Chapter Eight
Amelia walked beside Natasha and Clint as they entered the decommissioned Quinjet. According to the helicarrier's schedule, Amelia had determined that this would be the only one not in use for the fight in New York. It apparently had a fuel line leak, which had rendered it useless, but after a couple calculations done by Tony they had determined that it had enough fuel to at least make it to the big apple. However, once the tank was empty they would be on the ground, Amelia could only hope that Loki's army wasn't as terrifying as he made it out to be.
In front of her was Steve, who was once again dawning the red, white, and blue suit she had designed. She couldn't lie and say that it didn't look spectacular on him. Even Christine had pointed it out when they were leaving med bay. However, that wasn't what caught Amelia's eye. It was the way he walked. He looked to be on the most important mission he would ever face, and yet deep down part of her knew that he didn't want to fight.
Amelia felt the same exact way. She would prefer it didn't come to a showdown, but Loki wasn't the kind of villain to step down from a fight. Not if he knows he can and win. Amelia looked to her right when she felt a warm hand envelop her own and saw Clint smile down at her. It was a ritual they would do before any battle. She gripped his hand and brought it up to her lips, where she placed a soft kiss.
"Don't die."
Clint returned the gesture, "I promise to haunt you from the grave."
Amelia laughed as Natasha joined her hand with them, following the same gesture, "You really know how to give a pep talk."
The trio relished in the small moment for what felt like an eternity, but was only a brief second before following Steve into the quinjet. Inside a young Pilot was bent over one of the fuel lines, probably in an attempt to get it working, when he jumped in surprise. Amelia felt slightly bad about stealing the guys jet, but in the end lives were at stake and that mattered more.
"You are not authorized to be here."
Steve just held up his hand, "Son... just don't."
The young man looked between the four of them and when he realized he couldn't take them all on he stepped aside. As he walked off the ramp Amelia caught up with him and grabbed his arm. He whirled around to stare at her. Amelia could tell her gesture surprised him and in a way she even surprised herself, but she knew why she had pulled him away.
"I'll make sure that your jet makes Loki know the meaning of the word steel."
The man smiled and nodded, "Give him hell for me."
Amelia mock saluted the pilot once more before boarding and closing the ramp to the Quinjet. Clint and Natasha had already taken the two seats in the cockpit leaving Amelia to stand awkwardly next to Steve. It took them only moments to lift from the ground and soon they were flying to Stark Tower. Amelia sat herself down behind Natasha who handed her a box full of new comms. She took a moment to program them to Tony's frequency, handing one to each of them.
"Testing."
"Here you loud and clear Mary Poppins."
Amelia smiled at Tony's nickname for her, "Perfectly perfect in every way."
"I'm not even going to try and understand that reference." Steve said.
"So many movies, so little time." Amelia replied, winking in his direction.
"What's our play Cap?" Tony asked.
"Tony I need you to get a read on this guy. Find out why he chose your building when it only holds significance to you. He could have chosen the capital building in Virginia or Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles." Steve answered.
"Got it." Tony said and after a minute added, "And slightly hurt."
The comm went dead as Tony went to carry out his task. Steve held onto the side of the jet as it carried forward and made a loop around the city. They had just enough to do one aerial sweep before needing to engage and land. Amelia gripped her seat as she heard the boom of the engines start to give out.
"I might hate flying after this." Amelia stated, holding her tablet close.
Clint scoffed, "I thought you trusted me with your life?"
"I do." She replied back, "Doesn't mean I trust the machine we're standing in."
"Welcome to my world." Steve said.
Amelia sent him a look of sympathy, but their moment didn't last long as the quinjet suddenly veered left. Amelia was thrown from her seat and into Steve's arms where he held her securely. As Amelia looked out the window of the cockpit she almost threw up right then. The world was spinning on an axis as Natasha maneuvered them towards Stark Tower.
"Stark, we're heading north east." Natasha said.
Silence greeted them until Tony responded, "What, did you stop for a drive-thru? Swing up Park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you."
