Chapter 26

For the first time in his life, Thor hated the battle. Every strike and every blow was wasting the valuable seconds he could have invested in getting to Maria. That was what he was here for.

Earth could wait.

The portal in the sky filled his heart with dread and he already wondered if he was indeed too late. No - he thought. He'd fought Loki. If Maria was dead, he would have gloated about it. He wouldn't have been able to resist twisting Thor's heart out of his chest with the knowledge.

Thor's eyes rolled to the portal itself. In a short space of time, much had crept through. It was still not fully open though, Loki's forces limitted in their advance.

He wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Good if it meant he had fewer foes to defeat before he could rescue Maria. Bad if Loki back to her before he could and finished the job. Then both Earth and Thor would be doomed.

Their forces would be overrun, and the woman he loved would be slaughtered once her purpose was exhausted. Everything would be lost.

He had to get to Maria.

The trail of energy from the portal bled straight down to the roof of Stark tower, telling him where he needed to be. The fighting was drawing him closer to the ground though.

He crushed a Chatauri's skull with a blow from his hammer and leapt from their flying vessel, letting his body fall through the air. He could not have timed it better: below him he caught a fleeting glimpse of fighting, the unmistakable blue suit of the Captain catching his eye. His feet met ground as the surrounding Avengers vanquished their foes. Thor landed amongst his comrades heavily, leaning against a fallen vehicle as he righted himself.

Every part of him hated to be on the ground, so far from Maria, but his warrior instincts forced him to stay. These people were his team mates. He would stand by their side. They would save Maria together.

The Captain and Hawkeye stode around him purposefully, as the last of the enemies fell. "What's the story upstairs?"

"The power surrounding the cube is inpenetrable." he stated bluntly, eyes meeting the focussed orbs of the Captain.

The team convened.

"Thor's right." Stark's voice affirmed, though his presence was no where to be seen. Thor had no time to question it now; there were more important things to consider than the wonders of Earth technology. "We need to deal with these guys."

Agent Romanov joined the group on the ground. "How do we do this?"

"As a team." The Captain's answer was instantaneous.

Thor's eyes followed his leading teammate, his admiration drowned out with his determined urgency. There was more riding on this for him than there was any of them.

Murderous thoughts were already racing through the gods head. Loki was his. Thor's mission was so much different to the other, his priorities a lot more delicate. Once Maria was safe and in his arms once more, Thor didn't think there was a single force in all the nine realms that could protect his brother from his wrath. What he had done already was unforgivable. What he planned to do... Thor would destroy him.

"I have unfinished business with Loki." was all he said, knowing the Captain would understand his meaning. They all would.

Except for one: "Yeah? Get in line." the man with the arrows challenged darkly.

"Save it." The Captain snapped before Thor could open his mouth to protest. "Loki's gonna keep this fight focussed on us and that's what we need. WIthout him, these things could run wild. We got Stark up top. He's gonna need us to-"

The deep rumble of an engine cut him off. The Avenger's all turned simultaneously at the sound, wondering what sort of fool would be riding into war!

Then Bruce Banner swung off the bike and they swarmed forward. Thor eyed Stark Tower darkly as he reluctantly followed. He was wasting time here, he told himself, glancing fleetingly at his comrades as Banner and Agent Romanov exchanged words. Every second he stayed was a second Loki had to move. And he would be moving in that direction.

He wondered if Maria could see him from the tower. He knew she was somewhere on the roof, hearing her scream when Loki had stabbed him. She was up there all right.

But he could not simply go get her.

The portal's existance meant that Loki had drawn on her energy, even if he had not tapped into all of it. Perhaps it would have been better if he had, the god half thought to himself. At least then Maria's ties with the Tesseract would have been severed. Now, with half the energy still in her body, she was bound to it.

There were two plans of option; Thor's or Loki's. Loki's involved draining Maria of her energy, leaving her open and vulnerable for him to kill her. He would use her for all she was worth. And it would hurt. Thor's plan worked in contrast - sever the bond via the Tesseract, not the other way around. If he could close the portal, the energy in Maria would go dormant again with the cube.

It was lucky for Earth that the key to saving it lay with the key to saving Maria. Thor knew which side he would have chosen if it had not.

