Avengers: Zero to Infinity

Chapter 10

• Stephen Strange

~One Week Later~

Goosebumps. Chills. Tension.

Those were the only words I could use to describe the suspenseful feeling lurking within myself. I didn't know what was going on, or what was it that gave me these feelings. It felt as though pins and needles were piercing my delicate skin. As if tiny little ants were crawling through my pants. And this unnatural desire of wanting to bite my own nails out of their nailbeds.

Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Sam, Scott, and Clint were nowhere to be seen in the Avengers Facility. They were late for about an hour already. Tony and the others were growing impatient, considering they have been waiting for those six people for the past hour, but I was only feeling discomfort and hostility. Others looked at their watches, others tapping their toes, others scrolling through their phones, and others even drifted to a dinky slumber. But I was frozen to my couch, like I was trapped in an freezing, frosty ice cube. The fact that no one was talking to each other only made me feel more troublesome. I couldn't shake the anxiety out of me. The other thing I knew was that Scott was missing when I went to their house to fetch him and Hope. Only Hope was there. I asked Hope where Scott was, but she only said that he went ahead of her.

Because those six, specifically, were the ones who were willing to rebel against the government during the civil war. And due to that fact, the government—especially Thaddeus Ross—held a grudge for them all. Since they were here—in the United States of America, the country whose government they rebelled against—the petrifying possibility that was inside of my head might be coming true. Thaddeus Ross is the type of man who's willing to do anything for the sake of what he wants. He's willing to manipulate, torture, force, or even kill a person just to satisfty his rotten desires. Capturing the world's greatest heroes wouldn't be an exception for him.

"You're feeling... scared."

I was drowning way too deep into my thoughts, until Mantis decided to pull me up. Before I could do anything, she was already behind the couch that I was sitting on, leaning over so that she could place her hands over to my head. Did she notice the apprehension painted all over my face, so she went over to see how I was feeling?

"What's making you feel scared, doctor?" Mantis asked innocently, not knowing about the possibility that has been disturbing my entire being. "Is there something that any of us could do so that you won't feel this way?"

"I'll do it myself." I replied as Mantis slowly took off her hands from my head.

I grabbed my phone from my pocket, and as if my time to live was running out, I struggled to even type in the correct password. The phone was vibrating along with my sweaty hands. Of course, the fact that I was having difficulty in pressing everything considering how my fingers were drenched in sweat wasn't helping at all.

Finally, after my sweat challenged me into pressing on the 'calls' button, I finally won over it. And without hesitation, I began scrolling down until I reached the 'S' menu. There, I slowly began scrolling again...

"Steve Rogers"

I didn't bother to check whether it was really his name or if it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. I pressed it without letting the clock strike towards another second, and then pressed on the call button. I even put it on speaker phone to hear Steve's voice louder.

The sound of the ringing phone began creating an envelope around the atmosphere of the room again. Sweat was running down from my forehead, even drenching my bangs. The perception of tension along with the noise of phone rings created an amalgamation in the air. It was far from being called a sensational feeling. Way too far. Then, during the most unexpected of moments, the ringing finally came to a halt.