BLUE SPACE LASERS (?)
NEW YORK IS COMPLETE, ABSOLUTE CHAOS. The streets of Olivia’s home are flooded with alien soldiers wielding strange technology. There are so many explosions that you’d think she was starring in a Michael Bay movie.
To tell the truth, she can’t really tell whether they’re wearing armor or if they just have weird exoskeletons. She’s pretty sure it’s the former, unless the aliens have some sort of bio-electricity or something. Is that even possible in this context? She’ll have to ask Bruce the next time she gets a chance.
Olivia is no stranger to the feeling of a gun in her hands. Crouching behind a car, trying not to get hit by any bluespace lasers, though— she wonders if she’s really qualified to be here.
Leaning to one side, she peers out and makes a mad dash for another car on the other side of the street. She narrowly dodges the blue lasers, taking a gun off of a fallen alien soldier.
“Oh thank fuck,” she sighs, relieved that the technology is so simple to use. She whirls around to peer over the hood of the car and takes aim at the three soldiers, taking them all out in as many shots.
She takes one of their weapons, tying it to her belt. Honestly, she’s improvising here; an alien army was not her expectation when she agreed to come on this little trip. Lucky for her, she’s good at improv.
A noise behind her catches her attention, and she whirls around, firing her weapon at the same time. The alien soldier collapses to the ground, courtesy of a single laser to the head.
Hearing gunfire from the next street over, she slips into an alleyway. Hopping up to hang from the fire escape above her, she swings onto the wall separating the two alleys. With a turn and quick slide, she lands on the other side.
Exiting the alleyway, she finds a police blockade and Captain America.
“—off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th,” he instructs the cops. Olivia rolls her eyes.
“Too many back alleys on 39th,” she disagrees as she strides up, instantly capturing Steve’s attention. “I’d push it back to 41st, so you can focus more attention on main roads instead of worrying about aliens leaking in through the nooks and crannies.”
“Why the hell should I take orders from you two?” the police sergeant interrupts, rudely. He sounds annoyed.
Olivia’s about to make a remark when an explosion from behind stops her. Steve blocks a laser with his shield, giving Olivia the cover she needs to take down one of the three soldiers.
Unfortunately, this is when her laser gun runs out of whatever the hell it runs on. She drops it as Steve fights off the other two, untying the other from her belt.
Steve makes quick work of the aliens, leaving behind a pair of laser guns. Dutifully, Olivia ties one to her belt to replace the one she lost. The sergeant turns to his officer.
“I need men in those buildings, lead the people down and away from the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 41st,” he instructs him.
Olivia smirks.
***
Fuck, how does she always get herself into these situations?
Surrounded and firing at soldier after soldier, Olivia’s aim is really starting to get a bit sloppy. She fires again, only for nothing to come out. She shakes the laser gun, pulling the trigger again.
“I’m empty!” she exclaims when nothing happens, discarding her laser gun.
“Get your spare!” Steve exclaims in return, decking an alien in the face. She ducks behind a car, glaring at his approximate location.
“That was the spare!” she snaps back, the stress in her tone palpable. Is she gonna die here? This was not how she wanted to die.
She steels herself, ready to make a break for the nearest alien corpse, only for all the soldiers to keel over. They shake for a moment, and then fall.
There’s a pause. Olivia stands slowly, recognizing that they’re done. Is it over?
She turns her gaze to the hole in the sky, waiting for it to close or something.
She sees what looks like a big-ass explosion on the other side, and holds her breath.
“Close it,” Steve commands Natasha. The portal shuts, but something is plummeting through the sky. Steve grins. “Son of a gun!”
But Tony’s not stopping.
Olivia watches in dull shock as he plummets, well aware that there’s nothing she can do.
And then the Hulk snatches him out of the sky.
***
At Stark Tower, Olivia stands a little bit to the side, eyes fixed on Loki.
“All right, get him on his feet. We can all stand around posing up a storm later,” Tony sighs, walking away. “By the way, feel free to clean up.”
“Who gets the, uh, magic wand?” Natasha prompts, holding up the scepter with the glowing blue gem.
“Strike team’s coming to secure it,” Steve dismisses. Strike team comes in, taking the scepter from her to put away. Olivia doesn’t really care much about that, she’s just focused on watching Loki without being close enough to actually talk to him.
“On my way down to coordinate search and rescue,” Steve tells someone over the comms, passing Loki. Loki’s appearance shifts into the Captain’s.
“On my way down to coordinate search and rescue,” he mocks in Steve’s voice before turning back into himself. Olivia snorts, but tries to cover it. “I mean honestly,” he scoffs, “how do you keep your—?” he’s cut off by Thor slapping some kind of muzzle on him.
“Shut up,” Thor huffs, annoyed. This time Olivia openly laughs, catching the two gods and the Hulk’s attention.
The Hulk walks up to Olivia, picking her up in one of his hands. Thor starts, but she waves him off.
“Sister hurt?” Hulk questions. “Sister hurt, Hulk smash puny god.” She laughs in response to his offer, genuine delight shining in her eyes.
“As much as I’m sure you would enjoy smashing the, uh, ‘puny god’, I’m not hurt. What about you, are you hurt?” she pries, laying her hand on his finger in worry. He shakes his head with a grin.
“Puny god can’t hurt Hulk,” he brags. She grins, nodding.
“Good,” she confirms. “Now, can you please put me down? My legs are falling asleep.” Dutifully, he drops her on the spot. She falls directly onto the ground, exactly as expected. With a deep sigh, she pulls herself to her feet, brushing off her fairly ruined clothes.
“Lady Banner,” Thor greets. “I hear you fought valiantly today.” She stares blankly at him for a moment.
“I have literally no idea what I’m supposed to say to that. Thanks, I guess,” she replies. There’s a silence for a minute, and she finally asks the question on her mind. “What are you guys gonna do with him?”
Thor’s expression dims into something slightly more grim.
“Worry not, Lady Banner,” he reassures her, shooting a sidelong glance at Loki. “My brother will get the punishment he deserves.”
She nods slowly, but somehow that answer doesn’t satisfy her in the slightest. She glances at Loki, catching his eye— Jesus, how long has he been staring?
Something about the bright blue of his eyes unsettles her, so she looks away.
“I’m gonna go assess the damage to my apartment,” she sighs, running a hand through her hair. “Call me if you piss off my brother— also, word of advice: don’t piss off my brother.” She sees the visible part of Loki’s face twitch in amusement out of the corner of her eye, and it brings her some odd satisfaction.
Deciding that she’s had way too much of this for one day, she goes straight for the stairs.
When she finally gets to the bottom and hears the echo of the Hulk’s voice from the top, she knows her long day is about to get longer.