Author's note: Hey here's the next chapter. I hope it's a long one. I don't own anything relating to Marvel.
The Avenger pt3:
"I totally agree that the idiot that got it out of the ocean shouldn't have." Tony says.
"Stark it was your father that got it out of the ocean." Fury says.
"Oh well, that makes him even more of an idiot." Tony shrugs, a few people were wondering to themselves 'why doesn't he like his dad?'
They all just shrug and look back at the screen.
The environment was cloaked in darkness, a faint bubbling revealing the blackness to be that of the depths of a body of water. A golden metal hand surgically cut through the metal pipe through which the city's power lines ran underwater.
Tony smiles at his entrance in the movie.
Iron Man's golden faceplate was dimly lit by his blue eyes, his scarlet chest-plating by the arc reactor shining through the triangular glass cover. He reached around to his back to grab an object and attach it to the lines he had revealed, illuminated by the rays of the twin spotlights that had slid out of the tops of his armored shoulders.
The semi-circular device spun around the pipe before expanding into two rings encircling it and spreading lengthwise, orange spots lighting at the ends and tubes of blue at the center. Iron Man idly floated away from work before turning and sending power to his thrusters, shooting up through the expanse of water with countless bubbles trailing him.
He emerged into the night sky alongside a cruise ship with a spray of water streaming behind the beams of his thrusters, pausing in the air as he adjusted his trajectory before soaring towards New York City's high-rises. "Going to go on this end – the rest is up to you," Tony's voice sounded as he weaved through the buildings and over the streets still crowded with cars.
"You disconnected the transmission lines?" Pepper asked, a video of her communication with him in the bottom corner of the interface inside Tony's helmet. "Are we off the grid?"
"Stark Tower's about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy," Tony declared, Jarvis' diagnostics of the Tower forming a hologram in the opposite corner of her.
"Well, assuming the arc reactor takes over and it actually works."
"I assume," he conceded. "Light her up."
He flew towards his tower as she obeyed, rooms littering the hundred stories lighting up from within as well as the bright blue STARK running across the top.
Practically everybody rolled their eyes at how Tony looked at his tower. Tony glared at them, not happy with them. Pepper sighed with a little annoyance.
"How does it look?" Pepper asked.
"Like Christmas – but with more….me," he answered, thrilled.
"We've got to go wider on the public awareness campaign – you need to do some press," she said as he arched his flight path and followed the curve of the building upwards. "I'm in DC tomorrow, I'm working on the zoning for the three buildings-"
"Pepper, you're killing me," he interrupted, slowing as he reached the top of the tower and hovering. "The moment, remember – enjoy the moment."
"Get in here and I will," she responded.
Steve was blushing from the way Pepper said her answer, looking over at the two of them. Tony smirks at him.
"You two don't do anything right…..we would see anything?"
Tony was about to respond but Pepper spoke up before him, "Don't worry Steve we didn't do anything, and Tony don't you dare say that we did."
"I was there, Pepper is correct." Coulson spoke up.
"Thank you Phil." Pepper smiled at him.
He started down the row of steps as the slides of the landing platform leading into the tower retracted downwards and the ring that he had landed in the center of separated and tilted vertically as it followed at his sides. "Sir, Agent Coulson of SHIELD is on the line," Jarvis informed through his creator's earpiece, the mechanical arms of the platform unfolding and reaching to remove Tony's helmet from his head.
"I'm not in," he answered instantly. "I'm actually out." The arms unlatched his chest-plate and stripped him of the underlying frame and wiring that had covered his front and back as he walked before proceeding to remove the pieces covering his arms. The armor was safely compacted and transported to the area below, the flooring reassembling behind his progress.
"Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting."
"Grow a spine, Jarvis – I've got a date," Tony retorted. The armor over his thighs was taken before the tiling under his feet slid sideways so to reveal machinery that grasped his boots and the metal over his lower legs. He stepped out of them and continued on in the black long-sleeve, dark pants, and running shoes he had been wearing underneath as the final pieces of his suit were taken and the panels that made up the floor stilled.
Everyone in the room was impressed with how the machine at the tower could be able to take the suit off Tony while he is walking. Loki wasn't impressed since he already seen this type of thing happen during the invasion.
"Did you build that?" Jane asked in shock.
Tony smirked, "Yes."
"Levels are holding steady," Pepper announced, the clear screen in front of her depicting the tower and a magnification of the arc reactor at its base, and their corresponding power levels. "I think," she finished, biting her lip in uncertainly.
"Of course they are – I was directly involved," Tony arrogantly dismissed as he drew closer to her standing before the long desk displaying data in oranges and blues. "Which brings me to my next question: how does it feel to be a genius? He asked brightly, removing his Bluetooth and tossing it onto the desk's surface.
"Well, ha, I really wouldn't know, now would I?" she replied as she turned to face him, leaning back against the tabletop behind her. She donned a white dress shirt with the top few buttons undone and the sleeves rolled above her elbows, ripped jean shorts cut off high and revealing the entire expanse of tanned skin that covered her legs.
"What do you mean?" he asked as he powered down the computer's holograms, before saying, "All this-" swiveling his right index finger around to indicate their surroundings, "-came from you."
"No, all this came from that," she argued, tapping the arc reactor that lay in his chest.
He smirked, imploring, "Give yourself some credit, please." He held her upper arms and stated, "Stark Tower is your baby. Give yourself….12 percent of the credit."
Everyone looked at Tony with raised eyebrows, and Pepper glared at him remembering the conversation. Tony held his hands up in surrender to her.
"12 percent?" she repeated flatly.
"An argument can be mad for 15," he countered quickly.
"That isn't going to save you." Clint says smirking.
Tony glares at him.
"12 percent of my baby?" she scoffed as she walked past him, bare feet silent on the grey tile.
"Well, I did do all the heavy lifting," he defended. "Literally – I lifted the heavy things. And, sorry, but the security snafu? That was on you."
"Oh?" she drawled as she knelt in the middle of the living room section, several low row chairs stationed around a glass coffee table. She lifted one of the two champagne flutes that was set on its surface and the bottle that had been resting in ice as Tony continued,
"My private elevator-"
"You mean our elevator?" she interjected as she poured the champagne into the glasses.
"-i-it was teeming with sweaty workmen," he said in disgust before hissing in foreboding as he sat beside her on the carpet, "I'm going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren't I?"
"Not gonna be that subtle," she said with a smile after she handed him his beverage.
"I'll tell you what, next building is gonna say Potts on the tower," he offered.
"On the lease," she grinned.
He jokingly recoiled and suggested further, "Call your mom – can you bunk over?" she laughed.
"Pepper you were a lot more reserved when I worked with you." Natasha says and Pepper blushes.
Tony smirks.
"Sir, the telephone," Jarvis interrupted to Tony's sigh and Pepper's intrigue. "I'm afraid my protocols are being overridden."
