A/N - sorry for the LOONG wait! Life happens, though, and sometimes it's tough.
Enjoy!
London England
While SHIELD dedicated considerable resources to tracking him, Loki was busy assembling everything he needed to continue his mission and reinforce his position.
Ignoring the bustle of his thralls as they worked on transforming the long-abandoned World War 2 bunker into a functional command post, Loki stroked his chin in deep thought as he considered his situation.
For the moment, he felt reasonably secure. The bunker had been recommended by Barton, who had used the spot during his early years in SHIELD as an 'off the grid' hideaway that was known to a very few. This was good and fitted the situation well, as Loki needed time and a secure space to assemble the device he required: the device that would punch a hole through the very fabric of reality, powered by the Tesseract.
And through which his army would come to win him Midgard.
The last of the specialized equipment that Selvig needed was being installed even now, and soon - hopefully today - he would be on his way to Germany to acquire the Iridium he required. With that, he could stabilize his dimensional portal, holding it open long enough for his forces to arrive en masse. With their arrival, the subjugation of the planet would proceed, only ending when he seized power and was crowned the first planetary emperor of Midgard.
Loki smiled at the thought, thinking what a delicious blow to Thor and to Asgard that would be! He could almost taste their pain as these foolish mortals they had sworn to protect died by the millions, their armies crushed to dust, their proudest cities in ruins, their civilization brought to its knees as they learned to live as slaves.
What their ultimate fate would be would be determined by Loki's whim.
Yes, the plan was proceeding nicely, save for a few small 'hitches.' Minor, it was true, but vexing nevertheless.
First off, was Barton. The man was remarkably strong-willed, and Loki had to reinforce his control over him several times already as he continually tried to throw off the compulsions woven on him. Loki had plans for him and wanted to send the Agent abroad to continue his aims, but Loki was wary about him being outside of his range of control for too long: he was far too valuable to lose, at least while the Earth was not yet subjugated, and thus he needed him close.
Additionally, one of his other plots had completely derailed. Four days earlier, he had lost touch with the two thralls he'd sent to collect Isabella Swan. The girl interested him to a considerable degree. Never before, even with Odin himself, had anyone seen through his illusions and mind-tricks so effortlessly. And from what he learned of Barton, the girl was only barely trained, just a novice still, and yet brimming with potential: she would be a worthy servant to him, and perhaps would even make for an acceptable bed warmer.
Thus, he spent much time wondering what had happened to his minions who should have already captured her and returned by now. The mission had seemed simple, the objective achievable, and yet they had never returned, or even sent word.
Furthermore, he could not locate them with any of his senses no matter how he tried with his arts. Additionally - to his consternation - the mind link that the Mind Stone created between him and his thralls did not allow him to 'see' through their eyes, which would have been a great advantage; but no matter how he tried, he could not achieve it. The link only gave him the general 'gist' of how the thralls were feeling, though it did work reliably no matter the distance between them.
However, he had suddenly lost all connection to them with no warning, one after the other. One of them was in pain before the connection was cut, while the first registered more surprise than anything.
But either way, he could no longer get anything from either one, leading him to believe they were dead, as he did not think these Midgardians had the skill or ability to sever his connection save with death.
A thought occurred, then. Perhaps, Isabella was even more skilled than he anticipated, in either the mind arts or in combat..
He pondered for a moment, wondering. Had she successfully dispatched them both? Based on what he'd gleaned from Barton's mind, her skills should not have been advanced enough for her to take out two seasoned agents, especially as they should have had the element of surprise with them. After all, why would she suspect anything amiss with them? They all worked for the same abominable agency, SHIELD.
He shook his head. No, more than likely there was another explanation. Barton's memory showed him how much training she still needed. No, mayhap she was more heavily guarded than Barton expected, and that's why they failed.
But if so, why would SHIELD guard her so? Her skills, no matter how interesting, still should not have made her a priority to SHIELD. Unless of course her boyfriend, the Seidr Potter was with her. Loki knew that he would be able to take out the Agents, no question. He'd sensed the man's power, both when they met and when he faced off against his Destroyer.
Or maybe it was more basic; perhaps SHIELD was guarding her simply to stay in Potter's good graces.
The thought amused Loki.
The last possibility - one that he barely gave a thought to as it was so unlikely - was that Isabella somehow overcame the power of the Mind Stone without killing the Agents. He himself would have trouble with such a feat, so Loki knew there was no way this barely-trained Midgardian could accomplish it.
