Artemis: The Final Battle ➳ Steve Rogers [2]

[ F I F T Y - F O U R ]

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S T E V E

This is it. This was her plan all along; to put a wedge between the team, to tear us apart from the inside...and we fell for it.

I glance around the room. I wasn't the only one who had put the pieces together, but the damage has already been done. The trust had already been broken, wounds have already been inflicted and there was no going back now. The Avengers were in pieces and I'm not sure if there's any way to put those pieces back together again.

I duck just in time before Camille's blade came down on me. The metal point embeds itself in the ground instead. Camille scowls at me, the look she wears is so foreign that for a second, I'm taken aback by how it changes her appearance completely.

"Cam-"

She cuts me off with a scoff, "Give it up, Captain. You've tried this before. It's not going to work." She throws her hands up, gesturing around the room, "Look around, Steve. The Avengers are done. It's time to end this. It would be easier if you just went along with it."

A smirk flirted at the corners of her lips, and her eyes met mine. Once again, I'm reminded that the woman that I love was nowhere to be found in this empty vessel any longer. The thought alone makes my heart shatter all over again.

A part of my is tempted to resign to my fate, but the other part of me- the one that still holds onto hope, refuses to believe that Camille would let this happen or that she was truly gone. The woman I fell in love with was a fighter. She'd shown me that time and time again and I had faith that she would pull through one last time.

"I'll never give up on her." I say, rolling back my shoulders to meet her gaze, "I made a vow to her. A promise that I'll spend the rest of my life with her and I intend to keep that promise."

She rolls her eyes with a groan, "Of course you are. You're starting to become a real pain in my ass, you know that?"

Without warning, she charges forward again. I attempted to dodge her blow but she seemed to be faster than she was before and ends up knocking me off my feet. I struggle against her, desperately trying to disarm her.

The last thing I wanted to do was to hurt her. However, it appears that I'm quickly running out of options. With the way things were going, I might not be left with any other choice but to do the one thing I dreaded to do.

Losing her was like losing a piece of myself, and every time I look at her and see how far gone she seemed, the more it eats away at me.

"Camille, stop. Please, baby. You can fight this."

My voice hardly even sounds like my own anymore as I pleaded with her. Desperation threatened to consume me, all I wanted was to have her back, but it seems that even that is too much to ask.

A laugh rips from her throat as she grabs my chin, yanking my face to the side. I'm forced to watch as my teammates tore each other apart, each of them too busy with dealing with one another that they've failed to identify the real threat.

"Take it all in, captain. Not only have you failed Camille, but you've failed your team as well." She spat, her voice laced with venom. "This is what's left of your team... For now. When I'm done there wouldn't even be a single one of you left."