SHADOW OF DEATH
Chapter 4: Fallout
Director Fury ended his call with the World Security Council with a resounding punch of a button. He would have preferred to punch a hole through the top of the table, but had to satisfy himself with clenching has fingernails deeper into his fists instead. He called for Maria Hill and, a moment later, the pristine, unflustered agent entered into the silent conference room.
"You called for me, sir?" She asked. She flipped the switch on the wall to turn on the lights, bathing the room in a bright florescent glow.
Director Fury, scowl deeply ingrained into his face, beckoned for her to have a seat. He rose and began to pace the room, black trench coat trailing behind him as he turned to pace the opposite direction again and again. Finally, he stopped and turned to face her. His boots made a scuffling sound as he scraped them to a stop.
"Where the hell did we go wrong, Agent?" he said, leveling her with an angry gaze.
"Director?" she asked, sensing he did not actually expect an answer from her.
"I stopped one bird myself…Stark went after the other missile after it was launched and what did those sons of bitches do? They launched a third jet from an 'undisclosed' location without informing me or anybody else. Stark managed to send that nuke straight through the wormhole towards those bastards. Romanoff had the means to close the portal in her hands."
"Sir?" Maria Hill asked, sensing a maelstrom of conflicting emotions underneath Fury's words.
"We were going to win," he said. "We had already won. Thirty seconds later, they blew it all to hell. The lives of millions were spilled for nothing other than some trigger-happy suits in their ivory towers who wanted to feel like they still had some element of control."
Agent Hill sighed and watched Fury pace the length of the tiny room. He paced as if his frenetic actions alone could fix what had happened.
"No one's willing to say they made a mistake. Tell me, agent, how's a man to sleep at night after something like that happens on his watch?"
She shook her dark head and stayed silent. She knew he sometimes simply needed a safe sounding board for his monologues and her silence (and her security clearance) often made her an ideal choice.
"The worst part is I sent our best team in there and didn't even have the chance to get them out. They were the best earth's got and now what do we got? Who's gonna be around for the next time…cause there will be a next time and who will we call then?"
He ended in a huff. Agent Hill ventured to change his train of thought, knowing what she had to say probably wouldn't improve his spirits.
"Sir, I have received the latest report from our agents on ground zero."
"Yeah? Please tell me they have some good news for me this time."
She shook her head and shuffled through some papers in a blank manila folder.
"I'm afraid not, sir. As you know, we've already confirmed the deaths of Agents Barton and Romanoff and the scientist, Erik Selvig. We can also now confirm the deaths of Steve Rogers and Tony Stark…there is also some, ummm, strong evidence that Dr. Banner is among the deceased."
Fury swore loudly. He slammed his partially gloved hands against the impeccably polished conference table.
"And the other aliens?" he asked.
"Well, the invading army and their giant whale…shark…dinosaur…thingies are completely destroyed. They seem to have been just as susceptible to a nuclear attack as humans."
"You know that's not the aliens I'm referring to."
She nodded.
"Yes, sir. And, we have had three different sightings of Thor since the attack."
"Thor was last seen fighting at ground zero directly before the attack. You are telling me he managed to somehow to walk away undamaged from a nuclear attack?"
"Yes, sir. He was first sighted digging through sectors 5, 67, and 92 of the recovery operations three days ago. He did not specify what he was digging for. Two days ago, he was seen laying flowers at one of the large memorial sights that have sprung up around the blast zone. And today, he turned up at a hospital overflow tent and gave the nurses on call a few barrels of a liquid he said would help 'quench the internal fires' of the patients and then disappeared. They were skeptical at first but gave it some of the patients with the worst Acute Radiation Syndrome who were unlikely to survive. More than 90% showed immediate improvement. They have taken samples to some of the nearby universities for tests."
"Where is he now?"
"No one knows. He turns up out of nowhere and disappears just as quickly."
Fury nodded thoughtfully, processing the information. He paused his pacing to turn towards her again and fixed his one stern eye on her.
"And the other one?"
"No one has heard anything from Loki since the attack. We don't know if he's dead or alive."
