Author's Note: Each scene will be started with a time, date, and location because this story will jump around just a bit. The first scene of each chapter will be pre-May 2012 and everything after that first scene will be back to the regular pacing and timeline. Sometimes the opening scene will be short and other times it will be long.

The characters in this fic will be using ASL. I am well aware that ASL doesn't work the same way as English or other spoken languages (I'm a Deaf Education minor) but I'm not fluent enough yet to trust myself to try to properly translate things. So instead, ASL will be shown within quotes but as "ALL CAPS." This will be the main representation of ASL, though I will occasionally describe it.

I'm still working on Samsaric and Rage, Rage, but this idea just wouldn't stop bugging me.

DISCLAIMER: This fic will contain a lot of potential triggers (death, depression, violence, etc.). Please read responsibly.

I give you the first installment of Hey, Rube!

Chapter One - In Which Lines Are Drawn

11:43 pm

January 1st, 1982

Osborne, Kansas

"Clint?" she whispered. "Clint?" She sat up and stared across at the other bed, hugging her knees to her chest. "Are you awake?" Sniffling, she rubbed her eyes. She pushed herself up and winced as her feet hit the cold floor. When she reached his bedside, she gently touched his shoulder. "Clint?"

He jumped, turning over quickly. Clint stared at her for a long moment and she rubbed her eyes again. Then he leaned past her and pulled the lamp chain. After a couple seconds, the light flickered on with a buzz. Clint frowned at her worriedly, touching the letter C to his chin with his right hand and bringing it down to his left hand, all fingers folded except for his thumb and index finger. He tapped her cheek to make sure she was looking at him. "Are you okay?" he asked in an attempted whisper, though it was still a little loud and a little blurred between words.

She took a moment to still the shaking in her hands before she signed. "I'M SCARED. WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO US?"

He smiled and tapped her nose. "We're gonna go on an adventure, Etta. Just the two of us."

She giggled faintly and looked down. "DON'T CALL ME THAT."

"Don't be a punk." He scooted aside to make room for her and lifted his blanket. "Turn the light off."

"THANK YOU." She tugged the chain and climbed into the bed. She felt around for his hand and held it against hers. "I LOVE YOU."

"I love you too, Etta." He pressed a sloppy kiss on her forehead, making her laugh. "Now go to sleep. And try not to move too much. You've got sharp elbows and I don't wanna have to kick you out of the bed. I promise everything will be okay in the morning."

9:28 pm

May 3rd, 2012

Stuttgart, Germany

"Bianka Faust." The German clipped against her lips and she only gave the faintest of smiles as the man looked over the guest list.

"And Herr Klemens Faust?" the man asked, glancing up from the paper. "Will he be joining us?"

"My husband fell ill. But we made sure I could still be here to give a hefty contribution during this year's gala." She tapped her clutch. "He was sorely disappointed to miss it this year, though."

The guard waved her past disinterestedly. Charlie stepped through, playing with the latch on her clutch and looking around the large room. She moved past the groups deep in discussion with her sights set on the waiter. "Hello. Ah, danke schoen." She took one of the wine glasses and sipped at it. She wrinkled her nose. "Oh, sekt," she mumbled. "I was not ready for that." She licked her lips, savoring the bubbly taste, and turned. "Excuse me!"

"Ja?" the waiter asked, turning back.

"Is there another restroom I could use?" she asked, smiling a little. "The one downstairs is full."

"Ah." He gestured with his free hand, keeping his tray of wine balanced with the other. "Up the stairs to the left. There is a sign."

"Good, good," she murmured. She tucked her clutch under her arm and took a second glass of wine. "Danke."

He stared at her for a moment before offering an unsure, "Bitte."

She sipped from the new glass and started for the stairs. She was halfway up when her foot slipped. "Goddamn stilettos," she muttered, adjusting and taking another taste of wine. She took a left at the top of the stairs and traced her way down the familiar path to the restroom. Charlie stared at the sign hung on the door for a moment as she enjoyed her wine. Then she lifted the sign off its hook and threw it down the hall before stepping inside. "Hello?" she asked in German. "Anyone in here?"

No answer.

