Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers (the comics, movies, characters etc.) or any of the characters; I only own my OC Art.

10. A Hard Day's Night

The room that Loki's cell was located in was actually quite chilly in temperature, probably due to the fact there was an enormous steel trap that accessed the outside. Art kept her eyes directed at her feet as she walked the catwalks that edged the room, deciding not to look into Loki's cell just yet. For some reason, despite the fact that she was in the room with a very dangerous man, she felt calmer than she had for the majority of the evening. Everyone on the Helicarrier seemed far too eager to jump straight into battle, and that grated on her nerves some. They weren't exactly at war just yet; precautions could still be taken in attempts to prevent it. She may not have been paying attention to the Asgardian, but the Asgardian was paying attention to her.

Loki's sly gaze followed her as she walked. There was a disgruntled tension in her shoulders, a look of contemplation etched across her features. She was still dressed in her garishly colored uniform, but she was alone again. But were they truly alone with all the cameras? Such a concept didn't seem to bother her, just as it hadn't bothered him. Art finally looked up as she approached the door of the cell, stopping about a foot from the glass.

"To what do I owe the honor of speaking with you?" he asked, slowly stepping towards the glass.

"Hardly an honor," Art replied, crossing her arms, face carefully blank. Loki arched a brow and smirked.

"Has someone wounded your pride?"

"I've come to speak with you, not talk about my personal life."

"Again, I am honored."

"No you're not," she said, shrugging as if she was indifferent. "Listen, Loki––"

"Oh, such informality!" Loki drawled with a grin and a laugh. Art arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"You got a last name? Should I call you Mr. Asgard?" When the response she received was a chuckle, she continued on with what she was saying. "I'm not here to be your friend, but that doesn't mean we can't have a friendly conversation. All I want to do is talk." Loki gestured to her with one of his long-fingered hands, a charming smile pulling his lips over her teeth. The look should have been charming, but it appeared more snake-like than anything else.

"Then, please, continue speaking. You have a very pleasing voice to listen to." Art chuckled and crossed her arms, letting her weight shift so one hip jutted out to the side.

"Flattery gets you nowhere. The truth, however…" Loki and Art locked gazes and stood in silence for a good, long moment. Loki's gaze was intense, scrutinizing, powerful. But she didn't flinch or shy away, she simply matched that power and that intensity, giving the clear message she wasn't about to back down. "Where's Agent Barton?"

"That is what you wish to speak of? But we were having such a lovely conversation," Loki teased, beginning to aimlessly pace the width of the cell. Art chuckled under her breath, smiling for the first time since she came in.

"I thought I said we weren't here to be friends, Loki. But, you see, Barton is my friend, and I would very much like to know what you've done to him," Art said, voice becoming flat. Loki chuckled and pointed at her, approaching the glass again with a slow, cat-like prowl.

Everything about him screamed predator. It made one's fight or flight instincts kick in, made anxiety spike… made whoever faced him want to run away. But Art had faced predators before, faced adversaries who made her heart pound, and she knew that suppressing the fight or flight instinct was necessary, imperative to standing her ground. So as Loki fixed her with a sly gaze, smiling dangerously, Art held her chin higher and let him approach without faltering a step back herself. He stopped inches away from the glass, his breath just barely fogging up against it.

"So selfless…" he hummed. "But that is, I suppose, one of your defining qualities, is it not? The female warrior who threw herself into the throngs of war simply to protect her home and family. The woman who would do anything for anyone she loves no matter the consequences for her. In case you could not tell, Barton has told me quite a bit about you. And to see how you threw yourself in front of your Captain…"

"The world could do without me, they can't do without him."

"And humble as well. How funny it is to have someone so inspiring and strong feel so weak. You feel out of place, Artemesia. You feel as though you don't belong… not in this world, not with those around you… because you do not belong in this world. You are a woman out of time! You are vastly out of place, you are a disruptive factor, an asset that was never meant to be here," Loki drawled in a near growl.