No, they were almost certainly dead, or drugged into a comatose state where Loki could not reach their minds. Either way - dead or drugged - was effectively the same thing for his plans.
Failure.
The thralls had been instructed to wait for the right time to strike - preferably when Isabella was alone and their guard was down, making her vulnerable. However, Loki realized that it was certainly possible that Potter had been monitoring the girl via his magic, a simple enough task. After all, Loki had seen a very healthy respect in Barton's mind at how good Potter was at discovering enemy surveillance.
Also, Loki mused, with his magical means of travel, Potter could be by Isabella's side in moments, defeating any force Loki could muster without sending either himself or dozens of men he simply could not yet spare.
Disappointing, but not totally unexpected. He knew the mission had elements of risk, but he simply did not yet have the resources needed so that he could have spared Barton himself to undertake the mission, and all his other competent thralls were busy preparing for the next stage of the operation.
Loki tapped his lips with a long finger, thinking on the puzzle. Yes, the Seidr Potter was a bother - one of several, actually, if Fury was able to assemble the 'Avengers'. A pathetic band they may be, but he wasn't foolish enough to underestimate his brother or the beast they called 'Hulk.'
No, they could be a thorn in his side, which was why he had fully calculated them into his plans.
His mind returned to Potter again. If the irksome Seidr crossed his path again he would endeavor to remove him from the board, one way or another. Yes - a thrall or dead - it made no difference, so long as Potter was out of the picture and away from young Isabella. He still wanted the young Seid-Kona for himself, wanted to twist her into a shadow of his own creation, tease out her dark qualities, before unleashing her on her former comrades. Yes, he was determined to try again to acquire her.
He just needed a better method of reeling her in. Perhaps a way to bring her to him?
With those thoughts in mind, he began to think over the things he'd learned of her from Barton, and a small smile began to form on his manic face.
Ithaca NY
In a large manor home twelve miles outside of the small city of Ithaca in upstate New York, the Cullen family - sans Edward - sat in a semicircle around the large flat screen television that dominated the eastern wall of their sprawling living room. They had muted the volume hours ago, most of them still reeling from the revelations of the day which started when Alice played a video recording she's made, of a news broadcast from earlier that week. She'd shown it to no one until they were all at home for the evening.
The real beginning, however, was three days earlier when Alice - alone in the house after returning from a shopping trip while everyone else was out - had received a vision that had her gasping in surprise and amazement at what she was seeing. She immediately turned on a 24 hour news channel - just as she saw herself doing in the vision - and if she had been human she would have been having an anxiety attack as she watched her vision and reality merge right there on her television.
On the screen was a staccato and shaky live-action footage of an apparent abduction attempt and subsequent gunfight right in the heart of the Nation's capital, during the early afternoon, on a well traveled street in broad daylight.
Still, none of this would have had Alice even bat an eyelash had she not immediately seen the identity of one of the combatants. As it was, it took Alice the better part of a half hour to stop gaping like a fish as she watched the shy girl she'd loved like a best friend and adorably clumsy sister stand against the bad guys like a veteran cop; stance solid, arms extended with her gun pointed at her enemies, and a grim expression on her face as she surveyed her downed enemies.
When the broadcasts finally ended and the news began to repeat, Alice had calmed herself down enough that she was able to concentrate and force her gift.
Forcing herself to ignore her idiot brother's warnings, edicts and threats, she tried to find Bella with her second sight, pushing as hard as she had in years. Harder, in fact, than anything since those disastrous events in Phoenix three years prior, where Bella had somehow pulled the wool over her and Jasper's eyes and escaped their custody, only to run willingly to a ballet studio and her probable death at the hands of a sadistic vampire.
So, she tried, and pushed, and cajoled, using every trick she'd learned about her gift over the past century, but the results were disappointing. Nothing but static, like something was interfering with her gift. The only analogy she could use to explain it was that it was like looking at an old analog TV station that was between channels and all you got was a snowy image of black and white roiling static.
Nevertheless, she kept at it, trying and trying and trying again. It took hours - her head feeling thick and mentally exhausted, her thirst flaring at the strain she was exerting - until, at last, she finally got a very brief glimpse of Bella.
