I stood there in shock. Loki had come to Earth. And he didn't seem to want his visit to be peaceful.
Dr. Selvig, who was leaning over a body of a soldier checking for a pulse, stood up. "Loki, brother of Thor?" He asked. Everyone here knew that Dr. Selvig had had a run in with Thor. Loki looked at Dr. Selvig for a moment and considered him, before turning back to the Director.
"We have no quarrel with your people." Fury said. Loki smiled. "An ant has no quarrel with a boot." We whispered in harmony. I knew he would say that. Loki turned to look at me. He hadn't paid any attention to me until now and for that I was thankful. But as his eyes met mine, a look of recognition showed on his face and I felt as though I would throw up. I had been avoiding him for a reason. Before he could say anything, I took a deep breath in and willed my body to become a shadow and run into the darkness, letting it shroud me.
Loki let out a cry of surprise
He turned to one of his newly enslaved minions. "Bring me that girl at all cost. Alive." He ordered. The man nodded and ran after me.
Fury yelled, "Ward, RUN! Get out of here!" I didn't wait for anything else. I sprinted out the door, staying in the shadows as long as possible. However, when I reached the door, the light above it revealed my dark figure. My pursuer immediately saw me and broke into a sprint.
I was far ahead of him though, and in my shadow form I could travel as fast as a speeding car. I was out of the underground tunnels in minutes.
Once I was out, I looked around frantically and saw Agent Coulson rushing men into a helicopter. I ran up to him and made myself materialize again. Coulson jumped as he saw me. "You gotta stop doing that to me." He said. "Sorry." I replied. He looked around.
"Where's Fury?" He asked. "He's... still in...there." I replied between breathes. Being in my shadow form wears me out, especially when I go full speed.
Coulson nodded. "Get in the helicopter. We have to evacuate everyone." He ordered. I didn't question him, not just because he was my superior but because I respected him. He was the closest thing I had to a dad.
I ran off and climbed in the helicopter. There was barely any room in it, between all the equipment and scientists that S.H.I.E.L.D. was trying to get out. I decided not to sit and just grabbed onto one of the handles. Soon, my mind was wandering.
Why'd Loki come here? And what did he want with the Tesseract? I knew whatever it was it wasn't good. And what would happen to Clint? I had no clue. Loki was different than the last time I'd seen him all those years ago. He looked darker, angrier and more hurt. And then I remembered something. What if word got around who I was? Where I came from? Would they really want me around if Loki attacked? Only two people on Earth knew what I was. Director Fury, who knows everything about everyone, and Coulson, who was the one who found me and brought me in. With Loki here, he could ruin everything. I couldn't let that happen.
"...Agent Ward? Ward? ELLIE!" Phil Coulson's voice pierced my thoughts. I looked around in confusion. I had barely noticed we'd taken off. "Huh? What, what is it?" I asked dazedly. Phil looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "I said that they had escaped. I was wondering if you knew were they'd gone. I figured you might..." I cut him off with a scathing glare.
"Right," he said. "Talk to you about it later."
I shook my head to clear it. My thoughts were still on Loki. It did annoy me that Phil thought I knew anything. Perhaps it was just because I was really close to Clint, but something told me he was hinting at me knowing Loki. I took a deep breath in. Nothing is going to be easy with Loki on Earth.
When we arrive at the Helicarrier, I'm immediately put on a jet to Calcutta, India. Phil told me that Natasha and I had to get the Big Guy.
He said Fury only wanted one person to go, so the Big Guy didn't feel too intimidated, but I pointed out that Natasha looked like nothing but a pretty girl, not a master assassin, and I, while 28, was only 5'4 and had the face of someone much younger than me. Plus, in my shadow form he couldn't hurt me if he happened to get...angry.
When I reached Calcutta, I made my way to a tiny hut on the outskirts of town that Natasha had told me to meet her at. As I walk in the dingy house, I see Natasha standing next to a little girl, speaking in a language I don't know.
She then hands her a small sum of money and the girl takes off. Once she has gone, I walk over to Natasha and give her a hug. "Haven't seen you in a while." I say.
She hugs me back. "I know." She says, a smile on her lips.
"I wish I could go on these cool missions out of country with you." I say wistfully. I haven't been on an exciting mission in a year now.
Natasha just laughed. "You know why we don't let you on really dangerous missions." And I did. I got too distracted too easily. "Don't you remember Taipei? You almost got us killed. We would've been if Barton didn't..." She cut herself off. I knew what she was thinking.
"Natasha." I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. "We will get him back. He'll be fine."
She looked at me, her eyes suddenly on fire. "You don't know that." she said, anger filling her voice. Natasha smacked my hand away from her and turned around. "You don't even know this man, Loki. For all we know he could be planning to kill everyone he just enslaved."
I sighed. There was no point arguing with her, and I didn't want to let out how much I did know Loki. Besides, she was always realistic about things like this. She knew the chances of us getting Clint back alive were slim, and I understood her anger. Clint was one of my best friends too. And though she never would admit it, I knew her feelings for him were much more than she was letting on.
