A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the wait on this chapter, I've been busy lately with school. I promise I'll try to update more often. Hope you guys enjoy!
- Harper E. Pierce
As the ship flew closer to Knowhere, Gamora remembered her past, and what her 'stepfather' had done to her planet; wiped out fifty percent of all life there, and took her to raise as his own. What Gamora saw as kidnapping and forcing her to become a weapon and serve him, her father saw as kind, so that she didn't suffer the fate of half of her planet. He took pity on her.
It was her knowledge of something that would cause Thanos to be successful at his goal that motivated Gamora to tell Quill to kill her if Thanos got to her, which he very reluctantly only after much convincing, agreed to do so. As the Benetar, the name of Quill's ship, flew into a cavern looking much like a skull known as Knowhere. The place was in ruins, empty, and dark.
"This place looks deserted," Quill stated as he looked through the windows.
"I'm reading movement in the third quadrant," said Drax.
"Yep, I'm picking that up too," they continued to fly until they found a good spot, "let's put down right here," the Guardians parked the ship and looked around until they found Thanos with the famous Collector. The white-haired man was on the ground with Thanos standing over him menacingly. The Guardians quickly hid behind piles of broken rock from Thanos's destruction and watched what happened so they could have their moment.
"I don't have it," the Collector panted frantically as Thanos asked threateningly.
"Everyone in the galaxy knows you'd sell your own brother... if you thought it would add even the slightest trinket... to your pathetic collection," Thanos rolled his eyes at the Collector. Quill held up a fist meaning halt, but the Guardians just walked right past him, "I know you have the Reality Stone, Tivan. Giving it to me will spare you a great deal of suffering.
"I told you. I sold it. Why would I lie?" The Collector replied in a pained voice.
"I imagine it's like breathing for you,"
"Like suicide,"
"You do understand. Not even you would surrender something so precious,"
"I didn't know what it was!"
"Then you're more of a fool than I took you for, Last chance, charlatan. Where's the stone?" Thanos asked the Collector menacingly.
"Today-" Drax growled as he pulled the knife out the scabbard on his leg.
"Drax. Drax!"
"...he pays for the deaths of my wife and daughter,"
"Drax, wait. Not yet, not yet, not yet," the blue alien shot him a determined look as he headed towards Thanos. Quill attempted to quietly catch up with him, "Drax. Drax, Drax, Drax. Listen to me. He doesn't have the stone yet. If we get it, then we can stop him. We have to get
the stone first. Yeah?" Quill tried to calm him down and hold him back so he could focus on what was important.
"No. No. For Ovette, for Camaria," Quill pushed back on him so he couldn't continue forward, but suddenly, a hand was placed on the back of his head and he began to fall forward.
"Sleep," Mantis said, as a loud crash was heard as Drax fell. Thanos turned his head towards the sound. He picked up the Collector and threw him into a glass cage beside where their altercation was happening. He walked towards where the sounds were coming from.
"Okay. Gamora, Mantis, you go righ- the other right!" Quill stated as they went left and ignored him. After a few more seconds of quiet, Gamora jumped onto Thanos with her sword in hand to kill. They fought for a few seconds before she went to use the blade, which he caught and snapped in half. She then used another blade to stab him in the neck, and she put her double-ended dagger in his chest. He cried out in pain as she pulled the blade out of his neck and held it, ready to continue the fight if he moved. He held his bleeding neck in pain. Thanos clutched the jewelled dagger he had given her and looked at her.
"Why?" He asked as he began to fall to the ground. Gamora started to cry and began to lower her weapons, "why you, daughter?" She dropped her weapons and kneel on the ground in tears as Thanos bled out on the ground. He was her father for the longest time after all. After a few more moments, the sound of his breathing stopped.
"That was quick," Quill stated astoundedly. Drax began to wake up, and notice Thanos on the ground dead. The Collector looked up in astonishment and began to clap.
"Magnificent! Magnificent! Magnificent!" He shouted multiple times. It seemed Thanos' reign of terror was over. Until Gamora heard a familiar voice, sounding of whom she had just supposedly killed.
