Across the Universe

“Are you alright?” Steve turned away from his shield once he was sure the chaos had subsided and caught sight of the two women behind him that were still lying face down on the pavement. Scarlett’s arm was bloodied and he could see it staining through her clothing but she didn’t seem any worse for wear other than that. The stranger didn’t seem harmed and was protected by Scarlett where she lay. If Steve had mastered one thing in this modern age it was not letting the crazy things that happened and confounded him stand in his way. He was a man of action no matter the situation!

Propping herself up with her right arm, Scarlett nodded in confirmation without a glance at Steve and then offered a hand to help the stranger up. Much to her surprise, the shorter woman grabbed the hand that was offered her and instead pulled Scarlett back to the ground. She yelped in surprise.

“Hey!” Steve launched himself at the newcomer in an attempt to help his partner. At first he’d thought she’d been a victim of the same phenomenon they’d just experienced but now he wasn’t so sure. Maybe the woman who had reflected Scarlett could shape shift. Right now it made as much sense as anything else. Much to his surprise the stranger shoved Scarlett back onto the ground then leapt straight into the air, far higher than was physically possible for a normal human being, right over Scarlett’s and Steve’s heads.

“Oh, hell no.” Scarlett grumbled under her breath while she scrambled to her feet. The woman didn’t seem any different than her or Steve upon first glance so she thought perhaps she had merely been an onlooker who had gotten swept up in the chaos but that no longer seemed to be the case. “Rogers!” Scarlett watched as the woman turned about face and considered whether it was worth staying to fight them. As she made her decision to disappear into the shadows after deciding she was outmatched Steve got again to his feet, readied his shield and tossed it at her with breakneck.

Much to his surprise instead of the shield actually knocking her off of her feet or stopping her in her tracks as he had hoped she grabbed it! Though the force of the throw from the superhuman Captain America forced her feet to slide against the asphalt, it didn’t seem to do her any damage.

Scarlett ran after the woman but something about the stranger didn’t threaten her the way her enemies usually did. It wasn’t because she didn’t think the woman was capable of causing her harm but rather the woman looked… well, she looked down right confused. Had she really been thrown from another world, through that portal and on top of Scarlett? Right now it was Scarlett’s best bet and the only thing she could think of was maybe trying to diffuse the fight before it got too violent. Somehow she knew that force wasn’t going to be the way to get this woman on her side. However, they wouldn’t get very far if she disappeared either. Scarlett had to at least make an impact on the woman before she let her go.

When Scarlett got too close the stranger tossed Captain America’s shield back toward her. But Scarlett was able to jump out of the way before the shield made contact, having anticipated the move as one made in panic. Steve was right behind her, ducked low and retrieved his shield as it flew over his head in a spin then started on course again.

Scarlett circled around the newcomer while Steve cut her off from the rear, essentially leaving her without an exit. Between the two of them they would be able to block her off at any angle. In her head Scarlett was sure that she could pull off some pretty killer moves with the assistance of Captain America but considering she could barely get him to listen to her, she couldn’t rely on him reading her actions properly quite yet. Steve held his shield at the ready and Scarlett triggered the Tesla glove on her arm that still worked despite having been scraped up and tossed around. After her last glove had been shattered in a fight she’d made it out of far more durable materials. If the woman moved one toe out of line she’d be able to fire a shot and potentially temporarily paralyze her.

“Don’t move! I’m afraid you’re going to have to come with us!” Steve shouted when the woman ducked low to the ground as if to prepare herself for another colossal leap. Scarlett thought she looked much like a scared animal, trying to gather their bearings. Then she felt bad for her. How many times had Scarlett been in nearly the same position and then forced somewhere against her will? Granted she wasn’t going to take this woman anywhere to be tortured and tormented, but it still didn’t feel right.

“I’m not going anywhere with her!” The stranger turned toward Scarlett and pointed an accusing finger but she still looked ready to run at a moment’s notice.

