Chapter 24 – Aftermath
The southern tip of Manhattan remained without electricity, water, or gas; and all areas within several blocks of the rupture point had had to be shut off too. The immense suture could be seen from high, almost from space, in a line of broken buildings, rubble-strewn streets, and great cracks that tore through the land and were being filled, one after the other, by dirty, seeping sea water. Thor and Iron Man, hovering high in the air, could see it clearly, even as night was coming on. They turned and flew back down towards the land, each of them silent, each chasing grim thoughts in his mind. They had only intended to get an idea of the situation, and urgent matters called them back to the battlefield.
Below them, Captain Lawton was standing alone. He had left his cellphone in Lieutenant Carter's hands. That had been deliberate. He knew the woman would normally have kept track of such things, and returned it to him as soon as she was done; but he had seen her exhaustion, and the entirely untypical sobbing emotion that had swept through her when she first heard her sister's voice, and he felt sure that she would not think of the phone, or of its owner, for a while.
Indeed – he looked back – Lieutenant Samantha Carter was still holding to his cellphone with a death-grip, as if her life depended on it. Still talking to her sister. He smiled grimly, and turned away.
He needed to lose that phone; he needed to disappear. He had made up his mind. Even if he did not report this catastrophe to the Supreme Intelligence immediately, there was no way that Yon-Rogg and his crew would not do so in a day or two; and as soon as the ruler of the Kree knew what kind of power had been unleashed on Earth today, he would order the destruction of the planet. If he was missing presumed dead, he might gain a few extra hours; but... he had made up his mind.
He had gone native, like many previous Kree explorers, and in spite of being warned again and again against it. It was so easy to contemplate planet-death in a college classroom, from an academic viewpoint, as something that had happened before and benefited the Empire, as something that might, anyway, happen one day sooner or later without any imperial intervention. It was another when he had spent years becoming one of them, and, on top of that, when he had spent hours cheek by jowl with them, trying hard to save them from a horrible death. All those important differences, all the things that made the Kree important and special, that made their danger and their death something of a wholly different order, simply did not mean anything any more. He had seen some humans die, and stolen others from death; he could not contemplate their massacre. He walked, one of a shuffling, exhausted crowd, past one of the first treatment points being set up for the victims of the catastrophe, away, out of the disaster area, towards the bridges to Brooklyn and the Bronx, never doing anything to be noticed.
It took Buffy half an hour to find the church where Sammy and Jen were sitting, waiting for her; and to her, it seemed a century. Then suddenly she was there, and there was her sister, and – the very next second, it seemed, without approach or break, they were in each other's arms, sobbing and trying to express something in broken bits of speech. The cellphone fell from Sam's fingers, unnoticed, and Jennifer Hailey picked it up.
Jennifer was standing there, looking at the sisters. It would have been hard for her to unravel all she felt; but in the heart of her feelings was what she could see of the importance, the centrality, that each of them had for the other. To her, they seemed to be each other's fortress and native place, something that cut out, in a sense, all the rest of the world. To each of them, the world had been restored, life had been returned some meaning, because the other was alive and with her. Jen did not dare intrude; and then she realized, more than even before, how generous they had been in allowing her to share their holiday, when they could have been with each other and perfectly happy.
The whole church seemed full of family groups, people coming together and sobbing or smiling in each other's arms. She watched four tall black guys, looking like half a basketball team, coming together awkwardly and hugging. She watched an old Asian man, Chinese or Vietnamese or Filipino – she could not tell – laugh incoherently as a younger woman rushed to him and placed a little child in his arms; and as the little family was about to leave, the old man knelt before the bare cross on the wall and crossed himself. She saw a man in a black suit and tie, obviously one of the local pastors, look on with disapproval, but decide to do nothing. After a while, she saw paramedics trickle in, and begin to remove some of the wounded – she had not even realized how many there were. And ever, and everywhere, the sound of families reuniting, sobbing, talking fast, even occasionally laughing.
There was something, a thought, that was rising within her as she watched the families and groups of friends around her. There was something she needed to do. She did not interrupt the sisters; but as soon as Samantha had come back to earth slightly, she addressed her.
"Lieutenant Sam... could I use your phone?" And she held it out.
"Oh! That – isn't that Captain Lawton's phone? I think you should ask him."
"Yes, I – Captain... Where's Captain Lawton?"
For a few minutes, they looked for the man's tall figure. Then they decided he had just wandered away on his own, as so many people must have done, and forgot his phone. "We'll keep it for now," said Samantha, "and tomorrow I'll contact SHIELD and see if they can return it to him. Meanwhile, he'd given it to us to use... I dare say he'd have let you use it, if you make a note of the fee and pay him back afterwards. Who do you want to call?"
