Chapter 9

Tony shrugged. "Well, you know something? It's been a pretty revealing day. We've learned the real reason SHIELD wants the Tesseract, Mia's now the President's dead daughter, oh! And I've missed the best part." He snapped, clapped and pointed at Mia. "Loki thinks he's in love with her. How you like them apples, eh kiddo?"

"What." Fury looked ready to kill someone.

"You heard me. Loki thinks Mia's his something whatever…" he gestured to Thor. "Point break here didn't tell you yet?"

"Intended," Thor finished. "And I was attempting to locate the Director when agent Romanoff told me to return here."

"Intended, right. So basically to recap: the Asgardian version of a soul mate. Explains the whole 'mesmerizing enchantress' thing, doesn't it?"

"What?!" Mia was outraged. "You're kidding me, right?" She turned to Tony irritably. "This is just an attempt to get back at me for keeping secrets, isn't it Stark?"

"You wish, cupcake. Looks like Loki's got the hots for you."

Mia rolled her eyes. "Sure. Sure he does. That explains the flirting."

"That's…ridiculous," Steve said after a moment. His face was twisted into one of mild disgust.

"What, too archaic for the old man? Or are you just upset that a god just called dibs on your girlfriend?"

"He doesn't have dibs on anybody!" Steve retorted fiercely. Mia was too deep in thought to bother reiterating that she wasn't his girlfriend.

"Ridiculous or not," Fury interrupted, "if Loki thinks he has any kind of hold over Paxton, bringing her here might have been the worst thing we could have done." Romanoff looked grim.

"I'm sorry, is there anyone named Paxton here after all?" Tony was really going long with it. "I'm sure Miss Winters would—"

"Bridget Winters died nine years ago!" Mia yelled at him, snapping harshly back to reality. "Her coffin might lie empty in Arlington Cemetery, but she does not exist anymore, Stark." Her face was a hard façade, hiding the turmoil inside.

Tony narrowed his eyes at her, apparently not in a sympathetic mood. "Why did she die then?" he asked. "Because I'm guessing it wasn't an assassination like the papers said."

"Stark," Fury said, glaring at the man in silent warning.

"Well, come on then. The Mia Paxton I knew stood for truth, honesty, and the unraveling of the political myth as we know it. Do her a favor, and enlighten us."

Mia stood, blinking slowly with more focus than necessary in order to remain calm. "Because," she bit out, "of the one hundred and seventy two lives on her hands." She looked up at Stark, green eyes dilated to pinpricks. "Because she was a monster that inspired one of the world's worst men to do something so horrible, so unthinkable…"

"Project Midas," Fury finished. Tony's eyes widened in surprise.

"She…" Tony was officially gob smacked. "So the President was involved in that project."

"Bridget Winters was a killer," Mia said solemnly. "And Mia Paxton is the one who tries to pick up the pieces of what she did."

"What could Mia—Bridget, possibly have done to—" Banner began, when Fury cut him off.

"What happened nine years ago is not important right now. What matters is that Paxton is now in direct danger, and needs to be removed into protective custody."

"Mia's not going anywhere!" Steve said, stepping in front of the journalist.

"Does anybody want to answer my question?" Banner demanded. "Anybody?"

Fury turned back to the Doctor, still glaring. "Because of him," he announced, pointing an accusing finger at Thor.

"Me?" Thor seemed confused.

Fury began advancing on the god. "Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town," he said. "We learned that not only are we not alone, we are hopelessly—hilariously —outgunned."

Banner looked far from convinced.

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," said Thor.

"As made apparent by Loki's pending engagement," Tony added, raising an eyebrow.

"Like fuck it is!" Steve scowled at Mia's swearing. "I'll be damned if I'm going to be involved in any way with that man!"

"My brother is disturbed now, but he has many virtues as well. If you would but delay your decision until all is settled, Lady Mia, I think you may find him more suitable."

"You mean after we unravel his plans for world domination? Because I'm really sure that I'm going to suddenly see what amazing romance material he is then!"