Mentally sagging in relief, Alice concentrated on what she was seeing. Though the vision was remarkably muted and washed out - like she was seeing it through a foggy lens - it was definitely her old friend, though from the brief and admittedly dim vision, she had changed quite a bit over the past three years, looking considerably more mature and serene, with a figure that was much fitter than she'd ever imagine her friend having.
Her friend had grown up, and despite being happy that she was seeing her well, Alice felt sad, thinking of 'might have-been's.' And again, for perhaps the thousandth time since that fateful day on Bella's 18th birthday, Alice cursed her idiotic brother.
Shaking off her melancholy, she drank in the details that she could see. Bella was wearing a dark, tight fitting jumpsuit of some kind, sitting on a chair in a dimly lit room that was empty save for a utilitarian bed and desk. There were no windows or breaks in the walls save for two doors. One was a small darkened doorway that Alice believed was a bathroom as she could see the faint reflection of a sink and mirror, and a second doorway, made of metal with a silver steel handle, that led out of the room.
Everything looked sterile, unlived in, and made her unsettled.
In fact, Alice would have almost believed that it was a prison of some sort if not for the high tech look to the computer on the desk, and the feeling that Bella was, despite appearances, comfortable there.
And then, just as Alice sensed the vision coming to a close, Bella's face turned towards the door as it opened, and a welcoming smile lit her face before the vision ended, not revealing who had been opening the door but knowing it was someone Bella was very happy to see.
When Jasper returned later that night from a hunt with Emmett, he immediately sensed that Alice was upset and feeling sad, but he didn't try to wrangle the information from her; that wasn't their way, and he knew she would tell him when she was ready. He simply offered support and quiet love to his clearly distracted wife.
When Carlisle returned with Esme two days later from a short vacation in Canada, Alice called a family meeting. Without preamble, she relayed what had happened; and before the questions could start, she played the recorded video for them of the shooting.
Before the questions started for the second time, she also played the news analysis that had followed those initial broadcasts.
A greying, popular anchor on CBS was at his news desk, talking to a reporter on the scene, clearly a few hours later the same day as the shooting. There were still a fair number of police cars there, and large sections of the street were blocked off by yellow tape. Two heavily armed soldiers with helmets and assault weapons held across their chests also were visible in the frame.
The man's voice was deep and compelling. "Pamela, what can you tell us?"
The woman nodded, her hand clutching the microphone with a blue CBS emblazoned on it, a policeman visible just off the edge of the frame to her right and about a dozen feet back. "Tom, we have at least a dozen witnesses all basically telling the same story, and this is what we know so far. Earlier today, at a little past two pm, a gun battle broke out after a possible attempted kidnapping in broad daylight in the middle of a quiet, upscale street in the heart of Georgetown. Where I am standing is just a few blocks from the Georgetown University campus, and thousands of tourists and students walk this street every day."
The Cullen's watched recorded footage that filled most of the screen while the woman's voiceover continued, a picture of her speaking in a small window in the lower right corner.
"What we know so far, is that two men accompanied a woman into their sedan - we are unclear at this time if she was forced into the car - which proceeded to drive away before the car suddenly seemed to explode from the inside. At that point, the woman and the men emerged from the wreck and engaged in a brief gun battle, with another man assisting the woman in ending the fight."
In the video, that seemed to suddenly jerk away from a lifestyle story that the crew had been filming, the remains of a car that was still moving lurched to a stop in the middle of a beautiful tree lined street that was surrounded by elegant brownstones and small apartment buildings. Even as the car lurched to a stop, the camera showed dozens of bystanders who had suddenly turned towards the unexplained wreckage of the car.
Suddenly, the camera operator zoomed in on the car. The zoom was too high at first, leaving the footage a touch shaky, but then it pulled back a moment later, several people now in the center of the field of view.
Front and center, a petite woman with long, dark hair was rising to her feet with a gun in her hand, her eyes scanning left and right. She and another man - in a dark suit and also with a drawn gun who approached her from the side - briefly nodded to one another and might have had a brief conversation before they secured one of the car's occupants who was already laying prone on the ground.
But none of the details of the other individuals really registered with any of the Cullen's, nor did they really listen to the words of the commentator; because, even with the zoomed out and somewhat grainy footage, their vampire eyes could clearly make out the woman's face.
Bella.
Their perfect memories could never forget her face, and this was one they perhaps knew better than any other human they'd ever known.
