Chapter Text
Everyone was screaming. Loud shrills rang through your ears as everyone scrambled through the building.
And suddenly, the sound of another explosion went off. You and just about everyone else in the crowded office had fallen to the floor, covering yourselves as the fire and shrapnel sprang across the room.
There had been a terrorist attack at Stark Tower, and everyone was running for their lives.
You coughed out the smoke, but the air quickly cleared, and you turned your head to see why. The concrete wall and windows that used to be part of your office were completely gone, giving you and the rest of your coworkers a billion-dollar view of New York from 40 stories up.
You were forcefully shoved as people began screaming again, running to every exit they could find before the building could collapse. You joined them, kicking off your heels in favor of speed.
A whistle caught your attention, even though all the hysterical people. You turned back to the deadly high view of the city, spotting just a twinkle in the sky before—
Another explosion erupted to the floor below you, rumbling the ground like an earthquake. You screamed with all your might as the floor crumbled below you and you were swept down by gravity.
The wind became a force against you while your twirling body fell from the sky.
All the air had left your lungs after the first cry, your voice gone while you were tumbling straight to the ground.
You were falling from the building, straight to your death.
This couldn’t be happening.
You were gonna die… You were gonna die in an instant.
You gasped before your screamed one last time.
You collided into something before suddenly flying in the sky. An arm snaked tightly around your waist, and your primal instincts forced you to wrap your arms on whatever miracle had grabbed you.
Did someone just save you?
You couldn’t hear anything past the gush of wind. Your eyes were shut tight, not at all ready to open them in fear that this miracle would only be a dream, and you would fall to your doom once again. But the panic and fear in your body from before finally overwhelmed you, and you slowly drifted into unconsciousness.
Thor originally meant to stop the rocket before it reached Tony’s building, but he wasn’t able to make it in time. He had witnessed the two of them crash into the tower, one by one as he flew over to the building.
The walls from the impact fell away, and when he saw you falling amongst the concrete and debris, he immediately rushed to save you.
The collision between you two was harder than he had intended as he caught you in the air, but he disregarded it. Not when someone’s life was at stake.
He flew up to the sky instantly, glancing back to the building to make sure no one else had fallen as well. Luckily, you were the only one. He held you tightly with one arm, while his other arm held out this hammer. He could feel your arms wrap tightly around his neck while he flew in the air, confirming that you would not slip from his grasp.
“Thor, Tony needs help. He’s after the next bomb.” Natasha voiced through his earpiece.
“Pretty busy!” Thor yelled as he glanced back to Stark Tower, watching smoke grow where the rockets had collided. He glanced down at you when suddenly loosened your grip around his neck, realizing you had passed out.
Shit.
He looked down to the streets, spotting a few ambulances down below, but they were too far for him to reach. Thor was too far up into the sky, and he had to get to Tony now. The streets were overfilled with civilians running out of the building. He couldn’t drop down fast enough in a crowd like that, not unless he ended up hurting someone else.
Thor didn’t think too much of it. He flew up to the closest building, landing swiftly on the roof.
He would come back for you later.
The demigod carefully lowered you to the ground, getting down on a single knee. He noticed that your feet were bare, and when he looked back to your unconscious face, a sudden spark of déjà vu shot into his head.
He had brushed back some of the hair that had covered your face, staring at your sleeping form. Your closed lashes were stuck together and glossy, the streaks of tears down her face left dry and cracked from the
Thor had seen you before. He wasn’t sure where or how, but he could have sworn he had met you somewhere.
“Any day now your highness. We need you now!” Rhodey spoke through the communicator. “We need to stop that bomb.”
Thor tsked. He didn’t want to leave you here, but he would be forced to do so.
He lifted Mjölnir and flew into the sky with no time to think.
The wind gently brushed your skin, and when Thor came back to you, it had not been an hour. He and Tony had made it to the last bomb before it reached Stark Towers, and Tony was able to disarm it. Steve and Nat had found the coordinates of where the bombs were launched, but they found the compound empty. The terrorist group was gone by the time they made it there.
He had nearly forgotten to come back to you, but midway through his flight back to Stark Tower, a memory suddenly flashed in his head.
