They spent the next two weeks trying to find Steve but nothing useful was found.
It had been over a month since Loki had first let loose the Smoke Daemons and it seemed to be spreading across America and the World. It got to the point in which whenever any of the Avengers went into the public they got lynched.
S.H.I.E.L.D had an underground base on the edge of New York City but the Avengers went to Wyoming where they knew Steve to be.
When doing his rounds, flying around America and Wyoming looking for both Steve and Loki, Tony had to keep hidden, not just from the people but from the Government who most of which had also been daemonised. Tony had to try to stay within the clouds using his stealth suit (Mark 27).
Thor continued do as he usually did knowing that he can escape puny humans if necessary.
Natasha and Clint stayed out of sight unless it becomes imperative for them to venture into the public. They did however continue to do their rounds, just tried to stay more hidden than before. Bruce however stayed inside knowing that if he got crowded by angry people, he was very likely to get angry and Hulk out.
Pepper didn't seem to be hated as much but she was still wary to go out just in case.
Irene and the twins so far were safe but had to be careful encase they were recognised, they stayed in New York, mostly to keep an eye out on the city and because Tony decided it was safest for them.
The Avengers had however managed to find a nice small motel on the edge of Wyoming, Casper where Tony booked out the entire place for a month. The owner hadn't been daemonised, he was just a bit creepy and as soon as they'd gotten to a room Clint burst out with "He looks high!", but he let the Avengers park a few jets on the roof so they dealt with the creepiness of the owner.
Later, Tony growled in frustration and kicked a chair across the room.
"Tony!" Pepper yelled angrily.
Tony looked up at her angry glare, usually he would try to apologise, or at least pretend he was sorry but he was too angry to care right now.
"They could be doing anything to him Pepper. Anything!"
"I know but we need to stay calm!"
"I can't!" Tony sighed and fell into the nearest seat. "Pepper, I act like I hate him but really...he's the guy I looked up to my entire life. He's my dad's friend. I need to-"
"I know." Pepper stopped Tony by putting a hand on his arm. "We'll find him and he'll be fine. Maybe Evie's had a change of heart and they're back at the tower wondering where the hell we are."
Tony rose a disbelieving eyebrow, "You truly believe that?"
Pepper shrugged, "Evie's a mutant. I'm not ruling anything out."
Tony smirked and nodded in agreement, "Your right, it's just...we've looked everywhere. But we can't actually look everywhere. Ever. And I just hate it because I wish I could."
"I know." Pepper stepped closer to Tony and hugged him kindly. "C'mon. Everyone's regrouping for lunch in Bruce's rooms."
They walked into the booked out rooms and immediately were hit by the smell of herbs.
Thor was serving some strange food stuff; it looked like giant fish except it was bright purple placed in the middle of the table. Thor had begun to cut into it a serve a large piece to everyone.
"What on heaven, hell, earth and Asgard is that?" Tony asked pointing at it.
"Apparently it's called a Spingenhial." Clint answered.
"Spigeninhal." Thor corrected, "They are seasonal fish to Asgard. They are in season."
"You realise we have a lot more problems than food right now?" Natasha said, despite eyeing the Spigeninhal hungrily.
"Yes. But food is necessary to continue." Thor answered matter-of-fact making everyone chuckle at the simplicity of that statement.
Tony sat down as his plate was served. He took a small amount on his fork and tasted it. It tasted a bit like Mackerel but along with some tomato and herb. It exploded in his mouth and was the perfect mix between chewy and juicy with a nice tang hitting the back of his throat and tongue. After taking the first bite he suddenly realised how hungry he is - when had he last eaten? He actually couldn't remember.
After everyone took a moment to all try it, Clint was the first to breach the subject, this was the first time they have had the chance to group together and discuss their next steps.
"The New Moon's tomorrow." Clint stated simply. "If we don't get Evie by then we have to wait another month."
"A month to un-daemonise her." Tony added in. "We can capture her before though."
