Septimius wasn't cut out for this. He wasn't a fighter. He didn't thrive in combat the way Lily and T'Chone seemed to. It was all he could do to watch their backs and make sure they didn't bite off more than they could chew. He hadn't been thrilled about them going off on their own to fight, but it wasn't like he could argue with T'Chone, and he was sure that if he tried to argue with Lily she'd tie everything he said into knots. His options were to tattle, stay behind, or go with them and try to help. He couldn't tattle, they were basically his only friends, and there was no point in staying behind. He might as well go with them and try to keep them out of (more) trouble.
He may have failed.
"Holy shit, does that guy have a metal arm?" Peter blurted out, moments before said 'guy' landed in their path. T'Chone reflexively fired a stunner, which was deflected off the metal arm, streaking towards Peter, who leapt onto the wall to avoid it. The runes engraved on the arm sparked to life, and Septimius felt his stomach sink. His arm was made with Uru, the Asgardian alloy that formed Harry's staff and Thor's axe- which could only mean they were in for a hard fight. On top of that, he had backup- a squad of Hydra soldiers.
Gwen ran overhead, along the underside of a walkway, before dropping down on him. She spiraled through the air, dodging the beams of blue light that the soldiers shot at her. Metal-arm parried her blow, but she sprung back effortlessly, alighting on the wall. "It is pretty cool." Gwen allowed. "But I bet it costs an arm and a leg."
Septimius resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Being imprisoned for who knows how long hadn't dampened the spirits of the teens they'd rescued, or perhaps they were compensating. Either way, they- none of them- ever shut up.
Metal-arm charged forward, his steps rattling the metal grate walkway. Lily launched a blasting curse in front of his path. Septimius put up a shield, deflecting the worst of the blast. Metal-arm didn't miss a beat- launching himself into the air moments before the curse connected and landing in their midst. "Shit!" T'Chone cursed, raising his spear to parry him. Unfortunately, while the vibranium spear could take the hit, T'Chone couldn't, and was sent flying over the railing. Lily screamed, and Miles jumped after him. Septimius lunged at metal-arm, seizing his arm with both hands. Metal-arm tried to rip himself free, but Septimius was enhanced by the heart-shaped herb. For so long he'd been a weakling, left trailing behind his peers, panting from even moderate exertion. To be not just strong, but super-humanly strong made him feel unstoppable.
Then a rune lit up along the assassin's arm, and an invisible force launched Septimius back. He too would have toppled over the edge had he not been intercepted. "What the hell are you kids doing here?" Peggy Carter snapped, grunting as she intercepted a punch from the assassin with her shield.
"Please don't tell our parents!" Lily pleaded as she deflected blue hydra bolts. Peter and Gwen were making short work of the remaining soldiers. Meanwhile, Miles had crawled back up the wall, carrying T'Chone at his side.
Peggy rolled her eyes. "Oh, they'll hear about this." She said. "But first- help me with Bucky, will you?"
-----
Rogue dashed through the chaos, ducking low to avoid the repulsor beam from an Iron-Man suit as it rocketed overhead. It was bedlam as far as the eye could see- and not just because of the reinforcements Hydra had sent. As they'd begun to free the prisoners held here, it had become increasingly obvious that not all of them were in their right minds.
Case in point, a mutant who was currently on a rampage, tearing-literally tearing- through Hydra and resistance alike. Rogue, for better or worse, was next in line to stop him. The mutant was nigh indestructible, it seemed. He'd swiped a Hydra bolt out of the air with his metallic claws, he healed from every wound he sustained with surprising speed. To take him down, you couldn't use conventional means, and Rogue didn't have a conventional power.
"Oh, he really is out of sorts." Luna said, having finally caught up with Rogue's mad dash.
"His claws will block your spells." Rogue said. "Just distract him so that I can get close." He was currently ripping a Hydra soldier to shreds, giving them some time to come up with a gameplan.
"They do?" Luna wondered. "I wonder if they're made of Vibranium?" Her mood had been buoyant ever since she started sleeping with Harry and Ginny, and it seemed even the heat of battle couldn't dim her spirits. Rogue was jealous, so very jealous, but now wasn't the time.
"You've got a plan?" Rogue asked. She found that Luna was sometimes difficult to keep on task, and even more so now with the effervescent joy now bubbling from her.
"Hm…" Luna hummed, holding out her hand, and a pale light flashed through the air. The mutant whirled around, brandishing his claws to intercept the spell. She wasn't at all phased by this development and gave Rogue an 'after you' motion.
