Chapter 4

Mia decided the best place to prepare herself would be in the same room as the man who occasionally transformed into the Hulk. Believe it or not, he actually had an incredibly calming presence, and she figured a little Zen would be good before her 'encounter', as Fury had so ominously put it. He surprisingly didn't mind her company, as she was mostly quit and going through files on her Starkpad.

"So, Dr. Banner," Mia said casually, not looking up from her tablet as she sat on a counter that had previously been occupied by some of Tony Stark's random odds and ends. "Where were you before SHIELD uprooted you from your normal routine?"

Banner gave a clipped laugh. "Calcutta. Agent Romanoff was assigned to 'convince' me to assist SHIELD in this investigation. Didn't know I'd be forced to endure a madman with a plan."

Mia snorted. "Yeah, I get the feeling. I was actually taking a day off—for once—and guess who decided to swing by and pick me up?" She asked sarcastically. "Agent Coulson. This has been a really great few days. Getting roped into helping SHIELD, having to assess a crazy power hungry maniac egotist for threats and possible evil plans…oh wait, no. This is my job."

Banner chuckled. "I think you've got your work cut out for you."

"Well so do you," Mia said. "I mean, this whole thing is based around the Tesseract, and without Erik Selvig you're the only scientist who has a clue about that kind of technology. Plus, you know. Gamma rays."

"Thanks," Banner said with a bitter edge to his voice. "But I get the feeling that they might want me for…you know. The Other Guy. And they're just not saying so."

"That's SHIELD for you. They never give you the whole picture," said Mia doubtfully. This did nothing to assuage her or Banner's worries, and they fell into a depressed silence.

"What do you think his motives are?" Banner asked finally, while adjusting some settings on a hologram screen. He peered at her over the rims of his glasses. "Loki, that is. I know you can't say for sure until you've actually assessed the guy–or whatever it is you do–but I just wondered, from what you've seen…" He trailed off uncertainly.

Mia took a moment to choose her words carefully. "He's ruthless," she said slowly, "and cunning. He knows what he wants and won't stop until her gets it; whether it's power, or something to help him attain it. But…there's something else." She furrowed her brow and stared at her tablet in frustration. "I'm having a hard time placing it. It borders on obsession, this showboat need of his to attract attention. To make a statement. It's like he's trying to prove something to somebody, but I don't know who, or why. I don't have all the variables yet."

"I understand the feeling," Dr. Banner agreed. "Until I get my hands on something Tesseract related–say, that spear of Loki's–I'll be hard-pressed to draw any conclusions of my own. But that doesn't stop Fury from breathing down my neck." He shifted uncomfortably, as if the agent was watching him even then–which was very possibly true.

"Definitely mutual, then." Mia smiled at the man. Stark had been nearly right in his analysis of her anarchic nature; she only smiled or got excited when she really meant it, not just because it was the socially appropriate thing to do. Therefore, the smile she gave Dr. Banner was completely genuine, and it did help settle his frazzled nerves a bit.

He went back to work, unpacking various equipments from silver cases that had been waiting for him (she figured, since Tony hadn't touched them.) That is, until a group of guards began to parade past the windows of the lab. Mia immediately got off the desk, moving towards the middle of the room and subconsciously towards Banner. She thought it would be safer to be near a good monster rather than a wicked one–and yes, there was a difference.

She stood, gazing with her best stoic yet anarchical expression on her face, fighting back the intense curiosity she felt washing over her. Knowing it was risky considering that Banner was right there, Mia went against her usual rule and followed a gut instinct, summoning her magic and willing it to make her invisible–only to Loki.

Several rows of soldiers walked by like a parade (no doubt the egotist would be pleased) and then, the man himself. He wasn't short and red-headed. He didn't seem wiry and thin; and he certainly wasn't ugly. If this was Loki, then everything she had just read about him had to be tossed out the window.

He was tall; tall than all of the soldiers. And dark haired; his shoulder length locks were coiffed perfectly in spite of the fight she'd seen him participate in. He had a longish face, but a well sculpted jaw; and eyes glinted in a way that was making Mia completely reconsider her previous theories. He was clearly glad he had been captured. But why?

