A/N: PART ONE OF THE BATTLE OF NEW YORK! It's a long one! And so will the second part. Obviously, it's a battle so there will be violence. There is a particularly violent, if not gruesome fight in the middle of the chapter, so I will warn you now. Anyways, I hope you enjoy and don't forget to leave a review! Thanks guys!

"Initiating lock in."

Kiara rubbed the metal cuffs around her wrist, wincing as the needles locked into her veins. She glanced down at the strips of clear liquid and turned up her nose when she saw her blood mixing with it. "Alright, Monroe, everything looks fully functional. Your board is at full power. You can head out when you're ready."

Kiara smirked and opened her mouth. "And no, 'never' is not an option." Fury grunted, already knowing what stupid retort she was going to come out with. "But we do need you to get there quickly. We still don't know where they are."

"New York. Selvig's setting up on Stark Tower." As the door to the runway hissed open, powerful gusts threatened to sweep her away, but she managed to settle the winds around her as she sprinted towards the very edge of the Helicarrier.

"You couldn't have led with that?" Fury complained before she heard the muffled commands to the other Agents.

"Sorry?"

Fury let out a deep sigh. "Just don't do anything stupid, alright?"

"Please! When have I ever done anything stupid or reckless?" She was met with silence making her chuckle as she launched her hoverboard off the side of the Helicarrier. "Fair...Besides, coming out alive against an army of aliens? Piece of cake."

"Just get going, Monroe."

With a smirk, Kiara ran faster and faster before diving over the edge, letting out a gleeful cheer when her feet hid the hoverboard and locked into place. She swerved away from the Helicarrier and levelled out as she blasted away from the ship.

No matter how much she wished she could, she couldn't deny that it felt good being back on the board. Even during the most dangerous of missions, it had been calming to fly without having to transform, to just soar high over cities and forests and oceans. It brought out a joy in her that few people got to see, but even now, as she flew to almost certain death, she was enjoying herself. She could tell that in her absence they'd made some alterations, as it was faster than it had been before, and it was much easier to manoeuvre.

With a shameless grin, she soared towards New York, the coastline of Long Island already in sight, and the jet still a bit of a distance away from her. As it stood, she really had no idea what the plan of attack was; It wasn't like she'd fought an army of aliens before, there wasn't a handbook for this sort of thing. Even Thor didn't have a clue what they were dealing with, so she was flying in blind. It was almost funny really; The whole thing just didn't seem real. It all seemed like a terrible, strange dream, and she half expected to wake up still in Sao Paulo, but even if she did, she was ashamed that a part of her would be disappointed at that reality.

There was no doubt that it was going to be the most unpredictable and dangerous fights she'd ever been in, but sharing a battlefield with heroes, would be one to remember if she survived. There was no question that she would fight with everything that she had. Fury was right; It was time for her to make a choice about the type of person she was going to be. She could either be the coward she'd always been, or be part of something more. Be someone that the world needs her to be, but on her own terms.

The people of New York didn't ask for, nor deserve the destruction which was about to come, and she was more than happy to make sure that as many people are protected until the moment the last alien was dead, no matter the cost.

"Are you picking up anything, Monroe?" Kiara blinked as she was knocked out of her reverie by Fury's voice and noticed that she was entering New York, and the jet wasn't too far ahead of her now.

"Nothing seems to be happening as of yet, but I'll let you know if anything does." she replied before hearing a static in her ear making her cringe at the sudden sharp noise.

"Kiara?" Her lips curled up into a smile at the appearance of Clint's voice. "You're here?"

"Well, Fury convinced me to pull my head out my ass. Besides, if I'm gonna go out fighting, might as well do it while fighting an army of aliens."

She flew over the cockpit and sent him and Natasha a small wave. "Look at you sacrificing yourself for others! I thought you'd lost your moral code!"

Laughing, Kiara dived until she was level with the cockpit and flew alongside them. "Miracles happen everyday apparently."

Clint went to reply, but he was cut off by Natasha whacking his arm. "Eyes up."

Frowning, Kiara looked up, her eyes immediately locking onto the Stark Tower, or rather the blue stream of light hitting the sky. The moment it did, it sent a shockwave of energy through her before a pure black hole began to open, a few hundred feet above the city. "Oh my God."