"Except who will un-daemonise her?" Clint asked, everyone froze at the cruel statement, "I mean we have to be willing to die for her right?" Thor and everyone else nodded slowly, warily, because they all knew damn well where this was going."Well I don't feel like I'd move very fast to do so. If some of you do, then good. But she betrayed us. Steve could be dead right now because of her," everyone flinched at the harsh words but they knew realistically that it could be true as much as they hoped not.
"It's not her fault." Bruce was quick to remind them. "She cannot control her actions right now."
"No." Clint agreed, "It's not. I've had my head taken over. I killed our friends. You all forgave me and I will forgive her. But that doesn't change how I feel. I genuinely don't think I would be of any help in removing the daemon." Clint paused as everyone took in his words, "How do all of you feel?" He heard a collective heavy sigh in response and that was a good enough answer for him. "Exactly."
"The Captain would die for her." Thor answered, "No matter what." But he seemed slightly unsure about the statement.
"What about Irene and the twins?" Pepper asked. "They're coming tomorrow aren't they? To get rid of the Daemon in Irene?" She got a confirming noise from everyone on the table.
"Irene is daemonised herself and at least one of the Twins will have to concentrate on her. Depends on how far the daemon is into her – it doesn't seem like much though."
"I would die for her." Bruce added in tentatively and carefully, he was pleasantly surprised when nobody looked shocked or surprised at that statement. "So the other twin can be with Evie."
"Most of us can." Thor nodded. "She is still pleasant and has not made us..." Thor struggled for a word.
"Want to kill her?" Tony suggested, Thor hesitated but nodded.
"I don't want to kill Evie." Pepper put in.
"What if you could save Steve but it meant killing Evie?" Tony asked simply. "I wouldn't hesitate."
"Steve would never forgive you."
"But he'd still be alive."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Steve barely glanced up as the door opened. He readied himself for the pain that usually came when someone entered the room, usually it was Bale, occasionally it was Loki, but occasionally it was just a random statistic mutant. But when nothing happened, no pain came, he looked up.
Evie stood in the doorway staring at him curiously. She was wearing Asgardian style armour with a long blue cape blowing out behind her despite their being no wind.
Her eyes were completely black and inhuman.
He sighed and looked back down to his bed. His entire body hurt but he could deal with pain. When Evie stared at him so inhumanly, there was nothing there no feelings, nothing just black. He couldn't deal with that.
He heard the doors closed and he glanced up hoping Evie had left but she hadn't. He realised she was holding a bowl of soup and bread. It was disgusting, tasted like dirty water, but it was his only meal a day. Due to his arms being chained above his head he had someone feed him, giving him less dignity than he tried to keep.
When he realised Evie was gonna do that for him, he grimaced.
He'd rather starve.
Evie slow sat down on the bed beside him and crossed her legs, facing him. He tried to turn his body away from her but he didn't have much space to move.
"I tried to get them to unchain your legs but they didn't listen to me." she spoke up as if reading his thoughts. He'd usually love that but now it just crept him out. "I could try again. Or just do it myself?" Steve didn't react. "Steve, look at me."
He didn't. He forced himself to keep his eyes fixed on a spot above the door. Away from her.
Evie growled and reached out to his chin forcing him to look at her. He just glared. "I brought you some food. I put some flavouring in to make it tastier."
"I don't need you to do me any favours." he spat out, no longer being able to stay silent.
Evie sighed, "I just wanna do what I can."
"Get me out of here then."
"I can't."
"Don't be with him."
"I can't do that either." she rested her hand on her stomach and Steve frowned. Was she...? He shook his head.
Would that even work? A god and a human have a child? He didn't know.
"Then leave me." he turned away from her again.
"You need to eat."
"Why do you care if I eat or not?"
Evie seemed to freeze slightly, "I don't." There was a slightly childish quality to her voice as she said that.
"Then why are you here?" when she didn't answer he turned to face her. "Well?" Steve looked her up and down for a minute, trying to read her. He used to be able to read her like any of the books in the library but now...she looked like a book written in Chinese.
