AN: *sticks head out* Please don't throw things at me. I'm really sorry for taking... two months?... more? SO freaking long I've lost track... but! This chapter is almost 10,000 words, so you had to wait a long time, but its double my normal length and tons of crap happens in it! Lots of action and story progression. the plot thickens! Anyway, again really sorry, please enjoy this chapter, and the title doesn't really fit, but it happened to be the song i was listening to as I finished it. You should definitely check it, its awesome. If I Had A Heart by Fever Ray. its a theme song for the Vikings tv show. I prolly will never write another chapter this long though since it ended up taking me forever to get off my lazy butt and writing it. Prolly should stay with 4 to 5 thousand words to make it faster... Please enjoy!
I do not own any of this... Most of it is Marvel's and the other part is... Square Enix? Wow I don't even know what created Tomb Raider... thats sad... Anyway I don't own anything, other than plot I guess.
The motorcycle sped down the twisty roads towards S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base. It had grown dark, causing Loki to freak out even more about riding on a motorcycle. This time he had wrapped his arms around her waist, figuring Lara wouldn't mind after what happened at the beach.
The base was set in a valley between small mountains, making it even harder to locate and difficult to reach. The base was connected to its own private airport for emergencies.
Lara felt a tap on her shoulder and turned her head slightly towards Loki.
"Stop the motorcycle!" Loki yelled above the wind.
Lara searched for a curb and pulled over on to the left side of the road. The road they were driving on was on the side of a mountain. At the ledge they stopped on, they could see the base, though only barely due to the tall trees and darkness. It began to rain.
"What is it?" Lara shifted to look at Loki.
"Look at the base. There are no lights on." Loki pointed out.
To Lara's horror, she realized he was right. "What's happening down there?" She searched around in her side bag to look for binoculars.
"Perhaps the storm knocked out their electricity?"
Lara removed her helmet to use the small binoculars. Her gaze passed over the base. "I don't see anyone. I have a bad feeling about this."
"They could be under attack." Loki paused, and then swallowed. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has plenty of enemies."
Lara considered her next words carefully. "Who did you meet? When you landed in the dark?"
"I thought I said-…"
"Was it there you met the Chitauri? How did you acquire them?"
Loki looked baffled. "Why does any of that matter?"
"It could have to do with what's going on down there." Lara reasoned. "I just want to be prepared."
Loki sighed. "It's not him or them."
"Who's him? And how do you know?"
"Fine. If you are not the most persistent woman in this realm!" Loki groaned. "Listen well, because I am only saying this once. Though I don't know why you care, you won't recognize the name. When I fell, I met Thanos. We made a deal and he gave me his army. He wanted the Tesseract."
"Then he could be after you. Since you didn't give him the Tesseract." Lara was slightly worried at this.
"Yes… I believe he is coming for me someday, but this is not him. Thanos isn't one for stealth. If he was here for me, he would be blasting down S.H.I.E.L.D.'s door to get me."
"What would… Thanos do if he captured you?" Lara did her best not to sound like she cared.
Loki smirked. "I appreciate the concern, but do not worry yourself over it." Lara rolled her eyes, hating that he enjoyed this so much. Loki chuckled and gave her a swift kiss on the cheek.
Lara did her best to control her blush and get back to the problem at hand. "We should head down there." She began to place her helmet back on.
"I disagree."
Lara furrowed her brow. "What?"
"Who knows what's down there? It could be dangerous."
"That's the point of going down there."
Loki shook his head. "It may already be too late, so we should save ourselves. It could even be a trap!"
"Loki," She said firmly. "We're going down there." She started up the bike without another word and continued on.
It had begun to rain harder and Lara was having a difficult time keeping the motorbike on the slick road. She considered stopping again and hiking the rest of the way when a figure emerged into her headlights. Lara cried out with surprise, but didn't have time to swerve. They slammed hard into the person causing the bike to flip over him and back on the road.
Lara groaned in pain on the wet ground. Her head was ringing and she felt a horrible pain in her left leg. She sat up, but even the slight movement made her cry out in pain. She lifted her head enough to see the motorcycle crushing her left leg.
"Lara!" She looked to her left to see Loki ripping off his helmet and racing over to her. He froze as he noticed the motorcycle lying on top of her. He knelt beside her. "How badly are you injured?"
"I think my leg is broken." Lara replied through gritted teeth. "Where is the person we hit?"
Before Loki could answer, a third person came over to them. Lara pulled out her pistol and aimed at the person since she couldn't recognize him. Though she doubted her gun could do much, since it seemed hitting him with a motorcycle did not faze him.
The large man raised his arms. "Lara, it's me!"
She'd recognize that deep voice anywhere. "Thor?" She pulled out a little flashlight and shined it at him to reveal his face.
"What the bloody Helheim, Thor?!" Loki grabbed the motorcycle and removed it gently off of her. He then proceeded by throwing the motorcycle directly into Thor's chest. Thor grunted as he tried to catch the moving bike. Loki growled, "You could have killed her! I mean, us."
"I apologize, brother. I didn't mean-…"
"Do not call me that!" Loki shoved the motorcycle away so there was nothing in between them. He seized Thor by his armor. "We are not brothers."
Thor gazed at Loki sadly, but acquiesced. "I apologize… Loki."
Loki, trying to hide his own emotions, pushed him away. "Fine. Just get these bracelets off of me so I can heal her." He held out his arms.
Thor hesitated for a moment and then complied. Lara was having trouble focusing as she removed her helmet.
"What's going on down there, Thor?"
Loki knelt beside her now that his wristlets had been removed. He gently placed his hands on her thigh. "This will hurt a little."
Thor paused to consider his answer. "We aren't entirely sure."
"What do you mean?"
"Fury and a few of the Avengers had moved to the airport, if we suddenly needed to leave. We lost communications with the main base a few hours ago. Fury worries about what's happening in there."
"Couldn't they have lost communications because the power went out?" Loki asked without looking at Thor, still completely concentrated on healing Lara.
"Fury said it wasn't possible. Even if the storm had knocked out the power, the… what is it called… back-up generators were supposed to keep it on." Thor explained. "Fury couldn't reach you on your portable communication device, so he sent me to halt you and direct you to the airport, since we are unsure of what's happening at the main base."
"Why did you say only a few of the Avengers?" Lara questioned.
