Less than twenty minutes later, I'd managed to override Selvig's protocols. The Mark VII, I learned, was one of Tony's suits; I had it deployed after giving Jarvis full control of the building. Unfortunately, we both came to the realization that whatever Selvig had done, he made it completely impossible to shut down the building. If his device continued draining the building, the arc reactor would eventually give out.
"We tried, Jarvis," I grunted, collapsing in the chair. He didn't respond and it saddened me a little; I liked his company. Reluctantly, I put my earpiece back in and listened to Helen scream and rant about how the device on top of the tower was beginning to activate, and the mayor was considering calling for an evacuation of Manhattan.
"You failed?" she demanded. "How?"
"Selvig's got such tight-" I began, glancing at the monitor.
"You're the computer expert here!" Helen exclaimed with disbelief. "Do your job and fix this!"
"It's probably too late," I tried. "If that thing is already beginning to activate, there's nothing I can do! I'd have the mayor just start evacuating now while he has the time!" I stood up quickly. "Jarvis?" No response. Was it too late? The lights were still on. I chewed on my lip nervously, digging my phone from my pocket. This was probably the only time I had to call Katie. If this was really about to happen, I had to do everything in my power to make sure they were safe.
"Pedagia, I need you to get to the top of that tower and do whatever you can to-" I ripped the earpiece from my ear again and replaced it with the screen of my phone. With butterflies swimming in the pit of my stomach, I walked around the workspace, hoping she would answer.
When was the last time I talked to her? Days? Weeks? I wondered. Finally, the ringing stopped.
"Hello?" Katie answered, sounding irritated. "What do you want?"
"Where are you?" I asked her, staring at the elevator doors. I drew my gun and kept it in my hand, in case I needed to shoot. I hoped I wouldn't.
"Excuse me?"
"Where are you?" I repeated, my words clipped. "Tell me where you are, right now." This isn't the time to be stubborn. Please don't be stubborn.
"I'm at work like the rest of the world." I heard the sounds of voices and typing in the background. "You're interrupting me."
I paced around nervously, trying to remember where she worked. Work is at the Collegiate School, I remembered. On West 78th. That wasn't too far from here. I licked my lips nervously and said, "Katie, listen to me-"
"Elle, you're interrupting my day. I'm busy," she interrupted curtly. "We can talk later."
"Listen to me!" I shouted into the phone, coming to a stop near the cars. "All my life you've never listened to me, you always chastised me and yelled at me and ignored my opinions! For once, shut the hell up, and listen to me!"
Katie didn't answer me, and I wondered if she'd hung up. But when I heard her breathing gently on the other line, I dropped my shoulders with relief.
"What?" she whispered meekly. "What is it?" Finally, she listens!
"You're in danger. The entire city of - no, the entire world is in danger. You, and Megan and Russell have to leave the city. Now."
She sighed. "What are you talking about?"
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "You know that super secret job I have, Katie? That I can't tell anyone about ever? It's about that. Right now, I'm investigating something, something huge. And in the next five minutes, the entire city is going to be overrun with...terrorists." It was partially the truth. "There is an attack coming, and you need to leave."
"Ellie, are you serious?" Katie asked, sounding nervous. "Are you pulling a fast one on me?"
Really? "Why would I do that to you? Katie, I've never been so serious in my life, I..." I trailed off, feeling overwhelmed with the events that had occurred in the past few months. "I want you guys to be safe. Don't tell anyone."
"I can't leave my students, I have to call their parents-" she protested immediately, lowering her voice.
"Katie, you can't. My government organization is already on it, and the mayor is in the process of ordering an investigation. Your students will get out either way, but I want you guys to get a head start." There were a few seconds of silence on the phone, and in the silence, I took the time to listen to the sound of an explosion from above. I had to get outside and see what it was.
"Katie, are you still there?" I panted, rushing up the stairs, because I knew the elevator would take too long. "Katie!"
"What do I have to do?" she whispered in a rush, sounding absolutely terrified. "Ellie, there was an explosion, I just heard-"
"I know, I know." Even though my chest burned, I took the stairs two at a time. "That's them, that's it. Where's Megan? Is she in class?"
"Yes," she answered, her voice trembling. After Katie got the job at the Collegiate School, she enrolled Megan in as well, to make her day easier. "She's there."
Finally, I reached the exit and with a grunt, I pushed against the door, past the two guards, who were already turning around to see what was going on. I stepped into the street, like the rest of the people on the street were doing, pointing to the sky with interest. I nearly dropped the phone.
Loki's Tesseract device was in the process of firing a beam of blue energy straight into the sky. The exterior spun quickly, gaining speed, while the beam of energy in the sky began to expand.
"What the hell is that?" one of the bodyguards murmured behind me. I turned around quickly, looking at all the people. So much for staying low-key.
