ACTION TIME! I love writing action. Sorry. This section is longer than usual, but I hope it reads quickly. Now: time to take out some Chitauri!
When the first Chitauri struck at them, they burst into the fray with weapons shining in the sun, adrenaline pushing them to be faster, smarter, stronger.
Clint and Natasha stood back to back in the middle of a hoard of Chitauri soldiers, neither of them too bruised and bloodied as yet. A glance over her shoulder told Natasha that Clint was faring just fine.
"Sure you got enough arrows?" she asked, shooting a Chitauri to the ground.
"Can't really make a pit stop at the tower, can I?" Clint responded. "What I've got's gonna have to be good enough."
Natasha kicked a Chitauri unconscious just because she could; it was too close anyway.
"Incoming, my three o'clock."
Natasha turned to her left and shot down the lead Chitauri in an onslaught, watching somewhat smugly as the others tripped over its corpse, slowing them considerably. "All yours," she told Clint.
He fired, and the whole assault pattern exploded in a combustible burst of fire and Chitauri bits.
"Nice."
"Thanks."
"Now?" Bruce asked.
"No."
A fleet of Chitauri was coming at him, and fast. He fought every urge to back up, instead standing his ground and asking, "Now?"
"Not yet."
They approached rapidly, looking sickeningly vicious, rabid and ready to kill.
"Now?"
"Not yet!"
"Tony, you've got to be kidding –"
"Now!"
In a flare of rage, Bruce hurtled toward the oncoming Chitauri.
By the time he got there, the Other Guy had come out swinging.
Steve hit a Chitauri straight on with his shield, the monster crumpling to the ground. As he whirled around to face the next batch heading at him, he saw the new girl – the one from Thor's home planet – dancing carefully with one Chitauri soldier.
The way she worked her feet had him momentarily transfixed. Quick and lithe, she moved about within an amazingly small space. Her double-bladed weapon seemed an extension of her arm as she fought, and, when she skewered that Chitauri and the one behind it on one of her blades, Steve gave a low whistle.
Beside him, Elizabeth wasn't any less impressive; her unbuttoned trench coat flew like a cape as she whipped around on the spot, loosing knife after knife, felling Chitauri after Chitauri.
"Cap, how are the ladies doing?"
"Just fine, Tony," Steve responded. "Just fine."
"Good. Me and Hulk have got things covered down here. Clint and Tash are hanging in there for now, but soon, Clint's gonna need a chance to collect his ammo. Got that?"
"Yep, on it."
Steve flung his shield into a mass of oncoming Chitauri, and, as they all collapsed, Sif gave him a complimentary nod. "Not bad," she called.
"Not too bad yourself," he returned, catching his shield and slipping it back over his arm. "Hey, I've gotta go help Clint real quick. You guys got this?"
Sif spun around and pinned another Chitauri to the ground, her glaive stuck straight through its chest. She glanced up at him and smirked.
"Right," he said. "Be right back."
Thor was in his element.
He swung Mjolnir into the stomach of an oncoming Chitauri, the force alone sending the body flying backward, taking out even more soldiers as it went.
"Next?" he prompted, already readying himself for the new soldier rushing at him.
Before this Chitauri could get too close, though, he heard the hiss of metal blazing through the air, and it was knocked to its knees, a dagger lodged in its chest.
He turned around and looked at Elizabeth, who was currently doing battle with a lone Chitauri, which she dispatched with a quick but thorough knife to the ribs. As she withdrew her dagger, letting the corpse slide off the end of it, he said, "I had it."
"I know," she replied, wiping her knife on her thigh. "Thought I'd save you the trouble."
Thor bent down and yanked her dagger from the body at his feet. "That was risky. You could have hit me instead," he told her as he cleaned off her blade.
"A relative risk; besides, I didn't." Her face cracked into a tiny grin as she took the knife from him, tossing it around expertly, itching for another excuse to throw it.
Thor watched her for a moment, and then he said, "You have missed this."
"Not nearly as much as you have." She rolled her eyes carelessly, giving her knife a flick and sending it flying into the heart of a Chitauri that had appeared behind Thor. "But, yes."
