Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers (the comics, movies, characters etc.) or any of the characters; I only own my OC Art.
9. Tactics
A small cloud of dirt rose up from the ground as Art touched down, the parachute fluttering down behind her. She quickly slipped out of the parachute harness and left it on the ground; looking around with narrowed eyes, she tried to pinpoint where everyone had disappeared to. She was fortunate enough to have landed on some sort of mountain that had numerous outcroppings that looked over the night darkened forest. Art followed the natural pathway that wound the way up the mountainside, her footsteps the only sound in the cool silence of the night. Annoyance buzzed at the back of her skull like a singular angry bee. Art had known Steve for quite some time, and she always knew him to be very organized and, like the song had once said, he was 'the star spangled man with a plan.' Apparently this time, he was the star spangled man without a plan; or a deliberately withheld plan, which was the possibility that annoyed her the most.
Just as she reached the cliff that had been her goal, she completely froze. Seated contently atop a rock was Loki, who was watching something down in the forest below. He looked as though he were leisurely spectating his favorite sporting event, his hands clasped in his lap, his face cooly composed, and a tiny smirk present at the corner of his mouth. Art, who had yet to be noticed by the Asgardian, looked around to see if, perhaps, Thor or Steve or Tony were present to see that this man––their prisoner––didn't escape. But, alas, Loki sat alone; such was the reason he looked so contented. The annoyed buzz in the back of Art's head elevated. Marching forward, the sound of her footsteps caught Loki's attention. His head turned to face her, and he arched an eyebrow curiously.
"Are you here to capture me again?" he inquired before smirking and turning his attention back to the forest. "Or are you here to watch the show?"
Art slowly approached the very edge of the cliff, keeping a wary eye on Loki, who was full on smiling now. Following his gaze, Art found that there was a small clearing just below the mountain, in which stood Thor and Tony, facing off. Tony turned on his heel and started to walk away, only to be struck in the back by Thor's hammer. As the billionaire sailed across the clearing, Art sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose between both her fingers.
"Dear god…" she muttered under her breath. Loki chuckled and reclined back against the rocks, turning his attention to Art instead of the fight occuring beneath them. He watched as the muscles in her jaw jumped in a clear sign of annoyance.
"Does the fight not entertain you?"
"Not when we're supposed to be escorting a criminal to confinement," Art deadpanned. Loki arched an eyebrow at the soldier as she stepped away from the cliff face and began to dig through the pouches of her belt.
"Is that what I am? A criminal?" Loki inquired in a flat voice.
"Damn straight."
"Are you going to incarcerate me, Lieutenant?"
"You sure you aren't psychic? 'Cause you've just read my mind," Art said sarcastically, withdrawing a length of rope from one of her belt pouches. "Stand." Loki chuckled and rose to his feet, holding out his wrists compliantly. She began to knot the rope around his left wrist when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw his right hand reach for her face. Her hand snapped out and caught him around the wrist, staring at him wide eyed. "The hell do you think you're doing?"
"Your cheek…" he murmured, eyes trained on the curve of her left cheek, "it was bleeding not but an hour ago; yet, there is hardly a scratch present now… how curious… you heal quickly."
"Yeah, I do."
"Are you always so curt, Lieutenant?"
"Do I have to gag you, too? I'm not beyond that." Art shoved his right hand down and continued to bind his wrists; once each one was bound seperately, she bound them both together. Loki chuckled and raised his head, staring off into the distance as he allowed her to tie his wrists together.
"I am inclined to believe you in this instance," he chuckled. Leaving a length of rope that was essentially a leash, Art wrapped it around her knuckles and kept tight hold of it. Her other hand was once again placed on his shoulder, and she walked just behind him as she started to lead him down the mountain.
"Wanna tell me what you're doing with the Tesseract?" Art asked when they were half-way through their walk. Loki's lips quirked to the side, but he said nothing. "Alright. Wanna tell me where Agent Barton is?" A bigger smirk and silence as an answer. "Oh, so we're playing the silent game again? You were so chatty a moment ago."
