A/N: Let the second battle chapter commence! Alright so, this chapter is going to be split into two people's views, Ava's and Loki's. This is the first time I've written in Loki's view and I don't fancy messing it up, if it sounds silly or inconvincing please let me know! Dedicated to CelticLands because I love her in a completely platonic way.
Enjoy and have a wonderful day/night, love, abbiemca x
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Ava's View
Tony and I made our way down from Stark Tower to meet with Steve, Natasha and Clint. The three of them stared at me, Natasha and Clint in confusion, Steve in anger. Steve spoke first, naturally shouting and screaming at me. I sighed.
"Where the hell have you been, Richards?!" He yelled. I kneaded my forehead with my fingers and let him carry on his rant. "We were worried sick!"
Is he for real? I know I left him on his own and everything, but Clint and Natasha were there soon enough, weren't they? New York City is being destroyed by aliens, and he's shouting at me for wondering off!
"No Steve, you were worried sick! I'm not stupid, I'm not going to run into death, Steve. You treat me like a child, and I'm not!" I yelled. Steve almost looked taken aback, but then his face contorted into anger once more.
"For God's sake Ava! I treat you like a child because you act like one!"
"Fine! If I act like a child, I'm pretty sure you won't want me here with the adults, will you?" I snarled. Tony had taken to holding off some Chitauri that were trying to surround us.
"No, Ava, wait-" He started, but I'd already teleported to the other side of New York, with some fresh Chitauri for me to vent my anger on. Alright, maybe I was a little unfair leaving him on his own for a while, but...I had to save the little boy, or what I thought was a little boy. I suppose I was being quite petty, too. I shot about 6 of them within ten minutes, quickly and precisely. A few who I felt particularly angry with, I ripped their minds up.
The Chitauri were dropping like flies around me and I was quite proud of myself. I needed to take my mind off not only Steve, but Loki to. I didn't understand how he could go from being the sweetest person on Earth, to a maniacal psychopath in the time span of 5 minutes. I shook my head to shake Loki's presence from my head, and I carried on killing the skeletal aliens. After about ten more minutes of me killing aliens on my own, there was a sudden rumble of thunder and the skies above me darkened with charcoal coloured clouds, each one lined with white lightning. I grinned. A figure dropped from the thunderous sky and clung to a building near me.
"Thor!" I yelled, with a ridiculously wide grin spread across my face. Thor turned his head towards me, his blonde hair whipping across his face in the wind. The clouds were slowly fading back to their original chalky white colour and the skies were returning to the crisp blue. Thor held his hammer Mjolnir in his left hand, and waved it about in the air as a signal to me. He dropped himself down and I soon found the 6ft 4 God towering over me.
"Hello Lady Richards," He said with a smile. He was clad in similarly tailored armour to Loki's; apart from Thor's was red and silver, not green and gold. Thor's cape was scarlet and it blew out majestically in the wind. His arms were protected by silver armour that was fitted to his muscles perfectly and was designed with tiny, repetitive diamond shapes embossed into it. He also wore silver wrist guards, which were lined with the same scarlet material as his cape. His torso was heavily armoured, each part silver and it all screaming royalty.
"Why are you not with the others?" Thor asked me, as he threw his hammer in the side of a Chitauri's head. I quickly flicked one away from the two of us before answering him.
"Because...Steve was calling me a child," I said, not realising how stupid I sounded. Thor raised an eyebrow at me, I sighed. "Alright! I was being petty! It was your brother's fault though."
"Oh dear Odin, what has he caused now?" Thor said, pointing his hammer at one of the aliens and blasting him with a beam of lightning.
"Let's just say he's been causing a bit of trouble," I said, blasting a few oncoming Chitauri's.
"Ava. I would like to know what my brother has done," Thor stated, I hesitated a little before answering him. I didn't really want to tell Thor how awful his brother was, but I didn't want to upset him either. I didn't really think Loki was awful anyway.
