AN: So, I actually did some of this. I'm not sure if I'm 100% satisfied with it, since it's mostly just stuff and we don't hit the really interesting plot points until next chapter. But at least there's action.
Also, in most stories I either ship or broship Jane and Loki. Take your pick.
Chapter Four: Infiltration
If Natasha could have chosen a location for their departure, it wouldn't have been Arizona. Considering the likelihood that they wouldn't be coming back (and in this, she considered herself a complete realist, even if the rest of the team refused to acknowledge this as the suicide mission it was), she would have chosen a more…scenic view of the world they were going to die to save. Arizona was parched, offered no shade but the overabundant sage brush that only grew up to her thighs, and the heat wreaked havoc on her skin and hair.
But Arizona also had Jane Foster and her Einstein-Rosen Bridge.
Apparently, the woman had been in communication with Asgard for some time, but kept the whole things under wraps—even from SHIELD. Which was…impressive, actually, and gutsy. Fury looked ready to pop a vein when this little detail entered the mix. She'd told him to get the woman on the payroll. If they survived,that was.
At any rate, according to Loki, Asgard's Bifrost was far more powerful than Foster's, but lacked in any subtlety. Any sneak attack by that route would have the stealth of an elephant playing hide-and-seek in a China Shop, which left them the Foster Bridge as their only ride. So Arizona it was.
She let her eyes wander up to the firmament, where stars glittered out at her from the void, wondering how something so beautiful was simply distance between them and their deaths. Still…if she was going to die in combat, why not the stars? It was certainly better than dying in the mud, or being tortured to death on a mission gone wrong.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Natasha was pulled from her reveries by the voice and melted immediately into the shadows. Two figures had emerged from the building that housed the Foster Bridge, and even in the darkness she could easily distinguish them as Jane Foster…and Loki.
"Of course," he replied, shrugging, "If I may remind you, I assisted on the Bifrost's restoration in Asgard. This is a simple matter in comparison, even with the…adjustments."
"Yes, but you already had a foundation," the scientist argued, "This is…untested, among other things. What if you end up on Mars? Or worse, dead and drifting in space?" Which was…not what Natasha Romanoff wanted to hear, the night before departure.
"Jane Foster," Loki interrupted, "We two have been conspirators from the beginning, and I know you well enough by now to say that you do not doubt your science. In fact, you're certain that all well be well, no?" Jane Foster was silent in a way that made Natasha think she was biting her lip. "What is it that ails you then? Suddenly grown a conscience?"
"Yes," she bit out after a pause, "I've never not had a conscience. It's because of my conscience that I agreed to this plan in the first place!"
"Indeed," Loki agreed, "You are a goddess among mortals, Jane Foster. Your good heart has not guided you wrong yet, so do not let the doubts start now. We must see this to completion. It is…a shot in the dark, I'll warrant, but the only one we have." Silence again, and Loki seemed to be studying her expression.
"It's not that," Jane replied softly, "I've been committed from the moment I knew you were telling the truth. Lies…secrets…I'll pay that price for the ones I love." She began walking then, leaving Loki where he stood. But before she had passed out of earshot, she called back to him once more. "It's only that…Loki, you're one of my loved ones too."
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
In the end, they all decided to accompany Thor. Someone had tried to argue that without the Avengers, Earth would be left helpless. That wasn't true.
The public called them "Earth's Mightiest Heroes", but really, they were nothing more than a response team. Their job was not to defeat alien armies, but to keep the first wave contained long enough to find a proper solution. That aside, they weren't the only ones. The X-Men, the Fantastic Four, freelancers like Doctor Strange…they were all ready, all waiting.
That aside, there was another explanation for their actions. One that they would never speak aloud, but simply did not need to have it spoken.
They were a family, albeit a broken and dysfunctional one, and there was no way they were going to let Thor run off to space with his homicidal little brother without somebody to watch his back.
And as the first rays of the morning light painted the desert in shades of gold, the team was ready. They stood in the building that hosted the Foster Bridge, watching the team of scientists scurry about making the final adjustments. Loki went out of his way to avoid everybody except Thor and Jane, adjusting formulas in such a way that made everybody feel uneasy.
And then it was time to go. They stood at the center of the construct, men and women watching them in a grim farewell.
"Are you ready to go?" The intensity of Jane's voice was only amplified as it came over the sound system.
"Aye, Lady Jane," Thor replied, giving her a smile that was meant only to help assuage her feels, "Fear not. We will return victorious." Except that Thor was a far worse liar than Loki, and the creases between Jane's eyebrows only deepened.
"The Foster Bridge is now active," she said, turning on the systems. Power surged through the systems, running from their toes to the ends of their hairs, light and sound suddenly swallowing up the world around them in a shimmer.
"Come back safely." Jane's final words, more a solemn prayer than anything, filtered through the commotion just moments before they were tossed across the solar system. "All of you."
