From The Ashes

By Anna Morgan

Chapter 12 Assemble

The ride to SHIELD headquarters was awkward to say the least.

When Clint said that Fury wanted "us" at headquarters, Natasha assumed that meant Clint, Loki, and herself, but no; he actually meant "us" as in "The Avengers."

Loki and Natasha scrambled up from their places on the sofa and only shared a quick glance to say "good morning" before disappearing (literally, in Loki's case) to their rooms.

Within a few minutes all six of the tower's current occupants were herded downstairs by an enthusiastic Steve and crammed into two separate SHIELD company vehicles. Loki had chosen to follow Tony and Steve into the second vehicle, sensing that he was unwelcome in Clint's presence at the moment. Loki purred inwardly, secretly pleased with himself for being the root cause of Clint's distress (a bit of mischief at last…).

All the way to SHIELD headquarters, Clint gave Natasha the cold shoulder, not speaking to her unless he had to. Mercifully, Bruce elected to sit up front with Clint behind the wheel and Natasha sat comfortably in the back with a couple of escort agents. She wasn't even sure what to say to Clint; whatever she said he probably wouldn't take it well anyway, so she said nothing. Clint looked like he was biting his tongue, trying hard not to say what he really wanted to say until they had some time alone.

Loki followed the Avengers through the now familiar halls of SHIELD headquarters. This time, instead of heading to the control room, they rounded a couple of different corners and crowded into a briefing room. The room looked very much like a school classroom, with a large round table in the center and a projector screen on the forward wall. Three stairs in the back of the room led up to a platform and a widow overlooking the city. Centered on the platform, talking and waiting for the rest of the team, was Fury and Thor.

Thor smiled as he departed from Fury's presence and approached Loki, extending his arm to place on Loki's right shoulder – a gesture which Loki returned as he smiled back. He had genuinely missed his brother, and he felt more at ease now in his presence.

They turned and took their seats at the table with the rest. Fury walked to the front of the room and stood before them, his legs shoulder-width apart and his hands behind his back; his signature stance.

"Good Morning," Fury started, as he looked around the table in greeting. "The mission sitting before you is a point reconnaissance, with the possibility of a follow-up attack mission," he continued. His tone was serious and completely professional.

On the screen in front of them flashed a map of Russia, with one city in the southwest corner highlighted, Volgograd. A map of the city, the area around it, and a weather report for the next two days flashed across the screen. Loki was again very much impressed by the technology.

"Your mission is to conduct a point reconnaissance on a base outside of Volgograd, Russia belonging to the organization AIM – the Advanced Idea Mechanics," Fury explained. "They're the former weapons development branch of HYDRA."

Steve's eyes widened. "HYDRA?" Fury nodded to him, "The very same, Captain."

"A reliable source has informed us that this organization may be developing weapons of mass destruction for a newly-formed faction of HYDRA," Fury continued. "We also have reason to believe that these weapons are being powered by a device similar in composition and structure to the Tesseract," Thor and Loki exchanged surprised looks before looking sharply back at Fury. "It emits a gamma radiation signature that we can't properly measure. "

"We need information on the base's layout, any information you can about the number of agents stationed there, their capabilities, intentions, and any and all information you can get on their weapons and the device powering them. If the number of agents is low enough that you have the advantage or" he emphasized "you are fired upon, your mission will turn into an attack-to-destroy."

"Captain, you're in charge of this mission. Stark, I'm assigning you to go as a weapons expert, help them evaluate the weapons and their capabilities," Fury explained. Tony nodded. "Banner, I need to you get a reading on this power source, and any other information on the radiation that it emits. Agent Barton, Agent Romanoff, you two just do what you do best," Natasha and Clint grinned smugly as they nodded in unison.

"Loki," Loki gave his full attention to Fury, "I want you to tag along with Agents Barton and Romanoff for an extra layer of concealment and protection. Thor says that illusions are your specialty. Make sure that they aren't seen," Loki looked to Thor.

Thor answered for him, "They are one of his many strengths. My brother is a master of magic," he said proudly. Loki smirked at his brother's praise and turned his attention back to Fury. Clint's eyes narrowed slightly at Fury's request, though he kept his demeanor calm and professional.

"Consider this your trial run," he finished keeping his eye focused on Loki so that it bore through to him. His look clearly said 'Don't fuck this up. Or else.'

