Charleston, West Virginia, 2012
It was a day like any other for Snow. She was driving back to her apartment from the company, bored as could be. The tension wasn't helping either. This unexplainable feeling of guilt.
But she knew the cause. Oh, she knew well.
The news. She hated it. Utterly despised it. It always made her feel bad. The accidents. The kidnappings. The murders.
She hears it, and that one thought always lands. The thought that always started with 'I could've' and ends with 'stopped it'.
Funny, how much she despised it. Still, she turned it on, every day. As if her subconscious mind was trying to convince her to get out there. That she could do more than sit in the office all day.
That she should do more.
But, she was scared. Not of what was out there,
but herself.
Snow pulled over next to the curb, got out of her car, shutting the door, and her mind, behind her. She greets Mrs. Kettles, who lived on the ground floor and owned a small garden.
Snow makes her way up to her apartment tiredly, in desperate need of a steaming cup of tea.
Snow digs out her keys from her bag. She is about to unlock the door,
but she stops.
She couldn't hear anything, and hadn't seen anything, but she could feel,
someone was inside.
Snow panics slightly, unsure what to expect.
Whoever it was had picked a really bad time to break in, and had the worst luck ever, breaking into Snow's apartment of all beings on earth.
Snow unlocks her door cautiously, stepping into her regular-sized apartment. She eyes around hurriedly.
Then, her eyes fall on the intruder, and she relaxes, just a bit.
"Director Fury," she utters, tossing her bag and keys on the coffee table. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" she asks plainly.
Nick smirks, straightening from leaning on the counter in her kitchen. "The pleasure is all mine, Miss White," he replies casually, not like he broke into her apartment or anything. "Hope life's been serving you well," he resumes, turning behind her green-colored arm chair, resting both hands on its back, staring at her intently with his eye, smiling calmly.
Snow refrains from rolling her eyes at his placidness. As if their last meeting was pleasant. She crosses her arms formally. "How about we skip the small-talk, and you tell me why you're really here?" she hints.
Fury smirks once more, nodding slightly. He turns to her bookcase. She studies him carefully, trying to get any of what he was setting off as he fiddled with some of the books she'd bought. "What's your intake on Norse Mythology, Miss White?" he asks.
Snow cocks an eyebrow at his odd question, which immediately clicks something in her mind. "Like the supposed Thor from Mexico last year?" she inquires, making Nick grin.
"Glad to see you're catching up with the world. Do you believe it?" he asks, approaching the chair once more.
Snow hadn't read many books about Norse Mythology, or much books related to myth in general. Though the videos published, and the events in Mexico did catch her interest, Snow learned not to believe everything she heard or saw.
"Technology can do wanders these day. Just ask Tony Stark. Anyone can fake a video about a Norse God, Director," she notes plainly.
Like the whole world of course, Snow had heard of the great Tony Stark. From what she'd seen on the news and the internet, he was a brilliantly smart man, generous in most cases, and devilishly handsome, which she found a little exaggerated.
She respected him though. His brains. His strengths. From the battles he'd fought, she'd never seen him back out of one, and, considering his adversaries, it was saying something.
He did have several undermining qualities as well, the biggest, form what she'd seen, being his arrogance, and recklessness.
Now, after seeing what he was capable of, with the world's strongest suit of armor so far, it wouldn't come as a surprise, to expect what had happened in Mexico, to have been feigned.
Norse gods? It was a tad bit too much.
Fury leans in on the chair, seriously this time. "What if I told you, that what you saw, what you heard, was very, very real. Like you. Like myself," he tells.
Snow is really confused now. "What is this about, Director?"
"It's about his brother,
Loki."
At that, Snow can't help but chuckle slightly. "Are you serious?" she asks sarcastically.
"Do you see me laughing?" he retorts coldly, baffling her.
Fury reaches into his long, black, leather coat and pulls out a file. He hands it to her. She takes it warily, opening up to see a picture
of a man
with ghastly-white features, slick, ink-black hair.
His eyes.
They were a combination of bright colors. Blue. Green. Grey.
But that wasn't what had caught Snow's attention. It was, possibly, the hint of
madness
inside them.
Confused as it was, Snow caught sight of the other picture pinned in. An oddly glowing, blue cube.
Fury sees her observing it, and begins to explain. "It's called the Tesseract. Carries an immense amount of power. Uncontrollable power. In the hands of a mentally-unstable being," he tells.
She turns back to him, and catches the exhaustion flash across his eye. Was he really being serious?
"Loki is currently on the loose-"
Having heard enough crazy, Snow cuts Nick off, closing the file and placing it on the table. "Fury. How…What exactly do you want me to do?" she asks, a hint of refusal already evident in her voice.
Nick hastily attempts to explain. "We're working on apprehending him. When we do. The only roll I will require of you, Miss White, is to estimate him. Find out what he's planning. Find out what he's capable of," he tells as she listens intently, still working on believing what she was hearing.
