A/N I can't even begin to apologize for how long you all have waited. These past few weeks have been totally crazy. I graduated (yay!), I was out of the country for two weeks followed immediately by orientation for college, and then my parents have been not-so-subtly pressuring me to work as much as I can this summer so I'll actually be able to somewhat afford living for the next four years. Anyways, enough of my problems. I am so very sorry.
Big, big, BIG thankyous to bullybullet6, musa22lbl, Transformers' BABY, HawiianChick12, A regrettable decision, and morganville101 for your reviews. I know it may not seem like it, what with the long wait and all, but I truly do appreciate the support. These reviews were what pushed me to stay up until 3am working on this so I can get it out during some of my limited free time. And to nemeisswan and anyone else that finds any issue with my story, please message me personally with your concerns. I am open to any and all comments but I would like them to be constructive, not disruptive. If anyone has any questions, comments, concerns about that or anything else, please let me know.

Ok, I think I've talked enough. On with the story...
Hugs and Kisses! Sarah

P.S. A little warning about the chapter. Nothing major, but there's some not so subtle innuendo in here that may make some people uncomfortable and I apologize in advance if it does. It will happen on occasion but I will always give a warning, and I promise that it's never going to be there just to be there; it will always be relevant to the story.
Also, in case its not clear by now, as I am writing fanfiction and not actually hanging out with the Avengers, I do not own any part of the Avengers or anything within the Marvel universe except my OC's and maybe a few special details here and there.
And again, I've talked too much. Sorry!

"Where is she?"

"Sir, I'm sorry. I can't let you past this point with express authorization from-"

Bruce had to take a deep breath to control the green spreading along his body, his fists shaking from being clenched too hard.

In a voice too deep and rough to be his own, Bruce demanded, "Let me in now." The young cop guarding the entrance to the club stepped out of the way in fear. After another deep breath, Bruce nodded as he walked past. "Thank you."

His eyes took a second to adjust to the contrast of the dark interior to the sunlight outside. When they did, he noticed a small group of police officers huddled around a table. He headed over to ask where Laina and her sister were. As he grew closer, he heard an officer ask, quite loudly, "Look, missy, I'm not going to ask you again. What happened between you and the guy?"

Bruce heard a woman reply, just as loud, "She already told you three times. You're just too stupid to listen."

"If you don't cool it, lady, I'll have to arrest you too."

"Then you should really stop yelling at my sister." Bruce saw Anna stand between the officer and Laina. Bruce walked up to the group and asked, "What happened?"

Laina looked up, and Bruce immediately noticed her red eyes, smudged makeup, and tear tracks. He pushed through the group to Laina and asked again, "What happened?"

Laina took a deep breath then started, "Well we were having a really good time, I don't normally do this sort of thing, but it was really nice to just be with Anna again and then we went to get a drink and everything was fine until this guy started hitting on me and I told him to stop because I wasn't interested but he wouldn't listen and I just kinda flashed back to what happened before and I couldn't go through that again and the next thing I knew he was halfway across the room and I was crying and everyone was looking at me like I did something and I just don't know what to do." Laina took a long deep breath and met Bruce's eyes. His blood started to boil at the pain and confusion he saw in Laina's eyes as they once again filled with tears. "Bruce, what do I do?"

Bruce leaned in to hug her only to realize her hands were cuffed behind her. Bruce straightened up, his hands clenched at his sides as he turned to the line of cops behind him, intent on letting off some steam… with his fists. That is until he heard, "Alright, boys, do you think we can get those cuffs off our girl?"

Bruce turned to see Tony making his way over to the group, his charismatic, playboy swagger in full force.

The same officer that was yelling at Laina earlier turned to the new arrival. "Uh, I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, sir, but we're not really authorized to do that until we know whether the guy's pressin charges or not. Considering he's en route to the hospital right now, unconscious, we're kinda supposed to take her down to the station until we can get a real idea of what to do next."

Tony walked up to the officer in question. "What's your name, officer?"

"It's, uh, Clark, sir. Adam Clark."

