Green Tinted Glass

For a terrible moment, they both hesitated, standing still, staring each other down.

Lucia ran for the control panel, Loki ran for the door. 

Lucia got there first, slamming her hand onto the button that locked the cell. The door began to close, but Loki managed to slip through the gap. He rushed towards her, grabbing her fist when she threw a punch at him, and reaching for her other arm. Before he had the chance, she brought her knee up to hit him in the stomach, and he doubled over in pain. If I could just restrain him… 

She hit his wrist, trying to get him to relinquish his grip. He didn’t. He wrapped his other arm around her middle and pushed her towards the railing. Lucia elbowed his back over and over again, but he seemed to barely register the blows. Loki pushed her flush against the railing, the cold metal digging into her lower back. A handcuff materialized around her wrist, securing her to the railing. He stepped back when she tried to kick his knees out from under him. He smirked as she tugged against the handcuff, it wouldn’t budge. She reached for her gun, but it wasn’t in its holster. 

“Looking for this?”

Loki held the gun in his hand. Thankfully, it wasn’t pointed at her, and the safety was on. Lucia prayed he didn’t know how to use it. She felt her waist for her daggers, but they were gone too. Even the little one she always kept in her boot. How’d he manage that? Lucia huffed and tried to kick Loki again, but he was well out of reach. He tutted.

“Terrible behavior for a young maiden. You’ve disappointed me, Agent.” He said, and metal binds materialized around her legs, clamping them together. Lucia nearly tripped. Loki stepped closer.

“What are you going to do?” She spat, “Throw me off the railing?” 

“Oh, no," he chuckled, "I’m going to play a little trick on my brother.”

A second set of handcuffs secured her wrists behind her back, and the one holding her to the railing disappeared. He dragged her over to a pile of crates, where she had hid earlier when he talked to Natasha. He sat Lucia down ever so gently, and then seated himself next to her. They were squished together in the tight space, and Lucia fought the urge to physically recoil as he held her to his chest. 

“What are you doing?” She hissed. 

“Shh,” he held a finger to his lips, “Watch.” 

Loki appeared back in his cell, or an illusion of him at least, just as Thor came barreling through the door, easily crashing through Lucia’s barricade. 

“TH-” She was about to yell out, to warn him, but Loki clamped his hand over her mouth, muffling her shouts. 

“No!” Thor yelled, seeing the door to the cell open. He charged at Loki’s illusion, and went right through, the illusion disappearing and the door closing behind him, trapping him inside the cell. Loki chuckled softly in Lucia’s ear, standing up and dragging her behind him. 

“Are you ever not going to fall for that?” he asked Thor, a disbelieving look on his face. An agent dressed in S.H.I.E.L.D gear entered the room, and Lucia’s hopes briefly lifted before she realized he was part of Loki’s crew. The guard handed Loki his scepter.

Thor lunged for the glass with his hammer, and it cracked. Loki waited for a moment, making sure the cell held, and then smiled. 

“The humans think us immortal.” He chuckled, walking over to the control panel. Lucia faltered without him supporting her, and had to lean against the railing to steady herself. 

I’m sorry. Lucia mouthed to Thor. He was looking at Loki.

“Should we test that?” Loki suggested, opening the glass box housing the switch that could send Thor tumbling to his death.

The guard grunted behind Lucia, and she twisted around to see Agent Coulson above his unconscious body, a huge weapon in his hands that looked like an energy pulser.

“Oh, Phil, thank god.” She said, hopping over to him.

“Move away, please.” he told Loki. Loki stepped away from the control panel. A shimmer of green passed over him. Lucia’s eyebrows furrowed. That must mean he used his magic, but for what?

“You like this?” Coulson asked, gesturing with the Pulser. He handed Lucia a small device as she passed, and she placed it onto the lock of her handcuffs, instantly unlocking them. She did the same for her legs.

“We started working on the prototype after you sent the destroyer.” Coulson continued, “Even I don’t know what it does.” He flipped a switch, and the Pulser powered up. 

“D’you wanna find out?”

A soft breeze flitted past Lucia. Wait, a breeze? That's impossible-

Loki materialized in front of her, stabbing Coulson through the back with his scepter. Lucia gasped, rushing forward. Loki had already stepped out of the way, and she caught Coulson as he fell, a strange gurgling sound coming from his throat when he breathed.