“I am making friends like crazy today.” Scarlett scoffed under her breath and took a step forward clenching the fist of the Tesla glove both to regain feeling in her fingers and trigger the charge to grow. The stranger took a defensive step backward, readying her fists in front of her for a fight. The black top that showed off her midriff was covered in dust and debris from one thing or another and her brown trench coat was stained with blood that had dripped from Scarlett’s shoulder when she’d been dragged to safety. “Why is that? What did I do?”

“You dragged me to this place! Forced me through universes! Through portals! You drained my power and left me here!” Something about this stranger’s features made Scarlett assume she was exhausted. Scarlett most certainly hadn’t done anything of the like, at least not that she’d realized. Had the woman on the other side of the mirror been the cause for this stranger’s strife? Why had she looked like her in the first place? Was there some terrible evil doppelganger out there in another universe? Scarlett could feel her like taking a very soap opera like turn. Between Tony’s tantrum that morning and her love life all over the tabloids, Scarlett was already halfway there.

“You’re out of your mind! I didn’t do any of that. Honestly, I didn’t even know that was a thing. And I’m a damn genius!” Scarlett shouted but the stranger bolted to her left and she followed quickly after. Cursing under her breath, Scarlett quickly caught up. The stranger was forced to stop short to avoid running into Steve who cut her off at the pass. In that brief moment of hesitation Scarlett caught up to her and grabbed her arm. She twisted the stranger toward her but the stranger threw a punch to knock her out of the way. Scarlett dodged and blocked the quick blow but just barely. The force of the woman’s fist made her stumble. It had been a long time since she’d had to fight with anyone in close combat who could actually hit back with similar skill. The woman seemed to move faster than her, but Scarlett wasn’t sure that was possible without some super human ability. Years of training had made Scarlett as good as she was and the only person she knew who was faster was the Black Widow.

“Don’t try to trick me! Your venom doesn’t work on me!” The stranger twisted away from Scarlett who continued in her attempts to detain the woman. When Scarlett grabbed at her middle the woman twisted out of the way and attempted to drop her with her elbow. Scarlett jumped aside and grabbed the elbow that came at her, knocked it downward then twisted her wrist behind her to pin her in place. The woman wriggled free and swung at Scarlett who ducked low then jumped and made an attempt to kick her chest. Scarlett grabbed her leg and swung her around but didn’t allow her to fall and instead made her lose her balance which she quickly recovered from.

“Both of you calm down! Ma’am! I can assure you that my partner didn’t drag you from wherever it is you claim to be from!” Steve was circling the both of them, half ready to jump in but it seemed Scarlett had it under control.

But neither woman was listening to Steve who was clearly unsure of how to calm the two of them. He could very easily stop the fight but he wasn’t exactly sure it was the right thing to do. The stranger seemed to have abilities that they weren’t sure of. The best thing for them to do would be to take her into S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters for questioning to try and understand where she’d come from and what she meant when she blamed Scarlett for forcing her to cross over. Scarlett, growing as frustrated as Steve was with the situation, triggered her Tesla device and when she at last grabbed onto the woman she triggered the powerful shock. Crackles of electricity coursed through her and stunned the woman in place temporarily.

The stranger fell to her knees, scraping her already dusty black pants against the asphalt. Her long golden brown hair fell in front of her face and for a moment she fell limp on the ground and lay still, breathing heavily. Scarlett could see her hands trembling against the ground and wondered if she’d cranked the power too high on her glove. But when Scarlett approached her from behind in an attempt to detain her, the stranger grabbed her by her wounded shoulder and tossed her over her head. Wind knocked out of her and now flat on her back, Scarlett spun upright and then kicked the feet out from under the woman who didn’t lose her balance but stumbled in place and hopped comically in an attempt to catch herself.

Grabbing desperately onto the woman’s jacket Scarlett found herself on the defensive suddenly when the stranger turned toward her and swung hard at her once again. She could hear the wind rushing over her head when the woman swung and she narrowly avoided the blow. This woman wasn’t going to come in quietly, if at all. The more they fought the more Scarlett realized it was the wrong approach.

