Chapter Five
The moment the small group arrived back on base Amelia was the first one off the quinjet and racing to the shower. She did love to dress up every now and then, but not when the world was at stake. As she changed into a pair of comfortable jeans and a teal shirt she began to think of Clint. Would he come now that they had Loki in custody? She could only hope as she left her quarters and made her way over to the briefing room where everyone else was. It seemed like she was the only one to change out of her Germany garb because everyone else was still suited up, except for Tony.
Natasha acknowledged her presence with a curt nod in the brunette's direction and motioned toward the consul, "Could you get the video feed on the desk? It looks like Sitwell is having trouble."
Sitwell sent Natasha a glare but moved out of the way for Amelia to work her magic. It didn't take the girl long before the video was up on everybody's tablet and computer. Amelia was surprised Coulson didn't go with Fury to speak to the Asgardian, but she knew he was discussing some kind of new schematics for the base they lost.
The group of heroes watched Fury's conversation with Loki and the more the two interacted the more apprehensive Amelia became. She felt like Loki wasn't how Thor had originally described him. A jokester was prone to pranks, but not taking over the world. It was like Loki was trying to prove himself to someone with the way he stood proudly in front of one of the scariest agents Amelia knew of. Once Fury exited his conversation with Loki, Amelia let out a puff of air that she didn't even realize she had been holding.
She moved to stand next to Thor who smiled at her, "It is good to see you Lady of Sarcasm."
Amelia laughed at Thor's name for her, "Likewise Rapunzel."
Thor furrowed his brow at the name, "You still have yet to show me this movie."
"All in good time," She answered patting his bicep, which she swore was bigger than the last time she saw him.
"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Banner said as he rubbed his hands together.
Steve looked less than amused, "Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?"
Thor didn't hesitate to explain the current situation, "He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."
Steve looked perplexed, "An army? From outer space?"
"Weirder things have happened."
The group fell silent at Amelia's statement. It was true, with the exception of Thor, that the things they had all faced had all been of human origins. Now they were dealing with an entirely new threat that was anything but man made. Amelia felt confident in S.H.I.E.L.D. at its efforts to maintain a safe planet, but she was apprehensive. Everybody was counting on them to keep the world safe. Yet they haven't got a clue as to what they may be facing.
"So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for." Bruce concluded.
Thor looked at Bruce in surprise, "Selvig?"
"He's an astrophysicist," Bruce explained only to have Thor wave him off.
"He's a friend."
"Loki has him under some kind of spell," Natasha added while glancing over at Amelia. "along with one of ours."
Amelia shook her head in frustration, "I want to know why Clint didn't try harder to protect Loki."
Steve nodded, "I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here."
"Exactly," Amelia agreed.
Bruce frowned, "I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him."
"Cat's are smarter than you think," Amelia cuts in. "His mind is full of fluff and not the good kind."
"Have a care how you speak." Amelia could tell Thor took offense to her words. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."
Natasha looked the blonde dead in the eyes, "He killed eighty people in two days."
Thor shrugged, "He's adopted."
Amelia couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Loki to find out he's adopted. The idea that your parents had been essentially lying to him about his birthplace. If he had finally been told of his true parentage then Amelia deduced he might be wanting revenge and in her experience, revenge is a dangerous motive to kill.
Bruce looked at the computer, "Iridium, what did they need the Iridium for?"
Amelia was about to answer when Tony beat her to it, "It's a stabilizing agent."
The man had just walked in with Coulson and the two seemed to be discussing something that wasn't helpful for saving the world, "I'll fly you there. Keep love alive."
Amelia raised an eyebrow, but Stark waved her off, "Means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D."
"How come Selvig didn't know to use that and you did?" Amelia asked.
Tony sent her a smirk, "Because I'm amazing."
Amelia scoffed before moving to sit next to Steve at the table. The man looked to be confused by the technical jargon that was being thrown around the room. She tried to explain what it meant to Steve, but he gave up about halfway through the conversation.
"No hard feelings, Point Break." The group watched as Tony patted Thor on the arm. "You've got a mean swing."
Tony continued to talk more about the iridium as Amelia brought up the live video feed of Loki. He currently seemed to be meditating, but Amelia knew better. Loki didn't have the patience to clear his mind. If he did then he would probably be labeled as a sane man, but the world had come to know recently that sanity was never his strong suit. He was waiting for something and Amelia was determined to discover why.
"How does Fury do this?"
The question was directed at Amelia, but before she could reply Agent Hill interrupted, "He turns."
Tony looks around at the monitors, "Well, that sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials are something Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only the major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube."
Agent Hill stared at him, "When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"
"Last night," Tony said. "The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"
Amelia laughed as she confessed, "No I took my time understanding how to neutralize Antlers."