His eyes locked onto Dr. Banner, a grin spreading over his thin lips and radiating pleasure. Banner was slowly removing his glasses, as if he couldn't believe his eyes. Mia was guessing that her 'magic' must have been working, because Loki hadn't looked at her directly at all. Then, interested in testing his reaction, she let the shield drop.

His reaction was much stronger than she had anticipated. The smirk dropped clean off of his face, replaced by an awestruck look that quickly shifted to fear, and then horror. It was Mia's turn to smirk at him, crossing her arms in satisfaction at the look he was wearing. In fact, he was so shocked by her sudden appearance that he froze in the middle of the hallway, causing the guards behind him to run straight into his back. He didn't even turn to glare, but just stared slack jawed at her through the windowpane. His eyes, which were a bright, cold blue, drilled into hers; as if he'd seen a terrible sight there yet couldn't look away. Mia found herself oddly confused, wanting to look away yet unable to.

"That's funny; it like he didn't even see you there until…" Banner trailed off, as taken aback with the god's reaction as Mia was.

It didn't end there. With a brisk shake of his head, Loki stared at her confusedly. 'It's you,' he mouthed through the glass, which made her blink in surprise. His expression would have been priceless if it were on anybody else's face. On him, it just looked wrong, all wrong. Malice, yes. Sarcasm, yes. Cherubic innocence probably would have even worked; but the look of complete realization and fear was just not right.

Then it morphed into desperation, just as a guard shoved him in the back, forcing him forward. Loki struggled for a moment, straining to lean backwards and catch a final glimpse of her face. And then, with one final shove, he was gone.

Mia staggered backward. It felt as though someone had given her 'magic' a harsh cold blow. "That was…strange," she finally managed, a little breathless.

"That was beyond strange," Banner corrected firmly. "He looked at you like you were his long lost soul mate. What the hell was that all about?" He didn't seem angry at her, just confused.

"I have no idea," Mia admitted. For once, she was at a complete loss. "I have never seen that man in my life, before today."

. . .

Loki moved on from the laboratory window, still in shock. It was her. His Intended. She was working for SHIELD? The sarcastic side of his mind wanted to bite, oh that's perfect, but another part responded almost breathlessly, does it matter? His head was spinning, he felt like he couldn't breathe; the hall had been turned upside down and his heart had increased its speed to a ridiculous frenzy.

How was this possible? The Other had not lied, then? She was real? He felt it in the Core of his being, just as it had been foretold: an intense and unavoidable tugging in the pit of his stomach as if magnetizing him, a gravity pulling his body back towards the door she was safe behind. It would have been nauseatingly sentimental, if he hadn't been experiencing it full force.

She had magic, he realized; unless something else had shielded her from his sight momentarily. He would have noticed her right away if not for its presence; and a concealment spell was one of the more difficult to contrive. How had a mortal managed to create such a thing?

He was taken into a room, where a large containment vessel was held, built almost entirely out of glass. The soldiers escorted him to the door, which opened with a pressurized hiss. He saw Director Fury come in from the corner of his eye, and rolled his eyes as the door slid closed behind him. He stood in the middle of the container (or rather, cage) and waited as Fury walked over to a control panel to one side of the room.

"In case you were wondering," said Fury, "you try and escape..." he pressed a few buttons. "You so much as scratch that glass…" Loki walked to the edge of the container and looked down. A hole had opened in the ship, revealing nothing but the dark emptiness of the night sky below. The god looked down at it bemusedly. "Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" He stared at the villain. "Ant, boot." He closed the vent.

Loki let out a series of soft chuckles. "It's an impressive cage," he admitted. "Not built, I think, for me."

"For something a lot stronger than you," Fury said sternly.

Let the games begin, Loki thought to himself. "Like what?" he questioned lowly. "The mindless beast who makes play he's still a man?" He looked up at the camera on the ceiling he'd seen on his left, smirking. "Or the mesmerizing sorceress who can out-charm even my own perception?" He winked.

. . .

"I'm sorry, did he just wink at us?" Captain America asked, looking up at the others in confusion.

Natasha shook her head, and Banner just shrugged. Thor seemed disturbed, and furrowed his brow intensely.

