Summary: Admittedly, there wasn't much that rattled Kagome Barton to her core. She's endured transcending time and fighting demons over some stupid magic marble. Her days time-hopping are over, but days of leisure are far from reach when she's recruited to the Avenger's Initiative following the appearance of Loki.

Pairing: Undecided

Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter Five

Kagome, as good-natured as she was, was able to realize that she'd have little to no use in a lab full of equipment. Well, other than getting in the way if either Bruce or Tony needed where she stood. Her thoughts drifted to Steve, and she was reminded of how bothered he looked when he left. She could tell that the prior conversation concerning SHIELD had bothered him, and she felt the need to make sure he was okay surge strongly through her. She frowned and moved from where she stood, weaving around the set up tables as she made for the door. When she moved, both Bruce and Tony looked at her. Tony arched a brow.

"Where are you off to, Magical Girl?"

Kagome felt her brow twitch at her newly acquired nickname. She almost preferred being called Priestess. Restraining the urge to sigh, Kagome turned on her heel and looked at the older man. "I'm probably not much use here, and I'm getting bored of just standing and watching," she said with a small shrug. "You guys can keep up what you're doing. If I sense the cube's aura, I'll let someone know."

Tony nodded. "Alright, sounds like a plan."

"Good luck," Kagome called over her shoulder as she walked through the door. A second later, she poked her head back into the doorway. "Oh, yeah! Don't stress Bruce out so much." She heard as the other man laughed.

"Thanks, but I'll be fine, Kagome," Bruce said as he waved from where he stood.

"If you say so," Kagome beamed at him before finally vanishing from the area. The door to the lab closed behind her and she paused for a moment or two, trying to focus on Steve's aura. Eventually, she was able to see the path he'd taken, and she fell into mirroring his steps.

It led her to the hull of the ship, and she felt as curiosity spiked. She stealthily followed the lingering trace of his aura, and it didn't take her long to come across an open door. It definitely wasn't the sort of door that would just be left open for anyone who damn well pleased to go in and out of.

Kagome tilted her head to the side and peeked in, eyes landing on the figure she'd been searching for. She walked in quietly, using all the stealth she'd adapted while hunting demons for something much different than she was used to. She shimmied through the door, although she knew she fit far easier than Steve had with all his muscle and bulk.

On quiet feet, she came up behind him, her hands planted firmly on her hips. When he showed no signs of realizing she was behind him, she cleared her throat. She had to hide the smirk she felt tempted to rise when he jumped a bit and whirled around, prepared for anything.

As soon as he spotted her, he exhaled and dropped his head a bit, mirroring her stance with his hands on his hips. "What are you doing here?" he asked as he picked his head up enough to meet her gaze. He was quiet and for good reason. She could feel the people nearby this area, just as much as they both could hear the faint echoes of their voices.

"What am I doing here? Steve, what are you doing here?" she turned it on him with a chiding tone. He looked taken aback as she scolded him like she was a disappointed sister scolding siblings.

"I needed to be sure," he said, and her expression softened at his tense words. "All that talk from earlier got in my head," he added on, and Kagome nodded slowly. "I needed to know."

"Then I guess we need to be quick about it before they start to wonder where we ran off to and come looking for us," she responded, much to his surprise.

"You don't need to get swept up in this, Kagome," Steven said. She knew he was trying to get her to go, to leave without him. "You can go and pretend you didn't see anything. That way if we're caught here you don't take the fall."

Kagome shook her head. "What? And just leave that to you? No, thank you," she said, glaring at him. "Teammates fight together- and when applicable, they sneak together. I'm not going to leave someone to do the heavy lifting all by themselves, no matter how strong they are." Kagome looked up at him, meeting his blue stare with her matching one. "I've spent my fair share of time being protected, and I'm done with it. If you insist on trying to protect me for much longer, you're gonna regret it when I show you what I can do."

He looked down at her, and she could see hesitation leaving him upon her declaration. "Alright," he said finally, and she beamed up at him. "Let's go."

