Author's Notes- Thank you guys for the reviews! Here's the reunion, and you get to see if it's what you thought... or not...
cybrii- That's awesome! I'm glad I could be of help! That's what I do too, I love taking a writing break to read other stories. That's how this idea was born, because I read a drabble about Steve having somebody helping him get accustomed to the 21st Century and then I wanted to play with it!
Shelbs9115- I'm so happy you're loving it! Whether or not we see any Loki and Brooklyn, you'll have to read to find out! But there can't be romance until Steve deals with Mason. Such a pain in the butt.
zikashigaku- Thank you for the review! I always love hearing from you- As I said above, there is a Loki and Brooklyn interaction, but we may not see it here. If it feels like a little bit of a loose end, you'll have to wait and read it from her point of view in the future...
An hour later, Steve Rogers was beginning to lose faith. He was pinned down by the business end of an alien weapon, and only survived by being able to shove the weapon to the side of his head and got one good enough punch in to knock the alien to the ground.
Before Steve could even get to his knees, Barton was in his ear with his next destination, "Cap, there's a bank on 42nd past Madison. They've cornered a lot of civilians in there."
He stumbled to his feet, panting as he answered, "I'm on it," before running towards 42nd Street. When he reached the bank, he looked around, hearing the screams of the people inside. He scaled the fire escape and summersaulted through the window, leaping to his feet, and throwing his shield at the alien he saw holding some sort of bomb.
When his shield hit the alien's face, it fell back and the other two nearby turned to shoot at Steve. He dove behind a fallen table, hiding from their blasts as he heard the beeping of the bomb continue, telling him it had been armed. He kicked the table, knocking one of the aliens to the ground before he grabbed the second one and snapped its neck before throwing it over the balcony into the crowd below.
"Everybody! Clear out!" He screamed to the people below as the last living creature grabbed him from behind and began choking Steve with its arm and squeezing his head with the opposite hand. The alien began to rip off Steve's cowl as he desperately tried to pull out of its grip. Steve caught a glimpse of the first alien he'd knocked out stand and prepare to shoot him.
Flipping over the alien who tried to strangle him, Steve used it as a shield before realizing the alien was scrambling for the bomb still ticking on the ground. Steve rolled away, grabbing his shield as he moved, and curled into a little ball as the bomb went off, hurtling him out of the second story window of the bank.
He landed hard on a car below, hearing the glass shatter beneath his weight as he groaned and shifted, struggling to find his footing.
"Steve!"
Captain America pushed himself up in an attempt to slide off the car, but the voice screaming his name was closer this time, followed by the sound of men telling the woman to come back.
"STEVE!"
He landed on his feet and blinked slowly, feeling hands on his upper arms as he swayed back and forth. Suddenly the hands were on his cheeks, holding him steady and forcing him to look down at the woman holding him.
"Brooke?" Steve muttered as he grabbed onto her shoulders, shaking his head a little to clear it as she pushed his hair away from his eyes, "I thought you were dead."
"I'm here." Brooklyn murmured as she slid her palms to his cheeks, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Steve looked up at the sound of nearby screams, "I have to go-" He took a step and almost fell, Brooklyn grabbing him by the chest and holding him up as best as she could. It was then that Steve realized she was wearing a tank top and tight black shorts that barely reached her thighs. "What are you wearing?"
"Don't worry about it. I'm more worried about you!" Brooklyn pushed back his hair as another woman shoved past the police officers to join them. Brooklyn looked over her shoulder in panic, then looked to Steve and cringed.
The young policewoman chased after her, yelling, "We need you guys to keep moving, now!"
"Give us a minute." Steve called weakly as Brooklyn held his chest. The cop looked him up and down, then ran back to her station to keep moving the civilians underground. Steve turned to the woman expectantly, "Can I help you miss?"
"You're Steve?" She said incredulously, and Steve realized she was staring at Brooklyn, not him, "Your Steve is Captain America?"
Steve's head had cleared, which he thanked God for, because he realized he was seeing double. This new woman's face was almost identical to Brooklyn's but she was taller with a pixie cut of brown hair with honey-colored highlights. Her features were slightly rounder than Brooklyn's sharp ones, giving her a softer look, but they were still the same. After a moment, it clicked for Steve, "Oh."
"Steve, this is Dallas, my sister." Brooklyn introduced nervously as shots fired overhead. She cowered a little as Dallas lunged towards her, wrapping her arms around her sister at the same time Steve did.
Steve looked down at the two women, seeing them both looking up at him expectantly, "It's weird seeing two of you."