"I don't know which situation would be worse-finding him dead or alive. I don't exactly want the blood of an alien prince on the hands of earth. And I'd rather not find out what an angry, vengeful, bomb-proof God of Thunder looks like…but I'd also rather not have to deal with another attempt at world domination anytime soon either. Any sign of the Tesseract?"
"No, sir. Agents are still looking."
"Thank you, Hill," he said in that tone of voice he always used when she was being dismissed. She stood to leave and paused at the door.
"Sir, you weren't the one that ordered those jets. It's not your fault," she said.
"No, but I am the one that ordered my team to be there and that is on me," he said, his back facing her and his voice gruff with regret. "Hill, call their next of kin, if they have any. We'll have a memorial service in three days. Get your people making arrangements immediately."
"Yes, sir," she said and shut the door behind her, leaving Fury to his prospect of another long, sleepless night.
oooooooooooooooooooooo
The president of the United States gave a rousing speech to the nation that evening. He celebrated the defeat of the alien attackers. He declared all the noble citizens of New York City martyrs and heroes who sacrificed their blood and property for the benefit of the rest of the world.
Loki would have been amused, but he missed the speech. Actually, he missed the next few days of speeches without even noticing they time slip by him.
"France has already begun work on a replacement for our destroyed Statue of Liberty. Japanese school children have committed to sending one paper crane for every lost life. Origami cranes are being tied to fence posts and tree branches across the city in a show of solidarity and peace. The European Union is sending a contingent of doctors and medical supplies to assist with the monumental task of treating the wounded. Architects around the U.S. have formed a coalition to redesign the city as soon as it is cleared to rebuild," news anchors around the country told the shell-shocked viewing audience.
Televisions showed the world images of the glowing candles that created rivers and words and pictures across the darkened landscape during the long nights. Piles of flowers, photographs, and posters lined all empty spaces, walls, and still-standing edges of buildings that civilians were allowed entry to.
Loki found he could not be bothered.
He most certainly missed the news report which accredited the sudden collapse of three previously standing buildings located within the blast zone. The reporters claimed "damaged structural integrity." It was as good an excuse as any. No one could see the invisible being who, in a fit of furious rage, pulled down the skyscrapers to their very foundations.
This same invisible being who, no longer cloaked in invisibility, sat on the deserted rocky beach of an isolated island in Newfoundland and stared into the dark waves of the frigid ocean.
His eyes followed the path of a wooden rowboat filled to the brim with flowers. He pulled a bow and arrow out of his space-between-spaces. He carefully checked both before he wrapped an oil-dipped cloth around the arrow's point and secured it. He lit it on fire with a snap of his fingers, pulled the bow taut, and released.
The golden, flaming arrow pierced through the darkness like a shooting star, and fell upon the wooden boat. The boat exploded into flames, pulling Loki's eyes to the golden light dancing off the silver Asgardian armor it carried. He watched the way the flames licked through the tattered red cape which covered the broken body beneath.
Cursed, useless armor. It failed, as he had failed.
The boat drifted further and further out to sea, pushed by the white-capped waves. It grew smaller and smaller until it existed as only a tiny pinprick of light on the horizon, like another star trapped in the canopy of the waters. When at last it vanished, he wished with all his might he could force it to come back again.
It shouldn't have been here. It should have been on the beautiful waters of Asgard with all the people in attendance to honor their beloved prince. It should have been the finest of boats with the richest of garments.
Then again, it shouldn't have happened at all.
Overcome by his anger again, Loki pulled rocks from the side of the sea and threw them with all his strength into the ocean. He shouted at the rocks as he threw them in the direction of the now vanished boat.
"You idiot! You son of a rabid ice hound! You fool! How could you?"
He picked up a large boulder and smashed it against another rocky outcropping, breaking it into pieces.
"For what? Midgard-this black hole of a realm? I would burn this entire realm to ash myself if it would avenge your death. May their lands stay as cursed as the rocks of Svartalfheim for their folly!"
He continued to rage until late in the night when, finally overcome, he collapsed on a rocky ledge. He covered himself with his shredded, dirty, green cloak, and wept into his hands.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo