Willow turned around to face the others as the monitor they had all been watching of Nick Fury and Loki exchanging heated words turned black.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce Banner said almost fondly.

"He sure does."

"Right, because holding him at gunpoint is a cause for celebration in the way of a developing friendship." Natasha's indifferent tone made the young woman shrug.

"All friendships have a rough start."

"Loki's gonna drag this out," Steve said after a moment, "so, Thor, what's his play?"

The god of thunder who had unceremoniously landed on the Quinjet the night before and took off with their cargo now stood before them, deep in thought. He was a broad man of great muscle and firmness, opposite to the lanky and ruffled Bruce Banner that looked almost skittish. Natasha Romanoff sat across from Steve, her face never betraying her thoughts as she looked up at Thor.

"He has an army called the Chitauri," he began, "and they're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army? From outer space?" Steve had a hard time wrapping his head around that as he looked at his sister who only gave him an I'm-as-lost-as-you look.

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

"Selvig?"

"He's an astrophysicist," Bruce explained.

"He's a friend." Thor's face dimmed a little at the prospect of having Erik Selvig be a slave to his brother.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours," Natasha exclaimed. Willow noticed a sort of uneasy look in her eyes and the assassin gave her a small grin.

"Clint Barton. S.H.I.E.L.D Agent, one of the best."

"A friend of yours?" She asked.

"You could say that."

She paused, watching Natasha for any sign of emotion before she poked at the assassin's wrist curiously.

"High frequency electrostatic charge cuffs. Or, if you're not feeling too fancy, electrocution bracelets." A corner of her mouth lifted as Willow nodded in fascination. "They pack a punch, so don't try it on yourself."

"Thanks for the warning. Where can I get one?" She poked it again and Natasha produced a spare cuff from her belt, handing it to the super soldier.

"I have a feeling you'd be bugging me all day long."

"You're probably right."

"Have care how you speak," Thor rumbled suddenly, a reaction to whatever conversation Willow had missed as the women turned to the others, "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days," Natasha said flatly.

"...He's adopted."

Phil Coulson, the right hand of Nick Fury who had mooned over her brother for a good twenty minutes, walked in just then with Tony and Willow leaned back in her seat to take in the sight before her. She thought that her and her brother's fighting days were done. Surely, there wasn't much to do now that the war was over what with the Rogers's being stuck in the ice for a very long while. Little did she know that the present world was just in much danger as it had been years ago.

Tuning out the scientific talk between Stark and Banner, she studied her brother and the way he interacted with the others.

He was used to being put in the position of the leader and Willow thought he carried it well even if he did it obliviously. She herself could not have been any more the opposite of her exact-minded brother. Where he was strategic and careful, she was impulsive and could be considered careless at times. They often argued whenever it had come down to planning, but Willow had never hesitated to follow her brother into the battlefield and didn't think she ever would. Her fond staring finally caught Steve's attention and he rapped his knuckles on the table.

"You're starting to creep me out," he said as Willow rolled her eyes.

"Just dwelling on the good ol' days." She watched as Banner and Stark began to leave the room.

"Hey, where are you guys going?"

"The toy box. You're more than welcome to join, gorgeous," Tony called.

The young woman leapt to her feet, pushing Steve's head to the side as she followed after the men, causing him to grumble in annoyance.

Thor grinned.

"Your sister reminds me of Loki in a way."

"Not in the murderous way, I hope," Natasha murmured.

"He was not always a murderer," the god of thunder said in a somber voice.

"Yeah?" Steve stood, looking around the Helicarrier strangely. "I'll believe it when I see it."

—————-

"Of the people in this room who is: A. wearing a spangly outfit and B. not of use?"

At this, Willow scowled, folding her arms over her own outfit.

Agent Coulson had informed them when they were brought in that there had been modifications to both of their uniforms and Steve was a little hesitant to don what was his past. Willow's uniform was comprised of a thick material, sporting neither the flag nor the star that symbolized Captain America. Instead, it was of a tactical form—her dark cargo pants with numerous buckles and pockets over a black jumpsuit and right across the chest, a thin crescent moon to represent her alias: Moonshadow.

She was getting a bit twitchy with the way Steve and Tony were going at it, something hot scratching at the back of her throat that she forced down to get her mind back in order.

Serves me right for wanting to look at new stuff, she thought in a grumbling fashion, curious as to how Bruce wasn't too bothered by their arguing.

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up." Steve stated matter-of-factly, still pressing the issue of Tony sticking his nose where he didn't think it needed to be. "This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them."

"To answer your previous question, I fall into the B category," she said absently as she watched the scientist scan the scepter with a gamma radiation scanner.

Steve shot her an annoyed look and she sighed, knowing that neither he nor Tony would drop the argument any time soon.

"Look, I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'm not saying you're right. They do have a point. Fury could be keeping us in the dark for all we know."

"Steve, tell me none of this smells funky to you?" Bruce asked, peering at the man.

He clenched his jaw after a moment and shook his head.

"Just find the cube."

As he left, Tony let out a low whistle.