"It's the New Moon tonight." She said quietly as if afraid to admit it.
"You know you're daemonised?" Steve wasn't surprised but to hear it confirmed.
"You know I do."
"And you don't care?"
"I don't." Evie shrugged.
"You look conflicted."
Evie hesitated leaning closer to him; Steve took in a deep shuddering breath as she stopped an inch from him. He resisted the urge to lean away from her.
"I love you." Evie breathed.
"No you don't." Steve whispered, "You don't care anymore. You don't love Loki. You think you do but you don't."
"The daemon just stops my regret. It doesn't stop my love."
"So you don't regret the cheating?"
Evie shook her head, "No."
Steve swallowed and pulled back, away from her. Evie froze as she realised what she was doing and pulled away before suddenly standing back up. Holding the soup and left the room.
Steve's stomach rumbled as the food left with her but he forced himself to ignore it. If he let her feed her then he would have broken. He had to stay strong and alive to get through this.
Even if he knew he's probably gonna die soon.
When Bale walked in a few hours later Steve braced himself for the pain.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Guys I think I've found it!" Tony stated a few days later.
The new moon had been and gone. Irene and the Twins came to Wyoming to remove the daemon from Irene and they saw no reason to go back to New York. They wanted to help in any way possible, they soon found out they were less recognised in Wyoming so they went to talk to the locals, find out any information that they can.
"Where?"
"Still in Casper. Right under our fucking noses. JARVIS, get a floor plan of that building."
"Already on it sir."
"We're on our way Stark. Send us your co-ordinates."
"Yeah. Done."
Natasha and Clint were in a jet and turned tail back towards Casper. Irene, Pepper and the twins climbed into another jet and Mycroft into the pilot's seat.
Thor flew to where he knew Tony to be.
They all met Tony a few miles north of the building he was talking about. He was sat in an abandoned warehouse roof, with a full view of another larger warehouse a few miles south with forests between them. There were a few warehouses within these few miles but Tony seemed to be focusing on this certain one.
"We've already checked these out Stark." Clint said, annoyed when they arrived at Tony's position, he felt like Tony had got there hopes up for nothing.
Tony rolled his eyes, "Use those famous hawk eyes of yours and look." Tony pointed slightly left of the larger warehouse, Natasha pulled out binoculars. There was a small group of men and women, one of them looked to be on fire, another was flying above them; there was one who from this distance looked like he was blending in with the trees, a few others were slightly further away and were playing catch but jumping into impossible heights and running faster than humanly possible. It was like some sort of play area for the mutants.
A few feet from them it looked as if there was an open trap door leading out from the floor; it was very well covered with grass but being wide open made it quite obvious to any onlookers.
It looked almost as if the small group of mutants were just hanging out, like normal teenagers, smoking and having a laugh with their mates.
Natasha passed the binoculars across the group for everyone to see. When Irene had them, someone else turned up and Irene told everyone what she could see. The other person was tall with jet black hair; he looked very green and silver.
"That's Loki," Tony hissed wanting for nothing more to fly over and beat that bastard to death.
Bruce heard the Hulk inside him rumble but forced him down.
'Not yet.' he said internally.
'When?'
'Soon.'
Hulk grumbled but quietened down.
They all immediately stopped what they were doing and bowed to Loki, and then it looked as if Loki was yelling at them. After a few minutes they all went back through the door and under the ground, the teenagers dropping the cigarettes, annoyed. The trap door closed the ground looked undisturbed.
"Did you look underground?" Tony asked and Natasha shook her head.
"No. There was no way to get down there. None of the available floor plans had underground space for any of these warehouses."
"Miss Romanoff is correct." JARVIS spoke up, "If they have successfully looked through the warehouse and found nothing then the floor plan won't be of use."
"Any secret doors they wouldn't have noticed?"
"I very much doubt it sir. Any doors on this floor plan, I'd expect anyone to notice, if they did not then they are more idiotic then previously believed."