Tony smirked at her, "Always have to be one step ahead."
"It's my trademark."
Steve broke up the little competition between Amelia and Tony, "Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?"
"The power source we had back at the old base was enough to house the cube, but not stabilize it. That's how Loki was able to gain entry to Earth." Amelia replied.
"He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier." Bruce nodded.
"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect." Tony countered.
Bruce looked impressed, "Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet."
Tony gestured at Bruce in excitement, "Finally, someone who speaks English."
"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked looking over at Amelia, but she only shook her head.
"Science Bros."
Tony and Banner shake hands as the rest of the group looked on. It's obvious by the glimmer in their eyes that they held a mutual respect for each other. Amelia was glad to see the two getting along.
"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."
Amelia had spoken too soon.
"Thanks."
"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him." Fury cut in as he made his way to the center of the room.
Steve looked over at Amelia only to see her concentrated on the video of Loki, "Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."
Amelia looked up at Fury at the mention of Loki's staff, but Fury just clasped his hands together, "I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."
"Monkeys? I do not understand." Thor replied looking at Amelia for an explanation.
Amelia smiled at the reference, but couldn't contain her laughter when Steve shouted, "I do! I understood that reference."
Tony rolled his eyes, while Steve looked at Amelia with a proud smile, "Shall we play, doctor?"
"Let's play some," Bruce replied and the group watched as the two nerds walked toward the lab.
Amelia was about to head to her room to video chat with her grandfather when she felt two hands come to rest on her shoulders. She looked up to see Coulson peering down at her with a look she knew all too well.
"Don't make me drag you there."
Amelia swatted his hands before standing and walking towards her least favorite part of the helicarrier. Before she disappeared from view she called over her shoulder, "I hate you."
Amelia hated the medical wing. She hated being poked and prodded with needles and thermometers. She particularly didn't like Abigail Swanson, a nurse with a terrible reputation of one-upping people. She declared that because of her medical degree she was the smartest person on the carrier. Amelia knew better than to start an argument with someone charged with her health.
Amelia waited in anticipation for the doctor to get to her and began fidgeting with her hair. She began gnawing on the split ends and sinking into deep thought. From her perspective, Loki didn't put up much of a fight in Germany. She couldn't quite figure out why he would surrender so easily. Perhaps he actually was as harmless as he proclaimed to be, but Amelia was no fool. She had seen his kind before.
The crazy ones always looked innocent in the beginning.
Amelia was pulled from her never-ending questions as the curtains were drawn and an unknown blonde woman stepped in, "Good Afternoon, Agent Nilson."
Amelia recognized after a split second as Doctor Christine Benson. The young doctor was fresh out of med school and was recruited after seeing her research on neural pathways. The woman was brilliant to put in bluntly and Amelia remembered her from her last check-up.
"You're the one that gave me the green apple lollipop."
Christine smiled kindly, "Yes I am. I hoped the flavor was too your liking. I'm Doctor Christine Benson."
Amelia enjoyed the soothing way in which Christine conducted her examination. The two women chattered about candy, Disney, and new discoveries in medical advancement. While Amelia had no idea how the brain was hardwired she was able to relate some of the medical jargon to that of a computer.
"He really surrendered without putting up a fight?" Christine asked finishing up the examination of Amelia's burn.
Amelia nodded, "It was like he knew he was outnumbered."
Christine seemed to ponder this, "But when he first arrived didn't he get what was needed and then portal out. Why get captured when you have the power to portal at whim?"
Amelia considered this but couldn't come up with a plausible reason for as to why either. It was as if he was waiting for the right moment to unleash every card in his hand. Amelia hated the idea of Loki having the upper hand in anything and thus proceeded to come up with a plan. If Loki wouldn't talk she would manipulate him, just like he manipulated Clint. Except she didn't need a magic staff.
Amelia walked out of the medical wing with a cherry flavored lolli pop in hand. She was glad to know the burn mark had not caused severe damage, but she did worry about after effects. Christine had recommended her to come see her twice month for the next few months to make sure there are no lasting effects. Normally Amelia would disagree and avoid medical treatment at all costs, but Christine made a good point. What if she slowly turned on her team like Clint did?
Amelia shuttered at the thought. She had fought so hard to prove herself, and there was no way she would let one blast from the spear of doom hinder her future. She tenderly touched the white bandage covering the mark before setting all thoughts of her well being aside. She pulled out her phone and dialed her grandfather's number. She hadn't gotten much of a chance to greet him and check on him at the scene. The least she could do was check on him now.
"My precious leibling! Are you okay? Where are you?"
