A/N: Hi guys! Thanks so much to all the review/favourite/follow I've received over the past week. I looked and saw this story has nearly 100 followers. I don't even know 100 people, so thank you to everyone who has! As it's summer, and my updates have been a little less frequent, I'm gonna post two chapters today! How lovely am I? Read until the end of the next chapter and you may not think so...
Fronk x
It was a quick, quiet and tense journey to Oak Hill. None of us really knew what to expect there. I suppose for everyone that hadn't faced a monster before - so all the 100% mortals - it was quite a daunting prospect. Bruce kept his hand clasped around mine all the way there. I stroked his hand gently in a vain attempt to ease his worry. It seemed to help, but not by much.
When we touched down we all filed out, masks to hide our secret identities in tact. The Quinjet didn't waste time in getting out of there. I decided I didn't like Agent Vishby much, feelings I'm sure the agent returned to each and every one of us.
It was easy to see what had gone on here. There was a police quarantine around the once pristine white building. A huge, crumbling hole dominated the wall faced us, looking on the verge of collapse. There were hardly any people around, save a few police officers and one person in a lab coat. He must be the worker who didn't want to leave his post.
Something to be commended there. Captain went over to him.
"Excuse me, sir?" He asked him. "We're the Avengers. We heard you wanted to help us?"
When the guy turned around, I stopped short. The guy had died black hair that was going his natural brown at the roots, slightly tanned skin and dark brown eyes. Not as nice as Bruce's, but still rich. I recognised him easily.
"Oh, Captain America, sir," he stammered, his southern accent strong. "Anything I can do to help, sir."
'Still a bumbling idiot, then,' Akisa said.
'Apparently so,' I thought back.
"How about your name, son?" Cap said gently.
"A-Andrew, sir. Andrew McGinley," he said.
"Well, Mr McGinley," Steve said slowly, "What can you tell us about the incident?"
"It happened real late at night, sir," he began. "There was this huge sound, like a roar, followed by a huge crash. It was in my branch of the ward, so I went to investigate. When I arrived, well, you can see what happened."
"Is that all you know?" Natasha asked, unimpressed.
"Pretty much," Andrew admitted. "The CCTV went all fuzzy, so not even the security guys know what happened."
'That boy is so very helpful,' Aksia said dryly. I smothered my laugh with a cough.
"Well, son," Captain continued, "You think you can get us into that building?"
"What?" he asked eloquently.
"Get us inside," I said slowly, parting every syllable.
"Oh. Oh!" You could actually see the lights flicker on inside his head. "Yes, of course, miss. A-And sir. Follow me."
He scurried off up the gentle incline. We followed wearily.
'And you wonder why I worry that you used to date that boy?' Akisa asked.
I shook my head. 'Not now,' I pleaded silently.
'He used to court you?' Loki's voice demanded in my head.
I glanced over to him. 'Privacy much?'
He had the grace to flush. 'My apologies. I was about to ask if you thought it would be a good idea for me to suggest setting up a psychic connection between the team instead of using the intercom when I overheard your conversation with Akisa. I was not spying, honestly.'
I smiled. 'No problem. And yes, I think that would be a better idea. That way static won't cause interference.'
He nodded. 'When we are about to split, I shall suggest it.'
When we arrived at the police border, Steve began to talk to the officer in charge to get us access. Bruce came and spoke with me.
"You okay?" he asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
'I think you need to tell him,' Akisa put in quickly.
"You know that guy, Andrew?" I asked. Bruce nodded. "My intelligence-of-pond-scum university ex."
"Oh," Bruce said, obviously shocked. "That was not what I was expecting."
"I didn't expect him here, either," I said. "He was majoring in history, not psychology. I have no idea why he's here."
'That girl who was making your life hell in University was majoring in psychology,' Akisa reminded me. 'She probably got him the job.'
I relayed this to Bruce after thanking her.
"That would explain it," he said. "You sure you're okay, though?"
I nodded, smiling fondly at him. "How could I even look at some other guy - never mind my useless ex - when I have the brilliant and amazingly handsome Dr Robert Bruce Banner to occupy my time?"
