Hope flew over the ecotone of where forest met the rocky ground that transitioned into a small mountain range. Looking down past the canopy of green leaves, movement soon caught her eye just within the treeline. The dark elves, that hailed from Svartálfaria, were moving towards the mountain that stood just before them. She swooped in low to get a better look, seeing their enemies equipped with swords, shields, and bows. The Svartálfarians presented humanoid. They were slightly taller than the average man; with pointed ears, broad brow bones, and strong, wide nose bridges. But, nevertheless, registered more-or-less as human.
"Fjándmaðr!" one of the dark elves pointed up towards Hope; another was quick to loose an arrow at her up in the canopy. Hope dodged the projectile as it grazed her back. She cursed at her own stupidity for not assuming the advanced race would probably have advanced sensory detection.
Hope turned on a dime, speeding away and falling back to the perimeter of the mountain where the Asgardian civilians were currently taking refuge inside. As she flew back, she growled in frustration when she realised that her flight was slightly off. The arrow must have nicked one of her wings. Luckily, she was easily able to adjust for the issue, but it still made it a suit repair that she'd have to deal with in the future.
Thor, Lady Sif and The Warriors Three, Asgard's military known as the Einherjar, as well as Valkyrie (who'd flown over to them shortly after they landed on the planet) were in the city trying to win back the palace and surrounding parliament buildings. Whereas the Earth team was tasked to protect the civilians who had escaped the urban area that had been ushered into the mystic mountain's tunnel system by Heimdall the All-Seer.
The mountain was unique as it had the ability to dampen magic. Apparently, Thor used to meet with Loki in the tunnels whenever he suspected something mischievous of him and wanted a place that allowed him to see through his tricks.
"There's a small party coming up through the treeline, approaching the Southern entrance," Hope reported. She'd already called in three other small companies of dark elves that were climbing the mountains from all directions looking for ways in when she'd done her initial fly around.
"Copy," Steve said through the radio. "Tony?"
"Yeah, I'm ready," Tony simply replied.
As Hope climbed higher in the sky and looked back off towards where the palace lay, she noticed something. "Wilson, you in the air right now?" she asked him through her comms, wondering if he was seeing the same thing.
"I can be. Why?" he responded.
"I see movement up ahead towards the city. About ten miles out. It looks big." She was squinting off into the distance. It looked like the ground was moving just on the other side oft the small forest that separated them from the urban area. Maybe it was a mass of people. She couldn't tell.
"Oh yeah, I can see it from the top of the mountain here too." Sam said like he'd just gotten eyes on it from his post at the summit. He then asked, "Want me to check it out?"
Hope didn't even think to send him. She was about to go herself. But his query had reminded her that she had the authority to send him, now that she was second in command.
"Yeah," she shrugged to herself while answering him. He might as well go so that she could continue discreetly surveying the mountain. "Stay high," she instructed him. "Their archers have surprisingly good aim and a lot of power behind their arrows"
"Yeah," Clint then came in on the comms, "their draw weights must be at least two hundred pounds. They could tear an arm off with that force."
"Noted," Sam gulped. "I'll stay high."
"Or I could just go," Tony suggested. But it didn't sound like he'd offered in order to help Sam but to prove he was more capable than him.
Steve was next to join in as he said, "Tony, you got enemies coming up on you." The man was tasked to watch the terrain in front of the mountain's main entrance since he could cover a lot of ground in his suit.
"I just got rid of them," he simply said as Hope moved in closer to his location, finding that he'd, indeed, shot the small party dead. They were already sprawled out in the grass by the time she arrived. "Besides, Wilson can take my post. Standing here doing basically nothing seems more his speed anyway," he joked.
"I'm already in the air on my way over," Sam informed him clearly annoyed, as Hope caught sight of him flying off past her. "Guess my speed is faster than your running mouth."
Hope smiled at Sam's retort before jumping in herself, "Sorry, Tony. I didn't even think to ask you" – she turned in the air to start flying back around the mountain – "and now I regret not sending you out there like a nice red bullseye moving low across the sky for their skilled archers to try and hit."
"Van Dyne," Clint was quick to respond, "I'm so glad you decided to become permanent with us."
"I second that," Steve said with a chuckle.
Sam mirrored his sentiments, "We all second that."
Hope couldn't help but grin underneath her helmet at their acceptance of her just as she saw Natasha in the distance, close to the front entrance, standing on an impossibly thin cliff edge. She was firing on a couple of dark elves that were trying to scale the mountainside. She took them out with ease. But the image of her shooting them in the head sent a cold, uncomfortable shiver up Hope's spine. Taking the warmth she'd only just felt from her teammate's approval straight out of her body.
She'd never been directly responsible for someone's death like that. At least, not someone who looked so human. Sure, she'd pulled a gun on others before, but she'd never shot any of them dead. And when she was in Wakanda gathering up B.N.U. members, the most she did was sting a man with her taser setting when he tried to escape. He didn't even pass out when she hit him because the voltage was so low. Even killing the brood queen didn't feel much more than crunching a cockroach underneath her heel. But these Svartálfarians were different. They looked like her.
Suddenly movement from down below caught her eye as she saw a small company of dark elves running up a path to a small lower passageway. The entrance lay at the back of the mountain on the North side. It was different from the other ways in. It was small, the tunnel system inside took many sharp turns. The ceiling dipped fairly low in many areas, forcing one to duck as it wound its way to the main large cave at the heart of the mountain. No army could take the place using that particular passageway.
Hope stayed high, not wanting to become another target for an arrow, as she flew over them and down to the entrance where Agent's May and Johnson were tasked to guard.
Growing to size and opening her helmet as she landed in front of the women, a gun was instantly raised to her face. A breath caught in her throat just as an exhale came from May as the agent lowered the weapon that was pointed at her.
"You've got six guys coming up the path there," Hope pointed towards the edge of the rock face that jutted out where the enemies would soon be rounding it into view.
"Daisy," May calmly addressed the younger woman.
