Chapter 9: the Battle Begins
AN: this is going to be a long and very drawn out battle sequence followed by a lull and ramp up for more action. Sorry but I can't /won't do the Battle of New York. One battle is hard enough with the changes I need to make to the scenes, by adding Steven and Yasha and Jonathan, so this will be it for the Avengers battles. I hope you like this and will keep commenting because they make my day when I see them.
On to the Fic
The look in Steve's eye when he saw those guns and masks promised murder, and for the first time in his life, Steven was scared of what Steve might do. Not only that, he was glad that Steve never carried a gun, or his family sword at his belt, as per tradition. It didn't matter that they had no power, Steven knew, and by effect Steve too, that they were Phase Two. Steve clenched his jaw and looked out towards the lab, his lips thinning in fury that built up like a pressure cooker in his chest. Without a second of hesitation, Steve grabbed one of the guns and marched out of the cargo bay and towards the lab. Steven followed closely behind, actually afraid of what Steve might do. Once Steve's temper was up and he started swinging, he was like a freight train; nothing could stop him. He was strange like that. One minute he was the immovable object, as solid and rooted as a mountain, the next he was an unstoppable force of nature. As Dean Winchester once said about Curses, the same could be applied to Steve: you don't stop them; you just get the hell out of their way!
Steve arrived to the Lab with an argument already in full swing.
"You'll get your Cube back," Steven heard Tony and he felt his heart plummet in his chest. The genius would only make this worse. If he pushed Steve's buttons right now Steve might actually throw the first punch. "No muss, no fuss. What is Phase Two," Tony asked.
For the most part Steve's entrance went wholly unnoted, that is until Steve dropped the HYDRA Weapon onto a lab table with a metallic CLANG! Then every eye in the room was trained on Steve and Steven as they entered the room.
"Phase Two is SHIELD uses the Cube to make weapons," Steve answered first, the look in his eye positively mutinous. Steven knew his expression was not much better, his eyes were glowing with restrained power and his lips pulled into a severe glower; thin as a razor. "Sorry," Steve said to Tony, unapologetic in his tone, "Computer was moving a little slow for me." Steven saw the horrified look on Banner's face and the quick fire expression of panic and disgust that ran over Stark's face before he turned back to the computers, trying to out maneuver Fury's lie before it took hold.
"Rogers," Fury said in a placating tone, as he turned to the Captain, "we gathered everything related to the Tesseract." He slowly approached Steve as if her were a threat. "This does not mean that we're making…" Steven saw Tony access the right file and bring it up on his screen.
"I'm sorry, Nick," Tony said as he turned the display around to show a Tesseract powered warhead. "What were you lying?" Steven snapped his eyes over to Nick Fury and if looks could kill, Fury would be nothing but ashes.
"Bozhe moy," Steven exclaimed, "do you have any idea what those things did to people!? I've seen what they did, and there is nothing good about them! And you want to create more of them?! Those weapons are death! They protect no one!" Steve looked at Steven with respect and no small amount of curiosity. He turned back to Fury with the same cold look of disdain on his face as he once had while interrogating Nazis.
"I was wrong, Director," Steve said with his eyes fixed on Fury, his eyes like ice, "the world hasn't changed a bit." Steven noted Natasha and Thor entering the room, the agent's eyes wary and cold. Banner turned to her and pointed at the screen with his glasses.
"Did you know about this," he asked.
"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor," Natasha said as she cautiously approached the man. Banner chuckled wryly and edged away from her.
"I was in Calcutta," he said, "I was pretty well removed." Natasha approached again.
"Loki is manipulating you," she explained. Banner glared at her coolly.
"And you've been doing what exactly," Banner asked sarcastically, with a glare.
"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you," Natasha shot back. Steven turned a sharp glare at the girl he once trained. Her form was confident but Steven could see the hesitance and the fear there too. Whatever it was that Loki had told her, had her unnerved; enough that she was on the offensive and wasn't playing anymore.
"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy," Banner attacked and moved away and to the screen again. He grabbed the screen and pointed his glasses at the pictures of the bombs and guns on it. "I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to create weapons of mass destruction?!" Banner demanded. Steven turned to Nick and sent the man a chilling glare. The dark, one eyed director remained silent for a moment.
"Because of him," Fury said, breaking the silence as he pointed at Thor.
"Me," Thor asked. Thor looked genuinely shocked and confused. Steven looked at the Asgardian then Fury and waited for an explanation. Fury didn't disappoint.
"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet," Fury explained, "who had a grudge match that leveled a small town." Steven couldn't help the snort that came out of his nose at the excuse.
