Freya makes her way over to Fury, who's talking to Bruce about how to track the Cube.
"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear," Fury says.
"Where are you with that?" Bruce asks.
Fury points at Phil, directing attention to him. Freya looks over at Natasha, noticing that she's staring at a computer screen with Clint's picture on it. She kneels next to her and places a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"We're gonna get him back, Nat. Especially, if you and I have anything to do with it."
Natasha looks up at Freya and nods her head in agreement. They can hear Phil speaking in the background.
"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."
"That's still not gonna find them in time," Natasha looks up at him.
"You have to narrow your field," Bruce informs Fury. "How many spectrometers do you have access to?"
"How many are there?" Fury asks.
"Call every lab you know," Bruce directs him while he takes off his blazer. "Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays." Everyone looks at Bruce with a lost expression. But something clicks for Freya and she knows exactly where he's going with this.
"You can rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition," she informs everyone. Her team smirks proudly while Bruce and Steve look at her in surprise. She looks at them and shrugs. "At least we could rule out a few places."
"Exactly," Bruce grins at her before turning back to Fury. "Do you have somewhere for me to work?"
"Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please," Fury orders. He then turns his attention to Freya. "I'd like you to join him in a bit if you don't mind."
Freya nods at him. Affirming that it's an order and not a suggestion. She feels someone's eyes on her and looks to her right to see Steve watching her curiously. She smiles and starts to walk over to him. Hearing Natasha lead Bruce to his lab.
"You're gonna love it Doc. We got all the toys. Frey always goes bonkers when they let her in the lab."
Freya shakes her head in amusement as she steps up to the Captain.
"Doin' okay there, Cap?" she asks. He just blinks at her in silence.
"I've never seen such green eyes before. She's so smart, too. I feel like she's not telling me something, though. But, I'm sure she would have a good reason for it. Right?"
Freya winces as her head begins to throb and places a hand on the side of it. This seems to snap Steve out of his daze.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asks. She quickly regains her composure, the pain fading. Taking a deep breath she nods.
"Y-Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Just a small headache," she tries to smile up at him reassuringly. "This is getting so weird. Why is it only his thoughts though...? I wonder if I should try it on someone else," Freya thinks to herself. Suddenly, she randomly gets a different idea. "Hey, before I head off to the lab, did you want to maybe spar a little?" This seems to catch Steve off guard and he looks down at her with wide eyes.
"I don't think that's a good idea. I don't wanna hurt you, Freya."
"Humor me," she grins. After leading him to the training room, Freya walks out on to one of the mats while he discards his jacket on a chair. "Okay, Steve. I'm serious. Don't hold back on me. I'll find that extremely insulting."
"You can't be serious, Freya!" he says in disbelief. "I could kill you!"
"I promise, you won't," she shakes her head and chuckles. "Now, cmon. Show me what Captain America can do." She squares up on the mat, gesturing for Steve to follow suit.
"Okay, if you really wanna do this..."
She just grins back. Both of them are squared up, waiting for the other to make a move. Freya can be extremely patient in situations like this. She knows he'll eventually make the first move. And she's right.
In a blur, Steve throws a left jab. Freya dodges it easily, keeping eye contact. His eyebrows furrow, surprised at how quick she can move. He throws another left. Then a right. Another right. A hook. She dodges and blocks all of them easily. She can see that he's becoming frustrated. And she's beginning to have a hard time keeping a smile off her face.
"What the... How is she so quick?"
Freya furrows her eyebrows, momentarily losing concentration. The next thing she knows, a fist connects with the left side of her face. Throwing her head to the side and slightly putting her off balance.
"Oh God, Freya! Are you okay?! I'm so sorry!"
Steve is on her in seconds. Lifting her face up to check if she's okay. As he turns her head to face him, they both freeze. Realizing their close proximity. Steve stops breathing. Unable to break eye contact. Freya goes ridged. Not used to being so close to someone who she isn't currently fighting. She's the one to finally break eye contact. She looks away and takes two steps back from Steve. Who's hands slowly return to his sides.
"Freya... are you okay?" he asks quietly. Composing herself, she looks back at him and smiles softly.
"I'm perfectly fine, Steve." He becomes confused once again. A hit like that would easily knock any normal person out. Maybe even almost kill them. He becomes even more confused when her smile gets bigger. "My turn."
