Anomaly

"Are you ready?" asked Stephen.

They sat cross-legged on the floor facing each other in a dark, quiet room. The walls were decorated with a gold filigree wallpaper and lined with deep mahogany panels. It was empty besides a velvet chaise longue that sat beneath a small window, and an end table, atop of which sat a heavy gold candelabra.

Juno nodded, biting her nail anxiously.

"Don't tap into my head until I find it," he said.

"And I'll know when you find it because you'll tell me, right?"

"Hopefully."

It had only been minutes since Steve Rogers left. He had asked them not to tell anyone what happened - I can't risk being pulled back into this, he said. Stephen offered to open a portal to his home, save him the travel, but he declined politely before shaking their hands and walking out through the large front doors.

Now Juno was here, in this room, watching as Stephen twisted his fingers and drew the time stone from the eye around his neck. She waited with bated breath as he glowed green and began to levitate, his face contorting, head turning sharply back and forth as it skipped like a video on fast forward. It seemed painful, she wondered what he was seeing.

He was seeing New York City - crumbling, destroyed. The streets were lined with rubble and shattered glass, fire hydrants were spurting, smoke billowing from buildings and cars. He stood in the middle of the road, his body glowing green and transparent, as if he were a ghost.

"Alright, I'm here," he said.

Moments later, she appeared at his side. Her form was flickering like a broken hologram as she tried to concentrate on staying with him. He looked up, shielding his eyes as a gaping black hole began to shrink in the sky. As it finally closed, he saw Tony falling back to earth, his suit failing.

He turned around and rose off the ground, his cloak lifting him high enough to see the roof of the sanctum. There, Bruce's large green body sat slumped in a chair, the Ancient One talking to his astral form. Stephen dropped back to the ground.

"We're in the right timeline," he said.

A loud screeching stole their attention. They turned to see a bus skidding and flipping over, rolling and bouncing down the street towards a man trapped inside his car. Juno held out her hands to try and stop it, but nothing happened. Instead, the bus flew straight through them as if they weren't there and collided with the car.

"No," she cried. "Why couldn't I stop it?"

"We're just spectators here," he replied. "It's like watching a movie and being able to step through the screen; you feel like you're there, but the movie's already been shot and edited. You can't change anything."

They waited for hours until eventually, down a side street, they saw Cap appear with Loki's sceptre. He walked towards a wrecked car where Tony and Scott Lang sat waiting with a defeated look on their faces.

Stephen placed a hand on Juno's back and guided them closer. "Alright, any moment now."

They waited, watching the three men argue. But the crash never came. Instead, they saw Cap hand Scott the sceptre before synchronising his suit with Tony - the pair disappearing seconds later. Scott stood for a moment, talking aloud to himself before activating his own suit and disappearing too.

Stephen's brows came together. "Wh...."

"I thought you said this was the right time-"

"It is."

"I don't- I don't underst-"

Suddenly, there was a shift in the air as time began to rewind around them. People were walking backwards, cars driving as if they were in reverse. Scott reappeared with the sceptre in hand, followed by Tony and Cap who took the sceptre back.

"Stephen..." said Juno. "What the hell was that?"

He turned around, looking towards Bleecker Street and noticing a vivid green light in the sky. He hurried out onto the main street as everything stopped rewinding. Things were silent, eerily so, when suddenly a car appeared from nowhere, encased in a purple light that sent it flying around the corner and crashing, just as Steve had said. A woman with short, dark hair smashed through the windshield, her bloody, mangled body flying through the air towards the three men before vanishing with the sceptre.

"What the heck was that!?" Juno shouted.

But before she could turn to him, he had already began soaring through the air towards the sanctum.

He landed on the roof, his eyes falling the Ancient One as she locked the time stone away inside the Eye of Agamotto. Her ears pricked. She turned around with her hands behind her back.

"Doctor Strange," she said in her calm, regal voice. She looked down at his attire. "Where are you visiting from?"

"2023."

"It worked," she whispered to herself, almost smiling with relief.

"What worked?"

"You fulfilled your destiny, became our next sorcerer supreme."

His eyes narrowed with confusion.

"I see the cloak of levitation chose you," she said.