She nodded and gently urged Kirara from her shoulder. As she hopped onto the floor, Kagome crouched in front of her. "If anyone gets too close, go stir some trouble up. Pretend to chase a mouse or bug or something," she ordered. She felt Steve watching her, and she could practically feel the amusement in his stare as he observed her chatting to the cat. She stood back up and turned to face him, a pout on her face. "What?"

Steve shook his head. "Nothing," he said, but she could tell he wasn't saying what he wanted to. She arched a brow.

"Let's go then," she said, and he nodded in agreement.

"After you." He nodded up to the catwalk above them, and she walked over to him. "Here, I'll give you a leg up," Steve said, linking his hands together in front of him so she could set her foot on them.

Kagome braced herself with one hand on his shoulder and lifted herself up by placing her foot on his linked hands. He lifted her without effort, and she gripped the railing of the catwalk as she pulled herself up the rest of the way. A second later, once she was back on her feet, she turned back towards Steve. He maneuvered up to join her without struggling, and soon the two of them were on their way.

They remained as quiet as possible as they skulked about, Kagome letting Steve lead as she paid more attention to the auras buzzing around her. She couldn't feel the pulse of anyone getting too close, so she hoped Kirara wouldn't be needed in the long run.

She was so tuned into the distance, she didn't realize the blonde man in front of her had come to a halt. By accident, Kagome stumbled face-first into his back, not that it made him budge any.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she backed up a bit, peering around him to see what'd made him stop. She watched, curious, as he opened up a metal case. She wasn't exactly sure what it was that was inside, but there was an angered pulse in Steve's aura. She glanced up at his face, spotting his clenched jaw. "Steve? What is it?"

"These are HYDRA weapons," he said, his tone tense. Again, that name left her confused. She didn't have time to question it, however. In the distance, she could feel Fury heading to the lab, and she stumbled back some. Not just him, either. Natasha and Thor were en route, as well.

"Something doesn't feel right," she said. Her words caught Steve's focus, and he turned towards her. "Everyone's heading to the lab." There was a foreboding feeling in her chest, too. Something in the distance, further off beyond the ship's walls, was coming. She wasn't sure if it was for sure, or if it was Loki's scepter playing some sort of trick on her, and that bothered her. She shook her head and backtracked a few more paces.

"You head back," he said, and Kagome looked up at him with surprised eyes. "I'm going to look around for a bit more. I'll catch up to you."

"Are you sure?" she asked, and he offered her a smile she could tell was strained. "Steve, I-"

"I'm sure," he said. "You good to get back down to the lower level?" he asked, and Kagome couldn't help the smile she felt tempted to pepper her face.

"I'll manage just fine," she assured. Instead of him just rising to assume that she'd need help, he'd given her the chance to suffice on her own. "You be careful, Captain," she said softly before turning and taking the lead to head back down the path they came.

000

When she made it to the section where they climbed up, Kagome dropped into a crouch and gripped the railing with both hands before slipping her weight over the edge. She let go of the railing as she dropped down, landing in a crouch and a small huff. Once down, she saw Kirara bound over to her, and Kagome held a hand out to urge her to stay where she was.

"Stay, Kirara," she said. The demon cat looked up at her with wide, red eyes. "Stay here and wait for Steve to come back before leaving," she instructed, telling her to keep the lookout going until the man came back from his exploration.

Kirara gave a sharp mew before she darted back to the corner she'd been lurking in. Once she'd done that, Kagome left the area, using her senses to skulk around anyone who might be close by.

She managed to make it to the lab before any of the others did, trotting in through the doors as she kept tabs on that strange aura she could feel coming from elsewhere. It was definitely getting closer, but she still couldn't be sure.

"What's up, Buttercup?" Tony asked as the ravenette so suddenly dashed back into the lab. Kagome looked up at him upon hearing his question, and she shook her head slowly.

"Nothing," she said after a few seconds of silence on her end. "Just… there's a weird aura I can feel in the distance."

"We might be getting close to the Tesseract," Bruce said, picking his head up at hearing her claim. "We're sweeping for a signature now. Once we get a hit, we'll have a location within half a mile."

Kagome nodded at his claim. "That's promising," she said, and both him and Tony nodded in response. She didn't get the chance to say much else before Fury walked into the lab. She could sense the anger in his aura, and she turned her head to look at him.