When they turned the corner Amelia didn't believe what she was seeing. A large portal of some sort was letting aliens come down to New York. It sounded like something out of a comic strip, but here it was happening before their eyes. Amelia felt Steve's arm grip her tighter for a brief moment before releasing her as the quinjet tried to take out as many aliens as possible.
Amelia looked out the window to her left spotting Loki and Thor as she did, "Clint you seeing this?"
"Yeah."
"See them." Natasha said.
Clint maneuvered the jet towards Stark Tower in order to get a clear shot of Loki, but it was almost as if he could sense their plan. He turned and aimed his scepter directly at them. Amelia felt her eyes widen as he looked at her and nodded. Suddenly there was a flash of blue and they were dropping out of the air. Amelia held onto anything she could as they careened off the side of a building and crashed onto the ground.
The world came to a stand still for only a moment, before the four heroes jumped into action. Amelia slammed on the button by the door and watched as the ramp opened to utter chaos. People were running around in a sheer panic as the aliens, called the Chitauri, kept funneling through the open portal. It wasn't until a dark shadow fell over them that Amelia looked up and couldn't contain herself any longer.
"Holy Walt Disney."
"What is that?"
"I don't know, but that is not fair."
"Stark, are you seeing this?" Steve said.
From somewhere over New York Tony replied, " I'm seeing, still working on believing. Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"
"Banner?"
"Just keep me posted."
Amelia looked around at the chaos, letting herself feel the fear only a split second. It was terrifying staring into the face of the unknown. Loki had practically told her what would happen, but seeing it was another matter. Amelia closed her eyes and listened to the sound of her own thoughts for only a moment before opening them again.
It was time to go to work.
No matter where you looked, mayhem seemed to be the order of the day. Amelia stuck close to Natasha and Clint who unloaded on the Chitauri from behind a flipped over Taxi. Beside her was Steve who surprisingly refused to leave her side as she fired bullet after bullet. It occurred to Amelia that as each bullet killed one there would always be four more to take its place.
"This is a lost cause if we don't close that portal." Amelia shouted as she fired another round of bullets.
"Those people need assistance down there." Steve replied, "I thought you liked a challenge."
Amelia shot him a look, "Very funny."
"We got this. It's good. Go!" Natasha said, moving to push Steve toward the citizens.
"You think you can hold them off?"
"Captain." Clint said looking over as he notched another arrow, "It would be my genuine pleasure."
Amelia watched as Steve took off towards the civilians, leaving Natasha and her to rotate who was playing whack-a-mole with aliens. From beside them a bus full of people tipped on its side causing Clint to take off towards it. Amelia and Natasha covered him as he pulled people, mainly children, to safety.
"You know this reminds me of Hercules."
Natasha smirked, "Does that make me Aphrodite?"
"In your dreams."
"If you're Aphrodite, then I'm Apollo." Clint said meeting up with them again. "And that makes Ace, Meg."
"I won't say I'm in love." Amelia sang as she fired two bullets into a Chitauri skull, or at least she thought it was his skull.
"Just like Budapest all over again!" Natasha yelled.
Amelia shook her head, "Budapest was just like the Emperor's New Groove. So much drama, so little time. Plus, you completely threw off my groove that time in the bar."
"You and I remember Budapest very differently." Clint stated, saving Amelia from getting shot from behind.
"That's your opinion Apollo."
Amelia rolled over to another overturned car for cover as another wave of Chitauri swept over them. Amelia switched between her two hand guns and her knives when they got to close for comfort. She was just about to be overrun when a red, white, and blue shield came flying from her right and decapitating the guy in front of her.
"A little warning next time!" Amelia yelled as Steve came to stand beside her.
"Warning!"
Amelia ducked as he threw the shield again and Amelia fired so that her bullet ricocheted off toward another enemy. Beside the two came a burst of lightning strikes rain down from the sky, channeling the blast, and sending out a large burst of electricity that wiped out the Chitauri around them. The massive shockwave caused the three agents and super soldier to wobble as Thor touched down to greet them.
"You should come with a hazard sign." Amelia said, looking at the God of Thunder.
