Author's Note:50 favorites in a month? Wow! That means so much to me! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm working on the last chapter of this fanfic right now and am plotting the second one! I've got some great ideas that are going to be so much fun to write!
Hint #4: The cover photo shows both Steve and Aspen. I photoshopped it myself and actually merged three different pictures of Steve into one to get his face and eyes the way I wanted. (Phew, really testing my rusty photoshop skills!)
25 – Chaos – May 3, 2012
Steve led Aspen toward one of the storage rooms down a deserted corridor. The door labeled Secure Storage 10-C had been forcibly opened Aspen noted. She glanced at Steve before following him through. He led her up a catwalk and to a set of storage boxes. One was open and had obviously been rifled through. She stopped short when she saw what was inside.
"Is that…?"
"It's a Hydra weapon," Steve said. "SHIELD has been developing Hydra weapons. And that gear... It's straight out of my time."
"That's why they had the Tesseract." She tried to get her thoughts in order. That was why Fury had seized all her work. He had been building weapons behind her back, and she'd sent Hydra's weapon plans straight to ballistics. She'd put the key to making these guns right into their hands. Some of these probably were the guns she'd studied. The Tesseract was what would power them. "I knew there was something off. I've seen weapons like these before. SHIELD got its hands on some Hydra weapons from your time. I studied them. I didn't realize then that the energy that powered them came from the Tesseract." The gravity of the situation was beginning to hit her. "Why would SHIELD need these weapons?" she asked him.
He shook his head. "I don't know. No good can come from them though. I've seen the destruction they can do."
"I have too. I tested one of the Hydra guns. It disintegrated the target."
Steve nodded solemnly. "It seems to be what's powering Loki's staff too."
"That's what happened in Santa Fe. They were studying the Tesseract and it imploded. The energy would be unpredictable. It's not from this universe. We can never hope to fully understand it, and we certainly shouldn't be trying to harness its energy. Just look where that got Hydra in the end."
"Do you have any idea of what Loki's plan is?" Steve asked her gently.
"He means to rule Earth. He's got his army waiting. I don't know anything more than the rest of you."
"He's going to open a portal, I guess to let the army into this universe. Doctor Banner had a few ideas about that. Most of it went over my head," he admitted.
"Well he can't do anything locked in here, but I get the feeling he knows exactly what he's doing. He didn't even seem concerned about the cuff. He's got something up his sleeve. He might bring chaos with him, but he's smart. He's playing us all somehow."
"Did you speak to him?" Aspen nodded. "Are you alright?"
"I just want this to be over. Then I'll be alright."
"We need to let Banner and Stark know about these," Steve said motioning to the Hydra weapons. "They had their suspicions too." He grabbed one of the guns.
"About Fury?"
"Him and SHIELD. Something just wasn't quite right about all of this."
"I've been so preoccupied that I hadn't noticed, but when I was first assigned the Hydra weapons as a project, I got the feeling there was more to it than just interest. Seems I was right."
"Come on, let's get out of here." Steve waited for her, following her back down the ladder and out of the storage room.
"I'm going to hang back," she said. "You go ahead. I'm going to see if I can find anything else around the Helicarrier. I have a gift for finding things after all."
"Alright. Be careful," Steve told her. "We don't know what SHIELD's game plan is. I don't want to see you get hurt."
"I'll be careful," she promised him. "You too. Don't trust anyone."
"Not even you?"
"That's your choice," she said, giving him a small smile before walking away.
She didn't know what she was looking for, but she now knew that SHIELD had a hidden agenda. After five minutes of poking around, she had drawn a blank. That's when an explosion sent her flying into the wall. The Helicarrier veered downward, and Aspen saw stars as her head struck the wall. She scrambled to her feet, looking around. This had to be Loki's doing. Somehow. Emergency alarms began to blare as the Helicarrier lost altitude. Aspen didn't pause before sprinting toward the detention block. She skidded to a halt outside his prison. He was standing there, looking pleased with himself. A tremendous roar sounded somewhere down below, and his smirk widened.
"Ah, everything going according to plan," he said almost cheerfully.
"What have you done?" Aspen asked.
"It's not me. It's your friend, Agent Barton."
"Clint is here?" Aspen asked, eyes widening.
"Yes. He's been quite a useful asset to me."
"Don't talk about him like that!" Aspen snapped. "He's going to murder you as soon as he snaps out of whatever mind control you've got over him. If I don't kill you first."
"Idle threats. You don't have the nerve to kill me."
