CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Riders in the Sky Part Two
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Natasha Romanov
We hit the ground running, drawing the weapons from our holsters.
Okoye is in the lead, spinning the staff in her hands. The fury on her face, the strength in her limbs as she sprints towards the battle makes her look like a warrior goddess, more than human. Eyes narrowed, lip curled, she is a lioness charging her prey.
And as we near them, she roars.
"WAKANDA FOREVER!"
With one twist of her staff, two Dravec warriors go down. She kicks off their corpses to leap into the air, spinning into a kick that knocks one back just before she drives her spear through its chest. The Wakandan warrior lands beside its body in a crouch, baring her teeth, and the two hunters closest to her back away.
"Holy shit," pants Scott beside me as we run to catch up.
The General has a score to settle with this bloodthirsty alien race, a strong need to avenge her fallen people, her family that was taken and hunted and slaughtered. Okoye lunges, a flurry of rage and revenge and death as she unleashes herself upon the alien force with a savage snarl.
Five steps later, I am right beside her. Vibranium batons raised, I slide to my knees striking low as she strikes high, and in a splattering of black blood, a Dravec goes down. Okoye goes to one knee, and riding my momentum, I surge upwards, kicking off her thigh to launch myself into the air. Tucking my body in tight, I whirl just before I hook a leg over the shoulder of an approaching alien, heaving myself up and flicking a switch on my batons that unleashes a vibranium blade at each end. Blades that go straight into its skull.
The body collapses forward, and I roll with it, surging to my feet beside Okoye. We exchange a look, then set our sights onto a large, heavily armored warrior readying its bright red, burning whip.
It arches its arm back, then stumbles to the side suddenly, its head jerking left, then right. Its arm twists unnaturally, and then the whip is being wrapped around its neck. Flailing, wheezing, it goes down, and then Scott is materializing above the alien, slamming his boot into its skull.
He grins up at us through his helmet. "Ladies."
"Bout time you got here," Clint's voice is tight through the comms. My focus sharpens. He's injured, I can tell through those five words. Not incapacitated, but enough to cause a strain, enough to make him in danger of being a target to be picked off.
"Where are you?" I demand as Scott disappears again, as Okoye and I go back to back as a swarm of hunters charge us.
"Wanda is missing. Steve's hurt bad, but Barnes has his back," Clint ignores my question to start filling me in. "We got Asgardian players on the field, including our old friend, Snape."
I dodge the swing of a knife, jabbing my bladed baton into an alien chest, the vibranium cutting easily through its armor. My eyes narrow across the green hills to where I can see a dark haired Asgardian, wielding an alien plasma rifle.
Loki shoots down an oncoming Dravec with a severe expression on his face, off-played by the slight smile on one corner of his mouth.
"He's on our side now?"
I crouch down as Okoye rolls across my back, and we face our new opponents.
"Enemy of my enemy," says Clint. "Think the others would notice if the smoke clears and there's an arrow in his chest?"
"Not if you switch it out for one of those spears," I clench my teeth as I cross my batons in front of me in an X, catching a wicked, black wrist blade in between. Holding it tight, I twist my body into a spin, wrenching at the Dravec's arm. It twists and cracks with a horrific sound, and then I am slamming the blunt end of a baton into its forehead. "Just don't let Thor see you."
"Thor's down. Or missing."
My gut twists. "Bruce? The kid?"
Clint doesn't answer. Shit.
"Le yentsapho yam, nina babulali," Okoye hisses savagely as she crosses spears with a massive warrior, the poles thwacking together and spinning in the air too fast to follow. She catches it by its ankle, sweeps its legs out from under it, and drives her spear into its chest.
"They're holding their own. Everyone is," Clint finally answers.
Above us, Shuri takes on the remaining two ships, performing aerial maneuvers that are no doubt giving her brother a heart attack as she fires upon them. Her piloting skill is beyond impressive, another talent in the princess's arsenal.
I straighten, noting only a handful of stragglers in this section of the battlefield. "Where do you need me?"
"Northwest of your position. Cap's cornered."
I charge over a pile of smoldering debris, leaping into the air, those two words ringing in my ears and coiling around my stomach.
It will be a miracle if we all make it out of this alive.
Peter Parker
Everything is happening too fast for my overstimulated mind to keep up with. My body moves almost on autopilot, ducking, dodging, punching, swinging, firing webs- It all kind of turns into this mushed up mass of armored aliens and weapons and an endless barrage of noise that makes my ears ring.
No end in sight, although whoever is manning the alien craft is flying like freaking Poe Dameron through the sky, taking on the last remaining Dravec ship as the other goes crashing to the ground in another deafening explosion.
Mr. Stark told me to use the buddy system, and I'm trying, but it's so hard trying to keep track of who I'm fighting with before we get separated by Dravec and I end up stumbling upon a new ally.
It's a blur. It's chaos and noise and violence.
"Shuri!" Black Panther shouts.
My head whips to follow his gaze (I hadn't even known I was fighting close to him) to see that the last alien ship is closely tailing our allied one, and two Dravec warriors have somehow managed to leap aboard, ruthlessly blasting into it as the pilot spins and soars, trying to knock them off. Black Panther charges forward, but two highly skilled hunters quickly detain him, and a quick look around me shows that anyone who could help is too occupied to do so.
Everyone, except me.
"Hey, big guy!" I yell as I race towards the Hulk, who hurtles debris at the alien ship still tailing our ally, knocking it out of its pursuit and into the trees where it explodes in a fiery rush. "Can I get a lift?"
