Irreplaceable (Resiliance Book 3) (Avengers Fan-fic) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 36

Sam

I walked straight to the control room, where everyone seemed to be in good spirits, celebrating and laughing, like I had never seen them before. But I couldn’t shake the feeling in the pit of my stomach. There was something missing, and I didn’t know what. Maybe if I settled the numbers in my mind, then I would be able to relax. Maybe.

I walked over to the computer, slipping through gaps in the crowd. I reached the computer, to find Coulson’s team, except for Melinda Mae, who was standing, talking with Nick and Coulson, were standing, talking and smiling.

Gemma looked at me with a big smile. ‘Sam! Where did you go off to? We’re celebrating!’ she told me. I looked over her shoulder, at the live feed from the compound.

‘Don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched.’ I muttered, as I stepped around her, looking to the screens, still showing the live feed, from the robots which had been forgotten about, hanging around the ruins of the compound.

I heard someone step up beside me, and turned to see Tony looking at me carefully.

‘Sam, it’s over. You need to let it go.’ He told me quietly. I sighed heavily, running a hand through my hair.

‘I know it’s hard. You’ve been fighting this fight for your whole life, even if you didn’t know it. It’s hard to let it go. I know that. But you can’t fight something that’s not th…’ he tried, before I interrupted him, speaking quietly, under my breath.

‘You’re one to talk.’ I told him. He stopped short, stiffening, as I continued. ‘You went on a vengeance spree after Afghanistan, while trying to justify it as philanthropy.'

‘You, of all people, can’t tell me to let it go.’ I told him, and he frowned at me. I sighed and turned to him.

‘You’re trying to tell me to let it go, when you’re a prime example of not letting go. You went back to Afghanistan and laid waste to your own equipment and you can’t say that that was pure philanthropy. So don’t even try.’ I told him cooly. I could feel the tension suddenly fill the air, thick like honey. I sighed heavily, and ran my hands over my face, before turning to Tony, who was looking down, deep in thought, a look of hurt hidden beneath his well-practiced façade of stoic.

‘I’m sorry, I just…’ I sighed heavily, and looked up at the screens, before looking back to Tony. ‘I counted the bodies after the explosion. The numbers didn’t match the numbers we had on file at all. They were off by about two hundred. I know I may be just obsessing over nothing, but I…’ I sighed heavily. 'The last time I left well enough alone, I ended up having to rescue you guys from Alex. And I physically won’t be capable of doing that again.’ I sighed heavily as he looked up again, meeting my eyes, his own brown eyes darkened in confusion.

‘But there’s no way that he could have…’ Tony began, before I interrupted.

‘There could have been a bunker. They could have left as the bomb went off, and we would have been too distracted. We don’t know that there’s no way he could have survived. And I have to take that as him still being alive. I can’t leave this alone until I’m sure. I can’t risk losing the one thing I have in life, Tony. I just…’ I stopped my ranting, taking a deep shaky breath, and looking back to the screens. ‘I just can’t.’ I told him quietly. I felt hands run down my arms, stopping at my elbows, and gently pulling me away. They turned me around, so I faced Tony again. He looked at me with soft eyes, a small smile on his face. Not a smirk. A genuine smile.

‘Come on. You need a break more than any of us. We’re not going anywhere, Sam. I’ll get someone to thoroughly check through and count. And I’ll have Freddie supervise, alright? But you just need to breathe, and relax.’ He told me, leading me to join the others. I stopped walking, gently breaking free of his grasp, and taking his hand.

‘I’ll join you guys in a minute, ok? I just want to check something, alright?’ I asked. He looked at me carefully, before nodding with a careful smile.

‘I’ll see you in a minute.’ He told me. I nodded, before sprinting away, through the doors, and to the nearest stairwell. I just had to check. Someone had got into the lower decks and attacked Loki. I had to be sure that there wasn’t an easy access point. Just in case.

I knew I was being paranoid, but I had a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, warning me against letting my guard down just yet.

I stepped into the corridor, to see my fears realised. The wall blew away, just as I set foot into the hallway, and I was blown back, falling to the ground. I looked up to the smoke alarm, and concentrated, forcing the wires to connect, and sound the alarm. I did the same to the trip wire in the intruder alarm, before I dragged myself to my feet, just as RHOKA and HYDRA soldiers piled into the hallway, Alex at the vanguard. He looked in my direction and smiled maliciously, before nodding to the guards. I backed up, and jumped into the nearest room, closing and locking the door behind me, as they ran upstairs. There was nothing more I could do there.

My heart pounded as I listened for the footsteps.

There was nothing more I could do here either.

This was it. The final face-off.

The last battle.