Ok, yes, yes, I know. I'm late, but there's a really good reason for it! *pauses and sways* Urk, uh...one second...*dashes off screen, makes a noise very unfitting right now, and comes back on screen* October is party month for my family...and I got into a drinking contest with my brother-in-law...it was a tie...*collapses*

Gamma World, Part 1

A personal note; never hide things from me. And I'm not talking about little things like birthday presents, Valentine's presents, or stuff like that; that sort of thing I can forgive quite easily. I mean big things, like the faux pas T'Challa made, even with the very good reason behind it. Or maybe the fact that Tony never told me that Hawkeye—the guy I consider a good friend and confidant—was on the run from SHIELD because that believe he was a mole for HYDRA.

Stuff like that tends to make me hold grudges.

Then again, holding grudges is a magnet for bad karma, too. The really bad kind, that puts everyone in extreme danger, and leaves you wondering who else you can turn to for help when the world is threatened...

...You know what? Let me start from the beginning.

######

SEVEN HOURS EARLIER

"So this is why you needed the vibranium." Wasp commented as she flicked through the old leather tome that held my old ideas and inventions, "Cool."

"Well, not so much as 'needed'. I'd rather say 'inquired with disastrous results'." I corrected as I turned my seat around to face her. After the air shuttle had been repaired, Tony decided it was time to leave Wakanda and get back to New York, so we said goodbye to Hank, as he was ready to research the vibranium, loaded ourselves onto the Quinjet and headed off.

"It's only a disaster if people died." Tony chided my as he flew his precious jet and probably wondering how the Wakandan scientists got the nerve to add two additional seats in.

"Agreed." T'Challa replied before reaching forwards and resting his hand on my knee, and act that sent chills running up my spine, "And as I have mentioned before, now that I know the truth, I do not blame you." While it was a relief that he doesn't hate my guts for the mess five years ago, it would be a while longer before I got over it.

That's the problem with guilt: it lingers, even after you've confessed.

The hand resting on my knee moved to grip my chin in a gentle yet firm grip, tilting my head up so I could look T'Challa in his eyes. "Stop it." He warned, "I know that look, and what you are thinking, now stop it." Rather than let Tony start grilling him about how he could possibly know what I was thinking, I decided to play along with the King of Wakanda.

"And just what are you going to do about it, Your Majesty?" I asked playfully. T'Challa didn't say anything as he leaned back in his chair, but then his face morphed into 'that' look; the one of a sly smile and a seductive gleam in his eyes. And over the last three weeks, I knew that look preceded something horrible. "Oh, no. No. Forget it! I know that look; I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong. No, no, nuh-uh, no way, not gonna happen. Especially since we're in the air!"

"Nope; we're landing now." Tony corrected, and glancing out that window behind Wasp proved that we had indeed arrived back at Avengers Mansion. And the only way off the Quinjet for me meant going past T'Challa.

And it didn't help that my crush realized my dilemma, and his smile turned smug.

:This. Sucks. Big. Time.: My inner voice griped weakly. That still didn't help me in getting past T'Challa, who would no doubt try and torture me for that 'majesty' comment.

"You were saying, Rose?" He asked in a teasing way, lounging back in his seat, but I knew from past experiences that he was taut like a bowstring. In response, and knowing my chances were slim-to-none against him, I bolted from my chair and past the others as fast as my legs would carry me. I had barely put a foot on the landing ramp when a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and lifted me from the ground, prompting a laughing shriek from me

"H-hey! No f-fair!" I laughed as T'Challa easily hoisted me over his shoulder and carried me away, with the others following and assuring Tony that I wasn't in any danger. Yet.

"It was foolish to try running from me, my Rose." My captor playfully purred in reprimand, "Now you must face the consequences." Before I could even beg for forgiveness, T'Challa had me on my feet and pinned against him with one arm, the other beginning to tickle my sides, the results giving the other Avengers quite the show.

"Ah!" I shrieked and began laughing hysterically as his fingers playfully poked my ribs and sides, and no amount of squirming was going to free me. After listening to my please and giggles for a few minutes longer, T'Challa finally stopped tickling me, and let my body slump against his in exhaustion.

For a brief moment, I could only stand there, panting and occasionally giggling weakly, as my head rested against his chest, my ear pressed against his beating heart. To keep me from falling to the floor, T'Challa curled his arms around me, making sure to keep his hands in the small of my back.

"I take it you're a bit ticklish, Briar?" Wasp asked with a sly smile as she flew up to the both of us. The only answer I could give her was a silly little giggle as my body finally began to relax.

"That was mean, T'Challa." I whined into his arm, my ear hearing his pleasant chuckle as his chest rumbled with the sound. Before I let myself get too wrapped up in the sound of his voice, or the warmth of his embrace, I pulled away from him, playfully slapping his arm for good measure. The look I got in return let me know just how much I was going to suffer later, but right now we had to deal with a rather silent Tony.

