The New Avenger

Chapter Sixteen: Face-off

The only way I was going to be able to get out of this tower without anyone knowing was if someone knew, and agreed to cover for me. But who?

Pietro.

He would understand where I'm coming from. I slung my bow and arrows over my back and snuck down the hallway to his room. He was sitting on his bed, unlacing his running shoes. "You look like you're ready for a fight." he said, his blue eyes twinkling.

"I am. Listen, I'm going to tell you something, and I'm going to trust you to help me out. Can you do that?" I asked, and he nodded, his brow furrowing. I sat down on the bed next to him. 

"I'm going to go look for Loki, and I'm going to take him down. Alone," I said, and I shushed his parted lips with a finger before he could say anything. "I've already made my decision. You can either help me get out of this tower as fast as possible, and cover for me, or you can tattle on me like a child." He sighed. Suddenly, he grabbed me and took off, running down fifteen flights of stairs in record speed. Before I knew it, we were in an alley beside the tower, and he set me down. 

"Thank you," I whispered, and he nodded.

"Just, just be careful," he said, his fingers wrapped gently around my forearm.

"I will be," I said, stepping back. He pulled me towards him, kissing me, and then bolted before I had a chance to react. I really did not see that one coming.

Trying to put the kiss out of my mind, I tapped my wrist to open up my communications system. I disabled the tracking systems, so even Tony wouldn't be able to find me unless I decided he could. I pulled up the crime scanner, looking for hotspots in unusual places of the city. It was almost midnight, so there were the usual hotspots in bad neighborhoods, but other than that the city was generally quiet. I decided to just start climbing and see what I could see from the rooftops. I had to get far enough away from the tower where Loki would know it isn't a set up. I was looking out over the lights of Manhattan from an apartment rooftop in Brooklyn when I heard the slightest rush of air from behind me. 

"Pietro? Why would you follow me? You need to leave, right now." I said, turning to see his silver locks. 

"I just couldn't stay away, darling." he said, smirking. That was odd. He was somber just an hour ago, seeming to know what was at stake. But now he was his usual mischievous self? Wait...

"Loki, nice try. I'm not playing this game." I said, as I watched Pietro form back into Loki, who had clearly mistaken me for someone much dumber. 

"It was worth a try. Anyway, I assume my brother and his friends don't know you've come to face me?" he said his green eyes twinkling with a confidence that shook me more than I expected. 

I chose my words carefully, trying to make him believe a story that would take his fixation away from The Avengers. "Of course not. Why would they? And even if they did, it's not like they would care. We barely know each other," I remarked and Loki seemed confused.

"What do you mean? You live with them. You've been fighting alongside them for some time."

"Maybe. But that doesn't make me one of them. I simply helped them out because we had similar interests."

"Oh? Similar interests?" Loki was starting to believe me, or at least I thought he was. 

"Yes. Greater good, and all that. But, what I'm saying is, destroying me won't destroy the Avengers, since I know that's what you want to do. Go ahead, if you want to. But it won't give you what you want."

"So, then. What should I do?" he asked, taking a step closer. I stopped myself from pulling a dagger from my belt.

"Whatever you want. Just stay away from me." I said. 

"You are young. But very wise. Too wise for your age." he said, smirking. He turned to look over the edge of the building, and I used his moment of comfort to pull out my knife and plunge it into his back. But before I could, he disappeared from in front of me and someone grabbed my wrist, my knife clattering to the ground. "But maybe not wise enough." Loki's voice came from behind me. He used my arm to twist me around and throw me away from him. I scrambled for a moment, before jumping up.

"I didn't think you were much of a fighter. Thought you preferred to mind control and manipulate you way out of fights." I said, buying myself some time. I had a hunch that Loki was someone that liked to talk. 

"Even that gets boring sometimes. Now tell me, Jordyn. If you aren't with the Avengers, why did you come all this way to talk to little old me?" he said, tapping his chin with his finger.

"Like I said, greater good. There's no need for you to be wandering around New York with a scepter you used to almost destroy it a few years ago. Especially not just for little old me," I mimicked him. 

His expression changed, and I realized he was no longer looking at me, but past me. 

Quicksilver had a quick tongue, too.

Thor's thundering voice rose from the next rooftop over. "Loki. This is between me and you." he said, easily bounding onto to the same level as us. 

"Hey, brother. She came to me. I have no fault in this."

"He's right. I did." I said. "I just didn't want to put you guys in any more danger."

"Jordyn, I admire your bravery, but I wish that you would have consulted with me first. My brother, however immature and weak he may look, is not one to be taken lightly."

"Thor, you underestimate the girl's power. Why, she nearly managed to get a blade in me. Nearly." Thor and Loki were moving closer to each other, and I was stuck in the middle. 

"How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from my friends? From Earth, in fact. There are hundreds of other planets in the galaxy for you to play your tricks on." Thor moved around me and stepped towards Loki. 

"Thor-" I started, but suddenly Loki leaped at Thor, knocking him off guard. I shot a ball of fire his way, but he dodged it of course. He raised his scepter at Thor, but changed direction and shot a blue, mind-stone fueled ray straight at me. I wasn't expecting it, and threw my hands out at the last second. I didn't think about what I was shooting out, but a white-hot burst of something I had never seen before came from my hands and met the scepter ray in mid-air. I saw Loki struggling to move the power closer to me, but I was pushing as hard as I could. I pushed my hands out further, and the white light began to overtake the power from the scepter. Finally, Loki faltered, and flew back when he let go of the scepter, clattering to the ground. Before Thor could reach him, he disappeared, leaving his scepter behind. Thor picked it up, handing it to Tony as he landed on the rooftop, just in time.

"This is interesting. The mind stone is in Vision's head, so this must be a different stone, possibly from a different dimension." Tony said, studying it. I looked down at my hands, trying to figure out what just happened. My palms were covered in ash, and they still felt hot. Thor pushed gently past Tony, looking at me. 

"How did you do that? Deflect the scepter's ray?" he asked, taking one of my hands in his and looking at it.

"I-I don't know. I've never done that before. I don't even know how I did it. Usually, when I want to use an element, like fire, I think of it, and then I can control how it comes from my hands. But this time, I didn't think of anything. I just put my hands out." I said, dusting the ash from my palms. 

"We'll figure that mess out later. Let's all go back to the tower and get some sleep. Jordyn, we're all going to have a nice big chat tomorrow about not going after mega supervillians by ourselves, okay?" Tony said, his snark stronger than usual. I nodded, fighting the urge to roll my eyes.

I wondered where Loki had gone, but I also wondered if there was more power within me than I realized.