"Where is he?" Steve shouted to the ceiling "Where is he?" He never lost control but now rage was taking over. "WHERE IS HE? WHAT DID YOU DO?"
"I'm sorry, Cap," Peter's face was white. "I tried, but it was just too strong…"
Steve breathed heavily, his heart beating hard as if he had just run a thousand miles. He walked over and pounded on the walls. "Bring him back, damn it." He hit harder. "I just got him back. Why do they keep taking him away again... and... again…" each word was emphasized with a punch One more solid hit to the wall, then he fell against it. It was cold and solid. Despair and anger welled up inside him. He hadn't felt this way since…Bucky fell from the train. When he disappeared...when he ran away.
He felt a touch on his shoulder. Wanda was kneeling beside him. Using her familiar graceful hand motions he felt something enter his mind. He saw himself finding Bucky after a long search and telling him who he was, bringing him to the compound, seeing him in Wakanda after he was free of the programming, finding him again after the battle of Wakanda, memories of his two lifetimes were meshing together. He immediately became calmer.
"I'm sorry Captain. I'm so sorry, but you can't lose control. Not now. Yes, you have lost him before, but you always found him again. Hold on to that," she said, her voice quiet and gentle.
"Cap, I got close to it and from what I could see, it was outdoors somewhere and for what it's worth I don't think he was in any danger from the other side," Peter said.
Steve swallowed hard. Peter's ability to sense danger had been proven time and time again. "I suppose that's a good thing. Why him?"
"He kept talking about magic. I wonder if he was getting too close to some idea… and someone didn't like it," Bruce said.
"He could be anywhere," Steve said, bitterly. It seemed so long ago now, but he remembered Tony, angry, lashing out, out of control. He understood him now more than ever, but Wanda was right. He couldn't let his emotions overwhelm him. He took a deep breath and looked over to T'Challa who was staring at the rings on his hands.
"Captain…" he began but before he could finish the room darkened and lit up again. Regina stood before them, alone. There was something different about her. Had she aged since they saw her last?
"Where is he?" Steve asked.
Her face screwed up in confusion as if trying to remember. "Where is who?"
"Don't play dumb. Where is Bucky?" Steve shouted the question.
"Bucky. Your companion? Did he fall victim to the plague? It should not have reached in here. I'm so sorry," she said. She did look sorry.
"It wasn't the plague. A portal opened and someone pulled him through. Now, where is he?" Steve felt the anger returning but Wanda had placed a mental image of Bucky in his mind, smiling at him at Tony's party.
"That is impossible. That is restricted knowledge. No one else has it. That was not us. I am sorry. Regulus is gone," she said. She was having difficulty speaking.
"Gone? As in…" Bruce asked.
"The plague took him. Now you see why we are so desperate. For years we have worked and now it has reached us…"
"We sent you the information…" Bruce said. "You came here and told us you received it and you sent us back gibberish."
"Did you? Did we? I have no memory of that. Please…"
"Is memory loss a symptom of the plague?" Bruce asked. At first, Steve thought he was asking a rhetorical question but his interest seemed real.
"Memory loss? What do you mean? Regulus is gone, taken by the plague."
Was grief making her erratic?
"Enough of this!" Wanda hissed. Before he could stop her, red sparks came out of her hands and made their way to Regina. She stared hard at Wanda, then the sparks deflected back. The room darkened. Regina disappeared.
"She is a hologram," Wanda declared. "But yet, more than just a hologram. There is something real about her."
"Could you see a power source?" Bruce asked.
"She disappeared before I learned anything more. But I believe it is somewhere in the building."
"Guys," Peter said. "I might have a theory for what's going on. The corrupted data. It might be because the tech it came from is old. They tried to convert it and couldn't. She is acting erratically because this…." he pointed to the data stream " is her. She's the data. Regulus disappeared because the program is freezing up or disintegrating or something. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I jumped through the portal and brought you here. They were so convincing. I thought I was doing something good by coming here I could help Mr. Stark and I screwed up again…" He put his hands upon his head, his face taking on the appearance of an animal caught in a trap.
"Stop it, Peter,' Steve said. "He told me there are other forces at work here, and if they didn't use you, it would have been someone else. None of this is your fault, and before I forget, I want to say thank you, to you, and Wanda, for trying to save Bucky."
"Who else told you about the other forces?" asked Wanda. "It might be important for you to remember!"
"Someone I met while I was in the coma," he said. "And even though she said no one else had the knowledge to create the portals, someone obviously does, someone out there. I agree. I think Bucky might have been on to something." His take-charge attitude suddenly snapped into place.
"We are all enhanced so that means we can survive longer than most. If Peter is right, if age is corrupting the computer stream, other things might disappear so we don't know how long any of this will last. That might mean air and water. Wanda, keep working with the material. Find out all its secrets. Keep trying to clean up that data stream and see if we can use it. We have to get out of here and find…"
"Captain," T'Challa had been silent during the whole exchange with Regina. He held up his hand. On one finger was the ring of his office, but on another, there was a smaller plain ring with a curious stone that was blinking red. "We have reason to hope. He has found us."
"What?" asked Peter. "Who has found us?"
Relief flooded through Steve.
"Thor," he said, "Thor has found us." If anyone was out there listening, he wanted them to know.