Chapter Five: Like Father, Like Daughter
"One may smile, and smile, and be a villain." -Shakespeare
As the engines of the quinjet hummed below their feet, Audrey and Steve sat facing each other on the opposite rows of seats. In the front of the jet, Natasha Romanoff was piloting them to Stuttgart.
This was the first time Audrey had ever dressed in tac gear. The black, full-body suit clung to her body, and the helmet matted her hair to her head. She wished she'd taken the time to pull it back, but had regrettably forgotten to before she'd pulled the helmet on. Visor up, she found herself staring blankly forward, teeth clenched together. There was no gun at her hip, just a taser (which had shown more effectiveness in stopping gods than bullets had, apparently).
The suit was a little bit loose on her frame. If she tried hard enough, she would be able to wiggle her arms into the torso area, like she'd used to do to all her sweatshirts, until her Peggy made her stop because she was stretching them out.
It was also the first time she'd seen the Captain America costume in person. When they'd cut Steve out of the original, she'd arrived to find him in the faux-SSR shirt and khakis, instead of in uniform. The one he was in now seemed more fitted than the old one. More animated.
She hadn't thought it possible, that the red, white, and blue stripes could get more animated, but somehow, they had.
"Is this your first field mission?"
Steve's words shattered her thoughts. "What?" Audrey asked. Then, "Oh. Uh, am I that obvious?"
"You've got the same look as the new soldiers," he answered quietly. "You're just on mission controls, right?"
Audrey nodded. When they'd gotten onto the jet, Natasha had told her that she probably wouldn't need to go into battle unless it was an emergency, much to the blonde's relief. Usually, she couldn't handle walking down a hallway without accidentally injuring herself somehow. Much less fight a god. Without any training. That seemed like a very rash decision.
"You'll be fine," Steve consoled. "You've done this before, right?"
Right. She had. Mission controls had been where she'd worked before her transfer to investigations. "Yeah."
"You'll be fine. We'll probably work better together. We've got the same strengths. We were trained by the same person."
Audrey wasn't sure, in this moment, if his words were from Steve, her dad, or from Captain America, the soldier. She knew there was a difference between the two, but dressed in the rebuilt uniform, without the cowl on, the two seemed to blend together.
She nodded at him, because either way, the words were comforting. "Can I ask you another question?" he prompted.
"Go for it," she answered, curiosity rising in her stomach.
He hesitated, struggling to phrase his question. "Why did you sign on?" he inquired finally. "I mean, I know it's your job, but why did you choose to come aboard instead of going to work on rescue?"
Why had she come aboard? No field experience, no combat experience aside from basic self-defense. But she was was strong, and that could be put to more use in a confrontational setting than in a rescue one. She was an asset. "Because it was the right thing to do," she answered. "This is what mom would've done." It's what he would've done.
Her morals had been built so much around his memory, her parents were so similar to each other that Peggy always taught her what Steve would've done and then made the same decision without a second thought.
"Two minutes out," Natasha called back. "Get ready, Captain."
She stretched her lips into a thin, obviously fake, smile. "Good luck," she wished him. "Stay safe. Mom'll kill you if you die before she gets to see you again." The logic in the sentiment was skewed, but as Steve settled the cowl into place, he didn't seem to mind, shooting her a genuine smile before he secured a parachute onto his back.
"Yes ma'am," he answered, before jumping out of the open jet door.
Immediately, Audrey turned back to her computers, feelings slightly more in her element with her eyes on the fight from afar. Through Steve's body-cam, she could see Loki, standing in a golden helmet with… were those antlers? Uh, okay. Audrey had never taken down someone with antlers before. If she had a bucket list, she'd cross that off of it.
Then suddenly, a blue shot of energy zipped toward the camera, but before it could hit him, it was covered by the metal of his shield. A loud thwanging sound rang through Audrey's earpiece, and she flinched a little.
"You know," Steve started, his voice fuzzy. "Last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing over everyone else, we ended up disagreeing."
He finally moved the shield aside to let Audrey lay eyes on a cowered-over Loki, who had his eyes closed and was lying on the ground. Audrey figured that Steve was approaching him, judging by the way Loki began to fill up more and more of the frame. She hoped to god that he wasn't going to get himself murdered now, prayed that Loki wouldn't jump up and stab him. She hoped even more that if he did, Steve would have the sense and reflexes to dodge the hit before it came.
