Chapter Fifteen: Faking Glory
"When the lights come on, I'll be ready for this." -Lorde
Chitauri cries echoed through the city, which was almost emptied of civilians. Audrey maintained her white-knuckled grip on her batons. The circle of heroes, assembled to save humanity—oh my god that was a lot of responsibility—were poised to fight, but unsure how to start.
Still, being united gave Audrey the feeling that they could actually win.
That is, until the portal in the sky opened wider and thousands more Chitauri spilled out into the city. "Oh, hell," she muttered.
"Guys," Natasha warned, nodding her chin up to the swarms of aliens and Leviathans that were just arriving.
"What's the plan?" Audrey asked, turning to Steve.
The soldier took a minute to assess, observing the team he had to work with. One man in a robot suit, two assassins, a demigod, the Hulk, and Audrey, who, up until like last week, spent her days doing paperwork. Suddenly, the blonde started to feel way, way out of her depth.
It didn't really matter at this point, though. She was too far in to quit now. And really, the only way out of this war was through. They had no choice but to win with the world at stake.
"Alright, listen up," Steve said.
For the first time since he'd woken up, the pieces seemed to click in place. He was finally in his element, snapping out of the trance he'd been in since arriving in the future. When Audrey looked him in the eye, she found the Captain America of museums, and history textbooks, and old photographs staring back at her. But she also found the Steve Rogers in the pre-serum photos. Determined. Strong. Maybe her dad and the Captain weren't so far apart.
"Until we can close that portal up there, our priority is containment." He turned to Clint first. "Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays." To Tony, he instructed, "Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or your turn it to ash."
Clint glanced over at Tony and asked, "Wanna give me a ride?"
Tony slid his helmet back over his face. "Better clench up, Legolas."
Audrey made a face that she knew Tony didn't notice, and watched as he wrapped an arm around Clint's torso and launched himself into the air.
The Captain then addressed Thor. "You've gotta try and bottleneck the portal. Slow them down. You've got lightning. Light the bastards up." He glanced up at the sky. "The sooner we can manage the portal, the sooner we can get Foster out here to close it."
Thor, at the mention of Jane, nodded solemnly. He swung his hammer and let it carry him to Stark's roof.
To Natasha and Audrey, Steve said, "We stay here on the ground, fighting the Chitauri that are already here. Romanoff to the east, Carter, you go west. And Hulk?"
The beast grinned at him.
"Smash."
Surprisingly obedient, the Hulk jumped up onto a nearby building, savaging any Chitauri soldier he came across. He split one in two, tossing each half at other Chitauri soldiers and sending them to the ground. Even when the Chitauri began to fire at him, he remained undeterred, backhanding them so hard they smashed into the windows of buildings a block away, before falling limp on the sidewalk.
Audrey asked Natasha, "Do you still happen to have any of those grenades?"
The redhead gave her a wicked smile, pulling three out of a compartment on her belt. Audrey grabbed them and took off running west. As she ran, dodging abandoned cars and stray piles of brick, a swarm of Chitauri began to pursue her. There were a few near misses when a couple of them got too close to her, but she refused to stop sprinting. When she felt she'd attracted a substantial number towards her and away from Steve and Natasha, she pulled out one of the grenades.
As quick as possible, she pulled out the pin, tossing it a few yards away before hurling herself behind an overturned car. She covered her ears and lifted her cape above her head, protecting herself from the blast. When she lifted her head to see if she'd actually accomplished anything, she found a pile of Chitauri corpses strung across the tops of cars.
Take that, assholes.
Something latched onto her ankle, suddenly, and Audrey screamed before she could stop herself. A Chitauri, missing both its legs and one arm, was making a last attempt to fight back. Audrey lifted up her foot, remembering Peggy's training.
A swift kick to the head is always a good decision. And an even better decision if you're wearing heels.
She smashed her boot into the alien's head, and it collapsed, loosening its grip on her ankle. She pulled her leg away, but noticed that one of the Chitauri's weapons was lying next to it. She picked up the staff, surprised at its lightness.
Audrey turned around, noting another group of Chitauri in the distance. One of them screeched as it noticed her, alerting the others of her presence. As terrifying as it was to have a group of alien monster robot demons flying at her while screaming, Audrey managed to keep a straight face. She planted her feet in the ground and raised the staff.
As soon as they got close enough, and were lined up nicely, Audrey hurled the staff as hard as she could. It hit the first Chitauri solidly in the chest, but pierced through it and continued until it had also run through the three behind him. Audrey watched, almost in awe, as the four soldiers collapsed.
I did not think that would actually work. She raised an eyebrow and shrugged, pleased with her success.
The break didn't last for long, though, because soon another group of Chitauri were approaching, this time on foot. Audrey pulled out the batons, remembering what Natasha had shown her.
