STUTTGART
germany
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CORTEZ
I WAS piloting the jet. Natasha Romanoff once against set besides me as I geared us towards a country I hadn't been to in a while; a country I preferred not to be in. I hoped that Black Sun didn't know we were coming. That was the last thing Shield needed tonight.
According to the last update from the helicarrier, the Asgardian was still causing trouble in the small country. We were on our way to stop him.
My combat gear was tight against my body as I leaned forward. I could hear Captain Rogers getting ready to drop. A parachute was on his back.
I was thankful I would be staying in the jet with Natasha. I was nervous though, I didn't want Steve to get hurt.
Once Rogers has dropped from the jet, Natasha and I got ready to defend him from above. I brought the plane closer towards the building, my eyes landing on the alien for the first time. I could barely see his face.
"You know, the last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." I heard Steve say through the comms device. Loki must have said something, because then Steve spoke again. "I'm not the one who's out of time."
I acted quickly, pressing the button above my head and dropping one of the jets guns. With it aimed towards the wanna be God, Natasha spoke into the speaker. "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."
I saw it coming before Natasha did, and jerked the plane to the left before we could be hit by whatever it was he shot at us with. "Son of a bitch." I grunted and leveled the jet. "This guy's all over the place." I said, looking at the several copies of the God.
Steve had just been thrown aside by the God when I heard it. Music began flooding through our system and I looked down at the screen. PA SYSTEM OVERRIDE.
"Agent Cortez, you miss me?" I recognized the voice and inwardly groaned. The music grew louder and I bite back a smile as I watched the flame of Iron Man's blaster fly past us.
With the help of Tony Stark, Loki was easily taken prisoner by the two men and was escorted into my jet. As soon as the God's presence was felt I grew slightly nervous. I knew about Thor, I knew about New Mexico and the trouble Coulson got himself into.
But knowing and seeing were two very different things.
As soon as we were rounded up, I got us the hell out of Germany. The last thing I needed was Black Sun getting their hands on our prisoner. They didn't even know about what happened in New Mexico.
I had just finished speaking with Fury when I switched the jet into autopilot and turned around in my seat. My eyes locked with Loki's for only a minute and I let them narrow.
It was Tony Stark that interrupted our gaze as he spoke to Steve; who stood several feet away from us.
"What's your thing? Pilates?" Tony asked. I rolled my eyes.
"What?"
"It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a capsicle." Tony said.
I knew then that his words had gotten under Steve's skin, and I almost stood up to defend him. But the wiser side of me held back.
"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in." Steve said, his eyes narrowing. I glanced at Natasha, who was watching them carefully. Neither of us would want to get between two men like them.
"Yeah, there's a lot of things that Fury doesn't tell you." Stark replied.
Their conversation was cut off by a clap of thunder and lightning. I glanced out the front of the jet and watched the sky light up again.
"Where is this coming from?" Natasha asked.
"What's the matter?" Steve asked, catching my attention. I looked back at him and watched him address Loki. "Scared of a little lightening?"
Loki glanced around and looked up at the glass. "I'm not overly fond of what follows." He said.
My eyes narrowed for a second in confusion before they widened, and I smacked Natasha's hand. She glared at me for a second before Loki's words must have sunk in, and her face matched mine.
The jet shook with a loud thud behind us, and instantly Tony was pulling on his mask. I grabbed the the jets steering wheel and prepared for the worst.
The hiss of the back door echoed in the jet and I barely heard Steve yell over the sound of it. I glanced behind me in time to see who I could only assume was Thor, begin to enter the ship. He pushed past both Steve and Tony easily and went for his brother.
Then they were both gone.
Tony Stark started to move. "Now there's that guy."
"Another Asgardian." I said.
"That guys a friendly?" Steve asked.
"Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the tesseract is lost." Tony said.
"Stark, we need a plan of attack." Steve yelled.
Tony ignored him and kept walking forward. "I have a plan. Attack." Then he was gone from the jet.
I knew what Steve was going to do before he grabbed a parachute. "I'd sit this one out, Cap." I yelled over the wind.
"I don't see how I can." Steve said as he buckled the backpack around him.
