Green Tinted Glass

Lucia flew down the streets, following Loki’s path of destruction until she spotted Steve, Nat and Clint huddling behind a taxi car that was turned on its side on an overpass. She dropped down behind them.

“What's our plan?”

“Shit!” Clint jumped, “Forgot you could do that.”

She wiggled her wings at him, grinning.

“They’re fish in a barrel down there.” Steve said, nodding his head at the screaming civilians. Nat abruptly stood, firing a couple shots behind them at a group of chitauri. 

“We got this,” Nat said, “It's good. Go.”

“Do you think you can hold them off?” He asked Lucia and Clint.

“Captain, it would be my genuine pleasure.” Clint smiled. He fired a duplicating arrow at the chitauri group and took out five of them.

“What he said.” Lucia threw a dagger, and then switched to her gun, firing a couple shots and taking a few more down. 

“You’re still not as good a shot as me.” Nat smiled, and Lucia rolled her eyes as Nat fired at the chitauri, taking one down with every bullet. The three of them covered Steve as he leapt from the overpass and onto the roof of a bus, down onto a car, and finally onto the road below. Lucia took out the last of the chitauri and ran to collect her daggers, before following Steve onto the street below. An easy leap and glide of her wings and she was down. 

Lucia immediately began helping citizens out of cars, buses and vans, instructing them to stay out of the street and leave through the subway if they could. The instructions were peppered with things like “It's going to be ok.” and “You’re safe, we’re here to help.”

She shepherded a family into a building and then fired at more chitauri that had assembled. 

“They just keep coming!” she shouted to no-one in particular. “We need to close that portal!”

“We can't yet.” Clint shouted back as he fired an arrow into the eye socket of a chitauri. It exploded with electricity, frying three other aliens unlucky enough to be in the vicinity. “It has that barrier, and we need to focus on securing the city.” 

“Just like Budapest all over again.” Nat said, unloading her gun into the chitauri’s ranks, and reloading swiftly with expert precision. 

“You and I remember Budapest very differently.” Clint replied, firing arrow after arrow. Lucia scavenged for him, collecting his arrows from the corpses of the chitauri while scanning the street for any stragglers they might have left behind. Nat picked up a weapon from one of the chitauri corpses, and quickly figured out how to use it as they swarmed closer. Having no bullets left, Lucia wondered whether she should steal one of the alien weapons, too. 

Steve returned, having given orders to the police blockade up the street. Destruction rained all around them as the four of them fought back to back. 

Bolts of electricity rained down from the sky, and five of the chitauri dropped dead. Thor landed with a boom, limping slightly from the stab wound in his side. It was almost completely healed. 

“What's the story upstairs?” Steve asked.

“The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable.”

“Thor’s right, we got to deal with these guys.” Tony said, flying past.

“How do we do this?” Natasha asked.

“As a team.” Lucia replied.

“I have unfinished business with Loki.” Thor said. 

“Get in line.” Lucia and Clint said in unison.

“Jinx…” Clint muttered.

“Save it.” Steve ordered. “Loki’s going to keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he’s gonna need us to-”

The sputter of a motorcycle approaching interrupted him, and he turned to see Bruce riding in. Bruce turned off the motorbike and walked towards the group of them. They all went to meet him in the middle.

“So,” He started, waving his arms around, gesturing to the chaos surrounding them, “This all seems... horrible.”

“I’ve seen worse.” Natasha offered.

“Sorry.” Bruce smiled.

“No, we could use a little… worse.” she amended.

“Stark, we got him.” Steve said to his earpiece. 

“Banner?” 

“Just like you said.”

“Then tell him to suit up, I’m bringing the party to you.”

Tony rounded the corner, closely followed by that gargantuan Chitauri alien.

“Oh lord.” Lucia breathed. It was headed straight for them.

‘I-I don’t see how that's a party.” Nat said.

“Dr Banner, now might be a really good time for you to get angry.” Steve suggested.