The words are out before I can question myself, before I can freak out or regret my decision. A grin stretches across the behemoth's face as he reaches out a hand. Massive fingers encircle my waist, and in a dizzying move far faster and wilder and more terrifying than any roller coaster or thrill ride I have ever been on, Hulk launches me into the air.
Stomach tumbling, eyes streaming, I yell out as I fly, the wind slapping at my face as my arms pinwheel, my body flying up, up, up-
WHAM!
The breath is knocked clean out of me as my body slams into the alien craft. I cling to the slick metal as the turbulent wind currents slide me along the panel until my scrabbling fingers find purchase in a crack. My legs fly wildly back behind me, my body turning into some ridiculously bright red and blue flag as I hang on for dear life.
"No big deal," I breathe, squinting in the wind and smoke that burns my throat and eyes. "Nothing you haven't done before. This'll be cake."
Two Dravec crouch atop the craft, slamming their spears into the ship's hull, their boots somehow magnetized to the surface. Sparks fly, smoke streams from the damaged engines that have begun to shriek with a grating pitch.
The girl inside-Shuri-is barely visible in the cracked glass that the hunters are trying to pierce, her teeth clenched and her grip tight on the ship's steering levers.
Muscles burning in sharp protest, I drag myself along the damaged ship as it dips and shudders, despite Shuri's attempt to keep it level in the air. Stomach heaving with every drop, I tighten my left hand's grip as I raise my right, aiming carefully, my fingers pressing against the trigger on my palm.
The web fires, releasing into the air towards one of the hunters, only to go sharply right and come flying back in the opposite direction, sputtering out with an anticlimactic thwip.
Oh. Wind. Duh.
Alrighty, the hard way then. I shove to my feet, staying low, arms braced against the wind battering into me as my feet stick to the top of the alien ship, sliding back ever so slightly. Racing forward, the air roaring in my ears, I leap at the last second and seize the spear one of the hunters had just embedded in the crack in between the metal panel and glass windshield to pry it apart.
Tightening my grip, I sweep out my leg, hard, knocking the hunter onto its back. The Dravec goes flying back, its body rolling and slamming onto the ship as it tries to find purchase.
"Woah!"
A metal tipped spear is stabbing for my face, and I'm forced to swing around the pole stuck in the ship, using the momentum to kick the alien in its armored chest. It stumbles back, releasing its spear that goes flying into the air, disappearing in seconds, but the alien's metal boots remain firmly attached to the ship.
Its eyes glint with victory, and my spider-sense blares in alarm as I look over my shoulder.
To the blinking red disk on the thick, cracked, glass windshield.
"Shit!"
I kick out at it, but too late. The disk goes flying into the air, but the explosion is too close, heat searing my tucked body and a thunderous sound clapping against my eardrums. Glass shatters, and I hear a cry, the smoke from the battered alien ship growing thicker, darker.
When I look up again, the alien hunter has a rifle aimed straight at me.
There's a bright blast, a sharp burst of sound, and then the Dravec goes flying off the ship.
I look back to see Shuri standing, clinging to her seat with one hand, a silver weapon shaped like a roaring panther encasing her other hand, still glowing with a faint light. She shoots me a grin.
The alien ship dips sharply, careening straight towards the ground in a billow of sparks and smoke.
"COME ON!" I shout as I reach out for her.
Teeth clenched, eyes wide, she reaches back, clasping my wrist with the hand that had been holding her steady. I yank, hurling her onto my back, and she goes without hesitation, wrapping her legs around my waist and arms around my neck.
Using my grip on the spear, still embedded into the ship, I shove off of it and begin sprinting up the back of the ship, fighting against the wind, the gravity, all the forces barrelling into us with deadly intent. But then the ship goes completely vertical, and I'm forced to scramble up in the fastest crawl I've ever managed.
I think I'm yelling, yelling like my muscles want to as I force every bit of my remaining strength into propelling us up, up, and then-then we are leaping into the air, my feet kicking hard off the shard of metal dangling off of the back of the craft.
Leaping-and then falling.
Shuri's grip on me doesn't falter, just tightens as we plummet alongside the destroyed ship, and I raise my arm, my fingers pressing down, firing a web blindly into the air as I pray, please, please-
It must have latched onto something, because suddenly the line goes taut, my arm straining with our combined weight as our bodies change direction, swinging forward instead of down-
SLAM!
We hit the ground hard, and despite my best attempts to hit first and take the brunt of it, to hang on to the girl at my back, she is ripped away from me as we tumble and roll across the grassy hill.
Pain flares everywhere as I roll to a halt, but I half push up from the ground, my wide eyes frantically searching for her.
Shuri is curled up on her side away from me, fifteen feet from where I landed. I shove up and race towards her, heart hammering at the sight of her shaking shoulders. Oh god, oh god-
I fall to my knees beside her, carefully turning her over.
Then blink. And gape.
The girl is laughing. Not just chuckling or giggling like the girls at school normally do when they think something is funny or when they are flirting with the football players. She's clutching her stomach and laughing so hard, tears are streaming down her soot stained face.
"That…" she heaves, sitting up and wiping at her cheeks with an ear splitting grin. "Was amazing!"
This girl is absolutely insane. I don't know whether I should laugh with her or if I should be terrified of her. As she gets to her feet, adjusting her panther shaped weapon encasing her arm, Shuri's grin turns wicked, and I know immediately that I should definitely, definitely be scared.
