There’s Something Strange In The Air (November 2015)

After another try, the team was able to infiltrate the last Hydra base and destroy it. SHIELD was very happy with the news and the team was enjoying a much needed break. An official announcement had been made about Serena’s engagement to Peter. At this point the world did not know he was Spider-Man and they were working hard to keep it that way though some of the press was beginning to suspect it. Serena was extremely happy. She and Peter would be getting married in a few months and the planning was in full swing. Kate’s pregnancy was coming along and she was now entering her second trimester and so would be taken off the mission list for now. Everyone was excited about the baby and since was was going to start showing soon a press release had been issued about her pregnancy. Fans had already begun sending them baby items.

Serena was alone in her and Peter’s room looking at Bridal magazines. She hadn’t found the right dress yet. Suddenly, she began to feel a strange pull and she immediately recognized it. She had felt that pull just before she had wound up back in this timeline. She began to panic and tried to think of how to stop it.

The last few months was like straying into a dream. He was very much in love with Serena and could not wait to make her his wife. Being married, having more family had always been Peter’s Dream and now it was coming true. Serena, Tony and Isabella would not be his family and he simply couldn’t wait.

No more Hydra, no more dodging bullets for a time, hopefully. He wanted to focus on them for a while. Really get to know the woman Serena was right then. He did know her for the most part but he wanted to be closer to her if that was even possible. He opened the door and found Serena standing near the bed. She had a horrified look on her face.

“Serena? What’s wrong?” he asked. Serena could feel it coming. Memories of the recent past were beginning to leave her mind. As she looked at Peter he too seemed to become hazy, less solid. As she reached him he held out his arms to steady her. “Serena, what's wrong?” Peter asked worriedly.

Serena looked at Peter and felt her panic increase as Peter began to look hazy. Why was this happening?! She couldn’t let this happen. She just couldn’t.

“I’m feeling pulled...like I did right before I ended up in this timeline. Something’s happening...”

Suddenly Stephen Strange and an asian man dressed as a monk appeared inside her room through a fiery portal that. The monk held a staff and the portal closed right behind them. Strange had iridescent, runed circles around his hands and he held them up as he began to gesture. Runes flowed from him and surrounded Serena. Peter was shocked by what he was witnessing but he knew Dr. Strange and so he let him continue.

“Their trying to pull you back again Serena. I’m trying to stop them,” Strange said. “If I don’t this timeline will continue for decades. The last time all I could do is allow you to remember,” he said. As he conjured Serena was bathed in a soft, white light. Runes appeared before her then fell into her. She felt an odd sensation just then as if her recent feeling of shifting was going away. As if she were being grounded to where she stood. The force that tried to pull her was strong however and as another portal opened up near her she glimpsed the face of the person who was trying to pull her away. He had a mask made of a metallic material, a mask she recognized. Dr. Doom’s mask. Stephen turned his arms and a bubble of light that formed around her exposed the violet and black strands that had been attached to her and flowed into the portal where doom conjured. The ones that would pull her back in time. The monk must have seen the other portal because he began to conjure as well and as he did Doom’s portal began to shrink. “No!” Doom shouted and his shout seemed to sting serena’s ears as if a clap of deafening thunder assaulted her just then. Peter lurched forward to help her stay standing. Doom’s portal expanded just for a moment but the brightness of it blinded Serena. Serena felt the strands that held her being cut then all went dark.

The light in the room stung her eyes as she opened them. “I think she’s waking up,” A voice said though it felt muffled to her ears and she had a splitting headache. Something partially blocked out the bright light and the sensation of someone standing over her was there. As she opened her eyes, she saw her mother’s concerned face. “Serena?” She asked.

“The book and Uru are gone,” Natalya said. “One of doom’s tricks I suspect. By manipulating the timeline he was able to retrieve them at some point. Even I had forgotten about them until now,” another voice said. “But what does he want?” Kate asked. Serena knew that voice, it was distinct. “If the Kree destroy our world than he can not rule. Doom wants our world for his own. What good is being a King if all the commoners and Nobles alike are dead?” Strange said. “Obviously he has been looking into the future and trying to stop the Kree himself by manipulating the timeline,” Tony said and chuckled. “I’d never think he’d ever try to do something good for once,” he said. “He’s not, doing what he’s doing is not an exact science. His arrogance could very well make this all worse,” another voice said, (Bruce Banner) one she did not remember. “Should we tell her about…” Another voice said. “She doesn’t need to think about that now,” Isabella said. “My baby is hurt,” she said in obvious irritation. One voice Serena did not hear...Peter’s voice.

Serena's head throbbed in pain and her stomach felt queasy. The bright light caused her to blink and wince and she closed her eyes again to try and stop the room from spinning. She could hear voices around her and she tried to recall what had happened. She remembered feeling like she was being pulled into another timeline and then Dr. Strange and another man appearing to stop it. Then, Dr. Doom appeared through another portal. She didn't remember much after that.

