Regroup and Gather
“I’m hungry. Hey Cap, go find my snack bag, would you?” Tony was sitting propped up in a cot at the base camp on the edge of the city.
“In a minute, Tony. I’m trying to catch what’s going on.” Steve was sitting near Natasha who was acting as eyes and ears while the others searched the castle that was built into the mountainside that Hydra had been using as a base, apparently for quite a long time. They were operating under cover of darkness to avoid being noticed by whatever was possessing Wanda.
There was a mumbling from the other cot as Clint stirred. He hadn’t really said anything coherent since the hit around daybreak.
“Oh, come on. I haven’t eaten all day and I’m stuck in bed. Help a guy out.” Tony shifted a little more and stopped suddenly, putting a hand to his head and leaning his head back against the wall. It was after midnight and Tony was only now alert enough to try to sit up and eat.
Steve rolled his eyes a little but dug around Tony’s bag and finally found some dried fruit. “Now take it easy okay. And have some water too.”
“Quiet guys, they’ve found some kind of crumbled wall leading to a chamber in the basement that appears to have been blasted open from inside the chamber.” Natasha waved a hand at them without turning to look at them.
“Well that’s not concerning.” Steve shook his head, though he regretted it a moment later when he felt a bit dizzy. The serum had certainly helped, he was recovering much faster than Clint or Tony. They thought Tony might be doing better because the Iron Man suit took some of the edge off which Clint didn’t get, nor did Steve.
Natasha’s recovery had been somewhere in the middle, but perhaps the hit she’d taken hadn’t been as intense. Wanda had been hitting everyone in the town that day and it seemed less focused than when they’d cornered her. She was finally beginning to feel closer to fully functional again, but had refrained at Steve and others’ behest, from joining the group searching the castle.
“Um, some weird group of people just appeared and they’re headed this way.” Pietro hadn’t been there a moment before he started speaking to them.
“Weird how?” Steve hoped it was Thor, they’d called Bruce who said he’d try contacting Thor.
“One old guy with an eye patch. Two young ones with long hair, one blond, one black haired. And a woman who is stunningly gorgeous. A goddess who was circled in golden light when she appeared, though it died down quickly.” Pietro’s expression got dreamy for a moment when he spoke of the woman.
“That might be Thor.” Steve was slightly concerned with the rest though.
“And it sounds like maybe he brought reindeer games with him.”
“I thought he was dead.” Natasha glanced over her shoulder, attempting to split her attention.
“So did I. I’ll go see what’s up. Nat, keep tabs on the group inside. Pietro, if you could continue keeping an eye on your sister and helping any stragglers out of the city, that would be good.”
“Okay, if you don’t think you need back up for these people.” Pietro shrugged a bit before dashing off.
“Never know if Loki’s here.” Tony was still sitting with his snack bag untouched.
“Eat your snack, Tony. I’ve got this.” Steve wasn’t sure he had it, but he sure sounded like he did, and that was the key. Steve carefully headed outside so he didn’t get too dizzy. He didn’t have to go far. As soon as he got two steps outside the building he saw Thor coming toward him, the woman still had a faint glow to her. Steve had no idea how that worked.
“Good to see you, Steve. Are you alright? Bruce said you’d taken a hit.” Thor approached faster than those with him and patted Steve on the shoulder, looking him over as if to make sure he looked okay.
“I’m feeling better, Clint and Tony are still a little dazed. Natasha’s recovering.” Steve smiled at the concern from Thor.
“Did you bring anyone else along?” Thor scanned the area for anyone else. “I saw someone very fast depart this location a moment ago. Are they a friend?”
“Yes, that was Pietro. It’s his sister who is being possessed, he’s been helping us since we encountered him. We also brought Sam, Rhodey, and Maria, along with a tac team Maria put together, and they are going through the castle up there. Hydra was using it as a base for decades it seems.” Steve’s gaze shifted from looking at Thor to over at the others. “I can’t help noticing you brought your brother. Wasn’t he dead?”
“I thought he was. He’s not. And he’s here to help, right Loki.” Thor glanced at his brother.
“It would appear so.” Loki made a bit of a mock salute at Steve.
“And the others?” Steve nodded at the old man and the woman.
“Oh, yes, this is my father, Odin.” Odin nodded but said nothing. “And this is Jord, she is apparently my mother as well, though not the one I grew up knowing. Perhaps best known here on Midgard as Mother Earth. She is an Elder God.”
Steve felt like he had questions, but wasn’t sure any of them were immediately relevant, so he held his tongue.
“I am known by many names. I believe I know who is possessing the girl here and I believe I can force him back into exile. Loki and Odin should be able to assist me to assure everyone is safe, including the girl. Are there any notable features of this girl that clearly are not hers?” Jord stepped closer as she spoke, there was something about her that seemed beyond any other being Steve had ever encountered.
“Her eyes are black and rimmed in red. Until she is about to strike and then they glow almost white. That and the red smoke were the last things I remembered from trying to stop her. But her brother says the red smoke look is something she herself can produce with her power, but the eyes are not.” Steve watched her as she moved. She walked as a person, but it seemed utterly effortless.
Jord nodded as she circled around Steve and Thor. “That sounds like confirmation of my suspicions.”
“Who is this being or entity?” Steve felt himself wobble a little but Thor gripped his shoulder and he was steady again.
“I am not sure if it might be best for mortals not to know. He has a way of worming into those who know his name.”
“See, even I know better than to meddle with something as dangerous as he.” Loki commented and Thor gave him a bit of a side eye.
“Steve is no ordinary mortal.” Thor smiled with a look of pride and Jord stopped in front of Steve to look him in the eyes.
It was an odd sensation for Steve, it felt deeply penetrating for a moment or two and then she shifted. “Very well, it’s name is Chthon, and he was my brother. An Elder God. But eons ago he and most of the others degenerated into demons and began consuming each other. I drove him out by birthing a god eater and he escaped into a realm of his own creation and has been banished from this one since. However, he has found ways to try to creep back in and try to consume this world many times over the ages. What possesses that girl is only a fragment of him and his power, and we must not let it become more. He is here looking for a way to bring his whole self back to destroy, triggered, I believe, by other happenings occurring on this planet.“
“How do we stop him? Is there something we can do to help?” Steve was never very good at sitting out a fight, even when he probably should have.
“How many people are left in the city? And where is the girl now?” Her hand went out toward the city and she closed her eyes for a moment.
“Not very many, we have a few people trying to make sure the city is clear. The girl, her name is Wanda, and she is still wandering the streets. She keeps looking like she’s going to leave, but keeps circling around.” Steve was finding Jord oddly fascinating to watch.
“This girl, she is powerful, yes?”
“Yes, she seems to be.” Steve nodded.
“That is good as she may be the one preventing him from causing further damage. Though it means he has great power at his disposal as well. Do you know more about her abilities?”
“Why don’t we sit a moment and I’ll call in her brother. He’ll know best what her capabilities are.” Steve only knew the basics of what Pietro had said Wanda could do, but he knew he didn’t know all the details. So he called for Pietro over the coms line and a moment later, he was there.
The conversation wasn’t long, mostly Pietro staring at the woman and telling her about what he knew of Wanda’s powers. Pietro offered to guide them to Wanda and they set off. Jord asked Steve to have the others keep back, and for him to only enter to help remove any remaining mortals from the city.