Nova Sadie turned around the ship in search of Natasha and soon she found her in the corridor outside the bridge of the ship.
Romanoff had her arms crossed, leaning casually against the wall. She looked at the void, as if she was thinking of something else.
Nova took a few steps towards her, and as if she had felt her presence, the woman turned to her, away from the wall.
The Rogers girl asked, "Natasha, Fury told me I have to help you with something."
"Yes, come with me. Let's go interrogate Loki."
"Okay, let's go." she replied.
Loki walked back and forth inside his glass cell. Suddenly he stopped, smirking.
"There's not many people that can sneak up on me." he turned, seeing Natasha and Nova, he looked at the little Rogers with a smirk, "I see you brought the little witch with you."
"You wanted someone else? I'll leave if you want." Nova replied.
Loki giggled and said, "What a character. I like it."
Natasha changed the subject, "But you figured we'd come."
Loki took off his eyes off Nova and turned to Natasha, "After. After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as friends, as balms. And I would cooperate."
"I wanna know what you've done to Agent Barton." Natasha said.
"I'd say I've expanded his mind."
"And once you've won. Once you're king of the mountain. What happens to his mind?"
"Is this love, Agent Romanoff?"
"Love is for children. I owe him a debt."
"Tell me."
Nova looked at Natasha with curiosity as she began to talk, "Before I worked for SHIELD, I uh... well, I made a name for myself. I have a very specific skillset. I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on SHIELD's radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me, he made a different call."
"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?" Loki added.
"Not let you out."
"Ah, no. But I like this. Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?"
"Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian... or was."
"What is it you want?"
"It's really not that complicated. I've got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out." Romanoff replied.
"Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Dreykov's daughter? Sao Paulo? The hospital fire? Barton told me everything."
Natasha opened her eyes wide as Loki continued, "Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer... pathetic! You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away!"
Loki slammed his cell, making Natasha and Nova flinched.
"I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you! Slowly. Intimately. In every way he knows you fear! And when he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!"
Natasha turned around, walked away from Loki, disgusted. Nova stood still, cold sweat.
"You're a monster."
"No, you brought the monster."
Natasha turned to the god again, "So, Banner... that's your play."
"What?" Loki said, confused.
Natasha walked towards the exit, "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well." she turned to Loki and smirked at him, "Thank you for your cooperation."
She turned to Rogers, who had stood still, "Nova you're coming?"
"No, I have to do something first." Nova replied.
"Whatever you want to do, your father won't like it."
"Then let's not let him know."
Natasha nodded at her and quickly walked out.
⍟ⴵ
Nova Sadie was left alone with Loki, who was looking at her like a predator looking at the prey.
"Now that it's just the two of us Miss Rogers, what would you like to do? The interrogation has already been done."
"I wouldn't exactly call it an interrogation since you threatened Natasha."
"So, what do you want?"
She took a few steps towards the cell and replied, "In Germany, you called me first Black Widow then Black Mage. How do you know? Only a few people know."
"Think about it."
She thought for a moment and then replied, "Don't tell me you have the power of Telepathy."
"What a good girl."
"So, I guess you know everything about me, since you looked into my head." Nova said, using Telepathy.
"You guessed it... you're the smartest girl in the group." Loki replied, using Telepathy.
Nova Sadie turned, putting her hand in her hair.
Her concern had increased enormously, the enemy could read minds and could know any weak point.
She turned to the god, who had turned to the side, looking at the void and she could feel his emotions.
So many emotions together, anger, sadness, envy, pain, jealousy, loneliness...
She looked at him with a sad gaze and said, "Are you lonely?"
Loki came out of his trans state and looked at her with an anguished look.
"Must be hard feeling so alone... I know how it feels."
Loki felt a moment unsettled by her statement but after a second he changed his mood.
"You know nothing about me. You think you can pity me? You silly little girl."
"Let me help you get some weight of that off your chest."
"How do you intend to do that?" he asked, not convinced.
