We walked inside the helicarrier and were immediately met by Director Fury. The one-eyed man greeted Banner first, shaking his hand firmly. “Doctor, thank you for coming.”
“Thanks for asking nicely,” Banner replied, his dark gaze flitting around the room. “So, uh, how long am I staying?”
“Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you’re in the clear,” Fury told him.
Banner nodded, wringing his hands together nonchalantly. “Where are you with that?”
Fury turned to a middle-aged man with a content look on his face. I quickly placed him as Agent Coulson, someone mentioned in the briefing packet. “We’re sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it’s connected to a satellite, it’s eyes and ears for us.”
“That’s still not going to find it in time,” Natasha chimed in.
I nodded in agreement. “You have to narrow the field. That’s the only way we’ll have a chance to get this Loki guy and the cube.”
“Yeah,” Banner said. “How many spectrometers do you have access to?” Fury’s face contorted in a subtle confusion, letting the doctor know exactly what he needed. “Okay. Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I’ll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?”
Fury nodded, gesturing to Natasha. “Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please.” Natasha nodded, leading Banner away.
• • •
I stood next to Steve and Agent Coulson, watching them talk while waiting for Loki to be found. They were discussing the different agents clicking away at their computers, and at this point, I was itching for one of them to announce they’d found something. I was caught in the crossfire of Coulson working up the nerve to ask Steve for his signature on some collector’s cards, while Steve was trying to not make the interaction awkward. Spoiler alert: it *was* awkward.
“I mean, if it’s not too much trouble,” Coulson said to Steve, holding out a card.
“No, no. It’s fine,” Steve assured him.
“It’s a vintage set. Took me a couple years to collect them all. Near mint, slight foxing around the edges, but—" Coulson was cut off by one of the technicians.
“We got a hit,” he announced.
“Finally,” I muttered with relief, beelining for the computer screen.
He continued, “Sixty-seven percent match. Wait—cross match, seventy-nine percent.”
“Location?” Coulson asked as I looked over at Fury.
The technician relayed the location, and Fury looked between Steve and me, turning to Steve and nodding. “Captain, you’re up.”
Steve bowed his head slightly, walking off.
• • •
I sat next to Natasha in one of the jets as we flew to Loki’s location. “Right up here,” I said, eyes glued to the radar and GPS screens. She slowed the jet down with a few flips of switches and a toggle of the control stick, bringing it to a hover.
“Loki, drop the weapon and stand down,” Natasha demanded, activating the external speaker system.
I saw Loki’s face contort. My own mouth pulled into a soft frown. “He’s not going to stand down.”
Loki lifted his scepter upwards, then thrust it in our direction, sending a blast at the jet. Natasha yanked on the yoke, quickly maneuvering the jet out of the way.
Captain America appeared from below, taking this time to throw his shield at Loki. They began to fight, Loki deflecting Steve’s shield when he threw it. He caught Steve at the right moment and knocked him down, standing over him, his scepter pointed at the blue helmet covering half his features.
“This guy’s all over the place,” Natasha observed.
Before I could respond, a warning flashed on the monitors.
PA SYSTEM OVERRIDE.
Music started playing—AC/DC, if I wasn’t mistaken—and I facepalmed, already hearing Tony Stark’s voice over the communication radio. “Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?”
Stark flew over in his red and gold suit, firing a blast at Loki, making him fall. He landed and scurried back a step, pushing himself farther away from the metal-suited man.
Tony stuck out his hand, the blaster in the center already ignited and ready to fire. “Make your move, Reindeer Games.”
Loki slowly raised his hands in surrender, and my eyebrows furrowed at this. “He’s letting us take him?” I watched as the armor previously covering the Norse god disappeared in a haze. “Woah…” Natasha sent a light glare my way.
“It’s not my fault that was cool. You gotta admit it was,” I defended.
“Good move,” Stark commented, greeting Captain America after a moment.
They got Loki inside the jet, restraining him in one of the seats, focusing their attention on Natasha and me. Within a moment, we had the jet back in the air, elevating and reaching a cruising height within a minute.
