A Man Without Love
You see America already in the yard, she looks a bit tired or sad, but joyful nonetheless.
"Morning, Miss Chavez" you greet her and her face lights up.
"Hey, y/n!" she waves to you. Stephen and Wong walk up to you, faces sorrowful.
"Well, ready to go?" Stephen asks and you turn around to see him smiling sadly.
"Who can ever be ready?" you answer, feeling tears in your eyes once again.
"Earth 838, if that helps," you say to America and she nods, rolling up the sleeves of her jacket and concentrating.
"Goodbye, Master Wong." you nod to him, be smiles and motions for you to hug him.
The hug is short but he manages to say in your ear, "good luck, y/n."
You pull away and watch America punch the bright blue portal. You turn to Stephen and see tears running down his cheeks. You can't control your waterfall and run to hug him one last time. "Goodbye, y/n," he says, hugging you stronger than before. You completely melt in his embrace but the time is running out.
"I love you," you whisper, pulling away, and touching his face. With your thumb, you wipe his tears and slowly kiss his cheek. You taste his salty tears on your lips and almost control yourself from sobbing. He understands that this confession is not for him, it's for your Stephen, but he welcomes it nonetheless.
You pull away from his grasp and hurry towards the portal. "Visit me some time, yeah?" you ask America and she nods, secretly looking at two sorcerers behind you. "Okay" you whisper to yourself and turn back to look at Strange one last time, shooting him a smile. He smiles back sadly.
You step through the star-shaped portal on the roof of some building. The familiar air engulfs you, and you smile to yourself. How much you've missed your universe is an indescribable feeling.
"Oh, home sweet home," you say to yourself but America hears you too. You turn around and see her standing shily, hands behind her back. "I thought you'll be staying with Stephen."
"Oh, we thought that you might need some company. Even for a little bit." she smiles.
"I feel like we're divorced parents with child custody" you mutter to yourself and put on a sling ring. "Ready to go?" you ask, already opening a portal to Sanctum.
"Yeah, let's go," she says and eagerly goes after you.
The Sanctum looks still the same as it did 2 days ago. The broken cups on the floor and the already dried stain of spilt tea. It's quiet, and maybe for the first time in years, you feel welcomed here.
"Mordo?" you shout. No answer. So he's probably still at the Illuminati quarters.
"I have a feeling that we have to visit that weird place again." America sighs.
"You're not wrong again. Kay, brace yourself, I don't think the view is going to be pleasant." you open a portal to the main part of the Illuminati building and turning back around, say, "unless you want to stay here until I come back. I'll understand."
"No, it's okay, I'm going." she puts her head up and catches up with you in a minute. "Holy shit," she says shocked. The room is completely destroyed, Ultron bots, or what's left of them, scattered on the floor.
"Holy shit indeed," you say back, going a bit further to another room. There, employees in white lab coats are lying dead in their pools of blood, some of them on the floor, others - awkwardly leaning on their work tables. The whole building is silent, and you feel like you're in a bad horror movie. Going into another room, or a little hall, you see bodies of the Earth's greatest Defenders. Charles - awkwardly lying in his yellow car machine, Peggy - literally cut in half and her shield stuck in the column. Maria - lying under a pile of bricks; Black Bolt lying with his head squashed and some blue material that you almost recognize as all that was left from Reed.
You pull America by her shoulders away from the horrible sight and go toward the main hall where you left Mordo. Barely seeing the way through the curtain of tears you reach the doors and with great struggle manage to open them. The hall seems empty at first but then you notice a figure sitting by the wall in the corner. Mordo. America frees from your grasp and goes in his direction.
"Wait, America," you say and the figure moves. Mordo lifts his head up and looks at you with bloodshot eyes.
"Oh, look who came back." he spits out, still tied with the Chains of Krakkan, tired from the struggle. Sorcerer Supreme or not, no one easily gets out of the spell. What surprised you the most was that the spell was still there, although Stephen left the universe. His nose and mouth were still bloody but the blood has already stopped and dried. He looked like a madman.
"I'm surprised you managed to survive. Unlike every other person in the building," you say, nearing his pathetic figure, your Cloak leaves your shoulders and stays with America.