Mia sat in her chair, recording the entire conversation on her own personal tablet for future reference. Her heart had stopped when he called her out: of course he would be able to deduce that the cloaking was her own doing. But the wink? Was that entirely necessary? She rolled her eyes at the thought.

"How desperate are you, that you resort to such unorthodox methods?" Loki taunted.

"How desperate am I?" Fury strode forward. "You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill cause it's fun." He glared at the man intensely with his one eye. "You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

Loki looked at him a long moment, searchingly. Finally, his eyes narrowed. "Ooh," he said teasingly. "It burns you to have come so close." He stepped back, away from the glass. "To have the Tesseract, to have power…unlimited power." He looked at the camera again, sneering. "And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share?" Then, glaring back with equal intensity, Loki snapped, "And then to be reminded what REAL power is." A smirk tugged at his lips. "Even she is more powerful than you and your group of half-witted, would be heroes. Be careful that you don't anger her."

"And why would you care if I anger HER or not?" Fury yelled through the glass. "You don't even know half of her story!"

"Do you?" Loki asked, crossing his arms thoughtfully. "Don't rush to conclusions, Director Fury; especially when those around her don't even know who, or what, she really is." He looked up at the camera again, a strange clarity in his eyes. "I'm coming for her. Then you shall know REAL power."

The anger in Fury's glare was lost on those watching by camera. "Well," he said, walking away from the cage. "Let me know if 'REAL power' wants a magazine in the meantime."

Back in the council room, the connection cut out.

Mia was doing her best to remain calm. Somehow, Loki knew everything about her. She didn't know why or how, but he did. Why should he care? As he had said, she reasoned. REAL power. He meant to use her against SHIELD. Normally, she wouldn't protest…but world domination and despotism was already on her hate list, so that made for a serious conflict of interest.

Either that, or he knew of her true status…impossible. Simply impossible. She had taken every precaution, every method of hiding—

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce quipped, rather dryly.

"Loki's going to drag this out," the Captain said thoughtfully. "So Thor: what's his play?"

"He has an army," Thor replied immediately, "called the Chitauri. They are not of Asgard, nor of any world known." He had been brooding to himself by the edge of the deck. Agent Hill had come up behind him a while ago, watching him carefully like he might suddenly become a threat to SHIELD property.

Now, he turned to face those seated (or standing) around the desk. "He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth; in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." He looked at Mia, his gaze actually feeling uncomfortable in its intensity.

"An army?" Rogers repeated, casting a dubious look over at Mia. "From outer space."

"I've seen stranger things," Mia replied quietly. Which was true; seeing magic flow through your body with no idea how or why it got there is pretty much as strange as it gets—especially when you're 'just' a human.

Bruce gave her an odd look, and Mia could tell he was thinking of the incident in the lab. She cast her eyes down to her tablet, and set about saving the recording.

The others exchanged looks.

"He's building another portal," Bruce said, changing the subject. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor asked.

"He's an astrophysicist," the scientist explained.

"He's a friend." Thor looked disturbed.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell," Romanoff observed. Then she grew grim. "Along with one of ours."

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him," said Rogers vehemently. "He's not running an army from here. Paxton?" Mia looked up in surprise. "Any ideas?"

Mia stared at the Captain blankly a moment before sighing. "Well, you know. He's pretty much your usual villain stereotype," she said casually. "Troubled past, skewed sense of morality and justice…"

"Brain like a bag full of cats…" Banner added. "You can pretty much smell crazy on him."

Mia tipped her head in reluctant agreement. "Still: I've known some who act crazy so that they're underestimated. We can't make that mistake."

"Lady Paxton is correct—have care how you speak," Thor objected firmly. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days," Romanoff said flatly.

Thor considered this. "He is adopted."

With an annoyed snort, Mia tossed her head to vent some of her frustration in a non magical way. "Where you are born and whose child you are has no bearing on who you choose to become," she snapped. "My point is that stereotype usually blinds people to the complexity of the villain's schemes. You tend to underestimate what you think you understand." She set her tablet down on the desk and crossed her legs. "Until the time comes that I can assess this guy with my own methods, Banner has the right idea here. We need to focus on any and all concrete facts."

"The mechanics," Banner said suddenly, "Like, the Iridium." Mia pointed at him in agreement. "Why does he need the Iridium?"

