"There was no sign of Loki in the wreckage, so we can only assume that he went with the Chitauri," a female agent with dark hair and light skin reported. I recognised Maria Hill as I limped into the meeting room.
"He didn't go with them," I refuted. All eyes turned on me.
"Miss Carter! We were told you were being confined to the medical center!" Steve exclaimed.
"Agent Carter," my boss corrected. "But what are you doing here, Agent?"
"Am I not invited to this meeting?"
"Don't you have soft tissue damage, Carter?" Phillips wondered. I shrugged dismissively.
"I'll heal. I've been through worse. He didn't go with them," I repeated.
"What are you talking about, Agent?" Thor demanded, standing. "The Chitauri clearly came for Loki!"
"He didn't go with them, Thor," I stated yet again, limping closer. "I was there. The Chitauri came for him; yes, but he didn't want to go. They want to punish him for failing them."
"Carter, are you certain?" Johnston asked me sharply. I nodded.
"Yes, I am. You should have seen him, sir. When they came for him; when he knew they were going to take him, he was terrified. I've never seen him so open, so… raw," I told him earnestly, shaking my head.
"Report! Tell us everything," he commanded. I took a deep breath.
"What will they do to punish him?" Thor wondered mournfully, sinking into his chair again slowly.
"Chronic, agonising torture, I'd expect. He failed pretty epically," I pointed out bitterly, crossing my arms.
"You forget yourself, Carter," Johnston reprimanded. I straightened immediately, reining in my emotions firmly.
"Sir," I apologised blankly.
"Oh, come on!" Tony shouted, flinging a hand at me. "This is ridiculous! Let the girl be human!"
"Right now, Agent Carter is not human, Mr Stark. She is an agent of The Ides and she shall behave as such!"
"You've gotta be kidding me!" Stark shouted again. I didn't react and Johnston ignored Tony, focusing on me again.
"Do you know where they would have taken him?"
"No, sir. Though, were I to hazard a guess, I would postulate that it is not in this realm. Not where the Avengers could find them."
"A reasonable assumption," Fury agreed, nodding. "But if that is the case, then it is out of our hands."
"No!" Thor bellowed, slamming his palm onto the conference table, making me jump. I winced at the jarring motion in my tender legs and exhaled slowly, regaining my composure. "No!" Thor raged again. "No, we cannot abandon my brother to those monsters!"
"Aren't Frost Giants themselves monsters?" I asked calmly. Thor's glare was answer enough.
"Loki is my brother. We cannot allow these creatures to torture him."
"He's right," Steve chimed in. "We're the good guys; we can't let this happen. As bad as Loki is; I don't think he deserves whatever those aliens have in store for him."
"So, what then?" Bruce asked. "We have no way of locating him if he is off-planet."
"You search Earth; I will have Heimdall assist me in looking through the other realms," Thor declared, standing and stalking for the door. He paused and placed a meaty hand on my shoulder. "You have my thanks, Agent Carter. I understand that you would have fought for Loki." I looked to my boss and he inclined his head so I looked up into Thor's startlingly glacier blue eyes.
"I did fight for Loki," I agreed. "And I'll fight to get him back. The Captain is right, we are the good guys, and Loki was in our hands. People really shouldn't steal from us," I stated darkly.
"Loki is fortunate to have you in his life," Thor told me before he walked out. I blinked, unsure whether to protest the statement, or just accept the compliment.
"Agent Carter, you will remain on board the Shield helicarrier and keep us updated on the search for Loki. Phillips will stay with you. I will return to The Ides HQ and start our own search. Director Fury, I take it you have no qualms with cooperating on this search," Johnston stated.
"The more the merrier," Fury responded wryly, smirking. "We will look after your agents, don't worry." Johnston nodded.
"Very well. Please have your men prepare my plane for departure."
Phillips stayed primarily on the bridge with Director Fury, keeping our boss informed of the goings-on. I took up a position similar to my original job aboard the helicarrier; fetching and carrying, organising, and I was one of the only people allowed in Dr Banner and Tony Stark's lab. Days turned into weeks with no sign of Loki or any word from Thor. "He may already be dead," I overheard Clint saying to Natasha as they prepared to go out and physically search for signs of the alien prince.
"Then you will locate his body," I stated firmly. "But until he is found, we must assume that he is, in fact, alive. Besides, if I had the kind of grudge that the Chitauri no doubt bare, I'd keep him around for as long as I possibly could. But he would be nothing but a shadow."
Silence followed my statement as I handed Clint a packed lunch I'd made for the two agents. "You really are darker than you appear to be, aren't you?" Natasha finally asked. I smiled slightly at her, nodding.
"Yes, Tasha. Now, I've made you some nice ham and salad sandwiches, and some roast chicken and salad sandwiches, and a batch of Choc-cinnamon biscuits. Anything else you'd like?" I listed cheerfully, bouncing on my toes. I didn't have to act like an agent when my boss and partner weren't there to see me. More silence, then Clint suddenly put his hand on my waist, tugged me closer and pecked me lightly on the side of my forehead. He released me immediately afterwards and headed for the quin-jet. Natasha smiled and clapped my shoulder before following her partner.
I watched the quin-jet take off and headed back indoors. "Any word?" I asked Phillips when I found him on the bridge. He shook his head.
"Nothing from us or Shield, and no contact with Thor, either." I nodded my understanding and handed him a mug of coffee from my tray. I walked over to Director Fury and offered him anther cup. He accepted it without a word, staring intently at the screens. I took the last mug to Agent Hill who smiled and nodded at me.
"Good to have you back, Carter," she murmured secretively. I smiled at her in return, but composed myself before I walked back towards Phillips and past him to the door.
When I walked into the lab, Bruce was spouting some scientific jargon, flipping through a textbook of some description while Tony was tapping away at a holoscreen. Tony sighed roughly and leaned back in his chair, scrubbing at his face. "Something wrong, Stark?" I asked, placing a tray of two coffees on a free desk.
"I've got the mother of all headaches; I don't think even coffee is going to help," he moaned pitifully, wincing. I clicked my tongue and walked behind him.
"Let me see if I can fix it," I purred soothingly, sliding my fingers down his scalp and rubbing gentle circles into the pressure points I remembered from my massage therapy work. Tony sighed in relief as I kneaded down the back of his neck, tension leaving him. "Helpful?" I asked quietly.
"Very," he confirmed.
"Now, have you boys found anything?" I asked, keeping my voice low as Tony's breathing deepened and he relaxed further.
"I'm sorry, Ellie," Bruce told me. "There's simply no sign of him! It's as though he disappeared into thin air!"
"I wouldn't be surprised if he could, were his magic not bound by those little bracelets of yours," I responded, referring to the thin bands placed around Loki's wrists to halt the flow of energy that was his magic. "As it is; do the Chitauri not have those bizarre flying contraptions? They could have taken him on those, could they not?" Bruce nodded and Tony chimed in sluggishly.
"We tracked the energy signature from the Chitauri, but the trail ended somewhere over the area Barton and Romanoff should be searching now… I don't think the Chitauri or Loki are here anymore, El." Tony looked up at me apologetically. I shrugged, massaging his temples in a circular motion.
"Then the rest is up to Thor and Heimdall," I stated calmly.