"Fury sent out a message to each of the Avengers, telling us to meet at the airport. Only Tony, Steve, and myself showed up. We haven't located the others yet. Fury plans to search for them, once we get back to the airport."
"Why wouldn't they show up? Did they not receive the message or…?" Lara mused.
"Tony said he would try to discern why they didn't come."
Lara looked down at her leg as Loki finished mending the bone with magic. He removed his hands and she gently touched her thigh. She was amazed. The pain was completely gone and now all was left was a strange tingling sensation.
"Thank you, Loki."
"You're welcome." He suddenly sounded exhausted.
Lara watched him with concern. "Are you alright?"
"I used too much magic at once. It takes a lot to heal." Loki mumbled, growing more tired by the second.
Lara stood and helped him up. He leaned against her.
"I hope you have enough magic to teleport us back. My bike isn't taking us anywhere." Lara said forlornly as she gazed at her totaled motorcycle.
"I could fly us back. It's how I got here." Thor suggested, noticing Loki's current state.
"Fly? In this weather?" Lara exclaimed over the sound of pouring rain. It had started raining harder since they crashed.
"She's right." Loki agreed. "I'll try." He grabbed Thor's shoulder and held Lara's hand. "This will feel strange." He focused and Lara watched as the scene around them faded away and changed into the computer room connected to the airport.
Lara saw Steve jump in surprise as they manifested in the room. Tony yelped and fell over in the chair he had been leaning back on. Loki grabbed his head and groaned and then collapsed onto the floor.
"Took you long enough to get here." Fury commented.
Lara crouched down next to Loki who was barely conscious. She was about to stroke his hair when she remembered where she was and stopped herself. "Are you okay?"
Loki sat up slowly, rubbing his temple. "I'll live." He put his head between his knees.
"What happened to him?" Steve questioned.
"He used too much magic." Lara stood up and faced Thor. She formed her hand into a fist and slugged Thor in the face. The gauntlet protected her hand from breaking on his visage.
Thor touched his face in confusion. "What was that for?"
"Ruining my bike."
"If you're done screwing around, we need to get to business." Fury snapped at them. He looked at Lara. "We don't have time to be patient anymore, Lara. What did you learn from him?"
Lara froze and glanced down at Loki, hoping he was too out of it to catch what Fury said. Her hope deflated as Loki looked at Fury then at her. When Loki's gaze fell on her, she could see everything clicking in place in his head. He glared at her for a moment, but was interrupted by another sharp pain in his head.
Lara coughed, and replied, "He doesn't believe this is the leader of the Chitauri's handiwork." She looked anywhere but at Loki.
Fury grabbed Loki by his shirt collar and slammed against the wall. Loki grunted in pain as his head collided with the surface of the wall. "Then who is it?"
"I don't know." Loki growled. "Why would I?"
Fury pulled his hand back to punch him, but Steve stopped him. "You'll break your hand."
Fury looked to Thor, but he shook his head. "I will not hurt him when he hasn't done anything wrong."
Fury slammed Loki to the ground in front of Lara. "That gauntlet protected your hand from Thor; it should do the same for Loki."
Lara gulped and tried to look apologetic towards Loki. He met her gaze with his own full of anger. She did as she was commanded and punched Loki hard in the face. He spat blood at her feet.
"You would know more than us. Who do you think is doing this?" Fury interrogated, grabbing Loki's hair to force him to look at him.
"I do not know!" Loki shouted.
"Again, Lara." Fury demanded.
But she didn't want to do it. Couldn't do it. Steve noticed her expression and stepped in. "Fury, that's enough. He obviously doesn't know."
Fury relaxed and released Loki. More blood dripped from his mouth. Thor knelt down beside him to help, but Loki shook him off. "You work for him. Do not try to tend to me."
Thor glared at Fury, and approached him. "That was uncalled for."
"Not in times like these." Fury justified. "We need to locate Banner, Barton, and Romanoff before we leave."
"What's the plan?" Steve asked.
"We'll split up and search for the others." Fury decided.
"Shouldn't we wait for them? They may still come." Thor wondered.
Tony shook his head. "While you were gone, I worked a little on the computer. The entire base is locked down. No one can get in or out. At least not with a key card."
"Who did this and how?" Thor tilted his head to the side in question.
Tony shrugged. "No idea, but whoever it was, is extremely good with computers. Their hacking skills are as good as mine and I suspect they did it from the inside. That's probably the only we can shut off this lockdown too."
"So, there's nothing you can do from out here?" Lara asked.
"Thanks, darling, you really know how to make a man feel special." Tony drawled. "But, I'm sure you guys can figure out a way inside the base."
"You're coming too, Stark. You and Rogers are teaming up together. Your job will be to see if you can fix this lockdown. Thor and Lara will search for our other teammates. I'll stay here in case any of the others come, and keep an eye on Loki." Fury instructed and earned a glare from Loki.
Loki stood up. "I wish to go with them. I will not stay with you."
"That's not really an option." Fury stated, moving closer to Loki to try and intimidate him.
"We could take him." All eyes landed on Lara as she said this. She glanced at Thor. "Right, Thor?"
Thor's eyes widen and then nodded his head. "Of course."
Fury glanced between Lara and Thor, and then finally gave in. "Fine."
"Any tips on where we should search for the others?" Lara questioned.
"Last time I saw Banner, he was in the lab. As for Barton and Romanoff… Probably exercising." Tony smirked.
Lara rolled her eyes, but the joke went over Steve's head. "So we'll look for them in the gym."
Loki smirked at Steve's naivety, but remained silent as he snapped his fingers and changed into his armor.
"Let's move out." Steve ordered as he grabbed his shield. Tony pressed a button on his iron bracelet. It opened up and began to cover Tony head-to-toe with his iron armor.
Thor motioned to Lara and he began to leave with Loki behind him. Lara followed them and touched Loki's arm once they were outside. She had no idea what she was going to say to him.
"Loki, I'm so-…"
"Don't." She had never heard so much anger put into one word.
Lara tried again. "Loki, please-…"
He faced her and she saw anger in his eyes. Anger, she could handle, but the other emotion she sensed caused her sadness. She hated that she had caused him pain. "We will converse of this later." He stalked off after Thor, leaving Lara alone in the wet darkness. She walked after them quietly with her head down.