"Lovely," Charlie said, reverting back to English and beaming as she closed the door. Charlie set her glasses on the counter. She opened her clutch and took out a couple small wooden blocks before kneeling down. "Now, where are you. Ah, there you are." She pulled out her small hammer. "They really should do a weapons check at the door," she mused, pressing the edges of the blocks into the crack between the door and the floor. She tapped them tightly in with her hammer.

She dropped the hammer with a groan and began undoing the straps on her heels. "God, it's gonna feel nice to be out of these." Charlie picked the shoes up and stepped over to the restroom's sink. The cabinet didn't open when she tested it, eliciting a smile. "Good." She jerked sharply and the hinges gave way as the cabinet doors snapped open. Charlie reached inside and pulled out her duffle bag, tossing it up on the counter.

It took her three minutes to change out of the gown and into her normal outfit, strapping her weapons on across her body. She hooked her bullwhip onto her belt and then shoved her gala clothes into the bag. She slipped the cheap, fake wedding ring off her finger and then slipped her wolf ring onto her right hand. Charlie twisted her curled hair into a french braid, humming. "Is that everything?" she asked herself, glancing around. "Oops! Almost forgot."

She pulled out the envelope in the bag and checked inside it, thumbing through the several hundred dollar bills it contained. Satisfied, she licked it and then sealed it closed. She uncapped a pen and scrawled My bad! across the front, finishing it off with an unapologetic winky face. Charlie zipped up the duffle bag—which now just contained a fancy dress and pair of heels—and tossed it back under the sink. Then she turned and taped the envelope to the door. "Here goes," she muttered. Then she wrenched back on the door and it scraped desperately against the barriers she'd put up. The hinges creaked a bit, letting the door open just enough. Charlie picked her glasses back up and slipped out the door.

She moved forward and leaned just behind a pillar, keeping an eye out on the room below but staying where she wouldn't be seen. Charlie took another sip of wine. "Damn, this stuff is good." She finished her first glass and was halfway through her second when she spotted him: the goddamn maniac who thought he could lay a hand on her family and get off scot-free. She looked down at her unfinished drink. "I need this," she breathed. Then she knocked the rest of it back like a shot. "Wow, that actually kinda burns. Okay." She threw the glass to the ground and watched it shatter. "Let's do this."

She turned out from behind the pillar just in time to see Loki's cane make contact with a guard's face. Charlie leapt over the railing and hit the ground in a roll, but her entrance was ignored in favor of the people around screaming in surprise as Loki moved forward and grabbed Heinrich Schafer. Charlie began pushing her way through the crowds, snapping out more German obscenities than was really necessary. Loki flipped his victim up onto the flat statue at the bottom of the stairs, fist twisting the man's collar dangerously. Charlie uncoiled her bullwhip, sliding to a stop at the front of the crowd as they turned and ran, screaming. Loki pulled out a device and she moved.

Her whip snapped against his wrist, knocking the device from his hands. Loki's ice blue gaze snapped up and narrowed in on her. Then his lips curled into a snarl. "Ah. I should have expected this, all things considered."

"You're a jackass. Has anyone ever told you that?"

He smiled palely. "Not in precisely those words." Then he seemed to speak to someone that wasn't there. "Deal with Schafer. A . . . distraction has arrived." He thumped his scepter against the ground and gold washed over his outfit, shifting into something more—

"What a drama queen," she said, crouching low in an attack-ready position. "Where is he?" she growled.

He stepped back from the statue but kept it between the two of them, with Schafer's limp form still on it. Loki's gaze flicked to the doors as they burst open. A man—SHIELD agent, she recognized, not HYDRA—ran inside, stooping for just a moment to retrieve the fallen device. Charlie glanced towards him as he pinned Schafer down, but past that she didn't care for the man's screams.

"Where is he?" she repeated. "Tell me!"

"You ask a lot of questions. But I don't particularly feel compelled to answer." Then he lifted the scepter and a high-pitched whine assaulted her ears.

