A/n: I've been trying to come up with a Avengers' fiction but the character and plots are just not falling into place. Meh. So I might be coming up with a Shingeki no Kyojin story soon since that has been the latest anime and manga to keep an eye out for. At the meantime, here's the next chapter for Year of the Past.
To answer a few inquiries about Katherine's curse: yes, she is the doppelganger and therefore her bloodline is cursed. But for some reason, no one has ever gone after her descendents until Elena Gilbert. For the sake of this story, I would like to say the spirits in Asgard played a role in drawing attention to Mystic Falls hence stirring up old ghosts for Katherine which prompts Season 2 into action.
Anyway...
Back to the Avengers!
Chapter 10
"So he knows? Rogers knows about you?" the disbelief and anger in Fury's voice was directed solely at the dark-haired woman and the screen between them did nothing to filter it. "You're just as bad as Tony at keeping your identity a secret!"
"Hey!" aforementioned Tony said in protest.
Like him, she resisted the urge to throw something at the screen behind her which had Fury's disgruntled face. After getting out of Loki's prison, Thor immediately had Heimdall teleport them back to the SHIELD's tower with Captain America near unconsciousness in his arms. Immediately SHIELD paramedics swarmed them, taking Steve away on a stretcher with Bruce instructing their actions. The rest of the Avengers were summoned to the headquarters and had just only arrived, their concern for their teammate apparent as they filled the observation deck where Katherine and Thor have since, ignoring requests to be checked out, refused to leave. She now stood by the glass window, looking down on the medical ward where Bruce was checking Steve's vital signs while Fury continued to berate her in the background.
"You'll pay for your insolence, demon. You can't run forever. Your bloodline will suffer for your actions today." her mind constantly wondered back to the words the spirit had uttered.
"Lady Katherine had little choice at the matter." Thor argued, slamming his hand on the table as he glared at the talking portrait. "Ancient magic halted me from helping Captain America. Lady Katherine selflessly discarded her well-being and secrecy to save him and managed also to attain answers from Loki."
"Whoa. Way to pull through, Kat." Clint said, looking at her in renewed light.
"See?" Tony said angrily. "None of this would have happened if I had gone along."
"Tony, calm down." Black Widow said. "We don't know that. You could have been affected too and possibly killed by that gas. I mean, look at Steve."
"Not really making me feel better."
"Alright. Enough." Fury said tersely. "I suppose the damage has been done for now and hopefully Rogers will understand that this was for his own good. Now back to Loki and the Chitauri, Miss Pierce. What were you able to find out?"
She casted one final glance back at the infantry. To her inner relief, Steve's eyes were opened and they were focused on her. As she stared back, she found herself looking away from the coldness in them. Not once had he given her a look that cold and guarded, not even when he stumbled upon her in the abandoned club…
"Katherine." Natasha called, stepping up to her. It surprised her that the vampire seemed to be…concern about Steve. "Steve is going to be fine. He's Captain America after all."
Dark brown eyes turned to the assassin and a slow smirk curled her lips. "Is the Black Widow going soft on me? I think I liked you better when you wanted to kill me." she turned her attention to the rest of the room and to Fury. "I know what the Chitauri and the vampires are up to."
~.~
His eyes hadn't move from the spot where he had found her staring down at him with an unreadable expression. He knew Katherine and the rest of the Avengers were in the observation deck right now and guessed that Fury was debriefing them at the very moment. Bruce busied around him like a concerned mother, absently checking his pulse again.
"Did you know?" Steve had to ask. "About her?"
Bruce paused, considering his answer. "No one told me but the big guy knew. He has this…built in sensor that can detect…her kind." he scribbled something on the clipboard. "But I suppose it was for our own good that Fury didn't tell me outright about Katherine. The Hulk would have gone on a hunting spree. He doesn't like, um, the supernatural."
"What about you, Doctor Banner? Do you trust her?"
"Well, she hasn't given us a reason not to so far." Bruce answered as he examined the chart. "And she has given Tony and I a lot to go on in taking down vampires and werewolves. I mean, she practically gave us ways of killing her kind and that being said, herself as well, Steve. That says something."
"Yeah but…" he stared down at his hands, remembering how weak and helpless he had been in that cavern. For all the Super Soldier Serum and determination in him, he just could not move. Then Katherine had appeared and pulled him to his feet without hesitation. She was stronger than she looked and faster than she had allowed herself to appear.
"You of all people should know that looks can be deceiving." Loki had said maliciously before he called her by her nature. "Vampire."
Bruce caught a glimpse of the conflicted emotions on Steve's face and he rested a hand on the soldier's shoulder, giving it an assuring squeeze. "And she saved your life, Cap. That says a lot to me. Perhaps talking to her would help clear things up."
~.~
Pregnant silence filled the room as each Avengers tried to digest the information Katherine had just given them. She picked at her nails lazily, looking once in a while to note their expressions. Any other given day, she would have relished in their horror and confusion but not today.
