A/N: Man, Infinity War was crazy, huh? This is just a fun piece featuring all the characters who died and what if more than oblivion awaited them? Yes, I took this title from Doctor Who. No, it's not a crossover. I just thought it was appropriate. I hope you enjoy.


Dr. Strange awoke with a start. For several seconds, he couldn't breathe as if all the oxygen had been pulled from his lungs. He rolled over in the grass, gasping, and finally managed to get air. His heart pounded in his ears.

The air smelled of fresh water and grass. Slowly, Strange sat up and took in his surroundings.

He was in a lush field, green grass whispering in the breeze and rippling like water. The sky was clear and blue. The land rolled into hills and there was not a single tree, flower, or blemish in sight. Or another soul.

His cloak waved in the breeze and brushed his arm reassuringly.

With a jolt, he remembered Titan. Thanos. Stark, the kid, and the Guardians. And he remembered the cool kiss of water against his skin and then a pleasant numbness as his hands turned to ash in front of his eyes. And then nothing. And then here.

What was this place? He hadn't seen it in his visions. Was that because this place was beyond his ability to see? Or because it existed within a possibility he had not seen?

Whatever the case, he needed to get out of here. He needed to get back to Earth and find Thanos.

Concentrating, he drew circles in the air, visualizing the interior of the Sanctum Sanctorum. His fingers trailed sparks but that was it. Gritting his teeth, he tried again. Still nothing. It reminded him of the time the Ancient One had stranded him on Everest and the desperation he'd felt, the determination to succeed. But he'd come a long way since then. Whatever this place was, it was affecting his powers.

He came to the conclusion that he wasn't on Earth. He was pretty sure he was no longer on Titan, either. Had he been teleported here by someone? So many questions in need of answers. Answers he'd never get just standing around.

Strange started walking.

The wind never ceased and seemed never to change direction or speed. He walked with his back to it, up the hill. Each step increased his resolve. He would shortly find out where he was and get out of here. He certainly hadn't sacrificed the Time Stone only to have Thanos win.

As he crested the hill, he spotted a body at the base of it, a woman lying on her side. He hurried down the hill, hoping she was alive and that she wasn't an enemy. When he reached her, he rolled her over onto her back and brushed the red hair from her face and he realized with relief that her breathing was steady.

"Miss?" A cursory examination didn't reveal any injuries. "Miss?"

With a gasp, the woman sat up and then winced and fell back, clutching her head.

"Hey, easy," Strange said. "Let me look at you. I'm a doctor."

"My head," she groaned.

Strange coaxed her hands away from her face and examined her, wishing he had his instruments. But after a few quick tests and gentle questioning, he thought she'd be fine. It was a severe headache, but she would live.

"Can you stand?"

She allowed him to help her to her feet. "Who are you?" she asked. "Where are we?"

"Dr. Strange," he answered. "Well, Stephen Strange. As for where we are, I was hoping you'd know."

The woman looked around as if hoping to spot something familiar. "Are we still on Earth?"

Strange stiffened. "Do you mind me asking what happened to you before you woke up here?"

"I…" She narrowed her eyes, trying to remember. "I was fighting, I was…" Here, she took in a shaky breath and her eyes widened. "Oh God, Vis. He killed him. He killed Vis."

Strange grabbed her shoulders, trying to keep her focused. "Who?" But with a sinking feeling, he already knew.

"Thanos," the woman whispered. "He got the last Stone. And then…I don't know what happened, but it was peaceful. The world just faded away."

So what had happened wasn't confined to Titan.

"What's your name?" he asked.

The woman tried hard to hold back tears. "Wanda Maximoff. I was with the Avengers."

The Avengers.

Strange straightened. "Then we'd better hurry up and find out where we are. We need to get back to Earth."

"Look!" Wanda pointed and Strange tensed, ready for a fight when a figure appeared over one of the hills. He still had all his aches from fighting Thanos and he was tired and the last thing he wanted right now was a fight.

But as the figure approached, Wanda's expression turned into one of relief. "It's Sam. Sam!" She waved at him.

Another Avenger?

"Wanda." At the sight of her, Sam broke into a jog and when the two of them met, they embraced. "Thank God. I didn't think I would find anyone here. I've been wandering around for an hour. Where are we? Who's that?"

"I don't know," Wanda said. "That's Dr. Strange. We need to get out of here."

"I know." Sam's voice was subdued. "When I saw myself dissolving, I thought I was dead."

"You dissolved?" Strange said, perking up. "The same happened to Miss Maximoff and myself.

"Some type of teleportation, maybe?" Sam said.

