Chapter Thirteen: A Shortening Fuse
"The fear of my identity is standing right in front of me." -Best Coast
"Audrey, you there?"
Audrey recognized the sound of Steve's voice instantly. "I'm here."
"Suit up," Steve instructed. Audrey's legs started moving on their own, starting off towards the armory. "I'm on my way to get Romanoff and Barton ready. Stark headed out a few minutes ago, and we're planning on taking one of the jets in ten. Gather your team and take another one out in twenty. Loki's made his first move."
She stilled. Her pulse was racing. "What's it looking like?" she asked, though she almost didn't want to know.
"Right now? We aren't sure. Tony's reporting something that looks like a portal of sorts, but then his comms got cut off. What we know is that it's time to fight back."
Audrey inhaled sharply. She didn't say anything for a long moment.
"Hey," Steve told her gently. "If we stay focused, we can do this."
Right. Focus. Deep breaths, Audrey. She could do this. They could do this. If Steve could keep his head on straight after waking up seventy years in the future to a battle against a god and a daughter he never knew about, and still find it in him to fight, she could too.
She took another deep breath to gather her thoughts. "Copy that," she answered clearly. "Good luck, Captain."
A beat. "Same to you, Agent."
You can do this. You can do this. You can do this.
Audrey squared her shoulders. It was time to save the world.
And she was off.
She lifted a hand to her earpiece, adjusting her channel to connect with Caroline's. "Carmichael, do you copy?"
"Yes ma'am," was Caroline's reply.
"Are there any pilots with you?"
Audrey waited a moment, before Caroline's voice returned to the audio feed. "We've got two. Why?"
"Loki's made his first move. Suit up, and tell your first batch of soldiers to do the same. We're wheels up in twenty."
"Copy that."
Audrey pulled a rubber band off her wrist and began to gather her hair up in a ponytail. The snap of the band kept her rooted in reality, kept her from drifting away into a daydream of the worst case scenario. Her feet pounded against the Helicarrier's floor as she marched to the armory.
Quickly, she changed out of her clothes and into the suit. To her surprise, the cape wasn't as tattered as it had been when she left it. Tony must've conducted some repairs while she was running around trying to find any victims of the attack.
Audrey stole the slightest glance at her reflection in the mirror.
She looked far more powerful than she felt. The woman in the reflection actually looked like she knew what she was doing.
Which Audrey...didn't.
Looking the part was a start, though.
"Focus," she mumbled. Her gaze drifted left to a shelf of weapons. Audrey crossed over to it and frantically pushed the glass door open, reaching inside for a duffel bag, before gathering as much ammunition as she could, as well as knives and guns.
Maybe she should call Peggy. To say goodbye, in case things went downhill.
No, she told herself firmly. She needed all the reason not to let the worst thing happen. Audrey hoisted the bag over her shoulder and hit the button, unlocking the armory door. She needed to prepare herself for battle.
In the hangar, Audrey found Caroline leading a dozen or so agents onto a jet. When Caroline caught sight of Audrey, she strode over towards her and raised an eyebrow in greeting. "Are you ready for this?"
Audrey let out a breath, and looked out over at the jet full of agents, ready to sacrifice their lives.
Refocusing on Caroline, she answered, "I hope so."
"Well, we don't have any time to contemplate. Let's go."
Nodding, Audrey started following Caroline onto the jet. She was almost through the door when she heard a familiar voice screaming at her. "Audrey!" someone was shouting. "Wait!"
The blonde turned sharply, the motion almost causing her to knock Caroline over with the duffle bag.
"Let me just take that," Caroline said, yanking the bag away from her and turning on her heel. She disappeared inside the jet.
Audrey squinted, trying to see who was shouting at her. As the person came closer, hurling themselves forwards in a clumsy sprint, she recognized who it was—Lindsey. She was carrying a briefcase in her hands and waving it madly as she ran.
Audrey jogged down the ramp to meet her, and stop her from potentially having a heart attack. "My god, Lindsey," she said. "Are you okay?"
Lindsey gave her an exasperated look. "You're the one who's about to kick alien ass. I got you a gift."
Normally, Audrey would say that this was the wrong time for exchanging presents, but she knew that Lindsey's brand of gift was slightly different than the normal variety. Last year, she'd gotten her a new taser for Christmas. And for her birthday, she'd gifted her with a pair of heels with retractable knives on the toes.
