Nadia
The silence was deafening and the only sound that could be heard was the stringing of a bow. A few meters away from me stood a target. Notching another arrow, I pulled the string back and focused on my mark. Once my target was locked, I released the arrow and hit the center.
It has been quite a while since I arrived here in the target range. This was the only place in the helicarrier that I could actually calm down and think straight. There was still no clue on the Tesseract's and Loki's whereabouts, which meant that there was no lead on Clint as well. I just left for about a week and everything just went down the hill. Getting another arrow, I held it in place and pulled the bowstring.
"I knew I'd find you here!"
My concentration broke as I accidentally released the arrow, making me miss the target.
"Seriously, Carter!?" I glared at Carter who was leaning on the door's threshold. Carter's smirk was now gone and it was replaced by a serious look, sending a bad feeling in my gut.
"You need to suit up. You've already pissed Fury off."
My posture quickly straightened as I gave him a hopeful look and muttered, "They found him."
"Not him. Loki. But, I bet Clint is with him." After hearing Carter say this, I quickly turned into my assassin mode.
"Time to get ready then."
I had been itching to get a hold of that bastard. Nothing would stop me from getting my friend back even if I had to tear that so-called god of mischief apart.
"Hey." Carter stopped me in my tracks, making me turn to him. "Be careful out there, will you? I don't want to see you beat up when you get back."
After Ethan died, this had been a thing for Carter since I came back in a fatal condition from a mission. I playfully rolled my eyes and smiled at Carter as he gave me a serious look.
"Yes, mother."
His brows knitted and he said, "I'm serious, Nadia."
"I will. I promise I will." I chuckled at Carter and he finally gave me a small smile. "See you later, Carter."
Before I got any farther, a smile made its way on my face when Carter muttered in a low voice, "Yeah."
The smile didn't last long because of the matter at hand. After reaching my room, I quickly went to change into my uniform and strapped my bow and quiver, placing them behind my right shoulder. Each of my thighs had five knives in their holsters and two batons were placed beside the last knives on each thigh.
Now, I was ready. It was time to get Clint back and kick that bastard's ass. I quickly went to where the quinjet was located and I was greeted by one of my good friends. Natasha was seated on the pilot's seat, prepping the quinjet.
"Nice to finally see you back." Tasha smiled at me. These were one of those times that she actually showed her emotions.
"Well, I took a week off and everything just went down the drain." I heaved a sigh.
She then smirked at me and said, "You do know you pissed Fury off just now, right?"
"Carter told me. Besides, karma just bit him in the ass for cutting my vacation short." I returned a smirk of own and shrugged my shoulders as Tasha's smirk grew bigger. My smirk was now gone as I asked, "Are you okay?"
Tasha only gave me the same look I was giving her and answered, "Are you?"
"We're gonna get him back." I looked at Tasha in the eye with that burning determination to bring our friend back.
She then looked pass me before turning back to the quinjet's yoke, preparing for take off.
"Time to go."
Our conversation was cut short when footsteps echoed in the jet. Turning to the source, I was faced with the world's first avenger. A smirk made its way on my face as Captain America looked at me with shock written all over his face.
"It's you."
My smirk only grew bigger as I said, "It looks like your prayers have been granted after all, Steve. Or should I say Captain America?"
"Why are you here?" His eyes widened in realization and he quickly corrected, "Not that I don't want you here because I do. I wanted to see you again… uhh… Never mind…" Cap was as red as a tomato again.
All I could do was hide my shock behind the blank expression I was giving him. Why the hell would he even want to see me when we barely knew each other? From the corner of my eyes, Tasha was also watching this with amused yet curious eyes. She was definitely going to drag Carter and interrogate me later on with him.
"Forget it. No need to get all worked up, Cap." Apparently, that just got him more embarrassed than he already was, seeing as his cheeks were now a darker shade of red.
"To answer you, I'm pretty sure you've already seen my empty file." I smirked at his confused expression until it changed in a shocked one.
"Raven." He looked at me with wide eyes. "You're Agent Hunt?"
