A Twist Of Marvel || Infinity War

81. Gone

The reaction was instantaneous. Thanos stopped Naomi's sword in its tracks as a dagger flew toward the right side of his neck, and a revolver blast aimed straight between his eyes. Thanos blew away the dagger with the Space Stone, freezing the blast in place an instant later with the Time Stone. 

"THANOS!" Naomi screamed, no other actions coming to her mind. Her eyes were frenzied as she stared up at the Titan, wondering if she had swung too late, and damned them all.

"Naomi!" A voice sounded on her left, turning her attention toward Loki who stood with another knife at the ready, his expression a mixture of relief and panic. A shaky smile eased onto Naomi's face as she gripped the sword's hilt tighter. Thanos noticed the movement, and ripped the blade from her grasp with a jerk of his hand. Defenseless, she acted on pure instinct, swinging a right uppercut straight to Thanos's jugular.

The blow was blocked, of course, with the accursed blue power of the Space Stone. The stone's power wrapped around her fist, spreading over the rest of Naomi's body as Thanos froze her in place, grunting with effort as he tightened his grip on the gauntlet, using the Time Stone to freeze several more repulsor blasts and tiny knives. Reversing the Time lock, the Titan sent the attacks back at their owners, forcing the two men to dodge, and poking a momentary hole in their offense.

During that split second of time, Thanos faced the helpless Naomi and closed the Infinity Gauntlet around her throat.

"NO!" Tony roared, aiming his palms toward Thanos's head as the armor around his forearms expanded into larger guns, energy crackling as his repulsor beams powered up.

"I wouldn't do that," Thanos hissed, unfreezing Naomi and tightening his grip, "if I were you." Naomi instantly panicked, clawing at the metal against her neck, trying to force his hold to give. She could still breathe, so he wasn't trying to strangle her just yet. But that didn't give Naomi much hope as he pulled her in towards him.

"You! You heinous savage, let her go!" Loki screamed, brandishing his Reality Dagger wildly, but abstaining from using it. Naomi was too close to Thanos, acting both as a hostage and human shield for the behemoth. Thanos did not reply, loosening the gauntlet for a second so he could roughly turn her around with his free hand, forcing Naomi to face the battle field. She winced as the metal tore at the skin of her throat, keeping her hands clenched over the gauntlet.

"Hey, hey kid. Long time no see." Tony said. The suit turned his voice robotic, but Naomi could hear the fear underlying his tone. She stared at his mask, eyes wide as she silently called for help. Her fingers scraped against his fist, but Thanos refused to budge, shaking the Gauntlet as a sign for her to stop, rattling her neck against the metal. Shivering, Naomi lowered her arms, allowing them to tense up at her sides. Her instincts screamed at her to run, because fighting clean didn't work, but now escape wasn't an option. Naomi could only stand as still as she could- and pray that she would make it out alive.

"Let's be civil." Thanos said, his words visibly angering Tony, who sunk further into his battle stance. Loki entered Naomi's field of vision, cautiously edging around to Tony with his eyes trained on Thanos's neck. Naomi probably should have found his murderous expression off-putting, but considering the situation and everything she knew about the man, it was almost comforting. Thanos continued, "The Reality Stone for the prophet... Naomi." 

She grimaced when her name came out of his mouth, the Titan simply repeating what Loki had shouted to her earlier. Thanos knowing her real name was hardly the most of Naomi's concerns, but hearing him speak it left a foul taste in her mouth.

Loki kept his gaze on Thanos, holding up his dagger- fingers tracing over the red stone embedded in the hilt. Naomi wanted to laugh at the realization that Loki had no doubt stolen the stone from under the Avengers noses, but she was afraid doing so would tighten the hold on her neck, so she abstained. However when Loki ripped the stone from his blade, Naomi instinctually started toward him, pressing against the metal and literally choking out, "No!"