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Chapter Six:
The trek to the imposing fortress passed without incident. Loki and Clint didn't talk much. They stayed silent and kept to the shadows, creeping along like only a master assassin and the god of mischief could. Within half an hour, the pair descended the volcano, leaving the safety of the hyper-jet behind. Now, all that lie between them and The Other's stronghold was a barren stretch of land. Clint and Loki stood at the foot of the volcano and looked out over the terrain. A few boulders littered the ground here and there, but for the most part, the land was flat. Deep cracks scarred the landscape, issuing yellow steam from the moon's depths.
"We should steer clear of the steam," Clint said. "Probably poisonous."
Loki bit back a sarcastic retort and simply nodded. As Clint made to move on, Loki reached out and grabbed the archer by the shoulder. "Wait a moment." Loki closed his eyes. Using his magic, he probed the surrounding area with his mind, looking for other forms of consciousness. He felt nothing immediately near; it seemed their journey had gone undetected so far. Loki released Clint and opened his eyes. "The area is clear. We shouldn't meet any trouble until the fortress itself."
Now Clint was the one nodding. Still, he nocked an arrow just in case. Setting off at a light jog, Clint led the way across the stretch of land before them.\
Waverly was pacing her cell again. She could feel the antiserum's effects wearing off. No doubt The Other would be back soon to give her another dose. Until then, every time she passed the puddle of dirty water, Waverly attempted to use her powers. So far, nothing. Waverly had no way to tell the passage of time, but her sore feet told her she had been pacing for quite some time. This was the longest Waverly had been awake since she had been imprisoned; it felt like she had been awake for days but at the same time it felt like only minutes. She was going stir crazy. What were the Avenger's doing right now? Were they planning to come after her? Was her brother leading the charge? Was Loki? Or had they already tried to rescue her and been killed by The Other? Why then, hadn't The Other gloated over his victory and finished her off? And where was he? It unnerved Waverly that she hadn't seen The Other in such a long time; not that she minded. If he was late giving her an injection, maybe her powers would come back in time for her to escape. But what if The Other's absence was because the Avengers had arrived to rescue her? Could they be battling The Other at this very moment? Waverly paused in her pacing and looked wildly around for some sign of a fight going on; the sound of Tony flying through the air, Bruce's roar. After a moment of hearing nothing but the steady drip of water, Waverly went back to pacing. She tried her powers again. Still nothing.
Clint was crouched behind a boulder, Loki was flattened on the ground beside him. They were in the shadow of the fortress. An iron gate stood at the top of a set of stairs, guarded on either side by what looked like Chituari warriors. Loki hadn't realized any had survived the battle of New York. Not that he cared; these two would be easy to overcome. One of the guards shifted his weight from one foot to the other and looked over in the direction of the boulder that Clint and Loki were sheltering behind. Quick as a flash and in total silence, both the god and the archer disappeared behind their cover before the alien could see them.
Cocking his head to one side, Clint indicated Loki should move closer.
Loki leaned in, his face far too close to Clint's for his liking.
"I can deal with those two," Clint whispered. "Two sedation arrows in quick succession; they won't have a chance. I can't do anything about that gate, though, without setting off an explosion. Then for sure The Other would realize we're here."
"I will take care of the gate." Loki said. He twisted his scepter in his hands, an eerie blue glow surrounding the weapon.
"All right. This is it then. Ready?"
For a brief moment, hardly a second, Clint and Loki's eyes met. In each other's gazes, they could see the feelings for Waverly that were driving this mission. In Clint's, Loki saw the archer's love for his adoptive sister, his need to protect her and keep her safe. In Loki's, Clint saw the dedication and passion the god had for Waverly and it was at that moment that Clint fully understood the bond between his sister and the god that had possessed his mind.
Loki nodded and the moment was over. The murderous glint was back in Loki's emerald eyes and Clint's narrowed to the concentrated slits of an expert marksmen. Peering around one side of the boulder, Clint let loose an arrow. Before it had even met its mark, he whipped around, nocked another arrow, and fired from around the opposite side of the boulder. The first arrow whistled through the air and met its mark in the alien's neck. Before the guard had even hit the ground, the second arrow buried itself in the second alien's neck; he didn't even have time to look surprised. With almost synchronous 'thuds,' the Chituari crumpled to the stone beneath their feet.
Loki took off toward the fortress, his scepter glowing with magic. He pointed his weapon at the crisscrossing iron bars. They glowed blue for half a second, then melted away into nothingness as if they weren't ever there. Loki took the steps two at a time, Clint at his heels. The entrance hall before them was empty. The floor was like shiny, black marble and the walls were made of blood red stone. Flaming sconces dotted the walls, casting a creepy crimson glow. Loki and Clint stood on the threshold; their eyes each scanning the hall before them. They were alone.
"Let's split up," Clint said. "Remember, if you find her, press the button on the earpiece. I'll come find you."
Loki nodded. "If one of us can rescue her on our own, shall we rendezvous back here?"
"Sounds good."
"Then, let's be off." Loki headed towards a dark corridor on their left. Before he disappeared from Clint's view, the god turned around. "Good luck, Barton."
"You too, Reindeer Games." Clint wasn't surprised to realize that he meant it. He watched as Loki's lips tilted up ever so slightly in a smile, before he disappeared down the hall. Clint nocked another arrow in his bow, then sprinted down the entrance hall, his footfalls light and silent on the stone floor.
