Chapter 10

hey everyone! Sorry I didn't update this sooner, I was really busy! XD Ok! So the chapter after this will probably be up soon as well! :) Enjoy!

"Alright, until we can close that portal our priority is containment." Captain Rogers said and then turned to all of us and started throwing out orders. "Barton, I want you on that roof eyes on everything; call out patterns and stray." He said.

Clint gave him a nod.

"Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than 3 blocks out you turn it back or turn it to ash" He ordered.

"Wanna give me a lift?" I heard Clint ask.

"Right, better clench up Legolas" Iron Man replied. I smirked before hearing them take off into the air.

"Thor you gotta try and bottle net that portal" Captain Rogers had turned to the God. "Slow em down. You got the lightning; light the bastards up." He said; looking back to him. Thor gave a nod and took off into the air. Now it was just Me, Natasha, The Captain, and Hulk.

"The three of us will stay on the ground; keep the fighting here" He looked to us. I gave a nod along with Natasha. "And Hulk" He turned. Hulk like out a roar and turned to him. Captain Rogers hesitated before pointing up at him. "Smash" Was all he said. The Hulk grinned before leaping into the air and towards a building.

"Sure you're ok Woods?" Natasha turned to me again. I gave her an immediate nod.

"Yeah I'm good Nat" I tell her with a grin. "You're not getting rid of me that easily." She grinned back before Captain Rogers turned to throw his shield at a Chitauri.

We took that as a cue to get moving before we all broke into fight again.

~0~

My leg hurt. That's all I could really think about throughout the fight.

I threw my knife at one of the Chitauri before I quickly ran at it; rapping my legs around its neck before flipping and snapping the neck of the warrior. I picked up my knife again before throwing it at another Chitauri.

Natasha was to my right; using one of the Chitauir guns to shoot at the surrounding aliens.

I dodged a punch from one before I turned to kick at the other one behind me.

I managed to get hit across the face though when I turned back around. Before I hit the ground I was pushed into a car when Natasha shot at the Chitauri.

That gave me a few seconds to get back on my feet and I quickly shot at the second Chitauri warrior to my right. I saw Natasha turn to shoot when she stopped. I turned around to see Captain Rogers walk up to her.

"Captain, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal" She mumbled to fine; using the Chitauri gun to lean on for support.

"Our biggest gun couldn't touch it" He says back. I walked up to them in time to here Natasha reply.

"Well-," She started; looking to me. "Maybe it's not about guns" She said. I rose an eyebrow at her and we both ended up grinning when Captain Rogers finally caught on.

"If you wanna get up there you're gonna need a ride" He told her. She tossed me to the gun and I caught it.

"I gotta ride" She said before walking to the other end of the bridge. "I could use a boost though" She added. I took a few steps out of the way and the Captain started to take a few steps back; holding his shield out in front of him.

"You sure about this?" I could here the concern in his voice.

"Yeah" Natasha breathed. "It's gonna be fun" It seemed as if she was telling herself that before she broke into a run and towards him. Jumping off the car trunk and then off Cap's shield he pushed her up and she managed to grab onto one of the Chitauri ships.

I smiled as I watched her 'fly' out of sight when an explosion went off to my left. Blocking the debris with my arms and hands; I had to drop the Chitauri gun before I pulled a knife from the holster on my thigh.

My leg was getting worse; it'll probably get infected from all this dirt, ash, and debris flying around.

Ok, suck it up Nik. Gotta win this fight before you start worrying about your leg.

I quickly turned and threw the knife at the closed Chitauri before running towards it.

I ducked when I heard Iron Man fire a blast and his the warrior behind me.

Captain Rogers punched one Chitauri before jumping over to another and kicking it.

"Nik duck!" I heard Captain Rogers before I rolled to the ground when one of Iron Man's blasts reflected off his shield and took out several warriors.

I quickly got to my feet again once he took off up the side of the building.

I pulled the gun from my thigh again and shot down two Chitauri before turning seeing Captain Rogers pinned on the ground and about to be stabbed by one of the Chitauri guns.

