Chapter Thirty Four
"So how long have you worked here?" Bruce asked her as they walked down the hall towards his lab. Natasha raised an eyebrow,
"Roughly nine years now" she answered. Bruce looked shocked,
"I'm older than I look" she informed him at his look. Bruce nodded and they continued walking in silence.
"We're here" Natasha said as she stopped by a door. "I hope it's to your liking Doctor" she added before turning away and began walking back the way she came. Bruce didn't have a chance to say anything before she had already turned the corner.
"Damn she's fast" he muttered to himself as he entered his lab.
'Agent Romanoff and Captain Rogers, please report to the hanger bay immediately. I repeat, please report to the hanger bay immediately' the call came from the speakers. Natasha took off at a fast run. Fury and Rogers were waiting for her by a quinjet.
"Agent Romanoff, Loki's been located in Germany. You are to take Rogers with you and intercept him. Understood?" Fury informed her.
"Yes sir." She replied, standing straight. Fury nodded,
"Good luck Romanoff, Captain" he said as he walked away. Romanoff looked at Rogers,
"Let's go Captain" she told him, walking up the ramp. Rogers quickly followed her and they both sat down in the pilot's chairs.
"So what's it like being a SHIELD agent?" he asked when they were in the air and on their way.
"It's interesting" she replied shortly.
"You seem really familiar Agent Romanoff, I just can't figure why" he commented. Natasha tensed slightly,
"I would just forget about it Captain, we have more important things to worry about than my face reminding you of someone from your past" she told him. Rogers looked at her carefully before looking out the window,
"Yeah, I guess we do" he replied softly. Natasha kept her eyes focused forwards; inwardly though she was cursing him. 'He shouldn't remember me! I was twelve and only saw him for five days!' she thought annoyed. There was no more chatter for the rest of the flight.
"Loki, drop the scepter and stand down!" Natasha's voice came out of the speakers. Loki shot at the jet in response, she quickly dodged it. She tried to get a shot at him with the guns mounted on the jet but failed.
"The guy's all over the place, I can't get a clear shot" she informed the captain via their coms. Suddenly a warning came over her screen claiming that someone had overwritten her controls. AD/DC music started to play out loudly over the speakers. She rolled her eyes.
"Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?" Starks voice was heard. She didn't deign him a response. Iron man appeared out of the sky and blasted Loki off his feet before landing nearby. Mini missiles came out of his shoulders,
"Your move reindeer games" He told the Norse when his face mask retracted. Loki in response dropped his staff and slowly raised his hands.
"Good move" was Starks response, allowing the missiles to retract.
"Mr. Stark" Rogers greeted him stiffly.
"Captain" Stark replied in the same tone.
"Stark, Rogers, get Loki on board" Natasha's voice was heard through the coms as she lowered the quinjet so they could jump up on the ramp. As soon as they were all in, she lifted the jet again and flew back to base. Rogers tightly secured Loki to one of the seats whilst Natasha got in touch with Fury,
"Director, its Romanoff. We have him"
"Said anything?" he asked
"Not a word" she replied
"Just get back here. We're low on time"
"Yes sir" she answered before turning off her headset.
"I don't like this" Rogers commented,
"What Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Stark responded,
"I don't remember it ever being that easy. This guy packs a wallop."
"Well you were still pretty spry, for an older fellow" Rogers rolled his eyes and was about to respond when suddenly a large clap of thunder and lightning appeared out of nowhere.
"Where's this coming from?" Natasha asked as she looked out of the window, trying to keep the jet steady.
Rogers noticed Loki getting rather pale,
"What's wrong? Scared of a little lightning?"
"I'm not overly fond of what follows" Loki responded. A loud bang was heard as something landed on top of the jet. Stark opened the ramp door as he put his helmet back on. Thor appeared and grabbed hold of Loki before vanishing back into the night.
"Now there's that guy" Stark commented.
"Another Asgardian? Natasha asked from where she was still trying to keep the jet steady
"Think this one's a friendly?" Rogers asked
"Doesn't matter, if he free Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost" Stark responded as he prepared to fly out.
"Stark! We need a plan of attack" Rogers shouted at him,
"I have a plan. ATTACK" Stark said before flying out into the night. Rogers rolled his eyes and grabbed a parachute.
"Get them back Rogers, I'll inform Fury of the situation" Natasha informed him as she flicked her headset back on.
"Will do ma'am" He responded before jumping out of the aircraft.
"Director, we have a situation" She started without preamble.
"What Romanoff?" Fury was irritated.
"Another Asgardian appeared. He took Loki and jumped out of the jet. Stark and Rogers are in pursuit." She informed him. Natasha heard a muffled curse before Fury was heard again,
"What did this new one look like Romanoff?" he asked.
"Red Cape, blonde hair. Carried a hammer" Natasha recited.
"That's Thor. Loki's brother" Fury responded.
"What are you orders sir?" she asked.
