TOXIC ~ STEVE ROGERS [1]

Chapter Thirty

Thor and the Hulk took on a flying alien fish together, standing upon it.

Barton fired arrows from above, again and again and again, and always hitting his targets.

Natasha flew the Chitauri chariot out of my sight, fighting like the fierce warrior she was.

Rogers battled with me, his back against mine as we protected not only the civilians but each other.

Tony covered the skies, his hand rockets blowing aliens away every second.

And me?

I tried my hardest to aim right, but despite my efforts I still couldn't hit the aliens where I needed to, not even at close range. I resorted to hand to hand combat, hardly using my powers and instead using the skills my brother and I had trained hours to perfect.

I never wanted to be a weapon, yet here I was.

As I broke a Chitauri neck, I saw the alien fish that Thor and Hulk were fighting go crashing down into the History Museum, littering glass and stone everywhere.

Behind me, a squadron of Humvees drove up and began firing their 50.Cal guns at the sky, hitting Chitauri riders and making our job 3% easier than it was before.

Rogers broke a soldiers leg and picked up his shield from the ground, his back warm against mine.

"Captain, the bank on 42nd past Madison. They've caught a lot of civilians there." Barton spoke as one of his arrows sparked flames in a chariot not far from us.

"I'm on it," Rogers turned around to look at me. I nodded.

"Go. I've got it covered," I said, smashing a soldier in the mouth and knocking it to the ground.

Rogers smiled at me, and ran off.

His smile was etched in my head, and for some reason it gave me courage to fight even harder than before.

The Chitauri came at me even more violently now that Rogers was gone, and soon I could feel my energy waning. I couldn't puff away on a cigarette while fighting aliens, and while the smoke and dust kept me able to fight I knew I couldn't sustain it for much longer.

As I jabbed a soldier in the stomach with my elbow, I heard a scream.

It came from somewhere to my right, behind the wreckage of a freight truck that lay smoking on it's side.

The second scream pierced my heart, and drew the attention of the Chitauri soldiers that surrounded me.

In one swift movement, I leapt up onto the truck, leaping higher than any human I'd ever seen, and landed without a sound on the wheel.

Below me was a girl, but before I could deduce anything else I saw the soldiers racing towards her, and my fists clenched.

It almost felt like slow motion as I jumped. I flew through the air, my arms spread like wings, palms towards the soldiers and fingers outstretched.
I landed in front of her, my body protecting hers as my hands conjured a bubble of green energy around us, that obliterated all the soldiers that tried to harm her.

The look of wonder and hope on her face was the only thing that keep me from collapsing until all of the Chitauri that had charged her turned to ash.

I felt the ground slam into my back. Or was it the other way around?
I didn't know because my stomach exploded into nausea, my eyes rolled back in my head and darkness took over.

* * *

When I came to, I was first aware of the fact I could hardly breath, and that probably wasn't a good thing. The second was I was being slapped repeatedly by a small brown hand.

"Lady, you better wake up because these ugly ass aliens aren't going away." As I opened my eyes I put a face to the voice, and was pleasantly suprised by who it was.

She was a small brown skinned girl, with runaway ringlet hair and pretty brown eyes. She seemed about 7, and I wondered what she was doing out in the street.

I tried to sit up, but was unable to do so because my muscles just wouldn't move. I could almost feel my pores desperately trying to find something to absorb, but the dust and smoke were clearing as the Chitauri moved away from us, and towards another street that had yet to be wrecked.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" The words tumbled from my lips in a rush to make sure the little girl was ok.

"Lady, I'm fine, but I don't think you are," she shifted her legs around, and I realized we were somehow under the over turned freight truck, hidden from view of almost anyone.

"In my pocket. There's a box and a lighter. Can you get them?" My voice was raspy and raw, and I wasn't sure if she understood. But she reached into the pocket of my suit and pulled out the cigarette box and lighter. My earpiece crackled in my ear.

"Walsh? Walsh do you copy? Where are you?" Rogers voice was calm, but there was a hint of franticness to it. I ignored it for the moment.

"I don't think smoking is gonna help you lady," the girl said doubtfully, and I almost grinned. I gestured weakly to my mouth. She raised an eyebrow at me, but nevertheless, she put a cigarette between my lips and lit it with shaking hands. She was so brave, this little girl.

So different from me.

As the nicotine filled my lungs, relief flooded my body and I almost let a moan slip from my lips. The girl was looking at me with a mixture of confusion and awe. Colour must have returned to my cheeks, because they began to feel warmer.

"What's your name kid?" I said between swirls of smoke. The little girl puffed out her chest with pride.

"My name is Michelle Jones. I live in Queens," she said proudly. "My friends call me MJ."

"What are you doing here in Manhattan?" I asked. Her face turned downcast.

"We were here to see the Stark Tower. But I let go of my mommy, and I got lost. I don't know where she is." I small tear slipped down her cheek, and she wiped it away hastily.

I sat up, my muscles working and filling with energy. I was never sure what to do when someone was upset. So I put my hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at me.

"I'll find your mother. I promise," I said. Her eyes glittered.

"Really?"

"Really."

But just as I was about to smile, the piece of metal that had been hidingus from the aliens was ripped away, and the blinding sunlight lit up a figure that stood in front of us, tall and foreboding.

Michelle screamed.

Authors Note
Uh sorry?