Work Text:
1) Loki Laufeyson
Loki snarled at her. "I'm a monster," he hissed at her, locking eyes. She kept eye contact with his bright green orbs. "Your pity is an insult and a lie. My so-called brother would sooner take away my speech, and he as well knows what I am."
"Oh, shut up," Serena snapped. "Get over yourself. Boo-hoo, your daddy's a frost giant. You've got blue skin. Who cares?"
The silence between Serena, Loki, Fury, and a distinctly uncomfortable-looking god of thunder was awkward. Serena wasn't completely sure who was more surprised - herself or Loki.
"If you're going to call yourself a monster, do it because you stole hundreds of lives today." She authoritatively growled. She didn't quite have it in her to hit him, but if she'd been closer and a little less tired, then maybe. He was cheapening the deaths of people who didn't deserve to die for the sake of his own angst and parent issues. "Being a Jotun doesn't make you a monster, it makes you a Jotun. I'm the same species as Bundy and Hitler, but do I call myself a monster just because they were? No. Because the species doesn't determine the person. No wonder your overthrow of Earth failed, if you're too dumb to figure that out."
Fury might as well have put the muzzle on Loki, because although he didn't look away from her for more than a few seconds for the rest of the time they shared a vicinity, even the god of lies didn't have a single word left to say.
2) Bruce Banner
"I could've killed you," he said softly and mournfully to her arm while he gently wiped rubbing alcohol into a deep cut near her elbow.
Serena reached down for him. She was seated on the edge of a hospital bed while he had a chair, which made her a little higher up. Her hand found Bruce's hair and she patted his head kindly while he wrapped her arm in gauze. "It's no big deal."
"It is a big deal," he replied quickly, looking back up to her. There was fear in his eyes, on his face, that made Serena stop and swallow. "You shouldn't have come so close. Thor might not've been able to keep him down."
She cupped his chin and made him look at her, even when the soft and sad brown eyes just wanted to look away. Serena had been through too much with this team to let any of them go off and think that any of what happened was their fault. "Listen," she said, stroking her thumb against his jaw. He frowned at her, not content with listening. "I could die at any time. You're not the only threat. So's Natasha. So's Tony. So's Thor. Everyone can be dangerous." She paused and grinned. "Hey, I could be killed by anyone strong enough to break my nose at the right angle. Just because you've got some tricked-out anger management stuff doesn't make you particularly special."
He looked down at his legs, not completely convinced, but he chuckled, knowing what she'd been trying to say.
3) Thor Odinson
"What's eating you, Gilbert Grape?" Serena quipped as she sidled up alongside the much bigger and much stronger Asgardian, looking through the window at his shackled brother being interrogated by SHIELD agents.
Thor sighed and looked down at her, face a mask of concern. "Lady Serena, are you well? I am Thor. We fought Loki together."
"... Oh! Right. Sorry." She smacked her forehead and pretended not to be a little bit annoyed that an obvious joke was taken so seriously. She did her default move and screwed with him a little, pretending to have actually been confused. "Thor, right. Sorry. Jeez, you just look so much like that other person. Why're you sad?"
Dumb question. If anyone was going to be sad, it would be the guy whose brother was about to be tried for mass murder, conspiracy, treason, and a plethora of other charges.
"I just..." Thor seemed lost for words, and Serena had the patience to wait. "Loki wasn't always like this," he finally said forlornly. Serena looked in at the green- and black-clad man and tried to imagine him as a child. She could see a reserved little boy reading a book, but she couldn't picture him acting boisterous or overly jovial, like Thor. "I have to question if there was any way I could have prevented this from coming to pass."
Serena nodded slowly. "You're right," she agreed, reaching up to touch his arm through the body armor sympathetically. "Because you are absolutely responsible for Loki's actions." Thor snapped his head around to look at her, his expression hurt, and Serena went on to make her point. "And I mean, damn, Tony is definitely responsible for the actions of the guy that tried to kill him a few years ago." She shook her head, feigning sadness. "I mean, he was a family friend and everything. Tony should've known what he was getting up to. He should've stopped the guy from having him kidnapped by mercenaries."
