Hidden on Titan (Infinity War x Fem!Reader)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

For a few moments, there was silence. Potent silence. Not the kind of silence that always filled the atmosphere when (Y/N) had been alone. No, rather silence that made the air taste sour, made her skin crawl. She was on edge, and for a few short, sweet minutes, she couldn't fathom why.

Until she heard the thrusters on Tony's nano-tech suit in the distance.

Until he was right in front of her face again.

"Please tell me that was just a prank," He breathed out, chest heaving as he pointed behind him. His eyes were basically forcing (Y/N) to say yes.

"Maybe."

Tony let out a sigh of relief as he allowed himself to feel gullible for a minute. He knew it wasn't a joke. He knew she was trying to get him to leave her alone. But he wasn't having it. He would take her back to the U.S. if it was the last thing he did. She'd be a valuable asset to the Avengers and could even help produce new types of technology. More than anything, Tony didn't want her to be seen as an experiment. Her knowledge was beyond any type on Earth. As terrible as observing her would be, would it really be all that awful to her? 

"You don't have to be afraid to come with me," Tony said after a few moments of silence, "They won't prod you." 

(Y/N) sighed and shook her head, crossing her arms against her chest yet made no verbal effort to respond to him. 

He could try to persuade her until he was blue in the face that she wasn't going to be some test subject, but the reality of it was the fact that she knew that's exactly what would happen. No matter how much reassurance Tony tried to offer, it would not eliminate the inevitability of Earth using her brain and background to somehow advance their broken world. 

Broken world...

At the beginning, it hadn't registered to her that the rest of the universe was going on normally. The biggest threat to all creatures across the cosmos had been defeated by the second most powerful being with little to no force. His death had not been a challenge which should've been a reason to celebrate; to suddenly be happy and remain that way. But the rest of the galaxy was pretending like it'd never happened. Even Tony's nonchalance took her back and made her wonder whether or not the death of Thanos was real. 

Did he already have the reality stone but altered her world so much that he made it look like he didn't? 

As (Y/N) stood in silence, Tony decided to step beside her and place his left hand on the small of her back. Her facial expressions made it apparent that she needed some type of physical reassurance; needed something to remind her that everything was fine because he was gone.

The only problem with his kind gesture was the fact that she knew his brain couldn't comprehend her theory. It'd been hard for him to believe that Thanos was even defeated in the first place let alone trying to understand that the death he'd witnessed might not have been real at all. 

But she was immensely powerful. Trying to confess her question would only make it harder for both Tony and the remainder of the galaxy to understand. But how was she supposed to solidify his death and promise it to be true if she wasn't even sure about it herself? 

"Come with me," Tony said abruptly, breaking the silence, "Come to Earth with me. We need someone like you." 

"For what?" 

(Y/N) watched his hesitance in his body language; his hand had been quickly removed from the small of her back and suddenly crossed against his own chest. 

It wouldn't do him any good to lie. 

"Technology, information on the galaxy, protection," Tony sighed, suddenly feeling guilty, "I said I would do whatever I could to maintain your safety, but it'd be impossible to keep you a secret. You saved the entire cosmos. People are bound to be intrigued." 

"Earth is not my home. I have no desire to protect it." 

"What about the people?" 

A sigh full of annoyance slipped out of her lungs and she shrugged, "They have you. I'm from another world. Me attempting to protect creatures that have little to no significance to me would be useless." 

"(Y/N), you're all alone out here," Tony gestured around him, "There's nothing for you to protect. You can't rebuild an entire civilization on your own."

She stared at him, bewildered that he'd made such a comment. She couldn't rebuild an entire civilization on her own? 

Something inside of her felt sure of Thanos' death as she repeated what Tony had said in her brain.

The one who'd rid of Thanos couldn't build a world from the ground up?

"I'm not sure what you're well-known for on Earth, but," A cynical chuckle slipped its way out of her sarcastic mouth, "Your kind know nothing - understand nothing."

As offended as he should've felt, Tony let her words sting him lightly; something about the sharpness of her tongue and the power in her hands persuaded him to take it easy. The last thing Earth needed was to lose a defender. Regardless as to whether or not (Y/N) was going to come with positive light or with compromised coaxing, he needed her to come with him. Earth needed her. The bounds to which her knowledge could reach were endless. The Avengers would benefit greatly from her arrival, the U.S. would, Earth would - everything would benefit from her presence.

A stale stillness fell upon the two individuals. (Y/N) had taken note to the small, yellow orbs of light that had begun gathering across the barren wastelands of Titan. Small memories of the land before Thanos' destruction suddenly hazed into her reality, eliminating the bleak orange that coated her home. She could remember the smell of green vegetation all throughout the planet. Adults working in fields with their partners, children tickling Titan's skin as they filled the atmosphere with giggles and imagination. 

"You take me to your home," She muttered, arms crossed as her attention no longer lingered near Tony's silhouette, "But this is still mine and I will come back."