I woke to bright lights in my eyes. My head was pounding, probably due to all the energy I had used yesterday. I sat up slowly, disoriented, ignoring the dull ache in my shoulder. After blinking a couple of times everything came into focus. Sitting up, I could see that I was on a small cot in what seemed to be a small lab. Across the room, I could see a man working on some kind of device. His brown hair was curly, and he had kind eyes. He seemed trustworthy enough.

"Where am I?" I called out.

"Fury calls it a helicarrier. You've been out for a few hours", he answered, looking up from what he was working on.

"Am I in a lab?"

"Yes. You started to give off low levels of gamma radiation, so they moved you from the infirmary to here."

"What about you? Not scared of the gamma?"

He chuckled and I felt like I was missing some sort of joke, "I'm actually kind of immune to gamma radiation. It's the least of my worries."

I smiled, "I feel like I'm missing something there, but I'm going to leave it at that."

"Did you dye your hair that color? Were you born with white hair?"

"Not exactly", I said with a small smile.

"I feel like I'm missing something there, but I'm going to leave it at that", he said, returning my smile. "I'm Dr. Banner, but you can just call me Bruce."

"I'm Rayne."

"How's the shoulder?"

"It's fine, I heal fast so I'm sure it's a scratch by now."

He raised an eyebrow at me, "You really haven't heard of me"?

I shook my head, "I don't get out much. You wouldn't happen to know where I can find Director Fury, would you?"

He nodded, "I'm pretty sure he's in the control room. I can take you there, but no guarantees that I won't get lost myself."

I laughed, "Sounds good Bruce." He led me out of the lab and after several long hallways and turns, we entered a large room filled with monitors. A large window gave a beautiful view of the sky.

"Agent Black, good to see you awake", Fury said, addressing me. "Impressive work. You've come a long way with your powers since I last saw you."

"Well, I've had plenty of time to practice. Sir, that spear. Is it of the same origin of the Tesseract?"

"We're not sure as of yet, but if I had to guess, I would say it is."

"Are you sure this is a good idea? Having me on the team I mean."

"He calls himself a god, I would say you're one of the closest things to matching his power. With you, our chances are better." I didn't let the frown show on my lips, of course he just wanted me here to use as a weapon. That's the problem with S.H.I.E.L.D. and everyone like them, they were always wanting more power. That usually meant creating weapons they couldn't possibly understand or control. H.Y.D.R.A. had already made that mistake in the past, and they had gotten themselves destroyed.

Monitors began beeping and a worker turned towards Fury. "We got a hit, a 67% match. Wait, cross-match, 79%."

Caulson approached him, "Location?"

"Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Konigstrousse. He's not exactly hiding."

Fury looked over at me, "How would you like some more practice?"

I shrugged, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

"Indeed. I want you onsite, see if you can sense out if they're keeping the Tesseract nearby." I turned as if to leave, but Fury wasn't quite done talking. "Oh and go undercover. You're pretty easy to pick out in a crowd."

I felt completely out of place in the courtyard. Cars drove by and some people were walking. I tucked a stray hair back under the black wig that I was wearing. I had dressed in a black pantsuit, not too casual to seem out of place, but also, I could still move around in if needed. I glanced into a nearby car window, looking at my reflection. The brown contacts had begun to disintegrate, glowing blue beginning to peek through. Blue energy was threatening to break free from my skin due to my nervous energy; I hated being in crowds. I tried to focus my energy, feel around to see if I could detect a powerful energy signature.

After a moment of no results, I gave up. There was too much going on around me for me to focus at the moment, especially with still being weak from yesterday. I was almost considering telling Fury though my headset that I hadn't felt any energy in the area. Then I felt it, blue energy crackled to life in my palms as I felt something powerful nearby. It didn't feel like the Tesseract, but it felt as if it were just as powerful.

I looked over at the main building as I heard screams; a crowd suddenly pouring out of the entrance. Then Loki himself came strutting from the building's entrance, seeming to relish in the chaos around him. He wore a more sophisticated armor than he had been in previously, shades of emerald and gold, and a golden horned helmet sat atop his head. I caught sight of the spear in his hand, the energy in my hands flaring up in response. He suddenly fired a blast of energy at a cop car that had been approaching the scene. It fishtailed and skidded along the asphalt behind him. The crowd running around me was brought to a halt in the courtyard as replicas of Loki surrounded us.