A chill ran down Kiara's spine as she watched the hole grow bigger and bigger before dozens of aliens began to flood out. "Fury, get an alert out to the whole of New York!" Kiara exclaimed, firing up her board and jetting off towards the hole. Tony was already taking on the army singlehandedly, and the closer she got, the more she saw. An army didn't do justice to the amount there was.

Once she was close enough, Kiara ignited her hands and threw ball after ball of fire at any hostile she saw. While it was easy enough to take them down, their sheer number was enough to overpower the both of them. They were just as fast, riding their own chariots, and they had just as much firepower, which she was sure was powered by the Tesseract.

"There's too many to fight here." Tony grunted, wincing as he was hit out of the way. He fired several missiles at the incoming aliens, blowing several up but doing little damage to them as a whole. "Any ideas?"

"Yeah. Get out of the way and be ready to give me something that'll blow up."

Heeding her advice, Tony moved out of the line of fire as Kiara threw a shield around the hole, trapping the Chitauri inside. She gritted her teeth, trying with all her might to hold the mass of aliens that fought to get through before looking over to Tony. "NOW!"

He launched a missile towards the shield which exploded the moment it touched it, killing any Chitauri within the shield. "Very nice." Tony gave a nod of approval before sighing as they watched another wave of Chitauri pour out of the hole. Kiara threw up another shield to protect them both from the blasts before looking around in horror at the burning buildings and fleeing civilians.

"Try and keep them on your tail. I need to get these people off the streets!" Kiara told him. Tony nodded in agreement before they separated, with him luring as many Chitauri away from civilians while Kiara headed towards the ground, shooting down as many Chitauri as she could. It had been mere minutes since the invasion had begun, and New York's streets already looked like war zone. Buildings were alight with blazing fires, cars had crashed and overturned, and rubble was littered all over the streets.

She put as much of the fire out, but there were still too many people trapped inside the buildings and running around on the streets for her to get back on the offensive against the Chitauri. Launching a wave of fire towards a group of them, Kiara landed safely on the street, her board folding away into her boots as she put up a huge shield as she looked back at the civilians who cowered in fright. "Get inside and go as low as possible! Go!"

She didn't have to ask twice as they scrambled inside the buildings, freeing up most of the street. Without putting her guard down, she put up as many shield's as possible, protecting the people inside the buildings from getting any unwanted visitors that would undoubtedly try to make an appearance.

"How're we lookin', Stark?" Kiara waved her hand, using the winds to blow the Chitauri into one another, the force of the hit blowing up the chariots.

"Very bad. Very, very bad!" he exclaimed, dodging several shots from the Chitauri. "I could use a hand!"

"Sorry!" she puffed, jogging over to an overturned bus. "I've got none to give at the moment!"

"Stark! We're on your three, headed North-East!" Natasha came through, earning a breath of relief from Kiara that they finally had backup.

"What? Were you getting drive-through? Swing up park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you!"

Sure that Tony had his back covered, Kiara hopped onto the side of the bus and pulled open the doors, only to be met by the many faces of terrified, young children. "Ah, crap." she grimaced, before hopping inside, earning fearful screams from the kids. "Hey! Enough! Be quiet. I'm gonna help you."

They still cowered away from her, but she was thankful that they were no longer screaming, even if their cries weren't much easier to deal with. Fighting a huff, she moved down the bus, checking for any serious injuries while trying to remain as kind as possible. It wasn't that she hated children, they just set her on edge. After Lorelei, she knew that kids had no place being around her, so being in a bus full of them did nothing for her nerves. Thankfully, they all looked fine, bar a bit of bleeding, but thankfully, none of them were critical. Unfortunately, there was still a fatality; The bus driver. With a sad sigh, she turned away and faced the kids, shielding the poor man from their view. Kids didn't need to see death at their age.

"I'm gonna have to lift you out. So just...I don't know, be quiet and trust me." She cleared her throat before gathering them underneath the door before pulling herself through. She glanced around and saw that there weren't any Chitauri near, only flying above. She immediately put a shield around the bus incase of a sudden onslaught. Kneeling down, Kiara reached inside and managed a tiny smile at the kids. "Alright, hold onto my arm and don't let go. I've got you, okay?"