If you lunge towards an opponent, use one foot to push off the ground. Do your best to land as high as possible and debilitate their sight.
Audrey found herself climbing on top of the hood and onto the roof of a sedan that had been left behind. The radio was still playing inside, a report of how New York was in danger of falling to aliens. Honestly, she still couldn't believe it was true. Super soldiers? Sure. Demigods? Okay. But aliens? That was where she drew the line.
Unfortunately, the universe didn't seem to care much where Audrey's line had been drawn, as she was now grunting as she pushed off the roof of the car, landing on top of one of the Chitauri. She scrabbled her way up until she was sitting on its shoulders. Then, she held the ends of her batons to the creature's temples, doing her best not to wince at the screech it emitted before collapsing, sending Audrey tumbling to the ground.
The alien's last cry had alerted its pack, and now four more Chitauri were approaching. Audrey flipped her batons so the long end faced down. She jabbed the weapon in her left hand into one of the creature's necks. It hissed as the baton pierced through it, and she turned, using the leverage to ram it into another one of the Chitauri. From behind her, she heard a high-pitched noise, and when she turned around—
Oh crap. She threw herself to the ground, narrowly avoiding a blast to the head that definitely would have killed her.
With two Chitauri down, there were still two more to go, and Audrey wasted no time throwing herself at them. Dropping her batons, she chose to swing her fist at the alien's head instead, which put a decently sized dent into its armor. She grabbed the two Chitauri by their faces, and using all the strength she could muster, smashed their heads together.
Audrey kicked one of them in the stomach for good measure, and then stamped down on the other's chest. The two creatures went limp and Audrey retrieved her batons from the ground.
While she'd been fighting, Audrey hadn't noticed a Leviathan roaring its way down the street. She hurried to grab her batons and stash them in their holsters.
She braced herself, narrowing her eyes as it opened its mouth. Keeping her eye on it over her shoulder, Audrey took off down the street, leading the Leviathan towards Steve and Natasha. She tried her best not to trip as she patted around her belt to find another grenade. Around one car, over a pile of rubble, on top of another car. She kept running faster.
The Leviathan was gaining on her. Audrey bit her lip as she ran, trying to figure out how she was going to pull this off. When her gaze landed on two cars that had collided up at the intersection, she knew that now was her chance. Glancing once over her shoulder, Audrey found herself staring straight into the jaws of the Leviathan. Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic.
She was panicking.
Audrey planted her foot on the hood of one of the cars, pulling the pin out of the grenade at the same time. She turned, throwing the grenade as hard as she could into the Leviathan's jaws. As the Leviathan flew over her, blocking out the sun, Audrey tumbled off the first car and onto the sidewalk. She latched onto the passenger door of the second car, gritting her teeth as she yanked it away from the car's body. Bracing herself for the explosion, she held the door over her head and waited.
Only a second or two passed before the Leviathan exploded, sending shrapnel flying everywhere. Metal rained down on Audrey, heavy plates of armor landing on her makeshift shield. When the clanking stopped, she hesitantly lowered the shield, poking her head out to see if the coast was clear. The street was covered in scrap metal, and for the first time, Audrey realized how much of a pain this was going to be to clean up.
Audrey started making her way east towards Steve. A group of Chitauri approached, their weapons aimed at her. Audrey's heart raced. They were moving slowly; threatening. Suddenly, one of their weapons began to emit a high-pitched whine, meaning it was about to fire. Audrey lifted the makeshift shield up, and then hoping for the best, charged forward.
The blast missed her, going over her shoulder and hitting a building behind her. She threw a quick look over her shoulder, wincing as the fried bricks fell to the ground, but she didn't stop running. Audrey collided with the Chitauri full speed, the car door whacking it hard in the chest and sending it skidding along the sidewalk as she kept running. When it finally collapsed, Audrey stopped, kicking it in the head until it stopped moving.
The other Chitauri wasn't far behind. With all the strength she could muster, she hurled the door at the creature, sending it flying backwards into a car, where it proceeded to sink pathetically to the ground.
When she finally managed to reach Steve again, taking out a few more soldiers on the way, she had a split lip and her knee was hurting. But Audrey shoved the pain down, knowing that bigger things were at stake.
Steve and Natasha were at an intersection, and Natasha had come into possession of one of the Chitauri staffs and was using it to blast any aliens that came close to her. Steve was hurling his shield at the creatures, punching the ones he didn't hit and catching his shield after. Audrey stepped into the fight, pulling her batons from their sheaths.
A Chitauri neared her, and Audrey turned, aiming to kick it, but the alien grabbed her leg and twisted her, sending her crashing onto the concrete. Oh come on. Her eyes narrowed, and she tried to push the creature off of her, but the angle made it nearly impossible to gain leverage.
