Chapter 17: Teamwork

Clint and Natasha still held the same territory that they started in, taking out soldiers as fast as possible. In comparison of some of the other Avengers, they were face to face with the threat, quite literally. They shot bullets and arrows at their opponents, and threw precise hits, using every skill that they had trained in to take them down.

Clint had swung his bow, knocking one of its feet before stabbing it with one of his arrows. Once he knew that the thing was down for the count, he turned to another. Natasha, a few feet away, sat on one of the Chitauri soldier's shoulders and jabbed the tasers on her wrists into its neck. As it fell, she grabbed one of its guns and began to use it against the others.

One attempted to slice at her neck and take her head off, but she dropped to her knees and slides underneath the blow. Using her own momentum, she gracefully jumped back to her feet and jabbed the sharp end of the weapon into its skull.

The two continue to battle, sometimes with two or more Chitauri warriors at a time. They were both already exhausted, but they grit their teeth and kept fighting. It wasn't long until they were both overwhelmed.

Clint's head was smashed into a nearby car's roof and thrown to the ground and Natasha got similar treatment, getting slammed into another car, fighting off two Chitauri. When she got the chance, Natasha ran over to help Clint, but they were surrounded.

Cap and Thor soon join them, making a dent in the remainder of the troop, though there were still more left. But none of them got the chance to battle others, because in a split second, all of the soldiers froze, wisps of color surrounding their bodies. Their limbs began to shake as if seizing and they rose a few inches off the ground.

Both assassins' jaws dropped, their brows cinched in confusion as they gazed at the sight before them. About fifteen or more Chitauri soldiers were now hovering above the street, screeching violently.

Movement caught their attention from the entrance to the overpass, and there was Katrina. Her eyes were pure white like back in the med-bay with flickers and reds, golds, blues, and greens. Her arms were slightly raised to her sides with palms facing up and lights the same as around the soldiers danced within them.

With a loud growl, she clenched her hands into fists and yanked them down, and a shock wave emanated from each of the Chitahuri's chests, immediately killing them.

The entire looked in shock and awe at the young girl as she sucked air into her lungs trying to calm her racing heart and let her eyes dim and burn out, not having expected such a bold move. Even the two assassins were surprised. They had watched the girl train since her first day in SHIELD and had no clue that she had that ability, let alone use it to such an extent.

Cap blinked, looking away from the girl, "What's the story upstairs?"

Thor shook his head, "The power surrounding the Cube is impenetrable."

"Thor is right, we've got to deal with these guys." Tony spoke over the comms system, "Kat, we're going to need your expertise on that."

"Roger that, I can get up there now--" Kat nodded.

"No, you're going to need all the energy you can get. I'll give you a ride, just need a sec to drop something off."

"How do we do this?" Natasha asked, looking around at the destruction that had already occurred.

Cap looked to her, "As a team," he stated.

"I have unfinished business with Loki." Thor interjected, but Clint was quick to counter him as he fixed one of his arrows, Katrina stepping up beside him.

"Oh, yeah? Get in line."

"Save it!" Cap commanded, "Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild. We've got Stark up top; he's going to need us to—"

He was then interrupted by the faint rumble of a motorcycle, causing him to stop and look over his shoulder towards the noise. Through all of the chaos and destruction, they could spot a small motorbike with Doctor Bruce Banner riding in their direction. Kat smiles to herself as he dismounts, grateful that the Doctor had shown up.

"So, this all seems horrible." He blurted out.

Natasha shrugged, "I've seen worse."

Banner grimaced, wringing his hands, "Sorry."

"No, we could- use a little worse." She admitted.

"Welcome back, Doctor Banner." Katrina nodded, sending him as comforting of a smile as she could. "Glad you're okay."

He returned the gesture, noticing her choice of words. She didn't say anything about Hulk or how they needed the 'other guy' or his help, and there was no underlying tone that implied the thought. Bruce could see her let out a stress breath and could tell her message was genuine, and it was like a breath of fresh air. He realized she was like him. A mutant, not a monster. She also knew that he wasn't going enjoy what came next, but they both knew it was necessary.

"Stark, we got him." Cap spoke into his earpiece.

"Banner?"

"Just like you said."

"Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you." Tony's voice crackled through, "Kat, it's your birthday today, right? Well, happy birthday, kid!"

He then flew around a sharp corner in their direction with one of the Leviathans tailing him.

Kat frantically shook her head, "Oh, no, I'm really—I'm—I'm good, Tony. I don't need..."

"I—I don't see how that's a party." Natasha stuttered, her head tilting to the side jokingly.

The enormous creature dives low, being led by Stark himself as he flew past them. Sighing, Bruce begins to approach the beast, walking as if he were off to get a cup of coffee.

"Doctor Banner, now might be a really good time for you to get angry." Cap spoke up.

Banner glanced back over his shoulder, "That's my secret, Cap. I'm always angry." He then turned back, transforming into the Hulk, punching the Leviathan in the face, and smashing its head into the ground, the tail end beginning to rise as it tipped over above all of them.

"Hold on!" Tony shouted, sending multiple missiles at the thing's back causing to explode from the inside out.

As everyone dove for cover, except Thor who didn't move a muscle, Katrina hastily creates a guard over their heads, shielding them from the guts and shrapnel from its armor.

Once they had all recovered, they stood in circle with their backs facing each other glaring up at the portal that more and more troops of Chitauri descended through. They seemed to be everywhere. On the streets, on the walls, in the air. Just everywhere.

Kat feels her bone shake as the Hulk roars beside her, faintly hearing the sound of one of Clint's arrow nocking into place on the bow string. Thor raises his hammer and Cap did the same with his shield. On her other side, Natasha pushes new clips into her pistol and Kat could feel the heat on the back of her neck from Tony's thrusters as he hovered above them.

"Guys?" Natasha called, watching as Chitauri troops swarmed down on them.

Tony looked to Steve, "Call it, Captain."

"Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal up there, we're going to use containment." He ordered, pointing to Clint and up to one of the skyscrapers. "Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark," Steve continued, turning to Tony, "you go the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out; you turn it back or you turn it to ash." And finally, he looked to the young girl as she flexed her fists, "Kat, I want you working on that Cube. We need that portal down as soon as possible, got it?"

She nodded, "Yes, sir."

"Be careful, okay?" Natasha whispered, giving her hand a squeeze.

"Will do. And right back at you." Kat replied, returning the squeeze before letting their fingers drift apart. But before they had drifted too far, she darted back and jumped into the woman's arms, tackling her in a bear hug, letting go after a moment. "Love you, Nat."

"Love you too."

"Want to give us a lift?" Clint asked Tony when Kat nodded to him, letting him know she was ready.

"Right. Come on, kid." Tony waved her over, wrapping his armored arm around her and letting her wrap her arms around his neck, her legs dangling above the ground. He then gripped Clint's quiver, "Better clench up, Legolas."

He then flies off as the girl gives everyone one last smile and a playful salute.