Something More [The Avengers: 1]

The Team [7]

"Hold on," Tony yelled, firing rockets onto the serpents body. I raised my shield, covering myself and Romanoff with it as Barton hid behind a car and Thor shielded himself with his arm. The serpent landed off the bridge, crushing the cars below.

I stood straight, glancing around as the Chitauri that still clung to buildings let out guttural screams. Hulk roared back. Tony floated to the ground on my left, while Romanoff loaded a pistol on my right. I strapped my shield to my arm, glancing around at the Chitauri that surrounded us. I took a step towards Tony, our eyes meeting. I gave a short nod, my eyes travelling back to the Chitauri. A newfound strength filled me as my team circled up, and the cries of Chitauri around me only fed that strength. I stared up at the portal, watching as two more serpent-like creatures emerged with an entire legion of Chitauri.

"Guys," Romanoff warned, grabbing everyone else's attention.

"Call it, Captain," Tony instructed.

I didn't take my eyes off the portal, watching as more Chitauri flooded out from it. "Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal our priority is containment." I watched as the Chitauri scattered, following them with my eyes and creating a mental map of the city. "Barton, I want you on that roof." I pointed to a roof that looked to be the center of everything, but wasn't too close to Stark Tower. "Eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays." I turned and look at Tony. "Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out you turn it back or you turn it to ash." He nodded.

"Wanna give me a lift?" Barton asked.

"Right." Tony made his way towards the archer. "Better clench up, Legolas." He grabbed the back of Barton's shirt, using his repulsors to shoot up towards the building I pointed out.

I looked at the remainder of my team. My eyes immediately settled on Thor, who was watching Tony and Barton with curiosity. "Thor, you've got to try to bottleneck that portal. Slow them down." The god nodded, looking at the portal. "You've got the lightning; light the bastards up." He took off, and I looked at Romanoff, who was waiting patiently for instructions. "You and me, we stay on the ground. We keep the fighting here." I looked around before setting my eyes on Hulk. "And Hulk," he turned and looked at me, his large fists clenching and unclenching, "smash."

Hulk grinned, launching into the air. I watched as he landed on a building, smashing a Chitauri into the concrete. Other Chitauri shot at him, gaining his attention. A large bolt of lightning distracted me, and I knew Thor must be summoning it. I looked back at Romanoff and nodded, and we set off down the street together, finding any Chitauri and keeping them away from the people. I listened to Tony and Barton talk over the comms and couldn't help but smile at their light banter as I bashed my shield into a Chitauri's head. I glanced back at Romanoff, who tazed a Chitauri with what she called her 'Widow Bites'. It let go of her and she grabbed its weapon, shooting it in the face. I landed behind her and she turned the weapon towards me, ready to fire another shot. I raised my shield and she lowered her stolen weapon once she knew it was me.

I walked towards her as she sat down on the back of a cab, panting for breath. "Cap', none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal."

We both looked up at the portal, where more Chitauri poured out of it. "Our biggest guns couldn't touch it," I replied, knowing exactly what she meant. We were both exhausted, breathing heavy, and caked in our own blood, as well as some blue Chitauri blood.

"Maybe it's not about guns." She looked at me, then at the Chitauri flying above us.

"You wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride," I said, catching on.

She looked at me and smirked. "I got a ride." She walked away from me and stopped at the other side of the bridge. "I could use a boost, though."

I watched as Chitauri flew over my head, then looked back at Romanoff, who looked less confident than she was a few seconds ago. I hesitantly raised my shield. "You sure about this?"