Author's Note: Heey, so I'm amazed and pleased at the sudden response this story has gotten and I'd like to thank my following Reviewers:
Ali
Special Agent Ali
Ratchets Girl
and Honey-Bee128
Also, this chapter will have a lot of speech from the movie but Alison will obviously have her input too - she's not the type to sit back and listen to others talk after all xxx :P
Anyway, enjoy the chapter and REVIEW because they give me motivation to keep writing! xxx
Chapter 3: S.H.I.E.L.D
"Hello Alison, I'm Agent Phil Coulson – welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D." A man greeted me and I smiled, shaking his hand, looking around the Helicarrier.
"This sure is strange." I said, looking around.
"You're taking all of this well." Coulson noted and I shrugged.
"Let's just say I'm not exactly normal back home." I laughed, and Coulson rolled his eyes. "So, what is all this?" I asked and Coulson sighed.
"It's the main base of S.H.I.E.L.D's current mission which is finding the Tesseract." Coulson stated and I nodded.
"What's the Tesseract?" I asked and Coulson laughed.
"It'll be explained." Coulson answered as Thor, Captain America, and Natasha entered the room, as well as another man who I didn't recognise.
"Who's the new girl? Steve says she took on Loki alone." The man said and with a jolt I realised he was referring to me.
"I'm Alison. Who are you?" I asked, walking closer and holding out my hand for him to shake.
He was middle-aged with close-cropped brown hair and gentle brown eyes but there was something hidden behind them, something un-human that I couldn't figure out and that unnerved me.
"I'm Bruce Banner." He answered shaking my hand.
"We need to ask you something Alison." Coulson said, beckoning me over to one of the control panels.
"Yes?" I asked, walking over to him.
"How much do you like living in Germany?"
"I don't live in Germany – I was on holiday, with my brother and my friends." I explained and Coulson nodded.
"The Director of this organisation thinks that you could provide something useful to S.H.I.E.L.D. What do you think?" Coulson asked and I grinned, bemused.
"Me? What can I do?" I questioned and Coulson smiled, pressing a button on the panel. A small screen came up and I gasped as I saw the conversation between me and Loki, then when the fight turned ugly before Captain America came and then Iron Man, before the screen went black.
"You have a lot to offer S.H.I.E.L.D if you want to join." Coulson suggested and I smiled.
"What about my family and friends? Would I ever go back to school?" I asked and Coulson sighed.
"Probably not. You would still be able to see them from time to time and talk to them whenever you wish but it wouldn't be easy. And no, you wouldn't go back to school, but I'm guessing, from the grin on your face that it's a good thing." Coulson said and I nodded.
"Definitely. But if I wouldn't go home, where would I live?" I asked and Coulson shrugged.
"You could live here, on the Helicarrier; or maybe with Natasha, Captain America – maybe even Tony, but he'd probably have to clear it with his girlfriend Pepper." Coulson said and I nodded.
"Cool. When do I start?" I asked and Coulson grinned.
"You'll join?" He asked and I nodded.
"Duh. This whole thing is just… Awesome." I said and Coulson laughed as a screen appeared on the table taking up most of the 1st level of the main control room and Loki came into view, in what looked like a giant metal cage. I quickly moved closer to get another look.
"In case it's unclear," A voice rang out and Loki snapped his attention to the person off screen. "If you so much as scratch that glass," A shaft beneath the cage opened and rushing wind viciously flew through. "30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" The man asked, having to shout over the noise. The shaft was shut off and the noise disappeared. "Ant, boot."
"It's an impressive cage. Not, built, I think, for me." Loki taunted, and several glances flickered to Bruce and away again.
"Built for something a lot stronger than you." The other man answered and I turned back to the screen.
"Oh, I've heard. The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, to call upon such lost creatures to defend you?" Loki taunted.
"How desperate am I?" The other man asked and his voice was soft and low and very threatening. "You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. And you might not be glad that you did."
Loki grinned, giving the impression that the threat hadn't scared him. "Ooh, it burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power; and for what? 'A warm light for all mankind to share.' And then to be reminded what real power is." Loki snarled and I expected the other man to come back with another smart-remark.
"Well, let me know if 'Real Power' wants a magazine or something." He answered and I grinned – Loki looked up at the camera, as if he could see us himself before the screen went black.
"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce said and Captain America rolled his eyes.
"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" He asked and Thor sighed.
"He as an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." Thor answered.
"An army from outer space?" Captain America said, sceptically.
"So he's building another portal, that's what he needs Erik Selvig for." Bruce stated.
"Selvig?" Thor asked. I straightened up – Selvig was one of Jane's friends and I'd met him a few times too; he was pretty cool.
"He's an Astrophysicist." Bruce explained.
"He's a friend." Thor said, concerned.
"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours." Natasha said, and I could see the worry in her eyes.
"Is he alright?" I asked; Natasha shrugged.
"He's still alive – that's as much as we know."
"I want to know why Loki let us take him; he's not leading an army from here." Captain America said but Bruce shrugged.
"I don't think we should focus on Loki - it's about the mechanics. Iridium. What does he need the iridium for?" Bruce asked.
