May 2012, New Mexico
Just over a month later, while Peggy slipped false information into the mechanisms of the trafficking ring, preparing for her final attack to destroy the root of the problem, the SHIELD base in New Mexico finally encountered the hiccup that everyone against Project PEGASUS had been expecting.
However, even its loudest critics could not have predicted the reason behind the loud blaring alarm that echoed through the base in the middle of the night.
Every government agency ran evacuation drills at least every six months, and SHIELD ran theirs every two, but no amount of preparations lessened the frantic confusion, agents and families dragged out of bed from the onsite residences, many of them still dressed in their nightclothes, children clutching teddy bears and blankets even as they were unceremoniously loaded into vehicles that would take them to safety.
In the midst of the chaos, Phil Coulson stood motionless on the helipad, the fear and trepidation in his eyes masked by dark glasses, even at this late hour.
It wasn't long before the reason for his vigil became clear, a SHIELD chopper swooping into land before him, the door sliding open before it had even touched down.
Agent Maria Hill exited first, taking the opportunity to survey the evacuation process while she waited for Director Fury to follow her.
Hill was about ten years younger than Coulson, but she had risen through the ranks of SHIELD quickly and had proved her worth time and time again, so it was no surprise that Fury had chosen to bring her along to the evacuation.
The real surprise was that she was not yet Deputy Director, but that could well change over the next few days, depending on how she handled the current crisis.
"How bad is it?" Fury asked as they approached, raising his voice to be heard above the noise of the blades, the alarms, and the genera chaos.
Coulson removed his shades, tucking them inside his jacket. "That's the problem, sir. We don't know." He led them inside and down towards the laboratories, but didn't elaborate until they had reached a level where the noise outside had dimmed to a point that they could speak easily. "Dr Selvig read an energy source from the Tesseract four hours ago."
Behind them, Hill sucked in an involuntary breath and Coulson spared her a glance over his shoulder. From private conversations, he knew that Maria was as unsure about the whole thing as he was, although neither of them would ever say so - their job was to follow orders, not question them.
Besides, Peggy was doing enough questioning for all three of them.
But Project PEGASUS was still in the early stages, and there should not be any energy sources being read.
"NASA didn't authorise Selvig to go to test phase," Fury said disapprovingly.
"He wasn't testing it," Coulson said. "He wasn't even in the room. Spontaneous event."
"It just turned itself on?" Hill asked in surprise.
"Yeah."
"Where are the energy levels now?" Fury asked.
"Climbing," Coulson said grimly. "When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered evac."
"Where are we with that?"
"Campus should be clear in the next half hour."
"Do better."
Coulson nodded sharply, falling out of pace with them and retracing their steps. He squeezed Hill's arm as he passed and she managed a weak smile in response as she hurried after their boss.
"Sir, evacuation may be futile."
"We should tell them to go back to sleep?" Fury asked sardonically, not slowing down.
Hill sighed. "If we can't control the Tesseract's energy, there might not be a minimum safe distance."
"I need you to make sure the Phase Two prototypes are shipped out," Fury said, as though she hadn't spoke.
"Sir, is that really a priority right now?"
Now Fury stopped, outside the laboratory where the Tesseract was being kept, turning to face her. "Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on. Clear out the tech below. Every piece of Phase Two on a truck and gone."
"Yes sir," Hill said, motioning to the two armed guards outside the lab. "With me."
Fury watched them leave before entering the lab. Selvig's colleagues and assistants were running around like headless chickens, running tests and checking readings, but the man himself was examining the Tesseract, which was sitting in the ray they had been planning on using to channel energy from space. "Talk to me, doctor."
"Director," Selvig greeted.
"Is there anything we know for certain?"
Selvig grimaced. "The Tesseract is misbehaving."
"Is that supposed to be funny?" Fury asked with a frown.
"It's not funny at all," Selvig agreed. "The Tesseract is not only active, she's … behaving."
No one was quite certain why Selvig had decided the Tesseract was female, but the man was a genius, so no one was going to argue about it.
"I assume you pulled the plug," Fury said.
"She's an energy source," Selvig said, with a hint of irritation. "We turn off the power; she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level …" he trailed off helplessly.
"You prepared for this, doctor," Fury said. "Harnessing energy from space."
"We don't have the harness," Selvig said, returning to his examinations. "My calculations are far from complete. And she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful; low levels of gamma radiation."
