Brandon and Samantha looked up at the towering skyscraper from the other side of the street, hidden by an alley.

Samantha was in jeans and a black hoodie, Frykte hidden in the black bag strapped to her back, the strap clutched tightly in her hands. Brandon had given her a funny look when they left the safe house, making a comment about where the snazzy armour was. She had shot back quickly, pointing out they were trying not to draw attention to themselves until they got inside, bright silver armour from a history book may give them away. It was easier for Brandon she supposed, the black ensemble with multiple hidden weapons and guns was much easier for him to conceal under his large coat.

"Looks like Hughes upgraded his security from the last time," Brandon muttered as he nodded his head towards the glass doors at the front. Samantha followed his gaze and could see no longer were there slightly older men, with white shirts and guns lazily strapped to their side. In their stead, stood men kitted out in combat armour of their own, holding weapons Samantha had only see in movies outside the bad guy's lair.

"I wonder who caused him to do that?" Samantha asked with a knowing smirk which Brandon shared.

"Come on, there's a side entrance on the blueprints which should get us past the first set of goons," Brandon ushered them forward, the pair sticking to shadows as they approached the side of the Hughes International building.

Sure enough, a fire-exit was there, hidden in a side alley. Samantha started to make her way towards it but was quickly grabbed and hurled back by Brandon. When she shot him a questioning look he simply pointed at the security camera on the far side of the alley, the one she had nearly walked straight in front of.

Creeping along the edge of the wall and within the blindspot of the camera, Brandon eventually stood underneath it where he then threw a small object up, sticking to the camera. Suddenly the machine gave a jump, crackles of energy flowing over it before smoke poured out of the circuitry and the camera fell forwards, almost as if it was falling asleep.

"Nice toy," Samantha commented as she stepped out of the shadows and joined him by the door.

"One of many," Brandon gave his own prideful smirk.

As Samantha opened the door, Brandon dropped his coat and pulled out one of his many guns, and held it aloft in front of them.

The corridor as expected was empty, and the pair did their best to walk down it as quietly as possible. It didn't matter what they did though, because as soon as they turned the corner, a group of 4 men, clearly having been in wait for them, brought their weapons up and began to shoot.

Miraculously, both Brandon and Samantha managed to dive into the open door next to them without getting shot. Having stumbled into an empty lab, the pair scrambled to find cover behind a lab bench.

The group of four men though continued to advance, loading bullet after bullet into the desk they were hidden behind. Every so often Brandon would attempt to shot back at them before ducking behind the desk again.

"Anytime you want to be that badass warrior goddess, would be fine by me," Brandon shouted over the noise of gunfire. After another attempt at pushing their pursers back, he crouched back down and turned to see Samantha clutching Frykte tightly, now out of the bag. Her eyes were closed and if he listened closely he could hear her muttering under her breath.

"Don't think, just do,"

Samantha suddenly lunged up, one hand placed on the table as she brought both legs up to jump over it in one swift motion. As she crossed over, she pressed the glowing green rune, blinding the group of men momentarily. Taking the advantage, she lunged forward barreling through one of the man, crashing so hard into him he was lifted into the air. She brought Frykte round, slamming it into the head of the next man with such force, he instantly crumbled to the ground.

The two other men had recovered by that point, but neither lifted their weapons, both too in shock at what stood before them to react. Brandon took the opportunity, lunging out from the behind the desk himself, and placing one man in a chokehold. It spurred the other man to react, but Samantha was already there grabbing his arm and spinning him back to face her. She brought Frykte up, held horizontally in both hands, as she whacked it against the man's face. As his head ricocheted backwards, Samantha's body twirled and landed a square kick in the man's chest, sending him backwards and on to the floor.

"Nice outfit," Brandon remarked, dropping the now unconscious man from his arms. "You make a few adjustments?"

Samantha had. After finding out when she pressed the rune it did not automatically revert the armour back into its original form, only cleaned what had been left from when it had been deactivated, she had decided to add her own twist to the outfit.

