~One month later~

I glared intently at the phone sitting in front of me on the coffee table, willing it with my anger to ring. I counted the minutes that ticked by till I got to 60.

The Marvel Swing broke the tension.

I snatched it up and answered it quickly. "Phil, what the hell is going on?!" I demanded.

"Liz, you need to get down here," he said, his tone hushed.

"Shit, what's he done now?"

"Finish the mission and get here as soon as you can," he told me before hanging up.

"Fuck," I snarled, dashing around the room to gather up the little clothing and objects I had brought with me, along with the boots, gloves, and helmet Tony had given me, before taking off down the hallway to the street where I made a run to the building I had been staking out for the past month.

The smell of death and blood drenched the room as I pulled the helmet out of my bag and slipped it on, the screen flickering to life as I worked on getting the boots over my shoes.

"How may I be of service, Eleanor?" Jarvis asked, his tone ever pleasant.

"I need you to make a flight plan to the New Mexico S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters," I told him.

"I shall only be a moment."

I smirked to myself as the boots sealed around my calves, securing them rather nicely. I shifted my stance back and forth as I slipped the gloves over my hands, fingers wiggling to adjust the straps that ran between the knuckles.

"I have the flight plan, Eleanor, whenever you're ready," Jarvis told me.

"Good. Full power."

"As you wish."

"What the fuck," I mumbled as I landed, my eyes wide as I took in the flashing lights and blaring alarms. I dodged past running agents and made my way inside, cursing silently as the boots made it a little harder to move. A growl rumbled in the back of my throat as I pulled the helmet off.

"Liz!"

I spun around and found Phil making his way towards me, a slightly frantic look on his face. "What the hell is going on?!" I demanded over the noise.

"The Tesseract gave an energy serge four hours ago," he told me.

Panic ran through me at that. "They were testing it?"

He shook his head. "Liz, Selvig wasn't even in the room," he stated.

"It turned itself on," I said, that knot growing in my stomach. "It's still climbing, isn't it?"

He nodded with a sigh. "I ordered the evac when Selvig couldn't shut it down."

"Okay, how long is it going to take?"

"Half-hour," he answered.

"Uh-uh, get them our faster," I told him. "Leave shit behind, run on foot, do whatever you have to get them out."

"I'll do everything I can," he promised me.

"Where's the Tesseract?"

"The dome," he answered before looking me over. "Give me your gear."

I nodded and quickly pulled Tony's tech off, handing each piece over to Phil, once again glad that it was lightweight. "Thank you, Phil," I said, handing my helmet to him. "Please, if anything, make sure you get out alive."

He chuckle lightly. "I'll see what I can do," he promised before rushing off.

I watched him leave before turning and running off towards the dome. I took the stairs two at a time and found Nick walking into the dome. I slipped through the doorway and made my way around the room, sticking close to the walls as I took the room in.

"Talk to me, Doctor!" Nick called.

Erik appeared from behind the complicated machine that held the Tesseract in what looked to be a synthetic black hole. "Director," he said, his voice full of relief.

"Is there anything we know for certain?"

Erik jumped down off the platform and walked towards him. "The Tesseract is misbehaving," he stated.

I watched with mild interest as a lab tech tried to push an energy reader into the cube. My eyebrows shot up when the Tesseract sparked and let out another burst of energy, shooting the lab tech away from it.

"Is that supposed to be funny?"

"No, it's not funny at all," Erik stated. "The Tesseract is not only active, she's behaving."

"I'm assuming you pulled the plug?"

"She's an energy source. We turn off the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level..."

Nick seemed less than amused. "We prepared for this, Doctor. Harnessing energy from space."

Erik rolled his eyes and stepped up to one of the computers. "But we don't have the harness," he stated. "My calculations are far from complete. And she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation."

Nick looked back to him with the most unamused look I had ever seen him wear. "That can be harmful," he mused. "Where's Agent Barton?"

Erik scoffed. "The Hawk?" he asked before gesturing over his shoulder. "Up in his nest, as usual."

