Wires
PenPatronus
Chapter Eleven
From the brink of consciousness, Phil Coulson heard Loki croon at Tony, Steve and the Hulk, "I could've sworn I killed this one!"
Phil wondered how many people could say that they were murdered by the same man twice. He wanted to sigh at the thought of his inevitable death, but that would require breathing, and Loki's grip around his neck wasn't letting up. At least the first time he died he got to have last words, a last heroic act. Now he was helpless against Loki's strength.
Loki rotated his shoulders. His grin widened and he spoke with a purr. "You know, this planet was supposed to be the ultimate toy. Do you know what children do when they can't have the toy they want?" he asked the room.
Stars appeared on the blurred edges of his blackening vision. Phil was focusing on blinking them away when movement caught his attention. He squinted, and rotated his head a few inches so that he could see clearly between Loki's golden antlers. A figure in black and maroon crouched in the rafters. A figure with a black bow and arrows.
CLINT…?
"They destroy that toy," Loki said. He aimed his scepter at Tony.
Barton pressed his forefinger against his lips to say "shhh." And then he mouthed numbers: One… Two… Three!
Phil knew what to do. On the count of three he yanked down on Loki's arm as hard as he could.
The Asgardians who cured Clint also gave him ten golden arrows. "Use them wisely," they told him. "The heads are laced with a special mistletoe that will kill any mortal. All twelve should kill Loki, but just one could kill you."
Once Phil added his full weight to Loki's arm, Barton unleashed two arrows at the same time. Loki roared as one pierced his right arm and the other embedded into his thigh. He tossed Coulson against the wall and fired his scepter. Clint was already on the move. He pounced onto another rafter with only the heat of the blast on his tail. Another pair of arrows rained down on the god but only one hit the target. The second arrow ricocheted off of Loki's armor and sped towards Steve's nose. Captain America raised his shield but didn't have to. Iron Man caught the arrow in midair and threw it back. Loki started to resemble a pincushion with four arrows in his body.
Barton landed on the cement floor beside the Hulk. "Good bird," the Hulk greeted. He gently patted Clint on the head.
"Cover me!" Clint shouted at the others. "I have to get six more arrows in him!" Nobody questioned him.
"Welcome back, Legolas," Tony said. He sprinted at Loki from the left while Steve took the right and the Hulk the center. Clint notched another arrow and fired.
"There!" Natasha leaned between Fury and Hill and pointed at a flashing light on the console. "That's the facility I sent them to. See that energy spike? That must be the Tesseract."
"Dammit, Romanoff," Furry growled. "You have at least three broken ribs! Would you sit your ass down and let us handle this?"
"Oh boy," Maria said before Natasha could reply. "We're in the right place all right. Look."
The three agents stared through the quinjet's windshield at the scene below. The building was Swiss cheese. Energy blasts burst from the inside out and walls were starting to crumble. The northwest corner was on fire. They spotted the familiar form of Phil Coulson, who appeared to be dragging an unconscious Thor away from the building. Captain America's shield flew through a broken window and skewered a Chevy in the parking lot. A second later a red and gold blur that had to be Iron Man sailed straight through the roof and almost hit the invisible quinjet on its descent.
"I'm landing," Fury announced. "Suit up, Hill. Romanoff, you stay in the jet."
Steve yanked a golden arrow out of his stomach and felt his blood waterfall down his suit. He groaned and fought the wobble in his knees. The Avengers had managed to get seven arrows into Loki. One arrow was still in Barton's sheath, the second in Steve's blood-soaked hand and the third – in the excitement of the battle Steve had lost track of the third one.
A glimmer of gold caught his eye but it was just Tony. Loki had Iron Man in a backwards bear hug. He lifted him like a spear and launched him out of sight. Steve couldn't see Barton or anyone else – nothing else but the dust and crumbling bricks starting to rain down. The structure could only handle so many superheroes slamming against it at once.
A glimmer of silver. Steve spotted Thor's hammer and ran to it. He remembered that no man could wield it but Thor after it was raised above his head to block the debris. "The heck?" Rogers wondered to himself. He stared, shocked, at the weapon in his hand. The hesitation nearly cost him his head when a rafter crashed down. Steve rolled out of the way, taking the hammer with him. He burst outside and sprinted towards Coulson.
Thor was sitting up and rubbing his head. At the sight of Captain America holding his hammer he rubbed his eyes as if trying to rub away a hallucination. Phil stood to meet him. "Captain? Did you get hit?"
Steve wrapped his arm around his stomach wound and ignored the question. "We have to get this back to Barton," he said, showing the others the golden arrow.
Thor stood and stared at the arrow. "Did that pierce you?"
"I've taken worse hits," Steve grunted. "This is yours."
Thor took his hammer back, and the arrow. "Captain, I suggest that you rest before—"
It was then that the fires reached the Chitauri weapons and the building exploded.
To Be Continued