"Now come on," she bares her teeth, eyes bright. "Let's go kill some aliens."
Without waiting for me, she takes off into the fray, her silver panther weapon raised as she races towards the Black Panther.
Then, as I blink, I see Scott. Giant Scott. Rising up over the battlefield like a tree ent in Isengard. The Dravec before him stagger back, clearly caught off guard by the giant in their midst, and then his foot comes crashing down. They dive, but Scott's ready for them, backhanding the slowest two and sending them flying into the jungle.
I wince in sympathy as I recall just exactly what that feels like.
Spotting Mr. Stark fighting back to back with Colonel Rhodes, I shove to my feet, shaky and exhausted, but determined to help.
WHAM!
I hit the ground hard, the grass whipping my face as I roll the rest of the way down the hill. Pain bursts through my ribs as the large, twisting roots of a tree stops my descent. Spitting out blades of grass and specks of dirt, I groan and push up on my forearms, my head lifting to look for my attacker.
The world tilts beneath me, my fingers automatically digging into the earth to ground myself.
A single Dravec stalks down the hill.
Just one. I can take just one. No problem.
My dizziness begins to fade, and as it does my eyes focus on the hunter.
Oh shit.
There's no mask on its face. Instead, a hideous, scalding burn twists up its cheek, blistered and raw and horrible. Its red eyes are the color of blood, and they glare down at me with murderous rage.
I swallow, shoving to my feet and taking a couple steps back as it storms towards me. I'm at the treeline, at the base of a hill, the rest of the battle, the rest of my allies beyond it, out of sight, though I can still hear the shouts and explosions and blasts of gunfire.
The Dravec pulls a coiled whip from its belt, gripping the handle tight as the rest of it unfurls to the ground, sliding along the grass like a whispering serpent.
Not good.
"Hey-about that whole accidental branding thing? I was sort of hoping we could put that behind us," I say, backing up, hands raised. "You know, seeing as you were going to do it to me first?"
The Dravec's stride doesn't falter.
"No? Alright then, pal, you asked for it," I say with much more bravado than I feel.
Ok, first things first, get that whip away from it.
Planting my feet, I throw out my arm, pressing my fingers to my palm to fire a web at the whip's handle.
Click.
My eyes widen, and I instinctually press it again.
Click. Click.
No, no, no, no, no-I glance down at the meter along my webshooter, to the small, flashing red number in the corner.
0%
SHIT.
My spider-senses scream in alarm, and I throw myself to the side as a huge CRACK renders through the air. Crouching on the ground, I look up with wide eyes at the whip in the Dravec's hand, glowing fire-brand red.
The hunter snarls at me, horrifically thick fangs bared.
It rears back its arm and-
CRACK!
I roll, feeling the heat from the whip as it strikes too close to me on the ground, scalding the grass and turning it it scorched black. Shoving to my feet, I charge up the hill.
CRACK!
Red streaks in front of me, and I'm forced to change course, kicking off from the incline to leap the rest of the way down the hill, arms thrown back to speed my descent.
I hit the hunter feet first, the impact sending it stumbling back a few steps as I hit the ground, bounce up, and deliver a spinning kick to its jaw. The Dravec's back slams against the tree, and it hisses.
I lunge for the whip in its hand, my fingers prying, but I have to leap back as the hunter unleashes the wrist blade in its free hand and swipes it at me.
Our fight quickly turns into a game of keep away, but its moves are deadly fast, fueled by a need for bloodthirsty revenge. And I think maybe injured pride, that a small thing like me was able to escape its clutches and leave it with a scar as a permanent reminder. The attacks are relentless; knives slashing, whips cracking, fists slamming-
And I'm slowing down, I realize, as sweat trickles down my face and burns my eyes. My body has been pushed far, far past its limit. I'm exhausted and weak and injured, and pretty much the only thing I have going for me at the moment is my desperation to live.
I flip backwards, my spine arching to avoid another deadly crack of the whip, feeling like I'm in the Matrix or on the wrong side of some really messed up Indiana Jones movie, and then I'm scrabbling for the trees, climbing up in a desperate attempt to get some space, to get a moment to breathe.
One branch, then another, higher and higher, and I think I'm going to make it, I think I'm out of range and-
CRACK!
Pain lances across my back, so sharp and hot my vision goes white and my breath halts mid inhale. My hands lose their grip on the bark of the tree, and then I register that I'm falling.
WHAM.
I hit the ground, wheezing as the rest of my air is snatched away.
Crap-crap-crap-
I lie there, gaping uselessly, my body stunned even as my back throbs and burns with searing pain. GET UP-GET UP-!
The Dravec looms above me, eyes raging. It tosses the whip aside with disdain, than lunges to grip the front of my suit in its clawed hand. In a whoosh of movement, I'm in the air, inches from the hunter's face, my hands scrabbling at its ironclad grip.
It slams my back against the closest tree so hard I go limp, completely dazed.
Not dazed enough though, to realize I am in deep shit. Though I'm loathe to embarrass myself while literally every single Avenger is fighting around me, though I want desperately to prove myself, I realize that that whole dignity and pride thing? Yeah, it's going to have to go. Or I'm toast.
"HELP!" I shout. "SEND HELP! ALL THE HELP!"
Its free hand clamps over my jaw, claws piercing into the skin of my cheek and my chin. It hisses at me, those teeth perilously close to my throat, and I realize that if it unsheathes the blade in its wrist, it will go straight through my neck.
Breathing heavily through my nose, I grab at the hand on my face, trying to pry its arm back and away from me.