"Well you've still got that handy little cuff around your wrist, so I don't think you'll be doing much," Aspen spat at him.
His smile widened. "My power has grown since last you saw me," he told her. "This…trinket can't stop me. Watch."
Aspen stood watching as Loki transformed before her eyes. His skin grew paler with a bluish pallor. Ice built up along his arms and around the cuff. To Aspen's horror, the cuff began to crack under the pressure of the ice. A moment later it snapped in several places, falling to the floor to lie in a harmless pile. Loki's eyes shone red a second before the ice receded, and he became himself again.
"Now, you see. You cannot fathom my power."
Aspen didn't know what to say. At that moment the power flickered, and she heard the engines shudder and die. She looked around frantically. The systems seemed to be down which meant security was down. When she looked up again, Loki wasn't in the glass cage. The door stood wide open. She stopped breathing for a moment. Something brushed her shoulder. She whirled around to find Loki standing behind her. Somehow he held his staff even though it had been taken away when he was captured.
"I always win in the end," he told her.
Aspen stood her ground. "It's not over," she told him, taking a step forward so that she was inches from him. She looked him straight in the eye. "The only way you're going to win is if every one of us bows down to you which is never going to happen. You won't ever get me to kneel."
"Oh, won't I?" He moved his scepter so that it was in front of her heart. He brushed the tip against her jacket. "If you won't join me of your own free will, then I might just have to take that from you." He pressed the staff against her, and the Tesseract energy glowed blue. Aspen was blinded for a moment, her vision going sharp and yet hazy. She held her ground, waiting for the dizziness to pass. A moment later it did. She opened her eyes.
Loki frowned. "I see your immunity is far greater than I'd anticipated," he said.
Aspen pushed back her surprise. "My parents knew what they were doing."
"I want to know what they did to you," Loki said, circling her slowly. She stiffened.
"I don't know," she said. "I was working on creating the same serum, but it was stolen from me before I could see if it worked."
"Then you are just going to be in the way," Loki said, standing before her again.
"Are you going to kill me?" she asked, smiling. "You had the chance to before and you didn't."
"This time it's different."
"Then kill me." She stepped forward so that the scepter was pressed against her again. She met Loki's blue gaze. "Then I'll truly know that there is no good left in you. If there ever was any. I was willing to accept you for who you were. The good and the bad... I looked past all the bits of darkness. It's a part of you. I never saw you as a evil, but then you took my friend and you threatened my world."
"And now I'm just evil to you?"
Aspen hesitated. "I don't believe you're truly lost," she said.
"Is that right?" he sneered. His pupils were dark, and the blue ringed around them danced with an emotion she couldn't read. She would say that it was anger, but it looked too much like pain.
"You see, the beauty of free will is having choices. You can either make the right choice or the wrong choice. Which choice is right or wrong depends entirely on you though. So I suppose there is no real right or wrong answer."
"You humans are exceedingly incomprehensible sometimes," Loki told her with a frown.
Running footsteps interrupted them, and Loki grabbed Aspen's arm, pulling her out of immediate sight. He placed a hand over her mouth, holding her tightly against him. Thor rushed into the room and as he did, Aspen saw another version of Loki leaving the cell.
"No!" Thor shouted, charging the fake Loki. Aspen squirmed, trying to warn him that it was a trap, but Loki's grip on her was vice-like. Thor went straight through the Loki-mirage and into the cell. The door closed, and Loki released Aspen, striding up to where his brother was now captive. Thor glowered at him from behind the glass, holding his hammer in his right hand with a death grip.
"Are you ever not going to fall for that?" Loki asked, an amused expression on his face.
Thor practically growled, bringing his hammer against the glass with all his might. The glass cracked a little and the Helicarrier shook. Loki grinned at his brother, striding over to where he stood imprisoned. "The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?" A guard had appeared from the corridor, holding a gun. His eyes were an unnatural shade of blue, and Aspen realized that he was under Loki's control. Loki walked over to the control panel that controlled the glass cell. Aspen met Thor's worried expression. Then she drew her dart gun and shot the guard. He fell to the floor. Before Loki could turn, Aspen had grabbed him, thrusting him away from the control panel. She knew she couldn't win in a fight against him, but if she could just get the door open then Thor could handle him. She braced herself as Loki flung her backwards. Her back hit the railing behind her. She winced before moving in again. This time he swung the scepter at her, and she grabbed it, forcing it toward his own heart. She couldn't match his strength though. He flung her back again, and she hit the floor, sliding backwards.
