A/N: Can we all say HALLELUJAH?! I have written the last of the full on action stuff for this chapter. I could cry with relief, exhaustion, et al. It's up to you guys to decide if this showdown was worth all the build up. I'm just glad it's over. .

Okay, so the next chapter we get to all the angsty stuff so many of you have been hanging out for. I should be able to polish those chapters off a lot more quickly than these bad boys. Hopefully you'll have another update tomorrow, if the muse is being co-operative. :D

Toodles...

Chapter Sixty-Eight

The Hulk sailed through the air, smashing through spider bodies as he tumbled end over end.

"Hulk, are you there, big guy?"

Hulk hit the ground and shook it resoundingly. He shook his head in annoyance as the talky man's voice filled his head. "Hulk, busy," he snarled. Hulk stood up, looking through the crowd of spiders at the grey man charging towards him, head down and horn pointing directly at him. "Horny man making Hulk mad."

"Boy, I hope you're talking about Rhino," came the laconic rejoinder. "We're ready to get my plan happening. Ditch Rhino and go to your position."

Hulk dropped his shoulder and braced for the impact of Rhino, not intending to get out of his way. The two men impacted and the ground shook again. They both bounced back off each other and the Hulk was the first to his feet. He threw back his head and roared, anger flooding his body at Rhino's continued assaults on him. The talky man wanted him to finish with the grey man, then that was what he was going to do. Rhino was still trying to stand up as Hulk stalked over to a nearby abandoned tank. Hulk picked it up by the cannon and swung the tank over his head. He brought it directly down on Rhino's head, just as the other man had stood up. The ground beneath Rhino's feet sunk down. Hulk lifted the tank up again and basically began hammering the stunned Rhino into the ground in a flurry of motion. In the end only Rhino's horned and bleeding head was exposed above the ground. With one last flourish, the Hulk brought the tank down on Rhino's head and left it there.

Hulk nodded in satisfaction at the sight. "Horny man no get up anymore," he grunted.

"Super, good job, now get to your position," Tony urged him. "And remember, you have to wait for my signal, you can't do it before I tell you."

"Hulk not stupid," he huffed. "Hulk remember."

"Then remember to be careful," Tony urged him. "We have no way of knowing if even the Hulk can withstand what we need him to do. If it gets too much, get out."

He dismissed the talky man's concerns. "Hulk not scared, Hulk want to kill spiders."

"Then saddle up, we've got some exterminating to do."

oooOOOOooo

Steve rolled his shoulders, loosening them up as he looked out into the mass of writhing bodies and picked his target. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Not even a little bit," came Tony's surprisingly candid response.

Steve grimaced. "It's customary to lie in these situations."

"In that case, yes, this is going to work, completely, one hundred and ten percent, not a worry in the world."

"How is it that your lies are more unsettling then your truths?"

"Just bad luck I guess." Tony's tone became all business then. "Okay, everyone in position?"

"Aye," came Thor's voice, "I stand by your command, Tony Stark."

"In position and locked and loaded," confirmed Clint.

There was a deafening roar in everyone's comlinks.

"And that's a yes from Hulk," said Tony dryly. "Alright, Avengers, let's get our crazy on. Cap, you're up, make us proud."

"Just be ready," Steve cautioned him.

"Born that way," replied the ever confident Tony.

Steve put a hand to his shield which was strapped to his back and checked it was secure. He took a deep breath and launched himself into the fray. Steve nimbly ran between the legs of spiders, before sliding underneath one of them. In one fluid movement he drew out a knife and rammed it into the razor covered underbelly. The spider chose that moment to leap into the air and Steve refused to let go of the knife, so he went with the creature, skyrocketing up into the air. Still clinging on, Steve inserted the silver disk Tony had given him. He changed his grip so he could withdraw the knife and saw the nano-bots immediately close over the cut. As the spider hit the ground, Steve let go and rolled away, forced to take on more spiders which were immediately upon him. "It's done!" he yelled, grabbing his shield and slicing his way through the spiders.