Art stared at him for a long moment with nostrils flaring and her teeth sinking into the insides of her cheeks. He was trying to get into her head. He was trying to use whatever it was he knew about her to rile her up, break her down, reduce her to a puddle of fears and tears like he must have done to so many other people. And the worst thing about that was the fact that it was working. The room suddenly felt stifling and Art felt like she was being choked. To hear her insecurities recited to her face by someone she didn't know was unsettling. It horrible to hear those words pass through Loki's lips, to hear his accented voice slip those thoughts back into her head after the night she'd had. Fury would be so smug… he was right, there was no reasoning with this man. There was nothing Art could do to make him see reason or tell her a word about what she wanted to know. It was foolish of her to think she could. Turning on her heel, she made to move for the door, but Loki spoke again.

"That, my dear, is what I like about you. You know you aren't a hero; you know you don't belong. That is something you and I have in common." Art's fingers curled into fists, her fingernails pushing into palms of her gloves. Loki had narrowed his eyes and his lips were pulling into a snarl. "We are both rejected for who we are. Were you not… ridiculed for being a woman who wanted to fight? Did your people not force you to step down and do the least that you could do? Reduced to a mere assistant, running pointless errands to keep you busy and out of trouble. Oh, but you rebelled… you showed them just what it was you could do." Art turned her head to look over her shoulder at him, jaw tense. "Do you not see the similarities between you and I?"

Spinning back around and marching up to the glass of the cage Loki was imprisoned in, Art thrust her finger into the glass, right where his chest would have been if there were no barrier between them. Something in her had snapped. She'd felt it. The comparisons he was making made her seethe, made her want to scream and throw her fist into his face again.

"Like hell I do! I am not like you! You kill people, I save them! You live for war, and I only want peace. We are not the same; and we never will be. I am a good person," she hissed angrily. Loki's face was composed in a look of impassiveness, a single eyebrow arching to betray an emotion. Amusement. He was always so goddamn amused.

"Dear Artemesia… Humans have always craved subjugation, and do you not see that you are a living example of that? You are a good soldier. You do what you are told––and I admire that." Loki's icy eyes watched as her fist rose and curled tighter, the metal pieces inside her gloves locking.

"Remember what Fury said? One scratch on this glass and you're gone." Loki chuckled, turned, and began to walk towards his bunk, smirking at her over his shoulder as he went.

"So cruel for someone who claims they live to save lives; are you quite sure we are not cut from the same cloth?"

Art stared at his back as he moved away and let her fist drop to her side. Tears of anger and frustration bit at her eyes and flecks of spittle speckled the glass in front of her mouth. Looking down at her feet, she pressed the back of her hand to her mouth and moved for the door. The room seemed like it was closing in on her, strangling her in the tight, tense confines of the words Loki had so craftily put together.

Once she was out of the room, Art yanked her gloves off and then reached up and unbuttoned the top of her uniform as she strode through the corridors. She let it slouch around her waist, leaving her in the long-sleeved, sweat wicking blue undershirt she'd been provided with. The change in air felt liberating, and she could feel her nerves and emotions calming. After finding the nearest kitchen, Art began brewing a pot of coffee, hiding her face in her hands as the caffeinated liquid dripped out of the machine. Art slapped her gloves onto the countertop and bit into her lip angrily. What had she been thinking? Everything she'd learned in briefing about Loki should have discouraged her from going to talk to him. He was a manipulative bastard with a 'silver tongue,' who had managed to brainwash two of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best men.

The coffee finished brewing and Art went about distracting herself by searching the refrigerator for any half-and-half; there was some at the very back, brand new and unopened. After digging it up to the front and pouring far too much into her coffee mug, she went on a quiet quest for sugar, listening to the dull but present hum of the Helicarrier's engines. She had been so distracted and lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed that someone had sat down at the table just behind her, waiting for her to finish what she was doing in order to talk.

