Space Between Us

The Fall of Loki

She walked over to Doctor Selvig, who was slumped on the ground, "Doctor." 

He looked up at her, regret and guilt engraved on his face, "Loki's scepter, the energy...the Tesseract can't fight. You can't protect against yourself." 

She knew that look. The self-blaming look, "It's not your fault. You didn't know what you were doing. I know more than most blaming yourself won't get you anywhere." 

"I think I did know what I was doing. I built in a safety to cut the power," he pushed himself upright.

She nodded, looking over the machine, "Like a crash drive. Loki's scepter." 

Selvig looked slightly impressed, "It might be able to close the portal." The doctor looked down when a gleam of gold caught his eye, "And I'm looking right at it."

She used a grappling hook to grab the scepter from below them and walked over to the machine, holding the tip to the edge of the force field, "Guys I can close it? Does anybody copy? I can shut down the portal." 

Relief was evident in Steve's voice, "Do it!" 

Stark cut in, "No, wait!"

Romanoff sounded impatient, though the emotion was only detectable if you knew her well, "Stark, these things are still coming!" 

"I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute and I know just where to put it."

Cap sighed, "Stark you know that's a one way trip?"

"Yes, I'm aware. Emi- Mor, I'm sorry I was such a terrible father, you deserved better. I did the one thing I swore I would never do, become my father. J call Pepper." His comms went dead before anyone could reply. The f*ck am I supposed to say to that? They all watched as the metal man flew into the portal, the nuke on his back. All of the Chitauri began to fall to the ground, or into buildings if they were in the sky.

Cap looked up at the tower, and the streak of blue coming from the top, "Close it."

Mor didn't hesitate to close the portal, doing what she did best: burying her emotions deep down to get the job done. The portal started to close, the beam of blue receding to nothing. She could tell the team was holding their breath as they watched it close, waiting for something to go wrong. At least, that's what she was waiting for. She looked down at the ground. Though she mourned Tony Stark, she didn't mourn him as her father. She mourned him as a teammate, perhaps a new found friend. If she could stand his ego, that is. "Son of a gun!" She looked back up at the sky, a little relieved to see the red and gold suit falling to the ground. 

Thor swung his hammer, preparing to fly, "He's not slowing down." 

Just as the blond god started to fly Hulk jumped, letting out a roar and caught him. Mor walked inside the smashed penthouse, "When you guys have Stark, meet me at the top of the tower. I've the scepter and I'll keep Loki here." She found the god crawling, slowly, to the door. She followed him, amused, and silently- like always.

~~~

Just as he was reaching the stairs the others joined her, weapons ready. He turned in an attempt to catch his breath he paused, seeing the group behind him. The green eyed god looked lost as he spoke, "If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now." She kept her face emotionally blank. I swear his eyes were blue. Realization dawned on her. F*cking Tesseract blue. She watched as Thor cuffed his brother. 

Stark still had his gauntlet pointed at Loki as he turned to them, "Shawarma?" They all looked at the billionaire with slight grins as they lowered their weapons.

Steve nodded, "Shawarma."

~~~

They had left Loki in the alley, chained to a lamp post, with Thor's Mjölnir sat on his chest. He was definitely not going anywhere. There were two waiter ladies sweeping up dust around them, looking at the group every now and then. The Avengers, however, were sat back in their chairs and eating in silence. Clint had his feet on the back of Nat's chair, Tony was half-laying down, Thor was sitting straight- like what would be expected of a prince, Steve was at the head of the table and Mor was on his left with her legs on his lap. He had one hand on her shin and was rubbing it with his thumb. He looked over at her mouthed, 'Are you okay?' She nodded, 'Are you?' He gave her a smile and she lifted her shawarma and bit into it, not noticing Steve was still watching her. Some sauce she had added to hers dripped down her face, getting a chuckle from the super soldier. 

He leant forward, wiped it off her face, and whispered, "For an assassin you're pretty messy." 

She raised an eyebrow at him, leaning into his hand a little, "For a ninety-four year old you're pretty spry." She grinned at him before biting into her sandwich, leaning away from his hand. Neither noticed the entire team looking between them, then at each other with raised eyebrows, or smiles. Or both. She looked over at Thor, "What colour are Loki's eyes naturally?"

Thor gave her a weird look, "Green. Why?"

"Because during most of the battle his eyes were blue. Tesseract blue. After he was smashed into the penthouse floor repeatedly they turned back to green. After that there were signs of trauma in his eyes, signalling the possibility of torture. This whole thing just might not be Loki's fault." 

Tony gave her a 'da f*ck' look, "When did you have time to figure that out?"

She shrugged, "I find time for everything. I don't have time for lots of stuff, but I still get it done."

Clint looked over to her, "Is that how you got- how many PhD's?" 

Everyone looked over at her, shocked. She shrugged, "Three." She didn't notice Steve's proud look. 

Thor nodded at her, "Thank you, Lady Morrigan. I will bring this up with my parents, I might have to ask you to testify at Loki's trial. If you don't mind."

She shook her head, "Of course not, just give me a few days notice. I'll need some time to study Asgardian laws." She glanced over at Steve, who looked like a kicked puppy, "Steve has to come." His face lit up and he grinned at her, both missing the look the team shared. 

Thor nodded, "Of course. Captain of America along with yourself will be more than welcome on Asgard."