"Fury's going to be here in an hour. He's getting the lot of specially armed forces from S.H.E.I.L.D. settled in D.C.," Clint said formally, tapping away at a map of the East coast on the flat screen. Everyone of the Avengers (along with Darcia and Pepper) were settled in the living room, watching the make shift computer display an aerial map of the district.
"What good are they going to do? This is just going to be like New York. Loki's going to come in with some...army...make us destroy all of the major landmarks, get captured, and then have the blame posted on us."
Pepper turned on Steve, looking at him in horror. "What are you talking about? That was not his plan. He wanted to make the human race slaves, under his power. Everything else just happened by pure incident."
He crossed his arms. "It sure as hell didn't seem like pure incident. That was probably his plan the entire time, making us seem like the enemies. Now he'll come back as some sort of...buffer and everyone will come running to him."
"That's not the way a Captain of war speaks, Captain," Natasha said stoically, looking down at him. "We have no idea what he wants now, but if it's anything like last time, then we damn well need to be as in the game as ever. Everyone thought we were going to fail and then we didn't. So now they'll be saving their hope for us.*" She cast him a dirty look before walking up to the screen to take over Clint's job. The archer didn't protest.
"That's not what I'm saying, Romanov," Steve started, but was hushed down by Thor.
"I know not what my brother is doing down here. I should have felt some force when he escaped Asgard. He was very heavily guarded. It does not seem so likely..."
"And what? Darcia was literally just dreaming about all of this? What about her father? Why would the president of her company say that out of all the people in the world, Loki murdered him?" Tony exclaimed, cutting off the demigod.
Darcia stood up, holding her hands out to stop the mass argument that ensued; Thor's booming voice downing the Captain's stern, ominous words, and then there was Tony, whose eccentric accountability kept him in the heart of the argument. "Shut up! All of you! This is serious. Thor, I know you would've...I don't know, felt, something or whatever, but I'm not wrong. I saw it clear as day and I know it doesn't seem very likely, but it's happened. Or, it's going to happen. Soon. Which is why we need to be as prepared as possible and get the residents of Washington out of that area as soon as we can! Has no one thought of that!?" Everyone was silent, their attention on her. "If you want people to look up to you, then you need to keep them safe. If we know something is going to happen before it does and don't do anything about it then that's not exactly doing what we promised. You all are superheroes for Christ's sake! Why don't you start acting like some and get the innocent, helpless mundane humans out of there while we still have a chance?
"I know it doesn't seem real, but it's going to happen. We all know that now. In my...vision, or whatever you want to call it, it was mostly deserted. So I don't understand why no one has thought of evacuating the area before," Darcia finished, fuming, staring everyone down as if challenging them to object.
Bruce sighed, standing up from his haunched over spot at the island. He carried the iPad with him over to the heiress, tearing his eyes off of the screen once he reached the group. "She's right. This isn't the best way to thwart an attack. We all know what the Hulk is capable of...in example, both New York and Harlem. I don't want D.C. to be next on his list. There needs to be as few deaths as possible and now that we have a heads up, we should be doing what Darcia said and getting those people out of there. I've charted and graphed everything on here," he held up the iPad, "and I think we can get everyone in the Metropolitan area (that is, everywhere close to the Mall) out by Thursday morning, latest."
"All right," Natasha said slowly, thinking of a plan quickly. The weird expression on her face wiped off immediately after something clicked in her mind. "Okay. I'll get it taken care of. We don't know when Loki is coming, so it's best to act fast, as previously mentioned. We should shoot for tomorrow night though. Just for extra precaution." Before anyone could agree, she had her phone out and was dialing, half way across the room, then forgotten as Clint shouted 'Aha!'
"Look at this," he said, gesturing to the screen. "I doubt there's much saving any of the monuments or historical buildings, but they can always be rebuilt...and there's not much time to remove all of the prized possessions they hold, but I think," he tapped the screen to enlarge a series of different colored lines running close to the National Mall. "if we get ahold of them right now, I'll leave that up to you, Pepper," The aforementioned girl nodded, taking out her Blackberry, "then we can get out all of the priceless artifacts by subway. You know, Rembrandts and that diamond and whatever else."
"And that diamond..." Darcia muttered, shaking her head.
"On it," Pepper said, all business as she followed Natasha out of the room to make her phone calls.
"Okay, but what about the actual plan, Barton? We kind of need one of those, remember?" Steve said, exasperation clear in his voice.
At that, Tony grinned widely. "Oh, I've got that covered. What else did you think I did with Darcia all those days in the lab?" Clint sniggered, obviously thinking something dirty, but went ignored by the others. "We drew up ideas for different courses of action. They can be remolded for any situation, any city, right?" he looked over to Darcia for reaffirmation, though with the victorious grin on his face, it looked like he didn't need it.
Darcia's eyebrows furrowed for a split second before she remembered that, oh, yes, that's what they did all those days ago. "Oh, yeah!" she exclaimed, suddenly excited. "That's great! Oh, that motherfucker is so going DOWN." She used this hand motion that made the five of them laugh.
After his chuckles quieted down (as they were the first to die out, right before Thor's), Steve still looked unsure. "So where are these magnificent plans? Did you think of everything for all of us? Or just yourself, Stark?"
Tony rolled his eyes. "JARVIS, extract blueprints 132-46 and place them at easy availability on the flat screen. Oh, and start the espresso machine, would you? It seems it'll be a late night..." Darcia cracked a grin and jumped on the couch, settling in against the convenient pillow as she watched the screen immediately comply.
