Winter's Fire. ~Book Three~

Chapter Three: The Small Battle of Chicago.

Levinia was struggling to sleep as she pushed away memories, memories that should have been long forgotten and from her past. What she couldn't understand was why they were forgotten, she could see Odin and Frigga doing their absolute best to protect her with Heimdall, only to be thrown to the side by Carvis-one of the many beings that would become a sibling of hers. She remembered being taken to a ship as she screamed... She remembered how she knew that she would never see her mother or fathers again. 
Mother. Her mother... Did she have one of those? For a long moment, all she remembered having for a parent was Thanos, and then another flash of a memory revealed that her mother was, in fact, Red North. Muspelheim. 
"Mom!" She screamed as she sat bolt upright in bed. 
Not even a minute after her cry, Derek stumbled into the room, shirtless and half asleep as he stumbled toward her bed with panicked urgency. He quickly gathered her into his arms, she could tell that he was muttering something to her, but she couldn't tell what it was that he was telling her. All she could think, and speak of, was Red. She kept begging for her mother. 
"Red?!" Derek yelled, finally breaking through her thoughts as his voice boomed around the room. "Levi, what does she have to do with anything?" 
Levi blinked before she wiggled out of his grasp and she attempted to roll to her feet. "The nightmares about Thanos." she managed to say as she fell on the floor with a thud. Her hands sparked with lightning as she scrambled back to her feet, she remembered seeing Red building walls of fire between her and Thanos during a fight in Asgard. "Red was the silhouette in the fire. She's my mom." 
Derek's look now mixed with confusion as he stayed sitting on her bed. "Do you understand how crazy this sounds?" 
"Yes!" She yelled as she started going around her room, trying to get dressed as fast as possible. "Let the wards down." 
This request was what finally drove him to his feet. "We let the wards down and they find us." In one quick motion, he was in her face and towering over her. "They all find us." 
Levi raised an eyebrow as she held a jacket against her chest. "That's the fucking point! We let Red and her band of world saving morons find us." 
He grabbed her arm-she could feel his fingers digging in her skin and she knew that he would leave bruises on her skin. "Levi, no." He said in a low growl. 
"No?" She repeated. "No?!" She yanked her arm out of his grasp and started floating in the air. "What do you mean no? That's my fucking mother." 
"Well," he said in a deadly calm voice. "If she's your mother, why don't you go?" 
Her electricity crackled around them as she felt her eyes burn, it was flashing in her eyes as she gritted her teeth and pushed him away from her. "What did you say to me?" 
The air was still around them as they stared at each other. With the tension building between them, she knew that it wouldn't lead to anything good. He glared at her as he said. "If you are so sure that Red North is your mom, then go. She's obviously needing you." 
Levi leaned away from him as the blood drained from her face and her heart dropped down to her stomach. "You're just going to leave me?" The gravity of the situation was just setting into her, so much so that she stuttered over her next words. "G-Gamora told us to stay together." 
"Yeah? Well, maybe she was wrong." His voice was still scarily calm, it sent a shiver over her skin and down her back. She almost wished he was yelling at her, she would know how to handle it if he was still yelling at her. 
She took a step back and slipped her jacket on before grabbing a backpack and starting to shove whatever she could get her hands on into it. "Fine, then you can be the one who tells her that you told me to leave." Shifting the strap of her bag to her shoulder, she made her way toward the window. "But I'll guess I'll go, and I guess I'll see you around." She opened it, only to pause as ash started to rain down around them and drift outside. She hoped that it wouldn't come down to a fight, she hoped that she'd be able to leave peacefully... but that hope was quickly dashed as she looked over her shoulder at him. 
"I guess so." He said dully as they locked eyes. 
Levi closed her eyes as her shoulders slumped forward. "You aren't gonna let me go so easily, are you?" 
"Nope." 
And suddenly, he lunged at her, and they both crashed through the window. 
+++
Red felt awkward as they gathered around the Bifrost with Heimdall getting ready to send her, Steve, Thor and Tony back down to Earth. For the first time in over seventy years, she was wearing leather armor to keep her body safe, and all she could think of was the last time she wore it... right before they fought Thanos.
She had told Sif and the Warrior Three to stay behind in case they were needed, though she couldn't imagine them being needed for this situation. 
Red shook off her awkwardness as she turned to look up at Steve, Thor and Tony. "She's going to be scared, Thanos might have painted us as the bad guys." She took a deep breath as she fiddled with her ring. "So... stay on guard." 
Tony smirked at her as he put his face plate down. "I think we can handle it." 
"I know we can. But I'm still gonna tell you to be careful." She offered him a small smile. "We haven't handled something like this before." 