"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked.
"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable." Thor said, ignoring Amelia entirely.
"Thor is right." Tony added through their comms. "We gotta deal with these guys."
"How do we do this?" Natasha said.
"As a team." Steve replied.
"As long as I get a shot at Loki that's all I care about." Amelia said.
"I have unfinished business with Loki."
"Yeah, get in line." Clint said, looking over at Thor.
"Save it." Steve said with an exasperated sigh. "Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us-"
Steve was interrupted by Bruce arriving on a small motorbike in torn up clothing. He looked like hell as he approached them with caution. Amelia walked over to greet him by pulling him into a brief hug. The man looked at her in surprise, but didn't reject her kindness as he awkwardly patted her back. She released him and turned toward the others, who waited for Bruce to speak about all the mayhem around them.
"So, this all seems horrible."
Natasha piped up from beside Clint, "I've seen worse."
"Sorry."
"No." She said, shaking her head. "We could use a little worse."
"Stark?" Steve commed. "We got him."
"Banner?"
"Just like you said."
"Say hello to Ares."
"Then that makes me Hephaestus." Tony stated, not hearing Natasha muttered that now she wanted a divorce. "Tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you."
Amelia turned toward the sound of havoc, which she could only assume was Tony, but was not prepared for what rounded the corner. A large beast resembling a sort of sea lion with full battle armor flew toward them. Amelia heard Thor mutter Chitauri Leviathan, and couldn't help but think of Milo Thatch from Disney's Atlantis. If he was a real person Amelia was pretty sure he would make the right decision and run away, but instead the brunette stood her ground. She was hopelessly unready for this next fight.
"I... I don't see how that's a party…" Natasha said, looking at it in horror and confusion.
"That looks like a bucket of fun, Nat." Amelia replied as she started pulling her gun out of its holster.
"Only you would consider a large beast like this fun, Mila."
Amelia winked at her.
Tony swooped down the street looking at the group of heroes that resembled more bowling pins than actual threats. Amelia saluted him as he rounded the corner to survey the other areas. From beside Amelia she felt Steve's hand brush against her own as he came to stand beside her. She looked up at him and found his eyes watching her, as she knew he was making sure she was still okay to battle these creatures. She sent him a grateful nod and the two of them turned to see Bruce walking towards the flying monstrosity.
"Dr. Banner. Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."
Bruce turned back to look at the group, "That's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry."
Amelia watched half in horror and half in awe as Bruce slowly swelled, stretched, and hardened into the massive green avenger. She took a step back as he let out a large growl as his fist connected with the leviathan's nose. The colossal creature did a full back flip as he landed on a building exposing its soft undercarriage to Tony. The tin man wasted no time in making quick work of the creature.
The blast shakes the building the creature lays on, causing bits of glass to reign down onto the group. Amelia is pulled into Steve's side as he uses his shield to block them from the rainfall. She could feel her heart pound as her hand found its way onto his chest. She could feel his heartbeat through his uniform and for a brief second it is just them, until a mighty roar sounds from the sky above.
The two break away and look up to find the next wave of the Chitauri army invading their world. Only this time they seem more cautious as the group forms a circle and they come up with a plan. As badass as Amelia knew they looked, they were completely out of their element. There was a billionaire in a tin can suit, two assassins, a super soldier, a god, and the head of the IT department. They were completely out of their depth.
"Guys." Natasha said.
"Call it, Cap." Tony states as he lands beside them.
Steve looks at the group of brave men and women standing beside him. His eyes memorize each of their faces, but his eyes rest a split second longer on Amelia. The girl looked completely out of her comfort zone. He remembered what she had told him about her choice of sitting behind a desk. He also remembered her desire for a chance at Loki. He owed it to her to make sure she got it.
"Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."
"Wanna give me a lift?" Clint asked, turning toward Tony.
"Right. Better clench up, Legolas." Tony stated as he lifted Clint onto a nearby building.
Steve turned toward the God of Thunder, "Thor, you've gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You've got the lightning. Light the bastards up."