"He disguised himself as a child, tried to make me go with him, then he pinned me down on top of Stark Tower and pointed that damn sceptre at my chest." I said, Thor simply blinked at me in shock, and I had to blast away the enemies that were advancing on him.
"And..And where is he now?" He asked me, still slightly dazed by my very short and...precise explanation. I bit my lip, Thor noticed and looked at me knowingly.
"He...I...I don't know. Tony kind of threw him off the tower." I said quietly. Thor looked at me for a moment but didn't mention Loki again. We battled the aliens for a while longer, until I recieved a message over the earpiece from Tony.
"Ava pack it in with the sulking. We need you and Thor back were we started before you and Steve started bitching, okay?"
"Why should I?"
"Banner's here." Tony's voice said, I could hear shouting and smashing and stuff in the background. I grabbed Thor's wrist and teleported the both of us to where I was stated before. Bruce was here, just as Tony had said and he gave me a small smile.
"This all looks horrible," He said quietly. Natasha coked her head to the side in agreement. Suddenly, there was a huge roar coming from above us, all of us snapped our heads up to the sky, and we all saw a huge,...monster slithering through the portal. It was like a...millipede? But it has armoured plates covering up any flesh, but the flesh that was visible around it's head area was rotting and peeling. As it roared, it's mouth opened revealing strings of black saliva and thousands of rotting teeth. It didn't land. It just slinked through the sky, roaring and destroying the buildings around us. It was like a hell of a deformed insect/snake/millipede/eel/I don't even know how to explain it anymore. The creature spotted us and started slithering through the air, gradually getting faster as it came towards us.
I instictively threw my arms out infront of me and created a huge forcefield that covered all of us; it was hard, but I managed. We all crowded together, so that my powers wouldn't have to stretch as far.
"Now would be a good time to get angry, Banner," Steve said warily, his voice was weak and fragile, and that tone of fear sent shivers down my spine. Bruce turned to face Cap.
"That's my secret Captain. I'm always angry," Bruce suddenly moved forwards and broke through my pink force field. I screamed at him to get back under my protection, but he didn't listen. He neared the monster, and it picked up speed, ready to devour Bruce. I shut my eyes as I didn't want to see this happen. But it didn't. I heard the ripping of clothes and familiar roaring, I opened my left eye slightly and The Hulk was now standing were Bruce had been, grappling with our monstrous millipede and throwing him to the floor. I gasped and I lowered the pink shield.
He had it under control.
But what was he saying? 'I'm always angry...' Does that mean, that in a round about way, he is always the Hulk, and it's Bruce Banner that comes out?
As I was thinking about Bruce, Steve knocked me down into a crouch and then threw his body over me, as if he as shielding me from something. I looked up and he had his shield raised over us, protecting us both from a nearby bomb detonation. He briefly looked down at me but he didn't say a word, his blue eyes just stared into my grey.
"I'm sorry about earlier," I muttered quietly.
"So am I-"
"No. You do not apologise to me, I'm in the wrong, not you," I snapped. He removed himself from over me, and helped me up from my crouching position.
"Sorr-" He began, but I cut him off with a sharp glare.
Hawkeye and Widow had already scarpered to the opposite side of the boulevard and were happily shooting skeletal aliens. Thor and Tony were devising a plan of action, even though to me it just looked like they were pointing and arguing. Just as I was about to run to either Nat and Clint or Tony and Thor, Steve grabbed me by the shoulders and roughly pressed his lips against mine. I tried to push him off me but I couldn't. His kiss was harsh, but sweet at the same time. It was almost as if this was the last thing he was ever going to do. Finally, I mustered the strength to shove Steve off me. As soon as my eyes met his, blush crept up his cheeks.
"You really need to stop doing that," I muttered. He just looked at his feet as I awaited an explanation. A good explanation.
"I know you don't feel how I feel Ava, and I'm not trying to force you to feel how I do either. I just wanted you to be the last happiest memory I had, in case I die in this battlefield." He said, his voice wavering and becoming significantly quieter towards the end of his sentence. I opened my mouth to talk but I ended up just standing with my mouth wide open, no words coming out. He frowned at me. "Say something."
