Here' the next part! i'd like to thank It'sFun3BCrazy, howlingwindofthestorm, Marine is hope2, huinsutt99 and ikalinaiwanwa for your reviews. they really make my day. i don't own the avengers. i just have Hortense and her doctors. please review. please

Hortense was on a mission. Mind control. She needed to find a cure for it. She strode down the hallway, full of purpose and conviction. Lesser S.H.I.E.L.D employees cowered as she strode by; she was the head doctor. She took orders directly from Director Fury himself! And she had a purpose. Hortense also had two brilliant doctors who were slowly becoming idiots in love. The rubber soles of her shoes squeaked as she sharply turned a corner.

"Interns! Stop flirting!" She announced storming into the medical laboratory, carrying loads of gray government files, the S.H.I.E.L.D emblem on the cover. Jessica and Newbie jumped apart.

"What? How did you-"

"We were not, in any way, flirting-"

"Shut up," Hortense simply said, giving each of them a set of files. Like good little doctors, they read over the information, processing it with A-grade efficiency. Hortense leaned against the white lab table. "Look, we are running this show now. You two are the only doctors I have and I need you to do what I say. That means we have to actually work. And I mean, legitimately work," Hortense explained, punctuating her point with a slap of her hand on the table. "Newbie, you ain't use to this, but we're really only on site to take care of any immediate injuries or for any special medical emergencies. We don't normally see a whole lot of action. But, if somethings going down and S.H.I.E.L.D is facing a threat, we're probably gonna see burns and bones. Are you both following me?" She asked. they both nodded.

"Okay, We've got a list of compromised agents, a total of 52 persons that are unaccounted for, mostly like dead or possessed by a Norse god who desperately needs a good night's sleep. Okay? So, here's what we are going to do. Jessica, you wrote your thesis on behavior and treatment of criminals suffering from psychosis and severe complexes, right?"

"Yeah...," Jessica said uncertainly.

"Beautiful. I need you to become an expert on Norse mythology within-" Hortense looked at her worn watch. "Hmm... 3 hours."

"Right..." Jessica absently said, looking over the files Hortense had prepared for her. It included a lot of archaic fairytale and essays on the deity. Most of it, Hortense had 'borrowed' from Selvig's computer. "Pretending that is even humanly possible, why am I doing this? I mean, Norse mythology? Really?"

"Glad you asked. That's the threat we're facing. A god, actually. Loki. Ever hear of him?"

the doctors shook their heads.

"Yeah, me neither. But I need you to find out everything you can about him. I want a psychological profile on him. Obviously there is something funky going on in that brain of his. Maybe lucrative schizophrenia, a superiority VS. inferiority complex. Whatever! If we could get some sort of picture of his mental landscape, we could probably predict what he'll do next."

""I'll get right on that," Jessica said, pulling her blonde hair into a ponytail. she trotted off, entering professional-government-doctor mode.

"Newbie, I need you to figure this out," Hortense said, pulling his attention away from his co-worker. She tossed him a flash drive; Hortense had put the footage of Loki and the Tesseract on it. "Mind control. That's one of Loki's weapons. Please tell me you don't believe in magic.

"I don't believe in magic?" he said unconvincingly.

"Great. Just what I wanted to hear. You'll need to get me theories, cures, remedies, a blueprint, anything, you can dig up that can help us. We need to undo the mind control, whether it be chemical, cognitive, spiritual or hypnosis. If we don't, we'll be running on fumes. Got it? Great!" Hortense said, about to run out the door. She needed to get more information out of Fury.

"Wait! Wait, Doctor! Hold on a sec! Mind control? Like legitimate I-control-your-mind-now mind control?" Newbie asked, disbelievingly. Hortense shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah. What other mind control is there?'

"But, Isn't that like something out of science fiction?" Newbie asked, his mouth gaping like a cod fish. Jessica gave him a sympathetic look. It was hard being the newbie.

"He's cracking, Jessica."

Jessica was more seasoned then him. Hortense had her under her wing for about 10 months and that was enough time to see all the weird things S.H.I.E.L.D had to offer. She had been over the whole oh-my-god-how-is-this-even-possible phase when those weird telepathic felines had hijacked a naval center and S.H.I.E.L.D had had to clean up the mess.

"We're on a floating ship discussing how a mythological deity is trying to take over the world," Jessica said, obviously.

"Yeah. Get some perspective, man," Hortense added, with a light slap to his shoulder.

"Oh, geez! Sorry for being normal! God!" Newbie said, throwing his hands up defensively. "I'll just go to this corner so I won't infect your sci-fi stuff with my...normalcy!" he said playfully. With a little grin, he left the table, taking his pile of folders. Hortense smiled as she watched Jessica's gaze linger on him. Jessica froze as she caught Hortense looking at her.

"There really isn't any flirting. I mean- he's not- we would never-"

"I approve," Hortense calmly said.