"Haven't we been through this already?" he asked. "You weak humans are no match for a god."
Aspen got to her feet. "Didn't you learn anything in your time on Earth? We humans are stubborn, and we don't give up easily." She strode toward him, watching his every movement. He stood his ground, watching her in return with amused eyes. When she lunged, he was ready, he moved aside so quickly, she nearly tripped. She took her chance and darted over to the control panel. Her hand was inches from button that would open the door when Loki grabbed her, flinging her away from it. She caught herself as she fell, but he was too fast. He brought his staff down on her head, and she slumped to the floor, everything going black.
Somewhere within her subconscious she heard him whisper something as he knelt down beside her. "You could have ruled at my side, but you chose the wrong side."
…
When Aspen came to, a medical team had arrived. One man crouched over her, but most of them were gathered around a body. She couldn't see who it was, but she did see Fury standing back watching with a somber expression on his face.
Loki was gone. So was Thor and the glass cage holding him. The medics moved aside, and she could see who it was sitting against the wall. It was Coulson. Blood congealed on his chest from a wound, and Aspen could see that he was dead. Her stomach turned over and blackness threatened to overwhelm her again. Instead of fighting it, she let it take her back into oblivion. At least in oblivion she didn't have to face the chaos that was quickly destroying SHIELD.
…
When Aspen woke up again, she saw someone sitting next to her bed. Bright blue eyes came into focus and then blonde hair and a worried face. Steve had changed out of his uniform, and for a second she thought they were back in New York. Then the reality came crashing back to her.
"Coulson's dead," she said.
"I know," Steve told her. "Loki killed him." A pained expression crossed his face.
"He was a good man," Aspen said. "He didn't deserve to die."
"I thought he'd killed you at first. I saw the nurses carrying your body into the medical bay. I thought…" He stopped speaking, his voice cracking. Aspen reached out her hand and slid it into his.
"I'm alright," she said. "He couldn't kill me. He couldn't control me either. My immunity works against his scepter."
Steve's eyes still danced with worry, and his hand tightened around hers. "He tried to control you?"
"It didn't work," she assured him. "No one is going to control me." She smiled weakly, and he returned it hesitantly. "What happened? Who caused the explosion? Loki mentioned Clint…"
"Agent Barton is here. I think Agent Romanoff managed to shake Loki's hold on him somehow."
Aspen's heart leapt. "He's okay?"
"I think so."
"Thank God." Aspen shut her eyes, relief flooding through her.
"He caused the explosion but under Loki's control. Things got tense after I brought the Hydra weapon to Stark and Banner's attention. Fury happened to be there right as Stark hacked into the system. Apparently Fury was building the weapons because he thought something like this might happen. It was a project called Phase 2." Aspen frowned. "After Thor came here, he felt outgunned. It seems to have backfired on him though. Everyone started arguing." He looked a little bashful. "Stark and I went around quite a bit."
"He tends to rub people the wrong way, I've noticed," Aspen said wryly.
"After the explosion, he and I got one of the engines going again. Doctor Banner transformed and nearly destroyed the Helicarrier. We're not sure what happened to him. He fell…"
"What do you mean transformed?" Aspen asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Doctor Banner tried to reproduce the Super Soldier Serum," Steve told her. "But it went terribly wrong. Now when he loses his temper he turns into a…I hate to say a monster. He's not in control of himself when he changes."
Suddenly Aspen made the connection. "He's not the Hulk, is he?" Steve nodded. "I saw a news report on him. I didn't make the connection before. Banner seemed so…mild the very few times I heard him speak. What happened to Thor?"
"We're not sure. Loki released the glass cell. Hopefully Thor managed to escape before it hit the ground."
"Is everyone else still here?"
"Stark, Romanoff, Barton."
"So what happens now? Where did Loki go?"
"We don't know." Steve sighed. "We're not much of a team."
"A team? Is that why Fury called you all together?"
"He had this idea. It was called the Avengers Initiative. I guess he thought he could bring together unique individuals, and we could work together. It didn't work out so well."
"People don't work well together when they feel trapped the way we all felt. Not that I'm a part of this. Fury is probably going to fire me when this is all over."
"I doubt that. Anyway, we could use your help. We need all the help we can get."
"I failed to stop Loki again though. I'm not really all that useful."
"That's not true," Steve told her.
"This is all such a mess," Aspen said with a sigh. "We need to figure out where Loki went. Have you talked to the others? Maybe they know something. What about Clint? Where is he?"
