Alex POV:
The briefing room
The Avengers are already there.
Thor stands near the window, arms crossed, staring out at the sky.
Banner sits hunched over a chair, fingers laced tight, eyes distant, probably thinking about how to track the tesseract.
Natasha, back in Black Widow mode, takes a seat next to an empty seat with a Shield jacket hung on it, with initials C. B.
Tony Stark swivels in his chair, takes one look at Peter, and grins.
"Oh wow," he says. "So the kiddos did end up making it."
Fury stands at the head of the table, hands clasped behind his back.
"Take a seat," he orders.
We do.
The room hums with tension.
Fury activates the hologram on the briefing table. Images flash. Germany, Loki, civilians hurt and infrastructure damaged.
"If you're wondering why you weren't brought in sooner," Fury says, eyes flicking directly to us.
I straighten. "Yeah. I am."
"I made a call," he says. "I believed we could contain Loki with limited assets. Keep exposure low. Minimize collateral. Loki was just one man."
Tony scoffs. "That worked out great."
Fury ignores him.
"I underestimated the damage he'd cause, and overestimated how clean this could be." Fury continues. "I believed the mission would have went better without variables like the arrogant Tony Stark, or two naive little kids."
Natasha cuts in. "I pushed for them to be brought in earlier."
Tony nods. "Same. Those kids have a better record of being a hero than half the people in this room. Excluding me of course."
Fury's jaw tightens.
"I changed my mind," he admits. "After Germany. After all the damage and tesseract still missing. You're contingency."
The words land with impact.
Steve speaks up. "They're not weapons, Nick. None of us are."
"Agent Rogers. I am not saying that they are. I am saying that when all hell breaks loose, we'll need some kind of insurance to keep us standing."
For a few seconds, nobody speaks.
And cutting the silence, Bruce Banner finally comes out of his brainstorm. "I- err, director, if it's okay for me to input my opinion, I believe the kids shouldn't be put into so much danger. Theyre just what, 18? 19?"
The gazes of all the occupants of the room snap to the doctor, who shrivels into himself a bit.
Multiple people open their mouths, all with differing opinions on the subject.
"I'm with Banner," Steve says, calm but firm. He sits forward slightly, forearms on the table. "They're young. They don't know what theyre walking into. Not like we do."
Tony lets out a sharp laugh. "Oh, come on, Cap. Neither did you. You applied for the military, tens of times before Doctor Erskine took pity on you, starting at the tender age of 18."
Steve's jaw tightens. "That was different."
"Was it?" Tony fires back. "Because from where I'm sitting, these two already made the choice. Repeatedly. Just like you did."
Natasha folds her arms. "Yeah. They saved lives before coming here," she says coolly. "Hundreds, if not thousands."
Bruce clears his throat. "I'm not questioning their intentions or their past," he says quickly, voice careful. "I'm questioning whether putting them in the same room as a god with an alien army is… responsible."
Thor finally turns from the window.
The air seems to thicken when he does.
He steps forward, metal boots heavy against the floor, and looks between all of us like he's measuring us.
"In Asgard," Thor says, voice deep and resonant, "we do not measure a warrior by the years carved upon his body."
Tony mutters, "Of course you don't."
Thor ignores him.
"The soul knows when it is ready," Thor continues. "The spirit calls to battle long before the flesh matures. I have seen children stand against giants. I have seen elders flee from shadows."
He looks directly at Peter and me.
"These two carry the weight of warriors."
Peter and ned squeak. I don't.
Bruce blinks. "With all due respect,"
"Respect is earned," Thor cuts in, not unkindly but unmoving. "And they have earned it."
Steve exhales slowly. "The people of your planet are different from ours."
Thor turns to him. "You were a child when you chose to fight."
Steve stiffens.
"That's what I said." Tony mutters under his breath.
"That's exactly why I'm saying this," Steve replies. "I speak as someone who knows what it costs."
Thor steps closer to the table. The floor seems to vibrate under his boots.
