Collateral Damage

3:30

Tony's hands shook nervously. Pepper and Happy had left about 2 hours ago, and the base was completely empty except for the Avengers. A 4 mile radius was cleared out around the compound. 

Steve came up behind him in his suit, tightening his shield, and he put his hand on Tony's shoulder. 

Cap's voice was low and rather comforting, "You ok?"

"Always," Tony flashed a cocky smile and Steve smirked. 

Tony was glad Steve had come back, and over the past couple days he was slowly feeling his resentment and anger fade. He still hadn't forgiven him completely, but because of the current circumstances, Tony was relived to have his old friend back, joking around and talking to each other like the old days so many years ago. Even their jabbing banter was balancing out, less hate, more friendly teasing.

Steve and Tony just stared out the window for a while, the 2 leaders giving themselves a well earned moment of silence to just calm their thoughts and focus. 

Tony couldn't help but think about Peter. He hated the plan they had executed because he knew if it had convinced Thanos, which it had, it would have no doubt convinced the kid too, who was probably beating himself up over the fact that Tony had "gone rogue" and agreed to put the universe at risk just to save his life. Tony just hoped the kid wouldn't do anything stupid before he got to him. 

"It's gonna work Tony. We can stop him," Steve assured him, reading his thoughts. Tony realized he was very tense, his fists clenched, his mouth a straight line, his gaze dead ahead. Guilt must have been radiating off of him. 

Tony nodded slowly. "Thanos hurts one more hair on that kid's head and I swear to God..." He grit his teeth and took a shaking breath. Then he turned, shoving his hands into his pockets to fake a more casual saunter. He raised an eyebrow, "You sure you guys can handle him while I go get Peter?"

"We'll be fine Tony. Just get Peter out of there," Cap shook his head, "That kid has gone through enough already."

"I'm worried," Tony admitted, shrugging. "What if he uses him against me? That kid Rogers...he's my weakness. Thanos knows that. I just hope he's too egotistical...too set on his prize to drag the kid into this."

"If he does then we'll stop him before anything happens. Together," Steve said firmly and Tony shoots him a small smile at the familiar phrase. Steve straightens, still staring out the window, "We have to. Look, I know I don't know the kid that well, but Peter's strong. And he's clearly family. I'm the outsider here but even I would still lay my life down for anyone on this team. That includes you. And that includes Peter."

Steve laughs lightly, "Man that kid's got a pair. Willing to die to save the world? That's one brave teenager. He'll find a way out of this, I'm sure of it."

Tony gave him a small smile and then trilled his lips; he'd had enough of the sappy talk and he punched Rogers in the chest. Then he shook out his hand mockingly, "I better get my suit on so it doesn't hurt when I punch. Don't tell the team."

"What, that I'm stronger?" Steve grinned. 

Tony turned around and walked backwards down the hallway. He spread his hands, "Everything special about you came out of a bottle."

Steve laughed and waved him off, "Put on the suit."

"Yep," Tony spun around and double tapped his arc reactor.

When he turned the corner he rubbed his hands together, trying to calm his nerves and swallow down a panic attack with a confident smile, "Showtime FRIDAY. Show me something!"

"All systems go boss. I've set all weapons to target mode and I have drones on the perimeter. Special forces are on stand by and Mrs. Potts is on speed dial, her request."

Tony rolled his eyes, "Of course. Time?"

"3:36."

Tony took a deep breath, "An hour and 30 left. Is the team ready?"

"Most of them yes. Would you like me to announce the meeting time of 4:30 on the landing pad?"

"Yeah go for it," Tony said, "And check barn door protocol, just do a test run."

"Doors clear, testing in progress."

Black panels slid, covering all the doors and windows, coming together with a rumble that shook the entire building. Then they raised, golden sunlight flooding it and brightening up the compound again. 

"Looks good. Everything else is in order? Backup generators, the extra suits?"

"Yes sir," FRIDAY responded. 

Tony swiped his screen with his hand, selecting suit models. "Do me a favor, move these 4 to the far wing, just for insurance reasons. 2 safe houses."

"Suits relocated."

"Thanks," Tony said walking briskly down the hallway. He fired up his boosters and flew the rest of the way, flying off the balcony and dropping to the lower level. 

He walked into the kitchen and saw Nebula sitting at the table, turning an apple in her hands.