"Stephen's Cloak? You stole it?" he says, eyes wide, looking at the Cloak and America. His eyes harden upon seeing the girl alive and well.
"I still have some dignity. Can't say the same thing about you." you spit back.
"Don't be ridiculous. That child is a threat, she has to be relieved of her powers."
"You know nothing about her, you know nothing about anything that's been going on, you self-absorbed ignorant dick." he's testing your patience.
"I know enough to see that she's dangerous and you're out of you damned mind!" Mordo shouts, trying to pull his hands out of the chains. Unsuccessfully.
"Oh, I am very much in my mind, believe me. I think it's time to ask some questions," you say, squatting before him.
"Release me, this is madness. I am the Sorcerer Supreme, I command you to release me!"
"You are fucking nothing while you're here. Now, I'm gonna ask you some questions and you're not going to lie, because if you do, America will punch you to a universe where legs grow from your butt!" you shout back at him. America raises her eyebrows at you but stays silent.
"Well, ask, as you can see I have nothing better to do." he shoots back angrily. You resist punching him once again and begin pacing.
"Where did you get the Darkhold? Did Wanda really give it away willingly or was it you behind all that?"
"Are you out of your mind? Of course, Wanda gave it away, you heard her, I'm sure loud and clear."
"Well, I don't know, maybe you forced her to give it away? And Stephen was the perfect target, wasn't he?"
"I would never do this to my friend," he says, trying to get out of the chains again.
"A friend? Stephen himself knew what a two-faced snake you were but for whatever crazy reason, he still trusted you. Answer me, did you give him the idea that a solution to beating Thanos was in the Darkhold?"
"What makes you think like that?"
"Because, you know, the other Strange, he used Time Stone to look into the future, and found a solution. A hard one but still a solution. And you just probably said 'oh Stephen, read the BOOK OF THE DAMNED although we all know how CURSED it is!', am I lying?" you were barely controlling your voice in front of America, afraid that you might scare her away. Using his magical boots Mordo stood up and crossed the distance between you.
You didn't even move a single muscle. Eyes burning with rage, nostrils flaring, you were waiting for what he had to say. Or lie.
"There was no other way," he said, face close to yours.
"Oh, you know, Stephen destroyed a universe, without realizing that and then, oh who could've guessed, Darkhold NEVER had a solution to our problems and we used the Book of Vishanti in the end. What a coincidence, isn't it?" you say, voice low and threatening.
"You're not listening, y/n, , it had to be like that."
"Don't bullshit me, Mordo!" you point a finger to his chest harshly and he swings a bit. "Confess if you ever were a friend to him."
He stays silent for a while and you begin pacing again. In the corner of your eye, you see America sitting on the ground, your Cloak floating near her. She looks at the encounter with wide eyes. Not how she expected things to go here.
"Okay, I did it. I convinced Wanda to give the book to us. She was easy to persuade, and didn't want to keep the book anyway." you feel your blood begin to boil in your veins and take a deep breath in and out.
"So, you suggested that he should look for a solution in the Darkhold?"
"I suggested that first to the committee and the majority of them agreed," he says, also trying to calm himself.
"You... Ugh, you piece of shit." you stop and squeeze your forehead with two fingers. "Why? Why the Darkhold? You knew that the Book of Vishanti existed. Why not it first?"
"I'm sure you knew about it too, why didn't you think of it, sweetheart?" he spits out.
"Oh, after you fed me lies that this book is a myth only, and I got to know after Stephen found it? And then built a way to hide it in the place where universes connect? Great thinking, genius." you feel like you can't think straight, the anger you feel is so strong that you almost black out.
"Listen, y/n... "
"WHAT..." you begin loudly, the echo in the hall making you flinch, "was the reason behind all of this? Did you want Stephen dead? So you could enjoy the warm seat in the Illuminati and be the Sorcerer Supreme?"
He looks you in the eyes, face suddenly changing expression. You wait, stopping before him and balling a fist behind your back.
"Because I loved you," he says.
You blow a strand of your hair from your face and begin pacing yet again. America looks shocked, that's not what she expected at all.
"No." you say, shaking your head almost aggressively, "no you didn't."
"I did. Y/n, it was all for you, I did that for you."
"No, no you didn't."
