Author's Note: Chapter 8 revised now!
The Avengers are fighting once again. Loki was left at the Mansion to observe everything, or as Fury pointed out to her, she is 'coordinating the operation', which is, of course, the nice way of disguising the truth. To her, this is more like the parent telling one of the children that she can't play with the rest, but has to stay inside. Sometimes Loki really curses her situation. She was never one to pick a fight, well, other than as a child and when Thor was just too much of the stupid oaf he can be at times... always... but now she feels this urge creeping through her body. She wants to be out there, do something, not just sit there in front of those vicious screens and hope that the connection doesn't break down.
The only positive aspect is that, by now, she is allowed to work on her own in the lab, and not having SHIELD staff observing every step. Not that this makes it better much, after all, that makes it perhaps even more boring. With the staff she could at least fool around by turning the ties around and experimenting with her magic a bit here and there. Yet, she seemingly can't change the circumstance, so she will be a good girl and listen to Daddy Fury and coordinate everything. The sorceress rolls her eyes at her own thoughts. Since when did she become that soft?! But before she can further contemplate on her growing frailty, she sees Hawkeye getting caught in a tough spot.
"Someone has to get to Master Barton," Loki says over the headset.
"Kinda busy here," Tony grunts while fighting off five at a time.
"Anyone?" Loki asks, but she already realizes the futility of her inquiry, since all are more than busy fighting their own enemies.
"Master Fury? Where is the backup?" Loki snarls with annoyance in her voice. So much to her new job - just as useless as the one before.
"They are five minutes from their whereabouts," Fury lets her know over the comm.
"You are sincere?" Loki sighs, though she already knows the answer.
"No, I'm just saying that for the fun of it," Fury snorts sarcastically.
"He will die if no one helps him, like... right now," Loki says, looking at the screens with concern as Clint is now on the ground, fighting for dear life.
"Fuck! Clint!" Natasha cries out exasperated as she sees him.
Loki grunts. Really, she had it coming. Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true. Or, to say it in Stark's terms, destiny is a bitch.
The goddess contemplates, weighing her options, biting her lower lip as she does, but then makes up her mind. Loki gets up from her chair. She folds her arms over her chest, concentrating, and then finds herself in the midst of the battlefield, just in front of the enemy attempting to slay Clint. She produces a dagger out of thin air and plunges the weapon right into the attacker's throat, killing him.
"What is she doing there?!" Fury cries out in shock and utter disbelief at what unfolds in front of him on the screens.
"She just transported there... and saved Barton's life," Coulson grimaces, still not quite believing it himself.
"Loki, away from the battlefield, right now," Fury yells at her. But Loki doesn't listen, just carries on as the enemies start to circle the two. If Daddy is mad, then it doesn't matter if she doesn't listen now either, does it? Clint regains some of his strength to sit up, still confused and shocked that Loki, of all people, came to his rescue. The young woman snaps her dagger back out fo the corpse by using her magic, just to plunge it into the next enemy, swirling gracefully around, producing a disk of magic with which she beheads the next. She continues to hold the enemies away as she quickly glances at Clint, "Are you hurt?"
"... don't think so," Clint says, shaking his head against the vertigo. More and more enemies creep up around them. Clint shoots a few with his arrows.
"Fuck, they just keep multiplying," Clint grunts. Loki looks around, assessing the situation: they are literally outnumbered. They will not win the fight if she doesn't attack the source of the problem.
"Duck and close your eyes!" Loki declares with determination flooding her voice.
"What?!" Clint blinks at her. She can't be serious. Does she want to wish it away or what's the deal here?!
"Just do it!" Loki hisses. Really, humans are just so slow.
Clint obeys, burying his head in the ground. Suddenly a huge disk of magic appears underneath the feet of the villains surrounding them and they are lifted up high. Before they can even try to get off, Loki jumps on one of her disks as well and flies above them, then dips, producing a bomb she throws at the villains. A bright light erupts and the enemies are destroyed. Thanks to having elevated them, the explosion does not catch any of the Avengers, though. Loki makes a backflip on the board due to the impact, but catches herself quite easily. After all, this is what she is used to, and trained for ever since on earth.
"She did not just do that, did she?!" Fury blinks at the screen, his voice shaking with a mixture of anger and shock.
"Seemingly did, Boss," Coulson shrugs.
"Loki, where the fuck did you get these fuckin' weapons from?!" Fury demands, bringing his hands down on the table with a loud bang. Loki still doesn't answer, but lands next to Barton, who is still staring at her in shock.
Loki scans the area for new enemies to strike while she talks, "You are an archer."
"Yeah," Clint nods. Loki swiftly moves her hands producing a few more bombs before twisting her hands once, causing them to take on a different shape, that of arrows. She hands them to Clint.
