Steve pulled his helmet-hood up as they neared the hangar. Eleanore, Jet, and Darren were waiting at the door, doing a bad job of being inconspicuous. At least Jet was still a dog. They had their suits on, and for the first time Steve noticed how different they were.

Darren's suit was much like his father's, but bulkier and built for protection. It had more shielding in the chest and neck areas, and the hand repulsors were supplemented by tiny guns on the wrists, and something that could have been a laser. The long-range gun was still on the back, though Steve had never seen Darren use it yet. It was no model he had ever seen, and he assumed the design was from one or both of the Starks. The helmet had rounded eye slots and a curved mouth, making it look more human. Its colors were also less flashy than the elder Stark liked, black and dark gray chrome replacing red and gold. It was muted, and it fit the designer's personality: a quiet protector, and a long-range fighter.

Eleanore's suit was a striking contrast. Aside from the bulky medic's bag slung over her shoulder, it fit to her body in many tiny scales, just like Jet's wings. When she moved, there was no mechanical noise to go with it, and when she walked it made barely a whisper. The helmet was not present, and Steve assumed it folded back at her command, fitting into the rest of the suit at the neck. The scales changed color when she moved, from light gray to violet, kind of like a crow's feather Steve remembered examining in the sun as a child. When the light hit the suit's motion, it was difficult to make out where exactly any one part of it was. A protective measure, Steve was sure, and one that Darren must have come up with when Eleanore refused to move around in a bulky container. He'd heard them arguing about that one day, because Darren wanted to make her a different, more protective suit, and he never knew who won until then.

"OK," Steve said as he reached the couple. He looked around, meeting everyone's eyes. "Let's go get a plane."

"That one," Romanov tilted her head slightly, indicating a quinjet sitting with its ramp down. Steve agreed with her choice. That jet had the clearest path out of the hangar.

They all started walking silently toward their chosen target. The hangar was mostly deserted, but the few people that did see them gave them strange looks, but did not interfere.

A young technician was replacing a parachute in the passenger area as they mounted the ramp. He looked up with dawning apprehension as Steve and the team faced him.

He began to protest, and Steve gave him marks for bravery. "Hey, y-you guys aren't authorized to be in here—"

"Son. Just don't." That was enough to make the buy scuttle away.

Hawkeye took the wheel, Romanov beside him as copilot. Steve and Eleanore settled into opposite seats, and Jet lay on the floor between them. Darren flew outside ahead of them, acting as an escort as they exited the hangar's open doors. His suit malfunctioned from time to time, and Eleanore watched him through the windshield in quiet concern.

They were not far from Manhattan, and as the bridge came into sight Darren sped up and left them.

"I'm going to get a different suit," he explained through the coms and the plane's speakers.

"Tell us what it's like at the tower," Eleanore told him.

"Okay." Silence for a moment. "Actually, you can probably guess."

"Tony fighting Loki?" Steve put in as the visuals appeared on the monitors.

"Yes." Darren sounded unamused. "And he isn't wearing a suit. And now he's falling out a window. I should catch— oh, wait there's the suit." He sounded slightly relieved, but more tense than ever. Steve guessed that the sight of his father being tossed around like a rag doll was not one the young man had ever wanted to see. "Loki's acting so weird," he began, and Steve was about to ask that that meant when a beam shot from the top of the tower into the sky, brighter than daylight. A hole was ripped in the blue sky, and Steve saw unfamiliar stars shining through.

"Hey Dad, since one window's already broken…" Darren spoke in a more jovial tone.

"It's coming out of your allowance," Tony joked, abandoning his dispute with Loki and flying up to meet the specks that were descending from the portal.

Darren dove through a large window on another floor as the quinjet neared the tower.

"You can let us off here," Eleanore told Romanov, walking to the hatch with Jet at her side, the medical pack slung over her shoulders and fastened around her waist. She hit the switch and opened the door.

"Good luck," Clint shouted over the roar of the wind. Eleanore waved absently over her shoulder as her helmet settled over her head. She backed up a step, and together she and Jet took a running jump from the plane.

Steve watched as Jet transformed midair and Eleanore grabbed onto his back. They flew together toward the tower, shooting through the window Darren had just broken. Another red blur flew through the air after them, and landed on the balcony of Stark Tower. Thor had joined the party.

