"No! Don't leave me!"
Banner's Lab. Morning. Steve
Steve gradually sat up, looking over the room. Banner, Romanoff and Daphne were missing, leaving only him, Stark, Thor and Fury. His thoughts instantly went to whether the mutant woman was safe. His face fell when he realised that she would have been blown back with Banner. He trusted the Doctor but he wasn't sure if he could hold back the Hulk in this situation.
He forced himself to focus, standing up and searching for Tony, finding him not far. "Put on the suit!"
Stark replied instantly, not arguing. "Yep!"
Steve help the billionaire up and they both ran out of the lab. They could hear Fury on the earpieces. "Hill?!"
"Turn up that engine!" She seemed to yell at someone. "Number 3 engine is down! Can we get a run in? Talk to me."
An agent answered her. "Turbine's loose. Mostly intact, but it's impossible to get out there and make repairs while we're in the air."
"We lose one more engine, we won't be." She said grimly. "Somebody's got to get inside and patch the engine."
Nick Fury intervened. "Stark? You copy that?!"
"I'm on it!"
"Coulson! Initiate official lock down in the detention section then get to the armoury! Move out!"
Lower equipment room. Morning. Daphne
Daphne kept her eyes locked on Bruce's shaking form, ready for any slight threat. She could hear Natasha mumble quietly to herself, helping her get free from under the rubble.
"I'm okay. We're okay, right?"
Daph glanced at Natasha quickly before returning them to Bruce, whispering to the redhead calmly. "Nat, listen to me. We're okay, but you need to go now."
Black Widow started to protest but the mutant woman cut her off. "No, Nat. Go now."
But of course, Natasha would not leave her friend and colleague and obstinately stayed where she was.
Why does no-one listen to me?
Helicarrier hallway. Morning. Steve
Cap and Tony ran down a dim, corridor that was filled with debris.
"Find engine 3. I'll meet you there." Tony instructed.
He nodded, and took off to find the engine in question. As he went, his mind unwillingly wavered towards Daphne, wondering where the brunette was.
Lower equipment room. Morning. Daphne
The mutant woman was now standing, cautiously edging towards a changing Bruce. He was growing slowly, trying to suppress his rage.
Natasha started attempting to soothe him. "Doctor... Bruce, you gotta fight it. This is just what Loki wants. We're gonna be okay. Listen to me."
Two SHIELD soldiers appeared around the corner, freezing when they saw Nat and Daphne. Both women started waving them away rapidly. They quickly turn heel and scamper out.
"We're gonna be okay. Right?-"
"Nat, you might wanna-" Daphne started.
The redhead cut her off with a glare. The brunette held her hands up in defense, sighing exasperatedly.
"I swear on my life I will get you out of this. You will walk away, and never-"
"You're life?!" Bruce/Hulk growled threateningly.
Well, this is a great start to the day...
Another explosion rocked the Helicarrier, making them stumble. The doctor looked at them, he started changing into the Other Guy just as the lights go out.
Natasha tried pleading with him. "Bruce."
Bruce gave them one last look as a human before transforming completely. Natasha managed to break free of the large debris, standing next to where Daphne was. The Hulk, as if sensing them, turned his head towards them.
Daph broke the heavy tension. "Nat. Go, now!" She yelled, shoving her up the nearby stairs, the Hulk hot on their tail. Natasha rolled under a turbine and started to crawl through the maze of pipes. Daph hung back, behind some crates, ready to defend her friend if needed.
The Hulk pulled the pipes out from above the catwalk and Black Widow fell through, stealthily escaping before he could get her.
The mutant came into view, creating a golden ball of energy and accelerating it towards the Other Guy, sending him flying across the room. He then turned his attention fully onto the woman, charging at her while letting out a primal roar of pure rage, echoing throughout the whole Helicarrier.
Bring it, Jolly Green Giant...
Helicarrier port side. Day. Steve
Cap pushed the door leading to the port side open with all of his strength, seeing SHIELD technicians run around in oxygen masks, largely unable to do anything. Engine 3 was definitely dead, a large chunk of the port side missing.