Thor and Loki chose an entrance and began using the unusual strength to pull open the automatic doors. Once they finished, Thor turned to Loki.
"Are you sure you are well enough to do this?" Thor watched Loki with concern.
Loki sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm fine. My magic is already returning to me. Let's go." He stepped through the small space they had created.
Lara went next, then Thor. "There are some things I would like to acquire from my room, if that's alright?" Lara asked Thor, deciding it best to ignore Loki for a while.
"Of course. Let's head there now."
xOxOx
After a few minutes, Lara exited her room. She carried both of her pistols, an assault rifle, and the famous sword, Excalibur. She had removed her coat, revealing her common brown tank top that showed her stomach. She sheathed Excalibur in a case she had made for it on her back.
Loki stared impressively at Excalibur. "Where did you find such a weapon? I can practically feel the magic rolling off of it."
"It's a long story on how I received it. I'll tell you another day perhaps. Let's find our friends."
They began traveling down the dark hallways with only the emergency lights to guide them. Lara kept her pistols off safety while Thor wielded his hammer should danger come. The three of them agreed to search for Banner in the labs. The labs were a few floors down, making it S.H.I.E.L.D.'s basement.
"Perhaps we should split up." Loki suggested.
Thor and Lara turned to him, both surprised. Lara was the first to question, "Why?"
"Thor can easily take care of himself. He should search for Dr. Banner, while Lara and I search for Barton and Agent Romanoff." Loki surmised.
"He has a point." Lara conceded, looking at Thor.
Thor looked back and forth at them, as if trying to decide if it was safe for Lara to be alone with Loki. He nodded his consent. "Alright, I will search for Bruce. You two be careful." He left Lara and Loki by themselves.
Lara glanced at Loki as they began walking again. "Was there a reason you wanted us to be alone?"
"I'm still upset. I only said it, because it was true. The faster we find them, the better." Loki responded, detached.
xOxOx
"Fury is a cruel, cruel man!"
"Stark, quiet down! The enemies will hear us." Steve ordered in a hushed voice.
"Stop calling me Stark! We are not in the military." Tony lowered his voice. "And you can't deny he's cruel. He put us together!"
"Well, we are fighting wars like the military." Steve pointed out.
Tony considered punching him, but it would only dent his suit. "Just, please stop calling me that. Tony is fine, it's good. Or Mr. Billionaire if you feel up to it."
Steve groaned internally. "You're right, Fury is a cruel man… Tony."
"Thank you." Tony replied. "Steve."
"Now will you please shut up?"
"Ugh, fine."
Steve sighed with relief as silence surrounded them. Though, to his dismay, only a few moments later, Tony had a very important question to ask.
"So, are you a virgin?"
xOxOx
Lara and Loki froze together as they heard a noise from around the corner up ahead. Lara drew her pistols quietly and Loki pulled out a small but deadly dagger. They shared a look and Lara decided to go first. Loki watched her back as she moved silently forward.
Lara moved close to the wall and leaned her back against it. She held her pistols near her chest as she edged closer to the corner. She carefully inclined forward to look around the corner when a mass came from behind the corner. Lara aimed her pistols and was ready to pull the triggers when she saw the flash of red.
"Natasha?" Lara asked carefully.
She held up her own two small pistols, but relaxed at the sight of Lara. "It's me." They both lowered their weapons. "That was a close one. I almost blew your head off."
"I'm just glad you're safe." Lara chuckled.
"Have you seen Barton?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing."
Loki approached them. "It's strange. Obviously someone was here to shut the whole place down, but where are they? What was the point of doing this, if they aren't going to attack us?"
"Perhaps to distract us from something? You haven't seen anyone, Natasha?" Lara wondered.
Natasha shook her head. "Agent Hill ordered everyone else to stay in their room until this blows over. But I haven't seen any enemies either."
Lara had a strange feeling. She watched Natasha closely, but something felt… different about her. Lara did her best to ignore but couldn't bring herself to do it.
"We sent Thor after Dr. Banner, so we should continue looking for Barton. Do you have any idea where he might be?" Loki questioned Natasha.
"I'm afraid not. The last time I saw him was at dinner. He could be anywhere now." Natasha answered. "Might as well go this way." She motioned for them to follow as she went back around the corner she had come from.
Lara still couldn't shake her feelings that something was wrong. Loki began to walk after Natasha but noticed Lara standing still. His hand reached out to touch her arm gently, but then remembering recent events, he quickly retracted.
"Are you coming?"
She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Of course. Sorry, I zoned out for a moment." They moved quickly to catch up with Natasha.
xOxOx
"This should be the source of the hacking job." Tony mumbled as he logged into the computer.
Steve stood watch by the door. "So, who could be better than you with computers?"
Tony stiffened. "I didn't say they were better. I said almost as good."
"You seem to be having trouble locating the source…" Steve mentioned. Suddenly, the automatic door tried to close with Steve still standing in the doorway. He moved quickly but his arm became stuck in the door. Steve wrestled with the door until he finally managed to pull his arm out. He glared at Tony.
"Oops." Tony clacked away on the keys.
"Just focus on your job."
xOxOx
Natasha walked ahead of Loki and Lara. As she moved, Lara tried to discern where her uneasiness about Natasha came from. She acted and looked the same. Lara couldn't put her finger on it. Loki noticed the way Lara was staring at the back of Natasha's head.
He leaned over and said softly, "Be careful. Wouldn't want to burn a hole through her skull."
Lara snapped out of her reverie. "Don't you sense it?"
Loki raised a black eyebrow. "Sense what?"
"There's something…" Lara paused in her steps when a thought suddenly came into her mind. She pulled a small flashlight from her belt. "Hey, Natasha?"
The Russian agent turned around to face Lara, but was shocked when a beam of light hit her eyes. Natasha hissed and blocked the light from her face with her hands.
"What was that for?!" Natasha snapped as her eyes adjusted to the light and she uncovered her face.
Lara gasped as the light hit Natasha's eyes. Her eyes reflected with a golden shine. Something that Lara had only witness once before in her life. And it was the night her home was set ablaze with fire. It smirked as Lara concluded that this creature was not her friend.
"I was really hoping you weren't going to figure it out. Now you've ruined all the fun." Its smile was sickeningly sweet.
Loki's brow furrowed with confusion. "What?"
