Hello, everyone! This is my first fic in the Avengers fandom, so I'm sorry if there are any mistakes and please bear with me. I assume you already know this from the summary, but this is a classic 'characters watch their own movies' kind of story.
I don't know what else to say other than I DO NOT own any characters in this story except for my own (which I won't mention who, 'cause SPOILERS) and I hope you enjoy!
Oh, and one more thing!
Normal : Either The Avengers or normal narration
ITALIC: Either J.A.R.V.I.S or Seraphina
BOLD : The scene in the movie
Roughly a year had passed after the battle of New York. With the heli-carrier damaged, the only place where the Avengers could meet was at Stark Tower. Though the building was also damaged in the battle, most of the floors were safe and untouched. So Fury insisted, when the Avengers got back together, to constantly meet up at the Stark Tower, much to Tony's displeasure at the time.
The Avengers obeyed, some reluctantly, and did as they were told. Thor came back after three months, stating that Loki was being rightfully handled for his many crimes at Asgard. Together, they started to come to the Stark Tower frequently, to get used to each other and also to become a better team.
At first, it was pretty formal short-length meetings. They'd go to a certain room and discuss a few essential things together. Tony and Clint were the only ones who didn't act as formal, as the two quickly became friends due to their similar sneaky personalities and they always came up with some pranks for the next meeting, making it livelier and exciting.
After that, the meetings got a bit longer. The team would stay there for a few more unnecessary hours, and sometimes they'd even go watch a movie in what Tony had called the communal room.
The Avengers got closer every day, and they started calling each other by their first names. They even came up with a few nicknames for everyone. After a short while, since the meet-ups started, the team were closer than ever and none of them wanted to leave.
So when Tony offered each of them to live in the Stark Tower sometime later, they didn't even hesitate to agree, something that their old selves would find it very hard to believe. Bruce wasn't offered like the others because he was already living there from the start.
Soon, everyone moved in and got their own separate floors. Tony had designed the floors to each Avenger's style of living, going all out to make all of them feel as comfortable as possible. Members of the team had personally thanked him afterward, in their own way.
But even though they were closer than before, the team still had a few secrets. Sure, they had basically told everyone the gist of their pasts and how they came to be today in sessions. But some of them were still slightly insecure about telling a few details of their lives. And though none of them actually mind that fact, it probably would've been better if they told them earlier.
Because that way, they wouldn't have to share it with the class in a way they would never have expected.
It was another ordinary Sunday morning. Some of the team already got up earlier and had done their own morning routine. Steve, for example, went for a jog around New York in an unbelievable short period of time and came back just as everyone was gathering at the communal floor. (Yes, Tony made it into a whole floor.)
At some point since everyone moved in together, Steve also had somehow gotten the task of dragging Tony out of his workshop for breakfast every day, and as always the engineer complained all the way. But Steve always got Tony to obey when he told him that Bruce was cooking.
It didn't take long for the team to know that Bruce was basically the God of the kitchen. Even Thor agreed, and he was an actual god.
Now the whole team was eating together on the couch (because who eats at a dining table) while watching the TV. Usually, they would take turns to pick a show, and since it was Steve's turn, the team was stuck on watching the local news. At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary start to their day.
Until the TV suddenly stopped playing and the screen went black.
"What the-?" Clint muttered, pressing the remote button several times with no success. "Tony, what's wrong with your TV?"
"Calm down, Tweety Bird," Tony said, rolling his eyes. "J.A.R.V.I.S, turn on the TV."
"I'm afraid I'm unable to do that, Sir." The AI replied.
Tony frowned. "Why not?"
"I detect something that's preventing me from doing the task."
"Are you hacked, J.A.R.V.I.S?" Steve asked, looking up at the ceiling.
"I don't think so, Captain," J.A.R.V.I.S replied. "This is the first time I've experienced this level of difficulty."
"I don't like the sound of that," Natasha stated, seemingly unfazed to the TV's shut down as she continued to eat her breakfast.
"Actually, who does?" Bruce raised an eyebrow.
Tony groaned, knowing that he had to fix this before everyone gets bored and start doing very unnecessary stuff. No one wanted a repeat of the 'Microwave Incident', after all. "I'm gonna go check what's wrong."
"I think you don't need to do that, Mr. Stark." An unfamiliar female voice suddenly said, startling the whole team. In response, the Avengers sharply looked around them for a threat, their hands instinctively snatching their weapons beside them.
