𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆 ━━━ ❪...

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TWENTY-THREE
𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥
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THEY FOUND A safe haven back in their hotel room, hopefully they wouldn't be able to find them there but Stephen knew it was a possibility.

He didn't think this would be happening so soon, was it time already? The thoughts started to flood in and panic started to rise, the future was still uncertain. It only came to him in bits and pieces and rarely, when he let his powers collide with the one of the Time Stone.

Had what haunted his dreams already started to play out? Were they ready for it? Would it take Wanda from him? A million calculations formed-

"Stephen," Wanda's voice tore him from his thoughts just in time, "What do we do? How do we fix it?"

"Well..." He came up to the bed, Vision's chest sparking, it was cut open right to the other side. "As a surgeon, I'd normally take this as a surgery. But, I have to say this isn't my area of expertise. Vision..." He steered away from saying anything offensive. "He's not my usual type of patient."

"This shouldn't be a problem," The android stared down at his wound, he tried to fix the gaping hole, "I-I..." His voice was electrically distorted, "The blade...it's stopping me from phasing. My systems are failing."

Stephen didn't want to give her the hint to help him, he wouldn't have gained much from Vision's demise. Apart from the fact he knew no one else would stand between them.

He gave a small sigh, the reluctance was heard in his voice, "You can fix him. The Mind Stone, it's molecular structure is similar to yours. You can use it to put him back together."

Wanda looked to Vision, and he added, "He's right." She didn't waste anytime putting her hand above the wound, she stretched her fingers to use the waves that emitted from them, stitching the stretched skin so it was connected once again.

"Is that better?"

"Yes," Vision nodded, sitting up, "It might take a while for all the systems to function as normal, but it'll be fine. Thank you, Wanda."

Stephen waited for her to mumble a small 'your welcome' to him before starting to speak again. "So, if you don't mind my asking, how did you find us? Mr..."

"It's just Vision," He detected the doctor's animosity, probably came back with past memories of seeing him and Wanda together. He went past it, "It was hard. I had traced you to France a few months ago but I gathered that you'd left after I heard news of a witch spotted in Calais. After that, I suspected you would be in the closest safe place, then I heard of the terrorist incident in Switzerland...here."

"We certainly aren't here for the cheese fondue," He moved towards the door, locking it, "And we can't persist in being here anymore. Our location's been compromised. Like I said, we need to go."

"We can't go to Germany."

"Exactly," Stephen brought the suitcase from under the bed, one that they shared, "We have to go somewhere else. Maybe Scotland? I don't know..."

"You know you can't run from what's coming, Doctor." Stephen clenched his jaw, why now?

"What's coming?" Wanda looked up at Stephen, still crouched beside Vision at the bed, "What are you talking about?"

"It's what I came to warn you about," He turned to Stephen, "I was met by one of your associates, a man named Wong?"

"Yes, I'm not surprised he found you. With the Mind Stone, you were always on our radar, we just thought it would be safe with the Avengers. But now..."

"Yes, it is a strenuous situation."

"This doesn't explain what you're talking about," Wanda voiced but the two men went on interrupted.

"It can't be time already, can it?" Stephen questioned, he shook his head, "Can't be him."

"From what I heard, it definitely is."

"Then we have to go back to the Sanctum."

"Who's him?" Wanda raised her voice, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Stephen turned away from Vision, he placed his hands on her shoulder, lifting her from her knees, "We need to go back to Sanctum, now."

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THE LIGHT SHINED down inside the Sanctum Sanctorum, peeking through the windowed Seal of Vishanti. The shining orange sparks of the portal Doctor Strange created had closed behind them.

"You could have cut it close," Wong greeted the sorcerer, he approached the trio as they entered. "You're lucky you got here before anything happened."

"I hear something already is happening," Stephen walked ahead, they watched as he moved past them, "Maximoff, leave Vision with Wong...come with me."

She hesitated, but she was intrigued, he hadn't told her anything since they'd arrived at the hotel and the only thing she wanted right now was an explanation, which she hoped he was about to give.

"What's going on, Stephen?" Wanda threw her hands up in aggravation, she'd followed him all the way to the library in silence.

"I'm sorry," Stephen had opened a book on the table, he'd dropped his cape by the door, from that she gathered it must be serious. "I wanted to tell you alone."

"Tell me..."

He faced her, it wasn't a good look, she could see the stretches of panic that lined his brows, the alarm in his eyes. "Do you remember when you said I saw you die?"

"Yes," Wanda folded her arms, "It's hard for me to forget, I was pretty mad at you." Her mind flashed back to that day, when things seemed to fall apart for them. "Whatever, enough with the cloak-and-dagger operation, what's going on?"

"Cloak-and-dagger? You still surprise me, Maximoff..." She was about to push him to tell her more again but he drew his hands back, his arms swirled with green circles as the Eye of Agamotto lit up, the Time Stone inside it doing it's job as it created the patterns in front of him.

A page formed inside the book, from scattered dust, just as it had the first time he saw it and the image projected in front of them inside the tall glass shards. It was the exact same as before, Wanda was pictured in the middle, fading away as she did before, looking lost into the sky as she vanished.

Wanda's reaction was delayed, she didn't know what she was looking at, "Is that it? What was that?"

"That was you," Stephen held her shoulders firmly, "Remember when I said I saw you die? Well, that was you...dying. I just needed to show you."

"What does it have to do with any of what you were talking about? What's coming, who's him?"

"Years ago...before I met you, when I first became a sorcerer, Wong warned me about a man. He's more dangerous than anyone I've ever heard of. We don't know much but one thing is certain...his plans threaten life on earth. What you just saw, is a small piece of a future with him in it."

"What's his name?"

It was the question he needed to answer, he looked away before saying it, "Thanos."

"If we know who he is then why aren't we going after him..." Wanda was already trying to move, walking towards the door.

He grabbed her arm, "No! We can't do that, that's not how it works. Besides, even if we know who he is, we don't know he's going to attack, what his next move will be, the strength of his army...going in will be to no avail."

"Don't you care that you saw me die? What if you die? I would want to do everything I could to stop it."

"And we will," Stephen was looking in her eyes now, he spoke in a stern voice, "We are going to do everything we can to stop this, when we can."

"But we can now," Wanda grunted, her brows furrowed, "We can stop this before it happens, do you think I just want to wait around and watch myself die?"

"No," He shook his head, "We're not sitting around waiting for anyone to die. You knowing about this doesn't change anything, there's no meaning to life without an end."

"Do you even care about what happens to me at all?"

Stephen scoffed, his head turned slightly, "I care about everything that happens to you. Which is why telling you not to do anything..." He took her hands, "Is the best way to keep you safe."

"I just don't want anything to happen." She cut the sentence short and they both knew it, what she was really saying was, "I don't want anything to happen to you."

Stephen shifted his arms to her upper back, pulling her in slowly, she didn't resist his embrace - her arms wrapped around him too - holding him close.