"Don't let him get to you," said Natasha, who had her hands clasped together. Art jumped slightly and turned around as coffee nearly splashed over the edge of her mug, which bared the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo across the white porcelain. Natasha offered a friendly smile and reached up to push fiery curls behind her ears. Art seated herself at the table and hugged the hot mug between both her hands, reveling at how its warmth could make her feel better. Under any other circumstances she would have sought out Steve, but they were on a mission… they had to be professional… and she kept trying to remind herself she was supposed to be upset with him.

"I thought I hadn't. Then he had to go and compare me to him…" Art raised the mug to her lips and muttered her next words into the swirling liquid inside, "and made some compelling arguments."

Natasha snorted and waved a hand through the air, her neatly manicured nails clicking against the tabletop once they fell to rest there again. The two hadn't spoken much what with all the chaos that was constantly in motion, but there was some unspoken connection between them. Perhaps it was because they were both women, perhaps it was their friendship with Clint; whatever it was, it had driven the Russian woman to seek Art out once she'd left Loki again. Despite the fact the conversation had seemed to have gone to hell, it gave them a look into the way that Loki thought and operated. He took pleasure in and advantage of other's weaknesses, and that could very easily allow them an opportunity to possibly sneak some information out of him.

"He was just trying to make you squirm. Like I said, don't let him get to you. He's just using whatever Asgardian jargon he can, trying to worm his way into your head."

"He's trying to do that to all of us, isn't he?" Art looked across the table at Natasha, resting her elbows against the tabletop. Natasha nodded, leaning forward so that to anyone else who came in would think they were having a private conversation. "Loki, he's… he's trying to pit us against each other. Or, something like that. Oh, hell, like I know… trying to get him to say something that isn't complete bullshit is like pulling teeth."

"We'll get something out of him. I've got a plan. From watching your conversation with him, we now know he prefers to use his adversary's weaknesses against them. Their insecurities. He kicks them when they're down. You… befriended Clint and, under Loki's influence, he told him everything that he knew about you. I've known him longer, he knows far more about me… probably told Loki more, too…" Natasha said quietly, beginning to lay out the plan. "All we have to do is pose the right situation, make him perceive me as weak…"

"And extract information from him when his own guard is down, when he thinks he is in controll," Art said as she caught on. Natasha nodded and replied with 'exactly.' "At least my conversation didn't yield nothing. Though, I'm sure Fury is quite smug." Natasha laughed and shrugged, lips quirking to the side in a lopsided smile. She crossed her arms casually and leaned back in her chair, which was surprisingly comfortable for the plastic thing it was.

"He was waiting for something like that to happen; you're sort of reknowned for being opinionated. In your old files, one of your commanding officers mentioned you were never afraid to voice whether or not you thought a mission was safe or not."

Art smiled down at her hands and chuckled in the back of her throat. She could only assume that was Colonel Phillips, who, in his serious but joking tone, often said he wondered why he'd made her Sergeant. Holding her tongue had been a rule that the military had taught her to obey and break, especially when HYDRA raids were concerned. Staring into her mug of coffee, she sighed and then glanced over at the pot that held the rest of the brew she'd just made.

"I'm gonna need a lot more coffee if I'm gonna survive tonight."

After a couple more minutes of calm conversation and loose planning for Natasha's talk with Loki, the red haired woman left to have a word with Fury; only moments after she walked out, Thor walked in, eyes sweeping over all the kitchen appliances. He had become relatively familiar with such technology during his last time on earth, but most of it was still beyond his comprehension in regards of how to actually use it. But he wasn't there to learn or re-familiarize himself, he had been in search of Art.

"Lady Artemesia," he said, his voice rumbling through the room. Art, who had stood to pour herself another cup of coffee, looked over her shoulder and was honestly surprised to see Thor standing there.

"Yes?"

"I have come to apologize to you for my earlier behaviour; I did not partake in the actions of a warrior and truly did behave as a child," Thor told her, bowing his head respectfully. Art shook her head and laughed, embarrassed.

"It's… fine, we were all tense and stressed––I was tense and stressed. I should apologize for what I said and how I said it," Art said.

