Chapter 4: Building Their Armies

Penelope was pulled from her deep, peaceful sleep by a loud beeping noise.

She let out a soft moan, moving as she tried to ignore it and return to sleep, but as she shifted, something in her sleepy mind became aware that she was hunched over her desk. Sitting up properly, she let out a wide yawn, before finally registering the beeping that had woken her. Penelope gasped, and practically dove for her phone, managing to answer it.

"H-hello?" she answered.

"Sorry to wake you Tournes," Penelope automatically straightened up at the sound of her boss's voice. "But we need you to come in," Marcus told her. Penelope frowned, confused by his request.

"Why, Sir?" she asked before she caught herself.

"The target was spotted, and has been caught up in another matter last night. We're needed to help on the case," Marcus explained. "A car will be with you in 10 minutes," he told her, and Penelope nodded, despite being on the phone.

"I'll be ready, Sir," she told him when she realised. She hung up, and stood up, running a hand through her hair, which had fallen from its ponytail. She looked down at the notes spread across the desk, all on her target that she'd only been assigned a week ago. "Ciara Ellis," Penelope spoke aloud as she went into her room and grabbed her hairbrush.

As she ran the brush through her hair, she thought about what she'd read. "Mutant: Super speed. Date of birth:Unknown. Place of Birth: Unknown," she listed as she swapped her vest for a white shirt. Her fingers, trembling, slipped on her buttons, and she scolded herself for being so nervous.

Penelope wondered just what had happened. Marcus had sounded less stern than usual, and a little more concerned. He'd even apologised for waking her. She knew it had to be bad for the strict leader to be gentler, even on her. She pulled on a pair of black trousers, and hunted the room for her heels as she continued to recite what she'd learned from her file. Once she was dressed and ready, she rushed back into her office and collected the file on Ciara.

It was only when she was in the car, did she think to check the time. Not even 4am. She considered trying to get some sleep in the car, but instead, applied a quick layer of make-up and fixed her hair, before opening the file again. Pictures were clipped to the first page, of the target. Penelope lifted one, taken a year ago in New Mexico, and studied the girl's face.

Ciara didn't seem much younger than her, with silver hair and bright blue eyes, but her mischievous smile was what caught Penelope's attention the most. It unnerved her. She seemed like the sort who caused trouble for fun; exactly the type of person Penelope had avoided her entire life. "A Mutant menace...active since her teens," Penelope spoke aloud, looking out the window as she thought about her. Frustration bubbled to the surface as she thought about Ciara, and she shut the folder over with a snap.

When she realised where she was, her brow furrowed. "Um, excuse me," she leaned forwards to talk to the driver. "The office is on the other side of the city," Penelope told him, confused.

"We're not going to the office, Miss. Tournes," the man replied, confusing her even more. "We're going to the airport. There's a carrier there waiting to take you and O'Reilly to the base," he explained, turning down another street.

"Base?" Penelope repeated, and winced at how slow she sounded. The driver didn't seem to mind, letting out a quiet chuckle.

"You'll see," he said cryptically, and Penelope looked out the window again, wondering just what he meant.


"A portal," Ciara spoke as she sat perched on a table, watching Selvig work.

"Excuse me?" the astrophysicist asked, only half paying attention to her as he lifted a screwdriver. He turned his back to her, working on building a device.

"You're building another portal, like the one in the SHIELD base," she accused him. "So then Professor Mind Control over there can get his army through like he did," Ciara summed up, and Selvig looked at her at last. The blue in his eyes was unnatural, and sent a shiver down Ciara's spine as he seemed to look right through her.

"You're smarter than you seem. Especially without your mind being free like mine," he declared, and turned away. Ciara wasn't insulted, only mildly amused. While under mind-control, Selvig had been a lot more forthcoming on his opinions on her, calling her a pest and telling her frequently that she was in the way.

"So what are you going to do to stop it from collapsing in on itself?" she asked, grinning as Selvig walked over, looking for something. Ciara held out a blowtorch.

"Why don't you make yourself useful and sort the weaponry with the others," Selvig snatched it from her and turned away. Ciara let out a huff, and jumped down from the table.

"Mind control makes people so boring," she complained, walking away as more scientists walked in to help him. However, as she walked away, she felt a tug in the opposite direction, compelling her to go back. The same pull that encouraged her to follow Fury into the lab where she had ended up being dragged into the fight.

Ciara refused to admit that she'd been feeling the pull since she'd woken up in the underground bunker where Barton was slowly amassing a large group of people, to help Selvig build his machine, and to help fight SHIELD. She'd barely left the room, as the pull only got worse when she did, and it frustrated her. She refused to get any closer to the Tesseract, as when she did, she felt the pull clearly and it terrified her.

Ciara hated being scared of anything.

