A/N: Hey everyone! I'm back with a new chapter. (Betcha weren't expecting that ;P) Enjoy!
The ticking of Kat's wristwatch was the only sound in the room, drowning everything else out and deafening her senses. Why were her nerves so on edge? What could Steve possibly have to show her that required such secrecy? It had to be something that affected the integrity of their mission. Otherwise, what was the point? Her mind was running wild; a dull ache began to pound right behind her eyes.
She glanced at her wrist: 9:45… time to go.
Her heart was racing in her chest as she walked quietly down the corridor. She was trying to be stealthy, but the fact that the floors were made of metal didn't necessarily make it easy. Slowing her pace, she glanced around a corner and down a corridor of living quarters. The ship was never really "quiet", but the hallway was deserted, at least. As fast as she could, Kat started past the corridor and continued on her way. She wasn't entirely sure she was going the right way, but it wasn't as though she could ask for directions.
It turned out to be a good thing she'd left when she did, because by the time she actually located the cargo bay, her wristwatch read 10:02. Looking around the vast space, Kat began to realize that the cargo bay was deserted. It seemed odd to her; there was always someone around. The ship had to run 24/7…so where was everyone?
"You're late," a voice said from behind her. Kat turned to face her mysterious summoner. Part of her was relieved that it wasn't Steve, but her heart still fell all the same.
"Natasha?" she questioned quietly. The red-headed woman sat casually on a stack of crates.
"Not who you were expecting?" She hopped the short distance to the floor, landing gracefully like a cat. "I don't blame you for being disappointed; I'm not quite as dreamy as our resident Captain."
"That's not—" Natasha held up her hand to cut Kat off. She clamped her mouth shut, but the blood was rushing to her face all the same.
"I'm not judging," she said with a wry smile, "but I'm not blind either. Let's just get down to business, shall we?" Natasha walked past her, striding across the cargo bay with long steps. Kat followed behind as quickly as she could, but her shorter legs could barely keep up.
"You said you needed to talk," Kat blurted out between gulps of air. "So why did you drag me down here?"
"Your boyfri—" Kat shot her a warning glance, and Natasha decided to hold her tongue. "I mean… Captain Rogers is a better investigator than I—or anyone else, it seems—gave him credit for." Agent Romanov turned to face a few crates that lay nearby. With a tap of her foot, she flipped the lid off one of the crates. Inside was what looked to be a small number of semi-automatic weapons, but they looked…off somehow.
"What are those?" Kat asked tentatively. "I've never seen anything like them."
"If you'd asked any other SHIELD agent on this ship that same question, they would have given you some generic answer about prototype weapons testing." She paused for a short moment, looking thoughtfully at the weapons in front of them. "But the truth is, Captain Rogers is probably one of the only people left alive today that's seen one of these in action."
Realization hit Kat like a freight train, forming a cold pit in her stomach. "Hydra weapons?" she asked in disbelief. "But…what are they doing here?"
"I'm sure Steve was trying to decipher the same thing as well." Natasha replaced the lid on the crate. "This whole mission has smelled a bit fishy from the beginning… and we're beginning to see why."
Kat stewed on her thoughts for a moment. Finally, she said in a low voice, "You didn't lure me down here just to show me these weapons, did you?"
"Not quite," Natasha shot back, crossing her arms over her chest. "My sources tell me you went to see Loki today. I'd like to know what he said to you."
"You have sources on this ship?" Kat asked incredulously. Natasha gave her knowing look, but made no move to answer. After a few more moments of silence, Kat heaved a sigh. "Fine, yes; I went to see Loki today."
"Can I ask why?"
"I'm having trouble pinning down the location of the cube," she explained hesitantly. "The cube and the scepter have the same energy signature, so I thought if I could speak to the owner of the cube, it might give me a clue to help in my search. I didn't expect him to tell me where it is, but… well, he wasn't exactly forthcoming about anything."
"That's… kind of his thing. Did he say anything about the scepter?"
"Nothing really. Except that he plans to use it to 'free' us."
"Us?" Natasha questioned with a raised brow.
"Others who are like me; Enhanceds and Mutants alike. He said we deserve to rule over mortals like the Asgardians do."
"Asgardians don't rule over us," Natasha scoffed in derision.
"No, they're just worshipped as gods," Kat snapped back. "Not like me, or others who are like me. We're feared as abominations and monsters, all because we're different."
"Careful now, Agent Winters," Natasha said quietly, "you're beginning to sound like you actually listened to him."
