Dark Universe(2) MARVEL

Chapter 10

Avalon remained still, her eyes glowing a shade of red that began to fade. As Wong exited the room for a moment, Strange took his chance to call out for Avalon. He realized that something still wasn't right with her. Stephen placed his scarred shaky hands on the sides of her face, she was still unfazed by this. He realized that her body was physically with them but her mind was elsewhere. He sighed as he looked into her eyes. All he could see was the galaxy.

"What are you doing?" Carly's voice took him by surprise.

He looked over his shoulder at her, "I'm trying to see where she is."

Carly's blinked, confused, "Where she is? What?"

Avalon's eyes had shifted and she blinked, "Stephen,"

"You're okay." He said, his hands still on her skin. "You're okay."
"Where did you go?" Carly asked with worry. "What happened?"

Avalon reached up, softly pulling Strange's hands off her face, and stepping back from them. Taking a deep breath, she laid her hand out flat, a black book appeared, resting on her palm. Her blue eyes met Strange's, she motioned in an inviting way for him to take it. He gently took the thick book, flipping it open and skimming two pages. He looked confused at first, but a smirk formed on his face as Avalon nodded at Carly for her to take it.

Carly looked up and over at Bucky who was practically staring daggers at Strange. She could tell that Bucky was not fond of Avalon being touched, but Strange was one of the few in the room who held magical knowledge on how to help Avalon. Carly was the one who encouraged Avalon to come see him for help, and this is how everything played out.

"It's empty." She said.

Wong noticed Strange's smirk as he spoke, trying to hide being impressed, "Not exactly."

She continued to flip through more pages, "I'm sorry, am I missing something? I don't understand."

Bucky shrugged, "It looks like a book."

"No," Avalon shook her head, hiding a smirk, "It's just a new book that's all. Stephen, do you think you could add this to the library for me? For safe keepings."

"Of course, Miss Stark." He took the book from Carly's hands.

The next day, Avalon woke up in her own apartment. Everyone seemed afraid to leave her alone. Carly offered to take her home and Avalon suggested creating a portal, but Strange advised that it may not be a wise idea. For extra precaution, Bucky followed them back to the Manhattan penthouse. He slept on the couch as Carly slept in her bedroom. She was slightly nervous about sharing a bed with Avalon. Considering what happened last time that Carly stayed the night at Avalon's, it was perfectly understandable.

Bucky was the first one to wake up, he tried to be as quiet as possible while the girls slept. He knew that he needed, or at least he should go back to his own apartment. He could sit in silence since sleep didn't take too well to him. Or, he could stay at the penthouse that housed two friends who brought comfort. He leaned on the doorway to Avalon's room, watching over her. A shield had formed around her as she slept peacefully. He wondered if she always slept like that or if she did it to protect herself from harming her friends.

She was safe for now. She could manage to protect herself and others around her. Remembering a story Avalon told him, Bucky realized that after Thanos had snapped his fingers 5 years ago, Avalon kept her grief to herself while she cared for everyone else around her. In private she always beat herself up over what else she could've done, not to mention the billions of voicing crying out in her head. She felt everything.

The death of her father was the icing on the cake. Bucky felt guilty knowing that during his time as the Winter Soldier, he killed Avalon's grandparents. Unknowing to him, Avalon never once blamed him for it. After all, his mind wasn't his own, in her words. Avalon once told Steve that if she was on Earth at the time, she would've sided with him over the Accords. And unknowing to her, most agreed that if Avalon was on Earth along with Thor, things would've been way worse than they were.

Bucky knew that if he said goodbye to Avalon he wouldn't be able to leave. He also knew that if any danger posed a threat to Avalon, Doctor Stephen Strange wouldn't hesitate to protect her. Even when she was younger, he underestimated her ability to defend herself, even though he knew that she could eliminate any threat.

Bucky kept thinking to himself that things could never grow between him and Avalon. She was a Goddess who had the power of the universe at her fingertips, while he was a super soldier with a cursed past. His mind was broken and he second-guessed everything about himself. He was even concerned about the age gap between her and him.

When Carly woke up, she found Avalon sitting in the living room and Bucky gone. The woman had holographs scattered around the room. Different videos and documents appeared around her. The graphics moved around her body around as she was watching and studying. Carly was smooth in her quick movements as she stepped behind Avalon.

"You're trying to find her, aren't you?" The younger girl asked her. "Zasha Romanova?"

She nodded, briefly glancing at Carly, "Yes, I'm trying to figure out what her next move is."

"What do you think?" She wondered, trying to take in the gathered information. "Wait, how did you even get all this information?"

"That's a simple answer, surprised you didn't piece it together." Avalon giggled. "E.D.I.T.H."

"I thought she was shut down after being misused by Quentin Beck?" Carly tilted her head, bumping shoulders with her friend.

"Yeah, she was, but she is loyal to us Starks." She smiled. "I knew that if I attempted to activate her, she would listen."

"You don't have the glasses, so how are you able to activate her?" Carly wondered.

Avalon placed her right wrist out in front of Carly, a silver bracelet on her skin, "Did you really think there was only one device for E.D.I.T.H? My father wasn't stupid."

A silver bracelet, thin but with a small screen in the middle. It was wrapped around Avalon's skinny wrist. The bracket connecting the two ends contained a wave of power energy. It looked as if the bracelet was only meant for her. Tony made this so it was a backup security protocol for the technology. If Avalon had the technology, she had the ability to control or destroy it if needed be.

"Not everyone needs to know every bit of Stark Technology, Miss Barton." Avalon grinned. "It's cursed knowledge."

She returned it, "Indeed, Miss Stark, indeed."

"There's a discussion we've needed to have since you went on your trip to Europe. I think it's time." Avalon said. "As of right now, the trace of Zasha Romanova has gone cold. I looked at cameras surrounding where our mystery man was thrown out. There was no sign of her exit. She stayed in the building. She was there the whole time."

"Are you saying we should hold off on our search for her?" Carly asked.

"I'm not saying yes, but I'm not saying no. I received a call this morning from Sam." Avalon looked at Carly who was wide eyed. "He said that I need to meet him in Washington, D.C. According to him, it's very important."