EPITHET || [l. loki]

xi. Where I Shall Dwell

──⇌•♚•⇋──

❝I was handling important matters❞

BLOOD MANIPULATION WAS beginning to tire her. Cyra faintly heard a message from the Russian assassin from her earpiece, "I can close it." 'Close what?' she wanted to ask, 'Better close it while you still can. Then get off the building before the impact kills you.' It was funny how she was now warning the people she was meant to kill.

Then again, Cyra wasn't planning on asking how a Russian assassin ended up in the Avengers team of "superheroes" in the first place.

"What happened to Loki?" Steve asked.

"He's downstairs. Cuffed with some SHIELD agents."

The captain's eyebrows furrowed, "you took him out?"

"No. The Hulk showed up, is that a reasonable answer? Anyway, do I close the thing now?"

"Do it," Tony's voice buzzed in, "Wait." Cyra heard the urgency and a hint of surprise in his tone, "Wait, wait. Natasha, hold on." She raised her head to look at where she had last spotted him before seeing the missile.

"...Is it me or is that a fucking nuke," She heard Steve murmur through the comm.

"Definitely not just you," Clint shouted from somewhere up a building, "Stark, you know anything about this shit? Don't tell me it was Fury."

"It's not Fury, guys." Iron man's side of the link went silent before he whispered out of the blue. "This is batshit crazy but I think I know exactly where to put it."

"That's when you know it's a shitty idea," Steve sighed.

The hum of the nuke got louder as Cyra stared out into the horizon. 'What the actual fuck am I doing here with these idiots? I'm gonna get myself killed at this rate.' She faintly saw the silhouette of Iron man, who's battered suit was barely flying straight. His hands were attached firmly to the nuke, steering it upwards as it swerved above the city, 'Then again, he did say that we were a team.'

"Shut up Rogers, I'm about to save your ass," Yet he still had the energy to reply.

"He's not gonna make it," she whispered out loud to no one in particular, "The pressure in space... it'll kill him." Her hands fell limp to her sides, clenching into a fist before she let everything go. Crimson painted the streets as she freed all the weapons of blood from her control and watched sorrowfully as Tony Stark disappeared beyond the gash in the sky.

"He's fucking crazy," She heard Natasha from somewhere in her mind.

Time ticked. She counted the seconds in her head. What now? Because of her, another hero will die? Even when she tried to fight, the ones around her will still die? She didn't want him to die. Even if he was just another mortal and enemy she was supposed to destroy.

Fifty seconds. Then another five more. Then it was thirty seconds more.

"Nat," Steve whispered, "Nat, close the portal." He looked solemn as he slid the shield behind him, eyes still glued to the sky. There was hope written on his face... but it was diminishing.

Cyra heard Black Widow take a moment of silence from her end of the communication link, "Y-yeah." Her voice shook when she replied. The ground shook as the assassin drove the scepter into the core. Clint Barton had came down the building sometime when Cyra was in deep thought. He smiled sadly before he plunked his bow behind his back and sat down.