"Find a safe place," Tony instructed him urgently. "I'm activating now."

Steve fought off another spider and ran to where there was an overturned jeep and threw himself under it. "Clear. Do it!"

oooOOOOooo

"Clear. Do it!"

Tony had been waiting for those words. "Jarvis, activate the beacon."

"Yes, sir."

Tony held his breath, praying this was going to work. Nothing changed for a moment, the army was still doing battle against the rampaging spiders and his heart sank. This wasn't going to work. Suddenly one spider broke away from the rest and started to scurry towards where Tony was standing on a nearby hill top. He blew out a relieved breath. Tony stood his ground as other spiders turned around and joined the first spider. In a matter of seconds, all of the spiders were following the lead of the first spider and scuttling towards Tony at a frightening speed. "Fury, make sure the army pulls back," he said tersely, not taking his eyes off the approaching tidal wave of giant spiders. "Get them to safety."

"I hope your plan works, Stark," offered up Fury.

Tony pulled a face behind his Iron Man mask. "Me too." The spiders were almost on him now and Tony waited until he could almost reach out and touch them and then he took off. He engaged his thrusters and flew away, keeping himself about four feet off the ground. A wall of spiders were chasing him now. When he dared to look back over his shoulder, all Tony could see was black legs and bodies and glowing red eyes. "Have I got all of them?" he yelled, knowing that was the most important part of the plan. He kept just ahead of them, acting as a pied piper and enticing all the spiders to follow him.

"Yes," replied Clint from his vantage point. "The last spiders have just finished reforming and they're hot on your heels. You're the belle of the ball."

"Good," said Tony grimly. Once he'd worked out that the nano-spiders were all part of a collective, an idea had come to him. They operated as independent entities but under the same driving force, which in this case, happened to be Ghost's programming. It was like a school of sardines who all swam along in formation and would turn on a dime together in a huge group. There was a programmed in instinct to follow one another. Tony had banked on the nano-spiders working the same way. He'd quickly constructed a beacon which would hone in on his suit and that was what Steve had inserted into one of the spiders. Once one of the spiders wanted to follow Tony, the rest of them fell into line. Now Tony had thousands of spiders hot on his tail and looking to destroy him but that was just what he wanted. Up ahead of him was a cave opening. "I'm taking this party underground," he informed the rest of them.

Tony shot through the entrance of the cave, Jarvis throwing up the maps of the underground network of caves and tunnels so he knew where he was going. He sped along the tunnels, hearing the pounding of the spider bodies behind him, in close pursuit. Tony just kept his focus and continued to keep just ahead of them. The front spiders started to shoot lasers at him and Tony just prayed that they weren't going to bring the tunnels in on top of them all.

oooOOOOooo

Ghost stood up from behind the pilot seat and pointed her gun at Natasha. Natasha went for her guns and realised she must have lost them when she rolled onto the shuttle.

Ghost smirked. "You seem a little underdressed for this party, my dear."

Natasha glanced out the window at the scene below and had her own smirk. "I think this party is over, Ghost."

Ghost stole a quick look out the window too and saw all of her nano-spiders disappearing into a cave entrance below. She looked back at Natasha. "You don't honestly believe you can defeat my nano-spiders?" Ghost sneered. "Whatever you have planned, won't work." She levelled her gun at Natasha's face. "And it's not going to matter to you, one way or the other."

Natasha tensed, ready to dodge the bullet but fate stepped in and the auto-piloted shuttle hit a pocket of air. The shuttle temporarily shuddered and it was enough to throw Ghost off-balance for a split second. Natasha pressed her advantage, kicking the gun out of the other woman's hand. Ghost recovered quickly and threw a high kick at Natasha's head. Natasha pulled back just in time and grabbed her leg, twisting it and forcing her to flip over and fall to the ground.

