A/N) Hello everyone!
My apologies for the lack of update. This chapter was really hard to write and I've had a lot to deal with in my personal life which is still ongoing.
As I'm sure most of you are affected by this, the Coronavirus crisis is just engulfing the world at the moment. I'm in the UK and I am classed as a front-line worker in the health service here. I am currently on two-weeks holiday and I'm meant to be back at work on Monday. However, I am also at extreme high risk of serious illness from Covid-19 if I contract it as I have had a kidney transplant and on immune suppression drugs and the UK government is telling anyone with specific health conditions to stay at home for 12 weeks. I fall under that category, however, my place of work is being stubborn about this and it is stressing me out. Pretty much if they force me into work they'll be breaking the law and considering I work for the health service you would have thought they'd be looking out for their staff? Anyway... So, yeah, its been stressing me out the last few weeks and my writing has been affected.
I hope to update this weekend as well but it depends on how much I can get done between now and this weekend and if I can get the work stuff sorted...
Anyway, sorry for the rant... Please do enjoy this chapter!
Chapter Thirty
The Ambush
Wednesday 8th August 2018
Sanctuary II, Earth's Orbit
Peter sat back in the cell he had been placed in, hugging his knees to his chest. Beside him, in another cell, was his Aunt May. A force-field had been set up between them and they were unable to touch one another, only comfort the other with words. May's body was shaking consistently, her eyes tear-stained and her frequent sobs rent the air.
Peter was trying to be strong.
It had happened so fast, so unexpectedly. He hadn't had a chance to react.
One moment he'd been sitting down to dinner with his Aunt, and the next aliens had beamed themselves into their apartment and taken them, threatening to kill his Aunt if Peter attempted anything. And he would never put her life in danger. Surrendering and coming quietly had been his only option. He'd had no reason to believe they would keep her alive if he agreed to go with them, thankfully they had.
They didn't know why they were here, nor had they seen anyone apart from a group of alien warriors. But Peter knew. He could guess why they had come for them.
Mr Stark.
Why else take them if they were not going to be used as a bargaining chip?
The worst part of all was that he hadn't been wearing his suit otherwise he'd have the resources on him to potentially get them out.
His enhanced hearing picked up the sound of footsteps from down the corridor. Hard and powerful, they made the grating tremble. There was only one being who those footsteps could belong to. Peter felt his heart turn cold as the Titan, the alien who Tony had been preparing against for so long, stepped into view, casting his eyes over his two prisoners.
Peter noticed his Aunt look up, and press herself further back against the wall as Thanos leaned forward.
"You are here for a specific reason only."
"He won't surrender," muttered Peter, not intending to speak but the words had fallen out of his mouth before he could have stopped them.
"I think he will," stated Thanos smugly. "I've seen into his head. Stark cares for you deeply."
"I'm not important to him," continued Peter, trying to deflect the Titan's curiosity in him.
Thanos smirked. "You are one of the few people he cares about. If I'd been able to acquire his wife, she'd be here in your place. Or better yet his daughter."
Surprised by that, Peter scrunched his face up. "Mr. Stark doesn't have a daughter."
"Not yet he doesn't but he will."
Peter wasn't sure how to absorb this new piece of information. He knew Mr. Stark had come from the future, but he hadn't revealed much about his previous time, other than that Thanos had won. Now he was seeking to accomplish the same things. What he didn't understand was why his Aunt had been taken too. He wasn't sure it was wise to ask the question.
Thanos seemed to eerily know what he was thinking about. "You will not struggle or attempt anything whilst we have her. I've been keeping an eye on this planet for a while, especially on those well acquainted with Tony Stark. Holding you means he will attempt to rescue you. He will fail of course. And then he will be mine, and the Universe will be remade with a snap of my fingers." In a demonstration, Thanos snapped his fingers. "Now, stay quiet and sensible, boy, and you and your Aunt will live through this."
"How do I know I can trust you?" Peter wasn't naïve enough to believe his captor was telling him the truth.
Thanos leaned forward a tiny bit more. "I always keep my word, even to my enemies."
Peter watched him leave, and then shifted on the floor so he could face his Aunt. "I'm sorry…"
She shook her head. "No, it's not your fault."
He was afraid she would continue and blame Mr. Stark but she didn't, which he was thankful for. He did know the others would come for them, no matter how much he hoped they wouldn't.
Mr. Stark wasn't going to allow Peter to stay a prisoner for long. Peter knew that for sure.
"I'm sure they'll come for us…" he whispered quietly to her.
Her lips trembled. "But at what cost?"
Peter dared not to think of what the consequences could be.
Avenger's Compound
They had a plan in place. One that was quite risky but they had no other choice at present. Everyone wanted Tony to stay behind because he was the one Thanos wanted but he refused to do so, knowing going would be a high risk, but one he felt was worth doing.