However, this was a new Bella, one none of them had seen before. With her knees bent, gun held steadily forward like she'd been shooting for years with a confident and stable stance, she slowly waked forward, eyes sweeping the street, coiled, alert, poised and ready for action.
A very, very far cry from the clumsy, sweet girl who just a few years prior wouldn't harm a fly.
The TV narrator continued droning on, asking questions and offering viewpoints even as the camera moved over the scene, frequently returning to Bella and her companion who were in active discussions with men in suits and wearing sunglasses and earpieces. More arriving ambulances and police vehicles, panicky and gesticulating civilians, shouted commands and general mayhem, the entire scene was one of general bedlam. After a few minutes of this, with the background sirens getting louder as more fire and rescue services arrived, there was a final parting camera shot of Bella running into the arms of a dark haired man before leaving the area, tucked under his arm in the back of a dark government car.
Finally, Alice turned off the TV and turned to the family, seeing them as shocked as she had been.
Over the next few minutes, they had a frank discussion about the girl they'd left behind and what could she possibly be doing now that led them to the scene they had just witnessed. Opinions varied, though Esme pointed out that perhaps Bella was following her father's footsteps into law enforcement, as ridiculous as that would have sounded to them a few years ago.
Emmett laughed at the whole situation. "This is awesome! Did you see that? Bella kicked some serious ass! Do you think the Chief taught her to shoot?"
No one answered, and then Emmett mumbled a follow-up. "Too bad she might be with another guy though, this will kill Edward if it's true."
Esme leaned forward. "Maybe he was just her partner and he was offering support?"
Emmett looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and then Rosalie scoffed. "Clearly, he didn't expect her to be alone forever? That would just be cruel." And then she added her own two cents about spotting Bella in New York, standing in a theater line with the same dark haired man, and noting how comfortable they seemed together.
This further unsettled the family, and if Esme was capable of tears, they'd be flowing now as she realized her poor Edward, as happy as he might profess to be that she is living a normal life, would not take any of this well.
Rosalie shook her head. "This is what he wanted for her," she said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice. "This is why we left. She had no business being involved with us. She was always a step away from disaster."
Alice turned to her sister with hard eyes. "Do you think she's better off now? She could have been killed! And I can barely see her anymore! Do you have any idea what Edward will do if she dies? I've seen it!" Alice was shaking at the end of her rant, and Jasper had to soothe her with his gift.
Rosalie shook her head. "She's human, Alice. It would have been much worse for Edward – and for all of us – if she died because of her proximity to us. If something happens now…well, Edward can't blame himself for it."
She seemed to be working herself up. "What did he think was going to happen anyway? Humans are fragile, and temporary. He knew she would die sometime, and with her luck it would be sooner rather than later. The girl never did know what was safe. This," and she waved towards the television,"just proves it further!"
Alice looked livid. "You don't think Edward will blame himself anyway? Of course he will! He'll say something like he drove her to this or some nonsense!"
Carlisle could see Rosalie tensing for an argument - one that they had all too frequently since leaving Forks - and interjected himself before tempers rose. "Please, don't fight. Please. Things are tense enough as they are. And like it or not, we all agreed in the end to honor Edward's wishes. Bella lived on a knife's edge when she was with us, and he was adamant he would never change her."
His voice dropped to a whisper, though they all heard him. "No matter how much we loved her, no matter how much she brought Edward to life...Bella was never really going to be safe with us while she was human, and I never changed someone who was healthy and wasn't dying. Edward thought it was a perversion to even consider that, and in my deepest heart I cannot honestly say he was wrong. Could any of us justify ending Bella's human life while she was healthy and whole?"
His words immediately sobered them, as, save for maybe Alice, they knew he was right. Only she had seen the visions of Bella as a vampire, and they were too brief to get a clear idea on how she felt about being a vampire, save for a few visions that vanished shortly after they left Forks. After all, so long as Edward was adamant he would never change her, the decision wasn't made and the visions just didn't come. That was the main shortfall of her gift – free will.
The family were quiet for a while, all lost in their own thoughts. They had been in turmoil since leaving Forks those three years ago, and Edward's long absences and Alice's often melancholy demeanor did not help matters. When Alice was down, Jasper picked up on it and inadvertently spread her sadness around the house. He tried to control it, but it was impossible to do so all the time, and as a result Emmett and Rosalie had spent most of the past three years traveling through Europe and Africa. True, there were moments and sometimes even days when things almost felt normal again – like last Christmas – but without Edward there…well, they all felt the hole his absence caused.
