𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐑 - MCU

IV. THE SMARTEST PERSON IN THE ROOM

IV. THE SMARTEST PERSON IN THE ROOM

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"Ant." Fury gestured towards Loki.

Loki, who stood trapped in an impenetrable glass cage inside the helicarrier, raised his eyebrow unimpressed. After bringing him to the base in the quinjet, agents had taken the god off of Stark's hands and escorted him to his prison.

"Boot." Fury pointed at the control panel next to him with one very big and bright red button. Its meaning was clear; one push and Loki would be gone.

The god chuckled, his arms behind his back. "Impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me." He grinned menacingly, stepping toward the glass.
           
"Built for something a lot stronger than you," said Fury, not wavering beneath Loki's stare.
           
"Oh, I've heard." Loki smirked as he turned his head to look directly into the security camera. "A mindless beast, makes play he's still human," he said.

Luna looked at the scene from a computer screen in the main bridge of the helicarrier. "He creeps me out," she muttered, side-glancing at Bruce, who stood beside her.

The rest of the newly-formed team stood gathered around her, waiting intently until Fury was done.

"How desperate are you, to call on such a lost creature to defend you?" Loki continued condescendingly.

"How desperate am I?" Fury took a step closer to the cage. "You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate." He stood firmly on the ground, his sneer towards Loki not wavering. "You might not be glad that you did," he added as a good measure, his voice low and threatening.

But all Loki did was smirk at the man and tilt his head. "Oh, it burns you to have come so close. To have the tesseract, to have power, unlimited power... And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is," he mocked.

"Well, let me know when 'real power' wants a magazine." Fury rolled his eyes, getting the last word in and walking out.

Luna ran a hand through her hair with a deep sigh, sitting down on top of the large table next to Steve. "God, I can't believe this is actually happening," she said before looking up and adding, "can I still say God? Or would that be weird, since we've just captured one?"

Natasha walked toward her and responded, "I think you're good. It's been a while since anyone's prayed to Norse Gods."

"But this God has an army," Steve said, staring off into the void. "From outer space," he added, rubbing his temples.

Luna felt a stroke of pity for him; he was still adjusting to waking up in a whole different time and he was already being thrust back into another war. Technology had evolved tremendously since the forties. Everything had evolved since then.

"He came here via portal, right?" she asked. "A portal y'all opened with the Tesseract. Is that why Loki took Erik Selvig?" she wondered. "To build another portal, for his army." She tried not to freak out as Thor took a step toward her.
          
"Selvig?" Thor questioned, recognition flashing across his face.

She nodded. "Astrophysicist. You know him?"
  
"He's a friend."
  
"Loki has him under some kind of spell. Along with one of ours," Romanoff said as she looked at the ground. Clint Barton, she had explained to Luna earlier, was the arrow guy who was also a part of the Avengers initiative.