A WORMHOLE OPENED in the sky above Stark Tower. A beam from the Tesseract shot up and kept the portal active as hundreds of Chitauri soldiers dropped down into the city.

Natasha and Clint flew the jet into New York with Y/N and Steve standing behind them. The younger soldier looked out the window with his jaw dropped.

"There really are aliens. Holy shit." He said in astonishment.

"Watch your language, son." Steve replied as he fastened the shield to his arm.

The jet flew down into the city and they spotted Iron Man flying by buildings as he evaded the incoming Chitauri.

"Stark, we're on your three, headed northeast." Natasha spoke into their comms.

"What? Did you stop for drive-through? Swing up Park. I'm gonna lay 'em out for you."

They activated the jet's rail gun and fired at the aliens chasing Tony. He then flew up to deal with the ones coming through the portal and the jet followed. The heroes spotted Thor fighting Loki on the tower.

"Nat?" Clint called out once he saw them.

"I see him."

They turned the jet in the gods' direction and fired at Loki. He shoved Thor down and shot their aircraft with his scepter, destroying one of the propellers.

Thor bellowed as he sprang back up and tackled Loki.

Their jet spun around and began its descent. Steve and Y/N held on as the two agents tried to maneuver the aircraft.

"Hold on!" Clint shouted.

They flew the jet through the city and tried to avoid the buildings, ultimately crashing down onto an empty lot. Clint and Natasha took off their headsets and started getting up from their seats.

Y/N picked up his helmet and strapped it on as he faced Clint. "You're a pilot too? Not useless after all, huh?"

He grabbed his bow as the four of them walked out of the jet. "Those jokes will get you an arrow to your ass, just watch."

They made it onto the street, stumbling upon destroyed cars and debris. Captain America looked up at Stark Tower.

"We got to get back up there."

They keep running, and Y/N heard a loud mechanical growl that caused him to look up at the portal. An enormous leviathan came through and began its descent towards the city.

"What the hell is that?" Y/N exclaimed.

It floated near the four of them as it smashed into buildings. It deployed more Chitauri soldiers from its body that dropped down to ensue more chaos.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Y/N spoke into his radio.

"Seeing. Still working on believing. Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"

"Banner?

"Just keep me posted."

Y/N ran along the highway with his three colleagues. They took cover behind a taxi cab.

"We've got civilians trapped up there." Clint told them.

Above, Loki piloted a glider with his soldiers following. They shot laser blasts down towards police and civilians.

"They're fish in a barrel down there." Steve remarked.

Natasha shot at nearby Chitauri with her pistols, but more started landing on the highway.

She looked at the two men out-of-time. "We got this. It's good. Go."

Steve looked at Clint. "Do you think you can hold them off?"

"Captain, it would be my genuine pleasure."

He shot an explosive arrow at a Chitauri, exterminating it while also taking down nearby soldiers.

Steve looked at Y/N. "Let's go, Lieutenant."

Freedom Fighter and Captain America leaped off of the highway and ran through the streets. Chaos ensued around them as Y/N vaulted over vehicles and leaped off debris, Rogers doing the same.

Nearby, police officers were firing at the Chitauri flying above. The authorities have never seen anything like this before.

"They're saying it's going to be an hour before they can scramble the National Guard!" An officer told his sergeant.

"National Guard?" He questioned as they ducked a laser blast that shot down at their cruiser.

He continued. "Does the army know what's happening here?"

"Do we?"

Captain America landed on a police vehicle in front of the two policemen. They were astounded by the sudden arrival of a man donning red, white, and blue.

"You need men in these buildings. There are people inside and they're going to be running right into the line of fire. You take them to the basements or through the subway. You keep them off the streets." Steve ordered.

The sergeant looked at his colleague, confused on who this was giving orders.

Steve continued. "I need a perimeter as far back as 39th."

"Why the hell should I take orders from you?" The sergeant finally replied. 

Y/N swung to the scene and detached his billy-club from the light-post as he landed near the officers.

"For God's sake, he's Captain America."

Two Chitauri soldiers flew in and attacked the two heroes. Y/N connected his two batons and activated his staff to combat the alien, hitting it a few times before impaling the weapon through its head.

Steve faced the second alien and used his shield to cut its arm off and grab the blaster. He knocked it away afterwards.

The sergeant didn't need anymore convincing after witnessing their heroics. He spoke into his radio as he walked back towards his officers.

"I need men in those buildings. Lead the people down and away from the streets. We're going to set up a perimeter all the way down to 39th Street."

Afterwards, Steve and Y/N ran back towards the overpass where Barton and Romanoff were. Y/N leaped on top of a bus and then jumped off of it to climb up onto the highway.

A Chitauri was about to attack Natasha from behind. Y/N quickly wrapped its neck with his billy-club and pulled it back. Natasha noticed this and swung back around and shot it multiple times.