Charlie rolled to the side just in time to avoid the powered blast that shattered the floor where she'd just been. Three steps, she told herself. She clicked a pocket on her belt. A disc dropped into her hand and she pressed her finger against the middle. When she threw it, it burst into blue smoke. She got to her feet and quickly spanned the distance between herself and the statue in three steps, unsheathing a knife with her left hand. She vaulted up over the statue, aiming for the diffused glow of his scepter through the smoke. She grunted as she slammed into his body, tumbling to the floor. A hand caught her wrist tightly, twisting it harshly. She let out a cry and dropped the knife.

Charlie dragged her bullwhip around his neck and grabbed it awkwardly with her other hand, twisting. He sputtered and she could just barely see the surprise on his face as the smoke began to clear. His hand slammed into her chest and she gasped as she felt her ribs give. It was followed through by a tremendous amount of force and the braided leather ground against her hand as she stumbled backward.

Charlie scrambled to her feet, each breath suddenly far more painful than they had been a moment before. Loki rubbed his neck, retrieving his scepter and climbing to his feet. Charlie scowled and lashed out with her bullwhip.

Crack!

It snapped across his face. Sick satisfaction bloomed in her chest and she had just one moment to enjoy it before pain exploded in her ribcage and she found herself flying backward. Wood shattered around her, digging agony into her back. And then she met the ground, skidding to a stop with stone grating against her elbows. Charlie groaned, arms shaking as she tried to push herself up. She fought through the haze to see Loki standing on the museum steps, scepter raised as a familiar whine filled the air.

Charlie was halfway to her feet when something shoved her back as a dark figure dropped over her. The angry whine was followed by a percussive echo and then the figure rose to his feet. Charlie stared. "You've got to be fucking kidding me. They sent the chorus girl?"

He didn't even look at her, instead moving forward. "You know, last time I saw a man like you in Germany, we ended up disagreeing."

Charlie dragged her gaze to Loki where he was pulling himself to his feet. "The soldier," he said, laughing. "The man out of time."

"Oh, I'm not the one out of time."

Charlie scrambled to her feet and looked up at the quinjet positioning itself above them, lowering its guns. A familiar voice came over the speakers. "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."

A grin pulled at Charlie's face. "Nat!"

The quinjet pulled sharply to avoid the blast from Loki's scepter. Charlie ducked as Rogers attacked, coiling her bullwhip back up on her belt. She drew her hand cannon to find Rogers on the ground with Loki's scepter on his neck.

"Kneel," Loki ordered.

"Screw off," Charlie said, firing. The blast slammed into Loki, knocking him aside.

"I'm gonna take you down—down, down, down. So don't you fool around."

She looked up at the quinjet. "What the hell?" Then she lowered herself into a defensive stance, staring at the incoming light. She eyed the man as he landed, arms raised and almost every bit of weaponry he had aimed at Loki where he was on the ground. "Your move, Reindeer Games."

Loki stared at him, breathing heavily. Then he raised his hands and gold washed his armor away. Iron Man lowered his hands as Rogers moved to stand beside him. "Good move."

"Mr. Stark," Rogers greeted.

"Captain."

"Fuckers," Charlie muttered. "I had this handled."

Iron Man glanced back. "Who's this?"

Charlie glowered at him and then glanced up. She stepped forward, giving the quinjet room to land. As the ramp lowered, she turned and shoved her way past Rogers. "Thanks for screwing everything up," she muttered. Then she stopped in front of Loki. "Where is he?" she demanded, pointing her hand cannon at his head.

"Charlie. Stand down."

She grit her teeth, staring Loki down. He stared back up at her, clearly unafraid, though the expression was slightly marred by the welt staining his face. She stepped back, holstering her hand cannon. "Fine, Nat." She looked back at the redhead.

"Any information you want from him we'll get back at SHIELD," Natasha said, moving forward. She jerked Loki up, securing his hands tightly. Then she looked up at Charlie. "We could use your help."

"Hold on, I still don't know who this is," Iron Man said.

"Fine," Charlie snarled. "But I'm only joining you so I can find Clint. You know what I think of SHIELD." She pushed past everyone and started up the ramp.

"Is no one hearing me?" Iron Man stepped up the ramp. Then he took off his helmet. "Who the hell are you?"