Only a few stepped forward, brave enough to trust her. They latched onto her arm tight and she quickly lifted them beside her before going in for the next few. Eventually, with the promise of safety, they all trusted her enough to get them out. It took longer than she would've liked, but all she cared about was getting them away from the fighting and somewhere safe. Eventually, she managed to get all of the kids out of the bus, before hopping off. "Slide down, I'll catch you. I promise."

"Do you pinky promise?" One of them asked, their big eyes wide.

Kiara gritted her teeth, and gave them the nicest smile she could. "Sure kid...Pinky promise."

"Double pinky promise?"

"Just get down here. Jesus Christ!" With her sudden change in tone, many kids started to slide down without her having to ask again, and she grew annoyed with the others and just tugged them down. She was getting ready to catch the last kid when a sudden blast against the shield had the kids screeching. Kiara looked over her shoulder and saw that several Chitauri were starting to surround them.

Jumping up, Kiara pulled the last kid down and held up the shields as they fired at them repeatedly, doing little damage to the shield. However, the kids were screaming and grabbing a hold of her which did nothing to ease the situation. Her shields were holding, but she didn't know how long they would last, especially against their advanced weapons.

Growling, Kiara pulled away from the kids and locked eyes on every Chitauri she saw before throwing hers hands up. Within seconds, dozens of thick vines shot out of the ground and into the Chitauri, killing every one of them instantly. Sighing, Kiara turned to the cowering kids and picked up two of the youngest before gesturing to a nearby building. "Stay together and follow me."

The kids all nodded in unison and huddled together as she created a path for them, putting up shields around them as they hurried over to the building where several people were already waiting to receive them. She immediately handed the kids over before ensuring the rest of them got inside safely, making sure every one of them was accounted for before heading back out.

She took off down the street, only to freeze when she heard a deafening roar echo around the city. Kiara directed her eyes skyward and sucked in a shaky breath at the sight of a huge alien ship descending from the hole. It looked like some horrific mix between a monster and a machine, seemingly acting as both a ship and weapon to the Chitauri, who were still coming down on them fast.

"E.T did not prepare me for this shit." Kiara grumbled as she was once again stuck in a battle with Chitauri. She winced as she was shot in the side making her growl as she blew one of them into an oncoming rider before burning the rest.

"You doing okay, Ki?" Natasha came through making her grumble as she protected yet another group of clueless civilians.

"This is a freaking nightmare! This is just a total shitstorm, it really is!" She sprinted down streets, getting into a quick routine of telling people where to go and killing any aliens that decided to challenge her. "You know what? If I survive this, I'm just hibernating for the rest of my life!"

"It could be way worse." Clint admitted, making Kiara's eye twitch.

"I'm sorry, do you not see the flying monster or is that just a figment of my imagination?"

She activated her board and jetted away from the street as she took down as many Chitauri as she could. She tried to locate everyone and managed to see Thor on Stark Tower, Tony firing pointlessly at the ship, but she couldn't see Steve, Natasha or Clint.

"Where are you guys? Where's the jet?"

She frowned, hearing nothing but wincing and yelling. "Two seconds!"

Rising higher, Kiara looked around frantically and managed to spot the three of them fighting a group of Chitauri. She was about to blast towards them before she was knocked out of the sky and landed hard on a car. Groaning, Kiara slid off the car, wincing as she felt her spine cracking back into place before she struggled to her feet. She barely had time to comprehend who was in front of her before a knife was plunged into her shoulder making her yelp with pain and push away from her attacker. She glanced up, her eyes narrowing as Loki stood before her, a cruel grin spread across his face and a nasty glint in his eyes as he watched her pull the dagger from her shoulder.

"Hello again, Darling."

She sneered in reply before igniting her hand with fire. "Round two, then?"

"I'm afraid you won't find me as easy to beat as you did before." he purred, beginning to circle her. Kiara rolled her eyes before slyly waving her hand, making the wind blow him towards her before she kneed him in the side and kicked him against a car. She launched at him, her fist slamming into his jaw as she tore off part of his armour and ignited her hand with fire. She went in for another hit, but before she could even touch him, she was hit out of the way by a car.

Hissing, Kiara struggled under the heavy weight and glared when she heard Loki's demeaning chuckle. His belittling attitude only infuriated her more as she kicked the car off her body and flicked her wrist, immediately smirking as the vines wrapped around his body and pulled him towards her as she jumped up and landed a hard kick into his stomach before he broke free of her bonds.

