May 1, 2012
The Tesseract has awakened.
It is on a little world - a human world. They would wield its power, but our ally knows its workings as they never will.
He is ready to lead. And our force, our Chitauri will follow.
A world will be his. The universe, yours.
And the humans? What can they do but burn?
Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility, Nevada
Nick Fury stood in the scrub and sand of the desert, his lungs filled with smoke. He'd watched an entire facility collapse into the ground, swallowing buildings and roads and satellite dishes. His body ached - from being shot in the chest by Barton, and from jumping out of his falling helicopter.
The lights of Barton's stolen jeep faded into the darkness, and Fury allowed himself a moment to catch his breath. Five minutes ago he'd had a facility, a Tesseract, and loyal soldiers. Now Barton and Selvig were gone, compromised by that strange scepter, and that manic-eyed alien had taken off with the Tesseract.
"Director?" came Coulson's voice over his radio. "Director Fury, do you copy?"
Fury gritted his teeth and brought up his radio. "The Tesseract is with a hostile force. I have men down." He glanced back at the burning carcass of the helicopter. "Hill?"
"A lot of men still under." She sounded injured. "I don't know how many survivors."
"Sound a general call," Fury instructed, his mind already kicking into gear. He did not have the luxury of defeat. "I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase."
"Roger that."
"Coulson, get back to base. This is a Level Seven. As of right now… we are at war."
There was a moment of silence. Fury could hear flames crackling and rocks crumbling.
"What do we do?" came Coulson's quiet voice.
Fury drew in a breath. He thought of the assets at his disposal, the programs SHIELD and the World Security Council had set up. None of their active programs would be enough. But then… he'd known what he would have to do the moment Loki stepped through that portal into this world.
He lifted his radio. "I'm reinstating the Avengers Initiative."
May 2, 2012
Brussels, Belgium
Maggie's phone buzzed in her pocket. She ignored it, as she had the six other times it had buzzed. It was probably Tony calling about the tower again, since it was due to go fully self-sustainable in a few hours, but he could wait.
"Ms Stark, how do you think your company's developments in clean energy will change the job market internationally?"
Maggie smiled and leaned forward. She'd been invited to Brussels to be a part of a week-long Clean Energy Conference, and today she sat on a panel with several other experts and scientists in the field. She sat at a long desk on a stage, with a packed audience seated in the theatre around them. The lights shone brightly, and a massive blue display of the globe hung behind the stage. Maggie folded her hands on the desk.
"That's an interesting question, thank you," she said to the audience member who had the microphone - a journalist, from the looks of things. "The Stark Industries Clean Energy Division has actually put together a research team to investigate this very question, and they highlighted some key findings which I'll share now-" but before she could elaborate, she felt a tap on her shoulder.
The audience murmured as Maggie turned to the black-uniformed conference staff member who'd tapped her shoulder, and now bore an apologetic grimace.
"Sorry to interrupt, Ms Stark, but you have an urgent phone call," he whispered, and offered up a cellphone on a silver hors d'oeurves tray.
Maggie eyed the sleek phone, bemused. "Alright." She turned back to the microphone on the desk. "Apologies everyone, it appears I need to step away for a moment. Doctor Maes, would you mind reading the key findings from this document here to answer the question?"
Doctor Maes nodded, also looking bemused, and Maggie slid out of her chair, took the cellphone from the red-faced staff member, then strode backstage.
Once she was out of view, she held the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
"It's Hill. I've got a mission for you."
Maggie rubbed her forehead. She and Agent Hill hadn't actually met in person, but Hill was usually the one to call with assignments. "You know, I was kind of in the middle of something."
"This is urgent. We've had a Level 7 breach."
"What does that mean?" Maggie's SHIELD security was low.
"Check your phone, I've sent the mission briefing packet to you there." Maggie pulled her phone out of her pocket as Hill spoke. "The Tesseract was stolen - the energy source that the Red Skull used in World War Two. An Asgardian god called Loki took it, and we believe he means to use the Tesseract to start an extinction-level event."
Maggie went cold. She silently opened the information packet which had downloaded to her phone. She scrolled past images of the glowing blue Tesseract, and a CCTV still of a dark-haired man labelled Loki. Past the initial briefing, under a list of Loki's assets, was: Agent Clint Barton (compromised by alien technology. See: Loki's sceptre). Her stomach bottomed out.
"Shit," Maggie said, overwhelmed by everything in the packet. Frowning, she returned to the notes on the Tesseract. She shook her head. "I know I'm good, but you know I'm not a physicist, right? I don't know how this Tesseract works, or what Loki might plan to do with it."
"We've got that part handled," Hill said shortly. "And I think you'll be pretty motivated to start studying anyway. No, I'm calling the Wyvern."
Maggie straightened. "Where do you need me?"
"We need you to be ready. We'll call you."
"You say the sweetest things," she replied, feeling shaky.
"We also need you doing everything you can to locate Loki and his associates. The information in the briefing packet should help you. Mission priority is to find and stop Loki, and retrieve the Tesseract."
"I'll get started right away."
Hill hung up.
Maggie didn't return to the panel. She strode right out of the conference centre and back to her hotel room, already setting search algorithms on her phone. SHIELD likely had better algorithms and more computer power than her, but the more she read in the briefing packet the more alarmed she felt.
One part of the packet did stand out to her: below the briefing about the Tesseract and Loki, there was a second part. It was titled The Avengers Initiative.
In her hotel room she tugged off her business attire and got to work. She had reading to do.