She looked sharply towards him.

"Look. I'm Tony Stark. Now you say your name. That's how introductions work."

Charlie glanced towards him and crossed her arms, suppressing a wince at the way the movement pressed against her aching ribs. "Don't get friendly," she said. "I'm leaving as soon as my goals have been achieved." She looked towards Natasha again as they took off. "Are you contacting Fury?"

"Don't worry, I won't mention you. He'll figure it out when we get there."

Charlie sat down across from Loki, arms crossed as she glowered at the man. Rogers and Stark moved towards the front of the quinjet and talked in whispers, though they weren't terribly quiet.

"I don't like it," Rogers said, arms crossed.

"What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"

Charlie narrowed her eyes on Loki. "You'll talk," she snarled. "And you'll regret ever laying a hand on my family."

"He speaks about you," Loki said simply. "His fallen sister."

Charlie stilled. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Thunder shook the quinjet and Natasha shook her head. "Where's this coming from?"

Rogers looked back at Loki. "What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows."

Light flashed brightly and the ramp opened. "Nat!" Charlie called.

"Wasn't me!"

A large figure landed on the ramp and marched forward. He grabbed Loki and turned. By the time Charlie was on her feet, he had jumped. She scowled and moved for the parachutes.

"Now there's that guy," Stark said.

"Another Asgardian?"

"Thor," Charlie muttered, pulling on the parachute.

"Doesn't matter," Stark said, putting on his helmet and stepping towards the ramp. "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract is lost."

"Stark! We need a plan of attack!"

Charlie moved past both of them and jumped. She streamlined herself, squinting against the whip of air against her eyes. In a humming flash of light, Stark dove past her. The mountain got closer and Charlie pulled her chute, grunting at the sudden deceleration. She landed and detached the chute, eying Loki. "You're really starting to piss me off, you know that?"

"I do not understand this obsession with this brother," he responded, looking amused. "Understand this, however; I know abandonment very well. And believe me when I say that I look at your life and pity you."

"I don't need your pity."

"You would sacrifice your independence to run around with these . . . costumed delinquents?" Loki asked, turning to stare at the fight below.

"I'm not sacrificing anything." She put a hand on her gun but didn't draw it. "Why are you here? Why'd you come to Earth?"

"Midgard is hardly somewhere I desire to be."

"Then why come here at all? I find it hard to believe that you really find the Tesseract all that interesting."

"And what would you know about the Tesseract?"

She scowled.

"I see. You know an awful lot for a simple criminal. Surely there's more to the story, isn't there?"

"I hate that word."

Light flashed and a mild shockwave washed upward. Charlie stumbled back a couple steps and threw up her arm to protect herself, whipping out her gun with her other hand. She shook her head and blinked to clear the halos stuck in her vision, squinting. "The hell?" she muttered. She kept her gun trained on Loki and stepped forward, glancing down the mountain at all the fallen trees. "Holy cow," she breathed.

"I have a question for you," Loki murmured. "What would you do if I told you that your brother isn't coming back?"

Charlie snapped around towards him, arm cocked back. Then she landed a solid right hook against his face, knocking him aside. Loki's eyes widened and she saw the momentary panic there just before he fell off the edge. She stepped forward and stared down at him as he fell, jaw tight. "You better hope that's not true," she spat. "For your own sake."

8:01 pm

May 3rd, 2012

41,002 feet above the Atlantic Ocean

Charlie frowned at the monitor, arms crossed tightly. "This is stupid," she muttered. "Give me five minutes and I would have him singing."

Natasha looked up and shook her head. "There are procedures that have to be followed. Besides, Fury won't let you near him. I wouldn't be surprised if you get thrown off the helicarrier when he finds out you're here."

Charlie looked towards her with a scowl. "Well, Fury's an idiot."

"I'm sorry," Banner said. "Who is she?"

"Maybe it would be better if we paid attention," Rogers interrupted, looking oddly at Charlie. She rolled her eyes and turned away from the monitor, moving to look out over the SHIELD agents on the bridge. When the interrogation ended a couple minutes later, she listened to the conversation.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?"

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?"

