Wow..! I can't believe I've gotten so many readers already! Thank you guys so much! And thank you for the great reviews! It is truly what spurs my inspiration. Can't go without it! :)
I'm not sure how this chapter turned out...slightly sleep-deprived and not sure if I could make this work...
Maybe I'm rushing, but it is after all an intense scene.
But here goes nothing! If you get confused or just don't like it...let me know.
Other than that: ENJOY!

Chapter 2 - I never lie

Don't leave me. I'm scared. Who are you…? What am I? The voice of her 9 year old self fired through her head. She saw his face now, through the icy blue fog. Her 9 year old self was quiet, unwavering at the sight of him, but Em, lying curled up on a metal floor, whimpered and moaned in a mix of pain and fear. Cold ripples tore down her body and she convulsed.

I am Loki, of Asgard. His face was clear as day against her closed eyelids and even though she had tried, for the last 16 years to conjure his face and remember everything that now was rushing in to her mind like a storm, she had never been able to, but still it felt like looking at an old familiarity. Not just someONE you know. SomeTHING…

With a blast of blue lightning Em was brought back to the present. Her eyes flew open and she gasped for air, clutching her head and the wall she was pressed against. The blue lightning that had caused her return to consciousness had left a gaping hole in the massive wall above her head, clearly a rogue shot of…something. The screaming in her ears subsided and now she could make out voices far below.

"…and I am burdened with glorious purpose." One voice said. A voice which sent fire through her. Shivering and weak she carefully crawled towards the edge. Waves of an unidentified art rolled through her body, leaving her ridden with a pounding heart and a buzzing head. Like a rush of adrenaline. As she blinked away the stars she saw the devastating scene below. Several fires had erupted, sparks were flying from the destroyed computers and the floor was scattered with bodies. Fury was standing by the Tesseract machine and she also recognized Selvig kneeling by a body, a security guard she didn't know and…

"Loki. Brother of Thor!" Selvig said astonished and got to his feet. Em swallowed hard, her eyes remained fixed on the tall, dark clad figure standing at the center, holding some sort of spear. His jaw seemed to tense at the sound of the name 'Thor' and Em gritted her teeth.

"We have no quarrel with your people." Fury said, holding a hand up, disarmingly. The stranger, the black haired man turned his attention to Fury and Em, who didn't know if she knew him or didn't, knew exactly what he was going to say. The thoughts ran like poison through her head.

"An ant…has no quarrel with…"

"A boot." Em finished with him in a whisper. She staggered backwards, supporting herself on her hands until she felt the smooth surface of the hatch against her back.

"You planning to step on us?" Fury said inquiringly. The voices muffled as Em somehow managed to open the hatch and crawl through. The word pressed itself out of her by pure will, like when you hold your breath under water for too long and you have to surface and your body reacts instinctively without letting your mind have a say.

"…Yes…!" She moaned before she collapsed. "But…he comes with…glad tidings…" Her breathing had turned heavy and she was barely able to hold on to the latter as she climbed down.

She exited by the garage tunnel out of breath and dizzy, but the raging emotions had somewhat subsided. She fell to her knees in the shadow by the adjoining hall. Just a minute later she heard several gunshots and Fury's voice through her walkie. He still had an open channel to her, but his call was directed at Agent Hill.

"Hill! Agent Barton has changed sides!" His crackling voice sent chills down Em's spine and she made her first conscious decision. Quickly she jumped down from the ledge, pressing her back in a tiny opening, hoping she was out of sight. Strapped to her wrist she had a tiny slingshot, made by Stark himself, and now she unhooked the tiny hook and turned an invisible switch.

"Come on…" She whispered tensely as the sound of the cars grew closer.

The first car that arrived by her position was a black pick-up. With…HIM on the flatbed behind. Em gritted her teeth so much it hurt, but she focused long enough to be able to aim her sling. It flew with amazing speed and even though the car was racing past her it hit its mark. She grabbed hold of her wrist and it pulled in quickly, dragging her towards the speeding car. A second later she grabbed hold of the substructure of the car, twisting her feet inside two metal bars. Now those hard hours with workout really paid off. She pivoted her body so she could rest her back against the side of the metal frame. The car jerked to one side and a piece of metal drilled in to her side.

"Fuck!" She screamed as the pain threatened to make her grip slip.

You! The roar tore through her mind and she gasped. She was so close now she could feel every inch of his fevered skin, even though she couldn't even see him. A mind-shattering blue blast hit the pavement just inches from the car's side and blinded her.

"I can feel you're angry." Em growled between clutched teeth. "And it's not dampening my own anger!" She yanked out her gun, placed it against the floor of the flatbed and fired off three shots. She knew she missed. She also knew she wasn't aiming at him. Her mind and body wanted different things. She heard him roar, sending a few shots towards the following cars, instead of trying to shake Em off and blow up his car in the process. Wisely she holstered her gun and grabbed on for dear life, not a second too soon. The car jerked as several blasts from the soldiers following them hit the side of the car. Em was seeing black dots now, knowing she wouldn't be able to hold on much longer and hitting the pavement was sure to kill her. Then her mind went silent.

Let go. A dark voice said, echoing in her head. It was almost gently, but very persuasive. Em let out a long sigh. The road had turned dusty and bumpy, making it even harder for her to hold on. Yet a fall here wouldn't kill her, the soft ground would catch her. Another sonic blast and the sound-crushing sound of a helicopter crashing filled her head. One deep gulp of breath and she let go.