"What did you do?" Rogue asked.
"Sticking charm." Luna grinned mischievously, and her plan clicked together in Rogue's mind.
The spell had caught the berserk mutant's attention, and Rogue intercepted him, ducking and dodging his swipes until with a roar he plunged his claws down on her in a powerful downstroke. The sticking charm worked… like a charm. Once embedded in the grating, he found them stuck. Rogue had seen him tear through metal like it was nothing, and knew that this was only a momentary distraction, but a moment was all she needed. She touched his neck and felt his vitality, and felt it drain out- the way it had done for every person she'd touched for the last seven years, everyone except for Harry.
In a matter of seconds, the mutant was laying on the grating, unconscious. Rogue felt her numerous scrapes close up and bruises disappear. She touched her com. "I've recovered a mutant. He's a feisty one." A portal opened, and none other than Ginny Weasley stepped out.
"Ginny!" Luna called out happily, rushing over to kiss her cheek. As she did so, a grav-grenade clattered at their feet. Rogue stared at the grenade and the Hydra soldier that had thrown it at them. Ginny flicked her wand, sending the grenade flying back to sender. Rogue looked away from the resulting implosion.
"Rogue, we've got a situation. We need your help." Ginny said. Rogue and Luna followed her back through the portal. They were back on the surface. Natasha Romanoff was barking orders, sending groups of people through portals.
"Nat, we've got her." Ginny said. "We're sending her to-"
"The big guy." Natasha confirmed, opening another portal. "Good luck."
"The big guy?" Rogue asked. "What's going-" She stepped through the portal, following Ginny and with Luna on her tail. "-on."
From what she could tell, they were at the very bottom of the pit, the light from above was a dim speck, obscured by endless walkways the crisscrossed above. The light from the portal illuminated the scene. They were standing over an oubliette of sorts, and in the center of the pit was what looked like a massive green ogre. Asgardians ringed the edge of the pit in an effort to keep it contained. Further back were wizards and sorcerers. They launched a coordinated volley of spells, which rained onto the brute. It flinched back, before roaring. Its fists pounded the ground, sending the Asgardians surrounding it to their knees and forcing Rogue to brace herself against the rattling railing. It bellowed, its voice low and powerful. "HULK! SMASH!"
-----
Tony watched Shuri work. It bugged him, being relegated to the role of helper. He'd never been in this position before- always the inventor, the visionary, the indispensable man. Having to sit back and watch, to have something explained to him, it was difficult.
But he wasn't going to complain, least of all because the woman he was (temporarily, he told himself) playing second fiddle to was incredibly brilliant. It wasn't just that she had invented this compound that could break Hydra's brainwashing, it was how she explained the process. It was obviously complex and involved, but stated in a way that could have been followed by even a layman. He was beginning to feel a bit superfluous. You hardly needed a renowned inventor and machinist to fill canisters with aerosolized compound.
Then the room shook. Shuri looked up from the lab bench, annoyance flashing on her face. "I thought we wouldn't be interrupted." She said.
"I am not infallible." The Ancient One's disembodied voice drifted through the air. "It seems to be one of your creations, Tony Stark."
"One of mine- oh hell." Tony groaned. It was this asshole. Erics, clad in his newly 'upgraded' suit, plowed through the ceiling. His landing sent cracks through the floor and destroyed a workbench. "Hey!" He barked. "You're trashing the lab!"
"Traitor!" Erics snarled, raising a gauntlet. "I don't know why you decided to turn your back on the goddess, but I'll-"
"Oh, spare me the theatrics." Tony said flippantly, rolling his eyes. Shuri looked on with interest, correctly reading his confidence and surmising that he had a plan.
"I'm going to use your own invention to destroy you." Erics spat. "Won't that be ironic?"
"Oh, yeah. Ironic." Tony said, allowing a cocky smirk. It looked like he'd get the chance to show off, after all. "Yes, I agree its ironic that you think that all the tech this traitor just handed you would… work the way you'd think." Erics hesitated, and Tony felt feral glee. "Jarvis, time for the fireworks."
Tony had been tempted to open the proceedings with these 'fireworks', but he'd wanted to be sure that he'd get Erics- that holier-than-thou prick- and his Uru forged suit. Erics charged up his gauntlet, but Tony just leaned back against the bench. "Go ahead, take the shot."
The suit charged up and combusted from the inside out, the arc reactor entering a full meltdown and venting into the suit, instantly frying the occupant. Shuri's eyebrows rose. "That must have been satisfying."
