Hey, all! Here's the chapter were I start getting nervous, because I'm only one chapter ahead now and need to get my act together. Thank you, as always, for the feedback. You guys are so great.

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Jarvis refused to hang up on them, despite how politely she asked. He must have felt as though he'd already pushed the boundaries of Tony's patience enough for one day. Sutton was afraid that she'd be on the line the entire time it took for someone to fly over. Like maybe they'd try to keep her talking so she couldn't try to fix this on her own like she planned.

But they eventually hung up. Though not before trying to make her promise not to attempt anything rash.

Sutton promised she wouldn't be rash.

The house went silent. Sutton sat, immobile and stoic for some minutes. The longer she sat, the more that dread compacted inside her and squeezed against her ribs.

Soon, soon, soon.

It took some convincing, but she finally forced herself to stand and she made her way over to the front door just to try it. As she had been so obviously informed, it wouldn't budge.

So she had a couple of hours or so. She wasn't sure exactly how many.

"Alright," she tried to reassure herself. "No problem. It shouldn't take that long to think of a reasonable solution. And imagining things doesn't take any time at all. This is doable."

"You are from a universe of stories, surely you can think of something."

She jumped, jostling her leg again as she twisted to face the voice.

"Freaking flambé! Can you stop doing that?"

Loki sat on the opposite end of the couch. He was leaned forward, a bit less casual looking than the last time. Sutton noted that it seemed like he had a few extra pieces of armor on that hadn't been there before. She felt a chill sweep through her.

"How close is he?"
Loki's mouth ticked and his fingers curled in a brief, jerking movement.

"Close enough that you should be putting a bit more effort into this."

"I just saw you- You know what? You're not really very helpful. Either you have some ideas or you don't! So do you have something to say, or are you just set on appearing every few hours to toss ominous warnings at me?"

That earned her an admonishing look as Loki flared his nostrils. She crossed her arms in aggravation and sneered right back.

"If I assist you too much, He may start to suspect me. And if you manage to fail, I would rather not be next on His list."

"Thanos-"

"SHH." Sutton widened her eyes as she tilted her head to the side in frustration. Loki held up his hands, as if trying to ward her off from making the same mistake twice. When she remained quiet, he ran a hand through his hair and cleared his throat. "You mentioned Nothing," he said. "Use that."

Sutton flicked her hands out to the sides, gesturing emptily.

"Nothing? You want me to use nothing against him? Oh my gosh, you're useless. If you're going to be like this, you can leave. Or I can always call Tony and Steve back and tell them you're here. Maybe imagine that they reach me a bit faster than anticipated."

Loki glared right back.

"You ungrateful child. Once the dimensional walls fully refortify, you'll no longer be able to peel them apart on your whim." She waved flippantly at him.

"Goodbye!"
He stood then and brushed off some imaginary dust from his dark green tunic.

"You are from a universe of stories," he said again. "Maybe you should start thinking like it." His eyes snapped down to accuse her. "You already tried the easy way. Now actually think. When did the course of a story ever run smooth?"
Sutton pressed her palms together and pushed the edges of her fingers against her lips.

"Get out."
Loki shook his head and slowly disappeared from view. She kept staring at the place he'd been.

She didn't like his implications. She didn't like them one bit.

The couch was her friend as she sat and thought everything over. Sometimes the easy answer was the right one! Just because it hadn't worked didn't mean it had been stupid to try, right? At least she knew now that she couldn't have gotten everything solved within ten minutes.

Sutton closed her eyes and steepled her fingers. Stories. She could do stories. She could do this.

Maybe, maybe there could be interference because she was from another universe? That could throw him off. Make it a bit more difficult for him to locate her instead of easy. And it made sense. At least she could make it make sense in her head.

Then, then maybe Thanos wasn't well prepared. Maybe he was jumping into this based on the shockwaves she gave off. He didn't know what to expect. Perhaps he'd be apt to underestimate the situation. Be cocky.

A secret weakness. The idea sprang up. Didn't villains often have some small, unknown weakness that cropped up in the last narrative arc? If she could give him one and take advantage of it before things got messy, maybe this could all be over before it began.

Just like she'd hoped.

