Hey guys! Here we go with the next chapter! Oh gosh it's fun having everyone together, but it sure does make for a lot of dialog lol. I'll let you get to it without keeping you too long! Just here to throw out that mandatory disclaimer that I do not own or have any rights to anything Marvel and then bid you enjoyment of this next bit! Xoxo-NickyLynn
Tessa and Steve had shifted through the storage areas meant for individuals with the highest level of security clearance, and it turned out that their suspicions were not unfounded. Tessa stormed through the halls like a force to be reckoned with, followed by Steve. They made their way back to the lab, set on informing the others on what they had found. When they walked back in though, they found Bruce and Tony were no longer alone. Fury was standing in front of them, looking displeased as Tony asked him what Phase Two was.
Tessa dropped the heavy gun she had been carrying on the table next to her, letting it fall with a loud bang. "Phase two is where S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the Tesseract to make weapons." She bit out, everyone looking over to her and Steve. Tessa's eyes narrowed down onto Fury. "Care to explain why S.H.I.E.L.D. is suddenly interested in following in Hydra's footprints?" she demanded, motioning to the weapon.
Fury took a step forward with his arms out to the side, trying to pacify the situation. "Rogers, we've gathered everything related to the Tesseract. It does not mean we're building-"
"Bullshit!" she scoffed, cutting him off.
"I'm sorry, Nick, what were you lying?" Tony asked, turning the screen he had been in front of around. Everyone looked at the screen as a design for a nuclear tactical missile was displayed, blowing away any doubts that Fury was lying.
"You lied to me Nick." Tessa accused, crossing her arms unhappily.
"Seventy years later and yet the world still hasn't changed." Steve said, shaking his head.
"Did you know about this?" Bruce asked Fury, motioning over to the display of the nuke, clearly upset by the revelation.
"You might want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor." Natasha said, walking into the room along side Thor. She looked around the room, noting how palpable everyone's anger was.
"I was in Calcutta." Bruce laughed out unamused. "I was pretty well removed."
"Loki is manipulating you all." Natasha said, stepping further into the room.
"And S.H.I.E.L.D. has been doing what exactly?" Bruce asked.
"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you." Natasha told him.
"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." He said, walking over to the screen, turning it and pointing right at the weapon S.H.I.E.L.D. was planning to build. "I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."
"I think we'd all like to know that." Tessa said, turning to face Fury. "This is not what I signed up for. Why in God's name are you building nuclear warheads?" she demanded.
"Because of him!" Fury yelled out, pointing over at Thor.
Thor looked around the group, confused. "Me?" he asked in bafflement.
"What the hell does Thor have to do with anything?" Tessa asked, looking from Thor back to Fury, puzzled.
"Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we hopelessly, hilariously outgunned." Fury said, looking around the room.
"So, you let fear drive you into waging a war against a world you couldn't hope to understand?" she asked him in disbelief.
"My people want nothing but peace with your world." Thor said, not liking the sound of war between the two realms.
"But you're not the only people out there, are you?" Fury said, before turning over to Tessa. "And it's not just threats from beyond our world that we have to worry about. It's people like you we have to fear. The world's filing up with people who can't be matched or controlled. And I think we both know the damage that can happen when you someone like you loses control."
Tessa's went rigid at the dig. "Well clearly not as much damage as losing control of the Tesseract." She shot back at him.
"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies." Thor said, stepping forward. "It's a signal to all the realms that Earth is ready for a higher form of war."
"A higher form?" Fury scoffed. "You forced our hand! We had to come up with something-"
"A nuclear deterrent?" Tony asked. "Because that always calms everything right down." He said in sarcasm.
"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Mr. Stark." Fury called over to him, turning around to face him.
"I'm sure if he still made weapons, he would be neck-deep-" Steve began before Tony cut him off, offended.
"Hold on. How is this now about me?" Tony asked him, upset.
"I'm sorry, isn't everything?" Steve asked him.
"I thought humans were more evolved than this." Thor said with a laugh lacking any humor.
"I'm sorry, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Fury asked, turning around to face him again.
"You treat your champions with such mistrust!" Thor accused of him.
"Are you all really that naïve?" Natasha spoke up. "S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors for potential threats."
"We are those threats, Nat." Tessa said shaking her head.
"We all are!" Natasha said back.
"Wait, Captain America's on that list?" Tony asked in shock. "He is above or below angry bees?"
"Stark, so help me God," Steve began, his nerves nearly shot. "If you make one more wisecrack-"
"Threat!" Tony shouted. "Verbal threat! I feel threatened!"
"Show some respect." Steve told him.
"Respect what?" Tony challenged.
"Okay, let's keep our focus on the real problem here." Tessa said. "This is about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s persistent desire to control everyone and everything without regard to what is sacrificed in the process of obtaining that control."
"You speak of control, yet you court chaos." Thor said, looking from Tessa to Fury.
