Chapter 2: The Avengers… another Rewrite?
The Plan, thought Loki, was relatively simple. It was a matter of holding off the power of the scepter enough that he could keep some of his mind from being influenced by its power.
Step 1. Open the portal to Earth.
Loki staggered when he landed on the pad, not realizing how much energy it would take, even with the added power of the scepter.
The humans were talking to him, one of them probably even the leader of this little group. /Oh, the webs of lies and deceit. If only they knew how chaotic their organization really was. /
Step 2. Chaos and minions.
When Loki was sure he could move around without passing out, which was much quicker than he originally thought it would be, he moved. / I need one to unite them… ah. Perfect. /
He changed Barton and a bunch of other "Shield" Agents over to his cause. He also got Selvig. Those two should be able to help move the plan along. "Get the cube."
Step 3. Escape to the underground bunker.
Loki contemplated turning the female who pursued them as well. But at the last second decided against it. / They will need strong-minded people to help them in their fight. /
As they made their way to the bunker Steve had told them about Loki contemplated the next few steps of their plan. And the chaos that was to come.
"How exciting." Loki smiled to hide his grimace of pain.
Step 4. Chaos, distractions, and assessments.
It was almost too easy. Show his face, get the eye, and cause more chaos. The agents sent were not ready. Loki smiled amusedly at the man taking on the mantle of Captain America. He baited him, to see what he would do. The metal arm hurt when he hit with it, but Loki was a master of deception. He merely threw the man wearing a flag for a uniform across the courtyard.
It wasn't until the man in the suit showed up blasting strange music that Loki surrendered. The agents were finally starting to come together. Now, he wondered about the last member of their little group. Perhaps he was already at their base of operation? Loki could be patient.
Loki sat in the jet rather quietly. The pair of agents sent to collect him were talking- no arguing with each other about him. Loki couldn't resist adding his own two cents in.
"Come now Captain. Surely, you've never wanted to be a king? Not even of your home city?" Loki's eyes had a gleam of amused mischief in them that the agents took for something else.
Before Barnes could respond, Lightning struck outside. Loki knew that sound from anywhere, all amusement gone from his eyes.
Thor. Loki's anger at Odin returned full force at the sight of the man he once called brother. /Of course. I should have known Odin would send him to collect me. /
Loki sat on the rock, taking a moment to gather his energy and assess the agents below him. It would be so easy to escape right now. He knew because the three of them were quarreling like children on a playground, each trying to assert their dominance over the others.
/They are not ready. / Loki made some slight changes to the plan. If the agents couldn't come together like they needed to, then all of Loki and Steve's effort would be for naught.
/Barton was not enough. Perhaps the scepter will work. / When the Captain finally got Thor and the man called Stark settled down Loki sat up straighter. Time to continue with the plan.
The man with the monster inside was indeed on the flying ship. The scepter was causing problems, but the anger was not bringing them together.
It was tearing them apart. Loki continued to drop hints, but the agents were missing them.
/ Barton was not enough. I need the common link. But who? /
The answer came when he was arguing with Thor. Loki knew this man, Coulson, would be the one to bring them all together. Unite the agents to their cause in a way that taking Barton just couldn't.
After he stabbed Coulson with the scepter, Loki put a stasis charm on him to keep him alive long enough for the medics to save him, even if he looked like he was dead. He then used a charm that was anchored to Barton. It would give the archer a nudge, something he could say was residue exposure to the scepter but would make him aware of Coulson's frozen state.
Coulson also seemed to understand the importance of his sacrifice. He made the man, Fury, understand what needed to be done.
Step 5. Open the Portal and keep the agents distracted.
Selvig got the portal open, like Loki knew he would. Once the power source began running, the portal would stay open on its own, of that Loki was sure. Until Selvig got back in control of his own brain and figured out how to turn the portal off. /Come on Steve. This is your only chance. /
Loki argued with Tony, and threw him out the window, knowing the wristbands he had put on would engage a suit to pick him up before he fell to his death.
The God of Chaos then argued with Thor. He could've stabbed him in a more dangerous spot- done something that would cause more lasting damage, but that was not the goal. He needed to make it look like he was trying to kill Thor, but at the same time keep him stable enough to fight.
Loki was very careful to keep his attention away from the portal itself, and on what the newly christened Avengers were doing. At first Loki was worried they wouldn't pull it together, but after the arrival of the Hulk, Barnes began to take charge and lay out a plan of attack.
Loki finally sent a message to The Other, "Send the rest." But again, kept his eyes away from the portal.
The Avengers were a formidable opponent, when they were working together. Loki saw the leadership in Barnes that Steve had described, and he saw the way they all used their individual skills to work as one, helping each other when the need arose, and knowing when to move onto something else.
Loki commandeered a hoverboard from a couple of the Chitauri and used it to oversee the battle. / Odd… This is not running with the full gambit of its maneuvering capabilities… /
A small smile slid over Loki's face when he realized why the boards were moving with such a slow reaction time and had bad maneuverability. /Great work Steve. I'm impressed that you were able to do that. /
Loki took a moment to pursue the Widow on his own hoverboard, which led to him catching an arrow from Barton. That ended up exploding in his face.
