The next day they were prepped and ready to leave. Alina and Nat were dressed in their full, modified shield suits and walked into the Quinjet still strapping guns and knives to their belts and into the back of their boots.

"Told ya girls take forever to get ready" Clint teased and Alina pulled a gun out of it's holster slightly in a threatening manner. She found herself glancing across at Loki to gauge his reaction and caught him staring already. She gave him a soft smile, inwardly berating herself for feeling the need to look to him first. He had become increasingly more distracting to her over the past week or so, especially since she had kissed him half drunk that night. A part of her blamed it on the alcohol but she knew she was deluding herself. In that moment she had wanted nothing more than to kiss him and she had. Thankfully, he had not mentioned it once which confirmed to her he thought of it as nothing. Shaking her head, she snapped out of her spiraling thought train of Loki and put herself in mission mode, allowing stats, facts and data of the base and Hydra to consume her thoughts. They were headed up to Alaska and sat quietly, feeling the change of temperature as a gauge to how close they were getting to their destination. Alina pulled on a pair of thick, flexible winter gloves as the temperature dropped to 4 degrees and Clint and Sam did the same. Natasha was smart enough to put hers on a good 15 minutes before they even felt the cold. She was Russian, she could practically hear the cold seeping in. 4km out from the drop point, they stood and allowed Steve to rebrief them.

"Right, we've discussed the plan but I am going to say this again. There are THREE agents in there. No more, no less. Once we get them, we get out regardless and if The Shadow man appears we do NOT stop to chat" he demanded.

"Or we kill him" Tony added cheerfully

Steve rolled his eyes and looked to the ceiling in disdain. Tony was still sulking about his alcohol which wasn't even his fault, it was Nat's but for some reason he was getting the brunt of Tony's attitude.

"We're right over drop point now" Agent Hill said, flicking a few levers and buttons.

"Right, this is going to be one hell of a firefight so look out for eachother" Steve said before jumping out of the plane. They all followed. The drop was only about 9ft to the ground and they landed with as much stealth as possible. Unfortunately, Thor didn't quite get the memo and landed with a huge thump and a few lightning sparks. Steve raised his eyebrows and Thor shrugged back apologetically. Almost immediately after their unspoken exchange, they were being fired at. The hulk leapt out of the Quinjet and began smashing turrets, leaving a trail of destruction for them to follow through. Rhodey and Tony gave surveillance on the base which was mounded with the snow which continued to fall. Clint sat in a nearby tree, sniping people out with his arrows. Nat, Steve and Bucky teamed up taking down agents whilst Sam, Alina and Loki took the East side entrance. Loki and Alina bounced magic off each other giving a clear route for Sam to move through and take out any still standing agents. Steve, Buck and Nat all caught up to them and Natasha and Bucky quickly hacked the entrance doors, rolling them open in a matter of minutes.

"Subtle" Tony said over the coms as Hulk climbed the side of the base and ripped apart more gunners. Thor was right behind him, disposing of any cowering agents still left in the partially destroyed gunner bases.

Steve lead the way inside, his shield raised and Bucky and Natasha at either side, slightly behind him. Loki's group followed up the back, protecting their rear from any soldiers coming through from behind attempting to box them in. Coming to a fork in the corridors, Bucky, Alina and Sam took one way and Loki, Natasha and Steve the other. Loki had protested being separated from Alina but Steve had made the compelling argument that each group should have a magic user with them as well as someone who was familiar with Hydra. He reluctantly agreed.

"Can you sense anything?" Sam asked as they walked through the corridors

"That is NOT how it works" she glared at him

Bucky smirked and raised his gun, shooting down a lone soldier who had appeared from round a corner in front of them. As they rounded the corner they checked their backs and moved slowly, progressing into a room full of computer equipment and wires. It was dim and if they did not know people had occupied the building, it would have looked abandoned. As Alina kicked some wires out of the way and they snooped around, Sam tapped an old laptop.

"Well it doesn't look like they're in here" he said, continuing to flick and tamper with the abandoned computers. Bucky looked up at him and then stopped, staying very still and looking to be listening for something.