"Ugh," he groaned as he lifted the small clear rectangle that served as a phone, Coulson's voice relaying, 'Mr. Stark, we need to talk.'
"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark," Tony began to Pepper's muffled giggles. "Please leave a message."
"This is urgent."
"Then leave it urgently," he recommended with impatience. The elevator doors slid open on the other side of the room to reveal Agent Coulson standing, exasperated, with his cell held to his ear. "Security breach," Tony called, repeating to Pepper again, "This is on you."
Steve looks at Tony shaking his head not understanding Tony's avoidance when SHIELD summons him.
"Mr. Stark," Coulson greeted as he ended the call and entered onto the floor.
"Phil! Come in," Pepper hailed as she stood, to Tony's confused, 'Phil?'
"I can't stay," Coulson said.
"Uh, his first name is Agent," Tony objected as he leapt to follow Pepper's approach of the aforementioned SHIELD agent.
"Come on in – we're celebrating," she welcomed.
"Which is why he can't stay," Tony muttered as he offered a wide forced smile.
"We need you to look this over as soon as possible," he explained, posing a thin SHIELD issued computer towards Tony.
"I…..I don't like being handed things," Tony replied, shaking his head and casting his gaze from the offered object to Phil and back again.
"That's fine because I love to be handed things," Pepper interrupted, reaching forward and calling attention onto her. "So, let's trade," she suggested, taking the computer and handing him her glass before turning to lift Tony's from him to replace it with the computer with a 'thank you' as she sipped the champagne.
Tony sent her a look that detailed how counterproductive her actions made his as he received the object easily.
A lot of the people in the room looked confused on why Tony wouldn't want to be handed things. Some of them wondering what happened to make him like that.
He begrudgingly addressed Coulson, "Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other….Thursday-"
"This isn't a consultation," he stated, consciously holding the champagne flute he had been given.
"Is this about the Avengers?" Pepper asked. At the agent's stare she added futilely, "Which I-I know nothing about."
"The Avengers' Initiative was scrapped, I thought-" Tony mused as he started towards his desk, setting the touch screen in the base as he finished over his shoulder, bitterly, "-and I didn't even qualify."
Steve and a few others frowned at that assumption that Tony made.
"I didn't know that either," Pepper remarked.
"Yeah, apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others…"
"That I did know."
"This isn't about personality profiles anymore," Coulson responded.
"Whatever," he dismissed, calling, "Ms. Potts, got a sec?" with a beckoning finger as he browsed through the information displayed on the computer that he had rested on the desk.
"Half a mo'," she excused before she sauntered briskly over to Tony's side.
"You know, I thought we were having a moment," he expressed, entering a code on the touch screen and digitally weaving through all the security features that prevented him from transferring the information onto his server.
"I was having 12 percent of a moment," she retorted with a smirk-
"There it is!" Darcy shouts laughing out loud along with a few others. Some others in the room stared at her for a moment, and then looked back at the screen.
-before glancing at the agent and stating earnestly. "This seems serious – Phil's pretty shaken."
"How would you know th- Why is he Phil?" Tony asked, casting a suspicious look over her shoulder.
"What is all this?" she questioned, drawing his attention back to the computer.
"This is, uh-" he began before finally bypassing the protective, copyright assets of the systems and placing the tips of his fingers on the three pictures and dragging them off-screen, the profiles and all of the information attached projected by Jarvis in a hovering semi-circle around them, "-this."
On their left was a captured image of Dr. Bruce Banner, a roaring video recorded by a cell phone of the Hulk fighting against the military forces set against him on the Culver University campus. In the center was a military identification picture of Steve Rogers, Captain America, a clip of a propaganda video showing him fighting HYDRA agent, and beside that the footage of SHIELD discovering him in the ice. And on the far right was a photo of Thor, images of SHIELD's readings of Mjolnir and Jane Foster's descriptions of the construction of the Nine Realms scattered around a video of the God of Thunder's with the Destroyer.
Tony stared at the Hulk's fight before casting his gaze to the other two videos, Pepper gaping at the monochrome evidence from the Forties before absorbing the destruction caused by the Destroyer.
"A lot of great first impressions." Darcy says to Jane who nods.
She breathed out slowly, announcing, "I'm going to take the jet to DC tonight."
"Tomorrow," he corrected with a nudge.
"You have homework. You have a lot of homework."
"Well, what if I didn't?" he replied, tearing his gaze from the Hulk's bellowing.
"If you didn't."
"Yeah."
"You mean, when you've finished?" He nodded. "Well, um, then…." She began, her words trailing off into husky tones as she whispered suggestions into his ear that left the notorious playboy slack-jawed.
Pepper blushed when some people looked at her with raised eyebrows, Tony is smirking though.
Agent Coulson cast his eyes to the floor before turning his head away from the scene so not to intrude, an amused expressing crossing his face.
Tony pulled back with a smile and acquiesced, "Square deal. Fly safe."
She smiled and they leaned in to share a lingering kiss before she stepped back and instructed, "Work hard." He watched her walk away and ask Coulson, "So any chance you're driving by LaGuardia?"
"I can drop you," he answered, prompting Pepper to utter a 'fantastic'.
Tony turned back to the files he had been given, an image of Loki astride the debilitating damage SHIELD's base of operations suffered. Below there was a representative of the stand Selvig had constructed to harness the Tesseract's energy, and also the diagnostics he had been able to gather on the cube itself.
Pepper's voice was heard faintly asking, "Oh, I wanna hear about the cellist – is that still a thing?"
"She moved back to Portland," Coulson answered.
"What?! Boo," she responded as they stepped into the elevator.
Tony reached into the hologram and plucked the image of the Tesseract out of the frame, stare drifting into the distance as his focus wandered.
Under the pale blue sky and scattered, airy gatherings of cloud, a jet soared over the choppy surface of a wide ocean. Its interior held two SHIELD-issue pilots in the cockpit, one announcing, "We're about forty minutes out from home base, sir." Agent Coulson, seated in the compact back space at a mobile terminal monitoring their progression, removed the connected headphones from his head, stood, and turned to step over to where Steve was seated.
"So this Dr. Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?" he asked, touch screen monitor held uncomfortable in hand.
A few noticed Bruce shift in his seat uncomfortably observing others' thoughts on him without him being in the room.
"A lot of people were," Coulson answered, standing at his side with one hand braced where the wall of the aircraft's hull curved into the ceiling. "You were the world's first superhero."
"Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula."
"Didn't really go his way, did it?" he replied, brows furrowed as he watched the footage of one of the Hulk's battles with the military.
"Not so much. When he's not that thing though, guys like a Steven Hawking," Coulson illustrated.
Bruce smiled a little bit at Coulson's comment.
At Steve's raised eyebrows of confusion, he elaborated, "He's like a….smart person," When Steve returned his attention to the video Coulson visibly gathered his nerves before uttering, "I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you, officially." At Steve's modest smirk he continued, "I've sort of met you – I mean, I watched you, while you were sleeping."
