Mischievous Mates

Recap: Last update we got to know Mara Leslie Chase-Coulson and her station as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. We also met Blade who used his special methods to help Mara semi-master her powers and awaken a shield. Then a crisis called Mara to P.E.G.A.S.U.S. earlier than planned. She met Loki and the facility is getting ready to explode. Are you ready to see what happens in chapter 3?

Chapter 3: Malady

Mara's POV:

I quickly use my telekinesis to open the communication lines. Someone had obviously tampered with the wires. But I quickly worked on that while simultaneously checking over our agents to see if they were alive.

"Good news and bad news sir. Good news, communication is back up and the bad news is that all of the agents here gone. The enemy made sure of it." I said and made my way back to him.

"I will not let him be the boot. Get to Agent Hill, Chase. I trust you to get the tesseract back." Fury stated and picked his earpiece off the floor. It must have been knocked out during his fall.

"But sir, I can't get up there that fast. My teleportation has not been developed nearly enough to do as you request. They will be long gone and he has more agents under his control now. There is no way I can get it from him." I rambled.

"Chase. Shut up and get moving. This is your assignment. Get up there and use any means necessary to get that power source back or make it unusable. Now move." He said to me and tried using his earpiece. Then threw it across the room and reached for his walkie talkie. It must be broken. I need to focus. I went ahead and closed my eyes. Time to try teleporting. Inhale, tunnels, the vehicles parked and ready. Exhale, tunnels. I opened my eyes and I can't believe it. It worked. I am standing by the elevators that led to the tunnel. I can see Loki and the now brainwashed agents gathering weapons. Hijacked Barton was currently talking to Agent Hill. I watched as she picked up her walkie talkie. No doubt listening to Director Fury. I watched Barton pull his gun out.

"Hill! Watch out!" I screamed and began running toward them. Hill pulled her own gun out as Barton fired off shots. I quickly pushed a shield in front of Hill. No matter how uptight she is, I don't want her to die. I finally caught up to her as Barton climbed into the driver's seat and sped off with the enemy in tow.

"He's got the Tesseract! Track it down! The energy is really brewing a freaking shit storm from the vacuum chamber ceiling." I heard Fury over the walkie talkie. I still have a mission to complete.

"Hill, I need you to drive so I can take the Tesseract back." I ordered and climbed into a jeep. She nodded and stepped on it. We were gaining on them in no time. I watched as more S.H.I.E.L.D. agents pulled in front of the enemy. Loki and his minions have to stop. A drive-by shooting ensues. Both parties are shooting and I can't tell who has the upper hand. Then Loki, who stands on top of the bed of the truck, uses his scepter and emits energy blasts, flipping over the S.H.I.E.L.D. trucks. The brainwashed agents get back in the vehicle with Loki, the additional enemy cars roar out after them. Agent Hill puts herself at a distance and drives into a different tunnel.

"What are you doing Hill? Step on it! Get back to them" I shout.

"Don't question me kid. I know what I am doing. Now shut up and focus." She said quietly as she drives through the tunnel. "Listen and tell me what the enemy is saying." She ordered. I closed my eyes and rapidly repeated what I heard.

"Agent Smith is telling Barton that they have lost us. Loki is asking for other means of travel." I quickly retold.

"Fantastic" Hill whispered and shot the jeep forward. We quickly gained on the enemy. And Agent Hill went crazy. Agent Hill's jeep roars out of the side tunnel and beside of Barton's truck on the left. She goes way ahead and pulls her brake, swerving into a 360, facing Barton's truck and driving in reverse. Barton's arms reach out the open window and opens fire. Agent Hill shoots her windshield opening fire on Barton. I tune them out and look for the suitcases. I quickly saw them shine from beside Loki. I shot a fireball and used my telekinesis to pull them toward our jeep. Loki dodges the fireball and shoots his own energy blast. It made my concentration fail and they dropped into their jeep. Dang it. I tried again and he shot another blast. "Try again Chase!" Hill yelled.

