That Terrible Calm
Banner staggered to his feet, aching all over as though compressed in a vise, and hastily put on the long coat a sympathetic engineer handed to him. The gunshots had died down but he could hear the shouting still. Natasha was standing a few feet away, her face still as she listened intently to her earpiece. She glanced at him and said, her voice slightly wavering, “Agent Hill is down. Barton’s been captured.” He and the others within earshot felt a chill go through them, but no one was stricken more deeply than Banner. “Was it me?” he asked, resigned, expecting a silent glare that meant “murderer”. Natasha shook her head. “No, it wasn’t you.” she said. Banner sighed, feeling as though a weight had been lifted off him, but Natasha could see that something far heavier dragged behind him still.
She wanted, desperately, to put a hand on his shoulder and whisper into his ear all the secret ways in which she found the strength to forgive herself. She turned wordlessly and walked back towards the command tower to deliver her report.
They wandered into the briefing room one by one, faces painted with shock. Wick stared off at something a kilometer away through the walls and the doors and the clouds. Tony was paralyzed and silent. Banner looked like a sick child, pale and wrapped in mismatched clothing, sitting off on his own. Thor was grim like distant storm-clouds, and Matt looked uncertainly around for reassurance that did not come. Cap put on the face he used when he needed to look brave for the cameras.
Fury walked over to the table, more slowly than normal. Bits of shattered metal and plastic were still scattered around the deck. He stood while the others sat.
“We’re dead in the air up here. No communications. No cube. Loki got one of our jets, he’s gone. I lost my one good eye.” He looked wistfully at Hill’s station on the bridge, empty and covered in ash and glass. His gaze turned slowly over the men assembled at the table. “Central told me what happened. It’s true; it’s all true. We built an arsenal for XCOM. But there’s a reason it was locked in the basement, and it’s not because we were ashamed. We had something better. We had you. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if together they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Battles we wouldn’t have the will to face. Battles we’d lose. Battles we’d already lost. I trusted you to win those battles, and I trusted you to be the heroes we needed. So did Hill. The offer stands. This attack, this invasion, it needs avengers.”
Tony got up and left the room. Fury tracked him unmercifully with his eye, then looked back down at the table and took a ragged breath. Silence prevailed, for a time.
Then, Matt’s shaky voice. “I-I’ll do it.” It looked like he was trying to stand, but instead fell back into his chair, clutching his side, eyes straight ahead. “I’ll do it.” he said again.
Banner looked away. Steve looked at him, then at Matt. As he was about to move, Thor put his hand down on the table. “No more waiting.” he said firmly.
Steve stood and turned to Fury. “I don’t think there’s anyone here who wouldn’t go through hell to take him down, Director.” he said, then glanced at Banner, who met his gaze and nodded softly.
“Can you find him?” Fury said to Banner.
“No.” Banner said. “But I don’t have to. Tony, he and I got to talking, and when we were discussing how Loki might power up the Tesseract, Tony said an arc reactor might do it. One at full power.”
“How does that help Loki?” Fury said. “Stark’s got them all squirreled away.”
Banner shook his head. “Stark Tower. His clean energy initiative, he switched the entire tower over to arc reactors. It was all over the news.”
Fury nodded. “New York, then. We’re dead in the air. Rogers... get Achilles out of his tent. We’ve got one shot.”
“I don’t think he’ll listen to me.” Steve said.
Fury thought for a moment, then pressed a button on his console. “Bradford,” he said, “you there?”
Clint’s eyes shot open. He jerked his arm forward, but it didn’t move. Straps bound him to the bed. He looked around wildly and tried to move his legs, but they too were restrained. Only then, as he was straining against the bindings, did he realize Natasha was standing over him.
“You’re gonna be alright,” he heard her say, but he wasn’t listening. He was hunting for that serpentine voice in his mind. His lips moved without a moment’s thought as to what they were saying.
“You know that, do you? I’ve got to go in. I’ve got to get him out of my head.” There was a barely-restrained panic behind his words.
“We don’t have that long.” Natasha said. “It’s gonna take time.”
“I don’t understand.” he said. “Have you ever had someone take out your brain and play? Pull you out and send something else in? Do you know what it’s like to be unmade?”
“You know I do.” Natasha said.
“Why am I back? How did you get him out?” Clint asked.
“Cognitive recalibration. I hit you really hard in the head.” Natasha said, unfastening the restraints.
“Thanks,” Clint said, and then “How many agents?”
Natasha gave him a disapproving look. “Don’t. Don’t do that to yourself, Clint. This is Loki. This is monsters and magic and nothing we were ever trained for. It’s not your fault.”
“Heartwarming.” a voice with an unclear accent said from the doorway, the tone even and neutral in a way that almost felt mocking. Natasha stood up straight. They both looked at Vahlen with a hint of annoyance. She crossed her arms and continued, walking over to Clint’s side as she did so. “We’re going after Loki. One of you is going to have to fly the plane. And there’s something else. We’re having Shen quick-fix the joints and wiring on Rhodes’s armour. We need someone in there.”