She had kept the silver metal chest piece after her own tests had revealed the material to be bullet proof. But gone was the long blue flowing cape and the large shoulder pieces, allowing her more movement. Her upper arms remained bare, and the silver gauntlets were now replaced with black ones with some toys of her own. Also gone were the blue straps of fabric resembling a skirt, and instead she was left in thick, black, leather leggings with matching calf high boots.

She twirled Frykte with pride, before slotting it into the holding place on the back of the chest piece. The braid in her hair swinging slightly as she did so.

"One or two," Samantha shrugged.

"It suits you."

The moan of the one remaining conscious henchmen in the room, brought their attention back to the task at hand. The pair walked over to him, and while Brandon remained standing, Samantha crouched down to be closer the man lying on the floor.

"Where are you keeping Keith Jennings? Where is Hughes?" She asked, rather politely if you asked her.

"I'm not telling you anything," the man spat at her, a grimace of pain in his face as his body felt like it had been hit by a truck.

"That's okay, I just needed you to be thinking about them." Samantha gave a condescending smile before her hand shot out and grasped the man's forearm.

Like with Brandon at the motel, she somehow managed to access an array of images from the man's mind. There was a few of her father, as he was being locked in a lab of some kind, the floor number coming to her easily. Next was Hughes, opening a locked door in his office in the background while the man's superior was giving him instructions about tonight.

When she let go of his arm, the man's eyes were wide, scared at what Samantha had just done.

"What the hell? What are you?" The man gasped for breath, trying to shuffle away from her.

Samantha gave no answer as she stood back up and turned to her companion.

"I know where they are."

She didn't turn to look back as she heard the ensuring struggling as Brandon pistol whipped the man, knocking him unconscious like the rest of the four person group.

The pair only encountered one or two more men before reaching where Samantha's father was being kept. Each group easily defeated, and with each one Samantha's confidence grew.

As they rounded the corner to the corridor, two guards stood, their guns already aloft in wait for them.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

"It would seem they know we're here," Brandon gave a loud whisper out of the corner of his mouth, his own gun held up towards them.

There was a pause, before Samantha moved, hurling Frykte forward and piercing one of the men's shoulders and pinning him to the wall. The other guard's shot rang out loud but there was no resulting grunt of pain, only a soft thwack of the bullet hitting the small black shield which had emerged from Samantha's left gauntlet, protecting her and Brandon.

"One of my toys," Samantha told him as the guard continued to shoot at them hopelessly.

"Is that-"

"The flexible graphene, activated by an electric current to form a shape?" Samantha finished his question with pride in her voice. "Yeah, I saw in the files SHIELD has been experimenting with it and there was some lying around the safehouse….oh good he's finally out of bullets."

Samantha deactivated the material, it neatly slotting back into her gauntlet, while Brandon lifted his wrist and sent an electric charge at the man who immediately fell to the floor, his gun already slotted back into his thigh holster. The guard pinned to the wall gave another cry of pain as Samantha summoned Frykte back to her, and then subsequently slid to the floor.

"You are getting rather good at that, and with the fighting," Brandon said, approaching the man with the bleeding shoulder and hitting him with an electric charge. He then crouched down, looking for an access card.

"It's this thing," her eyes glued to Frykte as she twirled it in her hands. "It makes whatever this connection is to her stronger."

"I'm not complaining," Brandon said, standing up and approaching the door. He hesitated though, not going to opening the door straight away. "You sure about this? You did say he was under Hughes's control."

"I'm not leaving my dad locked up any longer than he needs to be, open the door." Samantha instructed, her voice set.

Brandon did as he was told, swiping the card against the lock and making the light turn from red to green. As the door swung open the pair where met by a wary Keith Jennings, his posture tense as he held a chair aloft ready to use it as a weapon.

Brandon's hand jumped to the gun strapped to his thigh, but Samantha held up a placating hand across his chest, stopping him from drawing it. She took an apprehensive step forward, slotting Frykte into its place on her back.

