Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers!

Chapter 21

When Edlyn had summoned the bright beam of lightning, Tony immediately knew something was utterly wrong. He quickly flew the skies and saw his 'daughter' kneeling on the ground. What made him ticked off, was the fact she was 1.) crying 2.) screaming 3.) and was in pain. This caused his 'daddy' senses to go off in his head. Or was that the alarm he put in his suit? Well, either which, it didn't help he saw Thor's hammer near Edlyn.

So that 'persuaded' him to knock the blond off his feet and send him flying into the forest.
Best to known to him, Thor was going to use Mjolnir to divert the electricity away. Since he is the god of Thunder, lightning, storms, (and a few more things but hey, it's not important right now).

While Thor and Tony (and a bit later, Steve) where dealing it within the forest, Loki was left with the agonizing girl.

Loki slowly made his way over, careful not to get zapped. "Adrianna…."

"W-Who…?" gritted Edlyn, straining to open an eye to look at the God of Lies and Mischief.

"It's me, Loki….your friend…" he said, inching a bit forward.

"Lo….Loki?" she croaked. The beam of lightning wavered and (slightly) decreased. She snapped her eyes shut again as a wave of memories hit her but at the same time two opposing forces were trying to get away. This was also happening to Loki, due to Edlyn's telepathy and his own wave of memories. The thing that was opposing their memories and their true selves was Thantos. And in Edlyn's case, the rules of the game.

Her eyes widened as tears fell. She slowly removed her hands from her head, revealing fingernail marks, as she brought it to her arms. "Loki…I…I remember…" she whispered to him.

"You remember?" he gritted, not in anger just in slight pain.

"I-I won't remember you…later…after this…Please, don't hate me-" she said, before she let out a gasp. Her body racked with electrical pulse and was being paralyzed from her own element. Her eyes went black then the Tesseract blue, then went back to her brown eyes, then electric blue, then back to brown again. She let out a loud gasp, taking in a sharp inhale of fresh air, before letting it out.

Her head twitched (which brought slight concern to the god) before he knew that it was Edlyn. Although he didn't know the circumstances, he knew she was diverted into two personalities and people. One was Adrianna and the other was Edlyn.

Edlyn, that Loki guessed, blinked in utter confusion before setting her eyes at him. That's he knew, it was only Edlyn who did not know him or Thor, as he realized. She was alive.

That's when The Tesseract took control of him again. Edlyn quickly pounced onto him and subdued him before he could do anything, locking handcuffs around his wrist. "Damn it…seriously, Tony?" she cursed, looking at the nearly de-leveled forest.

She immediately saw Thor bringing down his hammer onto Steve's shield as she widened her eyes. "Magic Hammer?" she asked quickly.

"Yes." Said Loki as Edlyn quickly brought out a card. She threw it as it immediately stood straight, floating in front of them as curled her fingers except for her index and middle finger before making a couple of strokes and extending outwards, creating an obscure rectangular shield.

When Thor's Hammer hit the shield, it rang out like gigantic bell and wave of air hit a 100 mile radius. Pebbles and debris flew and bounced off the shield as Edlyn dug her heels into the ground, keeping a firm grip on Loki.

After the blast subdued, Edlyn twitched in annoyance at what used to be a forest…now looked like it was used as a logging camp.

Immediately she begun to call down Natasha to pick them up, as the now three heroes looked at each other.

Not long after, the five of them were all picked up and all led to the Herricarrier. No one spoke as Edlyn kept her face blank, every so often, massaging her temple and kept an eye on Loki. Thor snuck glances at Loki and more so, Edlyn, not believing his eyes while Steve and Tony were glaring at each other.

Natasha snuck a glance back and was slightly grateful she was the one piloting.

When they landed, Edlyn got Loki to stand up and led him off the ship where a group of men were armed and led Loki to his cell. The God of Mischief glanced back at her who merely stared ahead as Steve placed a hand on her back, guiding her back to her room.

Tony and Thor followed as Steve picked her up, as she buried herself into Steve's chest. "You okay?" he asked.

"No." she replied, honestly. "My head hurts in more ways than one. I slightly paralyzed myself-" she twitched with a small dose of electricity, "- and I'm thirsty, hungry, and tired. I want to take a nap but I just know if I do, I will be plagued with nightmares."

Steve looked at her worriedly as she sighed and rubbed her temples. He got his intercom and spoke, "Dr. Banner. This is Captain America"

"This is Dr. Banner. Do you need anything? " he asked politely as Alex glanced at him, mouthing 'Edlyn'.

"Do you think you or Alex could check on Edlyn? She doesn't feel too well." He spoke. Bruce stiffened as Alex heard it in his intercom. "I'll immediately be on my way." Spoke Alex, he glanced at the doctor who merely smiled, telling him to go. Within seconds, he dashed off.

It didn't take long to find Edlyn but he did see Loki. He stopped, watching the God of Mischeif go by. Surrounded by armed soldiers. He saw Loki smirk at him and he felt his body fluster. He instantly kicked himself, returning back to Edlyn.

