"WELL YOU'VE CERTAINLY regained full range of motion... And you're sure there's no more pain?"
"None at all."
The physio looked stupefied, shifting between Angrboda's face and her shoulder. It was astonishing but it really seemed like she had recovered completely. Her shoulder had been swollen and raw only the day before and now it looked perfectly normal. It was a medical miracle.
"Must be that analgesic cream I gave you yesterday..." he muttered more to himself than to her.
Angrboda almost snorted in his face but it was clear he didn't believe his own words at all.
In all honesty she was almost as stunned as he was. Tony's arm cuff had worked wonders in an incredibly short amount of time. She had kept it on since the moment he gave it to her and she'd woken up that morning feeling prodigiously stronger and, most importantly, injury-free.
Tony was a genius, there was no doubt about it, but her shoulder had healed overnight and even she hadn't expected that much.
"I still want you to keep the brace on for a few more days," the physio requested writing down some notes "Just to prevent a relapse."
"Sure," she let out a silent sigh, knowing full well she was going to throw the brace into the nearest trash can the second she stepped out of the care unit.
She waited for the physio to be done with his endless charts and reports, boiling with impatience. The thought of fighting in the full range of her abilities made her ecstatic. Learning to shoot had been undoubtedly valuable and she was glad she had come to master those skills but it was nothing compared to going back to basics.
⁂
Now that all seven Avengers were reassembled again, Fury had called them in for a meeting that afternoon. Angrboda was apprehending it slightly since the last Avengers meeting had gone spectacularly wrong. There was no way of avoiding it though, the Chitauri could land on earth any day and they had to discuss what they were going to do.
Once they were all sat around the table of the briefing room, Fury adopted his usual stance, standing with his hands behind his back in the most domineering way possible. The man had a natural talent at commanding authority; it was impressive if not infinitely disconcerting.
The Director's eyes scanned all seven of them before finally announcing "We've repaired the damaged engines and the central system is back on track."
Clint frowned, resting his face against his palm "That's good news, isn't it? Why do you look so glum?"
Fury inhaled deeply, carefully choosing his words "I've called you all here because we failed to track Loki and the Tesseract which means we need to discuss our next step."
"I thought it was obvious," Natasha shrugged "It's all about damage control from now on."
Bruce's brows furrowed "What do you mean damage control?"
"I mean the Chitauri are coming Bruce, it's time we talk about what we'll do when that happens."
"So that's it?" Clint let out, eyeing everyone around the table "We're not even going to try to stop him from opening the portal?"
"We did try, Barton," Tony said "We tried to reset the tracking system but it's useless since Loki destroyed our monitors."
Thor cleared his throat making all eyes turn to him. He didn't speak very much or very often, usually preferring to listen; but when he did speak, the entire room's attention was on him "If I've learned one thing about my brother it's that his mischief always comes in a spiteful way. His mind is far afield, it's not just power he craves, it's also vengeance... upon me."
This made Angrboda crack a small smirk as she remembered her younger days in Asgard, back when she was Loki's companion. Even then, he was a puny little thing who always tried to best Thor — and failed more often than not. It was inexplicable how he hadn't seemed as ridiculous to her back then as he did now... Obviously it had to with her being completely infatuated with him at the time. That part was even more inexplicable.
"Erik Selvig is a friend, it's no accident Loki took him," Thor continued "I dread what he plans for him once he's done."
"So what do you suggest?" Tony asked Thor with a teasing smirk "That we use you as bait?"
Natasha rolled her eyes "Don't be ridiculous."
Instead of taking Tony's comment for what it was — a joke — Thor shrugged sternly "I would agree to it if it meant stopping Loki, but we all know it won't. We need to prepare as best as we can."
Fury took the opportunity to chip in "I agree," he said "Which is why we've already begun manufacturing our weapon prototypes—"
Steve's fist hit the table so suddenly that most of them jumped in surprise "Is this a joke?!" he exclaimed "We talked about this!"
Fury was rigid "All due respect Captain, we never asked for your approval."
"Steve..." Bruce offered calmly "We don't have to agree with it but we're running out of options here."
Tony nodded in agreement "Desperate times calls for desperate measures."
He looked back and forth between the two men and Fury, clearly irritated "This has got to be a joke..." he seethed "You were both against using nuclear deterrent. It was about taking a stand, doing what's right... what the hell happened?!" his gaze landed on Angrboda, the only one left who had opposed the nuclear weapon plans as strongly as he did "And you... why aren't you saying anything?!"
Angrboda was slightly caught off guard, although she knew she had to say something. After a moment of reflection, she muttered the first thing that came to her mind "Phil used one of these weapons on Loki... if he hadn't, I would probably be dead."
"What are you saying?"
Her next words came out with difficulty and she felt like a downright hypocrite for saying them "I mean... if used against the right people, those weapons may not be the worst thing."
