Naomi listened closely as she was guided throughout the ship's corridors. Around her, there was only the sound of her guides footsteps and her own, but deep under the floors, Naomi could hear the yelling and screaming of a hundred voices. Thanos was headed to Earth with a small army. She had hoped that once he failed to retrieve the Soul Stone, Thanos would head immediately to Earth to battle, however the titan brought them both back to his ship, before promptly banishing Naomi to a cell, where she was presently being taken.

She hadn't expected a roommate, however. When the barred door shut behind her, Naomi took in the battered form of Dr. Strange, who stared back at her morosely. She took note of the empty Eye of Agamotto strung around his neck. Thanos had the time stone. Naomi sighed, rubbed her temples, and stalked to one of the cell walls, sitting down against it. Stephen remained standing, watching her curiously.

"I still trust you, ya know?" Naomi shrugged. Stephen's eyes widened, but only barely.

"You might be the only person who does." He responded, clasping his arms behind his back. Thanos had told Naomi that it was Stephen who led the titan to her, and now she could only assume that the avengers knew about it. Naomi wondered what Tony thought of the affair, a sharp pang in her heart from thinking back on everyone else. They likely had no idea if she was alive or dead, and blamed Strange for it. She could only imagine Loki's reaction.

"Doesn't matter now." Naomi said, "what's your plan?"

Stephen nodded, raising an hand to hold the Eye of Agamotto. "I gave up the Time Stone to Thanos's crony- cracked under the pressure." He gave a wry smile. Naomi returned it, knowing that Stephen would have never caved under torture, Infinity War had proven that. He was stringing Thanos along like a fool, even if it landed him in a cell.

"So now Thanos has the Time and Space stones," Naomi thought aloud. "But the Avengers should have the Power and Reality stones, not to mention the Mind stone was...?" Naomi looked to Stephen for confirmation.

"Destroyed by Wanda Maximoff." He nodded.

"Good." Naomi smiled. "Since Thanos only has the Black Order and a small army with him, the Avengers should be able to take him down." She played with her fingers, trying to downplay any anxiety she felt. There was still a million possibilities as to how this fight could go down, and she couldn't guess at how many of them ended in a win for Thanos. Nothing Naomi, or any of the Avengers had done so far could stop Thanos from obtaining all of the stones eventually, only delaying his progress and rushing him into the final fight. With the Time Stone, Thanos could easily revive the destroyed Mind Stone, just as he had done in Infinity War- and with Gamora alive, the Soul Stone was still within his grasp.

Naomi's expression scrunched as different scenarios flitted through her mind, trying to imagine how everything would pay out on the battlefield. Because in the end, the MCU always ended with a fight. She sighed, massaging her temples again. It had been a long day.

"For now, we wait. When the ship lands, we'll move forward." Strange decided, crossing his arms. Naomi nodded in agreement.

"I trust you."

Stephen looked at Naomi with a familiar expression. She recognized it as the look he gave her back on Earth, when he had looked forward into the future using the Time Stone. Stephen stayed silent, and so did Naomi.

--------------

-On Earth-

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The complex was a mess. All SHEILD staff and other non-avengers had been long since evacuated, which only left various superheroes darting about the facility in last-minute preparations. Shuri and Tony had received a notice that Thanos's ship had entered Earth's atmosphere, and quickly gave instructions to everyone to suit up and meet out on the lawn. This left the heroes in a state of staggered preparation, as some had arrived to the facility in full battle gear, while others- Tony- had lounged in sweatpants until the last minute. T'Challa, for example, was able to dress in the Black Panther suit in seconds with a tap of his necklace. Sam, who had been gearing up with Bucky nearby, was vocally impressed.

"Good to see you still got the cat suit man!" Sam cheered, adjusting the straps for his Falcon wings. Bucky glared at him to keep quiet, but Sam had stopped being intimidated by the man ages ago. T'Challa raised a brow at the comment, and for the life of him Sam still couldn't tell if the King was amused or annoyed.

"Your name should be the Parrot instead of the Falcon, if all you do is talk." He countered simply, and walked away with Okoye following, a smirk on her usually stoic features. Sam's mouth dropped open in shock, turning to Bucky with a shit-eating grin.

"I think kitty likes me." Sam laughed.

"I don't," said Bucky, even if he couldn't completely keep the smile off of his face. It was hard to be serious around Sam Wilson's infectious personality, and though he would never admit it, Bucky was grateful for that.

Across the room, Shuri called out, "Brother, stop trying to roast Tweety bird!" Beside her, Groot bursted out into laughter, and under his mask Peter turned red trying to contain his own laughter. Even if he was friends with a princess, laughing at a king was not something Peter felt emotionally ready to do.

Tony, who had paused his conversation with Thor to watch the exchange, turned back to the god after chuckling at the teams antics. "Right, so you all set?" He asked.

Thor nodded, settling the Infinity stone containers in his arms delicately. Tony had tasked him with hiding the stone suitably, as apparently Tony hadn't put the Space Stone in a good enough spot. The Stark blamed it on not playing enough hide-and-go-seek as a kid. Either that, or a traitorous wizard.

"I will not fail you." Thor grinned assuredly. Tony winced, and pinched the bridge of his nose. Thor didn't seem to notice the man's hesitation, and promptly turned around to waltz out the room to God knows where in the complex. Tony watched as Loki followed behind Thor closely, noticing how the raven-haired man kept eyeing the boxes. He hoped it would be alright, and that Thor would stop Loki from pulling anything, but to an extent, Tony didn't care. Naomi had clearly trusted the trickster the last time he saw her, and despite himself, that was good enough for Tony.

In the midst of the chaos, heroes ducking in and out of the room, the Guardians yelling at each other again, and Steve giving his second inspirational speech of the day, Tony tilted his head up, imagining that somewhere up there, Naomi was giving Thanos a piece of her mind.