My attention shot up to the ceiling and found Clint sitting on the catwalk, his arms wrapped around the railing, his ever sharp eyes locked on me with a small smile on his lips.

Suddenly, he shot to his feet and slid down the rope he had tied to the railing.

I waited till Nick had walked over to Clint before I made my way towards Erik, who looked like he was close to passing out. "Please tell the building isn't going to come down on us," I said, siding up to him.

He jumped and looked to me, his eyes wide with shock and his jaw slack. "Eleanor!" he gasped.

I shushed him and looked to the computer, frowning as I read the numbers over. "This is so very not good," I mused. "What are our options?"

He shook his head. "We don't really have any," he answered. "This isn't something any of us have dealt with before."

I sighed and ran a hand over my forehead.

"Doctor, it's spiking again!" a lab tech called.

He walked over as I stayed and watched Nick and Clint step up to stand before the Tesseract.

"If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end," Clint stated, folding his arms.

Nick looked to him with slight surprise. "'At this end'?" he quoted back with a raised eyebrow.

Clint looked back to him. "Yeah, the Cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right?" he asked. "Doors open from both sides."

My eyes widened slightly as I thought that through, the sick feelings in my stomach growing tighter.

Suddenly the Tesseract sparked, blue energy flying through the air. A rumble shook through the building, shaking the equipment and knocking a few people off balance. It continued to spark and surge and soon it was swirling with energy.

"Oh shit," I whispered as the tingle ran through my body.

Blue energy shot from the other end of the Tesseract, a beam shooting out and pooling near the back wall where it balled and expanded, creating what looked like a portal. A wave of energy shot through the room, washing over everyone and everything. It followed the walls of the room and collected in the dome of the room.

I watched the energy for a moment before my eyes trailed back to the platform the beam had shot at, my eyebrows shooting up when I spotted the figure glowing with blue energy.

Agents stepped forward, guns drawn.

The figure stood, a short spear clutched in his hand.

"Sir, please put down the spear!" Nick called to him.

The figure looked down to the spear as if seeing it for the first time. Before anyone had a chance to move he lifted the spear and fired, a ball of blue energy shooting forward and hitting a piece of equipment.

Clint pushed Nick out of the way as sparks flew and the Agents opened fire.

I watched with slight fascination and horror as the figure made his way around the room, killing agent after agent before it was only Clint, Nick, Erik and me standing. I crouched down and looked back to the Tesseract, slight relief filling me when I spotted Nick already by it.

"You have heart."

My attention snapped over when a British voice spoke. My heart sunk when I spotted the figure in front of Clint, spear pressed to his chest. I watched as blue energy creeped from the center of the spear and into Clint. My eyebrow furrowed when his eyes turned pure black before his irises turned crystal blue. I silently cursed as Clint instantly relaxed and holstered his gun.

The figure smiled and stepped away from Clint, off to find another surviving agent.

"Nick," I said, looking past the console to him.

He looked over to me, slight surprise on his face. "What the hell are you doing here?!" he demanded.

I glared at him. "That doesn't matter. Get the Tesseract out of here."

"What about our guest?"

"Let me worry about him."

Nick nodded and popped open the case Howard and me had made years ago before reaching up and pulling the Tesseract from the machine, his leather gloves smoking. He set it in the case and closed it quickly, shaking his fingers out as he made to leave the room.

"Please don't."

We both looked over to find the figure watching him.

"I still need that."

"This doesn't have to get any messier," Nick stated, looking back at him over his shoulder.

"Of course it does," he argued. "I've come too far for anything else."

Nick turned to face him, knowing a monolog when he heard one.

"I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."

I cursed myself for not recognizing his voice sooner, having heard it when he visited Thor back in New Mexico.

"Loki," Erik said, standing and looking to the man with astonishment. "Brother of Thor."

Loki looked less than pleased with that revelation.

"Midgard has no quarrel with Asgard," I stated, pushing myself up and stepping out from behind the equipment, my eyes locked on Loki as I moved to stand between him and Nick.

