The next Avengers we found were Black Widow and Hawkeye. We clambered over a building that had been completely demolished and found the two agents shooting at Chitauri zipping past on those flying contraptions of theirs. I jumped down the remains of the building to land behind Hawkeye with Loki right behind me and Clint whirled around and launched an arrow directly at me. I flinched as Loki's hand darted out and caught the projectile before he hurled it away. I bit my lip nervously when the arrow exploded a few feet away from us and looked at Clint and Natasha from the corners of my eyes with a guiltily amused expression. "You're that angry with me, huh?" I bantered lightly.
"Dammit, El! I could have killed you!" Clint yelled, slinging his bow over his back and stalking forward to envelope me in a rough hug. I smiled, slapping him on the back in return.
"I missed you too, Hawkeye." Clint let me go and glared at Loki.
"What the hell is this guy doing here?" he demanded. Loki returned Clint's look with his own, subtly poisonous expression.
"Saving her life from you, apparently," he remarked darkly. I grinned, turning my attention to Natasha.
"Hey, Tasha!" I greeted easily.
"Hey, Ellie. Good to see you're still alive." I frowned, shooting at an alien climbing over the rubble behind us.
"Why wouldn't I be alive?" I wondered.
"You've been living with Loki," she replied. Loki growled, putting rather possessive hands around my waist.
"I'm not going to hurt her, Spider," he hissed aggressively. A herd of alien craft approached and the four of us tensed, ready to fight them. As they swooped down towards us, Loki disappeared from behind me. I was startled, but I turned my focus on the aliens surrounding us swiftly, lifting my guns and putting on my game-face.
I shot at the aliens as Widow and Hawkeye did the same. Loki reappeared again, stabbing one alien in the back and letting it drop. When another alien shot at him, he dissolved into green light before materialising beside me and stabbing another two aliens, throwing a dagger into a third and vanishing once again. I ran out of ammunition and holstered my guns, moving on to close combat and attacking the Chitauri with claws and kicks. One of them got a shot off at me and I yelped as the burning impact sent me crashing to my knees and landing heavily against the demolished building, causing bruises, scrapes and gouges to mark my skin under my uniform. I looked up at the Chitauri standing over me, ready to finish me off before Loki showed up at his back and sliced through the creature's neck viciously, causing blood to splash across his face as the being crumpled to the ground.
Loki held his hand out to me and I took it, letting him pull me easily to my feet before he turned around and threw a dagger at a Chitauri about to shoot him. The dagger found its mark; lodging in the Chitauri's flesh just under its chin. We stood, panting as one of Hawkeye's explosive arrows took down the craft and Widow killed the last couple of enemies. Loki looked down at me, cupping my arm in his hand and stepping close to me. "Are you injured?" he inquired lowly, examining me intently. I pulled my hand away from the wound on my side to reveal torn, frayed material covered in sticky, red blood seeping from cut and blistered skin. Loki hissed, reaching out to carefully try and peel my uniform away from the injury.
"I'll be fine, Loki. It's not deep; it's just a sort of burn-slash-scrape wound." I stretched my left side, biting my lip as the skin split and more blood seeped from the gaps.
I unzipped one of the pouches attached to my belt and took out a medical patch. I pulled at the loose pieces of material stretched over my side and broke through them before sticking the patch to myself and tying the loose pieces over the top. "There; see? All fixed," I declared cheerfully. Loki looked skeptical and I eyed him off in return. "What about you? Are you holding up?" I wondered, pressing a hand against his abdomen. Loki grunted and pulled away from me, bending slightly.
"I think I popped a few stitches," he whispered. "I felt it tear." I winced in sympathy and Loki straightened, looking down on Clint and Natasha as they approached us.
"You okay, El?" Clint asked, putting a hand on my back. I nodded, grinning.
"Yep. You guys?"
"We're fine," Natasha informed me as Loki used magic to recollect the throwing daggers he'd been using. I watched him with a smile. Loki huffed, folding his arms forebodingly across his chest.
"What?" he demanded.
"I want to learn how to use those," I decided. "Will you teach me?" I requested. Loki narrowed his eyes at me coolly.
"Carter…" he growled.
"Please?" I added childishly. Loki shook his head, glaring down at me.
"Carter, focus! This isn't a festival for your amusement," Loki reprimanded sharply.
"Right, focus. Alien invasion in progress," I reminded myself, looking around. "And we need to get you to your brother." I spotted a gathering of clouds and pointed. "Oh! Found him! Come on, Loki! Let's go!"
"We'll come with you," Natasha stated, following me as I grabbed Loki's sleeve and took off. Clint brought up the rear, keeping an eye out for Chitauri tails. The Hulk raged into our path, looking directly at me and grinning briefly, but Loki grabbed my arm and pulled me down a side street out of the way where our group continued onward. We ran down several streets, taking out stray Chitauri on the way before running into Captain America a few blocks away from all the lightning, single-handedly vanquishing a group of nine Chitauri. He partially decapitated the last one with his shield, closing his eyes and turning his face against the blood spurting.
"Captain!" I greeted happily, saluting the way he'd taught me to. Steve blinked at me, shocked at my appearance. "That was totally badass; just so you know," I told him, nodding to the scattered dead.