They would split into two groups.
One was the Extraction group whose primary goal was to rescue Peter and his Aunt. Natasha was leading this team. Pepper, Clint, Bruce, Vision and Sam were all on her team. Vision, though he no longer had the use of the Mind Stone, still had high volumes of strength due to his genetic make-up and could be of some use to the team. Specially designed armour had been created for him by Tony. Bruce was still unable to turn into the Hulk, despite multiple attempts to do so. He was on Natasha's team because he could provide medical aid if any was needed. He had rudimentary training, enough that he could help others in need. Once they had succeeded in their goal, Natasha, Clint, and Sam would join Tony's group.
The second team was the Ambush group. This group comprised Tony, Steve, Rhodey, Thor, Wanda, Carol, Bucky, Doctor Strange, T'Challa and the Guardians of the Galaxy making an attempt to attack Thanos, in the hope of taking him down. They knew it was dangerous for Tony to be in this group but they expected Thanos to leave as soon as he realised Tony wasn't with the group attacking him. Tony hoped that keeping Thanos' attention on him would enable the others to rescue Peter and Aunt May.
He did have to stay away from Thanos though. Carol had told them she'd been able to use her powers up until a certain distance when her powers had suddenly stopped working. She estimated it to be around two hundred metres. Once Thanos had her within range, he didn't move out of it, only doing so when he left her. Once he was gone, she could use her powers again. The device on his wrist issued a blocking frequency, one that likely extended to both Tony's and Wanda's powers. No one really knew that Natasha had powers too but both she and Tony figured she'd be affected if she came into range of them.
Because of Thanos' defences against them, Wanda intended to stay away from Thanos as much as possible but at least she was able to attack him from a distance. Tony could attack Thanos from the same distance but he had elected to use his suit instead, giving him the chance to face him one-on-one.
At least that way he'd be able to get up close against Thanos without having to worry about not being able to defend himself.
They hoped they might be able to remove the device on Thanos' wrist, which would then allow Carol and Tony to go out at full power against the Titan and bring him down.
It was a risky strategy; one they hoped could end this today.
The danger was Thanos would have a strategy to detain Tony. He wanted him alive, and, no doubt, the Titan had spent the last few months preparing his army and his children to ensure Tony was captured. It wouldn't be so easy to just grab him.
T'Challa had offered his services from Wakanda and Doctor Strange had arrived at the facility, offering his own aid. He'd then gone to Wakanda to bring T'Challa back to the Facility.
If Thanos was to make another attack, the Wakandan army was on stand-by.
They had located his ship, drifting just within Earth's atmosphere, hovering over New York, no doubt the city being his first target if he needed to launch his army. Residents were being told to stay inside and to follow Government advice, not that they were following them.
If everything went according to plan, today would be the day it all ended.
They all stood in a circle, hands linked together. Tony had his eyes closed, his body slightly glowing through his Iron Man suit he wore. Minutes before, Doctor Strange had produced a portal for Natasha and her small team to use to reach Thanos' ship. Tony's team could have used the same portal and branched off into Thanos' ship, however Tony wanted to try transporting them all there with one jump.
At least then he would know he was capable of such a feat.
"Ready?" Tony asked, his mind focusing on where he wanted to go. Take me to Thanos.
He felt a lurch and then suddenly they were there, right where they needed to be, standing in the middle of Thanos' command chamber, the Titan standing right in front of them, ready for their arrival.
Unlinking hands, Tony stepped in front of his group, his lips sliding up in a taunting smile. "If you want me, come and get me!"
His helmet slid down in front of his face and he flew into action, the others racing behind him.
"Peter? What was that?" Aunt May whispered quietly through the bars.
"I think someone has come to rescue us," answered Peter. He felt positive about his assertions and hopeful. They hadn't been held for too long and they had both remained unharmed.
There were shouts and blaster shots echoing down the corridor, sounds of thuds and cries for aid as whatever battle was taking place was getting closer.
Peter could sense them now, his senses dialled up past eleven. It wouldn't be too long now, surely?
Natasha ducked, and kicked out, twisting her body lithely as she stabbed one of the Chitauri guards in the gut. Clint fired an array of arrows from behind, his aim truthful and not missing a shot. They'd reached the prison cell block with ease, which had surprised her, but Natasha supposed Thanos didn't care if his prisoners escaped.
They'd served their purpose in bringing Tony to him. All he had to do was isolate Tony from the others and block his powers and overpower him to detain him. The whole plan was risky but they had known it from the start.
Pepper in her Rescue suit flew over the top of the Chitauri, firing lasers at them, twisting back towards the prison block door. Just one more barrier to get through.
Vision was lithe and quick, moving around the corridor with ease, distracting the Chitauri so Clint could target them and take them down one by one.
