A/N: As I write this, my story has passed 2K views! Thank you, big thank you to everyone who has read, favorited, followed, and/or reviewed this story. It is truly a huge part of what motivates me to write (and hopefully, one day) finish this series.
CLINT/FRANK/BARRY
Clint looked in horror as the Ancient One, Strange, Mordo, and Wong used their abilities to create a fortified shield on the gate that led to the Hong Kong sanctum in China as the four of them stepped back, each taking a relaxing but pale breath.
"That won't hold them for long," Mordo warned. "They'll be slowed down but they can still kill us!"
Clint overheard whimpers from his children as Laura tried her best at comforting them, sweat dropped down his skin as his heartbeat began dangerously accelerating, panic swarmed throughout his body and his mind. The situation was a powder keg and the runners, being the blow torch, would be here any moment. What would he do? He couldn't protect or keep his family safe. He didn't have the means to do so, not even with everyone here.
"T-there's gotta be something you can do," Tony pleaded, a baby Morgan crying in his arms. "Any magic tricks you got, any elaborate safe-houses, now's the time."
"There's a basement underground right over that entrance," Wong said as he pointed to a secretive panel. "It won't keep the runners out but if you're quiet and careful enough, they might not spot you."
Clint grabbed the hand of his pregnant girlfriend as his two children, Lila and Cooper followed him.
Laura approached Tony as she held her hands out for Morgan. "Let me take her…please. I'll get her to safety. They'll need you out there."
Tony had tears in his eyes as he let Laura carry Morgan in her arms. "You keep her safe."
Laura nodded as she carried Morgan and entered through the entrance as Cooper and Lila followed, Clint was the last to go as he took his bow and quiver.
"Clint!" Natasha called out as he faced her. "Be careful."
Clint nodded solemnly. "See you on the other side, Nat."
He closed the door to the entrance as he turned back to his family. There was minimal lighting inside the basement-like area. Clint pulled out an arrow from his quiver as he stuck it to the wall, letting the entire arrow light up the area of the basement they were in. Multiple hallways seemingly leading out of it. Clint looked at Laura with concern as she carried Morgan, he knew that Laura was already nine months along in her own pregnancy. Her water could break at any point, even during all this with the stress on her. Laura's contractions would begin after that and she could give birth at any moment. His children were already scared and terrified as it was. Clint took a few moments to think as he helped Laura sit on the ground as she leaned up against the wall, holding a squirming Morgan in her arms. Clint cupped her cheek with his hand as he wiped some sweat from her brow for her, looking at her with nothing but pure concern, panic, and worry.
"Stay with me, baby," Clint muttered. "Stay with me. Keep your eyes open, you hear me?"
"I'm fine, Clint…" Laura sighed through her exhaustion as she blinked in a way that highlighted her desperation and need for sleep, reflecting how weak she had become in recent days. "I'm fine."
"Damn right you are," he said as his thumb ran across her cheek. "We're gonna get through this, hear me? Together. A family. We're gonna make it outta here. I gotta check on the kids. You stay here."
Clint didn't wait for a response as he got onto his feet, turning around as he went to Lila and Cooper. He walked a few paces before he kneeled in front of his two children, looking them in the eyes. Never had he ever before seen a better example of pure terror and fear. His own children, right in front of him, were frozen in fear. Unable to process what was going on.
"Hey kiddos," Clint addressed them. "Look, I know things are bad. I know you're scared and it's okay to be scared. Here's what we're gonna do…whatever's happening out there, we're gonna stay here and wait it out. We have to be careful and quiet, okay? Don't talk normally, don't yell, don't scream. Whisper. Do exactly as your mother and I say, got it?"
"Dad?" Lila shivered as tears poured down her eyes. "Are we gonna die?"
"No…" Clint whispered, tears of his own clouding his vision as he wiped Lila's watery eyes. "No, babygirl, of course not. We're not gonna die."
"Yes we are," Cooper squirmed, tears of his own coming. "We're gonna die here. The monsters are gonna take us."