“What do you mean by universes? And portals? Does it look like I’ve been dragging anyone anywhere?” Scarlett grabbed the woman’s arm and twisted her around then leapt backwards and flipped out of the way when the stranger jumped at her again. She flipped again when the woman kept coming at her but then slid beneath her legs when the stranger jumped over her head. Before Scarlett could strike the stranger had turned to face her.

“I’m no fool! You’re pretty hard to mistake for someone else!” The woman shouted in frustration, gathering her bearings and wiping the dirt off of her face. Scarlett did the same and adjusted her shoulder, taking in the memory of the woman. She was on the shorter side but strong, slender, and fast. There was something in Scarlett’s gut that told her this woman was not from earth and had, as she claimed, been thrown through that portal. Perhaps it had been by the woman who had mirrored Scarlett’s image, perhaps not, either way Scarlett wanted to sit down and have a real talk with her. Unfortunately that was not going to happen when Scarlett couldn’t get her to stop throwing punches left and right. She was too nervous.

“If you’d stop being so damn paranoid for a second then we could sort this…”

“Do you have any idea how much of my energy you used up?” The panic in the woman’s voice had risen and Scarlett had finally had enough and planned to finally take the offensive but was surprised when she was physically lifted off of the ground by the back of her jacket. Much to her surprise, the woman she’d been going after had been lifted as well.

“Would you two stop fighting for just a second?” Steve had swung his shield onto his back and pulled the two women apart forcefully. Sometimes Scarlett forgot just how damn strong Captain America was. “We’re never going to get anywhere arguing like this!”

“Put me down! What are you?” The woman swung at Steve but was easily pulled out of the way and spun comically in his grasp. Scarlett had long since given up on fighting back against both Captain America and this newcomer. She didn’t see the point.

“Look, ma’am! I must insist you stop attacking Miss Damien here.” Steve let go of Scarlett who adjusted her jacket and readied herself to chase after the woman if she happened to break free of Captain America’s grasp. “You may find this hard to believe but we’re just as confused as you are! I assure you, she is not capable of sending you through a portal or universes or whatever you claim happened to you.” Steve sounded as though he very much disbelieved the idea of other universes existing despite what he’d been witness to.

“Hey, I could be capable of that. You don’t know that, Rogers.”

“Is now really the time, Damien?” Steve whispered in a hushed flurry.

“Look, I can’t manipulate what I didn’t know existed!” Scarlett held up her hand defensively and narrowed her eyes at the golden haired woman who narrowed her green eyes in return. But even as she caught Scarlett’s gaze the newcomer calmed and seemed to come to a realization. Her gaze passed from Scarlett’s bloodied shirt and now trembling left hand back to her blue eyes.

“You’re right. She couldn’t have done that to me.” She whispered in awe, more to herself than anyone else. Steve at long last loosened his grip on the back of her jacket but didn’t let her go entirely. This woman was obviously still a major flight risk. “You’re mortal. Only another demon could’ve done this… She had different colored eyes than you and now that I think about it, you are far different… The similarities were astounding but…”

“Another demon?” Scarlett knew the implications from her words and was astounded by them. Demons? As in hell’s fire blazing, possessing human bodies with inhuman darkness from the bible demons? There was no way. Hell wasn’t another universe, even if she had believed in it.

“Yes, another one.” The newcomer looked around her and finally seemed to take in her surroundings in hopes of recognizing the place she’d ended up. If she was indeed from another universe and had traveled through portals to get there, chased by a woman who looked like Scarlett, then it was likely she was feeling rather out of place. Yet, despite her obvious confusion she didn’t seem frightened of her new world as one would’ve expected.

“Implying that you are also a demon.” Scarlett pointed an accusing finger. Now that they weren’t attacking each other she found the newcomer far more fascinating. Worse than that, Scarlett was sure she could feel every nerve in her shoulder on fire with pain. Her left hand became increasingly useless as the moments ticked on. It had been easy to ignore when adrenaline had still been coursing through her system. “What’s your name?”

