Willow wandered back over to the small table Bruce was sitting on in a quiet park, shaded by the tree swaying in the wind. It was quiet, peaceful. The calm before the storm.

"How do you feel?" she asked, setting down two large bottles of water to go along with the burgers and fries that Bruce was currently picking at.

Looking up at her, Bruce's eyes were less low and fatigued as they had been earlier. It was a good sign, but Willow knew how much of a toll the Other Guy took on Bruce. It didn't make it any better that they didn't have time to let him recover as he normally would. Something was brewing. Something horrible, and they needed to get back to the team before it bubbled over.

"Better," he nodded, looking down at a fry in his hand. "Food's helping,"

"It's not exactly the most nutritious," she sighed. "But I found some water at a gas station,"

"Did they happen to go missing like these burgers did?" he asked, looking up with a small grin.

"Well we didn't fall from the sky with our credit cards, did we?" she pointed out, hands on her hips as she too smiled mischievously. "I have to improvise,"

"Can't people see what you're taking, just...not you?"

Willow reached out and picked up one of the others burgers wrapped in greasy take-out paper, making it disappear in her hands. Bruce stared in awe, trying to keep his mouth from hanging open in astonishment. He would never stop being amazed by what she could do.

"I can project it, just like the fire," she shrugged, setting the burger back down. "I checked in on some routes to New York, we're about an hour away from Stark Tower if we drive,"

Bruce nodded, taking another bite of his burger. The last thing either of them wanted to do was unleash the Other Guy again, especially with how it affected Bruce afterwards, but they knew that whatever they were going to walk into, there was no escaping it.

Willow could sense the dread in his silence, the worry he had about bringing out that side of himself again. It had been so long without an incident with the Other Guy, and now he was going to cross over to him for the second time that day. As she watched him stare down at his hands, she remembered back to one of their first conversations when they met in the lab.

"I owe Fury a debt," she began. "Doing this clears me of that, and it gives me my freedom back. But you don't owe Fury or SHIELD anything,"

Bruce looked to her with a small shake of his head.

"They've been keeping people away without me even knowing," he admit. "I guess in a way I do owe a debt,"

"They kept people away so they could bring you in whenever they needed, that's not a favor," she argued.

"What are you saying? I shouldn't go to New York? An alien army is on it's way and we don't know where it's going to hit or what's it's going to do,"

"I'm saying that you don't have to march into this fight," she cleared up, her voice becoming louder. "You told me yourself you didn't want to be involved physically in this fight,"

"That's before Loki pushed me over the edge, before we knew about the Chitauri,"

"It doesn't change the fact that right now you could leave," she pointed out. "You could have that quiet life you had, you wouldn't have to put yourself through this,"

"Everyone is walking into this fight, Loki made this whole thing personal. I'm not running," he shook his head.

"I just don't want you to put yourself through this when you don't have to,"

Bruce frowned and continued to look out at the little town they found themselves in.

"When I'm the Other Guy...I've done a lot of things I wish I hadn't," he explained. "But this time I know I can do something good, I can help, and I know that right now I've got a clear path to take and get away from all of this, but I would regret it,"

Willow reached out and took his hand into hers, giving it a light squeeze and a comforting smile.

"You really are unlike anyone I've ever known,"

Willow wrapped her arms around Bruce's body, holding onto him as if she was going to slip right off the back of the motorcycle. They had found it parked in a backstreet as they wandered around, searching for a vehicle. They couldn't waste any longer looking for something more suitable.

"You know how to drive this right?" Willow asked, her breath warm on Bruce's ear.

The steering on the motorcycle was quite shaky, but it didn't take long for Bruce to get a better grip on the bars and begin to increase their speed. Something that Willow did not appreciate.

"It's fine," he assured. "Hey, I've got this,"

It was unreasonable for her to be this nervous on the back of the bike, Willow knew that. She would most likely be unharmed if anything did happen, but it didn't take away the worries she had each time they hit a bump in the road or Bruce's steering went off course.

"I don't like motorbikes," she admit. "They're unstable,"

Bruce couldn't help grin in amusement at her words.

"You're scared of motorbikes?"

"I never said I was scared, I said I don't like them," she corrected.

"We're fine," he shook his head. "It's just under an hour,"

"I can...I can deal with that," she nodded, convincing herself. "That's fine,"

Bruce made sure her hands were secure around his body when he started to go faster, making it to more even roads and seeing the chaos in the sky off in the distance. Willow saw it too, suddenly much less afraid of the motorcycle she was on, and instead on the horror they were heading toward.

"Oh shit..." Willow gasped, looking up at the dark circle in the sky, watching as small, dark figured descended from it.

"Any idea what that is?" Bruce asked.

"I guess that's the army Thor warned us about. It's...it's not what I expected,"

"None of this is what I expected," Bruce added.