Tony sighed. "Well that was definitely Loki so we need to get in there."
Irene hesitated before lifting her hand, everyone turned to her curiously, "Loki daemonised me right? What if I go in there saying I refused the new moon transformation and came to find them?"
"No way." Bruce stated before anyone else could argue back. He blushed slightly at how raised his voice was but didn't back down. "That's too dangerous."
"Loki will sense the lack of daemon in you." Thor added.
"Uh, guys?" Pepper spoke up softly.
"It'll give you the time to sneak in behind me?" Irene shrugged, not having heard Pepper.
"I'm with Bruce. No way." Sherlock said with a nodding Mycroft.
Tony however held up a hand stopping the continued discussion, "That, is too dangerous and risky and has too many plot holes. However if you went in there with mutant powers then you can probably get in without too much trouble."
Irene nodded, "Well yeah. But I'm not a mutant. None of us are."
Tony shook his head, "No. But you do have the power of sonic noise." Irene cocked her head to the side in question and Tony pulled the Sonic screwdriver from his pocket changed a setting on it and handed it to her. "I've modified it a bit, press the button and it'll emit a sonic piercing noise and will search for the right pitch to vibrate at to smash glass. It'll hurt your ears but," he handed ear plugs, "Put them in. You'll still be able to hear me; it just stops you from hearing the sonic noise."
"Guys." Pepper tried again.
Irene nodded and put them into her ears.
"Hold on, why Irene?" Bruce asked, "One of us can go. Natasha, Clint? They're better at sneaky-sneaky."
Tony rose an eyebrow at Bruce, "You call yourself a genius. We'll all be recognised."
"I won't be. I'll go."
"Guys!"
Tony shook his head, "First, the sonic noise affects the hulk even with the ear plugs in. C, no B, no two, I trust you explicitly and your ability to control the other guy buy what if you see someone torturing Steve. If you see Loki, or Evie or even Steve Dead?" Bruce flinched and the Hulk growled, "Can you really control yourself then?"
Bruce hesitated but finally shook his head, "But the Hulk will protect Steve. It doesn't matter if we destroy everyone else."
"And risk Loki getting away?" Thor shook his head. "No. To dangerous."
"I'll go instead," Sherlock stated, "I'm probably the least publicised person. Someone's bound to recognise all of you and Irene. Maybe Croft, but I stick to the shadows and stay quiet. I'll go."
"YOUIDIOTS!" Pepper yelled and everyone jumped and turned to face her confused at why she had just yelled at them, "Look!" she pointed towards the warehouse. The roof had opened out and mutants were pouring out. Hundreds and thousands, some were flying out of the roof, others were coming through various trap doors around the entire warehouse.
All of them gapped. They did not expect so many.
"Tony go tell the X-Men." Natasha ordered, when Tony didn't move, "Now!" She yelled. Tony took one last glance at the mutants leaving the warehouse for either Steve or Evie before taking off into the air hoping he wouldn't be seen by the flying mutants.
"Avengers? Romanoff? Barton?" Fury's voice suddenly came through the ear comm.
"Sir?" Natasha answered.
"What the hell is going on? There's smoke coming out the top of Stark towers and kids and teenagers have gone mad."
"What?!"
"Mad how?" Thor asked.
"Aggressive. They started to attack each other and then the teachers. All schools, colleges, universities. All of them."
"That smoke may be air daemons." Thor murmured thoughtfully to himself.
"In New York?" Natasha asked Fury.
"Yeah."
"The mutants must be on their way there."
"Mutants?" Fury demanded.
"Yeah we found there base. Just in time to see them leave."
"Get to New York. Now."
"On our way."
Everyone looked around at each other, the twin's shared a long look before Sherlock spoke up, "Croft and I will go look for Steve." Sherlock stated, no argument in his voice, he took the sonic from Irene and plucked the ear plugs from her ears, cleaned them and put them in his own ears, "Got another pair?"