"Of course, that's his M.O. isn't it?" Bruce said, causing everyone to look at him and pause. "I mean, what are we? A team? No, no we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos." He said angrily. "We're a ticking time bomb."
"You need to step away." Fury ordered Bruce, knowing his anger was the most dangerous thing on this ship.
"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony asked, moving over to Steve and dropping a hand down on his shoulder.
"You know damn well why!" Steve nearly yelled, shoving Tony's hand off. "You need to back off!"
"Oh, I'm starting to wish you'd make me." Tony said to him.
"Yeah?" Steve asked, stepping up to him. "Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"
"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Came Tony's instant retort, and Tessa had to admit that it was still an impressive list of attributes.
"I know guys with none of that who are worth ten of you." Steve told him, sick of his childishness. "I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play….to lay down on the wire and let the other man crawl over you."
"I think I would just cut the wire." Tony told him, not letting his words phase him.
"Always a way out." Steve laughed. "You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."
"A hero? Like you?" Tony shot back at him. "You're a laboratory experiment Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle. And if it wasn't for your sister, you'd have never even made the cut in the first place."
"Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds." Steve said, ready for a fight.
Tessa took that moment to step in between the two men, putting a hand on either of their chests, pushing them away from each other. "Okay, let's just put a pin in this pissing match, shall we?" she said, sick and tired of the arguing.
"Yeah, this is a team." Bruce scoffed out.
"Agent Romanoff, will you please escort Dr. Banner to-" Fury began before Bruce interjected.
"Where? You rented my room." He told Fury, knowing the cage Loki was being kept in had been built for him.
"The cell was just in case-" Fury tried explaining.
"Just in case you needed to kill me." Bruce supplied for him. "But you can't, I know, I've tried." He said, sending a wave of shock through the room. "I got low and didn't see a way out. So, I put a bullet in my mouth, but the other guy spit it back out! So I moved on. I focused on helping people. I was good. Until you decided to drag me into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You want to know my secret Agent Romanoff?" Bruce asked, getting more worked up by the second. "You want to know how I stay calm?" he asked her, taking a step closer.
Everyone's eyes watched Bruce's hand. Fury and Natasha moved their own hands onto their guns as Tessa took a step forward, her hand held up in front of her. She dropped her eyes down to the scepter in his hands before looking back up at his face cautiously. "Dr. Banner, I'm going to have to ask you to put down that scepter." She told him, firmly, trying to stay as calm as possible.
Bruce looked down at his hand, and the scepter in it, in surprise. Like he had just noticed it for the first time. He looked backed up around the room, unsure how it even ended up in his grasp to begin with. The computer system running the search for the Tesseract suddenly began beeping in alarm, breaking everyone out of the tense moment. Bruce set the staff back down on the table before moving past everyone towards the computer. "Sorry kids. I guess you don't get to see my party trick after all."
"You found the Tesseract?" Thor asked.
"I can get there fastest." Tony said, moving into action.
"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard!" Thor insisted. "No human is a match for it." Tony ignored him and moved towards the door, set on getting his suit on.
"You're not going alone!" Steve told him, latching onto his arm, pulling him to a stop.
Tony came to a halt, narrowing his eyes on Steve. "You gonna stop me?" he challenged.
"Put on the suit, let's find out." Steve said again.
"I'm not afraid to hit an old man." Tony told him, stepping up to him.
"Put on the suit!" Steve seethed.
"What on Earth is wrong with you two?!" Tessa asked them, trying to push them away from each other again. "Honestly it's like-" Tessa began saying before a large explosion rocked through the hellicarrier and flames tore through the room, sending everyone flying in different directions.
Tessa landed on top of Tony, using her body to block the flames from hitting his skin. Once the heat died back down and the sound of raining glass and metal subsided, Tessa hesitantly lifted her head up to look around. The room had taken a lot of damage and Bruce and Natasha were no where to be seen. Tessa looked down at Tony in alarm. "Put your suit on." She told him as she lifted herself up quickly.
"Yep!" Tony said, pushing himself off the floor as well and rushing out of the room to do just that.
Tessa rushed over to where Fury was laying, a metal beam laying on top of him, pinning him to the floor. Tessa lifted the heavy piece of metal with a grunt, pushing it off to the side. He sat up, looking around in concern. "Hill?" he asked into his earpiece.
"External explosion!" came Hill's response. "Number three engine is down! Somebody's got to get outside and patch that engine!" she told him.
"Stark, you copy that?" Fury asked.
"I'm on it!" Tony's voice replied through the communication system.
"Coulson, initiate defensive lockdown in the detention center, then get to the armory!" Fury ordered as he pushed himself back up onto his feet. "I want you on Loki." Fury then directed at Tessa. "You don't let him out of your sight, you got that?"
"Yes, sir." She said, then transported herself out of the room. When Tessa landed in the detention center, Loki was standing in the middle of the glass cell, a wide, wicked smile on his face.
