Rebecca walked into the conference room last, seeing all of them sitting at the table in preparation for whatever it was they were having this talk for. Steve closed the door behind her as she walked in, sitting next to Tony at the table and looking over at everyone else in equal confusion. Whatever it was, she knew it wasn't good.

''What's going on?'' Bruce asked.

Natasha looked over to him. ''I took your advice.''

''You talked to Fury?''

''No.'' Steve spoke up.''She talked to me. I don't like what Fury's doing, and I think we can all agree that his methods aren't exactly in our best interests.''

They all looked between one another, wondering what he doing. Steve had never said anything bad about Shield the whole time he had been there, but the stunt with Rebecca in the holding room was the turning point for his opinion.

''So...we're going rogue or something?'' Rebecca asked, honestly confused. ''I know what he did was...terrible, but we can't do anything without Shield's assets.''

''We are Shield's assets.'' Natasha informed her. ''They're counting on us.''

''Then what are we doing?'' Bruce asked.

Steve folded his arms. ''We're doing this ourselves.''

''I do not understand.'' Thor spoke up. ''The director promised to protect people from Loki's plans.''

''Well he broke that promise.'' Tony looked over. ''He doesn't know what he's doing and he's going to get someone killed if he keeps going.''

''Which is why I organized this meeting.'' Steve informed them. ''We think we know what Loki's intentions are.'' Steve looked over for Natasha to speak, since it was her who figured it out.

''Loki's using Rebecca to tear us apart.'' she told them simply. ''He knows that we're powerful when we're together, and he knows that Rebecca was a central player in all of this.''

Rebecca looked confused. ''How am I a central person in all of this?''

''You're Tony's daughter, Loki knew that. He knew that by targeting you, making all of those comments in front of everyone else and what he did on the jet, that he could create tension between Shield and your dad.'' she looked over to Tony. ''And that would make us step in and disagree, defending Shield. But when he manipulated you in front of all of us, he knew he would get this reaction.''

''So he didn't really want Rebecca to let him out?'' Bruce asked.

Natasha shook her head. ''I think that if she did, he would get himself caught again. He wants to be here, he wants to pull us apart before he unleashes the Chitauri.''

Thor nodded. '''Tis true, my brother plans to bring the army to Earth, however I do not know when.'' he told them, ashamed of his brother's actions.

They all remained silent for a moment, thinking about what they had just been told. It was a lot to process, but they knew they needed to make a plan. Fury couldn't be involved, he would only take over and that's not what they wanted right now. If Fury knew that they had figured it all out, he might reveal that to Loki and they didn't want him knowing at all. They only way they could do this was if they worked as a secret, played along with Fury's plans, but knowing what to do.

''What do we do?' Rebecca asked when no one else spoke up.

''We make a plan. We work together, and we don't hide things anymore, not after what Fury has been doing. So if anyone has any information that would help right now, this is the time to say it.'' Steve told them.

They all looked back and forth at each other.

''I should know all of Shield's secrets in about an hour.'' Tony told them. ''I got into there system, something's not right.''

''You're snooping?'' Steve asked, a little outraged at his behavior.

Tony rolled his eyes. ''It's not a big deal.''

''You can't just hack into Shield.'' Natasha joined in.

''They're hiding something, okay? Something big, I know it. Banner agrees.'' Tony looked over.

Bruce shifted uncomfortably in his seat, hating the fact that they were all looking at him now. He didn't know what to say. He felt like he was joining in on a debate that would ultimately decide whether or not they were actually a team.

''I just...I'm here to do my work, that's all-''

''Dr. Banner.'' Steve looked at him, awaiting his answer.

Bruce sighed. ''I think it's a little...odd, that they had the Tesseract in the first place. It's too much energy for them, it's dangerous, and I think they were planning to do something with it.''

Natasha shook her head. ''Shield was protecting it.''

''Oh come on,'' Tony sat forward, looking at her. ''After everything that's happened, you can't honestly still believe them.'' Natasha didn't say anything, she just looked around the room, unsure of her own opinions on Shield. ''There's something big, I know it.''

''Well I think we should focus on what matters here.'' Steve told him. ''We need to get the Tesseract back and keep Loki in that cell, we can't waste time snooping around.''

