AN: Okay... so like I have the movie memorized now because I had to watch the battle scene so much to get it right, not that I mind, haha. But anyways, one more chapter to wrap it up. I'll write a sequel but I don't know when. Thanks to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed/etc. I hope you like.

I own nothing.

Chapter Fourteen:

As the Chituari closed in on them, Waverly felt Steve push her away from him. She rolled and watched as Steve leapt to his feet and took out the alien. Waverly was about to jump in and assist the captain in taking out the other aliens that had cornered them, when her brother's voice came over her earpiece.

"Wave, there's a weak spot in their armor, between their shoulder blades."

"Right, Clint. Gotcha." Waverly was shocked by the sheer exhaustion in her voice.

"Are you all right?"

Before she could respond, Waverly had to jump out of the way of another Chituari while simultaneously swinging the weapon around to take out another alien. A few seconds later, Waverly saw Iron Man drop from the sky to assist them. Clint must have sent him. Iron Man fired one of the repulsor beams in his palms and Steve bounced the blast off his shield to take out an unsuspecting Chituari. Iron Man then took back off into the air, leaving Steve and Waverly to take out the rest.

One of the larger aliens engaged Steve in close range combat while Waverly busied herself by shooting from behind a pile of rubble. Waverly had taken out two Chituari from a distance when she heard a clatter and then a thud. Wheeling around, she saw Steve's shield laying several feet away from the captain, who was pinned down by the monstrous alien. Between Steve's hands, he held the end of the Chituari's weapon, which not only was some kind of laser, but also had a sharpened edge. Steve was just managing to keep the blade from slicing across his chest. Waverly jumped out from behind the debris and ran at the Chituari, driving her alien weapon in between the enemy's shoulder blades. The dying alien let out a cry, and black blood seeped from its wound. Steve kicked the Chituari away.

"You… okay?" Waverly's chest hurt with every word. She held out her hand and just managed to help Steve back to his feet.

Steve nodded. "Yeah. Thanks. What about you?"

Waverly saw concern in the soldier's blue eyes. If Waverly were to answer him honestly, the answer would be no. Not only was her chest searing in pain, but her arms and legs shook with exhaustion. To top all that, her stomach was knotted in nausea and it was quite a miracle that Waverly hadn't gotten sick yet. Add to that the mental and emotional toll the agent's first battle was taking on her and Waverly should have been a downright mess. But, Waverly knew if she answered Steve honestly, he would insist she get somewhere safe and hide. If Waverly was left alone to actually think about what was going on and to have time to worry not only about her own safety but the safety of her brother and Steve, Waverly knew she'd have a mental breakdown right then and there. So instead, she wiped the alien blood on the pant legs of her jumpsuit and nodded.

"I'm fine."


Steve knew Waverly was most definitely not fine. She was breathing in terrified gasps and she was shaking. Steve knew she was just clinging to her sanity. Waverly wasn't a soldier. This wasn't the place for her. Steve regretted asking her to come with them, even if Clint had insisted she be his copilot. Steve wanted to get Waverly out of harm's way. He wanted to lead her to safety with the other civilians. He was about to insist she leave when the captain heard Barton's voice over his earpiece.

"Captain, the bank of 42nd past Madison. They've cornered a lot of civilians in there."

Glancing down the street, Steve saw the bank in question on the corner of the next block. He could hear the screams. Steve turned back to Waverly.

"Go. Help them. I'll take the outside," she said. "I'll be fine." Not giving Steve time to argue, Waverly wrenched her weapon from the back of the dead alien and took off at a run down the street

Steve retrieved his shield and followed her. As he overtook her, he called over his shoulder. "Be careful." Steve sprinted towards the bank. He propelled himself off a car and rolled through an open window on the second floor. The building was large and the inside modeled after colonial times. At least two dozen civilians, having tried to shelter from the attack, were gathered on the ground floor. On the balcony above them, several Chituari were circling, brandishing their weapons. One of the aliens made a weird guttural sound, no doubt threatening Steve, then activated a small rectangular piece of metal. The rectangle lit up and began beeping. Steve didn't need to be a Chituari to understand what the contraption was. It was a bomb. Steve needed to get these people out of here, now.

Steve threw his shield, taking one of the aliens out. The rest of the Chituari began firing at him. Steve dove behind an overturned desk, then kicked it into one of the aliens that had been firing on him. He then ran up and grabbed the third and final alien by the neck, snapping it in two. He tossed the dead Chituari over the railing and called to the people below. "Everyone, clear out!"