"I don't think we look alike." Brooklyn started, but Dallas cut her off with a laugh, "Yeah, our Aunt Jenna says the same thing." Brooklyn glared up at her sister and the younger woman shrugged, "What?"
Another hoard of aliens came storming down the road and Steve pushed the women behind him, holding up his shield, "Get out of here."
Steve was very aware of Brooklyn's arms wrapped around his stomach, holding tight to him as the aliens approached, "Please don't leave me." She whispered, and Steve's whole body shook at her words, remembering what Natasha had said earlier. Perhaps she was just scared, and she knew Steve would die to protect her. But she was here, with him, and Mason was nowhere to be found.
"You gotta go." Steve said without looking over his shoulder, and he felt her arms tighten. He looked over his shoulder and realized Dallas was pulling on her older sister, trying to get her to listen. "Brooke, please. I have to finish this. I need to know you're safe," Steve paused, seeing the terror in her bright eyes, but it wasn't for herself, it was for him, "or else I won't be able to focus. Please, go where they tell you. If I make it, I'll find you."
"If you don't make it, I'll kill you." Brooklyn threatened as she loosened her grip on Steve's torso, grabbing onto her little sister's arm instead, "I have faith in you."
As the two women started to run away, Steve took a step towards them, "I love you."
Brooklyn turned and opened her mouth to answer, but an alien shot in their direction as two firemen ushered them into the subway station and out of sight. Steve turned back to the aliens as they reached him, bashing one down with his shield as Thor landed beside him.
Steve's shield ricochet back to him and he knocked down two aliens before being shot in the stomach by a stray blast. Steve fell on his stomach as Thor took over fighting, flipping a car into several aliens, yelling "Get off our dicks!"
"That… that's not the appropriate use of that… never mind." Steve grumbled as he hung his head, trying to catch his breath.
Thor reached down and offered his hand, and Steve took it thankfully, allowing the Asgardian to pull him to his feet. "You ready for another bout?" Thor asked while Steve held his aching side.
"What, are you getting sleepy?" Steve quipped, looking at Thor jealously, wishing he could be as durable as the god. He was tired and he was hurting. He wanted Brooklyn to come back and hold him again. Feeling needed by the woman was the only thing keeping him going.
She was alive. She wasn't just alive, but she wasn't with Loki. She was okay, and that was enough for Steve to get up and keep fighting, despite feeling like they were losing. If he lost, she'd die, and if they won… he'd told her he loved her. He'd have to deal with the aftermath of that.
"I can close it. Does anybody copy?" Black Widow's voice cut through the comm, "I can shut the portal down."
"Do it!" Steve barked, seeing the end in sight, but Tony's voice argued to wait. "Stark, these things are still coming!"
"I have a nuke heading straight for New York." Stark answered and Steve looked to Thor as Tony added, "And I know just where to put it."
Steve sighed, seeing what Tony's train of thought was. If he put the missile through the wormhole, it would save Manhattan. If he didn't… well, then Steve would never know what Brooklyn was going to say.
He watched Stark push the missile up through the portal, and both Stark and the nuke disappeared from Steve's vision. He waited with bated breath to see what would happen. After a few moments, all the Chitauri around them fell dead, and Steve looked from the bodies to the portal, waiting for Stark to return.
Until he saw Stark return, he wouldn't know it was over.
One moment bled into another, and Steve still waited, wondering where Iron Man was. He considered the aftermath of Tony's death, and felt the guilt of his own failure in trying to understand Howard's son. After another minute, Steve raised his hand to his ear and made the call, "Close it."
He lowered his head in shame. He made the decision to let Howard's son die. He hadn't given Tony a chance. He hadn't bothered to give any of them a real chance and for some reason he was the one responsible for their actions and Stark's sacrifice.
As the portal closed, a dark figure fell through the clouds. Steve squinted into the sun, realizing it was Tony.
"Son of a gun."
He continued free falling, seemingly unable to fly. Any relief Steve had felt at Iron Man's resurgence from the portal died when Thor started swinging his hammer to fly, "He's not slowing down!"
Before Thor could rescue Stark though, the Hulk appeared from nowhere, grabbing the limp metal suit and sliding down a building before crashing into the concrete below. Steve and Thor sprinted towards them as Hulk discarded Tony's body to the side.
Thor ripped off Tony's faceplate before Steve knelt down, getting close to Stark's face in an attempt to hear if he was breathing. Nothing. He leaned back and studied Tony, pressing his left hand to the dim arc reactor on the front. Nothing.
