Chapter 11
Following the aliens out of the tunnels, Clint and Danielle saw the remnants of the Avengers compound come into view. There was nothing left but rocks and mud and a fine powder of dust from the disintegrated concrete. It was like a punch to the gut to see everything they had built over the last five years destroyed in a couple of seconds.
GONG!
Danielle turned her gaze to an open area a thousand yards from their position. Steve was attacking Thanos with his shield and the mighty hammer Thor used to possess. The Steve she saw was the battle hardened soldier angered by years of war and ruin. He put everything he had into each punch he threw.
But the mad titan would not go down easy.
Thanos reached for his sword and sliced Steve in the leg, the wound so deep even his advanced healing couldn't work fast enough. Thanos advanced and Steve tried to block each blow with his shield, but the 80 year old vibranium couldn't contain the energy being forced upon it.
One hard hit and the shield cracked. Another hard hit and it broke in half. With a mighty sweep of his sword, Thanos threw Steve across the field until he landed in a crumpled heap in the dirt.
"Steve!" Danielled cried out.
She surged forward to help him but Clint held her back.
"We have to help him!" She pushed against the archer.
"Look." Clint raised his eyes to the sky.
She followed his gaze to see dozens of space ships lowering to the ground and releasing thousands of beasts and creatures ready to destroy. Even if she could reach Steve, she would be no help against the horde running toward him.
Her eyes, now blurry with tears, swept back to Steve. He had gotten to his feet and took staggering steps toward Thanos and his army. The scrawny kid from Brooklyn, who was always ready for a fight, faced down his greatest foe with his chin held high.
Lights flashed across the battlefield.
At first Danielle thought it was a trick of her mind, but the flash turned into a spinning circle that opened wide. Within the circle, she swore she saw Wakanda. A figure appeared from the circle and was joined by two smaller figures. When they came into full view, she nearly cried in relief.
King T'Challa, Okoye, and Shuri lead an army of Wakandan soldiers through their portal as many more portals appeared from different places on Earth and beyond. Each portal allowed armies of people and creatures all allies of the Avengers.
"Avengers!" Steve yelled, mustering all the strength he had left in his body.
He must have given the order because the Avenger army rushed forward in a wave of battle cries and raised weapons. The view was spectacular.
On his side of the battlefield, Thanos gave his order and his army charged, all of them snarling and snapping their jaws. Clint, Danielle, and the alien women beside them watched as the armies collided in a flood of carnage and fury.
"We have to get down there. One of them will know what to do with these damn stones." Clint tucked his arm tighter around the gauntlet.
"Get to Steve. We'll go from there." Danielle responded.
The alien women took off in their own direction, headed for Thanos.
Clint and Danielle jogged down the slope as best they could until they reached the flat land of the battle field. Creatures like the ones they had fought in the tunnels popped up from the small hills of debris, their long tongues wetting their pointed fangs.
"Get the stones to Steve." Danielle instructed before shooting at the creatures and leading them off in the other direction.
Clint looked after her for a moment before focusing on his task and radioing for Steve.
—-
Being chased was never the fun part of SHIELD training.
She had always liked the thrill of chasing someone and outsmarting their maneuvers. Now that she was the one being chased, however, Danielle was the one trying not to get outsmarted. She had run further into the battlefield, hoping the creatures would lose interest and find someone else to chase. She fired a few rounds behind her with her pistol, but it slowed her down. The creatures snapped their jaws, closing in on their prey.
Her toe caught a stray piece of rebar sticking out of a broken column and she pitched forward into the dirt. With enough sense to draw her gun and roll to her back, Danielle fired multiple shots at the first creature that closed in. The body of the creature dropped to the dirt.
His companion, which had slowed at the sound of gunshots, whipped his nose around and caught her scent on the breeze. It ran at her quickly. She raised her gun to fire again but the bullet jammed. She barely had enough time to grab a scrap of steel and catch the teeth of the creature as it bit down on the metal in her hand.
All her strength focused on holding that piece of metal and the creature away from her face. It bit down crazily like a rabid dog. It swung its claws around her and one sliced her side. She winced and the motion allowed the creature a little closer to her face.
Gunshots close by sounded over the distance noises of the battle beyond the piles of rubble. The creature stopped fighting and dropped heavily with half of its body pinning Danielle to the ground. She tried to push the dead body from her chest, but it didn't budge. Panic startled to settle in until something heaved the body away and freed her.
Danielle laid on her back gasping for air and staring up at the darkening sky. A form stood over her, haloed by the fading sunlight.
"Danielle?" A familiar voice questioned softly.
Her eyes adjusted finally and the form came into focus.
"James?" She whispered.
He knelt next to her as she raised herself into a sitting position. She studied his features–the same features she had hallucinated in the mirror many times before.
Reaching out a hand, her fingers brushed the stubble on his cheek and he didn't disappear.
"It's really you." She said, more to confirm with herself than him.
He let out a relieved laugh, but couldn't form any words. His pale blue eyes welled up with tears.
He got to his feet first and offered her his metal hand. She took it and allowed him to help her get to her feet. She gripped his hand tightly, waiting for him to disappear at any moment.
"I'm not going anywhere." He gripped her hand in return. "I missed you so much."
That was all she needed to break her spell. Danielle launched herself at him, holding him as tightly and as closely as she could manage. Years of separation could not dissipate the love that radiated from her and into him. It was like the piece of herself that had been missing for five years connected to the rest of her and made her whole.
He turned his head and pressed a kiss into her hair, then her cheek, then he pulled back to see her face before pressing a long awaited kiss to her lips.
Their moment of bliss didn't last long as an explosion twenty yards from their position rocked them apart. Another explosion sounded from their right, followed by another and another as a hail of missiles rained down on the battlefield. James grabbed her hand and pulled her behind a pile of rubble to take cover. He pinned her against the pile, holding her tightly to his chest.
"I love you." James said over the noise of the explosions.
Danielle clung tighter to him, praying for a miracle.
Then the explosions stopped and the battlefield grew eerily silent.