"You're not the only people out there, are you?" Fury interjected. "And you're not the only threat." He cast a wary look at Mia, who was fuming behind the Captain and failing to look indifferent. In actuality she was trying to get a grip on herself before she lost what little composure she still had. "The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the Cube?" Steve said, looking to his side. Mia was more shaken up than he had ever seen her—even when speaking about her deceased partner. Whatever had happened nine years before, whatever had made her hide her true identity…it was bad. Really bad.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies," Thor said insistently. "It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?" Fury repeated, sounding disgusted. "You forced our hand. We had to come up with something—"

"A nuclear deterrent," Tony interjected, hands in his pockets. "Because that always calms everything right down."

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark."

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck-deep…" Steve began, stepping forward.

"Wait wait. Hold on. How is this now about me?"

Steve actually glared at the man. "I'm sorry, isn't everything?"

"I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor said, looking at Fury as if for an explanation as to why they were so much less than he'd expected.

"Some of us are," Romanoff muttered, throwing Mia a knowing look.

"You've read my file?" Mia demanded. Of course Widow would know. Of course.

"Of course I've read your file," Romanoff scoffed, as if reading Mia's mind.

"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Fury was now in a face-off with Thor.

"You treat your champions with such mistrust."

"Are you both really that naïve?" Romanoff looked at both Thor and Mia as if they were truly idiots. "SHIELD monitors potential threats."

"Captain America and the President's daughter are on threat watch?" Banner questioned in disbelief.

"We all are."

"I'm a political journalist!"

"Wait, you're on that list?" Tony asked Steve, looking unimpressed. "Are you above or below angry bees?"

"Stark, so help me God, if you make one more wisecrack…"

"Threat! Verbal threat. I feel threatened!"

"Show some respect," Steve demanded.

"Respect for what? Mia of all people knows how ludicrous this situation is."

"Don't bring her into this."

"Don't leave me out! And don't put words in my mouth, Stark."

"Paxton…" It was the first time Steve had called her Paxton in a long time. Mia had to admit, she didn't necessarily like it. It felt like a punch to her gut, given what they'd been through so far.

She clenched her fists, trying to force down the anger she felt creeping up inside of her. Don't let it out, Mia, for God's sake don't let it out…

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos," Thor said.

"That his MO, isn't it?" Banner pointed out. He glanced around the room, brown eyes full of mistrust. "I mean what are we, a team? No. No, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're…" His words caught. "We're a time bomb," he finished.

"You," Fury insisted, "and Paxton, need to step away."

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony asked, slapping a hand to Rogers' shoulder.

"You know damn well why, back off!" Steve swatted Tony's hand away harshly.

"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me." Tony said, radiating macho vibes. He peered around the soldier at the woman behind. "And what is it Mia can do that you're so frightened of, Nick? She's not going to interview you to death."

But Steve was moving in on Tony now, circling him in an assessing way. "Yeah. Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"

Tony shrugged nonchalantly. "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."

Romanoff arched an eyebrow as if impressed. Mia rolled her eyes.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you," Steve said, looking down at Tony as if he were nothing. "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."

"I think I'd just cut the wire."

Mia could hear something in Tony's tone that was slightly vulnerable. She knew from her research back when she was investigating Stark that his father had idolized Steve, had dedicated a large portion of his life trying to find him under the ice. It didn't take much of a reach to think that Tony had a hard time taking this from the man who was probably his hero growing up. Not that he would show it: he was Tony Stark, and that kind of emotion was below him.

Steve narrowed his eyes, giving a little sardonic laugh. "Always a way out. You know, you may not be a threat but you better stop pretending to be a hero." Ouch.

"A hero? Like you?" Ah, there it was. Tony got right up in Steve's face, unblinking. "You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."

"Cheap shot, Ironass." Mia looked far from impressed, with either man. She saw Steve tense at Tony's words, and a new wave of anger flooded her. Steve wasn't special because of what happened to him. She had seen firsthand how special he was, and it didn't have to do with physical enhancement. It had to do with what was in his heart. "Can't we just stop with the testosterone battle, and focus on the issue at hand please?"

"What, like the issue of your identity?" Tony replied coldly. "The President's daughter, I never would have seen that coming." He turned to face her, creating a triangle between her, Steve, and himself. "And just look at you now, cat eyes. The very picture of anarchy."

"Just because I don't go around blasting heavy rock music and burning shit doesn't mean I'm not an anarchist, Tony. And, come to think of it—I just described you, didn't I?"

