Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
CHAPTER XV. Gods and Monsters
Before Elina could settle into the rhythm of the mission, her phone buzzed with a message from Xavier. He had already been dispatched back to Washington, tasked with escorting their captives to prepare for prosecution. The work was far from glamorous, but it was necessary, and Xavier had always been reliable when it came to tying up loose ends.
"You won't watch without me?" she quickly typed back, a small smirk playing at the corners of her lips. The reply was almost instantaneous, as if Xavier had been waiting for her message. "I wouldn't dare."
Elina allowed herself a rare, brief smile at his response before slipping the phone back into her pocket. She found herself seated in the co-pilot's chair of a new quinjet, with Natasha at the controls. The hum of the jet's engines filled the cabin, a constant, steady sound that matched Natasha's focused expression as she kept her eyes trained on the sky ahead. In contrast, Elina's gaze drifted to her sister, who was clearly observing her.
"What?" Elina asked, her brows knitting together in mild irritation.
"Nothing," Natasha replied, a teasing tone in her voice. "It's just... you don't smile at your phone often."
Elina scoffed, rolling her eyes in an attempt to downplay the moment. "I didn't smile. I just... didn't frown?" She knew it was a weak cover-up, and so did Natasha.
Her sister laughed, the sound lightening the tension between them. "Keep lying to yourself, El. Maybe one day you'll actually believe it."
Elina shoved Natasha's shoulder in a playful, sisterly gesture. "You keep prying, and I'll bring up how you spend all your free time with one particular person."
Natasha shot her a sharp look, clearly caught off guard, and Elina couldn't help but feel a small surge of triumph. She had won this round, and the silence that followed was her prize.
Their momentary banter was interrupted as the man in the blue and red suit strode into the cockpit. Elina hadn't introduced herself to him yet, and from the looks of it, she wasn't going to get the chance anytime soon. The mission was moving too fast for formalities.
Through the cockpit windows, they could see Loki, the man who had stolen the Tesseract, standing in the center of a crowd of civilians. They all knelt before him, subjugated by his mere presence-all but one. The defiant man stood his ground, a small act of resistance against a self-proclaimed god.
"You ready, Captain?" Natasha asked, her tone professional and urgent.
He nodded, moving toward the side door of the quinjet. As it unlocked with a hiss, he leaped out, shield in hand, just in time to stop Loki from harming the civilian. The quinjet hovered above the scene, providing aerial support as the situation unfolded below.