"Yup," she nodded before taking a few steps out of the threshold to turn her attention towards the path.
She put her hands out in front of her, reaching for the steep slope of the mountain, and waited. It wasn't long before the dark elves came into view, Daisy used her abilities to create a rockslide by shaking the foundation below with seismic waves. It was a small quake that managed to send enough boulders hurtling down the side of the mountain towards the un-friendlies. They were instantly disposed of while being dramatically crushed with brief cries escaping from their frightened mouths. The shields raised above their heads did nothing to increase their chances of survival.
Hope stared blankly at the pile of rubble that was still hazy as the dust clouds were settling. She saw a single arm protruding out of the large pile of rock which made her turn away from the sight. She then looked down to the stingers on her wrists. The things she'd always viewed more as tools than weapons.
"Where's your head at, soldier?" May asked assertively, yet somehow almost warmly, as she stepped over to Hope.
Hope kept her eyes down as she simply explained, "This one shrinks." She presented her right wrist. "This one stuns." She then presented her left wrist. "Well, it can do more than stun." She hesitated as she attempted to say it out loud, "I just have to turn up its electrical output to…"
"Lethal levels," May helped her out as she finished her sentence for her.
"Yeah," Hope nodded before looking up to the senior agent.
"You've never taken a life before," she said as if she'd just figured it out. "Well, not one that wasn't equivalent to a giant bug, that is," she added, evidently still knowing about her Queen Slayer status. "No, of course you haven't." Hope's facial expression must have confirmed it for her. "Not a big need for that inside of a boardroom."
"You'd be surprised by what's happened inside of my boardroom," Hope countered back, memories of the violence that took place within the walls of Pym Tech while Cross was still around flooded back into her mind. Hope then pushed those thoughts away, too preoccupied with the sentiment of the comment, not ready for another Sharon Carter type to berate her about her life inside of an office building. "Also, just because I come from the corporate world doesn't mean—"
"It wasn't an insult," May calmly put her hand up to stop her before she could properly begin. "You've been living with a gift. But unfortunately, you're currently on a battlefield and you're gonna have to give up that gift." May bore her gaze into Hope's as she emphasised, "Permanently." She then looked down to Hope's wrists before asking, "Are you right-handed out left?"
"Right."
"Crank the setting up on that thing" – she pointed to her stunner on her non-dominant hand – "and put it on the other wrist."
"Right," Hope said in agreement as she took a nervous breath. Understanding that she should have her deadly weapon on her dominant side. She then complied with the woman's sound advice.
May then nodded to her, "You got this," in a way that came across as both an order and words of encouragement.
"Yeah," Hope nodded back, feeling better about what was laying before her in her path. Ready to cross that bridge that stood in front of her.
She then flipped her helmet down before shrinking and taking off to the sky. Now with a better understanding as to why Maria cared so much about Agent May's opinions, and the reasons why she seemed to look up to her. The woman had a strong presence that you wanted on your side.
Hope then decided to check in with Sam. His wellbeing was her responsibility now that she was second in command, and the one who personally sent him off on reconnaissance. "Wilson, you okay out there?"
"He's fine," Steve was the one to answer her. "He's with Thor now and is currently on the other line with Maria here."
Hope knew that Steve and Maria were together within the mountain at that moment, monitoring things from the inside. Connected to all the comm channels.
"Understood," she replied. Instantly cringing by her word choice as she was still trying to balance military/S.H.I.E.L.D. agent language, with more casual Avenger/banter language. In that instance, she felt like she went too 'military' for the situation.
Hope then flew up the mountain, checking to see if she could spot any more threats while allowing the others to converse. She already understood that whatever was being discussed she'd be let in the know when the time was more appropriate.
Once she flew over the peak, that wasn't terribly high up, and started over to the other side. Not too far away from the summit. She found Sharon fighting off four armoured dark elves, equipped with bows and swords, that had managed to climb nearly all the way up, hoping to find the top entrance into the mountain.
Hope swooped in, noticing the agent struggling. The dark elves were larger than Sharon was, where it was clear that the agent was not prepared for that many large opponents at once.
At full speed, Hope aimed for one of the dark elves, growing to size as she kicked him in the chest, sending him flying to the ground as she shrunk back down to arch over another one in a backflip. She then grew again as she dropped down onto his head, feet first; knocking him to the ground right before he was able to swing his sword into Sharon's back. The senior agent then spun around and shot the dark elf that was beneath Hope, in the head, before turning around to fight off another one.
Before Hope could pick herself up off the, now dead, elf she noticed the one that she'd sent flying to the ground was back up on his feet ready to charge them with a long knife drawn. Instinctually, Hope raised her right arm and shot him with her stinger. He toppled over face down when realisation hit Hope that he wasn't going to get up after that. Ever.
She then sprung to her feet, ready to help Sharon, but found her swinging one of the elves' swords at the last enemy, slicing his neck open in a deadly blow.
Hope then looked about the bodies lying at their feet. Then to the one Svartálfarian that she shot dead. 'She had to', she told herself.
"You know I had them, right?" Sharon huffed, slightly out of breath.
But Hope was still looking at their handy work as she commented out loud, "Their blood is blue." A fact which helped settle her nerves. They looked more like the brood's carnage. Which were also of a different colour than humans'. She, however, did realise that wasn't exactly the best way of looking at it. And was terribly anthropocentric of her. But she didn't really care at that moment since it was working as a decent coping mechanism for the fact that she just killed somebody. 'Just don't look at their humanoid faces. Look at their alien coloured blood,' she told herself.
"What?" Sharon asked. Clearly not understanding why Hope was mentioning the hue of their enemy's blood. Probably also finding it odd that she didn't respond with a quip like she normally did in circumstances such as those.
"Nothing," Hope shook her head, forcing herself to shift her thoughts as she looked up and over to her. "And no, you did not have them all." Sharon only scrunched her face in response, giving her a dirty yet silly look. Both knowing that she was very much in trouble before Hope showed up.