"Is your group ready, Princess?" Heimdall said as he glanced over to the small party.
Red gave him a half-hearted shrug as she watched him open up the gates between this world and the next. "As we'll ever be." She would have loved to plan more than just get in, grab Levi and get out, but with as much as was at stake right now, there really wasn't any room to plan more ahead. Also, as she'd said before, most of their plans end up going to shit anyway, so who really cared at this point? The four of them tensed up as the Bifrost opened and they were teleported into the middle of Chicago with the only thing giving them away being the rainbow bridge. The moment they landed, Red felt as if something was wrong. 
Ash was raining down upon them and as far as she could tell, nothing seemed to be on fire. She came to the conclusion that they had landed in the middle of a fight. From where they stood, they could see flashes of purple before lightning struck and thunder rumbled, as it mixed with the black ash that fell around them, the power went out. 
Red slowly turned around to look up at her brother. "Thor... that wasn't you, was it?" She knew that it wasn't him, but she wanted to believe that it was. At least then, it wouldn't be their daughter that was in trouble. 
Thor slowly shook his head. "No, for once it wasn't me." 
"It's Sparky and the Emo Kid." Tony said as they continued to look up at the sky. 
"Yeah..." Red said as she slowly nodded. "That kid is hardcore goth." 
"Hardcore goth." He agreed.
After a long moment, Thor slowly turned to look down at Red and Tony. "What's a goth." 
Red and Tony looked at each other, before looking back to him and saying. "Loki." Which Thor didn't seem to want to question further, and while Steve looked like he wanted too, he stayed silent as he led the way down the trail of ashes. 
As they walked, Red had gotten in contact with Tasha and Clint, telling them where the rest of them were and informing them that they would need backup soon. In the end, it really didn't take the group long to find Levinia and Derek, especially after they found the ever flowing stream of running Chicago nightlife. 
They had arrived in Millennium Park just in time to hear their opposing energies clash together, cracking the pavement and bursting surrounding windows as they fell toward the ground. Derek seemed to be falling with Levinia, guiding them toward the ground, both crashing into the already damaged pavement, creating a large crater in the middle of the park. 
"And this is why we can't have nice things." Red muttered as she waved her hand and her staff appeared in her ring's place. 
"But I still have nice things." Tony whispered back as the group gathered behind her. 
Steve let out a snort of laughter. "You mean the things that were wrecked during Christmas?" 
Red rolled her eyes as she glanced at Thor. "See what I have to deal..." She trailed off for a moment as she registered what they had just said, and turned to face the two of them. "What happened during Christmas?" 
They looked at each other and then back down at her. Tony shook his head. "Nothing." 
Red didn't have the energy to worry about something like this, she just closed her eyes and turned back around to face the crater before them. "We're talking about this later." She then flew off to find Levi and Derek in the havoc they were causing.
"I'm in so much trouble." Tony said over the coms as he flew after her. 
Steve jogged behind the both of them with his shield on his arm. "At least you don't have to live with her!" 
As they got closer and closer to the fight, Red had one thought running through her mind. She needed to save her daughter.
+++
Levinia got back to her feet and wiped at her nose as it started to bleed, she was starting to get tired, but she didn't have room to give up right now. She pushed passed her tiredness as she flew at Derek, screaming as she threw him into the Bean. 
She proceeded to drag him across the concreate and pieces of brick and rubble flew all around them. "You're going to keep me from my mother?" Levi yelled as her lightning gathered around her fist and she punched him in the face. "From my family?!" 
Derek took her hits as if they were nothing, which only pissed her off more. "They couldn't save you from Thanos!" He yelled back as she punched him again. "I could, I am your family." 
Levinia screamed in rage as she put everything she had left into her hands and let her lightning seep into his skin, shocking him everywhere it touched. She didn't stop as she watched his eyes roll into the back of his head and he shook under her. She kept screaming wordlessly as she flew up and into the sky, going higher than most of the skyscrapers that surrounded them before she drove them back toward the ground and deeper into the crater, she only stopped when they hit a pipe in the ground. 
Finally, when he stopped moving, she took her hands off of his body and breathed heavily, her throat felt raw and her body was smoking, even her hands were blackened at the tips. She didn't move to wipe the blood away from her nose, she felt spent. But she felt as if she had won. It was over. Derek was dead and she could go to Red without getting into another fight ever again. 
It was too much to wish for. 
Very suddenly, Derek opened his eyes and flipped them over. He set his hands on her throat and she could feel her life being drained her. She couldn't breathe, she felt as if she was drowning. As her fight or flight responses kicked in, she could hear her heart beating frantically in her ears, and as it started to painfully slow down, her vision blurred and she was sure that this was it. She was dying and there was nothing she could do about it, nothing she could do to stop it. 
As she was fading into darkness, she saw a blur of orange light fly into the crater and connect with Derek's face. He was thrown off and she rolled to her side as she struggled to take a breath. 
This was it... this had to be. She was dying. 
+++
Steve stood behind Red as they stood at the edge of the hole that Levinia had created only moments before. She looked mostly dead, her skin was sickly gray, and Derek looked up at them with rage still showing in his eyes. 
"What the fuck?" He asked. 
Red threw another ball of fire into his face. "Get your hands off of my daughter." 
Levinia, much to his relief, took a deep breath. She almost shrieked as air suddenly filled her lungs and colored flooded her cheeks, she stayed on her side as she coughed. 
Steve nodded at Red before she flew down and stood between Derek and Levinia, her staff still raised as a massive crack sounded. He didn't need to look to know that she had hit Derek across the face with her staff, which had clearly broken his nose. 
Derek roared with rage as he got back to his feet. "You bitch!" 
At least Red's plan was working, he thought to himself. According to what little planning they had decided to do, Red was going to be getting Derek out of the way while he got Levinia to safety. 
"Come and get me, Ashy." She yelled as she flew up and into the air. 
The moment Derek flew after her, Steve jumped down and into the hole while Tony and Thor kept him covered. He set his shield on his and knelt down next to her, gathering her up and into his arms as he brushed her hair out of her face. 
"Levinia?" He whispered as he checked her pulse. "Levi, can you hear me?" 
Finally, much to his relief, her eyes opened. They were glowing purple, but slowly, very slowly, as she gathered her bearings, they turned into a beautiful bluish green. It almost took his breath away as he looked down at her. "Mom?" She mumbled. "Mom... where are you?" 
He smiled as he finished brushing her two toned hair out of her face. "Red's fighting Derek right now. My name is Captain Rogers, and-" he broke off as she gave a weak laugh. 
"I know who you are." She said as she fully opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Get me to my feet, she needs back up." 
As soon as the words left her mouth, Tony and Thor flew in the direction that Red and Derek had gone in. Shaking his head, he hooked an arm under her legs and carried her out of the crater. "They're helping Red. I'm supposed to get you to safety." 
"Okay... where are we going?" 
"Good question." 
He ran them out of the crater and toward a nearby building. All the while, he kept her held close to his chest, he didn't want to put her down, he didn't want to risk having her get hurt. Not just because she was his best friend's daughter, it was something... deeper than that... something he couldn't exactly put a finger on, or explain. "Red called some friends, and they're on their way to the park. He'll be taken by them." 
"SHIELD?" She asked softly as she leaned her head against his shoulder. 
He gave her a soft smile as he shouldered the door open. "No, I don't think so." 
Steve sat down on the ground and kept Levinia held to his chest. She was hurt and too weak to hold herself up. He just wanted to make sure that she saw okay. That she would always be okay. 
+++
Levinia was sure that she was about to faint again when she opened her eyes and looked up at the Captain, but all she could focus on was him. 
It was as if the world had fallen away and all she could see was him. 
Asgardians fall in love a handful of times in their lifetime, but only once in their lives will they find someone they would give everything up for, magic and all.
In that moment, Levi knew that she would do anything, be anything for him. The stars had aligned and somehow fate decided that it was no longer gravity holding her to the Earth, it was the captain. Her captain. Steve Rogers.
And somehow, deep down inside, she knew that he felt the same way about her. He was hers, she was his. Fate had decided it. 
Finally, she closed her eyes and relaxed against against his chest, letting herself fall asleep as he sat them down and gently rocked her back and forth. 
+++
When Red, Thor and Tony finally caught up to Derek, Thor held his hammer at his side, waiting for his sister to give him the word. She nodded and glanced at Tony, who held up his hands, they glowed a bright blue against the night sky around them. 
Red held her staff at her side as she titled her head. "Derek, if you stand down, we don't have to hurt you." 
Derek, much to her annoyance, chuckled at that. "Hurt me?" He held his arms up and open, as if he was silently telling them to try. "You know you can't hurt me, North." 
Red shrugged in response as she spun her staff between her fingers. "Your nose begs to differ." She raised an eyebrow at him. "I know I can hurt you, Asher. You are surrounded. Stand. Down." 
Only he did not, in fact, stand down. Instead, he looked down at his hands and said. "Surrounded? I don't think I'm surrounded." 
