Do You Have Heart (Avengers/Loki fan-fiction)

Chapter Twelve - Fire And Ice

ALINA/VOR'S POV

I only manage to spend a few more minutes with Clint and Nat, before someone is at the door. "Director Fury says suit up." says Steve, walking inside, already dressed in the updated version of his suit: the one that Phil designed. The thought of Phil threatens to bring a tear to my eye, but I take a deep breath, pushing the sadness out of my mind: there are more pressing matters to deal with.

Like my planet-invading best friend, for example.

"Alin-" begins Steve, turning towards me, but then stops mid-sentence, and start again "Sorry, what do you want people to call you? It is still Alina, isn't it?" I can't bring myself to speak to him: it looks like I've already caused enough damage. The look in his eyes is cold; nothing like the man that I met a few days ago. Nothing like the Steve Rogers that laughed at me for zoning out, or helped me fight Loki.

Loki; that's what has changed his opinion of me. He probably doesn't trust me anymore, because I'm a friend of Loki's. Or maybe he thought I was just better than that, someone he could count on to be there, to help.

"It's still agent Thornwell, captain." I reply, my voice quiet as I stand up from Clint's chair "I'll go and get my stuff, see you at the plane." I leave as quickly as possible, sprinting down the hallway and trying to block out Nat's confused shouts at my retreating back: I can't deal with this today.

I can't deal with this, and I'm about to go and fight against my oldest friend.

His army? Of course I'll be able to cause damage to them. But if one of the other Avengers Initiative members gave me a chance for a clear shot at Loki, I know that I would never be able to pull the trigger.

LOKI'S POV

I know that what I've done is wrong; stupid. I know that I have almost no chance of forgiveness from her; not now. I have ruined everything.

"Sir, when are we leaving for Stark Tower?" asks Selvig, the astrophysicist under my control, but I hardly hear him, let alone register his question. My thoughts are too distracted: my brain filled with images of her beautiful face, laughing as we did all those years ago; and then turning to rage, a flood of pure hatred, fuelled with enough fire to destroy a whole entire planet - if she wanted to.

Lady Vor, second daughter of Lord Arandol; the fire of my life. And me, with my heart of ice, will never again be able to reach her. Fire and ice......

Well, they do say that opposites attract.

"You leave in ten minutes. Set up the tesseract on the roof. The portal will open, and our army will attack." I reply absentmindedly, twirling my sceptre around in my fingers. Selvig looks like he is about to ask something, but then thinks the better of it and turns to leave, carrying a piece of the portal under his arm.

Alone again, and left to my own thoughts, I can't help the strange feeling that seems to overwhelm me: I don't want to lose her. But I think I've already gone too far.

ALINA/VOR'S POV

We head through the helicarrier as a team again: me, Clint and Nat; just like old times, following Steve (who still seems to be off with me) towards the plane that will take us to Manhattan. I have the old suit on again, with a few minor adjustments; the leather jacket is gone, and I wear a black shirt with a bullet vest over the top of it instead. I guess I look a bit like one of those riot squad policemen, bar the weird plastic shield thing.

The runway is full of people milling around, tying the planes back up to the surface. "To get to that plane over there," begins Steve, pointing to a small aircraft on the other side of the runway "We're going to have to take out a few of our own. Alina," he turns to me, his eyes not meeting mine "would you be able to get those guys over there?" he indicates a group of men clustered around a small handheld unit, just a few metres away from me. "Ay, ay, cap." I reply, which manages to get just a ghost of a smile, something that I've been missing. It makes me feel that maybe we're not marching into a death match: if I have Steve on my side, then I know he will always have my back. That's why they gave him the super soldier serum and not someone else: he was compassionate, and selfless, and all the things people value, but often overlook.