A/N: Holy shit chapter 20, I'm so amazed at how far this series has come, but we're not done yet. THe next chapter and the epilouge will be uploaded at the same time in several days, so keep a watchful eye out. This chapter has some intense things in store, and I hope you like it. Don't forget to read, review and enjoy.
Very early that morning, Natasha, Clint and Steve escorted The Experiments to where a quinjet was waiting for them on the airpad. All night, the teenagers had stayed up, trying to find Phoenix by use of the confusing mental link that connected all six of them. They had managed to find nothing, leaving The Experiments in a tired and deflated state as they trudged towards the quinjet.
Heather had cocooned herself in total silence since her unexpected confession the previous night. Natasha really wasn't sure what was going through her mind as she stood at the back of the group, starting at the quinjet with an unreadable expression.
The pilot stepped out and opened the door for them, before moving off, all five of them turned to the three adults. Bella stepped forward, a disappointed expression on her face. "You'll keep looking for her won't you?" she asked in a near pleading voice.
"Of course we will," Clint answered. "We're not going to give up on her."
Bella nodded and turned to the rest of The Experiments. They moved toward the quinjet and boarded, too wrapped up in their own thoughts to look back. Natasha, Clint and Steve watched in silence as the jet took off and flew west. They didn't know where they were being transported to for security reasons.
Once the jet was out of sight, they turned around and walked back into the building. "There haven't been any sightings?" Natasha inquired as they walked.
"Tony has had JARVIS scanning nearly every camera in New York and Bruce has been tracking police reports and mysterious fires all around the city," Steve informed her while shaking her head. "I'm sorry Natasha."
She nodded stiffly in response. "Have we got everything set up for Hanora?"
"Everything's prepared," Steve answered. "And if Phoenix returns to the Tower while we're away, Tony has set-up a protocol for JARVIS to follow. We can't afford to be worrying about her while we take on Hanora. As for Loki, well let's just say I don't think he'll be going anywhere."
"Good work Captain," Clint nodded, placing a hand on Natasha's elbow, he pulled her in an opposite direction to Steve. "We'll meet with the rest of the team in a minute."
Steve nodded and walked away, and once he was gone Clint turned to Natasha. She saw an expression in his eyes that signalled he wanted a serious discussion about a topic that wasn't related to neither Phoenix nor Hanora. She shook her head once she realised what Clint was planning to speak to her about.
"This isn't the time," she hissed at him quietly. "Phoenix is missing and we're about to fight a maniac Asgardian and her small army of ice aliens, you really wanna talk about this now?"
"If we keep using the problems around us as excuses to avoid this discussion, we're going to be stuck like this forever," he told her sternly, trying to make sincere eye contact. "I'm starting to think that, whatever this is between us, wasn't the right decision. And I think you feel the same."
Natasha looked away for a second, running through the thoughts in her mind, she turned back to Clint with a sigh. "It was never meant to be a real relationship anyway," she spoke calmly. "It was a no strings attached agreement. We both knew that. But I think we got a little too wrapped up in it, and whatever was there, we burned it out."
Clint nodded. "It was good while it lasted Nat," he attempted a half smile. "Maybe we should've just stayed partners."
Natasha smirked. "We did make a good team back when we weren't sleeping with each other," she looked him in the eye. "I think we should go back to that."
"Yeah I really think we should," he agreed as he bit his lip. He held up his hand for a peaceful high-five, looking at Natasha with a cheesy smile.
She shook her head at him, and returned the high-five looking extremely unamused. "Idiot," she commented flatly, but with a smile. "Now come on, we have an Asgardian to take down."
The Avengers arrived at the warehouse in a black van, having decided that they needed an inconspicuous approach for this mission. Natasha had been left with the job of handling Thravi, which was a mission in itself because Thravi would not stop acting like a brat, asking questions and making ridiculous demands every five seconds. Natasha nearly leaned across the van and slapped him.
They parked a block away, Clint exited the vehicle first and walked around the street, scoping out the warehouse for an entrance where they wouldn't spot him. Natasha watched him closely as he scaled the wall, using a rope that was attached to an arrow Clint had fired at the roof.
"Nothing on your tail," Natasha informed him through her earpiece. "Looking good."
"I always look good," he responded jokingly, grunting as he reached the roof and lowered himself into the building via what must've been a hole. A minute or so passed before they heard his voice again. "Hanora and her friends are already here," he informed them through the earpiece, his voice lowered to a whisper. "By my count, at least twenty-five Frost Giants, possibly more, and all of them are watching the front door."
"Good work," Steve responded, nodding in Tony's direction as he spoke. "It's time to crash the party.
