Zoë Aetós: Starting & Ending Action

Chapter Five


Zoë slammed her hands onto the table, glaring at Fury.
"I'm not doing that!" Fury stared at her as Natasha frowned.
"He'll see that coming," she said, taking a calmer approach then Zoë had.
"I expect it," Fury said. "And using you, Aetos, would be perfect. You're close to Barton. It'll get him talking and then Romanoff will unpack each sentence and find the underlying message."
"He'd know my weakness, Fury."
"You're a SHIELD Agent, Aetos. You shouldn't have weaknesses."

The young agent ran a hand through her hair. This was madness. She'd have to exploit herself just to get what they wanted.
"Can't Tasha just do it by herself?" she heard herself ask. Maybe it was childish, but she didn't think she could do it. She'd endured worst torture, yet this was beyond her abilities.
"Ten minutes or less," Fury said. "You'll be fine. He's trapped."
"Yeah, in the cage made for Banner," she muttered.
"Exactly. And if you aren't afraid of the Hulk, this will be like a walk through the park."

She was silent as she followed Natasha into the containment room. Loki had his back to them, pacing quietly. She stood, just a few inches from the glass, Natasha beside her. The god in the cage paused his pacing.
"There's not many people that can sneak up on me," he said, turning to look at them.
"But you figured we'd come," Natasha said.

Loki nodded. Of course, he had.
"After," he said. "After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would cooperate."
"Well, I'm not your friend," Zoë said. "What have you done to Agent Barton?"
"I'd say I've expanded his mind," Loki answered, studying her.

His gaze slightly unnerved Zoë. Something wasn't right, but she refused to back down.
"And once you've won… once you're king of the mountain. What happens to his mind?"
"Is this love, Agent Aetos?"
"Love is for children," Natasha cut in.

The god ignored her, which is what they wanted. His eyes bore into Zoë.
"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?"
"Not let you out," she answered truthfully. He laughed.
"How lovely. Your world in the balance and you bargain for one man."

Now, he looked to Natasha.
"Well?" he questioned.
She shrugged, "Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that. I'm Russian… or was."
"What is it you want?" Loki asked.
"It's not that complicated. I've got red in my ledger; I'd like to wipe it out." "Can you?"

From the corner of her eyes, Zoë watched as Natasha frowned.
"Can you wipe out that much red?" Loki continued. "Sao Paulo? The Hospital fires? Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer… Pathetic!"

Swallowing, Zoë stepped closer to the glass.
"Even the smallest white flower is noticeable in a field of poppies." Loki focused his attention back at her.
"Little Zoë Aetos. The girl without a family. You know what Barton calls you?"
"What does he call me?"
"His gentle agent," he sneered. "His gentle agent who lies and kills at the service of liars and killers. You both pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away!"

Natasha flinched when Loki slammed his hands against the walls of his cell. He glared at Zoë, not even caring about Natasha anymore.
"I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you! Slowly. Intimately. In every way he knows you fear! And when he'll wake up just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!"

She didn't look away from his glare as Natasha started to walk away.
"You're a monster," Natasha said quietly. Loki laughed, moving away from Zoë.
"No, you brought the monster."

His words made Natasha spin back around, all traces of previous "sad" emotions gone.
"So, Banner… that's your play."
Loki frowned, "What?" Natasha put a hand to her earpiece.
"Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well." She darted out of the containment room, leaving Zoë behind.

Her lack of movement made Loki confused.
"Why aren't you following after her?" he asked.
"Because I didn't get the information I wanted," she answered. "Tasha got what she wanted. Now, where's Barton?" Loki shook his head in amusement.
"Haven't you learned, little one? You don't always get what you want." She just stared at him and she noticed, for one split second, that he falter under her gaze. But then he smirked, and she wondered if she imagined the whole thing. "Run along, gentle Aetos," he cooed. She spun on her heels, marching out of the containment room.

Zoë made her way to the lab, where she found everyone looking tense and fighting. Fury caught sight of her and gestured to Bruce.
"Agent Aetos, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his…"
"Where?" Bruce cut in. "You rented my room."
"The cell was just in case…"
"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't. I know! I tried!"

At Zoë's startled expression, he paused. She looked at him.
"Bruce?"
"I got low, remember?" She sighed, looking away as he glanced at the others. "I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out! So, I moved on, I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!"

His eyes bore into Natasha as he spoke directly to her.
"You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?" A gun clicked and Bruce jumped slightly to see Zoë holding a gun at his head.
"It may not work," she said. "But it'll make you put down that scepter."

Shocked, he looked down to see Loki's scepter in his hand. The computer beeped, making them all look over at it.
"Got it," Tony said. Bruce set down the scepter and walked over to the computer.
"Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my little party trick after all."

Thor leaned closer to them.
"Located the Tesseract?"
"I can get there faster," Tony said.
"Look, all of us…" Steve tried to say.
"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match of it," Thor snapped.

Tony went to leave, but Steve stopped him.
"You're not going alone!"
"You gonna stop me?"
"Put on the suit, let's find out."
"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."
"Put on the suit," Steve said lowly.

At that moment, Bruce noticed something, and his head shot up to look at Zoë. His hazel eyes were wide.
"Oh, my god!" he said before the entire Helicarrier shook from an explosion.


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