Using cat-like reflexes, Lara slipped her pistol from its left holster and aimed at the mimicking creature. But it was prepared, as it shifted its head away from the barrel of the pistol just as Lara pulled the trigger. Natasha's twin slapped the gun from Lara's grip and then took hold of her wrist. It brought her closer and then kicked her forcefully in the abdomen. Lara landed on the floor, gasping for the breath that had been knocked out of her.
Loki equipped two daggers and lunged at Lara's attacker. He swiped with one knife then the other, but the creature managed to block each attack. Loki jabbed again and the creature hissed at the cut on its side.
Loki grinned maniacally. "You may be fast, but I'm a god."
It growled at him, then using super-speed, punched him on the nose. Loki took a step back, shocked. He grabbed his nose and groaned in pain. He brought his hand away to find scarlet blood on it.
"Oh, who knew Jotun blood was red?" The creature smirked.
Loki roared and pounced after it. The creature sidestepped him, and shoved him into the wall. It flipped him around so they were facing each other, and then it gripped his throat and pinned him to the wall. Loki prepared to use magic, but it was ready. It slammed him hard in the head and Loki dropped down to the ground, unconscious.
When her head finally began to clear, Lara sat up slowly. She gritted her teeth when pain burned through her chest. She knew a broken rib when she felt one. She was about to stand up when Natasha's look-a-like landed on top of her, pounding her head on to the floor. Lara groaned but the sound was cut off as it used its arm to cut off her airway. Lara squirmed, trying to release herself from the monster's grasp, but it was all in vain. It possessed too much strength.
Lara's eyes searched until they found Loki. She called out to him, but he made no response. Her lungs burned and she stared up at her killer.
"Hey!"
Lara and fake Natasha looked up to see who had spoken. The creature had little time to react before it was kicked off of Lara and into the metal wall. Lara gasped when the pressure was removed from throat. She glanced back at her rescuer and gaped as she recognized her.
The creature quickly hopped up, ready to challenge its attacker. It threw a punch, but Lara's rescuer halted its attack by easily grabbing its fist. Fake Natasha stared in surprise as the rescuer punched it hard in the stomach, causing it to double over. Its head was clutched by Lara's hero and twisted in a swift motion with a loud crack. It dropped to floor, dead.
The figure extended a hand towards Lara. "Anything broken?"
Lara took the offered hand and stood up. "What in the world are you doing here?"
The other woman rolled her eyes. "You're welcome."
Lara crossed her arms. "Thank you, but talk. Now."
"Lara?" Loki shook his head to wake himself up. He pulled himself up by using the wall as support. "Are you hur-…?" He froze at the sight in front of him. "How hard must I have been punched to cause me to see two of you?"
"No," Lara sighed. "You are seeing correctly."
He glared at the second Lara and unsheathed a throwing knife.
"Relax, Loki." Lara held up a hand. "This doppelganger is a good one. She saved my life."
Loki settled down, but kept his eyesight on the newcomer. "Are you injured?"
Lara touched her side gingerly. "I'm fine."
"No thanks to you. And you call yourself a 'god'." Lara's doppelganger snapped.
"You never told me you had a doppelganger." Loki stated, already disliking Lara's dark twin.
"Doesn't everyone have one, technically?" Lara mentioned. "We don't have time to debate this. Start talking, D.G."
"D.G.?" Loki cocked his head.
"Doppelganger's a long word, and she doesn't prefer to be called that." Lara informed. "Now, what are you doing here?"
D.G. leaned against the wall casually. "I came here to warn you. Albeit, I was a little late, but you're still alive, aren't you?"
"Warn me?" Lara urged her to expound on the subject.
"I was supposed to arrive before the other doppelgangers."
"Plural?" Loki questioned.
"Wait, how are they even here? Who created them?" Lara asked urgently.
D.G.'s expression grew dark. "You know who. And a doppelganger was created of each Avenger. Minus Thor and Loki. Doppelgangers can't mimic gods." D.G. responded to both questions.
Lara stepped up to D.G. and moved close to her. "I commanded you to kill Natla. What happened?"
D.G. pushed her away. "I did as I was told. It's not my fault she's friends with his daughter." She motioned at Loki with her head.
"Hel…" Loki realized.
"We need to find the others and get out of here. I have no wishes to meet the other doppelgangers." Lara gazed suspiciously at D.G. "How do you know all of this?"
"Let's say… I was offered to join their ranks. Since you joined the Avengers. But it was all ruse. I only wanted to know their plans. I have no wish to work for Natla again." D.G. explained.
"Do you know where our friends are located?" Lara questioned D.G.
"I'm not sure. I was too busy finding you and trying to keep the other doppelgangers off you trail."
"You did a marvelous job with that." Loki quipped while rolling his eyes.
D.G. glared at him and took a step towards him. "Do you really need to get punched in the face again?"
"Enough! I am not dealing with two bickering children!" Lara hissed menacingly enough at them that they both snapped their mouths shut. "Now, we need a plan…"
The main lights flickered on above them and they could hear machines beginning to start up in the distance.
"I guess Tony fixed the problem with the power." Lara mused.
xOxOx
Steve glanced up as the fluorescent lights flashed on. He nodded approvingly at Tony. "Well done."
"What?" Tony swung around in his swivel chair to face him. "You didn't think I could do it?"
Steve raised an eyebrow. "What made you think that? All I said was, 'Well done'."
"It wasn't what you said. It was just the way you said it." Tony mumbled as he swirled back around and began tapping away on the keyboard.
Steve tried his hardest to refrain from rolling his eyes. He failed. "I'm not discussing this."
Tony ignored him and continued typing away on the keys.
Steve moved closer to observe the screen. "What are you doing now?"
"Searching for our comrades." Tony murmured, distracted by his work. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has maps that show all heat signatures in the building. We can find the ones missing and team up with Lara, Thor, and Loki. Thankfully, Lara's very hottt." Tony smirked as he put emphasis on the 't'.
Steve bit his lip to keep from growling, but he couldn't stop from forming his hand into a fist. "Just do your job."
"Oh, is someone getting testy?"
Steve remained silent, hoping Tony would just drop it.
"Do I sense… a crush?"
"It's none of your business, Stark."
"Tony."
"Right. Sorry."
"… We could talk about-…"
"NO."