Tony's suit melted into his arc reactor and he grinned, reaching and flipping it right side up in her grasp. "It's an apple."

"Is it ripe?" Nebula asked in her raspy voice. 

Tony raised an eyebrow, "Yes? Why would we get an apple if it wasn't- never mind. Yes. It's- you can eat it."

Nebula looked at it carefully one last time and then took a bite.

"Not disgusting?" Tony asked.

"Not disgusting," she agreed. 

Tony sat down across from her. "You ok? I mean, about seeing your father again. I know it's...weird? Hard? I don't really know the right adjective to use."

Nebula looked down at the apple, narrowing her eyes. "I have another chance to stab him in the heart and twist until he is no longer breathing."

Tony sat backward in his chair, remembering her character traits. Only a tad bit sadistic. Hey, what's wrong with a change around here, anyway? Stabbing Thanos was good after all. He shrugs and gives her a thumbs up, "Whatever gets you up in the morning, I'm game."

"How about you?" she asked after a second of silence. "Seeing the boy? How will you react?"

Tony rubbed the back of his neck. "Worried I'll break. There's nothing I wouldn't do for that kid ya know? If Thanos told me to stab myself in order to save the kid, I'd do it.  I'd do the same for Pepper, Rhodey, Nat, all the Avengers. Except maybe Steve. We hate each other," Tony joked lightly. "But Peter...he's...different. I feel more responsible for what happens to him." He backtracked, rubbing a hand through his greying buzz cut and bringing it down over his tired face.

"What happened to him and what's happening. I doubt Thanos is going to go easy on him just 'cause we had a deal."

Nebula's face shows he's probably correct.

Tony sighs, "Thanos said he'd bring the kid, but he didn't say in what condition. Whatever he does to him," Tony growls, "I'm doing 50 times worse."

"You love Peter," Nebula said suddenly. 

Tony was taken back by this statement- question...thing. He pondered it and finally nodded, "He's family. He's practically my son. You know, on titan, right before Thanos took him he said he loved me. That was the last thing he said before he was pulled away. I guess the kid was desperate he would never see me again, I don't know... but I heard it and I was in shock, it all happened so fast... I never got a chance to say it back. I kick myself every second for that."

"My sister, Gamora," Nebula said sadly. "I loved her. We tried to kill each other. Multiple times. But I loved her." Her eyes were narrowed, but it seemed as if she was reliving some pressing moments with her sister. Then she said simply, "We never said 'I love you'. Not once."

Nebula then looked down, her raspy voice getting softer and her body language showed her closing up due to sadness and grief. "And now I won't get a chance to, but I am somewhat comforted because even though we never got a chance to tell each other...we both knew."

Nebula stood up and put a hand on Tony's shoulder, offering him a small, rare smile as she walked by, taking the apple with her.

Tony pondered her words, and realized she was right. He stood up and cleared a plate someone had left on the table. Setting it down gently in the sink and running the water over it, something caught his eye. On the counter behind the cups was a picture of him and Peter and he slowly pulled it out, running his thumb along the frame. He smiled a bit at the kid's wide grin, Tony's arm around his shoulder protectively. 

A long time ago Tony had trusted no one. Rhodey, Pepper, and Happy had slowly slipped in. The rest of the Avengers had been on an outer ring and Tony was fine with the 3 in his inner one, vowing not to let anyone else get close to him so he wouldn't put any more loved ones in danger. Then along came Peter, zipping right past Tony's barriers and embedding himself in the center of Tony's circle, becoming one of the members of his true family. 

The reckless kid had stepped in to protect him, and in doing so had gotten himself kidnapped. No matter what the kid said when they finally talked about it, it was Tony's fault. It was his fault Peter was in this mess, so it was Tony's responsibility to get him out. 

"I love you," Peter had said.

Tony shook his head, still wincing he hadn't given the kid anything to hold on to, no promises, no nothing. He had just been sucked away before Tony could even say one sentence to him, let alone respond to the thing he had hoped Peter would say for the longest time. Of course he loved the kid, who didn't? But their relationship was different than that with the Avengers, or even his Aunt.

He hoped Peter knew he would have said it back. Tony took a deep breath, closing his eyes and promising himself that he would not allow what had happened to Nebula and Gamora happen to him and the kid. He would get Peter back safe, and tell him himself, face to face, with no Titan making the kid scream in pain, not some quick chat while they were caught in the middle of the war zone. He would get the chance to tell him that he loved him too, that he was a son to him, and he would finally give him the long overdue hug that he had attempted and failed many times.