Thor smiled and was about to shoot off, when Amelia grabbed his arm, "Send me into Stark Tower."
"What?"
"Loki needs something to keep him busy so you give him to me." She was met with a wave of protests. "Plus, we need a way to shut down the portal. Give me some time with him."
Steve looked reluctant to send her on her own, but ultimately knew that it was best. Out of all of them she seemed to have the most knowledge on how Loki might use the tesseract, besides bringing in an army. He walked forward and placed a hand on her shoulder causing Amelia to look up at him.
"Give him hell."
"One order of hell coming right up."
To say that Amelia wasn't content in Thor's arms would be the understatement of the century. She absolutely loved the way the wind felt as it rushed through her hair. The God of Thunder had kept one arm securely around her waist as she hurled toward Stark Tower. It was a rush that Amelia knew she would never experience again.
Thor dropped her off at the back entrance of Tony's Tower where she infiltrated silently. As soon as she was inside she began to access possible exits should she need them. As she worked her way up the different floors to the penthouse, she left a trojan horse in Tony's mainframe in case Loki or his men tried anything. She smiled when she saw Jarvis hide it away in his code.
Amelia continued to ascend her way up the stairs toward Loki. She could feel the energy around her become thin as she felt her muscles tensed. It was almost as if she could feel her life draining before her eyes. The closer she got to the penthouse the more woozy she felt.
As she made it to the next floor she was surprised by how eerily quiet it was. She unholstered her gun and kept it at her side only to duck when the swing of a filing folder came rushing at her head. Amelia whipped around and grabbed her assailant's arm only to find it belonged to a young woman in yoga pants and a tank top. She looked absolutely terrified.
"I thought you were one of those-"
"Do I look like an alien to you?" Amelia asked, dropping her hand.
The young woman shook her head, "Nope."
"What are you doing here?"
"Miss Potts sent me."
"Tony's girlfriend?" Amelia asked.
"Yes." She continued. "She needed some important documents faxed to her and I was the only one that was closest to the office that she called. Had I known aliens would have invaded I might have never left my bed."
Amelia smiled, "What's your name?"
"Kassandra, but most call me Kass."
"Amelia, but you can call me Amy."
Amelia held her hand out to her new acquaintance, but didn't register her next move as Amelia careened to the ground. The wave of power coming from the portal was enough to completely wipe Amelia of any energy to push through. She leaned heavily on a nearby desk as she sank to the ground.
"Are you alright?"
Amelia nodded, "Never better."
Kassandra shook her head, "If only I could bibbidi bobbidi boo us out of here."
Amelia couldn't help laughing at the blunt Disney reference, "Just get me to that staircase fairy godmother."
"Is that wise?"
"Probably not." Amelia stated, "But I need to shut that portal down and the only way to do that is to go up."
Kassandra nodded and helped Amelia to her feet. Amelia half expected the girl to run for the hills, but instead she helped Amelia all the way up to the final door. Amelia felt like she had just run ten marathons all at once as she breathed heavily. She could feel her vision going, but also knew that failure was not an option. Phil's smiling face flashed for a brief moment in her mind before being replaced by Kassandra.
"Will you be okay from here? Is there anyone I should call?" She asked.
Amelia shook her head, "Get down to the sub level and stay there. I'll have someone come get you when you're safe."
Kassandra nodded and went to stand up when Amelia grabbed her arm once more, "Yes?"
"I'll talk to Tony and Pepper about getting a raise and hazard pay."
The woman smiled once more before taking her leave. Amelia watched her descend the stairs for only a moment before pulling herself upright to open the door. Part of her was scared for what lay ahead and the other was angrier. She wanted to end this.
Amelia pulled open the door only to find Loki waiting on the other side, "Hello darling."
Amelia didn't have the strength to fight him as he pulled her into the room and threw her across the floor. She felt glass cut into her palms and thighs as a table shattered underneath her. She had hoped Thor would have rid the building of Loki, but it seemed she was wrong.
"I need back up!" Amelia called into her comm as she watched Loki saunter towards her.
"Where are you Mia?!"