He remembered… Thor remembered you.
He had saved you before. Back in the battle of New York with Loki and the Chitauri. He wasn’t sure how, but you were unconscious when Thor had seen a Chitauri throw you out of a building.
Thor had caught you almost instantly and flew you down to paramedics on the street before flying away without a second glance.
But looking down at you now, he recalled your bare feet and your unkempt hair. Your clothes were nearly identical to your outfit last time he had saved you.
It was very coincidental. Thor would not have ever imagined that he would save a person twice—and twice in nearly similar circumstances.
Thor kneeled next to you. “Are you awake?”
“Hmm,” you moaned softly, before turning. Your eyes fluttered open.
“Ahh!" You gasped and pushed yourself up on your elbows. “Where am I? Who are yo—”
You froze mid-speech.
“Y-you’re an avenger. You—”
“I am Thor Odinson, son of Odin.” He smiled warmly at you, offering you a hand to stand.
But you didn’t take his hand. He blurred from your vision, tears filling your eyes.
You were supposed to be dead.
“I-It’s alright,” Thor tried to calm your tears. “There’s no need to cry.”
You jumped to him, wrapping your arms around his neck as you cried even louder. Thor rumbled a laugh in an effort to ease your shock, but he did not mirror your hug.
“Let me drop you off to get some medical help.”
You nodded your head along the crook of his neck and shoulder.
He flew you down to one of the many ambulances next to Stark Tower. People were still exiting the building and everyone had gathered a far distance away from the site.
He landed swiftly and softly to the ground, releasing your waist as a paramedic approached, but you quickly twirled back to him and braced your hands against this chest. Your eyes were still full of tears, and you barely held yourself together while you looked over him as if he would disappear any second.
Thor could feel your trembling hands. He held you firmly by your arms, confident that you would drop to the floor should he let go. A cloak of worry and concern draped his shoulders.
Why were you shaking? You were safe; he had saved you.
He hesitantly held your hands still against his chest, minimizing your quaking. He laughed softly, an effort to ease your shock.
“It’s alright,” he assured you calmly, “there’s no need for tears.”
Thor’s reassuring words were left disregarded as you seemed to sob even more.
“T-thank you so much,” you cried. “I-I-I—” you couldn’t form any other words. “T-t-thank—”
“There is no need to thank me.” Thor carefully released your hands, but you seemed to grab onto his chest even tighter. “I am an Avenger. It is my duty to protect you.”
You had suddenly felt the paramedic grab you by the shoulder. You looked back to the Norse god.
“Forgive me milady, but I must go.” He lifted his hammer.
“Wait—” you begged for him, but you lost your grip on him instantly as he flew up above ground.
You looked up and watched Thor shrink into a dot in the sky until you could see him no more.
You were alive.
It had been a week after Thor had saved you. You were finally calm from all your twisted nerves and existential shock.
After the bombing at Stark Tower, the media exploded with coverage, and Tony Stark was dragged through it all. He was forced to present at one too many conferences at the New York State Capitol with Congress to argue against the United States going to war against these terrorists, all while millions of people watched.
The rest of the Avengers even attended one of the more important conferences with Tony. Captain America and Dr. Banner were in standard suits along with Clint Barton and Thor. Natasha Romanoff wore a pale-yellow dress—slim but not hip-hugging—with her red hair in loose waves.
They had told Congress that they had not identified the terrorist group yet, but Tony had a good lead. That wasn’t reassuring to any of the politicians, but Tony was adamant.
“Listen you don’t understand,” Tony stressed.
“Mr. Stark I—”
“No, no, listen!” Tony exclaimed, “these terrorists are targeting me. They are not trying to start a war with America. If we get America into this, these terrorists are going to do way worse. You have to let the Avengers take care of them.”
You watched him speak from the tv in one of the many lounge rooms. You wore a blouse and blazer over dark red pants. You pinched your bottom lip between your fingers while shaking your leg anxiously.
After being pestered by one too many congressmen, you had been brought here to testify your experience of the bombing last week along with other individuals. Tony Stark had even sent you a letter as well, compensating you for any and all medical expenses, with the request that you attend and give your support to him.
And it wasn’t just a random choice that they had all picked you.