He chuckled lightly as he looked to me. "An ant has no quarrel with a boot," he stated.

"Is that why you're here?" I asked. "To step on us?"

He smiled. "I come with glad tidings," he stated, glancing back at Erik, "of a world made free."

I raised an eyebrow. "Of what?"

"Freedom."

I let out a humorless laugh. "Can I ask why?"

"Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in you heart," he paused to turn to Erik, his spear raised as he pressed it to his chest, doing the same he had done to Clint, "you will know peace."

I shook my head. "I can't help but think you mean something else," I stated, taking a step closer to him. "A something that I can't let you do."

He smiled brightly. "It's admirable that you think you can stop me," he said before his arm suddenly shot up, the tip of the spear connecting to my chest.

A gasp escaped me as the blue energy seeped through my skin and tingled along the Adamantium, chills running down my body. I waited for the unfamiliar feeling of powerlessness, of having no control but it never came. I blinked several times and looked to Loki, confusion replacing the unease.

Loki's eyebrows furrowed as he looked between the spear and me. "Interesting," he mused. "How do you feel?"

I gave a slight shrug. "Tingly," I answered. "Was that supposed to do something?"

A sneer replaced his smile as he took a threatening step towards me.

"Sir, she's stalling," Clint suddenly spoke, his eyes locked on the energy trapped in the dome. "This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us," he explained, stepping up to stand beside Loki. "She means to bury us."

I glanced behind me at the energy, a grimace pulling at my lips. "Yeah, killing us all was my plan from the very beginning," I said sarcastically, really hoping that Clint wouldn't fight me when I threw myself on him to keep him from being crushed.

"He's right," Erik agreed, looking a monitor over. "The portal is imploding on itself. We've got about two minutes before this goes critical."

"Well then," Loki mused, looking to Clint.

Before I had time to react a bullet was lodged in mine and Nick's shoulder, knowing both of us to the ground, Nick going over the edge of the platform.

More than slightly worried that a single bullet was able to take me down, I watched with blurred eyes as Clint picked up the case that held the Tesseract and walk off with Loki, Erik, and Agent Mathew. I pulled in several deep breaths as I forced myself to concentrate on the bullet wound, my eyesight slowly sharpening as I pushed myself up into a sitting position. A grunt of pain left me as I reached up and dug my fingers into my shoulder to pull out the bullet, blood smearing across my fingers as I dropped the piece of metal to the floor. "Please tell me you're wearing Kevlar," I said, looking over to where Nick had fallen.

"It's a damn good thing that I'm paranoid," he groaned, sitting up as his fingers worked the bullet free of his vest. "Hill!" he snapped into his walkie talkie. "Barton has turned!"

A groan left me as I realized someone else was probably going to get shot. Sliding to my feet I walked over to him and helped him up, glancing up to the ever growing energy. "Ass up, Fury," I told him, pulling him towards the exit.

"They have the Tesseract! Shut them down!" Nick told Hill.

I rolled my eyes and moved us to a faster pace, running down the hall. "Where are we going?" I asked, knowing that he would have an escape plan.

"Roof!" he yelled back over the noise. "There's a helicopter waiting!"

"Of course there is," I muttered.

We made it with seconds to spare, the roof of the building giving out under my feet as I practically threw myself into the helicopter. I felt my head swim as I watched the building collapse and implode, utterly destroying everything.

"Oh my God," I whispered as I watched the destruction. I looked over to Nick, the anger once again growing. "You son of a bitch," I growled. "This is your fault!" I yelled.

He gave me an unamused look. "Eleanor, now is not the time to-"

"I told you to leave it alone and what do you-" I cut off, my eyes closing and eyebrows furrowing as another dizzy spell swept over me. I groaned and reached out blindly, grabbing anything that would keep me stable as my body started to go numb.

"Eleanor?" Nick asked, concern in his voice.

I opened my mouth to answer him but found that all I could manage was an incoherent moan. I fought for a few moments more before I was forced into the darkness.