Before he can comprehend what she said, she's throwing punches. Steve barely having enough time to block or dodge. She ends up landing a hard left to his left shoulder, putting him off balance. This gives her the opportunity to throw a right hook, catching Steve in the cheek. He stumbles back. Dumbfounded at how someone so little can pack so much power into a hit. Continuing to stare at her, he starts to put the pieces together.
"What is she?"
Freya winces at the pain in her head. Trying to blink away the tears beginning to form.
"She can't be human."
She shakes her head this time. Trying to make the noise to go away. At the last second, she registers a punch aimed straight for her face. In a flash, she catches it with her left hand, stopping Steve in his tracks. He looks at her with wide eyes, looks down at their hands and then back at her face. She smirks and quickly turns, putting her back to him while grabbing his arm with her right hand. Easily throwing him over her shoulder and on to his back. Steve lands with a loud thud, grunting on impact. He opens his eyes and sees the upside down face of Freya smiling down at him.
"How'd I do, Captain?"
He blinks, completely confused as to what just happened. A small girl just handed his ass to him. Well, she's a grown woman. But still, she's so much smaller than him! He slowly stands, keeping his eyes on her. Analyzing her. Then, it finally clicks.
"You're Mercury," he states. Her smile starts to fade as she nods in confirmation.
"I am."
"What are you?"
She stares back at Steve, not quite sure what to say.
"Honestly... I don't know." His eyebrows shoot up at her words. She smiles softly at his reaction. "It's a long story, maybe for another time."
He nods in understanding. Continuing to analyze her and the situation.
"What else can you do?" His question takes her by surprise. She didn't expect him to think she has more abilities. Steve can see that by the look on her face. "Your code name. Mercury. Not really a name for someone who's just a good fighter with super human strength."
Freya nods in agreement and opens her mouth to speak. Before she can, a voice sounds off in her earpiece. Putting a hand to her hear, she listens to Fury.
"Freya, please start heading to the lab so Dr. Banner can have some assistance."
She lets out a big sigh and nods to herself.
"Yes, sir." Catching Steve's eye, she nods toward the door. "Fury just told me to join Banner in the lab. If you still have questions later, I can answer them then if we have time."
Steve nods, grabbing his jacket from the chair by the door as he follows her out of the training room. As they come to a crossroads in the halls, he looks down at her and gives her a small smile.
"See you later?"
"Yeah," she smiles back. "Sounds good."
She turns and heads toward the lab. Steve's eyes are on her until she rounds the corner. He sighs and shakes his head as he walks back to the bridge. Only Freya on his mind.
Freya and Bruce end up working together all day. Barely saying a word to each other. Except for the occasional, "Here, try this," or "Find anything yet?" Both trying to figure out where the Tesseract is. Bruce wants to find it so he can leave and go back home to live in peace. Freya just wants to find Clint. As night falls, Bruce finally voices what he had been thinking about since they first met on the deck.
"So, you don't want the Captain to know you're a Stark."
Freya's head shoots up in surprise from the screen she's looking at, meeting Bruce's eyes. After a few moments of silence, she sighs and finally replies.
"Not yet. No. People tend to treat me differently when they realize I'm Tony Stark's daughter. Also, there's the fact that he was friends with my grandfather. There's a lot at stake here and everyone needs to be on their A-game. Stay dialed in. Stay focused. We can't get sidetracked and I don't want that on his mind right now."
Bruce nods, understanding where she's coming from. Freya directs her eyes back to the screen she's working with. Her eyes finding Bruce's again when he begins to talk.
"I get it. Honestly, I do. I don't tell people who I am if I can help it. If they know who I am and know about the other guy, things can get really ugly really fast." He shrugs and sighs. "I just want to live in peace and provide help to people that need it."
Freya looks at him with admiration. She's read everything she could get her hands on regarding Bruce Banner. Whether it be his research before the accident or what happened to him as a result of it. She doesn't know him well at all, but she's proud of the man he is. Or in his eyes, is trying to be. She can easily tell he's afraid of the Hulk and what he can do. What Bruce doesn't realize though, is that the other guy can help people in ways he hasn't thought of yet. She knows he'll get there eventually. It'll just take time.
"I admire you and look up to you Bruce," she smiles genuinely. "You're an extremely intelligent man with an amazing heart. The world is lucky to have someone like you. Hulk or no Hulk, I'm really glad you're here. Thank you for helping us. It means a lot to Nat and I. Even if she won't admit it," she chuckles. Bruce is stunned by her words. Not really knowing how to respond. He pauses for a moment to think before speaking.
