The Flame (Avengers Fanfiction)

Part 6: 75-Arsonist's Lullabye

My eyes open and I'm laying in the smoldering ruins of a building. I can taste blood in my mouth and I can feel something warm dripping down my head. I stand up, legs feeling very weak. My bright red suit is tattered and torn, the Avengers "A" that should be on my shoulder has been ripped off. My body feels broken and sore. It smells like death and burning flesh. Ash is falling from the sky like snow. It's covering every surface in a thick blanket. I know I must be in New York City. I just know.

Something went very wrong here.

Do you remember how King's Landing looked after Daenerys went absolutely batshit? How she commanded Drogon to kill innocents because why the fuck not? Yeah, that has nothing on how the city looks around me. Daenerys went easy on King's Landing compared to whatever happened here.

"I'm coming for you." A woman says in a sing-song voice. I look around, looking for the source of the voice, but she just laughs. It sends shivers down my spine, but I'm so curious that I can't help but look around to get some type of hint as to where I am at, but all I see is destroyed buildings. I walk over debris, stepping onto chunks of concrete as I leave my ruined building to step onto the street. The road is filled with the charred remains of cars and buses. And when I take a step forward and hear a disgusting crunch, I realize it's also covered in burned bodies. I look down and carefully pull my foot out of someone's skull.

In the distance, I can see a broken shield and a black and gold arm sticking out from the rubble. There's a torn red and black mask nearby. I can see a gunmetal colored, armor covered leg sticking out from a slab of concrete. I try move towards them, wanting to see if one of them is okay, but I can't move. I pray that Benny and Neddy are far away from this destruction.

"You couldn't save them. Oh, of course you couldn't save them. You couldn't even save your husband....All it took was one little push. Poor old man. Didn't even see it coming. And it was so easy weakening him. He didn't stand a chance." She says again, her voice ringing out like a bell. The sky grows red above me, thunder booms in the distance. Suddenly, I can see the older version of my husband in his little kitchen and a woman steps out of the darkness. She pushes him hard, his head slamming against the floor hard. I can't breathe. I can't move. I can't help Steve as his blue eyes turn to look at me, begging me to take care of him. A single tear rolls down my cheek before the image fades away. My heart suddenly hurts, like someone just pushed a pin into it.

A woman, who I'm guessing is the owner of that haunting voice steps out from behind a crumbling pillar. God, she's really pretty. Like really pretty. She's wearing a long red velvet dress and her wavy long blonde hair is loose. She looks like she belongs on the runway rather than in the middle of this destruction. Her face seems familiar, but I can't quite place it. But then she smirks at me and I realize who she looks like. The woman laughs again, not caring as the train of her dress gets caught in the bodies that liter the ground.

"Oh no, mommy didn't tell you about me?" She purrs, walking over and grabbing my face. Her nails dig into my skin as I look at her. There's black veins under her skin and her eyes are a bright red. She looks horrifying. Much prettier from a distance.

"Who the fuck are you?" I ask as she smiles, lifting me up off of the ground. I try to kick my legs, try to get free of this woman. It's useless, because she is way too strong.

"Thank you for killing our siblings. I really needed the power boost, little sister." She tells me with a smile across her face, her sharp canines on full display. My eyes widen as she grabs my head and turns it sharply, my bones breaking-

I gasp, sitting up in bed. My hand moves up to wrap around my throat, making sure it's not broken. There's hot tears running down my cheeks and I'm breathing hard. My heart is thundering in my ears. The door swings open and Bucky rushes in, climbing onto my bed. Thankfully, Neddy doesn't wake up because of the noise.