Hope then scanned around the terrain. Seeing just a flat area that dropped off in all directions save for the entranceway that led inside the mountain in the centre of it. "How did they even get up here?"
"Path," Sharon simply said as she walked over to the ledge that was on the opposite side that Hope had come from. She then pointed downwards where Hope peered over, seeing a steep path that consisted of multiple tight hairpin turns moving all the way down to the bottom of the mountain. And on the walkway, there were several more dark elves trekking their way up it. Nine, she quickly counted where she then ripped her head away from the ledge before she was spotted.
"We're essentially going to be sitting ducks if we do that slow-ass hike down to dispose of them," Sharon said while stating the obvious of how steep and dangerous their descent would be. One hasty misstep and you'd be flying off the edge or bashing your head against a rock. Though, they still would have the higher ground. But was there not a better way to use that advantage other than hanging off of a deadly path while on the move; hoping their shots were more successful than the Svartálfarian's?
"Don't you have grenades or something you can just drop down on them?"
"No. Do you?" Sharon asked flatly.
"No."
"So we're just gonna have to wait for them to get up here then," Sharon sighed before taking a step back to reach out her arms to the sky, stretching out her spine.
Hope looked down once again over the ledge noting the lofty hill that the path was winding up with an idea brewing. "Maybe not." Hope leaned back, turning to Sharon.
"Huh?" The woman dropped her hands back beside her as she met her gaze.
"You have anything in your pockets?"
"Like a brick of C-four?" she asked sarcastically. Hope then shot her a look while she rolled her head to the side, as to say she was serious. Sharon huffed while she reached for her right hip pocket. She then pulled her hand away, opening it to show off her finds as she listed them out, "Chapstick, Swiss army knife, and a Canadian one-dollar coin."
"Perfect," Hope smirked as she reached for the money, "I'll take the loonie."
"That will be a ten thousand percent interest rate on that loan," Sharon insisted.
"I'll send you a cheque," she said uncaringly, finding her money comments empty now that she knew Sharon came from wealth too.
Hope then placed the coin on the ground; shooting it where it grew to the size of a four-seater kitchen tabletop. She then used her foot to push the giant golden coin with the image of a loon etched into it to the edge of the steep incline of the path.
"Wait. Are you really suggesting basket sledding again?"
"It worked the last time, didn't it?" She flashed her an innocent smile.
Sharon crossed her arms as she asked, "And the big cliff at the bottom?" gesturing with her head.
Hope looked back over the edge, seeing the sharp drop off below them where the path veered off to the left nearer to the bottom about a kilometre down.
Hope turned back to her as she said, "I'll shrink you and fly you to safety." Knowing that down and off to the right of them, the mountain jutted out. And there, at the base of the protrusion, the front main entrance was located. She could get them there, no problem. She could even see a few figures standing at the entrance down below. Not that she could tell who they were from that distance, though she had her theories based off who was assigned to do what and where on the mission.
"You better fly me to safety 'cause plunging down a chasm ain't like getting bonked on the head by a picture falling off a wall."
Hope had to conceal a grin, excited that Sharon seemed on board with her plan. "Which I too, didn't allow to happen to you."
"I swear if I die" – Sharon sat down on top of the coin, pulling her feet up and taking out her two sidearms – "I'm haunting your ass."
"Yeah, yeah," Hope nearly giggled as she climbed on behind her. Both surprised and touched that Sharon was trusting her with her life like that.
"You take the guys on the right; I'll take the ones on the left. And don't miss!" Sharon thrust a finger at her over her shoulder. "I know marksmanship isn't your strong suit."
"My aim is just fine." She rolled her eyes before muttering, "God, you're annoying." And with that, Hope pushed them over the edge to toboggan down the side of the mountain.
Maria was standing at the front entrance with Steve by her side, as they were previously discussing strategies. Both Natasha and Clint were nearby, watching the main pathway into the mountain as their assigned post.
Maria had her eyes on the treeline in front of her, just past the small field that Tony was still monitoring, awaiting any breaches through the forest. Her focus was pulled away when she felt Steve lightly tapping her wrist with the back of his hand. Maria looked over to him where he silently pointed to the side of them. She took a step forward as she instantly caught sight of something large and reflective moving quickly down the mountain. It didn't take long for her to figure out who was responsible for the action. As the commotion approached nearer to their location, she instantly read the blur of movement as belonging to Hope and Sharon. As they were sliding down something flat and shiny while taking out hostiles with their respective firearms.
"What are those crazy women doing?" Maria gawked.
"Not completely sure. But ten bucks it was Sharon's idea."
"I don't know. They're kinda equally kamikaze."
"True." Steve conceded as they watched their velocity increase after hitting a little jump in their path. "Gosh, they're really cooking with gas, aren't they?"
"Yeeeeah," Maria dragged out her answer. "And now I'm wondering if we have questionable taste in women," she said more as a joke while watching the two very successfully take out enemies in their insane tactical plan. A plan that she herself would never have thought of. Realising that the ' Give Maria Anxiety Society' had officially come to order.
They watched their sledge suddenly fly off without them, near the cliff edge at the bottom where Sharon did a front flip while simultaneously shooting the last dark elf behind her. Before the women hit ground, Hope shrunk them where they lost sight of them. Steve then laughed, "Questionable taste? Not a chance."
Grinning while she shook her head at them, Maria said in agreement, "You're right. What was I thinking?"
Steve then awkwardly started like he was suddenly pulled out of the hypnotising trance that Sharon had him under. "And – of course – by 'taste in women' I'm personally referring to, 'taste in female friends'. Because Hope" – he shook his head as he looked into Maria's eyes – "I'd respectfully never. And Sharon." He looked off into the distance. "Well, she's a trusted co-worker."
"Trusted co-worker?" Maria raised a brow at him.
"And friend. Like I – ah – already said… earlier," he bunglingly insisted.
"Steve?" She calmly studied him.
"Yeah?" he nervously asked.
"Coward isn't befitting you."
