Anomaly

Six • Tear

"Are you ready?" asked Stephen.

They sat cross-legged on the floor facing each other in a dark, quiet room. The walls were decorated with a gold filigree wallpaper and lined with deep mahogany panels. It was empty besides a velvet chaise longue that sat beneath a small window, and an end table, atop of which sat a heavy gold candelabra.

Juno nodded, biting her nail anxiously.

"Don't tap into my head until I find it," he said.

"And I'll know when you find it because you'll tell me, right?"

"Hopefully."

It had only been minutes since Steve Rogers left. He had asked them not to tell anyone what happened - I can't risk being pulled back into this, he said. Stephen offered to open a portal to his home, save him the travel, but he declined politely before shaking their hands and walking out through the large front doors.

Now Juno was here, in this room, watching as Stephen twisted his fingers and drew the time stone from the eye around his neck. She waited with bated breath as he glowed green and began to levitate, his face contorting, head turning sharply back and forth as it skipped like a video on fast forward. It seemed painful, she wondered what he was seeing.

He was seeing New York City - crumbling, destroyed. The streets were lined with rubble and shattered glass, fire hydrants were spurting, smoke billowing from buildings and cars. He stood in the middle of the road, his body glowing green and transparent, as if he were a ghost.

"Alright, I'm here," he said.

Moments later, she appeared at his side. Her form was flickering like a broken hologram as she tried to concentrate on staying with him. He looked up, shielding his eyes as a gaping black hole began to shrink in the sky. As it finally closed, he saw Tony falling back to earth, his suit failing.

He turned around and rose off the ground, his cape lifting him high enough to see the roof of the sanctum. There, Bruce's large green body sat slumped in a chair, the Ancient One talking to his astral form. Stephen dropped back to the ground.

"We're in the right timeline," he said.

A loud screeching stole their attention. They turned to see a bus skidding and flipping over, rolling and bouncing down the street towards a man trapped inside his car. Juno held out her hands to try and stop it, but nothing happened. Instead, the bus flew straight through them as if they weren't there and collided with the car.

"No," she cried. "Why couldn't I stop it?"

"We're just spectators here," he replied. "It's like watching a movie and being able to step through the screen; you feel like you're there, but the movie's already been shot and edited. You can't change anything."

They waited for hours until eventually, down a side street, they saw Cap appear with Loki's sceptre. He walked towards a wrecked car where Tony and Scott Lang sat waiting with a defeated look on their faces.

Stephen placed a hand on Juno's back and guided them closer. "Alright, any moment now."

They waited, watching the three men argue. But the crash never came. Instead, they saw Cap hand Scott the sceptre before synchronising his suit with Tony - the pair disappearing seconds later. Scott stood for a moment, talking aloud to himself before activating his own suit and disappearing too.