.

"You could've saved us."

.

"I got eyes on the prize," Tony reported with satisfaction, while analyzing the engine where Loki's Scepter was plugged into.

Hidden in the darkness behind him, Wanda observed her most hated enemy, before approaching stealthily. This time, her hex had a much subtle effect, giving him an apocalyptic vision…

As the only survivor of the six Avengers, in a battlefield full of dead bodies, Tony witnessed the Chitauri launching a massive attack against the defenseless Earth. Shaken to the core, he heard Steve's last breath.

"You… could've… saved… us… Why didn't… you do… more?"

Still unaware of her presence, Tony woke up from that awful nightmare. Quickly, he summoned the Iron Man's glove, before retrieving the powerful alien weapon.

Arriving at that moment, Pietro stood by his sister, who signaled him to be quiet.

Visibly confused, he asked in a whisper, "We're just gonna let them take it?"

The young woman, however, remained silent, giving the oddest, most enigmatic smile.

On the astral plane, Steve and Natasha watched through the transparent wall, where a few scenes appeared intercalated… The Avengers were going back to the jet… Iron Man was calling the Iron Legion to take care of the prisoners… and Captain America was speaking with the international authorities.

Unsure about what to think or believe, the spy exclaimed, "What the hell is this? A freaking security monitor?"

"No idea," the soldier shook his head, "But I could feel him… my body… As if he was part of me, except that he was acting on his own."

"Like being controlled by someone else?"

"No… I don't think so," frustrated, he tried to explain, "It was more like on autopilot. I was there, watching everything, but I wasn't doing anything. I couldn't."

"Can you feel him now?"

Steve paused for a minute, before answering, "Yes, but I need to focus."

"It doesn't sound like mind control," she was as puzzled as relieved.

"Yeah, not at all," he took a deep breath, and pondered, "Besides, I could see his thoughts… And he sounded like me, you know? Thinking about the prisoners, the enhanceds… Things I would normally do."

"That's definitely bizarre," she added perplexed, "So, who's the real you?"

Steve opened his mouth to answer promptly, but he didn't know for sure. After a while, looking at his other self on the transparent wall, he turned to her, saying, "You tell me."

Natasha could see uncertainty in his tired blue eyes, and she felt the sincerity in his plea. His honesty was always disconcerting, but without doubt, a proof that he was the man she knew and called friend. She gave him a small bump with her shoulder, in a silent acknowledgement. It was enough for him, and he smiled quietly.

"How about those two enhanced?" she questioned.

"I couldn't see the one who hit us outside. But I glanced at her before she hit me. I think it's the same woman. The ghost one looked like an older version of her. Anyway, they both had that same reddish glowing lights coming from her hands."

Touching his chest, he flinched a little, and she checked his burns with concern, "Are you still in pain?"

"I'll live," he gave her a half-smile, before straightening up to better support her, "How about you?"

Giving him a sideways glance, she smirked, "I'm fine."

Their bodies were still hurting, and their minds were too swamped with images and information, bringing a lot of conflicting emotions. Above all, they felt trapped, and that was a situation that they couldn't simply accept quietly. They wouldn't.

Back to her analysis, Natasha frowned, "Let's forget the whole Chaos Magic for a moment."

"Okay."

"We can assume that those two were the enhanced team, working for Hydra. The guy went outside, but only hit you and Clint, right?"

"As far as I know," Steve concurred.

"The girl attacked you inside the fortress. And then what? Why didn't she stay to protect Strucker? Or why didn't the guy came back to cover them?"

"Strucker was surrendering, probably to protect his secrets. Maybe the enhanceds had orders to distract us, but not engage. Or they thought they could handle us," the soldier pointed out, "Anyway, it was a strategic mistake, since Hydra showed us their most powerful cards, and lost the game."

"I hate smart enemies, but I hate more when they act dumb with no good reason," the spy mocked.

"Yeah, Hydra survived for decades. It was never that easy. Maybe they had a different agenda, and betrayed Strucker when they had a chance."

"They should've escaped though, after you got Strucker, right? But no. She went after Tony, and instead of attacking him, she gave him a vision."

"False images implanted in his mind, some kind of a tragic future," Steve agreed.

"But why? What's their plan? They let us crush Hydra, capture Strucker, and take Loki's Scepter," Natasha rolled her eyes, visibly upset, "I mean, without the suit, Tony is too easy of a target. I would've hit him and took the scepter myself."

