A/N: Thanks to anyone who reviewed/faved/followed or read, I really appreciate it!


For as long as Michael had known Anne she had been a nervous sort of girl. Not in the way the others he knew were, she didn't throw up before every exam or develop a stammer when giving an interview but she began bouncing on her feet, was utterly unable to stay still. It was how they had met in MIT, they had given their exams sitting on opposite ends of the same long bench and she had been shaking her leg so hard the entire table had trembled. It was probably the only reason Michael had scored so high on that exam, he had been so irritated and desperate to be out of the exam hall that he hadn't second guessed every answer and just gone with what he knew.

When the Black Widow had undertaken her training that had stopped entirely. But so had a lot of the other habits that made her so her. It had been worrying and while they hated how withdrawn and broken the aftermath of that mission had made her, they had also been very glad to have her back to normality, or what at least what was normal for her.

She was quivering now. Louis hadn't noticed yet but her volunteering to get them caffeine every few seconds was her avoiding sitting down. She was restless and thinking too much. Her work wasn't suffering for it now but it would eventually. Multi-tasking wasn't her forte, not when she had personal matters on mind. And this had to be personal because troubles in work simply excited her, another puzzle to solve, it was the human element that she had trouble with so what was it?

What had changed since they'd stepped on board?


She couldn't stop thinking about it. Her mind was stuck in the events that had transpired one year ago, what exactly had happened? Now that she knew that that was Loki all sorts of questions were rising to her mind. She hadn't bothered questioning things then, hadn't been in the state of mind to do so and she wanted the memory to remain as it was. Yes, she had slept with a complete stranger, but the stranger had been nice and she had been willing which given the events of the mission was important to her and she hadn't wanted the memory to be tainted even if some would already consider it to be dirty.

"I am about to do something that many would consider wrong. If discovered I will probably lose everything I consider important."

What was he planning to do? Did it have something to do with what had happened to Thor? The person she had met that year ago was so very different to the one she had seen on the screen taking over minds.

What changed?

"Hey."

Anne was jerked out of her thoughts violently as the voice sounded from right behind her. Michael cursed and Louis spilled pretzels all over their console and all three turned to find an amused Black Widow squatting on the walkway next to them, hand resting on the railing.

"You're not supposed to surprise the techies! They might have heart conditions!" Anne reproached and Natasha Romanoff cocked a brow. "Louis does actually have a heart condition."

And he had gone pale and all but frozen to the spot. The Black Widow was quite a reputation to hold. Part of Anne felt sorry for Natasha. The other part, the one who had grown up watching Xena: Warrior Princess, swooned at her awesomeness.

"Got anything on Barton?"

"Nothing yet but it's only been a day."

"And we've been told to focus on Loki and Selvig." Michael said informatively. "They're more likely to slip up."

Anne agreed. "For a moment I thought I found him but it turns out Clint just looks a lot like Nathan Fillion." The nose, the mouth, the slope of the eyes, it was quite similar. Now that she thought about it a lot of her co-workers bore resemblance to celebrities. Strange.

Natasha snorted and shook her head. "Give me a call if you find him."

"Call? You going somewhere?"

"Kolkata."

"Ooh, try the Mishti Doi! My sister says it's amazing!" Anne said distractedly.

Natasha quirked a brow. "Your sister went to Kolkata?"

She shrugged. "She was covering the Durga Pooja celebrations."

"Of course she was," There was a gleam in Natasha's eyes that scared her a bit. "Just keep an eye out for Clint."

"Will do."

The red head nodded before walking off at a brisk pace. The second she was out of sight Michael shuddered. "Gives me the chills."

"She's nice." Anne defended her former trainer and both her boys looked at her like she was crazy.

"She's the Black Widow." Michael said slowly.

"I've always found the female Praying Mantis to be a more terrifying example of sexual cannibalism." Louis said.

"I don't think there is a 'more' or 'less' terrifying in sexual cannibalism." Anne noted.

"I get that you're all buddy-buddy since that mission she trained you for but it's weird."

Anne tensed as Michael's words brought her right back to the thought that she knew she didn't want to ponder. She couldn't help but think about it, turning it over and over again in her head. It distracted her continually and when she messed up her fifth line of coding she couldn't take it anymore. Anne had never been any good at keeping secrets; she kept her work at SHIELD quiet from her family and even that was hard.

"I need to tell you guys something!" She finally burst out, curling in on herself even as she prepared to tell them everything. "You know the mission Nat trained me for?"

"Yes." The two chorused showing their disapproval of it. She didn't blame them.

"And you remember what I told you of what happened after the mission?"

"You mean when you felt like crap so you fucked a random in a bathroom stall who gave you a fake name?" Michael's blunt words had Louis flinching but Anne was just glad she didn't have to say it herself.

"Yeah, it wasn't a fake name."

