Atea teleported back to Steve and Nat, her shoulder still burning with pain, but that wasn't her worry right now.
"How are you guys holding up?" She asked.
Steve and Nat were still fighting Chitauri, there never seemed to be a break in the constant flow of them.
"We're fine!" Nat yelled, "Is everyone safe?"
"I can't tell you that, but I did rescue a crowd of people in the subway from a few Chitauri." Atea shrugged and winced from the pain in her shoulder.
"Are you okay? You look a bit pale," Steve said, eyeing her while Nat killed off the last Chitauri on the ground.
"Oh yeah I'm fine. I'm just tired. Holding up a shield for an hour and more uses more energy than you'd think." They don't need to worry about my shoulder. They have enough problems as it is.
"What's gonna happen now?" She asked.
"Well, if you look at the portal, hundreds of Chitauri are still coming," Nat told her, "it seems that the others are taking care of them. We'll stay here and look around for any stragglers, or people that need help."
"Got it," Atea nodded. It was a good plan, but something had been bugging her.
She hadn't seen Loki for a while now, and it raised some alarms in her head.
He's either up to something, or hiding in fear like the coward he is. I need to go to Stark Tower and see what's happening from above.
She teleported to the tower, landing on the balcony. The view was breathtaking; a skyline of New York. But there were explosions everywhere from her team fighting the Chitauri. It wasn't your average New York day. She turned around and walked into the building.
The room was large and open. Everything about it screamed, 'I'm a billionaire who doesn't give a shit.'
God, I better be able to come over to this place when this is all finished.
Atea looked around to see if anyone was there. The room was badly damaged, there were holes in the walls and shattered glass blanketing the floor. What was odd were the craters in the floor, shaped like a man.
You've got to be kidding me.
Loki lay in a crater in the floor, groaning. Atea walked over to him cautiously, but allowing a smirk to plaster on her face.
"Well well well, if it isn't the mighty god of mischief." She said, crossing her arms, ignoring the pain from her shoulder. She couldn't let him see that she was weak.
His eyes were closed, but he opened them in a flash, hearing her voice.
"What are you doing here?" He hissed, "Where is your meddling team? The Avengers, right?"
"Does it matter? I'm wondering what's happened to you. You're not looking your best."
He still hadn't gotten up, and by the looks of it, he wasn't going to anytime soon.
"Nor are you. How is your shoulder feeling?"
She grimaced, angry that he knew, "How did you know?"
"You are an open book, Atea."
"Well, at least I'm not staying on the ground like someone I know."
"Do you want to test my capabilities right now? If not, which I would recommend, you should keep your mouth shut."
"No. I don't care what you think, Loki. I've had enough of your threats. I tried to tell you to stop, but you didn't listen. So I think you should keep your mouth shut. You listen, I talk. Things are going my way right now."
He said nothing, clearly taken aback by her sudden assertiveness.
"You are tearing my world apart. People are dying, Loki, innocent people that had nothing to do with any of this. You're upset, I understand. But don't drag others into this. Because all I see right now is a whiny kid throwing a tantrum."
"How dare you say that!" He looked like he was about to foam at the mouth, but that didn't stop her.
"Don't interrupt me!" She yelled, raising several loose rocks into the air, aiming right for Loki. He didn't say a word, "Now, let me continue. All you need to do is call them off. Don't give me the 'it's too late for that' shit, because I know it isn't. We can help you. And you can also help us."
Silence clung in the air for a few moments while Loki took in what she said, and she let her anger flow out of her.
"The staff." He said.
"What?"
"My staff, it uses the energy of the Tesseract, the same energy protecting the portal from closing. I believe you can use it to shut down the portal."
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
"I knew it! I knew you were lying when you said it was too late! Thank you Loki, thank you!" She exclaimed. Atea turned away from him and spoke into the ear piece.
"Can anyone hear me?" She asked.
"What's up, Atea?" Tony replied casually.
"The staff, Loki's staff. We can use it to shut down the portal!"
"How do you know this?" Steve asked.
"I . . . Well, I was interrogating Loki. He told me, and I know it's true. Believe me."
"Let me guess, you did this alone," Nat sighed.
"That doesn't matter right now. You need to grab the staff and shut this all down!"
"Copy that," Nat said, "thanks, Atea."
This is all going to be over, she thought, these awful creatures will be dead and things will go back to normal! Or as normal is it can get after this.
"Are you going to stand there all day?"
She'd nearly forgotten about Loki. She turned to where he'd been laying, but he was standing now, leaning against a pillar for support.
"Maybe I will. Are you sure you're okay?" She asked him. He couldn't ruin her mood, and as mad as she was, she didn't like seeing him like this.
"I am fine."
"I don't believe you." Atea walked over to him and looked into his eyes.
"Tell me you're not hurt. Look me in the eye and tell me that."
He looked into her eyes defiantly, "I am not hurt."
"Your silver tongue is turning to lead."
There were scrapes everywhere and bruises were forming around his face. He was certainly not okay.
Atea had been wondering about her power, and whether she could do healing stuff, since she thought it would be very necessary. Now's the best time to test that.
She raised her hand slowly to his face. He flinched out of her reach, like a wild animal, but Atea placed her hand on his face and looked up at him sternly.
He stayed still, looking at her, she couldn't read his eyes, she didn't know what he was thinking. Atea visualized transferring her energy to him, giving him the strength he'd need to heal. It was working, and Atea laughed as she felt the energy drain from her. Her eyelids grew heavy, and keeping her eyes open felt like holding up an elephant with her pinky. Her knees buckled, and she fell to the ground.
Except she didn't. A pair of arms swept her up and kept her from falling. Loki carried her to a sofa and lay her down comfortably.
"Thank you, Atea. Thank you for everything."
"Don't... Don't leave." She mumbled. Atea didn't want to stay here alone. Nothing scared her more than solitude.
"I won't. I'll stay right here."
"Thank. . ." Atea couldn't finish that sentence, because she was already asleep.
Loki watched her sleep, the faint rise and fall of her chest. If he hadn't known what just happened, he'd think she was dead.
Loki reflected on the moments he'd spent with Atea. They were filled with her stubbornness and his fury. She was the only person who truly defied him, always so close but still out of his grasp. And he respected her for it.
He did not care for what happened to Midgard, but he did not want to harm Atea or anyone that was dear to her. He picked up her small body, so light in his arms, and departed from the tower. He kept a copy of himself there, lying in the crater that monster Hulk had created when he flung Loki like a doll. Loki was not going to let that go anytime soon. He cloaked himself in invisibility and walked through the battlefield. He did not know where he was going, he just wanted to get her away from the damage.
He wandered into the park known as Central Park and kept walking until Stark Towers was a small peck in the sky. The grass was greener than any he'd ever seen, and the trees shaded them from the sun. What was he doing here? What was he going to do now? Admittedly, he hadn't thought this through, but Atea's protection was all he could think of. She lay in the grass, still in a deep sleep. She was not going to awake for awhile, this was the opportune time to return to the battle and set things straight. Before he left, he kissed her lightly on the forehead.