Chapter Five
"Go after the bomb," Natasha ordered them, "leave me, I'm fine!"
Thor stuck his hand out to Hawkeye. "You are with me, Archer. I may have need of your deadly aim."
Hawkeye glanced down at the partially crushed Carousel and grimaced. He didn't want to leave Natasha under all of that, but the job wasn't over yet and she was telling him to go. Hawkeye grabbed Thor's arm and held on tight as the demi-god shot up into the air, with him in tow. The ring which was now glowing a yellowish colour was easy to spot, even as it hurtled off in the sky line. Thor immediately flew after it.
"Maybe it'll be alright," Hawkeye shouted at Thor. "It's heading towards the water." He squinted as he got a better line on the hurtling object. "Tell me that thing isn't heading for the Statue of Liberty."
"Is this Liberty Statue the tall maiden with the book and lamp?" Thor quizzed him.
"Yes."
"Then, yes," said Thor evenly, "I believe they will indeed collide."
"We can't let that happen," said Hawkeye urgently. "We have to stop it!"
"I am flying as fast as I can, Archer," Thor informed him. "I fear the ring will reach its destination before we will."
"The Statue of Liberty can't be blown up," said Hawkeye tightly, "not on my watch." He glanced down and tried to calculate what kind of fall out there would be for the people below if he detonated the thing mid-air. Hawkeye quickly strung an explosive arrow to his bow and took aim but before he could fire the Hulk suddenly swooped in and batted the ring. It shot forward at a huge speed and Hawkeye watched in distress as the large ring got caught on the raised, right arm of the Statue of Liberty and swung around and around on it like a shiny, new bracelet for the icon. "Damn it!" he growled and then watched on in distress as the statue's up stretched arm seemed to suddenly have a strange lean to it.
The force of the ring hitting the arm had busted bolts from their home and torn metal and to Hawkeye's horror, the arm began to break off. "NO!" he yelled. Quickly selecting his specially designed net arrows, he fired beneath the arm which was coming away under its own weight now. It snapped off with an almighty sound of shredding metal and plummeted towards the earth. Hawkeye rapidly fired a series of arrows, each one throwing out nets to try and catch the arm before it was destroyed even more with the impact on the ground. The nets strung out between the base of the statue and the platform the entire monument rested on, catching the arm and slowing its descent. In the meantime, the Hulk had grabbed the ring and was holding onto it.
"Throw it into the sea, brute!" Thor ordered him.
The Hulk landed on Liberty Island, still holding onto the ring and roared his disapproval at being told what to do. Thor dropped Hawkeye to the ground as he faced off against the Hulk. He shot over and grabbed one part of the ring and attempted to wrench it from the Hulk's grasp. The Hulk refused to let go. He swung Thor violently off the ring and into the base of the statue, rattling the entire structure as stone flew everywhere from the impact of the large man.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" The disbelieving question came from above them as Iron Man jetted in and looked down at the carnage.
"We're saving the statue," said Hawkeye urgently, keeping a nervous eye on his series of nets which were beginning to slip with their heavy cargo.
"If that's true then why can the old gal only count to five now?" asked Tony in exasperation as he took in the now one-armed statue.
"The Hulk has taken a liking to the ring," said Hawkeye in annoyance, "great job on getting him to dispatch that by the way. Now we can't get the stupid thing off him."
"Everyone remembers it's a bomb, right, and it's probably not a good thing to be just hanging around chatting while it decides to go off?" asked Tony in disbelief. He shook his head. "If you want a job done right, you've got to do it yourself."
Thor was just crawling out of the base of monument, shaking stone chips out of his long hair. "The Hulk will not part with his new toy, Tony Stark."
"I'm not askin'," said Tony defiantly as jetted over to where the Hulk was still holding onto the ring. The Hulk batted at Tony with his free hand, but Tony still managed to get a hold of the ring and pull hard. "What is this thing made of?" grunted Tony as even with the might of Iron Man pulling one way and a stubborn Hulk pulling the other way, the casing of the device didn't crack.
That couldn't be said of the Statue of Liberty however as Thor's impromptu visit with its foundation now had the statue starting to creak and take on a disconcerting lean to the left.
Hawkeye grimaced. "Okay, I don't have a net big enough if she all goes."
Meanwhile, the battle raged above their heads between the Hulk and Iron Man now that Tony had moved the battle to the sky. "Give it up, Kermit!" bit out Tony. "This isn't for you!" He gave one last violent tug and managed to tear the device out of the Hulk's hands. Tony actually hadn't been expecting to win that particular tug of war and it slipped out of his hands and hurtled behind him and headed over to the mainland. The ring sailed on for a distance and everyone watched as the ring connected with the East River Generating Station and smashed into the top of the building.
"Uh oh," said Tony.
Hawkeye flinched, imagining the bomb going off at any moment, but instead, it seemed to be absorbing all the power from the station and it was so much that its circuits were finally overloaded and the glowing ring simply winked out. Unfortunately, so did half of New York it seemed as the generating station was completely neutralised in the process. Even from where he was standing Hawkeye could see lights all over the city abruptly going out.
Tony came to land beside him, and pulled a regretful face. ""Okay, guys," he said quickly, "anyone asks, that was totally what we were going for."
"We were going for destroying a national monument and taking out the entire eastern electricity board?" asked Hawkeye flatly.
"Don't worry," said Tony blithely, "when we retell this story, we're going to sound way more heroic."
oooOOOOooo
Nick Fury regarded Tony steadily with his one good eye. "And in what way were you going to make any of that sound heroic, Mr. Stark?"