"You're so right. Why would Tony walk without the Iron Man suit in an enemy base to begin with? He's reckless, arrogant, but he's never dumb. Even if we had defeated all Hydra forces, we didn't know what kind of traps they could've set, how many enhanceds there were. Tony should've called one of the Iron Legion to keep guard, at least."

"See? And it gets worse. Why didn't Jarvis warn us about someone approaching Tony? That suit has thousands of sensors. A thermal reading, a magnetic field disturbance, air current, whatever. Even if the woman was using something to conceal her presence from Tony, how did she deceive Jarvis? How about the other guy?"

"Doesn't sound right," he said, "And Tony summoned his glove, so they were connected, even through the stone walls."

"Exactly."

"There's something missing in this whole story."

Annoyed, the spy replied sharply, "Logic," and the soldier nodded with disappointment.

They worked so easily together that their trained minds almost thought as one. That was one of the greatest things about their partnership. Their similarities made it all easier, but their differences were what made their bond unique. They had complementary and, therefore, mutually strengthened skills. Together, they were even greater than the sum of their individual selves – very hard to be fooled.

"What about Strange?" he asked reticently.

"Do you believe him?" she raised an eyebrow.

"I… I don't know…" he touched his chest again, clearly sore. "I keep thinking about that ghost… and what she did to me…"

"Tell me."

Averting his eyes, the soldier admitted, "I'm not sure about what was real…"

Sensing his tension, the spy inquired firmly, "Just tell me exactly what you remember."

There she was, staring at him with her beautiful emerald eyes, and he knew he had no escape. Be honest with me, she had told him, one year ago, back at Sam's house. And no matter what, he would never betray her trust.

Steve told Natasha everything.

"She took me from your heart?" her question was direct, without a hint of irony.

"I… It…" he blushed completely, and gasped, "It looked like…"

Despite his visible embarrassment, Natasha was thinking something entirely different. Her mind had been highly trained to resist at any kind of pressure, and to see things clearly. "So… I'm not… real," she spoke calmly, giving him a chance to slow his racing heart.

"No, of course you are," he contested with urgency, "I know you."

"Of course you do. If I am a product of your imagination, you are picturing me the way you think I am."

The logic in her words was almost irrefutable, but he was still caught up with the awkward situation.

"Relax," the spy reassured, "I'm not gonna tease you now, about any of this, okay? I want to get out of here as much as you."

"Okay," the soldier replied, still a little apprehensive, "Strange said we were real."

"As we see each other," she quoted the sorcerer.

"What's that mean? What's the bigger plan?"

"Create chaos."

"Yeah, well, it's working." Resting his head on the back of the couch, Steve was feeling completely exhausted. "I don't understand why Tony didn't end up here."

"Thank God," Natasha chuckled.

They both smiled and he whispered, "Told you. Crazy nightmare."

"Can you wake up?"

"Don't know how." The soldier looked at the spy for a moment, and opened a sweet smile, "At least I know why you're here."

"Really?" she smirked.

"Otherwise I would be lost here forever."

"No you wouldn't. We would've looked for you, you know, eventually…"

"You would."

"So… what kind of dreams you had?"

Lowing his head, he sighed, "That's not going away anytime soon…"

She laughed, but continued to tease him.

Although surrounded by a cozy environment, there was something clearly false in the whole atmosphere, except the two of them. Despite the closeness of the intimate embrace, neither of them had the slightest strength – or desire – to break apart.

.

Author's note: It's shorter than I anticipated, I'm sorry. But I have a dilemma. I started this story to take the movie out of my system, and forget it. Except that to write this, I need to remember the movie. And it doesn't get any better.

A small detail: this whole scene happened before the movie titles.

Yes, Tony could've saved us all… from that terrible, flawed plot. If only he had kept the Iron Man suit on and tased Wanda like Clint did! No apocalyptic vision, no need for Ultron, no movie, right?

I wish I could write this as another fun way for Steve and Natasha to 'watch' the movie (like in Chris Crush). But sadly, I can't. It's too anguishing. I had planned to write it all at once, but it's impossible. I hope you understand. So, I'll try scene by scene, okay?

I'm posting this 'unbetad', and I'm freaking out about my English mistakes. So, if you see anything wrong, please, PM me! Thank you!

Thanks for all your words and patience. Pretty please, talk to me.

Love you all.

xoxo Mari