Chapter Text
She shifts in her seat, crossing one leg over the other and leaning back her chair, trying to get comfortable. Peering over the edge of her mug she takes another sip of coffee, enjoying the warmth it provides as it slides down her throat. She lets out a heavy sigh as she watches the pandemonium around her. Men, women, and children, all streaming past her in a blur of colors and screams, running for their lives. The crowd was thick, people tripping over themselves and each other to get away from the newest threat. She can't even see the assailants yet but she can hear them a few blocks away, wreaking havoc through the city streets. By the inhuman growls echoing off the brick of the old buildings, she knows whatever they are, they aren't from Earth.
Another sigh leaves her lips as she sets down her mug, watching the last of the panicked locals scramble for shelter. She knows she should get up and join the evacuation, but she's sure no one will see her. Even if she was seen, she's been training to defend herself since she was young, and she's more than confident in her abilities. Besides, she paid for this coffee and she's gonna finish it, damn it. She can hear the growling and destruction getting closer and closer, and she rolls her eyes.
It's too early for this shit, she thinks as she sees the first of the creatures round the corner. It’s hideous, growling like a rabid dog as it runs down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. Untangling her legs, she sits up on the edge of her seat to get a better view of the walking monstrosity. It's body vaguely resembles that of a human's, but that's where the similarities ended. It's at least twice the size of an average human, and it's pale, hairless, and wrinkled skin moves as it runs on all fours, claws out and ready to kill. It looks like something straight out of a horror film. She doesn’t have the best view from where she is, but she can tell that the thing is built extremely thin. It's almost like a walking skeleton wrapped in loose skin. The thought makes her scrunch her nose up in disgust. She watches as it slows to a walk, assessing the new foe. An eyebrow quirks upward when it stops near the opposite end of the now empty street, completely still, gazing straight ahead down the sidewalk. Her curiosity grows and she finds herself straining her neck left and right, trying to see around the large trees and potted plants between her outdoor café seating and the creature.
She's so engrossed in studying the beast that she doesn't realize how quiet her surroundings have gotten until she hears a jet engine in the distance. She can no longer hear screaming and growling a few streets away, and the sound of the monsters destroying everything in their path is eerily absent. The silence throughout the normally bustling downtown streets of Barcelona is down right spooky.
Where did the rest go? She narrows her eyes at the sole monster in the street, which still hasn’t moved an inch. Not even a twitch. Not even a head swivel. Nothing.
This can’t be good. She couldn’t have stopped herself from rolling her eyes again, even if she'd wanted to. One cup of coffee. That's all I wanted. I was already on my way out of town, these assholes couldn't have waited another 20 minutes? Her inner monologue went on as she stood from her chair as quietly as possible. Making sure her invisibility is still intact, she keeps an eye on the unmoving beast as she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a few banknotes, laying them on the table beside her now cold cappuccino.
Just because the waitress ran for her life screaming like a banshee doesn't mean she deserves to be stiffed. She pulls her jacket from the back of her chair and throws it on, doing her best not to make any noise. She's still grumbling internally about her cold coffee when she notices the jet engine is getting louder. Another glance at the creature and then she's looking straight up, squinting against the morning sun in an effort to locate the obnoxious noise.
She watches as the outline of the biggest bird she's ever seen in her damn life flies overhead at lightning speed, taking the engine noise with it. It lands more gracefully than she would've expected it to, right in the middle of the street between her and the beast, it's back to her. And it's only when it lands that she realizes its not a bird at all, but a man. A man with metal wings.
Shit. Now it's definitely time to go. If the Falcon is here the rest of the Avengers are sure to follow, she knows that for a fact. She's kept herself and her abilities under the radar her whole life, and she doesn't want to change that now. She sets to making quiet yet hasty steps across the street, making sure to give a wide berth around the Falcon, who was now talking to himself. She assumes the rest of the Avengers can hear him somehow, but she can't be sure. He's saying something about the odd behavior of the beast, how it's not only alone but completely still. She's trying to tune him out so she can focus on getting by him and the beast without either noticing her. Her invisibility won't do her much good if she's heard.
