Universal Chaos

Chapter 20

People were still swarming; a churning mass that Sutton forced herself through with lessening care with each shove. Her eyes frantically searched the crowds still trying to spy the Doctor in the midst of all the faces. For once her small stature came in handy for sliding around people and squeezing through small openings.

The whole search seemed pointless. They'd been separated in a city teaming with confusion and panic and she didn't even know if the Doctor was actually alright. She shifted to the sidewalk, trying to think like he might, or at least behave how he'd behaved earlier, and pulled as far from the crowds as she could. Hugging the buildings she continued on, glancing inside of store fronts as she went to see if he'd taken shelter inside somewhere.

Her foot pressed against something soft instead of crunching glass and she instinctively pulled back sharply as she looked down.

A bowtie.

She bent down and snatched it up with a gasp, cradling the scrap of fabric near her chest as she scanned the crowd more fervently.

"Doctor!"

He wasn't in the building next to her, or anywhere down the sidewalk. Sutton shoved the

bowtie into the tote and moved with even more purpose.

And then the tide shifted.

She'd been going with the flow, following the crowd down the street and away from where Tony and Thor were finishing off a few more of the rancid beasts. But people were turning and running back the way they'd come, fear still painted on their faces as they pushed and shoved any in their way. Sutton was caught in the rush of people despite her attempts to stay out of the bustle. Her size was turned against her as the mass of bodies pressed and dragged her along with them.

She choked and nearly stumbled as someone elbowed her in the side, but caught herself before she actually fell.

If she fell now, she'd be trampled.

Another rumble shook the city and people screamed.

She needed to go the other way.

Sutton bit her tongue and turned to fight against the crowd. People were crying as they ran, some with bloodied faces and some even worse than that. She felt her eyes grow hot, but she didn't have time to focus on them. There was a bigger picture she had to think about. Universes that needed her to act.

The fight was coming to them. That's why the people had turned and started running the other way. Corvus and Proxima were carving out a path in the skyscrapers with the other Avengers on their tail. Tony and Thor wouldn't be able to hear her if she tried to shout back a warning, so she grit her teeth and continued on. She kept part of her attention on the incoming threats, feeling her throat tighten as they obviously searched the crowds.

They were bored of fighting, it seemed. That wasn't good.

Sutton made it back over to the sidewalk, slowing at an intersection where the street widened out and the crowds thinned slightly. She held the strap of the tote in a clenched fist and climbed up the base of a street light in an attempt to get a better view. Corvus and Proxima were drawing closer, razing through clusters of people just for the fun of it. Sutton wrapped her arm around the pole and turned away, searched the mass.

There!

Across the street was a lean figure. She'd recognize his moppy hair anywhere. The Doctor looked like he was taking deep breaths, as if he were recovering, and he rubbed at his chest as he staggered down the sidewalk.

"Doctor! Over here!"

He couldn't hear her over the noise and distance. Sutton moved to climb off the pole as the screams grew and the attacks rained down. There was the sound of more shattering glass and whining, bending metal. Cars turned end over end as they were tossed from the road. Sutton gasped and held on to remain steady. Checked to make sure she could still see the Doctor.