The alien Steve had knocked down with the desk was apparently not as unconscious as Steve would have liked. The Chituari grabbed Steve around the neck from behind and with its free hand, pulled Steve's mask off his face. Steve struggled for a moment, caught by surprise by his sudden inability to breath. Then, the soldier flipped himself over the Chituari, kicked him in the back, and knocked him out for good.

A fourth alien that Steve had not seen before, suddenly appeared, scooping up the bomb. He glared at Steve and spoke in its grunting language. Steve dropped into a roll, grabbing his shield along the way, and stood up next to the half open window he had jumped through to get in. He jumped and balled himself up behind it just as the alien threw the bomb at him. The blast sent Steve crashing through the remainder of the window and onto a car below. The force was enough to collapse the roof of the vehicle. Despite his super human strength and ability to withstand pain and heal quickly, the collision took a toll on Steve. The wind was knocked out of him and he was throbbing in pain from his shoulders down to his waist. Steve rolled off the car, barely able to stand, and looked around him. He saw police and firemen guiding the civilians from the bank, with Waverly's assistance. At least the blast hadn't harmed any of them.

Waverly ran over to Steve. "What happened?"

Steve took a second to catch his breath and shake the shock from his body. "They had a bomb."

"Are you okay?" Waverly seemed to be ignoring her own injuries, looking Steve up and down, her eyes wide with worry. She was bleeding from a cut on her cheek and she was standing at an odd angle, as if it hurt to put weight on both her feet. Waverly was covered in dirt, sweat, and a mix of her own blood and that of the Chituari. Her jumpsuit was torn in various places. Steve doubted he looked any better.

"I'm Captain America. I can handle a hit like that." He reached forward and brushed the blood off Waverly's face. He couldn't really tell, but he thought he saw her blush.

It was a brief moment of calm. It didn't last long. Waverly gestured around her. "What are we going to do? They just keep coming."

Steve looked around as well. All around them was destruction and chaos. Windows were broken, cars overturned. The streets and sidewalks were reduced to piles of concrete debris. Broken fire hydrants leaked water onto the streets. Sires, alarms, and frightened screams echoed all around them. It looked hopeless. The police and army could barely stand their ground against the Chituari. The team, the Avengers they had dubbed themselves, was spread far too thin. Steve wasn't even sure if anyone was still alive beside Waverly and himself. A familiar roar a few blocks away told him Dr. Banner was still fighting. So, there were at least three of them, maybe more, against an entire alien army. And somewhere, Loki was still out there and who knew what he was up to. Things didn't look good.

Captain America or just plain Steve Rogers, it wasn't in Steve's nature to just give up. He would fight until he couldn't fight any longer. He was a soldier, it was his duty to protect the American people. But this was more than that. The whole world was at stake. Steve had almost failed to save the world once, he wasn't about to come that close again.

"We gotta keep fighting. Keep them away from the civilians." Steve fastened his shield to his arm and nodded towards the opposite end of the block. "Looks like Thor could use some help."

Waverly nodded and ran after Steve.


Thor was throwing his hammer with remarkable accuracy. Steve tossed his shield like a deadly Frisbee. Waverly just managed to stay on her feet, swatting Chituari away with the laser-spear-gun thing Natasha had given her. It had run out of whatever alien juice powering it, so Waverly swung it around, relying on brute strength to take out Chituari. That wasn't saying much. Waverly was nowhere near as strong as Clint or Natasha, let alone a super solider and an Asgardian god. Several times, Steve or Thor had to step in and take out several Chituari that had surrounded Waverly. Still, Waverly clung to whatever strength she could muster and kept fighting.

She stabbed an alien in the stomach and sent it falling to the ground. For a moment, she was unchallenged. Waverly turned to her partners in time to see Steve get hit in the stomach by one of the Chituari's blasts. The solider fell hard onto the cement.

"Steve!" Waverly hefted her weapon and ran over to help, but had to drop to the ground to dodge a blast aimed at her chest.

Meanwhile, Thor flipped a car with his hammer and sent it flying into the rest of the Chituari around them, crushing them. He turned, tossed his hammer at one remaining alien behind Waverly, and then walked over to help both the captain and the agent to their feet.

Steve clutched his stomach and tried to catch his breath. Even Thor was gasping with exhaustion. Waverly felt as if she was about to collapse. She felt light headed and dizzy. She steadied herself between Thor and Steve.

"Ready for another bout?" Thor asked.

Waverly, exhaustion finally overcoming her, shook her head. Just that motion threatened to make her pass out.

Next to her, Steve grabbed her arm to keep her on her feet. Turning to Thor he said, "Why? You getting' sleepy?"

Over Steve and Waverly's earpieces, Natasha broke radio silence. "I can close it. Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down."


