Warnings: References to Violence

Chapter 11

Dozens of armed warriors came into view as Eli craned her neck to see what was happening. Tony fired repulsors at several of them, but the beings just kept coming. Eli could see the invaders fan out and away from Stark Tower. Eli thought they were ugly things. Their skin was a grayish brown, and from what she could see of them were bipedal. Eli tried to stop herself from thinking that it would be fascinating to dissect on of them.

Eli could hear pedestrians scream and cry out as the army of Chitauri opened fire on them. The small girl grasped the fabric around her wrists and lifted her legs above her so that she was doing a mid-air hand stand. Eli then let her body fall back down to it's original position in the hopes that the fabric would break. All that happened was the skin on her wrists became burned.

Eli could see Loki walk out onto the Ironman landing pad, as his helmet and more regal armor appeared on his body. Loki looked out onto the carnage he had created, but from her position she couldn't get a good look at him. What she could hear was Thor landing on the penthouse balcony, yelling, "Loki!"

"Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it," he threatened. Eli knew that it was futile though.

"You can't," Loki yelled out. Eli tried again to renew her efforts at being heard. "There is no stopping it. There is only the war."

Eli couldn't hear if Thor answered back, but she could hear the ensuing battle between the once were brothers. Metal clanked against metal, as Loki yelled out. Eli heard the tell tale sound of the scepter charging and discharging. It hit something and there was a loud noise of something crashing against the ground. Eli could almost see what it was.

Out on the horizon, Eli could see the Quinjet fly in. Tony was swooping around the Tower. Eli heard glass breaking as the Quinjet flew so close to the building where she was that she swore that one of them saw her. She was wrong, as the jet started shooting at the battling Loki and Thor. Eli heard the scepter charge, and screamed as a beam hit the Quinjet's port side wing. The jet spiraled down to the ground.

Tony flew by again shooting down a couple of the invaders. Eli slammed her head against the wall in frustration. No one had seen her yet. She could be out there helping them fight. Eli froze when she realized she didn't know who she would be helping exactly. Eli hardened her heart, and told herself that she would never betray Tony like that. Eli angrily thought that Jarvis and Jarvette would never let her stand out on the ledge.

Eli bashed her head against the wall in her own stupidity. Her watch had Jarvette programmed into it. Eli tried to twist her fingers around so that she could get to her watch. Eli was able to get two of her fingers to slip into the binding, but found that her watch was missing. With a groan, the tied up girl realized that Loki probably took it off of her before he dragged her out to the balcony.

Suddenly, a goliath of an opponent that looked like a bug with fins came into sight. Eli's eyes were wide. She had never seen something like that. Eli wasn't sure if any creature on the planet was ever that size. Tony was able to get the creatures attention, but he seemed powerless to stop it.

Out of the corner of her eye, Eli saw Loki fly away on one of the sleds that the Chitauri were flying. Eli tried screaming out to Thor, but he didn't seem to hear her. Eli was shouting out curses at everyone one of the Avengers in her head for not seeing her. She better have been invisible to all of them or they were going to get a mouthful later.

Smoke from the explosions rose into the air. Eli sat helplessly against the wall. She would hate herself after this. There she was tied up like a damsel in distress, when some of her closest friends were risking their lives to save their world. Just a year ago, she would have been out there with them, fighting side by side with them. If she hadn't stayed at the museum, she would probably be out there helping them.

Thor flew away from Stark Tower and to the ground, where she assumed the rest of the Avengers were. Eli could see explosions and hear screams even from her location above all the carnage. Eli could only imagine how difficult it is down there for them. There was only a hand full of them, and an entire army of aliens. Eli shook her head, those where good odds for her friends.

Tony rounded a building with the bug thing following after him. Suddenly, the goliath let out a cry, and Eli could hear metal break and shatter. Stark Tower shook the force of an explosion. The surrounding Chitauri let out a cry. But their battle cry was overshadowed by the calling card of the Hulk. A roar louder than any other resounded throughout the area. Eli let out a sigh of relief and began working on getting out of the gag.