"I loved you, you were so perfect and he-he was a prick. He was a self-absorbed man who would push you off a cliff if that meant saving another worthless life."
"And what, you wouldn't?" you say, getting close to him again. "You'd push me for free."
"He didn't deserve your love. He was destined to be destroyed by one of his sacrifices. I-I would've found a solution quicker than him, better than he found, and I would still be standing before you, and not underground." he stresses the last word and that is your breaking point.
You pretend to turn around but then spin your heel and punch him in the stomach. You hear your fingers crack and America gasps loudly. He folds like a sheet of paper and falls to his knees, to your surprise, letting out a laugh.
"I loved you since the first moment you stepped into Kamar-Taj, I cared for you, I COULD'VE BEEN MUCH BETTER THAN HE WAS!"
"This isn't love! It's fucking obsession! You don't think I haven't noticed how you were trying to leave things for me? You really think that I haven't noticed how you were staring like a fucking creep? Everywhere I went, I felt your eyes on me. You think I don't feel that now? Accepting me into the Illuminati? Making me your apprentice? You think I'm blind?"
"All this... I did all these things for you and yet it was not enough. Some guy with an ego bigger than his junk comes here and you run after him like a blinded doe?"
You don't say anything. You don't even know what to say at all.
"I mean, our Strange I understand. He was ALWAYS there, but that guy you helped run away? He's a criminal. He wanted to destroy our universe. Why are you so narrow-minded y/n?" he asks in a tone full of pity and your anger rises again.
"Get your facts right first, then maybe you can call others criminals. What, you're gonna go and say that I'm a criminal too? A criminal, who helped a girl and a man save universes? And stop Scarlet Witch? Oh, by the way, go thank Wanda for her magnificent decision to give you the Darkhold, I'm sure you'll be besties after what happened now." you say and see him sitting on heels, head down, looking at the ground. "I hope you think of better lies this time at the funeral." you swallow your tears and with a flick of your fingers, the magical chains that have been holding him, disappear into thin air.
Mordo moves his hands a bit and sees you turning to leave. He quickly shoots up and catches up to you, gripping your arm. "Please y/n, let's just forget that and return to Sanctum. We can pretend nothing happened."
You turn to look at him, eyes full of hatred. "I want you to resign."
His hand leaves yours. "What?"
"I want you to resign from the position of the Sorcerer Supreme," you repeat.
"Don't be ridiculous, y/n, I can't do it, especially not at times like these."
"Resign and we will keep this a secret. Or... Or I'm telling everyone how you set up Stephen and then created this tale about his sacrifice. I'm not bowing before a fucking traitor." you say through gritted teeth.
"Oh, and who's gonna take my place?" he mocks, now grabbing that one last straw of survival.
"I will." without hesitation you answer, remembering the dialogue you had with Stephen last night.
"Oh, so YOU'VE been the one eyeing the place, of course, of course," he says looking at you suspiciously.
"She'll be a way better Master than you," America says loudly, finally feeling like it was her moment to intervene.
"You have no right to talk here!" he shouts, jutting towards the girl and you form a shield in front of him.
"If you even touch her, be sure that I will personally cut you into pieces." you threaten and he takes a step back.
"What happened that your heart is full of anger?" he mutters and then turns away to leave.
You let out a humourless laugh, "what happened? You might ask yourself that, when you got Stephen killed. I hope I won't see you sneaking around either Sanctums or I'll tell everyone the truth." you say as calmly as possible, although inside you feel a big storm. One last look at you and he leaves the hall. You take a deep breath but fall on your knees.
" Y/n!" America shouts and runs to you, putting your broken pieces together with a hug.
"He was right. Stephen was right. Mordo did slip him the idea." you say, eyes teary and voice broken. "And all these years he fed me lies, how could I've been so stupid."
"You were hurt, of course, you believed him, it's okay now." America tries to calm you, and you feel grateful that Stephen and Wong suggested to stay with you.
What felt like hours later, you got up, wiped your tears and called Cloaky back on your shoulders. Now, more important things had to be done. Like funerals. Taking America by her hand, you walk out of the hall and go towards the dead bodies of Illuminati members. The day just started but you were sure that organizing caskets and flowers is going to take the whole day.