Fate Wills Them So

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"Marcus, you with us?"

Thor's frown deepened when his friend hadn't responded to the sound if his voice. He looked over at Rocket Raccoon who was piloting the pod they were clustered in to Nidavellir — a neutron star and one of the Nine Realms, home to the Dwarves. It was there that Thor hoped to retrieve a Thanos killing weapon. Nidavellir was the birthplace of his beloved hammer, Mjölnir, as well as the Sentinel's Sword of Light. Marcus hadn't spoken since the Guardians of the Galaxy had saved them from drifting off into space. It was as if his mind was elsewhere. Roaming the galaxies. Searching for something. Anything to fan the flame of hope that was beginning to die out inside of him.

Rocket lifted his shoulders in a shrug when Thor glanced at him and turned back to face the front. "The living legend isn't exactly in a talking mood, I presume." Rocket said, then on a quieter note added, "Kind of a bummer..."

"I am Groot?" Groot mumbled, eyes glued to his gaming device.

Thor laid back in his seat and sighed. "Marcus, you must focus. This isn't the time to hide in your head. It's one of the things you and Ana have in common."

Rocket stiffened when he caught the reflection of Marc's eyes glow on the windshield in front of him in response to Thor's words. Thor hadn't moved when Marcus leaned forward, hands curling into fiery fists on his knees. Their eyes met and Marcus clenched his jaw.

"I can't see her."

Thor didn't even have to ask who Marcus was referring to. His brows furrowed when Marcus let out a heavy exhale like he had been holding his breath ever since they got on the pod. As the air escaped his lungs, the light in his eyes and hands faded away. "Ana will be fine." Thor assured, tone softening. "She's never not been fine as long as I've known her."

"Your version of fine is not dead." Marc retorted. "My mind is a web of new and old memories collapsing onto each other. It's exhausting and it makes it hard to focus. I just want to know if she's okay. That is all."

Rocket spun in his seat to face the two. "I still can't believe that you're her father. It explains a lot about her. Like the fact that she's a grade A fighter. She's stronger than most of the bad guys we've been up against. That includes a literal planet."

Marcus sent Thor an apologetic look to which the Thunderer waved off, "Try to rest. You're old and tired and I need you to be at your fullest for when we face Thanos." Thor told him.

"You sure you're up for this particular murder mission?" Rocket asked, concern lining his voice when he noticed the looks on their faces. They were worn out. Physically and emotionally.

"Absolutely." Thor forced out a laugh while Marc stayed silent, eyes brimming with tears. "Rage and vengeance, anger, loss, regret. They're all tremendous motivators. They really clear the mind. So, I'm good to go."

"Yeah, but this Thanos we're talkin' about... he's the toughest there is." Rocket said.

"Well, he's never fought me." Thor replied.

"Yeah, he has." Rocket pointed out.

Thor corrected his words. "He's never fought me twice. And I'm getting a new hammer, don't forget."

"It better be some hammer." Rocket murmured.

Marc dropped his head in his hands when the overwhelming feeling of pain, loss and regret bubbled up inside of him. He could still see Heimdall with Corvus' glaive in his chest. Loki's limp body as it reverted back to it's frost giant form of iced blue after Thanos had choked the life out of him. And the Asgardians he had known as kids were floating dead in space, just waiting to burn up into stardust. Marc rubbed his closed eyes with his hands, unaware they were flickering with his signature cosmic blue. He was having trouble controlling his powers, and that worried him. Marc wanted to avoid another Bagalia incident where he levelled an entire city block.

Thor stared at Marc as he began to fall apart. He thought the Sentinel would be used to losing things over the centuries serving as Eternity's personal soldier. He lost his family. His homeworld. His powers. His friends. His wife, daughter and identity all in the same night. Seeing him on the verge of tears struck a cord in the God of Thunder. It echoed in his head, knocking the wind out of him. Fate made it so Marcus would arrive at the point where he was needed again. Fate made it so the Sentinel would rise in the time that so many would fall. Fate willed him like a sword. Sharpening him with vengeance. Forging him with pain. Strengthening him with loss. Making him the perfect weapon against a rising villain.

