Hello my readers! Here is chapter ten!

Disclaimer: I do not own Carrie White or the Avengers or any MCU character.

Chapter 10: There Was This Idea

Tony absently looked at the people gathered around the table. Everyone except Romanoff and her buddy Legolas were present. Musclehead was currently brooding with regret in the corner, a self-imposed time out.

Boohoo. Tony wasn't feeling charitable after Musclehead fell for Loki's trick twice and got himself and Bruce dumped from the Helicarrier in the Hulk cage. If he hadn't noticed the eject, Hulk might have killed Thor before they ever landed. The Iron Man suit suffered for the save, and blondie needed to carry both men back to the Helicarrier. Even Hulk could be knocked out – he reverted back to Bruce after landing face first into Musclehead's hammer.

Their ride was operational again, but many agents were dead, and others injured. The ship itself had taken massive damage from the Hulk and Thor duking it out with several systems down. Tony already had some notes on his phone for improvements on the next Helicarrier model, same for the Iron Man suit to counter the scenarios that screwed them over so badly.

Phil was on the dead list and Carrie missing – no one could find her. Thor had left her in the hanger after being attacked by the Hulk, when she'd been guised to look like his brother. The Scepter was also MIA, it wasn't hard to figure how the most likely scenario. Loki had all but said it to Thor's face as he gloated about his near victory.

The billionaire recalled his first impression of the kid – he had never seen such a beaten down person in his life. There was a sense of almost-defeat about her and just plain exhaustion, like her vitality had been wrung out. Carrie was definitely a teenager but the invisible lines on her face from a life of stress and fear all but spelled out she wasn't a kid in the ways she should be. There were times Carrie seemed to stare at nothing at all.

In sharp contrast to that, there was also a... timid kind of hope in her eyes whenever she spoke to someone.

Capisicle noticed it too and looked awkwardly at the kid which she was sharp enough to note and be uncomfortable with. Subtlety wasn't Tony's preferred method, but he was smart enough to know it was needed sometimes.

Then Fury came up to them, messing with something in his hands.

"Any news?" Bruce asked, from where he sat slumped over the table next to Tony. A mug of very strong coffee sat by his elbow half empty.

The Super Spy was grim, he didn't beat around the bush.

"Loki has Ms. White and the Scepter." Miniature screens opened up in the table, and showed Loki grabbing the Scepter as his lackeys, disguised in SHIELD gear, moved Carrie onto the stretcher.

"They came prepared." Bruce muttered.

"Why though? If Carrie was a threat that he wanted gone he could have just killed her, why take her alive? What does he need her for?" Steve said.

"Her synchronization to the Cube and the Scepter no doubt, but what aren't we seeing?" Tony said. "How is it important? It seems like Loki has enough of a handle on the glowstick and Selvig has the portal covered."

"I find it interesting that she was not enthralled." Thor spoke up for the first time. "My brother could have done that as well; he is not one to let an advantage go without reason. Considering her link to it, perhaps he did not want to risk a backlash."

"It might not even work on her." Steve acknowledged.

"We're dead in the air up here." Fury was looking at whatever he had in his hands again. Tony was mildly curious now but didn't have the energy to bother him about it. "No communications. Ms. White, the Tesseract – we got nothing. Dr. Banner?"

"The Cube was tracked to North America, but everything went crazy before the tracker could pinpoint the location. The tracker itself is destroyed." Bruce sighed. "It would take too long to build another with what I have left."

"I see." Fury tossed what he was holding onto the table. There was a soft smack and Tony went numb as he saw the bloodstained Captain America trading cards on the table. "Those were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them."

Steve reached over and grabbed the one whose top corner was caked in drying blood. He looked at it duly.

"I lost my one good eye, and maybe I had that coming." Fury sighed. "Yes. SHIELD was planning make weapons with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips in that basket though, because I was playing something risker. There was an idea, Stark knows this, to bring together a team of remarkable people called the Avengers Initiative. A team that would fight the battles, we never could." He had rounded the table at this point and stopped near Tony.

