The Ant and the Boot

Either one took a side as we took off into the morning light, one to the left and one to the right on a stiff metal bench that pressed tightly against the side of the aircraft. I glanced up and saw that, instead of the usual configuration, Clint and Bruce piloted the plane. Huh. I hadn’t known that Bruce could pilot. Steve stood to the side of them and Tony had vanished somewhere in the back of the plane. I glanced at each person to either side and nodded politely in greeting. Pepper smiled, her soft orange hair pulled into a tight ponytail that made her almost look like a cheerleader, though the loose shirt she wore to conceal her small but growing bump detracted from that. Natasha’s expression, on the other hand, didn’t change but she nodded, resting a hand on my shoulder.

“How are you feeling?” Natasha asked, her leather gloves soft but firm against my shoulder. I shrugged, glancing at her. The ground underneath my feet hummed.

“Morning sickness wasn’t too bad,” I replied, though in truth that was probably because I really hadn’t slept. I’d been up all night thinking, but if you asked me about what I couldn’t tell you.

“That’s not what she meant,” Pepper said, sighing but smiling. She took one of my hands in one of hers, long, manicured nails shifting in the metallic sheen of the plane. “We’re girls, we know something’s up.”

I raised an eyebrow and glanced at Natasha. She shrugged.

“Cap mentioned that he found out about this through you. We guessed that something happened,” Natasha explained. I nodded, cracking a smile and leaning back. My neck cracked as I shifted backward. Should I tell them? What would they say to the others?

“Why do you love Tony and Clint?” I asked, pursing my lips. I watched their expressions carefully as I spoke. Natasha’s lips puckered and her brows furrowed; Pepper’s face froze in a confused expression until a smile cracked the corners of her mouth. Pepper sighed and nodded, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“So Loki contacted you,” Pepper said, a smile still on her face. She glanced away, smile marks crinkling the corners of her eyes. I looked away, too; I knew that they’d be able to see the truth in my eyes.

“Why do you love them?” I persisted.

Pepper truly was a beautiful woman. Her lips softened into a quirky half smile as she bit lightly at her lip, her eyes giving off that steamy look that only comes when you think about too many night spent in the embraces of a lover.

“Something about the way he talks, his infuriating smile and the way he just…” Pepper laughed, closing her eyes. I nodded, trying to understand. I turned to Natasha.

“We’ve been through everything together,” she replied, her tone neutral, though I could hear the undertones running underneath. “He’s seen me at my best – at my worst – and he stays anyway. He never left me, no matter what I did. He always cared.”

I nodded, looking down at my open palms. Power arced between my spread fingers.

“When I was trapped in Asgard,” I whispered to both of them, my mind drifting back to that day, “I felt so scared. So alone. I was terrified of Loki, of what he’d done to me when he invaded my mind – but when I was there and he lost his voice we learned to communicate without words. He was so… gentle with me, caring for me since I couldn’t take care of myself. He literally became my world since I couldn’t leave that room; listen to what I said and holding me…”

I cut myself off, swallowing. I hoped my voice hadn’t carried beyond the three of us. Pepper’s hand lightly touched my back, soothing me.

“I know he’s got problems, serious problems, and he’s done horrible, horrible things, but…” I swallowed, biting my lip. “He knows about the baby and he’s told me he wants to take care of his child. It’s some Asgardian thing, I don’t know, something about honor,” I waved my hand. “I don’t know if I can believe him, but… I just…”

Natasha took my hand on the other side, wrapping it in both of hers.

“Gods work in mysterious ways,” she said with a smile, looking at me. “I don’t like him and I don’t know if you can trust him, to be honest, but I want to know if he’s really willing to change for his child. He could be a great asset.”

“He gave me the location as an affirmation of his words,” I said softly, lowering my head.

“And you told Steve?” Pepper asked, looking at me.

“No. He heard the whole thing. He confronted me about it later.”

Pepper and Natasha exchanged a look, Pepper almost wincing.

“And how did that go, honey?” Pepper asked.

“Well enough. He was unhappy to say the least, but it was short enough.”

Pepper’s hand patted me in soft, rhythmic thumps. I looked up just as she planted her lips on my cheek.

