This chapter is about Romanoff interrogating Loki. Enjoy!
"Sir, this isn't working let me talk to him. You know that I am the best at interrogation." I said to fury. All the Avengers (minus Hawkeye), Fury, Hill and Coulson were sitting in the meeting zone on the bridge discussing how to get information from Loki.
"Romanoff, I am not doubting your interrogation skills." Fury said.
"Then let me go and talk to him. I can get him to open up."
"And how exactly are you going to do that?"
"Agent Barton." I said.
Fury analyse me carefully and understood clearly that I was going to use the loss of Barton to persuade him to open up.
Fury had seen me do this many times. I always got the information eventually.
"Agreed, Black Widow." Fury stated. I knew he wanted me to release any emotions that I could use my advantage, but not my real ones, because he used my code name, not my actual name and if I released real emotions then Loki could use them to his advantage too.
I glanced over at the other who looked like they felt that they were missing something between me and Fury.
"See you later, Spidey." Stark shouted as I exited through the doors.
"There's not many people that can sneak up on me." he said.
"But you'd figured I'd come."
"After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would cooperate."
I decided to get straight to the point and make Loki think Barton is my weakness. "I want to know what you've done to Agent Barton."
"I'd say I've expanded his mind."
"And once you've won. Once you're king of the mountain. What happens to his mind?"
He looked straight into my eyes and asked "Is this love, Agent Romanoff?"
"Love is for children. I owe him a debt." I said. I didn't LOVE Clint. I don't really know what love it.
"Tell me." he said.
I need more truth for this to work.
"Before I worked for S.H.I.E.L.D, I made a name for myself. I have a very specific skill set. I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on S.H.I.E.L.D's radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me, he made a different call." I said, smiling at that last bit.
Clint had completely changed my life. I still owe him that debt.
"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?" he asked.
"Not let you out." I said, but my brain felt like saying the complete opposite.
"Ah, no. But I like this. Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?"
"Regimes fall every day." Do not get emotional. "I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian. Or I was."
"And what are you now?" He looked like he was genuinely interested to find out.
"It's really not that complicated. I've got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out." I am not telling Loki what's on my ledger. It's too much.
"Can you? Can you wipe up that much red?" What did he mean? He couldn't know about...that. Could he?
"Drakoff's daughter?" What. Barton wouldn't-
"Sao Paulo?" Oh my god.
"The hospital fire." My bottom lip fell as I found it impossible to comprehend the fact that Barton had done this to me.
"Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? this is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer. Pathetic. You lie and kill in the service of liars and killer. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horros. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away." he snarled. The thing is, I feel like all he is saying is the truth though.
Suddenly, his fist hit the glass and I am surprised it didn't smash.
"I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you. Slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear." Real tears were coming up in my eyes and I ignored the voices in my ear piece asking whether I was okay.
"And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams I'll split his skull." I stumbled back and turned away from him not able to deal with the thought of Barton killing me. Slowly and intimately. I was scared.
"This is my bargain you mewling quim." he said as tears poured down my cheeks. Shielding myself from him I whispered "You're a monster." unable to say anything else.
"No. You brought the monster." he said. Gotcha asshole.
I brushed the tears from my face and turned around.
"So, Banner? That's your play?" I said.
Baffled, he said "What?".
"Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Set the door locked. Thank you, for your cooperation." I said smugly and left.
Outside I was greeted by Coulson who pulled me into a quick hug and said "Well done".
I exhaled a breath that I was unaware I held in and I walked towards where Stark and Banner were working.
I came in to find them all in there talking about phase 2.
"Did you know about this?" Banner asked me.
"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?" I asked.
He laughed and said "I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed.", but I could tell that he was getting wound up.
Remind him of the real enemy Romanoff.
"Loki's manipulating you."
"And you've been doing what exactly?" Well that backfired.
"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."
"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." However, Banner was the one who was getting twitchy. "I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."
"Because of him." Fury said.
"Me?" Thor asked. How did they not understand.
"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge mass that levelled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously out gunned."
"My people want nothing but peace with your planet."
"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And you're not the only threat. the world's filling up with people who can't be matched. They can't be controlled."
"Like you controlled the cube?" Rogers said.
"You're work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war." Oh great, here comes the argument shit storm.
"A higher form?" Rogers asked.
"You forced our hand. We had to come up with something." Fury said.
"A nuclear deterrent. Cause that always calms everything right down." Stark interjected.
"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" Fury asked.
"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep..." Rogers said
"Wait, wait, hold on. How is this now about me?"
"I'm sorry, isn't everything?"
"I thought humans were more evolved than this." Thor said.
"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow, stuff up?" Fury asked.
Everyone began to talk over each other.
"So Captain America is on a watch list?"
"We all are."
"You're on that list, are you above or below anger issues here?"
"Stark, so help me God if you make one more wise crack about..."
"Verbal threat! I feel threatened!"
"Show this man some respect, you..."
"Respect!? He smashed Harlem!"
After a while, Thor's voice brought us back to a conversation where we weren't talking over one another.
"You speak of control, yet you court chaos."
"It's his M.O., isn't it?" Banner said, which caused everyone to look at him, so he continued. "I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're...we're a time-bomb.
"You need to step away." Fury commanded.
"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Prick.
"You know damn well why! Back off!" Rogers shouted.
"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me."
"Yeah, big man in a suit of armour. Take that off, what are you?"
"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." I raised my eyebrows. He did have a point.
"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."
"I think I would just cut the wire."
Captain smirked. "Always a way out. You know, you may not be a threat, but you'd better stop pretending to be a hero."
"A hero, like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."
"Put of the suit, let's go a few rounds." They are being pathetic. We need to focus on the real issues.
Thor laughed and said "You people are so petty, and tiny."
"Yeah, this is a team." Banner said.
"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner bak to his-" Fury said.
"Where? You're renting my room."
"The cell was just-"
"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know, I tried."
Silence.
He hated himself that much? What he was? He wanted it all to stop, but evidentially he failed.
Everyone stared at him.
"I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on, I focused on helping other people. I was good until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk." I looked at him and wondered how he didn't Hulk out all the time, because he always looked angry.
"You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?" He picked up the sceptre and my hand went straight to my gun.
"Dr. Banner." Rogers said. He turned to look at the captain. "Put down the sceptre."
Banner looked at what he was doing in shock, because I don't think he realised.
The computer beeped indicating that the Tesseract had been located.
"We've got it." Stark spoke up.
"Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my party trick after all." Banner said.
"Located the Tesseract?" Thor asked.
"I can get there faster." Tony said.
"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it." Thor said.
"You're not going alone!" Rogers argued.
"You gonna stop me?" Stark questioned.
"Put on the suit, let's find out."
"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."
"Put on the suit."
"Oh my God" Banner said. What where was it? I went round to look at the computer, but me and Bruce were forced backwards by a huge explosion.
I landed face down on some grating with my leg trapped under a metal tube and saw beside me Bruce getting very agitated.
So yeah I know bit of a cliffhanger, but everybody knows what's coming :) Hope you liked this one! :) I will do the next chapter in a couple of hours!