stood before the Seal of Vishanti which let in inklings of starlight to bask them in. While the sorcerer had a kind expression on his face the woman was very much aware of the tense atmosphere surrounding them. Her eyes were focused on the ancient relics on display across the room and then the patterned ceiling. She was purposely avoiding his intense gaze.

She finally spoke after processing what he had told her, "I'm not a threat to any dimension or reality, this one or otherwise."

"I never said you were."

"You didn't have to," she spoke harshly, eyes now on him. "When I first sought you out when I came back, I was received by a friend. Now, not a month later, I'm being received by an enemy."

"Iris, I'm not your enemy," he insisted.

"Then why have you cast several runes throughout the Sanctum?"

"A precaution." With a flick of his hand, several symbols appeared around the room. They solidified with a flash of bright light before fizzling out of existence completely.

Iris felt the energy surge through her body as the runes flickered out, her atoms vibrating violently with the gained access to her power.

"Friends certainly doesn't take such precautions with one another, Strange."

"During your first visit, I wasn't made aware of your origins. After discovering them, one would be quite stupid not to take such precautions," Stephen explained.

"Wanna tell me how you learned my history? Not that it was ever a secret." By now her arms were defensively crossed over her chest, weight on one leg with her hip jutted out.

"My dear, the Sanctum Santorum houses the Nexus of All Realities and contains doors to other dimensions. One only has to look so hard."

He didn't directly tell her but she understood. "You spoke to him." He nodded. "And how did Oblivion welcome you, Doctor? I'm assuming not with open arms."

"Certainly not," he let out a laugh, easing the tension slightly. "He tried to kill me and then declared he would soon destroy your soul, eradicate your existence."

This made the woman snort, a hand covering her mouth as she tried to stifle an oncoming laugh of her own, "The most he would ever be able to do is torture my soul for eternity. He fucked himself over when infused his very essence into mine."

"Was betraying him worth an eternity of torment?"

"I was already living in torment. Being forced to reincarnate while I watched myself become the villain was no way to live. Of the hundreds of lifetimes I have endured, this is the first in which I have found something worthy of betrayal. If I must return to infinite pain in order to remain in this lifetime a while longer, so be it."

"I hope I can count on you during this lifetime. Your abilities may be extremely useful in the future," Stephen said, attempting to extend an olive branch.

"If it's a cause worth taking a life for." She graciously accepted it.

He nodded in understanding, his yellow gloved hands beginning a series of motions in order to open a portal to allow her to return to Berlin. "Of course, Iris. We have both seen enough death, you especially. I would never ask if it wasn't for a worthy cause."

The fabrics of reality loosened and a portal was brought into existence out of thin air. Golden energy rotated in a circular pattern as it continued to tear into the building blocks of their current dimension.

"I'm currently working with Barnes and Wilson on a time-sensitive mission but once it's done, I'll be in contact. I still need help understanding and controlling my abilities. Infinity gave me insight into my true potential but after the ritual I told you about, I feel as if I'm back to square one. I need to learn to harness my abilities without draining my life source. Did you learn how much I could use without draining it completely?" She began to walk towards the portal, knowing that the three men she left on the other side of the world would be up soon.

"Not yet but I'll continue my research. Magic is one of the very threads that tailored the universe. There must be a way to alter the ritual spell." She was halfway through the portal now, looking back over her shoulder to him, "I just need to find the right place to look."

As the portal closed, a place in Iris's heart opened. She had gained another ally in this lifetime. She had gained another thing worthy of betrayal.

beginning to peek through the curtains as Iris stepped back into her apartment building in Germany. Bucky turned onto his side to look at the source of the disturbance when he heard a peculiar noise interrupt the comfortable silence. He managed to catch a glimpse of the portal as it finished closing and immediately recognized it from the previous year when he was brought back to life.

"Since when are you best friends with sorcerers?"