The God landed on the flight deck of Start Tower only to realize the Hulk was coming right at him. Frustration was warring with the scepter's control over Loki as the Hulk came at him. Frustration won out as Loki started yelling at the Hulk, who cut him off mid sentence and grabbed his lower leg. Hulk beat Loki against the floor and walls of Stark Tower, effectively jarring the God out of the scepter's hold over him. Loki lay in the hole as Hulk left, his "puny god" comment helping Loki fight the enormous pain shooting through his body.
With the scepter's hold completely gone, Loki felt completely drained. Moving was out of the question at the moment but defiance and determination motivated him to push through everything.
It took time, but Loki was able to drag himself out of the crater. Enough time passed that Loki knew the battle was over. He could hear the cries of pain as the Chitauri collapsed as their ship in space was destroyed, and glad that the Widow was able to close the portal using the scepter. He could only hope that Steve was able to make it through in all the chaos he had created.
As Loki crawled to the steps, he kept his eyes and the majority of his injuries under a glamour. Let's see if Thor will notice, though I doubt he will. The God of Thunder had never been the most observant when it came to Loki. Hurt stabbed at Loki's heart for a moment but he pushed it aside. His job was not done yet. Loki felt the presence of the Avengers behind him, all aiming weapons at his form.
"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now." Water. Water would be perfect. He needed something to start the healing process for his body. The Avengers were not inclined to give him anything though, so Loki had to rely on his magic to keep his body moving. They put him in restraints and left him in a room in the tower with no windows and weapons aimed at him from all angles. Loki slid down the wall and tried to breathe through his pain. The lack of nourishment meant that his body would take much longer to heal. From where he was there was no way to know if Steve had made it through the portal. Anxiety began working its way into Loki's heart. He wondered what had happened. Was Steve caught in the explosion Stark sent through the portal? Was he captured by this Shield organization? Was he trying to get to Loki?
Each question left more anxiety and worry into Loki's mind. He closed his eyes, attempting to get some sleep, or at least calm down so his body would heal some of the more dire injuries plaguing him.
The next morning Thor came into the room with a small plate of food and water for Loki. Thor set the tray down next to the God of Mischief and looked like he was going to try to talk to him. But Loki picked up the food and began eating before Thor could. Loki didn't want to hear what lies Odin had been telling Thor about him. Loki knew they had to be lies. Because Loki hadn't been shielding himself from Heimdall's sight at all when he was in Thanos' captivity. He had even harbored thoughts that Thor might try to come rescue him in the beginning of his imprisonment and shared those thoughts with Steve. It had given them a sense of Hope that was later crushed when they realized that no one was coming, and they would need to get out themselves.
So no, Loki was in no mood to talk to Thor. He remained silent through the day as different people came in, some agents and other times the Avengers, trying to get him to speak.
When they realized that Loki wasn't going to say anything, Thor came back, this time with the Tesseract in hand. For the first time in his time in this room Loki felt fear at what was about to happen.
Thor was going to take him back to Asgard.
Thor was going to give him back to Odin for a trail and punishment that would fit all his wrongs. When Odin would already have known about what happened after his fall.
Loki felt his features harden against what Thor was saying. Their plan had failed. Steve was once again lost to Thanos' control and Loki would be put in another cell, only this time with no one around who would care what happened to him.
For all that Thor had grown up, Loki realized, he was still just a little boy following daddy's orders. The anger Loki felt towards Odin began bleeding through to Thor as well. For all his talk of being brothers and helping Loki- it was all lies. It was just a way for Thor to sleep at night.
And they called Loki the God of Lies.
The irony was not lost on Loki.
Said God shrugged off his brother's hand and used the wall to pull himself up. He would not accept Thor's help. Not when he knew it was all for show for these new friends of his.
Before leaving the Tower, Thor placed a small muzzle over Loki's mouth, which would stop him from using his magic. If Loki, or anyone that wasn't holding Mjolnir tried to take it off, they would be given a strong bolt of electricity.
As the Avenger's escorted Thor and Loki to the place where Thor would release the Tesseract's power and take them back to Asgard, Loki tried to figure out if there were any Shield agents hiding away in the shadows.
What was odd was that Loki couldn't make out any life signs except for the ones of the Avengers. Hope started to work its way into his heart again before he crushed it back down with venomous enthusiasm.
Loki couldn't bear another disappointment like that.
However, the seed had been laid and Loki found himself walking slower than was necessarily needed in an attempt to bide more time. As Thor came to a stop in the middle of the street, Loki also stopped. He looked around at the other Avengers- Barnes, Barton and Romanoff standing side by side, but each casing a different direction of the area; trusting in the other two to watch their backs. Tony and Bruce over by the car shaking hands and talking quietly.
It was when Loki's eyes began to track back to Thor that he saw the small device fly over towards the trio of assassins. When it hit the ground with barely a sound the three of them were frozen in place.
Before any of the Avengers even realized what had happened, Thor was being tackled to the ground away from Loki. The God of Thunder was not expecting such a move and, in his surprise, dropped the Tesseract. When Thor hit the ground the man, dressed all in black, stood quickly and dropped another small device at Thor, freezing him in place as well, moving out of range before he got caught in the freeze radius.
