Artemis: The Final Battle ➳ Steve Rogers [2]

[ F O U R ]

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C A M I L L E

"You're kidding, right?" Tony asks, his face contorted in confusion, "You're telling me that we're going to be working with this maniac with a nut-sack of a face?"

I glance across the room at the Titan sitting quietly on a chair that was clearly too small for him and shrug, "He seems nice."

"Uh-uh, No. You don't know that. You've known this dude for what? Five minutes?" Tony shoots me a look.

"Look, Carol says we can trust him and I trust her." I try to reason.

"How do we know she hasn't been replaced by one of this Hydra freaks from the other Earth and they're in cahoots?" He asks and as much as I hated to admit it, he had a point.

I furrow my brows at Tony, "Cahoots? When did you start using the word cahoots?"

"Since Morgan learnt it in school." He folds his arms over his chest, rolling his eyes.

He stares at Thanos with anger-filled eyes, shaking his head in despise for the Titan.

"We can't trust anyone." Tony continues, "Not anymore."

"What do you propose we do then?" I let out a sigh, "We don't know anything about what we're up against."

He scans the room, eyes landing on each of the members of our team scattered around it.

"We get the old team back together, the smaller the better. OG seven, like the good old days." He says, and honestly, I couldn't tell if he was serious or just playing around.

I shake my head at him, "You've been hanging out with the kid too much, you know that? And we're not abandoning the rest of the team."

"We're not abandoning them." Tony argues, "We're just divide and conquering."

"No, not a chance." I reply, "We need to stick together, that's the only way this is going to work."

He lets out a grunt in annoyance, "You're no fun anymore, Steve is rubbing off on you."

"And I'm starting to see why you and Peter get along so well. This is serious, Tony!" I scold.

"I know, I know. The past year has been going so well and all of that, ruined in one day!" He whines.

"Well, it's what comes with the job, so suck it up." I smacked him playfully on the bicep.

Just then, a loud screech sounds through the speakers.

"Greetings occupants of Earth-616." An unfamiliar female voice speaks, "I believe some of you have already met one of my agents earlier today."

Tony and I exchange a glance, "Oh, great. It just keeps getting better, doesn't it?" Tony comments sarcastically, "FRIDAY, where is this coming from?"

"It appears we have been hacked, Sir." The automated voice answers, "I am unable to determine the location of who is behind this."

"Damn it." Tony curses.

"I think by now you're all aware of our existence, although we haven't been properly introduced." The voice continues, "The time will come for us to meet soon enough. It will come, and when that happens there won't be any hope left for your Earth. Be scared, because we're coming and we will be your absolute worst nightmare. Hail Hydra." She concludes.

"She was pleasant." Tony mutters under his breath.

I stomp over to Thanos, "Who is she?" I ask.

"Madame Hydra." He replies as the team start to gather around us, staring blankly down at the floor, "For our Earth at least. Otherwise known as Lady Noir. She had powers granted to her by dark magic, therefore she's very dangerous."

He finally turns to face me, "My Earth has been consumed by evil. Even those who don't agree with their views are too afraid to go against them. Your Earth is still capable of good. You have the power and the numbers to defeat them. Don't give them the chance to take that away from you."

"How do we defeat them?" I asked.

"The same way you defeated me." He answers, "With the infinity stones."

"But we don't have the stone anymore." Steve chimes in.

He glances at Steve with determined eyes, "I do." He says, "But the power needed to do what is necessary, that I don't have." Thanos then turns to me, "But you do."

"How do we even know we can trust you?" This time, it was Clint who speaks, "The last guy that looked like you wasn't much of a saint. Actually, he wasn't much of anything but crazy."

"Hydra killed my family." Thanos replies glances over at Nebula who stood in the corner, "My lovely daughter's gone because of them and I'm not going to let them get away with it. I'm on the side of a better future, I'm on your side."

The room falls silent, only to be broken by Tony, "I'm sorry, but I don't buy it."

"Me neither." Thor agrees.

"I'll do whatever you want. You can lock me up for all I care, as long as it makes you feel better. But please," The Titan pleads, "Don't let them win."

"So," Tony drawls, "Shall we make a trip down to the Raft?"

"No." We turn to see Carol standing by the door, looking significantly better now, "No, we're not locking him up. He saved my life."

"And we're supposed to just trust that he doesn't have any other ulterior motives other than that?" Tony argues, "Am I the only one who finds it convenient how he just waltzes in here just when we get infiltrated? We don't know anything about him."

"You didn't know anything about me either, but you still gave me a chance." I say.

"That's different, Cam, and you know it." He replies.

I sigh, "Maybe we should at least think about it."

"And do what with him in the meantime? If we're working with him, I'm out of here." Tony threatens.

"Tony-" I call, but he storms past me, not even turning back to spare another look.

"My instincts never fail me, Cam. He's one of the good guys." Carol insists, "Trust me on this one."

"I want to Carol, but they do have their points." I shoot her an apologetic look.

"Cap?" Carol turns to Steve next.

Steve gazes at the floor, looking torn, "I'll have to agree with the team, Danvers. We don't know them, it's too much of a risk."

Carol lets out a sigh in frustration, shaking her head at us in disappointment.

"Got it," Carol mutters before heading for the exit as Tony had.

"Carol, come on." I tried to stop, but my calls fall on deaf ears as she continued walking.

I look at Steve who looks just as guilty as I felt and reached over for his hand. He takes my hand, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"We'll figure it out." He assures.