DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MARVEL OR ANY ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS
This chapter is all action, with some witty banter every now and then. Entirely from Sean's perspective, as always.
Chapter 10
Sean ducked to avoid the overhead swing of one of the Chitauri spear-guns. Using his vibranium sword, he swept the legs out from under it and decapitated it. Sean looked around, and it became clear that the Chitauri hated the Avengers. He and Steve were currently surrounded by dozens of the aliens while they were on the same bridge as before.
Sean and Steve seemed like an unstoppable combination as they cut a swathe through the enemy. At one point, Sean saw Steve about to get stabbed in the back as he was locked in combat with another alien. Sean flipped his sword around and threw it like a spear at the Chitauri, Steve looking surprised as the vibranium was sticking out next to his head.
Sean didn't have time to say 'you're welcome' before he was tackled by another Chitauri. After he broke the alien's neck, he saw Natasha cornered on the street below them. Sean turned to look around, and more and more of the Chitauri were converging on their location.
He looked to Steve urgently and pointed down at Romanoff. "Help her, I'll wrap things up here!"
Steve nodded and jumped off the edge. Moments later, Sean was astounded to see Natasha spinning as she rose into the air next to him before grabbing hold of one of the motorcycle-trailers and disappeared.
Steve rejoined his brother on the bridge a few seconds later. "What is she doing?" asked Sean.
"She's going to see if she can find a way to close the portal before we get overwhelmed by these things," Steve said, slightly out of breath. Sean put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "A bit different than World War 2, huh?"
Steve nodded as his super soldier attributes took over, replenishing his strength during the lull in the battle. "Round 2, fight," Sean said as more Chitauri landed near them and opened fire.
They quickly surrounded the brothers who were once again working together to slaughter their foes. A nearby car exploded from a stray shot, throwing Sean off his feet. When he looked up, Steve was doing some sort of accelerated kickboxing. Doing somersaults and roundhouses in midair, trying to create room for himself. Stark suddenly appeared and landed near Steve, blasting an alien in the face before turning and sending a sustained blast from both hands straight at Steve's shield which was angled towards the crowd of Chitauri, cutting several of them down. Sean recovered his sword and jumped back into the fray just as Stark took off to take care of a few Chitauri that were climbing up the building towards Clint.
At another break in the action before the next wave, Sean became aware that the national guard had arrived on scene. They were guarding the entrances to the underground shelters the civilians had been taken to, namely Grand Central Station.
Sean cut another stray alien in half before he and Steve heard Clint on comms. "Captain, bank on 42nd past Madison. They cornered a lot of civilians in there."
"I'm on it," Steve replied.
Sean nodded to Steve. "Go, I'll stay here, distract them for you."
Steve saluted to Sean before recovering his shield and sprinting off. "Fury, I swear to God, when this is all over I'm demanding a raise," Sean sighed as another group showed up. As he charged them, deflecting their blasts with his sword, he was extremely grateful for Thor's sudden appearance. Sean cut the right leg off the first alien before picking up his spear-gun and throwing it at another, impaling it. Thor Threw his hammer and knocked over two of them before calling it back and electrocuting two more with a small lightning blast.
"So how we doing?" Sean asked as he parried a swing from an alien.
Thor glanced at him before focusing on another Chitauri. "We have not yet faced a quarter of their force."
Sean paled. "I'm sorry, what? Jesus, we're gonna be here for hours. Our chances of losing a team member just drastically increased."
Thor nodded. "Not me, though. I am the mighty Thor. The Son of Odin will not perish that easily," the Asgardian declared, and Sean was inclined to believe it. The only visible damage Sean saw on Thor was a small stab wound from Loki when they were fighting on the Stark tower balcony.
Sean shook himself to refocus. "Go, I'll be fine here." Thor spun his hammer and ascended into the sky.
Sean ran along 42nd street, hoping to link back up with Steve, but it was eerily quiet. At least until an explosion of blue fire on the second floor of the bank Clint was talking about sent a now helmetless Steve flying out of a window. He landed on the roof of a car and groaned in pain as he tried to get up.
Sean ran over as Steve hopped off the car. "You good?" asked Sean.