He didn't look up as Fury tossed a book in front of him – the Harry Potter book Carrie had been reading. On top of it, were blank pages that must have been torn from the book, with rough sketches of pants and a jacket. Scribbled near each were little annotations – ideas to make the pants stretchy and durable enough for Bruce and including hidden pockets in the jacket for Tony if he needed them. It had been done in pen – some of the ink was smudged.

"Phil Coulson died, believing in that idea. Carrie White? She felt it could be a way to do good with her life and be the hope in the world she never saw growing up. Its why Ms. White gave life another chance, I suppose."

Tony stood up and left. He couldn't stay, he couldn't.

They watched him go.

"Well." Fury said softly. "It was old fashioned."

Bruce, sharp eyed, plucked the torn pages from the table and stared at them for a moment – then he got up and followed Tony. Fury and Hill watched the briefing end itself as the other men followed suit.

The Director of SHIELD folded his hands behind his back – he had played his cards; all he could do now was wait.

Natasha Romanoff poured a cup of water for her partner, the stillness of her expression giving her away. Clint knew her better than anyone at SHIELD – was the reason she had a chance to clear the red from her ledger. He was hard to fool.

She didn't bother to deny it when he asked what was wrong.

"I have red in my ledger," Natasha said ambiguously, but Clint was familiar with the fluctuations and tone of her voice. He knew the 'red' was not someone she needed to wipe out, but a debt she owed.

"Who?"

"That kid Fury brought a month ago. Carrie White got me out of the Hulk's path and led him away."

It was grating on many levels – Black Widows should not need saving, if one did, they were weak and wouldn't survive. Survival was the ultimate goal for the Red Room's potential Widows. They had ingrained perfectionism into all of the girls, tangled the drive for success and desire to please superiors into their self-worth. All of them, Natasha included, ate it up – in the end they were just kids who wanted approval from their caretakers and knew the only way to get it was to be the best Black Widow they could be and then better.

There was also the fact that Carrie White had no training and was still not cleared by her therapist for combat scenarios. That traumatized girl had stepped up when Natasha should have against the Hulk. If Loki hadn't wanted her alive, Hulk could have killed her directly or indirectly, and Bruce would have been forced to live with it.

Yes, the assassin knew there was virtually nothing she could do to stop the Hulk without highly specialized gear, but that was beside the point. Now the kid was gone – and taken by Loki who, in Stark's words, had scrambled Clint's mind. She owed the Asgardian dearly.

Clint was impressed. "She has more nerve than I thought."

"Loki has her and the Scepter." Natasha preferred to get bad news over with than prolong the inevitable. "She's going to need it."

Her partner lost his grin, and she felt a little stab of guilt.

"Was she banged up when he grabbed her?"

The report gave Natasha a chance to gather herself, so she briefed her partner (best friend and brother of her heart) on the circumstances of Carrie White's capture. Thor had left visible bruises but there was no way to know of any internal damage with the girl in enemy hands. Luckily (or unluckily) Loki seemed to want her in good condition, if the prepared stretcher and medics was anything to go on. It was likely he would have any serious injuries treated.

Clint said nothing at first, just sat back and she could see the gears in his head turning as he mulled over their situation.

"Well, this is bad."

No shit. The assassin huffed under her breath and untied her partner's restraints as a commotion started outside the room. Both agents looked at each other as the door slammed open. Stark stood in the doorway, looking simultaneously annoyed and pleased.

"That son of a bitch is opening the portal over my tower! Get ready to head out, we're kicking his ass and getting Carrie back!"

Steve Rogers appeared at Stark's shoulder – he noticed Clint and looked to Natasha, who nodded. Meanwhile, Stark finally noticed the freed agent.

"How did you reboot his brain?" He demanded. "His eyes aren't glowing creepy blue anymore."

"I hit him hard in the head.' Natasha said dryly.

"Hm," Stark nodded thoughtfully. "Well, it is a tried and true method. Congrats on getting your mind back and not looking like a zombie anymore. Power nap help?"

Clint was more amused than anything. "It was definitely the power nap. Loki is an asshole, didn't let me or Selvig sleep."

Natasha stiffened.

"You've been under his control for days. . ." Rogers said slowly.

Clint nodded. "Yep."