Loki arched an eyebrow and kept walking without struggle, complaint, or resistance. Art pursed her lips and steered them around a boulder, realizing just how bizarre the situation was. Just like she and Steve had said, usually the guys who packed a wallop wanted to fight, wanted to pack that punch… but Loki seemed perfectly and completely contented to cooperate with them to a certain extent. Loki had certain advantages over Art––such as height and whatever magic it was he had been able to exercise in Stuttgart––but he didn't choose to use them. All he did was smirk and watch her with cat-like attentiveness. She hadn't a clue that a plan was brewing inside his head.
Their walk towards the clearing was silent and uneventful till a blast of energy that threw both Art and Loki to the ground as all the trees around them were bent backwards, trunks snapping. It was like an explosion had gone off. Art grunted as chunks of tree rained down on them, a fine layer of dirt and dust falling over them like a mist. She pushed herself up and narrowed her eyes into their misty, foggy surroundings. She staggered to her feet and Loki doing the same with a little more difficulty because of his bound hands; he kicked a branch off one of his legs and then rose to his full height.
"It would appear that Thor has had a temper tantrum," he muttered distastefully. Art sighed and grabbed the rope again, towing the Asgardian behind her like a dog or a horse. They clamoured over fallen trees, stumps, and uprooted roots, finally coming to what had been the initial clearing. Thor, Steve, and Tony all stood in a triangle, breathing hard as they exchanged glares. Tony's helmet opened itself purely for the purpose of joining said glaring contest.
"Are we done here?" Steve had asked.
"You all may be, but I'm not! Are you all insane?" Art demanded to know as she Strode into the clearing, Loki trailing behind her, still bound up by rope. The three men took a break from glaring at each other to turn their attention to Art, who was practically seething. She thrust her finger in Thor's direction, surprising him that she was directing her anger his way. "I don't know what's flipped your lid, and I honestly don't care right now." She pointed at Tony. "You should have waited for a plan. I–I don't care if you thought one thing or another, if you had waited, this entire fight would have either not happened or have been less severe." Her head whipped around and she glared heavily at Steve, who met the look with a carefully composed look of his own. Art had gotten the scolding voice down-pat when she was a Sergeant, having berrated different groups of men on differing occaisons. She was typically so nice and swee that her hard-toned, angry voice typically made them feel at least a little guilty. "And you, Captain Rogers, should have told me your plan before you dove out into the night––if you even had a plan. You have commanded an entire garrison, Steve, you know you can't let your head get to you."
"Artie––"
"Oh, don't Artie me, Steve. Do you want to know what the worst bit about this is?" Art pointed up to a cliff face that was visible from where they stood. "You left a man who nearly subjucated an entire crowd of people, a man who is clearly intent on doing some sort of wrong in this world, alone on a cliff. You're lucky that he didn't run away or kill you! For god's sake… you all acted like children…" Art unclipped the radio from her belt and thrust it into Steve's chest. "Agent Romanoff contacted me a couple minutes ago, she's landed quarter of a mile north. It should be an easy walk now that you've all made the forest a field."
Art angrily strutted in the aforementioned direction, dragging Loki along as he smirked in amusement. The other three men stared at her as she left. They were quiet for a moment before Tony broke the silence and looked over at Steve.
"So… I take it she wins all of the arguments?"
OOOO
When they returned to the Helicarrier, Loki was properly cuffed and escorted by thirteen or so armed S.H.I.E.L.D. security guards to a holding cell. Art, Steve, Thor, Natasha, and Bruce all gathered on the bridge, sitting or standing around the large table just behind command center. The glass table top doubled as an interactive surface, allowing a video feed of the holding cell to appear. Loki was locked into a large, circular glass cell that was heavily monitored and completely isolated. Loki stood in the center watching Fury stride into the room and over to a control panel.
