The Attack

Eleanor made her way through the grocery store with her basket, staring at some of the options for curry mixes. She hadn't cooked curry in months. She also wondered if Steve liked curry. Her eyes fluttered down to her phone. He was still probably at the gym. Her hand reached for the green curry paste. She could always use less if it was too spicy anyway, and one jar would last her plenty of time, cooking for herself or cooking for two people.

In the corner of her eye, she saw a quick shadow of movement. Her eyes followed it and she walked to the end of the aisle, nearly running smack into Marley. The man from the baseball game.

"Eleanor!" He said, his eyes staring into her. She adjusted a bit uncomfortably and glanced around the store.

"Hi, How are you? How's Stacy?"

"We're good, very good. How is er- your boyfriend?" He gave her a slick and flirty smile.

"Great." Eleanor bristled. He reminded her too much of the school's science teacher and the construction workers or gang members that hang out on the corner, catcalling or whistling at her like she's a dog. She particularly couldn't stand the head to toe scan that made her feel like a piece of meat rather than a human being. He seemed to know he made her uncomfortable but didn't try to adjust.

"Nice to see you." He said, ending their conversation. Eleanor smiled back at him and moved away, knowing that his eyes were still on her. She didn't want to stick around either to have a conversation with him. Stacy was a nice enough person, but that didn't mean Eleanor wanted to get to know her husband. Knowing Steve and the questions that might come up, she wasn't sure if she was ready to be 'publicly' his girlfriend. In fact, She'd chatted the phone with Pepper about it earlier in the week. Pepper had laughed when she told her the story of the Vice Principle being suspicious. The elder woman had also reassured her that she had an eye out for any celebrity gossip- Steve remained one of the Avengers they struggled to identify outside of his uniform. Once the Smithsonian opened, there was a chance that could be lessened, with more pictures of him going public, but until then, as long as he tried to blend in a bit- he would.

Ella threw in the other essentials she would need to have around the house- including a few frozen dinners that would be easy to heat up in the evenings or afternoons she didn't feel like cooking. Ice cream for watching a movie later that week. When she got to the check outstanding, she realized she had definitely put too much into her basket. The Cashier used both of her reusable bags, and she knew they would be a pain in the butt to carry eight blocks home. Instead, she might be better off taking the bus. Tucking her phone into her front coat pocket she lifted both the bags up. This is why she should bring Steve shopping with her, especially when she was beginning to cook enough for two.

Her mind wandered as she stepped out of the grocery store and began to trek toward a city bus stop when a pinch caught her by surprise. Her shoulders raised and she flinched. The bag in her left hand dropped to the ground with a light thud. She winced again. Hopefully, that wasn't the one with the eggs. She gently set the second bag down and lifted her hand to touch her left shoulder. Even with her coat on, and a scarf, A little black pencil led sized point dropped onto her finger. A bee stinger? Ella looked around. No one else seemed to have noticed the sudden attack on her person. She rubbed her finger over the irritated skin. Her eyes dropped to the ground to see if she could spot the culprit. Then realizing it might still be on her she rushed to pull off her scarf and shake it out. Nothing. She shook out her coat too. What kind of bee does a hit and run? It was definitely going to bruise she couldn't help but think, trying to get a better look at it. The skin was already raised and turning pinker by the second.

Well. She couldn't do much about it.

A couple walking out of the store glanced at her, with her scarf hanging from her hand and her wide-eyed look. She laughed at their own bewildered face. "Bee sting," she shrugged to them. They both nodded, the woman even showed her teeth as if to say 'Yikes'. Eleanor slipped her scarf back on and adjusted it, hoping that whatever it was had fallen out or flew away. The ache in her neck remained, so she rolled her shoulders and reminded herself she just needed to survive twenty minutes until she got home.