"Human sacrifices?" Tony recovered first, his eyes unusually wide. "That's why the Chitauri were taking over humans? To sacrifice them?!"
Fury was silent too, for that she was thankful until he opened his mouth. "Miss Pierce, are you sure about this?"
"I can't think of any other reason they would work with Amanda." and under her breath, she added to herself. "That bitch."
That earned her a grin from Clint.
"Katherine, how many sacrifices do they need to activate the stones?" Natasha asked.
"As many as they can get by the full moon." she said. Loki hadn't told her that but she knew from experience. "Magic is usually strongest on the night of the full moon and so are Amanda's forces of werewolves."
"Have I mentioned how much I hate magic?" Tony said, slumping against a sofa.
"That has been duly noted, Stark." Fury said. "We need to find that mother ship and fast. We can't let them get close to even sacrificing one innocent person."
"The next full moon is in two days. The ship can be just about anywhere on Midgard." Thor said.
"Using the readings that we have from the previous battle with the Chitauri, I should be able to design a signal tracer and regulate it to find their mother ship." Tony said, tapping in numbers and readings into a computer. "We can use the signal tracer and SHIELD's satellites to scan the earth for the ship. If it's here, I'll find it."
"Good. How soon?" Fury asked.
"Hey, I am good but I'll need time. Give me a day." Tony promised, wandering off as his brilliant mind got the better of him again.
"At the meantime, they'll continue to gather humans to be sacrificed." Natasha said, facing Fury before he could yell at Tony. "Clint and I will brief the teams to be on the lookout for alien movements."
"And I shall hunt down those foul werewolves and vampires." Thor offered. "A drastic cut in their numbers will aid us greatly."
"Whoa, slow down, Buffy." Clint said, the mocking nickname going unnoticed by the god but made the women in room chuckle. "Before you go off, slaying vampires and what not, tell me. How are you planning on finding them?"
"...I have my methods."
Clint read his thoughts. "Lurking in dark alleyway zapping random people isn't a method. Beside it'll have you arrested and thrown in prison first."
"No mortal prison can hold me!"
"Of course not."
Listening absently on the banter between the two men, it almost felt…normal for Katherine. As though she had not just come back from another world and threatened a god there. Interesting how much her boring undead life has changed since that night at the Plaza.
"And Miss Pierce."
She really hated the way he called her by her last name. Schooling her features into that of innocence, she turned to face the screen. Fury's face did not so much as change as he pointed a finger directly at her.
"You and I will be having words."
~.~
"Yo, Cap."
"Stark."
Tony faltered at the entrance to the ward as Steve struggled to get out of the bed. It has been a while since Steve addressed him by his surname and that was usually when he had pissed off the soldier big time. Right now, he could easily and correctly guess the reason Steve was angry at him.
"So I kept things for you. Don't we all?" he said calmly, trying to diffuse the situation.
"It just so happens that this 'thing' involved me as well. Why didn't you tell me?" Steve asked, breathing heavily. His entire body still felt fatigue from whatever gas it was that had incapacitated him and Bruce had estimated a few hours before the effects wore off completely. Any normal human would have died from a massive heart attack in that prison.
"Fury brought me on board the mission to find a way to subdue her. So I made that bracelet on her. Then he ordered us to keep it to ourselves. Since she had that bracelet on to keep her from harming you and other humans, I didn't see an immediate need to. Besides, you seemed to trust her enough to let her help you. That was what Fury wanted." Tony explained.
"Since when do you ever listen to the director?"
"Believe me, I wanted to tell you from Day One. But I also wanted to find out more about her. Here." the billionaire pulled out a computer pad and handed it to him. "This is everything JARVIS could find on our girl. It's not much but it might give you an insight on Katherine."
Steve stared at the pad, the screen displaying their supernatural consultant's physical details.
Tony pursed his lips, stroking his goatee. "Based on that, I can see why Fury wanted her help with you. Katherine is a survivor. She's very good at adapting."
His mind flashed back to that bit of the conversation he had heard through the earpiece. "And like me, Loki, you're a survivor. It's in your instincts to do whatever it takes to live."
She spoke from experience. That was why Loki responded to her. By likening herself to him, she had appealed to his most basic and cardinal instinct and used it against him. Steve didn't want to think of what she would have done had Loki refused to talk.
"So does this make us even?" there was a hint of hopefulness in Tony's voice. "Because quite frankly, if you're going to be pissed off at me, you mind as well be pissed off at Natasha and Clint. They were in the same ship as me, you know."
Steve managed a smile. "We're even, Tony. Now help me up before Banner gets back and has me strapped down."
Someone cleared this throat behind them, causing both superheroes to freeze on the spot. Slowly they looked toward the door where Doctor Banner stood and was smiling pleasantly though the smile did not match the dagger glare he was giving them right now.
"Why, Rogers, you shouldn't be out of bed. And Stark, visiting hours are over."
A/n: Hm, not a terribly exciting chapter but I hope the interactions are spot on though. Let me know what you think! Read and review!