"You know, I'm fifteen hundred years old." Thor voiced. "I've killed twice as many enemies as that. And every one of them would've rather killed me, but none succeeded. I'm only alive because Fate wants me alive. Thanos is just the latest in a long line of bastards and he'll be the latest to feel my vengeance. Fate wills it so." Thor declared, saying out loud the words he associated with Marcus. "The Sentinel has returned just in time for the war. Fate found him and brought him back to us in our time of need. And right now, I need you, Marcus. We all do."

Marcus lifted his head from his hands and looked to Thor. He extended his hand out and Thor took it, clasping their hands together. "You have me, son. Always."

"And what if you're wrong?" Rocket questioned. "About Fate. About the Sentinel returning for this very moment. What if we can't stop Thanos?"

"If I'm wrong, then... what more could I lose?" Thor replied, wiping away a tear that slid down his face. He got up and walked away from Rocket, wanting to avoid anymore harsh truths on his part.

"Well, if Fate does want you to kill that crapsack, you're gonna need more than one stupid eyeball." Rocket opened his pocket and handed him a small orb.

"What's this?" Thor took it and examined it.

"What's it look like? Some jerk lost a bet with me on Contraxia." Rocket climbed back up into the captain's chair and faced the front once again.

"He gave you his eye?" Marc smiled at the humour of it.

Rocket glanced at Marcus with a smirk, "No, he gave me a hundred credits. I snuck into his room later that night and stole the eye."

Marcus chuckled as Thor peeled off the eye patch on his right eye. "Thank you, sweet rabbit." He said before widening his eye and pushing the eyeball inside his socket. Marc grimaced at the pop sound once the eyeball was positioned correctly.

"Oh, I would've washed that." Rocket told Thor, "The only way I could sneak it off Contraxia was up my—" Before Rocket could finish his sentence, an alarm blared through the pod. "Hey, we're here!"

Thor stood next to Marcus and whacked the side of his own head, trying to focus his new eye on the view. "I don't think this thing works. Everything seems dark."

"It ain't the eye." Rocket mumbled.

Marcus edged forward, frowning at the vast darkness surrounding their ship. Where was the blazing neutron star? "Something's wrong. The star's gone out. And the rings are frozen."

Whatever Rocket had hoped to see when he reached Nidavellir vanished like the light of the neutron star the great forge once held. Rocket navigated their ship to the star's surface, finding a big enough clearing to land. The four of them exited the ship, with Marcus elevating into the air to scout the area for anything that could tell him what had caused this. Thor watched as Marc's aura of his cosmic power trailed behind him, leading them through streams of light and illuminating the forge. With Marc's light, Rocket could make out the endless amount of clutter among the machinery.

He twisted his lips to the side, "I hope these dwarves are better at forging than they are at cleaning. Maybe they realized that they live in a junk pile in the middle of space."

"This forge hasn't gone dark in centuries." Said Thor.

Marc, although he couldn't be seen by Thor, added to his statement from behind a large wheel of metal. He reached out and placed his palm flat against the chilled surface. "I dread the reason why it's dark now."

Rocket stopped walking and looked up at something. A sense of uneasiness settled inside of him at the possible answer as to why Nidavellir was in the state of darkness. "You said Thanos had a Gauntlet, right?" Rocket called out to Thor and Marcus.

"Yes, why?" Thor responded as Marcus joined them.

Thor walked over to see what Rocket had found while Marc landed behind him, brows furrowing. "It look anything like that?" Rocket pointed up, directing their gaze to the object placed on a high mantel.

Marc felt his stomach drop as his mouth ran dry. He whispered, "Blue blazes... exactly like that."

A mould, the only one still in a single, untouched state, was in the shape of a large glove with six sections, five on each knuckle and the last placed in the centre of the back of the glove. The Infinity Gauntlet.

"I am Groot!" Groot exclaimed, alarmed.

"Get back to the pod." Thor commanded. But it was a moment too late. A giant with long, unshorn hair and a dark beard appeared out of thin air, kicking Thor across the forge. He turned, slamming Rocket and Groot against the workspaces. Marcus was left standing and he looked up at the giant as he advanced on him, recognising the look of fear and anger in his eyes.

