The rest of the team were in the sky lounge and bar, continuing their evening when Steve, Alina and Bucky burst in.
"Jeez what took you lot so long? Having a quick three some were we?" Tony teased
"No we were just taken hostage" Steve said in a deadpan voice. He continued to explain what had happened and what the shadow man had said to them.
Bruce and Tony immediately started bringing up statistics, tracking details, security footage and anything they could get from the night. The car he had used was simply a replica of those in Stark's fleet and since he drove off with that, there wasn't much evidence they could gauge from it.
"What I don't understand is how he keeps finding you" Pepper said to the group as she took a sip of champagne
"I have had all our devices and clothes checked and double checked for taps or bugs and there is nothing. I had Fury do the same to the agents and the jets a few days back and nothing" Tony said
"Because it's not a bug or a tap he's using to figure out where we are" Alina said, staring out the window over the city
"What?" Sam asked
"It's me. Loki, Thor you guys found me because you tracked the power source right? And remember Agent Coulson saying they had traced a large powersource to me and had decided to fly over to London to see? The stones are being tracked because they're exuding too much power" Alina said
Loki and Thor looked to one another, remembering what Dus had said in the cells in Asgard. He spoke of a few members of Hydra already knowing about her, as well as other beings in the universe.
"So you're saying whenever you use or even slightly elevate the stone's power, you're trackable?" Steve asked
"It makes sense. The power is so great that with the correct technology it could be used as a trace. It wouldn't be extremely accurate but it would be enough to tell which city and which area of the city she would be in" Bruce said, tipping his glasses.
"What do we do?" Natasha asked
"I stop using my magic until we are somehow able to dull the signal that pings off from them when they are in activation" Alina responded
"But you need to train" Loki growled
"I don't see why. I have enough training to control them and use them in battle. It's not like I am training for anything" she shrugged
Thor moved uncomfortably and Loki huffed. They couldn't explain the necessity without telling her of the prophecy. Tony and Bruce however shared a glance and Bruce raised his eyebrows.
"What?" he asked
"I think I have an Idea" Tony said
"Oh no, no no no count me out" Bruce replied
"Trust me it's fine. We want her on missions right?" Tony asked
"Of course" Steve butted in
"Alina darling come with me" Tony grinned, dragging her to his lab.
For the rest of the evening and well into the early morning Alina sat and allowed Bruce and Tony to work around her, taking blood samples, testing her power, trying to trace it themselves and reading results and data. Jane looked up at the lab which overhung the sky lounge and bar. Alina leant against the window, looking out over New York while Tony took her bloods for the 3rd time that evening. Jane respected Dr. Everton and after working with her only for a week, considered her a friend but she felt that Thor was not telling her something and it had begun to bother her. She leant over to Thor who sat next to her.
"What aren't you telling us?" she asked
Thor looked to her and she could see the guilty look in his eyes that he was trying so hard to hide.
"I don't know what you mean?" he said
Jane sighed. She knew it had to be pretty big if Thor was required to keep it from her but it was starting to affect them all. Everyone could feel the tension from Thor and Loki whenever the stones were mentioned by the team or by anyone else.
"About Alina. You and Loki are not telling us something. You're always tense whenever those Infinity Stones come up and everyone is noticing it Thor"
"She's right" Natasha said quietly. She had been eavesdropping like usual and agreed with Jane. The longer Thor and Loki hid the truth the longer the tensions would rise and distrust would form between them all.
Above, Loki sat across from Alina as Tony and Bruce stood in the corner discussing results and figuring out some equations to form another test. He watched as Alina looked out over the city and there was a look to her eyes which he couldn't identify. Something between nostalgia and sadness but it was calm. There was nothing panicked to the look, simply an even look of thought. He felt her thinking more and more lately. He knew she was growing in her power and it was beginning to consume her thoughts as she dealt with how to control it. As he stared, she looked up and gave him a small smile.
"You cut your hair" she said, her eyes raking over him.
"It needed it. Not too much though" he smiled
"It looks… good. Left loose like that"
"Thank you"
She went quiet for a few minutes, looking back over the city with the same look as before. As she turned back to him she closed her eyes heavily and gave him a tired look.
"Loki…"
"Yes?"
"I think I am in this over my head"
"What do you mean?"
"All this power.. I can feel it. I can feel everything and I fear loss of control. This is over my head, what we are dealing with. It feels bigger than just Hydra. I can feel it. It.. something more important is happening" she said
He swallowed a little. He resented lying to her, especially about something so massive but he knew that she mustn't know until she was powerful enough to face the prophecy that hung over her head.
"The stones.. they're power is unprecedented. Even I don't know how your body and mind will react to the power as it grows but I promise you I won't let it hurt you" he replied
Across the room, Tony and Bruce looked up at Loki's words. Alina put her heads in her hands, making her hands into fists she squeezed them tight. The feeling was overwhelming, she felt scared but she couldn't say of what. There was just the immense feeling of terror, that something was going very wrong. Loki furrowed his eyebrows, he was worried at Alina's signs of fear and distress. He moved forward slightly and she looked up at him with pained eyes. He stopped and stared, she looked afraid.
