Chapter Three:

Allergic Reaction to Seafood

Aph slowly blinked her eyes open. She felt a sharp throbbing pain in the middle of her back, radiating up and down her spine and back. A brilliant white light shown down on her face making her blink. As she fully blinked her eyes opened she remembered when the god of thunder threw his hammer at her. When she rammed into the wall and the heavy debris fell on top of her. Just the pure thought of that incident made her want to cry all of a sudden. Twisting her head sideways she moaned with pain as her neck hurt as well. Looking around she noticed she was laying on her back on a rather uncomfortable metal table or bed, which ever. She was in a complete white room and she immediately recognized it, flooding her head with horrible memories. She jerked up quickly from the table trying to get away from the room, trying to get away from her memories. But the sudden movement made her back scream at her in pain and in return making her yell as well. She slammed back onto the table on her back and began to wonder why her back was still in pain, why she wanted to cry, why she could feel pain, why was she injured, why were all this strange feelings running inside her! She felt so confused, even more confused than when her mother had brought her here to begin testing. Groaning in pain she rolled onto her side and sat as slowly and as carefully as she could. With her legs hanging off the table, nearly touching the floor, she sat there for a moment to process what was happening with her. Hearing the doors to the room open, she quickly looked over to see David walk into the room. She thought she'd never been more happier than to see the agent in all her life.

"What happened to me?" She asked catching his eye. She noticed the agent walked and stopped close to her, closer than ever before. She also noticed he was in the same room with her with nothing restraining Aph back. What exactly had happened?

"Had a good nap? You haven't slept at all since you arrived a week ago." He said smiling at her.

"Agent, what has happened to me," she demanded now. "Why am I feeling pain? Why is my back sore?" She didn't understand, she would have healed herself by now in no time! Something just didn't feel right within her.

He walked towards her and grabbed her right arm, showing her a rather shiny metal bracelet she wore now. Little blue lights blinked from the rim of the bracelet with a large light blue screen in the middle of it. It was also nicely snug against her wrist, leaving no room for it to even slide up or down. Snatching her own hand away from the agent's grasp she inspected the bracelet herself. "What the hell is this?"

"While you were taking a nap, we finally designed a contraption that will hold your special skills back. It's a protocol, I admit, so let's see if it works as we think it will for now."

Aph let her hand fall loudly onto the table and said staring into his face rather stoically, "You just won't stop testing on me, will you." He simply shrugged at her. Then her eyes shot wide open. "Wait, no, don't tell me this things prevents me from controlling my own body!"

That's where David grinned at her and replied, "You know, our scientists had clue of what you can do. Which allowed him to build this contraption for you." He stood straight, parting his legs, and crossed his arms over his chest. "You kept to yourself for so long of what you can do. Mind telling me now, as you know, we already kind of know what you are capable of."

She glared at him for a second and then went into shock again. "If what you tell me is true then I'm screwed! I won't be able to stop my aging or heal myself quickly! I won't be able to use my mind to influence my surroundings! I won't be in control of my emotions! I'll be a human! A lousy," she covered her face with her hands, "normal, emotional, pathetic, unintelligent human being." As she sighed rather dramatically into her hands that still covered her face she asked meekly, "How does this thing work?"

David knew it was safe to tell her because there was no way she would be able to remove the metal bracelet from her wrist. After all it was designed just for her. "The bracelet is delivering steady volts of electricity-"

"Which enter through my skin and run into my brain to block or divert my natural electricity current. So even though if I can control my own electricity from own body and tell it where to go or how to use it, this bracelet will prevent me from doing so." She finished off for him.

"See, you're still very smart."

"Not like before! And since I can control electricity or energy I can easily...actually I can't anymore. This isn't fair, Agent!" Aph finally screamed at him in frustration.

"I'm sorry, but you gave us no other choice. You ruined Starks suit, you broke our cell, and you flung one god into another god." He noticed she had started to pick at the bracelet, trying to find a way to take it off. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Why the hell not!"

"That bracelet has a very sensitive sensor that if it senses it is being removed from your wrist, it'll pretty much give you the shock of your life." He watched her as she quickly stopped picking a the bracelet and once again covered her face with her hands.

"My life is over," she sighed into her hands, almost letting tears spill onto her hands. She had to admit that without having to mute her own emotions in her brain now, it was hard having and containing emotions.

David patted her back as he said to her, "Come, why don't we go grab some lunch and you can apologize to the Avengers for what you did."

