Warnings: none
Never in a million years would I have expected an alien invasion to be the reason why my flight was indefinitely canceled. Yet here I was, on the phone, pleading with the airlines to try and find some way for me to get back to New York. I was beginning to regret ever going on this trip, but how the hell was I supposed to know that Loki was going to summon an alien invasion on the big city of New York.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but it's like I've said before, the state of New York has canceled all incoming and outgoing flights to and from the state. I understand that you have loved ones in the state, but there's nothing I can do." This was the same answer I had been getting from every airline company that I could think of. New York was in lock down, and there was no way for me to get back to the state, or really New York city where Natasha was.
I watched the battle unfold on the television. Of course the United States broadcasting networks would be broadcasting the alien attack live. It's good publicity, or whatever.
One of the news station's camera guys got a good shot of one of the humongous, flying aliens crashing into the side of a tall office building, cascading down the street below to promptly take out more buildings. More of the invaders were seeping out of a black and blue portal in the sky, just wrecking havoc with no care of how many lives they were putting in danger.
"United States military and law enforcement have arrived on the scene, however, they seem to be doing little good as these invaders make our weapons look primitive." The news anchor narrated over several shots of the purplish-gray aliens raining down fire from their little speeders, zipping through the air with the sole intent of causing destruction.
My biggest question was yet to be answered however. Where the hell was Shield? The agency's motto and purpose was "to be the shield that protects the innocent." Well the innocent were losing their lives and the high and mighty agency that I worked for was nowhere to be seen.
I had joined the Shield Academy fresh out of high school, going into Operations, which was the side of the school that specializes in training agents for field work and running missions. I was on the younger side when I graduated from the Academy, however definitely not the youngest to graduate from the school. I started working immediately on assignments, being stationed at a base in Los Angeles. I was transferred around a lot, going wherever Shield needed me, taking out any targets or running any retrieval missions they needed. It wasn't until my second year as an official Agent where I was transferred to a base in New York, working on the Helicarrier. That's when I met Natasha.
Being an agent for two years, you pick up on rumors that make their rounds in the agency. I had heard rumors about some new agent who was quickly climbing the ranks in both the agency and in Director Fury's eyes. There were several different stories about how Natasha had come to work for Shield, about how she had some horrible past that most details of it remain classified, only available for a few prying eyes. I never thought much of the rumors, never bothering with them since it was none of my business and I'd probably never meet the fabled Agent Romanoff.
Boy was I wrong.
We met through a mission that Agent Coulson had assigned the both of us, believing the two of us working together would create an almost unstoppable duo. He was right, in a way. We had succeeded in that mission and slowly became partners in life, beginning to date about a year after we met. The rest was history, leading me here to a not-so-spectacular hotel room, staring anxiously at the tiny TV.
Normally I would never have gone on personal trips out of the state where I was assigned just in case of an emergency. However, the one time I had made an exception, the king of emergencies had happened. I had taken a few days off work to fly down to Virginia to help my parents move from their apartment to a house they had recently bought, which was located in more of the countryside.
It was only when I got back to my hotel room after the second night of helping them move was when I found out about the Battle of New York.
I should have never left. But I did, and there was nothing I could do about it now but sit there on the couch and watch with horror.
"We have just received word that aid from the international spy agency known as Shield is being sent our way. Hopefully we will soon be able to gain more of an advantage with their help." the news anchor announced.
Finally, Shield was taking action. Took them long enough.
The sudden vibration of my phone startled me, demanding attention from one of my pants pockets. I fished it out, not exactly sure who to expect was calling me. It could have been a number of people, but the caller ID sent a few shivers of nervousness and excitement through me.
It was Natasha calling.
The moment I saw her name, a terrible realization hit me. Was she being sent in to help fight against the alien invasion? No...she can't be. She can't be put in harm's way, not like this.
Swallowing thickly, I answered the call.
"Hey, baby." I said, trying to push down the big lump of anxiety that was crawling its way up my throat.
"Hi, love. Um...I'm not sure how to tell you this, but New York is-" she started, sounding a bit unsure of herself.