Ghost glared up at her. "I don't need a gun to finish this." She kicked out at Natasha's legs and knocked her down. Ghost was on top of her now, as both women struggled for supremacy.

oooOOOOooo

Clint watched from his vantage point on top of a rocky overhang which gave him a clear view of the cave Tony had disappeared into with the spiders chasing him down. "They're all in," he reported, "and the army is retrieving its wounded and retreating."

"So far so good," replied Tony.

"We're a long way from the fat lady singing yet," said Clint unhappily.

"You don't have to tell me that."

oooOOOOooo

The lead spider hurtled down the tunnel, its' siblings right behind it. The signal inside its head went suddenly dead, but there was the memory of what they were hunting still in its head. He led them down the tunnels, all of nano-spiders sharing the single vision of their target. They surged forward, hungry to find their target.

oooOOOOooo

Tony clung to the roof of the tunnel, holding his breath as a sea of spiders passed by underneath him. He'd turned off the beacon, betting they'd still want to pursue him and then turned on the stealth mode function of his suit. Some of the spiders were actually swarming over the top of him without realising it, as they took to the rooves of the tunnels to all fit in. Tony was glad he didn't have any kind of arachnophobia issues. The last one past over him and they were heading off out of view. "Okay, Hulk, it's your turn to shine. Make Daddy proud."

oooOOOOooo

"Okay, Hulk, it's your turn to shine. Make Daddy proud."

The Hulk's giant green brow furrowed as the talky man's words buzzed inside of his head. He knew the words were meant to be annoying and it was fortunate he'd been given a task which was made easier by being annoyed. The Hulk balled his hand into a giant, green fist and punched at the wall in front of him. He was standing in a tunnel at a dead end, exactly where the talky man had told him to be. Cracks appeared in the rock wall in front of him and Hulk pressed his advantage. He pummelled the wall in front of him, causing large chunks of rock to fall away. Suddenly a fissure of orange peaked out from behind the cracks and oozed out. The Hulk's upper lip curled in disgust at the smell.

"Hulk, is it working, are you through?" Steve's urgent question was in his ear.

"Red glowy stuff stinks," he grunted.

"You did it," said Steve in relief. "Now, get out of there, run, before the whole thing goes."

More and more fissures were appearing in the rock face and more of the red, oozing stuff pushed its way through. Hulk turned around as the whole tunnel started to fill up with grey fumes and ran. It was a tight fit through some of the tunnels and he tore chunks out of walls with his elbows, shoulder and head as he ran. Behind him Hulk could feel a wave of heat and he looked back over his shoulder to see a river of red and orange coming up behind him. Spatterings of the molten rock hit his back and made him roar in pain, but Hulk kept running, heading for that exit.

oooOOOOooo

"Sir, the Hulk has done it," said Jarvis swiftly. "The magma is flowing through the tunnels as you postulated."

Tony couldn't believe this was working. "Is it tracking like we predicted?" he asked swiftly.

"Yes, sir, the magma is on a direct path with the nano-spiders."

Tony knew they had no weapons to stop the nano-spiders, but when he'd seen they were sitting on a volcanic bed of potential eruptions, an idea had come to him. The molten rock underneath the desert of Los Alamos was heated to around 2000F and that had to be enough to melt the metal of the nano-spiders permanently and stop them from reforming. Tony was gambling everything on it.

"Sir, the magma has made first contact with the spiders," said Jarvis swiftly. "My scanners indicate that your plan is working. There is no sign of them being able to re-form. The nano-spiders are being destroyed."

"It worked," said Tony, trying to hold back his own amazement that his plan was working.

"Sir, if I could make a suggestion?"

"It's time I got the hell out of Dodge?" Tony pre-empted him. His suit was already registering a radical increase in temperature, which meant the molten rocks were getting closer.

"Indeed, sir."

Tony dropped from the ceiling and immediately flew off down through the tunnels he'd just come up. It was a race now. He had to make it out of the tunnels before the magma caught up with him. He'd carefully picked this group of underground tunnels because there was only one way in and out and that was what was going to make this plan ultimately work. He didn't need to look back over his shoulder to know the magma was catching him up. The heat inside the suit was excruciating and sweat was pouring from every pore in his body. The lower part of his armour started to glow as it heated up even more. "How much further?" asked Tony urgently.