She looked around, seeing Loki sitting nearby, his eyes closed as the sceptre in his hand shimmered brighter than usual. She watched him, wondering what he was doing. She wondered why he'd set his eyes on Earth as his kingdom. Clearly his fight with Thor had not gone well, considering he was now here, and Thor was still nowhere to be found.

When Loki jerked suddenly as if he'd been struck by something, his eyes flew open, and Ciara immediately turned away. She was close enough to hear his heavy breathing, and she questioned what he had been doing. However, her questions were forgotten when her stomach growled loudly, reminding her of how hungry she was. She darted away quickly, creating a gust of wind that Loki didn't even notice.

Deep in his thoughts, thinking about what the Other had warned him, Loki didn't pay attention to any of the bustling around him. He had no need to. They were all under his control. Except for one. As he remembered Ciara, Loki turned to try and spot her, to make sure she wasn't causing trouble, when something was almost shoved in his face.

"I dunno about you, but I'm starved," Ciara told him simply, dumping something beside him and walking past him. She bit into a burger as she weaved around some men patrolling with their guns clutched to their chests, and he looked down, realising she'd given him some sort of food. He lifted it slowly, confused by her actions once again. "Can't be fighting SHIELD on an empty stomach. They're going to have some fun friends to play with," she pointed out between bites. Loki looked down at the burger in his hand, tempted to throw it away. He didn't need her pity. But, he reluctantly agreed, as his stomach gave a treacherous grumble.

"Tell me about them," he ordered suddenly, and watched as Ciara tore her eyes away from the work going on around the Tesseract.

"I wouldn't be the most up to date on them, I just know what I found in some files on them," she replied. Loki watched her expectantly, and Ciara gave a small sigh. "Okay," she shrugged.


Nerves churned in Penelope's stomach and she clutched her file close to her chest as she stepped out of the carrier that had taken her across the ocean. Her hair whipped around her face, pulled from its ponytail, as the winds batted at her and Marcus.

"Sir, where are we meeting the rest of the team?" she asked as she looked around the massive base that rested on the water. It was large enough to house multiple carriers and other vehicles, and people were running around trying to keep order.

"They're not coming," Marcus answered gruffly. "They're working on locating Ellis from their end. We're here to make sure the rest are caught up in what we know," he told her. Penelope could only nod as her nerves grew worse. She questioned why she was there with him, instead of Bianchi or one of the other Agents who'd been on the case for some time. She clutched the files closer to her chest, trying to focus instead on what she did know.

"O'Reilly!" she heard someone call, and the two looked around to see a man raise his hand in greeting to them. Penelope's eyes widened when she saw the man standing beside him, looking awkward.

"Coulson," Marcus marched over without hesitation, and Penelope followed quickly. "And Steve Rogers," he nodded to the deceptively young looking man.

"Captain, this is Marcus O'Reilly, and Penelope Tournes," Coulson introduced them, and Steve nodded to them with a polite smile.

"Good to meet you," he greeted them.

"I'm surprised you haven't keeled over in such close proximity to him," Marcus smirked to Coulson, who rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"I'm glad Fury called you two in. I have a very bad feeling that we're going to need your information," Coulson told them, and Marcus shrugged.

"I hope it won't come to that, but I doubt we're that lucky," he replied. "We better get in and contact the rest of the team. See you inside. Nice to meet you Cap," Marcus nodded to Steve, and the two walked off.

"O'Reilly and Tournes are on a taskforce trying to find and apprehend Ciara Ellis," Coulson explained as Steve watched the two heading inside.

"The girl taken in the attack," he nodded.

"Let's hope that's all it is," Coulson murmured, and Steve frowned, wondering what he meant.


As the Helicarrier took to the sky and vanished, Penelope stared out the window with fascination. She'd heard about the Helicarrier and it's technology, but she never thought she'd have a chance to be on it.

"I'm so jealous," Bianchi whined over the video feed to the office where they'd been working. "Why couldn't I have gone too?" she complained.

"Because we're trying to hunt down a threat that may be growing out of hand," Marcus spoke sternly, not looking up from the files in front of him and Penelope. "I don't have time to make sure you don't show me up, Bianchi," he said, his tone flat as others laughed over the feed. "Have there been any leads?" Marcus asked them gruffly, keeping them on topic.

"Nothing yet," Collins answered first. "We're checking every known location, everyone we know she's associated with in the past," he filled the two in as Penelope turned back to her notes and checked over everything she could. Beside her, Marcus was scribbling down notes over the pages.

"If she's still not surfaced, she's probably still with this Asgardian," he considered, drumming the pencil against the metal table. "It's likely at this point to consider that she's allied herself with him. Which proves even more problematic," Marcus muttered, talking more to himself than the rest of the team.