"Your sternness was welcomed, milady." She smiled at the true, sincere, gallant tone to his voice. She began to pour half-and-half into the mug, reaching up with her other hand to snag a second one. "And I have to thank you for your confidence that Loki was not beyond reason." A wince passed over Art's face and she kept her back to the tall Asgardian behind her. She couldn't face Thor as she said what she had to say; Thor had already demonstrated a deep fondness for his brother while also acknowledging how dangerous he was.

"But he is…"

Silence.

"But the sentiment was still appreciated." Turning around, Art extended a hand, intending on introducing herself properly.

"Artemesia Knoll––we were never properly introduced," she said. Thor stretched a large hand out and took hers in his grasp, shaking it firmly.

"Thor Odinson."

It was the first time Art got the chance to get a proper look at Thor. His blond hair fell to his shoulders, which were broad and muscled, much like his arms, and were covered in what remained of his armor. If she had to make a comparison, she'd say he looked like one of those Greek statues they had at museums; broad jaw-line, classically handsome, tall. With everyone she was now working with, Art was starting to feel properly short; in fact, she and Natasha were actually the two shortest people there. She practically had to tilt her head back to look at almost everyone.

"Would you like some coffee? I've made far too much." Art swept a hand towards the counter she'd been working at a moment before. A large grin spread over Thor's face, and he clapped his hands together, looking thankfully relieved at the change in conversation topic. Excitement seemed to glitter in his eyes as he took the drink into consideration.

"A very kind offer! I would be very pleased to relieve you of such a delicious beverage," Thor announced. Art smiled and laughed under her breath, filling the second mug she'd snagged. She assumed he wouldn't want cream, half-and-half, or sugar, so she passed it off to him, only to discover her assumption had been correct. "So, tell me, Lady Artemesia, what battles have you fought in? I am told you have the heart of a warrior."

OOOO

Tony and Bruce looked up as the lab door hissed open and in stepped Art, carrying two porcelain mugs. Both scientists were behind their work benches, working on this or that as the night slowly crept on. As she approached them, Tony pushed the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows, rounding the lab bench so he could meet her a quarter of the way to her destination. He snagged a bag of candy off the table top and poured some into the palm of his hand. The man tossed pieces of the round candy into his mouth, chewing as he nodded to the woman in the lab.

"Anything I could assist you with, Lieutenant Liberty?" he inquired. He watched as her nickname made her lips purse and her brows briefly crease. Ah, so she didn't like her little hero name… he would file that away for later use. Art raised both mugs, which were steaming gently.

"I made a pretty big batch of coffee and thought you fellas might like some caffeine to pass the night, keep you awake as you work," she said. She set one down on Bruce's bench, to which he smiled gratefully, and Tony accepted the mug as he hopped up and sat on his own bench, staring at her for a moment longer. Art's eyes momentarily flicked to the small Arc Reactor that glowed through the front of his shirt, remembering having read about its purpose in his files. Tony gestured at her with a hand that cupped more Skittles.

"You know, my dad loved to talk about you," Tony commented, sipping at the edge of his mug. Art's face screwed up into a look of both interest and disgust. Interest at the mention of Howard, and disgust with the fact he was eating a clearly fruity sort of candy paired with coffee.

"He did?"

"Oh, yeah! Loads. Endlessly. A constant string of nothing but compliments and praise. It was significantly less annoying than the way he talked about Cap, though; it was always intriguing to hear stories about you, how you pulled one over on the military, proved them wrong, helped start a movement for women. Called you… cunning, admirable, and brave among other things. You were part of my bedtime stories when I was little, thought you sounded badass. Plus, he loved about talking how pretty you were; sorry, wrong word. What did he use?" Tony tapped his chin in mock thoughtfulness. "That's right, he used beautiful––he even showed me pictures of you, though, I do have to say that they didn't do you justice."

Art snorted and smiled, rolling her eyes at him when she heard a tone in his voice she'd heard from his father many times before. Playfully flirtatious, though maybe not quite as serious as Howard might have been at one time. It was flattering to hear that Howard had thought so highly of her, though also maybe a tad embarrassing.

