Hocus Pocus // T. Stark

XV

"You did not just do that"

The words spit out of Amelia's mouth as a sharp pain scratches her waist. The nails of a chitauri warrior leaving an imprint on her body, red dripping onto her uniform. The alien moves to strike again only to implode by the spell that comes out of Amelia's wand. Her body slumps against the car the enemy had trapped her against and she breathes out a sigh of exhaustion. Her fighting was getting sloppy, all the energy potions slowly starting to wear off. She was tired from all the running and excessive magic use. 

The street she was on was fairly empty, a few civilians running around here and there but other than the occasional scream in the distance it was quiet. Amelia feels her heart beating at a rapid pace, slowly calming with the short break she was taking but never really at a normal pace. But it was still beating, miraculously.

"Amelia"  

The sudden female voice in her ear scares her, her heart beat picking up again. With all the panic and exhaustion it takes a while for her to identify the voice as Natasha. Amelia pushes herself off the car and stretches her neck and back while replying.  

"Natasha, what's up?"

"I could use a lift, think you can give me one on that broom of yours?"

Amelia groans, her hands cupping her face as she sighs before wiping her hair back and out of her face, "Sorry, the broom.. it broke. It won't be able to fly, or even wipe dust. Completely useless. But maybe I could apparate you. Wait hold on, I'll come to you."

After giving the witch her location, Amelia focuses her magic to reach the redhead on the streets. The familiar squeezing sensation surrounds her body, suffocating her more then normal because of her exhaustion. As the claustrophobic feeling ends her vision turns hazy, unfocused. Her legs feel so weak and her arms search through the air blindly for something to lean her body against. Something grazes her fingers and she uses all her energy to grab onto it as a lifeline before letting her weight fall forward. A warmth surrounds her body and the claustrophobic feeling from before returns. She feels caught and tired, her mouth not letting in any air and her vision partly blind with black spots. The witch only hears her heart again, this time pulsing in her ears and drowning out any other sounds. A part of her, in the back of her mind, worries about where she landed and what was going on around her. She faintly feels the thing her hand was gripping onto move and fears for the worst. But then a familiar face becomes visible between the dark spots of her vision. Steve's kind but panicked face causes her to let the air back into her body. His mouth was moving and his face looks to the right, were Amelia now notices Natasha sitting. 

'Natasha, she wanted a lift.' Amelia remembers.

Her body calms down from the panic attack that was triggered by her magical exhaustion and apparation and her vision slowly returns back to normal. Steve's and Natasha's voices finally reaching her ears. 

"Amelia, can you hear me. Keep on breathing like this, in and out. You're okay."

"You don't look so good, Amelia."

The witch takes a deep breath, her mind functioning normally again. She moves to stand up, "I'm okay, I'm fine. Let's get you to the top of the tower."

"What? No! Are you crazy? You can barely stand! I'll find a way up there, you take a rest."

Amelia wants to argue but Steve and Natasha stand up before she can. Before she knows it Steve is giving Natasha a boost with his shield into the air with the redhead grabbing onto an alien scooter that was driving past. 

'Natasha is now my new spirit animal. When I cast the Patronus charm, she comes out of it.' Amelia thinks with a laugh.

By the time Steve is back with her she was standing up again. He tries to make her stop fighting and hide so she can heal. He tries to tell her that it's dangerous for her to keep going like this. But she assures him that she was feeling better again and grabs another potion from the collection dressing her uniform.