The two brothers started fighting and some of the letters got knocked off the tower and onto the street below.

"We need to minimize civilian casualties," Steve said into the coms. Romanov looked over her shoulder and nodded to show she'd heard.

"Stark, we're on your 3 headed north east," she said, and Steve heard a sigh on the other end.

"What, did you stop for drive through?" Stark's face appeared on the display. "Swing up Park, I'm gonna lay them out for you."

Steve stood as the jet came to an intersection. Stark flew past, followed by some sort of hovercraft piloted by reptilian creatures. Romanov manned the guns and shot many of the ones that flew by. They dodged through the smoke of the wreckage and made for the tower once more.

"Nat," Barton said as they leveled with Loki and Thor's fight.

"I see them," she responded, pointing the artillery their way. Just as she started shooting at Loki, though, he threw Thor off and aimed his scepter at them, firing a shot that blasted through the left wing.

The plane started tilting, and Steve saw Jet and Darren flash by the window as they listed downward. Smoke filled the view from the windshield after that, and Steve grabbed the bars on the ceiling, his feet leaving the floor as the plane twirled.

They made it around a building, but hit another one with the undamaged wing. Steve lost his grip in one hand as they plummeted to the ground.

The landing was rough, chinks of stone and cement ground up by the jet, but they were all unharmed as Romanov opened the back hatch again and they ran out into the noise-filled, chaotic street.

"We've got to get back up there!" Steve said aloud, not knowing if the coms picked it up. He, Barton, and Romanov ran toward Stark Tower's ornate front entrance. They were making good progress, and Steve was confident they could ride the elevator, or even take the stairs up to help Thor defeat Loki.

A groaning sound, like a ship in a storm, made Steve pause and look up to the portal. Behind him, the two agents froze, and they all witnessed the flying monstrosity shooting out of the hole in the sky.

Steve's heart sank as he looked around at all the people still running away from the comparatively tiny hovercrafts. There was no way to direct them all, with as much panic and fear as this beast would instill. It descended quickly, and flew close over their heads, knocking down a statue in front of them and continuing down the street. Its sides started flashing, and aliens shot out, similar to the hovercraft ones, clawing into the sides of buildings and screeching. They flew through windows, and flashes appeared where they landed, signaling gunfire.

Not even the buildings are safe, Steve thought, looking around at the hopeless scene. People were already dying. He could hear the screams. If they could stop that battleship, then maybe they could take out the hovering ones.

"Stark are you seeing this?" he asked, hoping he'd have an answer.

"Seeing, still working on believing," Tony replied. "Where's Banner, has he shown up yet?"

"Banner?" Steve was confused.

"Just keep me posted," Tony's voice cut off as he flew overhead, tracking the behemoth.

A few of the aliens jumped down, and Steve dispatched them with a throw of his shield. Barton and Romanov crouched behind an abandoned taxi cab, and he joined them, looking for information.

"We've got civilians trapped in—"Barton started, only to be cut off by blasts from approaching hovercraft. Steve recognized a figure riding on one of the vehicles.

"Loki," he noted, and Barton and Romanov watched with him as the demigod disappeared, shooting cars and creating general chaos along the way. The people below the bridge were running and screaming, unable to run into the buildings, and exposed when they stayed on the street. "They're fish in a barrel down there."

"Go," Romanov nodded to him. "We got this. It's good, go."

"You think you can hold them off?" Steve asked, not wanting to split up the team any more than he had to.

"Captain," Barton said, notching an arrow. "It would be my genuine pleasure." He shot the arrow into the head of one of the Chitauri, and it released bullets on contact, taking another one down with it.

Steve stood and started running while Romanov provided cover fire. He jumped from the bridge and rolled onto a bus parked below it, avoiding fire from hovercraft swarming over the street. He ran up to a group of policemen who were shouting at each other in confusion. They jumped when Steve landed on top of one of their cars, out of breath.

"You need men in these buildings," Steve told them, speaking mostly to the chief. "There are people inside, and they're going to be running right into the line of fire. You take them to the basements or the subways. You keep them off the streets." He looked around, getting his bearings. "I need a perimeter as far back as 39th."

"Why the hell should I take orders from you?" the chief asked.

