A Taste of Vengeance

“Who are you to think you have the right to shoot a God?” Thor screamed in my face. To add extra effect, the thunder crashed around the jet, rattling everyone and everything inside it. I was no longer afraid by the Norse God, seeing that he was far kinder than he seemed to be. At least that’s what his mind said.

Loki was on the medic table, strapped down while Tony fished around for the bullet, trying to get it out before his skin heeled over the hot piece of metal. Loki heeled much faster than even Captain America did, and he would have been fine. If the bullet wasn’t from a private stash of adamantium. It wasn’t as rare as the verbranium, but it was nearly just as strong.

“I will shoot anyone that threatens me.” It was another threat, and Thor new it.
He took a menacing step forward, pointing at me. “You dare threaten, me, human? I’m King of Asgard, you have no right-“
“I have every right!” I cut him off angrily. “Your brother invaded our planet, has killed scores of innocent people, and plans to wipe out the planet all because you were unable to keep him detained there. I have every right to threaten you, Thor Odinson.”
Loki’s chortle could be heard, followed by a grunt of pain. “She is different, brother. I rather like her sense of inhumanity.” He hissed in pain again, as Tony purposely ripped the bullet out extra hard, smirking at Loki.
“Sorry, Reindeer Games. It slipped.”

Thor turned away from me angrily, running his hands along his hammer. I could tell that he was struggling with the news he had just received about his brother, and the fact that he knew I was not truly the cause of his anger. I turned my back on him as well, taking a seat next to the Cap who had been studying us from afar.

I had said nothing about the incident where I thought he was killed; every time I thought about it, blood rushed to my cheeks and I could hear Loki telling me that my glacial effect was no longer working. It was something about Steve Rogers that melted the ice cube act, and it was effortless for him. He hadn’t even been trying anything except to extend his hand in friendship.

“Thanks for the save, earlier today,” he said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. “It’s uh, cool how you do that wall thingy.”
I grinned at him. “I thought you were getting better at talking to girls.”
His face went crimson. “When I forget that you’re a girl I can. Like when I see you as a strong, unyielding soldier, it’s easier.”
I frowned. “Gee, thanks for forgetting I was a girl.”

I stood up and left him fumbling an apology after me. The words were harmless, and he was simply being honest, but they had bothered me. He was near pointing out a flaw of mine, one that I hated the most: guys didn’t like girls who were stronger than they were. Besides Agent Hill and Agent Romanoff, I was one of the strongest female counterparts of SHIELD, no question about it. I was stronger than a plethora of men as well, and that didn’t always sit well with my male coworkers.

I sat down next to Natasha with a frown still on my face. She glanced at me, her green eyes curious but she said nothing, which was one of my favorite qualities about her. Even when she wanted to know everything you were thinking, she never asked. And in a way, being an interrogator, she got the information without asking anyways.

Steve Rogers really had no idea the affect he had on people, clearly, and I suddenly became angry with myself that I had even let my mind trick itself into thinking anything of him. He clearly was not attempting to win my affection; he didn’t even think of me as a girl. He simply saw me as a solider, as he saw everyone else in this jet.

“We’re here,” Natasha called, flicking switches and preparing to land.
I pulled on a head set, flicking it on. “Home base this is Nighthawk requesting permission to land, we have the hostile Alpha Lima India Echo November, over.”
There was transmission before Agent Hills voice replied, “Permission granted, Nighthawk. Report back to Charlie Romeo after hostile has been taken with security agents.”

I had no idea why Agent Hill would be using the NATO alphabet to simply tell us to report to the control room, but I flicked off the radio without question. Perhaps she didn’t want Loki to know where the team would be assembling. Or perhaps she thought unwanted ears were listening, although I was almost positive Barton knew the code language all the same.

Once on the ground, a force loaded and armed took Loki with them on Director Fury’s orders, leading him away from us and towards the cells. I turned my back and began walking to the control room when I felt a pair of eyes on my back, cold and unwanted. I turned to see Loki cast a single glance over his shoulder, smile curving his mouth, sly and evil. Something was not right.