Tony sighed. "You're no fun. But if you ever need help with ladies, you know where to find me."
"I would never come to you for help. Especially for… 'lady' help."
"Your loss."
The computer suddenly beeped.
"Found them." Tony squinted at the blue screen. "Huh."
"What is it?"
"Well, I counted the heat signatures and… there are more than there should be." Tony quizzically tilted his head. "And there's one approaching."
Steve straightened. "Could be an enemy. Can you tell if it's male or female?"
"Male."
Steve reached for his shield, which was attached to his back and in the same motion, he pulled down his mask. Tony stood up and snapped shut his iron helmet. They both faced the door, preparing to confront an enemy. Steve pulled back his shield, ready to throw it, as he heard the floor creak from outside the room. He could hear the buzzing of energy from Tony as he powered up.
The door suddenly slide open and Hawkeye came stepping into the room. He froze when he noticed all the weapons aimed at him. He put his hands up.
"Whoa, guys! It's just me!"
Steve and Tony let out a sigh and reposed out of their stances. Steve patted Clint's shoulder. "Sorry about that. We couldn't tell if you were friend or foe."
"It's alright." Clint nodded to him. "Mind telling me what's going on?"
"We were kind of hoping you could inform us." Steve confessed.
"Fury sent Steve, Lara, Loki, Thor and myself to search for Natasha, Bruce, and you." Tony explained.
"What makes you think there are foes in here? I haven't seen any hostiles." Clint equipped his bow.
Tony gestured to the computer. "Too many heat signatures in the building. There's some uninvited guests."
Clint leaned towards the computer to check the screen. "But according to this, there's at least a hundred bad guys out there."
"I don't think so. Most of the heat signatures we are seeing are S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who got trapped here like you did. It's safety protocol. Some of them seem to be staying in their rooms or staying in rooms built for this kinda thing. But if you notice the heat signatures that are moving or in the hallways, there's too many. There should only be four, not counting us three. And I count… nine. Also, Loki doesn't have a heat signature. His body temperature is way below ours, so he won't show up on here."
"So, there's about five bad guys? No problem." Clint calculated.
"Depends on the enemy." Steve commented.
"We got another coming! A male." Tony spun around to investigate the entryway.
Clint grabbed an arrow and loaded his bow. Steve took a fighting stance, but he certainly wasn't ready for what stepped through the doorway. Steve and Tony's mouths dropped open at the sight of Captain America. Tony's eye widened and they flitted back and forth between Steve and the 'other' Steve.
"How…" Tony started to say, but couldn't finish.
Steve had seen a lot of things in his life, but none of that could have prepared him for this. His mind did its best to come up with a logical answer. It came up blank.
Clint sighed and spoke to Steve's doppelganger. "You just couldn't wait, could you?"
Steve's doppelganger scoffed. "Who made you boss? Besides, there was no way you were going to take out the both of them."
"Well, I suppose we'll never know now, thanks to you." Clint's doppelganger drew back his arrow and pointed it at Steve.
"Do you have a preference?" Steve asked Tony.
"I'll take your look-a-like. I've been wanting a good reason to punch you for a long time." Tony lunged at Steve's doppelganger.
Steve threw a hard punch and was amazed when dark Hawkeye blocked it. He noticed the strange glint in fake Clint's eyes. "What are you?"
"Oh, I'm still Clint." He took an arrow and stabbed it into Steve's side. "But with the flaws removed."
xOxOx
"Come up with a plan yet?"
Lara glanced at D.G. who had asked the question. "We should team up with Tony and Steve. It's too dangerous to roam around alone in here."
"Perhaps we should just leave." Loki suggested indifferently.
Lara glared at him. "No one asked you. But if you would like to leave, go ahead. I'm certainly not stopping you."
D.G. looked back and forth at Loki and Lara with a raised eyebrow. "Okay then. I don't know what's going on between you, and truthfully I don't want to know. But please, get it together. We have more important things happening here."
Lara sighed and turned away from Loki. "You're right. Well said, D.G. Let's regroup with Tony and Steve and then we'll find the others."
Suddenly, the building shook and in the distance a roar was heard. It was unlike anything Lara had ever heard and it caused her blood to freeze. She held up her pistols. "What the bloody-?"
Another inhuman roar erupted from somewhere below them. Even D.G. seemed a little worried. "Please tell me that's not what I think it is."
Loki was trying his hardest to remain calm, but was failing horribly at it. "My idea doesn't sound so bad, now, does it?"
They all jumped at the sound of an elevator dinging behind them and they turned to face it. The screen next to the elevator showed an arrow pointing down. The doors parted to reveal Steve and Tony. They slowly held their hands up at the sight of Lara and D.G. aiming their pistols at them and Loki ready to throw an ice spike at them.
"Wait, wait, wait! Don't shoot! It's us!" Tony shouted, opening his iron mask to show his face.
Lara's eye shot to Tony and Steve's faces, trying to discern whether they were themselves or doubles. She looked at D.G. out of the corner of her for guidance. "D.G.?"
D.G. lowered her firearms. "Don't worry, they're not doppels'."
Lara and Loki followed suit and relaxed, but Steve and Tony raised their weapons at D.G. "Lara, watch out! These 'doubles' are not friendly, even if they act like it." Steve warned.
"It's okay, she's with us." Lara explained.
"You trust her?" Steve stared suspiciously at D.G.
"Yes. She's not aligned with the enemy. She even saved my life a moment ago."
Steve calmed down and nodded in thanks to Lara's doppelganger. "Then you have my thanks. Who were you attacked by?"
"Natasha's doppelganger. She tried to trick us."
"Doppelganger?" Tony asked.
"Finally, something he doesn't know." Loki mumbled. "It's old German folklore. An evil twin, so to speak. All mortals supposedly have one, but most of them are never seen. They can cause bad luck."
Tony scoffed. "I'll believe that. We just ran into ours and Clint's. We barely managed to defeat them."
"How did these doppelgangers get here? And who sent them?" Steve questioned.
"I'd be happy to tell you, but I think it's best to wait until after we get out of this mess. There were doppelgangers created for each of us, except Thor and Loki."
Something in Tony's mind clicked. "Wait… does that mean there's an evil Banner running around here somewhere?"
"Judging from those noises, I doubt that he's human anymore." D.G. commented.
