Chapter Ten: Energies

"Well?!" Draco looked between the two men looking at him.

"That's the tesseract." Agent Coulson answered, eyebrows coming together as he rested the back of his hand on Draco's forehead. "We should go back upstairs."
Just as the Director nodded to him a scruffy looking man ran up to them.

"What did you do? How did you do it? Can you do it agai-"

"Dr. Selvig not now." The Director cut his ramblings off. Doctor?

"I didn't do anything." Draco huffed. Even if I did, I'm not doing that again. The older scruffy man looked back at Draco, clearly not believing him.

"Well, you must have!" He started pacing, running his hands through what little hair he had left. "She's never reacted like that before!" She?

"Doctor." The Director's stern voice came again. "We will discuss this another time." With that he stood up straight and headed towards the lift. Agent Coulson gently helped Draco to his feet and supported him as they walked. Agent Coulson didn't let Draco go until he was sat back in the Director's office. Oddly Draco found that he didn't mind but that could've just been the tiredness he now felt.

"Wanna tell us what happened back there?" The Director laced his fingers together and rested his chin on top of them.
Draco looked down at his lap. Just what had happened?

"I'm not completely sure… it felt like it was draining me somehow?"

"Draining you?" Agent Coulson looked towards him, "Of your energy?" Draco shrugged. It didn't feel like it was just his energy that had gone… it was something else much deeper within him.

"Would explain why you look like shit now." A stern look was shot at the Director.

"That old guy said, 'she's never reacted like that before'… how does it normally react?" Draco lifted his head to look at them now.

"We'll find out when we talk to 'that old guy' won't we?"

"Perhaps it would be better if we kept Draco away from it?"

"What are you even trying to do with it?" Draco asked pushing Agent Coulson's concern away. He shifted in his seat a little when Agent Coulson turned to look at him, a look of worry in his eyes.

"Renewable Energy." Was all the Director said. Honestly Draco had no idea what he was talking about, but he could always find out later.
"For now, you should rest and we'll come back to this tomorrow." Director Fury stood up ending the conversation.
Agent Coulson tapped Draco's shoulder as he stood up and started to walk towards the lift once more. Heaving his heavy limbs out of the chair Draco followed him quietly. Walking was taking more effort than normal, but he could manage. The two of them walked to Draco's new lodgings where he found himself alone again.
The new room wasn't much different from the quarantine room. The bed wasn't attached to the wall, but it didn't look much more comfortable. There was a little bedside table with a small drawer and an open cubbyhole. On the other side of the room there was a small table with a chair and that was it. Draco could see a couple of cameras in two corners of the room, diagonally opposite each other.
He did know of a spell that could interfere with the muggle's cameras, one the ministry used fairly often. He heard his father and other ministry officials use it a few times. But, hearing it and using it were very different matters. Besides in this world the muggle's techno logy was more advanced so he couldn't be sure of the spell's effectiveness.
Judging by how quickly Director Fury asked to see me after asking about downstairs they must be able to hear me through the cameras as well… so either I try to be as quiet as I can or attempt it without speaking…
A problem for later.

Draco placed his trunk in the drawer of the bedside table and laid down, once again. He ached somewhere but he couldn't quite pinpoint where and he was so tired. Before he realised his eyes were slowly drifting shut.

He had disarmed him. He was in control. He had the upper hand. Dumbledore was weak and defenseless.
"... I can help you, Draco."

"Nobody can. He told me to do it or he'll kill me. I've got no choice."

"We can protect you..." Dumbledore was saying but he had stopped listening. What if he did change sides? Would Dumbledore keep his word? He never wanted this. He didn't want to murder. He didn't even know what to believe anymore. Did he have to kill? "...you are not a killer."

"... You're at my mercy..."

"It is my mercy, and not yours, that matters now." He dropped his wand a fraction. There were footsteps behind him.

"Dumbledore cornered!" A Death Eater said behind him.

"Do it." Said another... perhaps it was Greyback...

"Stupefy!" He stunned one. "Stupefy!" Another Death Eater dropped to the floor.

"Stupefy!" Another voice said and another Death Eater hit the floor... sounded like Potter... They started to run away but he kept sending stunning charms after them... They raced down the stairs... Snape joined them... Who ran with the Death Eaters. He kept running after them. Sending spell after spell...

Draco woke with a start. He had not dreamt of that night since before coming to this world. He sat up thinking. Had it been because of the cube? Or was it just a coincidence?
There was a gentle knock at the door and Agent Coulson let himself in. Draco dragged himself upwards to a sitting position, wating for whatever the agent had to say to him today. It took a while for his brain to catch up to his situation again.

"Morning, how're you feeling?" A small smile graced the agent's features.

"Ok I guess."

"Rough night?" There was that stupid look of concern again. Like you actually care… Draco shook his head trying to get the bitterness out of his mind. While he doubted that he was wrong, Agent Coulson was most likely only trying to get information from him, he knew all to well not to judge someone too quickly.

"Something like that…" He said trying to stifle yawn, almost successfully.

"I know something that might help. How does a shower sound?"

"It would be appreciated." Draco gave a small smile as he stood up.

"I also brought over a new t-shirt for you."

"What? You don't like my one-armed look?" Draco gasped spreading his arms wide as if to show off his immaculate outfit.

"Oh no not at all, it's a great look." Agent Coulson laughed with a shake of his head.

