I wrote a note at the beginning of this story that I felt like I'd bitten off more than I could chew! Well, that feeling hasn't gone away... Let me know what you think, I'd appreciate the guidance.
Before the sun had begun to come up Caroline found herself in a large open field, the mist still sitting on the grass and the moon giving the nearby mountains an eerie glow as if they were watching over her every move.
"Right!" John shouted over to her. "The blade alone measures about three to four feet long, and most who carry it wield it with two hands, most of the damage comes from swinging instead of stabbing." Caroline held the sword aloft as if weighed less than a feather and arched her eyebrow in John's direction.
"I think you're forgetting about the super strength?!" Caroline replied nonchalantly as John made his way over to her. "It's new to me but seemingly you know, the speed, stamina, reflexes and reactions I have now make this slightly easier?" John smiled and then threw his own sword over his head, bringing it down on top of her so that Caroline fell to her knees with John's sword just inches from her face.
"That's all well and good, but if you don't know how to use that thing, more than what the magic tells you, you won't last long." Caroline pulled herself up and cleared her head, no more messing around.
"I'm ready," she told him sincerely and John nodded.
"Then let's begin."
"Anything?" Sam asked Natasha as he came to stand beside her.
"Nothing," she answered solemnly as she looked at the satellite pictures being displayed in front of her.
"Do you think he'll come back?" he asked her and when she didn't reply Sam Wilson wondered if he would ever see the Cap again. "What about Caroline?" he added.
"The same, no records at any of the hospitals. She's just disappeared." Natasha didn't know what else to say, they were all at a loss.
"I don't understand? The extent of her injuries, there's no way she could have…" the two Avengers stared at the myriad of display screens in front of them, all trying to track down any evidence of their friend and the woman who had saved his life. Both knew one thing for sure, this wasn't the end.
Six Months Later
Caroline stood in the field, her black armour and masked face illuminating the air around her. Wielding the sword around her head she practiced the moves John had taught her, over and over again she trained, that's all she'd done since arriving. Everything in her life had changed, who she was, how she looked, what was important and what wasn't. Yet somehow, little things remained the same. Every morning she would make breakfast and when she wasn't training she would bake bread as if Caroline Holland was still in there somewhere, the shy, polite woman who moved to the US to fulfil her Mother's dream. Her parents had been on her mind a lot recently. The revelation that her Father had known who she really was, what her destiny had been? She wondered if her Mother had known also. Caroline always found herself becoming upset when her thoughts drifted to her Mother so slowly, she stopped thinking about it, along with the rest of her past. It was a distraction, she didn't allow herself to think of Steve, not for one moment.
A whizzing sound caught her attention and without thinking she pulled herself up and brought her sword in front of her, shielding herself from the oncoming spear that John Hoyle had thrown at her. Caroline looked at him and laughed, pleased with herself.
"Aha!" she cheered. "Not bad huh?" John was staring at her and that was when Caroline looked down, seeing that she was floating in the air around a foot from the ground. Looking back at John Caroline's jaw dropped open. "Well, that's new."
"Looks like your ready Caroline Britain, or should I say Captain Britain." In a flash Caroline was leaning over John who was pinned to the floor, her fists grabbing at his chest.
"Don't ever call me that!" she whispered.
"Isn't that who you are?" he replied, his brow creased in confusion.
"No," Caroline pulled back and turned away from him. "Lionheart, but never… Captain."
Present Day
The city had been overrun by The Wrecking Crew for months, Thunderball (aka Doctor Eliot Franklin) had rounded up his team and had been causing havoc for the remaining Avengers. The absence of Captain America had brought all the villains out of the woodwork!
On a sunny Sunday morning the team found themselves in a standoff. Bulldozer, Piledriver, Thunderball and the Wrecker stood laughing whilst Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye and The Falcon stared them down.
"Can we get this over and done with?" Natasha commented glibly.
"My pleasure," Iron Man replied, flying full tilt into the villains. A slurry of activity ensued, the epic battle between good and evil created massive destruction, chiefly created by The Wrecker's crowbar that had been slung into both Iron Man and The Falcon rendering them inert. "We're getting crushed here guys! We need to rethink this." Tony shouted into his earpiece so that the others could hear.
"Any suggestions?" Natasha asked as she dodged the huge wrecking ball flying her way.
"Not off the top of my head!" came the reply.
Through the smoke and fire Stark watched as a shield flew through the air, bouncing off Piledriver and sending him flying into the side of a building.
"Good of you to show up," Stark commented dryly as Natasha and Sam smiled, thankful that their friend had returned.
"Thought you might need some help, plus I have unfinished business." Steve set his sights on Thunderball, the source of all his heartache. "He's mine," he ground out before launching himself into the man. The rest kept the others at bay whilst Steve fought Thunderball, Thor brought his hammer up to the sky, a lightning bolt hitting Mjölnir flooded the street with light and the crack of thunder engulfed them all. Thor decimated all of The Wrecking Crew except Thunderball who was still battling with Steve. As the Avengers gathered around Stark hitched a thumb in Steve's direction.
"You think the Cap needs any help?" he asked the others.