"You said I was taking cheap shots. That was just weak, Paxton. Way below your standards."

Mia snorted. "You know nothing about my standards, Stark." Her eyes hardened, her fists clenching more tightly. Tony was surprised to feel a niggling of fear in his stomach. "I said I was a monster. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

On the side, Fury looked ready to draw his gun. Romanoff's eyes were narrowed, and her knees bent slightly as if ready to pounce.

"Enough!" Steve stepped closer, breaking the triangle. He stood, almost nose-to-nose with Tony. "Put on the suit," he challenged. "Let's go a few rounds."

Tony smirked, his eyes flitting over to Mia. "What's the matter, Rogers? Too noble to fight a lady? Or are you scared that you don't know what she's really made of."

Steve gritted his teeth. "I trust Mia." He looked over at her firmly. "Even if you don't. If she lied, then she had a damn good reason for it. "

Mia swallowed hard and looked away. Like hell she did.

Thor began laughing. "You people are so petty," he chuckled. "And tiny."

"Yeah, this is a team," Banner scoffed, while Tony swiped at his brow. Mia silently unclenched her fists, letting a few spent grains of gold trickle to the floor as dust.

"Agent Romanoff, would you please escort Doctor Banner back to his—"

"Where?" Banner interrupted angrily. "You rented my room."

"The cell was just in case…"

"You needed to kill me, but you can't. I know, I tried." He shifted uncomfortably as all eyes in the room settled on him in disbelief. He shrugged. "I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth—and the Other Guy spit it out." He stared at Fury, who shifted his gaze downward almost repentantly. "So I moved on. I focused on helping other people, I was good." Banner looked around ashamedly at the group he was surrounded by. "Until you dragged me back into this freak show, and put everyone here at risk."

He turned to Mia. "Steve was right about her. She's a civilian, and what's more, she's damned important. She shouldn't be here—especially now that Loki's gone nuts over her. You messed up, Fury."

"You think I don't know that?" Fury snapped. "I've known about Paxton's identity this whole time—and unlike the rest of you, I've read the Project Midas files. I know what she's capable of."

Mia's face went blank. "What," she said flatly, anger dripping from the word like blood from an open wound.

"Then why on God's green Earth was it a good idea to bring her aboard the Valiant?" Tony demanded, eyeing her warily.

"Why was it a good idea to bring any of you?" Fury replied. He clasped his hands behind his back. "She's here for the same reason as all of you: because we needed her."

"But not to evaluate Loki, am I right?" Stark said. "Because I think we all believed that for a grand total of, hmm, three seconds."

"We all have secrets here," Romanoff answered ambiguously. "Paxton is no exception."

"Yeah?" Banner grimaced at this, his eyes wild. "You wanna know my secret, agent Romanoff, do you wanna know how I stay calm?"

Everyone took a step back. Mia held her breath, trying not to panic as Fury and Romanoff reached for their guns a second time. She froze, realizing her hand had crept up to her belt level as well, even though she hadn't carried a firearm in years. Another thing Steve was right about.

"Doctor Banner," Steve ordered, his 'captain' voice resounding in the metal filled lab. "Put down the scepter."

Confused, Banner looked down at the weapon in his hand—and a look of mild repulsion crossed his face.

The computer across the room started beeping. A welcome diversion.

"Got it," Fury realized, after a moment of stunned silence.

"Sorry kids, you don't get to see my party trick after all." Banner moved towards the machine, his shoulders slumped slightly. The scepter had been placed back in its rack.

Mia was surprised when, in that half moment of silence, Steve's gloved hand rested on her lower back. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly, watching her with a combination of concern and wariness.

Mia nodded mutely, her mouth too dry to form words. Blue eyes, was all she could think. Blue. Eyes.

"Yeah. Fine," she managed after a moment. Steve nodded and looked away, removing the hand.

"You've located the Tesseract?" Thor asked, suddenly all business.

"I could get there fastest," Tony was proclaiming.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard— no human is a match for it."

Tony shouldered his way through Steve and Mia, effectively breaking them apart.

"You're not going alone," Steve told him, catching the genius by the arm.

"You're gonna stop me?"

"Put on the suit, let's find out." And there goes progress, Mia thought ruefully, as both men squared off.