"You'll be at the exit in fifty-eight seconds, sir," Jarvis calculated. "Your suit integrity is going to be compromised in forty-two seconds."

"It always comes back to a numbers game," Tony grunted as he increased his speed. He ducked and weaved through the winding tunnels at a blistering speed but the magma seemed able to keep up with ease. Tony glanced over his shoulder and saw the orange-red mass with half-dissolved spiders writhing helplessly away in it closing in on him. He looked back to the front and blocked out the painful burning and just put everything he had into getting out of those tunnels before the magma caught him.

oooOOOOooo

"Clint, have you got them yet, are they clear?" asked Steve anxiously.

"Not yet," ground out Clint, feeling his own anxiety levels grow. Above him the shuttle was still circling and he knew Natasha and Ghost were throwing down. He was torn, but knew Natasha could handle herself. Right now the rest of the Avengers needed him more. Suddenly a giant, green shape burst from the cave entrance. "Hulks clear!" he reported in relief.

"And Tony Stark?" came Thor's concerned voice.

"Not yet."

Abruptly a red and gold blur burst from the cave entrance, yelling as it did. "Blow it!" Tony ordered him as he skidded along the ground, seeming to no longer be able to fly.

Clint didn't hesitate. He strung his last explosive arrow to his bow and lined up the shot. The arrow sailed through the air and hit its mark perfectly. The rock face above the cave entrance detonated into a million pieces. Large pieces of rock and rubble rained down on the entrance of the cave, sealing it up completely. "The entrance is sealed." Clint squinted, looking for any sign of molten rock managing to escape but so far it seemed to be holding.

"Jarvis," said Steve quickly, "are all the spiders dead?"

There was a brief pause. "I'm no longer registering activity for any of them," Jarvis informed them.

Part of this crazy plan had worked, and now they had to make sure that they hadn't created a new threat for the area. Released magma was now flooding the ground underneath Los Alamos and threatening to explode to the surface if something wasn't done about it quickly.

"Alright, Thor," said Steve, "it's time to cool everything down."

oooOOOOooo

"Alright, Thor, it's time to cool everything down."

"As you wish, Steve Rogers." Thor looked down at the lake below him and dived off from the cliffs above. He hit the water at a perfect angle and slipped into the water. Thor swam under the water until he was at a rock face. Tony Stark had assured him that this rock face connected to the tunnels the released magma was currently filling up. All Thor had to do was open up hole between the lake and the tunnels filling with magma and instantly cool down the liquid rocks, preventing any threat of eruptions to the surface. Thor pulled back his hammer and swung it at the rock face with all of his might. Cracks appeared, even as his lungs started to run out of oxygen from being underwater. Thor ignored that though, as he repeatedly swung his hammer at the rock face. The cracks became bigger and bigger and then a hole appeared. Immediately lake water was being sucked into the hole and Thor had to fight with all of his strength to prevent being sucked in along with it. He swam to the surface. As soon as his head was above water, Thor sucked in lung fulls of air. "It is done," he panted to the others. "The menace is quenched."

oooOOOOooo

Tony was lying on his back on the desert ground, trying not to black out from the heat. "Jarvis," he said weakly, "get me out of this thing."

"I cannot, sir, all the mechanisms have been melted."

The Hulk's face appeared in Tony's blurry line of vision. He went to grab at Tony's Iron Man suit and then gave a roar of pain as the ultra-heated metal burned him. The Hulk shook his hand and glared at Tony, as though it was his fault.

"A-a little help," gasped Tony, literally feeling like a lobster in a cooking pot in that moment.