“That’s my secret, captain; I’m always angry.”

Before their eyes, Bruce grew, limbs elongating, skin changing color, muscles bulging until he was completely transformed into a giant green version of himself. The Hulk threw a massive punch right into the snout of the giant chitauri. It flipped upwards, metal armor screeching. 

“Hold on!” Tony said, and he fired a mini rocket into a soft spot in the creature’s hide. Lucia turned, using her wings as a shield as it exploded above them. Armor, metal plating and alien guts flew everywhere. By some miracle, nobody was hurt. The chitauri around the city screeched, sensing the loss. The Hulk roared back. Tony landed, and the seven of them stood back to back in a circle, ready and waiting for whatever Loki would throw at them next. 

Thor, Hulk, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Steve Rodgers, and Lucia Stark. The Avengers. A team of Earth's mightiest heroes. If they went down, they would go down fighting, side by side, back to back. Together.

Bring it on. 

As if in answer to Lucia’s unspoken challenge, the portal opened wider. Two more of the giant chitauri creatures came through, along with dozens more of the regular chitauri. 

“Guys.” Natasha said, bringing everyone's attention to it. 

“Call it, captain.” Tony said.

“All right, listen up.” Cap began, “Until we can close that portal our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof,” he pointed, “Eyes on everything, call out patterns and strays. Stark, You got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash.”

“Can you give me a lift?” Clint asked Tony.

“Right. Better clench up, legolas.” They flew away. 

“Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal.” Steve continued, but no, Steve was gone; sidelined. This was Captain America. “Slow ‘em down. You got the lightning, light the bastards up.” Thor spun his Hammer and lifted himself off the ground, shooting towards the gaping hole in the sky. “You ‘n me, We stay here on the ground,” Cap told Natasha, “we keep the fighting here. Lucia, you get eyes on Loki, If we get the scepter, we can close the portal.”

“Yes sir.” Lucia said with a wink and a salute.

“...and Hulk,” Steve stopped to take a breath, “...Smash.” 

Lucia didn’t wait to see that, leaping into the air and flying away. 

“Barton,” She said into her earpiece, “Have you got eyes on Loki?” 

“Nope. I’ll tell you when I do.” 

She nodded, though she knew he couldn’t see her. 

Thunderstorms, courtesy of Thor, rumbled overhead, though no rain came. Lucia watched in awe as the Empire state building became a lightning rod, conducting the energy for him as Thor let out a mighty roar and sent massive streaks of lightning into the mouth of the portal, zapping any chitauri that might be coming through. Lucia continued to scan the streets for Loki. 

“Stark you got a lot of strays sniffing your tail.” Clint's voice came through her ear. He meant her brother- there were no chitauri in the air where she was. 

“I’m just trying to keep them off the streets.” Tony replied. 

“Well they can’t bank worth a damn. So find a tight corner.”

“I will, roger that.”

A minute passed of Lucia scanning the streets: still no sign of Loki. Where's he hiding?

“Nice call.” said Tony, “What else you got?”

“Well, Thor’s taking on a squadron down on sixth.”

A scoff from Tony, “And he didn’t. Invite. Me.”

Scanning the streets, Lucia continued to look for Loki, but there was still no sign of him. Alright then, change of plans. 

She flew towards the roof of Stark Tower, dodging aliens on her way. When she could, she took them down with a dagger, careful not to lose any.  A particularly feisty chitauri leapt from a building, grabbing onto her leg. She grunted as the weight pulled her down, hissing at the pain of its claws digging into her leg. That's gonna leave a mark. Swinging her leg in an attempt to dislodge the creature only resulted in it tearing her leg even more.

Lucia fumbled for the daggers at her belt, fighting to stay in the air. At last, her fingers closed around the hilt of a dagger, and she thrust it into the face of the Alien. No luck, it continued to grip her leg, making a horrible screeching sound. 