"By showing you something that would make you feel happy." she replied.
"You know what would make me feel happy? Conquer this inferior planet."
"That's not you talking. I feel it... let me help you."
Loki felt her good intentions... but... could not afford to lose focus on his goal.
"Stop it. I don't want to hear you anymore. Go away!"
He slammed his hand on the glass. Nova Sadie was frightened while her eyes became shiny and she ran out. Leaving only Loki, who watched her go away, with a look full of bitterness.
⍟ⴵ
After a while, Nova Sadie was running to reach out the others when there was an explosion, the alarm sounded and the lights began to flash. After a few seconds she heard the Hulk roar.
"Hulk! We're in trouble."
She kept running and the closer she got, the closer the Hulk's roar got. That scared her... she wasn't ready to face the big guy.
She reached a dark corridor full of pipes, half destroyed. The Hulk must be there and she was right, she heard his roar came closer and closer.
She continued cautiously and at the slightest movement, she would not hesitate to attack.
She took a few more steps and heard a noise in front of her. She cautiously approached and saw Natasha sitting on the ground, trembling, her eyes lost in the void.
"Oh my God, Natasha!"
She approached her and helped her up.
"It's Barton. He took out our systems. He's headed for the detention level. Does anybody copy?"
"This is Rogers and Romanoff. We copy." Nova replied.
Barton walked alone down the catwalk. In a lightning-fast move, Barton nocked an arrow, and pointed it at Natasha and Nova. A hand-to-hand fight ensued.
Natasha crawled her way around Barton, making him to drop his bow, but he pulled out a knife on her and they continued attacking each other.
Natasha kickboxed Barton's face. Feeling that, he took a swing at her but Nova grabbed his arm, twisting it and he writhed in pain.
Using his other arm, he tossed the knife over and began to attack Nova. She dodged every move, but found herself in a lock hold with him.
He grabbed her hair, holding her still and as he forced the knife down to Nova's throat, Natasha hit his back and Barton let go of the knife.
Natasha wrapped her legs around his neck, flipped him over and she slammed his head into a pipes rail.
Barton went down, hard. He looked up her, almost coming to his real senses.
"Natasha..."
Natasha coldcocked him. Barton was out.
"...thank you." Nova said, out of breath.
"Agent Coulson is down." Fury said on the comm.
Agent Hill was being treated for a gash on her head, listened on her headset, standing up.
"Paramedics are on their way."
Natasha and Nova listened while Barton was being taken away.
"They're here."
Steve and Tony listened in as well.
"He passed away."
Fury gathered Tony, Nova Sadie and Steve back into the briefing room everyone there had a look as if in a daze. A look of numb shock was shown on their devastated faces.
"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them." Fury threw Coulson's Captain America trading cards on the table towards Steve. He picked them up, stained with blood.
"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming." Fury continued, "Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier."
Fury walked toward the three seated at the table.
"There was an idea, Stark knows this, called The Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes."
Tony got up and walked off, not wanting to hear it anymore.
"Well, it's an old fashioned notion."
⍟ⴵ
Tony looked at the empty cell container. He stood not saying a word. Steve and Nova Sadie walked in.
"Was he married?" asked Steve.
"No. There was a uh... cellist, I think."
"I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man." Nova said.
"He was an idiot."
"Why? For believing?" Steve asked.
"For taking on Loki alone."
"He was doing his job." Steve added.
"He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have..."
"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony."
"Right. How did that work for him?"
"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?"
"WE ARE NOT SOLDIERS! I am not marching to Fury's fife!"
"Neither are we! He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki does. Right now we've got to put that aside and get this done. Now Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list..."
"He made it personal." Tony interrupted him.
"That's not the point."
"That is the point. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?"
"To tear us apart." Nova replied.
"He had to conquer his greed, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."
"Right, I caught his act at Stuttengard." Steve added.
"Yeah. That's just a preview, this is opening night. Loki's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered..."
The three realised.
"Son of a bitch!"