"Sparkles? You ok?" Tony asked, after watching the interaction
"Im ok tony" she replied in an almost whisper, twisting her arm so not to pull out the IV.
Loki sat back down but to his surprise, Alina's eyes flashed gold. He stood up with such haste that Tony and Bruce jumped. They too froze at Alina's sudden change. Tony went to move towards her but with a look he was suddenly unable to move.
"Wha-!"
"The Mind stone, she's using a telepathy method to tell your brain functions to freeze your motion of legs" Loki said
Bruce started twitching slightly and Loki and Tony looked to each other. Alina was manipulating his brain functions. In a fluid motion Loki lunged at Alina, tackling her back into her seat. He raised his fingers to her temple like he had that first time at the bifrost, and knocked her unconscious. Bruce stopped twitching and let out a gasp. Tony collapsed to his knees and wobbled as he stood back up. Loki stroked the girl's face as she lay back in the chair, unconscious. Her sudden loss of control had been a surprise to him but he suspected it was due to a surge in power. To his surprise, Tony approached and cuffed Alina down to the chair by her wrists and ankles. Loki looked at him, aghast.
"Precautions"
"Those won't stop her using her powers" Loki said in anger
"No but these will" he replied, raising a pair of thick metal cuffs which clicked in a strange manner as they went on her wrists and encompassed much of her hand. Loki growled and Tony just looked at him.
"We have to tell the others" Bruce said, eventually recovering from his near miss with the other guy.
Loki walked behind them, down the stairs. He recognised the look of confusion and fear she had given him in that split moment her eyes had connected with his. He hated seeing her in that much pain and confusion.
"So she just… lost it?" Steve asked
"No. The power spiked just as it happened" Tony said. Loki looked at him, surprised he was defending the girl.
"Has it happened before?" Clint asked, looking to Loki.
"No. Never. But the mind stone is the mind stone for a reason and no Asgardian alive has ever seen or documented the stones when coupled together in one person so there is no way to tell how she may have reacted" Loki shook his head
"I don't understand.. Something is missing" Bucky said
"Thor…" Jane trailed off. Thor chewed his lip and looked to Loki sternly who sighed and glanced up at the glass of the lab upstairs. He pursed his lips and nodded.
"There is more to Lady Alina than the general abnormalities." Thor began "The Infinity Stones can only be wielded with all powerful beings otherwise they are destroyed. Like Jane when she possessed the dark Ether or the Reality stone as you will, it began to kill her."
"I thought you said Alina could wield them because of some traced ancestry or something?" Sam asked
"Yes, she has. But there is something more.. A prophecy written by the Universes Elders well before even my father's father was alive. It talks about a woman who wields the stones and returns balance to the universe after fighting the Titan Giant, Thanos. It was specific enough to detail the woman possessing the Soul stone first and collecting the rest as she travelled through the universe on her journey to destroy Thanos"
"So you're telling me the girl has some stupid prophecy? Please." Rhodey said
"It is a truth my friend. The universe's survival rests on her shoulders. That is why the infinity stones are drawn to her when she comes in contact with them and that is why must continue to train and build her control" Thor replied
"What happens if she doesn't?" Natasha asked
"We are all destroyed" Thor answered
"You're kidding right. Surely Asgard and us could work it out anyway" Tony said
"You do not understand the importance. Thanos is in possession of the Infinity Gauntlet. With the Gauntlet one may control all of the stones at once. He plans to use it to destroy Asgard, Midgard and the rest of the realms and take control over the people left"
"So you just threw this prophecy at her and thought she'd work it out?" Steve asked, slightly angry
"Well… actually" Loki said
"She doesn't know of the existence of this prophecy" Thor said awkwardly
"You mean you didn't tell the girl who is meant to be able to 'save us all' about the damn prophecy in which she appears as the frontrunner" Bucky asked in anger
"And she must continue to remain ignorant of it" Thor said
"Are you kidding me?" Jane asked
"No I am not. If she finds out of the old tales too early, she may refuse to participate in her own destiny" Thor said
"So she doesn't even get a choice?" Steve asked
"She must not know of the prophecy until she has at least one more stone and the control over it to understand why she must fulfill her destiny" Thor replied
"So we are to lie to her?" Natasha asked
"Yes. She must not know. Under any circumstances until we tell her ourselves"
"This is bullshit" Bucky smashed the glass in his hand and Steve jumped
"This isn't a good idea" Bruce said
"I know. But she can't know. Her power is unsettling to her and to put her in that position could cause her to flee or make decisions which may get her captured or killed by the enemy" Loki said quietly.
"Fine. We won't tell her anything without Thor's authorisation" Tony said
The group nodded and Thor looked around.
"Before Loki's authorisation actually. He knows her best and he knows the stones better than I. He will know when is right"
The group looked surprised but Tony shrugged.
"Fine. Now I need to go check her vitals" he said, walking back up the stairs