Thor could only smile as he turned and surveyed her handiwork. When the Chitauri tried to get up, he smashed its skull in with Mjolnir.
"Hmm," Elizabeth observed, "teamwork."
Then, simultaneously, they whirled around and started in on the two new groups of Chitauri that had opened a fresh attack.
Steve ran around the corner, crouched down, shield held over his head to deflect Chitauri bullets. As far as he could tell, he wasn't the main object of their attack, but there were so many of them. Whether he was considered a current threat or not, he was still wearing red, white, and blue, and that was enough to attract anyone's attention.
He furtively glanced upward at the street sign, counting blocks. He knew approximately where Clint and Natasha would be, and he was about halfway there.
"Clint, I'm headed your way," he said over the com.
"Copy," Clint said. "I'll keep an eye out."
"Where are you coming from?" Natasha asked.
"Uh . . ." he checked the sign, "West 53rd."
"Copy. I'll clear an entry point for you."
"You're the best."
Having the advantage of flight was only good until the enemy developed it too. Tony knew full well that the Chitauri had flying vehicles; he had seen them before. He had fought them before. But, for some reason, they hadn't made an appearance yet, so he pressed his luck, making the absolute most of his time in command of the skies.
He heard Steve give his location on the com, and he heard Natasha say, "Copy. I'll make an entry point for you."
"You're the best," came Steve's voice.
"Hey Natasha, I see you," Tony told her. "Lemme give you a hand with that."
Before she could reply, he was swooping down over the Chitauri that were blocking Steve's way. Blue beams of energy shot out of his hands, taking down as many Chitauri as he could before they got smart and started shooting upward. He managed to get about half of the soldiers before he was forced to take evasive maneuvers. "Think you can manage the rest?"
"Yep, thanks," Natasha replied.
"No prob."
Tony flew back around to where the Hulk was going to town, doing what the Hulk does best: smashing everything in sight. He dropped down, close to the Hulk's ear, and yelled, "Hey, great job, buddy!"
In response, the Hulk turned and pulled a face that, on anybody else, would have been a grin. It looked more like a snarl on him, though. Tony took it, and let him continue.
He shot down as many Chitauri as he could between the Hulk and Thor, making sure to keep moving so as to stay in the sky. Once he got over to where Thor was hard at work, destroying any Chitauri that came at him with his massive hammer, he hovered for a while, keeping new soldiers off their perimeter. They had lost Steve, so he had made a point to check on them, in case the opposition was starting to get overwhelming.
He was a little surprised to see that they were actually managing pretty well. They had backed themselves into a sort of triangle – Thor, Elizabeth, and Sif, the Asgardian – and they were working smoothly and steadily, like cogs in a machine.
Elizabeth was amazing with her knives, and Sif was equally remarkable with her glaive, both of them fighting in such a way that it was almost beautiful to watch. Almost with the sort of cohesiveness that was bred after having been in the heat of battle together before.
Behind them, Thor was working in a semicircle, wielding his hammer like it was the most natural thing he had ever done. The three of them were astoundingly effective, and, with Tony maintaining their border, they were out of Chitauri to fight before too long.
Confused at the abrupt lack of opposition, Thor looked around, finally looking up. When he saw Tony, he smiled and waved. Elizabeth rushed out and collected her knives, barely cleaning them off before replacing them to her knife belt. She had similar belts going down both of her legs as well, and Tony had seen her stash a couple of daggers up her sleeves also. Her long, dark trench coat was the perfect cover for all that ammunition.
Sif took a second to wipe the slick, oily Chitauri blood from both blades of her weapon, working with the sort of care he hadn't expected to see; she treated that glaive as though it were her child. Similar to how Thor treated his hammer. Tony wondered if that was just an Asgardian thing.
"Hello, Stark," Thor greeted over the com. "How nice of you to join us."
At this, Elizabeth looked up, and Sif followed her cue. Elizabeth nodded her hello; beside her, Sif's eyes grew wide, and she turned around, saying something to Thor.
"The Lady Sif wishes to know what sort of magic powers your suit, Stark," Thor informed him.
