[Time's Square]
Eddard jumped towards the coming quinjet. As it landed, he could see that it was damaged.
' Somebody had fun flying it.' Eddard mused.
He walked towards the doors of the jet and saw Rogers, Barton and Romanoff coming out.
"You look like you have been guessing for a while," Eddard smirked at the man.
"You could have told us. We could have helped." Rogers growled. The growling noise was uncharacteristic of the man.
"You did not earn the right to help me. You were squabbling amongst yourselves about ideologies. While I like discussing Philosophical Ideas, I do not like being mocked. Stark should have kept his tongue in check."
"You let people die because Stark annoyed you. Stark annoys everybody. We don't let people die because of it." Romanoff spoke.
"Well, I couldn't have waited for you to get a jet, could I? I knew, you knew Loki enough to figure out where the man was? Guess what I was right while also having bought around ten minutes for the NYPD. If anybody is still roaming the streets after my warning, then they deserve to die."
"We don't decide who lives and who doesn't! We protect the people." Rogers said passionately.
"Maybe you do Captain America, but you Americans do have a problem trying to find moral justifications for all actions. This isn't much of a moral problem for me, if some moron still roams the streets, they are stupid and at that point, it is just natural selection."
"So you just let them die?" Rogers asked looking as if Eddard had killed a puppy or something.
"I gave them a choice, whether they value their lives more or their pride is their problem."
"What about the children with prideful parents?" Barton asked.
"That is what you are here for." Eddard pointed towards the roads of New York, "Barton will locate anyone left behind and inform you to approach them. Rogers will help them while Romanoff moves towards Stark Tower to shut the portal using Loki's Sceptre."
Barton said, "Just because they call me Hawkeye doesn't mean I can fly."
"That is why you get this." Eddard waved his hand and a pair of shoes appeared.
"And what is this?" He asked.
"You can walk on walls using them," Eddard said smugly, having come up with the idea of using the concept of Stability and Grip on them.
"Thanks ?" Hawkeye said awkwardly.
"I want them back after the battle."
Natasha asked, "Wanna give me a lift?"
"Why not? Please give me a communication earpiece, I can't really communicate without it, can I?" She handed him an earpiece.
"Take care, Captain." He grabbed Romanoff like a sack of potatoes and jumped tensing his legs towards one of the high rises.
Eddard used one of the ledges in the buildings as support for a second jump. They landed atop a Leviathan's head where he stabbed as hard as he could into its head. The beast immediately started falling.
He could hear gunshots being fired by Romanoff behind his back.
"You know you aren't serving another purpose than annoying me with those gunshots," Eddard commented.
"Forgive me if I don't have a divine weapon on hand." Eddard felt her elbowing him. She added, "And why are you carrying me like this?"
"I can't fight with both of my hands occupied," Eddard growled as he split another chitauri soldier.
"You don't know how to treat a woman," Natasha added with a chuckle as she hit a chitauri armoured guard through the eyes.
Eddard asked neutrally, "Those guns are modified, aren't they?"
"Yes. SHIELD provided me with modified pistols." She admitted while taking out another soldier.
Eddard suddenly realized they were surrounded by Chitauri Cavalry and were about to get bombarded," Avalon."
Avalon protected them from the attack.
"SHIELD did think that you were untouchable because of your scabbard but this is unnerving," Natasha muttered.
"Do I scare you, Ms Romanoff?" Eddard laughed as they were about to reach the tower in a minute. Eddard could also see Loki getting beaten by Stark while Hulk and Thor were blockading the Chitauri.
"How can anybody not be scared, I am a normal woman, what if you were a pervert?" She japed.
"Oh widow, I would be more scared for my own virtue rather than the other way around. You aren't an ordinary woman, I am probably more vulnerable to you than Thor."
"You would be more scared of a woman than a God? You have a skewed way of looking at things, Mr Clarke."
"Love has been known to ruin people greater than me."
"I did not think you to be a romantic." She looked amused as he deposited her gently at the entrance to the tower.
"Well, a man can always hold hope that maybe someone will look at him and see a man they can spend their lives with."
"That's a nice dream to have Eddard." She smiled and then started running towards the elevators.
"Is anybody free to help me with a hostage situation?" Rogers' voice sounded
"I am," Eddard said.
"Where are you?"
"The tower."
"The place is four blocks east of the tower. Twenty Chitauri have huddled around eighty people in the hall of a high-end hotel." Rogers' military experience was a blessing in such a situation, which was something Eddard couldn't deny.
' I am good at making plots and manipulations but Rogers will triumph over me in military tactics.' It was a simple truth. The second world war was the peak of conflict and war, it was a time when geniuses were born everywhere.
Eddard started moving to the rendezvous point, as he scoffed thinking,' Alan Turing, Captain America, Howard Stark, Hank Pym, heck Tony Stark all are heroes but as soon as they went against the interests of the government, they become evil.'
Eddard walked to the captain when he saw the man kneeling atop a roof looking at a bunch of Chitauri.
"Clarke," Rogers said without turning his head.
"Rogers. What have we got?" Eddard watched the people being held on the ground floor while the soldiers were divided equally on both floors.
"It's a trap," Rogers muttered.
"What do you mean?" Eddard was confused.
"The one going on the lower floor will be dead even before he can turn around that is why I asked for one of you guys. You aren't hurt much by the attacks are you?"
"So you called me to act as either bait or a meat shield? Colour me impressed Rogers I did not think you had it in you."
"Not before a fight please."
"Ok let us move, shall we?"
[POV Of A Hostage.]
