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FOLLOWING CHRISTINE, THE FOUR took the stairs as they continued their spiral downwards. They were quick on their feet, knowing that the Scarlet Witch was behind them.

Talia kept a hand on the back of America's jacket, guiding her down as she kept looking behind her. The flash of red behind them terrified Talia, but the mystery behind the horrific noises made her heart pound.

When they reached the lowest point, they ran through to the back of the building, where Talia's eyes fell on a tunnel. Talia did not like how trapped they were nor the uncertainty of where they were heading.

"Where does that tunnel go?" Stephen asked Christine.

"Under the river," she answered.

The words did not ease Talia, who could not swim.

Behind them, the door slid shut, though they already knew there was no return. Christine led them through the room with Talia having no time to stop and notice the hundreds of books or old computer systems. Down here, it seemed more storage than anything.

A screech caused them to pause as Talia's head turned, seeing that the Scarlet Witch had caught up to them. The red of her power clawed at the doors, peeling the metal apart so that the witch could get through. Blood dripped, covering half of her face, and her eyes flashed a vibrant red. Talia thought she was more devil than witch now.

"Go, go, go!" Stephen shouted.

His hand had touched Talia's back, urging her forwards with Talia not needing to be told twice. Ahead of her, Christine and America were fast with Talia and Stephen behind them.

As the witch came for them, there was a crash of her power tearing the room apart.

In the tunnels, Christine pressed a button as their escape become far narrower. A vault door slid downwards, but Talia could hear the Scarlet Witch break through the metal with great ease, limping as she ran.

Before the second door had even hit the ground, the witch's magic had torn through it.

Talia's head twisted, eyes falling on the witch as her hand rose. The tunnels lit up with the purple, but the blast was met with the Scarlet Witch's red shield.

As they rounded the next corner, Christine attempted to block the witch again with another door closing behind them. This one closed with the four pausing, finding themselves surprised that the witch had not broken through again.

It became too quiet, the sound of water dripping echoing around them. Talia pushed America behind herself, stepping backwards. They could not trust the sudden disappearance of the witch.

Everything slowed as Talia sparked two blades in her hands, ready and waiting. In the dim-lit tunnels, the purple glowed — far more welcoming than the red.

Water splashed, dripping onto Talia as her hair hung down along her back. The purple robes she wore were not the thickest, so she could feel the chill of the damp.

"Where did she go?" America questioned, quietly.

To answer the question, the Scarlet Witch jumped out from the shadows. Appearing more shadow herself, the darkness made her red eyes pop. America screamed with Talia stumbling into the teenager, finding her heart about to explode.

The Scarlet Witch was injured, but that did not stop her. As if she was possessed, she dragged herself towards them with Talia's eyes so wide from fright and shock. While Talia knew the witch was mad, this was a whole new level.

The witch panted, uncaring of how bloody she was — uncaring of how many lives she had taken to get to this point.

"I warned you," said the witch.

"Other Wanda, if you are in there," Stephen tried to reach her. "Hold your breath."

Then, an amber gold appeared with Stephen's hands sparking with magic. Bending down, Stephen's hand slammed fat against the ground of the tunnel. Around them, the tunnel became golden with the magic flaring, causing cracks in the stone bricks above them as the water spurted through.

As the roof caved in, Talia's weapons had vanished in a puff of purple smoke, where she was then ushering America to start running again. Behind them, Stephen followed with Christine close to the two, hand pressing another button to close the vault behind them, blocking the wave of water.

"Did you kill her?" America questioned as they ran.

"No," Stephen answered. "I just brought us some time."

They came to a stop, leading to another storage room at the end of the tunnel.

"The books through here," Christine announced as they came to a stop at a bunker-like door. "But only Stephen's ever opened it."

There was a white wheel, where it seemed so simple to open, but Talia knew better than that. Knowing Stephen, he would have chosen something so obviously simple on purpose, yet only he would know how to open the door.

"I hope you know how to open it," Talia told him.

"So do I," Stephen said.