"Where were you when Lucifer rose and decided to destroy the world," Steven grumbled under his breath. Steve looked at his dark companion with wide eyes and shock. Steven winced; Steve wasn't supposed to hear that. "I'll explain later."
"Not only did we find out that we are not alone," Fury continued, "but we are hopelessly, hilariously, out gunned." Fury turned and looked right at Steve, expecting him to understand, but Steve just glared back with all the disdain he could muster.
"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor defended. Fury turned and looked at Thor.
"But you're not the only people out there, are you," he asked desperately. "And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled." Steve and Tony shared the same look of disdain as they glared at the one eyed man, only Steve was the one to voice the thought in their heads.
"Like you controlled the Cube," Steve demanded, knowing just what had happened now; he was being another man's cleanup crew.
"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies," Thor explained fervently. "It is a signal to the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war." Steven felt his eyes widen a little with fear. If this was a higher form, he was truly terrified of what had just barely missed them.
"A higher form," both he and Steve asked in unison. Steven looked back and forth between Thor and Fury, as he suddenly began to hear that discord again.
"You forced our hand," Fury said. Steven clenched his eyes shut and tried to block out the siren song growing in the back of his mind, while all around, discord and distrust grew. "We had to come up with something."
"A nuclear deterrent," Tony interrupted, Fury turned and Stark continued, "Because that always calms everything right down." Fury gave Tony a cold look, and Steven heard the discord grow. He took a step back and wanted nothing more than to stop his ears.
"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark," Fury shot back. Steven barely caught Steve pacing forward to drop in his own two cents.
"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck-deep…" Steve said, but was interrupted by Tony.
"Wait a minute, hold on," Tony asked, "how is this about me?" Steve turned his distrust on Tony, and Steven clenched his eyes shut, trying with all his might to block out the chaotic noise that was in the place of the Music he normally heard.
"I'm sorry," Steve shot back sarcastically, "isn't everything."
"I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor asked. Steven tried to stopper the chaos and discord, but it was in vain.
"Excuse me," Fury said, "do we come to your planet and blow stuff up?"
"You treat your champions with such mistrust."
"You're not my champion."
"Are you boys really that naïve," Natasha's voice cut through the fog for a second, "SHIELD monitors potential threats."
"Captain America's on threat watch," Banner's voice cut in with sarcastic disdain.
"We all are," Natasha said.
"Wait, you're on that list," Tony's voice called out sharply. Steven grits his teeth and clenched his eyes tighter. The Music was disjointed and warped, and sang a sirens song of distrust and chaos. "Are you above or below angry bees?"
"Stark, so help me God," Steve's voice cut through the song angrily, "if you make one more wisecrack…"
"Threat," A voice rose up, "Verbal threat," Tony's voice sliced in, "I feel threatened!"
"Show some respect," Steve's voice cut in.
"Respect what," Tony's shot back. Suddenly Steven felt a cloying voice in his mind, and his eyes shot open. His eyes found the staff, and zeroed in on the glowing gem at the tip.
"The Scepter," Steven whispered, finally realizing that his was Loki's plan all along: to get them so angry at each other that they could never fight him.
"You speak of control yet you court chaos," Thor's voice chimed in from far away, as Steven searched for the source of the alarm his senses screamed at him for. He looked around and saw the others engaged in a meaningless argument, and opened his mouth to shout when suddenly he heard a whisper just at the edges of his senses.
"That's his M.O. isn't it," Banner said, "I mean, what are we, a team? No we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're… we're a time bomb."
"You need to step away," Fury ordered. Steven scanned and scanned, ignoring the argument.
"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam," Stark asked.
"You know damn well why," Steve shot back, "back off!" Steven looked over his shoulder sharply, and stretched out his senses quickly.
"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me," Tony said.
"Yeah," Steve said walking around Tony in a menacing way, "big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" Steve asked, leaning in close.
"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist," Tony shot back.
"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you," Steve shot back, obviously thinking of his Commandoes. "Yeah, I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."
"I think I would just cut the wire," Tony shot back. Steve snorted in disdain.
"Always a way out," Steve said in derision, "you know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."
"A hero," Tony asked, "Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."
"Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds," Steve challenged. Thor laughed.
"You people are so petty, and tiny," Thor said.
"Yeah," Bruce said, "this is a team." The noise in the room fell away and then at the edge of his senses he felt it: the same discord he felt in Germany at the edge of his mind.
"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner…" Fury said.
"Where," Banner asked, "you rented my room."
"The cell was just in case," Fury explained.
"In case you needed to kill me," Banner interrupted, with contained fury, "but you can't. I know, I tried." The room turned to Banner, and Steven felt his senses falter in their search as they all turned to Banner to explain. "I got low. I didn't see an end. So, I put a bullet in my mouth and the Other Guy spit it out! So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show, and put everyone here at risk!" Steven saw the Scepter in his hand and shut his eyes to block out the image, focusing on his search. "You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff. You wanna know how I stay calm?"