In the comms hub of the helicarrier, Nick Fury spoke with the shadowy figures of the World Security Council.
"The Avengers Initiative was shut down," they urged.
"This isn't about the Avengers," he shot back.
"We've seen the list," one scoffed. The list Fury had activated only hours ago. He wasn't entirely confident that all of them would be on board.
The original Councilman leaned forward. "You're running the world's greatest covert security network and you're going to leave the fate of the human race to a handful of freaks."
"I'm not leaving anything to anyone. We need a response team. These people may be isolated, unbalanced even, but I believe with the right push, they can be exactly what we need."
The Councilwoman shot him a weary look. "You believe?"
"War isn't won by sentiment, Director."
"No," Fury agreed. "It's won by soldiers."
May 3 2012
Maggie had missed the livestream of Stark Tower becoming fully self-sustainable. She was a few hours ahead of New York, and in the early hours of the morning she was too busy with the packet SHIELD had sent her, reeling at all the new information while also casting out nets for any information about Loki. All she'd heard so far was vague murmurings in her shadow world about a small group snapping up materials and weapons - probably Loki's associates, but they struck too quickly and too randomly for her to pick up a pattern.
That will be Barton's doing, she thought with a pang of pain. She liked the archer, and the thought of him being controlled by Loki made her stomach twist. Selvig, too - the briefing packet was full of his notes, since he'd been working on the Tesseract, but she'd read that he had been co-opted by Loki as well. Maggie had looked into Jane and Darcy's whereabouts, just in case, but SHIELD was well ahead of her; they'd been relocated to Norway.
Maggie had messaged Romanoff and even sent a brief message to Barton, but neither had replied.
The briefing packet had knocked Maggie's worldview sideways. Not only were aliens real and confirmed, but so was the Tesseract, an otherworldly power source, and SHIELD had known about both for months (years, in the Tesseract's case). She eyed the images of their destroyed Nevada base again: a crater in the desert. The sheer amount of power it must have taken to level a structure like that… she shuddered to think about it.
Maggie had also been reading up on the other candidates of the Avengers Initiative. That was pretty world-changing, too. The images of the roaring green Hulk, and Captain America alive and well. She recognized the pictures of the trashed Puente Antiguo in the section about Loki and Thor. So Foster really did make contact with another world. She eyed the image of Thor, which looked like a mugshot. He must be why she was so determined to open up another Einstein-Rosen bridge, Maggie realized.
Her Wyvern computer chimed, and she looked over. Another SHIELD storage depot had been hit. SHIELD had sent the intelligence directly to her. Maggie flicked through the information. A small team had hit it, and they'd taken scientific equipment and weapons. No sign of Loki, though. He'd been recruiting fast.
In the next minute, her phone buzzed. Tony.
Maggie picked up the call on speakerphone. "Hi," she said, opening up the holographic display from her computer. She'd been halfway through the Tesseract notes before her computer chimed. "Are you okay?"
"Just grand," came Tony's voice. "I was going to call to brag about the Tower, but I'm assuming you got a not-so-great memo from SHIELD, too?"
"Yes, I"m reading through everything now."
"Did you see they found Rogers?"
Maggie's eyes flicked to the segment about Captain America in the packet. Old film reels and photographs, as well as an image of a half-defrosted Steve Rogers. "I did," she said. She thought she should be more surprised, but after everything else she'd read today… why not a living Captain America? "Dad would've been happy."
Tony was silent for a few moments. "So you're on call, too?"
"Yes. SHIELD is mobilizing, but I think they're only planning to bring me in if things go sideways. Well, more sideways."
"Same here. I don't like this, Magnolia. This is a whole mess that's been cooking for a while, and we didn't know anything about it: this Loki character, and the Tesseract - did you see that Dad fished it up years ago? I think that's what he based the Arc Reactor on. Did you know about this… this Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.?"
"No," Maggie murmured. And she felt stupid for it. She knew both the lead scientist and the head of security on the project, and she'd been clueless. She eyed the rotating hologram of the Tesseract projected above her Wyvern computer. Selvig's photo was pinned beside it. "I'm only surface level with SHIELD. That's the way I liked it, but… well, maybe I should have been taking a closer look." She rubbed her jaw. "Look, I'd better keep reading, I'm doing some research of my own. They're going to need some crazy harnessing capabilities to do anything with the Tesseract, I'm trying to figure out what Selvig might be planning."
"Me too," Tony sighed. "Mags…"
She recognized the note in his voice. "You can't tell me to keep out of this Tony, just like I can't tell you to either. We're involved. Our dad fished that thing up from the depths of the Arctic Ocean, and his organization started this mess. More than that, there is a seriously powerful target on the loose with a devastating weapon. We need to end this, and end it fast."
He sighed again. "I know. Just… stay safe."
"You too, idiot."
"You will have your war, Asgardian," spat The Other, his face shrouded by his hood. The dark, bleak expanse of space cast a chill over the barren rock they stood upon. Loki's scepter glowed blue. "If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us…"
The Other circled behind Loki, who did not move. He would not give the sycophant the satisfaction.
"There will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he can't find you." His voice dropped to a hushed whisper. "You think you know pain?"
The sound of his voice slithered and echoed in Loki's ears.
"He will make you long for something sweet as pain." The Other's cold hand closed around the side of Loki's head and he flinched, snapping back into his body on Earth with a grimace.
I will not fail.
SHIELD Helicarrier
Steve exchanged polite greetings with Doctor Banner on the sunny deck of the Helicarrier, looking around at the bustle of activity.
"Well, this is actually kind of familiar."
It was nice, after all the strangeness of the last few months. Not that he was entirely pleased with the situation - learning that SHIELD had recovered the Tesseract only to lose it to an alien with seriously bad intentions was not great news. He'd just met Coulson, polite and a little ecstatic, and the steely-eyed Romanoff. She reminded him a bit of Peggy.
And now…
"Is this a submarine?" Steve exclaimed as a siren chimed out over the deck, and engines rumbled far below.
"Really? They want me in a submerged, pressurized metal container?" Banner mused sarcastically.
They both strode to the edge of the deck and looked down. Churning waves swirled to reveal a massive spinning turbine which rose out of the water. Spray whipped up against their faces.
"Oh no, this is much worse," Banner laughed.
As the helicarrier's engines emerged and they began to lift into the sky, Steve let out a breathless laugh. I owe Fury ten bucks.
Brussels, Belgium
Maggie called out sick from the conference so she could focus on hunting for Loki and his men. She ran her own algorithms and spoke to her own contacts, and worked remotely with the SHIELD techs. They had impressive computer power, and she learned that they were able to do a facial recognition sweep on nearly every camera on the planet.
Halfway through the day, she learned that SHIELD had called all the labs they had access to and instructed them to put their spectrometers on their roofs and calibrate them for gamma rays. That… is actually a very good idea, Maggie thought when she heard about it. She wondered if that had been Doctor Banner's idea. She knew SHIELD had brought Banner in and she'd been reading up on him in her briefing packet, startled to learn that the soft-spoken scientist was actually the Hulk she'd seen on the news.
As the sun set outside her hotel - she hadn't had a breath of fresh air since yesterday, she thought wistfully - her computer chimed once more.
When she glanced at the screen, her skin prickled.
28 Konigstrasse, Stuttgart.
When her phone rang a minute later, she was already half in her uniform. She answered as she pulled her arms through the sleeves.
"It's Hill, we've got a hit-"
"I saw," Maggie replied as she fastened her flight suit. "I'm on my way."
On the SHIELD Quinjet soaring through the night sky, Natasha Romanoff checked the flight computer settings before glancing back at her sole passenger: Captain Rogers sat in the cabin in his colorful blue and red uniform, looking down at his shield.
"We're five minutes out," she called. She glanced at her phone and saw an update from Hill. "Also just so you know, we may have another consultant on the ground. They'll be acting as backup."
Captain Rogers frowned. "Consultant?"
Natasha grimaced. "She's… affiliated with SHIELD. Callsign Wyvern. She'll have your back in a fight."
Rogers's frown didn't lift. "Mystery never goes down well on the battlefield."
Natasha just turned back to her flight controls. Fury had given her orders not to reveal the Wyvern's identity without his express permission. So for now, Rogers would just have to trust her.
Stuttgart
"In the end, you will always kneel."
A hundred terrified and silent people knelt on the cold cobblestones of Konigstrasse plaza. Loki stood over them all in his green and gold armor, his ceremonial horns gleaming in the streetlights and his teeth flashing.
But then, slowly, an old man with a receding hairline stood. "Not to men like you."
Loki's smile widened. "There are no men like me."
The man did not blink. "There are always men like you."
"Look to your elder, people." Loki lifted his glowing blue scepter and it powered up with an eerie hum. "Let him be an example."
The scepter erupted, shooting off a bolt of blue light - but in the same second a man clad in blue dropped in front of the old man. The light rebounded off his red, white and blue shield and back at Loki, knocking him down.
Captain Steve Rogers straightened. The hostages in the plaza stared at him as he stood, their eyes wide. "Y'know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."
Loki raised his head and grinned. "The soldier." He laughed as he got to his feet. "The man out of time."
Tension crackled through the air. Loki's hostages were half crouched, their eyes darting between the two strangely dressed men.
Rogers's jaw set. "I'm not the one who's out of time."
With a resonant hum a Quinjet appeared in the night air behind Captain Rogers, all gleaming metal and sharp lines - and a gun turret that emerged from its belly.
"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down," came Agent Romanoff's voice over the speakers.
In the next second a shadow swooped over the top of the nearby building and dropped down behind Loki with a muted thud. Loki looked over his shoulder.
A woman in a dark flight suit stood at the top of the steps leading up to the gala building. Her dark, sharp metal wings were flared wide to either side of her, and slitted red eyes burned from her face mask. She held her centre of gravity low as she looked down at the situation in the plaza.
Maggie had flown hard to get here, and her sudden stillness had her nerves and muscles tingling. She noted Loki's quick assessment of her arrival, and then Captain Rogers's gaze - his eyes widened slightly, but he remained in a battle-ready stance. The civilians crouching in the plaza stared between them all, held captive in silent tension. Maggie had dropped down into the middle of a standoff.
She didn't say anything. She didn't have to: her intention here was pretty clear. She let her claws and barbed wings glint in the streetlights.
Loki, in his gaudy, intricate armor, appeared to give them all a thoughtful look. Then, quicker than she'd expected, he let off a bolt of crackling blue light at the Quinjet.
The plaza burst into action. As the Quinjet veered out of the way of the projectile Rogers hurled his shield at Loki, and the kneeling hostages burst out screaming and fled. The sudden mass of people standing interfered with Maggie's eyeline so she beat her wings and rose a few feet over the ground. She sighted Loki, lifted her wrists and fired.