He sighed while dropping his head in shame, "Yeah, I know. I'll do better."
Suddenly Hope and Sharon grew to size in front of them. Hope instantly unwrapped her arms from around the other woman's body while Sharon stepped away from her, holstering her weapons.
Hope then flipped her helmet down, where the two of them smiled at Steve and Maria like they were the family cat presenting a dead mouse to their owners.
"So, whose brainiac idea was that little stunt?" Maria crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing them both suspiciously.
"Which time?" Hope nonchalantly pulled her ponytail out from the back of her suit.
"Like it matters?" Sharon casually addressed her accomplice. "It was your idea now—"
"Pay up," Maria thrust her open palm in front of Steve's face.
"And thirty years ago," Sharon completed her sentence.
"Wait." Maria dropped her hand as she asked in confusion. "Thirty years ago?"
"Yeah, Van Dyne and I have been executing battle strategies for years now," Sharon said as she started her way into the mountain, "Keep up."
Maria looked to Hope for an answer, but she merely shrugged and began walking after Sharon, making Maria and Steve follow with no clarification presented for them.
"So," Hope shifted her tone as she stopped just inside the mountain and turned to ask both Maria and Steve in seriousness, "How are things looking?"
Maria sighed, her mood falling back to match reality, "Bleak." She then explained, "Thor and his army are retreating from the city and are on their way here. Fortunately, they were able to rescue the Congress of Worlds senators who were being held hostage. They're in their company now. That's the movement you saw out there." Sam had relayed that information back to her while also giving Thor a communicator of his own. "They should all be here any minute now."
"Enchantress is proving much more powerful than they'd anticipated," Steve added.
"And they think the mountain is their best shot?" Hope asked with concern on her face.
"Yeah," Maria answered. Not loving the idea herself.
"But the people," Hope pressed.
"I know."
"What if we snuck them out the ba—"
"They'll be open targets. Like you already reported, we're surrounded." Maria insisted, "We're better off trying to protect them from here at this point. And from here – we at least – have the mountain to dampen Enchantress's magic."
"Fuck," Sharon griped at the situation. "Well, I gotta get back up to my post," she pointed towards the centre of the mountain where the tunnel that ran upwards began. "Especially now more than ever."
"I'll come with," Steve said. "You shouldn't be alone up there." Maria couldn't help but smirk at him. He knew that Sam had previously just flown up there, no more than three minutes ago, to help cover the area, but very conveniently didn't mention that to Sharon. Maria allowed his deception realising he could prove usefully up there. And if she needed him on the ground, Sam was there to transport him where she deemed it necessary.
"Aren't you forever the boy scout," Sharon smiled at him with intrigue. "Just don't doddle. I'm trying to get away from this nut-ball with a death wish here," she pointed at Hope while walking away with Steve on her heels.
"Oh, you enjoyed your ride. Don't lie," Hope called out to her.
"Are you saying something back there? Can't hear you."
But then Steve stopped, turning to the women who were still standing by the entrance. "Hope, thanks for looking after our guys out there."
"It's been no problem," Hope said humbly as Maria felt a sense of pride well up inside of her from how well Hope had been performing on the mission. "Well, except for when I had to step out of my Avengers jurisdiction and help Carter out. Not gonna lie, she's a bit of a burden."
Sharon exploded into laughter from afar. Clearly overhearing her. But Maria was familiar with its particular sound. It wasn't an outburst of cynicism or displeasure, it was jovial, erring on the side of joyous. Maria was right, their personalities were too compatible. Hope countered back Sharon's hostile teasing just as hard as Sharon served them up. Which was something that even Maria never did with her since she personally lacked the desire to do so but knew that Sharon craved it desperately.
Maria watched Steve smile at his second in command before he disappeared with Sharon into the mountain. Maria stared into the blankness of the tunnel while hoping they all still had a future for their relationships to grow. For Sharon and Hope to find a mutually respectful accord. For Sharon and Steve to finally admit their affections for each other. For Steve and Hope to further lead the Avengers together. And for Hope and Maria to grow even closer and make a home together. But there was danger marching on towards them and she feared that this could very well be the end. She'd gotten through scrapes like this before. Many of them actually. But she knew her days were still numbered and, statistically speaking, not every chamber in the Russian roulette gun was empty.
"You know what I want to do?" Hope broke Maria's train of thought; blinking a few times as she adjusted herself back into the moment while she turned to look at her beautiful girlfriend. Hope's eyes had a spark of excitement which surprised Maria, where she only assumed she was going to suggest some insanely dangerous strategy to implement as they were under siege. But instead, she followed with, "If we survive this, that is." Maria cocked her head in question, now not having the slightest idea what she was about to say. Hope then grabbed her forearm, locking her gaze with hers as she boldly stated, "I want to get married."
"What?" Maria gasped so quietly that the sound barely left her front teeth.
"I know it sounds crazy," Hope pressed on adamantly, "And maybe kinda fast, but—"
"It's not crazy, or fast!" Maria aggressively shook her head as she reached for her front breast pocket yanking out the envelope that she'd shoved in there earlier that day. "Or maybe it is, but I don't care." Maria tilted the enclosure sideways as a piece of jewellery poured out into the palm of her hand.
"That's what was in there? A ring?" Hope asked like she was in total disbelief as her eyes instantly welled up at the sight of it.
Maria took Hope's left hand, sliding off her blue glove as she explained with a smile on her face and pure joy in her heart, "A few weeks ago I may have mentioned to Thor that I was going to marry you."
"You did?" Hope seemed so touched as a single tear ran down her face.
"Yeah," she nearly laughed out in glee. "And he gave this to me so I'd have something worthy to propose with." She slid the piece onto her finger. "Guess he wanted you to have a ring fit for a deity. Since this was made from Freya's necklace. Well, according to that note he left with it." She referenced the letter that was included with the gift.
"The Norse goddess of love and beauty?" Hope asked in awe as she examined her newly adorned finger.
