Well, school's out. So I will try to update about once a week. Some updates will take a little longer, others a little shorter, but they will be roughly once a week. Enjoy (hopefully).
I anxiously tapped my foot as I waited in the small jet for Steve to arrive. He was taking forever to put on his costume. I didn't bother changing. There was no way I was wearing a S.H.I.E.L.D. jumpsuit. Besides, if the goal was to conceal my identity then a sweatshirt and sunglasses would be just as effective as a stupid mask. I looked out of the plane again, but there was still no sign of Captain.
"Where is he?" I groaned to Natasha who was decked out in her full S.H.I.E.L.D. gear and was checking the plane's control panel. She ignored me and continued to get the plane ready to fly. She was going to be the sole pilot and I could tell that freaked her out a little bit, even if she wouldn't admit it to me. I looked out of the plane again. Finally, this time I saw Steve decked out in a spandex suit walking towards the plane. It was mostly blue with a white star in the center of his chest and red and white vertical stripes on his ribcage. I smirked as he walked onto the plane.
"Not one word, Blaise." He muttered as his face slowly turned red.
"Nice outfit." I teasingly winked. He shook his head and blushed even harder.
"Are you two ready?" Natasha coldly asked, acting like she was annoyed with us, but I could tell she was just nervous. She was gripping the steering wheel a little harder than necessary.
"Yes, ma'am." Steve seriously replied as he polished his shield.
"Yep." I grinned as I laid out on the seats. I looked over at Steve again.
"That's a lot of spandex." I commented. He wearily looked up at me.
"I wear what I'm told to wear. Where's your costume anyways?" He asked. I gestured to my outfit,
"Right here."
"That's not a very good disguise." He replied giving my outfit a once over.
"Oh you're right! Let me put on my sunglasses." I slide my aviators on my face, "Better?" I smirked.
"A little." He replied giving me a small smile.
"Williams!" Natasha barked.
"What?" I snapped in an equally harsh tone. Captain politely covered his mouth to hide his smile.
"You are going to jump out of the plane in t-minus sixty seconds. Put your com in your ear and wait for instructions." She ordered. I rolled my eyes and fiddled with my com. When I was satisfied that it was in place I walked over to the edge of the lowering platform. I stood with my heels dangling over the edge.
"Three…two…one." She counted down. When she said one I saluted to Steve and let myself fall backwards out of the plane. I spun as I hurtled towards the Earth. I spread my wings when I reached below cloud level so I had more control over who would and would not see me. I spotted the building where Loki was last seen and coasted towards it.
"Can you hear me Agent Williams?" She asked through the com.
"Yeah." I replied.
"Try to stay hidden from Loki's view. Circle around so that you are approaching from the back of the building. We are going to try and surround Loki. Captain is going to focus on fighting and you are responsible for clearing civilians out of the area." She instructed me.
"Alright, I'm on it." I replied slowing down so I could land on top of the building that Loki was currently inside. Suddenly screaming people started to pour out of the building. A few people saw me, but for the most part I was undetected. I crouched on top of the building, but I left my wings unfurled so that I could spring into action. That's when I saw him. He was slowly strolling out of the building dressed in green and gold armor and had a large gold helmet with horns on top of his head. Suddenly a duplicate of him appeared cutting off the crowd.
"Kneel before me." He ordered. The people ignored him and continued to run around like chickens with their heads cut off. Two more duplicates appeared. The crowd was now fenced in with nowhere left to run.
"I said, kneel!" All four of the Lokis angrily bellowed. They slammed their staffs into the ground at the same time and the blue orb at the top glowed brighter. The terrified people slowly kneeled to the ground. I scowled and stood up on top of the building spreading my wings. I knew that with the way the moonlight was reflecting off of them that this was one of the rare times they looked white, like an angel. Loki smirked and held out his hands.
"Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?" He asked as he lowered his scepter and he started to walk through the crowd. I flew down from the building roof and hid behind a large pillar in front of the building. Loki was too distracted to see me, but I knew that a few people had seen me fly down from the roof. I peeked around the pillar and a few frightened eyes met mine. I smiled reassuringly and ducked back behind the pole.
