So it goes with saying that only things I own with any connection to MARVEL I bought on Ebay or Etsy. MARVEL COMICS & MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE are their own creatures and I have nothing to do with either of them aside from the fact I enjoy reading or watching them, and am grateful for the ability to play in their world. I claim nothing, and I receive nothing for this, expect the pleasure of putting something out into the world.

You can also find this story on ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN under the same title and pen name along with a place to post suggestions.

Don't forget to check out the Photobucket album listed on my profile page too. (My apologies. I didn't realize FF removed the links. I have corrected the problem in what way I can, so for those who like the visual additions, feel free to check them out.)

DAY FOUR

CHAPTER NINETY SIX

FRIDAY, MAY 4TH 2012

0900 HOURS

TRAFFIC ACCIDENT

W 72ND ST & AMSTERDAM AVE

DUNCAN AKA ALEXANDER

Even though I was in a one hell of a hurry, now that I had the unconscious mass of a woman in my arms I couldn't wrestle open the bent doors again, and I had to wait for the people on the outside to do it for me. Thankfully by then the emergency responders were on the scene and a couple fireman with power saws and crowbars made quick work of the door.

The fact they didn't lobe a gas container inside first told me there were the real ones, and not HYDRA. I also quickly recognized that the Russians were pissed.

This wasn't supposed to be how the grab went down. We planned on making our move after the truck cleared the other side of Central Park, that's where the ambush team and the escape van were waiting. but the snipers actions stopped us near the middle. A sniper who who I neglected to mention might be there, with weaponry I neglected to tell them we might run into, and a lot more cops then they had the guns to handle. I may have left out some details.

A flash from the south east caught my attention, and the rest of the crowds too. It came from STARK tower but while they were curious what the hell was happening, I was switching right into oh shit mode. My first thought was that flash was a sniper's scope, illogical as that was, any sniper in HYDRA would know better then to let that happen.

My second thought was worse. I didn't know where the alien bastard was going, I wasn't around long enough to need that information, but where ever he went I knew Iron Man would probably end up there too, and those fireworks warn me the party might happening here.

Then we reached the fun part. My plan was to get her in a damn vehicle. I even had one in mind, one of the better cabs with the protective divider between the passenger seat and the driver. But then HYDRA putting armor piercing rounds through the cabs. I don't know why it wasn't my head but I do know they did it to limit my escape options to one.

It started a gunfight between the Russians and the cops, because Ranskahov's boys are crazy, and when neither side knows where the first shot came from they assume it was the other guys. That also means the cop cars were not an option because they were using the vehicles as shields, and I'd have to risk getting shot to take it.

If I was getting out of here, it was going to be on foot. An option that was about as far from good idea as I could get, because it meant I'd have to carry her. This is what I get for knocking her out. The option became a little less terrifying when the sky suddenly opened up, and an army of aliens on space gliders started blowing up cars and buildings.

I am in a forest of skyscrapers, and they're blowing chunks out of them. Okay, fine, we're going to Central Park. I am getting out of here before those chunks start raining down on my head.

FRIDAY, MAY 4TH 2012

0906 HOURS

ROOFTOP

2061 BROADWAY NEW YORK, NY 10023

RUMLOW

"Mission command, the sky's ass just opened up! Please advise!"

I was pissed when the Soldier disobeyed my order to ventilate the son of bitch, saying some shit about needing 'target 1 unharmed' as if he could miss and thinking I needed to be reminded what the fuck the mission objectives were.

Then a wormhole formed above Midtown and that was no longer something I had time to care about. We didn't have orders about this. The only orders we had about aliens other than the bitch, was to stay the fuck away and don't get touched. But that was about Loki, and the thing that just flew close enough for me to catch a glimpse of sure as hell doesn't look like Loki.

"Mission command, we have multiple airborne hostiles with superior weaponry, do we abort? Please advise!" Silence is about as close to an answer that I get, so I make my own. "Okay, screw this. Missions still a go. Armor on..." We have no idea how hard those weapons will hit "...and pack it up, we're moving to the ground."

FRIDAY, MAY 4TH 2012

0915 HOURS

PARK

W 72ND ST

AR(NORA)

Why is it always my chest? It's not a pain so much as a collision ache, honestly it feels a bit like someone bounced a basketball off me and I haven't quite regained my breath yet. Its really annoying, and then my hands stutter on their way to rub the discomfort away.

The soft scrape of leather caresses my wrists before its stopped by the width of my palms. I'm tied up, I think to a tree if the rough itch against my arms is right. And have cotton cloth rolled up and clenched between my teeth, the knot digging into the back of my head.

"Hey" I know that voice! "Yeah, I know, you hate me." Duncan.

FRIDAY, MAY 4TH 2012

0916 HOURS

CENTRAL PARK

W 72ND ST

DUNCAN AKA ALEXANDER

Her breathless groan gave me a heads up. The chloroform should have kept her out a little longer, but I didn't hang on that detail very long. I learned the hard way how this woman defies my expectations, and if she was any signs of waking up I didn't plan to be touching her when she did.

So I set her down carefully in the grass and tied her to a tree with my belt. I also used the bandanna in my hoodie as a gag. Not to keep her from screaming, because at this point it doesn't matter if she does. We have aliens flying around the city, everyone is screaming. I just did it so she couldn't bite me.

Then I hunkered down against a tree on the other side of the clearing and waited. I didn't have to wait long. She coughed a little harder and shifted her shoulder, I think with the intentions to move her arms. Then she realized she couldn't, and with one word she also realized I was there.

Hey. I shot her 'brother' and tried to choke her to death, and the best I can open with is 'Hey', I'm legitimately ashamed of myself for that, but I got nothing else.

There's murderous intensity in those eyes. I knew it would be there, but I still couldn't crush the part of me that hoped it wouldn't. Hanging my head a little with a sigh and weak smile I little that wistfulness die before I met those eyes again. "But we need to talk."