The man swept his glaze over all the Avengers, dismissing them when he locked eyes with Loki. Tony was trying to get into the trunk of his convertible to get a suit, but it seemed to be stuck. Bruce was debating with himself as to whether it would be a good idea to Hulk-Out as Tony liked to put it. The trio of assassins could only move their eyes from person to person, the rest of their bodies frozen in place.
When Loki realized who the strange man was, he had done a pretty sloppy job of cutting off as much of his hair as he possibly could and shaving off as much of his beard as he possibly could, the God of Mischief sagged in obvious relief.
It was Steve. He had made it through the portal.
Steve made a beeline for Loki, a small sad smile on his face as if to apologize for the delayed rescue. Loki's mouth twitched up, but he realized the move was lost because of the muzzle.
Steve also noticed the muzzle, his eyes hardening in anger. He moved his arm up to remove it from Loki's person, but pulled back when he was hit with the electricity. Loki's eyes moved over to Thor, where he looked at Mjolnir and back at Steve, the look in his eye saying he knew Steve wouldn't be able to pull the muzzle off.
Tony and Bruce, who were both watching the interaction with no amount of curiosity, couldn't figure out what was happening. Tony's cell phone was also not working, so the pair was pretty much useless unless Bruce decided to Hulk-Out. Aside from freezing the members of the team the man felt would pose the biggest threat, he had completely ignored them otherwise. Even Tony's cursing and running commentary as he tried to get to the suit was ignored completely.
They had never seen this man before and didn't know who he was or what his purpose was outside of interacting with Loki. And the God of Mischief had never mentioned him in any way from what they could tell. They were also wondering where their Shield back up was. Since it looked like no assistance was forthcoming.
As the pair were contemplating what to do- Tony had gotten the trunk open, but the suitcase suit was not in the trunk where he distinctly remembered putting it that morning, and the Mark VII was still being repaired and would not be ready for another couple of days, the man walked over to Thor and grabbed Mjolnir, picking it up with two hands.
Stunned silence filled the space, and Loki's eyebrows shot up into his hairline.
Steve moved quickly back over to Loki and pulled the muzzle off his face, then gestured with the hammer. Loki seemed to know what he meant as he quickly knelt and pulled his hands as far apart as he could. With one swing the hammer cracked the restraints, leaving Loki's hands free for the first time in almost 24 hours.
Steve turned his attention towards the Tesseract and a look of pure hatred filled his eyes. Loki realized what was happening a moment before Steve lifted the hammer again.
"Steven! No!" Loki grabbed Steve and pulled him away from the Tesseract before he could hit it. The move caused Steve to drop the hammer and he focused back on Loki. He didn't say anything, but his face said it all and his fingers were moving a mile a minute- tapping on his leg with no foreseeable pattern.
"You can't. We talked about that." Loki's tone brought no argument. The man- Steven- breathed heavily through his nose and looked over at the frozen trio of assassins. He glanced around for a moment before nodding at something unseen and making his way over to the trio.
First he moved in front of Barton, the pair of them were about the same size, Steve being a hair shorter than the archer. The Avengers finally got a good look at the man who could wield Mjolnir. He was wearing all black, in an outfit that the others had never seen, nor looked like was from Earth. His jacket was long, and the collar came up to the bottom of his chin. There looked to be a scar on his neck poking out over the collar of the turtleneck like shirt he was wearing, and one of his eyes was red, with scarring all around it.
The man put a piece of paper into Barton's hand, which was crossed at his chest. He then glanced to the side and using slightly hesitant motions spelled Phil's name with ASL. Then, looking Barton in the eye mouthed "-ury."
The beginning of the word was cut off and he ended it with a flinch, like it was painful for him to try to speak.
He then glanced at Natasha and gave her a slight smile, as if to say thank you before moving on. He moved over to Barnes and his eyes lit up slightly. He also placed a folded piece of paper in Barnes' hand, a sad apologetic look in his eye. He poked Barnes in the chest twice, over his heart but before he could do or say anything else Loki called out to him.
"Steven." Steve turned toward Loki, knowing he was almost out of time. He made his way over to the God of Chaos.
Steven's eyebrows drew together as he looked over Loki. He reached up with one hand and touched the side of Loki's eyes at the temple with two fingers, an obvious question.
Loki shook his head but declined to answer verbally. Steven dropped his hand and Loki placed a hand on each of Steve's arms.
"I thought you hadn't made it through." Was the last thing the Avenger's heard before the pair disappeared with Loki's magic.
Tony's startled "Shit!," was drowned out by the four frozen Avenger's who could now move freely falling over, or twisting on the ground in Thor's case, with startled yelps. (Although if asked later the assassins would deny ever yelping in surprise.)
Natasha grabbed a gun and began a perimeter check. Clint and Barnes clutched the notes in their hands with equal looks of confusion.
Clint was the first to move, he opened the paper to find the word TAHITI written across the whole paper. The archer's confusion was doubled as Natasha looked over his shoulder, and Tony demanded to know what the paper said.
"Was he a threat? What just happened here?" Tony's mouth was moving a mile a minute.
"Thor," Bruce's voice broke through Tony's ranting, "Do you know who that was?"
The God of Thunder was staring down at Mjolnir, a strange look on his face. "No, I have no knowledge of who that man is."
The tone of Thor's voice was laced with confusion, wonder and amazement.