"Oh dear." He said, looking around as another tremor shook the area. "I hope everything's okay."
Tessa drew in a breath to respond before the door behind her slid open and several men came flooding in, firing at her. She vanished out of the way, landing behind the group, sending out a succession of blasts, sending them falling to the ground around her. More men rushed into the room and as Tessa turned to face them, another powerful blast rocked the ship, sending Tessa stumbling to the side. One of the men advanced upon her and she kicked out at him, her foot planting onto his chest and sending him back with a powerful thrust of her thigh.
She heard the door to Loki's cell hiss open and her head whipped around to find one of the first men she had sent flying, standing over the control panel. "No!" she yelled out. She transported herself behind the man who had freed Loki, latching onto the back of his head as she did. She thrust his head down onto the screens harshly before letting him drop down to the ground unconscious.
Tessa looked up to see Loki stepping out of his cell. She grabbed hold of his body with her powers and sent him flying back into the chamber. She transported herself into the open doorway, blocking his path. "Try it!" She seethed at him, as he pushed himself up from the ground.
A smile stretched out on his face as their eyes locked onto each other. "You think you're the only one with tricks up their sleeves?" he asked her. "Your magic is nothing compared to mine." He then said, his voice coming from behind her. Tessa whipped around to find another copy of Loki standing behind her. He lifted his arm up to attack and Tessa sent out a blast that went through his form, like he was nothing more than a ghost.
Realizing it was just an illusion, Tessa went to turn back around to face the real Loki, but before she could, she felt his arms wrap around her waist and throat. His arms constricted around her tightly, pulling her back against his front. "Sleep." She heard him whisper, his lips brushing against her ear.
Tessa didn't know what happened, or how he did it, but one minute she was ready to throw him off of her and the next her eyelids were slipping shut. Her body suddenly felt heavy with sleep and with a final curse slipping past her lips, she went limp in his hold.
Loki lifted Tessa up into his arms, stepping out of the cage and moving over to the men who had not been incapacitated. "Bring this one to the ship." He ordered, handing the unconscious woman over to the obedient man. "She comes with us."
Thor's yell could be heard coming down the hall, so Loki created illusions of himself. One standing in the cell, and one standing over the control display. Loki hide his true self in the shadows as Thor barged into the room. He went straight for the illusion in the cell and fell right into the obvious trap. The door slid shut behind Thor as the illusion disappeared. Thor yelled out in protest as he was locked in.
"Are you ever not going to fall for that?" The remaining illusion asked him.
Thor locked his sight on what he thought was the real Loki and the rage swam in him again. He reared his arm back and brought his hammer down on the glass wall. The entire chamber shook with the blow, the mechanisms holding it up, shaking dangerously.
Loki looked around the chamber, a smile pulling up his lips and he realized Thor was currently defenseless against him….something that rarely happened. "The humans think us immortal." He said, reaching back out to the control panel. "Should we test that?"
Suddenly, the man holding onto Tessa let out a yelp as he dropped to the floor, sending Tessa sprawling out before him as well. Where the man had been standing, now stood Coulson, one of the prototype guns aimed directly at Loki's illusion. "Move away please." He said, taking a step forward.
Loki looked from Coulson down to the large gun in his hand. He moved back from the control panel minutely, studying the approaching agent. "You like this?" Coulson asked him, lifting the gun. "We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer." He told Loki, moving forward, careful to avoid stepping on Tessa. "Even I don't know what it does. Do you want to find out?" he asked, the gun powering into life.
As Coulson creeped closer, the real Loki stepped up being him. He thrust the dagger of the scepter he had regained ownership of into the agent's back. Coulson let out a painful grunt as the blade slipped into his flesh and through his heart. The gun he had been holding dropped to the ground.
"No!" Thor shouted, slamming his fist against the glass. The last illusion faded away as Coulson dropped to the ground.
Loki moved over to the control panel and watched in satisfaction as he pressed a button and the floor underneath Thor's prison opened up. Thor and Loki locked eyes for a moment. Thor briefly wondered if his brother was truly capable of sending him to his death, before Loki pressed the large red button and the mechanisms released the cage, sending it falling through the sky and to the ground far below. Loki watched the empty spot where Thor had been for a moment before moving back into action. He moved over to where Tessa laid unmoving on the ground. He lifted her up into his arms and turned to leave.
"You're going to lose." Coulson's weak voice said, causing Loki to stop and look over at him.
"Am I?" Loki asked him.
"It's in your nature." Coulson responded, feeling weaker by the second as his blood pooled around him.
Loki's lip twitch down into a frown, the words bothering him. "Your heroes are scattered. Your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?" he challenged.
"You lack conviction." Phil told him, the words cutting into Loki more than he wanted to admit. "And you messed with the wrong people." Coulson continued. "They'll stop you." He said, fully believing in the assembled group of remarkable individuals.
Loki studied the dying man for a moment before turning once again. "They can try." He called back over his shoulder.