Making It Personal

Jesper stood in the bunker, watching Dr Erik Selvig working desperately on the computers. In the center of the room was the Tesseract, a glowing blue cube held by mechanical arms. Machines analyzed it all over, sending data to Selvig’s computer. SHIELD had been studying the Tesseract for almost 70 years, as far as Jesper knew, so he wasn’t quite sure why he, Kaz, and Inej had been summoned there so urgently. Granted, Selvig was acting very stressed, but he always acted stressed about something. It wasn’t like this was a new character development. 

Jesper crossed his arms, relishing his outfit for a moment; rust colored leather jacket with darkly colored shirt and pants, rust colored bowler hat, and guns tucked inside his jacket, boots, and on his holsters around his waist. He loved feeling the familiar cold of his guns on his person at all times; it comforted him. Especially the one at his left hip. That one had been given to him as a gift from his mentor; Clint Barton. Barton was a master assassin trained by SHIELD, had a great sense of style, could aim at and shoot anything from almost any distance or direction, (all things Jesper aimed to become), but more importantly, he was an orphan. 

Jesper had run away from highschool at age fifteen, when he could tell that the weight of his mother’s death and his gambling problem just simply became too much for his father. Somehow he stumbled into the crossfire of one of Barton’s missions, and in a panic grabbed a gun and took out the criminal Barton was fighting. Barton had been training him ever since. 

But now was not the time to get sentimental. Fury had summoned Kaz with the code they only used for emergencies, which was rarely used, and therefore the Crows had arrived as quickly as possible. Inej was outside the room helping with some unloading of a truck that had just come by, and Kaz was talking to Fury.

“If we figure out how to harness the Tesseract’s power, it will open up a doorway to other worlds we can only dream of.” Fury clasped his hands behind his back and started walking towards Selvig. “Dr Selvig has been working on this for a few years now, but now it has been starting to react in ways it never has before. It’s misbehaving. Turning important equipment off is essential to protect the town around the bunker, but that has proven to be impossible lately. The Tesseract is an energy source, and it has decided to keep the dangerous equipment on. We have had to evacuate the town until we figure out how to get the Tesseract to work with us again.” Kaz used his silver cane to come closer to Fury.

“This is clearly a Selvig problem, and not a Crows problem. So why did you summon us?” Jesper looked towards the Tesseract as he listened. He cocked his head, thinking.

“Well, for all we know, it could be a Crows problem. We don’t know what the problem is, and so we need all of the solution-thinking we can get.” 

“There seems to be energy coming from somewhere else,” Selvig interjected, calling out to Fury. Everyone’s heads turned to him. An idea struck Jesper.

“What do you mean?” Kaz asked, coming closer to his computer. Selvig didn’t look up as he answered.

“There is a signal coming from the…other end… of the Tesseract. I’m not entirely sure what it means.” Jesper raised an eyebrow. It seemed pretty clear to him.

“Well, you said it would be a doorway to other worlds, correct?” He clarified, shifting his weight. Fury looked up at him in surprise.

“Yeah. So?” Jesper shrugged.

“Well, doorways go two ways. Someone might be trying to come through.” Kaz’s eyebrows lifted for a moment and then furrowed just as energy exploded out of the Tesseract. Everyone shied away from the burst of energy, and then turned back to it. Selvig and Fury raised their hands to shield their eyes from the bright, intense light. Kaz’s hands never left the top of his crow head on top of his cane. Jesper took a step back from the force of the energy.

The Tesseract suddenly seemed to shoot off energy everywhere, forming a dark blue cloud around it that seemed to freeze for a moment, and then imploded back into the Tesseract. The noise was deafening. Jesper looked away from the bright light as the energy rushed back into the cube, only to look back at it as Selvig breathed in sharply. A man was now kneeling in front of the Tesseract, supposedly having come from out of it. 

As Jesper pulled out two guns at the man, he allowed exactly half a second to congratulate himself on guessing what was up with Tesseract correctly when no one else had before forcing his mind to focus on more important matters. For instance, damn was this man good looking. 

