a/n: Hello again my readers! Please enjoy this chapter. (I don't own Marvel)
It had been four weeks since Gwen left Loki. One whole month. To Gwen, the time seemed to drag on forever and ever.
For the first week, Gwen had sat in her room at the Avengers facility and did absolutely nothing. She ate as little as possible and slept only when she needed to. No one bothered her except to bring her food. Other than that, she just sat on her bed, staring at the wall and door, imagining Loki would walk through it, saying he was free. Of course, this didn't happen.
After a week, Gwen started to scold herself. Why should she sit in her room, punishing the Avengers? It wasn't their fault, they were just doing what they thought was best for everyone. She stood, showered, combed her hair and left her room. She went into the kitchen for breakfast with the other Avengers. Her father had gone back to Kamar Taj to manage things there. He had invited her, but Gwen gave him no response, other than to give him her infinity stone. It wasn't worth all the trouble it gave them and as her father pointed out, she didn't need the temptation to use it as an Avenger. So it was safely hidden at Kamar Taj. She silently went about finding some breakfast, very aware of the Avengers eyes on her back.
"Good morning." Steve had said, being the only one brave enough to approach her. Gwen gave him a tight smile, which felt more like a grimace and greeted him in return. "Can I help you get breakfast?"
"I'm twenty years old. I can get my own breakfast." Gwen had replied, somewhat snappishly. Then, realizing she sounded angry, her voice softened. "Thanks for the offer, though."
Gwen stood on tiptoe to grab a slice of bread to toast. Everyone soon became used to her presence and treated her like a member of the team. Slowly, Gwen came back to life. She smiled again and she talked to everyone. She even went on a mission with them. Everything was looking up. Until her father reappeared.
It wasn't his fault. It was the news he brought. He arrived and asked for a moment alone with Gwen. "You might need to sit down." Stephen had told her. Gwen sat down.
"Is it Loki?" Gwen had asked quietly. She had been expecting bad news for the entire week. She had hope that it would've been good news but her fathers look said everything. Something had gone wrong.
"Yes. Its not what you think." Stephen said. He took a deep breath and leaned forward, trying to assume the voice he used when delivering bad news to patients. "When he left with Thor, they got stopped along the way. Ran into some enemies. They fought their best, but... Thor couldn't stop them. They... Well, they killed Loki."
Gwen sat frozen to her spot. Her breathing stopped. Dead? How could he be? He had promised that they would be reunited. That was what kept her going. The thought of Loki gone forever was unbearable. But she didn't cry. "Did he suffer?" Gwen whispered, unsure of what else to ask.
Stephen shook his head. "Thor said it was pretty swift. He said that Loki's last words were to tell you that he loves you." Gwen nodded and swallowed hard.
"Thank you for telling me." Gwen whispered. She started to take a few steps to her room.
"Thor wanted to invite you to Asgard at some point. He says its what Loki would want, if you're interested." Stephen said, delivering all the messages Thor had given him. He wanted to help his daughter, but he knew she would need her space after this blow.
"That's very kind of him. Maybe sometime in the future." Gwen whispered and went back into her room.
She yet again locked the door and stayed on the bed staring at the wall. No one tried to talk to her at all this time. She stayed there for a week and a half before she yet again emerged. "Are you alright?" Her father asked, as he had spent that night in the facility.
"Yes." Gwen said quietly, even though it was a lie. "I'm OK." The girl sitting at the table with the Avengers was a different girl than the one who they had met that day in the castle. This one was so much sadder and yet so much wiser. A girl who had suffered through things that no girl her age should have to go through. And it damaged her. And she was never the same again.
A*A*A
It was several months later when Gwen went on her second mission with the Avengers. There were only a few Avengers there. Steve Rogers aka Captain America, Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow, Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch, Sam Wilson aka Falcon and Gwen Strange aka the Scorpion.
That was the name she had been given when she became an official member of the Avengers. It was supposedly because her blade stung like that of a scorpion. Gwen thought it was stupid that she needed a name but if that's what it took to be an Avenger then that's what she would do.
A*A*A
Tony had approached her a couple of days after she had received the news of Loki's death and after she had emerged from her room yet again. "Your dad tells me your handy with a sword." Tony said.
Gwen shrugged. "I'm alright." She said casually. She didn't want to talk about it. It made her think of Loki which was extremely painful. She couldn't put him out of her thoughts however. She had started to see him like she had seen Gabe. It wasn't very fun and yet it was wonderfully refreshing to see him again.
