| the big finale |

❝ h e r o ❞

"Call it, Captain," Tony states, charging his repulsors.

"Alright, listen up," Steve demands, taking control. "Until we can close that portal up there, we’regonna use containment. 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."

Clint nods, turning his gaze to Tony in his IronMan suit. "Wanna give me a lift?"

"Better clench up, Legolas."

IronMan lifts Clint off of the ground and up to the nearest rooftop.

"Thor! You gotta try and bottleneck that portal, slow ’em down. You got the lightning, light the bastards up."

Thor nods and swings Mjolnir, flying off.

"Wilson, telaport to the end of this street to help keep the fighting on the ground. You can get to places faster than most of us so use that to your advantage."

"Aye aye, Captain," she agrees before closing her eyes to do as he said.

"You and me, we stay-"

Steve's voice is gone as she reopens her eyes, taking in the battlefield in front of her. Her appearance immediately catches the attention of several Chitauri warriors, their loud war cries echoing throughout the block.

"I can scream too, assholes," Celeste huffs, unsheathing her knife and releasing a loud battle cry of her own.

"Impressive," Clint chuckles in her earpiece.

"Shut up."

Charging towards the aliens, she knocks three to the ground, her weapon easily piercing their armor and skin. Grabbing one by the front of his armor, she manages to flip him over and into his fellow aliens as the heat from her gloves burns him.

An undamaged Chitauri jumps over his fallen comrades, startling her enough to cause her to stumble backwards. Her back becomes pressed up against an abandoned school bus, the pressure hitting her wound and causing her to involuntarily hiss in pain. The alien pounces in her moment of distraction, throwing her knife from her slackened grip and across the street.

His sword raises, but before she can telaport away, an arrow sails into the back of the Chitauri's head. Celeste laughs disbelievingly as his body slumps to the ground, glancing to the rooftop and offering a mock salute to the archer.

Not seeing any more Chitauri or Leviathans within a threatening distance, she dashes across the street to retrieve her lost knife. Debris and rubble from damaged buildings and cars litter the street, making her search slightly more difficult.

"How hard can it be to find a big knife?" She ponders aloud, crouching to claw her way through large chunks of the mess. "If someone stole it, I swear I'll-"

"Excuse me," a timid voice calls out as a small finger taps Celeste's back tentatively. "I think you dropped this."

Celeste turns around slowly, coming face to face with a little girl no older than five. Her hair is falling out of the two braids it had originally been pulled back in, her face is covered in dirt and grime, and clutched in her chubby fist is the handle of Celeste's fascine knife that's bigger than the girl's body.

"Thank you," she sighs in relief, offering a warm smile as she carefully takes it back. Standing up, she glances around the area warily before looking back to the child. "Now, what do you say we get you away from these scary aliens?"

The girl nods happily, outstretching her arms for Celeste to pick her up. Complying, she focuses her attention on the street she and Steve managed to convince the police to put a perimeter on.

The girl keeps her arms latched around Celeste's neck tightly during the transition, only releasing her when she assures her it's safe.

"Where the hell did you come from?" A police officer shouts, clearly taken aback.

"I need you to find this kid's mother," Celeste states, ignoring his question. Not waiting to hear his response, she bends back down so she can be eye level with the girl. "I have to get back to work, but this nice policeman is going to help you find your parents. Promise to stay here until they come for you?"

"Are you a superhero?"

"I'm trying to be," she admits, chuckling at her bluntness. "But, to tell you the truth, I'm just an acrobat from the circus."

"There you are, Daliah!" A frantic mother calls out, scooping the child away from Celeste and into into her arms. "You had me worried sick."

"Mommy!" She shouts happily. "I want to be an acrobat when I grow up!"

Celeste can't help but to feel a swell of pride, especially when the mother gasps dramatically in shock. Glancing around, she spots Steve's infamous shield ricocheting outside of a bank's doors a few buildings away.

Telaporting to it, she picks it up and watches as her gloves release heat, yet no damage is done to it.

"Think I could get that back?" Steve questions, coming into view as he points several pedestrians in the direction of the police.

"Finder's keeper's," she retorts, holding it up to her side. "Besides, I think it compliments my outfit quite nicely. Don't you?"

Steve merely rolls his eyes, gesturing fo her to give it back. Behind him, two Chitauri are running out of the bank, heading diectly towards them.

"Duck!"

Without a second thought, Celeste throws the shield like a frisbee as Steve does as she demanded and it successfully knocks both of the aliens down.

"It's official," she decides as he retrieves it. "I want partial custody."

Thor drops down next to them, immediately causing any Chitauri near them to drop with a bolt of lighting.

"You ready for another bout?"

"What?" Steve pants. "You getting sleepy?"

"I can close it," Natasha shouts into her earpiece. "Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down!"

Do it!" Steve shouts in reply.

"No," Tony disagrees, causing Steve to groan. "Wait."

"Stark, these things are still coming!"

"I got a nuke coming in. It's gonna blow in less than a minute," he explains. "And I know just where to put it."

"Stark, you know that's a one way trip."

Celeste looks up at the sky, watching as IronMan grabs onto the missile before it can hit Stark Tower and begins to redirect it to the large portal.