Steve paused, used to being obeyed. Is Captain America not good enough for you? He heard shots and explosions from behind them and turned to face them, holding his shield up as a few Chitauri landed beside him on the car. Steve blocked a shot from one and knocked it down with a punch, then hit the other with his shield, either knocking it out or killing it. The first one came back, and Steve grabbed its gun and severed its arm with a well-placed blow to the joint. The creature screamed and he smacked it with his shield again so it flew back into a car.

The chief turned around to his men. "I need men in those buildings. Lead the people down and away from the streets." He spoke into his radio, "We're gonna set up a perimeter all the way down to 39th Street."

Steve hid a grin as more aliens joined the fight in his area. He was occupied for a few minutes with keeping the policemen alive as they received their orders. Once they set out into the buildings, he stood and looked around.

"Hey," Eleanore's voice came from his ear as the air stirred around him. He looked around and saw Jet landing ten feet away, crumpling an empty car.

"What's it look like from up there?" Steve asked her, walking up to Jet's side as her helmet folded back. They had put on the saddle, so she was more flexible in the air.

"The destruction is surprisingly contained, thanks to Tony and Darren," Elle brushed some stray hair out of her eyes. "Three square blocks. We've helped a bit, too. How are you? Here, take a drink." She handed him a bottle of water and he gratefully drained it.

"I'm fine," Steve told her. "The ones on the ground have almost no armor. Just hit them in the head or the joints, and they're toast."

"I'll keep that in mind. Hey," she glanced around. "How much do you think the city would care if I had Jet take out a couple fire hydrants?"

"Considering all this," Steve motioned to everything, "not that much."

"Cool. You heard him, Jet," Eleanore jumped from the dragon's back, and Steve caught her as she hit the ground. Jet snorted and walked over to the nearest hydrant, knocking aside easily with his clawed foot.

"Okay, we're back in business," Eleanore put her helmet back up, so her voice came through the com again. "I'm going to sweep the buildings and see how money people need healing," she motioned to Jet, who came to stand beside her again. "Jet's going to do more air support. We saw Loki on a hovercraft and he looked like he was shitting bricks when Jet fired at him."

Steve almost laughed at the image. Almost. "Keep your coms open so you can hear if we need you somewhere else," he ordered her, and she nodded.

"You got it." She turned and ran down the sidewalk into a building that was being sprayed with hydrant water. Steve saw a policeman greet her, and his eyes widened as a large volume of water followed her into the lobby.

Jet watched her go as well, then blinked at Steve before he spread his wings and took off. Almost immediately, a hovercraft without Loki on it flew around a corner and shot at him. Jet opened his mouth and fired a blue-flamed blast that incinerated the occupants and sent the ship crashing down in a charred heap. Jet flew gracefully down the block, dipping his tail to take out another hydrant before shooting up into the sky.

Seeing that the people on this level of the street were taken care of, Steve ran back to the bridge where Barton and Romanov were fighting. He leapt over the railing, taking out a Chitauri soldier before lighting fell from the sky and fried the remaining ones.

Thor landed in their midst, stumbling and clearly in pain.

"Eleanore," Steve called through the com. "We need you up on the bridge right now."

"How am I supposed to get up there?" she asked, sounding confused. "Oh, never mind. There's a car I can climb."

"What's the story upstairs," Steve asked as they waited for her to show up. Barton walked around collecting his arrows, and Romanov went to the edge to the bridge and gave Eleanore a hand up.

"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable," Thor told him.

"Thor's right," Tony supplied, coming in flying above them. "We've gotta deal with these guys."

"How do we do this," Romanov asked, walking up with Eleanore.

"As a team," Steve replied, wishing for a better answer. He needed to plan.

"Here Thor," Eleanore said, her helmet folding back again. She rested her hand on the demigod's side, and he watched with something like wonder as silver light flowed from her finger tips and healed his wound.

"I have unfinished business with Loki," Thor commented as Elle drew back. She looked fine, taking a drink from a water bottle she pulled out of her pack, and Steve guessed that the wound wasn't severe.

"Yeah, get in line," Barton shot back.

"Save it," Steve commanded, cutting him off. "Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us, and that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild." Steve took a deep breath and let the facts flow through his mind, picking out what was important. "We've got Stark up top. He's gonna need us—" he stopped, hearing a sputtering engine coming up behind him.

