While Clint disappeared towards the men's locker room, Keira and Natasha went to the women's. They already had their work attire on, but Keira hadn't gotten a chance to change hers since the fight in Germany, and she would lie if she said that she didn't smell right now. And she guessed that Natasha could also do with a change of clothes.
Keira patted her pockets, making sure to empty them of the few knives she had before wriggling out of them. Just as she was about to throw the knives into her locker, she received a warning look from Natasha, which caused her to slow down and put the knives down into their scabbards instead. Her discarded clothes on the other hand, got stuffed roughly into a plastic bag.
"Why don't you just put them in the washing bin? Then you'd have one less problem to worry about." Natasha pointed out, smirking slightly. She knew exactly why Keira washed her own clothes, but it was always fun to tease her about it.
"And risk getting Agent Ford's clothes again, like last time? No thanks. Besides, he even had the nerves to try mine on, convinced they had just shrunken in the wash. And let me tell you, he stretched out my pants. There's a reason why I have to wear a belt with this pair now, you know." Keira pouted, shaking her head. "And if he weren't so thickheaded, he would've realized they had my name on the tag."
Luckily, it had just been a simple switch-up, but she hadn't known that at the time. And considering that it had been her only pair back then, it had not been a pleasant surprise to find out that her pants had gone astray.
But the sound of a hurt man's ego complaining about how his clothes were suddenly too small had been easy enough to track down. So, she had gotten her clothes back in less than a day, thank god for that. It didn't make her less bitter about the waistline being stretched though.
"Oh, you're such a drama queen. It was a simple mistake. How many times before that did you get the correct clothes?" Natasha countered while filling up her magazines. It was always good to have a couple of extras, just in case there were loads of enemies, which would probably be the case. Because lack of ammo by the simple cause of missing the targets would never happen to the redhead. She was way too talented for that.
"If one more person calls me a drama queen, I'll retire." Keira put her hands on her hips, feigning a hurt expression on her face. "However, one mistake is all it took for my pants to get ruined, and I won't risk it again." She finished off in a serious tone, but she couldn't hold her frown for long before she burst out laughing.
It wasn't exactly difficult to wash her own clothes. And it was always good not to forget how to do mundane tasks. "Besides, it's always good to know how to get blood out of your clothes." She added as an afterthought once she managed to smother her laughter, shrugging her shoulders.
Natasha only shook her head with a smile playing on her lips. It was no use trying to convince the blonde, she knew that. She had tried it before, but the younger woman was too stubborn. So instead, she focused on powering up her gloves, the blue light gleaming brightly in the dim light of the changing room. They were really quite handy, giving her a clear advantage in hand-to-hand combat as she could electrocute her opponent if she wished to.
While Natasha had been focused on her gloves, Keira had created ring of chaos around her. "Where's my bloody bow? I swear, I left it right here..." She muttered angrily to herself as she kept emptying her locker of all its content, splaying it out around her. It really was amazing how much stuff she was able to cram in there. Everything from a extra toothbrush to bullets.
"Didn't you take it with you to Germany? You never used it though." Natasha said casually, her arms loosely crossed over her chest. Always the one to remember the small details.
"Oh..." Keira breathed, squeezing her eyes shut. "Yeah, I did. Bollocks. What am I gonna shoot with now?" She smacked herself hard on her forehead, greatly annoyed with herself. Why couldn't she just keep track of her things? She was too preoccupied with stuffing her belongings back in the locker to notice Natasha's smirk.
"With your bow, of course." The redhead said simply, holding it out for Keira to grab.
The blonde turned around, having just closed the locker with great difficulty as the rubble inside threatened to fall out if she opened it again. "Wha- How do you have this?" She questioned, her mouth slightly open in surprise. Keira was too stunned to move, but Natasha stuffed the bow into her open hands without another word. And as if her bow wasn't enough, Natasha also pulled out not only her quiver but her sword as well out of thin air.
"Somebody gotta clean up after you." Natasha said, chuckling at the lost look on Keira's face. "Especially since you're so bad at doing it yourself."
Keira's eyes widened in surprise as she took both the quiver and the blade from the redhead. "You're amazing, you know that right?" The fact that Natasha had taken the time to recover her weapons from the jet was something she appreciated deeply. It may not look as much, but it meant the world to her.
Natasha's smirk grew bigger, and she shrugged. "Well, yes. I am pretty amazing. I don't mind hearing it more often though." She teased, nudging the blonde on the shoulder.
"Noted, darling." Keira chortled, overjoyed at being reunited with her weapons. "Shall we go then?" She added, twirling the bow around in her hand.
