Hidden on Titan (Infinity War x Fem!Reader)

Chapter Forty

Her crying was incessant. Even after Vision left the lab, her eyelids felt heavy due to exhaustion and the inevitable desire to go back home. She'd been thinking about it for quite some time and couldn't understand completely why she'd even agreed to go to Earth in the first place. What was she going to gain from that? What was Titan going to gain from that? As long as she'd been there, nothing had been solved. Nothing had changed. Titan was still baron, in need of her presence so she could somehow continue to help it grow into the planet that she had once known.

But if that had been the case, if she'd really been doing anything to make it better, why had it remained the same for all these years? Her home was still laden with dry, orange sand and rock. The sun blanketed a planet that had only known destruction and chaos. If her presence had ever been genuinely important for its progress, why was it still broken?

The basement grew heavy with the same melodious cry. The black tile on the floor seemed to suck up every ounce of her despondency as it grew louder. She was aware of the fact that she was being disruptive, but out of all the times she found herself crying, not once did anyone in the tower make an effort to see what was wrong with her. How was she to know that Vision had been aware of her weeping? She could've never heard his footsteps on the floor in the hallway, or the door when he would slide it open to check on her every once and awhile. He was soft and seemingly muted every time he'd ever entered the lab. The last thing (Y/N) paid attention to when her mourning was louder than her curiosities was who entered and exited.

But her mind was loud in the moment. Loud with the reality of Vision's contrasting demeanor to the one she'd grown accompanied to upon first arrival. His presence felt cold, distant, and brooding in every sense of the word. She could only assume the way he held himself was different because of something Wanda had said or done. Not knowing her as well as the others did, of course, made her assumptions just as invalid, but (Y/N) couldn't help but think that way. Anybody would if they would've had the same first encounter with Wanda that she'd had.

Wouldn't she have heard about it, though?

As much as talk spread around the tower, why hadn't (Y/N) heard of fuss between Vision or Wanda? Or, better yet, why hadn't she even heard about the meeting that was supposed to be taking place? Surely, Tony would have let something slip between the many diagnostic tests he'd ran on her and the mumbled conversation he made to both himself and F.R.I.D.A.Y.

Why was it all just now taking place?

Sitting up, (Y/N) shrugged off one of the blankets Tony had laid on her in the morning. She'd been staring right at the same doors Vision had walked out of the entire time she'd been attempting to process such information. It fascinated her how little sense everything made to her if she took the time to think about it. How often had she done that since she'd arrived on Earth?

Not often at all.

She'd spent so much time in her room and in the basement since Tony had started examining her that she could barely reminisce over the time the billionaire had decided to let her understand his home. In fact, she hadn't thought about it very much at all. Not even after it had happened. She'd spent so much time distracted by Strange, Peter, Vision, and Tony that she'd failed to remember what it was like to feel happy somewhere that wasn't her own home.

In retrospect, what had she gained from that one instance? Did she gain a greater understanding of the surrounding worlds? Was she finally able to comprehend the importance of her triumph that had been saving the entire cosmos?

Not at all.

From her time on Earth, she'd learned nothing of its people. Even if she had made small observations previously and had absolutely watched the people in the morning as a routine when she'd listen for the traffic out of her bedroom window or observe them with her own eyes - none of that proved to her why her presence on such a planet was so important.

None of it.

Had it made sense?

Teleporting all the way back only to miss the home that she left behind?

But was it really home in the first place? Had she actually made a difference with its progression? If that had been the case, would it really still be orange? Would it still be dry? Would Wanderers from all across the galaxy still attempt to loot it? And for what?

Titan had nothing.

It'd had nothing since she was a child.

Since the clearing.

Since Thanos.

She hadn't made a difference at all.