Ch. 11~ Caged Beasts
"Coulson!" Jasmine called out to the agent as she ran limping through the hallway.
"J.J.? What are you doing?"
"I'm coming to help you. We have to keep the enemy from getting to him, and you know that even if you use that great big gun of yours, you can't beat him. You need all the help you can get, and right now, I'm all there is."
"Alright, but be careful. You're already injured."
"It's just a flesh wound."
The older man chuckled. "Alright there, Black Knight. C'mon, we'll cut them off at the cell."
Jasmine ran into the cell room first, expecting to see Loki leering at them from behind the glass, but she was met by the sight of his brother hitting the glass with his hammer, while Loki himself stood at the control panel, about to drop him from the holders.
"Move away please," Coulson held up the gun. The god of mischief slowly moved to the side. "You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does." He flipped a switch on the weapon. "You wanna find out?"
Jasmine kept her eyes on the man in green, confused when his form flickered slightly. She was half listening to Coulson speaking into his radio, until Thor screamed. Spinning around, she watched as her friend looked down at the spear tip sticking from his chest. The Loki image faded, while the real thing yanked his weapon from the agent. He slid down the wall, leaving a trail of blood on it, and Jasmine cried out, finally realizing what had happened.
"No no no no no. Coulson."
"That kinda hurt…" he turned his head towards her. "Hey, since when do you have tear ducts?" Coulson's hand came up to wipe away the tears that were making their way down her face. "It's ok. Go get him."
She nodded and quickly jumped up into the rafters of the room. She watched as Loki went back to the control panel and held his hand over the contract to Thor's demise. It was almost as if he hesitated for half a moment. Then he pushed the big red button. The cell's mechanisms release and dropped the giant cage and Thor to the world below, nearly taking Jasmine with them when the air suction hit her.
"You're going to lose."
"Am I?" Loki turned to the man bleeding to death on the wall.
"It's in your nature."
"Your heroes are scattered. Your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?"
"You lack conviction." He said simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"I don't think that I-" Suddenly, Coulson pulled the trigger. Loki was blasted through a wall.
"So that's what it does." Loki got back up. He stalked back to the injured man, raising his spear to strike him again. She took her chance.
Letting go of the rafters, Jasmine dropped on top of Loki, bringing him down. She rolled away from him, allowing him time to get back up, in which time she pulled out several knives and chucked them at him. He managed to block most of them, except for the one that cut into his cheek as it passed. Momentarily distracted, she swung her arm right as he turned, catching him in the jaw and causing him to jerk a bit. He then thrust out the butt of the scepter and knocked her back, taking the breath from her lungs. He hit her again and again until she was backed against a wall gasping for air.
"Pathetic creature. You are no match for my power." She tried to hit him again, only to have him catch her fist and hold it to the wall. "And you shall be mine." Loki touched the tip of the scepter to her heart.
Instead of the usual effect, Jasmine screamed. It was like fire spreading through her veins, burning her from the inside out. She writhed in his grip, trying to subdue the pain, but to no avail. It only got worse.
'Sister! AAAAH!' The pain was affecting Delilah as well.
The world started going black. As she fell to the floor, the last thing she saw was Loki's smug grin. "Oh, yes. You shall be mine."
Some time later
Cap POV
They were barely alive, barely flying, and they had no cover. They had been sabotaged and nearly struck down. Coulson was dead. Hulk and Thor were missing somewhere on the ground. How could they possibly come back from this? Fury expected them to do something about Loki, but how could they. They had lost too many good men in the last few hours, and it was starting to wear on the good Captain. He hadn't even gotten a chance to sign Coulson's cards.
Walking into the cell room, Steve saw Tony staring at the hole where Thor plummeted to the ground. "Was he married?"
"No. There was a cellist, I think."
"I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man."
Tony snorted. "He was an idiot."
"Why? For believing?"
"For taking on Loki alone."
"He was doing his job."
"Ugh, he was out of his league. He shoulda waited. He shoulda…pshh."
"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony."
"Right, I've heard that before." The metal man walked past him.
"Is this the last time you lost a soldier?" Tony spun around.
"We are not soldiers! I'm not marching to Fury's fief."
"Neither am I," Cap told him, "He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does. But right now, we gotta put that behind us and get this done." Tony looked at the wall where Coulson spent his last few minutes. "Now, Loki needs a power source. We can put together a list-"
"He made it personal." Tony said quickly.
"That's not the point."
"That is the point. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?"
"To tear us apart."
"Yeah, divide and conquer is great, but," Tony was in rant mode now. "He knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us; he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience"
"Right," Cap nodded at him. "I caught his act in Stuttgart."
"Yeah. That's just previews. This is…this is opening night. And Loki, he's a full tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built to the sky with his name plastered…" Steve raised his eyebrows. "Son of a bitch."
Now they knew what part of his plan, and now they could do something about it. Steve went to get Agent Romanoff to pilot the quinjet, only to find that Barton could do it. Lucky for them he was safe now. They got their suits and marched their way to the jet.
"Hey…" the mechanic stopped them, albeit a bit nervously. "You're not authorized to be here."
"Son," Steve held up a hand. "Just don't." Although the young man was probably about the same age as him, Steve did technically qualify as a senior citizen…
"Stevieeeeeee!" they all turned to see Remus streaking through the hanger, Bastet close on his heels.
"Guys, what's wrong?"
"It's Jasmine. We cannot feel her." Bastet's body was as tense as a tightrope. "She is not onboard this vessel."
"Well, where could she be?"
"We don't know." Remus's hackles were on end. Steve had never thought the dog could look so deadly as he did now, with his teeth bared and his voice coming in growls.
Natasha stepped forward. "I can access the footage from the detention cell. That's where she was, helping Coulson." She sat down at the control panel and started fidgeting with it. The video feed popped up, showing Coulson's death, Thor being dropped, then Jasmine dropping down from the ceiling to fight Loki. They watched as Loki incapacitated her. Steve's heart skipped a beat when he saw Loki bend over her and stroke her face. There were words, but there was no audio. He had one of his goons carry her out, as if she were nothing but of sack of potatoes.
"We have to get her back." Steve looked to the others.
"How? If Loki's compromised her, we have a huge problem on our hands. Do you know how deadly Triple D is?" Barton asked. "When she comes out, it's not pretty."
"I've heard the stories."
"Stories are no where near as bad as the real thing, Cap." Natasha put a hand on his arm. "Believe me, I was there the last time she had a big fallout. That was when she disappeared for two years. If Loki decides to let her out, there will be no way for us to stop her when she's under his control. The only reason we had any hold on her to begin with is because of J.J. I don't think you really understand how similar the two are."
"Similar? Delilah's a demon. She loves death and pain, how are they similar?"
"They both fight for that which they care about." Bastet nudged his hand. "You cannot base your judgment of someone on the circumstances of their birth."