Author's Note
Yeah, I changed the summary (again). Of course this time was different, because I tried to make it all rhyme thereby turning it into an awesome poem. Heck, yeah. I do what I want. I'm kooky like that.
Oh... I watched Interstellar (great movie, by the way) this weekend with the hubby, which meant that I finally saw the trailer for The Avengers: Age of Ultron... yada yada yada, I found out that Tom Hiddleston is coming back as Loki! Maybe y'all already knew this, but I sure as heck didn't. I uncharacteristically try to stay away from spoilers regarding the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I'm so glad that one slipped through. Golly gee whillikers and huzzah! Our prayers have been answered my dearly beloved tens of readers! Sniff... I'm just so happy; we're actually going to get more Loki time... sniff.
I'm sure that we can all agree that May 1, 2015 cannot arrive fast enough.
Though... if they made a movie just about Loki, then I might just actually squee so frakin' loud that I spontaneously combust into a cloud of sparking glitter and rainbows.
Sections entirely in italics denote flashbacks. Dialogue in both "italics and quotations" denote telepathic conversations. Numbers in [brackets] denote footnotes, which you can find at the bottom of the chapter. Nothing from the Marvel universe is mine.
~ Refictionista, November 10, 2014
§ Chapter XX §
chance is the first step you take
They threw open the access door and escaped onto the roof, the midday sun shining in their faces with near blinding brightness. Jane tugged on Sydney's hand. "Look!" she pointed.
Across the tower at the helicopter pad, Darcy was waving frantically from the retractable ladder on the side of a QuinJet parked there. "This way!" the intern shouted over the sound of the engines firing up. They saw behind her that Natasha was madly moving about in the cockpit and readying the aircraft for takeoff. "Get your asses in here and let's go. I'm not dying for six college credits!"
"We're coming!" Jane yelled back.
They hadn't gotten far when they heard screeching metal and breaking glass coming from behind them. Sydney whipped her head around at the sound. "Get down!" she screamed. Sydney tackled the astrophysicist to the ground as the steel door from the roof's exit flew over their heads like a tossed Frisbee.
There stood the Hulk; he had reached the roof level and was growling at them. It almost looked like he was glaring directly at Sydney. His piercing green eyes were terrifying, and they snapped something free inside of her. It happened in slow motion, at least it seemed that way to Sydney. She wasn't afraid. She held onto Jane still beneath her and said quietly, "Like Rain it sounded till it curved."
Sydney remembered her aunt's words from that day they went hiking. She heard her Blanche's voice in her head, "You need to concentrate, Sydney. You have to say the words and imagine a shield. Keep trying, but for goddess' sake, do a better job this time."
She held her hands out above herself and Jane and whispered the words again, concentrating harder this time. The sound of the Hulk's thunderous roaring faded away and was replaced by a dull ringing. She felt her ears pop and the taste of a fruity sweetness in her mouth. She closed her eyes, and it almost felt like she had been here before. For a brief second, Sydney imagined that she was back at Horsethief Falls in Colorado's Pike National Forest.
The Hulk was now standing over them. Jane screamed as he beat a heavy fist down towards them.
Nothing happened.
They were surrounded by a soapy-like bubble, but it appeared to be thicker and more impervious at this size. A rainbow of colors shimmered and whirled across the solid surface where it caught the bright sun's rays. Each time the Hulk tried to hit them, the bubble shield bounced inward slightly, then popped slowly back out again. Obviously the shield wasn't completely impenetrable, but it was slowing the beast down quite considerably. They could see him bellowing at them but couldn't hear any noise from outside the shield.
"How are you doing this?" asked Jane.
She replied with her eyes still closed, "With a great deal of concentration."
"Will you be able to keep him out until Bruce comes back?"
Sydney considered lying, but didn't give in to the temptation. "No," she said through gritted teeth. "All magic comes with a price."
Jane noticed that Sydney didn't look too good... more exhausted than she should be after running up four flights of stairs from the research level. The Hulk began pounding on the shield with both fists at the same time. Sydney started gasping at each impact, and tears ran down her cheeks.