Her dull red energy bolts impacted off Loki's armor without seeming to bother him. Cursing, she set her wrist blasters to power up to their full capacity. Rogers darted in close and cracked Loki across the jaw; Loki's head snapped back, but then he glared and the two of them were trading blows. Metal clashed against metal, followed by a fleshy thud as Loki caught the Captain in the stomach with the butt of his staff.
Rogers went tumbling into the side of the fountain. Maggie swooped. With a burst of power from her engines she dove in on Loki and slammed the heel of her prosthetic foot into the side of his head. He stumbled a step forward, helmet askew, and then turned to her. His eyes flashed with hostility but before he could lift his scepter Maggie flung up her wrist and fired her highest-powered energy bolt at his head.
Loki's face glowed red as the bolt scorched toward him, but he stepped aside just in time. He whirled and sneered up at her. "A child of luxury who makes play as a hero," he snarled through a sharp white smile. He had a measured, cold voice. "How sweet."
Maggie's stomach swooped. He knows who I am. Thanks, Barton. "Tell me more about posturing, golden helmet guy."
He fired at her. Maggie dropped beneath the crackling blue bolt and the hairs on her arms rose. Her knees jarred as she landed on the hard cobblestones. She sprinted forward as Loki lowered the scepter and launched with a swipe from her wings, which cut a slice into Loki's cape as he whirled away. She dogged his steps, slashing with her claws.
His grin warned her of his next attack. He swept out with the sharp edge of the scepter and she raised her wing just in time - a horrible shrieking sound ripped into her eardrums as the alien blade sparked up the hard metal bone of her wing.
Another metal clang resounded. Maggie whisked her wing back to see that Captain Rogers had launched back in - his shield bounced away across the cobblestones, but he followed it up with a sickeningly fast punch. Loki dodged, and then they were all fighting.
Loki swung the scepter to keep them at a distance, but with Maggie and the Captain on either side of him he had to be quick. Maggie didn't even look at the Captain, nor he at her. They worked around each other, darting and striking, trying to surround the god and keep him distracted. The plaza had nearly emptied now. Above them the Quinjet dipped and weaved, trying to get an angle on Loki.
While Loki tried to decapitate the Captain, Maggie powered up another high-range energy bolt and fired it at the Asgardian's back. It knocked him down and the Captain lunged, but Loki sprang up with inhuman speed and slammed the flat of the sceptre across his back. Rogers went sprawling again, winded.
Maggie took her chance. She lunged for Loki as he turned, dodged under his whirling scepter and drove her fist upwards. Her armored glove cracked against his jaw with a force that bruised her knuckles, but he barely seemed to feel it. He sneered again.
But Maggie had known this; if Captain Rogers's punches didn't seem to bother him, hers certainly wouldn't. But Loki was distracted by the punch. So he didn't make an effort to block her when she lifted her other hand and fired one of Tony's short-range missiles right into his chest.
The explosion flared bright between them. Maggie stumbled back in the blast wave but Loki tumbled to the ground, his armor clanking and an audible oof leaving him. The edge of his cape smouldered, and then caught in a flame.
Loki smacked out the fire with one hand and looked up at Maggie. His gaze sharpened. Assessing, reevaluating. As if the sparrow he'd been fighting had suddenly changed into something with claws.
And then he moved again, much faster than any human: in one breath he was off the ground and swinging the scepter at her. Maggie ducked again, a little breathless now, hearing the whistle as the glowing blade cut over her head. But this time Loki had been the one to feint. Before his swing was complete Loki slammed his armored boot into the middle of her chest.
Maggie launched clear across the square, momentarily sure her lungs had collapsed. When she collided with the top of the steps and rolled to a stop, she realized she could still breathe, thanks to her armor, but it hurt. Maggie rolled off the wing she'd fallen onto and managed to rise to her hands and knees, breathing purposefully slowly. Everything ached.
When she looked up Loki had the tip of his scepter to the Captain's head.
"Kneel." He sounded pissed now, his voice low and gritty.
The Captain grabbed the end of the staff. "Not today." He launched up and executed a truly impressive spinning kick to the side of Loki's helmet.
Maggie had to respect the guy's determination.
Still doubled over on the steps on the other side of the plaza, Maggie tried a grenade. She flicked it from the side of her flight suit and hurled it at Loki as he and Rogers swung and weaved. Loki deflected the grenade off his forearm plate. He looked annoyed by the blast of fire and smoke, but not hurt. He sent Rogers tumbling to the ground again. Maggie pulled a gun from the small of her back. Maybe he's got a weak spot. She wondered what happened if an Asgardian got shot directly in the eye.
But then she heard… music?
Yes, Shoot to Thrill was now blaring out of the Quinjet speakers and over the plaza like a budget concert. Maggie paused, gun raised, and Loki and the Captain in the middle of the plaza paused too. They all looked up, frowning.
Iron Man streaked out of the night sky like a burning comet. Maggie could just make out his glowing eyes when he pulled up and blasted his repulsors into Loki's chest. Now it was Loki's turn to be launched across the square. He crunched against the steps by Maggie's feet, head jerking back. His scepter clattered to the ground. Iron Man landed in a kneel that dented the cobblestones and raised both arms, missile launchers and gun turrets rising from his shoulder plates. The last bars of Shoot to Thrill echoed out from the Quinjet speakers.
Maggie couldn't help but smile at the sight of the red and gold Iron Man, even as her stomach swooped. She knew that Tony put himself in danger all the time but she didn't like the idea of him near this.
