info: Chapter six, and there will be one more chapter because I hit a wall for this one.
Familiar static cracks over the line. It is neither Hawkeye or Natasha that contacts them, but Bruce Banner. Steve and Thor exchange glances, listening carefully. Strangely, the really-smart-person that is Banner was the one who took Tony's death the hardest on the outside. He was the other guy for three straight days, and almost broke through the special room Tony designed to keep the Hulk contained. When Banner came back to them, he was ravenous, until he remembered Tony and nearly had another episode. Except (as Banner put it) the other guy was so exhausted from his three-day temper-tantrum that he didn't have the energy.
Banner's voice is soothing and familiar. What he says is not. "Stark-Tech isn't exactly jungle friendly," he continues, sounding pensive. "The damp is giving me all kinds of signals. I can't even tell where Barton is."
"I'm sitting in the ugliest tree I have ever seen," Clint answers sulkily.
"Aesthetics aside, are you safe?" Banner asks.
"For the moment. I had to take down a few goons. Are they even human?"
"No," Thor answers, and his voice booms off the stone walls a little too loud for Steve's comfort.
"Then I don't feel bad for killing them," Clint says smugly.
Banner clears his throat. "Natasha is somewhere inside that temple with you and Thor. And, can I just ask, why am I on information duty?"
There is a long pause over the comm before someone answers.
"Because we didn't think it would be a healthy decision to let you hulk out again so soon," Natasha says for everyone who is too wary to say anything.
"I figured. Well, I have all of you on my map, except Barton, so I guess the plan can move to stage two."
Thor frowns at Steve.
"There was a stage one?" he asks cautiously.
"Stage one was the 'getting there' part," Banner says. "Stage two is where Stark-Tech comes in. Steve, you have the weapon?"
"I do."
"Good."
Thor's face twists into one of anger. "When was this decided?"
Steve blinks in the face of an angry God, placid. He meets Thor's glare with an even look and says, "When Loki killed Tony."
Thor doesn't have anything to say to that, and Steve leaves it there.
The pair move further up the temple, Banner in their ears, telling them when Natasha moves, and where she is. They have no signal on Loki, other than Barton's eyes, and they keep in close contact with the archer. It seems a lifetime before Steve is stopping behind Thor, and the God of Thunder is holding up his hammer. A breath of silence passes, shifting uncomfortably between them.
"Loki is beyond this door."
"Does he know we're here?"
"In all likelihood he has known since we stepped foot in this temple."
Steve doesn't like that answer.
"Steve, watch out!"
It was too late of a warning. Steve felt like a thousand pounds as he turned, spotting Loki behind him. Inwardly, he cursed, while outwardly he tired to lift his shield against the blow. Loki caught him off-guard, shield half up, and he slammed into the dirt as the Loki standing before him dematerialized into nothing. Gritting his teeth, Steve pulled himself up.
"Which Loki is the real one?" he demanded.
"I'm working on it," Banner's voice crackled over the communicator. "We're still trying to find Thor, something is interfering with the system."
"Does it matter which Loki is the real one?" Tony asked, voice strained. "They all hit like girls."
Steve would like to object, but he didn't have time. Iron Man, hovering over the battle, was taking out Loki-duplicates with repulsor blasts, only to have more appear where the others were. Steve realized the mistake of focusing on the fake copies too late. He watched in horror as a tendril of light zig-zagged up from the ground to strike Iron Man in the chest. Tony screamed over the comm, a noise Steve had never heard before that sent the hair on the back of his neck on edge and had his stomach doing flips. The light from the suit flickered, a repulsor blast slammed into the ground far from any target, and then everything sped up.
Tony fell from the sky, crashing through the roof of the bungalow into the boiling smoke. Steve slammed his shield into the duplicates, and they vanished with little fight. Ahead, the smoke sucked back into the bungalow in a rush, leaving it clear.
"Tony!"
Steve wasn't the only one screaming Tony's name, Banner was frantic, and seconds later Banner's voice was a solid boom in the comm. Steve ripped the device from his ear, unable to listen to Hulk's rage. He had a dim thought of what Tony would do to Banner when they got back, when he found out the Hulk had smashed his precious lab to bits, but it was just a dim light in the back of his neon head screaming 'Tony's in trouble.' On top of it all was the pressing fear that Tony might not make it back to revoke blueberry privileges for Banner.