Before Mia could reply, a new voice filled the room. "It's a stabilizing agent." Mia let out her breath. Thank god, someone to take the spotlight off of her. Stark was the king of the spotlight, and for once she was immensely grateful for that.

He was talking to Coulson as he came in, muttering something about him catching a flight to Portland. "It stops the portal from collapsing in on itself, like it did at SHIELD." He strode casually past Thor, patting him on the bicep in a patronizing way. "No hard feelings, point break. You've got a mean swing."

"Also, it means he can open the portal as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants." He went up onto Fury's control platform and looked around. "Um, raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails."

An awkward silence hung in the air as all of the agents in the room ceased their incessant clattering of keyboard keys and looked at the man in disbelief. Mia stifled a laugh, somewhat unsuccessfully.

"That man is playing Galaga!" Stark called, pointing an accusing finger to his left. "He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." The room resumed its clattering, Mia noting the Captain's oblivious look, and smiling inwardly. Despite his leadership bravado, the man really didn't have a clue about what was going on sometimes. Tony had turned back to the console, covering one eye and peering at it in confusion. "How does Fury even see these?"

Maria Hill was far from amused with the man's antics. "He turns," she said dryly. Mia was surprised to see someone more cynical than herself on the scene. That was new.

"Sounds exhausting," Tony replied, far from fazed by the woman's reaction. He moved to examine a screen. "The rest of the raw materials, agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high energy density. Something to, kick start the cube." With his chattering and quick hand movements, Mia recognized the distraction technique from a certain little parlor trick she had seen many vengeful journalists play on her. The hand movements were simply a diversion from what had just done. She hadn't seen it clearly and couldn't be certain of what he'd done, but knowing Tony, Mia had a feeling that SHIELD would be hacked later that day.

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Hill demanded coldly.

"Last night," said Stark, with a sassy twitch of the head. "The packet, Selvig's notes. The Extraction Theory Papers, he called them. Showy name for a science essay."

"Wasn't bad reading material, though. The data on the high molecular density of the Cube's structure was particularly interesting," Mia said thoughtfully, before wishing she'd held her tongue. The point was to divert the attention away from yourself, remember? Captain Rogers raised an eyebrow at her. "What? I did my homework."

"Nice to see I'm not the only one who did the reading," Stark acknowledged.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Rogers asked, which was surprising. He was horribly out of the loop on certain things, but no one could say he was slow on the uptake.

"He would have to heat the Cube to 120-million Kelvin, just to break through the Coloumb barrier," Banner said.

"Unless Selvig has found a way to stabilize the Quantum Tunneling effect," Stark agreed, moving around the table to properly introduce himself to the scientist.

"Well if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion-fusion at any reactor on the planet," said Banner, fiddling with his glasses. A nervous habit, Mia realized.

"Finally, someone who speaks English," said Tony appreciatively.

"Is that what just happened?" Captain Rogers asked, casting a confused look back at the two men who were now shaking hands. Mia couldn't suppress her smile this time.

"Don't feel bad, Captain," she said in a commiserating tone. "This isn't nearly as bad as it can get. Tony loves using his big sciency words to show off."

The Captain gave a relieved smile.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner," said Tony, choosing to ignore Mia's little slight. "Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalled." He paused. "Also, I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

All three women in the room rolled their eyes.

Banner gave a short stiff nod before saying simply, "Thanks."

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the Cube," Director Fury announced, sweeping into the room. "Just as Miss Paxton is here only to monitor and assess Loki's behavior and possible plots. However, I was hoping you might join him."

"I would start with that stick of his," Rogers said. "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube," Fury admitted.

"I'm sorry, aren't we missing the biggest point here?" Romanoff cut in. "What Loki said; about a woman. I've been called a lot of things, but a 'mesmerizing sorceress' isn't among them."

Mia found the air suddenly driven from her lungs by her overwhelming sense of panic. She fisted her hands under the desk, silently hoping against hope that the subject would change. The familiar cool buzz of her magic wound around her fingers, trying to force them apart. Gritting her teeth, Mia tried to look normal as possible.

"The woman isn't a priority right now," Director Fury said, his words music to the anarchist's ears. "We need to focus on the Tesseract. The sooner it's back in our hands, the safer we'll all be."