And judging by the look on his face, he looked pretty darn determined to find out just how friendly we were to each other, and where did it suddenly came from, which wasn't going to be pleasant.

But before he got the chance to grill either of us (with the possible chance of violence), JARVIS chose that moment to inform us of an escaped super-villain in the city. "Well, you guys enjoy." I encourage them as I stretched my arms over my head, "I'm sitting this one out."

"Tired, already?" Wasp teased me.

"Hey: protected an entire village from bad guy turned into pure sound entity...being, thing. Ugh, never mind." While Wasp and the other laughed at my reasonable excuse, they began heading out into the streets to capture the super-villain.

"One moment, Mr. Stark." JARVIS called out, gaining Iron Man's attention, "I took the liberty of creating an identification card for the Black Panther, and had it prepared before your arrival." Tony's mouth resembled a gaping fish for a few moments before he turned to give me a veiled filthy look.

"What? He's part of our merry band now." I nonchalantly replied with a shrug. Tony merely raised his eyebrow at me before receiving the new ID card from JARVIS and immediately presented it to T'Challa. As Tony explained its functions, I took the opportunity to slip out of the room and up to the manor level for a shower.

Plus, it gave me the chance to sort through a few things, now that T'Challa was officially part of the team.

The main thing I still knew was that I still had feelings for him, and that Tony would skin the both of us if he ever found out that T'Challa had been sneaking into my room for the past three weeks. What I did want to know, however, was T'Challa being truthful. I mean, he did say he wanted to be my friends, but...well, some of his past actions towards me weren't exactly 'friendly' but rather a bit...cuddlier, for a lack of a better word.

:Ok, I know that I've been pushing you to get closer to him, and all.: My inner voice piped out, :but I will be honest, and point out that maybe he was trying to comfort you. I mean, he did have the habit of doing that after rescuing you from danger.: Mm, there was that. Maybe T'Challa was just been nice to me because of all those dangerous moments.

But that still doesn't explain some of his other actions (namely the talisman moment), and if he was doing so as only as a friend, or was he trying to be something more?

"Bark!"

"Gah!" I leapt a foot into the air before swinging around, letting out a sigh of relief when I found a happy Voltaire sitting in front of me, a big silly grin on his face as he panted. Once recovered from my little spook, I fussed over my adorable puppy (and getting conformation that he hadn't caused trouble) before heading to my room for a much needed shower.

Closing the bathroom door, flicking the light switch on, I began pulling off my dirty and now torn clothes (though they weren't too badly damaged), dumping them into the hamper before stepping into the shower and turning the water on. I couldn't help but sigh as the warm water touched my skin and transformed into liquid silk, sooting my sore muscles and washing all the dirt and sweat from my body.

After I was clean and dried, I walked into my bedroom and grabbed a pair of jeans, undergarments and an old t-shirt I never really wore and got dressed. I was never one for dressy shirts, or ones that showed a lot of skin, but this one I didn't really mind. It was a somewhat tight-fitting long sleeve, the end of the sleeves covering my knuckles, and the neck hung off my shoulders, showing my black bra straps.

Once dressed and my hair dried, I headed down to the theatre lounge for some downtime, and maybe get through the rest of Arkham Asylum before curling up with a good book and Voltaire quietly napping on my feet as he usually does. With that plan in mind, and a puppy eagerly following me, I was determined to see it through.

"Ho, Miss Stark!" For the second time this evening, I nearly jumped out of my skin, but somehow managed to compose myself enough...a little. At least I didn't squeal!

"Good evening, Thor." I greeted him softly as I joined him in the lounge, "I was starting to wonder where you were." Especially since he just missed out on an amazing mission.

"My apologies for my absence." He apologized with a small bow of his head, "But I had business in the city that required my attention." When I only gave him a raised eyebrow in response, he started to get a bit fidgety before spilling the beans: he was out talking to a paramedic lady named Jane Foster. Hmm, where've I heard that name before?

"Did you and Jane have a good talk?" I asked politely, taking the empty seat beside him on the couch.

"Indeed, but perhaps for one thing." He answered, pulling out his ID card and giving it an annoyed look, "Iron Man's technology constantly made noises." Ah, I sometimes forget that Thor isn't used to our worlds technology yet.

"That was Iron Man trying to call you." I informed him, "We had a mission." It was Thor's turn to give me a curious look, so I explained about the Black Panther, the problems we had to face in Wakanda, and the rewards we got out it.

"Odin's beard." Thor breathed when I finished telling about defending the entire village from the 'sound monster', "Perhaps I should have answered Iron Man's plea for help."

"Actually, we handled it pretty well." I assured him, "True, HYDRA got away, but we saved the kingdom, and got a new team mate out of it." On hearing that, Thor got really interested.

"And this King T'Challa, what of he?" He questioned, "Is he as noble as his title?"

"Well...I'd say so, but he's very humble about it all. He's also very kind, considerate, handsome-" I cut myself off as the last word slipped out and made Thor smirk in a feigned innocent was, "I mean, uh, f-f-f-from a general point of view." My grave was too far down to recover from that slip of the tongue, and having Thor chuckling about it didn't really help me either.