He couldn't be distracted by good looking men. It seemed he had a bad thing meeting people who were on the opposite side.

He found Edlyn who was sitting in a chair, Steve giving her a cup of tea. "Hey." He greeted.

Edlyn turned to him and he saw how tired she looked. "Hey." She croaked, waving meekly. He went over, nodding politely to Steve, and sat down in a nearby chair. Alex placed both of his hands on both of her head and his hands glowed bluish green. Edlyn's headache (quickly) started to disappear as she took in a deep breath.

Bruce later came over, apparently to the main bridge, as he saw Alex's hands glowing. Steve just stood there amazed and later Thor came over, watching the healer work. After a while, Alex removed his hands as Edlyn let out a sigh of relief, sinking in her chair.

Natasha had came over with Bruce, as the red head sat not too far next to the youngest female. "You alright?" she asked.

Edlyn smiled reassuringly, "I'm fine now. Thanks Alex," he nodded, "just tired now but that's to be expected." She spoke.

A couple of screens appeared on the table, revealing Loki in the glass cage. Everone turned their ears open to this, some leaning closer.

"In case it's unclear," said Fury, "if you try to escape, if you so much scratch that glass." He said as he pressed a button, the bottom floor of the cage open as wind and turbulence flew. "It's 30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" he pressed a few buttons, closing the hatch. "Ant-" gesturing to Loki, "Boot." Gesturing to the screen.

Loki chuckled, "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me." He said.

"Built for something a lot stronger than you." Said Fury.

Edlyn cursed out loud, hitting the table. "Damnit Fury!" she hissed. Alex didn't move to stop her or tempt her to calm down as Loki looked at the camera. "Oh, I've heard. A mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man. " Bruce fidgeted as Natasha got what he was aiming at. "How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you? "

"How desperate am I?" said Fury, "you threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill because it's fun." Edlyn narrowed her eyes, " You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

Loki faked flinched, "It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power…and for what?" he grinned, "A warm light for all mankind to share and then to be reminded what real power is?

Fury stared at him for a few moments as Fury begun to walk away, "Well, let me know if real power wants a magazine or something."

Loki turned and stared at the camera before the image disappeared. "He really grows on you, doesn't he?" asked Bruce.

"Loki's gonna drag this out." Said Steve, "So Thor, what's his play?"

Thor looked at him, He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth and in return, I suspect for the Tesseract."

Edlyn placed her cheek against her fist, staring at Thor. She twisted her seat left and right, her other hand tapping the chair. "An army." Said Steve. "From outer space."

"Seems right out of a movie, doesn't it?" she asked Alex, looking at him from the corner of her eye. "Yup." He replied, popping the P.

"So, he's building another portal." Asked Bruce. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" asked Thor, reacting to the name.

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend." Shot back Thor.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours." Said Natasha, as Edlyn knew it was Clint.

"I want to know why Loki let us take him." Said Steve, "He's not leading an army from here."

"One of the best ways to attack an enemy, is to attack from the inside." Said Edlyn, glancing at Steve as everyone looked at her. "Hey," she said defending herself. "I've done it a lot of times. Have a fight so you don't make it too easy, get myself captured, bide my time, and boom, start the invasion." She said, clapping her hands together.

Alex glanced at her, "And that made us very worried."

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad." Said Edlyn, rolling her eyes.

"You're right." Smiled Alex, "It was horrible." He said, frowning at her.

"But it was a horrible yet clever plan, no?"

"Unbelievable." Sighed Alex as Edlyn grinned like the Cheshire cat.

"Got that right." Smiled Edlyn, before looking at everyone. "Anyway, concerning Loki having Erik Selvig and Clint Barton under his control, Loki is also under another person's control."

"What makes you believe that?" asked Natasha, getting slightly edgy.

"It's not what I believe, Natasha. It's what I know." She replied, flatly. " The scepter…it's part of the Tesseract. Don't know how, don't want to know hurt my brain." She said. "But Loki's eyes were the shade of blue that Tesseract is."

"So?" asked Steve.

"That is because Loki's eyes are not blue. They are green." Said Thor, realizing this. "That could be the reason, he suddenly disappeared from Asgard without anyone knowing…"

Edlyn rose a finger up, "Also, I saw the video feed when Loki came. Everyone, that is under 'Loki's' control, has the same eye colour." She spoke.

"And you're eyes turned the colour of the Tesseract when the Tesseract touched you." Said Steve, widening his eyes.

"What?!" yelled everyone, except Steve. Edlyn rose her hands. "Not under control. Yet."

"Yet?" asked Natasha, not convinced.

"That's because Edlyn is also a telepath." Said Tony, walking in with Coulson. "And I tested her. Her telepathy is on par with one of the world's greatest telepaths. So the Tesseract doesn't have the much control on her because she's fighting it."