Tony and a few others were full blown cracking up at the comment. Jane, Pepper, Darcy were trying to stifle their giggles. Both Coulson and Steve were red in the face in embarrassment.
"That's enough." Fury says glaring at all of them.
Steve's smile turned embarrassed as he averted his eyes downwards, Coulson quickly rephrasing, "I mean, I was present, while you were unconscious – from the ice."
The snickering continued.
Steve stood and stepped over to brace his arm on the security rim monitoring the number of individuals in the cockpit, gazing out through the glass panes and over the boundless ocean. Agent Coulson moved to join him, continuing, flustered, "You know, it's really just-just a huge honor to have you on board, 'cause…"
"Well, I hope I'm the man for the job," he responded solemnly.
"Oh you are – absolutely." Coulson cast his eyes to the flooring before drawing Steve's attention onto him by adding with a bashful smile, "Uh, we made some modifications to the uniform – I had a little…design input."
"The uniform?" Steve asked, explaining his confusion, "Aren't the stars and stripes a little…old-fashioned?" with a self-consious shrug.
"Everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little 'old-fashioned'," Coulson assured with a nod.
The lighting was faint in the tunnels underground the buttresses, pillars, and, overhead, ribbed vaults all composed of dull clay bricks. Two armed soldiers jogged side-by-side through one of the channels, the sounds of their boots absorbed by the layer of mud and general damp that covered the stone flooring. They moved swiftly through the passage into a large underground chamber, numerous soldiers and scientists arranging machinery and equipment.
The devices comprised of metal and wiring were organized on tables and carts, off of the ground whose pores ran up with moisture, and bundles of cable and cords ran up stone pillars and hung suspended beneath the ceiling to power the technology sitting in all corners of the cluttered area. The sear and flash of welding lit a spot intermittently, the only other clear light provided at the back of the mass of machinery and meandering, and unyielding troops for a separate enclosure. Erik Selvig directed several scientists in their work within, the Tesseract placed in a recreation of the harnessing device SHIELD had him design.
Loki sat cross-legged on the grime-covered floor at the fringe of the room, one hand braced on an ankle as he leaned over the shining blue orb at the head of the scepter gripped in his other hand. His eyes grew distant before his lids fell closed, breathing in deeply and relaxing his musculature as the gem flashed. The walls and pillars surrounding him dissolving as he opened his eyes, replaced with flurries of snow that drifted to the frosted, cracked ground below.
"Okay, someone explain what's happening right now." Darcy says.
Loki rolls his eyes, "Both the scepter and I did this, it gives me a metal communication with the Other, I believe."
Everyone looked at him some more, Jane asks "Can you tell us if it's a clone of illusion and explain both of them to us please."
Loki sighs, "It was an illusion, which is a creation that's formed by the manipulation of light, if I need it to hear or gather the data that I would be observing I'll use a clone. There's also another form that falls 'between' the two you could say which is Astral travel that is a way to project an incorporeal figure over any distance. I would not be physically present but it would still have my 'senses' to be able to communicate.
"You never explained it like that." Thor says to him while everyone was looking at the still chained at the wrists Loki with interest of his brief explanation.
"You never asked, and I bet you thought all of them were illusions." Loki says smirking while Thor blushes in embarrassment.
"Alright let's hear this conversation with The Other or whatever his name is." Tony says.
Eroded masses of rock stood high underneath the starry skies, while across from his seated position another figure appeared. The Other stood blindfolded and hooded, silken cloak falling to the ground from his shoulders, bits of metal ornamenting his clothing, the exposed parts of his chest, and what could be seen of his face. "The Chitauri grow restless, "he growled.
"Let them gird themselves," Loki replied, a fully armored form conjured on the planet so to converse with a being, "I will lead them in the glorious battle."
"Battle? Against the meager might of Earth?" he derided, circling around a central piece of some mineral.
"Glorious – not lengthy," he elaborated, gazing away into distant formations though he matched the Other's steps, keeping a measured distance between them. The scepter had lengthened into a ruling spear in his hand, the cold illumination of space gleaming off its shaft, the metal now furnishing his ensemble, and the horns atop his helmet as he finished, "if your force is as…formidable as you claim."
"You question us? You question him-" the other spit out, one of his six-fingered hands gesturing upwards, "-he who put the secpter in your hand, who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out – defeated!"
"I was a king!" Loki argued, eyes wide, "The rightful king of Asgard – betrayed…."
Some looks were directed to Loki who lowered his head and looked at the floor not wanting to see their faces.
The Other snarled and turned to begin walking in the opposite direction, towards Loki, as he mocked, "Your ambition is little, and born of childish need."
Loki turned his caped back and stepped further away, eyes drifting up the winding stair held together by ebony spikes raised between the slabs, a sharp square of mineral in the middle of each support with a pale stone glimmering at its center. "We look beyond the Earth to the greater worlds the Tesseract will unveil."
"You don't have the Tesseract yet," Loki stated.
The Other spun violently and appeared in front of the fallen god in but a blur of movement, six-fingered, grey hand, ridges burnished pale blue, outstretched as if to attack. "I don't mean to threaten," Loki began, "but until I open the doors, until your force is mine to command, you are but words."
"You will have your war Asgardian," he hissed in reply, before slinking closer. "If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us," he informed, circling him in malicious glee, "there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you." The Other's bloodied teeth shone from over Loki's shoulder as he continued to warm, "You think you know pain?"
"He will make you long for something sweet as pain."
His hand clasped onto the side of Loki's head, and with a flash at the line of contact Loki was thrown back into his body on Earth. In the underground chamber with his forces, cross-legged on the floor once again, his head was thrown to the side, jaw clenched in pain at the touch of the Other. He panted as he opened his eyes, his stare troubled as he pursed his lips and began to slow his trembling.
Everyone looked towards Loki again. Loki was trying to concentrate on his breathing. No one voiced what was on their minds in fear he would freak out at them.
Thor looked like he was going to hug his brother but decided against it knowing how Loki would react to the contact.
A lone Quinjet flew through the clear skies and over the expanse of the ocean, a hazy trail left in the wake of its rapid flight. It soared until descending onto the singular craft present in the large body of water; a dark behemoth of a ship was sprawled over the rough waves, watchtowers filled with armed guards and long strips of tarmac coating her surface for the landing of her jets. The SHIELD crest was embossed in gold on her face.
The aircraft was guided to land by the ramp agents underneath its hovering form, the cacophony of agents' communications muffled by the thrum of its engines. It landed effortlessly along the runway, wingspan the width of the track, and agents approached to guide the plane to the edge of the ship where a half-dozen jets and another Quinjet were secured, after they aided those inside in disembarking.
As the hatch opened, Coulson ordered, "Stow the Captain's gear," of the agents, who responded with a prompt, 'Yes, sir', as Natasha strode to meet them. Steve followed Agent Coulson out of the jet, both turning to address her advance. "Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers," Coulson formally introduced.