When you fell from Stark Tower, you also fell victim to a photograph taken by a journalist. You ended up on the front cover of every magazine and newspaper in New York. The New York Times had labeled you New York’s falling angel on their front page.
The incident had caused more havoc for you than anything. You had realized that working in the Stark Tower was too much of a risk for you. You couldn’t live in New York anymore, not with all the danger and publicity you were now getting.
That’s why you decided to resign from your job.
But something happened…
Another journalist had discovered about your resignation and created another article about it: Falling Woman Quits from Stark Tower: Is Iron Man Not Enough to Keep Us Safe? Now politicians were planning to use you and many other employees to make that same argument against Tony Stark.
It was frustrating, and you just wished to go home. You had packed most of your bags and planned to move far west of Manhattan. You had enough money to fly out, so the sooner you could the better.
The television suddenly got your attention.
“Mr. Stark, let me remind you that 128 people died during this bombing and nearly a thousand are injured. We haven’t seen an incident like this since 9/11—”
“That’s not true, Senator,” Tony cut off. You could catch Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers turn to Tony, shocked, “My condolences to the families in both instances, but the bombing of 9/11 killed nearly 3,000 people. Last week’s bombing was a fraction of that—”
“Mr. Stark,” a congresswoman from the other side of the room interrupted, “This isn’t about how many people died. This is about the fact that no one should have died in this incident. We put too much trust into the Avengers and it obviously was a mistake.”
Tony scoffed, taken aback. “Oh, and how long after the bomb did it take for first responders to show up to Stark Tower? And did everyone forget that there was a third bomb that didn’t go off cause we deactiv—”
You turned off the tv.
You just about had enough of this. What happened last week couldn’t be changed.
You grabbed your purse.
After everything, you were grateful to be alive. You could have died last week, and you reflected on that moment enough to know that you just wanted to live your life.
You winched and held your stomach. You were feeling queasy from all this tension and drama. You needed to grab some water, take a bathroom break—just any excuse to be out of this room right now.
Thor looked down onto the newspaper in his hands while Tony continued to argue with everyone else in the room. The other Avengers had become more vocal in Tony’s defense, but the god of thunder lost himself staring at the picture of you on the front cover of the news article.
The image of you falling in the sky headfirst, your limbs floating up in the air and your hair flaming your face—the photo was entrancing and, dare he say, majestic. It’s no wonder New York had labeled you their falling angel. Just the image alone sparked so many emotions.
And more so for Thor. He had never thought he would see you only more than the two times he had saved you—then again, seeing you a second time was only just a coincidence. But now you were suddenly everywhere on the papers, and it bothered him.
He had barely given you a second glance back the first time he saved you in the battle with the Chitauri. Back then you were just a random civilian out of many he had to save. If he didn’t remember you the second time that he saved you, Thor was sure that he would have just disregarded you again.
But the way you shook and cried after he had saved you, it unsettled the god. Why would anyone cry the way you did? It was as though you were still scared for your life—as if you were on your last strings. Even though he had saved you…
He didn’t want to think on it, and he had assumed that would be the last he would see of you, but now you were always on the back of his mind, if not the front of it.
Thor suddenly registered the arguing in the grand room, Tony once again booming his voice over everyone else while Natasha tried to calm him.
The noise was aggravating; it irked him. Thor was a king-to-be. He wasn’t meant to be here listening to this squabble. He was supposed to be taking care of his people back in Asgard.
The god let out a huff before lightly tapping his knuckles against Steve’s arm. Steve nodded at Thor, knowing full well that the god intended to take his leave from the room.
“I’ll be back,” Thor whispered before standing from his seat, making his way out of the large conference hall.
Once when he had escaped the room, Thor walked through the halls of the building, intending to find the exit for a moment of fresh air.
He turned the corner but suddenly stumbled back when he collided with someone else. He glanced down to find you staring up at him.
“Thor—”
“You?” He couldn’t believe the chances.
“Thor!” You said his name again, only to confirm that you weren’t seeing an illusion. “I-it’s so great to see you. I hope everything has been good.”
He chuckled unexpectedly as you humored him. Out of everyone, he would think that you would be the last person to ask someone else how they are doing, considering what you must be going through right now.
