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"Motherfucker"
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Tony, Steve, and Jaime were seated around the table in the main room, while Fury stood in front of them, holding a stack of Captain America cards in his hands. Jaime winced as she touched the sore area around her bruised ribs.
"These were found in Phil Coulson's jacket. It seems he never managed to get you to sign them," Fury remarked, tossing the blood-stained cards onto the table near Steve, who picked one up.
"We're dead in the air up here. Our communication, the location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I've got nothing for you. I've lost my one good eye," Fury shook his head with a saddened smile. "Maybe I had it coming."
"Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that one number, though, because i was playing something even riskier." He said circling around the table.
"There was an idea, Stark knows this. It's called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to. To fight the battles we never could," Fury continued before he paused, looking at Stark who was fidgeting with his hands.
"Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes," Fury added, to which Stark abruptly stood up, staring forward before walking off, looking over the Helicarrier. Jaime grunted as she stood up and walked after Tony.
"Well, it's an old fashioned notion." Fury sighed.
>>>
"Clint, you're going to be alright," Natasha said, her voice calm as Agent Barton struggled against the restraints, shaking his head aggressively.
"You know that? Is that what you know?" he said, fighting against Loki internally.
"I've got no window, i have to flush him out." he whispered, pressing his head back against the bed.
"You've got to level out. It's gonna take time." Natasha said, pouring hot water into a teacup.
"You don't understand," Clint said weakly. "Have you ever had someone take your brain and play?" he asked, panting.
"Pull you out and stuff something else in?" he said, staring at the ceiling. "Do you know what it's like to be unmade?" he asked, looking up at Natasha.
"You know that I do." Natasha said, looking down at him.
"Why am I back?" Clint asked. "How'd you get him out?"
"Cognitive recalibration. Jaime hit you really hard in the head." Natasha answered, sitting beside him on the med bed.
"Tell her I said thanks." he said, looking into her eyes as she removed the restraints.
"Natasha... How many agents did I-" he began, but Natasha cut him off.
"Don't. Don't do that to yourself, Clint." she said sternly, looking into his eyes as he gulped away the tears forming in his eyes.
"This is Loki. This is monsters and magic and nothing we were ever trained for." she added.
"Loki, did he get away?" Clint asked.
"Yeah," Natasha answered.
"I don't suppose you know where," she added.
"I didn't need to know. I didn't ask," he said, turning so that his feet hung off the side of the bed as Natasha stood up and walked towards the door, looking out the window.
"He's gonna make his play soon, though," he said, grabbing the teacup. "Today," he stated before taking a sip.
"We gotta stop him," Natasha said, turning back around to face Clint.
"Yeah, who's 'we'?" Clint asked, lowering the cup.
"I don't know, whoever's left," she responded.
Clint nodded. "Well, if I put an arrow through Loki's eye socket, I'd sleep better, I suppose," he joked.
"Now you sound like you," Natasha said, going to sit next to him.
"But you don't," Clint said, turning his head to look at her.
"You're a spy, not a soldier. Now you want to wade into a war. Why?" he asked.
"What did Loki do to you?" he added.
"He didn't. I just..." She tried to answer his question but fell silent.
"Natasha," Clint said reassuringly.
"I've been compromised. I got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out," she explained.
<<<
"Was he married?" Steve asked, standing a little bit away from Tony and Jaime.
"No. There was a cellist, I think," Tony answered, his hands behind his back as he looked down the pit in front of them.
"I'm sorry," Steve apologized. "He seemed like a good man."
Tony scoffed. "He was an idiot," he said as Jaime looked down at him.
"Why? For believing?" Steve questioned.
"For taking on Loki alone," Tony replied as the three walked towards each other.
"He was doing his job," Steve defended.
Tony scoffed again as Jaime shook her head. "He was out of his league. He should have waited, he should have..."
"Sometimes there isn't a way out," Steve tried.
Jaime scoffed. "Right, heard that before," Jaime said as she and Tony walked past Steve.
"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?" Steve questioned as Tony and Jaime spun back around.
"We are not soldiers!" Jaime said, pointing her finger at Steve with her voice slightly raised. "And I'm not marching to Fury's fife."
"Neither am I," Steve stated as Jaime calmed down slightly. "He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does. But right now, we gotta put that behind us and get this done," Steve said.
"Loki needs a power source. If we can put together a list—"
"He made it personal," Tony interrupted.
"That's not the point," Steve dismissed.
"That is the point. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live, why?" Tony continued.
"To tear us apart," Steve answered.
"Yeah, divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience," Tony said, walking forward.
"Right, I caught his act in Stuttgart," Steve joined in.
"Yeah, that's just previews. This is opening night, and Loki, he's full-tilt Diva, right?" Jaime chimed in. "He wants flowers, he wants parades. He wants a monument built to the skies, with his name plastered—" Tony paused and looked at Jaime, who had just put the pieces together.
"Motherfucker," Jaime mumbled as Tony muttered a 'Son of a bitch'.
As the two started to walk away, Steve grabbed the tall woman by the arm, causing her to turn to the blonde.
"You got a suit?" Steve quizzed.
"Yeah, something like that." Jaime answered before walking back to her room in the carrier.
(What Jaime used to wear on missions for HYDRA)
grabbed some knives and placed them into their holsters on her other leg. As she left her room, her body collided with something, looking down she saw Clint. Reacting swiftly, she pinned the man against the wall with her arm as her other hand reached for one of her knives, holding it against his throat.
Natasha, who walked around the corner just seconds after, quickly ran over. "Hey! Hey, he's fine, he's fine. You broke the spell." she said gently, placing her hand on Jaime's arm.
Jaime's eyes switched quickly from Clint to Natasha and back to Clint before she let him go with a nod, straightening out his clothes. She cleared her throat. "Sorry, didn't know." After that, she quickly walked off.
"What was that?" Clint asked Natasha with a knowing chuckle.
"Leave it." Natasha said, as they walked towards the jet where Steve and Jaime were.
[1235]