"Katie," I shouted into the phone, taking steps backwards into the street. "You need to pretend take a bathroom break, or something, grab Megan, and leave. I'll call you a taxi right now and send it to the school. Call Russell and tell him to meet you at JFK. I'm sending you all a one-way ticket to Illinois, back home." It would be easy. I could do it all from my phone in under five minutes.
"Ellie, what's going on?" Katie panted fearfully on the phone. "Terrorists?" she whispered.
"It's bad," I assured her, swallowing quickly. "Really bad. Just...I have to go, I have to take care of this, and evacuate as many people as possible. Can you just promise me you'll do what I say? Get in the taxi, get to the airport, and leave. Don't go back for anything, not now. Do you have copies of what you need?"
"M-mom and Dad have them," she stammered quickly.
"Good, good," I breathed. How the hell is this going to be contained? I turned away from the sky, speaking urgently into the phone. "Katie, be safe, okay?"
"Okay," my sister whispered. "You be safe, Ellie."
After I'd hung up, I called a cab for her, and ordered three first-class tickets for the next flight to Illinois. I took a few moments to breathe with relief; at least they would be safe, and Katie had some understanding of what I dealt with. I was surprised as how easily it was done.
Now, I had bigger things to deal with. I fastened the earpiece in the ear and recoiled, hearing yelling in the background. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s a mess.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. girl!" one of the bodyguards barked with alarm. "You so smart, then what the hell is that?" I tilted my head up to the sky, following his finger. He pointed to the now swimming mass of energy above us. It must be the Tesseract energy.
Something dark dropped out of the portal like a fly, only to recover seconds later and begin to hover in the atmosphere. From where I was, it looked like a dot. This is the Chitauri? "I don't know," I answered honestly, following the small dot around with my eyes. "I have no..." I trailed off, when another dark dot emerged from the portal. And another. They began to emerge, one after the other, and astonishingly fast, like bees that had just escaped from their nests.
"This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill," a computerized voice said in the my earpiece. "All units, please be advised."
"What do I do?" I demanded into the earpiece. "Stand here and watch aliens drop out of the sky?"
Across the street, a few people stood up, and began shouting orders. I assumed they were plainclothes agents. "Get inside, now!"
"Clarke?" I called, recognizing him as one of the officers herding people inside a bookstore. "What do we do?"
He whipped his head around at the same of his name. "Get those people inside, now! The people on the side!" I followed his eyes and stared at the confused group of people standing on the sidewalk.
"You heard him!" I summoned what courage I had. "Get inside the coffee store, it's not safe!"
"Just what the hell is going on, anyway?" one of the people demanded, a large businessman. "It is a show? A parade?"
"Just get inside," I muttered, motioning for them to move, like Clarke. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that more were emerging, and descending towards the ground. "Now! It's not safe!"
The large businessman stepped to the front of the crowd, clearly displeased. I chewed on my lip, feeling that he was going to be the most difficult to deal with. "And just who are you to tell me what to do? You should be in school!"
His words irked me, and with pursed lips, I pulled my gun from my belt, holding it in the air. Instantaneously, they retreated from me. I raised the hem of my sweatshirt, revealing my badge. "I'm a special ops agent, and this is an attack on New York City that could get you killed. So when I say go inside, I mean, go inside."
Bunch of tarts. You have no idea what you're dealing with, I thought furiously, as they scurried inside, eyeing the gun in my hand. They didn't know that the badges were fake, but considering the circumstances, it was necessary. While I had the time, I pulled the sweater over my head, discarding it on an empty table. Park Avenue was now completely abandoned. The other agents drew their guns, searching the skies.
"Pedagia?" Clarke's voice murmured from nearby, and I twisted to look at him. His eyes were focused directly on the sky. "Here they come."
"Helen?" I stuttered, shielding my eyes when I looked into the sun, the dark dots moving closer, and taking shape. "Has the city evacuated?" She didn't respond, but I could still hear the chaos going on in the background. She must have abandoned her post.
Once the dots came closer, I began to realize that they were shaped like humans, with arms, legs, and a head, and that they seemed to fly on some sort of small hovercraft. I squinted into the light, trying to see what they were.
One of them swooped down to the ground and began to hurtle down Park Avenue, and I saw Clarke draw his sidearm out of the corner of my eye. I stood there, at the corner of Park Avenue, watching as they raced past me, carrying golden spears with glowing blue tips. Now that they were close enough, I got a good look at them.
They wore bronze and silver armor, covering their gray skin, which bulged with muscles. Immediately, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents began firing at the hostiles, shouting at the aliens to cease and desist. Their bronze armor easily deflected the bullets, and I ducked underneath one of the black tables as the bullets ricochetted around the street, smashing into windows and hitting some of the plainclothes agents.
