Chapter 7- Interrogation and an Argument
Yelizaveta walked down the corridor with Natasha as they made their way to Loki's prison. Fury had asked them to interrogate Loki as both of them had done countless interrogations together and, considering that Loki was locked up and couldn't have killed either one of them, Fury had considered it safe to send them to question them. But that being said, Yelizaveta would carry her sword.
"You sure you want to do this, Vet?" Natasha asked.
"Yes and no. I don't really want to talk with Loki, but since Clint is my friend too and we need to find him, Nat, yes," Yelizaveta said as she palmed open the door to Loki's prison. The man's back was to them as he paced. Yelizaveta heard a small chuckle escape him.
"There's not many people who can sneak up on me," Loki said as he turned to face them both and his eyes went to the sword Yelizaveta was holding.
"We're not many people, Loki. But you figured we'd come," Natasha said.
"After. After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you and the girl would appear as friends, as a balm. And I would cooperate," Loki said with a smug look on his face that Yelizaveta wanted to slap off.
Yelizaveta took a deep breath. "We want to know what you've done to Agent Barton," Yelizaveta said.
"I would say I've expanded his mind," Loki said.
"His mind is already expanded. And once you've won, once you're king of the mountain, what happens to his mind?" Natasha asked as she and Yelizaveta walked to the cell.
"Oh. Is this love Agent Romanoff?" Loki asked in a mocking voice.
"Love is for children. Me and Yelizaveta owe him a debt," Natasha said.
"Tell me," Loki said as he went to the only seat in his cage and sat down.
"Before me and Yelizaveta worked for S.H.I.E.L.D., we, uh, well, we made names for ourselves as the Black Widow and the Winter Soldier. We have very specific skill sets. We didn't care who we used it for, or on," Natasha said as she and Yelizaveta also sat down.
"We both got on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar in a bad way and I was only eight years old at the time. Agent Barton was sent to kill Nat. He made a different call. Nat then told him about me and he saved me. I was still a student at a school for spies in Russia and he found me locked in a basement in the middle of winter, cold, half-starved, and half-dressed. He took his coat off, wrapped it around me and carried me out of there and took care of me until I came to work for S.H.I.E.L.D.," Yelizaveta said, remembering Clint taking her to his wife Laura and how she had become part of Clint's family.
"What will you both do if I vow to spare him?" Loki asked.
"Not let you out," Natasha said.
"No, but I like this. Your world in the balance and you both bargain for one man," Loki said, leaning forward.
"Regimes fall every day. We tend not to weep over that. We're Russian. Or we were," Yelizaveta said stoically.
"And what are you now?" Loki asked.
"It's really not that complicated. I got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out," Natasha said as she stood.
"Can you? Can both of you? Can you wipe out that much red? Dreykov's daughter? Sao Paulo? The hospital fire? Barton told me everything," Loki said, Yelizaveta's blood turning to ice as she, and possibly Natasha, remembered certain sins they had wanted to forget. "Your ledger is dripping. It's gushing red and you both think saving a man no more virtuous than yourselves will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer. Pathetic! You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are part of you. And they will never go away," Loki slammed his hand against the glass. "I won't touch Barton until I make him kill you both. Slowly, in every way he knows you both fear. And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work and when he screams, I'll split his skull!" Loki threatened and Natasha and Yelizaveta turned. "This is my bargain, you whining females," Loki said, his voice dripping with disdain.
Natasha started to sniffle. Only Yelizaveta could see it was an act. "You're a monster," Yelizaveta said, touching Natasha's shoulder sympathetically as she pretended to cry. But Loki didn't need to see that Natasha was pretending.
Loki laughed derisively. "Oh, no. You brought the monster," Natasha then raised her head and both she and Yelizaveta turned, Natasha's face completely dry.
"So, Banner. That's your play," Natasha said. A stunned look entered Loki's eyes.
"What?" Loki asked.
"Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner and his son in the lab. We're on our way. Send Thor as well," Yelizaveta said, touching her earwig as they left the cell.
Natasha and Yelizaveta then turned to face Loki. "Thank you for your cooperation," Natasha said with a brief smile as they left.
Thor, Yelizaveta, and Natasha entered Banner's lab just as an argument was escalating. "I was wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit," Captain Rogers said stiffly to Fury.
"Did you know about this?" Banner asked Natasha, indicating a screen that looked to have a weapon on it.
"You and your son want to think about removing yourselves from this environment, Doctor?" Yelizaveta asked.