"Yes, ma'am" I said and opened my telepathy. I began listening to Loki's mind. Yes, try again my temptress. But you will not succeed. I will succeed. I grit my teeth and now it is time for something even riskier. I closed my eyes. Inhale, enemy jeep, beside of Loki in the back. Exhale and I opened my eyes. Yes! I quickly grabbed the suitcases and jumped out of the moving vehicle. I tensed as I rolled on the rough pavement. I stood up and shook myself before ducking into another tunnel. I finally did something right! Now where the heck am I? I continued running and thanking my lucky stars that there were signs pointing to the exit. My side freaking aches! But I can literally see the light!

"Excuse me," a masculine voice whispers from behind me. I whipped around to face the man causing all of this chaos.

"Nice manners, but I really must be going." I said and took a step back. He matched me and took one large step forward.

"You have showed me that you really don't want to leave."

"Oh Mr. High and Mighty, how have I showed you that?" I asked and took another step back.

"You are enticing me and besides you took something that is mine." He said and took two steps forward and brushed my hair out of my face. I quickly took two steps back.

"I have done nothing of the sort. I am protecting S.H.I.E.L.D. and her assets." I recited the honor pledge. Loki simply rolled his eyes and took another step in my direction.

"The Tesseract is mine. It does not belong in this realm. The power is not something mere mortals can handle! You will give it to me." He ordered and quickly grabbed my wrist holding the suitcase with the Tesseract. I tried to jerk my arm free but to no avail. He is too strong.

"Back off and let me go. I will not bow down to you." I shouted and felt the tunnel start to rumble. Was that me?

"Oh, my dear. I would never want you to bow down. You will be my queen, in time."

"I will never betray my country or the director. You are out of your mind." I said.

"Am I? I believe your loyalty is already fading. You always feel like an outsider. You are not one of them Mara. Join me! You will know power. You will be a queen."

"Shut up!" I screamed.

"Why, because I am telling you the truth? The mortals have made you weak and submissive. You are destined for glorious power and you will help me with my burden."

"You call it a burden. Is this your true purpose then, to enslave earth? Or is someone controlling you?" I questioned.

"I am done listening to this idle chatter. Even if you choose to not come with me willingly, you will come Mara." He said in anger and pulled me close. His scepter appeared out of thin air and came close to my heart with that soft blue glow. "I wish it didn't have to be this way my love." Then the tunnel collapsed.

"No!" I screamed as an explosion shook the tunnel. The rocks came started falling down on us. I tried to hold them back with my shield, but there were too many pressing on it couple with the explosion from the lab below. I felt many boulders scraping me. I pushed them away from my head with my powers. I also used my telekinesis to push the Tesseract outside of the tunnel. We don't want a second explosion. The shaking stopped after another minute. I looked to see Loki dusting himself off and rushed toward the exit.

"Mara! Wait" Loki shouted. Nice try I am not falling for…

Loki's POV:

She never listens. I walked over to her and removed the boulder from on top of her. She is sporting several cuts to her face and where the boulder hit her head is a large patch of running and congealed blood. She should heal soon, but I don't have time to wait on that. I quickly pulled her over my shoulder and walked to the exit. Where are those fools? There he is, the man with the heart. The vehicle approached and skidded to a stop.

"Where have you been fools?"

"We were trying to lose the agent."

"You were given orders to shoot any obstacles not shake them off. Next time you disobey a direct order you will be disposed of." I said. The second vehicle appeared that held the scientist friend of Thor's, Selvig. I passed him the Tesseract. "Now begin working. I have a burden to fulfill." Their vehicle quickly sped off into the night, following orders and always moving. At least that was successful. Now what to do with my sleeping seductress? I did promise that she would be coming with me. I am a man of my word. I climbed into the vehicle. I spelled a pair of handcuffs to ward off any magic from the person entrapped. Then I handed it to one of the men so that he could cuff her. I don't want any more problems. We really must be going.

