The reaction was instantaneous. Thanos stopped Naomi's sword in its tracks as a dagger flew toward the right side of his neck, and a revolver blast aimed straight between his eyes. Thanos blew away the dagger with the Space Stone, freezing the blast in place an instant later with the Time Stone.

"THANOS!" Naomi screamed, no other actions coming to her mind. Her eyes were frenzied as she stared up at the Titan, wondering if she had swung too late, and damned them all.

"Naomi!" A voice sounded on her left, turning her attention toward Loki who stood with another knife at the ready, his expression a mixture of relief and panic. A shaky smile eased onto Naomi's face as she gripped the sword's hilt tighter. Thanos noticed the movement, and ripped the blade from her grasp with a jerk of his hand. Defenseless, she acted on pure instinct, swinging a right uppercut straight to Thanos's jugular.

The blow was blocked, of course, with the accursed blue power of the Space Stone. The stone's power wrapped around her fist, spreading over the rest of Naomi's body as Thanos froze her in place, grunting with effort as he tightened his grip on the gauntlet, using the Time Stone to freeze several more repulsor blasts and tiny knives. Reversing the Time lock, the Titan sent the attacks back at their owners, forcing the two men to dodge, and poking a momentary hole in their offense.

During that split second of time, Thanos faced the helpless Naomi and closed the Infinity Gauntlet around her throat.

"NO!" Tony roared, aiming his palms toward Thanos's head as the armor around his forearms expanded into larger guns, energy crackling as his repulsor beams powered up.

"I wouldn't do that," Thanos hissed, unfreezing Naomi and tightening his grip, "if I were you." Naomi instantly panicked, clawing at the metal against her neck, trying to force his hold to give. She could still breathe, so he wasn't trying to strangle her just yet. But that didn't give Naomi much hope as he pulled her in towards him.

"You! You heinous savage, let her go!" Loki screamed, brandishing his Reality Dagger wildly, but abstaining from using it. Naomi was too close to Thanos, acting both as a hostage and human shield for the behemoth. Thanos did not reply, loosening the gauntlet for a second so he could roughly turn her around with his free hand, forcing Naomi to face the battle field. She winced as the metal tore at the skin of her throat, keeping her hands clenched over the gauntlet.

"Hey, hey kid. Long time no see." Tony said. The suit turned his voice robotic, but Naomi could hear the fear underlying his tone. She stared at his mask, eyes wide as she silently called for help. Her fingers scraped against his fist, but Thanos refused to budge, shaking the Gauntlet as a sign for her to stop, rattling her neck against the metal. Shivering, Naomi lowered her arms, allowing them to tense up at her sides. Her instincts screamed at her to run, because fighting clean didn't work, but now escape wasn't an option. Naomi could only stand as still as she could- and pray that she would make it out alive.

"Let's be civil." Thanos said, his words visibly angering Tony, who sunk further into his battle stance. Loki entered Naomi's field of vision, cautiously edging around to Tony with his eyes trained on Thanos's neck. Naomi probably should have found his murderous expression off-putting, but considering the situation and everything she knew about the man, it was almost comforting. Thanos continued, "The Reality Stone for the prophet... Naomi."

She grimaced when her name came out of his mouth, the Titan simply repeating what Loki had shouted to her earlier. Thanos knowing her real name was hardly the most of Naomi's concerns, but hearing him speak it left a foul taste in her mouth.

Loki kept his gaze on Thanos, holding up his dagger- fingers tracing over the red stone embedded in the hilt. Naomi wanted to laugh at the realization that Loki had no doubt stolen the stone from under the Avengers noses, but she was afraid doing so would tighten the hold on her neck, so she abstained. However when Loki ripped the stone from his blade, Naomi instinctually started toward him, pressing against the metal and literally choking out, "No!"

Thanos immediately increased the pressure on her neck, a guttural noise emitting from Naomi's throat. Her hands shot back up to the gauntlet, her nails scraping against it desperately. After a second, Thanos reverted his grip, allowing Naomi a slightly larger margin of breathing room. The display caused Loki to hesitate, the Reality Stone lying still in his palm as his eyes searched Naomi's. His gaze asked her what he was supposed to do, but Naomi didn't know. She was just as lost as everyone else.

Over the field, the battle was nearing its close. Almost the entirety of the Outriders had been defeated, the last stragglers being picked off by a team up of Peter, Shuri and Groot, who worked surprisingly well together despite having met only a few hours ago. The rest of the Avengers teamed up on the remaining Black Order members, who quickly fell under their sheer numbers alone. Naomi heard Thanos grunt in displeasure as he realized that his options were running out. Armed with only two Infinity Stones, he was no match for the combined force of all the gathered Avengers.

"The stone!" Thanos growled.