"Hey, hey, hey," Clint whispered as he placed one hand on Cooper's shoulder, one on Lila's, looking at both of them. "No one is gonna die here, you understand me? No one. The monsters aren't gonna take you and if they try, so help me, God, I will not let them. I know you're scared, I know you're afraid. We all are…and it's okay. We're going to be brave. And if you're gonna be brave, you gotta be a little scared cause that's what bravery is. Overcoming fear, fighting that feeling you get when you're scared. Now that's what I want you to do. We can do it together but we have to do it. What're we gonna do? Tell me right now, what're we gonna do?"
"Fight our fear." Lila sniffed, whipping her tears.
Clint nodded as he looked at Cooper. "That's right. Coop, what're we gonna do, buddy?"
"B-be brave…and f-fight our fear." Cooper's sniffs accelerated as he began gasping repeatedly and deeply.
Clint sighed as he took out an inhaler from his pocket, holding it to Cooper's mouth. He pressed the button on top of it as Cooper took a large inhale while Lila watched as Clint slowly counted down from three. Cooper let out an exhale as his breathing returned to normal.
Clint looked at Lila as he handed her the inhaler. "I need you to stay with your brother, stay close to us. If your brother needs this-"
"I know what to do," Lila nodded quickly. "Hold it to him so he can breathe, press, count three seconds, then breathe out."
Clint nodded as he patted Lila's shoulder. "Sit with him."
Lila and Cooper walked close together as they sat by a corner nearby where Laura, Clint, and a baby Morgan were. Clint kneeled beside Laura as he cupped the sides of her face, his heart aching upon seeing how exhausted and sweaty she was.
"We're gonna be alright," Clint muttered, unsure if he was saying to remind Laura, the kids, or himself as he said so. "We're gonna be alright. We're gonna be alright."
"Clint…" Laura moaned in exhaustion as Morgan squirmed in her arms. "The baby…"
"What's wrong with Morgan?" Clint asked.
"Not Morgan…" Laura moaned as Clint suddenly saw Laura's dress become wet. "I think my water just broke…"
Barry ran Jaina and the other Zealots through the portal Kaecilius had opened with his sling ring. He, Jaina, Kaecilius, Lucian, and twenty other Zealots arrived on the rooftop of a building as Barry looked around the entirety of the destroyed city he could see.
"Hong Kong." Barry said in recognition.
"There is a sanctum of the Ancient One here," Kaecilius stated. "However, we cannot risk facing any of the runners. We'll wait here. In the meantime, clear the entirety of this city of as many runners as you can find. Take the time you need but be quick. Report back to us when you have finished."
Barry nodded. Now would be a good time to check in with the team, he thought to himself, better to try so. As Kaecilius, Lucian, and the Zealots made their way to the building, Jaina stayed behind as she held Barry's prosthetic, metal, left hand with both of her own. He ran his hand through her hair, cupping the side of her face.
"I know you've done this before but nevertheless," Jaina stated. "Be careful…and if you leave me, Barry Allen, I'll torture and taunt even in the depths of Hell or Heaven."
Barry let out a scoff. "Yes, ma'am."
The two kissed before they quickly parted as Jaina left. Once she and the other Zealots were out of sight, Barry's smile quickly faded into a solemn look of emotion. Again, the thought of his mission came back to him. Part of him knew he had to choose, to choose between staying with Jaina, letting the Dark Dimension take over, giving up on his promise to help build the new world so he could live a life with the woman he loved and even have children with her. Or leave her behind as he planned, stop Dormammu and the Dark Dimension, keep his promise and therefore, his honor and his dignity, but forever continue with a hole in his heart. A hole that only Jaina could fill. He cared for her, adored her…he loved her. He loved her and he hadn't said it, he wanted to but he couldn't. Instead, all he could tell her was that he was hers and she was his, knowing that after a while, even that would come to an end. Barry let his head down as he sighed before taking off in a trail of orange lightning, searching the city of Hong Kong for stray runners or hordes. He decided to clean up the city of any stray runners before checking in with the Avengers and then continuing to return undercover within the Zealots. Hopefully, Barry hoped, the Avengers were doing well without him.
Frank followed Strange, the Ancient One, Wong, Mordo, the Avengers, and the group of about twenty-five sorcerers as they all exited the main room where the sanctums converged. As everyone left the room, Strange and Wong barricaded the entrance with their mystical powers as best as they could.