"The soldier," Loki said menacingly, though, Audrey found it hard to be scared of him when he was wearing the stupid antlers.
"We're approaching, Captain," Audrey informed Steve, glancing up at the map on the screen, which had Audrey, Nat, and Steve's locations represented by dots over a street map of Struttgart. "Thirty seconds."
Loki smirked in the camera screen. "A man out of time."
If Steve was affected by the god's words, he didn't show it. Actually, his next comment sounded cockier than anything he'd said before. "I'm not the one who's out of time," he assured Loki.
Audrey felt the jet turn as it aimed at the scene. She counted back the steps of the plan in the millisecond before Natasha aimed the guns. 1. Steve would distract as Natasha flew the jet over to get a better angle, and defend civilians; 2. Audrey would guide Steve to the nearest clear exit route, to help him evacuate civilians; 3. Natasha would get Loki to surrender, they'd take him back, find the Tesseract, and everything would be peachy.
That was not what happened, though. Just as soon as Natasha's voice boomed out a demand to drop the weapon, Loki decided to do, well, not that, and instead fire at the jet. Audrey fell out of her chair as Natasha banked to the side to dodge the blast, just barely catching a glimpse of Steve's next move as she went down. When she climbed back into her seat Audrey discovered that he'd hurled his shield at Loki and caught it off the bounce. People were running and screaming; a metal-gloved hand was coming up to punch Steve in the face, and combat had definitely not been a part of this mission before.
Amongst all the chaos, it would be easier for Loki to make an escape. The world spun as Loki's scepter hit Steve in the stomach, sending him flying.
That was it.
Audrey reached over for a parachute, pulling it onto her back.
"You going in?" Natasha shouted back at her. There was no judgment in the words, no answer, no right or wrong.
Audrey gritted her teeth, knowing she was making a stupid decision but decidedly making it anyway. Steve never could run away from a fight, and apparently, neither could she. "I'm going in," she confirmed.
Natasha nodded. "Focus on escorting the civilians out. Don't engage in combat unless you have to."
Right. She had instructions. An objective. Oh my god oh my god oh my god, what the hell are you doing, Carter? And louder, more clear, Mom is going to kill you when she finds out about this. If. If she found out about it.
Oh, hell. Who was Audrey kidding? Peggy managed to know everything. I'm screwed, she thought.
"Wait," Natasha called out. "Don't take the parachute. We aren't high enough for it to work. Are you in the boots?" She twisted around to assess Audrey's footwear, despite the blonde's affirmative reply. "The boots will absorb enough of the shock, but it'll be better if you roll. I'll try and get us a little bit lower."
Well, now she was jumping out of a plane without a parachute, which was a million times dumber.
There was no time to think, or she'd anxiously talk herself out of it. People's lives were at stake, and she would definitely survive the fall. Whether or not she got injured was another story, but her a broken leg or a sprained knee wasn't nearly as bad as a dozen casualties. Audrey flipped down the visor on her helmet, made sure her laces were tied, and then jumped.
Almost as soon as she was in freefall, Audrey wanted to scream, or cry, or cover her eyes and just let death take her, but she fought the urge. You're fine. You're fine. You're fine. She did not feel fine. She felt terrified out of her bloody mind.
Mere seconds after she'd jumped, Audrey landed with a thud, throwing herself into a sloppy roll at the last second. It left her sprawled out on the ground, but without too much pain in her legs. She recovered quickly, flipping the visor back up and shouting, "Get out of the way!" She waved, nudging and pushing people as she passed them. "Get out of the way!"
Behind them and to the right was a cluster of buildings, and straight ahead a burning police car blocked off the road. Audrey read the street sign to the left and started to direct people down it.
Thankfully, nobody had wanted to bring their children or their grandparents to the gala happening in the museum, where most of the crowd had been just minutes before. A few older people struggled to keep up, so Audrey headed towards them, giving them a boost as she yanked them to safety. One man cried out at the force, another winced. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry," she cried over and over again, as she pushed and pulled people to the clear. "Run!" she shouted again. "Go! Take Domshof!" She took a moment to pray that she was pronouncing it correctly, as hoards of people tripped over each other as they fled for their lives. She, too, was about to make her escape when someone reached out with a scepter and walloped her in the stomach. Wait, what? Wasn't Loki, like, over there? Fighting Steve? A quick look around yielded more Lokis, besides the one fighting her.