“Phil, oh god, no, it's going to be okay..” Lucia pressed a hand to the exit wound on his chest, focusing her powers on diverting Phil’s bloodstream. There was too much blood already. It was already coating her hands, already pooling on the floor, staining his shirt, his pants, her suit…

“You fucking monster!” Lucia screamed at Loki. She couldn’t stop him now, he had the scepter, and Phil, oh god he was dying, he was dying and she couldn’t stop it, and she couldn’t stop Loki…

Loki walked over to the control panel, locked eyes with his brother, and flipped the switch.

The cell fell out of the heli-carrier with a whoosh. Lucia tore her eyes away from the hole in the ship. Thor would survive, he would survive, Phil was dying, dying and she couldn’t stop it-

“You’re going to lose.” Coulson gurgled, blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth. His teeth were stained with it. Loki paused at the door, (he was just going to walk out?! After stabbing Coulson, after trying to kill his brother?!)

“Am I?” 

“It’s in your nature.” Coulson coughed, and a surge of blood spilled through Lucia’s fingers.

“Phil, stop..” She whispered.

“Hmm. Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?” He asked, stepping towards Lucia and Coulson. He looked so much more imposing from where she kneeled on the floor. He stopped just shy of Coulson's puddle of blood. Why didn't he kill Lucia too?

“You lack conviction.” Phil answered. 

“I don’t think I’m-”

A blast of energy from the pulser hit Loki square in the chest, smashing him through the wall.

“So that's what it does.” Coulson whispered. A noise came out of Lucia that was between a laugh and a sob.

“Phil..”

“Finish it.” he said, nudging the pulser towards her.

“No.” She replied, taking Coulson's gun from his holster. “You keep it. I’m ending this the old-fashioned way.” She took his communication device and talked into it, hoping someone would hear.

“Agent Coulson down, needs medical attention ASAP, Loki’s cell, hurry!”

She sighed, looking at Coulson. “Thank you.”

“Go get ‘em” He managed to cough.

Lucia took her hand off his chest, letting the blood flow freely. 

Through the hole in the wall, Loki stood. 

At Lucia’s expression, he ran.

-

Lucia chased Loki through the Heli-carrier, shooting at him whenever he was in her sights. She counted her bullets carefully.

15 bullets loaded in the gun. 

One. She shot through the hole in the wall

Two, three, four. Down the corridor, slipping and skidding from the blood on her shoes.

Five, six. as he climbed a ladder.

Seven. Pinged off his scepter as he ran through a door. 

Eight, nine, ten. To disable the lock on that door when he locked it behind him. Time for a tactic change. 

She burst through the door, and as soon as Loki was in her sights, she gripped him with her power. He froze, muscles straining to break free of her hold, but it was no use. The scepter dropped from his hand. Lucia walked in front of him, looking him in the eye. 

“Kneel.” She seethed, and compelled by his own muscles, his own blood, Loki slumped to his knees. His eyes were blown wide, struck dumb by fear. However, despite his predicament, there was curiosity there as well. Lucia held out her hand flat, and Loki jerked as the blood in his veins stopped flowing. Lucia began to close her hand into a fist. The veins in Loki’s neck bulged as blood was cut off from his head. He struggled against her, their willpowers clashing in a battle of desperation and anger. 

She raised the gun. “Any last words, prince?” she spat. 

“Sorry- about this.” He strained out, and before Lucia had time to react, he broke free of her hold, grabbing his scepter and blasting her into the wall. Lucia’s head hit the metal with a metallic thud, and her vision swam as she slumped to her knees. Her vision swam. Blindly, she raised her gun. Loki ran once more. 

Eleven. She shot as he rounded the corner. Lucia’s chest burned where the blast had hit her. She stumbled after him. Don’t die yet, Stark. 

Twelve, thirteen. Blindly as her eyes adjusted to the daylight. Stupid.

Fourteen. As he ran onto a waiting jet.

And finally, Fifteen, as the jet lifted into the air. 

