Thankfully, no chitauri cross our path as I drive the bike through the streets at an alarming speed. I can hear Ava yelling in my ear for me to slow down as I swerve through the wreckage and abandoned cars, but I pretend that I can't hear her over the sound of the bike's engine beneath us. Time is of the essence here, and the faster she gets to the quinjet and resumes reading Erik's notes, the better.
The bike comes to a screeching halt in front of the fallen aircraft, my foot slamming the stand down before we stop moving. "Go," I say to Ava, and she doesn't need telling twice. Within seconds the two of us have dismounted the bike, and rush forward. I enter the quinjet first with my arms raised, fire in my hands just in case any unwanted aliens have made their way on board in our absence. Much to my relief, I don't find a single chitauri, and I extinguish the fire from my hands at the lack of threats.
"We're good," I inform my friend. She wastes no time in quickly following after me, her eyes briefly scanning the vast space undoubtedly to make sure that we are alone. When she finds nothing, she quickly makes herself comfortable in one of the far corners of the quinjet, while I march over to the weapons rack. "I don't have much time, so my explanation is going to be rather quick and probably shitty," I half apologise, grabbing a few of Nat's pistols and the right ammo for them.
"Let's just hope that it doesn't come down to me having to use one," Ava murmurs, her eyes already moving back and forth as she reads Erik's writings on the pages in front of her.
It doesn't take me long to gather enough weapons in my arms, and I quickly turn around to hurry back towards her. She doesn't peel her gaze away from the notes in her hands until I drop to the ground in front of her. And when she sees the number of weapons in my hand, she frowns with unease. I don't say anything to her as I work the safety off from all the pistols, not putting the last one down. "When or if you run out of ammo, turn the safety back on and grab a fresh magazine," I instruct. "Release the empty one like this-" I pause to show her. "- before inserting the new one. To do this, place the rear of the new magazine against the back of the magazine well. Once they're aligned, use the heel of your palm and push up to seal the magazine- you should feel a click. Roll your hand over the top of the slide, pull it back towards you, and then release it. Then turn the safety back on, and fire away."
She carefully watches my hands as I put my words into action, saying nothing as she listens very intently. Eventually, she pries the weapon from my hand as a frown tugs at her lips. "I hate guns," is all she says.
"I know. And I know that I did a quick and shitty demonstration, but we don't have time. Loki and his aliens are still running wild and causing a lot of damage. They need me out there."
She sighs. "I know. I understand most of it, but if I have any troubles, then I can always call out on the comms. At least three of you have had to use these things daily before." She pauses to place the gun on the ground beside her. "Someone's bound to help if I need it."
"Exactly- just stay low, stay in here, and stay out of sight."
"You know, I've only been wanted by am angry God and his alien army for an hour at most, but I already miss our regular SHIELD missions. Suddenly, a bad guy with a gun doesn't seem all that big, bad and scary anymore."
"You're not wrong." But I wish she was. It has been something that has clouded my thoughts ever since my encounter with the Abomination, right here in the streets of New York City. My past SHIELD missions have been nothing compared to the other monstrosities that myself and the other Avengers have faces. Aliens, robots, gods and monsters alike. I almost miss the simplicity of how things used to be before all of this. I miss the confidence that I would make it out of a fight alive. Back then, I had been so sure that I would, with my abilities and whatnot.
But now? When there are other beings just as strong if not stronger than me? I'm not so sure.
I don't voice my concerns out loud to Ava, however. I only let out a small sigh, a strained smile forcing its way onto my face. "Be careful. And find a way to shut this portal down."
"I will," she promises, as I start to make my way down the ramp. But her small voice has me stopping in my tracks once more, as she calls out, "Just come back alive and in one piece, alright? I can't have my second favourite Avenger dying on me, now can I?"
A smile works itself on my face despite the gravity of her words, and how much they relate to the thoughts swirling through my mind. "Always do," I promise, ignoring the way that my heart skips a beat as the words leave my mouth.
Don't make promises that you might not be able to keep, Lydia.
***
Sweat drips down my face as I block punch after punch from the screeching alien in front of me. Its friends behind it hurry towards us as if they can sense my defeat, belting out victorious war cries as I am pushed back by the attack. I have been fighting chitauri left, right and centre for the past half hour after leaving Ava on the quinjet. And I am becoming increasingly exhausted with every minute that passes. Even using my abilities has started to take a toll on me, and I know deep down that I can't keep this up forever. Sooner or later, I am going to need to stop for a moment to catch my breath. Otherwise, I would tire out and fight sloppily, resulting in my ultimate demise.