When she did arrive home she practically threw her bags on the table and ran to the bathroom. Slipping off her shirt and turning around Eleanor noted that the bruise was much larger than previous stings that she'd had before, leaving her to assume that it wasn't a normal Honeybee. Did bees not die during the winter? She wished she could have seen whatever it was, just so she could look it up. It was a bit painful to put pressure on, but after a quick google, she dabbed it with honey and then put an ice pack on it. The relief was instant.

Almost on cue, her phone rang. She couldn't help but smile at Steve's perfect timing.

"Hey there," she answered as she moved into the kitchen to actually put all the shopping items she bought away.

"How's your Sunday?"

"Eventful. I went to the grocery store and got stung by a bee!" Steve snorted on the other side of the line.

"A bee?"

"Yeah! Right outside the store. He found his way on the inside of my scarf I think. But after he stung me he flew off!"

"I thought bees died after they stung."

"Well- I didn't see it, but according to google, only Honeybees die."

Steve just chuckled. "How about your day?" She asked, waiting for the details of his weekend so far. They'd done an Avengers group simulation training in northern New York, and it'd been a great break from his normal spy-esc training he did with SHIELD. He laughed with her about a fight he and Thor had- talking about how he was the only Avenger (the hulk not included) that could take Steve when he gave all his strength behind his punches. His work with Natasha was more technical, but he still had to hold a bit of himself back to prevent anyone from breaking bones.

Eleanor laughed with him as he talked about the open fields and how the team was small, but they already had their eyes out for possibly recruiting other people who had talents or skills beyond normal people.

"We could recruit you for your superior teaching skills" he laughed.

"You haven't even seen me teach." Ella rolled her eyes, starting the noodles for her dinner. She could hear his grin through the receiver. She couldn't help but grin too.

Despite the near-constant rainfall, the following weeks were some of the best that Eleanor had ever had. Steve and she hung out at least twice a week, her students seemed to be absorbing her lessons even though she wasn't their primary teacher and just that day administration attended her class as an informal part of the interview that she would have in a few months.

Fortunately, the class had been perfect.

That evening specifically had been lazy. Steve and she had rescheduled their date night for the next afternoon, as a celebration for school break. So instead of doing anything exciting on Thursday, Eleanor sat on her couch with her laptop open to a google web browser as she flipped through information about other education jobs that she hopefully wouldn't need, and scanned over the online New York Times at the headlines. Her work was mostly done. The students would present their projects on Friday and then she'd be free for the next three weeks! Her hair was loosely pulled into a messy bun and her pajama short shorts and T-shirt screamed the fact that she was almost ready for bed. Almost.

She took a sip of her tea and adjusted her feet underneath her.

The loud slamming of car doors caught her attention, but she didn't think much about it. The walls were not the thickest in the first place. But the yelling and sudden cracking sounds outside her building immediately warranted the glanced over her shoulder toward the door and small front window. Was someone lighting off firecrackers in the middle of December? Despite her better judgment, Eleanor quickly made her way to the window in front of her house, shifting the curtain out of the way and peaking outside. Four black Sedans had jumped the curb and were lined up against the sidewalk, blocking the way out or into the parking lot of her building. Men stood behind them with their guns withdrawn and focused in on Vic and his crew, who also seemed to have taken up posts behind the cars on the opposite side of the parking lot, just out of sight below her and within the apartment building. The rain shined in the light of the single street light as it flickered in the night, making the scene look as though it were from a movie and she was at the highest camera angle.

Glass shattered behind the gang members and some already were laid out. There was a woman screaming outside, but it was suddenly silenced, cut off even. Only gunshots echoing in the night. Eleanor could only watch one man get shot before she fell backward and away from the window in shock and sick to her stomach. Children lived in this building- It was not the place for a gang shoot out! Where were the police anyway? The darkness outside made it hard to see much that the lights didn't eliminate. The sudans headlights were facing the building, but the men on the other side of the doors didn't look like gang members at all. They looked more dangerous.