"That can be harmful," Fury muttered, the destruction in Harlem flashing across his mid. "Where's Agent Barton?"
Selvig snorted. "The Hawk? Up in his nest, as usual."
Up in the rafters, Clint Barton was perched on what anyone else would consider a perilous ledge, his eyes sweeping the room almost lazily, taking in every tiny detail. He hadn't so much as twitched in hours, not when the Tesseract turned itself on, not when the alarm started blaring, not even when his boss had entered the room.
He only moved when Fury's voice came over his comm.
"Barton, report."
Grabbing a nearby cable, Clint slid down to ground level, landing almost silently beside the Director. "Sir."
"I gave you this detail so you could keep an eye on things," Fury said sternly.
"I see better from a distance," Clint said, no trace of apology in his voice.
"Have you seen anything that might set this thing off?" Fury asked, not bothering to press the issue any further.
Barton was good at his job, good enough for his somewhat odd habits (preferring high places; memorising the ventilation systems and hiding in them for days; choosing a bow and arrow over a gun) to be brushed aside.
One of the other scientists - a blonde woman Fury could remember the name of (but he was willing to bet Barton could list everything down to her bank account and great-grandmother's maiden name) - called Selvig over as the energy levels spiked again.
"No one's come or gone," Clint reported. "And Selvig's clean. No contacts, no IMs. If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end."
He said it so casually that it took a few seconds for Fury to realise what he'd said. "At this end?"
Clint Barton was the best sniper SHIELD had, and one of the best agents, but people tended to assume - the man himself included - that he wasn't a highly intelligent man.
Unlike others, is intelligence was never shown with complicated explanations or arrogance. Admittedly, the man could get a little cocky with a bow in his hand, but a man of his talent had every right to - and even then it was in such a way that no one considered the complicated equations that must have been running through his head constantly at top speed in order for him to make half the shots he did.
No, his intelligence shone through in casual actions and throwaway statements.
Just like that.
Even as Fury questioned him, it was clear that Barton had no indication that what he'd said was in any way intelligent.
As far as he was concerned, he'd stated the obvious, and it showed in his next words.
"Yeah, the Cube is a doorway to the other end of pace, right? Doors open from both sides."
His tone was so matter-of-fact that Fury spent momentarily stupid for not thinking of it earlier, but before he could respond, the energy spiked even higher, causing the ground to shake beneath them.
A ball of light formed in the middle of the Tesseract and shot a beam across the lab, forming a rift through which they could see they could see the inky black of space.
The portal let out another blinding pulse of light before closing, the remnants of the electric blue forming a kind of cloud up near the ceiling.
The vanishing portal was replaced by a dark shape that straightened into a man, a man with dark hair and a handsome, pointed face. He was gripping a strange glowing stick, which had everyone on edge, and the scientists hastily backed off as the armed guards edged forwards, weapons at the ready.
"Sir!" Fury called. "Please put down the spear!"
The man seemed to consider it, then made a sudden motion with the spear, sending a jolt of blue light in their direction.
Clint dived at Fury, knocking him behind the Tesseract's pedestal, leaving the immediate offensive actions to his colleagues, who opened fire at the interloper.
The man leapt at them, killing them two of the with the spear. Two small knives shot out of nowhere, catching two other agents in the throats, killing them as well.
Clint drew his weapon, gesturing to the two remaining agents. As the blonde scientist and one of the security personnel dropped unconscious, the three men opened fire, having hardly any impact before they had to avoid another pulse of apparently lethal light.
For a few minutes, silence fell.
Steam was billowing from the water pipes, several pieces of equipment were aflame, and everyone was either unconscious or taking cover, the strange light from the Tesseract still swirling up near the ceiling.
Only Clint was stirring, but just as he struggled to his feet, the man grabbed his weapon arm before he could take aim.
His grip was stronger than that of a normal man, and it startled Clint enough to almost miss what happened next.
"You have heart," the man said softly, a crisp English accent marking his words. He touched the tip of the spear - which up close was more of a sceptre - to Clint's chest and it glowed once more. This time, however, the glow was gentle, a warm feeling that spread through Clint's body and into his mind, calming him.
This man's intentions were good, he realised - he was here for the good of mankind, unlike SHIELD. He slipped his gun back into its holster, and returned to parade rest, waiting for instructions.
