Dead Memories

34

Warning: Blood, gore and violence in this chapter.

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Chapter Thirty-Four

Steve was standing in the dark basement, confused. He strongly suspected that he somehow failed to follow Loki's overly simplistic instructions. The summoning did not involve any fresh blood besides his own, and even that was barely a few drops. (Steve was so grateful for that.) And he was sure that he did everything right. But then nothing happened. He felt a chill run down his spine, but everything else remained exactly the same. There were no noises, no flashing lights... there was nothing.

So he was just standing there, staring at the dark stains on the concrete floor, when the floor and walls started shaking. He tensed instantly and readied himself to face whatever was approaching. He needed to focus on keeping his balance when stronger waves shook the floor, but he stood his ground despite the spider web cracks spreading on the floor everywhere.

But there was nothing. Nothing in this room at least.

'Buck? I don't see anyone. What's going on?' he asked on the radio, but received only static as answer. Dammit. He put the thing back in his belt, because he had an inkling it won't suddenly start working again.

There was no point sticking around in the basement, so he turned to run through the giant hole Loki and Bucky used to leave. Maybe they didn't get far enough. Maybe the Whisperer sensed their presence and went immediately after them instead of appearing in front of Steve. There were too many possibilities. One thing was for sure, this thing went to hell in a handbasket a lot quicker than Steve expected. He really wanted to know where exactly they miscalculated, but there was no time to contemplate. He needed to find Bucky first.

The water in the sewer was splashing around from the vibrations in the ground, and it was frankly disgusting, but Steve ignored it as much as he could. The hole leading to the old subway line was just ten or so yards away from the basement "entrance", so he didn't have to bear the smell for long.

Then something exploded right in his face just as he was about to dash through the opening. He was tossed back into the opposite sewer wall from the blast. It was a bomb, a grenade, or something else more magical, he had no idea. He shook his head to get the ringing out of his ears and got back to his feet quickly. He wasn't seriously injured, just a little banged up.

The entrance to the subway line collapsed from the explosion, so now blocks of concrete and metal pipes blocked the way.

'Dammit,' Steve cursed as he looked at the blockage. His mind was immediately trying to come up with alternate routes. It would take too long to find a different entrance into the old subway line from the surface, and Steve doubted he would be able to knock a hole in the sewer wall with nothing but his fists and shield. Besides, he had no idea how much he would compromise the structural integrity of the tunnel if he just started punching holes in the wall. He really didn't want to knock down some supporting beam by accident.

He had to get through here. He grabbed one of the metal pipes to bend it out of the way, then his ear caught the sound of shooting. First he heard the sound of a pistol in the distance and then a rifle, a little closer to where Steve was. This was not the Whisperer, or if it was, they brought company. Shit.

Steve put his shield down and grabbed the metal pipe with both hands, pulling it towards himself to get it out of the way. The pipe bent, then broke with a snap. Steve tossed the broken pipe away and was about to grab another one when the ground started shaking again, a lot more violently than before. Steve had to press himself to the wall next to the hole to stay on his feet. Dust and other bits and pieces were falling from the ceiling, but the noise coming from the other side of the wall was much worse. It sounded like the whole tunnel was warping, twisting... maybe even collapsing.