She could only make assumptions as she heard footsteps running back and forth on the walkway her unit. Whatever it was those behind the large dark cars had the advantage with more firepower, their automatic guns pausing for only seconds before starting back up again. They'd arrived far better prepared. Moving back around her couch, she shuddered at the thought of the bloodshed and began looking for her phone trying to take deep breaths and focus her attention on something other than the senseless murders that were occurring outside her home. She always knew her neighborhood was not the safest, there was a large police presence during the summer and the occasional incident. At the same time, this was extreme.

Patting her own pockets, she finally found her cell phone and hands shaking she pulled up her contacts and found the number that she was looking for.

Sticking it to her ear she closed her eyes and waited, once again trying to regulate her breathing. At the same time, she lightly chanted to herself "pickuppickuppickup." She wasn't sure if he could do anything, yet having his voice on the phone seemed like it would help her calm down and think rationally. He knew action. Time seemed to move much slower, but it was probably her increasing adrenaline at the action occurring outside the building as she waited for the sound of his voice.

"Hello?"

"Steve?" Her voice seemed to shake like her hands did and it was close to a whisper as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Eleanor? What's going on?" He instantly was able to sense there was something different in this call.

"I-I—There are guns. It's like, I don't know there's a bunch of them and they're shooting at each other and they're right outside—" Her words didn't sound the same as they did in her head, but maybe that was because she was still trying to come to terms with what was happening to her normally quiet apartment building.

"Where are you?"

"At my-" Someone was banging on her window and she glanced over the couch at Vic. He had his jacket hood pulled up and yanked it down so she could see his face. It was hard to make out his other features His hand was open as he banged, covering the class to see inside. He was yelling at her to get out. She couldn't help but let a slight scream out as a rain of gunshots broke the glass of the window, the echoing of them hitting her wall and the shattering of the class. Her thoughts were silenced by the body that fell through it as well, landing face down in the middle of her living room. Vic's head was sideways, brown eyes were open, they felt as wide as her own, but the blood seeped out of his mouth and quickly ran from his body and stained the carpet. He didn't move.

He was dead.

Her shock echoed in her ears. She knew that person. The face. She felt the flashback of her mother on the floor in the kitchen. Everything seemed quiet for a moment when she stared at him and a ringing sound in her ears. Only the sound of an urgent voice on the phone seemed to pull her out of it.

"Eleanor? Eleanor?" he had to be able to hear the gunshots now and they were deafening. The yelling outside the building over the sound was also loud, but it was harder to make out.

"He-I— My window he fell through it and he was trying- it- Vic- h-he-he's dead." Her heartbeat could be heard in her own ears.

"Where are you? Are you home?"

"Y-yeah."

"Go to your kitchen. You can't stay in the living room people can see you too easily." Steve directed.

"B-But he—"

"I know sweetheart, go to the kitchen." She could hear his muffled voice in the background as well as she crawled, rather un elegantly. She could only grit her teeth as she moved through the glass and felt the micro tares they made on her skin.

"In the kitchen" She whispered, suddenly noticing that the gunshots had stopped. "They stopped… Should I che-"

"Stay there." His voice was much clearer and demanding, reminding her that he had way more experience in this area. Her personal superhero. For some reason, that thought didn't comfort her as much as she wished it would.

Suddenly she could hear a series of footsteps on the stairs down the hall, they were heavy and made goosebumps pop up along her arms. "There are people coming up the stairs," A door down the hall was kicked open, she could hear the impact on the ground, despite being five or six doors down. "They're breaking into 207. I-" Another series of yells and screams reached her in the corner of her kitchen before more gunshots were heard, creating an even thicker silence. "Oh my god."

"We're on our way Ella, everything is going to be okay."

Despite the comfort in his voice, she could hear the next door being broken down. More yells, but this time before she heard the gunshots there was a distinct use of a name. Her name.

"They said my name. Steve, they're coming here. They want me." Panic finally seemed to creep into her system. Her heart thundered in her head.

"Eleanor. Listen to me. We're on our way but we won't be there soon enough, so you need to open your kitchen window."

"Wh-Why?"

