Steven Grant was, by all means, a passing face in a moving crowd. He woke up every morning, went to sleep every night, and, for the most part, did whatever any other sensible human being would do in between. He had his coffee made a certain way, ate whatever he had in his fridge at the moment and used to take the bus to work every weekday morning before he lost his job. He spoke to the little American man inside his head, served the Egyptian god of the moon Konshu and in the depths of the night, retreated into the back of his mind so that his vigilante counterpart could deal out Konshu's justice to unsuspecting criminals. Because that's what sensible human beings did.
Steven hummed, pulling a box of cereal off of the aisle and placing it in his cart before rolling off towards the snack section. As a sensible human being, grocery shopping was a necessity, and thus, Steven was not spared the task.
"You want anything?" Steven asked out loud, confident in the fact that no one else was around to see him. Marc only hummed in response, and Steven caught him on the reflection of the shiny tiled floors. "Chips? Juice? Maybe some candy?"
"I'm good." Marc said, and Steven huffed a laugh.
"Not much of a sweet tooth, are ya?" he said, turning down the next aisle with a slight grimace. "Not much of a talker, recently, either. And here ya got me all thinkin' you were the nosy kind. That surely went down the drain. Bit confusing, innit?"
Ever since the events exceding Ammit and Harrow and everything that came with them, Marc had been distant. Quiet. Only speaking when prodded and fronting as sparsely as he could. As though he was trying to keep true to his word, that he would disappear from Steven's life for good… The two had never really gotten around to mentioning the past agreement, even though Steven had sooner since accepted that Marc was a part of his life and him a part of Marc's. And Jake… Well, Steven's relationship with Jake was still to be determined. The man was a loose cannon; a wildcard, unpredictable and admittedly a little bit dangerous. It was no wonder he and Marc got along, Steven thought, absently reaching for a miniature box of biscuits.
Steven steered the cart down into another aisle, only a little bit surprised to find Konshu standing in the middle of it. The bird-headed moon god bore his eye sockets into Steven's skull as the latter turned past him to reach the opposite side.
"Hurry up, worm." Konshu sneered, the thickness of his impatience hovering in the air as the dangling lights of the grocery flickered on and off. Steven only spared him a glance and a subtle nod before downing towards the next hall. He had only gotten a few steps away from where Konshu stood when the god said;
"Someone's here."
Steven stopped in his tracks, turning his head almost robotically to where the Egyptian deity was staring out the storefront window to find… nothing.
"Steven?" Marc called, turning Steven's attention to the reflection on the glass panes. "What's happening?"
"Bird's gone bloody mad, that's what." Steven said and Marc actually smirked, leaving Steven with a lopsided smile of his own as he continued down the hall.
The continuation of the errand went without any further interference from Konshu, but Steven could only pretend not to notice the little lilt of the deity's head as he watched him— dare Steven think, almost curiously?
He parked the trolley in front of the cashier, greeting the woman behind the scanner with a quiet "Cheers." as he helped her unload his supply. He couldn't help but glance at the reflection of the platform, frowning when all he saw was himself.
"Mister Spector." A voice called, and Steven instinctively spun around. In front of him stood an averagely tall man with white streaks of hair on either side of his head and a refined goatee coating his sharp cheek bones. He wore a blue jacket and a red scarf, a billowing maroon cloak rested upon his shoulders in Victorian fashion. "Or is it Mister Grant?"
For a minute, Steven was at a loss for words. He could feel Marc's presence drawing closer, hovering behind him like a stalker.
"Yup." he said with a wave. "That's- That's me. And who might you be?"
"My name is Doctor Stephen Strange." the stranger announced, and Steven found himself fumbling on his tongue.
"Doc- Doctor Strange? As in, the superhero?"
"I prefer the term sorcerer."
"Bloody hell." Steven whimpered out, feeling Marc's apprehension seeping into his own excitement. "It's- It's an honor, sir. I-"
"Please." Doctor Strange said, raising a hand to halt Steven's mumbling, and Steven nodded.
"S- Sorry. It's just, it's not everyday you get to meet a superhero- sorcerer! Sorry."
Doctor Stephen Strange laughed under his breath, then took a step forward.
"Believe me." he said. "The pleasure's all mine. After all, it's not everyday you get to meet the Moon Knight."
Steven blanched at that, Marc's threatening presence pulling itself closer and closer until he could feel it behind his shoulder, and Steven had to will himself not to switch right there and then.
"Sorry, what?"
Doctor Strange raised an eyebrow, looking almost amused at Steven's confusion.
"S- Sorry, mate, but I think you've got the wrong person." Steven continued, wincing when the good doctor's expression remained the same. "I- I mean, I-"
"Marc Spector; former military man turned mercenary and avatar to the egyptian god Konshu. Don't bother trying to hide who you are."
