In the end, Tony and Steve were the only ones who had made it back to the bridge when Fury walked in. Natasha was watching over an unconscious Clint and everyone else… well…
Everyone else was gone.
The bridge was quiet. Every agent solemnly went about their business, slowly recovering from the damage of Loki's surprise attack. No one could muster the energy to meet one another's eyes. Maria Hill stood at attention behind the Director as they waited for him to speak.
Tony adjusted his neck, blinking furiously swiveling in his chair. For the first time, he actually felt like the emotionless robot many people in the past accused him of being. His body was running on automatic; without his arc reactor, he was almost sure his heart would have given out at the news. Losing Arie had been like losing something that had always been guaranteed to be there. Like losing a parent all over again, and yet not, because she had always been more than that. She was a godmother, an aunt, a sister, and a friend. His most trusted confidant and his most loyal supporter. Gone. Gone in a flash so suddenly he didn't even realize she was missing until it was too late. She couldn't be the one in trouble. She couldn't be the one lost. That was his job. Nothing was supposed to happen to her. He cleared his throat to hide his sniffling.
A seat away from the grieving billionaire sat the man soldier out of time. A solitary super soldier who hadn't been away from his partner since waking up from the ice. Steve's emotions flipped between fiery all consuming righteous rage and utterly debilitating helplessness that made him angry all over again. This was not acceptable. Every second they spent doing nothing she was getting farther and farther away. They didn't have time to waste, and yet what could he do? They didn't have any idea where Loki had gone. Their ship was limping along as it was and all their equipment had either been disabled or completely trashed somehow. Lucy had ensured the Tesseract tracking data had been wiped clean. At this moment, Steve felt as if he might as well still be frozen for all he could do.
From a hidden pocket in his uniform, Steve pulled out the last thing he had of her. It was the battered and bruised compass. The corners were chipped, its face scratched, and the sheen from constant friction against fabric rubbing away the outer coating made it look as old as it was; and yet it still worked. But a direction wasn't why he wanted, no needed to look at the device right at this particular moment. It was the person whose face was smiling up at him from an extremely old photograph. The person who had kept him sane after finding out he had been sleeping for 70 years. The one who helped him fight the depression, the anxiety, and the loneliness. The woman to whom he had given his entire being. The friend who had accepted him, loved him, and believed him in before he joined the army and became Captain America. The brilliant scientist who had accomplished a countless number of projects he couldn't even begin to list. His better half, the stronger half, the more beautiful half of their partnership. Her anger, her passion, her gentleness, gave him life and purpose to live on. He hoped to ever see the day where his pulse didn't quicken, where his palms didn't become sweaty, where his breath didn't catch in his throat as he beheld her. He would do anything to catch even a glimpse of her radiant smile. To this day he felt flustered and inadequate in her mere presence, but in a good way. In a way that made him desire to rise to the challenge, to win the bet. To show her she was right to allow him into her life and to keep him around for however long she may wish.
If what he was feeling in this moment was any fraction of what she felt when they were apart, he swore nothing he could do in the future would ever make up for it. Nothing could ever forgive the pain, the sadness, the emptiness he felt burning through his conquered carcass of a body. His chest felt like every disaster known to man had ripped through his being at once at their highest level of power. In the aftermath, a barren desolation speared its stinging claws into his heart, gripping and twisting nonstop. At the same time, he was in shock. The shroud that surrounded him was barely penetrated by the words uttered by the weary Director. The sentiments came to him through a bubble as he sat staring at the glass table in front of him.
"We're dead in the air up here." Fury informed them listlessly, "Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor… I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye." He shook his head, "Maybe I had that coming. Yes," the Director began to pace around the deck, "we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea; Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. It was based on the existence of our mutual friend actually." Fury alluded to Lucy, "Every time SHIELD found itself in some deep shit, there was one person we knew we could call on for help. So, the idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Agent Coulson and Lucille Marie Barnes believed in that idea. They believed in you, in heroes, even if they're too humble to include themselves in that description." Steve looked at him in surprise, "Yeah I know her real name. Her alias has been Marie Rogers for the past 50 years, but she has always been there for us. I regret to admit that in her most desperate time of need, we won't be there for her." Tony stood up and quickly led left the room, unable to handle anymore. Fury sighed, "Well, it's an old fashioned notion."