"In case it's unclear, you try to escape," Fury said, typing something in and opening the casing over a particular button. "You so much as scratch that glass…" He punched in a few more things on a screen. The whirring sound of wind roared to life over the audio feed. Loki strode over to the edge of the cell and peered down through the glass window. "Thirty-thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" Fury shut the casing and punched a few more things in on the screen. The wind died down. He then gestured to the Asgardian. "Ant." He gestured to the button that would activate the sequence that would drop the cell. "Boot."
Loki chuckled, a sound that came off as meanacing and evil over the intercom. Art placed a hand over her mouth as they watched him saunter a few steps backwards, extending his arms to gesture to his confinements. He was truly acting like this whole situation was a joke to him. A great, big joke that he found endless amusement in.
"It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me," Loki deduced, dropping his arms.
"Built for something a lot stronger than you," came Fury's response.
"Oh, I heard…" Loki turned to look directly into the camera that everyone was monitoring the interrogation through. He smiled. "A mindless beast… makes play he's still a man." Bruce looked down at his hands, which rested atop the back of the chair, knowing full well they were talking about him. Thor, the ony other one of them that was standing, had his back turned, not wishing to watch what transpired. Listening was enough, painful enough… "How desperate are you that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"
"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace, and you kill 'cause it's fun." They watched Loki stride up to the glass and face-off with Fury, both stern faced. "You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."
"Ooh…" Loki hummed. "It must burn you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power… unlimited power… and for what? A warm light for all of mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is." The two faced off silently for a moment before Fury chuckled and began to make for the exit.
"Yeah, well, let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something…"
They watched as Loki turned to face the camera once more… he smirked at them and the feed went black. Art rubbed her eyes and leaned back in her seat. They all sat in disgruntled silence, Loki's words echoing through their heads.
"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce asked jokingly.
"You have no idea; try talking to him for more than a minute, it's absolutey riveting," Art said, playing along. Bruce allowed himself a small smile at her comment. "A right chatterbox."
"Loki's gonna drag this out," Steve pointed out, bringing the conversation back to a more serious tone. "So, Thor, what's his play?" The blond Asgardian, who had been staring at nothing particular with his back turned to them, began to explain what he knew.
"He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.
"An army," Steve said, face stoic, voice deadly serious. But there was something in his eyes that just spoke of disbelief. "From outerspace?" He and Art exchanged a look; everyone else around the table seemed to think this a viable, explainable option, and that just seemed down-right crazy.
"Sounds like the plot to a radio show," Art commented flatly. She could feel a headache coming on, and coming on fast.
"So, he's building another portal," Bruce figured. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."
"Selvig?" Thor asked, sounding thrown off guard. His face was composed in a look caught somewhere between horror and concern.
"He's an astrophsysicist."
"He's a friend."
"Loki's got him under some sort of spell. Along with one of ours," Natasha explained, leaning forward on the table, face stern. Art and Natasha's thoughts were drawn to the mutual friend they both didn't know they shared. Natasha seemed especially eager to get him back, make sure he was unharmed and back to his normal self.
"I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here," Steve put out there, nodding vaguely to their heavily armed, guarded, and staffed surroundings. Art nodded in agreement, leaning forward in her seat. Steve may have acted stupidly earlier, and she may still have been annoyed, but they were on a mission, and everything else could be put on hold for now. This was what they did, after all.
"He was being… surprisingly cooperative when I got him off that mountain. I mean, he willingly put himself into captivity twice tonight, and not once did he make it difficult. It was all smooth sailing, all cooperative… there's gotta be something behind that," Art said in reference to the easy walk she'd taken with Loki. Despite the valid points both soldiers raised, Bruce shook his head, lips pulling into a disagreeable frown.
"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. The guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him.
"Have care of how you speak," Thor said sharply, taking a few steps closer to the table. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother."
Natasha gave the Asgardian a dark look.