Charlie playfully poked at the monitors at Fury's station, touching her belt with her other hand. She slipped out a small disc and subtly pressed it under one of the monitors. Then she glanced back at the others.

"Selvig?"

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend."

"Loki has him under some kind of spell," Natasha said. She looked towards Charlie. "Along with one of our own."

"Loki is planning," Charlie interrupted. "This was just one play. He just wanted us to think that he screwed up." She turned towards everyone. "But he's batshit crazy and if Fury really thinks he can keep me from him then he's even dumber than I thought."

"Have care how you speak," Thor said, stepping towards her. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."

"Well, your brother took my brother," Charlie spat, glowering. "And if you think you can really keep me from harming him, then be my guest." Her hand went to her gun. "But I can assure you that I will carve right through you to get to what I want."

"Charlie," Natasha snapped, closing a hand around the blonde's bicep and pulling her back. "Are you insane?"

"Damn straight I am," Charlie said, still scowling at Thor. But she relaxed her grip and let her hand fall from her gun.

"Trickshot!"

Charlie snapped her gaze to the door where Stark was stepping in with Coulson. "Excuse me?"

"That's who you are, right?" Stark said, raising an eyebrow. He glanced towards Coulson. "I'll fly you there," he murmured. "Keep the love alive." Then he cleared his throat and stepped up towards Fury's monitors. "I was trying to figure out who the hell you are, but JARVIS was the one that recognized you, actually. You're a pretty famous mercenary on the black market." He saw Rogers unimpressed look. "There are conventions," he defended. He covered his eye and glanced at the monitors. "How does Fury do this?"

"He turns," Hill said dryly.

Charlie narrowed her eyes as she saw Stark plan his own device on the monitors. "Well, that sounds exhausting," he sighed. Then he turned back to everyone. "Loki needed Iridium as a stabilizing agent so he can build another portal. So that he can keep it open as long and as wide as he wants."

"Wouldn't he need more than just the Tesseract and some Iridium?" Rogers asked.

"The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily, especially if he has just a fraction of the connections his little sister here does." He smirked a bit when Charlie scowled. "Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density. Something to kickstart the cube."

"When did you become an expert on thermonuclear dynamics?" Hill asked.

"Last night," Stark answered easily. "The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one that did the reading?"

Charlie groaned. "So he needs a power source. Not like there's millions of those laying around."

Banner shook his head. "It can't be just any power source. He's got to heat the cube to a hundred twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier."

"You say that like I'm supposed to understand what the hell you're saying."

Stark stepped forward. "That's only if Selvig hasn't figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect."

Banner frowned, fidgeting with his glasses. "Well, if he could do that he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally, someone who speaks English," Stark said, approaching Banner with his hand out.

"Because that's helpful," Charlie muttered. "We've officially narrowed it down to nothing."

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him."

Charlie stiffened, gaze jumping to Fury as he entered. She only vaguely registered Rogers saying something because Fury's stare met hers and for a moment fear made her forget what it was like to breathe. He interrupted Rogers in the middle of a sentence. "Give me one good reason for why I shouldn't throw your motherfuckin' ass off this helicarrier."

She straightened and licked her dry, cracking lips. "I'm just here for Clint," she said confidently. "Once I'm sure he's safe, you can try to kill me if that's what you really want. But for now, we're on the same side."

"Same side? Same side! You personally have cost SHIELD dozens and dozens of good agents! We have never been on the same side!"

"We are now," she snarled. "Take it or leave it because whether you like it or not, you need me. You're dealing with a god. That's far more than you little spy club has ever dealt with before, and you need all the help you can get."

Fury stared her down for a long moment but she didn't budge. Off to the side, Coulson shook his head. "We could have been on the same side," he pointed out. "You rejected that option twenty years ago."

"And I'm glad. Accepting your stupid offer would have been the worst mistake of my life. Besides, Clint said yes. And now look where he is: being controlled by some madman because SHIELD can't do its job."

Her words hung heavily in the air for a moment. Then Fury straightened.

"As soon as the threat of Loki is over, then you're back to what you were before: a lawless circus sideshow who stupidly decided to make an enemy of SHIELD."