—chapter thirteen:
at long last

"FINALLY."

Everything was a ruckus and almost in complete shambles—buildings were falling, cars were on fire and overturned, and there were still monsters coming out from under the sky.

     Steve eventually came back and joined the ongoing fight, everyone going to their lengths to get the job done. Several bolts of lightning then came down and took out all of the remaining Chitauri soldiers. Thor landed amongst the casualties—a little ungracefully from all of the fighting he was doing—and walked towards them.

     "What's the story upstairs?" Steve questioned. "The power surrounding the Cube is impenetrable," Thor reported. Through the earpiece, Tony said, "Thor's right. We gotta deal with these guys."

     "Well, how do we do that?" Jackson asked, blowing a strand of hair out of her face and looking around her. "As a team," Steve answered.

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

    "Yeah?" Clint deadpanned sarcastically as he was touching up his arrow, "Get in line."

     "Save it," Steve commanded them, "Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us long enough and that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild." He turned to them and started to hash out a plan. "We got Stark up top. He's gonna need us to— " he was then cut off by the sound of an engine running. Jackson could feel Bruce before she even saw him within her peripheral and she had to fight everything within her to keep from running.

     They all walked towards Bruce and he commented, "Well, this all seems horrible."

     "I've seen worse," Natasha piped in. 

    "Sorry," Bruce apologized sheepishly.

     "No, we could use a little worse."

     Bruce nodded and then his line of sight matched up with Jackson's, his eyes meeting hers. "Oh, my God," he mumbled when he saw her.

    Dropping the weapon she had in her hands, Jackson broke out into a run and Bruce jogged to meet up with her in the middle, catching her and holding her tight within his embrace, the feeling of safety ever present between the both of them. Pulling back and cupping his face like she usually did, aware that she wasn't her gloves, Jackson smiled and said, "I missed you."

    The look of awe in Bruce's eyes was overwhelming however shadowed by worry when he asked, "What are you doing out here, birdie?"

    "I think you and I both know by now that trying to keep me in one single place isn't really working, anymore," Jackson mumbled, tearing up because she was just so happy to see him.

     "Well, are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

     Jackson nodded, holding onto Bruce's hands and keeping them around her face. "I'm fine, Bruce, really. Steve was looking out for me the entire way."

        The gazing went on for a little while before someone cleared their throat. "I hate to ruin the moment but we kinda have a monster problem on our hands," Steve interrupted, "literally."

    "Have some faith, will you?" Jackson retorted what he had said to her. Steve gave her a look and she backed down. "Alright, alright. What's the plan, boss?"

     "Stark, we got him," Steve spoke into his earpiece, referring to Bruce. "Then tell him to suit up," Tony said, "I'm bringing the party to you." He then came flying around the side of a building with the giant monster on his tail.

     "I don't see how that's a party," Natasha and Jackson said together as they all looked at what was coming towards them. It came barreling through, crashing into more cars on its way. Jackson could see Bruce shaking out his arm, getting into position to transform into the Hulk as he started walking in the the monster's direction, becoming an obstacle in its path.

     "Wait," Jackson said. Bruce stopped and turned around, starting with, "I don't think— " but was then effectively shut up by Jackson's mouth on his in a kiss. Bruce reciprocated almost instantly, taken aback by the action before taking Jackson in at the waist and returning the kiss fully like it was their last day on Earth. And with the way things were going, it might as well have been. Jackson wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss before pulling back and resting her hands around his face.

     The look of awe in Bruce's eyes remained unwavering as he said, "I adore you."

     "I know." Jackson smiled at him softly, returning the same look. "But now would be a great time for you to get angry, though."

     Bruce nodded as she backed away to give him some room. He turned to Steve and said, "That's my secret, Cap. I'm always angry" before turning back around and turning into the Hulk, shedding through his clothes and stopping the monster that was coming at them just in time. This was the very first time Jackson had ever seen Bruce turn into the Hulk and it was astonishing, to say the least.

    "Hold on," Tony announced as he shot what looked like a little rocket from his armor and into the creature, blowing it up before it all crushed them. The Hulk was quick to move Jackson out of the way, protecting her from the incoming debris. They all stood in a circle with their backs to each other, all gearing up to face the threats in front of them.

