Army of One ★ Steve Rogers

36

The liquid flowed mist-like out of the vial and evaporated down Jane's throat. She only knew she was swallowing something because of the tingling heat it gave off. Steve watched as the glow disappeared and darkness engulfed them. He all but stopped breathing, and for a moment, it seemed as though nothing was going to happen as Jane lowered the empty vial with a frown. Then the air around them changed from a gusty wind to an abrupt absence of movement of any kind. About two seconds passed before it started just as suddenly as it stopped, only this time it all rushed toward Jane like she was the eye of a storm. 

There was a deep, dull bang that shook the earth and it brought Jane to her knees, knocking the others off kilter. The rush of air toward her grew stronger and stronger, and she had to use all of her strength to withstand the crushing force. Steve righted himself and tried to approach her, but there was some kind of gravitational disturbance around her. Even though all the air was rushing towards her he could not get any closer than he was, an invisible force beyond his strength kept him back. Try as he might, he couldn't get to her. Dog was barking and yelping next to Bucky, his hackles raised and his teeth bared. 

Her head fell back and her voice split the night as the power of the force began to overwhelm her. The others were all trying their best to get to her, but they encountered the same problem as Steve. He was beside himself. The power rushing to her continued to grow, and soon it began pulling what little light there was around them into itself.

Critical mass arrived for Jane as she felt herself fail under the crushing weight and at that moment she understood that all she could do was to surrender, so she did. 

Steve watched, helpless, as there was an implosion darker than the darkness where Jane was, followed by a moment devoid of all sound and all light. He had the sensation that it grew deeper for a moment before a shockwave sent them all flying through the air, landing a considerable distance away.

As soon as he collided with the ground, he worked to right himself, his eyes searching for her. She wasn't there. He ran toward the spot where she'd been not a moment before only to find the earth bare and scorched. The gusty wind returned, but she was gone. 

The others came running, arriving at the same place he was. Stunned silence. 

"What just happened?" breathed Shuri, her ears ringing. 

Steve sank to his knees as his heart cracked and broke in his chest. His lungs were battling to find the air to sustain him through the pain and in the blink of an eye he felt like he'd just woken up out of the ice again.

A deep orange glow tore his gaze from the spot where she'd been. The others saw it too and looked up as the cloud bank began glowing brighter and brighter like a fire was growing in it.  

The fire focussed to a point, and a burning object erupted from the cloudbank. It was travelling so fast that it hit the earth right as they saw it. Steve judged it to have fallen about twenty miles away. The soundwave dragged the shockwave behind a wall of scorching hot air, and for the second time that night, everyone went flying. 

As he regained his composure, he could hear Dog barking in the distance. Looking in the direction of the sound, he found him already inside the Fighter, desperately calling to them, and something inside him knew it was her. 

The dishevelled team clambered into the ship, everyone understanding that they had to get to the crash site first. Shuri took off before the ramp closed. Nat collapsed against the wall, clutching her wrist. Sam was nursing a bloody nose, and Nakia had a broad graze on her arm. Shuri seemed to have come out of it alright, and Steve ran his hand over his still hot cheek, noticing his slightly singed beard.