The woman rolled her eyes playfully before slipping off her shoes. She left a trail of clothes behind her as she stripped and crossed the room to rummage through her drawers in search of a more comfortable outfit. She settled on a pair of grey sweat pants and a white crop top. "Since always. Magic users tend to stick together."

The man hummed in acknowledgment of her statement, trying to hide the smile that was slowly growing on his lips, "You can only have one best friend, doll. It better be me."

By now she was crawling across the foot of the bed in order to reach her side without having to physically walk around. However, Bucky grabbed a fistful of the thin fabric of her shirt and hauled her into his lap. With his back against the headboard, he easily looked down at her, puppy dog eyes in full effect. "Are you cheating on me with Doctor Strange? Is it because he wears a cape? I'll get a cape!"

She burst into a fit of laughter and quickly felt stitches creep into her sides as she convulsed, "Yes James, it's because he wears a cape!"

He pushed her off of him; his abnormal strength easily sending her rolling onto her side of the bed and then off the edgers the momentum of her moving body followed through. She landed with a thud, her limbs tangled in the sheets she took with her. "I can't believe this! You fucking whore!"

Before she could reply, Sam opened the door without knocking, concern evident on his features. He looked back and forth between Bucky chuckling on the bed and Iris laying on the floor in defeat. He is expression changed once he understood what had happened. "Well, I'm glad you two idiots are having fun in here. Thanks for inviting me to join the party."

"You could have had a party with Zemo," Barnes suggested, a wicked grin on his lips as he pushed Wilson's buttons. "I bet he's lots of fun."

the morning passed in a blurred haze as the four prepared to scale the ladder of lowlives that Zemo insisted would gain them information about the super-soldier serum. The mid-level fence he had a line on was a woman named Selby.

After memorizing her old apartment one last time, Iris locked the door. She didn't know when or if she would be back. With her life packed away in a backpack once more, the team headed to an airport where Zemo claimed a plane was waiting on them. Despite his precise diction, none of the Avengers realized it would be his plane waiting on them.

"So all this time you've been rich?" Sam asked in disbelief, his eyes wide under his sunglasses as he took in the private jet.

"I'm a Baron, Sam. My family was royalty until your friends destroyed my country."

Zemo's face lit up when he saw an older gentleman standing in front of the stairs that led up to the entrance of the jet. He exchanged a few words in a foreign language with the man and kissed both of his cheeks.

"Please," the Baron invited the other three to follow him up the steps.

Sam mumbled an incoherent mess of syllables to the older man as followed after Iris, seemingly trying to imitate whatever language the jet owner had spoken. Bucky just shook his head at Sam's actions as he brought up the rear of the team.

The Sokovian shed the fur collar jacket he had been wearing and took her backpack from her. He placed both in an empty seat in the back of the private jet. She thanked him with a twinkle of admiration in her eyes.

Before long, the plane was in the air with the four people settled into their seats. Bucky found himself sitting across from Sam, much to his dismay. However, anything was better than having to face the man who had framed him so many years ago on a long flight. He would have much rather shared a side with his best friend but Sam would do.

"Apologies if that's a little warm," the older gentleman, seemingly a butler of sorts, reappeared. "The fridge is out." He handed the Baron a flute of champagne, "But I will see if there is some good food in the galley." Sokovian words were exchanged before the butler spoke English once more, his tone one of pure joy, "It's good to have you back, sir."

The woman took in the appearance of the man in front of her. Dressed in a deep purple turtle neck and sipping his alcohol, he looked at home. For the first time in almost a decade, there was a sense of normalcy in his life. He was exactly where he should be: enjoying the finer luxuries of life.

The men began to speak to one another about a topic that didn't concern her. Looking out the window, she zoned out, hyperfocused on the clouds they easily flew through. In the air, above it all, nothing concerned the four of them. Not the super-soldier serum, nor the Flag Smashers. Up here, they were untouchable.

"Who is Nakajima?"

