It was Lizzy who broke the silence. "We really should've known. Hydra is the beast from Greek mythology that if you cut off one head, three more grow in its place."
"That was their creed," Steve said, gripping the arm of the couch until the wood creaked beneath his hand.
"Everyone calm down," Tony said. "We need to keep clear heads if we're going to stay alive long enough to take them down. Fury, do we know how deep it goes?"
"Not completely, but based on recent events, I would guess all the way to the top."
"The Council," Michael growled.
"And they've never liked us," Lizzy said. "Didn't want us to begin with."
Fury looked at them. "You were the first targets after they took me out."
"Why them?" Clint asked.
Fury gave a harsh laugh. "Isn't it obvious? They're the heart and soul of this whole team. None of you could work together for five minutes without them. They've been what this whole thing depended on."
"That's why you assigned us," Natasha said.
He shrugged. "It was also true that you and Barton were the most qualified to train them. But yeah, I had this plan a long time ago."
"That explains why you let me hang around," Tony said. "I wondered why you never had me hauled off the base when I first broke into their containment unit."
"It was hardly a containment unit, Stark," Fury said. "And I had to focus on keeping them alive. Comfort, unfortunately, had to come second."
"We'll argue about that later," Tony said. "So are they out for all of us?"
"Yes."
Bruce laughed. "I'm sorry. What, exactly, were their plans to kill me?"
Fury's gaze darkened. "I'm not sure you want to know."
"No, no, no." Bruce sat forward. "Tell me." His voice rose as he spoke. "What were they planning to do with me?"
"They were going to set off your alter-ego and use you as a convenient excuse to seize control. Plunging the world into planet-wide military occupation. They would quickly squash any resistance and within a year, have full and permanent control."
They all fell silent again.
"So we're all that stands between the freedom of the entire planet and an organization who we don't know how big it is, where it is, or how powerful it is?" Arriana said quietly.
"That's about the size of it," Fury said. "It was going to happen eventually, but your actions during the Battle of New York were a convenient excuse."
Loki crouched behind the couch, pressing his hands to his face, desperately wishing the fall into the broken Bifrost had killed him.
Don't leave us, please, Arriana said in their shared mind.
He shook his head as tears blurred his vision. I would never leave, could never leave you. But, by the gods, I am sorry.
Tony sighed and ran his hands over his face. "Anything else we need to know right now? We have a couple other things to go over."
Fury shook his head. "That about sums it up."
"Good." Tony watched the triplets for a moment. "Well, what do you want to do?"
They looked between each other.
Should we just keep Loki a secret? Michael asked.
Steve already knows, Arriana said. He'll want an explanation.
And we might need Loki, Lizzy said. This isn't going to blow over, and we'll need all hands on deck.
They turned to Tony and nodded. "Okay, the triplets have a situation to explain. Go ahead, you three."
They looked between each other for a moment.
Finally Lizzy sat forward. "We didn't get a chance to explain our powers last time we were all together. Mostly to Thor, Steve, and Bruce. I know Arriana and I explained a little while we stayed with you after the battle, but for clarity, I'll give a brief overview." She took a deep breath and let it rush out. "The three of us were mutated when we were eleven. We all have telekinesis – the ability to move things with our minds – and then we each have a specialty. I'm a psychic – I can read minds, Arriana's an empath – she can read feelings, and Michael is what we call an optipath – meaning he can see through another person's eyes. We also sort of share a mind. We each have our own minds, but then there's a shared portion. Sort of like a Venn diagram."
"We have tried to unlink our minds before," Michael said. "But every attempt has caused our powers to sort of explode out of us. So we stopped trying and just accepted it as part of us."
"This is old news, kiddo," Clint said. "What's the point?"
He sighed. "Last May, when Loki was captive on board the Helicarrier, we went against orders."
"Motherfucker," Fury growled.
"We each went to interview Loki," Arriana said. "We thought with our powers we had the best chance of finding out what he was up to."
Natasha gave a harsh laugh. "That's why it was so easy to get him to slip up." She shook her head. "I'm good, but I was surprised how easy it was. You three were in there before me, mucking around in his brain."
"Yes," Arriana said quietly.
"In our defense, it was an emergency," Lizzy said.