“I might not be a superhero or a god, like you guys,” she said, “but I’ve dealt with some of the most delusional, egomaniacal, infuriating men alive. If you ever want to understand what’s going on, you’ve got to ride this out.”

“He killed eighty people in two days,” Natasha retorted in a deadpan voice, “then destroyed Manhattan.”

“He’s not a part of the most recent attacks,” I said quickly. “He didn’t know they were happening until recently.”

“So he says.”

“He risked it all to come see Dove,” Pepper pointed out, looking at Natasha.

“That’s because Tony dared him to,” I said, looking down at the ground. Pepper and Natasha exchanged another look.

“I think he’s a double agent,” Natasha said.

“I think we should trust Tony,” Pepper replied.

I felt like I had an angel and a devil on each shoulder, bickering over my head. I sighed, standing.

“I’m sorry,” I said, looking at them. “I just need some space – please.”

They let me go with another one of those impossible glances and I found my way to a back corner of the jet. I watched Natasha get up and take over piloting the plane, easily sliding into the control seat and sliding on the captain’s headset. Bruce moved aside for her easily, standing and looking at me. He gave me a light wave, a half-smile crossing his lips. I waved back, inviting him over. He came with his head bowed, looking tired and unintimidating. It was hard to believe such a gentle man could become a beast.

“You look unhappy,” Bruce said, speaking so quietly that the hum of the engines almost completely drowned him out. I chuckled darkly in response.

“Girl talk wears me down quickly. I just need time to recover.”

He gave me a knowing look, leaning against one of the curved metal walls. It almost wasn’t tall enough for him.

“You’ve been thinking more about what I told you?” he asked, glancing at me. I nodded, refusing to meet his gaze.

“Yeah, a little.”

“You shouldn’t.”

Again I didn’t lift my head to look at him. I had been thinking about it – a little. I knew he wouldn’t want me to. I didn’t want to see the disappointment or worry in his eyes.

“I won’t act on it,” I promised, “Not now. Not after…”

“- After Loki visited you and said he’d switch sides. You figure you’re too valuable right now.”

I looked up at him, blinking. “How did you know? Did Steve tell you?”

Bruce shrugged, pushing his glasses higher on his nose. He looked very calm, understanding – no disappointment or judgment. I was thankful for that.

“I knew Tony was trying to lure him out, see what he would do. An anonymous tip just seemed too convenient and I didn’t think Steve would trust it if he didn’t know the source.”

All these people are so goddamn logical, Dove thought, closing my eyes.

“Hey, doctor?” I asked, staring at the blackness behind my eyelids. “How do you know when you’re in love?”

“You are,” he replied calmly. “In your own strange, somewhat perverse way. You can see it on you. Except yours is more like a plague since you don’t know what to do with it.”

I snorted. “I’ve never heard love compared to the plague.”

“I didn’t think you’d ever been in love with a god, either.”

“I am a god.”

“But you’re mortal at heart. And I know you’re afraid of your powers, just like I am.”

I blinked, looking at him. This… this was true.

“Doc,” I said quietly, “How does it feel – for you? Being as powerful as you are but not knowing if you can control it?”

I watched his face, his expressions shifting over them: sadness, fear, barely contained anger, then calm resolution.

“I’m afraid most of the time – angry or guilty the rest. I always have to be over cautious, wondering ‘will this set me off? Can someone get hurt if I get too engaged with this?’” Bruce replied calmly, staring distantly straight ahead. “It’s stopped me from doing a lot of things – getting into big cities, meeting new people, making friends… and falling in love, like you.” Bruce laughed. “I’m happy for you, to be honest; at least there are people like you that you can mingle with. You’re more like Steve than me. People are comfortable around you and look up to you.”

“I’m comfortable around you and look up to you,” I said, looking at him. He smiled.

“Thanks, but you’ve only seen me in action in really controlled environments. I know Natasha’s still not totally comfortable after the attack on the S.H.I.E.L.D base.”

This was true. Natasha and Bruce, though friendly, never seemed to mingle much. I guess that was why. My shoulders slumped as I sighed.