Tony narrowed his eyes at the man. ''You don't believe me?''

''I think we need to get our minds off hunches and on the actual job.'' he told him. ''I admit Fury took this too far just now, but we've been given orders to find the Tesseract, and we should follow them.''

''Yeah, well following's not really my style.'' Tony shrugged.

Steve scoffed. ''And you're all about style, aren't you?''

''Of the people in this room, which one is A: wearing a spangly outfit and B: not of use?'' Tony quipped, his frustration reaching a max.

They all watched the confrontation between the men, observing as their anger at each other finally came through. They didn't exactly get along since they first met, but they were letting each other know now. The others let it go on, because in order to be a team, there needed to be no hidden feelings, no secrets, it needed to be out in the open.

Steve shook his head. ''Big man in a suit of armour. Take that off, what are you?''

''Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.'' Tony retorted quickly as if it was rehearsed. He was not one to argue with, he knew it all, and he had all the comebacks you could imagine.

''I know guys with none of that worth ten of you.'' Steve spoke, turning more serious. ''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.''

Rebecca watched on in horror, disbelieving that Steve would say such a thing after what her father had gone through. He never fought for himself, it was always for others. He was not selfish, despite how the media painted him, and she immediately despised Steve for saying it. Still, no one said anything, and the tension grew. Thor watched on in disappointment.

Tony acted as though the words didn't hurt him. ''I think I would just cut the wire.''

Steve chuckled sourly at his words. ''Always a way out...'' he shook his head. ''You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.
''A hero? Like you? You're a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!''

Steve closed the distance between them, striding over to him with anger. ''Put on the suit.'' he suggested. ''Let's go a few rounds.''

Rebecca had had enough of their nonsense.

''Oh, shut up! Both of you!'' she hit her fists against the table. ''This is the last thing we need right now. We're supposed to be working together, and you're both too proud of your own egos to just been grown up and let it go. Weren't we just talking about how Loki is tearing us apart? Stop it.''

Steve shook his head, stepping back, ashamed that his actions were scolded at by a seventeen year old. He was acting childishly, he knew it. Tony slunk back to his seat, feeling guilty, but still so angry.

''Rebecca is right, we must stick together. If my brother intends on causing trouble between us, he will not stop until we cannot even look at one another. We must work together.'' Thor told them, and Rebecca gave him a warm smile to thank him.

''If anyone has any other information, let me know.'' Steve told them, and then he walked out, leaving them all in the room.

They sat in silence, trying to think of a way to attack the situation, thinking they had a hold on what Loki was doing. Little did they know, he had something else planned, something big, and it was guaranteed to cause trouble.

Steve wandered down the halls of the helicarrier, not looking for anything in particular, but he needed a break from everyone. He had let things get out of hand with Tony earlier, but that man got on his nerves like no other. He acted like it was okay to do the wrong thing in order to get what they needed, but the way Steve saw it, that's exactly what Fury had done, although Tony would never endanger any of them. Steve still didn't know what to think of Shield hiding something else, he thought Tony was being paranoid and was angry after what had happened, but even Bruce backed him up, and that made Steve think something really was going on.

He continued walking, until he came to a door that looked like it would be hiding something important inside. That's when Steve had an internal conflict with himself, wondering whether or not he should go inside and against his previous words. If Tony could snoop around there system, then Steve could snoop around the facility. After all, they had a right to know what was going on on board the ship they were all on, it was only fair.

The doors didn't take much effort to open, and once he was inside, he instantly felt guilty for what he was doing. However, it looked like a warehouse full of weapons, and he could already tell that he was going to find something inside that he wouldn't like.

Rebecca walked into one of the empty conference rooms, checking that no cameras or microphones were inside, and then she sat down. She had a rough day, and long, long day and she needed to talk to someone. Someone whose voice would cheer her up instantly, and she began dialing.

''Hello?'' the husky voice answered.

''Hey Ben,'' she smiled.

''Bec? What are you doing? It's the middle of the night.'' he yawned.

Rebecca had lost track of time. It wasn't as though she had a full nights sleep, she didn't know what the day way or anything. Every now and then she found time to nap quietly for an hour or so, but there had been too much going on, and she knew there was no sleep on the cards tonight.

''Sorry, I...I didn't know what time it was.'' she apologized.