"Wait. I know rooms like these. They're meant to be a decoy, there might be a hidden door around here somewhere"

"And how are we meant to find that?" Sam asked

"I dont know, just touch lots of stuff" Alina said

Sam immediately ruffled her hair.

"Not me! The computer's or something!" She laughed

"On it" he replied with a crooked grin

Bucky laughed at their antics and began pushing on the walls, attempting to see if any of them sounded hollow. He knew they would be reinforced but it was worth a try. After 15 minutes, Sam began to get annoyed and lazily kicked a computer which sat on the floor against a wall on the south side. It began to creak and make cracking noises. He jumped back in surprise and Alina and Bucky stood either side of him, watching in earnest.

"PLEASE be a secret door" Sam muttered and Bucky glanced at him.

It swung open backwards, revealing spiral stone steps downwards. They exchanged a look before Bucky shrugged and gestured to Alina.

"Ladies first" he grinned

"I dont see why you're not going down first then" she quipped back

"Well mainly because you are the only one that can process a shield that stops bullets. I'll bring up the back end" he said

"As usual" Sam winked and Bucky raised an eyebrow before giving Sam a playful shove down the stairs. Alina raised her gun, walking with slow calculated steps down the stairs. Bucky too had his gun raised but ready to shoot behind them in case they were followed or trapped down here. Rounding the corner, they were fired at and Alina pulled up a forcefield to block their shots before shooting round it with her own weapon. There were only 5 people in there, 3 of which were scientists which Alina reluctantly shot down. The 2 others seemed to be higher up Hydra officials which Bucky took out cleanly over Alina's shoulder.

"Aw come on guys leave some action for me" Sam grinned

"You'd be dead if we did that" Bucky teased and Sam huffed.

It appeared to be some sort of Lab with various equipment and test readers. Alina began reading some results from a laptop while Sam and Bucky did room surveillance. In the center was a purple stone which was levitated inside a forcefield like protection case. Stepping over the bodies in the room, Sam peered at it.

"Is Hydra branching out into Jewellry stores now? Buy your sweetheart a gem and then viciously murder and experiment on her. She'll love you for it!" Sam said in a mock infomercial voice. Alina and Bucky snorted with laughter.

"They might actually be more successful at their jobs there" Alina quipped in, still reading over lab results and information, memorising a much as possible and then plugging in a USB to drain the data. Leaving the information uploading into the external storage they had brought, Alina wandered over to wear Bucky and Sam were admiring the stone. It was fizzling ever so slightly and changing between a liquid form and it's solid, stone like form. Bucky attempted to touch the Hydra forcefield around it but it simply attempted to blast him backwards.

"Another Infinity Stone?" he asked

"Maybe. It's hard to tell without knowing specifically what each one looks like. They tend to vary in shape, size, colour and free form from what I can tell" Alina answered

"So this isn't where the prisoners are being held obviously" Sam said

"No it isn't. There are no holding cells" Bucky answered

"But the information on their drives down here could be useful for our work. It should take another 10 minutes tops to get all the information and then we can continue down that corridor we were on before that top room" Alina replied

"In the meantime, we could try get this thing. It looks like a powersource" Bucky said, indicating to the gem.

"I ain't touching that thing" Steve said

Bucky waved his metal arm with a lopsided grin.

"We have the 3 SHIELD agents! Extracting now!" Steve crackled through the coms

"I'll have a look through their systems and see if their is a lock system or a code to lower that protective field. We'll be a few minutes Steve, just stealing data, the usual." Alina smiled

"Yes ma'am" Bucky and Sam said in unison, standing to strict attention with grins on their faces. As she was sorting through Hydra's security data, disabling as many things as she came across they heard sirens from upstairs. Looking at one another, they froze and Alina rejoined Bucky and Sam next to the gem. In a matter of seconds, footsteps were thundering down the stairs and they were overwhelmed with Hydra soldiers firing at them. Alina raised her own forcefield but knew they could not stand in impasse forever. Chaos ensued as Bucky and Sam took plunged into the soldiers, taking them down as quickly as possible but more kept coming. A few snuck around the sides, behind Alina and while the three were distracted disabled the field around the gem. One of them grabbed it with a gloved hand and it fizzed and crackled, melting and steaming into its liquid ether form. The man who had been holding it looked up at Alina and they made eye contact. As they locked eyes, the man threw the ether form toward Alina. Backed against a wall, she had nowhere to dive out of the way and pressed herself back. Bucky and Sam had just finished off the remaining Hydra men when Sam saw what was happening. In a split second, he jumped using his wings and rolled in front of Alina. The ether met him and he felt it make it's way through his mouth and into his body. Before he could process what he had done or what was happening, he blacked out. Alina screamed for Sam to stop even as she saw him make the decision to jump but it was too late. To her horror she observed the Ether wrap it's way around his body and then in through his nose and mouth. Before he had even hit the ground, he was unconscious. Bucky disposed of the man who had through it and crouched down next to Sam who had broken out in a sweat. Alina took his pulse as he tossed a little. It was there but it was erratic and random. She looked up to Bucky with wide, guilty eyes.

