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"We've got to get back up there," Steve shouted, as the four of us burst from the downed jet and emerged out onto the rubble-littered city street.

As a unit, we all looked up to the top of the Stark tower, and the portal miles above us. Before anyone could move, the sound of something colossal moving rumbled the earth. It sounded like a massive boat creaking in the water, but it was deeper than that. It resonated in my bones.

And then, I saw it. The massive, serpentine, iron-clad beast that was easily the length of the titanic. It released a menacing roar that shattered my ear drums.

"Holy shit, we're gonna die," I said breathlessly.

It dipped down towards us, smashing everything in its wake before it pulled up just above the ground, coasting right over us. More Chitauri deployed from within its armor, shooting off in different directions to unleash havoc.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Cap said into his ear piece, as the four of us trailed the serpentine alien with our eyes.

"Seeing. Still working on believing." Stark's voice came back in response. "Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"

"Banner?" I frowned.

"Just keep me posted," Tony answered.

A swarm of Chitauri rounded onto our block, and Nat pulled me along with the others to take cover behind an overturned taxicab.

"We've got civilians still trapped up here," Clint said.

I watched as the Chitauri flew past us, and caught a flash of green.

"Loki," Steve said what I was already thinking, "They're fish in a barrel down there."

Behind me, Nat fired off a few shots from her pistols at some Chitauri who'd dropped from the serpent. "We got this, it's good." She said to Steve.

"You think you can hold them off?" Cap asked.

"Captain," Clint said, loading an arrow, "It would be my genuine pleasure."

With that, Steve dashed off for the civilians that had been trapped by the Chitauri led by Loki.

I turned my focus on the advancing enemy. Pressed down on the button at my thumb and felt the armor on my palms pull back. And then I rained fire on them.

I threw rods and sheets of pure flame on the advancing Chitauri, knocking them off their feet before they could attack the fleeing civilians. I prayed to god that Mae and Gale were nowhere near this.

"Fuck," I winced, as one of the Chitauri crept behind me and got close enough to bash my legs with its weapon. I whirled on it, pulling a wave of flame from thin air and knocking it off its feet.

That gave the other Chitauri enough time to encircle me. One let off a shot in my direction, but it never reached me. Cap had made his way back, diving in front of me and deflecting the gunfire with his shield. The two of us made quick work of the others. We turned to take on more, just as those surrounding us crumpled to the ground from a bolt of lightning. Thor dropped from the sky, his hammer held firm.

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked, as we huddled together as a group.

"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable.

"Thor's right," Stark's voice came over the earpieces, "We've gotta deal with these guys."

"How do we do this?" Nat asked.

"As a team," Steve answered directly.

"I have unfinished business with Loki," Thor said.

"Yeah?" Clint looked up, "Get in line."

"It's about a thousand long, including me," I added, "And I don't think there's gonna be much left of him if I get to him first."

"I vote we let Firebyrd barbeque him," said Clint with a laugh.

"We'll have to get her up there first," Nat responded.

"Or," I began, "Bring him down to us."

"Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us," Steve said, "And that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us to—"

Steve ceased giving orders at the sound of a motercycle engine approaching from behind us. We all turned.

"Bruce?" I smiled in disbelief.

"So," Bruce said, approaching us, "This all seems horrible."

"I've seen worse," Nat replied, eyeing him slowly.

"Sorry," he said, looking down guiltily.

"No," Nat shook her head, "We could use a little worse."

"Stark," Steve said into his earpiece, "We got him."

"Banner?"

"Just like you said," I smiled.

"Then tell him to suit up, I'm bringing the party to you."

Suddenly, a deafening boom echoed across the block, as Iron Man jetted around a building with the serpent on his tail. Shit.

"I... I don't see how that's a party," Nat said, watching as the serpent gravitated towards us.

I lifted my hands into a fighting stance. "It's about to be."

The serpent coasted so low to the ground that it flattened the cars and trees beneath it. It was headed straight for us. I didn't see how we could take it on.

Bruce looked back at us, and then turned, beginning to walk directly towards it.

"Dr. Banner," Steve called to him, "Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."

"That's my secret, Captain," Bruce responded, looking back. The serpent was less than a hundred meters away and rapidly closing the distance. "I'm always angry."

Before my eyes, Bruce swelled to three times his size, his muscles bursting through his shirt and turning into a bright green.

An earth-shattering thud split the air as his fist connected with the serpent's head. The Hulk was somehow strong enough to stop it in its tracks, causing it to flip onto its back. Its armor fell to pieces above us, and Thor shielded me from the wreckage as Iron Man shot at the serpent's now exposed flesh.

It collapsed in a heap of iron and blood across from us, and the surrounding Chitauri lifted their masks and screeched. The seven of us pressed back-to-back, covering all sides as the Chitauri tore through the sky with their screams.

I looked up. "You feeling up to doing that a couple more times, Banner?" I asked, as I watched several more serpents pour through the gaping portal in the sky.

The rest of them followed my gaze. "Call it, Captain," said Tony.

"Alright, listen up," Cap started, his gaze on the sky, "Until we can close that portal, our priority is containmant. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back, or you turn it to ash."

"Can you give me a lift?" Clint asked Tony.

He nodded. "Right, better clench up, Legolas." He grabbed Clint by the back and with a flash of light, they shot off into the sky.

"Thor," Steve went on, "You gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up."

Thor nodded, spinning his hammer and pushing off from the ground.

"The three of us," Steve said, addressing Nat and I, "We stay here on the ground, we keep the fighting here." He looked back at Bruce. "And Hulk—Smash."

I could have sworn that a grin had broken out on the Hulk's face, before he, too, was in the sky, jumping between buildings and tearing Chitauri limb from limb.

I met Nat's gaze briefly, and she nodded to me. I gave her a reassuring smile.

If you'd have asked me two years ago where I saw myself at nineteen, I would not have guessed fighting an alien army led by my power-hungry, demigod ex-lover, alongside Captain America and a superspy I was pretty close friends with.

And yet, that was exactly what I was doing.

And I was going to win.

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