Chapter rewritten, 2017

Make You Feel My Love ~Book I~

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or any of its characters or movies/series. All I own is my own OC and her story.

~ Chapter 10 ~
What is his game?

Maria waved the medical team away the moment she stepped out of the jet, wanting to go with her team instead. Luckily, the medical team only rolled their eyes and walked away, letting her be so that she could follow her team. It almost seemed as though they were used to people not wanting medical attention.

A couple of other agents, heavily armored, took Loki away from the team, escorting him to his prison cell, while director Fury led the team back to the bridge, shortly greeting Thor and welcoming him inside. He had not seemed that surprised at seeing Thor, though Maria figured Natasha had reported on their new guest the moment Thor had joined them on the jet.

"Stay here while I go talk to our new guest," ordered Fury before he walked away from the bridge, pressing his finger against his ear piece as he did, ordering men around just as usual.

"I need to clean myself up a bit," sighed Maria.

"Why?" asked Thor, eyeing Maria up and down which made her blush slightly.

"Because I've got blood covering my neck and it's itching," said Maria, avoiding eye contact with the Norse God.

"Don't be too long," said Steve, earning a nod from Maria.

"I'll be here before Stark," said Maria, referring to the fact that Tony was away, taking off his Iron Man suit.

She quickly walked away from the bridge, jogging towards her room and closing the door behind her the moment she entered. Quickly, she walked towards the mirror, inspecting herself. She wasn't going to have to change into another outfit as her suit seemed to be alright, apart from the blood at the top of her back. Though, because her suit was a dark color, one barely noticed it. Instead, she put her hair up in a messy bun and walked over to the very small bathroom. She placed her mask on the sink before splashing some water over her face and neck, washing the blood away and making the itch disappear. As she looked back into the mirror that hung above the sink, she stared at her reflection for a while. The water that she had splashed over her face made her eyeliner run down her cheeks as well as the small amount of foundation she had put on that very morning. She wiped it away quickly, washing the dark makeup off her hands too before she turned around to inspect her neck.

There was no visual sign of any kind of open wound. Though, there was a white mark left right at the bottom of her hairline. She inspected it closer by leaning towards the mirror, nearly slipping on the sink as she had to sit on top of it, only to find the scar to be very long and thick. Whatever she had done to herself when she fell, it had indeed created a huge wound.

She now understood Steve's and Tony's worry about her. Though, she didn't understand why she was okay. Her world wasn't spinning anymore and the concussion she had had, according to Tony, was most certainly gone as she didn't feel it anymore. She started to panic slightly. What was going on with her? This had never happened before. She had been in several accidents throughout in her life, though she didn't recall recovering this quickly after those accidents. In fact, one of those accidents had even been impossible to recover from and something inside of her felt angry about the fact that she hadn't had these powers back then when a huge metal bar had pierced a hole right above her right hipbone, having even grazed it slightly. Of course, the metal bar hadn't done that itself. No, she had been pushed down from a building and accidentally landed on the bar, making her future dreams of ever becoming a mother impossible to fulfil.

Quickly, she let her hair down again, placing her mask in her utility belt so she could easily grab it, before walking outside again, locking her room behind her. With swift steps, she walked towards the bridge, trying her best to hide her worries and anger from showing on her face.

Steve and Natasha were sitting around the large, glass table to which you arrived first upon entering the bridge while Bruce was standing beside them, watching something on a screen in front of Steve while Thor stood further away, simply listening with his back turned towards them. Maria walked over to stand beside Bruce, seeing the recordings from a video camera inside of the room in which Loki was being held. Fury was talking to Loki and what they said resonated through the bridge; the bridge being almost empty of people as it was in the middle of the night by now.

"Ant," said Fury on the screen, gesturing towards Loki. "Boot," he said, turning back towards the consoles in front of him, making Loki chuckle lightly.

"It's an impressive cage," said Loki from behind the cell's glass wall. "Not built, I think, for me."

Maria glanced over at Bruce as he shifted uncomfortably, making Maria realize that the cage originally was made for the Hulk, in case Bruce would lose control of his anger issue. It saddened her that they had even built a cage for him as just the mere thought of knowing that you weren't fully trusted already would create problems with keeping your cool. At least, it would've affected Maria if it were her they had built that cage for.

"Built for something a lot stronger than you," said Fury in the video.

"Oh, I've heard. A mindless beast who makes play he is still a man," said Loki, suddenly turning towards the camera and making it seem as though he was looking straight at Bruce.

The scientist nodded his head slightly, most certainly taking offence of the words Loki was saying about him. Maria carefully placed a hand on his arm, earning a look from Bruce to which she only smiled back at.

"How desperate are you when you call on such lost creatures to defend yourselves?" asked Loki, his words angering even Maria as she could feel Bruce tense underneath of where she was holding his arm.