Steve just waved an arm, as if Sean was annoying him with his concern. "I'm not dead yet," Steve said.
Some firefighters appeared from around the corner to evacuate the civilians from the bank. Sean caught a brief glimpse of Alice from his favorite breakfast joint. She looked confused as to why her regular customers would be in combat uniforms fighting an alien invasion, but Sean didn't have time to explain right now.
Steve still looked like he was in a daze. Sean snapped a gloved hand in front of his brother's face. Steve looked at him. "Wake up! We're not even close to being done yet," Sean told him.
Steve nodded, his surroundings and the situation coming back to him. Sean could see the familiar guarded expression and steely gaze from his brother that meant he was ready to go. They ran back towards the Stark Tower, and saw a horde of aliens fighting Thor. The brothers charged the opposite side, flanking the Chitauri, and met up with the God of Thunder on the other side.
Sean chanced a look above him, and saw Stark diving headfirst into the mouth of one of those metal whales before popping out after an internal explosion. He landed down the street and smashed into a cab before he got surrounded by the Chitauri.
These damn things are everywhere, thought Sean.
Sean looked back at Stark again, but was surprised to see him speed off. "Where do you suppose he's going?" he asked Steve.
Steve shrugged before turning to a new group of aliens. He ran to Thor who was already engaged, and the two fought side by side while Sean dealt with his own group. When the Patriot was finished with them, he whipped around just as he saw his brother fall to the ground, shot in the abdomen by one of the aliens. Thor smacked a car with his hammer, crushing the offending Chitauri, then throwing his hammer at another group before helping Steve to his feet.
"Ready for another bout?" asked the Asgardian.
Steve was holding his hand against the wound. "What, you gettin' sleepy?" Steve asked as Sean laughed, Thor recalling his hammer.
"I can close it. Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down," they heard Natasha say in their ears.
"Do it!" Steve practically yelled into his comm.
"No, wait," warned Tony.
"Stark, these things are still coming," Steve argued.
"I've got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute," Tony returned. "And I know just where to put it."
So that's why he flew off in such a hurry, thought Sean. He was fairly certain Steve was thinking the same thing.
"Stark, you know that's a one way trip," Steve cautioned.
Apparently, Tony didn't care. "Save the rest for the turn, Jay."
Steve, Sean, and Thor looked up as Tony flew overhead, carrying a missile. Before he collided with Stark Tower, he activated his thrusters and went vertical, headed straight for the wormhole. When he disappeared through it, Sean let out an internal sigh of relief. At least millions of innocent people didn't have to die.
After a few seconds of dumb staring at the wormhole, Sean was brought back to Earth by the sounds of machinery powering down as all the Chitauri simply fell over. One of the giant metal whale things even flopped uselessly on top of a building.
"Wait, is this a case of battle droid syndrome?" Sean asked.
Steve and Thor looked at him with confused looks on their faces. They had no idea what Sean was talking about. "Right, forgot pop culture references go over you guys' heads," Sean remarked.
They turned their attention back to the wormhole as an explosion on the other end was getting dangerously close to spewing out into Earth.
Steve looked at Thor and Sean before looking up again. "Close it," Steve said quietly.
Immediately, the energy beam from the top of Stark Tower was cut off, and a dull roar could be heard as the wormhole knitted itself back together, before petering out of existence entirely, leaving one humanoid figure in its place.
"Son of a gun," Steve said as Tony fell back towards the surface.
When Sean realized his jets weren't on, he became worried. "He's not slowing down," Thor said as he spun his hammer, presumably to go catch Tony.
Before he could get the chance, though, Hulk came out of nowhere to grab Tony, trying in vain to hold on to the side of Stark Tower before falling to the ground, using his own body to shield Tony. Hulk tossed Stark off of him, who landed face down on the concrete. Thor, Steve, and Sean ran over. Thor flipped Tony over and ripped off his faceplate as Steve bent down to check for breathing. When he found nothing, he sat back, accepting the fact that one of their own had just sacrificed himself.
Except the Hulk wasn't going to accept it. He let loose a roar at Tony's corpse, seemingly angry that Tony had died. Stark's eyes shot open at the loud noise and Hulk roared and pounded his chest like he was the man or something.
