—chapter fourteen:
justice is served

"JUSTICE IS A DISH
THAT'S BEST SERVED—
WAIT, THAT'S NOT RIGHT."

     "Any report on what's going on up there?" Jackson asked, all while fighting off incoming Chitauri soldiers.

     "Just landed on the roof," Natasha reported, "what about you? You hanging in down there?"

     "I'm hanging in as well as I can. Jesus Christ, these things are everywhere!" Jackson held out a hand and commanded, "Sleep." They all fell over for what seemed like the third time today and Jackson took one of the weapons and blasted them all. There was yet another explosion and not a moment after, Tony came crashing into the ground.

     "Oh my God, are you okay?" she asked him, quickly turning around and shooting a Chitauri soldier in the face. It wasn't long before Tony was taking off again, leaving her to fend for herself. She couldn't stand around so she broke out into a run and headed for the Stark building. With all the reading she's done, the serum within her should have her be capable to run up to at least thirty miles an hour with her enhanced endurance. So it didn't take long for her to arrive, busting through the doors and heading for the elevator.

     Frantically pressing the 'up' button, she let out a groan in realization that it was going to take a while for the elevator to arrive so she dashed her way up the stairs. Considering that Tony probably lived at the very top, Jackson had a long way to go. "This is what I get for not having a ride or the ability to fly," she grumbled as ran up the stairs, skipping steps before eventually taking a risk and climbing up the railings.

     Jackson finally reached the top to see shattered glass all over the floor and Loki thrown into the ground. "You don't look too good, god of mischief," she commented, faking a pout.

     "Your," Loki coughed out, groaning afterward, "your monster of a lover decided to have a go at me, tossing me around like I was some kind of rag doll."

     "Eh. It was well-deserved," she shrugged, beginning to walk away before stopping in her tracks. She turned around, walked over and knelt down next to Loki. Resting a hand on his forehead, she made direct eye contact with him as she commanded, "Sleep."

    It was easier for him to succumb due to the state he was in so he fell asleep a lot faster than before. Making her way out to the deck, she found the scepter lying there next to the edge of the building. Feeling a sense of fear strike through her, she thought about the number consequences that could come if she were to grab it again. "'Stay afraid, but do it, anyway,'" she mumbled to herself before walking over to it and picking it up. It felt warm in her hands from being in the sun.

    "We're gonna need that," Jackson heard Natasha say through the earpiece. Looking up, she saw Natasha looking down at her. "Roger that," she said and began to make her way up to the roof. When she finally got there, she asked, "What are you gonna do with it?"

    "We're gonna close the portal," answered Natasha. "Does anyone copy?" Jackson questioned, "We can shut the portal down."

    "Then do it," Steve commanded. "Don't," Tony interjected. "Why not?" Jackson wondered.

    "'Cause I got a nuke comin' in. It's gonna blow in less than a minute."

     Jackson groaned inwardly; they were this close to shutting the portal down for good. Couldn't they have just waited another minute?

    "I know just where to put it," Tony announced. "Stark," Steve spoke up, "you know that's a one-way trip."

    No response. A bout of anxiety began to build itself up in Jackson's throat, panicking about the probability that Tony wasn't going to make it back. Soon enough, Tony was zooming right past them and up towards the sky, putting everything he had into the thrusters.

    "Come on, Tony," Jackson mumbled, looking onward at the scene going on above her head. She watched him disappear into the black hole and patiently waited for him to come back down before celebrating.

     "Close it," Steve ordered simply and Natasha began to push the scepter through the barrier, trying her best to turn it off. Jackson was still looking upward at the sky, trying to get a read on Tony, but she couldn't find anything. Then a rush ran up her spine as she saw something falling out of the closing portal at a dangerous speed.

    "Oh my God, it's Tony!" Jackson exclaimed, "But it looks like he's not stopping any time soon, guys."

     A roar ripped through the city after she said that and she could only assume that the Hulk caught him because she couldn't see anything farther out and below from where she was standing. "How is he?" she asked after a few moments have passed.

    "He's unconscious," Steve responded, "I can't get a pulse from him but I think he's— "

    There was another roar from the Hulk that rammed its way through Jackson's earpiece that almost made her go deaf. "Thank- thank you, Hulk," she said in response. Turning around to Natasha and Selvig, she said, "We won."

    "Not yet," Thor said, his voice coming in through the earpiece. Jackson groaned. "Right. We gotta deal with your attention whore of a brother. He's knocked out right now so you should be able to get him no problem."