"Perhaps it is very well that he has agreed to join out battles." Thor remarked teasingly, prompting me to groan and bury my face into a cushion, "Especially if he is the rogue going into your room these past nights." It took all of five seconds for the words to sink in, and that had me worried. I lowered the cushion so I could look at Thor, who looked a bit worried in turn.

"He is the one I have seen sneaking into your room, is it not?" He asked slowly. I gave a slow nod in response, to which he gave a heavy sigh of relief. "I hoped as much." The Asgardian murmured before giving me a friendly look. "There are some nights where sitting by a fire does not appeal to me, so I take to the skies. Most nights, I happen to see a black man-cat sneaking towards the mansion."

I hadn't said anything in response. What could I say; Thor had seen a guy come to and from my room almost every night! If he mentioned it Tony, then chaos wasn't all that far behind him! Every scenario of how this could end instantly flooded my mind, filling me with dread, almost making me miss hearing Thor say "A good thing I did not inform Iron Man, perhaps?"

I could have kissed him for keeping quiet to Tony about this. Instead, I just settled for jumping onto him and gave him a big hug whilst repeating 'thank you' over and over again in rapid succession.

Of course, Thor asked that I divulge a bit more information to him about T'Challa, which I obliged...though same of the slightly more intimate moments weren't shared. It was round about dinner time that we finally got through everything, and we were getting a bit hungry, too. Just in time as Mr. Foxworthy appeared to announce that dinner was ready: roast beef, potato salads, and ice cream for dessert. Too bad for the others, though I didn't think catching a super-villain would take so long, but there it was.

After our meal, we went back to the theatre lounge this time I was asking Thor about life in Asgard, and how it compared to Earth. It was a very riveting story, though there were dark moments and absolutely hilarious situations. Thor was just telling me about the time he and his friends had a 'minor' encounter with a Bilgesnipe when our ID cards simultaneously went off.

"Hey, Briar." Wasp's image greeted, "Listen, we just ran into SHIELD, and they need our help with something big in Nevada." Wow, Nevada huh? Must be...wait, wasn't the Cube located somewhere there?

"All right; Thor and I will pick you guys up." I informed her before the call ended, "Looks like we've got another mission." He thought of that may have pleased Thor, but I just got back from overseas not a few hours ago, an fighting the Dora Milaje had left a few bruises, and aching muscles too. But if SHIELD needed the Avengers help, then it might be an all-hands-on-deck call.

Mentally bemoaning my plans, I hurried up to my room for my boots and magi-staff while Thor headed to the hanger bay. When I got down there, I both laughed and groaned: Voltaire was already on the Quinjet, sitting in the co-pilots seat. Thor thought it was hilarious as well, and advised that we take him with us. Seeing as we were on the clock, I agreed.

######

"Hey, Thor!" Wasp cried excitedly as she flew onto the Quinjet, immediately having to fly closer to the ceiling as Voltaire bolted from his spot and jumped onto T'Challa, licking his face exuberantly, to the amusement of everyone else.

"Gee, someone's happy you're back." I playfully teased the handsome Wakandan as he managed to settle Voltaire long enough to take a seat behind me, Cap claiming the co-pilots.

"Indeed." He replied, patting Voltaire's fur before turning his attention to Thor, "You are the Asgardian, Thor the Thunderer, I presume?"

"Aye, and you are T'Challa, the Black Panther, and king of Wakanda." Thor threw back with a polite nod of his head, "Lady Briar has informed me of your battles; tis a pity I had not been there to bear witness."

"Yeah; you should've seen Briar." Wasp gushed from her seat beside him, "She created a huge shield over the village, to stop the sound waves hurting everyone." She then went into the minute details, particularly the fights against HYDRA and a division of Wakandan warriors, then against Law when he was transformed. The story was a lengthy one, almost an hours worth, then T'Challa took over, explaining his part in all of this, which took another few hours to get through.

"A grand adventure indeed, T'Challa." Thor remarked to the king, "I offer my condolences for your father's passing."

"Thank you." He answered, and from the soft tone in his voice, talking about it still hurt. Poor thing; losing a family member is never easy, especially a parent. But, in time, it'll get that little bit easier, till he'll be able to talk about his father and remember the good times without so much pain.

"But I find that, perhaps, there is a silver lining." Thor added as a sly smile begun to wind itself onto his face, "Now that you are one of us, there will be no need to sneak into Lady Briar's private chambers like a rogue."

The Quinjet jerked a tiny bit, due to me yanking the yoke in surprise and horror. "Thor!" I hissed desperately. I don't think Cap and Wasp want to know details. In fact, I'm pretty sure they don't need to know details! My only saving grace was that Tony was flying in his armor, and not hearing this conversation.