A crash from a far off building drew him from his thoughts. He looked up just in time to see Stark's flying suit of amour lead a Chitauri battle ship around the corner, into their street. It was heading straight for them.

Thor gritted his teeth in frustration. He should not be here, he continually thought as Banner morphed into the Hulk, he and Stark working together to bring the ship down. Thor dove for cover and cursed. All he needed was a plan. A confirmation that he could go and deal with Maria, Loki and the Tesseract without leaving his team in mortal danger.

He just needed the nod and he'd be gone. Why did everything always have to get in the way?

He leapt forward as soon as he had the chance, joining the configuring circle of Avengers in the middle of the street. His keen eyes spotted enemies creeping out the surrouding buildings. It wouldn't be long before they closed in.

"Guys." Agent Romanovs call drew the Avenger's eyes to her, all following her gaze as she stared at the sky.

The did so just in time to see three more battle ships drift through the portals. Thor swore in his head.

"Call it, Captian." Stark barked.

Thor flew his eyes to the Captain, waiting less than patiently for the suited man to take up the call before Thor took it for him. Did they not understand his sense of urgency?!

"All right, listen up." the Captain finally said, causing Thor's heart to leap. At last! His body tingled with anticipation; he was going to close in on Loki soon. He hoped for his brother's sake that he was prepared.

His gaze rolled to Stark Tower again as orders were distributed amongst the team. Thor didn't care. He just wanted to go. And soon, nothing would be able to stop him.

"Thor," The Captain turned to him, and Thor glanced back. "You gotta try and bottle up that portal. Slow 'em down." His gaze followed the god's towards Stark Tower and the portal hanging above it. "You got the lightning. Light the bastards up."

With pleasure, Thor couldn't help but growl in his head. He swung Mjolnir in circles, feeling his rage and adrenaline course through his system. The electricity was already pricking his senses, ready to respond to his every command. New York City was in for one hell of a storm! The god launched himself into the air, letting Mjolnir soar him towards a towering sky scraper.

A plan forged in his head. Lightning, he thought as he latched onto the tip of the building.

Sharp cracks of electricity thundered down, clashing with his outstretched hammer. The power surged through the entire structure of the sky scraper, forks of lightning curving round the body of the building. This was his element, he thought. If Loki could see him now, he should be afraid - Thor felt like he had all the power in the nine realms at his command!

Destroy the portal, he thought in his head. His aim had to be exact though. Once the portal was disabled, Maria would be unprotected. If his blow went wild, too much fuel or a touch too low...

He had no other option. He would get it right, he reassured himself.

His roar crashed with the thunder as Mjolnir steered the lightning towards Stark Tower, aiming for the stream of energy between the cube and the portal. If the blow was too close to the machine, it could hit Maria. Lightning trailed down the thread of power to the machine holding the Tesseract.

Then the breath caught in Thor's chest as Maria staggered back into view. His gaze was drawn to her, she and Selvig backing away from the attacked machine out of the lightning's immediate reach. The onlooking god was more than conscious of the building's plumetting edge, more of a threat to the mortals than his electrifying attack was.

His attention was drawn back to the skies as another warship started to creep through the portal. A sharp attack from his lightning sent it back.

Then everything faltered.

The lightning on the Tesseract crackled weakly as soon as the god had diverted his attention, the power his task demanded too much to be shared. The ship fell back, and his plans fell down.

The lightning peeled back from the buildings, retreating back to the skies. Thor's heart plumetted - he couldn't close the portal.

Cold dread washed through his system as he panicked. What could he do? He didn't know how else to close the portal. And the only other option to sever the connection... it didn't bear thinking about. The god cursed in his head: he might have just blown his one chance.

Another battleship cruised through the air beneath him and Thor leapt down to it, driving his hammer into every living thing on the beast's back to fine turn his mind back into battle. He'd run out of options. How could he close the portal? His hammer pounded again and again, the fight sharpening his mind. He needed to stay focused. He couldn't let himself be clouded by hopelessness.

The light distraction turned out to be more taxing than he'd anticipated as more Chitauri warriors attacked him. Even after the Hulk crashed on with him, he was kept busy with his foes, fleeting glances at Stark Tower all he could allow himself.

Maria and Selvig were still mercifully standing.

But they weren't alone.