But I've still got just a little more of a fight in me before this happens.
Growling with a mix of both frustration and determination, I keep my arms raised to keep the alien's away, before sweeping my leg out and right into the chitauri's. It loses its balance and falls to the ground. The moment that its back hits the ground, I wave my hands and watch as large, sharp icicles sprout up from the street in front of me. The aliens don't have any time to move, let alone scream before the sculptures pierce their skin and render them dead within seconds.
Panting as I stare at the destruction in front of me, I allow myself to have no more than twenty seconds to catch my breath. Any longer would make me an easy target for the rest of the aliens running amuck. But from what I can hear on the comms, my teammates are giving them one hell of a fight.
"Banner's just taken down an entire squadron down on ninth-"
"On your left, Rogers-"
"Point Break, a group of chitauri are firing at officers two blocks from you-"
"I shall be there in but a moment-"
"Quill, any luck with finding a way to shut the portal down?"
"Working on it. But just a little heads up, some of the chitauri soldiers are getting close to the quinjet-"
"Sit tight, Romanoff and I are on our way-"
I cease paying attention to the jumbled conversations playing back and forth in my ear at the sight of a leviathan turning down the street, slowly flying in my direction. On top of it, my eyes can make out the shapes of multiple chitauri moving back and forth on top of the great machine. Purple flashes fill the sky as they fire into the windows of the tall buildings on either side of them, where helpless civilians are bound to be hiding while watching all of this chaos unfold.
I hesitate for only a moment, waiting to hear if Clint would call out to one of our more heavy hitters, alerting them of this new threat. As much confidence as I have in my skills and abilities, I highly doubt that I would be able to defeat all of those chitauri and live to tell the tale. There has to be at least two dozen up there on the leviathan. And that's only counting the ones that I can see. Thor would be able to finish them all with one throw of his hammer. Tony has his armour to protect him, as well as countless weapons built into his suit. And Hulk can smash the aliens to pieces before they have to fire their staffs.
Yet, none of them come. It's just me standing here, alone in the middle of the street, watching the leviathan draw closer by the second.
No one else is coming- they're all too busy with their fights. I only have myself to rely on, and with no one else coming, it seems that taking down the leviathan is up to me.
With the leviathan almost flying over the top of me now, I allow myself another five seconds to rest before bending my knees and pushing off hard and fast from the ground. I soar upwards through the air, swerving to avoid flying straight into the great vessel, aiming towards the back of it instead. I reason that attacking from one end of the ship would ensure that all of my enemies are in front of me, compared to if I had flown up to the middle of the leviathan instead.
The chitauri don't see me until my feet have landed on the armoured plates of the leviathan. With a quick flick of my hands, I send their weapons flying from their grasp. I spring into action faster than a gun being shot, moving forward to meet my first opponent. I duck underneath the swinging arm of the first chitauri and administer a harsh punch to their gut that sends them stumbling to the side. Not pausing to see where it has fallen, I continue to run forward to meet the next alien.
Its arms stretch out towards me as I approach it, leaving its middle unguarded. I raise my leg and slam my foot into the unguarded space, causing the alien to curl in on itself. I grab it by the arm to keep it from falling over completely, before then delivering two, swift punches to its gut. As the chitauri gasps for air, I tug its body down and raise my arm to slam my elbow into its back. As it stumbles to the side, I click my fingers and create a ball of fire that I send hurtling towards it, watching as the ball knocks the chitauri off the leviathan in a fiery blaze.
I cry out in surprise as a pair of strong arms grab me around my middle. Quickly deducing that they belong to the chitauri that I had encountered only moments before, I try desperately to wriggle free from its grasp. But its hold on me is a firm one, and it only lifts me from the ground, keeping me in place as more of its friends rush towards us.
A quick wave of my hands sends the oncoming chitauri- three of them- flying through the air, their screams of horror quickly fading as they tumble towards the city below. I don't have enough time to create another gust of wind for the next alien, however. It would reach me before I had the chance to lift my hands once more. Instead, I put more of my weight onto the chitauri still gripping my arms. By doing so, I lift my legs off the ground with ease, quickly kicking the oncoming chitauri hard in the face.