Natasha eyed her up and down with a raised eyebrow. "Looking like that? I mean, I'm all for giving the boys a show, and maybe even a heart attack, but I think they might be a bit too distracted by the fact that you're half-naked." She stated, smirking.
Keira's eyebrows knotted together in confusion, but upon looking down at her own body, she saw that, sure enough, she was indeed standing in just her underwear. "Oh." She said stupidly, feeling the warmth flooding her cheeks and neck. She hadn't even realized that she had forgotten to put new clothes on.
Natasha was one of the few people to which she was comfortable showing her body, as the spy had plenty of scars of her own. So, the redhead never batted an eye where others would. And getting her weapons back had distracted her greatly.
But to not keep Natasha waiting, she quickly put on the fresh clothes. Luckily, she had taken those out before stuffing everything back into the locker. At least some part of her brain seemed to have been working at that moment, even if it had forgotten the vital part of actually changing her clothes. "Okay, now I'm ready." She announced just as she finished securing the quiver over her shoulder, making sure it wouldn't slip sideways during the battle.
"Finally." Natasha rolled her eyes in amusement and pushed the door open with her shoulder, holding it open for the blonde so they could meet up with Clint.
While nobody attempted to stop them as they headed out, Keira couldn't shake the feeling that this mission wasn't authorized but rather something the Captain had come up with. And that was a surprising thought on its own.
Considering how he had been a soldier in the beginning, made to follow orders, he was now the one leading the pack. He was the one in control now, even if Stark might have a hand in the plan as well. Could the two men have worked out some sort of truce?
When they boarded the Quinjet, a SHIELD technician stood up from his place next to a computer. It seemed like he had been fixing some of the electronics, as he retracted his hand from under the keyboard.
"Hey, you guys aren't authorized to be in here."
Keira couldn't help but admire his nerve, even though she didn't appreciate the interruption. How he even managed to gather the courage to contradict the four of them in the first place, was a mystery to her.
"Son. Just don't." Steve warned, and the guy scrambled out of the jet.
He probably didn't want to risk the chance of getting knocked out. And to be fair, they were a pretty frightening group. Two assassins, one supersoldier, and a mutant. Not exactly a group you wanted to stand up against as a simple agent.
❆
The figure of Iron Man shot past the window, and Clint was steering the jet in his wake. Keira was happy to see that Stark and Rogers had managed to work together again, as their egos managed to clash quite often.
Due to her earphones being set to 'hearing-damage', she had missed whatever small talk had been going on during liftoff. Even while taking off from a floating ship, her hatred for it didn't lessen. Her mind worked through the previous conversations, laying it out and trying to connect the pieces. She needed to figure out what plan was at work here because she was too lazy to ask, or rather, too proud to let someone else hand her the answer.
Loki needed something to kickstart the Cube. The Cube in itself was powerful, but in order to open up a portal big enough for his army, it needed an extra kick. The question was what that could be... And then it clicked.
Stark Tower.
Like Banner had said before, Stark was one of the biggest names in clean energy. And Stark Tower was running on a self-sustaining energy source, an arc reactor. According to Stark, it was still just a prototype, but it would definitely have the extra power that the Cube needed.
She pulled out her earphones and put them back in their case. "We're going to New York, aren't we?" She asked, standing up and walking to the front of the jet.
"Yeah." Clint answered simply.
There wasn't a need for a more elaborate answer, as all the others had already discussed it during takeoff. Keira was just a little bit late to the party. Considering the events that had happened in the Helicarrier, she made sure to put her comm in her ear this time, shaking her head to the side to make sure it wouldn't fall out. She hated being blindsided.
Keira was leaning over Natasha's seat as usual, one arm hanging limply off the side when New York came into view. "Боже мой." (Oh my god.) She murmured to herself as she gripped the seat harder for support as her eyes tried to take in the sight before them.
"Oh my god about covers it." Natasha agreed silently.
From the roof of Stark Tower, a massive blue beam shot up, creating a big, black hole up in the sky. And if the portal itself wasn't enough, dozens of aliens had already entered through the hole, and they were already wreaking havoc upon the city and its citizens. More Chitauri were coming through the portal by the minute, and Keira couldn't help the unpleasant lurch her stomach gave at the sight.
This was an army, indeed.
"Stark, we're on your three, headed northeast." Natasha informed over the comms. While Natasha talked, Clint maneuvered the jet skillfully between the buildings and hostiles, making sure they didn't hit anything, which was impressive considering the chaos.
"What? Did you stop for drive-through? Swing up Park. I'm gonna lay 'em out for you." Tony answered while weaving between buildings, trying to shake the tail of Chitauri following him.