Before either Tony or Thor could react, he lunged at Red and teleported them away from the pair as his fingers wrapped around her arms. They were higher than she had ever been in her entire life, she could feel frost starting to grown on the tips of her fingers and she realized with almost sickening horror that Tony and Thor would never be able to get to them in time. 
"Looks like it's just you and me, Fireball." He whispered to her. 
Shivering, Red set her free hand on his chest and fire exploded around them, surrounding them in a sphere of fire. "I'm still stronger than you." She whispered. 
He smirked at her as she felt her eyes get wide with fear as her entire body went numb. She felt cold, colder than she did moments ago, and the feeling of fear trailing up her spine was nearly paralyzing. She had never felt anything like this before, as the sound of her heart beating echoed dully in her ears, the fire inside her flickered and threatened to go out as the fire surrounding them dimmed. 
"Are you now?" His voice sounded as if he was far away, but he was still mere inches away from her. 
Red fought to stay awake, she knew that if she didn't stay awake, she would die. As her fire died out around them, she finally blacked out. 
And then she was falling. 
+++
As he and Thor watched Red fall toward them, Tony wondered if this was how she felt felt when she watched him fall in New York. Did her heart fall into her stomach? Did she feel as if her entire world was about to crash around her? 
He put everything he had into his boosters and he flew as fast as his suit would let him and just as he was about to catch her, Derek suddenly appeared above her and with a wave of black energy, he punched her into the ground with Tony following close behind her. 
He was inches away from catching her when she landed in the crater with a sickening thud. There was no way she didn't at least have a few broken bones. He landed down next to her and lifted his face plate as he looked down at her, a large gash had formed-it spread from her hairline to the edge of her eyebrow, and he couldn't even tell where it started on her head. 
As Derek appeared beside them, Tony quickly quickly turned and sent a blast to his chest, causing the Asher to fall to the ground. Thor landed next with his hammer held up and ready. 
"Stand down, Kid." Tony told him as his blaster started to recharge. 
"This doesn't need to get any messier." Thor said. 
Derek doesn't move to attack. "Then let me have Levinia." 
"No can do, Gerard Way." He said before he fired down at him. 
Thor had followed suit and brought down a bold of lightning that landed on Derek with a crash of thunder. 
Suddenly, the scene lit up with spot lights as the Quinjet hovered over them and Natasha's voice echoed around them. "Derek Asher, stand down now. If you don't, you will be taken by force, and I can promise you, you won't like it." 
Derek slowly got to his feet with his hands up, and for a moment, Tony thought that they had won, that maybe he was finally standing down without any more of a fight. But then, he grins, and in a duff of gray smoke, he's gone. 
"Shit," Tony muttered as he looked around them. "We should've held him." 
"I can't help but agree with you, Stark." Natasha said as she and Clint landed the jet. 
Red slowly opened her eyes as he and Thor knelt down on either side of her but her eyes focused on him first. "Where's Levi and Steve?" 
Tony chuckled as he reached down and moved the stray pieces of hair out of her face. She was always so worried about other people, even when she was the one that was possibly on death's door. He was about to answer her when Steve came out of a nearby apartment building with Levinia cradled protectively in his arms. 
He helped Red up and to her feet, letting her use him as support as they shuffled to meet Levi and Steve in the middle. She smiled as she looked over the face of her long lost daughter. 
Levi slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Red with a weak smile. "Hey..." 
"There is... so much I want to say." Red said as she reached over to touch Levi's cheek. 
Levinia smiled as she slowly shook her head. "You don't have to say anything, I already know." 
It was an unbelievably heartwarming moment, one that even Tony didn't want to ruin. And luckily it wasn't him that ruined it. The ramp to the Quinjet and revealed Clint, with his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the group. 
"Sorry to cut into what is a very heart warming moment," he called to them. "But are you guys getting on or not?" 
Red looked over her shoulder at Clint and nodded. "Might as well, seeing as you're here and all." With Tony's help, she limped toward Clint and gave him a small, impish grin, one of the many smiles that Tony had grown to love. "You're late by the way." 
"Yeah, sorry, there was traffic." He returned the grin with a chuckle. 
Tony reached up to brush some of the blood out of her face with a sigh. "We need to get you back to the tower." 
As they sat down in the jet, her eyes flicked over to Levi and Steve. "Yeah." Red agreed. "We need to get Levi patched up. 
Levinia, still sitting in Steve's lap, raised an eyebrow at that. "Me? Have you seen your face lately?" 
Tony chuckled as he stepped out of his suit and sat down next to Red. "Let's get both of you patched up." 
And once everyone was on the jet, the ramp closed and they took off toward New York City and, in turn, toward Avengers Tower.