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Rematerialization was harder on their systems than any of them expected. Tony had about three seconds to open his face plate before her vomited all over the gray-black floors that had welcomed them. The others managed to hold onto their last meal, but even the two gods looked shaken by the transport.
"Is it always like that?" demanded Tony when he'd finally quelled his stomach's flip-flops.
"No," Loki replied, "The Foster Bridge is not as stable as the Bifrost. So you're experiencing something of interstellar motion sickness."
"Are we there yet then, Mom?" Tony asked, recovered enough for sarcasm. The team shot him a nasty look.
"I think we are," Steve said, "But…where exactly is 'there'?"
With a snap of Loki's fingers, the lights in the room went on completely, revealing a broad hangar filled with a series of vehicles. Many were the same models that the Chitauri had ridden in the Battle of New York, but there were still others that made those look like child's play. Tony gave a low whistle.
"I never got to dissect these things," he said, approaching with his natural curiosity.
"I wouldn't touch them," Loki replied, "They're all linked into the ship's mainframe. You may set off an alarm."
Tony was half tempted to poke at them anyways, just for the sake of spiting the Asgardian that had tossed him out a window four years prior. But a few seconds of satisfactorily pissing Loki off didn't seem quite worth the risk of failing the mission from the outside. And getting them all killed. Horribly.
"Right-o, so what do we do now?"
"Die, of course." The voice was simultaneously oily and raspy at the same time, and everybody in the room stiffened as the doors nearest them opened to make way for swarms of Chitauri soldiers. At their head came a cloaked creature out of a horror film.
"The Other," Loki growled, voice a mixture of anger and masked fear.
"It seems our stray dog has returned to us," the Other hissed, making a sound that could have been a laugh. "Four years, and this was the best that you could come up with? The little mortals that want to play god? Even your attempt at infiltration was weak. Really, Laufeyson, it is no wonder you failed to bring is the tesseract."
The Other seemed to survey each of the Avengers then. As its eyeless gaze glanced over her, Natasha felt something inside her tug painfully. Memories that she'd thought dulled over the years came flooding in, bright and sharp and as painful as the day that they had been made. Red, red, red…so much red…
There was no time for this. They had to attack, make the first move, do something, but the tendrils were diving deeper. The pain was almost physical, rooting them to where each stood, the memories of dark days gone by playing out before their eyes as the Other extended his full power. Even Thor and Loki seemed helpless against the mental onslaught.
"You have done us a favor, though, Laufeyson, saved the trouble of us trying to find your cowardly, useless hide," it continued, its eyes passing back to Loki. The man suddenly gave a sharp cry stumbling as though he'd been struck. Thor made a grab for his brother, but Loki pushed violently away, gritting his teeth as he wrestled with the invasion of his mind. "You will suffer now, as you have never suffered before. You will watch your brother die in agony, and perhaps find that mortal woman you seem so fond of…"
And suddenly, the mental magic snapped back as Thor broken through, charging at full force with his hammer. The Other vanished before the blow landed, but freed the Avengers from its grip. The Chitauri, however, reacted quickly, and gave them little time to prepare for a fight that suddenly consumed the world around them.
It was hard to say how long the battle lasted, but all they knew was that the Other had retreated, apparently leaving them to their impending dooms. The waves seemed to be endless, but despite this they managed to make traction as they followed Thor's lead, eventually making it out of the hangar's wide open space into the hallways. Only once there did they gain a moment's reprieve, hiding in the shadows until the next wave of attackers arrived.
"Where are we going Thor?" asked Steve, bringing up the tail.
"We must go to the center!" Thor replied, voice rumbling even when low, "Where is my brother?" Looks of panic stole through the group as they searched for the dark Asgardian, only to find his presence lacking.
"He's gone, Thor!" Tony said, "Just…poof!"
"Not so, my comrades," he said, "All goes according to plan."
"The plan went wrong, Thor! We were ambushed."
"Your plan, perhaps," Thor agreed, "But not ours."
"You mean you were expecting him to betray us?" asked Clint.
"Depended on it," Thor confirmed, "And it is not betrayal, Clint Barton, but wisdom. We knew beforehand the likelihood of encountering the creature known as The Other, and Loki warned me of its vast mental capabilities. He was the only one that had any prior experience…that knew of a way to shield his thoughts form The Other's probing. And so, he did not disclose the entire plan to me."
There was silence as the team tried to gather their thoughts, beginning to realize how little they'd actually been filled in on, as well as the reasons for the two gods to do this. The more they knew, the more likely they would have betrayed whatever master plan was in motion. Assuming there was a master plan in motion, and Loki hadn't run back to his old masters, and they weren't walking into a trap. It took them a moment to realize that they were waiting for Natasha to speak up, to give her analysis of the situation with the calm, pragmatic way she always did.
But she had nothing to say on the situation, because just like Loki, Natasha Romanoff wasn't present.