"These guys come from legend, they're basically Gods." Natasha said.
"There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."
"Steve!" I yelled, but it was useless. Within a few seconds he had jumped out of the jet. I inwardly groaned and looked at Natasha. "I guess I'll tell Fury we're going to be late."
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Back at the helicarrier, the team surrounded the table. The alien terrorist was in his prison, and it seemed like for the most part, things were stabilizing. We just needed to figure out where the tesseract was, and get Agent Barton home.
Natasha was sitting next to me at the table as we waited for Fury. He had only just finished speaking with the prisoner, and after Loki had insulted both Fury and the team, none of us had much to say. Not until Bruce spoke.
"He really grows on us, doesn't he?" Bruce said sarcastically.
"Loki is going to drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" Steve asked.
I looked between the two men and waited for the God to speak.
"He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world I know. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the tesseract." Thor explained to us all.
"An army? From outer space?" Steve asked. I glanced at him and watched as he struggled to believe what was going on. I almost felt for him; I knew that this was probably insane to him.
"So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for." Bruce said, playing with his glasses.
"Selvig?"
"He's an astrophysicist." Bruce explained.
"He's a friend." Thor replied. I watched as concern and anger grew over his face.
"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours." Natasha said. I glanced at her and watched as she tried to hide her fear of losing Barton. I had the same fear; somewhat. Unlike her, I understood that Shield was not a family. We lose people every day.
"I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here."
"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guys brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him." Bruce said.
"Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother." Thor said.
My eyes narrowed at the vail threat Bruce received. And although I didn't particularly care for the feelings of the green freak of the week, I didn't like Thor threatening a member of my team. "He's killed eighty people in two days." I said. My voice caught the attention of everyone, as it was the first time I had spoken. Which was very out of my character.
"He's adopted." Thor finally said.
"Iridium, what did they need the Iridium for?" Bruce asked to no one in particular.
"It's a stabilizing agent." We all turned and watched as Tony Stark walked into the room. Coulson was with him. He said something quietly to the agent before looking back at us. "Means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at Sheild."
I watched as the cocky man mumbled something to Thor and smacked his arm, and then he opened his big mouth again. "Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants."
I was already growing annoyed by his presence. And then watching him take the place where Fury usually stood, it bothered me more. "Uh, raise them mid-mast, ship the top sails. That man is playing Galaga. Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did. How does Fury even see these?"
"He turns." Both Maria Hill and I said at the same time, and we both shared a look.
It was in that unfortunate moment that Tony Stark laid his dark eyes on me. Half a smirk took over his lips and he crossed his arms. "Stacy, I have to say, it is great to see you again."
I copied his actions and crossed my own arms. "Anthony, I have to say, it is not so great to see you again."
"You can't still be mad about Monaco."
"Oh, am I?" I asked sarcastically. "Am I mad about Monaco still? You're just lucky I was there."
Tony smiled widely and crossed the room. "It's great to see you again."
The shell of my hardened heart cracked just a little at the man in front of me and I stood up, allowing him to give me a short hug. I hated Stark, with almost every fiber in my being. But he was one of the only people that got me; that truly got me.
When our hug ended and Tony went on to discuss scientific matters with Bruce, I sat back down and looked at Natasha. Our eyes met and she nodded her head as a signal. I looked to my left and saw that an angry expression was in Steve's face, and I knew it was directed at me. I just didn't know what it was for.
Fury interrupted my thoughts as he walked into the room. "Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him."
"Let's start with that stick of his." Steve said, avoiding eye contact with me. "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."
Fury shrugged his shoulders slightly. "I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of my sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."
"Monkeys? I do not understand."
"I do!" Steve yelled, his hand hitting the table. "I understood that reference."
I rolled my eyes and stood up. "I'm bored. I'm going to go take a fucking shower. Call me when our alien decides to say something of value."
"Did you need a partner?" Tony said as I passed him. My eyes narrowed and I lifted my arm, elbowing him in the gut.
"I'm telling Pepper you said that."
Sorry
School has been so crazy and I broke up with my boyfriend and I thought 2020 was gonna be a good year but nahh this ain't it lol