“I still look up to you,” I said. “You’re one of the easiest people to talk to.”

“I appreciate the gesture,” he said, smiling. He came up next to me, patting my back.

“Think you’re going to be able to do this?” he asked, looking at me. “If Loki shows up, do you think you can stick with us?”

“Yes,” I replied. “I love you guys, too – just not quite in the same way.”

“I’d hope not. I think it would be frowned upon if a network of superhumans decided to have orgies,” Bruce said with a smile. I let out a bark of laughter, shocked to hear those words come out of his mouth.

“I guess not,” I agreed with a wide grin. He smiled back and shrugged.

The plane started to make a strange rattling sound, the ground jumping under our feet. Turbulence. I stiffened, knowing that when things got rocky it could just as easily be a supernatural cause as a natural one.

“I’m going to go check with Tony in the back, I’ll be back soon though,” Banner said slowly, watching the roof. “Can you take care of things here?”

“Long enough for you to chat with Stark? Sure,” I replied, watching the ceiling as well. “Between Thor and I we should be able to hold them off, even if it is an Asgardian or something like it.”

“And if the plane goes into sudden descent?”

I swallowed, nervously tapping into my power. They hummed in my blood, sending arcs of energy between my fingers.

“Then I better be able to handle it.”

“That’s the spirit,” Bruce said, though his voice sounded more distracted than enthusiastic. With that he vanished somewhere behind me, a steel door sliding open then closed. All the while I stared at the ceiling, waiting to see if anything happened.



I leaned back as Jarvis played the last of the night’s events to me over my headset. I was really glad that I didn’t bring the visual to go along with the audio – even so there was something distinctly disturbing and voyeuristic about listening to Loki and Dove that made my skin crawl.

“Horny fucking gods,” I growled, wadding a piece of paper and throwing it into the trashcan, “Messing with that girl’s mind in Shakespearean.”

“So is that what that was?”

I spun around in my spinny-chair, leaning back. I recognized Bruce’s voice, so I wasn’t concerned.

“How much did you listen to?” I asked casually. I pulled out a bag of blueberries, similar to the bag I shared when we first worked together, and popped on in my mouth before offering him one.

“Enough,” Bruce replied, shrugging. “You think he means it?”

“He is the god of Mischief and Lies. But I think he might bend the rules a bit where his kid is on the line. It’s a royalty thing, I guess,” I replied, resting my hands behind my head. “What’s your take?”

“We’re putting a goddess who doesn’t fully understand her powers under a lot of pressure. Just because she’s pretty doesn’t mean she can’t turn into an uncontrolled force of nature – like me,” Bruce replied, sitting down. “If Loki is using her she could lose it.”

“Us,” I corrected. “Using us.”

“She’s the one who’s pregnant because of it.”

“Touché.”

I popped another blueberry into my mouth, mulling this over.

“You know, the kid is stronger than I think any of us are giving her credit for,” I said, thinking aloud. “She can handle Loki. We should just be working on the problem at hand – Thanos, the Chitauri.”

Bruce had a strange look on his face when I looked at him. I raised an eyebrow and he shook his head.

“There’s more going on than just that,” he sighed, sinking into a plastic folding chair across from me that had been propped up against the wall. With that he explained to me what he had discovered about the Tesseract – and Dove’s connection to it. When I was able to lift my jaw up off the floor I finally replied, sitting up in my seat.

“The damn girl’s not thinking about killing herself, is she?” I sputtered. Bruce shook his head.

“She thought about it, but she’s not for now. I’d keep an eye on her though.”

I leaned back, running my fingers through my hair. “Hell, Bruce, why would you drop a load like that one someone? That’s just mean.”

“Like exposing them to the public when all they want to do is hide?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. Touché again. “Because eventually Fury is going to figure it out and I don’t think he’s going to care as much as us about Dove’s welfare.”

I clenched and unclenched my fists, looking at the ground. “So you’re saying we need to figure out a better way to cut off power to the Tesseract before Fury figures out what we know.”

“Something like that, or else he’s not going to be too nice to her about being alive. He tends to care more about a lot of people than one – and besides, since her father sacrificed himself for S.H.I.E.L.D Fury will probably think it’s justified for her to do the same.”