"Dad, it's me, it's okay you're safe." Her voice was soft, as if approaching a wounded animal. For a moment she was met with only wide eyes and heavy breathing. She could sense Brandon tense beside her, his hand edging that little bit closer to his gun.

"Samantha?" Her dad managed to finally choke out, the chair immediately dropping form his grasp to the floor as the tightness left his body.

"Yeah," Samantha said with a smile, her eyes wet from tears she held back.

The pair moved together and seemed to meet in the middle, grasping the other as tightly as they could in their arms. Samantha buried her head into the place where shoulder met neck, shutting her eyes closed. She took solace in the way he held her just as tight, and if she was not mistaken, she could feel wetness to her own shoulder where her father's head lay.

"What are you doing here?" Her father asked before stepping back slightly and looking her up and down. He left his hands on her biceps but created enough distance that he could do a double take as he finally seemed to notice her outfit. "What are you wearing?"

"It's a long story," Samantha gave a laugh, knowing if that was an underestimation.

"I am so sorry, at the museum…I couldn't-" Keith started to say, regret and sadness evident in both his face and voice.

"I know, it's okay," Samantha cut him off, a kind smile on her face. "I know about Hughes and the gas. We're here to stop him."

At the mention of we her father seemed to notice the other person in the room. The way Keith's eyes widened was almost comically as he took in Brandon's appearance, not only by the fact he was there, but all the stealth clothes he wore, fitted out with multiple weapons.

"Gareth?" Her father asked, letting go of her arms and stepping around her so he could get a better look at the American. Disbelief clear not only by his facial expressions but by his tone as well.

"Actually his name's Brandon." Samantha said, earning a questioning look from her father. "Part of the long story."

The older man opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Brandon stepping forward.

"Hi Mr Jennings, nice to see you again," the younger man said, giving a small, bashful smile. Keith continued to look at him up and down, his eyes focusing on the gun on his side. Brandon kept his composure though, unaffected by the staring, and instead turned his attention to the other person in the room. "Samantha we have 15 minutes until the meeting."

"Right, save the world," Samantha nodded, her momentary bliss at being reunited with her father now gone with the reminder at what else was at stake tonight. "Come on we need to move."

She made her way to the door, grabbing her dad's forearm and pulling him forward. As soon as she stepped over the threshold though, a cascade of bullets were flung at them. Samantha jumped back, pulling her father behind her as she pressed them as close to the wall as possible. On the opposite side of the door, Brandon was stood. At one point he attempted to return fire but was quickly forced back to cover. With the quick thinking of a SHIELD agent, he shot the key access code for the door making it unusable, before slamming it shut in the hope it would offer some protection.

From the sound of the bullets, Samantha could tell they were approaching the room from the end of the corridor, and they were doing it fast. The trio walked backwards, creating distance between themselves and the door.

"So I don't think they're going to run out of bullets." Samantha said, wincing as bullets hit the door. The dents they left made it clear the door wouldn't hold for very long.

"Aren't you bullet proof, just walk through it to get to them." Brandon pointed out, motioning her in the direction of the gun fire.

"Bulletproof?!" Her dad repeated, with an incredulous look.

"It still bloody hurts," Samantha hissed at Brandon before turning to her dad again. "Yeah, add that to the long story pile as well."

"Well do the..the thing." Brandon prompted, looking at her pointedly, his hand waving in the air towards the door.

"The thing?" Samantha asked, no idea as to what he was getting at.

"Yeah, the thing," Brandon then began to nod his head up and down as if he were a broken down animatronic, suddenly she realised what he was hinting at.

"I don't do that," Samantha shot back, somewhat offended by his impression of her.

"Yes you do." Brandon argued, his hands coming to his hips. Both seemingly forgotten the impending danger just beyond the doors as they turned to face each other to continuing their arguing.

"It's not something I can just switch it on and off, I've only done it twice and both were when I was threatened." Samantha attempted to defend herself but Brandon was having none of it.

"People shooting at us feels very threatening to me," the agent pointed out.

"What are you two on about?" Keith finally shouted, flabbergasted the two were bickering like an old married couple while on he other side of a quickly failing door, were men with guns trying to kill them.