"I'm coming kid. Hang in there Pete. I'm coming," he said firmly. 

4:16

Peter took a deep breath, simply standing at the helm next to Thanos, his hands cuffed together in front of him with massive chunks of metal Thanos had crafted with the power stone. Peter's left wrist was definitely broken from the impact of the two metal pieces crushing his hands together, and the right one felt sprained. 

They had detached from his main ship and it was then, when they had floated into space, that Peter limped around to the back of the circular room and saw how massive, dark, and terrifying it was. That's where he had been held captive for the past couple days? Dang. He had more balls than he thought.

Thanos was simply waiting now as the still pretty huge ship flew through space. They would arrive at Earth at 4:59, because apparently Thanos didn't want to be late.

Right now the titan was sitting in his chair, and Peter had no where else to go, so he watched the sky, trying to enjoy the stars and the galaxies that he had always wanted to see. In his perfect reality there wasn't a titan who had a habit of torturing him sitting a couple feet away. But Peter took what he could get. It really was a pretty sky. A beautiful universe, which made it so twisted that anyone would want to screw it up- or correct the supposed 'cosmic unbalance' as Thanos had said. 

Peter was in a surprisingly good mood despite the circumstances. Peter felt lighter, sprouting jabs and taunts at the titan whenever he could, barely feeling the pain that Thanos caused him when he went over the top. Peter thinks it's either because he's closer to Tony than he's been in the past couple days or because he had finally cracked. He was more worried about Tony than his own safety, kicking himself for everything he's ever done wrong, feeling it had some sort of impact on what happened.

It was his fault that Thanos now knew where the Avengers were and was heading to Earth, to complete his plan and murder half the universe. If he went through with it, it would be all Peter's fault. Peter desperately tried to keep those thoughts down, the shock factor helping a bit as he tried to flick off the literal weight of the universe on his shoulders.

Peter shifted his weight, limping forward to catch a glimpse of a shooting sky. He hadn't spoken to Thanos since he was screaming from the pain caused by the gaunet. Peter had lay, trying to contain the pain and not cry, letting out small groans and whimpers on his side on the cold floor for a very, very long time. Then he had sat up and when Thanos didn't notice, Peter stood. Thanos noticed that, and made eye contact with him and Peter flinched, afraid he was going to be dropped to the floor. Instead Thanos pointed to the open window and started watching the stars. 

Peter swallowed back a comment that he needed to go fly over the cookoo's nest because the titan was certifiably insane. But what else could he do but look out the window? It wasn't like there was a bathroom in here. Peter had asked Thanos if he went to the bathroom, which resulted in Peter getting thrown into a wall. He guessed that was a no. 

Peter's ankle was broken...that too. That had happened when Thanos had decided to go into his mind again, tearing into every memory he had with Tony. Peter tried so hard to block him out, and he actually succeeded, which only angered the titan more. Peter had done a flip, stupidly, trying to kick Thanos across the face. Unfortunately his foot made contact and the titan threw him across the room and then slammed hard down on Peter's ankle in retaliation. That had been about 4 hours after the Avengers had ended the call. 

Peter hoped they were ready...he really did. Thanos was a whole new villain, more dangerous than anything he had ever faced. He had personally experienced how brutal, ruthless, and downright scary Thanos was. It was almost like he enjoyed making Peter scream and squirm, which made him want to throw up.

Peter flinched, feeling the energy of the power stone coursing through him again, and he panicked for a second, hitching in a breath before realizing it was all in his head. Peter's shoulder slumped and he tried to calm himself down. The reality stone had messed with his head to much, making him see things that weren't really happening. Hallucinations, side affect. He had had visions of Tony coming into save him at least 8 times, and either disappearing, leading him in a circle, or Thanos killing him, despite the titan never moving from his chair.

Peter tried to ignore them now, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to steady his breathing. The visions would fade until they stopped all together and Peter suddenly felt a surge of pain, almost making him drop to his knees. He grit his teeth, swallowing a gasp, determined to not let the titan hear his small noise of agony. He wouldn't give him that satisfaction. Between the overload of pain, nervousness, dehydration, starvation, sleep deprivation- man he was screwed up- and his spider ADHD? All clumped together? Not good. Really not good.