Amelia felt her heart shatter into a million pieces. The sound of her grandfather's worried tone and the slight wheezing of his breath caused Amelia to suddenly feel guilty. The last time she had seen her grandfather was over 3 years ago and now she felt like she was putting him in danger.
"I'm at work Opa. My arm is fine I'm more worried about you. Have you gotten checked out?" Amelia asked.
"Don't worry about me Amelia just focus on being safe. I don't want to lose you to a madman like I lost your mother."
Amelia felt tears form in her eyes at the mention of her mother. She had never been exposed to a normal childhood. After her parents died she felt the need to seclude herself and surround herself with technology. She found it to be a sort of game. In order to forget her pasts she tried to piece together a future.
"I promise to stay safe. You know Phil and Nick won't let anything happen to me. If anything I'm trying to keep their asses alive." Amelia laughed although it sounded empty.
She heard her grandfather grumble something incoherent on the other end before pointing out, "Just watch out for each other. I don't want to lose any more good people to this man. Give Natasha and Clint my regards."
Amelia let a tear drop at the mention of Clint and steadied herself, "I miss you Opa. I'll come visit you soon. I love you."
"Ich liebe dich, Amelia." Her grandfather replied, "Go save the world."
Amelia hung up after that and couldn't help but breakdown after hearing the German words. She missed her family a great deal. All she wanted was for people to live in a safe world, but the universe seemed to have other plans. She composed herself quickly, glad that the corridor was empty of onlookers. She didn't want her personal problems being put on display.
She made her way down towards where the others were more than likely convening. However before she could make a move in the right direction she felt a hand grip her shoulder. She turned to find Coulson behind her with a sympathetic look. Amelia felt tears form again as she allowed herself to be pulled into his embrace.
"Your alright Lili."
Amelia leaned her head under his neck as he rocked them back and forth. She began to calm down as he brushed her hair back and wiped her tears away.
"How about after all this is over we take a vacation. Just you and me. We can go visit Theo and have shepherd's pie. What do you say?" Coulson asked with a gentle smile.
"You promise?" Amelia asked.
She looked like a small child with her red eyes and nose. Although the redness in her eyes did not dull her determination to win. She would live to see justice served and her brother returned. Then she would go lay low and visit her only remaining relative.
"Promise."
"Thanks Dad."
Amelia proceeded down the corridors of the helicarrier with a sense of apprehension. No one had heard from Natasha since the meeting over how to handle Loki. She was slightly worried about her, but her main priority was to focus on her mission. She walked to her room first to grab her ear piece and her tablet. She knew walking around the giant facility would waste her time.
It took Amelia only a few seconds to locate Natasha in the holding detention. She placed her ear piece in and quickly contacted the woman, "What are you doing?!"
"Interrogating."
Amelia rolled her eyes at Natasha's blunt response, "I don't even want to know what method your using"
"I'm not seducing him!"
"Could have fooled me!"
"Ladies you do realize this is an OPEN link." Fury stated.
"Since when have I censored myself for the sake of others?" Amelia asked making her way down toward Natasha.
"Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. I'll meet Amelia there. Send Thor as well."
Amelia didn't need to be told twice as she immediately switched routes and made her way towards Tony and Bruce. Although she would have rather waited for preferred to interrogate Loki herself maybe rough the god up she wasn't picky. All good things come to those who wait.
It didn't take Amelia long to enter the scene along with Thor and Natasha. It was already chaos with an unknown weapon being displayed on a screen with an exact replica was on the table. Steve was standing beside the actual weapon while Bruce and Tony stood on either side of the screen.
Bruce was the first to point fingers, directly at Natasha, "Did you know about this?"
Natasha placed her hand on her weapon and took a threatening step forward, "You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?"
Bruce chuckled at her threat, "I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."
"Loki's manipulating you." She said less threatening this time.
Amelia moved her way towards the screen pushing Tony out of the way to read the screen. She was shocked to see the many staged S.H.I.E.L.D. had planned for the Tesseract and it's power. She thought Fury would have told her some of this by now, but here she was. She was in the dark as much as anyone else. She was beyond pissed.
"And you've been doing what exactly?" Bruce asked.
Natasha moved closer to him, "You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."
Bruce moved over to Amelia and grabbed the screen from her hand thrusting it in Fury's face, "Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."
"Care to explain Nick?" Amelia asked walking over to stand in front of him. "You promised me an explanation on the ride over to view the damn cube. It seems you left some stuff out."
Fury looked at the anger in his daughter eyes before pointing over to the Thor, "Because of him."
"Me?" Thor asked.
Amelia watched as Fury moved to look at her and only her. Amelia suddenly felt very small underneath his gaze, "Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned."
She knew what he was referring too. It had nothing to do with Loki or Thor. It had to with someone from before Amelia had been recruited. This was about a special pilot and evil cat.