We reported back to the control and sat down, tired and wary. Agent Hill brought up the security feeds and we watched in silence as Loki was guided to a large room with a glass cell, something I didn’t think that would hold him. Fury was waiting there for him, his face set into a grim anger, hands crossed behind his back.

Loki was placed in the cell and it was sealed shut. Fury motioned for the others to leave them, and they did without hesitation, letting the two men face off in a silent, yet powerful confrontation.

Loki stood silently and calmly, like a lion watching it’s prey in the yellow grasses of the plains. His eyes followed Fury as he paced back and forth, his green orbs holding nothing but pure amusement. It even seemed that he was fighting not to smile or sneer.

“In case it’s unclear,” Fury stated, finally breaking the silence, “If you try to escape- if you so much as scratch that glass-“ he broke off, touching a few buttons here and there and open the floor to reveal a gapping hole in which he would fall thousands of feet down. Loki walked to the edge, gazing at it. “-30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap. You understand?”
Loki grinned then, showing his teeth in a most feral manner before laughing. “It’s a most impressive cage, not built I think, for me.”
“Built for something a lot stronger than you.” Fury meant it as an insult, but it failed to irritate Loki. In fact, it managed to cause everyone one of us in the command room to look up awkwardly as Bruce walked into the room.
Loki laughed without humor once again and looked directly at the camera, causing us all to freeze as he murmured, “A mindless beast, which plays the part of a man. How desperate are you, to call upon such lost creatures? A solider out of time, a woman bleeding with crimes, a man to broken to care for anyone but himself and a mutant who is self destructive.” I mentally flinched at his words.
“Desperate?” Fury inquired, walking towards the glass. “You threaten my world with war, you steal a weapon you could never hope to control.” He paused at the glass, leveling his steely gaze with Loki’s. “You talk about peace and you kill because it’s fun. You have made me very desperate. And you might not be glad that you did.”
Loki was unimpressed. “Ooh. It burns you to come so close, to have the tesseract to have power- unlimited power- and for what?” he sneered again, looking at the cameras, knowing we were watching. “A warm light for all man kind to share? And to only be reminded of what real power his.”
Fury laughed ruefully, done with the conversation. “Tell me if real power wants a magazine or something.”

Agent Hill turned off the security feed, clearly done with listening to the folly coming from the hostiles mouth. I looked at the people sitting around the table, knowing his words have burned each and everyone one of us. To be called out on our flaws as a person- a human being- is something that is a weakness of each and every one of us. Loki knows how to push our buttons, to stick salt in our wounds. And he had done so well.

“He really grows on you, doesn’t he?” Bruce’s sarcasm was a weak attempt to cover the hurt, but although all of us saw through it, we said nothing.
“He’s going to drag this out,” Steve mumbled, tapping the table in thought. “So, Thor? What’s his play?”
When Thor didn’t answer for several moments I spoke up. “I understand Loki is unpredictable, but if you can guess at his plan, we’d be most appreciative.”
He didn’t look at us as he answered. “He has an army, named the Chitauri. They are neither of Asgard nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people… he means to win them the earth. In return, I suspect, for the tesseract.”
“But at what cost?” I whispered. The question hung in the air, unanswered.
Steve sighed. “An army? From outer space?”
“He’s building another portal.” Bruce removed his glasses, glancing at each of us as he spoke. “That’s what he needs Eric Selvig for.”
“Selvig?” Thor seemed surprised and concerned all at once.
“He’s a scientist,” I said, filling him in.
“He’s an astrophysicist,” Bruce corrected, throwing a slightly amused glance at me. I simply rolled my eyes and made a face at him.
“He’s a friend.”

The concern and worry in Thor’s face was clear, and I recalled the images of Selvig from his past, as well as a woman named Jane. They had helped Thor when he was banished from his home here. They were the first people he had ever met, and they had shown him a kindness that sealed his protection against the earth forever. Selvig was a person to thank for having the help of Thor. I knew we should ironically be thankful.

“Loki has Selvig under some sort of mind control. He has one our own under as well,” Natasha explained, glancing at me.
“He was no ordinary man, either, Barton,” I continued. “Whatever Loki is using to control them is strong, and foreign to us. He seems to be one step ahead…”
“He has to be.” Steve shook his head. “What I want to know is why he let us take him. He’s not leading an army from here.”

