Chapter 13
Natasha covered me as I took off towards Stark Tower. I sprinted, dodging Chitauri left and right. Thankfully most of them were kept off my trail by Tony and Clint from the air. I made it within minutes and Tony told JARVIS to give me access to his personal penthouse. The AI guided me in the right direction and took me up the elevator. I entered the penthouse; the silence was eerie compared to the fighting going on outside. I was so high up I could barely make out the sounds of battle below. I crept quietly, afraid Loki would find me before I found him.
I peeked around the corner. He was standing with his back to me, looking out the windowed wall at the chaos he had crafted. He hadn't noticed me. I tried to think straight. Even though I was angry about Coulson's murder at his hand, acting on impulse could get me into serious trouble. I entered his mind. He was completely absorbed in his thoughts. I began to try and change them. It had worked a couple of times before, the first time that day in class.
'Don't think about that. Focus.' I had to tell myself. This was the first time I was doing this with someone awake and aware. How hard could it be? He was practically daydreaming anyways. I imagined the Chitauri turning on him and concentrated on implanting that in his head. I let my anger fuel my powers; let it amplify them. Things became dark suddenly, just like they always do when I manipulate dreams. Loki was standing in the middle of the dark, unsure of what was going on. Chitauri appeared, racing all around him.
"What are you doing you fools!? The Avengers are down there!" He pointed out the now nonexistent window. His alarm heightened when he realized he was no longer standing in Stark Tower. I knew at this point he would suspect foul play. The aliens swarmed him, encasing him in a tight circle.
"What are you doing!? I am your leader! You will not disobey me!" I could hear the anger and confusion in his voice. "We are not done yet!" The swarm turned their weapons on their leader. Loki raised the scepter in defense, but an enormous roar stopped everyone in their tracks.
My concentration was broken as the Hulk came barreling through the window towards Loki. The Chitauri dissipated along with the darkness. Before the demigod could defend himself, he was lifted by his leg and slammed into the floor repeatedly like a rag doll. My mouth fell open. After one last slam Hulk threw him into the now destroyed wooden floor.
"Puny god." I laughed, I couldn't help it. The green giant's eyes locked on me but he didn't move. I kept laughing at Loki who was now squeaking in pain in the floor. I smiled at Hulk.
"That was awesome." He grinned back. It was a little scary, Hulk grinning. He then took off like a rocket back out the window. With Loki incapacitated I ran outside. I heard fighting on the roof above me and saw Nat knock out the scientist. He skidded to the edge where he awoke seconds later, shaking his head.
"The Tesseract-"
"You didn't know what you were doing doctor."
"Maybe I did." He stood up and walked over to the computer attached to the machine. It seemed Natasha's fist had a knack for snapping people out of mind control.
"What's going on?" I shouted up to them.
"When I built the machine, I installed a safety switch. Just in case of emergency. The scepter should be able to shut down the Tesseract, and I'm looking right at it." He looked down to the ledge on my left. There it was, Loki's scepter. I looked through the shattered windows at the demigod. He was still unconscious. I ran picking up as much speed as possible and jumped. I just made it to the edge of the landing and snatched up the weapon. Tucking it through my belt, I began scaling the remainder of the building to where Natasha and the doctor stood.
"We can do it guys, we can close the portal." I heard Nat convey as I pulled myself up over the edge.
"Then do it!" Steve said. I pulled the scepter out of my belt and pointed it at the heart of the machine where the Tesseract sat. Slowly, I pushed it through the energy barrier. It tried pushing back but the power of the scepter was greater.
"Hold on guys! I've got a nuke coming straight at us that's going to blow in under a minute, and I know just where to put it." I could see Tony off in the distance chasing the bomb.
"You realize that this is a one way trip, right?" Steve asked. Tony latched on underneath it and just as it was about to hit Manhattan, he redirected it straight up. He blew past us coming within inches of Stark Tower and straight up into the portal. We all stared for what felt like forever, waiting for Tony to return. When he didn't, Steve made the call.
"Close the portal." I choked back the lump in my throat. Tony had become my closest friend in the Avengers. I know we gave each other crap all the time but it was all in good fun.