“Uhh well, everything’s been good.” Thor suddenly found himself struggling to find the right words. “We stopped that last bomb.” He shrugged and smiled awkwardly.
You laughed. “Well, I’m glad everything’s going well.”
He nodded before asking, “H-how are you…” he trailed off.
“Oh, sorry I never introduced myself!” You held your hand out in front of him. “I’m Y/N. It’s nice to meet you.”
Thor looked down to your hand and absentmindedly clasped his hand to yours, giving you a firm shake.
He glanced back up at you. “Why are you here? If I may ask?”
You pressed your lips into a thin smile and tilted your head slightly. “I’ve been asked to come here by Mr. Stark and some other politicians to testify and give some opinions for them.”
“Tony called you here?” Thor didn’t even think you would have a reason to be here at this conference, let alone a reason that involved Tony. How did he get a hold of you?
“Yeah,” you confirmed to the god. “He sent a letter to me after all those photos of me got out on paper, you know?” You rolled your eyes.
“I’m sorry about that.” Thor apologized.
You looked back to him quickly. “No, no, no!” You waved your hands out in front of him. “Don’t be sorry at all please no!” A bubble of nervousness inflates in your gut. “I wanted to offer my help to him and you as much as I could.”
“But I’m sorry that—”
“No no no you don’t understand!” Your fingers were shaking, and you suddenly stopped speaking. Thor looked at you curiously as you took a step back. Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath before glancing back to him.
You’re calm… Be calm.
“I didn’t get a chance to tell you properly when you saved me but thank you so much.” A smile graced your lips in triumph of yourself for not stuttering on your words.
Thor’s eyes widened.
“If it wasn’t for you, I would have been dead,” you continued your confession, “You saved me from what I thought would be the last seconds of my life. I wouldn’t be here at all if you hadn’t seen me in the sky—found me falling from the building.” You held your smile, glad enough that tears were far from your worry. “I owe you my life,” you said brazenly, “so I’m happy to help out Mr. Stark in any way that I can. It’s the least I can do after everything you have done for me.”
Thor cleared his throat unexpectedly, muttering a ‘thank you’ to your appreciation.
It’s ironic that you said it like that. Thor would have laughed if he could. You actually owed him your life twice over; he had saved you two times.
The god shook himself out of his thoughts. “So, w-where were you headed?”
You hummed, “Well, after this I’m planning on moving. I’ve packed up for Washington.”
“No, I meant—you’re moving?” Thor looked at you wide-eyed.
“Yeah, I am. I’m happy that you and the Avengers were there to save me, but with these terrorists going after Mr. Stark, I don’t think it’ll be safe here for anyone in New York.”
“That’s awful,” he said.
“It’s nothing.” You waved him off. “I got lucky when I fell off that building, but I don’t want to be in that situation again. I don’t wanna risk it.”
Thor pressed his lips flat, “That’s good to hear then.” He cleared his throat slightly before asking you again. “Where are you heading to now?”
You leaned to the side and pointed behind him. Thor turned to find a vending machine. “I was just going to buy some water and head to the restroom. What about you?”
“Oh.” Thor’s hand inched up as he scratched the back of his head, brushing down his short hair. “I was just going to get some air.”
You smiled at him. “Alright then. Maybe I’ll see you at the conference again? Have fun.”
Thor nodded. “Yeah, see you later.”
Both of you walked in separate directions, and you made way to the vending machine. When you reached the machine, you pulled out your wallet from your purse taking out a few dollars before punching the numbers on the number pad.
It was amazing that you saw Thor today. You didn’t think you would see him at all again, at least not face to face, but you were pleased that you did stumble upon him. The anger that you accumulated from the lounge area before dissipated, replaced with something more satisfactory in your gut.
There wasn’t a chance to thank him the day Thor had saved you from the fall. Heck, you could barely speak English when you tried to say ‘thanks’ the last time, but you were happy that you had the chance to fix it now.
The machine rumble before a cold bottle plopped out down below for you. Squatting down to pick it out before standing back up, you slide the water bottle in your purse. You’ll drink it once you’d get back to the lounge area.
But first the restroom!