Steve and the rest of the team turned and saw Banner, riding a decrepit motorcycle and wearing extremely baggy clothes. He parked the bike and walked up to them, and they met him in the middle.

"So," he began, stretching his arms. "This all seems horrible."

"I've seen worse," Romanov commented, looking him up and down.

"Sorry," Banner apologized. Steve wondered what had happened between them.

"No, we could use a little… worse." Romanov assured Banner, and they focused once again.

"Stark, we've got him," Steve said into the coms.

"Banner?"

"Just like you said."

"Then tell him to suit up," Tony sounded thrilled. "I'm bringing the party to you."

Behind Banner, Stark's suit whirled around a building and headed straight for them. Right behind him came the giant Chitauri mother ship, roaring with rage, Darren shooting a laser into its side.

"I don't see how that's a party," Romanov commented dryly.

Banner said nothing, just turned and walked toward the low-flying monster.

"Dr. Banner," Steve warned him. "Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."

"That's my secret, Captain," Banner turned back and smiled. "I'm always angry." The beast had almost reached him, but as he turned back he transformed effortlessly into the Hulk and punched it square in the snout. The layer of metal crumpled, and the alien came to a dead stop, flipping over and about to crush the team. Metal cracked and fell as its joints broke one by one, and Steve was calculating how to get them all out of the way before it hit them.

"Hold on," Stark said and shot a missing into its exposed flesh.

Steve covered Romanov with his shield, and saw that Darren was standing over Eleanore as the thing exploded into sparks. They were showered with metal and singed body parts, and the head rolled off the bridge, but everyone was fine.

A weird roaring sound filled the air, and they all looked up to find the Chitauri screaming at them from where they clung to the sides of buildings. Hulk roared back a challenge. The team circled up, each facing a different direction as they prepared for the next attack.

"Guys," Romanov drew their attention back to the portal, from which more huge alien creatures were issuing.

"Call it, Captain," Tony Stark said.

Steve felt the team behind him, and for the first time he felt their support as well. "Alright, listen up. Until we close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, calling out patterns and strays." Steve pointed to the tallest building beside Stark Tower. "Stark, Darren, you got the perimeter. Anything get more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

"Want to give me a lift?" Barton asked Tony.

"Right. Better clench up, Legolas." Tony and Darren took off, dropping Barton on the roof as they left.

"Thor," Steve continued, drawing the demigod's attention back. "You've got to try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You've got the lightning: light the bastards up." Thor nodded and flew away. Steve turned to Romanov and Eleanore. "We're on the ground. Keep the fighting here. And Hulk," Steve was suddenly the object of an intense, green gaze. "Smash."

The Hulk smiled and launched into the air, making mincemeat out of the Chitauri lining the building's walls.

The sky darkened as Steve, Eleanore, and Romanov turned back to the ground. Chitauri were coming, running up from all sides. Lightning lit the Empire State Building, and Steve glanced up once more to see an electric traffic jam stalling the aliens at the portal.

After that, there was no time to look up. More and more aliens kept falling from the sky. As soon as he'd killed one, two more would pop up. Eleanore and Romanov were holding their own, one with water as a weapon, which was very impressive now that Steve saw it in action, the other with acrobatic hand-to-hand combat that leveled Chitauri before they even saw her coming.

Steve could hear discussion between his teammates through the speaker in his ear. They were finally working together, like a team. Barton lived up to his nickname of Hawkeye by pointing out enemies to Tony and Darren, and observing their weak points. Thor just kept throwing lightning at everything, and Steve suspected that if he had an ear piece it would have been fried. Similarly, Hulk would have smashed his, so Steve kept tabs on him by listening to the distinctive roars.

"I'm glad I'm sweating so much," Eleanore commented to him as they fought a couple aliens back to back. "Because otherwise I would really need to pee."

"No bathroom breaks in battle," Steve commented, and then they were whirled apart by another group of Chitauri.

They were battling for their lives, and it lasted so long that even Steve was getting tired. Sometimes Jet would make a round, swinging low and blasting large groups of aliens with fire before hitting the skies again. Steve was grateful for the breaks, as he was getting tired. Romanov was flagging too, and Eleanore's motions had become more about defense. She stuck close to the spy and the Super Soldier, watching their backs instead of picking new battles. Her walls of water actually absorbed the energy of the Chitauri weapons' blasts, so they were what she used the most.