"It's a stabilizing agent." Stark stated, striding casually into the room. "Which means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." He strolled past Thor and patted his arm. "No hard feelings, Point break. You've got a mean swing. Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants." He quickly started issuing orders to the crew but quickly pointed to a man on the far side of the room.
"That man is playing Galaga! He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." He stated and I sniggered.
"The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density. Something to kick start the cube."
"When did you become an expert in Thermonuclear Astrophysics?" Agent Hill asked sarcastically, which Stark easily matched.
"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers? Am I the only one who did the reading?" Stark asked, mystified.
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Captain America snapped.
"He'd have to heat the cube to 120-million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier." Bruce explained.
"Unless, Selvig has figured out a way to stabilize the quantum tunnelling effect." Stark said.
"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet." Bruce countered and Stark raised his hands in the air.
"Finally, someone who speaks English." He gasped and Captain America raised his eyebrows.
"Is that what just happened?" He asked and I laughed.
"Apparently so." I scoffed, amazed.
"It's good to meet you Doctor Banner; your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage-monster." Stark said, shaking Bruce's hand.
"Thanks." He said awkwardly, forcing a smile.
"Dr Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you'd join him." The man who'd been talking to Loki said, strolling into the room. He was African-American and had an eye-patch over his left eye.
"Sure." Stark answered and the man nodded before approaching me.
"Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D." He stated, holding out his hand for me shake. I did so, cautiously.
"Hello." I nodded, before he released my hand and turned back to Bruce and Stark. I eyed him suspiciously – there was something about him that I didn't quite trust and I already knew not to tell anything of importance to this man.
Captain America was sitting opposite me and I walked over.
"What's the Tesseract?" I asked him and he frowned.
"It's… A type of power… Cube… Thing… I'm not sure, really. All I know, is that in the hands of Loki, it's bad. Which is why we need to get it back."
"Makes sense. How is our crazy, Sceptre-wielding friend?" I asked and Thor looked over at me.
"Have care how you speak, child. Loki is of Asgard and he is my brother." Thor warned.
"He killed 80 people in 2 days." Natasha pointed out.
"He's adopted." Thor said and I sniggered.
"So was my brother – but you don't see him going around with a magic stick and killing people." I said and Thor rolled his eyes.
"She's got a fair point." Bruce said and I smiled.
"Can we please get back to the matter at hand? Are we any closer to locating the Tesseract?" Nick Fury asked, impatient.
"We're doing the best we can, but it's slow work." Bruce said and Fury nodded, before walking away.
"Well, he seems charming." I commented and Stark laughed.
"C'mon, let's go back to the lab. Show Miss Alison what we're working with." Stark grinned, and I smiled, following them out of the main room and across a maze of corridors, until we reached the lab.
"Wow." I gasped, looking around – I could see the Sceptre on the far table and everything surrounding it was just… Amazing.
"Do you like it?" Bruce asked, going to stand next to one of the computer-like things and I nodded, shocked.
"This is… Unlike anything I've ever seen before. This whole thing is just… Unreal." I gasped, looking around again.
"Well, you better get used to kid. Apparently, you're going to be here a while." Stark laughed, standing next to Bruce.
"What? She's joining S.H.I.E.L.D?" Bruce asked and I nodded. "Well, have fun kid. But it isn't all violets and roses." He muttered and I frowned, but decided to let it go.
After a while in the lab, one of the Agents, Maria Hill came to collect me and show me to what was my temporary room on the helicarrier. It was fairly standard, with a private bathroom, and a few bits of furniture as well as a large, double bed.
"Thank you." I told her sincerely and she quickly pointed out the clothes on my bed for me, that were some spares of Natasha's. I grimaced at being a pain but Maria just laughed at me and told me not to worry about it.
I studied the clothes carefully but decided that they were quite nice and shouldn't be too big either - Natasha wasn't much taller than me anyway, as I was fairly tall for my age.
I quickly slipped the cargo pants and top on, discarding the jeans and baggy t-shirt I had worn the night before - they weren't exactly practical but I left my boots on, finding that they were surprisingly easy to run in. I ran a brush roughly through my hair before tying it back loosely. I was about to leave the room, before I noticed my reflection in the full-length.
A beautiful young woman, with dark, luscious hair that gently tumbled down her back in a loose ponytail and her brown eyes that had a hard, steely glare in them, that clearly stated 'do not mess with me' looked back out at her. Her skin was a creamy mocca colour and her figure was clearly highlighted in the tight-fitting clothes she wore and she looked brave, confident and bold; everything a S.H.I.E.L.D agent should.
For the first time in my life, I could truly look in the mirror and say that I liked how I looked, without make-up or fancy hair-does or anything like that...
For the first time, in a long, long time, I felt pretty, no... Beautiful.
Yeah, I just thought I'd add that little bit at the end, to give you a little bit more insight into Alison's mind. Make what you will of it, I don't mind xxx
So yeah, next chapter should be out soon, so there's only last thing to do which is...
C'mon any guesses?
Yep, got that right: REVIEW! xxx :)