"He killed eighty people in two days."
Thor took a moment of pause before offering up a weak shrug.
"He's adopted," he replied as though it explained it all. There was a lift to the end of his voice, however, that made it seem that he was unsure that was even a valid excuse.
"I think it's about the mechanics," Bruce interjected. "Irridium, what do they need the irridium for?"
"It's a stabalizing agent," Tony said he walked in with Coulson, taking a moment to turn to the agent and continue the conversation they'd been having. Art could see Steve's hand clench into a fist, see the muscles in his jaw tense. Steve had apparently already decided upon his dislake for Howard's son, but Art had yet to make a solidified judgement. Steve, while friends with Tony's father, hadn't exactly been his biggest of fans initially; Art had always found Howards company pleasant, if not a bit flirtatious. Tony was now dressed in casual clothing, the Iron Man suit put away for later. "Means that the portal won't collapse in on itself, like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." Tony rounded the table in the silence that followed his entrance. "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing." Tony patted Thor's bare, bulging bicep as he passed, earning a most displeased look from the taller, blond fellow. "Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long as Loki wants." Turning away from the rest of the team, he walked towards Fury's command station and looked out over the crew seated at their stations below them. "Uh… raise the mizzen-mast, ship the top-sails." The crew members paused and looked up at him in confusion. Now with all the attention on him, Tony flung an arm out to point to the right. "That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did!"
Art leaned towards Steve and whispered,
"Do you know what… Galaga is?"
"No…"
Tony covered his left eye with his hand and then tried looking between all of the screens on either side of him.
"How does Fury even see these?" he asked. Maria Hill, who had joined them on the bridge, crossed her arms and fixed the billionaire with an unamused look.
"He turns."
"Sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major componant he still needs is a power source…" Tony stared adjusting things on the screens, clicking and swiping, pulling up files here and there, "of high energy density. Something to… kick-start the cube."
"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophsysics?" Maria deadpanned. Tony, completely seriously replied with.
"Last night. The packet. Selvig's notes. The… Extraction Theory papers? Am I the only one who did the reading?"
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked. He spared a glance Art's way to find that she had furrowed her brows, a look of mild confusion gleaming in her eyes.
"He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Bruce said.
"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabalize the quantum tunneling effect," Tony proposed.
"Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet."
"Finally, someone who speaks English!" Tony exclaimed, gesturing to Bruce.
"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked quietly as the two men behind him shook hands.
"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. You're work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And… I'm a huge fan of the way you… loose control and turn into a enormous green rage monster," Tony said seriously. Art covered her face with both hands, flinching at the comment that made Bruce look down at his shoes self-consciously.
"Thanks…" he replied softly.
"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him," Fury said, passing through the bridge doors.
"Let's start with that stick of his," Steve suggested, joining the fray of the conversation again. "It may be magical, but…"
"It works surprisingly like a HYDRA weapon," Art finished.
"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube, and I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys," Fury intoned, sounding heavily troubled by what had happened.
"Monkeys?" Thor asked with a crease forming between his brows. "I do not understand."
"I do!" Steve said excitedly, pointing at Fury. Art smiled in a giddy, almost childlike manner. "We do!" Tony rolled his eyes at their excitement. Both soldiers had spent months not understanding what it was people were refering to or talking about, but flying monkeys? That was definitely something they could get a grasp on. "We… we understood that reference."
"The Wizard of Oz," Art threw in for good measure. She and Steve were smiling proudly, even if they'd intentionally dated themselves and basically put it out there that they understood very few references. Tony and Bruce left the room, agreeing to start their work in the lab, chatting quietly on their way out.
"So, what do we do now?" Steve asked, shrugging off the smile and briging himself back to the situation presently at hand. Thor crossed his arms and turned to Fury, expecting him to give some sort of instruction.
"We wait for Stark and Banner to get a signal on the cube," Fury said, rapping his knuckles against the table top. "Once we track that down, we've got Barton and Selvig in our line of sight."