Michael scoffed. "Oh come on, there's no one by the name of Loki who matches your description, we looked. There was a few 'Lucas's but they weren't anywhere near the club at the time. "

Anne hadn't known that and her head snapped up to look him in the eye. Michael squirmed but didn't react otherwise. "Wait, what?"

"We were worried about you." Louis said softly. "We just wanted to make sure he wasn't taking advantage."

Back then Anne had been certain he hadn't been taking advantage of her. Mainly because she was certain that she was the one taking advantage of him, using him to feel a bit more human. Now she didn't know what to think.

"That's so sweet." She cooed, clasping her hands in front of her. "Creepy as hell but sweet."

Michael rolled his eyes. "You were saying?"

She cleared her throat, opening her mouth to speak before shutting it again. This happened a few times but finally she found her voice. "I am absolutely sure that his name really was, or rather is, Loki."

Louis narrowed his eyes. "How sure?"

"One hundred percent sure."

"How?"

"Well we just watched a video of him introducing himself as Loki a few hours ago."

They looked at her for a while, confused frowns on their faces but eventually realisation dawned.

"No!" They said in unison and she buried her face in her hands.

"Unfortunately, yes!" She said between from splayed fingers.

"No! That's not him, Anne tell me that's not him!" Louis begged.

"I can't! I mean he's dressed for comic con right now instead of business meeting but it's him, I know it is!"

"Your one night stand was an egomaniac who wants to take over the world!"

"I know!"

"No!"

"Mike it doesn't matter how many times you say 'no', it's still him!"

Louis gaped while Michael muttered and pulled his hair and sighed. "Alright but don't tell this to anyone else."

She frowned, confused. "What?"

"Anne, SHIELD won't think twice about using you." Louis said slowly, looking around.

"But I'm not-"

"Yes we know, you're not important to Loki but any association is one that can and will be exploited, don't tell anyone." It was strange for her to see Louis so intense and insistent. He was too nice to ever be suspicious, something that usually led to spectacular fights between him and Michael but here he was expressing nothing but distrust of the organisation they worked for.

So she took it seriously.

"Okay, I won't."

"I told you nothing good would come out of that mission." Michael grumbled and his return to snarky smartass ways was the cue to a return to normality. The tension dialled back to their usual playfulness and if their keys clicked a bit harder than normal it was excused as a side effect of working in the Helicarrier.

"I love you guys." She noted absently.

"We know." They chorused.


"Damn." Michael said as he along with the other two watched Loki wreak havoc in Stuttgart.

They hadn't been the ones to find Loki, that honour had gone to Agent Soren on the opposite side of the deck but they had been the ones to find Clint at the Schaffer institute. Since Loki remained a priority all forces had been redirected to the gala instead and they had all but lost track of Clint while Natasha brought him in along with Captain America and Iron Man.

"You sure picked the wrong guy to boink."

"You don't say?" Anne said tightly. At the corner of her screen an alert lit up and she brought it up. Natasha stared back at her through the onboard camera of the quinjet.

"Co-ordinates?"

"Patching through." The image on the screen flickered and the aircraft lurched. "What's wrong?"

"Freak storm." Natasha answered and sounds from the background became prominent as she clammed up.

"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?" She could see flashes of red and gold behind Natasha.

"That's strange, the storm just turned out of nowhere." Louis noted. "But there are some atmospheric disturbances about ten seconds prior to it."

"Where's the closest drone?" All three jumped as one only to find their one eyed director looming over them.

Fury was not a person they wanted breathing down their necks on the best of times and this was not a good time.

"Umm, ten miles away." Anne squeaked.

"Deploy it, I want eyes on everything that happens."

"Yes sir."

"Widow?" He still stood over their heads talking to Natasha.

"It was an Asgardian, probably Thor, he took off with Loki. Stark and the Cap have gone after him. I'll keep you posted." She said and cut the call.

"Son of a bitch!" Fury continued to loom over them.

"Drone's been deployed, should reach in two minutes."

The two minutes flew by as continuous readings of gamma radiation relating to the storm appeared, messing with the programs already working with Doctor Banner's cluster algorithm. Finally the drone found the two 'gods' on a cliff engaged in a spat.

"-mean to rule them as why should I not?"

"World domination. Because that always works out so well." Michael said dryly momentarily forgetting Fury's presence. When the director snorted he remembered himself and tensed.

"You think yourself above them."

"Well, yes."

"I'm not sure us referring to them as gods helps to counter that perspective." Anne observed.

"Doesn't make it right." Fury rebuked her.

"Doesn't allow a good argument of why it's wrong though."

"Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. Throne would suit you ill."

"I've seen worlds you've never known about! I have grown, Odinson, in my exile! I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it-"

"Wait, did he call Thor dim sum?" Anne said, taken aback.

"No, Odinson." Louis explained. "Old Scandinavian naming tradition where men are referred to as the son of their father."

"Who showed you this power? Who controls the would-be-king?"

"I am a king!"

"Not here! You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream! You come home."

"He's crazy if he thinks we're letting him take our prisoner." Fury raged.