More goliaths come into Eli's view, and she realized that there was no way her friends could keep fighting all of the aliens that kept pouring out of the portal. Eli say a blur of green as the Hulk smashed and destroyed both Chitauri and buildings. Thor's lightening was directed above Stark Tower. Eli assumed that it was to prevent the enemy from getting through.

Stark was circling around destroying any enemies that he came across. Eli watched as the Hulk to down one of the goliaths by himself, and yet even more Chitauri invaded through the portal.

Eli could see the teamwork between her heroes. She was proud to see them like that, and was ashamed of herself for loosing faith with them. Eli could see more of Thor's lightening. Eli now almost had her gag off. It was just about off.

When Eli finally got the gag off, Eli could see that the sled Loki was on was firing at another Chitauri sled. Eli strained her eyes to see what was going on, and she could just barely see flashing red hair. Natasha had found her way onto one of the sleds. Loki was closing in on her. Just as Loki was about to catch up to Natasha, Loki's jet exploded, sending the sled into the side of he building. Loki landed on the balcony. Eli couldn't see what was going on, but she heard Natasha crash to the roof of the building.

The Hulk then came roaring toward Loki. There was a quietness for a moment, and then Eli could hear tile being crushed and then more silence. Eli could see the giant green man walk out of the building. Just as he was about to jump away, Eli yelled out.

"Hulk!" the Hulk turned and snarled at her, but he stopped in what looked like confusion. Eli shrugged her shoulders and said, "A little help, please." The Hulk stomped toward Eli and punched the ice that held her to the wall. The two of them stood there for a moment in awkward silence.

"Well," Eli finally said, "go get them." The Hulk smirked and jumped away with a roar. Eli stepped away from the wall and looked out to the city. Buildings were on fire and there were battles going on everywhere. Eli looked on somberly.

"Eli!" a voice called from the roof. Eli looked up to see Natasha and Dr. Selvig.

"Natasha!" Eli called back.

"The scepter," Natasha yelled down, "we need it to shut down the Tesseract. Can you throw it up here?"

Eli looked at the weapon that killed Phil, and walked towards it, making sure not to look into the penthouse. When she reached it, she used the blade to cut the fabric around her wrists. Eli held the scepter in her right hand and tested the weight. Eli looked up at Natasha, determined to help her heroes, to help her friends.

"Stand back," Eli yelled out. Despite the fact that her arms were tired and numb from being held above her head, Eli was able to throw the scepter like a spear. It flew just above Natasha's head and landed with a resounding thunk behind the Russian.

With a deep breath, Eli turned toward the penthouse and walked in. Loki was lying in what used to be the floor. He was easily six inches into the floor. If the Hulk had tried a little harder, then Loki would have been on the floor beneath them. Loki's eyes didn't stop staring above him, even as Eli walked up to him. Eli herself felt her body seize when she saw Loki helpless on the floor. Her breathing had all but stopped, and she almost fell to her knees when she saw him. Eli walked past Loki and sat on the stairs that were beside him.

"I felt it too," Eli said, her voice just above a whisper. "I was so angry with Tony, that I didn't notice it before, but I realize it now. I want you to succeed. I want to stand next to you as you rule my world. I want to beg for you until I'm a puddle of bliss, but…

"But I know what it's like to not have something you want. Something you truly want, not just a passing fancy. It's like a hole in your chest that eats away at you until you are nothing but a shell. Right now, I want nothing more than to tell you that I love you.

"But I will never love you. I will never allow myself to give in to it. And that will be your punishment for hurting me. For taking people I love away from me."

Eli was going to continue but the sound of the Ironman suit approaching the building stopped her. Eli rushed to the balcony in time to see Tony directing a nuclear missile toward the portal.

"TONY!" Eli screamed as he passed through the portal. Disappearing with the missile.