Agent Staves; Avengers Assemble [BOOK 1/?]

VII - a taunt and a debt

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Regina half-listened to Fury and Loki speaking, braiding the front parts of her hair in front of her face instead. Since the fight in the woods, she had come to somewhat heistantly accept Thors apologies for blasting her with lightening that should have been enough to kill a girl of her stature. And, well, he seemed guilty enough for her to accept it.

If it had killed her, then needless to say she would have been a lot more stubborn in her forgiveness. But that was a problem for another day.

"How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?" Loki asked. Reginas nose twitched at how he had referred to Bruce, and looked up at the man. If he felt even a twinge of anger at that, he didn't show it. "How desperate am I?" Fury asked. "You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate." Regina shrugged. Not the tactic she might have used. "You might not be glad that you did." Ah, that was more like it.

It didn't work.

"Ooh, it burns you to have come so close." Loki said mockingly. "To have the Tesseract, to have power. Unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is?" Regina scoffed, taking apart the braid and brushing her hair back again.

"Well let me know if "real power" wants a magazine or something." Fury said.

Regina heard the familiar nose of the footage coming off the screens, and took her legs down from the table. "Macbeth 2.0, perhaps? Bachelor year edition."

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce asked, somewhere between a scoff and amusement.

Regina smirked, resting her elbow on the table. "Like a zit during puberty." She said. "Not on me though, obviously, my skin is flawless."

"That's why you carved out your chin last week, right?"

Regina sent a sharp look to Maria, who was  just returning her look with a raised eyebrow. "You know what, Hill, I love and appreciate all you do, but your face gets more punchable every moment we exist in one anothers vicinity." Regina said, and Maria just rolled her eyes in response, not seeming at all otherwise bothered. "Anyway - Loki, arguably one of the two biggest drama queens on this ship. I'm not the only one who thinks he's looking to draw this out, right?"

"Yes, you're probably right." Steve agreed. "So, Thor," He looked up at the god, who was facing away from them all. "What's his play?"

"He has an army called the Chitauri." Thor said, looking thoughtful. "They're not of Asguard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people." Regins scoffed, rolling ehr eyes. Who woulda thought he wanted that, huh? "They will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An Army." Steve said. "From outer space." He asked, looking around like he was checking if anyone else was as taken aback by that as he was. When he met Reginas eyes, she just grinned and threw her hands up. He didn't seem all that impressed.

"So, he's building another portal." Bruce said. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor asked, recognition crossing over his features at the name. "Uh.. he's an astrophysicist." Bruce said.

"He's a friend." Thor corrected.

Right, Regina forgot about the humans involved in Thors Earthly escapade. "Loki has him under some kind of spell," Regina supplied him. "Along with one of ours." She saw Natasha shift somewhat uncomfortably at the mention of Clint, but pushed the thought aside. It seemed, however, nobody else was as determined to find the people Loki had enslaved.