He flushed and looked away. A moment later he looked at me skeptically.
"How did you know my name is actually Robert?" he asked.
I shrugged. "Tony told me," I said.
"Ah," Bruce replied.
"Gather around, guys," Captain called.
We all did as instructed.
"The police have given us and Andrew here access to the ward in question. The officer said that we're free to touch anything because forensics have done their job. If any of you need to do mystical magical stuff, then do so without telling anyone, because they don't want to explain that on their reports. We all stick together until I saw so. Any
questions?"
"Can McGinley tell us about the inmate that's missing?" Clint asked.
"I-I'll do that on the way in, sir," he said, "This particular inmate is kind of a... sensitive subject, if y'all catch my drift."
Once we were past the barrier and inside the building (we couldn't go in through the hole in the wall because it was still deemed unstable) Andrew began telling us of the missing person.
"I can't disclose the inmate's name because of patient protection issues," Andrew apologised, "But I can tell you that he's one of our oldest inmates. He's in here because he killed his wife and tried to kill his son. When he was sane, he was a brilliant mind: a genetic scientist, if I remember correctly. His mind began to unravel. He became increasingly paranoid, especially when his son was born. He believed that because of his work in the genetic field he had somehow mutated his own cells and therefore his son's cells. When his son began to show signs of an extraordinary mind much like his own, he snapped. His wife was murdered protecting her son, and the little boy was taken into care.
"The inmate was charged for his crimes and spent his time in a high security mental health prison. He was only saved from the chair because he had some sort of connections in the government - although we're not supposed to know that, so if you didn't repeat that I'd appreciate it. After he served his sentence he came here, and has been ever since. Well,
until last week, that is."
All through the tale I felt Bruce tense more and more next to me. I gently grasped his hand and squeezed it comfortingly.
"You okay?" I asked quietly.
He just nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
"Well, I'm here if you change your mind," I said.
Bruce smiled a small smile and carried on looking ahead.
'What do you think?' I asked Akisa.
'Perhaps the tale struck a chord,' Aksia said. 'If you remember what Hulk said about Bruce's nightmare, he said Bruce was remembering when 'he killed her', and this inmate did kill his wife.'
'Perhaps so...' I said, looking worriedly over at Bruce.
'Bruce is a big boy, Helena,' Akisa reminded me. 'He can take care of himself.'
With one last worried glance at Bruce, I centered my attention on the other Avengers. Captain was giving yet more orders. I knew he was in charge, but I felt this was slight overkill.
"Skade," Steve called. That was Loki's code name as not to scare people, "and Akisa. Scan the room for whatever sort of magical power there is here. See where it goes. Everyone else spread out and see what you can find."
Loki and I went to opposite ends of the room. The room itself was stark white. Well, I suppose it was supposed to be, but with the disruption the walls had been coated in a thin layer of dirt, giving it a dull brown colour in places. I think the colour scheme alone would drive me around the bend. I would hate to be an inmate here. Still, if I were already mad, I
don't think that would make a huge difference.
I started near the hole in the wall and let Akisa scan for any form of Tartarus residual energies. She came to the forefront of my mind, taking slight control of my body. We both were slightly worried that Bruce was stood talking to Andrew. Clint came over to stand by me.
"Picking anything up?" Clint asked.
"If I keep being interrupted, bird man, I shall find nothing," Akisa snapped using my voice.
I shook her off and turned to Clint.
"I am so sorry," I quickly apologised. "That was Akisa, I swear."
Clint just chuckled. "No problem," he assured me. "Have you found anything, though?"
I shook my head. "Not really," I said. "If I'm honest, I have no idea what I'm looking
for. I'm just letting Akisa search." I sighed. "If Alabaster was here I'm sure we'd get this done a lot quicker. Hopefully Lo-Skade is having better luck."
He nodded. "Perhaps. I'll go check."
Clint went off and I let Akisa forth again.
'Was that necessary?' I asked. 'Clint was only asking.'