"What should we do?" Esme finally asked the silent room.
When no one answered, Rosalie spoke again. "Should we do anything? It's her life to live - let's let her live it. She looks like she is living her life, even if it's not exactly what we envisioned."
Alice looked at her again, but with sad eyes instead of challenging ones. "Even if she finds herself in terrible danger? She won't have a chance to live her life if she is shot dead."
Emmett leaned forward, his normally happy face looking grim. "Have you seen that, Alice? Does something happen to her?"
Everyone waited for an answer, but Alice didn't have one. "I can barely see her anymore," she admitted sadly, shaking her head. "Just brief, out of context flashes. I don't know why."
A few more cursory comments were made, but when nothing had been decided, they drifted to various parts of the house, going about their business, all missing Bella in varying degrees. But even more, they missed Edward, and the happy face he'd worn for those wonderful six months he'd spent with Bella Swan.
Deep in their hearts, they wondered if Edward would ever recover. For eighty years he'd been a somewhat broody and aloof intellectual, and now they would happily welcome that version of Edward back. That was much better than the wounded shell that he was at the moment.
Alice knew, despite not having a vision of it, that when Bella finally passed on, that Edward fully intended to follow behind her.
She only hoped they'd have enough warning to stop him.
When she and Jasper left a few hours later for a quick hunt, Alice - for the first time in her immortal life – was wary of the passage of time.
The Helicarrier- 200 miles northwest of Bermuda
Flying at 10,000 feet over the stormy Atlantic, well outside of any commercial flight lanes, Harry gave Bella a brief wave as he walked back up towards the bridge of the Helicarrier. He smiled to himself, letting his mind drift to details of last night's lovemaking that they somehow managed to squeeze into their rather busy schedules. Bella ran off somewhere for more training with Romanoff, still trying to win a single round against the much more skilled senior Agent. She hadn't succeeded yet, but she was determined to give it her best despite the large number of bruises she was sporting.
She'd been relentless since her shootout with the bad guys in Georgetown.
For her part, Bella was feeling more determined than ever to master her shield. Unlike her past training sessions, she was now learning to use her shield as part of her hand to hand training and not just as a static barrier or a bludgeon. She had been lucky with it in the past, having it manifest during high stress situations. But she didn't want to rely on luck; she wanted to be able to use it at will, as part of her skillset to protect her teammates and herself.
Several times now she had been able to almost instantly create and hold a small shield just as a fist or kick would have hit her, almost by reflex. On their last run-through, she'd gone further, and had been able to wrap a shield around her left arm and use it to completely block a punch to her lower ribs. She then channelled power through the shield to throw Natasha's arm off balance, sending her tumbling back and causing the veteran agent to blink in surprise as Bella was in a perfect position to score a solid body blow.
Which she did, using her shield to augment her strength.
The flush feeling of success washed over her, but when she saw Natasha grimace her exclaiming words died on her lips. "Natasha are you okay?"
To her relief, Natasha just grinned. "Not bad, not bad. There's some hope for you yet."
Laughing, they took a short break, having a few sips of water and talking about what Bella had done differently. When Natasha turned to talk with one of the other Agents, Bella's mind raced through other ideas she wanted to try; perhaps she could 'grab' an opponent's limb in her shield, and hold him immobile. Or perhaps even more; perhaps she could twist it or crush it.
So many things to try!
She was also learning the feel of the shield, and how to manipulate it, shrinking it or tilting it with the end goal of being able to redirect attacks upon it towards a target of her choosing. She could just imagine being able to redirect gunfire back at the attackers, that would be an invaluable ability.
Bella was also practicing generating larger, more immobile but more powerful shields. In this, she was progressing faster, as she already had familiarity with static shields. She was learning how to 'push' her shield out in various shapes to either protect an area or an object or a group of people. At Fury's behest, some SHIELD techs had tested the strength of the shields and what they could withstand, so she would never be surprised at its limits in battle. To her surprise, her strongest shields could withstand a lot of direct damage, easily stopping a flamethrower and small arms and automatic weapons fire; she could also stop some of Harry's more moderately powerful spells, though his most powerful still caused the shield to waver and collapse.
