Hidden on Titan (Infinity War x Fem!Reader)

Chapter Twenty-Five

It was evening and (Y/N) found herself wandering into the city center again. Her broken hand was held tightly to her chest, slung up with wool she'd grabbed from another dilapidated house and tied around her neck to keep it propped. Walking through the city where she could faintly remember an overpopulated amount of people traveling to and from work, school, or leisure outings. She could faintly remember the sound of children, her own age at the time, laughing and dancing about while young men played harpsichord tunes their fathers had passed down to them for generations. She could remember the smell of something sweet wafting at her from every direction. The middle of the city had always been so busy and the scent attracted children from houses and houses away.

"They try to lure you in with their pastries," Her mother used to say, "They'll lure you right in and give you all of your favourite sweets!" 

At the times her mother used to say that, she could never differentiate between whether or not that was something she was supposed to be afraid of or excited for. After the countless times her mother would scurry her off into a building that smelled exactly like dessert, she realized there was no need to be afraid of delicacies. 

For just a moment, (Y/N) stopped abruptly in front of a broken laboratory. Letting out a small sigh, she closed her eyes, letting the dry winds whip passed her face as she attempted to recollect a time where her home didn't resemble that of Earth's deserts. She could faintly remember the sky, how it always resembled the same blue of her mother's eyes. Her father's sly compliments suddenly poured into her head allowing the tiniest smile to drift across her lips. 

As if Titan could suddenly bring her parents back to life, she opened her eyes and only viewed but a small haze of time in front of her; a glimpse at her past. The way her mother smiled up at her father, a gentle hand resting against her daughter's back as she pulled (Y/N) in close. Distance was unfamiliar to their family. It was most likely the reason why she was so sensitive to touch. She'd always been that way, for as long as she could remember. Wrapping bandages around her hands when she threw tantrums flew her into a world of sensory deprivation. She needed to feel things at all times. Probably the same exact reason why she never found herself attracted to living inside of a broken building or why she was so keen on breaking her hand to make sure Thanos was never allowed back into the universe again. 

"Do you think they meant to make him feel like an outcast?" 

(Y/N)'s eyes fluttered closed, a sigh falling out of her mouth as her exhaustion became evermore apparent. 

"He was a mutant, Tony," She mumbled, "This was Titan. He was outcast because he was different." 

"And why not you?" 

"He didn't let my family live long enough to become outcast." 

The air hung heavy momentarily.

Of course that was the case. Why wouldn't it have been? Her parents had more than likely been well-known throughout the whole city, but Thanos hadn't let the people live long enough to figure it all out. How could they? They had history on her family, had history on his - everything was right in front of them but they were on the brink of extinction long before she'd even been born. The only person searching for a resolution was the one who brought the genocide in the first place. 

"You could be home by now," (Y/N) turned away from the building in front of her and instead stared at a rather exhausted human being, "Why are you still here?" 

He shrugged, "I couldn't leave you in this state. What kind of creature would I be if I did that?" 

"Human." 

A soft scoff came from Tony, almost as if he had the audacity to be offended even though he knew what she said was true. 

"You have no reason to be here. I can take care of my home on my own again. Go take care of yours." 

"I'm sure mine doesn't want to see me as much as they want to see you." 

She shrugged, shaking her head in the process, "I have no desire to visit Earth." 

"With all the tech the U.S. is going to uncover from this invasion, I'm sure Earth would have no problem visiting you." 

Sighing, (Y/N) turned back around and looked up at the building again. She was trying to think of any way possible to keep people coming from Earth to Titan to disturb the peace she fought for. With all of the labs and libraries, she could've easily suggested handing over texts and technology so they wouldn't have to visit. But what would that do to her home? What would that do to her as her own mutant? It would invalidate everything the Titans had worked so hard on prior to its own destruction. Handing over textbooks and technology would make Titan highly susceptible to cloning. She couldn't be okay with that. 

Visiting Earth would have to be a miserable compromise.

"I'm a weapon," She stated matter-of-factly, turning back around to eye Tony right in the face, "They'd use me, wouldn't they?" 

"I don't-" 

"Your home is not a stranger to chemical weapons or otherworldly technologies. I'd be giving them leverage." 

"To what?" 

Could she say it? Could she really tell a human being that every weapon their home contracted had a means to end something somewhere else? She knew of their destruction. They acted on impulse; dropped bombs on places that killed thousands of civilians; used their "intelligence" as a threat when a surrounding country wanted to somehow "threaten" them. 

She'd been alive for over a hundred years and as terribly overpopulated and poverty-induced as Titan was, (Y/N) had never seen a planet cave in on itself so much before. Earth was eating itself alive from the inside-out and humans never did it any justice. 

"I'd be an experiment," She muttered, "Your government wouldn't allow me to walk freely. I'd be monitored at all times. I'm a threat."

"You really think so lowly of my home?" 

She inwardly-chuckled cynically, "And you don't?" 

As much distaste as she had for his home planet, she could understand why he wasn't quick to bash it like she was. That's where he was born, where he grew up, where he made a name and a life for himself. How could he bring himself to believe and say the same thing(s) she did? 

"It might be better in the long-run if you just complied with me," He said, crossing his arms as he stared at her. He was obviously annoyed.

"You'd make me anyway." 

"That's not entirely true," He raised his right hand up, wavering it in the air like he's trying to physically dismiss her statement, "I think in the end you'd find a way to do it, regardless."

She cocked her head and raised her brows in confused, "Why do you think that?" 

He shrugged, "You can either willingly come with me or come to terms with the fact that you will be probed and prodded your entire stay by my government." 

"How do I know you won't be sending me to the same place?" 

"You saved my life. Keeping you hidden would probably be in my best interest." 

"For fear of what?" 

Tony decided he'd close the distance between the two. He took a step forward and stood right beside her, arms crossed as he looked at the building she'd been observing before. 

"You killed Thanos. Why should I believe it would be any more difficult for you to kill me?" 

Somewhere deep down, she knew she should've been offended by such a statement. But some part of her was telling her not to be.

She was a threat, a power worth being afraid of.