Not to mention that electricity or whatever it was that had been coming out of that stone and causing him the most pain out of everything Thanos did to him...Peter knew that it could not be good for a human. He figured 5 shocks at least for someone normal. He wasn't normal but then again, Thanos tortured him with it at least 5 times every couple of hours, his whole body turning to fire, pain flooding his walls Peter had tried so hard to build up, ripping pain filled scream after scream from his throat and leaving him crumpled on the floor for at least 30 minutes, unable to move. That had been repeated for the past 3 days. God...had it been 3 days? Time had blended together, just a mess of pain, guilt, and fear. 

Peter looked down for once and saw the cuts and prodded the bruises with his bound hands, he realized he was in worse shape than he had dared to set his guess at. Karen had been down from the beginning, and Peter had no idea where his mask had gone. He could be dying from internal bleeding by now, he had no idea, and the titan definitely wouldn't care. 

There was a sudden pressing question and Peter suddenly turned around, blurting out, "They gave you the coordinates. Why don't you just kill me?"

God, he was an idiot. If Tony was here he would have smacked him. Peter still remembered the gentle fury in Mr. Stark's eyes when he hissed calmly, "Peter? Shut up." 

Peter gulped, cursing himself internally,waiting for Thanos to realize he was right, flick his finger and that would be it. 

Instead the titan's eyes crinkled in amusement and a small smirk crept onto his face. "Because I am a man of my word."

"Right," Peter scoffed. "You're a saint."

"Tony betrayed his friends for me. I respect him for that. I hope they remember him when I am forced to kill him," Thanos said, his sadness almost sincere.

Peter's vision went red and he shook his head violently, taking a step on his broken ankle, adrenaline pumping so hard that he was able to storm forward and stay standing. He narrowed his eyes, his nostrils flaring with fury. "You're not hurting Tony," Peter said harshly, losing all control over the anger in his voice. 

"You're either brave or idiotic," Thanos told him. 

"I'd like to say a bit of both," Peter hissed. 

"We could have done great things together Peter," Thanos said, looking down at him in pity.

Peter scoffed, "I've told you before. Save the Darth talk."

Thanos spread his hands, pointing to his side, "You could be up here as a prince of the universe, not as a bargaining chip."

"I'm not a bargaining chip," Peter spat. 

"You're collateral Peter. Collateral damage. Caught in the crossfire. Weak and scared. Useless," Thanos said lowly, narrowing his eyes at Peter who glared right back. 

Peter raised an eyebrow, "Yeah but Mr. Useless over here fought you, made you bleed, and beat your stupid mind games. I'm still alive aren't I?"

"Only because I am allowing it," Thanos hissed. 

That set off a lightbulb in Peter's mind. Thanos had been bragging this whole time about how he could kill Peter with a flick of his finger. Peter had pissed him off to the breaking point and he had done nothing except torture him. He could have killed him if he wanted to, but he never did. Suddenly his past question didn't seem so idiotic, but more like a challenge. Thanos had had every opportunity to kill him, and ever took any of them. Why?

Peter spread his hands, "Then un allow it. Kill me. You won't."

"Never have I met someone who's asked for pain," Thanos said smugly, raising the gauntlet. 

Peter spoke quickly, "See, I didn't ask for pain. I asked for you to kill me."

The purple light died and Thanos lowered the gauntlet in confusion. 

Peter smirked, "You won't do it. You can't do it."

"I can make you scream," Thanos snarled. 

"Oh I know you can, but you won't do the one thing you've been holding over me for the past 3 days. You won't kill me. Why not? And it's not because of your word because that is a whole bunch of jack to me. You won't do it. You can't kill me. Why?" Peter demanded. 

Thanos didn't answer. He just pulsed with the gauntlet and Peter was tossed backwards into the wall. He cried out in pain as his head smacked against the rough stone, sliding to a stop. But then grit his teeth and rolled onto his hands and knees, wincing as he got to his feet. Peter took a deep breath, staggering a bit, limping forward. If this bastard could get inside his head, he could get inside Thanos'.

"I know why," Peter said breathlessly, wiping his mouth of blood from smacking his jaw against the ground. "Because you are convinced you're doing the right thing and you know i'm innocent. You know I'm just collateral, that I'm just a kid and you are so desperate to prove to the world that you aren't the bad guy, you're terrified of becoming a monster you want to destroy. News flash buddy, you're a monster no matter what. You've already killed innocent people-"

"You don't know me," Thanos snarled, standing up and towering over Peter who suddenly had to lock his legs or he would fall over. 