"Where are we headed master?" One minion asked.

"Head north. We have a schedule to keep." I sat back and watch the flying helicopter in the distance.

Fury's POV:

"You're clear sir, you need to go." Coulson informed. I bolted out of the facility and jumped into the helicopter. The surface of the pad starts to give away. The helicopter plunges through the surface. But the chopper ascents and barely makes it into the sky.

"Follow the hostile" I order the pilot. I loaded my guns and watch as we draw nearer. I can clearly see Barton's truck now. Damn, Loki has the Tesseract and Mara. But not for long. I opened the helicopter door. "Lower us." I ordered. The pilot did and as soon as I had a good view of the hostile I opened fire. I used up the ammunition in the one and threw it behind me and used my second to continue firing at Barton's caravan. The Tesseract and Mara will not be used by that alien freak. The hostile, Loki, was obviously bored. I shot through the vehicle and watched as something flew out. Loki looks at Fury and in a fit of rage, points his scepter and shoots out the blue light. His aim rang true and now we're in for it. The chopper catches on fire, going down in a fiery ball. I have no other choice but to jump out. I roll and touch down onto the desert floor. The chopper barrels along the ground. The pilot didn't come out. Another freaking casualty today! I unclip my Smith & Wesson from my boot and quickly fire at Loki. But they're too far and we are too late. Loki looks back, smiling. He is not getting away with this. I walk over to the body. That is what must've flown out when I shot into the vehicle. Another man down.

"Director? Director Fury, do you copy?" Coulson's voice came through the walkie talkie.

"The Tesseract is with the hostile force. I have men down. Hill?" I informed.

"A lot of men still under, don't know how many survivors." Hill said after a few moments.

"Coulson," I said into my walkie.

"Yes, sir." He replied.

"Sound the general call. I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that brief case." I ordered.

"Roger that." Hill answered.

"Coulson, get back to base. This is a LEVEL SEVEN. As of right now, we are at war." I ordered. I need to go ahead and inform him. "Coulson, There is something else you should know." I paused. "The hostile force also took Mara." In response I received plenty of expletives.

"What do we do?" He asked.

Natasha's POV:

All men are the same. They believe they can break anyone by physically breaking them. These Russian pigs have no clue and they are stupid enough to lay out all of their cards for me. The tall thug has been hitting me for a few minutes now and he just backhanded me. Georgi Luchkov smiles in what he believes to be victory. He motions for the tall thug to cease hitting me, for now.

"This is not how I wanted the evening to go." Luchkov said slowly in his native Russian tongue.

"I know how you wanted this evening to go. Believe me, this is better." I smirked.

"I'd like to know why they sent you to carry out a carrier, a stained glass and other random items." Luchkov asked. Then the tall thug rocks my chair back, balancing me off the edge of an open floor. Now I'm scared, well a tiny bit. It could be worse.

"I thought General Soholob was in charge of the export business." I replied.

"Soholob? Your reputation is quite a progression. THE FAMOUS BLACK WIDOW. Nothing but a pretty face." Luchkov tsks.

"You really think I'm pretty?" I retort. Luchkov slowly walks over to a table filled with tools. He picks up a pair of pliers. The tall thug grabs my face and pries my mouth wide open.

"We do not need the Lermontov to transfer the tanks. Tell him, well,..." Luchkov rambles then pauses and continues in English. "You may have to write it down." Suddenly, the weaselly thug's cell rings. Confused, he answers it.

"Ya?" The weaselly's thug says. He then looks at Luchkov. "It's for you." Luchkov takes the phone, obviously angered by this turn of events.

"Who the hell is..." Luchkov begins.

"You're at 114 Solenski Plaza, 3rd floor. We have an F22 exactly 8 miles out. Put the woman on the phone or I will blow up the block before you can make the lobby." I heard Coulson intimidate Luchkov. And it obviously worked because he quickly places the cell phone against my ear seeing how I'm still tied to a chair with my hands tied behind my back. "We need you to come in."

