"Well, I was rather hoping to gather the attentions of someone else," Magneto replied. "But I suppose your little group will do just as well." He gestured to the girls as they shifted dangerously close to the edge of the rooftop. "I want the city. It will be the metaphorical ground zero for my plans of finally equalizing the human race. And if anyone wants to stand in my way, well..." He gestured again, and one of the minions gave Elaine a shove. Not enough to send her off the roof, but close. "Unfortunately, sometimes examples must be made for the greater good."

Tony and Steve both stiffened.

"Alright," Steve said quietly, his eyes on Elaine. "Let's just talk about this, okay? I'm sure we can reach some sort of agreement. There's no need to do anything rash."

Tony, meanwhile, was getting ready to move, in case he had to. He knew both girls were perilously close to the edge, and a fall from that height would be devastating, if not fatal.

"You would doom the whole of the city for a pair of insignificant girls?" Magneto asked, raising an eyebrow. "I told you what I want. Whether this is done the easy way or not is entirely up to you." He held a hand out and put up a restrictive field around Tony. "And you, my metal-clad friend... I don't think you will be going anywhere. Can't have you mucking things up, now can I?"

"You have to understand, we can't just hand over the city," Steve said, almost desperately, watching Magneto and the girls. "Besides, I don't understand what you're trying to do. What did you mean by equalizing the human race?" His eyes narrowed just a little.

Tony swore when he couldn't move, glaring at Magneto. Now he really hated this guy.

"I seek to create a world where humans and mutants can live together," Magneto replied. "Or, barring that, refine the world so mutants are no longer being oppressed. Quite to the contrary, in fact." He looked at the group. "Surely you have heard about the so-called 'war' against mutants. I would think a world of equality would be something you would understand. Even embrace."

Elaine could hear what was going on, and she realized one very important detail. Clearly, this guy had never read the Evil Overlord List.

"He's monologuing!" she shouted. "Someone kick his ass now!"

Magneto gave a put-upon sigh and looked at the girls.

"I see you aren't going to cooperate," he said. He gestured to Elaine. "Unfortunately, my dear, that means that you have just volunteered yourself to be made the first example." He waved a hand. Elaine opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but didn't get the change before someone gave her a hard shove right off the roof.

"NO!" Steve's shout drowned out Tony's, and Steve launched himself towards Elaine, hoping he could catch her. But Quicksilver got in his way, forcing Steve to turn part of his attention to fighting instead.

"Go! Hulk, go!" Tony yelled, struggling to free himself, still unsure why he couldn't move. "Get Elaine!"

The Hulk roared, but obeyed. He launched himself into the air, intercepting the much smaller woman and ending up grinding against one of the other buildings to slow the remaining fall. He landed heavily on the ground, but when he awkwardly dumped Elaine onto the pavement, she wasn't hurt.

"Oh shit," she said faintly. "Oh god I'm alive..."

Then the fight really started, since Steve was quick to distract Magneto so Tony could get in on the fight as well. Not willing to risk a repeat performance, the first thing Tony did was fly up to grab Kae and take her back down to where Elaine was.

"Good job, buddy," Tony said to Hulk with a somewhat strained grin. "Thank you. Still up to smashing some people?"

Kae grabbed Elaine, checking her over quickly before hugging her. "Oh god you're okay," she said quietly. "Oh man."

Hulk just smirked and plowed back into the fight.

Elaine returned the tight hug, trembling.

"Oh god I almost died," she said faintly. "What just happened?"

"They pushed you off a building," Kae said, her voice faint. "Hulk caught you. Tony couldn't, and Steve's in the middle of the fight." Kae was starting to tremble a little.

"And you two are being moved out of the danger zone," Tony said, looking down at them. "I'm going to go put you with Clint. He'll watch you until it's safe."

Elaine jumped; she hadn't realized Tony was still there. But she nodded.

"Good idea," she said. "Excellent idea."

Tony nodded and scooped them both up, flying them up and over to Barton's position. "Guard them," he said shortly to Clint before he flew off to join the fight again.

Kae pulled Elaine away from the edge, carefully settling well away from the edge of the building where Clint was perched. Clint just let them, keeping his eyes on the rest of the team.

Once the girls were out of danger, the fight seemed to explode int a frenzy for a moment before it was called to a halt. Clearly, Magneto had had enough.

"Wanda, Pietro, come along," he said. "We should give our esteemed colleagues a chance to reconsider their decision."

Steve growled but let them go, holding Tony back. He was quiet for a moment before he turned to look up at Clint.

"Don't worry, Cap," Clint said into the comm. "They're here, and they're fine."

"Good. Get down. We're heading back to the Tower." Steve looked at them all for a moment before he headed over to climb up as quickly as he could to Elaine, pulling her off to the side. "Are you okay?"

"I--I'm fine," Elaine said. She was still a bit shaken from her near-death experience, but she was still conscious and standing and coherent.

"Good." Without another word, Steve leaned down and kissed her. He realized he should have done it a while ago, and the fact that he'd almost just lost her made it that much more obvious to him.

And there went being coherent. She hadn't been expecting the kiss, and the only thing keeping her from jerking away in surprise was that she knew it was Steve. After that initial moment of surprise, she relaxed into the kiss.

Steve didn't pull back for several moments, and then he kept her close. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "That you had to suffer through this."

"Occupational hazard," Elaine replied as she tried to catch her breath after the kiss. "Although I'd appreciate not doing that again. The almost-dying part, not the kiss part." She was quiet for a second. "Actually, I wouldn't mind another kiss."

Steve laughed quietly and pulled her close. "Come on, we should get home," he said quietly. "Or, back to the Tower. I'd rather not leave you home alone at the moment."

Elaine nodded.

"I like that plan," she said. She didn't let go of him, though.

Steve nodded and kept hold of her, not willing to let go of her. "Will you be okay if I jump down? I promise you won't get hurt."

Elaine hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"Will you be okay?" she asked.

"I've dropped farther," Steve said lightly, picking her up and cradling her easily. "Don't worry about me." He moved over to the edge. "Hold on," he said before he dropped off the edge.

"Freaking show-off," Kae grumbled, and Clint snorted his agreement. "I think I'll take the stairs, though."

Elaine squeaked and held on to him as she was swept off her feet and suddenly made weightless by the drop. Bruce was already waiting for everyone down on the street, having found a spare set of clothes somewhere.