"Sam's down" She yelled through her coms

"We've lost Wilson!" Bucky repeated

"What? What happened? Is he shot?" Steve yelled back, crackling in their ears

"We found another stone I think anyway.. Sam.. he absorbed it.. jumped in front of me" Alina panted back, the room was beginning to heat up.

"Get him out of there now" Loki said

"We're currently on our way out of the building with the 3 Shield Agents. Take Sam and meet us where we came in" Natasha continued

"On our way" Bucky replied, picking Sam up in his arms and standing up. As he made his way to the stairs, Alina clicked the computer a few times and pulled out the USB, taking the lead in front of Bucky. Making their way back down the corridors, they met a few soldiers but Alina took them out quickly and efficiently, determined to get Sam out of there as quickly as possible. As they came towards the main entrance, they saw Steve and Loki waiting with three very dirty and bruised up SHIELD agents. As they made their way around to them, they were cut off by another wave of soldiers. Sick of their stoppages and desperate to get Sam on a medical unit, Alina sent a deadly wave of energy towards them, completely wiping the men out. Bucky carried Sam out and Alina followed behind, shooting out anyone who dared to come around the corner. As Bucky spoke quietly to Steve while Loki worked some magic on Sam, Alina hacked back into the HYDRA systems and sealed the door, stopping any soldiers from coming out of the building.

"Nat?" she asked, turning around

"Back at the jet. She had to go calm Banner down" Steve reported. Bucky picked Sam back up in his arms and they ran towards the Jet which Hill had landed in the snow 500m away. Back at the Quinjet, the rest of the team were waiting and looked concerned as Bucky carried a limp Sam in. Bruce, although exhausted, quickly stood and hooked Sam up to an IV and monitor. Bucky proceeded to explain what had happened as they took off. Alina sat in the corner, her head leant against the wall watching Sam with a level of distress that they had yet to see in her.

"It's definitely the Ether, I checked on the way out" Loki said to Thor who had given him a tell tale look. The group began discussing options and Tony called in Dr. Cho just in case she saw something they were unable to but Thor and Loki were well aware how difficult it was to draw the Ether out of a person without getting them killed. It seemed to be just using Sam as vessel, the same way the reality stone ether had used Jane. Unfortunately they did not have a convergence anytime soon so could not pull that stunt again. As they spoke, Rhodey kicked off at Alina in the corner. They turned around to listen as the pair's voices began to rise.

"What kind of stupid stunt was that?" Rhodey asked angrily

"It was NOT a stupid stunt" Alina replied

"You should have done something. You're more than capable of it!" Rhodey yelled

"There was little I could do in such a small space of time! Infinity Stones are unstable Rhodey! I could have accidentally killed the entire room had I tried to stop the new Ether form!' She growled back

"So you just let Sam end up like this?!"

"HE jumped. I didn't ask him to and I did not have the time or space to pull him out of the way!"

"Don't be fucking ridiculous! How can you call yourself an Avenger if you cant even protect your team members!" he yelled

"I DONT call myself an Avenger! I'm not one in case you forgot that Rhodey. I'm SHIELD's weapon. Nothing more, nothing less!"

"Damn right you're not an Avenger! You just get people killed. A wake of fucking destruction you are. You'd think a weapon would be more useful!"

"I know" she replied quietly, in a defeated tone

"Enough Rhodey. That was completely out of line" Steve said, pulling him backward roughly by the shoulder as Rhodey in his anger had advanced upon Alina rapidly.