One of the Lokis. Oh my god. There were six, forming a perimeter around the courtyard. Audrey stumbled back as he raised a fist. She had just enough time to slide her visor back in place before he backhanded her, sending her flying. As if the pain from the blow weren't enough, she hit the ground with a sickening thud, sending her nerves screaming up through her shoulders.
She'd never been trained to box a god, before. Just creepy old scientists and men who wouldn't take a hint.
That didn't stop her, though. Audrey's self-preservation instincts kicked in as she lifted up her fists, squaring up. One of Caroline's sayings came to mind, something she mumbled before she jumped into every fight:come at me, bitch.
And, well, the bitch did. With everything he had. He blocked Audrey's punches, kicked her aside like a rag doll. She managed to get one hit into his nose, but it didn't hinder him in the slightest.
She felt nothing but an odd mix of regret and adrenaline. The pain of every hit was lost on her momentarily as Audrey launched herself forward, fist flying out and catching him in the stomach.
Loki let out a low, surprised yowl that sounded weirdly similar to the cat from Tom and Jerry. Did that make her the mouse?
Audrey didn't dwell on this, instead pivoting on her foot and making a try for a roundhouse kick. It hit him in his armored shoulder, and it hurt her foot more than it hurt him. She hissed, hopping around on her functioning leg while the other was caught between two plates in his armor. Why did I do this? she wondered. Why?
Without so much as blinking, Loki reached over, wrapped a fist around her ankle, and yanked her once to send her toppling to the ground. She grunted as her spine made contact with the concrete, stunning her legs and rendering her immobile.
So, uh, this had not gone well.
Loki reached over with the pointed end of the scepter, holding it out to her throat. Bloody hell, I'm going to die. This was the end times for Audrey Carter Rogers. Goodbye, legacy. Goodbye, baton training. Goodbye, visit to mom at the end of the month. Because she was about to have her life taken from her by a man in antlers. For a mere second, Audrey felt torn between closing her eyes and accepting her fate or trying to scrabble in defense and get her ass kicked again.
The answer came to her quickly. She was Peggy Carter's daughter. Captain America's daughter.
She was not going down without a fight. Even if it meant getting her ass kicked.
"The little girl," he murmured, hovering over her tauntingly. "Your father would be so disappointed in you."
Please. Audrey squirmed and slipped a hand up through the suit, then poked it out of the neckline, reaching out to rake her nails across his face. Loki hissed, recoiling back. She knew that one of them was a family disappointment, thanks to the info Thor had shared with Jane, but Audrey was confident that it wasn't her.
"You little—"
"Too many women with too many pills…"
Both Audrey and her opponent's gaze drifted away from each other, something she would remind herself of later, because at least she hadn't been the only one distracted. She kicked herself out from underneath Loki, taking advantage of his shift in focus, who she recognized without even looking at.
"Shoot to thrill, play to kill…"
Tony Stark. God. Of all the bands from the eighties to latch onto as a teen, of course he'd picked AC/DC. Why not Cyndi Lauper?
Well, wait. Busting into a battle with "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" blaring from the speakers might not be as intimidating to an enemy as "Shoot to Thrill." But still. There were other bands out there, with better music, and even though her hatred for AC/DC had formed twenty-something years ago, Audrey was not planning on letting it go soon.
The red and gold suit dropped down a few feet away from her, sending out a blast that whammed the Loki pinning Steve. It hit him in the chest and sent him toppling into a staircase across the street.
She clutched her throat as the Loki she'd been sparring with faded away, leaving no trace of having been there. Dear god, what was next? Harry Potter showing up during a battle?
As Tony aimed every single weapon in his suit at Loki, he commanded, "Make your move, Reindeer Games."
Thank god someone else had called him out on the antlers.
Audrey stumbled up from her spot on the ground, the bruises on her skin aching and throbbing as she went. She dreaded unzipping the suit later. It seemed like her entire body would be covered in blue and black. She joined Tony and Steve in front of the god, who now held his hands up in surrender.
"Good move," Tony told him, then busied himself with securing an iron grip (ha ha) around Loki's bicep and hauling him back to the jet. Audrey flipped up her visor, feeling her left eye already swell up.
"Are you okay?" Steve asked, as soon as he turned and noticed her. "Jesus. You were fighting?"