"What use is it to have them in our sights if we don't know how to get them out of Loki's control, though?" Art asked, presenting a valid point. Fury paced a short distance, hands clasped behind his back.
"We lock them up till he willingly tells us how to get them back." Art laughed quietly and rose to her feet, crossing both arms over her chest.
"Does it still count as willing if you're threatening him? Why don't we just… talk to the guy?"
"Loki hasn't talked to any of us," Natasha pointed out. Art quietly bit the inside of her cheek, rubbing her fingers together in thought. There was a pause in conversation, in which Steve watched Art's brows pinch together.
"He talked to me," she said. Everyone turned to look at her. "When we were walking down the mountain, he talked to me."
"What? Did you step on his toes?" Fury asked sarcastically. Art just shrugged.
"I dunno, maybe I've just got one of those faces."
"So, what, you're just going to talk him off his high horse and everything will be fine and dandy?" Fury asked sarcastically. Art threw her arms out in exasperation, staring at the director with a stoic face.
"Wouldn't hurt to try. You threatened him with what is, most definitely, certain death, and he didn't say a word. He spoke in riddles. Maybe if we just tried talking to him, plain and simple, he might give up some sort of information," Art proposed.
"She does have a point. It might pay off to try," Coulson agreed quietly, from off to the side. Art gestured to him with a thankful wave of the hand.
Fury leaned forward, placing both hands on the table, fixing Art with a heavy, disapproving look. She mimicked his stance across the table, meeting his eyes with an undettered gaze. The man shook his head and chuckled deep in his chest.
"This is a man who is past reason, Lieutenant. Your words, no matter how perfumed, sweetened, or flirtatious aren't gonna get him down to earth."
"Look, I don't know this fella, but what's the harm in trying? I'm sure there was a time where he could be talked down, where he did listen to reason… but has everyone here forgotten that there are other battle tactics that don't involve weapons? Involve threats or death or the promise of war? There are dozens of things that have happened throughout history that could have been prevented if someone just talked with someone else. Our words don't have to be gentle, our tones don't have to be soft––it's still an interrogation, for god's sake––but it would be a mistake if we didn't try," Art lectured in an empassioned tone. Fury shook his head slowly at her; he'd clearly taken in everything she'd said, but he was simply disagreeing with it in that moment.
"You know what? Go ahead, talk to him, see what difference it'll make. Just don't come crying to us when you realize you've wasted your time," Fury prompted her, gesturing to the door. Art narrowed her eyes and pushed away from the table, gave Fury a mock salute and made for the door, ignoring the tension she was leaving behind.
Afterword: We're getting into the thick of things! Things ramp up real quick in the next couple chapters… and, oh, how much fun I've had writing it all! I hope you're looking forward to seeing what happens next chapter with Art and Loki. I've got… four or so chapters pre-written, so that's also exciting!
Review replies!
grapejuice101: We get to see her interact with Thor… next chapter, I think. It's gonna be good. We also get more Art and Tony interactions next time. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!
tkczombie: Nat probably didn't know that Art and Clint were friends––she might've known that Clint was aquaintances with her, but probably didn't have the time to talk to him while they were on missions to get the whole lowdown. And Tony totally has more of a soft spot for Art, but it's definitely not going to stop him for making snide comments and the like. I'd like to chalk it up to him probably having a crush on her when he was very small. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!
LMarie99: Art and Tony are gonna have a bit of a bumpy time becoming friends, but it'll come around :) And we'll see what Loki has planned in a chapter or two… I hope you're looking forward to seeing their little chat next chapter. Thanks again! Hope you enjoyed!
darck ben: Thank you! I hope you've been enjoying it!
shadowhuntingdauntlessdemigod: Thank you! I was really excited when I finally wrote a suit description that I like; and I'm glad her dialogue seems well integrated. It's hard for me to figure out what she'd say and when she'd say it, becuase she would say a lot of stuff, but she'd probably say it in large chunks. Also, she totally leaves the one-liners to Steve. I hope you've been enjoying the chapter! Thanks again!
shugokage: Thank you! I feel like Art is totally done with everyone by the end of this chapter and that's probably going to be her attitude for a little while, 'cause the whole atmosphere of the Avengers is kind of tense for a while. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!