You walked down the hall and continued on your way.
Thor had finally made it outside the building, though it was a slow journey there, a part of him feeling… Something… He couldn’t describe the uneasiness. The pressure.
Though he didn’t regret meeting you again in the building, Thor was concerned; you shouldn’t have been in that building at all.
He didn’t want to point fingers, but what was Tony thinking contacting you? Was it not enough torture that you had lived through a near-death experience? And now Tony was asking for you to meet him: the person of interest that these unknown terrorists were after.
Thor didn’t like the feeling at all.
There was a fountain in front of the building, and Thor neared it unconsciously, pacing around the water structure slowly. He watched the water rippling down into the pond, the white stone vibrant across the water’s reflection.
The fountains in Asgard were gold. The god had nearly forgotten about that.
Thor was an Avenger, but he was also meant to be a King. Asgard needed him, so why was he still here in Midgard?
Thor leaned his head to the fountain, admiring the little coins scattered under the water.
Why?...
A boom erupted out of nowhere. Right from behind him.
Thor turned instantly in fear back at the building before him, an acid of dread burning his throat.
He could hear screams beginning to radiate out of the building, softly echoing to him like the cries of ghosts. Cries of the dead.
No… No.
He ran into the building, all his thoughts rushing to his head.
His team was caught in an explosion. Adrenaline pushed the god faster as he entered the building, standing in front of the grand staircase in the entrance hall.
People rushed passed him, and the god could see the masked attackers in the crowd. Thor spotted Natasha shoot one of the masked men over the stairs at the center of the room. She continued shooting the suited gunners through the crowd.
Where were the other Avengers?
Another explosion suddenly set off, and the arrhythmic sounds of bullets followed right after. Nearly everyone crumbled to the floor.
Thor could hear the distinct screaming of men and women from multiple directions, and he stopped himself frozen in his tracks when a thought suddenly came to his head. Fear suffocated his lungs, and Thor could not make breath.
You were still in the building…
You were still in the building.
The god screamed, and lightning struck down from the sky.
You turned on the faucet and let the warm water wash over your hands. Your reflection stared back at you momentarily as you scrubbed the liquid soap between your fingers. The water ran for too long but you couldn’t help it, your thoughts were completely somewhere else.
Literally.
House searching from a different state was not as easy as you had hoped. It was itching at your head.
Money wasn’t an issue at all for you; you had found a lot of nice single-bedroom homes in Vancouver Washington and the mortgage rates would be a fraction of what you already pay in rent at New York. And if you made a larger down payment, your interest and mortgage rate would be even lower.
You caught yourself before you got too technical with all the details.
Stop worrying about that. Now wasn’t the time to go house hunting in your head. There were too many last errands to finish. You still had a week before you officially move.
You shut the faucet off and flicked your hands over the sink a few times, ridding yourself of the excess water on your fingers.
People chattered outside of the restroom while you dried your hands with a paper towel. A flush sounded in one of the stalls behind you and a woman soon came out and washed her hands. You passed her to the door but stopped when it opened before you.
You screamed when two men entered the restroom wearing black demon-figured masks, guns in their hands. No, it wasn’t two men; it was a man and a woman.
The other woman screamed behind you as you two were face to face with the strangers.
“Заткнись.” The butt end of the masked woman’s rifle swung to your jaw and you fell to the floor. Stars twirled above your face while you struggled to hold consciousness. The other woman struggle against the gunmen before a gunshot blasted through your ears. Her body fell like a log, hitting the floor with a hard thud.
“Мы находимся в диапазоне. Взломай искусственный интеллект Тони Старка.” They were speaking another language foreign to you, but you could guess from the dialect that it was Russian.
The masked man walked over you and the dead woman, plopping his black bag upon one of the sinks in the restroom. You listened to the woman touch her ear and speak. She paced around before you as the man pulled out a laptop, typing away vigorously at his keyboard.
You watched the woman slow as she looked down at you through her hideous mask, her assault rifle pointed in your general direction.
Don’t move, don’t scream—don’t give her a reason to shoot.