Tony chuckled to himself. "Tell her it's called technology."
Thor told her, and she turned back to Tony, giving him a warrior's salute.
"She is impressed," Thor said.
"So am I." He pointed at Elizabeth. "When did you learn to do that knife thing? Last night?"
"A very long time ago," she replied, fanning her blades out in her hands, counting them.
"Tony!" came Steve's voice on the com. "I'm hit!"
Natasha kicked a Chitauri corpse out of the way, stalking past it and into a pocket of soldiers, shooting steadily, loving the sound of their bodies hitting the pavement.
With a mechanical sort of grace, she destroyed any Chitauri that moved. Beyond the mass of soldiers, she could see Steve running toward them, huddled under his shield. Overhead, she saw a limp Chitauri form soar through the air from where the Hulk had undoubtedly launched it.
What Natasha didn't see was the explosion when the Chitauri's metal body skidded along the road. The heat from friction made the thing pop like a soda can. Right beside Steve.
"Tony!" Steve called. "I'm hit!"
At that, Natasha's head jerked around to where Steve had been hurrying along just a minute ago; he now laid on the ground, clutching his calf muscle.
"Location?" Tony barked.
"Fifty feet from Natasha and Clint. I can't see a street sign from here."
"Don't move. I'm on my way."
"Got it."
She shot down another Chitauri, keeping an eye on Steve. He looked pretty badly hurt. To her side, Clint had run out of arrows and had resorted to using his bow itself as a weapon.
He threw a look her way, telling her, "Tony'll get it."
"I know," she returned. As if she hadn't just been calculating how long it would take her to get to Steve and how many Chitauri she could kill on the way.
"They'd only follow you anyway," Clint said, referring to the Chitauri that surrounded them on all sides.
"I know."
She kept shooting, creasing her brow in concentration. And she did all she could to face away from where she knew Steve waited, injured, for someone to help.
Clint delivered an especially vengeful blow to an especially audacious Chitauri, saying both to her and to himself, "He'll be fine."
"I know."
Steve's whole calf was ripped apart, bits and pieces of Chitauri shrapnel littering the open wound. A piece of metal the size of his hand stuck out of his leg down by the ankle, shining with his blood on one edge and Chitauri blood on the other.
"Okay," Tony said, "I see you."
"Great."
The pavement was turning red around him, despite his best efforts to keep pressure on the wound.
When Tony landed, Steve looked up at him and tried to smile through the pain. "Got me pretty good, didn't he?"
"Couldn't have done much better," Tony said, kneeling with a metallic clank. "JARVIS, scan the wound."
"Scanning, sir."
Now Steve was taking measured breaths, trying to keep himself fully aware of everything that was going on; truthfully, Tony's voice was starting to sound a little fuzzy in his ears, and the blood – his blood – didn't actually look like that much after all.
"Scan complete, sir. I calculate an extensive wound. Soft tissue and muscle damage. Possibility of copious blood loss. Be advised that patient shock or unconsciousness is common in cases such as this."
Steve's head was dipping slowly. He jerked it back up, but, a few seconds later, it began to fall once more. Tony reached out and gave Steve's cheek a couple smacks. "You hear that, Cap? You've gotta stay with me."
"Yeah," Steve said, voice heavy and thick. "I know."
"JARVIS," Tony instructed as he pulled the metal shards out of the gash, "treatment?"
"Of course, sir."
A pod in Tony's suit opened up, a thin, pen-like structure protruding out. He grabbed it, turning it over in his metal hands, trying to find dexterity enough to use it.
"What is that?" Steve asked, blinking confusedly.
Tony's mask pulled away from his face, letting him see the wound more clearly. He glanced up at Steve, saying, "You may wanna bite down on something."
Before Steve could make sense of this warning, Tony had uncapped the syringe, pressing the plunger down; a dense foam was dispensed directly onto Steve's lacerated leg.
At first, it felt cool against the angry, raw tissue. Then, it started to fizz.
Now Steve understood what Tony had meant. He gritted his teeth, breath coming in gasps as the burning turned to searing.