"First of all," she replied smacking his hand away from her, "don't touch me." She jumped off the table and ignored when her back screamed in pain. "Second I don't want to eat and I will not apologize for anything or to anyone!"

It didn't matter what she said because David still dragged her towards the private room where the Avengers were allowed to stay. He was no longer afraid of her, no one was, as everyone either laughed or grinned while they past Aph in the halls. Aph may not have her brain to help her but she was still functional enough to kill anyone who crossed her with her bare hands. Turning one corner sharply the agent held open a door for her and she walked in without saying a thank you to him. The Avengers were sitting on couches chatting, but their chatter had died down when she had walked in. Tony was the first to speak.

"What's she doing here? I thought she was back in her cell." He was grinning at Aph as he chewed on something.

"With the bracelet she is considered harmless." David replied as he closed the door behind him.

Aph lifted her wrist and glanced over her shoulder to the agent and said, "Watch yourself, you said this was a protocol. I can easily find a flaw in this crap and soon break all your bones in your body without ever touching you."

"Yes," David said as he walked to her side and said, "but you need a very brilliant brain for all that thinking."

"I'm brilliant," she shot back at him angrily, "I'm brilliant enough to find a flaw with time. I may not find it ten seconds like before but I will find it."

"Yes," Tony shouted, turning everyone's head towards him, "I'm the smartest person here again."

"Mr. Stark, I now need something that only you can provide," Aph said smiling as she shifted her complete attention on him.

"And what's that?" Tony replied with a smirk.

"Your absence!" Aph practically shouted at him.

"Woah," Bruce exclaimed at her unexpected shout.

"Dear god!" Aph shouted as she grasped both sides of her head with her hands. "I can't keep my emotions in check! Why do I have to have emotions in the first place? This is all too difficult!" Just looking at Tony made her want to run at him and strangle him or hurt him on some way. She could control those urges before but now they were too hard to control. She knew she was a total mess right now, a really, really big mess. She would have to learn to be a human all over again and that was not going to be easy for her.

"Aphrodite, you can start helping yourself by first apologizing to them." She heard David say to her. Then she snapped, totally snapped to a point beyond repair as his calm words. How could he be so calm?

She whirled at David and yelled at him, "Why do I have to apologize!" Next she whirled to point at Thor and yelled at him, "He should be the one apologizing to me! He broke my back! I should sue him!"

"Sew me? How?" Thor asked bewildered, not quite understanding. Was she talking about sewing his lips shut?

Aph stuttered out of anger and then said, "Not like that you twit! Sue, as in you owe my something buddy or you go to jail!"

"Don't listen to her," David began to say to Thor, "you are not bound by our state or govern laws, so she can't sue you."

"But I feel dreadful that I unleashed my weapon upon a maiden." Thor stood as he grabbed something from a plate that was in front of him and walked towards Aph, now understanding a little of what sue meant. "I give you this and my sincere apologies for injuring your back, Aphrodite."

Aph stared at the pop-tart that the god was offering her. She could hear the others trying stifle a laugh but were failing miserably. She shook her head out of her thoughts and snatched the pop-tart out of his hand and waved it in front of his face, now concerned with something else. "Do you know much sugar this thing contains? Do you know how bad sugar is for you?" She began to lecture him angrily and waved the pop-tart even more furiously in Thor's face. "Sugar makes you fat! Sugar rots your teeth! Sugar can give you diabetes! It has no protein, no nutrients, no healthy fat or enzymes! It doesn't only make you fat either, it makes you sick! I would never dare in my life eat such an abomination nor others like it! Take your stupid pop-tart back, I don't want it!" She smacked the treat back into his chest, ending her lecture about sugar. Thor was greatly baffled at what had just happened.

"You don't eat sugar?" Tony asked rather shocked as he looked at her. "What in the world did you eat when you were a kid?"

"I ate anything that didn't contain sugar, not even natural sugar! Sugar makes me jumpy, nervous, grumpy, and irritated! Not to mention it gives me headaches, hurts my teeth, and makes me groggy! It also diminishes my skills or the ability to use my brain to a higher potential!" She screamed all of this at him.

"Alright, it's clear you have some anger management issues right now." Bruce said to her, determined to help her with her anger.

"You don't say?" She hissed at him angrily.

"Just take deep breaths and relax," Bruce said calmly to her from his seat and gave a demonstration.

