Avengers: Daughters

Chapter 24

From now on, I'll be doing this as more of a general POV because it's much easier.

Libby had been thrown in a room with Ally and they both jumped up when the door opened, the hinges creaking. "Stay behind me," Ally said, tense. "I train, okay? I can do this."

"I train too," Libby said, stepping forward to stand beside Ally. She wasn't about to be shifted to the side. She was strong too. She could fight this too.

A man stepped through the door and they both recoiled from the sight of the scarred and burned face. Libby, however, swallowed her disgust to speak to him. "Friend?" She asked, cautiously. She felt like she recognised him or like she'd heard of him. The man with the scars.

"Friend," he confirmed. "I know your parents. You guys know Peter Parker, right? Family friend?" Libby nodded. "I'm his boyfriend. Hi."

"Oh," Libby said. She'd heard of him, definitely. Peter came round for dinner every so often and last time, he'd mentioned someone called Wade. "Have you come to rescue us?"

"I guess so, since I'm here."

Wade smiled at them and however disconcerting it was, Libby couldn't help but smile back. They were getting rescued from this damned place. They were going home.

Natasha stared at her daughter and clapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from hysterically laughing in relief. She's okay, she's okay, she repeated in her head. She tried to send that message to Clint, tried to reassure her husband. Our daughter is okay. She's smiling.

"Ally," Natasha said quietly. "Ally, I'm sorry. I'm so-how much do you know? "

"Nothing. We know nothing." Ally's face turned stone cold again, the smile slipping off her face. "Mom, we're getting you out of here and then we're going to find Dad and you're going to explain what is going on."

Natasha nodded. "The only problem," she said, "is the fact that I can't walk. They broke my leg."

Natasha noticed the grimace that passed over Ally's face. That was a small comfort. However much Ally claimed to hate her, she still cared.

There's a silence as they all processed this information.

"I'm a liability," Natasha said. She knew what the outcome had to be. If the girls were to escape, they had to leave her behind. She was an agent, she had been the best agent SHIELD had. She could withstand being left behind. Clint never had left her behind, not if he couldn't help it. And if he had to, if he was saving a hostage, he'd come back, as soon as he could. Even against Fury's direct orders. But Clint wasn't here.

"We can't just leave you," Libby said. "Either everyone leaves or no-one does."

"I can definitely tell that Steve Rogers raised you," Loki said with a roll of his eyes.

"Yeah, speak for yourself," Ruby said but even she looked hesitant as she turned to Natasha. "Listen, Aunt Natasha, we can't just leave you."

"Yes, you can. I'll be fine." Natasha turned to Loki. "I'm trusting you, Loki. That you'll get them out alive and well. No double-crossing or back-stabbing or having some ulterior motive."

"I'm not that evil," Loki replied. "They're kids." He glanced at Sam and his voice softened. "Family. Which is why they're going out first and I will carry you out. We can be distractions, if we have to. So they can get out."

"No," Libby said. "You're not being distractions. I know what happens to distractions. What happened to-" She didn't finish but they all knew what the end of that sentence was going to be. What happened to Sharon Carter.

Sharon had died, three years ago, on a mission with Steve and Tony. Steve had been injured, to the point of not surviving if he didn't have immediate medical attention, and Sharon had made a choice. Tony had been offering to sacrifice himself for Steve, because everyone knew what Steve meant - and had used to mean - to Tony. But Sharon made the decision before Tony could put his plan into action. She'd been the distraction while the other two had gotten out of there.

"We'll be fine," Loki said but he didn't sound certain and the look in his eyes was anything but confident. "I'm a god and she's quite good at her job. I guess."

Natasha shifted slightly and winced at the pain that shot through her leg.

"Go," she urged the children but they didn't listen. They weren't children anymore, she supposed. They were young women - all beautiful and strong and idiots. "Please." She locked eyes with Ally.

"Maybe we should-" Ruby began, ever the logical one, but she was silenced by Libby's glare.

"We can't leave someone behind. Not only is she family, it's also a bad choice to leave someone behind who has more experience than us at missions." Libby frowned. "Tactically-" she said.

"Tactically, if we don't leave now, we'll never leave," Ally said. "We've spent too long waiting around. We need to make a decision."

"Anonymous vote?" Ruby suggested. "Everyone close your eyes and raise your hands at your choice, except Loki. Everyone who wants to leave Aunt Natasha behind?"

The Aunt was said somewhat painfully.

Natasha initially closed her eyes - she really did - but opened them when she was sure that everyone else had them closed.

She had voted to leaving herself behind - so had Ruby and Loki.

Ally, Libby and Sam had voted otherwise, then.

It was a tie, which made the decision all the more harder.

Their decision, however, was made for them. A sudden alarm sounded out and they all jumped, except Loki who looked strangely focused.

"We need to go!" Sam yelled.

"I'll heal her," Loki said suddenly and he sounded so strong in that moment that they forgot that he was injured, forgot that he was bleeding and broken, and they stared at him like he was some kind of leader they'd forgotten about. Which he was, Natasha supposed. He used to be a king - when he disguised himself as Odin - and he would have made tough choices everyday.

"Are you strong enough?" Ruby asked, doubtfully.

"We don't have time," he said. "And I'm not leaving her behind."

A heartbeat and then Loki held out his hand and a stream of green magic shot out of his finger and wrapped around Natasha's leg. It numbed and she couldn't stand but she wasn't feeling the pain.

Then the door burst open and guards stood there, half-human and holding alien weapons. Natasha lay there, helpless, and now the children were stuck too.

She locked eyes with Loki. They knew what they had to do. He started to extend his magic, forcing it out at the concrete wall behind him, and she slowly rose, balancing on one leg. Distractions. Saving her daughter and her friends' daughters - that would be a fitting end to a long life.

"I'm sorry," she said to Ally, specifically to her beautiful daughter, and then the roof exploded.

Concrete was rained upon them and as she looked up, squinting against the bright sun, she saw something that made her almost collapse in relief.

The Quinjet, after all this time, out of hibernation. And, in the pilot seat, sat her husband, grinning down at her.

"Need a lift?" He yelled.