A New Beginning

Chapter 10

"Whoa..." Steve said from next to me, as we stepped out of the portal and into the famous streets of London. "I've always wanted to go here." I raised an eyebrow at him and smiled slightly.

"You've never been to London?" I asked him. He nodded, still incredulous at the view in front of him.

"I've been here to many times to count," I said. "Would you like some tea, sir?" I said that in a perfect British accent, just to lighten up the mood a little bit.

"Whoa!" Steve exclaimed. "How do you do that?" I laughed at his genuine surprise.

"Practice," I replied casually. Suddenly Dr. Strange turned around, his dark cape swirling around him as he did so.

"No time for light conversation, people. We need to be quick and efficient with this," he said, not so very kindly, and gestured towards James. "Hold on tight to the boy. He's caked in sweat."

That's when I noticed the condition James was in. He was sweating profusely, but when I touched his body, it felt cold. Frowning, I dragged Steve by the arm and caught up to Dr. Strange. We were now situated in front of a large building that had the same design as what hung around Dr. Strange's necklace.

"Let's go," He said, and threw open the doors. I followed closely behind him, Steve at my heels.

"This is the London Sanctum," he said. "Don't touch any objects in here, just follow me."

I frowned.

"Wasn't this building destroyed a few months ago?"

"Yes, but there is a specific book in here that I need."

He smirked as he picked up a dusted book. Flipping through the pages, he stopped as he found a partially torn page. After a quick glance, he raised his two fingers and started swirling them around again. This time, the pendant of the necklace starting glowing green.

"The time stone," I whispered in awe. I gasped as the world around us started to change. Tightening my grip on Steve, I grimaced as we went back one day, one week, then one month.

Sharon Carter was in this very room, her eyes darting back and forth in suspicion. She picked up the book in Dr. Strange's hands, her hand passing through his arm as if he wasn't there. I watched incredulously as she flipped through the pages. She stopped at one point, then took out her phone to write down whatever was on her page. She then closed the book and dashed out of the room.

From next to me, Dr. Strange did the little thing with his hands again, and we went forward in time. The pendant on his necklace closed around the infinity stone. Soon we were back in the present, and Dr. Strange was already flipping through the book to locate the exact page Sharon had went to. As he found it, he immediately took James from Steve's arms.

Steve and I watched in silence as Dr. Strange did his magic on James. At one point, James stopped whimpered and held a calm facial expression. Steve and I exchanged a smile, and I rubbed his shoulders as he sighed in relief. When Dr. Strange finished, Steve walked over and felt James's forehead and caressed his cheek.

"He doesn't feel too cold or too hot anymore," he remarked. "Thank you, Dr. Strange."

The sorcerer held a smug expression, not unlike the one I see on Tony's face every day.

"No problem. Just make sure to not wake him up until an hour later," he said. "As for getting home, I don't need to help you with that too, right?" He gave us a sideways smile, then disappeared through a portal that closed as soon as he stepped in. I groaned.

"Did he seriously have to do that?"

When I didn't receive an answer, I turned around to look for Steve. He was standing right behind me, straightening up James's shirt. The end of his shirt sleeve was wet with tears. Sighing, I reached up and wiped his cheek, which was also wet with tears.

"James is okay now, you should be celebrating, not crying," I said gently. Steve gave a half-hearted laugh and looked down at me with tired eyes.

"Nat."

I waited for him to say something else. He didn't. Then I gasped as he pulled me into an embrace. He cupped my face and fit his lips into mine. I exhaled slowly as he kissed me, feeling like a heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I raised my arms and wrapped them around his neck, pulling him closer to me. He smiled into the kiss, his hand moving down to my waist.

We froze as we suddenly heard a buzzing sound. I broke away from him and reached down into my back pocket and took out my phone.

"It's Tony," I said. As I put the phone to my ear to answer the call, I looked down at my waist where Steve's hand still lay. Smirking, I raised my eyes and looked directly into his.

"Who knew Steve Rogers was such a sneaky boy?" I said, teasing him. He blushed hard.

Before his face could turn even redder, I went back to my phone and pressed the answer button.

"Yes?"

"Hey! Someone sounds happy. I'm guessing the Strange person helped?"

"You are correct. Is Sarah doing well?"

"Yeah. A little too well. She's having a lot of fun with Barton and Maximoff right now. The rest of the crew seem to really like her."

I smiled self-consciously and stole a glance at Steve, who was cradling James gently in his arms. I flipped my hair back and turned back around.

"It's nice to hear that. Steve and I'll be heading home to you guys, but let's just say it'll take a bit long. Maybe around a few hours. In the meantime, tell Vision to keep everything under control. If everything is under control when I get back, I'll buy you guys some shawarma."

"Kay. Will do that. I gotta go now because Clint is about to show us a new trick of his. See ya later!"

I hung up at that last word, and put my phone back in the pocket.

"Let's go Steve. We have a long plane ride ahead of us."