Insane in my Russian Brain - P. Parker

Chapter Thirty Six

A/N: New book coming soon since this one is getting wrapped up.

And then the missiles hit the compound.

Clint and Kat fell through the explosion landing at least ten floors below. Clint coughed, the debris hitting his lungs in waves. "Cap!"

He yelled for Steve, but couldn't find him anywhere. It was just him and Kat, who was slowly getting onto her feet, groaning. She offered a hand to him, helping him to his feet. "You good?"

"I'll be alright." A low, menacing growl cut Clint off. Both pairs of eyes turned to a tunnel, cautiously watching the noise. "Before we get killed I have something I need to say. I'm sorry kid, I'm so sorry. There was nothing else that could have been done."

Kat nodded and licked her lips, the feeling of blood overwhelming her. "It wasn't your fault. She would have found a way to get the job done whether we tried to stop her or not."

Clint readied an arrow, shooting it down the tunnel. The shadow of something non-human awaited, screeching and running toward them. "Clint..." Kat grabbed onto his run, pulling him behind her. "We gotta go."

They ran in the opposite direction, the lights above them flickering red. Clint threw an arrow at a nearby pipe, detonating the area behind him. Both he and Kat jumped out of the way, somewhat landing out of the fire.

The creatures still continued at them, and Kat launched a grappling hook at the ceiling, pulling both her and Clint up. The creatures climb the walls, but the two shot them down quickly.

They collapsed to the ground, trying to catch their breaths. Clint held the gauntlet in his hand, which he had managed to snag while running. Nebula approached, standing above their figures. "Oh, hey. I know you."

He gave her the gauntlet, breathing out with relief that it was in good hands. "Father, I have the stones."

"What?" Nebula stepped on Clint's chest, pointing a gun at him and one at Kat.

"Stop." A woman with green skin and pink hair stepped forward, holding her own gun at Nebula.

"You're betraying us?"

Nebula... a second one, at that, stepped forward, her hands in the air. "You don't have to do this."

"I am this." Clint and Kat stood, backing away from the two Nebulas and the green-skinned woman.

"I am so done with this shit," Kat whispered to Clint, looking between the two different Nebulas. The entire situation was so confusing.

"No, you're not."

"You've seen what we become." Become. This Nebula, this was their Nebula.

"Nebula, listen to her."

"You can change."

"He won't let me." The past version of Nebula gently smiled, lowering her gun. She pointed it at the green-skinned woman, who shot her own laser back.

The younger Nebula collapsed, falling to the ground. She was dead.

Kat picked up the gauntlet, passing it to Clint. "How do we get out of here?"

Yellow sparks started flying in front of their eyes, forming a portal. A man stepped out of it, his head buried in a piece of paper. "I'm here for Ekaterina Romanoff and Clinton Barton?"

⧗ ⧗ ⧗

As they stepped through the portal, they were met with thousands of others, all gathered for this fight. They had known they weren't the only ones who wanted Thanos' head on a stick, but this was a whole new level.

Kat observed the people. They were all in battle suits and robes, some with masks and others without. But what caught her attention was a small group of four people, standing off to the side confused.

Mantis, Drax, Quill... Peter Parker.

Kat's mouth hung open in shock. She wanted to yell at him, but she knew he wouldn't hear her. She knew she would have to fight her way to him.

"Avengers!" Her attention focused on Steve, who stood by Thor and was holding Mjolnir. He was worthy. "Assemble."

All at once, they charged forward. Rocks were sent scattering across the battlefield, and ships were destroyed. Kat shot widow bites at the armies of Thanos' men, and when she ran out, she switched to her gun.

"I think we're winning!" She yelled back at Steve, who couldn't stop smiling at her squeaky voice. He would never get used to the fact that she was seventeen again.

"Kat? Kat! Ekaterina!" At the sound of her name, Kat's head snapped over to a calmer, emptier area of the field. There she saw Peter standing with Tony, helping him to his feet.

A grin took over Kat's face as she sprinted towards Peter, holding him tight in her arms. "God, Parker, you'll never know how long I've waited for this day."

Tony held up a finger, trying to catch his breath. "Remind me to believe you about there being a second battle next time."

Kat pulled away from Peter who kissed her quickly on the lips. "Remind me not to let there be a next time."

Tony flew off, leaving the two alone. Peter pulled Kat back into his arms, hugging her. "I thought you were gonna bleed out on the ship. What in the world happened?"

Kat shook her head and smiled. "Nebula helped patch it up. But... we were gonna run out of oxygen. Tony and I were gonna die. But the Avengers... they came to rescue us."

Peter furrowed his eyebrows and looked her up and down. "But how do you look the same?"

Kat laughed and kissed him quickly. "That's a story for a different day." She stood, helping him to his feet. "You see the guy in the black suit over there? I want you to take the glove he's holding and get it as far away from here as you can."

"What about you?"

"I'll see you on the other side." Kat ran off, shooting as many troops as she could on the way.

It was hard for her to believe what she had just done. She had just left Peter, someone she never thought she would see again after all those years apart.

But she had a feeling that this time would be different. This time she would see him again, even if just for a moment.