"Dr. Banner," Steve said calmly, "put down the Scepter." The room was still for a moment, before an alarm on the computers finally dinged.
"Got it," Fury said with relief.
Steven searched and suddenly he found it. His eyes snapped open and with wide-eyed shock Steven realized that it was imprinted over another mind. He quickly dropped his mental shields and reached out with his telepathy, zeroing in on the mind touched by the Scepter. Steven audibly gasped, when he recognized it as Barton, and felt his eyes widen in fear when he realized what was about to happen.
"Sorry, kids, you don't get to see my party trick after all," Banner said as he dropped the scepter and walked over to the computer.
"You located the Tesseract," Thor said.
"I could get there fastest," Tony shot out.
"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard," Thor argued. "No human is a match for it."
"You're not going alone," Steve said grabbing Tony's arm. Tony brushed it off.
"You gonna stop me," Tony shot back.
"Put on the suit, let's find out," Steve said. Tony got right into Steve's face. Suddenly the discord fell away and all his abilities fell into crystal clear focus.
"I'm not afraid to hit an old man," Tony challenged.
"Put on the Suit," Steve ordered. Steven scanned the ship with lightning speed, and sensed an arrow attached to the hull; and it was armed. Steven looked over at the pair locked, nose to nose, like a pair of Tom Cats gearing up for a fight.
("YASHA, JONATHAN, BRACE FOR IMPACT,") Steven screamed out in his mind to his brothers.
"Oh, my God," Banner said once he finally saw the location. Steven felt the detonation signal a second before it reached the arrow, and it was long enough for his horror to bleed out into the room. Steve looked over Tony's shoulder just in time to lock eyes with Steven. Steven felt the blood drain from his face as terror and realization set in.
"Bomb," Steven barely gasped out before he felt the detonation wave. With lightning reflexes, Steven lunged for the pair, just as the blast traveled up the vents in the floor and hit the room. Steven flung a telekinetic shield around both Steve and Tony to protect them and the unborn children Steve carried, as he wrapped himself around them physically to shield them from the blast. Instinctively Steven felt the heat and dug deep to shield them. Later once all the chaos was over and the battle was won, the security looking at the feed would swear that a pair of massive wings made of fire and light had wrapped around them to shield them from the blast.
The first thing Steven does once the blast settles is check on his brothers. A quick mental prod in their direction awarded him with an okay from them both. They were rattled but otherwise okay. Within the next breath Steven checked on his clone. His senses quickly alerted him that he was uninjured and for now safe. He quickly opened his eyes and shook the disorientation out of his head. This also alerted him to the fact that his ears were ringing and muffled because of the blast. He lifted his head and found himself half lying on Tony and Steve's legs. His coat was singed but otherwise fine, and he couldn't detect any injury to his person, so with a low groan he rolled off Tony's legs and onto the space between Steve and the inventor. It took a second for the pair to get their bearings but once they did Steve looked up at Stark with shock and some panic. Tony looked stunned, but once he saw Steve looking at him purpose and duty overrode his intense dislike of the man for a moment.
"Put on the Suit," Steve said as he scrambled to his feet. Tony scrambled up with panic, but stayed relatively calm.
"Yeah," he gasped as he staggered to his feet. Steven grits his teeth and stood up as quickly as he dared. He may have been uninjured but a blast like that still left some bruises, and he felt a little sore. Steven shook the fuzziness out of his head, and ruthlessly shoved away the pain. It was a trick he had perfected in his years with the Red Room, but it was a useful one that he never felt the need to leave behind. Steven stumbled into the doorway and leaned against the frame as he took a second to get his bearings.
"You okay," Steven heard a voice ask, and felt a hand gently touch his shoulder. Steven looked up sharply only to see Steve's concerned face staring at him.
"This is half the reason I retired," Steve grumbled and stood up, giving his head a vicious shake to clear the dizziness. "Go help Stark, Captain," Steven said, and Steve quickly rushed off to follow Tony to Turbine three. Steven didn't want to admit it, but he more than likely had a concussion and shouldn't be using his powers like this while so injured, because he control could be so off that he would be a danger to others. He was so dazed that he barely registered Fury coming up behind him.
"You gonna be alright," he asked, Steven looked up quickly and nodded.
"Just need to get my bearing," Steven said, "It's been a while." Fury nodded and quickly rushed off towards the bridge, giving orders as he went. For half a second Steven took a breather to shake off his disorientation, before he stretched out his senses to assess the damage. He brushed his mind over the computer systems and to his relief the engine was only damaged not destroyed like he feared. Once that moment of relief was gone he searched for Barton, and too his horror, he found that the man was already on board. With him were several insurgents with nothing good on the mind, so Steven oriented himself and opened a telepathic link to his brothers.