She walked around Thor as he was still standing in front of her and said very, very, very desperately as she pointed to her metal bracelet and held all her anger in, "I don't want to take breathes, I just want this off." Her voice came out weak and quite as her anger was no longer there to influence the tone of her voice, it was desperation now.

Thor munched on the pop-tar that Aph had rejected and said, "You are reacting just like my Brother, when Father took his magic away from him before he sent Loki here to Midgard."

"This isn't magic," Aph countered back at him and then looked at Loki with a glare, "I don't pull birds out of a hat or pour milk into a newspaper and make it disappear. I am able to control a natural energy of electricity that has be born from the beginning of time! This isn't a silly-willy-nilly game of magic, thunder boy. I'm the real deal!"

Loki was clearly offended and angered by her words. Magic was also a natural energy that was born from the beginning of time, and it was simply another way to control the surroundings around him like she did. But Loki didn't even comprehend how in the world she used electricity to control her world like he did with magic. Humans were so very complicated but this one, this one was insane and complex. The only thing that brought pleasure to him was knowing she was suffering just like him without her 'skills' as he heard some people say around him.

"What time is it?" Captain all of sudden asked, as if he didn't pay attention to what Aph had said.

Tony looked at his watch around his wrist and said, "Twelve exactly."

"Good," Clint said. "Lets go grab some lunch."

Everyone nodded in agreement, even agent David, and began to walk out of the room and head down to the cafeteria. Only two figures stayed behind, Aph and Loki. Loki was sitting at the farthest corner of the room while Aph angrily stood in her place glaring at the floor. But after a second she huffed angrily and turned swiftly to walk out of the room and follow the others, not a bit surprised when she saw David waiting for her outside. Loki soon followed suit trudging behind Aph as she trudged behind the others.

Entering the cafeteria they were glad to find it empty. David then explained that this cafeteria was for the Avengers only until they left, which wasn't long from now. As the food's scent hit Aph's nose her stomach all of a sudden growled. She shot her eyes open in surprise as she had not felt or heard her stomach grumble in many years. She never ate and when she did she only did it one time a year as a treat. She had just ate a hamburger yesterday as a treat for a year so how could she eat again? She hated eating! Aph almost fell to the floor crying knowing she has to deal with yet another problem from her body. She despised being human now, remembering why she messed around with that experiment in the first place. She was trying to make herself non-human and it worked until these idiots somehow found a way to take away her only sanity. The Avengers walked over to the counter to order what they wanted. Aph wasn't surprised to see a chef working at the cafeteria. After all they did deserve the best after they saved Earth from Loki, she thought as she glared at Loki and he looked back at her with a questioning look. What had he done to deserve a glare from the mortal?

"Brother, will you eat?" Thor asked as he looked back at Loki, happy to order his brother some food.

"No," Loki replied simple with a glare.

Thor sighed, "You have not eaten since we arrived, not even when Anthony brought food yesterday. You must eat something, Brother."

Loki was indeed hungry but he didn't trust Midgard food. What if it was poisoned? He knew no one on Earth liked him and it made it worse being on Earth, where someone who looked at him and shot him an angry look all the time.

"What do you want to eat, Aphrodite?" David asked her.

Aph shuffled closer to take a look at the menu and then grimaced. She didn't recognize anything she liked. And if she liked something she knew it contained too much sugar, salt, or fat. She knew they weren't going to give her the luxury of customizing her food for her liking. Then she worried about getting sick. What if the food was prepared improperly or unsanitary? Or what if they poisoned her food or worse, spat in it? All these thoughts racing in her head just made her stomach hurt and forget about her hunger.

"I don't want anything," Aph finally replied rather quietly.

"You too have to eat, Aphrodite." David said sternly. He was not going to have his case dying on him, not again. "Understand he is a god and can survive. You're a human and I can assure you will die of hunger."

"But Agent," she began to protest, ready to give him her reasons of why she was not going to eat. "Everyone hates me here, possibly even the chef! What if he poisons my food or doesn't prepare it properly? I'll end up getting sick! And all the food that seems to catch my eye either has too much sugar, salt, or fat!"

Loki was almost surprised when he heard Aph's reasons of why she wasn't going to eat. Her reasons were almost the same as his. He didn't even think that they might even prepare his food improperly.

"And do you know was absolutely rattles me when I know a person is going to prepare my food, agent?" She asked, and then said after his nod, "That they will spit in my food!"

