SHIELD (A Captain America Story, Book 1 of the SHIELD Series) COMPLETE

Chapter 7: Revelations

As Ava and Tony finished teasing each other, Natasha landed the Quinjet behind them and stepped out, glaring at Tony.

"Stark, the next time you mess with my speaker system..." She threatened, but her attention was drawn away to Loki. "What do we do with him?"

Ava wasn't sure how to answer, until she realized that Natasha was talking to Fury over her earpiece.

"Get him back to the carrier, and secure the scepter," Fury directed over Ava and Natasha's earpieces.

"Got it."

Minutes later, Loki was bound, handcuffed to his seat in the Quinjet. Cap and Tony were talking, and Ava did her best to tune them out as they started to argue.

Proud soldier versus the cocky genius? Nothing I can do about that one—and there's no way in hell I'm taking sides.

​Suddenly a flash of lighting illuminated Natasha in the cockpit. Dark clouds began to swirl around them, rain sheeting across the large front window. 

​"Where is this coming from?" she wondered as the small jet shuddered. It was as if the storm was forming around them specifically, which, if Ava remembered her middle school science correctly, was not possible. Loki shivered almost imperceptibly, his going a shade paler. 

​"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?" Cap raised his eyebrows at their captive. 

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," Loki admitted, then clammed up. It was the first thing he'd said since he'd surrendered. There was something inherently strange about his reaction.

Loki, Norse mythology... wasn't there something about thunder...

Another lightning strike shook the plane, more violently this time, and Ava was nearly knocked out of her seat by the impact. The hatch suddenly began to open of its own accord, and when she saw what the cause of it was, Ava's mouth went dry.

There, standing in the hatch with a determined, angry expression, was Thor. He strode inside to grab Loki up by the shirtfront, snapping his cuffs in one gesture before turning back to the open hatch and leaping out into the raging storm, Loki trailing behind him.

"That's not good," Ava stood up. "I'll tail them."

Finally, a use for shapeshifting powers.

"No, I'm faster," Tony was already putting the Iron Man helmet back on.

"Wait, we need a plan of attack!" Cap protested.

"I have a plan: attack." Tony jumped out of the Quinjet.

Ava sighed in exasperation. "Cap, remember when I mentioned the Asgardians?"

He nodded distractedly, staring out of the plane in the direction Tony had gone.

​"Well, that's another one. His name is Thor and he has a hammer that controls lighting. Welcome to science class." Ava looked at Natasha, "I'll make sure Stark doesn't get himself killed." Ava morphed into a large bird and flew out of the plane, struggling to keep herself level in the storm, air currents battering her wings and making them nearly impossible to control. The usual freedom and elation she felt while flying were completely gone, replaced by an almost paralyzing fear of being knocked out of the sky. She dove down through the cover of storm clouds to find Loki sitting on a mountaintop, alone. 

He was looking down at the forest below, where erratic light flashes indicated some kind of conflict, presumably between Thor and Tony. It had been only seconds since Tony had landed, but Ava knew from experience Tony had the wonderful gift of being the single most irritating person on the planet. Getting involved in a high-powered conflict like that would definitely get her seriously injured if not killed, so she decided to keep an eye on Loki instead. Ava settled onto a tree branch and folded her wings, watching the prisoner some feet below. The longer Ava watched the more she became convinced there was something wrong about him—something besides being a lunatic murderer, obviously.