"Ma'am," he greeted with a nod.
"Hi," she replied, shoulders set in a black leather jacket overtop an orange cotton shirt and fitted jeans, directing towards Coulson, "They need you on the bridge – they're starting the face-trace."
"See you there," he said as he stepped between them so to move in the direction of the area he had been informed of.
"It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice," she began, the two walking side-by-side over the surface of the Helicarrier as pilots and mechanics hastened past to prepare their equipment. "Thought Coulson was gonna swoon."
Tony started to laugh again.
Steve smirked at the thought, recalling the Agent's stumbling conversation with him. "Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" she asked with a quirked brow, her face, turned towards him, showcasing her amusement.
"Trading cards?" he questioned, looking at her in disbelief.
"They're vintage – he's very proud."
They observed Bruce ahead of them, the man worrying his hands together as he stood uneasily by the side of one of the jets, quickly dodging out of the way of any soldier or agent that moved past him too closely. "Dr. Banner," Steve hailed warmly, Bruce's attention turning to him.
He cast his eyes to the couple of troops that had passed his as he skirted around their backs to draw closer to Steve and Natasha, saying, "Oh yeah hi," as he grasped Steve's outstretched hand in his own to shake. "They told me you'd be coming," he responded, arm extended fully so to not draw nearer than was required for the action, gaze drifting down the length of the Captain's body and back up again to take in the idea that he, himself, was the furthest from him before he released him.
"Word is you can find the Cube," Steve voiced jauntily.
"….Is that the only word on me?" he inquired, hands returning to rub against each other.
"Only word I care about," he asserted with a nod, Bruce nodding in wary acceptance.
He gnawed on his lip for a moment before stuffing his hands in his pockets and broaching carefully, "Must be strange for you…all of this," with a jerk of his head to indicate their general surroundings.
"Well, this is actually kind of familiar," Steve admitted, a dozen agents donning sweats jogging around the perimeter of the ocean-born base.
"Gentlemen, you might want to step inside in a minute-" Natasha interjected, folding her hands in front of her as she finished teasingly, "-it's going to get a little hard to breathe."
The two men stared at her uncomprehendingly before a clang echoed from the depths of the hull and faint alarms sounded, an agent on the public announcement system commanding, "Flight crew, secure the deck." The slate-grey paneling that made up the sides of the ship began to shift, mechanics whirring, as those on the tarmac started to hurry across the area.
"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked, astounded.
"Really? They want me in a submerged, pressurized, metal container?" Bruce questioned rhetorically as the two wandered to the edge. They stood at the yellow and black striped warning bar by their feet overlooking the action occurring below.
Water was being thrown off a hefty rising turbine as its wings increased in speed, another in symmetry on the opposite side. The waves frothed as they were thrashed around, tossed off the machinery as the turbine began to power up in earnest. The craft steadily lifted into the air as barrels of liquid poured off her sides, Bruce and Steve stepping back from the edge as the wind picked up speed as they gained altitude.
"No, no, this is much worse," Bruce announced in trepidation.
The ramp agents and pilots ran to various jets to close the hatches over the cockpits and to secure the wheels underneath the aircrafts, oxygen masks fitted over those who would be dwelling on deck. The Helicarrier progressively lifted into the air, wind heaving through the turbines and raising her high above the ocean below.
"That is super cool." Darcy says.
Steve and Bruce had followed Natasha inside, her lead escorting them through the halls of the ship and through a pair of double doors into the expanse of the bridge. The raised flooring edged by steel rails opened to a hexagonal conference table and then led to Director Fury's position at four control panels, his attention on the view through the windows that made up the prow of the ship as well as the movement of his crew. The bridge's agents were outfitted in blue, the SHIELD logo a paler color embossed on the upper left arm of the long sleeves. Some females elected to don skirts while others wore pants, but all the agents wore leather boots that stretched up to their calves.
Agents were positioned at rows of monitors on the floor below the Director's stance, each with a microphone and headset in use for communication with all of the others that were coordinating the ship's control. A woman asked a seated male 'Check valves done?' within the clamor as she moved to his side, another agent in the row in front reporting, "Hover power check complete – position cycle," before informing, "Increase collective to 8.0%," as he worked at his computer.
Steve wandered with his hands in his pockets, observing with a smile the organized chaos around him that was responsible for all the functions of the craft. Bruce meandered around the edge of the space with his hands worrying each other in front of him before noticing he came upon an armored door with the SHIELD insignia upon it, two agents eyeing him with suspicion. He hurriedly ducked his head and turned away, a hand rising to rub at his nose for a second in a show of nerves.
An agent's voice echoed in announcement: "Preparing for maximum performances takeoff. Increase output capacity."
"Power plant performing at capacity," a female agent stated, circling around to verify the data displayed on one of the screens before declaring, "We are clear."
"All engines operating," Agent Hill surmised with her hands resting on her hips, "SHIELD Emergency Protocol 193.6 in affect." She turned and addressed the Director, "We're at level, sir."
"Good – let's vanish," Fury ordered, a hand resting on each of the monitors at his side.
"Engage retro-reflection panels," Hill commanded. Outside, several strategically placed lights appeared on the surface of the hull, their beams swiveling and shining on the panels began to reflect the coloring of the surrounding sky and clouds, the Helicarrier losing visibility to any who would look upon her as she flew through the air.
"Reflection panels engaged," an agent notified over the speakers.
Those that weren't usually on the Helicarrier were shocked with all the stuff that goes into it to make it fly.
"That's cool." Darcy says and Jane nods her head also impressed.
"Gentlemen," Fury greeted, having turned around and begun to approach where Steve and Bruce were hovering around the central table. Steve walked towards him, his gaze averted as he gaped towards the glass through which the edges of the aircraft were no longer detectable. He pulled a few folded bills out of his pocket and flipped one up, handing it to the Director, who received the ten dollars with a humored quirk to his lips.
"Okay, that wasn't a legit bet." Tony says scoffing and the others just ignore him.
Steve continued to drift forward further into the bridge, Agent Hill guardedly observing him.
"Doctor, thank you for coming," Fury welcomed once he had moved around the table to Bruce, reachiing out a hand.
After a second of hesitation he shook it, responding, "Thanks for asking nicely." Bruce cast his eyes to the flooring before asking, "So, um….how long am I staying?"
"Once we have our hands on the Tesseract you're in the wind."
A few of the watchers of the movie looked over at Fury curiously for a second before turning back to the screen.
He nodded before questioning with more assurance, "Where are you with that?"
Fury gestured to the lower floor, Agent Coulson answering as he crossed his arms over his chest, "We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet: cell phones, laptops…if it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us." Steve had walked to where Coulson stood, his brow furrowed at the concepts of information gathering that he had stated.