“We should bring her in to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters for questioning. They need to send a crew out here to deal with the damage and make sure nothing structural was harmed beneath the park. These people in the coffee shop need to be debriefed. They’re taking pictures with their little watchamacallits and uploading it to the Facepage as we speak! S.H.I.E.L.D. can’t leak this, it would cause an international panic!”

“Did you just call it the Facepage?” Scarlett couldn’t help but stifle a laugh though her smile immediately faded when she saw the panicked look on the woman’s face.

“Take me in? Take me to where? You’re not taking me anywhere!” Immediately she began to struggle and Steve nervously reaffirmed his grip on her.

“Look ma’am, we just need to ask you a few questions.” Steve reiterated in his best nice guy voice, which wasn’t very hard since he sounded like such a gentleman to begin with.

“Why can’t we ask her questions here? Why do we have to take her in to S.H.I.E.L.D?” Scarlett held up her hand threw Steve a warning glance, hoping that by playing to the woman’s obvious paranoia about being taken away somewhere she would manage to get some information out of her. The message, however, was lost in translation for Steve and he shook his head in disbelief.

“How about because it’s who we work for? Because this place is volatile? I could keep going if you like.”

“What is this? Are you some kind of operative? A cop? Let go of me!” The stranger hissed and twisted away at once from Steve then tried to slip around him. But as she made to jump Steve grabbed onto her and restrained her once more.

“She didn’t do anything wrong, we’re not detaining her. She’s as much a victim as we are!”

“For all you know she’s behind this and playing the victim to fool you!” Steve shouted in surprise. They’d been on the same page for awhile so why was she defying logic now? The woman who had come through the portal was clearly the key to unlocking the riddle of the radiation anomalies S.H.I.E.L.D. sought the answers to!

“Were you in the same situation as I was just now? Steve! Look at her!” Scarlett nodded toward the woman who was struggling to escape Steve’s grip and seemingly nervous that the man holding onto her had such superior strength. Something told Scarlett the woman was not used to dealing with people who seemed stronger than her. “What if the tables were turned?” Scarlett wasn’t going to forget being held in captivity anytime soon. She wasn’t going to willingly do it to someone who didn’t deserve it, particularly with a corporation she didn’t completely trust such as S.H.I.E.L.D. Sure, their motives seemed well enough so far but she didn’t know how they operated, who was behind the decisions made. For all Scarlett knew, for all Steve knew, S.H.I.E.L.D. was just as much a terrorist organization as MedCo was but hiding behind a mask of benevolence.

There was no worse feeling than being trapped in a cell, unsure about your future. She had handled it well when it’d happened to her but the mental anguish it had caused her was remarkable.

Against her better judgment, Scarlett had gone to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. but it didn’t mean she was going to blindly obey every order given to her. For that very reason she was sure that her career with S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn’t going to last for very long at all. It was partly why she’d gone through so many legal procedures before joining their ranks. When things went sour she wanted her life preserved.

Before Steve could respond the woman in his arms disappeared in a dazzling display of blue light! He tried to grab at her before she could completely fade but it was no use. A few feet away from Scarlett she reappeared looking exhausted and frustrated, the same blue light surrounding her and licking her limbs but disappearing as quickly as it had come. Scarlett had the distinct feeling that whatever power she’d used was weakened.

“What? Why didn’t…” The stranger stared open mouthed at Scarlett for a long moment and in her eyes Scarlett could see exactly what she was thinking. Whatever teleportation trick she knew wasn’t working at all. At least not the way it was supposed to.

“Grab her!” Steve shouted, starting at a run toward the stranger. The moment of panic in the stranger’s eyes passed as quickly as it had begun and she turned on a dime and bolted toward the still crowded downtown area a few blocks away. Scarlett didn’t make a move to chase after the stranger and instead blocked Steve’s path to stop him from moving forward. “What are you doing? She’s our only lead! Get out of the way!”

“Oops.” There wasn’t a shred of sincerity in Scarlett’s voice. In fact, she was glad the stranger had run for it. If they had taken her in she doubted the woman was going to help them at all. Especially if she could materialized in and out of thin air like that! They would have spent more time chasing her down than they would’ve asking her questions. No, Scarlett wasn’t giving up on her but had something else up her sleeve instead.

