Captain's Hart and Soul

Sneak Preview: Infinity War

*A/N So many of you have been asking since the end of this book if I was going to do 'Infinity War'. I did promise I would, and I will because it is amazing (watched it in theatres last weekend along with so many of you!)/ Fair warning, it will probably be a while before I start working on the sequel but I have enough ideas that I wanted to share a sneak preview. PLEASE DO NOT SPOIL THE MOVIE IN YOUR REVIEW/COMMENTS! Let's be respectful and give everyone the chance to watch spoiler free and be as surprised and amazed as we were! That said, it was definitely one of the best movies in the MCU (my opinion). I was kind of worried, but Marvel showed me again that my fears are unfounded and they certainly know what they're doing. A tiny spoiler I did cry a little bit (a lot) but I won't say more than that, promise! I again ask everyone to keep reviews to spoiler-minimum. Without further ado, to all you lovely people who read my work and are interested in reading a sequel to this book, I present a small preview! Hope you all enjoy and as always thank you to everyone who showed such tremendous support!

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There was an idea...

November, 2007

"Arianna Hart."

Arianna stood tensely, staring warily at the man who stood beside her potential savior.

"My name is Phil Coulson... we would like to hire you."

To bring together a group of remarkable people...

"Why me?" Arianna asked, and Coulson smiled.

"We told you - you're what we need."

Arianna paused, mulling the offer over, the danger but also all the good she could do. She took a deep breath-

"I'm in."

To see if we could become something more...

May, 2012

Arianna and Nat looked up when the door to the medical bay opened, and Arianna was surprised to see Steve Rogers standing there fully dressed in his Captain America suit, stars and stripes and all.

She stood up, while he said firmly, "Time to go."

He looked toward Arianna.

"Can you fly one of those jets for us?"

"I'll do it." Clint replied as he walked out of the bathroom where he'd been cleaning up. Steve gave him a measured look, before looking questioningly at the women in the room. Both nodded, and Steve questioned the archer no further.

"Suit up." He instructed.

So when they needed us...

The New York streets were in absolute chaos as police sirens wailed and people ran screaming in all directions. All around the city, the alien race they'd come to know as the Chitauri crawled about, destroying buildings and shooting at innocents while more kept pouring down from the giant wormhole above Stark Tower.

"How do we do this?" Nat asked Steve as the Avengers faced off against the alien invasion.

"As a team." Steve answered firmly.

We could fight the battles...

Avengers Tower

Summer, 2015

"That, up there?"

Tony pointed to the ceiling to emphasize what he had witnessed when he'd gone through the wormhole in the sky during the Chitauri battle in New York three years prior; when he'd seen the entire alien army just waiting to attack from space.

"That's the end game. How were you planning on beating that?"

Steve didn't even miss a beat.

"Together." The Captain answered.

That they never could.

Tony stepped up to his best enemy turned friend, staring hard at the blond soldier.

"We'll lose." He pointed out, his eyes flickering briefly but meaningfully to Arianna.

Steve noted the silent hint, but he remained firm as he replied quietly, "Then we'll do that together, too."

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Arianna - "United, we stand."

Present day

Arianna smiled as Steve wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close against his chest. Reaching up she played with the length of dark-blonde hair that threatened to fall into bright blue eyes, fingering the hair fondly before pushing it back for her husband.

"I love you." Steve told his wife, and Arianna's smile widened.

"I-"

She broke off as she saw something flash on the television screen from the corner of her eye. Her attention captured, she placed her full focus on the picture that had appeared beside a breaking news headline with a growing coldness that crept up her spine as her brain processed what her eyes were telling her.

"Divided..."

"What is it?" Steve asked, turning around to look at what had caught Arianna's attention.

He stilled as well, and Steve's expression became grim as he too stared at the news broadcast. Arianna's eyes remained riveted on the dark brown gaze in the all-too familiar and somewhat painful to look at face of her ex-best friend. Beside the picture, the headline screamed: 'Tony Stark missing following alien chase into space.'

"Tony..." Arianna whispered, and Steve tightened his hold around his wife.

"We fall."

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Arianna grit her teeth as she fired her machine gun at the monsters that seemed to be coming from every direction.

Sensing movement behind her and feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand, she bent over backwards, swinging her upper body in a horizontal arc just as a clawed hand swiped where her head had been a second ago. Arianna fired at the creature that had tried to attack her from the back, killing it, before she threw a knife as she brought herself upright once more, killing yet another one of the foul beasts.

"Thanks!" Nat yelled, green eyes briefly meeting the younger agent's hazel ones, before both women became too absorbed in their own battles once more.

Thanos - "The end is near."

But the more she fought, the more Arianna despaired of surviving. The creatures were coming endlessly, and to her right and left she could see so many still being mauled by the hideous monsters despite her best efforts to save who she could while staying alive herself.

"When I'm done..."

Arianna threw her last regular knife even as she shot down the creature coming to her left, and her heart sank as she heard the clink that told her she was on her last bullet. It was quickly spent as she shot down a creature that was in mid-leap, and the monster collapsed in a dead heap not far from where Bucky was struggling against yet another of the aliens.

He didn't have time to thank her, and Arianna didn't have the time to pause to see if he even saw her as another one of the aliens leapt toward her, snarling wildly.

"Half of humanity will still exist."

Arianna swung her twin knives and the electrified vibranium blades sliced through limb after limb, body after body as Aria whirled around like a miniature hurricane on the battlefield.

But still they kept coming, and Arianna found herself praying as she was almost beheaded for the thirteenth time -

'Please, God, if you exist, don't let my son become an orphan this day.'

"I hope they remember you."

"Steve!" Arianna screamed.

"RIA!"