Steve heard what appeared to be an almighty roar. Daph!
He was torn between running off to help her or stay and get the engine working again. He sighed, knowing that he had to help Tony.
"Stark, I'm here!"
Iron Man flew in front of him before moving towards the broken engine. "Good. Let's see what we got."
Tony muttered to himself. Steve's enhanced senses allowed him to hear what he was saying. "I gotta get this super conducting cooling system back online before I can access the rotors and work on dislodging the debris."
What?
The genius began pulling on the stuck rotors, looking over at Steve.
"I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position." He flew away towards the cooling conductors.
Steve leapt over to the other side of the broken railing. He got to the control panel and opened it up at the front. His eyebrows furrowed.
"What's it look like in there?" Tony asked, over the earpiece.
"It seems to run on some form of electricity," he stated logically.
"Well, you're not wrong."
Lower equipment room. Day. Daphne
The Hulk swung out at the mutant, making her duck out of the way. She led him away from where Nat was crawling underneath the catwalk, running through the network of metal rails, Bruce chasing after her. Suddenly, all sound stopped and Daphne froze. She turned around to see that he was no longer there. Breathing heavily, she crept around corners, keeping vigilant. The sound of a roar and then a thud brought her to her senses as she ran after the sounds. She saw the back of the Other Guy, creating a golden illusion of himself, distracting him. As the Hulk fought his clone, Daphne caught a glimpse of Natasha leaning against a wall, an expression of fear on her face.
"Natty?" She touched the other woman's arm gently.
The redhead looked up at Daphne. "I'm fine," she said, clearing her throat.
Just as Daph was about to reply, Thor came bustling through, tackling Bruce into the Helicarrier aircraft port. Everybody inside cleared out hurriedly as the God and the Other Guy scrapped. The brunette woman watched as Thor lashes out at Hulk, almost knocking the green giant off his feet. They kept on swinging and missing until Bruce had apparently had enough, bringing his arm down onto Thor. The God caught it, holding the Other Guy in place.
"We are not your enemies, Banner! Try to think!" Thor yelled. Hulk just retaliated by hitting out at his face, throwing him back.
Daphne thought she should intervene at this point. She sent an illusion of an enormous snake wrapping around Bruce's limbs, making him stumble and fall, trying to break out of it's grasp.
He roared out in anger.
Helicarrier port side. Day. Steve
"The relays are intact. What's our next move?" Steve asked Tony.
"Even if I clear the rotors, this thing won't re-engage without a jump. I'm gonna have to get in there and push."
Cap felt something akin to worry. "Well if that thing gets up to speed, you'll get shredded!"
"Then stay in the control unit and reverse the polarity long enough to disengage mag-"
The confusing words mixed together in Steve's mind, making his frustration rise.
"Speak English!" Steve yelled, annoyed.
"See that red lever? It'll slow the rotors down long enough for me to get out. Stand by it, wait for my word."
Rogers looked around, noticing the red lever on the opposite side of where he was. He dived towards it, standing nearby, ready to help.
Helicarrier aircraft port. Day. Daphne
Daphne strained to keep the illusion up, mentally battling against the Hulk. Bruce pulled and tugged viciously at the large snake, making Daph shake and sweat, struggling to keep up strength. Thor picked himself up, wiping blood off his lips. He extends his hand out upon seeing the mutants trouble, focusing intently.
The illusion gradually broke down, leaving the Other Guy free from the restraints. He turned at ran straight at Thor and, at the last second, Mjölnir flew into his hand. He swung the hammer at the giant, as he came closer, making Bruce crash into a nearby fighter jet. He angrily ripped off the tail of the jet and hurled it towards the God.
Thor swiftly ducked under the flying tail. He threw Mjölnir at Bruce, with all of his almighty strength, knocking the green giant down. The hammer was in the Hulk's hand. He tried to lift it to no avail. He strained, bellowing as he carried on his attempt at lifting the hammer. Thor jumped up, kneeing Hulk in the face, picking up Mjölnir and using it as a lock for a choke-hold. Bruce struggled to pull him off. Daph watched worriedly, quickly regaining her energy as she panted lightly from keeping the Hulk restrained.
