Fire and Ice

•12•

The Quinjet approaches Stark Tower, which has a new blue beam shooting up from it to a portal in the sky; what can only be the Chitauri army flies out of it, never-ending. They're large and gray, almost like robots. Kate stands behind Nat, Steve next to her, looking out.

"Stark, we're on your three, heading northeast," Nat says on comms.

"What, did you stop for drive-thru?" Tony replies.

"Gosh, we should have," Kate says. "I'm starving."

Tony ignores her. "Swing up Park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you."

Clint does as asked, flying up the street, shooting at the flying Chitauri with the Quinjet's gun. He turns right to follow them, and they swoop up past Stark Tower, where two figures are on the platform outside, exchanging blows. Shakespeare in the Billionaire's Tower.

"Family reunion... nine o'clock? Nine o'clock," Kate says, pointing.

Nat snorts. "See 'em."

"Scientist, not a spy."

"Scientists don't know how to read clocks?" Clint comments. Kate rolls her eyes. The jet swings around to face Thor and Loki, shooting the latter.

Loki retaliates, shooting with the scepter. One of their wings is damaged, rocking the ship, and they start going down. Kate falls to the floor, then slides, hitting the back of the ship. "Goodness gracious great balls of fire!" she says, anticipating that bruise. Steve manages to hang on to one of the seats.

"That's a bit of an ironic phrase, isn't it?" he says.

"Focus on hanging on and not my sayings!" Kate shouts, now sliding to the side.

"Yeah, I don't see how that's gonna work!" he replies, sliding too. Kate's hands scramble for something to grab as the wing clips buildings on the way down. Moments later, they hit the ground with a jolt. It doesn't help with the previous injuries and bruises Kate's sustained in the last few days.

"Are we dead?" she asks as Steve gets to his feet and opens the back of the jet. "I'm okay with being dead." Nat and Clint hurry to follow him, but he pauses to help Kate up.

Once she's on her feet, he gives the answer she wasn't looking for. "Not yet. Until then, we have an army to stop."

She nods, squinting in the sunlight. "Yep. That. I'm mostly here to scorch Loki, but that works, too."

Outside is chaos, the concrete in rubble underneath the Quinjet, cars scattered, their alarms blaring. Chitauri fly through the sky. Steve looks to Stark Tower. "We gotta get back up there."

They run onto the bridge, looking up as civilians run in the other direction. But then a gigantic, robot-looking eel-like Chitauri monster exits the portal, emitting a noise not unlike a whole pod of whales. Steve stops first, then Nat, Clint, and Kate. Chitauri soldiers leap off the beast and slide down the surrounding buildings to the ground.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Steve asks on comms.

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

"Banner?"

"Just keep me posted."

"I think Hulk would be really appreciated right about now," Kate adds, though not on comms. Behind her, Nat and Clint are assessing the situation. When the Chitauri start firing, they duck behind an abandoned cab, and Kate and Steve quickly follow suit.

"We've got civilians trapped up here," Clint says. But as he says it, two streaks fly past on the Chitauri's gliders. One isn't a Chitauri solider.

"Loki," Kate says. As he flies down the street, he leaves destruction in his wake.