Always Angry
Steve followed behind me as I weaved my way through the corridors in silence. I knew where Tony had gone, I could read him like a book. Maybe an encyclopedia, though.
As predicted, I found him looking down into the chasm where Loki's cell had been; the place where Phil lost his life believing in us and we let him down with a petty argument. Steve and I stepped onto a platform a few feet away from Tony and watched him. I could tell he'd noticed us. But instead, he stared down.
"Was he married?" Steve asked eventually.
"No," Tony replied. "There was a cellist, I think."
Steve bowed his head. "I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man."
Tony looked up at us and gave us both a serious look. "He was an idiot."
"Why? For believing?" I shot back at him.
"For taking on Loki alone," he said as he backed up from the platform.
"He was doing his job," Steve answered honestly but Tony scoffed.
"He was out of his league. He should have waited," Tony argued, coming nearer to us. "He should've..."
Steve and I stepped down and walked closer. "Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony," I said reasonably.
"Right, I've heard that before," he said sarcastically and I frowned at him.
"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?" Steve asked.
Tony whipped around and glared at him. "We are not soldiers!" he said defiantly. Steve and I looked at him until he backed up a bit. "I'm not marching to Fury's fife."
"I'm not either," I agreed.
"Neither am I," Steve added. "He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does. But right now we gotta put that behind us and get this done."
"I agree," I told Tony and he looked down. "Now, Loki needs a power source. If we can as a team put together a list-"
"He made it personal," Tony cut me off.
"That's not the point,"
"This is the point," countered Tony. "That's Loki's point. He hit all of us right where we live. Why?"
"To tear us apart?" Steve asked.
"Yeah, divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it," I could almost see steam coming from Tony's head as he thought furiously and stepped around Steve and I. "He wants an audience."
"Right. I caught his act in Stuttgart," Steve nodded. I bit my lip, thinking.
"That was just the beginning..." I added and Tony nodded slowly.
"That was just previews. This is opening night. And Loki, he's a full-tilt diva, right? He wants flowers, he wants parades. He wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered-"
Tony broke off as we both came to a sudden realisation and looked at each other. "Son of a bitch!" we both said at once.
"That was creepy, but I'm confused?" Steve asked me as Tony stepped off the platform and hurried off.
I grabbed his hand and pulled him along after Tony. "Isn't it obvious, Cap?!" I cried out, using the disheveled looking people as an indication to where Tony had pushed through them and gone.
"No!"
I rolled my eyes. "Big ugly building in New York, ring a bell?"
And then it hit Steve. "Stark Tower," he said firmly.
"Ding ding ding! We have a winner!" I said sarcastically causing Steve to glare at me.
"Where are we going, Rose?!"
"To get me a co-pilot!"
~
The door opened to reveal a more Nat-looking Nat staring at us. "Time to go," Steve told her quickly.
"Go where?"
"Tell you on the way," I told her and she nodded.
"Can you fly one of those jets with Rose?" Steve asked her and a side door opened to reveal Clint.
"I can," he said and I grinned.
"Good to see you back, old man," I winked at him and he rolled his eyes.
"Good to see you got out of kindergarten, finally, you child," he quipped back and I laughed.
Steve gave him a wary look. "You got a suit?"
"Yeah,"
"Then suit up," he said and with that, he left.
I turned to Clint and Nat. "Don't worry, he says that a lot."
~
The remaining team and I, minus Tony, made our way onto a jet. The agent on board stood up at the sight of us. "Hey, you guys aren't authorised to be in here."
"Son, just dont." Steve told him and he quickly left.
"Ooh," I shuddered. "That made me shiver." Steve, Nat and Clint stared at me with an amused look. I shrugged. "Just trying to relieve the tension..."
I hopped into the co-pilots seat, turned on my earpiece and slipped on my headset as Clint took the seat beside me, firing up the engine. "Rose?" Tony's voice came through my ears.
"Hey, Tony," I greeted him as I began my pre-flight routine with Clint. "What can I do for you?"
"I'm on my way to the tower to talk to this asshole. On the off chance that I should become possessed by his magic wand, I would like to bestow upon you the honour of hitting me really hard in the head, like Barton."
Even though he couldn't see it, I clasped a hand to my heart and faked a tear. "I'm so touched you would trust me! I'd be glad to hit you in the face, brother."
"Only if compromised," Tony reminded me.
"Mmm, we'll see. Catch you later,"
"Stay safe." He said, then went radio silent.
~
By the time we reached New York, the Chitauri had already begun their attack, having only Tony as their opponent. Clint and I wasted no time in lowering all weapons and firing all we had at the creepy alien things.
"Can you see Loki?" Steve asked us from behind. Neither of us replied but we swiftly moved in and out of buildings towards Stark Tower.
From our distance, I could see two green and red figures moving and sparks flying - I figured Thor had returned. And then I saw a large beam of light bounce off and hit the Stark logo, the 'R' and the 'K' falling off and hitting the ground. "Hey! Stop attacking my tower!" I growled at the pair, earning a chuckle from Steve.
"Tony, we're on your three, headed north-east," I told Tony through the ear pierce.
"What, did you stop for drive-through?!" I rolled my eyes at his response. "Swing up Park. I'm gonna lay 'em out for you."