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" Fury demanded to know as he walked to stand in the middle of the lab, in front of the three present.

Tony brought his pen up to his lips as he nodded at the other man. "Uh… sorta been wondering the exact same thing about you," he retorted stiffly.

Fury glared at him. "You're here to locate the Tesseract."

"And they're doing that," Kagome said, folding her arms over her chest.

"The model's locked," Bruce said, nodding in agreement. "We have to wait for the sweep to end."

"Yup," Tony nodded, glancing from Fury back to the screen. "You'll get that cube back, no muss or fuss." He tapped at something on the screen, and the prior work on it faded, getting replaced by a mass of secret files he'd hacked. "Quick question, what is Phase 2?"

She saw Fury's expression tense at the question, but he didn't get the chance to answer it before Steve stormed into the lab, Kirara leading the way as she bounded up into Kagome's open arms. Kagome patted the top of her head, turning to face Steve as he dropped a bulky weapon onto the table in front of them. At the sound, Tony, Bruce, and Fury all turned to the newest figure that had joined them.

"Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons," Steve said, his expression and aura showcasing his anger. He glanced at Tony and tilted his head in a nod. "Sorry, computer was a bit too slow for me."

Fury turned towards Steve, holding a hand up as if to placate him. "Rogers, all we've done is gathered everything that has relation to the Tesseract. It doesn't mean-"

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Tony spoke up, his tone completely unapologetic as he showed files that contradicted that claim on his screen, "but what were you lying, Nick?"

Steve glared at Fury, hands tightened. "I was wrong, Director. I guess the world hasn't changed a single bit."

It was at that moment that Thor and Natasha finally came to join them in the lab, and Bruce turned his focus to Natasha instantly. "Were you aware of this?" he asked, but Natasha wasn't phased by the question.

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment?" Natasha asked him in response, ignoring his question.

Bruce gave a dry laugh in response. "Remove myself? I was in Calcutta, I was removed."

"Nat, answer the question," Kagome said, folding her arms over her chest. She looked at her, her gaze apologetic, and it was all the answer she needed. Kagome looked away from her, and Natasha swapped her focus back to Bruce.

"Loki is manipulating you," Natasha said.

He arched a brow. "How is that any different from what you're doing?"

Natasha sent him a pointed glare. "You didn't choose to come here because I batted my eyes at you a few times."

"You're right," Bruce nodded at her before moving back over to the screen in front of Tony. "I'm not just going to leave because you get a bit twitchy, either." He reached towards the screen and turned it to face the room. "I want to know why SHIELD is planning to use the Tesseract as a way to build weapons of mass destruction."

Silence fell over the area for a few seconds before Fury broke it. He turned a bit and motioned towards Thor, who jerked back some in surprise, eyes widening. "Because of him," Fury said, further stunning Thor.

"Me?" Thor pointed at himself, surprise evident in his voice. Kagome frowned and looked at him before turning back to Fury, hoping for a better explanation.

"Yes," Fury nodded. "Last year, Earth got a visitor from another planet. There was a grudge mat that leveled a small town," Fury said as eyes went to him. "That moment, we learned that we are not alone. Not only that, but we are also hopelessly, hilariously outgunned."

Thor furrowed his brow. "My people wish for peace with this planet."

Kagome could feel the honesty in his words, and she could tell he genuinely felt that way.

"Yeah, but you're not the only ones out there, are you?" Fury questioned with certainty in his voice. "You're not the only threat, either." He let his gaze sweep the room at all the faces present. "This world is getting more and more people who can't be matched, and who can't be controlled."

"You mean like you controlled the cube?" Steve challenged.

"Your work is what drew Loki and his allies to the Tesseract," Thor said, glaring at Fury. "It is a signal to all the realms of this world, a sign that the earth is ready for a higher form of war."

Steve glanced at Thor. "A higher form?"

Fury focused back on Thor. "With our hand forced, we had to come up with something."

Tony clicked his tongue and nodded. "Yes, because nuclear deterrent always does the trick at calming things down, doesn't it?"

Fury turned on his heel, eye landing on Tony behind him. "Please, Stark, remind me again how it is you made your fortune?"

