Chapter 20: Quintessence

Tony Stark was falling through the sky, plummeting to the ground.

Katrina let out a ragged gasp, a new hope spreading through her. "Nat, look!"

They both watched as he fell, unmoving, the Hulk caught him out of the air and slid down one of the buildings. Natasha helped her up, supporting her waist. "Nat, we have to get down there, please!"

Natasha wanted her to take a breath and let herself rest, but this was what Katrina did. Everyone else needed to be okay for her to be okay. It wasn't the healthiest habit, but Nat knew she wouldn't rest until she knew Tony was okay.

There was still the worry that Tony was gone already, which would break Katrina completely, but nonetheless, she let her go. Natasha nodded, signaling for her to go.

Hugging the woman, she released her and darted towards the edge of the building and jumped off. With as much energy as she could muster, she transformed, letting her hold on the others guide her, and it only took a few seconds for her to appear out of thin air a few feet away from the group. With a stumble and limp, she made it to their side, her heart dropping when she saw Tony lying limp on the concrete with his face mask off, eyes closed.

She wanted so much for his eyes to flicker open like hers had a few moments ago.

"Kat?" Cap called, squinting at her, noticing the deathly look about her. Her own blood covering her and her suit, walking like she was barely staying awake.

But she ignored him, collapsing to her knees at Tony's side to the left of Steve. "Tony?" She uttered, barely loud enough to be heard, placing one hand over the arc reactor, the other cradling his head. "Tony, please don't do this."

She placed her ear next to his lips, waiting for a breath to leave his lungs. "No, no, you can't die on me, Stark. Come on, please don't..." She insisted, sobs wracking her frail body once she realized the arc reactor was no longer glowing. She looked down at him helplessly, unsure of what she could do. Oblivious to the saddened gazes, she rested her forehead on his chest and slipped her bruised hand into his limp one, her cries and soft plinks of her tears on his metal armor were the only noise audible.

She just wished she could bring him back, but she had nothing left. Nothing left in the tank. She would trade her life for his if that was even possible.

Closing her eyes, her entire body relaxed, concerning the others when all of a sudden, streams of energy emanated from her body, flowing, and weaving their way around Tony's body, soaking into his skin and into the arc reactor. Hearing the others suck in a breath, her swollen eyes opened weakly hoping to see Tony awake but saw a completely different scene.

Carefully lifting her head, jaw slack, watching as more energy transferred from her skin, through the air, and to the man before her. She could feel the life draining from her bit by bit, and despite the fact that her body protested, she allowed it to happen. It didn't even occur to her how dangerous it was since she had already given more than she ever had the entire day.

It suddenly occurred to her that she could've saved Coulson with the same ability, which just sent another jab straight through her heart. Why hadn't it appeared in that moment. If it had, maybe she wouldn't have lost one of the people she loved the most in the entire world. And at that moment, Katrina knew, she wasn't going to make the same mistake.

After everything that she had done that day, including losing one of the most important people in her life, protecting the people of New York City, defeating an alien army, saving her friends from said aliens, and went up against the Tesseract which is as powerful or more powerful than some nuclear weapons. She didn't have any more fight left. Nothing left to give except her own life.

So, that's what Katrina did, even if she didn't know how or even that she did it in the first place.

But she could only give so much before her body eventually gave out. The streams cut off as her eyes finally drooped. Her frame fell limp backwards into Steve arms, her back resting against his chest. If it wasn't for the low whistle from her wheezing and the miniscule flutters of her eyes, he would've believed she was dead. Her battered body with all the bruised and her frighteningly pale complexion was enough for anyone to believe it.

Not knowing what else to do, Steve grabbed her small hand in his large, gloved one and squeezed, trying to give her any type of comfort he could. He felt responsible in a way, wishing he hadn't needed to ask what he did of her. Steve could feel the gentle twitch of her muscles as she tried to return the gesture but was too weak to do so.

Through blurry eyes, she stared at Tony's unmoving body waiting for him to twitch, to blink...something. She couldn't have done all that for nothing. Tears began to sting her eyes, gliding down over the dried blood and dust past her lips and trailing down her chin.

A moment of deafening silence goes by when out of the blue, Hulk lets a bone-rattling roar out, his massive fists beating against his chest, making them all jump. Including the person Katrina thought was gone for sure.

"What the hell?!" Tony yelled, his entire body tense from the shock, "What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me."

