~10~
"Guys," Natasha said as looked up to the sky. Ships continued to enter the city through the wormhole.
"Call it, Cap." Tony said, already analyzing his next play in his helmet.
"Alright, listen up," Steve announced. Clara reloaded her gun before tucking a strand of loose hair hair behind her ear. "Until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Tony, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash." Steve said, gesturing for him to destroy what he just said.
"Wanna give me a lift?" Clint asked Tony.
"Right. Better clench up, Legolas." Tony said before taking off. Clara smiled softly as she watched her brother blast off into the sky before focusing on Steve.
"Thor, you've gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You've got the lightning. Light the bastards up." Thor nodded before he flew away. "Nat, I need you to get as many civilians out and safe as you can." Nat obeyed before she too left, leaving Cap, Clara, and Hulk.
He turned to Clara, "You're with me, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here and away from the civilians." Clara nodded before he turned to Hulk. "And Hulk...Smash." Hulk smiled and began jumping from building to building, destroying the Chitauri where they stood. The couple fought, killing the aliens that decided to fight them. While fighting, Clara's gun jammed.
"Shit shit shit!" She mumbled, hitting it in an attempt to fix it. A Chitauri soldier approached her and she noticed Steve was too far away to help her.
"Hey Stark!" He yelled, making Clara turn her back to the Chitauri. Steve quickly threw his shield to her, which she caught just in time to cut the soldier's arm off and hit it in the head with the shield. When the area was clear, she maneuvered through the debris on the street to get back to Steve.
"I need to get me one of these." Clara said as she gave Steve his shield back. Clara fixed her gun as Natasha approached the two.
"Steve, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal." Natasha stated, wiping the blood off her forehead.
"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it." Steve said.
"Well, maybe it's not about guns." Natasha gestured to the floating chariots.
"You wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride." Clara said.
"I got a ride, but your boyfriend could give me a lift." She said sarcastically. Steve rolled his eyes and lifted his shield up. Natasha ran towards him before she jumped onto the shield and boosted off of it, being taken away by the chariot.
Steve and Clara continued to fight off oncoming soldiers. While Clara was fighting one, another pinned down Steve with its energy rifle. Clara looked over her shoulder to see the red and white shield lying on the ground. She picked it up and ran over to the Chitauri soldier, pushing it away and shooting it. Steve stood back up. "The shield suits you," Steve said, huffing out a breath before Clara gave him back his shield.
"I've been told that red's my color," Clara said, and even though she was out of breath, smiled back up at her childhood hero.
"Captain, the bank on 42ndpast Madison, they caught a lot of civilians there." Clint said.
"We're on it." Steve and Clara ran through the debris and to the bank. Dozens of civilians were gathered there, being held at gunpoint by the aliens. Steve jumped through the window, while Clara climbed in through a blown up whole in the wall. He threw his shield at the Chitauri that held a bomb while the other two aimed their guns at Steve, but Clara shot them. While they fought, Clara noticed the beeping of the bomb.
"Everyone! Clear out!" Clara yelled, her voice cracking as she yelled to the crowd. The soldier tired to cancel the bomb, but it still went off. The explosion sent Steve and Clara through the window, making them land hard, Steve on a car and Clara on her side on the cement. After Steve collected himself, he went over to Clara to see if she was alright. He noticed a large gash on her forehead and little cuts on her arms from the broken glass.
"How you holding up?" Steve asked, giving her a hand to help her up.
Clara took his hand, breathing heavily as she got up. "Well, I'm out of bullets," She sighed. Steve looked down and grabbed one of the Chitauri guns off the ground.
"Here," He tossed it to her.
"I don't know how to use this!" Clara exclaimed as she caught it. More of the Chitauri started to show up around them, already preparing to fight.
"Figure it out," Steve said before he threw his shield, staring the next fight. Clara tried to load the gun, but it was heavier than she thought. It made her stumble backwards until it went off. Steve held the shield to protect himself as it killed the soldiers around her.
"Holy shit." She laughed. The two met up with Thor, fighting and killing the Chitauri. One shot Steve with an energy blast, knocking him off his feet. Thor hit a car with mjolnir destroying the rest of the Chitauri in the way.
"You ready for another bout?" Thor asked Steve as Clara helped him up.
"What? You gettin' sleepy?" Steve asked.
Over the comms, everyone heard Natasha exclaim, "I can close it! Can anybody hear me? I can shut the portal down!" Finally Clara thought.
"Do it!" Steve ordered.
"No, wait!" Tony stopped them as he quickly flew overhead.
"Stark, these things are still coming!" Steve protested, looking back up to the portal in the sky.
"They aren't going to stop," Clara added.
"I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it." Tony said.