It falls back, eliciting a shriek of fury from its companion behind me. Its grip on me tightens as I lower my legs, but within seconds, I reach my arms back and clasp my hands on either side of its face. Growling, I administer a powerful jolt of electricity, which causes the chituari to spasm where it stands. Its hands fall limp to its side, and its body soon does the same against me. But I only lean forward and fling it over my shoulder, watching as it crashes into yet another alien, quickly sending it sprawling to the ground.
"Stark," Clint warns into the comms, immediately capturing my attention. His tone suggests that whatever it is that he is about to say isn't something good, leading me to worry about Tony. "You've got a lot of strays sniffing your tail."
Like the fool that I am, I have allowed myself to become distracted in the middle of a fight. With my attention solely fixed on the conversation playing in my ear, I don't see the chitauri raise its arm with a dagger in its hand until it's too late.
A scream bursts from my lips as the blade lodges into my shoulder. Pain explodes like a ball of fire along the flesh that the blade has pierced. Blood already seeps from the wound around the dagger, staining my new uniform an even darker shade than it already is. Tears well in my eyes as I cast my gaze to look at the wound, noticing that the blade isn't buried to the hilt in my shoulder. Despite the pain that I feel, it seems that the wound isn't deep.
Knowing that it wouldn't be practical to fight with a weapon poking out of my shoulder, I reach up to pull it out. But the chitauri that I had thrown only moments before suddenly appears in front of me before I can. With a vicious clack of its teeth, it raises its leg and slams it into my side as the leviathan turns around a corner.
With the combined forces of the chitauri's attack and the leviathan suddenly changing direction, I hurtle through the air. Faster than I can blink, I fall from the leviathan's back and soar through the open air.
It doesn't take me long to take control of the air currents and right myself in the air, stopping myself from falling a hundred feet into the city below. Anger surges within me and burns fiercer than the pain caused by the blade as I watch the retreating beast. Gritting my teeth to prevent myself from screaming, I reach up and wrap a hand around the dagger's hilt, pulling it out before I can change my mind. Once it's free from my body, I barely pass the stain of my blood on the gleaming metal a second glance before tossing it to the city below. Not bothering to see where it lands, I only fly forward and hurry after the leviathan.
Once again, the aliens don't see me coming until it is too late, and I have successfully landed on the leviathan's armoured back. And once again, this works in my favour. My hands become a blur in front of me as I move them at an almost impossible speed, creating and hurling large balls of fire forward. I would be lying if I said that I'm not the least bit satisfied as they fly into the aliens, either sending them flying from the leviathan or rendering them burning piles of flesh. One by one they all fall, the idea of me beating them seeming accomplishable.
But these aliens are quick, and a few of them manage to dodge my attacks. The ones that do charge towards me with fury lining their features, but I don't allow this to deter me from rushing towards them at an equally angered pace. I grab the swinging arm of the first alien, using all of my strength to pull and twist it an angle that it shouldn't be. The sickening crack that follows is drowned out by the sound of the alien's cry of agony, but I pay it little attention as I focus on the next alien. Keeping a firm grip on the broken arm of the alien in front of me, I raise my leg and kick the oncoming chitauri high in the face, sending it reeling back. When it no longer poses a threat, I elbow the first alien in the back of the neck, before then slamming it down on the back of its head.
The sound of an animalistic snarl from behind me alerts me to the knowledge that one of the chitauri jas snuck up behind me while I have been dealing with its two comrades. Acting on instinct, I jerk to the side and pull the still screaming alien along with me. Sure enough, the alien that had been behind me slams a dagger into the chest of the injured chitauri. If I hadn't moved, then that dagger would be protruding from my back right now, though I would be too dead to care.
The chitauri that attacked snaps its head towards me, pulling the dagger free from its friend as the body falls to the ground. Its beady yellow eyes narrow into slits, a hiss escaping past its lips. Moving at a speed that is almost too quick for me to register, it swipes the sharp end of the blade towards my face. I manage to duck underneath it at the last possible second, before then straightening up and swinging my hand to knock the weapon from the alien's. It lands with a clatter against the thick armour of the leviathan, and I half expect the chitauri to reach down and retrieve it.
Therefore, I have little time for preparation when the chitauri lunges at me instead.