She narrowed her eyes and ducked quickly, avoiding a hit before her head whipped to the side, a snarl coming from her throat as she felt the blood dripping from her cheek, the slash deep enough to pain her. Without a second thought, she threw a fire ball at him, managing to hit him in the chest before he launched several blades at her in retaliation. She shielded herself before dodging another hit as he appeared behind her. She gripped his arm and twisted hard before slamming her elbow into his face. He chuckled lowly, but Kiara didn't stop her attacks.

She took a jab at his face, his side, his stomach, each one harder than the last and causing significant pain that even Loki couldn't hide. Her fist connected with his nose and before she could wail on him once more, Loki caught her fist in his hand and squeezed hard. With a snarl, Kiara blew a dagger into her hand and sliced his hand before ducking under his arm and plunging it deep into his thigh making him yell out and stumble to his knees.

Kiara kicked him down and ignited her fists, ready to deliver the final blow before she was able to take even a single step, Loki's mocking laughter had her hackles up in an instant. She half expected him to make some witty remark, but instead, he simply turned to face her, an amused smile on his face before his body began to glow a blinding green. She squinted and shielded herself from the light before she sneered.

Now stood in Loki's place was a towering wolf which easily met her height. Like her own form, its fur was jet black, but its eyes were different. Just like Loki's, they were a deep shade of green, and held the same mocking glint in them which infuriated her. Before she could do anything in defence, Loki caught her waist between his teeth and bit down hard making her scream before he launched her away.

Fighting the pain which flared around her waist, Kiara focused more on the pain of transformation as the Black Wolf burst free from her body, landing hard but safely away from Loki. She stood tall, her sharp canines bared in a snarl as she watched Loki's much larger wolf charge at her. She lowered herself down in a crouch before pouncing onto him once he was close enough. She latched onto his shoulder and clawed at his back while Loki fought to get her off, but she was locked on and wasn't letting go without a considerable fight. Magic and mischief may have been his forte but this was hers. He had made the mistake of thinking that being bigger meant being better, but she'd fought bigger before, and she'd won.

Loki snapped at her legs but she simply went for his neck, snapping and clawing at his jugular as Loki rolled them over and clawed her face but she went in for the kill once more and latched her teeth into his throat, slamming him onto the ground and biting down harder as he fought to escape her jaws, but she didn't let go. With a frightening bark, Kiara clawed at his chest and slammed him into the ground once again, the metallic taste of his blood seeping into her mouth as she tightened her hold on his neck before her jaws snapped together as nothing was between them.

She growled, knowing he'd disappeared again but before she could search for him again, a dagger was plunged into her back making her howl with pain and collapse to the floor. The pain and the inability to heal with the dagger still in her back had her transforming back into her human form, before Loki grabbed her and pulled her up. He held her close to him, his breath tickling her cheek as he gripped the handle of the dagger and hummed as he watched her whimper quietly.

"So, you are human after all." He smirked and dragged a finger down her cheek as she fought against the weakness that was beginning to overcome her. She felt her knees buckling, but Loki had a tight grip on her waist and held her upright. "I must say I expected better, but you're weak, like all the others." She fought a scream as he pressed the dagger deeper into her back making her grip his forearms, attempting to ignite them, but she was too weak to produce even a tiny flame. "I hope they remember you, darling. Despite this courageous act of selflessness, I hope they'll remember you for what you really are." As tears began to gleam in her eyes, Loki lowered his lips to her ear, his tone cold. "You are a monster. No matter how beloved."

And with that, he plunged a second dagger into her stomach with a sickening grin spread across his face. She gasped and gripped his wrist to prevent him from harming her anymore, but in her current state, she was powerless against him. She looked at him with wide eyes as she felt as though all her power left her body. A chill ran up her spine as she finally felt cold after so many years. With a whimper, she let a single tear fall down her cheek before letting out a bloodcurdling scream as he twisted the dagger and gripped her body to him and forced her to look into his eyes as he smirked. "You're a weapon, Darling. That's what they made you for. And weapons don't weep."