“For fucks sake!” Fine then. Clint can take care of it. What street is he on again? Oh wait, I recognize this intersection…

“Barton!” Lucia shouted, bringing her hand up to her ear to engage the mic. “I’m coming round the corner. I’ve got a present for you.” 

“I see you. Hold still.”

She heard the whistle of the arrow a second before it slammed through the chitauri’s skull. The vice-grip of its claws slackened and it fell soundlessly into the street below.

“Thank you!” 

“What, you’re not going to get the arrow back? I thought we were friends.” 

“No time.” She said, dropping down behind Clint. Lucia took some bandages out of a little pouch on her hip, and wrapped the wound on her leg, wincing both at the pain and at the thought of all the alien germs that would be festering in the wound. The cut wasn’t too deep, and the blood was already clotting, but that wouldn’t make a difference if it got infected. If only she had some alcohol to clean it. 

“Have you seen Loki?” She asked Clint, standing up and gingerly placing a little bit of weight on her wounded leg.

“Nope.” he replied, never taking his eyes off of the city.

“I thought you were supposed to be Hawkeye?”

“You’re the one with feathers.” 

Lucia rolled her eyes. “We can argue over bird motifs later. Tell me if you see him.”

Without another word, she stumbled to the edge of the building and dropped, unfurling her wings to catch the updraught. She went straight to the top of Stark Tower this time, ignoring all the chitauri on the way. There would be time for them later, her priority was to close the portal. 

She landed roughly on the gravel of the roof, bad leg buckling beneath her. The white of the bandages was already starting to stain with crimson. She ignored the throb of pain and got to her feet, grasping the rail for support. Get your shit together, Stark. 

Shaking her head, Lucia spotted Dr Selvig huddled on the ground. 

“Selvig?” She asked hesitantly, “You feeling, er, yourself?” He looked up at her, and she watched as his eyes, bright blue, faded to a more natural icy gray. Well, that all but confirmed her budding theory. She held her hand out to him and helped him to his feet. He gasped when he saw the chitauri chariots zooming about. 

“Oh god, what have I done?” he mumbled.

“Nothing. Not of your own volition.” She patted his shoulder comfortingly. “Do you know how to close the portal?” Lucia nodded her head towards the tesseract device behind them.

“We need, we need…” Selvig’s eyes were clouded, his expression confused and pained. 

“Doctor," Lucia said, clicking her fingers in front of his face in an attempt to bring him back to reality, "I know you’re confused but I need you to tell me how to power down the tesseract.”

Selvig shook his head vigorously as if trying to dislodge something. Lucia sighed; this wasn’t getting anywhere. She lowered him back down to the floor and let him have a moment to himself. Maybe she could figure out how the machine surrounding the Tesseract worked…?

Clint’s voice came through her ear.

“It's Loki.” 

Lucia rushed to the edge of the roof, eyes instantly locking on a green blur. A beat. A breath, and then…

“I got him.”

Lucia watched as a sliver of black- Clint’s arrow- cut through the air, right towards Loki’s face. 

And… Loki caught it. 

A moment later, the arrow exploded, and Loki was flung onto the deck a few floors below. 

Shit. Should she stay up here, or go down there and fight him? 

Her decision was made for her as the Hulk landed on the deck a moment later and threw Loki through the glass and into Lucia’s living room. 

It was just then that a Chitauri chariot raced past, and in the corner of her eye she watched a humanoid form leap from it, landing behind Lucia. She swung around, dagger at the ready, only to be greeted with Natasha's tired face.

“Oh, hey.” 

“I see you beat me up here.” Nat sighed, walking over to Selvig.

“Did you… fly up here in a chitauri chariot?”

“They’re harder to steer than they look.” she knelt beside Dr Selvig. “Are you lucid?”

“Fairly. He was in my head. The tesseract showed me… I can’t even describe it..” He shook his head again.

“There's plenty of time to go crazy later. How do we close the portal?” Lucia asked, desperation seeping into her voice.

“The scepter…”

“Doctor.” 