The Dravec's grip only tightens, bruising my jaw, because now that is the only hand holding me up, and its other is drawn back, blade extended, ready to slash down across my face.
I kick and I push and I yell beneath its hand-
The Dravec shrieks, spit flying onto my face as its back arches, and it releases its hold on me. I fall hard onto my ass, my back against the trunk of the tree as I look up. Bucky stands behind the alien, his dirty face filled with cold fury. His hands grip a long spear, the end of which is embedded into the Dravec's lower back.
"You bellowed?" Bucky raises a brow as he gives the spear a sharp twist, and the hunter shrieks in agony.
"What? No, I don't think so," I say, shoving to my feet. "Must have been someone else yelling for help."
"Sure."
The Dravec wrenches forward, sliding off the end of the spear with a horrific squelching sound that turns its stomach. It whirls faster than it should, snatching for the weapon, but Bucky is faster, stepping back and spinning it out of reach before stabbing for the hunter again.
Though injured, the Dravec rolls, and I see what it's going for. I lunge, hitting the ground, my fingers closing over the handle of the whip just as the hunter does.
I'm not fast enough.
WHAM
Its knuckles connect with my temple in a vicious backhand that has me seeing spots as I go flying back. My head cracks against something hard.
Black.
I blink away gray fuzzy dots with a groan, clutching my throbbing face, wincing at the stabs of pain ricocheting around in my skull. Squinting, the world tilting precariously beneath me, I sit up.
My eyes try and fail to focus on the dark shape some distance away, and with every blink of my lids, it becomes clearer. And my blood goes cold.
Bucky's on all fours, blood running down his temple as he tries to stand. The Dravec hunter looms behind him, the whip glowing red hot in its hand. Its arm rears back, and a surge of panic makes me dizzier, make it impossible to get to my feet in time.
CRACK!
The whip connects with Bucky's metal arm and wraps around it just below his shoulder. Heat waves rise up from the scorched steel, the smell burning my nose, and then the alien gives a mighty wrench. There's a horrible screeching sound, metal plates splitting, wires ripping, sparks flying.
I throw myself to my feet, swaying so bad, my back hits the trunk of the tree. Dimly I register that I probably have a concussion, but it doesn't matter. I have to get to Bucky.
He cries out. The metal arm completely disconnects from his body.
The Dravec lets out a hissing laugh.
I'm charging forward with a yell, the world darkening around the edges of my vision as my head aches with protest. But then my shoulder is connecting with the Dravec's middle, and we both go crashing to the ground.
I sit up, winding back my arm and punching over and over, anything and everything within reach, my moves wild, desperate.
Then, the next thing I know, I'm on the ground, the Dravec's fangs too close to mine, its breath hot on my cheek. Something cinches around my throat with a sharp yank before I can take another breath, then burns like fire.
My eyes bulge, my teeth clenching as I buck beneath the alien hunter, as I scrabble for the scalding whip wrapped around my neck.
I only have seconds before I black out, seconds before my burning lungs give out, and the thought that crosses my mind is that this is probably karma for what I did to Clint last Christmas Eve.
The weight goes flying off of me, the Dravec's grip on the whip loosening enough for me to inhale sharply, raggedly before I start coughing in hoarse gulps. My fingers find purchase as I yank the whip off of me, breathing hard.
A yell reaches my ears, and I blearily look up.
No freaking way.
Korg, wielding two long alien daggers, bears down upon the alien hunter with ferocious strength. I watch, wheezing as they collide in a flurry of moves, Korg whirling and stabbing and punching with all his might.
My vision blurs again, refocusing just in time to see the Dravec slam the knife into Korg's chest. Insides seizing with horror, my lips part to scream a denial, but Korg just looks down, then up again, and slams his rocky forehead into the Dravec's.
The hunter goes down to its knees, lilting side to side ever so slightly.
"Look at this," Korg shakes his head in disbelief as he rips the dagger from his chest, and bits of rock crumble from the jagged hole. "Aw, you've got to be joking. That's just perfect. I've got a hole in my chest now, do you see this? Do you know how impractical this is?"
The Dravec shoves up, roaring-
BLAM!
-and collapses to the ground with a hole of its own where its heart should be. I turn to see Bucky, propped up against a tree, a smoking plasma rifle in his single hand.
"Nice shot," commends Korg. "Very nicely done. Would have been a bit more convenient if you had shot it before I was stabbed, but generally speaking, things worked out pretty well, didn't they?"
Bucky looks down at the smoldering metal stub where the rest of his arm should be, then over at me where I rub my throat, squinting to make sure there's only one of him sitting there, then up at Korg and the hole in his chest.
"Sure," he says. Then turns to me. "Friend of yours?"
"That's Korg," I rasp, sounding like an eighty six year old smoker.
"And this is New Miek," Korg hoists me to my feet a little too fast, and I have to stifle a groan. "Oh, sorry. You two have already met, haven't you? That makes this a little awkward. What's your name? Aw look at that, you're missing an arm. Looks unpleasant. Is it unpleasant, or can you not feel it since it was machine and you're not?"
Bucky shoots me an incredulous look as I wobble over to him and help him to his feet, both of us swaying rather precariously. That's when I notice the blood starting to seep through his bandages.
Oh god. His wound reopened. It never had time to heal all the way.
Bucky notices my panicked stare and murmurs. "It's fine."
"Like hell it is!" My voice comes out too loud as it bounces around in my skull, and I wince.
