The Infamous Hacker (Natasha Romanoff x OC)

Prologue/Chapter 1

Author's Note: Please check the description for trigger warnings.

~

2012, "The Avengers"

Bryce Russell's POV

"I came as fast as I could. You said she's... acting up?"

"Yeah. I'll turn off the power, she'll turn it back on again."

I approached the Tesseract, examining it. 

"What does it look like, Ms. Russell?" Director Fury, one of my many bosses, called from across the room. 

I could feel the vibrations a second too late. 

"DUCK!" I shouted, and everyone in the lab ducked as the Tesseract sent out a beam of energy, a figure materializing within it. I grabbed my gun from its holster, cocking it and readying myself for anything.

From where the beam had hit the receiver, there was now a man. He was slightly hunched over and wore clothing unlike anything I'd ever seen in all my days. He appeared to be sweaty and his raven black hair was greased back against his neck. In addition, he was holding a wicked-looking spear with a pointed, curvy tip and a glowing blue orb at the head.

Everyone in the room slowly and cautiously stood, drawing their weapons and aiming them at him.

"Sir," Director Fury called, "Please, put down the spear."

The man looked from his spear to Nick Fury before aiming it at Fury and shooting a beam of bright blue energy at him. One of my co-workers, Clint Barton, jumped out, pushing Fury to the ground and saving them both. 

The man leaped into the air with frightening and inhuman agility, lunging at some of the security guards. Their bullets did nothing but anger him as he shoved the tip of his spear into one of their necks. When the other guards started shooting at him, he spun around and threw push knives at them, three at a time, all of them landing in their target's throats. 

The man then spun around and shot the same ball of energy at some of the workers, blowing up some machines and killing many agents.

Clint Barton and a few guards started shooting at him again. He turned and fired at them, too. Clint and one of the guards jumped out of the way, but the blast hit the other dead-on.

As if to have a "final blow", the man kicked another guard into the wall, rendering him unconscious.

Then, the man slowly surveyed the damage he'd done with a calculating look on his face. Sparks, broken glass, and fire were everywhere.

Where was I during all of this?

I was trying to retrieve the Tesseract without getting blown up. I was surprised that I'd actually succeeded in making it to the machine with Director Fury. 

I watched, frozen, as the man jumped at Clint. Clint blocked his attack, but the man pinned his arm in a standing armbar.

"You have heart," he muttered and pressed the tip of his spear to Clint's chest. 

I watched on in horror as Clint made a low groaning noise as his eyes turned completely black, then slowly came back to normal, this time with crystal blue iris'. He put his gun back in its holster and followed the man as he made his way over to the next agent, doing the same to him. 

"Russell! Help me!" Fury hissed at me. I quickly snapped back to the strange reality I was now in and held open the case as Fury grabbed the Tesseract and placed it in. He shook his hand as though it had burned him before I closed the case and silently stood, handing it to Fury and starting to get away from the scene.

"Please don't." 

The man's voice came from behind us. Fury stayed put, but I spun around, my gun cocked and pointed at the man. Clint drew his gun and pointed it at me. I glanced at him but did not put down my weapon. 

"I still need that," said the man.

"This doesn't have to get any messier," Fury stated.

"Of course it does," the man replied. "I've come too far for anything else."

Finally, Fury turned around to face him. I still refused to drop my gun.

"I am Loki, of Asgard," the man declared. "And I am burdened with glorious purpose."

"Loki?" Selvig's voice came from across the room. He sounded exasperated. "Brother of Thor."

"We have no quarrel with your people," Fury said.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot," Loki replied simply.

Fury cast him a suspicious glance. "Are you planning to step on us?"

Loki grinned and started pacing. "I come with glad tidings... of a world made free."

"Free from what?" Fury asked incredulously.

"Freedom," Loki replied.

This man is insane, I thought to myself. Completely insane.

"Freedom is life's great lie," Loki declared. "Once you accept that... in your heart..." he turned to Doctor Selvig, pressing the tip of his spear to the doctor's chest. Selvig's eyes turned completely black, as Clint's had, then a crystal blue.

"You will know peace," Loki finished.

"Yeah, you say peace..." Fury said, disbelieving, "I kinda think you mean the other thing."

"Sir, Director Fury is stalling," Clint piped up, still pointing his gun at me. "This place is about to blow and drop one hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us."

"Like the pharaohs of old," Fury confirmed.

I had no problem dying from getting hit in the head by a ceiling if it meant keeping the Tesseract out of this psyco's hands, so I said nothing.

"He's right, the portal is collapsing in on itself," Selvig interjected, examining the analysis' that were still online. "We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

Loki turned to Clint. "Well then."

Clint's gun barrel turned away from me and hit Director Fury flat in the chest. I returned fire, aiming for Loki, but my bullets did nothing. He laughed at my efforts. 

"I'll be needing you, too, Ms. Russell," he told me before approaching me. Clint followed, lunging at me and attempting to knock my gun from my hands. Since he was a trained assassin, I was no match for him and quickly found myself unarmed.

Loki touched his spear's tip to my chest, and everything went black.