"Not much of a secret, Briar." Cap gently assured me, "I could hear you two talking whenever I walked past your room." Then he gave me a small lopsided smile, "Pus, you're not exactly quiet when he's tickling you." That had everyone laughing, while I just wished my seat would fall through the floor and drop me into a deep hole.

A gentle hand rested on my shoulder, giving a gentle yet firm squeeze as the laughter died away. "Still, as much as we enjoy the laugh, we're grateful you're ok." Wasp commented in a sincere tone, "I mean, after getting kidnapped, you of all people need a good laugh."

"And we won't tell Tony either." Cap added, "something tells me he's a bit protective of his little sister."

"You don't say." I remarked dryly before sighing, "Thanks, though. I don't feel like having my back flayed for eternity just yet." I couldn't see their reactions, but I can imagine they must have winced, Voltaire even whimpered slightly.

Deciding that we needed a change of conversation, I asked them about their evening of chasing down the super-villain. "That must've been fun." I commented after asking them.

"Mm, chasing down HYDRA agents brings back memories." Cap agreed, "He was a fast joker, too."

"Just wished I could've zapped him for pointing an arrow at me." Wasp grumbled. I was about to make a playful quip when her words registered in my mind, or at least one of them did.

"Arrow?" I asked slowly. HYDRA agents don't use arrows, in fact nobody does...except...

"He is a skilled archer, from what Iron Man has explained." T'Challa answered in her place, "But I am curious as to how he knows the double agent Hawkeye. The jet jerked more visibly this time, I'm sure, as I whipped my head around to face him, but Cap was quick enough to take over the controls before we crashed.

"What?" I breathed, my stomach freezing before dropping to my feet. He didn't just say 'Hawkeye', did he?"What was his name?"

"Hawkeye." T'Challa repeated slowly, his head tilting slightly as we stared at each other for a few moments, "Do you...know him?"

Know him?! I could barely speak a word before it all sank in. Hawkeye had been in serious trouble, and never once bothered to tell me! And not just him, but Quartermaine and Tony never said a word either! They-

Oh, I am going to murder those bastard.

My trail of thoughts were briefly distracted when the communication line started buzzing, but then it came back full force. I whirled back around and slammed my fist against the button. "What?!" I yelled angrily. Outside the window, I could see the Iron Man armour jerk before correcting itself.

"Geez, Rose! What-"

"Don't you 'Geez, Rose' me, you lying sod!" I warned him, "When were you going to tell me?!"

"Tell you about what?" He asked innocently, which further aggravated me.

"About Hawkeye being a double agent for HYDRA?" I threw back with as much venom as I could muster. Seeing as he, nor the other two knuckleheads, told me that Hawkeye was chased as a fugitive, and that he probably needed help, I felt like I could out-venom a King Cobra snake. Tony was struggling with his words over the communication line, and the other I could feel were starting to get uncomfortable about the conversation, which I would apologize for later...after I taught Tony and Quartermaine a lesson.

"Uh, well-you see, the thing is" Tony spluttered before changing the subject in a desperate attempt to escape my wrath, "I'm getting a little impatient here, Quartermaine. You won't tell us where Fury is, you're not telling us what's going on-"

"Shocker." I murmured cynically even as Quartermaine interrupted him.

"Even if I knew where Nick Fury was, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be at liberty to tell you, Iron Man." The agent retorted, "As for what's going on..it's simpler if you just see for yourself." Cryptic, even for Quartermaine. Wonder why?

"Look-on the horizon." Cap announced, and not a few seconds later did our view flood with an iridescent green light forming a dome, emanating from what was the Cube.

"Ok. That's new." I commented blandly, trying to figure out if I was stunned or surprised. Or something else entirely. But right now, I was really interested to know just what that dome was made out of.

There were other SHIELD jets, and various other agents set up a ways away from the dome, so we followed suit, and Cap managed to successfully land his first air shuttle on a little rise of a hill before shutting the engines off. "By the way, Tony: we're not done by a long shot." I added over the communication line before leaving the jet with the others.

"Not happy, Briar?" Wasp asked in a light teasing tone, but I could see in her eyes that she was concerned for me.

"Not happy at all." I nodded in agreement, "Hawkeye is one of the very few close friends that I've got." Seeing as Wasp knows that I'm not exactly a social butterfly, she gave a small wince before patting my shoulder.

"Sorry about saying I should've zapped him." She apologized, but I merely waved her words aside.

"Jan, it's Hawkeye: if anything, he needs a good zapping to remember to behave." I assured her, even smiling when she gave a little smirk in response. But any other joking was put aside as we caught up to Iron Man and got a real good look at the dome.

"What manner of sorcery is this?" Thor questioned, asking out loud what everyone else was eager to know.

"Wow." Tony breathed, quite possibly reading the information his armour was gathering about the phenomenon, "It's pure gamma radiation." Gamma radiation? That stuff was dangerous enough in the smallest amounts, especially if it's in the wrong hands. But a giant dome made of it?

"Man, I bet Hank's sorry he stayed in Wakanda now." Tony sniggered.