“What is wrong with you? You let her go!”

“Yes, I did! Would you stop yelling at me? This vein is popping out of the side of your head and it’s really freaking me out.” Grabbing her left arm with her right hand she rotated her shoulder carefully and felt the pain rush through it. It felt as though the bones were grinding against each other and the tendons in her wrist pulled uncomfortably and made her fingers twitch. Somehow the mirrored version of herself had known exactly where to grab her and how to cause the most damage.

“Stop yelling at you? Look! I’m not yelling!” Steve held up his hand and lowered his voice, not having realized how much he’d raised it. Scarlett had been sent to test his patience, of that he was sure. “But how can you justify letting our only lead slip right through our hands and then actively standing in my way to keep me from following after her?”

“The girl has inhuman strength, speed… you saw her jump clean over the both of us. Look, you may be super human but as skilled as I am I’m not genetically altered. I can keep up with you, so don’t throw that in my face.” Scarlett held up her hand and narrowed her eyes at Steve. “It wouldn’t have done me any good to tackle her. The only thing it would’ve managed to do is pull my shoulder further and she still would’ve gotten away.” Steve stood silently, unconvinced and staring in the direction of the unsuspecting people celebrating for whatever reason a few blocks away. If the stranger who had been tossed through the portal was some sort of villain they were in serious trouble. He wasn’t nearly as convinced that she was a victim as his partner seemed to be.

“She was our only lead. What is it you propose we do now?” Steve grimaced.

“Well,” Scarlett turned behind her to look toward the crater in the ground and then back at the people who were still huddled inside the coffee shop, “we collect data. Bruce wanted some readings and we can give him some.”

“Don’t you think Dr. Banner has all the proof he needs considering what we just experienced?”

“No. This is the first real chance we’re going to have at getting some physical evidence on these anomalies.” Scarlett could feel eyes on her and then lowered her voice. “…do you really think she’s the only thing that got through that portal Steve?”

“You think someone else came through?”

“I think someone else was trying to at the very least.”

“You mean that woman who looked suspiciously like you.” Steve narrowed his eyes but began to walk toward the crater. Once inside he offered a hand to Scarlett to assist her inside since the edges were slippery but she waved him off and continued step by slow step down into the dirt. A pipe was now exposed, filling the bottom of the crater with water. Leaning over she collected samples in small vials and then hid them inside her pocket to bring back with her to S.H.I.E.L.D.

“Yes, the woman who looked like me. Or whoever is creating that phenomenon to begin with if it isn’t her. Someone’s trying to cross over between worlds or from wherever that is. And that woman came after me. The world inside that portal was… it was drastically different. It’s possible she left a mark here that could offer us some clues. Even if it’s just an odd heat signature or chemical left behind from that staff she used, it’s better than nothing.” Scarlett pulled the device Bruce had given her out of her pocket and placed it down in the dirt in the center of the crater that had been left behind, just outside the ring of water. Pressing her finger to her ear to trigger the headset hidden there Scarlett spoke again. “Bennett? I’m sending you some readings now on Dr. Banner’s device. Collect as much as you can with this thing.”

“What on earth happened down there?” Jinx sounded frantic and in Scarlett’s mind she imagined the dark haired woman chanting and performing some crazy ritual for good luck with a reluctant Bruce Banner by her side participating only out of the kindness of his heart.

“It’s a long story but we can explain later.” Scarlett looked to Steve for confirmation and he nodded while he scanned the area for any hints of who else had come through the portal if anyone. There were no footprints of any kind, no evidence even of the colossal fight that Scarlett had with her doppelganger.

“We’re going to need a team out here to question a group of civilians that were involved in an incident. No one seems to be hurt but they may have seen something of note at a different vantage point.” Steve chimed in over the radio, mimicking the same movements to his ear that Scarlett had displayed when she’d contacted Jinx even though it wasn’t necessary.

