"Anybody needs any backup?" Keira spoke into the comm just as she pulled up her mask over the lower part of her face again. Her eyes fell on another group of aliens, and she set off towards them. They just kept coming, didn't they?
"Where in the name of Jesus H. Christ have you been?" Stark yelled, outraged. "I've been trying to reach you for a hot minute now!"
"I've obviously been ignoring you for that sole purpose." She rolled her eyes as she planted a punch in the lower back of a Chitauri. "And all that bickering made my head hurt." She blocked an incoming kick from the alien, grabbing its leg and throwing it over her head.
"I don't like being ignored." Stark huffed as he shot another chariot out of the sky. "So, don't do it again. Now, go and make yourself useful, disco ball."
Keira wanted to retort but she bit her tongue. Sometimes it was wiser to say nothing at all. The closer she got to the tower, the more frequently groups of aliens appeared.
She soon came to a halt at an overpass, and she unshouldered her bow so she could shoot down the passing chariots hurtling across the sky.
Just like Clint, her arrows found their targets without a problem, and multiple aliens either got blown to pieces or fell to a gruesome death. Something red and gold flashed past, shooting at the Chitauri and she recognized Stark.
He landed temporarily on the other side of the underpass, eliminating a few more aliens, although more were circling around him. She quickly transformed and jumped down beside him, ready to help and eager to make him eat his own words.
Stark however, wasn't prepared for this and quickly shot a beam at her. In reflex, her hands flew up to cover her face, and the beam hit her with full force. It reflected off the diamond surface and multiplied, taking out every single one of the Chitauri that had been closing in on them.
"Don't jump me like that!" Stark exclaimed, lowering his hands quickly.
"Next time, don't shoot at me!" Keira countered, but as she glanced around at all the dead aliens, a smirk played on her lips. "That was pretty cool though." She examined her arms, rotating them to search for any injuries but they were perfectly fine.
The Iron Man took a few steps closer to her, also watching her arms, afraid he had hurt her. "Huh, seems like the natural buildup in your skin can duplicate and reflect the blasts. Like a disco ball."
Keira shook her head in amusement. "Thank, science guy." She nudged him gently, now that the shock had settled. "And I'm sorry for jumping down on you like that. I didn't mean to startle you."
"I wasn't startled. I was just... Surprised." The man defended himself. Keira only rolled her eyes, and the man flew off without another word.
"Hawkeye!" Natasha's voice broke through the comms.
Keira was relieved to hear that the redhead was still alive, probably still steering her alien chariot across the sky. Looking up, she managed to spot the flock of red, and Clint standing on top of the building where Stark had dropped him off.
"Nat, what are you doing?" He asked, his gaze following her chariot and not really able to put together the pieces as to why she was steering an alien chariot across the sky.
"Uh- A little help?" She shouted anxiously.
"I got him." Clint spoke confidently as he nocked another arrow.
At first, Keira wasn't sure what he was talking about, but seeing the chariot following Natasha's, her gaze landed on the emo god. Ah, Loki. "He's gonna catch it, you know. He's a god for crying out loud." Keira said, watching the arrow's progress through the air.
"Oh, I know." Clint answered, and the smug smile on his face was evident in his voice.
She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but she didn't even have to wait long. Sure enough, Loki caught the arrow, probably with a satisfied smirk on his face.
But Clint had meant for him to do so, because the arrow exploded in the god's face, blowing the chariot into smithereens and throwing him onto the balcony of the Stark Tower. Lucky god, managing to land there instead of falling towards a very painful landing on the concrete.
"Sorry that I doubted you, Birdman." Keira chuckled, shaking her head in amusement.
"It's okay. Just don't do it again." Clint joked back, shooting another alien down.
"Stark, you hear me? We have a missile heading straight for the city." Fury spoke through the comms. Well, shit. As if they didn't have enough to worry about.
"How long?" Tony's strained voice asked.
"Three minutes, max. The payload will wipe out Midtown." The line went quiet after that. Who had fired it? Who had cleared it? It was absolute insanity to nuke Manhattan.
Keira took a deep breath before she began running again. Her body protested and she knew she'd be sore when this was all over. "Okay, you got this. You got this." She tried to pep-talk herself before leaping up on a building, holding onto it. She needed to get an overview. Being one of the ones who couldn't fly was a bummer. So, she did her best Ezio impression, climbing up the building by jumping and hanging on to the ledges.
