The Seventh Avenger: Playing With Fire

Chapter 13: A Rude Wake-Up Call

          An orange haze clouds New York City and casts the numerous, glittering buildings in a golden light as the sun sets in the distance and nightfall begins to slowly roll over the busy city. The scent of blood and death that mixes in the air and turns the dust caused by the crumbling buildings and brutal fighting a crimson red that causes Lydia's eyes to water.

          All around her, aliens swarm the beloved city that she calls home, their sharp weapons cutting innocent civilians down at an alarming pace. The sight is enough to cause her heart to beat frantically against her chest and she is almost consumed by an overwhelming sense of despair that causes her knees to buckle. She can hear her teammates frantically shouting for her, their desperation leaking through the comm buried within her ear and resonating deep within her skull, but she pays them no attention. In fact, she barely gives the falling city and the endless screams and shrieks of the Chitauri a second thought. Ignoring the gunfire and the shaking ground beneath her feet, she only pushes through the smoke and the terrified crowds, running as fast she can to try and reach the blonde woman that manages to slip past her every single time she comes close to catching her.

          Riley.

          Lydia can make out her blonde waves trailing out behind her as she weaves through the broken debris, and she manages to get a few glimpses of her terrified face here and there whenever Riley looks up to see the chaos spiralling out of control around them. If she sees Lydia though, then she doesn't care. She just keeps on running, getting further and further from Lydia as the seconds tick by.

          Wait! Lydia tries to call out but inadvertently chokes on the overwhelming sense of copper in the air. She's seconds away from giving up and collapsing on the ground in defeat when the other blonde suddenly stops. Miraculously, almost as if she has somehow managed to read Lydia's mind, Riley comes to an abrupt halt and turns to face her. Her face is as white as paper, and her eyes wide with fear as they stare at Lydia, her lips dry and chapped as they move to shape one word.

          "Remember."

          Lydia lets out a small noise of anguish as she finally reaches the elusive young woman, and immediately lifts a hand to grasp Riley's shoulder with the intention of firmly holding her in place. But it's like trying to catch smoke; everywhere she tries to grab turns non-corporal, and Riley's lifeless form slips through her fingers until her features blend, and nothing is left.

          Lydia screams in frustration before her eyes then spot Riley standing halfway down the street. Finding a new surge of energy, she takes off after the young woman who thankfully doesn't move away from her this time. But the moment that Lydia stands within arm's length of her, her form fades away into nothingness once again, before reappearing halfway down the war-torn street once again.

          Again, and again this cycle continues but despite the exhaustion, Lydia refuses to give up. She swears under her breath as she leaps over debris, pushes past fleeing civilians and dodges the purple blasts from the alien guns. She trips over her own feet more times than she can count, but she is determined to reach Riley. She knows that doing so will finally provide her with the hidden answers revolving around her past that she has searched for so long, and fill in the blanks that her mind can't figure out itself. So, panting, she continues to chase Riley until they turn down the very same alley that Lydia had discovered her and the other two months prior-

          Only to come to a screeching halt as the Battle of New York fades away and she is left standing in the middle of the secret facility that had been her personal hell for over a year.