"Fly lower and pick them up. Thor included. Bring them back here ASAP." He ordered
"Yes Sir" She replied before switching off the headset and flying lower.
She had just landed when she heard Rogers voice coming through the com,
"Are we done her?" Natasha took stock of the damage surrounding them. She opened the ramp and waited until they were all on board.
"Thor, Director Fury wants a word with you when we get back to base" Natasha told him as soon as he was on board. Thor nodded, not surprised she knew who he was.
"And you are?" he asked.
"Agent Romanoff" She replied. "Was that stunt really necessary?" she asked, referring to grabbing Loki and flying off with him.
"Loki has committed numerous crimes, he will face Asgardian justice" he proclaimed. Natasha nodded,
"He also needs to answer for crimes against Humanity. Therefore I ask you not to take him again". She informed him. Stark and Rogers just stared at them whilst they were having their conversation.
"I give you my word Lady Romanoff" Thor replied.
"Just Romanoff is fine" she informed him. There was no more conversation for the rest of the journey.
Two squads of armed guards greeted them when they touched down on the landing deck. Thor and Rogers led Loki down the ramp and to the waiting guards. Thor followed as they led his brother to his cell. Natasha walked down with Stark hurrying to keep up.
"So Natalie, nice to see you again" He said. Natasha glared at him, "its Natasha, Stark. Keep that up and you will find yourself not able to have children in the future" she hissed at him. Stark paled,
"You wouldn't" he said, his hands covering his privates. Natasha smiled evilly at him,
"It wouldn't be the first time" she whispered in his ear before walking off.
Natasha met Bruce, Rogers, Hill and Thor in the bridge. They were watching Fury's interrogation.
"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce asked.
"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" Rogers asked
"He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." Thor replied.
"Seriously, an army? From outer space?" Rogers commented in disbelief
"So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for." Bruce commented,
"Selvig?" Thor questioned.
"An astrophysicist" he answered.
"He's a friend" Thor told them.
"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours" Natasha informed him. Thor nodded.
"What I don't get is why he gave up so easily, I mean it's not like he is leading an army from here" Rogers commented
"I don't think we should focus on Loki, his mind is like a bag full of cats. You can just smell crazy on him" Bruce added his input
"Have care how you speak, Loki may be beyond reason but he is of Asgard and is my brother" Thor rebuked him.
"He killed eighty people in two days" Natasha pointed out blandly. There was a pause.
"He's adopted" Thor said defensively. Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Iridium, what did they need the Iridium for?" Bruce asked trying to get the conversation back on track.
"It's a stabilizing agent." Stark said as he walked in with Coulson. He deliberately stood as far away from Natasha as possible. She smirked at him.
"It means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants" He informed them.
"No hard feelings point break, you've got a mean swing" he patted Thor's arm as he walked past to stand at Fury's station. He made a showing of trying to see all the screens at one; even covering an eye at one time.
"How does Fury see these?" He asked
"He turns" Hill informed him dryly. Stark spared her a look,
"Sounds exhausting" He replied. "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube." He spoke as he pressed certain buttons on the monitor.
"Since when did you become an expert on thermonuclear astrophysics?" Hill asked
"Last night. Selvigs notes? Am I the only one who did the reading?" he asked the room at large. Silence was his answer.
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Rogers asked
"He would need to heat the cube to a Hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier." Bruce responded
"Unless Selvig had figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunnelling effect" Stark joined in.
"Well if he has done that then he can achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet." Bruce finished.
"Finally someone who speaks English" Stark said.
"Did that just happened?" Rogers asked. Natasha smirked. She understood most if not all of what they had just said. Stark wasn't the only one who had read Selvig's notes.
"It's good to meet you Dr. Banner; I'm a huge fan of your works. I'm also a fan of the way you turn into a raging green monster when you lose control" Stark said. Bruce smiled weakly,
"Thanks" he managed to respond.
"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him." Fury announced as he entered the room.
"Shall we play doctor?" Stark asked Bruce,
"We shall" Bruce replied, leading him to his Lab
"Romanoff, I want you to confront Loki. Get something out of him" Fury ordered her quietly, making sure no one overheard.
"Yes Sir" she responded before slipping away. Fury walked over to Thor,
"You think you can make Loki tell us where the Tesseract is?" he asked, already knowing the answer
"I do not know. Loki's mind is far afield. It's not just power he craves but vengeance, upon me. There is no pain that would pry his need from him" Thor answered
"A lot of guys think that, until the pain starts" Fury stated
"What are you asking me to do?" Thor asked plainly
"I'm asking you what are you prepared to do" Fury responded.
"Loki is a prisoner." Thor stated.
"Then why do I have the feeling that he's the only one on this boat that wants to be here?" Fury demanded. Thor had no answer and so Fury stormed off.
A/N next chapter the interrogation and others things.
Stay Tuned...
S.