Fuck. She swayed on the runway, her vision unsteady. Nausea built in her stomach, creeping up  her throat. Lucia took a weak step forward, meaning to go after him. 

Natasha ran up to her, catching her as she collapsed onto the ground. 

“What the hell, are you OK?”

“Nope.” Lucia gasped. “You got a med kit by chance?”

“There’ll be one at the bridge. We’ve got to get there, now.” She said, hauling Lucia to her feet and wrapping her arm across her shoulders.

Her worried look was enough for Lucia to almost forget about Loki entirely. 

Almost.

-

Lucia sat silently at a table in the bridge. Tony was carefully patching her up with a S.H.I.E.L.D medkit. He knew a thing or two about chest wounds. Steve was sitting silently to her left. Natasha was across from Lucia, her expression distant, no doubt imagining Clint in the infirmary. Lucia had thought about that a little too, how he might react when he woke up. He was mind controlled by an alien, he fought his best friend, he killed his own coworkers. Yes, Lucia thought about Clint a little, but not as much as Coulson.

Blood on her hands, on her legs, her suit drenched in it, the rusty scent stuffing itself up her nostrils-

“These were in Phil Coulson's jacket.” Fury tore Lucia from her thoughts. “I guess he never did get you to sign them.” Fury chucked the trading cards onto the table in front of Steve. The face of Captain America smiled up at them from the cards. They were covered in…

Blood.

Red in her ledger. 

“We’re dead in the air up here. Our communications, the location of the cube, Banner, Thor…” He sighed, “I got nothing for you. I lost my one good eye, maybe I had that coming. 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 even riskier.”

Tony finished patching up her chest. Lucia let out a grateful sigh as the the protective balm soothed the burn. She should be dead right now. Tony gave her hand a comforting squeeze. 

Fury continued. “There was an idea, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In Heroes.”

Tony stood up abruptly and strode out of the room.

“Well,” Fury continued, “It’s an old-fashioned notion.” 

Lucia followed her brother, though her walk was more of a limp. 

She didn't know how long she walked the halls of the Heli-carrier. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours. Eventually she found herself in the infirmary. Natasha was already there.

“How is he?” Lucia asked her

“He’s fine.” A familiar male voice replied, and she turned to the door of the washroom where Clint stood. She smiled and gave him a hug.

“Good to see you back in action,” Lucia said, “How are you feeling?”

“Like a god went on a rampage through my mind. So... not fun.” He said, making a face. “I should be asking you the same thing.” 

“Like a god shot me in the chest with a magic scepter.” She grinned. She gave Clint a playful slap on the shoulder. “Welcome back.” 

Just then, Steve burst through the door. 

“Time to go.” he said.

“Go where?” Natasha asked.

“I’ll tell you on the way. Can you fly one of those jets?” 

“I can.” Clint piped up.

Steve looked to Natasha, who gave a silent nod of approval.

“You got a suit?” Steve asked. Clint nodded.

“Then suit up.” 

Lucia grinned at Clint, “You in the mood for some payback?” 

“Don’t make it personal, Stark.” Natasha chided. First rule of S.H.I.E.L.D, and one Lucia never managed to follow. 

“I am ready for payback, actually. Putting an arrow through Loki’s eye socket would make me feel a lot better.” Clint said. 

“Don’t encourage her.” Nat scoffed. 

“Come on.” Lucia dragged them out the door by their arms.

“You always make it personal.” Nat rolled her eyes.

-

They assembled on the deck of the heli-carrier. Tony, Steve, Clint and Nat all suited up. Lucia had exchanged her blood drenched suit for a clean one. “Uh, shouldn’t you be on bedrest little miss Black Knight?” Tony protested. 

Lucia rolled her eyes, “If you leave me here I’m just gonna have to fly after you. Besides… 'tis but a scratch.” She grinned. 

The five of them made their way onto a jet. The pilot put up some resistance at first, but after Steve said “son, just don't.” In a stern voice, he was practically groveling at their feet. 

“Don’t you find it funny,” Lucia quipped to Steve as she strapped herself in next to him, the jet powering up, “That you’re not even thirty and everyone seems to look up to you as if you were a wise old elder?”

“I guess it comes with the job. I feel old.”

