~:~

AFTER BATTLE IN STUTTGART

I watched as agents escorted Loki to his cell.

Phil appeared next to me. "You were saying?"

I shook my head. "Stuttgart wasn't the is."

"What do you mean?"

"It's too easy." I crossed my arms. "People like Loki wouldn't just surrender like that."

"Maybe, maybe not. Let's just see what Thor has to say."

~:~

"An army, from outer space?"

I paled. "I was...actually expecting that."

"So, he's building another portal." Banner shifted his feet. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

Thor looked up. "Selvig?"

"He's an astrophysicist."

His face hardened. "He's a friend."

"Loki has him under some kind of spell." Natasha explained. "Along with one of ours." I nodded in agreement as I fidgeted with my necklace.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him." Steve turned his chair. " He's not leading an army from here." I nodded in agreement.

Banner shook his head. "I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you can smell crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak," Thor warned. "Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother."

Natasha glared at him. "He killed eighty people in two days."

"He's adopted."

"I think it's about the mechanics. Iridium, what do they need the Iridium for?" Banner said.

"It's stabilizing agent." the voice moved around the table towards Thor. "Means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD."

Crap, crap, crap...

"No hard feelings, Point Break. You got a mean swing." Tony patted Thor on the arm. He glared at Tony as the billionaire walked to the control panels. "Also, means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants." He pointed towards one of the techs.

"That man is playing Galaga. Thought we wouldn't notice but we did."

I face-palmed and saw Steve's look of confusion. Thank God you haven't noticed I'm here, Tony.

Tony covered an eye and looked at the control panels. " How does Fury even see these?"

It's now or never. I leaned back and crossed my arms. "He turns."

"Sounds exhausting." He whipped around in shock. "Angie? What the-."

I held up my hand. "Not now. Continue your explanation."

"Okay..Um, The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily." He began messing with the screens."Only major component he still needs is a power source of high energy density. Something to-" He attached something under the monitor. "-kick start the Cube."

Good God, Tony, why can't you leave things be….

Hill stared at him. "When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"

"Last night." His smile widened. "The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers- am I the only one who did the reading?" Tony looked at me, pleading for help.

I held up my hands. "Don't look at me. I teach history, not…whatever you just said."

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked.

Banner fiddled with his glasses. "He's have to heat the Cube to a hundred and twenty million kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier."

"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the Quantum Tunneling effect," Tony interjected.

He shrugged."Well, if he could do that he could achieve heavy-ion fusion at any reactor on the planet."

Tony held his hand out. "Finally. Someone who speaks English."

Steve turned to me and Natasha in confusion. "Is that what just happened?" I shrugged and shook my head.

"Let the nerds fan-girl it out, Steve."

Tony and Banner shake hands. "It's good to meet you, Doctor Banner. Your work on anti-electronic collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

"Thanks…" Banner frowned.

"Nice going, Anthony." I muttered.

"Doctor Banner is only here to track the Cube," Fury interrupted. "I was hoping you might join him."

I raised my hand. "I think you should start with the staff."

Steve nodded, "I agree. It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube." The agent tensed. "And I like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

Thor's face twisted in confusion. "Monkeys? I do not understand that-."

"I do!" Steve exclaimed, as the entire room went instantly silent, staring at him. "I...I understood that reference."

I grinned at his embarrassment. Tony and Banner excused themselves to the lab and walked off.

~:~

As they analyzed the staff, I went off to find some peace.

This is all my fault….

Dammit, Angie! You knew it was going to happen, and you said nothing….

Clint could be a zombie by this point, and you could have done something….

As I paced up and down the corridor, berating myself, I bumped into Natasha.

"Oh! Sorry, I-"

"-Didn't see me?" she replied. "It's okay."

I turned and continued to pace.

"What's up?" she asked.

I stopped and turned to face her. "It's all my fault, Nat."

"What are you talking about?"

"The last time I talked to him, I knew something would go wrong." I groaned. "Gah! Why didn't I convince him to stick around or something?"

She held up her hand. "Who are you talking about?" I gave her a look that answered her question. "Clint?" She sighed. "You couldn't have stopped what happened."

"What if I could have?" I countered.

"He knew the risk. It's his job." She placed her hand on my shoulder. "It's going to be okay. We'll get him back."