Surprisingly quickly, she caught sight of Thor and the Captain, fighting side by side and absolutely obliterating the aliens. She couldn't exactly stand here and let the boys have all the fun, so she jumped down from the building and landed in their midst.
This time, thankfully, she wasn't shot at.
But it seemed that she managed to distract Steve, because a blast from a Chitauri spear hit him straight in the stomach, causing him to fall flat to the ground.
The man clutched his midriff in pain, and while Thor finished off the remaining aliens, Keira offered him a hand. "You alright, Steve?" She asked, eyeing the supersoldier with a worried gaze.
"Yeah, don't worry about it." The man said as he pulled himself up with her help.
Thor joined them and eyed the singed material on the Captain's suit. "You ready for another bout?"
"What, you gettin' sleepy?" Steve joked, but his faint smile quickly faded away. He was breathing heavily, and like all the others, tiredness and pain coursed through his veins. The god didn't look much better, also wearing marks of a heavy battle.
"I can close it. Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down." Natasha's tired voice echoed through the comms. Had they finally managed to find a way to end this madness?
"Do it!" The Captain shouted back quickly.
"No, wait." Stark protested in unison with Keira. She hadn't forgotten about the missile.
"Stark, these things are still coming!" Steve said, not understanding why Stark would want to wait with closing the portal. He was frowning at Keira, perplexed as to why she had joined the protest as well. He must've either not heard what Fury had said, or he hadn't been on that particular line.
"I got a nuke coming in. It's gonna blow in less than a minute." Stark replied. "And I know just where to put it."
Looking up at the sky, Keira could see the small figure of Iron Man carefully guiding the missile through the air. If he used too much force, it could detonate itself, and if he didn't get it away quickly enough, the impact would still be devastating. The plan to put the missile through the portal was actually a pretty good one. Surely, it would at least make some damage to the alien army.
"Stark, you know that's a one-way trip." Steve said softly, dread in his voice. It was at this moment he realized how wrong he had been about the billionaire. The egoistical front was just that, a front, a mask.
He was the one to make the sacrifice play.
The group could do nothing but follow the missile's progress as Stark guided it, turning it vertically and up towards the portal. He disappeared through it, and with him, the missile.
It was a torturing few seconds before the Chitauri began collapsing on the streets. They dropped dead, a sure sign that the missile had found its target and destroyed the mothership.
But still no Stark. Where was he? He couldn't die up there, alone in space.
"Come on, Stark. Come back." Keira muttered under her breath, clenching her fists. She stared at the black opening, willing him, praying he'd fly back out again. Her skin changed back to normal, no longer able to focus on something so futile.
Everybody stood frozen, watching the portal. But as the seconds ticked by, it seemed like Stark wouldn't make it back out. The blinding light of the explosion however made itself visible, threatening to make its way into this world.
"Close it." The Captain ordered, defeated.
Natasha did as she was told, not wasting another second. The blue beam disappeared, the wormhole closing quickly. At the very last second, a small speck of red fell through the portal. Stark.
"Son of a gun."
The genuine relief could be heard in the Captain's voice, and Keira drew a big breath of air. Stark had made it back. He wasn't dying in a fiery pit of hell out in space. But the relieved smile on her face washed off quickly when she realized that the man wasn't slowing down. He was plummeting towards the face of the Earth, with nothing to stop his descent. And she wasn't the only one who noticed this.
"He's not slowing down." Thor said from beside her, preparing for takeoff by swinging his hammer around.
But it proved unnecessary as the Hulk leaped from a skyscraper, catching the falling metal man in his grasp and sliding down the side of a building. The green juggernaut landed rather roughly, sliding on his back in order to protect Stark. Huh, looked like he wasn't completely a monster after all.
They ran over to the two, and Thor ripped the face-shield off, throwing it carelessly to the side. Keira crouched down beside to the Hulk, much more at ease around him now that he had shown his more humane side.
Stark didn't move a muscle, and it seemed like it was too late. Keira bit her lip as Steve leaned down to listen for any sign of life, but it seemed like he couldn't hear anything because he sat back up again.
Keira hung her head in defeat. They had won, the Chitauri army was no more. The city and the world were saved. But at what cost? After everything they had endured, was this really the end of Tony Stark?
Beside her, Hulk got up from his kneeling position. He let out a roar, out of frustration or anger, Keira couldn't tell. But it seemed like this was exactly the wake-up call Stark needed, because his eyes shot open, and he gasped in shock.