"You are your father's son."

"So I've been told." He held out his palm full of candy. "Skittle?" Art raised a hand in refusal. She then wandered towards one of the screens that filled the lab and narrowed her eyes at the readings and charts that displayed themselves there. She regretted having kept her glasses in her room, but then again, half of this stuff probably wouldn't make sense to her anyway.

"How's tracking the cube coming along?" Art asked, stepping away from the monitor. Bruce adjusted his glasses and gestured to a screen in front of him.

"We're just finishing calibrating the systems to search for gamma rays. Once that's all powered up, we should be able to get a solid location on the Tesseract and, hopefully, the agents who are with it," Bruce explained. Art nodded slowly, narrowing her eyes at the thought of the glowing blue object that had caused––and was still causing––so much strife, anger, and war.

"The damn thing should have been left in the ocean," she muttered. Tony hummed and set his mug down, circling back around the lab bench. Bruce glanced over at Loki's scepter, which was as much a mystery to them as the Tesseract was. He wondered if it was powered by the cube, or if they simply just looked alike in color? Alien technology wasn't something they were well-versed in, and that was starting to cause a lot of frustration.

"Yeah, you and Steve had a lot of trouble with it back in the day didn't you?" Bruce asked, leaning forward against the bench. Art nodded and chuckled, scratching at the back of her neck as she recalled those times.

"We definitely did. Though this time around its more of the main focus of the mission; last time it was to take down HYDRA."

"Speaking of HYDRA… in your files, I read that you have a pretty severe case of trypanophobia," Tony said, beginning to rifle around through some of the drawers in a nearby cabinet. Bruce looked up from his work station with a crease set between his brows. What an odd turn of the conversation. "You know, fear of needles and all that jazz." Art blinked a few times, thinking the same thing, and brushed some hair behind her ear.

"Um… yeah, I suppose I do." She crossed her arms uncomfortably, the edges of her lips turning downward. "That's what happens when you're poked and prodded with them incessantly."

"By the Red Skull, right?" He took silence as confirmation. When he turned back around, Art felt her body stiffen as she saw what he held in his hands. He held a syringe in his hand with a calculating look in his eyes. The Word War Two soldier's hand twitched towards her leg, where her holster was strapped. "Doesn't seem too bad to me."

"Tony––" Bruce tried to reason, stepping forward, whipping his glasses off. Was this really a good idea? Testing her endurance to this sort of thing, this painful of a memory? He had been a victim of Tony's curiousness, what with the poking and prodding he'd been doing to see just how much it would take to get the Other Guy to come out and play… Art didn't need to be subjected to that. Tony waved him off with a hand, holding up the syringe as he took a sauntering step forward. Art looked strained with her shoulders squared, a cold look on her face, and all muscles tensed. Her heart rate had increased drastically and her body kicked into defense mode. All she could hear was her heartbeat and cognitive thought was put on stand-still. The moment Tony even began to shift his weight to move towards her, she felt herself react, completely unbidden. Lunging forward instinctively, Art knocked the syringe from his hand before she grabbed his wrist and knocked his feet from under him. He fell with a hard thud and gaped up at her in surprise. There was a slightly darker, distant look in her eyes that was very much unlike her typically calm gaze.

Art's eyelids fluttered and the look disappeared, a shaking breath inhaled through her nose. Stepping a few steps back as Tony righted himself with furrowed brows, Art held a trembling fist up to her mouth as though contemplating what to do. The room was silent, her reaction unexpected and decidedly uncharacteristic. Art hadn't meant to do that. All she might've done was tell him to put it away, be considerate. But something in her had just… clicked into place, sending her into attack mode. Looking down at the billionaire coldly, she shook her head.

