verb.
To come or go back to a place or person.
noun.
The firing of a weapon to counter a shooter's shot.
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They recoiled from their pasts, and in doing so found each other.
But the universe isn't kind enough to let a moment of peace last.
It took se...
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Chaos wasn't an accurate enough word for it. For the scrambling, explosive, violent battlefield they had to cross.
Spinning and ducking, calling out warnings and heeding those shouted to her by the man at her side, Kat fought on. Their steps were an instinctive dance, knowing without having to voice the fact that they had each other's blind spots covered. Knowing what a touch to each other's shoulder's meant, or knowing to lean into the contact of their backs pressing together to create an impenetrable front of firepower when it was needed. Kat found her trigger finger twitching at every lurching motion within her range of vision, her feet fighting to keep on the path she had set as they carved out their route to the downward slope of the crater. She could see flashes of lightning in the sky above it, a sure sign that Thor was still on the field, his focus likely set upon Thanos.
Exhaling a heavy pant as she looked up from the sightline of her rifle to see the Outrider she had been aiming at fall, Kat realised they were almost there; glancing over her shoulder to ensure Bucky was at her side, she caught sight of Rocket a few feet behind them, shooting wildly at anything that came anywhere near him. It looked like he was having the time of his life.
Shaking her head and setting her sights forward once more, Kat urged her exhausted legs on, dashing over the uneven ground ahead of her, her steps faltering as she at last reached the edge of the crater and saw what awaited them below.
Lightning cracked as Thor grappled with an enormous, armoured body in the hollow below – his effort supported by Steve as he leapt onto their opponent, the motion drawing her eye up to catch sight of the smoking, shattered carcass of what had once been Scott's van. And the gauntlet that lay on the ground amidst the chaos. The snarling mass of the alien army hadn't made it this far. This was simply the last stand. The epicentre of the fight.
"Steve!" Kat's cry of fright was jerked from her lips as she watched his body fly through the air – thrown by the enormous hand of a Titan. Thanos.
She felt bile rise in her throat as she recognised that form. He looked no different to the version of himself that she had come face-to-face with five years ago – and now she could only watch as he rolled to crouch over Steve, delivering a single, devastating punch to his limp body.
That sickening feeling only increased as Kat stumbled forward, her feet sliding on the loose scree that littered the sloping edge of the crater, her eyes locked on where Thanos had just lunged for the gauntlet.
She was too far away to take a shot; she could only watch in horror as he lifted it – and was immediately set upon by a flash of light.
"Who's that?" Bucky's voice at her side came with his hand clasping her arm, steadying her as she tried to stumble closer, trying to keep one eye on the distant fight.
"Carol." She breathed as she recognised the glowing shape of the woman, for just a second feeling herself daring to hope that the impossibly powerful being would be able to take down the Titan – before she watched him hurl Carol's body across the crater, sending her crashing into the slope some fifty feet from where Kat and Bucky stood.