"Thanos," Wanda said, venom in her voice.

"But why would he…?"

"Think about what he wants," Strange said. "He has all the Infinity Stones."

"What…?" Sam's eyes widened. "Oh, crap."

"Exactly," Strange said. "I think he succeeded."

Wanda's brow wrinkled. "So what are you saying? That we're dead?"

"Come on, wouldn't we know if we'd died?" Sam said, trying to convince himself as much as them.

"Have you ever died?" Strange said in the tone of one who'd had way too much experience on the matter.

"Good point."

"I suggest we get moving. If we ended up here because of Thanos, there will no doubt be others."

On that, they all agreed and so began walking. Strange's mind was racing. If it was true that they were dead, was this the afterlife? He was a strict atheist and had always considered the idea of gods and ghosts, heaven and hell, to be nothing more than silly myths people kept in order to delude themselves into thinking they were important. Of course, since his accident, he'd seen and done many things he would have thought impossible. Was it so farfetched that an afterlife existed too? He hadn't seen it during his multitude of deaths at the hands of Dormammu, but then again, none of those deaths had really happened since they'd all occurred within a time loop.

They must have walked for at least an hour when they came across a forest. Thin, willowy trees swayed in the constant wind, their branches thin and drooping to the ground like the branches of willows. But they only served to increase Strange's unease. Just like the grasslands, there was no sign of wildlife. No birds, no chirping insects, no scampering squirrels or snakes hiding in the grass. It was a barren, beautiful world.

It wasn't long before they came across a man sitting with his back to a tree. With a jolt of recognition, Strange assumed a defensive stance, clenching his fists and forming twin tao mandalas, ignoring the looks of alarm his companions gave him.

Of all the people he might have run into, this was the last one he'd expected to see. One he hoped he'd never see again, even after their single and very brief recent encounter.

"Loki," he said grimly.

At the sound of his voice, the prince of Asgard looked over his shoulder at them. His expression was calm and assessing. And as Strange slowly approached, he noticed that Loki had an open book in his lap.

"If it isn't the wizard. Bite off more than you could chew, did you?" Loki said.

"Wait. Loki?" Sam said. "The Loki? As in the attack on New York?"

"The very same," Strange said. "I'm warning you. No tricks."

Loki snorted. "I'm done for the moment. Thought I'd get in some reading." He held up his book.

"Do you honestly expect us to believe you're just here on holiday? I don't trust you and I have no qualms about repeating the nature of our last encounter." He wasn't even sure if this place would allow it but he hoped Loki didn't see his uncertainty.

Loki's lips thinned. Snapping the book shut, he stood and held out his hands. "I assure you I have no intention of fighting you. I think we have a common enemy."

"By that reasoning alone, I should trust you?"

Loki's mouth curved into a disarming grin. "You sure have missed a lot. The battle for the Aether. My noble sacrifice. The time I swooped in to save Asgard's people during the apocalypse."

"The time you sent Odin to a retirement home and took his place as king of Asgard," Strange added.

Loki gave a breathy laugh. "Well. Let's just say I learned my lesson and we can put the past behind us."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Sam said. "I wasn't there, but he killed a lot of people in New York. He betrayed Thor more than once."

Strange narrowed his eyes. Something wasn't right. Stooping, he picked up a rock and threw it. It passed straight through Loki's chest and the trickster gave a resigned sigh.

"I really need to do something about that," he said and vanished only for the real Loki to materialize behind Wanda, one arm around her chest, the other holding a knife to her throat.

"Now," he said. "I think it's time you put those away."

Strange met Loki's steady gaze and hesitated. Anywhere else, he would have used his teleportation to separate the two in a heartbeat, but here, he couldn't trust his own powers. He lowered his hands. The energy winked out.

"You are not going to cause me any problems," Loki said and Strange noticed dark bruises around his neck which the illusion had lacked. "You and I both want to kill Thanos. I would say that makes us allies, don't you –"

Wanda grabbed his wrist, stomped on his foot, and twisted in Loki's grip, slamming him with red energy. He flew back into the grass.

"Allies?" Wanda said. Energy curled around her upheld hands and spiraled up her arms and she kept it trained on Loki as he got back to his feet. "This should be interesting."

Strange sighed. More interesting than he would have liked.


T'Challa, exhausted, dragged himself out of the river and onto the rocky beach. Stones slid and shifted beneath his weight and frothing water tugged at him.

He'd woken up in the rush of the river's current, flailing and trying to keep his head above the water. Now he paused on the bank to get his breath back, water dripping from his hair and beard.