Steve was absolutely right. Loki could have easily gotten away from us that night. We outnumbered him four to one and yet… he never seemed quite uncomfortable or scared. He knew he was going to be captured that night, and he was perfectly satisfied with that fact. If I had been in his place, I would have fought like hell to get out of there. No… something was going on, and I was beginning to think it was beyond us. Bruce seemed to think differently.

“I think we need to look beyond Loki. That guys mind is like a bag of cats, you can smell the crazy coming off of him-“
“Mind how you speak,” Thor intoned darkly, taking a step forward. “Loki may be beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother.”
Natasha snorted, looking at Thor in annoyance. “He killed 80 people in two days.”
He paused. “He’s adopted.”
“He still did it,” Natasha said, cocking her head to the side.
“He’s still family,” I found myself saying before realizing it. “If he could be convinced to stop this madness-"
“He isn’t going to stop,” Steve said, shaking his head.
“This make come as a surprise to you, Captain Know It All, but people can always turn around and walk back up the road. It’s never to late until they’re dead.”
“Is that what they taught you in mutant school?” Tony asked, walking through the doors. “Would have thought they taught you something more, I don’t know, useful?”
“I think it’s more about the mechanics,” Bruce said loudly, trying to defuse the building tension in the room. Both Tony and I shut up right away, realizing what kind of atmosphere that we were creating. A stressful situation is the last thing that Bruce Banner needed to be in, and the last thing I wanted to see was The Other Guy.

Out of habit, I slide my hand under the table, setting it on my thigh where I knew a small knife was hidden. Bruce didn’t see the movement, but both Steve and Natasha looked away from me when I looked up. They were just as uncomfortable as me, knowing that a man with the potential to break Harlem was standing in a room filled with people.

I was beginning to notice that that was the thing about this group of people. It seemed, that although one of us may get along with the other, we were a completely incompetent group. While I worked along side Natasha great, the same could not be said for Tony and I, or Tony and Steve, or myself and Thor. We were a ticking time bomb, waiting for the right atmosphere to explode, and when it did, it would be glorious.

I couldn’t understand what Fury was thinking, bringing together a group of broken heroes. We were exactly what Loki said- lost creatures, made up of bad habits, bad decisions, and emotional issues. Once upon a time, we could have been great; we could have been the shining team, the Avengers. I was slowly beginning to think that maybe we would be the end of the world. Maybe we were destroyers.

My thoughts broke away when I heard Tony shouted, “That man is playing Galaga! He thought we wouldn’t notice, but we did.” He then looked at the screen, raising a hand and covering an eye before shaking his head. “How did Fury even see these?”
Hill crossed her arms, not amused. “He turns.”
“Ugh sounds exhausting. Alrighty, the rest of the raw materials Barton can get easily,” he continued, tapping on computer screens here and there. “All he really needs is a big power source, something to kick start the cube.”
“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?” Hill asked, eyebrow rose.
“Thermo-what?” I demanded, the word giving me a complex.
“Last night. You know, the notes. Am I the only one who did the reading?”
“You’re the only one who did something for once.
He pointed at me. “You. Hush. Now.”
“Is there any particular kind of power source?” Steve glanced at me, annoyed. He was always the one to get us back on track. The perfect solider, go figure.

Bruce and Tony began explaining a process that no one but them understood. I felt the urge to make a snide comment about their incredible geek language, but I held my tongue, deciding it was better if the two geniuses figured out the problem at hand.

“Finally,” Tony admonished. “Someone who speaks English!”
“Is that what just happened?” Steve asked me.
“No, I think they were speaking Microsoft.”
“Oh please, Microsoft is outdated,” Tony retorted. “Then again, you’re talking to Yankee doodle, better if you use old terms.” He turned to Bruce. “Your work is truly unparalleled. I’m also a fan of how you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.”
“Oh my God I’m leaving.” I pushed up from my chair and walked past them shaking my head.

One thing I was sure of after that: the world’s most powerful idiots surrounded me.