"Those shields won't hold them well but they'll manage…for a while." Strange said with a sigh.
"What about Clint? His family?" Frank asked, concerned for the risk.
Of course he was concerned about the risk. The man had a family, a pregnant woman who he loved, two kids he held close to his heart, even Tony's own baby daughter was with them. They were in danger, Clint had to have been on edge, alert and terrified. Much like how Frank was. He had lost his own family to violence and death, the last thing he needed was to see not one but two men losing their loved ones and children today. Maybe they could stop the attack, maybe they couldn't. Regardless, there had to be a way that Tony's baby daughter and that Clint and his family could make it out of here alive.
"They're gonna be fine," Tony said, a clear level of denial and desperation for self-assurance. "They have to be."
"They will," Natasha agreed. "Right now, we need to focus on clearing these things."
Suddenly, the shields broke down as waves of red lightning blitzed the team, knocking them all of their feet. By the time they could look back up, over twenty different runners had surrounded the room. Each one feeding on the twenty runners inside. Then, more runners burst through as everyone inside was tackled by a runner, using the best of their raw strength to resist being bit. Many of the sorcerers screamed as the runners feasted on their flesh, blood pouring everywhere. Growls and groans from the runners echoed across the entire room when suddenly, a wave of orange lightning blitzed all of them, sending the runners flying as their heads were smashed, destroying their brain, their skull, and whatever undead life they had in the process. The runners' bodies were on the floor along with that of several people who had been killed. The orange lightning slowed as a man in a red, Zealot uniform stood at the doorway.
"Everyone alright?"
From what Barry could see, the Avengers, Strange, Mordo, and Wong had survived, none of them being injured or bit from the runners. Unfortunately, multiple of the other sorcerers' lives had been claimed by the runners. One in particular was concerning.
"We need help here!" Strange said as he kneeled, the Ancient One in his arms as she bled from a massive wound on her stomach, gasping. Barry kneeled beside her and Strange. "There's gotta be something we can do." Strange kept pressure on the wound which continued to bleed.
"We can't," Wong sighed.
"Dammit, Wong!" Strange retorted.
"Strange, even if we could stop the bleeding," Wong tried to reason. "Nothing we do will stop the infection. She'll turn."
"Strange, I'm sorry," Barry said. "There's nothing we can do."
"B-but," Strange stuttered. "We're supposed to be saving lives…"
"We can't save all of them," Barry sighed.
Slowly, the Ancient One moved her blood-covered hands to the Eye of Agamotto as it rested on her. She removed it from her neck and held it to Strange, who held it as he looked at the Eye and then back at her.
"Y-you…are meant…to be the best of us," she said as she then turned her head to Barry. "Mr. Allen…Barry…Dormammu will not stop until he bleeds the Dark Dimension into the multiverse…into everything. The fate of it all rests in you…"
The Ancient One pulled Barry closer as she whispered the rest of what she had to say to him. She kept whispering as only Barry could hear, the look on his face being solemn as she said what she needed to say. The last of her words. She slowly dropped to the ground as her eyes became pale and glassy, her body unmoving, her breathing inaudible. Barry, Strange, Wong, and Mordo bowed their heads down as her soul left her lifeless body.
"Wait," Natasha said urgently. "Clint and his family. They've gotta be here somewhere. In that basement."
"My daughter's with them," Tony said in the same tone of urgency.
"I'll search the place," Barry whispered, keeping his head low. "I'll find them."
With that said, he sped off in a trail of orange lightning, searching everywhere across the three sanctums and Kamar Taj.
Barry found himself entering a sort of basement from the room where the three Sanctums connected. He could hear the sound of runners growling as they munched and feasted on some flesh, there must've been three of them. Barry's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he heard the sounds of a woman moaning in pain. He looked around the dimly-lit, basement area as he picked up a pipe and in a mere blitz of orange lightning, he charged after the three runners who feasted on dead bodies. He bashed one in the head, completely killing it. Just as the other two runners lifted their blood-covered faces from the bodies, Barry took another pipe and bashed it against one runner's head at super speed, causing the pipe to fly away as the runner lifelessly dropped to the ground. The third runner lunged at Barry, red lightning coursing its body as Barry slightly managed to dodge before lodging the pipe in his right hand into the runner's forehead, killing it instantly. The creature slumped to the ground as Barry instantly turned to the direction of the woman's voice. As he approached the woman, who was sitting on the ground and slumped against the wall, he recognized her. Seeing her pregnant belly where she had been bitten and severely bleeding from, her black hair, he knew instantly who it was as he kneeled in front of her.