Kiara's eyes grew fearful at his words before he shoved her down and watched as she grasped the handle and attempted to pull it from her, but she was too weak to even tug. With a final grin, Loki conjured another dagger in his hand, but before he could even move towards her, Steve jumped beside him and hit him hard with his shield, launching him off the bridge and away from them.

With Loki gone, Steve's eyes immediately fell on her and widened with horror as he saw the blood pooling around her. He raced to her side and held her head as her eyes went in and out of focus. "Hey! Stay with me, okay? Keep your eyes open."

"Rogers..."

"Oh God, this is bad." He put pressure around the wound, making her whimper and place her hand on his, her fingers giving a feeble attempt to squeeze his. Steve's eyes met hers again and he saw that her eyes were flickering between brown and red. "We have to get you to a hospital." He hovered his hand over the dagger but hissed at the thought of harming her even more. She was losing a lot of blood, and he could tell that she was fading quickly. With a sigh, he looked back to her with a pained expression. "You should've stayed back."

"Pull it out." she coughed, making Steve's eyes bug.

"Excuse me?" he spluttered.

"Pull the goddamn dagger out, Rogers." She was blatantly in a lot of pain, but she sounded bored which only baffled and worried Steve even more. She'd been close to passing out mere seconds ago, and now she seemed like she was unaffected.

"Are you out of your mind? That could kill you!" he exclaimed before shaking his head with a frustrated sigh. He went to pick her up but she whacked him pathetically.

"I'll die if you don't pull them out." She spat out the blood that began to rise in her throat and cringed at the taste. "I'll heal. Just trust me." Steve looked at her unsurely but she gave him a serious look before wincing and narrowing her eyes at him. "Or you can take your time and let me bleed to death! Your choice!"

Steve sent her a warning look before sighing heavily as he wrapped his hand around the handle and Kiara prepared herself for the pain that would come. With a sincere apology, Steve pulled the dagger out of her while Kiara let out a yelp, tears brimming once more before she gesturing to her back, just wanting it over with so she could recover. Steve cringed once more before pulling it out and catching Kiara before she fell back into her own blood. He held her and was relieved when he heard her breath even out as she rubbed her hands over her face and gave herself a few minutes to heal and recover from nearly dying.

She was silent for a few moments, worrying Steve who simply stared down at her with wide eyes. "Kiara?"

...

"Kiara?"

"Jesus Christ, I need a vacation." she muttered, rubbing the tender but healed part of her back. Steve let out a breath of relief before helping her stand as her legs wobbled when she tried. He gripped her shoulders and steadied her as she came back to reality a little bit. She blinked a few times before shaking her head and peeking up at him, giving him the kindest look he'd ever seen from her.

"Thank you." she said quietly, but he could hear the sincerity in her voice, and he couldn't help but smile as he squeezed her shoulder.

"Well...I couldn't just let you get your ass handed to you by a God, now could I?"

Kiara's eyebrows shot up in surprise before she barked out a laugh. "My, my, Captain...Such foul language." He shook his head in amusement before glancing around at the destruction around them, and Kiara was suddenly reminded that they were in the middle of a battle, against aliens, that were still pouring out of the hole in the sky. "So...You got a plan?"

"I don't think you should be fighting." he said tentatively, getting a grip on his shield a little tighter, unsure whether she would lash out from his comment.

Noticing his movements, Kiara smirked, but simply raised an eyebrow. "If I can still breathe, I'm fine. And if I'm fine, that means I can fight. So, either you give me orders, or I'll just do my own thing. But either way, I'm staying."

Steve pursed his lips and stared back at her, but with every passing moment, he realised that she wasn't going to budge. "Fine. I need you and Stark taking out the riders. We'll keep the fighting to the streets and get as many people inside. Think you can do that?"

"Yessir." She smirked and gave him a salute. She activated her board and locked her boots into it before blasting up into the air and towards the red and gold suit that was being tailed by far too many riders. She ignored the ache that rattled through her as her body screamed for her to just rest a little bit, but once again, she would have to ignore it. The fight was far from over, and she didn't have time to rest.

The moment she got close enough to Tony, she fired at most of the Chitauri that followed him, before using the wind to blow the remaining riders into each other. "You're back! Good." Tony seemed to let out a breath of relief as he went back on the offensive against the Chitauri. "Any thoughts on how to deal with that?"

