I really need to keep writing this story cos I'm running out of chapters to post..
Near-Death Experiences
Jessica takes a breath when she lands on the sidewalk, her nerves still alight with the fear of falling to her death and shock of Stark's miraculous save. She grits her teeth, annoyed by how embarrassed she feels about needing assistance when she has actually previously been able to fly, and annoyed because she knows why she's so out of touch with her abilities. That's what neglecting and avoiding them does, she supposes.
Her eyes are drawn out of morbid - and almost panicked - curiosity to the carcass of the space-crocodile she's made in the middle of a building in New York City, but she starts to move down the street towards the mouth of the alley, her feet quickening into a run. Just as she reaches the opening, she sees the aliens that had been grouped up around the corner come into the intersection, investigating the death of the beast.
She slips into the alley, immediately lifting a finger to her lips when the group of civilians turn to her with wide eyes. They're all still terrified and confused, but there are a couple who are gaping at Jessica like they've just seen Jesus Christ walk up to them, and it makes her immensely uncomfortable. She turns her back on their gazes, peeking out into the street at the aliens, who are now advancing up the street with their weapons drawn.
Her face scrunches in frustration and she turns away from the street, jogging quietly into the alley and peering round a corner to the right. The awed civilians don't bother to hide their expressions still, and Jessica grits her teeth at the whispers that crawl up the back of her neck in response. She pushes her tongue uncomfortably harder into the roof of her mouth, her throat itching to shout loudly to block out the sound of the whispers, her fingers clenching in their eagerness to attack something and release the tension in her shoulders.
She wants to close her eyes against the mental ambush, to take a moment to gather herself and shake it all off, but part of her is scared of what she'll find in the darkness of her eyelids, and the other part knows she just doesn't have the time. So she focuses on the street to her right that the alley leads onto, where the group of aliens had initially hidden, and she makes sure she can't see any walking past the opening.
Satisfied, she glances over her shoulder at the group of civilians and waves at them to follow her. She jogs quietly towards the mouth of the alley, breath caught in her throat with apprehension and adrenaline, just waiting for the aliens to pop out and destroy them. She pokes her head into the street, looking left and right. The aliens have all moved into the other street. She waves to the civilians again and they run out onto the street, turning left. She herds them through the carnage of the battle, having them hide when the aliens soar past overhead, dealing with the small clusters straggling on the outskirts of the battle, looking for vulnerable targets like her sheep. And, finally, she sees the flashing blue and red lights.
She ignores their sentiments, turning her gaze back towards Stark Tower, which now only has the 'A' left hanging. The blue pillar is still surging into the sky, aliens still flying from the portal, and she knows the others are still fighting to protect the city. She glances at the civilians now being guided by the police officers, mutters a quiet "Goddamnit," and starts to run back to the centre of the battle.
And, as she does, she sees the Iron Man suit soaring towards the Tower, supporting a missile almost the same size as him on his back, and he's pushing upwards. Her eyebrows furrow, arms pumping at her sides as her boots slap along the street rhythmically. Stark is carrying this missile upwards, pushing higher and higher, and she knows he's heading for the portal. It must be a weapon of his own that he needs to manually deliver to the source of the aliens, or maybe it's something sent by the military, something that would have endangered the city. Either way, the man's seconds away from flying through a portal into space, and the knowledge makes her head spin.
Tony Stark going into space wouldn't have been much of a surprise, considering his intellect and gadgets - if anyone could return to the moon, it'd be him - but doing it like this?
She keeps running, watching as his suit disappears through the portal. She passes the monster she brought down, but her gaze is fixed to the portal, legs burning, arms pumping. A cluster of aliens run out of a street, but they all suddenly fall limp to the ground. Jessica spares them a startled glance, confused. But she's nearing the road she had been on when the team gathered. She runs up to it, pushes off her feet, and leaps into the air. Her hands grasp the railings at the side of the road and she vaults over, her feet skidding on the dust and debris when they hit the ground.
Rogers and Thor are stood on the street, staring up at the portal. Jessica follows their gaze, eyes widening at the sheer magnitude of the explosion in the black expanse. That must have been some goddamn missile Stark threw at them.