"Who goes there?" Thor bellowed as he slowly stood up with Mjolnir in his hand.
"Stand down, Mr. Odinson. My name is Seraphina, and I am not an enemy." The voice answered.
"Not an enemy, my ass," Tony muttered, pointing a finger towards the ceiling. "What did you do to J.A.R.V.I.S?"
"I merely closed a few doors, Mr. Stark. I did no harm towards him, as I simply wanted no disturbance."
"And why would you do that?" Natasha asked suspiciously, putting her bowl on the table.
"Because I am here for the sole purpose of showing you, the Avengers, something you need to know."
"What?" Bruce asked in a puzzled tone. "What do you mean by-"
But the doctor didn't get any further than that, due to a sudden bright light that flashed around the team.
Everyone quickly covered their eyes from the blinding light and subconsciously braced themselves for any kind of attack. When the light subsided not a few seconds later and everyone slowly opened their eyes, they were shocked to see that they were no longer inside the Stark Tower anymore.
Instead, what surrounded them was a dark abyss.
"What in the world…" Steve breathed in shock.
"Where are we?" Clint frowned. "I don't see anything but darkness."
"We're not at Stark Tower, that's for sure," Tony stated matter-of-factly.
Natasha stared beneath her with her eyes narrowed. "Are we floating?"
"I don't think so," Bruse said as he crouched down and examined the abyss. "When something floats, it means they're moving or hovering lightly in either liquid or air. But we're standing perfectly still as if we're simply standing like normal."
"I can walk," Clint said, taking a few steps forward.
Tony gave the archer a dumb look. "Yeah, thanks for that, Mr. Obvious."
Bruce frowned, taking off his glasses. "This is strange."
"Indeed, it is, Friend Bruce," Thor said, sauntering over to Bruce. "In all my youthful years, I have never experienced something like this."
"I hope this will be a good experience then, Mr. Odinson."
Immediately, the Avengers' guards were up and they looked around them for the source of the voice.
"Nice to hear you again, Sera darling," Tony said, his face seemingly calm. "Mind if you tell us where we are?"
"I'm honored that you remember my name, Mr. Stark. Sadly, I'm unable to answer that question specifically. But let's just say that we're in an abyss of the past."
"Abyss of the past?" Clint repeated, bewildered. "What do you mean by that?"
"This is a place where you'll be able to view your past, Mr. Barton."
The team's heads perked up at that. "Our past?" Steve asked warily.
"That's correct, Mr. Rogers. But, don't worry. We won't be viewing your past individually."
In response, everyone let out a very subtle sign of relief. None of them wanted to view their past, due to the fact that it didn't consist of sunshine and rainbows.
"So, what will we view then?" Natasha inquired.
"Instead, we'll be viewing the events of what happened in New York, Ms. Romanoff."
"New York?" Tony asked, puzzled. "Why would you show us that, Seraphina?"
"I believe that this will bring the team even closer, Mr. Stark."
Steve frowned. "And how will it do that, exactly?"
"You'll see, Captain."
Just as she said that, the dark abyss around the team suddenly shifted. The Avengers all but tensed and did a battle stance again. But they were surprised when the dark abyss changed into burning blue flames.
"Woah!" Clint shouted, stepping away from the fire.
"Fear not, Mr. Barton. You are unable to touch what you see before you." Seraphina assured the archer.
"Really?" Tony blinked, suddenly intrigued.
Steve realized where this was going and quickly said, "Tony, don't."
But the engineer ignored him and stepped forward, reaching for the flames with his hand. Tony's eyes widened when it just passed through easily. "Wow, you're right. It's like it's not even there."
"Correct, Mr. Stark. What you see is only a projection of what happened. Think of it as a hologram."
"You should've said that from the start, Sera," Clint said, annoyed.
"My apologies, Mr. Barton."
Natasha smirked. "What, are you scared, Clint?"
"No, I'm not." Clint quickly insisted, crossing his arms. "It surprised me, that's all."
"Alright. Whatever you say." Natasha smiled, giving him the look. Clint sighed, knowing that Natasha wouldn't let him hear the end of it after this.
But then, suddenly the blue flames gathered and united. And in its place, a familiar smoky cube emerged.
"The Tesseract?" Thor said, shocked.
"Okay, Sera. What's going on?" Tony quickly said, his gaze focused at the cube before him.
