Chapter Four

Steve fought his way out from underneath the now defunct mantis machines just as he heard Tony make a surprised sound.

"What the hell?"

Steve looked around to see the pieces were moving around and he tensed, expecting them to reassemble but it seemed they had other plans. He watched on in amazement as the pieces fought to find their way to some metal, where they promptly seemed to disappear into it. Steve saw Iron Man's armour take on the fragments as well.

Tony shot up into the air, attempting to shake those still being absorbed off. "Jarvis!" he barked. "Diagnostics, my suits been compromised."

"Suit integrity is intact, sir."

"It can't be. I saw the mantis pieces integrate with my suit, check again."

"The metal has become inert on combining with your suit alloy, sir."

Steve looked down at his shield and saw the metal fragments were attempting to bond with his shield, but failing. He opened his mouth to tell Tony this piece of pertinent information when Steve's eye was caught by a man appearing from a ticket box at the entrance of the little carnival. The man seemed to be African American, but his skin and hair was a deathly white colour and his eyes such a pale blue they were almost white as well. Their eyes met and the other man looked instantly afraid and turned around, starting to run in the opposite direction. Steve leapt to his feet and ran over the top of the writhing metal pieces in hot pursuit. "Stark!" he called out. "I think I've got the guy who did this!" There was no answer from his comms ear piece and Steve was already out of eyeshot of Tony as he chased down the man dodging and weaving through the trees in front of him. His comms must have been damaged in the mantis melee but Steve couldn't worry about that now. He had to catch the man in front of him because no one ran this fast without something to hide.

Steve lost him for a moment when the trees became thicker, but then the sound of a motor bike roaring to life helped him find the other man again. He bolted out from a line of trees just in time to see his fast-footed albino friend making a getaway on a stolen motor bike. Steve glanced over to see that there were actually a line of motor bikes which could be rented to take a ride on.

"Cap!" Steve turned at the sound of his name just in time to catch some keys which had been thrown his way by a bald headed young man. The young man grinned at him. "Go get 'em, Cap."

Steve gave a half-smile and nodded his appreciation for the help before leaping on the nearest bike and taking off after the absconding man. He leant down over the front of the bike and opened it right up, intent on catching up with the albino man. Very quickly Steve was out of the park and onto the street and had the man in his sights again. They were both forced to dodge the carnage the mantises had left in their wake as they weaved through the broken streets of New York City's centre on their bikes. The man kept throwing frantic looks back over his shoulder at him while Steve kept his unblinking gaze on the man in front of him. He was closing the gap between them, despite all the manoeuvring they had to do around the many obstacles in the way of broken buildings, cars and buses.

As the man rounded the next corner, he lost control of his bike and skidded along the bitumen of the road, eventually tumbling off his bike. Steve leapt off his bike and rolled gracefully to his feet and continued to run without missing a beat. The albino man pulled out a gun and started firing at him as he scrambled to his feet and continued to run. Steve protected himself with his shield, ducking behind it and feeling as the bullets bounced off the vibrantium. As soon as the bullets stopped, Steve was in hot pursuit again. Out of the corner of his eye Steve saw a young, blonde woman with a group of twenty or so children around her who looked to be no more than six or seven years old. "Take cover!" he yelled at them and saw the young woman run to usher the children to safety.

Steve looked back at the albino in time to see him reach into his coat jacket. The man threw the contents up in the air and at first Steve thought they were silver ball bearings, but then the little metal balls suddenly sprouted wings and he realised he was looking at a tiny version of the praying mantises the Avengers had been battling all afternoon. Steve expected the creatures to hone in on him, only they didn't. Instead, they headed directly for one of the children who had not been able to keep up with his classmates. The child had tripped and fallen over some rubble and was lying completely exposed in the street. The hordes of miniature menaces were making a beeline for the helpless little boy.

"Joshua!" he heard the blonde woman scream from across the road and before Steve could yell for her to stay where she was, the woman was running back across to the child and throwing her body over the top of his to protect him from the oncoming danger.