"Kneel before me", he said in a clipped tone. The crowd seemed to ignore him, lost in their panicking. I was jostled in the crowd, unable to move away due to all of the people.

"I said", he slammed down his spear as a flash of blue light went up, "KNEEL!" I slowly knelt to the ground as the crowd sank to their knees. After all, I was supposed to be undercover, and I'd rather not put the lives of the civilians at stake.

"Is this not simpler? Is this not your natural state?" He began advancing through the crowd. "It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

A man behind me stood up, "Not to men like you."

Loki smiled, "There are no men like me."

"There are always men like you."

"Look to your elder people", he charged his spear, "Let him be an example." He fired the blast and I jumped to my feet, using myself as a shield for the man. The wig I was wearing fell from my head as the energy crackled across my skin harmlessly, my glowing white hair falling to my waist in waves. I willed the energy to life in my hands, sending my own blast of power flying towards Loki; it hit him directly in the chest. The crowd cleared out as soon as he went down. I walked towards him.

"Fancy seeing you here."

He looked up, "You again." We both turned to look up into the sky as a rumbling aircraft hovered over us. "I assume those are your friends", he asked, his lips pressed into a smirk.

"I don't have any friends."

His emerald eyes seemed to flash with some emotion, but he quickly masked it. He slowly stood up from the ground, brushing off his armor as he did so. "I can't imagine why", he muttered, amusement in his voice. I glared at him, letting a wave of energy crackle across my body in response. He seemed too normal to be the bad guy, it almost seemed as if he was flirting.

A woman's voice sounded from the ship, "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." Ignoring the orders, he fired a blast at the ship with the spear. While he was distracted, I ran at him and hit him in the jaw with my fist. He touched his jaw with his fingers, looking at me quizzically. He broke free from his shock rather quickly, swinging the spear at me. I ducked and rolled to the side, the blade narrowly missing me.

I stood as he stalked towards me, throwing a punch in my direction. I caught his fist in my hand and his eyes locked with mine. "You're strong", he said through gritted teeth. "What are you?"

"I'm just a human", I replied, my voice shaky from straining. At least, I think I was still human, I wasn't so sure anymore.

His lips curled upwards into a smirk and his emerald eyes gleamed, "Are you sure?" He pressed harder with his fist; he was stronger than me, and I was starting to have a hard time holding him back. I summoned energy into my hands, the resulting blast throwing us away from one another and onto the stone ground. I winced in pain as I felt my shoulder begin to throb. I felt something sharp jab into my opposite shoulder and I opened my eyes to see Loki standing over me, his spear in hand.

"Surrender", he growled at me.

"I don't think so." I grabbed the spear and yanked on it with as much strength as I had in me. He clearly had not been expecting that, and he toppled forward, landing roughly on the ground next to me. I grabbed his wrists, summoning up my power. I felt the blue energy crackle to life in my palms. I willed the power to grow more, tapping into a depth of power that I didn't realize was there. The blue energy grew, engulfing my arms and then surrounding the rest of my body. I stood, still holding Loki's wrists, an unreadable expression on his face. The energy blazed around my body like wildfire; I could feel my hair moving as if blown by the wind. Just as it seemed I had control, I felt it start slipping from my grasp. A pulse of energy blasted from me, throwing Loki out of my grasp and away from me. The power vanished suddenly and I felt my legs give way beneath me.

I felt as if I were sedated, but I knew it was the exhaustion since I had never conjured that much energy before. Ahead of me, I saw Loki coming towards me. His lips were moving as if he were taking, but I was so out of it that I couldn't hear him. I heard the dim sound of rock music from somewhere above me and then a man in a red and gold iron suit landed on the ground in front of me. He fired a blast from his suit at Loki, causing him to fall back onto the ground.

