Chapter Text
Stephen has lost track of how long it’s been, sitting alone in his crystalline prison of his own making. Has it been centuries, or merely days? Even with the time stone in the Eye of Agamotto around his neck, time means nothing when there’s no universe dictating its flow.
So when the Watcher returns – looking defeated, and isn’t that interesting – Stephen almost feels… relieved?
Relieved isn’t the right word, but there’s really a lot of emotions going through his head (along with the hissing of dozens of the creatures he’s absorbed – but he reigns them back in for now) as he approaches the Watcher.
And oh, oh, the sweet irony in seeing this asshole here, begging for help – well, if he needles the Watcher a bit, he feels like its deserved. Can’t interfere my ass.
So Stephen agrees to help – even as the Watcher explains the dangers of this Infinity-powered android called Ultron – because at least it’s better than sitting around feeling sorry for himself.
---
At first, it seemed like the Watcher might just want Stephen’s help alone, which was… well, it would be fine. Probably. It probably would’ve been fine. Okay, well, the fact that the Watcher was almost bested by this android made Stephen a little nervous, so when the Watcher paused and stared for a moment, Stephen definitely felt relief then.
“No,” the Watcher had said, “maybe… yes. Yes, a team will work… much better.”
Stephen’s first thought had been, Ah, finally, other people to talk to. His second thought had been, Ah, shit, other people I’m going to have to talk to. He didn’t think talking to himself (the beings he had absorbed into himself) counted as ‘healthy social interaction’. He’d had his cloak, but it wasn’t quite as lively as his old Cloak of Levitation had been – he’d torn the cloak apart, not even a thought for his old friend – it tried, though, but it wasn’t quite the same as another person. He’d been talking with the Watcher for all of five minutes, it seemed, and it was the most interaction with another entity outside of himself since… since.
At least he was given a moment (so it seemed) to learn about who he would be working with. This T’Challa that had been chosen was one of the best thieves in his galaxy – this Gamora brought with her a device that could hopefully neutralize the stones – Captain Carter brought leadership and a sensible head, one that was open to input from teammates. He supposed Thor was there for the brute strength and the lightning – it would catch Ultron’s attention, at least. The only one he couldn’t quite figure out was Erik “Killmonger” Stevens – a murderer, a liar, singly determined in his own goal.
The Watcher picked them, though. The Watcher must have seen something in this Killmonger to warrant him being chosen – so Stephen would roll with it.
---
Being part of a group is actually quite enjoyable, Stephen thinks, even if he’s sort of awkwardly on the fringes of it.
The five chosen Guardians (Guardians of the Multiverse – not pretentious at all) are planning and plotting, running through scenarios of how they can stop Ultron. Stephen adds his input here and there – the Watcher adds even less, content to let them figure it out for themselves. You could tell us something, Stephen thinks, but if the Watcher has suddenly developed the ability to hear his thoughts, he doesn’t respond to it.
The Infinity Crusher has promise, though. T’Challa seems confident in his ability to grab one of the stones from Ultron, given the right distraction, and Stephen suggests the soul stone as the target. It makes the most sense – he doesn’t know much about the soul stone, but from what the Watcher has told them, he knows it is the stone that gives Ultron the ability to summon and control his army. Take out the army before it can even form, and it will be a much easier fight.
(Not that much easier, really – Ultron is powerful, regardless of the number of stones he possesses. He’s an android, lacking human empathy, and with a vibranium body that will be difficult to damage – but at least it would just be one foe, instead of an army of killer robots.)
They’ll start in a universe that never formed intelligent life, one that Ultron will overlook. Once they’ve gained Ultron’s attention, Gamora and Killmonger will go back to the universe Ultron originated from to set up the Infinity Crusher, and once the rest of them have the soul stone, they’ll lure Ultron back there and let the Crusher do its job.
Or at least, that’s the plan. But in Stephen’s experience, things rarely go according to plan.
---
Stephen starts setting up wards shortly after their arrival. Most of these are basic protection spells, and he tells his cloak to be alert, in case Ultron somehow finds them before they’re ready. With that done, he begins plotting out the higher-level protection spells for each individual on his team.