"It's the unspoken truth of humanity; that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, your identity. You were made to ruled. In the end you will always kneel." He continued calmly strolling through the crowd. Most of the people near him averted their eyes fearfully, but one old man stood up and looked him in the eyes.
"Not to men like you." He boldly stated. I took in a sharp breath and scanned the skies for any sign of the jet. I ran my hand through my hair nervously. If they didn't get here soon I was going to have to jump in and stop this insanity all by myself.
"There are no men like me." Loki arrogantly replied smirking.
"There are always men like you." The old man fearlessly replied.
"Shit." I mumbled knowing that Loki was not going to take that blow to his ego well at all. Loki grinned and I stepped out from behind the pillar, my hands aimed at him.
"Stay where you are. I'm coming down." I heard Steve order through the com.
"Hurry the hell up or I won't." I quietly snapped, whispering into the com. I reluctantly retreated behind the pillar and scanned the sky.
"Watch your mouth." He snapped back.
"Are we really going to have this conversation now?" I growled as I stepped out from behind the pillar and aimed at Loki again.
"Blaise, get back behind the pillar." He ordered.
"Get your ass…ets," I cleared my throat, "on the ground."
"Ten seconds." He replied ignoring my language.
"Look to your elder people," Loki ordered as he lowered his scepter, "Let him be an example to you." The scepter glowed blue for a second before sending a blast at the old man whose eyes were wide with fear. Luckily, Captain reached the man before the blast and was able to protect him with his shield. The blast bounced off his shield and hit Loki knocking him to the ground. I blasted all of Loki's duplicates in ice and they disappeared. The crowd started to scream. Captain slowly began to walk towards Loki,
"You know the last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." Captain announced. I ran out from behind the pillar ready to help, but Captain motioned for me to stay still. Loki slowly stood up still oblivious to the fact I was there.
"The soldier," He evilly laughed, "A man out of time." He wickedly grinned as he stood to his feet.
"I'm not the one who's out of time." Captain wittily replied as Tasha pulled the jet up behind him. A gun was lowered from the jet's belly and Natasha' voice was amplified over a speaker.
"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." She ordered. Loki instead raised his scepter and sent a blast of energy at the jet. Natasha was swerved to avoid it. Captain reacted immediately and threw his shield at Loki's chest. It knocked Loki backwards and ricocheted back Captain who caught it with one hand as he charged towards Loki. I ran to the fountain in the center of the square and climbed up on the edge of it.
"Everybody clear out." I ordered as I created an ice barrier to funnel civilians away from the fight to keep them from getting caught in the crossfire. When I had directed most of the civilians out of the area, I looked back at the fight and to my dismay, Loki was winning. Captain's shield was out of his reach and Loki was holding the scepter to his head.
"Kneel." He angrily breathed out.
"Captain!" I screamed causing Loki to turn at look at me. That moment of distraction was all Captain needed. He jumped up and sent a flying kick at Loki's chest. He got a few good punches in before Loki tossed him through the air. Captain landed roughly on the ground and Loki turned to look at me again.
"What do we have here?" He mused. I stuck my chin out defiantly and raised my hands, ready to blast him. Suddenly loud rock music filled the air. Captain jumped and rolled over to look at the jet. Loki angrily glowered up at the sky. I smirked knowing that the music could only mean the arrival of one thing…Tony Stark. A second later a white streak appeared in the sky and Ironman arrived. He blasted Loki backwards and landed a few feet away from Captain on the pavement in a crouch. He slowly stood up to face Loki and out of his red and gold armor appeared multiply guns and missiles.
"Make a move reindeer games." A robotic voice ordered. Loki's armor and scepter disappeared and were replaced with a green and brown Asgardian tunic. He slowly raised his hands into the air. Captain quickly retrieved his shield and stood threateningly next to Ironman.
"Good move." Ironman cheekily replied lowering his guns. I stepped down from the fountain and melted the ice barrier with a wave of my hand.
"Mr. Stark." Steve formally greeted.
"Captain." Stark replied.
"The pleasure is all ours Mr. Stark, now who wants the privilege of taking Loki to the jet?" I smirked walking over to join the pair.
"I'll do it." Steve said.