"He's in the next room over. Agent Romanoff is with him. He's still recovering."
"Can I see him?"
"I think so. I'm sure he'll be glad to see you." Aspen got to her feet, Steve getting up at the same time, still gripping her hand. "I'll go see if I can find Stark. Maybe he has some idea of what we should do."
"I'll talk to Clint." She winced as she moved. Her back hurt from where Loki had thrown her against the metal rails.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Steve asked, furrowing his brow.
"I'll be fine," she told him. "I've been through worse."
They parted outside, and Aspen knocked on the next door over. Natasha opened it for her, letting her in. Clint was sitting up on the bed, looking weary. As soon as he saw her, his eyes lit up. "Pen," he said.
"Clint." She rushed over and threw her arms around him. "God, I was so worried. You have no idea," she said.
"We need to discuss your taste in men," he told her, his voice muffled in her shoulder as she tried her best to smother him.
"Oh shut up," she threw at him, finally letting go. She beamed at Natasha. "How did you break Loki's control over him?" she asked.
"I, uh, hit him over the head pretty hard," she replied with a smile.
"After beating me up," Clint said with a wince.
"I'm just so glad you're okay." He squeezed her hand. "We need a plan. Is there anything you can remember that would help us locate Loki?" Aspen asked.
"He didn't tell me his plans that far," Clint told her. "I wasn't exactly in the state of mind to ask."
"I can't believe he did that to you. When I heard…" She shook her head. "It's all my fault. If I had just turned him into SHIELD in the first place…"
"Then this might have started a lot sooner," Clint told her. "He could have escaped in the New York headquarters and caused more destruction. Who knows? If anything, you kept him from wreaking havoc the first time around. Quit blaming yourself, Pen. I need you to be strong."
Aspen nodded. "I feel useless," she said. "I smuggled aboard the Helicarrier. Fury didn't want me anywhere near this."
"Fury needs all the help he can get now," Natasha told her. "You're close to this but that means you have a right to fight too."
"I'm not sure I'm ready to fight."
"You're always ready to fight," Clint told her. "I did train you myself after all." Aspen smiled at this. "Nothing I could have said or done would have prepared you for this though," he added more seriously. "We're not trained to deal with this sort of thing. Something from another world." He glanced at Natasha who stood, arms crossed, face serious. "We're all way in over our heads. You're probably the most prepared. You've dealt with him before."
"You two helped me take down the Chitauri."
"That was different. Now he's got an army. It's not going to be a couple dozen guys wearing the faces of our agents. It's going to be hundreds possibly more, and they're not going to be subtle. Loki is going to act soon. Today. We need to stop him."
"We will."
"That's the spirit. I'm going to get cleaned up," Clint told them. He stood, squeezing Aspen's shoulder and heading into the small bathroom to their right.
Natasha came and sat next to Aspen, looking more fidgety than Aspen had ever seen her. "Are you alright? Tasha?" Natasha looked over at the use of her nickname. Her green eyes held a light that Aspen had never seen. She definitely wouldn't call it fear, but it was an anxiety that the assassin never brought to the surface to Aspen's knowledge.
"I spoke to Loki," she told Aspen. "Tried to figure out his plan. Which was to unleash the Hulk. Turns out it didn't matter that we knew his game plan. It still happened. When the explosion knocked us all around, I ended up with Banner. He…he couldn't take the level of stress and panic. He changed."
"I heard him roar. I didn't realize you were down there."
"It's just…we've never dealt with anything like this. I'm used to being in control, having the situation under control, but this…"
"Did Loki say something to you? He manipulates, you know. Finds your breaking point and digs in. Doesn't matter if you've been trained not to react, you still feel."
"He threatened Clint. I don't like people threatening one of my own," Natasha said. "He knew everything about me too. Things I'd much rather be kept in the dark. He wormed his way in."
"At least all your secrets didn't happen with him," Aspen sighed. "He doesn't need anyone to tell him about me because he was there to witness all my failings."
Natasha shook her head. "You're still innocent, Aspen. Whatever he has on you isn't bad. Not like me."
"It will be alright," Aspen told her. "We all make mistakes."
They looked up as Steve walked into the room back in his uniform and looking determined. "Time to go," he said.
"Go where?" Natasha asked.
"I'll tell you on the way. Can you fly one of those jets?" he asked.
"I can," Clint said striding out of the bathroom. Natasha gave Steve a small nod to let him know that Clint was back on their side.
"Got a suit?" Steve asked Clint.
"Yeah," Clint replied.
"Then suit up."
