"We will not lose heart, We will not lose hope, When all we see is fading, We trust in what we know, We will never give up Pressed on every side, Praying for escape, We can see the answer, That You're the only way, We will never give up We will fix our eyes on the One who will last forever, We will hold on tight to, the only real treasure, We will not lose heart, We will not lose hope, We will give our lives to the One who will last forever..." We Will Not Give Up, Sanctus Real


Chapter Eleven

More Leviathans were coming through the portal as I reached the streets. People were running in different directions trying to get away. They were probably terrified and trying to figure out why someone would want to attack their beloved city. Something large and green suddenly slammed into one of the Leviathans, knocking it to the ground in the process. I knew immediately that the green creature was the Hulk, so I kept my distance from him.

This was the part where I should have stayed in the building. Tony was right about me staying out of trouble. I should've listened to him. But I couldn't sit still and I wanted to play some kind of part in this battle. Even if it meant risking my life. Sure I was scared as shit, but that wasn't going to stop me.

So I kept running. Every now and than I shot a repulser blast at a Chitauri or two. Helped a few people get out of the falling debris. In the process I received numerous cuts and bruises on my arms and legs. A few people had stopped to ask why I was heading for the battle rather than running away.

Maybe I was crazy. Maybe that was why I chose to take the risk and join the fight. Knowing that this wasn't some crazy dream seemed to open up my eyes. I could do so much more than this if I put my mind to it.

"Kid, do you have a death wish?" I flinched when I heard Tony's voice shouting through the earpiece. Looking up I noticed the Iron Man suit hovering above me. One of the Chitauri had noticed me as well. Quickly I fired the repulser weapon at the alien, knocking it off it's feet.

"Yeah, I think I do," I muttered with the slightest of smirks. Call me insane, but this was actually kind of fun. Not the killing part - I wasn't too fond of that - but this was a good way to take out all that pent up frustration I had earlier.

"Get close to the others," Tony ordered as he flew past me, shooting at numerous Chitauri. I just rolled my eyes and decided it was better to do as I was told. At this point I was in enough trouble as it was. Knowing Fury he'd lock me up for life if I didn't die out here.

"You okay kid?" Captain America was fighting alongside Black Widow, the two fighting as though they had done this their whole lives. Well, I suppose this was something they were trained for. As for me I was still a nervous wreck. But I wasn't going to let that stop me from joining in the fight.

"Never better," I replied after firing the repulser weapon at another Chitauri. "How many civilians need rescuing?" Another approached us, but this time Widow fired one of their own weapons against them. Why hadn't I thought of taking that? Would make for a fun souvenir.

"A group of people are trapped in a bank nearby," Capsicle replied. "I'm on my way to free them. You stay with Natasha and don't do anything stupid." I rolled my eyes once more. Why did they not have any faith in me following orders?

Oh wait, I couldn't follow orders. It was probably a good thing my parents didn't know what situation I was in. They'd be freaking out wondering how I could do something so stupid. Again I had to wonder if my parents would even remember me. Nobody else seemed to.

"Captain none of this fighting is going to mean a damned thing if we don't get that portal closed," Natasha told him as she fired another group of Chitauri approaching us.

She already received several wounds from the fight, and I noticed for the first time that even Rogers looked pretty battered as well. They couldn't keep fighting forever. Even if they were considered Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

"You're gonna need a ride to get there," Steve warned her.

Natasha glanced up at the ships the Chitauri were flying. Already I knew what she was about to do. And I really wished I could do that. Have skills that could save my life in a battle like this. But I was pretty useless without this repulser weapon.

"I've gotta a ride, if you can give me a lift," she replied while heading for the ledge of the bridge. Steve just stared at her in surprise, and he looked slightly impressed.

"Are you sure about this?" Nervously he raised his shield as she prepared to run.

"Yeah, it'll be fun." Now it was my turn to look impressed. Natasha ran at full speed and did a back flip on Cap's shield as one of the Chitauri's ships flew past us. She looked so elegant landing on the back of the ship, knocking one of the Chitauri riders off and stabbing the pilot in the back to control it.

"Miss Karson, you should really get out of here while you can," Steve warned me as he blocked the fire of another weapon, shielding me in the process.

Acting on instinct, I fired the repulser ray at one of the Chitauri and tried kicking another that got a little too close for comfort in the thigh. Believe me when I say they had really thick skin. It was like hitting a block of cement. The pain that followed made me reel back so that Steve was forced to catch me.

"I think I can take care of myself," I snapped as my leg began to heal almost instantly. I wished I knew where that power had come from. And exactly how it worked. The cuts and bruises from earlier had not healed yet. My guess is the power only works when it's a severe injury.