For a split second Steve was torn. In an instant he knew this had been the albino's plan, to force him to choose between continuing to pursue him and protecting innocent bystanders. It galled Steve to let the other man escape, but there was no real choice for him. He ran towards the woman and child huddled together in the open and managed to reach them just as the tiny mantises descended on them shooting lasers from their eyes, just like their larger counterparts. Steve wrapped a protective arm around the woman who was holding the child close and held up his shield. The laser fire bounced off the vibrantium as they started their unrelenting attack.

Steve could feel the woman shaking underneath him even as she kept her voice impressively calm as she reassured the child beneath them both. "It's alright, Joshua," she whispered to him, "Captain America is here, you don't have to be afraid. We're both safe."

The young woman's complete faith in him made Steve even more determined to protect them both. He put his lips to her ear. "I'm going to draw them away, take the boy and run when I say go," he said urgently to her. The woman nodded her head and Steve saw her take a tight grip of the boy's hand. Steve lunged at the mantises as he yelled at the woman. "GO!" Steve glanced behind him and saw the woman and boy run to the cover of a nearby shop front where the rest of children were cowering. Steve was now able to give his full attention to the tiny army of potentially lethal bugs which were still trying to shoot him down as he bobbed and weaved about. He brought his shield down on a collection of them and smashed them into the ground. The pieces wiggled on the ground and Steve quickly kicked half of the pieces down a nearby drain, knowing they'd have a lot more trouble regrouping now. He was turning to face down the rest of the buzzing mantises when there was a sudden cry nearby.

"Look out!" he heard the woman cry and Steve turned his head just in time to have her tackle him to the ground. She wasn't very big, but because he'd been slightly unbalanced already and not expecting it, the two of them crashed to the ground as Steve felt a bullet rush by the side of his face and the sound of two bangs coming almost simultaneously. From where he was on the ground Steve craned his neck to see the albino on the other side of the street holding a smoking gun. When he saw Steve was still alive though, he threw the most likely empty gun away and started to run again. The young woman was still lying on top of him, looking down at him with wide, hazel eyes, her round face framed by shoulder length blonde hair. Steve looked back at her. "Are you alright?" he asked her quickly, wanting to go after the albino, but needing to make sure his unexpected rescuer was alright first.

She blinked a couple of times, her face pale. "I-I think I've been shot," she whispered unevenly.

Steve's heart dropped at hearing that. "Are you sure?"

"I don't know," she said shakily, "I've never been shot before."

Very gently Steve pushed against her shoulders and sat up, turning the woman over so now she was in his arms. His gaze swept her body and immediately saw the creeping red stain on her left side. On instinct Steve pressed a glove hand to her wound. She emitted a tiny gasp of pain and he gave her an anguished look. "I'm sorry," said Steve unhappily, "I have to stem the bleeding."

She gave him a brave smile. "I know, it's alright, it doesn't hurt, not really."

Steve knew she was lying to make him feel better and it made him feel worse. He was meant to protect the civilians, not get them shot. Why hadn't he seen what the albino was up to? Why had he let his attention get so distracted by those damn bugs that an innocent woman had to push him out of the way of an oncoming bullet and ended up taking it for him?

"Miss O'Brien, are you alright?"

Steve looked up to see the tremulous question was asked by the boy she'd called Joshua, the one Steve had originally been trying to protect. The rest of the children were crowding around them, all with traumatised looks on their tear streaked faces.

The woman in Steve's arms fixed a bright smile on her face. "I'm alright, class, don't worry. Captain America is just going to help me up, because he's a gentleman." She looked up at him, still with that calm smile on her lips. "Isn't that right, Captain America?"

Steve hesitated, not sure that her standing up was a good idea right then as he wasn't certain how bad her injuries really were. There was a steely determination in the young woman's eyes though that told him she wasn't going to take no for an answer and frighten the children anymore. Miss O'Brien surreptitiously pulled her coat over her wound as Steve very carefully helped her to her feet. He kept his hand on her back as he felt her sway a little bit but her cool and calm collected façade never wavered.