"Could it be that she's under the same influence as Agent Barton and the others?" Penelope considered, having been reading over the report provided about the incident two nights ago. Marcus had cursed Fury out for taking so long to contact them.

"It doesn't seem likely," Bianchi shook her head, reading the file on her tablet. "The power seemed to have a different effect on her than it did them, according to the Director," she explained as she scanned over the readings. "Maybe because she's a Mutant? It's tough to tell," she shrugged, and looked around as Steve walked by, looking fascinated by what was going on. "Is that who I think it is?" Bianchi's eyes lit up.

"Call us when you have something," Marcus immediately ended the call, and Penelope hid her smile. He then whistled, and Penelope glanced to him. "They really are desperate, if they brought Banner back," he murmured, and Penelope followed his gaze. Talking to Fury was a scrawny looking man in a purple shirt and tweed jacket, looking very uncomfortable as he avoided eye contact for the most part.

"That's Doctor Banner?" Penelope asked in awe, having read the file.

"It is indeed. Wonder if they brought him in for his brain, or brawn," Marcus snorted.

"O'Reilly," Coulson warned, near enough to hear the quiet comment. Marcus just raised his hands in a wordless defence. Coulson sighed. "We're also using every camera we can get access to, to try and find those who vanished that night," he added.

"I've been at you for months requesting that," Marcus frowned at him. "It takes the kid getting caught up in a global threat to finally get clearance?" he complained, and Penelope watched him curiously, seeing the man in a different light. Here, away from most of the team, and with people he knew, he was more comfortable.

"You should have looked harder for her in the first place," Hill spoke loud enough for him to hear, and Marcus glowered at her.

"You try catching a kid who's faster than a bullet," he bit back. Hill just smiled pleasantly at him, and when he looked away irritably, she winked to Penelope, who had to fight her smile. "At least we have some form of plan for catching the kid now, Tournes. So let's get to work," Marcus ordered, and she nodded, looking back to the files in front of them.


Erik hummed while he worked, Ciara found.

Whether it was an influence of the sceptre in his mind, or just a deeply ingrained habit, the man hummed old songs that Ciara barely recognised. Occasionally he would sing a few lines under his breath, when deeply focused on a particular part of what he was doing.

Ciara bit into the chocolate bar she'd swiped, watching as even more people helped the astrophysicist with his work. He wasn't shy about ordering them around either, and the progress of the machine was flowing smoothly.

"Something to stabilise it," Ciara considered aloud, making Selvig glance at her. She'd been sitting on the desk again, watching him work. The Tesseract was stored nearby, and she was making a point of ignoring it.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," he confessed. "The Tesseract's power destroyed the machine it used the last time because it wasn't stable. Iridium should do the trick," Erik spoke, his eyes almost glowing.

"Iridium?" Ciara asked, curious as to what the Doctor was thinking.

"It's a stabilising agent, used to harden metals," Erik explained, adjusting a screw. "I don't have access to any here. Barton!" he called over his shoulder, and the assassin approached, an eyebrow raised and breaking his frown. "I'm going to need Iridium, and a lot of it," he told the man, who nodded, and walked off. Ciara watched him, drumming her fingertips on her arm.

She was starting to get impatient. Ciara's super speed didn't allow for much patience as it was, and it definitely didn't let her feel comfortable just sitting around waiting. She'd been on the run for months now, she was used to leaving after a day or so.

Jumping down from the desk, Ciara walked away, still drumming her fingers against her arm as she fought the urge to start running and leave the bunker they were hidden inside of. Instead, she found herself by the case where the Tesseract was hidden, staring at it. The pull she felt towards it was weak, but pulsed, almost like a faint heartbeat, and when she tilted her head, blue light started to pour from the cracks of the case, pale and bright but not as eerie as the colour that spilled from Loki's sceptre.

Mesmerised by the light, Ciara lifted a hand without thinking, as if to touch it. Before she could, a hand grasped her tightly around her neck, and she was slammed against the wall with enough force to make her gasp, snapping her out of her stupor.

"And what were you planning on doing with that?" Loki asked, his voice soft and deceptively light, but when Ciara looked up at him, she saw the rage in his eyes. "Betraying me already?" his thin fingers tightened around her throat, lifting her off her feet just high enough that her toes skimmed the ground. Ciara grabbed at his wrist, struggling to try and inhale.

"I didn't...the stupid...thing..." she wheezed as his grasp didn't loosen on her.

"Do you think me foolish enough to trust you, girl?" Loki's voice was quieter still as he leaned closer to the girl, who was almost at eye level as he kept her pinned to the wall. "Don't presume for one second that I will allow you to live if you touch the Tesseract. My questions about you are of little consequence, if you defy me," he warned her.

"Then just...kill...me..." Ciara chuckled, her vision dotting as she forced herself to take small enough breaths to stay conscious. Loki's brow furrowed more as he saw she was unaffected by his threat.