Jen hesitated for a second before saying "Idaho." And Samantha perceived the nervous, even shame-faced attitude, and nodded. "Of course," she said. "Remember to make a note of the charge, as I said."
Well, the call went through, and it was rather embarrassing. She had expected it to be, and moved instinctively away from the sisters. Her mother did not have much to say to her, though she was horrified to hear that she had been caught in the battle of Manhattan; and her sister downright would not believe that she was about to enlist in the Air Force. "All right, so when you see me in my uniform, you can tell yourselves it's a fake. Oh, the Hell with it!" She practically hung up on her. She asked herself bitterly why she had bothered; but she knew she would have been just as unhappy if she had left them in the dark.
Sam touched gently the back of her hand. Then she took the phone and started ringing Uncle Peter and Aunt Catherine.
The storefront of Luke Cage and Iron Fist, Heroes for Hire, was damaged and dishevelled. It was within the area where power had been lost, and nothing, not even the coffee machine, was working. But it was a convenient place for the local heroes to meet and discuss what they had just seen. Each of them, even the invulnerable Luke Cage, was shaken to the point where he was questioning his future.
"You can't say this is not a game-changer," said Daredevil thoughtfully. "Up to now, we used to just poke around here and there, when we had the time – help the police and the emergency services, if it came to that, and dealing with super-powered crooks if one of them showed up. And except for Danny and Luke here, we did it for no pay, and we did when it suited us. But this..." He shook his head in frustration.
"None of us could'a done jack shit about it," said Luke Cage. "Don't know what that monster with the beard was doing, but he blew Thor and Iron Man away like they was nothin'. And we all know that Danny and me and Spidey here couldn't slow down either of them two, not if we worked together and all. Not to mention that the green thing that blew him out of Manhattan was probably the Hulk. And then there was the giant, an' shit knows who else. An' it took four or five of them to finish 'im. He'd'a killed all of us without slowin' down."
"But if that's the case, how does it affect us?" asked Spider-Man. "We can't deal with things like that. We already knew it, each of us, ever since we met Thor or Iron Man or the Hulk. So nothing's changed, not really. We still do our patrols and discourage a few perps and help the odd cop, and thump on the odd bank robber in carnival masks. The mass destroyers, we can't deal with, so we leave them to those who can."
"Except that it doesn't work like that, Spidey, and you know it," - this was Iron Fist. "This is New York City. It's our city. You and I and you and Luke here all have decided, each for whatever reason, that we were going to defend it. And if a monster comes to it and starts killing people, we'll fight them. Even if that puts our lives in danger. And even if nobody pays us, Luke."
"Never said anythin' else, Mr. All-Clean."
"All right, so we will try to bill someone for today's work. After all, it's how we make a living. But we know that if anyone else like the monster comes to town, we'll be fighting it, whatever it takes. And you know it too, Spidey. Whatever you say otherwise."
"I guess so. Just, well – sort of being contrary, tossing something in and seeing how people reacted. And anyway we won't know, at the start of a battle, who the enemy is and what his powers are. So maybe we'll be facing the next monster, and maybe not, but we can't say either way in advance."
"I agree," broke in Daredevil, "but what I want to know is, where do we go from here? Is there anything we need to do, to change our patterns of behavior, or to form some sort of league of heroes, or...? I can tell you I'd regret losing my part-time status and my private life and work."
After a second, Luke Cage said: "We wait."
"Yes," said Iron Fist, "we wait. Right now we know almost nothing. We want to know what the Government has to say, and SHIELD, and the guys who actually fought the monster. There will be time enough to make decisions. Of course we'll keep in touch with each other. And see if we know anyone else who could help. I've heard things about that guy ..."
"Oh, yes, I've met him, he definitely could," said Spider-Man. "Anyway, we are all agreed, are we? We'll keep in touch and consider what happens." Everyone nodded, and the meeting broke up.
Thor and Iron Man still had hardly exchanged a word when they landed in the devastated container port. Tony Stark, the businessman, looked out from Iron Man's armour and wondered what this would do to the world's insurance markets. Payments and claims were going to drain the industry dry, and that is hoping that none of the thousands damaged or destroyed containers held irreplaceable items, such as archaeological or artistic treasures. Thor just thought of how difficult it had been to measure his power to avoid destroying everything he was trying to save – and still be able to resist and subdue the monster. In the end, it had been the Hulk who had done it; and who had proved able to deal out enough destruction to kill Graviton, without annihilating everything around him. That strange green ogre, thought Thor, seemed more at home with his power than he himself, son of Odin and older than anyone on earth.