Oh, shit, I thought wildly, covering my head. They're indestructible! I tapped my earpiece hastily. "We have a code red! I repeat, code red!" I shouted over the firing sounds. "Send help!"
What else was I supposed to do? Shoot and get myself killed? I don't even know if we have codes.
I'm not trained for this, I thought, my heart ready to burst from my chest. More of them descended onto the ground, aiming their spears at windows and tables. With an inhuman snarl, they fired, sending quick beams of energy at shops and pharmacies. I was far away enough to avoid the blast and rubble that went flying through the air.
I can't do this. I watched as fires rose from inside a bakery, and a nearby fire hydrant exploded, sending a blast of water into the sky.
My knees shaking uncontrollably, I stood upright from beneath my shield and looked around, surveying the damage. Shops were caved in, rubble and dirt covered the street, and cars laid overturned. On the sidewalk across from me were a few scattered bodies.
"Clarke?" My voice sounded weak. "Clarke!" Did he fire? I grasped the edge of the coffee shop where people were huddled in, their eyes wide with fear and peered around the corner. He laid slumped over a chair, his sidearm crushed by pieces of rubble, and little droplets of blood on the ground beneath his stomach.
After finding Clarke dead, I chose to leave Park Avenue. For now, the Chitauri had stopped attacking this street, but they had moved onto others. I jogged, as quickly as I could without hurting my already sprained ankle further, back towards S.H.I.E.L.D. There was nothing I could do. The Chitauri were practically invincible with their armor, and our guns were only going to get us killed. Maybe I could offer to try to get the machine shut down.
This isn't what I was supposed to do, I thought, wiping angry tears away from my face. This wasn't supposed to happen. I began to move the blame away from myself and away from Loki, and more towards fate. Why did Loki have to come here? Why did I take this job at S.H.I.E.L.D., only to find my life turned completely upside down?
I didn't enjoy listening to the unceasing sounds of screams and explosions around me. I could feel the ground vibrate beneath my feet as buildings were being destroyed. Sometimes I had to duck underneath tables and take cover when more Chitauri swooped from the portal, hissing through their bronzed helmets.
"PEDAGIA!" I winced, ripping my earpiece from my ear temporarily, not expecting such a loud sound. "Do you copy?"
"Kat?" I panted into my mouthpiece, sliding inside an alley. I pressed myself against the brick wall, taking deep, steady breaths.
"Miss Elle, are you alive?" Kat's voice trembled as she spoke. "What's the status of the other plainclothes?"
"Dead," I heaved. "All of them. Even Clarke."
"You have to get back to S.H.I.E.L.D., Miss Elle!" Kat declared immediately. "You need to get back here quick!"
"Okay. I'm on the way," I promised, checking around the corner to make sure the coast was clear. When a loud explosion rang from the other end of the alley I stilled, hoping that nothing was going to collapse on me.
I hope Megan and Katie escaped, I thought worriedly, breaking into a light sprint down the sidewalk, avoiding large chunks of rubble as I went. Further down Park Avenue, I encountered more bodies of civilians, more destroyed shops. I stepped over them with care, trying to step on a woman's ankle, or a man's shoulder, that was dislocated when he fell. Every time I passed a corpse, I closed my eyes because I felt nauseous. It's like a horror film.
Halfway down Park Avenue, I stepped over a old woman, whose head was cracked from a piece of rubble that fell from a top of a small building. Her eyes were wide in fright, and they would never move again.
I wiped my eyes and knelt down, sorrow striking my heart, and I closed her eyelids gently. I'm sorry. The skin of her eyelids felt papery thin, and so delicate. I gazed at her face for a few moments longer, until I was interrupted by a familiar, silky voice.
"I need someone to command the army on the ground."
I stood up too quickly and aggravated my ankle. Even though one knee was bowed in, I drew my sidearm from my side and aimed it directly at Loki's chest.
He stood a few paces away from me, dressed in his battle armor, which included the helmet. Today, I didn't find it nearly as funny. The cruel smirk on his lips turned into a grin, and he aimed the tip of his scepter towards me. "I need your help."
"I will shoot you," I promised, speaking through my teeth. "Look at all these people, look who you've killed! You've killed her! All these people, what have they done to deserve any of this?"
Loki continued to smile still. "I need you now, Elliot. I'm afraid I can no longer honor our agreement." Then he moved, and I pulled the trigger, closing my eyes when the recoil was stronger than I expected. The momentum gave Loki enough time to secure his cold hands directly around my throat and maneuver me backwards towards a glass wall.
He's going to kill me, I thought wildly, grasping his wrists and tugging to free myself, but his hold was strong. "Stay still," he purred, the tip of his scepter centimeters from my chest. "We'll make this quick."