"There you go," she said cheerfully, "everything is fine. Now, has everyone still got their buddies? Pair up for me, class, so I can do a head count."

The traumatised children immediately followed the simple request, seemingly grateful to have some order back in their lives as they took their buddy's hands and dutifully waited to be counted. Miss O'Brien did a quick head count and then smiled. "That's wonderful, good job everyone." She turned to Steve. "And now let's all thank Captain America for looking after us before he goes."

"Thank you, Captain America," the children repeated the children in an uneven chorus as they looked up at him with varying degrees of curiosity and awe.

Steve forced a smile to his lips for their gratitude, even though he didn't feel like he deserved it. "Thanks, kids, you've all been very brave."

"You should go," Miss O'Brien urged him, "I'm sure you've got somewhere more important to be, Captain."

The albino was long gone by now and even if he wasn't, Steve knew he couldn't leave now. "I'm not going anywhere," he said earnestly, "not until I know you're being looked after."

"I'm sure there will be help along soon," she said with an uneven smile. "Really, I know you must be needing to meet up with the rest of the Avengers."

Just then, all the street and shop lights suddenly went out in an abrupt black out and in the distance Steve could hear the sound of electricity sparking. The children huddled closer together and looked around themselves nervously. Steve put his arm around the young woman and guided her to a nearby bench, making her sit down. "I'm going to find you some help," he said determinedly. "Stay here and don't move." He looked at the children. "Kids, you make sure Miss O'Brien doesn't move, okay?"

All of their little heads bobbed up and down obediently at Steve's request. He looked back at Miss O'Brien who was looking very pale now. "I'll be right back, okay?" he said in a low voice. "Hang in there."

She gave a weak smile and nodded. "Okay."

oooOOOOooo

"And was the maiden alright in the end?"

Steve looked over at Thor at his innocent question. "I got the woman shot," he snapped, "so no, she's not alright." He grimaced, knowing the other man had only been concerned for her and instantly regretted taking his guilty conscience out on the Asgardian. "Sorry, Thor, I mean, I found a paramedic to come and look after her and they said her wound wasn't too bad. The bullet sliced her side and she was going to be fine, but she still had to go to hospital to be taken care of."

"It's not your fault the woman got shot, Captain," said Natasha evenly.

"Yes, it was," said Steve in aggravation.

"It was her choice to try and protect you," said Natasha, not backing down.

"It wasn't her job to protect me," Steve ground out. "It was mine to protect her and those kids."

"Hey, look at it this way," said Tony in an overly jovial voice, "you've given the woman a real story to tell now. Who else can say they've faced death trying to protect Captain America?" He paused. "Except for Bucky maybe... but then that didn't turn out so great, I guess."

Steve scowled at him. "Is this you trying to make me feel better, Stark?"

"Yes."

"Don't ever do it again," Steve instructed him darkly.

Tony nodded. "I get that," he said ruefully.

Fury interrupted them. "What happened was regrettable, Steve, but it's done now. What we need to focus on is who caused this whole thing in the first place."

"I told you," said Steve tightly, "the albino got away."

"We'll need a more detailed description from you and we'll see what our databases throw up," said Fury.

Tony rolled his eyes. "You're looking for an albino black man with an IQ at least in the one hundred and fifties," he said laconically. "Your database can't be heaving with them."

Fury ignored the dig. "I'm still waiting to hear why our Lady of the Lamp is sans the lamp these days, and why three quarters of New York is without power right now." He gave a pointed look at Hawkeye. "Care to explain, Agent Barton?"

Hawkeye didn't look like he was keen to tell his story, but he wasn't one to disobey a direct request. "Things took a downward swing in the mission, sir," he said reluctantly.

"If they're giving out awards for understatements this year," said Fury dryly, "I think we just found our winner. What exactly went wrong out there, Agent?"

Hawkeye grimaced. "In a word, sir, everything..."

A/N: As you can see, a lot was going on so I had to break it up into individual chapters like this. Hope it doesn't break the action flow down too much. Next we find out what Thor, Hulk and Hawkeye got up to when left to their own devices. ;)