Steve leaned onto his foot as a feeling of defeat washed over him. There hadn't been another way. Nobody else could have gotten that nuke away from Manhattan. At least he'd come back to Earth. Steve couldn't imagine having to explain to the world that the infamous Tony Stark would spend eternity floating lifelessly through the abyss of space.
The Hulk roared loudly, and Tony startled awake. Steve perked up at the sight, beaming at his teammate as the man gasped, "What the hell? What just happened?" Tony looked around at the men in panic, "Please tell me nobody kissed me."
Steve sighed in relief, looking around at smoking rubble around them. The city was silent except for the distant wail of sirens. "We won."
"Alright, hey," Tony exclaimed, still lying on his back in the powerless suit. "Good job guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day." His eyes looked to the side, his face unable to move, "You guys ever try shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."
Steve couldn't be mad at Tony's incoherent babbling. They owed Tony everything. If that nuke had hit Manhattan, they'd all be dead. For the first time in a long time, Steve was so thankful he wasn't dead.
"We're not finish yet." Thor said firmly. He gazed up at Stark Tower, and Steve followed his gaze. They still had to find Loki. They had to collect the Tesseract. They had to clean up the mess they'd made of New York City.
"And then shawarma after?"
"Yeah, then shawarma after." Steve replied as he reached down for Stark's hand. Tony grit his teeth and forced his arm up, taking Steve's hand and allowing the soldier to pull him to his feet. Steve looked Tony over worriedly, looking for any signs of serious damage, "I'm really glad you're okay, Stark."
"Yeah, that makes two of us. Where's your brother?" He looked to Thor and he motioned towards the tower. Tony hummed, then clapped his hands together, "Get Katniss and Widow. It might take all of us to stop him."
"Barton, what's your twenty?" Steve asked into his comm as he squinted up at the destroyed tower.
"I'm about four blocks out. Heading your way."
"Romanoff, you still on the roof?"
"I'm here with Selvig. We're doing okay. Might need Thor to come collect this thing."
Steve looked to Thor and he nodded, swinging his hammer and flying straight up to the top of the skyscraper. Steve looked to Hulk and Tony, panting, "We'll meet them there-"
"Steve!" Brooklyn's voice pierced through the silence and Steve spun around in time to see her leaping over rubble to get to him. He met her halfway, grabbing her roughly and pulling her to him. Steve grabbed her lower back with one hand and wrapped the other one around her shoulders, holding her face inches from his as she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders. "Are you okay?" She breathed, eyes darting rapidly between his eyes and his lips.
He opened his mouth to answer, needing to answer her with his words. This was somebody's girlfriend, and Steve would be furious if someone scooped up his girlfriend and began shoving their tongue down her throat in the middle of Pershing Square.
Despite this, Steve reached forward and closed the gap between them, kissing her hungrily as he tightened his grip around her shoulders to keep her close. She let out a surprised hum at the motion but didn't seem unhappy with the kiss. Steve twisted his arm so he could bury his gloved hand in her messy hair, holding her like a vice by the lower back. She didn't try to get away, holding him tightly by the shoulders and moaning quietly as she returned his affection.
Brooklyn pulled away, gasping for air and staring at Steve in shock, "Steve, I-"
"You're mine now." Steve told her gruffly, chasing her lips again for another firm kiss. "There's no more Mason. You tell him it's over."
"Cap, the lady needs a say in this!" Tony called from behind the pair, but his words fell on deaf ears as Steve stared at Brooklyn possessively.
"You're mine." Steve repeated darkly, rubbing his hand over her back, "And I'm yours. I always have been."
Brooklyn leaned her head forward to press against Steve's and he breathed in the scent of dust and sweat on her. She closed her eyes and shifted her head to bump her nose against Steve's, "It isn't that simple."
"I'm not taking no for an answer. I want you, and you're going to give me a chance. I can be everything you need; you just need to give me a chance." Steve's voice broke as his mind raced after the day's events hit him. "Brooke, I thought you were dead. Then after realizing you were alive, I thought we were all going to die, there was a missile launched at the city. We don't have time to waste. I need you now."
Brooklyn kissed Steve tenderly, keeping her nose pressed against his face as she latched her lips to his. Her right arm held steadily across his shoulder blade, but her left hand found its way to the base of his neck. She scratched his hair line for a moment until she pulled away, "I need you, too."
Steve nodded, vaguely aware of someone approaching through the wreckage. He didn't care, he'd finally gotten his way. "You tell Mason he isn't going to see you again. I'm not letting you out of my sight."
"Who the hell is Mason?" Steve and Brooklyn turned to face the feminine voice, seeing Dallas standing a few feet away with her hands on her hips. She looked at Steve hungrily though, licking her lips as she added, "I see you two have… yeah."