Taking me by surprise, the alien slams against me hard and fast, sending the two of us tumbling along the armoured plates. For a moment, we roll around like a pile of tangled limbs, before eventually coming to a stop. But the chitauri launches itself on top of me before I have the chance to try and pull myself up. It bares its teeth at me as it pins me to down, before then proceeding to try and lean down to bite at my face. The only thing that keeps it from digging its teeth into my skin is my gloved hands, as I try to hold it back.
"Nice call," Tony's voice sounds from over the comms, alerting me to the fact that he has dealt with whatever the threat was. "What else you got?"
"Well, Lyd's taking on a squadron down on sixth."
Tony feigns disappointment at this. "And she didn't invite me?"
"By all means!" I half scream, struggling to push the alien back as it snaps its jaws at me. Turning my face to the side to try and avoid its attack, I grab the sides of its thrashing face and allow fire to stream from my hands. A raw, scream of pain erupts from the back of its throat as the flames scorch its skin, and it quickly throws itself off me to try and put as much distance between it and my burning hands as possible.
"Consider yourself invited!" I finish as I pull myself to my feet, before kicking the alien off the side of the ship.
"Roger that. See you in a bit, Frozone."
The nickname prompts me to thrust my hands forward and send dozens of shards of ice towards the remaining aliens. I only lower my hands when at least ten of the chitauri fall dead, multiple icicles piercing their skin. Purple blood gushes from the wounds and seeps through the cracks of their armours, but I pay little attention to this. Instead, I keep my sights fixed on the few remaining chitauri as they stomp over the fallen soldiers, rushing towards me to finish this fight.
I catch the first alien by surprise, by stepping forward with one foot, before then spinning and lifting the other foot to deliver a harsh, spinning hook kick to its face. As it stumbles back, I drop my foot to regain my balance momentarily, before dropping low and sweeping one of my legs into the unsuspecting chitauri's. It falls and lands harshly, and I quickly create an icicle in my hand, before slamming it down into its unguarded face. It slices through the skin as easily as a knife slicing through butter. I have to resist the urge to gag as I stare down at the now mangled face in front of me, and reach down to pull the weapon from the dead alien, not bothering to clean the blood from it. With a simple throw of my hand, the icicle speeds through the air and embeds in the face of another alien, sending it crashing to the ground faster than I can blink.
"Nice shot," comes a mechanical voice from beside me. I turn my head to the side and see Tony flying in his red and gold suit alongside the leviathan, his arc reactor shining from the middle of his suit. "I'd give it about a nine out of ten. You were a little off centre, but hey, nobody's perfect."
I roll my eyes, but can't help the playful smile that spreads across my face. "And by that, you mean nobody is perfect except you," I tease, returning my attention to the last five remaining aliens in front of me.
"You said it, not me."
"Well, would your perfect self be kind enough to take the last of these aliens out for me?"
"Sure thing. Wouldn't want to put you through anything you couldn't handle anyway."
"Oi!"
"Again; you said it, not me," is his cheeky response, his words echoing what I had said to him before we had first split up. Without saying anything else, he raises his hands and fires five shots one after the other. His armour whirs with each shot and yellow blasts stream from his hands and promptly end the lives of all of the chitauri.
"Alright, now that the chitauri have been taken care of, all that's left to take care of is the leviathan."
"And lucky for you, this genius has a plan already figured out," Tony informs me smugly, before flying even closer to the beast that I am still standing on. "You might want to hop on," he says, gesturing to his back as he does so. "Because I'm about to blow this thing to hell, and I would hate to be responsible for my best friend's untimely death just because she happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Ignoring the brief warmth that flutters in my chest at his words, I rush towards him without giving a second glance to the fallen chitauri surrounding me. With a quick push of my legs, I momentarily fly through the open air, before landing with a thud on the back of Tony's armour. If I had hurt him at all, then he doesn't make it known. He only zooms forward as I wrap my arms around the back of his neck, waiting to see what would happen next.
Tony flies forward at a quick speed, soaring past the leviathan and down the street in front of us. The further we fly away, the stronger the urge to make a sarcastic remark about the target being behind us becomes. I manage to keep my mouth clamped firmly shut, however. Hanging on for dear life as Tony suddenly swerves to a stop, I look up and past his helmet to see the leviathan now flying towards us. As it quickly inches closer and Tony still does nothing, the nerves that I am already feeling begin to skyrocket out of my control. But just as I am about to lean down and shout in his ear that he might want to do something, he raises his hand and points it forward, before firing a small missile towards the leviathan.