"Laura?" Barry placed a hand on his shoulder as she slowly but weakly opened her eyes. "Laura? Hey, it's me."
"Barry…the baby…" Laura tried to lift her jacket as Barry helped her.
Upon lifting the jacket, Barry could see a baby Morgan cooing and squirming on the ground as she was covered in multiple blankets. Gently and slowly, he scooped her off the ground and carried her in his arms, the baby cooing and humming as he did so.
Barry glanced at Laura. "Is that-"
"I'm bit," Laura sighed weakly. "You…you have to…you need to shoot me. Pick up that gun…and shoot me."
"Don't be stupid, we'll figure something out," Barry gritted. "Where's Clint? The kids?"
Tears filled Laura's eyes as she shook her head. Barry's face fell into horror as he turned around and moved to where the bodies were, the bodies that the runners had been feasting on. He continued carrying a cooing Morgan with one arm as with the other, he turned the bodies. As he looked, his horror was confirmed: the bodies were Clint, Lila, and Cooper's. Barry instantly backed away as horror covered his face, he turned to Laura, glancing at her apologetically.
"Laura, I…" Barry was at a loss for words.
"Please, Barry," Laura pleaded, her voice low and exhausted. "You put me down…and then you do the same for them."
Barry looked at her incredulously. "How could you ask me that?"
"Because…" Laura sniffed as tears streamed down her face. "My family is gone, I am gone…and I do not want any of us to turn into those…those things. W-what if we attack you…or the team…or some other people? I will not be one of those things. Listen to me, Barry, you put me down."
"Laura-" Barry pleaded.
"DO IT!" she suddenly screamed as Barry startled before her voice sank back to the weakened, tearful pleading. "Please, Barry…please, I am begging you. I know you have a code but I am asking you…end my suffering, end my family's suffering. If there was any care or regard for us you held in your heart…please…please just do it."
Barry paused as he thought of Laura's words. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. She wanted him to shoot her dead husband and children in the head and then she wanted him to kill her. To murder her in cold blood. It wasn't like Barry hadn't killed before: Atom Smasher, Sand Demon, Zoom. All three of those deaths were caused by him. Nevertheless, this…this was different. It wasn't just killing, it was murder. Murder of a pregnant mother. Barry couldn't help but think back to the night his mother was murdered, how he watched Thawne torment her in his house before stabbing her in the heart. Ever since, he had never wanted to take the chance of killing out of fear of becoming what Thawne was. The thing that took his mother from him and yet, he had broken that rule with Atom Smasher, Sand Demon, and even Zoom. His hands weren't clean…but they'd only get worse if he did this. He knew there was no other way, he had given up on looking for the other way a while ago. Slowly, Barry set Morgan down on a couch nearby before he scraped off a gun from the ground. His face was stoic and emotionless as if the emotion, feeling, and humanity had been drained out of him. Barry walked over to Clint, Cooper, and Lila's bodies as he aimed the gun at them. Three rounds, three shots, three bangs. The bullets entered their heads as they remained still, now they wouldn't turn into runners. Morgan let out fearful cries as the baby overheard the gunshots.
Barry walked over to Laura as he kneeled in front of her, he laid down the gun as he helped her down, letting her lie down. She had been bit by her stomach, her premature baby instantly killed. The poor woman had used her jacket and her body as a human shield to protect Morgan. She had given up her own life and her own child's life to save the child of a friend. Tears swelled in Barry's already watery eyes as he looked at Laura.
"I'm sorry…" Barry whispered as his voice broke. "I am so…sorry. You asked me to protect Clint and I failed you. God, I failed-"
"Don't," Laura said, her voice stern despite how weak and tired she sounded as she held Barry's hand. "Don't you dare be sorry…you have nothing to apologize for. Understand me? Nothing…I asked you…to protect Clint when you went out there and you did…you…have kept your promise. All I'm asking you now…is two things."
