Psych the Avengers Out

The Tuesday Plan

As they speed through the rainbow highway towards Earth, Tony asks, "Did anyone consider the landing strategy?"

Jay and Loki look at each other, "Um...."

They burst onto Earth with a sound like the shattering of crockery, blue skies and skyscrapers surrounding them. Approximately one hundred stories in the air. They hang suspended for a moment as the boat finishes exiting the Bifrost passage and then, they drop.

Straight down.

Jay doesn't give a damn if they will mock her for it later. She screams her head off.

She decides right then and there that she hates heights, doesn't care what anyone thinks about that, and will never ever go skydiving in her life. Some part of her rational mind rears its head and she tries to think of some way to use her mind to slow her fall but she keeps drawing blanks and she's too drained anyways to do anything useful. She does not want to die as a splat on the pavement.

Jay somehow spazzes in the air, spinning wildly as she tries to put up some kind of shield, barrier, or stop sign as she careens downwards. She knows if she tries to clear her mind she's just going to fail because how does a person clear their mind while falling through the New York City skyline. She looks around for Tony and doesn't see him at first. Panic grips her and she cartwheels, desperately trying to stop.

Loki falls next to her, seemingly unfazed by the fact that they are plummeting to their deaths already reaching terminal velocity as they accelerate at 9.81 m/s/s. A ridiculous hysterical giggle escapes Jay. That's the same as 32.2 ft./s/s. If she weighs approximately 54 kilograms that means from a height of ten stories she will hit the ground in approximately....  Not a happy thought, not a happy thought.

Tony fires up his repulsor rockets and dives after Loki and Jay as down they fall uncontrolled. They fall past the Chrysler Building spire, the boat crashing into the tower and shattering. Oh, good old New York City. Stark grabs Jay first who clings to him like a baby lemur, legs wrapped around his chest which makes it hard to fly. Her head is buried in his neck and he can tell that she's trying very hard not to hyperventilate. But even now she looks down and reaches out to Loki as Stark swoops in towards the trickster and Loki grabs onto her ankles. The extra uneven weight causes Tony to dip off-kilter and there is a metallic whine as he pours more power into his engines. The ground rushes toward them and they brace for a rough landing.

They skim the pavement, taxis honking as Stark struggles to deal with the weight of two other people. They ruffle the umbrella of a hot dog stand as they struggle to gain altitude. Loki's feet crash into a flower vendor and carnations explode around them. They weave in a very demented way between the buildings until Tony finally gains enough altitude and they head for Avengers Tower.

Eventually, Tony gently touches down on the helipad on Avenger's Tower. Loki lets go of Jay and brushes off his clothes as if this happens to him every day.

"Jay," Tony says, "You can let go now." Jay cracks open an eyelid and sees solid ground. Very slowly she unwinds her death grip from Tony and puts one toe down on the helipad. Feeling its solid she unravels herself from Tony and hugs her arms close around herself. She's shaking and she tries to control it but it won't stop. Her hair is straight, pulled back from her head in a comical cartoon character way from the fall. It's slowly relaxing down her back and springing back into curls.

Beside her, Loki cracks his back. "Cutting it a bit close, Stark," he says with a smirk.

"Consider it payback for throwing me out of the window of my own tower," Stark retorts. "I would have let you fall further but Xena's nicer than me." He looks over at Jay. "You okay, kid?" She gives a shaky nod, knees wobbling a bit, sweat slicking the hair at her temples. "That was some powerful display back on Asgard. Nice job, kiddo, you make a great Avenger." Loki rolls his eyes but Tony pulls back his visor and puts a metal-encased arm around her shoulder. "You're becoming quite the force to be reckoned with."