"New York is under attack, I know. That's all the news is showing. I'm trying to get a flight back so I can be there for you and help, but all flights are temporarily frozen." I picked up the remote and muted the television, wanting to give Natasha my undivided auditory attention.
"No, y/n you stay there where it's safe. I know you can protect yourself but I don't want anything bad to happen to you." She half ordered and half pleaded. It was heartwarming to hear how protective she was, but I still wanted to be there to protect her.
"What about you? Please tell me you're somewhere safe." I asked, already knowing the answer but denying it in my head.
However silence was my answer, and the affirmation to my fear.
"Nat...you're going there, aren't you?" I hated how vulnerable I sounded, but there was nothing I could do about that now.
"I'm on the Quinjet now. Me, Clint, and a few other agents are a few minutes out from the fighting." She admitted, her voice going raspy in the way that I was a sucker for.
"Please tell me you're lying." Fear was gripping at my voice, threatening to pull me down into a fit of tears.
"I'm sorry, love."
"No, please. Turn the jet around and get somewhere safe...please. I can't run the risk of losing you." I practically begged, my voice cracking at my pleas.
"You're not going to lose me. I'm always with you. I just wanted to say I love you, just incase..." her voice trailed off, failing her as she struggled to keep her emotions under wraps like she always did while she was working.
"I love you too. I'm going to see you when I come home after it's all over. We'll relax and...and do all the things you love. We can binge watch James Bond and those weird cooking shows you love." I promised her, a deep sob was trying to push through, but I kept it down for her sake.
"That sounds amazing. When this is all over, I'm sure I can get Fury to send a jet for you, pick you up." I could hear the smile on her lips as she spoke.
A beat of silence passed as the sound of someone talking came through the line. Then Nat sighed deeply.
"We're arriving soon. I'll call you when I can." she informed me quickly.
"Stay safe, please. I'll see you soon." I told her, dreading the moment when we would hang up.
"I'm always safe. See you in a minute." Natasha teased, apparently recovering a bit from her small emotional moment.
Natasha ended the call, leaving me sitting there on the couch, staring blankly at the television while my mind processed everything a mile a minute.
The woman I love is going into the heat of battle against an alien invasion and there was nothing I could do to protect her from danger.
What if something happened to her? What if she got injured and I couldn't help her? I knew Clint would be there and I knew how close of friends they were. I could trust him to keep an eye on her, but he wouldn't be able to do that all the time. Plus, Natasha was incredibly stubborn.
The news station caught a glimpse of the Quinjet, flying off in the distance towards Stark Tower, disappearing from sight of the camera.
I grabbed the TV remote and unmuted the television, beginning to switch through the other news channels, trying to find one that would give me a good shot of the super jet and of my girlfriend. I just needed to see her, make sure she was alright. I knew it was probably a bad idea because I had a sick feeling that something was going to happen to her, but I dismissed it as my anxiety, which was running at a record high.
However there was no sign of the jet or the red head. The area where they had landed was probably too concentrated by the aliens for any civilian to get to.
Police were shown creating a perimeter, trying to contain the attack to a specific section of the city to prevent a statewide invasion. A group of the aliens charged towards the police, sending a series of blasts off, causing some parts of the perimeter to scatter and take cover.
Then something happened that I wasn't expecting. Iron Man appeared out of nowhere, blasting the purplish invaders to kingdom come. He then flew off, like nothing had happened, going off to find more groups of aliens to fight.
Tony Stark's Iron Man must have been one the "other agents" that Natasha had mentioned over the phone. I began to question who else would have gone. Maybe Agent Hill? She was a high level agent who had proven herself multiple times as Fury's right hand. But who else, I had no idea. There were tons of agents in the agency that I think would be helpful in this kind of situation, like Agent Coulson. He was a strategist who knew how to outsmart his enemy. Or even Agent May. She didn't get the nickname "Cavalry" for nothing. But I wasn't the one who made the teams and told the agents where to go. That was Director Fury's job. I just hoped he sent in the right people.
The news station suddenly switched to another cameraman who was out on the streets, filming the fighting from a distance away. Why this cameraman thought it was a good idea to film the fighting that close to the aliens was beyond me, but maybe he had a death wish.