Just yesterday Bella and some of the techs had stood on the windy flight deck while she projected her shield over a piece of wooden scaffolding they'd erected for this test, and she held the shield for almost three minutes while three agents poured automatic weapons fire at the target, quickly reloading as soon as they finished a magazine. The rat-tat-tat of the weapons had attracted quite the audience, and there had been a lot of thoughtful faces observing the test.
Thankfully, Bella had taken care to curve the shield outward so that the ricochets would fly out to sea, though they didn't chance it and everyone was behind solid barricades: no one wanted a rebounded bullet to kill someone.
The test had been a great success, with her holding off almost 600 rounds of ammunition before she felt the strain beginning to break the shield and called time on the test. Harry had smiled at her as deck crew cleaned up all the brass cartridge casings, and they'd left the flight deck with a speculative Fury watching them go.
Fury confided in her that once they were back in DC, he was going to have her taken out to the weapons range and see if her shield could stop larger caliber weapons, including 20mm and 30mm canon fire like those carried on troop carriers and helicopters. He had a bit of a manic glint in his eye when they spoke, and she swore that Brock, one of the higher ranked agents that worked with the Captain, had an almost hungry look on his face that she couldn't decipher.
Truthfully, the training was tough going, and Bella had many moments where she failed as often as not; but she was steadily improving and was excited at the thought of being able to protect herself and her teammates in this way.
Coming out of her thoughts as she watched Harry walk away, Bella realized she was feeling a bit claustrophobic on the carrier. For all the practice she was doing, she still felt like they were in a holding pattern, waiting on Loki's next move as they hunted for him. Harry - because of his ability to apparate, and because of Hermione's brilliance (as she figured out a way to plant a beacon so Harry could portkey to the moving carrier) - was the only member of the team that had been able to leave the carrier at will without utilizing one of the carrier shuttle planes, and Bella had taken to pouting at him to get him to take her along sometimes. True, he could take someone with him when he traveled, but so far none save Bella had felt so claustrophobic that they trusted the old wooden spoon that served as the portkey. The fact that they didn't have clearance from Fury to leave the ship may have had something to do with it, of course.
Sighing, Bella let her mind drift again over the events of the past week, remembering the many stressful moments. One of the worst was the reactions of her parents to seeing her on the news. It had taken her almost two hours on the phone with her rather frantic Mother and only slightly calmer Father. The news footage had been steady all week, and now there were dozens of YouTube posts about the fight, with thousands of comments about her, calling her a 'gunslinger' and comparing the fight to the showdown at the O.K Corral. She'd also had dozens of texts from people that she rarely spoke to, who were suddenly 'concerned' but really just wanted the gossip.
The theories about how the car 'disintegrated' around her were even more outrageous, but thankfully none of them discussed magic or shields. The leading consensus seemed to be some sort of explosive charge built into the chassis.
Bella wandered off towards the labs where Doctor Banner was working, thinking about the briefing she'd walked into this morning. Harry and Fury looked like they were locked into some sort of a stare-down, and it had taken her a bit to understand what was going on. From what Bella gathered, Harry's last trip to London was in response to Hermione informing him that the ministry sensors had picked up a strange energy reading from Muggle London that had similar characteristics to what she had detected last year in the desert near Puente Antiguo.
Unfortunately and ominously, the two Ministry Wizards who had gone to investigate had not returned, and the Director of Magical Law Enforcement was now putting together a team to go find out what was going on in there. They'd asked Harry to lead the team, as he was Head Auror, even while currently on 'loan' to SHIELD. However, Fury wanted the op to be under SHIELD auspices, which delayed anything from happening as the two sides squabbled over operational authority. Finally, though, after some wrangling and saber rattling, the op was finally on.
The briefing for the mission was finally called, and Harry and Fury walked into a briefing room, flanked by Coulson and a Senior Agent Brock, who would lead the small ground team that would accompany Potter and his Aurors. Romanoff had wanted to come - especially as she was very eager to free Barton from whatever control Loki him under - but Fury had no idea if Barton was even at this location and ordered her to stay behind, as she and the Cap were leading the team that would engage and hopefully apprehend Loki whenever he was found. Since they had no idea what this London mission would turn up - if anything - they needed to stay close. If Banner's scans picked him up somewhere, Fury wanted them on the first jet off the carrier, not mucking around in a bunker in London where communications would be sketchy and had a high probability of being a wild-goose chase. After all, the energy burst had occurred several days ago, and there had not been a repeat of those readings again.
