A/N Final chapter people. Thanks for all the lovely feedback.
I think there may be a short epilogue to follow this - nothing actually essential to the story but a few loose ends that will be fun to cover.
Enjoy!
Chapter Thirteen
Approximately 5 minutes earlier:
Clint and Natasha were both feeling frustrated by their ineffectiveness in this battle: For every snake they took out there were at least ten more; bullets and arrows, for the most part, were only worth using on the biggest of the beasts; the smaller ones just kept coming and were pretty much a waste of valuable ammunition - they were simply not able to eradicate enough of them while they continued to pour through the aperture.
Feeling temporarily secure, positioned in their raised vantage point, they both sensed the Hulk was beginning to get bored as well; it seemed 'smash gelatinous space dwelling life-forms into hard surfaces and watch them explode' was getting a little old as games went and staying in one place doing the same thing repeatedly was, most definitely, not his style.
"What the…?" Clint exclaimed watching Iron Man approach the aperture, almost disappearing in the torrent of snakes of all sizes pouring through: "I hope there's a reason for this….or else he's taking this break-up way too hard."
Black Widow rolled her eyes. "What is he doing?"
The brief, barked explanation of the discovery of a massive snake behind the opening over the open comms channel reassured her that Stark was, for the moment, still playing with a mostly full deck.
Preoccupied with events in the sky above them, they barely realised they'd been pursued from the compromised foyer below: Whatever other adjectives could be used to describe these aliens, 'tenacious' would almost certainly be fairly close to the top of the list. They were using their combined weight to test structures and find any weaknesses, gradually managing to push their way through the doors and were now testing along the wall adjacent to the assassins' location.
Their first warning they weren't as safe as they'd assumed was the heavy fire door behind them rattling slightly: Natasha started and turned away from Iron Man's activity to realise they could soon find themselves overwhelmed.
She ran through her options: Bullets, limited in numbers and efficiency; arrows, again limited; she began to scour the area for other means of repelling the creatures; how had they found them? There was no evidence of high intelligence, their continuing assault on the Hulk to no avail proved that….he was destroying them en masse but they were still heading towards him…
"Scent and movement!" She almost shouted her realisation; Clint quirked his head questioningly.
"Think about it! They exist in space: They make no noise so sound is irrelevant to them. Light is limited in their normal habitat so chances are their sight isn't all that well-developed. Heat, movement and scent must be the things that they respond to." She regarded his dumbfounded expression. "Don't you ever watch wildlife documentaries?"
"Only to watch animals screwing…" his reconsideration of that particular reply came too late for his mouth to react and choose the more desirable option of remaining closed.
She gave him a look that suggested that was a topic to be revisited at a more appropriate time before continuing:
"They're following our scent. They're only interested in living prey and they'll pursue the scent until they find it, even if it destroys them…"
"Or us…So…?"
"So…we sour the trail for them…" She ran over to the wall and picked up a fire extinguisher. Clint figured, after his latest verbal faux pas, "unquestioning" would, on this occasion, be the apposite demeanour to adopt.
Positioning herself by the door, she waited until the snakes mounted another co-ordinated assault and watched in trepidation as they managed to shift it back on its hinges so that a gap began to appear through which she could see the twitching snouts of some of the smaller creatures start to appear, trying to force their way through. She released the powder from the extinguisher, dousing the outside edge of the door thoroughly: The invaders recoiled soundlessly but with a clear sense of panic among their numbers and the Black Widow allowed herself a triumphant smirk.
Clint was impressed. He grabbed himself another extinguisher…. "Pull pin…" he frowned, squinting first at the instructions and then at the object itself.
Natasha briefly considered whether the hassle of having to drag him along afterwards would be worth the satisfaction she'd glean from beating him soundly around the head right about now.
A sound like a gushing torrent drew their attention back to the window and they watched, with no small amount of disgust, as what looked like a slimy purple waterfall poured from the hole in the sky, with Iron Man clearly caught in the stream.
"Ugh, this mission's just too gross for this hour of the morning…" Hawkeye's comment was fatuous and belied his relief as he saw Tony pull himself clear of the substance. The sensation was short-lived and was rapidly replaced by concern as they both watched powerlessly when he came under attack from several huge snakes which all but obscured him as they attempted to destroy him in midair, "…he needs to watch who he gets tangled up with on the rebound though…..OW!"
This last remark finally earned him the slap around the back of the head he'd been asking for.
It was at around that point that things got a little confusing.
Dark clouds began to form, swirling around the rapidly closing aperture through which just a few of the smallest snakes were still managing to make their way. These were almost immediately followed by a bolt of lightning which incinerated the creatures attacking their teammate and they both sighed in relief at the sight of Thor swooping in to steady Tony in midair.
Simultaneously they were both assaulted by a series of images and memories making them wince involuntarily:
"The Captain! Where the hell's Steve?" Natasha looked at Clint in alarm.
"How did we not know he was missing…?" The archer sounded thoroughly bewildered.
"Worrying…"
"Embarrassing…"
A familiar voice over their earpieces shattered the normally stoic assassins' composure:
"Hawkeye, Widow, report! What is your status?"
"Cap," Nat all but shrieked, "where've you been? What happened?"
"Later." The calm authority of the voice brooked no argument. "Where are you? Do you need any help?"
They looked at each other, struggling to suppress the myriad of questions and focus on completing the job in hand. The portal was now fully closed and the stream of new foes had abated. They heard Steve instruct Thor to clear up snakes in the adjacent streets and ensure he drove any strays back in the direction of the Hulk.
Natasha, forcing herself to be professional, advised the team's leader of their position and the discovery of a means to drive the snakes back.
"Good, I'm going to teach Hulk a new game. We're going to drive all the remaining creatures to a single point. Join us if you think you can get to street level safely."
