𝐢'𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞

༻ ❁ ༺

          TONY FLEW AROUND the tall buildings that littered the city to come to face the head of the goliath-shelled creature gliding through the air.

"Hey, Charlie? Are you okay?"

As he soared by, he fired hundreds of missiles from the panels above his shoulders, the explosions exploding along its jaws and the connections of its fins to its torso. It growled and snapped its teeth in the direction he had gone, tightening its turn to follow his route, its tail ripping through the corner of a high-rise behind it, sending bricks of rubble tumbling to the street below in a cloud of dust.

"I'm okay!" she reassured him. Tony did check her vitals on the small screen showing in the corner of his helmet, her blood pressure was normal and her heartbeat as well, he nodded.

"Guess what, I got its attention," he stated as he hovered to note the creature's pursuit, it had turned from the established perimeter, "Wanna remind your old man what the hell was step two?" he anxiously muttered, eyes wide as he hastily spun around, now facing the opposite direction.

"Step two is 'don't die!'" she snapped at him, rising from her seat and approaching the window as if she'd see him.

On the ground, Clint intercepted a Chitauri staff jab with his bow before sweeping the Chitauri's feet out from beneath it. He flipped it onto its back and stood above it, twirling the length of an arrow with a flourish before piercing its chest with a hard stab, causing it to shriek and curl upward.

Natasha was perched on the back of another, one leg slung over a shoulder and the other looped around its torso, the powerful electrical charge of her bracelet striking the alien's exposed jugular. She flipped from the alien's falling body to confront those approaching her, skidding on her knees under a ray before twisting and leaping to slam her gun into the alien's brain. She took a few steps forward before forcing the end in front of the midsection and shooting a beam from the tip.

To help the two agents, Steve ran over the large concrete construction blocks blocking the archer's left side, slammed his shield into an alien who had rushed to assault Clint, then stabbed another and whipped another backward.

Thor landed quickly among their crumpled forms, but he stumbled as he braced himself on the overturned vehicle near him, getting to his feet and charging forward with teeth clenched in anguish from the stab wound in his side.

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked as he removed his shield, adjusted its hold, and then slipped it onto his left forearm.

"Lady Stark is safe," Thor reassured the group, passing a glance to Natasha who nodded quickly, flashing him a grateful smile. "However, the power surrounding the Cube is impenetrable," he answered solemnly.

"Thor's right, we've got to deal with these guys," Tony contributed into their earpieces as he soared past overheard, their gazes following him.

"Can I do something to help?" Charlotte meekly asked.

"No! Stay where you are, and stay hidden." Tony ordered quickly, leaving the other three to look at each other apprehensively, but agreeing with him.

"But, I can help! Let me help!" Charlotte whined, uncharacteristically stomping her foot in protest.

"We got this covered, Charlie," Natasha stated softly, shortening the girl's name for the first time. "How do we do this?" the redhead said, turning to the Captain as Clint gathered the shafts of the arrows he had been able to recover in his hands behind her.

"As a team."

Charlotte liked that, but she felt like an outsider as she heard their conversation.

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

"Yeah? Well get in line," Clint drawled, staring firmly as he inspected the arrowheads in hand by touch.

"Save it," Steve ordered sharply, striding between the two's eye contact, "Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need – without him these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us to–" His arms that were raised in an indication of the genius' position abruptly dropped as he turned from the other three at Natasha and Thor's gazes over his should and at the sound of an engine.

His bemused gaze fell on Bruce's slowly approaching shape, riding haltingly across the damaged street, accompanied by the stuttering rumble of the rented motorbike he rode upon. Clint inserted arrows into the hold of his quiver as they approached him, and Bruce dismounted and met them midway.

"What's going on?" Charlotte asked, wondering why Steve stopped mid-speech.

"Bruce is back," Natasha replied to her.

"So," he greeted hesitantly with spread hands before dropping them to rest alongside his thighs, "this all seems horrible."

"I've seen worse," Natasha commented with a brief glance over his form.

"Sorry," he replied, cringing.

"No, we could use a little worse," she admitted to his quirked eyebrow and nervous nod.

"Stark, we got him," Steve relayed.

"Banner?"

"Just like you said."

"Then tell him to suit up," he responded, their positions minute dots of scarlet on Park Avenue on his map of the city, "I'm bringing the party to you," the suit flew around the corner to the following enormous, soaring, shelled creature, its fins slicing through the windows and supports of the corner of the tall building it banked around.

