The Seventh Avenger

Chapter 76: A New Life

Tony is the first to break the silence, letting out a weary sigh once Loki admits his defeat. "Alright, get him on his feet," he says. "We can all stand around posing up a storm later. Feel free to clean up while you're at it."

"Not bloody likely," Ava mutters under her breath. Glancing around the penthouse, I can't help but feel astonished just how damaged it is. Pieces of the glass cover almost every square inch of the place, and there is a deep, human-sized hole on the floor, the concrete cracked and bent. Multiple pieces of furniture have been either thrown about or have been broken, much like Tony's windows. Every one of them is missing their glass, and there is an alcohol stain on the ground near the stairs, broken remnants of the glass surrounding it. This place is a mess, and I doubt that the seven of us would be able to clean this place up before the end of the day.

Simultaneously we break off from our small group, with Thor moving straight towards his brother. Hulk is hot on his heels, a menacing growl emitting from his throat as he stares down at the surprisingly silent God of Mischief. To both my bewilderment and amusement, a streak of fear flashes across Loki's face at the sight of the angry Hulk, and he ever so slightly shuffles back. I don't know what Hulk did to him just before Ava and Nat closed the portal. But gathering from Loki's reaction, it hadn't been good.

Steve is talking in hushed tones through the comms, most likely discussing the next course of action with Fury. Tony is shedding the broken remnants of his suit and laying them on a table that is miraculously still in once piece, and Nat and Clint move straight towards the minibar. I go to follow them, but Ava waving Loki's sceptre in her hands stops me right in my tracks. "Right. Who gets the magic wand?"

"STRIKE team is coming to secure it," Steve informs her. "They should be here at any moment."

"And the Tesseract?"

"Fury didn't say whether or not they were taking it as well."

"Well if they want it, it's over there," Ava says with a nod of her head. I turn to see where she is indicating only to find a silver case half-hidden by Tony's discarded armour on the table. A blue glow emitting from it proves Ava's words to be true. "Erik managed to take the tesseract from the machine before the medics came and started to check over him."

With everything that has transpired within the past half hour or so, I have entirely forgotten about the scientist forced under Loki's control. "Is he alright?"

"For the most part." It is Nat who answers my question, as she holds out an empty glass for Clint to fill with whiskey. "But he feels an immense amount of guilt. He thinks that everything that happened is his fault."

I can't help but frown at this. "Erik shouldn't blame himself. He had no control over his actions, so if it's anyone's fault," I pause to send a snarl towards Loki, whose hands are now locked in some handcuffs. To my disgust, he wears a look of pleasure on his face upon hearing Erik's distress. It's one that I would like to punch right off his face, but I find the strength to remain where I am. "It's this idiot here."

"Here-here," Ava agrees tiredly, reaching up to rub at her forehead with her free hand. "I mean, it's only because of him that we managed to shut the portal down in the first place."

"Speaking off, how did you shut it down?" Tony speaks up. His armour now sits in a neat pile on the table, revealing his dark clothing underneath. Walking until he stands beside me once more, he adds, "I didn't quite see what it was that you were doing when I flew past, you know, being too busy with saving the city and what-not."

"With this," Ava explains, waving Loki's sceptre. "A part of Selvig's consciousness was still awake while he was building the machine. He built a safety to cut the power source. Loki's sceptre was the only thing that could cut through the force-field surrounding the cube. Thank God this thing didn't work fully on Selvig. We would all be screwed otherwise."