"Make a move, Reindeer Games," Tony called to Loki. His rigid gold face mask brooked no arguments. The Captain stood up and hoisted his shield onto his arm. He strode up beside Iron Man to stare down Loki. Maggie, on the steps above Loki's head, flicked the safety off her gun.
Loki glanced between the three of them. Then his image blurred gold, like a fading hologram, and the horns and outfit faded away to leave him in a simple dark tunic. He raised both hands.
Tony's missile turrets retracted. "Good move." Behind him, the Quinjet slowly came down to land.
"Mr Stark," Rogers greeted breathlessly.
"Captain."
Maggie kept her gun trained on the back of Loki's head as the Captain and Iron Man paced across the square toward them. She kept a wary eye on Loki. He'd gone still all of a sudden, but she didn't trust it. He had more than a few tricks up his sleeve. Rogers pulled a set of handcuffs from his belt and began fastening Loki's hands. Loki merely watched him, his palms open. Sirens sounded in the distance, but other than the Quinjet's humming engines the plaza was almost silent.
When Rogers gripped Loki's shoulder and pulled him to his feet, Iron Man picked up the fallen scepter gingerly and turned to Maggie. She felt the urge to flinch away from the scepter, but repressed it.
"Hey, you're… here," came his carefully neutral voice.
Maggie inclined her head. "So are you." Her voice came out modulated, sounding slightly electronic.
The Captain gestured for Loki to stride forward, and he glanced between Iron Man and the Wyvern. "You two know each other?"
"In passing," Maggie said.
There was silence as they all walked toward the Quinjet, which had just landed on the cobblestones. Loki said nothing as he walked in step with Rogers, who had a firm hand clamped to his shoulder. If Loki was worried about being bound and marched towards captivity, he didn't show it. Maggie took the chance to take in his appearance. His outfit was definitely strange: not as gaudy as the green and gold armor, but he wore a dark tunic with green highlights and a filigree metal binding. His dark hair was slicked back from his calm face, and his eyes were fixed ahead. Maggie checked her wrist blasters to make sure they were fully powered.
And by his side walked… Captain America. Large as life in a bright blue, red, and white uniform. A silver A had been emblazoned on the top of his cowl, and a star on his chest. The shield at his side gleamed brighter even than the Iron Man armor. Under the cowl, Rogers's face was grim and determined. He had a no-nonsense look in his eyes. It's really him.
The Wyvern and Iron Man walked in step beside each other behind the god and the supersoldier. Tony's boots clanked on the ground. Maggie touched her chest where Loki had kicked her - she'd bruise, but she could breathe freely and wasn't experiencing any stabbing pains, which she supposed was good. Ahead of them, the Quinjet loading ramp opened.
Tony, of course, broke the silence. "This is weird, right?"
A smirk crossed Loki's placid face. "I think it's weird."
"Shut up, asshole," said Maggie and Tony in unison. They glanced at each other, surprised, and though they were both masked Maggie could tell her brother's smile matched her own.
A SHIELD agent in a flight helmet appeared at the base of the Quinjet ramp. He nodded to Captain Rogers, then jerked his head at Loki. "In."
Loki went without a complaint, pacing up the ramp into the Quinjet, where the SHIELD agent gestured to one of the cabin seats and began strapping the Asgardian in. Maggie had to admire the agent's nonchalance about ordering an alien around.
She realized that Captain Rogers had not followed Loki up into the Quinjet. He had stalled at the base of the ramp and was looking between Tony and Maggie.
His gaze settled on her. "Uh, ma'am" - Tony snorted, but Rogers rallied and continued - "I appreciate the backup back there."
Maggie inclined her head, since Rogers couldn't see her smile. "I appreciate the..." she gestured in his general direction.
"Oh my god," Tony groaned, "please tell me you aren't hitting on Captain America."
She laughed. "I am not hitting on Captain America, you idiot, but I wouldn't expect a guy in a red and gold tin can to appreciate a cool-ass uniform, no matter how vibrant it is."
Rogers's eyebrow rose.
Tony turned on her. "Tin can? At least I invested in actual body protection, miss 'look-how-cool-my-wings-are-oh-wait-I've-been-shot-"
Maggie found herself laughing. She and Tony hadn't really ever worked together before, save for the Expo incident, but she liked this lightness after battle. "Come on, I got shot once, and I do so have body armor-"
"Oh yeah, your Kevlar-blend vest is really going to hold up against an alien pogo stick-"
"Oh," Rogers said as he looked between them. "You're Howard's daughter."
Maggie and Tony froze mid-bicker at the foot of the ramp. Maggie's eyes widened and she slowly turned to look at the Captain. Steve Rogers was smart. And the Howard's daughter thing made her stomach flip.
From inside the Quinjet, Romanoff called "Get a move on!"
Right.
Tony shook himself. To Rogers, he said: "Ten points to Gryffindor." Then he retracted his faceplate and turned to Maggie. "Come on, Maggot."
"Don't tell me what to do," she sniped back, but then followed Tony as he marched up the ramp. "And he's totally a Gryffindor."
Captain Rogers fell into step beside Maggie so she retracted her wings to give him more walking space. At the top of the ramp she reached up and tugged off her cowl, freeing her sweaty face and tangled hair. Everyone glanced at her in alarm, but she just waved a hand.
"Greaseball already knows who I am, there's no point." And with the Tesseract threatening world destruction, her secrets didn't seem as important as they once had.
Strapped into a cabin seat, Loki smiled enigmatically and then went back to ignoring them all.