She nodded, her throat suddenly dry.
"I thought the plan had you staying in the jet! Is your mom going to kill me for this?"
She shrugged. "The plan also had him surrendering as soon as we threatened him with a gun. Not what we expected," she rasped out. He offered her an arm, gently guiding her back to the jet. To keep him from fretting, Audrey assured him, "I'm fine." Of course, as soon as the words escaped her lips, she stubbed her toe on on the ramp into the plane, sending herself flying forward. If it weren't for Steve's grip on her shoulder, she would've found herself lying face-down on the jet's ramp, in front of the man who'd tried to kill her. Figured that she was taken down by a slab of metal rather than a god. In one of those situations, it was excusable to loste.
As soon as she righted herself, Audrey insisted, "I just need water. And some food, if I can find it." And time to sleep, she wanted to say, but Audrey knew that it wasn't realistic.
Tony had Loki cuffed, and his mask had slid up to uncover his face. His face held no reaction when he greeted Audrey. "That's an interesting look you've got there. I don't think I've ever seen anyone wear a jumpsuit like that."
The blonde glanced down at her suit, where her left arm was cradled to her stomach, but her right was sticking awkwardly out of her half-undone zipper. The grey, unisex tank-top underneath covered up any of the bruises almost certainly littering her ribs, but it was still kind of funny-looking, even from this angle. She pulled her arm back into the suit, wincing as it pressed against her bruised ribs. Steve shot her a concerned look, and she shook her head slightly, to tell him she was fine.
Audrey collapsed on a chair towards the back of the jet, praying that they'd let her rest on the way home. No such luck. Tony insisted on prodding her for information on Steve, even though the man was right there, and he could probably ask him instead. Even though Tony appeared to be twice her age, he was every bit the little brother she'd grown up with.
When Tony finally left her alone, he began to pester Steve instead. She felt bad, but her exhaustion outweighed her morals at this point. If he didn't speak like that all the time, Audrey would've suspected he'd been making so many pop-culture references on purpose, just to annoy her dad.
"It seems too easy," Steve insisted. "I don't like it."
Audrey felt comfortable taking his word for it. After all, Steve had more military experience than Audrey and Tony combined. While she was observant, and had been alive for far longer, and Tony was probably the smartest person she knew, Steve understood war. He'd been glaring at the god for almost the entire duration of the ride, and Audrey wasn't sure if it was because of the injuries he'd sustained, or the one's inflicted on her. While she got the feeling that it was the latter, she didn't quite know how she felt about someone being protective of her. Yes, it was her dad, but she was a grown woman.
It was a weird situation on both ends. Really. One for the papers, if SHIELD's classification rules disappeared into thin air. He was going with his gut instinct, to protect things that were important. She didn't want to assume anything, but maybe this meant that she was important to him. It brought her some relief, considering she'd decided to care about him at some point in the last two days. Decided to care enough that his suffering provoked her to dive into a fight way out of her league. It would kind of suck if she'd done it all and he didn't really...care.
Maybe he was only looking for something to care about, since everything he'd had was gone.
She shook her head, trying to push the thoughts away. They were keeping her from sleeping.
"He can probably hear you," Audrey muttered, keeping her eyes firmly shut. "Maybe discuss this somewhere else, not in front of the enemy?"
"The lady is right," Loki chimed in. "I can hear you."
Audrey could actually hear Tony rolling his eyes. "Can it, Rock of Ages."
"I'm serious," Steve continued. "He came in too easily. That guy packs a mean wallop."
"Still, you're pretty spry. You know, for an older fellow."
Audrey winked one eye open, trying to glare at the iron-clad man.
"What's your thing?" he continued. "Yoga? Pilates?"
Steve didn't say a word, just turned to her. With a sigh, Audrey forced her other eye open. "They're forms of exercise, and Tony's just trying to get under your skin." She shifted in her chair, relieved to discover that some of the pain from her legs had subsided. Her arms still felt like freakishly long cinder blocks attached to her body, and her torso was an entire different ballpark, but at least she could probably walk.
"Just things you missed when you were doing time as a capsicle," Tony added nonchalantly.
"Tony!" Audrey scolded. "Stop."
"Okay, mom."
Her face deflated. She was tired, and in a lot of pain, and she really did not have the energy for anything involving Tony Stark's antics at the moment.
