Soooooo darlings, we've arrived at the climax of the battle for New York. I'm hoping you'll all enjoy the twist I added and that you won't hate me for switching the spotlight. You got no idea what I'm talking about? Well I won't spoil it so go read the chapter and then toss me a review to let me know how much you love it or hated it ;)

Enjoy lovelies~

P.S. Every Thor/The Avengers/Thor: The Dark World character belongs to the wonderful Marvel. I own nothing, except my OCs :)

Entry #24

"I got a nuke coming in; it's gonna blow in less than a minute."

oOo

Location: Manhattan, New York, U.S.A.

Date: May 20, 2012

In a sudden bout of anger at the utterly stupid decision Fury seemed to have made, Kara shot up onto the couch, gritting her teeth when pain again erupted in her body.

"Dearest, you can't go out there again."

Pushing his hands away when he tried to get her to lie back down, the young woman shot a thoroughly vicious gaze to the Æsir that actually had him lean back.

"Just watch me..." she growled painfully, baring her teeth at him.

Reaching to the zipper, she inhaled deeply before swiftly pulling it up and barely holding back a scream when the leather pressed tightly on her wound. While it would help to contain the bleeding, it seemed she would have to find a way to deal with the slicing pain that now wracked her whole body.

"Kara..."

Ignoring Loki's stern tone, she tried to move away only to fall onto the floor on her knees.

"Tony... where are you?"

"About time you reported in, Wonder Woman." he retorted in an attempt to sound amused despite the concerned shade in his tone. "I'm about to intercept the missile; I know just where to put it."

"Stark... you know that's a one-way trip, right?" Steve interrupted them.

"Save the rest for the turn, J." Tony stated, apparently ignoring the soldier.

It was at those words that Kara again tried to get to her feet; when that failed she instead began crawling toward the terrace with a sort of wild spark in her eyes that not even Loki had seen before. She would be damned if she allowed Tony to kill himself and break Pepper's heart.

"Miss Taylor, I strongly suggest allowing your body to recover." Jarvis' voice resounded in the room.

"If I don't help him... no one will..." she retorted.

The only other team member who could fly – namely the Thunder God – might have been a good man and he might have actually tried to help Tony, had he known; but he didn't know... he had no idea of the woman Tony would be leaving behind. She had been destroyed by the news of Loki's death... she wasn't going to see Pepper going through that hell... not if she had anything to say about it.

Her contemplation was abruptly halted when she felt Loki's hands clasping around her arms and pulling her to her feet while she groaned in pain.

"Look at me..."

When she failed to comply, he placed his hands to her cheeks and forced her to turn her face upwards.

"Look at me." he growled.

His words died in his throat for once, at the sight of the utterly determined shade in her eyes, despite the sorrow mixed in with it.

"I have to do this..."

"You don't have to do anything." he frowned, his eyes finally betraying just how completely terrified he was at the thought of losing her.

When she went to reply, only to find that she couldn't speak because she had no idea what to say, her mind suddenly brought up a memory she had believed long since buried, and she heard Coulson's voice in her head as clear as day and saw that heartwarming smile he always offered her.

"You're a good person, Kara... and good people can't stand aside while others need them."

"I have to go..." she whispered.

"Why?"

Looking up into his eyes, the young woman ultimately leaned up to claim his lips for a kiss in which she now poured all the scorching love she felt for him. For once she actually hoped that he was reading her thoughts; she wanted him to know how grateful and happy she was for every moment they had spent together, regardless of what was happening around them. Her desire was soon confirmed when she felt his arms wrapping tightly around her.

"Because he needs my help..." she whispered shakily against his lips after he reluctantly allowed her to end the kiss.

Her attempt to lean back was briefly deterred when Loki tightened his hold on her and pressed his forehead to hers; and despite his closed eyes, his expression still betrayed such sorrow that Kara thought her heart would tear into pieces.

"Please... don't..." he said, catching her off guard with the genuinely begging tone in his voice.