His fingertips touched, sparking the magic again. The eye-like clasp of his cloak opened as Stephen's hands pulled apart, where the artefact glowed. With the power, the wheel turned, jamming tightly, and then the amber magic faded away.

Stephen sighed. "The spell would be specific to something only I would know," he muttered to himself, ignoring how Christine had spoken his name. "Come on."

"Stephen," said Christine more loudly, catching Talia's attention.

The red-headed woman held up a watch that Talia recognised, though this one was cracked, the hands not moving. For their fourth wedding anniversary — the last before she had vanished or had even been thinking about leaving him — Talia had gifted her husband a watch. On the back she had it engraved with four simple words: I love you more.

Now, Talia's eyes fell on her husband, catching him staring down at his left hand, where Talia could still see the watch peeking out beneath his sleeve. Like Christine's watch, the glass was cracked. As Stephen looked up, his eyes met Talia's.

Maybe Talia was not just a glitch — maybe Talia was supposed to be with her Stephen. Instead of Christine, Talia had been the one for him. They had their own unique version that no other Strange would experience.

But, as his attention returned to the watch Christine held, his eyes drifted back to the space within the wheel. "Yeah," he realised, taking the watch. "Thank you."

"Sure," Christine replied.

Then, stepping forward, Stephen placed the watch in the slot. "Open sesame."

Like a key, the watch unlocked the door.

The wheel spun on its own, finally opening as there was a blinding light. It was like Talia and America were back at the beginning with the in-between universes. The dim-lit tunnels had vanished, opening up to softer tones of blue, purple, and orange. In the middle, the book was a vibrant whitish-blue glow, reminding Talia of a halo.

Stephen was first to step forward, in complete awe.

Talia stared downwards, wondering if her body was floating somewhere or if she truly did disappear when she died.

Using the doorframe to aid himself, Stephen then jumped, landing down on the mosaic-like stones of the in-between. Talia stepped outwards with her foot forming a purple transparent stone beneath her, keeping her standing in the air. She turned to offer her hand to America.

"Come on, Kid," shouted Stephen from beneath them. "You got this."

"Step where I step," Talia advised the two.

America looked at a panicked Christine, offering her a warm smile. "We got this."

The purple beneath Talia's feet expanded, letting America and Christine join her. They could have jumped, but Talia was certain that it would save Christine from a heart attack. Though, aided with the steppingstones, they reached the ground with Talia using the last few to make a slope. Sliding downwards, Talia came to a run when her feet hit the ground again before she came to a stop.

Stephen's eyes were on her, full of wonder. "You could have just jumped."

"I wanted to show you up for once," Talia told him. "You are not the only one with magic, even though I'm still trying to understand it."

Then, her eyes fell on the Book of Vishanti, having never gotten this close to it before. The power of it was radiating, promising them an end to all the madness.

"This is the gap junction," said Christine, fascinated. "The space between universes."

Stephen reached the book, entranced by it with Talia close behind him. Her heart hammered, skin tingling with the thought of them finally having the upper hand.

"Alright, book," Stephen said, stepping upwards so he was face to face with the book. "Give me what I need."

His hand reached upwards, fingers enclosing around the book as he removed it from the shelf. The light faded, revealing nothing more than just a spellbook, but they all knew the power it contained.

As Stephen climbed down, he looked towards America and Talia, just as hopeful as they were.

Then, the flare of red appeared again as America screamed. Talia's body whipped around so quickly, eyes falling on the Scarlet Witch, who had crept up on them. Using her power, the witch pulled America towards her by her hair.

"America!" Talia screamed.

The magic sparked from Talia's hands, firing a stream of purple towards the witch. It glowed with Talia's anger fuelling her, but the Scarlet Witch caught the power, absorbing it. The magic of the witch's attack struck the three as Talia was knocked down, her body striking the steps as she groaned.

Close by, the Book of Vishanti became nothing but embers.

"No," Talia whispered, watching as their only hope went up in smoke.