"Is that sadness I sense in you, daughter?" Gamora looked up to see where it was coming from, but couldn't find it. The battleground began to change with red magic doing it. Instead of the darkness, it seemed to be, it was even more destroyed than before, with orange flames engulfing old things the Collector had, "in my heart, I knew you still cared. But one never knows for sure. Reality is often disappointing," Thanos appeared out of the red magic, "that is, it was. Now, reality can be whatever I want," the Reality Stone on the gauntlet glowed.
"You knew I'd come," Gamora spat, realizing what had just happened.
" I counted on it... and there's something we need to discuss, little one," he told his daughter. They'd been tricked. Gamora went to pick up the sword beside her, but Thanos was quicker and grabbed the back of her neck, picking her up with one hand, and holding her there.
"Thanos!" Drax yelled like he was shouting a battle-cry. He charged at the purple alien, blades in hand. Thanos used the Reality Stone to turn Drax into cubes and fall apart. He then looked at Mantis, who hid behind debris, and turned her into what looked like Mantis-coloured fettuccine.
"Let her go, Grimace!" Quill came at Thanos with his gun, pointing it at him.
"Peter-"
"I told you to go right," Quill cut off Gamora.
"Now? Really-
"You let her go!" Quill shouted angrily.
"Ah, the boyfriend," Thanos mocked.
"No. I like to think of myself more as a Titan-killing, long-term booty call. Let her go-"
"Peter-" Gamora asked, but Quill ignored her.
"I'm gonna blow that nutsack of a chin right off your face!"
"Not him," she got his attention with this. He realized this was the moment that Gamora had talked about it, "you promised! You promised," she referred back to their conversation on the ship. Quill's face visibly dropped, but he attempted to keep a tough look for Thanos, although his eyes were beginning to sting with tears.
"Oh, daughter. You expect too much from him," Thanos mocked Gamora now, while still looking at Quill. His expression tightened, "she's asked, hasn't she?" Quill held the gun to Gamora now, hesitating, because he didn't want to do it. Thanos rolled his eyes at his pathetic love for her, "do it!" He shouted loudly, pushing his daughter closer to the gun.
"I told you to go right," Quill fought what she asked, sadly changing his expression.
"I love you more than anything," Gamora replied sadly, but trying to reassure her boyfriend that all would be okay.
"I love you too," Quill replied with tears in his eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut, waited a moment and pulled the trigger. When the gun made no sound, he opened his eyes and saw only bubbles. The gun in his hand then evaporated into bubbles as well. He was shocked.
"I like him," Thanos stated as he used the Space Stone to teleport out of there. Drax and Mantis turned back into themselves. Quill remained shocked. They had lost another stone to Thanos.
-
Back on Earth, Rhodes and Raven sat in a meeting with Secretary Ross. Ross was wondering about updates on Vision, and where the remaining so-called "vigilantes" were. Ross wanted to place an arrest on the people that had left with Steve including him, and Lexi, who was nowhere to be found. It had been over a year and not a single person had heard a word from her. Not Quinn, not Tori, not Lorelei, not even Bucky, who was hiding from Ross.
"Still no word from Vision?" The holographic Ross said in their meeting
"Satellites lost him somewhere over Edinburgh," Rhodes replied.
"On a stolen Quinjet with five of the world's most wanted criminals," he stated bitterly.
"You know they're only criminals because you've chosen to call them that, right, sir?" Rhodes shot back.
"My God, Rhodes. Your talent for horseshit rivals my own. You know, maybe you guys would have been successful with your lies if Stark hadn't chirped about the war and the Accords. You're lucky I decided that Stark's side was safe and in the clear. Alcaraz and Hart are in some serious shit when those two are caught,"
"Well, you know who Quinn is with, Secretary, and Lexi's been off the grid for the last year, so... when may not happen with either of them," Lorelei snarked.
"If it weren't for those Accords, Vision, Lexi, Quinn and the others would've been right here," Rhodes added.
"I remember your signature on those papers, Colonel," Ross condescended him.
"That's right. And I'm pretty sure I paid for that," Rhodes gestured to his legs, which
"You have second thoughts?" Ross asked threateningly.
"Not anymore," Rhodes replied with his eyes narrowed. Their heads turned when the devil they were speaking had walked in again. Steve, now with longer hair, a full beard and a black Nomad suit, walked in a with platinum blonde Nat, Sam, Wanda, Vision and Quinn, who's dark brown hair was a few shades lighter now. Her hair was still chopped to just above her shoulders. Everyone except Steve's suit was the same. The dark look on Steve's face proved that he had changed over the last few years.