Natasha had crouched down to touch one of the monitors below, bringing up another table of data to the side of the screen that depicted Clint Barton's personal information, another computer in the row in front demonstrating Erik Selvig's. "It's still not gonna find them in time," Natasha commented.
"You have to narrow your field," Bruce said. "How many spectrometers do you have access to?"
"How many are there?" Fury retorted as he leaned back to sit on one of the bars of the railing.
"Call every lab you know – tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays," he ordered, revealing a dull purple shirt as he stripped off his worn jacket and bundled it between his hands. "I'll rough out a tracking algorithm – basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places." Fury nodded, Bruce questioning as he rolled up the cuffs of his sleeves, "Do you have somewhere for me to work?"
"Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please?" he requested, Natasha nodding and stepping over to lead him out of the bridge.
"You're gonna love it, Doc – we've got all the toys."
"Really? You have a Commodore 64?" he asked in jest.
When Bruce had said this Tony started laughing hysterically.
"I'm not sure…"
"Oh, you're very young," Bruce pronounced.
Once the hydraulic doors had slid shut behind them, Fury began making his way towards his position at the prow before pausing and calling, "Agent Hill." She had previously been monitoring the information presented on the touchscreen in front of her and authorizing further directions for the Helicarrier, and notifying the appropriate agents of Dr. Banner's suggestions as well as providing an update as to his location and work, but had turned at the address. He continued, "Did you tell the Council that Barton had been compromised?"
"What?" everyone looked over to agent Hill with questioning eyes.
"I wasn't entirely supportive of the Avengers' Initiative…..but I am now." She says then looks away.
"Well of course you're supportive now." Loki says rolling his eyes, really wanting to cross his arms but couldn't because of the chains on his wrists.
"Was that now procedure?" she questioned innocently her gaze steady. He lifted his chin as he weighed her actions with consideration look before he moved on. She asked in disapproval, "Did you tell them who exactly is on your 'response team'?" as she resumed her instructing of agents through the computer.
"Doesn't appear that I have to," he quipped. Hill pursed her lips and stared at his back.
The scene changes back to the place Loki is.
"Put it over there," Selvig directed with a brief gesture of the screwdriver in hand, a couple of men in lab coats moving were ordered with armored briefcases of equipment. He turned away from them and stepped from the intricate machine holding the Tesseract, the device holding her energy at steady levels while he devised a way to harness her power. Converted scientists and agents milled around outside of the isolated area going about their assignments as he asked from within the glass structure, "Where did you find all these people?" with a pleased smile and bright blue eyes as he walked over to a small worktable covered in miscellaneous metal parts.
Between the reinforced panes was an opening solely barred by hanging strips of clear plastic, Agent Barton searching through the information displayed on the computer between his hands on the other side. He answered, "SHIELD has no shortage of enemies, Doctor,"
Some people eyed Clint and Erik to make sure they wouldn't freak out seeing any of these scenes.
Before flipping the object and showing him the screen. "Is this the stuff you need?" he asked, tone showcasing his disinterest in the topic as the monitor depicted a large piece of the dark mineral iridium alongside the identification of Dr. Heinrich Schifer.
"Yeah, iridium. It's found in meteorites – it forms anti-protons ," he explained as he lifted a couple of flat metal parts from the table in front of him and carefully laid them on top of one another, screwdriver still in hand. It's very hard to get a hold of."
"Especially if SHIELD knows you need it," Clint commented wryly, turning the computer back around and casting his attention unto it.
"Well, I didn't know," Erik retorted before greeting 'Hey!' as he observed Loki enter and approach them. "This is wonderful!" he imparted cheerfully, indicating the progress made under his direction. "The Tesseract has shown me so much. It's-It's more than knowledge, it's truth," he confessed in awed gratitude.
A few of them leaned forward looking at the screen intensely wanting to hear more of what was being said.
"I know," Loki sympathized to the veneration of the cube, hands clasped behind his back. He lowered his gaze and tried to contain his amused smirk, elaborating, "It, ah…it touches everyone differently." Erik nodded with a smile. He addressed Clint with a smirk and piercing eyes, asking,, "What did it show you, Agent Barton?"
"My next target," he stated as he turned to face 'his' god, azure gaze determined.
Selvig chuckled and said, "Stick in the mud, he's got no soul." Clint turned to stare at him darkly as he continued, "No wonder you chose this-this tomb to work in!"
"Well the Radisson doesn't have three levels of lead-lined flooring between SHIELD and that cube," he justified heatedly, jerking his head in her direction when he referred to the Tesseract.
Selvig nodded, conceding, tuning back to his work.
"I see why Fury chose you to guard it," Loki praise , Clint's eyes turning to him from where they had been irately watching Selvig walk away.
"You're going to have to contend with him, sir," Clint informed, walking alongside Loki as he led him away from the scientific instruments. "As long as he's in the air, I can't pin him down. And he'll be putting together a team."
"Are they a threat?"
"To each other more than likely-"
"Hey!" Tony yells glaring at Clint who puts his hands up in defense.
"You Erik you are pretty funny when you're possessed by some cube type thing." Darcy says suddenly causing everyone to look at her weirdly.
Erik raised an eyebrow at her as she defended, "What I just thought of it, don't need to judge me."
"But if Fury can get them on track – and he might – they could throw some noise our way."
"You admire Fury," Loki noted, facing him as they walked as he replied,
"He's got a clear line of sight."
"Is that why you failed to kill him?" he asked rhetorically, striding past though Clint had halted.
"It might be," he confessed. He did not excuse himself, but attempted to placate 'his' god by adding, "I was disoriented, and I'm not at my best with a gun."
Loki ignored his defense and spun, raising a hand to point as he commanded of Clint, "I want to know everything you can tell me about this team of him." His gaze grew unfocused as he announced insistently, "I would test their mettle."
Clint nodded. Loki proclaimed, "I'm weary of scuttling in shadow. I mean to rule this world – not burrow in it."
"That's a risk," Clint stated.
Loki allowed a huff of laughter to escape as a grin split his face, acknowledging, "Oh, yes."
"If you're set on making yourself known," Clint started, bright blue glance shifting before becoming fixed on his with purpose, "Could be useful."
Loki smirked and stepped closer, tilting his head and demanding, "Tell me what you need."
The assassin turned and strode to one of the many tables where weaponry was laid; halting before a long thin case that he unlatched and opened. "I need a distraction," he declared as he threw his arm out, collapsed bow in hand, the jerk of his musculature expanding his arms as he concluded over his should in a tone full of delight, "And an eyeball."
A few of them looked over at Clint to see if he was alright.
A female agent stepped up the stair to the uppermost level of the bridge, circling behind the curved row of seated agents and monitors. A bald agent having donned round, wire-framed glasses was sitting before a couple of screens, one isolating the unique sound signatures of Barton, Loki, and Selvig from NASA facility while the other rendered a three-dimensional image of the god from the video feed. The woman seated next to him ran the visuals of Barton and Selvig, the information being run through all of the recourses at SHIELD's disposal merely resulting in a red square flashing to alert the agents that there was currently 'NO MATCH'.
