Hello! I'd like to start off by thanking you all in advance for reading! This is my first Avengers story, so sorry if it gets off to a rocky start.

Constructive criticism and other comments are always welcome!

~Alison

Loki was not amused. Nor, for that matter, was Thor. And as for Banner, Fury, and the Captain - all they could do was hope that the outcome of this meeting would be better than the the last one. Or the one before that.

Because Fury would make Thor pay for the next table he had to replace.

"What," Loki growled, "is he doing here?" In response, Thor grunted and shifted in his seat, his gaze never lifting from his brother's.

"I could just as easily ask the same of you." He replied.

"Before this gets out of hand, gentleman," Fury began, tossing a file onto the table, "I have a new assignment for you." This did not seem to faze either of the two men with storm clouds above their heads, but it did interest both Banner and Rogers. They looked at each other for a moment before turning their gazes back to the Director.

"Nick-" Bruce began.

"It's 'Fury' or 'Sir' to you," he informed him.

"Sir," Banner began again, "is that really a good idea? I have no doubt that you're judgement is impeccable," he amended upon a glance from Fury, "but judging by the demeanor of these two..." He trailed off, hoping Fury would catch his meaning.

"I would take this opportunity to point out," Loki started, "that I am not the one who started the war with the Jotun."

"And I," Thor rumbled, rising from his seat and planting both hands firmly on the table, "am not the one who sought to annihilate the Earth!"

"Is it the Earth you were so worried about?" Loki asked, "Or the fact that I might get to your precious Jane before you could whisk her away to Asgard?" He sneered, leaning forward in his seat.

"I'd watch your tone, Silver Tongue," Thor retorted, his eyes darkening. Outside, it began to rain.

"What are you so afraid of?" Loki asked, a teasing smile playing at his lips, "am I that intimidating?"

"ENOUGH!" Fury shouted, slamming his fist on the table. Both pairs of eyes locked on him. "You," he said, pointing to Loki, "keep talking like that, and it's straight back to the Air Prison." Loki set his jaw and looked away. "And you," he said, pointing to the obviously irked God of Thunder, "first of all, make it stop raining. It's June, for crying out loud! And second of all, I shouldn't have to play the babysitter. We're grown men. Work. It. Out." Opening the folder he had previously dropped on the table, he took out a picture. "This," he said, placing the photo in the middle of the table, "Is Thaliana Rhodes."

The picture depicted a girl, age fifteen at the oldest, with light copper hair and piercing blue eyes. In the picture she was not smiling; in fact, she didn't even know that someone was taking a picture of her. The hood of the gray sweater she wore was pulled up, her long locks spilling out from under it in wild disarray, and she was looking behind her, as though making sure nobody was following.

The next picture was in black and white, making her skin look that much more pale. The one after that showed her laughing with a boy, her eyes closed, mouth open, leaning into him, as he had his arm thrown around her.

"I cannot for the life of me understand why the romantic interest of a mere child should interest us." Loki stated.

"For once, we can agree, brother." Thor nodded.

Whipping two copies of a large packet out of the folder as well, he slid one down each end of the table to the two men. "His name is Peter, and no, he is not a romantic interest. He is her brother. He's the one who notified us. Normally, we don't take many cases that aren't a matter of National Security into account, but for this I had to make an exception." At this, both Bruce Banner and Steve Rogers leaned forward.

"What is it?" Bruce asked.

"Hard to say." Fury replied. "But you should listen to this." He whipped out his phone, "this was sent to me via email. It's...interesting, to say the least." And with that he began playing a recording .

"I don't know what's wrong with me!" A clearly distressed female voice rang out through the room. "I swear I didn't mean to do it!"

"I know you didn't." A male voice reassured her.

"I was just so angry, and I thought, 'what if that window shattered, and I got away?' And it just...happened."

"It could have just been a coincidence."

"Peter, you and I both know that wasn't it. Ever since I can remember I've been able to...make things happen. Just by thinking about them. I don't mean for it to work, but sometimes..."

"It's okay. We'll figure it out."

"I don't think we can this time. It's getting worse, Peter. It's...hard to explain, but...I have these moments, where I can just hear everything. Even what's inside people's heads. I couldn't tell if they had said it out loud or not. How am I supposed to explain that? If dad found out, he'd...he'd kill me."

Fury pressed on the screen of his phone, and the recording stopped. Loki leaned forward, eyebrows pressed together. "That was certainly most intrigueing. And you don't suspect it could just be a ploy?"

"I've considered it, but it just doesn't make sense that her own brother would give her away without a good reason for it. We've been watching her for a few days now, and already there seems to be something...off about her."

"In what way?" Thor asked.

"Well, quite honestly, we aren't sure," Fury said. "It can never be verified, but she seems to be able to get people to do whatever she wants. Just by asking. Looking back in her records, we found several strange occurences that she was, in some way, involved in."

"And what do you suggest we do?" Loki asked. Fury nodded.

"I was hoping you would ask. I'm sending in a strike force. You, Thor, Captain, and Banner." Banner, who had been sipping coffee pleasantly up until now, sent it spraying everywhere.

