Duffy felt as though she was being torn apart internally, being ripped by a toxic mixture of anger and sadness over Abhaya's sudden death. In most cases, one could argue that an Auror was supposed to be prepared for anything and that included death, whether it was their own or the loss of another's life. Yet, it had happened so quickly, just the explosion itself and Duffy had yet to let it settle in her mind that it had actually happened. How could Abhaya lose her life in such a way when they had faced danger all across the spectrum before and she had walked away without a scratch? It didn't make sense, after decades of being elite, Abhaya was the Auror that everyone wanted to be and the one that Duffy had looked up to, even if she was often intimidated by the woman's presence.
She had only been dreading the time of when Abhaya finally retired as Head Auror, it never once crossed her mind that she would have to say goodbye in a completely different way. Not only that, but Duffy couldn't help but think of Abhaya's daughter and husband that were left behind. They had probably fled the city under her direction and had no idea what had taken place. Duffy didn't even want to be the one to tell them, simply because she knew she wouldn't be able to get it all out without blubbering all over the place. However, she had been the last one to speak with Abhaya, so she knew it was her responsibility out of the respect for her late mentor, boss, and friend.
While Steve had pulled her away from Abhaya's body, he had also lifted the older woman from the street and brought her over to where Duffy was, allowing her a moment to mourn in private. He had offered his sincerest apologies for her loss but of course, it had not made her feel better. Nothing could at that moment unless Abhaya sprung back to life in her arms which wasn't going to happen.
As useful as magic was, even it couldn't beat death.
"I need...I need to get her to the other Aurors," Duffy sniffled before looking over in Steve's direction, " I can't leave her out here, I can't leave her body out here with those damn monsters running about. She has a daughter and a husband, they have the right to have her body to mourn. So I need-"
"We will manage this, Ms Dagny, " another voice chimed in, bringing Duffy and Steve to look over in confusion. Steve didn't recognise the group of people that stood before them, but Duffy seemed to as she rose to her feet. There seemed to be a hint of a smile that appeared on her face, almost relieved to see them all, but at the same time, she appeared devastated to face them.
"She's gone," she told them, " there was an explosion and...and I was too slow. I'm so sorry."
They didn't seem to hold any blame over her head as some of them came over to offer her a hug, while one of the larger men lifted Abhaya's body off the ground and disapparated from the scene. When the hugs were over, Duffy went to turn to Steve to get back to the others but Steve stopped her and made her turn back around.
The Aurors that had arrived on the scene were standing around, looking directly at her, leaving Duffy confused. She wondered what they were all waiting on as she didn't have anything else to say to them really. Her lips parted in confusion until one of them stepped forward and bowed his head.
"Collins, what are you doing-"
"We were given clear orders that should anything happen to Madam Varma that we would follow your word as the leader. So, Madam Dagny, what are your orders?"
It was definitely the last thing she had expected at that time, especially as she still had tears streaming down her face. She didn't think that Abhaya would have made such a bold statement to leave her in charge just in case, after all, there were Aurors twice her age that were far more experienced in the field than Duffy. But in the current moment, none of the Aurors were putting up any sort of protest due to her age, they were looking to her for instructions.
Looking over at Steve, perhaps she was hoping that his leadership skills would rub off on her for a few seconds, but he just looked confused with the situation. Swallowing nervously, Duffy knew they didn't have any more time to waste with the current state of the city and with the Chitauri still coming out of the portal. Facing her fellow Aurors, she straightened her back to stand as tall as she could.
"Right, what is the status of the portkeys that were being placed around the city? What are the travel points?"
"We have most of them leading into the mountains currently," Collins answered her, bringing Duffy to nod.
"Alright, I need portkeys to all nearest hospitals, I don't care if the injured is a No-Maj or not, get them in there and get them healed. The Obliviators will have their hands full, but we'll worry about that later. Don't let any No-Maj leave the Healers without being cleared by an Obliviator."
"But what about the city?" one of the others called out from the back.
"Unfortunately, we can't do much for the city without that portal being closed which is what we're trying to work towards. My concern is getting the people to safety, the buildings can be repaired, but the people can't be if they lose their lives. Start an evacuation to safer locations, get the injured to the hospitals, and in the meantime, get people underground for their safety until they can be moved."
They all seemed to nod their heads and one by one, disapparated from the scene, leaving a few behind. She took a step towards them and pointed in the direction of the Stark Tower.
" I don't believe our magic will work against the Tesseract, it's foreign and extremely powerful. But keep the area clear unless they are working to shut it off. If a man in green robes and horns on his head shows up, beat the living shit out of him and tie him up with every restraint spell you know."
Turning back to Steve, she could see that he was getting an incoming message. "Captain," Clint's voice rang in his ear, " the bank on 42nd past Madison, they caught a lot of civilians there."
Steve nodded his head in confirmation. "I'm on it."
He turned to Duffy, about to tell her he was leaving to go help, but when he turned to her, he saw her hand outstretched towards him, waiting for Steve to take it.
"You're going to want to hold on tight, Captain," she grinned at him, " usually the first time spooks people."