"I don't read minds, Fury. And I doubt concluding his emotions will help you with anything," she states, trying to ignore that she was talking about a mythical person.
But Fury already knows this. In truth, the estimation was just to give her a push. Nick was well aware she was powerful. He was also well aware that Loki was too.
Deep down, and though he'd never say, Nick was afraid of what was to come. He needed all the help he could get.
Snow wasn't easy, he knew, so he'd take it step by step with her, in hopes of stopping a catastrophe.
In hopes of keeping the world safe.
"It could help us more than you know. Look," he started, taking another turn as he approached her, a more honest turn, something he was sure she'd appreciate. "The last thing I want, is to force you into doing anything, Miss White. But I am asking you, as a man who wants the sun to rise tomorrow, to do this small, simple task, and be right back on your way to what I'm sure is an interesting life."
Snow was slightly taken aback by his change of tone, and the depth of his words.
It seemed unbalanced, what she had to do, against what would happen if she wouldn't. As if it being semi-unreal wasn't enough.
But, she was real, wasn't she?
Magic? She wasn't sure.
She wasn't sure what she had. She wasn't sure what she was.
The point?
If she could exist,
why can't he?
A million thoughts spun around her head. Doubts. Concerns. Fears.
Was the Norse god's threat bigger,
or hers?
The risks.
It was hard.
Preposterously difficult.
To choose.
But, eventually,
the Should,
out-weighed the Would.
XXXXX
Two days later, Snow had found herself on what S.H.E.I.L.D called the Helicarrier. It was a gigantic, highly-secured aircraft. The base of their operations. A flying fortress.
Snow was greeted by agent Maria Hill, whom she'd met only once before, when Fury first introduced his cause.
Along the way, Maria explained that they'd managed to apprehend Loki alas. And that Snow would be meeting with a few other select people put on the mission.
Snow wasn't surprised to hear that Tony would be there, but Captain America, and Bruce Banner, AKA, the Hulk, those two surprised her.
She didn't know much about Banner, but was well aware of his reputation as an exceptional scientist, and…well…the other thing.
As for Cap, she'd only heard stories about him. Bits and pieces she remembered from William and Linda, who considered him their childhood hero, and she'd learned to do the same.
However, neither were as shocking as the supposed presence of the God of Thunder himself, who had shown up after the apprehension of Loki.
It was a lot to take in, and took a lot of courage to prepare for. Those were serious people.
But,
then again,
so was she.
She was offered a temporary room, and was to wait in said room, until called upon. Fortunately, patience was a strong virtue of hers.
During that time, she'd thought about everything that had happened. How her life suddenly took a spin down a road she'd shut down before.
Why was she even here? Why did she agree? She would have been at the office about then, just sitting, signing contracts, reading emails, sipping coffee, chatting with Linda.
Instead, here she was, on foreign territory, unable to comprehend what she was about to walk into, who she would face, what she would do.
But a reason. Yes. There was a reason.
She told herself, she was doing the right thing, agreeing to help Fury, hoping it really was for a good cause. Not like she trusted Nick. Not like anyone trusted Nick.
And that was when he himself showed up at her door, and beckoned her to follow.
XXXXX
Walking down a hall, with Fury by her side, and into what appeared to be a meeting room, Snow was greeted by a sight hard to grasp, specifically Cap in uniform, and Thor…in general.
She recognized Tony, and assumed the man he was shaking hands with was Bruce. There was one other person, a red-head, that Snow was completely unfamiliar with.
For Natasha, that was the point.
Snow picked up pieces from the conversation that had been running, as her and Nick approached the group.
"…Your work, on the Anti-Collisions Theory, is unparalleled," said Tony to Bruce. "And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous, green, rage-monster."
Snow could see Banner's reluctance at Tony's shameless confession. "…Thanks…" Bruce replies uncertainly.
Nick rolls his eyes at Tony's expected behavior. "Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him," Fury states. Tony nods half-heartedly at that, eyeing Snow with curiosity.
{Author speaking: You should know that I'm working on a Tony OC that is directly related to Loki's. So, for the stories' sake, Tony is currently single. Instead of kissing after arguing, Pepper simply left as she said she would at the end of (Iron Man 2).}
Fury turns to Snow, gesturing to her with his arm. "This is Miss White. She's here to assist in determining Loki's plans and intentions," he introduces, reverting to Thor, who studies Snow in slight confusion, wondering what Nick thought a mere mortal could do to get his stubborn brother to open up.
"Miss White. This is Thor. Loki's brother," he tells, though she'd already figured that out.
Fury thought it best to introduce her, make her feel comfortable, mainly in hopes of getting her to stick around longer.
Snow nods in courtesy at him, about to shake his hand. Instead, he smiles warmly at her, takes her hand, and places a kiss on her knuckles, making her smile nervously and blush slightly, still working on believing he was actually here.
Though Snow had her boundaries, she understood that Thor's were a little different. Nevertheless, she took advantage of the moment,
and connected to him.