“Because we’re all goddamn soldiers in his eyes,” I growled.

“Soldiers, spies, and lab rats,” Bruce nodded.

I ran my hand over my mouth, thinking about it. I glanced back at the recording file, still pulled up on the screen of my personal computer. I scratched my chin.

“And how’s Captain Crunch taking all this? Or does he know any of it?” I asked, looking at Bruce. “After all, he knew we should go to Mexico. The tip is on the tape.”

“He doesn’t know about the Tesseract,” Bruce replied. “Why? What’s Steve got to do with any of this?”

I raised an eyebrow, thinking of Mr. Spangly-pants and his incessant comments, looks, and dark eyes at Dove over the last few weeks.

“Because Stars and Stripes has his stars set on a certain goddess,” I said, nodding my head toward the front of the plane, “And I think we can count on some good ol’ American spirit to keep Dove safe from Fury and the public until we get this sorted out.”

Bruce’s face contorted into a half-smile, half-grimace as she looked at me, folding his arms over his chest.

“You really think so?” he asked. “I thought he’d like someone more… American.”

“Given that his star-spangled tights get all in a bunch every time I mention her, I’d say yes,” I replied. “But that’s beside the point. I think between Thor and Cap we can keep her out of trouble.”

“Loki came waltzing into our base last night and almost created twins on your couch. You don’t call that trouble?”

I frowned, but replied, “I mean the scary agent or scary paparazzi type.” Still, I offered him another blueberry. He took it.

“You know, I feel like I personally prevented Loki from having sex – by proxy,” I said, leaning back in my chair and smiling. “There’s something very satisfying about that.”

“I think you just like tripping on your ego, and since Loki’s almost as big of an egomaniac as you it’s double the fun,” Bruce replied, raising an eyebrow. “It’s like watching the war of the divas.”

“And I am the better Diva,” I replied, sniffing. “My music is better and I have dancing girls. He just has a glowstick that shoots lazers.”

“And, you know, immortality. And the potential power to enslave the human race.”

“You’re a killjoy, Banner. A total spoilsport.”

“Just pointing out the facts.”

“Sourpuss.”

He smiled at me, looking sweet and innocent in a way that a grown man shouldn’t be able to, let alone a grown man who could turn into a giant green rage monster at will.

“You sure you don’t have a really big bag of weed stashed away somewhere?”

“No weed. Just deep breathing exercises and pictures of kittens,” he replied, smiling in a way that I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. It was part of why I liked Bruce: you could never quite figure him out. Same with Pepper – god I loved her, even if I wondered if she was bipolar sometimes and her hormones occasionally raged as if she was menopausal.

The turbulence bounced us around slightly as we hit some rough patches and I looked up, half expecting another Asgardian to fall on our roof like Thor had. Alas, no more impromptu Shakespeare in the park this day. Soon after a soft dinging noise rang through our cabin, a little orange light flashing on above the door.

“Holy hell won’t you look at that. We made it here in one piece,” I said, raising my eyebrows and looking at Bruce. He raised his too and shrugged.

“Who knows, maybe the only one expecting us is Loki. Wouldn’t that be a nice turn of events,” Bruce replied.

“The Trickster tricking the other guy? That’d be nice,” I said. “We should probably get up front – this landing could get eventful.”

“That it may,” Bruce replied, shooting me a glance. “Got any pointy objects? I might need to get angry.”

“Hey doc, you forget, I know your secret,” I said, tapping my skull. “You’re always angry.”



I watched the aircraft come down from a nearby rooftop, its decent scattering sand and dust into the air. On the horizon I could also see the droves of Chitauri nearing the village – they would not be prepared, I knew, for resistance, the Leviathans left locked away. I knelt in my hiding place, watching the two masses come toward each other over the edge of the village. As they landed I lifted my scepter, pointing it at the Avenger’s aircraft.

“Be safe, my love,” I whispered. “You shall be blessed by my hand this day.”

And with a wave of dust and smoke the battle began, my queen arcing into the sky in an aura of shimmering blue light. Her wings danced as a herald to the storm – my lovely angel of death.