"Close it," Rogers says quietly.
Jessica glances at him, frowning, and then a deep thwimp sounds from high up, drawing her attention to the portal. The blue pillar of energy shoots up into the portal and stops, the sky around it churning with light and a crack of thunder. The portal starts shrinking immediately, the sky sewing itself back together. And, just before it disappears altogether, Stark's suit slips through. Although he seems to be unconscious, judging by the limp flailing of his body as he falls through the air, dropping towards the city.
"Son of a gun," Rogers mutters.
Stark's suit continues to hurtle downwards, his legs and arms bent from the force of the air.
"The dude's unconscious," Jessica says, gesturing pointlessly at his body, looking to the men on the street.
Roger's smile fades, his brow furrowing. Thor clenches his jaw, starting to twirl his hammer in his hand. But, just as Stark's body falls past the top of the building above them, there's an animalistic roar, and the Hulk launches through the air to catch Stark. He slams into the building, hand gouging into the wall to slow himself down, and then he throws himself down to the street, tucking Stark into his chest, ensuring his back is what crashes over the bonnet of a destroyed car and skids along the ground.
Rogers and Thor immediately hurry over, Jessica walking behind them. The Hulk throws Iron Man off his chest onto the ground and gets to his feet, leaning on his fists to hunch over Stark's body. Thor rolls Stark onto his back, breaking the face of his helmet away and tossing it aside. Jessica stands a few paces behind Rogers, watching as the man ducks down to try and hear something. His hand slips over Stark's chest, over the unlit power source, staring down at the man's unmoving face, and he sits back on his heels, shoulders slumping.
Jessica's lips part as she stares down at Stark and frowns. The man saved her life, has just single-handedly destroyed the place the aliens were coming from, sacrificing himself to protect the city. The media has always portrayed him in a way that highlights his egotistical, selfish, apathetic ways, but she has just watched him give his life to end an alien invasion, and she squirms with guilt that she now owes him a debt she can never repay.
The Hulk rises to his feet, hands clenching, muscles twitching, letting out soft grunts as he breathes heavily. And then, with a shake of his head, he lets out a clipped bellow and Stark's eyes shoot open, gasping for breath, and he shouts out with panic and fright.
The Hulk roars again, a deep, terrifying, surge of a bellow, pounding his chest. And Stark lays there on the ground, barely lifting his head, wide eyes glancing around him.
"What the hell," he pants. He looks up at the men hovering over him. "What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me."
Jessica stares at him, eyebrows lifted, noting the humour he's utilising to cover the blind panic in his eyes when he woke.
Rogers pants, looking into the distance. "We won."
Stark sighs, his head lowering to the ground, eyes closing. "Alright, yay," he cheers weakly. "Alright, good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow," he strains, shifting his body as if double checking everything still works. "Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma?" he asks, gesturing at the Hulk. "There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."
Jessica can't help the twitch of her mouth.
"We're not finished, yet," Thor tells him.
The men look over at him. "And then shawarma after?" Stark suggests.
"Okay, Stark," Rogers indulges, reaching a hand out. Stark grasps it, accepting the help to rise to his feet again. "Let's go get Loki."
"Hey!" a voice calls out, and they turn to see Barton running over. "Did you just go into space?" he asks, feigning a casual tone as he looks at Stark.
"Yeah," Stark replies on a sharp exhale.
"Romanoff's on the roof," Rogers says, nodding at the top of the building.
"I'll get her," Stark offers, igniting his thrusters and taking off.
Jessica watches him go, catching the hint of tension in his eager tone, blinking at the suddenness of his actions, and frowns a little. Thor moves to Rogers, lifting his eyebrows in a question, and Rogers nods, securing his grip of his shield, squaring his shoulders. Thor gets a grip of Rogers' suit and starts swinging his hammer, soaring up in the air towards the Tower.
"You going up?" Barton asks, and Jessica turns to realise he's speaking to her.
