Chapter 13
Sam couldn't remember the last time he had had a good night's sleep. He recognized all the signs, his body was crashing, and he knew he would have to get some shut eye soon or risk blacking out right there on the floor.
The last twenty-four hours had been one crazy event after another. They had learnt Tony Stark was alive earlier in the day, only to see the man being murdered that same night. It had been an emotional roller-coaster he hadn't been prepared for, and it only made him wonder what it must have been like for Steve.
He looked back at the slumbering man on the couch. Steve had not taken things well. The man had closed himself up completely, not letting any emotions through. Sam had never seen him like that, he could tell the man was grieving, but this unhealthy way of repressing his feelings was sure to backfire on them all sooner or later. They had all been in a constant state of stress for many weeks and months now, and the man was bound to crack sooner or later.
Steve had finally passed out from exhaustion an hour ago, and Sam was keeping him company. He knew there was nothing he could do to help but stay at Steve's side, he just hoped that after everything was said and done, the man managed to keep himself in one piece.
Natasha sat in front of her computer with a bleak expression, an electric current flowing through her nerves. She was working against the clock, and the urgency to track down Stephen Strange was weighing down on her.
She knew where to find the man, had known for several months now actually, but she had simply not payed enough attention to the signs. She had discovered his location the moment FRIDAY had sent those encrypted messages all those months ago, back when they had first learnt the AI was being deactivated. Natasha had tracked the messages, had located the man in New York, but had not deemed him important enough to investigate him further.
She now recognized her mistake, she now knew he was a key player in all of this, and he was probably the only one that could help them solve this mystery.
"Bingo" she said with a smirk. The computer showed her the results. Stephen Strange’s face was visible on the screen, next to a map of New York with a circumference of several kilometers painted on it. At the center of the map, a single address: 177A Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village.
"He's a wizard? What do you mean by that?" Sam asked in a hushed tone, trying not to sound too alarmed.
He had come looking for Natasha, finding the woman sitting on the edge of the rooftop with a closed look on her face.
Natasha was surprised Sam seemed to be able to pick up whenever she was in a bad mood, she guessed spending so many months together on the run was finally wearing some of her walls down.
"A sorcerer Sam, and I meant exactly what I said. I'm guessing he's an enhanced, like Wanda. There's really not much information regarding this 'organization' he leads"
"Sanctum Sanctorum" Sam repeated the name with some difficulty "So that's the place where he’s been hiding? What are we waiting for? We have to find him!"
"We can't rush in without knowing what his powers are. If he really is an enhanced, we might need some help"
Sam seemed to mull this over for a moment "You want to contact Wanda? You think she'll help us?"
Natasha kept silent for a long time. Sam was almost sure the woman wouldn’t answer him, when she finally left out a long breath.
“We’re in serios problems Sam”
Her honest voice made his heart race, Natasha almost never let any sort of emotion come through her voice, but this, this was different.
“What do you mean Nat? What’s wrong?”
“Wanda has disappeared, I haven’t been able to find her”
“She’s disappeared before, I’m sure we could look for her together…”
“You don’t understand, I’ve been keeping an eye on her ever since she walked away, trying to make sure she’s not causing any troubles. Until a week ago, she was still with Vision” she said with a frown, trying very hard not to let her exasperation show “As soon as I found out Strange was a sorcerer, I tried to contact her, get her to help us, but I couldn’t find her. It’s like she simply vanished”
“What?! Are you sure?” Natasha’s glare made him backpedal, of curse she was sure, Natasha wasn’t known for doing sloppy jobs after all “Right… but what about Vision, has he also disappeared?”
Natasha shook her head “I located Vision two days ago, he seemed to be en route to Wakanda, with no visible signs of Wanda at his side”
“Fuck…” This was not good, they couldn’t afford to lose track of Wanda that way, they all knew the woman was a menace. So far, they had tacitly been counting on Vision to keep the witch in check, but now…
Sam let out a long sigh, things did not look good for them right now “So, without Wanda, we don’t have any other options against Strange” he said, suddenly getting the enormity of their predicament.