The passage Loki had taken was leading him deep into the bowels of the fortress. He had descended several spiral staircases made of rock, walked along dark and deserted corridors, and searched through empty rooms full of the various armor and weapons used by The Other and his Chituari warriors. It unnerved Loki that he had not met any obstacles or guards along the way. The fortress was deadly silent except for Loki's light footfalls. Every sense was on high alert; the god's ears pricked for the slightest sound, his eyes scrutinizing every dark corner and crevice. Loki felt his heart thudding somewhere in his throat instead of down in his chest as it should. He felt the usual rush of adrenalin that preceded battle beginning to stir in his navel.
Descending yet another winding staircase, Loki surmised that he was deep underground. The walls were roughly hewn of dirt and stone and water trickled through cracks in the ceiling. It was dark and cold and the silence pressed against Loki's ears. At the foot of the stairs, Loki found himself at the end of a long, narrow corridor. It was lit by a torch to his left and again by another at the hall's far end. There were no passages off this corridor, only a heavy metal door at the far end.
As he stood and gazed at the door, Loki felt his skin prickle and his scalp tingle. His breathing quickened, sending a cloud of mist into the air before his face. It felt as if his heart was going to explode from his body. Something was on the other side of this door; something he needed to find. He didn't know if it was Waverly or The Other, but something was waiting for him on the other side of that door. Loki took a breath and set off at a slow, quiet walk towards the door.
While Loki was delving deeper into the depths of the fortress, Clint was scaling tower after tower, searching for his sister. At the end of the entrance hall, three separate corridors had branched off, two leading to a large room like some kind of dining hall or meeting room. Clint had explored each of these corridors to no success. He had retraced his steps back to the entrance hall and then disappeared down the final hallway. This hallway immediately began sloping slightly upwards before Clint found himself at the foot of a metal staircase. He began climbing, an arrow still at the ready.
Every fiber of Clint's being was screaming out that something wasn't right. Years of training and countless missions had taught him that nothing was this easy; he should have met some kind of resistance by now. Or, at the very least, have spied some aliens somewhere, or The Other himself. But the fortress was quiet as the grave. Clint swallowed. Bad analogy.
Clint reached the top of the staircase. A door stood slightly ajar before him and another long hallway lead off to his right. Clint nudged the door further open with his foot and peered through the doorway, the tip of an arrow peeking around the corner as well. The room looked like someone's living quarters. There was an iron chandelier lit by blood red candles hanging low from the ceiling. A huge four-poster bed stood in the corner. The room was deserted. Clint somehow knew that this wasn't The Other's bedroom. Someone more sinister lived in this room.
Clint didn't wait to find out who it was; right now his mission was to find his sister. He edged out of the room and instead took off down the hallway to his right. It ended in a zigzagging set of stairs. Clint began to climb.
After three more staircases, two of which wound so tightly, Clint almost got dizzy, the archer found himself at the base of one of the fortress's towers. There was one more set of stairs that ended at an open doorway. An orange light flooded from the tower room and the air was thick and hot. Someone was up there. Clint could see shadows moving about the room and hear low, grumbling voices.
Clint began to ascend the stairs. He made no noise, hardly daring to even breathe. The string of his bow was pulled taut. This was it; his spy senses were going off the radar. One of his targets was in this room.
Waverly's feet screamed out in pain. She had stubbed her toes on the rough stone floor so many time that she had lost count. The deadening cold of her cell chilled her feet right to the bone. But still, she paced on. She just couldn't sit still. Back and forth and walked across her cell. If anything, Waverly thought in frustration, I'll wear a hole in the floor and can escape that way. And still, every time she passed the puddle of water, she reached out a hand and tried to summon the water. A couple times, she thought she saw ripples across the puddle's surface and once, it may have been her imagination, Waverly thought a small droplet had actually hovered above the puddle for a second. This time, though, there was nothing, nothing at all. Waverly huffed in frustration sending a cloud of condensation in her face. The temperature in her cell seemed to drop. Waverly stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide and her heart hammering against her rib cage. The temperature had dropped with her frustration, just like it always did when she was emotional… when her powers were working. A chill ran up her spine; a sort of comforting chill. Waverly sunk to her knees in front of the puddle. She held her breath and concentrated harder than she had ever done before in her life. Extending a hand over the water, it was almost as if Waverly's heart had stopped in anticipation. She stared at the water. And then, a thin trickle raised itself from the puddle and began moving through the air towards her hand. As the small jet of water came closer to her fingers, it began to turn slowly to ice. Waverly hardly dared to believe her eyes.
And then, as suddenly as it happened, the water and ice fell back to the floor and rejoined the dirty puddle. Waverly closed her eyes tight and stifled a swear. That's when she heard it; the familiar creak of the rusty hinged door that lead to the dungeons and her cell. The Other was coming with another injection. No, Waverly thought desperately. No, just a little more time! I almost had it!
Loki had finally reached the end of the narrow hallway. It felt like an eternity had passed while he traversed this corridor. Standing before the door, Loki felt his heart hammer wildly in his chest. He hardly dared to breathe. Reaching out a shaking hand, Loki pushed open the door.