MEM·O·RY
/ˈmem(ə)rē/ noun
¹ the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information.
Haven had spent her entire life watching. She's seen all, heard all, and knows all. When she hears of an evil power rising in the galaxy, it's up to her to f...
"It's too late." Vision breathed, sitting up. "We need to destroy the stone now."
"Vision, get your ass back on the table," Natasha said.
T'Challa nodded. "We will hold them off."
"Wanda, as soon as that stone's out of his head... You blow it to hell." Steve orders, his hand still tight on Haven's.
"I will," Wanda replies.
"Evacuate the city. Engage all defenses." T'Challa said, commanding his people. He turned, pointing toward Steve. "And get this man a shield."
Haven took a breath, placing her palm on Steve's chest to even his breathing. "We make it out of this."
He wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. "Both of us." She nodded, backing away. "I'll meet you down there. Follow them."
"Okay," Haven said, turning and letting the warrior king lead her away. "All four of us will make it out of this," she muttered to no one but herself.
Outside, she found Bucky and Sam watching the sky. "How is it?" she said, standing amongst them.
"It's a shit show," Sam replied.
Bucky shook his head, watching Natasha leaving the lab with Steve in tow. "I should've said something."
"Do it when this is over. You both deserve a happy ending." Haven replied. Gliders began to pull into the area around them and Steve waved her over.
"You're riding with T'Challa and me," he said, climbing on board and offering her his hand. She gladly accepted. They took off toward the barrier wall.
"How are we looking, Bruce?" Nat asked through the coms.
"Yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of it," he replied, having found the Hulk-Buster suit.
"I've got two heat signatures breaking through the tree line," Rhodey said.
The Gliders unloaded and the army began to get unto formation. T'Challa, Steve, Natasha, and Haven all walked toward the barrier.
Haven knew the two creatures, having seen them on the worst day of her life. The woman ran a blade across the buzzing, blue shield.
"You, I know," she said, looking only at the Asgardian.
Haven kept her face blank, showing no emotion. "I'd be disappointed if you didn't."
The woman smirked, "I hope this is a better fight than last time. All of that Asgardian blood spilled. Ah, but not only Asgardian, was it? The one from Jotunheim was murdered as well."
"You'll pay for his blood with your own," Haven replied, remaining stoic on the outside. On the inside, however, that was a different story.
She chuckled softly. "Thanos will get that stone."
"That's not gonna happen," Steve replied.
"You are in Wakanda now," T'Challa said. "Thanos will have nothing but dust and blood."
"We have blood to spare," she spat, raising her fist in the air.
T'Challa, Steve, Natasha, and Haven turned and walked back toward the army, falling into formation. "They surrender?" Bucky asked.
"Not exactly," Steve said.
The chanting began around them but Haven kept her attention on the treeline, watching as the alien critters busted through and charged toward them. She felt a knot form in her stomach as they slam into the barrier, burning to a crisp and tearing themselves apart.
Then, like a flash, one got through. And then another. And then another.
The fight broke out as the army began firing upon the beasts. "Cap, if these things circle the perimeter and get in behind us, there's nothing between them and Vision," Bruce said through the coms.
"Then we better keep 'em in front of us," Steve replied.
"How do we do that?" Okoye asked.
T'Challa took a breath. "We open the barrier. On my signal, open North-West Section Seventeen."
Haven let the information sink in, her heart beginning to race. This was it. This was the fight of their lives.
T'Challa stepped forward and shouted, "Wakanda forever!" The second the words fell from his lips, the entire army took off.
Haven lifted into the air, flying about ten feet off of the ground. She watched as the barrier opened and a sea of monsters flooded their safety.
She twisted and turned, tapping the critters as she passed them, leaching the air from their black, calloused lungs.
A claw dug into her arm and dragged her to the ground. Her body slammed into the creek below and she was immediately submerged by the aliens.
She could feel them clawing at her skin. She could hear them growling and huffing as they craved the taste of her flesh.
Groaning, Haven tore the oxygen from the water to fill her lungs. She opened her palm and pushed them off of her enough to stand up.
She could feel the blood seeping down her arm but she paid it no mind. She suffocated them all one by one before moving onto another batch.
As she lifted into the air, she saw a critter bat the gun from Bucky's hand and throw him to the ground.
Haven dove toward them, slamming her body into the monster. She crashed to the ground with it but managed to clear it of air before it knew what hit it.
Jogging back, she pulled Bucky up with her ability and helped him catch his breath. "You're bleeding," he said.
"I'm fine," she replied.
The second she turned to run, she was tackled to the ground. They gnawed and scratched at her from all sides. They moved so fast that they were adding more on before she even had time to kill one.
"There's too many of them!" Bruce shouted into the coms, speaking her thoughts exactly.
And right before it was deemed hopeless, she saw it.
Flashing down to the earth so heavy and bright it shook the ground. Veins of purple, blue, red, and green coursed through it.
As the rays disappeared, the man standing below it brought a smile to her face.
He was alive.
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