Chapter 95: Hands Up

"I mean, if it's not too much trouble."

"No-no, it's fine."

The Helicarriers bridge was large and wide. Several rows of wide-screen computers sat next to one another with a SHIELD agent sitting in front of them, hard at work. Pictures of all the agents and personnel working alongside Loki were on the screens. A large glass wall stood in the front of the bridge, and sprawling white clouds slowly drifted past the ship. Standing in front of the central control console was Nick Fury.

Harvey leaned against the far back wall of the bridge, arms crossed, and his hood pulled over his head. He was given a significant birth of space. That was because several agents looked at him with fear and respect. It seemed his identity as the Ghost Rider was well known to SHIELD. A fact that left a disgusting taste in his mouth.

Wanda and Pietro were with Natasha as she was giving them a tour of the airship. They tried to stand with him for a while, but they grew bored after an hour of nothing happening. Bruce had set up several SHIELD scanners to find any trace of the Tesseract. Now, they had to wait for any trace of the cube or any sign of rogue SHIELD personnel.

'Jasper Sitwell.' Harvey thought darkly.

Off to his left sat Jasper, working tirelessly in search of any of the rogue personnel. There, in plain sight, was a HYDRA agent. It made Harvey angry that he could do nothing about it. After memorizing the documents Nick showed him at their past meeting, Harvey could remember all the potential HYDRA members. As he walked through the Helicarrier, he spotted several of them working their duties.

Harvey looked at Nick and couldn't help but respect the man's self-control. All these traitors stood before him; he was as cool as a cucumber.

"We got a hit. Sixty-seven percent match. Wait- cross-match, seventy-nine percent." Jasper said and turned to look at Nick. On his screen were images of Loki walking in the open without a care.

Phil stopped his conversation with Steve and stepped up to Jasper. "Location?"

"Stuttgart, Germany. Twenty eight, Königstraße. He's not exactly hiding."

Jasper said owlishly. Harvey couldn't help but frown at the man.

Nick nodded and turned to look at Steve and Harvey. "Captain, Miller. You're up."

•••

"Kneel before me. I said- KNEEL!"

This plan was indeed a wonderful one. For as annoying as Amora's plaything was, Clint had his uses. After Loki infiltrated the grandiose gala event by simply walking in, he quickly found the man Clint showed him earlier for his clearance and stabbed down into his eye with the device Clint had given him. It gave Loki such satisfaction to see all the people who would one day serve him run around in a panic.

Now, all the humans stood before him, kneeling on the cold, hard ground with faces laced with fear. Why shouldn't they? Their so-called enforcers of the peace were nothing to the spear in hand. Loki looked around at the copies of himself surrounding the scared and confused crowd of people in cold satisfaction.

"Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation." Loki shouted as he walked through the kneeling crowd. The people closest to him flinched in fear as he brushed past them. "The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made- to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

Slowly, an older man stood up and turned to stare at Loki. Not a trace of fear could be found on his weathered face. "Not to men like you." The older man said defiantly.

Loki couldn't help but chuckle. "There are no men like me."

"There will always be men like you." The older man said, turning his body to face Loki.

Loki blinked at the man's courage, or should he say foolishness. With a twisted grin, he lifted his spear and leveled it at the older man. "Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example."

ZAP

There was a flash of light, and Loki was sent to the floor. The god of mischief quickly looked up angrily and saw a man in a red, white, and blue suit with a large shield of the same colors. A large white A sat on his forehead. Behind him stood the older man. He was unhurt.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." Steve said and slowly walked through the surprised crowd.

"The soldier! The man out of time." Loki said with a grin as he stood up.

Steve smiled. "I'm not the one who's out of time."

Loki spun his head upwards and saw a black jet hovering high. A heavy artillery gun sprang underneath and hummed to life.

["Loki, drop the weapon and stand down!"] Natasha ordered through the quinjets speakers.

Loki smiled and fired a blast of energy at the jet with his spear. Before it could strike a hole in the aircraft, the jet dodged to the left, avoiding the blast.

Steve immediately threw his shield towards Loki and struck the Asgardian in the chest. Steve ran forward and caught his shield, not wasting a second of Loki's stunned state. Steve began to punch and strike Loki with his shield. Loki gritted his teeth and launched Steve to the side with a powerful strike from the spear.

Steve looked up and gritted his teeth in pain. With a fast toss, Steve saw Loki deflect his shield. It fell to the ground, and Steve dashed towards Loki and began assaulting him with kicks and punches. Loki glared at Steve and swung his spear at the man, but Steve's greater combat experience allowed him to dodge each swing with little difficulty. That was until Loki threw a powerful kick into Steve's side, launching him to the ground in a heap.

Loki ran after Steve and jabbed the opposite end of the spear on the soldier's head as he got up on one knee.

"Kneel." Loki ordered. Steve pushed the spear and kicked Loki in his ribs. Causing the god to wince in pain.

"Not today!" Steve yelled.

In the quinjet, Natasha watched Steve and Loki fight in close-quarters combat. She couldn't find an opportunity to offer the captain any air support without accidentally hitting him.

"Guys all over the place." Natasha said as she kept her eyes on the fight.

Suddenly, the Quinjet's computer screen glitches, and the words' PA SYSTEM OVERRIDE' appear alongside AC/CS's Shoot To Thrill song playing on high volume.