Charlotte, who could see it from above, gasped and leaned back over the railing, her eyes widening in surprise at the beast following her father. She whimpered, wishing she could see more of what was going on down below.

She then heard something slide across the floor towards her, and as she turned around, she noticed a pair of Stark Glasses that her father used to zoom in on his robots so he could see his work better - she gazed at them wide and glanced about to see who had given them to her.

But no one was at sight.

She grabbed them, put them on, and turned around to see what was going on while listening to them via the earpiece, slightly shaken. She'd think about finding out what had just happened later; she was too preoccupied with the people below just now.

When Charlotte pressed the zoom in button on the side of the glasses, holograms of definitions appeared on the glassed area, and she was able to see at the group staring at her father soaring towards them with the monster on his back.

It groaned as Thor snarled and readied Mjolnir, Natasha shaking her head and remarking, "I-I don't see how that's a party."

"Me neither! Dad, what are you doing?!" Charlotte squeaked out.

"Don't worry!" Tony said quickly, and she was tired of people telling her that.

It screamed as it pursued Tony's retreating aircraft, descending to crash through the streetlights and abandoned vehicles. Bruce relaxed his jaw and cautiously turned to face the monster as Iron Man whipped by.

"Dr. Banner," Steve called, having taken a few steps back as if to follow, advising, "Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."

"That's my secret, Captain," he led over his shoulder as he walked before pausing and revealing, "I'm always angry."

His complexion darkened to green and hands clenched in anticipation as he looked back to their opponent, his lips twisted in rage as muscles smoothly bulged in transition. The Hulk became three feet taller, his jaw clenched in rage, and he slammed his fist into the goliath beast's front fangs. The Hulk's low stance was forced back into the concrete as it moved forward, eventually forcing it to a halt with his increasing efforts and accompanying roar. The finned body's length progressively teetered to a vertical height that threatened the buildings on each side, and an impending collision with the Avengers gathering in front of it, as the momentum continued to drive the rest of the finned body up and over.

Charlotte was jaw-slacked as she watched the whole ordeal – she was shaken by it.

The Chitauri screeched from their perches atop the high-rises they were destroying. Charlotte squinted as she watched them twist to brand their weapons and remove their iron face guards, exposing their fangs in the middle of their wailing.

The Hulk flexed the muscles along his arms and torso as he roared skyward in response. Iron Man spun to hover closer to the ground behind as Hawkeye drew and knocked an arrow. Thor was at his side twirling Mjolnir in hand while Black Widow flanked him, reloading her gun. Captain America adjusted his shield as he observed the number of extraterrestrials he and his team were facing, her dad came to settle beside him.

The young girl could not contain her excitement and pride for the group, and so she jumped up and down, her fist pumping into the air and she cheered for the heroes.

The five heard Charlotte cheer for them, and that gave them even more of a confidence boost.

Wrecked vehicles, taxis, and police cars were strewn about the streets as sirens and screams filled the air. Loki looked down from above in the intricate control seat of the hovercraft he had appropriated, commanding dispassionately,

"Send the rest."

༻ ❁ ༺

Charlotte didn't know why, but she immediately heard more roaring from above, and as she glanced up, more gigantic shelled monsters and troops rushed out of the gateway overhead. She shrieked and dived down, her head covered as if to protect herself.

Meanwhile, down below, the Avengers began strategizing their next actions. Clint had been told by Steve to stay on the roof of the next-door building and keep an eye on everything, including patterns and wayward aliens. Then he instructed Tony to destroy anything that was more than three blocks away from the location.

While all this was happening, Charlotte observed Thor's crimson cape fluttering behind him as he aimed himself toward the top of the Chrysler Building. She was stunned as he summoned lightning from the black clouds that had reached him and hurled it into the portal, where two enormous shelled monsters creaked and moaned as their bodies were burned by Mjolnir's energy. They flinched backward and blocked the entrance to the others in their attempts to break away from the wracking pain.

In complete awe of the god, Charlotte couldn't help to stare at the scene, her Stark Glasses zooming in on the action.

"Stark, you've got a lot of strays sniffing your tail," she suddenly heard Clint call out through her earpiece.

Concerned, her attention was now set on finding her father, and when she found him Iron Man was whipping high above a street from the buildings on one side to the other, aliens indeed close in pursuit.

