Mischievous Mates
Recap: Last update was a bit crazy wouldn't you say? Banner entered the scene thanks to the wonderful Natasha. .A.S.U.S. exploded. Loki got away from S.H. .D. He took the tesseract. Oh, and he also took Mara.
Chapter 4: Mayhem
No One's POV:
Director Fury steps off the aircraft and into the base. He walks briskly to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Analytical Room. Fury faces several large monitors as he waits to conference with the members of the world security council. One by one the members appear on their respective screens.
"This is out of line, Director. You're dealing with forces you can't control." The first member grumbles.
"You ever been in a war, Councilman? In a firefight? Did you feel an overabundance of control?" Fury retorts.
"You saying that this Asgard has declared war on our planet?" The first councilman questions Fury.
"No, not Asgard. Loki." Fury answers.
"He can't be working alone. What about the other one? His brother," The second council member questioned.
"Our intelligence says that Thor is not a hostile. But he's worlds away and we can't depend on him to help. It's up to us." Fury informed.
"Which is why you should be focusing on phase 2, it was designed for exactly..." The firs councilman butted in.
"PHASE 2 isn't ready, our enemy is. We need a response team." Fury demanded as he cut off the first councilman.
"The Avengers Initiative was shut down." The first councilman barked out.
"This isn't about The Avengers." Fury retorted.
"We're running the world's greatest covert security network and you're gonna leave the fate of human race to a handful of freaks." The first councilman fumed.
"I'm not leaving anything to anyone. We need a response team. These people maybe isolated, unbalanced even, but I believe with the right push they can be exactly what we need." Fury pushed.
"You believe?" The second council member asked incredulously.
"War isn't won by sentiment, Director." The first councilman chimed in.
"No, it's won by soldiers." Fury agreed.
Steve Roger's POV:
I unwrap my hands and see no damage from the hours that I have spent in this boxing gym. I toss the wrap on the bench and grab fresh ones. I quickly wrap my hands and place the fifth punching bag onto the hook. The other four lay on the far wall busted open from the abuse that I have given them. Getting back into my stance, I begin punching again as the nightmare runs through my head. Memories from another time.
At the exit of the Hydra base, I am running through the forest, dodging mortars, gunfire and the Tesseract's energy firearms.
"There's not enough time! I gotta put her in the water"
My fists fly into the bag as more memories surface.
I am back on Red Skull's ship, Horten H. XVIII. I place my compass with the photograph of Peggy Carter on the dash. There is only one way.
Closing my eyes I start hitting harder.
"You won't be alone," Peggy whispers.
Red Skull picks up the tesseract.
I open my eyes and end up tearing the seams of the bag as my fists land heavy blows. I can't stop.
"Oh my god!" A man exclaims.
The screen they showed me projects my half-frozen self, lying down on a medical slab. Two scientists run some techy devices over me.
"This guy is still alive!" One of the men shouts.
With one last punch the bag tears all the way open and flies off the chain. Sand spills out onto the gym floor. My breathing is ragged. 70 years, gone. I grab my water and down half of it. Then I collect the remnants of the broken bag and put it with the other broken ones. Picking up another bag I quickly hook it up and begin punching again. I see Director Fury walk in out of the corner of my eye. I keep punching.
"Trouble sleeping?" Fury asks.
"I slept for seventy years, sir. I think I've had my fill." I tell him.
"Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world." He states. I stop punching and go sit on the bench. I unwrap the tape from my hands.
"I went under, the world was at war, I wake up, and they say we won. They didn't say what we lost." I say then take another drink of my water as I watch the Director.
"We've made some mistakes along the way. Some very recently." Fury replies.
"You here with a mission, sir?" I ask cutting to the chase,
"I am," he states.
"Trying to get me back in the world?" I question incredulously.
"Trying to save it," Fury answers and hands me a file on the Tesseract, along with other files on Hydra's projects.
"Hydra's secret weapon," I state while looking at the file.
"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought what we think; the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs," Fury explained.
"Who took it from you?" I ask.
