Thank you everyone for all these lovely reviews and all these alerts. Thanks to you, with one chapter I got more alerts than with my last fanfiction of 29 chapters. I hope their number will keep increasing, they always make me extremely happy.

Chapter 2

We had been flying for ten minutes, and even though I was tensed and ill at ease, it could be worst. The boys had been quite nice to me: they introduced themselves and their redhead teammate. We shook hands and Tony even kissed me on the cheeks before I had time to refuse.

I was relieved not to be fastened to a seat like Loki was. But that also meant I had to sit on the bench in front of him, and I could barely stand the way he was grinning at me. Why did the one person with supernatural powers like me had to be someone as spiteful as him? It was a shame since he would have been rather handsome hadn't he looked mad.

Rogers and Stark saw my discomfort, and I was glad they came to talk to me even though I wasn't a great talker. It would at least distract me from Loki's white teeth.

"I'm sorry you got dragged into this, I know how it is to be forced to do things you don't want to," Iron Man reassured me.

"It's not your fault. I suppose it had to happen one day."

"Is there someone waiting for you at home? Do you want to call your parents?" Rogers asked me.

I knew I looked younger than I actually was, but his question sounded very odd to me. It surely was because I hadn't spoken to my father since eleven years, and to my mother since I left to live alone in Germany so she would stop accusing me of squandering her money.

"No, that won't be necessary."

"Are you sure? Because you may stay with us for a while."

"Really? I just hope I won't get conscripted."

"Why? Your power could be extremely helpful to society. For example, you could extract information directly from criminals' minds," Steve exclaimed indignantly.

"I know, but their heads are truly awful places to be. So, being inside them all day long, even for a good cause, is out of question."

"You could at least get a great monetary compensation," Tony suggested.

"I don't care that much about money, I can cope without it. I like my life the way it is: I'm independent and I love my job."

"Which is?"

"Zookeeper. I'm specialized in dangerous animals."

"Hence the bandage on your arm," the Captain noticed.

"Is that a war wound? Can we see it?" Tony asked as a child on Christmas day.

"Hum, well, I just got bitten by a tiger. He was a young adult, so it's not beautiful to see and I wouldn't like it to get infected."

As everyone was staring at my arm, I remembered the attack. I was just starting to tame this tiger in view of a feline show I was asked to prepare, and unfortunately, this one didn't like to be talked to through its mind. There were some people or animals who were more sensitive about my power, and apparently, this big cat and Loki belonged to this category.

"Why a zookeeper? I mean, with your power, you could have archived great things," Steve pointed out.

"To be honest, I don't really like being with people. I'm too tempted to get into their minds to get my way. It's so easy to do. Whereas with animals, it's more interesting since they don't think like us. Besides, their minds are pure contrary to most people."

"You mean, like this one," the Captain said, nodding toward Loki.

His face clearly lighted up when he was brought into the conversation. He had stopped grinning by now, but he still had that unnerving smug look on his face.

"He... He's a special case," I admitted reluctantly because I didn't want to give him a reason to boast. "I don't know if it's because of his 'magic', but I can't get in his mind if he doesn't let me. So I won't be able to help you about him."

I wanted to ask them why they didn't seem to be surprised about hearing me talking about magic, but I supposed their organization had more than one dirty secret. And anyway, it wasn't as if they were going to tell me. I was tempted to directly ask the person concerned, but just one look at his gloating face made me change my mind. I did my best to stay unimpressed, but I began to have enough of this. As I didn't especially want to make a scene with him in front of the boys who had gotten back at the front of the plane to continue their discussion, I tried to connect my mind to Loki's. At first, I encountered some resistance, so I diminished the amount of power I used to show him I just wanted to talk. It's only then that he let me in.

'Could you stop staring at me like that please?'

'Staring at you like what?'

'As if I were a yummy piece of meat you'd dream of sinking your teeth into.'

'Well, with a job like yours, I expected you to be used to it.'

'Unless you're a cannibal, I doubt you literally want to eat me.'

'Don't worry, I have far more delightful plans for you.'

I quickly left his mind in fear he would notice my embarrassment, but it only made things worst. That bastard actually laughed at me. Of course, everyone stared back at us.

"What's so funny?" Steve inquired, annoyed.

"Why do you not ask her?" Loki replied while eying me.

Every gaze immediately turned to me, but I didn't feel like answering them. Instead, I tried to get some answers.

'Why are you so determined to get me arrested? It's not simply because I made fun of your speech, is it?'

'I've killed people for less,' he retorted in a calm threatening mental voice which made me gulp. 'But I said I have delightful plans for you. Getting you there was merely the beginning. Soon, I'll make you feel so miserable you'll cry at my feet and beg for my mercy.'

I made a pause when I heard that. The conviction in his tone did little to reassure me. Yet I knew he could not carry out his threat as long as he was detained and I was protected by SHIELD. Since I was a bit shaken by this sinister promise, I didn't dare to answer back. Instead, I cut the contact, sat across the banquette so I wouldn't face my nemesis, and took my phone out of my bag to play some stupid game.

.: ~ :.