-sublimation-
Back on earth, in a beautiful meadow, Thor stood among the wild grasses and flowers. Leisurely walking through the brush he made his way to his fallen hammer. Mother nature had blessed this part of the earth. It had been left untouched by the controlling hand of man. Birds sang as bees buzzed both flying through the air, both unbothered by the impending war threatening the world of man. As the God of Thunder came upon Mjolnir, he paused.
-sublimation-
"You fell out of the sky." A wizened voice broke through the grogginess encapsulating Bruce's mind. Looking around he found himself in some sort of abandoned warehouse. All the windowpanes were missing and he was sitting on what seemed to be a large pile of bricks and broken metal.
Sitting up Bruce groaned, "Did I hurt anybody?"
"There's nobody around here to get hurt." The old man chuckled a few yards away from the fallen Doctor. He was wearing a grey uniform of a security guard, "You did scare the hell out of some pigeons through."
"Lucky." Banner remarked, rubbing the dust out of his eyes.
"Or just good aim." The man commented, "You were awake when you fell."
Bruce looked up in surprise, "You saw?"
"The whole thing, right through the ceiling. Big and green and buck ass nude." picking up a pile of fabric he tossed it at the Doctor, "Here. I didn't think those would fit you until you shrunk down to a regular size fella."
Scrambling for the clothes Bruce nodded, "Thank you."
Watching the peculiar Doctor for a little while the man asked, "Are you an alien?"
Bruce looked up, not sure he heard correctly, "What?"
"From outer space," the guard clarified, "an alien?"
Bruce considered the question with some amusement, "No."
"Well then, son," the man conceded, "you've got a condition."
-sublimation-
In an isolated room, Clint Barton was blinking furiously. He shook his head multiple times trying to rid his mind of the control Loki had over him. One minute he could think straight, he was in control; the next, there were two voices telling him things that both made sense but he was torn which to pick. His hands were fisted as his muscles strained but his arms were strapped to the reclined seat.
"Clint," Natasha's voice broke through the woolliness, "you're going to be all right." She reassured him.
"You know that?" he growled out, "Is that what you know?" he chuckled darkly, "I've got… I've got to go in though. I've got to flush him out."
"We don't have that long," she stood to pour him a glass of water, "it's going to take time."
"I don't understand. Have you ever had someone take your brain and play?" he leaned back in his seat, brow sweaty from fighting the demons warring in his mind, "Pull you out and stuff something else in? Do you know what it's like to be unmade?"
Natasha looked over at her friend, "You know that I do." She replied grimly.
"Why am I back?" Clint asked confused, "How did you get him out?"
"Cognitive recalibration." She sat next to him, "I hit you really hard in the head." She elucidated.
"Thanks." He smiled gratefully as she removed the restraints, "Tasha, how many agents?"
"Don't." she gave him a hard look, "Don't do that to yourself, Clint. This is Loki. This is monsters and magic and nothing we were ever trained for."
"Loki." Barton looked up at the name, "He get away?"
"Yeah." She admitted, "I don't suppose you know where?"
He shook his head, "I didn't need to know. I didn't ask." Clint sipped at the water, "He's going to make his play soon though. Today."
Natasha stood, "We've got to stop him."
"Yeah?" he smirked, "Who's we?"
"I don't know." She confessed pacing, "Whoever's left."
"Well," Clint shrugged, "if I put an arrow in Loki's eye, I'd sleep better I suppose."
She smiled sitting down beside him, "Now you sound like you."
"But you don't." Clint sat up to look at her fully, "You're a spy, not a soldier. Now you want to wade into a war. Why? What did Loki do?" concerned he leaned in, placing a hand on hers, "Natasha?" he questioned seriously.
She looked down joining their fingers together and gripped him like a lifeline. With a deep breath she choked out, "He took, Ree."
-sublimation-
Tony was standing in the detention center. Below him was the secured exit of the glass cage. Beside him was the dark sangria stain left as evidence of Lucy's betrayal and Coulson's sacrifice. He blinked quickly to rid the moisture from his eyes when he heard the heavy footfalls of an approaching visitor.
Steve paused before the enormous hole in the floor, on the other side of the room from Tony; "They say if he makes it through the night, then he's got a good chance of recovering." He notified Stark of Agent Coulson's fate, "Is he married?" he questioned.
"No." Tony replied thinking back only a day or two ago when Coulson came to inform him of the Tesseract situation, "There was a uh…cellist… I think."
"I'm sorry." Steve apologized, "He seems like a good man."
Tony shook his head, "He's an idiot."
"Why? For believing?" Steve's brows furrowed together as he considered the other man.
"For taking on Loki alone." Tony paced toward the super soldier.