"Yeah."

"Interesting. So, what brings you here?"

Juno hurried up onto the roof, approaching them breathlessly. "Thanks for leaving me down there," she said sarcastically. "It takes real skill to run away from someone who's reading your mind."

The Ancient One's eyes grew wide, a look of almost-fear on her face as she stared at her. "It's not possible," she said quietly.

"Stephen," said Juno. "I thought you said we were just 'spectators'.Why do I get the feeling she can see us?"

"Because she can."

"You possess a power..." The Ancient One's eyes darted across Juno's face.

"Yeah." She turned around and lifted her hair, showing the stone in her neck.

"No, this can't be..."

Stephen stepped forward. "I just saw you turn back time. I watched you cause that car accident. Why?"

"All of this is done, Stephen," she turned to walk away. "It can't be changed."

"I'm not asking you to change it. I'm asking you to tell me why."

She sighed. "Because I gave away the stone. By the time he brought it back to me, it was too late."

"Too late?"

"You were already operating. I had to undo it."

"But why?"

"Because the fate of existence rested upon it. If she lived, you would never have become a sorcerer."

"Hold on," Juno interrupted. "You're the reason I die today?"

"Not in every reality. In most of them you die without my interference."

"So this... This is all because of you - the pain I'm in, the damage I've caused..."

"I am truly sorry, Juno." The Ancient One bowed her head before attempting to walk away again.

"Wait," said Stephen. "We're supposed to protect people. We don't get to just play god with people's lives like that."

She gave a shrug and a sigh. "One life in exchange for trillions."

Juno rolled her eyes. "How very utilitarian of you."

"She's feisty. I see why she's the one you were to fall in love with."

"But he didn't fall in love with me. Because you just zapped me out of existence and sent me 11 years into the future."

"I didn't intend for that to happen."

"No, you only meant for me to die a slow, painful death."

"I'm not proud of what I just did, you were never supposed to die by my hand. But it was your destiny to be in an accident today, Juno. Whether you survived or not, you were always going to crash that car."

"How?"

The Ancient One raised her hands, creating streams of yellow light in the air. They were moving, travelling upwards like growing vines as she spoke. "In all realities, on this day, you are taken to hospital after a car accident." She made the lines connect into a single point. "In hospital, you are taken to Dr Strange. You fight for your life as he assesses your chances of survival. This is where you either live or die." She moved her hands again.

They watched as half of the lines turned a stony grey, while the rest stayed yellow as they continued to travel upwards, veering off in different directions.

"If Stephen chose to operate on you, you would live. If Stephen believed you had no chance of survival, he would refuse to do the surgery and you would die. In the realities where he was destined to operate, I cast out a spell to make certain he chose not to. It worked across all realities except one that my magic didn't reach, and this one." She swiped her hand, turning every line grey except for two. "Your friends popping in and out with their time machine altered this timeline. Meaning I was too late; she was already on your operating table by the time I got the stone back. So I had no other choice but to use it to turn back time." One of the streams of yellow light turned green before slowly shrinking back down and eventually turning grey. "The plan was never to kill you myself, Juno, but unfortunately my hands were tied. I pulled you back through time and brought you to a point where I could cause a crash while emergency services were busy elsewhere."

Juno felt her knees buckle, her breath shaking as she tried to process what she was saying.

"Why did she disappear with the sceptre?" asked Stephen.

"If you meddle with time enough, it will tear - rip, like an over-worn garment."

"She fell into a time tear?"

"It appears so."

"I'm assuming you erased the hospital records."

"I erased the day completely."

"And you're behind the creatures that infiltrated the sanctum.."

"I feared the moment may come when she reappeared. Clearly my fears were correct. I drew upon the forces of the dark dimensions so if she were to ever reappear, they would find her and-"

"You sent those things after me?" Juno gritted her teeth, the stone in her neck sending agonising pains down her spine.

"Juno, don't," said Stephen quietly.

"It's seems as though your will to survive surpassed even my powers," said the Ancient One matter-of-factly.

"I thought the universe led me to become what I am," said Stephen. "But all this time it was you."

"I had seen what you could become. The best of us all."