"What the hell?" he demanded, suddenly realized where he was. "Please tell me nobody kissed me."
Sean looked at Tony like he was an idiot. "That's where your mind goes?"
Steve sat back and nodded to himself. "We won," he declared quietly.
Tony sighed in relief and laid back down. "Alright, yay. Alright, good job guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day." Tony raised his head and looked at Hulk. "Have you ever tried shawarma?" That earned a smile from Steve and a laugh from Sean. "There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here," Tony continued. "I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."
Thor smirked at Tony. "We're not finished yet," he said, looking back towards the Tower.
Tony looked up there as well. "And then shawarma after," he promised as he looked at Thor.
Loki struggled to crawl towards some stairs, which he used to sit up. Evidently, the Hulk had given him a beat down he'd never forget, judging from the cut across the bridge of his nose and the ones above his eye. Loki looked to the seven Avengers who were assembled. Clint had an arrow pointed at his face, and Natasha was holding his Loki's sceptre as Sean brandished his sword, the others looking angry and intimidating.
"If it's all the same to you," Loki began as he gave a hopeful look. "I'll have that drink now." The only answer he got was a growl from the Hulk.
"You know, shawarma's not bad, good call, Stark," complimented Sean.
Tony shrugged. "I've been known to have a few good ideas in my lifetime," he said with his mouth full.
Steve was either ravenously hungry, or he was enjoying a new food item from modern times, because he was on his fourth shawarma cone.
The owners of the joint had graciously allowed the seven of them into the restaurant, saying they'd do anything to repay them for saving their lives. Steve had done the righteous thing and said it was their duty, playing it off like it was no big deal, which was why he was the leader.
"So," Stark began as he turned to Banner. "How's about you drop by the Tower, check out all the cool stuff I've got going on? And maybe, possibly help me rebuild?"
Banner shrugged. "Why not? I definitely need to wind down after the past two days."
"That's the spirit," Stark said as he clapped Bruce on the back.
Thor was apparently liking 'Midgard' food, as he called it. He'd also eaten three,but hadn't moved for another. Instead, he was drinking cup after cup of Coca-Cola. Evidently, he'd found a drink to drink that wasn't alcoholic.
Sean wiped his mouth, having only eaten two. He rose from the table. "I don't know about you guys, but I need a shower."
The other six adamantly agreed, all following the gray-clad super soldier out, where SHIELD van was waiting to pick them up. Tony and Banner elected to walk back to Stark Tower, and the others were driven to the SHIELD base of operations in New York, the building that Steve had woken up in, and were all assigned separate rooms.
Sean quickly removed his gray combat suit and studied himself in the mirror. He was covered in dirt, but not a single injury was present due to his accelerated healing thad had kept him alive in the fight. He must've stayed in the shower for hours, his brain still in fight or flight mode, adrenaline still pumping through his veins. Attempting to wind down, he laid down for a nap after he'd gotten dressed.
TWO WEEKS LATER
The Avengers converged in Central Park. Thor was escorting Loki, and Clint, Banner, and Natasha exited a SHIELD car. Sean got out of his white F-150 asTony got out of his convertible, holding the Tesseract in a silver case. Apparently, Steve had gone out and bought a new motorcycle earlier that day with the bonus SHIELD had given each of them, except Thor, of course. For obvious reasons. Anyways, Sean hadn't seen it when Steve had left the apartment early this morning.
Tony opened the case as Thor produced some kind of housing agent. The God of Thunder placed the Tesseract inside before offering one of the handles on the end to Loki. Thor looked around at each of his companions, nodding to each one before turning the handle and ascending into space with a flash of blue light.
Steve walked over to Tony and happily shook the billionaire's hand, as the two had reconciled their differences. Banner took his belongings from Romanoff before hopping in the passenger seat of Tony's convertible, the two speeding off towards the Stark Tower that only had an 'A' left.
Sean leaned against the hood of his truck and waved as the two of them drove by before returning the favor to Clint and Natasha. Steve walked over and stood next to his brother. "So what now?" he asked. "I don't know if I can retire after all this."
Sean let out a bark of laughter. "No, we are definitely not retiring, but we are taking a goddamn well-earned vacation."