"I'm positive if Stark still was in the weapon business, he'd be neck-deep…" Steve muttered, trailing off as Tony whirled around to glare at him.

"Hey now, wait!" Tony exclaimed. "How did this become about me?"

Steve arched a brow. "Oh, I'm sorry. Isn't everything?"

"Knock it off already, you two," Kagome snapped at them. "Are you really gonna go after each other's throats when you're coming from the same side? Can't you see how counterproductive that is?"

Thor eyed the group, folding his arms back over his chest. "Here I thought humans were more evolved than this…" His comment made Fury turn towards him.

"Excuse me? Did we go to your planet and start blowing stuff up?" he snapped in response. "No, we didn't."

"Tell me, do you always treat your champions with such mistrust?" Thor countered.

"You all are being way too naive," Natasha said, setting a hand on her hip as she eyed the room. "SHIELD is supposed to monitor potential threats of all kinds."

"You're telling me that Captain America is on the potential threat watchlist?" Bruce questioned, motioning to the man in question. Tony turned to Steve at hearing that, a brow rose.

"Yes," Natasha responded. "Every one of us is."

"They have you on that list?" Tony commented, "what are you? Above or below angry bees?"

Steve closed his eyes and took a breath before looking back at Tony, only getting more and more agitated at the other man. "I swear to God, Stark, one more-"

"Threatening, verbal threat!" Tony pointed a finger at Steve, who slapped his hand down. "I feel threatened!"

Kagome let her gaze sweep over everyone there as they began to bicker childishly amongst each other. That same eerie feeling she felt began to grow stronger, and she closed her eyes as she focused on it, doing her best to tune out the fighting around her. It was for sure getting closer, but with it…

She couldn't handle the petty squabbling and egos swelling out of order, and having to listen to it all as she tried to focus on something in the distance was going to make her lose her cool.

"You speak of control, and yet you court chaos," Thor said, and Bruce nodded.

"Isn't that his M.O.?" Bruce commented. "Look at us, what are we supposed to be? A team?" he laughed. "No, we're no team. What we are is a chemical mixture that makes chaos." He shook his head. "What we are is a timebomb."

"You need to step away," Fury said, and Bruce cut his eyes at him. At the same time, Tony slung an arm back and rested his hand on Steve's shoulder.

"What's the big deal?" Tony asked. "Why can't you let the guy blow off a little steam?"

Steve snatched Tony by his wrist and shoved his arm away, turning and giving him an angered glare. "You know damn well why! Back off!"

Tony turned to face him, getting a step closer as he looked directly at him. "Ooh, now I'm starting to want you to make me."

Rising to the challenge, Steve matched Tony's step with one of his own. "Big man in a suit of armor, but take that off, and what are you?"

Without missing a beat, Tony replied, "genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Not necessarily in that order," he said.

Steve glared at him. "I've known guys with none of that that were worth ten of you," he replied. "I've seen the footage. The only thing you've ever fought for is yourself. You're not the guy to make a sacrifice for another person, to fall and lay down on a wire to let the other guys crawl over you."

Tony tilted his head to the side before turning back to Steve. "No, I think I'd rather just cut the wire."

"Always a way out, huh?" Steve smirked at the comment. "You might not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero, Stark."

"A hero?" Tony repeated those words, nodding at Steve. "Oh, like you?" He stepped closer to him, anger coating his words. "All you are is a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle. "

Kagome looked between the two and moved over to them, her nerves jumbled due to the agitated emotions in the room, in combination with the strange auras she was picking up on. "Now is not the time for this," she reprimanded them, not that her words had any effect.

"Put on the suit," Steve said, ignoring Kagome as if she hadn't said anything. "Let's go a few rounds."

Thor laughed, and Kagome whipped her focus to him, glaring at him. "You people. You're all so petty," he said, "and tiny."

Tony shook his head and turned away from Steve, seeming to abide by Kagome's whims. She sighed and covered her eyes with a hand.

"Can't we just come together like a team for this one task?" she grumbled. "We don't need to like each other, we just need to do this!"

"A team?" Bruce looked at her in response. "Yeah, this sure is some team, isn't it?"