She slowly opened her eyes and realized she was in the medical suite on one of the biobeds. As she looked around her she saw Dr. Strange, the other man, her parents, Kate and Steve, Logan, and Natalya and another man she didn't recognize. The person she didn't see was Peter. She looked over to the other biobeds, but he wasn't there. She immediately began to panic.

"Where's Peter?"

Isabella was there with a cup of water and she gave Serena a stern look. “Serena, you’ve been unconscious for hours and we don’t know why. Drink some water,” She said as she offered the straw toward her lips.

“So she knows 2 other timelines?” Tony asked. “How many have their been?” he asked. “To be honest, it’s impossible to tell,” Strange said. “I only discovered what was happening because I was traveling between as it happened twice before this one. I really can’t say. All i can say is that Doom is no more proficient at mastering timeline manipulation than whomever is controlling the Kree. Both sides wanting a specific outcome and neither able to affect it perfectly,” He said. “And Hydra was just caught in the middle?” Steve asked. “Doomed to die over and over,” Strange said.

“He’s using the uru and the book…” Banner began “And the Kree can be stopped,” Another voice said. Another one she didn’t know. He sounded...foreign and unfamiliar.

Serena was confused and starting to grow upset. She could hear the others talking about the timelines. Clearly, they all knew now, but there still seemed to be some confusion. She refused the water her mother offered and forced herself to sit up. She recognized one of the strange voices as belonging to Dr. Banner. She had seen his picture before. But she didn't recognize the other unfamiliar voice. Since she wasn't going to get an answer from her mother she looked at Dr. Strange.

"Where is Peter?"

Strange paused in what he was going to say and a man dressed as if he were some kind of Norse god looked at her as well as everyone else in the room. He was likely the one with the odd accent and knew who he was. Isabella looked at Tony and Tony came over to her bedside. He took her hand. “We’re not...exactly certain where Peter is,” Tony said. “Thats both a good thing and a bad thing. Bad because we don’t know what happened to him and good because he might be just fine,” He said. “Now you need to relax kiddo, you have a mild case of the bends caused by two different aspects of time trying to pull you in different directions. That’s why your head feeling like its about to fall off right now,” Tony said.

Serena's eyes widened at what her father told her. She ignored everything else he said, but focused on the part about Peter. "I'm sorry...it's good because he MIGHT be just fine? MIGHT?!" She was starting to full on panic and because of that the room started to spin again and she started to feel ill. Kate looked at Isabella and whispered to her. "Should we sedate her?"

Her heart rate shot up fast and the biobed began to glare a warning. Tony nodded and then Serena felt him apply pressure and forced her back down. She saw Isabella hit a button on the console and after a quick prick on the back of her arm she began to feel woosy again as if her limbs were suddenly made of jello.

“Serena you risk serious injury to yourself if you cant remain calm!” Isabella snapped. Tony turned her face to face him and he lightly touched her cheek. “It will be alright Serena, everything’s...alllrrriiiiiiggghhtt,” she heard before all went black once more.

When she woke up she was in her bed. Her head still warned caution but it was far better than before though she still felt very sick to her stomach. When she turned in the bed and put her feet on the floor she heard a sound from the bathroom that sounded like the shower was on. When she got up to investigate she saw it was the shower but the entire bathroom had filled up with steam. As she moved to turn off the shower all of the lights in the bathroom popped at once and plunged her into complete darkness. As she turned to leave the shower Peter was suddenly there. “I...I can’t….breathe!” He said desperately and fell onto her. He was cold and pale and slick with a cold sweat. “Please...Serena...help...me!, help mmmeeee, meee!” He said as he slumped to the floor, his eyes staring off at nothing.

When she woke up...

Serena awoke with a start. She was trembling and her face was pale. She sat bolt upright and she tried to catch her breath. It was dark outside and when she glanced at her clock she could see it was nearly 3 am. She expected the Tower to be quiet, but she could hear voices out in the other rooms. She could still hear Peter's voice in her head. She looked towards the bathroom, but it was dark and quiet in there. When she looked away she then noticed Dr. Strange sitting in her room. He was awake and watching her. He didn't say anything, but seemed to be expecting her to speak.

"I...I had a dream and Peter was in it." She went on to tell him everything about the dream and tears came to her eyes. "He said he couldn't breathe. He was begging for help."

Steve looked up at her voice. After she spoke he looked at her for a few moments. “After what you’ve just been through I don’t doubt that you’d have bad dreams. It is never pleasant to be manipulated as you’ve been Serena Stark. But now that we know the nature of this we can fight it,” Strange said.

