Emma Joan Tallis

chapter twenty-three: Seeking Justice

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
~ Robert F. Kennedy

~*~

"You sure you're healed?" Steve asked as we walked down the halls to return to the meeting room where Fury was waiting for us.

Tony was already there, but I had to find a way to repair my clothing. If I had it my way, I would just change, but I didn't really have time. I didn't want the reminder of where I came from, it wasn't my home anymore.

And it hadn't been for a very long time.

"You were just tossed into the ocean," Steve tried. "That fall should've killed you."

"But it didn't," I said simply.

"Nothing seems to kill you," Steve grumbled. "Perks of being Asgardian?"

"No," I replied bluntly. "It's because of who my mother is. Thor isn't so darn powerful simply because he's Asgardian, it also has to do with being a child of Odin. Loki is the son of the King of the Frost Giants. Those kinds of things affect you on Asgard."

"I just thought that all of you had the same abilities," Steve said gesturing vaguely.

I smiled ruefully, "Thor can do things he doesn't even know about. Loki uses magic. The Warriors three are more what you're thinking."

"The Warriors Three?" Steve asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Long story," I said with a sigh. "Though Hogun is more gifted with healing."

"And what about you?" Steve asked.

"Other than typical Asgardian strength, I can't seem to die."

"I guess that's reassuring," Steve said.

"Getting stabbed is still as painful as it would normally be though."

"That is not so reassuring," Steve said as we walked up to the deck where we had all met initially. "Did you really try to kill Loki?"

"Where did you hear that?" I asked softly.

"Hill told me," Steve said.

"I hesitated," I said honestly. "And he tricked me, but when push came to shove... Yes, I tried to kill him."

"Why?" Steve asked. "He was your friend."

"When someone is endangering the people you love, you have to stop them," I said simply as I walked in and sat down. Steve looked at me carefully, seemingly surprised by my words, but I meant them.

I didn't realize it fully last time I was on Earth, but I fell in love with Steve. It wasn't his abilities that I grew to love, but his determination to do what was right. To keep trying, to never give up. It was something I emulated, and something I wish I did. I gave up on him, I believed he was gone, and I stopped trying to convince Odin to let me search for him.

Fury stood in front of us, pacing back and forth. Maybe trying to find the right words to say, or maybe he was too furious to say anything else. We didn't say anything to fill in the silence. Tony was staring at the table, while I looked at the clouds.

Steve just stared into the distance. I flinched away when Fury tossed bloody trading cards on the table. They were Captain America trading cards, and on those cards I saw the faces of men I knew to be dead, just like their owner. "These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them," Steve picked them up, and I stood up and started to pace. "We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. 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. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called THE AVENGERS INITIATIVE. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more.

"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," Fury continued, and Tony got up and walked away. I was sorely tempted to join him. "Well, it's an old-fashioned notion."

"I think we could use some old-fashioned sense right about now," I said as I stared at the clouds again. Steve didn't say anything as he got up and went to go follow Tony.

"I saw what you did, or tried to do," Fury said. "It takes a lot of courage to stand up to your friend, even more to decide to try to kill that friend."

"Tried," I said flatly, "it didn't matter."

"It matters to him," Fury said as he looked at where Steve had been sitting.

"It shouldn't have," I said glumly.

"No, I suppose not," Fury agreed. "But when you've had to lie to people about who and what you really are, they're not going to trust you very easily."

"Did you trust me?" I asked.

"Nope," Fury said.

"And you still don't," I said wryly.

"I don't trust anyone," Fury said.

"Can't blame you," I sighed.

~*~

"He was an idiot," I heard Tony say as I walked into the room where the cell used to be. Thor was probably still alive.

"Why? For believing?" Steve asked.

"For taking on Loki alone," Tony said.

"He wasn't alone," I said as I walked in.

"Your best friend stabbed you, and he was your backup," Tony said.

"He was doing his job," Steve tried.

"He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have..." Tony began, but he couldn't come up with a solution.

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony."

"Right. How did that work for him?" Tony demanded.

"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?" Steve asked gently.

"WE ARE NOT SOLDIERS!" Tony exclaimed. "I am not marching to Fury's fife!"

"Neither am I," Steve protested. "He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki does. Right now we've got to put that aside and get this done. Now Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list..."

"He made it personal," Tony said suddenly.

"That's not the point," Steve said.

"That is the point. That's Loki's point," Tony said. "He hit us all right where we live. Why?"

"To tear us apart," I replied, and he did a good job of it too.

"He had to conquer his greed, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience," Tony said.

"Loki's always wanted attention, no matter what," I confirmed.

"Right, I caught his act at Stuttgart," Steve said.

"Yeah," Tony agreed. "That's just a preview, this is opening night. Loki's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered..." Tony paused, and then swore violently.

~*~