"That suicidal fucker," Celeste murmurs, worry coursing through her as the IronMan suit disappears into the darkness of the portal. "If this doesn't kill him, I am."

The sound of a distant explosion can faintly be heard, and all of the Chitauri and Leviathans immediately collapse. Celeste jumps, grabbing Steve's shield to avoid being not by the ones falling from the sky.

"Close it," Steve commands.

"What?" Celeste all but shrieks, fighting the urge to throw his own shield at him. "We can't do that!"

Before Steve can argue, it becomes clear Natasha has already followed his orders as the blue beam in the sky disappears and the portal starts to slowly close.

Just before it disappears completely, IronMan comes plummeting back out o it.

"Son of a gun," Steve breathes out.

"He's not slowing down," Thor points out worriedly, preparing Mjolnir to fly after him.

Before he can leave the ground, the Hulk roars loudly and leaps out of a building to yank Tony and his suit from the sky. The green giant slides down the side of the building and crashes onto the ground, carelessly throwing Tony's body down as well.

The three rush forward, Celeste dropping to his side as Thor rips off the IronMan mask to reveal his unconscious state. Steve leans down to check for a heartbeat and Celeste frowns, gesturing to the arc reactor that's no longer lighting up.

The Hulk roars yet again and slams a fist against Tony's body, effectively causing his eyes to snap open and him to gasp for air.

"What the hell? What just happened?" He panicks. "Please tell me nobody kissed me."

"We won," Steve says gently.

"Alright, hey. Alright. Good job, guys. Let’s just not come intomorrow. Let’s just take a day," the billionaire rambles. "You ever tried shawarma? There’s ashawarma joint about two blocksfrom here. I don’t know what it is,but I wanna try it."

"We're not finished yet," Thor growls.

"And then shawarma after?"

"Just so we're clear," Celeste begins, gaining Tony's attention. "You are an absolute asshole for scaring me like that."

"Aw, you care about me."

➵➵➵➵

Steve, Tony, Bruce, Natasha, Clint, Celeste, Thor, Loki, and Dr. Selvig stand amidst the rubble and slightly cleared streets in front of Stark Tower. Tony holds a briefcase, Thor has a hold of Loki's shackled arms and a muzzle over his brother's mouth, and everyone but the gods had changed out of their suits.

Selvig takes a glass cylinder out of a truck. Tony lays his briefcase on the ground and opens it to reveal the infamous blue Cube. Bruce accepts a pair of tongs from Selvig and uses them to carefully transfer the Tesseract into the other encasement.

Thor takes the glass cylinder and gestures for Loki to grab onto one end. A large burst of light swallows the duo as Thor waves goodbye to everyone and disappears.

The group breathes a collective sigh of relief and everyone disperses to say personal goodbyes to each other. After pulling Natasha into a hug, Celeste glances around to see Clint standing off to the side and out of earshot, gesturing for her to come closer.

Curiosity getting the best of her, she easily complies, matching his smug look with one of her own.

"Where are you going after this?" Clint questions. "Because you're more than welcome to join me and Nat."

"I don't know," she admits honestly. "I just know that it's going to be far away from wherever you're going."

"And why's that?" He raises an eyebrow, unable to hide the hurt that flashes across his features.

"Because I'm about to do something really stupid, and I don't think I can handle seeing you everyday to add to the embarassment."

"And what would the really stupid thing happen to be?"

"This."

Before Celeste can lose her nerve, she grabs the collar of Clint's jacket and pulls him closer connecting their lips in a desperate attempt to convey all of the pent up feelings she still has towards him.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time," she admits, refusing to look up at him as she pulls away. "But don't worry. I don't expect you to still feel the same."

"Wha-"

"Did you honestly think I wouldn't find out about you and Natasha?"

Tucking his finger under her chin, Clint gently guides her to look up at him, hating the devastating hurt in her eyes.

Hey, listen to me," he coaxes. "She's my best friend. But that doesn't compare to the person that's had my heart for fifteen years, even if she doesn't realize she has."

Celeste can't help but to feel the same sense of euphoria wash over her that she felt when she and Clint got together in their teen years. A smile breaks across her face, causing Clint's to light up as well.

"Do you really mean that?"

"I've never lied to my best girl before. Why would I start now?"

"That sounds like something cheesy Steve would say."

"You know you love it."

"Shut up and kiss me, dumbass."

Clint obliges, wrapping his arms around Celeste's waist and eagerly tugging her closer, his lips crashing onto hers. Her hands slide around his neck, wanting to be as close to the man she considers to be the love of her life as possible.

Tony whistles loudly, successfully ending their moment. With a laugh, the happy couple pull away from each other and walk back to the group, their hands linked.

"You know, you could have easily read my mind to figure all of that out," Clint points out as Tony begins to throw questions at them. "So why didn't you?"

"I promised you the first time we were together that I never would," she explains. "I wasn't about to break that promise because I was jealous."

Steve walks up to Celeste before Clint can comment, concern etched across his features.

"Do you care if I see your necklace for a minute?"

"Not at all."

Not even bothering to question him, Celeste unhooks her necklace and hands it to the curious super soldier. Watching as he examines it closely, it's nearly impossible to miss the horror dawning across his facial expressions.

"Care to explain why you're wearing a HYDRA symbol?"

End of Part One