A creak of hinges caused them all to flinch as the three realised the door was mere seconds away from being shot down. Brandon grabbed Samantha by the shoulders, turning her to face him, no jest left in his face when he spoke next.

"You said it yourself, holding that thing gets you closer to her so use it." Brandon demanded of her as he nodded his head towards the weapon strapped to her back.

Samantha's face hardened as she nodded, understanding what she had to do.

"Step back," Her voice was low as she grabbed Frykte and placed it firmly within her grip.

Keith was reluctant to stray from his daughter's side, but was pulled from it by Brandon as he put the two of them close to a wall and out of the direct line of fire from the doorway.

Samantha took a deep breath, stealing herself as the hinges finally gave way and the door was flung forward. There was a pause, the four gunmen in the doorway momentarily halting their assault as they surveyed the room. Their hesitancy is all she needed, her knuckles turning white from how hard she gripped Frykte, and she imagined the men flying into the air. Her head jutted forward and with it, the men were flung high and far, each landed with a thud not to get back up.

"I can't believe that actually just worked," Samantha sounded out of breath as she stared wide eyed at the men lying on the ground.

"I can, come on," Brandon shot her a smile as he patted her on the shoulder as he made his way past her. His smile was infectious and Samantha found her own mouth morphing into a smile of her own.

She looked over her shoulder to see her dad staring at her with wide eyes of his own but walking out of the room. Seemingly following them without thinking about it, Keith stumbled past the four gunmen and two guards unconscious outside the room he was being held in. When he finally managed to lift his eyes from the floor he found he had blindly followed them into an elevator.

"Samantha, what…how?" Was all he could manage to choke out as the lift doors closed and they began to ascend to Hughes's private floor.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Samantha said, unsure how best to approach the situation, or even if now was the right time to have it.

"Try me," her dad persisted though, leaving her no option but to try and explain what exactly was going on.

Brandon at least had the decency to step away from the pair, staring at the lift buttons and trying to appear like he wasn't listening. It was pointless, but it was an attempt at some form of privacy which Samantha appreciated. She turned to face her dad and when she looked at his face, she realised there was no way to go about this subtly. No, she would just have to come out and say it, and so she did.

"I'm a reincarnated god from Norse mythology."

There was a pause, a tense silence as Samantha waited to hear what his response would be. Keith looked at her, his eyes searched her face to see where the joke was but when there was none, he still couldn't help but laugh.

"You're right I don't believe you," her dad said as his laughter died down.

"Have you never wondered why I never got sick as a child?" Samantha asked him, making the smile drop from his face. "How I've always been so clever, even from a young age? Or why I'm always that little bit stronger and faster than everyone else?"

"You were just advanced and lucky," her father shrugged as if he had never really thought about it before.

"No it's more than that," Samantha insisted. The stress to her voice seemed to capture her father's attention as he stood that little bit straighter as he listened to her. "Dad the voices I hear, their people's thoughts. The dream I've been having, it's her death."

Samantha left the statement hang in the air, allowing her father to understand it all. When he looked back at her, there was the smallest amount of acceptance in his gaze but she could still see how overwhelmed he was.

"It's a lot to take in I know," Samantha continued.

"It's more than that," Keith scoffed.

"But you just have to trust me, please."

Another silence followed before her dad spoke again.

"Okay."

Samantha could feel the relief and the physical drop in her shoulders as she relaxed. She knew it wasn't the end of the conversation, much more needed to be explained. But for now they were okay and that's all she needed.

"We're here," Brandon said at the same time the lift doors opened, lifting his gun from his side and holding it aloft ready to fire if needed.

The trio walked across the dark hallway, following it into the private office of one Mr Simon Hughes. Not once did someone jump out at them, or try and stop their progression.

"Something isn't right," Brandon muttered, voicing what they were all thinking.

"It never is," Samantha muttered back as she made her way to the concealed door in the back of the room which she saw from the guards memories.