Kat took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "Well, he has a point. But I don't think that enslaving the human race is an effective way to bring about change and equality."
"No," she agreed amusedly, "I'd say not." Agent Romanov chewed on her lip in silent thought for a few more moments. "I'm still not sure what Loki's play is. Enslaving the human race, that's kind of his M.O. So why allow himself to be captured and brought here? Something isn't adding up."
Kat flipped a piece of hair out of her face in irritation. "Well, maybe you'll have better luck with him than I did."
Natasha gave her a small half smile. "Maybe I will," she quipped back. "You and Dr. Banner keep working on locating the cube; I'll work on Loki."
Kat gave her a small nod as she strode off, leaving her completely alone in the cargo bay. Every time she turned around, it seemed there was some other piece at play in this game of chess. And every time, she was caught off guard. It seemed high time she got out ahead of the game again.
Lucky for her, Kat wasn't the only player in this match.
"I need to talk to you… both of you." Stark and Banner seemed caught off guard when she strode into the lab the next morning. They stopped what they were doing and turned to face her.
"We're all ears," Tony quipped, spinning on his stool.
Kat gave him a sidelong look. "Fury hasn't been truthful with us."
"My encryption software could have told you that, Nancy Drew," Tony scoffed.
"He's been running it practically since he hit the bridge," Banner chimed in apologetically. "Didn't mean to steal your thunder."
"That isn't the point," she huffed quickly. "The point is—"
"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" The sound of Director Fury's voice sent a chill down her spine.
"Uh…kind of been wondering the same thing about you," Tony shot back.
"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract… all of you."
"We are," Banner said hastily. "The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile."
"And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss." Kat opened her mouth to interject, but before the words could come out, there was a soft beeping emanating from Tony's monitor. "So," Stark continued, "what is Phase 2?"
Kat's blood ran cold when she felt that familiar energy. "Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons." Steve dropped one of the assault rifles she'd seen last night on the table in front of them. She looked up at him in surprise, and saw there was only anger there. "Sorry," he directed towards Tony, "the computer was moving a little slow."
"Rogers," Fury said in a concillatory tone, "we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're—"
"I'm sorry, Nick," Tony cut him off, turning his screen to show the plans for a modified version of the weapon laying in front of them. "What were you lying?"
"Looks like I was wrong," Steve growled. "The world hasn't changed a bit."
Natasha and Thor suddenly entered the lab as well, and Kat was beginning to feel very overwhelmed. There were too many energy signatures to begin with, let alone the fact that every one of them was elevated in anger.
"Did you know about this?" Banner asked Natasha heatedly.
"You might want to think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor," she shot back.
"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."
"Loki's manipulating you," she said, trying to project an air of calm.
"And you've been doing what exactly?"
"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."
"Yes," Banner replied, "and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."
"Because of him," Fury cut in, gesturing towards Thor.
"Me?" the Asgardian asked, stunned.
Kat watched Director Fury as his expression darkened. "Last year, earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned."
"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor interjected hotly.
"But you're not the only people out there, are you?" Fury asked with a raised brow. "And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched; they can't be controlled." At this, Fury directed his gaze towards Kat.
"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve said darkly.
"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it," Thor interjected, "and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war."
"What do you mean, a higher form?" Katherine asked.
"You forced our hand," Fury said. "We had to come up with something.
"Nuclear deterrent," Tony scoffed. " 'Cause that always calms everything right down."
"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" Fury shot back.
It was as if a dam suddenly opened and everyone was screaming, shouting insults at one another in a vain attempt to have their voice heard. Tony and Steve squabbled with one another as Fury gnashed his teeth.
"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?"
"Did you always give your champions such mistrust?" Thor roared back.
They continued on like this, grappling at one another's throats like rabid dogs. And there was Kat, standing in the middle feeling as though she was being pulled in a thousand different directions. So much anger, and mistrust; it was tearing her apart from the inside out. It was like there was a high-pitched whining in her ears, steadily growing louder and overtaking her senses. And underneath it all, a pulsating energy rolling off the scepter, propelling them on, though they didn't even realize it.
"You speak of control, yet you court chaos!" Thor growled at Fury, gesturing angrily.
"It's his M.O., isn't it?" Banner yelled.
"Everyone, please stop!" Kat finally found her voice, but it was too late.
"I mean, what are we, a team?" Banner continued angrily. "No, no. We're a chemical mixture. We're… we're a time-bomb!"
