This is the second piece to the story I wrote called Sharper Than Steel. For my returning readers, I hope you enjoy. For my new readers, the same goes for you as well. Follow, favorite, leave a review, whatever floats your apple.

Once the HYDRA base was secured, Coulson and the rest of his team moved in. Having the Avengers certainly made things easier.

It looked like they had been trying to clean up before SHIELD arrived.

Coulson and his team moved toward the lower levels where the most confidential projects were…Anything could be down there, nuclear bombs, Enhanced experiments (which was just another fancy way of saying human lab rats), etc.

"Mind if I take this with you?" Captain America asked, coming up beside Coulson, his shield at the ready.

"Sure Steve" Coulson felt privileged to be able to call him Steve. They moved in swift relative silence as doors were kicked open, Hydra scientists tried to flee, and the occasional flying of sparks.

She couldn't breathe with his fingers wrapped around her throat. Pinned to her cold metal bed on the thin mattress…She didn't know her attacker's name yet his face was familiar like all the other scientists. This one just happened to be a religious fanatic and considered her an abomination…her.

Being strangled wasn't the worst thing that had happened to her…which was odd because she couldn't remember the worst thing that had happened to her…yet she knew it had happened.

She couldn't remember anything except the cold confines of this place. A single puzzle piece in an as yet unknown picture. Just dreams that didn't make any sense, featuring the green-eyed man who she had never met. She could never remember his face…only his eyes. Yet she felt she'd know them if she ever had the chance to see them in real-life.

Real-life was quickly being choked out of her though.

This might hurt.

Coulson had barely taken a step towards the last door when it was slammed open, a body flying out of its own seeming accord.

"I'll go. Stay put" Steve said. Whatever was in that room, an Avenger might be the best choice at dealing with a potential Enhanced.

Steve Rogers knew only too well what HYDRA could do to people…what they had done to his best friend. Bucky was still in the process of recovery.

Even through his suit, it was still an unhealthy temperature of cold in the room, as opposed to the rest of the place. He could see his own breath.

An empty bed…several tables of equipment…nothing…until he heard the cough.

It sounded from under the bed.

Bracing himself, Steve knelt.

Under the bed was a woman, hand over her mouth…with blood on those fingers. Her grey eyes immediately moved to him, wide with fear and distress. Her body was thin and clothed in a white medical gown which probably offered little to no protection against the cold.

They stared at each other, each wondering how to proceed.

"Are you hurt ma'am?"

There was blood on her mouth and hands. Steve tried to appear non-threatening without letting his guard down.

His gaze was sharply averted as the door slammed shut behind him, leaving him alone in the cold with this strange woman.

Another wrenching cough drew his attention back to her. She crawled out from under the other side of the bed, clutching her stomach, on her hands and knees, heaving.

"Did…" Steve swallowed quietly. "Did you do that?" He motioned toward the door. She didn't reply and instead sat on the bed, wrapping a sheet around herself. Steve felt odd, wishing he had a jacket to give her.

"You try being strangled" Her voice was slightly hoarse.

"Steve what's going on in there?" Coulson banged on the door, his voice holding a touch of urgency.

"I'm alright"

As if it would help the situation, Rogers removed his helmet and turned back to the woman he wasn't sure was entirely stable.

"It's okay we're here to help"

She tilted her head slightly, grey eyes narrowed.

"Can I let my friend in?" he asked, slowly raising his hands.

"Does your friend have a gun?"

"He won't shoot you I promise" Steve replied. "Like I said, we're here to help"

She shrugged. A second later before Steve could even reach for the door handle, it opened a crack.

"Slow" Steve warned Coulson as he stepped into the room. "Keep those guys out"

Coulson had barely taken two steps in and laid eyes on the woman before his gun shot out of his hands, flying into the hands of the woman. Yet she simply looked at it.

"Heavy" she frowned. "I kept trying to steal one of these things"

She turned the heavy black weapon over in her hands as if she wasn't quite sure what it was…before putting one hand around the trigger and pressing the barrel under her chin.

"Heyheyhey stop you don't want to do that" Coulson took a step forward.

She sighed.

"I don't know what I want…They keep telling me what I need…need…needles…" She groaned softly. "I hate needles…My head hurts"

"Put the gun in your mouth" Coulson said. Steve jerked his head to look at him, his blue eyes alarmed. "Trust me" he said, but whether it was at Coulson or the woman, neither knew.

Slowly she moved the barrel into her mouth.

"Doesn't taste good does it?" Coulson kept his voice even so as not to set her off. She gave a slight shake of her head. "You hungry?"

The woman moved the gun from her mouth, just the barest hint of light in her eyes. Coulson slowly reached into his jacket. She stiffened. He pulled out what Steve recognized as a chocolate bar, still in its wrapper.

"Just hand me the gun" he held the bar out. "It's chocolate"

"It's a rectangle" the woman replied.

"Everything has a shape. This just tastes a lot better" Coulson responded, his fingers near within reach. The woman shrugged, taking the bar and letting him have the gun and his breath back.

She slowly lifted the bar to her mouth, biting off a small square. The delicious flavor spread across her tongue as she carefully chewed and swallowed. The creamy substance felt good in her mouth. If this was a drug of some sort, the woman decided she wouldn't mind taking it.

"Apparently the average chocolate bar contains 8 insect parts" Coulson said. She frowned, looking warily at the bar in her hand. Maybe not the best attempt at conversation.

"She won't be safe with Shield" Steve murmured, turning to Coulson.

"Well how are we supposed to get her out?" Coulson asked, though he had already arrived at the same conclusion. Shield and Hydra, both were a mess at the moment. Trading one captor for another was probably not in the woman's best interest.

"She's sick; she was coughing up blood earlier"

"I'm not sick, that just happens" She said calmly, taking another nibble of chocolate, looking strangely displeased with herself. "Head hurts too" she added. A sharp jab of pain flared in her stomach.

She dropped the bar on the bed and lay down, curled up in a ball. She didn't even protest when Steve Rogers quickly scooped her up in his arms. Not a single thing in the room moved so she was either too weak or was choosing not to struggle.

"Do you have a name?" he asked.

Everything started fading and losing sound. Lina supposed she went to sleep then.

8 Months Later…

At first, Loki didn't know what day it was…It wasn't as if he'd been looking forward to today's events. He might be free from this cage, but it wasn't freedom, simply a bigger cage…a cage in the form of Earth. His lip curled in distaste at the very notion. He'd be taken to that ridiculous SHIELD organization and assigned a lackey for a supervisor…a captor.

Odin had made it so no mortal would recognize him and had taken his powers away as he had with Thor. Loki liked to believe that he was handling his banishment better than Thor had his at the time. Granted, Thor hadn't caused the death of thousands…In fact Loki was sure that Frigga was the only reason that this farce was being given the go-ahead.

He wondered what his captor would be like. Not one of the Avengers, they were all too busy saving the world, or what passed for it. Clearly it would have be someone they deemed…worthy and capable of such a task…which wasn't saying much, to Loki's mind.

They didn't trust him. They never would. But then, Loki didn't exactly give a damn. He was simply doing this because of Frigga and the main reason he did whatever he did these days (when he was allowed to do anything)…because he was bored.