"No kidding: this is way cooler than studying vibranium." Wasp agreed before giving a soft gasp, remembering that T'Challa was standing beside us, "Uh, no offense."

When T'Challa lowered his head, I felt a twinge of pity. Reaching over, I grasped his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze, something he returned. Knowing that he felt a tad better, I turned my attention over to Tony and gave the back of his head a firm look. "Need I remind a certain person, that Ant Man is doing research into a possible non-harmful alternative to radiation as a medical solution?" I asked pointedly. Even though he wasn't looking at me, Tony was squirming in his suite.

"Where's Bruce Banner?" A voice asked as its owner approached us, "I'm told he was on this team." I couldn't really see who was addressing us, since I was kinda squashed behind Tony and T'Challa, but I swear that voice was familiar.

"Why does that man have green hair?" Cap quietly asked us.

"I have no idea." Iron Man answered him before addressing the voice, "You're Dr. Leonard Samson, right?" Samson, as in Leo? "Hulk's on ...a vacation."

:Wow, what a lame lie.: My inner voice quipped dryly, but I was more eager to see something.

"Leo? I called, easing my way past T'Challa and Tony, "Is that you?"

"Briar! Hey!" Was the reply, sounding happy to see me. When I finally pushed my way past Tony, and went to give Samson a hug, I got the shock of my life.

"Man, it's good to see y-whoo-hoo-hoo!" I trailed off when I caught sight of my old lab friend. Instead of the small, thin nerd in a bad sweater, and even worse haircut, I was now faced with a giant of a man, with green hair. And I wasn't kidding about him being a giant!

"Holy green monkeys." I remarked dumbly, making him chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish manner.

"Growth spurt." He teased weakly before engulfing me in a big bear hug that nearly broke bones, or at the very least bruised them.

"Urk! Ripped!" I gurgled out weakly, "why must you be ripped?!" I could hear various people, including Samson chuckle (Samson chuckling felt like being caught in a minor earthquake) before I was gingerly places on the ground again. However, getting hugged by a real strong person threw off my balance, and I ended up staggering backwards into somebody, who graciously steadied me.

"Does someone want to tell me what's going on?" Tony interrupted the reunion, effectively reminding everyone that we had a major problem to deal with. Preferably before someone got hurt.

With introductions out of the way, Samson and Quatermaine led us into the back of a SHIELD jet, and as we gathered in front of a computer monitor, Quatermaine started a video recording.

"This is video from a SHIELD incursion into the Cube after the breakout." He explained as we watched the footage, "The staff and SHIELD personnel were all accounted for, but the prisoners? Well, they were another story." As he said that, the footage showed one of the front men of the team turning to speak to the rest of the team right as a large clawed hand grabbed him by the head, dragging him backwards into the darkness of the Cube while his men began to open fire. That lasted a few seconds before a green light blinded them all and turned the camera footage to static.

"What was that?!" Wasp exclaimed, referring to the giant claw that grabbed the poor man.

"Emil Blonsky—the Abomination." Samson answered her as Quatermaine turned the footage off and faced us all, "Strong as the Hulk, and twice as mean. And with military training." The last part made me swallow thickly, a trickle of fear dripping down my back. "He's not the problem, though."

"The evil, more aggressive version of the Jolly Green Giant isn't?" I asked weakly, trying not to let the beginnings of my fear show on my face. I really wasn't sure I wanted to know what the real problem entailed, either. Quartermaine said nothing as he pulled up another camera footage, this time of three agents standing a distance away from the Cube.

"The energy dome expanded outward from the Cube, and the SHIELD team was caught inside." Quartermaine narrated as we watched the footage of three defenceless agents suddenly bathed in gamma radiation, "And this happened." What came next was one of the more horrifying things I'd seen in reality, and sorely wished it was a bad horror movie.

As the radiation got into their bodies, the two visibly agents clutches their heads in pain, groaning as the radiation forces their bodies to mutate into horrible creatures: the woman growing what looked a lot like wings, and the man beside her simply growing larger. Then the third agent popped up in front of the screen, making me jump in fear, as his face began to turn into a zombie-like appearance.

The terror of it all had me turning away, my hands covering my mouth to stifle a sob. Immediately, my visions turned black as T'Challa pulled me into his arms, his arms wrapping around my body in a firm embrace. His hand then began tangling itself in my hair, gently rubbing the skin beneath as I buried my face into his chest, his actions and warmth comfort my nerves.

"The dome is expanding, with no sign of stopping." Quatermaine explained to everyone, "At this rate, it'll hit the next town in six hours. A major city in eight."

"Who's responsible for this?" Cap questioned him, clearly sounding ready to stop the menace behind all of this.

"Samuel Sterns—the Leader. A gamma irradiated villain. As strong as the Hulk is, the Leader is intelligent. His IQ levels are on par with Briar's, according to SHIELDs files."

"Flatterer." I mumbled, but it was somewhat muffled by a certain king's solid chest being in the way.