"That brother of yours sure has his knickers in a twist." He nudged Willow as he walked past. "Born like that?"

"Somewhat."

Tony and Bruce glanced at her, their eyes asking the questions.

"Steve's always been a fighter. It's how he managed to find his way into the army; a stroke of luck, I'd like to think, but it was just...Steve. He did it by being himself. The war didn't change him. It shaped him. He might be all about following orders, but he was also the one giving them. He saved a lot of lives." She cut off abruptly and cleared her throat, pretending to study a screen.

"So, what's your story?" Tony downed a few blueberries from the little pack in his hand. "We all know Capsicle. Don't know much about Little Miss Moonshadow."

"I don't have one."

"You sure about that?" He moved closer. "Ya know, I have this deep, gnawing feeling that Fury isn't the only one keeping secrets around here."

She looked up, giving him a hard glare before walking out of the room.

"Would you stop pissing everyone off?"

Tony smirked.

"Old habits die hard."

Bruce sighed, taking off his glasses.

"Or not at all."

Willow didn't know where she was going as she left, but she knew she had to cool down. After running into Natasha in the hall, the assassin had asked for a favor, a welcoming distraction for Willow.

Stark getting on her nerves wasn't much of a surprise seeing how he acted with the others, but her irritation with him seemed to grow at an unnatural speed and when he had gotten in her face, she had dug her nails deep into her palm to keep herself from hitting him. The moment she stepped out of the room, however, all of that negative energy quickly dissipated the farther she walked and it was bothering Willow that she had gotten so close to snapping when Tony hadn't said anything to purposely offend her—accuse her, maybe, but what person didn't the billionaire accuse of being suspicious?

And why had she wanted to hit him so badly?

"If I'm getting touchy, I must really be fitting in with this modern age," she mumbled.

"Talking to yourself now?"

The chilling voice, a deeply smooth tone with an edge of amusement, came from the room she was just about to walk past and she paused, looking in. Loki was pacing behind the wall of glass, hands behind his back and a purposely indifferent expression that contradicted his voice—a wild predator eagerly anticipating it's freedom. It was a strange room with large pieces of metal connected to the oval-shaped cage they'd entrapped the Asgardian in and Willow looked around in wonder as she slowly moved into the room.

"You'd rather I talk to you?"

"Maybe. Conversation is hard to come by, but substantial conversation? Even more rare on a planet teeming with fools."

"And you wonder why no one likes you."

Loki grinned to himself as she drew closer to the glass, baited by his words as she was on the Quinjet.

"A rash action, to be sure." He clicked his tongue mockingly. "But, of course, brother dearest had no problem talking you down. With only your name did he manage to keep you from shooting me. Now, what does that say about a woman like you?"

Willow was now inches away from the glass, eyes blazing with anger and fists curled.

"You come here with the intent to rule our planet with no idea just how much force we'll hit you back with and all for a throne that doesn't exist? You're pathetic."

He tilted his head.

"You think you are any better than me? You lie...and kill...in the service of liars and killers," he began slowly. "You pretend you have a code, that you have morals and standards—a line at which you draw your own greatest fear of becoming what you already are."

Loki suddenly lunged at the glass and slammed his hands against it as Willow jerked back in surprise, nearly tripping over her feet.

"WEAK! ALL OF YOU!" He bellowed.

"And most of all, your brother." His eyes began to darken and the smile on his lips was in no way gracious, emitting pure evil from within. "The good Captain, ever so faithful, ever so honorable. Oh, to see your face when I get my hands on him...when I rip him apart, piece by piece, and scatter him over the dusty bowels of the earth for only the beasts to know and devour. He will be nothing but a whisper with no one to remember him...except his dear little sister who couldn't save him."

He paused and watched with a satisfying look as Willow's face twisted in a horrified manner, her hand clutching at her chest as though her heart was racing too fast for the rest of her to keep up. She turned away from the glass and put her trembling hands over her cheeks, her eyes beginning to well.

"Sentimentality...," he spat, "is your greatest weakness. And the force I bring will drive my point home."

"You're a monster," she croaked.

Loki laughed humorlessly.

"No. You brought the monster."

"So, Banner...that's your play."

Another voice, low and poised, cut through the silence and Willow looked up to see Natasha standing at the doorway.

"What?" He snapped.

"Willow, on me."

The young woman straightened, tears now gone as she walked over to the assassin who was muttering into her earpiece.

"Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, we're on our way. Send Thor as well."

They began to leave, Loki watching in confusion when—

BAM!

Natasha whirled around to see a small indent in the glass cage with tiny cracks spiderwebbing from the center and on the other side, Loki tilted his head a little to look up at the mark right where his forehead was. Willow holstered her gun, what emotions she had put on display now completely gone.

"Be grateful I didn't pull the trigger when I had the chance."

"And thank you," Natasha murmured with a soft smirk, "for your cooperation."

—————-
☀︎ celine's corner ☀︎

*manifesting willow rogers vibes*

but, thank you guys for reading!! especially the two
crackheads that are always commenting and voting 🥰
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