Out Of Time

fifty

After fighting amongst themselves, Tony, Steve, Loki, and who turned out to be Thor, returned to the quinjet. The ride back to the helicarrier was a bit awkward and full of tension for a variety of reasons.

Upon arriving on the helicarrier, SHIELD agents entered almost immediately to take Loki away, while Tony went to get out of his suit and the rest of them went to the bridge to watch Loki be locked up. Fury followed Loki and the SHIELD agents, so that he could be the one to lock him up and threaten him.

"In case it's unclear," Fury starts, those on the bridge watching from the monitors. "You try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass." Fury walked over to the control panel of the cell, pressing one of the buttons and causing a hatch to open up beneath the cell. "Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" Fury pointed at Loki. "Ant." Then he pointed at the button. "Boot."

Y/N got the chills as Loki smirked. "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me," Loki taunted.

"Built for something a lot stronger than you."

"Oh, I've heard." Loki looked into the camera. "The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"Ooh. It burns you to come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And to even have a woman able to control that power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is."

Fury plastered a smile onto his face. "Well, you let me know if real power wants a magazine or something," he stated, walking off.

Those in the bridge watched the monitor go black. Y/N was instantly lost in her own thoughts. She had no doubt that Loki was talking about her. Just, what exactly did he mean? Could see really control the Tesseract? Not possible. That thing needed to be destroyed, and she would never hold it again.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce finally broke the silence.

"Loki's gonna drag this out," Steve stated. "So, Thor, what's his play?"

"He has an army called the Chitauri," Thor answered. "They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army?" Steve questioned, serious. "From outer space?"

"Yes, Steve," Y/N spat, not meaning to be so harsh. "Is it really that hard to believe after you've seen the Tesseract with your own eyes?"

"So he's building another portal," Bruce said. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor repeated.

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend."

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours," Natasha said.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him," Steve said. "He's not leading an army from here. I also want to know about the woman he mentioned." Y/N bit down on her lip.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," Bruce said. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him. But you are onto something about the woman he mentioned. She might be able to help us."

"Have care with how you speak," Thor said. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days," Nat stated with a straight face.