I Can't Help It - Steve Rogers

Chapter 13

Steve turns to Rachel once Nat is out of sight and gets a good look at her exhausted expression. "Are you ok?" he asks her as he steps towards her. "I'm ok" she sighs with a grateful smile. A blast is sent towards them and they both raise their arms to protect themselves before looking at the swarm of aliens who have continued towards them. They quickly start fighting them when Tony lands beside them and uses Steve's shield to ricochet his blasters to the surrounding aliens while Rachel ensures she's out of the way. Tony flies back into the sky while Clint fires his arrows at the flying aliens and Thor and Hulk deal with a Leviathan and Nat continues to the roof of Stark Tower.

Rachel rushes to Steve when he has an alien on top of him, aiming their gun at his face. She kicks it off him and throws energy at it before offering a hand to Steve who takes it and she pulls him to his feet. "Captain, the bank on 42nd past Madison. They've cornered a lot of civilians in there" Clint informs him through comms. "I'm on it" Steve replies before looking at Rachel. "Go. I'll come to you when I'm done here" she tells him before he nods his head and runs off.

Rachel kicks an alien in the chest before firing her gun at it and checking her surroundings. Once she was sure it was clear she runs towards the bank to see if Steve needs any help. As she arrives she sees a part of the building explode and Steve being sent out the window and onto the roof of a car. He remains relatively still for a few seconds as Rachel quickly makes her way towards him. "Steve, are you ok?" she asks frantically as he jumps down from the vehicle, no longer wearing his helmet. "Yeah" he breathes while Rachel watches him intently.

Everyone begins to lose their energy as they continue to fight the relentless aliens and Rachel, Steve and Thor stand together as aliens advance towards them. Steve and Thor catch their weapons while Rachel sends balls of energy towards their enemies. Steve turns around only to be shot in the abdomen by the alien's blasters. He groans and falls to the ground and Rachel raises a shield in front of them all before Thor hits a car with his hammer. Rachel lowers her shield and the car knocks the aliens off their feet. Steve clutches his abdomen once he's helped to his feet and tries hiding the pain in his expression. "You ready for another bounce?" Thor questions. "What? You getting sleepy?" Steve responds sarcastically. Rachel takes this opportunity to catch her breath and leans forwards with her hands on her knees, taking deep breaths before wiping the blood from her nose. She stands straight and notices Steve watching her before he quickly looks elsewhere.

"I can close it. Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down" Nat informs the team through comms. "Do it!" Steve quickly answers, raising his hand to his ear. "No wait!" Tony objects frantically. "Stark, these things are still coming" Steve states. "I got a nuke coming in. It's gonna blow in less than a minute, and I know just where to put it" Tony explains. "Stark, you know that's a one way trip" Steve warns Tony but Tony only barks orders to his AI system.

A few seconds later, Tony can be seen flying towards Stark Tower with the missile and everyone looks up to see him fly the missile through the portal. Suddenly, the aliens surrounding Steve, Thor and Rachel collapse, as do the Leviathan. Everyone watches in anticipation for Tony to come back through the portal but when there's no sign of him Steve tells Nat to close the portal. Once the portal closes, Tony can be seen falling towards them and they all grin at the billionaire. "Son of a gun" Steve mutters with a smile. "He's not slowing down" Thor states as he prepares to fly towards Tony. Before Thor can do anything, Hulk jumps between buildings and catches Tony before landing on the ground stands.

Rachel, Steve and Thor rush over to Tony's motionless body. "Is he breathing?" Steve asks in concern as Thor prys Tony's mask off. Steve crouches beside Tony and Rachel crouches behind Steve before Steve listens for any breathing and looks at the lightless arc reactor on Tony's chest. They all sigh in defeat as they relax and sit in silence. Suddenly, Hulk roars loudly, startling Tony awake and everyone looks at Tony, relieved. "What the hell? What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me" Tony says to the group and Rachel chuckles at him. "We won" Steve states in relief. "Alright, hey, good job guys. Let's just no 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 wanna try it" Tony suggests and they all smile at him. "We're not finished yet" Thor states, referring to Loki. "And then shawarma after?" Tony questions and Rachel laughs as she stands to help Tony to his feet.

The group of Avengers gather in Stark Tower as Loki drags himself to the stairs. He turns around to see them standing in front of him, weapons at the ready. "If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now" Loki states and Hulk roars in frustration before they detain Loki.