“Это сделано. У меня есть доступ к искусственному компьютеру Старка,” the mask man suddenly shouted, and the woman rushed to him. They spoke loudly and slammed the laptop closed. The woman pointed to you as she spoke to the man, “Take her with us. We can use her as a hostage.”
The man grabbed you by the arm and pulled you to a stand.
“What? No, no!” You struggled, but the man silenced you with a punch to your temple. You fell once again, but he caught you before you could fall to the floor.
“Shut up!” he snaked his arm around your neck and pulled his pistol out from his holster. He pressed the gun to your hip and you bit your lip.
The woman opened the door and the man led you out. They left the black bag in the restroom, but you had no time to ponder about it.
The man adjusted his arm behind you, moving his hand to hold you by the back of your collar. The woman pressed on her earpiece before speaking. “Мы разместили третью бомбу. Поддельный компьютер Тони Старка был взломан. Начать атаку.”
They dragged you for a few more steps before an explosion erupted close behind. You screamed as dust and rumble scattered from the ceiling. You heard distant screams from the other end of the capitol.
Bullets started firing as well, and you held back a sob as you clutched your chest.
This couldn’t be happening!
You were forced to go down the stairs with the two strangers. Screams echoed through the building, quickly getting louder as men and women entered the corridors. Each level could be seen from the descending stairs, the smooth concrete railing the only barriers between the halls and the stairs. From here, the attackers could see everything.
The woman held up her rifle and began shooting people between each story. And as if on cue, more masked men enter the hallway, shooting civilians with her as the gunners continued down with you.
They had dragged you down too many rounds of stairs until you arrived at the foyer. You couldn’t see the doors that lead out the building, but there were enough people running below towards a single direction to guess where they were heading.
A gunshot went off out of nowhere, and the masked woman before you grunted in pain, suddenly holding her chest.
You looked down at the bottom of the stairs to see Black Widow with her pistols pointed. She shot your female attacker once more before the woman in front of you fell down the stairs.
Another bomb suddenly went off and everyone crumbled to their knees. You fell along as well, but you choked on the collar of your blouse as the masked man behind you pulled you to stand.
“Блядь!” The masked man tugged your back up the stairs.
You had both changed directions, going back the way you came.
Tony sat in the conference room gnawing at his lip while his fingers rapidly tapped against the table. He bobbed his head from side to side tauntingly while he listened absentmindedly to another representative at the capitol lecture him.
Natasha leaned into his ear, reminding him to at least look like he was paying attention. He smirked at her, before looking back to Bruce and Clint. They locked gazes with him momentarily before Tony turned to his other side to look at Steve and Thor.
Huh? Thor wasn’t there.
Steve gave Tony a sad smirk, the seat next to him empty.
“Mr. Stark—” a congresswoman shouted from the other side of the conference hall.
“I’m listening! I’m listening!” Tony yelled.
There was a momentary silence, and Natasha flinched, holding herself from slamming her own head on the table.
Tony sighed, as the congressmen continued to discuss again. He slouched back and listened to his lecture.
“Tony?” His sunglasses lit up at his name. Tony quickly adjusted the frames.
“Not now Friday, I’m busy,” he whispered to the A.I. before turning off the screen.
His glasses lit back up again. “Tony I’m detecting some suspicious activity in the building.”
Tony scoffed, “I don’t care if there are teenagers loitering around the building.” He chuckled, but F.R.I.D.A.Y. did not respond. He arched a brow. “Friday?”
She remained silent, and Tony blinked twice in concern. “Friday?” He asked again.
He waited for one moment more before she finally spoke, her voice calm but urgent. “Tony I’m currently being hacked into.”
“What?” Tony whispered hoarsely.
Natasha turned to him, raising her brows curiously at her friend.
Tony held his arm out to Natasha, but his face was turned away as he continued to speak to his A.I. “Friday, I need you to locate the coordinates of the device that’s hacking into you.” Tony didn’t hesitate for a second. “Trace the source code and execute a firewall code to—”
“The source code is written in Russian. I’ll need a moment to decipher it and interpret the code in order to—” F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s voice went static as she cut herself off, the A.R. screen of his sunglasses shutting off.
“Friday?” Tony whispered. He attempted to turn his glasses on again, but they remained blank. “Friday?”