("Jonathan, Yasha,") Steven called, ("enemy agents are on board. Barton brought them. Be prepared for an attack on the bridge!")
("Will do,") Jonathan answered.
("Got it,") Yasha's reply came a second later. Steven turned his mind back to the insurgents and found them heading for the bridge. Not wanting his brothers in a middle of a firefight without his protection, Steven finally shook off the last dregs of his dizziness and headed for the bridge. Steven sent his clone to one of the many blind spots on the way, where they could meet. He was lucky that it was closer him than the bridge at this moment, but regardless, Steven still had to run to get there. Once he did, he called back the part of himself within the clone, causing it to disburse. Steven wanted his entire mind in one place and all of his senses prepared for a fight and that meant no copies or clones running about. It only took a minute but it was long enough that when Steven started back towards the bridge at a rather quick pace, not yet running because of the chaos around him and the lack of space, he caught Yasha's cry of alarm telepathically while still on the way.
("STEVEN,") Yasha cried, ("THEIR ALREADY HERE!") The cry was so sudden that it brought Steven to a complete halt in the middle of the hallway. He stood there, wide-eyed and numb for a moment before he clenched his jaw and closed his eyes.
Flight was hard, no matter how Gabriel or Michael explained or tried to describe the process. Steven learned best by observing, and this was one thing that he could not observe. So he finally gave up on doing it logically and followed his instinct; just as both Gabriel and Michael had told Steven in the end when all efforts to teach had failed and he had proven too human to understand. So Steven closed his eyes and let all the chaos and noise fall away and flow around him until he was an island of peace. Once he found his point of absolute focus and control, Steven dug deep into that core of power that welled up from within, not stopping until he had gathered it all in his grasp. Once he gathered it there, with a single breath he pulled that power to the surface, dragging that molten core of raw power and intent to the surface and filling out the frames that were built into his very soul.
The first time this happened, it wasn't by his will, but rather when HYDRA first gave him the Serum back in 1950. It had always been there, this power; it had shown itself to be there on D-Day at Normandy. That time it had only been a crack in the wall that held it back, but when HYDRA gave him the Serum it had an unexpected result. They had forgotten that the Serum amplified everything inside and that included that crack in his mind and soul, holding back all that power. When they gave it to him, that wall had shattered, and into his soul poured power unfathomable. Michael said it was because he was a True Vessel, just like his Ada; that he was a Michael Sword. That he was meant to contain the power of not just an Archangel, but The Archangel: Michael. Steven couldn't truly understand that his power was equal to that of the Great General of Hosts. It was frightening enough to have it, but to essentially be as powerful as an Archangel on par with Michael; to be told this by Michael himself, it was absolutely terrifying. He didn't know what to do with this power at first so he learned. And the first thing any angel learned was to fly.
So Steven gathered this power, thrust it to the surface, and let it take anchorage on the frames of his soul. Once he had it firmly anchored Steven opened his eyes and flung his body to the bridge, great wings of light and flame unfurling from his back in that brief second before flight, before they snapped hard in a single beat. In the blink of an eye he was gone; the only evidence of his leaving was the sound of a great pair of feathered wings flapping and the snap of air rushing into the void where he had left.
Steven's entrance to the bridge was akin to a hurricane blowing in, or perhaps a dragon; the only warning was the sound like the flapping of giant wings before he arrived in a flash. Said flash not only blinded everyone enough that they didn't know how he entered; it gave Steven the upper hand he needed to wreak hell on the insurgents with all his powers unleashed. Steven's first victim fell to his hand to hand skills, striking the man in the arm to disarm him, shattering bones in the process, and then following up with a rapid fire karate cop to the neck and haymaker to the ribs. The last blow was to throw the man bodily away from the entrance to blast his buddies with a lightning strike of electricity; dropping them like stones to the floor. The next man didn't fair even that well with a full strength heel-kick to his diaphragm, crushing his ribs, sternum and hemorrhaging his diaphragm. All four men were dead in less than thirty seconds, leaving the fifth hesitant enough for Steven to pull out his gun and shoot him in the head. The sixth man was quickly shot by both Yasha and Hill, before either Steven or Fury could turn.
Steven sent the woman a nod of thanks before he used his powers to bring up one of the guns and give it to Yasha.
"Guard the door," Steven ordered as he drew his weapons. Yasha took the gun and took a perfect spot to rest his barrel and steady his aim. He shot two more before Steven took his own stance with both of his Colt .45s pointed at the doors. Steven fired off enough rounds to empty his clips, dropping men with each double tap to the head.
