Even after subduing Loki, the government had decided that nuking Manhattan was a brilliant idea.
Honestly, Ronan didn't hold much love for the higher ups in the United States, but really? Killing hundreds of thousands - possibly millions? - of people? Of innocents? Really? Tony had flown off in a suit almost immediately, trading places with Natasha as she secured Loki, picking up the staff.
The scariest part, though, had to be how Loki didn't put up a fight, didn't have a look of 'this is what I wanted' about him, as he had done before. Ronan's actions had taken the god by surprise, left him fumbling, and Ronan found it disconcerting that he could have such an effect on someone. Not to mention this someone was ridiculously powerful. That made the whole thing that much more terrifying.
"You ok?" Natasha's voice was quiet, slightly rough around the edges. She was bleeding from a cut on her head, Ronan noticed, hair just a mass of red curls, windswept and messy. It was odd, he supposed, to see the assassin anything but put together.
"Yeah." Ronan shook himself, as though physically dislodging his thoughts. "Up to the roof - we'll be prepared to close the portal once Tony's dealt with the nuke."
"Nuke?!" Natasha's eyes grew wide with shock, startling on her usually impassive face. "What nuke?!"
"Apparently, the government thinks that killing millions of innocents is a brilliant idea." Ronan said. He heard Marie's snort over the comms, and regretted Steve ever giving her one.
"The government is a bag of shit."
"Not now, Marie!" Kirsten's reprimand sounded, along with the sound of a gunshot. "Help me outside of the mall, will you?"
"On it!"
"How are you friends with her?" Natasha asked, and Ronan shrugged.
"Dunno. Come on - we should move."
They raced to the roof, Selvig coming to, and Ronan skidded to a halt. Erik blinked once, twice.
"I'm seeing things - you're in New Mexico."
"Brought in for the madness." Ronan corrected him. "Any way to close this portal?"
"Not yet!" Tony yelled over the comms. "I need to get that nuke in there."
"That's a one way trip, Stark." Steve said, and Ronan furiously ignored that statement. He refused to believe it.
The next actions, the next few minutes passed so quickly they felt like seconds. He saw Tony fly into the wormhole, watched with bated breath as he waited for the familiar red and gold suit to come flying back, Tony's smug 'easy as anything' ringing through the comms, but that didn't happen.
"You can't be serious?!" Ronan had missed Steve's comment, Kirsten's clear voice sounding in disbelief. "All due respect, Captain, but you will be sentencing Mister Stark, one of the most influential men in America, to death! I can -"
"What choice do we have, Miss Grace?" Steve's voice sounded resigned. "If you have a better plan, I'm open to suggestions."
Kirsten stayed silent, and it was only when Natasha broke through the forcefield surrounding the device that the pieces finally clicked together in Ronan's head.
"Woah, woah - this is Tony we're sending to death here!" And his voice sounded hysterical even to himself, but no one listened and Natasha touched the device with the sceptre.
He stared as the wormhole shrunk, breathing out a 'no', his eyes welling up with unshed tears. Until a figure fell backwards, shooting through the air.
Steve's whispered curse was heard, and it was the Hulk who caught the falling man, and Ronan held his breath, not daring to hope -
"Woah, what just happened?" Ronan's laugh sounded hysterical to his own ears, but full of relief. "Please tell me nobody kissed me?"
"We won." Steve said, and Ronan tuned out Tony's nonsensical blather, sinking to his knees. Natasha knelt next to him, a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to look at her, the assassin's face unusually soft.
"We did it, Ronan." She said, and Ronan smiled, a watery thing.
"Yeah. Yeah, we did."
XoooX
Ronan didn't see Tony until SHIELD agents arrived, and when he did he may have flung himself at the genius. He felt Tony stiffen, as though unused to such open affection, but returned the hug after a second of hesitation.
"Hey, kid."
"I thought you were dead." Ronan managed and, oh God, he was crying. How embarrassing.
"Ro, dear, you're scaring the poor man." Marie's voice sounded amused and Ronan pulled away from Tony, only to turn the hug on Marie, who didn't hesitate to hug him back. "Nice to see you, too."
"I told you to leave, you idiot." Ronan muttered and Marie's grip tightened fractionally.
"Never." She whispered, and Ronan figured she meant it in more ways than one.
" - and with all due respect, Director, I believe the casualties would be much more if we weren't there." The hug was broken by Kirsten's voice, and Ronan turned to see her entire 5 foot three inches, blonde hair somehow still neatly curled and in a white sundress, squaring off against Director Fury. The entire scene was surreal, and Eli, who had tugged on a pair of joggers and a t-shirt provided by SHIELD, was trying not to snicker.
"Miss Grace, you and your...companions are merely civi -"
"We were not civilians once our mutations came to light, and you know it!" She shot back, and even Tony looked impressed. Natasha let out a low whistle.
"Your friend is impressive." She hissed to Marie, who puffed up like a proud mama bird.
"I know." She said.
"I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere in your database there were already files about every person of note who had a mutation. The only reason you didn't call any of them in is because they don't know about SHIELD, or because they are, as you said, 'civilians'. Whatever - the fact of the matter is, reprimanding us for showing up here is not going to change anything." Kirsten blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Besides, bringing in Mister Spire already brought a civilian into this situation, did it not?" Fury blinked a few times before relenting, turning and returning back to the helicopter he had arrived in. Kirsten turned on her heel, cocking her head at the slack jawed looks she was getting. "What?"
"Where do you find these people?" Clint asked Natasha, who pointed to Ronan.