She lifts an eyebrow, bitterness twitching at her lips. "Uh, no, I think-"
But a giant hand grabs her around the waist, pulling her against immense muscle, and suddenly the Hulk leaps into the air towards the roof of a building, carrying her with him. Indignation crumples her expression, shouting out her protests, but the giant green man just grunts above her head, leaping to a higher building, working his way up. And then, suddenly, he's leaping through the air towards the landing pad of Stark Tower, and Stark himself is flying back down to the street to collect Barton, glancing at them with amused bewilderment.
Jessica stumbles away from the Hulk as soon as he removes his grip on her, glaring at him over her shoulder. "What the hell, man?" she snaps, furious. The battle is done - she really has no need to be here anymore.
"Strong lady help," he grunts at her, stomping past her into the lavish, yet damaged, room.
"No, strong lady go-" she starts, but she cuts off before she says "home", because she suddenly remembers it's gone.
She scowls, moving to the edge of the landing pad, searching for a building she can jump down to. But Stark soars up to land at her side, Barton secure in his grip, and they both glance at her questioningly.
"One near-death experience a day, please, it's company policy," Stark says. "And we've already broken it, with your stunt earlier and then-" he cuts off, clamping his mouth shut, gesturing vaguely above them.
Jessica frowns at him, watching the twitch in his eye before he plasters a tense smile on his face. "Look, I did my part," she says, shoving her hands in her jacket pockets. "I don't need to be here for whatever this is."
"Loki's dangerous," Barton cuts in. "We might need the extra hands."
Jessica grinds her teeth, exhaling sharply through her nostrils. "Fine," she bites out.
She follows them into the room, watching them crowd round the broken form crawling out of a body-shaped hole in the floor. She stands between Rogers and Thor, a few steps back, waiting for the black-haired, strangely-clothed man to notice them. And when he does, he gives them such a casual, bashful remark, that Jessica's face curls in disbelief.
"If it's all the same to you," he says, his voice accented like Thor's. "I'll have that drink now."
The Hulk growls sharply.
"Get him on his feet," Stark instructs. "We can all stand around posing up a storm later." He starts to walk away from the group, as Rogers and Thor move to restrain Loki. "By the way, feel free to clean up!" Stark quips.
"Who gets the, uh, magic wand?" the redhead, Romanoff, asks, carrying a golden sceptre.
"Strike Team is coming to secure it," Rogers replies.
"Stark, I'm breaking into your bar!" Barton calls. Jessica turns to watch him stride to the personal bar on her left and her feet follow automatically, suddenly parched, lamenting the remnants of drink that had been in her bottle when she had tossed it at the alien.
"Hands off the top shelf!" Stark calls back.
Jessica follows Barton behind the bar, catching the caution in his sidelong glance at her as he reaches for a bottle of liquor on the top shelf. She reaches for some glasses, her lip curling at the obnoxiously fancy engravings along their bases.
"You drink?" Barton asks, as if her actions don't tell him enough.
"Extensively," she replies, setting the glasses in front of him as he pulls the top off the bottle.
She listens to the slosh of the liquid as he pours their drinks, her eyes finding the group of men moving into the room. Her brow furrows slightly, eyes narrowing as she looks them over.
"We can take that off your hands," a bald man offers Romanoff, beady eyes cold behind his glasses as his lips curve into a polite smile.
"By all means," Romanoff replies, handing the sceptre over. "Be careful with that thing," she adds as she walks over to the bar, reaching a hand out for one of the glasses.
"Unless you want your mind erased," Barton says, handing the glass to his colleague, lifting his own to his lips. "And not in a fun way." Jessica stares at him, frowning, and knocks her own drink back in a single motion.
"We promise to be careful," another man replies, wearing a tight shirt and fingerless gloves.
Jessica's head cocks at him, finger tapping her glass. "You sure these guys are trustworthy?" she asks quietly.
Barton and Romanoff glance at her, their faces guarded. "They're SHIELD," Romanoff answers, giving a slight shrug of her shoulder. "They're trained to hide things. You're just not used to them."
Jessica's eyes narrow, her gaze slipping back to the group of men packing away the sceptre. Their postures are hard and tense, as if always expecting an attack, wary eyes flicking to the team in the room, glancing at each other, keeping an eye on their exits. While it might just be their training at the hands of SHIELD, her untrusting instincts are making her doubt there isn't something more to their caution.