"You - I - what?" He spluttered. Steve gave him a good thump on the back, just for good measure.

"I'm sending you along because-" He cut off abruptly here, looking around at the rest of the assembled team. "Well, let's just say you're the voice of reason."

"I object-" Steve began.

"Denied." Fury replied swiftly. "Like it or not, you're stuck together. Now, I want you all to go, retrieve her, and bring her back here. I don't know what she is or what she is capable of, so be wary."

"All due respect here, sir." The Captain said, "but what makes it so important that we get her now?"

"There's...a third party. I've also been monitoring them. It seems they are making plans to move in on her within the next week. So it's now or never." It was clear that Captain America was extremely dissatisfied with this answer, but he sat back in his chair and kept his mouth shut. "No further questions? Good. I'll leave you all to get acquainted." And with that, Nick Fury strode out of the room, shouting for his assistant to wipe up the mess Banner had sprayed across the table.

"So..." Steve began, "what's the plan?"

She couldn't hear anything. Her ears were ringing, but she could feel the vibrations on the floor of where her father was stomping around the table to get to her. If she didn't get up soon, she wouldn't be able to.

Stumbling to her feet, she grabbed the edge of the table and hauled herself to her feet. A shallow cut in her arm bled, but she hardly noticed.

Running to the door as fast as her dazed state could take her, she grabbed her leather jacket - the one with the hood - yanked on her boots, and ran out the door, slamming it behind her.

Outside, it was raining. It immediately soaked through her hood, chilling her, and her copper hair stuck to her forehead. Gradually, the ringing in her ears cleared, and she could hear the pounding of the rain on the treetops. All of a sudden, she was too hot, and she pulled off the black leather jacket, feeling the rain cool her overheated skin.

Peter, she thought. Her shoes were slick on the sidewalks, but finally, she found herself in front of his door. How long had it taken? A few minutes? An hour? Well, it didn't matter - she was here. She was safe.

Banging on the door, she heard a fair amount of yelling from inside. "Peter, open up!" She shouted, "It's Tali!"

"Jesus, don't get your panties all in a-" the door was thrown open by a tall, brunette man with bushy sideburns. "Wad." he finished, looking her up and down. It was obvious he was drunk, if not from his hooded gaze, than from the way he swayed back and forth.

"Always a pleasure, Deacon." She said, side-stepping through the door in order to avoid the drunken mess holding open the door. Inside, music was playing in the background, and she could see that in the kitchen there were several people milling about with drinks in their hands. Well, several was an understatement; it was more like a whole frickin lot of people.

"Tali? What-" Peter began, stepping around the corner. His smile disappeared as soon as he saw her. "Ah, shit. I knew you shoulda stayed here tonight."

"And listened to this? I don't think so." Tali said, trying to lighten the mood. I didn't work. When she tried to smile, blood dripped from her lip onto her chin.

"Not the time, Thaliana." He said. Then he pointed down the hall. "I'll get the medicine kit. You can stay in my room." She nodded, trudging off in that direction. When the door was safely shut and locked behind her, she stripped off her soaked leather jacket, yanked off her boots, and took off her old T-shirt, leaving her in jeans and a white tank top under it. Then, she sat on the bed and waited, looking over the cuts and bruises on her hands from the glass.

He threw me through the window, she thought absently. It was a true miracle she had escaped with her life this time.

Before she could dwell on the fact too much, Peter returned, carrying a white box in one hand and a glass of clear liquied in the other. "What's that?" She asked, nodding towards the glass.

"The best medicine the world has ever invented." He said. She rolled her eyes, took the glass of vodka from him, and downed it in one gulp. It tasted cold and lip-curlingly bitter, just the way she liked it. Already, a faint buzz was taking the edge off of some of her pain. Peter snapped open the medicine kit.

"You really got yourself into it this time, didn't you?" He said. Tali decided not to grace that with a response. Her brother handed her a cold pack. "For your eye." He said. As soon as she applied it, she sighed. It felt infinitely better now, though bruising would be a bitch. As Peter cleaned her various other cuts and bruises, she gradually felt her eyes start to droop. Must be the alcohol, she thought. When he had done as thorough of a job as possible, he tossed one of his old shirts at her. "Sleep." He commanded. "I'll tell everyone to go home." She nodded, thankful, and tugged the material over her head. Feeling infinitely more tired now, she ignored her sore arms and legs and stomach, shutting the door and collapsing onto the bed, not bothering with covers.

She wasn't sure how much later she woke up. Her right ear was ringing again, and it was still dark outside. Some faint part of her was alert with...what? Anxiety? She sat up in bed. Faintly, Tali could hear voices in the hallway, and quiet footsteps coming towards her door.

Silently, she crept over and put on her shoes and jacket, no longer bothered that it was still wet. A strange feeling of panic was building in her chest. She could now make out Peter's next words, hearing them as she opened the second story window and stepped out onto the fire escape.

"She's in there." He said.

Soooo...what did y'all think? Interesting? No? Don't worry, I'll elaborate on her background story. Hehe ;)

Anyways, so, the 'interested third party'...hmmmmmmmmm. Interesting.

Well, until next time!

~Alison