Artemis : The Seventh Avenger ➳ Steve Rogers [1]

04 [ 13 ]

☆ ☆ ☆

CAMILLE

I make my way down the empty hallways, still confused by my earlier run-in with Stark.

"Cam?" I mutter to myself, "Since when does he call me 'Cam'?"

I let out a sigh, shaking my head. And don't even get me started on that hug.

Finally, my eyes land on a familiar figure in from of me.

"Just the man I was looking for." I say as I rushed forward to catch up to him.

"Hey, Cap. Stark said you wanted to see me?" I ask, "But he was kind of acting a little off-"

I look up to see Steve, who had his mouth hanging slightly ajar and the same expression on his face that Stark had when he first saw me.

"Oh great, you too." I click my tongue, throwing my hands up in frustration. "This is just amazing."

I don't get to finish my sentence as I'm pulled into a tight hug.

"Oh my god, Cam." He mumbles, "I'm so sorry."

"Why are you apologising?" I ask, prying myself out of his arms, that were so tightly wrapped around me I was convinced he was going to cut my blood circulation off.

Normally, I would be nervous at every slight contact that we have, but today, I was too frustrated at the way everybody was acting to care.

"I swear to god, if this is some elaborate prank-" I pause, looking down at the case he had set down on the ground, "Why do you have the Sceptre?" I asked.

I look up at Steve's face again, the look of surprise he first had now replaced by one of disappointment, he'd look as if someone had given him the gift of a lifetime, only to immediately rip it out of his hands and tell him it wasn't his.

Just as I open my mouth to say something else, Stark's voice sounds through my Comms.

"We lost Loki." He says, "Keep your eyes peeled, Loki's on the loose."

I look up at Steve, just as his voice sounds in my ear following Tony's although he wasn't speaking.

"Camille, that isn't me!" Steve's voice spoke, urgently only making me more confused.

I snapped my head up, to spot Steve- the real Steve, apparently, a good number of floors above peering down at us.

"We have eyes on Loki, fourteenth floor." He then informs the rest of the team.

I return my attention to the person in front of me. Immediately shifting into battle stance. There was no way the Captain was going to make it down here in time to back me up from way up there.

"Give it up, Loki." I growled, growing increasingly annoyed.

Was the Stark that I saw him too?

"Cam, listen to me." He says, "I'm not Loki, alright? I can explain. Just-"

He doesn't get to finish his sentence as I charge forward, tackling him onto the ground. I throw a couple of punches, which he blocks but he doesn't seem to be trying to return any of my attacks.

"Cam!" He yells, "I don't want to hurt you, please!"

He turns onto his side and I seize the opening, transitioning to his back and wrapping my arm around his neck in a chokehold.

My fingers come into contact with his face and as soon as they do, I feel energy rushing through me, the powers that I don't seem to have control of taking effect.

Loki groans, clearly losing the energy to struggle as his body starts to go limp. Just as I'm starting to gain the upper hand, an image flashes through my head. Not so much an image, but a memory.

I see a man with a metal arm calling out to Steve, looking disoriented before he collapses into a heap of ashes.

I gasp, releasing my grip on Loki...But the man in that memory called him Steve.

The man groans, pushing himself onto his feet. As he stood, something falls from his pocket and two pictures land in front of me; one of a lady by herself and the other was one of a man and the same lady.

I take a closer look at them and my eyes immediately widen, "That's...That's me."

At this point, I'm so incredibly confused, a part of me feels like I'm going crazy.

"What the hell is going on?" I demanded.

"You saw it, didn't you?" He asks, approaching me cautiously, "A part of my memory. That's what happens in the future." He says.

"I'm sorry, what?" I ask, "Are you seriously telling me you're from the future?"

"It's the truth." He says, his eyes filled with a sense of longing and sadness as he gazes at me, looking as if it's taking everything he has to not rush forward to hug me again.

My brain hurts just thinking about the things he had just told me, but as crazy as it all sounds, somehow, I knew he was telling the truth.

Once the adrenaline had faded, I take another glance at him, only to feel the same trust, security and comfort I feel with Steve, my Steve.

"Why do you need the sceptre?" I ask.

"You saw what happens." He says, "We need it to bring them back."

I stare down at the pictures, looking at the one of Steve and I, smiling widely at the camera.

"You took that." He says, with a smile, "Or rather, you will."

"Steve, what happens to me in the future?" I ask, "Where am I?"

Steve stays silent, gazing down at his feet as his eyes shimmering with tears.

He doesn't have to say anything for me to put two and two together.

"I disappear, don't I?" I ask again, "Like the others?"

He strides forward, gently placing a hand on my cheek and fixes me with a gaze. I'll get you back, I promise. Whatever it takes." He chokes, "You'll come back to me. You belong here, with me. I can't live without you."

I simply glance back at him at a lost for words, but just as I open my mouth to say something, a voice calls from behind.

"Camille!" I jerk back to look at the other Steve running towards us.

I look back at him and hand his pictures back to him.

"I'll take care of him." I smile, "Go save the world."