A/N: Before I get started, if you haven't read Hidden Heartbeat, I highly recommend you read that first. Seriously.

And now, hiya HH readers! I didn't actually write that other thing I was supposed to write before doing this, so I might have to take a break in the middle of this, but this fic would not let me go. And it'll easily be my longest fic ever (I have zero idea how the Russos are gonna manage all of this in 2.5 hours). So we're gonna be here for a while.

And this DOES contain Avengers 4 speculation based on set pics and filming info and stuff, but I tried to mix it with what I know is blatantly false for the sake of my sanity (it is hard to mess with canon that's not canon yet, which yes, that means there's no Captain Marvel, I have enough to figure out without guessing at the characterization of a character we don't even have a trailer for), so I'm not sure how many potential spoilers are actually gonna be in here.

Fair warning: Yes, this is a fix-it. But it's gonna get worse before it gets better.

***Gamora is also a main character but I didn't wanna put this fic in the crossover section

Gamora fell into peace.

Quiet floated around her, soft and comforting after a lifetime of screams. Shallow water lapped gently at her, just holding her, as warm as one of Peter's hugs. None of her enhancements ached as they usually did. Nothing hurt, actually, even awkwardly splayed as she was in the same position that had ended her life. It was safe there.

After a lifetime of pain, she was free.

"Gamora."

That voice… it couldn't be.

"Wake up, darling."

Then again, she was dead too now. Anything was possible.

Gamora blinked awake. Orange mist stretched around them, from watery horizon to watery horizon. Not a vivid orange like Peter's old ship, but something darker, duskier. It was rather beautiful, actually.

But that wasn't what she cared about.

She cared about the familiar woman in front of her, dressed in the well-worn outfit Gamora remembered in perfect detail. "Mother," she murmured.

Her mother held out her arms, and Gamora melted into them, hiding in her mother's hair. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I shouldn't have screamed."

Mother stroked her hand over Gamora's hair. "It's not your fault, darling. You were just a child. A scared child."

Gamora closed her tears, tears beading at their corners. "I think I still am."

Mother moved back, cupping Gamora's face in both her hands. "No. You have grown into a brave young woman, Gamora. I couldn't be prouder."

"But I lost!" Gamora snapped, tearing away from her mother. "All those years of fighting him, and I gave him everything he needed in a single moment of weakness."

"Protecting your sister is no weakness," Mother rebuked instantly. "Your compassion is your greatest strength. It allowed you to fight back, to find your family. It gave you Groot, Mantis, Drax, Rocket, Nebula… Peter."

A bittersweet smile flickered across her face. "I guess some part of me always doubted it – how could anyone love Thanos's daughter? – but… he really loves me."

"Loved."

Gamora looked up sharply. "What do you mean, loved?"

"He will be gone soon," Mother said. "Him, Groot, Mantis, Drax. Even Loki."

Her heart clenched. "They failed."

"Thanos has the Time Stone," Mother said. "In here, I have seen over fourteen million possible futures, as has the human called Doctor Strange. He alone knows what is coming."

"Wait," Gamora said slowly. "How do you know this?"

"I am… not quite your mother," she admitted. "I have been pulled from your memories of her, but I am merely an extension of the Soul Stone."

Gamora stepped back abruptly. "But… I'm dead, right? This is the afterlife."

"You are within the Soul Stone, Gamora. You are not dead, not in the traditional sense of the word. Nor is anyone else in here."

Gamora scrunched her forehead on confusion. "What?"

A rumble shook the world around them, splashing water onto Gamora's ankles. "No," her mother protested.

"Mother, what's happening?" Gamora demanded, glancing at the darkening mist.

Mother closed the gap between them, grabbing Gamora's hands. "The Stone has a consciousness, but bound within the Gauntlet, it must do Thanos's bidding. But it does not want to. Your sacrifice – he believes it is true love, and therefore he received the Stone. But it isn't true love, and therefore, you have a way out."

Gamora sucked in a breath. "I can save the others?"

Mother smiled breathlessly. "You can save the universe, darling. Not quite everyone, nor will it be easy. But it is doable."