"Right now, we're viewing the chain of events that resulted in the battle of New York, Mr. Stark," Seraphina explained.
"Alright, I get that," Tony said, waving his hand. "Next question, why?"
"Again, Mr. Stark. I believe this will bring the team closer."
"Couldn't you do that without showing what happened?" Tony scowled. "I don't like seeing the same thing twice."
Although Tony's words seemed reasonable, the team knew that it was more than that. They knew that it was a way to cover the fact that all of them had a few not-so-good memories from that incident. Their friends were forced to turn against them, their buttons were constantly being pushed, and don't get them started with Coulson.
None of them wanted to see that happen again.
"My apologies, Mr. Stark. But this is the best and fastest method available." Seraphina replied.
"So, now we're watching the past?" Steve frowned.
"Correct, Mr. Rogers. Everything that you see is in the past."
"And, we can't do anything but watch?" Natasha raised an eyebrow.
"That's right, Ms. Romanoff. You won't be getting out of here until we finish."
"That's just wonderful," Tony muttered under his breath. He turned towards the others and gave them a shrug which, in Tony language, meant, "Sorry, I tried."
"Well, might as well go through with it," Clint said as he slowly sat down in a comfortable position. The others looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"What?" The archer said, confused. "You heard the girl. We can't get out of here unless we watch this thing."
The rest of the team seemed a bit uncertain, but they followed his example and sat down as well. Natasha walked towards Clint and comfortably sat beside him. Steve took a seat beside the redhead, with Thor on his right.
"Fine." Tony sighed as he flopped down right next to Bruce, who was sitting next to Thor. "I don't know about you guys, but I don't want my breakfast to be cold so let's get this done."
That managed to get a few chuckles out of the team. "Don't worry, Tony. I'll heat it up later when we get back." Bruce said to the billionaire.
Tony made a face. "Of course you will, Brucie. Who else will do it?"
"I can do it," Steve informed, raising an eyebrow.
Tony snorted. "Right. We all know how that went well last time."
"Alright. Cut it out, boys." Natasha interrupted with a small smile. "We're here to watch something, remember?"
"Yeah, whatever," Tony said to the girl.
"Are you all ready?" Seraphina asked.
Steve glanced at his team around him and nodded. "Yes."
"I am intrigued to how this will go," Thor grinned. "This is similar to my movie nights with Jane."
"Well then, Avengers, I hope you enjoy the show," Seraphina said. Then, the image of the Tesseract twirled even closer and an unknown voice appeared.
"The Tesseract has awakened." The voice said just as the Tesseract slowly disappeared and what seemed like an alien spaceship emerged instead. "It is in a little world…A human world." The voice said as if disgusted by the word.
"Hey, what's wrong with Earth?" Tony asked, feeling offended.
Then, a vague shadow of a figure was seen inside the spaceship. Apparently, it was the source of the deep, alien voice. "They would wield its power, but our ally knows its workings as they never will."
"Is that another alien?" Natasha asked, examining the figure.
"Looks like it," Steve answered.
Then, the figure slowly turned around and faced a horned shaped shadow, a long scepter seen in his grasp. As the scene got clearer, the shadow's features slowly came into view.
"Loki." Thor breathed, recognizing the figure. Instantly, the Avengers tensed at the name and some of them started to glare at the Asgardian.
Natasha glanced at Clint, whose eyes were dangerously narrowed and his jaw was incredibly tense. The redhead placed a gentle hand on Clint's own, and the archer's features softened instantly. He glanced at Natasha and smiled, his way of saying thank you, which Natasha accepted.
Meanwhile, Tony glanced at the duo a few meters away.
After that, the unknown figure handed Loki the scepter in his hand, a long golden handle, fitted with a blue gem encircled with silver blades.
"He is ready to lead. And our force, our Chitauri, will follow." The scene changed into tens of thousands of the Chitauri as they stood ready in a seething mass of neat rows and columns.
Then, the abyss shifted. This time, the Tesseract appeared again and the scene quickly zoomed into the blue flames inside.
"The world will be his. The universe, yours. And the humans, what can they do but burn?"
"Um, we can stop you." Tony pointed out with a grin. That managed to ease the tension around the team as some of them cracked a small smile.
"You are indeed right, friend Tony," Thor grinned, patting Tony on the shoulder, imitating what Tony did when they had first met.