"What the hell? What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me." The man said breathlessly, his eyes darting around.
Keira chuckled and shook her head. "The only person who would kiss you isn't here right now, Tony. Don't worry." She joked, a relieved smile on her face.
"Okay, good. Good. Wouldn't wanna tell Pepper I've been smooched by the Captain. Manly love and all that." Tony joked back.
The Captain shook his head very slightly, relieved to see Stark getting back to normal. "We won." He breathed, sitting back. His eyes were still on the sky, where the big, gaping hole to other space had been just moments later. But now, there wasn't a trace after it, just a clear blue sky.
Stark gave a great sigh. "Alright, yey. Hurray. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is but I wanna try it." The group just smiled at his rambling, relieved to have him back in this world, alive and breathing.
"We're not finished yet." Thor said gravely. Oh right. Loki. Keira had kind of forgotten about the greasy-haired god amidst all the excitement of getting the portal closed.
"And then shawarma after." Tony said. He really was set on the food, wasn't he?
Loki's previous grandeur was completely gone by the time the team appeared in front of him. He was defeated, no longer living on the illusions of victory. Small cuts littered his face, and he would probably have some nice bruises to go with that as well. Everyone looked down at him, inwardly celebrating their win over the god.
"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."
No one found this particularly funny, and the Hulk grunted in annoyance. STRIKE took care of the scepter, but the Tesseract stayed with Tony. He was the best person to keep it safe until the gods could travel back to Asgard.
❆
It had taken her almost an hour to wash all the dust, debris, and blood out of her hair. The purple blood of the Chitauri made for an excellent dye though, which she had discovered rather quickly as the liquid had proven very hard to get out of her hair without staining it.
She had watched it all disappear down the drain with her underarms resting against the tiled wall. It was rather satisfying actually. Her skin was almost healed already, thanks to her improved healing abilities. She had been very lucky during the fight, only managing to get smaller cuts on her body, and they had disappeared quickly enough. Some wounds however, would be forever etched in her skin.
"You're gonna use up all the hot water!" Natasha's voice shouted through the closed bathroom door.
Keira's head shot up as her mind returned to the present. "Do I need to remind you whose apartment this is?" She yelled back, shaking her head in amusement. Natasha had been crashing at her place ever since the Battle of New York, or the Incident as the civilian population liked to call it. Not that she was complaining though, it was nice to have some company.
"Please." Natasha pleaded, dragging out the word. The pout on her face was eminent even through the closed door.
Keira chuckled and turned off the shower. "Fine. How could I ever say no to you?" She said as she wrapped herself in a towel and her hair in another.
Natasha was right on the other side of the door when it swung open. "The simple answer is; you can't." The redhead smirked.
"Go. Or we'll be late." Keira chuckled, giving Natasha a light push in the back.
With the sound of running water in the background, Natasha not having closed the bathroom door completely, Keira shuffled around and gathered her clothes together. Her hair was a mess, so she combed it through with her fingers and braided it into a fishtail braid.
"Have you seen my shirt?" Natasha had just exited the bathroom, her red hair dripping water onto the hardwood floor with a towel wrapped around her.
Keira looked away from the TV and eyed the puddle of water that was forming around Natasha's feet with a raised eyebrow. "Can't say I have. Besides, you didn't really have anything with you so just take one of mine." She shrugged, fluffing up the pillow behind her back.
A smirk was playing in the corner of Natasha's lips, and she nodded, clearly satisfied. "Great. I just needed your approval to steal your things." She teased just as she swirled around towards the bedroom.
Keira just opened her mouth in shock, but closed it quickly again, shaking her head. Oh well, the redhead had already claimed the majority of her hoodies, so a shirt here or there wouldn't matter anyway.
Clint had taken it upon himself to drive them to the spot in Central Park where they were supposed to see Thor and Loki off. And like a clockwork, he appeared on the doorstep just as Natasha had finished drying her hair, clothed in a simple black t-shirt of Keira's.
The car ride was a quiet one.
It had only been a couple of days, so rubble still lay everywhere in the streets. And Keira couldn't help but wonder who was going to pay for the restoration. While the Chitauri were guilty of most of the destruction, her own team wasn't exactly innocent either.