"Fire them in a ten feet radius from each other, twenty feet from this point," Loki explains, pointing with her index finger at where she wants them to be.
"What about the others?" Clint looks back at their companions.
"I will take care of them," she tells him curtly. "But we have to act fast before they outnumber us. Right now, the number is manageable, but soon that won't be true anymore. We have to act, now. Can you do it?"
Clint nods and gets in position. Loki takes a wide step in front of him, flinging her hands gracefully in the air, "Now!"
Clint shoots, of course with absolute precision.
"Oh, fuck," Tony gapes as he sees the missiles flying by. But that is when Loki's magic pulls all the Avengers off the ground and away from all harm, engulfed in a sphere of light. The explosions rock the ground.
"Clint!" Natasha cries out, but he is safe also, as Loki has a shield in front of her, which protects him the same way. The explosions finally end and show an empty battlefield.
"Romanov! Barton! Report! We are blind here!" Fury barks.
"Enemy's out," Clint says.
"What?!" Fury gapes.
"Copy that," Natasha confirms.
"Back to the headquarters immediately. Make sure Loki does not run away," Fury tells the two agents in a low voice. Loki gets up from her crouching position, letting go of the last energy, before swiftly walking up to them. It is clear that she knows exactly what she did, but still she couldn't have more dignity in her walk.
"I suppose Master Fury will not be pleased," she manages to smirk. Natasha, still trying to process what just happened, replies, "... One could say so."
"Well, then I suppose that we head back, no?" Loki glances at her, and Natasha only manages to nod, "Helicopters are there."
"Then shall we hop on?" Loki asks calmly before she walks over to the landing helicopters. They silently make their way back to the headquarters, where they are already awaited by a furious Fury, and a torn-looking Coulson. Loki immediately walks up to them, not hesitating for only just a second, "I suppose you want to talk to me about my punishment."
"Damn right! We had rules! You broke each and every one of them!" Fury curses at her, though Loki stays unimpressed. That man could try to jump her to bring her down, but that would only mean his own downfall, that much is for certain.
"Now wait! She saved my life. If she hadn't come, I would have been dead, that's for sure," Clint jumps in, much to everyone's surprise - especially to Loki's. She expected him to join his boss, actually, but... that man might be more than he seems to be after all. Clint, of course, would rather not be forced to say that, but... she saved him, knowing the odds, knowing the dangers. She risked her life, for him, for the team. She acted like one of them. And for that even Loki doesn't deserve punishment.
"And she then saved us also," Natasha argues.
"And she took out the enemy," Bruce nods, arms folded over his chest.
"Doesn't matter," Fury shakes his head. "You held back information. You had weapons to use against them, but kept them to yourself."
"I did not hold them back," Loki replies.
"Then what is this to you?" Fury demands. "You coordinate this situation, but you only show those weapons once you join, without permission?!"
"I created them as the team fought. You can hardly blame me for not finishing any faster," Loki snorts icily. He can be angry at her for disobeying his orders, but not for this. If they are not fast enough to bring the backup, then this is hardly her problem. She had to act.
"What?!" Fury blinks at her, but Bruce jumps in, "Loki is proficient in creating weapons. She can work them from scratch – and create them out of nothing, coz of her magic. She just needs the data."
"And you never thought about telling me that?!" Fury cries out.
"I feared for such a reaction," Bruce shrugs.
"Yes, damn right I would have had that reaction already back then!" Fury growls.
"For as long as she helped in creating new weapons, you didn't seem to mind," Bruce retorts sarcastically.
"Because it was in a lab with security," Fury shoots back.
"And that is where I designed these also," Loki argues. She just didn't create them in there.
"But you didn't use them there!" Fury growls. He knew that Loki would play with the words like that.
"If I had done so, the lab would have been gone,"Loki huffs. Was she really supposed to test them indoor first?
"Loki, you knew that you were walking on thin ice. You did not only take weapons and used them - outside your safety zone, but you also disobeyed my orders altogether. We had a deal – you broke it," Fury snarls, but this time, Loki actually loses her cool also and curses at him, "My contract never involved that I had to listen to every of your verbal commands. I am to be of help to the Avengers. As far as I can see, I was just that."
It's odd how some things just never seem to change. She can do the right thing, but still be wrong.
Because it's her. Really, just when do people come up with a new game?
"Now don't twist my words," Fury grumbles.
"She is not," Clint jumps in.
"What? Now you guard her?" Fury huffs.
"She saved my life. That means something to me. And I know what's in the contract as well as you do. She just quoted correctly. We never told her that she has to listen to every order, but that she is supposed to be of help to the team. She is supposed to contribute," Clint argues.