"How desperate am I?" asked Fury. "You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about piece and you kill 'cause it's fun… You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"It burns you to have come so close," deduced Loki as Fury stepped closer to the cell doors. "To have the Tesseract, to have power… unlimited power… And for what? A warm light for all mankind?"

Maria furrowed her brow at his words, her anger changing into one of confusion while Bruce placed a hand over hers, eyeing her with the same suspicion in his eyes as she felt towards Loki's words. Something was off. Something was wrong. They were missing something and she knew it, she could feel it. But what was it? What did she miss?

I need you to make sure that the phase 2 prototypes are shipped out.

Her mind let her hear Fury say that, but she didn't understand why. She knew her unconscious mind knew the answer already, but she just couldn't put the pieces together. She needed more variables in order to figure this equation out.

"And then to be reminded what real power is," finished Loki, earning an eye-roll from Fury as he turned away from the God of Mischief.

"Well, let me know if real power wants a magazine or something," said Fury as he walked away from the cell, towards the exit, the video footage ending and almost all eyes being on Bruce.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" joked Bruce, his arms crossed over his chest.

Maria let go of his arm as Bruce's fingers let go of her hand, knowing that he was feeling very uneasy with Loki on the helicarrier although he couldn't really say it out loud.

"Loki's gonna drag this out," said Steve before looking over at Thor who still hadn't turned back to the rest of the team. "So… Thor, what's his play?"

Now, all eyes were directed towards the Norse God of thunder as he slowly turned towards the team, his eyes first landing on Steve and then on Maria who slowly sat down next to Steve in one of the empty chairs.

"He's got an army called the Chitauri," confessed Thor. "They're not of Asgard nor any other world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army… from outer space," said Steve, not as a question but more as a statement in order to try and believe it himself. It sounded as though he was tired and Maria glanced over at him though didn't dare to show she was there for him after his last response to them growing close.

"So, he's building another portal," said Bruce as he took off his glasses, earning the attention of the room again as Hill came to stand in a corner, listening in on their conversation. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" asked Thor, raising his eyebrows.

"He's an astrophysicist," explained Bruce, thinking Thor hadn't met the scientist yet though Maria knew he had because of the file that was on the case about Thor coming to Earth for the first time.

"He's a friend," said Thor.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell along with one of ours," said Natasha, glancing over at Maria who exchanged a look with her before focusing back on Thor and the conversation at hand.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him," said Steve. "He's not leading an army from here."

"No, indeed not," agreed Maria, nodding her head.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," said Bruce, shaking his head. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cat. You could smell crazy on him."

Maria smirked at that while Thor narrowed his eyes and took a step forwards saying: "Have care how you speak. Loki's beyond reason but he is of Asgard and he is my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days," said Natasha, earning a defeated look from Thor.

"He's adopted," tried Thor to which Maria simply raised an eyebrow.

"I think it's about the mechanics," said Bruce right as Tony Stark himself entered followed by Coulson and a few other agents who stopped by the door, simply being there to guard in case something happened. At least, that was what Maria assumed. "Iridium. What do they need it for?"

"Huh?" asked Maria, raising an eyebrow.

"It's what Barton and the others stole in Germany," explained Steve, earning a thankful nod from Maria, feeling yet again useless even though she knew, in the back of her head, that they had probably talked about that when she was gone.

"It's a stabilizing agent," said Tony loudly, letting everyone know that he was in the room. "It means the portal won't collapse in on itself like it did at SHIELD."

As Tony rounded the table, he passed Thor on his way towards the bridge's monitor where normally Fury would stand and lead everything happening on the helicarrier. However, since he was not there, that spot was empty. As he passed Thor, he patted Thor's arm, earning a look from the Asgardian himself.

"No hard feelings, point break, you have a mean swing," said Tony, most certainly referring to the fight that had been between Thor, Steve and Tony on their way back to America. "Also means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants."

By this point, Tony was standing by the monitors on Fury's place, looking around at the monitors and at the people working on the bridge. He threw out some unnecessary orders that referred to sailing, causing everyone on the bridge to look at him with confused eyes. Tony ignored them though, instead pointing a finger at the far off end of the room.

"That man's playing Galaga!" said Tony, the entire bridge still silent. "He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did."

He covered one eye with his hand, looking at the monitors with only one eye before turning back to the team. "How does Fury even see these?"

Maria rolled her eyes at her former boss, feeling embarrassed for him. Of course, this was just the way he was, but this was a formal meeting and it was about the safety of the entire world. Couldn't he at least pretend to be worried about that? And, was he always like this during important, formal meetings?

Probably.

"He turns," replied Hill coldly, answering his former question with an eye roll of her own as Tony started looking through the different monitors.

"Sound's exhausting," he murmured. "The rest of the raw materials, Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he needs is a power source, high energy density. Something to kick start the cube."

