Chapter Text
Today has been an odd day. Marc and Jake had decided to bring Steven over to New York for a short trip, A.K.A a mission for Khonshu, which Steven had reluctantly agreed to. Only Marc and Jake works under Khonshu now with Steven occasionally taking reign whenever Khonshu is feeling generous enough to lend him the suit— which happens more often than not.
They’ve build a relationship, believe it or not.
Layla is coming too. She had been so fond of Steven to the point where she had stopped trusting either of the alters to take care of him.
Marc? Nah. Jake? Oh hell nah. Was basically what Steven heard the last time the three had an argument about him. Americans.. and an Egyptian if you would.
It was supposed to be a short and calming trip where Marc and Jake will finally introduce Steven’s to the beauty of New York City’s obese rats and unnecessarily large snacks, but well, guess what?
New York’s under attack. Is that news? No, not really, but Steven never lived here— and he’s not having fun.
Marc had put him in charge of the duffle bag which contains all of their stuff in it.. to which he had protested to, saying there’s not enough space for all of their stuff and clothes, but Marc and Jake wasn’t as concerned as he was.
Why?
“I mean, we sleep naked, cariño.”
“Yeah.”
“To hell, both of you.”
Yup. Steven had to live with these two grown adults that’d walk around their shared claustrophobic flat in only their shorts or boxers, whatever the Americans call it. Steven’s the only one in that flat that still have his dignity intact and wears a shirt and sweatpants.
Well, unless it’s summer. Only then would Steven consider taking off his pants, but not his shirt! No one should see his soft tummy other than himself. The separation from Marc and Jake had been showing signs on Steven. He’s gotten softer, chubbier even, and his hair had grown longer with his curls covering up one side of his face. His two alters kept their hair short and slicked back, sometimes fighting over the hair gel that they shared.
“No, hermano. I need this more than you.”
“No, you literally don’t. Just push your hair back and put on the cap!”
“¡Hazlo tú entonces!” (“You do it then!”)
“I don’t wear caps!”
That argument usually happens whenever there was only a chunk of the hair gel’s left— and Steven could’ve sworn the amount was shareable, but also, Marc usually dumps two chunks of it into his hair so he somehow understood the concern.
Steven was snapped out of his train of thoughts when Jake was thrown into the wall next to the alley he was hiding in.
“Joder, mi espalda..” (“Fuck, my back..”). The Spaniard continued to mutter curses under his breath, stretching and cracking his back while doing so to get ready to jump back into the fight before catching Steven’s gaze.
“Querido Dios, cariño. You should be at the end of the alley, not here.”
“No, I need blackmail materials.”
“¿Materiales para darnos una clase magistral?” (“Materials to lecture us?”)
“Precisely, love. Now go back before Marc gets—”
Marc Spector was precisely thrown into the previous spot of where Jake’s back had resided a few moment prior with vengeance before Steven could even finish his sentence.
“.. fuuuuuuuuck, my back.”
“Eso fue lo que ella dijo.” (“That’s what she said.”)
Jake had quipped before jumping back into the fight with Marc grunting out a small ‘shut the fuck up’ under his breath.
“Okay?” Steven asks as he dust off the rubbles from Marc’s ceremonial suit.
“Yeah. Nothing Khonshu can’t fix.”
“Right. The old pigeon.”
“You take that back!” Khonshu had childishly screamed from across the block, earning a chuckle from both Steven and Marc before the other had to go back and lend Jake a helping hand.
And then, Peter spawned in front of Steven like a ghost causing the Brit to fall on his bum. Very manly of him.
“Oops, sorry, sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you. Just wanted to see what’s up.”
The Moon Boys had been aware of Peter’s identity for a while now and Peter had always known them. It’s not like any of them had bothered covering up their identities anyway. Villains mostly avoided them despite the three being separate entities now— they’re still unpredictable regardless. Sometimes, Steven could be unpredictable to the point of giving his Americans (Marc and Jake) and Egyptian (Layla) a good ole heart attack.
Marc especially hated it. He had stopped trying to be overprotective of Steven a few years ago, to give the man autonomy as the Brit finally has his own body, but he never really got rid of the instinct. It just wasn’t dormant. So sometimes, he would yell and lecture Steven about getting hurt and how risky some of his actions are while disregarding his own selfish and hurtful decisions.
Sometimes, it leads to either Jake or Layla intervening. Sometimes, it leads to those two throwing hands with Marc. Steven didn’t like it, but he understood. And he appreciated them for being on his side, and Marc for caring so much for him, but Steven could take care of himself.
He has to.
Steven have had this stupid unconscious guilt since he had found out about Marc. Since he learned that Marc tried to give him a normal life by hiding away and concealing the truths about their condition and everything else. It had hurt, yes, but Steven understood. Maybe he should stop understanding. Maybe it’s valid for him to feel hurt, but Marc..
“Oh wow, looks like Dr. Stephen Strange has decided to join in the fun.”
Peter started commentating as he peeks out of the corner.
“What even is that?”
Before Peter could answer, Dr. Strange appeared in front of them, urgency writing all over his face.
“The spell is getting weaker. It’s not serving its purpose anymore.”
Peter’s face soured at the news. Spell?
“You said it’d worked!”
The sorcerer supreme swallowed at the accusation. Not much of an accusation when what the other party is saying is correct anyway.
“I did. We’re going to fix this, but I’ll have to remove you for a bit.”
Steven’s face paled and he protectively stood in front of Peter.
“Whoa there, mate. What do you mean by removing him?”
Steven had always viewed Peter as his pup. He had only seen Peter either on TV or whenever the young adult had business to be taken care of in London.. which was rare. Sometimes, it would be Jake who’d bring him over to ‘solve’ a case together, in reality, the Spaniard knew that Peter was a source of happiness for Steven. Steven was old. Is old. When they had shared a body, the designation was fixed. He was an alpha just as the other two, but as they’ve gotten separated the designations had changed to fit into their personal selves.
Marc and Jake are still alphas, whilst Steven’s had changed into an omega. Steven’s an old omega— technically, he’s still able to have kids, but it’s risky so he had shifted his attention to this poor broke New York boy from Queens instead.
“It’s the only way.”
“By erasing him from the face of the Earth?!” Steven raised his voice a bit, still protectively shielding Peter behind his back as the younger tried to calm him.
“Technically, no. I’m sending him to a universe where he doesn’t exist.”
That got Steven even more heated.
“Alone? Just like that? What about his life here? You’re just dropping him off anywhere to figure it out all on his own?”
The sorcerer made a weird expression.
“He doesn’t have to be alone.”
“What?”
A portal suddenly opened beneath them and—
“¡Mago loco! ¿Qué has hecho?” (“You crazy wizard! What have you done?”)
Was the last thing Steven heard as he fell through and passed out.