"You need to get out of there, so you're going to open your kitchen window and jump out."

"I-I" The thoughts that ran through her head were to panic-filled to really comprehend. "Second floor" was all she could gasp out as she heard the footsteps get closer and the next door break down. The clock was running and it was running much too fast for the substitute teacher.

"I know. When you jump you're going to land on the balls of your feet and roll forward. Listen to me. You've gotta land on the balls of your feet. Eleanor?"

Eleanor was not a huge sports person and her mind was scattered anyway. What part of her feet were the balls of her feet? She could only stare out her window into the rain as her hands fiddled with the lock. They wouldn't stop shaking. With the window open, she pushed it up and swung her leg over the edge. Another door came down on her floor. This time she could hear the voices pleading through the open window in the alleyway and the thin walls. She could hear them say her apartment number. The voices reached her broken window and she could only look down.

"They're here." She felt out of breath already but maneuvered herself so both her legs hung out the window. It wasn't big enough for her to fit through comfortably, so she was hunched awkwardly. Her hands gripped the edge as she looked down. Why couldn't there be a dumpster of rubber balls or mattresses for her to fall in? When the footsteps reached behind her, and a male voice seemed to yell out, Eleanor couldn't make out the words because she was already falling with her eyes closed. Her landing was rough on the hard ground, she could almost hear a crack in her ankle and rolling forward was painful, but nothing compared to the pain in her shoulder. Her left hand scraped against the concrete but her left hand yanked her phone back to her ear in the few seconds she stumbled forward. She narrowly lost her grip and dropped it in a forming puddle. She could feel the cold on every inch of her skin. She looked up at her window to see someone staring down and yelling at her. Did he say Target? Knowing she didn't have enough time, she turned toward the end of the ally. "Steve?"

"Eleanor. Now you need to run." She flinched as she took her first few steps, but the gunshots that followed her as she dodged around the corner with a limp seemed to be enough to carry her forward. "on Taggard road. Headed s-" She could hear the Sudan's revving and the yelling on the front side of her apartment. "North."

"Don't get off the phone. Tony's flying ahead. I'll be another three minutes." She could hear his breath as he ran, and she could feel the dull ache shooting through her shoulder and up her leg. Her feet were bare and already soaked from a few puddles she splashed into, her hair flopping with the extra weight of the water. She couldn't tell if it was the rain or sweat but her hand lifted as she ran to push it all behind her. She tried to ignore everything she felt and focused on the adrenaline coursing through her veins. The yellow light of the Ironman suit flew over her head, pausing when she stopped and looked behind her at the man seemingly floating in the air.

Out of breath, Eleanor spoke into her phone "I see him. But he needs to check on the children. In the apartment next door the-" She looked around where she was to get her bearings. Tony seemed to be approaching the building before an enormous explosion behind her went off in a building on his left, sending him flying into another building and sending her stumbling backward toward the next street. The scream got caught in her throat. She threw her hand to catch her on the concrete as she glanced behind her, pushing herself up and away from the ground to keep running. Her ears rang from the unexpected sound and she looked behind her to find the suit out of sight. "Holy shit." The curse felt heavy on her tongue. She could only cross her fingers that Tony was okay. He had to be.

She could hear Steve's voice on the phone telling her to keep running. Sprinting around the next corner, two men appeared same suits and weapons like the ones she had seen at her apartment. They spotted her when she paused like a dear in headlights and the half a second costed her as she turned to sprint in the other direction. Without a word to each other they moved toward her, they were bigger than her, but Eleanor had never regretted not becoming a runner more. Around the corner she flew as fast as she could, stumbling occasionally and feeling the shots of pain in her shoulder and ankle once more. Her bare feet were soaked and freezing altering her balance. After barely a block the men open fire. Eleanor knew whatever type of weapon they were using it wasn't a normal gun like the ones that they had used at her apartment building. Firstly, the sound was slightly quieter. The brunette dived out of the way and zigzagged her way through the street in her best attempt to avoid them. Pain erupted in multiple spots, but she refused to think of what that meant.