Fury looked at him before turning to Natasha. "Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner to his-"

"Where?" Bruce turned to Fury next. "Did you forget? You rented my room out."

"The cell is only intended for emergencies, Dr. Banner," Fury replied. "In case we needed to-"

"To kill me, but you can't," Bruce finished for him. "I know! I've tried!"

Kagome snapped her focus to him, eyes wide at the comment. He felt her stare before anyone else's, and he wasn't able to overlook the way her eyes glossed over in moisture. She could feel the pain he felt as he said those words, and her heart hurt at even hearing him admitting to it.

The rest of the room slowly mirrored her in turning to him.

"I-I got low," Bruce continued, feeling all eyes on him. "There didn't seem to be a way out, and I hit rock bottom. I put a bullet in my mouth, but all the other guy did was spit it out," he said. "I decided to move on. I turned to helping other people. I was good, I was content," Bruce shook his head. "You dragged me back into this little freakshow, and you've put everyone here at risk!" he said, attention on Natasha.

In sync, both Natasha and Fury moved their hands to the guns at their side as Bruce began to head towards her.

"Do you really want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff?" he questioned her, hand going out to grip the scepter. The room got tenser in response. "You wanna know how I stay so calm?"

Kagome moved without thinking, stepping in between him and the others. A different aura came, this one somehow worse than before. This one came from the scepter that Bruce now held, seemingly unaware that he even had it. "Stop," she demanded, her voice gentle yet powerful all the same. "Bruce, please, put the scepter back where it was and move away from it. It's starting to affect you. You can't let it do that, okay? You're stronger than that."

Her words took him by surprise, and he glanced down. His eyes widened, shocked to see the scepter held in his hands. Before another word could be said, the computer in the corner of the lab began to beep, and everyone drifted focus to it.

"Got the signal," Tony said.

Bruce set the scepter down and went over to check the computer. "Sorry, kids, looks like no one will get to see the party trick after all."

Kagome sighed as the aura from the scepter began to die down, ignoring the rest around as the conversation returned to normal. Tony was about to leave, most likely to suit up and go recover the Tesseract, only for Steve to stop him.

"You're not going on your own," Steve said, and Tony turned to glare at him.

"What? You gonna stop me?" he countered.

"Why don't you put on your suit and let's find out," he challenged.

"I'm not afraid to fight an old man," Tony threatened.

Kagome growled and was about to put an end to their fighting once and for all before her focus was pulled back to the auras she'd felt before. Even with the mass aboard the ship, there was no mistaking it.

She could feel her father's aura.

And if she could feel it, then that was a very bad sign given his current situation.

Kagome turned to the others in order to warn them. At the same time, Bruce's voice came from the other side of the computer as he glanced at the screen.

There was only a second to react before an explosion rocked the ship, and everyone in the room was thrown in different directions. Kagome landed against the wall, her arms covering her head to shield her from debris. Fury, Thor, Tony, and Steve were all tossed in different directions much like she had been, but Natasha and Bruce fell down to the lower level when a hole caved in the middle of the floor.

Smoke and dust settled, and there wasn't a wasted second as everyone sprung into motion.

"Put on the suit!" Steve exclaimed as he got back on his feet. Tony followed his lead, clambering back onto his feet as he nodded his head.

"Yup!"

As everyone scrambled into motion, Kagome picked herself up. She came to a halt when a hand took her own, helping her get back onto her feet. She accepted it graciously, looking up at Thor.

"Thanks," she said, and he shook his head.

"No thanks are needed, Priestess," he assured, and she let out a quiet hum at the title.

"You can just call me Kagome," she said as she began to move. She peered down into the crater in the room, but she wasn't able to see Natasha or Bruce from the mess that was created from the explosion. She could tell they were down there, however, and she could tell that something was wrong with Bruce. She could feel it in his aura, and it made her nerves jumble up.

"Come on," she said, looking back at Thor. "We can't just stand around."

Thor fell into step with her as she left the lab. Kirara trembled, recovering from the loud noise that just rocked the entire ship, and Kagome lifted a hand to let her comforting aura seep out and ease Kirara some. Kagome shook her head and looked left from right.