"Are you kidding? I'm working!" I say.

"This takes precedence." Coulson informed.

"I'm in the middle of an interrogation and this moron is giving me everything." I tell him.

"I don't give everything." Luchkov interjected. I just give him a look.

"Look, you can't pull me out of this right now." I argued.

"Natasha. Barton's been compromised. So has Mara." Coulson told me.

"Let me put you on hold." I said. Then nodded to Luchkov. As Luchkov comes to take the phone off her, I kick him with my leg and head-butted him. Like a spider, I stand up slowly and then start attacking the tall thug by kickboxing him in the face. Still tied, I roll over the weaselly thug after tripping him. I then stomp on the tall thug's foot with the peg of the chair, then I knocked him out with my head. I then flip over and fall down hard on the weaselly thug, breaking the chair. I watch the tall thug stand back up.

I need to build some momentum. So I run at him and drop kick him. He falls down and flips right back up. I wrap my legs around his thick neck and thankfully this finally knocks him out cold. I grab Luchkov and wrap his leg around with a hanging chain and drop him down the open floor to dangle. I pick up the phone and my heels.

"Where's Barton and Mara now?" I question.

"We don't know." Coulson answered.

"But they are both alive." I state.

"We think so. I'll brief you on everything when you get back. But first, we need you to talk to the big guy." Coulson informs.

"Coulson, you know that Stark trusts me about as far as he can throw me." I state and leave the dingy warehouse.

"No, I've got Stark. You get the big guy." He clears up the confusion.

"Bozhe moi." I sigh.

No One's POV:

A little girl runs through the crowd, trying to force a way through. She makes her way to a tiny shack. The little girl runs up the steps, only to be stopped by an attending woman. Then, the little girl spots him. Bruce Banner, their local doctor.

"What are doing here?! Get out! You shouldn't be here!" The attending woman shouts trying to keep the girl out.

"I have to see the doctor! It's my father!" The little girl shouts.

"Calm down. What's wrong?" Banner squats down to her level and asks her.

"My father..." She whispers. Banner looks behind him seeing how the girl is staring at a few people, lying down, looking very sick.

"Is he like them?" Banner asks. The little girl holds out all the money she has in the world.

"Please." The little girl says. Banner nods and she immediately runs out of the neighborhood. Banner and the little girl hastily run nearly to the edge of town. The little girl gets ahead of herself. Banner spots local government car, he turns around, blocking any view of him.

Banner quickly follows the little girl inside her house. As he walks in, the little girl escapes through the window. Banner is left standing there in confusion.

"Should have got paid up front, Banner." He whispers to himself. Natasha then appears from behind the curtains. Banner turns around, quietly.

"You know, for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle." Natasha said.

"Avoiding stress isn't the secret." Banner said.

"Then, what is it? Yoga?" Natasha teased.

"You brought me to the edge of the city, smart. I uh... assume the whole place is surrounded?" Banner asked.

"Just you and me." Natasha said.

"And your actress buddy, is she a spy too? Do they start that young?" Banner sneers.

"I did." Natasha stated.

"Who are you?" Banner asks hesitantly.

"Natasha Romanoff." She said.

"Are you here to kill me, Miss Romanoff?" Banner asks getting straight to the point. "Because that's not gonna work out for everyone."

"No. No. Of course not. I'm here on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D." Natasha informed.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. How did they find me?" Banner queries.

"We never lost you, doctor. We've kept our distance, even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent." Natasha nonchalantly said and moved into the kitchen.

"Why?" Banner asks as he watches Natasha inspect her surroundings.

"Nick Fury seems to trust you. But now I need you to come in." Natasha commanded.

"What if I said no?" Banner inquired.

"I'll persuade you," Natasha acknowledged.

"And what if the... other guy says no?" Banner mused and wiped his glasses using the end of his shirt.

"You've been more than a year without an incident. I don't think you wanna break that streak." Natasha pointed out.

"I don't always get what I want," Banner argued.