"In my realm," Thor says, "those who wait for the perfect moment die waiting. Courage does not wait for age."
Bruce shakes his head. "This isn't Asgard. This is Earth."
Thor's voice deepens. "And Earth is on the brink of destruction."
My jaw tightens without me noticing.
Natasha exhales sharply. "Enough."
Everyone turns to her.
"They're not soldiers," she says. "They're not assets. They're their own persons."
Fury's eye flicks to her. "Didn't say they weren't."
"You didn't have to," Natasha snaps. "You're thinking it."
Tony leans back in his chair. "Look, I'm not saying we hand them rifles and shove them out an airlock. They have power. Just like us. I'm saying they belong in the loop."
Steve shakes his head. "Belonging in the loop is how you justify putting them in danger."
Tony fires back, "And keeping them out is how you get them killed without backup."
The argument is spiralling now. Voices overlapping. Tension stacking on tension.
I feel it pressing into my skull.
"They're not trained for this!" Bruce insists.
"They train every day," Natasha counters.
"They don't understand the consequences," Steve says.
"They understand them better than most adults," Tony snaps.
Thor slams his hand down on the table.
The sound is thunder.
"Enough words," Thor growls. "If they choose to stand, then they stand."
Steve rises to his feet. "They don't get to choose to die!"
My heart is pounding.
Peter's fingers are clenched tight at his sides. Ned's gone completely still, like he's trying not to be noticed at all.
And suddenly, the Helicarrier shudders.
A deep, violent BOOM rips through the hull.
The floor drops half an inch.
Alarms erupt instantly.
Red lights flash. Sirens scream.
"What the hell was that?" Tony snaps, already standing.
Before anyone can answer-
Another explosion.
This time, closer.
The walls tremble. A panel sparks, raining metal shards onto the floor.
Fury's hand flies to his earpiece. "Report!"
It sounds like static.
Then shouting.
"We've got a breach on deck six- engine housing- repeat, engine housing-"
The lights flicker.
Bruce's breathing sharpens. "That's… that's not good."
Thor pulls Mjolnir to him as the lights dim. " Looks like my brother planned his escape."
Natasha's already moving, drawing her weapons. "Barton."
Fury's jaw clenches.
Tony's armour snaps onto his arms, as he pulls on the Mark 5 suitcase. "Okay, discussion time is officially over."
Steve grabs his shield. "We need to secure the bystanders."
"And the engines," Fury barks. "If one goes down, this thing falls out of the sky."
Peter looks at me, eyes wide. "Alex-"
Another explosion rocks the carrier.
This one throws us off our feet.
The room tilts violently. Ned yelps as he hits the floor. I catch myself on the table, claws protracting and digging instinctively into metal.
Warning klaxons blare.
ENGINE FAILURE - ENGINE D
Fury shouts orders into his comms as agents rush past the doors.
Thor turns to us, eyes blazing. "It is time for you to decide."
Steve hesitates- just for a second- then looks at us.
"Stay here," he says.
I hesitate for a split second. If I make things easier for them here by helping, then in the future, things will only get harder.
One by one, the Avengers rush out of the briefing room.
Cap runs towards wherever the screams are the loudest.
Tony propels himself towards the destroyed engine, dragging his ex-intern, Peter, with him.
Thor rushes to stop his brother's escape.
Fury quickly strides towards the command center to get things back in order.
Ned follows, trying to be of use.
Natasha runs off towards the lab to secure the researchers, only after giving me a look.
It doesn't even take a second for all of these people to contemplate the pros and cons of being a hero. Gods. Soldiers. Scientists. Even Ned, relatively powerless, is trying to help.
What the fuck am I still doing here.
I can't be doing fucking nothing.
Just then, I hear a deep, agonizing groan next to me, too strained, too bestial.
Everybody else left already except-
Oh shit. This is bad.
(a/n Just got 3 wisdom teeth removed today. Writing to forget the pain)