"As far as we know, the Leader's inside, most likely with a mass of gamma villains; the Abomination; the Absorbing Man; Zzzax, they were all inside the Cube when the breakout occurred." Quatermaine informed us before dropping the hammer on our heads, "We want you to go into the Cube."

"What?" I dead-panned while Wasp just started laughing.

"Oh, wait. You're serious." She realized, her humour dropping rapidly. When neither Samson and Quartermaine answered, or corrected her, I tilted my head back to look up at T'Challa.

"Is it too late to go back to Wakanda?" I asked him weakly.

######

"Not to harp on this one particular detail, but how are we going to get into the Cube without, you know getting gamma'd up?" Wasp asked, citing out the first and foremost problem they'd be facing. Since I wasn't fond of anything that resembled horror movie type sets, Samson suggested I stayed back and monitor things here. A sweet gesture on his part, but that didn't help answer Wasp's question. If they were going into the Cube, with the very real threat of radiation poisoning hanging over their heads, they'd better have some form of decent protection!

"This is how, Wasp." Samson replied, pressing a button on the wall to reveal a series of protective suits hanging on the wall. "I've modified this shield radiation plating to protect you. Wearing this, you should be immune to the effects of the gamma dome." I wasn't even going to bother pointing out the 'should' word, I just wanted this mission over and done with, so I could go home and crawl into my bed and stay there.

Everyone that was going into the Dome was handed a protective suit, one of the agents (an old sparring partner) even doing the Darth Vader 'Luke, I am your father' gimmick that got me giggling, even in the tense atmosphere.

"So, B-girl, you coming in?" he asked, activating the shield plating and checking over his large gun, "get some real training in?" I gave a dry laugh in return before playfully punching his shoulder.

"Need I remind you of the last time you put me in a 'haunted mansion' type environment?" I asked him. That made him think for a split second before shuddering while the other agents chuckled. Long story short, they were able to find out how many decibels I let out with a single scream.

"Ok, ok. You have a point." My former training partner relented, "just thought I'd ask."

"Uh-huh, like that time you 'asked' to take me to see a horror movie?" I retorted, giving him a sly smile when he winced. The ending to that story was a broken arm and bruised stomach.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know you'd freak out so bad?"

"You had that coming, and you know it." Quartermaine interjected from within his own suit, his weapon resting in his arms, "Everyone ready? Then let's move out." I bid farewell to my friends, and wished them all luck, while Voltaire got his rounds of pats from those he knew before the pair of us watched them leave the jet and head towards the Cube.

:This is not going to end well.: my inner voice worried, :not at all.: Privately, I agreed with it, but at the moment there wasn't all that much I could do. So I settled for moving Voltaire and I to the Quinjet, and wait for news to come back.

AN HOUR LATER

"Ok, this is taking too long." I moaned to a SHIELD communication's officer, "Shouldn't we be able to talk to them, or something?"

"We should, but something's blocking the signal." He answered, trying to raise either the Avengers or Quartermaine on the radio, "My guess?"

"It's a trap." We both said at the same time, and I wasn't sure if my brother or the others knew that or not. Which really didn't help my nerves all that much, especially when images of the team in danger entered my mind.

:Stop it.: I firmly told myself, :the Avengers can handle themselves.:

:Sure, they can.: my inner voice assured in a sarcastic tone, :absolutely nothing to worry about.: Hey, I'm serious! The Avengers are more than capable of defending themselves against anything; Captain America fought numerous battles in WW2 and always won; Thor is an Asgardian with a hammer that summons thunder and lightning; T'Challa is the king of a high-tech jungle kingdom, and a brilliant strategist and great warrior; Wasp may be small, but she's fast, and uses both to her advantage; and Tony...Tony...uh...

"I'm going in." I announced to them, leaving the jet before they got the chance to say otherwise. But I guess they were grateful someone was going in to see what was going on in there. Once suited up, and armed with a tranquilizer hand-gun (should my magi-staff not work in the gamma dome) and a jet pack strapped to my back, I was flying towards the expanding green dome.

:Remind me never to put ideas into your head, ever again.: my inner voice growled. I ignored it in favour of focusing on the potential danger I was getting myself into, and seriously hoping that I wouldn't run into the Abomination before I reached the others.

Setting down just outside the Cube entrance, I cautiously took off the jetpack and hit it behind some rubble before tentatively making my way inside. If I thought the camera footage from earlier was horror movie grade, then this was worse. Much worse. The dark corridors lent an eerie feeling to the air, the green radiation blocking the sky cast a spooky light on everything, making the shadows seem as if they were alive and moving, and if it weren't for the radiation and the suit, I would swear there would be a dank smell to the place.

And I hadn't even ran into any of the gamma villains yet.

My mind almost had a breakdown when I heard a loud scream from in front of me, but somehow that scream sounded familiar. Everything inside of me was all for running away, getting a whole army of agents and swarming the place, until my heart froze.

