Title: Temporal Exigency (2/8+epilogue)
Summary: Aliens, the Avengers, action, angst, humor, coming home, and the significance of hands.
Rating: PG-13/T overall
Category: Glee, Avengers. Staine.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am also in no way an expert in anything remotely scientific.
A/N: This fic is complete, and I will be posting every day or so, but if you can't wait, you can find it on my tumblr (jaylie12). :o)
...
"Sir, I have Ms. Potts."
"Put her through, Jarvis." Two clicks and Tony spoke up again, "Sweetcheeks!"
Bruce's curious expression caught his attention and he turned around, stepping into the hallway.
"No," Pepper replied sternly.
"Dumpling?" Tony suggested.
"No."
"Okay then. How are things looking?"
"All quiet on the eastern front," Pepper answered.
"And we're sure they're coming?"
"Yes," Pepper huffed out. "We verified Fury's intel. Why are you still suspicious of him?"
"It's in my nature," Tony tossed out.
"True," Pepper conceded. "Oh, and one more thing."
"You got him?"
"Yes."
"What's he like? Is he better looking than me? You should send me a picture."
"You sound like my mother."
"She asks if I'm better looking than she is? What do you tell her?"
"That you're a pain in the ass," Pepper snarked back. "And Blaine's wonderful. Quiet. Smart though. I briefed him. He's a bit overwhelmed."
"Well, I can be overwhelming."
"I think it was more Captain America."
"Ah."
"I'll check in when we have something."
With that, the comm clicked off and Tony headed back onto the bridge. He stood at the entrance, watching Bruce mumble to himself as he leaned over the large table and tapped away at his tablet, Fury and Agent Hill in the center looking over the consoles, Natasha and Clint off to the side talking quietly, and Steve sitting straight and silent by Bruce's side. Tony would have thought nothing unusual about Steve's stoic expression except for the nearly imperceptible shift of his jaw and how his fingers gripped nervously at his gloves resting on the table. He made his way over to the man and sat down in the chair beside him. Steve's gaze shifted to him, only to flicker down to his gloves, but Tony did not miss the flash of worry in his usually calm expression.
"Blaine's at Stark Tower," Tony said, keeping his voice casual. Steve let out a breath, but otherwise remained silent. "He's been briefed on the situation."
Steve's attention snapped back to Tony, "You told him?"
"Well, technically, Pepper told him," Tony quipped.
"He doesn't have security clearance."
"Says who?"
"The federal government. The military," Steve supplied.
"Yeah, I don't really care," Tony said with a flick of his hand.
"Why?" Steve asked, his voice suddenly quiet.
"Kid should know what he's getting into," Tony answered.
"Stark."
Tony looked at Steve then, really looked at the blue eyes not piercing him with their usual consternation but with desperation. He leaned back in his chair. He knew what it was like to keep a secret; knew what it was like when that secret was no longer his, when it was forced out before he was ready.
"He didn't know," Tony said, letting his hand fall heavy on the table. Steve merely looked away from Tony's guilt, swiped his gloves off the table, and stood.
"He didn't know," Steve repeated quietly before turning and disappearing down the hall.
...
Steve passed agents along the halls, striding past with only a polite nod as he made his way through the flying aircraft. He paid little attention to where he was going until the hallways ended, forcing him to turn around and duck into the first unlocked door he could find. Darkness surrounded him when he closed the door, and he leaned against it heavily, taking a deep breath.
He silently cursed Tony for convincing him to call Blaine in the first place. The other man had played on his weakness, had convinced him with logic that Steve would not be distracted with worry for his boyfriend if Blaine was safe at Stark Tower. Steve huffed. Boyfriend. Boyfriends. Was that what he and Blaine were? They had yet to actually label their relationship, the reluctance on Steve's part stemming from all the things he had yet to tell Blaine. And now Tony had taken care of that. Loathe to admit it, Steve was the tiniest bit relieved that it was done. Tony had saved him from looking Blaine in the eye when he told him his secrets, shared all the lies he had told; saved him from seeing the hurt in the younger man's eyes. But Tony had also taken away his chance to tell Blaine in his own way, his chance to comfort Blaine or allow Blaine to rant at him, maybe even his chance to say goodbye. Who knew if Blaine would even be there when this was all over?
Klaxons sliced through the hum of machinery, and the comm burst to life.
"We've got six ships incoming," Fury's voice crackled through Steve's earpiece. "Everyone to their stations."
With a shake of his head and a deep breath, Steve opened the door and marched back down the hall.
...
"Cap, good to see you," Natasha greeted as she checked her weapons. Steve hefted his shield and nodded, stepping further into the shuttle just as the bay doors started to close. Clint fired up the engines and maneuvered them out of the bay, several planes falling into formation around them. Natasha slid into the seat beside Clint. Bruce and Steve looked out the window at the growing city skyline.
"You okay?" Bruce asked quietly, watching the trail of smoke in the wake of Tony's trajectory past their shuttle.