One glance at his surroundings told him that he was no longer in Wakanda. So his second order of business was to get his bearings. His first was survival. Locating food, shelter, and if possible, civilization.

Scratch that. The first first order of business would be to deal with the green and red-skinned bald man standing farther down the beach. With a knife in each hand, he yelled and charged straight for T'Challa.

Shooting to his feet, T'Challa met him head on, extending his claws and mask as he did. Two knives came at him, one after the other. The first glanced off his arm, the second he kicked away. The bald man was still yelling and ducked T'Challa's next attack, dove for his second knife, and charged again.

T'Challa set his jaw and twisted to avoid the first thrust. He sank his claws into the man's shoulder and chest and overbalanced him. They both went down. T'Challa moved to pin the man's arms but he was faster than T'Challa had expected and flipped him over. Before he could get the upper hand, T'Challa rolled away and sprang to his feet.

This was definitely an alien. One of Thanos' followers?

T'Challa tensed, waiting for the man to charge at him again, though he wasn't worried. Nothing was getting through his vibranium.

"I would advise you to surrender," T'Challa said. This alien wasn't anything like the others he'd fought. Maybe he could get some answers out of him.

"Ha!" the man barked. "Drax the Destroyer does not give up so easily." Then he charged again.

The two clashed, Drax raining blows down on T'Challa as T'Challa twisted and spun, kicked and clawed, staying always in motion. He hooked a leg around Drax's and they went down again. This time, T'Challa pinned him with hands and knees. Drax struggled but T'Challa didn't let up.

"Surrender!" T'Challa said.

Drax continued to struggle. "Never!"

"Surrender!" T'Challa repeated.

"How about you surrender?" said an unfamiliar voice and a gun was pressed to the back of his head. "And get off my friend."

T'Challa slowly turned his head to face the newcomer but didn't loosen his hold. "Lower your weapon. I would have preferred diplomacy over violence but your alien friend attacked me first. It's terribly difficult to get answers from a dead man."

The newcomer's mouth tightened. "I am so not in the mood right now." T'Challa was shocked by the sheer anger in his voice and in his eyes.

"Wait!" someone called. "Wait!" A figure emerged from the trees. "Don't shoot. He's a friend."

T'Challa lowered his mask. "Bucky?"

"Wait, you know this guy?"

Bucky stopped a few feet away from them. "He's the king of Wakanda. A friend."

"Oh. A king. Well don't expect an apology, your Majesty. I've just had the suckiest day in the history of suckiest days."

T'Challa finally stood, allowing Drax up. He glanced at Bucky.

"So he is not working for Thanos?"

"What? No. God." The man lowered his gun. "This is the second time today I've been accused of working for Thanos. What is it? It's the beard, isn't it?"

"Oh, it's definitely the beard," Drax agreed.

By this point, T'Challa was fairly certain this was just a misunderstanding. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Peter Quill. But you can call me Star-Lord."

T'Challa nodded. "And do you know where we are?" He couldn't remember much, just a comforting coolness blanketing him.

"No idea," Quill said though it was no more than T'Challa had expected.

"That is why I fought him," Drax said. "My knives always make people talk." He held them threateningly and took a step forward and T'Challa thought he was going to attack him again."

"Whoa, that's why you attacked him?"

Drax pointed at T'Challa with a knife. "He is probably responsible for what happened to us. We are all dead."

Quill snorted. "Oooookay. Maybe just put the knives away, buddy."

But Drax's words sent a shiver of uneasiness through T'Challa. "What is the last thing you remember?"

"What?"

T'Challa met Quill's gaze. "What is the last thing you remember."

"I was on Titan."

"And then?"

"I…" His eyes went wide. "Oh no. You've got to be kidding me."

"We dissolved into ash," Drax said, confirming T'Challa's fear. "It was very pleasant."

"That's the same thing that happened to me," Bucky said.

"So…Thanos won?" Quill's voice had lost its anger.

"I am afraid so."

"Aw man…you think he killed us? So what is this…the afterlife or something?"

T'Challa looked around, taking in the thin trees, the rushing river, the expanse of blue sky. "Or something."

"We should move," Bucky said. "Scope out the area. If this was Thanos' doing, we won't be the only ones."

"I agree. We should follow the river."

But Quill wasn't listening to him. His eyes were wide and stared at nothing.

"Hey, Quill," Drax said.

T'Challa thought something was wrong with him except that the look in his eyes, it wasn't fear or shock. It was desperation. It was tentative hope.

"Quill?" T'Challa said.

Finally, Quill seemed to hear them and in response, he uttered a single word.

"Gamora."