"Am I dead?" I asked when my eyes opened to the familiar white ceiling.

"No," Charles said, appearing next to me with an amused filled voice. "You're unconscious."

"Oh," I said, pursing my lips. "Why am I unconscious?"

A chuckle left him. "I would have thought that at this point you would stop asking that question," he stated.

"I'm making a scrapbook," I droned.

"Your healing is fighting with the foreign energy Loki put into you," he explained. "I'm afraid that until the energy is gone this might be a frequent occurrence."

"Great," I drawled out, pushing myself up into a sitting position where I pulled the hem of my shirt up to look at the spot where Loki had touched the spear to my chest. A grimace pulled at my lips when I saw the faded blue veins branching out. "That better go away," I grumbled.

"I believe as soon as the energy is gone you shall return to normal," Charles assured me.

I let my shirt go and turned my attention to the throbbing at the base of my neck. "Why does my neck hurt?"

A smile pulled at his lips. "That is the most fascinating thing," he stated. "It seems that the energy is unable to pass through the Adamantium. The energy is pressing against the top of your spinal cord in an attempt to get into your mind."

I raised an eyebrow. "That's why I wasn't hypnotized like the others?"

"I would say it is safe to assume so."

"Huh," I mused, rubbing the spot as I thought about the blue Clint and Agent Mathew's eyes had turned. "It's the Tesseract's energy, isn't it?" I asked, more to myself than him.

"I certainly wouldn't rule it out," he told me. "He did seem rather intent on keeping it in his possession."

"If it's the Tesseract then there's going to be side effects," I stated.

"I have faith that you'll be able to handle whatever is thrown at you."

I let out a humorless laugh. "Thanks! That makes me feel better."

He gave me a small smile, it falling slightly after a moment. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked. "I understand that this is a rather brash betrayal on Mr. Fury's part."

I frowned down at my twisted fingers. "I wish I could say that it surprises me," I stated.

"What does surprise me is that he thinks he can hide things from you," he mused.

I shook my head. "I'm sure there are things that he's managed to keep from me," I said, my tone a little bitter. "I'm not as vigilant as I claim to be."

Charles reached out and placed his hands over mine, a kind smile on his lips. "You have been, and will always be, forever vigilant."

"And if that isn't sad I don't know what is."

He patted my hands. "I believe it's time for you to wake up. You have been unconscious for nearly 7 hours."

I grimaced at that, knowing it wasn't going to be much easier when I woke up. "Alright," I agreed, lowering myself back down to the table. I pulled in a deep breath and closed my eyes as Charles placed a gentle hand over my forehead.

The sound of engines reached me before anything else, a subtle hum in the background. My eyes blinked open and I was surprised to find myself in my quarters on the Helicarrier. Sitting up I looked the room over, a little surprised to find my bags from the Egypt mission sitting in front of the closet along with my gear, the metal looking like it had just been shined.

Feeling a little better over the fact that Phil had made it out alive I pushed myself up to my feet and made my way to the door. I paused when I caught my reflection in the mirror, a little surprised to find that someone had cleaned the blood off of me and change me into the tactical uniform I had designed but never worn. It didn't look half bad. The door slid open to reveal an eerily quiet hallway, my footsteps and the engines hum the only sound. Using the memorized blueprints I made my way towards the Command Room.

"Director Creed!" a red headed agent, Rebeca, greeted when she spotted me, a smile on her lips. "You're okay," she stated, walking over to me.

"For now," I said with a smile of my own. "I'm glad to see you made it out."

Her smile faltered slightly as she nodded. "I made it out just before the building fell."

"I'm glad you're okay," I told her. "You wouldn't happen to know where Fury is would you?" I asked.

She nodded. "He's in the Command Room," she answered.

"Thank you, Rebeca," I said before stepping past her and continuing on my way.

I make quick work of the hallways, side stepping agents and personnel till I reached the main doorway. Stepping through I waved off agents who attempted to announce my presence and searched the room over, looking for the man I would be more happy to gut. A smile twisted my lips when I found him on the Command Deck, hands clasped behind his back as he overlooked the agents at their posts.