For a few moments, the sky was clear. Dark with night and the rare cloud, but perfect for a flight. But then it took a rather quick turn. Thunder and lightning struck, coming out of nowhere as I looked out the pilot’s window.
Fury spoke up over the headset. “Said anything?”
“Nothing,” Natasha replied.
“Just get him here. We’re low on time,” he advised her. I pulled the flight headphones off my ears, walking over to stand next to Steve and Tony.
“Fury didn’t tell me he was calling you in,” Steve said.
“Yeah. Your name wasn’t mentioned in the briefing packet,” I added.
“There’s a lot of things Fury doesn’t tell you or include in his briefing packets,” Tony informed in a bored tone. His dark eyes turned to face me. “Hey, Copycat! I read your file. I’m surprised they called you in. Nice suit,” he mumbled the last words, gesturing to the black and purple skintight suit I was wearing.
“It’s not Copycat. And make that the both of us.” I crossed my arms over my chest, a flash of light pulling my attention to one of the cabin windows. Lighting cracked out, thunder following it shortly.
Tony let out a playful scoff. “C’mon, you need a code name. She’s Black Widow, he’s Captain America, I’m Iron Man. I thought Copycat was pretty cool.” I rolled my eyes, ignoring him.
“Where is this coming from?” Natasha mumbled to herself, noticing the same thing I was.
My mind drifted to the file I’d read on the way to the helicarrier. “Loki, brother of Thor,” I mumbled, remembering it to myself. I glanced at Loki when the jet shook again from the storm. He was looking around too. I took a few steps closer to him, hesitancy in my stance. “Is there a chance that your brother is stopping by for a family reunion?”
Loki just chuckled, almost amused.
Steve looked to Loki, noticing his alarm when the jet shook again due to the storm. “What’s the matter? Scared of a little lighting?”
“I’m not overly fond of what follows,” Loki voiced.
Suddenly, a loud bang sounded out from the top of the jet. Tony put on his helmet, pressing the button to lower the ramp, preparing to investigate.
A guy with blonde hair jumped down, beating Stark to the punch. He stalked towards the man, shoving him back and away from the jet ramp, then turned to me. His sharp, blue eyes dug into my brown ones, silently daring me to challenge him.
“I do not wish to harm you,” he stated.
I shrugged. “I appreciate it. But you’re not taking him.” I turned onto my left foot, spinning and kicking my right one outwards to meet his abdomen. The guy—who I now presumed was Thor—grabbed my leg mid-kick and pushed it aside like the pressure and force was nothing, throwing me to the side in the process. He didn’t bother to say another word and gripped Loki by the arm, flying out of the jet with him.
“Now, there’s that guy,” Tony said with a grunt.
“Another Asgardian?” Natasha asked from the front of the jet.
“Yeah, it was Thor,” I informed them, huffing and jumping back to my feet. “He’s the god of thunder. Makes sense.”
Tony shook his head. “Exactly. And either way, doesn’t matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract is lost.” Tony turned to jump out of the jet, his helmet falling back down over his face.
“Stark, we need a plan of attack!” Steve shouted after him.
“I do have a plan: attack.” Stark flew out the jet and after Loki and Thor. Steve gripped his teeth, already going over to the equipment section of the jet and snatching a parachute.
“Hey, I’d sit this one out,” I suggested.
He strapped the pack around him, meeting my gaze. “I don’t see how I can. So, are you with me or not?”
My fists tightened briefly before a sigh escaped my lips. Before I knew it, a parachute pack was within my grasp and I was strapping it on.
Natasha spoke up from the pilot’s seat. “These guys come from legends, they’re basically gods.”
Captain shook his head. “There’s only one God, ma’am. And I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.”
I stifled a laugh at his last words, looking over at Natasha. “Don’t worry I’ll keep an eye on him.”