"What kind of power source are we talking about here?" asked Maria.

"Well… he'd have to heat the cube to a hundred and twelve million Kelvin just to break through the Colom barrier," said Bruce, only causing more confusion to Maria as she had never really understood science nor gone to school.

"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunnel effect," said Tony as he started walking towards Bruce, once again causing Maria to get even more confused.

"Well, if he can do that he could attain heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet," said Bruce, he himself walking towards Tony as well.

"Finally someone who speaks English," said Tony, earning baffled looks from both Steve and Maria.

"Is that what just happened?" asked Steve quietly.

"Tell me about it…" murmured Maria back.

"It's good to meet you doctor Banner," said Tony, shaking Bruce's hand and finally sounding formal and serious again. "Your work on anti-electronic collisions is unparalleled and I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous, green rage monster."

Maria opened her mouth slightly, gawking at the words that had just come out of Tony's mouth and slapping herself mentally for thinking that Tony could even be formal and serious for longer than a few seconds.

"Thanks…" said Bruce quietly.

"Doctor Banner is only here to track the cube," said Fury as he walked inside of the room, having heard Tony's last words. "I was hoping you might join in."

"I'd start with that stick of his," said Steve. "It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."

Maria squirmed at the mention of Hydra, looking away from Steve and the other heroes. Once more, she felt out of place. In what way was she actually a hero? Sure, she had not really known back then as her boss had tried to keep it from her, though she had still worked under him… For them.

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube," said Fury.

"And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of my sharpest men into his personal flying monkeys," said Fury, making Maria focus on the conversation at hand again.

"Monkeys?" asked Thor, furrowing his brow as he turned towards the Director. "I do not understand."

"I do!" said Steve, pointing his finger at Thor. His eyes lit up like a child during math class who finally understand what 2+2 means, and his comment made Maria's heart flutter and a smile spread over her lips. Steve looked back at her, confused at everyone's silence before he quietly added, "I understood that reference…"

"Shall we play, doctor?" asked Tony, ignoring Steve as Maria smiled a soft smile at Steve's confused look.

"This way," said Bruce as they both left.

"The rest of you, get some rest," said Fury, the doors closing behind Tony and Bruce. "The moment they find something on the Tesseract, I'll be sure to inform you all."

And with that, Maria and the others stood up, walking out of the room. Thor looked around himself with a confused look on his face before Natasha asked him to come and eat something with her which made the Asgardian smile widely as he apparently had been very hungry after travelling from world to world. Steve and Maria, however, continued through the hallway towards their own rooms, walking in silence.

"I don't really understand how Fury thinks I'll be able to sleep with Loki on the helicarrier. There's something off about this," said Steve suddenly, breaking the silence which made Maria look over at him, nodding slightly.

"I agree," said Maria. "Why would he just all of a sudden decide to let himself be grabbed? Because that was what it was. It's not like we can fight a god… or alien… very strong, magical alien… This day is so fucked up."

"Unless he's got some kind of plan… something he wants that's on this helicarrier," suggested Steve.

"Even if he wants something… that cage can hold a Hulk. He can't get out," said Maria, earning a look from Steve. "What?"

"I don't know… There's just something about this. About SHIELD," said Steve.

"About SHIELD?" asked Maria, furrowing her brow and stopping as they arrived at her door.

"You work for them, don't you?" asked Steve.

"Well… Yeah, sort of," said Maria. "I'm still in training. Barton's supposed to be training me but..."

"Sorry about that," said Steve, earning a shrug from Maria.

"What did you mean; something's off about SHIELD?" asked Maria, making Steve look away from her for a moment.

"I understand that they're trying to keep the planet safe," said Steve, earning a nod from Maria. "But… I don't know. I suppose I just have some troubles trusting people nowadays."

An odd atmosphere filled the hallway they were standing in after he had said those words and looked at Maria again, his eyes filled with emotions Maria couldn't even begin to describe. He looked worn, filled with remorse, distressed, strained and overall worried though there were more emotions that seemed deeper than any other emotions she had ever seen in her life. She was suddenly filled with the urge to care for him, nurse him to sleep so all the anxiousness could slip away from him. So he could relax. It was an overwhelming feeling and she had to fight against the impulse to actually embrace him, hold him close to her and let him rest while she protected him.

"I overheard Fury talking about something called phase 2," said Maria suddenly, Steve furrowing his brow.

Maria immediately shut her mouth, wondering why she had said that. What Fury had said that night when Loki had appeared was confidential and about things that not even Maria was supposed to know about. Things she wouldn't even dare to question Fury about.

"What's that?" asked Steve.

She felt conflicted. This felt like a huge decision that she had to make. A decision between who she trusted and who she would betray or lie to. She either told Steve all she knew about this which maybe not even had anything to do with whatever Loki was after, or she kept her mouth shut and stayed loyal to SHIELD…

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