The Scarlet Apprentice 2: The Multiverse Between Us

Facing the storm

In the distance, a ferocious storm brewed. Dragging trees out of their roots and tarnishing the lands around it, the storm only grew bigger and deeper. It's amethyst appearance made it seem quite appealing, but the team who watched it from the hill knew of its dangers.

They stood in a line on the edge of a hill, watching the storm in silence. A few times, looks were exchanged to someone in a search of comfort, but there was no comfort available when faced with something that powerful.

"That must be where Agatha is," Strange announced, his voice cutting through the silence.

Up until he spoke, the only noise available was the howling winds in the distance or the sounds of nature being desecrated.

The tension from the group was noticeable and painful, but y/n didn't leave it another second to cut through that tension with her knife of humour.

"No shit, Sherlock," she told him, looking up at him with a deadpan stare.

With a frustrated sigh, he looked down at her and didn't say anything. Although he usually hated the sarcasm from her, he was glad that she said that. It released the pressure for a split second.

"How long have you been waiting to say that?" Sam asked with a small smile.

It took y/n only a second to answer, "literally since the day I first met him."

Strange ignored the comment and turned to Wong beside him, "is the area cleared?"

"There's no one around for miles," Wong informed him, "Agatha didn't want to draw attention, I guess."

Brows furrowed, y/n pointed to the sight before them, "you think someone does that when they're not trying to draw attention?"

When Wong looked at the ravening storm the rest of the team were facing, he shrugged his shoulders in defeat; the group returned to a silence once again.

"How the hell are we gonna do this?" Bucky finally asked.

Stephen clenched his jaw and thought, "we do what we can," then he turned to y/n, "remember what I taught you?"

She sarcastically replied, "we trained for like 100 hours, how could I forget?" However, when she saw everyone's worried look, she sighed, "I remember."

"Wanda, you've done this before. You've beaten Agatha before, you can do it again, right?" Sam asked.

Sensing how stressed Wanda was, y/n gripped her hand even tighter to show her support. However, Wanda wasn't stressed because she was about to fight Agatha, she was stressed because of what she was going to do with y/n.

"I'm not going to stop until she's dead," Wanda told the group.

"That's what we're all gonna do," Strange joined in.

"We're lucky that the storm is away from civilisation. We can't let Agatha get out or get any closer to hurting people," Wong added.

Y/n knew that her next words would cause a silence, but she said them anyway: "whatever it takes."

When the rest of the group refused to speak, Sam took the lead, "whatever it takes."

With Bucky and Y/n at his side, he began walking towards the mess. Strange, Wanda, and Wong lingered back for a moment to talk it through, but the other three fighters had already set off.

When the lacking three finally started walking forward, y/n sighed gently and soaked in her last calm moments with the boys as they walked her to her death.

"What am I supposed to do?" Bucky asked while the three of them progressed, "I have a metal arm, not magical powers."

"You could probably," y/n tried to think to make him feel better, "throw a tree out of the way."

Sam laughed from beside him, "yeah, or open a jar. That might be just as helpful."

Y/n rolled her eyes, "right, because Captain America can do more than clearing the area when it comes to fighting a witch?"

"I-" he stuttered, "alright, that's not fair."

She chuckled, "I'm kidding. I'm glad you guys are here. Mainly for emotional support, since you can't do much against a witch. But I'm still glad."

"Y/n," Bucky's voice almost broke as he called for her attention.

"Yeah?" She gently responded.

"I know this isn't the best time to tell you this, but I wanted you to hear it from the both of us," he began.

When Sam saw her eyes widening, he cut in to be the one to say it, "we're together."

She tried desperately to contain her excitement, "are you guys fucking kidding me? This is amazing, holy shit! We should totally double date when this is all over."

The boys plunged to silence the moment they heard that. It took y/n a moment to realised why they'd gone silent, but when she did, she went silent for a moment as well.

"In spirit, you'll be there on the double date," Sam tried to make her feel better.

"We'll talk to you and everything. I mean, we'll all look batshit crazy, but I've got a metal arm and Sam throws a frisbee for a living. We're already crazy."

Even though she felt crushed inside, she still smiled for them, "sounds absolutely fucking ridiculous. I'm in."

When the rest of the team continued braving their way towards the storm, having good last memories, Wanda hung back to talk to Strange. Luckily for her, no one in front had noticed that they'd slowed down once more.

"Remember to do what I said," Wanda demanded.

"I will," Strange nodded and began walking forward to join the group.

Before he could take another step, Wanda latched onto his arm and pulled him back, giving him a serious stare, "promise me, you'll do what we discussed."

When he saw her stare, he couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine, "I promise."

Overhearing the conversation and immediately knowing what they meant, Wong chimed in, "this is a bad idea."

Wanda fought the urge to be angry with him, "would you rather let her die?"

"That's not what he meant, Wanda," Strange defended him, "but you know how y/n will react. You know she won't be happy."

"I don't care if she's gonna be mad a me for it, we're doing it," Wanda asserted, "I'd rather her be alive and angry with me than dead."