Powerless, the Scarlet Witch's magic tightened around Talia's body as she was raised. Like herself, Stephen and Christine were trapped too. Talia fought against her restraints, trying to spark a flame of power inside herself as her eyes remained on America, who struggled worse than Talia was.

America's eyes became a light shade of blue, the power inside her awakening. The teenage girl was a puppet now, forced to use her power by the Scarlet Witch. A star-shaped portal appeared, showing them endless windows to Multiverses that caused Talia's body to tremble.

"Wanda, please," Talia pleaded in her last attempt.

The witch did not care, though. Not as Talia — along with Stephen and Christine — were thrown through the portal. Talia felt the swell of the travel, the restraints vanishing as their bodies tumbled through the Multiverse.

Not ready for impact, Talia's body rolled along the ash-covered ground. They had landed down an alleyway with the world city far too quiet to be normal. Talia, though, was on her feet, hurrying towards the portal, but it was already closing behind them.

"No, no, no," Talia collapsed to her knees, staring at the spot where they had come from.

All Talia had wanted was to protect America as she had promised from the moment they had met. Now, Talia had failed her, where her mind was imprinted with the pained and frightful cries that had tumbled from America's lips.

The tears slipped free from eyes, rolling down her cheeks as she felt her heart stutter to a stop, hitting the breaking point. With America being taken, it felt like a part of her had vanished.

But Talia would not give up — not ever when it came to America.

So, perhaps a little mad herself now, Talia's focus landed on her husband.

"I have to get back to America," Talia told him, a plan sparking. "I need you to kill me."

"What?" Stephen snapped, angry at the very suggestion of it. "No, Talia. It won't work."

"It will," Talia decided, forcing herself to stand, eyes wide and frantic. "If you won't, then I'll do it, Stephen. I have to get to America. I have to—"

"Talia, Wanda would have already made a portal," Stephen explained to her, eyes soft and full of pity. "Darling, the next portal would be one you might not return from the dead for."

Talia knew what he was trying to say, though the words could never be softened. The next portal might not be America that made it — the Scarlet Witch could take the power. They did not know if it was the power or America that Talia was connected to, so there might be no more extra lives for Talia. Though, the thought of losing America was a death sentence itself with Talia needing to do something.

So, she turned, eyes falling to the building next to them, staring up at the fire escape. All she had to do was jump from a building, and then Talia might get lucky enough to glitch back to where America was. It was reckless, it was foolish, but it was Talia's only chance to reach her.

But Stephen was there, taking hold of her arm. His grip was tight, but caring, so terrified with where her mind was at.

"Talia, you are not thinking straight," Stephen accused her.

"I have to save her, Stephen."

"It won't work," Stephen repeated himself. "Please, Darling, think about this."

"It has to work," Talia found herself breaking, the words causing the hysteria to explode inside her. "I can't... Stephen, I can't lose America. I can't let her leave me too."

A small America appeared in her head, wearing the denim jacket with the star on her back, so excited as it felt like a costume to match her power. Talia had stolen it for her, watching over time as she had grown into the jacket. America had found purple for Talia too, deciding to dye her hair with Talia letting the child colour the ends of her dark hair in a vibrant purple.

And now her heart broke, consumed with the grief of being separated from America.

Stephen pulled her into his arms as Talia cried, letting him comfort her for a moment. Scrunching her eyes shut, Talia's head rested against his chest, trying to pull herself together for America, and for herself. Talia was not supposed to break.

"Talia, listen to me," Stephen said, hands cupping her cheek, brushing the hair from her face as he tilted her head to look up at him. His thumbs caught the tears from her eyes, staring at her with a swirl of emotions. "America wouldn't leave you. She's so brave and resilient because she gets that from you. You've raised a survivor, so she'll survive this, and you'll find your way back to each other. I promise you; we will save her, but you can't save her if you are dead."

"Then, we gotta find a way to get home to her, Stephen," Talia stated.

"Yes, and we will," said Stephen, lowering his head to place a kiss on Talia's forehead, trying to ease her as much as he could. Then, his eyes were falling on their surroundings. "First, where is here?"