"Eitri?" Marcus muttered out, tilting his head.

Eitri growled at the man and lifted his arms, ready to strike him down. Thor rushed to Marc's side and held out his hands in the air, "Eitri, wait! Stop!" He bellowed. The giant paused at the sound of Thor. The Odinson repeated, "Stop." In a calmer tone, seeing that the Dwarf was registering his words and stopping in his tracks.

Eitri the Dwarf, keeper of the forge at Nidavellir, maker of Mjölnir and the Sword of Light, saw Thor and lowered his head, "Thor?" He breathed out, unsure if it was truly the Asgardian he was seeing. Thor nodded, chest heaving from he hit he had taken, and lowered his arms.

"What happened here?" Thor asked.

Eitri's face contorted from painful memories and grief. "You were supposed to protect us. Asgard was supposed to protect us!" He roared.

"Asgard is destroyed." Thor said, eyes casting downwards.

Marcus flied up to Eitri. "Eitri, take a breath, old friend. It's alright." He voiced softly, wanting the dwarf to drop any hostility he had against them. They weren't there to hurt him. Eitri needed to see that and trust them.

Eitri leaned closer towards the man hovering in front of him, trying to make sense of him. He saw his face, and pictured him in a time long ago. "N-no... it can't be..." He stuttered.

Marc nodded at him. "It is. I'm here. I always was. Just had a little trouble getting back up again, Eitri."

Eitri collapsed against his equipment and sunk down to sit on the floor, struggling to breathe. He lifted his head, making his face clear to see. Marcus in the meantime helped Rocket and Groot to their feet while Thor stood in front of Eitri.

"Eitri, the glove. What did you do?"

The giant dwarf looked around his rig with shame and regret in his gaze. "Three hundred dwarves lived on this rig. I thought if I did what he asked, they'd be safe. I made what he wanted, a device capable of harnessing the power of the Stones." His voice grew ragged and full of defeat. "Then he k...then he killed everyone anyway. All except me. 'Your life is yours,' he said, 'But your hands... your hands are mine alone.'"

Marc clenched his jaw, mourning the loss of Nidavellir's greatest blacksmiths. "I'm so sorry."

Thor was only growing more and more frustrated from hearing just how many innocent lives Thanos had taken without any thought. It made him sick. Fuelled his vengeance to the max. "Eitri, this isn't about your hands. Every weapon you've ever designed, every axe, hammer, sword... it's all inside your head. Now, I know it feels like all hope is lost. Trust me, I know. But together, you, Marcus and I..." The Odinson made Eitri's eyes meet his and spoke a vow that stirred in Eitri's heart. It sparked a fire. Fanned the flame of hope.

"We can kill Thanos."

Eitri faced Marcus as if to say, is he serious?

Marc shrugged.

"What he said."

Ana droned out the voices of her teammates as they travelled to Wakanda in the Quinjet. Steve and Sam conversed among themselves on how to approach the hidden kingdom without blowing apart the jet by flying into the wrong spot on their invisible dome. Vision and Bruce were catching up on all the years they've been apart, with Bruce becoming more impressed by the android every time he would explain the experiences he had been through and how he evaluated certain points in his new life. Rhodey and Natasha were trying their best to avoid the topic of Tony's whereabouts, but Ana could see it clear on their faces, they were worried. Wanda, who was sitting beside Ana, was analysing the dark matter in her arm. Wanda's hands were glowing with a dazzling red as she healed Ana's arm one breath at a time.

Ana clenched her other fist when a sharp pain shot up her left arm. Wanda noticed and mumbled out another apology, to which Ana accepted just as quickly. "You're good, Wanda. Just keep doing what you're doing."

Wanda breathed out through her nose. "This is very complex. I don't understand how you've managed to stay awake with all of this dark matter in your system. It must be exhausting."

Ana gave her a side glance. "I can handle it. I can handle a lot more than I used to ever since my father and I were caught in the same explosion of his energy."

Wanda hovered a palm over Ana's hand. "I can feel it. There's something different about you. It's like a..." She shrugged, lifting her eyes to meet Ana's curious look. "I can't explain it."