Lindsey pushed the briefcase into her hands. "I reworked these batons so that they recirculate their electricity and don't have a limit on them."
Audrey blinked, taking the case. "Don't talk science to me right now," she pleaded.
The dark-skinned woman rolled her eyes. "Basically," Lindsey explained, "touch a man, and he dies. Hit an alien hard enough, and it'll also die."
Audrey raised an impressed eyebrow. "Wow," she mused. "Thanks."
"Good luck," Lindsey offered, pulling her into a quick hug. "See you on the other side."
"See you," Audrey said, though she wasn't entirely sure. She turned and sprinted back to the jet, collapsing into a seat next to Caroline and hurrying to secure the buckle over her chest. The engine was roaring as the hangar door opened for it to take off, and before she knew it, they were in the air. The Helicarrier grew smaller and smaller in the distance.
Audrey ran her hand around the hatch on the briefcase Claudia had given her. She unbuckled it, and opened the top to find two silver batons, with bands of white around the handles. Audrey carefully lifted one up in her hands. It fit perfectly in her hand. The weight was just right. She grinned to herself, trying to remember Natasha's lessons. Use their weight against them. Cross your batons to block an attack. She remembered her mother's lessons. Go low. Hit them as hard as you can.
She reached over for the duffle bag, dropping the baton case inside and zipping it up. She kept it in a white-knuckled grip in an attempt to stop her hands from shaking.
Once she could see the Manhattan skyline in the distance, she turned to the agents. "Our focus is evacuation. Take people underground, if you can. If there's anything posing a threat to civilians, you protect them. We need to clear the area so that there's the least amount of casualties possible."
"What exactly are we up against?" one of the agents shouted over the roar of the engine.
Audrey blew out a breath. "Nothing we've ever seen before. Captain Rogers has informed me that they're, um, aliens." She cringed. "But they're bipedal, so their anatomy is probably somewhat similar to a human's. We've got the NYPD as backup, but we're probably more qualified than they are when it comes to stuff like this."
She felt like that was a safe thing to assume, since the NYPD mostly dealt with muggers and murderers, not extraterrestrial invasions.
But, whatever. Maybe they would surprise her.
"The first thing we have to do is get to HQ and get comms to the Helicarrier back up," Audrey instructed. "Deputy Director Hill has instructed Agent Carmichael on how to do so. As soon as we land, she is going to be serving as your commanding officer. Listen to her." She turned to Caroline, giving her a small smile.
"We'll be on the ground in two," the pilot announced from the cockpit.
A hand was placed over her own, and Audrey glanced down. Caroline was giving her a reassuring glance. "We can do this," she swore. Audrey's heart was racing in her chest. She was almost worried that the fear would paralyze her. Caroline smirked. "We're the Aud-Squad, goddammit."
Audrey's terrified expression dropped, replaced by exasperation. The panic had subsided a little, to make room for her disgust at the monicker. "I still hate that name."
"I don't care," Caroline said gleefully. "I think it's wonderful."
"You would," Audrey muttered, as the helipad on top of the S.H.I.E.L.D. base came into view. She took a deep breath. If this was her final battle, she was at least going to put up a fight.
The jet hovered over the roof before slowly lowering itself onto the helipad. Audrey shot a nervous smile around the jet at the hard-faced agents. They'd already prepared themselves to die. She dropped the smile. It was only fair that she do the same.
Once the door slid open, everything was a blur. Her red boots were pounding on the concrete as she rushed into the building.
Audrey was sprinting down the stairwell to the main lobby. Since most of the actual S.H.I.E.L.D. base was underground, the building wasn't that tall. It was quicker for her to book it down the stairs as opposed to using the elevator.
As soon as she reached the lobby, she found herself confronted with a dilemma. How am I supposed to get all these people to listen?
She squinted. Yelling was an option. So was trying to whistle, but she wasn't sure she actually… could, so it might be best to refrain from that. Telling every individual person to listen was going to be an issue.
The PA. The PA system. That was doable.
Audrey shoved her way past the agents and interns towards the receptionist's desk in the front of the building. "Sir," she demanded. "I'm going to need the phone."
The man looked up at her. "Who are you?" he asked, raising an unamused eyebrow at her uniform.
She blinked at him in disbelief. Seriously? Now is not the time for this, she wanted to scream.
Instead, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her S.H.I.E.L.D. badge. "I'm Agent Carter, level nine. I need access to the PA system right now. That's an order."