"James." Natasha's sharp voice broke through the other Avengers, who all looked over at their Captain. He wasn't breathing. Just staring at the paper in his hand in a trance like state.
"Hey, RoboCap," Tony walked right over to Barnes, and grabbed for the paper, "What does YOUR little note say? Huh?"
Tony's move to grab the paper seemed to break through to Barnes and he pulled away before Tony could get it. He moved backwards into Clint, who was trying to get his cell phone to work. Barnes didn't even apologize to his fellow sniper; he was so shocked.
"Impossible…" He muttered, still not unfolding the paper, but clearing having trouble believing what he was holding.
"What is it James?" Bruce's calm voice seemed to be working better than Tony's ranting at getting a response from the Captain, "What's impossible."
"It was Steve." The statement was said with wonder, something that the others hadn't heard from the ex-Soviet, ever, in the time they'd known him.
"Yeah," said Clint, his own note clutched in his hands, "That's what Loki called him. Steven."
James shook his head, "No… He…" and with trembling fingers opened the folded paper. His breath caught in his chest and he made a noise like he was in pain. Natasha quickly looked over his shoulder to see what the paper said. Her eyes drew together in confusion, not understanding why James was so upset over the picture.
In his hand was a picture of a monkey in the Captain America uniform- but it looked a little different from the one James had worn yesterday. The monkey was riding a unicycle on a tightrope and holding an umbrella, a sad look on his face with small wavy mountains below him and dark shadows on either side of the rope. There were trees in the background
The noise James was making was getting slightly louder and he was starting to hyperventilate, so Natasha grabbed the paper out of his fingers and pulled him into a semi-hug. She began muttering to him in Russian, trying to get him to calm down.
She handed the note to Bruce, who looked at it with the same confusion Natasha had, before Tony pulled it out of his hand and he and Clint both looked at it.
For some reason the picture seemed familiar to Tony, but he could not for the life of him recall why.
Thor's voice broke through to everyone, "Perhaps we should get the Captain somewhere that he can calm down and out of the public eye." The Avenger's all glanced at each other, having a silent conversation before nodding as one.
"To the Tower it is!" Said Tony, as he and Bruce moved to get into the convertible. Clint grabbed the keys for James' motorcycle and Natasha led her friend over to Clint's black car. Thor picked up Mjolnir and the Tesseract, swinging the hammer around and jumping into the air.
Within a few minutes the Avengers were back at the Tower and Tony began to take control.
"Right. Let's avoid the Penthouse for right now. Jarvis, take us up to 33, and let Thor know that's where we will be, and ask Pepper to steer clear of the area until I give her the all clear." Jarvis gave an acknowledgement of the command and began moving the private elevator up to Tony's gym. The engineer had a feeling that Barnes might be hitting things soon, and it would be better to do that where things were meant to be hit.
As they all piled out of the elevator, Thor came from another one after dropping his hammer and the Tesseract in a secure safe that Jarvis directed him to. They all made it into the gym, and everyone began asking James questions all at once.
The ex-assassin covered his ears, yelling, "Quiet!" and some muttered Russian curses.
Silence fell over his teammates. James took a deep breath, to steady himself and began his explanation.
"You all know that I'm not the original Captain America. I was his second in command, but because of Zola, when he captured our unit at Azzano, I got a bastard version of the serum. Steve…" James broke off with a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"Take your time," said Natasha. She knew this would be hard for her friend.
"Steve was doing the USO Tour. He got to Italy to do the show for the troops and was met with harassment and anger. Then within the hour, he finds out about my unit being captured. Going against orders, he got Howard and Peggy to fly him into enemy territory to get me out. Or find my body to bury back home."
Tony made a noise of displeasure about hearing about Howard, but Bruce elbowed him to keep him from saying anything. Barnes didn't even glance his way, just kept talking in a monotone voice that he hadn't used in over a decade since breaking away from his Russian Captors.
"When we made it back to camp Steve was hailed as a hero for single handedly rescuing so many soldiers and destroying the base. He made the Team- The Howling Commandos- after recommendations from me on who might be willing to work with us. I chose guys who were ornery just like Steve, and me even though they were captured and facing death. With the group, we ended up taking out almost all of Hydra's strongholds." He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself again.
The human members of the team were all aware of the story James was telling. It was only Thor, who had not been on Earth at the time that did not know what happened to the original Captain.
"Schmidt was getting desperate the longer we were around because we kept messing up his plans. So, he sent Zola ahead on a train, hoping to catch us off guard. But it didn't work. We ended up taking the train, but not before I fell to my supposed death in front of Steve's eyes." James took another deep breath and turned away from the group, that memory had been the hardest for him to come to terms with- the look on Steve's face as he was falling was seared into his memories all over again.
Tony, in a moment of apathy, took over the story for Barnes, "Aunt Peggy said that Steve wasn't the same after that mission. He was so angry and reckless in the plan he made to take out Schmidt. They stormed Schmidt's home base in the Alps, and while Schmidt tried to get away in the Valkyrie, Rogers followed him. That was the last anyone had heard from either super soldier. It was assumed that Steve and Schmidt were killed in the plane as it hit the ice."