Steven swallowed down a lump in his throat, and with it, pushed down on Marc's looming presence as the other screamed to let him front.
"M- M' name's Steven. Steven Grant. With a V." Steven said. A feeble attempt as it only made Doctor Strange smile.
"Oh I know." he said. "I was hoping you could let me speak to Marc, Steven Grant with a V. I have some important matters to discuss with him."
Steven was hesitant, but between the request and Marc's nagging, as well as the situation, he figured it best that he didn't handle it himself, and so, he allowed the other alter to take control, feeling his presence dwindle as he retreated into the back of the mindscape.
-----
Marc settled into the body, flexing his fists, not only to remember how they moved, but as a sign of aggression directed at the man standing before him. His vision spun to life, the small but familiar pulse of adrenaline coursing through his veins spurring throughout the body.
"How do you know who I am?" was the first thing that came out of his mouth.
"I know a lot of things, Mister Spector." Doctor Strange said in an annoyingly smug way before turning down towards the exit. Marc reluctantly followed suit.
"Your little stunt back in Cairo." Strange started, not bothering to look Marc in the face. "Turning the night sky." he clarified, waving his hand through the air in demonstration.
"That wasn't me." Marc said, hoping his vagueness would stunt the doctor. It worked, albeit only a bit.
"Steven, then?"
Marc didn't answer.
"Well, whichever of you two did it, it was enough to catch the attention of more than a few people. You should count yourself lucky I was the first one to find you."
"Oh yeah? Well, lucky me."
Strange stopped in his tracks, turning to Marc.
"I am running on a very short time frame as of the moment, and assuming you are the type of person who'd prefer it if I just cut to the chase, I suggest we skip past the casualties if that's alright with you."
Marc pursed his lips but didn't respond. Doctor Strange took that as a sign to continue.
"What do you know about the multiverse, Mister Spector?"
Marc tensed at that, studying the man with an intensity rivaled only by Strange's current look.
"Not much." was all he said.
"The multiverse is a dangerous, powerful, terrifying concept that even we know very little about. An infinite amount of possibilities, realities that branch off of one another to form what could only be described as the indescribable."
"Is there a point to all this?" Marc asked, trying to sound as irksome as he could while trying to hide his apprehension. He could feel Steven and even Jake listening in, and had to stop himself from looking around for any reflective surfaces. Strange sighed, obviously running low on charm and patience.
"Tampering with the multiverse in any way is a risky idea in itself. Attempting to manipulate it, however, is something even we masters of the mystic arts spend years of our lives trying to attempt. I know now that such a thing is even more dangerous than I could have ever imagined."
Marc stood up a little taller. He was starting to understand where all this talk was leading.
"If someone were to make even the smallest mistake." Strange continued. He looked Marc in the eyes, emphasizing his next words; "Madness could ensue." he said. Marc scoffed.
"And so what? Where do I take part in all of this?"
"I'm forming a team." Strange said.
"A team?"
"A team."
"Like, what? The Avengers?"
Strange tilted his head, pursing his lips.
"Yes and no." he said. "Think the Avengers, but better."
Marc shook his head in disbelief.
"You've got to be kidding me." he said. "Listen. You seem like a great guy and all that, but I work best alone." He could feel Steven nagging him at the back of his mind and was starting to form a migraine.
"Mister Spector, I don't think you understand the severity of-"
"What? The multiverse? You messed up, no? And now, you're looking for a team, hoping that they could fix what you could not."
Strange groaned.
"Listen, pal. Appreciate it, really do. Steven's beaming, I can tell you that, but sorry. I've got my own problems. Trust me, I'm better doing what I do and I can assure you it's not the same thing as what you do."
"You're making a mistake."
"Yeah, well. It'll be one of many." Marc said, and with that he stormed off down the street, barely listening as Strange called after him with what he could only assume was an address.
"Marc." Steven said, and Marc caught his eyes on the shop windows. "What are you doing?"
Marc shook his head and groaned.
"Just, nevermind it, Steven."
"Nevermind? Nevermind? For all you know, the world could be in danger and you're just over here bloody sulking!"
"Listen, Steven, it's a lot more complicated than that."
"Complicated? Everything's bloody complicated with you!"
"Yeah, because life is complicated! For all we know, this guy could be making up all this crap to-"
"Who? Doctor Strange?"
"Yes! I- I… Listen, Steven. I'm just trying to keep us safe. I don't want to go rushing into something I don't understand. I already made that mistake when I became a mercenary."
Steven didn't respond.
"Steven?"
"Yeah yeah, alright." he said. "Alright."
"Besides. I really, really work best on my own."