"Mr. Secretary," Steve greeted him bitterly. The holographic Ross walked up to him.
"You got some nerve. I'll give you that," he replied offendedly.
"You could use some of that right now," sassed Nat.
"The world's on fire, and you think all is forgiven?"
"I'm not looking for forgiveness and I'm way past asking permission. Earth just lost her best defender, so we're here to fight. And if you wanna stand in our way, we'll fight you too," Steve threatened. Ross turned back to Rhodes.
"Arrest them," he ordered.
"All over it," Rhodes replied, hanging up the phone afterward, "that's a court-martial. It's great to see you, Cap," he shook hands with Steve.
"You too, Rhodey," Steve replied, "Lorelei, hey," he hugged the girl as Nat hugged Rhodes. Quinn came up to Lorelei and hugged her too.
"It's been a while," Lorelei told Quinn.
"Staying off the grid was the most important, I knew you'd understand. Besides, you can teleport," Quinn shot back jokingly.
"Wow. You guys... really look like crap. Must've been a rough year," Rhodes told them.
"Yeah, well, the hotels weren't exactly five star," Sam said.
"Tori would pass out if she saw the conditions," Quinn stated.
"Uh, I think you look great. Uh... yeah, I'm back," Bruce came out of the other room with Raven and Tris. Raven looked happy to see her friends, but Tris looked grim.
"It's been too long," Raven smiled. Tris briskly looked up and smiled at them sadly.
"Hi, Bruce," Natasha partially smiled. The "thing" going on between them was visible.
"Nat," he replied slowly afterward.
"This is awkward," Sam whispered to Vision beside him.
"So we gotta assume they're coming back, right?" Rhodes asked, talking about Peter, Tori and tony.
"And they can clearly find us," Wanda added.
"We need all hands on deck. Where's Clint?" Bruce panicked.
"After the whole Accords situation, he and Scott took a deal. It was too tough on their families. They're on house arrest," Nat explained.
"Who's Scott?"
"Ant-Man,"
"There's an Ant-Man?" Bruce paused when looking at the other Avengers, rolling their eyes at him getting off-topic. "Okay, look. Thanos has the biggest army in the universe, and he is not gonna stop until he gets Vision's stone,"
"Then we have to protect it," Nat said.
"No, we have to destroy it," Vision disagreed, "I've been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head. About its nature. But also its composition. I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source... something very similar to its own signature, perhaps... its molecular integrity could fail," Vision pointed out.
"Yeah, and you with it," Wanda stated.
"It wouldn't be just Vis-" Lorelei was cut off by a kick in the shin from Quinn. Steve looked at her for doing so, and she smiled innocently at him.
"We're not having this conversation," Wanda rejected the idea immediately.
"Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can't get it," Vision argued.
"That's too high a price,"
"Only you have the power to pay it," he told Wanda, as she walked away from him, "Thanos threatens half the universe. One life cannot stand in the way of defeating him,"
"But it should. We don't trade lives, Vision," Steve agreed with Wanda.
"Captain, 70 years ago, you laid down your life to save how many millions of people? Tell me, why is this any different?"
"Because you might have a choice," Bruce interjected, "your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. Jarvis, Ultron, Tony, me, the stone. All of them mixed together, all of them learning from one another,"
"You're saying Vision isn't just the stone?" Wanda added.
"I'm saying that if we take out the stone, there's still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best parts,"
"This might not work," Tris stated, "when Vision was first created as JARVIS, he was made up of a mixture of Tony and the computer system to create JARVIS. Ultron is a program that is a mixture of the stone, Tony, Bruce and Jarvis, and the bots created then were powerful enough to wreak havoc in Sokovia. If the stone is taken out of the equation, there's a chance that Ultron's programming, the next most powerful program, could take over. I'm saying the percentage of what makes up Vision's programming may not be equal as you think it is,"
"What's the risk in that?" Wanda asked.
"About a ten percent chance, but it is a huge risk. What I'm saying is that we're bound to lose this war if we take out the stone and then Ultron takes over. Thanos will be after our heads" Tris said.
"Can we still do it?" Nat asked.
