Barton was still firing from the rooftop; more and more Chitauri Soldiers were scaling the walls faster and faster.
He had just arrowed one Chitauri that had gotten too close.
Another clambered up behind him.
His left hand flailed back for an arrow and found nothing.
The quiver that had held nearly a hundred shafts was empty.
Barton kicked the newcomer off the edge.
But when he looked again, a dozen Chitauri skiffs were surging toward him.
Nervous now, he yanked a spent arrow from a corpse and slid it into his quiver.
A tap of his thumb locked a grappling-head in place.
He eyed the skiffs racing in.
Amid explosions and laser fire he leapt, hurling himself from a height of hundreds of metres.
Mid-air he twisted and loosed.
The arrowhead bit deep into the wall and held firm.
The cord linking arrow to quiver whirred out behind him.
It arced to full extension, snapped taut, and Barton swung feet-first through a window.
Glass shattered as he crashed into the room.
The brutal impact left him writhing... On a nearby rooftop the Hulk crushed two Chitauri and booted several others away.
Laser blasts struck his back.
He turned to see twenty-odd Chitauri skiffs hovering, every cannon aimed at him.
They fired en masse; scores of beams converged, pinning even the Hulk down... On the helicarrier the last three nuke-laden fighters launched.
Nick Fury stood in the command centre, silently watching them leave.
If Leo failed to stop the warheads, and a nuke detonated over New York, Fury's career—and conscience—were finished.
He had staked everything on Leo.
"Leo, Stark, three birds carrying nukes are heading your way—do you copy?"
...Leo set the mark vii down.
"I'm fine, Leo. How do we shut the portal?" Tony reignited his thrusters.
Side by side they streaked toward the portal generator.
They skimmed past the Chitauri barraging the Hulk.
Leo swept an arm; every pilot's helmet skewered its wearer, the skiffs plunging into the street.
The Hulk watched them fly off, then sprang at the remaining soldiers.
"Leo, Stark, three nukes incoming—do you copy?" Fury's voice crackled in their comms.
Tony's gaze hardened. "How long?"
"Three minutes, tops."
Everyone on the helicarrier stared at the feed, willing a miracle.
Tony snapped, "Jarvis, reroute everything to the thrusters."
The mark vii's exhaust flared; it broke the sound barrier and shot away.
Leo flew alongside. Before he could speak—
"Guys, I can close the portal, but the scepter's jammed in the floor. Someone—Leo? Stark?—give me a hand."
Hulk and Thor had no headsets, and Rogers couldn't reach the roof in time.
Barton rose; the golden aura Leo had granted him faded as his body returned to Peak condition.
Still, he couldn't get there fast enough.
Leo glanced at Tony, wings flared, and dived toward Stark Tower.
Tony streaked straight toward the incoming nukes, thrusters blazing.
Amid a swarm of Chitauri, Captain Rogers took a stomach wound.
Thor kept the enemies off him.
Hearing Natasha, Rogers shouted, "Thor, help her—she can seal the portal!"
He didn't care that Thor's departure might leave him to die.
Thor understood. "I'll get you out first—"
He spotted a streak of gold diving toward Stark Tower and stayed to fight.
Golden light welled from Rogers' injured gut, healing him in seconds.
He rejoined the fray... Leo landed beside Natasha under Dr Erik's astonished gaze.
A gesture, and the Mind Stone scepter leapt from the floor into Leo's hand.
He pressed it into Natasha's grip. "Hold off closing it—three nukes are coming. We'll guide them through. Wait for us."
With a beat of golden wings he vanished.
Erik stared after him. "Who was that?"
Natasha didn't answer; she touched the scepter to the cube's shield.
Like repelled like, and the scepter sank slowly in.
Golden energy surged through her, steadying her grip on the portal switch... Stark neared the warheads.
Jarvis scanned them, ticking down their detonation timers.
One missile led; two followed.
Tony braked hard over the river, stabilisers flaring.
He surged forward again.
The nuke raced toward the city at twice the speed of sound.
mark vii caught up five seconds later.
Tony latched onto the lead missile and held tight.
Rogers came through the comm: "Stark, this could be a one-way trip."
"Divert everything to the turn, Jarvis."
Not once did Tony blink. "Sir, shall I call Miss Potts?"
Jarvis projected Pepper's image into the HUD. Tony hesitated. "Do it."
'If I die today, I want her voice to be the last thing I hear.'
"Don't worry, Captain—I'll bring Mr Stark home."
A golden blur drew alongside; Leo seized the remaining two nukes with effortless ease.