Wouldn't Leave You (A Captain America Fan fiction)

Battles and Breaking

Chapter 17 - Rachel Stark

"Smash."

 And with that, the Hulk smiles and jumps onto the building, taking down three soldiers off the bat. The three of us turn back around and face a mob of Chitauri that was trying to get the jump on us. Nat jumps under the bridge and comes around behind them so that Steve and I could get a better shot. 

And then we attack. 

Steve goes to my left and I quickly lose sight of him. No matter, I'll just take these out on my own. I start to take the first one down. I shoot at it with my pistol until it was limp on the ground. I make my way over to it, hoping to find something useful to take on the others with. I grab its gun off of the ground and start to fire it at the others. I quickly take down a portion of the mob, their weapons cutting through them much easier than any of our guns. I am on a roll shooting the Chitauri, taking out everyone else's. As I finish off the group, I hear another one land behind me. I quickly turn around to the Chitauri, ready to fire until I see red, white, and blue. I stand up straighter, then slump down in fatigue. Then I feel pain. I feel it in my left leg, on the back of my thigh.

"Steve, I need some help here," I say in a strained voice.

"What is it?" he asks, worried by my tone.

"Where am I shot?" I ask, feeling the pain but unable to see the back of my leg. He runs to my side, takes me into his arms, and sits me down gently. I feel his hand run up the back of my thigh, quickly stopping when I suck in a huge breath. 

"Rachel, are you alright?" She says, crouching down next to me, examining my thigh.

"There's nothing we can do out here. It is one of those shots that fry up all of the nerve endings. You're not going to bleed out, but it is going to hurt." Steve says, worried almost, but trying to hide it.

"Alright. I will try not to overwork." I say as the three of us begin to stand up again. I shift most of my weight onto my right leg as we wait for something else horrible to happen. 

"Cap," Nat starts, "none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal."

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it," I say, leaning against the railing of the bridge.

"Well, maybe it's not about guns." She says, pointing to the flying Chitauri. Her plan solidifies in my brain as a firey look sweeps across her features.

"You wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride," Steve skeptically points out, looking between the two of us.

"I got a ride. I could use a lift though." She says with a slight smirk, backing far away so that she can get a running start. She motions for Steve to hold his shield up. 

"You sure about this?" Steve asks, bracing himself.

"Yeah, it's gonna be fun." She says.

"Go get 'em, Nat!" I say. She gives me a worried smile, then she starts, jumping off a car onto Steve's shield. Just as she jumps off, a wave of Chitauri comes from both sides.

"Cap, you got left." he nods as we begin to take out the squadron. 

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As the last Chirtauri falls, Steve and I take a deep breath. The adrenaline rush from seeing all those Chitarui come at me is slightly wearing off and my leg begins to hurt again. The two of us catch our breath and look around, still shocked by what is happening.