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"What the hell?" Kat screamed loudly, staring at the black ship. "What is that?"
Every person in the command center stood up to look at the visitor outside, drifting in the sky. Immediately, two technicians started demanding information about the aircraft.
"What's your clearance code?" Clarke, a fellow technician, demanded into his mic.
"Clarke..." I said slowly, widening my eyes as a small figure appeared on the ramp of the aircraft. "I don't think you're going to get any classification information." I tightened my arm on the railing surrounding the conference table nervously.
I squinted my eyes in time to watch a thin line fly through the air outside the window.
A few seconds later, the ship shook violently and Kat shrieked, falling forward, but I tightened my gaze on her forearm with a grunt, holding her up. The ship began to tilt dangerously towards the left and she tumbled back towards me unsteadily.
At that same moment, a blaring alarm went off and every person in the command center jumped into action, tapping their headsets and running around to figure out what damage had been done.
"We have a confirmed hit on engine three," someone was shouting frantically. "Engine three is in critical condition!"
"Are you okay?" I said immediately, holding Kat's arms tightly while she shook with fright, looking at the window. She nodded once and stood up.
"My head's swimmin'," she murmured, rubbing her forehead for emphasis. "But I'm okay."
"What happened?" Maria Hill's voice demanded with alarm from nearby. She strode into the command center, throwing on a headset. Behind me, soldiers rushed by, adjusting their uniforms and holstering guns.
I watched her type frantically on six computer screens. "Number three engine is down!"
Kat reached for her tablet, which was luckily intact, having fallen from the table. On the screen were readouts and images of the engine showing the external damage. I met her eyes and she looked like she was going to faint.
"That's a lot of damage," she breathed, swiping through more screens.
"We've got a fire on engine three," another voice confirmed. I turned around anxiously. What can I do? This isn't computer related, we need engineers!
"I'm going to help on the floor. Are you sure you're okay?" I asked her again.
"I'm fine, Miss Elle," she said firmly, nodding. "You go help."
I shoved past nearly 20 technicians and a group of armed guards to reach Hill. She was bent over Clarke's shoulder, looking anxious. "Maria, what can I do?" I shouted over the frantic yelling going on the first floor.
"You monitor those screens and if anything changes, you tell me, got it?" she ordered.
I nodded, glad of be of some help and took position at the front of the command center, staring at the red flashing images on the screen. I stared at the notifications, not knowing what to do.
Wait a damn minute. I'm a computer technician.
All I needed was the simple knowledge that I know a computer better than anyone, and then my hands were flying across the screen. I abandoned thoughts of Loki for the time being; I knew that there was guards around Loki's cell, and that Coulson was on his way to initiate a defense lockdown on the cell. He wasn't going anywhere.
In the corner of the screen, a green notification box flashed with the words 'Iron Man: Deployed.'
The sound of rushing wind caught my attention and I raised my eyes just in time to see a streak of red and gold outside. A few technicians nearby cheered with relief. The barest hint of a smile touched my lips. As long as Tony got the engine up and running, we could stay afloat and begin offensive procedures.
"The Green Man is awake, I repeat, the Green Man is awake!" Natasha's voice yelled fearfully in my ear.
The Green Man? My two seconds of relief ended quicker than I wanted to. Dr. Banner was no longer with us.
"Agent Romanoff, are you okay?" I said with alarm into the mic. She didn't respond. "Maria, what happened over in engine three?" I yelled, looking at more readouts.
"The Hulk happened," she said behind me, pushing me out of the way to access two computers. "The explosion..."
"Set him off like that?"
"It was a damn big explosion," she explained with a grim smile. "You're doing good, kay? Just keep me posted."
"Tony, how are the engines coming, we're taking a major dip!" I said into my headset, gripping the edge of the screens to keep myself from falling. I listened to the sound of whistling wind. "Tony?"
Loud gunshots in my ear made me jump, and Captain Roger's voice panted in my ear, "We've got a situation."
Little shit, I thought viciously, wishing I had the knowledge of shutting down their system entirely. He literally brought an army. I chewed on my tongue and checked the video feed. Loki was still in his cell, still smiling, still waiting. For Barton?
A reckless idea popped into my mind and I decided to go for it. If I deployed the cell now, Barton would never get to Loki, and he would never escape. I began to make for the stairs leading downstairs to take a shortcut around to the cell. I was barely a a few steps down the stairs when an explosion behind me took me completely off guard. The force propelled me forward and into one of the large rails surrounding the stairs. The blunt force of my head hitting metal was enough to knock me unconsciousness for a few minutes.