"But when Shield found the plane's remains," Clint spoke up as well, "there were no bodies on board. Just Cap's shield lodged between the pilot seat and throttle, and a hole in the floor from where the Tesseract must've un-lodged itself and melted through the metal."
"To die in battle is the best way for a warrior to go. The original Captain's sacrifice was not in vein if he died saving the lives of the people of Earth." Said Thor.
"Steve Rogers was supposed to be over six-foot-tall, with broad shoulders, and muscles built like a fortress. This guy however was barely five foot eight, and the white of his one eye was blood red. Also, no one is really sure what happened on the plane." Bruce's contemplation came after Barton finished telling his portion of the story.
"James," said Natasha, "Why was the picture of the monkey so important to you?"
"Steve drew a similar picture in Italy when he finished the performance for the 107th. Peggy was the one who saw him doodling it and got to talking with him about the captured unit." Barnes turned back towards the others, collected again, but still using the monotone voice from his earlier story telling.
"So, the original Captain America is now working with Loki?" Clint said, just as Tony said, "Captain America was supposed to stand against evil. Why would he be working with Reindeer Games in the first place?"
James began defending the Steve Rogers that he knew against what the others were saying and the five of them began arguing- each talking at the same time. It was like the Heli-carrier all over again, only this time without the influence of Loki's scepter.
"Perhaps," Thor's voice boomed over the noise, "the best way to get the answers that we seek, we must first find Loki and his companion. He can then shed light on the questions you all have regarding the note Captain Barnes was left." Thor's voice of reason got everyone else thinking.
"But where would they go? We could use the tracking algorithm we used last time to find Loki, but what if they are hiding somewhere and shielding themselves from the signal?" Tony and Bruce began talking quickly about different ways to track the missing pair. The duo began making their way to the labs to figure out the best course of tracking.
"Sirs, and ma'am," Jarvis' voice came over the speakers in the gym, "Mr. Stark is inviting all of you to stay the night as Sir and Mr. Banner contemplate where the pair of "Run-A-Ways," have gone. If you come to the elevator, I will get you situated in some guest suites right away.
"Actually," Clint broke in, "I am going to talk to Fury. See if he can shed some light on this TAHITI thing. It's got something to do with Phil from what our mystery friend said and I need to find out what," the guilt over Phil's death coloring his tone in spades.
Natasha looked torn between going with Clint and staying with James. James, noticing the hesitation nodded after Barton. Barnes knew he wouldn't be good company tonight and Clint would need back up in dealing with whatever Fury wanted to spout at them. They had a quick conversation with their eyes before Natasha nodded and joined Clint in the elevator. As the doors closed the pair's heads were bent together in contemplation of their next play.
James turned toward the other elevator after grabbing the picture Tony had dropped earlier without realizing it, Thor falling into step with him. "Friend James," said assassin glanced at Thor to show he was listening as the pair walked, "If this is truly the friend you have lost, then he must have a good reason to be working with Loki at this time. The mystery behind your friend's disappearance is missing many pieces. But we must also tread carefully. Many of Loki's tricks have multiple levels of shadow behind them and what you think might be the truth is actually a cleverly crafted illusion."
James nodded once in acknowledgement of Thor's words, but did not speak for the rest of the night and well into the morning. The picture was held tightly in his hand as he lay in the bed Jarvis showed him to, but sleep was not an easy thing to come by for the ex-assassin.
The next morning came much faster than any of the Avengers in the tower were ready for. The four teammates, Clint and Natasha still off who knew where, sat around a dining room table each hoarding a cup of coffee (or tea in Bruce's case), and picking at the pancakes laid out before them.
Tony and Bruce had stayed up all night trying to figure out where Loki and the mystery man would've gone, but to no avail. They had tracked around the globe using different search parameters, and methods but to no use. Before Natasha and Clint left yesterday, the Russian spy stopped by the lab and asked for the information Tony had extracted from Shield on the Heli-carrier. The pair wanted to see if there was anything about this TAHITI thing in the files Tony had found. Tony handed her a StarkPhone, which linked directly to Jarvis' mainframe, as well as a password to access all the files from Shield with Jarvis' assistance. It had been a little over twelve hours, but no one at the tower had heard from the pair yet at all.
If anything happened to the pair, Jarvis would alert the others immediately, but as of yet there was nothing.
Barnes had the drawing laid out in front of him and was looking at it like it contained the secrets of the universe.
Without warning Barnes shot up from his seat, "Fucking Son of a Bitch!" He held the drawing in one hand and turned his attention to the others who were all startled by the sudden outburst, "I know where they are! Steve… he left this as a clue! That sneaky Punk!"
James turned like a man on a mission and almost made it to the elevator by the time the other's shouts to "hold up!" and "Wait just a damn second!" reached his ears.
Tony's having Jarvis lock the elevator definitely got the ex-assassin's attention. He turned with a weighted glare that the others were actually slightly afraid of. "Look Barnes, you can't just go running off because you think you know where they are all by yourself! What if this is some kind of trap! What if Loki wants to use his Glow-Stick-Of-Death on you and is using the mystery behind the original Captain as bait!"
With everything that Tony was saying, James' glare got darker and darker.
"Look," said Bruce, "We're not saying you shouldn't go after them. But you should wait until we have a look at the area again through the scans. Also, we should all go as a team, incase this IS some kind of trap. Maybe even wait for Natasha and Clint to get back."