Several more soldiers arrived at the overpass, but bolts of lighting shot down and disintegrated them. Thor landed on the highway and panted as he regrouped with the team.

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked him.

"The power surrounding the Cube is impenetrable."

Tony chimed in through the comms. "Thor's right. We got to deal with these guys."

Natasha turned to Y/N, Thor, and Steve. "How do we do this?"

Y/N remembered what Fury told him back on the hellicarrier. They were a unit, and needed to work as one.

"As a team."

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

Clint was fiddling with his bow. "Yeah? Well, get in line."

"Save it." Steve began. "Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild."

Steve started pacing around, looking at the flying Chitauri and stragglers in the area.

"We got Stark up top. He's going to need us to—"

The Captain stopped as a man on a motorcycle approached. It was Bruce Banner, and the rest of the team walked up to him.

He dismounted the bike. "So, this all seems horrible."

"I've seen worse." Natasha remarked, mostly thinking back at the time he turned into the Hulk in the maintenance room.

"Sorry."

She shrugged. "No, we could use a little worse."

Y/N spoke into his comms. "Stark, we got him."

"Banner?" He reported back.

"Just like you said."

"Good job, Forrest. Tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you."

In the distance, Iron Man flew towards the team. A large leviathan was pursuing him.

Thor glared as he gripped Mjölnir. Y/N shook his head as he looked at the beast Stark lead to them.

"I don't see how that's a party." Natasha remarked.

Y/N chimed in. "I loved Godzilla as a kid, but this is something else."

It started getting closer. Bruce glanced at the others before turning back around and walking towards the incoming threat.

"Dr. Banner. Now might be a good time for you to get angry." Steve said.

"That's my secret, Captain." He replied. "I'm always angry."

In mere seconds, Bruce transformed into the Hulk. He punched the leviathan and stopped it in its tracks, the tail end of its body falling forward.

"Hold on!" Tony shouted.

Tony levitated above his teammates and shot the leviathan with a rocket, blowing it to pieces.

Nearby, Chitauri soldiers screeched at the sight of their leviathan being destroyed.

The heroes circled up in the middle of the street, prepping their weapons and looking on towards the threat. Freedom Fighter took out his batons and gripped them as he stood in between Black Widow and Captain America.

Steve laid out his plan, which was to deal with the portal before too many Chitauri came through. He also wanted eyes on everything, even the stragglers that were on the ground.

Iron Man and Hawkeye were in charge of the perimeter, and the former grabbed the latter and flew away with him. Thor was in charge of bottlenecking the portal and slowing down the incoming aliens with his lightning. Natasha, Y/N, and Steve were in charge of dealing with the soldiers on the ground to keep the battle contained.

Then there was Hulk. All he had to do was smash.

A Chitauri charged Y/N who in turn reacted quickly and flipped over it. He hit it with his baton and then did a spinning kick bring it down. He stomped down on its head, cracking its skull and eliminating the threat.

They weren't human, so killing them wouldn't affect his conscience.

Another Chitauri ran up and swiped at Y/N with its spear, but he quickly ducked and deployed his staff to hit its leg. It stumbled back before attacking again, the human and the alien dueling with their respective sticks.

They locked staffs until Y/N ultimately got the upper hand and swiped the alien's weapon away, he spun his weapon around before jabbing it through the neck of the Chitauri.

It gurgled but still extended its arms to try and grab Y/N. He tried holding it back, then its head was suddenly blasted off by a projectile.

Natasha had finished defeating an alien herself and used its blaster to take down the soldier attacking Y/N. She panted as she dropped the gun and sat against the hood of a car.

The young agent took apart his staff and placed the two batons back on his belt. "Nice. I like a lady who's a crack shot."

She let out a laugh amidst her exhaustion. "I was aiming for you actually. Shame I missed."

Steve ran up to check on his fellow Avengers. Natasha looked at him and spoke.

"Captain, none of this is going to mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal."

The three heroes looked up at the wormhole in the sky.

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it." Steve replied.

Natasha looked at a Chitauri spear that laid in the ground. She fixated on it for a bit before getting an idea. It was just Earthly weapons that couldn't get it done.

"Well, maybe it's not about guns." She said.

Steve and Y/N got an idea of what the female agent was referring to.

Steve looked up towards the tower. "If you want to get up there, you're gonna need a ride."

"I got a ride."

Y/N noticed her observing the Chitauri on their gliders flying by. He knew what idea she had but was worried about her doing it alone.

"Natasha, this is—"

"Unless you have some flying ability I don't know about, there's no use in arguing." She looked at Rogers, "I could use a boost, though."

Steve held his shield up, ready to propel Natasha into the air. Y/N said one last thing before she could do so.

"Don't die on me. Who am I going to take clubbing if you do?"

She chuckled, having a better idea. "We could definitely use a vacation after this."

Natasha ran towards Steve before leaping off the hood of a car and jumping onto his shield. He used his enhanced strength to launch Romanoff in the air where she quickly grabbed onto one of the Chitauri gliders.