"The hell you can," Steve grumbled. "Get to the tower now, for your sake and for ours." The order was final, and I knew there was no point in arguing with him.

So I decided it was best to run now while I could. The Chitauri were distracted at the moment. As I ran I noticed that someone was huddled in a corner nearby, surrounded by fallen debris. It looked like a young boy, probably around the age of six or seven. His leg looked like it had been cut by something sharp, and it was bleeding pretty badly. And of course a small group of Chitauri had noticed him as well.

Without thinking of if I fired at the Chitauri. The boy let out a wail of surprise as one of them fell to the ground, a hole now formed in their body. The other three Chitauri finally took notice of me and started running with their weapons aimed in my direction.

Of all the stupid things I could've done, my feet stayed glued to the ground. I refused to back down as the Chitauri charged after me. Everything happened so fast that I didn't even have time to blink. One of the Chitauri was thrown to the ground by the repulser ray. Another was sent flying as I raised my other hand at it, landing in the building nearby. The final Chitauri had stopped dead in their tracks, than let out a snarl of disgust as it began charging once more.

Taking a deep breath, I concentrated on the energy that was building inside me. Another fire was shot at the Chitauri, this one stronger than the last. And it didn't come from the repulser ray Stark had given me. The energy was already draining and exhaustion quickly kicked in.

I looked over at the boy. He was still huddled up with his head over his legs in a fetal position. The wound on his leg looked deep. Dried up tears marked the edge of his eyes as I got closer. All the while he was screaming at me to stay away.

"It's okay, I'm here to help you," I tried soothing him. He was panicking as I knelt down.

"No, stay away! You're a monster!" The words made me stop short.

A monster? Was that what I am now? I shook my head, ignoring him as he weakly punched my arm. Touching his wounded leg with my hands, I took another deep breath and concentrated. If I could heal my own wounds than I should be able to heal others wounds.

Minutes dragged on. And finally the wound had begun to heal. The boy had stopped struggling when he realized what was happening. It seemed he finally understood that I wasn't a threat. There wasn't even a scar left behind as the wound fully healed.

And the exhaustion I felt moments ago suddenly returned. It was like having someone drain all my blood away at once. So using this healing power on someone else had a different effect on me. While it seemed to give me strength if I used it on myself, it drained away any energy I had left if I used it on someone else. That was good to know.

"How'd you do that?" the kid asked, awestruck. I made an attempt to block his view from the fighting around us. By now the explosions and gunfire seemed to die down. I wondered if Natasha closed the portal yet, or if that missal sent by SHIELD was approaching.

"What's your name kid?" I asked, ignoring his question all together. I wasn't sure how to answer that question, not without giving everything away.

"Michael Grayson," he replied. Well at least he sounded better. "Do you know where my mommy is?" His question caught me off guard. Again I didn't know how to answer that question. His mother might have been killed in the battle.

"Okay Michael, just follow me and you'll be fine," I reassured him after thinking over what to say. "We're going to find your... mommy." Mentally I scoffed at the word. It was something a six year old would've said.

I took Michael by the hand and held on carefully. By now it looked like the streets were cleared of Chitauri. I'm guessing that the battle had finally ended.

"Miss Karson, what's going on?" I heard Cap's voice over the earpiece, almost forgetting that I had it on.

"Please, just call me Emma, Capsicle," I muttered crossly. I hated being called Miss Karson. It sounded way too formal for me. "I uh... found a lost civilian. I'm going to try and find his parents," I quickly explained.

"Emma you know that could take weeks." That was Clint's voice. Nice to hear him again, and he actually sounded concerned.

"Michael, do you know where your mommy might have been the last time you saw her?" I looked down at Michael, who seemed more curious than anything else now.

"She went to the bank and told me not to wander off," he replied and suddenly looked downcast.

"That bank was overrun with Chitauri," Steve told me. "Most of the people have been cleared out of it already."

"Well I'm not leaving the kid on the streets," I retorted. I knew what it was like to feel alone. I didn't want Michael to suffer the same way I had a few years ago.

"Alright kid, take him to the police and they can find his parents for him. We need to wrap this up," Tony snapped.

I resisted the urge to shout something back. Tony did have a good point. Michael was better off going to the police. At least they could find out where his mother was and take care of the issue for me. This was one of those moments I wished I had followed orders.

"Are you alright?" Michael asked as we headed towards what was left of the police station.

I think I've gotten sick of hearing that question.

"I'll be fine," I murmured.

This was going to be a long day.


AN: So there's one more chapter left before this is finished. I wanted to thank everyone for reviewing and favoriting. And yes, there will be a sequel to this. I have the plotline figured out and everything. What follows may lead into all of the future movies to come. I'm just not entirely sure about that.