Steve held my hand as we walked into Avengers Tower. I wasn't the kind of person to get nervous, but this was a huge deal. I was about the meet the Avengers; the crime fighting, world saving team of literal superheroes. What could possibly go wrong?
"Hey everyone," Steve said. In the room were 5 people. I recognized Tony and Natasha, the two I'd met the first time I came here. The others I knew vaguely, probably from seeing them on the news every time they made the world a safer place... until the next threat popped up.
"This is Serena, she's going to accompany us on the mission." All 5 pairs of eyes glanced at me, silently asking the same question. 'How can she help?'
"I'm sorry, is it 'bring your girlfriend to work day?" Tony asked sarcastically. "Because you should have told me, Pepper's been waiting for the day that I lead her into the middle of a near-death experience."
"According to the news," I cut in. "Haven't you led her into near-death situations like, 10 times?"
Natasha laughed, standing up and putting an arm around me. "If Steve thinks she can help, I'm all for it."
"We need as much help as we can get," a guy said, putting his hand out to shake mine. "Clint Barton."
'Hawkeye' I added in my head. "Serena Salvatore."
"Nice to meet you, Lady Salvatore," the guy that I suddenly remembered to be Thor said. My breath caught in my throat as I tried to speak to him. I mean, of course he was a God, but I had never before been so close to real perfection. How did anyone get anything done with him around?
"I'm Bruce," a smaller, kind of geeky guy said. If I didn't already know, I'd never expect that this was the guy that could turn into the Hulk.
"It's nice to meet you guys," I said. "I know it's probably really weird that I'm here, I just want to help."
"How can you help?" Clint asked. "What are your powers? Do you even have powers?"
"It's... complicated," I said. Obviously I wasn't stupid enough to tell them the whole truth. "I have accelerated speed and strength, mainly."
Clint looked at Tony, who shrugged.
"Fair enough," Tony said. "Welcome to the team Serena... temporarily."
"Temporarily," I agreed with a smile. This would never be anything other than temporary. I may have had powers, but I certainly wasn't a hero.
...
They led me to a contraption that I'd never seen before, a rarity for someone who'd been around as long as I had.
"The Quinjet," Steve informed me. His hand hadn't left mine since we got to New York. I enjoyed the safety of it, the warmth. I was addicted to it.
"We're flying in a jet?" I asked. It looked like a warped version of a plane – like if someone who'd never seen a plane before was made to draw one based on a single description.
"Of course," Clint said, winking at me. "The Avengers fly in style!"
I giggled; this was exciting. I had thought that the 'Captain America' side of Steve would be the hardest to deal with, but right now I was loving being in his world.
"So, where are we going in the mysterious jet?" I asked Steve.
"Washington, D.C," he told me.
I frowned. "We need a jet to go to D.C?"
"No," Tony said from behind me. "Nobody needs a jet. But we have a jet. Why shouldn't we use a jet?"
I laughed. "Fair enough."
"Plus, it's easier," Natasha informed me. "I mean, who wants to force the incredible Hulk into a Audi?"
...
Steve told me that today's mission was purely about rescuing civilians. There would be no unexpected aliens or other supernatural creatures to look out for, thankfully. But still, when the Quinjet landed and everyone spread off in different directions, I was worried. What if I was making a mistake by joining them? Was I really cut out for this?
People flooded the streets, running out of and away from one particular building. I didn't know what was happening there, but it must have been bad.
"Get everyone off the streets," Steve told me. "Into those safe buildings." He pointed and I nodded, anticipation coursing through my veins.
I ran in the opposite direction through the crowd of people, directing them to go where Steve had said. Some seemed terrified, others were clearly just following the crowd.
"Help!" I heard someone scream from deep within the crowd. I ran to them without thinking, to see a woman lying on the ground. It was clear she'd been trampled on by the crowd.
"Hi," I said. "Can you walk?"
I tried to stand her up, but she could barely move.