"Not me, not here," Bruce replied.
"Well, you better find someone and somewhere fast. Ross isn't just gonna let you guys have your old rooms back," Rhodes stated.
"We also still have to find Lexi," Lorelei stated, "Skylar's still in space, as is Tori. Raven Quinn, Tris and I are here, and she's still nowhere to be found,"
"Okay, so how about Tris and I work on getting a hold of her, and you guys figure out a place to crash before the battle," Quinn plotted.
"I only know one place that has the technology to ensure that doesn't happen," Raven stated.
-
T'Challa and Okoye walked the fields outside the palace of Wakanda in the rural areas, where someone who had been hiding there the last year had stayed, working. Two other guards carried a large case with them. They needed him.
"The Kingsguard and the Dora Milaje have been alerted," Okoye told T'Challa, referring to the battle that was to be had. They needed all the people they could get for it, and T'Challa said that in order to keep other people safe, the battle was to take place in Wakanda.
"And the Border Tribe?" He asked.
"Those that are left,"
"Send word to the Jabari as well. M'Baku likes a good fight,"
"And what of this one?"
"This one may be tired of war, but the White Wolf has rested long enough," they approached the man to be recognized as Bucky, staying with them. The two guards with the case opened it, revealing the metal arm he had requested be removed once he got there. He knew what it meant.
"Where's the fight?" He asked grimly.
"On its way," T'Challa reassured him.
"And Lexi?" Bucky looked hopeful.
"No word yet," he replied, "but I know she would never miss the opportunity to fight alongside the Avengers. She'll be here with us,"
-
Not overly far from Wakanda Lexi had been hiding in Syria for the last year, helping the locals escape the country and go to surrounding countries that would take many of them in as refugees. She eventually became a national hero. She learned many tricks over the last year with her powers, them growing even stronger with the new things she learned.
For most of her time there, she remained offline, only turning on her transponder once a month to see for any updates. It was only a coincidence that the one day she did turn on her transponder, she was needed. The second she turned it on, there was an alert for a call from someone she hadn't heard from in a year. She picked up the phone.
"Quinn! I haven't heard from you in-"
"Girl, you need to get your ass down here, now. We've been trying to get a hold of you for the last week. It's a freaking emergency," Quinn cut her off, stating seriously what was happening through the phone.
"Where do you need me to meet you guys?"
"Depends, where are you?"
"Syria right now,"
"Then meet us in Wakanda tomorrow, and suit up. There's a battle coming our way," Quinn said as she hung up the phone. Lexi knew that this was definitely an emergency, but she also knew what this meant; she was going to see Bucky for the first time in a year.
-
Back on the spaceship, Peter and Tori had made themselves known to Tony, who gave them shit for even being on the ship. Meanwhile, Strange was being tortured by Maw to give the stone up, but Tony, Peter and Tori devised a plan to get the Maw out of there and save Strange, which had worked out successfully, and the Maw was blown off the ship and into space, to turn things around and go home, but that plan had been shot to hell when Tony thought it would be a good idea to take the fight to Thanos on Titan, where they were headed anyway. After much arguing from Strange, he reluctantly agreed with Tony, and they set for Titan. It was just a couple hours later when they got there, hanging just outside the planet's atmosphere.
"Hey, what's going on?" Peter asked as the ship got closer to the planet.
"I think we're here," Strange replied.
"I don't think this rig has a self-park function. Get your hand inside the steering gimbal. Close those around it. You understand?" Tony ordered Peter.
"Yep, got it. Tori, come help me," Peter told her, who ran to his side to help steer the ship as Tony steered the other side while Strange navigated.
"This was meant for one big guy, so we gotta move at the same time,"
"Okay, okay. Ready," Peter said as they got closer to an odd-looking metallic building.
"We're about to crash!" Tori shouted.
"We might wanna turn. Turn! Turn! Turn!" Peter panicked and turned the wheel, hitting the side of the building and crashing much of the ship, but it hadn't landed yet. Strange used magic to block the debris from falling. Tori continued to let Peter steer and she helped Strange. The broken ring-shaped ship eventually crashed into the ground. It wasn't going to be able to be used a second time. They had officially landed on Titan.