"Really?!" Jessica said excitedly

"Yes. As long I don't find you to making coitus on the lab tables," Hortense nonchalant said, fixing her lab coat. Jessica's faced blanched. "I'll just go do what I do best."

"What's that, Doctor?"

"Annoy my superiors."

THE AVENGER***THE AVENGERS***THE AVENGERS***THE AVENGER***

"Hi."

"For God's sake, who let the doctor onto the main deck?" Agent Hill complained, as Hortense grinned broadly. She wasn't normally an overly cheery person , but everyone on board was always so damn serious. She had no choice but to have the same enthusiasm of a kid on an Easter chocolate/candy rush.

"Top level access. It's great. You should try it sometime," Hortense said with a near insane grin, swaying back in forth. Agent Hill's eyes narrowed in anger. the doctor ignored her. Hortense liked the main deck; It was big and spacious, with rows of people fiddling on computers. She especially liked the huge windows, which made the room feel so much more grandeur and important. It was fantastic to sail through the nighttime sky. She maybe working late on a Tuesday evening but, it was all worth it.

"Grimani, what have you got for me?" Fury said, entering the room.

"Oh well! I've got my interns researching this Loki guy. Basically, I think his mind control thingy is probably an electrical current. Or its transferred by an electrical agent. When he taps people on the chest, it might give a small voltage of electricity which might sever and reconfigure the proper route of the nervous synapses. basically it rewires the initial responses. Of course, that just gets the electricity to the brain via the nervous system. I think the electricity contains a code, a code that once it invades the brain transcribes and processes itself into the cerebral activity. Basically it acts like a virus. It invades the mind and feeds it bad information. The brain takes the information and uses it without a second glance. In return the brain is vulnerable; the virus has access to all of the brain's personal codons...huh...stuff like memories, emotions, lessons from school, your birthday, math facts, grocery list, everything the person is thinking or ever thought about. Usually you'd need a LOT of complex machinery to get access to that information but, I think Loki has access. Of course, that's just a theory. I could be totally wrong. Maybe. Possibly. 47 % likelihood I am wrong. Or I could be totally right! Mind control is...funny," Hortense said. She held her clipboard close to her chest, a grin on her face. The confused faces gave her an immense feeling of satisfaction. S.H.I.E.L.D: 0 Hortense: 1.

"...Good work then, Grimani," Fury hesitantly said. He had no idea what she just said.

"Yep. My guys are working on it. So what's new with Loki?" Hortense asked, checking out the touch screens that surrounded her.

"He's in Germany. We sent Roger and Romanoff to collect him, three hours ago. Stark joined in as well and they all are escorting the prisoner here. They should be here soon,"Agent Hill said, typing something into a touch screen. Images from security camera revealed Loki, the god of Mischief himself going to the…..opera? He was cleaned up; The bags under his eyes were gone and he was no longer sweaty. He still had his horribly dark black hair but, he wore a suit that would make Barney Stintson cream his pants. He didn't look half bad, actually. And he was tall. Really tall.

"So...what? He just came quiet like? You just sent a team to pick him up and he just hopped on board willingly? I thought this guy was evil."

"He is. I don't believe this is him surrendering. Yet," Fury said, standing tall and superior, the epitome of spyness.

"The team picked up a passenger. An Asgardian," Agent Hill said, intently pressing her much more advanced blue tooth thing into her ear (because, you know, she's a super secret agent so why would she own anything normal.) "It's Thor."

"Any trouble?" Fury asked.

"None so far. He's coming with them. Loki is still in custody. They're about 2 minutes out."

"Thank God for high level aero travel. Good. Prep the Cage for Loki."

"Sir?" Agent Hill asked, as Hortense hopped onto the briefing table, swinging her legs. Inwardly she was paying close attention to their conversation. Fury was really hung up on Loki. The Cage was reserved for the Hulk, if the opportunity ever rose. And what if the opportunity did a rise? And a certain god was sitting in the Hulk's play pen?

"Well, we're gonna need to store Loki somewhere. I some how doubt the broom closest would do the job.

"But, sir! What if Bruce Banner-"

"We'll have to keep our fingers crossed then," Fury said, leaving the room with a swish of his coat. "I'm gonna go check on our guest."

"Ooh! Ooh Can I come?" Hortense asked, jumping off the table, bouncing with excitement, while everyone around stared at her with a mildly displeased expression.

"Don't you dare leave her with me, Fury," Agent Hill said. Fury sighed, rolling his one eye.

"C'mon Grimani."

"Coolio."

THE AVENGER***THE AVENGERS***THE AVENGERS***THE AVENGER***

"So, I can't I get some samples off him?"

"No.

"A hair follicle?"

"No."

"Skin cells?"

"No."

"Saliva?"

"No."

"Please?"

"Grimani, no."

"Please?...Please?...pleas-"

"Say 'please' one more time. I dare you-"

"Director Fury! The prisoner is isolated and contained in the cage," a solider said, running up to them as they made their way down to the cage.