Nik1804: Oh, she definitely makes sure someone she doesn't like sticks to calling her Lieutenant. And Bruce, the sweetheart, would definitely help her with sciencey stuff. There's also a bonding point for them that I've got specified in my head, but it has to stay secret for a while and I just… can't even xD We get more Loki next chapter! So excited! Chapter after next chapter is filled with cuddles. Sort of. It's a more calm chapter, I should say, with some cuddles thrown in. I'm also glad you like the suit; I hope you enjoyed the chapter and the new cliffhanger! Thanks again!
dany1114: This particular incarnation doesn't have the tails; though, later on they might come back. This uniform is more… streamlined, I guess, since it's sort of like a combination of the Commando uniform and Steve's. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!
heroherondaletotherescue: If she was 500% done at the end of last chapter she's 1000% done by the end of this one. But, of course, she sort of has to be, since the team isn't really a team till the end of the movie. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!
MF 22: I'm aware that Steve didn't blindly attack and that he didn't act the aggressor, but Art doesn't. We all know what happens, but she doesn't. In her head, as someone who is used to him giving orders and always telling her the plan of action, to have him immediately jump into action comes off as him not having the plan. The general atmosphere that they're dealing with in that moment––and for a good while in the events of the Avengers––is fairly tense and everyone sort of jumps to conclusions, which is what Art does both last time and this time; though, in hindsight, she probably realizes she was wrong. But, thank you for the review! It gave me a chance to look at that scene from a different point of view :)
Gara Zane: The tension between Art and Steve's gonna be present for a little while longer. I feel like they can't really escape the events of this movie without being sort of peeved at each other at least once. I'm really glad that you enjoyed reading/rereading the chapters! Also, that Jurassic World story is up and running :) I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!
oXxgeorgiaxXo: I hope that exams went well for you! :) But thank you so much, it feels great to know that you're enjoying the chapters! Thanks again!
Schnitzel: The reason that Art doesn't have another weapon is mostly because I couldn't figure out what it would be––probably a rifle, actually––and how she would carry it. She may get a second, complimentary weapon like a rifle or something of the sort after the events of the Avengers because she's definitely not gonna be happy with just a pistol since she's used to working with one or more guns. We get more Nat and Art next chapter and more Loki as well :) Also, love the suggestion of Tony shortening Lieutenant to 'Lieu.' He's definitely going to do that. Thank you again, I hope you enjoyed!
sarahmichellegellarfan1: Thank you! I hope that this chapter was as good as the last! Thanks again!
Jo: Drama is the key word for the next couple chapters. Drama and feels. That's the theme! And I'm glad Art's suit is working out for ya, I really enjoyed writing about it! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!
RJNorth: Tony and Art get to talk more next time… how well it goes… well… you'll have to stick around and see, ahaha! And I'll have to figure out when to put in the chapter where she meets Foggy, 'cause I totally want that to happen now! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!
Anna: I'm glad you like Art's uniform! And Tony will have an absolute field day showing Art and Steve AC/DC and all his other favorite bands. I would love to visit Stuttgart/Germany in general; I've got family ties over there and have been trying to figure out a chance to get over there and spend a couple days. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!
And thank you to those who added this to their favorites/follows, it means a lot!
Next chapter is gonna be a good one, if I do say so myself. Lots of Art interacting with her new teammates and, of course, Loki, which'll be fun, 'cause we all know Loki. I'm really excited to get these next couple chapters up, because a LOT is going to start happening! Thank you all for taking the time to read the chapter! You're all amazing!
~Mary