Fury had no idea what this strange man had just done to one of his best men, but he didn't have the luxury of worrying. As the actions were repeated with one of the security agents, the director removed the Tesseract from its base and placed it inside a metal briefcase, intending to sneak it out of the laboratory before he could be noticed.
"Please don't," the man said quietly. "I still need that."
Fury froze, turning to face him. "This doesn't have to get any messier."
"Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else. I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."
Selvig had been checking on the blonde scientist, but this caught his attention. "Loki? Brother of Thor?"
Judging by the irritation that passed across Loki's face, this was the wrong thing to say, and Fury held up a calming hand. "We have no quarrel with your people."
"An ant has no quarrel with a boot," Loki said coolly.
The remnants of the portal were becoming more unstable by the moment. "You planning to step on us?"
"I come with glad tidings," Loki said, "of a world made free."
"Free from what?" Fury asked sceptically.
"Freedom," Loki answered, a kind of manic gleam in his eye. "Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart …" he spun around to touch the sceptre to Selvig's chest, and Fury watched in horror as the same blue light crept into the doctor's eyes "… you will know peace."
"Here you say peace," Fury said darkly. "I kind of think you mean the other thing."
"Sir, Director Fury is stalling," Barton said suddenly. "This place is about to blow, drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us."
Fury met his artificially blue gaze with a hint of sadness. "Like the pharaohs of old."
"He's right," Selvig said, checking his computer. "We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."
Loki smiled. "Well then." He glanced at Barton who drew his weapon and fired at Fury, hitting him in the chest.
Down in the garage, Hill had just finished sending out the last of the Phase Two prototypes when the elevator doors opened, and Clint emerged. "Need these vehicles."
Hill stepped aside to let him pass, frowning slightly as Loki climbed into the bed of one of the trucks. "Who's that?"
"He didn't tell me," Clint muttered.
Hill just shook her head. Clint Barton had some strange habits; she'd long since learned not to question them. As she made her way towards the elevator, however, her radio crackled on her belt.
"Hill! Do you copy? Barton has turned!"
Hill's eyes widened, and she spun around to see Barton draw his weapon. She dived around the corner just in time, drawing her own gun. He took the opportunity to jump into the driver's seat and speed towards the exit.
The portal was growing steadily more unstable, the ground beginning to shake almost continually. Fury ripped the bullet out of his vest and sprinted for the helipad.
"We're clear upstairs, sir," Coulson said over the radio. "You need to go!"
Fury emerged on to the roof and jumped into the helicopter, which rose into the air, just as the building began to cave in. Seconds later, there was a muffled explosion beneath them, and a shock wave ripped out across the base, causing the whole thing to collapse in on itself.
At Fury's instruction, the chopper swung around to the exit of the garage, and he saw exactly what he had hoped he wouldn't - a lone truck with Loki in the back driving away from the rubble. He fired out of the open door, but another jolt of light from the sceptre hit the back of the chopper, and it began careening towards the ground.
Fury jumped clear, rolling to absorb some of the impact before continuing to shoot, but it was no good - the truck was now too far away, and he could only watch as it - and the Tesseract - disappeared over the hill.
He now had to count Barton as compromised, which would be easier if the impact of the earlier bullet didn't still ache.
Barton knew that it was Fury's policy to always wear bullet-proof armour under his clothes, and yet he hadn't taken the headshot.
Admittedly, his weapon of choice was a bow, not a gun, but Clint was an assassin. He could manage perfectly well with both.
So why was Fury still alive?
Did Loki want him for some reason?
Or was some part of Clint Barton fighting for control?
"Director? Director Fury, do you copy?"
Coulson's voice over the radio broke him free of his thoughts.
"The Tesseract is with a hostile force. I have men down." His eyes travelled to the downed chopper, where the pilots were struggling free from the wreckage. "Hill?"
There was no response for a second, then her voice sounded, sending a wave of relief through both men. "A lot of men still under. Don't know how many survivors."
"Sound the general call," Fury said. "I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase."
"Roger that."
"Coulson, get back to base. This is a Level Seven. As of right now, we are at war."
"What do we do?" Coulson asked.
Fury didn't answer for a few seconds. In theory, Phase Two should be activated - that was the whole reason Phase Two had been started in the first place - but Phase Two wasn't ready, and never would be in time to stop whatever Loki was planning.
"Bring in the Widow. It's time to assemble."