Stark whistled. "Well, there's a line but you'll get your knuckles bloody like the rest of us."

"I'd actually prefer putting an arrow through his eye." Hawkeye admitted grimly.

"Of course, of course," Stark said. "You have your own thing, I understand."

Eventually, the banter stopped, and everyone went their own way to prepare for the battle ahead.

Natasha would not fail this time.

When Carrie woke up, the first thing she registered was how she couldn't move. A few minutes of wiggling around helped her realize she was tied down to something a little soft. Everything was foggy though, and Carrie had a hard time focusing. She closed her eyes and felt a little better, the fogginess wasn't so bad as long as her eyes stayed closed.

"Her injuries?"

"A broken wrist, some severe bruising around her throat and collarbone. Speaking will be uncomfortable for a while. I sug-"

The conversation faded out, as a familiar and very welcomed humming vibrated in her head, easing the ache. There was a poking, prodding presence too and Carrie let it grab hold of her mind.

The Tesseract and the Scepter. If they were here than that meant –

Loki? Was he here? What happened?

Carrie, as much as she tried, couldn't recall exactly what happened after Thor dropped her. She knew that the fact she was tied up, and the Tesseract was near the Scepter, meant things weren't looking good for her.

Why take her though? Just having her here was a risk, Loki knew she could at least stall the opening of the portal. There was no immediate reason why he would risk that just to have her here. He could have left her at a base so why?

"Carrietta, you shouldn't be awaking up yet." Loki said softly to her right. The soothing tones he used weren't remotely comforting whatsoever. "I can sense the Stones reacting to your mind, you can't fool me, Carrietta. Sleep now. Your new Master is waiting for you and you'll need all the rest you can get."

There was a sharp pricking in between her eyes that quickly went numb and Carrie's grip on consciousness slipped before the horror of what he was saying could sink in.

She fell back into the fog.

The suit would get him to the tower, but Tony knew he wouldn't be able to fight in it. He needed to swap for another before going toe to toe with Reindeer Games.

Bruce – who didn't need armor or anything remotely like it to protect himself – was standing nearby as he suited up. The doc looked troubled, so Tony poked at him.

"What's with the glum face Mr. Green. . . besides the obvious."

The gamma scientist's expression didn't lighten up. "Remember what Thor said about Loki's army?"

"About it being one of the deadliest armies in the realms known?" Tony asked, ignoring the feeling of apprehension. He knew the odds weren't in their favor – the portal would probably be opened before they could stop it.

"Thor said that the Chitauri were lent to Loki to conquer Earth in return for the Tesseract." Bruce said slowly. "What if they included Carrie into that deal?"

"Wait? What?"

"Think about it Tony. All the things we've overheard from Loki and Thor imply that Carrie is the first mortal – or person period – to communicate with the Tesseract and the Scepter's power source in a way that allows for conversation. We still have no idea how her powers originated, and Agent Romanoff already confirmed Carrie tested negative as a mutant."

"She could have been lying." Tony pointed out. Much like Nick Fury was THE Spy, Natasha Romanoff was THE Master Assassin and Liar.

"I don't think so. Look, my point is that Carrie is rare and unknown – she outright said that the Tesseract considers her a novelty and its probably ancient. So, it stands to reason that Loki's benefactor would want someone that rare in their control."

The possible scenarios weren't pleasant; Carrie could be brainwashed, beaten until she broke, or experimented on to study her ability. Knowledge was power. It was one of the few things Tony agreed with his asshole father about.

Bruce, for his part, was well acquainted with the danger of being on the receiving end of that belief with no one to protect his interests. Fuck General Ross.

"We need to get her back." Tony muttered. "I know doc."

"We will."

Annnnnnd there was Captain America in the doorway, in all his star-spangled glory. He also wasn't glaring, huh, guess their emotional heart to heart hour did more than just narrow down Carrie's location.

"It's time to go, Dr. Banner." Steve said seriously.

The gamma scientist nodded, shook Tony's hand, and left the room. Captain took a moment to nod at him before leaving too.

Okay. It was time to get going.

"JARVIS. Get me online, will you?"

Next up, the rescue! Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Sincerely,

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