Fury suddenly seemed more calm, stepping towards Dr. Banner. "You need to step away."
Tony stepped toward Steve and placed an arm over his broad shoulders. "Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?"
Steve pushed him off angrily. "You know damn well why! Back off!"
"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me," Tony seethed, getting in Steve's face like teenagers picking a fight in school. Kat felt her heart beating faster, into a frenzied pace.
"Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"
Tony pondered for a moment before spouting off with his usual dose of sarcasm. "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."
"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you." An image of her Uncle Bucky suddenly flashed in Kat's mind. "Yeah," Steve continued, "I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."
"Hmm, I think I would just cut the wire," Tony spat.
"Always a way out… You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."
That seemed to strike a nerve in Tony. Kat saw his jaw tighten and could feel the fury rolling off him in red hot waves. "A hero? Like you? You're a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."
"Hey!" Kat cut in, unable to stop herself, "that's enough! Don't you all see? This is what Loki wants!"
"Real classy, Rogers. Letting your girlfriend come to your rescue."
"I'm not—"
"She's not—!"
They both stopped when they realized they were talking over each other, but Kat could feel her anger rising. This was getting out of control.
"Put on the suit," Steve growled, "let's go a few rounds."
Thor suddenly began to laugh, surveying the scene in front of him. "You people are so petty… and tiny." Tony moved away from Steve, but his anger wasn't gone.
"Yeah, this is a team…" Bruce said quietly.
"Agent Romanov," Fury interjected, "would you escort Dr. Banner back to his—"
"Where?" Bruce cut him off. "You rented my room."
"The cell was just in case—"
"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know! I've tried!"
The lab fell suddenly very quiet, all eyes trained on Bruce where he stood by the scepter.
"I got low," he continued quietly, somewhat embarrassed. "I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out… So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!"
Slowly, he got up from where he was sitting and walked around the counter, eyeing each and every one of them carefully. Finally, his gaze landed on Natasha, her expression unnerved. "You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanov? You wanna know how I stay calm?"
Kat's breath hitched in her throat. Natasha and Fury reached for their firearms, and Steve stepped forward in front of all of them, hands held out in a gesture of peace.
"Dr. Banner… put down the scepter," he said calmly.
Bruce looked down at his own hand in shock, seeming to not have realized he even picked up the weapon. Everything in the lab calmed considerably, allowing Kat to think straight once again.
Suddenly, something on Tony's computer beeped, drawing everyone's attention. "Got it," he said, quickly moving back to his place in front of the screen. Slowly, Bruce put the scepter back in its cradle and moved to stand beside Tony.
"Sorry, kids," he said dryly. "You don't get to see my little party trick after all."
"Have you located the Tesseract?" Thor asked intently.
"I can get there faster," Tony quipped back.
"Look, all of us—" Thor cut Steve off harshly.
"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard; no human is a match for it."
Tony made to leave the lab, but Steve stepped in front of him, stopping him with his larger frame. "You're not going alone," Steve commanded, sounding every inch the soldier.
"You going to stop me?"
"Put on the suit, let's find out."
Here we go again, Kat thought with a roll of her eyes.
"I'm not afraid to hit an old man," Tony said.
"Put on the suit," he growled once more.
"That's enough!" Kat snapped, pushing between the two of them but keeping her eyes on Steve. "You two fighting like schoolchildren won't solve anything."
"Oh my god…" Banner said intensely, drawing everyone's attention to him. Tony made to speak, but he never got a chance.
An explosion rocked the ship, throwing everyone in all directions. As Kat fell, she felt Steve's hand on her arm, but it fell away quickly and she was sent careening across the lab. A row of cabinets broke her fall, but not gently. Steve was diagonal to her, looking at Tony where he stood leaning heavily against a table.
"Put on the suit!" Steve said, more insistent this time.
"Yep!" Tony agreed, hurrying out of the lab and down the corridor.
Before Kat could blink, Steve was at her side, one hand on her shoulder and the other on her cheek. "Are you alright?" he asked, searching her face in a frenzy for any sign of injury.
"I'm fine, Steve, I'm fine," she said hurriedly. "Go on." She thought he might have wanted to say something, but whatever it was, he held it in.
"Okay," he said quietly, "I want you to go back to your quarters and stay there. Got it?"
She nodded quickly. "Yeah, got it." He stared at her for a moment; one last attempt to make sure she was okay. Kat pulled him towards her and planted a soft kiss on his stubbled cheek. "Be careful, Steve."
