I walked back to the conference room and opened the door, poking my head in. "Okay, somebody want to lead the way?"

Thor nodded eagerly and strode forward. "I will, I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry." Captain America mumbled.

"Well I'm bigger than you mere mortals are. I need more sustenance."

"And ale too, apparently." Tony added with a smirk. "Speaking of which, I could use a glass of liquor right now. Maybe two, or three."

"As could I." Thor agreed with a nod as we walked down to the cafeteria.

"You two shouldn't drink on the job." Cap said.

"Excuse me, but we've been through this. This isn't a job. This is a gig, a one time thing. One that I'm not even being paid for."

"Oh yes, I forgot, Tony Stark can't be tied down to anything."

"Are you guys always like this?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Thor just nodded, chuckling. "Indeed, Tiny Maiden. They argue like two...well, never mind. Coul...a friend of mine said those creatures do not exist here." He looked down at the ground then, frowning.

"Who?" I asked.

"Coulson, a friend of ours. Loki killed him." Cap said quietly.

I frowned as well, looking away from them. "Oh. I'm so sorry." They didn't say anything. "Well what creatures were you talking about?" I asked Thor.

"No matter, Tiny Maiden."

I looked up at Thor-way up- a little bit annoyed. "I'm not tiny."

They looked down at me like I was crazy. Now, looking back on it, I was tiny compared to them. Thor stood at least a foot and a half taller than me, Cap at least almost a foot, and Tony maybe half a foot. I was tiny.

"Kid, I'm not the biggest person here and you're small compared to even me." Tony said with a smirk.

"My name is Emerald." I reminded him. "My name isn't kid, it isn't girl, it's Emerald." Why did nobody ever call me by my name?

Tony smirked again, holding back a laugh. "Okay, okay. Sorry." His smirk grew a little bigger. "Kid."

"Tony." Cap said, giving him a look that warned him to stop.

"Oh relax, Spangly. At least I'm not poking her with anything."

I sighed, scowling a little. I wanted to pull my hair out right about now. "Is there really any need for this pointless banter? It's annoying." I snapped.

"Well so are you." Tony said, looking over his shoulder at me. I stopped in my tracks, feeling like I'd been punched in the gut. "You just complicate things. You're in the way, you're a nuisance. Do you honestly think that any of us want to sit around baby sitting you? It's bad enough that we have to deal with Loki, but now you too?" He shook his head, rolling his eyes.

I started to shake, feeling hot tears prick the back of my eyes. I knew what he said was true, I wasn't supposed to be here, but why did he have to say it? I looked up to him, and to have him say that to me...it was crushing. "You think I want this?" I asked quietly. "I didn't ask for this. I don't want this." I clenched my fists, my voice raising to a shout. "I might as well just go kill myself! It's much easier to take something from a dead body! Then you and Loki can go back to trying to destroy each other and nobody will be in your way!" I took a breath, glaring at him with all the hate I could muster. "Everybody always says you're a jerk, but I didn't think you'd be one to someone who idolizes you." I spat before turning on my heel and walking away, Tony's face pale and his brown eyes wide.

"Emerald, wait!" Cap called, his footsteps echoing behind me.

"Nice going, Metal Man." Thor growled.

"I didn't mean it, I was just..." I couldn't hear the rest of Tony's defense, I was too far away and I had started to cry, the hot tears burning down my cheeks.

"Emerald, wait! Please!" Cap called, his voice closer this time.

I turned down a hallway, not knowing where I was going but not really caring. Finally, he caught up to me, grabbing me firmly by the arm and turning me to face him. "What do you want?" I snapped, but my voice came out less harsh than I intended it to.

"Don't listen to what Tony says. He doesn't think before he says anything and he says that stuff to everybody. Don't take it personally, that's just how he is."

"But he's right." I whispered, sniffling and looking up at Cap as my vision started to clear a little. "Nobody here cares, all they want is the tesseract. I'm just in the way, I shouldn't be here."

"It'll take some extra work, but we'll figure it out. We'll help you."

"Because it's your job, not because you want to. I'd be better off dead."

"Don't say that."

"But it's true." I pulled away from him as the tears started to fall faster, turning away and starting to walk off. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find a knife or a gun."

He grabbed my arm again, his grip tighter, and snatched me back. "Don't you dare." He growled. "How could you even think about that? You have your whole life ahead of you."

"Not really! I've become involved with S.H.I.E.L.D. Do you not know them? Once you're involved, there's never a way to become uninvolved. I'll be stuck with them forever if they can't get this out of me. I'll be locked up or they'll want to have someone always watching me. And even if I can get out of here, people will think I'm weird, that I'm a mutant. Mutants and people with powers are outcasted, beaten, killed. I have no future with this thing. My life will be hell! What do I have to look forward to?"

Cap just looked down at me, pity in his eyes. He gently wiped away my tears, only to have more replace them. After a few tries, he gave up trying to wipe away the tears. "I'm sorry this happened to you. They should have left the tesseract in the bottom of the ocean. I know sorry won't help anything, but maybe I can."

I sniffled and looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"Well, we're both going to be kind of...I don't know, confused? After this, we'll both need some help adjusting to normal life, or as normal as life can get for us. I'm sure you know a lot about these times, and I know a lot about the tesseract. We could help each other out."

"Do you really mean that?"

He nodded slowly. "I really mean it."

I smiled a little, wiping away my tears and finally not having any more fall. "Thanks, Cap."

He smiled back. "Call me Steve."

"That's your real name?"

He nodded again. "Steven Rogers, but everybody calls me Steve. So, are you still hungry?"

I sighed and then nodded, my stomach aching and churning. I needed food. Like, now. "But what about Tony?"

He just shook his head and put an arm around my shoulders, leading me back towards the cafeteria. "He'll come around eventually."

I just nodded, walking along silently before I furrowed my brows again. "I don't get it."

"Get what?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Why Tony is always fighting with you. According to Thor, you two fight all the time, which is stupid. His dad made you...you know, all of this." I said, gesturing to him and all his muscles. "I don't think he has any right to be fighting with and mocking you."

Steve laughed, smiling and shrugging. "Finally! Someone who agrees. I don't know, Em. I honestly don't know why Tony does what he does."