"Tony, I swear to god, you better not do anything stupid!" Clara shouted at him. In the distance, Clara could see her brother in the suit.
"Stark, you know that's a one-way trip?" Steve said, giving Clara a sad look as she watched her brother with worried eyes.
"Yeah." Tony breathed out.
"No! No! Dammit Tony, we'll find another way." Clara's voice pleaded over the comms. From inside his suit, Tony's heart broke at his sister's plea.
"This is the only way Clar," Tony said. "I'm sorry." Tony apologized, the nuke still on his back as flew through New York.
"Don't even start Tony, you're not doing this." Clara protested. Her eyes held tears that she wouldn't let fall.
"Clar, I..." His comms broke up, not letting Clara hear what could have been her brother's last words.
Her heart sank as she saw him disappear through the portal. "No!" The only sound they could hear was the wind blowing through the now destroyed New York City. Clara's eyes didn't budge from the portal as loose strands of hair blew over her face. She whispered softly to herself, wishing for her brother to pull off one last miracle. "C'mon Tony..."
Then it happened. Steve muttered the words "Close it." She looked at him in fear before looking back up at the sky. As the portal shrunk, Clara fell to her knees. Steve attempted to catch her, but he wasn't quick enough. She didn't let tears fall, she was in too much shock. She looked down at her hands, her calloused and bloody hands as her heart ached. She was in so much shock, that she didn't even notice that Iron Man was falling from the sky until she heard Hulk roar. She looked up Hulk as he grabbed onto Iron Man's falling body. Her breath was stuck in throat as Hulk landed in front of them, tossing the iron suit out of his grip. The three of them rushed towards him, crowding around Tony. Thor ripped the golden mask off of the helmet and tossed it aside.
To all of the Avengers, Tony looked dead. Clara let out a small cry before raising her hand to cover her mouth in disbelief. She finally lost everyone. Her father, her mother, and finally her brother. Other than her quiet sobs, it was completely silent. Then Hulk roared and Tony bolted awake.
"What the hell? What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me?" He said. Clara wiped her tears away and hugged her brother. When she pulled away, she smacked him, making his exhaustion turn into anger and annoyance. "What was that for?!"
"If you ever die on me again Anthony Stark, I'll kill you." She said sternly before letting out a soft laugh. She looked over at Steve and sighed heavily, "We won."
"Alright. Hey. Alright. Good job, guys." Tony cheered, though he was exhausted. "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."
"We're not finished yet." Thor stayed, looking up to Stark Tower were Loki was seen last.
"And then shawarma after."
***
The Avengers stood around Loki as he tried to get back up from Hulk's previous beating. "If it's all the same to you," he said, a small smirk playing on his lips. "I'll have that drink."
They cuffed him up and waited for SHIELD to arrive to secure the scepter and cube. While waiting, Clara offered drinks to everyone, picking out the bottles that weren't destroyed in the battle. She offered one to Steve but he politely declined before declaring his new task. "On my way down to coordinate search and rescue." As he walked out of the room, Clara caught herself eyeing him before seeing Loki
use his magic to turn into him and mock him.
"On my way down to coordinate search and rescue!" He turned back to normal before Thor put a muzzle on him and shut him up. After everything was cleared up, they went that Shawarma joint Tony suggested and ate a late lunch before having to say goodbye to Thor.
***
A few hours later, the Avengers stood on a bridge, watching as Loki and Thor prepared to go back to Asgard. They had changed from their uniforms into casual clothes, trying to draw less attention to themselves in the public area. Thor bid everybody goodbye except for Clara. "Don't be a stranger," she said, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched Thor prepare the tesseract for them to go home. He nodded and smiled as a way to say goodbye before he activated the cube and the two vanished. Her sunglasses slid slightly down her nose as she was clear from being blinded by the Tesseract's power. When the two brothers were finally gone, everyone began saying their goodbyes. Natasha and Clara chatted for a minute or two before her and Clint took off for some other business. She stood by the bridge, looking at the destroyed city with a bit of pain in her heart. Though they saved the world, they were to blame for that.
"It's going to be fixed," Tony said as he stood beside her. "We'll help fix it."
"I know," Clara sighed.
"Need a ride?" Tony asked, making Clara turn to face him.
"No." Clara politely declined as she looked at Steve. He started up his motorcycle before glancing back her way. She looked at her brother who wore a smug look. "I've got plans."
Tony nodded a goodbye to his sister before climbing into his car with Bruce. Steve smiled softly to himself as Clara approached him, her black boots stopping only inches away from the motorcycle. "Care to join me?" He asked with a smug tone. Clara smirked before climbing onto the back and wrapping her arms around Steve's waist. The engine roared and the two were gone, riding down the streets of New York City with no plans, no curfews, only each other.