Authors Note:
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! This is the first story that I have posted, and the first one in this fandom that I have ever written. I hope you guys like it!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or any of the characters except the ones that I invented like Ri. Unfortunately. The plot of the story is my own except for the parts that come from the plots of the movies in MCU.
Chapter One:
Dust and debris rained down all around the city as terrified people ran for the relative safety of the buildings and shops lining the street. The upper floors seemed to crumble like sand against the onslaught of what could only be an alien army. Ri stood on the sidewalk letting the crowd rush around her. She brushed her chocolate brown hair out of her eyes and stared up in disbelief as a giant green man that could only be the Hulk tackled what looked to be a mechanical flying lizard spaceship two streets down. It was apparently going to be one hell of a Monday morning as it seemed reality had just flown out the window. Ri was really starting to wish she had gotten that second espresso shot in her coffee that morning. A sudden loud noise in the background had her spinning and rapidly ducking a flying piece of concrete before it clobbered her to the street. The anguished cry behind her told her that someone hadn't been as lucky but Ri didn't have the ability to check on them due to the fact that a hover board with an alien on it was trying to decimate anything that moved.
Ri knew she was in trouble because there weren't a lot of places that were safe from alien lasers as far as she could see. She had run out of the small boutique on the left side of the street because the hover board riding aliens were shooting people through the glass store fronts and she didn't have any desire to be a fish in a barrel. So, she did the only thing she could think to do; she turned and ran towards the corner. A noise from behind her had Ri's head turning. A fresh wave of hover board aliens had rounded the corner and it sent an icy spear of panic through her heart. There was nowhere to hide, nowhere safe from these things. Not watching where she was going, Ri tripped and her body slammed into a crater in the earth. Ri groaned and pushed her body up while she shook her head to clear it. As she picked herself up off the ground she noticed that she was standing in a crater made by a falling hovercraft. The aliens were getting closer and closer but Ri stood frozen. She had an idea. It was a crazy idea, and she was pretty sure that it was suicide, but she was literally standing in proof that said that the aliens couldn't penetrate the street. The aliens were almost to her block and any sane person would have taken cover but she knew that there was a subway entrance just a block or so over. It was the same subway entrance she had come out of just a few short hours before. If she got back there she could get back to the hotel and two of the most important people in her life. Running was something that wasn't new to her, thanks to her grandfather, although dodging debris and flying aliens definitely was. She managed to doge to the corner of the block and pressed herself to the wall. Closing her eyes she centered herself and took a deep breath before she cautiously leaned around the corner and came face to face with a redhead woman dressed like a sexy ninja. She shrieked and stumbled back around the corner as the woman reached to steady her.
"Jesus Christ!" Ri cried as she was slammed against the wall and started to protest loudly at her rough treatment. The woman shushed her before ranting in Russian about idiotic girls getting themselves killed trying to spot the hot super heroes. Ri's eyes narrowed at the woman.
"You know I speak Russian right? And I'm not trying to spy on super heroes. There's a subway entrance right over there and it's the closest one to here. Those things don't seem to be able to do much damage to the ground even when they crash. Running into a building is just asking to be killed but the subway? I can get out of here." The redhead looked back at her analyzing her statement.
"Really? Russian? That's a first." The woman looked back around the corner and took aim at more of the invading alien force. After shooting another one out of the sky she resumed studying Ri like nothing had even happened. "Look, I don't have time to babysit little girls that don't know when to hide. So you are going to have to-" a loud bang sounded and a hulk roar came from around the corner that had both women leaning to see what happened. The redhead swore in Russian again when they saw the Hulk appear before leaping up the building a floor at a time. More and more aliens were attacking two men in the street, both of which were armed with the most ridiculous of weapons; a hammer and a shield. Narrowing her eyes Ri thought she recognized the one man as Captain America. "I know Barton. I'm on my way back, just dealing with a little civilian insubordination first." The redhead woman kept surveying the scene trying to figure out the best way to help when Ri spotted a man with a bow high on the roof ready to fire.
"I don't have time for this. Just go back the way you came. I am barely going to make it back to the rest of them without having to watch out for—" The redhead started while still looking for escape routes.
"There!" Ri yelled pointing up. The other woman sighed and looked back at her with a calculating look. Ri rolled her eyes. "Look, I know you don't know me and I know you think I'm an idiot but you really need to calm down for a second and think. That arrow guy is going to draw fire and with the alien thingies already taking hits from the other heroes they are going to be pretty distracted. So, if we sneak along the wall and go from barrier to barrier and fallen car to fallen car we can sneak close enough that you can help and I can get to the subway." The redhead sighed and rubbed her temples.
"I must be crazy. If we survive this we can talk about how the hell you came up with that plan. Stay low and move fast." The redhead took a breath before crouching and pulling out a fresh gun. "I'm going to count to three and we go. Ready?" She asked without looking. Ri huffed and crouched while voicing her affirmative. The redhead counted down with her fingers and then took off faster than Ri thought she would. As she fought to keep up while still staying low, Ri watched their surroundings. She wasn't a combat veteran by any means but she at least wanted to see her death coming. As they moved from obstacle to obstacle, Ri noticed that the man with the bow started covering them and sank a little lower to the ground. If he saw them, then the aliens would too. They finally made it near the fighting when the redhead stopped and turned to her to make sure she was still there.
"Okay, this is where it gets dicey." The redhead set her gun down on the ground between them. She quickly grabbed a discarded alien spear off the ground and swung it around to shoot bolts of blue lightning at the invading force.
