FIRECATCHER: The Avengers

The Way To Redemption

Maria was in a storage room not far from were she and Thor had fought. The room was empty for the most part, containing only a few boxes of spare uniforms and guns. In a way, she had been listening to the whole conversation about her and her past. She had been looking through Fury and Tony's minds to hear what they were discussing. Maria knew that Thor and Cap were coming to speak with her. She was ready for them. She knew exactly what she was going to say to them. When she heard them coming near, she hid behind one of the few boxes that were in the room and waited.

"Maria?" Cap said entering.

Maria leaped out from behind the tower of crates and rolled right under Thor to trip him up. He fell into another stack of crates and hit his head on the floor, causing him to be dazed. Then she pounced on top of Cap and knocked him backwards. When he hit the ground, she pushed her arm into Cap's throat and with the other hand, she pulled out a molten rock dagger and raised it above his head.

"We just want to talk," Cap choked out.

"I know what you want," Maria hissed. "But I, however, don't want to talk!"

"Maria," Cap rasped. "I know you're not going to kill me. So just let me up, and we can talk."

Maria considered her options. Cap was right; she did not plan to kill him. She'd made her point, she'd shown her opinion on things, and Thor was getting up. Maria released Cap. Thor looked at her with confusion and then resentment when he saw Cap coughing on the ground holding his neck. 

"What?" Maria said innocently.

"You remind me all to much of Loki," Thor said darkly.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"I don't think it was," Cap said, getting off the floor. "We only have a few questions."

"Spit it out," Maria said.

"Why are you here?"

"I beg your pardon?" Maria said, shocked.

"You could have killed Stark at any time," Cap said. "You could have escaped at any time, hell, you could have killed yourself at any time. You didn't. Why not? Why are you here?"

Maria's face paled, but only for a second.  Then her expression hardened.

"My reasons for staying are none of your damn business!" She spat.

"But they are," Cap said. "We need to know why you're here so we can determine if we can trust you."

"The answer is you can't," Maria said.

"I think we can," Cap said softly. "Because if what you said is true you wouldn't have stopped choking me. We're trying to help you. Just answer the question. Why are you here?"

"I'm not here to help you if that's what you think," Maria spat. "I'm here to help Loki."

"What?!" Thor roared. 

He marched on Maria ready for another fight.

"Thor stop!" Cap yelled. "Let her explain!" 

"There is no explanation for aiding Loki in his wicked schemes!" Thor thundered.

"That's not what I said." Maria hissed. "I wish to help him in a way that you never cared enough to!"

"What are you talking about?! I care more for my brother than you will ever know! I have tried everything within my power to change him!"

"Yes, to change him!" Maria was almost nose to nose with Thor. "I want to speak to him! Something you've never done! I don't want to change him, I want to show him the way! The way to redemption!"

Nobody spoke for a long time. Cap and Thor carefully considered what Maria had said. Maria scowled at both of them. Thor broke the silence. 

"Can you truly do such a thing?" He asked quietly.

"I believe I can," Maria answered. "I know his mind as much as he does, and I can learn more."

"Could you convince him to give up the cube?" Cap questioned.

"Maybe," Maria said. "It depends."

"Depends on what?"

"If I can get through to him enough for him to give up on his mission, and on how soon I could speak with him. He becomes less and less like himself with every hour."

"How do you know that?"

"I've been searching his mind the whole time we've been talking." Maria said simply. "And his mind is not his alone."

"What do you mean?" Thor asked.

"There is more than one consciousness using Loki's mind," Maria explained. "I have looked through his memories and older thoughts and have learned that the larger of the two thought patterns is not his. So essentially, he's under mind control."

"Are you telling me that he's not the villain here?" Cap said. "That all of this isn't his fault, and that there's somebody else we need to be going after?"

"Yes."

"Can you remove the other consciousness and return him to his right mind?" Thor asked with a hint of desperation in his eyes.

"I can't remove the other presence," Maria said. "But I can convince him to fight back against it, and hopefully he can free himself."

"Do you truly believe that will be successful?" Thor said.

"I do," Maria said, walking toward Thor. "I will return your brother to you."

"Thank you," Thor said quietly, putting his forehead to Maria's.

"How long do you need?" Cap asked gently.

"Roughly one hour. Maybe more." 

"I'll get you your time with him."

"As will I," Thor volunteered. "If you can return my brother to me, I will help you."

"Thank you both," Maria said. "I will get you answers as to where the Tesseract and your friend Clint Barton are hidden." 

"How did you know Agent Barton-" 

Maria pressed a finger to Cap's lips.

"Don't be stupid. I can read minds." She said.

"I'll talk to the others," Cap said. "We'll arrange a time when you can talk to Loki. We'll explain his situation, the mind control, how it's not his fault."

"Thank you again," Maria said with the smallest hint of a smile.

"Aren't you coming with us?" Cap asked, obviously confused. "You can explain the mind control a lot better than I can, and I think you owe everyone an apology for your threats and the fight with Thor."

"I don't owe anyone anything," She said opening the storage room door and walking down the hall away from Cap and Thor, truly smiling for the first time in a long, long while.