"He's called Loki. He's not from around here. There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know." Fury described the situation.
"At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me." I told him.
"Ten bucks says you're wrong. There's a debriefing package waiting for you back at your apartment." Fury pushed. I turned, shouldered my bag, and picked up a punching bag. I started out of the gym when Fury asked, "Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?"
"You should have left it in the ocean." I told him and walked out into the dark night.
Tony Stark's POV:
Another stupid jellyfish swims in front of my face as I am busy cutting this pipeline transport in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The laser cutter shooting out of my hand is working at top speed. Finally, the pipeline is cut. I place a Stark Energy Reactor on the pipeline. It lights up immediately. I shoo the annoying jellyfish away and rocket out of the water. I shook some of the excess water off and took off towards the tower.
"You're good on this end. The rest is up to you," I tell Pepper through the comm. link.
"You disconnected the transition lines? Are we off the grid?" She asks and appears on my HUD monitor.
"Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy." I reassure.
"Wow. So maybe our reactor takers over and it actually works?"
"I assume. Light her up." I tell her and finally reach the Tower. I hover and watch as the power is switched on and the Stark sign lights up.
"How does it look?" She asks.
"Like Christmas, but with more…me," I tell her.
"Gotta go wider on the public awareness campaign. You need to do some press. I can do some more tomorrow. I'm working on the zoning for the next billboards." She rambles.
"Pepper, you're killing me. Remember? Enjoy the moment." I moan.
"Then get in here and I will," She orders. So feisty. I fly up to the penthouse and land on the pad. I initiate shut down phase and the suit is pulled off by the new gauntlet of gadgets, as Pepper refers to them.
"Sir, Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on the line." Jarvis announces.
"I'm not in. I'm actually out." I say.
"Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting." Jarvis informs.
"Close the line Jarvis. I got a date." I order and walk into the penthouse. I watch Pepper stare up at the screens monitoring the reactor device.
"Levels are holding steady… I think," She states.
"Of course they are, I was directly involved. Which brings me to my next question: how does it feel to be a genius?" I ask her.
"Well, ha! I really wouldn't know now, would I?" She fires back.
"What do you mean? All this came from you." I gesture to the monitors.
"No, all of this came from that," She said and pointed to the reactor in my chest plate.
"Give yourself some credit, please. Stark Tower is your baby. Give yourself… twelve percent of the credit." I tell her.
"Twelve percent?" She questions.
"An argument can be made for fifteen," I let her know.
"Twelve percent? For my baby?" She questions.
"Well, I did do all the heavy lifting." I say pushing her buttons. "Literally, I lifted the heavy things. And sorry, but the security snafu? That was on you."
"Oooooh,"
"My private elevator…"
"You mean OUR elevator," she butts in.
"…was teeming with sweaty workmen. I'm going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren't I?" I ask. Pepper walks over to the bar and pours us both a glass of champagne.
"Not gonna be that subtle." She snorts.
"I'll tell you what. Next building's gonna say 'Potts' on the tower." I tell her.
"On the lease," She pushes.
"…Call your mom, can you bunk over?" I tease.
"Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocols are being overwritten." Jarvis announces.
"Stark, we need to talk." Agent Coulson booms through the phone. I grab the nearest phone and look at Coulson.
"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message."
"This is urgent." Coulson insists.
"Then leave it urgently." I tell him as the elevator door opens and Coulson appears. "Security breach." Then I look over at Pepper, "That's on you."
"Mr. Stark." Coulson sighs.
"Phil! Come in!" Pepper greets. Of course.
"Phil? Uh, his first name is Agent." I tell her.
"Come on in, we're celebrating." She tells him.
"Which is why he can't stay," I tell Peps more that Fury's minion.
"We need you to look this over," Coulson orders and holds out a file towards me. "As soon as possible."
"I don't like being handed things." I grumble.
"That's alright, 'cause I love to be handed things. So let's trade." Pepper said and passed her champagne glass to Coulson. She takes the file from him, then takes the glass back and passes the file to me. "Thank you."
"Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday," I inform.
"This isn't a consultation," He said.