The world explodes in a fiery shade as the weapon hits its mark. The beast that has been causing so much havoc disappears within it. As the fire caused by the explosion starts to swarm towards the buildings on either side of it, I quickly detach myself from Tony and hover in the air beside him. Raising my hands, I take control of the flames and surge them upwards, into the open sky and away from the city.
The remaining parts of the leviathan- both big and small- scatter to the roads below, as the fire disappears and thick smoke fills the air. With the machine no longer a threat, we both silently survey the scene in front of us. But it isn't long before Tony turns to face me, his mask hiding his face and any emotion that might be showing on it. A low whistle sounds from the mouthpiece of the suit though, as he nods his head towards my bloodstained shoulder. "What happened there?"
"A chitauri caught me by surprise. They threw a knife at me, and I didn't see it coming until it was too late."
He tsks with disapproval. "I make you a new suit, and it takes you less than two hours to damage it?"
"Technically I didn't damage it! And it's not like I asked to be stabbed in the shoulder!"
"Careless, careless. Once we've finished here, give it back to me. I'll have it patched up by the end of the day."
"That's if we manage to survive."
"Positive thoughts, Lyd. Positive thoughts."
But with no imminent threat to deal with, my exhaustion suddenly crashes over me like a tidal wave. Yes, we have managed to deal with quite a number of the aliens, but there is still many more to come. Some would fall, yet another hundred would take their place. Sagging my shoulders at this realisation, I admit in a small voice, "I'm tired, Tony."
He is possibly the only member on the team that I feel comfortable admitting this too, and he doesn't disappoint in providing me with the comforting words that I need to hear. "I know, Kiddo. But we've got to keep going, OK? Just hang in a little bit more until Quill finds a way to stop this. Then you can rest, and we can hit the best shawarma joint in this city with the rest of the gang."
A smile gently creeps onto my face at this, and I reach up to rub at my eyes. "You and your strange fixation with shawarma," I tease half-heartedly. Then in a voice barely above a whisper, I add, "Thank you."
He reaches up to clasp my shoulder, his metal-covered fingers digging into my shoulder in a soft squeeze of reassurance. "No problemo. Now, let's see what else Merida has in store for us, alright?"
***
3rd Person P.O.V
Her vision blurs and a painful headache pounds on the inside of her skull. But Ava refuses to tear her eyes away from the papers in front of her. Not when one page could contain the solution to the current invasion problem, and send these ugly alien bastards back to space.
She rubs her forehead gently, hooping foolishly that the simple action would be enough to soothe the throbbing pain that she feels. Her other hand holds the papers for dear life, her eyes carefully scanning over every word in front of her. Not wanting to miss even the smallest details as they could reveal everything that she needs, she has been reading the notes at an almost unbearably slow pace. Fifty pages, back and front, and too many words to count is what she has studied since Lydia left her here on the quinjet. And she still hasn't found anything useful in Eric's notes. It doesn't help that the sounds of the fighting from outside distracts her now and again. Every time a group of chitauri get anywhere near her hiding spot, fear grips her tightly. She can't help but wonder if they are looking for her, or if the God of Mischief is too. If Loki discovers what it is that she's trying to do, then he would kill her in an instant without any hesitation.
Ava winces at this, and silently curses herself for getting lost in her train of worrying thoughts. Focus. Find a way to close the portal now, and worry about the God that may or may not want to kill you later.
She can't help but groan in frustration as she flips yet another page over, the words not holding any purpose for her. There is still at least another fifty pages for her to read, and as each second passes the chitauri continue to wreak havoc in the city. The comms have been quiet for a bit now, as well. The last time anyone had spoken, Lydia, Clint and Tony had been talking about finishing off a squadron down on sixth. But that had been almost twenty minutes ago. Whether or not the two of them had been successful or not, Ava doesn't know. All she knows is that they and her other teammates are all still alive at this point, despite the odds stacked against them. Barton, with his watchful eyes, perched up high like a bird in a nest, would have alerted them of any deaths.
Unless, of course, he has already perished himself.
Positive thoughts. Focus.