“Loki’s scepter. The energy. The tesseract can’t fight, but you can’t protect against yourself..”

“It's not your fault, you didn’t know what you were doing.” Nat said reassuringly.

“Actually I think I did. I built in a safety to cut their power source.”

“Loki’s scepter.” Lucia said. She was right, it was the key.

“It may be able to close the portal,” Selvig confirmed, “And I’m looking right at it.”

Lucia peered over the edge of the roof, following Selvig’s line of sight to the deck below. The scepter was lying there. Loki must have dropped it when he crashed. 

“I got it.” Lucia said, gliding down to collect the scepter. Through the shattered window, she could see Loki lying down in a ditch on the floor. His eyes were open, staring at the ceiling. They were back to that ocean green. He let out a sound, something between a groan and a whimper. She almost felt sorry for him.

Almost, but not quite. 

Fury’s voice spoke frantically in her ear.

“Mr Stark, do you hear me?”  Oh well, whatever the message was, it wasn’t for her. She was about to click the earpiece on silent when he spoke again.

“You have a missile headed straight for the city.”

No. 

“How long?” Tony’s voice asked. 

“Three minutes, max.” 

No, no, no. They were so close. So close.

“The payload will wipe out midtown.” Fury continued. Lucia flew back to the roof, handed the scepter over to Nat and started to pace. Selvig had set up a computer that was analyzing the tesseract. Lucia could barely comprehend the symbols and numbers swirling on the screen. A missile. How could they possibly stop a missile?

“Right at the crown!” Selvig ordered, and Nat slid the scepter through the energy field. 

“I can close it,” she said as the scepter neared the tesseract, “I can shut the portal down, does anyone copy?”

“Do it!” Said Steve.

“No, wait!” Tony ordered.

“Stark, these things are still coming!” Cap protested. 

“I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute, and I know just where to put it.”

“Tony, no.” Lucia said, understanding his plan. “Hell fucking no. Way too dangerous. Put it in the water.”

No reply.

“Stark, you know that's a one-way trip.” Steve cautioned. 

The missile flew past them, guided by Tony, straight up into the portal. Lucia held her breath. A boom sounded as the nuke exploded, and all around them chitauri fell from the sky, powering down. Lucia watched the portal, praying to any gods that would listen.

Please, please, please.

“Come on, Stark.” Nat whispered beside her. 

No sign of him. Seconds seemed to stretch into hours.

“Stark?” Cap asked.

“Close it.” Lucia said, barely above a whisper. Nat heard.

She thrust the scepter into the heart of the machine, and the power coming from the tesseract halted. 

The portal started to close. 

Lucia looked away. A sob built in her throat. 

Nat shoved Lucia’s arm, pointing to the sky.

There, a speck of red and gold fell through the air. It quickly became apparent that her brother wasn't conscious. 

“He’s not slowing down!” She screamed, and launched into the air. 

Tony’s body hit Lucia like a bag of bricks, dragging them both down to their deaths. Lucia beat her wings furiously, trying to slow their descent. It wasn’t working, the street was so close, barreling up to meet them- 

A green mass slammed them into a building. The Hulk. He carried Lucia and Tony in one arm, using the other to scrape down the building, slowing their descent. He fell into the street, rolling on impact. Squished between Hulk's armpit and Tony’s metal suit is not a place Lucia wanted to be. Better than being dead. She supposed. The Hulk released them, and she tumbled into a pile of rubble, crying out as the shattered concrete dug into the graze on her side. Better than being dead. She reminded herself, gritting her teeth.

She scrambled over to where her big brother lay. 

“Please, please, please don't be dead. I’m gonna kill you if you’re dead.”

She took the faceplate off his helmet as Thor and Cap ran over to them. She leaned over, listening for breath. She couldn't hear any. For a terrible moment, Lucia thought she was an only child. 

Then the Hulk roared, and Tony gasped, eyes flying open and chest heaving. Lucia could feel his pulse startup, hammering like a drum in her ear. Thank fuck. 