     "Knocked out?" asked Steve, "How in the hell is he knocked out?"

     "Apparently the Hulk threw him around but I knocked him out. Put him to sleep."

     "Of course you did."

     "Hold on. Wait. Are we just going to ignore the fact that Jackson called Loki an 'attention whore'?"

The rest of them soon made their way up to the top of Stark Tower, all huddling around the unconscious god.

     Jackson felt a tug on her hair and she looked behind her to see the Hulk holding a strand of her hair between his fingers. She smiled and he let go, and she rested her hand on his. She patted it before she was called to the front by Steve. Kneeling down once more, she rested a hand upon Loki's forehead and said, "Wake."

    Loki's eyes shot open as they scrambled to search around the room, every one of the Avengers looking back at him, pissed off as ever. Clint held his loaded bow up to his face, warning him as to not make any movements.

    "If it's all the same to you," Loki grunted, trying to sit up, "I'll have that drink now."

     The Hulk let out a grunt, ready to fight him. Jackson felt the urge to put him to sleep again. So she did.

     "I figured it'd be easier to get him out," Jackson explained, "this way, he won't be able to fight back. But considering that he was thrown around for a bit by the big guy back there, I don't think he'll be able to."

     The Hulk huffed and bared her a smile. Once the S.H.I.E.L.D agents got a hold of Loki, they brought him down and out of the Stark Tower. Or what was left of it.

    Bruce was still in his Hulk form and they needed to find a way to calm him back down into his human self.

    "I think this is a job for mind games over here," Tony suggested, pointing to Jackson.

Jackson gawked at him, her mouth agape. "I think I preferred being called Marie Curie over that."

    "Well, 'Marie Curie' can't be your superhero name, that one's already taken. So, 'mind games' will be a filler until you can get a new one."

    Jackson opened her mouth but she knew better than to respond. Turning to the Hulk who was towering over her at the moment, his chest heaving as he huffed, she coaxed his arm to get him to his knees. She carefully placed her hands on his temples and rested her forehead against his. Closing her eyes, she rubbed his temples, getting ahold of his emotional psyche and calming him down. Slowly, he transformed back into his human self and when Jackson opened her eyes, she found Bruce staring back at her.

    "Hi," she said, smiling softly. "Hi," he returned, smiling just as softly.

    "Not to ruin the moment but you're not wearing any pants." Turning around, she asked, "Did anyone bring him a change of clothes?"

     "Here." Tony tossed her a shirt and a pair of pants and she tossed them to him. They all huddled around, their backs to Bruce as he changed.

    "You guys couldn't move me a little closer to the bathroom?" Bruce asked once he was fully clothed.

    "No one looked," Jackson returned, shrugging, "and you're clothed now so there's really nothing you can do about it."

    Bruce gave her a look. "Thank you, Jackson. Your input was very much appreciated."

     "Hey," Jackson put her hands up in mock surrender, "you walked yourself into that one, smart guy."

     "Yeah, yeah." He pulled her forward and pressed a kiss to her temple.

    "As cute as this is, I'm starving," Tony interrupted, "shawarma, anyone?"

The shawarma was good but Jackson didn't have time to voice her appreciation because she was busy scarfing it all down. She doesn't remember when she ate last so finally having something in her system made the food taste better somehow.

    "Slow down there, Jackson," Bruce warned, laughing a little, "if you eat any faster, you might choke."

    "Not if you don't have a gag reflex," Jackson retorted.

    Bruce's eyebrows rose at that. "I- I'm not even gonna respond to that."

    Jackson smiled before taking another bite of her meal. Swallowing, she said, "So this is thirty-six."

   Bruce turned to face her, confused at her statement, then surprised in realization. "It's your birthday."

   She nodded, smiling.

   "Three cheers for the birthday girl!" Tony raised his shawarma cone as a toast. Everyone followed suit and then continued on eating.

    "Happy birthday, birdie," Bruce whispered before pressing a kiss to her temple. Before he could return his attention back to his food, Jackson cupped his face and pulled him into a kiss. Pulling back, she said, "Thank you."

    The look of absolute awe made a return when Bruce said, "I love you."

    Jackson felt the same emotion that she had felt before when Bruce found her with the scepter the first time. Underneath all of the stress and worry was the loving feeling and complete adoration she had thought was misplaced. Instead, it wasn't misplaced. It was real, and it was genuine, and it was the most loved that Jackson has ever felt.

    "I love you, too."

AUTHOR'S NOTE
woo, this was a lot to write !
but i had a whole load of fun doing it :)