Chapter Twenty-Four

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Being alone gave (Y/N) time to think. Time to digest. Time to imagine how she could possibly build Titan from the ground up all over again now that she had not a worry in the world.

The beast was dead.

Her disease was cured.

But something still felt heavy on her shoulders. It's likely she felt like she was being suffocated and squeezed to death due to the immense pain in her hand. However, she couldn't help but think that something else was amiss.

She began to think that Thanos' death was too easy.

He'd died without even a small fight. Stinging words and a large ego filled his final moments instead of trying to defend himself in combat.

Did he do it on purpose?

Oh, come on, (Y/N). That's ridiculous.

Why would he voluntarily succumb to death?

Suddenly snapping the confused woman out of her thoughts, a small breeze blew inside of her shack from the right side. She'd failed to rebuild the sidings of her home a long while ago, which was always something she forgot to do.

As a makeshift bowl slowly propelled itself off of her wooden table, she sighed in annoyance and closed her eyes.

She was thinking too much.

Maybe she'd start scavenging the terrain again and greet herself with some type of familiarity. But what good would that do? She'd still be alone with her thoughts which would make her second-guess every action she'd previously taken part in.

What could she have possibly missed?

The breeze flew in from the right side of her home again and she found herself slowly fluttering her eyes closed, hugging her arms closely to her chest as she tried to soak in what little bit of sun and air she could while Titan was finally finding time to relax. With each exhale, she could feel the planet's tension begin to subside; the air felt calmer, pure even. A gradual sense of serenity blanketed her, the (E/C) of her eyes fluorescent and exquisite as she revealed them to her home. 

Why did Thanos want to kill all of this? 

She could see Titan in a different light now. No creatures could take it away from her. Thanos' wanderers will have disappeared after news of his death made its way throughout the cosmos. That mustn't have taken long. Since his untimely death, (Y/N) had failed to notice anyone or anything visiting. Coming to terms with that put her in a state of tranquility.

The disease had been eradicated.

Anything after would be a cold. 

"Strange, you need to head home," Tony commented. Ever since Strange had heard and seen (Y/N), the idea that Thanos could've been masking himself as the last remaining Titan just to lure the Avengers and the Guardians wouldn't leave his head.

He knew it sounded insane.

That didn't make any sense.

He'd heard Thanos screaming.

The possibility of Thanos being able to conflict reality in such an extreme way didn't seem possible; he'd need the reality stone for that and, as far as Strange was concerned, the mutant never once used it as he stepped on Titan. He couldn't have. The girl didn't give him enough time to react. He couldn't have known that she still made the world habitable, but something about his directness to (Y/N)--even though he knew both the Avengers and the Guardians occupied the same space--something about it made him believe that (Y/N)'s existence wasn't as big of a secret as she originally thought it was.

"Other parts of life know she exists," Strange mumbled, his eyes glued to the ground as his chest rose and fell with increased levels of anxiety, "Thanos knew she was going to be here. That's why he didn't attack us," With tired eyes, the mystic looked u at the young teenager and billionaire playboy staring down at him in confusion, "Don't you see? There's something still wrong."

Tony sighed and instinctively let his right hand fly up to the bridge of his nose. A small bit of pressure relieved itself from his fingertips and he could only be thankful that Strange had given up the perception that (Y/N) was actually Thanos.

"Maybe you should focus on helping fix the mess in New York," Tony suggested, "I'm sure Wong would love to have you back by now."

An irritated expression became naked on Strange's face. He couldn't believe Tony was blowing off a break-through. What if he'd discovered something life-changing? What if this was the beginning of new technology or new life that the human race had never seen before?

However oblivious Strange wanted to think Tony was, he wasn't at all. He was trying to get Strange to return home so he could guard the sanctum again. Somewhere in his head he knew Wong could handle guarding New York for just a little bit longer by himself, but Strange had been on Titan for way too long and had quite literally let the planet get into his head. Tony couldn't understand why Strange couldn't get passed the facts that thing were finished. Thanos was gone. There was nothing to worry about.

"I'll go back with him, Mr. Stark," Peter chimed in, "Aunt May is probably worried sick anyways."

"How are we even going to get back?" Strange spat, annoyance and irritation evident. It was dripping form his tongue. 

"The ship," Tony stated rather matter-of-factly, "What do you mean how?"

"It's not even fixed. It's been demolished for weeks and nobody has-" 

"I'd look again if I were you." 

Strange turned and, to his surprise, the ship was intact. The only things noticeable about the previous damage were the indentations on the siding of the ship; metal caved inward and he could tell where Tony had attempted to bring it out again. 

"Is this what you've been working on the whole time?" 

Tony nodded, crossing his arms with great defiance as he looked over his finished work, "Yep. I took it upon myself to find a way to get Peter back home and," He looked to Strange, a rather playful expression on his face, "I guess you, too." 

Not in the mood whatsoever, Strange rolled his eyes and walked forward toward the opening of the ship. Seeing as though the entire spectacle had been built in spherical form, it had taken Strange a moment to find the entrance. Once discovered, he called after Peter who did not hesitate to give Tony the smallest hug and then board the ship again. Standing just before the massive hunk of metal, Tony watched as the burners ignited and lifted the machine up in the air. As he watched on, he couldn't help but feel incredibly proud of himself. There was no way he was going to be able to fix the entire ship, but he fixed it enough to where at least Peter would be able to return home safely. Strange could use his sorcery to get to the Sanctum in New York, if need be. 

As the ship traveled farther and farther from Tony's vision, he noticed just how quiet Titan had gotten. 

Knowing he and (Y/N) were the only ones on Titan stilled the discomfort in his chest. He would not have to fight. He would not have to defend. His sole purpose for staying on Titan was to watch after (Y/N)--even if that made little to no sense, he felt it was necessary. At least until her hand was healed. 

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