As his hands fell from her face, their attention turned to the New York City of this universe. Talia's eyes had roamed around their surroundings with the three moving, passing through the gates that lead out onto the street.

"Oh, no," said Stephen, seeing the disaster. "Oh, crap."

Getting home didn't seem so easy now.

Talia's eyes had never seen anything like it before. The world was disappearing in the dark as if the world was coming nothing more than ash. A red line zipped along the streets, seeming out of place with the gloomy darkness.

"It's like this reality collapsed in on itself," Christine commented. 

For a moment, Talia had forgotten that Christine was still with them. She had been so caught up in everything and now her eyes landed on the redhead, relieved to see that she was unharmed too. The three were just shaken up, but not giving up.

"Two realities collided," Stephen thought out loud. "Come on, America doesn't have long."

"So where are we going?" Christine asked with the three passing cars with the lights still on, floating mid-air.

"Well, if there is still a Sanctum in this universe," answered Stephen. "Then there might be another other...other me and that's our best shot at getting back to her."

They carried on walking with Talia's attention on the city landscape, finding it a distraction. It was terrifying to see the end of the world, as well as seeing it collapsing in on itself, becoming nothing more than ash.

Talia, though, was also aware that Stephen kept looking at her, keeping a watchful eye on her as if she might fall apart again. Of course, it had been a moment of weakness with Talia not wasting any more time. After all these years, Talia was able to snap the walls back up as quickly as they had come down — still though, she would not be in control until America was at her side again.

"Well, I can see why you guys were so worried about incursions," said Stephen, more to Christine than Talia.

"What happened back there?" Talia asked.

Stephen explained everything that Talia had missed: first there had been the Illuminati, who were all dead now; secondly, the Doctor Strange of that universe had used the Darkhold, resulting in an incursion that had killed trillions; and thirdly, Doctor Strange had been killed for his crimes, but it had been covered up with him being seen as a hero.

"Have you experienced anything like this before?" Stephen asked her.

"No," Talia answered truthly. "There was one universe, where to step on a shadow would be a death sentence, but we hadn't stayed there long."

Stephen's eyes remained on her. "You've been through so much."

"You have too," Talia reminded him, eyes falling on his hands again as her pinkie finger twitched, wanting to touch him, but she was too afraid. "I'm sorry I was not there for you, Stephen."

"As much as I wished you had been there, I never want you to see me like that," Stephen confessed, keeping his sad eyes on the road ahead.

"I'm your wife, in sickness and health remember?" Talia replied.

There was a hint of a smile at that, but Talia could see that he was haunted with where their marriage had ended up. They had vowed to love each other in sickness and health, but they had also vowed to spend their lives together...and Talia had been planning to leave him.

In front of them, Christine sped up a little, giving them space with Talia feeling guilty. For her, this must be torture to hear when her Stephen was gone. 

"I thought I could not live without surgery, and I hate that it took me losing you to remember, but I can't live without you, Talia," Stephen told her.

"It was so hard without you," Talia agreed with him. "But with America, I had a purpose...you were right, she is brave and resilient, but she is the smartest, most incredible person too."

"She's lucky to have you," Stephen said.

"No, I'm so lucky to have her," Talia decided, fiddling with her wedding ring to ease herself. "You know, I always wanted children."

"I know," Stephen sounded regretful, having promised Talia everything, but he had failed.

"While she's not my child, she..."

"You are a mother to her, Talia," Stephen confirmed for her. "You've spent the last seven years protecting and loving her."

"I love her as if she is my own," Talia agreed, smiling sadly. "When this is over, I want us to find a home — to settle until we can find a way to reach her mom's. I want America to have a happier childhood."

"You are both welcome to stay with me," Stephen offered.

Talia smiled at that, unknowing what she wanted. Having spent a lot of her life simply surviving by running from those who could care for her or because she was afraid, Talia was exhausted. But, with Stephen, it felt like returning home and being so far from home at the same time.

"Let's start with saving America first," Talia suggested instead, unknowing if she wanted to stay or leave again.