"They used me." Tony said vindictively. "Used my weapons to hurt innocent people, but never again."
"And the other suits?" Shuri asked.
"Toast." Tony said. "All of them, except for mine."
-----
Binary pushed harder. She couldn't remember facing an opponent that could match her before, though her memory was fuzzy. She couldn't be sure she'd ever had a fight like this, but she liked to think that such a battle would have stood out in her mind.
Regardless, this was interesting, she mused in a detached way. She didn't feel the stakes of the fight, there wasn't a part of her that feared what would happen if she lost. Still, she knew she had to win. She didn't know why she had to win, other than that she'd been ordered to. Didn't know the consequences of defeat, what fate awaited her should she fail. None of it mattered, she just obeyed. So she pushed, blazing harder, faster, brighter.
Her opponent, however, was a ghost, a malicious spider that lured and misdirected and entrapped. Binary wasn't sure she'd landed a single hit on her, though in fairness the hits she'd taken in return had barely phased her. Oddly, though, it didn't feel like her enemy was really trying. It was like she was just biding her time.
Binary charged her again, blasting through a wall of metal the witch raised in her path. When she cleared the obstruction, however, she found no hint of her opponent. Then she felt a tingle, and something slipping into her mind. She knew how to fight, to burn and destroy her enemies. Binary didn't know how to fight this.
Oh, Carol. A voice said sympathetically. The name meant nothing to her, so why did it cause her heart to lurch? You poor woman. You don't even know who you are…or what you want.
"Who are you!" She shouted. "What have you done to me?"
"I'm Wanda." The witch said. "I'm… a friend. I'm in your mind right now and…" She whistled. "I'm definitely not the first. People have been playing with your mind your entire life, did you know that?"
"That's a lie." Carol said automatically. She couldn't believe anything different.
Her vision shifted, and she was standing in a room. She had no clothes on, and she was standing in front of a man. Even Binary knew what this meant, and it provoked a cascade of feelings that she must not feel. She lashed out, trying to burn the offending man with her powers, but found that she was a prisoner in her own body. Not only that, but she could feel what her body felt, how receptive she was to him, how vulnerable she felt, how much she wanted this, wanted him. He was beautiful, she was forced to admit to herself, and the realization just made her want to burn the entire scene down all the more.
Let me go! Free me from this trick! She raged silently to her captor.
Why would I let you go? Aren't you happier, like this? It's no trick, it's a memory, a memory I pulled from your own mind.
Impossible. Carol denied.
The world shifted again, and Wanda was in front of her. Carol punched her, intending to send a wave of energy intense enough to vaporize a building. Her hand plunged through the air uselessly. "You took my powers?" She gasped.
"Of course not." Wanda said. "We're still in your head, Carol."
"That's not my name." Binary said, she couldn't believe anything else.
"Aren't you curious?" Wanda drifted behind her, whispering in her ear and causing goosebumps to rise on her neck. "About him? How he made you feel those things? How he made a weapon feel like a woman? He could do it again so easily, and more." A vision of him appeared before her again, she felt compassion and forgiveness. She felt the weight of her sins and his gentle hands lifting them from her shoulders. She felt his love. A part of her wanted it so badly, it felt like she was being torn apart. What was happening to her? What had this witch done?
Binary shook her head, trying and failing to dispel these feelings. "What. Have. You. Done. To. Me."
Wanda looked sad. "I'm only undoing what has been done to you. I never knew you, Carol, but I see you. I see your struggles and your mistakes, your drive and your inner strength. I hope we'll be friends. Like you and Nat are."
"Nat?"
"Oh, you'll see her again, very soon."
Then Carol awoke, coughing on caustic smoke. "God, that stuff sucks." Natasha rasped.
"Sorry, I didn't think about comfort when I was inventing a cure for brainwashing." Someone else deadpanned. "I'll be sure to make it lemon scented in the beta version."
Carol sucked in another breath, feeling the burn in her lungs. She didn't stop, though, because rapidly, very rapidly, something was returning to her… she was returning to herself.
She sobbed.
Natasha knelt in front of her, wrapping her arms around Carol's shoulders. "It's a lot, I know."
"N'tasha." Carol choked. "'Ts you?"
Natasha smiled sadly. "You remember me?" Carol nodded. She did. She remembered getting to know the woman in the aftermath of the snap. She remembered growing closer to her after she and Harry… she and Harry…
"Harry!" Carol shouted, ignoring the knowing smiles from several of the surrounding women. "Where is he?"