But the Hulk was still there – and something was going on. A massively armed SHIELD platoon surrounded him, all their weapons pointed and ready. And two human figures, looking small and helpless under that green bulk, seemed to be interposing themselves between the Hulk and the troops. Ant-man and the Wasp. What on Earth was going on? Iron Man and Thor looked at each other, and landed straight between the Hulk and the troops.
"I could have bashed every one of you into the moon," the colossus was growling. "I could have killed you and you and you -" glaring at one SHIELD agent after another - "and the only reason I don't do it is that I don't like it. There's been enough killing today, you idiots. Put up your weapons and go away."
"Don't try to scare us, monster," answered their commander, whom Iron Man recognized as Maria Hill. "You are a fugitive from justice, with a rap sheet as long as your arm – and that's long enough. Either you come quietly, or we will subdue you. And you know we can do it."
Damn, what the woman lacked in brains she sure made up in guts; no wonder she had made all those nice people in Chi so mad at her. But this is stupid and wrong. "Agent Hill? Perhaps you aren't aware that we all owe the Hulk our lives. If you want to get him..." There was a rumble of thunder, and the huge blonde figure beside him took up the threat: "If you want the Hulk, you have to go through us."
"That is what I was trying to explain to the nice lady with the solid-iron head," said the smaller of the two figures. "But it seems that saving all our lives and the whole of New York City doesn't register with her."
Maria Hill said nothing. She was visibly shaken by Thor and Iron Man's appearance, but one could tell that her instinct was to proceed no matter what.
Then there was a loud noise. Iron Man, who knew what that sound, drew an inward breath of relief. Maria Hill looked up, realized what it was, and ordered her SHIELD agents to draw back. A space was cleared, and a small helicopter came out of the evening gloom to land. Two figures, a man and a woman, came scurrying out, and the helicopter took off again. Maria Hill snapped to attention, and saluted.
"At ease," said Nick Fury.
"All right, I understand the situation. But you have to stand down, Maria. And I don't say it just because the Hulk could probably trash the lot of you. You're focusin' only on one person in one battle... missin' the forest fer the trees.
"First, Maria, think of this: all four SHIELD and SWORD detention centres went down at once. This was no coincidence, it was a coordinated attack. We now have 73 super-powered felons loose. This is no longer a public order issue, this is an act of war against the United States. Maybe against the whole world. I know you started out as a beat cop. I know yer proud of it, and you've got a right to be. But this is no longer a public order matter. This is war, and we have to start thinkin' like we're at war.
"So what I want to know is: Here we have a guy who's broken out of the Cube, and then, instead of just going back to the desert where he had been so comfortable for so long, crossed three thousand miles of good American land to get to New York City and fight a man who was committing mass murder..."
"Correction, Fury," rumbled the Hulk. "I didn't break out of the Cube. I was thrown out."
"What?"
"The Leader and a bunch of gamma freaks like me have taken the place over. They're very comfortable there. I'd have stayed and fought them, but I had to get Doc Samson away – he'd been irradiated in the collapse. And then, after I'd left him somewhere safe, I heard of the battle in New York on TV news, and I thought there was need for me."
"And there was!" said Ant-Man with a smile, as Thor patted the green giant's shoulders. But the SHIELD agents all looked sick. Maria Hill and Countess Valentina looked at each other with horror in their eyes. Finally Fury spoke up:
"So the Leader and his henchmen are in charge of the Cube. Why didn't you tell us earlier?"
"I did. Now," said the Hulk in a watch-what-you're-saying tone. Fury thought better to shift the subject... after all, the monster had informed them as soon as he could. "So is the Leader in charge? Did he engineer the mass escape?"
The Hulk was thinking as he answered. "Pretty sure not. He and his guys were as surprised as I was. And nobody said anything about other hoosegows. Naah, they didn't know what was going on, and they didn't care. The Abomination and Crusher Creel just wanted to beat people up, and the Leader only thought of his own plans. For a genius, I thought he was pretty stupid... but he's always been like that."
"Jesus on a bike! And that superbrain is in there using the Cube's resources, doing Christ knows what! Hill, get in touch with Vegas, Sacramento and Phoenix immediately. Give them the news, and tell'em the Leader and his crew are the worst kind of threat, in case they didn't know already. Countess, call the Joint Chiefs. This is a second Priority Omega, as if we didn't have enough."
"Well, you've still got me."
"Yeah, that's right. And I still don't know where we stand. Why did you go to New York City after they threw you out of the Cube, instead of staying and fighting? Or, for that matter, going back to the desert? I need to understand that, to decide what to do."
All the time, the Hulk felt not only Nick Fury's single baleful eye on him, but also those of bewildered superheroes and nervous SHIELD agents. He had never been in a situation like this – a situation where his words were taken seriously, where his purposes and his views received intense attention. It was something new, and, like all new things, rather scary.
