The Eternal Avenger

Chapter One: The Battle of New York

(Claray Ridel's POV)

Ironic that less than a month after I moved myself and all of my belongings to New York City that an intergalactic space battle would break out mere blocks from my apartment.  The news said that the National Guard was on the way and the Avengers had already been spotted on camera downtown, banding together to fight off this new, alien threat.  Everyone had heard the stories from the past week.  We all knew what definitive proof of alien life, let alone alien life attacking one of our cities would mean for humanity, for shield, for the Avengers - even for me.  I snickered to myself a little at the trivial attempt to place myself into a category.  I was one of a kind, as far as I knew.  The smell of smoke and blood permeated the air, and I felt my senses heighten automatically.  I licked the tip of my tongue over my slightly-protruding fangs, pricking the skin lightly, tasting my own blood on my tongue.  I couldn't just sit here.  With a sigh, I got off of the couch, changed my clothes into something more battle-worthy, grabbed a few supplies and headed outside.

(Natasha Romanoff's POV)

These ugly alien things were beginning to wear on my nerves.  Patience was never my strong suite, and as ready as I was to dive into battle, this kind of threat was a little more than my assassin training had prepared me for.  I dove out of the way of a spare shot from one of the Chitauri scepter thingies, scrambling behind the huddled wreck of what used to be a decent car for cover.  Cap was using his shield as a deadly Frisbee, calling out strays to Thor and Tony who were taking them on from the air.  Whenever the Chitauri began bunching up, a rain of arrows neutralized them as Clint watched from above, covering our backs.  A loud explosion caught my attention, and before I realized what was happening, the bridge around my makeshift cover began to crumble, and despite my efforts to hang on to the car in front of me, I felt myself tumbling over the edge.

(Claray's POV)

I saw her fall.  The redhead.  She was bleeding, I could only guess from shrapnel hits that did nothing to slow her down.  She was a dedicated fighter.  I barely made it to her in time before she could hit the ground in what would be a painful - if not fatal - fall, catching her easily before setting her down on her feet.  She looked up at me, a frown crossing her features, no doubt wondering how I had gotten to her so quickly, or how I had even realized she was in trouble.  I stared down at the petite ginger, catching the green glint in her eyes before my eyes wandered down, taking stock of her injuries.  She stood still, almost like she was analyzing me.  I licked my lips slowly, feeling the hunger deep inside of me.  How long had it been since I had human blood?  Years.  I had been fighting for hours now, attempting to keep whatever the hell these things were away from human beings in order to minimize casualties.  The adrenaline had long worn-off, and I could feel various contusions and bruises across my body.  A little taste wouldn't hurt.  Besides, it's not like she would remember anyway.  As the redhead's eyes carefully monitored my face, standing with her legs spread, arms across her chest, I moved forward cautiously.  She didn't back away.  I gave her points for her bravery, at the very least.  I took one step closer, and the only movement she made was to slightly tip her head upward to continue looking me in the eyes.  She really was tiny - I was only 5'7" but I had a few good inches on her, at least.  She opened her mouth to speak and I shook my head.  Surprised, her mouth closed again.  I reached out with my thumb, wiping a smear of blood from the corner of her mouth, no doubt where something had hit her not too long ago.  She didn't even blink.  I slowly brought my thumb to my own lips, sucking it slightly, eyes reddening at the taste.  The ginger stood there silently, watching me.  I noticed her eyes narrow a bit as she caught a glimpse of my fangs, but she made no movement, almost as if all of her energy was focused at the moment on standing as perfectly still as possible.  With the same thumb that had collected and transported her blood, I bit the tip slightly, puncturing it ever so gently, a drop of blood pooling just on the surface.  I placed the tip of my thumb on her lips, leaving the small drop of my blood behind.  She frowned, but licked her lips almost involuntarily, gasping as the gashes on her face and torso began to heal.  She opened her mouth to speak again, but stopped when I shook my head at her again.  I looked into her eyes, tilting her head up slightly with the tip of my index finger.  "Diochuimhnich. (Forget)" I said simply.  A frown once more crossed her face, deeper this time before her eyes widened.  I backed away slowly, gauging her reaction.  There was none.  Once I reached the shadow thrown by the next building, I turned and walked away, looking for more creatures to fight.

(Natasha's POV)

What.  The.  Fuck.  I stood there for a moment, shaking my head slowly, clearing the remnants of some major brain fog.  I looked around, seeing nothing around me before taking a deep breath, heading towards the rubble and start climbing up to rejoin the battle taking place above me.  "Took you long enough," Tony's voice echoed through the coms, making me jump slightly.

"not my fault I can't fly, Stark" I mumbled.  Rogers approached me slowly, eying the blood on my suit, pointing towards it.

"Romanoff, you good?" He asked.  I looked down, gingerly touching the area, surprised to feel no pain.

"Fine, Cap." I nodded. 

"Let's finish this," Rogers said slowly.