Frostbite

Three

Our jump from the jet had put us in a park only a block or two from the museum. Once we discarded our parachutes, we made our way out of the park and into the street. There were hardly any people out and about, which was probably a good thing.

We were turning onto the last street when there was a very audible crash and what sounded like the scraping of metal. It was followed by screams of terror. We quickly tore up the length of the road, but when we got close, Rogers threw his arm out, stopping me from rounding the corner.

I cautiously peered around him, only to see a huge crowd of people cowering on their knees. There were several holograms of Loki surrounding them. He was now dressed in battle armor. A single elderly man stood up, challenging him. Loki aimed his scepter at the man, intending to make an example out of him.

"Remember the plan," Rogers reminded me in a hushed tone before making a run for the man. He gracefully jumped in front of him and threw his shield up to block the anticipated shot from Loki's scepter. The energy beam bounced back, sending Loki flying to the ground.

I started to sneak around the crowd of civilians, trying to avoid attracting attention. The plan was for me to get behind him and get the scepter away from him. It was probably easier said than done. It always is.

"Natasha, he's here. You can move in," I told Nat. A beat later the quinjet appeared above the plaza, a machine gun trained on Loki.

"Loki drop the weapon and stand down," Natasha ordered over the speaker.

I had almost completely circled behind him when he aimed the scepter at the quinjet, shooting a beam of energy at them. Natasha skillfully maneuvered out of the way and Rogers chucked his shield at Loki, who swatted it away. This sent all the bystanders scattering, running in every direction to get away.

I was forced to shove my way through the herd of people, still attempting to sneak up on him. Loki had managed to knock Rogers onto his back and had the scepter trained on him, forcing him down. Finally, I emerged from the dwindling crowd in time to see Cap jump up and round house kick Loki, knocking him back a few steps. I was only a few feet away now, waiting for my opening to intercept. Loki had recovered quickly and grabbed ahold of Cap, tossing him aside.

Seizing my chance, I ran up behind Loki, diving onto the ground and sweeping my foot under his legs, knocking them out from under him. I sprung back up and reached down grasping onto the scepter that he was still latching onto. He yanked down on it suddenly, pulling my face to his. Grinning manically, he reared his head back and smashed it into mine, sending me tumbling back.

My vision blurred for a few seconds from the impact. Focusing again, I could see from the corner of my eye that he was aiming the scepter at me. Hot, angry energy flared out from my palms, and I struck my hand out toward him, shooting a burst of freezing flames his way. They grazed the side of his face leaving a long, red burn etched into his skin.

Using his divided attention to my advantage, I flicked my fingers, sending a concentrated blast of ice at his hand holding the scepter. It flew out of his reach and clattered to the pavement several meters to the side of us. Before I could finish scrambling to my feet, Loki lunged at me, slamming my skull onto the concrete.

"Get off me you greasy weasel!" I growled, trying to buck him off me. His hands wrapped around my neck, cutting off my air flow. We had strict orders not to kill Loki and I was worried anything I tried with my powers would do exactly that. Especially at such proximity.

I stared up into his bright green eyes, which were shining triumphantly back at me. I attempted to reach for my belt where my pistol was holstered. This made him tighten his grip and dig in even further.

"You can't stop me!" he spat, as my fingers tried to peel off his grip, but it was useless. He was stronger than I had anticipated. There was a sudden blare of music in my ear, and Loki was ripped off of me by a bright flare of energy. I shot up into a sitting position, gasping for air and holding my hands to my neck.

It was Tony in his armor. He was standing in front of Loki with one of his firing systems trained on him, so he wouldn't make a move. Rogers jogged over to where I was still sitting and offered a hand to me.

I gratefully took it, getting up and murmuring a quiet thank you. I stalked over to where the scepter was lying on the ground and snatched it up, heading over to my brother and Rogers. Loki had morphed out of his dreadful horns and armor.

"You alright?" Tony asked, glancing down at me and even though I couldn't see his face, I knew he had a worried expression plastered on it. I gave him a dismissive wave.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll just have a slight migraine later I'm sure," I said halfheartedly while throwing a loathing look towards Loki. I saw Rogers shake his head from the corner of my eye, and Tony made a noise of disapproval.

"Romanoff, can you find somewhere to land, so we can haul him back to the ship?" Rogers requested.

"It will be easier for me to fly you guys up there," Tony offered before Nat could respond. Rogers gave a single nod in agreement.

"Alright. The ramp is down, so whenever you guys are ready," Nat told us while dropping the altitude of the jet.

I went first, grabbing onto Tony with a death grip, hoping I wouldn't fall to my death like a bug on a windshield. As soon as I closed my eyes, he grabbed onto me and shot off of the ground. Moments later he slowed, and I heard the clank of his feet hitting the ramp. Slowly I opened my eyes and sighed in relief that it was over. I wasn't fond of that form of travel.