Meg

FOUR

He didn't even listen to me! Ronan was being awful so I put him in his place and I am the bad guy! I stomp down the hall, ripping metal from the wall. The crewmates dive out of the way of the shards of metal swirling behind me. As I reach where I know Nebula is, I send all of the metal into the wall. I don't bother knocking on Neb's door. I just open it with my powers. She looks up startled from her bed.

"Hey, Meg." She sees my angry face and sighs. "What's the matter?" She pats the bed next to her. I jump on the bed next to her and she puts an arm around my shoulders.

"Ronan... and Thanos," Neb nods for me to continue. "When you first left, Ronan tried to trick me into giving him information and I kind of used my powers against him and choked him. Today I was going to ask if I could go with the spies when he was disrespectful so I might have choked him again."

"Meg," Nebula says with disappointment. I continue.

"Then Thanos appeared through the hologram and got really mad and told me I have to listen to Ronan now!"

"It's ok, Meg," Nebula says stroking my hair. "We won't be working for Ronan too long. All we have to do is get the orb." I nod.

"Do you know how Gamora is? I haven't heard from her in little." Nebula shakes her head. I sigh. "She must be busy. Hopefully she's found it." Nebula sighs.

"I'm worried about her. She's seemed really hesitant lately," Neb confesses. "She has been really distant and I don't think she is too happy about the plan with the stones." I nod. "What if she leaves? I have never been without her before..."

"She wouldn't leave us," I say, trying to convince her. The issue is, I'm not sure I am convinced.

~~~

Days pass and still nothing. No communication from Gamora, no word from Thanos and no clue where the orb is. I'm sick of just staying on this ship while others get to come and leave. But, I am not allowed to disobey Ronan. I find myself studying the Infinity stones to pass time. Loki's scepter had the Mind stone which is how he was able to control people. The Tesseract had the Space stone which was how we were able to use it as a portal. Looking back I probably should have realized something was up with how powerful the two objects were but I was only 9 then. I am much smarter now.

I am sitting on my bed researching when there is a knock on my door.

"Come in," I say, not looking up from my book.

"Hey, Meg," Gamora says softly.

"Gamora!" I exclaim, rushing over and giving her a big hug. Gamora glances around the room before she sits on the edge of my bed. I sit next to her. She doesn't look too happy. In fact she looks very sad. "Are you ok?" Gamora gives me a small, forced smile.

"We can't let Thanos get the stones," she says gently. I look at her confused.

"Of course we can. We are going to help him. Did you find the Soul stone?"

"Meg, we can not let him get the stones," she says again with more conviction.

"Gamora, we can't let our morals get in the way. We have a mission to complete. We have a universe to save." Gamora looks at me sadly.

"I should have gotten you out as soon as Thanos brought you. I am so sorry, Meg. He never should have gotten you. This is all my fault," she whispers. "We have to leave. It's not safe."

"Neb was right... You are going to leave us."

"No! I'm not leaving you. We are leaving together."

"Why? Why would we leave? This is our mission. We must save the universe."

"Thanos is misguided, Meg! Please believe me! Getting rid of half of life will destroy the universe, not help it!"

"We don't know until we try." I get up and start to walk around my room, trying to process what Gamora is saying.

"Meg you have to come with me! Please!" Gamora begs, tears run down her face. "No mission is worth your life!" I stop walking and slowly turn to face her.

"My life?"

"I found the Soul stone, Meg. It comes at a cost." I tilt my head and look at her.

"What cost?"

"To possess the Soul Stone, Thanos will need to kill you..." Gamora says gently. She walks over to me and pulls me into a hug.

"He wants to kill me?" I ask, my voice sounds small and fragile.

"Not yet, he doesn't know yet, but he will find out just as I did. Please come with me, Meg. Please." Nothing makes sense. Why would Thanos want to kill me? I'm his daughter. I believe in his mission, its become our mission.

"You're lying!" I spit out at at her. I push out of her arms and march away from her. The room around me starts to shake.

"Meg... Calm down," Gamora says, glancing around scared. She hasn't ever seen me have a fit like this. I haven't had one since New York, years ago.

"You are lying! There is no way Thanos will kill me! He- he- he loves me!" I sob. The book on my bed slams into a wall across the room.

"You're right!" Gamora yells over the commotion of the room. "He does love you! That's why you are in danger!" That makes no sense! Why? Why would he want me dead? He loves me? Tears stream down my face. My power rips into the wall. Metal shards fly at Gamora. She dodges each one. "Please, Meg! Listen to me!"

"He will not! He loves me!"

"I know, Meg! You are the only thing he loves!" My powers stop suddenly. I fall to my knees and Gamora catches me before I slam into the ground.

"The price of the Soul stone is what one loves. You are the only thing Thanos loves."

"He loves you and Neb," I whisper.

"Maybe years ago, but all he truly loves now is you. I should have saved you years ago, but I am here now. I will save you, if you'll let me?" She looks into my eyes. All I do is nod.