“Hey, are you ok? I know in our line of work it's a stupid question, but it hasn't even been a month since you were on the front lines of a war. Are you sure you’re ready to jump into another one?”

“No.” he smiled, “But I’m going to do it anyway.” 

Lucia smiled back and settled into her seat for the ride to New York. 

“In your words, Cap, let's go get this son of a bitch.”

-

Lucia stared down at Coulson's blood on her hands. 

The blood wasn't really there, of course. She had washed her hands, scrubbed them until the skin was raw and stinging, but she could still feel the slickness of the blood, smell its rusty scent. It was an unknown feeling to her; she had killed many people. Terrible, terrible people, of course, but still, it breaks something in you the first time you take a life. Lucia had been covered head-to-toe in the blood of S.H.I.E.L.D’s enemies before, had been drenched in it, her own blood too. But it had never stayed on her, not like this.

She had never failed to save someone before.

Lucia didn’t like the feeling.

Fire burned in her blood, moving like sludge through her veins. A rage that had followed her since Loki had gotten away. 

“Fuck.” Lucia muttered, and Steve flinched next to her, as she had been silent for most of the flight. 

“What? Hey, what's wrong?” He asked, as tears welled in her eyes.

“I just- I’ve never… I could have, I could have saved him-”

“Don’t do that to yourself.” Steve interrupted sternly, “In war, you lose soldiers. Some you could have saved, some you never could have, no matter how hard you might have tried.” Steve said softly. His eyes glazed over, and Lucia was sure he was lost in memory, transported to somewhere far in the past. He started to tear up, but coughed and blinked the tears away. “It doesn’t matter. The dead are dead. Don’t beat yourself up over it.” 

“Do you take your own advice, Rodgers?”

He stayed silent.

-

A couple minutes later, they were nearing the city of New York. 

“Ready, kiddo?” Tony asked, already kitted out in his Iron Man armor. “You need to go over the plan again?”

“Not a kid, and out of the two of us; which is the S.H.I.E.L.D-trained professional with freaky blood-bending powers? Don’t baby me.” 

He only grinned in response.

The bay door of the jet cracked open, air whooshing through. Tony dived through the opening and Lucia followed him, wings unfurling with a spike of pain as she dropped into the open air. She followed her brother, flying towards Stark tower, where a blue light glowed at the top. As they got closer, Lucia could see a device holding the tesseract in place, and a man standing beside it, holding some kind of transmitter. It wasn't Loki.

“Shut it down Dr Selvig.” Tony told the man. The doctor turned towards the two of them, hovering in place above him. Ah, now that Lucia could see his face she recognized him from the S.H.I.E.L.D briefing files.

“It’s too late!” He shouted over the din of Tony’s repulsors. There was a weird tone to his words, they were almost gleeful. Lucia shuddered. Mind control.

“She can’t stop now.” Selvig continued, turning back to the device surrounding the tesseract. “She wants to show us something! A new universe.” 

“Ok.” Tony muttered, the repulsors on his hands powering up, ready to blast the machine apart. He fired a blast, but a shield of pure energy revealed itself, and the repulsor blast bounced back, sending Lucia, Tony, and Dr Selvig flying. Lucia quickly righted herself, hissing through a sharp pang of pain in her chest. She wondered how she could dismantle the machine with that shield around it. 

“Plan B.” Tony said, turning towards Loki, who was standing expectantly on the lower deck. “You’re backup.” he called back to Lucia as he flew down, landing with a metallic thud, and his machines started dismantling his suit as he walked. Lucia waited until both Loki and her brother were inside, before landing softly on the deck and sneaking inside to hide behind a couch. Backup. She scoffed to herself. At least she could spy while she was at it. 

“Please tell me you’re going to appeal to my humanity.” Loki said, walking towards her brother, who was safely on the other side of the room.

“Uh, actually I’m planning to threaten you.”

“You should have left your armor on for that.” Loki grinned, walking slowly towards him. 

“Yeah, well… It’s seen a bit of mileage, and you’ve got the glow stick of destiny. Would you like a drink?” Tony waited for an answer, pouring himself one from the selection behind his personal bar. 

“Stalling me won’t change anything.”

“No, no no, threat-en-ning. No drink? You sure? I'm having one.”