Still walking quietly, she watches the Falcon take a few experimental steps towards the creature. When it doesn't react, he takes a few more. She's still watching the interaction, waiting for the thing to jump up and eat him or something, when she reaches the other side of the street and the small curb there. The toe of her lace up combat boot hits the curb and she stumbles, letting out a small squeak in surprise before catching and righting herself once more. She immediately curses herself for being so clumsy, but the thoughts end quickly when she looks up. Both the Falcon and the beast are looking straight at her. Well, more specifically, the Falcon is looking in her general direction, probably searching for the source of the sound while looking right through her, but the creature is looking at her. It's like those soulless black eyes can actually see her, even though she should be completely invisible right now. Her eyes grow wide at the realization that, whatever this creature is, her powers are useless against it. Definitely a first.
Crap. She drops her invisibility, and at the same time the whole street explodes into chaos. More creatures just like the first come pouring out into the street from every angle. She doesn't even have time to blink before the first monster tackles her, throwing her backwards a few feet before pinning her to the pavement with a growl she's never heard before. With the air knocked out of her lungs she struggles to gain her bearings again, but the intense, sharp pain in her left arm helps bring her around a little faster. The creature has her left shoulder and bicep pierced with it's claws, holding her down while it tries to bite at her throat with it's huge, misshapen snout. She lands a few punches to its face with her free hand before she realizes the thing doesn’t seem to notice, and switches tactics. She feels it's claws tighten on her arm as she jams her thumb into it's black, lifeless eye. It lets out a horrific screech and lifts it's weight back off of her for a split second, just enough time for her to use her free hand to pull her knife from it's sheath in the waistband of her jeans. She stabs at the creature, aiming for the same eye she stuck her thumb in, and watches the blade sink in. It lets out another terrible shriek and tries to swat her away, but she has a firm hold on the knife and pushes it deeper until the beast goes slack on top of her. Ignoring the black ichor soaking into her shirt and jacket, she heaves the heavy creature off of her. The monster's talons rip free of her arm as it falls away from her, making her cringe in pain, but she doesn't even have time to think about it before she's on her feet again and fighting off two more.
While fighting off the creatures surrounding her, she quickly realizes that not only has the Falcon joined the fight against them, but so have a few of the other avengers. The sounds of battle echo off the buildings, mixed with gunfire, growling from the beasts and the occasional curse from her own voice. She has no idea when they got here, but she's not going to question it now.
It's been a while since she's been in a fight like this, and she can't deny how much she loves the feeling the adrenaline gives her. The beasts are relatively easy to get rid of, and she's only too happy to get rid of them. Swiftly pulling the knife from her most recent victim, she moves on to the next group of monsters, noticing that the horde is getting smaller. Down the street, she can see glimpses of woman with long dark hair battling hard, taking on at least five beasts at once. There's a red glow around the girl's hands, and suddenly the creatures go flying through the air, up against brick buildings and cars in the street, killing them instantly. After realizing who it is, she can't help but watch Scarlett Witch fight, mesmerized by her. She's seen her fight in videos and on the news, but seeing it in person in incredible.
Plus, her leather jacket is super cute. Man I wish I could pull off red. Her thoughts are cut off by another creature slamming into her side, throwing her into the air and making her lose her grip on her knife. Despite landing with her injured arm to the pavement, she immediately throws herself into an awkward roll to avoid getting pinned down again. Gathering her bearings, she uses the momentum from the roll to dive toward her weapon on the ground, merely a split second before the monster that tackled her lunges again.
She grunts under it's weight as it lands on the back of her thighs, claws cutting into her backside through her jeans. Grasping her only weapon once more, she twists at the waist as much as she can, stabbing blindly at the beast's face until it lets go and gives her enough room to flip onto her back. Aiming for the eye once again, she sinks the knife in and gives it a sickening twist, ignoring the fluid running from it's face and down the hilt of her knife. She makes sure the beast is dead before giving it a shove and managing to shimmy out from under it's weight. Standing up, she runs a hand over the backside of her pants, cringing as her fingers skim over fresh wounds and tears in her jeans.
"You ruined my favorite pair of jeans! And you didn't even ask for consent first, you ass groping prick!" She gives the dead corpse a hard kick to the side out of spite. She sighs dramatically, glaring at it. "I guess chivalry really is dead."