Maggie turned to Captain Rogers. He eyed her face. "So, it's nice to meet you. Sorry about all the hush-hush-wink-elbow-nudge stuff, SHIELD really loves all their secret spy shit."
Romanoff leaned over in the pilot's seat as the Quinjet ramp closed. "You're one of those secrets, Maggie."
"Hey, Nat!" Maggie called as she jogged up the length of the Quinjet to the cabin. The other SHIELD agent was already strapped into the copilot's chair. "How was Volgograd?" She wasn't meant to know about that, but she liked tracing Natasha to annoy her.
Natasha rolled her eyes. "Cold."
"Where are we going?" Maggie asked.
"Back to the helicarrier," Rogers answered, and she frowned.
"The what?"
Natasha chuckled under her breath. "Oh, you're going to love it."
Maggie leaned against the bulkhead and leaned down, eyeing the flight computer. Behind her, Captain Rogers began firing questions at Loki: Where is the cube? Where are Barton and Selvig? Why did you attack the gala?
Maggie murmured lowly: "I'm sorry about Barton."
Natasha stiffened. "We'll get him back."
Maggie swallowed her doubt. "Yeah."
They'd come to Germany with three people in the Quinjet, and were returning with six.
Steve looked around at the newcomers as they soared through the night sky. He truthfully didn't know what to make of any of them, but he had to try - it might mean the difference between mission failure and success.
He leaned against the bulkhead near the cabin, eyeing Loki. The Asgardian had not said a word since they'd strapped him into the Quinjet, and did not look likely to. He stared straight ahead, as calmly as you please. He'd pretended not to hear their questions.
Then there were the Starks.
On a personal level, it was so strange to see them: Howard's children. He could see Howard in their features, in their dark hair and eyes, the tilt of their chins. They stood together now on the other side of the cabin, working on a datapad Agent Romanoff had handed to them. They'd inherited Howard's sharp mind and quick tongue, as well. They were going over footage from the gala Loki had attacked to try to figure out his motive. Occasionally, Mr Stark spoke to an electronic voice that emanated from his suit helmet.
The notes SHIELD had given Steve had told him all about Iron Man: how Mr Stark had built himself that gleaming red and gold suit of armor and become a private contractor in the field of world peace. He still wore the armor - sans helmet - now. It was an impressive feat of engineering. Steve had figured out the rest about Mr Stark on his own; since he'd woken up in New York last year he'd learned about the elder Stark's penchant for excess and scandal. Still, Steve had to admit he'd done well to end the fight with Loki without even throwing a punch.
And on the other hand there was Ms Stark. Her metal wings had vanished into the contraption on her back, and she'd taken off her cowl and gloves, leaving her in a dark grey and burgundy flight suit. She was quieter than her brother, though not by much, and her eyes were a little sharper - though Steve imagined Mr Stark noticed more than he let on.
Her eyes were focused now as she read the information on her datapad. She glanced once at Loki, and her expression darkened.
Steve let out a quiet sigh. He could tell that both Starks were capable fighters, with a wealth of resources at their disposal, but… they made him feel uneasy. Mr Stark had already proven himself glib and showy, and Ms Stark… he had no way to trust her motivations. They both talked fast, and hid what they really felt. It was really, Steve thought, that they were private contractors. The Starks didn't belong to an army, or a team, and so they weren't really beholden to anyone.
"So he needed the doctor's retinal scan," Mr Stark murmured, "to get access to the lab a few blocks away. He must've had someone else on the ground who broke in while Loki caused a diversion."
Ms Stark nodded. "There's been a break in reported. But the lab doesn't have any digital records, so we'll have to wait for the police to question the lab employees and get the CCTV. Should be another few minutes before we know what was in there."
Mr Stark looked over at Loki. "Wouldn't want to tell us, would you?"
Loki pretended he couldn't hear them. For a few moments, the only sounds were the Quinjet's humming engines and the wind whistling past outside. Steve glanced through the pilot's windshield and saw dark, craggy mountains swathed in forest. Romanoff exchanged a few words with Fury over the radio.
Steve put his back to Loki and stepped toward where Mr Stark was eyeing the god. "I don't like it," he murmured.
"What, Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"
"I don't remember it being that easy." He glanced over his shoulder. "This guy packs a wallop."
Ms Stark, leaning against the bulkhead nearby, looked up. "Could be he didn't want to mess up his outfit anymore." Her eyes narrowed. "But I agree, he had so many other plays he could have made."
"Still," Mr Stark cut in with a glance at Steve, "you're pretty spry. For an older fella."
Ms Stark rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the datapad.
Her brother turned to Steve. "What's your thing, Pilates?"
Steve stared. "What?"
"It's like calisthenics. You might've missed a couple things, y'know, doing time as a… Capsicle."
Steve's jaw clenched. This is why I've been unsure about him. "Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."
Stark had glanced away again, as if he couldn't be bothered to look him in the eye. "Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."
A flash of blue light illuminated both their faces, followed by a long rumble of thunder. Two more streaks of lightning speared through the sky ahead.
"Where's this coming from?" Romanoff murmured as she glanced around. Steve and both Starks looked over, brows furrowed.
The lightning came in steadier bursts now, flashing in the dark clouds and lighting up the inside of the Quinjet. The wings shuddered with turbulence.
Steve glanced around, and then spotted Loki looking up nervously. It was the most emotion he'd shown since they caught him.
"What's the matter?" Steve called. "Scared of a little lightning?"
Loki met his eyes. "I'm not overly fond of what follows."
Maggie realized what Loki meant a second later.