The whole affair was bloody and brutal and put into sharp relief just how dangerous HYDRA and the Red Room had made him. Once Steven had given them a bit of breathing room, he retreated to a safe distance for cover. Fury shot another insurgent with a quick double tap.
"They are not getting through here," he grumbled, "so what the hell are they…?" Fury didn't even get a chance to finish his question before an explosion answered it for him. Steven had just enough time to duck before, debris rained down on him. A frighteningly familiar scream had him turning to see Jonathan clutching his side as he scooted away to under a computer station. Steven's training and his instincts finally clashed when he saw his baby brother with blood on his uniform as he clutched his side, and he froze.
"JONNY," Yasha screamed, dashing to his brother's side. Yasha's cry broke Steven out of his stupor and he dove to Jonathan's side.
"Of all the stupid," Steven whispered harshly as he pressed his hand to Jonathan's bleeding wound. "Lemme see," Steven ordered softly, and carefully pulled Jonathan's hands away to see the wound. Steven quickly widened the tear in his shirt before quickly and gently probing the wound. To his relief it was shallow and there was nothing in it, so with a breath he pressed his hand to it and sent a burst of healing energy to close the wound. "You get that seen to later," he ordered, just before he looked up to see Barton in an access duct near the ceiling. He had an arrow knocked to his bow and aimed for a control panel. Steven only got a quick look at him before he fired, but what he saw was chilling. The cold blankness and ruthless efficiency in his eyes coupled with the pallor of his skin and bruising around his eyes told Steven that he was being controlled but he was also fighting it hard. The sheer exhaustion he felt, even from the short distance was unbelievable.
Then Barton loosed his arrow. Steven lunged for it and missed it by mere centimeters. The tip lodged into an input jack before deploying two wings that attached themselves in the rest. Steven felt the virus and sent Barton a snarling glare. Jonathan scrambled up to look at the stations going dark one by one. Fury stood up and fired at Barton but he slipped away and was missed.
"Engine one is now on shutdown," Jonathan said as the station blinked out. Jonathan turned to Steven and saw the fury in his eyes. "Stevan, can you get him? Can you stop him?" Steven grits his teeth and gave a sharp nod. Suddenly the whole bridge pitched sideways and Steven had to lean hard to keep his footing.
"Sir," Sitwell said, "we've lost all power on engine one." Fury tapped his com-link.
"It's Barton," Fury said, "he took out our systems. He's headed for the detention level. Does anybody copy?" Steven was about to make a dash for the door when a shaky voice came over the coms.
"This is Agent Romanoff," Natasha said, "I copy."
"Stevan," Fury said, gaining the darkly clothed man's attention, "Can you stop Loki?" Steven looked at the director with barely veiled fury.
"I can sure as hell make him hurt trying," Steven said with grit teeth and a snarl.
"Good," Fury said, "then do it." and Steven did.
Steven bolted through the doors like a bat out of hell, careening through hallways and dodging crewmen left and right.
"MAKE A HOLE," Steven shouted, warning them to get out of the way. Men ducked into doorways and flattened themselves on walls to make room for the flying juggernaut driving through the halls. Steven took a turn towards the detention level and suddenly screeched to a grinding halt. He cocked his head like a dog listening for a sound as his senses picked up the faint signature that he had come to associate with the scepter: that siren song of discord that made everything fall into chaos. Steven turned and moved away from the detention level, and started for a path that would take Loki to the deck. Yasha's words before he bolted from the bridge rung in his mind.
"Block any path that would take him to the flight deck," Yasha had shouted at him. Steven brought up a mental map of the carrier and scanned for a hole, or a place that could easily be breached. What he found was an innocuous vent that lead up to the flight deck, and if it was Barton leading the charge, that would be where the infamous Hawkeye would make his entry. And if it was where they all entered, then it would be their extraction point as well. Steven streaked into the hallway and saw daylight. He slowed just enough to see the repelling lines and the bent vent grate lying on the floor before he surged past, seeking out that disruptive sound that the Scepter made so well.
Steven turned into a hall and felt the presence of the scepter as well as Loki's as second before they came stumbling into view. Steven took an imposing stance in the middle of the hall, blocking Loki's only path to freedom. Loki was looking over his shoulder before he turned and stopped short. Steven seemed to melt out of the shadows like a wraith from his worst nightmare, his golden hair in sharp contrast to his dark red and black clothing. Steven had taken his gun in hand and had his knife ready to use at his side. His silent defiance pulled Loki's grin right off his face.
