Umbra

Chapter Sixteen

Grey had returned to the battle, sporting a brand new cut on her cheek to go with the rest of her injuries. Steve and Thor were fighting in the middle of the street, and Grey joined them, cocking her pistol and emptying the bullets into numerous aliens.

Steve shot Grey a drained smile, and Thor grinned widely when he saw her. "Lady Grey! Did you enjoy my gift?" he yelled cheerfully as he crunched a Chitauri under Mjolnir.

Grey spun around to elbow one alien in the throat, feeling an electrical charge move through her bone. She shot Thor a smirk. "It was a welcome relief. Thanks for it."

"After the battle, we can continue to explore your new ability." He called, bashing away a group of Chitauri which were inching a little too close. Grey smiled widely, diving headfirst back into the fight. The three of them cleared their spot in a few minutes.

Grey helped Steve back up from where a soldier had knocked him down, passing him his shield which had rolled out of his grasp. "Are you ready for another bout?" Thor asked happily, laughing at their tired faces.

"What? You getting sleepy?" Steve quipped, and Grey laughed, taking the moment to look around her. Manhattan was all but destroyed; bodies of Chitauri fighters littered the street along with smashed up cars and streetlamps. In the distance, Grey saw the massive corpse of a Leviathan.

Suddenly, for the first time in a while, a voice echoed over their ear pieces. It was Natasha. "I can close it! Can anybody hear me?" She sounded terrified, and exhausted, like the rest of them. "I can shut the portal down!"

"Do it, Nat!" Grey said quickly, her eyes wide with hope that maybe this could finally be over, the fear that had wrapped itself around her lessening slightly.

Steve looked up at her with a hopeful expression. "Do it!"

"No, wait!"

Grey frowned when she heard Tony's outburst, looking around at the portal to see more Leviathans swimming out of it. "Tony, these things are still coming!"

"I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute." Tony paused for a moment. "And I know just where to put it."

Grey felt the fear twist even tighter around her. It felt like it was strangling her; pulling and wrenching against her skin. Her entire body shook as she realised what he was saying.

"Tony, you can't do that." She croaked out, a choking feeling stopping her words from escaping her mouth. "Please don't do that."

She thought she heard Tony sniff, before he replied to her, his own voice sounding strained. "I have to do it. Innocent people will die."

"We'll find another way!" Grey wailed, looking over at Steve and Thor, "right? There's another way to do this?"

Steve looked at her with concern, before saying solemnly into his earpiece. "Stark, you know that's a one-way trip?"

Grey stared at Steve in betrayal, before trying to lunge at him. She didn't make it very far; Thor had wrapped one strong arm around her waist to stop her from jumping on the Captain in front of them.

"You traitor!" she screamed, tears already falling from her eyes. Thor held her tightly as she sobbed and struggled in his grip. Steve's words replayed in her mind, the words he had yelled at Tony merely hours before. 'The only thing you really fight for is yourself'.

Overhead, Tony flew up to the portal, climbing higher and higher into the sky. Grey watched as he flung himself into the portal, and she felt her whole body freeze.