Fury looked around the table to acknowledge to all of the team members, "You will have twenty-four hours to conduct this mission and report in, once you land in Volgograd. Are there any questions?" he looked around. Seeing none, he looked down at his watch, "Then your jet will leave in an hour from the usual place. Good luck."

Everyone rose from the table and filed from the room one by one. Loki caught Natasha's eye and she gave him an encouraging smile as he lingered back, hoping to catch her on her own.

But Clint foiled this plan; he bent down to whisper something in her ear and her smile disappeared. Looking considerably more serious, she followed Clint hastily from the room. Loki frowned and followed the others out of the room.

….

Down the hall, Natasha followed Clint into the locker room. Their lockers were right next to each other of course, so as Clint began to collect his bow and a full quiver of assorted-purpose arrows Natasha reached into her own locker to pull out a pair of Glocks, a cleaning kit, her widow bites, and a set of knives and stuffed them into a small black duffel bag.

"So," Clint began, "what exactly did I walk in on this morning?"

Natasha knew this was coming. She placed her cleaning kit into the duffle bag. "Nothing that couldn't be seen by everyone in the common floor," she replied.

Clint just stared at her. "Look, there's nothing going on with me and Loki," she looked him in the eye as she spoke. Judging by his expression, Natasha knew she hit what he was getting at.

He lowered his head and eyed her suspiciously. "Nat, I don't want you to get mixed up with him. He's dangerous," he said bluntly.

"He isn't dangerous," she said simply.

"You know that's not true."

"You know that it is." Clint narrowed his eyes at her. "He hasn't done anything to hurt or threaten any of us since he's been here," she defended him.

"That doesn't mean he isn't planning to do something!" Clint's voice was raised now.

"He hasn't given off any warning signs or verbal cues to indicate that he's planning anything," she said pointedly, keeping her voice calm.

"I'm sorry, what is it that he's the god of exactly?" he asked sarcastically. "Truth? Kindness? Cute little bunny rabbits and butterflies? No, LIES, Natasha! And mischief!" His voice was angry but also full of concern. "You know just as well as I do what this guy is capable of!"

Natasha shook her head. She spoke more softly now, "I know he has the potential to be very dangerous, and yes, he's done terrible things and I understand why you're upset," she continued as she placed her knives in her bag, "but he's not evil. He's hurt. And he's searching for a way out of where he is right now. He just… needs a push in the right direction."

"You can't tell me that all he needs is a hug and to be put in front of a fire with a blanket and a teddy bear and he'll be ok."

She shut the locker door and sighed. She kept her head down and her palm flat against the cold metal surface of the locker as she thought for a moment.

"Do you remember what you said to me, the night you were sent to kill me?" she asked softly, staring at the locker door. Clint just stared at her in disbelief.

"You said: 'there's going to come a moment where you're going to have to decide which path you want to take. Either you can continue on this path into the darkness, or you can come with me and I'll show you the light.'" She spoke airily, as though she were quoting scripture from the gospel. "His moment is coming, Clint, if he hasn't had it already it's going to come soon. And I want to be there for him when it does," she said lowly.

Clint sighed, knowing he'd been defeated. Stubborn wench….he thought, though it was more fond than angry. He reached out to her with the hand that wasn't holding his bow and placed it tenderly on her shoulder. "Please just be careful," he pleaded.

"I will. Promise," she replied simply.

He patted her shoulder before dropping his hand and picking up his own black duffel bag and made his way out of the locker room, Natasha soon to follow him.

….

Loki paced back and forth in the lounge on the flight line, waiting with the Avengers for Natasha and Clint to return. All of the Avengers had already suited up; Tony sat beside Bruce in a couple of the lounge chairs while Thor and Steve stood against the wall, Mjolnir and the shield in hand. Loki was in full battle attire, horns and all, with a golden spear in hand. He looked up just long enough to catch Thor's eye. He gave Loki a comforting smile before his eyes suddenly widened as a thought hit him.

"Loki! Before my mind slips away from me again – " Thor reached into a hidden pocket on his armor.

"It cannot 'slip away' if you have no grasp on it to begin with, Brother."

" – Mother sends this!" He pulled a rolled up strip of black leather tied together by an elegant silver cord and held it out. Loki stopped dead in his tracks; he recognized it at once and he nearly gasped aloud.

"Where – where did you find these?" Loki choked on the words as he gently took the leather roll from Thor's hand.