Brandon and her dad stood behind as her eyes raked over the door, working out how to get it opened. Her eyes found the digitised lock and she could't help the smirk which lit up her face. Using another of her modifications, Samantha lifted her left arm to reveal the hidden computer screen in her gauntlet. Mentally she thanked SHIELD for its partnership with Stark Industries which had led to her finding prototype designs for the handheld device she now had, and with only a few adjustments of her own, she now had a fully functional computer the width of her wrist. One of its many uses quickly became apparent when after a few moments of her fingers whizzing across the screen, the door gave a beep as Samantha had successful hacked into the electronic lock.

Her victory was short lived though as, as soon as the door swung open she was sent flying backwards by a kick to her chest. Samantha shot past both Brandon and her Dad, crashing though the glass on the far side of the room.

The pair looked back from her to face the 6'6 giant which was Boris, as he stood in front of a group of ten or so men who had all apparently been waiting for them. The pair took a hesitant step back before Samantha reappeared besides them.

"I'll let you take the big one," Brandon said to her, as if he was offering her a favour. Samantha shot him an unimpressed look before stepping forward and squaring off against Boris.

"Does she not need help?" Keith asked, his eyes once again wide as he watched his daughter approach the heavily muscled man.

"No, believe me, she'll be just fine," Brandon reassured him.

The rest of the room was frozen as it watched what would happen next between Samantha and the large Russian. The moment was broken though when Boris went for a lightening fast punch.

Samantha caught his fist in her own.

For a moment, the pair just looked at each other, Boris with a look a pure shock at what this young woman had just managed to do. It only made Samantha smile before she twisted his arm into an unnatural position before landing her own powerful kick to his chest and sending him flying back into his men.

And then all hell broke loose.

Brandon and her dad became engaged by the men still standing. She knew Brandon could fight but what surprised Samantha was how good her father was, but then again he had been the Met's boxing champion for three years in a row at one point.

She couldn't spend long watching them though as Boris was quickly dusting himself off. As he shook some of the shock off him, his face hardened as his eyes narrowed in on her. He gave a grunt as he ran towards her.

Letting her instincts take over, she bent her legs in anticipation so when Boris neared, she jumped over him, summersaulting in the air. When she landed behind him, she had whipped Frykte out and her hands moved over the runes on their own accord until it found the rune they were looking for.

During her practicing at the safe house the day before, her and Brandon had discovered as Professor Larson had predicted, each rune had its own unique function. The one Samantha had decided to press, split Frykte in two, giving her a weapon to both hands.

Boris whipped around, the vein on his forehead growing bigger by the minute as his frustration grew. She could only smirk as he once again approached, angering him further. The man began to hail down punches with strength that no doubt very few would be able to handle, but Samantha met each one with a block from Frykte which showed she matched his strength, if not was stronger.

She kept her mind free as she allowed her body to automatically throw up its defensives. Then an opening appeared, and Samantha took it, smacking Boris hard across the face with one half of Frykte. Blood poured from his nose as the man stumbled to the side from the sheer force of the hit. Samantha continued, hitting the back of his knee with the other half and causing him to sink to the floor. She brought her leg up to finish him but Boris was good, and he caught her leg mid air.

Samantha attempted to tug it out of his grasp, but Boris was strong and he held on to her leg as he stood to his full height. Once there, his hold tightened and suddenly she was in the air, Frykte lost from her grip as she crashed hard into a set of shelves, the unit falling onto of her. Before she had chance to get up, she could feel her hair being used to pull her up and into the large, muscular arms of Boris as he began to choke her from behind.

Samantha felt her hands helplessly scrape at his forearms but it was doing very little. She could see the blackness starting to creep into her vision when she caught sight of the two pieces of Frykte on the floor. With great effort, she managed to manoeuvre Boris so that when she called for Frykte, it hit him on the back. It caused his grip to loosen slightly, but it was what she needed.

Grabbing his forearm, she dug her hip in and flipped him over it, surprising herself with own strength. Calling on Frykte once more, the weapon returned to her grip, now one piece again as she brought it down with such power, it knocked Boris out cold instantly.