"You should get ready." Natasha said finally. I nodded. We had agreed that I would be Tasha's shadow, only to come out if he seemed like he was getting angry. I closed my eyes as my body changed into a shadow and I stepped behind Natasha.
Soon after I morphed, the little girl Natasha had given the money to ran into the hut, the Big Guy close behind. She kept running and jumped out a window in the back.
The man stopped and shook his head, his curly brown hair falling in his eyes. "Shoulda got paid up front Banner." He said to himself.
Natasha took a step forward, with me following close behind. "You know, for a man avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle."
Banner looked up, a little surprised. Then he composed himself. "Avoiding stress isn't the secret" he said.
"Then what is it? Yoga?" Natasha asked.
I bit the inside of my cheek. We were supposed to avoid making Banner angry, and Natasha was being a little too sarcastic.
"You brought me to the edge of the city. Smart. I uh... assume the whole place is surrounded?" Banner asked nervously, looking around.
"Just you and me." She said. I laughed silently to myself.
"And your actress buddy is she a spy too? They start that young?" He asked.
"I did."
"Who are you?"
"Natasha Romanoff."
Banner took a long pause before saying, "Are you here to kill me Miss Romanoff? Because that's not going to work out for everyone."
"No. No, of course not. I'm here on behalf of S.H.E.I.L.D." Natasha explained. She began to walk into another room, and I hesitated a moment too long to follow her, and I swear for a moment Dr. Banner saw me and that his eyes had rested on my form a little too long.
"S.H.I.E.L.D.? How did they find me?" He said finally, looking away from me. I silently sighed in relief.
Natasha then went on explaining that we just needed him to come in as himself, not the monster. She then showed him a picture of the Tesseract and told him what it does.
"What does Fury want me to do, swallow it?" He asked.
"He wants you to find it. It omits a gamma signature that's too weak for us to trace. There's no one that knows gamma radiation like you. If there was, that's were I'd be." She said.
"So Fury isn't after the monster?" He asked.
"Not that he's told me." Natasha said coolly.
"And he tells you everything?" Banner's voice was raising, and I could sense the tension within each syllable.
"Talk to Fury. He needs you on this." Natasha reached for her phone.
"He needs me in a cage?" Banner asked loudly.
"No one's gonna put you in a..." Natasha tried to say.
"STOP LYING TO ME!" He yelled, slamming his hands on the table. Natasha grabbed her gun and pointed it at him. I materialized myself and drew my gun, aiming it at his head.
Dr. Banner raised his hands. "I'm sorry, that was mean. I just wanted to see what you'd do. Why don't we do this the easy way were you don't use that, and the other guy doesn't make a mess. Okay, Natasha... and" He looked at me.
"Ellie." I said, still holding my gun, looking down the barrel. Natasha spoke into her earpiece "Stand down, we're good here."
Banner looked at her and smiled. "Just you and me?" He asked.
We eventually got him to come with us. He wasn't completely sold on the idea, but we persuaded him to.
On the jet back he looked at me quizzically. "And who are you?" He asked. "Her younger sister?"
I laughed. "Actually," I said, "I'm a year older than her." He just nodded, not surprised. "And uh... that was a nice trick you did back there. Turning into a shadow I mean." He added. I nodded slowly, hesitant on where this was heading.
"So, how'd you do it?" He asked.
I laughed dryly inside. Scientists were always too curious for their own good. I didn't want to be picked, poked, prodded at and asked personal questions, something he of all people should know.
"It's just a... an ability I have." I said slowly. This conversation was quickly spiraling into dangerous territory. "Sorta like your other side." I looked at him and grinned. "I don't really like to talk about how I acquired it." I explained.
He nodded empathetically. "...I completely understand."
Maybe I was wrong.
He looked a little awkward, the way he was rubbing his hands together. "Do you think you could, uh, explain to me how it feels, um, to be a shadow?"
"Well, it's like your lighter than air." I said, thinking about the feeling. "You're so light you feel like you could just float up to the moon if you wanted to. And you're fast. So fast that you feel that you never want to go slow again. But the entire time you have to focus on staying in your shadow form, that's what I call it." I looked at him, expecting a look of boredom on his face. I always drone on about these things. But instead he looked fascinated, staring at me in a way that made me more self aware of my body. I shifted in my seat anxiously but continued. "But it makes you tired, the longer you're in it. Like something is slowly, but constantly sucking energy from your bod..." I was cut off by a loud yawn. "Oh, sorry," I said. "I guess I'm more tired than I thought." Banner just laughed and nodded.
"Oh, it's alright. You should try and get some sleep." He said. I just nodded before the darkness of sleep washed over my body.
Hey! This story is written by me, Sela, just so you know. I hope you all like it, and I you don't, well then at least you read some of it. I hope this isn't a complete waste of time for any of you. So yeah. Thanks and all for the views.