"Ow... Ow... Ow," Sydney cried out after every pounding. "He's so strong. Ow... I'm sorry... I can't keep this going for much longer," she whimpered.
The Hulk's fists were beating down further and further into the bubble. Their previously shimmering shield looked much less radiant; it was getting thinner and the tenuously swirling colors were shaking as if with static.
The angry giant stopped hitting the barrier.
Sydney took a deep gasping breath. She opened her eyes after heaving huge amounts of air into her lungs a couple of times. Sydney's arms fell to her sides after she saw that the shield was gone. Then she heard the gunshots; she had grown up in Texas and knew a gunshot when she heard one. They were coming from somewhere close by. More worryingly... the rapidity of the shots suggested something automatic and big. She looked up to... Dear goddess... were those... bullets? Ammunition rounds, absolutely huge ones, were bouncing off the Hulk's green skin. The monster that was once Bruce looked down at his chest, almost as if confused to see the strange pieces of metal impact against him harmlessly. Then, he snarled.
The QuinJet stopped firing on him. It tried to take off, but the Hulk roared and jumped across the roof. He shook the QuinJet like it was a toy.
"Darcy!" screamed Jane.
They could see Natasha, strapped in her seat, holding on ineffectually to the yoke of the control panel. It looked like Darcy hadn't strapped herself in yet; she was being tossed around like a rag doll within the cockpit.
Jane sat there unmoving, terrified for her friend and intern. Sydney stood and grabbed Jane's arm. "Come on!" she yelled. When Jane still didn't move, Sydney slapped her across the face. It was then as if Jane had woken up, and she looked at Sydney with clear and focused eyes. The blank confusion had suddenly been washed away, and Sydney almost sighed in relief. "You alright?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Then let's go!"
Jane got up and together the two scientists ran away from the Hulk and the aircraft he was pummeling to the opposite side of the roof. "Did you really have to hit me?" asked Jane, panting.
"Well, it was the best I could come up with quickly under the circumstances," Sydney replied, equally short-winded but still running. She stopped herself from saying anything further; she wasn't going to take the time or effort to apologize right now.
They reached the edge of the building, the ground beneath nearly 100 floors below them at this level. Jane put her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. She stumbled and lost her balance, nearly falling off the roof. Sydney held on to Jane to keep her from falling over the edge and managed to pull her back.
"Geez! Be careful," said Sydney.
On the other side of the building the QuinJet had managed to get away from the Hulk's grasp. It hovered out of his reach, retreating into the sky away from the tower. He swatted at it like a child trying to catch a firefly.
Jane looked away from the aircraft, their previous escape plan, down at the roof's edge from which she had almost fallen. "There's nowhere to go. What do we do?" she wailed.
"What do we do?" Sydney had an idea of what to do, one she had thought of even when she had seen the QuinJet. She had been rereading her grimoire, refamiliarizing herself with the old spells. She just proved that she could cast those spells better than ever before. Sydney felt that she knew what they should do even with the overall sense of unease she still somewhat had about her abilities, but she was fairly certain that Jane wouldn't like it. "Just do what I do. Unless you've got something?"
Jane looked at her blankly, "Uh... no, you go."
Sydney nodded her head and turned around. She took off her lab coat, tightened the ponytail holding back her long black hair, and then leapt off the edge of the building with her arms spread wide.
Shocked after realizing what Sydney had done, Jane screamed, "What are you doing?! Sydney! What about me?!" She turned and saw the Hulk lose interest in the retreating QuinJet, returning his attention to Jane standing alone at the edge of the tower. He growled and started running towards her. Realizing she had nowhere left to escape, Jane closed her eyes and jumped off the roof to follow Sydney.
§
"I'd like my book back, please."
Maria Hill looked up and wondered how Sydney Bergström found her office. She had been so distracted by paperwork that she hadn't noticed when the girl and her creepy white hair had slipped quietly through her door. Hill tried to hide her surprise that someone could get in without her being aware as she indifferently asked, "What book?"