He looked to be late 20’s or early 30’s, with black hair reaching his shoulders. Wearing green and black robes and cape with gold accents, he looked very regal to Jesper, and made his heart pound. As the man’s ice blue eyes made eye-contact with Jesper’s dark brown ones, Jesper found himself hoping that he could spend some time with this man, if one caught his meaning. Jesper’s eyes were quickly drawn to the gold staff in the man’s right hand. Near the top was placed a stone pulsing with the same energy coming from the Tesseract. Fury must have noticed it as well, as he slowly walked towards him and commanded,

“Sir, please put the weapon down!” Jesper immediately saw that yelling this at the man was a mistake. The look in his eye, along with his attire, told Jesper that he was rich, probably royal, and wanted to be in charge. As the man slowly looked towards his pointed sword-staff thing, Jesper tightened his grip on his guns, making sure his aim was good. Sure enough, the man jolted straight up, pointing the staff at Fury. Bright blue light shot out of it, and Kaz pulled Fury down just in time to avoid the light, which blasted a small hole in the wall behind them. Selvig went down as some debri flew towards him. Jesper and other soldiers around them immediately began firing upon the man, but they had no effect. Jesper watched in shock as the bullets bounced off of the man as if he were made of vibranium, but kept firing. 

The man jumped impossibly high and far, landing on the complete opposite side of the room, killing two soldiers with his staff. Jesper started running towards him. If Jesper couldn’t shoot him, he could fight him. The man suddenly whirled and threw knives at the last three soldiers across the room, killing them instantly. Just as Jesper got there, he pointed his gun at the man’s head, but he spun too fast for Jesper to even process, and kicked one of Jesper’s hands. Knocked off balance, Jesper felt one of his guns fly out of his hand and the other one misfire. Moving with the momentum, Jesper tried to spin to face the man again, but he grabbed Jesper’s wrist, effectively stopping Jesper’s movement. Jesper grimaced at the strength of the man’s grip, which was prohibiting him from pointing the gun at the man. The man tilted his head as he looked Jesper up and down before giving a small smile.

“You have heart,” he whispered. Jesper was about to give a sarcastic reply when he felt the sharp point of the staff stabbing his chest. 

Shit. Kaz thought angrily as he watched the fight from the ground. He rarely saw anyone who stood up to Jesper for very long, but it was clear from the man’s strength alone that Jesper had met his match. Once again Kaz wished he could run without announcing his presence. Kaz used his cane to help himself stand back up, his left leg throbbing. Fury was approaching the man with his gun drawn when the scepter touched Jesper’s chest. Everyone froze.

Blue tentacles of light flowed from the blue stone to Jesper’s chest, up to his face, and into his eyes. Shit shit shit shit. Kaz’s hands tightened on his cane as he watched, powerless to do anything, as Jesper’s eyes filled with black, and then faded to ice blue eyes. Not his dark brown ones Kaz had learned to trust. Jesper focused on the man, who raised an eyebrow. Blinking once, Jesper put his gun back in his holster and stood at attention. Well, fuck. This was not good. 

The man nodded once at Jesper, took a few steps away from him, and crouched to grab Jesper’s gun. He tossed it to Jesper, who caught it and put it back in his holster with his trademark speed. The man turned towards Selvig. Selvig tried to back up, but the scepter was suddenly on the scientist’s chest, and his eyes changed too. Kaz suddenly realized that this man had been planning this for a long time. This man had effectively gained the smartest man in the room, along with one of the best fighters he could have gotten. That was not an accident. Kaz was just happy Inej wasn’t inside yet. 

Fury had effectively slipped behind the man and was putting the Tesseract into his case. Kaz was focusing on the man with just enough intensity to not seem obvious. However, it didn’t seem to do much good, as when Fury started to walk away, the man said,

“Please don’t.” He turned away from Selvig and looked back at Fury.  Fury froze without looking back at the man. The man tilted his head at the case. “I still need that.” Jesper turned his now cold gaze towards Fury. Fury sighed.

“This doesn’t need to get any uglier than it already is.”

“Of course it does.” Kaz interrupted, stepping forward. He put both of his hands on his cane, putting all of his weight on it, easing the pain in his leg.

“He’s come too far for anything else.” The man smiled and gave a small laugh, nodding. He pointed the staff at Kaz and raised an eyebrow.

“You’re a clever boy, aren’t you?” Kaz controlled his expression. People tended to overlook the fact that he was just 17. He had worked so hard to make himself a dangerous opponent that even people who had never heard of him were inclined to see him as older.