"Is this about The Avengers? Which I… I know nothing about." Pepper piped in.
"The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn't even qualify." I stated.
"I didn't know that either." Pepper said.
"Yeah, apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others." I listed the reasons that they gave me.
"That I did know," Pepper said.
"This isn't about personality profiles anymore," Coulson interjected.
"Whatever, Miss Potts, got a minute?" I turned to Pepper. She walked over to me as I placed the file into the database. "You know, I thought we were having a moment," I told her.
"I was having twelve percent of a moment. This seems serious, Phil's pretty shaken." Pepper pointed out.
"How did you notice? Why is he Phil?" I queried.
"What is all of this?" Pepper asked while looking at the screens.
"This is uh…" I murmur as I expand the screens for the different profiles to project in holographic form in front of us. Captain America is on one screen in action. The Hulk is on another roaring as he attacks the army at Culver University. Thor is on a third hologram fighting the Destroyer. Hawkeye and Black Widow appear on a fourth taking on a battalion. Agent Chase appears on a fifth practicing her powers. Loki and the Tesseract appear on the last screen.
"I'm going to take the jet to D.C. tonight." Pepper said.
"Tomorrow," I retort.
"You've got homework. You've got a lot of homework." She told me.
"Well, what if I didn't?" I said.
"If you didn't?" She questioned.
"Yeah."
"You mean if you finished?" I nod. "Well, um… then…" Pepper leaned in and whispered exactly what she will give me. I couldn't help but gasp. I noticed Coulson look away as a small blush appears on his face.
"Square deal. It's the last date." I tell her and she leans in for a kiss.
"Work hard." She tells me and leaves with Agent Coulson. I grab the hologram with the Tesseract. Time to get to work.
No One's POV:
Inside the Quinjet, Steve is sitting down holding a tablet watching the footage of the Hulk's attack on the army at Culver University.
"We're about forty minutes out from base, sir." The pilot says. Agent Coulson stands and walks over to Steve.
"So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?" Steve asked.
"A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula." Coulson informed. The Hulk roars out from the footage on the tablet. Clearly furious he slams into a jeep.
"Didn't really go his way, did it?" Steve retorted.
"Not so much. When he's not that thing though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking." Coulson told him and Steve looked confused. "He's like a smart person. I gotta say it's an honor to meet you, officially." Steve smiled up at Coulson. "I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping." Steve looks down. Then he stands up and closes his tablet. Steve walks to the side with Coulson following. "I mean, I was… I was present while you were unconscious from the ice. You know, it's really, it's just a … just a huge honor to have you on board."
"Well, I hope I'm the man for the job." Steve stated.
"Oh, you are. Absolutely. Uh... we've made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input." Coulson said with pride.
"The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little… old fashioned?" Steve asked hesitantly.
"With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned." Coulson said ominously and pulled out a picture of Mara. "Hopefully it can save her." Steve looks at the picture and takes in Coulson's sentiment.
Loki's POV:
The soldiers have secured an abandoned warehouse for the time being. I have my Mara in a room on the top floor with soldiers watching her. Other soldiers are preparing for the mission tonight. Selvig is working with the CMS device. Everything is going according to plan. I turn away from the balcony and enter the room adjacent to the one Mara is in. Sitting in the chair, I close my eyes and clear my mind. When I open my eyes again I am in darkness. The familiar inky darkness of the Other's throne room greets me in my full regalia, horned helmet, armor, and scepter ready for anything.
"The Chitauri grow restless," the Other booms.
"Let them go at themselves. I will lead them into glorious battle." I state.
"Battle? Against the meager might of Earth?" the Other questions. "Will She fight?"
"No, I have her detained. And I said glorious, not lengthy. If your force is as formidable as you claim." I retort.
"You question us? You question HIM? He, who put the scepter in your hand, who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out, defeated?" The Other shouts as fury builds within him.
"I was a king! The rightful king of Asgard! Betrayed!" I shout back.
"Your ambition is little, born of childish need. We look beyond the Earth to greater worlds the Tesseract will unveil." The Other scoffs.