"Yeah, I got some leftover fries, you want some?" Keira answered, chuckling lightly despite the serious situation. She couldn't help it, the response just came automatically.
"I'd love some. Got some soda as well?" Came Tony's quick reply while Steve scowled at her.
"This is not the time!" He reprimanded them, and she shrugged her shoulders. At least Tony had appreciated the joke.
Natasha released the machine gun of the jet, waiting for Stark to line up the Chitauri. And soon enough, Iron Man flew past, and Natasha obliterated the unfortunate aliens that had been tailing him.
Due to the speed of the jet, Clint was forced to steer the vehicle up pretty sharply in order to avoid crashing into a building. But she had full confidence in Clint's skills as a pilot as they set the course for Stark Tower.
Thor and Loki were engaged in a fight upon the patio of the tower. Keira was happy to see that Thor had managed to find his way back, despite being dropped out of the sky by his brother. But she guessed this wasn't the first fight between the brothers, nor would it be the last. It looked like Loki had the upper hand though, as he had grabbed Thor by the neck and smashed his head into the glass fence.
"Nat?"
"I see him." Natasha answered Clint, aiming the gun and firing at the greasy-haired god. That was something Loki didn't appreciate, as he aimed the scepter and retaliated by shooting a blue energy blast at the jet.
Unlike Natasha in Germany, Clint hadn't seen that move coming, so he didn't even get the chance to react and move the jet out of harm's way. The blue blast blew one of their engines and the jet teetered dangerously before it started to fall.
"Hang on!" Clint yelled to the back while he did his best to control-crash the jet. It wasn't his first rodeo with a failed engine, but the prospect of multiple buildings in the way and civilians at risk made the whole task a lot more difficult.
Neither Keira nor Steve had time to strap themselves into one of the seats, so both of them jumped up and grabbed ahold of the railing to not get thrown around like ragdolls inside the jet. To Clint's credit, he managed to avoid most of the buildings, but he did manage to scrape an apartment building, throwing the jet a bit off-course. The jet landed roughly in a small square and slid to a halt against a building.
"Not the smoothest landing I've seen from you, Clint." Keira coughed, getting back up on her feet as she had lost her grip and got smacked to the floor during the landing. She brushed off her knees before pulling up the mask over her face. It wasn't the same as she had worn with HYDRA, this one wasn't as muzzle-like, but she didn't want to reveal her face to the masses. She still valued her privacy. Everybody got out quickly after Rogers, who had opened the rear hatch.
It was absolute pandemonium on the ground. Police sirens were wailing, rubble covered the streets and civilians were running for cover. Cars stood abandoned in the streets and smoke hung heavily in the air.
"We gotta get back up there." The Captain ordered, running toward the Stark Tower. Natasha wasn't far behind him, Clint and Keira on her tail. As they ran through lower Manhattan, she couldn't help but look at all the chaos around them.
If this is what the Chitauri could accomplish in mere minutes, how much damage could they inflict if they were left unchecked? The quartet came to a stop outside of Grand Central Station as a deep, bloodcurdling roar echoed from the portal. Looking up, they were met by a horrible sight.
A big, ugly leviathan.
It snaked through the air with thick armor protecting it from anything or anyone who wanted to harm it and with teeth as sharp as razor blades. The enormous alien cut through the buildings as if they were nothing more than butter, leaving even more wreckage behind. Chitauri foot soldiers jumped out from the sides of it, attaching themselves to the surrounding buildings and attacking everyone they set their eyes on.
All they could do was stare, transfixed by the sight.
Keira was the first who broke out of the trance, aiming her bow and shooting one of the climbing Chitauri in the back, causing it to fall backwards off the building it had been climbing and landing with a rather unpleasant crunch.
"Well, they're not immortal, so there's that." She informed the others, who had turned to watch as she had fired the arrow. That was a good thing. An immortal enemy would've sucked, big time. At least they had a chance now, even if they were a bit outnumbered.
"Stark, are you seeing this?" Steve asked, his gaze back on the flying carriages.
"I'm seeing. Still working on believing." Tony answered immediately, coming up alongside the leviathan to get a better read on the creature. "Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"
"Banner?"
"Just keep me posted." What did he know that they didn't? Hadn't Banner disappeared when he had jumped out of the Helicarrier? The comms went quiet after that, probably because Stark was closing in on the invaders. And the group of four took shelter behind a taxicab in order to avoid getting shot at by an alien squadron.
"We got civilians trapped-" Clint began but was cut off as a group of Chitauri flew past, shooting at everything they could see.
Keira hadn't missed the spot of color on the carriage leading the pack. "Loki." She muttered under her breath. Oh, how she longed to give the god a good punch in the face.