That's when the group of aliens noticed the cameraman and began to charge after him. The news anchors were yelling at the guy to get the hell out of there, which he took to heart and took off sprinting, still carrying the camera for some reason.
Suddenly the guy was tackled, the camera knocked to the side but conveniently landing in a way where the audience could still see the whole exchange. The alien was on top of the guy, griping at his face and screaming at him. The noise was a horrible mix of something like scratching on a chalkboard and a bird screech. I hated it. I hated everything about the sound.
The monster seemed to be trying to claw the guy's face off. He was just thrashing around, trying to get the thing off of him so he can run off and get somewhere safe.
Then out of nowhere, a flash of red white and blue flashed across the screen, throwing the alien off the guy and bringing his shield down on the monster. More aliens began to swarm around the hero, who was shouting for the civilian to run and get somewhere safe. The cameraman just sort of sat there, a bit star-struck for a moment, before heeding his savior's words and getting the hell out of there.
That's when I recognized the red white and blue streak of Captain America. I could hear Coulson fangirling about him in the back of my head, calling the captain the "embodiment of 1940's patriotic ideals."
Captain America was whirling around, taking out the sudden group of aliens that had rushed him. Soon, there was a pile of defeated monsters at the captain's feet. He glanced around, then ran off to continue fighting.
I mentally added Steve Rogers to the list of agents that Fury had sent to help stop the invasion.
"It appears that Shield has sent in Earth's mightiest heroes as more reports are coming in of Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, Thor of Asgard, and the Mr. Hyde persona of Hulk has reportedly been seen across the battlefield, joined by Tony Stark's Iron Man and the original hero of Captain Rogers." the news anchor reported over a few shots of Iron Man flying through the sky and Agent Barton perched on a rooftop, taking care of any stays.
I was silently praying that the news station would give me any visuals of Natasha's safety, but she seemed to have disappeared in the heat of the fighting where no cameras were available.
That's when more of the leviathan-like monsters seeped out of the portal in the sky, flying down to the city and crashing into building after building. I was really hoping that the police and law enforcement were able to evacuate the city so no more lives would be lost, but I knew more lives were being taken and put in danger with every building that crumbled.
I just watched in horror, a numb sensation filling my every bone as I watched the destruction of the city that I had been calling home for several years now. If the city would ever recover was beyond me, but the attack in general made me realize that this could happen to us anywhere. Aliens were real, coming out of a goddamn portal in the sky. We weren't safe and we needed to find a way to protect the human race better, so this never happened again. Shield needed to step up, actually become the shield that protects the innocent.
Lighting strikes began to brew from one of the taller towers, frying whatever aliens were around it. I assumed that was Thor. I had heard about him from Coulson after his time in New Mexico.
Then I noticed something off in the distance of one of the wide shots the station had switched to. There was a definite streak of red hair, high up in the sky, hitching a ride on one of the alien's speeders. It was Natasha, riding on the back of one of the aliens as she had several hot on her tail. She zipped around a few of the buildings, nearly giving me a heart attack with how fast she was flying and how high up she was. One wrong move or one well aimed shot from the monsters behind would send her falling to her death, and I hated it.
As she neared Stark Tower, she abandoned the speeder and jumped off, landing somewhere on top of the tower, now out of sight from the camera. Why she thought jumping off was a good idea was beyond me, but at least she didn't fall to her death. I just prayed she was alright and not laying there with some kind of broken bone.
I felt like I had been sitting there for hours, watching in agony as I felt so incredibly useless. It was so ingrained in me to get up and help those who can't help themselves, to protect those who need it. It was pure torture to see a problem that I could help solve, but not be able to do anything. Not to mention that I wanted to so badly be there to protect and look after Natasha. I wanted to take care of her, be there to watch her back. I certainly didn't trust Stark to do that.
Why the hell did I agree to go away on a personal trip?
After a moment, something that confused the crap out of me happened. Iron Man flew into the portal, carrying some kind of missile on his back. What his plan was, I had no idea. All I knew was that he was reckless sometimes, but I knew he was trying to help end this fight once and for all.