"Good. Grimani, Wait outside."

"What? I just-"

"Stay," He growled, pointing a finger at her. Hortense huffed, arms crossed. Cyclops. He was a bossy cyclops. But, she obediently stayed. As much as she teased Fury, she respected him. He not was the small minded, arrogant, mean, follow-order-or-I-kill-you man she had thought originally. Instead he had prove to be a wise and careful leader. He never went looking for a fight; fights found him. He had morals and was willing to look over past mistakes. That was a trait Hortense valued. She respected him.

But, she had the shortest attention span in the world. Like every self respecting mental health specialist, she had diagnosed herself with a mental disease, in her case, A.D.D. She really wanted to do the professional thing and stand there patiently, like the grownup college educated 29 year old she was. Instead she sat down against the steel walls, pouting like a six year old. That occupied her for half a minute. The rest she spent playing fruit ninja on her Iphone. She probably could have doing something more useful like check some memos or boss some people around or make dramatic speeches while wearing a catsuit or something. While slicing watermelons, her phone vibrated violently in her hand.

"GWWWAASSSHHH!" she yelped tossing the stupid piece of technology to the other side of the hallway. It had scared the shit out of her! Goddamn it! Cautiously, she stood up and neared the phone before picking it up.

Davis.

Davis was calling her. Wasn't Davis dead?

"Hello?"

"Grimani? My god, its good to hear from you! I mean, you probably have a lot to deal with right now! I mean- the base collapsed! It was so- and the debris falling- and the Tesseract! We didn't lose many did we?" said the familiar voice of Davis, radiologist extraordinaire, S.H.I.E.L.D doctor, and all around alive person. Hopefully. He sounded alive.

"Davis! You're alive? Hortense asked.

"Yes! I am! A little worse for wear but nothing bad. But, anyway, how bad is everything up at the helicarrier? Are you guys at defcon one or something?"

"No, its worse. Level Seven: office romance. Jessica and the new guy?"

"Oh, the new guy! Yeah, he's pretty cool. He told this joke a few days ago that was-"

"Davis, just don't."

"Okay. not a fan of him, huh? What's it this time?"

"He's just so- I don't know! I just don't like him. He's all shy and awkward, like he doesn't know what to do! Lets just say I am glad he's not all I've got," Hortense said, pacing up and down the hallway. she heard davis chuckle

"Remember your whole boatload of elite super doctors you have? Hmm? Forget about them? Again?!" Davis said, laughing. Hortense silently chewed her lip, not sure how to tell him that all of his co-workers were dead.

"Grimani? What- oh god. Did they-"

"Where are you?" she asked, putting off the invetiable question.

"A temporary S.H.I.E.L.D medical center. Nasty gash across my arm. Only injury luckily. Not as bad as some other people here. Grimani, what happened?"

"Did you see anyone else? Ivy? Sam? Charlie? That weird guy who brings up lunch?"

"Who,Donny? No, just a few security agents. i thought that everyone might be at another trauma center. There's a lot of dead though. I thought- I hoped most of our people had made it to the heli-"

"No, Davis. Its just me and the two lovebirds," Hortense whispered. Here comes the grief. Her throat tightened. Somewhere on the ground below, her doctors were dead, lying in a cold morgue or buried under wreckage. She wondered if they looked dead. Had they been burned, or crushed? Were they in pieces? Were there even bodies to be buried?

"Hortense, they said I could leave soon. Do you need me on the Helicarrier or have you got it under control?"

"Dear god, I need your help. Everyone's on edge up here. Fury assembled the Avengers."

"Its big, then?"

"Oh yeah," Hortense said, into the phone as the Cage's door opened with a hiss. Fury stormed out. Behind him, she caught a glimpse of Loki, the god. He was grinning. Yep, definitely a superiority complex. "Get your butt up here, Davis. We're gonna need all the help we can get."

"Rightio, Doc!" he hung up. Fury breezed by her.

"So what up, Boss?" Hortense asked jogging to catch up with him.

"We need the Tesseract," Fury stated, nearing the elevator. He crossed his arms and glared intently at the doors.

"Okay...and did you and Loki nicely negotiate it over tea?" Hortense sarcastically asked. He glared at her.

"God! It was only a joke, man! Ever heard of them? People use them to laugh. You know what laughing is? When your belly feels all jumpy and you make funny noises?" Hortense said, as the elevator opened and they stepped in.

"Grimani, this is not a joking matter-"

"Hahhahhahhaha HA!" She laughed, accentuating the last "ha!". His eyes narrowed even more. She rolled her eyes, calming down."So you need the Tesseract? Great. How are we gonna get it then?"

"That's a whole another story."

"Why can't we just skip to the end, then?" Hortense asked, putting hand to her forehead and wincing. She was beginning to get a migraine. Great. Fury didn't give her answer to the question. She hadn't been expecting an answer.

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