I Can't Help It - Steve Rogers

Chapter 68

Everyone travels to the battlefield in Wakandan ships and Rachel watches as Bruce becomes accustomed to the hulkbuster armour. She can't help but smile at him tripping over a rock as he gets excited about the armour. "I've got two heat signatures breaking through the treeline" Rhodey informs them through comms. M'Baku and his men are chanting when they all arrive on the battlefield and T'Challa gives him a thank you.

T'Challa, Steve and Rachel make their way to the dome's edge to see the female alien from Scotland standing on the other side along with a much larger alien. "Where's your other friend?" Rachel teases, referring to the alien they injured in Scotland. "You'll pay for his life with yours. Thanos will have that stone" the female replies stoically. "That's not gonna happen" Steve states confidently. "You are in Wakanda now. Thanos will have nothing but dust and blood" T'Challa tells her sternly. "We have blood to spare" she replies and raises her sword with a grunt. The ships behind her start to rise so the three make their way back to the rest of the soldiers.

"Did they surrender?" Bucky asks. "Not exactly" Steve answers with a sigh. "When does anyone actually surrender?" Rachel adds sarcastically. A swarm of alien creatures come charging out of the ships and straight into the edge of the dome. "What the hell?" Bucky mutters in disbelief. "Looks like we pissed her off" Rachel states. They start breaking through the barrier but it only kills them when they start to make it through. "They're killing themselves" Okoye states, seemingly horrified by the sight. Steve remains stoic as he watches the scenes in front of him and watches as the Wakandans fire at the few creatures who make it through the barrier.

The creatures starts circling the barrier when they realise they aren't getting through it successfully. "Cap, if these things circle the perimeter and get in behind us, there's nothing between them and Vision" Bruce informs Steve concerned. "Then we better keep them in front of us" Steve replies simply. "How do we do that?" Okoye asks the king. "We'll open the barrier" T'Challa states. "On my signal, open North-West section 17" he orders through his earpiece and a few seconds later he repeats the order "On my signal".

"This will be the end of Wakanda" M'Baku states hopelessly. "Then it will be the noblest ending in history" Okoye responds proudly. Steve takes Rachel's hand as T'Challa makes his way forward. She looks up at him as she holds onto his hand in return. "Be careful" he says with a serious expression. "You too" she replies with a gentle smile before Steve activates the ends of his shields, causing small blades to appear. Everyone turns their attention to T'Challa, waiting for their orders. "Wakanda Forever!" he yells before everyone charges towards the creatures.

T'Challa orders the barrier to be opened and the creatures start pouring through the gap in the dome. Steve and T'Challa run ahead, using their enhanced speed and strength to jump up and onto the creatures. Everyone starts fighting the creatures and Rachel throws balls of energy at them, keeping them at a distance and keeping an eye on her teammates in case they need any help.

The aliens soon gain the upper hand as they knock many of them to the floor and attack them. T'Challa raises his arms to protect himself when some of the creatures crawl on top of him and try attacking him. Steve looks up to see Rachel fighting off so many of them that she doesn't see the one charging towards her. "Rach!" he yells as he sprints to her and tackles her to the ground, out of the creatures grasp. However, this gives the creatures a chance to surround them like they have T'Challa. Steve raises his arms to use the shields on his forearms to protect himself and Rachel who's tucked under his arm with her head on his chest. She uses her powers to force Steve's forearms up, pushing the creatures further from their faces.

While everyone is down and struggling, the creatures are knocked off of them by a blue axe. They all look up to see Thor catch it with two creatures beside him. Rachel sighs in relief when she sees him and Steve gets to his feet, pulling her up with him. "You ok?" he asks her as he checks her over. "I'm ok, thank you" she answers with an assuring smile. Steve takes note that she doesn't have a nose bleed, meaning she isn't exerting herself yet. But he knows it won't be long and she'll be reaching her limit. She's been training with her powers over the last 2 years, using them more and more, trying to strengthen herself so she doesn't weaken or tire as quickly or easily as she usually does. She has certainly improved but she'll always have a limit and he's concerned that she's starting to reach it.

"You guys are so screwed now" Bruce laughs, happy to see his old friend on the battlefield. Thor starts running towards the aliens in charge. "Bring me Thanos!" he shouts before summoning lightning and striking the ground, killing many of the creatures instantly.

Rachel and Steve stay close to each other while fighting off more of the creatures. She spots one heading straight for him so she throws a ball of energy straight past him and into the creature before it gets within 10 feet of him. Thor uses his axe to kill the creatures before turning to Steve and Rachel who're panting, trying to catch their breath while they have a few seconds to spare. "New haircut?" Steve asks. "Notice you've copied my beard" Thor replies and strokes his own beard. Steve nods and gestures to his beard while he and Rachel continue to catch their breaths. "By the way, this is a friend of mine, tree" Thor introduces them to the tree who's killing the creatures by growing his arm straight through them. "I am Groot" he states as he looks at Steve and Rachel. "I am Steve Rogers" Steve states in reply and Thor chuckles before their attention is drawn back to the battle at hand.