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man. Especially if his girlfriend has to save his ass in a battle of wits."

"Put on the suit," Steve said through clenched teeth.

"Stark, for God's sake," Mia began, "If I have to tell you again—"

The computer cut her off with loud beeping, as if censoring her.

"Oh my God," Banner muttered, looking up at them in horror.

The next moment, the room exploded.

. . .

Everything was chaos.

The room seemed to fill with all the fires of hell as the explosion that had occurred in another nearby section of the ship rushed through the ventilation and up through the grate under their feet. Romanoff and Banner were blasted out of the lab's wide glass window, tumbling harshly down into the next level with heavy debris falling alongside them. Fury was tossed to the far side of the room, while Mia was thrown in the same direction as Steve and Tony: towards the doorway.

As soon as she'd seen the flames begin to pour out of the flooring, it was like time slowed down. Every second became three more seconds, so that what happened in about five seconds gave Mia about fifteen seconds to react. Sound ceased, and all she heard was her own pounding heart and erratic breathing.

Mia knew that she and the two men on her side of the room were actually standing on the grate most, and would be easily, horribly affected by the blast. As much as she wanted to protect all of the people in the lab she knew she only had a few seconds.

Following an inherent urge, Mia swept her hands up from the ground, palms flat as golden sparks flew from her fingertips. They formed a sort of makeshift shield, a bubble of protection that encompassed both herself and the two men behind her.

Then the blast happened. All around them were flames, shattered glass, twisted warped metal shards. All bounced off of the bubble's surface, falling to the floor in response to its power. Glass blew away from it in a semicircle as plain white sand.

And then, she caught up to real time. Around her, sirens were blaring, the room was unbearably hot, and both Stark and Rogers were staring at her, panting but otherwise unharmed.

"What?" she demanded breathlessly, dark curls clinging to her sweaty forehead.

"What the…" Steve said, too confused to come up with anything else. "Mia?"

"The Midas touch," Tony muttered, observing her with wide eyes.

She looked back at her hands—and found her shield still intact. Her defiant look quickly fell as she dropped her hands and clenched them at her sides, the shield crumbling into golden dust at her feet as smoke clouded in around them.

A strange sensation came over her, overwhelming the fact that two people had just seen her 'magic' up close and personally. It was like someone was shouting thoughts over all of that into her mind—only, it came out cool and collected, only one word in almost a seductive tone.

Bridget…

"Loki," Mia whispered, horrified. She stared vacantly at both Stark and Rogers for a moment before pushing past them and into the corridor.

"Mia!" Steve's voice was almost panicked. "Mia, where are you going?" She heard his tone change from worried to intense. "Put on the suit," he told Tony.

"Right," Tony replied plainly, but Mia hardly heard him.

"Mia!" Steve yelled more loudly. She could hear him running after her down the hall, his much longer strides overtaking her in a matter of seconds. He caught her by the arm and spun her around sharply. "Mia, you have to get somewhere safe," he ordered her in his most authoritative tone.

"No, I need to stop Loki," Mia insisted. "I'm the only one he'll listen to, Steve. You heard Thor: Loki thinks he's in love with me. I have some kind of hold over him."

"Yeah, I know what that's like," Steve muttered.

"What?" Mia yelled over the noise, confused. The sound of the ship falling to pieces around them was overwhelming, with agents yelling and grating, groaning sounds of failing machinery.

"It doesn't matter," Steve said, sounding slightly defeated. Then his confidence returned. "Mia, you can't go alone. I'm coming with you."

"Steve, no—"

Suddenly Mia found herself immobilized, strong hands set on her hips. Warm, firm lips were pressed to hers, and the sound faded out around her for the second time in minutes—though, this time was decidedly stronger. A tingling spread down from her mouth through her body, filling her with gentle warmth and a slight ache that she couldn't quite place.

Then Steve pulled away, and all of the noise came crashing back.

"Mia," he told her, panting, blue eyes staring into hers. "I'm coming with you."

"Would you like to tell me he's not your boyfriend now?" Tony challenged from down the hall. Steve actually rolled his eyes at this.

Mia sighed, hating what she was about to do. "Steve," she began softly, setting both hands on his chest. "I'm sorry about this."