"Right. Well, I made you a sword." Tony handed her a small pen. "Click the button." Gwen did so and the pen transformed into a long sword. Gwen gave it a wave. It was perfectly balanced. "That button only recognizes your fingerprint now, so only you can open it. I tried to make it pretty balanced. That blade is extremely sharp so be careful when your chopping up people."
Gwen snorted. "Will do." She clicked the button again and the sword retracted. She thought back to Loki's words about how she and Stark would get along well when he came. She couldn't help but wonder why he said that. Tony was funny and sarcastic. Maybe Gwen used to be like that but if she ever was, she couldn't remember.
"Oh yeah. And one more thing." Tony handed her a pair of sunglasses with what looked like an earpiece attached. "That's how we communicate. I have an AI system programmed in there so if a voice talks to you, don't worry about that. He doesn't have a name yet so you can name him." Tony shrugged. He glanced at his watch. "I've got to go. Don't go too crazy with your new toys, Copperfield." Tony had started calling her Copperfield because he was a famous magician and Gwen could do magic as well. He had a nickname for all the Avengers, though he seemed to call the older Avengers by their proper names. He had even given her dad a nickname. He was Houdini.
Gwen watched Tony's retreating figure. He was alright. A little bit too sarcastic but otherwise very nice. Gwen pulled on the sunglasses and plugged in her earpiece. There were lots of symbols and letters surrounding her vision, telling her what she was seeing and possible targets. "Hello, Ms. Strange. I am your AI system." A male voice greeted her. At first he appeared to have no accent but the closer Gwen listened, the more Gwen thought it sounded almost Canadian.
"Hello." Gwen greeted. "Could you call me Gwen?" Being called Ms. Strange sounded to weird.
"Of course, miss." The voice replied. Gwen rolled her eyes. Gwen ran through a few names in her head. "I'm going to call you Caesar. Is that alright?" Gwen thought of her favorite play by Shakespeare, Julius Caesar. She had considered naming him Loki but decided that was too weird and too painful. She wasn't bringing Loki back, no matter how badly she wanted to.
"You can call me Caesar, if you would like. I rather like that name miss." Caesar said.
"Cool. So, I'm going to take you off now." Gwen replied awkwardly. "See you later."
"Of course, miss. Mr. Stark programmed me into your room, so if you ever need me, just call." Caesar told her. Gwen gave a small yelp.
"What, you can see me?" Gwen asked. She didn't want to be watched. If Stark or any of the other Avengers saw what she did at night on her own, they would have her carted off to a mental hospital.
"I'm an AI system, miss. I don't have eyes." Caesar explained, though his voice sounded somewhat amused.
"Oh, right." Gwen said, blushing slightly. "Thanks. So, um... Bye then."
"Goodbye miss." Caesar said before Gwen took off her sunglasses.
A*A*A
Gwen was sitting at a table with Wanda, whom she had taken a liking to. She had her sunglasses on and was sipping at a cup of tea. Natasha was a few tables away with her own drink. Steve was in a hotel room, giving them directions. Sam was off flying somewhere.
Gwen got along well with all the Avengers but she was especially close to both Steve and Wanda. Both had been the most willing to approach her after they found out she lost Loki. Possibly because they both had lost people close to them. Wanda had recently lost her brother Pietro in the incident with Ultron in Sokovia. Steve hadn't technically lost this person, but he had been seperated from his girlfriend, Peggy Carter for so long, that he as good as lost her. Not to mention everyone else he left behind in the 1940's. So Gwen had grown close to the two.
Steve 's voice came over their earpieces. The band of heroes were hunting down a group of HYDRA agents. Gwen had learned that HYDRA was a terrorist group that made weapons and psycho assassins. The life of the party. "Alright what do you see?" Steve was speaking to Gwen and Wanda since they were newbies.
"Standard beat cops." Wanda replied in her Russian accent with a shrug. Gwen smirked and took another sip of tea. Steve said this would be a challenge. "Small station. Quiet street. Its a good target."
"There's an ATM machine on the south corner which means..." Steve left the sentence up in the air for them to finish.
"Security cameras." Gwen replied. "Hey Steve, I thought you said this was going to be hard?" Gwen cocked an eyebrow, even though Steve couldn't see her.
"Don't get cocky kid. You're worse than your father." Steve's voice commented.
"Oh, Stevie, no one is worse than my father. Except maybe Stark but we all know he's an arrogant d***." Gwen replied. While she probably shouldn't have spoken that way about her father, it was true. Gwen remembered when she first saw him in a CNN interview and he was overly arrogant and extremely cocky.