"And as far as we see it... she contributed – a lot." Natasha joins the chorus.
"And with the weapons... you let her create them for our purposes. I work with her on some of them... most of them, actually. I don't see why she shouldn't be so nice to drop them by," Tony smirks.
"She used them," Fury insists.
"Just one. I did the rest," Clint argues.
"You could say that she just demonstrated once – and then Legolas took over," Tony snickers.
"I agree," Steve nods his head. "She saved us. If not for her, Clint would have been dead for sure, and the battle would have been lost."
"She saved our asses, big time," Bruce smirks.
"Do all Avengers agree to that?" Fury demands.
"Yes," all Avengers say simultaneously.
Maybe not the same game after all?
"Fine, I will let that slip once, but don't think that you outsmart me with shit like that," Fury mutters, but Loki argues, "Well, I think we could prevent those disagreements if my position were changed – and I would be allowed to fight in battle."
Perhaps she has to change the game herself?
"Not that again," Fury sighs.
"My position didn't change, and I think today just showed again that I could much better fulfill my duties to you if I were allowed to take active part in the operations," Loki insists. She knows this fight is stupid, but so is all of this. And more than anything, Loki is fed up with how the SHIELD decides to treat her.
"She is right," Steve comes to her support. "If she were on the team, we would move around the problem that she might disobey you if she joins a fight. She is one hell of a soldier, she showed that just now. She would be a great asset to the team, in battle also."
"She's even more of a badass than I am. And that is hardly possible," Tony grins.
"You really want me to put the arch-enemy on the active team?" Fury asks, his anger deflating.
"It might at least be worth a try," Natasha shrugs.
"Right, we can take her off the team again if she messes up," Clint adds.
"... again, everyone wants that?" Fury exhales.
"Yes," the team nods again in unison. Loki is actually surprised to hear Thor speaking up for her as well. Even if he does not do actively come to her defense, he joins in the chorus. And that is truly more than she ever expected.
"Fine, the Avengers now have a new member... I can't believe I'm saying this... But be aware, if you mess with us...," Fury warns her, but Loki intervenes calmly, "I know that song. I thank you all for the trust you are willing to put in me for now. I shall do my best at earning it. Is that all we have to discuss?"
"As of now, yes. Just go already," Fury grumbles. Loki nods while bowing slightly before she walks off. The others follow shortly after. Bruce walks up to Clint.
"I will not say I told you so," Bruce whispers to him with a grin tugging at his lips. Clint smirks at him. No words needed.
"Well, then... that means Demolition Queen is now on our team. That's gonna be fun," Tony snickers.
"When this cooperation started, I never thought this would happen," Natasha shakes her head.
"Definitely not," Steve agrees. "But we gotta see it. We would have lost quite a few battles without her help. This was just the tip of the iceberg."
"Still find it creepy that she can just produce weapons out of thin air, though. That is helpful on the one hand, but on the other hand... very dangerous," Natasha grimaces.
"Well, as I see it, she won't use them against us unless we give her reason," Bruce shrugs.
"But Natasha has a point. I mean, I don't say that Loki will automatically seize the opportunity to go havoc with her weapons. She may have done that in ages now, but didn't. But what if she just thinks it's right to use them... and it's not?" Steve argues.
"She does kinda struggle with what's right and wrong for our standards," Tony throws in, his conversation with her about right and wrong still vivid in his memory.
"Guys, that is something applying to all of us," Bruce argues. "We don't know either if we always use the weapons rightly, if we actually work for the greater good and don't just play into someone else's hands. At some point one cannot even tell."
"She could make a nuke out of nothing and no one would know," Tony shakes his head.
"You are the one to talk. You build an arc reactor and an armor in a cave, Tony. You are as much of a threat to humankind as she is. Just because she is capable of it doesn't mean that she will," Bruce huffs.
"But she tried. I mean... I don't say I like the thought, but we have to consider, don't you see?" Tony makes a face, but that only makes Bruce even more angry, "Ah, we consider all too much when it comes to her. Up until now, and it's been months already, she did nothing. Absolutely nothing. She only helped and fulfilled her duties. Whether or not she broke some glass on Earth in a fit of rage or whatever doesn't mean that she can never redeem herself. And again, Tony, you are the one to talk. Your weapons broke more than a bit of glass. If you saw no chance in people changing, then how do you explain your change of business, huh?"
"Fine, okay," Tony sighs.
"I think we would all do good at putting a bit of faith in her, yes?" Bruce argues.
"Well, we're doing now...," Tony shrugs.
"Right, so let's focus on that and don't just throw a chance away coz of stupid prejudices or... memories," Bruce grunts.
Something is set into motion.