When We Stand Together chapter 1

Chapter title: Too Late

A/N: Hey everyone! Ok I've had this fic idea for way over a year now and I've never been able to bring myself to write it but seeing Age of Ultron multiple times has inspired the hell out of me. I should probably start off by saying that if you haven't seen Age of Ultron this fic does and will contain spoilers for the film! So if you don't want to know anything then click off of this fic!

Now with my main character and her powers, I'd like to put out there that I had her powers set in stone before AoU came out but now that I think about it she is basically the Maximoff's combined which is slightly annoying. As her powers develop you will kinda see it, especially with Wanda. But don't worry because I have the perfect idea on how to incorporate it all so just hang tight and you'll find out somewhere down the line. Anywho, enough from me. This is my first crack at a proper avengers fic so I hope it goes alright.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything aside from the made up plots. The characters, films etc. Belong to Marvel and it's companions.

Black. Black was the first thing she remembered as her consciousness crept up on her. She had no clear recollection of what happened. Not until she opened her eyes and saw a man, with pitch black hair, gleaming, green eyes, and some cosplay looking get up, looming over her. The man smirked at the woman's confused expression, showing off his perfect white teeth "Well, it's a pleasure to see that you've re-joined us Laura." He chuckled to himself. Laura had quickly come to the conclusion that she wasn't at S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ anymore. Memories finally started to come back piece by piece. One minute she was on the outskirts of the HQ improving a car engine, next she remembers a dark room and the same man walking in to greet her. Then something in a lab pops up in her memory, she recalls some blue and silver, exoskeletal contraption sitting beside her on a metal table. Next thing a sudden wave of excruciating pain crashes into her memory, the reason why wasn't clear but she was guessing it had something to do with that contraption she saw next to her.

The unknown man circles her and continued to smirk at the woman's constantly changing expression "I'm guessing that you can't recall much of the recent events that have occurred." Laura looked up at the man, her emotions finally settling on anger, who the hell did this guy think he was? She went to sit up but the restraints around her body stopped her, along with a stab of pain running up her spine. Laura cried out sharply before doing her best to hid the pain, she didn't want to give this man anymore ammunition. The man chuckled again as the S.H.I.E.L.D. engineer fought against her binds. The more Laura moved, the more she felt something on her back, she looked down to her feet as much as she could to see what was restraining her. Below the sports bra she was wearing, a strong glow of blue reflected against the metal table, it was coming off of her!

Desperately, Laura struggled again, her newly tender back, and whatever was attached to it, scraped against the metal table she was being restrained to. "Who the hell are you?!" Laura shouted at the man in front of her.
"Why, I am Loki of Asgard." The engineer's eyes widened. She'd heard Coulson and Fury talk about this guy, he was related to that Thor, she thought. They talked about Loki like he was a viable threat. Not that she had been eavesdropping or anything…

"Well, it seems my reputation precedes me." Loki said smugly as he continued circling around Laura as if she were his prey.
"Why am I here? What have you done to me?" sure Laura was a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. but she was just an engineer, she never thought of herself as a useful hostage. The academy never properly prepared her for this sort of thing like they did with the real agents.

Proudly, the man finished his circuit around her and came to a stop near her head. He loomed over her, green eyes full of mischief and evil "let's just say that you have been… selected to be my test subject." He grins at her "It seems I chose wisely with you. It was highly likely that you wouldn't have survived the operation but you have a strong personality Miss Harper." The man leans in further to the shocked woman's personal space. And evil scowl taking over his face "or should I say Mrs. Ba-" alarm caused Laura to shout a response.
"Stop! Don't say it!" Laura felt panic start to rise within her. No one, apart from Coulson, Romanoff, Fury, Hill and well, her husband, knew she was married. This wasn't good. If Loki could get this kind of information then he definitely was a large threat.

Eventually, Loki left Laura with her thoughts. Slowly looking around, she took in her surroundings. The place was a dump. Four cold, dark grey, steels walls box her in. The bitter outside air seeping in through them. It's only now that she realises that there is medical equipment everywhere, the largest thing being the heart monitor which was beeping along with every pump of her heart. Next to her was another metal table which used to hold the contraption that she was now sure was attached to her. This was all so strange. She was just a normal member of S.H.I.E.L.D., she was a nobody, she had nothing of value to offer Loki, except maybe her engineering skills, but he could've gone a lot bigger and taken someone like, Tony Stark. But he wasn't even using her for what she was skilled in. From what she can tell he must've watched her for a little bit before taking her, he knew too much about her. And wait a second… what was all of that about her being strong and surviving an operation that should've killed her?

The more Laura thought, the more she got lost in her own head. She shook herself back to reality, this wasn't the right time to breakdown or panic or anything like that. She hadn't been properly trained as a spy but she spent all of her time with Agents Barton and Romanoff, and they had taught her some basics along the way. Firstly, she had to manage her breathing, take herself to a happy place and just clear her head. Next, look for anything that could resemble and exit, vents, broken corners of ceilings, anything. Then, observe her restraints, what material were they made of? Could they be broken? What can assist in breaking them, that is within the short arms reach? Finally, contact. Any possible way to send a message out to S.H.I.E.L.D., co-ordinates, hints etc.

After a while, Laura finally managed to control her breathing, she spotted a tiny hole in the corner of the ceiling but she still hadn't got around to sorting out the restraints and contact. Unfortunately, time wasn't on her side as Loki came strolling back in, as if he owned the world, and came to a stop beside her "Time for some tests, Laura." Tests? She had a feeling they weren't the kind you took at school. What the hell were they testing her for? Was it to do with her being Loki's experiment? Ah, there were too many questions.