They all moved out of the van, Natasha with a hand on Thravi's collar as she pulled him along. Hanora seemed to hear their approach, as just before they reached the doors, they opened on their own to reveal Hanora herself, awaiting them with a smirk. Her eyes went immediately to her son, and she appeared to sigh in relief when she saw that he was uninjured.
Hanora wasn't dressed for an exchange, she was dressed for battle. She wore a long red dress with a slit down the right side for her leg, over the dress she wore a chest plate made from the same silver metal as the armour on her arms. She was surrounded by a large number of tall, strong looking men, but knowing that they were Frost Giants, their appearance seemed to almost flicker, and if the Avengers looked closely enough, they could almost see blue skin.
"The Avengers," Hanora addressed them, her voice spread through the room like honey and her eyes stared daggers at the group. She held out a hand, gesturing for them to move forward. "Bring forth my son so we might do business."
"I'm not too eager to walk into a group of Frost Giants," Steve eyed the men standing around Hanora. "Tell them to back off first."
Hanora titled her head, and, almost in an amused manner, waved the Frost Giants backwards. Natasha watched them closely as they moved into the shadows and watched from a distance. On the cue from Steve, Natasha pushed Thravi forward, still clutching his collar with a tight fist as she walked with him. They stopped roughly five feet from where Hanora stood.
"Where's the weapon?" Steve demanded, inspecting his surroundings carefully.
Hanora looked disappointed, and proceeded to wag her finger at the Captain. "How foolish are you to assume I would bring it," she giggled and reached out a hand for her son. "Hand over my son, and I give you my word that I will take my friends and return to Asgard to turn in myself and the weapon."
Natasha pulled Thravi backwards by the collar. "Your word isn't enough for us to trust you," Steve shot down Hanora's request. "Open up the bridge to Asgard, and we'll give you your son, and watch you walk through it instead. The weapon can be retrieved by Asgardian soldiers once you're off the planet."
Hanora's facial expression turned very bitter, very quickly. She stared at the Avengers, her face almost unreadable of emotion, except for a small glimmer of rage in her eyes. "I had hoped you would be gullible enough to trust me," she frowned. "It seems you already know how events will proceed."
"We give you Thravi and then you try to kill us all," Steve responded sarcastically. "You're not that hard to figure out."
Hanora scoffed. "You know nothing of me," she shook her head, and with a malicious grin, she took a step forward. "What has the disgraced Prince of Asgard told you? I can assure you, he has spoken as little as possible about me. He will have told you nothing of the weapon or my motives for taking it. Are you really sure that you can trust him, especially considering that I know of his involvement."
It was disturbing that Hanora knew they were working with Loki, but he had stated she was extremely powerful, so it wasn't entirely surprising. Natasha, considering it a cause for concern, pulled Thravi back even further, but by now, the boy was struggling against her grip.
"Avengers," she hissed, mostly speaking to herself, before addressing them with wide arms. "How will you stop me? Your numbers are small, and while you were able to take on the Chitauri with your gifts, there is no way you can stop one of the most powerful Asgardian sorceresses, and those who came close to defeating your people once before," she gestured to the Frost Giants behind her, who were tensed for a fight. "I will defeat you, take back my son, and then I will…"
Hanora's grand speech was cut off by a shattering bang, as the warehouse door was thrown open with such a force that the doors slammed into the walls, the sound of metal colliding with metal echoed through the entire warehouse as every eye turned to where a single person strode into their midst.
"What is this?" Hanora demanded as the latecomer stepped into the light.
"This is me, here to stop you!" The person declared, shouting so their voice could be heard clearly.
Phoenix strode into the warehouse, her long red hair swept up into a high ponytail that moved back and forth as she walked. She had appropriated a battle outfit that consisted of a black tank top and tights and a belt strung around her hips. She looked better than she had done for weeks, and she looked ready to fight.
Natasha's shock at seeing Phoenix was overridden almost immediately by fear. All Natasha could think of in that moment was Phoenix's safety as she walked into the middle of the battlefield. A horrible feeling brewed in her stomach as Hanora looked from Phoenix to Natasha, a knowing look spreading across her features.
"This is not child's play," Hanora regarded Phoenix with annoyance and flicked her hands toward the door. "You are nothing but a foolish little girl, now turn around and depart before I remove you myself."
"I don't think so," Phoenix refused Hanora's demand and continued walking towards her. "You wanna get rid of me? Give it your best shot."
Natasha held her breath and quickly scanned everything in her surroundings. The Frost Giants waited impatiently in the shadows, watching for any indication from Hanora to jump into the fight. The Avengers around her tensed for a fight, all except for one.
Natasha caught Bruce's eye, hid far back in the corner away from disaster. At the arrival of Phoenix he had retreated back, doing his best to keep her safe from the Hulk. Natasha gave him a curt nod of gratitude that she hoped he understood, and turned back to watch Phoenix's advance.
Hanora had run out of patience, and formed a ball of glowing white energy in her hands. Natasha fought back the urge to cry out a warning, seeing the determined look in Phoenix's eyes that showed she knew exactly how to fight off the threat.
At the same moment Hanora threw the ball of energy at Phoenix, Phoenix thrust her hands outwards, a wall of fire rising up from the ground. It acted as a shield and the shimmering ball of energy dissipated instantly upon connection with the fire.
The flames vanished as quickly as they had come. Phoenix stopped walking, leaving a space of ten meters between her and Hanora. Hanora now wore a stunned expression as she stared at Phoenix, observing her in a new light. Natasha watched the Frost Giants shift uncomfortably at the revelation of Phoenix's pyrokinesis.
"So the puppy has bite after all," Hanora mused. "Don't think that you can defeat me with such a simple form of sorcery. One little girl up against me?" Hanora cackled. "You have no hope."
"I'm going to stop you," Phoenix told her firmly.
Hanora laughed once more, her grating cackle echoed around them like a horrible nightmare. "All by yourself?" Hanora mocked. "You will never defeat me on your own, you stupid girl."
"But she's not on her own!" A voice cried out from above.
Through one of the rusted out holes in the roof of the warehouse, five figures dropped onto the raised scaffolding platform, one after the other with a series of bangs as their feet hit the platform. The group waited until all five of them had landed on the platform, before moving as one and jumping off the edge of the platform, landing just behind Phoenix.
The last to jump down was a girl with long blonde, curly hair, who instantly moved to Phoenix's side, Heather looked at Phoenix with a smile before addressing Hanora. "You might be able to take on one teenager with superpowers," Heather challenged her. "But can you take on six?"
As if on a mental cue from Heather, The Experiments tensed in a ready stance, indicating their preparation for battle. Natasha stared in shock, as did the other Avengers, as they looked at the Experiments in a state of complete confusion. There was no possible way they knew where to find them, unless they had finally made contact through the mental link.
Hanora seemed concerned for the first time since entering the building. A variety of thoughts seemed to run through her mind as she glared at the newcomers. She raised a hand, arm outstretched towards Phoenix, snarling as white energy formed in her palm.
Directly before throwing it at Phoenix, an arrow fired from a raised platform above the wall, and imbedded itself in Hanora's shoulder. She cried out as it hit her, and dropped her arm. Howling, she looked upwards and spotted Clint on the raised platform, holding his bow still at the ready.
Hanora shrieked as she pointed in Clint's direction. "Get him!" she cried out to the Frost Giants in a fearful rage as she ripped the arrow from her shoulder. "The time is now! Attack!"
To say that things escalated quickly was an understatement.
Everything happened at once as the fight broke out. Natasha pulled Thravi away from the centre of the fight very quickly, and using zip ties, she tied Thravi to one of the support poles for the raised platform. The illusion making the Frost Giants look ordinary fell apart, leaving them to watch as blue skinned aliens covered their arms in ice and charged at them from all directions.
Natasha took a stance in front of the tied up Thravi, and readied herself for the three that were charging at her. She didn't need to do much, next to her, Bruce's eyes flashed green. She tensed as she always did when Banner was about to unleash the Hulk, but relaxed upon reminding herself that it wasn't like the Hellicarrier, and he was there to help them.
Tony flew upwards to lend a hand to Clint, who had close to five Frost Giants advancing on him, climbing over the platform. He was firing multiple arrows as fast as possible, while Tony flew overhead and fired his repulsors, striking down two of them at once.
In the centre of the room, The Experiments were fighting their way through a group of Frost Giants who had gathered to protect Hanora. They moved in complete synchronisation as a group. Somehow they each knew exactly what each other was going to do and when and where to act.
A Frost Giant advanced on Phoenix, an ice covered arm raised to strike her. Setting her hands alight, she grabbed his arm and pulled him downwards, but she cried out as she made contact with his skin. "Don't let them touch you!" she shouted a warning as she threw a ball of flame at him, willing the flames to cover his entire body. Glancing down at her hands briefly, Phoenix saw that she had been protected from the frostbite by her fire.
Natasha heard the warning just in time as she was about to throw herself at a Frost Giant. Instead, she used her widow's bite and jammed them into his chest. The Frost Giant fell backwards, giving Natasha the advantage. She charged forward, gun at the ready.
Clint decided that his position on the platform was useless now that the Frost Giants were coming at him in a swarm. Bow in one hand, he ran forward, leaping over the edge of the platform. He landed in a roll and jumped to his feet, firing an arrow at the first Frost Giant he saw. The Giant fell to the ground, and Clint saw Phoenix who had been standing behind the giant.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded, firing an arrow at a Frost Giant that charged at him from the side.
"What I do best," Phoenix responded with a disturbingly Natasha-like smirk as she snapped her head around and saw three Frost Giants coming at her from different sides.
She extended her hand and began to spin rapidly on the spot. A fire sparked in her outstretched hand, and as she span, a circle of fire formed around her. She stopped spinning, and the fire shot outwards, hitting the Frost Giants, causing them to erupt in flames.
Natasha had her hands full with Frost Giants trying to reach Thravi, but with the Hulk next to her and tossing anyone that came near across the room, it was considerably easier. Natasha was thankful that he was fighting on their side, because the last time the Hulk attacked her it hadn't been joyful.
Hanora was caught between attempting to reach her son, and trying to fight The Experiments who continuously came at her. Josh had taken particular joy in using his ability to attack her from every angle. Unable to see Josh, Hanora had taken to firing balls of white energy in every direction in an attempt to fend off her invisible attacker.
The number of Frost Giants dwindled as more and more kept falling at the hands of The Avengers and The Experiments. Soon it was down to a number of about ten, which meant everyone was fighting a single Frost Giant at the same time.
Phoenix was caught in a struggle with one that had grabbed her around the waist and pushed her against the wall. She lifted up her legs as the Frost Giant tightened his grip on her waist, and then she rammed her feet into his chest, pushing him off her. Phoenix fell backwards, and then launched to her feet with her hands on fire. She threw fireball after fireball at him, and eventually he went down.
Phoenix looked up and her eyes went to Heather, who had her back to Phoenix, and was standing off against an advancing Frost Giant. Out of the corner of her eye, Phoenix spotted a Frost Giant who had just thrown Mark to the ground, and had whirled around to Heather, and began charging at her from behind, his arm covered in ice, and pointed at Heather's back.
"Heather!" Phoenix cried out a warning and charged forward in the direction of the Frost Giant. She jumped forward, and moved her legs out in front of her. She kicked the Frost Giant square in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Heather finished off the Frost Giant she was facing, and turned around, wielding a sharp piece of metal in her hand, she bent forward and rammed the metal into the Frost Giants heart.
Phoenix looked up at Heather and nodded, Heather grinned in response, and then saw something over Phoenix's shoulder. Her face fell and she tried to shout a warning but it was too late. Phoenix felt a sharp hand grab her by the shoulder, and turn her around.
Time itself nearly came to a standstill, as Hanora grabbed Phoenix's throat. Phoenix tried to push her off, but Hanora's Asgardian strength was too much for Phoenix to fight against. Heather saw a gleam of silver wink at her from Hanora's hand and her heart nearly stopped.
Hanora rammed the dagger into Phoenix with a murderous force. The knife entered just below Phoenix's ribs, but Hanora forced it upwards, into her lungs. Hanora grinned as she saw Phoenix stare down at the knife in shock, and then look up at Hanora, with her eyes dead, and the ghost of a smile flickering across her lips.
"PHOENIX!" Heather screamed, alerting the others to what had happened.
Hanora pushed Phoenix off her knife and then stepped away, wiping the bloody weapon on her dress. Phoenix crumpled to the ground, but Clint rushed forward, and in the last moment, caught her before she hit the ground. Very gently he bent down, and let Phoenix slump against him. His eyes went to the blood seeping out of her wound at an alarming rate.
He pressed a hand against her neck for a pulse and thankfully found one, but it was slowing down. He put pressure on her wound, and looked down into Phoenix's eyes. "Come on Phoenix, eyes on me," he begged her as he saw her eyes flickering. "Don't you die on me Phoenix, come on, keep your eyes open!"
The very last of the Frost Giants fell to the combined efforts of Tony and Sam, Tony had used his repulsors to knock the Frost Giant off balance, while Sam struck him with a small bolt of electricity. Natasha had been distracted by Thravi, and had heard someone cry out, but was unsure of who.
She looked up and saw Phoenix lying on the ground in a pool of blood with Clint trying to hold her together. Very slowly, she looked from Phoenix and Clint, to Hanora. Something clicked in the back of her mind when she saw Hanora grinning at her. Natasha unconsciously felt herself being filled with white-hot rage.
The Hulk dissipated, leaving a shirtless and confused Bruce, who stumbled for a bit before finding his footing. Once he saw that Phoenix was wounded, he immediately ran to her side and tried to help. Clint watched in fear as Bruce examined her wound, checked her breathing and her pupils.