"You're an ass," she spat. But despite the biting remark, Art grabbed Tony by the hand and hoisted him to his feet. Tony's free hand rubbed at his tailbone, which ached from the impact with which he'd hit the floor. Art turned tail then and made for the door, a hand pressed to her forehead, which marginally hid the troubled look on her face. Tony and Bruce watched her leave, the door hissing shut behind her. Then the mildly shocked billionaire turned to Bruce, who was giving him a look that could have been categorized as 'I told you so,' but since he hadn't been allowed to speak it was more of, 'I would have told you so.'

"You deserved that," Bruce told him, going back to his work. Tony glanced back at the door with his own troubled look on his face.

"Was it just me, or did that seem highly uncharacteristic? I mean, I might've expected that from Capsicle, but not from her. I mean, I've known her for all of a collective hour, but we've all heard stories," Tony said, joining Bruce behind the lab benches. "Didn't that seem a bit… not Lieutenant Liberty?" Bruce paused in his work and took the time to tap the pen he was holding against the tabletop. He had to admit, that had been a bit strange, if not also deserved on Tony's part.

"Yeah, just a bit. But, let's keep in mind that she's had a rough night. We all saw that conversation with Loki. I don't think you come out of that sorta thing unscathed," Bruce said, piecing together an excuse. He drew the coffee mug towards himself, staring down at the dark brown liquid inside of it. "It was nice of her to bring us coffee, though. Now that seems like a Lieutenant Liberty move." Bruce took a tiny sip of it, wary of his caffeine intake and the speed of his heart rate. Tony picked up his mug and swirled around what was inside. Yeah, he supposed it was. But there was one thing he was now definitely sure of; Loki wasn't the only one on the ship that could, as Art herself had put, pack a wallop.

Afterword: The number of chapters I have written up is actually a record for me. I've… never had a story where I've had chapters just at the ready to post whenever it seemed right. I'm quite proud of myself! And I think I also owe it to you guys for being so excited to find out what's going to happen, it keeps me motivated to keep on writing.

Review replies!

darck ben: There will be a scene, at some point, between just Art and Bruce. I've got a very specific one in mind, but that won't come for a while… but when it happens it's gonna be a great bonding moment. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!

grapejuice101: Tony's great in that scene; his sarcasm and sassiness is just the best. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!

shugokage: Thank you! I figured that Art wouldn't get entangled in the fight, and that she'd probably be the voice of reason. I think that she is/wants to be/feels like she is the voice of reason in a lot of situations. I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!

shadowhuntingdauntlessdemigod: I'm glad you liked the conversation that Loki and Art had on the mountain; it was fun to write. I hope you enjoyed the interaction with Loki in this chapter :) Thank you, once again! I hope you enjoyed!

weasleylover10: Art and Loki will not be a couple, I can assure you that––they shall always be enemies. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!

heroherondaletotherescue: I figured that since Art's probably had to stop a shit ton of fights in her time as a Sergeant/Lieutenant, it would make sense if she told them off and if they felt a little guilty about it. And I Had so much fun with this chapter, it sort of introduces what might become of Art's relationships with the team––though Tony royally messed up, didn't he? I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!

RJNorth: At the moment I have four other chapter that are ready to be posted, and that's a record for me! Oh, my god, Art totally is the mother hen; which means it's gonna be real funny when she, like, proposes they all do drinking games, which will happen, I've decided. You have no idea how escalated the drama's going to get… we already see a smidgen of it between Art and Tony here. Yeah, I figured I'd probably fit Foggy in there somewhere, since Art would probably check up on Matt to make sure he's doing okay after the invasion. And I would love to read your Steve story whenever it gets posted :) And if you need help with anything/want to bounce ideas around, I'd love to be of help :) I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!

Jojo657: Thank you very much! I'm very flattered and happy that you've been enjoying the story thus far!

sarahmichellegellarfan1: I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter and hope that this one was just as pleasing! Thanks again!

And thank you to those who added this story to their follows/favorites; it means a lot!

There you have it! Next chapter we get a bit of down time, and Steve will pop back up again. Then it dissolves into drama and all that fun stuff :) I've got the next chapter queued up and ready to go, so keep an eye out for that! Thanks again, you guys, for taking the time to read! You're all lovely!

~Mary