Tony shrugged. "No one's dead, that's got to count in our favour, right? And the Statue of Liberty is still standing." He glanced over his shoulder at the view below. "Admittedly she's got a bit of a slant to her now but that worked out just fine for that tower in Pisa. In fact, I bet this makes her even more popular."
"And the missing arm?" asked Fury coolly.
"The Venus de Milo is a big hit with no arms," Tony pointed out. Fury didn't look impressed so Tony backtracked. "Okay, so, we may need to fix that. A lot of women her age get a little work done, it's no big deal." He looked over at Natasha. "Isn't that right, Agent Romanoff?"
She gave him a cool look. "What would I know about plastic surgery, Stark?"
Tony looked innocent. "I just assumed you'd have picked up some insider knowledge when they removed your conscience and soul," he said sweetly.
"Build a bridge and get over it," Natasha advised him dismissively. "I did what I was ordered to do when we first met and I'd do it again, in a heartbeat."
"Assuming you have a heart," Tony shot back at her.
"So, when I'm asked to give a report to the President about this little debacle, this is what you want me to tell him?" asked Fury dourly.
"Just tell him you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs," said Tony unapologetically.
Fury gave them all a dark look. "You know, a lot of carnage could have been avoided and the instigator of this attack actually apprehended if you'd all worked together as a team."
"We're not a team," said Steve sharply. "You give us a name and you call us one, but that doesn't make it true."
"Nonetheless, you're all going to learn how to work as one," said Fury determinedly. "I didn't spend the last ten years putting this team together just to have it end like this. The earth needs you and we're going to make this work, damn it."
Tony eyed him speculatively. "Is this the part where you give us all a smack and send us to bed without any supper?"
"No," said Fury evenly, "this is the part where you go and collect the Hulk and start helping clean up your mess." He looked at Clint and Natasha. "Hawkeye, Black Widow, I expect full reports from both of you on my desk by the end of the day. We'll need them to do analysis on them and see what went wrong." Fury glared at them all. "Well, what are you all waiting for? I've got a big, green monster in my docking bay and I'd like that taken care of now."
Tony couldn't resist. "I hear you can get a cream for that nowadays, it's called Preparation H... the H is for Hulk."
"Do you think you're amusing me, Mr. Stark?" asked Fury coldly.
Tony pulled a face. "I like to think you're laughing on the inside."
Fury gave him a dark look. "I'm not."
"Guess I'm just going to have to try harder," said Tony chirpily as he breezed by the unhappy Director of SHIELD.
Tony, Natasha, Clint, Steve and Thor all stepped into the elevator which would take them to the docking bay where the Hulk was still hopefully waiting for them. Clint pressed his communicator. "Agent Steele, we're coming to collect the Hulk, has he reverted back to Doctor Banner yet?"
"No, sir," came the somewhat nervous sounding reply, "and he's doing a lot of pacing."
"Worry when he stops pacing and starts pounding," Steve advised the man.
Clint hung up and shook his head. "Why hasn't the guy changed back yet?"
"The Hulk is a law unto himself," said Tony easily. "He does what he wants, when he wants. It's kinda his thing." Tony gave the other man a sideways look. "You know what your problem is with the Hulk?"
"The very high probability that at any moment he could liquefy every bone in my body with a single blow?" Clint offered up calmly.
Tony shook his head. "No," he said confidently, "you aren't used to working with the guy."
"No," said Clint evenly, "I really feel like it's the liquefying thing."
"You should come to our training sessions," said Tony with great certainty. "That way, the big guy will get used to you and you'll get used to him."
Clint pulled a face. "Locking myself in a confined space with a rampaging monster doesn't sound that great."
"Actually," interjected Thor, "it is most entertaining, my archer friend."
Steve nodded. "It's true, watching the Hulk bat Tony around like a chew toy is a lot of fun, and profitable. I made fifty bucks last time."
Thor looked unimpressed. "Verily, I did not believe the Hulk would take the ear piece and I still believe implanting it in Bruce Banner before he transformed was cheating."
"Hulk didn't tear it out," Steve reasoned, "so I take that as a win."
Clint eyed them suspiciously. "Aren't you guys worried he's going to kill you all in your sleep?"
"The thought has occurred," said Steve dryly.
Tony looked between Clint and Natasha with interest. "So, I'm picking up a lot of sexual chemistry here. You two showing each other your SHIELD badges after hours or what?"
Clint glared at him and Natasha looked coolly dismissive.
Tony continued on, expression completely serious as he addressed Clint. "And if you are, do you have to wear some kind of testicle locking device so she doesn't attempt to leave with them in the morning?"
"Ignore him," Steve advised them. "He gets bored in confined spaces."
Tony gave Steve an outraged look. "That's not true." He looked back at Clint. "It's a little bit true," he admitted in a stage whisper.
"Sir, proximity alert." Jarvis interrupted Tony's interrogation.
Jarvis immediately had all of Tony's attention in an instant. "How close are they?"
"Within one thousand, six hundred feet."
"Damn it," Tony bit out.
"Is that what I think it is?" asked Steve, his tone becoming tense.
"Yes," said Tony, jabbing at the elevator buttons, needing for the thing to move faster now.
"What's wrong?" asked Natasha. "What kind of proximity alert is this?"
The elevator doors slid open as Iron Man's face shield slid down and locked into place. "Justin Hammer, he's closing in on Pepper." The only thought in Tony's head now was getting to Pepper. He ran out into the docking bay and immediately jetted out of the carrier, jets on full thrust to get back to the Avenger's tower before Hammer got any closer to the woman he loved...
A/N: For those of you keen for some Pepperony interaction, you'll have it in the next couple of chapters, so hope you enjoy. :D