Avengers Imagines

Devil's Due (Pt. 3/5)

"Steve, careful!" Thor's warning came too late. By then, Steve had inadvertently stepped on a pile of folders lying on the floor and twisted his ankle.

He growled through grit teeth. "Seven months. It's been seven months since JARVIS lost Tony's signal. We have looked everywhere. No sign of him, no sign of (Y/N). It's like they have vanished off the face of the earth!"

"The FSB is a no go." Natasha pulled Steve up by the arm, having to hold him up by the waist when his footing faltered. "You need to ice that thing. We have people infiltrating AIM, although, it does not look promising."

"Alright. I have good news and bad news." Clint appeared in full gear, concern etched on his face. "Which do you want to hear first?"

Thor weighed his options. "Tell us the bad news, Barton. That way we have the good news to look forward to."

"Eeesh, no." Clint winced. "The good news doesn't really make sense if you hear it after the bad news. There is a certain way the information flows."

"For fucks sake, Clint, tell us what you know!" Natasha exploded, with such ferocity, Steve had to let go of her and take a seat.

"Tony's back." Before anyone could register what Clint had said, he added, "So is the psychopath woman. They are taking down the Chrysler building as we speak."

-

"Steve, you really should sit this one out." Natasha side-eyed the man as he failed to get the motorcycle off its stand and proceeded to toss the keys to her, "You're just going to be-"

"A liability? That what you were going to say?" Steve rotated his foot this way and that. The pain was fading, or at the very least, he was getting used to it. "Tony is my best friend. This is not the time to fail him. I am going to get him back, no matter the cost. You know that."

"Seems simple enough." Thor threw Mjolnir in the air and caught it in its decent, testing its weight. "We take down this (Y/N) woman you speak of and Stark is as good as saved."

"We have made that mistake before. Bringing (Y/N) in is just inviting trouble." Natasha warned.

Clint's eyebrows knit together, his lips stretched into a thin line. "I'm with Goldilocks on this one."

Natasha felt as though she would open her mouth and spit fire. "Neither of you were there when we did it the first time around, you don't know-"

"I'm going to need eyes up top." Clint instructed. Thor held him by the arm just as Mjolnir had them both airborne. "You got it."

"This is the worst time for a difference of opinion." Steve began. Natasha twisted the accelerator as far is it would go while also rolling her eyes. "When is it not?"

-

The Black Widow swerved her vehicle just in the nick of time, over the pavement and into an alley, in order to avoid a sonic blast accompanied with a generous sprinkling of glass. You were suspended mid-air, admiring your work of art.

Speaking of which, the Chrysler building glinted in the sun like a toothless smile. In all the years Natasha had been after you, she had always known you to be strategic, always working with a specific goal in mind. What she was seeing in front of her now, mayhem being fabricated without rhyme or reason, wildly stuck out from the pattern.

"What is she doing?" She asked, squinting eyes in the bright sunlight. Steve followed her out into the street, also shielding his eyes, with his hand. "More importantly, what is Tony doing?"

Iron Man circled past you, earning an appreciative smile. The police department was already on site, evacuating people out of buildings and off the streets through safer routes. Tony lifted an empty bus, utilising it to exhaust the flurry of bullets aimed at you. Having expended its use, he heaved it across the street while the armed police personnel ducked for cover.

"I have a clear shot at her." Clint informed the team via comms from somewhere atop the high buildings. "I'm gonna take it."

Steve watched the arrow as it zipped through the air. Leisurely, as though in possession of all the time in the world, you turned to look at it and it froze — right there, three inches from your throat.

Gesticulating in the way of a precise nod, your eyes flicked up for a fraction of a second and the weapon retraced its course. Clint barely had time to roll out of the way before the arrow lodged into a building behind him and exploded.

"I have had enough of you." Thor boomed from the skies. Lightning convened around his hammer while thunder crackled as a warning. "Prepare for your doom!"

He swung the hammer forward and lightning came at you like perfervid snakes. You chuckled, letting your head roll backward and your limbs loose. The impact struck your chest.

In the knowledge of none, not a spot of lightning touched you. Through a discrete opening mere millimetres away from your skin, all of it was sucked into your void. You were impervious to everything in the void. Maniacal laughter erupted from your mouth.

The onslaught finally stopped as Thor had to contemplate that which had transpired. Your grin was broad and unsettling, bearing the same predatory quality as your eyes. Lightning crackled in your palms. It was harder to maneuver than any energy you had come across thus far — but it had passed through the void — it was yours now.

All the same, your eyes were beginning to swim. In one full sweep, you channeled the entire energy on the building to your left. Half of the structure was obliterated and other was making a rapid descent towards the ground.

"Cap, out of the way!" Iron Man pummeled into Steve before the latter had a chance to resist, the two men rolling away from the crash in a tangled mess. Steve was beyond distracted and terrified of what was going on, even more so because he did not know how to interpret any of it.

"NO!" He caught Tony's foot just as he took flight and hauled the armour back into the dirt. Forcing Tony to face him, Steve planted himself firmly on his friend's chest. "Why are you doing this? Why are you on her side?"

Breathing in short, rapid bursts, Steve's eyes searched the cold, metal face for answers. He briefly entertained the idea of ripping off the culprit faceplate with his bare hands, but before he could act upon it or realise the ludicrousness of it, he was greeted with an unwanted interruption.

"I'd like him back." There was an odd calm on your face as you stalked toward the two men — slowly and deliberately. Steve had nearly forgotten about his shield. He reached for it and aimed it right at your condescending smile, unable to bring himself to care. "Not a chance."

The shield hit you between the collarbones before clattering to the ground. You kicked it away. "Ugh, fine." Droplets of blood had started to appear through the gash, notwithstanding your reaction, which was all in all an inconvenienced grimace. "Don't say I wasn't nice."

Lowering yourself on one knee, you felt the concrete beneath your fingertips. Your eyes remained steady, holding Steve's gaze. Before either of you could blink, the street tore in several jagged cracks, as far as the horizon.

The debris shifted once, then was forced upward into the air. Both Steve and Tony had lost the ground beneath their feet, caught in a storm of cement tar. Thor carried Steve away to a safer distance. "Fear not, Captain. I have you."

You saw your opportunity amidst the pandemonium and hoisted Tony up by his arm. Relishing your work all around for one last time, you willed the void to take the two of you in.

In the perspective of all else who saw — there was a tear in the fabric of reality, dark in colour than the darkest of nights, which swallowed two people whole.

Nothing to suggest they had ever been there. Nothing to see, nothing to feel — nothing but the destruction left behind in their wake.