"Hey!" Tony said stopping the demigod. "Go easy on me, Point Break. Don't want my shoulder to break."
Just as he said that, the abyss adjusted to the night view of what seemed to be a desert. The sound of a helicopter was heard and then the scene zoomed into a remote research facility, which was in a state of panic.
From the looks of it, it was an evacuation.
"Where is this?" Steve asked, surveying the facility.
"New Mexico, specifically the Mojave Desert," Natasha replied. "This is a S.H.I.E.L.D facility, the base of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S."
"Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S?" Bruce questioned.
"Secret operation of S.H.I.E.L.D's. It was for studying the Tesseract." Clint answered for him, remembering the place.
It was full chaos. Dozens of people ran around the place, some jumping on the nearest Humvees. A voice bellowed from the hidden loudspeakers, quickly guiding the people out of the facility.
Then, the scene altered into a helicopter pad. Standing a few yards away from it was a person with a suit and shades, peering at the helicopter as it quickly landed on the pad.
The Avengers could instantly recognize him, even from a mile away.
"Coulson." Steve and Natasha muttered in sync.
Tony looked at them, confused. "I thought his first name was Agent."
Natasha rolled her eyes at the billionaire, but she didn't scold him of saying that joke like she used to. She knew that Tony meant well and he wasn't insulting Coulson in any way. Besides, she saw Tony's eyes soften for a second before he said that.
Natasha smiled. Tony seemed like he could kill, but inside he's just a cinnamon roll. (Present tense, cause he's still a cinnamon roll.)
Coulson watched as the helicopter door opened and Agent Maria Hill quickly came out, followed by Director Nick Fury. Fury surveyed the facility for a few moments before he walked away from the helicopter and approached Coulson.
"How bad is it?" Fury asked the agent.
"That's the problem , sir," Coulson replied, taking off his shades. "We don't know."
"That alone speaks volumes," Thor said. "Agent Coulson usually knew everything, correct?"
"Mostly, Thor." Tony corrected the Asgardian. " But, not everything."
The scene altered again to Agent Coulson leading Hill and Fury through the radiation section of the facility. Many technicians and other staff ran around, taking the essentials before going out of the facility.
"Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago," Coulson informed them as they walked.
"Selvig?" Thor's head perked up at the mention of his friend.
Fury scowled. "NASA didn't authorize Selvig to go to test phase."
"He wasn't testing it, he wasn't even in the room," Coulson stated. As Fury simply looked at him, the agent added, "Spontaneous event."
"It just turned itself on?" Hill questioned.
"What are the energy levels now?" Fury asked Coulson.
"Climbing," Coulson replied. "When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered the evac."
"How long to get everyone out?" Fury inquired.
"Campus should be clear in the next half hour," Coulson answered.
Fury simply gave Coulson a look before saying, "Do better."
The agent quickly nodded and walked away to the opposite section of the facility. Now, the abyss shifted and changed into a flight of stairs. Hill and Fury were seen walking down on it.
"Sir, evacuation may be futile." Hill pointed out behind Fury.
"We should tell them to go back to sleep?" Fury said sarcastically.
Tony furrowed his eyebrows. "What kind of joke was that? Even Steve can do better."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Steve scowled, offended.
"If we can't control the Tesseract's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance," Hill remarked to the director.
But Fury didn't regard her remark seriously and he glanced at Hill before saying, "I need you to make sure that PHASE 2 prototypes are shipped out."
"PHASE 2," Steve muttered, shaking his head in disapproval. "And they already made prototypes for it."
"Ah yes, S.H.I.E.L.D's attempt of protecting the Earth," Thor stated, recalling the project. "If making weapons could be called protection, that is."
"Believe me, it's not," Tony informed with a grim expression.
Apparently, Hill's mind wasn't on the same page as Fury. "Sir, is that really a priority right now?"
Fury halted and turned around, facing the female agent. "Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on."
Agent Hill was silent, having no comeback for that statement. Satisfied, Fury walked ahead of her. "Clear out the tech below. Every piece of PHASE 2 on a truck and gone."
"Yes, sir," Hill replied, walking away from Fury and towards two standing agents. "With me."
Fury watched her leave before he walked into a vacuum chamber and entered a particular lab facility. Inside was a CMS machine, holding the Tesseract as the flare rings shot out randomly. A dozen scientists were also in the room, monitoring the Tesseract.
