I'm Iron Man, And I'm Agent Coulson

Chapter 41 Battle for New York

As we got closer, all of us gasped in unison unable to deny the awesome sight of the sky opening up and alien soldiers flying down, and taking shots at buildings along the streets of Manhattan.
People were screaming, bleeding in the streets, begging for help. The enormity of the situation beckoned more than just revenge, more than what I could offer at the moment, and I wanted to give into the weakness that shook my knees, but that's when Phil's words danced between my ears.

'The world is full of evil, lies, and pain, and death, you can't hide from it; you can only face it. The question is when you do, how do you respond, who do you become?

"I don't know..." I whispered as Phil's words played over and over in my head, while we flew through the buildings of New York City assessing the immensity of the situation. The burn flexed, bubbling under my skin, begging for release, but I ignored it.

"What?" Nat asked.

"This is bigger than old grudges, unfinished feelings or any of us. We all need to stay focused on our job. This is what we have trained you for, to save the world."

"I know..." I mumbled, and clutched at my hair, quaking under it all.
The aching need for revenge and death still begged for Loki's blood all over my hands, but looking out at the hundreds of men, women and children screaming, running for their lives, as debris and gunfire went off around them, Phil's words gave me courage to see the bigger picture, but my heart ached in my chest, and my stomach heaved, refusing to push aside my thirst for more blood on my hands.
My mind was pulling me in two different directions, the need for revenge weighed more, but the yells of the innocent people of Manhattan screamed for our help.
Loki's death could wait a few more minutes.

"We may not be called Avengers, you and I, but we are a part of the team by association. You are an Avenger, or will be, I need you to act like one."

"Tony be advised we're coming down 67th, in front of the tower," Nat announced, "Clint I need you up here, now." She nodded at me, while I moved to the back with Steve.
"It's about time, did you stop for drive thru?" Tony snapped over the comm, "I'm going to lay them out for you."

"Where's Loki?" I asked, fidgeting with a harsh flush of adrenaline, and the involuntary clenching of my fingers.

"We need to worry about the civilians first, and getting them clear of the fight," Cap ordered, opening the bay door, but his darker blonde eyebrows raised in confusion and concern. 

"He's on the top floor of the tower, along with the cube and Dr. Selvig," Tony answered, just as Nat opened fire on six aliens, riding crude looking chariots towards our jet, "leave it alone (y/n), I'll take care of it."
"Get us up there now," I ordered, glancing at Cap, ignoring both Tony and Steve, as I looked back at the damage laying in wait for us on the streets.
"Civilians," Cap argued, "your overwhelmed with revenge and we can't.."

"Steve, I want to save these civilians too, and right now this isn't about revenge, maybe it is, but if we don't stop Loki and the Tesseract, New York is lost. We have to close that portal, now," I decreed, noticing Nat and Clint starting our ascent to the roof of Stark Tower, "and as far as we know, I'm the only one who won't fall victim to that goddamn spear in his hands, do you understand? And those things haven't stopped coming out of that rip, we have to stop it, now, or more people will die," I paused, stepping farther down the bay doors, as Nat stationed the plane near Tony's landing pad, "open the doors and I'll go!"

Loki stood in his Asgardian attire, with a sick smile spread across his face as we leveled out near the roof. An image flashed across my brain and I yelled, "oh fuck, punch it, go, go!" I gasped, realizing Loki was waiting for us, before he aimed his spear at our plane, shooting one of our engines out.
I grabbed onto the the ceiling of the plane and held on, while it spun out of control, narrowly missing buildings and people.