Another rumble shook the ground, this one more of a quake. Urgency shot through Gamora.

"How?"

-MCU-

Overhead, dark clouds roiled, writhing together and screaming to pour out their agony in a torrential storm. But Thor kept that much control over them, rebelling against their need to cry for him. If he let go, if he let the tiniest breeze wind through the trees, if he let even a single drop of rain touch the ground- Loki would be gone.

So he fought. Used his last dregs of strength to say no. To keep guarding the pile of ashes he now laid beside. His fists still clenched around what he'd been holding when Loki faded away.

Around him, some of the others were picking themselves up. Natasha was encouraging Steve. Rhodey was pulling Tony up, Tony gasping in a pain that wasn't entirely physical. Nebula had picked up Rocket, slinging him over one shoulder, the rabbit not even fighting it. Okoye and M'Baku, blank eyes the only sign of their grief, were carefully picking up Vision's colorless body.

Thor saw none of it. Heard none of it. Just held back the storm, the storm he couldn't feel within him, and stared at the dirty, dented helmet lying in front of him.

I'm his victim again.

Victim.

Again.

Loki, Thanos's victim.

Heimdall, Thanos's victim.

Sif, Thanos's victim.

Three-quarters of the surviving Asgardians, Thanos's victims.

"Thor?"

Maybe it was the accent of home, or pure instinct at the simple use of his name, but Thor reacted. Only with a blink.

Valkyrie came to kneel in front of him, careful to avoid the pile of ashes. "Thor, you can't stay here," she pointed out gently, holding out her hand.

It was trembling.

Part of Thor remembered that she had only just started recovering from the other mass slaughter in her life, but he couldn't bring himself to care. "Why?" he rasped. The single word broken beyond repair.

"Because we have to fight this," Valkyrie pushed.

Thor watched Okoye and M'Baku carry Vision off, remembering Wanda's words. He hadn't understood then. But now… "What's left to fight for?"

"Your people," Bruce said, coming up behind Valkyrie. "Humans. Whoever the hell is left."

Thor just lifted one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. "Thanos is done. Everyone left is safe."

"And what if they're not dead?" Bruce challenged.

Thor tilted his hands just enough to see the ashes peeking out from his fingers. Four times. This is the fourth time. "L-" He paused, swallowing. "He wouldn't do this to me. Not now. They're gone, Bruce."

Bruce flinched back from the emptiness in his voice. "When have we ever accepted a loss, Thor? We're the Avengers. The Revengers."

"If we lose, we get revenge for the lost," Valkyrie stated, picking up Loki's helmet. "You helped me avenge my sisters. Now I'm going to help you avenge your brother."

She held out the helmet.

Thor closed his eyes. "I had my chance," he said hollowly, seeing again the image of Thanos stabbing Heimdall in the heart. "And I failed. And Loki died for it. Sif died for it. And what is Asgard left with? A handful of refugees traumatized beyond belief."

He shook his head. "I'm done trying. I'm… I'm done."

He couldn't see them, but he could feel the heaviness in their silence, hear them shifting as they glanced at each other.

"Ok," Valkyrie murmured. "You… you don't have to fight. But- come inside." She moved the helmet forward, until its cool metal touched his fingers. "Please."

He would want his helmet taken care of, Thor thought. Cleaned and fixed.

"Come on, Thor," Bruce urged gently.

Slowly, painfully, he forced his fingers to uncurl. He opened his eyes, letting a tiny breeze weave over his palms, carrying Loki's ashes to the rest of the pile in a graceful little flurry. Then he reached for the helmet, picking it up carefully, tenderly.

As Valkyrie and Bruce led him to the palace, he cradled it against his reluctantly beating heart.

-MCU-

"Thank you," Tony said to the Wakandan doctor as she finished patching up his stab wound. "And… I'm sorry."

She forced a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "You tried," she said, handing him a new shirt. "That is all we ask."

Tony nodded, accepting the shirt and the words as she left him with Rhodey in the palace's guest quarters. "Anything?" he asked his best friend as he pulled the shirt on. Damn, it doesn't even tingle like the Cradle did. Where has this place been all my life?