"It would be rude not to," Sam replied with a grin. As they began to run towards their friend they all came to screeching halt when a figure appeared from the sky and landed in front of them. Broadsword held above her head Lionheart looked at each one of the Avengers.
"Whoa," Stark whispered as he took in the stranger's appearance. "And you are?" he asked as Lionheart slowly brought her sword down.
"I'm not your enemy," she told them as their attention was taken up by Steve shouting out to them.
"Watch out!" Steve shouted, Lionheart turned back to Thunderball just in time to see that he'd thrown his wrecking ball in their direction. Swinging her broadsword in front of her she created a protective shield in front of the Avengers, the wrecking ball ricocheting away and into the side of a building. Steve stared at the stranger, a pair of sparkling eyes glistening behind the fiery mask staring back.
"Who are you?!" Thunderball shouted out just before Lionheart launched herself at him and using an energy blast flung Steve out of harm's way. Bouncing along the road Steve quickly pulled himself up and looked to Natasha who simply shrugged her shoulders.
Lionheart span the sword in front of her, her hand effortlessly wielding the heavy weapon.
"This is between me and him!" Thunderball shouted as he pointed to Steve who had come to stand behind Lionheart, his eyes trained on them both. Lionheart turned and looked to Steve.
"Captain America?" Lionheart rasped out and Steve nodded curtly in response. All of a sudden his face softened and realisation flooded over him. The stranger hadn't questioned who he was, she was giving him a clue of who she was.
"Caroline?" he whispered.
"This is my battle," she told him and before he could say anything else he watched as she pushed up from the ground and with an almighty roar piled into Thunderball, her broadsword impaling the villain through the chest.
Steve took a step forward but stopped when Lionheart fixed her gaze on him once again. The ferocious way in which she had ended Thunderball's life scared him to the bone.
"I'm sorry," she whispered so only he could hear and then rocketing through the heavens left Steve watching after her.
"You know her?" Sam asked as Steve turned to see the rest of the team stood around him.
"What?" he answered caught off guard. "No?" he said quietly a second later, his mind reeling from the revelation.
"It sure looked like she knew you," Natasha remarked.
"She said her name was Lionheart," stumbling over his words Steve turned away from the group, not wanting them to see the pained expression on his face.
"She appeared to be a warrior of some kind," Thor said to Tony who was eyeing Steve suspiciously.
"Whoever she was she had your back Cap, I get the feeling she only turned up for you." Slapping Steve's chest as he walked by Steve struggled to keep his emotions in check. Physically shaking his head to try and make sense of it all he looked back up to the sky. What had happened and who was she now?
"So, what do we know?" Stark asked as the rest of the team watched the display screens run all the data Banner had managed to collate on Lionheart. Thor stood up and crossed his arms, looking at Steve he pointed to the blurry picture of Lionheart that had been captured from earlier that day.
"Otherworld is a small planet, it is a world of gods, sorcery and magic." Thor told the team.
"It's not primitive though, they possess highly advanced technology." Bruce added as he looked at the data continuously scrolling in front of him.
"Sorcery and magic?" Sam repeated. "You're telling me she was some kind of magic Knight?"
"I know of this place," Thor told the others. "The fire demon Surtur of Muspelheim provided Master Wilson with the raw power to construct massive mechanized cities known as the 'Manchester Gods' to wage war upon Merlyn, Captain Britain, the Tuatha da Dannan, Pendragon's Court, and the other ruling elite of Otherworld. Surtur then used the Manchester Gods against the Nine Realms of Asgard, my Brother and I travelled to Otherworld and confronted Master Wilson. He regretted that he had unwittingly helped Surtur wage destruction and sacrificed himself and the Manchester Gods to stop Surtur's plan to burn everything in the Nine Realms." All faces were fixed on Thor as he sat back down, Stark, who was slack jawed looked at the rest of the team.
"Captain Britain?" Natasha repeated looking to Steve but his head was down, focussing on no one or anything.
"Sounds good to me," Stark commented quietly.
"Where does she come in?" Natasha asked trying to get the conversation back on track and pointing at Lionheart.
"Did anybody else follow that?" Stark queried, still not quite believing what he was hearing but given there was a Norse God sat at the table shrugged his shoulders and continued to listen.
"If she is who she says she is," Thor replied. "Then she is the ruler of Otherworld."
"So why is she here?" Natasha asked.
"She knew the Cap," Sam pointed out as he looked to Steve who had his head down and had said nothing since they'd got there. Sam was genuinely concerned, he hadn't seen the Cap for months and now this mysterious stranger had turned up at the same time and seemingly knocking the wind right out of him.
"We don't know that," Natasha replied quickly.
"Oh yeah, about that… what brings you back Cap? Not that we're all absolutely thrilled about having you back…" Tony threw over his shoulder casually.
"She protected us all and whatever Thunderball had done to her she wasn't going to let him get away with it!" Natasha looked to Steve also who finally looked up and fixed his eyes on Bruce.
"I have heard that Captain Britain has relinquished his throne, she is the new Captain Britain but has chosen to not go by that name, for what reason I do not know. She is an ally." Thor said as Banner pointed to a screen which displayed a planet.