Not too far away, the sounds of Chitauri guns and the clash of weapons rang out, echoing through the concrete labyrinth, chased by the familiar reverberations from Natasha's gun. Moans and wails of Chitauri who laid in their death throes permeated the air like a noxious gas. Added to it, a scream ripping deep from someplace within Steve – a place that hadn't been tapped since he had first been injected with the serum all that time ago.
The sounds of a victory in the making.
When the foam had all been absorbed into the wound, Steve took a deep breath. "That wasn't so bad," he said.
"Just look at that leg."
He did. "Wow." Aside from traces of blood and one or two bits of ragged flesh lingering along the edges of the wound, it looked spectacular. "What was that stuff?"
Tony threw the empty syringe over his shoulder. "A prototype," he replied. "You're the first test dummy. Congratulations."
"When did you become an expert in biochemical engineering?"
"Tuesday." Tony shrugged.
Steve tried to get up, but Tony held him down. "You're gonna wanna rest for a few minutes."
"But the Chitauri –"
"Are not that bad right now," Tony finished. "We can hold them off while you let the dizziness fade."
Steve leaned back against the wall, silently agreeing with Tony. His world still moved in circles, convincing him that he'd be useless if he tried to help anyway.
As Tony backed up to take air once more, he noted, "But when you can, I want your patriotic butt back out there. We need you."
"You got it," Steve returned, albeit a bit weakly.
With that, Tony's mask slid back down over his face, and the jets in his hands and feet put him in the sky again.
She gripped her glaive tensely, peering around at the streets that were still strangely devoid of Chitauri. "There should be more of them," Sif said.
"Perhaps we were lucky," Thor put in, though he didn't sound too hopeful.
Elizabeth just breathed.
Nothing moved around them. They didn't dare change locations, lest more soldiers pour from the portal and earth's first line of defense be absent. Tensions tingled in the air, prickling at the back of Sif's neck.
Thor glanced toward the portal. "Nothing is coming."
"That could be a good thing," Sif mentioned. "Or it could be a ploy."
She deferred to Elizabeth with a look, but Elizabeth didn't speak. She was the very image of a sleek fighting machine in all her leather, the black suiting her in an eerie way. From within the folds of her long trench, her blades winked, decorating her hips and thighs like deadly sequins. If she stood normally, it would have been an easy mistake to think her unarmed.
Her fingers stroked lightly against the hilt of a dagger, a whisper of a touch that shouted of battles, rage, and blood. Dead Chitauri littered the streets – many of them due to Elizabeth's knives. The hush in the air longed to be filled with the noises of either triumph or war, though it remained entirely void, an ominous hole in the senses.
Soon, Thor began to slacken his stance. Elizabeth immediately held up a hand. "Wait."
"For what?" Thor asked, restless. "Nothing is happening."
"They've not finished yet."
Sif looked at her, and so did Thor, both with questions scrawled across their faces. She didn't look back, but she nonetheless muttered, "They've not gotten that for which they have come."
Sif had almost forgotten that aspect of her trip to Midgard. "Which would be what?" she asked, genuinely curious.
For a long moment, Elizabeth just breathed. Steady, rhythmic inhale and exhale. Silent as stealth itself. Then, she said, "Me."
"Hold up," broke Tony's voice on the com. Elizabeth cringed and fought a very serious notion about tearing the thing out of her ear and stepping on it. "You said they weren't after you. You said you aren't a fugitive."
"Yes, I know," she replied, annoyance bleeding into her tone. "But, in all fairness, you know very little of the situation. They are not here for me because of what I've done; they want me for things I didn't do."
Sif stared at her. "You've dealt with the Chitauri?"
"Only once, and it was more of a mistake than I realized at the time."
"I know someone –" Sif trailed off, not entirely sure she wanted to mention him in front of the Avengers.
"So do I," Elizabeth replied. "Perhaps, we speak of the same someone, Lady Sif."
Sif knit her brow, still eyeing Elizabeth carefully. Elizabeth didn't offer any more, so Sif didn't ask or make any comments. She only wrung the handle of her weapon, her muscles tenser than ever.
And then the portal coughed.
Legions of Chitauri swarmed out of the portal like bees from a hive.