After rolling across the dry grass she finally came to a halt, disoriented and bruised. The helicopter had rolled to a stop as well, burning and screaming as metal twisted and coiled.

"...As of right now, we are at war." She heard the end of Fury's sentence just as the humming in her ears subsided. Fury put away his walkie and reached down to her.

"Are you okay, Clarke?" He asked and helped her to her feet.

"I…I think so, sir. Thank you." She muttered and rubbed her bruised and bleeding arm.

"That was a very dumb thing you did." Fury spoke coolly as they turned towards the facility, which now was just a big, gaping hole in the ground.

"I hung underneath a car. Your tesseract leveled a facility with the ground. I think we both did stupid things, sir." Em said with a sigh. Usually a comment like that would have her scolded, but now, in the light of this new turn of events and the fact that alien forces had just waged war on them, Fury chuckled morbidly.

"You just got yourself upgraded to a level 3 agent, Agent Clarke." He said, turning his good eye to her.

"Thank you sir." Em said with a smile. Fury's smile faded as his eye caught sight of something on her shirt.

"Clarke. What is that." He said, nodding towards her chest. Em felt her mouth dry and, afraid of what she would see, looked down. She had felt it, from the moment the portal opened, even through the raging pains and emotions that had ridden her body. It was faint, but through her shirt her mark glowed. A dull blue and green. It itched and burned and felt like ice, all at once,

"Nothing. Just… a tattoo. Nothing." She said hurriedly and pressed her hand over it. She turned, moving the mark out of view.

"We should call for an extraction. We need to get to the helicarrier." She looked at Fury in the corner of her. He was scrutinizing her.

"I need my guns."

The helicarrier was the one thing Em liked about being on it. She sat in a deep window, her legs pulled up under her chin and she looked out on the ocean stretching out in front of her. She liked the vessel, not the content. Not anymore. Vessel… The word echoed through her mind, a distant memory under several layers of dust. Since she had been extracted from the destroyed research facility with Director Fury she hadn't been able to rid herself of these new thoughts and feelings. A blackness seemed to spread in her mind and there was nothing she could do about it. It wielded a life of its own. And her sudden hate for SHIELD and any random person aboard was a sign of that. Two days ago it had been worse, so she figured if she isolated herself long enough it would die down to a whisper she could control. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her worst mistake yet. HIS face flashed before her eyes, then she saw what he saw. The tesseract, Selvig, Hawkeye. The one thing she noticed was their eyes. The Tesseract's blue fire swirled in their eyes and there really was no doubt they were under some sort of spell. Em had already checked in the mirror, maybe she had been bewitched somehow. But her eyes were still the sparkling green.

"Get up Em." She whispered to herself. "Get up and fight whatever this is." Her teeth gritted as she forced herself up. Automatically she pressed her hand against her chest. The glow of her mark had dampened, but she made sure to cover herself up better now. A dark sleeveless sweater which was thick enough to hide it. Now she was starting to understand how Tony had to feel, with his "glowing heart".

"Get out of my head, Loki." She moaned and rubbed her temple.

"Em?" Out of nowhere Coulson had appeared, making Em jump. Literally.

"Phil, uh, hi." She muttered, all of a sudden scared out of her mind. Agent Phil Coulson had always been a gentle friend to her, someone who took her under his wing when she was new and completely lost. Like a father. Now he was staring at her with an icy stare and her body tensed for battle.

"What did you just say?" He said, calmly.

"Nothing. I…I just got a headache, that's all." She mumbled.

"I thought I heard you say Loki, Em. What's going on." He wasn't asking anymore, he was stating facts.

"I was just thinking about this case and this…guy! I'm just trying to help every way I can!" She said, doing her best at acting insulted. She almost buckled when an approving chuckle blew through her head. Coulson continued his stare and Em could've sworn he had heard the laughter. His chin jerked and he tugged at the edge of his suit jacket.

"Are you lying to me, Emma?" He said tightly. Em had to bite her tongue to keep from flying at his throat.

"How dare you, Coulson." She said through a tight jaw. "I've never lied to you, I've never done anything than my JOB!" She sneered now, her fists clenching.

Coulson's eyes widened and he raised his hands.

"Okay. Em. Calm down." He walked over to her and gently took her shoulders.

"It's going to be okay. I know you're shaken. We're…gathering a few people who will hopefully help us. This will be dealt with." Em tried a smile, feeling she failed miserably.

"Now come on. Captain America is here!" Coulson grinned childishly and now Em was able to relax and laugh.

"You are such a kid, Phil." She said and shook her head.

"I've got all my vintage cards you know. You think he'll sign them?" He truly sounded like a kid now and Em felt herself relax, her body and mind turning back to her own.

"I'm sure he will! Now let's go, let's not let the big frozen hero wait!" She took about his shoulders and hugged him as they left her small room.

Never has she been called a liar. Never had she had so much to hide before.

Next: "Those eyes of yours" Em travels with Steve Rogers to Stuttgard, Germany where Loki has been identified. It will be her first face to face meeting with the man who seems to have some form of control over her. Who seems to know her intimately. Will she be able to stand her ground or is it the end of Agent Clarke...?