Sunshadow

A lesser circle

"Azeria, take Rosa and anyone else who can't handle themselves above the base, please." Kiki instructed.

"I can handle myself! You taught me well." Rosa protested, batting away Azeria's talons as she tried to grab her and protect her.

"Yes, but I would have to tell Ayla if something happened to you. Imagine how heartbroken she would be if I told her you had died at my hand. You are her favourite, you know."

"No. Maria was her favourite. She doesn't know Rosa." She picked up a knife and stared into the blade at her reflection.

"Oh, Maria!" Ayla ran into the room, followed by several agents all shouting at her politely. "I came as soon as I could. I begged the second ship to take me as soon as I realised you were gone, even before I talked to Kiki. I'm so glad you're alright." She rushed to Rosa and took her hand. "Stay here, I'll keep you safe. I heard something about an attack soon. You are staying right here where I can keep an eye on you."

Most of the Avengers had rushed outside, so it was only Nova, Azeria, Bucky, Wanda and Kiki left. Loki had tried to stay, but Thor had picked him up and slung his brother over his shoulder. "I'm going to watch you like a hawk, brother. You are not going out of my sight." He had said at Loki's protests.

"No, Mum."

"What do you mean no, Maria?" Ayla used the warning tone all mothers had.

"Maria would stay here. Maria was a mummy's little girl, who would have stayed inside while her friends were getting killed to save herself. Maria was a coward. But Rosa knows how to defend herself. And Rosa is going to go and help those people, because Rosa is not a coward and has some great friends." She ran out of the room before Ayla could stop her.

"She has a point," interjected Wanda, walking out as Azeria flew next to her and then shifted into a big cat, some kind of mythical tiger with even bigger teeth and sharper claws. So that was what Rosa had meant.

"Stay here, Ayla. I will keep her safe."

☾

That was a lot of soldiers. Half of them had the blank, emotionless stare that meant they would die before they realised what they were doing.

Kiki could already see the two sides running towards each other, almost in slow motion. She felt slow, like she was outside her own body, watching from above. She needed to snap back. Pull yourself together!

She pulled on the mist, calling it around her friends and knocking down the Hydra agents in front of her. But that had taken a lot of her strength. She didn't have much left to give.

Since the outburst before she had passed out, she had been gathering her power back, but it wasn't enough time. Not for a use that big.

That must be why everything was spinning. Huh.

The soldiers closed in, grinning manically. They looked like Lee had before, when she killed Kiki. Maybe that was what they'd do. She deserved it, and she had spent all the time here she needed to. It would all be so much easier if they let her die.

They had surrounded her, leaving no escape. They carried no weapons, no defence. Hydra made them not care whether they lived or died. It was completely dehumanising.

She could see their hands reaching for her, but she couldn't feel it. Her hands informed her that they were being pulled behind her back, and her ears that there was someone, no, many people, screaming her name.

What was her name anyway?

The last thing she saw as the men took her away was a man running for her.

He was always running for her.

☾

They would be able to hold their own with Kiki.

Everyone else was important, of course, but it was her mist that would save them all. Bucky pulled his knife out of the soldier in front of him and looked around for her. She was still quite weak, and he didn't want her to push herself too hard.

She sent the mist into the thick of soldiers, curving around the Avengers and knocking down a lot of the Hydra agents. That would make it easier for the rest of them.

He opened his mouth to call out to her to stop and save her strength, but then he saw a circle of Hydra advancing around her, like a lesser version of the leaders Kiki had described. She looked dazed, confused, and didn't fight back. He could see them start to grin creepily as she looked around, defenceless.

"KI! GET OUT OF THERE! KIKI!" He yelled running forwards. The agents pressed in from all sides, both onto him and Kiki, and she smiled at him.

And then she was gone.