Rhodey lowered his phone with a shake of his head. "I can't reach Happy, Pepper, or May."

Tony buried his face in his hands, fighting back another surge of tears. "This is not happening," he mumbled. "This is not happening-"

"Hey," Rhodey said, coming over to squeeze his shoulders. "This isn't the end, Tones. We'll get the kid back."

"How?"

Tony looked up, once again flooded by a mess of emotions at the sight of Bruce, standing awkwardly in the doorway. On the one hand, thank god he was alive. On the other… "Where were you, Bruce?"

Bruce winced from the unintentional sharpness in his voice.

Tony swallowed, struggled for control. "Don't get me wrong, I'm damn glad you're back, but- two years. I thought you were dead for two years, Bruce. I kept searching, of course I did, I searched the entire planet repeatedly, but- two years."

"I know," Bruce said. "I- Well, I guess I don't. I haven't- I don't really remember the last two years."

"What?" Tony exclaimed. "Bruce- what the hell happened?"

"Hulk happened," Bruce explained. "He took complete control for two years. He was a champion gladiator on this planet called Sakaar, and he didn't let go until Thor came crashing back into our lives a few days ago and snapped me out of whatever I was stuck in. I had no idea two years had gone by, Tony, I swear."

"Thor," Tony said. "What happened there? Is Loki- was he really on our side?"

Bruce nodded. "Uh, turns out they had an evil older sister their father didn't mention until his death released her from her banishment. She made New York Loki look like a joke villain, Tony – she slaughtered Asgard's entire army, including Thor's Asgardian BFFs, single-handedly, and she had her sights set on the rest of the universe.

"Thor and Loki barely survived her return, with their fight knocking them both to Sakaar, where they met me and Val. Long story short, the four of us and some others you haven't met made it back to Asgard, but we had to destroy the planet to stop Hela. And, yes, Loki was the key to our escape and our victory.

"And then, a few hours later, Thanos attacked us for the Tesseract. He left half of the survivors dead. Hulk fought him-" Bruce paused, a chuckle escaping him. "His cue to attack was actually Loki saying 'We have a Hulk.'"

"Seriously?" Tony said. "He remembered that?"

"He doesn't forget much," Bruce said. "Well… he didn't forget much."

Didn't.

The past tense was flying around far too much lately.

"How many times is this?" Tony asked quietly.

"Four, from what Val told me," Bruce answered, equally quiet, glancing up and down the hallway before shutting the door. "He apparently had to let Thanos think he'd killed him to save Thor after Heimdall sacrificed himself to send me back here. And then… that."

Tony closed his eyes, remembering the stories Thor had told them of his days with Loki. The way his voice dipped in a grief he denied having, the way he still sometimes wore the armguards with Loki's helmet on them, the black strands he sometimes wove into his hair that he claimed were just a fashion thing.

And that was when he still had nearly everyone else.

"How bad is he?" Rhodey asked, resting his hand back on Tony's shoulder. Tony glanced over at him, at the phone still silent in his hand.

"Broken," Bruce answered simply. Yet the single word carried the weight of a thousand worlds, the blood of an entire civilization. Now turned to ash.

The door slammed open, sending Bruce leaping out of the way. Natasha stood there, phone in hand, uncharacteristic desperation in her eyes. "Clint's family."

Tony straightened, his heart dropping to the pit of his stomach. "Who?"

"All of them," she answered, her voice wavering. "Laura, Lila, Cooper, Nathanial. The snap even took the dog."

"No," Bruce breathed.

Rhodey's phone rang. Tony snatched it up, stabbing the answer button without even looking at the caller I.D. "Gimme good news."

"I- I don't know what happened," Happy stammered. "One second we were at the doc's, looking at the ultrasound, and then- then she was just gone, Tony-"

"Wait," Tony interrupted, fumbling for Rhodey, for Bruce, for Natasha, for someone. "She- you don't- you can't mean-"

"Pep- Pepper's gone, boss. And… she was pregnant."

A/N: I did not mean to end on that note but as I predicted, this fic is already stretching itself into more chapters than the outline had.