He nodded and stood up, making his way out of the lab as well. Fury was also collecting himself off the floor, speaking gruffly into his earpiece. Emergency alarms blared over the ships speakers, mixing with the sound of shouts and machinery working overtime.
"Hill!" Fury yelled into his earpiece. She couldn't hear what they were discussing, but whatever it was, Fury wanted Tony to be aware. "Coulson! Initiate official lock down in the detention section then get to the armory. Move out!"
Kat looked around the lab, suddenly realizing that Natasha and Bruce were nowhere to be seen. In their place was a gaping hole in the floor from the explosion. She limped over to the hole, a sharp pain in her ankle, and looked down as far as she could see. It seemed to go down all the way to the cargo level, but there was no sign of either of her teammates.
"Miss Winters," Fury growled through clenched teeth. "You need to get to safety. Take this." He handed her a clear key card ringed in light blue. "Get to the bridge, and find your way to my office. Agent Hill will get you to the right place."
"Got it," she breathed quietly, slipping the key card into her jean pocket. There were a few hundred questions running through her mind at the moment, but she kept them to herself, deciding that now wasn't the time.
As fast as she could, she hurried out of the lab and into pandemonium. Hundreds of people flooded the hallways, running every which way on different tasks. She didn't belong with any of them, but found a few people that seemed to be headed toward the bridge and tagged along behind them. A thought suddenly struck her halfway there, and she peeled off from the group she'd been following.
Amid chaos, it was difficult to tell exactly where she was, but she eventually made it to the familiarity of her living quarters. Inside, it was almost possible to believe there was nothing going on outside. But the pounding beat of adrenaline in her chest told a different story. Frantically, Kat dug through the drawer of her nightstand until she located the bowie knife hidden there at the back. It had belonged to her great-uncle once, and she hoped now that his spirit would be with her. Kat needed all the help she could get.
Kat hurried out of her room and moved quickly towards the bridge. When she got there, Fury stood at the helm, looking calm once more.
"Bring the carrier inwards and head south. Take us to the water," he commanded.
"Why water?" a helmsman asked. "Navigations recalibrated after the engine failure."
"Is the sun coming up?!" Fury roared.
"Yes, sir."
"Then put it on the left!" he said pointedly. "Get us over water! One more turbine goes down and we drop." Kat's heart skipped a beat at the mention of falling from the sky.
"Agent Winters," a voice said from behind her. She turned to see Agent Hill trying to regain her composure. "Come with me." Kat nodded and followed the other woman through the bridge and down a small corridor she'd never noticed before. At the end was a sliding metal door, like all the others on the ship, but this one had a different entry keypad than the rest. "The card, please?" Agent Hill asked, holding a hand over her shoulder.
Kat placed it in the palm of her hand and waited while the SHIELD agent worked at the keypad. After a few short moments, the keypad beeped quietly and the door slid open.
"You'll be safe in here," Agent Hill said. "Do not, under any circumstances, open the door, alright?" Kat indicated her understanding with a nod, which Agent Hill returned. She didn't say anything else, only turned and returned to her duties at Fury's side.
Inside the office, it was quiet. She could still hear the sounds of chaos through the ventilation, but it was far away, like Nana was watching a loud movie in the other room. Slowly, she looked at the space around her. It wasn't quite what she expected, but then, she didn't really know Director Fury all that well. Everything was crisp and clean; sterile. Nothing was strewn about where it wasn't supposed to be; there was a place for everything, and everything was in its place.
On the glass-top desk, there was a built-in display showing four different views off security cameras from around the ship. One showed the bridge, another the now-empty laboratory Banner and Stark had been working in, the third the detention center, and the last showed the interior of the hangar bay. Kat sat in the swivel chair behind the desk, surveying the scenes in front of her. The hangar bay was absolute chaos, with pilots running around and crewmembers attempting to ready the aircraft for whatever might call them away.
On the screen that showed the detention center, she could see Loki prowling like a tiger, pacing back and forth in his cell and always looking outward, waiting for whatever he'd planned to come to fruition. She noticed a small icon in the shape of a megaphone with a red "x" over it. By tapping it, she could suddenly listen in on the unified communications network.
Tony and Steve were communicating frantically about the engine that was down. It seemed Tony was trying to start it up again, but he needed Steve's help, and it wasn't going well. She wished she could be there to help him; it didn't matter if she was utterly useless, she just hated feeling helpless.