"Make your move Reindeer Games", he ordered. Loki's armor faded to his black and green clothing as he held up his hands in surrender. "Good move." I felt some strength begin to return so I shakily got to my feet. The man in the suit turned to face me; the mask of his suit had disappeared, revealing his face. He had dark hair and dark eyes, including a very memorable goatee.

He pointed at me, "Good guy?" His voice had a tone that seemed like he was being sarcastic, but I had a feeling that he always sounded like that.

"Depends on who's asking."

"Touché." Nearby, the jet landed, and the back hatch opened. A man came down the ramp; he was dressed in a very familiar star-spangled suit. I froze where I stood; I hadn't seen him in years. I had thought he was supposed to be dead. After he gathered Loki, we all got onto the jet and we took off. A woman was piloting the jet, she had light green eyes and her short hair was a shade of fiery red.

She looked back at me when I took a seat, "I'm Natasha. You must be Rayne."

"Yes", I replied, "Are you a spy too?" The man in the iron suit laughed and Natasha sent a glare towards him.

"Shut-up, Stark", she told the man.

"Sorry", I told her. "I just know that S.H.I.E.L.D. likes their spies. These two are a little two eye-catching to fit in that category."

"Are you a spy", Stark asked me, looking me up and down. I had forgotten I was wearing a pantsuit. I was dressed like a civilian but was working for S.H.I.E.L.D.; I'm sure that was giving spy vibes.

"Not anymore. I used to be."

He nodded, "I'm Tony by the way. Tony Stark."

"Pleasure."

Rogers cleared his throat, "And I'm Steve Rogers ma'am. Nice to meet you."

I smiled him; he had no idea that I knew who he was, "Nice to meet you too." After the introductions were made, I went and took a seat across from Loki, who had been surprisingly silent so far. Stark and Rogers stayed up near the front of the jet where Natasha was.

"I don't like it", I heard Rogers say.

"What Rock of Ages giving up so easily", Tony retorted.

"I don't remember it being that easy."

"Really? Well, when you say remember I have a feeling that was from 70 years ago."

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."

"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."

Ignoring their arguing, I turned my gaze towards Loki; he was watching me intently, a strange expression on his face. "Where are you from?" I asked quietly.

"Asgard", he muttered.

"Why'd you let them take you so easily?"

He smiled, "I don't know what you mean." I rolled my eyes. He seemed like the type that always had a plan. Thunder began rumbling overhead and lightning flashed. The jet began to shake in the sudden turbulence.

Natasha turned to look at Tony and Steve, "Where is this coming from?" I looked over at Loki, who had suddenly gotten antsy. A nervous expression was on his face, which was quite unusual. I was used to seeing him look confident, full of himself.

"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?", I heard Steve call. He must've noticed Loki's behavior as well.

His emerald eyes pierced mine as he responded in a velvet voice, "I'm not overly fond of what follows." There was suddenly a loud thump from overhead. Everyone's eyes seemed to go up to the ceiling. Stark put on his helmet and opened the hatch.

Rogers looked over at him, "What are you doing?" A figure landed on the door of the hatch in front of Tony. He was tall and muscularly built, with blonde hair that touched his shoulders. He wore silver armor from which a red cape protruded, very similar to the type of armor that Loki had been wearing earlier, and in his hand he carried a large hammer.

Stark aimed his blasters at the man but before he could fire at the man he was hit by the hammer. Tony flew backwards, knocking Steve down. The man grabbed Loki by the back of his neck and launched themselves out the door of the jet. Stark stood up.

"And now there's that guy."

Natasha turned to look at us again, "Another Asgardian?"

Steve stood up, "That guy's a friendly?"

Stark eyed Rogers, "Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him the Tesseract is lost." He walked to the edge of the hatch.

"Stark, we need a plan of attack!"

"I have a plan. Attack." Then he flew out of the jet. Steve grabbed a parachute and pulled it on.

"I'd sit this one out Cap", Natasha said.

"I don't see how I can."

"These guys come from legend, they're basically gods."

"There's only one God ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." He grabbed his shield and jumped out of the jet.

I didn't bother to go after him. With how weak I was now; I would be more of a hindrance than a help. Against my will, my eyes fluttered closed.