When Clint parked the car, they saw that the rest of the Avengers were already there. The site was closed off and protected by multiple SHIELD agents, keeping any nosy civilians at bay.
Keira had chosen to go with a pair of simple black jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black leather jacket over it, contrasting Natasha's tan one. Once they were out of the car, the blonde joined Steve's side, who was still dressed like an old man. And this time, she couldn't help but comment on it. "You know, I don't really have a fashion sense, but I promise that even I can dress you better than that."
Steve looked down at his clothing, not seeing anything wrong with it. "What do you mean?" He asked perplexed.
Keira raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? Stevie, you dress like you still live in the forties. And while I can accept Converse, this-" She gestured him up and down. "-I cannot. So, I promise, I'll take you shopping now when we get a few days off."
Steve shook his head and sighed. "Fine." Her face lit up, and by the sight of that, Steve couldn't help the smile creeping upon his face. It quickly faded away however, when Banner picked up the Tesseract with a pair of tongs and placed it into the traveling container. The Captain was sending the object such intense death glares, that if looks could kill, the Tesseract would've imploded upon itself.
Keira left Steve's side and walked up to Thor, whose face was adorned with a grave expression. He was finally going to get Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard, but the damage that had been done was irreversible.
"Don't forget, you still owe me a drink, big guy." She smiled at him, patting his shoulder gently. Despite their brief time together, she really liked the blond god.
Thor chuckled quietly. "Ah, I have not forgotten, Lady Keira. I promise, when we reunite again, we shall drink like there's no tomorrow."
"You got yourself a deal. And we're watching the Wizard of Oz when we do. Need to educate you for any future references to flying monkeys." She watched as his expression turned into one of confusion at first but then it dawned on him, and he nodded in agreement.
Keira threw Loki a glare, the muzzled god meeting her gaze steadily. Maybe it was this that caused her to snap. Quickly, before any had time to react, she cocked her fist back, giving it a diamond surface, before planting it hard on Loki's nose.
She heard the satisfying crunch as the god's nose broke. A groan could be heard from underneath the muzzle, and he took a few steps backwards in shock, his chained hands covering his nose.
"I'm sorry, Thor. But a promise is a promise." She shrugged, strolling back to the Captain, with the skin on her knuckles turning back to normal. The only reason why she hadn't punched the god up in the tower had sorely been because of the presence of multiple STRIKE and SHIELD agents.
So, it felt good to have done it at last. And the supersoldier actually gave her an approving nod. Since he was too noble to punch the god, he was secretly happy that somebody else had.
Keira looked over to Natasha, who was shaking her head in amusement at the little display. Of course, she knew that Keira had been longing after that. And the smirk on Clint's face showed his satisfaction as well, seeing as he hadn't gotten the chance to plant an arrow in the god's eye socket.
As Thor offered the other side of the container, Loki grabbed it, one hand still cradling his broken nose. Blue light engulfed them until they got beamed up into the sky. For a moment everybody just stared at the spot where the gods had vanished.
Tony was the first one to walk away, but he didn't leave just yet. His brand-new, sleek sportscar was waiting for him and Keira had to admit she was a tiny bit jealous of it. Steve walked over to the billionaire, shaking his hand in farewell.
In the end, mutual respect had formed between the two.
Natasha and Clint went back to one of the cars together with Banner, who got his bag handed to him by the redhead. The scientist was supposed to go with Tony, the two geniuses clicked wonderfully, and Keira couldn't wait to see what great things they could come up with. Not wanting them to leave without a goodbye, she walked over to them. She leaned down, draping her underarms on the car door.
"Banner." She greeted with a light smile. "Should you ever need a lab rat, or wish to see how mutant genetics works, I'll volunteer as tribute."
The scientist looked relaxed, happy to be back. His yellow shirt matched the sun rays streaming down on them. "Don't think I'll need a lab rat, but I'd definitely be interested in your genetics. If you wouldn't mind." He said, his gaze averting at the last sentence. Yup, he was back to his normal, awkward self.
"I volunteered for it, so just call me whenever you want to explore it." She shrugged. If they discovered the reason why some people carried the mutant gene, and some didn't, maybe they could figure out if the people had any influence over what powers they got. She then turned towards Stark, who was watching her with a smirk.
"If he gets a lab rat, I hope I'm getting something far grander." He joked.
"Afraid I can't offer you much more. All this disco ball is good for is experiments I guess." She said, her smile fading slightly. It felt kind of weak not to be able to offer the man more, especially after his near-sacrifice.