"Peter. It looks worse than it is. We need to get to the others," Bucky says firmly. "Regroup."
"Yeah. Yeah, ok."
I don't believe him. But I don't know how much longer I can keep my mind focused and my eyes open, and at least he has a plan. And we have Korg.
The three of us must be quite a sight walking out from the jungle onto the battlefield; an alien made of rocks with a crevice in his chest, Bucky, one armed and bleeding, and me traipsing behind them like a drunk leaving a bar.
And I think I might be hallucinating as I survey the wreck of the battlefield, because I think…I think the fight might actually be over.
What was once green sprawling hills framed by lush jungle is now a disaster of scrap metal, scorched ground, and decimated alien corpses. Flames burn from the wreckage, swathing the entire space in acrid smoke that mixes with the scent of blood. It makes me feel even woozier, makes my stomach turn.
Maybe passing out wouldn't be such a bad idea.
I flinch as light catches on red and gold metal, and suddenly Mr. Stark is in front of me, face plate lifting, his hands steadying me as they grip my shoulders. His eyes are wide and worried. All four of them.
"Are you okay?" he demands.
"Fine," I say automatically, but it comes out so hoarse the word is nearly unrecognizable. We both frown. "I...can we go home now?"
Mr. Stark lets out a huff, dragging me forward as he puts an arm around me to keep me stable as we walk. But before we set off, he glances at Bucky, then Korg, then back to Bucky.
"What did you do to my arm?" Mr. Stark asks.
Bucky raises a brow. "Your arm?"
"Yes. I put a lot of time and innovation into that thing."
"Dravec tore it off like it was nothing, so it couldn't have been that great. Should've gone with Oscorp."
"That's it, you're getting left behind."
Natasha Romanov
I approach cautiously, one slow foot in front of the other. No sudden movements. No loud noises.
Hulk breathes heavily through clenched teeth, his hands curled into fists, and his feet kicking at a Dravec corpse the way an irritated child kicks at rocks. Sweat glistens from his green skin, several cuts and bruises marring his upper body, his face.
"Hey, big guy," I say softly.
He freezes, his head whipping towards me, a flash of anger crossing his eyes before...uncertainty. Hurt.
Brows furrowing, I tilt my head to the side and ease closer. "What's wrong?"
Hulk's jaw tightens, the massive tendons on his neck sticking straight out as he looks away from me and kicks the hunter's body a few feet away. "No lullaby," he growls.
This is new.
"Okay," I say, and slowly settle myself down on a chunk of nearby debris, crisscrossing my legs and settling my hands into my lap. Relaxed. Open. Unthreatening.
He glares at me suspiciously. "Okay?"
I nod. "No lullaby."
Hulk waits a moment, and when I don't move or say anything, he nods sharply, satisfied. Something loosens in his shoulders, his hands, and he meanders closer to me.
"I missed you," I tell him.
"You missed Banner," growls Hulk.
Then I understand. The uncertainty, the refusal to be lulled back to Bruce, the hurt in his eyes. "Him too," I concede. "But I missed you."
"You miss Hulk?" his deep voice raises in surprise.
"Don't you remember what happened before you went far away?"
Hulk shifts uncomfortably, then plops down beside me on the large metal panel from the fallen Dravec ship. The whole thing bows under his weight, and my hands shoot out to grip the edge so I don't slide straight into him.
"Smashed Ultron. You and Banner wanted to run. Wanted to make Hulk disappear," he accuses, the growl in his voice more upset than angry.
My eyes soften. "We did want to run. But remember what I did next?"
Hulk frowns. "No."
"I shoved Banner down a pit," I remind him drily. "I wanted you."
He eyes me sideways. "Just to fight. Always to fight."
"Our friends needed help. They needed you."
"Banner's friends. Not Hulk's."
I slowly reach up, my hand small against his large cheek as I turn his face towards mine. "Hulk's friends," I say firmly. "The world needed you. I needed you. I don't want you to go away again. Life was a lot more boring without the Hulk."
Hulk's vibrantly green eyes are filled with so much hope it makes my heart twist. "Hulk miss you too."
Slowly, his skin begins to warm, the green shifting to a more human hue as his body shrinks down, shuddering slightly. I keep my hand on his face, my eyes locked on his even as they darken to brown.
Seconds later, Bruce Banner is gasping and shaking, his hand reaching up to rest on top of mine, and an awe filled smile stretches across his face.
"How'd you do that?" he asks. "That was the easiest change I've ever had."
"Big guy just needed some reassurance."
Bruce lets out a breathy laugh of disbelief. "God, I'm so happy to see you."
Our hands fall from his face, but he keeps mine wrapped firmly in his. I raise an eyebrow. "I heard you told Thor the same thing."
"Yeah, well...that-that was different. You-I really missed you."
"So I've been told," I smile. "How 'bout we get you some pants?"
"Yes, please."
Clint Barton
I walk among the rubble, bow still raised, my eyes sharply surveying the field. Smoke wafts up from different piles of burning debris. It blows in and out from in front of my eyes like a curtain billowing in the wind, forcing me to focus that much harder when it clears.
The quiet is deafening. It always is after a big fight like this one. Makes the little sounds that much louder; the crackling of flames, the groaning of metal as it settles into the ground, the voices of my teammates as they try to regroup and take stock of injuries and casualties.
This is when the tension finally gets to me. Not rushing in to the fight, not mid-battle when everything is chaos and death and survival.
It's the aftermath. The wondering who made it. Then looking for them.