"Ah," Loki said with a manic grin after a moment of silence. "You must be the Knight." Steven remained as still and unmoving as stone. "They said you were dead, yet here you are: flesh and bone, alive." Steven's eyes narrowed before he finally moved, and even then it was only to take a wider stance across the hall.
"What happened to you, Loki," Steven said, "you're nothing like Lauro described you. I would trust him about you more than your brother." Loki seemed to flinch at the name, and Steven latched on. "He loves you, he does," Steven affirmed when Loki shook his head in denial. "Archangel's don't stop loving their mates, even when they fall. Personally," Steven said as his soft eyes then turned to diamonds, "I think he would prefer a dead beloved than a living monster." Loki snarled and blindly charged, swinging his scepter like a glaive. Steven dodged, blocking the blow and striking back with a blast of electricity to Loki's side. Loki rolled away grunting in pain. He looked up and saw Steven take a fighting stance. "take it from another Archangel, Loki," Steven said his whole form beginning to glow, the electrical sparks dancing around his hands turning into glowing orbs of angelic grace, and his eyes shining with heavenly light, "the last thing you want is to break his heart, because he has six other brothers willing to blast you into the Empty for that sin!" he ground out, in fury, "and you don't want it to be Michael that finds you first."
Steven closed his eyes and suddenly the dim glow became an angelic halo, bright and golden with silver and blue, surrounding his form. Then with no warning Steven's eyes opened and within them Loki saw true Angelic might shining from the depths, and a pair of massive wings suddenly unfurled from his back. They were like nothing he'd ever seen, and perfectly matched Steven's halo of fiery light. At the base closest to his back they are an electric blue, sparking and flashing like a live flame, before they faded into brilliant white, glowing and flickering around each feather, and then at the farthest edge they became gold and red. They were like living flames lashing and shifting, and each feather was a tongue of fire; growing hotter as it came closer to his core. Around his head was a glowing wreath, like a crown, a spinning circlet of stars; a diadem proclaiming his place among the Mighty. Loki looked upon him, and, for the first time, was afraid. Steven took a fighting stance and lunged at Loki. The trickster lashed out and blocked the blow, but only barely. Loki brought up the Scepter to attack and Steven brought his fists together, drawing them apart horizontally, manifesting a great Elvish War Glaive, with both Elven runes and Enochian sigils running down the blade and the shaft. Steven swung the glaive in a wide arch, catching the Scepter as it moved to strike him. Loki tried to blast him with it, only for Steven to hold up his hand and absorb the power, making him glow brighter and strike out again.
Steven swung the glaive over his head, as he spun round, and brought the blade down towards the Trickster. Loki dove out of the way and lunged close so Steven couldn't use the full power of those great cleaving swings. Steven countered Loki's attacks with the shaft, and Loki finally seemed to have enough. He blasted Steven back with his magic, causing Steven to stumble slightly, blinded, before he launched himself at Steven with the Scepter's blade pointed at Steven's chest. Steven blinked away the stars just in time to see Loki lunge at him. It was in too close quarters to do anything but bring the shaft of the Glaive up to catch the Scepter between the blades. Steven looked down at the blades and noted with growing horror that there was fresh blood on them. Steven's eyes snapped up to Loki's face, and saw the manic grin there and the hazy blue film over his normally emerald green eyes. Pure rage filled Steven's being, and he snarled at Loki in righteous fury.
"You have heart," Loki said with a wild grin, "I think I'll use that." Loki began to press harder onto the Scepter, driving it slowly down towards Steven's chest. Steven saw in his mind a quick flash of Barton having the scepter gently pressed against his heart before his mind went blue. Steven realized that this was how he turned Barton and Selvig, and he wanted nothing to do with it. He swore he would never be another man's puppet for as long as he lived, and he would be damned if it was going to be Loki that made him kill innocents again. Steven felt his fear overcoming his fury, and his grasp began to slip on those angelic powers. Just as the scepter was about to touch his chest, Steven heard a soothing voice ring out of his memory.
"You don't need rage to control your powers, Steven," Professor Xavier said, "what you need is focus. It is my belief that true focus, and control, comes at a point between rage and serenity." Steven closed his eyes and felt for that spot Xavier had touched to help him find that control. It was the brightest spot in his mind, full of love and joy. One of his earliest memories of his Ada, swinging him around in the air, making him fly like a bird. Steven remembered the laughter he felt, and shared with his Ada, and the happiness there also. A simpler time, for a simpler person, but it gave him just the anchor he needed. When Steven opened his eyes they were over flowing with tears, but there was a surety to them and focus that he hadn't before. "Rage and Serenity," Xavier said, and Steven pushed. With a scream of rage, Steven threw Loki away with a blast of telekinetic power.