He twisted away from the God, gripping his throat tightly. Out of nowhere, a spray of bullets, from an ESCORT 666 jet, smashed through the window towards Thor, Bruce and Daphne.
Thor ducked for cover while Daphne instantly put up a shield to her front. The Other Guy's tough skin meant that he wasn't injured by the shots, only getting more pissed off.
The Hulk grabbed the closest thing, which happened to be Daphne, and launched her out of the window, him quickly leaping out onto the jet. Daphne fell from the sky, summoning the energy for another illusion. The pilot ejected out from the plane, not without being shaken around by the Hulk first. The jet exploded, sending Bruce flying through the air, plummeting towards the ground, roaring as he went.
Daphne created a pair of beautiful, white, shimmering wings, propelling herself back up towards the Helicarrier, knowing that the Hulk would survive the fall. She zipped around, flying back inside through the smashed-up windows of the aircraft port.
As she landed, wings fluttering, she noticed Thor staring at her in awe. Daph hurriedly retracted her wings, wanting the attention off her.
"Let's find Loki, Thor."
He nodded, still speechless, and they both strode out of the room.
Helicarrier port side. Day. Steve
Steve was keeping an eye out as Tony worked on fixing the rotor when he heard some men enter the port side. He stood, looking at them, wondering if they were there to help. His question was soon answered when they pulled out weapons and started shooting at him, throwing grenades occasionally.
Cap expertly leapt across to the other railing, towards the armed men. He began taking them down one by one, dodging bullets and punches. Once they were all incapacitated, more men stormed out firing at him. He grabbed a machine gun from one of the fallen enemies, shooting back at them.
A whirling sound distracted Steve for a split second, him turning around to see the rotors propelling fast, Iron Man using his boosters to move it. During his momentary distraction, the attackers used their advantage to fire again upon him, making him lose his footing and tumble off the Helicarrier. He had managed to grab onto a loose cable, preventing Steve from hurtling towards the earth at a bone-shattering speed.
En route to Detention section. Day. Daphne
There was gunfire everywhere. Daphne and Thor cautiously hurried down the hallways of the Helicarrier, anxious to find and detain Loki. Several of, what she presumed was, Barton's men came bustling down the corridor they were currently in, firing at them continuously. Daphne had immediately procured a shield around herself and Thor, using energy bolts to repel them back - effectively rendering them unconscious.
Dozens more came out from behind them. She sighed, tired already. "Thor, go and find Loki. I'll hold them off!"
The God hesitated. She assured him quickly. "I'll be fine. Go and look for your brother."
He nodded once, rushing out of the hall.
Daphne turned towards the new threat, silently wishing for a long nap. They advanced towards her slowly, no doubt now aware of what she could do. She gathered her energy and strolled up to them, picturing them falling to sleep. A long, thick stream of gold, poured out from her hands. It swirled around the men, lulling them softly into a state of unconsciousness.
She stumbled, holding herself up against the wall. Illusions at a mass scale normally tired her, so she was used to the dizzyness that accompanied it.
God, I really am getting rusty, she thought, remembering Steve's earlier jab at her, when she ran after him in the hallway. That moment felt like years ago, not hours. Daphne ran a hand through her hair, feeling slightly more balanced than before.
She ran, as well as she could, towards the detention section, where she assumed that's where Loki would be. A pain in her chest stopped her abruptly when she was halfway there. She knew she wasn't injured, she would've noticed that at least. It felt closer to an emotional or mental sort of pain, rather than physical and it didn't soothe the already-frantic thoughts in her head.
She sprinted twice as fast to the detention center, spilling through the metal door. As she looked around her room, she processed three things at once. One was that the cell, that held Loki, was gone - most likely released into the air. The second thing was that there was a large hole in the wall opposite, like someone had been thrown through it. The last thing was that Phil was lying on the floor, coated in blood whilst looking alarmingly pale.
