Anomaly

Nine • Villain

He hadn't seen them all together like this since they fought against Thanos. It didn't feel right standing opposite them; he was one of them. An Avenger in own right, and he was annoyed that they were treating him like he wasn't.

"I know the government wants us to deliver her to them," said Sam. "But we're not gonna do that."

"Then why are you here?" he replied.

"We're here for the stone."

"You said the machine won't work."

"Not if the goal is to keep her alive," said Bruce, pausing with regret. "But the machine works..."

"That's murder."

"She's no stranger to that," Rhodey quipped, the eyes of his suit lighting up as he spoke.

"I can't..." Stephen shook his head. "I can't let you do that to her."

Bruce sighed. "We don't want that either. But at this point, we have no choice. She took out almost an entire army. What if next time it's a city of civilians? Or the entire world?"

"No. This- you're not... I can't."

T'Challa stepped to the front. "Why not? Why does your allegiance lie with someone who has proven themselves to be so dangerous?"

"Because he knows something we don't," said Sam, his eyes never leaving Stephen. "He's looked into the future, he's seen something."

"No, I haven't. Looking into the past complicated things enough, I refuse to see how this ends."

"Why?" asked T'Challa calmly.

"Because he loves her," said Wanda.

Stephen snapped his head to look at her. "I find it insulting that you think I'd be so easily manipulated by a woman I just met."

"But you haven't just met her. You're bonded to her through time."

"That doesn't mean anything, I'm not taking a side here."

"Then what do you call what you're doing right now?"

"Going with my gut..."

"She's proven that she can't control the power inside of her," said Bruce, desperately trying to reason with him.

"You said the stone would kill her and it hasn't." Stephen shrugged. "I think she has more control over it than you think."

"All the more reason for you to step aside," said Sam.

"No."

Carol had been standing at the back, listening quietly. She took a deep breath. "Doctor Strange, you have to make a decision. Between one person, and the rest of the world, possibly the universe."

"When the time comes- if the time comes, then I will make that decision. But right now I don't see why it has to come down to that."

"Alright, then we're not asking anymore," she said simply, clenching her fist and igniting her powers.

Stephen threw up his hands in response, the discs surrounding his fists sparking like embers rising from a fire. "We're on the same side," he said.