"Mother hoped to return them to you herself upon your return, however we both felt that they would be more useful to you now," Thor smiled solemnly as he watched Loki untie the elegant cord and unrolled the leather pouch. Inside, were six silver throwing knives of assorted shapes and sizes. His knives. The ones he thought he had lost on Jotunheim the day he found out…

Loki had to swallow a lump in his throat. His mother sent them. It hit him then, like a ton of bricks, how he missed the woman.

"Aww, I think he's gonna cry," Tony quipped. Bruce smacked him in the back of the head.

Indeed, Loki was struggling to hold back tears of both gratitude and longing. He looked up at Thor, back down to his knives, and then back at Thor again before he launched himself forward, snaking his arms around his brother's neck, and planting a kiss on his brother's stunned-looking cheek.

"Give that to Mother for me when you see her again," Loki said. He let go and slid back against the wall to examine his precious knives, like a child slinking away to play with a Christmas gift for the first time. Tony opened his mouth to say something else but Bruce was quick to give him another smack on the back of the head to silence him. Thor watched fondly as Loki removed each one of them and placed them in the empty sheaths that were built into his tunic.

Just then, the door opened and in strode Clint and Natasha, fully suited up and carrying their duffel bags full of needed equipment. "Ready?" Steve asked them. "Always ready, Cap," Natasha replied for them.

Together, the seven of them strode out of the lobby and onto the flight line to the awaiting jet, whose engines were whirling into life as they made their approach. The hatch at the back of the jet opened and they filed in. Tony, Bruce, Steve, and Clint strapped themselves in on one side while Natasha, Loki, and Thor took their places across from them. Loki felt more confident, more at ease than he had when they left the tower, and he sighed contently as he felt the knives' presence on his person again. He looked over to Natasha, who strapped herself in beside him, and gave her a small smile, which she returned. He felt his heartbeat thud quickly when his eyes met hers.

"Ready?" she asked quietly, so that only he could hear.

"As I will ever be I imagine," he replied.

Steve led the conversation for the entire flight, which consisted primarily of going over their game plan: who was on what team, what they would each be doing, and going over possible scenarios and backup plans for if someone's position was compromised. He was a good leader, Loki thought, even more so than he had seen Thor be in battle. Steve was invigorating, motivating, genuinely thrilled by the simple task that lay ahead of them, and his enthusiasm was contagious.

When they reached their destination night had descended on the area, and it was very dark. A moderate snowfall descended on them as they stepped out of the quinjet and onto the soft blanket of several inches of fresh snow that covered the ground, their breaths an icy fog in the bitter cold. Natasha's words from the night before formed in his mind 'There's lots of snow in Russia this time of year.' She definitely hadn't been lying. Loki could tell they were beyond the city limits; behind them were the semi-distant city lights shrouded behind the snowfall, ahead of them lay a thick wooded area that they could not see through. It was an intimidating sight. The trees were tall and dark, growing close together and void of life as they loomed menacingly over them all. The only sound came from the wind that intertwined itself among and between the trees, whistling as it flew by.

Steve stepped forward and took the point position. "Okay, everyone, let's move out." They filed into two lines of three and followed close behind one another as Steve led them into the forest; Loki, Natasha, and Clint on one side; Bruce, Thor, and Tony on the other. Loki waved his arms to cast a silencing spell and their noisy footsteps silenced, earning him an appreciative nod from Steve at the front. "I knew we brought him along for a good reason," Tony whispered quietly.

Around them, the snow continued to fall and soon, their fresh footprints were partly filled with fresh snow to camouflage their trail. Loki glanced around, never keeping his head turned in one direction for more than a few seconds. He scanned the area looking for anything suspicious as Thor mimicked his movements on the other side of their little formation. Natasha and Clint were the only ones who looked as though they were completely in their own element – stealthily moving in their all-black attire; they were veterans to this sort of thing and it was obvious. Their heads and eyes were straightforward, focused on their mission alone. After a few minutes, the terrain started to slope upward as they came upon a hill. They climbed to the top, slowing their pace only slightly. At the summit, Steve held up his hand to stop them. Without speaking, as though it were a movement they practiced all the time, both lines formed into a straight line on either side of him, taking cover among the brushes along the top of the hill.

The base looked something like an old abandoned factory. There were two separate buildings, connected together by a bridge suspended between them. Two tall smokestacks stood like giants in the foreground with one emitting small puffs of smoke. A handful of people clad in dark clothing scurried around on the ground and across the bridge.