The Hulk grunted and tore at Tony's suit, ignoring the pain and pulled Tony out of it, like he was shucking a pea from a pod. He held Tony's limp and sweat soaked body in his hands. Tony held up his hand and clicked his fingers. "Oh garcon," he punned shakily, "bucket of ice at table eight, my good man."

oooOOOOooo

Natasha delivered some satisfying punches to the face of Ghost, leaving the other woman with more than a few cuts and bruises. Ghost had landed a few blows, but Natasha had quickly worked out her strengths and weaknesses as a fighter and was using them against her. Ghost hit the ground after one particularly hard kick from Natasha, but in doing so, she was able to retrieve her gun. Natasha rushed her, trying to neutralise this new threat. She grabbed Ghost's wrist and the two of them struggled for control. Natasha pointed the gun away from herself as Ghost pulled the trigger. The gun fired into the console of the shuttle and immediately the craft began to spin wildly out of control. Natasha and Ghost were flung about, bumping against the ceiling, walls and floor of the shuttle in quick succession. They ended up on the ceiling together as the shuttle stayed the wrong way up. Ghost still had her gun and she pointed it directly at Natasha's face. Without hesitation, Ghost pulled the trigger but it misfired.

Natasha's eyes narrowed. "Looks like your luck has run out at last."

"I make my own luck," she shot back through her bruised and swollen lips. Ghost scrambled for the parachute pack down the other end of the shuttle and threw it over her shoulders. "There is only one," she informed Natasha with a triumphant look and then she was jumping from the barrel rolling craft.

oooOOOOooo

Clint shook his head at Tony's ability to crack wise, even when he should be technically melting. He glanced up to see the shuttle with Ghost and Natasha on it now flipped upside down, and heading towards the ground at a frightening speed. "Nat!" he yelled. "What the hell is going on?!"

oooOOOOooo

Natasha quickly crawled to the opening Ghost had just jumped through. Below her, Ghost's parachute had already deployed. However, the shuttle was coming up quickly behind her and caught the parachute on its downward pointing nose. Ghost was now caught up on the nose of the shuttle, going down with her own ship. Natasha watched her struggle to free herself from the parachute, but it was no use. Their eyes met briefly and Natasha saw angry defiance in the other woman's gaze, but they both knew there was nothing either one could do for her.

"Nat! What the hell is going on?!"

Clint's concerned voice had Natasha focusing on her own escape now. She looked down at the rapidly approaching ground and spotted Clint on top of a nearby mountain. "Plan B," she instructed him hastily.

"Oh crap."

oooOOOOooo

Clint kept his eyes on the shuttle as it spiralled towards the earth. He watched a black figure leap from the doomed craft. Natasha flew through the air, heading towards the ravine he was standing above. She whistled past at him in the distance, moving at an incredible speed. Clint rapidly strung an arrow shot it below them both and then threw himself off the cliff as well, giving chase to Natasha. He tucked his body in, making himself into an aerodynamic arrow shape to catch up with Natasha. Below them both, his arrow had found its mark, spreading out a net to catch them both. Now all they had to do was make sure they landed in it. Clint honed in on Natasha, making contact and wrapping his arms around her tightly as they both fell now. They were facing each other, arms wrapped around each other's waist and Clint went with his instincts. He closed the tiny space between their lips and caught Natasha up in a passionate kiss as they plummeted through the sky together. Natasha gasped her surprise and Clint pressed his advantage, deepening the kiss. Natasha tasted even better than Clint remembered and he lost himself in their kiss completely. Natasha returned his kisses wholeheartedly and it was a perfect moment. So much so, it was almost a surprise when the net caught them both. The impact broke the kiss as Clint ended up on top of her. He looked down at her, heart beating wildly in his chest and it was just from their near-death experience. "Told you, you wouldn't see it coming," he said huskily.

Natasha looked up at him with wide blue eyes and for the briefest moment there was such emotion there. "Clint," she whispered and then her eyelids fluttered close as a streak of bright red blood ran from her nose.

Clint's insides froze as he watched her lapse into unconsciousness and realised something was seriously wrong. "Help," he called out shakily. For the first time, since this whole thing had started, panic flooded through him. Clint's voice gained more strength as Natasha remained unmoving underneath him. "Help, someone, I need HELP!"