HARLOVSEN - An Avengers Fanfiction

Chapter 20 - Good Coffee

"That is some good coffee," Natasha sighed, sipping the Cappuccino Erik had made for her.

"And now imagine having this every single morning, Romanov. All you need to do is stay with me," Erik teased, leaning over the table. Natasha smirked at him and shook her head.

"Exactly, she already has a room. And by coincidence, this room is in my tower," Tony chimed in, grinning smugly.

"You mean this tower?" Erik asked, pointing at the screen in the kitchen which showed the news of Tony's burning tower. Tony averted his gaze and grabbed another pancake.

"Morning." Clint entered the room, taking the seat next to Natasha. She elbowed him.

"You snore, Barton. How does Laura endure that?" He shrugged, grabbing his own cup of coffee.

"I bet that is nothing compared with Thor, talking in his sleep," Tony groaned, pushing his sunglasses higher on his nose. Katta entered the room. She walked over to the coffee machine and pressed a button. Arne was the first to notice her. He joined her on the counter and ruffled her hair. "Did you sleep, sister?"

"Yes, I did," she answered indifferently, trying to smooth her hair. Thor entered the room, already dressed in his Asgardian Armour.

"Impressive," Fenris said, stepping closer. Although Thor outstood most of the Avengers, Fenris and he shared the same eye level.

"Thank you, earthling," Thor answered, putting his hammer down on the counter. "I really enjoy being here in the north. Reminds me of home."

Bucky and Steve were the last ones to take seats at the table, discussing something quietly.

"Trouble in paradise?" Tony smirked, looking at them. Steve only grunted, grabbing a sandwich.

"What is it, cap?" Natasha asked, looking at Steve. "Nothing," he muttered.

"Fine, let's suit up, shall we?" Natasha broke the awkward silence.

"Follow me," Magnus said, leaving the room. In the equipment room, the Avengers started to change into their fight clothing which had been cleaned. Katta was happy about the new set of combat armour Fenris had constructed for her. Sliding over the holster on her chest, she adjusted it to her size before filling it with weapons.

"That is vibranium," Natasha stated, surprised, inspecting the weapons on the different shelves.

"Exactly," Erik answered, sipping up his bulletproof chest gear.

"This is something for you, Clint." Katta passed him some arrows with integrated bombs. His eyes grew wide as he examined it.

"Wonderfully made!" he admired the work before putting them into his quiver.

"It does have some advantages, working for T'Challa," she answered, closing her boots.

In the other corner of the room, Steve stood next to Bucky, glaring around. The night before, Bucky hasn't slept in their room. Instead, he'd returned in the morning. It felt just like before the war when he'd constantly stayed away to hook up with some girls. Bucky had been short with words, but the most essential info had come through. He'd slept over at Kattas.

"I can't believe you trust her so easily," Steve hissed while he and Bucky changed into their combat outfits.

"You're the one to talk. You didn't give up on me when I was the soldier. And she's not there, anymore," Bucky growled, pulling on the heavy boots.

"Because I knew you before, James. But look at her, her family, this whole damn place. She was trained to interrogate, manipulate, seduce," Steve whispered, looking over his shoulder to make sure nobody was listening.

His friend chuckled deeply, looking at him. "My mother was the one to call me James. This man died a long time ago in the world war. Don't you know me well enough to trust my decisions who to trust?"

"I know you well enough to remember a time where you talked to every girl that didn't run away fast enough." Their eyes met as Steve took his shield.

"But isn't just a girl, Steve. She has endured the same as me. She understands my pain, my confusion, my guilt like nobody else could. Not even you. There is a bond that I can't describe." Bucky watched Steve back away from his words. It was the first time he loudly spoke out about what he thought about Katta. It was simply the truth. For the first time in years, he felt like he exactly was where he belonged.

Inhaling deeply, Bucky nodded at Steve, whose mouth had slightly opened. He then shook his head, looking down.

"Nobody has ever saved the world by standing around and talking," Tony announced, holding open the door, looking over his sunglasses. His iron man suit was hidden somewhere in the depths of his hand-sewn three-piece.

"I would love to have a closer look at this for once," Magnus said, his eyes wandering over the small details.

"Eyes up here, Harlovsen. I'm still not over the fact that you overcame my security system so easily." Tony answered, backing away. "Repeatedly."

"Ah, F.R.I.D.A.Y. What a funny little thing - and so polite." Magnus grinned as he left the room, joining Arne on his way to the conference room.

〰〰〰

The man in the yellow robe yelped for air as Loki grabbed his throat, raising him slightly so that his feet floated over the ground. All around, unconscious people lay on the floor next to shattered glass and pieces of furniture.

"The stone, where is it?" Loki snarled, strengthening his grip. The man clawed on his hands trying to loosen his grip but failed.

"THE STONE!" Loki yelled. His patience was wearing thin.

"You'll never get it."

Loki couldn't believe his ears. This mewling earthling dared to talk back. Trembling from anger, he let him fall and turned around to the humans he had compelled to follow his commands.

"The stone must be with the Doctor," Jaime stated. He looked around at the destruction. Usually, that would have stirred something inside him, but now all he could concentrate on was getting his master the stone.

Loki wandered around, his eyes glancing darkly as he thought about it. "Where are my brother and his ludicrous group of 'superheroes'?"

"From what we know, they took a jet and flew into the north direction." Jaime swallowed as he tried to avoid Loki's gaze.

"Tell me about them. Are they still the same individuals?" He spat the last word as if it was tainted. Stefanof, another of his puppets turned around and began to enumerate.

"Though not all there, there is Tony Stark, the Captain, one of his soldier friends, a witch and what seems like her boyfriend, this green creature-doctor, the black widow, a buddy of Stark with wings, the archer, your brother and a woman, I've never seen before." Loki listened to his explanation, frowning as he mentioned the unknown woman.

"Katta Harlovsen, a female assassin with extraordinary skills. She's like the captain but much better trained and definitely deadlier. I've worked with her for some projects, and I've never seen somebody like her before," Jaime stated.

"So you would define her a valuable weapon?" Loki asked, a slight smirk playing on his face.

"Having her on your bad side means you should start to count your days alive," Jaime nodded, seriously.