I was still playing when a guy who sounded like the head of the organization contacted Natasha. I heard them talk about me and the mind-discussion I had with their prisoner. I could tell they didn't like that. Having a private conversation with a psychopath definitely wasn't to their liking. They couldn't accuse me of allying with a guy who tried to kill me, could they? I felt like I was waiting for a death sentence. I knew there was no way I could escape this situation, and I already knew my options. Either I would team up with them and visit dirty minds for a living, or I would be locked away. Indeed, I supposed they weren't the kind of people who would let into the wild someone with the potential to get access to the world's darkest secrets. Let alone someone who on top of that wasn't altruistic enough to devote their life to justice. I hoped I was just being awfully pessimistic.

My thoughts were cut off by the sudden appearance of a thunderstorm which startled me. I wasn't particularly afraid of thunder, but it came so suddenly it seemed unnatural. As I vaguely heady Miss Romanoff mutter, "Where's this coming from?" I was reassured I wasn't the only one to think it strange. Even Loki seemed oddly worried.

"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?" Steve asked.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," Loki answered in a riddle.

I had no time to wonder what he meant, for the plane was shaken by something which landed on the roof. Thanks to my powers, I knew it was a person even if it made no sense.

"There's someone up there. And... It feels like their mind is alike Loki's."

"What the hell his bro's doing here?" Stark asked angrily before putting his helmet back on and opening the back door of the plane.

I didn't think it was such a good idea, but I was too preoccupied to imagine how this devil's relative would be to contradict Iron Man. I just walked back to get closer to the pilot's seat in order not to fall into the void.

"What are you doing?" Steve inquired while preparing to fight too by putting his rubber mask on.

However, Stark had no time to answer. Loki's blond brother came in and immediately struck Tony in the chest with his weapon which was a large hammer. The hero flew through the airplane and hit the pilots' seats just beside me. I glanced at him to see if he was all right, and then I saw the blond guy was about to unfasten his bro.

I instantly tried to take control of him, or at least tell him not to do it. If I guessed right about the structure of his mind being similar to his sibling, I had no chance to win. But I absolutely did not want Loki to get free, so I desperately set on him. Surprisingly, his brain was not as well protected as his brother's even though invading it would be quite difficult. As my control was quickly fading, I ran to him to put my hands on his head to reinforce my power. It was dangerous but I had no other choice if I wanted to succeed. I stood behind him to make it harder for him to dislodge me. However, when he turned around, I expected the worst for I was just before the psycho. And my fears were justified. In no time, he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me to him to make me let go of his brother. Then my vision blurred. My mind went foggy. And I fainted in Loki's lap.

.: ~ :.

When I woke up, I was overwhelmed by such a massive headache that I immediately shut my eyes again. I winced and whimpered in pain. Alerted by the noise, someone came to sit by the bed I was laying on. It was Steve who was holding out a glass of whitish water to me.

"I think you need this."

I sat up, snatched the medicine from his hand, and eagerly drank it. Fortunately, if my mind was especially weak against migraines, it also was very sensitive to their cure. So I knew that everything would go back to normal soon. Then I gave the empty glass back to the Captain and dropped my head on the pillow.

"Thanks," I muttered. "So, what happened exactly?"

"Loki cast a spell on you to make you black out. Then he left with his brother."

As he saw my eyes widening, he quickly added:

"But Stark and I went after them and we brought them here, on SHIELD's Helicarrier."

"You mean... We're flying?"

"You'll see for yourself when you're better. For now, you'd better get some rest before SHIELD's director Fury asks to see you."

"OK. See you."

Then Steve left what appeared to be my new room. It wasn't very large but comfortable. There was a chest of drawers nearby, and as I sat, I saw a door leading to a small bathroom behind the comfy single bed. I only regretted the lack of window. Even though I still felt a bit dizzy, I didn't want to stay here and stare at the ceiling. Therefore, I grabbed my bag which I found at the footboard and went out. I expected guards to be watching my door, but strangely there were none. Maybe Loki was keeping them too busy. At least, I didn't have to negotiate to go for a walk.

I began to wander aimlessly in the corridors where I passed lots of busy crewmen. This plane was so enormous that I quickly lost the way back to my room and I hadn't even found a single window to see the sky after roaming for ten minutes. I eventually came across a cafeteria and I realized how hungry I actually was. As I didn't want to risk being questioned about my presence here, I took control of a man who just paid for an English breakfast. I made him follow me until there was no one to witness me stealing his tray. To my surprise, there was also a very modern tablet PC on it which I hadn't noticed at first. As it seemed to be connected to the organization's database, I decided to take the opportunity to learn more about SHIELD. Then I made the man walk back to where I found him, and when we were far enough from each other, I released my hold on him. Now I needed to find an empty place to eat and read in peace. Since I could feel whether there were minds around or not, I quickly discovered a vacant meeting room in which to settle down.

First of all, I gulped my breakfast down. It wasn't really good, but I was too hungry to mind. Then, I turned all my attention to the tablet. It was a nice piece of technology and I knew I would have a good time playing with it.

"Tell mommy everything you know, my precious."