riley doesn't want to be left behind

i blinked slowly, coming back to my senses.

alarms blared around me, small fires raged, smoke forced its way into my lungs.

i coughed, trying to make sense of what was happening. the memories slowly came back to me, and i realized we had to run. by the sound and placement of the explosion, it was an engine. and it needed to be fixed.

"hill?" i heard fury's voice through the earpiece.

"number three engine is down," maria responded. "can we get a run in?"

i coughed again, running out of the lab. i stumbled into captain america, who steadied me.

"minnie," my dad called from in front of him "you okay?"

"m'fine," i responded, my voice a little hoarse. "you?"

"i'm okay."

another voice came through the earpiece, "turbine's loose. mostly intact, but it's impossible to get out there and make repairs while we're in the air."

"we lose one more engine, we won't be," maria hill muttered. "somebody's got to get inside and patch that engine."

"stark, you copy?" fury's voice came through this time.

my dad and i both answered, "yep. on it."

fury called out orders to coulson and a few other agents. i nodded briefly at phil, before ignoring my earpiece and following my dad and captain america.

"find engine three," my dad told captain america as we ran down a smoke-filled corridor. "i'll meet you there."

captain america nodded, running off.

i was about to follow him, when my dad grabbed my arm, "and you. hide. stay safe."

"dad, i can't do that," i shook my head. "you know i can't."

my dad looked like he wanted to argue with me, but he decided against it. "just, stay safe."

i nodded at him, "you too."

then i followed captain america down the corridor.

steve and i pushed twice, breaking one of the doors down.

we maneuvered our way through passerby's, calling medical whenever we passed an injured person, working as a team.

we reached engine three, only to see a massive chunk of port side torn off the ship.

"stark, we're here!" captain america said into the earpiece.

the fear of falling hadn't kicked in, seeing i wasn't above empty space. i held onto a metal bar to avoid slipping.

"good," my dad said, flying into vision. "let's see what we got."

"i gotta get this super conducting cooling system back online before I can access the rotors and work on dislodging the debris," he muttered to himself.

he turned to captain america and i, "i need you to get to the engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position."

captain america nodded, before swinging from a stray pole, and jumping to the control panel.

"you couldn't take me with you?" i muttered.

taking a deep breath, i activated energy platforms under my shoes. using them as stairs, i ran across to the control panel.

i gripped the wall, glad that i wasn't above open air anymore.

captain america pulled out the control panel, only to look helplessly at it.

"what's it look like in there?" my dad asked.

captain america sighed, "it seems to run on some form of electricity."

despite the situation, i laughed a little.

"well," my dad muttered, "you're not wrong."

"let me do this," i said, kneeling in front of the control panels. with a few moderations, i managed to fix the relays quite quickly.

"alright, they're all intact," i told my dad. "now what?"

"even if i clear the routers, this thing's not gonna re-engage without a jump," my dad said. "i'm gonna have to get in there and push."

"there's got to be another way," i muttered.

"if that thing speeds up, you're going to get shredded," captain america agreed with me.

"then stay in the control unit and reverse polarity long enough to disengage mag—"

"speak english!" captain america said to him.

i sighed, "see that red lever? it'll slow down the routers long enough for him to get out."

"stand by it," my dad said. "wait for my word."

captain america once again, jumped to the other platform to stand next to the lever.

"oh come on!" i groaned. 

fighting my fears, one more time, i created energy platforms and ran to the other platform.

we stood impatiently, waiting for my dad's signal. a group of people appeared on the level below us. 

i was just wondering if they were help, when they began firing at us.

"oh shit," i muttered.

i pulled up and energy shield, deflecting bullets.

"who are those guys?" captain america yelled.

"uh, the bad guys!" i called back, "duh!"

captain america merely rolled his eyes, and the two of us continued fighting them. i lost track of how many energy balls i threw at them, how many times i dodged death.

the fight continued.

it wasn't long before i heard my dad's voice, "alright, hit the lever."

"i need a minute here," captain america called out, punching one of the guys so hard, he fell off the ship.

"oh lord," i muttered.

unfortunately, another guy jumped up on him from behind, the two of them falling off the edge.

"steve!" i yelled, letting a blast of energy loose, knocking the rest of the bad guys away. 

i ran to the edge to see him dangling from it.

"lever," my dad repeated, "now."

"oh gods, oh gods, oh gods," i muttered repeatedly to myself, trying to haul steve up.

"hit the lever," cap told me.

i looked at the lever. there was no i way i could reach it in time. without thinking, i shot out a vine of energy, wrapping it around the lever, and i pulled.

the lever broke off and flew into my hands. i watched as a vent opened up, allowing my dad to fly out.

grunting, i pulled steve up to safety.

the iron man suit stumbled a bit as my dad flew, but even he made it safely back.

"we made it," i muttered, falling back onto the ground. "we made it."

if only i knew how wrong i was.

my dad, steve, and i walked through the aircraft, helping any injured people, making our way back to the lab.

"agent coulson is down," fury's voice suddenly sounded in my earpiece.

i froze in my tracks, not sure if i heard correctly.