"No, it's okay I got this one, Captain." Stark smugly replied. I could hear the smirk in his voice. He walked over and cuffed Loki. He hauled him roughly to his feet as Natasha landed the jet nearby. I shrugged and walked to the jet watching the boys fight over Loki. Steve hovered over Stark acting like Loki was going to escape any second if Stark was left unsupervised. Captain was gesturing with his hands telling Stark, what I would guess was what he considered "helpful information". I could tell Captain was just annoying the billionaire. I saw Stark's frustration growing with each comment. I laid out on the on row of seats lining the side of the jet and folded my hands behind my head as I closed my eyes, pulling my hood over my face. A few minutes later I heard the metallic clang of Ironman's footsteps and the "oof" of something being roughly thrown into a seat. Someone elbowed my side as they walked past.
"Who did that?" I growled. I sat up and opened my eyes to find the culprit just as the back was being pulled up. Stark pointed at Steve. I crossed my arms and glared at him.
"I know it wasn't Steve. If it was Steve he would be blushing and looking at the floor, Mr. Stark." Stark put up his hand disarmingly and started to talk to Steve quietly in the front of the plane about palates. Loki was sitting across from me on the opposite row of seats with his hands bound. His piercing green eyes were scrutinizing me. I raised my middle finger and flicked him off. He smirked and chuckled in response. I rolled my eyes and scowled. Suddenly lightening ripped across the sky and the loud boom of thunder shook the plane. Loki fearfully cringed.
"What's the matter, scared of a little lightening?" Captain teasingly asked.
"I'm not overly fond of what follows." Loki replied.
"What? Rain?" I smirked. Suddenly there was a loud thud on the roof that jarred the plane. I fell off the seats onto the floor. Loki gave me a knowing look that obviously said "no that." I scowled and scrambled back to my feet. Captain and Stark moved into battle stances ready to attack whatever caused the noise. Stark placed his helmet on his head and Captain grabbed his shield. Stark opened the back and walked out to investigate.
"What are you doing?" Captain called out to him over the sound of rushing wind. Suddenly a blonde man in armor landed on the edge of the platform. Stark raised his hand to blast him, but the blonde easily knocked Stark down with his hammer. He roughly grabbed Loki by the throat and jumped back out of the plane.
"Now there's that guy." Stark sighed as he slowly stood to his feet.
"Another Asgardian?" Natasha asked.
"Do you think he's a friendly?" Steve asked.
"Doesn't matter if he frees Loki or kills him the Tesseract's lost." Stark replied ignoring Tasha's question as he marched to the end of the platform.
"Stark, we need a plan of attack." Captain desperately ordered.
"I have a plan…attack." Stark replied as he jumped out of the plane. Steve frustratedly sighed and grabbed a parachute. I waited on the edge of the platform for him.
"I'd sit this one out Cap." Natasha advised him, but he just continued to buckle the straps on his parachute.
"I don't see how I can." He replied.
"Good, then we are on the same page." I smirked.
"No, you are staying here." He ordered.
"Thanks for the advice mom." I rolled my eyes and dove out of the plane before he could stop me. I rocketed down through the stinging rain until I spotted Ironman and the blonde fighting. I spread my wings to stop my descent and scanned the forest for Loki. I spotted him standing alone on a rocky cliff. I landed behind him.
"Boo." I smirked causing him to turn around.
"Ah yes the ice girl." He grinned unnervingly and sat down on a nearby rock. I glared at him. I turned towards the sound of trees breaking and metal clanging against metal that were echoing around the small clearing. I could feel his green eyes scrutinizing me as I watched the fight.
"Who's the blonde?" I asked finally turning back to face him.
"My dearest step-brother, Thor." He snarkily replied.
"Well, he's certainly got a way with lightening." I joked as I watched he blast Ironman. Loki didn't reply. I squinted to try and get a better look at the fight. I couldn't really see much since it was dark out, only the occasional glint of metal when one person blasted the other and trees being snapped in two. I could hear the horrible sound of crunching metal and trees crackling as they broke. Then suddenly the noises stopped.
"Hey! That's enough!" A voice called out to Ironman and Thor. I recognized the voice as belonging to Captain. He jumped down to the ground and began to address Thor.