"I can't believe this..." Steve groaned before getting up to leave, not wanting to put up with this nonsense for another second.
Although she had expected this kind of reaction from Steve-the-honorable-soldier, it still made her irritation flare up and she also got to her feet "Sit the hell down Steve," she ordered "We have a war on our hands, no one is storming off of this one."
The team went silent, surprised by the sudden authority in her voice. Angrboda could be a truly intimidating woman when she wanted to, but the struggle in her tone betrayed a hint of vulnerability. Even Steve froze in his spot, waiting for her to speak
"I've never seen a Chitauri, that's the truth," she finally continued "But they do have a reputation of being monstrous killers... Their leader is the man who destroyed my planet and he could very well do the same here... We are up against forces more powerful than any of us can imagine and... and I would be lying if I said I wasn't afraid..." she paused, taking a moment to look around the room where all the faces had gone solemn "I know most of you are afraid too and frankly you have every right to be," she took a deep breath looking back at Steve "Trust me, I don't like this any more than you do, but we don't have enough resources to be self righteous right now."
Steve didn't answer but his silence and the fact that he sat back down were enough to know she made her point. The others were silent too and judging by their somber expressions, what she said had definitely struck a chord.
Fury was the one to break the silence. He cleared his throat uncomfortably before stopping his pacing to face them "I wasn't planning on saying this now but..." he trailed off "I'd rather you hear it from me than someone else."
He looked rather anxious which was not something you saw everyday. Nick Fury was a man with an impressive control over his emotions and people around him often wondered if he had any to begin with... His worry put everyone on edge.
"We... we may have a situation on our hands. There were two attacks last night and we have every reason to believe Loki's men were involved," he then cleared his throat again before turning to Steve "They broke into your apartment Captain."
It was clear Steve didn't know what to make of this, he looked stunned yet also puzzled "My apartment...?"
"They destroyed the whole place. Your neighbor was alerted by the noise but they killed her before she could do anything."
Steve's expression went from confusion to anger in a split second "So that's it?! That's his way of getting revenge?"
He was furious about the death of his neighbor of course, but it suddenly dawned on him that he'd left his most cherished possession in his apartment... the compass, the one with Peggy's picture. It had stayed in his pocket the whole time he was frozen. Of course the pointer itself was not working anymore but that compass was his only remnant of the war, the only thing he still had of Peggy... and now it was gone forever, much like his old life.
"You said there were two attacks?" Natasha asked Fury.
The Director nodded "The second one was at Culver University,"
"Oh no..."
All eyes turned to Bruce who had muttered those words. He was white as sheet and a horrified expression was painted on his traits... Of course she had instantly popped in his mind, this woman from his past, the only one he ever loved. He was almost afraid to ask the inevitable question that followed Fury's announcement.
"Did they go after..." he couldn't finish.
The Director's expression turned even somber "They tried," he said "Dr Ross was severely injured but her condition is stable. She'll recover."
A wave of relief flowed through him, allowing him to breathe more easily. The truth was, he hadn't truly thought about Betty Ross in a long time but she was always front and center in the memories of his past before the Hulk. He hadn't seen her in years and although she was out of his life for good, the thought of a world without her was simply unfathomable... Loki knew that, of course.
"I don't understand..." Bruce muttered running a hand through his hair "Is this Loki's way of getting back at us?"
Clint's stomach dropped and his palms turned clammy, out of all of them he was probably the one with the most to lose "So he's... he's going after the things we love, isn't he? He's making it personal."
Fury nodded, sensing his distress "It seems like it, but don't worry Agent Barton, we've evacuated your family to a remote location as soon as we realized that. They're safe."
It was Thor's turn to intervene, an alarmed expression plastered on his normally stern face "What about Jane Foster?!"
"We've got an excellent observatory in Traunsee. She was asked to consult there very suddenly yesterday. Handsome fee, private plane, very remote. She'll be safe too."
Angrboda had stayed quiet until now, observing her fellow Avengers' concern with a small tug at her heartstring. The truth was, she had never envied them so much... Because unlike her, they all had something to lose.
Since the destruction of Jötunheim, there was simply nothing left for Loki to use against her... nothing personal enough for him to taunt her with.
Tony's exclamation ushered her out of her thoughts.
"He's going to go after the Stark Tower... and if he touches a hair on Pepper's head, I swear to God..."
_________________________
WHO LOVES DOUBLE UPDATES? Not meeee heheuhshuhd... they bring me closer to the end of this fanfic and I'm just not ready for that kind of void in my life ;_; in all seriousness there's quite a few chapters left to post but I just finished pre-writing the very last chapter of this story so forgive me for being slightly emotional.
ALSO, BLACK PANTHER IS COMING OUT IN A FEW DAYS GUYS
-L