I followed Steve and ran down the ramp, jumping out of the jet. The air hit my skin like ice, and I could feel leftover droplets of rain hitting my suit. I watched Steve’s falling form below me, waiting until he deployed his chute to do the same with mine. My eyes scanned over the forested area around us, quickly finding Loki standing on the side of a small mountain.
“I’m going to land on that part of the mountain, you get Stark and Thor!” I told Steve.
“How are you gonna make that landing?” he asked over the wind.
I smirked. “By dropping.” I clicked the release on the pack, falling down to the ledge Loki sits on. I land in a low stance, then quickly stand. “This is a nice view. Your brother ditch you?” I asked rhetorically, making Loki turn and face me.
“It is not wise to pick a fight with me,” Loki threatened, standing and facing me.
I sighed, “I’m not here to fight, I’m just here to babysit until S.H.I.E.L.D arrives.”
He scoffed, “I’ll have you know that I am Loki—”
“God of mischief and lies, yeah, yeah. I know who you are.” I crossed my arms.
“Do not mock me.” He marched towards me, but I stood my ground. He glanced over me, chuckling to himself. “It is quite stupid of you to not fear me.”
I smirked, a look of agreement crossing my features. “Believe me, I know how deceiving they can be.”
The hum of the quinjet filled the air and I soon saw it nearing us. I grabbed Loki by the arm and got ready to put him on board.
The jet reached us and the ramp extended. I shoved a hand into Loki’s shoulder, pushing him forward and onto the jet. “It’s about time.” I pulled myself in after him, smiling stiffly. “How much am I getting paid for babysitting?”
• • •
We watched the monitor as Fury tried to interrogate Loki, but the latter had been seemingly trying to do the same thing.
“How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?” Loki stepped closer to the glass of the cell he was in, separate from Fury and the rest of the helicarrier.
I scoffed, “Rude. He’s lucky I didn’t strangle him on that mountain.” Natasha glanced to me, a small smile on her lips.
“He really grows on you, doesn’t he?” Banner asked.
“Loki’s gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what’s his play?” Steve asked.
“He has an army called the Chitauri. They’re not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract,” Thor informed us.
“An army? From outer space?” Steve had a disbelieving tone in his voice.
“So he’s building another portal. That’s what he needs Erik Selvig for,” Banner said.
“Selvig?” Thor asked.
“He’s an astrophysicist,” I told him, but he shook his head.
“No, he’s a friend,” he corrected.
“Well, Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours,” Natasha told us.
“I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He’s not leading an army from here,” Steve voiced.
“I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy’s brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him,” Bruce commented, an almost amused chuckle passing his lips.
“Have care of how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he’s my brother,” Thor warned him.
I shook my head. “Everyone’s got a reason. Maybe we should be trying to find out his.”
“He killed eighty people in two days.” Natasha crossed her arms.
My face contorted at the news.
“He’s adopted?” Thor asked.
• • •
“You think you can make Loki tell us where the Tesseract is?” Fury asked Thor.
“I do not know. It is not just power he craves, it’s vengeance upon me,” he told him.
“There’s the reason.” I muttered to myself.
“What are you asking me to do?” Thor walked towards Fury.
“I’m asking, what are you prepared to do?” Fury looked to him, waiting for an answer.
“Loki is a prisoner,” Thor reminded us.
I looked at Thor as I spoke up, “If he’s as tricky as you say he is, we wouldn’t have been able to catch him unless he let us. He wants to be here.”
“Fine. You’re going in to get intel. Do what you have to without opening the cage.” Fury pointed to me. “You’re the closest thing we have to a trickster on this team. How ‘bout working for that clean slate?”
“What does he mean by that?” Thor asked.
Fury looked between us. “Show him.”
I relied on my short memories of Loki to make sure I take the shape of him correctly. Using my shapeshifting ability I shift, a purple aura glowing around me as I change into Loki’s form and clothing.
“How about that. You are quite mischievous, aren’t you?” Thor mused, a smile on his face.
“Yes, quite so,” I mimicked Loki’s voice and pat Thor on the shoulder, walking past them to the hallway leading to the holding cell. “Wish me luck.”