Natasha simply nodded without saying another word. They were screwed, she just hoped they could convince Steve to wait long enough for them to find a suitable alternative before confronting Strange.
The blinding rage Steve felt was overwhelming. His world had been turned upside down in a minute. He couldn't believe Tony was dead. Had it really been Pepper on that video? But why? Had it been a lover's quarrel? Or something much more sinister was at play? Hundredths of questions invaded his head, but amongst them all, a single thought consumed him, the knowledge that Stephen Strange was somehow behind all this.
The mere idea that anyone from Tony's close inner circle of friends had betrayed him like that baffled Steve. The hypocrisy of his recriminations flew over the Captain's head, too immersed on his own pain to see that it wouldn't have been the first time someone close to Tony had stabbed him in the back.
“Steve, we can’t go into this blind, we need to know what we’re going against” They’d been at it for a while, Natasha trying to convince him of biding their time before facing Strange. But Steve would not listen to any argument, he knew what he needed to do, and he was starting to get irritated by the time they were wasting.
“We’re not going in blind, you already know he’s an enhanced, it’s three against one, we’ll find a way to make him confess what he did to Tony’s body” he said with aplomb, tired of having this same conversation over and over again.
“We don’t know if he’s alone, and even if he were, we don’t know what his powers are, he could be as strong as Wanda or Vision, or have some other powers we can’t fathom” said Sam, trying, in vain, to get through Steve’s thick head.
“I’m doing this, and that’s final. Now, are you with me or not?” He said annoyed, he wasn’t going to waste any more time talking in circles, he would avenge Tony’s death, one way or another.
Sharing an irritated glance, Sam and Natasha gave up. They knew how Steve’s one-track mind worked, he would take it as a personal affront if they didn’t 100% backed him up andwould most likely try to do things his way with or without their help.
Two days later the rogues had relocated into a small apartment right in front of the Sanctum Sanctorum, doing intense surveillance work. The antique looking building with a peculiar circular window visible at its top was as mysterious as its inhabitants. So far neither of the three rogues had managed to see anyone coming or going from the place, but there seemed to be clear signs that the building was inhabited.
With each passing hour Steve’s resolve grew stronger, and it had become increasingly harder for Sam and Natasha to convince him to wait for the right moment to attack.
Steve had his hands closed in tight fists, knuckles white and nails digging into his palms. He felt a restless energy thrum through him, making it almost impossible to concentrate on anything but getting his revenge. He’d been monitoring the Sanctum’s front when a slim redhead figure approached the place from seemingly out of nowhere, making her way through the main doors.
Steve immediately recognized her, it was Pepper. He took her appearance as some sort of sign, getting up from his seat and sprinting for the door, intent on going after her. Sam and Natasha reacted in unison, going after the captain with hurried steps.
“Steve! Wait, we can’t go in like that! We need a plan!”
“Rogers! You’ll get us killed” Both Sam and Natasha tried to convince the running man with seemingly no results. Steve was ready to get some answers, and the way he looked at it, it was now or never.
The building the rogues were rushing at had an ominous feeling to it. Natasha could feel a tingle on her skin, the hairs on the nape of her neck standing on end at a force she could not see but could clearly feel. She was sure the other two also felt it, for both men slowed down their run, becoming more cautious.
With a loud sound of air rushing through a small opening, the building's main doors creaked open, but there was no one on the other side.
With skeptical looks, the rogues silently mediated with each other. A couple of seconds passed, but no one came through the door. Taking a deep breath, Steve moved forward. He knew it could be a trap, but his need to find answers was far greater than his common sense.
The three rogues stepped cautiously into the foyer of the silent building, the door closing by itself with a soft thud behind them. The place had a mystical feel to it, there was no other way to describe it, and it made all of Natasha's mental alarms go off. All her senses screamed for her to get out, but she forced herself to follow Steve, it would serve no one if they split up now.
They heard someone clearing their throat from the other side of the large room, just beside a wide flight of stairs. The rogues saw an imposing figure clad in a red cloak standing in the shadows of the large threshold, looking at them with unimpressed eyes. Natasha felt a sudden rush of fear, had the man been standing there all this time? she hadn't detected him in the least, as if he had appeared out of thin air.