:What if that was T'Challa?: it asked.

...

"I so need to sort these feeling out." I murmured exasperatedly as I ran towards the source of the scream, "or, at least, live long enough to ask him out." If we somehow survived this, I'd treat T'Challa to the New York nightlife.

Reaching the next corridor, I stopped short at the sight in front of me. I could clearly see Cap and Iron Man on the ground, but they were grossly outnumbered by the gamma villains and the gamma'd up SHIELD agents, plus Wasp.

"Like wasn't going to be hard enough." I commented dryly before taking out the tranq gun and ducking into the shadow before they saw me. The SHIELD agents-turned-monsters would be easy enough to deal with (hopefully), so I sighted up, took aim at Quartermaine, and fired quickly.

Luck seemed to be on my side, as the dart hit home and the serum inside sent its target to sleep, so I quickly took out the other agents before I was spotted by the villains and Wasp. "Now that I have your attention." I gulped as I leapt out of Wasp's path, "what the hell was step 2?"

:Are you friggin' kidding me?!: my inner voice screeched.

Ok, admittedly, I didn't have a plan of sorts, but maybe if I kept them busy for a while, either a plan will come to me, or a rescue party will. It was all just a matter of staying alive long enough.

Though, there was the problem of the tranq gun not working on four out of the five villains, two of which don't have corporal forms.

:Gee, you think? Really? Sarcasm, now?

Yelping, I leapt away from X-ray and Vapor, narrowly dodging Zzzax shooting me with electricity. Ok, this wasn't doing too well, which means I need a plan in the next four seconds before I'm dead. When in doubt, do what Hawkeye would do: talk.

"Close, but no dice, Zzzax." I called out while evading everyone else's attacks, "But X-Ray's got a better chance of killing me, and he's a moron!" While the U-Foe complained verbally, Zzzax reacted physically and sent another bolt of electricity at me. Timing it carefully, I dropped flat on the floor whereas the bolt hit X-Ray, damaging him painfully.

"Jimmy!" Vapor cried then snarled in my direction, "You'll pay for that!"

"Better me than Ironclad: guy was gonna drop him off a cliff." I responded, leaping onto a large section of rubble to get enough height to leap-frog off the walking stone giant, "Camera's have a nasty habit of picking up secret plans, especially it's to off a member of the same team!"

Vapor took the bait and launched herself at me, only when I jumped to the side, she ended up smashing into Zzzax, and that ended painfully for her.

"Or was it Vector's plan to knock off Ironclad?" I asked, taking a second to get a breath, "I get you guys confused, 'cos you're both stupid and all." Ironclad didn't appreciate the dig on his intelligence, and started running towards me, but have Zzzax appear from the ground just in time gave me the chance to slide through Ironclad's legs while he ran headlong into the wall in front of him, leaving him dazed.

"Enough!" Vector snapped, and I was lifted into the air before being slammed into the wall and pinned there. "You mind games are no use on me, girl." He sneered, Zzzax and Wasp gathering behind him and waiting for their turn.

"Maybe." I grunted, trying to ignore the painful dig in my back, "but it serves a purpose."

"Oh, really?" he drawled sarcastically.

"You forgot about Iron Man and Captain America." Vector's eyes went wide as he realized this, and turned just into to cop a face full of Cap's shield. With that, Vector lost concentration on his telekinesis, and I was free to shoot him with a tranq dart.

Now all that were left were Zzzax and Wasp.

"Nice timing." I complimented as Cap and Iron Man stood beside me, "Makes up for you not telling me about Hawkeye."

"Can we talk about that later?" He asked in an agitated manner, "Preferably when we're not facing down a guy that wants to feed on our brains?"

"Never mind that." Cap interrupted us, "any ideas on how to stop this guy?"

"Last ones who did were Hulk and Alenka." I informed him, "But Hulk's gone missing and Alenka isn't on this Earth." With our only two sure-fire ways of beating Zzzax gone, it came down to us to figure out how to stop a being made of pure electricity. Great.

:Where's T'Challa when you need him?: My inner voice whimpered, :The guy's a veritable fountain of knowledge!:

Suddenly, the ground beneath us shook violently, before a tremendous explosion of a green cloud came racing towards us. Thinking quickly, Iron Man grabbed Cap and I, pulling us into the safety of a cell, while the gamma'd agents, Avenger and villains were caught in the cloud and light show, which further shook the Cube.

Then, all was silent and still.

Daring to take a peek, I carefully pulled myself from Tony's protective embrace and saw what happened to the others. They were cured.

"Well, I'll be..." Cap breathed as the three of us carefully walked out of the cell to examine the others, but vital signs were good, and they were unconscious. Plus, the sun was beaming down on them from the broken roof, further proving that the dome was really gone. Now that we had sunlight...

Pulling out my magi-staff and stepping into the sunlight, I created a sphere around the unconscious villains, jut so they wouldn't escape.