Helicarrier port side. Day. Steve
"Cap, I need the lever!" Tony yelled from inside the suit.
"I need a minute here!" He replied, still dangling in the air.
"Lever. Now!"
Cap heard the sound of metal slamming against metal, understanding that it meant he had to hurry up.
Steve pulled himself up the loose cable, hauling up onto the railing. Barton's men fired upon him again but he ducked out of the way. He ran towards the level, pulling it hard.
He looked towards the rotor, seeing Tony fall out of a now-open vent in Engine 3. His suit was heavily damaged from the pounding it took, it barely keeping him upright.
Tony started walking towards Cap. One of Barton's men aimed a weapon at him, the genius tackling him into a wall. Iron Man rolled over, worn-out while Steve just sighed in relief.
Helicarrier detention section. Day. Daphne
"Phil! Oh my God, what happened?!" She demanded frantically, rushing to his side.
"L-loki escaped. Th-the scept-ter... h-he stabbed me i-in the heart," he managed to splutter out.
No...
"No. You're gonna be fine, okay?"
"Daphy, d-don't lie."
Hot tears burned her eyes. "No, no. You still have to tell me about that cellist of yours. We still need to h-have that film marathon. Y-you need to... to live."
"Daph, I-I've always loved you, kiddo," he rasped out.
It got progressively harder for her to breathe.
"Don't- don't talk like that," she cried out. "Phil, please don't leave me."
Memories flooded back to her. Her parents' death. Seeing them sprawled on the floor, in their own blood. Their eyes open and glazed over, never seeing.
Not again...
"I-I can heal you!" She whimpered.
"W-we both k-know you can't hold an illusion that strong."
She ignored him vehemently, conjuring the familiar golden wisps of an illusion. They twisted and turned, glazing over his wound, but not healing. What? No...
She pushed harder and harder until she was sure she was going to pass out. Daphne felt a hand on her arm, looking into Phil's eyes.
"Goodbye kiddo," he whispered.
"No! Don't leave me!" She screamed when Phil exhaled softly, his chest not moving again. She checked for a pulse... Nothing. Tears were streaming down her face. Her heart ached with pain and loss. She had lost Phil, the person who had taken her in as a child. The person who had managed to worm his way into her heart. The person who she had always looked up to, messed around with. A person she had loved.
She sobbed violently for her fallen friend and father-figure, the first person whom she had opened up to after her parents' death.
Daphne put a hand to her earpiece. "Phil-" She cleared her throat which was raw from crying. "Agent Coulson is down," she choked out with grim finality.
A couple of minutes later, a bunch of medical staff burst through the door, searching for Phil's pulse as if she didn't check properly.
She couldn't stand being in that room. With one last glance at the man she had called a father, she left - an aching hole in her chest.
She spent God-knows-how-long wondering aimlessly through the Helicarrier. Every agent she went by seemed to shoot her a look of sympathy, knowing how close she and Coulson were.
During her walk, she came across Steve - who had an expression of sadness on his face. He made his way closer to her.
"I'm not going to ask you if you're okay. I probably already know the answer," he said gently, hugging her close when he stopped in front of her.
She buried her face into his chest, breathing in his pleasant and calming scent. "He's gone," she whimpered, mentally berating herself for showing vulnerability. But it was Steve...
Steve rubbed circles into her back, speaking in hushed tones. "He really loved you, you know? Said you were the daughter he always wanted." She cried out softly at that. "He wouldn't shut up about you sometimes."
She didn't say anything. Didn't know what to say. So they just stood there, hugging each other for reassurance, lapsing into a comfortable silence.
Not sure about this one though I have to admit, I cried when I wrote the Daphne/Phil death scene. I'm sorry if you don't like the constant POV changes - this chapter was difficult to write. Let me know what you thought. This didn't start out as the best chapter so I apologise for that.
Love you all.
-Jess xo