Ben sensed a sadness in her voice. ''Are you okay?''

Rebecca paused. ''I wish you were here.'' she sighed. ''I wish your arms were around me, maybe I could sleep then.''

Ben sat up in his bed, instantly awake knowing she was upset. ''I wish I could.''

''I miss you.'' she chuckled. ''Like, a lot. I miss you so much.''

Ben grinned. ''I miss you too. My life is so boring without you here with me.''

''I wish I could say the same.''

''What's wrong? Don't say nothing, because I know when something's wrong.'' he told her.

Rebecca closed her eyes, wondering if she should tell him. ''Things are just...a lot harder than I thought. It's so complicated, and it's exhausting, and I just want to go home. Not New York either, I wish I was back in Malibu. In my bed, with my warm blankets and just...just at home.'' she explained.

''You're homesick.'' Ben told her. ''It's normal. You're only there for the rest of the week, then you can go home, and I'll be right here waiting for you.''

Rebecca smiled at his words, wishing she could go see him now, but knowing it was impossible.

''I don't feel like myself.'' she told him. ''Nothing here feels right. I don't want to be here anymore. There's things I know now that I wish I didn't, things that I'm involved in whether I like it or not.''

''It'll be okay, I promise.'' he told her confidently. ''I know you can do this. You've come so far, it's only a few more days.''

Rebecca sighed. ''I guess you're right, a few more days won't kill me I suppose.''

''I'm proud of you, for sticking with this for so long. I know it's hard, and exhausting, but you can do it, I know you can.''

For the next ten minutes or so, Rebecca and Ben talked about the smallest, most meaningless things. Weather, movies playing in Malibu, how his car was, the color of the sky that day and all sorts of things, but eventually they had to stop. Ben was in bed, she wanted him to sleep, and she knew there was plenty to do herself, and she also needed to get some sleep.

It was sad saying goodbye, but she knew she would see him in a few days. They said their goodbyes, and Rebecca disconnected the call to sit in the conference room alone for a while. The silence was calming, and before she knew it, she was asleep in the chair.

Tony had been looking for Rebecca ever since she didn't return to the lab, so Bruce helped him search. When he entered the conference room and saw her asleep, he didn't have the heart the bother her and wake her up, so he dimmed the lights and closed the door, informing Tony where she was. None of them disturbed her, not even Fury, knowing she needed some rest. Talking with Ben, hearing his voice, it was all she needed to be able to fall asleep so peacefully. In her dreams, none of this was happening. There was no Loki, no Chitauri, and she hadn't been brainwashed and manipulated. Instead, it was warm sun on her skin while she walked around their mansion in Malibu, and she laid on the couch looking out the window, Pepper and Tony sitting on the chair beside her as Ben walked in and sat with her. It was perfect, there was nothing wrong in her dreams.

However, reality soon had to hit, and when she opened her eyes, it was morning. She could tell by the clock on her phone since it was complete darkness in the room from when Bruce had dimmed the lights. The only way she knew someone had been in there was the blanket drooped over her legs and the pillow behind her head. Whoever it was, she made a note to thank them later, because she finally get her sleep.

Her phone began buzzing on the table wildly, an incoming call. The number was unknown, but a part of her thought it could be Pepper calling from D.C, so she answered straight away.

''Hello?'' her yawning voice answered.

There was a slight pause before a woman's voice spoke. ''Is this Rebecca?''

''Depends who's calling.'' she answered, immediately suspicious. It was probably some reporter since there had been no sightings of her or her father all day in the media world. ''Hello?''

''This is Rebecca Stark?'' The woman asked again.

''Who is this?''

This time the pause was long, and the woman didn't speak until she had took a deep breath. ''My name is Katherine.''

Rebecca's heart almost stopped. ''Katherine?''

''I'm your mother.''

Dun, dun, dun! I hope this storyline becomes exciting now! Finally, Rebecca's mother makes an appearance after all these years, but what does she want? Hopefully I don't screw this up and make it super confusing or just really dull, but I'll do my best while still sticking to the whole Loki/Tesseract/Army plot. This is just something else that's going on as well, so stay tuned! Please review and let me know what you think of this little cliffhanger which is actually the biggest one I've wrote, and thanks for reading. x