“Why isn’t this coming from Fury?” Natasha said coldly.
“He’s busy talking to the Council.” Vahlen said.
Natasha shook her head. “I’ve seen those blueprints. I won’t fit the suit.” she said.
“Someone has to do it.” Vahlen said.
“Do what?” Wick said, walking into the room.
“The War Machine suit is without an occupant.” Vahlen said, looking pointedly at him. “I don’t suppose you’d like to volunteer your services?”
“Why is he loose?” Wick said, gesturing slightly at Clint.
“He’s alright. Head impacts break Loki’s hold, he’s back to normal.” Natasha said.
Wick twitched slightly. “They do?” he asked. Dogged doubts ran through his mind, pursuing him. He felt like he was planning an assassination in reverse. Could he have knocked out the armour's knee joints instead of going for the head? Was Rhodes conscious when he fired? He felt an ancient chill in his veins, old as his first kill. He thought maybe its name was regret; it had been a long time. What had he done? Would they turn on him for it?
There was silence for a moment. Vahlen’s icy gaze was fixed on Wick, those iron eyes pulling at him like meat hooks, and eventually it compelled him to speak. “I’ll do it.” he said, and quickly left the room.
“And I thought you were a person of few words.” Vahlen said, raising her eyebrows and looking at Natasha, who stared back, unamused. “Our extraterrestrial friend is in New York. We are on a timer. I would hate to keep the Central Officer waiting.” she said before leaving.
“Who’s left?” Clint asked.
“Rogers, Garetty, you remember them from the Avengers Initiative briefing; Thor; there’s talk Banner might be on the ground team to deal with the cube; Bradford’s working on getting Stark out there. And then there’s us.” Natasha said.
“Good. Putting an arrow in Loki’s eye socket should help me sleep better.” Clint said.
“Now you sound like you.” Natasha said, sitting down next to him.
“But you don’t.” Clint said. “You’re a spy, not a soldier. Now you want to wade into a war. Why? What did Loki do to you?”
“He didn’t, I just…” she began.
“Natasha.” Clint said.
“There’s red in my ledger. I’m going in there to wipe it out.” she said, looking at the door. “I think Wick just might be doing the same.”
Tony’s pulse hammered at the back of his head. He stared into the empty cell at the bright white floor, pacing back and forth. He could have stopped the escape, he thought to himself. He just had to stand back instead of going off by himself like an idiot. Then he might have been there on the deck instead of Wick. Then, Rhodes would still be alive. Loki would still be in that cell. Things would be alright.
Bradford came in just as Tony slammed his fist against the cell door. “Mr. Stark.” he said.
“What?” Tony said, turning to look at him. He had the look of a taut rope, ready to snap.
“They’re gearing up. You ready?” Bradford said, keeping eye contact.
“I never asked for this, you know.” Tony said. “I just wanted to-”
“Wanted to what? Take the suit out for joyrides on the weekends? Do a bit of vigilante justice? We don’t live in that world anymore.” Central said, taking a step forward.
“Damn right we don’t. Your Tesseract project made sure of that. You brought this on yourself.” Tony said.
“They were always going to come someday. We just got unlucky.” Central said.
“Cut the crap, Bradford. All the lies. Phase 2. You put Moira Vahlen in charge of the Tesseract. You brought Loki, you picked up that… rabid dog, that hired gun, you killed…” Tony paused and took a breath. “You screwed up! I’m not going to clean up your mess.” He stepped closer to him.
“Is that what this is about? Rhodes? Rhodes volunteered! He knew the risks! He died for something bigger than us.” Central said, raising his voice.
“Bigger than you!” Tony said. “You sucked me into this. I’m breaking loose. Keep the suit, I just want out.” He turned away from Central.
Central’s voice softened. “You’re right, we sucked you in. And we lied, and we kept you in the dark, and we thought we were better than you. Because damned if our boots weren’t bigger than yours. We were SHIELD. And it was a mistake.” He paused until Stark looked back at him.
“It was a mistake.” he repeated. “Rhodes died for it. It’s on me. I should have listened. I should have backed Fury on the Avengers Initiative from day one, and we should’ve been more careful. Things should have gone differently. But they didn't, and this battle isn’t over. Help us end it.”
Tony shook his head slightly and tried to look at anything but Central. “I’ll do it.” he said at last. “I’ll do it because Rhodey would tear me a new one if I didn’t. But don’t think this changes anything.”
Central sighed and looked at him with tired eyes. He crossed his arms behind his back. “Nothing ever changes.” he said. “Glad to have you on board. Suit up, you’re headed to New York.”
“New York?” Tony said, incredulous. “What’s there?” He paused, and then muttered “Son of a bitch.”