Brother Avengers

Brother Avengers Chapter 17

For this section, I listened to the Batman Begins theme, then the Thor soundtrack: "Brothers Fight."

Enjoy!

VVVVV

Chap 17

"Being deeply loved by someone

Gives you strength,

While loving someone deeply

Gives you courage."

-Lao Tzu

12:45 pm

Fifteen minutes before Midgard Bifrost activation

"Disappeared? What do you mean?" Steve demanded.

"I mean disappeared," Thor shot back. "He was there, in front of me, and then he was not."

"Crap," Tony declared. "I'll bet a hundred bucks he's gone to where the girls really are."

"Green Eyes," Logan said—Loki straightened.

"Me?"

"Yeah. Where's Romanov?"

Loki stepped out of the street and up onto a curb—the cold wind blustered through his cape and sent bits of trash bouncing down the sidewalk. Overhead, the dark clouds gathered and seethed, creating a slow swirl in the sky over the island.

And deep, menacing, mechanical whines cut back and forth through the upper air.

Skrull starships.

Loki pressed his fingers to his earpiece and paused, letting his eyes unfocus. He took a deep breath...

Then frowned.

"I...I don't know," he confessed, his heart speeding up.

"What?" Thor said. "You knew before—you were certain when we were back in the church—you knew where she was."

"I know," Loki snapped, clenching his left fist. "But she...She's indistinct, now.'

"Why, what happened?" Steve wondered. Loki lifted his head and narrowed his eyes.

"Doom."

"What are you talking about?" Logan wanted to know.

"He discovered my tracking spell."

"I thought you said he'd have to shoot her to remove it," Tony reminded him.

"I did," Loki said. "But he hasn't removed it. He's muddling it with a spell of his own. All I can tell is that she is moving."

"Ah," Tony said, in a tone like he'd realized something.

"What, what?" Steve wanted to know. "Talk fast—Claws and me are kinda in an uncomfortable spot at the moment. More Nazis coming any second now. "

"He took her with him," Tony explained. "She was here—that's how we found the doctors. But when Doom zipped out of here, he picked up Romanov too."

"Doom's got the hots for the Russian spy..." Logan muttered.

"Hey, like we can talk," Tony answered darkly. "But that's beside the point—the point is that we can't track the girls anymore."

"We're gonna have to look for some sign around here," Steve realized. "Some clue as to where they've gone."

"Okay, work fast," Tony ordered. "Us fliers have our work cut out for us."

"What—" Loki started. But he was cut off as a wave of bone-crushing pressure swept over him, followed by an earth-shuddering rumble and an ear-splitting screech. He squinted upward to watch a Skrull fighter rake the air just over his street. Loki staggered sideways and put his hand against the cool brick of a building.