“The chitauri are coming, nothing will change that.” Loki said, staring out the window, admiring the city he was about to destroy. He seemed almost sad about it. “What have I to fear?”

“The Avengers.” At Loki’s confused look, Tony continued. “It’s what we call ourselves. We’re sort of, like, a team. ‘Earth’s mightiest heroes’ type thing.” 

“Yes, I’ve met them.” Loki laughed. Clearly not taking the threat seriously.

“Yeah. It takes us a while to get any traction, I’ll give you that one. But, let’s do a head count, here. Your brother; the demigod. A super soldier; living legend who kind of lives up to the legend. A man with breathtaking anger management issues. An agent who can fly and kill you with a thought, a couple of master assassins and you, big fella, you’ve managed to piss off every. Single. One of them.”

“That was the plan.”

What?

“Not a great plan.” 

Not a great plan indeed. That’s not a plan to beat a team of superheroes, that's a plan to… to get captured. Lucia thought, mulling over the possibilities. What's your play, Mischief?

“When they come,” Tony continued, “and they will, they’ll come for you. I know one who’s particularly pissed off at you, and I have to say from personal experience, her bad side isn’t a pretty one.”

“I have an army.”

“We have a hulk.”

“I thought the beast had wandered out?”

“You’re missing the point. There’s no throne. There’s no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it’s all on you. Because if we can’t protect the earth, you can be damn well sure we’ll avenge it.”

Loki stalked towards Tony slowly, scepter at the ready. 

“How will your friends have time for me, when they’re so busy fighting you?” He growled, sticking the point of his scepter on Tony’s chest. There was a faint ting of it hitting the arc reactor and then nothing. Loki’s brows pulled together, his face contorting in confusion. He tried again, but nothing happened. “This usually works.”

“Well, performance issues, it’s not uncommon, one out of five-”

Loki grabbed Tony by the throat and threw him to the ground. Lucia winced. God, I hope the mark 7 is ready. 

“Jarvis, anytime now.” Tony grunted, struggling to his feet. Loki grabbed him by the throat again.

“You will all fall before me!” he growled.

“Deploy, deploy!”

Loki threw him out the window. 

The mark 7 blew past him, chasing Tony. After a few moments he appeared again, all suited up. Lucia let out a sigh of relief. 

Thank god.

“And there's one other person you pissed off,” Tony said, aiming his repulsors, “His name was Phil.” He blasted Loki in the chest, just as a rumble came from the top of the tower. The portal was opening. 

“Right. Army.” Tony said, his head turned to the sky. He flew off out of Lucia’s sight. She turned her attention to Loki, who was getting up and walking towards the deck.

“Thor,” Lucia whispered into her earpiece, even as she itched to take Loki out herself. Her hand fingered the holster on her hip, the gun itching to be used. Lucia resisted. “Your que.”

Thor landed on the deck outside, just as a green shimmer came over Loki and his armor appeared, along with that ridiculous helmet.

“Loki!” Thor shouted. “Turn off the Tesseract, or I’ll destroy it.”

“You can't! There is no stopping it. There is only… the war.”

“So be it.”

They lunged for each other, hitting and twirling and blasting in a delicate dance that sent pieces of the tower tumbling into the street below. It was like nothing Lucia had ever seen before. So this is what two gods fighting looks like. 

“Stark, we’re on your three, headed north east.” Natasha’s voice came through Lucia’s earpiece. 

“What? Did you stop for drive through? Swing up park, I’m gonna lay ‘em out for ya.” her brother's voice replied.

Loki and Thor continued to fight as Tony flew past, a trail of aliens on his tail. Lucia abandoned her hiding spot and dived after him.

Spying be damned; she wanted some action.

She chased an alien on some weird hovering thing, kicking it off and sending the vehicle (flying saucer? High tech chariot? UFO?) crashing into a nearby building. Oops. 

Alien after alien she attacked and killed. Well, actually, Lucia didn't know if she was killing them. She didn’t know what it took to kill them. Aliens. Fucking Aliens in New York.

A scream came from below her, and she dived, sticking a dagger through the throat of an alien raising its weapon to blast a little girl with a mop of blond hair, who was hiding in an upturned car. The girl screamed again.