"Be careful." Natasha said. Gwen gave her a covert glance. She gave a jerk of her head and came as close to a smile as Gwen had seen her come. "Steve doesn't like that kind of language." Gwen grinned and took another drink.
"Shut it Romanoff." Steve grumbled. "And focus up, Gwen. This is no time to get distracted."
"Right. Sorry Captain." Gwen said. "Please continue with the lesson."
"Oh, how generous of you." Steve muttered with an edge of sarcasm. "Its on two one ways. So..."
"Compromised escape routes." Wanda finished for him. Gwen could just picture Steve nodding in pleasure at their quickness. The two had quickly taken up this hero thing, despite being enemies to the Avengers before all this.
"Means our guy doesn't care about being seen. Doesn't mind making a mess on the way out. You see that range rover halfway up the street?"
"Yeah, the red one?" Wand asked taking a sip of tea. "Its cute." Gwen snorted but covered it with a cough so Natasha wouldn't get on her about being serious during the missions.
"Its also bulletproof." Natasha said. "Which means private security. Which means more guns. Which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us"
"You guys know we can do magic right?" Wanda asked the others. It was very true but Natasha wasn't having it.
"Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature." Natasha said. While Gwen agreed, she also felt that Natasha forgot she was working with a team and wasn't going solo anymore
"Has anyone ever told you you're a little paranoid?" Sam spoke now. Gwen liked Sam. He made her laugh.
"Not to my face. Why? Has somebody said something?" Natasha asked him.
"Honestly Nat you should be more serious. We're on a mission." Gwen said in mock solemnity. Natasha shot her a glare and Gwen smirked back at her.
"Gwen's right guys. Eyes on the prize." Steve said, as if he didn't pick up Gwen's sarcasm. Gwen pursed her lips together and widened her eyes to hide her grin. Wanda gave her a grin in return. "This is the best lead we've got on Rumlow."
"Wait, who?" Gwen was not filled in on who Rumlow was. She just thought they were headed after obscure HYDRA agents.
"HYDRA b******." Wanda told her, examining a painted black nail.
"Wow, thanks. I've no idea what I'd do without you Wanda." Gwen muttered and rolled her eyes. "I already knew we were hunting down HYDRA b******s what I wanted to know was if he was someone I should've heard of."
"He's one of HYDRA'S leaders. You probably haven't heard of him. That's not surprising." Steve told her. "Now focus." He begged in an exasperated tone. "Its been six months. I don't want to lose him."
"If he sees us coming that won't be a problem." Sam said with a small chuckle. "He kind of hates us."
There was loud honking from down the street. Not that it made any large impact on Gwen. This was a big city full of loud noises. Not of consequence. "Sam, you see that garbage truck? Tag it." Steve told Sam. Sam had little robot buddies that could fly and looked similar to his own Falcon wings. He was most likely releasing one now.
"That trucks loaded for max weight. And the drivers armed." Sam told them.
"Its a battering ram." Natasha said.
"Go now." Gwen heard Steve tell them.
"What?" Wanda asked.
"He's not hitting the police." Steve said quickly.
"H*** yes. We're doing this live." Gwen commented and reached in her pocket to make sure the pen sword Tony had given her was still there.
Natasha grabbed a motorcycle that she had brought. Wanda could fly. Sam picked up Steve and gave him a ride. Gwen looked hopefully to Wanda who rolled her eyes and used her magic to help lift her up.
Steve's voice came over the radio. "Body Armor. AR fifteens. I make seven hostiles."
"I make five." Sam told them. Wanda and Gwen flew in over the roof of the Institute For Infectious Diseases or the IFID. Wanda dropped Gwen a few feet away from where she landed.
Wanda and Gwen both conjured shields to block the gunfire. Wanda froze him and lifted him up in the air. "Gwen." Gwen grinned and drew her sword. The sharp blade popped out. Wanda threw the HYDRA agent to her and Gwen slashed her sword with a flash and cut the agents throat. "Four." Sam corrected himself. "Rumlow's on the third floor."
"Wanda, Gwen. Just like we practiced." Steve told them, getting ready to jump.
"What about the gas?" Wanda asked. The HYDRA agents had gas masks and had thrown a few gas bombs through the windows.
"Get it out." Steve said. Gwen conjured a step for the super soldier to jump on and get through the third window, while Wanda focused on removing the gas from the building.
While she was doing that, Gwen and Sam took care of the other HYDRA agents. Sam shot at them while Gwen conjured a few weapons to block the bullets and take out a few agents. Sam gave her a look and Gwen nodded knowing what he wanted her to do. She stepped in front of him and conjured a large shield to block the enemy fire. Sam launched two missiles from his suit which wiped them out.