An explosion suddenly sounded within the grand room. Everyone panicked in unison.
Steve was the first to react. “Everyone up now! We need to leave!”
The chandelier above chimed harshly, pieces of the ceiling falling to the floor.
The congressmen rushed out in a screaming frenzy. They scrambled through every exit they could.
Tony was yanked up by Natasha. “Get everybody out. Take the back exits,” She directed to Bruce and Clint. She pulled out her pistols from her purse before tossing the bag aside. “Tony we need to go.”
Tony tugged down his sleeve as Natasha led him out the exit, turning the crown on his watch as he walked. Tony could just barely see his armor suit beginning to form on his wrist before a sudden spark set off.
“Ahh!” Tony clutched his wrist and hissed.
“Tony?” Natasha looked over him.
“Something’s wrong with my nanotech.” Tony looked back at her. “I can’t get the suit on.”
Sudden shrills echoed from the back of the room, guns shooting. Everyone turned, finding suited strangers pushing into the crowd. Their masks were monochrome, with black horns and white fanged teeth sticking out.
The Avengers watched baffled as the few in the crowd dropped in front of the masked intruders, falling from the shot of each bullet.
Steve instantly sprinted to the gunmen, “Clint, cover me.” Steve tackled one of the gunners.
“Nat!” Clint yelled. She tossed one of her pistols to him before she pushed Tony to the floor, dodging the bullets that flew by them. “Get Tony outta here! We got this!”
Natasha didn’t wait for him to say it twice. She nudged Tony ahead of her, looking back at her teammates.
Clint had shot down two of the masked attackers before taking cover, and Steve had just knocked out another man cold with his bare hands.
Damn. Natasha bit her lip and cursed. If only they had brought their weapons. Clint and Steve were fighting on tight strings without their bow and shield. Natasha pulled up the hem of her yellow dress, pulling out her last pistol from the holster hidden at her thigh.
They weren’t expecting these terrorists to attack them again so soon, and this was the last place they were ready for it.
Natasha glanced around, finding Bruce was just behind them, following Tony and her instead of going through the back exits like he and Clint were directed to do before.
She lifted Tony by the arm as they rushed through the front doors. He stumbled on his foot as Natasha led the way. She held her fingers tightly to the triggers of her pistols, her body on high alert. She surveyed the hall behind them, only finding a few congressmen and building attendees running through the halls with her.
She looked back to Tony and Bruce behind her. “I’m gonna go ahead and clear the path. I’ll meet you guys outside.” She looked over at Bruce. “I trust you to keep Tony safe while I’m gone. These terrorists are going to be looking for him.”
Banner nodded, and that was the end of it before Natasha kicked her heels and spun around. She jogged further into the hall before turning the corner. She saw a masked man down the hall before she shot him down quick and easy.
She ran halfway down the hall, stopping at the grand doors that led to the entrance hall of the building. They were already parted slightly, likely enough that the attackers came through here if it wasn’t left open by the civilians running out of the capitol.
Natasha slid past the doors, immediately stumbling upon the mass of people running out the doors of the building. The foyer was expansive, held up by elegant pillars, a grand staircase rising right at the center.
She walked around the stairs, spotting too many masked gunners in the halls. Lifting her guns, Nat aimed her shots and watching them drop like bugs. She was quick enough to shoot the masked men before they killed anyone else.
Guns fired close behind her, and Natasha turned instantly, catching two more gunners running down the stairs. She could see the woman held hostage between them.
“Shit,” she hissed.
Natasha raised her pistols to the stairs, making one shot to the masked gunner in front. They held their chest and Natasha sent one more to them before they fell.
Another explosion shook through the building, and everyone screamed as they fell to the floor. Natasha fell onto one knee, slamming her pistol to the floor to catch herself before she fell flat on her face. Rubble and dust sprinkled from the ceiling.
Natasha looked back up to the stairs, watching the remaining masked man march back up the stairs with the woman he held hostage.
Natasha reached out her hand “Wait—” but she was suddenly cut off by a roar. She flipped her attention to the doors behind her, watching the man scream at the entrance.
Her lips parted as lightning struck down the man, thunder deafening her ears.
Thor?
She was blinded by light.