"You forced me down a path-"

"I guided you with the best intentions."

"Best intentions," Juno interrupted, almost scoffing. "I just watched myself get thrown through the windshield of a car."

She ignored her, speaking directly to Stephen. "This is your destiny. How would the world fair without you here to protect it?"

He stared at her.

"You need to leave now," she said calmly.

"How am I supposed to look at you, now that I know what you've done..."

"If I'm not mistaken, in your present I've been dead for many years. You don't need to look at me at all."

"Are you not even a little bit concerned about what tampering with time might have caused?"

She began to walk away, turning back one last time. "It's a good job you became a sorcerer then, isn't it."

They fell to the floor of the sanctum. Juno's head was hurting and Stephen's muscles ached, the pair of them staring at each other through the dark, silent room.

"I was supposed to live," she finally said. "I could have lived."

He stared at her, breathing heavily, his brow coated in sweat.

"You killed me," she continued.

"Oh don't be ridiculous, I didn't-"

"You killed me, over and over and over."

he sighed. "Sometimes, as a surgeon, when you're faced with a patient in such a critical condition, you have to make a judgement call."

"Yeah, well your judgement was wrong. You wanted to protect your 100% success record and it cost me my life. All of my lives."

"Hey, I didn't do that. In this reality I chose to operate on you, remember? I can't help the fact that she interfered with time."

"Does that not infuriate you? You were robbed of everything you were supposed to have -  love, children, a peaceful, normal, happy life. You were robbed of your hands."

He held his hands out in front of him, looking down at the thickened, red scars that ran from his wrists up every knuckle and finger. The way they still hurt, still shook when he tried to keep them still.

"I..." he began quietly. "I am happy with the life I was given."

She rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Look, this is good," he said as he rose to his feet. "It means that you're not some manmade weapon, you haven't been sent here to hurt anyone."

"No, I'm just a plain old accident. Much better."

"Juno."

"Stephen. Do you have even the slightest comprehension of how this feels for me? Doctor Stephen Strange - big, successful surgeon man turns mystic warrior - is so important that we must erase this woman from existence just so we can keep coddling him along the right path."

"It wasn't just about me. It was about the whole universe. Thanos destroyed-"

"Yeah, I know, I get it. One life in exchange for trillions blah blah blah. But... have you ever stopped to think about how it feels to actually be that one? Because it freaking sucks." She paced back and forth for a moment, brushing her hair out of her face. "I was unwelcome in this world before, and now that I'm back, I'm still unwelcome. Just now with added zap zaps." She spoke sarcastically as she made finger-guns, shooting small flickers of energy into the air.

He stepped towards her, taking her by the arms and lowering them to her sides. He looked her in the eyes and took a breath.

"The Ancient One said we're not supposed to exist in the same reality. Because I needed to become a mystic and I couldn't do that if you survived the accident. But the Avengers messing with time, causing a tear, combining you with the sceptre. It means that you belong here. It means that once we remove the mind stone, you actually have a chance of a normal life."

She thought for a moment. "So the bitch on the roof created a loophole."

"You shouldn't call her that."

"Are you really taking her side?"

*

The morning sun rose over New York City, warming what had been a cold night. Juno stood in her bedroom. She was wrapped in a towel, looking down at the messy pile of clothes Wong had stolen from Kamar-Taj. She rummaged through them, pulling out a pair of black pants with brown leather braces. She raised an eyebrow and slipped them on, nodding in approval. They were very possibly men's pants - too long, gathering awkwardly around the ankle. She looked at herself in the dusty antique mirror when an idea popped into her head.

She snuck out into the hall and hurried across to Stephen's room. Inside was dark, the sun straining to push through the thick, plush drapes. She opened them, letting the light into the room, before sliding open his dresser and sifting through it.

The door opened and Stephen walked in, his eyes falling on Juno, topless, with her back to him. He immediately averted his gaze and let out a huff.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She pulled out a plain white shirt and slipped it on, turning to him as she buttoned it up. "I'm trying to put together a nice outfit."

"Using my clothes?"

"Well I don't have any of my own." She tucked the shirt in and looked at herself in his mirror. "I feel like I wore nice clothes. Something tells me I was a stylish dresser..."