"I don't," Peter admitted. But then he seethed, "But I know guilt and I know what it's like to try and do the right thing but then life gets in the way and you have to make choices- choices that haunt you for the rest of your life. They keep you up at night. You are reminded of your failures and the weight of everyone telling you that you can't do something or degrading your efforts. I know that feeling. But you- you're a different story."

Peter's voice was shaking in anger not fear and he took a daring step forward, limping on his bad leg, but it was somehow enough for Thanos to take a surprised step back as Peter continued viciously, "You killed your daughter. You've killed innocent men, women, and children. You are so deep in your own lies, trying to convince yourself that what you're doing is right that you've dug a hole you can't get out of. So what do you do? You go with it. You continue to lie, convince, manipulate even your own thoughts into proving to yourself, the only person left who believes in you, the only person you're still able to convince that you are not a monster, that you are not a villain, that you are doing this for the right reasons." Peter was breathing hard and he cocked his head, "but are you really?"

"Would Gamora want this?" he asked, "Would your planet? Your family?"

Thanos raised his gauntlet with a roar and Peter yelled over him, his voice cracking, reaching a louder sound than he ever had, "You blast me and you're proving me right!"

Thanos made furious eye contact with him and let the purple burst fly. It went right past Peter's neck and into the far wall and he released a breath, trying not to shake from how close that had come. 

Peter forced himself to keep going even though every single piece of common sense he had left was screaming 'IDIOT!'

"They would be disgusted with you," Peter spat. "Deep down, you're disgusted with yourself. You've turned his tall tale into your life style, your own little world. You're jealous because part of you knows that by killing half of the universe, people won't be happy, they'll be sad for they're loved ones, they'll cry, they'll miss them because they loved them. And that's why you're doing it. Because no one has ever loved you, or cried for you, or cared about you. Because you're sick. Insane. A psychopath."

Peter couldn't breathe he had wasted all of his breath creating emotion and hate into those couple sentences. He gasped quietly to regain his oxygen, feeling blood in his palms from how tight he had gripped his hands. Thanos was looking down, for once silent, the ship silent, nothing but Peter's heavy breathing and the small groan of the engine. The gauntlet hanging limp at the titan's side.  

"That's why I'm not dead," Peter said, his whole body trembling. His voice shook as well, cracking with emotion and strain. He lowered his voice but not the power behind the words and stepped even closer to Thanos. "You want to prove that you are good, that your word means something. But it doesn't. You've ruined yourself, and there's no going back."

He stopped talking and silence overtook the ship for a solid minute. Peter's hands were cramped within the medal but he didn't care. He had shaken the titan. He had done what Thanos had done to him- gotten inside his head. He had done it-

Then suddenly there was a massive pulse of purple light that slammed into him and Peter went flying backward, slamming into the wall and crashing to the floor. He groaned in pain and suddenly he was in mid air again, tossed into the ceiling and then slammed into the floor. His head smacked against the ground and Peter cried out in pain, trying to get to his feet, his vision blurry. 

Thanos was standing over him and as Peter tried to scramble away the titan put a foot on his chest. Peter kicked and struggled, trying to push up on it, looking at Thanos in fear and hate. 

"You remind me of Gamora," Thanos said slowly, looking at Peter with some kind of twisted fondness. He pressed harder and Peter felt a rib snap. He groaned in pain, gritting his teeth.

Thanos bent down to speak to him, putting more pressure on the foot on his chest and Peter wheezed, trying to breathe, squirming beneath the grip.

"She brought out my good. I loved her. And she loved me."

"She didn't love you," Peter gasped and a dark expression came over the titan's face. He let up his foot and grabbed Peter by the shoulder, probably dislocating it from how fast he yanked him up. Peter saw the fist coming, and knew blocking it would do no good. It hit him in the face and Peter's head whipped to the side. He coughed up blood, letting out a cry of pain. Thanos let him drop and Peter crumpled to the ground.

"You killed Gamora," Peter choked out angrily, pain coursing through his body to the point where Peter could barely stay conscious. There was blood in his mouth, like iron to his taste buds. 

"And not a day goes by that I don't regret that," Thanos snapped, before his voice became gentler, "but I can't change what I did. She was a fighter, like you. My daughter. My little warrior. She defied me, hated me even, despised me," Thanos chuckled, "just like you."