With Coulson's words still ringing in her mind, the young woman clenched her jaw to hold back from breaking into a sobbing mess. Leaning up to kiss him again she then forcefully wrenched herself out of his embrace and – in a sudden bout of energy brought on by her sheer determination – broke out into a run, leaping off the edge of the terrace before Loki could stop her, leaving the Æsir to stare after her in shock. For a few moments she simply fell toward the ground whilst her mind battled to empty itself and focus away from the ache which threatened to overtake it.

It was right when Tony arrived at the tower, trying to steer the missile toward the portal, that she finally regained control over her mind – even as she stared death in the face – and took to following him.

"Let go!" she called out over the howling winds, placing her hands onto the nuke to gain control of it.

"What the hell are you doing?" Tony retorted, utterly shocked to see her there.

"Let! Go!" she ordered.

"You really think I'm letting you kill yours...?"

Baring her teeth at him, the young woman took a deep breath before extending her leg and kicking him in the mask, throwing him off the missile.

"What the hell? Kara!" he shouted, regaining his balance and moving to follow.

"Don't... don't do this to Pepper, Tony..."

Her words and the heart wrenchingly sorrowful tone in her voice actually had him stop in midair, staring in utter shock as she vanished through the portal along with the nuke.

"Stark what the hell happened up there?"

With Steve's voice snapping him back to reality, Tony exhaled a shaky breath as he felt his lips trembling just before his gaze grew blurry and tears overflowed along his cheeks.

"I... she just... she-she went... she..." he muttered, unable to put together a comprehensive phrase.

Before Steve could reply and demand an explanation, his gaze was again drawn to the sky along with Thor's; at first he believed the portal had somehow expanded on its own, revealing what seemed to be a massive alien ship from which hundreds of hovercrafts were still heading toward Earth, before he heard Kara's voice in his mind.

'I wanted you all to see this... this is your victory.'

"Ka-Kara...?" he muttered, his stomach suddenly dropping.

His fleeting hope that it was somehow just a dream or a side effect of the madness around them was thoroughly destroyed when he glanced to his right, to sight the stunned expression on Thor's face.

"I know it's hard to believe right now... but everything's going to be alright."

The sound of Phil's soothing voice in her head actually made her smile, even as she felt tears overflowing from her eyes. Her lungs were constricting from the lack of air to the point that her chest felt like she had a ton of lead pressing on it; her muscles were yelling in protest and she felt as if they were burning beneath her skin from the searing pain, as she struggled to maintain the missile on a direct course toward the ship. Focusing the last bits of her mental energy she again latched onto the other's minds.

'I chose this.' she said softly, in an attempt to soothe them. 'I'm grateful that I met every one of you. Thank you...'

Finally her consciousness wavered while her gaze darkened around the edges; when her muscles finally gave in and her arms fell limp, she only caught a fleeting glimpse of the nuke lunging forward and exploding right in the midst of the alien craft. And before she abandoned herself to the darkness, her last thought now rang out in Loki's mind.

'I love you...'

OoOoO

"Please... please..."

He was actually shaking inside that steel armor, his muscles tensed to their limits as he stared intently at the hole opened above him in the sky.

They had all seen the blinding light from the nuke's explosion and the aliens falling all around them as their neurological connection with the main ship was severed. But still none of them moved... none of them cheered... none of them dared to even breathe... and time itself seemed to have stopped, as they all stared at the portal hoping with every fiber of their being to see the young woman returning.

The first to realize that she wasn't coming back was Thor who now reached out and set a hand onto Steve's shoulder, drawing the soldier's gaze to him. His jaw clenched as he saw the young man's composure crumbling before his very eyes; watching as Steve lowered his head into his hands, he then averted his gaze to the tower where he could make out Loki's still form on the terrace, as the dark haired Æsir stared at the portal as well, thoroughly rooted to the spot.

"Close it..." Steve finally said, almost startling the Thunder God.

"No!" Tony cut him off. "She can still make it..."

"She's not coming back, Stark..."

"Says who...?"

Inhaling deeply to try and regain at least some semblance of composure, Steve raised his teary eyes to the sky.

"This was her choice... we should respect it. Natasha, close the portal."

"Al-alright..." came the woman's shaky reply, betraying her own tears.

"Don't!"