"Penthouse!"
That single word was all Amelia was able to communicate before Loki ripped the device out of her ear and stepped on it. She winced realizing she had been cut off from the world. The brunette stood up wincing every time she put pressure on her left side and stared him down. Loki only smirked at her state.
"Isn't this your natural state? To be drained of all your energy so that I may succeed in my plan."
Amelia looked at him, "You killed my father. You almost killed my grandfather and you hijacked my brother."
Loki raised an eyebrow.
"What I am is royally pissed off."
Amelia didn't wait for an invitation to allow her fist to collide with his jaw. A resounding snap! Made her smirk as she continued to advance on him. She was surprised her body still had the energy to stand as she came at him with everything she could. Fist after fist came flying until finally she dropped to the ground and swung her foot toppling him to the ground.
When Loki got back up to wring her through he was pulled away from her and into the clutches of the Hulk. Amelia didn't wait to watch Hulk swing Loki around like a baton as she went up to the rooftop. What she found was Natasha and Selvig looking over the side.
"Looking for something?"
Natasha whipped around to her sister, battered and bruised, but alive, "Oh thank god!"
Amelia allowed herself to be pulled into a hug as Natasha pulled her close. She rested her head against her shoulder and slumped against her. She could feel Natasha stiffen at how she was reacting and together the two lowered themselves to the ground. Amelia brought her hand up to find it covered in blood.
"Don't make me repeat myself."
"We can shut the portal down with Loki's staff."
Amelia nodded, "Hand me the comm and the laptop. Nat can you retrieve the staff?"
Natasha looked at her in worry, "What are you going to do, Mila?"
"Probably something stupid."
That was all Natasha needed to hear as she left in a hurry to retrieve the staff. In the meantime Dr. Erik Selvig helped Amelia set up the laptop as Amelia began to write new self destruct code with the help of the trojan horse that Jarvis had kept safe for her. Each time she wrote a new line of code her eyes grew heavier. She could tell the tesseract was fighting her, but she didn't care.
Natasha returned moments later with Loki's stick of doom in hand. Amelia nodded at her and finished what was needed before a coughing fit over took her. Amelia held her hand out to cover her mouth, but what she pulled away scared her.
Blood.
"Mila!"
"I'm fine. Just whatever you do, promise me you will close that portal."
Natasha looked at her in both anger and fear, "What aren't you telling me?"
Amelia looked up at her, "I don't have much time left. Just promise me."
"I promise!"
Amelia nodded and with a push of a button her fatigue turned into blinding hot pain. She could feel the tesseract punishing her for her deception. For not helping it achieve its divine purpose Amelia let out a heart wrenching scream as she doubled over in pain. It came in waves and droves as she collapsed onto the ground with Selvig coming to sit beside her.
Through all the pain Amelia could hear Natasha shouting, "I can close it! Can anybody hear me? I can shut the portal down! Mila is in pain. I have to shut it down now!"
Amelia listened to the sound of static as Selvig placed his ear piece in her ear. What came next was the sound of Steve Rogers' voice. It made Amelia smile through her pain, but to others it looked like a wince. Even through the whole battle Steve still sounded as calm as ever.
"Do it!"
"No, wait!" Came Tony's panicked response.
"Stark, these things are still coming!" Steve said. "And Mia could be dying."
"I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute." He responded. "And I know just where to put it."
Amelia could feel herself losing consciousness as she slumped heavily on Dr. Selvig. She looked to the sky to see a blaze of red and gold fly past with a white package attached to its back. She held her breath as she watched for the last possible second before he disappeared into the void. Just as the man in the iron suit entered the unknown, Amelia Nilson's heart stopped for the first time in over a decade.
Author's Note:
Thank you for all the support these past 8 chapters of 'Signs of Life'. I hope you will continue to follow Amelia and her journey. I wanted to dedicate this chapter to the lovely miss ocfairygodmother, who makes a small cameo appearance. If you wish to have a cameo just like her please message me for more details. Thank you again for all the support and I can't wait for the next chapter! Stay safe!