Plan B, then, she decided. Audrey swung her fist, hitting the Chitauri in its head, and it veered to her left. She took the opportunity to slide her way out of its grip, until her foot was about lined up with its head and she had a good angle to kick it. Then, Audrey gritted her teeth and used her arms to brace herself, before sending her boot into the alien's face.
God, she thought. This is like E.T., except it isn't fun. All the youthful misadventures and new friends were replaced by a god who was trying to enslave them.
Significantly less fun.
"Captain, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal," Natasha called out, guns still aimed and firing at the Chitauri.
Steve looked up at the sky. "Our biggest guns couldn't touch it."
Audrey grunted as she grabbed the shoulders of a Chitauri, tearing it off its cruiser and throwing it hard into a wall.
"Maybe it's not about the guns."
Audrey turned to Natasha and found the redhead observing a path of Chitauri on cruisers.
"If you wanna get up there, you'll need a ride."
Natasha smiled, a dangerous glint in her eye. "I have a ride." Looking back over at Steve, she added, "I could use a lift, though."
Steve looked at Natasha, at the cruisers, and then down at his shield, seeming to piece it together finally. "Are you sure about this?"
"Yeah," Natasha answered. "It's gonna be fun."
Steve made a dubious face that was almost imperceptible. Angling the shield precariously, he braced himself as Natasha took a few steps back. Then, the redhead took off, using a car hood as a step up to the shield, landing squarely on it, and allowing Steve to boost her into the sky.
Quite honestly, it looked like some sort of cheerleading maneuver. Audrey resisted the urge to point this out.
"There's a building on sixth going up in flames, civilians trapped inside. Can I get backup from anyone?"
With Natasha and Thor focused on the portal, the Hulk somewhere brutally savaging the Chitauri army, and Clint as their eyes above the ground, Audrey knew it was down to her and Steve. And while she was sure she'd be able to manage herself on the ground, she also knew that Steve was better at it. He had more experience in wars, on battlefields. Maybe not in wars where the enemies were from outer space, but in wars nonetheless.
"I'm there," Audrey announced into her comms. "But I'll need a ride."
Tony's response arrived quickly. "Coming in hot on your two o'clock, Carter. Be ready."
Before she could process what was happening, Tony had grabbed her by the shoulders and blasted off the ground. She was positive that he hadn't stopped once during the entire maneuver.
As they raced toward the inflamed building, Audrey struggled to keep her eyes open. The wind was hitting her furiously, whipping her hair around haphazardly and tangling it around her face. God. The blonde locks were incredibly dysfunctional when it came to situations like this.
"I need you to sweep the building for anyone trapped inside. I'll be helping civilians get on the ground and into the subway tunnels. It'll be quicker if we tag-team it. If I'm in the fire for too long, the suit is gonna start frying."
Oh, great. Because she was so much more durable than a full-body, iron suit.
Audrey shook the thought away. This wasn't about her. This was about doing the right thing. And right now? That meant marching into a burning building and hoping for the best.
"Got it," she told Tony.
As they closed in on the building, Tony aimed his hand at the wall, emitting a laser that cut through the bricks and the wood, providing an escape path for the top floors of the building. He landed his suit on the floor, and Audrey let go of him.
"Stay safe," he told her.
Audrey snorted. "You too, Stark."
She turned on her heel and took off into the building. Almost immediately, she ran into a group of people huddling in the corner of a room, the door shut.
"Hi," she shouted over the roaring flames and the chaos. The group looked up at her. Audrey lowered herself towards the floor, trying to avoid the smoke. "Are any of you injured? Or unable to walk?"
They shook their heads no.
"Okay. Together, we're all gonna crawl over to that hole in the wall, okay? And my friend is going to help you get back down on the ground and into the subway tunnels. Everything's gonna be okay. We just have to get over there." She pointed at the gaping hole.
Audrey placed herself between the flames and civilians as they crawled towards the doorway. The flames were almost unbearable, but she forced herself to focus, gritting her teeth and using her cape to protect herself as best she could. Tony was waiting by the hole in the wall, holding an unconscious man in his arms. The man from Audrey's group slung himself onto the armored man's back and the woman clutched Tony's right arm. Tony stepped off the platform, lowering them down onto the pavement and then guiding them to the subway.
At least if the building was on fire, the Chitauri probably wouldn't come near them. It wasn't a massive silver lining, but it was one less thing to worry about.
This process repeated for what felt like hours. The twenty story building's top five floors had been cleared by the time firetrucks arrived. Firemen began to attack the flames, and Audrey continued searching for survivors that she could lead to Tony. By the time that a good portion of the flames were extinguished, Audrey had cleared off everything above the tenth floor. The firemen had gotten the situation under control, so she was technically dismissed, but Audrey insisted on at least finishing the tenth floor.