His eyes widened as he recognized who she was. Hurriedly, he scrambled to grab the phone and set it down in front of her. His fingers rushed over the keypad, punching in the number for the PA. "You're good," he told her.
Audrey cleared her throat—too close to the phone, apparently, because the sound echoed all around her in the lobby. She flushed, but didn't have time to dwell on the mistake. "Director Fury has declared a state of emergency," she announced. Her brain raced through the list of security protocols would be best to enact, since he hadn't actually… specified. "We're undergoing emergency protocol 779—in the event of an invasion," she decided. "All field agents are being called to assist with civilian evacuation, and all other agents are ordered to take shelter in the sublevels of the base.
All around the lobby, S.H.I.E.L.D. employees were sending her funny looks. She glanced down at the uniform and rolled her eyes. Why did nobody take her seriously? They took Steve seriously, and his uniform was almost identical to hers, save for the skirt—
Oh. Of course.
The phone was snatched out of Audrey's hand abruptly. "He—" she started to protest, before realizing that it had been Caroline.
"Hey! You're receiving a direct order from the head of this organization," she shouted. "You're going to listen, or you're not only going to be fired, but you're going to be endangering civilians by refusing an order."
Caroline glared at them. A beat passed, and then, they were suddenly thrown into action. She slammed the phone down on the counter, and the receptionist reached up to put it back properly.
"Let's go," she told Audrey.
"Where?"
"Rogers, Barton, and Romanoff are a few miles east. It's going to be a waste of time if you try to reach them on foot. You need a motorcycle."
Audrey glanced out at traffic, hoping it wouldn't be horrible if she wanted to go by car instead.
It was a mess. People were trying to evacuate and police cars were trying to figure out what the hell was happening, and unfortunately Caroline was right. She needed a motorcycle.
Audrey knew how to ride one. It had just… been a while since she'd driven one outside of a license test.
Like, since the early nineties.
But she didn't have a choice. Audrey nodded at Caroline. "Thanks," she mumbled, before lifting the duffle of weapons over her shoulder and sprinting in the direction of the garage. She shoved past the agents, who were slowly starting to come together and find some order. Audrey wasn't worried about them. She knew that Caroline would be a good leader.
She cast a glance out the window, at the gigantic space portal above Stark Tower that was currently spitting aliens on flying scooters out above the West End. That worried her.
Inside the garage, she found the motorcycle closest to the door and kicked one leg over the side. Before she started driving, she looped the duffel strap around her arms into a knot to keep it from slipping off. There were at least a dozen grenades in there, eight knives, two machine guns, and two murder batons. She didn't want a bag carrying that particular combination of weapons to get jostled around too much.
Audrey started the engine, revving it a bit before hitting the gas and speeding down the driveway and out onto the street. "Shitshitshit!" she cried, trying to keep from slamming the bike into any of the cars on the street, which were packed together far too closely to be legal following distance.
People were screaming, children were crying, and families were running down the sidewalk, dragging slower members behind.
Audrey made a left to dodge a traffic jam. The turn almost sent her crashing into a little girl, who stood in the middle of the road crying. She hit the brakes, stamping her foot down on the street in an attempt to stop the vehicle before it collided with the girl.
Audrey swung her leg over so that she was standing up and ran to the girl. She must've been four, or so. She was tiny. "Hey," she greeted, wrapping an arm around her and guiding her out of traffic. "My name is Audrey. Where are your parents?"
God, she was praying that they hadn't been killed.
"I don't know. I don't know. I—" the girl shook her head, scrubbing tears out of her eyes. "I got lost in the crowd."
Audrey prayed to anything out there that they were still alive. "Can you tell me your name?"
"Elena," she said. Her eyes were wide and she refused to make eye contact. She seemed to be in shock.
"Okay, we're going to find your parents, okay? Or we'll find a police officer who can."
"Why do you have a cape?" the girl asked.
Audrey thought about how best to explain the situation to a child. "Um," she said, "my friend made it for me. Now, why don't you come with me, and we'll find someone who can help you?"
Elena nodded slowly. "Okay." She swallowed nervously. "My legs hurt."
Audrey inhaled slowly, pursing her lips. She raised a questioning eyebrow. "Can I carry you?" she asked.
The little girl paused to consider for a moment, before nodding. "Okay," she agreed.