I quickly lifted my gun to shoot when I pulled the trigger and heard that familiar click as the magazine was empty.

I threw the gun aside and quickly pulled the knife when my holster and through it at the Chitauri; hitting it in the back of the neck. That gave him enough time to push the gun aside and knock the warrior out.

"You ok?" I managed to ask before walking over and removing my knife from the dead body.

"Yeah, thanks" He replied.

"Cap'n, Woods, there's a bank on 42th, past Madison. They cornered a lot of civilians in there" Clint spoke through the com link.

"We're on it" Captain Rogers says before turning to me.

I gave a nod before following him down the street.

~0~

We made it to the building before I looked up; seeing some of the windows broken.

Damn it. Looks like the only way in is the window and I can barley walk as it is.

"Watch the front entrance and see if there's another way out" He said after a few seconds.

"I'm not that helpless" I state; seeing that he didn't want to push my luck with my leg and all. He didn't respond before running towards the building. I huff before walking towards the front entrances; seeing several Chitauri.

I took a small smoke grenade off my belt before tossing it towards them. Several raised their guns at the sight of the sudden smoke before I ran towards them. Throwing two knives I managed to kill one with a hit to the neck and the other knife only skimmed the armor of the second Chitauri.

I ran at it before dropping to the ground and kicked it's legs out from under it. Jumping back to my feet I turned in time to grab one by the mask and pull it off its face.

I furrowed my eyebrows at the sight. They were extremely weird looking for one.

I quickly pulled myself from my thoughts and used a knife to stab it.

I turned around; breathing heavy when I realized there weren't any left. I let my guard slip away for a moment before I bit my lip; looking down at my leg; seeing that the stitching was gone from the suit and the gun wound. I knelt down and tried to use the back of my hand with the gloves still on to wipe some of the dirt out but the only made it sting like hell; causing me to bit my lip harder and squeeze my eyes shut for a brief moment.

Opening my eyes again I finally took a deep breath and stood back up when there was a sudden explosion and I turned in time to see Captain Rogers being thrown from a window before he fell as smashed into the top of a car.

Seconds later police cars and firemen were at the doors on my left before I was running over to where Captain Rogers was; seeing him slowly pushing himself up 'til he managed to slide off the car hood.

"Are you ok?" I was still breathing heavy when he nodded.

"Yeah" He breathed before looking around. I noticed that his helmet was gone and he was covered in ash and dirt from the explosion and blood was starting to seep through a few cuts on his arms from the fall.

I was seeing something a bit different in him at the moment. I couldn't tell if it was just me... Or if he really was thinking about how we may not be strong enough to win this fight.

~0~

I'm starting to think the same right now; but I know I can't afford to think about how this could end.

My guns were gone; all I had were a few knives with tips that were worn.

Thor had joined us on the ground since we needed a bit of backup and even for a God and a Super Soldier I could see them growing a bit tired.

I threw a knife at one of the Chitauri before ducking as one shot at me. There was a group coming towards us and I didn't have good cover; unlike the Captain who had his shield and Thor- well he's pretty indestructible.

I got the knife back before throwing another at a Chitauri that had advanced on me more before I got pushed into a car. I dropped my knife and quickly grabbed the taser from my belt before jabbing it in the neck; making it fall to the ground. I never thought I would actually have to use it.

I saw both Thor and Captain Rogers catch their Hammer/Shield before engaging into the fight again.

I pulled the knife from the dead Chitauri body before I turned and saw the Captain go down with a shot to the side. I kicked out at a Chitauri before turning back; seeing that he wasn't getting up. I quickly ran over to him before kneeling down.

"Steve-" I started; trying to get him to at least try and get to his feet before he started to push himself up a bit.

Thor quickly got in front of us and rammed the car with his hammer; causing the car to flip over several times and wipe out the wave of Chitauri warriors.

I helped Captain Rogers to his feet and got a look at the wound in his side. It actually wasn't as bad as I originally thought but it was still going to need stitches and a good cleaning.