"Is it really that shocking?" I raised a brow at him, getting him all flustered again.
"I thought Agent Hunt was a he. I'm sorry, ma'am! Uh, I didn't mean to offend you by saying you're a man because you're far from that. You're a beautiful dame." Realizing what he said, He quickly corrected, "Not a dame. A woman. A beautiful woman… I should stop talking…" He flushed again from embarrassment. Raising my brow, I had to admit this was somewhat entertaining.
"Don't worry, Cap. You'll have a chance to redeem yourself later on." I smirked at his red face.
He cleared his throat and said, "Umm… May I please know your name now, ma'am?"
I slyly smiled at him before saying, "Maybe. I did say I might tell you when we see each other again."
A smile slowly made its way on his face but before he could say anything, Tasha announced, "Get ready, lovebirds. We're here."
I narrowed my eyes at Tasha as she gave me one of her infamous smirks. Looking outside the windows, my target was locked. Loki and his mirror images stood above everyone else as they knelt before him.
The real one then laughed like a maniac and said, "Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation." He walked towards the center as he continued his petty speech, "The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."
As we were waiting for the right moment to show up, an elderly man then courageously stood up and refused to kneel.
"Not to men like you."
"There are no men like me." Loki smirked evilly.
"There are always men like you." The man merely glared at him.
"Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example." Loki raised his glowing scepter, pointing it at the elderly man.
Steve quickly jumped out of the quinjet, landing in front of the man just in time to block Loki's attack with his shield. Loki was knocked down and he then quickly looked up, glaring at his attacker.
"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." Steve slowly walked towards Loki.
"Tasha, I'm moving out!" Without waiting for a reply, I roped down the jet and readied my bow while approaching the scene.
"The soldier." Standing up, Loki sinisterly laughed before saying, "A man out of time."
"I'm not the one who's out of time."
The quinjet appeared with a machine gun pointed at Loki. Tasha's voice then rang in the area, "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."
Loki sent a blast of blue light towards the quinjet and thankfully, Tasha maneuvered it away just in time, successfully dodging the attack. Steve took this opening and threw his shield at Loki. He punched Loki in the face but the latter seemed like he wasn't even affected by it. I notched an arrow and tried to aim it at Loki but in doing that I might hit Cap.
Loki then tried to hit Steve but the soldier was able to block it. In his second attempt, he was able to hit Cap in the stomach, sending the latter a few meters away from him. Taking this chance, I released the arrow but Loki blocked it. Loki charged towards me while blocking the arrows that I shot him with.
He tried to hit me with his scepter but I blocked it with my bow. I then pushed the scepter away and punched his face but it apparently didn't do much damage. He then swiped his scepter, aiming for my head. Ducking down, I brought my bow up and used it to hit Loki in the face before kicking his stomach, knocking him away from me.
"Raven, duck!" Cap shouted and shortly after I followed, his shield was flung towards Loki who was already up and ready to charge at us.
Loki swatted it away while Steve proceeded to attack him. Charging at Loki as well, I tried to kick him but he dodged it and hit my stomach with his scepter. Steve continued to fight the god of mischief as I hit the ground, groaning in pain. Their brawl didn't last long because Steve got hit on his back, knocking him down.
Standing over Cap, Loki pointed the scepter's base on his helmet and ordered, "Kneel."
Sharing a knowing look with Cap, I shot another arrow but Loki caught it and then smirked at me.
"Did you honestly-" He didn't even finish his sentence because the arrow exploded in front of his face.
I smirked and said, "You were saying?"
"Not today!" Steve flipped and kicked Loki's head, knocking him away. He charged at Loki again but the bastard got the upper hand and flipped him over.
All of a sudden, AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" started playing, making a smile appear on my face. Uncle flew over to us and shot Loki with his blasters, knocking the latter off of his feet. After landing on one knee, he stood up and pulled out the hidden weapons in his suit, ready to knock Loki out again.
"Make your move, Reindeer Games."
I walked closer to uncle and Cap as Loki held his hands up in surrender, removing his armor in the process.