“Hey, hey, it's ok, I'm here to help you. Do you know where your parents are?” Lucia said, trying for a comforting tone.

“I want my mommy!” The girl cried.

“I know, sweetheart. What's your name? Do you know where your mom is?”

The girl held up a shaking finger, pointing over to a mess of shattered tables that must have been a restaurant or cafe of some kind. Her blood went cold as she spotted a blond haired woman lying in the rubble. She wasn’t moving. Lucia pointed to her. 

“Her? Is that your mom?”

The little girl nodded.

Lucia told her to stay in the car, and walked over to the woman. Felt for a pulse. None. She swallowed the lump in her throat and walked back to the girl. 

“You need to come with me, ok?”

“What about mommy? She says I don’t go with strangers.”

“Your mom… your mom is sleeping. She’s not going to wake up for a while. Don’t worry, she’s safe, she's… in a good place. Do you know where your dad is?”

“At work?” she said tentatively.

“Okay. Do you know where he works?”

The little girl pointed to the building in front of Lucia, the one that must’ve been a cafe or restaurant. A group of scared faces stared at her from the glass.

“There. We pick him up on fridays. He gets me hot chocolate.” She giggled. Then she screamed, looking at something behind Lucia. Lucia twirled and threw a dagger into the chest of a chitauri. The little girl started to cry. 

“It’s ok, you're going to be ok. Come here.” Lucia opened her arms and the little girl crawled to her. Hugging the girl tight to her chest, Lucia stroked her hair. “You’re going to be ok. I’ll make sure of it. We’re going to go into your dad's work now, alright?”

She sobbed into Lucia’s shoulder. 

“Are you my guardian angel? Mommy says I have guardian angels watching out for me.”

It was only then that Lucia realized she never retracted her wings, and she sighed, picking her way through the rubble, towards the door to the restaurant. She was careful not to let the girl see her mother’s body. 

“Uh, Yeah, hon. Don’t worry, I’m gonna protect you.” Lucia opened the door to the restaurant, an Italian place, she thought, and a man instantly rushed forward.

“Oh, God, Clara!” Lucia handed the little girl over and he cradled her to his chest, peppering kisses to her forehead.

“Oh thank god. Thank you.” He turned to Lucia. “Where’s-”

“Your wife… I’m sorry, she's gone.” Lucia said. Someone in the crowd gasped. 

“Oh.” was all the man said. Shock. Lucia turned to the rest of the people. 

“Someone sweep the floors, top to bottom for survivors. Keep on the ground floor, a safe distance from the exits, but be prepared to run if the building becomes unstable. At this point in time, leaving the city above ground will be impossible until the invasion is over, but you might be able to get out through the subway.”

She turned to leave, but someone piped up. 

“Are you going to save us?”

Lucia paused.

“We’re going to try.” Lucia turned to Clara, safe in her fathers arms. “Be safe.” again, she turned to leave, but Clara's dad grabbed her arm. 

“Thank you.” he choked, tears falling freely now. 

“Don’t thank me yet.” 

Lucia walked out, over to one of the aliens she had killed earlier, prying her dagger from its chest and hooking it back onto her belt while she examined the street. It seemed to be clear. A great rumbling came from the portal in the sky, and Lucia watched in horror as a giant Alien flew out of the portal, which was barely wide enough to let it through. It was huge, easily as long as the street she was standing on. Spikes rimmed its back and alien pods waited to strike from its sides. It let out a roar, its mouth widening and showing sickly looking spikes of teeth. 

“Fuck.” She whispered to herself, taking a moment to breathe. The pain in her chest stabbed with every breath, and her side still throbbed from where Loki had blasted her in Germany. After this was all over, she was so going to have a spa day. 

“Starks, are you seeing this?” Steve said in her earpiece. 

“Yep.” she breathed, staring in disbelief. Tony voiced her thoughts.

“Seeing. Still working on believing. Where’s Banner, has he shown up yet?”

“Banner?”

“Just keep me posted.”

“We need civilian control. Get everybody off the streets.” Lucia said, pressing on her earpiece. 

“Roger.” Said Steve, “We’re getting police forces in.”