"No I don't know what you plan on doing here, but—" Thor angrily interrupted him.
"I've come to put an end to Loki's schemes."
"Then prove it to me. Put that hammer down." Captain calmly replied. Stark butted in,
"Uh, yeah, no, bad call, he loves his—" He was cut off by Thor sending him flying into the woods. Thor turned back towards Captain and for a second I thought he was actually going to put the hammer down.
"You want me to put the hammer down?" He roared. He leapt towards Captain with his hammer raised high, ready to strike. Captain hunkered down behind his shield ready for impact. When the hammer and shield collided a loud clang echoed throughout the forest and trees within a hundred yards were leveled. I saw them slowly getting up and I grabbed Loki's arm.
"Come on lets go." I ordered trying to look as threatening as I could.
"What if I wish to stay here?" He slyly asked. I glared at him and picked up a rock.
"You see this rock?" I asked. He nodded. I waved my hand over the rock and coated it in ice.
"This rock represents you. If you choose not to come with me willingly, I will freeze you into an ice cube and shove you off this cliff." I grinned holding up the small frozen rock.
"Fair enough." He coyly smirked and let me drag him reluctantly to his feet. I called down to the group of men in the clearing.
"Hey boys! Can you help me get this lug back to the jet?" Steve looked at me furiously, but Thor helpfully came and grabbed Loki. Natasha landed and picked us all up. I reclaimed my row of seats and laid out, but nevertheless the way back to the quinjet was awkward. Stark and Thor kept shooting one another dirty looks and I could feel Steve's fury rolling off him in waves. Loki sat on the bench smirking at our discomfort so I flicked him off again. That caused him to chuckle and I rolled my eyes. I pulled my hood back up and slowly drifted off to sleep.
I was jolted awake when the plane landed. I sleepily sat up and rubbed my eyes.
"Sleeping Beauty is finally awake." Stark grinned. I flicked him off causing his grin to grow even bigger. I stretched and yawned to wake myself up as Natasha started to lower the back. As soon as it was lowered a group of agents swarmed aboard and whisked Loki away to who knows where. I quickly jumped up and directly followed them out so that I could avoid Steve. He was still seething about my decision to jump out of a plane and "go hang out" with Loki. His words, not mine. I was dreading if we ever were alone because I knew that was when he would chew me out. As long as I stayed with someone at all times though, I was safe. He was too polite to embarrass me like that. I ran to my room to get changed. I threw off my sweatshirt and changed into a pair of cropped leggings. I decided to go barefoot and jogged back to the bridge where we were supposed to have a meeting. When I walked in, they were all watching live video feed of Loki and Fury.
"It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me." He mused looking around at the cage.
"Built for something a lot stronger than you, and something more volatile than you." Fury informed him. Most of the room looked at Banner, but I saw Steve glance at me. We both knew the volatile something was me, even if everyone else didn't know it yet. Banner awkwardly looked down at the ground.
"It's okay, Doctor, the cage wasn't just built for you." I reassuringly smiled trying to ease some of the tension as I slide into the sear next to him. He sadly smiled back.
"Don't lie to make me feel better."
"I'm not." I seriously replied. He ruefully smiled and turned his attention back to the screen.
"Oh, I've heard," Loki said looking straight at the camera, "The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man. 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. You have made me very desperate. You might now be glad that you did." Fury replied giving Loki his notorious one-eyed glare.
"Ohhh, it burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power, and for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is." Loki glared back at Fury with a startling intensity. I wondered who would win the stare down, for once, my money wasn't on Fury.
"I bet five bucks, Fury breaks the stare first." I whispered. Natasha and Steve shot me a look that clearly said "knock it off." I rolled my eyes and ran my hand through my hair. Sure enough, Fury broke the stare.
"Yeah, well, let me know if real power wants a magazine or something." Fury waved as he exited the room. Loki walked over to speak to us through the camera again, but Natasha cut the feed.
"He really grows on you doesn't he?" Banner asked looking around the room. I grinned at his sarcasm.
"Loki's going to drag this out. So, Thor what's his play?" Steve asked. He was all business right now, but I could still see the rage hidden in his blue eyes.