"You're not going to die today Steve," I said quietly. The both of us were standing in the middle of New York, completely oblivious to everything around us. Although I was quite aware of Tony's verbal abuse.
"And how do you know that?" Steve said, his voice heavy, as if he had given up already. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him.
"If you dare give up now, Steve Rogers, I...I...I don't know what I'll do but I'll do something and you won't like it!" I yelled in his face. He laughed at me. I scowled.
"You're such a child, Ava." He said, fondly. I could have argued back and ignited another one of our infamous petty squabbles, but I didn't. I pecked him on the cheek, which made the whole of his face turn to a pink colour.
"C'mon, soldier. We have a city to save." I said to him, with a slap on the back. He stepped forward and began barking orders.
"Stark, you cover the city, take the sky, okay? Barton, you get up high and shoot them down. Thor, you try and bottleneck that portal. Romanoff, you and I will keep the fighting on the ground. And Richards, I'm leaving Loki to you."
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Loki's View
I did not mean it. As soon as the sceptre was pointed at her heart, I immediately wanted to haul it away, to throw it off of the tower we were situated at. Never to see it again. But I could not, I was not one to back down from an action, whether I regret it or not; I was told that when I was younger.
'An act of retreat, however unavoidable, is always a sign of weakness.'
I was definitely not weak, no matter what Thor or Father said. I was always stronger in my own aspects.
That look of complete and utter terror on my love's face ripped a huge, empty hole in my heart. I could not bare to see her that way, especially when I was the cause of it. The fear in her eyes, the tiny beads of sweat collecting on her brow. I bit my lip to prevent the tears as the memory of Ava being so terrified replayed itself in my mind, with more intensity and power than I could remember when it actually happened.
When that imbecile in the ridiculous metal armour had thrown me off of his tower, one of my loyal Chitauri's had caught me on one of those flying contraptions. I straightened up my horned helmet and then took control of the flying machine I was on. The Chitauri whom it belonged to stood behind me and fought off any incoming attacks from the opposition. I was flying through New York, I needed to get back to Stark Tower. I flew overhead, and once I came to the centre of the built up city, I could see people in bright outfits. I spotted Ava's cape first, the amethyst material sparkling as the sunlight was beating down upon it. She was next to that solider fellow; I definitely did not like him. I then spotted my brother's scarlet cape, and I couldn't help but scowl at him. Soon enough though 'The Avengers' dispersed from the centre and began running and flying in all directions. What on Earth were they doing? Surely they were in need of some more order than that?
I knew that awful green monster was running around causing havoc somewhere too. I steered the aircraft I was using so that I flew straight over the Avengers, however, only one of them spotted me; Barton. I bit my lip in hesitation. Barton would definitely be seeking revenge, after I had used him for all of my dirty work. Ava's cape was billowing out behind her as I looking down on the group of super humans. She looked so majestic...she would make a wonderful queen.
I shook the thoughts from my head as I caught Barton's eye. I grinned menacingly at him, purely to infuriate him. He immediately left his work with Agent Romanoff and quickly seized his bow, loaded it with a technically altered arrow and shot it straight towards me. I accelerated to the fastest speed this aircraft could carry me. I was nearing Stark Tower now, just a few more feet...please. I shot away from Barton's arrow and I let out a huge sigh of heavy relief.
Then suddenly, my aircraft exploded and I was sent flying from it. My emerald cape acted like a slight parachute, but it was useless when my fall intensified. I thankfully fell to the balcony on Stark Tower, my golden armour plates digging into my body as I fell onto their edges awkwardly. I winced as the impact hit me and forced my body into a state shock. I rolled onto my back and looked up into the sky that was now crowded with skeletal aliens and three more of those monstrous eel-like creatures. The bright blue beam of the portal was now seeming more annoying than anything else.
Why have I done all of this? I sighed and closed my eyes to try and block out the mess I had made. I breathed in the air of New York, which was once fresh and crisp, but was now filling with carbon and ash particles. As I opened my eyes there was a danity figure looming over me. My helmet was strewn across to the other side of the balcony and it was scartched and scuffed. I looked at the figure and immediately sat up as my brain registered who was staring down at me.