My heart beats frantically as my body moves purposefully through the wreckage, aiming my bow down at the corpses when the curling smoke makes it look like they are moving. Battle's over, but danger's not. Any of these bastards wounded and playing dead could surge up at any moment while we are off guard.
"Barnes and the kid are accounted for," Stark says over comms. "And a plus one. We got some injuries, but nothing urgent."
I let out a breath I'm glad they can't hear.
My shoulder aches fiercely, protesting my continued hold on my weapon. Something's torn, but it's nothing that can't be fixed later.
The ground dips into a deep, muddy crater. I crouch at its edge just as the smoke clears and catch sight of a body at its center, filthy and sprawled and-
I slide down, holstering my bow and putting a finger to my earpiece. "I got Thor. He's down."
Without listening to the response, I rush to the Asgardian's side, kneeling next to him and reaching for his neck.
A hand seizes my wrist, hard enough my bones creak. "Hey! Easy, EASY!" I say quickly. "You're gonna put me out of a job."
Thor looks up at me, brows furrowed, lips parted as he pants. "Barton?"
"It's me, buddy. Do you mind?"
"Oh. Sorry."
He releases his grip on me and sits up with a groan, covered in mud and scorch marks. "The Dravec?"
"Dead. Battle's over, thunderhead," I help him to his feet, steadying him as he sways a little.
"We were victorious?"
"Looks that way. Just trying to find everybody."
Thor's blue eyes sharpen. "Who's still missing?"
"Wanda."
The word tightens my throat, but I clear it and tell the others that Thor's ok, asking for a status update on the missing woman. There's none.
"We will find her, my friend," Thor says reassuringly, gripping my shoulder.
I know we will. I'm just scared of what we'll find. The longer it takes to find someone after something like this, the less likely it is they…
No. Not finishing that thought.
"Sure we will," I say lightly. "Now that we got your sharp eyes on the job."
"Indeed."
Fifteen minutes later, there's no sign of her, and those of us left regroup on the tallest hillside. All of us except Vision, who's disappeared into the jungle on his own despite insistence that he take someone with him to search. And the Wakandans, who are gathered grim faced a good distance away. I can't make out what they are saying from here, but though all three are alive and kicking, it looks like they are holding some kind of funeral.
Banner's back to himself, wearing the pants and button up shirt Nat had added to her pack before we left Earth. "Just in case," she had said.
"Where's Loki?" asks Thor, frowning.
Silence. We all exchange tense looks, suddenly aware of the missing Asgardian, our last encounter with him fresh in our minds. My fists clench. If that greasy haired bastard has done anything to Wanda-
"I know what you're thinking," Thor starts, sensing the direction our thoughts are going. "But Loki wouldn't-"
"Oh, you mean the guy who tried to enslave the earth and slaughter thousands wouldn't kidnap one of the most powerful players on the team?" demands Tony. "You're right. Completely out of character."
Thor's eyes narrow.
The other Asgardian with the golden eyes hesitantly admits, "He...did seem intrigued by her. I've seen that look on his face before."
Thor cuts him a look, but I say, "When?"
"When he discovered the Tesseract."
Bruce curses, and the need for violence burns in my blood.
"Hang on!" Thor protests. "My brother is a lot of things, but he isn't stupid. He knows you're all looking for an excuse to slaughter him, and he also knows you're his only way off this planet. He's-"
"He's right there," Natasha says, her head jerking towards the treeline.
We whirl, and sure enough, there he is, and-something clenches and releases inside me. There's Wanda, looking battered and near unconsciousness, but limping on, one arm slung over Loki's shoulder as he supports most of her weight.
Before any of us can move forward, Vision appears, shooting up from the ground in front of them like some kind of primary colored ghost. The relief on Wanda's face is palpable, and she goes straight for his arms, leaning heavily on him as they embrace.
Loki, his face the picture of dutiful innocence, nods at Vision before turning to us. At the sight of all our eyes on him, our expressions nowhere near friendly, he blanches slightly, but keeps up the earnestly somber facade. I have my bow raised and arrow notched before he can take another breath, and his eyes dart to me as he raises his hands in surrender.
"Before you say anything," he starts slowly. "Know that I just saved your friend's life."
"How convenient," Steve says, eyes hard. He holds himself stiffly, Natasha staying close to his side in case the blood loss decides to finally hit him.
Loki raises his chin. "Two Dravec warriors were dragging her into the jungle."
"And you being the noble hero you are, decided to rescue her out of the goodness of your heart."
I see Scott and Peter exchange confused, wary looks. Bucky, Sam, and Rhodes haven't had the pleasure of meeting Loki either, but have surmised enough to guess who he is. What he's done.
"It's true."
We turn to look at Wanda, her face worn, Vision holding her carefully. "I would have been dead if he hadn't-" she cuts herself off, eyes flickering to him, then narrowing slightly, like she knows there was an ulterior motive, like she doesn't trust him even still. If she wasn't so drained and about to collapse, I have no doubt she'd me reading his mind like an open book.
"So you see?" Loki adds. "I'm on your side."
Then my arrow finds its home in his upper right arm. He staggers back, face incredulous and pained as he looks from the arrow, to me. In fact, everyone is looking at me.
"What?" I shrug, spinning my bow and attaching it to the holster on my back. "My finger slipped."
"Slipped," Loki spits, seething and outraged like a cat that's just been tossed in the bathtub.
"Good thing, too, because if I had been aiming, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"You dare-"
"Loki, enough," Thor commands sternly.