Brooklyn looked to Steve, seeming to realize he needed to leave, "I have to spend some time with my sister. This is important." He grumbled as he set her down, looking over at his teammates as they motioned for him to join them at Stark Tower, but he had more pressing things to worry about.
"But what about Mason?" Steve was impatient. He had every intention of letting Brooklyn spend time with her sister, but first, he needed to know she'd be single next time he saw her.
"Yeah, what about Mason?" Dallas mocked, her pretty face a mixture of curiosity and coyness.
Brooklyn sighed, looking past Steve to see the Hulk start to wander back to Stark Tower, "They need you. We can talk later."
Steve grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to his chest, using his free hand to tilt up her chin so she had to look at him, "I'm not moving a muscle until I know you're ending it. I'll kill him."
Suddenly Tony appeared and clamped his hand onto Steve's shoulder tightly, "Whoa, whoa there, Buddy. It's been a big day. We killed a lot of aliens. You're having a bit of a moment, but we can't just go kill random dudes dating the girl we like. That's not very Avenger-like. Plus, you're gonna make the Hulk cry."
Before Steve could beat Tony back into outer space, Brooklyn took back his attention, ignoring Tony's remarks to reprimand Steve herself, "Wow, yeah, no, that's extreme. How about no." Brooklyn answered calmly as she tugged her arm away. "There's no need to be so jealous… that's Mason." She pointed to Dallas and her sister just snorted, nodding her head in a way that told Steve she wasn't surprised, but he certainly was.
"You're dating… your sister?"
"No, idiot, I made up Mason so I wouldn't have to explain to Fury why I needed time off to spend with my sister. She's moving to New York and wanted help looking for apartments. Mason doesn't exist."
"But, you were so happy." Steve said sadly and Brooklyn just sighed, shaking her head as a knowing smile formed on her lips. They were redder than normal from his kisses, and he wanted to see if he could turn them cherry red. "I thought you'd found someone."
"Steve, the only man I care for is you." Brooklyn murmured, sliding her palm up his cheek until her nails tickled against his ear, "I love you, too."
Steve was dumbfounded by her confession, but he was beyond elated by the revelation that there was nobody else. It was only him. She was his.
He pulled her into a chaste kiss, then began backing away, "I gotta go. I gotta go deal with some things, but then, then I'll see you? I'll see you later? We're getting… uh, shawarma, apparently? You like shawarma?"
"I actually do." Brooklyn laughed and Steve felt like he was about to take flight from how angelic it sounded. "I'll meet you there." Dallas cleared her throat and Brooklyn added, "We'll meet you there."
"Okay, yeah, see you soon." Steve began to sprint after the other Avengers, running as fast as his boots could handle. His legs carried him faster and faster as his heart began to beat like a machine gun, pounding so hard he thought it might burst. He slid to a stop at the door of the tower, realizing Stark and Barton had waited for him. "Where's Banner?"
"The Hulk took the scenic route. Climbed the side of the building." Tony grumbled, hitting the code to bring his private elevator down. "So, I see you made up with the robot. Threatened to murder somebody too, that's always a good start to a relationship. Really drives home how stable you'll be at home."
"She loves me." Steve murmured, looking up to Barton when he realized the archer had a smirk on his face, "What is it?"
"Nothing." Barton answered, chucking to himself, "I just don't think you're ready for Agent Hayes."
"What makes you say that?" Steve asked, not about to let Barton's opinion sway his feelings, but feeling the strong desire to defend his girl. "If you got something to say, spit it out."
Clint just shrugged as the elevator dinged and opened to the destroyed lounge area that had been Tony's private haven once, "She does a lot of undercover work. She's gone a lot. She gets sent on missions to get close to people. You're gonna share her with a lot of strange men. You don't seem to be the type that's okay with that."
"She's worth it." Steve argued, but Clint's words hit a chord with him. "We'll figure it out."
"She's a great agent, and a fun person to be around. I've heard she's great in bed." When Steve practically growled, Clint added, "Heard, not experienced."
"Table the gossip boys. We're almost done." Tony breathed as he approached Thor and Natasha, the latter holding Loki's scepter tightly. She motioned with her head towards the stairs, where Loki was sprawled out, unconscious.
As the group spoke to each other, he began to stir, and Clint knelt down right in front of him, drawing his arrow so the first thing Loki would see when he woke up was the archer prepared to kill him.
When Loki finally pushed himself onto his elbows, he came face to face with the six Avengers hovering over him threateningly. He smiled weakly and muttered, "If it's all the same to you… I'll take that drink now."