She shakes her head to rid her mind of any other unwanted lingering thoughts and attempts to return her attention to the notes. But try as she might, she can't find it within herself to solely concentrate on the words in front of her. Now and again, her mind would trail off towards thoughts of her teammates' safety, her safety, and how there is so much pressure on her to find a way to end all of this.
And then, of course, the odd thought of how hungry she is would float up as well.
The fate of the city rests on her shoulders, and all she can do is think about food.
She sighs, reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose as she closes her eyes. "Get a hold of yourself, Quill," she mumbles after a few moments of silence.
"Even though I have not been on this earth for very long-"
Her body jolts upwards, the papers spilling from her hands and cascading to the floor in front of her. She's too caught up in shock to scream, and dread quickly takes over when she casts her gaze upwards to see none other than Loki, standing in the entrance of the quinjet. The silent trickster had snuck up on her without Ava even realising.
A tight smirk plays at the corners of his lips as he sees the fear written on her face. But to her surprise, it doesn't seem to hold the same amusement that many of his previous smirks had. If anything, it almost looks forced. "I have quickly learned that talking to oneself is considered a sign of insanity by you Midgardians," he continues.
Ava knows that she doesn't have a hope in beating him. He would whip any pistol out of her hand before she managed to aim it at him. And she knows that she doesn't stand a chance against him in hand to hand combat. Her combat training is minimal at best. As a techie, she never had to learn to defend herself. But not doing so is something that she regrets incredibly much now.
Not bothering to pick up the fallen papers- Loki would kill her in an instant if she even reached down towards them- she only shakily pulls herself to her feet. Hoping that he can't sense the immense amount of fear that courses through her veins, she does her best to work a care-free smile on her face. "Well, this wouldn't be the first time I've been called insane. Now, if you don't mind, this Midgardian has a lot on her plate right now-"
Her facade broke as she moved to rush past him, hoping in vain that he would be too distracted by her abrupt ending to stop her. But she had barely made it five steps before a slim hand grabbed her arm, pulling her back beside him in an instant.
Her heart thumps hard against her chest as a small whimper of terror bursts past her lips. With a grip on her like iron, Loki doesn't bother to turn her around and face him. He only- surprisingly- gently guides her back to where she was standing before she had attempted her escape. With her eyes fixed on the door, she can see a small group of chitauri waiting for him outside. Even if she had by some miracle made it past him, Loki's alien friends outside would have caught her in a heartbeat. Escaping is impossible.
She can't help but flinch as one of his pale hands reaches towards her. Expecting the inevitable end, she squeezes her eyes shut and silently prays that it will be a quick one. Surely, he wouldn't play it out. If he knows what it is that she is doing, then he would want to kill her quickly and efficiently, before any of her teammates could swoop in and save her. Feebly, she can't help but hope that one of them would do so now, but she knows in her heart that they are all preoccupied with the fighting outside. She should have called for them when she had first seen Loki standing in front of her.
She presses her lips tightly together, refusing to grant him the satisfaction that making a terrified noise would bring him. She can barely contain a flinch when his cool fingers graze her cheek and reach up to pry the comm from her ear. She can't help but peel her eyes open once he pulls his hand away, and she forces herself to watch him crush her only hope between his fingers. The remnants of the comm slip from his grasp and fall to the ground with a gentle clatter, but Loki keeps his eerily blue eyes fixed on her the whole time. "Even if you had managed to call one of your friends, we would both be long gone by the time they all arrive."
It takes a moment for her to register his words, and when she does, she feels her jaw slacken. He had said 'we would both be gone'. Not that he would be gone, and that she would be dead. If anything, his words seem to imply that he has no intention of killing her. If anything, it appears that he has a different idea for her fate, which currently rests in his hands.
He tilts his head when she says nothing, studying her thoughtfully as she remains as still as a statue. "You seem puzzled by something," he notes.
Swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat since he had first laid his hand on her, she weakly asks, "You're- you're not here to kill me?"
"Is that what you think?"
"Well, duh!" She wants to slap herself the moment the words leave her mouth. She knows from experience that when she is nervous, her mouth filter vanishes entirely and stupid things like what she just said burst free. When he merely raises an eyebrow at this, she quickly adds, "I mean, you're not stupid- you know what it is that I'm trying to do, right?"
"Of course I do."