"Just trying to keep them off the streets and far from the tower," he answered tensely while darting a quick glance at the number of heat signatures following as he steered.

"How about you keep them off you?" Charlotte deadpanned.

"I think the kid is right," Clint smirked, "I've got to hand it to them, these guys are putting up one hell of a fight."

"Swear," Charlotte quickly said.

"Sorry," the archer told her, swiftly drawing an arrow as a hoverboard flew past him, he shot to his right outside his peripheral to annihilate the following craft as he continued to eye Iron Man, "Find a tight corner," he suggested.

Charlotte landed her eyes on Clint and saw him drop to one knee as he held an arrow knocked, he tracked the group of Chitauri through the air with its tip before releasing. Charlotte followed the arrow and the shaft struck the center of one of the crafts, end glowing, and the metal impacted quickly turned molten, spreading upwards to liquefy the entire joint section.

"Your arrows are pretty cool, Mr. Barton," she complimented the archer, finding what she just witnessed amazing.

"Thanks, kid." Clint smiled genuinely.

༻ ❁ ༺

Charlotte didn't know where to look, but as time passed she found herself panicking even more about the chaos around her getting worse.

She had heard the Hulk's roars echoing around the skyline; the Avengers continued to converse with one another through her ear piece, as she watched the scenes unfold through her Stark Glasses. However, she only had eyes on Clint and occasionally Natasha who was currently taking over an alien hovercraft.

"Hey! Hello!" a voice suddenly sounded from above her, startling her.

Blinking, she looked up at the roof and her mouth fell agape at the sight of the man she knew from S.H.I.E.L.D's files to be Erik Selvig, he looked confused and hurt. Blood trickled from his brow, and his eyes shifted in confusion as he tried to take in his surroundings before gaping in wonder at the stream going up to the portal. He gaped with wrinkled brows as he panted, leaning hard on the building's edge wall.

"Dr. Selvig?" she yelled at him, the distance between them was a little far.

"How did you get up here? Are you okay?" he quickly questioned, trying to make sense of what was happening.

"I live here!" She shouted back, not giving the confused doctor a second to contemplate what she had said. "Are you still under the gem's control?" she asked him, covering her eyes from the sun to be able to look up properly.

"Gen?" Then a realization came into his expression, "Loki!"

Before she could reply to him, she heard Natasha's distress call for Clint, she looked back and tried to see where she was.

"Uh, a little help!" she cried, and Charlotte gasped when she finally noticed the agent flying about on the hovercraft, rays skimming the side of her board.

Loki was right behind her, "Natasha!" the ten-year-old called out.

"I got him," Clint suddenly assured.

The arrow raced through the air above his upright stance on the corner, ripping across the gap until Loki's fingers curled around it and grasped it quickly. Then suddenly, as Loki was giving Clint an amused smirk, the arrowhead exploded right on his face.

Charlotte gasped as she saw Loki flung head over heels from the wrecked craft, then ran back inside in panic as she saw it crash down, knocking the 'T' off the surviving letters marking Stark Tower. She didn't stay to witness it fall as Loki was forced to roll over the balcony where she used to stand with a deep groan, his helmet flung from his head, and she saw it drop someplace.

When inside, she quickly hid behind the bar again, her breathing fast.

The God was already gazing inside, his furious and blue hazed eyes searching for the girl; she was certain he'd find her fast. She screamed loudly as she saw the Hulk swoop towards Loki from another building after hearing a roar from behind him. With a roar, the green goliath slammed into him, shattering the huge window, and Charlotte witnessed Loki being hurled against the wall just in front of the bar – where Loki landed.

She could see Loki and the Hulk in the same room as her, and she considered crawling away, but terror stopped her from doing so. She couldn't even tell her father that Loki and the Hulk were in the same room as her.

The Hulk beat his fists on the tiled floor twice with a huff, tossing his head before rushing, and Loki threw his cape back over his shoulder as he braced himself on his elbows. When the mischievous God halted the whole experience, Charlotte braced herself.

"Enough!" Loki screamed as he vaulted to his feet, "I refuse to be bested by a dim-witted creature and an insolent child!" Charlotte's mouth was agape when even the Hulk paused and tilted his head at the other continued, decisively, "You are all of you beneath me! I am a God, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by–!"