"The Hundred Secret Senses, by Amy Tan."[35] Bergström leaned over the desk, "Paperback, about yea big, first edition, blueish cover. It was in my purse when your goons 'held me' as a material witness. Right before they blew me up and stuck me in a freezer."
"Goons? No. No one stuck you in a freezer, you were... Stop, I don't have time for this. Just," Hill closed her eyes and shook her head, "just download the book to your tablet." The deputy director picked up her phone's receiver to call for someone to escort Bergström out of her office and off the campus grounds. "I don't know how you got here, but you're leaving."
"No!" Bergström pounded a fist on the desk's surface. The pencil cup on Hill's desk jumped and rattled. "I want that book. My book. My aunt gave it to me. Your people took it. Give. It. Back."
An angry voice came from the hallway beyond the open door behind her, "How did you get in here?"
Bergström turned to see an unhappy and imposing director of S.H.I.E.L.D. standing there with his arms crossed and the band of his eye patch lost in his deeply knitted brow. She didn't back down. "I came to find you actually. I want my grimoire back."
Direct Fury leaned forward, towering over the young woman. "Did I stutter? How did you get into this facility?"
"I borrowed one of Stark's motorcycles and drove here. Well, first I asked Pepper if I could use one of their vehicles, and she said yes and told J.A.R.V.I.S. to help me with whatever I needed." Dr. Bergström began examining her fingernails, "So then I asked J.A.R.V.I.S. if he could help me get in here, and... he did." She shrugged.
Fury's jaw hung open as he turned to his deputy director; she blinked twice and scowled. "Sir, I'll have a talk with Tony," Hill said.
He closed his eye and shook is head in weariness. "You do that as soon as possible, Commander."
"Director Fury, sir," said Bergström trying to be polite, "I've been awake for a week now. I wouldn't have come here if you had returned my things, as promised."
"When did I promise that?"
"You didn't. The other director, Dick. He did."
"Young lady, his name was not Dick."
Oops. "Sorry, that is the name that stuck in my head. Anyway... He promised that I would," she held up her hands to make quotation marks, "get my things back soon. You were there in the room, so I know that you realize it has been eighteen years. Sir, in my opinion, 'soon' has already passed."
"No."
"No? What do you mean no?!" she said, clenching her fists.
"I will not have someone with your... abilities having access to even more power without proper oversight."
"You can't do that; I'm not yours to control. I can't believe you! I'll just find it on my own then."
Marie Hill got up and stood next to Fury. "Unlikely," she said. "Your belongings were taken to S.H.I.E.L.D. detainment and storage facility at a classified location. Not even Tony Stark could help you get to it."
"You mean the Fridge?"
The director grabbed her arm, "How do you know about the Fridge?"
"Take your hand. Off. Me."
Fury dropped her arm but didn't back away, "I have half a mind to throw you in a cell and lock away the key."
"I haven't done anything!"
"Exactly. I have no reason to trust you. My deputy here tells me that she made you an offer and you've refused." Fury gave her a smile dripping with condescension, "Tell you what, I'd like to prove that I'm a perfectly reasonable man. Reconsider your answer, and you can have your grimoire back." He looked at her pointedly, "Simple as that... And then I won't find you a bunk in a place that give you three square meals and an hour in the yard each day."
"This is called blackmail."
"No, actually it's called entrapment. Blackmail is what criminals do to each other." He held his hands open, "We're the good guys and right now, as far as I am concerned... you aren't."
The young white-haired woman ceased arguing with the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. After a few moments of controlled breathing on her part, she finally said, "If... If I agreed... Could I have my grimoire back today?" She cringed, "Please."
"We'll need some time to arrange to transport it here, but yes." He looked at Hill, who nodded back at him, "Later on this evening... Yeah, sure."
She huffed, "Fine, you win. I'll reconsider, but only until then. Keep your word and I'll keep mine." She walked across the office towards the exit, "I'll find my own way back to the tower."