Peter snapped his head up and scrambled backward, his bad shoulder buckling beneath him. "I'm not your son," Peter spit in disgust. 

"You don't have a father," Thanos said and Peter's face contorted into hurt and pain. But for some reason, the jab didn't seem like it was meant to have an intention of hurt. It wasn't meant to cause him any suffering. It was a fact, a plead almost, like a reasoning.

"You're messed up," Peter said weakly. 

"The universe could correct itself with you by my side Peter," Thanos said

Peter shook his head, still backing up as the titan loomed over him. There came a time where he couldn't crawl backward anymore. Peter hit a wall and he forced himself to his feet, standing off against Thanos who's brow knitted. He straightened with difficulty due to his busted ribs and raised his head, glaring at the confused titan, speaking through gritted teeth.

"I do have a father," he hissed. "His name is Tony Stark."

Thanos smiled to himself, shaking his head. "Tony Stark," he said thoughtfully. "The man who betrayed the universe for one boy, but will lose all the same."

Peter scoffed, "You don't know him then."

Thanos smiles, "Maybe not. I guess we'll see."

"I guess we will," Peter snarled. 

Thanos stood and walked over, Peter tensing until he realized the titan was walking past him. He started to relax, turning his head to watch him go past, when suddenly his spider senses tingled and he reacted too late. Thanos' arm lashed out and grabbed his bad shoulder, dragging him backward. Peter cursed his sluggish, pain ridden spider sense and cried out, struggling and kicking as Thanos pulled him across the floor. Peter tried to stand but every time his ankle buckled beneath his weight from the weird angle Thanos was holding him at. 

Peter's feet skidded across the stone and he thrashed, his bound hands useless in front of him. Thanos tightened his grip and Peter whimpered. "You're not holding up your end of the deal," he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut from the pain as he arched his back, his shoulder feeling like it was going to pop out of his socket at any point. 

"Oh I am. I'm just taking Tony out of the fight," Thanos said lowly. 

Peter looked up at him, trying to bend his right knee and push himself up with effort so he could stagger with the titan, still unable to compete with his strength. "You're cheating. You know Tony is the strongest-" Peter cried out but kept talking despite the pain, "you know he can hurt you- you're worried- that's not- fair-"

Thanos opened the door at the end of the hall and tossed Peter into a cell, walking in after him. Peter slammed into the ground, crying out in pain, coughing up more blood, choking on another scream as he tried to get to his feet. He wobbled when he did, immediately collapsing back onto his hands and knees, too weak to stand. He settled to leaning on his forearms, trying to steady his breathing, his knees trembling to give out and let him fall flat on the ground again.

Everything was spinning. Peter only felt pain, blood, and tears. Dust littered the ground, and littered him since he had been thrown across it. The darkness threatened to swallow him up, the ringing in his ears overwhelming him. Thanos' voice broke through the barrier of unconsciousness, unfortunately keeping him awake. Peter just wanted this to be over.

"Life isn't fair. Fate isn't fair. But I won't let anything stand in my way. You're right. I'm afraid of becoming a monster, but if I have to jeopardize my morals to achieve my goals, then I must."

"Jeopardize your- buddy, those were jeopardized a long time ago-" Peter laughed, earning a kick in the stomach that flipped him into a wall. 

Peter didn't get up from that one. He was breathing in short gasps, bloodied and bruised, barely able to see from a swelling eye. He coughed weakly and crumpled onto his side, the metal binding his hands scraping along the floor. Blood painted the stones around him and Peter found it hard to breathe and in panic he looked at the gauntlet but the stones remained dim. What normal breathing was now, was the same torture Thanos had first done to him, seconds before he had gotten here. 

Peter blinked, trying to gain his bearings and not tip over. He let out a weak groan, his head drooping to the floor, sweat covered bangs falling in front of his bloodshot eyes that struggled to remain open.

Thanos loomed over him, "I enjoyed getting to know you Peter. I hope- that when this is all over, you are one of the ones left standing to see the paradise."

"You know," Peter whispered, spitting out blood and trying to make his voice sound a little less of the whimper it was, pain overriding every single sense he had. "If my hands weren't encased in metal, I'd totally- give you the middle finger," he gasped out weakly. "But since they are, I think I'll settle with screw you."

Thanos smiled.