Lightning. Asgard. Jane.
Thor.
And then something heavy dropped with a clang on top of the Quinjet, and Maggie stumbled back against the wall as they dropped a good six feet through the air. Her datapad clattered to the ground, the screen cracking, and the others glanced up in alarm. As one, they jumped into action. Steve dove for his shield and Tony pulled on his helmet, while Romanoff steadied the jet. Maggie pulled her cowl and gloves out of her pocket and began shoving them on. She thought she could hear footsteps on the top of the Quinjet.
When she looked up, her goggles blinking to life, she saw Tony in full Iron Man armor hit the control panel for the loading ramp.
"What are you doing?" Rogers shouted as Tony strode toward the ramp. Wind gusted into the Quinjet, crackling with ozone.
Maggie tugged on her second glove. "Tony-"
But she pulled up short when a man dropped down on the ramp. Not a man - a god. He had long, windswept blonde hair and a billowing red cape. He'd dropped down in a crouch, his eyebrows low over determined eyes and a grim face. He straightened to reveal a powerful form in burnished metal armor, and a heavy-looking hammer gripped in his fist. Maggie's mouth dropped open.
Tony flung up a hand, his repulsor powering up, and with inhuman speed the intruder swung his hammer straight into Tony's chest. Tony slammed back onto the ground, knocking over Rogers.
"Hey!" Maggie spared a glance to make sure Tony was okay, then lifted her own wrist and fired a volley of energy bolts at the red-caped attacker. He let them glance off his armor, barely sparing her a look as he seized Loki by the front of his leather vest and ripped him out of his seat restraints. In the next second he had flung his hammer and sent them both hurtling out of the back of the Quinjet.
Maggie didn't stop to think. She sprinted down the length of the cabin and hurled herself out into the wind and rain.
"Maggie!" Romanoff shouted into the comms.
Maggie deployed her wings as she plummeted through the storm-buffeted night air, trying to track where Loki and the attacker - Thor - had gone. She angled her wings so she sliced down through the sky, engines burning.
Through the comms she heard arguments back on the Quinjet - first Tony cursing her stupidity, then Rogers calling after him as Tony apparently also jumped out of the jet. Then Romanoff trying to convince Rogers to stay out of it. Maggie focused on tracking the slipstream Thor had left as he plummeted through the air, then realized he was putting out low-level electronic interference that she could track. He'd landed on a rocky outcrop below. He'd moved quick; that hammer of his could hit some serious mileage.
But a few seconds before she broke through the cloud cover, a red-and-gold blur zipped past her.
"Slowpoke!" Tony shouted as he roared past.
Dammit.
She was still plunging downward when Tony intercepted Thor. Over the comms she heard what must have been Thor's low voice ("You listen well, brother-") when Tony hit him with a thud.
Maggie hit the ground seconds later. Thor had just summoned a bolt of lightning at the sky and sent it scorching toward Tony. Tony who stood there, withstanding it, his suit alive with electricity. Maggie's heart jumped, but she didn't dive into the fight. She landed on the rocky outcrop above the forest, where Loki crouched and watched his brother and Tony brawl.
Loki glanced over his shoulder when Maggie landed.
Maggie steadied herself, wings spread, then grabbed a pair of metal loops from her belt and flung them at Loki. He blinked as the loops zipped through the air and closed themselves around his wrists with a click. They looked like sleek metal bracelets, with a glowing green light on each one. Loki looked up at her again, frowning.
Maggie grinned behind her cowl. She'd designed those last year and this was her first chance to use them. Behind Loki, Tony and Thor collided with each other. "Hi again," she said, "those are programmed to completely paralyze you if you get more than three hundred feet away from me. Hope you can keep up!"
Loki's eyes widened.
Maggie flared her wings and dove off the rocky outcrop.
She cast about for Tony and Thor, then cursed when she saw them rocketing away through the treetops. She surged upward and zoomed her HUD in - Tony slammed Thor into a nearby clifface, sending rock crumbling to the ground before they surged back again. In a glowing, crackling mess they collided with the forest floor. A tree crashed to the ground.
Maggie soared over the treeline just as Tony and Thor gripped each other's wrists, grappling with each other. Thor's teeth flashed as he crushed Tony's armor in his hand, making Tony cry out.
Maggie dove down and flicked out her heelspur. Thor saw the oncoming blade a second before she plunged it into his neck and he jerked aside, letting Tony go - Tony let off a repulsor blast that knocked Thor sideways, and then Maggie was on him. She landed with her full weight on Thor's shoulders and used a spinning move Natasha had taught her to use his momentum against him, sending him off his feet and crashing to the ground.
They sprang up at the same time, Thor snarling and whipping his hair out of his eyes and Maggie swiping with her wings. He dodged once, then blocked her wing with his forearm and swung a punch at her.
Tony burst between them, slamming his helmet into Thor's head. Thor blinked, then growled and headbutted him right back. Tony flew back again, tumbling head over heels.
Maggie fired both her energy blasters, which made Thor blink and jerk his head away, then surged forward and drove her knee between his legs. Thor twisted at the last moment and her kneecap clanged painfully against the base of his chest plate. Thor met her eyes with an incredulous and angry expression. He swung at her again.
Maggie lasted about two seconds of hand to hand combat before she realized shit, I'm no match for an angry god.