Big, purple alien who had a superiority complex. Liked special rocks. What could she do with that? Well, she didn't really know anything about him. There was nothing for her to go off of.

She could believe whatever she wanted.

He monologued, she decided. He had a thing for listening himself talk and-and he was susceptible to laser fire? Maybe if he was shot at a high enough power? Ah! His powers were limited to where he could directly see.

Sutton smiled briefly. That sounded good. Doable.

Energy crackled in her limbs. She forced air through her nose as she tried to commit to this idea. To make it stick.

Universe, don't fail me now.

The lightning sparking through her heated, nipped at the underside of her skin, and Sutton grit her teeth. Tried to let it move how it wanted while she kept herself focused on believing all this was true.

And then something slammed against her mind.

Sutton let out a cry and pressed herself against the back of the couch. Something was crowding her. Pressing against her consciousness. Digging in. It felt like she was being stepped on by a large, heavy foot.

"You."

That wasn't Loki's voice. That wasn't any voice she'd ever heard before. It was incredibly low, gravelly. It carried a presence and an authority that had her shaking.

Terror.

It boiled coldly in her stomach and overflowed, spilling out into the rest of her.

"This is the second time that you have attempted to use your magic against me."

Sutton's eyes snapped open and she stared wildly and unseeing out in front of her. Her hand rose to her throat as the terror clawed its way up.

"Oh, oh lord."

Him. It was Him.

The pressing presence didn't let up. She felt the weight sink down heavier even as she scrambled off the couch in a desperate bid to flee.

"You are bold for attempting to use a power that you do not know how to wield. But I will. I will give you purpose."

Sutton gagged as she was bombarded with images.

Humanoid beings screamed and ran as the skies cracked and shattered above them. Buildings crumbled, land masses split, planets burned. Moons imploded into dust. Entire civilizations were torn down and demolished. Countless, countless dead. And above it all, smug, victorious laughter.

"How pleased will Death be, when I offer her the souls of those previously outside even her grasp? New souls from worlds untouched? And all thanks to you, the one who can rip through walls."

She crawled across the floor on hands and knees desperately trying to escape. The sights, the force, was suffocating. It wasn't a foot, it was a hand. Large, fat fingers wrapped around her and squeezed.

"You call out so loudly. Not even trying to hide. So I will answer. I will make you my Destroyer of Worlds."

"No!"

Stars shattered and earth upon earth upon earth crumbled, and burned, and tore apart.

"Mercy is for the weak. And I have none. Do not make the mistake of threatening me again."

Sutton cried, even as the pressure released and the crowded feeling in her skull dissipated. She cried as every nightmare she'd shoved away was dredged up. Endless space and destruction.

Her greatest fear. Herself.

The images, the visions, that had been forced on her were too vivid. Too sharp. She didn't know what was worse. The echoing memory of alien beings screaming, or the sight of an entire planet being ripped to pieces. Silent in the vastness of space.

Her bottom lip trembled as a new, terrible revelation slithered in.

Her earth. The one that still held her mother and Howard and Tyrese. There was a possibility that, with her, He could reach them.

Sutton wrapped her arms around her torso and sucked in air.

She had to get out. She had to get away. She had to hide.

[Miss Regan, are you alright?]

She flinched as another bodiless voice rang through the house. Jarvis, her mind supplied. It's Jarvis.

"Let me out," she demanded. Her voice was breaking, desperate. "You have to let me out. I have to- I have to get out of here."

[I'm afraid I can't.]

"Jarvis, let me out!"
Sutton's legs kicked out as she tried to find purchase on the slick floor. The muscle in her left leg gave out momentarily as she got to her feet, and she staggered before moving forwards.

[Perhaps you should try three second breaths, Miss?]

She rushed to the front door, her knuckles pale as she pulled incessantly on the door handle.

[Please at least try.]

Something in her urged her to listen. It took her a couple attempts to get it right. She inhaled deeply, held it, then slowly exhaled. The room shifted slightly and she shook her head.

"You still need to let me out. I'm a sitting duck. Please, Jarvis."

[I'm sorry.]