This was a chance, a sort of redemption he could hold. It wouldn't redeem the blood on his hands, the blood he was about to get on them. But it would mean something.
"Anything," Barry nodded, his voice shaky as his jaw shuddered.
"You look after this team…" Laura sighed, her voice growing weaker and weaker. "They…they're our family…and they're yours. They're your family now, Barry. You do whatever it takes to make sure they survive this…no matter what…even if they don't like how you do it. You get them through this…"
"I will…" Barry shuddered, the tears pooling in his eyes. "Anything. For you…"
"I'm not asking to do this just for me…" Laura said. "It's for you too…."
"What do you mean?"
"…you'll see."
"What about the second thing?" Barry asked hesitantly.
"This," Laura said as she pulled her hand away from Barry's and took the gun, holding it to him with the grip facing him. "I need you to do this…please…don't let me turn into that…thing. You granted this to my family…and I'm grateful but please…let me join them."
With his hand shaking, Barry held the gun to Laura's head with his right hand, his left hand holding hers.
"You promise this, Barry…promise me…" Laura begged, knowing it would be her last words.
Barry nodded. "I promise…"
In his two years as the Flash on Earth 1, Barry had saved countless people from gunshots. Criminals and thugs would fire shots at civilians and Barry would always be fast enough to save them from the bullets. This time, it only pained to remember it, knowing that no matter how much speed or power he had, there was nothing he could do to stop this. Barry didn't bother using his speed for what happened next. He pulled the trigger as a bang echoed through the basement, Morgan's crying grew louder as Laura's hand lifelessly from his. Barry had jumped slightly at the reaction of the gunshot sound as he looked and saw a bullet hole lodged into Laura's forehead. Tears streamed down his face as he sighed, looking around the room. Reflexively, he held the gun to his own head as he closed eyes, his finger on the trigger as he clicked it. Nothing happened. Just a click. He opened his eyes as he held the unloaded gun in his right hand.
"I'm sorry, Laura." Barry whispered.
It was all he said before he got up from his knees as he carried Morgan and normally exited the basement area.
Barry walked into the main area of the London Sanctum, at a place where the main doors to the outside world and the grand staircase met. Everyone was waiting for him there as he entered, his left arm carrying Morgan as he let his right arm swing, his right hand clinging to the gun. Barry immediately saw everyone there. The rest of the Avengers, Strange, Wong, and Mordo. All that was left.
"What happened?" Matt asked as he instantly approached Barry. "We heard gunshots. Four of them."
"Morgan!" Tony yelped as he rushed towards Barry, scooping her out of his arms as he carried her, looking at Barry. "God…Allen, thank you."
Barry nodded, his eyes becoming watery as he looked down. He could barely bear to look any of them in the eye.
"Barry, where's Clint?" Natasha demanded as he approached her.
"Where's Barton?" Steve added. "His family?"
Barry remained silent, knowing his silence would be more than enough of an answer.
"Barry, where's Clint?" Natasha asked again, only in a more stern tone. "Laura…Cooper…Lila…where are they? Where are they?"
"They're gone," Barry deadpanned instantly as the looks of shock across everyone's faces.
"What…what do you mean 'gone', man?" Sam asked.
"I found Laura…bleeding," Barry stated. "There were these three runners, they…they tore Clint, Lila, and Cooper apart…just feeding them. Laura, she…she protected Morgan. Used her own body as some…human shield. She gave up her own life…and her baby's life…to save her. I took out the runners. Just used some pipes…it was nothing with them."
"No," Natasha shook her head in denial. "No, you're wrong, we're gonna go find them."
"Nat," Matt pleaded as he stood in front of her, holding her shoulders.
"No, we're gonna find them,"
"Nat, it's okay."
"Matt, he's wrong. They're still out there."
"Nat-"
"No! NO!"
Natasha angrily but tearfully tried to push Matt aside, he stood still as he let her collapse on to him, holding on to Matt. He wrapped his arms around her as they hugged. Barry finally managed to look up and see the shocked and saddened faces of everyone around him. Even Frank had a solemn look on his face, his head down.
"The gunshots?" Banner asked.
"Laura asked me to." Barry said, looking at Banner, the tears in his eyes finally dried up.