Everyone shook their heads, Mycroft shrugged. "I'll go in anyway, just attempted to cover my ears before it goes off."
"That won't work very well."
Mycroft shrugged, "I'm not letting him go in alone. You lot get to New York."
Bruce stepped closer to Sherlock and held out his hand for the sonic, Sherlock rose an eyebrow in question.
"I'll show you how to change the settings and the other necessary settings for a backup plan." Sherlock nodded and handed over the sonic. "This unlocks and locks doors. This will destroy electronics, so point it at cameras Etc. This one, don't use unless necessary but it will give everyone in the room – without those earplugs in - a cardiac arrest, but if Croft doesn't have earplugs so be careful. And then of course the sonic noise. There's a few other's but none I'd see to be useful."
"Pretending to be a mutant will no longer be useful. Now we're just trying to find Steve, even if that means hiding and fighting?" Sherlock confirmed and got nods in answer.
"Now all of you go. Save New York!" Mycroft ordered.
"Be careful." Natasha told them softly.
"I can go with you." Irene offered but Sherlock shook his head.
"You can help in New York. New York needs as many people as they can."
Irene wanted to argue but she couldn't so instead she leaped forward grabbing them both into a tight hug and kissed their cheeks, "Be careful guys ok? I love you both."
The twins grinned, "We know."
Irene laughed as they both kissed each of her cheeks and then she turned and joined the others into the jets taking off towards New York. Thor nodded once more before taking off into the air behind the jets.
Once they were gone the twins glanced around, "How do we get down?"
They managed to find a way down the side of the building and begun the walk a few miles south through the woods and towards the warehouse.
Sherlock sighed as he pulled out his phone to send a quick text.
'Hey, lot of crap happening atm. Get out of NY ASAP. Be careful. I may not be able to talk for a few days. I'll be fine, contact you when I can. Love you xxx'
"Do you truly love her?"
"Hmm?"
"Natalie. Do you love her?"
Sherlock hesitated, "It's only been a few months but yeah. I think I do. She's patient and kind. With everything going on right now, I probably would have left me rather than be dragged into it. But she hasn't."
Mycroft nodded. "Good. She's a lovely girl."
"I can't wait for you to get a proper stable boyfriend. Although make sure he's not too hot. Otherwise Irene will flirt with him. Constantly."
Mycroft laughed, "She flirt's with everyone constantly anyway."
Sherlock laughed with him. "She does."
They fell into silence for a moment before Mycroft took a deep shuddering breath. "You ready for this?"
"Nope. You?"
Mycroft laughed, "No. It's gone too quickly. I always expect at least a day at least to prepare for something like this."
Sherlock nodded, "Same. But waiting any longer than necessary..."
"Could be disastrous." Mycroft finished despondently.
They walked the rest of the way in complete silence, comforted only by the others footsteps beside them.
Halfway there was when they finally saw signs of life, some of the mutants had come this way. Where they had gone since then, they had no idea. They began to walk slower, being more careful, wary of bumping into mutants in the dark woods.
"They've gone west." Mycroft worked out eventually, tracking them.
"New York's east isn't it?"
"Yeah. There's a large field West though. They might have jets or something. New York is way too far to walk."
After another 20 minutes the warehouse was in sight and they walked towards it carefully, all the mutants seemed to have long since left, the only sign that they had been there were the tramped grass and the trees showed signs of disturbance.
Slowly they walked into the clearing, Sherlock kept his hand on the sonic screwdriver at the ready. They reached the spot where they believed the trapped door to be. Mycroft found the handle and attempted to open but when that failed Sherlock used the Sonic screwdriver to open it.
Looking inside they found a ladder going down about four metres and long darkened corridor. The light from the sun streamed down a few metres but there was nothing specific that they could see. Glancing at each other they shrugged and climbed down the ladder.
"Shoulda brought a touch." Mycroft muttered.
Sherlock pulled one from an inside pocket. Mycroft chuckled, not sounding surprised but it quickly became unnecessary as the corridor lit up the moment they moved.