Loki rolled with the blast to come up to his feet and saw Steven standing again, his eyes bright with tears but clear and full of focus. The light in his eyes was razor sharp and this time it wasn't a glow of light that brought Loki to heel in fear: it was the fact that around this halo of light the whole area around them began to grow dark. It was as if Steven was taking all the light from the room and concentrating it around his form, like a light in the dark. And what Loki saw in Steven's eyes was terrifying. It wasn't murder. It wasn't death. No, it was absolute destruction promised in those glowing blue and white orbs that sent a chill of fear racing down Loki's spine.
"I will never be another man's slave," Steven seethed, through gritted teeth. Loki, seeing no way out, lunged at Steven with a flash, temporarily blinding him. When the spots cleared from Steven's eyes Loki was gone. Steven howled with fury, but accepted the loss. He stood there for a long moment, seething in quiet rage, as he calmed himself down, and let go of that molten core of power. Suddenly Steven felt a cry in his mind for help. His head jerked up and he stretched out his senses. Steven gasped with dawning horror that it was Coulson who was calling out for help; and it wasn't a call, but a prayer.
Steven bolted for the detention level, and Loki's cell, praying to whoever listening that Coulson would still be alive when he got there.
"It's okay, boss," Steven heard Coulson's faint voice as he rounded the corner and saw him leaned against the wall, bleeding, dying, Fury kneeling down in front of him. "It was never going to work…" Coulson's voice got fainter and weaker, and Steven felt horror like he had never known, and something else: failure. It tasted like bitter ashes in his mouth, and salty tears. "If they didn't have something… to…" Coulson was struggling to breathe and speak, and Steven knew that he was going to die, but he just couldn't move. "To…" a tear run down Coulson's cheek and Steven felt his own blur his vision. Suddenly Coulson's chest stopped moving as a med team slipped past him. They went to kneel beside him and suddenly Steven moved.
With a single movement, Steven threw one aside and knelt beside the agent. He wasn't breathing, but Steven could feel the faint flutter of life still inside him. Steven knew he shouldn't do this, that his energy was depleted after fighting Loki, but he had no choice but to do this or let Coulson die; and by God he wasn't going to let that happen.
"Stay with me, Coulson," Steven muttered softly, "you're not gonna die! You still gotta get Steve to sign those cards." Steven felt the tears slip down his face as he pressed a hand to Phil's bleeding chest. Steven let out a calming breath and pulled on his last dregs of his reserves. His body began to glow as he pressed a hand to Coulson's head and let his energy flow into Phil's battered body. He poured that energy into Phil's chest and focused it on the worst of the damage. With a gentle spark, Coulson's heart stutters back to life, a second later Steven takes a gasping breath and Phil Coulson copied him, filling his lungs with much needed oxygen. Steven pulled on his reserves until he had no more, and exhaustion stopped him. Steven collapsed back with a sigh, as Phil started to breathe again.
"My god," the medic gasped as Steven sluggishly pulled himself to his feet. Steven sent the man a scathing glare, warning him to do his job before he staggered out of the detention center to find something to eat.
"Agent Coulson is down," he heard Fury say as he rounded the corner.
"Paramedics are on their way," Steven heard over the coms before he pulled them out.
"They're here," Fury said. Steven walked out of range, and didn't hear the rest, "they called it."
The first thing Steven did was find the mess hall, and devour every high carb and sugar food he could get his hands on. That last burst of energy had well and truly been his last. He shouldn't have drawn on his fat reserves to give him the energy to heal Coulson, but Steven was selfish and had lost one too many friends to war. Coulson, though awkward and eager around Steve, was a good man and there just weren't many good men left in the world, especially not in SHIELD. He didn't deserve to die; not like that. So Steven did the selfish thing and depleted his fat reserves to create the energy to heal Coulson, because as powerful as that molten core of energy inside him called Grace was, he had no idea how to use it to heal someone like that. It was a risk to try to heal Coulson when his heart had just stopped, But Steven at this point didn't care. All he cared about was getting enough calories into his system to rebuild those reserves and have the energy to fight. Once Steven had eaten until he felt like he would be sick, he did something he really didn't like doing: he placed his hand on the bulkhead and fed off the electrical energy on the ship.
He didn't do it often, but in an emergency like this, it was the quickest way to give him energy while his body prioritized fat building and restoring his overworked muscles and healing bruises. Once he felt strong enough to take on this army coming, Steven created his clone and marched off towards the bridge, with him in tow.
When he arrived, Tony and Steve were the only ones on the Avengers roster that were there. Natasha he assumed was with Barton in sick bay, and Thor and Banner had flown the coop. Only Yasha was sitting next to Steve, a comforting hand on his arm. Steven quietly sat down on Steve's right and looked at the rest. Hill stood solemn and quiet behind Fury and Tony wasn't even looking at the man. Steven looked at his clone who gave Tony a look of sympathy. Steven looked up and saw Fury holding something in his hands, before he looked up and addressed the shattered group.