Fury suspected that whatever might have been down there was long gone.
Without any formalities, Fury flipped on the screen to start the briefing, which was showing a satellite image of London. Zooming in several times, a small dock area was highlighted, with red x markings in several places.
Fury's voice was clinical. "This is the location where the last trace of the Auror team came from. It matches very closely with the coordinates Ms. Granger provided to us about the energy burst." Letting them study the screen for a moment, Fury turned to Potter. "We need to know what's down there, Mr. Potter. If its Loki or his goons, or some equipment they left behind – we need to know."
"And if it is Loki?" Harry asked, looking at the images with a critical eye. Though he asked, he seriously doubted Loki was there. After all, they'd sent Aurors in who had not returned. Surely Loki would know that was a serious red flag and that a follow up team was going to investigate.
Arrogant he may be, but Harry didn't think he was stupid.
As he continued to scrutinize the screen, he was relieved that at least the location was isolated. If there was something down there…if a fight did break out, this part of London was mostly dilapidated industrial and commercial buildings, not far from the river. At night, when the businesses were closed, there should be very few civilians around.
Fury answered his question, interrupting his thoughts. "If you find anything there – even if you think it's a couple of homeless people making a campfire - call in for backup before engaging. We know Loki can spin illusions, so you can't necessarily trust your eyes." His gaze swept over everyone in the room, making sure they understood their instructions. "Remember, our target is the Tesseract. First and foremost. Without it, Loki is not nearly the threat he might otherwise be. With it…well, I am sure you understand."
When Romanoff opened her mouth to speak, Fury cut her off. "Tesseract first, then Loki, then that Scepter, and only then Barton. In that order." His eyes bored into Natasha's. "Are we clear?"
Romanoff took a deep breath. "Understood, sir."
Fury met her eyes for a few more seconds. "We all want him back, Agent."
She nodded, acquiescing for now.
He let his eyes sweep the team again. "So, I repeat - if Loki is there - unless his escape is imminent - do not engage without relaying us what you find. We will then bring down enough forces to make sure he can't get away again. Understood?"
"Yes sir," said Brock, answering for his team.
Harry nodded as well, his eyes back on the map, which had now switched to old style architectural blueprints of the abandoned bunker. It was huge, with several corridors intersecting a large central passageway. Looking down at the blueprint, it was almost like the central corridor was a spine and the side passageways were like ribs. When Harry looked at the actual dimensions, he squinted as he realized some of the corridors were only a few meters wide. This would give someone defending a large advantage, as many of the corridors were only wide enough for a few people to pass in formation.
Fury kept them a few moments longer while thin folders were passed around, which included the blueprints, call signs, and other particulars.
"You leave at sixteen hundred hours. Dismissed."
Unfortunately for Bella's unhealed bruises, Romanoff was especially annoyed during their afternoon training. Natasha felt useless sitting there while Barton was under Loki's thrall - and she might have been a bit distracted and gone a bit harder on Bella than she normally would have in their sparring. They threw a series of punches at each other, but the Widow evaded them all. She followed-up with several devastating kicks that thankfully skidded off of Bella's shield: they would have been seriously bruising, at the least. But Romanoff was too good, and Harry - who had come to find her after speaking to Banner for a few minutes after the briefing - winced after watching Bella try and twist out of a low blow that her shield failed to block. Bella crashed into the mats with enough force to leave her breathless, and then a follow up kidney jab by Romanoff put Bella out for the round.
Harry's hands clenched as he watched her moaning in pain and frustration, favoring her left side. His eyes cut angrily to Romanoff, who let out a small breath before she stepped forward and offered a hand to Bella. He could see her weighing the possibility of a trick - Natasha could be a real devil - but thankfully she generally liked Bella. Harry didn't even want to imagine her injuries if she didn't.
Bella accepted the offered hand, being careful of any sudden shifts in weight from the crafty assassin that might indicate a trick... There was none, however, and Harry smiled fondly when Bella took a long swig from her canteen before noticing him and favoring him with a wide smile despite her obvious pain.
When he caught her rubbing her ribs when she thought he wasn't watching, he just knew he'd be applying bruise paste to her battered skin later on.
And then of course, he'd kiss it better.
Once he got back from his mission.
I have about 2/3 of the next chapter done, which brings us past the Germany scene. Hope to have it up soon, but no promises.