"I don't understand," Thor interrupted her, touching her shoulder with confusion on his face, asking her without words to backtrack and explain. "How is the Man of Iron responsible for the actions of one who acted against him?"
Serena raised her eyebrows and looked through the glass at Loki meaningfully. If he didn't get what she meant in the next ten seconds, she was going to hit his head against that glass wall.
4) Tony Stark
"God, I hate shawarma," Tony groaned, sitting back from the table and groaning. Despite declaring his hatred, he had eaten until he had cleared his plate, and he covered his stomach with his hands miserably.
"Then why did you keep eating?" Serena asked him with exasperation. Tony had the ability to drive her up the wall, more so than anyone else.
"I practically made a deathbed wish to eat shawarma," he argued with her. Serena got the feeling it was going to be one of those dumb and inconsequential arguments that Tony got into for fun. "I had no choice at that point."
"One, it wasn't a deathbed wish because you're fine," she said firmly, reaching over to his chest and tapping gently on the metallic edge of the arc reactor. The glow was visible through the thin black fabric of his Led Zep shirt.
Tony ignored her. The full gravity of the situation was just beginning to dawn on him. Serena hoped Stark Industries had good mental health coverage, because with all the craziness Tony had been put through in the past several years, he probably could use a therapist. "I could've died," he realized, sounding strangely more annoyed than scared. "Without ever knowing how much I don't like shawarma."
"Tony, if you treat shawarma as a be-all-end-all of human existence one more time, I'm going to push you out a window myself." She stole a French fry from Steve. He was too tired to really care and pushed his plate towards her. "Secondly, after how many times you've nearly died, if you're only just now realizing there are things you want to experience, then you've got a serious processing delay. Make a bucket list or something," she suggested. "Feel alive and in control. It's not like you don't have the money to do whatever insane stunts you think sound the most half-fun, half-borderline suicidal."
5) Clint Barton
Serena was just looking for Natasha when she saw the light on in one of the guest bedrooms, and Clint let her in without saying a word to her. He was balancing arrows in a high-tech quiver that Serena was probably more likely to kill herself than any Chitauri soldiers with if she had to fight with it.
The assassin continued to be silent, appearing completely focused on his task. Serena didn't sit, instead standing at the foot of the bed. She didn't feel unwanted, per se... but she definitely felt as though there was somewhere else she would be more useful, and maybe Clint needed to be left alone for a while. She couldn't imagine what he'd gone through as Loki's puppet.
Gently, she bit her lip, and slowly, she reached for his body. She smoothed her hand down his shoulder in a warm and comforting motion before she turned and left.
Sometimes, the best thing to say was so simple that it had to be said with something other than words.
1) Steve Rogers
Serena reached for Steve's hand with the one not holding a bouquet arrangement. Tears pricked at her eyes. The cemetery was almost empty, but while she wanted to be alone if she was going to cry, she was glad that she had someone's company. Being lonely sounded like a nightmare.
"Dad, this is Captain Rogers." She introduced quietly to the gravestone. She'd never truly believed that her father's spirit could hear her. She hoped that, if anything, he was enjoying himself in heaven. Talking to the slab just made her feel a bit better sometimes, like one of those silly things people do - the same way she talked to the air if she was scared of the dark. "He's really nice. I'd tell you how I met him, but I..."
She felt like she was choking. What could she possibly say? She had followed in her father's footsteps, but not really? She'd been kidnapped by the government? She'd fought an alien invasion with him? Nothing seemed respectful to say to the grave of her deceased, patriotic father, whom had held more faith in the government and the American people than anyone she'd ever known, save for possibly her grandfather.
"... I don't know how," she admitted in a raspy whisper, not wanting to lie, but not wanting to admit something that her father wouldn't have wanted to hear in life, either.
Steve squeezed her hand softly and reminded her that she wasn't alone. Tears leaked from both of her eyes and made her face feel hot and wet.
"May I?" He whispered respectfully. Serena nodded, eyes screwed shut tightly. Steve nodded slightly and went on to address her dad as if he was still right there with them. "Lieutenant Rosenthawe, I can tell you how Serena protected her country. She fought side-by-side with me against a dangerous army, and she's one of the bravest soldiers I've ever met. She doesn't need to be in the army for me to be honored to call her my comrade..."