Artemis : The Seventh Avenger ➳ Steve Rogers [1]

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We gather at the bridge, where a heavy silence filled the air. The two men look to be caught in a daze.

I stay standing by the metal railings, knowing that I wouldn't be able to keep still if I sat.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign these." Fury says, tossing Phil's deck of Captain America trading cards at Steve.

He picks one up and stares at it blankly. The edges of the cards were stained with what I can only assume is Phil's blood.

"We're dead in the air here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I've got nothing for you. Lost one good eye, maybe I had that coming." Fury continues.

A part of me wants to cry, we've lost
everything. But the rest of me just felt numb. It's been long since the last time I felt tears I wonder if I even have any left.

"Yes, we were going to build an Arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something riskier." He paces around the room.

"There was an idea. Camille and Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if the could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could."

He pauses, momentarily meeting my gaze, "Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes.

Stark gets to his feet and walks off, not wanting to hear it anymore.

"Well," Fury sighs, "It's an old fashion notion."

I swallow, making up my mind before I follow after Stark.

We arrive at the detention section, where Loki's empty cell stood.

"Do you need something?" Stark asks, breaking the silence.

"No." I reply, not knowing where to begin.

"Well, I thought so." He says annoyed as he starts towards the door, "Now, quit following me."

"I was captured by Hydra." I say, making him stop in his tracks.

I turn to notice Steve by the door, a shocked expression on his face.

"They held me in their facility for ten months. They experimented on me, trying to find a way to enhance human beings, to give them powers. A way to use them as weapons."

"Why are you telling me this now?" Stark asks, his back still turned towards me.

"You wanted to know. So I'm telling you." I shrug, "It was hell in there. Everyday I woke up thinking 'Is today the day I'm going to die?' and honestly, a part of me prayed for that day to come."

I take a deep breath, this was the first time I told anyone about this in a long time.

"Fury had assigned agents with my extraction, but they said it was a suicide mission. So they requested to be taken off the case. Except for three; Nat, Clint...And Phil."

I walk around Stark so that I was facing him, "Phil did everything. He planned the extraction, wiped my files and helped me disappear. Even after then, he helped me find a home, a place I could settle down. Although the peace and quiet didn't last very long. Hydra found me. So every time my location was compromised I had to move and Phil did all the arrangements."

"I still don't know why you're telling me this." Stark says, his brows furrowed together.

"Because, you're right. If we're going to be a team, we can't keep secrets from each other." I take a step towards him, "I know I said I would leave as soon as I found Clint. But I was hoping you would give me second chance. I refuse to let Loki walk free after all of this. I'm going to see to it that he pays for what he did to Phil."

"He's not going to get away with this." Steve replies, joining us in the middle of the room, "We'll stop him." He says, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Look, I agree. We need to put an end to his shenanigans." Stark chimes in, "But I'm not marching into Fury's fife."

"Neither am I." Steve agrees, "He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki does. But right now, we've got to put that behind us and get this done."

"Right." I say, "If Loki's going to open a portal he's going to need to secure a power source."

"If we put together a list-" Cap starts but is soon cut off.

"He made it personal." Stark says softly.

"That's not the point." Steve states, not getting what Stark was trying to say, but I understood.

He wanted to destroy the Avengers. He wanted to break us.

"That is the point. That's Loki's point." Stark continues, "Hit us right where we live? Why?"

My mind is racing, trying to think of all the possibilities of where Loki could be.

"He wants to tear us apart." I answer.

"Exactly." Stark says, I could see the gears spinning behind his eyes as he thought, "Yeah, divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it."

"Right, I caught his act in Stuttgart." The Captain agrees.

I raise my brows, suddenly getting a pretty good idea of somewhere Loki could use to harness that much energy, but Stark carries on before I could get a word in.

"Yeah, that's just previews. This is opening night."

"Stark." I try to get his attention but he doesn't hear me.

"And Loki, he's a full tilt diva, right? He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered-"

He pauses, mid-sentence in sudden realisation.

"Yeah." I sigh. 

"Son of a bitch." He muttered before rushing off.

He stops halfway out the door and turns to look at me. "I might've been a little too harsh on you. And I'm sorry about that, Junior." He offers me a smile, "No hard feelings?"

I return a smile, "No hard feelings."