"Rumlow has a biological weapon." Steve told them over the radio.
"I'm on it." Natasha replied.
"Caesar, where's Nat?" Gwen asked her AI system.
"Agent Romanoff appears to be on the other side of the building." Caesar told her and her sunglasses gave her a view of the building, showing her where she was and where Nat was.
"Great." Gwen muttered. She concentrated on conjuring a few steps for her to take over the building. "Nat's on the other side of the building I'm going to go help her out." Gwen told the others.
"Who's Caesar?" Was Wanda's only reply.
"My imaginary boyfriend." Gwen said sarcastically though she wished she hadn't because now she thought of Loki. Which was as painful as it ever was.
"Mmm. Is he hot?" Wanda teased in reply. Gwen said nothing because she knew she would choke on the words and make everyone uncomfortable.
When Gwen finally made it over the building, Rumlow had thrown Nat into a tank with a grenade. "S***." Gwen swore and drew her sword. "Hey, b******! Come and have some fun with me!" Gwen shouted to him. Rumlow pulled his gun and fired rapidly. Gwen quickly conjured a shield and ducked under it, slowly edging her way closer to the tank. The back doors of the tank exploded and Nat flew out unscathed, incredibly. Gwen knelt by her coughing figure. Rumlow had used her distraction as a chance to get in another tank. Steve appeared on the balcony on the third floor. The tank Rumlow was in was slowly driving away. They fired a missile at Steve. Gwen cried out a warning, as if Steve couldn't see the missile flying towards him. Steve was thrown back in to the building. "Steve?" Gwen called desperately over the com links.
"I'm alright." Steve groaned. "Sam, he's in an AFV heading north."
"I'm on it." Sam replied.
Gwen turned to Natasha. "You good?" Natasha nodded and sat up. "Good. I'm going to go get Wanda and follow Sam." Gwen stood up and leaped up her conjured steps back to the other side of the building where Wanda was fighting off one last HYDRA agent.
"Come on." Gwen called when Wanda finished. "They're headed north." Wanda ran over to her and lifted her up and they flew off after Sam.
"I've got six. They're splitting up." Sam told them.
"I've got the two on the left." Natasha said.
"We've got the other two." Gwen said, spotting the two that were running down an alley. "Wanda drop me at this end. You go the other end." Wanda did so. Gwen landed hard on her feet and slowly stood up. Wanda landed on the other side, trapping the two agents. The two agents split up, each going after one of the two sorcerers. Gwen yet again drew her sword. She slashed at him and he ducked landed a punch on her stomach. Gwen gasped from the blow and conjured the alley so that it spun, which knocked the guy over. Gwen slashed her sword and the HYDRA agent fell over dead. Wanda had taken care of her man, so they checked them for the weapon. "We've got nothing." Gwen reported to the others. The two wizards ran back to the main fight in the market. They could hear screaming.
"I've got the payload." Natasha told them over the radio.
"Where's Steve?" Gwen asked Caesar.
"Captain Rogers is in the middle of the market, fighting off Agent Rumlow of HYDRA." Caesar told her. Gwen gained a visual and ran harder to where Steve was.
When they arrived, Steve was holding Rumlow by his vest. Rumlow was kneeling, telling Steve something. Then Rumlow pulled out another grenade. Gwen reacted quickly, altering the ground so Steve and the other civilians were out of harms way. Wanda conjured a shield around Rumlow, making the explosion only around him. Rumlow screamed in pain. Wanda gasped in concentration. Slowly, she lifted Rumlow into the air. But she lost control at the last second and sent the explosion into the top floor of a nearby building. Passerby's screamed in terror. Wanda clapped a hand over her mouth. "Sam, we need fire and rescue. On the south side of the building." Steve said before running into the building himself. Gwen wanted to comfort Wanda but she also knew that those people in there needed help.
Gwen put the ground back in its original position and ran into the building. She jogged as fast as she could, trying and failing to keep up with Steve. When they reached the top floor, the Captain already had two civilians draped over his shoulders. "There's one more in the very back. You got it?" Gwen nodded in affirmation and ran to the back room. There was an elderly woman, crouched in the corner coughing. Gwen wasn't a super soldier with super strength like Steve, but this woman couldn't have weighed more than seventy pounds. Gwen scooped down and picked her up, huffing slightly as she slowly walked out. Steve was back. "I'll take her." Steve grabbed the woman out of Gwen's arms and ran off. Gwen puffed out a few breaths, started coughing, and then ran to catch up with Steve.