James muttered a few words in Russian, but he toned his glare back a little and took a deep breath. "We will do the scans, and Tony can finish the repairs to his suit. But we can't wait for Natasha and Clint. We don't know how long they will be on their mission. And I need-"
He cut himself off before he could finish the sentence, but the others got the message loud and clear. Barnes needed to know if this was really his friend.
"Jarvis, what's the eta on the Mark VII repairs?" Tony said quietly into the silence following Barnes half sentence.
"Sir, the Mark VII will be ready to go by nightfall, if the repairs are done at top speed." Jarvis' British voice came from the speakers.
"Get on that J. See? We can leave then. Now. Where do you think Reindeer Games and Mystery Man are?" Tony's voice wasn't mocking for once.
"Italy. The area where the camp where Steve found out that I was possibly KIA and planned to come rescue me." James was staring down at the picture as he spoke. He just KNEW that was where they would be. He rattled off the exact coordinates, while Bruce and Jarvis brought up the map of the area.
"Fear not Shield Brother," spoke Thor, "If this truly is your friend, then he will wait for you at this spot if that is what his picture meant."
The unspoken, was he waiting as a friend or foe?, hung in the air like a lead balloon.
While the Avengers waited for either news from the Spy Pair, or the repairs to finish with Tony's latest suit, the tension in the rooms they were in was growing by the minute. James was prowling around like a caged animal, which was not helping Bruce keep a lid on his Green Problems. Tony was talking non-stop; an effect of James' prowling and Thor was growing tense as well, wondering how the meeting with his brother would go this time.
"Enough!" Bruce's voice shot through the tension like a knife, his eyes glowing a faint green, "Barnes, go to the gym and don't come back until either Jarvis tells you we are ready to leave, or you cool the hell down. Tony, go help with the repairs to your suit. Thor, you might as well go to the gym as well. Jarvis and I will continue the search of the area, but unless you want Big Green coming out in the next hour, then I suggest you all relocate. Now."
The other three scattered like the hounds of Hell were on their heels, each leaving the room for their designated area and giving Bruce a moment to calm down. When Bruce thought he could work without losing his cool he turned back to the computer he was using to search the area in question.
As night fell the scattered Avengers returned to the flight deck, all eager to begin this journey. Tony had the Mark VII loaded into the back of the quinjet, while Bruce went over his findings with the others. From what he could see with multiple searches of the area, using different parameters each time, the mystery pair was not in the area at all.
"The area looks like some kind of reenactment picnic/camping site. There are 1944 reminiscent tents all over the place, like they turned the 107th base into a family friendly campsite, each tent housing a different family. From what I gathered, there was no sign of either of these guys here at all." Bruce's skepticism was evident in his voice.
"We are still going." Said Barnes. His tone held no room for argument. The quad of hero's finished loading into the jet and began their journey. Because it was a Stark modified quinjet, they managed to knock about two hours off their flight. The morning sun was barely coming over the horizon when they finally landed outside the campsite, on the main road.
Barnes was the first to leave the quinjet, followed closely by Thor. He had begun his pacing again, in an ill-fitted attempt to get the jet to fly faster than it already was. But James knew, just from a quick sweep of the campsite that his initial thought was wrong.
Loki and Steve were not here. There were two many civilians around who could somehow ID them. James did one more sweep of the site, memories from the 1940's flowing through his mind, both good and bad. He noticed a small fire, which was now just smoke, and something triggered in his brain. James looked back down at the picture in his hand then at the smoke. A memory from Azzano popped into his head and suddenly he knew the "mountains" at the bottom of the picture weren't mountains at all.
They were flames.
Without warning James turned away from the camp and began sprinting at full force into the forest, muttering curses in Russian and English as he went. The other's cries of "Hey! Wait!" went unanswered.
Bruce and Tony piled back onto the quinjet, while Thor took off after James. With the help of the hammer he was able to catch up to the ex-assassin about two miles into his run. He got a hold of James, halting his progress, "Shield Brother, if you know where they are tell us so we can all go after them together. You are not the only one that needs to see these two in the flesh."
James stopped fighting Thor and nodded. It would still take him about two days to run to where he wanted to go. Unless he stole a car, but he wasn't as sure of the surrounding area to say for sure a town would still exist between here and Azzano. "If I tell you guys where they are, we are going straight there. I'm not waiting any longer than I need to."
Thor nodded to those terms. "If the others disagree, I will fly you there myself."
The pair studied each other for a moment, before grasping arms and solidifying their deal. Overhead Tony and Bruce opened the back of the quinjet for the pair to return. Using the grasp Thor had on Barnes' arm, he pulled them both back up and into the jet.
James gave Tony the coordinates for Azzano and waited as the engineer put them into the navigation. Bruce looked like he was going to say something, but the look in James' eye stopped him.
As the quinjet got closer to the destroyed base, James could see the ruins, but also the original building (in his mind) that he had his first stint as a POW. He navigated Tony to the clearing 300 meters away from the base, where Steve had brought him and the survivors.
As the group made their way towards the destroyed base, the sun was now starting to rise above the trees. Somehow, James knew this was where Steve and Loki were waiting for them, so he walked as fast as he could without actually running.