"We didn't think anything further of it at the time," Michael said. "The arguing in the lab started, and then the explosion... It didn't seem important."
"But..." Clint prodded.
"In June," Lizzy said, "while we were separated, we each started having trouble with our powers. Nothing big, just little bursts here and there."
"After we went home, we returned to work at the Lightman Group," Arriana said. "Things started getting worse. The day before my birthday, Lizzy had a channeling episode."
"Wait, you haven't had problems with actually channeling someone since you were fourteen," Natasha said.
They nodded.
"We immediately left the Lightman Group and came to see Tony," Michael said. "He's the only real expert on our powers. He worked with us to figure out what was going on. Over the course of a few days of intense meditation we realized someone was calling out to us. Contacting us."
"Oh, I don't like where this is going," Natasha said.
They looked down, biting their lips.
"It took a lot of work, but we managed to make contact with that someone," Arriana said. "With Michael's and my help, Lizzy was able to talk to them. We had no idea who it was. This had never happened before. So we started talking to them. Thinking they were going crazy, the person talked back to us and eventually told us their story."
"It wasn't until well into the story we realized who we were talking to," Michael said.
"Loki," Clint growled.
The triplets exchanged glances with one another.
After a deep breath, Lizzy said, "Yes, it was Loki, but you have to hear his story."
"What the hell did you three do?" Fury said, slamming his hand against the couch arm.
"That is why you went," Natasha said, pinning them to the spot with her intense gaze.
They fought to breathe slowly as their hearts thudded in their chests.
"We didn't mean for this to happen," Arriana said. "But you have to listen."
"Do I have to hit your three over the head too?" Natasha said, shaking her head.
Clint sat silently watching them.
"That's enough," Tony called. "They told me everything."
"So you knew about this, Stark?" Fury barked.
"Yep." He held the director's gaze. "Got a problem, Nick? Besides, I don't think any of us actually answer to you anymore. I think it's safe to say SHIELD's fired them, and I never worked for you."
"What did you do?" Clint growled.
They pulled together, wrapping around each other like they did when they were young. After a few moments, Lizzy shifted, sitting in front of the other two.
"We went to Asgard and broke Loki out of prison."
Silence swallowed the room.
Then an explosion of voices rocked the tower as they all yelled their disapproval. Bruce shifted, starting to search for the exit. Pepper and Tony both tried to yell over the clamor to shut everyone up. The triplets pulled back, and Loki, still invisible to all but them, leaped over them and drew knives from seemingly nowhere.
Thor leaped to his feet. "Silence!"
Shock forced obedience, and everyone turned to look at him.
"Thank you." He looked around the room. "I was somewhat privy to this information. My friends, we must hear them out. I, above all, would agree that my brother has done many things worthy of censure, but is it not your custom to give everyone a fair hearing?"
"He got one," Steve said. "On your planet."
Thor looked down and sighed. "That is where I must begin my explanation, because I am ashamed to say, he did not receive a fair hearing. Or any hearing, for that matter."
"What are you talking about, Thor?" Steve leaned forward to look at him. "You said he'd get a fair trial."
"When I assured you Loki would receive fair trial and judgment, I was sincere. I believed he would. The Allfather, however, saw no need to allow anyone to speak on Loki's behalf, least of all Loki himself. He was judged based solely on what knowledge I gave and sentenced to live the remainder of his life in solitary confinement in the deepest cell of the dungeons."
"Sounds lenient to me," Clint said.
"Had all Loki's actions been his own and without provocation or any other consideration, I would heartily agree, I'm afraid," Thor said. "But if you would all recall, even before I took Loki to Asgard, the triplets all said something felt odd about him."
Attention turned back to the triplets.
"Are we sure he hasn't taken control of their minds?" Clint said.
"Yes," Tony said, rolling his eyes. "They have all looked and acted normal before, during, and after talking to him."
"Yeah, but they'd already talked to him on the Helicarrier."
"Oh, shut up," Tony said.
"What did you say, Stark?" Clint leaped to his feet.
"Stop it! Just stop it!" Arriana cried, curling into a ball.
"We're connected to him now," Michael blurted out. "It's done. There's no going back."
Everyone turned to them again.