"How in the world are we going to defeat an evil Hulk?! I mean, Tony and I had a hard enough time with ourselves." Steve started considering the possibilities.
"We don't have to fight him. We should lay low and leave." Loki persuaded.
"We can't just leave. It might leave here and wonder into a city. Could you imagine the damage?" Lara pointed out, horrified.
"Keep talking. The image is getting better." Loki smirked sadistically.
"We could knock you out with Mjolnir and leave you for him to play with. But by the look of your face, it looks like that already happened." Tony laughed at Loki's blood covered face. "Seriously, dude, what happened?"
"Make another comment, and you'll find out." Loki growled, glaring at Tony.
"Shut it down. We don't have time for this. We need a plan to find our friends and stop the double Hulk." Steve commanded.
"Well, if anyone's interested, I have an idea." D.G. leaned against the wall, checking her fingernails.
Lara turned to her dark twin. "What is it?"
"Lara, why don't you just-…"
The wall D.G. was leaning against collapsed, cutting her off. As the wall fell to the ground, it caused an explosion of dust to fly into the air. When the cloud of dust had settled and the Avengers cleared their lungs, the creature they had been previously talking about was standing there.
"Run!" Steve ordered, helping D.G. stand up after being crushed by the wall.
"Yeah, no kidding!" Tony joked back as he slammed close his iron mask and took off down the hall.
Loki followed Tony until he heard Lara's voice calling for him. He spun around to find to his horror that Lara was trapped under the metal wall and couldn't free herself. His fear increased as he saw the evil Hulk ready to smash her. Steve caught on to the incident too and threw his shield at the Hulk, though it bounced off and seemed to have no affect on the monster. Steve let out a rare curse and Loki jumped into action. Calling on whatever little magic he had left, Loki managed to conjure enough to shove the Hulk down the hallway away from Lara. He raced to Lara and pulled the rubble off of her.
"Are you injured?" He asked swiftly, helping her stand.
"It certainly didn't help my already broken ribs, but nothing worse." Lara cringed a little in pain as she straightened out her legs.
The Hulk roared and prepared to charge. Loki grabbed Lara's hand and together they ran with the others.
"What do we do?" Tony questioned frantically.
"Getting down is number one." Loki crouched to the ground with Lara as a piece of metal flew over them. Tony paused and shot the piece of metal, obliterating it.
"I have an idea! Loki, can you teleport us?" Steve asked.
Loki and Lara got up and began running again. Loki glared at Steve as he moved. "I'm flattered that you think me so powerful, mortal, but I am not an infinite conjurer of magic."
"Well, do you have a better plan?" Steve shot back.
"Can you absorb magic? Like from powerful items?" Lara posed a question.
"Yes, it's possible." Loki responded, not even breaking a sweat.
Lara quickly shoved Excalibur into his hands. "Then hurry!"
The others stopped and got close to Loki as he prepared to use his teleportation spell. The Hulk was getting closer.
"Loki!" Lara shouted impatiently, having no wish to be 'Hulk Smashed'.
"Quiet, this is harder than it looks." Loki mumbled, concentrating hard on using the magic from the famous sword.
Just as the Hulk was close enough to reach them, the group faded and disappeared. They looked around quickly to discover their surroundings and they found that they were in the gym room. Loki collapsed to the ground and Lara kneeled next to him.
"Really? This is where you put us? Couldn't have taken us directly to Bruce or even out of the building?" Tony criticized.
Loki sat up half-way, panting. "If you would like to use your magic abilities to teleport us next time, please, be my guest. And this was as far as I could take us." He looked down to the sword in his hands to find it pieces and no longer glowing green. "My apologies, but it seems I've completely ruined your artifact." He said genuinely.
Lara shrugged. "It's alright. I have another back home." The others looked at her with confused and surprised expressions. "What?"
The Hulk's heart-stopping bellow sounded not far from them and they could hear rumbling moving steadily closer to them.
"Uh, how good is the Hulk's hearing?" Steve questioned nervously.
The evil Hulk smashed into the room before anyone could answer Steve's question. The Hulk zeroed in on Lara and slammed her with its fist. Lara cried out as she was lifted from the ground and she prepared to be knocked into a wall. She finally hit something, but it certainly wasn't hard. Lara opened her eyes to see that she had been thrown into some sort of soft force shield. She noticed Loki standing a few feet away with his hands up, making him her hero. Ironic, she thought as he let her fall to the floor.
Tony and Steve were desperately trying to distract the Hulk and hopefully come up with a plan to defeat him, but nothing seemed to work. The smashing monster grew bored of them and suddenly turned to Loki. Loki gravely tried to call magic to him, but it was no use.
He groaned. "Not again." The Hulk grabbed and threw him across the room.
Lara stared hopelessly at the scene before her. She tried to come up with ideas to save Loki, but was coming up blank. She gasped in horror as she saw the Hulk raise his arms, ready to pummel Loki to a pulp. "No!" Her mind flashed to the dark and rainy night where she lost a dear friend and then back to the present. She couldn't let it happen again. Lara sprinted towards the Hulk.
Steve noticed her actions with wide eyes. "No, Lara! What are you doing?"
Honestly, even she wasn't sure, but Lara had learned to follow her instincts a long time ago. "Hey!" She screamed at the Hulk get its attention. Astonishingly, it ignored her and kept its focus on Loki. As it began to bring its fists down, Lara yelled out, "Stop!" Lightning began to form and crackle in Megingjord. Lara raised her arms and the lightning followed. The lightning shot out from her fingertips and strongly electrocuted the Hulk. The Hulk howled in pain as the lightning shot through its body. When Lara finally stopped, the Hulk dropped to its knees, temporarily stunned. Astounded, she gazed down at her hands. She had never experienced something like that before. It had been extremely exhilarating, and her mind absently wondered if it had been that way for Amanda whenever she used the Wraith Stone.
Loki positioned himself on his feet and limped away from the Hulk, staring in awe at Lara. "That was… impressive. But still not enough to kill him, sadly."
The Hulk shook its head, trying to clear it. It stood up and gazed at each member of the group, choosing its next target. It abruptly lunged at Tony and he fired up his jets to escape its grasp.
"Lara, remember when you gave me my freedom?" D.G. called out, firing at the Hulk with her pistols to distract it from Tony.