Steve saw Romanov struggling out of the corner of his eye, and ran to help her. She was being crushed and nearly stabbed by a large Chitauri, but she swung around its neck using her legs and electrocuted its nervous system. Or something. In any case, it fell, and she grabbed its spear and pointed it at Steve as he jumped form a car. They were caught in a lull for a moment, and Eleanore ran up from the other side. They rested together, leaning against a taxi.

"Captain," Romanov commented. "None of this is going to mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal."

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it," Steve pointed out, watching more hovercraft flying through.

"Well, maybe it's not about guns," Romanov looked to the other end of the bridge, where Chitauri were jumping from vehicles to join the fight.

"If you want to get up there, you're gonna need a ride." Steve scanned the sky for a flying ally, but found nothing.

"I've got a ride," the spy told him, backing up and surveying oncoming hovercraft. She walked to the other side of the bridge. "Could use a boost, though."

Steve readied himself, both for her jump and for failure. "You sure about this?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun." Romanov deadpanned as she took a running start, jumped on a car, and vaulted off his shield, grabbing onto an alien ship as it zoomed overhead.

Steve allowed himself a second to appreciate the feat.

"She makes me wish I was a dancer," Eleanore commented from the other side of the car. A blast hit the mortar next to her, and she flinched, drawing up her water again.

Steve decided to stay near her as much as possible. She was getting worn down, her hair dusty and matted, her movements slow. She wiped a drop of sweat from her forehead and sent spikes of ice through the oncoming alien's chest.

"That's a new one," Steve commented, coming up beside her and tossing his shield.

"Yeah, I just figured it out," Eleanore waved her arms around and formed a dome around them that absorbed the shots. "Let's see if this works." She stilled, and the water cleared so they could see the oncoming group of Chitauri. Then she drew her arm back and a block of ice formed in front of them. She made a punching motion, grunting with effort, and the ice block smashed over and through five aliens.

"Whew," she bent over, hands on her knees. "That took a lot. Not doing that again."

"Look alive," Steve warned her, moving to stand between her and another group that had just landed.

"Hey, look," Eleanore pointed, but Steve was shooting a couple of aliens bounding at them. "Okay, ignore it. But the National Guard's here."

"That's great. They'll help with the ground troops and evacuation," Steve already saw groups of civilians being herded into subway tunnels by people in camouflage uniforms out of the corner of his eye.

"Steve!" Eleanore yelled, but not in time to alert him as he was tackled from behind. The alien tried stabbing him with a spear, but Steve punched it as hard as he could, denting its throat. It collapsed and didn't rise.

"Captain," Barton said. "Bank on 47 past Madison. They cornered a lot of civilians in there."

"I'm on it," Steve replied, looking up as Jet landed.

"We'll come with you for outside backup," Eleanore said. "So you can get the people out."

They ran through debris, using Jet as a moving shield. Steve felt bad for the dragon, but he didn't seem to mind, no matter how many times a blast hit it.

"Scales," Eleanore explained breathlessly. "They're too strong."

Steve said nothing in reply, and they skidded to a stop in front of the bank.

"I'll come in and help—" Eleanore began.

"No," Steve interrupted her. "Keep this street clear, and make sure that subway tunnel is open for the civilians."

"Fine, be careful." She turned back and used a stream of water to whip a Chitauri in the neck.

Steve climbed a trailed and leapt through a broken second story window, right into a group of aliens with a beeping grenade. He threw his shield at the one with the explosive, killing it and causing it to drop, then he dove behind a heavy desk as the others fired at him. The desk was old, solid wood, and it slid fast as Steve kicked it, smashing one of the aliens against the railing and knocking the other one over. The smashed one was still alive, so Steve ran up to it and broke its neck, sending it over the railing and onto the crowded floor below.

"Everyone, clear out!" he yelled, the bomb still beeping loudly in his ears. Another alien tackled him from behind, clinging to his back and pulling his mask off. Steve elbowed it and used it as a shield as shots started coming his way from the last alien. It picked up the bomb, which was beeping more and more urgently, and prepared to throw it at him. Steve picked up his shield and jumped so he was curled behind it as the blast tore through the room.

He was thrown out the window, and landed stomach-first on a car, smashing through the roof and some of his ribs. He rose stiffly, and saw police and firemen were guiding the people out with Jet as a guard. Eleanore was running toward him.