"I don't have it. You need the cube to bring me home, but I've sent it off I know not where."

"You listen well brother-"

Suddenly Thor wasn't there anymore as the blur of red and gold, clearly Iron Man knocked him off the precipice.

"I'm listening."

"Sir should the drone follow Thor or-?"

"Eyes on Loki." Fury snarled at Loki who was snarking to the empty air Thor left behind. "Smug son of a bitch."

Loki settled down to watch Thor and Iron Man fight.

"He could escape but he's just sitting there." Louis frowned.

"That's not a man who's been captured by his enemies, that's a man with a plan who's looking for some popcorn." Anne said dryly.

"He's our best hope to find the Tesseract." Fury grumbled.

"But keeping him and the sceptre at the same location?" Anne questioned and Fury balled his tongue in his mouth throwing her an evaluating look.

"Banner and Stark are needed to work on the sceptre."

"But Thor seems capable of controlling Loki."

"Perhaps but we can't risk him taking off with the prisoner." Michael said and Fury nodded.

"He can't. Didn't you hear what Loki said, he needs the Tesseract to go back home." Anne said, flush with excitement.

"Maybe but we have a containment facility on board."

"But that was supposed to be for-"

"I know who it was supposed to be for." Fury said quickly. "Maybe there is a point to keeping them separate. Call Black Widow, tell her to move them to the Arizona facility instead and give Iron Man the Helicarrier co-ordinates and tell him to get here with the sceptre."

"Yes sir."

"And when Thor and Loki land I want you to go over and communicate with Thor, get everything he knows about Loki." Fury ordered Anne who squeaked.

"Me? What, why, what?"

"Widow said you had potential."

"She doesn't." Michael piped up and Louis supported him.

"None at all, it's really quite sad how little potential she has."

Anne flailed. "Yeah, what they said."

Fury cocked a brow looking vaguely amused. "Still, do it. Thor's an ally, just ask."

"Bu-Bu-But-" Before she could say anything coherent Fury left, his coat billowing as usual. "Nooooooo!" She buried her face in her hands.

Louis patted her back. "Could be worse."

"Yeah? How?"

"You could have to talk to Loki." Michael said, full of fake cheer.

"I don't want to find out more about the genocidal maniac who's the last person I slept with!" She whined.

"No one ever does."

"Guys, what did Thor mean when he said, 'Who controls the king'?" Louis mused. "Doesn't that sound interesting? Especially since we've seen that the sceptre works for mind control as well as shooting death rays."

Slowly the two looked up. "You think he's being controlled?"

"I think that the guy who told you that he hoped you didn't feel that crappy again doesn't sound like the same guy who's telling people to kneel."

"People change." Michael shrugged.

"But what changed it? How does he intend to 'rule us all'? He can't exactly go the stealth route and take over important people with the mind control stick, not now that he's outed himself as being all crazy."

"It's not a very sound strategy for taking over the world. That takes politics, not war."

Michael frowned. "I'm going to get some coffee and then the two of us are going over every bit of footage we have on this guy. Anne, you talk to Thor and try to ask around the mind control angle. Some variable in this equation is missing, we need to figure out what it is." He left the two to quietly talk.

"Do you really think it's possible he's being controlled?" Anne asked Louis who thought it over carefully.

"It's a possibility to be considered given what Thor says and what we've seen. He's Thor's brother which makes him a prince so they should be keeping an eye on him and know what he's up to but they apparently don't. Something's off, I don't know what but it's off. And the Tesseract, it's been with SHIELD for years but they haven't thought of using it until now, why? And how is that related to Loki coming out of nowhere when all they were doing were trying to harness energy from outer space? You heard what Barton said, doors open from both sides but that portal was unstable. You don't go through an unstable portal, that's suicidal and you don't try to take over a world when you're suicidal."

"Something clearly changed, he went from drinking in bars on Earth to trying to take over it and in just one year too. That's an entire ideology shift. We create a timeline, plot what I remember versus what Thor says and what's actually happening. Maybe that will turn something up."

"It'll be fine, you'll see."

Michael came walking down that very moment, two coffee cups clutched in his hand. He all but slammed them down, luckily the cups had lids and didn't spill. With the same aggression he pulled out his chair and began typing loudly.

"Stupid Brian." He muttered under his breath and Louis and Anne exchanged looks behind his back.

"You know if you hate him so much you really shouldn't crush on him." She teased.

Everyone knew that Brian and Michael had a love-hate thing going on since they'd been caught making out in a weapons closet shortly after having a big blow out in the cafeteria. There was even a betting pool about them that Agent Hill was keeping the books on. Even Michael and Brian knew about it, something that had the two of them embarrassed and angry (but mainly embarrassed).

Michael turned to face her, angry at first before melting into a shit eating grin that had her wary.

"Anne, one word: Loki."

And he didn't really need to say anything more. Her nose scrunched up so tight she could feel her glasses slide down her nose she growled.

"I hate you."

"I know."