Lara raised an eyebrow, wondering why this was relevant. "Yes, of course, but what does that have to with this?"
"He's a thrall just like I was!" D.G. shouted as if she was speaking the obvious. "You gained control of me, now gain control of him." The Hulk growled and threw a fist as D.G., but she easily dodged it.
"What is she talking about it?" Steve looked at Lara.
Lara gripped her head, trying to think. "Last time I ran into thralls, I learned a phrase of words that allowed me to take control of them."
"And they would obey your commands?" Steve asked doubtfully.
"Yes! But I can't remember the words. They were in Norse." Lara digged through her memories, looking for the correct words.
"Well, anytime soon would be really helpful." Steve commented as he dodged a piece of debris.
I'm fairly certain it started with an 'o'… yes, I'm sure of it. And the phrase only consisted of two words. Okh… Okh… Eshi? No… Okh…Eshivar… That's it! Lara recovered the words just as the Hulk grabbed Tony and flung him across the room straight into Steve. They tumbled onto the floor together.
"Hey!" The Hulk turned to look at Lara and raised a fist into the air. "Okh Eshivar!" The Hulk froze in place, waiting for a command. "Return to your human form."
It had no choice but to obey, and change its appearance. In a few moments, the Hulk had transformed into Bruce's doppelganger wearing very baggy pants. Tony landed next to it and examined it.
"So that's it? He does whatever we tell him to do now?" He cautiously poked dark Bruce as if expecting it to lash out at him.
"Pretty much." D.G. responded smugly.
"What do we do with him?" Steve asked.
"I don't know about you, but I really don't one of these things walking around. We need to destroy it." Lara concluded.
"Is that even possible? I thought the Hulk was invincible." Steve pointed out.
"Command it to stand still." D.G. approached Bruce's doppelganger.
Lara did as she was asked and watched D.G. quickly whip out a pistol. She pulled the trigger and Bruce's head snapped back, then its body fell to the ground. D.G. sheathed her gun.
"Well, at least that part was easy." Tony commented, gazing down at the dead body.
"We should find the others and leave before we run into any more trou-…" Steve was cut off by a pounding on the far wall.
"Oh, what now?" Loki annoyingly growled.
"You just had to jinx it, didn't you?" Tony glared accusingly at Steve.
The Avengers watched cautiously as the wall toppled down in a heap of dust. Fortunately for them, Thor, Natasha, Clint, and Bruce emerged from the rubble. Tony let out a relieved breath that he had been holding.
Thor jogged up to them. "Is everyone all right? We heard loud noises…"
"And saw the collapsed hallway." Natasha added as she approached them.
"And why is there a dead body that looks exactly like me?" Bruce stared in confusion at his doppelganger's body.
"That would be the cause of the hallway and the loud noises." D.G. explained.
It finally clicked in the second group's minds that there were two Laras standing before them. They turned to Lara for clarification.
"They obviously didn't run into any doppelgangers." Loki concluded.
"We'll tell our story later, but we need to go before we get attacked by any more enemies." Lara promised.
"Let's move out." Steve gestured to the door for them to leave.
xOxOx
"Anyone hurt?" Fury asked as the Avengers entered the airport base.
Loki deadpanned and motioned to his obvious bloody nose.
"Glad to see no one got injured." Fury ignored Loki who narrowed his eyes. Clint bit his lip to keep from laughing. "What happened? And can someone please explain to me why there are two of you?" Fury's voice gradually got louder towards the end of the question.
"Uh, that's Lara," Tony pointed at Lara. Then he pointed at D.G. "And that's sexy, gothic, newly improved Lara."
Lara rolled her eyes as D.G. responded, "I'm her doppelganger, y'know, her 'evil twin'."
"Now what? We obviously need to get the heck outta here, but where can we go where they won't find us." Clint stated, looking to the others for ideas.
"Going to another S.H.I.E.L.D. base would be too dangerous." Steve threw that possibility off the table.
"What about my manor?" The idea suddenly popped into Lara's head. The others looked at her with unsure expressions. "Why not? It's large, in another country, it would be difficult for someone to find us."
"Natla knows where you live." D.G. mentioned, sitting down and propping her feet up on the table.
"Natla?" Fury raised an eyebrow, not liking the sound of this.
"She's the one who made the doppelgangers that we fought tonight. There was one made for each of us, excluding Thor and Loki. Natla was a former enemy, but I had believed she was dead." Lara threw a pointed look at D.G. who scoffed. "From what I've learned about her, she's an ancient Atlantean goddess who seems to have an affinity for fire. And Natla may not know where I live. Only Amanda and you came to my house, D.G."
Clint groaned. "Not another god!"
"Two gods against one. I think we'll be fine." Loki spoke confidently.
"Don't you mean one god against one god and a Frost Giant." Clint spat back.
Loki hissed and prepared to punch Clint for his comment, but Thor held him back and Natasha did the same for Clint. Lara gritted her teeth.
"Enough!" She shouted and lightning formed around her fists in her anger. Loki and Clint relaxed at the sight of her powers. "We are taking a plane to my estate where we will recuperate and come up with a plan and try to figure out what Natla is up to this time. Agreed?" The others nodded, not wanting to further piss her off.
"What about the agents? Is it safe to leave them?" Bruce asked softly.
"If we leave, the enemy should follow." Steve figured.
"Then let's get on that plane." Fury concluded.
xOxOx
"Hello? Lady Croft?"
"Yes, it's me, Winston." Lara replied through her cell phone.
"Is there something wrong?" A hint of worry clouded his voice.
Lara chuckled softly. "Must you assume I only call you when there is a problem?"
"Well, usually there is." Winston pointed out amusingly. "But there is a problem, isn't there?"
"Not really a problem." Lara glanced over at her friends sitting in the cabin of the plane. The plane bobbed up and down from the turbulence, and the storm was certainly not helping.
"Oh, good! How are you fitting with the team? You haven't called in a while."
"Quite well, but I am coming back to England."
"What?"
"Er… actually, we are coming. I was calling so you could set up rooms for them." Lara admitted, feeling a little guilty.
"Oh, so there is a problem. I told you you only call when you need something." Winston responded.
"I'm sorry, I know I should call more-…"
"Oh, quiet, Lara. I was only jesting. How many rooms should I prepare?"