Using her powers, Snow caught the most obvious and most abundant emotions Thor was feeling at that moment, in descending order:
Concern,
most likely for his sibling.
Worry. Slight frustration. Nervousness. And fear.
Of course,
he was none-the-wiser about what had just happened.
Tony caught it differently, he wasn't completely aware that this was Thor's way of greeting people, he thought he was flirting, and sought to challenge it.
"Dr. Banner," Nick resumes. Bruce presents himself, and shakes her hand semi-casually.
"Hi," he utters as she smiles back, picking up on a lot of nervousness, anxiety, tension, fear, and worry.
Without waiting for an introduction, Tony walks up next, putting a hand out, signature smirk plastered on. "Tony Stark. Pleasure," he stated, looking at her a way she understood all too well, an obvious flirt attempt, making her cock as if a warning eyebrow that he understood but brushed off anyways.
"Pleasure's all mine, Mister Stark," she replied placidly, making sure not to give off any attraction signs.
Simply not her type.
When their hands collided, Snow couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows slightly. She was surprised to find that his most evident emotion,
was fear.
Which only meant one thing.
The humor,
the jokes.
Just a defense mechanism.
And it was that fear, among other things he felt, that surprisingly eased Snow's tension, knowing she wasn't the only one going out of her mind just then.
Her expression perplexed Tony, but he didn't get the chance to ask what was wrong when she turned away and Steve stood to shake hands with her courtly, smiling politly at her.
From Steve, all she could pick up, was the slight nervousness, concern,
yet,
a grand determination
to get something done.
Good to see someone was eager.
"Agent Romanoff," Fury introduced, gesturing to the red-head, who shook hands with Snow quickly.
Okaaay,
not that friendly.
Because it was quick, Snow only managed to sense concern,
quite a lot of it.
After being introduced to everyone, and estimating them secretly, Snow stood back, eyeing them all with a new perspective. Fortunately, she found that she could get along with all of them quite well. And, knowing them better, she was, indeed, more comfortable now.
"So, not to be a jerk, or anything," starts Tony, "but, how exactly is Miss White supposed to 'estimate' the demi-god. What makes you think he'll talk to her? No offense, of course," he states, smirking, whilst speaking what was on everyone else's mind as well.
"None taken," Snow smiles dismissively.
"Miss White has…certain abilities. He won't have to talk. Will he, Miss White?" Nick explains, confusing them further, all but the two other females present: Maria, and Nat, who were filled in on Snow's abilities long ago.
"What is that supposed to mean?" asks Thor worriedly.
Fury turns to her, smiling as if proudly, motioning for her to do the honors. Snow smiles as well, getting a slight rush of adrenaline.
She stood forward, as if stepping onto a stage. Luckily, she was a CEO. Stepping on the stage was her weekly routine. "One of the things I am capable of, is reading emotions. And I don't mean like a psychologist or a therapist, I mean, I can literally read emotions," she states.
At that, Tony scoffs. And to think he had a thing for her.
They turn to him irritably, even though they too weren't buying it, but Steve was wondering why Tony had to be so rude.
Starks.
"Sorry. Just. Find that a little hard to believe," Tony tells.
It wasn't like she expected them to believe her that quickly.
But honestly, after demi-gods, Banner wouldn't be that surprised. If anything, he'd be impressed.
"Prove it," Bruce told.
"Yeah. Prove it," Tony agreed, and it was like a classroom full of silly teenagers all of a sudden.
Fury smirked, highly amused for how wrong Tony was about to be. "Okay," she simply agreed. "But I can't promise you'll like what I have to say," she warned. They didn't care.
Snow first turned to Tony. "Fear," she uttered,
and at just that,
Tony's face fell,
like he'd suddenly been exposed,
and didn't like it.
"That's all I'm getting off of you," she resumes.
Wanting to keep this as quick and as painless as possible, Snow was aware of the looks Tony was getting, so she hurriedly switched to the next person to limit from his embarrassment.
She then turned to Bruce. "Anxiety. Fear.
Fear of yourself,"
she trailed, concentrating her eyes as she attempted to put two and two.
She looked to Steve. "Determination.
Concern.
You don't just want this over.
You want to win.
…Thor. Concern. Worry.
Care.
For your brother, I presume.
…Agent," she turned to Nat, who was glaring warily. Snow was sure to be careful with her. "I don't know who you lost. But I hope you get them back," she tells, making the red-head's eyes go slightly wider.
The room falls quiet. No one wanted to confirm Snow's assumptions, because they were as right as they were embarrassing, exposing for most.
But they were right.
So
no one spoke against it either.
Fury looks at their faces, and smiles. 'wait till they see what else she can do,' he thinks. "I think enough has been said," he says. "Agent Coulson," he calls.
Phil steps forth, a soft smile graced his calm features. Snow remembered him from their past meeting as well. He seemed like a nice man.
"Escort Miss White to the cell."
"Yes sir," Phil complies.
XXXXXXXXXX