James gave a humorless laugh. "Me and Dad were in Calcutta. We were pretty well removed," James said.
"Loki is manipulating you," Natasha said, walking forward.
"And you've been doing what, exactly?" Banner asked.
"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you," Natasha said sarcastically.
"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction," Banner said.
"Because of him," Fury said, pointing at Thor.
"Me?" Thor asked, a confused look on his craggy face.
"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but that we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned," Fury said.
"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor said.
"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled," Fury said.
"Like you controlled the Cube?" Steve asked.
"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war," Thor said, his voice rising with each word.
"A higher form?" Yelizaveta asked.
"You forced our hand. We had to come up with something," Fury said.
"A nuclear deterrent. Because that always calms everything right down," Stark said, making too much sense for Yelizaveta at the moment.
"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark," Fury said.
"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck-deep-" Captain Rogers started to say. Stark interrupted, holding up his hand.
"Wait. Wait. Hold on. How is this now about me?" Stark asked.
"I'm sorry, isn't everything?" Yelizaveta snapped, this whole conversation giving her the first migraine she had ever had.
"I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor said, laughing derisively.
"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Fury asked, wheeling around to look at Thor.
"You treat your champions with such mistrust," Thor said and everyone started arguing at once.
"Are you boys really that naïve? S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors potential threats," Natasha said.
"Captain America's on a threat watch?" Banner asked.
"We all are," Natasha said.
"Wait, you're on that list?" Stark asked as something started to beep loudly that only Yelizaveta appeared to hear.
"Wait, are you above or below bees?" Thor asked.
"Stark, so help me God, if you make one more wisecrack-" Rogers started to say.
"Is that a verbal threat? I feel threatened," Stark said.
"Show some respect," Rogers snapped.
"Respect for what?" Stark asked.
Yelizaveta looked over at the staff as it continued to beep and a glow started emanating from it. "You speak of control and yet you court chaos," Thor said.
"That's his M.O., isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're a time bomb," Banner said, barely able to hold onto his anger.
"You need to step away," Fury said, trying to keep his own voice calm.
"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Stark asked, putting his hand on Roger's shoulder.
Roger's pushed it roughly off. "You know darn well why. Back off!" Rogers snapped.
"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me," Stark said, a slight threatening voice.
"Yeah. Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" Rogers asked.
"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist," Stark said.
"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. That little girl over there has more worth than you'll ever have. 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," Rogers said.
"I think I would just cut the wire," Stark said.
"Heh. Always a way out. You may not be a threat like me or Natasha or even Banner, but you better stop pretending to be a hero," Yelizaveta said, chuckling mirthlessly.
"A hero like you and Rogers, Catherine the Great? You both are laboratory experiments, Markova. Everything special about the two of you came out of a bottle," Stark said rudely.
"Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds," Rogers said. Thor's laughter stopped them.
"You people are so petty and tiny," Thor said.
"Yeah, this is a team," Banner said sarcastically and everyone turned to look at him and James.
"Agent Romanoff, Agent Markova, would you escort Dr. Banner and his son back to their-" Fury started to say.
"Where? You rented Dad's room," James interrupted, raising a dark eyebrow.
"The cell was just in case-" Fury started to say.
"In case you needed to kill me. But you can't. I know, I tried. I got low. I didn't see an end. So, one night when my boy was asleep, 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 both dragged me and my boy back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff, Yelizaveta? You want to know how I stay calm?" Banner asked. Yelizaveta's eyes went to Banner's hand holding Loki's staff.
"Dr. Banner? Put down the scepter," Rogers said as Yelizaveta reached for her sword and Fury and Natasha touched their guns. A warning ring went off and the computer showed a map.
"Got it. Sorry, kids, you don't get to see my party trick after all," Banner said, walking to the screen.
"You located the Tesseract?" Thor asked.
"I could get there fastest," Stark said as the arguments started up again.
"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it," Thor said.
"You're not going alone," Rogers said, grabbing Stark by the arm and Stark smacked it aside.
"You're gonna stop me?" Stark challenged.
"Put on the suit. Let's find out," Rogers shot back.
"I'm not afraid to hit an old man," Stark said as he and Rogers stared each other down.
"Put on the suit," Rogers said stiffly as Banner's computer beeped.
"Dear lord," James said softly and a loud boom followed by a fireball filled the room, throwing Yelizaveta and the others into the walls. The sound of glass breaking was the clue that others had gone through the windows.