"Hey, Marie found her!"
"We shared a debate group." Marie sighed almost dreamily. "She absolutely destroyed a white boy who was talking about how immigrants should be kicked out of America."
"She told him that he should be kicked out, considering that the white people in America are technically immigrants, and the only true American's are those of Native descent." Eli added, ruffling Kirsten's hair, ignorant to how red she was.
"It's true." Kirsten pointed out, only to grow silent as Loki was led off to a jet.
The look of confusion on Loki's face was obvious, but also sort of relief was there. That it was over? Maybe that the others on the other side of the portal were gone? Ronan made to move forward, wanting to ask, wanting to know...what? If Loki was alright? What was going to happen to him now? Marie stopped him, a hand on his shoulder.
"Ro -" She was surprised when Ronan shook her off, making his way to Loki, who had been accompanied by Thor. The smaller of the two was avoiding looking at the other, who seemed to be pleading with him.
"Thor." Loki jolted as though hit by Ronan's words and Thor turned to him, looking defeated in a way.
"He won't talk to me."
"Loki is right here, you know." Ronan commented, voice gentle. Then his eyes caught on the thing in Thor's hand. "What -"
"It's…" He held it out and Ronan felt himself grow ill.
It was silver, a piece of metal, which would not have made him sick. No, it was the fact it was designed to muzzle someone, to keep them silent. His eyes flickered between it and Loki, remembering when he read about the threads. About sewn lips and tears and the abject horror of anyone, even one who had the power of clever words, having their freedom of speech taken away. Of being treated like less than human.
"You can't be serious?" Ronan was aware his voice was shaking. "You cannot be fucking serious."
"His words -"
"Are his words. You are not muzzling him like some common dog!" Ronan's voice had risen at the end, effectively drawing attention to him. He wasn't embarrassed, like he would have been before. No, he was furious. "I told you about the legend, about what you did to him in it! You sew his lips shut, and you think this thing is any better?!" Thor stepped back, eyes wide at the sound of Ronan's voice, at the fury emanating off him. Ronan would be backing away, too. He could barely believe how angry he was, how enraged.
"Ronan." He whipped around at the sound of his name, a cutting remark on the tip of his tongue, only to pause at Bruce in oversized sweats and eyes kind and sad. "Come on. Let...let Thor do what he must." Hesitantly, Ronan turned, somehow managing to not look back at the warring brothers as he headed over to a concerned looking group of Avengers.
He was proud of himself when he heard the clang of metal against the concrete, the sound of the muzzle falling from Thor's slack hands.
XoooX
The scariest thing, now that it was all over, was that Ronan didn't know what he was going to do tomorrow.
Thor had gone, Loki in chains but not the muzzle, and the rest of the team were standing where the two had once been, plus Marie and her friends. Ronan felt like they deserved to see the resolution - they had fought, too. They should see the end of the incident.
But now they were all going to go, and Ronan could only think of how much he didn't want to go back to his apartment, when days ago he would have leapt at the opportunity to go home and avoid the problem he had been tasked to solve.
He had grown attached, he realised, to this bunch of misfits.
To Clint, despite his short time, with his smile and perfect aim and how he didn't immediately dismiss Ronan's claims of Loki's actions not being entirely his own. To Natasha, and her quiet attitude and how she was so fierce without the use of brute strength, and her soft smile that she offered Marie when his friend asked her to call her, with an extravagant wink.
To Steve, and his golden boy merits and strong sense of justice, and how he was more than just a comic book character. How he genuinely cared that much, and how the shield was perfect for him because above all else, he was a protector.
To Bruce, and his awkwardness and the way his eyes lit up when presented with a challenge. His nervousness and twitchiness and how he couldn't hurt a fly, of how the Hulk actually liked Ronan and wouldn't hurt him. How gentle they both, truly, were.
Most of all, though, Ronan would miss Tony. Tony, and his ridiculous nicknames and his ability to hide snacks anywhere and just pull them out at a moment's notice. How behind all that exuberance and posturing, he cared so much, too much, and showed it in the way he would shoot teasing barbs at Steve and ramble about science with Bruce and ruffle Ronan's hair and call him 'kid'.
And Ronan found himself sniffling slightly, trying not to cry, because they were all going and the last time someone had left him, they hadn't come back - either because their eyes could never open again, or because they were too badly hurt to truly recover.
"Hey, Ro." That was Tony, and Ronan scrubbed furiously at his eyes when he turned. There was a lopsided smile on the billionaires face. "I meant what I said - we need to do science sometime. Just you and me. My doors are open."
"Thank you." His voice cracked, but Tony, bless him, didn't mention it. He just grinned and ruffled his hair, before getting into his car, Bruce in the passenger's side. The doctor waved at him, and Ronan raised a hand in return.
Marie slung an arm across his shoulder, pulling him close to her side.
"Think you're gonna be alright?" She asked, and Ronan stuck a hand in his pocket, fingers curling around the phone with every Avengers' number in it, ready to call them at the push of a button.
"Yeah." Ronan said, smiling. "I think I'll be alright."
And he let her lead him away, Kirsten and Eli following, into a day full of exciting possibilities and the knowledge that he would never be truly alone again.
XoOoX
And the Avengers part of this is done!
There will be a brief interlude, focusing on The Winter Soldier, starring Marie, but then it's back to regular Ronan-based shenanigans in The Dark World. Also, seven chapters for The Lucky Seven(th) which, good planning.
Hope you enjoyed this one! ~ Jazz xx