"a medical team is on it's way to your location," another agent said.

"they're here," fury said, referring to a medical team. "they called it."

"oh gods," i muttered, my hands flying to cover my mouth.

phil's dead.

after the war, and losing cayden, then charlie, then silena, and luke, i wasn't sure if i could handle another death.

my arm wrapped around my dad's suit as i tried to hold myself up. he gripped me as well, the two of us steadying each other.

we sat around a table, all back in our regular clothes. 

i'd cried over coulson's death, and now i had no tears left in me. a half-empty tissue box sat in front me, and crumpled tissues filled the garbage.

steve, my dad, fury, and i were the only ones around the table. maria stood a little further away, watching.

"these were in phil coulson's jacket," fury said, shuffling something in his hands. he threw some cards on the table, covered in coulson's blood, across the table. "guess he never did get you to sign them."

my heart dropped as i saw the captain america trading cards. a part of me wanted to cry some more, while another part just felt numb.

"we're dead in the air up here," fury said. "our communications, location of the cube, banner, thor... i got nothing for you. i lost my one good eye. maybe i had that coming."

i looked blankly at fury.

"yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the tesseract," fury began. "i never put all my chips on that number, though... because i was playing something even riskier."

my dad kept his head down, refusing to meet anyone's gaze.

"there was an idea — stark knows this — called the avengers initiative," fury said, walking around the table. the idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. to see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could."

fury turned towards me and my dad, the two of us refusing to meet his eye, "phil coulson died still believing in that idea. in heroes."

my dad got up suddenly, and walked away without giving fury a single glance.

i shook my head at fury, not saying any words, and left as well.

the last thing i heard fury say was, "well, it's an old fashioned notion."

"where are you going?" i asked my dad for the tenth time.

"wherever i'm going," he started, "it's not safe for you. i need you to stay on the ship."

i groaned, hating this. it was always the same argument. he wanted me to be safe, and i needed to remind him that i don't always need protecting. 

not in the mood to argue with him, i left the room, my feet leading me to the one person i know wouldn't say no to me.

"nat, i need your help," the words spilled out of me the second the door slid open.

"what's wrong, kid?" she asked, concern lacing her tone.

she took a step forward.

"dad's suiting up for something, and he's not telling me where he's going," i crossed my arms over my chest. "i wanna follow him. can you fly one of those sickass jet thingys they have."

"i can."

clint barton walked out of the joined washroom, wiping his face with a towel.

he'd been pulled out of mind control, and normal procedure was to stay wary for at least another twenty-four hours. but clint was a demigod. he was vera and will solace's half-brother. 

he was like me. 

and that was more than enough reason to trust him.

"great," i clapped my hands together without hesitating. "we can get goin..."

my voice trailed off as i tilted my head. from my peripheral vision, i noticed clint was doing the same.

"what's wrong?" natasha asked, not yet hearing it.

"someone's coming," i said, hearing the footsteps get louder. "quick! hide me!"

"uh... behind there!" natasha shoved me behind a door, and i sucked in a large breath, trying to be more comfortable.

"time to go," steve's voice sounded from the door.

i gasped without a sound.

"go where?" natasha asked.

"i'll tell you on the way," steve said. "can you fly one of those jets?"

"i can," clint spoke up.

i almost laughed at how similar our conversation had been.

there was a pause before steve asked, "you got a suit?"

"yeah."

"then suit up."

i waited for the footsteps to recede before coming out of my hiding place.

"what's going on?" natasha asked.

i shrugged, "i'm not a hundred percent sure, but i think it's time for the 'final battle'. like you know, with loki. and dad doesn't want me going because he's my dad, and it's what dads do. and with steve, i don't know what's with steve. but neither of them want me to go, and i want to go. so i'm going."

"it's gonna be dangerous," natasha stated.

"i know," i told her.

a hint of a smile traced clint's face as he asked, "well then, you got a suit?"

my gaze travelled down to the dove necklace, the one my mom restored for me. it was glowing against my chest, and clint and natasha both looked confused.

i ran my thumb against it and gasped lightly as a honeycomb effect ran over my body. the end result was beautiful.

a sleek, black suit covered my body, with gold accents running down my legs, arms, and chest. a black hood with a gold rim hung over my head, and a black cloth mask covered the bottom half of my face. 

a dove emblem blazed on my chest, fading away.

a note displayed itself on a screen on my arm and i couldn't help the smile that broke out on my face as i read it.

my choice would've been some pink and purple, maybe a little blue for design. but you're gonna be a superhero, and that's a little too bright for that. you have to admit, the black and gold looks pretty beautiful. use it carefully, and stay safe.

love, mum

i looked up at clint, and a sort of understanding passed through us. he recognized who had sent it to me, and couldn't help the soft smile that broke out on his face. 

a lot had changed since he was a young demigod.

i grinned, "let's get this party started."

REY WRITES!

okay, so i was so excited for this !!
anyways, next chapter is the f i g h t !!
who's ready ??

thoughts?

comments?

headcanons?

theories?