Chapter 25
In less than fifteen minutes, the hangar was filled with dead black soldiers littering the floor.
Natasha, Bucky and Clint stood there, panting hard as they stared at the open breach with wide eyes.
"We did it." Clint murmured with awed eyes, "Holy crap, we did it."
Just when he said that, Tony, Dean and Charles ran into the room, only to stop and look around with wide eyes. Followed by AU Steve, Hank and Erik, who was still clutching AU Charles in his arms.
"They got him out." Natasha whispered with a small smile, as she saw the AU mutant couple reunited.
From the other side of the room, AU Raven and Logan practically ran towards their commander, to stare with wide, tear filled eyes at the sleeping telepath.
Their three friends approached them, while they still watched the sweet reunion of that small family.
"Dark Tony?" Bucky asked with a raised eyebrow when they were close enough.
"Dead. AU Erik ended him in a very gruesome way." Tony answered with a shudder. "God, remind me to never piss off our Erik so much. That scene will forever be engrained in my head."
"If our Erik tried anything, he would probably die first by Steve's hands, who will get his brain fried by a distraught Charles and then we will have too many widowers in the house." Dean commented with a small chuckle, feeling relieved the moment he saw the breach open.
Charles shrugged without really denying Dean's sentence, a soft smile on his face.
"You opened the breach." Tony grinned as he eyed the gateway.
"Well, it was AU Raven really, but yeah." Clint grinned back at him in relief. "We can finally go home now."
They started to make their way to the breach, feeling like their part in this world was finally done, but a voice behind them made them stop.
"Wait," AU Erik called out carefully, approaching them with a surprisingly guilty look on his face. "Before you go, I-um, I just wanted to say that I-"
"That you are sorry for almost nuking us all in a bout of vengeful anger?" Dean commented with an amused smile at AU Erik's struggle, letting out a chuckle when Charles gave him an unamused look.
"Well, yes." AU Erik sighed in defeat, looking down at his unconscious lover in his arms. "I promised to give you an hour. I didn't keep my word and it almost cost me more than I could imagine. I should have trusted you, and I apologize for that."
They blinked at him, stunned. A version of Erik Lehnsherr was apologizing. That might be the most bizarre thing they ever saw so far. Maybe even more bizarre than seeing a dark version of Tony.
"Wow, that's, um, no worries, really." Tony shrugged with a nervous chuckle.
"We understand that you are in a war and needed to make tough decisions." Charles reassured in a gentle voice, as he gave the newly reunited couple a soft smile. "I hope that your anger is pacified now."
AU Erik gazed at him then looked back down at his lover, a soft look in his eyes. AU Raven and Logan came up to stand beside him, followed by AU Steve who was eyeing Tony carefully.
"What are you going to do now that you are free?" Tony asked AU Steve curiously, when the former approached him. "You know, you can always come with us. Have a new beginning. A new life."
AU Steve looked at him for a few seconds, then smiled softly, and a little sadly, at him.
"Thank you, Tony, but I am pretty sure your world doesn't need another Steve Rogers." He said with a soft chuckle, a sad look in his eyes. "Besides, even with how broken it is, this is my world. I can't leave it torn apart like that and leave. Even with the way it treated me."
"Then what's your plan?" the genius asked with a small smile, like he was expecting that answer from the other man.
"I will go with Commander Lehnsherr." He answered as he shared a look with the metal binder, who gave him a nod in return. "There is still much to do after we destroy the portal. He will need help to achieve it and I am willing to finally do something that will help my world."
“Wow, guess no matter what world we are in, you will always be a Steve Rogers.” Tony chuckled fondly, as he gave him a smile and a soft look that made AU Steve’s breath hitch a little. “Well, I guess this is goodbye. I really do hope you will manage to have a new beginning here, Steve.”
AU Steve eyed Tony for a second, before giving him a bitter smile.
“Yeah. Me too.” He murmured softly, feeling the weight of what happened to him pressing more persistently on his shoulders.
“We need to go.” Dean announced as he motioned towards the breach, “We have an angel to save, a family to free and doppelgangers to kill.”
“Right.” Tony nodded, gave AU Steve one last smile, before moving towards Dean.
“Thank you.” AU Erik murmured, stopping Charles before he moved to follow them. AU Raven and Logan are also looking at him gratefully. “Just-Thank you.”
Charles glanced at each one of them, before smiling gently.
“Be happy, Erik.” He whispered fondly, looking over at the metal binder. “You deserve it. Just be happy.”
AU Erik smiled back at him, then looked down at his sleeping lover and nodded.
“Well, we will be going now.” Natasha nodded at them, then they all turned and walked towards the breach.
Right before they stepped through it, Dean looked back one last time.
The last thing he saw before they disappeared from this world forever, was AU Steve’s sad, lost eyes, Erik’s fond smile and Logan and Raven’s grateful faces.
***
The moment Team Dark World released AU Charles from the pod, Ultron got disoriented.
After losing his ‘battery’, he stumbled and became confused of his surroundings. Losing his focus, when he was two seconds away from killing Steve.
Steve, noticing this, took his chance.
“Everyone attack! Now, before he gets his bearings back!” Steve shouted, jumping towards his shield and slammed it hard against Ultron’s face, making him fly and land in the middle of the room.
Immediately, Erik dismantled a metal chair and threw it at the robot, which surprisingly pierced him, nailing him to the floor despite his resistance.
Thor then used his hammer to summon lightening that he sent all at the robot, who couldn’t move to run away from it. At the same time, Rhodey and Sam Wilson started shooting at Ultron with all their might, while screaming curses at him, then Logan and Hank jumped on him and started to dismantle his limbs at rocket speed.
