Heartlines | Steve Rogers

II

TWO
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They finally returned to the Helicarrier with Loki being put into a cell, and with Thor joining them. Meredith and Tony had put away their suits before joining them as they listened to Fury speak to Loki.

"In case it's not clear, if you try to escape, if you so much as touch that glass..." Fury began, pressing a few buttons before the sound of wind whirring filled their ears. "Thirty thousand feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?"

Loki chuckled as Fury closed the metal beneath them again. "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you." Fury replied.

"Oh, I've heard." He nodded as he looked over at the camera, knowing the rest of them were watching. "A mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I? 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. You might not be glad that you did."

"Ooh, it burns you to have come so close. 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." Loki narrowed his eyes at Fury. He gave him a small, amused smile.

"Well, let me know if real power wants a magazine or something." Fury taunted as he walked away.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce chuckled from across the table once they finished talking.

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" Steve asked him, and everyone directed their attention to him.

"He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to turn them against your people in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." Thor explained.

"An army... from outer space?" Steve looked around at them all. This definitely wasn't what he was used to. Any army he'd ever known was conducted my humans, not otherworldly creatures.

"So, he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for." Bruce toyed with his glasses, a noticeable habit that he had.

"Selvig?" Thor asked, a concerned expression on his face.

"He's an astrophysicist." Bruce replied, wondering why he had any sympathy. He didn't strike him as the kind to have many mortal acquaintances.

"He's a friend." He eyed him closely.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours." Natasha informed him, giving him a sorrowful look. They were all able to infer that she was probably close with Barton. At this point, they all still didn't know much about each other. They'd all just met maybe an hour ago, so how were they expected to work as a fully functional team?

"I want to know why Loki let us take him." Steve changed the subject. "He's not leading an army from here."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell crazy on him." Bruce shook his head, and Thor gave him an intimidating look.

"Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother." He narrowed his eyes at Bruce.

"He killed eighty people in two days." Natasha noted.