I flew away from Hawkeye and over a few blocks, coming to perch atop a smoldering building.

The area down below was still full of panicked civilians, running from the alien creatures.

Amidst all the chaos I saw a little girl, covered in dust. She stood in the middle of the crowd rushing past her, not one person asking her to whom she belonged to. It was as if she was frozen in place like Simba during the buffalo stampede.

Then I realized what the crowd was running from: a giant, metallic snake-like creature was crashing down, down, down into the street below.

The little girl stared up at it with wide eyes as it drew closer, its momentum not ceasing.

The last of the people had scattered past her but her guardian was no where in sight. She remained stuck on the spot, the danger of the crashing metal beast growing closer.

In a flash, I took flight, swooping down to lift her up. As I flew, I clutched her close to my chest, flapping as hard as I could away from the collapsing buildings.

I peered down at her once out of the fray to see how she was taking to her sudden flight.

"Are you an angel?" she asked, looking up at me with large brown eyes. I landed safely away from the chaos, setting her down gently. "Are you gonna take me to heaven?"

"No, no," I said softly, kneeling down to her level. "I'm going to take you back to your mommy."

She nodded, brushing a tear from her eye.

"You gotta help me find her though, okay? What's your name?" I asked.

"Laura," she sniffed.

"Okay, Laura," I said. "Do you know your mommy's name?"

"Mary Tyler," Laura said. I wiped some dust from her face.

"Mary Tyler," I repeated. "What a very pretty name. "You must be Laura Tyler, then."

She nodded.

"Well, I can call around for her," I said. "Tell me if you see her."

I held Laura's small hand in mine as we tromped through the debris.

I could hear sirens in the distance but this block of New York was strangely quiet and deserted.

I hadn't the faintest idea of how to find the one Mary Tyler in the hundreds of thousands of people in New York, but I could damn well try.

I took Laura to the nearest police department where they could search records and hopefully get an address and phone number for Mrs. Tyler.

As the two of us neared the police department, I could see a perimeter of barricades had been set up around the building. As the officer standing guard let us through, I could feel his eyes questioning my mutation and what the hell I was doing with a little girl.

The actual interior of the police department wasn't as crowded as I thought it'd be. The only people here seemed to be civilians who had ran for cover and this had been the closest building. I didn't want to leave Laura, but other people were in danger just like her.

As I knelt down again to explain why I had to leave, Laura gave me a hug and a thank you goodbye. I told her I was glad I could help and assured her the police would take care of her from there.

Then I turned out the door, spread my wings, and flew away.

By the end of the battle, I was beaten, bartered, and bruised.

Alive.

I was very much alive and that was all that mattered.

My rebar-sword was practically dull after all the slashing through metal monsters. And on top of all the battle scars, I was pretty sure the whole world knew of the "Angel of New York."

Great.

I gathered what strength I had left and flew over the streets of New York in an attempt to find Charles, Hank, or the car.

I came to the street where I originally left the car from. The line of traffic we'd been sitting in was crushed and torn. I rushed down to our car, or rather, what was left of it.

No bodies. A wave of relief washed over me. They had managed to escape, but I knew Charles couldn't make it over rough terrain in that chair of his. Hank may have carried him, but they still couldn't move that fast.

I only prayed I'd get some text or sign from him they were alive. They were probably worried sick about me right now.

Exhausted, I decided to fly out of New York City and get a hotel room or something with the emergency money I kept on me. I sure needed some well deserved rest before I could think to fly my way home.