𝒑𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒕 || s. rogers & b. barnes

8||: 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒅

⤷ may 3, 2012
━━━━━━━━━━━

The first breath Irina takes is hot — so hot it feels like the air she breathes burns her up from the inside out.

The second breath she takes is easier, more cooling.

And by the third, she finds the strength to open her eyes and look at the destruction around her. The lab was burning, scorch marks lining the walls and floor from the explosion. How had there been an explosion?

"Irina! Damn it, Irina! Wake up!" Fury shouts from above her.

She blinks slowly, coming to at her own pace. "Fury?" She mutters. "What happened?"

"We're under attack," Fury says. "I need you to get up and get down to Loki! We can't let him escape!" He orders.

Irina sits up with a grunt, hissing as pain roared from all over her body.

An attack.

They were under attack.

Loki.

She looks up, inhaling shakily.

She had to get to Loki.

"Leave him to me," she promises. Fury reaches a hand out to her, silently offering. Needing to act quick, she begrudgingly accepts his help, standing up with a grunt. Fury stumbles back a step, holding his side as he pants out uneven breaths. Irina eyes him. "This doesn't make us good, by the way," she calls as she passes by him. "I'm still pissed!"

"Detain Loki, and shout at me afterwards," Fury says from behind her.

Irina traces her steps to detainment from the lab, the path already familiar from her taking it not even half an hour ago.

"We've got a perimeter breach!" A male voice sounds on the PA system. "Hostiles are in S.H.I.E.L.D. gear. Call-outs at every junction. We have the Hulk and Thor on Research Level 4. Levels 2 and 3 are dark."

Irina hastens her pace, grinding her teeth as her leg flares with pain in every step. She grips her thigh tightly.

She's been through worse.

Far worse.

The halls grow lighter as she verges away from where the attack originated from, going down into the detention level as fast as she could with her injuries.

She turns a corner, the doors to Loki's cell sliding open with her arrival.

And just as they do, she sees Coulson impaled by the scepter in Loki's hand.

"No!" Thor shouts, banging his fist again the glass walls of the cell. How had he gotten in there? The question passes by her mind like a leaf in the wind as she gapes at the sight.

Coulson goes down, blood blooming from his injury, and droplets of it dripping from the sharp tip of Loki's scepter.

Bitter rage flares inside of her, and immediately, Irina races inside, curling her fingers, and feeling the power build up quicker through the burning fire of anger. She harshly throws out her power, deep blue tendrils flying out and latching onto Loki, who freezes and turns to her. Thor's eyes fly to her from the cage, widening at her arrival.

A smirk stretches Loki's face, but she can see the slight irritation at her interference once again. "Irina," he sighs, dipping his chin, "we must stop meeting like this."

"You son of a bitch," growls Irina. She throws Loki to the wall, the tendrils letting go as he falls with a cough. She steps past Coulson, meeting his eyes with a sad look. He gives a weak smile.

"I might need another cappuccino after this," he mutters. "Maybe with more caramel in it, this time."

Irina purses her lips, feeling tears well up in her eyes. She gives a single nod, blinking them away fiercely. "As many as you want. It'll be on the house," she whispers.

Coulson's smile widens, and Irina turns a glare back to Loki, who stumbles back up with a chuckle. "Now, now, let's not be too hasty," he says, lifting his hands up into the air. "All I need for you, Irina, is your -" she catches the wicked glint in his eyes, and turns around just as the scepter came darting for her from behind.

With a grunt, Irina side steps it, meeting Loki's surprised eyes with a smirk. "You were saying?" She says, gripping the scepter and fighting for its ownership with the god.

Loki scowls, flipping the scepter and pushing. His undeniable strength as a god was overcoming hers as a human, and Irina stumbles back into the cold metal wall, keeping her hands tight on the scepter and pushing back to prevent it from crushing her throat, having to use all her might to prevent it.

Loki's lips curl into a grin. "Why continue fighting? I thought you were done? Isn't this the life you hate?" He pushes further, Irina struggling to push back with a hiss of pain from her shoulder. He leans in, noses inches apart as he chuckles, meeting her dark brown eyes with a delighted light in his sparkling blue ones. "But, then again..." he hums thoughtfully, "...you were born to be this way. You can never truly run from who you are. Who you were born to be..."

"...a cold-hearted killer."

Irina's eyes widen, and she raises her lip into a scowl towards him. "I'm not that person anyone," she mumbles out in a trembling voice.

Loki shakes his head softly. "No one can ever stop being who they truly are," he purrs. "I shall help you realize that, Irina."

Suddenly, he yanks the scepter back, the surprise move causing it to harshly tug her forwards and slip from her grasp. Her eyes widen, but before she can think of any way to defend herself, Loki turns the scepter in his hand and gently presses it to her chest. The blue gem glows brightly with a hum.

The lights go out, overshadowed in a blue fog.

𓆩*𓆪