Ana offered Wanda a soft smile. "Maybe because it's not from this universe."

Wanda chuckled at that. She let go of Ana's arm and sat back without another word, crossing her arms over her chest. Ana glanced at her with a small frown. She looked down at her exposed arm and turned it over. The dark matter was completely gone. She could even feel the cool material of her suit as her forearm lifted from her thigh. Without another thought, Ana opened both hands and summoned the Eldritch Whip. A bright flash of gold light caught everyone's attention, and Rhodey's jaw dropped open.

Ana lifted her eyes and smiled brightly at her team. "Looks like I'm back."

Wanda inched closer to Ana and stared at the magic. "What is that?"

Ana let the Eldritch Whip disappear into thin air and clasped her hands together. "Oh, I've got so much to teach you."

Wanda grinned.

"Should we bow?"

Ana readjusted her armguards before she and Rhodey shared a knowing look while they all exited the Quinjet behind Steve and Natasha. They smiled and Rhodey gave Bruce a nod. Seeing as Bruce had never met with royalty before, his reaction to meeting King T'Challa could be one for the books. Whenever Ana would see T'Challa, a simple handshake or hug would do it since they've known each other for a long time.

"Yeah, he's a king." Rhodey told Bruce.

Ana patted Bruce's shoulder. "Just make sure you're staring him right in the eyes while you do. It's respectful that way."

Bruce nodded along, oblivious to the fist bump Ana and Rhodey shared behind his back.

Steve and T'Challa greeted each other with a friendly handshake. "It seems I'm always thanking you for something," Steve said, to which T'Challa smiled at.

Bruce cleared his throat as he began to kneel, keeping his eyes on the Black Panther while he lowered his torso awkwardly. Rhodey quickly spoke up, "What are you doing?" He asked. Ana pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.

"We don't do that here." T'Challa informed him gently, holding his hands out. Bruce looked over at Ana and Rhodey, silently accusing them. They flashed him a wide smile and pushed him along.

Ana jogged forward so she could walk with Okoye. The two shared a smile in greeting and moved with T'Challa as he led them all to his sister's laboratory. "So, how big of an assault should we expect?" T'Challa asked Steve.

Bruce stepped forward. "Uh, sir. Sir, I think you should expect quite a big assault."

Ana squinted her eyes at the sky. "Yeah, there's gonna be a lot of surprises."

"How we looking?" Natasha asked, wondering what type of defences Wakanda had to offer.

"You will have my King's Guard, the Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, and..." T'Challa's voice trailed off as he noticed Steve's gaze shift to something behind him. Bucky walked towards the group, looking all geared up and ready for war. Ana's eyes softened at the sight of him and she looked at Natasha, who was already looking back at her. The two women had shared a brief yet firm conversation on Nat's part. Ana went to the person she knew she could count on to talk about her boy troubles. To summarise the talk, Natasha had quite literally told Ana to share her feelings while they were still alive to say it.

Bucky looked to Steve with a smile. "And a semi-stable hundred year-old man."

Steve's grin stretched across his face as he brought his old friend in for a tight hug. "How you been, Buck?"

"Not bad, for the end of the world."

It was incredible how much Ana seemed to forget the moment Bucky's eyes found her own. She wasn't exactly happy with the way he made her feel. Heart wanted to beat out of her chest. Palms insisted on becoming clammy. She instantly pressed her hands on the sides of her hips, ducking her head to avoid anyone seeing her face flush. Bucky had caught the colour on her cheeks tint pink, and brought his hand up to rub his jaw, suppressing a grin.

T'Challa guided everyone but Sam, Bucky and Ana into the laboratory to visit his sister Shuri and find a way to remove the Mind Stone from Vision's body. Sam was good at reading Ana's face, and right then, it screamed for him to give her a moment alone with Bucky. He silently sent her a knowing look, and Bucky watched the two with a quizzical frown. They seemed to have a conversation with their facial expressions alone. Sam finally huffed and shuffled backwards, walking towards the Quinjet.

Ana turned to face Bucky with a heavy sigh. "Sorry about that. Hi."