"Well." I sighed, happy now that the present danger was over with, "That was fun." Both Cap and Tony groaned loudly in dismay, making me giggle at them.

"I know that giggle anywhere." I heard Samson call out from behind us, as he and T'Challa walked through the rubble towards.

"I'm allowed to." I pouted, crossing my arms over my chest and titling my head upwards in a faux snooty manner, "The nerve of some men." That only served to make them all laugh, while T'Challa simply smiled warmly as he case over and rested his hand on my shoulder.

And I still got pleasant butterflies in my stomach, even as I shyly smiled up at him. And doing my best to ignore the fact that his protective suit and Panther uniform were in tatters now, revealing that tantalizing body of his.

######

It was well into the evening when the villains were escorted out and onto the awaiting transportation. Those that were in the Cube, and had a brief walk with gamma radiation, were with the medical agents getting checked out. Thor, T'Challa and I were greeted by Voltaire, who was clearly worried about us (if the crying and face-licking were any indication) before we joined in the conversation between Samson and Quartermaine.

"Everyone seems to be recovering with no residual radiation poisoning." The doctor explained to the worn out agent, "The energy the Leader used was very specific." Undoubtedly, hearing that took a load of everyone's minds, knowing that our friends were not in any danger now.

"The Leader..."Quatermaine asked groggily, "There was no sign of him?"

"No. But we saved a lot of lives today, and we foiled his big plan." Samson assured him.

Thank-

"Did we?" T'Challa asked.

-Argh! So close!

I whined before weakly slapping T'Challa on his arm. "Why did you have to do that?" I begged him, "We were so close to going home!" Voltaire whined before slumping onto the ground in exhaustion, emphasizing the point that we were all tired and wanted to go home.

"What's wrong?" Tony called as he walked over to join up.

"Panther just jinxed us." I pouted then wailed softly, "why does this always happen to us?!" Tony just sniggered at me before whilst playfully elbowing T'Challa in his arm.

"Sounds like someone's got a crush on you." He teased the king, and I swear I was so tempted to kill him right then, but decided that would just look suspicious on my part. So I settled for rolling my eyes and poking my tongue out at him.

"Attractive." My brother quipped, "Especially in that get-up." Since I was still in the protective suit and the jet pack strapped on again, I admittedly felt a little self-conscious, but decided just to keep playing along.

"You're just jelly that I have one, and you don't." I retorted in a snooty manner, but that didn't last very long because Tony had grabbed me in a bear hug, making me squeal in laughter, the others laughing at the pair of us in turn.

Finally, things sobered up a little, and we watched the last of the gamma villains be placed into containers then loaded away.

"That's—what—nine gamma villains back in custody?" Tony asked before looking to the rest of us, "Pretty good day, right?" I was right on the edge of making a comment when I saw everyone around me stiffen in shock, and turning around revealed why.

The gamma dome was back.

Before it reached us, I was vaguely aware of someone nearly colliding with me and my vision turning into an amber haze as the protective shielding was turned back on, just as the dome encased us all, and the nightmare was back.

"Briar!" I turned to Thor and ran into his arms as everyone that wasn't protected or immune succumbed to the gamma radiation, turning them all into monsters, including the Avengers. I felt tears prickle the corner of my eyes as I watched Tony mutate horrifically, the process pushing the chest lens of his heart piece out of place in a grotesque manner.

"Oh, god." I whimpered, feeling terror and adrenalin unlike anything before.

"Briar! Run!" Thor shouted as the gamma'd mutants converged on us, "Run!" Samson gave a yell, the pair of us turning in time to see him being knocked unconscious by T'Challa. My heart lurched painfully at the monster he was now, those beautiful golden brown eyes now an acid green colour.

"T'Challa?" I breathed weakly, almost sobbing the word, and my eyes were unable to turn away, despite the fear tearing at my poor over-worked heart. For the briefest moment, he snarled viciously before shaking his feline head. When he looked at me again, his eyes were brown again, but the green was quickly creeping in.

"Ro...Rose..." He managed to growl out before the gamma radiation got to him, and T'Challa was once again a monster, with no idea that I was his friend.

My heart broke.

With a sob, I activated the jetpack and immediately shot into the air and flew away. Away from the desperately out-matched Thor and Samson, away from my brother and friends, away from the man I was madly crushing over.

Away from everything.

My tears began to blur my vision as they fell, so I wasn't sure of how fast I was flying, or in which direction. All I was sure off was that, at some point, I flew out of the dome and crashed into something hard before hitting the dirt, the impact knocking my head quite painfully. My last vision was of the dome, and the last thought in my mind was of the knowledge that people I loved were trapped inside...and I ran away from them.

And I had no one to turn to.

"Help..." I begged the heavens softly as my vision began to face, "Please..."and everything turned dark...

TO BE CONTINUED?

Rose, here. Den sends her apologies; apparently getting into a drinking contest is not a good idea for her...though she did put up a good effort. Anyway, it may be a while before she's up to writing again, but it should be this month. Bye!