Three • Sun
Kathmandu was mild and warm, the city surrounded by mountains and clear blue skies. The streets were busy, with merchants on every corner, the roads packed with traffic and bustling crowds. It was the perfect place to be invisible.
When the people who lived near the temple first saw Juno, they called her pahēlō ām̐khā mahilā - the yellow-eyed woman. She would sneak out and play with the children, entertain them with her ability to move things with her mind and make pretty golden light pour from her fingers. She would sit with market traders and try to learn the language, explore narrow pathways and hidden gardens, anything to avoid returning to her small room in Kamar-Taj. Over time, they began to call her Sunaulō instead - Golden - and after two years, they simply called her Sun.
She walked along the road, waving to the locals as they passed by. They didn't see her often, but when they did, they would always call out to her with a smile.
"Ah, Sun!"
"Namaskāra," she replied, still unsure if she was pronouncing it correctly.
The further she got towards the city, the more she began to disguise herself, hiding her eyes behind a pair of sunglasses and wrapping a sheer black scarf over her head. In the thick of the city, she couldn't be Sun. There, she had to be no one. She could handle the chastising from the sorcerers when they discovered she'd left, the frustration on Stephen's face when he came to scold her. But if someone were to recognise her as the mutant from New York, it would all be over. And she didn't think she could handle that.
As she wandered through the busy streets, she noticed a crowd huddling around a market stall, a small television perched on a chair. She joined the crowd, keeping her face hidden as she peered over their shoulders at the screen. It was a news station reporting on an attack in the US. She recognised it immediately. New York City. Her heart sank as the camera panned across the smoke and rubble, the ambulances and police cars lining the devastating scene.
...
She arrived back at the temple, discarding her scarf and glasses and rushing through the halls. Stephen was there, she could feel him in the air around her, following her senses like a compass until she found him walking the grounds outside.
"Hey," she said breathlessly as she hurried towards him. "What the hell is going on in New York?"
"How do you know about that?"
"It was on the tv in the market."
"Well-" He stopped walking and turned to her. "You left the temple? After I explicitly asked you to stay inside?"
"You've been asking me to stay inside since I first got here. I think we've established I don't like to do as I'm told."
"Juno, you can't keep-"
"Ah ah ah," she said, holding her finger up at him. "You're deflecting from my question. What's happening in New York? Is this something to do with those... dark things you saw?"
"I'm looking into it," he replied.
"That's all you're going to give me?"
"That's all I have to give right now."
He continued to walk, eyeing her at his side as she followed.
"Did you help?" she pressed. "I saw the Avengers on the news and you weren't there."
"They handled it."
"But the headline said the people got away."
"Oh my god, Juno. Stop."
"You need to help them with this, Stephen. You need to let me help."
"No."
She let out a huff. "You said yourself the time would come. I really think this is the time."
"Think whatever you want," he snapped. "I said I'm working on it, can you just drop it!?"
Her face scrunched with anger. She took a deep breath and began to shout.
A pair of sorcerers stood on the other side of the grounds, watching them from a large stone archway at the back of the temple.
"Strange and Juno are fighting again," said one of them.
"What's new?"
"I wonder what it's about this time."
They watched the pair in the distance, arms flailing, faces close as they argued.
"I'm sure they'll work it out. They always do."
*
The changed ones gathered in the basement of the old factory. The dark energy had grown in size, taking up twice the space as it had done before. The group sat around as Spencer paced back and forth.
"We knew this would happen," he said angrily. "This is what the Avengers want; to keep everyone else weak so they can look like saviours."
His eyes trailed the people in front of him, the looks of anger and defeat on their faces.
"What happened yesterday will not happen again. We will bring in new people, grow our team and learn to harness the powers the entity has given us. We will become unstoppable and we will destroy every last one of those self-serving, suit-wearing phoneys." He looked up at the deep, black hole. "We're the Avengers now."
*
The elevator doors slid open. Peter stepped out and walked across the bright, open foyer of the HQ. He took off his backpack and placed it on the floor before pushing through a set of glass doors where the others stood around watching news coverage of the attacks on a thin, glass screen.
"They're freshly enhanced," Bruce continued as Peter joined them. "Still not totally in control of their new abilities. Which makes them dangerous... but beatable."
"Do you think someone did this to them?" asked Rhodey. "Like some evil mastermind's putting together an army of super villains?"
Sam shook his head and stepped up to the screen, using his fingers to zoom in on Spencer Wick's face. "This guy's their leader. He thinks another snap is coming, believes only people with powers will be spared."
"Sounds like some kind of cult."
"Hey, that's what we said," said Scott as he walked into the room.
"How's Hope doing?" asked Rhodey with a sigh.
"She's still sleeping. Hasn't spoken much but I think she's doing better."
"They don't seem like the kind of powers you engineer in a lab," said Wanda as she turned back to the screen. "There was a darkness, a heaviness to them."
The room fell quiet as the group watched the faces on the screen.
Bruce turned to Peter. "Did you find Strange?"
"Yeah I found him," he replied awkwardly.
"And? What did he say?"
"He uh... he said he's- he's handling it."
"He's handling it?"
"That's funny," said Rhodey sarcastically. "Because I don't remember seeing him out there while we were getting our asses handed to us by a bunch of glowing purple freaks."
"Yeah... I think he's still mad at you guys for what happened with the Juno lady."
"Us guys? You fought against her too."