"You do not fear for your own life, and you don't have anyone you would care for in your place..." he considered, before his eyes lit up. "Perhaps this will persuade you to stay in line," his other hand suddenly pressed to her forehead, and Ciara felt herself being pulled somewhere else.

Ciara was six years old again, impatient and always running around with her friends. The teachers were complaining that she was too unfocused to learn anything. It was a wonder she'd learned to read and write, one said to the others, and they nodded in agreement.

The morning started like any other. Woken by the smell of breakfast – chocolate chip pancakes this time – Ciara had jumped out of bed with excitement. Her brother and sister were still fast asleep, not as easily woken as the eldest child. Without waiting, Ciara opened her bedroom door and sprinted down the stairs, not realising that she was faster than normal, and rushed into the kitchen.

"G'morning mama!" she chirped as she reached the kitchen.

"Why am I not surprised that you're the first to rise?" the woman at the stove chuckled, her face obscured by fog. Ciara scrambled to the table, bouncing with excitement. She hummed to herself, a pleasant tune, sliding pancakes onto a plate. "I suppose your father will just have to wait his – oh my god!" the woman screeched, and there was a loud crash as the plate hit the ground and shattered.

"Mama?" Ciara asked softly, her heart pounding at the crash. She didn't like loud noises. They made her jumpy and skittish. She slid down from her seat to approach the woman staring at her with an expression Ciara didn't recognise, still obscured. The little girl was confused, so walked over to clear up the broken plate as the pancakes lay forgotten.

"Stay back!" the woman screamed at her, lifting the spatula and pressing her back against the counter as if to get away from the little girl.

"Mama?" Ciara's voice quivered as she stopped in the middle of the kitchen.

"What is all this noise?" Ciara's father walked into the room, and froze as Ciara looked around at him. He stopped dead, his eyes focused on her in disbelief. His face was clear as day, unlike the woman terrified behind her.

"Daddy?" Ciara tilted her head, not understanding what was going on. "Daddy, what's going on?" Ciara approached the man tentatively, and as she reached out, she saw his face twist up in disgust. He slapped her hand away with enough force to knock the girl off balance, and she stumbled backwards.

"Of all the cruel punishments to deliver on me...on this family..." the dark haired man snarled, and stepped towards her. He reached out to grab her arm, and Ciara saw his movements as if in slow motion. She moved, faster than she expected, and dodged his moves, backing up across the kitchen with such speed that the man's eyes went wide, and the woman screamed. Ciara frowned, not understanding what had happened.

Nothing made sense to the little girl. Her mother was screaming at her, brandishing the spatula like a weapon; the pancakes forgotten on the floor.

"What's going on?"

"Mommy? Daddy?" Ciara looked to the doorway, and saw her younger siblings in the doorway. Not much younger than her, their faces too were shrouded in fog.

"What's wrong with Ciara?" her brother gasped as he saw her. Ciara didn't understand. What was wrong with her? Why were they treating her like a monster?

She let out a gasp of pain as her father's hand grasped her arm, tighter than she'd ever been held. Ciara let out a cry as she was yanked along, barely staying on her feet.

"Stay here," her father ordered the rest of the family, yanking Ciara along.

"What's going on? Daddy!" she pleaded with him, trying to tug free. His grip tightened even harder, sure to be leaving bruises were his fingers pressed into her skin. As he dragged her to the door, she caught a glimpse of her reflection.

Her hair, once dark brown, was now pale silver, long and unruly. Her eyebrows were silver too, as if it were her natural hair colour. She'd lost some of her puppy fat, looking underweight. Looking around, Ciara saw her siblings being pulled into the arms of their worried mother, their faces still obscured by the fog, but their fear was obvious.

Time seemed to slow down again for Ciara, and she stumbled as the tug on her arm was much slower this time. Her father didn't stop, or pull her up, and time returned to normal as she pushed herself back up to stop herself being dragged along the floor.

Without a word, her father yanked her out the door, looking around to ensure nobody was watching, and opened the boot of his car. "Daddy-" Ciara was cut off as he lifted her into the air and tossed her into the boot, and as she looked up, a scream on her lips as he slammed the boot closed.

Ciara dropped to the ground, gasping for breath as Loki released her, stepping back and blinking rapidly. When he cleared the haze, he looked down at the girl on the ground.

Ciara's fingers were curled into tight fists as she continued to inhale sharp breaths, the memory at the front of her mind as tears ran down her face. On her hands and knees, she didn't look up as she choked on her breath, starting to cough.

"May that serve as a reminder," Loki's voice was cold, and she looked up with hatred. He watched her, expressionless. "Of who is the more powerful here. Cross me, and you'll return to the darkness," he promised, turning and striding off. Ciara choked again, and slumped, unable to contain her cries.


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