"They spit in food?" Loki said out loud without wanting too, but he never would have thought someone spitting in the food he was going to eat. It made his stomach start hurting all of a sudden.

David sighed tiredly as he noticed Aph was starting chaos in the room for no reason. He could assure her that her food will not be prepared improperly or that no one was going to spit in it, but knowing how stubborn she was there was no use trying to convince her. He had to get her to eat something before he left to the meeting where the director of the corporation was going to decide her fate. He hoped they were going to let her live when twenty years ago the experiment, her experiment, was to be shut down and terminated. Everything and everyone was terminated except for her, and he was determined to do the right thing now. He would fight for her life knowing that she was a good woman; the experiment turning her into what she was now. Turning his attention to Thor they talked real quick and with a nod from Thor, David turned to order food. Aph looked suspiciously at David and Loki did the same to his brother. All of them turned around and walked to a large table and sat in chairs, Aph and Loki reluctantly following and David making them sit side by side.

"I didn't want to sit here. I wanted to sit over there." Aph said pointing to the end of the table.

"No," David replied as he took a seat across from her, "you sit there because you and Loki will share a meal."

Aph was about to protest but then shut her mouth. She guessed it was OK. She knew she hadn't eaten in over many years as a normal human and perhaps a full meal might just seem too overwhelming for her. She also thought the god beside her had little knowledge about human food, just like her, and wouldn't eat the meal if he didn't like it. For the first time she sighed normally and satisfying and moved her eyes to inspect the metal bracelet on her wrist. She hated to admit it and even worse show it on her façade, but she was actually very tired.

Loki on the other hand was angry. Why did he have to share his sustenance with another person, let alone a pathetic mortal? He was more than capable eating a full meal himself, without the help of no one. But as he pushed his anger aside before he exploded he began to think a bit clearly. What if he didn't like the food? Then he should leave it and then the mortal would eat the meal, not letting it go to waste. Vice versa with him. He began to think it was not as bad as it was in the first place. As he looked at the woman in the corner of his eye, he noticed she was rather quiet and seemed to be weary. He could only guess that she was fatigued.

Aph wasn't so stupid not to notice the god beside her eyeing from the corner of his eye. She knew he was angry that they would have to share a meal but she could care less, if he wanted the whole meal he could have it. Then a thought struck her as she eyed the god from corner of her eye as he no longer eyed her. She knew the god beside her was a wonderful sorcerer. And magic and electricity in way shared similar traits. If she could get him to learn electricity like she did, he could divert the energy from the bracelet long enough to gain control over her brain and remove the cursed thing off her wrist. But that would mean she would have to get closer to the god to gain his trust and then repay him afterwards. She could almost hear in her head what he was asking of her in return and she knew it was either impossible to achieve or extremely hard. But she never stuck to her promises for anyone, so why should this god beside her be any different? No, she would simply use him to get her freedom and she will go her separate way to accomplish her mission. Removing her eye off him she reached for the salt shaker and two napkins. She knew the agent and the god were watching her every movement and soon the whole group had their eyes on her. A small smile plastered on her face as she finished unfolding the napkins to a larger extent and then placed them on top of the shaker. She molded the napkins into the shape of the shaker and kept them there with a tight hold as she began to move the napkin covered shaker three times in a circle. Once the napkin covered shaker came to the end of the third circle, Aph removed her grasp from the shaker and then brought it down with a smack on the top of the shaker. Everyone gasped as Aph's hand simply smushed the napkin covered shaker into the table. They knew the shaker was made of glass so she did not break it and yet she had smushed the shaker into the table! But as Aph lifted her hand along with the napkin everyone noticed the salt shaker was no longer there or inside the napkins.

"Ok two questions," Tony said almost without breath. "How did you do that and where is the salt shaker?"

Aph was grinning from ear to ear as she replied, "The salt shaker has gone through the table, see?" She pulled the salt shaker from underneath the table and earned more stupefied and wondrous looks. "And how I did it; Magic."

"I thought you didn't do any of that kind of magic," David replied with a smile. He knew she had managed to outstand him by that little magic trick that was harmless compared to the others she was capable of doing with her mind.

As Aph put the salt shaker back on the table, Tony snatched it quickly to inspect it. "Oh come now agent," she replied almost laughing, "I like to have a little fun myself!"