“I’m not certain where Peter is but my friends are looking for him as we speak. I know that that does not alleviate your worry but when I say Peter could be anywhere, I mean exactly that. He was pulled into a portal as it was shifting. There was a residue left and my friends are analyzing it now,” he said as he looked around the room. “You parents have alot of friends and we will do everything we can for Peter,” he said consolingly. “Do you feel well enough to travel? Some ‘other’ friends of ours have detected a Kree ship in earth’s orbit and it appears Loki is with them which is another oddity. I was hoping you could shed some light on this,” He said.

Serena was still incredibly worried and upset about Peter, but she knew that worrying wasn't going to do anything to help him. She needed to trust Dr. Strange and hope that his friends would be able to find him. She knew that if anyone could do it, it was them. She looked down at her left hand and her engagement ring. She and Peter had gone out shopping for it together. It was a round, solitaire ring in a platinum setting, but it was anything but plain. It was simple and elegant. It was timeless...like their love. Peter had to come back to her...he just had to.

Serena looked at Dr. Strange when he mentioned the Kree ship and Loki she knew this was bad. She sighed and began to tell him everything she knew.

"Loki is working with the Kree or is being blackmailed to help them...I'm not certain which. They want William. William is an extremely powerful mutant and their plan is to use him to destroy the moon and cause total destruction to the earth. In the other life I lived I saw it all happen. Gambit, the man I was married to, died in my arms protecting me from a Kree attack. The Kree kidnapped William and they manipulated and changed him and turned him against humanity. After the world went into chaos both my parents died. Natalya then died a horrific death and Logan was never the same. I cannot let this happen again. I don't know who sent me back, but I know in my heart that Peter is the key to stopping all of this from happening. I just don't know how. I was sent back to be with him and ensure that future didn't happen."

"We will find him Serena, just have a little faith ok?" He said. "Are you ready?" he asked and then he opened up a portal in front of them. He gestured her through then went through himself and it closed behind them. She suddenly found herself in what looked like a cross between an old Victorian house and some kind of museum. His cloak shifted as if on its own and flew over to a stand and hung itself on it.

"Serena, this is Greenwich, England. And this is my Sanctum Sanctorium," he said as he led her up the stairs. There were all sorts of relics, artifacts, books and old things all over the place. "Serena I haven't been completely honest with you. I know whose on that Kree ship," he said. "When I look at you...I see a small, frightened girl who is afraid that her man is dead," he said insultingly. and he stepped away from her a few steps.

Serena went through the portal and found herself in a strange building. She normally would have been interested in looking at all of the various relics and artifacts, but today was not that day. She wanted to find Peter and figure out how to deal with the Kree. When Dr. Strange told her that he had not been completely honest with her and knew who was on that ship she became angry again.

"I don't need your insults or condescension," she snapped at him. "Just tell me what the hell I need to do to get Peter back."

Stephen turned to address her abruptly. “Are you prepared to to what is necessary to stop the Kree!?” Stephen said forcefully. “Because THAT is what is most important here. Not Peter Parker!” he snapped then drew closer to her. “If you can’t get control of your emotions for him I’m not certain I want you anywhere near that ship,” He said in a very dangerous tone.

Serena's gaze narrowed at Dr. Strange. Her parents had known him for nearly the entire time she had been alive. She had encountered him on several occasions, but her parents were closer with him than she was. She was also an adult now and didn't care for being treated like a child by him.

"How are we going to stop the Kree?"

“Not we, not you Serena. Peter can not be our primary goal. I know you feel as if he’s important somehow but I think right now you’d be a danger to the mission because you’d put him first. I brought you here to show you something but I’m not certain you can put your feelings aside. I realize that not much time has passed since Peter went missing and I wish we had more time to prepare,” he said.

Serena looked at Dr. Strange and sighed. "You haven't lived through what I've lived through Stephen. I still have nightmares about what our world became. I still have nightmares about losing everyone I loved and knowing that there was nothing I could do about it. Well, I now have a chance to do something about it and I'm not going to throw that chance away. I cannot live through that kind of destruction again...I just can't."

“What if it meant that Peter might die for you to do what needed to be done? Would you make that choice then Serena? Because it may well involve that. If he was taken prisoner the Kree will be trying to indoctrinate him. The Supreme Intelligence is a powerful entity and those that they find that they can use, they take over their minds and use them as soldiers,” He said. “Captain Marvel was indoctrinated by the Kree and when she damaged the Supreme Intelligence it angered the Kree badly. Now they want revenge, or some of them anyway. And I don’t think they care about taking humans as soldiers. So you can understand why this is important, don't you?” He said.

Serena struggled with the thought of possibly of having to let Peter die. Was this how he was going to stop the destruction from happening? Her heart broke at the thought. She would try to stop that if she could but for the moment they needed to stop the Kree. She knew that is what Peter would want and would tell her to do.