Lara contemplated for a moment. She wondered if Clint and Natasha usually shared a room… "Nine bedrooms. Feel free to hire help."
"Of course, milady. Should I make dinner as well?"
Lara rolled her eyes at Winston's fervor. "Don't worry about it, Winston. I have a feeling we'll be too exhausted for that when we arrive."
"When shall I expect you?"
"I'm not sure, honestly. We're in the middle of storm right now, so it's difficult to say. I'll call you when I know more."
"May I ask why you are coming here?" Winston question curiously.
"We ran into some… implications."
"Are those 'implications' following you here?"
"I doubt it."
"I'd hate to have the manor destroyed… again." Winston mumbled nervously.
"Then it's a good thing it will be protected by a group of superheroes." Lara spoke trying to comfort Winston's fears. She decided to change the subject. "How are the reparations going?"
"The estate is nearly back to normal. I will make sure to block off the inhabitable parts. I should set to work. Good night, Lady Croft. And be careful."
"Thank you, and good night. I will be." Lara hung up. She turned around to face her companions and noticed Tony and D.G. talking. Well, more flirting than talking. They were standing close to each other, each of them holding an alcoholic drink. Lara walked over and pushed them apart.
"What was that for?" Tony demanded, unhappy that his flirting session was being interrupted.
"No. No flirting between you two." Lara stated with her hands on her hips.
"And why not?" D.G. asked, crossing her arms angrily.
"Because we," Lara motioned the two of them. "Share the same body. I do not want Tony seeing me naked."
"Aw, come on, doll." Tony smirked.
"You're going to have to get over it. I do what I want. I no longer obey other's commands." D.G. hissed. "You gave me freedom once, why do you harbor it now?"
"D.G., I'm not trying to control you." Lara felt slightly guilty, knowing it must have been hard for D.G. in the past when she had no free will or no choice. "I'm just tired of dealing with this ignorant man. I don't need him coming up to me one day, boasting about how he saw me naked since we are identical."
"Hey!" Tony protested at Lara's description of him, but he was ignored by both women.
D.G. sighed. "Alright. I suppose I can respect your wishes. I had no plans of having intercourse with him anyway."
Tony's mouth dropped open and a few of the Avengers sniggered. "What? Why not?" Tony asked with disbelief.
D.G. laughed. "Oh, please! You may be rich, but… not rich enough. Besides, I prefer a bit more 'meat' on my men." She gave Steve a wicked glance that caused him to cringe a little.
Tony still hadn't managed to snap his mouth closed, especially as he looked back and forth between Steve and D.G. Bruce came up to him, laughing gently. He patted Tony on the back. "It's okay, buddy. Don't you have plenty of other women willing to sleep with you?"
"Well, yeah. But that chick is a hotter version of Lara! And I've never tried a gothic chick before…"
"Ugh!" Lara groaned in disgust at Tony. She began to head to the bathrooms which were at the back of the plane, but Steve caught up with her.
"Hey, don't listen to Tony. He's an idiot." Steve squeezed her hand.
Lara smiled. "Thanks."
"And if it's any consolation," Steve's cheeks began to tint red. "I think you're prettier than your twin."
Lara's smile grew wider. "Thank you, Steve. It does help. Though I'd be cautious. I think you caught her eye."
Steve gulped distressingly. "Yeah, I noticed that… Any tips to help fend her off?"
"Nope. Good luck." Lara laughed and winked at him, which only caused him to blush harder.
She continued on her way to the back of the plan and entered the second cabin. She jolted a little with surprise to find Loki sitting there alone. He gave her a dirty glare and went back to trying to wipe the blood off his face. He hissed in pain whenever he grazed his nose.
Lara approached him. "Do you want some help?"
Loki opened his mouth to decline but even that slight movement caused him discomfort and he grunted. He sighed, but nodded in submission. Lara grabbed a towel and opened a mini-refrigerator. She wrapped the towel around a few pieces of ice and handed it to him. He looked at her with confusion.
"For the swelling." She clarified.
Loki frowned and gently touched his nose. "It's swollen?" He asked with dismay.
"And red. If you wore your helmet, you would be indiscernible from Rudolph." Lara remarked when he finally accepted the cold towel from her.
"This is ridiculous. I'm a Frost Giant." He mumbled, doubting the ice would help, but he did as she instructed.
Lara took the other bloody towel that he had been using and rinsed it in the cup of water next to him. She rung it out and began to clean the rest of the blood off of Loki's face.
"May we speak now?" Lara asked softly as she gently washed his face.
Loki didn't look at her. "I'm not much in the mood."
"At least give me a chance to fix this. Unless… you don't care." Lara stopped her actions and watched his face.
He sighed and removed the ice from his face. "I didn't say that. I'm just… hurt." Loki whispered the last word.
"I am sorry. When I accepted Fury's request, I never imagined in a million years that we would be… whatever it is we are." Lara apologized genuinely.
"You asked me those questions… but you didn't care about the answers, did you? All you wanted was your precious information." Loki spat, trying to cover his emotional pain with anger.
"That's not true. As I began to know more about you, I truly wanted to learn even more. I asked you plenty of questions that were completely irrelevant to what Fury wanted." Lara reasoned and touched his hand.
Loki met her eyes with hope. "I don't want people that I care for to lie to me anymore."
Lara gripped his hand as his tightened around hers. "Like your parents?"
"Why didn't they just tell me?" Loki couldn't help the tear that fell from his eye.
"They were only trying not to hurt you. I know that children think that their parents can do no wrong. It's the big lie children truly believe in. Just because your father may be good at running a kingdom, doesn't mean he's a good father. Everyone makes mistakes. But I promise you, they were putting your feelings first." Lara encouraged and wiped away his tear.
"Perhaps… I will speak with them once this is over." Loki considered.
"I think that would be a good idea." Lara smiled and kissed him. "So, are we good?"
Loki gazed into Lara's brown eyes. He took a slow breath and nodded. "Yes, I believe we are." He kissed her gently.
Hoped you like it! Please leave a review to let me know what you think of A New Way To Bleed's latest chapter! I will try really hard to go faster with the next chap... I apologize if there were any grammar/spelling mistakes... I swear I proofread but i still manage to miss some of them. Warning, next chap won't have as much action... mostly talking probably. Thank you for reading! You guys are great!