She ignored him, closing her eyes and folding her arms back across her chest. Steve and Tony muttered back and forth for a little longer, but she tuned them out. She tuned everything out, in fact, until a bright flash that managed to reach through her eyelids prompted her to open her eyes.
"What's wrong? Scared of a little lightning?" Steve asked, but it wasn't a question for her to answer. This time, he was talking to Loki. Audrey was confused for a second, because why did her dad care about Loki's wellbeing? Then, she realized that it was kind of bizarre for him to fear lightning. Someone who'd planned on ruling the world and had nearly killed a man just under an hour ago, was afraid of stormy weather?
"I'm not overly fond of what follows," Loki answered. Audrey furrowed her brow and uncrossed her arms. Lightning was always followed by…
Thunder. There it was. Vast drumming from the skies.
And then a thud. The distinctive sound of something hitting the roof.
"Uh," Audrey started, reaching over for her helmet. "What was that?"
Tony had already slid his mask on. Before anyone could bother trying to stop him, he hit a few of the buttons on the control panel. "Let's find out."
"Wait, Stark!" Steve protested. But it was too late. The doors were already opening. A broad figure hopped down onto the ramp, which was now more of a diving board into the void than anything. It (he?) straightened up from its crouching position. The look in Loki's eyes when Audrey glanced over was resignment. He rolled his eyes a little, looking positively bored by the situation.
The figure took a few steps in, and Tony lifted a hand to stop him but was cut short when he whipped out a hammer and slammed him in the chest. The red-and-gold suit clanged tinnily as it rammed backwards into the wall, flying across Audrey's peripheral vision. She scrambled to unbuckle her seatbelt as the man leaned forward to wrap a not-so-friendly hand around Loki's neck, dragging him by the throat to jump outside.
"Wait, what?" Was that Thor? Audrey was fairly sure that it was Thor.
"And now there's that guy," Tony mumbled, tinny voice coming out backed by an electric hum.
"Another Asgardian?" Natasha inquired from the cockpit.
"Yeah," Audrey shouted back. "Same as the one in New Mexico, I think!"
As she'd been calling back and forth to Natasha, Audrey had lost track of Tony, who was now announcing, "I have a plan: attack!" and diving out of the plane.
"Wait, Tony!" she called, but it was useless. He'd already jumped. "Oh my god," she muttered.
She reached out to grab a parachute.
"I'd sit this one out, Carter," Natasha called up. "These guys come from legends, they're practically gods."
Audrey shook her head. "I'm not planning on fighting him. I'm gonna get Tony not to." She latched onto the parachute she'd discarded earlier and fastened the straps over her arms. Steve had also jumped to get one, and he was now finishing strapping up. "You're coming?" Audrey blurted, classless as per usual.
"A soldier doesn't go in alone," Steve answered simply.
And then, for the second time that hour, Audrey jumped out of a plane. This time, she was wearing a parachute, but it was just as terrifying as before, considering the much lengthier distance and the abundance of trees below.
Also, about halfway down, she realized the whole ordeal of her not having worked a parachute since she was training. It had been a long time, but she only ever used them in the middle of open fields on sunny days. Never in the middle of the night. Never while chasing a god through the woods.
There was a red tab, she assumed that would deploy the actual parachute, but at how far up was she supposed to pull it?
She clenched her jaw, a high-pitched whine of fear escaping from the back of her throat, like screaming with her lips shut together. Thankfully, Steve seemed to know what he was doing, so when he yanked on the red tab, Audrey followed suit.
When they hit the ground, Steve ran forward for a few steps to slow himself down, but Audrey just landed on the forest floor with a graceless grunt, then proceeding to trip over a log. Ow. That wasn't going to help her healing.
Audrey and Steve surveyed their surroundings, both noticing the blast and lightning flaring up about a half-mile from where they'd landed. Steve took off, Audrey following as close behind as she could, after untangling her parachute.
The boots might've been good for shock absorption, but they were heavy as hell and turned running into a brutal, near-impossible task. She huffed in air as she dragged her reluctant body towards the scene, skidding to stop when she reached the end of a ledge. "Whoa," she grunted, her legs actually rolling across the ground for a few inches before stilling.
"Hey!" Steve called out. Audrey looked down and caught sight of two very shocked looking people—well, one person in a metal suit, one god. Thor and Tony were frozen in place, with weapons still pointed at each other. "That's enough."