That's when the energy beam that was fueling the portal disappeared, causing the blue and black crack in the sky to slowly close. All the aliens suddenly fell limp, like their claim to life had suddenly been cut. At the very last second, Stark fell through the last bits of the portal before it closed completely. The camera zoomed in, catching a closer shot at him falling through the sky. When I realized that he wasn't slowing down, the Hulk appeared out of nowhere, catching him and bringing him to the ground safely.
*****
Hours had actually passed now since the Battle of New York had ended. Clean up crews and rescue teams were working around the clock to try and salvage the city and help any people who might need it. The Avengers, as the media was calling the team of heroes that had saved the day, had seemed to disappear as quickly as they had arrived on the scene.
I had been waiting for Natasha to call me like she said she would, but she hadn't. I felt bad about calling her in case she was in the middle of something important, or if something had actually happened to her. I couldn't stand the thought of calling her and finding out that way.
I did, however, call Hill, who was a good friend of mine, and asked for a ride back to the city so I could get back to Natasha. She agreed, saying someone would be there to pick me up in a few hours.
So that's where I was now, sitting in the back of a Quinjet, my leg bouncing nervously as I made my way back home to the Helicarrier. I knew Natasha would be there, either for medical attention or debrief. I was hoping for the latter.
We eventually landed on the tarmac, and I made my way into the depths of the base, in search of my girlfriend. However, the first thing I noticed was how big of a mess the place was. It looked like the Helicarrier had been attacked, and maybe it had been.
"Hill!" I called out, catching sight of her talking to another agent, standing off to the side in the main control room.
"Y/n! Glad you could finally join the fun." She quipped, moving away from the other agents and coming towards me.
"Oh you know how I can be. I like being fashionably late." I smirked at her, taking in the series of scrapes and cuts that framed her face. "You look like shit."
"Really? You're one to talk after not being thrown in the middle of an alien invasion." Hill quipped back, shooting me a playful glare.
I just scoffed and rolled my eyes, beginning to glance around in search of any sign of red hair. I was about to ask where Natasha was, but Maria beat me to it.
"She's in debrief with Fury and some of the others." Maria grinned slightly, beginning to walk off in a direction, leading me to where the debrief was being held.
I just nodded, grateful to hear that she wasn't being held in the med bay.
"Some of the others? You mean the 'Avengers?' That's what the media is calling them." I said, trying to make conversation to distract myself from the underlying anxiety that was filling my bones.
"Well, technically we're calling them that. They were a part of the Avenger Initiative, created by Director Fury in the 90's to create a team of heroes if the world ever needed protecting." Maria recited.
"Hmm...well they certainly did their job today." I hummed in response.
Natasha had never told me about her being on this secret initiative. Maybe she was unaware that she was on it. Fury was known to keep secrets from everyone, even those who needed to know them. However, if she did know, why wouldn't she tell me? I liked to believe she trusted me, but maybe she was trying to be her self-sacrificial self.
We quickly made it to the conference room, and Maria left me there to wait, claiming that she had a ton of things to tend to. I completely understood, not exactly wanting to figure out what kind of damage control she has to deal with because of the recent alien invasion.
God, just thinking about that most recent event. It's crazy to believe that just this morning, I wouldn't have believed that aliens existed, but they were literally pouring out of a magic portal from the sky hours ago.
The doors suddenly burst open, revealing a battered and bruised Captain America and a disheveled looking Bruce Banner. They both smiled and nodded at me as they passed by, which I returned half heartedly, just wishing I could finally see Natasha.
Speaking of the devil, my girlfriend emerged from the conference room. Just when I caught sight of her face. I felt my heart drop slightly. She was still in her combat suit, but looked tired and extremely spent. A trickle of dried blood framed one side of her face, coming from a cut at the top of her hairline. Her lip was busted and she was walking stiffly, favoring one of her legs since there was a shinny burn on her thigh. However, a smile instantly spread across her face when she met my eyes.
"Hi baby." She sighed, sounding just as tired as she looked.
"Hey, you alright? Is anything broken?" I asked instantly, taking her face in my hands as I tried to inspect her more closely for any other injuries.
"I'm alright. A little bruised but I'm fine." she smiled even wider, her palms landing on the backs of my hands.
