Saving Grace

Ninety Two

Grace felt the floor go out from under her, shouted for her father, and was unable to fly anywhere in her shock and confusion. Not even Sai could get her to safety with all the debris around them, presenting no way out. Grace remembers nothing else from the fall, as she went unconscious for a minute or so. Maybe longer. It's hard to tell.

She wakes to the sound of rushing water and Rhodey's glitching voice in her ear. "Mayday, mayday! Does anybody copy?! We're in the lower level, it's flooding!"

"Rhodey?" Grace says.

"We're drowning!" he shouts. "Does anybody copy? Mayday!"

"Rhodey?!" Grace sits up, ignoring the pain in her head. "I can hear you! Rhodey?!" He doesn't answer her, and then Grace hears movement near her.

She turns, seeing Clint through the red emergency lights, getting to his feet, groaning in pain. She gets up and walks over to him, stumbling over the debris on the ground.

"Grace?" Clint says.

"Yeah," she replies.

He turns on a flashlight, one wired into his glove, and he shines it around. Grace uses the chest blaster of her suit for the same purpose. They're in a sub level, Grace dimly recognizes, and it's mostly in tact. There's holes in the ceiling, though, and debris is everywhere.

"Cap?!" Clint shouts, receiving no answer.

"Dad?!" Grace hears nothing, and so she turns to someone more near, putting her helmet up. "Sai?" It's silent. "Sai?"

"I'm here," she finally says, her voice also coming through glitched. "You're alright. Nothing's broken. Thankfully."

"Can you contact my dad?" Grace asks. "Maybe see what's wrong with the comms?"

"I'll try," she replies. A few moments later, she says, "I can send a message to your dad and let him know you're okay. Fixing the comms might take some time, though."

"Okay."

"Uh, Grace?" Clint says.

She turns. "What?"

He holds up, of all things, the gauntlet — which still contains the Stones. "We got-" His eyes widen as he looks over her shoulder, and he tosses the gauntlet to her without a word. She manages to catch it, then turns to see one of his arrows, a light on the end of it, going down the tunnel behind her. There's something down there, and Grace recognizes them instantly.

The Outriders.

"Crap," she says, turning to run in the opposite direction with Clint, the gauntlet in one arm, the other shooting blasts behind her.

~~~~

Tony, as soon as he got his bearings, shouted for Grace in a panic. He received no reply, and it worried him immensely. Despite the pain he felt, he got up and went in search for her and the others. During his search, Friday alerted him to a message from Sai, letting him know that Grace was okay. It relieved him immensely, though worry was still present as he searched.

He found Thor first, and then they found a hole to the outside world. What they saw out there was part of Tony's worst nightmare.

Thanos.

He'd brought himself and a ship from the past, along with, Tony suspected, reinforcements. He just hoped Squidward wasn't among them; that guy was annoying.

Tony knew it was stupid to try to fight Thanos right then, especially seeing as he didn't look ready to fight either. So, he went off in search for the others, his daughter in particular. Instead, he stumbled upon a shield, and now has found the owner of it, laying down, unconscious. He kicks him, though not too hard. "Come on, buddy, wake up." Steve gasps as he wakes, and Tony looks down at him. "That's my man." He holds up the shield. "You lose this again, I'm keeping it."