“What the hell?” he gasped.

She sagged in relief. Jesus Christ. 

“What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me.” 

Lucia rolled her eyes, happy, relieved tears forming. 

“Oh, you absolute idiot. Fuck you.”

“Hey, is that any way to talk to your brother? I basically raised you!” 

She grinned. “Cap french kissed you.” 

“Oh, shut up!” 

“We won.” Steve said, ignoring her comment. 

“All right, yay! Hurray. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There’s a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it.” 

Lucia laughed. 

“We’re not finished yet.” Thor said, a grim look on his face. Of course. He would take Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard. Not fair, really, that Loki doesn't face Earthly justice.

“And then shawarma after.” Tony decided. 

-

Loki was struggling to his feet as they all surrounded him. He turned to see an arrow pointed right at his face. He slumped back to the ground, resting on his elbows and letting out a sigh.

“If it’s all the same to you, I’ll have that drink now.” 

Despite her efforts not to, Lucia let out a breathy chuckle. Tony smirked. “You know, if he wasn’t a murdering psycho I think I would like this guy.” he whispered to her. “All right, we can all stand around posing up a storm later.” Tony said, at a volume everyone else could hear. “By the way, feel free to clean up. You guys completely ruined my house.”

“Who gets the magic wand?” Nat asked nobody in particular.

“S.T.R.I.K.E team’s coming to secure it.” Lucia answered, as Thor clamped S.H.I.E.L.D ability-blocking handcuffs around Loki’s wrists.

On cue, a group of agents strolled out of the elevator with a case for the scepter. One dressed in a casual suit had a clearance badge with the name ‘Agent Sitwell’ on it. 

“We can take that off your hands.” he said, and Natasha handed it over to him. 

“By all means. Careful with that thing.” she cautioned as Sitwell examined the stone that powered the scepter.

“Yeah, unless you want your mind erased.” Clint agreed, pouring drinks. He handed one to Natasha. “And not in a fun way.”

“We promise to be careful.” The agent carrying the case said. He placed it down on the coffee table and Sitwell slowly lowered the scepter into place. Seeing the scepter secure, Steve made his way to the door.

“On my way to coordinate search and rescue.” He said to his communication device. He gave Lucia a nod. It would be a long night for him. He should really rest, but he was Captain America- who was going to stop him?

A green shimmer coated Loki and he transformed into Steve before Lucia’s eyes.

“On my way to coordinate search and rescue!” He mocked in Steve's voice, and with another green shimmer he was Loki again. “I mean, honestly, how do you keep your food down-” Thor slapped a muzzle device on Loki’s mouth, quieting his taunting. 

“Shut up.” He said for emphasis.

Everyone headed for the elevator. With all the S.T.R.I.K.E agents and the team, it was rather cramped. Hulk tried to squeeze in, and a cacophony of “Woah, woah, woah!” and “Back up, buddy.” sounded from the various agents. 

“Hey, hey, Buddy, What d’you think? Maximum occupancy has been reached!” Tony quipped. He was sitting on the case that carried the tesseract. Dumb move, but that was Tony.

“Yeah, take the stairs!” Thor huffed. 

Lucia didn't miss the little wave Loki gave the Hulk as the door to the elevator closed. He was oddly cheerful for someone whose villainous plan hadn’t panned out.

Lucia had to cough to hide a laugh as the elevator music started playing. It hit her then- how absurd the situation was. She was squished up in an elevator between a master assassin and an alien that had gone on a rampage trying to rule earth, destroying New York in the process, while Beyonce played. 

A ding as the elevator door opened, and Lucia, the team, and the S.T.R.I.K.E agents made their way through the lobby.

Lucia was stopped by Alexander Pierce.

“Uh, may I ask you where you’re going?” he said in an accusatory tone. Ugh. This guy was always ruining the fun stuff. She knew that he was technically her boss, but something about him ticked her off. Before she could go snapping at him, Thor answered his question.