The group made it into the clearing with the base's remains and found Loki sitting propped up against a wall, while Steve lay on his back, one hand behind his head and the other on his chest, fingers tapping away. His eyes were following the path of the sun, like it was one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
"Ah," said Loki, "Look who has finally shown up. Steven said you were on your way, but I was not expecting you so soon." Both men were relaxed and not very inclined to leave their spots on the floor. That is until Steve heard James call his name.
"Stevie?" The new Captain only had eyes for this man who might potentially be his lost friend. Steve turned his eyes away from the sun's path and looked over at Barnes. Slowly, to show he was not a threat, he got up from his lounging position and made his way over the James. The same sad smile in place from their meeting a day ago, that now felt like another eternity to Barnes. He stopped less than a foot away from Barnes, his fingers still tapping on his leg a mile a minute. This version of Steve was shorter than James, by a couple inches, but nowhere near how short he was before the serum.
Steve raised an eyebrow at James, giving him a once over. Loki's voice cut into the moment, "Steven thought you were smaller Captain."
James made a pained noise and whispered, "I thought you were dead," the old words the duo had spoken here seventy years ago returning, only reversed in more ways than one.
Steve gave a silent laugh, with a slight wince, and Barnes pulled him into a strong hug. Steven tentatively put his arms around Barnes's shoulders and closed his eyes for a moment, relishing the chance to be near his closest friend and brother again. When the pair pulled away both of them were a little misty eyed.
"Loki," said Thor, "is this really the captain's friend? Or just another one of your tricks."
The glare Steve sent to Thor was on par with some of Natasha's death glares. The silent man moved as if he was going to confront Thor, before Loki could even get a chance to answer his brother.
"Stevie, no! Jesus Fuckin' Christ, punk!" The words rolled effortlessly out of James' mouth, giving both super soldiers a moment's pause.
Loki snorted in amusement, "Truly Thor, you must think me both Heimdall, and Odin himself all rolled into one. Yes, I created an illusion of the Captain's dead friend and made it so he would free me from being taken back to Asgard. I also made it so the illusion could not speak at all, so as to not give away my deceitful plan. However did you figure it out, Son of Odin?" The emphasis Loki put on Odin's name was not lost on anyone else in the clearing.
"You've gotta admit Thor, that does seem a little far reaching, even for Shakespeare in the Park over there." Tony spoke up for the first time, now that he seemed to be on slightly more solid footing.
Steve took that moment to grab the paper he had originally given James out of said super soldier's hand. He mimicked holding a pencil and looked over at Loki. Loki rolled his eyes but sighed and waved his hand anyway; making the pen that was in Banner's pocket (he had forgotten it was even there), appear in Steve's hand a moment later. Tony and Thor both brought up their weapons and trained them on Loki the moment he moved his hand.
Steve saw their move and took several steps back to stand between Loki and the weapon's trained on him. James was not about to have his friend shot though, "Guys, stand down. That's an order."
"Not a chance, Cap- possibly not Cap. I'm feeling a little threatened by Harry Potter over there, and I want to be ready if I need to defend myself. Don't wanna get stabbed in the back after all." Thor and Bruce both nodding along in agreement with Tony's words.
Steve drew his eyebrows together and knelt down, still shielding Loki from the weapons pointed at them. He began drawing a small picture on half the page while James continued to argue with his teammates about not shooting anyone.
"We should ask them how they know each other." Said James.
"You heard Reindeer Games over there, the man can't, or won't speak! How are we going to get an answer out of him?" Tony argued back.
"Why can't Loki just answer the questions then?"
"Do we know if he will be truthful? I mean he is the God of Lies…"
"Well how else do you propose to get an answer from them?"
"Yes, there is no guarantee that what Loki speaks will be the truth."
"Can't 'Steven' just write his answers down?"
"We could do yes and no questions?"
"We would be here for hours! And I do not want to be spending a moment in the creepy Hydra ruins longer than is necessary!"
The four of them went around in circles with their argument. Loki and Steve shared a look and an eye roll at "Earth's Mightiest Heroes."
When Steve was done drawing, he shoved the paper into Barnes' face, stopping him from arguing any more. It was a crude picture of the six of them. The Avengers were pointing question marks at Loki, who was answering with empty speech bubbles, then Steve with a thumb up/ thumb down next to him.
James remembered the little comics Steve used to write the paper and got the gist of what Steve was saying. He relayed the message to the others, who thought it over a moment and finally agreed.
Tony, being who he was, was the first to question Loki, "How do you know Cap's friend?"
Loki didn't even hesitate to answer. "I met him when I crash landed after falling off the Bifröst and into the hands of Thanos." The quartet turned toward Steve almost as one, to see him nod his agreement with Loki's answer.
"What was Steven doing there?" Thor asked next.
"He was a prisoner. Like myself," was the quiet reply. Again Steve nodded with pain in his eyes at some memory. His eyes turned hard, and he glared at Thor for a moment, before turning back towards Loki.
"Why doesn't Steve speak for himself?" Bruce's medical background was influencing his thoughts. He was contemplating asking about the shrinking but gathered there would be time for that later. Barnes didn't look like he was leaving this clearing without Steve, and Steve, for whatever reason wouldn't leave Loki behind.