On the lower floor, Agent Coulson stood beside Steve with his hands folded in front of him, continuing a previous request, "I mean, if it's not too much trouble."
"No, no – it's fine," Steve assented, observing the proceedings of the bridge with his arms crossed over his chest.
"It's a vintage set," he bragged, pride expressed in his voice at the trading cards he treasured. "It took me a couple of years to collect them all." Coulson paused for a moment before detailing, "Near mint. Slight foxing around the edges, but-"
Tony looks at Coulson smirking and Phil glares back at him.
"We got a hit," the male informed, spinning his chair around to state, "67 percent match." Director Fury analyzed the data at his control panels as Agent Sitwell corrected, "Wait, cross-match: 79 percent."
"Location?" Coulson interrogated as he marched to his seat to scrutinize the monitor over his shoulder.
"Stutgart, Germany. 28 Konigstrasse," he answered, satellites replaying where street cameras had captured Loki in formal wear walking amidst the crowded sidewalks surrounding a large museum. "He's not exactly hiding."
"Captain," Fury called, Steve turning from the agents to him, "you're up." Steve inhaled and set his shoulders, nodding.
On screen, the biometric analysis confirmed that it was a 100 percent match, Loki obviously sliding out of the video frame.
"This is getting interesting." Darcy says.
The large clock situated above the arched entrance of the museum displayed the time at 10:38 in Germany, it being night. There was a red carpet outside the entrance of a museum that had trees on either side and numerous men and women were walking over, entering the museum.
Inside on the unique tiling some people were seen playing Franz Schubert's 'Rosamunde' on their violins. The crowd chanted idly with one another, champagne flutes in hand, around the magnificent carved statue in the center of the room, two bulls facing away from each other carved out of a pale curator hosting the benefit walked to the microphone set at one side of the room, tapping its head to test its reception.
"That's a really big party." Steve says, while a few others nod their heads in agreement.
On the Helicarrier, Steve strode purposefully into a vault that contained all of the uniforms and relics that were gathered from the fallen allies that had fought against HYDRA in WWll, his suit preserved in a glass display case above the identification of 'CPT STEVE ROGERS', his boots stored below. He started at the silver star on navy, above the stripes below the chest and those around the shield behind, determined.
Outside a geometric structure composed of concrete labeled 'Schafer, sicherheitsdienst', armed guards kept watch over the security center, scientists shown through the glass windows meandering through the halls and steadily working. The guard on the ground collapsed to the sound of an arrow slicing through the air, the head embedded in his heart. The other guard readied his gun only for the whisper to echo again, another arrow driving deep into his chest, his limp body crumpling and failing off the edge of the roof.
Clint frowned at his actions while under mind controll, looked around at everyone else's reactions without them noticing.
A few people looked a little angry, felt bad or just kept an expressionless face.
Clint marched past the two corpses without a second glance, handing his bow to another member of his squad as he passed him to stand in front of the biometric scanner that prevented their access to the inside of the building. An agent shifted from in front of the device to kneel on the ground, computer plugged into the machine so to hack into the system and retrieve the pass code needed in addition. Clint glanced at his progress as he readied the silver and black object in his hands.
Some SHIELD agents leaned forward to pay close attention to the security breech that they were witnessing on the screen.
Loki strolled past a colorful wall painted with religious and royal figures perusing documents and tombs on the upper level, scepter transformed into a golden cane with a blue orb set at the top gripped casually in his hand. His black suit and tie, slicked backed hair, and green scarf hanging from around his neck ensured his camouflage into the class of persons present, though he jauntily stepped down the spiral stair alone to join the mass on the main floor. A stain-glass window rose behind him as he descended the last few rows of steps, confident in his approach.
He flipped his cane to grasp its end as one of the security guards behind the curator turned towards him, swinging it to slam into the man's skull and fling him away.
Tony rolled his eyes, "Villains always can't resist hitting someone."
Loki glared at him, "Probably because it will earn an impression, you mortal."
Tony ignored him.
The crowd gasped as Loki grabbed the German curator by the throat with bared teeth and dragged him to the statue, flipping him over the alter to pin him on his back on the priceless surface with the cane braced across his chest. He withdrew a silver and black object from the breast of his jacket, holding it firmly as he jerked his hand to set aglow with blue the three spikes as well as the central semi-sphere they were fixed around.
A hum resonated from the device, as well as through the one held in Clint's hand, the archer stationing it so the center was positioned over the scanner they were moving to bypass. With a thumb he pressed the button at the top, the other end flashing blue. Loki mimicked the action in the museum, the machine grasped in hand whirring as thin blades stood erect and spun speedily along the outer ring of the blue semi-sphere. There were gasps as the God of Chaos stabbed the device at the curator's face, the three spikes anchoring the machine as the central mechanism analyzed the eye as it gouged it from the man's skull. The room cleared rapidly as the crowd clamored screaming from the sight, Loki maintaining his hold as the German thrashed.
A few people stared in shock at the screen. "That is awful." Jane cries out in shock.
Darcy and Erik nodding their heads while a few glared at Loki even though they knew he wasn't completely at fault of everything.
The god cast his wide eyes about the panic of the guests as he breathed heavily in exertion, a smirk twisting his lips as the device continued to scrape the orifice of the center of the optical organ. The rays beaming from Clint's machine replicated the three-dimensional eye, the scan of the iris providing an identification photo of the curator while proclaiming in text, 'Netzhautscan-Kennzeichnung. Positive Erkennung: Dr. Heinrich Schlifer. ENTRIEGELN.' The retinal scan accepted the hologram and unlocked the door. Clint entered into the confines of the building, directed the stores of elements and drawing out a long strongbox labeled IR. The iridium was caged in the center of a cylindrical tube that he carefully lifted out, the light of the pressure pad underneath powering off at the loss of weight.
Panicked screams reverberated in the air as the patrons attending the benefit ran out of the streets, Loki indolently following. As he strolled out from the marble museum, the gem at the head of his cane shone bright azure, his formal suit transforming in a haze of gold to his traditional ensemble of leather and antiquated metal. His black pants and tunic wrapped around his body as the long tails of his leather overcoat swished around his legs, armguards, and horned helmet crafted in gold alighting on his form as a green cape trailed behind him. The humans ran from him in a clatter of heels and shrieks, his cane lengthening and sharpening into a scepter in his right hand as his boots moved soundlessly over the red carpet laid outside the entrance.
"You are such a Diva." Tony says rolling his eyes.
A police vehicle rounded the corner with a wail of its siren, Loki's attention called to it for a brief moment even as he continued onwards, jabbing his scepter in its direction. A blast of force flew from the gem like waves from an ocean, slamming into the car's hood and forcing it to skid on its front bumper as the momentum carried it to flip onto its roof, the sparks of blue dissipating into smoke that wafted off of the remains of the wreck.