Tony clearly saw this reflected on her face, and he patted her arm. "Ah, don't worry about it. I'll be happy if I get to poke you with a few needles. Besides, you've already given me the greatest pleasure, even if it was unwillingly." At her confused look, he continued, "I got to shoot you. Who doesn't want to shoot a mutant and get to live to tell the tale?"
Keira just shook her head in amusement. "Take care of yourself, Tony. Don't sprain your back working on that tower of yours." She gave him a half-smirk before she straightened up. "Oh, could you two maybe do me a favor?" She added quickly before they had a chance to drive off.
The two men looked at her questionably, waiting for her to elaborate.
"Is there any way you could think of something that could ease discomfort when it comes to pressure changes? I have such trouble with it, and it would be nice to be able to just relax during takeoff instead of feeling like my brain is being liquified." She continued, looking down and scratching her arm uncomfortably. It wasn't like her to share her weaknesses like this, and it made her feel vulnerable, something she didn't like.
Both Tony and Bruce seemed to feel the unease radiating from her because they both smiled kindly at her. "We'll see what we can come up with." Tony answered, giving her a last pat on the arm before starting up the car. He revved the engine, because of course, he had to show off, before driving away.
Keira walked back to the Captain, who had returned to his motorcycle. "I'll call you about that shopping day. Don't think I'll forget about it." She said, smirking slightly at the man once she had joined his side.
"I wouldn't dream about it." He answered with a smile. "So, what are you gonna do now?" As the team split up, he had no idea what he would do with his free time, now that the war was over.
She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know. I need some time alone, that's for sure. It's been way too many people for my taste these last couple of days." She chuckled. "So, eating ice cream and binging movies is the simple answer to your question."
He nodded slowly. "Fair enough. It's been intense."
"Yeah, it has." She answered, nodding slightly. "However, I'd really like it if you'd wanna join me for a couple of movies? Getting to watch someone's first reaction is priceless. And I promise, I fix the best snacks."
Steve looked a bit shocked at the suggestion. Even if the two of them had clicked, for some reason he hadn't imagined that she'd want to spend her free time with him. "Oh. Yeah, sure. Absolutely." He stumbled slightly over his words, excitement shining through his eyes.
"Great! You're off to find your place in the world?"
He nodded slowly, a half-smile on his face. "Yeah, guess I need to take a moment to figure stuff out." He swung his leg over the bike and started up the engine. "I'll see you around, Keira."
She waved after him as he drove off, a lazy smile on her face before joining Natasha and Clint by the car. "Aw, how cute of you two to wait for me." She cooed, her lower lip pouting slightly.
Natasha was going to stay with Clint for a while. Getting away from the city and just relaxing out in the countryside was exactly what she needed.
And while Keira would most certainly join her after a few days, she needed some time to herself to recover from all the excitement that had happened in the last couple of days.
"Of course, couldn't leave without telling my favorite person goodbye now, could I?" Natasha teased, much more relaxed now when the rest of the group was gone. She didn't have to put on a mask in front of Keira and Clint.
Keira shook her head before embracing the redhead. Only now did the realization dawn on her, she could've lost her today. With aliens messing up the city, the chance would've been more than likely. "Take care, Tasha." She mumbled into the red hair. "And don't you dare sleep on my side of the bed. I'll know if you do."
Natasha chuckled as she hugged the blonde back. "Oh please, as if you don't love my perfume." She teased.
As Clint's house only had an extra room, since Lila and Cooper had their own, she and Keira used to share the guestroom together. And since Natasha didn't really have anywhere else to go, and Keira enjoyed the calmness of the countryside, they shared the king-sized bed stationed in the room.
The blonde didn't respond, because secretly, Natasha's perfume brought her a sense of calmness like nothing else would. This, she wouldn't admit to the redhead, of course, unless she was very drunk. So, instead, she let go and turned to Clint.
The man who had accepted her into his family and offered his home as a safe place to come to when the noise of the city became too much. She engulfed him in a hug as well, almost knocking the breath out of his lungs by the force of it.
"O- Okay, Keira. Ease up a little bit, or you'll crack my ribs." He breathed, patting her on the back.
"Sorry." She muttered and loosened her grip. Sometimes, she wasn't aware of her own strength. "I'm still welcome to join you guys when my battery is recharged?"
"Any day, any time."