The two agents proceeded as ordered, feeling reassured and baffled in equal measures.
When Tony came to, he realised he'd been moved ("OK, not gonna dwell on the implications of that for my dignity"); a stout strip of fabric had been used to immobilise his suited arm in a temporary sling ("Still hurts like a bitch but at least a slightly less vicious one now."); and the team appeared to be organising some kind of bizarre snake barbeque as they herded the remaining snakes into piles only to be zapped by a bolt from Thor's hammer: They had all but won he was pleased to note.
Hulk was happily leaping from wall to wall, dragging out any of the creatures hiding in cracks or recesses and either adding them to the pyre or throwing the larger ones up in the air for Steve to slice in two with his shield, an activity that was greeted by an almost gleeful roar from the big guy: "Looks like he missed him too", Tony grinned to himself, noting the curious looks Nat and Clint kept throwing in their leader's direction.
Finally, once Steve was satisfied they'd eradicated all the creatures, he instructed the fire crews to move in and start washing away the unbelievable mess and small fires that remained, he turned to see Tony watching him with a mix of curiosity and incredulity.
"How d'you feel?"
Tony attempted a shrug before remembering, with a significantly painful twinge, that that was a really bad idea in the circumstances, and replying:
"Like Indiana Jones…" Steve just rolled his eyes. "The hearing. What happened?" Tony forced his slightly clearer mind back on to the real issue.
"Case dismissed." Steve grinned back. "Seems you're stuck with me now so you'll have time to explain that reference."
"I guess I can live with that." The flippant words were contradicted by the tone of relief with which they were uttered.
"Yeah, me too." The Captain smiled easily, but Tony could see the tension of the last few days lingered under the controlled façade.
Steve glanced around him making sure that none of the creatures had been missed and the job was completed; Clint and Natasha were checking over the remnants of the snakes and destroying any that still showed signs of life with unnerving enthusiasm; Hulk was starting to calm down; Thor looked over at the two men with a look that Tony thought looked worryingly like….guilt?
Obviously Steve had noticed that look too.
"The 'complaint' originated on Asgard." He told Tony softly.
"Wait! What?...Loki?!" Tony started struggling to get up, jarred his shoulder again and failed to suppress the gasp of pain that escaped his lips. Steve calmly clasped his good arm and helped him firmly but gently onto his feet, subtly steadying him as he did so. "Thought they had the little bastard under control."
"Take it easy Tony," Steve muttered under his breath, "Thor feels as bad as anyone about this."
"There you go again...being infinitely reasonable about everything." Tony grumbled testily but only half-seriously. "So…?" His inquisitiveness was overwhelming anything else he might be feeling at the moment.
"So…it seems like, as part of Loki's rehab, they thought it would be a good idea if he reacquainted himself with Asgardian culture and heritage. Among the artefacts they gave him access to was an ancient symbol of Asgard being one of the first worlds to sign up to the Galactic Treaty: The Khronos Stone. They've had it for millennia, seems even the archivists had forgotten what it could do…unfortunately, Loki hadn't."
"So this thing could be used to trigger a complaint. Like a preferred customer number?"
"Something like that." Steve's lips quirked slightly at the aptness of the analogy. "Anyway, apparently in all the time the Treaty's been in force, no-one's ever used that facility before and I guess the Council kind of….overreacted….a bit."
"…and jumped to attention because they didn't want to be seen to not be responding to their own alert system."
"When Yustis turned up on Asgard, no-one knew anything about it. It took a while to get to the truth, that's why Thor wasn't contactable."
Tony swayed a little, feeling slightly sick, but it had nothing to do with his injuries: The anguish Steve had been put through; the fact that the course of Earth history could have been completely changed; all based on a malicious, unsubstantiated whim…and all only put right because one decent being among the Time Guardians had bothered to pursue the truth.
"Yustis is a good guy." He stated simply. He raised his good hand onto Steve's shoulder and, almost unconsciously, gave it a squeeze. "Sorry Cap," he grinned sheepishly, unwilling to admit just how much he needed to reassure himself the man was actually there, "er…just steadying myself."
"I know you are." Steve replied simply, surreptitiously ensuring his grip on the fatigued and pained Iron Man was just a little more secure. He couldn't help feel the understanding the two of them had gained might just have made the last few days worthwhile…just about.
The last of the snakes had been despatched and the rest of the team were approaching, Thor supporting a barely conscious Bruce. Clint looked stained and dishevelled, Natasha, unusually, only a little better but, fortunately, all minus any serious injuries: The air felt heavy with unspoken questions no-one was quite sure how to phrase.
Clint finally broke the awkward silence. "Er…do we need to help with the clean up?" Despite the fact the answer to this question was the one he cared about least.
"I think the Fire Department can handle this. We need to get you fixed up," Steve said looking at Tony, "…then I think I'd better make everyone some breakfast."
"…and coffee?" Tony said hopefully.
"Of course….besides, I need to apologise." Steve looked like a naughty schoolboy.
"For what?"
"Well…I was in kind of a hurry to get to my suit and shield 50 floors up…I guess I took the door off your car in the rush…"
In spite of the pain it caused in his shoulder, Tony couldn't repress a laugh at this. Of course, that's where he'd have woken up…did he honestly think that mattered in the scheme of things? Yeah...this was Steve...of course he'd worry about damaging someone else's possessions even accidentally.
"No problem Cap. I don't think I'd ever want to sit in that car again after….er...tell you what, make me coffee and all will be forgiven."
The rest of the team watched the two men, two men who to their most recent recollection could scarcely bear to be in the same room together, wandering off towards the tower laughing and joking like old friends.
"OK, so am I the only one who REALLY can't wait to hear this story?" Clint asked in amazement.