"You alright? That was close," Tony said to Strange as Strange helped him up, "I owe you one," Tony said, patting his shoulder. Peter hung upside down like a spider.
"Let me just say, if aliens wind up implanting eggs and I eat one of you, I'm sorry," he said. Tori rolled her eyes.
"I do not want another single pop culture reference out of you for the rest of the trip. You understand?" Tony demanded.
"Uh, hello? Something's here, dimwits!" Tori quickly translated what Peter was trying to say. A circular ball rolled into their circle and blasted all of them in different directions.
"Thanos!" Drax ran in the ship and threw a knife at Strange, who blocked it with a magical shield. Strange threw the cape at him, and it wrapped around Drax's face. Quill lifted off the ground and began shooting at Tony, who shot right back at him. They flew around the ship, chasing each other until Tony launched an explosion at him and knocked him off his feet. Tori let debris from the ship fall and knock the Guardians down, while Peter fought off Mantis. Well... sort of. He backed away from Mantis.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Please don't put your eggs in me!" Peter pleaded frantically as he shot webs at her. She fell on the floor. Quill then shot at Peter with his gun,
"Stay down, clown." Quill spat at Peter, who then did the opposite. Quill chased him around the ship with his gun until he successfully shot at Peter and trapped him with a bomb that would tie him up. Tori then threw a flaming purple ball at Quill in anger.
"Die, blanket of death!" Drax yelled as he tried to get the cape off his face. Tony finally detached himself from the piece of metal Quill had stuck him to. Iron man went down to Drax and put the blaster in his face. Quill grabbed Peter and put a gun to his head. Strange used a magic shield to defend himself, while Tori prepared a purple fireball to throw at Quill.
"Everybody stay where you are. Chill the eff out!" Quill yelled over everyone, "I'm gonna ask you this one time. Where is Gamora?"
"Yeah. I'll do you one better. Who's Gamora?" Tony replied sarcastically.
"I'll do you one better. Why is Gamora?" Drax acted like it was a competition.
"Tell me where the girl is or I swear to you I'm gonna French fry this little freak!" Quill threatened.
"Let's do it. You shoot my guy and I'll blast him. Let's go!" Tony escalated the situation by extending his blaster closer to Drax's face. Tori's eyes glowed an even brighter purple as she prepared to throw the fireball.
"Let go of him now, bitch," Tori demanded menacingly.
"Do it, Quill! I can take it," Drax stated.
"No, he can't take it!" Mantis said from the ground.
"She's right. You can't," Strange added.
"Oh, yeah? You don't wanna tell me where she is? That's fine. I'll kill all four of you and I'll beat it out of Thanos myself. Starting with you!" Quill pushed the gun closer to Peter's temple.
"Oh, I'd love to see you try to kill me!" Tori replied narcissistically.
"Wait, what, Thanos? All right, let me ask you this one time. What master do you serve?" Strange asked.
"What master do I serve? What am I supposed to say, "Jesus"?" Quill replied sarcastically.
"You're from Earth," Tony figured out.
"I'm not from Earth, I'm from Missouri," Quill spat.
"Yeah, that's on Earth, dipshit. What are you hassling us for?" Tony shot back.
"So you're not with Thanos?" Peter asked softly.
"With Thanos? No, I'm here to kill Thanos. He took my girl. Wait, who are you?" Quill looked disgusted at the thought, previously thinking they were with Thanos and seeking clarification.
"We're the Avengers, man," Peter told him. Quill let go of Peter, realizing none of them were a threat.
"Oh,"
"You're the ones Thor and Skylar told us about," Mantis stated.
"You know Thor?" Tony asked in bewilderment.
"And Skylar?!" Tori put away the fireball.
"Yeah. Tall guy, not that good-looking, needed saving. Hot girl though," Quill replied.
"Where are they now?" Strange asked. After Quill told them they were getting Thor a weapon that could kill Thanos, they headed outside to devise a plan. They knew that Thanos was attacking them on Titan, as this was where Ebony Maw was supposed to meet up with Thanos. As everyone else planned their attack on Thanos, Dr. Strange did something similar to what Skylar had done. He used the Time Stone to look into the future of their plan, to see what was going to work for them. He had to look deep into the Stone, so he sat off to the side and concentrated until he found something. And just as he did, Tony woke him out of this state.