Putting away all of his weapons, uncle then said, "Good move."
"Mr. Stark." Cap greeted while trying to catch his breath.
"Captain." Uncle nodded his head at him before turning to me. "Nadia."
"Uncle." I heaved a sigh while putting my bow away. The tone of his voice just hinted me that I was in for some nagging later on.
~~~~~X~~~~~
It has been a while since we put Loki under control and captured him. We were now on our way to Shield and it was eerily quiet. I didn't like any of this. My gut told me that something was wrong and it was sending a bad feeling in my stomach. It was just too easy. He just gave up so easily and considering the fact that the person we were dealing with was the god of mischief, that was not possible. Loki just wouldn't give up so easily.
"Said anything?" Fury said through the radio communicator.
"Not a word." Tasha answered while sharing a knowing look with me.
"Just get him here. We're low on time."
"Yes sir." I replied before standing up and going to my uncle and Cap.
"Young lady, we need to talk." Uncle gave me a stern look. Oh boy. It was starting. "We were supposed to celebrate and you ditched it."
Wait, what? Tilting my head in confusion, I thought he was going to scold me for pushing myself too hard again but that clearly wasn't the issue here. We were supposed to celebrate something?
"We were?"
Uncle then narrowed his eyes and said, "Now, you even forgot. I'm hurt, Nadia."
He gave me a hurt look but I knew he was just guilt-tripping me. It wasn't working though because I really didn't have a clue of what he was talking about.
"Seriously?" He then gave me a blank expression and finally gave up with the hints. "Nadia, we were supposed to celebrate making Stark tower a beacon of of self sustaining clean energy."
"Oh…"
Uncle then frowned at me and said, "That's the only thing you're gonna say?"
"It slipped from my mind… I'm sorry." I smiled nervously.
"Slipped your mind?" He gave me an exasperated look. "You, Pepper and I were supposed to enjoy this celebration but you DITCHED us." This time he emphasized the last part. He was definitely guilt-tripping me but it wasn't working as effectively as before.
"Well uncle, if by celebration you mean watching you and Pepper suck each others faces, I'd rather not." There was stifled sniggers coming from Cap but it stopped when uncle gave him a look.
"For your information, we were enjoying the moment without any of your implications." Uncle tried to defend himself, making a smirk appear on my face. This was not working on me again. I already had too much tainted memories of them doing that in front of me.
"Sure…" Smirking, I playfully rolled my eyes and sarcastically said, "I'm sure both of you didn't enjoy it without me."
"Don't you sass me, young lady." He answered back, knowing that it was true and he couldn't argue with that. My amused smirk didn't last long because I noticed that Cap was staring intently at Loki.
"You're staring again." I turned to Cap, making him glance at me.
Steve turned back to Loki before whispering, "I don't like it."
"What?" Uncle raised a brow at him. "Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"
"I don't remember it being ever that easy. This guy packs a wallop."
"Well, you're not alone in that. Something's wrong." I spared him a glance before observing Loki again.
"Still, you are pretty spry, for an older fellow." Tony turned to Steve, who was just looking confused. "What's your thing? Pilates?"
"What?" Cap asked with knitted brows, looking at me and uncle back and forth.
"It's like calisthenics." Hearing me say this, Steve nodded somewhat understanding it.
Uncle then shrugged and continued, "You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle."
I wanted to slap a palm on my forehead. He never changed. This was why so much people were pissed at him.
"Uncle." I frowned at him but he only shrugged his shoulders and replied, "What?"
Steve slightly glared at him before saying, "Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."
"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you." Uncle added, which was something I had to agree with him.
The quinjet then shook violently after nearly being hit by lighting. What the hell? It was perfectly clear a while ago.
"Where's this coming from?" Tasha muttered and looked outside the window as another thunder rumbled.
Loki intently stared out of the window with a hint of fear and caution in his eyes. That was when I knew this was not normal.
"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?" Steve mocked Loki.