“Every moment we stand here talking about this is another moment closer to destruction. Tell me what I need to do.”

“Bron Char,” Stephen began and as he gestured the eye of Agamotto opened and translucent orange lines of energy appeared before him. Before her stood a massive Kree in thick armor. “Is a Kree soldier and part of their Lunatic Legion. We believe he has a powerful mutant with him that is responsible for the timeshifts. You are immune to them now but that only means when they happen you will not be aware of it. A small comfort I know but I think you’ve seen too much already. If I showed you what I have seen since I took up this mantle...I’m not certain you would be who you are now,” he said

When she looked at him he realized she might be thinking about what she had said. “Don’t worry, I am not easily offended,” he said. “Bron Char wants revenge for the damage Carol Danvers did to the supreme intelligence. He will destroy our world and either kill or enslave the survivors...if there are any. Other Kree think that he intends to invade to take over earth but he is quite mad in his vengeance and will stop at nothing to affect our demise. These Kree are extremely tough. They resemble us but are blue with different vision. Some of their organs are duplicated in their bodies which makes them extremely tough and resilient. Your battles with Hydra will be nothing like this. There will be no pulling punches here. When you attack, you attack to kill or they will kill you and those with you,” he said.

“The mutant with him is...young. A teenager. Her name is Katrina Kyle and she has to die,” he said. “If we fail in every other way, we can not fail here. I don’t think any of the team will be able to do this. This is why im asking you to do it. Why you must do it,” he said.

Serena listened closely to what Stephen told her. This was all extremely important and she needed to be sure that they succeeded in stopping the Kree. For a moment, memories of seeing New York fall and watching her own tears fall onto Gambit’s dead body flooded back into the forefront of her brain. She would show no mercy. She couldn’t. If she did then they would all die.

She looked at Stephen when he talked about the teenager, Katrina Kyle. She nodded when he told her that she would need to be the one to kill her.

“Is it just going to be us fighting? Will the other Avengers be there too?”

Peter looked out from the thick bars that held him a prisoner. The cell he was in was small and next to him was a young girl that he only knew as Kat. When there were no guards to watch them he spoke to her. Kat’s hair was blonde but it was mussed and tangled as if it hadn’t been brushed for months though Peter knew it was likely longer. She had large, blue eyes  and she wore a baggy blue sweater though it too looked in disrepair with tears and dark splotches of grime from being on the ship. She had a fairly normal looking bed and her cell door was never closed. She had several toys, dolls, stuffed animals and some kind of hand held video game. The dolls and animals seemed more for a much younger child and putting two and two together, he had come to believe she had actually been here for years.

The Kree’s attempts at controlling his mind had not worked. That as well he had an idea of why. His time with Venom had hardened him to that kind of control but he wasn’t certain he could hold out forever. They had beaten him, tortured him by asphyxiation and threatening to blow him out an airlock. He held on though, held on to the only thing that mattered to him...Serena.

He thought about her almost constantly. She was there when they tried to indoctrinate him and she was there when they tortured him. She was when he slept and she was there with him now. Peter had found a piece of aluminum foil from the packaging of the rations they fed him and he made a small origami chicken from it. For her amusement he moved it around and clucked like a chicken. She looked at what he was doing though she didn’t want him to see her looking. Or the small grin that appeared on her face.

“My name’s Peter and you are Kat,” he said as he moved the chicken about. He couldn't reach into her cell but she could his with her lither fingers and he set the chicken down on the floor where she could get it if she wanted. “Why haven’t they controlled you Kat?” he asked to her back. At first she didn’t answer but then seemed to relent. “They can’t, It doesn’t work if they do,” She said in a meek voice. “Well Kat, my name is Peter Parker...I’m Spiderman,” Peter said and she turned to look at him. “You’re...Spiderman?” She asked and Peter nodded and then showed her by climbing up on the wall. Her grin grew into a smile and she chuckled when he moved onto the ceiling then acted like a monkey. When he heard a guard coming he hopped down and she turned away from him.

-----------------

“All of us, Bruce, Thor, The Black Panther and all the others to,” He said. “There are alot of Kree on the ship and their goals are to create a diversion and plant an explosive device on the ship. Your father built the device for something else but we need it now,” He said. “Kate will remain behind,” he said...incase we fail,” he said darkly. What that alluded to was Kate’s responsibility to not let them take William...alive. She knew that because she had seen that before.

Kate, Steve, and Dr. Stratham all had a very frank conversation about William. Now that they now knew that the Kree were after him and wanted to use him to destroy the planet they fully understood the gravity of the situation. Knowing that this had actually happened in another timeline only increased their concern. The planet at large was at stake and Kate was prepared to do what needed to be done to stop that from happening.

Serena nodded and looked at Stephen. “I need my suit. I don’t have it with me.”