     Soon, there were more Chitauri soldiers and monsters that were coming out from under the sky. "Call it, Captain," Tony requested.

     "Alright, listen up," Steve commanded, "until we can close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out any patterns and strays. Stark, you've got the perimeter. If anything gets more than three blocks out, you either turn it back or turn it to ash."

     "Wanna give me a lift?" Clint asked Tony. "Alright, but you better clench up, Legolas," answered Tony and then the two of them were off.

     "Thor," Steve continued, "you gotta find a way to bottleneck that portal. You got the lightning, light the bastards up."

     Thor wound his hammer up and then he was off, as well.

     "You, Jackson, and I are gonna keep the fighting here," Steve reported to Natasha and Jackson before turning to the Hulk. "And Hulk."

     Hulk turned around and grunted. Steve pointed a finger at him and simply said, "Smash."

    Hulk flashed him a smile, liking the sound of that before taking off, grabbing at the alien soldiers as he climbed up the walls before springing off and attacking the vehicles. There was a stream of lightning crawling down the Empire State Building before being sent out into the hole in the sky, keeping any more soldiers and monsters from coming out.

     "How ya holding up, Ace?" Steve asked, directing his attention to Jackson.

     "Ace, like the Ace of Spades in a deck of cards?" she asked. Steve nodded.

     "Oh. Ace of Spades, Jack of all trades. I like the sound of that. I'm gonna need a shorter hero alias, though. But to answer your question, I'm doing alright. This is gonna make one hell of a story, though."

     The two of them then got ready to fight the oncoming Chitauri soldiers. Jackson used her nerve strikes to paralyze one of them, took its weapon, and began blasting the others.

     "Cap, this isn't gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal," said Natasha, leaning against a cab to catch her breath.

    "Our biggest guns couldn't touch it," Steve responded.

     "Maybe it's not about guns."

     "Well, if you wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride."

    Natasha eyed one of the vehicles flying overhead and tossed the weapon to the side. "I got a ride." She made space between her and Steve to have room for liftoff. "I could use a boost, though."

    "You sure about this?" Jackson questioned. Natasha nodded. "Yeah. It's gonna be fun."

     Steve squared up, his shield in front of him, ready to send Natasha flying. Natasha ran full-force, jumping up onto the cab before landing on Steve's shield and being launched off of it, successfully grabbing on to the tail end of one of the vehicles. Steve and Jackson both looked on in awe before being snapped back to reality with a blast coming at their head.

     Jackson started shooting again, blasting each and every one of them that came her way. After a moment or so, Tony came flying around to help. Coming up with an absurd idea, Jackson closed her eyes, honed in all of the aliens like a tagging system—since they were all within distance and assuming they had any emotions—and said, "Sleep."

     They all fell over and onto the ground, one after the other. Both Tony and Steve looked at her.

     "I don't know how long I'll be able to keep them under so it probably won't be long before they wake up. Kill them while you still can," Jackson explained.

     "Took you long enough, Marie. Oh, and I also called it between you and Banner so somebody on that helicarrier owes me ten bucks," Tony commented before going ham on the aliens.

     "Captain, a bank on Forty-Seventh past Madison," Clint reported through the earpiece, "they cornered a lot of civilians in there."

    Steve huffed. "I'm on it. You coming?" he then asked Jackson. Jackson nodded and they both set off in the direction of the bank.

    When they got there, Jackson was the first to be trapped by one of the Chitauri soldiers but she was quick enough to break herself out of its hold and paralyze it.

    "Everyone, clear out!" Steve shouted from the second floor but was then taken from behind. Jackson heard a beeping coming from somewhere and she saw some sort of explosive coming for Steve. It detonated and knocked Steve straight through the window. Everyone down below covered their heads to protect themselves from falling debris.

     "Okay, I need everyone out!" Jackson ordered, "Head someplace safe and stay there!"

    They all filed through the front door of the bank, Jackson being the last to leave to make sure there was no one else there. She slowly back out of the bank, eyeing everything around her before turning around and looking for Steve once the coast was clear.

AUTHOR'S NOTE
thirteen chapters later and we finally have a kiss !
took them long enough. and in the face of doom, too, because they're
dramatic™‬