The sound of nearby gunfire has her head snapping up. A man standing a few yards away is holding an automatic weapon at eye level, pointing it straight at her. Just as she was about to raise her intangibility he fires again, and she imagines she can feel the breeze the bullets create as they fly over her shoulder and connect with something behind her. Turning around she sees two more beasts lying dead on the pavement, their heads riddled with bullet holes. She turns back to her savior with a wide grin.
"I stand corrected."
He lowers his weapon and she see can see the smirk on his face. His very handsome face, she thinks. His brown hair was long and shaggy, and he had scruff on his chin and cheeks that looked a few days old. He was dressed in all black tactical gear but she could see a sliver of metal between one of his sleeves and his leather glove. She was about to thank him when he sent her a wink and stalked away, back toward the chaos. She stood there for another moment, watching him go before shaking her head and reminding herself to stay focused. Following after him, she joined the fight once more.
By the time she and the others dispatch the last of the monsters, the pain of her injuries is catching up to her. The beasts were relentless; not one ran away. It was as if they didn't care if they died. They were like mindless drones, with their only goal to kill. She stands in the middle of what was a beautiful alley this morning, now looking like a combat zone. Buildings reduced to rubble, architecture and landscaping destroyed, and the corpses of hideous creatures littering the ground pavement. The café she'd had coffee at earlier today was decimated, with creature's remains scattered in the debris. They could really do some damage. She sits down on a clean section of the curb and stretches her legs out in front of her. Momentarily forgetting about the cuts on her lower butt and thighs, she cringes hard when she connects with the pavement and readjusts to lean backwards on her hands, keeping her weight off her injuries.
That's definitely gonna suck for a while. She lets out a sigh. Leaning her weight on her arms hurts her injured shoulder, which is still bleeding sluggishly, but she ignores it. She just needs a moment to rest before she can pull her invisibility back to the forefront of her mind and make her escape. As much as she wants to leave the scene as soon as possible, she knows if she tries to use her abilities right now she'll most likely pass out. Keeping her focus enough to maintain her invisibility takes a lot out of her, especially when she's already tired and injured.
Of course, she has a few questions about what just happened. Like why could that first creature see her when she was invisible? And why did it attack her first, when the Falcon was so much closer? It ran right by him to get to her. She doesn't have any ideas, but none of it is sitting well with her, that’s for sure.
She listens to the members of the famous avengers team as they regroup a little ways down the street. The Falcon says something about checking for stragglers through the rest of the immediate area while pushing a few buttons on the arm of his suit, and a little drone pops out of the back of his wings and flies away. She watches it go over the buildings behind her, and she can't help but gape.
Man, I need one of those. Why do they get all the cool toys? She'd have half a mind to ask them that if she was planning on sticking around long enough to speak to them. She tips her head back and closes her eyes, deciding she'll give herself a few more minutes before disappearing.
******
Sam watches the feed from Redwing on the monitor as it flies over the streets of Barcelona. There doesn't seem to be any more of those things anywhere in the city, whatever the hell they are. They must've either killed them all, or they retreated back to whichever depth of hell they'd emerged from. Either way it was fine by him. Wanda and Bucky were inspecting one of the creature's bodies nearby, probably trying to get any details they could from the thing. Returning Redwing to his suit, he walks over to stand beside them just as Bucky gives the corpse a nudge with the toe of his boot. The way it jolted under his ministrations made Sam's stomach turn a bit. The things were vile, there was no denying that.
"Any ideas?" They shake their heads.
"It's like they had no cognitive function. Like they were mindless animals." Wanda's still gazing at the beast in confusion and curiosity as she speaks. Sam frowns, deep in thought.
"So who's controlling them?" He asks no one in particular.
"And why?" Wanda adds. Her question makes him think back to right before the attack. That first beast was just standing there in the middle of the sidewalk. It was extremely weird, and only got weirder when he walked right up to it and it did nothing. But then-
He's jogging down the street before he even finishes the thought. Bucky is already there, with one hand on the gun hanging by its strap around his shoulders. He's staring down at something on the edge of the sidewalk. Sam didn't even hear him walk away, but he's not surprised. The other man is absurdly quiet, something Sam is still getting used to. Coming to a stop beside him, he follows Bucky's gaze to the curb in front of them. There are small red splotches on the pavement. Blood, he realizes. Bucky voices the same conclusion he'd just come to.
"She's gone."