Loki hesitated a moment and shared a look with Steve. They seemed to be having almost a telepathic conversation that lasted over a minute. Finally, Loki said, eyes not leaving Steve, "being on the receiving end of torture for such a prolonged period of time leaves its marks."
The four heroes were not expecting that answer; they all took a shocked breath in at the same time. If the question wasn't so upsetting the God of Chaos might've found their reaction a little more amusing, considering how they had been bickering not five minutes before.
Steve winced and nodded to collaborate the answer but took a step back as James stepped towards him again. The ex-assassin froze, wanting so badly to hug his friend again but knowing it wasn't welcome right now. Steve's hands were tapping against his leg faster than before, but other than that he didn't move a muscle.
Loki's last answer opened a whole can of questions, but Barnes only had one thing he wanted to know, "How did you end up a prisoner in Space Stevie?"
Steve's eyes hardened again as Loki answered with simply, "The Tesseract."
This time, his nod was sharp and to the point, anger in every inch of his body language.
"If we promise to not send you to Asgard just yet," Tony began his question carefully, "will the two of you come with us back to the Tower?" This ruined base was seriously starting to creep him out and he wasn't quite sure why. The sooner they all relocated to somewhere that Bruce could check Steve over to confirm this seventy years of torture story, and they could get away from here would be grand- even if it meant holding Reindeer Games at the Tower again for a few days.
Loki and Steve shared another look before Loki said, "How long would we stay with you?"
"Depends on you Gandolf. Are you going to cooperate and continue to answer our questions? Or are you going to get power hungry again and try to take over the city. Cause if it's the second one, I will just knock you both out and let Thor cart your ass back to Asgard." Was Tony's blunt reply.
Loki and Steve shared another look, this one more amused than anything from the looks of their matching grins, "Hmm… King of New York? Sounds rather boring actually."
Three of the four Heroes felt like they were missing something, but James' eyes narrowed in understanding. He hadn't gotten the reference the first time Loki had said it, but now with Steve standing right there the memory came back full force. The pair of them used to play that game with James' sisters when Steve was too sick to go out in the winter. They would take turns being "King" and ordering their "subjects" around. James' sisters weren't too fond of the game and he had gotten a tanning once because he talked back to his mother while they were still in the middle of playing the game.
Steve also seemed to remember the game; if the look he was giving James was any indication. James growled good naturedly at Steve, "You little punk!"
He reached an arm up, like old times, to put Steve into a headlock and mess up his hair- the move coming from his muscle memory. He was not expecting the panicked intake of air, or his arm being twisted up behind his back the minute it landed around Steve's shoulders, or one of his own knives being pressed against his throat. Steve was pressed up behind him, his arm a solid unmovable force against his neck, and breathing heavily like he was panicking.
Thor and Tony both turned their weapons over towards Steve at the perceived threat but were unable to get a shot off. Winter Soldier training started to kick in, but James was far enough removed from that to fight it off. There was no way he was going to hurt his friend- especially when JAMES had been the one to startle him.
"Steven," called Loki, "You don't want to hurt him. You always told me how close the two of you were."
"Stevie," said Bucky carefully, the knife wasn't digging into his throat but it was close, "hey, 'msorry okay? I didn't mean ta startle you." He raised his metal hand up in a nonthreatening manner.
Steve took one deep breath, held it a moment, and suddenly let go of James, moving back to stand near Loki, the knife still in his hand, but at his side.
"You okay Barnes?" asked Bruce quietly.
"Yeah, yeah, 'm fine. Put your weapons down. That was my fault." James shook out his flesh arm, trying to get feeling back into it and checked his neck to make sure he wasn't actually bleeding.
"So, we learned that no one puts their hands near Steve's neck, Thor doesn't get to take Loki back to Asgard right now, and Loki will continue to answer our questions… back at the tower. Sound good to everyone?" Barnes was trying to draw attention away from Steve's moment of panic, which seemed to work. The rest of them nodded in hesitant agreement before Loki and Steve put their hands up in the universal sign of surrender. The knife disappeared onto Steve's person, which didn't escape anyone's notice.
The two shared another look and after a moment's hesitation both of them put their hands out, ready to be handcuffed. A spark of relief fell over Bruce and Tony's faces, though one was hidden behind the helmet of his suit, at the move. The two were willing to surrender to the Avengers, trusting them enough to not go back on their word just yet.
The six of them moved back to the Quinjet, Loki and Steve both wearing handcuffs similar to the ones Loki had one when Thor was trying to transport him back to Asgard.
Loki sat in the same seat he had used before, Steve sitting next to him. After a moment's hesitation, James sat down on Steve's other side, clearly wanting to reach over, but unsure if the move would be welcome.
Thor looked like he wanted to do the same thing, on Loki's other side, but the glare he was getting from said God stopped him. In a moment of wisdom, he chose the seat across from the trio instead.
Bruce and Tony both went to the cockpit. The duo was talking quietly to each other, no doubt trying to figure out what to do with their new guests when they reached the Tower.
After a small nudge from Loki, Steve carefully put his hand around James' right wrist, fingers brushing carefully over his pulse point. James took in a sharp breath, but made no other move, except to curl the fingers of that hand down a little to brush against Steve's hand also.
End Chapter 2