"He shot me!"
"Like you haven't done anything to deserve it," Thor says. "Let it go, brother. And perhaps they will too."
"Yeah, don't hold your breath," adds Tony. "A little Asgardian jail time ain't gonna cut it for what you did on Earth, pal."
Loki's jaw clenches as he rips the arrow from his arm.
"Ok, we got a lot of people bleeding here, and Pete over there looks like one stray breeze will knock him over. Mind if we move this debate to the jet?" Sam cuts in.
I glance over at the kid, who is swaying slightly, his pupils so overblown he looks like a cartoon character. "What?" he asks blearily, noticing our attention.
"Oh hey, guys, look!" cries the rock alien behind Peter, pointing down the hillside. "Guys, it's Miek! He's alive!"
We split to get out of his way as he jogs down to what looks like a purplish slug creature inching slowly across the wreckage. Bending to pick it up, rock-man lifts the slug into his arms and says, "I thought you were dead! Guys, look at this! Miek's alive! Hey, New Miek, look!"
Peter waves down at him, grinning tiredly.
"This is the weirdest day of my life," says Scott.
"I have summoned the shuttle to our location," T'Challa approaches, helmet under his arm, flanked by Okoye and Shuri. "It will be a tight fit, but it will be able to take all of us back to our ship outside the planet's atmosphere."
Steve takes a look around at everyone. All of us looking like shit, but miraculously alive.
He takes a deep breath.
"Let's go home."
A/N: Ahhhhhh there it is. The battle is won, the Dravec destroyed, our heroes live, and they can FINALLY go back home to Earth. You guys didn't really think I'd kill anybody off yet, did you? Hmm? I said yet? That's not ominous at all, is it, with two more stories in this series to go, huh? ;)
And Miek number one is alive! And reunited with Korg! WOOH! You guys can all finally breathe that sigh of relief now. We did it! And the fic is NOT OVER! We still got some chapters coming of recovery, debriefing, fluff, maybe some angst, and reunifications back on Earth.
Super Exciting News here! PippinStrange is writing a gift fic for my birthday (which was yesterday) where she and I are summoned by Dr. Strange to aid the Avengers in a moment of crisis. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to get some insight into PippinStrange and I, and see your devoted authors hang out with the Avengers and face terrors unknown, go check it out! It is freaking hilarious and SO accurate to how I would react and what I would say! LOL! I'm dying. It's one of my favorites and such a fun, light read that has me just cracking up uncontrollably. You guys will love it. She's also been an unbelievable beta, so I have so so much to thank her for! YOUR GIFT FIC IS COMING UP NEXT GIRL, I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN IT!
Speaking of which, I will have more details on the next couple fics to be released at the conclusion of this fic.
PippinStrange and I have been participating in inktober this month on our instagrams! If you'd like to follow us there, head to our profiles to get our usernames and come check out our drawings! :)
sparklydog9: YAS lol Hope you enjoyed your popcorn! ;)
EleanorGardner: Yes, it definitely should! Darn typo slipped straight through my edits. Yes lots more content to come! And thanks!
Heroes21: :D
StarStepper: :D LOL! Sorry, I couldn't resist! I'm a mean author ;)
DarylDixon'sLover: They lived!
Writer-at-Heart0: Omg thank you! Don't worry, a hug most definitely is in store for our boys ;)
Puppens101: Lol! I'm glad you liked that line! I added it last minute. ;) Sorry I freaked you out but I hope it was worth the wild ride!
EmilyF.6: Thank you so much! Peter's my favorite too, but I've found lots of POVs I now really enjoy writing. So glad you enjoyed!
niyah606: AHHHH your review made me SO HAPPY! :D I LOVE THE FEELING OF FANGIRL HIGH! I love it even more when someone fangirls that hard over something I wrote! Thank you so much!
monkeybaby: Thank you!
Blaney: Wow, thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed that chapter! (And I've been saving the yippee ki yay line for SO LONG! XD)
carajiggirl: THank you!
readingisapriority: OMG! "Infinity War-who? Isn't this the MCU?" #dead #sodead #youkilledme THANK YOU SO MUCH OMGGGGG
Lailuh: Gosh that would be so cool! To have hard copies of this series, oh man.
twylght: thanks!
faithandfamily1st: Thank you very much!
The Striking Storms: Your faves live! :D
Kairianna864: So glad you enjoyed! Hope you liked this chapter as well!
Kirby Lane: LOL You were so right. The Dravec were toast. ;) And Peter tripping XD I cracked myself up with that one too
cargumentluv: Ahhhh thank you! There were a lot of moments and one liners in these chapters that I've been saving forever! SO glad you enjoyed and hope you got some sleep! lol
Guest: OMGGG thank you! I sort of love stressing you guys out? Because I'm that mean! XD Thank you so so much! I remember back in Paint it Black I was so intimidated by Bucky, who I was never super familiar with as a character, especially writing him, and now I can't imagine the story without him! I am glad you love it!
Sara B: WOW that was quite the review! I loved it! I hope we get to visit each other's countries someday too! Disneyland in southern California is my favorite place in the whole world, so I recommend starting there ;) And Yes! Yay for no carpal tunnel! Worth the creepy doctor. lol. I LOVE hearing all your favorite parts and lines! You picked out so many of my personal favorites as well! And omg Chris Evan's news. :( Broke my heart so thoroughly I immediately went into denial. I'm glad you liked everything with Clint and with Tony! I really enjoyed writing the different dynamics within the Avengers team.