"Yes, sir," the AI said smoothly, a sort of smugness in his cool voice. "Shall I put on the playlist as well?"
Tony beamed and clapped Bruce on the back. "Damn straight." And with that, the group settled into an easy meeting of battle tactics, diversions, escape routes, and victory parties beneath the thudding of a Twisted Sister song.
It was just past dawn when they got the call. Somehow, a very miraculous feat, actually, every single one of the Avengers had managed to fall asleep in the living room. One by one, they fell victim to sleep's sweet seduction, starting with Darcia on the couch, her head in Bruce's lap; Bruce's head leaning on the back of the cushion, his mouth uncommonly open as he inhaled and exhaled deeply. Pepper flanked the end, beside Bruce, curled up into a little ball, still clutching her phone like a vice, while Clint and Natasha had all but passed out on the floor, half on top of each other, leaning against the table. Tony claimed the chair across from the couch, his empty coffee mug dangling precariously over Natasha's boot; Thor and Steve were entangled on the love seat, an embarrassing posture to be caught in in any situation. The music still rattled the light fixtures and there was a blueprint of a new machine on the flat screen. Fury left around midnight, confident that they had something planned (really, he just wanted an excuse to get away from them), leaving behind boxes of new toys and most importantly, a uniform in forest green for Darcia.
Whatever raucous song had been playing stopped during the rifting guitar solo and JARVIS' pristine voice woke them all up as he spoke in an urgent manner. "Mr. Stark and company, there is an incoming video message on the main screen. It would be prudent if you aroused from your sleep and answered it as soon as possible."
"Huh, what?" Tony blubbered, sitting up haphazardly and dropping his cup on Natasha. She woke from her sleep, her espionage reflexes catching the mug before it landed on her, a wary glare locked on her face. Barton, startled by the sudden loss of heat, jumped nearly a foot up before he tripped on his own feet and landed on the three on the couch, which resulted in a chain of shocked-awake groans and splutters that eventually got the demigod and Captain fully aware of everything going on.
"So much for grace," Natasha muttered disapprovingly. The screen changed to the S.H.E.I.L.D. logo, a noisy ringing vibrating throughout the room, and now everyone was wide awake, their attention enraptured by what was about to happen.
"Accept," Tony said as cooly as he could, but they could all tell that he was just as nervous as they pretended not to be (with the exception of the agents, who really were as prepared for this as anything). Fury popped up on the screen, a grave look on his otherwise serious face.
"Well, agents," he started, not bothering to decipher the difference between under contract and fully resigned, "it seems that we need your help sooner than expected. I hope you are as ready as you could be because there has been sightings of Loki in Brazil. He was not captured, but he was reported to be heading North, to the States. A private plane will be waiting at JFK in exactly one hour so you need to be ready to go by then. I will personally be waiting for you with my special force at the White House in three hours so don't be late." He then sighed, dropping his gaze from the screen for a split second before he met their stares once again. "We'll get through this." And the logo came on again, his only offer of hope reverberating through their minds like a solemn poem, a sad song that spoke of despair, of lost causes.
They all stared at the screen, wordlessly, the room entirely too quiet for its own good. Natasha stood up slowly and everyone soon followed, perturbed, slightly off balance in their own good wits. "It's so...soon..." Pepper whispered, a horrified look adorning her face. Tony walked over to her and let her take his hand for reassurance. Unconsciously, Darcia clutched Bruce's arm, hers wrapped around his like a cross, needed for support, of which he graciously obliged, his hand curling up to hold hers.
"Let's just be grateful we aren't finding everything out now," Natasha said curtly, all seriousness as she walked back to the training room to gather any last minute weapons she might need. Clint nodded and went back to his room to get anything else he forgot. Slowly, everyone broke up, going their own separate ways to make sure they haven't forgotten anything as well, until it was Darcia and Bruce left alone in the living room, dread filling up the former.
They looked at each other and with a sudden rush of emotion, she clutched him, holding him tightly in her arms, her body pushed against his. He wrapped his arms around her, putting his cheek next to her ear, not saying anything, just holding. "Don't let anything happen..." she whispered, leaving out the 'to me.' She still hadn't mentioned the part where she was absolutely terrified of his alter-ego.
"Don't worry," he murmured, stroking her back. "Everything will be fine." She nodded, not entirely believing him, but taking his word for the best. She put on a brave face and steeled her shoulders, backing away from her boyfriend carefully.
"We should hurry. Don't wanna be late to kick some demigod ass."
Bruce matched her grin, though his was hesitant, wary, and with a final gesture, he took her hand and they went to the lab, knowing both bedrooms held nothing for either of them. But in the lab, that was their only source of stability, of cold, hard fact, of absolute conclusions, easy to come to, irrefutable, just there. Like an unchanging variable, a stubborn reaction. The exact opposite of what they were about to face, where they didn't know what they were facing, how long it would take; more impossible hypotheses, unable to decipher, an improbability in a sea of madness. Though, a complete constant in their lives.
(A/N: Well, I've got to say, I'm disappointed. I've had like three chapters written out, ready to go, but I was just waiting for two more reviews to mark 200. I wanted to offer a contest with an awesome prize after that, but I just kept getting discouraged the longer I waited. Honestly, I wrote out this chapter like four or five days after I posted the last one and they just kept coming, I was so inspired. Now I'm kind of just...bleh. I'm really glad you all have stuck with me this long, though. I shouldn't be so "important" to think I'd get four reviews on that last chapter, to hit the magic 200.
The asterisk is a reference to the alternate opening that was cut. You may want to watch that. Thanks.)