“There’s already one on the way. After you didn’t respond and we saw the radiation go off the charts we sent in backup.” Jinx responded. Scarlett didn’t like that at all. When she was on a mission she wanted to be trusted to handle it, not have someone on the other line of a phone with a team to back her up. Sure, it’d be great if there really was trouble but Scarlett wanted to be the one to make the call.

“Thanks, Miss Bennett.” Steve pulled his hand away from his ear and looked over to Scarlett. “We have to tell them about the woman you let get away.”

“Look, she’s lost and confused. You freaked her out with all the talk of S.H.I.E.L.D. and big corporations. You may not have noticed but the moment you mentioned something a kin to the cops she went into fight or flight mode. That girl wasn’t coming with us unless it was of her own will and you know that as well as I do.”

“S.H.I.E.L.D. has the technology to deal with any sort of phenomenon she could…”

“I’m sure they do but I wasn’t locking up some girl because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time!” Scarlett stood her ground and turned on a dime to face Steve one more time. “Look, we’re the only people this girl knows. If she’s got any brains she’s going to find us before we find her. I suggest we stick around until backup gets here and let them clean up and then we set out and scout the perimeter in search of anything else out of the ordinary.”

Steve had obviously hit some kind of sore spot but he didn’t want to ask the details. He’d, of course, read her file and knew about the trauma she’d suffered through in the last year at least to an extent. Much of her file had been blacked out apparently at her request. For someone who was trying to live a public life with Tony Stark she certainly was awfully secretive about her past.

“I get it.” Steve finally relented and softened just a little bit. Scarlett didn’t want to put anyone in the same position she’d been in over the last year. For that he couldn’t blame her. It was the first thing that had really gotten to Steve and proved to him that she was more than what Tony Stark had rumored her to be. “I’m not happy that you let our target go, but I understand why you did.”

“Let’s make sure those people don’t bolt before we’re ready for them to.” Scarlett started across the street with Steve. They went into the coffee shop and asked people not to leave. Some objected but once Scarlett offered to make them all espressos or the coffee drink of their choice with no charge since she’d be willing to pay they were far more compliant. For a few brief moments the irritation between Scarlett and Steve faded as she attempted to teach him how the complicated coffee machines behind the counter worked. They’d only succeeded in making a handful of drinks before S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents arrived on the scene to take statements and collect evidence from the onlookers. Scarlett instructed one of the agents, much to their confusion and surprise, to make them each a coffee drink and then send her the bill from the store to make sure they were reimbursed. It was definitely the weirdest mission Scarlett had ever been on. A strange sense of calm had fallen over them.

“Make sure you don’t overfill the mixer with milk.” Steve warned on the way out, wiping at a stain on his uniform.

“So we’ll head toward the festivities and keep an eye out for anything suspicious.” Scarlett didn’t bother mentioning the idea of splitting up. Things were actually calming down with Steve and she didn’t want to start a fight.

“You’re bleeding.” He pointed to her shoulder, too polite to grab or touch the woman he’d spent most of the night arguing with about things that suddenly seemed trivial in the span of events. If they had spent less time arguing and more time focusing on the case then maybe they could’ve teamed up better against the woman who had attacked Scarlett from the other side of the portal instead of having to split up in the first place. Scarlett seemed surprised by the revelation and looked down again at her shoulder that was painfully throbbing. Her shirt and the gauze peaking from beneath her jacket were crusted with dark blood.

“Oh yeah,” Scarlett had nearly forgotten about the wound. Well, she hadn’t so much forgotten about something that was profusely bleeding as much as she had become numb to it. She had too many other things on her mind for the wound to have mattered much in the span of things. “I’ll deal with it later, don’t worry about it.”

“What good are you to either of us if you pass out from blood loss?” Steve scolded.

“Is this going to be one of those annoying things you’re not going to let go?”

“If it were the other way around…”

“You would’ve already healed because you’re a super soldier, Captain.”

“You know what I meant.” Steve smiled for the first time that night and genuinely at that.

“I did. Fine. I’ll wrap it back up before we get going but remember this when you’re complaining we waited too long to track that girl down.”

“I’ll accept full responsibility.”

“Fine.”