Radioactive | Bucky Barnes

THE AVENGERS: CHAPTER SIXTEEN

She made it to the top of Stark Tower easily.

A little too easily.

"Dr. Selvig." She smiled, seeing the Doctor alive -- mentally well? That was still up for debate. She remembered how it felt to be unable to control your actions. "It's Rhiley?" She got his attention with her name. "Are you okay?"

"Rhiley?" He knew her. He remembered her. Loki's mind control wasn't as strong as Dylans.

She leaned next to him and the Tesseract. "Are you okay?"

He looked at the Tesseract and the portal in the sky. A rip in the universe and then back at Rhiley. "I- I don't know."

She took his hand before he could protest, "I should have protected you." She shouted over the chaos below them, "I am so sorry, Doctor."

"You are here now." He exhaled. "That's all that matters."

"Thor is here too." She nodded to the ground. "Fighting for you, for everyone, for this planet."

He nodded. "That's good." He looked back at Rhiley. "It's not safe for you to be here alone."

"I need you to back away from the Tesseract, Doctor." She didn't say his name, and the way she smiled gently at him as if he was a child didn't sit right with him. "I don't know what's about to happen."

Then it clicked: "You cannot control this."

She shrugged. "Let's call it a theory in motion."

He squinted his eyes at her. "That doesn't make any sense." He was still in a daze, so it was easy to pat him on the shoulder and guide him away from the tesseract.

She stood, staring at the blue energy shooting up into the portal. "Rhiley." Dr. Selvig tried to get her attention, but she ignored him. "I got the results back." That stopped her. "Everything was normal."

That was anti-climatic.

Had it been a distraction?

'If that's all, Doctor." Rhiley inhaled, she looked up, shoved her hands together. She could feel Phil's blood beneath her finger nails and she would burn every piece of what remained away. "I have something I need to do."

Her eyes burned bright red.

This was something different- each time Rhiley used her powers, Dr. Selivg had never seen it act like this.

Strands of Rhiley's hair rose as her body glowed a beautiful ember color, and just like that, she was on fire.

Pure, beautiful fire.

Dr. Selvig could have sworn that as her energy shot up, he saw a bird form and disappear before he could wrap his mind around it.

The portal did not close, but it stopped opening as if someone had gripped it.

The tesseract continued to glow.

"Doctor." Natasha fell onto the building, her eyes landing on Rhiley.

"She stopped the portal from opening any further." The Doctor was still in awe at the fire that burned around them. It did not burn either of them as if Rhiley controlled that too. No harm would come to them.

He looked at Natasha. "She's giving us time."

Natasha watched Rhiley, seeing her skin begin to burn brighter as if she would continue until she was nothing but ash. "I built in a safety to cut the power source."

Natasha turned to Dr. Selvig. "Loki's scepter?"

"It may be able to close the portal." Dr. Selvig continued, "And I'm looking right at it." Selvig looks down at the platform below, where Loki's scepter lies. He looks at Natasha. "She will hold that portal until she burns herself out of existence."