"What was that?" she asked, holding his chin to make him look her in the eye. "No concussion. Let's see…" she felt along his abdomen, and Steve grabbed her hand before it got to the bad part.

"I'm fine," he insisted. "Go heal the civilians."

"No," Eleanore stared defiantly at him. "Medics can disobey orders, can't they? So hold still, and tell me what that blast was."

"Some kind of grenade," Steve gave up and let her prod him, leaning back against the car for a moment.

"Three broken ribs," Eleanore squared her feet and placed her hand over the worst of the pain. "Can you try not to breathe a lot?"

"I can try," Steve grunted, feeling one rib slide into place with a snap.

"Sorry, that had to happen," Eleanore looked up apologetically. "The rest won't hurt."

It didn't hurt, Steve was impressed to find. He barely felt it at all. It was just a slight tingling followed by warmth. He looked around to make sure no more Chitauri were sneaking up on them as they were distracted.

"Hold st— woah," Steve moved a little too much, and Eleanore's legs buckled as she tried to follow him. He caught her, marveling at the absence of the pain, and worried by how pale her face had suddenly gotten.

"Where's your water?" Steve asked, setting her upright again. She stood on her own, but it was shaky.

"I can get water," Eleanore waved her hand and some appeared in the air. She drank it. "What I probably need is food."

"Here," Steve fished the protein bar out of his pocket and gave it to her. Jet came up beside them as she wolfed it down.

"Thanks," Elle sighed, and Steve took the wrapper from her and put it back in his pocket. She started laughing.

"What?"

"Good thing you're not littering," she gasped, leaning on his arm for support. "Wouldn't want to mess up the pristine streets."

Steve glanced around at the destruction. He didn't feel a lot of humor, and he suspected that she did only because she was so tired. "I think we need you both in the air again. I haven't gotten a report from Barton in a while."

"You need backup down here," Eleanore protested, her face growing serious again. "Look, I'll be a grown up. I stopped laughing, see?"

"That's not it—" Steve began, and was interrupted as Thor landed next to them, breathing heavily.

"My friends," he said loudly. "I do not believe the Chitauri have any more large monster ships to send in the near future."

"Then stay and help me here," Steve told him. Thor nodded, brandishing his hammer.

"Fine, let me know if you need help," Eleanore climbed onto Jet's back and her helmet settled over her head.

A group of Chitauri landed a little ways off, and Steve and Thor got to work. They complemented each other nicely, both close-combat, both used to using their strength. Thor watched his back when Steve was dealing with a stubborn alien, and Steve did the same for him. Things were going fine until a large group converged on them all at once.

Steve and Thor got separated for the briefest of moments, and a shot flew out of nowhere, hitting Steve in the side and burning through his uniform. He felt to the ground with a grunt, and had a hard time getting back up. Thor covered for him, catching shots with his hammer and smashing a car into the most numerous pack of Chitauri. He sent his hammer flying again, and Steve heard it smashing aliens as Thor helped him up.

"You ready for another bout?" Thor asked, giving Steve a moment to rest.

"Why, you getting sleepy?" Steve was taken back for a moment to battles with Bucky at his side. Thor didn't answer, and the illusion was shattered.

"I can close it," Romanov's voice came through, strained. "I can shut the portal down. Can anyone copy?"

"Do it!" Steve shouted, bringing a hand to his ear.

"No, wait!" Tony's voice sounded panicked.

"Stark, these things are still coming!" Steve was trying to explain, thinking he should already know this.

"I've got a nuke coming in. It's going to blow in less than a minute. " Steve's heart felt frozen as he thought of them millions of civilians that someone— SHIELD?— was just giving up on. He remembered the bombs leveled at Japan after he went into the ice, and he shuddered. "And I know just where to put it."

"Dad, you're really low on power. That's a one-way trip." Darren's voice was flat, emotionless. Steve felt for the young man, who was watching his father's sacrifice.

Tony didn't answer them, and they watched in silence as the missile headed straight for Stark Tower, with the Iron Man suit under it. It skidded against the side of the building before shooting straight into the air, Tony guiding it along.