"He has an army called the Chituari. They are 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." Thor gravely explained.
"An army…from outer space." Steve slowly repeated as he looked around the room.
"That's the simplified version of what he just said." I smirked nodding my head at Thor. Steve shot me a look and I threw up my hand defensively.
"Just saying."
"So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for." Banner interjected fiddling with his glasses.
"Selvig?" Thor worriedly asked.
"He's an astrophysicist." Banner explained.
"He's a friend." Thor immediately replied. I rolled my eyes and started to swivel my chair back and forth. I was starting to get bored.
"Loki has him under some sort of spell." Natasha informed him leaning across the table, "Along with one of ours." She added more quietly. I gave her a supportive smile and pulled my legs up onto my chair.
"I want to know why he let us take him. He's not leading an army from here." Steve butted in trying to redirect the subject. I rolled my eyes and started to spin around in my chair.
"Maybe he is. I mean, I'm assuming this mind control crap doesn't only work within a hundred yards." I said as I spun around in the chair. I'm pretty sure Captain shot me another look, but I couldn't really tell because of how fast I was spinning.
"We shouldn't be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell the crazy on him." Banner interrupted us. I rolled my eyes and just spun the chair faster.
"Take care how you speak." Thor ordered, "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard and he is my brother."
"He killed eighty people in two days." Natasha drily replied. Thor paused uncertainly for a moment.
"He is adopted." He replied choosing to defend his brother.
"I think it's about the mechanics. Iridium, what do they need the Iridium for?" Banner asked. I leaned my head back and spun my chair around again. Suddenly another voice joined in as I was pushing of the table causing me to push too hard and tip my chair over. I clattered to the floor as Tony Stark entered the room talking to Phil Coulson.
"It's a stabilizing agent." I could feel my face turning red. I sheepishly stood up and righted my chair. I slouched back down into it and started swiveling back and forth again.
"It means that the portal won't collapse on itself again like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." Stark explained. He walked past Thor and patted his bare arm.
"No offense, Point Break you've got a mean swing. Also it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants." He continued.
"Fantastic." I muttered running my hand through my hair. Captain shot me another look telling me to knock it off. I mouthed "yes mother" to him across the table. Stark was barking out orders from Director Fury's stand that made no sense whatsoever. The agents working the computers stopped to look at him at if he was an idiot. Suddenly he stopped and pointed.
"That man is playing Galaga. Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." Stark announced.
"Can you honestly blame him? This meeting is boring and we keep going in circles." I sighed slouching down further in my seat. Tony ignored my comment and just kept talking.
"How does Fury even see these?" He asked covering one eye with his hand.
"He turns." Agent Hill responded.
"Sounds exhausting." Stark sighed, "The rest of the materials Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high energy density." Stark explained as he started to fiddle around with the computers. He slyly inserted something into one of them, but I doubted anyone else noticed. They were busy paying attention to what he was saying.
"Something to kick-start the cube." He simplified for everyone besides Banner.
"When did you become an expert on thermo-nuclear astrophysics?" Agent Hill skeptically asked.
"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers, am I the only one who did the reading?" Stark exclaimed.
"Obviously." I sighed.
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Captain asked ignoring Stark's question and my outburst.
"Loki would need to heat the cube to twenty million kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier." Banner said disbelievingly.
"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect." Stark swiftly replied.
"Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet." Banner replied just as wuickly.
"Finally, someone who speaks English!" Stark exclaimed.
"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked furrowing his brow. Stark walked over to Banner and shook his hand while complimenting him about his scientific work.
"No it's scientific gibberish to most of us too, Steve." I helpfully replied. Unfortunately, he mistook helpfulness for sarcasm and glared at me. Just then Fury walked into the room.
"Williams, you're on Loki duty." He ordered jerking his thumb at the hallway he just exited..
"Praise the Lord!" I exclaimed jumping out of my seat and running out of the room. I heard the conversation pick back up as soon as I left, but I couldn't care less. I was bored out of my mind during that meeting and if guarding a psychopathic god was what it took for me to get to skip the meeting then I was all for it.
Oh and today just marks two months since I posted this story. No one probably cares, but I noticed so I decided to point it out to you as well. You're welcome.