When Tony rocketed forward, seized Thor and hurled him into a treetrunk, Maggie changed up her tactics. She fired her engines and rose into the air, going for long range assault. She circled within the clearing, wings beating, and peppered Thor with all the firepower she had. When Tony cracked a metal fist across Thor's face she shot a volley of bullets into his back, and when Thor picked Tony up bodily and hurled him to the ground, Maggie dove in and swiped him with her wings and claws like a territorial bird. She couldn't break his skin, but she kept him distracted and diverted while Tony was vulnerable.
But Thor was unstoppable. He didn't fight like his brother at all, he was an invincible, angry force that just kept fighting. He slammed Tony to the ground, beat Maggie away with a swipe from his fist, and then held out his hand. When the hammer whirled into his grip Maggie's eyes widened. But Tony rocketed away across the forest floor before Thor could slam it down on his head. Thor fell and Maggie used the opportunity to drop down onto his back, grab his hammer-wielding arm and jerk it back painfully, making him roar. But when he swiped at her with his other arm she jumped back into the air, engines firing to keep her hovering. Tony rocketed back, punching Thor as he rose to his feet, but in the next second a gleaming shield bounced off Thor's forehead and then Tony's chest before whirring back to its owner.
"Hey!" Rogers shouted. Maggie glanced up. He stood atop a half-shattered treetrunk on the other side of the clearing, his gaze firm. He slid the shield back onto his arm and eyed them all with an air of utter command. "That's enough."
Stillness fell. Rogers jumped down from the tree, landing lightly, and then met Thor's eyes. Tony lowered his repulsors and Maggie slowly descended in the air.
"Now I don't know what you plan on doing here-"
"I've come here to put an end Loki's schemes," Thor growled. Maggie eyed the hammer in his grip, trying to figure out how much leverage it would take to get it out of his hand.
"Then prove it," Rogers responded evenly. "Put that hammer down."
"Uh, yeah, no," Tony cut in, "bad call, he loves his-"
Maggie saw the aggression tighten Thor's features an instant before he struck, and she raised her hands. But with no warning Thor swung his hammer in a brutal backhand into Tony's chest, smacking him away from his side and right into Maggie. The suit collided with her stomach, knocking the breath from her, and then together they crashed into the ground. They toppled head over heels, hopelessly tangled. Tony's elbow collided with Maggie's chin and her foot banged against his head.
"You want me to put the hammer down?" Thor roared.
Maggie pushed Tony off her and looked up just in time to see Thor leaping down on Rogers, his hammer raised. Rogers lifted the shield and then -
A piercing light erupted from where the hammer hit the shield, followed by a resonant metallic noise which nearly burst her eardrums.
Then the blastwave hit her. The force of it lifted Maggie up from where she'd been kneeling and blew her backwards, helplessly spinning. The wave flattened the forest for a mile around and sent boulders and tree splinters flying. Only the internal gyroscope built into Maggie's wings steadied her enough to avoid crunching head first into the crushed timber. As it was, she hit the ground on her side, protected by her wing, and found herself sprawled in the middle of a pile of shattered wood. Her head spun and her ears rang.
When the dust cloud settled, the only sounds in the forest were creaking wood, and the soft sounds of people groaning in Maggie's comms. Maggie flexed her limbs and tilted her head where she lay in a pile of logs. Sore, but in one piece.
"Are we done here?" she heard Rogers say.
She didn't hear Thor say anything in response, but the lack of further fighting must have meant acceptance. Maggie sat up and saw the three of them standing in the epicentre of the blast - a clearing of dirt and branches, surrounded by a ring of flattened trees. They looked around, taking it all in.
Tony spotted Maggie half-hidden at the edge of the clearing, and jogged over to help her up.
"You okay?"
"Fine," Maggie replied as she shoved branches off her legs. "You?"
"It'll take more than that to keep me down." He gripped her elbow and helped her stand.
Rogers glanced around. "Where's Loki?"
Maggie brushed splinters off her flight suit. "Our supreme overlord couldn't keep up." The three men glanced over at her. "He's face down in the dirt somewhere over there." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder.
Rogers let out a breath. "Well, let's…" he touched his hand to his ear. "Agent Romanoff, would you please land the Quinjet nearby?"
Her wry voice came through the comms. "Sure thing. Thanks for clearing a landing pad for me."
Thank you for the birthday wishes my loves, it seems most of your favourite scenes are the big reveals, and honestly I'm with you there!
Reviews
Bigboss: Thank you so much for the birthday wishes, I'm glad you're enjoying!
DBZfan45: I'm so glad you enjoyed the last chapter so much! Maggie and Strike Team Delta are so much fun to write. And we got to see Peggy Carter, who is the Queen of my Life. Thank you so much for your kind words about the Wyvern character, I am so pleased so many people enjoy reading about Maggie. I think she deserves a Disney+ series too haha. Hope you had a great week!
Pirateangel616: Thank you so much, I'm so glad you're enjoying! Also if you enjoyed the f*** you HYDRA party, stay tuned in this fic ;) Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
The1975Love: You said you were anxious for Avengers, here you go! You are absolutely right that Torres needs to be protected, but I have a bad feeling he's going to get knocked off…
Don't touch Lola: (nice username btw) thank you for the birthday wishes! I'm glad I've managed to pleasantly surprise you :) I'm a big fan of the early chapters of the Siren too tbh, it's not very "MCU" but I really enjoyed exploring that world and establishing Alice's character. Thank you so much!
Guest: Thank you thank you! My birthday was lovely, made all the better for your lovely comment :)
Guest: I generally don't tell people my faceclaim straight up because I like everyone to come up with their own image for Maggie, but I generally picture her either as Gal Gadot, or Conor Leslie :)