First Light | Steve Rogers (Book Two)

Chapter Thirty-Five: The Hidden City

"So we gotta assume they're coming back, right?" Rhodes asked as we gathered in the dining room, discussing the strange people who had attacked Wanda and Vision.

"And they can clearly find us" I added quietly.

Banner sighed, "We need all hands on deck. Where's Clint?"

Nat gulped and crossed her arms, "After the whole Accords situation, he and Scott took a deal. It was too tough on their families. They're on house arrest"

I felt my breath catch, the reminder making me feel a little sick as I sank further into my chair. A hand gently rested on my shoulder and I looked up to see Steve behind me. He gave me a questioning look and I shrugged, not wanting to make a big deal out of a few words. 

The doctor frowned, "Who's Scott?"

"Ant-Man"

"There's an Ant-Man and a Spider-Man?" 

He huffed after a moment and cleared his head, "Thanos has the biggest army in the universe and he is not gonna stop until he gets... Vision's stone"

Nat nodded slowly as she processed the information, "Then we have to protect it"

"No, we have to destroy it" we all turned too look at Vision, who was still clutching at his side as he stared out of the window. He gestured to the stone that was embedded in his forehead, "I've been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head. About its nature, but also its composition. I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something very similar to its own signature, perhaps... its molecular integrity could fail"

I watched him closely as he made his way over to Wanda, tensing up slightly when I saw a tear glisten in the corner of her eye. "Yeah, and you with it," she argued, "We're not having this conversation"

"Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can't get it" he tried to reason with her, but I knew that she wouldn't be easily convinced. She was rather stubborn, another thing we had in common.

"That's too high a price"

He sighed and gently cupped her face in his scarlet hands. "Only you have the power to pay it," she pulled away and I tried to send her a comforting smile as Vision turned to speak to us, "One life cannot stand in the way of defeating him"

Steve shrugged slightly, his hand still resting on my shoulder, "But it should. We don't trade lives, Vision"

"Captain, seventy years ago, you laid down your life to save how many millions of people? Tell me, why is this any different?" the man asked quietly as he approached us, a reluctant frown on his face.

"Because you might have a choice," Banner murmured, "Your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays: Jarvis, Ultron, Tony, me, the stone. All of them mixed together, all of them learning from one another"

Hope filled Wanda's eyes and she stared up at the scientist, "You're  saying Vision isn't just the stone?"

He huffed, "I'm saying that if we take out the stone... there's still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best parts"

"Can we do that?"

"Not me, not here" he quickly replied, beginning to agitatedly pace around the room again.

Rhodes shrugged, "We gotta find someone and somewhere fast. Ross isn't just gonna let you guys have your old rooms back"

I looked up, making eye contact with Steve. He frowned for a moment before his eyes widened in realisation, "I know somewhere"

——————

The quinjet soared across the sky, veering slightly to the side. I clutched onto the sides of my chair, holding my breath at the sudden movements of the aircraft.

The view from the windows was enough to distract me from my fear of flying, making my eyes widen in awe. Tall mountains broke through the clouds, their peaks shining like emeralds under the light of the golden sun. The sky was an icy blue, despite the heat radiating through the quinjet.

"Drop to 2600, heading 0-3-0" Steve instructed, leaning against the beam across the ceiling as he watched Sam and Nat.

"I hope you're right about this," Sam muttered, "Or we're gonna land a lot faster than you want to"

The quinjet began to head straight towards a tree-covered cliff and I winced slightly, bracing myself for the impact. Instead, we passed through an invisible barrier.

Water glistened below us, not even comparing to the beauty of the city that rose before us. Tall spires pierced the sky, shining gold and silver in the late afternoon light.

We landed in front of a large palace, making our way down the ramp towards the welcome wagon. I nodded politely to the king and Steve shook his hand, "Seems like I'm always thanking you for something"

Banner began to bow and Rhodes snickered quietly as he cleared his throat, "What are you doing?"

"We don't do that here" T'Challa said, amusedly watching the man as he nodded quickly and backed away. We began to follow him towards the palace as he spoke, "How big of an assault should we expect?"

I felt the doctor brush past me as he tried to catch up with us, "Uh, sir, I think you should expect quite a big assault"

Nat frowned, "How are we looking?"

"You will have my Kingsguard, the Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, and..."

"And a semi-stable hundred-year-old man"

Bucky approached us with a sheepish grin, immediately going to hug Steve. "How you doing, Bucky?" the blond asked.

He shrugged, "Not bad for the end of the world. Hey, Rory"

I tensed up slightly as he pulled me into a hug but I didn't complain, "Hi. Sorry I didn't get to say goodbye last time"

"Wasn't your fault. I can't exactly get upset at you for saving me. How're you doing?"

"Better"