Tony's shout came too late, however, as did his attempt to fly over to the tower rooftop and just wrench that scepter out of the redhead's hands. Again stopping in midair he turned his stunned gaze to the sky, watching as the wavy edges of the portal closed in... and then he saw it; at the very last moment Kara fell through the small opening just before the portal was sealed.

"She made it..." Steve muttered in utter shock, watching as the young female plummeted toward the ground.

"She's not slowing down." Thor suddenly frowned.

Before he could get enough traction to take to the air, Tony flew in and caught her before landing a few steps away onto the destroyed street. Setting her on the ground he removed his helmet and literally threw it away before leaning over her.

"Kara... Kara, wake up. Wake up!" he pleaded desperately.

When she failed to respond, he picked her up and leaned her against his armor, stroking her disheveled hair whilst he lightly rocked back and forth, his cheek pressed to her forehead and his terrified gaze fixed onto the pavement before him.

"Please... please wake up..." he whispered. "Please... please..."

"Is she breathing?" Steve asked as he and Thor approached in a run.

The sight of Tony's crazed appearance had the soldier's heart skip a beat as the scientist's face filled with tears before his very eyes.

"Please... please wake up..." he kept on whispering, thoroughly unaware of anything else around him except the young woman in his arms.

"Is she alright?" Natasha's voice suddenly rang out over Steve's radio.

Still staring at the sight before him, Steve finally felt a shaky gasp leaving his lungs.

"She... she's... oh God..." he muttered, feeling like he was going to throw up from the sheer shock his mind and body were forced to withstand.

Ultimately falling to his knees he covered his eyes with one hand and broke down into sobs. It wasn't more than a few moments later that he was startled to hear Tony's heart wrenching shout as he seemed to finally recover his voice.

"Why?!" he yelled out in a sudden bout of anger, his gaze having blurred entirely from the tears that simply would not stop overflowing while his armored hand still stroke her hair. "Goddamn it, why?!"

Why the hell had she interfered like that? Why had she known what to say in order to shock him exactly long enough for her to get beyond his reach? He was already half-dead with that shrapnel eating away at his chest, but she... she was supposed to die of old age, in a warm bed, surrounded by her family... not like this... not for him... not in a cold void, surrounded by hideous aliens... not amidst the destruction and dead bodies littering the streets.

He had promised... upon seeing Richard dead on the Helicarrier, he had vowed to look after her; to make sure she didn't get killed in some stupid fight. He had promised that she wouldn't die like this... she still had so much to live for... so much to do... so many people to help...

Ultimately his voice died out again – when no answer came to his demand, but the crushing silence which only the soldier's sorrowful cries pierced – and he pressed his lips to her forehead, whilst he tightly shut his eyes and broke out into silent sobs.

Sooo today's replies for my darlings :D

1. SuperNaturalxxFreak - Aww I'm soooo happy that you still loved that chapter as much as you did when you first read it. This entry is one of my personal favorites although I do hope Tony fans don't hate me for taking the spotlight away from their favorite character.

As you so eloquently put it while we talked over the chapter, this story is ultimately about Kara and Loki, not about Tony or Steve or Thor, despite the heavy amount of movie scenes incorporated in it. But I still hope RDJ's fans won't hate me; I love RDJ and I love all his roles, he's a mind blowing actor and he can so well fuse with each of his characters that it doesn't even seem like he's acting, it's as if he's just being himself. But I guess I'll just have to wait for fans' reactions; hopefully they won't be too shy to leave a review and give me their honest opinions.

And yes, I tried to keep Loki at least somewhat focused on Kara despite the Tesseract's influence, because ultimately he knows Kara is pretty much everything he has left. He lost the identity he once believed he had, he lost the brother he believed he had, he basically lost his roots because he grew up not even knowing of his own true heritage. So he knows he really doesn't have much left to call his own, except Kara.

But thank you so much, love, for reviewing each chapter even if you already read them. You have no idea how much it means to me to see the amount of love you poured onto this story ❤

2. winter1990 - Thank you so much, darling. I'm so happy to hear the story managed to capture your interest. I hope this chapter rose to your expectations as well and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again :D

So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