"He was doing his job." Steve countered.
Tony laughed dryly, "He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have…" he listed, frustrated and confused more things beyond just the life threatening injuries sustained by Phil Coulson.
Then static from the Helicarrier's ship wide intercoms interrupted his rant, both of the men looking up in puzzlement.
"Sir." Maria Hill called the attention of the SHIELD Director, "We've got an untraceable incoming call." She shook her head in disbelief, "It says it's from Agent Zero."
Fury looked up, "That'll be Loki." He said, considering his options, "Accept it and open communications on all levels. Let's see what he has to say."
"I was wondering if you were going to answer." Loki's smug voice and image appeared across all working screens on the aircraft.
Steve and Tony straightened, quickly going over to the control panel to watch the message. Both their jaws clenched as they viewed the man responsible for taking someone very important to them.
Clint and Natasha stood as they saw the monitor in their room flicker.
"What do you want Loki?" Fury spat out.
"Nothing." Loki shrugged, "I just thought by now you unobservant humans would notice a certain member missing from your ranks. Not to worry." He moved to the side of the screen, "I'll take good care of her." He grinned, beckoning Lucy to join him on the screen.
Steve's hand automatically reached out for her as she appeared. She looked exactly like how he left her, unharmed and well except for the startling difference in her glazed blue eyes. Her face was now disinterested, calculated, and neutral; completely different from her usual warm and inviting smile. His heart hurt watching her stand before him looking so unlike herself.
"Isn't that right, Lucy?" the God of Mischief turned to look at the brain washed agent.
She gave no answer to the Asgardian however Steve responded in exactly the way Loki was anticipating. His hackles rose, knuckles turning white as he bared his teeth. The reaction was instinctual. She hadn't allowed anyone in this day and age to call her by her given name much less an informal, secret, intimate nickname as 'Lucy'. His causal use of the term was the final straw, the last weight needed to tip the scales. He would find Loki and nothing would stop him from freeing her from the despicable control the Asgardian had on her.
"I hope you understand what an exquisite gift you have here." Loki continued, brushing a stray hair behind Lucy's ear as he admired her. "Her mind is gorgeous. The power and intellect encapsulated inside her is breathtaking. I can feel her fighting me from within." He chuckled, "It was no small feat to bend her to my will… But I enjoy the challenge." His gaze returned to the camera as a device beeped, notifying him of something, "Wish we could stay longer, but we've got a world to conquer." And with one last smirk, the screen went black.
With a roar of frustration, Steve's fist went flying through the metal wall beside him leaving a gigantic gaping hole in the otherwise flawless surface. Tony's eyes widened as he witness the intense emotional display from the usually levelheaded man. Steve could feel the pain of micro fractions ripping up from his fingers through his arm as he pulled back. The rapid healing given to him by the serum was already fixing the damage but it couldn't fix the gut wrenching pain blooming in his chest. His breath came out in heavy pants and he tried to calm himself. Trying to clear his head, he began to formulate a plan of action, "Loki needs a power source." Steve said, starting to pace around the limited space, "If we can put together a list…"
"He made it personal." Tony interjected, considering Loki's smug video call.
Steve shook his head, "That's not the point."
"That is the point." Tony maintained, reaching an epiphany, "That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?"
"To tear us apart." Steve concluded.
"He had to conquer his greed, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right?" Tony thought out loud, "That's what he wants. He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience." Now both of them pacing back in forth, too high strung to stand still.
"Right, I caught his act at Suttengard." Steve rolled his eyes.
Tony clapped nodding, "Yeah. That's just a preview, this is… this is opening night. And Loki, he's a full tilt diva." He listed waving his arms wildly, growing more energetic with each sentence, "He wants flowers, he wants parades, and he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered..." he paused realization dawning on his face.
Steve nodded encouraging him to explain.
"Son of a bitch!"
-sublimation-
Steve had cleaned up and put back on his uniform, "Time to go." He informed the Black Widow, standing at the entrance to the room she was currently in.
Natasha looked up confused, "Go where?" She was still reeling a little after getting chased by the Hulk, getting Clint back, and watching Ree with Loki, all so close together.
"I'll tell you on the way. Can you fly one of those jets?" Steve inquired.
The door to the bathroom opened as Clint walked out wiping his hands on a towel, "I can." He offered.
Steve looked at Natasha. She nodded; Barton was back on their side.
"You got a suit?" he asked Hawkeye.
Clint nodded, "Yeah."
"Then suit up." instructed Captain America.