"Yeah." Maria felt confident in assuring her since Thor had gone into a fair amount of detail about the ring's origins in the letter. "So I'd say it's fitting for a being so gorgeous she makes the sea nymphs jealous. How about you?" Maria still wanted to make sure that Hope was happy with the selection. "'Cause if you don't like it I'm sure we can demand one forged out of Thor's hammer or Odin's eyepatch or something equally as ostentatious." She couldn't help but find it amusing that they had a piece of jewellery in their possessions that was – apparently – famous amongst the gods and the Norse peoples. Making it hold incredible status.
Hope giggled, "That won't be necessary." She cupped Maria's face into her hands before pressing their lips together.
Maria instantly wrapped her arms around Hope's body, pulling her in tightly, deepening their kiss. Maria's head was spinning. This was it. They were officially committing to each other. From a rational standpoint, she wasn't surprised by where they were. They'd talked about their lives together in the future many times before, so marriage only made sense. But from an emotional standpoint, she still couldn't understand how this was real and why someone as spectacular as Hope would ever choose to be with her for the rest of her life.
Hope pulled her mouth away to then say, "I love you," into Maria's lips.
"And I love you," Maria adamantly affirmed back before pushing their mouths together once again.
The second kiss was brief as Hope tore her head back to excitingly declare, "We're getting married!"
"We are."
"If we don't die first, that is."
Maria had always planned for the worst case scenario, which certainly included death. But she'd be damned in allowing that as a possible option now. Not with such a beautiful future that lay ahead of them. Wanting nothing more than to experience this life together that they were planning for. "We're not gonna die."
Suddenly there was a loud bang that came from outside, shaking the mountain. "Shit," Maria looked to the front entrance where the sound seemed to have come from. "Okay," she looked back to Hope as she slid her hands from around her back to her forearms, gently pushing her away. "I'm gonna send you to cover the West tunnel. Scott and the farm team are already there." Maria let go of her as she gave Hope's glove back to her that she still had in her possessions.
"Yes, ma'am." Hope smiled as she took the item and started moving backwards towards the mentioned location. "And I'm serious. The moment this is all over, we're having a wedding," Hope strongly insisted. Showing she wasn't messing around.
"As soon as the dust settles," Maria smirked, unable to love her any more than she did at that moment.
"Promise?" Hope had backed away so much she was almost at the point she had to round a corner.
"Promise," Maria nodded, which produced a grin on Hope's face before she turned around and took off to her post.
Maria hurried over to the entrance, looking out to see Thor, accompanied by the Einherjar, starting to line up in front of the mountain as the Svartálfarians were beginning to attack from behind. Amora the Enchantress was nowhere to be seen, yet Maria was sure that it was her magic that had just been tossed by a dark elf, in some sort of containment ball. It hit the ground in front of the mountain, emanating a purple light, as three Einherjar soldiers were thrown afar as the ground shook from what could only be described as a very powerful grenade. She'd assumed Amora had created those weapons for her army.
Directly in front of her, Valkyrie was ushering the senators to the cave where she was glad to see Jane amongst them, safe and sound. There was also a large black man with a beard and a large sword in hand that seemed to have also been assisting the people. Maria did not recognise him but automatically assumed it was Heimdall by what she knew about him.
Maria then sighed at the sight of war before her as she muttered to herself, "Well, here we go."
Hope hurried through the West tunnel that was illuminated like the rest of the mountain, with lights that glowed with magic in speckling shimmers. She came out at the end to find Jason holding a dark elf in his arms lengthwise as he then dropped him onto his knee, breaking his back on impact. He then tossed him over the cliff like he was inflatable; weighing next to nothing. This particular entry point was higher than the main passageway, about halfway up the mountain with a wide path leading to it from the bottom. It wasn't an easy place to breach but it was still not as bad as the rear and top entrances.
"How are you guys fairing here?" Hope asked as she scanned the area. Not seeing any immediate threats, only a small pile of bodies that Jason had just added to below the platform area that protruded out from the entryway, when she leaned over the edge to look.
Scott, who was right next to Jason, flipped open his helmet before he turned to her smirking, "American Eagle the Super American Indian here is just like single-handedly taking everyone out." He pointed at the man like he'd instantly fallen smittenly in lust with him.
"I ask that you please not call me that," Jason politely requested of him as he pulled his long hair back; tying it into a bun behind his head.
"Huh?" Scott scrunched his face in confusion as he quickly looked at Roz, who was standing near the threshold close to Hope, for clarification. When she gave none, he then focused onto Hope where she was admittedly confused too as she shrugged. He then turned to Jason as he asked, "I thought you said American Eagle was your—"
"Not the 'Eagle' thing, the 'Indian' thing." He calmly elaborated, "I'm not from India, I'm from Navajo Nation. Which makes me Diné or Navajo. And when speaking broadly – Native American or First Nations."
"Right, no, I'm sorry." Scott seemed remorseful that he used the wrong term of personhood for him. "I didn't mean to— It's just, American Indian is what most people say. The government too, Including, ah— Native Americans themselves. At least" – he awkwardly scratched his exposed forehead – "from what I've heard them say, that is," Scott was processing out loud yet very clearly was not trying to further offend. "So, I didn't realise—"
"White Man comes to America, slaughters us, steals our land, and calls us Indian," Jason put a stop to Scott's fumbling words as he explained. "We tell him we're not Indian. He doesn't care. He thinks brown people are all essentially the same anyway." Hope gulped in hearing that racist fact of both her nation and its history. "We then call ourselves Indian, the name that was forced upon us as our own languages were beaten out of us, only now for it to be a justification for him to continue using it even after individuals have asked him and his government to stop." Jason locked eyes with Scott as he said with intensity, "Some might be okay with bilagáana – White Man – still using the word, but many are not, such as myself."
"Oh, god, yeah. That's not only racist towards you guys, but towards people from India too." Scott gawked, as Jason's words clearly made sense to him; now recognising the problematic nature of his language. "We literally call them East Indians."