Samantha leant on Frykte, her breaths heavy as she tried to regain her composure. If not for her spear, she imagined she would be on her knees. She looked up to find the rest of Hughes's men passed out on the floor, her dad and Brandon also taking a few moments to themselves to regain their breathing.

"How long do we have?" Samantha asked Brandon who subsequently looked to his watch.

"Five minutes," he huffed out, holding his side.

The sound of the elevator ping caught their attention accompanied by the sound of many feet. Brandon brought his gun out and began to shoot, halting the procession of guards.

"Go, stop Hughes, I've got these guys." Brandon shouted over his shoulder at the pair as he took up a position by the doorway which gave him ample cover.

She hesitated for only a moment before turning and making her way to the door at the back of the office, her father close behind her.

The room was darker, no natural light was present. Two rows of computer terminals spread across the room with one large terminus and screen at the front, displaying the multiple camera feeds from the Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Stood in the centre of the room, overseeing it all was Hughes.

The main barely acknowledged their arrival as he glanced over his shoulder from where he stood before turning his attention back to the main screen at the front.

"Ah Samantha there you are, and you brought Keith with you. How nice." She could hear the smile on Hughes's face even without seeing it.

"Shut it down Hughes, or I will," Samantha demanded, moving to the end of the row Hughes was stood in.

"I like the new outfit by the way, really adds another layer to your mystery." Hughes said as he turned his full attention to her. Samantha did her best to not show her repulsion from the way the man's eyes roamed over her body. "In different circumstances I would have love to taken you out to dinner and find out about all of this, you are the most fascinating thing."

Her response to his sleaziness, was to twirl Frykte and hold it aloft, the threat of what would happen if he didn't stop his plan was clear.

"But alas I'm slightly busy at the moment." Hughes then turned his gaze to Samantha's father, their eyes locking for a moment before he spoke again. "Kill her."

Samantha felt pain exploded in her left side as the gun shots echoed in the room. She fell to the floor. Either the connection was making her stronger or the armour had done its job, but it wasn't as painful as the last time….but it was still sore.

She looked up to see her dad standing over her, a gun he had snatched from the guards still held aloft towards her.

"Dad?" Samantha's eyes narrowed in hurt but it did nothing as her father continued to shoot at her.

With unnatural reflexes, she managed to roll out of the way and take cover behind one of the desks. Once out of bullets, Samantha leapt over the table, bringing Frykte up and pushing forwards to place a bar across her dad's chest and pushing him back towards a wall.

Every instinct was telling her to lift the bar up, smash it against his face and knock him out. But Samantha didn't want to hurt him. She still didn't know her own strength and so what had been her saving instinct during the journey here, she was now having to fight with everything she had to stop her hurting her father.

"Dad, fight it. You don't want to kill me," Samantha pleaded with him as she pinned him against the wall.

"Oh you're right, but it doesn't matter because I've told him to do it," Hughes chimed in with, his attention back on the screen at the front.

Samantha could see a countdown in the corner was now down to three minutes. A knee came up and winded her, allowing her dad to break her hold and push away from the wall.

The pair were in a standoff as Samantha stared at the dead eyed look on her father's face.

"Dad, I don't want to hurt you," Samantha said, dropping Frykte to the floor where it made a resounding clatter.

I don't want to do this.

She could see her father's hands clench and unclench, his breath coming out rough and hard as he stayed frozen to the spot. This seemed to get Hughes's attention who began to wonder over to the older man.

"Oh this is the gift that keeps on giving. Look how hard he's trying to resist." Hughes marvelled as he got uncomfortably close to Keith to inspect his features. "Guess you need more of your medicine."

Before Samantha could stop him, Hughes released the yellow coloured gas from his handheld container, surrounding her father's face momentarily. When the gas dispersed, his eyes were set in hard determination.

He lunged, Samantha only just managing to evade his fist. He followed quickly though with a blow to her stomach, winding her. When his next fist came up, she managed to block it and push him on balance, doing her best to refrain from the urge to pounce on him and finish him off.