"You're still sure about this?" she asked.

Bruce paused for a moment, thinking about the city that was being torn apart. The rest of the team, or whoever was left of their team, would be fighting against it with everything they had. Bruce could help, and for the first time in so long, he wanted to walk into it.

Steve couldn't believe what he was seeing. Not only the aliens raining down from the sky, controlled by a God using Stark Tower as his stage, but the image of Bruce Banner riding into the chaos on an old, beat up motorbike.

Natasha turned to the sound of the rattling motor, her expression turning to one of surprise. When she saw the Other Guy falling down from the helicarrier, she was sure it was the last she would see of Bruce Banner.

Bruce turned off the motorcycle, climbing off in his raggedy old clothes he had been given, making his way over to the group he had traveled to fight beside.

"Well, this all seems...horrible," Bruce summed up.

"I've seen worse," Natasha noted.

Bruce looked over to her with a small look of apology.

"I'm sorry," he told her.

"No," she shook her head. "We could use a little worse,"

They all looked around for a moment, wondering how they were going to combat all of this. And now they had Bruce, they all knew where his talents could be used the most. The large alien monster that had came down from the portal in the sky was knocking down buildings and currently chasing around Tony in the suit. They needed to put a stop to it before they could make any real difference to what was going on.

Bruce noticed the newest member of their team - Clint Barton. Newly rescued from Loki's control and immediately armed and ready to fight back.

"Where's Willow? Did she land with you?" Steve asked.

"I'm here," Willow's voice called to them all. "I'm going after Loki, figured it would be smart to stay stealthy,"

"Uh," Clint mumbled, looking around. "She's here?"

"Told you," Natasha smirked back at him. "I'll meet you up there,"

"Dr. Banner," Steve began. "Now would be a really good time for you to get angry,"

Bruce grinned, turning toward the monster that Tony was leading straight toward them.

"That's my secret Cap," he announced, preparing himself. "I'm always angry,"

They all watched as Bruce's body transformed from the man he was into the Other Guy. His muscles grew, his body swelled and his skin turned green. Willow, although invisible to everyone, was staring wide-eyed at the situation before them all. The Other Guy's fist hit the monster directly, stopping it in it's tracks from moving any further. And in that moment, everything was truly beginning.

Steve walked alongside Willow as they spoke, the soldier offering some advice as to getting Loki at his weakest. They needed to gain control over him, stop the constant stream of his alien soldiers coming into the city.

"Romanoff will focus on shutting down the portal, you've gotta get Loki down," Steve summed up.

"I can stop him," she assured. "Look out!"

In front of them, three cars exploded from the impact of the alien air crafts, creating heat and flames ferocious enough to melt away skin. Willow reached out to Steve's arm and held him tight, projecting her own heat control onto him. The flames that hit him felt like nothing but air, swarming around them until eventually it died down.

"Try to avoid those," Willow advised jokingly. "Good luck down here!"

Steve had no idea where Willow was or if she was still nearby, but he still gathered his breath enough to wish her luck in return. None of them were sure who was going to be left standing after this was all over, and right now they couldn't focus on that. Right now, they had to survive.

It had taken good aim and a lucky chance for Willow to find herself riding through the skies on the back of a Chitauri aircraft. Most of that luck came from the fact that she was unseen to any eyes. She could see Loki standing on top of the Stark Tower, looking down at the terror he was inflicting upon the city. It made her beyond angry to see how satisfied he looked.

She remembered being in the holding cell with Loki and listening to him repeatedly tell her how their kind was not meant to be on Earth living among mortals and suppressing their powers, and she had to admit to herself that living a life without hiding her power was tempting. All her life, society had been against her. But seeing all of this destruction now, seeing people suffer for no reason, it all convinced her that there was no way she would ever live the way Loki said they were intended.

Down on the ground, Willow could see Bruce fighting against the alien soldiers coming his way. The Other Guy was putting a real dent in the amount of enemies they were having to deal with, but there was still so many more that needed to be stopped.

The Chitauri craft flew closer to the top of Stark Tower, but not close enough for Willow to easily land. They were high above the tower and she knew that if she didn't take a chance soon, she wasn't ever going to be close enough to stop him. With a deep breath, Willow threw herself off the back of the craft, feeling the harsh wind hit her skin as she fell down through the air. Her body slowed the fall, allowing her to steer herself closer to the ledge where Loki stood.

Willow's feet hit the ledge of the tower softly, her eyes never moving off the deranged God. He was watching the Chitauri do their work, a smirk on his lips as he continued to glance up at the wormhole forming in the sky. This was her chance to take him down, to take all of his satisfaction and determination away from him.

"You think I don't know you're here?" he asked, not taking his gaze away from the chaos below.

A glare formed on Willow's face, but a cocky grin remained on her lips.

"I think you're underestimating me,"