"Calm the fuck down" Tony added in, supporting Steve.

Alina leant against the wall, her head thrown back looking at the ceiling silently.

"It wasn't your fault" Bucky offered quietly

"Yeah it fucking was" Rhodey said from across the jet

Natasha who was sat down to the side of him, got up and whacked him round the head with enough force to rock him forward.

"It was Hydra's fault, not anyone's in this teams'. Speak to her like that again and next time I will not be so gentle" she hissed

"I'd listen to her" Clint continued

Alina hadn't answered nor had she moved from her position. Thor placed a hand on her shoulder as gently as he knew how.

"It was not a fault of your own, Lady Alina" He rumbled

She kicked herself off the wall and looked up at him. Her entire face was blank, not even Natasha could read any emotion off of it. It was the look of someone who had seen too much and was well trained in hiding. She sighed inwardly and reminded herself to kick Rhodey's ass later on by 'accident'.

"How long until the Ether begins to shut down his body?" She asked Loki blankly

"I'd say 36 to 48 hours"

"And until death?"

"Depending on how his mortal body holds up, 4 days at most"

She nodded and looked at Sam who was covered in sweat before sitting down next to Bucky and Steve who every now and again, attempted to offer some support which she rejected.

Upon arriving back at the tower, Sam was hooked up to their medical units and Doctor Cho was looking over him. Thor had called in Jane and Erik to see if any of their research could help either. As they stood in the room, Rhodey kicked off again in anger at seeing his friend lying there.

"Well I am sure this wouldn't have been a goddamn problem if someone could do their job properly" he hissed in answer to Dr. Cho's comment about the complications of Sam's body.

"Rhodey." Tony said seriously

"No. She knows this was her fault" Rhodey growled back

"Thank you Rhodey for the constant reminder that I tend to get people killed" Alina hissed, her temper rising a little.

"Well it seems you need reminding a little more often! What was it? Your parents first? Then friends, your own police partner, New York? Now a fucking Avenger!" Rhodey yelled

The entire room froze. He had taken it a step too far and everyone knew it. Not even Steve dared to speak in that moment as Alina stared at Rhodey. To their surprise however, she did not attack him nor did she yell.

"Yes It was my parents first" she said simply

"Well congratulations, you can add Sam to your list you magical freak"

"He's not dead yet"

"He's as good as it!"

"Good to see you have some faith in your team members" Alina raised her eyebrows

"All of them except you. From day one you've been fucking things up! You know what you are. You're just a weapon for Shield to use at their leisure! That's the only reason they haven't sent any of us to kill you"

"Well then maybe one of you should" She replied with a hardened look

Rhodey looked a little taken aback at her comment and stopped.

"You will not speak of Lady Alina in such a way!" Thor roared, taking Rhodey by the neck and raising him into the air

"Whoa there big guy" Tony said

"Enough. Thor put him down" Steve said as Thor lowered Rhodey to the ground.

"Rhodey, come with me. You need to be reprimanded" Steve continued, taking Rhodey out of the room. Alina stood for a moment before walking out of the opposite doors.

"Weapon…" she murmured as she left

"Alina.." Bucky tried but she ignored him, pushing her way out of the medical room. Loki sighed a little and followed her. The rest of the team sat down quietly, exhausted at the confrontation.

Alina stalked past Steve and Rhodey. Steve went to stop her but she brushed past later, Loki followed. Steve game him a sympathetic smile but Loki returned it with a concerned look.
Loki finally caught up with her 3 hallways later. He grabbed her by the forearm, stopping her from proceeding forward but she did not turn around. Uncertain of what to do, he simply stood there holding onto her forearm while she stood with her back to his. She did not even try to rip her arm out of his hand, she just stood somewhat defeated in the empty and quiet hallway.

"You are not a weapon" Loki said firmly

"Really? Because if it hadn't of been for the stones you and Thor would not have found me. Your father would have no interest in me, neither would the rest of Asgard, SHIELD would have largely left me alone and Sam would not be half dead right now" she said without looking at him

"I would never let anyone harm you" Loki replied

"It's not people harming me you have to worry about. It's me harming them"

"You think you're a monster" he whispered

"Rhodey was right" she said back

"He was not right" Steve said, rounding the corner

They both turned to look at him, Bucky was by his side.

