Snake on the Plane (Last)

2012

S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier

Conference Room

Two Hours Later

(Omniscient POV)

Steve, Tony, and Fury are all gathered at the conference table in the damaged Helicarrier. Brock and Maria stand off to the side as Fury pulls a handful of cards out. He throws them down and they scatter on the table. A few were still wet with Coulson's blood.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them." He said towards Steve, who picks up one of the cards and looks down at it with a sad look on his face.

"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications are down, the location of the cube is still unknown, Natasha is in critical condition, and Banner, Thor, and Barton are still in the wind." Fury explains to them as he paces slowly around the table.

"The council believed that the best way to protect ourselves was to build an arsenal using the power of the Tesseract. But I never put all my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier." Fury stops pacing and stands behind Steve and Tony's chairs

"There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, and 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 continues.

At his words, Tony stands from his chair, takes one last glance at the bloody cards on the table, and walks out of the room.

Fury folds his hands behind his back and looks, regretfully, down at the floor.

"Well, maybe it was an old-fashioned notion." Fury calls out behind the retreating man.

Steve places the card back on the table, rises from his chair, and moves over to pat Fury on the shoulder, before following behind Tony.

Watching the two men leave, Fury lets out a tired sigh and turns toward Maria and Brock.

"Hill, I want you to do everything you can to get our systems back online. Rumlow, you and your men start prepping. I want you all ready for whatever Loki has planned."

The two give the man a salute and move to follow his orders.

***************

S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier

Confinement Room

Tony stands alone in the small room, overlooking where the cylindrical glass cage used to be. Gazing around the room, he notices two deep grooves carved into the floor.

He raises an eyebrow and bends down to inspect the damaged floor.

Tony runs his hands over the deep grooves and noted that they looked kind of like footprints.

"Was he married?" A voice calls out behind him and he turns his head to see Steve standing in the doorway.

"Huh?" Tony questions.

"Coulson, was he married?" Steve asks again.

Tony turns his head back towards the floor, sadness and regret plain on his face.

"Oh. No. There was a uh- someone back in Portland, I think. But he never went into much detail."

Steve lets out a sorrowful sigh and moves closer to Tony.

"I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man." He says but Tony just snorts at his words.

"He was an idiot," Tony states as he stands up and turns to face Steve.

"Why? For believing?" Steve asks.

"For trying to take Loki on alone," Tony remarks.

Steve shakes his head at his words.

"He was doing his job."

Tony moves closer, bitterness and resentment filling his voice.

"He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have-"

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony. But instead of running away, Coulson stepped up." Steve interrupts.

Tony lets out another snort at his words.

"Right, and how'd that work out for him?"

A moment of silence takes place in the room as the two just stare at each other.

"It's a soldier's job to be brave and take the risks that no one else can," Steve says, breaking the silence.

Anger comes to Tony's face at that and he moves even closer, getting in Steve's face.

"We are not soldiers! I'm not marching to my death for someone like Fury!" He exclaims but Steve just gives the man a patient look.

"Neither am I. I know Fury's got the same amount of blood on his hands that Loki does, maybe even more. But right now, we gotta put that behind us and get this mission done. Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list maybe we can beat him to it and stop him."

Tony just chuckles at Steve's optimism. He turns away from the man and looks back at the damaged room.

"Why do you think he let us catch him, hmm? He wanted to hit us all right where we live. Why?" Tony asks.

"To tear us apart." Steve states.

"Yeah, divide and conquer is great and all, 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 explains and Steve nods at his words.

"So you're saying he wants an encore of what he did in Germany?" Steve asks.

"No. That was just a preview. His next act, that'll be the opening night. And Loki, he's a full-fledged diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered on them....Son-of-a-bitch." Tony snaps his fingers, an idea forming in his head.

He turns back around and smiles at Steve.

"I think I know where he's headed."

***************

S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier

S.T.R.I.K.E Team Barracks

The S.T.R.I.K.E team move about the barracks, some doing last-minute weapon checks while others sent out prayers to the Führer that they would survive.

Brock stood off to the side, overseeing his men.

A blank look was on his face but inside, rage and indignation riddled his mind.

Originally, he planned to just let things play out the way they did in the movie and join the fun later to snatch some power for himself. But Loki's intervention made him alter his plans.

Now...he was out for blood.

Footsteps sounded behind him and Brock turned to see Steve, dressed in full Captain America gear, walk through the door.

"Captain Rumlow, Time to go," Steve says.

Brock gives him an unreadable look.

"Go where, sir?" He questions, playing clueless.

"I'll tell you on the way. Can your men fly one of those jets?" Steve asks.

Brock nods.

"Then suit up, time to get some payback," Steve says.

The Captian turns to leave as a cold, Bloodthirsty smile breaks Brock's emotionless mask.

"Yes, Sir."

****************

A/n: Ok, short explanation for some changes that happened in the background of the last chapter. Because Thor arrived at Loki's cell earlier, he wasn't around to save Black Widow from the Hulk. Because of this Black Widow was hurt during that encounter and wasn't there to snap Hawkeye out of his mind-controlled state, so currently he's still working for Loki.

Hope you're enjoying the story so far and as always, thanks for reading!