When I came to my senses, I smelled something burning above me and looked through dazed eyes to see a fire blocking my way back into the command center. Rapid gunshots and grunts above me indicated that hostiles had entered the perimeter. I scrambled backwards from the blaze, touching my body to make sure I wasn't hurt.
I touched my hands to my forehead and felt blood stain my fingertips. For a few minutes, I sat there on the stairs, trying to stop the burning in my lungs. The smoke from the fire wasn't helping.
I coughed furiously but managed to stand up and made my way down the stairs without falling. Whether or not Fury liked it, Loki had to go.
"And we walk...and we walk," I mumbled to myself, clutching a gray pipe along the wall. "And we walk." I kept my eyes focused on my destination, the end of the hallway, even though my vision spun and I began to see double. The severity of my head wound didn't quite hit me yet, even as I stumbled along the hallway, gripping the wall for support as I walked to the detention level. The hallways were relatively empty as mostly everyone was in the command center or fighting. I was glad that no one could see me walking.
My breathing was heavy and I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling dizzy. The sensation of something warm trickling down my cheek almost made me consider turning around and seeking medical help.
"PEDAGIA!" Fury's voice yelled in my ear, making me wince. "Do you copy! We need you in the command center, our database has been shut down by Agent Barton!"
I held on tightly to the wall and stood upright, adjusting my earpiece. "I copy, sir." Exhausted, I pressed my cheek to the cool wall to cool down. I could barely make out his voice over the blaring alarm.
"Where the hell are you?" he snapped. "You are not where you need to be!"
Quick thinking saved me. "I'm on my way to the supercomputer, sir," I panted, deciding that my plans had to be rearranged. "I can reboot the system from there if I have the passcode. Then I can bypass Barton's device."
"Something good from your mouth for once!" he growled. "Get your ass down there now and fix this!" He gave me the passcode.
"Understood, sir," I breathed, feeling dizzy again.
"And Pedagia," he yelled in my ear.
"Sir?" I panted, my chest hurting again. What is wrong with me?
"If you run in Agent Barton, I give you full permission to shoot and kill."
I swallowed quickly and steeled my nerves. "Yes, sir."
The supercomputer onboard the Helicarrier wasn't really something I was supposed to know about. But after reading the schematics, I knew just about everything. It was located far below the detention level. I was almost tempted to stop in Loki's cell and send him flying, but I had orders. I didn't like them, but I had them.
As I sank further down in the depths of the ship, it became quieter. Somewhere along the way we lost another engine, because the ship tilted dangerously, and I nearly lost my footing.
Contrary to the rest of the ship, the supercomputer was located in a pristine, white room. The processors were located in a separate room, separated by a wall with a large glass window. The computer itself was enormous, with a wide black keyboard, and a huge screen to match.
I pressed my hand to my head and stared at the blood that stained my fingers. After wiping my hand on my pants, I woke the computer.
"Reboot, reboot," I reminded myself, blinking to regain my focus on the machine in front of me. "Find the problem, reboot." Simple computer schematics. Even my grandparents knew how to reboot. I have a degree in computer science from MIT. I know how to reboot a computer.
The first step: find the virus that disabled the computers in the command center. Barton's device could at least disable the basic firewall, but to get to this monster, you needed a virus the size of China. I wasn't surprised when the supercomputer showed me a normal screen. Within seconds, I had located what I considered to be a relatively harmless virus attacking the system.
Step two: kill. The virus wasn't strong enough to stop me from running one of the stronger anti-virus programs I learned at S.H.I.E.L.D. I waited as the software did its job. On the screen in front of me, I watched as harmful files were deleted and firewalls restored.
Step three: reboot.
Well, that's as simple as pressing the power button down for three seconds. While I waited, I leaned on the keyboard, feeling dizzy again. The wait was excruciatingly long. More than anything, I wanted Dr. Banner's gentle hands attending to my head injury.
The large screen went black, and then the spinning S.H.I.E.L.D. logo appeared on the screen as the start-up procedure began. I exhaled with relief, hoping that soon the command center would be able to monitor Tony and Steve's progress, and hopefully track down Dr. Banner before he harmed somebody. Down below, I was unable to hear whatever fighting went on above. Everything around me was muted. The only sounds I could hear were the soft hums of the processors in the other room.
"Agent Pedagia, you were successful," Clarke's voice said in my ear, sounding relieved.
"How is everything upstairs?" I breathed, my shoulders drooping with ease.
