Sorcerer in the Marvel Universe

"How did I get this far?" Melinda asked, her expression unreadable. "Your people never tried to stop me."

She didn’t react to the old nickname this time. No irritation. No sharp retort. Just a calm, measured stare.

"Did they decide I wasn’t a threat?"

"I’ve never underestimated you."

Evenson lowered his head slightly but didn’t turn around.

"My people aren’t exactly known for restraint. If they’d tried to stop you, someone would’ve gotten hurt."

He spoke matter-of-factly.

"You’re not Captain America. You don’t shrug off injuries like he does. You’re not one of the disposable strike teams I can delay without thinking. And you’re not Natasha... who has her own unique circumstances."

He paused.

"So the only reliable way to stop you would have been to wound you first."

"Is that your way of saying you’re worried about me?"

"I owe you."

The answer came without hesitation.

During the battle against the Ghost Rider, Melinda had risked her life to buy him precious seconds. She had called it duty.

Evenson hadn’t forgotten.

"You still remember?" she asked, genuinely surprised. "That wasn’t personal. I was following orders."

"I remember."

There wasn’t a trace of irony in his voice.

"I also remember you stopped field work after that. So why are you here now?"

The trip to New Mexico had been sold as a diplomatic assignment. Neither of them had expected it to become a battle for survival.

"I came as the driver."

Her pistol remained lowered as she slowly circled behind him.

"And I told you before... if it involved you, I’d make an exception."

Evenson let out a quiet laugh.

"So you finally got official permission to beat me up?"

It had been a joke between them at the time.

Melinda’s expression softened by the smallest fraction.

"That was what I wanted then."

A faint sadness slipped into her voice.

"Now... I’d settle for beating you up and bringing you back alive."

Evenson rolled the words around in his mind.

"Bring me back alive."

"So Fury authorized lethal force."

"Yes."

She didn’t dodge the question.

"He did."

"Thank you for telling me."

Evenson smiled bitterly.

"I just didn’t expect Nick Fury to lose his patience so quickly."

"You pushed him too far."

For the first time, emotion entered Melinda’s voice.

"You’re different from anyone S.H.I.E.L.D. has dealt with. Because of everything you’ve done for the agency, they overlooked a lot. Your eccentricities. Even some crimes that would’ve landed anyone else in prison."

She fixed him with an unwavering stare.

"But kidnapping Peggy Carter crossed every line."

Evenson sighed.

"Fair enough."

He couldn’t exactly blame Fury.

From S.H.I.E.L.D.’s perspective, he’d abducted one of the organization’s most respected figures without warning. The room looked like the aftermath of an interrogation. Any director would’ve assumed the worst.

"This is your last chance."

Melinda finally raised her pistol.

The barrel centered on the middle of his back.

"Release Agent Carter."

"Come with me."

"You might still survive."

She knew Fury well enough to understand what would happen.

If Evenson surrendered alive, Fury probably wouldn’t execute him.

He was too valuable.

Too unique.

Instead, he’d disappear forever into one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s deepest black sites.

The Sandbox.

The Fridge.

A prison no one escaped.

It wasn’t freedom.

But it was life.

"I appreciate the concern."

"I mean it."

Urgency crept into her voice.

"Before something happens that can’t be undone."

Peggy was unconscious, but alive.

Outside, the sounds of battle echoed through the building, yet no casualty reports had come in.

Things were bad.

They weren’t irreversible.

Not yet.

Just a little longer...

Evenson’s eyes drifted toward Peggy.

Unlike ordinary people, he could sense the struggle taking place beyond the physical.

Peggy Carter’s soul was still locked in conflict with the Doomguard’s essence.

The preparations he’d made beforehand had ensured only one outcome.

She would win.

Completely.

She simply hadn’t won... yet.

"Melinda."

He turned around at last.

She didn’t lower the pistol.

"You really believe you can take me back?"

His eyes settled on hers.

"Or kill me?"

He began walking toward her.

"One Captain America?"

"Steve couldn’t even beat Tyler."

Another step.

"Or Natasha?"

"She and Sarah are probably keeping each other occupied right now."

Knowing Sarah, Evenson suspected Natasha was the one being toyed with.

He kept advancing until only a foot separated him from the muzzle.

Then he stopped.

An invisible barrier, prepared long before Melinda arrived, rested between the gun and his chest.

He knew exactly what kind of woman Melinda May was.

Decisive.

Fearless.

The sort of operative who would pull the trigger without hesitation if she believed it necessary.

Only a fool would face her unprepared.

"There are things that simply have to be done," she said quietly.

"That doesn’t mean they’ll succeed."

Evenson slowly raised his right hand.

His index and middle fingers snapped straight.

"In fact... all I need to do is move two fingers and..."

He stopped.

Nothing happened.

He frowned.

Bent his fingers.

Straightened them again.

Still nothing.

He scratched his head, genuinely baffled.

What happened?

This had been such a perfect moment to make a dramatic entrance.

Melinda smiled.

Actually smiled.

It was small, but unmistakably satisfied.

"Surprised?"

"Tony Stark built something specifically to deal with you."

Now Evenson looked even more confused.

Tony had built anti-Evenson technology?

When?

The two of them had never even fought.

Did Tony just imagine how his powers worked?

Seeing his bewilderment, Melinda explained.

"Tony’s armor records everything during combat."

"He analyzed the data from your fight with Obadiah Stane."

"He detected an invisible energy signature unlike anything he’d ever encountered."

"He concluded it was the mental energy you call spiritual power."

"After months of research..."

"He built a device that blocks it."

Recognition dawned across Evenson’s face.

"Right..."

"That makes sense."

Melinda returned to her usual calm demeanor.

"You said once that science and magic both seek truth."

"They’re different paths leading toward the same destination."

She tightened her grip on the pistol.

"So surrender."

"Otherwise..."

"You’ll have to kill every one of us."

"Oh."

Evenson nodded thoughtfully.

His raised hand dropped to his side.

A second later, Melinda collapsed.

Her body went limp before she even realized she’d lost consciousness.

Evenson caught her before she hit the floor and gently carried her to the same chair Dottie had occupied earlier.

As he settled her into it, he couldn’t help shaking his head.

"A signal jammer?"

He chuckled.

"So I just switched frequencies."

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