"Doctor, we're facing a potential global catastrophe." Natasha interrupted.

"Well, those I actively try to avoid," Banner noted.

"This is the Tesseract. It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet," Natasha disclosed and pulled out her cell phone. Natasha scrolled through her gallery and found the picture of the Tesseract. She turns the phone to Banner so that he can see the Tesseract. Banner leaned in to get a better look.

"What does Fury want me to do? Swallow it?" Banner snorted.

"Well, he wants you to find it. It's been taken. It emits a gamma signature that's too weak for us to trace. There's no one that knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was, that's where I'd be." Natasha informed.

"So Fury isn't after the monster?" Banner asked.

"Not that he's told me," Natasha replied.

"And he tells you everything?" Banner mocked.

"Talk to Fury, he needs you on this." Natasha urged.

"He needs me in a cage?" Banner demanded.

"No one's gonna put you in a..." Natasha tried to soothe.

"STOP LYING TO ME!" Banner roared. Natasha quickly pulled out her gun and pointed it at him. Banner stands straight up, smiling sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, that was mean. I just wanted to see what you'd do. Why don't we do this the easy way, where you don't use that, and the other guy doesn't make a mess?" Banner said. Natasha, still wary, doesn't lower her gun. "Okay? Natasha..." She lowers her gun and then speaks into her earpiece.

"Stand down. We're good here." Banner looks out the window and sees that dozens of shield agents are surrounding the shack. Banner looks at Natasha, charming a smile at her.

"Just you and me?" Banner laughs mockingly. Natasha fidgets now that she let her guard down.

Mara's POV:

My head is pounding. What the heck. I was in the clear! I had the cases and I was almost out of the tunnel. What was Loki saying?

"Wake up," a voice boomed and shook me. I gasped and sat up. I took in my surroundings and saw that I am surrounded. I am in a large vessel. It is unclear as to whether this is a helicopter or what. However, there are tons of men on board. All of the men were heavily armed as well. I am so not staying here. I focused on the elements and tried to bring fire forth. Nothing was happening. I don't understand. I groaned and tried to pull my hands out of these cuffs.

"What's wrong little one?" Loki asked as he materialized from nowhere.

"What have you done to me? Why can't I use my powers?" I snapped.

"Those lovely cuffs you are wearing were crafted to prevent individuals from using magic." He informed.

"I don't have magic. I have a mutation in my genes that cursed me. These shouldn't work on a mutant." I scoffed.

"You are not a mutant. You are gifted my dear. It is time for you to use that to your advantage. I will open your eyes to new possibilities." Loki dramatized.

"You are crazy." I said.

"I am crazy? I am trying to help this pathetic planet grow. The mortals have poisoned this realm and it is toxic. No, I am not crazy. I will be this realm's king." He argued.

"How do you plan to do this behind S.H.I.E.L.D.'s cell walls?" I retorted.

"I knew you were smart enough to figure it out." Loki smiled. "I have business to attend to. I will leave you in these agents' capable hands. I will count the seconds." Then he was gone.

"What business?" I asked one of the agents who was stationed near me.

"That is classified, princess." He droned.

"Don't call me princess. And if that is classified. Could you at least tell me where we are?" I asked.

"We are flying over Europe and will be landing in Germany in two hours." He informed.

"Germany?! What are we doing in Germany?"

(AN: Hello! Sorry that I haven't updated since December 2015. But hey, at least it wasn't as long as the last update. I just don't have a lot of time. Student teaching is fun but exhausting on top of all the crazy course work. Some days I don't even get time to breathe! I hope you understand. But I am still writing, I just don't always have time to finish a chapter. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this update and I hope to have another one to you A.S.A.P. I do not own the Avengers, just this plot and my characters Blade, Mara, and of course Puck the sugar glider. Have a fantastic day remarkable readers. I hope to see nice reviews soon. TTFN!)

○Forever and For Always, ○
~LHNT~
A.K.A.
*Heather* :D