"You know, you're not really how I imagined you'd be."
"What did you imagine I would be like?" Freya tilts her head at him curiously.
"Stuck up. A brat. A girl who expects everything to be handed to her," he chuckles.
"Well, I'm pleased to know I've disappointed you," she grins and winks.
"I didn't really expect you to be so disciplined. Figured you were a wild child," he lets out a quiet laugh while he glances around at the data in his screens.
"You should've seen me when I first joined S.H.I.E.L.D.," she snorts. "I was the definition of a wild child."
"Is that so?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Mhm. All the while having a temper that rivals yours," she smirks.
"Hah!" he guffaws. "You've gotta be kidding me." She looks back at him in silence while still smirking. She raises an eyebrow at him when he continues to stare at her. "Wait, you're serious?" he asks.
"Oh, completely serious," she chuckles. "My temper got me into a lot of trouble. Caused a lot of problems that required me to work on getting it under control. Just don't piss me off."
"Oh, it can't be that bad," he waves her off with a smile. "Definitely not as bad as the big guy," he chuckles, referring to the Hulk.
"You and I are surprisingly a lot alike," she says with a small smile. "The more my temper get outs of control, the stronger and more dangerous I get. I can most likely easily take on your green friend if my temper gets the best of me," she frowns now.
"Okay, now you're actually joking, right?" he asks with a laugh. Clearly not taking her seriously.
"Bruce, I'm one hundred percent not joking," she says seriously. "I really do mean it when I say I'm dangerous."
"Oh, my God. You really are serious," he mumbles. She responds with a silent nod. He studies her for a few moments in silence before his eyes slightly widen. "You have abilities, don't you?" he asks.
"And I have no idea what the extent of them are," she nods. "They might even be limitless. I don't know. Different abilities have manifested over the years and will probably keep doing so."
"That's incredible," he breathes out. "What all can you do?"
"A lot," she sighs. "I hold back with them now. Like I said, I'm too dangerous. When I go in the field, I don't use weapons because I am one."
Bruce is able to read between the lines as he watches her talk. He studies her face and sees the different expressions flash across it. Anger. Fear. Shame. Confusion. Guilt.
"What happened?" he asks quietly. She plays with her fingers for a moment before sighing and giving him a sad, half smile.
"My powers," she shrugs. "That's what happened. I did things that changed me. I'm not the same person I was a few years ago. I don't think I ever will be..." Freya's voice trails off as she blankly stares at the wall and gets lost in thought. Feeling Bruce's eyes on her, she brings herself back to reality and sends him a small smile. Quickly checking the time, she realizes she should probably go check on the progress of tracking Loki. "Hey, I'm gonna head to the bridge and see where they are with finding Loki. Do you need anything while I'm gone?"
"No, no I'm good," he shakes his head with a small smile as he continues to study her. More out of awe, mutual understanding and curiosity now. "Thanks though. I'll see you in a bit."
"See ya in a bit," she says as she walks by him on her way out and pats him on the shoulder.
Making her way to the bridge, she silently hopes that some progress has been made in their search for Loki. Walking into the room, she can see Natasha at one of the computers trying to do anything she can to locate Clint. Looking to her right, she sees Phil talking to Steve. And by the uncomfortable look on Steve's face, she'll bet money that Phil is asking him to sign his trading cards. Steve notices her walk into the room and his body instantly relaxes at the sight of her without him even realizing it. They lock eyes and share a smile. He's about to walk over to her until he sees her head toward Natasha. Freya walks up behind Natasha's chair. The other assassin somehow always knowing when her best friend is around.
"Hey, Frey. How was playtime in the lab?" Natasha asks.
"Not too bad. Haven't gotten anything yet, though," Freya frowns. "What about you guys?"
"No, not yet," Natasha sighs. "But we will. Don't worry."
"I know, Nat. I just want him back."
"Me too..." Natasha frowns up at her. She turns her attention back to the computer screen and starts tapping away on the keyboard again. Freya leans down and wraps her arms around Natasha's shoulders and she rests her chin on the top of her head. She lets out a sigh and watches her best friend work. "I heard you whooped Captain America's ass in the training room earlier," Natasha hums out.
"And where did you hear that from?" Freya inquires with a raised eyebrow.