“And with great strength, too. Far more than a normal human boy should have.” His voice had taken on a curious tone as he looked Kaz up and down. Kaz steeled his expression. The man could also tell he had serum, despite him also being a cripple. Before Kaz could respond, the man turned away. 

“I am Loki, of Asgard! And I am burdened with glorious purpose.” His voice was proud as he looked towards Fury, who held up one hand. It was like a switch flipped inside Kaz’s mind. Loki. Brother of Thor. According to what he’d heard had happened in New Mexico, Loki was power hungry, willing to do whatever it took to get power. On that, Kaz could relate.

“We have no quarrel with your people.” Fury said, clearly wanting to make peace. Kaz internally rolled his eyes. For being the head of SHIELD, Fury could be a little daft sometimes. People like Loki, or Kaz for that matter, didn’t need a quarrel for trouble to start. 

“An ant has no quarrel with a boot,” Loki replied, confirming Kaz’s thoughts. Fury furrowed his eyebrows at that, and lowered his hand.

“Are you planning to step on us?” Kaz asked, walking forward with his cane. “Because we are more than you might think.” Jesper looked towards him, but Kaz refused to look into those blue eyes quite yet.

“I am not here to destroy this people.” Loki started walking towards both Kaz and Fury, with a wide grin on his face. 

“I come with glad tidings, tidings of a world made free.” Kaz raised one eyebrow and smirked. 

“Free from what, exactly?” 

Loki turned towards him, looking confused. Almost as if he thought Kaz would have understood. 

“Freedom.” He said it as if it should have been obvious. 

“Freedom is life’s greatest lie.” Fury looked towards Kaz, but Kaz just tilted his head at Loki. 

“Once you accept that, in your heart, you will know peace.” 

“Yeah, you say peace.” Fury was talking slowly. Jesper suddenly raised his eyes above Fury, taking in the blue energy that had spun from the portal to the high ceiling. Damn it, Jesper had chosen the wrong time to be observant. Fury kept talking.

“I kind of think you mean the other thing.” 

Jesper suddenly spoke up, interrupting him.

“Sir, Director Fury is stalling.” He walked towards Loki while glaring at Fury. “This place is about to blow, dropping about a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us.” His voice lacked the usual sass or sarcasm that Kaz couldn’t make him stop using. Apparently a magic spell could do something Kaz couldn’t. The thought filled him with rage as he watched one of his Crows turn against their will, and he welcomed the feeling. Kaz lowered his hand on the cane, preparing to use it as a weapon in the upcoming fight. Fury smirked in agreement.

“Like the Pharaohs of old.”

“He’s right!” Selvig cut in, looking at something on one of his computers. “The portal is collapsing in on itself.” Looking up at Loki, he told the room, “We’ve got maybe two minutes before this goes critical!” Jesper raised his head slightly, his tell for when he was about to shoot, and Kaz readied himself. He and Fury were both wearing bullet proof vests, but if Jesper knew that they were both dead. Loki raised an eyebrow and turned to Jesper.

“Well then.”

Jesper whirled and pulled two guns out of his holsters. Before Kaz or Fury could even blink, they heard the guns fire and Kaz fell to the ground, gasping. The bullet had struck Kaz directly over his heart, and he could tell that it was going to bruise horribly. Luckily, the serum kept him stronger than most, so the bullet hadn’t even fractured a rib. He lay there as if dead, however, as Loki and his crew left the room. Jesper grabbed the briefcase with the Tesseract from Fury’s  unmoving body, and they left the room. The moment they were crossing the threshold Fury and Kaz sat up. Kaz’s cane had fallen from his grasp as he fell, so he struggled to get up with his bad leg. Once he was up and had his cane, he remembered Inej.

Inej was perched on top of one of the stone pillars outside of the bunker. She carefully watched every agent who ran in and out the doors. When the energy spike had occurred, her previous pillar had shaken enough that she had to jump to a nearby one. Due to her balance and skills, she wasn’t hurt, but she was immediately concerned for her partners working inside. Switching on her radio, however, assured her that their radios were live, reassuring her that Jesper and Kaz also were. So, she sat. Waiting until she was needed. Until she was called.

