Rogue (An Avengers Fanfic)

Chapter 66: London

Team: Thor, Steve, Luke Cage, Falcon, Vision

The sight of the London Eye was barely visible through the smoke. The Soldiers had resorted to setting off explosions, hoping to cause maximum damage to the people around them. Falcon flew overhead, he was the distraction. The Soldiers hadn't managed to master flight, making him the safest of the five. Many members of the army looked overhead, trying to think of a way to reach Falcon, when Thor's hammer came, seemingly out of nowhere, and knocked them off their feet. Falcon shot at them from above, accurately hitting each one exactly where he wanted, thanks to some much-needed Stark Tech. The surprise knocked the wind out of them, and they took a while to recover, remembering the promise that had led them to London. Kilgrave told them that it would be an unmatched fight, that taking out the Avengers would be easier than breathing. But London's Winter Soldier was smarter than this, she knew what she was going up against from the beginning, she was prepared. Knowing that there was nothing she could do to stop Mjolnir, she instead aimed for Falcon. As she aimed a shot at him, he quickly swerved. The wintery British sun disoriented her and she couldn't see where she was shooting. Taking another shot did nothing, it barely reached the heights that he was flying at. It was then that she realised that, to take him out, she'd have to ground him.

***

Vision flew through the crowds. His main mission was to evacuate the civilians, to make sure that everyone was safe. After what he'd done to Rhodey at the airport, it was the least he could do. He flew over the Soldiers, using his gem to send a searing pain through their bodies, incapacitating them.

Steve and Luke Cage focused on hand-to-hand combat. Luke's unbreakable skin gave him the advantage that most heroes didn't have. They couldn't cut him or break his skin, and he almost matched them with his combat skills. What he lacked in combat, Steve more than made up for. He was the most experienced fighter they had faced, and he didn't show any signs of slowing down or stopping. He threw a punch, easily knocking one of the Soldiers down. Once down, he moved on to the next one. He felt sorry for them, this battle wouldn't have been their first choice. He couldn't kill them knowing that they'd basically been forced into this. He wouldn't take innocent lives.

***

Thor, on the other hand, had no problem taking the lives of the people who were threatening the Earth. Even without the use of Mjolnir, his strength and agility so heavily outmatched the Soldiers that he didn't even see the point of fighting them. Instead, he focused his energy on the Winter Soldier, and her powers. Running to her, he hit her with his hammer and she fell to the ground. But she was back on her feet in two seconds, standing in a boxer's stance. If she wasn't completely focused on her mission, she would have been excited about the fact that she was fighting Thor, an Asgardian God – it wasn't something you did every day. She hit him and he hit her back, almost like they were sparring rather than fighting to the death. All she could focus on was Kilgrave's words, his specific instructions to kill. But as she fought, and saw the destruction taking place around her, something changed. She lost a small amount of determination, allowing Thor to punch her in the face and knock her out.

***

Steve hit another Soldier before stopping to take a breath. The Soldiers that he didn't kill kept coming back. Some angry with him for hitting them, others just trying to hit anything that moved. Not for the first time, Steve wished that he hadn't given the shield back to Stark, it would definitely have come in handy. Falcon landed abruptly next to Steve.

"This is easier than I thought it would be."

"It's not over yet. These Soldiers aren't going down easily," Steve reminded him.

"They're following orders. But Thor took out their Queen – maybe they'll back down now."

"And if they don't?" Steve wondered.

"Then we'll deal with them," Falcon said.

The Winter Soldier opened her eyes, taking in the sight of Thor, Steve, Falcon, Luke Cage and Vision standing above her.

"Ow," she said, grabbing her head and stumbling to her feet. She took in their faces and chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm not currently in destruction mode."

"You're not still...?" Steve trailed off.

"Brainwashed?" She chuckled again. "No, Kilgrave doesn't have a hold on me anymore. Thanks for that by the way." She nodded towards Thor.

"What is your name?" Vision asked her.

"Katherine," she answered after a moment of hesitation.

"What do you plan on doing now that you're no longer... under his control?" Luke Cage asked.

"I've been experimented on and controlled for years. A holiday would be nice... somewhere hot. Siberia was... cold, and snowy. I haven't seen proper sun in... I don't even know how long."

Thor and Steve looked at each other.

"Her combat skills are impressive; she could be useful," Thor murmured.

"I doubt she'd even want to join," Steve murmured back.

"I can hear you." Katherine said, pulling their attention back to her. "You want me to join your team?"

"Look, we need all the help we can get," Steve said. "From what Thor tells me, you could be useful."

"You want me to go from being controlled by the bad guys, to being controlled by the good guys?" she asked.

"Not controlled, we're a team," Steve clarified. The guys watched her think about it. Suddenly, Steve and Falcon noticed something coming towards them in the distance.

"Grenade!" Falcon yelled. The guys scattered, but Katherine wasn't quick enough. On autopilot, Steve ran to her. He pushed her off Westminster Bridge and into the water, diving on the grenade as he had done only once before, in 1942. This time though, it was a live grenade. It went off underneath Steve, the impact blowing a hole through his chest.

"Steve!" Falcon shouted, running towards him and dropping to the floor when he got close enough to see what had happened. Thor was close behind, dropping Mjolnir to the ground. Vision flew to the ground and stood over the body. He himself couldn't produce tears, but if he could, he didn't know how he'd ever stop them from flowing.

Katherine climbed back up the bridge and stood next to the body.

"He... saved... me," she said, panting. She threw herself down on his body and hugged him, whispering the 'thank you' that she never got to tell him.

They had lost a soldier, a leader. The one person that they never expected to lose. Captain America.

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Thank you so much for reading!

All I can say about this chapter is that, I'm so sorry! It had to be done, but I'm still really sorry. I hope Captain America fans don't feel too sad about it!

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