Laura stumbled as she was roughly shoved into some high tech looking room. This was a bit of a contrast to the rest of the place. The room was small with one-way glass walls that seemed to be reinforced. She walked up to the tinted wall and took in her reflection, she had a couple of bruises and tiny cuts on her face, as she looked further up she noticed that her eyes were no longer an almost black-brown but they were glowing blue. What shocked her even more was the metal on her body. As she was being lead to this room, she felt the thing on her back tugging with each step she took. Uncertainly, she turned and lifted up the hem of the loose t-shirt that Loki had handed to her on the way here, even without lifting it she could easily see the blue glow on her back, but as she did the blue turned sharp, if she saw it in any other circumstance she would've stared in awe at the beautiful colour, but all she could do was look in shock at her reflection. This thing started thick and flat on the small of her back, there were waves of this blue energy which flowed rythemically up and down the thing. As it rose it became more prominent and thin until finally it reached the base of her skull. Turning to get a better look, Laura could feel the small metal supports moving with her skin. This was so messed up. What did Loki turn her into?

She just stared at her body in shock, this couldn't be happening.

Loki's voice sounded within the tiny room, Laura looked up to see speakers in the corners of the place. "Admiring your latest addition to your body Laura?" she could practically hear the smirk on his face "The operation was just the first part but now we need to perform the actual experiments. Help yourself and just do and say as the doctor instructs. Otherwise I'll have to come in there and make you." The force behind Loki's words was strong and it shook the woman straight to her core. Her fear had spiked now.

WHEN WE STAND TOGETHER…

Laura was back in her barren and cold room, she was no longer restrained because they knew she wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. Huddled in the corner the woman wrapped her arms around her knees and rested her chin atop of them.

That was one of the scariest experiences of her life. They didn't even touch her, it was all psychological torment. Loki and his doctor knew what made Laura tick, they played with her emotions, anger, fear, happiness etc. the list went on. They did everything imaginable to test whether or not she would react. And to her surprise her body did react, without her doing. When they were tormenting her to make her angry, she felt a rush of unknown energy flowing through her nerves, as if her neurones suddenly became hyper active, and then suddenly this energy flowed from her finger tips in misty, blue waves as she aimed her hands at the speakers in the room. She had crushed the speakers in seconds and the doctor's voice had cut off from within the room.

It was horrible. This thing they had attached to her had turned her into a freak. Something unnatural that shouldn't exist. She didn't want to be someone's experiment, she didn't want to be Loki's slave, and she didn't want to be his weapon. He obviously created this thing because he was preparing for an attack, which Laura was pretty sure would be on S.H.I.E.L.D.

The thought of him controlling her and sending her in to kill her friends, hell her family, it was almost too much to bare. This couldn't be happening.

Silently, Laura lifted her head up and wiped away the tears she hadn't even realised had fallen. What would Natasha think of her crying in this situation, she needed to stay strong. If she could just keep holding out then she was sure that someone would come to rescue her.

As if reading her mind, the entire room shook. Laura scrambled to her feet and readied herself for whatever was coming through that door.

The steel grey door swung open with such force that one of the hinges came off. Loki stormed into the room, his sceptre grasped in his hand. He came to a stop in front of her "I must say, your friends are earlier than expected. But no matter, it is time to see what you can do Miss Harper." Laura could only stand there, motionless from fear, as Loki pressed the tip of his sceptre to the centre of her chest. She shut her eyes in preparation for the worst, but after a few seconds she re-opened them to find Loki glaring at the object. He growled "the tesseract energy must be counteracting the mind control."

Before either of them could think, Loki was sent flying across the room by a weapon that Laura clearly recognised, it was one of her prototypes. Next thing she knew Natasha Romanoff was standing in front of her with her hand outstretched. "Let's get you home Laura." The engineer didn't have to think twice about that, she took the Russian's hand and let herself be lead from the room. In the distance they could hear Loki's shouts as he realised Laura was gone.

They sprinted down the hallways of the unknown place as a couple of shots rang out behind them, lucky for the two women, it seemed Loki's subjects had crap aim. All except one, as they turned a corner an arrow sank into the wall, centimetres from Laura's head.

It had all happened so fast. Too fast for her mind to process. One minute she was in that silent room and the next she was sitting next to Natasha and a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, in one of their standard issue jeeps, as the spy sped them away from Loki and his wrath.

As recent events started to catch up on her and her nerves started to calm, she turned to Natasha "Natasha what the hell is going on? And where's Clint, the man is normally glued to your side during missions." it was rare for them to not go on a mission together, especially one like that. They were partners after all.

It was at that moment her head decided to have a light-bulb moment. The arrow that almost took her ear off. She only knew one person who had such accurate aim with a bow and arrow. Immediately the woman's neon eyes widened.

Natasha sighed, She really wanted to wait and have this conversation back at the helicarrier but Laura was distraught and needed to know. The random agent turned his head in an attempt to give the two women privacy. "Barton… has been compromised. Loki's controlling him." Natasha said with slight defeat in her tone.

No.

A/N: Well that's chapter 1 sorted. This was a little darker than I first anticipated but I promise things will get lighter next chapter or the one after that. If it seemed a little rushed then have no fear! I can answer any questions you might have!

I hope you enjoyed it and if you did then please leave a review. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Oh and if you want to have an idea of what Laura's weird spine exoskeleton looks like then there is a link in my profile