"Hostiles have been taken down. We just need to get these engines back online. Can you get up here and help out? The fire has been extinguished."
"Great," I said honestly, doing a final look through to make sure Barton's virus was eradicated. Everything was completely clean and communications were back up.
Behind me, I heard the door slid open. Casually, I raised my eyes from the keyboard and watched as a tall, thin figure stepped into the room.
I inhaled in shock while adrenaline rushed through my veins. How did he escape? He was locked in that cell completely...unless Barton managed to get through our defenses and free him first. But how?
"According to the religion of your people, some say your world will end in fire," said the God of Mischief, fixating his eyes on me in the reflection of the screen.
I swallowed to lubricate my dry mouth. "I'm not religious."
"Then who do you pray to when your life is in danger?" he inquired softly, advancing towards me. I began scanning the room for anything that I might be able to use to defend myself, but there was nothing. The only option was to escape into the room with the processors. It was a stretch. For the moment, I reached for my gun, hoping I could fire useless bullets for a distraction.
"I wouldn't do that," Loki crooned, shaking his head in the reflection. "You'll only kill yourself. Those defense techniques? Useless. Perhaps they would work against a simple human. If you had informed her of your true adversary, perhaps she would have taught you more advanced moves," he suggested. "As a matter of fact...if you had informed someone about, well...any of this, perhaps you wouldn't have to listen to the sound of your friends being slaughtered."
The door, then was my only option. I glanced at it, judging the distance. Maybe I could lock myself in and hide.
As if he were reading my mind, I watched as Loki raised his scepter and fired. I winced, expecting a burst of pain, but there was nothing. When I opened my eyes, I saw what he'd done: destroyed the card reader, effectively trapping me in the room.
"And you have so many opportunities," he added with a heavy sigh.
"You had this planned out from the beginning," I countered. "You knew I was going to keep quiet."
"I am the God of Mischief," he offered in excuse. "Now come along, Elliot." He extended his arm in invitation.
"Along where?" I demanded.
"With me, of course."
"No, not again." I turned to face him then, and his nostrils flared at my refusal. "You can piss off."
Snarling at my denial, he drew the scepter back and I lunged towards the floor before the monitor exploded in a show of sparks and small flames that fell beside me. The area behind the monitor was my only place of solitude. Panicking, I crawled behind it and scrambled upright, pressing my back against it. My hands clamped around my mouth to mute my breathing. With my breathing silenced, I was able to clearly heard the sounds of Loki's boots mostly gently across the floor, getting closer. The tremors started in my hands and spread to the base of my spine until I was sure that he could hear me shaking in fright.
The footsteps stopped. Hesitantly, I looked around.
Standing in the shadow of the computer was Loki, his hands curling around his golden staff. He curled into an attack position, like a tiger ready to strike. The sphere in his scepter began to glow brightly in the darkness, and I began to retreat, being the only thing I could do. His emerald eyes held mine until he looked past me at something. Apprehensive, I followed his eyes. And I couldn't believe what I saw.
Loki stood before me, a mischievous grin on his face.
That made...two of them.
"Impossible," I whispered immediately, widening my eyes in disbelief. I stumbled as I turned around, looking at the other Loki, who crept towards me smile, a more menacing smile on his lips. Again, I turned to looked at his twin. He held something in his hand, something white that I couldn't discern.
A warmth against my back made me jerk forward, but strong arms suddenly wrapped around my midriff, holding me firmly in place. Something white flashed in the corner of my eye and then my mouth was covered by a thick, white cloth.
"Magic," the Loki in front of me whispered, suddenly without the cloth in hand. I held my breath, not knowing what substance was on it. "Oh, Elliot, your mortal lungs cannot hold out for much longer."
The burning feeling in my chest was enough of an indication that I was losing air. I turned away from him, closing my eyes, willing my lungs to hold as long as possible. Even though I've never been much of a fighter, more or less a follower, I did everything in my power to struggle from this Loki's fierce grip around my midriff. The hand holding the cloth secured itself around my upper arm, refusing to let me move an inch. I probably should have stayed still. The effort of moving around drained the last bit of my air, and with a large gulp, I inhaled.
The substance on the cloth smelled sweet, sickly sweet, like I'd stepped into a garden of flowers. My burning lungs gulped in as much air as possible, and within a few seconds, I began to feel woozy. Two more breaths later, I lost control of my muscles and I began to sag in Loki's arms. The Loki in front of me said something as he stood upright, but my hearing was distorted. My lungs greedily gulped in the tainted air for a few more seconds more before my legs gave out completely.