"No," said Fury. "You have already reached the limit of my goodwill." He blocked her path and she stopped. "Gentlemen," he barked. Two stern looking S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers appeared from outside in the hallway."Please escort our... visitor back to the Avenger's Tower. I understand that she is a guest there now." He glared at her, "And I wouldn't want to keep them from your pleasant company."
Before she stepped through the doorway, Fury held up a hand. "In case it's unclear, you try to go back on your word and I will blow you up again and stick you back in a freezer. You get how this works?"
Dr. Bergström let out a frustrated laugh, "I'm not your enemy. You just asked and I just agreed to join your team."
"Convince me that you mean it," he said and he walked out. The deputy director returned to her desk and jerked her head at Sydney as if to say get out. Sydney rubbed her temple and followed the guards.
She wondered what exactly she had agreed to join. Even dreading it, perhaps. Ugh, she thought, the Avengers Initiative. Bergström hadn't met Tony Stark yet, but his girlfriend Pepper Potts seemed nice. Apparently, the Norse god Thor was an actual person, so there was that. Might be interesting. Bruce Banner and Steve Rogers had expressed concern, and she was sure that they were alright and at least cared. The two former assassins... Well, she hadn't met them either, but they sounded scary. Then there was their boss, Director Fury, and he didn't seem like he was on her side at all.
Asshole, she thought as she kicked an innocent waste bin further down the hallway.
The noise drew the attention of several agents, who now looked at her with suspicion. Her escorts both frowned, but they kept moving. She hoped that Fury meant it when he said he would give her grimoire back. Science may have always interested her more than magic her whole life, but she felt the need to refamiliarize herself with the old spells her aunt had taught her.
Some instinct told her that it might just be important.
§
Natasha Romanoff hadn't wanted to leave the two scientists behind; each of them was far too valuable and important to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s objectives to lose. Unfortunately, she didn't have much of a choice... though she had managed to take the Hulk's attention off them. It had to have given them enough time to get away. It had to. She hoped the women were alright, and then she eyed the blood dripping down the window next to her with bewilderment.
The Black Widow didn't become unraveled easily, but she had secured Darcy Lewis into her seat herself. How was it that she got thrown around the cockpit? The girl wouldn't have unbuckled the harness.
She turned around, "Darcy, speak to me."
The young intern didn't respond. The girl was sprawled awkwardly across the rear instrument panel. Her face, what Romanoff could see of it from under the mass of dark curls, was a bloody mess. On her leg there was the white jagged end of a broken bone cutting through the skin and blood was seeping across a thick scarlet patch on her pants.
This wasn't good.
"If you're bleeding, then you're still alive. Stay with me," she commanded.
Romanoff turned back to the forward windows to see a green blur in the glass reflection of a building in front of her. The Hulk had returned his attention to the QuinJet and was jumping from building to building chasing her.
He must still be pissed about me shooting at him, thought the assassin.
She saw the blur grow in size and the distortion become clearer. He was getting closer. "Shit," griped Romanoff. She banked the aircraft to the left, laterally inclining away from the buildings. They pulled away from New York City and the Hulk. The contrail gave her a feeling of unease, like somehow he could follow it to them as they made their getaway. She accelerated and then grabbed a headset. She needed to get somewhere that they could treat her passenger's injuries, and she needed to contact them so that they would be ready to do so the moment she landed.
"Vot der'mo," she cursed. "Darcy, how in the hell did you get out of your seat?"
She didn't expect an answer; instead she flipped the switch to turn her headset on.
She didn't see the dark shadow near the battered young woman who barely clinging onto life... or hear its equally dark chuckle as it faded away.
§
[35] Would it have been too much to have Sydney's grimoire be hidden in another anthology by Emily Dickinson? Yes? No? Anybody there? Bueller... Bueller... Bueller? For some reason I didn't want to use more poems, but I'm feeling somehow remorseful about this decision. I went through a major Amy Tan phase about twenty years ago, and I still remember everything she wrote fondly... so yeah, I went with that.