Not understanding what she meant by that, he offered his hand unsure of what she was going to do. But within just a split second, he had an idea of what she meant as he found himself being ripped from where he had been standing. He suddenly felt the urge to scream out, even though he refrained from doing though and while his grip loosened, he felt Duffy tighten her hold, a clear sign that letting go was not something he wanted to do.
If anyone asked him to describe how it felt, Steve could only compare it to being pushed out of a tube of toothpaste as he felt he was being pushed from all different directions. There was such a pressure around his body that he felt as though he was about to burst at any given second if it didn't let up. But the only relief was that it didn't last very long. Even though it felt like an eternity to Steve, it had only been a matter of a few seconds before he found himself standing back on the sidewalk. Duffy was at his side, finally letting go of his hand and offering a sympathetic look.
"Sorry, I tried to warn you," she said, " but there's really nothing I could say to prepare you for that. But you know, it really makes travelling easier-"
"I don't know what that was, ma'am," Steve said, " but I'd prefer to never do it again."
"Even in the case of an emergency?" Duffy inquired.
"We'll discuss that at another time," Steve said before the two looked through the windows. There were three Chitauri keeping a group of people surrounded in the middle of the bank, their weapons drawn and aimed at the innocent.
"Okay, so the plan would be-" Duffy began, only to watch as Steve tumbled right through the window of the bank to attack the Chitauri with his shield. " I guess we're winging it, good to know. Thanks for the pointer, Steve. Honestly, you come with so many catchphrases and yet, when it's time to talk, this is what you do. Unbelievable."
Apparating inside the building, Duffy appeared in the middle of the crowd, causing several people to scream out in alarm as the Chitauri were occupied with Steve at the moment. Duffy went to look for a quick exit plan for the group, but there were too many people and they were all terrified to actually move with the aliens still present.
"Everyone clear out!" Steve called to all of them and Duffy went to help him, but he told her to make sure the bank was cleared out. She heard the familiar sound of beeping, the same beeping she had heard right before the explosion had gone off before Abhaya was killed. With her eyes widening, Duffy yelled for everyone to drop to the floor.
"Protego horribilis" was cast over the group of people just seconds before the explosion went off above them, the same one that launched Steve out of the window and killed the remaining Chitauri inside. However, not a single strand on the top of the civillians' heads were touched. The air became silent before Duffy lifted her head up.
"Alright everyone, get out of here, get to the nearest underground tunnel that you can," she instructed before running outside to see if Steve was alright. She could see him the distance, standing in front of a crushed car, a bit of blood trickling down his arm as he looked around. Calling out to him, Steve didn't respond as he kept the troubled look on his face, looking unsure for the first time if they were actually going to win the battle they were facing.
"Steve?" Duffy called out to him. "Steve, are you hurt? Can you at least hear me? Come on, you're always full of some weird little sayings, don't tell me you've run out of them all of a sudden?"
Finally, he looked down at her, a small glimmer of a smile on her face as she finally got a reaction out of him.
"Listen," she said before looking back in the direction of the Stark Tower, " I don't know how well my people are going to manage against what's going on near the Tesseract. I need to make sure that they are alright. Do you want to come with me or-"
"No, I'll remain here on the ground, " he said, " you go. You're their leader and they need you."
"You're just saying no because you don't want to apparate again, do you?"
He didn't say anything in return, but the smile that formed on his face said everything.
Arriving at the Stark Tower, Duffy caught sight of a few of her men, standing in place with their wands drawn. However, none of them were directing any sort of spells, leaving her confused as she made her way over.
"Madam Dagny," Collins began as he spotted her, " we located the man with green robes and horns. His aircraft crashed into the tower just a short while ago."
"Have you captured him?"
"Not quite," he said, " you didn't mention anything about the bigger green fella."
Duffy's eyes widened as she peered in and saw Loki and the Hulk facing one another. And while she wanted to interfere, there was something inside of her that was telling her to hold back and watch the show.
"ENOUGH!" Loki screamed at the Hulk, bringing the large green creature of rage to come to a halt. " YOU ARE, ALL OF YOU ARE BENEATH ME! I AM A GOD, YOU DULL CREATURE, AND I WILL NOT BE BULLIED-"
Loki didn't get to finish his tantrum as Hulk had enough of his bitchy whining and grabbed Loki by the legs. And as Duffy and the other Aurors watched, he proceeded to slam Loki into the ground back and forth as if the ground was nothing more than a simple rag doll at the time. When Hulk figured Loki had enough, he left the flattened Loki on the ground before walking away.
"Puny god," he grumbled in passing as every single Auror was holding their breath.However, while their gazes were focused on the passing Hulk, Duffy took a minute to slip in her own punishment.
They heard the echoing whimpering coming from Loki, bringing them to look over and see that his head was encased with a pumpkin....again. Paired with the sound of whistling, they all looked over at Duffy, including the Hulk, only to see her looking down at the ground. But when she caught all of them staring, she straightened herself in front of them.
"Alright, let's finish this, tie him up."
Every single wand that was present in the room was pointed before the Incarcerous spell was unleased numerous times. Dozens of ropes launched around, wrapping themselves around Loki tightly from head to toe.