Audrey carefully scooped the girl up in her arms, running down the street in search of a police officer. It proved to be more of a struggle than she expected, since almost all the police cars she found were abandoned.
Maybe she should call 911? But how would they even reach her?
She shook her head.
The bag on her back swung with every step, but she tried her best to limit its mobility.
A loud blast sounded from above, and instinctively, Audrey ducked to protect Elena in case it was a bomb. When no hit came, she hazarded a look up at the sky. It was a quinjet, and it was about to crash.
Wait. She and Caroline had taken one quinjet, and theirs was currently parked on top of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.
So that meant that this one had to be—
It had to be Steve. And Natasha, and Clint.
Oh god. Oh my god. She couldn't just get Steve back and lose him two days later.
Audrey pushed the thoughts away. Right now, she needed to focus on the issue at hand: Elena.
A siren to her right caught Audrey's attention. She spun around, running towards it as fast as possible. The firetruck was parked outside a building, helping a man escape his crumbling apartment.
"I'm going to drop you off with the firefighters, okay?" Audrey told Elena, who had buried her face into her Audrey's shoulder. "They're going to help you. And if you need my help again… you can probably find my based on my cape."
She carried Elena over to the truck. "Excuse me!" she shouted through the window. One of the firefighters—a woman with soft features—looked over at her. "This girl lost her parents and she's hurt," Audrey explained. "Can you help?"
"Yes, yes," the woman said, rushing over to the door and opening it.
"Her name is Elena," Audrey said. "Thank you."
She looked at Elena once more. "You're going to be okay, I promise," she swore, even though she wasn't sure if it was true. "Remember. The cape."
The girl nodded one more time, and Audrey forced herself to leave. She needed to find her motorcycle.
Honestly, if she hadn't spent thirty years in New York, she would've had no idea how to get around. All the streets looked the same at this moment—partially wrecked, filled with abandoned cars and panicking people.
Finally, she saw it. The bike was lying on its side on the sidewalk next to a diner. She adjusted the bag on her shoulders and ran towards it. Audrey righted it and swung her leg over, starting the engine once again.
At the intersection, Audrey made a left towards the Tower. The turn was too sharp, though, and the bike almost slipped out from under her.
"Oh, hell!" she shouted, trying desperately to regain control. Audrey gripped the handlebars, holding on for dear life as she roared down the street, dodging screaming pedestrians and honking cars. "Get underground!" she shouted.
Audrey's heart sank. None of them had asked to risk their lives, and it was happening to them anyway.
Before dwindling any longer, Audrey was back racing down the streets. She caught a glimpse of unmistakable red hair in front of her, and she was filled with relief. Natasha. At least she wasn't alone anymore.
She did her best to dodge the wreckage of the crashed jet next to them, but it didn't do much good. Eventually, she just gave up, stopping the bike and hopping over the shrapnel instead. "Romanoff!" she shouted, darting between small fires that had been caused, she assumed, by the crash.
Natasha turned around, eyebrows furrowed as she searched for the source of the call.
"I brought weapons," Audrey announced, struggling to untangle the bag from her shoulders. She finally managed to get the straps off her arms, and then reached inside for her baton before holding it out to Natasha.
"Always need more of those," Clint remarked. "Got any arrows?"
Audrey shrugged, as Natasha took the bag from her. "It's statistically likely. There's also grenades. And two machine guns."
"Uh, guys?" Tony's voice crackled through the speaker of Audrey's comms unit. "Remember that army Loki was talking about? Well. They're here."
Raising an eyebrow, Natasha shot an unamused glance up at the portal. "I can see that," she retorted. "On your three."
"What," Tony snorted. "Did you stop for lunch?"
"Tony," another voice interrupted—Hill. "We're gonna need your balcony cleared as soon as possible, Jane thinks she's got a way to close the wormhole."
He grunted. "I would, but—" The sound of an explosion cut him off. "I'm kind of busy kicking an alien's ass. I'll put it on my to-do list, though. You guys coming?"
Audrey switched the voltage on for her batons. "Damn right."
a/n: we made it! Thank you guys for all the feedback, and a shoutout to LadyBritish for leaving such detailed reviews. This chapter is dedicated to her for getting me out of my writer's block and also making me cry over my own characters.
Please leave a review on this chapter telling me what you liked/didn't like! I love hearing feedback
Chapter Fourteen: All We Are
Well, Audrey thought, looking around. This is hell.