"A little birdie," the redhead shrugs.
"Coulson was watching us spar with the security cameras, wasn't he?" Freya deadpans.
"Yep," Natasha pops the "p" before going silent.
Freya becomes somber when she looks at Natasha's monitor. Clint's picture stares back at her, making her stomach twist in anger and sorrow. Feeling like someone's watching her, she looks up and instantly locks eyes with Steve. She can tell by the look on his face that he's worried about her. But she needs to focus. Standing up straight, she begins to walk behind the other agents' stations who are working on locating Loki. She ends up stopping behind Jasper Sitwell's chair. She's unable to look away from the screen. It's a picture of Loki. His face somehow looks so familiar to her, but she has no idea where she could've seen him from besides current situation. It's like there's a memory trying to break through to the surface. But she can't quite grasp it.
"Hey, Frey. You doin' okay?" Sitwell's voice shakes her from her thoughts as she looks down at him. A concerned look is etched on his face.
"Hey, Jas. Yeah, I'm good," she nods. "Just itching to find Clint."
"We all are," he smiles sadly. "We'll get him back. Just try to hang in there, okay?"
"Oh, I'm not going anywhere, buddy," she smiles and rubs his bald head fondly. Making him chuckle. His computer suddenly starts beeping like crazy. Sitwell jerks his chair back around and starts typing away.
"We got a hit!" he informs Fury. "67% match. Wait. Cross match, 79%."
"Location?" Phil asks as he walks over to Sitwell's station.
"Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Konigstrasse," Sitwell replies. "He's not exactly hiding..."
Freya quickly turns around to look at Fury and waits for him to give orders. He glances at her before setting his eyes on the Steve.
"Captain," Fury calls out. Steve turns around and looks at him expectantly. "You're up." Steve gives Fury a short nod. Looking at Freya, he studies her for a moment before heading off to suit up. Freya watches him leave until Fury gets her attention. "Mercury." She meets Fury's gaze with a determined look on her face. "Go suit up. You're co-piloting with Romanoff. Only involve yourself if absolutely necessary."
"Yes, sir," she nods and starts to follow Natasha out of the room.
"Frey." Turning around, she watches Phil quickly walk up to her. "I wanna show you something," he tells her.
She gives him a questioning look, but obliges. She lets Natasha know she won't be long. Phil leads her through a few hallways before bringing her to one of their secure storage rooms. He swipes his badge and the door opens. He leads her inside to a chrome case and places it in front of her. Freya glances up at him and he nods towards it, indicating he wants her to open it. Leaning down, she undoes the clasps and lifts the lid. Her eyes go wide. She looks back at Phil, who's now grinning from ear to ear.
"A little something we've been working on," he tells her. "More of your color scheme now and modeled after the suit you arrived in when you were a kid. No more plain, black S.H.I.E.L.D. catsuit. Plus, now that you've begun to increasingly generate an aura, we made it way more heat resistant as a precaution."
"Thank you," she says gratefully as she looks back down at the new suit. A huge grin plastered on her face.
"Anything for you, kiddo," Phil chuckles. He pats her shoulder and walks out, leaving her to suit up.
When she gets all of her gear on, she quickly admires her new look. The color scheme is white and silver. The silver parts being her shoulders, upper chest area, gloves, belt, boots, and a few accents. The star on her chest that has lines running from both sides of it up to her neck, is also silver. It doesn't feel flimsy and thin like her previous suit. This feels durable, but still extremely flexible to allow maximum movement. There's also S.H.I.E.L.D. logos displayed on both of her shoulders. Freya puts her hair up in her signature high pony tail with a few of the shorter strands hanging freely as they frame her face. She then quickly makes her way out to the quinjet where Natasha and Steve are waiting for her. Walking up the ramp, both turn their heads to look at her.
"About freakin' time," Natasha grins and whistles. "Hot damn, I like the new look, though. Coulson?"
"Yeah, Coulson," Freya grins. She looks over at Steve, who's staring at her with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth. Noticing he has on his new suit too, she gives him a quick once over and winks. "Looking good, Spangles."
She leaves him standing slack-jawed with a slightly confused look on his face as she moves to sit in the co-pilot seat to the right of Natasha. Her best friend leans over to her and whispers in her ear.
"He was totally drooling over you," Natasha tells her with a hint of amusement. Freya's head whips around to look at her. She starts to open her mouth to say something, but is cut off by the redhead. "Alright, you two! Buckle up!"