"So then why the hell am I still alive?" She questions. "I thought with you being you, the first thing you would do is stab me with that goddamn stick of yours."
"You think that low of me?"
"Are you that surprised? After everything you've done, and how you've dealt with people that stood in your way? All I have to do is think of Phil Coulson and his fate to be reminded of the man that you are."
Venom drips from each of her words, a wave of newfound anger quickly replacing the fear that she had been feeling before. Whether or not there is a glare on her face to match the rage thriving in her veins, Ava doesn't know. All she does know is that she has struck a nerve, as the God's face suddenly turns stonecold. "I am not," he says lowly. "A man. And while the smart thing for me to do is to end your life, my curiosity of your heritage outweighs the need to kill you.
She has to refrain from scoffing with disbelief at this. "So, what? You keep me alive until Erik Selvig finds out who or what my father is, and then you decide to kill me?"
"Possibly."
"Possibly?"
His expression remains cold, but he can't hide the nervous glint in his eyes. The sight is enough to stun Ava into silence, having never seen him express any other emotion besides anger. Her silence provides him with the opportunity to speak, and he wastes no time in doing so. "Though I wish to rule this earth, there is so much about it that I have left to learn," he admits. "Far too much. But a good King must understand those that he rules, so it appears that I need an advisor of sorts. Someone who can help me learn more about this world then I could ever accomplish alone."
Loki didn't say that he was offering this role to Ava, but she doesn't need him to do so: she understands him perfectly. The way that he gazes expectantly at her now, waiting to see what her response to this would be is enough for her to figure things out. He is offering the role of his advisor to her, and her alone. This realisation only increases the shock that she already feels. Seven billion people on this planet, some of which are currently under his control and forced to do his bidding, and he asks her of all people to consider his offer.
And for a moment, she does consider it. She doesn't want to think it, but deep down she knows that there is still a chance that the other Avengers won't win this war. With the seven of them up against an entire army that doesn't stop coming, the chances of winning become slimmer by the second. Accepting Loki's offer and surrendering herself to him would ensure her survival. She would go about the rest of her life by his side, acting as a guide much in the same way that Lydia has been for Steve. Ava would teach him the ways of Midguardian life, and Loki would keep her alive because of it.
With this new position of power, there is even a chance that she could influence or manipulate Loki into doing the right thing. She could help shape a benevolent King, rather than the cruel one that everyone believes him to be. Less blood would be spilt, and Ava may be able to save her teammates. Loki would surely dispose of them if he were to win this war. He would want to permanently remove anyone who could threaten his reign over this earth.
But despite these thoughts swirling around her mind, Ava can't help but come back to the question of why he is offering this position to her. When she comes up with no reasonable answer, she meekly asks, "Why? Why me?"
Loki drops his gaze down to the weapon in his hand at her words. His hand absentmindedly fiddles with the golden staff, and he doesn't lift his eyes to lock with hers as he quietly explains, "The sceptre didn't work on you. Your mind is free, and I much prefer the company of someone who can teach and speak both freely and passionately. Not monotonously and robotic, like a puppet. The sceptre can take away the emotions of those that it is used against. Though it is not something that I have to fear happening to you."
She stares at him wide-eyed, but because he is not looking at her, Loki remains oblivious to this. Any anger and confusion that she feels washes away. Instead, a profound feeling of pity and sadness overtakes her, and her heart clenches with sympathy for the God in front of her. When she had first realised that he was lonely when he had asked her to join him for a drink back in the tower, a part of her had thought that she may be reading too far into things.
But now she realises it's the truth.
Loki has cut himself from his family out of hurt and anger, and the damage from doing so has never had the chance to heal. It has been almost two years since Thor and their parents had first believed that he was dead; who did he have to comfort him during all this time? No one, apart from the mystery being that has some form of control over him now. A part of her can empathise with his loneliness, having experienced it for the majority of her life. She knows just how awful it can feel, and how it can change a person. For all she knows, his loneliness could be what is driving him to try and take over the planet. Maybe if he just had someone, even just one person to rely and count on all this time, he wouldn't be here committing these atrocities today.
But Ava knows that that person can't be her. Not in this instant, at least.
