REQUIEM | Avengers

III.

- III -

She had barely nodded her head before Dr. Strange had made a combination of movements with his hands and a circle of gold light erupted in her living room.

"What-"

"Just step through it," he said, his voice almost bored. "I'll explain later."

The if we survive, was implied.

So she did, taking a deep breath before she leapt through the circle of fiery gold. She didn't realize she had squeezed her eyes shut until her foot stepped down again, this time echoing on a hardwood floor.

Strange was close behind her, stepping into the large room they had entered and brushing past her. She looked around, desperately trying to keep her jaw from dropping. They were suddenly in a large foyer, the ceilings at least twenty feet tall, divided by a large, grand, dark wooden staircase that gleamed in the light of the simple chandelier that hung from the domed ceiling.

There was a small window on the front of the house, panelled with metal that made it look like the eye pendant the doctor wore. It let in little light, but if she listened close enough, she could hear the bustle of the city streets. She looked closer at the house.

The architecture of the was decidedly 20th century, drawing the neat lines of 1930's across the bannisters, the wooden walls, and the narrow room. She could practically hear the pipes in the brick walls and smell the sharpness of the old wood. There were few places in the world where buildings like this existed, and even fewer in New York, if that was where they still were. She hated that she had no idea how far the powers of this wizard spanned. Still, she turned to him and crossed her arms.

"So, the world is ending and you've decided to take me to the Upper East Side?"

He scoffed a laugh and nodded to himself, a small smile dancing on his lips. "Right, they said you were good."

She scoffed this time, squaring her hips. It was a fighting stance, hidden behind the walls of her anger.

"I'm better than good, old man. What is this place? Why did you bring me here-"

"You always have so many questions," said a voice from across the room. She wanted to freeze, but that was a weakness pulled from her like so many other things as a girl. Instead, she turned slowly to see Bruce Banner, the man she had presumed dead, standing across the room from her.

"Dr. Banner," she said, resisting the urge to go to him, to grab him and make sure he was not yet another one of the wizard's elaborate illusions. She suddenly felt another urge to hug him.

"Nina," he said, his voice lacking any of the energy she had once been used to. The man, dressed in plain grey clothes that were too long in the arms and cuffed at his ankles, just stared at her over the dark purple bags under his eyes. "I'm so glad you're here."

Why, she wanted to ask. But she swallowed it down. It had not been Banner that had forgotten her- it had not been him, lost wherever he had been, that had decided she wasn't worth the family they had created. Instead, she turned back to the front door of the house, listening to the footsteps approaching up the steep front stoop.

"Ah," said Strange, cutting through the strange glances Banner was giving her, as he looked at the door, as well. "It seems he got the note."

There was a sturdy knock, and without anyone moving, the wooden door slowly swung open. Nina steeled herself as she recognized the silhouette first. It was the swaggering, well-dressed figure of Tony Stark.

He surveyed the room like he owned it, just as he always did. She had once found it impressive, the way he walked into rooms and made himself known. Now, she just wanted to throttle him. His eyes snagged on her as he looked from the wizard, to Banner, and then back to her. Considering the glowing pendant, the red cloak that was somehow catching on nonexistent wind, and the scientist the world had presumed long gone, she supposed she was not the strangest thing in the room. She still pondered strangling him. The thought passed as soon as he opened his mouth.