"Yeah but have any of you guys been inside his house in the past two years? 'Cause I just have and he even offered me tea so..."
"Guys. Stop," Wanda interjected. "Strange has always worked alone, it's the way he is. We need to trust that he's getting to the bottom of it and in the meantime we just stay on top of these guys. He treats the cause we treat the symptoms."
"He'd like that one..." said Peter with a chuckle. "Causes and symptoms, y'know, because he's a doctor?"
There was an awkward silence.
"No? Alright."
*
Moonlight shone through the windows of the sanctum. It was quiet and calm, worlds away from the vibrant, busy night life of the city.
Wong walked through the dimly lit halls until he reached a heavy wooden door. He pushed it open and stepped into the room, letting out an irritated breath when he laid eyes on Stephen.
He was running on a treadmill, wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants, a pair of earphones playing music in his ears. He lifted his head, acknowledging Wong with a nod and taking the buds out of his ears.
"Hey," he said breathlessly. "What's up?"
"You told the boy you were working on it," Wong replied.
"I am."
"Is this working on it?" He gestured to him as he continued to run.
"I'm waiting for a spike in activity," he said.
Wong glared at him, completely unconvinced.
He let out a sigh and turned off the machine before stepping off and mopping his brow with a towel. "Alright, truth is I have no idea. I've scoured texts, cast out spells, travelled dimensions and I still don't know where this thing is coming from. I know it's here in New York, but that's as much as I have."
"Juno could help."
"Why are you all so insistent on getting her involved?"
"Because she is powerful and she is strong, and she has been training for a moment like this. She is ready."
"Yeah she's also a fugitive. I pull her out of hiding and she's done for. Do you really think they're gonna excuse everything she did just because she gives us a hand with one group of bad guys?" He paused. "She is one of the bad guys."
"Nice," a voice scoffed behind them.
They turned around to see Juno standing in the doorway. Stephen closed his eyes and sighed and Wong shifted on his feet.
"What are you doing here?" said Stephen.
"Kamar-Taj was getting a little boring," she replied. "I felt like a change of scenery."
He gritted his teeth. "Go back. Now."
"Why? Who's gonna see me?"
"That's not the point. You shouldn't be here."
She pressed her lips together, her feet planted firmly on the ground. "I'm getting really sick and tired of you talking to me like a child."
Stephen paused for a moment before turning to Wong and taking a slow, controlled breath. "Could you give us a second?"
He nodded and hurried out of the room, as if he were running from a volcano on the brink of eruption. Stephen walked towards her, his casual clothes materialising into his robes and cloak.
She raised an eyebrow. "Considering you just called me 'one of the bad guys', I'm kinda offended by the change of outfit."
"I always change after a workout," he replied sarcastically.
"Into your sorcerer getup?"
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Juno, you need to go back-"
"Why did you save me, Stephen?" she snapped. "Because If I'd have known all you were going to do was lock me up like some damsel in a tower, I probably would've preferred for them to just blow me up."
"Look, I know it doesn't feel like it, but I'm keeping you in Kathmandu to protect you."
She raised her hand and shot a blast of light into his chest. It knocked him off his feet, making him fall backwards onto the hard floor.
"What about me makes you think I need protection?" she said.
"Oh, nice, Juno," he grumbled as he climbed to his feet, dusting himself off. "Great, physical force, that's exactly the right approach to getting your point across."
"How else am I supposed to?"
"I don't know, words?"
"I've said everything I can think to say and nothing has changed your mind! You're still convinced you're keeping me safe and I'm still sitting inside a temple every day wondering when you're going to grace me with your presence."
He sighed. "Fine, I will... I'll try to visit you more."
"Way to miss the point, Strange."
"Well then what do you want? For me to send you over to Avengers and say 'hey guys, surprise!'"
"I want to stop feeling like a prisoner!"
"You're not a prisoner."
"If I'm not a prisoner then what's the long term here, Stephen? What's the conclusion?"
Her face changed as she looked at him, her anger melting away as she recognised the worry in his eyes.
"You're scared I'm going to leave," she said quietly.
He placed his hands either side of his head. "I've told you to stop reading my mind."
"I didn't read your mind..."
"Once I bring you out, there's no going back. You come, you help, then what? What happens after? You'd have to go. I don't... I can't..." he was tripping over his words, stuttering and stammering as he avoided her gaze.
She stepped closer to him, softening her voice and catching his eyes with her own. "Two years ago, you had to make a choice between me and the rest of the world. You chose the world. But right now, you're choosing me. You can't do that."
He looked down at her, his jaw clenched, eyes dark and stormy.
"A lot of people got hurt yesterday," she continued. "People I could've saved if you just... stopped worrying about losing me."
"It's not about losing you," he replied quietly.
"Okay now I'm reading your mind and I know that's not true."
He sighed. "C-can we... talk about this another time?"
She dropped her head and took a step back. "Fine. I mean, you know where to find me."
He watched her as she began to walk away. "Juno..."
She stopped, looking at him over her shoulder.
"I'm a protector of this world. It kills me that I let that happen yesterday," he said quietly. "I just... I don't want to ever use you."
"I know, I know, 'I'm not a weapon'."
"No. But I swear if the time ever comes when there's no other choice-"
"Then I will report for duty, Doctor." She saluted him before continuing to walk away. "And I will slaughter everyone."
He glared at her.
"I'm kidding. I don't do that anymore."