In under two minutes, Ultron exploded, before he could say anything, leaving behind a pile of broken metal parts and limbs.
They all stood there, panting harshly, while covered in bruises and cuts.
“What the hell happened?” Wilson asked in confusion. “Why did he slow down suddenly and became a puppet that got its strings cut?”
The comment made Steve pause and blink as he thought about it.
“Maybe that’s exactly what happened.” He murmured under his breath, eyeing the remains of the robot curiously.
“What are you talking about?” Erik frowned at him in confusion. Impatience and frustration in his voice.
Steve looked up at him, noticing his pale, tired face. The back of his neck was covered in blood, his head injury must have been reopened in the fight, making him bleed all over himself, while he ignored it stubbornly.
To be fair, as Steve trailed his eyes over the others, they all looked horrible and bloody. Well, except for Logan, whose injuries already healed and Steve seriously considered hitting him in the face for that.
This had been a rough couple of days for all of them.
He trailed his eyes again towards Ultron, or what remained of him anyway.
‘A puppet that got his strings cut off’, that’s what Wilson said. What if it was true? What if in the Dark world, something happened that caused this? What if-
He was about to voice his thoughts to his friends, but then stopped and looked down at his wedding ring suddenly, with wide, disbelieving eyes.
“Steve?” Rhodey called out in worry, when he noticed the Captain’s sudden reaction.
He didn’t hear him. He was focusing on his ring.
When Steve didn’t answer, they all got concerned and stepped closer to him.
“Captain, are you alright?” Thor asked in a careful concerned voice.
This time, Steve did look up at them with wide eyes, startling them.
“The ring.” He murmured in disbelieve, still unable to believe it, hope bubbling in his chest. “The ring. It’s beating again. I can feel Tony’s heartbeats again!”
***
Sam moved carefully to hide Castiel and the two women behind him, as he stood to face Dark Dean, putting himself between him and the angel.
“I said step away from the angel.” Dark Dean repeated, pointing his readied arrow at Sam, his face looking like an ice sculpture from how emotionless and cold it was.
“No.” Sam said firmly, standing his ground and facing the Dark King unflinchingly.
“Then you will die first.” Dark Dean just shrugged, as he started to release his hold on the arrow.
Charlie and Raven stepped from behind Sam to stand beside him, facing the king while hiding a protesting Castiel behind them.
“If you want him, you will have to go through us first,” Charlie said firmly, glaring at the king.
He trailed his eyes between them, frustration creeping into his cold face.
“You do realize that this is a waste of time, right?” He raised an eyebrow at them with a deep frown. “None of you is a match for me. I can kill you under one minute and take him from under your noses. So just make it easier for all of us and hand him over.”
“Sam, let me-“ Castiel started carefully, but was hushed by Sam, who earned an indignant look from the angel for his trouble. “Sam, just don’t-“
“You know what? No, we are not handing him over.” Sam stated in a strong voice, not caring that there was an arrow pointed towards his chest. “You are also not going to take this world. If you killed us now, the rest of this family will hunt you down, and they are going to win. You choose the wrong world to mess with. Because here? We fight anyone who comes near our family.”
Dark Dean looked at him with a bored expression, looking two seconds away from rolling his eyes.
“These are very nice last words.” He commented coldly, trailing his eyes between them. “Now, goodbye.”
“Drop your weapon!” the same voice rang through the room, making them jump and look towards it with wide eyes.
Only to see Dean, their Dean, standing on the other side of the garage, his arm choking Dark Castiel’s neck, who was too weak to fight him off, with a gun pointed at his head. Behind Dean, Natasha stood, pointing her own gun at Dark Dean, a vicious glare on her face.
“Dean!” Castiel called out in pure relief the moment he laid his eyes on the hunter, feeling his body shake from the power of his relief. Sam’s eyes widened when he saw his brother and fiancée, while Charlie and Raven breathed out in shock.
Dean’s eyes trailed over them, stopping at Castiel, relief evident on his face that he wasn’t too late, then stared back at his doppelganger, while tightening his grip on the Dark angel.
“His head doesn’t seem invincible right now, so I will say it again, Drop your weapon!” Dean demanded, glaring hard at the doppelganger.
Dark Dean was frozen, looking at them with wide eyes, while his arrow was still pointed at Sam.
“Don’t listen to him, just shoot them!” Dark Castiel ordered harshly, trying to free himself from the tight grip.
“No! No, don’t you dare!” Dean yelled in rage, pressing the gun more firmly to the Dark angel’s head. “Make a move and I will blow his fucking brains out.”
“You don’t have it in you! You are too weak!” Dark Castiel growled in frustration, as he struggled again.
“Do you really want to test that?”
“If he didn’t do it, I will.” Natasha interjected, pointing her gun at Dark Castiel too. “Drop your weapon. Now.”
Dark Dean’s grip on the bow tightened as he trailed his eyes back towards Sam and the girls.
“We can help you save him.” Dean said carefully, eyeing his doppelganger.
“There is only one way to save me and you know it!” Dark Castiel growled in frustration.
“This is a tower filled with brilliant people, they will find another way. There are ways to do this without hurting anyone! Without hurting Cas!” Dean tried without releasing the Dark Angel.
“He is lying!” Dark Castiel shouted, eyes trained on his husband, who was staring back at him. “Do it for the Fatherland! Just kill them!”
“Do it, and you can say goodbye to him.” Natasha yelled in frustration, her finger ready to press the trigger.
Dark Dean stood there frozen for a second, before suddenly pulling out a metal sphere from his belt and threw it the floor.
The sphere exploded, letting out a bright white light, that blinded them all for a few seconds.
When the light went out and they opened their eyes, Dark Dean and Dark Castiel were nowhere to be seen.