XXX

Maria watched with bugging eyes as the lightning peeled back from the technology holding the Tesseract, the bubble of protectve energy shielding it - and her - from harm. She may not be a genius in Asgardian machinery but she knew what Thor had been trying to do.

Her eyes shot to Selvig. "We need to close the portal."

"We can't." he gasped intantly. "It's too powerful."

Maria rolled her eyes back forward, back up to the portal. If many more warriors came through that thing, Thor and the other's would be overwhelmed.

There had to be a way, she thought. The cube wouldn't stay open. It couldn't. There had to be a way to make it close. She half wished Loki were here. His gloating might give them some clue at least as to how they could stop it.

Then, she had her answer: Loki.

"Loki must have a way to close it down somehow." she reasoned aloud. "He wouldn't leave it open after the war was won. It'd be too vulnerable."

But how?!, she screamed in her head in frustration. His scepter was able to draw her energy from her. It had some sort of control. Perhaps it worked in reverse, closing it, as well as opening it.

The scientist ran along the same trail of thought as her. "Loki's scepter. It's the only thing that can puncture the energy shield."

Energy shield?, Maria frowned inwardly, eyes trailing down the thread from the portal. What did that have to do with-

The thought was silenced as her gaze finally lowered down to the machine holding the Tesseract, and drank in the compact blue ball of energy that huddled around it. She staggered backwards nearer the edge of the building to stay out of it's reach. She didn't want to be a part of that thing.

Her mind fought for focus as panic started to descend. Okay, she inwardly gulped. Just one problem: the scepter was with Loki, and Loki was-

"Me." she suddeny thought aloud. Her eyes flew to the scientist questioningly. "What about me? You said I was part of this thing now. It protects me with the same sort of shield. I could get through it, couldn't I? I could close it?" Any other time she would have felt proud and uber smart for thinking of the idea... but right now, there simply wasn't time.

Selvig's eyebrows pinched in thought. "I think so. But as to if you can actually pull the energy back... I don't know if that's possible." he finally admitted.

Maria's eyes turned back to the Tesseract. "We have to try. There's nothing else."

Nothing else other than just killing yourselves and getting it over with, a snide voice snapped visciously in her head. Maria tried not to make her wince too obvious.

Gulping down her anxieties she started to step up to the glowing machine, her fingers rising ahead of her. What if this didn't work?, she started to think, inching closer. Then the only thing useful she could do was kill herself! At least then Loki couldn't use her to make things any worse. No, don't think of that, she willed, the fringes of the shield getting scarily closer. She paused when her fingertips were inches away. What would it feel like? A bubble of energy - would if it burn, or tingle, or buzz, or... what?

Thoughts flashed back to her home, and the world she'd left behind. She'd be getting her university results soon. Trivial compared to saving the world, but still important. She focussed on that: she had to go home and find out her results. Somehow, she had to get through this for that if nothing else. Something normal to cling on to.

And Jane's wedding! It wasn't too late. She could go to the wedding - her and Thor - and they could just be normal. No flying guys with armour and magical hammers. No dudes in leather with deadly scepters. No assasins, no guns, no spies. Normal.

She felt like she would kill for a touch of normal right now.

She gritted her teeth and plunged her hand in the blue light before she could scare herself away. And it didn't throw her back. Her eyes stared at her hand, bathed in mystical blue light. Hope started to flood through her system - maybe she could do this after all.

It didn't hurt. It didn't even hum with power. If anything it was cold, a light chill lifting the invisible hairs on her hand in a way she didn't expect. Maybe it's adopted a few traits from it's master, she thought darkly, thinking of Loki's cold heart.

Then she snapped back to focus: "What do I press?" she suddenly called over her shoulder to the scientist.

"Nothing." he said, much to her surprise. "It doesn't need the machine anymore, it's working by itself. You have to tap into the energy somehow."

How the hell do I do that?, she couldn't help but think.

Then a long fingered hand closed around her forearm and it didn't matter anymore. The blood drained from her face as her eyes lifted: Loki's orbs were as merciless as ever. "I wouldn't to that if I were you."