"Yeah," Roz then spoke up, "there's no country called East India. You white people kinda just sharpied the direction of a nation relative to your own in front of their name on a map, and then called it a correction." Once Roz put it like that, even Hope was appalled that she'd never thought of how fucked up that was.
"Right," Scott nodded at Roz in agreement before turning back to Jason. "At risk of offending anyone else, I won't ever call another Native American an Indian again." He then placed his hand on his heart, "I really didn't mean any—"
"'Ana'í!" Jason called out as he grabbed Scott by the arm, yanking his body towards him while an arrow whizzed past him from above. But before Hope had the opportunity to shoot the dark elf that just suddenly dropped down from the ridge that lay over top of them, Roz already had three bullets in his chest.
The girl then took in a sharp breath as she stared at the body with a heavy look in her eyes. Roz was evidently going through the same adjustment that Hope was. This was, after all, the young agent's first mission. That might have even been her very first kill.
Strongbow then slapped Scott's shoulder as he warmly smiled, "You're good, Ant-Man," before jumping up to where the dark elf had just dropped in from, in an incredible seven metre leap.
After a minute, where a couple of enemy corpses flew over them and down the mountain, Jason dropped back to them. "It's clear up there." He then pushed the dead Svartálfarianst – that Roz had shot off the platform – to join his fellow perished soldiers at the bottom of the mountain.
"There'll be more coming shortly. Lots more," Hope informed them. Glad to have an experienced, superhuman warrior like Jason with them at this time. His presence made her feel much more comfortable with the fact that an army was marching on them.
"Are you gonna stay here and fight with us, Waspy?" Roz asked with what Hope could have sworn was a plea in her eyes. Begging her to stand right next to her during the battle.
"Yes, I'm staying, but you're not." Hope wanted to give the girl some slack. She didn't need to be rushed into this killing business. She was still so young. "I want you to fall back and stay with the civilians inside."
"What? No, please don't send me away. I want to fight. I wanna earn Hill's respect," Roz begged her which only solidified Hope's decision. She didn't need to see war. At least, not all its worst parts on the frontline; corrupting her innocence all at once.
"And what makes you think you won't be able to impress her from inside as Asgard's last line of defence?" Hope asked her.
"But—"
"Adeezhí, Hope's right," Jason softly addressed her. "The people need you. They're scared and could use a ray of sunshine with great aim beside them. Your job is no less important in there than ours is out here."
"Okay, fine," she said almost comically like she really secretly did want to be excused but just couldn't admit it and was glad that she had an out that wasn't cowardly. "I'll let you heavy-hitters hit the heavy things." She then aggressively pointed at them, "But don't any of you even think about dying on me." She then shifted her finger at Scott, "Yes, even you Ant-Boy." She then started walking away into the cave as she yelled, "'Cause I'm not above slapping a corps!"
After smirking at the girl Hope took notice that the guys were now focusing their gazes outwards, which made her feel safe in taking a brief moment to look down at her ring before putting her glove back on.
It was absolutely stunning. The band was gold with ornate etchings that built up towards the centre of the ring for a singular large octagon cut stone that was set within it, lengthwise. The rock was otherworldly. It was black with what looked like a blue and yellow coloured galaxy trapped within it. It even somehow appeared like the stars were twinkling inside of the gem.
She was still beside herself about the proposal. Admittedly, she didn't expect herself to bring it up that day, in the middle of battle, of all places. But all she could think about was how dire their situation was, and how much she didn't want to waste a single day that they were alive, not being bound to Maria.
"Hope?" Scott said her name softly which made her look up at him. He then gestured at her hand with his eyes. A questioning look on his face.
Hope couldn't help but smile as she held up her hand in front of her, "Like my engagement ring? I just got it."
"You did?" he asked with a soft smirk on his face. Hope only nodded, her own smile growing bigger. "Of course you did." He looked so happy for her.
"We're getting married right after all of this is over," Hope was so excited to share with him.
He locked his gaze with her as he said genuinely, "You guys are gonna have such a long and happy life together."
Jason then called back to them, "Congratulations are gonna have to be put on hold because we got company."
Hope then yanked her glove back on before she looked back to Scott, "Okay, let's do this." And with that, they both closed their helmets, ready to defend the mountain.
"Thor just apprehended Malekith but there's still no sign of Enchantress," Steve radioed to Maria. The captain was now outside at the front of the mountain, fighting off the Svartálfarian army. They'd been at it for about a half-hour now.
Maria was inside the main large cavern with the civilians, keeping track of the battle outside as she collected information and directed her people.
"Which shouldn't be the case," Maria replied to him. "Lady Sif had eyes on her right before her and the Warriors Three fell back to the mountain about twenty minutes ago. She should be on your sixes."
"Yeah. She's gotta be using magic to hide herself."
"That would be the only thing that makes sense," Maria said with unease. She didn't exactly know how to derive battle strategies when her main opponent played by such different rules. Magic was the wild card that didn't belong in the deck.
Then it hit her. In all her experiences with all the opponent's she'd been up against, they'd all have tried to breach the mountain from the large main entrance. They'd have to. It was the only passageway that allowed an army to get through without them having to thin their forces out to only be pecked off one by one as they tried passing through an alternately narrow entryway. But Amora didn't think like that. Why would she? She was powerful. Even if the mountain dulled her magic, she probably had enough in her to do simple things like cloaking herself and possibly even a few other Svartálfarian soldiers along with her.
"Shit," she muttered to herself before opening the channel back up to Steve. "The North entrance!" She then started running towards the tunnel that led to the mentioned location.
"What?" Steve asked.
"Make your way to the back of the mountain. She's gotta be breaching through there." Maria weaved through Asgardians families who were looking at her with concern. "It's the last place we'd suspect, which is why I'm certain she's there." She then got to the start of the tunnel that led her out to the North; weaving through the awkwardly low and uneven passageway.
"Copy," Steve said, "I'm on my way towards the mountain now." Maria understood that he was out in the field and would take a few minutes to get there.