"Hey, what was that?" Peter asked him nervously.
"I went forward in time to view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict," Strange told him
"How many did you see?" Quill asked.
"Fourteen million, six hundred and five,"
"How many did we win?" Tony asked, part of him not wanting to hear the answer.
"One," Strange replied gravely.
-
Gamora had felt horrible because she knew she had just contributed to Thanos winning the war. But it was Nebula, her sister, who was suffering if she didn't. Her conscience had gotten the better of her, but that didn't matter now. She was with Thanos on the planet that which she had told him of. A dark, yet warm place called Vormir. Thanos looked around and saw a mountain from the flat ground they were currently standing. He turned to his daughter.
"The stone had better be up there. For your sister's sake," Thanos threatened Gamora. She sighed regretfully, knowing no matter what choice she had made previously she couldn't win. She thought about all of this as she trudged up the mountain with her adoptive father until they almost got to the top.
"Welcome, Thanos, son of Alars. Gamora, daughter of Thanos," a figure in a hooded, torn cloak floated up to them, blocking the entrance to where the stone was kept.
"You know us?" Thanos asked.
"It is my curse to know all who journey here," the figure replied.
"Where is the Soul Stone?"
"You should know... it extracts a terrible price," the figure warned.
"I am prepared,"
"We all think that at first. We are all wrong," the figure revealed itself to be someone from the past, a past that only Steve Rogers would know. An old nemesis, by the alias of Red Skull. Red Skull led them up to the place that the Soul Stone could be retrieved.
"How is it you know this place so well?" Thanos wondered.
"A lifetime ago, I, too, sought the stones. I even held one in my hand. But it cast me out, banished me here. Guiding others to a treasure I cannot possess," the hooded figure explained. As they came up to a tall, almost ceremonial-looking cliff and looked over the ledge, he continued, "what you seek lies in front of you. As does what you fear,"
"What's this?" Gamora inquired cautiously.
"The price. The Soul Stone holds a special place among the Infinity Stones. You might say it has, a certain wisdom," Red Skull told them.
"Tell me what it needs," Thanos inquired.
"To ensure that whoever possesses it understands its power, the stone demands a sacrifice,"
"Of what?"
"In order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. A soul... for a soul," Thanos knew what that meant, and he felt torn. The choice wasn't an easy one. But it was Gamora who responded first, almost in laughter.
"All my life, I dreamed of a day, a moment, when you got what you deserved. And I was always so disappointed. But now- you kill and torture and you call it mercy. The universe has judged you. You asked it for a prize, and it told you no. You failed. And do you wanna know why? Because you love nothing. No one," Gamora mocked him, feeling like she had won based on her knowledge.
"No," her father whispered, almost inaudibly, turning to her.
"Really? Tears?" Gamora rolled her eyes at what she read as patheticness of her father.
"They're not for him," Red Skull revealed. Finally, Gamora realized what those tears were really for, and her eyes widened. She began to step back from the ledge, but Thanos followed her forward.
"No. This isn't love," she denied her fate.
"I ignored my destiny once. I cannot do that again. Even for you," her father had said through tears, but with determination. Gamora grabbed the double-ended dagger and almost put it through her own stomach, but Thanos used the Reality Stone and made it disappear into bubbles. Gamora's eyes welled up with tears, "I'm sorry, little one," he agonized as he grabbed her wrist, and began pulling her towards the ledge. Gamora fought back with all of her strength, but Thanos was a lot stronger than she was.
"No!" She yelled out as she got closer. She hit his arm as hard she could multiple times as she was dragged toward the cliff. Thanos let tears fall from his eyes as he dragged her. As he finally got to the edge, he threw her off the cliff. He watched as Gamora fell, as she reached for her father to save her, to go back on his decision. Through widened eyes and tears he watched, feeling a horrible hole grow in his heart until she hit the ground when he screwed his eyes shut. When he opened them again he saw his lifeless daughter at the bottom of the cliff, knowing that this would be the last time he ever saw her.
The two pillars at the top of the cliff lit up the sky, as the exchange had been made and it took Thanos to the realm of the Soul World; the pocket universe that the Soul Stone had. He woke up in shallow water, with the orange-glowing stone in his hand. Tears ran down his cheeks, despite the fact that he had gotten what he wanted.