"Wait! Wait, just, let's all calm the hell down, alright?" Tony mediated, raising his arms out in a peacekeeping gesture, turning between Thanos and the rest of the Avengers, who had begun to converge on the small group. Among them, Steve stepped up beside Tony, evaluating the scene with a grim expression.

"Naomi?" He asked, panting slightly but still steady as ever. She offered a weak smile as a greeting, not willing to risk Thanos's wrath by speaking out again. Naomi looked over the crowd, her stomach stirring in excitement despite her fear as she looked over the heroes she had not yet met, and the ones she already had. She smiled at Thor, who stood beside the Hulk, each one looking both concerned and ready to jump into battle. She caught the eyes of Natasha, who nodded at her, and Sam and Bucky, who were muttering to each other while glancing between her and Thanos.

"No one needs to get hurt here." Steve spoke, eyeing Thanos with clenched fists. His weight shifted between his feet, clearly itching to fight but holding himself back. Naomi's brows drew together, and she swept her gaze over the crowd again. The heroes were ready to fight, nearly all of them stood in fighting stances, eyes locked on Thanos. Naomi shifted her own weight, a strained breath escaping her lips as the thought occurred to her: if she weren't there, there would be nothing stopping the Avengers from defeating Thanos right here, right now. There was only one factor standing in the way, and that was Naomi.

Distantly, she heard Thanos's voice give a sharp retort to Steve, but Naomi paid no attention as she noticed, for the first time, one Avenger who stood apart from the rest of the group. Dr. Stephen Strange stood a few feet away from the outskirts, staring straight at Naomi with a somber gaze. She watched in desperate confusion as his gaze pointedly flickered from her eyes to the gauntlet around her throat. Look down, he silently instructed.

Naomi complied warily, noticing for the first time that the bottom of her vision was filled with a faint blue glow. With the Gauntlet closed around her neck, the Space Stone sat just under her chin, the stone itself barely visible as she strained her eyes. Naomi looked back to Stephen, eyes wide and confused. He nodded to her, clasping his hands behind his back. His expression was steadfast, only a hint of sorrow visible. The thought occurred to Naomi once again that if she were not in the way, the Avengers would likely have an easy, casualty-free win.

Naomi's heart clenched with fear, lips parting slightly as she stared down Stephen scouring his face for any sign that there was another option.

He down at the Stone, then to her. Only one way.

Naomi looked away from him, sweeping her eyes over the Avengers. She was aware of their voices crying out, some argument being had, but the thrumming of her own heartbeat drowned everything else out. Naomi's breathing hitched in her chest, her fingers pressing dow on the gauntlet so hard her knuckles turned white. Her knees began to feel dangerously weak, and she broke out in a cold sweat.

But then she saw Gamora. The green woman had her sights dead set on Thanos, her posture relaxed yet threatening. Naomi remembered telling this woman that her adoptive father had killed her for the Soul Stone, and Gamora's dead body flashed across her mind for an instant. next to Gamora stood Peter Quill, in turn standing beside Mantis and Drax. She thought of their confusion when they died. Naomi's eyes fell to Rocket, who had been left all alone, his family stolen away without a goodbye. Naomi's mouth tightened, her eyes turning over to where Vision and Wanda stood, their sacrifice to stop Thanos ringing in Naomi's mind. She saw T'Challa, who would go to any length for his people but had nevertheless been ripped away from them. Her gaze flickered, and she saw Bucky, who had only just begun healing, and Sam, who died alone.

Naomi's heartbeat slowed down.

She looked at the youngest of the group, the three heroes who fought with everything in them despite only being teenagers. Her eyes darted between Shuri, who had more potential than she knew what to do with, and Groot, who had been raised by a group of dysfunctional aliens and loved them all the more for it, even if he didn't show it. Naomi looked at Peter, who had been so, so scared when he died, begging not to go.

Naomi turned to Loki, who stared back at her with endless concern and fear, as though he could see the gears turning in her head, and sensed where they were going. She remembered the expression on his face when Thanos crushed his neck.

Naomi steadied her footing, and lightly relaxed her grip on the gauntlet. She took a deep breath, and gave a tight smile.

"Hey." She called out, ignoring how her throat pressed uncomfortably against the gauntlet as she did so. The attention snapped toward her. Naomi swallowed, her fingers twitching.

"It's okay."

Naomi's hands pressed over the Space Stone, its power immediate ripping through her fingers, blue light cracking through her skin as if it were glass. The power spread down her arms, pieces of her skin flaking off and disintegrating as the force ripped through her.

Loki opened his mouth to scream.

Black and blue clouds burst from the stone, enveloping Naomi's body as the power destroyed her.

An instant later, Thanos was left with with an empty hand, and one less Infinity Stone.

Naomi was gone.