"Well, I couldn't go back at first, 'cause I had Samson to take care of. If I'd left him there, they' d have killed him. Then when I handed him over to a woman, there were news on TV about the assault on New York, and it seemed that even Thor wasn't coping. And I saw the people die, and it made me mad, and I went to show that killer that there was someone around who could take him down."
"So you wanted to save lives?"
"You don't believe me. Well, not surprised. And I wouldn't put it like that anyway. I was out to avenge the people he had already murdered. I wanted him down for everything he'd done." As he spoke, the Hulk's voice grew deeper and angrier, and even the superheroes instinctively drew back a step or two. "Besides... I wanted to break him. I wanted to show that nothing is stronger than the Hulk. And I can be the strongest there is, and still not kill anyone."
There was a silence. "Well, that is the truth. All of it."
"So you are an avenger."
"When there has to be one. When it's needed."
"And all the damage you've done? You've ruined people. You may not have killed anyone, but when a man's lost his home and his car in about ten minutes, that he'd worked for all his life, and that's just because a big green guy was feeling cranky – that's not far from killing a guy, you know."
"I'm sorry. If that's a true story, I'm real sorry. It's too easy to get angry. It's too easy to smash. I never meant it that way. I hate hurting people weaker than me. And you people came after me every time, so, even if I'd wanted to pay anyone back, how could I?"
"All right. We'll take it from there. You've come to our help when we needed it, and you've given good intel, and you sound like you're still willin' to take the Leader and his crew down. So you're an ally. And you guys too. With 73 angry monsters still on the loose, we will need avengers pretty soon."
As the evening went on, Samantha, Buffy and Jen began to worry that they might be trapped on the shore. Manhattan Island is well supplied with bridges across the East River and the Harlem River, and they were allowing all the people going to the the Bronx and Yonkers and the mainland, to Brooklyn and Queens and Long Island beyond, a fairly free, if crowded. But on the Hudson and the Jersey side there is only one bridge, George Washington, which was far too far north for the three young women, and practically blocked by traffic anyway. The two railway tunnels were closed by leaks and partial collapses. And so, a tired, listless and yet impatient mob had been crowding the shores of the Hudson all along the island's west coast.
Private enterprise had taken an interest, of course. As the evening wore on, the river had filled with boats and craft of every kind, all offering ferry services to the other shore; some for free, some at... interesting... prices. Each group of travellers in turn went through moments of incredulity and long minutes of haggling, before they finally entered the boat and disappeared into the night. And people were being rude, hogging the shore in every way, pushing across in attempts to seize the attention of a boat first. The three girls were absolutely exhausted, and so, as it was almost inevitable, their tempers went off. Some insignificant ground for offence, which none of them could recall afterwards, led Buffy to produce a really scathing piece of bitchiness about Jennifer's hairdo, clothes, and – especially – choice of socks. Jen replied with an almost as brutal remark about the difference between studying the stars and studying what the stars wear. Three or four rounds of competitive verbal cruelty followed in swift succession, till an exasperated Samantha Carter started yelling like nobody had ever heard her before. It was like a Marine sergeant on a bad day. The two girls were so stunned, they just about collapsed.
Thank goodness, one ferry finally decided to pick them up. The night was clear, the wind low, the sea gentle; which was, as it turned out, a mixed blessing. For in the gently moving, gently rolling boat, fatigue caught up with all three. Samantha kept nodding off and waking herself with sudden jerks, and Buffy and Jen just lay there like logs. They had to be wakened when they reached the Jersey shore, with Peter and Catherine, who had kept in touch by phone, waiting for them; they slept all the way home in the back of Catherine's car, and had to be awakened to go to bed when they got home at last. It was two o'clock in the morning.
The moans were soft, but horrible, the sound of a soul in pain. As Jennifer opened her eyes, and, for a moment, could not realize where she was, it was the sound she was most conscious of. And she realized that it came form the other bed in the room.
"Buffy? You're dreaming, Buffy, it's a nightmare..."
"Don't let them get me, Sammy, Sammy... Don't wanna be a Slayer, don't wanna die..."
Jennifer realized with horror that Buffy could not wake up. And nothing she said could affect the flow of meaningless, scared words. Eventually Buffy seized Jen's hands, and her babble seemed to die down into a troubled, shaken sleep.
Jen had never experienced anything like that. She was scared to leave Buffy alone, but she did not know what to do. She was scared that if she left her alone, something bad might happen. Sam's sister had never looked so small, so helpless, so like a small child. Something that needed protection...
….the sunlight woke her up, lying on the side of Buffy's bed and next to Buffy herself, their hands still over each other. And Buffy was already awake, looking at her with an indecipherable expression. Embarrassment sat heavy over both as they got up and started washing.