Keith recovered quickly, rugby tackling her to the floor where the pair rolled for a few seconds before Keith ended on top of Samantha, landing a punch to her face. Her moment of disorientation allowed him the change to firmly place his hands on her neck and squeeze.

God dammit Samantha, fight back. Please don't let me kill you.

As she lay there, Samantha knew she could break his fingers or his wrist, to break his hold. But this was her dad and maybe, just maybe, she could get him to snap out of whatever control Hughes had over him. She had seen him trying earlier, maybe he just needed that last little push.

So instead Samantha just lay there, staring her dad directly in the eyes, no resistance to the way he was choking the life out of her. Knowing she had no air to speak, she mouthed instead: 'It's okay'

The blackness was creeping in, it was now or never.

"Samantha?" The grip loosened before coming away all together. Samantha couldn't help the large gasp she gave as she was able to breath again. When she managed to look at her dad, she could not describe the relief and elation she felt when she saw the emotion there.

He was back.

"What? How are you doing this?" Hughes asked hurriedly, as he began to make his way towards the pair when he saw Keith's make his way off her. "You've just had exposure to a double strength dose —"

Samantha watched as he reached into his pocket, no doubt with the intention to dose her father again. Her head tiled backwards and Hughes was flun, his back hitting the computer terminal hard.

"No, no, no!" Hughes shrieked as he scrambled up from the floor. He was enraged when he saw Keith step back and help Samantha off the floor. "That's not possible,"

"Haven't you learned by now to not underestimated a Jennings? " Samantha quipped as she took her dad's hand and pulled herself up. Her left hand came up to hold her right side where she could feel bruises forming. She turned to face the deluded scientist. "Step away from the controls."

Hughes whirled around and tried to slam his hand down on the button that would release the gas when suddenly Frykte penetrated the machine mere inches from where his hand was, sparks flying. Hughes jumped back and gave a yelp of surprise before being roughly grabbed by his shoulders and pulled to the floor. He looked up to see Keith Jennings stood over him.

Calmly Samantha walked up behind him to the terminal, and began to shut the system down, sending the relevant files to SHIELD before purging the hard drive.

"You can't do this, I have more power than you think, the people I control," Hughes spat out from his position on the floor.

"I give her 24 hours before she's synthesised an antidote," Keith said, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Oh really, Brandon thinks I can do it in 12," Samantha mused as she turned to look over her shoulder and stare Hughes down. Her lips tugged into a smirk as she delivered her next line. "Don't worry, you can't always be the smartest person in the room."

Hughes gave a growl as he began to make a move to stand, but before he could even move an inch off the floor, the muzzle of a gun appeared in front of him, with a very angry looking SHIELD agent welding it.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you," Brandon gave a low warning.

Realising he was well and truly beat, Hughes held both hands up in surrender.

"That should be all the files SHIELD need to keep him in prison for a very long time, just need to delete the last of the system," Samantha told her companions, turning back around to look at them. Her mouth pulled downwards though when she saw the blood begin to trickle out of her dad's nose. "Dad, your nose."

Keith gave her a perplexed look, reaching to feel the sticky substance running down. When he pulled his hand back, he was met with bright red blood covering his fingers. He managed to look back at Samantha with a confused look of his own before his legs gave out.

"DAD!" Samantha shouted as she ran forward and caught him before he hit the floor.

She managed to cradle him as he fell to the ground, no longer able to support himself. His upper body lay in her lap as she knelt over him, his body starting to shake uncontrollably. His face was now a ghastly shade of white and his lips slowly turned blue.

"Dad, come on, you're okay," Samantha's voice tried to keep the panic to minimum but even she could hear the fear in her voice as she spoke. "What's wrong? What's happening?"

The sound of laughter reached Samantha's ears and she looked up to see Hughes, now managed to have sat himself up and resting against a control panel, looking at her father with an expression of pure delight.

"What are you doing to him?" Samantha spat at Hughes.

"Now, I'm doing nothing. It's what I did earlier that's the problem," Hughes said with smugness dripping from his words. "Come on Samantha, you saw the test footage."