"Strange!" Steve yelled, caught off guard by the sudden presence.
"Hello Captain. We've been expecting you"
“Shit, I knew this was a trap” Sam whispered nervously. He’d known this was a bad idea from the start, and he cursed himself once again for letting Steve drag them all into this mess.
"Well, I'm here now, and I'll make you pay for what you did to Tony!" Steve said trying to taunt the man, his mind whirring to come up with a strategy that would allow them to get the upper hand in all this.
"Make ME pay captain? Oh, please do tell me, what exactly is it that you're accusing me of?"
"We saw you Strange! We saw when you opened that portal into Tony's lab! we saw you killing him"
"Now, did you? Well, perception is a curious thing isn't it? especially when you don't have all your facts straight. Although I would advise you not to do anything stupid" he said, eyeing Natasha with piercing blue eyes, as if reading her mind, for she had been just about to pull out her widow bites in a surprise attack.
Steve must've seen something reflected in Natasha's face, because he signaled for both her and Sam to stand down.
"Why Strange? Why did you do this? Did you force Pepper into helping you?" Steve tried to stall for some time, he needed to assess their situation. He felt they were at a disadvantage even if they were three against one.
"Oh, I assure you Captain, Mrs. Potts was a willing participant in all this. But I'd suggest you don't bring her into this conversation, after all, this is a matter between you and me"
Stephen’s cloak flared in that instant, the sorcerer’s eyes a bright blue, an imposing aura could be felt emanating from the man, the air suddenly thick, making it harder to breath.
As if one, Steve, Natasha and Sam attacked Stephen, trying to take him by surprise. Steve went for a frontal assault, launching a series of blows that Stephen easily dodged, while Sam and Natasha came from the sides, both firing a couple of dart guns against the retreating man.
Stephen's cloak suddenly seemed to come to life, acting as a shield and protecting him from the darts. With a series of rapid hand movements Stephen conjured a blast of wind that sent the rogues flying through the room. Natasha managed to land on her feet, while Sam and Steve tumbled and rolled over from the blast.
Not waiting for Stephen to attack them again, the trio stood up and launched another attack, this time with Natasha pulling out a couple of her guns and firing at Stephen while Sam and Steve ran on opposite directions, trying to ambush Stephen from the sides and the back.
Natasha felt her grip on the gun falter as she saw how each of her bullets was stopped in midair, seemingly without any effort from Stephen's part. A strangled yelp told her Sam and Steve had been subdued. Reaching quickly for her belt she aimed to take a small hand grenade from one of its compartments, she would have to create a big enough distraction to make a run for it. There was no other option, the guy was too powerful, they would have to run and regroup, find another way to take him down.
A startled gasp escaped her lips. She couldn't move, couldn't reach for the grenade, it was as if an invisible force had taken a hold of her.
"You are a dangerous one, I'll deal with you later" Stephen said with a bored face, and with a movement of his hand Natasha disappeared from the foyer.
"Natasha!!!" both Sam and Steve screamed at the now gone woman. There was no trace of her, no clue as to what Strange had done to her.
"You bastard! give her back!!" Screamed Sam, who was pinned to the ground by several golden strings.
"I think I'll also deal with you later" Strange said, not even sparing the struggling Sam a glance, before he too disappeared from the floor.
"Sam! What did you do to him? Bring them both back!" yelled Steve with an enraged face. He was suspended in midair by the red cloak. The material seemed to be made of light steel, for he could not rip it apart no matter how much he thrashed against it. The cloak tightened its hold on him, making it impossible to move.
"Now Captain, I'd suggest you calm down, I'd hate to take any more extreme measures to keep you still" Stephen said with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"Strange, you'll never get away with this!"
"And according to you, what exactly am I getting away with captain?"
"Don't fucking play stupid with me Strange! You kn-"
"Steve! Language!" said a voice from atop of the impossibly large staircase.
Steve felt his jaw go slack, his blood rushing to his feet. He would recognize that voice anywhere, but it couldn't be... he was dead.
"Tony" he said in a whisper, looking up and seeing a dark silhouette painted atop the stairs.
"The one and only, Captain"