Mia could see the others casting suspicious glances at each other in the reflection of the glass tabletop.

After a rather unconvincing silence, Fury cleared his throat. "The staff clearly runs off the Tesseract. I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the brightest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Thor asked, totally bewildered. "I do not understand."

"I do!" Rogers cried, giving a triumphant look in Mia's direction. Behind him, Stark rolled his eyes in a massive circle. "I understood that reference."

"Shall we play, Doctor?" Tony asked the scientist.

"This way, sir," Banner replied, gesturing behind the billionaire towards the lab.

After they'd gone, Mia felt her heart rate stabilizing and unclenched her hands, allowing trace amounts of the golden sparks to flow from her fingertips in miniscule streams. No one saw them. She took a deep breath, and stood up. "Now. If no one objects, I'm ready to take a crack at Loki."

"Actually, I do," Fury interjected. Mia turned around in surprise. "I'd like you to allow him to collect himself before further interrogation. He's just been captured twice, dragged around by his Asgardian not-brother, and locked in an impenetrable container. Let him get his wits together before tearing apart his immortal soul."

Mia scowled. "Okay, number one: I don't tear apart people's souls. I stop cold hearted criminals from extorting the American populace. B, I don't interrogate. My methods are much more subtle." She crossed her arms. "So. What do you have for me to do in the meantime?" She could see in the cold silver walls the reflection of Romanoff and Rogers exchanging surprised looks. No one spoke to Fury like that, but this journalist seemed to get away with it left and right. Who was this woman, that SHIELD's head agent allowed such a tone?

Fury narrowed his one good eye, and crossed his arms right back. "Well, Miss Paxton, as much as I hate to say it, you're free to roam about the country. The country being this helicraft."

Now it was Mia's turn to be surprised. "Seriously?"

"WITH an accompanying agent," Fury amended.

Mia scowled again. "Oh. Lovely."

Then, to her even GREATER surprise (and mild irritation), someone spoke up. "I'll go with her."

The journalist whirled around to face the table again. "Excuse me?"

Captain Rogers stood up. "I'll go with you. I haven't had time to see all of this ship either…well, if you can call it a ship, exactly." He looked over at Romanoff, who mouthed, 'helicarrier'. "Helicarrier. Right." He looked at Mia expectantly.

Mia sighed, a little exasperated. Perfect. Not only was she being watched, she was being babysat by Captain freaking America. Joy. "Fine. Just let me swing by my room and grab a few things."

"Okay," he said agreeably, which only made Mia want to punch him. Honestly, why did he have to be so nice all the time? America wasn't nice! Not the America she knew, anyway. It was corrupt, and easily bought off by commercialism, and press, and the cunning, ambitious people whom she devoted her life to stop. People like…

"President Winters has asked that we keep all matters regarding Loki and the Tesseract out of reach of the public, for the time being," Fury told her, carefully watching her reactions to the name. "All access to servers other than SHIELD's secure database has been blocked, so please: don't try to contact any of your press buddies."

"Associates," Mia corrected stiffly. "And that is highly typical of our nation's leader." She sniffed angrily, and nabbed her tablet off the table. She left the room without even casting a backward glance to see if Rogers was following her. He did though; true to his word.

After she'd gone, Fury glanced at both Agents Hill and Romanoff. "Any further doubts, Agents?"

"None, sir," Hill replied, and Romanoff shook her head.

"I think my doubts have been nullified," Romanoff said, getting up from the table and heading off to other duties.

Welcome, to the new Secrets of an Anarchist! Now a part of my Paxton Files series, SoaA has been completely written as my NaNo project, and will be updated either weekly, or bi-weekly, depending on what you guys want. Things are going to pick up a lot plot-wise in the next chapter, so hold on to your seats!

Also: the previous three chapters have been slightly altered. I would recommend you reread them to make sure you know what's going on.

I've begun another Avengers story as well, a Fem!Bucky/Winter Soldier recovering in Avengers Tower with the whole gang type thing. Loki's in there too, so all the yes there. CHECK IT OUT, if you will! Link on my Stories page *shameless self promoting wut wut*

Please review! It would make my day (:

-Ana