Kiara dodged a blast from the Chitauri before glancing over her shoulder at the huge alien ship that was tearing its way through Manhattan. "No idea. But we need to stop it from destroying everything or it will tear this whole city apart."

"I guess we could get its attention, right? Lead it away from its warpath?" hummed Tony as he blasted a few more riders. "Ever seen a cat with a laser pointer?"

"Something tells me this will be a little more difficult than distracting a cat with a laser pointer." Kiara said, swerving out of the way of a group of riders before blasting them out of the sky.

"Maybe, but we're still doing it. You're the laser, I'll get its attention for you."

"What?" Kiara blinked over at him and she could hear the smile in his voice as he blasted towards the ship.

"Come along, Fido! We've got work to do!"

Kiara rolled her eyes before blasting after him. They took down as many Chitauri riders as they could on the way, and noticed that some of the Chitauri were actually on the ship when they got closer. They also noticed that while it was most definitely a warship, there were indeed fleshy parts of it, meaning that it could be killed. They just needed the right angle.

"Ready, kid?"

With a nod, Kiara ignited her whole body in fire and flew under Tony as they headed straight for the ship. As they turned the corner, Tony launched several missiles at it which did nothing more than explode on the surface of the shell. It did no damage, but it certainly got its attention as it immediately rounded on them, following the glowing flames that surrounded Kiara.

"Well, we got its attention. What the hell was step two?" Tony and Kiara stared at the incoming ship with wide eyes before they both blasted away. Kiara rose higher and higher away from the buildings to prevent more damage and casualties, but it didn't seem to matter where she and Tony directed it, the ship was still causing major damage.

"Whats the story upstairs?" Steve's voice came through the comms.

"The power surrounding the Cube is impenetrable." She heard Thor coming through also, glad to at least have him in the action. She turned and did as much as she could to try and take down the ship, but its shell was stronger than anything she'd seen, not even Tony's most destructive weapons was making any headway.

"Have we got anymore ideas, because we're just playing cat and mouse with this thing?" Kiara swerved out of the line of fire as they'd gained the attention of not only the ship, but a lot more Chitauri that were firing constantly at them. Kiara threw up many shields, becoming frustrated with the constant attacks before she fired a stream of fire at all the Chitauri, burning and killing them the moment the stream touched them.

"Banner?" Tony beamed and Kiara blinked. Bruce? What did she miss? "Tell him to suit up, we're bringing the party to you."

Kiara followed Tony as they rounded the corner and headed straight for the team. Kiara's eyes immediately locked onto Bruce and relief and hope filled her. He'd disappeared after Hulking out and tearing up half the Helicarrier, but she had a feeling that the open streets would be different. Not to mention that their enemy was very clear this time, and hopefully the Hulk would be able to distinguish between them and the aliens, and maybe he would be able to do more damage than they could.

As they got closer, Kiara let the fire dissipate before swerving to face the huge ship. She glanced down at Bruce and watched as he approached the ship but not turning even the slightest shade of green despite the ship being a few hundred feet away. "Come on, Bruce..."

And, as if her prayers had been answered, Bruce's form began growing and growing, tearing apart the fabric of his clothes as his skin turned an alarming shade of green. Kiara's eyes gleamed as she watched the Hulk slam his fist into the helm of the ship which skidded to a stop. However, her smile dropped as she saw the ship begin to pile up and it was starting to tip towards them.

"Hold on!" Tony flew up behind her and shot a missile at the ship. Thankfully, as it tipped, a section of its flesh became bare and the missile lodged into it. Knowing it was going to be messy, Kiara threw up a shield as the missile exploded, blowing chunks of the ship all over. Grinning, she looked around at the remnants of the destroyed ship which caused a ruckus among the Chitauri.

They halted their assault, their attention now directed at the team as they let out screeches of fury which Hulk was more than happy to return. Unable to hide her smirk, Kiara dropped to her feet beside Steve and Tony and ignited her flames, ready for yet another battle.

A/N: God this was so hard to write, battle scenes are just annoying to get right, but hopefully I've done it justice. Only three chapters left of Avengers which I'm super excited about! Also, I've decided to bring back my old Harry Potter series, so if you're a Potterhead, look out for that! Thank you once again for the reads and reviews, I appreciate them so, so much.

Edited: 03/02/2019