Steve felt a sudden sense of hope. If they could shut the portal down, it would be a simple task of rounding up the Chituari that remained on Earth and capturing Loki. Easy compared with all they'd been through in the last few hours. "Do it!" Steve said without hesitation.

"No wait!" Tony's voice joined the conversation.

"Stark, these things are still coming." Steve was completely lost by Stark's desire to keep the portal open.

"I've got a nuke comin' in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it."

Steve felt his stomach tighten. A nuke? The military seriously fired a nuke at a civilian population. Then, Stark's words fully hit Steve as he saw Iron Man zoom by, holding onto the bomb. Stark was going to fly through the portal, sending the nuke to the Chituari's home territory. He was offering himself up to save the world. Tony Stark, the arrogant billionaire who never took anything seriously was going to take the biggest hit possible for the team. Maybe Tony was more like his dad after all. Steve's voice was tight when he said, "Stark, you know that's a one way trip."

Tony didn't answer.

Next to him, Steve heard Waverly gasp. "He isn't." Waverly grabbed onto Steve's arm and gripped it tightly. She had tears in her eyes which were locked on the portal and the small red and gold dot that was hurtling toward it.

Steve turned his own eyes to Iron Man. He counted down the seconds in his head. Tony vanished into the portal. Waverly's grip on Steve's arm tightened and even Thor lost his confident aura and tightened with anxiety. Steve felt his own heart rate speed up and his stomach twist nervously.

Waverly was holding her breath.

Steve had reached zero. The bomb had to have detonated. Around them, any remaining instantly fell to the ground. Tony hadn't come back through the portal. As if hearing his voice from another world, Steve said, "Close it."

Waverly fell into Steve's chest, finally having been broken. She sobbed. Steve put an arm around her and watched as the portal grew smaller and smaller. At the last possible second, Steve saw something fall through. For a horrible second, he thought more Chituari were coming. Then he realized it was Stark.

"Son of a gun."

Waverly pulled herself away from Steve just enough to look up.

Sure enough, Iron Man had come back through the portal. But something wasn't right.

"He's not slowing down." Thor said. He began twirling his hammer, ready to take off. But before he could, Steve saw a green blur fly through the sky, catch Stark, and land on a nearby building.

Steve released a breath he hadn't known he was holding. The Hulk had caught Iron Man's fall. Banner dropped to the ground beside Steve and company, tossing Stark aside. Steve ran over with Waverly and Thor.

Thor ripped Tony's faceplate off, but underneath, Stark was unconscious. Steve dropped down to his knees, not quite sure what to do. Would CPR work on a man with an arc reactor in his chest?

Banner then roared in Stark's face, not only surprising everyone around him, but shocking Tony back to consciousness as well. The billionaire gasped, his eyes flew open, and the arc reactor in his chest lit back up.

"What the hell?"

Steve sighed and Waverly, who had once more latched herself onto Steve or else she'd faint, sobbed with relief.

"What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me." Even battered, bruised, and barely alive, Tony had his sense of humor.

Steve looked around him. "We won." He hardly believed it. They had been vastly outnumbered. Yet, they managed to save countless lives, hold the enemy, and close the portal. Not only that, Tony Stark had almost lost his life to send a nuke into outer space to both save New York and take out the alien's home base.

"All right. Yay! Hooray, good job guys." Stark said breathlessly. He waved his fist weakly in the air in celebration. "Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried Shawarma? There's a Shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it."

Steve laughed. He didn't know what in the world Shawarma was but he was up for anything that wasn't battling aliens. He almost agreed when Thor spoke up.

"We're not finished yet."

Right. They still had to deal with Loki.

"Then," Tony gasped, still out of breath, "Shawarma after."


Waverly, Steve, Thor, Tony, and Hulk met up with Natasha and Clint at what was formerly Stark Tower. Now, the building was simply labeled with a huge, battered letter A. Windows were shattered and the fancy tip top balcony was in shambles. Tony didn't seem to be too upset though, which was a shock for everyone. They gathered in what was formerly Tony's combined bar and living room. Loki was crawling from a god sized hole in the floor. The movement caused him to wince and grunt in pain. He was covered in a layer of dust and was bleeding from several cuts. Hulk seemed very pleased with himself. Waverly wondered what all had transpired in here while she and Steve had been on the ground fighting.

The team, all fully armed and thoroughly pissed off, assembled around Loki with weapons raised. The battered god turned his head slowly to face them. Addressing Tony, he said, "If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."

Clint nocked an arrow. "Try again."

Waverly radioed her boss. "Sir, we got him."