There was only a small platoon of guards in the corridor. Only six and they were dealt with quickly.
"Come on! Pepper, do you think you can blow the door down?"
Pepper nodded, raised her arm, ordering the nanites to form a canon and fired. The door flew open, bashing against the sides of the wall.
Leading the way, they ran down the corridor, skidding to a halt in front of two cells.
"Peter! May!" Pepper's faceplate slid up, her eyes wide with relief. "Neither of you are hurt?"
Peter scrambled to his feet from behind the bars. "We're fine. They haven't hurt us." He was smiling broadly. "Where's Mr. Stark?"
Pepper couldn't help but grin. "You know he's Tony to you."
Beside her, Natasha was attaching a small device to the door pad to release the bars. She was trying to get May out first.
Peter shrugged. "Where is Tony?"
"With the others, distracting Thanos," admitted Pepper.
"But that's what Thanos wanted!" Peter was shocked.
Natasha grimaced as she released the bars to May's cell, giving Pepper the opportunity to get the other woman out. She started work on Peter's cell door. "The problem is, kid, is that if Tony came here to rescue you, Thanos would have likely left who attacked him to grab Tony here. If we remove you and your Aunt from Thanos' hold, he cannot use you against Tony." She leaned back on her legs as the cell door opened and Peter stumbled out into his Aunt's arms.
"But if he's fighting him…" Peter reasoned but Natasha interrupted him.
"We're not thinking of the alternatives, Peter. Tony had to come on the mission one way or another. Now we've got you and your Aunt safe, we can get you back to the Compound and the rest of us can go assist Tony."
"One problem, Nat," raised Clint, "how are we getting back to the Compound from here?"
Natasha grinned. "Sam has wings, Pepper has thrusters. They'll take May and Peter to safety. Pepper's armour can hold two people. Bruce is going to. He'll do a full check-up on them back at the Compound. We only bought Bruce along in case we needed medical here."
"I'm fine," murmured Peter. "I can fight-"
May shook her head, interrupting her nephew. "No. You're coming with me. You have no suit."
"And we didn't bring one with us either," said Pepper. "Tony wants you both safe. It's our job to make sure we complete it."
Natasha could see Peter's reluctance. "Kid, now isn't the time to put yourself in danger. For Tony's sake, stay safe." She handed him a small breathing apparatus. "You'll need this. The ship is quite high up." She could see Sam had already fitted May with one.
"I don't think I have much of a choice, do I?" Peter shrugged sadly.
Pepper turned towards Natasha. "I'm relying on you on bringing Tony back."
Natasha's lips twitched. She didn't want to make any promises. "I'll try my best."
Pepper slid her helmet down over her face.
Sam was busy instructing May to hold tightly to around his neck and keep her legs around his waist so he'd still be able to fly, and Pepper had Peter gripping one side of her back and Bruce the other. They stepped back to the other side of the corridor.
"Ready?" Clint asked, readying his bow. He would blow a hole in the wall with one of his arrows, one which had been modified for that purpose.
"Let's go for it!" said Sam, slipping his breathing apparatus into his mouth.
Natasha stepped back with Vision and Clint aimed and fired at the back of the wall into one of the cells. There was a blast and air were sweeping through. Thankfully they were not in its sight and were not pulled out, however, Sam and Pepper allowed themselves to be pulled out into the atmosphere, taking May, Peter and Bruce with them.
Turning, Natasha ran from the corridor. "Come on! We've got to get to Tony!"
"Doesn't anyone find it odd they placed the cells so close to the hull?" asked Vision as they ran down the corridor.
"Who cares?" replied Clint, running up to join them. "We rescued them!"
But Natasha had guessed why they were there. If they hadn't been rescued, no doubt Thanos would have ejected them into space in front of Tony. Or killed them if Tony had failed to face him. Removing them from Thanos' custody had been a priority.
"Come on," urged Natasha. She felt anxious and concerned. She just didn't feel now was the time they would win this. And she really hoped it wasn't going to be what she thought it was going to be either.
He'd kept his distance as much as he could from Stark and the two women with powers. This trap had been long in the making and Thanos did not want to be caught within his own net when he sprung it. He already knew his two prisoners had escaped but that didn't matter.
Today, Stark would be his.
Again.
But this time he knew how to hold him, and if the device he now had in his secondary command chamber worked the way it should, he'd be able to channel Stark's powers, harnessing them for himself whilst using the man as an energy source. It was a plan that had taken weeks to prepare.
One thing was for sure, those with powers imbued by the Infinity Stones would not be leaving this place.
As long as he obtained Stark he didn't care about the other two but it was better to take them all down at the same time.
Thanos smirked. He was looking forward to springing his trap.
No matter how many times Stark tried to come up at him, one of his children always got in the way. Thanos wasn't in the mood to fight today. He didn't need to. He had armies of Chitauri ready to do battle. With each one killed, another five joined the fray.