With the fire's size shrinking, however, the Chitauri were less afraid of approaching. As Audrey was helping a woman crawl out of her office and towards a window, a loud thud caught her attention. She gestured for the woman to wait in the hallway, tearing off a piece of her cape and telling her to hold it over her mouth.
When she rounded the corner, she found herself face to face with another of the aliens. She landed a punch in its stomach, causing it to bowl over momentarily, but the creature quickly recovered, aiming its weapon at her face. She barely dodged it, the blast hitting the wall behind her, her heart rate picking up. At this point, her pulse was pumping so hard that she was surprised she couldn't hear it.
Audrey unsheathed and switched on both of her batons. In one quick maneuver, remembering Natasha's training, she bashed one into the back of the creature's leg, and the other into its neck. It collapsed onto its knees, giving her the opportunity to whack it solidly across the head.
Turning back to the woman she'd been guiding, Audrey waved her arms. "We're clear. Follow me."
The shattered window was frightening, but it was a way out. She helped the woman over towards it, lifting her up and settling her into Tony's arms, where he helped her down. Audrey smiled to herself a little, proud of the team. Of how they'd united against all odds and were now close to saving the world.
The victory was short lived, however, because a clawed hand grabbed her arm, tearing through the skin and her uniform and leaving her bleeding heavily.
Audrey spun around, shocked by how much that hurt. The nerves in her arm were simultaneously screaming and going numb. She didn't have time to recover, because the alien lifted her up, and hurled her across the room at the floor-to-ceiling window. The wind was knocked out of her lungs as Audrey collided with it, shattering the glass. There was very little time to process the feeling of oh my god I'm about to fall ten stories to my death.
With her hair whipping around her face, Audrey began shaking. Even as the ground was fast approaching, she felt like she'd been falling for hours. It was a slow death. All she felt was regret—that she hadn't ensured the Chitauri was dead, that she hadn't been able to do more, that she'd spent so much time waiting instead of acting. She wished she'd called Peggy back.
God, she wished she could hear her mother's voice one last time.
Audrey closed her eyes, shutting out the blue of the sky. And she waited.
And waited.
And wait—ow.
Something collided with her. Hard. When she opened her eyes, she found herself staring at Clint. He had her tucked under one of his arms, holding onto the loose end of a rappel cord that connected to an arrow.
"I'm not dying," she muttered.
Clint laughed. "Not yet." Audrey blinked for a minute. "You did come close though."
"Did I?"
"Very. Welcome to the team." Audrey cracked a smile that Clint returned. "I'm dropping you off down here with the Captain, okay?"
"Got it," she answered.
The cord's arc was fast approaching the ground, where Steve stood blocking Chitauri blasts with his shield, and Tony was blasting the aliens away. Audrey bent her knees, preparing for the landing. When the concrete was within reach, Clint released his grip on her. She dropped one knee to the ground, balancing herself with one hand on the concrete, and the other stretched out to keep her from falling over. She rose from the position slowly, and began making her way towards Steve and Tony.
By this point, the Chitauri were arriving full throttle. They came in swarms. As soon as one was knocked down, two more took its place. Audrey ignored her exhaustion, the ache in her muscles, the blood from her arm. There was only one thing on her mind: the fight ahead.
Following Steve's lead, she took off towards the aliens. Tony had flown off somewhere and disappeared, leaving only the two of them. Father and daughter. Partners.
Audrey took out one Chitauri after another, the fight eventually growing routine. They could be unpredictable at times, but they seemed limited to only a few moves. Things got more complicated when their guns were introduced, but Audrey adapted.
"Audrey!" Steve called out suddenly. She turned, and found the shield being tossed at her. Audrey caught it, trying to plant her feet in the ground to avoid the impact pushing her backwards. The Chitauri soldier she was fighting had poised its staff to stab her, and she lifted up the shield to block its attack.
"Oh my god," she squeaked.
She was holding the shield. Her dad's shield. Her dad's legacy.
Audrey tried to remain calm, trying not to let the pressure of the situation get to her. The shield was well balanced in her arms, and she used it to deflect a few more of the Chitauri's attacks before throwing it as hard as she could at the alien. It knocked it back onto the ground, killing it, before bouncing back into Steve's hand.
Before she could say anything, or turn back around and resume fighting, something collided with her stomach. The blast from the Chitauri weapon knocked Audrey off her feet and sent her flying backwards, her head colliding with the sidewalk.
She did her best to maintain her grip on consciousness, but she couldn't. Audrey let her eyes slip shut, and everything went black.
a/n: leave a review if you feel so inclined! thank you for the feedback on the last chapter everyone
Chapter Sixteen: Blood and Water
It was so quiet, but the word almost knocked him over. Dad. Dad. Dad.