Then she separated the two napkin she still held in her hand. She made both napkins into two balls. "Watch this," she said to the others as she turned in her seat to face the god beside her. She set both balls of napkins beside each other on the table so everyone could see. Then she grabbed one ball and showed everyone as she placed it in her other hand and closed it in a fist. Then she grabbed the other from the table and offered it to Loki so seemed hesitant of taking it. "It won't bite you, I promise." She promised him and he reluctantly let Aph place the little white ball in his hand and close his hand over the ball. She looked back at her fist which contained the other little white ball and with her other hand, she used a finger and moved it in a weird fashion over her closed fist. Then she opened her hand in front of everyone to show the little white ball was no longer in her hand. As everyone stared in amazement she looked at Loki and said, "Open your hand!" Once he did he was shocked to find both little white balls in his palm. What kind of magic is this? Loki couldn't help think to himself as he saw and knew she had the other white ball in her other hand. How did she teleport her ball into his hand? How?!

Seeing the two balls in Loki's hand, everyone broke into a laugh of amusement. "You have got to teach me that!" Tony said while clapping and laughing at the same time.

"A Magician never reveals his tricks," Aph replied to him.

Their laughter had stopped as they spotted their food being brought over. Seeing Loki still staring at his hand with a bewildered look on his face, Aph removed the two balls from his hand and said to him, "Don't think about it too much. It's just cheap magic."

"Will you teach me?" He couldn't help but ask. He knew it was cheap magic but it actually seemed fun to him. It actually surprised him how this nonsense could make a human being laugh in wonder and leave him, a god, actually wondering how she did it.

"Maybe," she replied as she threw the balls into the middle of the table.

And as she did, their platter of food was placed in front of them. If those two didn't have a good restrain on their emotions both would have screamed like little girls. Both their faces molded into disgust and a little terror. They were sure they were either looking at a deformed living thing or an ugly alien, or even a deformed ugly alien. One thing they did know though was that it smelled delicious. But how could something that smells so delicious look so...so terrifying to eat?

"Is...is this what I think it is?" Aph asked meekly to nobody.

"What do you think it is?" David asked with a smile as he noticed her face of pure terror. She didn't even bother to hide her discomfort of the meal, as well as Loki.

She looked at the agent and replied just as meekly as before, "It's definitely a creature from the sea...a crustacean?"

"Just eat it, you'll like it." Tony encouraged as he ate from his normal looking meal of chicken and rice with a salad. Why couldn't the agent have ordered that for them instead? Thor was trying to take a peek of what they were going to eat and catching sight of the red animal on their plate, his face also twisted into terror but also wonderment.

The meal was not that fancy. It consisted of a large lobster split down the middle so both could have their share, rice to once side and two separate salads. They also had two little cups with melted butter inside. But Aph could care less about that now, all she cared about was that red thing in the middle of the plate! She never ate seafood in her life and now she vowed she would never eat seafood again. The creatures they eat were to strange...no they were freaky! And she couldn't help but tense up as she saw Loki split apart carefully his own half of the lobster. Once he got his half on the side of the plate closest to him, Aph nervously lifted a fork and carefully got some meat out of her half of the lobster. She brought the meat closer to her eyes to inspect it, noticing it was just white with a tint of red on the top from where it was attached to the shell. Looking over to the god beside her she saw him eating his lobster already. She frowned, wondering if Loki had looked as nervous as her before he was now enjoying his meal. With a shaky hand she put the meat inside her mouth and chewed slowly until her eyes opened wide as amazing flavor exploded in her mouth.

Loki had to admit that this crustacean, as the woman called it, was absolutely wonderful. He never had such a good tasting exotic meal ever in his life. Slightly looking over to the woman beside him he noticed she too had started to enjoy her meal. Then he noticed something on her that made him stop his chewing. He thought he was seeing things but fully turning his head to take a good look at her, he noticed her cheek was starting to get red.

Aph starting to feel her throat get itchy but she ignored it. Then her throat started to hurt and she blamed it on herself for not eating often and her throat muscles weren't used to her eating. Finally when she felt she couldn't breathe, as if someone had closed hands around her neck, she began to panic. Oh no, she began to think as let her fork hit the table, I'm not allergic am I? Shooting her hands towards her face and feeling her swollen cheeks she gasped, well tried to gasp more like it. By now her throat was almost shut and she couldn't breathe very well anymore. As she spotted the agent in front of her shoot up from his seat like a firework, she guessed she was too lost in her thoughts to notice that Loki beside her had raised the awareness.

And the last thing she saw and heard before black spots took over her eyesight was David leaning over and shouting down at her.