Steve crashed through the door, stumbling around a pile of debris from the roof caving in, jumping over a body. In the center of the wreckage, the crimson and gold of his lover's armor caught his eye like a bright blinking beacon. Tony writhed on the floor, pulling at the Iron Man suit, his groans both terrified and pained. Steve didn't know what to do, so he grabbed the mask of the suit, ripping the plate off with a grunt. The metal touching his skin sizzled and popped, and he dropped it immediately.
"The suit!" Tony gasped, wide, terrified eyes staring up at Steve.
Steve didn't need to be urged. He grabbed the pieces he could, watching as the metal seemed to melt and sizzle before his eyes, feeling the burning in his fingertips. He helped Tony to his feet, and the man jettisoned the rest of his armor, sweat rolling down his face. His hair matted down to his skull, blood dribbled out his nose, and one of his eyes were completely red. Steve ran his hands down Tony's face, down his body, searching for any signs of broken or damaged areas. Tony was notorious for failing to report injury. The last time they'd gone out to stop a bad guy from taking over New York, Tony had failed to mention the three cracked ribs and the two broken fingers until two weeks later when they 'hadn't gone away on their own.' This time, Steve wasn't going to let him get away with it.
"I'm fine," he grunted, still shaking.
"You sure?" Steve asked, running a tender hand over a sweltering red sore along Tony's arm.
Tony jerked away. "Fine, where's Loki? Is Banner still on the line?"
"I'm afraid Banner is otherwise tied up with the big guy," Steve said cautiously. "I don't know where Loki is."
The information on Loki seemed to be old-hat to the billionaire, and he threw up his hands in exasperation. "Hulking out in my lab? Great, I hope he gets himself under control before he breaks the Mark VIII," Tony growled, looking more concerned than he was angry at Banner's transformation. He pulled away from Steve's careful hands, taking a few steps on his own before stumbling and falling to his knees. A thick cough ripped through his lungs as he covered his mouth, shoulders heaving with the strain of the cough. Blood dripped from his lips, falling to his fingers and slicking his palm. Steve saw, as he reached under Tony's arms to pick him up, and held back the hiss of concern. "I'm sure that's normal," Tony said quickly.
"Are your communications up?" Steve asked.
"What happened to yours?"
"Hulk isn't exactly something I want in my ear."
"Fair enough. The Iron Man suit is powerless. Whatever hit me nearly shorted out the arc-reactor."
Tony doesn't say it, but Steve knows that if the arc-reactor had shorted, they would be in more trouble than they were now.
The door opens before Thor touches it, swinging open into the exceedingly grand temple beyond. Pillars rise to the ceiling, with large window-like openings facing in each cardinal direction. Thor steps through the door hesitantly, and Steve follows suit. Standing at the far end of the cavernous room, facing away from them, his hands behind his back, is Loki. The God of Mischief. The person responsible for Tony's death. The thought nearly makes Steve's blood boil.
"Ah, Thor," Loki says, though he doesn't turn to face his guests. "I was wondering when you would come for me."
"Loki, stop this madness," Thor commands, voice booming through the empty room.
"I'm afraid not, big brother," Loki says distastefully, turning around to face them. "Just the two of you? Did we not talk of this last time, foolish Soldier?"
Steve bites his anger. "We're not here to play games, Loki."
"Of course not," the trickster God says with a dramatic sigh. "You're here for revenge, which is all very well. You realize you've fallen into my plans exactly?"
"Loki, do not be foolish! I do not wish to hurt you-"
The floor beneath Thor's feet churns and twists as a stone golem grabs the Thunder God's ankle, pulling him down. Thor slams Mjölnir into the stone creature's face, and it relinquishes grip on him long enough for Steve to slam his shield into the headpiece. The stone golem shudders, crumbling beneath Steve's attack, and Thor gives him a look of thanks.
"Brother, you will always try to save me, wont you?" Loki asks, shaking his head. "You are so very predictable."
Steve lifts his shield from the crumbled mess of stone, brushing dust off with a flick of his hand. "Loki, no more games. Fight me one-on-one, a fair fight."
"Fair?" Loki asks, stepping closer, the pair of them closing distance between each other. "Do you think to tell me what I should do?"
"A fair fight, against a mortal," Steve says, circling Loki, keeping his guard up. "You didn't have a problem fighting Tony."
"Ah, the Man of Iron. As I recall, he was much weaker than you," Loki answers with a devilish grin.