"You don't have the Tesseract yet." I snarl. The Other jumps off his high and mighty throne and rushes towards me. I hold up the scepter. The stone glowing in waning. "I don't threaten, but until I open the doors, until your force is mine to command, you are but words."
"You will have your war, Asgardian. If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he can't find you. You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain. And he will not spare her." The Other said and placed his hand on my head, effectively transporting me back to the pathetic realm.
Mara's POV:
Have mercy! I have been locked in this room with my hands still tied for a while now. I am losing my sanity. Thankfully I can keep track of time with my watch. Loki made sure the soldiers waited outside the room. I have no one to talk to. All I can do is listen. I heard several slams from the room next to me. I wouldn't be surprised if that was Loki himself throwing a tantrum. I need to get out of here. I stood up and looked out the window. It is dark out, so nothing to really see. According to my watch it is eight forty-five. Oh my stars! I'm an idiot. My watch is my freaking way out. Twisting the knob to the message screen, I begin typing a message for my father. I hear footsteps coming my way. Come on fingers. Just a few more letters.
"Move aside," I hear Loki order. Crap. Okay last letter and send! Yes! I did it. No nonchalance is the key. Breath in and out Mara. No giving anything away. The door swings open to reveal public enemy number one. He shuts the door behind him and comes closer.
"What are you here for? More riddles or ridicule?" I mock.
"Not at all my dear. My plan is coming together and you will soon be enlightened in the new order." He informed as he walked around me, inspecting me. There is no way he knows what I did.
"Doubt that. S.H.I.E.L.D. will stop you Loki. We don't cater to crazy." I tell him.
"What a pity. You used to love crazy." He said.
"What are you talking about?" I asked confused.
"There is so much more that you need to learn." He said and stopped a hair from my face. A snarl built on his handsome features before he grabbed my bound hands and brought them before my face. "Lesson number one. You can't out trick THE trickster." I looked down and saw my mistake. I didn't switch the screens back. Loki could clearly read the message I sent: Safe. In Germany. Loki is nuts. Proceed with caution. Avoid the scepter. 3 Mara
No One's POV:
The Quinjet lands down on a massive battleship, also known as the Helicarrier. It has two runways. One with direct access to a hangar at the rear is aligned along the spine of the vessel Agent Coulson and Steve walk down the ramp, meeting up with Natasha.
"Agent Romanoff. Captain Rogers." Coulson introduces.
"Ma'am?" Steve addresses Natasha.
"Hi," Natasha say to Steve, then turning to Coulson informs, "They need you on the bridge. Face time."
"See you there." He nods and walks away leaving Steve with Natasha, walking towards the railing of the ship.
"There was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" Natasha said as she kept walking.
"Trading cards?" Steve asked.
"They're vintage, he's very proud." Natasha quipped. Without realizing, Banner doesn't notice them walking up next to him and he is nervous. He moves around as people keep walking in his way.
"Dr. Banner," Steve greet and walks up to Banner and shakes his hands.
"Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming." Banner said stumbling over his words.
"Word is you can find the cube," Steve stated.
"Is that the only word on me?" Banner questions.
"Only word I care about." Steve assured.
"Must be strange for you, all of this." Banner said and gestured to the busy Helicarrier around them.
"Well, this is actually kind of familiar," Steve said as he noticed soldiers running in formation across the empty runway.
"Gentlemen, you may wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breath." Natasha warned as the Helicarrier suddenly starts shaking as it prepares to fly "sail".
"Is this a submarine?" Steve asks Natasha.
"Really? They wanted me in a submerged pressurized metal container?" Banner ponders. Both men move closer to the edge of the Helicarrier. Four huge lift fans mounted on the sides start to lift into the air in viol flight. Steve watches in awe as Banner smiles. He sighs, "Oh no. This is much worse." After watching the sea start to get farther from the Helicarrier, the group walked into the bridge. The doors part as they enter. A flurry of activity and dozens of agents sit in front of their view screens. Agent Hill shouts her instructions to leave. She turns to Director Fury who is standing at the command center.