"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket," Fury said holding them up. "Guess he never did get you to sign them," Fury said and tossed the bloodied cards onto the table in front of Steve. Steven saw his own card peeking out underneath Steve's, pristine and white. Steven smiled sadly then narrowed his eyes. He looked up at Fury and then at the solemn faces of the others. A quick scan told him all he need to know: Fury lied.
"We're dead in the air up here," Fury said as Steve reached across the table to pick up one of the cards. It was Steve in the classic tights and cotton. Steven smiled a little, and knew exactly where the input for Steve's new uniform came from. "Our communications, location of the Cube, Banner, Thor; I got nothin' for you." Steve looked at the card, and Steven could feel his doubt, but also his resolve mounting. "Lost my one good eye," Fury continued, "maybe I had that coming." Fury was almost fragile as he shook his head sadly. Steve dropped the card and Steven was again drawn to the pristine Little Buck trading card. It was the only one that was mint. Phil probably got it new or from someone who had it new, and cared for it his whole life. It was perfect; not a drop of blood on it. Steven felt a wry and sad smirk pull on his face. It was as bloodless and clean as he once was, before HYDRA, before the Red Room.
"Yes," Fury finally admitted, "we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract," Fury walked around the table leaning on the chair beside Steven. "I never put all my chips with that number though, because I was playing something even riskier." Fury paused and looked at Tony, who wouldn't even face the room. "There was an idea," Fury said as he walked around the chairs, "Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to… to fight the battles that we never could." Fury turned to Tony, and said, "Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea: in heroes." Suddenly Tony stood up from his chair, and Steven could see the shaking in his hands, the guilt in his shoulders. After a moment he walked right out of the room, leaving the chair spinning in his absence. "Well," Fury said calmly, "it's an old fashioned notion." Steven set his eyes on the man's back with his own hidden fury.
("I'll let that little lie slide for now, Fury,") Steven told him telepathically, and Fury turned to look at Steven for the first time, ("but when this is all over you are going to tell the truth. Or I will.") Steven's eyes narrowed with promise, before he and Steve stood up. Yasha followed and cornered Steve outside the bridge in a shadowed hallway. He looked him in the eye and pulled Steve into a bruising hug. Steve gripped back just as tight, while Steven hung back. It was obvious Steve needed this, and Yasha was just tender enough and close enough to Steve emotionally to let him accept it. Steven's clone followed for a moment before Steven ordered it to go to the carrier bay. When he turned Yasha and Steve were gone. Steven marched off towards the carrier bay and started looking for a jet to take them to wherever they needed to be. He found one that was being worked on, but wished that it was his QuinJet and not some SHIELD copy. Yasha found him eyeing it and as Steven turned to greet him, he saw the massive gun in his hands and the wild grin on his face. Steven smirked.
"Let me guess," Steven said, "you've found him." Yasha's grin was positively feral, and Steven shook his head in wry despair. "You're hopeless." Steven looked over Yasha's shoulder and saw Steve marching towards the targeted QuinJet with single minded focus. Steven grinned, and wondered if this is what he looked like when he made up his mind to rescue his Ada. "Don't look now, but I think we have company." Yasha turned and saw Steve. Steven set off to intercept him and saw just who was with him. Steven's grin turned wild, when he saw Natasha's fire red hair, and Barton's dusty gold.
Yasha caught up to them first and Steve saw him before he saw Steven. The smile he graced his son with, made Steven yearn for his Ada's presence. When Steve looked over Yasha's shoulder and saw Steven lurking, the smile fell into a stern commander's look.
"We do this as a team," Steve ordered, and Steven graced him with a relieved smile.
"I will do as you command, my Captain," Steven said before Steve turned and walked into the QuinJet.
"Hey," the technician said, once they got on board, "you guys aren't authorized to be here." Steve was not going to have it, but was going to be polite about it.
"Son," he said, "just don't." and with that it was like Steven never left the war. He just wished he wasn't walking into another one.
TBC…
End note: well that's one of the longest sequences I have ever written. I didn't mean for it to get so long, I just didn't realize when I marked out my chapters just how long it would be.
Well, the battle… I'm not doing it! Sorry, I know I'm sorry, but I just cannot write that battle! It is so long and drawn out, that I couldn't do it justice with Steven or just focusing on Steve. I can't, so I won't. I'll skip over and go right to the aftermath. I might do some flashback sequences but that's about it.
Next up: The Battle is Won, The War's Just Begun
(Clever, ain't I?)