"Good," Tony said sarcastically. "We have no communications, a crazy God is running lose in Cuba, and we're supposed to hold our own until his brother gets here to take care of him?"
"It isn't ideal-"
"Damn right it isn't ideal!" Tony snapped. "Whatever was in that smoke melted the suit. I'm exposed out here and I don't like it."
Steve walked close to Tony, his hands kept out to catch his lover should he stumble and fall again. Tony, meanwhile, was having none of it, cursing this and that and trying to swat at a bird foolish enough to fly by. After their ordeal confronting Loki head-on, the trickster god had disappeared into the ether. They hadn't seen hide nor hair of Loki since leaving the ruined bungalow twenty minutes ago, and Steve was beginning to feel like it was an elaborate trap. Tony, on the other hand, was convinced he'd run away and made a show of being brave for Steve. The blood steadily dripping from his nose debunked any attempt at bravery for Steve, who just wanted to get out of Cuba and back to Stark Tower.
As if sensing Steve's discomfort, Tony wiped the back of his hand across his nose, adding another red smear to his already blood-soaked skin. "You'd think by now it would stop," he grumbled. "Just another reason I hate nature."
A crack sounded beside them, and a small palm teetered dangerously before falling towards them in a graceful, slow arc. Steve grabbed Tony, pulling him back from the danger by his waist. The palm slammed into the earth directly where they had been standing a moment before.
"Another reason! Trees fall over for no reason. Homicidal trees, Steve."
Steve's first blow lands on Loki's shoulder. The God looks genuinely surprised at the outburst, failing to completely block the attack. Their faces are close, and Steve can see the glaze over Loki's eyes, the lack of any emotion that Steve can readily read. It is discomforting, giving him a chill down his spine, but Steve pushes it to the side to reach over the shield. His fist glances off Loki's face, and the trickster grunts, backing off as Steve steps back.
"You're fast," Loki comments.
"You're faster."
"Good, you know your place."
Steve chances a glance at Thor, but the God of Thunder is lost beneath the increasing number of stone golems Loki is conjuring out of the floor, the walls, even a pillar. The structural stability of the temple is falling to pieces every second they stay, but Steve will see this through to the end. Has to. Thor is busy with the golems, and that leaves him a wide shot to take at Loki, if he can get close enough. Steve wipes the sweat from his brow, shifting his grip on his shield. He's never thought about how to kill a God, only that it needed to be done to avenge Tony. He's never even thought of how atrocious his acts might be, only that Tony's death was so senseless, so pointless, that he needed to get revenge on the one responsible.
"Not tired already, are you?" Loki asks smoothly.
"Not likely," Steve replies, circling around Loki.
"You're not going to ask me why? You're not going to question my logic?"
Steve grinds his teeth together, eyes focusing on Loki's snide smirk. "And let you talk me in circles? I'm not Thor, I wont grant you pardon for what you have done."
"You don't even know why, do you?"
Steve shoves his morbid interest beneath the rage of being played by this murderer. "No."
"As a soldier, I didn't think you would," Loki answers, shifting his hands curiously. A spear slides into being, neatly resting in his open palms. "Thor has the ridiculous notion that we are brothers, and somewhere in that thick, blonde-haired skull of his, he loves me and will forgive all trespasses on my part. You know this is true?"
Steve's fingers curl around the shield, eying his opportunity shots as they slip by.
"I've killed hundreds of your precious humans. What makes this one any different? Why is his death any different than your precious Phil?"
"Phil isn't dead."
Loki's mask of superiority slips for a fraction of a second, his eyes darting to Thor. When the mask comes back, his gaze returns to Steve in time to lift the spear defensively. Steve's shield comes down hard on the shaft of the spear, and he lets it go as soon as Loki staggers. Giving no time for retaliation, Steve slams his fist into Loki's chest, sending the God back with the force. Loki has time to drop the spear, which vanishes before it touches the floor, and slide his hands over eachother. He vanishes as well, and Steve stumbles forward with the momentum. He whirls around, facing Loki, who is lifting his spear from thin air.
"Very rude to interrupt while someone is talking," Loki says with a shake of his head.
"I'm not here to talk," Steve answers gruffly.
"You're here to listen," Loki reminds him. "There is a reason I killed the Man of Iron."
the light fades from his eyes, but the smile stays on his lips