The crowd cried out when an image of Loki appeared in front of them, the people halting abruptly and turning to dash in another direction. "You will kneel before me," he declared as more illusions were constructed to keep the group in. "I said, KNEEL!" he screamed in accordance with a flash of azure, the gleam of the scepter's centerpiece echoed by the three copies of his form. With shocked expressions the assembly obeyed, shakily falling to their knees on the cold ground and bowing their heads.
"Is not this simpler?" the fallen god asked, his illusions flickering at their backs.
Thor narrowed his eyes at that thinking, and a few others had noticed this to and began to wonder.
They looked over at Loki as if they were trying to figure something out but didn't speak what was on their minds just yet.
"Is this not your natural state?" He started through the crowd as he spoke, arms raised in address, the lowered peoples shifting out of his way. "It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation." Their brows furrowed as their lips trembled at his speech, the illusions behind them flickering again.
"Brother, what's the matter with your illusions for them to keep flickering like they are here?" Thor asks looking at Loki.
"You see it too? I thought I was just seeing things." Darcy says and a few others nodded wanting answers to this as well.
Loki sighs and says, "I had to channel my magic through the scepter which I'm not used to…in other words I didn't really have my magic without the scepter…."
"Wait why wouldn't you have your magic? Isn't it a part of you?" Pepper asks.
There was a pause for a moment and when Thor nudged Loki he finally answered, "My magic was suppressed for a while…..when the big beast smashed me on the floor it was finally released."
They all stared at him in shock Fury says, "So the Hulk helped you get your magic back, is that what I'm hearing as of right now?"
Loki nods and Fury says "This is going to be a lot of paper work."
Bruce looks a little shocked that the other guy actually helped Loki even if it was involuntary.
"The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power – for identity."
"You were made to be ruled," he stated, finishing with a wide grin, "In the end you will always kneel."
An old man in a brown, unbuttoned trench coat stood slowly before straightening his spine and facing the Trickster, who narrowed his eyes and lifted his chin in combat of the opposition. "Not to men like you," he proclaimed.
Loki huffed out a laugh and replied mockingly, "There are no men like me."
"There are always men like you."
"Look to your elder people," Loki ordered, raising his scepter, the gem full of power. "Let him be an example."
The man's eyes widened as the beam shot out, but then a figure dropped to the ground in front of him, crouched, crouched, and deflected the strong ray with a wide shield. The vibranium painted in red, white and blue smoked at the impact, the attack ricocheting to crash into Loki's midsection and knock him back to land on his chest with a grunt. He lifted himself onto his hands and knees as he tossed his helmeted head back to gaze upon Captain America; he was outfitted in blue with red and white stripes around his abdomen, a bright star upon his chest, and a cowl over his forehead and his eyes, an "A" painted brightly on its front as the wings of freedom and victory graced its sides.
"Now that's a great entrance, but only because you knocked him onto his butt." Tony says laughing and Pepper giggled.
Steve smiled slightly even though it wasn't really a complement and Loki glared at Tony for saying that.
Darcy and Jane were trying not to laugh and failing to do that.
"You know, the last time I was in Germany," Steve started as he picked his way through the crowd, hands gloved in thick red leather as he held his shield with expertise, "and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."
"The soldier," Loki greeted, bracing the scepter and using the support to steady himself as he climbed to his feet. "The man out of time."
"I'm not the one who's out of time," he continued. A Quinjet soared through the sky to stall above the square before the museum, the crowd gathered on their knees below.
Natasha wore a slim headset as she piloted the aircraft, flipping a switch above her before returning her hands to the steering handles. The panels of the underside of the hull unfolded to lower a large mechanized gun as she locked onto his position, commanding, "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."
He exhaled at the request with chin uplifted before jerking the scepter in the jet's direction and hurling a beam towards her, Natasha swiftly moved the craft to one side to avoid the attack. Steve flung his shield immediately as he ran forwards, the crowd screaming as they raced from the fight, the disc's blow rebounding into the Captain's hands off of the armor of Loki's right collarbone as the Trickster grunted in pain; he was sufficiently distracted for Steve to draw close enough to land a punch to his jaw. He glowered at the hit and swung his scepter with bared teeth to be blocked once, twice by the vibranium as Steve stumbled backwards to gain some room for offense.
"This fight is going on forever." Darcy complains.
A bunch of people shush her wanting to watch the movie causing her to raise her hands up in surrender.
On the third strike the end of the scepter smacked the bottom of the shield with enough force to throw him away, Steve working with the move to roll and swivel to face Loki on one knee. He exhaled heavily as he switched his shield to his right hand to throw again, this time the weapon tossed to the side by the god's scepter instead of returning to his grip as Steve dashed forward, unarmed. His punch was dodged as Loki leaned to the side, taking the opportunity to swipe across where the Captain's chest had been seconds before he had leaned back to brace himself with one hand on the ground behind. Another punch was avoided, Loki raising his scepter above his head to slam it down to shatter a crater in the brickwork laid in the square as Steve hastened to hop clear of the strike. He managed a solid jab to Loki's side before he propelled his weapon upwards diagonally to catch the Captain across the back and throw him to the other side of the plaza to land on his stomach.
He moved onto his hands and knees with the intension to climb to his feet as the God of Chaos strode over and placed the blunt end of the scepter on the back of his head forcing Steve to stay his position with his head bowed. "Kneel," he commanded.
"Not today," Steve retorted, reaching up to grab the end of the scepter and knocking it away as he got to his feet and spun, leaping to land an airline roundhouse kick to the top of Loki's chest.
The Quinjet hovering above drifted closer to the battle, Natasha announcing, "The guy's all over the place," as she tried to maintain an angle so to shoot the god without catching Steve in the crossfire.
Loki grabbed the Captain as he landed from his kick facing away from him slightly, wrapping an arm over his shoulder and across his chest to fling him away. Steve landed lightly on his side as he rolled horizontally arcoss the square.
Through Natasha's headset Tony's voice questioned teasingly, "Agent Romanoff, you miss me?" as he remotely overrode the jet's PA system to blast AC/DC's 'Shoot to Thrill'. She allowed a small upward quirk to her lips even as she sighed.
Steve gaped as he looked upwards in confusion to the addition of music from the aircraft's speakers from his position on the ground, Loki's gaze darting away from his opponent as well. A smoke trail streaked behind a small bright object in the distance that soared through the dark sky towards their position, Iron Man revealed as he flew past the jet to fire a double repulse blast from the palms of his hands. The beams struck Loki in the chest and flung him backwards as his scepter flew from his hands, Tony's suit landing with a clang as the metal impacted the brick patterning the ground as the fallen god's back slammed into a low row of stairs.
Iron Man outstretched his arms as he stood, readying the weapon on one hand as a variety of compact guns, missiles, and lazers revealed themselves from beneath paneling around his other wrist and along the ridge of his shoulders. "Make your move, Reindeer Games," he says, all systems locked onto the Trickster's injured form.