"May?" Maria called through the comms. She waited for a reply from the agent who was posted at that particular entry point. With every second the agent didn't answer Maria's feet carried her faster. "May, do you read?" Maria asked again, her heart rate now up as she drew her sidearm.
Maria rounded a corner where the tunnel opened a bit; now no longer the size that allowed for a single person to pass, but of one that was at least four abreast in width. And with various boulders in the path, still making the passageway a hindrance.
In the new area, she was met with the sight of both Agents May and Johnson being suspended up in the air. Their heads were cocked to the side as an ethereal woman with brown skin, large eyes, and long dark hair was holding them high up into the ceiling with her hands stretched out in front of her. There were also multiple Svartálfarians flanking her with bow and arrows on the ready, while more lined up behind them further down the tunnel.
Maria instantly started shooting past her agents at the woman who was clearly Amora the Enchantress, which led to her dropping the women as she had to use her hands to stop the bullets with her magic. The projectiles froze mid-shot only for them to fall to the ground after a brief moment of suspension.
Lucky, her agents were conscious and able to speedily get up and dodge behind a large boulder near Maria, where the commander followed suit and took cover behind another one about a half metre away from them as arrows were being shot at them.
"Johnson, are you able to crush her?" Maria asked Daisy before she broke her own cover to fire over the boulder she was behind. Aiming at one of the dark elves, only for Amora to easily stop her bullets. Maria then had to crouch back down as she took fire. Lucky getting down before she was scathed.
Daisy then looked over the boulder that she was hiding behind, only to instantly duck back down when a long arrow whizzed past her head. "I need to be able to see what I'm doing," she called back.
"Silly, Midgard children," Amora laughed at them. "Why don't you just come out so I can dispose of you quickly instead of playing this futile game with me?"
They didn't have time. Enchantress, even in this weakened state, was undoubtedly still very powerful. If she got past them she'd take the civilians and kill anyone who stood up to her. Which meant all of Maria's people, and probably many of the Asgardian men as well.
She then looked at Daisy. The woman she let down as she was the one directly responsible for her best friend's death. This seemed right. The universe was balancing itself out while Maria sought out her redemption with the one whom she wronged the most. And in turn, she would help protect the innocent. Specifically, the ones she loved. Hope would be safe from the powerful Enchantress. She wouldn't be able to hurt her. So Maria did something that she never did. She broke a promise.
"Milinda," Maria spoke in a low tone to her dear friend. "Focus your fire on the elves."
"Maria?" May's eyes widened, clearly knowing she was planning something dangerous. They only used each other's first names in serious situations.
"Johnson, get ready."
"Ma'am?" The young agent shook her head in confusion.
But Maria didn't have time to explain. She dogged over to Daisy, crouching beside her as she threw the woman's arms over her shoulders like she was about to give her a piggyback ride. But instead, she stood up behind their cover, bringing Daisy along with her, using her own body to shield the young agent's while she fired repeatedly on Amora with her sidearm.
Daisy quickly raised her hands up past Maria's head, evidently understanding what she was supposed to do, as the tunnel began to rumble while bullets flew out of both Maria's and May's guns.
Even though Maria had Amora preoccupied, The Enchantress was busy blocking her gunfire with magic. May was having a harder time as dark elves were flooding into the space, far outnumbering her. It didn't take long before one of them had an opportunity to take fire on Daisy and Maria.
Despite their arrows moving faster than a shot from a crossbow, Maria could have sworn she saw the projectile moving towards her in slow motion. She couldn't describe what she felt next, but all she could comprehend was her body jerking backwards into Daisy's chest. She was then suddenly sinking to the ground while she saw rubble falling atop of Amora, squishing her in pieces of large rock. And then there was nothing.
Hope was halfway down the outside path leading up to the West entrance, fighting off a couple of dark elves with Scott by her side when suddenly the purple sky shifted into an Earth blue.
"Commander down. Breach in progress." May's voice was heard over the comms. "Assistance required at North rear entrance A-SAP. Enchantress has been neutralised but soldiers are still present."
"I'm almost there," Steve responded just as Scott embiggened himself and threw the enemies far off into the forest below as he tactfully balanced on his tippy toes on the path that was suddenly too small for him.
Hope's head started racing. Maria? she wondered. Or maybe 'commander' was referring to Amora, the commander of the Svartálfarians army and not the commander of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Yeah, that made sense. May said Enchantress was neutralised. It was about her.
Scott then abruptly shrank back down to normal size as he focused on Hope. "Go. Strongbow and I got this place covered." Where it was clear that Scott assumed it was Maria. Of course he did. She was just being purposely obtuse. Not wanting to deal with the obvious implications of her reality.
Hope didn't even respond. She just abruptly shrank down and took off like a bullet; speeding inside the mountain and weaved through the cave system. She was going so fast that she even passed Steve as he was moving through the awkwardly small Northern tunnel.
She suddenly reached the junction of agents, elves, and boulders which made her quickly pull up to hover in the air and take stock of the situation.
"I'm out!" Agent May announced as she was hidden behind a boulder; dropping her gun that had just run out of ammunition.
Daisy was next to May behind the same large barrier with Maria laying back in her lap. The young agent was bent over her commander's body with what looked like an arrow sticking out from it. But she couldn't quite tell where its impact point was. Not that it seemed to matter when it came to her emotions. The image sent pure rage through her veins.
Anger engulfed Hope as she saw the love of her life laying still in front of her eyes. She then turned her attention to the Svartálfarians that seemed to have just noticed her presence as one loosed an arrow at her. She quickly dodged it as she used her momentum to then fly full speed towards the one who shot at her. Blind fury in her heart drove her forward as she wanted to tear them all apart from limb to limb. She no longer felt conflicted about taking their lives. Now she wished she was equipped with a blade so she could watch their disgusting blue blood squirt out from their bodies as she slaughtered them like the animals they were.