"I guess this is goodbye my friend." I whispered to myself. Nat put an understanding hand on my shoulder and nodded. I returned the nod and pushed the scepter into the heart of the Tesseract, causing an immediate reaction. I felt the energy pulse and the beam shooting into the sky disappeared. The portal began closing fast. I could hear the nuke explode on the other side and all of the Chitauri suddenly fell, dead. The hole shrunk smaller and smaller and just as it closed something fell through. The glint off of the metal suit told me it was Tony.
"Son of a bitch." I heard Steve say. I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding. Tony was picking up speed though, the opposite of what he should have been doing.
"He's not slowing down!" Nat yelled beside me. I ran to the edge as Tony passed the tower. The Hulk came flying seemingly out of nowhere and caught Tony, gripping the side of a building on the way down to slow himself. He landed on the ground below and laid the billionaire on the street. It was hard to see from up here but we could hear them through the communicators. It looked like Thor ripped his face mask off but Tony wasn't moving. I couldn't see the blue light that usually shines brightly from his arc reactor.
"What's happening down there? Please tell me he's okay." I said, hoping for good news. The longer the silence went by though, the more worried I became.
#
Thor had ripped off Tony's mask, but he wasn't responding. The light wasn't shining from his chest piece.
"What's happening down there? Please tell me he's okay." Shea's voice came through my ear. I was a little jealous of her concern for him. I didn't know what to say to her so I said nothing. Hulk suddenly let out a tremendous roar, and Tony's eyes snapped open.
"Aah! What! What? Oh." I smiled a little; glad we didn't have to lose a man today.
#
"Please tell me nobody kissed me." I grinned from ear to ear hearing Tony's voice through the communicator in my ear. I breathed a sigh of relief and began chuckling.
"Who would want to kiss you, Tony?" I joked.
"I resent that. Hey, let's all just not come in tomorrow. Let's, let's all just take the day off. We don't need to come in. Anyone hungry? There's this Shawarma place about two blocks down. I have no idea what it is but I want it."
"We're not completely finished yet." Nat said looking over the edge and through the windows. I groaned. We still had Loki to take care of.
"Right, on our way." Tony's voice filtered through.
"Think you can pack this up for us doctor?" I asked, to which he nodded. He began taking pieces apart and putting them in metal cases. "Ready for this?" I asked the other woman. She nodded and we made our way through the roof door. We walked down a few flights of stairs and through a utility door. We followed that hallway to a back door into the Penthouse. It was now that I realized how exhausted I was. The leather sectional looked incredibly inviting. My entire body was sore from all the running, and my back hurt where that one Chitauri snuck up on me and hit me with his spear gun thingy. Loki was still out cold. I looked around while we waited for the rest of our team to arrive. There was a fully stocked bar on the right wall and I made a beeline for it.
"Are you going to drink now?"
"Don't tell me you couldn't use a drink too." I searched for the rum. There had to be some. I found a bottle in the bottom cabinet and poured myself a glass over ice. I took a sip of the spiced alcohol and felt an immediate warming sensation in my stomach.
"Tony sure knows how to get the good stuff." I leaned on the bar and took a few more sips before the elevator door dinged signaling their arrival. The doors opened to show a beat up set of Avengers. Thor looked relatively unscathed, though he was a demigod so that could have had some play in it. Hulk was still Hulk so he seemed unharmed. I'm sure Bruce would be paying for it later though. Tony was walking with a limp, every other step falling with a heavy clunk of his armor. Clint had some cuts and scrapes but didn't seem to be severely injured. Steve had a gash along his side and a few cuts and scrapes as well on his arms and a split lip.
"What a motley crew." I said giving them a once over.
"Hey, who said you could break into my liquor cabinet?"
"I didn't have to break in, it was unlocked."
"How dare you help yourself and not even make a drink for me."
"This is good, where did you get it?" By now JARVIS had removed the Mach 7 and Tony was pouring himself a glass of scotch. "You look like hell."
"So do you." He retorted as he leaned next to me on the bar. Loki groaned from his position on the floor and all of us moved to stand above him. He finally woke up and seemed taken aback by all seven of us standing over him. He pushed himself up gingerly and sat against the step.
"If it's all the same to you, I think I'll have that drink now."