"Alright, Hawkeye, I want you on the roof of that building," Steve directed, pointing to the building on the left, "call out patterns and anything out of the ordinary as you see them. Widow," Natasha tore her eyes from the scene to look at Steve, "You and Loki go in, Thor, Stark and Banner will follow to evaluate the weapons and their power source once you give us the go ahead."

Loki observed her as Natasha nodded determinedly. He could almost physically see the mask of the Black Widow fall over her face, all traces of Natasha disappearing behind the stoic, calculating façade of the master assassin. The transformation was amazing.

Clint, Natasha, and Loki got up and moved stealthily toward the building, taking cover behind brush and rocks whenever someone looked in their direction. Loki waved his hand to cast the silencing spell around them as they moved. Finally, they came upon the first of the two buildings and Clint peeled off, dashing off into the night. They could just barely make out his silhouette climbing the building and perching himself just behind the ledge.

"Hawkeye in place," Loki heard Clint declare through his earpiece.

"Roger that, Hawkeye, moving in," Natasha replied. She didn't even sound like herself anymore, Loki noticed. It was more focused, even a little rough. She gestured for him to follow and he nodded as he used as much energy as he could to place an invisibility spell over them. Taking the lead, she guided them toward a half-hidden backdoor.

….

Loki and Natasha wandered silently and confidently under through the white hallways of the base. They passed by a handful of agents, who remained oblivious to their presence thanks to Loki's spells. Natasha had been apprehensive about bringing Loki along, but now she had to admit she was glad for his assistance; Fury was right to assign Loki to this mission, she thought.

They entered into a hallway lined on either side with lab chambers, hidden behind thick metal doors. The goings-on inside them were visible only by the small, square glass window near the top of the door. Natasha tapped Loki gently on the shoulder, willing him to follow her with his protective spells. Loki was actually enjoying himself; it felt good to finally have something to do, to be free of the tower that had felt more like a prison the last few days, and be able to give his magic some much-needed exercise. It almost gave him the same rush of adrenaline and liberation he used to have when Thor would drag him along on their adventures so many lifetimes ago.

And he was awarded more time with Natasha, observing her utilizing her special skill set and seeing a side of her that, while he had known existed, impressed him nonetheless.

They observed each of the labs through widows until they came upon one with a glowing mass emitting a swirling ivory glow from the center of the room. Loki's breath caught in surprise – the light source came from a cube-shaped mass that indeed resembled the Tesseract, but a bit smaller. A mass of computer monitors and wires displayed a myriad of readings that Loki didn't understand. How in the name of Valhalla have these mortals managed to concoct such a device? Natasha looked just as surprised as he. She placed her hand on her earpiece and spoke: "Black Widow to Captain – we have located the energy source. First building, third floor, second corridor on the left. Lab 2A."

"Roger that, Black Widow, Stark and Banner are moving to your location now," Loki heard Steve's voice sounding through his own earpiece.

That was a simple enough task, Loki thought.

Not a minute later, however, the sound of footsteps brought their attention to three agents clad in dark blue approaching the door from the opposite end of the corridor. Natasha instinctively threw out her arm and pushed herself and Loki flat up against the wall on the other side of the door. They watched as the agents typed in the pass code and heard the door give a hydrolic hiss as it slid away. The three agents approached the cube, one holding a long pair of tongs while the others carried what looked like a small metal treasure chest between them. Gingerly, the agent with the tongs picked up the cube and lowered it slowly into the chest. Their objective collected, the agents closed the lid and turned around, exited the room, and strode back down the corridor.

Natasha practically pounced off of the wall, nearly escaping the bubble of protection that concealed them as Loki followed suit. She touched her earpiece again. "Captain, delay my last. Agents have taken the power source and we're pursuing. Hold your position until we can tell you where they're taking this thing," she ordered. They took off after the agents, following a safe distance behind them as they weaved through more corridors and stairways. Loki kept silent the entire time, allowing Natasha to describe their path to Steve as they traveled while he put all of his focus on the silencing and invisibility spells around them.

As they pursued the agents across the bridge connecting to the second building, Clint's voice came suddenly from his earpiece, "Guys, the agents out here are starting to execute some kind of lockdown procedure – entrances and windows are being secured, it looks like they're headed to some kind of bunker on the north side of the premises," he spoke urgently. "We have four personnel headed toward the first floor entrance on the south wall. Something's about to happen here…"

Indeed, agents were scurrying around them to get into the buildings as they followed the agents through to the second building and down to the first floor. The agents carrying the cube stopped in front of a set of metal double doors, entered the pass code, and threw the doors open. Taking the opportunity to follow, Natasha grabbed Loki's wrist and pulled him quickly inside the doors behind the agents so close that Loki swore they had to have sensed their presence, and the doors closed again behind them.