Darren came and landed beside Steve and Thor, watching as the missile and the man disappeared into the hold in the sky. He kept his helmet folded up to cover his face. They all watched, looking for a reason to hope, but there was no indication that anything had changed.

"His suit's dark," Darren said quietly.

Chitauri began falling from the sides of buildings, and the giant ones fell from the sky, draping over buildings and streets. Steve watched it happen with hope and dread warring for a place in his mind.

There were a few tense seconds during which Romanov kept the portal open. They all hoped for a miracle. Then a bright flash made its way through the small window in space and Steve knew he had to make a call or expose Manhattan to deadly radiation.

"Close it," he ordered, not wanting to meet Darren's gaze.

There was a straining noise from Romanov's com, and the stream of light from the top of Stark Tower stopped, rippling over the portal in waves like water.

Jet and Eleanore landed behind them, and Eleanore ran up to Darren and took his hand. Everyone stared at the sky.

The hole grew smaller and smaller, and Steve looked away as it closed completely.

"Tony!" Eleanore yelled, yanking Darren's arm and pointing at a speck that had fallen through the portal just as it closed.

"Son of a gun!" Steve exclaimed quietly, feeling hope take despair's place.

They watched the figure fall, but no rockets engaged.

"He's not slowing down," Thor twirled his hammer, and Darren's repulsors whirred.

Before they could take off, there was a resounding roar, and Hulk jumped across the empty space, catching Stark in his arms. Hulk slid down a building and pushed off, landing on his back to keep from squashing the smaller man in the suit. He grunted, pushing Stark off of him and onto the ground.

The assembled Avengers ran over and knelt beside Stark, Darren turning him over onto his back, and Thor ripping his mask away. Tony lay there, eyes closed, not stirring. It was hard to tell if he was breathing or not with the suit on.

"Move," Eleanore slid up next to the Hulk, who got out of the way. She gently slapped Stark's face, "Tony, can you hear me? Open your eyes. It's Elle." There was no response. She held her ear over his mouth, listening, and everyone fell still. Eleanore lifted her head with a frustrated sigh, "Fuck."

Hulk suddenly roared, making them all jump.

"Haaaaugh!" Tony yelled, coming to life with their shock. Hulk roared again, pounding his chest with deafening satisfaction.

"What the hell," Tony gasped, looking around. His suit held him down. Steve backed up so Darren could sit next to his father. "What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me."

"I almost did," Eleanore deadpanned. "It's your fault for not breathing."

They laughed, Darren folded his helmet back to reveal a relieved smile, and Tony still looked around, as though waiting for more aliens to appear and shoot them up.

Steve decided to reassure him. "We won."

Tony sighed with relief. "Alright, yay!" he said unenthusiastically. "Alright, good job, guys.' He strained against his suit, grunting. "Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just… take a day."

"You ever tried Shawarma?" he continued, and Steve finally let himself smile. "There's a Shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it."

"We're not finished yet," Thor cautioned, and the mood shifted to a more serious tone.

Tony looked up at them, resigned. "And then Shawarma after."

Darren helped Tony power his suit back up so he could move around in it, and they ripped the helmet off the back so he could have a full range of vision. The team gathered in front of the tower, and prepared to go up together.

Retrieving Loki from Stark Tower was by far the easiest part of the mission. The dark haired demigod was crawling up the steps stiffly when the team silently filed in. He froze and turned to face them slowly.

"If it's all the same to you," he said, wincing in pain, his expression not in the least bit ashamed or frightened. "I'll have that drink now."

A/N: Avengers is over, but the adventure has only begun! To anyone considering trying to write from a movie: it is incredibly time-consuming, but also really fun. Update: This is the last chapter of this particular story, but there will be a sequel with the first chapter hopefully posted within the next couple of days. The sequel's name is One Day at A Time and it will contain more from Steve's perspective, along with some other new stuff. I hope to see you all there!

KnowInsight: I think Odin might be racist against Frost Giants, and that is a contributing factor to his treatment of Loki. So one wants to admit to prejudice, especially someone who went to war against the people they're prejudiced against, but I think it still affects him, even if it's on a subconscious level. Also, thank you so much for your review! They always encourage me to keep writing, and that's why I've spent all day finishing this chapter. Keep them coming on my new story, please!

Everyone else: Please let me know what you think, and have a great week! Don't forget to check out One Day at A Time,

~PettyWhiteRose