'You are not helping, either,' she said coldly. After a moment, she added: 'I am sorry, Helena. I am just on edge. I am not looking forward to meeting the dragon once again.'
'I get that,' I said, 'But there s no need to snap at everyone.'
'I shall try to rein in my temper,' she promised.
She continued searching for a few more minutes before she found something. Through Akisa's eyes, I could see the residual magic faintly, like a smattering of dust on some of the rubble. It was dark purple in colour and screamed of dark energies. The power of Tartarus. As a precaution, we became equals within my body so my eyes were alight but thankfully not my entire body. Looking around, we spotted a slight trail leading off into the woods. Without calling to the others, we began to follow it. However, once we made it to the first line of trees, it faded into nothing. We turned when we felt a hand rest upon our shoulder, gently turning us. We looked up into Bruce's worried eyes.
"Helena?" he asked quietly, concerned. "What do you see?"
"There was a trail of energy from Tartarus that lead here," we answered together. I saw Bruce's eyes widen at the change in our voice, but we carried on regardless. "It fades into nothing here. We can see no more."
"I cannot see anything more, either," Loki confirmed.
Steve nodded. "Then here is where we split. Remember your teams?" The group nodded. "Go off in those. Use the intercom if you run into trouble. Do not engage without the rest of us if possible."
"I have an alternative to the intercom," Loki put in. He quickly explained his plan about telepathy.
"I like that idea," Tony put in. "Sounds safe enough."
"And more reliable than the intercom," Thor grumbled, more at ease with his brother's familiar magic than the Midgardian technology.
"He'll be in our heads?" Clint asked, a shade of worry in his tone.
"Only for the mission," Loki promised.
We saw Natasha reach for Clint's hand, grasping it comfortingly, as if loaning him her strength. After a moment Clint nodded his consent. Akisa flowed back into me slightly, so she was still present but I was in control, my eyes extinguishing. Loki quickly established the link, with a practiced efficiency that suggested he'd done it before.
"You may be able to hear Akisa, too," I warned, my voice back to normal, "So if you hear someone you don't recognise, it'll be her."
"So we'll all get a taste of the internal monologue you experience all the time?" Bruce asked.
'You shall,' Akisa said to them all.
The various reactions were a picture. I so wish I had a camera to record them all. I didn't laugh, though - I knew how strange and altogether daunting the first time you hear an alien voice in your head can be.
"If you happen to come across any caves, let us know," I said. "That's where Alabaster said the monster's lair is. As Cap said, don't enter without the rest of us. I mean it guys: even the best trained demigods, including the guy that's saved the world a few times, struggled against this creature. Don't play hero."
"This might be a good time for you to suit up, doctor," Tony advised.
Bruce nodded, his face ashen. Pressing a swift kiss to my lips, he stepped back from us and called the Hulk forward. The transformation was quicker this time, and looked less painful. Maybe it was because the Hulk wasn't fighting to get out? Hulk turned to me.
"Elle!" he cried joyfully, pulling me into a bone crushing hug.
I laughed and tried to hug him back. "Good to see you too, Hulk," I said once he'd put me down.
"Bruce asked!" he said happily.
I smiled. "That he did."
"And you said yes!" He seemed very happy about... well, everything, really.
"Told you I would," I replied.
Tony cleared his throat. "As touching as this is," he drawled, "we need to get going."
"Hulk go with Elle," Hulk stated firmly.
"We already have assigned teams, Green Man," Thor explained.
Hulk growled at him. "Hulk," he repeated slowly, pointing at himself, "Go with Elle." He pointed at me
I gently placed my hand on his huge finger, which was directly in front of my face. I pushed it out of the way and spoke.
"It'll be okay, Hulk," I said. "Loki'll keep an eye on me."
"I shall protect her with my life," Loki swore.
Hulk narrowed his eyes at Loki in a threatening manner, moving to stand directly in front of him, staring him out.
"Puny god protect Hulk's Elle," he snarled, "Or Hulk smash. Again."
Paling slightly, Loki nodded his understanding.
"Okay guys," Steve called hastily. "Move out."