"Thor's an ally of SHIELD," Audrey called down. Steve hopped from the ledge to the clearing, and yeah, Audrey had had enough of jumping for today, so she carefully scooted herself over the edge of the pseudo-cliff, bracing herself and sliding down. The gloves of her suit were filthy by the time she reached the bottom, so she brushed her palms together, sending clouds of dirt into the air. "We want the same thing," she finished, then realized that they'd all had their eyes trained on her as she slid down the ledge ever-so-elegantly. Her cheeks flushed as she flipped up the visor again.
"How do you know?" Tony demanded.
"I was in New Mexico last time Thor made a visit to earth," Audrey answered. "I was with Sitwell?"
Thor frowned. "Nevermind," she said, and continued. "Um, so, since we're all trying to stop Loki, I guess we can go back to the jet now?"
As Thor grabbed Loki by the collar and Steve led the group back to the jet, Audrey reached over and pushed Tony to the side. He stumbled a little, damaged suit coupling with her inhuman strength. "What the hell?" he asked her.
"You know, for a guy trying to go green, you destroyed a ridiculous amount of wildlife just now."
Tony slid back the helmet, paused, and rolled his eyes. "When you build a skyscraper that runs on self-sustaining energy, you can get back to me on that." A beat of silence. "When did you start doing combat missions?"
Audrey shrugged. "Uh, like two hours ago."
"Huh." Tony shrugged. "Also, don't worry about the uniform."
"The uniform?"
"You know, everyone has their schtick now. Your dad's all starry and spangly, I'm Iron Man." Slinging a metal-plated arm over her shoulder, "You didn't think we'd leave you out of our superhero fight club, did you?"
Dear god. A costume? She sighed. "I was hoping," she grumbled. "I'm fine in tac gear. I don't need an outfit."
"If you're worrying about style, I have excellent taste," Tony assured her. "In fact, even Pepper said it looked nice."
"I'm not worried about the style." Well, that was part of it. But also, she didn't want to draw that much attention to herself. All the bright colors seemed… a bit much. More eyes on her, more chances of her messing up. Audrey was hoping that she could, like, save the world on the down-low.
"It's made of bulletproof, hyper-thin plating armor. Fire resistant, too."
Audrey made a face. "That's a thing? Wait. How did you get my measurements?"
Tony shrugged, dropping the arm around her shoulder. "I guessed, also, I hacked into the SHIELD database."
"Wait, what? Since when are those on file?"
"Since 1994, actually. Anyway. It's real snazzy, but I like to think it's also functional, you know? Dual-purpose. A cross of elegance and strength."
She frowned. He was beginning to sound like a contestant from Project Runway. "That's fantastic, but I'm not wearing it."
Tony wasn't having it. "What happened to giving things a chance? I distinctly remember you using that phrase in excess." He pinched his face up, and in a high-pitched voice, mocked, "Give jazz a chance, Tony, it's actually great! Give Happy Days a chance!"
"I regret the Happy Days one, but I stand by the jazz. But anyway, how many of those did you actually listen to? Neither."
The jet had touched down in front of them, and Audrey allowed Steve, Thor, and Loki to pass before she got in. Tony paused, waving ahead with a flourish. "Age before beauty, Carter."
She shot him an irritated look, too tired insult him back. "I'm sleeping on the jet. If you wake me up, I'll cover your suit in glitter."
"Joke's on you," Tony said. "I look fantastic in sparkles."
a/n: Hello again everybody! Thank you for all the kind words on the last chapter, you're all amazing! We finally got Tony's intro this chapter, and you got to see the kind of rapport he and Audrey have with each other. They're some of my favorite characters to write, honestly, because Tony knows that Audrey's very klutzy and awkward but he's so used to it that he doesn't bother making fun of her for it anymore, so she feels kind of at ease around him. The fight scenes were a bit tougher, because I'm not an action writer usually.
Next chapter we've got the intro of a new OC, a little more insight to Audrey and Bruce's friendship, and more of Darcy and Jane!
I'd love a review on the way out, if you can! As an incentive for reviewing, I will answer any spoiler question for any part of the series, and I'll probably update faster. Also, feel free to leave me the name of one of your fics and I'll check it out!
Chapter Six: With Nothing to Lose
"What happened to you?"
"I got punched in the face by a demi god. Several times in a row."