The Path of Time ★ [3] ✔ (EDITING)

King Stark's Knights of the Hexagon Table

I scoffed. "And what are we called then, mighty knight?"

"King Stark and the Knights of the Hexagon Table!"

"Wait, hexagon?" Clint interrupted Tony's daydream. "King Arthur's table was round."

"Circles are boring, Barton. I'd rather something more outgoing and eccentric. A hexagon is just...me."

"Yeah, too many sides," Nat muttered under her breath.

"I heard that!"

"What a shame."

"You all talk too much," Astra grumbled.

"It's called banter," Tony countered. "You should try it sometime."

The gentle walking stride of the Parthenope underneath me was soothing. If I didn't have work to do, a mission to concentrate on, I'd lean back into Steve's protective and warm embrace behind me and drift away into bliss. But I couldn't. There was too much at stake, too much to think about.

"You okay, Andi?" Steve whispered into my ear.

I...I honestly wasn't sure if I could voice my answer. Was I okay? No. No, I wasn't. My people and time itself were hanging in the balance, and their survival was resting on my shoulders. It was up to me to lead those loyal to me against Eon. And we had to win. All hell would break loose if we didn't.

I wasn't okay. I was scared. I was terrified. What if I couldn't beat Eon? What if I couldn't succeed? What if my people were wiped out and time were to crumble at my feet? What if Eon won?

I couldn't lose. I refused to lose. But in the end, I wasn't okay.

"Andi?"

I blinked. "W-What?"

"You sure you're okay? You seem...distant."

"I'm fine. Really, I'm fine."

Steve gently hugged my body close to his own. "I've known you long enough to know when you're fine, and I know you're not. What's goin' on?"

I sighed, my fingers fiddling with the Parthenope's mane. "What if I can't do it? What if I can't beat Eon?"

"We will. We'll beat him."

"You don't know what he's like, Steve. He's dangerous. More dangerous than you think." I swallowed. "The...The things he's done. The things he's going to do..."

"Andi." He gripped my hand gently. I turned my head slightly to watch him smile affectionately from the corner of my eye. "We've been through a lot together. We fought in World War II. We took down HYDRA. We destroyed Ultron. I doubt that there's nothing we can't do."

I bit my lip. He didn't get it. He really didn't get it. Eon was no Nazi. Eon was no Hitler, nor was he the Red Skull. Eon was no agent of HYDRA, nor was he an assassin who'd been running around for seventy years with a metal arm. Eon was no walking artificial intelligence.

Eon was a power hungry and extremely dangerous Walker. Eon was a dictator powerful enough to corrupt all who stand in his wake. Eon was a murderous warmonger malevolent and insane enough to take down the hub of all Time Walker power. Eon was the most powerful enemy we were ever going to face. He wasn't going to be easy to defeat. Not by a long shot.

But I didn't want to argue. I didn't want to dampen Steve's spirits, to be the wet blanket in the moment.

I smiled back. "I hope so." I looked ahead at the wasteland stretching out before us. I honestly hoped we could. If we couldn't...billions were going to die.

❈Author's Note: Hey, there! Dayum, that Eon foreboding was fun to write. Hopefully it makes you nervous. It seems like not everyone is gonna return alive ;)

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