"He's not here- he's needed for the mission." Natasha answered.
"Why? Where?" She demanded. She needed to see him. The last she remembered, he'd died, and it had been her fault. She'd given her all to bring him back with the infinity stones, but everything after that was a blank.
"He's with Hela right now, distracting her for this operation." Natasha said, and Carol's eyes widened with alarm.
"What!" She snapped. "Why would you let him do that! You know he has a martyr complex! Where is he?"
"Carol…" Natasha tried to calm her, but Carol wasn't having it.
"Where. Is. He."
-----
"Is there a way to save them?"
"Hm?" Death tilted her head.
"Lily, T'Chone, Septimius." Harry said. "I just can't find a way to save them. Any world where I exist, Septimius can't. Yet, I need to exist for my kids to be born. I just-" He shook his head. "I'm fine paying any price, if it meant saving them." He wondered what she'd say, and he wondered if he could possibly trust her words either way. Would she try to crush his hope, or promise him their safety? Would she even be able to deliver?
"Harry." Death said. "I have to say this is charmingly human of you. I'll admit, I briefly forgot that you are a creature shaped by eons of natural selection."
"Huh?"
"Don't worry your little head thinking about it. Just know that I do have a solution for your problem."
"What is it?"
Death laughed. "Do you think I'd just tell you, when you could reset the timeline like this?" She snapped her fingers for emphasis. "Trust needs to go both ways." She leaned in, and Harry found himself drawn in by her eyes. Death was inhabiting Hela's body yes, but her eyes were the same endless pits he remembered from his visions. She grabbed his hand, and alarm bells went off in his head. He jerked, but she held his grip. She could activate her power now, make him wither and age. To prove her point, the table rotted beneath them in seconds. Despite his safeguards, he was aware of just how vulnerable he was. Yet she didn't- merely caressing his knuckles, his palm, and the pads of his fingers. "See?" She crooned. "Trust. I wouldn't murder my future pet, would I?" She closed the distance between them touching his chest with her other hand. His robes disintegrated, falling off his frame in tatters, and her hand pressed flush against his bare chest.
Her proximity was intoxicating. Though not as overwhelming as in his visions, he could feel that so much was crammed into the mortal shell that was Hela of Asgard. It was like staring up at the night sky and getting just an inkling of how vast the expanse overhead was. It took his breath away. Her hand trailed along his arm, disrupting the time loop. "There." She said. "And see? you haven't died." She gazed up and down along his body with eyes that looked like they could swallow him whole, before settling on his erection. "Again, how human of you. Your need to breed drives you. Just like every other living thing that has ever existed in this world. You struggle to survive, to reproduce, and protect your progeny."
"Is that a problem?" He asked breathlessly.
"Not at all." Death said. "You think that life and death are opposites, but they're not. How can death exist without life. For every creature that's born, it's another creature that will die. But just as I depend on the living, life depends on me. Its death that drives evolution, selecting the fittest, most profligate, and sometimes… the cleverest." Her hand suddenly cupped his sac. "You've produced countless billions of sperm cells in your life, and yet only two have become children. Who could create such a ruthless system, other than me?"
Harry was rigid. Just as he could feel her hand closing around his testicles, he could feel the vast power of this force of nature against his fragile mortality. He was helpless, he felt, but there was one part of him that resisted, that burned brightly through even the most overwhelming of force. "But… my kids."
"Nature takes its course." Death said simply. No doubt she thought she had him already. "You may sate your desire for children with me." She kissed him then, hand releasing his sac to sculpt across his body, but every part of him rebelled at this. He pushed her back, only succeeding in falling back to the ground, his erection poking up. "No?" She demanded. "You still refuse me?" He realized that while there was offense in her words, there was also a deep arousal. "It must be this mortal form." She rationalized. "It's insufficient. When I-"
Then, like the noontime sun burning away the clouds, light burned across his vision. For a moment he had to shield his eyes. When he could see again, Carol was standing between him and Death. "Don't fucking TOUCH HIM!" She bellowed. Death was stunned, not by the power of her attack, but at the fact that she was there at all. Harry could see her mind working, putting all the pieces together at lightning speed. Harry summoned his staff and flamed over to Carol, wrapping an arm around her waist as Death's expression turned to rage. She knew now that he'd tricked her, pulled the wool over her eyes while his friends had struck a critical blow. Harry didn't spare a moment to revel in this. Before she could react further, he flamed them both far, far away.