Except his control slips, for just a fraction of a second when Gamora questions the safety of this place, and his right hand forms into tentacles before he can stop it. He gets it back under control quickly enough, but still. It’s… embarrassing, to let others see. Stephen didn’t always keep up the façade of his humanity when alone in his bubble, but keeping it on around other people makes him hate himself and what he’s done a little less – helps him feel like less of the monster that he is - is probably for the best. (He remembers Christine’s reaction to the amalgamation of creatures he has become and he hated that hated it he never wants to see that kind of reaction again he’s sorry he’s sorry he didn’t mean for this to happen he’s sorry – )
Gamora hadn’t been looking at him, when she’d asked, when it happened. Killmonger is engrossed in studying the head of one of Ultron’s army, and hadn’t seen either. Thor and T’Challa were having their own conversation on the other side of their little camp, seemingly oblivious to Stephen’s slip.
But Captain Carter saw.
“Can I ask… what happened?”
Stephen breathes in, and lets it out as a sigh. He really doesn’t want to talk about this, but trust is important in teams, right?
“Same thing that happened to you… Love.”
It’s not a full answer, but he suspects she’ll understand, and she does. She changes the subject, asks about his universe’s Captain Carter – and he loves the way her eyes light up when he tells her that Steve Rogers, Captain America, is the one who received the serum in his universe.
He thinks they could be friends when all this is over, if they didn’t have to go back to their own universes – if they even survive.
Stephen proposes a toast. (It’s kind of shitty, but again, he hasn’t had a chance to talk to anyone else in a very long time. So sue him.) The arm around his shoulder as T’Challa takes over the toast is something Stephen hasn’t felt in so long, and he can almost feel the loneliness lift off of him. Yeah, he could become friends with these people easily.
Too bad Thor is really good at attracting unwanted attention.
---
Natasha Romanoff stares all six of them down, nothing but a gun in her hands. Thank the Vishanti that Peggy Carter is excellent at diffusing tense situations – her familiarity with her own Widow means that this one, battle worn and scarred and so very weary, is willing to give them a chance. (It probably helps that they have the same goal.)
When the Watcher said that Ultron had succeeded in wiping out all life in his own universe, he’d apparently missed one. Stephen wondered if the Watcher intentionally forgot to mention this, and promptly stopped wondering about anything when Ultron broke back through to this reality.
Oh man, who knew an android could get so pissed?
The blast Ultron released would definitely have killed them all, blown apart the planet, if Stephen hadn’t managed to absorb a cosmic being or two that ate supernovas for breakfast. It was easy enough to use the Eye to hold the time of the explosion steady, the power of the various creatures coursing through him to condense the energy down into the palm of his hand, and just – swallow it. D̴͍̮̭̑̒̌͠e̵̞̋̏͗̈́l̷̢͚̅͜i̴̟͌̽͆͘c̷̬̹͋͑͘ī̸̝̩̲̒̃͑̉o̴̺̿͝͠ǘ̶̧͕̲̯s̷̨͙̗̲̔, one of those cosmic beings thinks at him, A̶̰̤̍̆̊̌̒̽ ̵̗̖͉̦͊̓̽͘t̷͊̐̅͂ͅa̵͇͔͓̳͛̊͗s̴̢͇̫͎̓̽̃͜t̷̗̦̗̖̠̉̄̈̓y̴̡̝͎͘ ̸̢̡͛͗͊͛l̸̰͙͈̠̒̑i̴̞̣͊̎̏̓ẗ̷̤́͛̈́̉̔t̷̤͖̳̄̈́l̵̛͕̙̲̘̀͗e̶̼͉̕ ̵̛̞͕̟͍̘̍͛̅s̴̛̥̰̣͙͌̓̅̋n̶͔̔̋̅a̵̛̦͔̲̘͚͉͌̋͂͗͋ċ̶͙͙͙̜͔͒͜ḵ̷̢̖͒̀. Snack or not, that energy was definitely going to fuel him through this fight – and seeing the shocked look on Ultron’s face was totally worth it.
Keeping Ultron off-balance, not giving him a chance to think, to process, is certainly a viable strategy, but the soul stone is just sitting there, and when Ultron finally uses his time stone to make a grab for it –
Well, that just won’t do. Fuck it, Stephen thinks, and he hears the pleased hisses and shrieks of all those demons and magical creatures and cosmic beings in his mind as he does so. The last creature he’d absorbed, the one he sometimes has the hardest time controlling, the many-angled one, is begging to be let loose, so Stephen gives in, and lets it. A tentacle jerking the soul stone out of Ultron’s grasp while he counters the android’s time stone with his own is easy enough, but concentrating those tentacles, that power, on grasping an Ultron that is growing in size is – it’s way harder.