Suddenly the images of the previous test subjects came back to her, the nose bleeds, the violent shaking and seizures as they overdosed from Hughes' experiments.

"I guess I never did work out what the safe dose of my drug was," Hughes gave a shrug, completely relaxed with the situation despite a gun still being pointed in his face.

Samantha opened her mouth to say something back, when she was distracted by the loud ragged breaths now coming from her dad's mouth. She could see the struggle he now faced just trying to breath.

"No, no you're going to be okay, I can fix this," Samantha said, tears beginning to prick at her eyes.

"You can't," Hughes shouted with a mocking tone.

"Shut up!" Brandon said, pushing his gun closer to him.

"She can't," Hughes shrugged looking at the SHIELD agent, "Not unless she can make an antidote in a few minutes but I think even that's above what the great Samantha Jennings can do." Hughes said, a smirk on his lips. "The only way to cure him is by using the antidote I have stored in my safe."

"Yeah, and what's the catch?" Brandon asked.

"Simple really," Hughes then looked at Samantha directly. "Release my gas and I'll give you the antidote."

Samantha's brain shut down for a moment as it comprehended what Hughes was saying. All she had to do was press a button and her dad would live, a simple choice. It would mean Hughes would be able to control the most powerful people in the world but her dad would live. She could be selfish, just as she had always been and keep her father alive even if meant letting Hughes win, a simple choice.

"Sam, you can't be serious," She heard Brandon say, his attention now on her and he saw her weigh up her options. "You can't do this, you can't let him win."

"But he's my dad," She whispered, defeat clear in her voice, her throat beginning to close. "I can't lose him too,"

"You're right, you can't." Hughes said, urging her choice. "You've already lost so much Samantha, you don't deserve this."

"Sam, I can't let you do it," Brandon said, his gun slightly lowered as his attention was now on Samantha.

Don't make me turn my gun on you

Samantha looked at him as his voice echoed in her head.

"You couldn't stop me if you wanted to," she said back to him and by the look in Brandon's face her knew that too.

"You see, she is a clever girl," Hughes remarked, taking the opportunity to stand up but when Brandon's gun shot back up to him, he raised his hands in surrender again.

Samantha took a deep breath before starting to place her dad on the floor, dark shadows now under his eyes with blood coming out of his ears and nose. But, as she lowered him his arm shot up and grabbed her bicep, halting her as she did so.

"Samantha, it's okay," Her dad managed to croak out, his voice weak. His head began to nod. "It's okay."

"It's not, but it's going to be. I can make it better," Samantha said, her tears now freely flowing as she could see how shallow her dad's breaths were not becoming. "I've already lost mum, I can't lose you too, I'm not strong enough."

"Yes you are, you're the strongest person I know," Her dad said, bringing his hand up to cup the side of her face. "I am so proud of you Samantha,"

She could feel her own breaths coming out thick and fast now as fought through the tears. Her hand came up to hold her dad's against her own.

"Don't leave me, please dad, don't leave me," Samantha said, gripping his hand tight and rocking slightly. Her voice that of scared little girl.

She could see the exact moment he stopped breathing, his eyes fluttering shut and his hand going limp her own.

A strangled cry left her lips, a burst of power exploded from her causing Hughes to go flying, landing with a sickening thud. Brandon lowered his gun, a defeated sag to his shoulders as he stood hopelessly watching as Samantha clutched the now lifeless body of her father.

A simple choice.

I know, I know. I'm so sorry. Life this week got away from me. But the next chapter will be posted tomorrow as planned - it is already written ready to go. It's a lot shorter than previous chapters but it brings an end to what I would call the first Samantha Jennings movie.

Guest: THANK YOU!

kcheslock: hope it was worth the wait!

Blu3b3rryT3a: yeah their friendship is something I wanted to focus on in this 'film' so I'm glad it's paying off. And could it be Loki...who knows?...well I do but wheres the fun in saying that!

Thank you to all your kind reviews, follows and favourites.

Vex