The AI's refusal only mildly deterred her. She dragged herself around the house, despite the pain and blood that she was pumping up out of her wound. Every door to the outside, every window, remained stubbornly shut. Sutton stopped somewhere downstairs. She couldn't even get out via the lab.

Too tired to make her way back up to the main living room, she slid down one of the walls in the corner and curled up into herself.

The house was silent. Jarvis wasn't much for small talk, and that only left her with her own thoughts. Forced, by some sick perversion, to relive what had just happened again and again. She shook; tried not to.

She let her left leg stretch out on the floor, but brought up her right in order to rest her forehead on her knee. She tried to breathe like Jarvis had instructed again.

It only worked for so long. The silence became too much far too quickly. With the house being unused, there wasn't the whirring of appliances to fill the space. Tony's lights didn't even hum. She didn't like total silence.

"Jarvis? Can you put on some music?"
[What would you like to listen to?]

"I don't care. Whatever Tony last had on. Just make it loud."

AC/DC began blaring through the room and Sutton closed her eyes again. Let the music fill of the space where her thoughts had been.

Or at least tried.

What if it came down to her or every universe? Because that was what was at stake. What was she willing to risk to beat this?

What were the odds that she could succeed?

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Sutton stirred, blinking out of the trance-like state she'd slipped into. Her muscles were stiff and sore from the way she'd been sitting and there was a definite crick in her neck. Her leg ached more than ever as she tried to stretch out her limbs. Heavy rock still blared through the house, but something had alerted her.

The music suddenly lowered in volume, without her request, and Sutton clenched her hands into fists.

"Sutton? Sutton!"
[Downstairs, sir.]

There was a rumbling of footsteps from the stairwell down the hall. Still, she didn't move. She recognized the worried voice.

Tony came into view and his pace quickened slightly when he spotted her. She was mildly surprised to see Steve follow after him. He'd actually come.

"What are you doing down here? You shouldn't be moving around on that leg so much. Look at it."

Sutton glanced down and noted the growing stain of blood seeping through her jeans. She looked back up at Tony and blinked.

"Whoops."

Tony threw a look back at Steve and shifted out of the way.

"Wanna help out, Cap?"
Steve stepped forward. He eased his arms around her, lifting her in a bridal carry effortlessly and followed after Tony as they made their way into the lab.

"Are you feeling alright," Steve asked. She wanted to give him an honest answer. Something about him always made her want to be honest.

"It's really cold in space," she told him. "Did you know that? You can still feel it, even inside the ships. And it's quiet. Too quiet."

Tony flinched at her words. Steve looked to him, his gaze worried.

"Something happened."

Tony cleared off a tabletop and Steve gently lowered her down onto it. Her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt and he stilled, staying close.

"Are you going to tell us what happened," Tony asked. He didn't stop moving. She watched as he dug under the table for another first aid kit. "Or am I going to have to get Jarvis to do a playback?"
Sutton's breath hitched momentarily. Her grip tightened around Steve's arm before she realized what she was doing and quickly let go.

"Sorry," she murmured. Steve shook his head as he half sat on the table next to her and placed a warm hand on her right knee. Sutton watched it all with a distant feeling of perplexedness. She liked it.

Tony snapped his fingers in front of her face.

"I'm going to need you to focus, Small Fry. Don't tell me that concussion is getting worse."

She licked her lips and bit down as she fished for the words. Dragged them up from the depths of herself.

"I tried things my way," she said.

Both men frowned and glanced at each other. Tony's jaw was stiff. Steve looked a bit more unsure. He hadn't been there last time. He hadn't seen it. Tony moved closer to pull down on her eyelids.

"I don't see any signs of bleeding," he said. She swatted his hand away.

"No. I- I had a plan. A better one. Only, only He noticed." Her face crinkled, lip pulling up on one side as she looked out into the distance. "He can feel it. He can-speak. Show you things."

Tony turned away, arms reaching up to aggressively rub at the back of his head. Steve shifted.

"When you say he, you mean-"

Sutton swiveled quickly. Put a hand against his mouth.

"Don't. Don't say His name."

He only looked more concerned as he pulled her hand away, running his palm down her arm in what might have been an attempt to comfort her.