"It wasn't dicey before? If it wasn't for arrow guy up there we would have been toast! Also, how in the good god damn do you know how to work that thingy?!" Ri demanded. The redhead smiled at her before taking out another hover board that zoomed too close. "Clint can you get these things off of me? I'm taking too much fire to advance." The redhead listened and then scowled at the arrow guy on the roof. "Fine. Can someone else give me a hand? Clint has his hands full with Stark." Ri suddenly had an epiphany.
"Wait… TONY Stark? Iron man? THAT'S who you're taking to?!" Ri practically yelled in excitement. The redhead laughed lightly and it sounded incredibly out of place in the middle of the battle. Taking out a few more aliens, the redhead got a more serious look on her face. "Go, Ill cover you." She turned and shot five bolts of energy in quick succession and Ri realized that they were about to be pancaked and charbroiled by a crashing hover board. However, just before that could happen, a red and blue blur pushed her to the ground violently and covered her body with theirs. Ri screamed and covered her face in fear. When the heat receded, she looked up into the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen.
"I heard someone needed a rescue. Nat." He nodded to the redhead and then at Ri, "Ma'am." She gaped at him as the shock wore off and she realized that none other than Captain America himself had just saved her life.
"Uh… Hi?" She mumbled incoherently. The Captain looked to Nat in question and Nat just laughed again before taking out another alien with the spear.
"What are you doing involving a civilian in this fiasco?" The redhead rolled her eyes while the captain threw his shield. They watched it rebound of two aliens, a car, and zoom heavily back into his hand.
"She involved herself."
"She is standing right here," Ri grumbled. They looked at her skeptically and began to try to formulate a plan to get all of them to safety. While they were talking hurriedly, Ri noticed movement from just behind her newfound savior. Without thinking she reached over and grabbed the gun Nat had set down in favor of the alien spear and pointed it right at Captain Americas head. Both Nat and the Captain looked at her in utter shock and confusion before she yelled, "Down!" and stood up slightly to get a better center of gravity. He ducked just as she fired three quick rounds into the head of the alien that had managed to somehow survive the hover board crash. It fell and the two heroes pulled Ri back to the ground before another alien could take advantage of her raised stance. Ri closed her eyes in relief, knowing that she had just gotten really really lucky.
"Who the hell are you?!" The redhead was looking at her as if trying to decide if she was dangerous, lucky as all hell, or just plain stupid.
"I was wondering that myself, ma'am, if I'm honest." Captain America asked her. Ri just shook as the adrenaline started to wear off looking back and forth between them dumbfounded.
"Oh… uh….. I ….." Nat and the Captain looked at each other communicating silently before Nat reached over and grabbed both sides of her face, forcing Ri to look into her eyes.
"Okay, you're doing great. Breathe." Ri took a deep breath and the woman smiled at her while the Captain covered them. "The shock should wear off in a few seconds. I need you to concentrate. We have to get to safety. You hear me? We are almost there. You can do this." Ri blinked at her before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She opened her eyes and looked into the woman's eyes before nodding.
"I think I'm okay. Did I just kill an alien?! Holy crap. Okay. Focus. What do we do now?" The redhead looked at her for a second before turning to the Captain.
"That's a good question. Steve? You wanna take this one?" Steve turned around and looked intensely at Ri and then back up the street.
"There seems to be an opportunity here since all of the Avengers are in one place. Let's go and go fast back towards that barricade and we can get her and the rest of the civilians into the subway entrance. That's where we have to defend. It's collapsed partway in according to the police but there's at least reliable cover." He looked back at the two women and smiled tightly, reaching a hand out to pull Ri to her feet. "You ready?" Ri nodded and he got ready to lead them off towards the barricade and the civilians that Thor was guarding. Captain America put his hand to his com and started to give orders. "Ok, here is how it's going to go. Nat and I are going to lead this civilian over to you Thor and then we are going to get the rest of these people into the subway. The police can hold that position until we get a handle on this alien situation. Once that happens we can get these people to better safety. Tony, Clint, cover us." Cap took off first followed immediately by a still trembling Ri, with the redhead taking up the rear to cover their backs. After taking out a few more aliens and having hover boards fall around them like rain as the rest of the Avengers covered their escape, the trio finally made it to the last group of civilians. The Avengers escorted the group to the entrance of the subway and Ri turned to look at the redhead while the other civilians took off down the steps.
"Thank you, warrior ninja woman," Ri said with a smirk. "I have no idea who you are but thank you." The redhead laughed and Captain America smiled about to say something to her but a loud roar cut off any hope of conversation. An influx of aliens seemed to be pouring out of the hole in the sky. The redhead pushed Ri towards the stairs as she and the rest of the Avengers geared up for another attack. Captain America started calling out orders over the coms. The redhead yelled at her to run so she turned and took the stairs as fast as she could. When she got to the bottom she was out of breath and shaking like a leaf. When she went to run her fingers through her hair she realized she was still holding the redheads gun tightly in her hand.
"Now what the hell do I do with this?!" she thought frantically. The ground above their heads rumbled and shook under the weight of the battle and Ri slunk back against the wall. The officers were looking up the stairs and holding their guns at the ready, but Ri didn't feel brave enough to join them. Tucking the gun into the messenger bag she had slung over her shoulders, she took a deep breath and walked further away from the entrance. Ri cowered against the wall for a second trying not to cry as the adrenaline wore off further. She slowly slid down the wall and wrapped her arms around her knees. Hopefully it all would be over soon she thought as she prayed she wouldn't need to use the gun again. Thinking back to the people that saved her life she hoped she would get to see them again. She allowed herself a small smile; she had met Captain America! Her grandfather was never going to believe this.