In an instant, the facade was broken and the curtain dropped. Reality came rushing back, hitting her square in the face. Bucky had his gloved hand around Zemo's throat, a menacing look in his eyes.

"If you touch that again, I'll kill you."

Sam remained in his seat, refusing to get between the super soldier and his target. Iris flew to her feet, her hand grabbing onto her best friend's bicep. "James!" He didn't budge but continued to stare daggers into Zemo's eyes, driving his point home. "That's enough!" She raised her voice - something she rarely did, especially to him. He glanced over at her before returning to his seat with an angry huff.

The Solovian apologized and the conversation turned to the topic of the book when Sam observed that it had been Steve's. Then it took another turn with the mention of Marvin Gaye. Thankfully the portion of the conversation ended with the two men bickering as always and Sam reluctantly agreeing with Zemo.

"I like Marvin Gaye."

"Steve adored Marvin Gaye."

"You must have really looked up to Steve. But I realized something when I met him. The danger with people like him, America's Super Soldiers, is that we put them on pedestals."

"Watch your step, Zemo," Wilson warned.

"They become symbols. Icons. And then we start to forget about their flaws." Iris hadn't forgotten Steve's flaws, it haunted her best friend's nightmares. James certainly hadn't forgotten his own for they plagued him.

"From there, cities fly, innocent people die." She wanted to reach out and comfort the Sokovian who had lost everything.

"Movements are formed, wars are fought. You remember that, right? As a young soldier sent to Germany to stop a mad icon." She wanted to reach out and comfort the American who had lost everything.

She reached out to neither, incapable of crossing the expanses between her and them. How could she comfort those who had lost everything when she was still trying to process her own loss hundreds of years later? How could she reach across that great expanse when she couldn't even reach inwards to herself?

She had become a symbol herself, an icon of death. Forced to do Oblivion's bidding in order to survive, passively creating destruction and bringing death wherever she was sent. She had so many flaws of her own. Innocent lives had been lost by her own hand. How could she ever reach that same blood-stained hand out to those who were affected by such loss?

"Do we want to live in a world full of people like the Red Skull? That is why we're going to Madripoor."

There never seemed to be time to contemplate her past and process her own trauma. Perhaps she would have a moment to breathe and heal but that moment would not be now. For now, she would continue to let it build up as she forced it to remain in the darkest depths of her soul, battering against the dam that was bound to break. Her agony was a force to be reckoned with and one day even she herself wouldn't be able to withstand it. But for now, it erodes the blockade.

Wilson looked back and forth between Zemo and Barnes, "What's up with Madripoor? You guys talk about it like it's Skull Island."

The woman didn't understand her friend's reference but could deduct that Madripoor wasn't a place they should be happy to visit. She was correct.

"It's an island nation in the Indonesian archipelago. It was a pirate sanctuary back in the 1800s."

"It's kept its lawless ways. But we cannot exactly walk in as ourselves. James, you will have to become someone you claim is gone."

While her best friend remained silent, Iris did not. "No, absolutely not!" She voiced, shaking her head in disagreement. "He's not going through that again. I trust you but find a different plan."

"Unfortunately, there is no other way," the Sokovian replied, his tone soft, seemingly apologizing to her. He didn't wish to upset her in any way. In fact, that was one of the last things he wanted to do.

"Doll," James offered, his hand reaching across the aisle and grabbing onto hers. He had reached across the vast expanse but she couldn't find it within herself to reciprocate his actions. How could she when she was an icon of death?

Her eyes briefly met Zemo's and she could tell that he too wanted to offer her his support. Had they not been with the other men, he would have consoled her. However, any advancements would quickly be rebuked by the two Avengers that already didn't trust him. He wanted to reach across the vast expanse but she wouldn't have been able to find it within herself to reciprocate his actions. How could she when she was an icon of death?

These were the agonies of an icon and they were gnawing at the chains keeping them at bay.

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*