Hanora, the last one left, took a step back and watched in amusement as the battle came to a halt. The Avengers and The Experiments gathering around Phoenix, all except for Natasha. She was frozen where she stood, staring at Hanora and fuming.
The second Clint saw that Bruce finished examining Phoenix, he bombarded him with questions. "She's going to live right?" he asked hopefully. "She's going to be ok? Please tell me that she'll make it. Come on Banner, you've gotta save her, you've gotta do something."
"I can't," Bruce replied in a quiet voice, rubbing his eyes.
"Why the hell not?" Clint demanded aggressively.
"Her left lung has been severely punctured, and I mean it's nearly been ripped in half. I'm fairly certain her spleen has been damaged as well. And not to mention she has multiple ruptured arties," Bruce informed him, trying to keep his voice as quiet as possible, as if that would somehow stop him from losing control. "There's too much damage, and too much internal bleeding. I'm sorry."
Clint stared down at Phoenix, he saw how pale she was and watched as her chest struggled to rise and fall normally. Her breath was shaky and jarred, and she seemed to be gasping for air. "How long does she have?" Clint asked in a soft voice, using the one hand he didn't have pressed against her wound, to brush the hair out of her
Bruce shrugged. "Minutes," he answered solemnly.
Hanora chose that exact moment to speak up. "Give me my son, and no one else has to suffer her fate," Hanora demanded, turning her eyes to Natasha with an expectant look.
A memory slapped Natasha in the face without warning, and she was struck with an idea. She moved quickly, using a knife to cut the zip ties on Thravi, she yanked him to his feet and shoved him in the direction of Hanora violently. Hanora smiled as they approached, but her smile vanished when Natasha and Thravi stopped several meters away from her.
Natasha grabbed Thravi into a chokehold, and drew a gun, pressing the barrel directly against Thravi's temple. "Loki did tell us one thing about you, he told us you have healing powers," Natasha nodded her head in the direction of Phoenix. "Heal her."
Hanora scoffed in disbelief. "She is on the brink of death, I cannot raise the dead," she responded with a shake of her head.
"She's not dead yet," Natasha spat, pressing the gun harder against Thravi's head, leading him to start whimpering. "Here's my bargain Hanora, no matter what you chose you're going back to Asgard. But if you don't heal Phoenix, then I kill your son, right here and right now."
Hanora looked Natasha up and down. "You wouldn't do that," she spoke with thick scepticism. "You're an Avenger, all about saving the world. You would never cause harm to a child."
Natasha didn't even blink. She lifted her right leg, and with a murderous force, kicked Thravi in the back of his right calf as hard as possible. Somehow, with the adrenaline and the anger coursing through Natasha's body, her kick was powerful enough to cause serious damage.
Thravi screamed in anguish as his bone snapped with a sickening crack. Hanora stared at her son in horror, the broken bone so severely snapped, that it visibly pierced the skin. The only way Thravi was kept upright, was by Natasha's chokehold.
"Heal her!" Natasha repeated with a shout. "Or else we both loose our children."
Hanora stared at her son in fear, before she made direct eye contact with Natasha and nodded. The group surrounding Phoenix spilt apart as Hanora walked towards her. She bent down next to Phoenix, and began looking her up and down. She reached out a hand to Phoenix, but Phoenix weakly moved her hand and hit it against Hanora's hand, almost like she was trying to push her away.
Clint moved Phoenix's hands, allowing Hanora to access Phoenix's wound. She lowered a hand, and pressed it against her wound. Closing her eyes in concentration, Hanora left her hand there and the room was silent for an unmeasurable amount of time.
Eventually Hanora removed her hand and looked up at Clint. "I have healed her wounds, the bleeding has stopped and she is now able to breath," Hanora informed him bitterly. "I cannot give her blood, so she will need to receive some soon, do that, and she will most likely survive."
Clint laughed in relief, grabbing Phoenix's hand he rubbed it while mentally thanking every deity in existence. The others around them sighed in relief, and several tears were wiped from people's cheeks. Hanora groaned at the display and rose to her feet, walking back to Natasha.
"I will graciously accept my defeat," she sighed, extending a hand for her son. "Give me my son, and I'll return to my home world, I'm being truthful in my promise this time."
Natasha nodded stiffly, releasing Thravi from her grip, she pushed him in Hanora's direction. Hanora smiled as she embraced her son, and healed him in a second by gently pressing a hand to his broken leg. Hanora looked back at Natasha and nodded. "You are a brave warrior, and an even braver mother. I respect you for this."