She flew towards his head, flipping her body so that her feet passed over his shoulder first with her stomach to the ceiling where she then grew to size while hooking his neck into her bent arm; throwing him down onto his back as she landed in a crouched position. She then raised her arm and shot another dark elf dead next to her before aiming to the one on the ground, shooting him in the head. She then shrunk down again, flying to a third hostile, growing back mid-air to kick him in the skull where he flew down on top of a boulder. Hope then shrunk only to save herself from hitting into the tunnel wall as she stopped her body mid-air and grew back to shoot the boulder that he was still atop of. The rock expanded in size and pushed him upwards along with it. His body was instantly smashed when the boulder met with the ceiling of the tunnel.
Hope continued like that until she'd taken out five more hostiles only to then close up the tunnel after growing an adequate number of boulders in size.
Once she was standing in the middle of the pile of dead Svartálfarians, panting to catch her breath, she flipped open her helmet and beelined it to Maria just as Steve ran over to them from up the tunnel. Not that his presence fully registered to Hope as May wordlessly moved out of the way for her to fall to her knees beside Daisy and Maria.
"She didn't have to..." the young agent said in a shaky voice as she allowed Hope to scoop Maria out of her lap and into her own. Daisy then got up to give them space.
It was only then that Hope properly saw where the arrow had struck. Dead centre of her chest, right through her heart. She could feel the arrow head that was protruding out of Maria's back, now up against her own body, stabbing into her.
"No," Hope shook her head. This couldn't be right. Why was this goddamned arrow sticking out of her like that? This wasn't allowed. It didn't belong there.
Hope pushed her stinger to the thick wooden dowel, shrinking the arrow to pull it out with ease before she angrily tossed it to the side with a grunt.
Hope looked at the wound. It wasn't bleeding. Wounds were supposed to bleed. She shook her head. This couldn't be. She was dreaming. That must have been it.
She then shifted Maria in her arms as her head fell into the crook of her elbow. The heavy weight of it made her stomach clamp up. She looked down to her still, pale face. With her eyes gently closed. "Maria? Baby?" She reached with a quivering hand, stroking her gloved fingers over her colourless cheek. "Don't do this to me," her voice shook while her eyes started to tear. "You promised." Maria had assured her they'd survive this. They were supposed to get married. She had to open her eyes. They had a wedding to plan. Hope then dropped her forehead to Maria's scalp as she murmured, "You can't leave me. I need you. Wake up."
Her mind then started racing. She had to do something. She couldn't be gone. She wouldn't accept it.
According to her mother's journal on the quantum realm, the theory that partials acted chaotically within it and time wasn't observed linearly at that size, was confirmed as fact. She described her time there without time. She had no physical body, but at the same time, she did. When her father went into the realm to find her, her non-existent body presented itself at the sight of his, and only aged when she saw how old he'd gotten. She described it as her subconsciously choosing to match his appearance so she'd fit back into the family. Especially, to fit into the appropriate role as Hope's mother. This was something Hope had just recently discovered: that the reason her mother didn't go mad in the quantum realm after all those years was because she never experienced them in the first place. So maybe that's what would allow Hope to hold onto Maria for eternity. A place where bodies in time experience anything and nothing. A Schrödinger's box of dead and alive. A box she'd gladly take over the reality of her realm where a hole unequivocally laid in the place of where Maria's heart was supposed to be. Or more accurately, a realm where both their hearts were no longer where they ought to be. With only a void present at the centre of their beings.
Hope then pushed Maria off her torso, holding the heavy, deadweight, of her upper body with her left forearm while her free hand went to the control-belt on her Wasp suit. Flipping it open, she quickly started reconfiguring it.
"Hope," Steve softly said, his voice indicating distress, as he slowly approached them. "What are you doing?"
"Stay back!" she snapped. "Don't touch us!"
She noticed him complying through the corner of her eye as he took a step back while she finished up what she was doing. Then, with no time to waste, she allowed Maria's body to drop back into her chest, her head flopping on top of her shoulder before she pressed her shrinking-stinger into the other woman's shoulder and activated her suit.
She held Maria securely as their world began to grow around them. The cave, along with Steve and the others, turned into large molecules, then to atoms, followed by particles, which then became a matrix of polygons which shifted into a chorus of indistinguishable colours and incoherent bursts of light.
She'd never gone subatomic before. In all honesty, she'd been scared to go ever since her mother disappeared into the realm and was stuck there for the majority of Hope's life. But now, she was no longer afraid. She was completely numb to her former ghosts.
Both the first and the last thing Hope saw when they reached the final stage of their subatomic journey was what her mother had referred to as a quantum tardigrade. The eight-legged creature that looked similar to a larva was moving past their floating bodies as she screwed her eyes shut. keeping them closed indefinitely. Wanting to blank out her reality.
Even in the quantum realm Hope still felt like herself. Being subatomic didn't take away the tears that were running down her face nor did it scatter the particles of her body into oblivion so she didn't have to feel.
Hope pushed her cheek into the side of Maria's face, wanting her to suddenly take a breath like this nanoscale plane of existence that they were currently in would just magically bring her back to life. But she didn't take a breath. She didn't do anything. Hope merely felt her cool skin against her, with not a single muscle in Maria's body flinching in Hope's grasp.
Hope's body began to shake in agony. Her tears intensified as they cascaded down her face like a waterfall, soaking Maria's cheek in the process as Hope still refused to open her eyes to physically see the visual confirmation of their situation. She squeezed Maria tighter. And tighter. And tighter. She held her so firmly in her grasp that she could have sworn she was now hugging herself and not another body in front of hers.
After her tears ran dry and her arms felt weak by how hard she was pushing Maria's body into her own, her heart began to ache. The ache then escalated into severe pain as her shoulder began to throb and her breath fell short. Her heart seemed to have been growing sluggish like it was being overtaxed. As if it were no longer beating for one, but for two. Hope's head was now spinning. It was too much. It was all too much to bear as she eventually passed out. Her pain now finally gone as she surrendered to the darkness of her sorrow.