"We're at lock, sir." Agent Hill informs.
"Good. Let's vanish," Director Fury orders. The Helicarrier rises high into the heavens. Suddenly, the entire ship is covered in reflecting mirrors, which then camouflages in the sky. Steve and Banner walk through the bridge and end up at the science console. Director Fury turns his attention to the two men. "Gentlemen." He addresses. Steve then gives Fury ten bucks, referring to his earlier statement about never being surprised again. Fury pockets the ten and walks over to Banner and extends his hand. Banner reluctantly shakes it. "Doctor, thank you for coming." Fury said.
"Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh … how long am I staying?" Banner asks.
"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear," Fury answered.
"Where are you with that?" Banner looks at the computer screen as he asks Fury. Director Fury turns to Agent Coulson to explain, while Natasha eyes an image of Clint Barton and Mara Chase-Coulson that was on a computer screen.
"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us." Coulson explained to Banner.
"That's still not gonna find them in time." Natasha remarked.
"You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" Banner asks.
"How many are there?" Fury retorts.
"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?" Banner ordered and directed his question to Fury.
"Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please." Fury directed. Natasha nods and walks off, leading Banner down the hall.
"You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys." She told him.
Loki's POV:
"Lesson number one. You can't out trick THE trickster." I snarled. Did she really think she could get away with this? She didn't even switch the screens on her watch. Her betrayal was clearly lit on the LED screen: Safe. In Germany. Loki is nuts. Proceed with caution. Avoid the scepter. 3 Mara
"I was not trying to trick you," she whispered. I still had her hands in my own and I could feel her shaking in fear.
"Then what were you trying to do? I am king. I will not tolerate this treason." I yelled.
"You are not king yet!" She yelled back in my face.
"But I will. No matter the warnings you send to the mortals, nothing is going to stop my reign. So let them come." I said and pushed her away from me. She ended up falling on the mattress.
"And when they do Loki, you will not know freedom." Mara vowed.
"And what do you know of freedom little bird? You enjoy your cage. That is what I want all of these mortals to know as well. Subjugation is something you all crave subconsciously. Maybe one day I can show you what real freedom is Mara," I informed and caressed her cheek. "Then you can stand by my side as queen. But not until you know your place. I will be back shortly." Then I left her staring open-mouthed after me. "I want one of you in the room with her. Because of your pitiful skill set she was able to send a message to S.H.I.E.L.D. Do not let it happen again. Oh, and confiscate all electronic devices that are on her person." I ordered. One of the female agents went in the room behind me. I made my way to the underground lab. Selvig and several other scientists are running around like ants. All are working on the CMS device. I watch Barton walk over to Selvig holding a tablet.
"Put it over there!" Selvig orders one scientist. "Where did you find all of these people?" He asks Barton.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has no shortage of enemies Doctor." He informs and holds up the tablet showing the information on iridium. "Is this the stuff you need?"
"Yeah, iridium. It's found in meteorites, it forms anti-protons. It's very hard to get a hold of." Selvig responds.
"Especially if S.H.I.E.L.D. knows you need it." Barton replied.
"Well, I didn't know!" Selvig retorts as I make my way over to him and Agent Barton. "Hey! The Tesseract is showing me so much. It's more than just knowledge, it's … truth."
"I know. What did it show you, Agent Barton?" I question.
"My next target." He informs.
"Tell me what you need." I say prepared for anything in order to achieve success.
"I'll need a distraction," Barton says as he grabs his bow. "And an eyeball." Well, this just got interesting.
(AN: Hey everyone. I hope that this time lapse was acceptable. I have been busy with Residency and GRADUATING from college. Wow. That is so weird. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter. My goal is to get another one sent out to you faithful readers as soon as possible. I do not own the Avengers, just this plot and my characters Blade, Mara, and of course Puck the sugar gliderJ. Have a fantastic day remarkable readers. I hope to see nice reviews soon. TTFN!)
○Forever and For Always, ○
~LHNT~
A.K.A.
*Heather* :D