There was a distant memory of active shooter drills that she'd discussed in a university course, but she couldn't think of the things that might apply to this situation. She tried to focus on moving forward.

Turning around a dumpster for a short breath once they were out of sight, she felt lethargic, her bones were heavy. Her feet hurt. She couldn't help the whimper that shook her body. Stopping for a moment, she needles of pain snuck in from her bare feet to her shoulder. Her phone gripped tightly in her sweating and cut up hand she pulled it to her ear to hear the other line. "Steve? Steve, I'm scared." Her own panting was all she could hear for half a second.

When the shooting paused for a moment, she pushed her self-back up and continued to run, her heart beating faster every second, and fear constricting around her stomach. She tried to think positively. Like how she would always wear a sports bra when relaxing or how she would spend whatever extra money she had in a nicer apartment. Or apartment security that didn't include a local gang.

"120 seconds" His voice was hard to hear, and she had to strain her senses while she ran to catch what he said. The lump in her throat only seemed to get worse. She didn't have the endurance for that. The gunshots started going off again when she moved back into her pursuer's sight. She was putting up the best chase she could possibly give, spinning left at the closest intersection to avoid more bullets. Taking the chance, she glanced behind her for a second, hearing the yelling once more.

The turn of her head proved to be a mistake. Without realizing what happened she was on her behind on the ground, being pulled up by an arm. Her head spun to the man grabbing her with the force she couldn't really fight against, his dark black hair and size nearly twice her own. Pulling back, Eleanor tried to move away, only to be thrown into the brick wall beside her.

His hand grabbed her head and rammed it into the wall, jolting her brains and emphasizing the amount of pain throughout her body. As she continued to flail and yelp to try and get away, hands wrapped around her throat and lifted her off the ground. She wasn't sure if it was the crack of her head, or her throat, the stabbing in her arm, or perhaps even his knee to her stomach? She couldn't breathe. Blackness surrounded the outskirts of her vision as she scratched at the hand choking her but at the same time she had an oversensitivity to the streetlight just around the corner. A high-pitched tone screamed through both ears.

"Target-"

All the pressure dropped, and she landed onto the ground in a lump.

One of her own hands moved up to her head, the tips of her fingers returned red. The blood streamed down the back of her head, sticking to her already soaked hair. Everything seemed jumbled and she could hardly comprehend anything but the fact that everything hurt. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, the dirt and blood between her toes. She could also feel the cold drops of rain falling from the sky. A shadow slowly came into focus, but the light behind them made it hard for her mind to adjust. To catch up. The gentle skin of another's hand was set to her cheek. Her eyes met the bright blue that she had become familiar with.

Despite the ringing, she could hear his voice as well. "Eleanor? Hey, look at me doll, come on. Don't fall asleep." Focusing was hard, so many things ran through her head at once, the pain receptors were firing off, adrenaline was still pumping, and the light behind him. It was a concussion. The young woman could only make out that conclusion in the back of her head as she thought. Steve. Steve wanted her attention.

She wanted to speak, but her throat was closed too tight, just getting oxygen was causing her too much strife.

But Steve was there. Again, she forced her eyes to meet him and her hand, shaking to reach out toward him. "I've got you." His voice was taking a long time to process in her brain. "Eleanor, hey. Hi." He put his forehead to hers to keep her eyes on him.

Keeping her head up with one hand, he put the other to his ear. "She needs medical." He said to no one she could see. "Doesn't matter. But she's going to-" things got blurry all over again, and Eleanor's body swayed and shook as she gasped for breath. Her throat was closing in on her. Were the walls too? Everything hurt. Everything hurt.

"Eleanor. Eleanor!"

All closed in.

A/N: Yes, this chapter is almost the same as the one from the prologue! There are quite a few edits that I didn't want to give away at the beginning, but it's very similar.

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Lots of Love from the Middle of Nowhere Asia~