"Alright," he reassured. "I won't. But, do you need to talk about it?"

Her gaze flickered to Tony. He was facing them again, waiting.

"No." She shifted to face Steve fully. "But I do need you to promise me something."

"What?"

She started to speak then stopped herself.

"Tony," she said. "Can you leave for a second?"
Tony raised an eyebrow and pulled his head into his neck.

"Excuse me?"

"Out of the room," Sutton explained.

"No I understood that. I'm just not sure what it is you're getting at."

Sutton closed her eyes, slumping in frustration for a moment, before she straightened back up and pleaded with him.

"Please. I promise after this I'll cooperate. We can do things your guys' way. Just- I need a minute first."

He shot her a stiff smile and twitched his head as he relented. She'd wounded him. She could see it in the way he held himself. In his eyes.

"Sure thing," he said sharply. "You got it. Let me know when you're done sharing secrets."
Sutton rubbed at the spot between her eyes as he left the lab.

"What is it," Steve asked once the doors had hissed shut. Sutton forced herself to focus. She looked up at Steve with a severe expression.

"I don't know what else to do, so I'll-I'll go along with trying this with help. But, if this gets bad- If it doesn't work and-and it's looking like, oh gosh, like we might not pull through… I need you to promise. I need you to promise me that you'll make sure He can't access any other worlds."

Steve stared at her in confusion.

"I'm not sure what you're asking me to do."

Sutton grit her teeth.

"I'm the one who can access those worlds, Steve. I'll need you to make sure that link is severed."

Steve pulled away from her, his expression morphing into one of repulsion.

"Are you asking me to-to kill you?" She didn't say anything. Steve stood up and paced in front of her. "No. No, I'm not doing that. How could you even ask that?"

"Because Tony won't."

"And I seem like the kind of guy that would?"
"No!"

A throaty growl slipped out as she clenched her hands into fists. She'd have to actually tell him if she wanted him to understand. The room settled into silence as he waited. Sutton steepled her fingers, tapped them against her lips.

"I know you're not," she said. "But there aren't many people to ask." She bit her lip. "Steve, He wants to destroy the planet. And not just this earth. Every earth. He's-He's sick." Her eyes stung. "I don't want to die, but if He's too strong-"

Steve actually cut her off. He moved in front of her as she stayed sitting on the table and gripped her shoulders. Demanded her attention. Sutton stared widely up into his deep blue eyes.

"Look, I get it," he said. "You're scared, and you have every right to be. And I know that when people are scared sometimes their imaginations can run wild. But, Sutton, you don't get that luxury. You can't. I've never really understood completely how your ability worked, but you can't give this guy even a little bit of wiggle room. Not if we want to win this."

Sutton bowed her head and exhaled slowly. She felt like a bit more reason had crept into her jumbled, panicked thoughts. Where did he pull these speeches from? How did he always have such clarity?

"You're right," she said with resignation. "How do you do it? Gah, I'm constantly a mess. You all must get so sick of me."

Steve shook his head again, shifted back to sit next to her and leaned his elbows against his knees.

"Naw," he mused. "You're not a mess; just genuine." Sutton watched him move to cross his arms; almost like he was restless. "Did you know you're the only person who doesn't call me Cap?"

She frowned as she processed the words.

"It's not your name."
He let out a short chuckle.

"I know. But that's still how a lot of people see me. And I don't stop them. Sometimes- it's good to be reminded that I'm Steve too. It's grounding. You bring a lot to the table. Don't ever sell yourself so short."

Sutton almost melted. Warmth bloomed in her chest and she fought back a beaming smile as she looked up at him and ducked her head a bit. Stopped.

"Wait. Did you-did you just make a short joke at me?"

Steve blinked, his face flashing in surprise, and he snorted.

"Oh-"

Sutton picked up a roll of gauze from the forgotten first aid kit and chucked it at him as Steve hopped away laughing.

"And here I thought you were being sweet!"
"Ah, come on. You know I didn't mean-"

There was a loud crash and the sound of shattering glass from upstairs.

They both froze.

Steve's hesitation lasted only a split second.

"Stay here."