He furrowed his brow, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

She held out a glowing hand, and after a few seconds, a sandy-coloured beret flew over Stephen's shoulder. She caught it and put it on.

"I also feel like I wore a lot of hats."

"Good to see you're prioritising the important things."

"I'm trying to remember who I was before all of this. That is important," she turned to him. "Maybe I was a fashion person, y'know? Like maybe that was my job, something in the fashion industry. Do you think?"

"Mm, I doubt it. I don't think I'd marry a 'fashion person'."

"We never got married."

"No but I mean if we had; I just can't see myself falling for someone who works in fashion. I mean, a neurosurgeon and a stylist? What would we have in common?"

"That... is kinda snobbish."

"Sorry. I'm just being honest. I was sort of an asshole back in 2012."

"Nice to see nothing's changed."

He glared at her before clearing his throat. "So, fashion? Really?"

"Yeah, I don't know I just... I seem to know the names of all the different styles, cuts, fabrics, all off the top of my head-"

"You also knew what utilitarianism was off the top of your head. So, by your logic, that would make you a philosopher," he said sarcastically.

"You're mocking me, aren't you."

"No." He chuckled. "Come on, they're waiting for you."

*

The group stood around, arms folded, open-mouthed as Stephen explained everything they had seen the night before, strategically leaving Steve Rogers out of his story. Behind them was a wall of windows looking out over the plush green landscape of Wakanda.

"Why didn't you see what the Ancient One did when you first looked back?" asked T'Challa. He was standing with the others, his arms folded across his royal robes.

"Because it happened in a do-over," Stephen explained. "A repeat of one timeline. It's like sheets of paper stacked on top of each other - one covered the other."

"So what does this mean?" asked Sam. "Should we be concerned about this 'time tear'?"

"It would only be dangerous if the sceptre got lost inside of it. But it didn't."

"It just got lost inside of me instead," Juno interjected, eliciting a subtle laugh from a few of them.

"Alright, we think it's ready," Bruce called from across the lab.

They walked over to a tall, cylindrical machine. Juno looked it up and down fearfully, noticing the heavy metallic restraints inside.

"For your safety and ours," a soft voice said.

She turned around to see Shuri standing with a tablet in her hands, the screen illuminating her face. She took a deep breath and nodded before climbing inside and letting them lock her into the contraption. She was upright, her feet clamped in place, her arms outstretched either side. She slid her hands into two round, metal cylinders that locked around her fists.

Shuri activated the machine and everyone watched as it tilted Juno forward, suspending her horizontally in the air.

"I have reconfigured the technology I used to disconnect the mind stone from Vision," said Shuri. "However, we are dealing with a biological fusion here. It is not going to be easy."

"Is it gonna hurt?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Okay. Cool."

"Alright, ready when you are," said Bruce as he stood near a large, transparent computer screen.

Shuri touched her tablet, the machine rumbling to life, before nodding to Bruce. He tapped on the screen, the pair of them beginning to work.

It began with a burning sensation. Small and manageable. Juno closed her eyes, taking deep breaths as thousands of pin-prick lasers began to prod at her neck.

"Located the fusion," said Shuri. "Increase power."

Bruce turned a dial slowly, and suddenly, the sensation wasn't so manageable anymore. She winced, pressing her mouth together until her teeth dug into her lips. They're trying to kill you. She opened her eyes, wondering who had whispered in her ear. They're taking your powers away. She realised the voice was her own. It was inside her head, growing stronger as the pain got worse. She let out an agonised cry. Stephen stepped forward, his face etched with concern.

T'Challa put his arm out, stopping him from getting closer. "Trust my sister," he said.

Juno shut her eyes as the voice continued. You could control everything. She could see a face behind her eyelids, a pale grinning face, followed by a blinding blue light forcing its way behind her eyes. Destroy them. Control everything. Destroy them. Control everything. She let out another scream. The mind stone began to spark, the metal around her hands letting out smoke.

"What's happening?" asked Stephen.

Shuri buried her face in her tablet. "The stone. It is... resisting. The vibranium is not strong enough to withstand her power."