"I'm not overly fond of what follows." The god of mischief returned to looking outside of the window. Something was definitely wrong. All of a sudden, the jet shook violently after something hit the roof. Uncle and Steve quickly put their helmets on while I took my bow out. Pushing a button, Uncle opened the ramp of the quinjet and walked towards it.
"What are you doing?"
Ignoring Steve, he then continued walking towards the ramp. To say that I wasn't surprised was an understatement. A man suddenly dropped onto the ramp and hit uncle with his hammer after seeing him getting ready to attack. Uncle was thrown near the cockpit, hitting Steve in the process. The man then grabbed Loki by the throat and flew out of the jet.
"Now there's that guy." Uncle stood up, looking at the open ramp.
"Another Asgardian?" Tasha yelled over the cockpit.
"It's Thor, Loki's adoptive brother." I said, making Steve and uncle look at me.
"Think the guy's a friendly?" Steve stood up while wincing in pain.
"Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost." Uncle turned around and walked towards the ramp, getting ready to chase after Thor and Loki.
"Uncle, wait!"
"Stark, we need a plan of attack!" Steve yelled.
"I have a plan. Attack." Uncle then jumped out of the jet, chasing after Thor and Loki. Cap sighed in frustration and quickly grabbed a parachute.
I huffed in annoyance before saying, "I'd sit this one out, Cap."
"I don't see how I can." He continued to put the parachute on.
"These guys come from legends. They're basically gods." Tasha explained but apparently, it just went in to Cap's deaf ears.
"There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." Steve quickly took his shield and jumped out of the jet.
Glaring at where those two jumped out, I pushed the button to close the ramp and hissed, "Men."
Tasha chuckled as I sat beside her on the co-pilot seat, glaring at the scenery outside.
"So, I'm curious. How did you and Cap meet?" Tasha asked without taking her eyes off of her task.
"No, Tasha."
"What? It's just an innocent question. Clearly, it wasn't the first time he met you."
"I know what you're doing, Tasha. And, we're not going there. Don't even think of dragging Carter with you either." I heaved another sigh.
"Something is cooking between you two."
I looked at her with knitted brows and said, "Nothing is cooking. Rogers is just a colleague."
"But not for him. He's interested in you, sees you differently from any people in this era."
"You're just imagining it."
"And, you're avoiding it." Tasha spared me a glance and sighed, "Come on, Nadia. You're not an idiot. I'm sure you noticed it too."
There was nothing I could say to rebut that. No matter what I say, Tasha would still be sure that I knew it. She knew me well after all.
"Steve is different, that I can tell. Start living your life, Nadia. Maybe this is a sign. For you to be given another shot at happiness. A second chance." Slightly turning to me, she then continued, "So, why not take it?"
She knew the reason why I couldn't. It was him, Ethan. After looking at me in the eye, she gave me a sympathetic smile. I knew why. Every single pain, sorrow and regret was reflected in my eyes. The eyes were windows to the soul after all.
"I don't think I ever can."
Not when my demons were ripping me inside out.
HI GUYS! I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN A VERY LONG TIME! HUHUH! :( I got writer's block so I decided to write my other story first because it's my main focus. I'm not sure if this was good enough so feel free to tell me what you think about it. It will be very much appreciated because it will help me improve on some stuff in the story. I had fun in writing this and I got inspired when I watched Civil War (It was awesome!). Anyways, I couldn't find a holster that fit the one in my imagination. That was the closest I could find so I'm sorry! I also couldn't find an actor that would fit Carter perfectly in my imagination. Nathaniel Buzolic was the closest I could find. Huhuhuh! :( But, I like him though. So yeah, until next time~~! ;) :D
LINKS
Holster: http_:_/_www_._polyvore_._com_/cgi/_img-thing_?.out_=jpg_&size_=l&tid_=120497478
Uniform: http_:_/_www_._polyvore_._com_/cgi/_set?id_=177201736
(Just delete these "_" to get the links)
PS: I'm going to alternate in updating my stories so I'm gonna update this again after updating my other fanfic (The Wheels of Fate). Please bear with me!