Oh, he would enjoy unleashing his ambush.
They thought they were ambushing him.
Fools. Stark should know not to underestimate me.
The fact Stark had was greatly amusing.
He'd moved himself to the balcony overlooking the command chamber. He saw three new figures enter the chamber. Ah, their arrival meant he could spring his trap.
It was time.
Natasha flew straight into attacking a Chitauri as soon as she arrived in the command chamber. It was a mess. So many of them roamed the chamber, taking on the Avengers, and Thanos watched from on high.
Gritting her teeth, Natasha ducked and twisted, swinging out with her batons striking one of the Chitauri down. She could see Tony in his suit, not using his powers, trying to get close to Thanos but kept being stopped by consistent attacks from either Chitauri or his children.
This wasn't the time to get Thanos.
Natasha recognised that. Part of this mission had been successful, the other part hadn't.
As she twisted again, grabbed a dagger from her belt and stabbed a Chitauri with it, Natasha rolled onto her knees, and then a wave hit her.
Energy rocked through her body and she felt drained, her strength taken from her in an instant. Tony. Tony… She tried to reach for their link but couldn't. Something was wrong… very wrong…
Her vision blurred and her head throbbed. Sickness welled in her stomach.
Then she heard the screaming.
Succeeding in pushing herself up, Natasha glanced up and saw Tony, Wanda and Carol trapped in electrical nets, consistently electrocuting them. Somehow Tony's suit had retracted back into his Arc Reactor and it was from all three of them the screams came as their bodies flayed in their bonds.
Carol's hands barely glowed, nor did Wanda's.
Staggering forwards, Natasha saw something fall around them, glass cages, locking into the deck.
Tony's body was shaking in pain as the electrical current pulsed through his body. She couldn't hear the words he was trying to say through the glass but she could guess.
Leave, Nat!
Pepper would kill her for leaving Tony behind. She still felt queasy. And she could see the others were still struggling to regain their feet.
She had no choice.
She had to make the call…
Her voice cracked as she raised it. "Everyone… retreat! Retreat…"
Doctor Strange responded first, circling his arms in a motion, creating a portal that would take them back to the Compound.
The Chitauri and Thanos' children surged forward but the Titan's impounding voice stopped them.
"Let them leave. I have what I need."
"We can't leave them!" shouted Steve, anger across his face.
He didn't seem as affected by whatever had hit Natasha. Nor were any of the Guardians who were quickly passing through Strange's portal.
Natasha blinked, her head pounding. "This isn't over, Steve…" She caught a glance at Rhodey as he approached them in his War Machine suit, parts of it falling apart. "We'll be back for them… I promise…"
It was too late to save Carol, Wanda and Tony… The Chitauri were already surrounding their prisons. Any attempt to free them now would be pointless.
She turned away, allowing Steve to help her towards Strange's portal. "I think…" she muttered as she passed through, "we were supposed to lose today."
Avenger's Compound
"How could you leave him?" Pepper shouted. "You knew Thanos wanted him and you just… left!"
Natasha bowed her head. It had been her call to make the decision. She had hated every minute of issuing that order.
She'd felt instantly better as soon as they arrived on Earth, whatever had been affecting her no longer had any influence over her. They had all assembled in the common area of the Compound.
Ever since being shown the future on Vormir, Natasha had been preparing for this very scenario. "This can be fixed. We can still stop Thanos."
"Not if he drains the Stones from Stark, he won't be," retorted Sam.
"I saw this happen," she replied. "I was shown the future on Vormir, the day we got the Soul Stone. I thought they were just events that could happen but I think it was a future, to show me how we could prepare for this."
Steve stepped forward, folding his arms over his chest. "But we haven't prepared and now we've lost Carol, Wanda and Tony!"
But Natasha was remembering what she'd seen. Tony had been held in some sort of machine, his body shimmering with six different colours… And Thanos had the power of all six stones… "This is the path to victory. No, this has to happen. Thanos won't win. This is just a set-back for us but we will triumph. I think I know how we can fix this."
"How?" asked Bruce quietly.
Natasha was smiling because they'd been given a lifeline. Thanos had allowed them to escape and this would be his undoing.
They still lacked one member of their team; one they hadn't called in because there had been no reason to do so. But now was the time they were needed. She fixed Sam with a stare, knowing what he'd mean when she spoke.
"Simple. With the help of some very small friends."
To be continued….
Please let me know what you think!
I really do not like this chapter at all... I'll probably revise this one at some point.
Tony, Carol and Wanda were always going to be caught.
And, yes, if you caught the hint at the end, Ant-Man and the Wasp will be appearing in the next chapter!
I hope to post again this weekend but there is no guarantee of that. If not it will be the following weekend :)
Until then,
the-writer1988