The god obviously didn't care about what he hit, because he was firing wildly, igniting the street below. Cars got thrown upside down, exploding when their gas tanks got hit by the blasts. Screams and smoke filled the air as the civilians tried to run for cover. Even the police were forced to run.
They were, like Fury had said back at the Helicarrier, hilariously outgunned.
"They're fish in a barrel down there." The Captain tightened his grip on the shield as he looked over the edge at all the destruction. He wanted to help the civilians, but at the same time, he didn't want to abandon his team.
He was forced to duck down again as a shot barely missed him, hitting the window next to his head instead. Natasha quickly retaliated by firing at the alien who had fired the shot. A group of Chitauri had joined them on the bridge, jumping off of their chariots.
"We got this. It's good. Go." Natasha assured the soldier.
"You think you can hold them off?" He asked uncertainly, his gaze jumping between the three people.
Clint, who had taken cover behind another taxi met his eyes confidently. "Captain." He began, pushing a button on his bow to prepare his arrow. "It would be my genuine pleasure." He got up and fired the arrow, straight in the face of a Chitauri soldier. The arrow also knocked out two other nearby soldiers as it fired small projectiles at them. This seemed to satisfy the Captain enough, because he jumped off the overpass and down to the street below.
"Wow, he doesn't have much faith in us, does he?" Keira yelled over the mixed noise of blasts and gunshots. She aimed her bow and shot down a few Chitari from a nearby building. "Wouldn't trap arrows be a good idea by the way, Clint?" She added as she was forced to jump to the side in order to avoid getting hit by a retaliating blast.
Natasha was soon forced to refill her clips, her guns barely getting the chance to cool down between the firing. "Let's prove him wrong then." She shouted over her shoulder.
"Not a bad idea! Put it on the to-do list if we survive this." Clint yelled back, firing arrows at every alien he could see. "Cover me." He added, sprinting towards a bus that had been overturned to its side by a previous blast.
At first, Keira didn't understand why he needed cover, but then she spotted the people trapped inside the bus. She did as he asked and kept the surroundings clear of aliens, ensuring a safe escape for those trapped.
As she ducked down behind an upside-down taxi, she realized that it was pure stupidity to not be transformed. Sometimes her brain worked way too slow for her liking. After her skin had changed, she ran towards the bus, seeing as Clint's way of getting people out of the window was too slow for her. She pried open the doors of the bus and the adults stumbled out of it.
They joined Nat's side again, firing at the non-ending wave of Chitauri. "Just like Budapest all over again!" The redhead yelled to Clint, who had been with her on that mission. Keira had only heard bits about that mission, as Natasha wasn't a fan of discussing her troubled past.
"You and I remember Budapest very differently." Clint countered, shooting his arrows and not missing a single alien despite throwing an upwards glance at the tower.
Keira shouldered her bow and unsheathed her sword instead. She didn't want to run out of ammo, and some hand-to-hand combat was always exciting. Swiping at an incoming Chitauri, it ducked under the blade, and she seized the opportunity to jump on its back and wrapped her legs around its neck. It flailed its arms in an attempt to throw her off, but she swung her sword around and cut its limbs off before burying the sword deep into the crown of its head.
The Chitauri fell limply to the ground and Keira put her hands out to soften the fall. She brushed off the dirt on her knees before pulling the sword free and jumping at another alien, cutting its throat open. Glancing to her left, she saw that Natasha had turned to using her gloves, electrocuting the aliens instead.
"Out of bullets? Use this, Tasha!" Keira shouted, picking up and throwing her an alien spear. She rolled underneath the outstretched arm of an alien and kicked it hard in the knee, making it buckle and fall into a kneeling position before punching it across the face. It fell to the ground and didn't make another move.
The redhead caught the spear in the air and began using it as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Both stabbing and shooting with it didn't seem like a problem for her. "Thank you." She said sweetly as she pushed the spear into the throat of an alien.
It was like a never-ending wave of aliens. For every alien they struck down, two more took its place. As the comms had been quiet for a while, she sincerely hoped that Stark had figured out a plan to shut the portal down, and where Steve was, she had no idea.
The three of them kept fighting in sync, helping each other out when necessary but mostly focusing on their own fight. The Captain suddenly jumped in from out of nowhere and Keira almost punched him in the face by surprise. "Don't do that!" She yelled, pulling back her fist and instead punching a nearby Chitauri, which buckled to the ground.
Lightning suddenly flashed across the sky before it struck down the remaining Chitauri surrounding them. Thor landed rather haphazardly next to an upside-down car, and he looked tired as he raised himself up a bit shakily, leaning against the car for support.