"Well, Officer Adam Clark. I want you to uncuff my friend here. And if you don't, I'll just have to talk to my good friend at the commissioner's office, you know Commissioner Raddon. And if that doesn't work then I'll just have to talk to my best buddy Mayor Charles. Now, I'm going to ask you one last time before I start to get angry. Uncuff my friend. If you guys need her to wait for the man to wake up, she can do it freely at home until she's needed at the station. Got it?"

All of the officers looked at each other before the one closest to Laina moved to unlock her handcuffs. Tony gave them a small nod with a taut smirk. "Thank you. Now, if you don't mind. We'll be leaving now." Tony put his glasses on and turned towards the door in one smooth, semi-rehearsed motion. Bruce wrapped his arm around Laina and led her toward the door. Anna followed closely behind the pair, turning right before leaving the building to flip off the cops still standing around the table. She then left the club with a smile.

Steve stood up as soon as the elevator doors opened. "What took you guys so long? The sun is already up. You've been gone all night." Anna walked up to Steve and gave him a light kiss. "Relax, Steve. Laina is shaken up enough as it is."

Clint made space on the couch for Laina and Bruce then wrapped his arm around Laina's shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. "What happened anyway? I heard our Laina-bear here kicked some guy's ass." Laina smiled a little bit at this.

Anna chuckled. "That she did. Only it wasn't so much as kicked as it was, well, I'm not sure what it was."

Tony asked, eager for another puzzle to solve. "What do you mean?"

Anna turned to Laina. "Do you want me to explain what I saw? Because I'm not really sure what it is that I saw, but I know that it freaked you out way more than it freaked me out."

Laina sat up a little bit straighter. "I don't really know what happened. The guy had me pinned between his body and the bar. His hands were all over me. All I could think about was that I couldn't let it happen to me again. I couldn't handle living through more nightmares. I wanted this guy to stop. I wanted him to know how I was feeling so he would never do anything like this to anyone again. I put my hand on his face; I don't know why. I thought about pushing all of my emotions to him, sharing how I felt. I almost thought it was working, he sort of froze, but he was still on top of me so I just sort of pushed. And then he was across the room."

Clint sat back against the couch, a look of surprise obvious on his face. "Whoa. Looks like our little Laina-bear has some super-secret special powers."

Anna snorted. "Special powers? Who do you think she is?"

Tony gave her a look. "Where do you think you are right now? 'Special powers' is sort of our specialty."

Anna smiled. "Right, sorry. Continue."

Bruce looked a bit lost in thought. "It does sound like you have some type of power. Maybe connected to emotions. Of course, that doesn't quite explain how you were able to throw a man across the room, but maybe there's a way to transfer emotions into some form of energy that-"

"Hey, Bruce. I don't think now is really a good brainstorming time," Anna interrupted, indicating toward Laina, who looked a little worn out.

"You're right." Bruce kissed the top of Laina's head as he stood up before helping her up. "Why don't we get you to bed?"

Tony smirked as the two headed toward the elevator. "Rest up, Laina. Tomorrow, we start training."

Loki couldn't help but feel a bit bored as he looked at the woman while she writhed and moaned underneath him. Ever since his "lovely" wife returned home, he's been stuck with her every night, forced to give up his nightly handmaiden. "It won't matter much soon." Loki thought. "She'll figure out who she really is and then she won't be able to stay away from me. She's too important." Just thinking about her was enough to finish him. Loki rolled off his wife. "Sigyn. Would you mind getting me a beverage of some sort?" She turned to him with a sickening smile. "Of course, my king." She left the room with a sway in her step.

A moment after she left, the door opened again. "Dear, even I don't possess the ability to retrieve water that quickly." Loki turned toward the door. He sat up quickly when he saw his captain of the guard instead.

"There was an incident on Midgard. A woman was assaulted in a bar but no charges were pressed."

Loki sighed, resisting the urge to turn the guard into a bug to squash. "And I care why?"

"It was that girl you wanted me to have eyes on." Loki became more interested now. He quickly threw a robe on and ran to his workshop. There he transported himself to where it happened. After watching the whole thing from afar, Loki returned, his body rigid with excitement. "She's almost ready. And then, nothing will be able to stop me."