Steve chuckled, shaking his head. "We won." He nodded with sigh, relieved that it was over. Smiling, he hugged Kat tighter, softly repeating it just for her to hear, "We won."

"Alright, hey! Alright. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day." Tony rambled, attempting to wave his arms in victory, but could lift them a few inches off the ground before they fell back down. "You ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it."

"Food?" Katrina perked up making Steve look down at her fondly, smiling in amusement as she tried to lift her head but had the same result as Tony did. "Food sounds really good. I'm so hungry."

"What happened to you?" Tony asked, concerned for the girl who unbeknownst to him, just saved his life. He seemed to miss a lot that happened to her that day.

"I just saved your metal ass." She groaned, but when he looked at her strangely, she merely replied, "I'll tell you later."

"We're not finished yet." Thor interrupted, looking up at Stark Tower and every single one of them knew exactly what he was talking about.

"...And then shawarma after?" Tony confirmed.

"Yes, please." Katrina weakly requested.

Steve shook his head at the two before patting the girl's arm, "Shawarma after." He agreed.

~

Soon after the whole ordeal, both Clint and Natasha met up with the group near the entrance to Stark Tower. Once they saw Katrina, they rushed over and embraced her into a big hug, still being careful of her wounds. Steve, who had been carrying her, noticed her slight wriggling and set her carefully on her feet so that the other two adults could see her.

For the first time that day, all of the events finally registered in her head. Everything that she had been through surfaced, and she broke down, letting them support her as her legs gave out once again for the hundredth time.

"Are you okay?" Clint asked kneeling down in front of her, knowing it was a stupid question to ask, and was prepared for her typical 'I'm fine' response. So, he was shocked when she answered truthfully.

"I don't know." Her voice waivered, muffled slightly by his vest as her head rested on his shoulder.

"Okay." He nodded, rubbing her back as Natasha stroked her hair, "That's okay. It's over now. We'll figure it out, just like I told you."

Fortunately, due to Stark's tech that he gave her, she had gained back a bit of strength, but she was definitely not out of the woods just yet. Especially with the bullet still in her chest, but she wanted to confront Loki before he was taken away.

And that's what she did. Although she was carried up the stairs, due to just about everything about her state at the moment, she stood as tall as she could, ignoring her body screaming at her to just curl into a ball or simply sit down as she stared down at Loki.

The god of mischief was now cornered as he attempted to crawl over the steps and broken glass that covered the floor before realizing the sight before him.

Glancing at every single member, his eyes landed on Katrina. If it was a cartoon, red hot flames and steam would have been billowing out of her ears and mouth.

He cowered before them, "If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."

Clint who had been kneeling, aiming an arrow directly at him, suddenly raised to his feet and stepped to the side. Katrina then stepped forward, willing herself just not to fall over. Just glaring at him, all of the emotion from Coulson's death came rushing back, making her eyes and veins glow once again. And for a split second, Loki actually looked scared which made Katrina smirk. She wanted to kill him for what he did, but she knew that Coulson wouldn't have wanted that. And if she did, she wouldn't be very different from Loki, which she hated the thought of. So, instead of making true of her promise, she decided to let him live knowing that he failed. It wasn't ideal, but it was enough.

Finally, with her last burst of energy, she punched him square in the face. And she did so with so much force that the god was stunned and ended up with a new broken and bloody nose.

She smiled to herself, but unexpectedly, the room began to tilt. It took her a moment to realize that it was her that was doing the tilting. Clint caught her before she could hit the ground and set her on the couch.

Sighing, she let all the tension in her body dissipate and was finally able to rest.

And soon, shawarmawould be had.

AN: Ta-da! Quintessence is officially complete! There won't be an epilogue because everything in between will be explained in the prologue of the next book. I really hope you all have enjoyed this book and there is, again, absolutely more to come. I've been a bit low on inspiration to write lately, but do not fear, the next book will be out in the next couple months. I think I've said before that I'm working on another series with a friend of mine, so I've been working on that as well. Still, I have just about half of the next book done and I'm looking forward to posting it. But, in the meantime, let me know what you thought of this book, any ideas you might have. I absolutely love to hear people's opinions on things, so don't be afraid. 

But I cannot thank you all enough for reading my book, it means so much more than words could ever truly say. Despite the fact that I write whole fanfictions that now last, like, twenty chapters, I'm not the best with words when it comes to my own emotions. Nonetheless, please know that I am sincerely thankful that I get to share my love of fanfiction and Marvel with all of you. 

See you all soon in the next book! Love y'all!

-Mo