Fifteen
I arrived in New York six hours later. A S.H.I.E.L.D. transport was waiting for me. I was taken to a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility instead of Stark Tower. This had to be big if I was being taken here.
"I know you can't suit up, but we need you." Fury started.
"Look, I don't exactly have any field training like Barton or Natasha. Unless you need me to sit on my ass behind a computer or build something, I'm pretty useless to you right now." I stated, wanting to get back to Malibu. I had a date not to be late for.
"That's exactly why we need you. We need a drone army to handle this newest threat." Fury said as he dropped a roll of blueprints on the desk between us. I was actually touched that he remembered my peeve about being handed things. But not really, because it was Fury.
"And what is this newest threat? And where is everyone else?"
"That's classified."
"Why the fuck should I do this. Not to mention I have to know more specifics. And why the fuck can't I do this from Malibu?" I rolled my eyes.
"You can, I needed to give you these blue prints in person. And to make sure you weren't compromised."
"Compromised? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" I raised my voice.
"Your new fling. The one who looks like the mystery bomber, who suddenly dropped off the face of the planet."
"We're doing fine, thank you very much." I unrolled the blue prints. "So you want me to make these drones. Do you remember Justin's Hammer Drones? How horrible those were?
"Your point?"
"Can I make modifications, so they can't be hacked into? Or give them basic AI?" I pressed.
"Do what you feel you need to. You're dismissed." Fury ordered. I rolled up the prints and turned to leave.
In a wisp of black smoke, a tall pale man in black and green Asgardian armor stood before me.
"Security!" Fury shouted into a CB radio.
"Fury, so nice to see you too. Stark." Loki mused, almost purring my name.
"Your…your brother said you were dead. You died saving Jane Foster." I stammered.
"Yes, dear Thor is slow of mind and falls for my tricks most easily. I did save the mortal woman, but faked my own death to escape a century in that horrid cell."
"And you've come back to enslave our world again?" Fury demanded holding a gun on him. Loki disappeared and instantly reappeared at my side. He grabbed my broken hand, squeezing tight enough to shatter the plaster. The pain in my hand brought me to my knees.
"I've come for him." He said. My heart dropped, my eyes went wide. I think he saw the fear in my eyes. When I encountered him last time, I hadn't been afraid of him. I offered him a drink, he tried to enslave my mind, I accused him of performance issues, he threw me out a window. But I wasn't afraid.
Fury shot at him. The bullets didn't seem to phase him. I saw a streak of black in front of my eyes as an arrow suddenly struck his side. The bullets fired by Fury distracted him enough for Hawkeye to wound him. He tugged on the shaft, but the arrow wouldn't dislodge.
The black mist came up over me. The world went black, and suddenly light again. Loki was still crushing my injured hand, but we were no longer in Nick Fury's office. I felt dizzy and weak. I passed out.