More aliens arrived at the bridge, leaving Y/N and Steve to deal with them together. Freedom Fighter activated his staff again and fought two soldiers simultaneously, bringing one down to its knees with a hard hit to its leg and then turning back around to hit the other in the face.

He kicked up one of blasters and held it as she shot the one that was on its knees. The second got back up and tried to attack, but Steve's shield hit its head before bouncing off towards Y/N. He grabbed it before it can hit him too.

"Man, this is so cool." Y/N remarked as he held the shield. Rogers walked up and the young man handed it back to him. "Where can I get one of these?"

The older man chuckled at the soldier's awe, then quickly continued their fight with the Chitauri.

Thor came in some time after and assisted in their battle on the ground, along with a brief appearance by Iron Man before he flew off to help Barton.

At Stark Tower, Natasha talked with a semi-mind-controlled Erik Selvig and found out Loki's scepter was the key to closing the wormhole. The mystical weapon was unattended thanks to Hulk incapacitating the puny god after a brief battle.

She took the scepter and made it back to the machine on the roof. She spoke to the team through her radio. "I can close it. Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down."

"Damn good job, Romanoff." Y/N remarked as they continued fighting.

"Do it!" Steve shouted.

"No, wait." Tony spoke.

Rogers was flabbergasted at his rejection. "Stark, these things are still coming."

"I got a nuke coming in. It's gonna blow in less than a minute.

Now Y/N was the one in awe. He cursed despite being next to Steve. "What the fuck? A nuke?"

"But I know just where to put it."

On the other side of the city, Tony flew towards the incoming missle. He grabbed onto it and diverted its path.

Steve knew Tony was planning on putting the missile into the wormhole. "Stark, you know that's a one-way trip."

Tony ignored him and called out to JARVIS.

"Save rest for the turn, J."

"Sir, shall I call Miss Potts?"

Tony paused. "Might as well."

Iron Man accelerated his thrusters and soared all the way up the tower and straight into the sky. Natasha watched as the armored man flew into the portal with the missile.

Tony let the rocket fly into space, causing it to hit the main Chitauri ship instead and saving the city from the explosion.

Y/N stood beside Steve as they looked up into the sky. "Come on, Stark."

Steve breathed out, filled with both exhaustion and worry. He hoped Tony would come back, but also didn't want to risk more Chitauri or the explosion coming though the portal.

"Close it." Steve spoke into the radio.

Natasha stabbed the scepter into the reactor and at the crown containing the Tesseract. The beam shooting up into the sky dissipated and the portal began to close.

Fortunately, Tony fell through the wormhole before it fully shut. He started falling towards the city.

"Son of a gun." Steve said with a smile. The younger agent also smiled, but realized Stark wasn't flying up or slowing his own decent.

"He's not slowing down."

Thor swung his hammer and prepared to fly up and catch Tony, but the Hulk flew in and did it instead.

He glided along the side of a building before landing on the highway and placing his body down. The three ran up to check on him.

"Is he breathing?" Steve asked.

Y/N knelt beside Tony and removed the damaged faceplate of his helmet. The older soldier leaned in to hear his breathing, but didn't get anything.

They dropped their heads. Y/N exhaled as closed his eyes at the thought of yet another casualty. Suddenly, Hulk roared and Tony woke up with a gasp.

"What the hell? What just happened?" He asked as he darted his eyes at his teammates.

Y/N let out a chuckle and Steve sighed in relief.

"Please tell me nobody kissed me." Tony noticed Y/N was closest to him. "You didn't kiss me, right Forrest?"

"No, I didn't. Rogers had the honor."

Steve shot a look at the young man, but ultimately laughed with him. Stark looked around and wasn't sure if they were joking.

"We won." Steve said.

Tony sighed as laid his head back down.

"All right, yay! Hurray. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day."

Y/N remembered Natasha mentioning a vacation. Even if she didn't mean it literally, it'd be nice to take a break for once.

"That I can agree with, Stark."

Tony leaned forward. "Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it."

Thor looked up towards the tower. "We're not finished yet."

They looked at the Asgardian, knowing he was mentioning Loki. Tony nodded, knowing they still had to apprehend him.

"And then shawarma after."

• • •

LOKI CRAWLED OUT of the shallow crater he was pummeled in from his fight with Hulk. It wasn't much of a fight though, more of a beating on his part.

He groaned as he sat against the steps and held his side. He panted and looked up to see a set of familiar faces, but wasn't startled at the sudden arrival of the Avengers.

Tony, Steve, Thor, Y/N, Natasha and Hulk towered over the god, with the female agent holding the scepter. Clint was knelt down in front of them, aiming an arrow at Loki.

The Avengers defeated him. They won the battle and saved New York City...and possibly the world.

"If it's all the same to you..." Loki groaned as he propped himself up with his elbows. He looked at Tony.

"...I'll have that drink now."