Chapter 15 – Discussions

Soladat rushed to the hanger as the quinjet docked. She smiled when she saw Stark, Rogers, Darcy, Agent Romanoff, and… some woman she's never seen before? Raising her eyebrow, Soladat noticed the body Darcy was carrying, and her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"You got him?" She said, amazed.

Darcy nodded, and Tony just laughed. "Yeah. Some all-powerful god. Can't even handle one punch."

Soladat smirked, and then looked at the strange woman who, come to think of it, was dressed similarly to Darcy and Loki. "And who's this?"

"Another Asgardian." Natasha answered. "Apparently she wants to help."

"And she can be trusted?" Soladat said, looking at the Asgardian suspiciously. Sif clearly didn't appreciate the look, and glared back at the winged agent.

"Let's hope so." Captain America muttered.

ooooo

Loki remained unconscious for the next few hours, evidence that Darcy's punch was more effective than everyone thought. When he finally awoke, he found himself in a large, cylindrical glass cell. Grunting, Loki pulled himself up and winced when he felt pain in his jaw. Rubbing his cheek, Loki looked around the cell.

Standing up, Loki felt the glass, and frowned. Quite durable. Maybe to durable for him to break out of on the inside. But no matter. He would escape eventually.

He turned at the sound of a door sliding open, and looked to see Director Fury walking into the room. With his hands behind his back, Fury stopped in front of the cell and looked at Loki expressionlessly. Loki did the same.

"Glad to see you're finally up and running again." Fury stopped and then studied the cell. "Well… you're up at least."

Loki smirked. "Don't bother feigning any hospitality towards me, Fury. You and I both know that everyone on this ship would prefer me dead."

"True." Fury said, shrugging. "But there are some issues we need that we need you alive for us to take care of."

Loki chuckled, shaking his head. "You think to interrogate me, Fury? Typical mortal."

"Don't think I wouldn't." Fury said, glaring. "But we have other methods. More effective methods of getting what we need. And let me just make one thing clear to you."

Loki stood unnerved as Fury walked over to a nearby panel. "If you try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass…"

Fury flipped a switch, and Loki looked below the cell to see an enormous hatch open up. Wind blew through the room as a result of the turbulence outside, and Loki looked down, seemingly nervous.

"Thirty-thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap." Fury yelled over the wind. He flipped the switch back, and the hatch closed. He looked back at Loki smugly. "See how that works?"

Fury motioned towards Loki. "Ant," and then motioned towards the panel, "boot."

Loki glared at Fury for a few moments, and then laughed, shaking his head again. "It's an impressive cage, I'll admit. But not built for me, I believe."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you." Fury snapped.

Loki scoffed in disbelief. "Yes, I've heard."

Loki turned towards as security camera, glaring at it, or rather the people looking in on this conversation, with malice. "The mindless beast, makes play to be the man."

Loki turned back towards Fury, who looked on without any feeling.

"How desperate are you?" The god of lies asked. "That you call on such lost creatures to defend you? Beasts, outcasts, and machines of war?"

"How desperate am I?" Fury said, glaring his one eye towards the imprisoned war criminal. He walked up closer to the cell so that he was now eye to eye with the Norse god.

"You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, yet you kill cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate." Fury gave a smirk that Loki frowned at. "You might not be glad that you did.

Loki stared at Fury, as if reading him. He narrowed his eyes. "It burns you come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what?"

Loki looked back at Fury's eyes, glaring menacingly. "A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is."

The two glared at each other for a few moments, before Fury gave a huff and turned to leave. Not even looking in Loki's direction, he spoke over his shoulder.

"Yeah, well, let me know if real power wants a magazine or something."

Loki watched as Fury left, and gave a low chuckle as he walked to the center of the cell, and sat down in contemplation.

ooooo

Back on the bridge, Agent Romanoff quickly switched off the camera feed. Around her, Captain America, Archangel, Thordis, Sif, and Dr. Banner were gathered around a large rectangular conference table, giving looks of uncertainty. Nobody said anything. They just stared at each other, unsure of how to deal with this madman. Finally, Dr. Banner broke the silence.

"He really grows on you doesn't he." He said sarcastically.

Sif scoffed. "Try dealing with him for a thousand years."

Darcy shrugged. "So he's a little cray-cray. I guess that's what happens when you go plummeting into an inter-dimensional gateway."

"I sense he was already blinded by rage." Hikesh said, entering the room. "He was already heading down the dark path. Whatever traumas he recently endured only added to his descent to madness."

Sif looked at the Prothean in surprise. "What manor of creature is this?"

Soladat frowned at the Asgardian. "He is a Prothean, lady."

Sif looked unimpressed. "Really? And how many more of you are there, exactly?"

Hikesh glared his four eyes at the Asgardian. "More than enough to handle you, mutant."

The comment caused Sif to grit her teeth, and she looked ready to tackle the Prothean, when Captain America, his mask discarded, broke the tension. "Either way, Loki's gonna drag this out."