There was a brief silence as Matt helped Natasha sit down before he sat next to her. No one knew what to say. Tony carried a cooing Morgan in his arms as he comforted her. After several moments, the silence ended up coming to an end.
"What about time travel?" Thor immediately suggested as he looked at Barry. "You said you could time travel, what if you do that?"
"No," Barry shook his head. "We can't."
"Altering the timeline is a dangerous method," Wong warned. "You would risk destabilizing all of existence, especially when doing something as much as preventing four deaths."
"There has to be something we can do," Rhodey pleaded as he turned to Barry. "C'mon, man, do something."
"I am doing something!" Barry roared as everyone was silenced, he stood in the center, anger written all over his face as he looked at his teammates. "I'm trying to keep this team together, I'm trying to keep us alive. I've been doing that from the moment I met all of you people. I…" Barry paused as he sighed. "I promised Laura I would keep all of you alive, that I'd help you survive. Before I had to put a bullet in her brain and in her family.
"You people think I wanted to do that? That it was easy? Seeing a pregnant woman beg me to murder her and shoot the dead bodies of her family? Well, guess what? I didn't ask for it, I never asked for any of this! I never asked to be stuck in some hell hole, nightmare of an Earth worlds away from the people I love and care about! People who locked me in a cell after I had lost my own father! I never asked for these powers or to be the Flash! A LIGHTNING BOLT DROPPED FROM THE SKY AND STRUCK ME!" he roared painfully and angrily. "Some psychopath from the future went back in time and murdered my mom. I never asked for all of that. Or for this!" Barry pulled down his left sleeve, exposing his metal hand and the place where the prosthetic's metal met with his bare skin.
Barry sighed as his speech calmed down. "What's done is done, all of this, all of that, it's already happened. I made a promise to Laura…I promised I would do whatever it takes to get you people through this and I will…even if you don't like how I do it, even if you're against it. You wanna blame me for what happened to them? Fine. You don't like me? That's fine. But what I do now, what I'm about to do, what I've been doing since I met all of you…it is for the best of this team. You don't trust me? You don't wanna do things this way?" Barry pointed his gun hand to the main doorway of the London Sanctum. "The door's right there….go on. If you think you can do better, do it while walking. Let's see how far you get…I'll send you a damn housewarming present. Any takers?"
Barry rhetorically paused as he looked around the room.
"Anybody?" Barry demanded as the silence from the rest of the team continued. "Alright then but know this…if you're staying this isn't some free-for-all, throw down your suggestions group. It isn't a democracy. All this time, you've lunged into battle with no direct leadership, no clear form of it, or anything…that ends now. What I'm doing…is to make sure you all survive. Maybe I need you people or maybe I don't. But either way…you need me. The new world's out there and if you wanna build it…you have to fight for it. I'm done taking things the easy way. Starting now, if you don't fight, you die. End of discussion."
Barry had no regard for the looks of shock, surprise, and stoic silence upon everyone's faces as he continued.
"I have to get back to Kaecilius and the Zealots," Barry stated. "Or else I'll risk my cover. Here's what's going to happen. Steve, you're in charge while I'm gone and until I come back. Wanda, Thor, you two are our strongest lines of defense, I need you on your toes 24/7. Strange, Wong, Mordo, I need you three to coordinate with any of the other sorcerers, re-secure the shields. Don't stop, don't do anything else until you can. Any emergency gets out of control, you call me."
Barry laid a device by the stairwell as he glanced at his time and said some final words.
"There's a war coming and we need to be prepared," Barry said "No matter the cost."
With that, he sped out of the sanctum in a flash of orange lightning, leaving the rest of the team to continue with their current orders.
A/N: I realize that I haven't completely explained the origin of the runner virus. While I'm sure that those of you who have conspiracy theories about it are correct, I will explain in the coming chapters. As I informed a viewer of this story, I'll be wrapping up this Dark Dimension arc by chapter 20 and the story itself by chapters 30-35.
Also, huge shout-out to the following users: Diabolos Aides, She Who Loves Pineapples, and Velocity Vasto for being the first (and so far, only) people to review this story. You guys have inspired me the most to continue this story and hopefully, this series.