Suddenly, another explosion rocked the hellicarrier, sending her chair rolling backwards. The bridge was thrown into chaos, and she saw several men dressed in black storming the bridge, firing their weapons wildly. Director Fury was thrown back but Agent Hill quickly came to his aid, and they dispatched the rest of their assailants.
After the threat was neutralized on the bridge, some new voices jumped on the comms. She couldn't be sure, but it sounded like Thor and Bruce had made it to the hangar bay. But… why were they fighting? Kat's gaze shifted to the fourth screen in the lower right-hand corner. She saw a green blur flash across the bottom of the screen, and she knew what had happened. Bruce had turned into the Hulk.
She'd had a feeling this would happen, and it seemed to be part of Loki's plan. But why? Why did he purposefully allow himself to get captured? Was it all just a ploy to get the team to tear itself apart from the inside? She didn't think Loki would count on being able to break free of his cell… Or would he?
A spike of fear ran through her; the icy cold touch of sheer determination… Someone was here.
There was a deafening screech of metal as a ventilation hatch swung downward and a figure dropped to the floor, black combat boots landing with a thud. The mercenary stood up straight, slowly, staring at her with eyes the color of ice. But it wasn't natural; this wasn't a human being with the free will of thought. This was a puppet.
Kat backed away as far as she could, finding herself cornered against a case of books. With trembling fingers, she reached for the knife at her hip and drew it out, failing to convince even herself.
"Just come with me, little girl," the soldier said mirthlessly, "it'll be less painful for you."
"Try me," she growled quietly, trying to sound brave. But she was afraid the effect was less-than-threatening. The soldier gave a careless shrug and stepped towards her.
She raised her knife, balling her other hand into a fist. As the mercenary drew closer to her, she slashed at his arm wildly. But he shied away from her with a smirk and continued on his mission. One large hand closed around her throat, suddenly cutting off all her air, while the other wrapped around her wrist to stop her knife from driving home, straight through the soldier's neck. He threw her back against the wall, knocking her head painfully with a smack.
Kat gasped for breath, seeing the edges of her vision go black and trying to block out the ringing in her ears. She struggled against his forceful grip, trying to cry out but finding that she had no voice. His eyes glowed that unnatural blue, and a wicked smirk spread across his face.
"I told you just to come with me, little girl," he seethed. "Shoulda listened."
A knot was beginning to form in her chest as the oxygen was stolen from her lungs. But instead of stealing her life-force away, Kat found that it gave her one final push. With every ounce of strength she had left, she brought her knee up into the man's gut, causing him to double over in pain when the blow landed slightly lower than she'd intended. It didn't matter though; his grip fell free of her throat and precious air flooded her lungs.
"Screw you, asshole," she rasped, giving one last kick to his ribs for good measure. The soldier groaned in pain as she stepped over him, depositing her knife back into its sheath. When she reached the door, she made to grab where a handle should have been. But her fingers only found empty space. This room was supposed to be secure from the outside; she never thought she'd have trouble getting out.
Frantically, she began pounding on the door, desperately searching for some way to open it from the inside. But if there was a way to do so, she couldn't find it. Kat tried to cry out, but her throat burned white hot from the abuse it had just suffered; she couldn't make a sound.
Suddenly, a lance of pain ran through the back of her head, causing her vision to go blurry and buckling her knees beneath her. Her head hit the door with a thud, and she could vaguely feel a trickle of warmth running down her cheek. A shadow moved across her vision, taking her by the shoulders. But by the time she realized what was happening, Kat was already slipping into unconsciousness.
The whirring of machinery; low voices speaking in hushed tones; the pitch and tilt of an aircraft. Scattered images pieced together haphazardly. Energy… three, no… four. Where am I?
"You did well," a low voice said from behind her where she lay against cold metal. "If nothing else came from this mission… I needed her."
"What is she, anyways? I'd like to know the reason I've got a few bruised ribs."
"She's the key," the other voice responded, so quiet Kat could barely hear. "The key to unlocking a much larger puzzle. Believe me, she's worth every inch of your injured pride." There was a scoff from the other person, but he said no more.
Kat tried to force her eyes open, but they didn't seem able to bend to her will. The dull ache in her head pounded louder as she felt herself slipping back into unconsciousness. What did he mean she was a key? Why had Loki taken her? And more importantly, where was he taking her?
That's all for now! Hope you all enjoyed, and please review!