Soladat nodded at the captain, and then turned to Sif. "So, Sif, what's his play?"

Sif got up from her seat, and walked around the table, looking uneasy. "He has an army. They are called the Chitauri. They are not of Asgard or any of the Nine Realms. I do not know where they originate from. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth. In return for, I expect, the Tesseract."

"An army." Steve said bemusedly. "From outer space?"

Soladat turned towards Hikesh. "Do you know anything about these people?"

Hikesh shook his head. "No. I never encountered any sentients with that name in my last cycle. Whatever these 'Chitauri' are, I do not think they are from this galaxy."

"So than he's building another portal." Banner said, wide-eyed. "That's what he needs Dr. Selvig for."

Darcy spoke up. "But Erik and Jane haven't even come close to building a portal. Why would Loki need Erik for something like that?"

"Erik Selvig's work is not ambient without the power of the Tesseract." Hikesh answered. "With it, your friend's research will jump ahead to the necessary requisites in Loki's plan."

Steve spoke next. "I wanna know why he let us take him. He can't lead an army from here."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki." Bruce said, shaking his head. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him."

"You don't know the half of it." Darcy said. "Last time I saw him, Loki was trying to blow up an entire planet."

"Jotunheim is barely recovering from the chaos." Sif said. "After the loss of their leader, the Frost Giants turned on each other, slaughtering one another for dominance."

"Speaking of which," Darcy said, "what ever happened to Loki Senior?"

Sif looked confused for a moment, and then realized what she was referring to. "Laufey fell from the Bifrost as well. However, he and Loki fell through at different times. Where Laufey wonders now, or if he is even alive, is unknown to me."

"Wait," Soladat spoke up, "your saying we have another alien freekazoid out there?"

"Possibly." Sif assured the winged shadow agent. "But if he is, he is most likely out of reach of the Nine Realms. He isn't the biggest issue right now."

"Anyway," Dr. Banner said, getting everyone's attention, "what does Loki need iridium for?"

Suddenly, the door slid open and in walked Tony Stark with Agents Coulson and Hill flanking his sides.

"It's a stabilizing agent." Tony answered, somehow having heard Banner's question. "Means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D."

As Stark walked over to the table, he stopped briefly by Sif, giving her a wink. "No hard feelings, sweetheart. You got spunk."

Sif glared at him in annoyance. Tony just smirked and continued explaining. "Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants."

"Yes. Chemical compounds would succeed in interstellular expansion. With how much was taken, the portal could stay open for weeks." Hikesh said. Tony blinked at the Prothean, and then leaned towards Agent Coulson.

"Er… what's that?" He whispered.

"An alien." Coulson said plainly.

Tony looked back at Hikesh, wide-eyed. "Huh… You know I'm starting to wonder if S.H.I.E.L.D. is a security agency or just a traveling freak show."

Hikesh did not look amused, and turned towards Soladat. "Is he always this infuriating?"

Soladat smirked. "You have no idea."

Tony walked over to the computer monitors lined up around Fury's pedestal. He asked some of the bridge techs to raise the monitors. Suddenly, he pointed at one of the bridge techs attending the many computer monitors on the bridge.

"That man is playing Galaga!" He shouted. Everyone on the bridge blinked and turned towards the man. Realizing everyone was staring on him, the tech immediately shut off the game and looked around nervously.

"He thought we wouldn't notice." Tony announced. "But we did."

Everyone just looked at Tony with bemused expressions. Darcy leaned over at Banner.

"Is this guy for real?" She whispered. Banner just shrugged helplessly.

Tony turned about, looking at the monitors in confusion. He looked back at the group. "How does Fury even see these?"

"He turns." Agent Hill said, leaning against the wall with her arms cross.

"Sounds exhausting." Tony muttered. While no one else seemed to notice, Soladat frowned when she briefly saw Tony placing a few miniature devices on the monitors. Tony then turned back to the group.

"The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube." He explained.

Agent Hill raised an eyebrow. "When did you become an expert on thermonuclear astrophysics?"

"Last night." Tony smirked, enjoying the looks he got. "The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked. Dr. Banner got up from his seat, thinking.

"He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier." He said. Everyone, minus Stark and Hikesh, just looked at him with blank expressions. Hikesh walked over to him.

"Unless, Erik Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect." The Prothean said. Bruce shrugged at his assistant.

"Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet."

Everyone just looked at the pair in shock. Tony just looked amazed.

"Wow." He said. "I guess some people can speak English."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Is that what just happened?"

"Dr. Banner." Tony said, walking up to Bruce and shaking his hand. "You're work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

Bruce blinked. "Um… thanks?"

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube."

Everyone turned to see Fury, with Carrie following him, entering the room. Fury glared at Stark. "I was hoping you might join him."

"Why don't we start with that stick of his." Steve recommended. "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."

"That's because it's powered by the Tesseract." Fury said to the captain. "But what I'd like to know is how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Sif said, confused. "I don't understand."

"I do!" Steve suddenly said, and everyone looked at him. Steve immediately sat down, looking embarrassed.