I originally wanted to scold her. I wanted to ask a billion questions, like why she had decided to go for a joy ride on the back of an alien which was flying hundreds of feet in the air, or why she never told me about the Avengers Initiative. But the moment I took in her tired expression, all my questions disappeared. I just wanted to take care of her.
"Let's go home." I smiled softly at her, kissing her forehead softly.
*****
Home sweet home.
A jet had dropped us off at one of the Shield bases on the mainland, where we were able to get a ride back to our apartment. Traffic was crazy because of the most recent alien invasion, but we still made it home.
Natasha was insistent that she could look after herself, but after I gave her a stern look she gave in, accepting my help.
I immediately told her to get in the shower, claiming that she needed to wash the alien germs off of her before she could get any cuddles later tonight. After much whining from the red head, we were both undressed and got in the shower. I helped her wash herself due to her sore and tired body limiting her mobility. I soaked a fresh washcloth in warm water and began wiping away at the trails of dried blood on her face. She winced slightly at the sudden pressure closer to her wounds, but I just placed a comforting hand on her cheek.
Soon, I helped her out of the shower and dried her off, then helped her get dressed in her undergarments. I had her sit on the closed toilet seat so I could look after her injuries. I was grateful they weren't serious and that I could take care of them in the comfort of our own home.
I shoved a water bottle towards her, wanting her to rehydrate while I worked on fixing her up. I grabbed a first aid kit from under our sink and some stuff to help clean the wounds. After a few minutes, I had cleaned and dressed the injuries accordingly without too much fuss from my half asleep girlfriend, making sure to put medicine on each of her injuries.
I turned my attention back to my medical supplies and picked out the alcohol to help clean the burn on her thigh, then prepped a bandage to use.
"This is going to sting." I mumbled, flashing Natasha an apologetic look.
I slowly poured the stuff over her burn, and she quickly grabbed onto my arm as she sat through the pain, groaning in pain. I applied some medicine to help the burn, then bandaged and wrapped it.
"Alight. Let's get into some comfy clothes." I sighed, helping Natasha up, who was trying not to nod off to sleep.
We stumbled into our bedroom and I set her down on the end of the bed. I began going through her closet, taking mental note of all my shirts that she had stolen, mixed in her clothes. I pulled out one of the more oversized shirts that were available and a pair of shorts.
Returning to her side, I motioned for her to raise her arms, which she did. I pulled the shirt over her head and let the rest of the fabric fall to her side. Natasha was already fighting sleep, but I eventually wrestled the shorts on her.
I helped her lay down, but I could tell she was fighting a groan of pain after she moved her bad leg too aggressively, pulling on the angry burn.
"Careful...take it easy." I whispered, lowering her down and pulling the blanket over her, up to her chin.
She watched me tiredly, patiently waiting for me to join her in bed so she could finally give into her exhaustion. Knowing this, I tried to change into my pajamas as quickly as I could. Most of my stuff was still in a suitcase from my most recent escapade to Virginia.
Soon enough, I turned off the lights and slid into bed, and Natasha instantly curled up against me. This is how I knew she was tired, both mentally and physically. Usually she was the dominant person when it came to cuddling, always insisting on being the big spoon. She only let herself be held when she was either having a bad day or was extremely exhausted. I always treasured these moments because of how rare they were. They always meant the world to me, because she trusted me enough to hold her and protect her when she needed me to.
"Go to sleep, love. You're tired." I whispered to her, pulling her closer against me and holding her tightly.
"But you promised me we could watch James Bond." she mumbled against my chest, slipping her hands under my shirt so she could get the skin on skin contact that I knew she loved.
"Fine. We can watch a little." I sighed, grabbing the TV remote and turning on the television. I picked the one Bond movie that I knew was Natasha's favorite, mentally guessing how long it would be before she was asleep. I pressed play and turned the volume low, then replaced my arm around Natasha protectively, settling in to watch the cheesy spy movie. I didn't understand what she liked about the movies, but if they brought her comfort then I was fine with watching them over and over again just for her.
As if like clockwork, she was out in five minutes. I just chuckled, her soft snores reaching my ears. I switched off the TV and snuggled into Natasha for the night.
"Goodnight, love." I whispered, running a hand through her damp hair, grateful to have her in my life.