"On my way down to coordinate search and rescue," Rogers says, fingers pressed to the side of his head, as he marches purposefully past them.
Jessica glances at Stark as he wanders back into view, his suit gone, huffing when he sees the liquor Barton chose to open. She hears Rogers repeating his last sentence, her eyes flicking to where she sees another version of him standing at Thor's side, hands restrained. And then a wave of green blooms from his torso across his body, leaving Loki standing in his place, his face scrunched in disbelief.
"I mean, honestly, how do you keep your-" the man demands.
But Thor presses something to his mouth, the tech expanding to cover Loki's jaw like a muzzle. "Shut up," Thor bites out.
Stark, Thor, Loki, and some of the soldiers in the room move to the elevator, the former setting a briefcase on the floor and settling onto it comfortably. The Hulk stomps over, looking to join, but he's met with enthused rejection.
"Woah, woah," Thor says loudly.
"Hey, hey, buddy!" Stark snaps, the two of them lifting hands to stop the Hulk. "What do you think? Maximum occupancy has been reached," Stark explains, the elevator doors sliding closed.
"Take the stairs," Thor adds.
"Yeah," Stark agrees. And he notices the Hulk building up his anger. "Stop, stop!"
The doors close over and the Hulk punches into them, letting out a frustrated roar. He clenches his fists, breathing heavily, and turns away. "'Take the stairs.' Hate the stairs," he grumbles, stomping away.
"Another drink?" Barton offers, holding the bottle out.
Jessica shakes her bewilderment away, frowning, jaw clenched, and holds her glass out to him. "Thanks," she mutters, watching the liquid slosh around the glass as he pours.
"So, you didn't realise this was what Fury was trying to recruit you for when you walked into this mess?" Romanoff asks her, watching her curiously over the lip of her glass.
"I wondered," Jessica shrugs, not really feeling chatty. "Didn't know for sure." She takes a drink, exhaling softly as the burn crawls down her throat, licking her lips.
"Bet he felt real smug watching you join us," Barton comments, eye twitching with the corner of his lip, amused.
Jessica frowns. "I didn't join anything," she denies. "I was just there."
"Why were you 'there', then?" Romanoff challenges, smirking.
Jessica glares at her. "They blew up my goddamn building," she snaps. "It had my shit in there."
Barton winces. "Oof, shit," he mutters.
But Romanoff is still smirking, an eyebrow lifting. "So, you charged into an alien invasion just because they pissed you off?"
"I've got a bad temper," Jessica bites out, eyes narrowing at her.
Romanoff's smile morphs with her amusement, though she tries to keep it subdued, her eyes twinkling as she blinks at Jessica. "Alright," she murmurs, her voice smooth and sultry.
Jessica knows that the redheaded woman is trying to get a read on her, and it's making her uncomfortable, her teeth gritting as the whispers predictably crawl up the back of her neck again. Romanoff's small smile twitches downwards in the corner of her mouth, alerting Jessica to her observation of the shift in Jessica's mental state. She drops her gaze to her glass as she downs the rest of her drink and sets the glass back down on the bar.
"Alright, I'm done here," she mutters, slipping out from behind the bar, her hand snatching the bottle of liquor Barton chose. "I'm taking this," she says, dragging the bottle against the bartop until it slips off the edge, her fingers tightening around the neck. She starts to walk towards the stairs, figuring that the Hulk at least won't be able to try and figure her out.
"Have you even got somewhere to go, after what happened today?" Barton calls after her.
"Literally anywhere other than here, yeah," she tosses over her shoulder at him.
She pushes against the door to lead her out into the stairwell, lifting the bottle to her lips to take a swig. Somewhere below her, she can hear the Hulk grunting and muttering to himself and she's once again hit by the complete absurdity of the events that have transpired today. Her building was blown up, she couldn't keep a lid on her temper, and she ended up fighting alongside a bunch of costumed idiots that then forced her to participate longer than she intended. And fucking aliens exist, too.
Well, at least she's managing to escape now, even if she doesn't have anywhere to go.
"Mr Stark would like me to remind you that the team is going for shawarma soon."