["Agent Romanoff, you miss me?"] An all too familiar voice spoke through Natasha's earpiece. Natasha sighed and looked out the jet's window.

From above the night sky, Iron Man came in flying. He flew around a tall, nearby building, slowed down above the ground, and raised his hands. Two repulsor blasts shot forward from his palms and blasted Loki back onto the ground. With a loud crash, Iron Man landed in his classic pose and stood up. He raised his arms, and a plethora of weapons sprang to life out of several compartments in his armor.

"Make a move, reindeer games." Tony said and dared Loki to make a move. Steve walked beside him, his shield now back over his left forearm.

Loki looked at the two with a frown and was enveloped in golden light. Once the light faded, the armor on his body disappeared, and he raised his hand in surrender.

Tony dismissed his weapons and lowered his arms. "Good move."

"Mr. Stark." Steve said from beside Tony. He was panting slightly.

"Captain." Tony said, not willing to take his eyes off Loki.

A chain flew through the air and wrapped around Loki's neck. In a violent jerk, he was pulled back and slid to a stop under Harvey's waiting foot. Loki fought to remove the tight chain from his neck and looked up at two glowing red eyes from under the darkness of Harvey's hood.

"There were two others with you." Harvey stated. He pressed down on Loki's chest, causing the good to grunt in pain. Lokis face was bathed in shock and surprise. "Where are they?"

"Miller!" Steve said and quickly grabbed his shoulder. "Enough! He's beaten."

"I-I don't know… they betrayed me and left me earlier today… I swear!" Loki said through short gasps of breath. "I'm alone!"

Harvey glared down at Loki and grew angry. Flames began to dance over his face. Steve frowned and squeezed his shoulder slightly.

"Enough." Steve said calmly. "We'll question him in the quinjet. Not here."

Harvey relented and released Loki. With a deep gasp, Loki sat up and breathed deeply. He then turned his head slightly and glared hatefully at Harvey. Steve looked down at Loki and grabbed him by the scruff of his collar. Off in the street sat the Quinjet, its hanger door open.

"Let's go."

•••

"I don't like it."

"What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"

Steve looked at Tony and frowned. He glanced back at Loki. The god was in the most powerful restraints SHEILD could make. Lokis neck was red and raw. He stared angrily at Harvey who sat directly in front of him on the other side of the quinjet. They'd been flying back to the Helicarrier and were now over a forest. It should only take a few more hours to reach the aircraft.

They tried to get Loki to talk, but he remained silent. It was getting to the point where Steve wondered if he should have let Harvey continue his questioning back in Stuttgart, but he stopped that line of thought.

"I don't remember it being that easy. This guy packs a wallop." Steve said and looked forward at the dark clouds in the sky.

"Still, you were pretty spry for an older fellow. What's your thing? Pilates?" Tony said offhandedly, and Steve couldn't help but look at him bewildered.

"What?" Steve asked.

Tony shrugged and looked off at Harvey. "It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple of things. Y'know, doing time as a Cap-sickle."

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in." Steve said and looked at Tony with suspicion.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."

A flash of light and the roar of a thunderclap raged in the sky. Gaining looks of confusion from Natasha.

"Where's this coming from?" Natasha asked as she watched the flashing sky crack and bellow.

Steve raised his brow in confusion and turned to Loki. He had an expression of nervousness. "What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows." Loki said slowly and looked up at the jet's roof. Suddenly, Harvey's eyes grew wide, and he jumped up.

"Someone's coming!" Harvey yelled, and something landed on the jet's roof with a loud thud. Jolting the aircraft.

Above the jet was a man with a bellowing red cape. He held onto the jet's surface and looked forward, his eyes determined. He was wearing a blue and silver suit. His long blonde hair fluttered in the wind. In his hand was a large hammer that sparked with power. This was the Norse god of lightning, Thor.

Natasha narrows her eyes and speeds up while Tony and Steve dash for their cowl and helmet, respectively. Harvey looked up at the roof and followed the soul that went down to the back of the jet. Tony then pushed a button on the side of the jet, and the ramp began to open.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked, surprised, as he looked at the now open ramp of the jet. Without warning, Thor jumped into the jet, hammer raised high.

Harvey dashed forward but was knocked away easily to the side. His eyes were wide in shock. 'Such strength!'

Thor threw another strike that launched Tony into Steve—sending them sprawling onto the ground in a tumble. Thor grabbed Loki by his bruised neck, and the two jumped out of the jet into the sky.

"Now there's that guy." Tony said and stood up.

Harvey glared at their back and looked at Tony. "We can't let them get away!" Without hesitation, Harvey jumped out of the aircraft without a parashoot. After a few seconds, a bright orange light shone through the clouds.

"Hold on! Damnit! We need a plan of attack." Steve said as he watched Tony walk over to the ramp.

"We have a plan. Attack." Tony said as he turned to look at Steve. Without another word, Tony flew out and followed after Harvey.

Steve gritted his teeth and grabbed a parashoot. As he strapped it to his body, Natasha turned back and looked at Steve. "I'd sit this one out, Cap."

"I don't see how I can." Steve said, approached the ramp, and looked at the passing clouds.

Natasha frowned and flipped a few switches on the jet's console. "These guys come from legend, they're basically Gods."

"There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." Steve said and jumped out of the quinjet, head first.