"That's a cool entrance." Darcy says.
This causes Tony to smirk and his ego to grow larger, which others groan knowing he'll have an even bigger ego than he already does.
With Captain America's approach to stand beside Tony with shield in hand, and the Quinjet awaiting his decision in the background, Loki allowed his armor and helmet to fade away. The shine of gold blurred into nonexistence as he slowly raised his hands in surrender, leaning back slightly to further dissuade any impression of attack.
"Good move," Tony appraised as he lowered his hands, weapons retracting back into his suit.
The jet began to descend behind the two, navigating into an appropriate space for landing as Steve greeted as he panted through the effects of the fist-fight beforehand, "Mr. Stark."
"Captain," Tony responded.
The jet tore through the misty clouds as it soared over a snow-capped mountain range, the forests crawling up it's sides black in the night.
"He saying anything?" Fury asked through Natasha's headset.
"Not a word," She drawled in reply. Loki sat securely strapped to one of the seats in the plane, quietly staring into the middle-distance, as Steve and Tony stood watching from the entrance of the cockpit.
"Just get him here – we're low on time."
Tony had removed his helmet, and he kept his eyes on the seated god even as Steve, who had lifted his cowl, turning his back on him and confined, "I don't like it."
"What – Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Tony remarked.
"I don't remember it being that easy," he commented, glancing over his shoulder at Loki as he continued with furrowed brows, "This guy packs a wallop."
"Still, you are pretty spry…for an older fellow," he responded with a sniff, Steve casting his eyes on him incredulously as he turned towards him to ask idly, "What's your thing, Pilates?"
"What?"
"It's like calisthenics. You might've missed a couple things, you know-" his mouth twitched in the effort to suppress a smirk, "-doing time as a Capsicle."
"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in," Steve replied tersely.
"Yeah – there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you," Tony warned, meeting his gaze.
Lightning flashed across the sky as thunder rumbled, dense clouds suddenly gathered around the aircraft. "Where's this coming from?" Natasha wondered.
Steve and Tony tracked the blinding streaks with their eyes through the glass as the burgeoning storm continued, Steve's brow furrowing further at having caught sight of Loki's shifting gaze and apprehensive expression. "What's the matter – scared of a little lightning?" he interrogated.
"I'm not overly fond of what follows," Loki responded-
Thor pouted at the comment and whined, "Loki."
Loki smirks at Thor's childish behavior while a few of the girls in the room giggled.
-casting his eyes upwards as his eyebrows raised at the constant turbulence. Steve and Tony exchanged a look as the Quinjet rocked.
Through the thick cloud cover there came the sound of a whirlwind, a figure soaring amidst the crashes of the storm to land heavily on the roof of the jet. At the jarring impact those inside jerked their heads upwards as if to see through the construction of the plane to the object that had caused the disturbance. Thor's stony expression was illuminated by a streak of lightning, thunder booming as he rose to move his kneeling, secured hold of the metal shell of the Quinjet.
Tony reached to grab the helmet he had removed, the head of the suit enclosing his skull as the eyes flickered to blue as his HUD activated. He strode to the back of the jet and touched one of the buttons on the panel on the wall to his left, the rear hatch opening in response to the electric command. "What are you doing?" Steve asked, cowl raised as he observed.
The God of Thunder landed on the lowered hatch with the same clang of weight as he had on the roof, substantial armor shining in the dim light as his scarlet cape billowed behind him. He strode and marched forward as Loki watched with wide eyes and worried expression, Iron Man lifting a hand to power up a repulsor. Thor punched Mjolnir into the suit's gut before a shot could be fired, Tony flying backwards to slam into Steve with a grunt.
Thor immediately lunged for Loki and grabbed him by the chest of his overcoat, sapping the harness securing him as he hauled him to his feet with impatience. He steadied the Trickster with fingers around his throat as he was manhandled, Loki exhaling sharply at the jostling. Thor pulled him to the opened hatch as Loki hurried to match the strides taken while dragged sideways, casting constant wide-eyed glances at the thunderous expression evident on the other's face, and then he leapt into the skies with his captive.
Tony climbed to his feet with the aid of the craft's siding before muttering, "And now there's that guy."
"Another Asgardian?" Natasha wondered, tone equal parts annoyed and exasperated.
"Think guy's a friendly?" Steve questioned as he stood, panting.
"Doesn't matter," Tony replied. "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost."
"Stark, we need a plan of attack!"
"I have a plan: attack," he declared over his shoulder, thrusters and flight stabilizers instantly firing and sending him chasing after the two gods.
Steve huffed in response to the quip before determinedly unstrapping one of the black backpacks that held a parachute from the other side of the jet. "I'd sit this one out, Cap," Natasha suggested as she noticed his actions, continuing to operate the plane.
"I don't see how I can," he remarked as he shouldered the bag and fastened the clip across his front.
"These guys come from legend – they're basically gods."
"There's only one god, ma'am," he tightened the straps hastily, "and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that," he lifted his shield and braced it upon his left forearm as he walked to the still-open rear, his last few steps a trot before he purposefully threw himself out of the aircraft; he unfurled his limbs to slow his decent before punching his shield forward and snapping his legs together to dive down.
"Nice entrance Thor." Jane says and Thor smiles at her while Loki rolls his eyes.
Thunder boomed as lightning streaked through the clouds, Thor's flight carrying him and Loki to the crag of the mountainside below. The God of Thunder lifted Mjolnir overhead to slow his momentum as he threw the Trickster to the ground, stepping from air to rock as if there was no difference between their solidity. Loki let out an exclamation of pain as he landed harshly on his back, breathing labored for a moment before he began to laugh weakly as he panted.
"Where is the Tesseract?" Thor asked stonily.
"Ah, ha, ha – I missed you too," he responded with a grin, eyes on the sky above as he regained his breath.
"Really," Darcy began, "You haven't seen your brother who you thought was dead in like a year and that's the first thing you say? What are you to cool to hug each other and cry?" Darcy finished.
Thor looks down feeling regret for not starting with how much he missed his brother when he first saw him after a year.
They began to watch more of the not so brotherly scene.
T.B.C
Author's note: Hi sorry this chapter took so long, it took forever to type it up. I was going to keep going and stop at the part where they destroy a forest but I couldn't so that's going to be the next chapter. This week I'm going to start some really busy stuff so I might not be able to type that much but I'll try because I really want to get this movie done to move on. I was originally going to show previews after Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2 but then I decided to make that they watch a trailer for the movie they're going to watch next which is the Dark World, and then watch the trailers for the rest of them. The next three movies they're going to watch first trailers. Then after those trailers they'll watch the previews for the other movies so they know what they're going to be in for and then they'll continue watching movies starting with Thor: The Dark World. I hope to get the next chapter up eventually please R&R.