Juno's body began to glow with an intense, deep gold light. It was throbbing, pulsating around her as she continued to scream. 

"Turn it off," said Stephen.

The stone cracked, sending a shattering blast through the lab. Juno opened her eyes, they were a bright, blinding gold, as if she had been possessed.

"Turn it off!" Stephen continued.

"I am trying!" Shuri replied.

"It's gonna kill her, turn it off!"

Bruce ran towards the machine. He ripped the door off its hinges and grabbed Juno before dragging her out of it. He threw her to the ground before collapsing beside her, panting for breath and yelling in pain. She had burned him.

After a moment, the light around her began to fade. She took a deep, tortured gasp and sat upright in panic.

Stephen dropped to his knees. "Juno, are you alright?"

"Blue lights. B-blue eyes," she stammered. "D-destroy everything. It wants to destroy..." she trailed off, struggling to breathe.

The machine was ruined. Wires exposed, glass smashed, plumes of smoke rising from the intricate technology.

Shuri stared at it in shock. "This is not going to work," she said.

"So what? You can't get it out?" asked Sam.

"Not with this machine. I am going to need to build something else. Something that can successfully separate her from the stone before it attempts to extract it."

"How long will that take?"

"I am not sure."

"We don't have much time," said Bruce. "The stone is like a ticking bomb. If we don't get it out in time, who knows what will happen."

"I will do my best," said Shuri.

Bruce nodded appreciatively. "I'll stay here and help." He turned to T'Challa. "If that's alright?"

"That will be fine," he replied. "The girl should stay here too where she can be monitored and kept away from the people trying to find her."

Juno's ears pricked. She stared up at them and began shaking her head. "I'm not staying here."

Bruce sighed. "T'Challa's right. This is probably the safest place you could be-"

"I don't care. I'm not staying here." She climbed to her feet, her hands still stuck inside the metal casings. She looked at Stephen. "Tell them I'm not staying here."

He stood up and rubbed his beard with his hand. "Ju-"

Her eyes began to glow. "Tell them."

He felt himself becoming dizzy as the sudden urge to do as he was told came over him. He fought it, blinking it away. The others began shifting on their feet, settling into defensive stances as if they were ready to fight her. She looked around at each face as the stone throbbed in her neck, realising she wasn't scared of any of them.

"Don't do something stupid," said Sam, shaking his head and raising his shield.

"I don't want to do something stupid. I want to go home," she replied, making her fists glow and shattering the metal around them as if it were delicate as glass.

T'Challa took a step towards her, but she didn't give him time to pounce. Instead she raised her hands, directing them at him. Stephen watched on in panic, knowing what was going to happen. He opened a portal beneath Juno's feet, letting her drop into it before closing it quickly.

"What did you just do!?" shouted Sam.

"I very likely just saved T'Challa's life," he replied sharply.

"She's dangerous."

"She's not dangerous- She doesn't mean to be."

"She's under the influence of an infinity stone. That makes her one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Pretty dangerous if you ask me."

"The stone was preying on her fear - She's just... scared."

"Fear and power can be a deadly combination," said T'Challa, his tone was calm yet commanding. 

"She doesn't want to hurt anyone."

Sam let out a cynical laugh. "Y'know, I'm getting kind of sick of you making excuses for her."

"Guys," said Bruce. "Can we stop fighting and just work on getting that thing out of her?"

They turned around to see him still sitting on the floor, his hands were blistered from where he had touched her.

"Man," he said as he looked down at the damage. "I hate infinity stones."

*

He found her sitting cross-legged in front of the Rotunda of Gateways. She had turned the first door to a view of plush, green valleys lain with wild flowers. The second showed a cave crusted with pearlescent crystals, their reflections glittering in clear blue water. He stood behind her. Staying quiet as she continued to stare at the beauty beyond the doors.

"I contemplated stepping through one of them and just... not coming back," she said.

"What stopped you?"

"This." She pointed to the stone, pausing for a moment. "What if they can't get it out without killing me?"

"I won't let that happen."

She turned her head to look up at him. "What if it comes down to saving me, or saving the world?"

"That would suggest you and the world can't coexist..."

"I'm starting to feel like maybe we can't."