Edlyn smiled at Tony, "Thank you Tony for your wonderful explanation."

Tony bowed dramatically, "Anyway, we shouldn't focus too much on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell crazy on him." Said Bruce.

"Have care how you speak." Said Thor, becoming defensive. "Loki may be beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother"

"He killed 80 people in two days." Said Natasha.

"He's adopted." Edlyn threw a cookie at Thor, who caught it as Edlyn spoke. "And thousands of people die in the war."

"I think it's about the mechanics." Said Bruce, speaking up. "Iridium…what do they need the iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent." Spoke Tony and Alex at the same time. Edlyn widened her eyes in shock, looking at him and Tony before the two shared a smirk. Alex waved Tony to continue on.

"It means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at SHIELD" Said Tony, glancing at everyone and walked forward. He tapped Thor's arm. "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing. Also it means the portal can open as wide and as long as Loki wants."

Tony stood in the middle of the control as he spoke, waving his hands. "Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails."

Everyone stopped for a moment, to look at him. Edlyn slapped her forehead and sighed. "That man is playing Galaga." Pointed Tony as Edlyn and Alex looked. "He thought we wouldn't noticed but we did."

Tony placed a hand over his left eye and tried to look around. "How does Fury even see these?"

"He turns." Replied Agent Hill.

"Sounds exhausting." Said Tony, before resuming. "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high energy density. Something to kick start the cube."

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"

"Last night." He replied. Everyone rose an eyebrow.

"The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I only one who did the reading?" asked Tony.

"There were notes?" she asked, in utter surprise. Everyone stared at her as her cheeks flushed and she cleared her throat. "Well…wouldn't do too much good to me anyway. Nearly failed at Chemistry in Science 10 by 2%, got never higher than a C+ in math from grade school to grade 10 till Foundations Math, and…" she looked at everyone, "You know what, forget it."

Alex patted her head as Tony smirked. "Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" asked Steve.

"He would have to heat the Cube to 120 Million Kelvin just to break the Coulomb Barrier." Said Bruce.

"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect." Said Tony.

"If he could do that, the Tesseract is not the only threat, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet which means a lot of….mishaps will happen." Spoke Alex, sighing. "Why not just the Earth's Core while we're at it!"

"Finally, two people who speaks English." Said Tony, looking at Alex and Bruce. He looked at the older male/

"Is that what just happened?" asked Steve as Edlyn shrugged.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner." Said Tony, "Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control-

Edlyn promptly pushed her chair and turned her seat around, before delivering a blow to Tony's back leg, earning a curse from the genius.

"Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark." Said Edlyn as Tony looked at her, while she gave him a death glare. "What do you when you first meet people? You say hello and make nice. Not give them a reason to crush your 'pretty' face or worse, kill you."

Tony opted to make a wise crack until he saw her eyes glow electric blue and saw her barring her teeth. Not to mention, the lights were flickering and he saw the small electrical bolt come out of her. He rose his hands in surrender before she smiled innocently at him. "Good." She said, placing both of her hands together.

Everyone sweat dropped, 'Scary' they thought.

"I heard that!" she yelled, making everyone jump. She looked at them, as they seemed shocked.

She let out a sigh, placing both of her hands on her temples. "The louder the thought is or how collective the thought is, the easier it is for me to read it without even trying."

"Like?" asked Steve.

"Like….if you were in a life threatening situation, I would pick up your thoughts during that time. Or if it concerns me or if the thought is very…concentrated." She explained. "Anyway, Bruce is only here to track the cube. Nothing more or nothing less. So no more wise crack, Tony."

Fury came in, "And I was hoping you would join him, Stark."

"I would start with that stick with his." Said Steve. "It may be…magical but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

Edlyn shuddered, "I hated those things." Steve gave a slight smirk.

"I don't know about that but it is powered by the Cube." Said Fury.

Edlyn took out her phone and checked it, "And how exactly, Director, do you know that?" she asked, glancing at Fury. The Director of SHIELD narrowed his eye at her, as well, the two having a stare down as a small bolt of electricity was emitted from her.

"-and I want to know how Loki used it, to turn of the sharpest men I know, into his personal flying monkey." Said Fury, looking at everyone except Edlyn.

"Monkeys? I do not understand." Said Thor.

"I do." Said Steve, without thinking. Everyone looked at him, before he realized what he said. "I mean…I understood that reference."

Tony looked at Bruce, "Shall we play, Doctor?"

"This way, sir." Said Bruce. Alex stood up, "Looks like back to lab." He said.

Edlyn smirked, "Try to get Tony not to get Bruce too riled up."

Alex smirked back, "Can't say for myself though."

The two chuckled before they high-fived each other as Alex joined Bruce and Tony to the lab.

Then the man started playing Galaga, as Edlyn pushed her chair to Steve. "Want to play some cards or something?" she asked, holding a pack of regular cards.

Steve smirked, "Old Maid?" he asked.

Edlyn shrugged, "I was thinking Goldfish but that works too."