Ava. How I adored this girl. I wanted to be with her, I wanted to spend my life with her, but as she had explained that could never happen. I sighed at the thought of that memory. I expected her eyes to be the soft, misty grey that they so often were when she spoke to me, but now they were cold, hard and full of pain and anger. Her ebony hair, which was the same nightshade colour as mine, was pushed back by an amethyst coloured hairband, which was no doubt unlocking her powers; there was a certain kind of radiation being emitted from it. Her sharp features were no longer happy or mischievous as they used to be, they were now mature and serious. When she spoke it was as if it was hurting her to talk to me.
"Loki; you know what I'm here for, I assume?" She asked, her voice was hollow, and it seemed as though nothing we had experienced together even mattered anymore. I had ruined it.
"I do. You're here to take me away, to lock me up, to stop me," I said to her, trying ever so hard just to make her so much as smile a little. But I never did. She simply cocked her head to one side.
"I suppose so, yes." She said, "Are you coming willingly, or not?"
"Before we decided on all of the doom and gloom, fate and prophecies, can we just...talk?"
"About what?"
"About us."
"Loki, please-"
"Just listen to me, Ava. I need to know where I stand, please. And unfortunately for both of us, the two of us are extremely good at lying. So...I'll let you in if you let me in." I proposed, she raised an eyebrow at me.
"Excuse me?"
"If I let you into my head, you let me into yours. That way we both know truthfully, how the other feels," I stated, quite proud of my little plan, actually. I didn't mind her routing through my memories, even the most powerful ones, simply because I believed that this girl is my other half. Although I pointed that sceptre at her heart, I don't think I could live with myself if she had come to any harm. Ava hesitated, which was clear by her biting her bottom lip. I waited patiently for her to respond to my proposal.
"Alright. On the count of three, we let the barriers into our minds down, okay?" She said, clearly still sceptical about this whole thing. I nodded in agreement. 3...Finally, I can see what she thinks, what she feels, was she has already thought, what she has already felt. 2...And she can see mine...but I will gladly let her, I trust her with all of my heart. 1...This is it. This is it. Her grey eyes had lost their harshness and I could feel her prodding around in my mind, it took me a moment to get used to the sensation, but after I did, I delved straight into her mind.
The first thing I saw was Ava...in a soldier's uniform. She was holding a gun, and there was explosions everywhere. It was awful...she was almost killed, oh my gosh...Ava! I pushed past her military memories and began to look for her more present ones; about me.
I found the moment when I had stayed at her flat, and I had cried under the stars with her.
I found the moment when she had discovered the bracelet. My eyes suddenly diverted to Ava's wrist, and under her black catsuit, I could see a glimmer of gold. I smiled to myself; she was still wearing it.
I found the moment when she discovered the bedside note, and I was feeling exactly how she felt. She was happy, she felt loved.
I dug deeper, and I found the two memories when we were in that cell together, the first of us wrestling, the second with the kiss. I could almost feel Ava's lips against mine now, as the memory was replaying to me.
But then, all of our happy memories turned sour, and I found the ones were I had been...well, evil. I was disgusting to look at whilst in that mind set. I shook away those memories and I found one...one with Stark and Ava...on top of a coffee shop roof.
Fury and that fellow I had killed...Coulson, yes him, were there too. To give Ava a mission. I dug through her thoughts and found what the briefing was.
To make the God of Mischief fall for you.
My heart stopped. My brain was overheating. I left her mind as mine filled with sorrow and agony.
It was all just a mission. She didn't love me! She never did!
It is always the same. People claiming to love me, but in reality, they couldn't care less.
My own father, lying through his teeth about me for my entire life. And now the love of my life, with no true feeling for me, just a stupid mission!
This whole thing was a lie. My love for this girl; that I believed to be so sincere, so full of warmth and joy, was nothing more than deception and lies.
It was all just a mission. An impossible mission.