"Help me, please," she said again. I quickly looked around me to make sure that no one was watching, before biting my wrist and force-feeding her my blood.
"You'll be OK," I promised her, watching some of her worst wounds begin to heal. I tried to stand her up again, and this time her body was much more cooperative. When I was sure that she could stand without my help, I pointed her in the right direction.
Now that a few people knew where to go, the rest were following suit, going into the buildings that the team had designated 'safe spaces'. The streets were becoming a lot less crowded. Which was why I was able to make out Natasha running towards me, a look of complete and utter worry on her face.
"What's wrong?" I asked her abruptly.
"It's Steve," she said. Then she pointed to the building that people were coming out of. "He went in there alone, and I can't find anyone else. I can't go in there alone, I have no idea what they're doing in there."
"It's OK," I said, my hand around her wrist. "I'll go in. You get help. Where is everyone anyway?"
"I don't know," she said, before promising "I'll find them."
As I watched her run away from me, I looked at the building and braced myself. The last thing I wanted to do was enter it. But I had to. For Steve.
...
I walked through the darkness.
"Steve?" I called. There was no reply. In fact, there wasn't a sound. Not a breath, not a shuffle of feet, nothing. Even with my heightened vamp senses, the room was too dark for me to be able to make out anything in particular.
"Anyone?" I called again, hoping that this was just an elaborate joke or test of some kind.
My shoes made a loud noise as I walked, trying and failing to quieten my steps. Something about this place felt sinister, but I couldn't put my finger on why.
As my eyes got used to the darkness, I realized that I was walking down a long corridor, with doors on either side of me. I tried to open the first one, to find that it was locked, probably like the rest of them.
As I reached out for the next door, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning quickly, I hissed and bared my vampire teeth, my heart pounding. Luckily, it was just Steve.
"What are you-"
He put a hand over my mouth, instantly shutting me up. Placing a finger to his own lips, he ushered me towards the building's entrance, the way that I'd entered.
"You shouldn't be here," he whispered frantically.
"Why not?" I whispered back. "What is this place?"
Suddenly, all the lights in the building were thrown on, causing both of us to recoil.
"Captain Rogers," a man said. I turned towards the voice to see someone that I didn't recognize, blocking the entrance. He had a gun in his hand and was wearing an eyepatch. There was a shuffling of feet, and I turned to see that the empty space behind us was now filled with people. "Step away from her."
"No," Steve said quickly, reaching for my hand. "It's not what you think."
"She's not a vampire?" the man said, gesturing to me. My eyes widened and my blood froze. How had he known? I thought I'd been so careful. Clearly Steve had the same thought process.
"Who told you that?"
"Captain, if you don't voluntarily step away from her, we'll have no choice but to physically remove you."
"I don't know what you think you know," Steve said. "But you've got it wrong."
"My sources tell me otherwise," the man said. A shot rang out. It took me a few seconds to realize that it was Steve that had been shot.
"Steve!" I exclaimed, as he slowly fell to the ground. The gunshot wound in his stomach began to weep with blood. I tried to control myself, but the veins under my eyes made themselves known. I bared my teeth and bit my wrist, feeding him my blood.
"What are you doing?!" the man asked me. I was surprised to hear that there was no fear in his voice, no terror. Instead, just anger.
"I'm helping him!" I clarified. Looking up, I saw that all of the guns in the room were trained on me. "You want to kill me?" I asked. "For trying to help? For trying to save lives?"
"No Serena Salvatore," eye-patch guy said, taking me by surprise. "We're not trying to kill you."
I felt a gun being pushed into the small of my back, another against the back of my head.
"But like it or not, you're coming with us."
I stood slowly, proudly letting my veins and vamp-teeth show. "I choose not."
As soon as I started to run, I felt a bullet shoot me in the back. It stopped me momentarily. But it was the second bullet, shot into my chest, that knocked me out.
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