Even when guns were shot inside, she merely checked her radio again, and waited to be called. On any other job she would have been inside long ago, but if she came in without “reason” while Fury was in there, she would have been hunted down by SHIELD and anyone they hired before long. She gritted her teeth as she thought about her current arrangement. Work for Fury and never against him, or be executed for her crimes. Never mind the fact that none of it was her fault. She had lost control of her life the day she and Harij had been kidnapped all those years ago. Noticing more people coming out, she focused on the now. 

Jesper holding a case, Selvig, and a man dressed nicely holding a glowing weapon stepped outside towards one of the trucks. Where was Fury? Kaz? Panic gripped her just long enough to convince her to leave her hiding place. She silently swung to the ground behind them. She furrowed her brows as she watched Jesper from the shadows. Something was wrong. Gone was the swank that accompanied every step Jesper took in his life, gone was the smirk that Inej thought would never disappear, here was a tightness accenting his moves that only spelled “trouble”. And something told her that the strange man was part of the cause for it. 

”Who’s he?” She called out. Selvig and the man swung around, the staff held out threateningly, but Jesper merely called over his shoulder,

“Kaz didn’t tell me. I’m supposed to accompany him and the staff to Mexico.” Signal number 4. Jesper always jumped or started when she appeared. At least Kaz seemed to be alive. Selvig and the man turned back towards the truck and started to get in. Now that they weren’t looking at her, Inej reached behind her and pulled two of her Saints out. Just as her radio crackled to life. Kaz’s voice shook as he called out through the now scratchy radio,

“On your left, Wraith.” Inej didn’t hesitate or stop to think, she just dove to the shadows on the right. Immediately after she dove, Kaz’s cane came shooting through the wall behind her, to the left of where she had been. Rolling to standing, Inej watched as the cane flew to one of the truck’s tires, just for Jesper to whirl around and fire at the cane. Of course, his bullet didn’t harm the vibranium cane, but the impact did hurdle it off course. Jesper started to turn to point his gun at Inej when Selvig called out, 

”No time, we need to leave now!” Jesper leveled a glare at her before whirling around into the driver's seat and starting the engine. Inej didn’t know where to throw her Saints. Was Jesper her enemy here?

“Jesper’s turned against us, they have the Tesseract.” Kaz limped out of the crumbled wall that he threw his cane through as he informed Inej of their friend’s current status. Her heart pained at this, but she didn’t hesitate to understand. She needed to overcome Jesper Fahey. Fury came out of the wall as well and started for his own truck. Inej tossed Kaz his cane before running to her motorcycle, revving the engine. After she put her mask on, protecting her eyes, nose, and mouth, she checked that her projectile knives sheathed at her wrists were ready. Just in case. Finally Kaz swung onto the motorcycle behind her and wrapped one arm around her waist. Immediately Inej shot off after the truck. 

By now it was at the corner, but Inej had yet to meet a truck that was faster than her bike. They were about a yard behind the truck in no time, and Kaz took advantage of it. Standing as much as he could while still holding Inej, Kaz leveled a gun at the truck. He fired a few times, and Inej swerved to the right to avoid any bullets that would be returned. Fury was behind them, shooting for Jesper’s truck as well, with Inej staying enough to the side that he shouldn’t hit them. They chased, returning bullets back and forth for about a minute, when she felt it. The bunker behind them collapsed, shooting dark blue particles all the way out to their position, and causing the ground and walls to shudder horribly. Her bike swerved uncontrollably as parts of the ground lifted and sank. Kaz sat down and yelled in her ear,

“Leave Jesper and the case! We need to get outside before this garage completely collapses!” She slowed the bike just enough to make a sharp turn away from the truck, towards where she knew was a nearby exit. Fury turned the other direction behind her, also towards a nearby exit. It sounded like thunder behind her, hearing multiple parts of the garage collapse. She accelerated as fast as she could, feeling her braid whip behind her. Sending a quick prayer to all of her Saints, Inej managed to pull out of the garage just as the exit collapsed.

Heart pumping, and feeling Kaz’s beat fast as well, she kept driving. Finally, 3 miles away from the bunker, Kaz told her to stop. Pulling to a stop, Inej checked her radio. Jesper’s line was still live, which must have meant that he wasn’t buried under the rubble. She sent a thankful prayer to her Saints, and raised Sankta Alina to her forehead for a moment before feeling angry. She swung off of her bike and turned towards Kaz. Taking her mask off, she asked angrily,

“What the hell just happened?”