"I uh… I understood that reference."

Soladat and Darcy giggled at the super soldier, while Fury just shook his head.

"Stark, I want you to do everything you can to help Banner and Hikesh find the cube." He ordered. "I want you to do whatever you can to find it."

"Oooh, so forward. I like that."

Everyone jumped at the sound of the voice, and turned to see an unfamiliar woman standing in the corner. Claire Voyant smirked at them all, and Soladat sat up, pointing her gun at the woman.

"Who the hell are you?" She ordered. Claire frowned at the girl.

"Fury, would you please tell your attack dog to point her little toy elsewhere?"

Fury just glared at the woman. "How the hell did you get on this ship?"

Claire smirked. "I have my ways."

"Wait a minute, Fury, who is this?" Steve said, an eyebrow raised. Claire looked over at the super soldier.

"Ah, the famous Captain America." She said, and then looked at Hikesh. "And a Prothean. Good to see you followed my advice, Fury."

"Why are you here?" Fury asked, still glaring at the unwelcome guest.

"My client sent me. He thought you might need help with your… little problem."

"You mean Mephisto?" Tony spoke up, and everyone, even Claire, looked at him surprised. He shrugged. "I read."

"You looked up our agency's personal records?" Coulson said, looking displeased.

"Was that wrong?" Tony said. "Should I not have done that?"

Fury looked back at Claire. "We've done our research, Ms. Voyant. No need to be all secretive anymore. I just hope you know that I don't appreciate murderers in my company."

Claire scoffed. "Murder is such a strong word, Director Fury. I think of what I do as a way of citing justice. In a way, the people I subdue usually deserve it in some way."

"So you say." Fury said, crossing his arms. "Doesn't mean I have to believe you."

"I don't expect you to." Voyant said, smirking at him. "I'm just here to lend a necessary helping hand."

"Why would you want help us?" Soladat said, her gun still pointed.

Claire shrugged. "You could say I something of a… patriot. The world is bound to get crazier than it already is. I'd like for it to settle down for a moment, catch its breath."

Claire looked at Darcy, smirking. "Can't really do that with your boyfriend running around causing trouble, can it."

"He's not…" Darcy started to say, but Claire waved her off. She turned back to Fury.

"I'll lend a hand whenever I feel it's necessary. Don't bother trying to throw me off this ship, Fury." Claire said, smiling. "You won't be able to find me."

Fury glared as she slowly walked away. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere." Then, just like that, Claire was gone. Everyone just looked in the direction she disappeared, shocked.

"Um…" Bruce said, looking up at Fury. "Should we be worried?"

Fury just sighed.

ooooo

Loki sat crisscross in his cell, his eyes closed as he thought of how his plan would continue. Suddenly, he felt an essence nearby. Opening his eyes, he turned and scowled when he saw Darcy standing there. She no longer had Mjolnir, and was in mortal form. Her hair was now brown again and she was wearing a block sleeveless top and jeans. Her arms folded, she looked at him.

"Hey." She said.

Loki's eyes narrowed. "I assume Fury sent you here to interrogate me?"

Darcy shook her head. "No. No Fury. No S.H.I.E.L.D. Just me. I got Agent Wrekk to disable the security feed so no one would stop me."

Loki stood up. "And what reason would you have for that, hm? You think I'll just fall fool to a pretty face?"

Darcy smirked. "Still think I'm pretty, huh?"

Loki scowled, remembering the last time he inadvertently called her pretty. "We are not going back to that again."

Sighing, Darcy looked at Loki seriously. "Why are you really doing this?"

"Doing what?" Loki said, feigning innocence.

"You know damn well what I mean." Darcy snapped. "All of this. Conquering Earth, kidnapping Erik?"

"My reasons are none of your concern." Loki hissed.

"It's my planet." Darcy said, eyes narrowed. "Therefore it's my concern."

Loki glared at the girl. "Your people are lost and uneducated, Darcy Lewis. They will only kill themselves. They need a leader. They need a king."

"Maybe you're right." Darcy admitted, getting a smile of satisfaction from Loki. "But a true king is someone who looks after and cares for his people. So far, you have failed to do any of those things. You don't care about the people or their safety."

"You will not question my methods." Loki bit back, scowling.

"I can, and I will." Darcy said, her hands on her hips. "If you have a problem with that, I can easily kick your ass just like I did last time."

Loki opened his mouth, preparing to give a rebuttal, but Darcy beat him to it. "My people don't deserve what you have in store for them. There are men, women, and children out there who just want to enjoy life as it is."

Loki watched as Darcy walked up to the glass, looking at Loki with doe eyes. "So I'm begging you. Stop this."

"Stop?" Loki said, looking bemused. "Why would I stop?"

Darcy glared. "Because I want you to."

Before Loki could say anything, Darcy spun around and left. Loki watched her go, and couldn't help but find that he liked seeing her when she was serious.

That took a while to write. I know, mostly just dialogue and stuff. Next chapter, there's more interaction between characters, new dialogue, etc. Don't like, don't read.