner than I did this time!

~arty_writes