NCC-1701-Z: I love having Peter interact and learn from different members of the team too! It's so fun playing with the characters and putting others together, especially ones we don't see in the movies as much. Clint "adopting" the younger avengers is such a fun dynamic. :D I love hearing your thoughts about the characters and relationships and story! Thank you so much!
Ghost Staffie: Ooooh South West London! Where Tom Holland hails! So cool! And yes, it's definitely a paradox! XD But I couldn't resist. Also, BREATHE! LOL!
JustAnotherFan57: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO REVIEW! It means so much to me to hear from you guys, and your words were so kind! It makes me so happy to hear how much my writing makes your day, and I really appreciate it! Thank YOU!
icotnoir: Eeeee thank you! THANK YOU SO MUCH! And Thanks for the advice! I definitely plan on taking advantage of stretching and massage therapy. Thanks!
KHARAKI TAKAN: thanks!
gandalf537: Ahhhhh thank you! :D I loved those lines too! LOL! :D :D :D Hopefully the wait didn't kill you! lol! This finale was so fun to write!
MewWinx96: Hi! Thank you very much!
LoonyLovegood1981: "I know him! He's a friend from work!" LOL One of the best lines from that movie! I also really loved writing Wanda in this fic and having her focus be on Vision. ;) Thank you so so much! This universe of mine has a lot more in store!
Rose: Thank you! Lots of happy endings to come :)
BeccaRave: Thank you! Yes, I'd love to do an east coast trip just to visit all the historical locations! My best friend went and loved it! That's really cool that it's just part of your daily life!
akashadowcat: Omg THANK YOU! What an amazing review! You are so kind! :D :D :D I'm so glad you're enjoying!
screechyfangirl: LOL SAME XD
Kami07: Gosh thank you! WOW! Don't apologize! Thank you for reviewing! I love hearing your thoughts and how much you're enjoying the journey! Makes my heart so happy! Truly, thank you! :D Ahhhh! I'm trying really hard to keep the characters themselves canon, and their histories, but swerving HARD away from Infinity War, because as much as I loved that movie and am utterly broken and terrified with what the MCU is doing, I want to keep this cast going! lol! Thank you very much for reviewing! And Argentina! Wow!
Bishi-bishi: LOL! THank you! I love hearing everybody's favorite parts and lines so much! Thank you very much! I love writing in multiple povs. It's so interesting trying to capture each character's voice. CHRIS EVANS TWEET UGH MY HEART. Also this is my first year doing inktober! So far it's challenging but enjoyable. :) Sorry you can't participate! It's definitely hard trying to find the time on top of everything else. Glad you are enjoying this and sticking along this journey! THank you so so so much!
AllShallFade777: THank YOU for all of your reviews through the fics! Most people who read through and catch up just do one big one at the end so it was fun seeing reviews for my older stories too! Thank you so much! I know, the struggle is real for catching up to a fic or tv series and having to wait for the next installments! lol! Dr. Strange…perhaps. ;) You'll just have to wait and see. I have not played the new Spider-man game! I don't have a playstation :( But I've heard its amazing! Did you love it?
GinaBoo: Ahhh glad you are loving this! It was definitely intense! lol! I definitely plan on writing more stories in this series, going back to focusing largely on Peter and a handful of others. Two more stories are already in the works! And thanks so much!
AppleSpongeCake: You will have to wait, but trust me when I say, it will SO be worth it. ;) I've put a lot of thought on how to incorporate her work into mine after that mind blowing cameo she did in Where They Go. I also miss the Peter centric stuff and the venom storyline. And I will say that the end credits scene of Silent Night with Venom wasn't just for fun. (Insert quiet maniacal laugh here)
NZGuest: THank you! :D :D :D Hello New Zealand! That's amazing!
Shannon: Thanks! Glad you are enjoying! I am definitely continuing this series, with two more stories for sure to come! I've given lots of thoughts to how to continue the CMFU, and have actually written a great deal for the next installments already, and some notes as well. It's gonna be epic. And YES PippinStrange is AMAZING
Guest: Hello Canada!
GUYS YOU SLAYED THIS REVIEW THING! :O Can't tell you what it means to get this flood of emails with such detailed and loving reviews. I love hearing your favorite parts and relationships and lines and moments! I live for these reviews!
A few more side notes before the Coming Soon section of the Author's Note!
-One, yes, I am continuing this series when it is done. See my author's page for the title names of the two upcoming fics which I am already working on.
-Two, my wrists are bothering me from getting overexcited about writing again. lol. So the next few chapters won't come as quickly as these finale ones have, but I wanted to get you guys through the suspense and action before slowing down. May be a little while before the next chapter, but thank you for all your support and love and patience and health tips!
-Three, another reason it might take me a bit to post the next chapter is the amount of art commissions I am getting at the moment. I am also an artist who does tattoo designs, realistic portraiture, and character illustrations! You can see my work on instagram ( mscrystalbeard) And if any of you are actually interested in commissioning an art piece from me, send me a pm and we can chat ideas and rates. I can do quite a bit, so if any of you super fans wanted to commission a drawing of perhaps characters or a scene from this series, I could definitely make that happen!
-Four, LOVE YOU GUYS. CAN'T SAY IT ENOUGH! YOU ROCK MY WORLD
COMING SOON
Chapter Eighteen: Far Away Places
They did it. The Dravec are defeated. The Avengers are alive and together again and on their way back home. Injuries are treated, some more dire than they had first appeared, stories are shared, and friends are reunited at last.