"Talk to me, doctor." Fury said as he approached the machine. Behind it, Dr. Erik Selvig emerged, seemingly concerned.
"Director," Selvig said before he approached Fury, walking past a scientist who was checking the Tesseract carefully.
"Is there anything we know for certain?" Fury inquired the man.
"Tesseract is misbehaving," Selvig replied just as another flare came out of the Tesseract.
"Is that supposed to be funny?" Fury said.
Selvig shook his head. "No, it's not funny at all. The Tesseract is not only active, she's...misbehaving."
"You're mistaken, Selvig." Thor frowned. "The Tesseract doesn't just misbehave. She never acts that way."
"Then, why is it acting like that?" Natasha asked, curious.
"It's because someone made her to. She never acts like this on her own." Thor informed her.
"I assume you pulled the plug?" Fury asked the scientist.
"She's an energy source. If we turn off the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level..." Selvig trailed off.
Fury seemed to catch on and he halted in front of Selvig. "We've prepared for this, doctor. Harnessing energy from space."
"For the wrong reason." Tony pointed out.
"But we don't have the harness. My calculations are far from complete." Selvig deadpanned, stopping in front of a small monitor before he glanced at the Tesseract. "Now she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation."
"Any level of gamma radiation is harmful." Bruce scowled.
Fury seemed to have the same idea. "That can be harmful." The director paused before asking, "Where's Agent Barton?"
"Aaand this is when I come in, folks," Clint said, smiling. "No applause, please."
"Who would do that?" Tony asked incredulously.
Selvig let out a snort. "The Hawk?" He said, his lips twitching upwards before he gestured somewhere behind him. "Up in his nest, as usual."
The abyss changed again and this time, Clint Barton came into view, wearing his black tactical gear. The agent was perched on the railings, watching the people from above.
Tony choked at the sight. "Are you hugging the railing?"
The Avengers but Clint outright laughed, some doubling over and holding their stomachs.
"I was perching!" Clint shouted to Tony, his face red with embarrassment.
"Right. But your face is way too serious for you to be hugging, Clint." Tony managed to say as he laughed, ignoring his friend. "Oh man, why didn't I bring my camera? This is great!"
"Shut up, Stark!" Clint shouted again.
"Agent Barton, report." Fury's voice could be heard from Clint's earpiece. Clint obeyed and stood up from his position, quickly sliding down on a rope.
"I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things." Fury said as Clint approached him.
"Well, I see better from a distance," Clint answered. Fury accepted the response and walked with Clint towards the Tesseract.
"Are you seeing anything that might set this thing off?" Fury inquired. No sooner did he ask that than a NASA scientist suddenly calling out to Selvig, "Doctor, it's spiking again."
"No one's come or gone. And Selvig's clean. No contacts, no I.M.'s." Clint informed, glancing at said man who had walked over to the NASA scientist earlier to check the readings.
The archer stood beside Fury besides the Tesseract and crossed his arms. "If there was any tampering, Sir, it wasn't at this end."
What Clint said caught Fury's attention. "At this end?"
Clint glanced at Fury for a second before nodding. "Yeah, the cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right?" Clint looked at Fury again and lightly shrugged. "Doors open from both sides."
"You're finally using that brain of yours, birdbrain." Tony joked.
"Hey. You're not the only one that has a brain here, genius." Clint retorted.
"But, friend Clint." Thor interrupted. "The Tesseract doesn't open doors. It opens-"
"Portals." Clint cut him off. "I know, Thor. It was just a reference."
Selvig clacked away at the keyboard and his expression hardened at what he saw. "Not yet." He muttered as he tried to stop whatever was going to happen.
Besides Clint and Fury, the Tesseract thundered and shook the entire facility. It was enough that both Coulson and Hill felt it, despite them being at different ends of the place.
Clint's smile dropped immediately. "Oh no." Natasha noticed and started to rub small circles on his hand gently.
"I don't like where this is going," Bruce said, eyeing the Tesseract warily.
The flaring rings and glow of the cube spouted out brighter and louder, just like a boiling pot of water. Everyone in the room couldn't do anything but watch as the Tesseract's energy gathered into a beam similar to the Bifrost, which hits at the end of a platform that is wired to the CMS device.
The great maelstrom beam fired the Tesseract energy and formed a vortex, which slowly opened up a portal.
"Oh no, this is much worse," Bruce muttered with wide eyes, unknowingly quoting himself from a year ago.
