CHARACTER POSTER - Captain America
Steve and I ushered the rest of the civilians into the life boats while also taking out stragglers. Nat had left to find the Hulk.
We met up with Thor near two lifeboats at the destroyed bridge.
"Thor, I'm gonna need you back in the church," Tony ordered
"Is this the last of them?" Thor asked.
"Yeah," I replied. "Everyone else is on the carrier."
"Y'know," Tony said, "if this works, maybe we don't walk away."
"Maybe not," Thor agreed.
But perhaps we would walk away from all this. Perhaps everything was going to be okay after all. It was best to be optimistic. But I couldn't help but think about the consequences of the whole situation. There was no room for such thoughts, so I pushed them from my mind and focused on the problem at hand.
My eyes drifted to the sky. It was a lovely view. You wouldn't be able to see it from below unless you could fly. I wished I could every now and then. It must be amazing to feel the breeze on your face and graze your hands on fluffy clouds.
But we couldn't dawdle any longer. The air was thinning. Soon we wouldn't be able to breathe. And I liked breathing. It was pretty important for, you know, staying alive and all.
And then I saw a quinjet bustle towards us across the sky. I frowned. Everyone was on the ground, even the Hulk. So who was piloting the jet?
I watched the straggler clones around me look to the jet and raise their metal fists into the sky before being destroyed by Cap and Thor. My eyes widened.
It was Ultron. Ultron was flying the quinjet!
"Get down!"
Gunfire ripped the peaceful silence as the aircraft soared over our heads. Bullets riddled the ground. I leapt behind the courtyard statue for cover as Thor and Steve jumped the other way. I heard the cracking and splitting of stone.
Dust circulated around us as the quinjet flew away. I was trembling terribly. My heart was beating so fast that it felt like it was going to escape my chest. And then my legs flared in agony. The statue had toppled on top of me.
"Andi!"
I coughed, waving away dust. "Here..."
Steve raced to my side. He briskly lifted the statue and rocks from my legs. He held out his hand and I took it, him carefully pulling me to my feet. "You okay?"
I looked up at him, staring into his worried eyes. And then, for the first time, I accepted what I saw there. For too long I'd tried to push it away, to run and hide from what was truly there in fear of what could be and of my heart being broken again. But I couldn't run any longer. There was something there. We both knew it. We both had known for a while. And it was time to stop running.
"Ever since I laid eyes on you in 1942, I wanted to know you," he began. "Our first drink together. Our first fight. I wanted a friendship with someone that I could hold onto for a lifetime. I wanted someone I could trust, to put all my faith in. I found her: you.
"You've been with me since the day I became Captain America. You've been with me through some of the hardest times in my life. You still stand with me today through everything; New York, HYDRA, Insight, Ultron. You played an important role in moulding me into who I am today. And I've never been more grateful for that.
"I've never had someone more close to me like you, and I can't bear to be without you." He took my hands in his. "You've always told me that I'll understand someday. I understand today. I understand where we stand. I understand how I feel about you. I understand us. I've never understood anything better."
I smiled lovingly as he cupped my scarred and dirty face in his gloved hands. "You've lived thousands of lives, changed so many for the better. If I could do the same, I would love you in all of them. If I could live a thousand lives, I would make you mine in all of them." He brushed away a strand of flaming hair from my face. "I've never loved you more than I do right now, right this second. And will never love you any less right now, right this second."
For the first time in too long, I was listening to what my heart was telling me. It was telling me to take a leap of faith. It was telling me to follow it, no matter where it went. My heart had been telling me what I should do since day one, since the day I'd met the man who rose from a lamb into a lion.
I loved him. I'd loved him from the start. And I'd love him to the end as well.
I edged closer to him as I looked up at him. "I love you, Steven Rogers."
"My heart is, and forever will be, yours, Andromeda. I love you."
As chaos and pandemonium raged around us, our worlds collided with the affectionate and gentle touch of our lips. I gently intertwined my hand with his perfect hair as my other cupped his cheek. His hands hugged my waist and the small of my back.
It was the best feeling I'd ever felt. His lips were as soft as flower petals. He tasted like, well, freedom, I guess. It was a moment I'd been craving for too long and had stupidly ignored. Best friends had become more, and I was never more happy of that.
"Please tell me they're kissing," Tony called over the line.
"Oh, yes," Nat replied.
"Yes! Get in there, Cap!"
"Typical," Clint grunted breathlessly, "in the midst of battle, they make out."
"You're a true hopeless romantic, Barton."
"Wish I'd brought my camera," Nat mumbled. "I've been waiting so long for this."
"Well, tell 'em to break it up," Barton snapped. "They can lock lips later."
I reluctantly broke away and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him forever closer. In all my time of living, it was a moment like this I'd been waiting for, this moment I'd cherish forever.
And then I watched Pietro Maximoff fall.
My eyes widened in horror. "No!"
I broke away from Steve's grip and ran towards the speedster.
It was too late. The deed was done. The speedster had fallen, completing a final act of heroism, saving Hawkeye and a small child from a robot on a rampage.
In the distance, I heard a wail. I watched as red telekinetic energy arced high into the sky. Wanda.
I crouched in front of Pietro. I lay a hand on his cheek, and I closed his eyes.
I stood in silence. Another casualty of a war that should never have happened. Pietro Maximoff was one of thousands. His death was a consequence of what had happened here. His and the many lives lost were something none of us deserved to nor would we forget.
I trudged after Steve and Hawkeye, Steve carrying Pietro's body and Clint the boy.
I stood on the bridge, hurrying the rest of the people onto the remaining lifeboats. The city was empty. There was nothing but rubble and pain and dust there now.
And then the city fell. I watched it fall. I watched it explode in a lick of fire and blue lighting, rock and debris plummeting into the ocean below.
Steve held me in his arms and I cowered into them. Safe.
It was finished. We'd won. We'd won at too high a cost.
❈Author's Note: Hey, there!
So the moment you've all been waiting for has finally happened! Andi and Steve kissed! YAY!
*throws confetti*
*dances in circle*
*marching band plays with epic trumpet solo by Earl*
What do you guys think about the moment? Did I pull it off? Did you like it? I sort of modelled it off the little marriage between Will and Elizabeth from Pirates of the Caribbean. Let me know belooooooow!
If you liked this chapter, please consider giving it a quick vote! Thanks for reading!