"Even if I wanted to accept your offer, do you honestly think I could betray my home planet?" He finally looks up at her at the sadness in her tone. He says nothing as she continues, "I have friends and family here. I can't turn my back on them just because of some job offer-"
"We both know it's more than an offer of employment," he lowly interrupts. "We both know that if you accept, then you will live to see another day-"
"It still doesn't change anything, Loki. I can't just sit by and do nothing while the rest of the world suffers. That's not me. I'm sorry, I really am," she softly stresses with a shake of her head. "But I can't help you. Not like this."
Loki remains silent at her admittance and his face schools into the smug look that Ava is used to seeing now. "Then you're a fool," he remarks, but Ava can hear the disappointment in his tone. It's enough to keep her anger at bay, but her heart skips a beat as he continues, "In more ways than one. Not only are you throwing your life away for this measly planet-"
"Loki-"
"-but your also a fool to go looking for answers in Selvig's notes," he snarls, causing Ava to flinch. Her rejection has hurt him, and he is now responding with only pure anger to hide this from her. "Do you honestly think that Selvig would write the way to stop the portal in his notes? Where someone such as yourself could easily stumble upon them?"
Ava stills at this, mulling over his words. The more that she thinks about it, the more sense that it makes. Erik is smart, and if Loki had told him to ensure that there would be no way for anyone to find a way to shut the portal down, then Erik would have found a way to hide it. Even if it meant-
"He's the only one who knows how to shut it down," she mumbles in a voice barely above a whisper.
It appears she doesn't do so quietly enough, however, as Loki's smirk only widens. "Which is why when this is all over, I will kill him myself."
Ava can't help but gasp at horror at this. But before she has time to plead with him to spare the good Doctor's life, he reaches his hand up to her face. Knowing that he is either going to kill her and render her unconscious Ava acts on instinct. Reacting with a speed that she never knew she had, she raises her hand to wrap around his wrist, catching him by surprise and preventing him from touching her face. She knows that he is too strong for her to keep him at bay. But any worries that she has regarding his strength, vanishes at the sight of her hands glowing a vibrant gold where they touch Loki's skin.
Loki's smirk disappears as he grimaces in pain. He tries to jerk his hand free from her grasp but fails to do so. Ava can only stare at her hands in pure horror, not understanding what she is doing or how she is doing it. She tries to pull her hands away from him but finds that they are stuck against his skin, the golden light growing brighter by the second.
"What- what do, do you think you're- ah! Doing?" Loki pants, his breathing becoming heavier.
"I-I don't know!" She half screams, watching as the gold from her hands slowly trails up her arms, illuminating the veins under her pale skin. With a start, she realises that whatever is happening has something to do with whatever the sceptre has done to her, and the sight is almost enough to make her sick to her stomach.
"St-Stop!"
"I don't know how!"
Loki sinks to his knees and continues to gasp with pain, the colour slowly draining from his face. His mouth moves at a slow pace but forms not words. Groans of pain and fear flow past his lips, and all Ava can do is watch in horror as his eyes roll into the back of his head, and his body falls to the quinjet floor. By some miracle, her hands break away from his skin, but they and her veins remain the vibrant gold that they turned into only moments before. Without thinking, she drops down beside the fallen God, her mind racing as she leans over him. For a moment, she thinks that she has killed him. But the slight rise and fall of his chest indicate otherwise.
"Oh my god," she whimpers, raising her hands to her face to inspect them. "What have I done?"
A sudden whirring noise to the left causes her to turn her head towards the sound, and a shriek of terror leaves her at the sight of the chitauri that had been waiting outside, pointing their weapons towards her. With nowhere to run, she gives one last final scream and raises her glowing hands in front of her in one last act of defence-
Boom.
There's a flash of light, followed by a bright blast emits from her hands, shooting forward through the air and towards the chitauri. It envelops them instantly and sends them crashing back through the air, before disappearing into nothingness. With a start, Ava scrambles back until her back hits the quinjet wall, her hands still up in front of her.
And no longer glowing.
She stares down at them in shock as an eerie silence fills the air. Her hands have already returned to their normal colour, the veins beneath her skin changing from gold to blue as the seconds tick by. It isn't until they've fully returned to normal, that she can bring herself to look at the damage caused in front of her. Loki unconscious or possibly dying on the floor in front of her, and several dead chitauri scattered across the street outside the aircraft. And with the bodies in front of her and the memory of the blast stuck in her mind, a feeling of dread washes over her as she comes to a startling conclusion.
The sceptre has changed her.