"We're in some kind of gymnasium, first floor of the second building on the eastern most end of the corridor. It's the only set of metal double doors, pass code is '395245'," Natasha breathed into the earpiece as they slid sideways to watch against the adjacent wall.

In the center of the gym were seven agents working furiously around what appeared to be a human-like robot. Or was a person in a robotic suit? Loki couldn't tell. It looked like one of Tony's early Iron Man suits but much taller; it wasn't bulky but lithe and looked as if it would move agilely if it moved at all. It's expression looked angry and menacing, with eye slits that slanted downward and in toward the center of its face. In the center of its chest was a square shaped outlet. Cords and wires were hooked up to its head, shoulders, hands and feet as a couple of agents in white coats typed furiously on a keyboard. They watched as the agent with the tongs opened the chest that contained the cube and placed it within the hole in the robot's chest. The sound of electricity whirling up power filled the otherwise quiet room. Loki noticed that Natasha's grip on his wrist was tightening as they watched, hardly breathing, as its eyes lit up and glowed the same ivory glow as the cube.

"Loki, we need to take them out and stop that thing from being mobile," Natasha instructed. "Follow me."

With that, she burst forward from the protective spells and rushed toward the agents at full speed. She flicked her wrists toward the first agent and her widow bites flew from her hands, sending an intricate web of electricity around the nearest agent's legs and ankles to immobilize him. At a running pace she swung her leg up and clocked him right on the temple and he crumbled to the floor.

Loki lingered to admire her work from the wall for a moment before coming forward himself. She made close quarters combat look like an intricate masterpiece of art. Conjuring two green swirls of energy around his hands, he thrust them toward the nearest agent. His victim was thrown the length of the gym and slammed against the wall, knocking him unconscious. Another agent pulled a firearm from his side and fired a couple of shots in Natasha's direction, but instead of the bullets striking her she swerved her body around and moved one of the agents ahead of her to use as a human shield. Loki fluidly removed two of his knives and expertly flung them forward, taking out the agent with the firearm as well as another next to him. Now standing back to back, Natasha pulled her own firearm and shot twice to take down another agent while Loki threw two knifes straight into the chest of the remaining two, and their opponents fell to the floor unanimously.

Natasha reached around and patted Loki on the back between his shoulder blades. "Nice work, new guy," she jested. He waved his hand and his knives flew back to him and he placed them back into their sheaths.

In the minute or so that they had been fighting, neither of them acknowledged the robot booting up, it's whirling becoming more of a consistent hum as power surged through its body. It looked down on them now, its eyes glowing and before either of them could react it swung its leg out, mimicking Natasha's movement from only seconds ago and sending them both flying across the gym. They hit the wall together and fell to the ground, Natasha landing awkwardly atop of Loki, in a tangled heap.

The robot strode forward, tearing the wires off and sending sparks flying in the process. As they ungracefully untangled themselves the robot approached them and two massive balls of green light swirled around its wrists.

"What the fuck?" Natasha mumbled as she attempted to stand up. Loki quickly pulled her down and underneath him as the robot thrust the balls of energy toward them and in a split second, Loki slammed his palm flat against the ground and a light blue bubble expanded around them – a protective shield spell. The balls of energy were absorbed by its surface and dissipated. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then, the doors burst open and Clint came barreling through with his bow raised, an arrow in position. Natasha looked up just in time to see the arrow fly toward the robot's head. The robot turned to face Clint now, studying him in the split second before it caught the arrow in its hand. Loki let the shield spell fall and pulled Natasha to her feet, dragging her across the gym toward the door.

The robot studied the arrow. The three of them watched in awe as a bow, precisely identical to the one Clint held, formed out of thin air in the robot's free hand. As soon as it was fully formed the robot placed the arrow on the sting and shot it back at them; Clint barely managed to lunge out of the way before it would have pinned him against the wall. He dived into a rolling motion and leapt to his feet again, his eyes widened in shock.

"Shit!" Natasha breathed. "It's copying us!"

"Well, that was just weird," Clint said calmly, though his face had gone pale. He looked at Natasha. "Assemble?"

Natasha nodded and she answered, "Assemble."

….

A/N: Another chapter down. As always, thank you for the favorites, follows, and reviews. Please let me know what you think! Love it? Hate it? Completely indifferent…?