Frostbite

Nine

I had lost count of how many Chitauri soldiers I had taken down. There were thousands of them, and they were still coming out of the portal. I made my way back down the bridge to where I could see Natasha fighting. She efficiently took out one of the aliens with its own spear and leaned against the side of a car, panting. I stopped a few feet from her and looked up at the sky once again.

"It doesn't look like they're gonna stop coming through the portal anytime soon," I sighed. She opened her mouth to reply but twirled around pointing the spear at Rogers, who had snuck up on us.

"None of this is going to mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal," Natasha told him.

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it," he replied.

"Well maybe it's not about guns," she countered, gesturing towards the chariots full of Chitauri flying over us.

"You're going to need a ride to make it up there," I told her. She smirked and began walking to the other side of the bridge.

"I got a ride. I could use a lift, though," she said, eyeing Rogers. He repositioned his stance and lifted his shield, preparing to launch her.

"Are you sure about this?" he wondered uncertainly.

"Yeah, it's gonna be fun," she answered, nodding her head in amusement.

Nat took off and used the car to jump onto his shield. She jumped onto it and he shoved it upwards, sending her flying into the air. She latched onto one of the chariots flying overhead and zoomed away with it, climbing up to take control. Within moments she was out of sight. I could only shake my head in disbelief, but I didn't have long to marvel at her bravery.

A group of Chitauri soldiers attacked us from both sides, taking us by surprise. Rogers flew into action, taking on the few that came up to him. Two approached me, rather close for my liking. I roundhouse kicked one and grabbed onto the other's weapon, freezing it to his hand. It hissed angrily and tried to pry it off. Making use of the distraction, I shoved my hand between the plates on its chest, hoping this would work or I'd be in trouble.

I let the cold seep from my fingers into its body, freezing it from the inside out. I ripped my hand back out and the alien stopped moving. Remembering the other one, I turned to deal with it, but was met with a sting in my side, and I fell back onto the concrete. It hovered over me with its spear, poised to strike again. I rolled away just as it struck down to turn me into a kabob.

I scrambled to my feet and turned to face it again, but it was blown away by a beam of energy. Tony thudded to the ground, taking out several aliens. He left as quickly as he came, lost in the fight. More Chitauri were making their way onto the bridge, ready to take us on.

I threw myself back into the fray, trying to focus on taking out a few at a time. Rogers and I killed soldier after soldier until there were only a few left around us. Pulling out my pistol, I shot the last Chitauri in the head and slumped against a small car. Rogers picked himself up from off the ground, looking as exhausted as I felt. The earpiece crackled in my ear, breaking the silence.

"Captain, the bank on forty-second past Madison," Clint began relaying, "They've caught a lot of civilians in there." Rogers nodded his head at me, and I straightened myself and walked over to him, holstering my pistol.

"We're on it," he replied. We began making our way toward the bank, which wasn't far from our current location.

Once outside of the bank, Rogers maneuvered up the side and up to a second story window. I slipped through the front doors and into the crowd of civilians that were squished together in the lobby. They were staring up at the balcony in terror; the Chitauri were threatening them with a bomb. Glass shattered upstairs and the Chitauri became distracted by Rogers making his entrance.