"Thor, try to get down there to help Natasha," she said, pausing long enough to look up at him. The next second, she was moving on further down the hall. "I'm going ahead," was all she said before she followed the trace of her father's aura.

She followed it the best she could in the flurry of auras she felt panicking and rushing around the entire ship. Just as she rounded a corner, an earth-shaking roar erupted from the lower level, and her instincts told her that was Bruce's secret she never attempted to push out of him.

It was a roar of pure rage, anger, and violence. It made her freeze, her heart leaping into her throat in panic at the sound alone. It was like nothing she'd ever heard, and it brought emotions forward that she'd thought she learned how to combat long ago.

Her thoughts returned to Natasha, but she shook her head a second later. Thor was heading down to where she was, and by the feel of it, Natasha had already put space between her and Bruce. She let that thought ease her mind, and she kept pursuing forward.

She briefly paid attention to the situation through the earpiece she wore. Enough to learn where exactly her father was heading. She didn't bother to give confirmation she was on her way when she heard Natasha beat her to it.

Kagome had a few minutes on her at least, and she didn't plan to hang back and wait for backup. It grew silent down in the area as she stalked down the path that'd take her where she needed to go.

"Hang back," Kagome instructed Kirara as she removed her from her shoulder and set her down out of the way. "I'll be fine," she said as she picked herself back up and closed in on her father, using his aura as a personal trail to track him down.

She thought back to the hand-to-hand combat Sango had taught her, and prepped herself when he came into her line of sight. Her hands tightened as she got closer. He abruptly came to a halt, but she didn't slow any. Instead, she moved faster.

He turned and aimed an arrow at her center, and Kagome threw a barrier up that blocked it from hitting her. She lowered it long enough to shoot a hand out. She gripped the bow and yanked him forward with all the strength she had. She brought a leg up, using the railing of the catwalk to her side in order to climb up some. Once high enough, she curled one leg around his neck, sitting atop his shoulders as she yanked the bow he held up. She got it out of his grip and tossed it behind her further down the catwalk.

With his hands empty, Kagome lurched to move away from him, putting more space between them by using the rails to her advantage. Natasha showed up, coming down the same path Kagome had. She ran towards them, using her momentum to spring herself up and wrap her legs around Clint's neck, flipping him to the ground as she stood back up on his other side.

Kagome and Natasha shared a quick look, not having time to say anything before he gripped a knife, choosing to turn and lunge at Natasha first.

Natasha dodged the slices, gripping his arm and turning it in an abnormal angle, only to her grip to go slack some when he snatched her by her hair and twisted her into a hold.

Natasha moved quick, ignoring the pain, and brought both hands up to grip the arm that wielded the knife. She pulled it to her mouth, biting hard enough to make him let go of her. As he did, Kagome took her chance and swept her leg out to take his out from under him. Without missing a single beat, Natasha reached for the back of his neck and slammed his head into the railing.

The fight halted then and there, and Clint gripped the railing with both hands. He groaned as he tried to clamber back onto his feet. He held the railing for support, the pain in his head making it tough to move. With enough effort, he got onto his knees, and he looked up. For a moment, he thought delusion stuck when he stared into identical blue eyes.

"Kagome…?" He questioned, and she nodded in response. "... the hell are you doing here?"

"Fill you in later, Dad," was all she said before she unceremoniously reared her arm back, bringing it back hard enough to strike him unconscious.

Natasha looked at her from the other side of him as he got knocked back to the ground, landing sprawled out. Kagome looked up, meeting her stare with a small shrug.

"I'd say we've got about half an hour to get our story straight," Kagome said, her expression blank.

"You really are your father's daughter," Natasha responded with a faint laugh. "Get his right side, Kagome. I got left," she said.

"On it!" Kagome nodded and moved to help her gather him up so they could move him elsewhere.

C.R: It's longer than I anticipated it to be, but I really wanted to get to the ending point of Clint seeing Kagome in this chapter.

Anyway, Clint's free from Loki's influence, or almost at least, so be prepared for Kagome and Clint's interactions in the next chapter.

Anyway, that's it for now! Thank you all for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed this update. Hopefully I caught all the errors before posting, but if not, sorry.

Please remember to Review&Favorite&Follow, thank you!

Bye for now~