"Ellie!" Steve loped easily over rubble and bodies to reach me, putting his hands hesitantly on my shoulders. "Are you okay? What's been going on? Are The Ides helping out here?"
"Fine, too much to cover now, and yes; that's why I'm here, respectively," I responded to his rushed greeting with an earnest nod. Steve smiled at me warmly before looking up at Loki warily.
"So… what's going on with him then?" Steve murmured to me cautiously, watching Loki intently. I glanced over my shoulder to find Loki glaring at the Captain, who still had his hands on my arms.
I grinned, flashing my dimples. "He's my bodyguard," I told Steve. Loki snorted, looking away from us and scanning the area vigilantly. A Chitauri flying machine darted out from behind a corner, but one of Loki's well-placed daggers sent it crashing to the ground with a minor electrical explosion.
"Are you sure you can trust him?" Steve questioned, pulling me further away from the alien prince. "He tried to take over the Earth! He's killed people!"
"And you haven't, Captain America?" I challenged, slipping out of his hold. Steve flinched at the accusation, looking down. "I know what he's done, but, unlike most, I also know why. Yes, Steven. I can trust him," I stated loudly enough for the others to hear. I caught Loki examining me in my peripheral vision and added swiftly, "You can't. But I can…" Steve nodded reluctantly and I smiled.
"By the way, I missed you." I hugged Steve around the neck and let go before he could respond. Lightning struck a street away and we all looked to the suddenly stormy sky above us. There was a red and silver flash, and Thor landed in between me and Loki, looking battle-weary and hot, as usual.
"Thor! Finally! We've come across every single one of the others before you; and you were the one we were looking for!" Thor ignored me, looking at his brother who was staring at him coldly. I rolled my eyes. "You boys have absolutely no idea how to be siblings," I grumbled, walking to stand next to Loki again, in between him and Thor... just in case. "Remind me to introduce you to my sister, if the chance ever arises."
"Thank you for looking after him, Lady Ellie," Thor stated carefully. I smiled, shrugging.
"No worries, Mate. Happy to help."
"Okay, what do we do?" Steve asked, looking at me and Loki. We both glared at him, taken aback.
"You're the star-spangled man with a plan! Why are you asking us?" I demanded.
"Well, Loki knows the most about the Chitauri…"
"That is a fallacy; I know no more than you in this instance," Loki rebutted coolly.
"Okay then; Stark, you look around, see if you can find anything that looks important. Thor, you get the perimeter; we need to attempt to contain the damage as much as possible. Clint and Natasha; you get the south; take down as many of these aliens as you can and find safe places to put the civilians. Ellie and Loki; you do the same thing on the north side. I'll stay in the center here and see what I can do. And we'll just let Hulk go ahead and continue smashing." I looked at Loki, curious to see his reaction to being ordered around by Steve. He simply quirked a brow at me and I grinned wickedly.
"Sounds like fun," I decided. "Come on, Loki! North!" I declared enthusiastically, tugging on his hand as I trotted past. Loki followed me without another word. The others dispersed to go their separate ways, and I related the news to Phillips as Loki and I headed off.
'If Mr Stark finds anything, I want you to relay that information immediately, Agent Carter.'
'Yes, Phillips,' I agreed, terminating the communication. Loki and I took down many aliens and, yes, sustained a few injuries as a result. I did most of the civilian shepherding; I made Loki stand guard and watch for Chitauri while I got the people to relative safety. He didn't complain about the placement, but he did eye the frightened, panicky civilians with evident disdain.
"These people are so weak!" he grumbled to me as I ushered one sobbing mother and baby into an underground parking lot. The foundations were solid, in spite of the fact that the rest of the building had already toppled over.
"I was one of them, once," I reminded the prince calmly. I turned back to face him, crossing my arms. "You even stated so at one point." Loki shook his head.
"There is a difference between being physically weak and being a weak person…" Our conversation was interrupted when two Chitauri flying machines appeared, swooping down towards us. Loki took one down with his daggers, and boosted me up to land on the second and kill the three creatures aboard. As the machine careened out of control, I jumped. Loki caught me and deposited me on the ground with a wince, hand going to his injured abdomen.
"You okay?" I asked in concern. Loki nodded, straightening again.
"Yes, I'll be fine. Now," he continued his previous statement, so rudely interrupted, "these people are weak; cowering in hollows while the world around them is in turmoil. You choose to fight the monsters terrorising you; and that is what makes you strong," he told me firmly, tapping my nose for emphasis. "Not your physical advantages, but your will. Have I made myself clear?" I nodded, pleased by his assessment of my character.
"Yes, and I concede your point," I agreed. "But they, too, have their stories to tell, Loki. That is your trouble; you discount the weak too swiftly. Your complacency is what led to your predicament with the battle of New York and the Chitauri, don't forget."
"How can I?" Loki growled, rubbing at his abdomen again. "Not only do I bear the marks of my failure, I have you as a constant reminder." I blinked at Loki slowly, pensively.
"Would you rather see me go?" I wondered. Loki looked down on me and his expression softened.
"No. I would not. Come, Carter. Your pathetic people still have need of you," he stated in a business-like manner, putting a hand on my back and guiding me to our next target.