From the portal, the blackness of space, beautiful and mysterious, strewn with a billion stars appeared and a gust of blue energy filled the room, blinding everyone.
The Tesseract's energy formed into a cloud that reached to the vacuum chamber ceiling. For a few seconds, it was abnormally quiet. Then, heavy breathing was heard from the platform. Several S.H.I.E.L.D guards slowly approached with weapons in their hands. A figure was kneeling on the platform, smoke coming off it.
"Loki." Steve scowled. Clint silently gulped, knowing what was going to happen next.
Loki slowly raised his head, smiling as if he had accomplished something. The smile faltered, though, when he saw that he wasn't alone. The Asgardian stared deep into the eyes of Fury, Clint and Selvig before he stood up, holding the scepter with his hand.
Loki's head turned to Fury when he said, "Sir, please put down the spear!"
"I think that's the only time I've heard Fury say 'please'," Tony remarked.
"It may be the only time, considering who Fury is," Steve added.
Loki looked at his scepter for a few moments before an idea popped into his mind and he smiled. Suddenly, the raven-haired god pointed the edge of the scepter at where Fury and Clint were standing and shot out a blue exploding light towards them. Clint managed to tackle Fury and they both narrowly missed Loki's fired shot.
Then, all hell broke. The S.H.I.E.L.D guards fired at Loki but the bullets bounced off him, not even leaving a scratch. Loki jumped high from the platform and was quick to attack those firing at him.
In the blink of an eye, Loki took down several guards with his knives and energy blasts from the scepter. After a few seconds, he stopped and waited to see who'd attack him next just as he observed the messed up lab facility.
"Now that's what I call a mess," Tony muttered as he saw all of the broken machines and the scattered tools that were everywhere.
A few yards away, Clint tried to stand up. Then, he heard footsteps approaching him and quickly defended himself from Loki's scepter. Clint tried to raise his gun, but Loki's grip on his hand was stronger.
Loki stared at the archer before saying, "You have heart." Fury was standing up near them and could only watch as Loki pointed his scepter at the center of Clint's chest.
Several of the Avengers glared daggers at Loki's head while the rest of them growled, seething. Clint sighed and put his head on his hands.
The glow of the Tesseract flowed inside of Clint, making his eyes glow black for a second before it turned into bright blue, the same color as the Tesseract. Loki grinned, satisfied to see that his power had worked. Clint put down the gun and stood straight, no restraint evident on his face.
"I didn't want to see this again," Clint muttered so quietly, only Natasha – who was beside him, Steve – who had super hearing, and Tony – who was paying attention, heard him.
"It's alright, душенька," Natasha whispered, rubbing soothing circles on Clint's back. "You're not there right now. What happened wasn't your fault."
"But, I did it anyway," Clint remarked. "I did what I did and I could never forget that."
Natasha silently sighed, looking over at Tony for a second. The man nodded, understanding her silent message. He had a feeling that this would happen for the rest of their time here, and all of them would be mentally exhausted by the time they get back.
He really needed to build a ball pit room when this was over.
Fury was speechless as he witnessed his agent being controlled with ease, and he was quick to snatch the Tesseract away. As Loki continued using his abilities to control the minds of several other S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel, Fury firmly placed the Tesseract back into its case and tried to leave the lab.
"Please don't," Loki said, halting Fury in his tracks. The Asgardian slowly turned to him and said, "I still need that."
"This doesn't have to get any messier." Fury said, glancing behind him.
"Of course, it does." Loki disagreed. "I've come too far for anything else."
Fury was silent and slowly turned around just as Loki introduced himself. "I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."
"I agree, but it's not the same to what you have in mind, Brother," Thor said grimly.
Selvig looked at Loki in surprise. "Loki?" He asked, standing up from his crouched position. "Brother of Thor?"
"We have no quarrel with your people." Fury said.
"An ant has no quarrel with a boot." Loki simply answered.
"Wait, how did he know that?" Tony turned to Thor, bemused. "You have ants and boots at Asgard?"
"No, but I have told Loki of Earth's culture once. He must've remembered my words." Thor replied to the engineer.
Fury stared at Loki with narrowed eyes. "Are you planning to step on us?"
"I come with glad tidings," Loki said as he approached the director. "Of a world made free."
"Free from what?" Fury asked.