He shot out of the lab and ran up the stairs, skipping two at a time on his way up. Sutton instantly disregarded the order and eased off the table to follow after him.

Stairs. The stairs were a mistake. She should never have gone down them. But there were the sounds of a fight above her and she had to see what was going on. By the time she reached the top of the stairs, the sounds had escalated. She could hear the high whine of Tony's repulsor winding up to shoot and a twang as something ricocheted off a metal surface.

She stood at the edge of the stairwell slightly out of breath. Tony and Steve were in the middle of fighting a familiar figure.

Khan had crashed through one of the taller windows and glass lay scattered over the living room. It appeared he'd stored more than just the phaser on his person when coming over. He had another, more vicious looking, gun that he shot repeatedly in Steve's direction. Steve had his shield and he raised it to block the beams, dodging and maneuvering as they came at him. Tony was catching his breath behind a wall, one arm wrapped in his armor before he darted back out and shot some blasts of his own.

Khan's expression was gritty, almost irate. As if having to deal with this was beneath him. Sutton felt the familiar, conditioned fear flicker in her stomach.

And then a sudden calm.

Like when Nat had snuck into that building for Sam's gear, there were just some things she knew. Like a constant truth. She'd known without prompting that Nat would succeed because she believed in Nat and her experience. Because she knew that they needed what was in that building.

And she knew, now, that she believed in Steve and Tony's abilities. Their experience. They had intelligence and powers of their own that could rival Khan.

To her, he was a threat. By herself, she feared him.

But not with Tony and Steve.

"Hey, Cap!"
"On it."

Steve angled his shield and Tony shot another blast directly at it. The energy bounced off and hit Khan square in the chest. Khan stumbled back with a pained grunt, and Steve leapt forward. He took two bounding steps before he pushed off with the ball of his foot. Twisting through the air he brought his shield up and on his way back down he lashed out. The shield crashed against Khan's face and sent him flying.

Tony shot the gun from Khan's hand, out of his reach, and both men stood over Khan's prone figure.

"Who is this guy," asked Steve. "Someone from HYDRA?"
"No." Sutton piped up from the stairs. Steve's gaze darted towards her briefly before focusing once more on the threat. "That's-that's him. That's Khan."

"Didn't Khan die in the original series," Tony asked. He raised the arm with his suit attached. "Blew up in a ship or something, didn't he? Got too cocky, didn't know when to quit?"

"Tony," Steve warned.

Sutton felt herself waffle. She winced, shook her head and shook out the bad thoughts.

"He's not a main concern anymore," she added. 'I can't- Loki was right about that, at least. We have bigger problems."

"You do realize that this guy risked demolishing those currently flimsy structures that are sort of keeping all of our universes from colliding, right?"

Tony had reached the point of anger that made him still, barbed. There was a hostile half smile he wore that she'd really only seen in the movies, way back when.

"You're right," she rushed to reassure. "You're absolutely right. I'm not defending him. I don't care what happens to him. I-."

Khan pushed himself up onto his knees as he glared at the group. Steve and Tony tensed.

"Don't insult me with your pathetic human assumptions." He spat. "Of course I calculated for the dimensional ripple. I had to wait years for it to be stable enough."

Steve frowned.

"Years?"

Sutton made herself edge a little closer. Reminded herself that Steve and Tony could subdue him.

"Time doesn't move at the same pace in every universe," she said. She took another step forward and Tony snapped.

"Stop walking on that leg."
She stopped, though her face flashed in disgruntlement.

"Why," she asked, addressing Khan. "Was it not good enough? You got your crew when you weren't supposed to. You got away. What-what more could you possibly want from me?"

Khan's scowling gaze locked on her and he sneered.

"Victory," he said flatly. "My people are smarter, better in every way. And still, we were met with defeat after defeat. I finally realized it must be because of you."

A weight, a residual guilt, that Sutton had never quite let go of released. A disbelieving smile ticked up her face as she looked to Steve.

"It worked," she said. "You were right; it actually worked."

Maybe, just maybe, everything else could actually turn out.

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Yes, Sutton. If for sure, definitely will. Absolutely. You go, babe.

Reviews fuel me and may have impacts on future chapters. You never know unless you try!