Agent Hill nodded to as I stepped closer, a smirk on her lips due to the fact that she knew Nick was going to get the tongue lashing of his life, something she had wanted him to get since she first started here.

I sent her a wink as I walked past her, going up the few steps and stopping a few feet behind him. "So what was you plan?" I asked, my arms folding across my chest.

His shoulders tensed at my voice as his head dropped down slightly. "For which outcome?" he asked, not bothering to look back at me.

"For any of them," I answered. "No matter what I wasn't going to be happy so what was your plan to keep me from gutting you?"

He sighed. "Honestly, the outcome I was fondest of was the one where you didn't find out."

I let out a scoff. "You seriously thought that you could even look at the Tesseract without me knowing?" I asked. "Don't insult me."

"I wouldn't dream of it," he stated, turning to look at me. "But out of curiosity how did you know?"

"I designed the security, Nick," I reminded him. "You're an idiot if you think I don't have complete access to."

"I guess that makes me an idiot."

I shook my head at him. "What the hell were you thinking?" I demanded. "You know that the Tesseract is highly unstable, that it nearly killed me and Howard when we first tried to control it. Hell, you saw what Hydra did with it! What were you hoping to accomplish?!"

He pulled in a deep breath. "Howards said that if controlled correctly it would be able to power a nation," he said. "Could you imagine that? Clean, self-sustaining energy for the entire country."

I let out yet another scoff. "Yeah, because it worked so well for Hydra."

Nick let out a wither sigh. "We are not the enemy, Eleanor."

"That's funny, cause you kind of sound like one," I told him, taking a few steps closer to him. "No matter what you thought would happen, no matter what you hoped the outcome would be you still should have left it alone."

"Why?" he questioned.

"Because when I brought it to S.H.I.E.L.D. I gave you very strict orders to leave it in the box it came in and forget about it."

"Well I elected to ignore those orders in the name of the greater good."

I barked out a laugh. "Since when have you cared about the greater good?!" I snapped. "In all the years I've known you you have never done anything that didn't have some sort of benefit for you!"

"That is not true!"

"The hell it is!" I yelled back. "I've cleaned up enough of you messes to prove it! But if you think I'm going to dig you out of this one you're dead wrong!"

"Good!" he shouted back. "I've already got it handled!"

"Really?! Then tell me, how are you going to fix this?"

He watched me for a moment before turning back to the controls. "You're not going to like it."

"Like that's new."

He glanced back at me. "I activated the Avengers Initiative."

My eyebrows pulled together as I leaned towards him. "I'm sorry, did you just say that you activated the Avengers initiative?" I asked.

He remained silent.

My jaw dropped open as I looked to Agent Hill, silently asking her if it was true.

She gave a small nod.

Before I had time to think my foot raised and shot out, connecting with Nick's lower back and sending him forward and off the Command Deck, disappearing from view.

Several agents looked over with worry but didn't voice their concerns, all knowing that he deserved it in the long run.

I pulled in a calming breath and looked back to Hill. "Who was activated?" I asked her.

"Everyone who was available," she answered. "Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, Agent Romanoff, Agent Barton, and Captain Rogers. Thor was unreachable and you were left out for obvious reasons."

A growl left me as I glared over to where Nick had disappeared. "Are they already in route?"

She nodded.

"ETA?"

"An hour."

"Great," I droned. "Have they been briefed?"

She nodded again. "They were given profiles of each other, the Tesseract, and the situation," she told me. "Would you like the same?"

"Yes," I told her. "And would someone please check on Nick?" I asked, addressing the still watching agents.

Several of them jumped up and ran over to him.

"He's unconscious," Andrew stated, looking to me with a questioning expression.

I sighed and shook my head. "Leave him."

I want to thank you all so much for being so patient and supportive while I attempt to get some order in my life. It's not as long as I wanted it to be but I didn't want to wait any longer. I love you all.

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