He was led down the hallway back to the lift, where they went down four floors. Where they got off was a common room of sorts with two hallways leading off from it. They headed down the hallway to the left, along the walls were many doors each with a number on it. At the end of the hall was a pair of large heavy looking doors.

"Here we are. It's a communal one but it's still very early so you probably won't run into anyone for a while." Agent Coulson explained as he pushed open one of the doors in front of them. Draco nodded. This was something he was familiar with; Hogwarts was the same. He was shown where the towels were kept and where to put them once used. He was also shown where there were some spare shampoos, conditioners, body wash, etc.
"I'll wait outside. We're going to talk with Dr. Selvig today."

He hadn't realised just how much he needed a shower. The hot water easing out the knots in his shoulders and back. As much as he wanted to stay in the shower for a long time, he also didn't want to be surrounded by the strangers who would usually be using this room. Once he was clean and feeling a lot less stiff, he got out the shower and took a quick look around the room. There wasn't anyone in there with him yet and obviously there were no cameras… meaning he could use magic. No wand. But then again… He looked down at his right arm again. It really did look like a Hawthorn branch in bloom. It would probably be a while before they let him out of here and his wand would likely be long gone if he had dropped it in that alley.
No harm in trying. He moved a bit further away from the doors just in case Agent Coulson heard him. Focusing on what the movements for the spell was, he recreated them using his right hand as a guide for his magic a couple of times before muttering the incantation under his breath. It took a few tries, but slowly a warm golden light started to make its way down the lines of the Hawthorn branch on his arm. When it had got to his hand, he started to feel a warm air surrounded him and he quickly dried himself off.
He stood still for a moment not believing that it had worked. My wand… really did merge with me… Part of him felt empty, grieving the loss of his wand, but there was another part of him that was brimming with excitement and curiosity.

"Are you alright?" A knock on the door and the concerned voice of Agent Coulson's disrupted Draco's thoughts.

"Yeah!" He called back and quickly dressed. The t-shirt that he had been given was navy with some sort of motif on it. It had a red circle, then a white one and another red one in the middle of the t-shirt. The circles surrounded a white star and for some reason Draco had a strong feeling that it belonged to Agent Coulson personally.
When he joined Agent Coulson back in the hallway the older man gave him a small smile and nod of approval.

"Do you want something to eat? Or should we just head straight to Dr. Selvig?"

"Let's just get this over with." Draco could already feel a headache coming on from the idea of dealing with all this.
A quick nod and Agent Coulson set off towards the lift once more.

Nick Fury was already done with this day. The world council getting on his case, a boy from another universe setting off a magic cube, Dr. Selvig among other smaller things. At least Agent Hill had found a solution to the Phase 2 issue.
Dr. Selvig is a brilliant man, a genius, however he could sometimes be a lot. Something had seemed different about him compared to the last time Fury had dealt with him, although he assumed it was because of the work with the Tesseract.

"Dr. Selvig!" He called across the room. Fury could've sworn that the man looked worse every time he saw him.

"You've been down here a lot recently sir!" Dr. Selvig walked over to him with his usual cheerful disposition. "Have you got good news about Phase 2?"

"Yeah, Hill's got it sorted. We can go ahead on schedule." Fury wasn't trying to be blunt, but he had a lot to get on with. "I'm here to talk to you about yesterday."

"Ah! Yes that is very interesting I-"

"Hold on Doctor, there's something you need to know first." Best to cut him off before he really gets going. "Remember I showed you some test results not too long ago."

"Test results… oh yes! The object from another universe?"

"That's right. The test results were from the boy you saw yesterday." Dr. Selvig's mouth hung open and all the colour drained from his face.

"You mean that boy is from another universe?!" Fury nodded. "Then the Tesseract she-"

The lift opened cutting off Dr. Selvig once again.

As soon as Draco stepped out of the lift, he felt his shoulders being grabbed and found himself face to face with the old guy from yesterday.

"What's your universe like? Is it the same as ours? Do you have the same biology as us?"

"No actually. I can spit venom." Draco deadpanned. The old guy stepped back a little cautiously. "I'm joking. Did he really need to know?" He turned to Director Fury.

"Yes. He did."

"Why?"

"Because I said so." Director Fury stated, clearly not in the mood.

"How many people know?" Not being in control of who knew about him was making him uncomfortable.

"Four." Draco nodded; he didn't like it but nevermind. " No one else needs to know." Director Fury added looking at the old guy. Dr. Selvig. Draco corrected himself.
Draco followed the men over to a table, on the opposite side of the room to the cube. He was making it a point not to look at the damn thing.

"So, what's going on Director?" Agent Coulson leaned over the table to look at the papers covering every inch of it.
The Director just gestured to Dr. Selvig to start talking.

"Oh yes! It's very interesting. The energy detected yesterday doesn't match the Tesseract, but it looks like she was trying to use it or perhaps absorb it." Draco couldn't help but notice how much he flapped his hands around as he spoke.

"Why do you call it a 'she'?" Draco interrupted.

"What? I uh… I don't know, I just do." Dr. Selvig stuttered out, thrown by the unexpected question. "A-anyway… the really interesting part is that the energies don't seem to be compatible."

"If that's the case, then why would it try to use or absorb Draco's energy?" Agent Coulson frowned.

"My theory is she wants to get rid of the competition or maybe a threat." A threat?!

Author's Note:

Hi! Hope you're enjoying the story so far! I just wanted to let you know that I might take a two week break from uploading just to get a couple of buffer chapters written. I might not need to but if you don't see a chapter for a couple of weeks that's why.
See you in the next chapter!