Liberating Thanos

Upon hearing Russell's words, Hill placed his hands on the tactical table, his fingers clenching tightly.

Her gaze passed through the porthole of the command center and landed on the empty space outside, but her attention was not on the outside.

Over the past two decades, in the files she personally signed, in the agents she personally recruited, and in every detail she thought she knew inside and out.

She never noticed.

The Hydra was right under her nose.

In every meeting she chaired, in every task she assigned, in every decision she made believing she was S.H.I.E.L.D..

Those she trusted, those she promoted, and those with whom she discussed strategies late at night on the communications channel—they were all Hydra.

Could it be that even Nick Fury is Hydra?

"Hill," Natasha's voice came softly from beside her, "What are you thinking about? It must be related to Hydra."

Hill did not answer.

I know even if you don't tell me.

Natasha walked over to her, stood in front of the porthole, and crossed her arms.

Her face remained stern, but something seemed to be moving beneath that sternness, like the scales that hadn't yet grown under a snake's skin when it sheds its skin.

"I've been thinking," Natasha continued, "About how long I've been on this ship, how much I've done for S.H.I.E.L.D.., how many people I've killed, how many I've saved, and how many I've trusted."

She paused.

"And I don't know how many of these people are Hydra, and how many are real."

I don't know how many of the people I killed deserved to die, or how many died because Hydra needed them to. I also don't know how many of the people I saved were Hydra, or how many were people who stood in Hydra's way.

Hill turned to look at her.

"You mean."

"What I mean is," Natasha stroked her chin, "I'm not sure if everything I've done all these years has been helping S.H.I.E.L.D.. or Hydra."

The doors to the command center opened.

Tony walked in, his steps much steadyer than before. The exhaustion and pallor on his face had faded, replaced by something colder and sharper.

He walked up to Hill and stopped.

Hill.

Hill looked up.

"Your S.H.I.E.L.D.. intelligence work is quite good." Tony's voice carried an undisguised sarcasm, which at this moment was as cold as a scalpel.

"So good that I don't know how many years he's worked for Hydra."

Natasha's fingers squeezed and tightened together.

Hill's lips pressed into a thin line.

"Tony, stop being sarcastic. Could what Russell said be part of his scheme?"

All the agents on board who claimed to be Hydra members were actually controlled by Russell; they were illusions created by him to undermine us—"

"Hill." Tony interrupted her, his voice not loud, but every word was as precise as a bullet.

"Do you think Russell needs to pull this kind of stunt at a time like this?"

Hill remained silent.

"He now controls our lives and deaths, imprisoning us in Spatial Cage, and could wipe us all out with a flick of his finger."

Does he need to fabricate a Hydra lie to undermine us? Does he need to cause infighting? He doesn't."

Tony took a step forward.

"He exposed Hydra most likely because it was the truth, a truth he wouldn't stoop to fabricating."

Hill did not answer.

Tony looked at her for a moment, then turned around and waved behind him.

"I'm not going to play along."

He walked out of the command center, quickly into the corridor, and then onto the deck, ignoring Coulson, who had his head bowed, and the numerous... Serpent S.H.I.E.L.D.. agents surrounding him.

Outside the protective shield, faint light from the void surged in from all directions, cold and silent.

Tony stood in the middle of the deck, took a deep breath, and then shouted into the void:

Russell.

The void offered no response.

"I now think Pajama Baby's analysis is spot on," Tony continued calmly.

"I don't want to continue standing on the same side as Serpent S.H.I.E.L.D.. They've turned S.H.I.E.L.D.. into a giant snake pit, and I, Tony Stark, have unknowingly lived in that snake pit for many years."

He paused.

"So, I agree with your plan. I admit that S.H.I.E.L.D.. no longer exists. I admit that the Avengers were a lie from the beginning."

Please let me out.

Tony looked up.

The void remained silent, as if Russell had vanished.

Tony shouted it once, and then again.

His voice had no echo in the void; the Spatial Cage swallowed all sound.

Outside the Helicarrier, Russell hovered in the void, gazing at the war fortress imprisoned in Spatial Cage.

Then he turned around and faced the depths of the universe.

He ignored Tony's shouts and the ship.

A crack appeared in the space before him, and as he stepped into it, the crack closed behind him.

He traversed Dimension, crossed spaces, and moved towards a distant direction deep within the universe.

Titan.

This Planet, wandering in the universe and with its civilization destroyed, is Thanos's home planet.

When Russell arrived, Titan was suspended in a dark red Nebula, its surface covered with dried-up oceans and collapsed cities.

Many years have passed since the catastrophe that destroyed the Titan Civilization, but the ruins remain, like a giant corpse floating in space.

Russell hovered above Titan, looking down at the ruins.

Then he saw Thanos.

Thanos sat on the steps of a collapsed Temple, his massive body and purple skin appearing particularly somber against the dark red light of the Nebula.

He was wearing a simple black battle armor, without a helmet or weapons, his left hand resting on his knee, his eyes gazing into the distance.

But he was clutching something in his right hand.

A gemstone.

It's still the Soul Stone.

Orange light swirled slowly from deep within the gemstone, like something alive, breathing.

Russell teleported and landed in front of the Temple steps, about twenty steps away from Thanos.

Thanos raised his head and looked at him.

Beneath his purple skin, his eyes were like two deep pools of water, containing nothing, yet everything.

"Russell," Thanos began, his voice deep and steady, as if someone who hadn't spoken in a long time had suddenly opened his mouth.

I knew you were coming.

Russell had his hands in his pockets and tilted his head slightly.

"Were you waiting for me?"

Thanos did not answer; he lowered his head and looked at the orange gem in his hand.

The light of the Soul Stone flowed between his fingers, like something both warm and cruel.

"I obtained the Soul Stone at the location you provided," Thanos said, "But at the cost of a daughter."

He paused.

Gamora.

Russell did not respond.

"I sacrificed her." Thanos's voice remained calm, but beneath that calmness lay a crack, something forcibly suppressed.

"On Vormir, the Red Skull guided me to the altar of the Soul Stone."

He said that to get the jewel, I had to give up the person I loved most, so I killed her and pushed her off the cliff.

He looked up at Russell.

"And then I got what I wanted."

"So what are you planning to do next?" Russell asked.

Thanos remained silent for a moment.

"Collect the remaining gems," he answered firmly. "Space, reality, power, time, Mind Stone, and then."

"Then the Snap," Russell finished for him, "Wiping out half of all life in the universe."

Thanos looked at him, his deep, unfathomable eyes remaining completely still, and asked in return:

Are you here to stop me? Or to help me?

Russell tilted his head slightly.

"None of those."

I'm here to liberate you.