"You aren't our weapon Ali. I know what it is like to be used as a weapon, as an asset but you are not." Bucky murmured.

"And Rhodey has been reprimanded and taken off our next mission due to his behaviour"

"It does not make his words any less true" Alina said to Steve before pulling herself out of Loki's grip and continuing down the hallway to her room.

Loki stared after her with a distraught expression on his face. Bucky put a hand on his shoulder and gave a weak smile.

"She'll come round"

14 hours later, Alina was sat beside Sam. The monitor was the only sound in the room as Loki walked slowly into the medical facility. She had been in there for 10 hours, just looking at Sam and monitoring his vitals. The team were beginning to worry, she was taking it hard and it was unexpected. Most of them believed it was Rhodey's harsh words which had caused such a strong reaction in her. She did not even look up as Loki entered the room and he sighed, pulling her to her feet by her arms and marching her out of there, despite her protests. He lead her down a hallway and to her room, closing the door behind them and sitting her down roughly on her bed.

"You need to sleep" he said, standing in front of her. She stood up hastily to face him but he pushed her back down.

"Loki please let me go back. I cant sleep" she begged

"No. You at least need rest, a distraction, anything but that" he replied

"You dont under-" she began

"I understand perfectly" he cut her off

She stood up again and he sighed pushing her firmly back down. She grabbed onto him, trying to stay standing but instead he fell back onto the bed, on top of her. Breathing a little heavier, Alina froze, still clinging onto his leather sleeves. He had one arm positioned above her head, propping him up slightly and the other by her side. Neither of them moved, staying completely still for a good 30 seconds before Loki threw all caution to the wind and pressed his lips against hers. To his pleasant surprise she wrapped one hand in his hair and pulled him down closer to her, responding to his kiss with enthusiasm. He grinned into the kiss with the realisation she was neither intoxicated nor was she under an enchantment. With his free hand he played with the hem of her jeans and deepened the kiss, pressing his tongue against her lips. She refused him entrance and he pulled back to look at her. She smirked a little and he realised she had taken control of the kiss and the situation. With a raised eyebrow, he wrapped the hand near her head around her neck and she opened her mouth a little before closing it quickly. Her eyes hazed over just a tiny bit as she struggled to regain some sort of control on him. He returned her previous smirk and kissed her. This time when she refused him entrance, he squeezed her neck just a little bit and her lips parted in a gasp. As he ran his spare hand down her body, she moaned against his lips. Recognising this, he immediately stopped this kiss. She whined a little and he grinned, moving his lips down across her jaw and along her neck. Without warning, he bit down.

"Loki!" she gasped, wriggling a little in his grip.

"Mmm" he hummed back continuing his trail of bites and kisses along her neck and collarbone.

"I..Mnf" she gasped

"What darling?" he murmured smugly against the top of her shirt, teasing as he reached the top of her bra before moving back up again. Her only answer was a gasp as she threw her head back.

"Mmmn you have to beg if you want any more" he grinned into her neck

"I-in your d-dreams" she gasped out

"Stubborn we thing"

"I.. mmg" she moaned as he sucked on her neck, moving his free hand up her legs, just missing where she wanted his hands so badly.

"Beg for it" he demanded

"no" she mumbled back, kissing his neck.

He chuckled at her attempt to gain the upper hand and simply pinned her back down on the bed, playing loosely with the top of her shirt. She whined again, wriggling against his teasing. She was far too proud and stubborn to beg and Loki knew it, he just wanted to see her submit to him as he drove her further and further into pleasure. Again, he had her gasping and moaning under him as she began to lose complete and utter control. He relished her wide eyes and panted gasps as he squeezed her neck or kissed along her shoulders and collarbone. As he slipped his hand under her shirt, JARVIS spoke.

"Mr Laufeyson, Miss Everton, Mr Wilson's condition has worsened and you are requested in the medical facility rooms"

Loki pulled back, disappointed that he did not get to continue his teasing and Alina sat up, shaking her head as if to rid herself from the haze she had been in. Without saying a word, they exited the room, straightening their clothing and headed up to the Med bay.