I nodded my head in reply, wiping away a stray tear.

"Let's hope so," I replied. "Because I don't know what I'll do if we don't"

~:~

LATER THAT NIGHT

….VIRUS DETECTED….

Come on, Tony. Right now?

"I won't touch Barton! Not until I make him kill you. Slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear."

"You're a monster."

"No, you brought the monster."

"So, Banner that's your play…." My head popped up at the redheads statement "Sir, he means to unleash the Hulk."

AH, fudge! Fury turns and starts heading towards the lab, I follow him hot in pursuit.

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark? You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract" Fury demanded, placing his hands on his hips.

"I could ask the same of you. We'll get it back Oh, and what's Phase 2?"

Something slammed on the table behind me. "Phase Two is SHIELD uses the Cube to make weapons." Cap turned to Tony, "Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me."

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're-" Fury began.

"Are you saying you were lying?" I mocked. "Surprise, surprise."

"I was wrong, Director." Steve shook his head. "The world hasn't changed a bit."

Thor and Natasha entered, Banner looking to her. "Did you know about this?"

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?"

Banner laughed, "I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."

Natasha tilted her head and walked towards the doctor. "Loki's manipulating you."

"And you've been doing what exactly?" he questioned.

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." He grabbed the screen and pointed at the missile on it. "I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

"Because of him." Fury pointed to Thor.

Thor held a hand to his chest. "Me?"

"Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town," He stated."We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned."

Thor frowned, "My people want nothing but peace with your planet."

"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 the Cube?" I shook my head in disbelief. "You can't control what you don't understand, Nick. It always ends bad. And I of all people should know that."

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies," Thor protested. "It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for A HIGHER FORM OF WAR."

I glance over to the scepter, noticing that it's glowing.

Something's not right. "Um, guys…."

"You forced our hand!" Fury exclaimed. "We had to come up with some-"

Tony interrupted. "-Nuclear deterrent? Yeah cause that always calms things down."

He glared at Tony, "And how did you make your fortune?"

My head began to spin in nauseation. Something is DEFINITELY not right.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep-" Steve mused.

Tony waved his hand, cutting him off. "Wait-Wait! Hold on! How is this now about me?"

Steve scoffed. "Isn't everything?"

I have to get out of here.

I ran out of the room as the group began to argue. After I stumbled down the hall, an explosion rang out through the ship. I turned and ran towards the lab.

"HELLO! ANYBODY THERE?"

I heard a thundering roar. Ah, shh…..

"ALL HANDS ENGAGE. I REPEAT, ALL HANDS ENGAGE."

I reached for Natasha and ran towards her location. "Nat?"

"Angie! Get out of here!" She waved me away.

I shook my head, watching her stagger to her feet. "No way. I'm not leaving you like this."

"You have to…." she panted. "Barton would kill me if you got hurt."

I scoffed. "It really doesn't matter now." I pulled out the unconscious guard's gun and cocked it. "He can kill us later."

We headed down towards detention and spotted Clint. Tasha came up behind him and he quickly turned and shot an arrow, which flew by her. She pushed his hand. He charged her and she kicked him, then rolled underneath some pipes - popping up on the other side of the catwalk.

I came running up behind him and kicked him in the knee. He shot another arrow. I dodged it as I jumped across to the next passage. I reached into his mind and tried to undo the brainwashing.

Clint hit me with his bow and pulled his bow under my neck. As I struggled to breathe, I threw my head back. I gasped for air. He grabbed the back of my head and slammed it down knocking me unconscious.

~:~

Where am I….. I looked around and saw a blank white space. A woman appeared and walked towards me.

"Hello, Anja."

I squinted and realized who it was. "Momma?"

"Hello, baby…."

I stood up and flung myself into her open arms.

"Am I dead?"

"No, you came close though." She pulled away and cradled my face in her hands. "You have much more to do. Don't do it again."

"I can't. He's my best friend, almost my brother. I had to help him."

She gave me a sad look. "What would have happened if he had killed you? He would have to live with that for the rest of his life."

"I would do it again."

"What about your son? He would lose you, the only person who gave a damn about him."

I burst into tears and fell into her embrace. "I don't want to leave you, Momma."

"When have you ever been without me….."

A light blinded me again and the whole world faded into black.

~:~