A*A*A
Gwen was watching the news in her room, while brushing out her hair. The king of Wakanda, whose people had been in Lagos during the incident with Rumlow, was condemning the acts of the Avengers, saying that they were indifferent to the lives around them. That made Gwen angry. Yes, civilians had died and yes, mistakes were made. But that didn't mean they didn't care about what was happening. Gwen would give anything to take it all away. But she couldn't and that was that. Who was this guy anyway, to say that they didn't care? Of course they cared. They were the first to respond, for heavens sake!
Then there was the fact that you couldn't prevent casualties in a battle. That was just going to happen. It wasn't pretty but that was the truth.
"Someone needs to give him a... What did you call it?" A voice called from the corner. Gwen looked up though she already knew who it was. Loki. "Oh, that's right. A chill pill." Loki said, examining a nail.
"He's got a right to be mad. His people died." Gwen said quietly. She knew Loki wasn't really there but she missed him so much that she couldn't just ignore it.
"Maybe." Loki replied with a shrug. "But that doesn't mean he can blame the Avengers every time someone decides to blow himself up." Gwen rolled her eyes because the idea was ridiculous. She opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted.
Someone knocked on her door. Gwen turned off the TV, put down her brush and opened it whilst braiding her hair which had grown out. It was Sam. "Hey. We've got a visitor. He wants to see all of us."
"Alright." Gwen replied. She followed Sam down to the room where they held their meetings. An older looking man in a fancy suit walked up to them. The other Avengers were already sitting at the table. "Ah, Mr. Wilson." The man grabbed Sam's hand and shook it firmly. "Good to see you again. And Ms. Strange. I don't think I've had the pleasure. I'm Secretary Ross." He shook Gwen's hand as well. Gwen had no idea why, but she already didn't like him. "Please, have a seat."
Gwen sat behind Steve and across from Sam. Ross began. "Five years ago, I had a heart attack, and I dropped, right in the middle of my back swing." He demonstrated for their viewing pleasure. "Turned out it was the best round of my life, because, after thirteen hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something forty years in the army never taught me. Perspective." Gwen resisted the urge to snort. Here we go. "The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt." D*** straight. Gwen thought. "You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives. But while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some who would prefer the word vigilantes."
"And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha asked.
"How about dangerous?" Ross said dramatically. "What would you call a group of US based, enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?"
"Would you rather they didn't stop Loki from taking over the world? Or Ultron?" Gwen asked, though she nearly choked on Loki's name. "Because that's what it sounds like your suggesting."
"Not at all. Haven't I said we owe you an unpayable debt?" Ross said. "But, I am suggesting something else." He turned to another table and clicked a remote. "New York." Footage of Loki's attack on New York. "Washington DC." A quinjet crashed into a body of water. "Sokovia." The ground was lifted into the air and buildings crashed down. "Lagos." A young girl's dead body was shown along with video of the explosion.
"OK, that's enough." Steve requested, eyeing Wanda carefully.
Ross shut off the screen. "For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the government's of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution." Ross placed a small book in front of Wanda. "The Sokovia accords. Approved by 117 countries, it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel only when and if that panel deems it necessary."
"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place." Steve began. "I feel we've done that." Gwen unconsciously nodded at Steve's words.
"Tell me Captain do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Ross asked.
"Thor is on Asgard." Gwen said. "Not exactly a big leap." Gwen knew this wasn't the time for sarcasm, but she just couldn't help herself.
"Are you in contact with Thor?" Ross asked her.
Gwen shook her head. "I haven't had contact with Thor in about two months."
"Then we'll continue to assume their position is unknown. If I misplaced a couple of thirty megaton nukes, you can bet there'd be consequences. Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground."
"So, there are contingencies." Rhodes said. It wasn't a question.
"Three days from now the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the accords. Talk it over." Ross made to leave.
"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Natasha asked before he could leave.
"Then you retire." Ross replied easily. Then he turned and left.
a/n: Hope you enjoyed that chapter! Just a PS. Loki's not dead. I know, spoilers! But if you've seen anything for Thor Ragnarok then you'll know that Loki's alive. I'm going to go see Thor Ragnarok on Saturday. I'm very excited to see it and to see how I'll fit Gwen into the story because if the rumors I hear about Loki and Valkyrie are true then we may have a tiny problem. But other than that, I'm really excited to do this story! Thanks to everyone who has read, followed, favorited, and reviewed this story! Please keep it up! Until next time!