At this, I quickly switched seats with Natasha and used the time she attacked the Chitauri with Clint to reload the guns in my holsters. Steve gave me a funny look. I cocked an eyebrow. "What?"
"You not flying the rest of the way?"
"We have a deal. I fly, she shoots. Clint's there for moral support."
"Hey!"
"Just kidding!" I winked at Steve. "Not really."
Then the jet tipped and I stumbled into Steve, who helped me up and gripped my arm, keeping me steady. "Nat?" I yelled.
"Loki hit our engine!" she replied as we began to cascade down, Steve and I gripping both each other and the metal pipes above our heads to stop ourselves from falling.
We crashed into the ground, and Nat and Clint quickly removed their belts and jumped out. The door lowered to the back and the four of us left swiftly, jogging around abandoned cars and looking up at 'Sta' Tower.
"We gotta get back up there!" Steve called to us but we stopped abruptly at a loud groaning noise. Our eyes traveled to the portal; the chasm seemed to grow and it glowed with a strange blue light. And from it came a thing. A huge, monster looking alien thing. It flew down and crashed into buildings, flying over head and launching more Chitauri from it.
Great, a bloody ship.
"Stark, are you seeing this?" Steve asked through his head set.
"Seeing. Still working on believing." came his reply. "Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"
"Bruce?" I asked, confused.
"Just keep me posted," and he went silent again.
The four of us crouched behind a cab for cover and glanced around at the war surrounding us. "We've got civilians trapped," Clint warned us.
A Chitauri flew past that caught my attention because of the person sat behind it. "Loki!" Steve gritted his teeth.
We watched in horror as the civilians on the ground were targeted, fires starting, cars flipping. "They're fish in a barrel down there!" Steve cried out.
Clint and I stood and shot at a few Chitauri as they neared us. Nat looked at Steve. "We got this. It's good. Go."
"Do you think you could hold them off?"
Clint turned around to look at us. "Captain," he flicked a switch and loaded an arrow. "It would be my genuine pleasure." He grinned before standing up and firing his arrow, it landing itself in the forehead of a Chitauri.
Steve nodded and took off, leaving the three of us. Clint and I began to help people out of a bus, helping them climb out of the windows as Nat covered us. Once the emergency exit was open, Clint and I rejoined Nat in firing at the Chitauri personally, alternating sides and angles.
"Well, this isn't how I expected to spend my day," I joked.
"Just like Budapest all over again!" Nat said to us.
I nodded. "Yep, do not want a repeat of that!"
"You two and I remember Budapest very differently," Clint replied as he fired another arrow.
A new wave of Chitauri advanced and we each took one. I reloaded my gun and fired, but missed. I cursed and ducked as it swung it's scepter at my head. I shot at it's hip and it staggered back and fell. With difficulty, I pulled it's scepter from it's hand and ran it through it's own body, making sure to kill it thoroughly. Before I could be too smug, another one shot at me, narrowly missing my shoulder. I gave it an angry glare, dropped the scepter, and shot at it; the bullets sank into it's abdomen one by one until it collapsed.
Steve suddenly reappeared, and the four of us merged into a group, firing, hitting, shooting at any oncoming threats. As a huge group of them swarmed, lightening suddenly seemed to course through them, frying them where they stood until they fell. Thor came down from the sky, wobbling on his legs and resting on a car for support; he was injured.
"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked him as we took a minute to regain our breath.
"The power surrounding the Cube is impenetrable." He told us.
"Thor's right." Tony agreed out of nowhere. "We got to deal with these guys."
"How exactly do we do that?" I asked aloud.
"As a team," Steve replied quickly.
"I have unfinished business with Loki," Thor said.
"Yeah? Well, get in line," Clint replied coolly.
"Save it," Steve told them, like children. "Loki's going to keep the fight focused on us, and that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild."
Steve walked in front of all of us and turned around, meaning business. He addressed us all, "We got Stark - Tony - up top. He's going to need us to-"
He stopped at the sound of a motorcycle growing closer, and turned around to see Bruce riding up to us. We hurried over.
"So," he said with a deep breath. "This all seems...horrible."
"We've seen worse," Nat said, looking from me to Bruce.
"Sorry," he said to the two of us and I shrugged.
"We could use a little worse," I told him honestly. "Besides, you should see Clint before he does his hair."
"Hey!" Clint hit me across the head .
"Stark, we got him," Steve said into his headset, ignoring the two of us.
"Banner?" Tony questioned.
"Just like you said."
"Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you."
We watched as Iron Man flew around a corner, and a few seconds later, one of the Chitauri ships flew around it, crashing into the building as it did. My stomach dropped at the sight of the colossal monster as Thor grunted and raised his hammer.
"I-I don't see how that's a party..." Natasha said, staring at it.
Bruce glanced at us before walking towards the ship, where it advanced to us, crashing into cars as it did.
"Dr Banner!" Steve cried out warily. "Now might be a good time for you to get angry."
Bruce looked over his shoulder as he continued walking. "That's my secret, Captain," he said, turning back to the ship and stopping. With one last glance, he said, "I'm always angry."
And then he transformed into the Hulk within seconds, his right hand clenching into a fist and slamming into the face of the Chitauri ship, flipping it over with an almighty roar. It exposed it's weak spot, and Tony shot at it. Steve grabbed me and covered us with his shield as debris flew when it felt to the ground, dead.
I let out a low whistle. "Well, shit,"