“A bit of lunch and then Asgard. I’m sorry, you are…?”

“Alexander Pierce; He’s the man above the folks behind Nick Fury.” Tony explained

“Oh.”

“My friends call me Mr Secretary. I’m gonna have to ask you to turn that prisoner over to me.”

Loki’s eyes shifted to Lucia’s. He looked worried.

“Loki will be answering to Odin himself.” Thor protested.

Loki rolled his eyes at Odin's name.

“No, he’s going to be answering to us. Odin can have what's left. And I’m gonna need that case, that's been S.H.I.E.L.D property for over 70 years.”

“Hand it over, Stark.” an agent standing to the right of Pierce demanded.

“Look, I’m not going to argue over who’s got the higher authority here, but I think in this situation I may out rule you.” Lucia pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and showed it to Pierce. “Do you know what this is? That’s the signature of the President of the United states of America, on a document saying the best course of action is for Loki to be taken to Asgard, receive his sentence and return to earth for some good old American punishment. It even has a passage on what the best course of action is if the Asgardians don’t comply. Now, are you going to let us through or not?” 

Pierce was stunned. He studied the document for a moment before deciding it was legit. He stepped to the side.

“Fine.” He hissed. Lucia smiled sweetly at him as she passed.

“What was that?” Tony asked.

“Forgery.”

“Ah.” 

Lucia smirked.

“Right, shawarma time!”

-

An hour or so later, and with a belly full of shawarma, Lucia stood in a shadowy alley, waiting. A figure stepped towards her.

“You wanted to meet, I’m here. What is it, Agent?”  

“Remember this is strictly off the record.” She cautioned. 

“I know.” 

“Loki is secure.” She began. “He’s restrained at all times with S.H.I.E.L.D handcuffs, as well as a muzzle. And besides, he lost. I don't think he’s going to try anything.”

“And your theories?” 

“I haven't questioned him about it yet, I haven't gotten the chance.”

“Well? Get to the point, Agent. Why am I meeting you in an alleyway behind a shawarma joint? I’m the director of S.H.I.E.L.D, I have other things to attend to.” Fury was growing agitated.

“I want to go to Asgard with Thor and Loki.”

Fury raised an eyebrow in question. 

“To ensure the tesseract is secure, and that Loki faces appropriate justice.”

“...And?”

“And to, uh, explore my theories. To know if I’m really, really smart or just crazy.” 

Fury sucked a breath through his teeth. “It’s risky, Agent.”

“Of course it is.”

Fury gave her a doubting look. 

“Oh don't look at me like that. You saw Thor’s potential. Why not his brother? And if my theory is right… as much as I hate it, it would mean he deserves a second chance.” Lucia admitted begrudgingly. 

Fury sighed, rubbing his temples.

“Fine. What are you going to tell your brother? What am I going to tell the council?”

“I’ll tell him that you’re sending me there for a simple recon. Something about learning of extraterrestrial threats; It's believable. Besides, he’ll be too distracted rebuilding the tower. He wants to turn it into a base for the Avengers, you know.”

“And I'll make up some lie that you’re on a hiatus or some shit?” 

She nodded. “Simple.”

“You better be right. Something feels fishy. Are you sure you’re not making something outta nothing?”

“You can trust me.”

“I know. I just can't trust them. And I can't ensure your safety from a realm away.”

“Let me worry about my safety.”

Fury sighed again, and turned, walking away into the city.

“Good luck, Agent.” He called over his shoulder. “You’re gonna need it.”

-

The next morning Lucia stood in central park, as far away as possible from any civilians. All of them were there. Tony, Steve, Bruce, Natasha, and Clint stood in a circle around Lucia, Loki and Thor, the three of them holding onto the case carrying the tesseract. 

“Ready?” Thor asked. Lucia nodded, sparing one last glance at Tony. He smiled reassuringly. Thor and Loki turned the handles to the case, and her world dissolved into swirls of bright blue.