Lizzy shrugged. "Apparently we sort of tangled our minds with his on the Helicarrier. He's linked to us the same way we're linked to each other, and it can't be undone."
"Please, just listen to us," Michael said. "We're not asking you to just pardon him. We know he did bad things. We know he killed people. Last I checked, there isn't a person in this room who hasn't killed an innocent person. Maybe Cap. And Pepper, of course."
She gave him a sympathetic smile.
They pulled Arriana between them, petting and stroking her.
"We're just asking for a fair trial," Lizzy said. "Last I checked, we still believe in justice for all. That includes criminals, right?"
No one answered for several long minutes.
"Yes," Steve finally said. "But we want all the information. Don't sugarcoat anything."
"We didn't intend to," Lizzy said, fighting not to roll her eyes.
"Hang on, you broke him out of jail," Clint said. "Where is he? Is he here? I'll kill him."
"Oh, yeah, that'll help," Tony said. "Now's a great time to find out what happens to the triplets if someone connected to them dies."
"You know what, Stark? I've had enough out of you." Clint leaped off the couch, and Tony was immediately on his feet. "You're not the leader of this team or in charge of anybody here."
"No, I just own the building that's keeping you from getting shot."
"I'd be just fine on my own. I don't need you."
"Then get out. I'll happily open the door for you, Birdboy."
"You act like you own everything and know everything. We've known the triplets since the day they stepped into SHIELD."
"Gentlemen, this is not helping our cause," Thor said, getting to his feet.
"You brought this problem here, Thor," Clint said. "You got dumped down on our planet and brought Loki here in the first place. I don't recall signing up to be the time-out planet."
"You know nothing of the decisions of the Allfather, or of Asgard," Thor said, standing to his full, hulking height. "His decisions are for the good of all."
"Since when does Asgard make decisions for our planet?" Natasha said, leaping up. "We are not under your control. We recognize no royalty or ruler from another planet."
"Your princeling butt can go back where you came from, Thunderhead," Tony said. "We don't need you."
"You don't get to decide who is and isn't part of our team, Stark," Clint said.
Tony lifted his hands to encompass the room. "I own the building."
"You know what," Steve said, jumping up, "I've had about as much as I'm going to take of you, Stark."
The floor began to vibrate.
"No!" Arriana screamed. A ring of light exploded from her, knocking everyone down. Their heads spun as lethargy dragged their bodies down like they were trapped in a pool of jello. The light didn't stop at the windows and, in a trance, they watched it sweep out over the city.
Dizzying silence filled the room. They looked around in a daze, momentarily fighting to remember who they were and where they were.
One sound remained, Arriana's quiet sobbing. Michael and Lizzy seemed to be the least effected. They forced their muscles to respond and wrap around her.
"It's okay," Michael cooed, his voice slower than usual. He shook his head. His brain started working a little faster. "We're going to be okay."
Lizzy gave herself a couple shakes. "It's okay, princess. We're here, just like always."
"That went wide," Tony grunted from the floor. "You gotta counter it."
"What?" Michael and Lizzy frowned at him.
"That hit the city. Hospitals, emergency workers. Everything's slowed."
The latch on their brains caught and spun up to speed.
"Shit," Lizzy groaned. She sat for a moment, concentrating on the feeling of making her mind sharp and focused. "Arri, honey, we need to work together to counteract it."
"I... I can't," she sobbed into her hands. "I don't know how."
"Just think quick and sharp," Michael said. He focused on seeing everything as quickly as it should happen. "Come on, Arri. You have to."
Natasha forced her muscles against the heaviness and looked up. "You can do it, detka."
Arriana gasped and sat up, pulling everything into herself as if drawing energy from the air around her. She forced her mind to clear of all the confusion and fear, and feel only happy energy and peace of mind.
"Ready, princess?" Lizzy asked.
"Quick, I can't hold it long."
"On three," Michael said. They got to their feet and gripped each other. "One, two, three."
As he spoke, they stomped their feet as hard as they could. Painfully bright light in all colors burst from them, speeding outward.
Everything spun like an out of control amusement park ride and then came to a sudden stop, as if nothing had happened.
They slowly picked themselves up off the floor, all looking at the triplets.
"Well, that's new," Fury said.