Shaking her head, she preps the jet for take off and suddenly they're blasting out of the hangar bay on their way to Germany. The flight there doesn't take too long. It's quiet the whole way. Everyone's on edge since their nerves are almost shot. Flying in, they can see Loki standing in front of a crowd that he had forced to kneel. Freya notices he's wearing a ridiculous helmet with two giant horns. She suddenly catches movement on their left. She averts her gaze to it, seeing an old man standing up against Loki. Freya's eyes go wide and she instantly knows what's going to happen to him.
"Nat..." she says uneasily.
"Yep," the redhead replies. She moves the jet into position while Freya hits the button for the ramp and opens it.
"Cap, you need to get down there, now!" Freya calls out.
"On it!" Steve replies.
He's already at the ramp door waiting for the right moment. In seconds, he drops and puts himself in front of the old man. He holds up his shield, deflecting a blast from the scepter back at Loki. Steve catches him by surprise, causing him to go down. Freya looks at Natasha as something begins to stir in her stomach. Something isn't right. Natasha senses Freya's gaze and looks over at her.
"What?" Natasha asks worriedly. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know," Freya frowns. "Something isn't right. I can feel it."
Natasha pauses for a second as her eyes go wide.
"Is this, like, a Budapest feeling?" she asks.
"No, not quite," Freya shakes her head. "But something still doesn't feel right."
"Shit," Natasha hisses. Flying the jet down behind Steve, Natasha gets on the intercom while Freya flips a switch, lowering the rail gun attached to the bottom of the jet. "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down," the redhead announces over the quinjet's speakers.
Loki stops for a moment before quickly firing at the jet. But Natasha's ready for it. She maneuvers out of the way before the blast can hit the wing. At the same time, Steve throws his shield at Loki, initiating the fight. The shield does almost nothing as Steve runs up and catches it. He throws a punch at the god. Which only looks like it pisses him off more. Loki retaliates and swings his scepter. Eventually catching the Star-Spangled Man in the side and sending him flying. Steve looks up at Loki in anger and throws his shield again. Only to have Loki bat it away like a simple frisbee. The Captain gets up and throws a few more punches at Loki before the scepter hits its target again, sending Steve flying. Loki approaches him and puts the butt of the scepter to his helmet.
"This guy's all over the place..." Natasha mutters.
Freya watches from the jet while she worries about Steve. She looks on as him and Loki exchange words before Steve pushes the scepter away. He jumps into the air and spins, landing a solid kick to Loki's head. Freya suddenly unbuckles her harness and stands. Not wanting to sit by and watch any longer while the bad feeling in her stomach gets worse.
"Where do you think you're going?" Natasha questions her sternly.
"He needs help, Red," Freya says over her shoulder while she walks to the back of the jet. "There's no way we can use the gun on the jet without the chance of hitting Steve. I need to get down there and you know it."
"Be careful, Merc," Natasha replies with a nod and focuses her attention back on the fight. Freya approaches the rear of the jet and nods.
"Always am."
She leaps out of it and begins to fly down to the fight. She watches the Captain get thrown like a rag doll again. Landing hard and rolling to his side. Loki approaches him a second time while he's on the ground. But this time, the tip of the spear is aimed for his chest. The feeling in Freya's stomach gets worse when she realizes Loki's going to mind control him. She quickly flies down behind Loki and throws up her left hand. A barrier between Loki and Steve appears just in time. Loki's face contorts into confusion when the scepter hits the silver barrier, causing a ripple to travel across it. Steve's eyes also show confusion. With Loki blocking his view, he has no idea Freya's there.
"Back away from the Captain and drop the scepter." Freya's voice is steady and low. Making her sound extremely dangerous. She expects Loki to turn around with a sadistic grin. But instead, she's met with a warm, kind smile and bright eyes.
"My lovely Freya. It's been so long, sweetheart," Loki greets her.
Steve is finally able to see Freya. Transfixed by her as he watches her hover about ten feet above the ground. A beautiful, bright, silver aura engulfing her as she holds out her left hand. Projecting the barrier that had just saved him.
Needless to say, Freya is extremely confused at Loki's change in demeanor. Her facial expression is still steely, but she tilts her head at him in question. Loki's expression falls as he watches her.
"My dear daughter. Please don't tell me you don't remember your father."