He feels Peggy Carter’s eyes on him, on those tentacles, and has the briefest moment to remember that she fought a many-angled one, in her universe – summoned by HYDRA to consume the world. (She survived, too – not many can say that.) Oops. Everyone is watching now, as he feels the façade crack and give way.
Well, he’ll have to deal with that later, if he has to. The raw power this form lends to his magic his useful, and he uses it to chain Ultron – and Gamora is able to give the soul stone to the Infinity Crusher, and the machine zeroes in on its target and does its job.
There’s a moment of silence, but then –
“I'm honestly surprised. Didn’t the Watcher warn you?”
No, the Watcher didn’t, thanks.
Stephen can feel the focus on him as the dust from Ultron’s quick, but powerful, energy blast settles again.
“You. It’s you. If I destroy you, you all fall.”
His eyes narrow, and he braces himself. Fuck.
---
Stephen’s first thought once the focus of that searing power suddenly ceased is, Thank fuck. Seeing Captain Carter – Peggy – and the Black Widow – Natasha – stumble across the barren landscape back to the group helps piece together what happened – they’d been blasted so far back, that they were out of the blast radius of that infinite power that had been centered on him when their protection spells failed. Natasha was explaining how she’d used Clint Barton’s bow to fire a special arrow containing some sort of computer virus, when a sharp gasp from Gamora caught his attention and he turned around.
His first thought upon seeing Erik – Killmonger – with those stones is, Aw fuck, not again. Even with the power of hundreds of other beings fueling him, he can only take so many direct blasts from a full set of Infinity Stones while also protecting the others.
His first thought when Killmonger says, “This is it. This is our only chance,” is – well, actually, his first thought is, Christine. He has to push that thought away, because really, while Stephen had a chance to research these people, see what the Watcher saw in them, has heard them tell tales of their pasts in those brief minutes before being launched into this fight, Stephen hasn’t told them shit about himself. The only one he spoke to at all about it had been Peggy, when everyone else was occupied (unless Killmonger overheard that regretful “love” when he was messing with that Ultron-bot head – and oh, that explained so much, now). Regardless of his feelings about it, he is not about to use those stones for himself. Using one stone got him into this mess in the first place – Stephen knows himself well enough to not trust himself (and all his demons) with a full set.
“Hand over the stones, cousin,” T’Challa tries.
“I’m not your cousin,” Killmonger replies. “I’m sorry it has to end this way.”
No you’re not, Stephen thinks, before he’s bracing himself again.
And then Ultron’s body is rising, with Arnim Zola’s face on the body, laughing, and a tug of war begins with the stones.
As Stephen watches, he has a moment of clarity – “We were never meant to win! We were here to separate the stones from the body.” Because that was what they had always planned – get the stones away from Ultron, so they could be destroyed. And maybe the stones couldn’t be destroyed, but – but…
It’ll be worth it, Stephen thinks, as he concentrates his power around Zola and Killmonger and the stones, the same way he did when he resisted the collapse of his own universe. They deserve the chance to go home. It’s worth it.
---
It doesn’t feel like that big of a sacrifice. More like – penance, for what he did to his own universe. (Maybe his universe had to die so Peggy’s, and Thor’s, and T’Challa’s, and Gamora’s could live? No, no. He can’t think about that, not if he wants to stay sane, or as sane as he can be, now.)
“I’ll watch. I have nothing but time.”
“Thank you, Stephen.”
I don’t need your thanks, Stephen wants to say, still a little bitter, still not sure how he feels about the Watcher. Instead, he goes, “Mmm. And besides… what are friends for?”
The Watcher may not be a friend, not yet anyway – still all those bitter feelings wrapped up that need to be untangled – but Stephen would call Peggy, Natasha, T’Challa, Thor, and Gamora friends, despite how little time they spent together. It feels good. It feels right. He’s doing this for them.
(Before the Watcher leaves, Stephen can’t help but sneak in one cheeky question – “Hey, if I’m watching this pocket dimension, does that mean I’m a Watcher now?”
The Watcher definitely rolls his eyes, but the fact that his eyes are glowing means the effect is largely lost. “No,” is the very exasperated reply. Then, a little fonder: “But thank you again, Stephen.”
And so the Watcher goes, back to send everyone else to their home universes, leaving Stephen alone with the tug-of-war pocket dimension. He resists the urge to shake it like a snow globe, even though he and the majority of the creatures sharing his headspace think it might be funny, and closes his eyes. What a hell of a day.)