"Freedom," Loki replied, saying it as if it disgusted him. "Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart…"
Suddenly, Loki turned towards Selvig who was standing behind him and placed his scepter against Selvig's heart. Just like Clint, Selvig's eyes glowed black before it turned bright blue.
"You will know peace." Loki finished.
"Yeah, you say peace, I kind of think you mean the other thing." Fury said.
"For once, I actually agree with you, Fury," Steve stated.
"And for once, I actually agree with you, Steve," Tony added, making everyone roll their eyes.
Then, Clint noticed that from the vacuum chamber ceiling, the Tesseract's energy cloud rapidly was gathering into what might be an implosion. "Sir, Director Fury is stalling," Clint informed, approaching the demigod.
Clint groaned. "I'll never call him that again." He said with a disgusted scowl.
"And I'll make sure of that," Natasha assured the archer.
"This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us." Clint and Loki stared at the energy cloud before Clint added, "He means to bury us."
"Like The Pharaohs of Odin." Fury said.
"He's right. The portal is collapsing in on itself." Selvig confirmed after looking at the monitor. "We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."
"Well, then." Loki glanced at Clint, who understood and immediately shot Fury with his gun. Fury fell to the ground and Clint grabbed the case containing the Tesseract before quickly leaving with Loki, Selvig, and other controlled S.H.I.E.L.D personnel.
Clint winced but he said, "Is it wrong if a part of me doesn't feel guilty of doing that?"
"No worries, Legolas," Tony said to Clint. "We all do that sometimes."
"What? Shooting Fury?" Clint asked.
"No, not feeling guilty," Tony replied.
Clint chuckled at that, somehow feeling assured with Tony's ways of comforting.
The abyss changed again into the scene of Clint, Loki and the others walking towards the parking lot of the facility.
"I need these vehicles," Clint said, gesturing to the cars before him. Everyone got into the car while Loki climbed on the back of it. Hill saw Loki and was confused at the unfamiliar face. "Who's that?"
"They didn't tell me," Clint replied, walking towards the driver's seat. Hill was a bit skeptical at them, but she still turned to leave. But she didn't get that far as Fury's voice was heard through the walkie-talkie in her hand.
"Hill! Do you copy?" Fury asked, breathing heavily. Loki heard the voice and sharply turned towards Hill.
Back at the lab, Fury slowly stood up, pulling out the bullet with his hand, still breathing heavily when he informed, "Barton has turned."
"Unwillingly," Clint muttered.
Just as Hill registered that, Clint shot his gun towards her but she was quick enough to roll out of the way. She hid behind a wall and shot at Clint, but the archer was already inside the car and driving out of the facility. Hill continued to shoot at the vehicle, but it didn't manage to stop them.
Meanwhile, Fury ran out of the lab, holding his injured side. "He's got the Tesseract! Track it down!" The director ordered through the walkie-talkie, the energy from the Tesseract growing even bigger behind him.
Hill slipped into a nearby Jeep and quickly followed after Clint's vehicle. As Clint proceeded to drive out of the facility, several S.H.I.E.L.D vehicles had caught up to them and the agents started to shoot at Clint's truck.
Loki quickly stood up and used his scepter to shoot an energy blast at one of the cars. It worked, as the car lost control and did a back flip, landing upside down on the ground, effectively blocking the way.
The energy from the Tesseract continued to gather, causing a big earthquake. Fury raced down the hallway, avoiding falling pipes and other stuff. In another corner of the facility, Coulson, and several other agents fell down the steps, dropping a few cases of information.
"Okay, let's go. No, leave it!" Coulson shouted to the agents who attempted to grab the cases with them. "Go!"
Steve managed to smile. "Caring as ever."
"In a situation like that, Steve, I wouldn't exactly call that caring," Natasha remarked.
Meanwhile, Hill's Jeep emerged out of a side of Clint's truck and drove ahead of them. Then, she pulled her brake and swerved to a full 360 degrees, facing Clint's truck and driving in reverse.
Tony's jaw dropped at the scene. "Okay, I need to tell Happy to do that later."
"Oh no, you don't," Bruce said. "Happy's already good enough."
Clint's arm reached out the open window and he shot Hill's vehicle with his gun. Hill didn't hesitate to shoot through her windshield, opening fire on Clint and his entourage.
On the other hand, Coulson was on a SHIELD van, holding his walkie talkie. "We're clear upstairs, sir," Coulson informed through the device. "You need to go."