Maria couldn't so much as gasp before he yanked her back, driving her from the machine with a force she couldn't hope to fight with. Her plimsolls scuffed along the ground helplessly, doing nothing to deter the dangerous god. A whimper escaped her lips, sure that Loki would break her arm if he kept up with the vice like grip like he was! She couldn't see how far he pushed her but it was mere seconds before he jerked her arm, and spun her round. It felt like an eternity. An arm closed around the front of her shoulders before she could even think to move. Her body squirmed out of instinct, fighting desperately against the hold that pinned her back. She could feel the solid body behind her.

"There's nothing you can do." Loki hissed down in her ear, stilling her stuggles.

Maria's blood turned to ice, eyes widening. Loki was back. He was here. Her heart stopped beating as the truth of what that meant descended upon her: the pain would be back, and then he would kill her. Her fingers clawed at his forearm over her collar bone, but just as before, the god didn't even flinch.

Her eyes flickered pleadingly to Selvig - but that scientist looked terrified in his own rights. He staggered back, knees crumpling beneath him. He crawled to put some distant between himself and Loki.

She started to surrender to the hopelessness.

Maria blinked her eyes out of their haze of panic, so her glistening orbs washed over the city. They found Thor, battling on top of a Chitauri warship, instantly.

"This is the effect of humanity." he sneered over her shoulder, his arm around her body the only thing that stopped her from plunging to her doom below. Her toes rocked millimeters from the edge. "Chaos and bloodshed. A deep, never ending price to pay for your precious freedom, is it not?"

Maria stared out at Thor, watching him fight. He was too busy to help her, she realised. With all those warriors... he would defeat them, but it would take time. Time she didn't think Loki would let her have.

Mission: close the portal.

She couldn't do that. Not like this. And there was no way Loki was going to let her go.

She couldn't close the portal, but now Loki could make her open it. Could make it worse. Her heart settled with dread, dreaming of what that would unleash for Thor. She couldn't let it happen. She couldn't let Loki open up the portal anymore. If she couldn't stop him, she could at least hamper him, buy the Avengers vital time.

"Thor fights for your world." Loki went on. "Fights for that precious freedom you mortals so desperately crave. Look what it has brought. And now Thor will pay the price for choosing poorly, when he loses all he loves."

Maria's knees went weak at the open threat, mouth falling open.

No, she scolded herself sharply. Her body tensed under Loki's hold. She couldn't surrender, couldn't give in. If Thor couldn't help her, she had to help herself somehow.

There was more at stake than just her.

She couldn't let herself be used to open the portal wider, whatever happens. But there was no one to help her. She couldn't escape and even if she could, where would she go where Loki wouldn't find her?

Her body stilled again as a solid solution came to mind, throat drying at the prospect. Her hands started to tremble.

You promised!, a panicking voice in her head squeaked desperately, the same voice that had given her the idea earlier in the first place.

Maria's eyes hardened with resolve, the small part of her that panicked confirming it - it was what she had to do. It was the solution. It was right. She gulped hard.

Thor was a hero, no doubt about that. But he couldn't help her and she couldn't leave it to him. Or any of them. This fell to her, the fate of the world balanced in her hands. What she did could save or destroy them. And there was only one way to stop Loki from getting what he wanted.

The god behind her was almost insignificant as the horror of what she was considering coursed through her with calm control. Her eyes found Thor, the solid pressure of Loki's body against her back bringing back memories of her god. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes. She wished she could look into those crystal blue eyes, feel those strong arms around her once more... that wasn't going to happen.

All the time she'd known Thor he'd protected her. He'd put himself in harms way to defend her, saving her in more ways than the obvious.

Now it was her turn.

She could do this, she told herself as she sucked in a deep breath. She rocked on her heels as much as Loki would allow her, eyes fluttering shut to savour the moments before she broke her promise.

Suddenly, her body stilled. I'm sorry, Thor.

Then ... well.

Loki didn't see it coming as Maria exploded into action, the transition from bolt stillness to that catching him way off guard: Maria kicked back with her heel, ramming her elbow back hard. A grunt left Loki as the attack knocked the wind out of him. His arm feel away from her like paper in her wind.

Maria wasted no time breaking free of his hold, twisting forward to see the god holding himself upright by his scepter on the floor, arm wrapped around his torso. His burning, blazing eyes glared up at her with hatred.

Then they widened, taking in her position.

She didn't stop to think, the breath heaving from her chest. She couldn't risk bottling out. This was the only way to keep Loki's goal out of his reach.

Maria leaned back, and fell.