HARLOVSEN - An Avengers Fanfiction

Chapter 26 - Dying Days

Steve scrambled over to Bucky, who lay on the ground, unmoving. "Bucky! Buck, you're alright?" he yelled, shaking his shoulders. He quickly scanned his body, but there was no blood. Bucky just stared at the ceiling. Finally, Steve found the bullets indentation in his metal hand and breathed out in facilitation. He was not harmed.

"Thank goodness." Steve let go of the arm and sat back, covered in dirt.

"She's away," Bucky murmured, still staring straight up. Steve nodded but didn't answer. What was he supposed to say, anyway? Instead, he looked over to the Harlovsens who had gathered to check on their injuries.

Fenris sharply inhaled as Arne disinfected the cut wound on his arm and wrapped a torn piece of his jacket around it. Magnus had sat upon the ground, rubbing the back of his head, remaining silent.

Tony slowly walked over to Fenris, who looked up and inhaled, stretching out his hand. "Thank you for your help, Stark."

Tony struck in and shook his head, looking around restlessly. "Sorry, I couldn't do more."

"So what now?" Sam asked, his wings folding back into his suit.

"Nothing now. Loki is gone, and this time there's no chance of following him or making him return here. We have no leverage," Olaf stated, his jaw clenched.

Silence spread in the room until Peter spoke up. "So we give up, Mister Stark?"

Tony looked at the boy, who'd taken off his spiderman mask. This kid was far too young to see so much pain and horror. He should stay in school, study, get a girlfriend and not have the burden of facing situations like this.

"I see no possibility of how to turn this situation around, kiddo." Tony swallowed, lowering his gaze.

"We don't even know where Loki is now. So there is no way of finding him. Even our information system is not good enough to spot a god that doesn't want to be found. We could spot the radiation, but he moves too fast now that there's nothing that keeps him here," Magnus added.

"When he is," Bruce murmured.

"What?" Steve asked. Bruce looked up and took his glasses off.

"I don't think the question is, where he is, but to which time he went." His voice echoed from the walls.

"But even if we knew, Doctor Banner. I'm pretty sure that there is no way to travel through the time," Fenris contradicted, shaking his head.

"Sounds a bit weird, but I might know somebody we could ask about that," Clint said, scratching the back of his head.

Arne huffed. "We can not ask Strange. He's not gonna help us."

"Somebody else." Clint looked at Natasha. She retorted his look until her eyes widened. "You're not ACTUALLY believing in Lang's theories, do you?"

"Scott Lang?" Tony interrupted, turning around to Clint, who nodded.

Tony shook his head. "This man's a catastrophe. Have you actually ever met him before? I invited him to a conference once, and he fell asleep while the president was speaking. Not speaking of his questionable choice of clothes."

Arne tore his hair. "So yes or no? Is this Lang able to do time-travelling?"

Clint shrugged. "There are rumours."

Erik glanced at Fenris and slightly shook his head. "I don't know, bror. This is something we have no experience in. Maybe we need to realize that we lost this time."

Magnus grabbed his Fenris shoulder and squeezed it. "Besides, there are other things we need to take care of. We need to return to the headquarter. Then, we can make a plan."

"And this Lang sounds like a scammer," Arne snapped. 

Bucky suddenly stood up from the ground and came closer. He raised a pointer finger. "So what, you're giving up on Katta?"

Erik looked him up and down and then turned around. "This is a family discussion, Barnes. Get lost."

Bucky watched him pulling out a phone. Erik tipped a few numbers and made a call. "This is no decision we should not make alone," he murmured, raising the phone towards his ear.

"Hei soster," he sighed. A frail smile spread over Erik's face as he proceeded to talk. After a minute or two, he gave the phone to the other Harlovsens. They handed the phone around until Olaf ended the call with a few words. "Ta vare pa deg selv," Olaf caringly said.

"God, I haven't heard from Liv in weeks," he exhaled, handing the phone back to Erik, who shortly smiled. "Me neither. We should do that more often."

Natasha watched the situation with a warm feeling in her chest. Then, she felt Clint's hand on her shoulder.

"I'm grateful I have you," she whispered, patting his hand.

"I may not be your family, but I'll always be on your side, Natasha," he murmured back.

Steve stood beside Bucky who'd retreated into a corner. "You still don't give up," he stated. Bucky shook his head, diverting his gaze to the ground.

"Seems we'll never be able to have a normal life when the only problem for me is whether I'm allowed to join the army and for you, which girl you bring home next," Steve smirked.

Bucky weakly smiled at his comment and looked up. "I'm sorry, Steve. You're my best friend. I shouldn't have pushed you away from me the way I did. I was just scared I would lose the only other person in my life I care about."

Steve shook his head and smiled, patting Bucky's shoulder. "I know. I would have done the same for Peggy."

"So what is the plan now?" Tony asked into the room.

"This Lang better has a plan because if not, heads will roll!" Olaf said, getting up. He looked towards Arne, Erik and Fenris. After a bit, they all nodded.

"Is that a yes?" Peter asked hopefully. Tony frowned, taking out his phone, dialling a number.

"Mae, how nice to hear you. I need to ask for your consent to borrow your nephew for a bit." He shortly listened to the phone while rolling his eyes. "But that is only a chemistry presentation. I'm sure we can call the school to shift it. Promised. I bring him home in one piece. For you." Tony reached the phone over to Peter, who took it.

"A-Aunt Mae? Yes, everybody is very polite to me." His cheeks began to glow red as he whispered, "Yes, I have enough underwear. I'll call you. Promised, byeee."

"We have a safe house a few blocks from here. Time to get ready," Erik announced, walking over to Natasha.

"Sounds good. Any chance that there's a cappuccino machine as well?" she sighed.

"Everything you wish, Romanov," Erik grinned, stretching out his elbow for her to take it. She did, and together they walked towards the exit.

"I have this constant urge to throw up when I see them together," Fenris murmured towards Magnus, who chuckled in response. "Wait until Liv finds out about them. He'll have no silent minute until his dying days."

"I 'ship' them," Thor announced, grabbing his hammer from the floor.

"I heard about your 'ships', god. I'm pretty amazed, actually, that you still possess a head after sharing them with Katta." Fenris shook his head.

"Lady Katta and my brother would have been an excellent match. Besides him being a dirk," Thor murmured, grabbing his hammer.

"Dork," Tony corrected, following the others out of the building.