They carried on walking, but Talia could still feel Stephen's concern. In truth, Talia would not find peace with her emotions until they had found a way back or until this nightmare with America was over.

But, Talia had also made a silent vow to herself: when she found the Scarlet Witch, Talia was going to find a way to kill her.

"Whatever happened," said Christine after a while. "This universe's you didn't do a very good job of stopping it."

Talia couldn't help but agree, yet surely there were others who could have stopped whatever this was. In their world, they had the Avengers. In Christine's: the Illuminati.

Eventually, the three came to a stop, staring up at where the New York Sanctum was. The building now stood alone with a cloak of fog surrounding it. In the circular window, a body moved with Talia catching sight of her husband's double.

"I'll tell him you said that," Stephen replied to Christine. "You both stay here."

"No," Talia told him, sternly. "We were separated last time, and everything went wrong. Where you, I go now, Stephen."

"I would listen to her, Stephen," Christine advised. "I'll be fine out here."

Stephen knew better than to argue with Talia about this. Though, even Talia was uncertain of this Doctor Strange, not trusting this world. So, together, the two walked towards the Sanctum.

"I don't like this," Talia confessed.

"Neither do I," Stephen agreed.

The doors opened for the two, revealing a long flight of stairs that reminded Talia of a stairway to heaven. However, the world they were in, it felt far from a heaven.

Both Talia and Stephen exchanged a look before they stepped inside the Sanctum. Under their feet, the water sloshed with Talia's boots protecting her feet.

Behind them, the doors slammed shut.

Talia's head turned, falling on the doors as if she was ready for another enemy to jump out from the shadows. When nothing happened, the two turned back to the stairs with Stephen being the one to take the first step.

Upstairs, Talia's eyes moved around the Sanctum, finding everything similar, yet different too from the two previous Sanctum's she had seen. Everything here, though, seemed bleak with the light stripped from the world.

"Hello?" Stephen called out.

"Stop where you are," a familiar voice ordered.

The two turned, seeing another Stephen Strange on the stairs. In the shadows, it was hard to see him properly, where the man seemed to enjoy the darkness.

"How did you get here?" Doctor Strange asked.

"By accident," Stephen answered.

"Who are you? What are you?"

"I'm just one of us."

"From the Multiverse?"

"That's right."

Then, he appeared in a rare shot of light. Talia could see her husband in him, of course: the similar robes, the white streaks in his hair, and familiar features. Yet, this Strange had a beard and his eyes seemed harsher.

"Prove it," Doctor Strange said.

At that, Stephen looked down at the floor. "We had a sister," he offered as proof, where he then looked upwards to see his opposing self's reaction. "Donna."

More intrigued, Doctor Strange moved passed further down the stairs, but Talia's eyes were on Stephen, knowing how hard it was for him to talk about his sister.

"She, uh...she died when we were kids," Stephen continued.

"How?" Doctor Strange pressed.

"We were playing on a frozen lake and..." the silence caused Talia to step towards her husband, wanting to support him, but also giving him space too. "She fell through the ice. I couldn't save her."

"Sounds about right," Doctor Strange decided, coming to a stop opposite the two. "We don't talk about that, do we?"

"No, we don't," Stephen agreed.

Then, finally, the darker Strange's eyes fell on Talia. "We don't tell anyone either," said the man, suspicious of her being here. "Who are you?"

"I'm Talia Strange," she introduced herself, not afraid of the man, but she did not trust him in the slightest.

"My wife," Stephen confirmed.

Doctor Strange stopped mid-step, head tilting with interest lighting up in his dark eyes. There was an edge to him that unsettled Talia. Stephen noticed it too as he moved closer to Talia, not trusting the shadow of himself.

"Wife?" Doctor Strange questioned, far too intrigued for Talia's liking. "How...interesting."

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Christine is just awkwardly in the way at this point😂 The next two chapters are gonna be crazy!! Any predictions?

I've added a playlist to the summary if anyone was interested in the songs I tend to listen to a lot while writing this story! So I am planning an alternative story for if Talia never vanished. I might also be torn between them having a child or not for it.