The Last Shifter (a Loki romance)

Chapter 109

I found a road and continued along it, following the sounds of battle, but then I heard the sound of a motor behind me, accompanied by gunfire.
"Arista, get in!" Natasha was driving one of the three trucks speeding my way, the second was alongside them and the third behind, both full of agents with guns.  I rolled to the side and when the truck passed, I grabbed hold and swung into the shotgun position.  Meanwhile, Thor landed on a disabled the truck alongside us. As we continued along the road, I caught sight of Steve on a motorcycle and Thor looking for his while the Hulk crushed the remains of a tank.  We were coming up on a barricade quick, but Natasha wasn't slowing down.  Just as I was getting nervous, she yanked the wheel to the right at the last second.  The truck tilted and I used the momentum to jump the fence.  The others came over with us, and Stark even dropped in from the sky to blast a couple men before zooming towards the old fortress on the hill.  I drew my sword and used it to knock an aimed gun away and summoned a dagger to stab the agent.
"Shit!" His voice came over the intercom a few seconds later.
"Language!  Jarvis, what's the view from upstairs?"
"The central building is protected by some kind of....energy shield.  Strucker's technology is well beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken."
"Loki's scepter must be here then." Thor and I concluded, "Strucker couldn't mount his defence without it.  At long last." He muttered.  A man in some sort of flying suit came rushing down on me, but I didn't sky away.  I hurled my sword up at him, impaling him in the chest.  He shouted, and the suit veered off course from me, landing hard a few feet away.  It didn't take much to pull the sword free from the wreckage.  Then I ran over to a pair a mounted gunmen.  The guards came at me, but they were easy enough to eliminate.
"At long last is lasting a little long, guys."
"I think we lost the element of surprise!" As I continued towards the fortress, I came across a concrete bunker, the only openings on which were filled with cannons.  They shot as soon as I was within range, forcing me to roll behind a tree.  A few meters away, I saw Barton taking cover in a similar fashion, firing off arrows between shots.
"Wait a sec.  No one else is gonna deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language'?"
"I know!  It just slipped out."
"Is there any blind spot?"
"Maybe in the corners." He replied. 
"I'll be right back then." I fell flat on the ground, shedding my catsuit, and camouflaging my skin against the snow.  Slowly, I made my way to one of the far corners.  If they had all their fire concentrated on Barton, sneaking up behind them should be a piece of cake.  The snow was frigid and my undergarments was thin, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle.  When I got to where I wanted to be, I left the cover of the trees and went forward with an army crawl.  Meanwhile, Barton kept taking shots at the bunker.  I paused every time he fired, to see if I had to make a quick escape.  But when I got about halfway to the bunker, something strange happened.  Barton fired, but there was a blue flash and the arrow was gone.  Barton appeared again moments later, but the blue flash came back before he could even fire, barreling into him and sending him down onto the snow.  Then, the flash slowed and a teenager became visible to my eyes.  I summoned my catsuit back onto my body and prepared to attack.
"You didn't see that coming?" His accent was Sokovian.  Then he saw me and dashed off.  I leapt to my feet and scampered back into tree cover, putting my back to a thick one.  However, I'd forgotten about the bunker.  A gun had popped out on top and fired, not hitting me, but catching Barton on the side. 
"Clint's hit!"
"I got him!" Natasha replied.  The blue flash came in my direction, from the right, but I was ready.  I used sedir to raise a tree root, bringing the boy down hard.  I stepped on his calf before he could rise again.
"Who are you?"
"Who are you?" His tone was rather cocky.
"Where did you get those powers?"
"Are here with the Avengers?"
"I am an Avenger.  Now–"
"Really?  A new one or that shape shifting one?  You going to turn into a dragon and eat me?"
"Now where did you ever get that idea?"
"I don't know.  But it worked." He yanked his leg out from under mine, throwing off my balance.  His arm struck me across the midsection with the speed and force of a freight train, sending me flying.  Fortunately, I managed to catch myself on a tree and land on my feet.  I looked around for him, but he was long gone.
"We have an enhanced in the field." Steve beat me to the news breaking.
"He has unnatural powers, superspeed.  Be careful."
"Somebody want to deal with that bunker?" It had continued to fire upon Barton and Natasha.  Before I could intervene, the Hulk came dropping out of the sky, reducing the bunker to smithereens in one hit.
"Thank you." I rushed over to them, and began working on keeping soldiers away from Natasha and Barton.
"Stark, we need to get inside!"
"I'm closing in." I wasn't close to Barton, but hearing him groan and not get up was very concerning.  In spare moments, I glanced at his wound.  He was bleeding heavily, and the burns were extensive and severe.
"Drawbridge is down, people!"
"Can you heal this?" Natasha caught me looking.
"Not here." I threw a dagger, impaling another agent, "And not very easily.  Plus I can't replenish blood." She nodded.
"Clint's hit pretty bad, guys.  We're gonna need evac."
"I can get Barton to the jet, you and Stark secure the scepter." There was an explosion in the distance, from Mjolnir colliding with vibranium.
"And for gosh sake, watch your language!" I snickered.  That was going to follow Steve around for a long time.  Thor landed beside me, ready to fight, but the stream of agents was quickly thinning.  It faded almost instantly to nothing.
"We're locked down out here."
"Then get to Banner.  Time for a lullaby."  Thor picked Barton up off the ground with ease, holding him with one arm while swinging Mjolnir with the other.  I grabbed onto his shoulders and we took off.  In those first few moments of flight, I realized that I'd never actually flown with Thor before.  It was not an unpleasant sensation, but I would have preferred it more if I had been able to control it.  We were back at the jet in less than a minute.
"We have a second enhanced.  Female.  Do not engage." Steve's voice was a little staticy, "Guys, I got Strucker." He said moments later.  Thor laid Barton down on the medbed and I opened up the medical supplies.
"Yeah.  I got...something bigger." Stark's voice sounded a little strange.
"Thor, Arista.  I got eyes on the prize." I closed my eyes and exhaled, allowing myself a little moment of peace, knowing that the Mind Stone would soon be out of reach of the humans.  But then, Stark's voice was silent.  He didn't confirm that he had it.
"Stark, do you have it?" No answer. "Respond!  Do you have the scepter!?"
"Yes.  Yeah, I've got it." I exhaled.