Next moment she had blasted Steve down the hall, carefully but powerfully, so that he was standing beside Tony, golden sparks swirling around him and eventually fading out.

"Ooh, re-jected," she heard Tony say rudely, just before she hit the button on her wrist and dematerialized. "Women. Ever changeable."

"Shut it, Stark." Steve sounded hard. She forced herself not to look at his face.

Yes, Mia had kept the teleport device Hill had given her from her encounter with Loki. Maria hadn't asked for it back, and the sleeve of Mia's long sleeve blouse covered the device from Fury's watchful eyes.

Just as Mia had hoped, the device reversed her previous journey, placing her directly inside the confinement area. Apparently it hadn't been locked down yet—the great flashing lights above the huge bolted door were glowing a bright green, and the door open.

"You can hear my thoughts."

Mia turned, finding herself in the exact spot she'd left before. Loki stood on the other side of the glass, grinning wildly.

"Only when I project them, of course—though still, it serves as proof of our rare connection." He suppressed his smirk. "I assume Thor has told you by now of our, how to put it? Unique arrangement."

Something about this remembrance brought to Mia's attention the fact that she had just kissed Captain America—no, Captain America had kissed her.

"Ah, I see." Loki grew solemn, a light fading from his eyes. "And you enjoyed it?" He made a disapproving noise. "How terribly unfaithful of you, my dear."

Wait a second… "Did you just read my mind?" Mia demanded angrily.

"I understand the attraction, on his part," Loki continued, beginning to pace as if she hadn't spoken. "But you? You can do better. Should do better." He looked at her wryly out of the corner of his left eye. "Will do better?"

"I'll be damned if some would-be king think he can claim me," Mia fumed, muscles tensing. "And by the way, you aren't the first idiot to think so."

"And does he know that?" Loki smirked at her infuriatingly.

"He has more of a chance than you ever will." Loki shrugged and turned his back on her, walking to the opposite end of the cage. "Do you hear me? HEY!" She fired a blast of golden light from her hands at the cage. It shook the container in the grasp of the hinges, threatening to drop. "I do not belong to you!"

"To me, no. With me, however, is another story entirely." Loki whirled on a dime, staring at her intensely. "Why must you be so irritatingly dense? I only wish to help you. Or have you not considered how you might have your revenge on your father if you only left this wretched association and joined me?"

Mia froze.

"Or perhaps not for him," he continued, tossing his hair indifferently. "Perhaps, to save your sister from his clutches? What was her name again? Your frail, blond, innocent sister."

Iggy, run! RUN!

"Clem." Choking on the name she hadn't spoken aloud in nine years—nine long, excruciating years. The name that always mattered most to her—even now.

"Yes. Clemency." Loki looked at her plainly. "The one person you still dare to love. But darling," he grinned, "dare to love me, and we will free her. Free all those who were harmed by your father's ruthlessness, and bring them utter peace."

"Clem is safe," Mia argued. "My mother loves her too much to let any harm come to her. She was always too afraid of what I was to love me." She frowned, her eyes hardening. "And you can't save those who are already dead."

The journalist walked forward brazenly, standing directly in front of the glass. "You're acting just like him, right now. Do you want me to hate you as well? Because we are already well down that road. Stop this," she ordered. "Stop this senseless conquest, give up this poisonous dream. If you wish for any chance with me: find your goodness."

"You sound like Thor." The demi-god scoffed at his brother's name. "And my dear, have I not told you that I have no goodness? Only the dark?"

"Everyone has goodness," Mia said, looking at him with something akin to pity. "Even men like you. Don't become someone who can't see the light anymore. It is a decision —not a predisposition."

Before Mia could even react, she found herself in wrapped tightly Loki's arms, the chamber empty. In one hand he held his scepter, the other wound firmly around her waist.

He looked behind her, eyes hardening. "Then it is a decision that I have already made."

"NO!" a loud yell rang out behind her. Mia looked up in alarm and found Thor barreling towards them. The next moment, she dropped herself to the floor, rolled three feet away from the container, and hit the button on her wrist, dematerializing from the room with a sense of dread.

The bolt from Loki's scepter charred the metal where she'd stood, just an instant before.

Loki wouldn't change. Not even for her, which officially signed his death sentence. So Mia would do what she always did with the men like him—she would see him stopped, even if no one else would.