Natalie Davies, 25, had been out with her family for dinner. Natalie was treating them with lunch on her money since she had earned her first paycheck. She was so happy to be selected for the movie role and wanted to thank her parents for flying all the way to the USA for her work.
'Where did it all go wrong.' She despaired as she joined her father and mother in waiting as the Aliens aimed their guns at her family and the other hostages. She prayed, ' Oh god! Just let the military come and kill them.'
As Natalie had been thinking this, there was the noise of metal cutting into flesh and something falling.
When she turned, she saw that a young man probably younger than her, had cut through the alien's midsection and was getting fired upon by the other aliens. There was dust getting kicked up due to their firing.
' Shouldn't I be doing something, the guy will get killed.' were her thoughts as she picked up a nearby broken brick and threw it on one of the aliens. The alien seemed taken aback for a second before looking at her and screeching and aiming its gun towards her family.
Natalie was horrified by the attention of the aliens. ' I am going to die.' were her thoughts as she pushed her mother towards her father who was horrified but already moving to intercept the alien. The plasma blast was coming towards her when it was intercepted by a golden shard.
Natalie fell on her butt checking whether she was truly alive by touching her torso.
" Avalon." Came the voice of the guy that had attacked the aliens.
' He is cute.' She realized dumbly as he split another alien using a sword?
' What is he a cosplay artist? That sword has more decoration than most props.' She would have laughed if not for the wreckage she was seeing the sword cause.
It ended just as fast as it began. She realized that all the aliens were dead and there were two of these odd men. One she realised was Captain America. Natalie could recognize the man her father admired so much anywhere.
She heard the Captain say, "You can close it? Do it."
The swordsman said, "I am going to kill the council. Sending a nuclear missile. I was right to kill Mallick."
Natalie's spine chilled at the man discussing murder so calmly.
"You killed someone on the World Security Council?"
The swordsman shrugged, "He ordered an assassination on me, I lived, he didn't."
"How is it so easy for you to kill?"
"He hurt my friend. And don't act like you are an innocent man. You killed a lot of people."
"They were Nazis!"
"So? They still had children, wives, mothers and fathers. Is killing people justified if the people you kill are evil?"
"We were at war. We didn't have a choice."
"I agree you didn't but you are a killer still. Murder is never morally right and I will never try to say it is. It is a regrettable choice we have to make when our hands are forced. Mallick was an enemy to me, he died for it."
"We need to get out and help the others. Stark will take care of the Missile. Loki's not gonna hand himself over."
The swordsman and Captain America walked out leaving the hostages confused about what to do. Nobody had interrupted their chat afraid to disrupt the intense-looking men.
Natalie thanked God that she had lived through this Invasion.
[Eddard's POV]
As he saw Stark taking the missile through the wormhole, Eddard smiled they had won. The question was what to do now.
Eddard said, "Close it," when he saw Stark falling back through the wormhole.
The Hulk caught the man as he had been falling. When both of them landed, Eddard waved his hand at all of them while drawing on his divine energy. He used it to heal them.
When Stark opened his eyes, he gasped as if waking from a nightmare.
Eddard commented, "Good job Stark, you have saved around fifteen million lives. Far less than ones you have caused but no man can say you are a selfish man."
"Oh! I couldn't have realized that without you. New York City has a population of eight million, All-mighty."
"It does, your job is finished, now let me begin my job," Eddard said to the man in battered armour.
[TPP]
Eddard plunged his sword into the concrete beneath his feet. He could feel himself connecting to Excalibur which in turn connected to the Clover Engine.
He began speaking, " People of New York, we have won. The battle is over, leaving your hiding spots is fine. The true problem begins now, there may be people with injuries that will be needing health services. There may be people who are buried under rubble. There may be people in need of food.
If you truly have no food, head towards 221B Bleecker Street, you will get food for the next three days, it might not be enough but try to understand that despite being a God, I am only a God of Light. I would also like people who can afford to donate food to others to do so. Vendors and grocery stores are free to sell us food in return for money and Gold.
A man named Jacob Johnson will help you. Follow his instructions to the letter, violence will not be tolerated. Finally do not act like privileged assholes and if possible let children's meals pe prioritized.
If you have lost track of a loved one, pray. I will try to help you best I can."
Thor looked at Eddard with respect and said, "That was kind of you to do. "
"You all should take care of Loki. His escaping can be troublesome. "
Stark asked loudly, "After we are done, we could get Shwarma two blocks down. They have fantastic shwarma."
"You can come to my home to have food. I know quite a few people have started moving there."
All of the Avengers nodded. Eddard heard through his earpiece, "How forward of you to invite me home directly."
Eddard started chuckling as Barton gave him a weird look.
"Remembered something funny Clarke?"
"No Barton, not at all." is all Eddard could say.
As they were chatting Eddard heard Harry calling through the earpiece.
"Ed?"
"What?"
"There is enough worship to enact a city-wide heal pulse." Harry sounded excited.
"That's good." Eddard could understand Harry's excitement. They were about to enact a Miracle. Anybody sane would be excited.
"Before we begin with that though, Jacob tells me food is being donated and consumed quickly, though we are maintaining a good amount for now, we can feed the people for around three days at max and two at minimum."
"That's fine. Tell me if there's a problem you can't deal with?"
"Jake says to hold the sword's hilt and will the miracle now that you have it. Anybody healed will most probably claim up as a worshipper."
Eddard did as instructed. When he held the hilt, he knew he could perform a city-wide miracle. Now it could be a malicious miracle or a benevolent one, that was all on Eddard. The Clover Engine did what a God traditionally did, using belief and worship as fuel just like their divine energy.
" Heal Pulse."