Charlotte squeaked when the Hulk had resolutely leaned forward and snatched Loki's left lower leg, slamming him into the floor on his other side before shattering the tile at his feet with two more collisions with the flooring. He held the limp, stunned trickster upside down above his shoulder for a second before smashing him down once more in front of him, and then throwing him to the side. Loki stared at the ceiling with glazed, wide eyes as he lay panting in the crater his body had been used to create.

Charlotte winced, feeling sorry for Loki but stunned that he was still alive. Her grimace, however, drew the Hulk's attention to her, and as the green monster approached the bar, she rose from it and moved backward, arms in front of her in a defensive way.

"Wait, no, no. Mr. Hulk - Bruce! You know me. I'm not bad!" she begged, fear evident in her voice. Seeing him face to face was a new experience, it was so surreal and frightening and he was much taller than he looked.

The Hulk stopped his tracks and gave the little girl a shocked look, "No!" he shouted, surprised, "Girl, not bad!" he nodded before approaching her, he pointed at a pained Loki, "BAD!" he told her as he watched her look at his enemy.

Charlotte nodded quickly, relief flooding into her. A smile quickly spread onto her face as she beamed up at him. Hulk nodded and grunting deeply before starting to stomp away with a parting rumble over his shoulder, "Puny God,"

Charlotte watched eye widened as the green beast hooped out of the building into another one, and a relieved breath finally came out of her.

"Loki is down, the Hulk took care of him," she said as she held her earpiece close to her ear. The small red turned her head towards Loki and she heard him whine in pain as he remained still.

"Are you okay?" Tony asked, a certain panic to his tone since his daughter just witnessed the Hulk going rampage.

"I'm fine." she stated as she sat down on the stairs next to Loki. She really did not want to concern her dad further by admitting that she had been terrified and genuinely feared for her life. While she knew that Bruce would never hurt her, the Hulk was unpredictable.

"Okay, just stay where you are. Since Loki is down this might be easier then," her dad stated.

Loki groaned again, and Charlotte sighed before saying, "I told you so."

The God managed to roll his eyes.

"Hey, Charlie? You still want to lend a hand?" Natasha suddenly said. "Loki's scepter is right outside, where you were on the balcony, I need you to bring it to me. You were right, we can close the portal but we need it now!"

This gained the young girl's attention and Charlotte sharply rose to her feet and immediately began to run outside, a determined expression. "I'm on it!"

"No, you're not!" Tony quickly warned. "Romanoff, don't even think about involving her in this!"

"Dad! I can do this!" Charlotte retorted as she spotted the referenced weapon lying abandoned on the balcony floor, "I got it, Natasha!" She looked up at the roof to see the doctor and the agent looking down at her.

"Charlie! Don't touch it!"

"Dad–"

"Listen to me. We have no idea what that thing can do -"

"I want to help! Let me help-" she stubbornly insisted as she ran back inside, towards the exit door that led to the roof.

"Don't even think about it, Charlotte Maria Stark!"

Charlotte gritted her teeth as she began climbing the stairs to the roof, "Dad, stop. There isn't time to argue! If we don't close the portal - people are going to die!" she yelled out of frustration.

There was a heavy pause as she continued to ascend the stairs, grunting slightly as she took the stairs two at a time. The atmosphere suddenly felt dense. The only sound she could hear, apart from her breathing and the whipping winds, was her prosthetic foot tapping against the metal staircase and she pulled herself up using the railing. It was then that she realised that the rest of the Avengers had heard her outburst.

"Dad, I'm..." she began, more calmly, as she reached the door to the roof.

"No, don't apologize. You're right," her dad sounded defeated, she didn't like hearing him like this, "It's just... I can't lose you."

"You won't. Besides, I've survived worse." Charlotte quickly stated firmly as she approached Natasha and Selvig. She had to admit that seeing the portal's ray from the roof was daunting but she pushed her fear aside as she handed the scepter to Natasha.

The redhead smiled at her, "Good job, kid."

"Watch over her, Romanoff," Tony said through the earpiece.

"I got her, Stark," Natasha replied instantly.

"The young Stark is correct, she is quite capable," Thor suddenly cut in, mid-fight. That comment made Charlotte blush a little from embarrassment, she was reminded again that everyone had indeed heard the argument.

"Yeah I mean, she was alone with that asshole and managed to come out of it alive," Clint butted in, deciding to use a sarcastic tone to lighten the mood up.

"Mr. Barton," Charlotte chided, hearing the archer chuckle through her ear piece. "Swear."