"I'm fine, doctor," Steve replied, his eyes not leaving the darkening sky.
"He might be intelligent, but he does tend to forget his decisions affect other people's lives."
"You don't have to defend him."
"Oh, I'm not. But he'd hate it if I was, wouldn't he?"
Steve glanced at Bruce, saw the other man's barely-there smirk.
"Yes he would," Steve agreed, his expression relaxing.
A projectile whirred past their field of view, Steve and Bruce ducking instinctively. The missile hit one of the planes to their left, causing it to careen off course as flames licked the tail. Clint steered the shuttle clear and swooped low, deftly flying between the buildings.
"Faster than we thought," Bruce muttered as they passed Wall Street.
"And more of them," Natasha added. Just then dozens of small planes spilled from the larger ships.
"Leave them for the fighters. We have to get to the ships," Steve directed, Clint already flying them toward the closest one.
They could just make out the glint of Tony's Iron Man suit near the second one before it disappeared. A moment later, a light pulsed from within the ship and engulfed the aft section. The massive ship dipped off course and just cleared the buildings to crash into the East River, water sloshing around the hulking metal as it rocked at the impact. Tony appeared alongside them.
"Go for the jugular," Tony's voice sounded through the comm. "There's a weak spot just under the front armor." With that, Tony sped away toward the other four ships, seemingly hovering over midtown.
"I'll take this one," Bruce offered.
"You sure?" Natasha asked over her shoulder.
"Best chance of surviving a crash if I can't get out," Bruce answered with a shrug. Clint swooped low, dodging a couple fighters, and swung around. Before the hatch was fully open, Bruce took off and launched himself forward, morphing into the Hulk in mid-air and grabbing onto the protruding metal on the underside of the ship.
"Cap, we've got movement on the ground."
Steve leaned over Natasha's chair, squinting at the flashes of light dotting midtown. Planes sped past, engaging the alien fighters. Gunfire and explosions rumbled around them. Clint flew them lower, approaching one of the alien ships hovering over the Chrysler Building.
"The evacuation order?"
"Fury had the Mayor issue a warning for everyone to stay inside and underground if possible," Natasha answered.
"Looks like some people didn't get the message," Clint commented.
"Or didn't care," Natasha muttered.
"Can you drop us off there?" Steve pointed at the Empire State Building. "Looks like the aliens are keeping to midtown. Natasha and I will help keep them back." Steve tapped the comm in his ear. "Fury, move the troops to 57th and 23rd-keep the situation contained."
"They're almost there," Fury replied. "Stark, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
Just then, their shuttle jolted and veered off course, alarms beeping and buttons flashing. Static crackled over the comm. Steve steadied himself against the bulkhead as they rapidly lost altitude and skyscrapers blurred around them. Natasha scanned the dials and meters, pressing buttons here and there, as Clint wrestled with the controls, unsteadily leveling the shuttle off just meters from the ground. Natasha flipped several switches and sat back in her chair with a sigh.
"What happened?" Steve asked.
"Lost navigation," Clint answered. He leaned over to the side console. "Telemetry, sensors, environmental control," he listed before concluding, "everything electrical."
"Might as well see what's going on outside," Natasha suggested as she craned her neck to look out the window. Clint released the bay door and the three stepped out of the shuttle.
There was minimal activity on the ground, several groups of pedestrians hurrying down the street. But planes flew by above in haphazard patterns. Two crashed into nearby buildings, the collision shaking the surrounding buildings. The alien fighters deftly dodged the other aircraft, clearly not affected by any malfunctions. They could only make out two of the large ships—the one over the Chrysler Building and another that had descended above the Empire State Building. Fighters and alien troops continued to spill from the ships, circling the two buildings, firing at the windows, and flooding into the upper floors. The lights flickered within both buildings.
"What are they doing?" Steve asked more to himself than the others.
"I might have an idea," Stark answered, descending behind the trio to land clumsily. "Comm down? Anything electrical just died?" Stark asked as he paced around the group. Clint nodded slightly. "They're going after the energy grid."
"Knocking out power to Manhattan?" Steve questioned.
"More like siphoning it."
"Sir, if I may?" Jarvis chirped up. Steve quirked an eyebrow in curiosity.
"We've got an independent back-up," Tony explained. "Put it up Jarvis."
When Tony lifted his arm, a small hologram of the city and the four remaining alien ships appeared over the armor at his wrist.
"They've targeted the tallest buildings in Manhattan," Natasha observed.
"And all of them powered by the Arc reactor," Tony supplied.
"So, they're taking over the power systems to do what?" Steve asked.
The hologram shifted, circles undulating out from the four ships and merging to form a larger gridded dome over midtown.
"Sir, I believe they are creating an electrical field. And it is expanding."
"What will that do?" Steve asked, feeling the adrenaline flood his body.
"Act like an EM pulse," Tony provided grimly. "It will short anything electrical within its reach. And Stark Tower's at the very center."