Lucia took a deep breath and launched into the air. She had to close that portal. Now. before something even worse came through and they were overwhelmed. As she flew to Stark tower, Loki and Thor caught her eye. They seemed to be in a kind of stalemate, and Thor was saying something to Loki. She flew towards them. Loki could close the portal, Lucia just had to make him.

“You think this madness will end in your rule?!” Thor shouted in Loki’s face as Lucia landed behind them. Loki surveyed the city, his eyes shifting. Literally- his eyes seemed to be fluctuating in color from his usual uncannily bright blue to a calm ocean green.

“It’s too late.” he said, his eyes definitely green now and desperation in his voice. “It’s too late to stop it.”

“No.” Lucia said, and his eyes locked on her. “We can end this. Now. Give me the scepter.”

Loki looked at Lucia, a faint pained expression on his face. Almost pleading. She really didn’t get this guy.

He stabbed Thor with a small dagger. Thor groaned, dropping his hammer and clutching his side where the dagger was buried. 

“Sentiment.” Loki scoffed, his eyes back to that uncanny blue. 

Lucia was about to make a grab for the scepter, but Thor lunged at Loki before she got the chance. Huh. Apparently getting stabbed isn’t a bother for Asgardians. 

Thor kicked Loki to the floor, and then picked him up over his head and slammed him back onto the floor. Lucia winced at the cracking noise. Loki rolled off the deck. 

She gasped, rushing over to the precipice. Loki landed on a chitauri chariot and flew away. 

“Dammit, Loki.” Lucia muttered, and flew after him. 

As she flew, an entourage of aliens surrounded her, protecting Loki. They fired at her, and she had to put space between her and Loki to avoid the blue blasts from their strange weapons. 

She landed on the chariot at the very back of his entourage, flinging both the chitauri on it into the street below. She jumped to the next one, but they were expecting her, firing a blast that Lucia narrowly avoided. She kicked the creature's legs out from under it and stabbed it in the throat, not waiting to see if it stopped moving before she threw it over the side and did the same to the driver. 

One by one, she took Loki’s entourage out, getting closer and closer to him. When there were only three left, he fired his scepter right at her chest. She ducked, but the blast hit the steering device, throwing Lucia away from the craft. She slammed into a window of a nearby building and fell, barely spreading her wings in time to land. She collapsed to the floor face-first, bones weak from the blast. She groaned, squeezing her eyes shut. Maybe she could just time out for five minutes. 

“You good, Miss Stark?” A familiar voice asked. 

“Jonas?” She opened one eye. The face of her favorite barista greeted her. 

“Hey. Are- are those wings?” 

Lucia pushed herself up onto her elbows and scanned the street. She was on the corner by her favorite cafe. 

“You better tell me what the hell is going on, right now.”

Lucia shrugged at him, “Aliens are invading.” She wanted to laugh at the ridiculous face he made, but all the breath had been knocked out of her. She lay back down. “Just give me five minutes.”

“Aliens?!”

“Yeah.”

“Aliens.”

“Yes, that's what I said.” 

Jonas let out a long breath, “You better not let Aliens destroy my cafe, Stark. I don’t care that you’re a multi-millionaire beloved by the public, I will strangle you right here in this deserted street.”

“Ugh.” Lucia struggled to her feet, clutching her chest. The blast wound was annoying her. She rubbed her chest, breathing through the pain. She scanned the street again. She had to follow the path of destruction, there would be civilians that needed help. 

“You need a first aid kit?” Jonas asked.

“No. Thank you though. Round up anybody you can find. Use the subways to get out of the city, if you can. Most of the damage seems to be happening in Manhattan, but I’d get as far away as possible. Or,” Lucia shrugged, shaking out her wings and preparing to fly again, “you could find a baseball bat and beat up some aliens. Ten years of free therapy. Who needs a rage room? You’d probably die, though.”

Jonas chuckled, dumbfounded. “Aliens. Goddamn aliens. In New York. This’ll be a story for the grandkids.” 

Lucia simply nodded.

“Well, you be safe, Miss Stark. Couldn't bear to lose you, you’re my favorite customer. Even if you’re covered in feathers and alien guts.”

Lucia chuckled, “Don't go getting yourself killed, Jonas.” and launched into the air.