Fury bolted out of the facility and managed to get into a helicopter and he flew out of there just as the surface of the landing pad gave away, plunging down onto the ground.
Still in a chase and drive-by sequence, Clint pushed the pedal harder, which caused Hill's Jeep to wobble out of their way and put her back behind.
Inside the lab, the Tesseract's energy cloud suddenly shrank into a small ball of white light for a few seconds before a gigantic gust of blue energy was abruptly released, consuming the entire facility and also parts of the desert.
Fury watched from above, a rapid build-up into what might be an implosion. Then, the entire facility swallowed into itself, a terrifying, unimaginable implosion.
"Woah…" Bruce breathed, slightly in awe at the sight.
On another part of the facility, Coulson could only watch from the van as basically everything behind him collapsed into the underground.
The blast wave of the Tesseract caused the tunnel to cave in. Blinding crumbles of falling rock and debris fell onto Hill's vehicle, leaving her nearly trapped under the blanket of rock.
Clint's truck, on the other hand, managed to escape the tunnel and they drove into the desert landscape. But as they got out, Fury's helicopter appeared from above them. Clint noticed the air vehicle and swerved the car multiple times to avoid it.
Loki looked up just in time to see the helicopter door slide open and Fury came into view, holding a gun. Fury shot at Clint a few times, shattering the glass and blinding the archer from the road.
"Hey! I know that's your way of payback but cut me some slack, man!" Clint shouted at Fury. Natasha cracked a smile.
Loki scowled at Fury and shot out a blue light from his scepter towards the tail of the helicopter. The chopper caught on fire and instantly went down in a fiery ball. Fury barely managed to jump out of the chopper and land into safety before the helicopter crashed and barreled along the ground.
Fury was quick to recover and he shot at the Loki again, but the vehicle was too far away for the bullets to hit accurately. Loki glanced behind him before he focused back on the road.
Fury, agitated, stood up just as Coulson's voice was heard through the walkie talkie. "Director? Director Fury, do you copy?"
"The Tesseract is with the hostile force. I have men down." Fury quickly replied, glancing at the burning helicopter. "Hill?"
The abyss shifted and Hill was seen climbing out of the Jeep. "A lot of men still under," Hill informed, looking at the rubble behind her. "I don't know how many survivors."
"Sound the general call." Fury ordered the two agents. "I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase."
"Roger that," Hill answered.
"Coulson, get back to base. This is a Level Seven." Fury added. Coulson and Hill were both silent as Fury informed the duo, "As of right now, we are at war."
"Level Seven?" Thor questioned Natasha and Clint.
"It's a clearance system of S.H.I.E.L.D's." Clint shrugged. "The higher the level, the fewer people that know the secrets."
"And you two are?" Bruce asked.
"Level Seven." Clint and Natasha answered simultaneously.
Coulson took a brief second to take that information in before he asked Fury, "What do we do?"
In response, Fury slowly lowered down his walkie-talkie, his face firmly determined just a few seconds before the capitalized words of 'THE AVENGERS' appeared.
"This is just like a normal action movie," Natasha commented. "Only a bit cooler."
"And this is when I'm gonna come in!" Tony grinned excitedly, pulling out a pair of sunglasses from his pocket. "Guys, prepare your shades because I might shine too bright for your eyes."
Most of the team rolled their eyes at their resident billionaire while Thor merely chuckled.
"I may not totally agree with you, Mr. Stark. But, you're right about one thing." Seraphina finally spoke up. "This when all of you are going to be present."
"You were pretty quiet back there, Seraphina," Steve noted.
"That's because I'm not much of a commenter myself, Mr. Rogers. I only come in when I'm needed or when you ask for me."
"Well then, I'm gonna ask you to join us, Sera dear," Tony said. "The more, the merrier."
"I'm already joining you, Mr. Stark." Seraphina chuckled before her tone got a bit more serious. "But before we continue, I want to warn you. This is where it gets real. What you saw was just the beginning."
The Avengers were silent, taking in her warning.
"Well, we did sign up for this," Steve said, once again glancing at his team before he smiled. "So, bring it on."
Seraphina was silent for a while, but the team could guess that she was smiling. "As you wish."
If any of you are curious, душенька means 'darling' in Russian.
And now you know that my OC is Seraphina, the mysterious female voice who transported the Avengers to the abyss of the past.