"Otherworld is a small other-dimensional planetary body located in a pocket dimension adjacent to Earth, while the dimension of Otherworld is also known as Avalon, the island of Avalon is actually only a small part of the larger dimension that is Otherworld..." without a word Steve stood and left the room. "Was it something I said?" Banner asked the rest of the team.
Later That Day
Caroline stood in her apartment living room, it was clean and tidy and everything was in its place. She found herself smiling, knowing that it was Steve's doing. Still, it felt strange to be there, knowing what she knew now. That some of her belongings, some of the things she liked and had collected over time had come from a lie? She felt detached from them now, as if they belonged to somebody else and not her. Her paradigm, her view of the world had been shaped by her parents. By her overbearing, controlling Father and her nurturing, protective Mother. She'd since discovered that her paradigm was false, it was a fabrication. So how did she now view the world? And in turn, how did she view herself?
That's why she hadn't gone straight to Steve, that's why she had written the letter and travelled to England.
To discover her own paradigm.
"Hello Steve," she said as she turned to see him stood behind her. "I hope you don't mind me intruding?" she laughed but instantly felt bad. It was a cheap shot and she wasn't sure why she'd said it.
"Caroline?" Steve could see it was her but found himself squinting his eyes, trying to see behind the mask. "Can you take that off?" he asked her. Caroline had quickly become accustomed to the anonymity the mask had afforded her. It reminded her of when she'd first moved to the US, that feeling of nobody knowing who she was or where she was from had been exhilarating. It had been a chance to reinvent herself, be who she had always wanted to be. The difference now though was that she had to be somebody she'd never bargained on being and she still didn't know if she liked it.
"Of course," she said, pulling the fiery cross from her face. That's when it hit her, like a freight train she felt the overwhelming sadness and loss of her life. Not daring to look up she stared at the floor until she saw Steve's feet appear in front of her and when his finger delicately rested on her chin and brought her gaze up to his she felt the tears fall freely. "I'm so sorry," she whispered as Steve engulfed her.
"Don't be sorry," he told her. "Don't ever be sorry," taking hold of her arms he pulled her away so he could look her in the eye. "You saved my life Caroline. I love you," he told her and that's all she needed to hear.
Laughing and crying at the same time Caroline pulled him back into an embrace and felt all the worry drain from her.
"Are you okay?" he asked her.
"As much as one can be when they die and then disappear and then wake up on another planet in another universe being told they're an heiress to a kingdom!" Caroline took a deep breath and they both laughed but Caroline lost her smile again and took Steve's hand. "What you saw Steve, what I did to Thunderball…"
"I think I understand, in fact, I know I understand." Steve replied.
"I am sorry Steve, I truly am." She told him and he found himself nodding.
"Thank you," he whispered back. "Now what are we going to do?" The fact that he had used the word 'we' quashed any remaining fear Caroline had that she would have to do this all alone.
"I have no idea, I don't think I can ignore all this and carry on cooking for people?" widening her eyes and giving Steve a comical look it was the first time he felt like he saw a glimpse of the Caroline he knew and loved. Knowing she was still in there made him feel a hundred times better.
"No, perhaps not!" he agreed. "We should go see the team…" he started but Caroline interrupted him.
"No please, Steve. I'm not sure I'm ready for all that." Turning away from him Caroline brushed her fingers against the dried flowers that sat on the mantelpiece.
"But Caroline, they'll be able to help?"
"That's your life Steve not mine." She replied.
"I hate to break it to you Caroline but it looks like it is yours now." Steve's eyes travelled to the broadsword that was harnessed on her back. She was a formidable looking woman, strong and powerful. To him she always had been.
"Maybe I can just carry on cooking?" Caroline answered turning back to him.
"In that?!" Steve replied pointing to her ensemble.
"I don't know? I think its wipe clean?" Steve laughed and then took a big breath, there was the Caroline he knew and loved.
"Stay here, think. Take as much time as you need and then we can decide together, if you want?" Caroline nodded slowly, her thoughts distracting her from his words.
"What do people think?" she asked, more to herself than to Steve. "Poor Doris!" She'd been ready to leave everything behind, thinking that it would be necessary to do so but now she realised that Steve was the perfect example of somebody who had worked hard to have both. Both be somebody and have a personal life, it was hard but he'd done it. Surrounded by her things once more Caroline felt her life tugging at her, calling her back to some kind of normal.
"I told her you went to visit family back home, there was an emergency." Steve grimaced and Caroline nodded slowly again, letting it all sink in, something she seemed to be doing a lot of.
"That kind of makes things difficult doesn't it? Amongst other things," she added looking down at herself. Steve closed the gap between them and pulled her into him.
"We'll come up with something," he told her as he kissed the top of her head.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked and Steve grinned.
"I don't know?" he answered good humouredly. "What are you thinking?"
"Those plastic glasses with the nose and moustache attached to them?" Steve barked with laughter.
"Yes! That's exactly what I was thinking," he answered lovingly. "Now, you wanna tell me what happened?" Caroline lost her smile somewhat and let a breath puff her lips out as she looked at him wide eyed.