Thor sent the pair a look of hurt, "My people want nothing but peace with your planet."
Fury broke eye contact with Amelia to turn to Thor, "But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled."
"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve asked in anger.
"You're work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war." Thor replied.
"A higher form?" Steve looked at Fury accusingly.
"That's not what he's saying," Amelia shook her head, "He just wanted to be prepared in case something like this happened. Which it did!"
"You forced our hand." Fury agreed standing beside Amelia. "We had to come up with something."
Tony looked at Amelia with disbelief, "Nuclear deterrent. 'Cause that always calms everything right down."
"Tony you know that's not what I meant." Amelia said with a hurt tone.
She hadn't meant to bring up Tony's past demons, but she understood where Fury was coming from. S.H.I.E.L.D. was looking into creating weapons to protect its world and the people who inhabit it. This didn't mean they were aiming the weapon at something or looking to start a higher scale war.
"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" Fury asked earning a glare from Amelia.
Steve seemed to ump on the bandwagon of blaming Tony, "I'm sure if he still made weapons Stark would be neck deep-"
"Wait! Wait! Hold on! How is this now about me?" Tony said before rounding on Amelia. "Do you think I had something to do with this?"
Amelia felt like she was being interrogated as Steve came to her defense. She felt herself zoning out as she watched the rest of the team descend into chaos. Among it all Amelia could only hear silence as time seemed to slow down around her. She closed her eyes and exhaled feeling her hands ball into fists. When she opened them her eyes landed on on Loki's scepter which was glowing a bright blue.
She moved towards it almost like she was being pulled by it, but stopped when a hand reached out and plucked it out of her reach. The simple action shocked her out of her daze as she quickly assessed her situation. She was still in the lab and had moved forward and was now standing close to Bruce. He had the scepter in his grasp.
"You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?" Bruce asked.
Amelia's head snapped over to look at the doctor. He looked furious and yet he hadn't turned into a different shade of green. Instead he just looked hurt. Amelia's sympathy didn't last long when Bruce grabbed her arm and squeezed painfully. She tried to tell Bruce to let go, but he didn't seem to hear her. He seemed to be in the same trance she had been.
Natasha and Fury placed their hands on their guns at Bruce's actions of grabbing Amelia, but it was Steve voiced his concern, "Doctor Banner...let go of Amelia and put down the scepter."
Bruce's seems to realize for the first time that he has taken not only the scepter, but had Amelia in an ironclad grip. He released Amelia immediately who took a few steps away from him and the scepter. She no longer wanted to be in close proximity to the thing. The computer behind the group went off with the location of the Tesseract.
Tony is the first to break the tense air, "Got it."
Bruce puts down the scepter and sends Amelia an apologetic look before walking over to the computer, "Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my little party trick after all."
"Located the Tesseract?" Thor asks joining him along with Natasha.
"Where is it Bruce?" Amelia quietly walking to stand close to Steve and Tony.
"I can get there faster." Tony states trying to move around Amelia only to be body blocked by Steve.
"Look, all of us..." He began but was cut off by Thor.
"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it."
Amelia didn't know why but she disagreed with the statement, "The Tesseract has passed from the hands of heroes to enemies and no won has been able to match it. This is true Thor, but I don't believe for the reason you think. It isn't due to the lack of trying on anybody's part, but rather it has been waiting for the right person to match it."
Thor seems to consider Amelia's theory in turn and Natasha looks over at her sister impressed. Tony doesn't share the same patience to consider her proposal and turns to leave, but Steve stops him.
"You're not going alone!"
Tony slaps Steve's hand off of his person, "You gonna stop me?"
Steve steps closer, "Put on the suit, let's find out."
"I'm not afraid to hit an old man." Tony says with no hint of a humors tone.
"Put on the suit." Steve replies sizing the billionaire up.
Amelia steps in between them and pushes them apart, "Enough. Your both acting like spoiled brats. We do this together or not at all. Bruce what's the location?"
At that moment Bruce looks up from the monitor with a face that reads terrible news, "Oh, my God!"
Amelia didn't have time to question his statement as everyone is thrown in every direction from a blast coming from outside the helicarrier. Amelia lands in between Steve and Tony, both men seemingly shocked from the unexpected attack, but unharmed. They go to check on the brunette and Steve reaches out to steady her. Amelia winces when his hand comes into contact with her side. She lifts up her shirt fully expecting to see blood, but is relieved to find the beginnings of a very large bruise.
"Well this is the cherry on top of my crazy day." Amelia breathed dealing with the pain the only way she knew how, humor.
Steve looked at her in disbelief only to see it was her coping mechanism and turned to Tony, "Put on the suit!"
Tony didn't need to be ordered around, "Yep!"