"Ready for another round?" Thor asks as he turned to us.

"What, you getting sleepy?" I could here the humor in his voice and I had to grin. Thor turned to me and I had to respond.

"Hell yeah" I say reassuringly before spinning a knife in my hand. Thor laughed before turning and walking towards where there were more Chitauri. I turned to follow.

"Nichole?" I stopped and turned to Captain Rogers. "Thank you" He said. I hesitate before giving a small smile.

"You're welcome" I respond before met back up with Thor.

"I can close it" I heard through the com link. "Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down" It was Natasha! Oh thank god!

"Do it!" Both Captain Rogers and I both yelled.

"No wait!" Tony? Why the hell wait?

"Stark these things are still comin!" Captain Rogers yelled into the com.

"I gotta nuke coming in; it's gonna blow in less than a minute" He replied. We all exchanged a glance and I let out a breath. Oh no. "And I know just where to put it" Yep; that's what I was afraid of.

Captain Rogers was still breathing a bit heavy from being hit but ended up responding.

"Stark... You know that's a one way trip-"

"Save the rest for the turn J" Tony ignored the Captain's reply. I felt suddenly felt helpless; knowing what was about to happen.

I looked at the ground before wiping the back of my hand across my forehead. I didn't think it would end like this. He better get out of this alive.

I heard something in the distance and the three of us looked up; I was standing in between them.

I squinted at the light and saw Iron Man holding the nuke and flying straight towards the tower. Within seconds he activated more thrusters and skyrocketed up towards the portal before disappearing.

I couldn't move my eyes away from the portal; waiting for something to happen.

It felt like minutes went by before a bright light could be seen in the portal... The nuke had gone off.

I saw the Captain look down out of the corner of my eyes before he exchanged a glance with the two of us before looking back up.

"Close it" He finally said. There was only seconds of silence before I saw the bridge shoot up into the portal and it started to close.

I couldn't take my eyes off the portal but Thor and Captain Rogers looked down.

It got smaller and smaller until it closed. I let out a breath and then it caught when I saw something falling.

"Guys-" I started. They immediately looked up and I saw Captain Rogers smile.

"Son of a gun" He breathed and I had to smile at that saying. But once I looked over at Thor he didn't look happy.

"He's not slowing down" He spoke up and got ready to fly.

I saw him falling closer and closer to the ground when suddenly the Hulk flew by and grabbed Iron Man; sliding down the side of the building before he struck the landing on the bridge.

Thor and Captain Rogers broke into a run towards where they were and I limped over. The pain was really getting to me now; putting too much weight on it was a hassle.

Captain Rogers dropped his shield by a car before running over to where Tony and the Hulk were. Thor kneeled down and pulled the mask off Tony's helmet before Captain Rogers knelt down; probably trying to here for the arch reactor. I finally got over and stood next to Captain Rogers. I looked down at Tony and the arch reactor that was not shining brightly like it should.

It grew quiet and we all exchanged glances. I let out a breath; looking down at Tony again when the Hulk was roaring with anger.

Suddenly Tony let out a yell and woke up. My eyes widened and Captain Rogers' head shot up as he looked at Tony.

"What the hell?!" He breathed. I had to smile at the first thing that came out of his mouth. "What just happened?! Please tell me nobody kissed me" He added. I chuckled and the Captain ended up exchanging a smirk with me before he turned back to Tony.

"We won" He said after a few seconds.

That's when it really hit me. We won. We really won.

"Alright hey" Tony replied after a few seconds of hesitation. "Alright, good job guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow- lets just- take a day" He struggled for a moment; adjusting himself slightly. I smirked again. "Hey you guys ever had Shawarma? There's a Shawarma joint about 2 blocks from here; I dunno what it is but I wanna try it" He continued. There's the Tony we know- or; at least from what I know from knowing him for two days.

"We're not finished yet" Thor told us. Captain Rogers turned to look up at him and I did also.

"And then Shawarma after" Tony made sure to add.