A/N

Unless it's not obvious...

The stuff in italics is Laura's thoughts.

*teddy bear hugs*

~TTB

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving

~I Dreamed A Dream, Les Miserables

"Coulson! I've found out what they've done to Agent Stark. It's some sort of staff with a… I think it's a gemstone like a sapphire in the centre. Come take a look."
Skye had been working since midnight last night trying to figure out how to hack Hydra, and what they had done to Laura.

It was now five in the evening, and she finally had a hit in one of Hydra's most secure files that she had had to ask Ward for the password for.

Now that she was in, she had found more horrors that she cared to count, until she had found a file, whose supervising agent was John Garrett, and a list of people that it had apparently ever been used on- Clint, Laura and Coulson included.

Coulson walked over, and turned her laptop around, before freezing at what he saw.

"Sir, are you okay?" came the curious voice of Simmons from across the room.

"This… it's what Loki used during the incidents during and preceding the Battle of New York. It's… it's what Loki used to kill me." There was a stunned silence from his team. "Loki used it to hypnotise agents including Agent Barton, but the tip also has a secret double life as a murder weapon… and believe me when I say that… it hurts! They must have figured out how to use it, and done the same thing to her that they did to Barton. Then that means that she is still in there. We just need to hit her in the head, and she'll recover."

"Hit her in the head? What good will that do?" asked Fitz from where he was developing the Icer rounds.

"It's called cognitive recalibration- and trust me… it works." Came a voice from the doorway- Clint and Natasha were strolling in, both out of uniform and ready to lend their skills wherever they were needed. Clint's hand went absent-mindedly to the place where he had hit his head on that damn Helicarrier.

"Cognitive recalibration, the theory that hitting someone really, really hard in the head will effectively make said person come out of any given hypnotic state into their original state of mind?" Asked Fitz and Natasha nodded.

"Except it's not really a theory when it works." Muttered Clint, catching Natasha's slightly smug eyes for a moment; "If Laura has been hypnotised using Loki's sceptre, then it shouldn't be too difficult for us to corner her, and whack her in the head with a fire extinguisher." Clint added to his theory, whilst at the mention of 'fire extinguishers', Coulson, Skye and Simmons exchanged a small smirk at the memory of when Simmons had tried to hit Coulson over the head with a fire extinguisher after the bus had been planenapped by Ward and Lorelei.

"But can we be sure it works?" asked Coulson. "I mean, I know it worked on you, but what if it was just a one-off thing?" Clint and Natasha turned to look at him in synch, both with raised eyebrows.

"It worked on Clint, and it worked on Selvig. What more do you need?" asked Natasha's voice, a small fire present in her voice; Coulson put his hands up in surrender, and shook his head, smiling slightly.

"Fitz, call the others in here. We need to formulate a plan of where she's going to be next and how we're going to get there. I think Steve's going to be pretty pleased at what we've got to say." Fitz nodded at Coulson's orders, and hurried out of the room. May walked towards Coulson as Clint and Natasha moved away towards where Skye was still typing away at her laptop.

"You still love calling him Steve, don't you?" she asked, with a true smile on her face.

"The elation never fades." Coulson muttered back, as Fitz entered with the other three Avengers.

Lau- Agent Stark sat perched on a small ledge above the lab, a permanent frown etched on her face. Since she got back from the little incident with the Avengers, she had been seeing fleeting glimpses of her old life. And she didn't like what it was doing to her. The loyalty she had to Hydra was fading every time she got one of these glimpses, and instead she felt a pain in her heart- like her heart was trying to take control of what she was doing.

No. I am loyal to Hydra. I am loyal to Hydra. I am loyal to SHIEL- Hydra!

Her mind was racing, filled with different memories from her old and new life; getting her A-level results and Steve telling her he loved her; meeting the new head of Hydra and becoming Hydra's top agent along with the Winter Soldier.

Get OUT of my head!

She didn't want this. Hydra was where she belonged. Or… was it with them?

"Stark?" She was jolted out of her trance by some agent from behind her.

"What is it?" she asked in a cold voice, turning to glare at the agent.

"You've got a mission; d-downstairs n-now. Please." She sighed, and followed the agent to their briefing room in the basement of the pristine building in the middle of some city she didn't know the name of.

Walking in, she saw her commanding officer, Commander Stevenson, sat behind a laptop, which showed a message that Stevenson was obviously not happy about.

"Sir, you wanted to see me?" she asked, folding her arms and raising her eyebrow at Stevenson's turned back.

"Yes. We've been contacted by the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D… they want to see you." He said, a twisted smirk on his face. "Would you like to attend the reunion?"

"So you're sure? Hydra said yes and she's meeting us in London?" asked Steve, a deep look of concern on his face. "Shouldn't we really call in for backup? Maybe Thor could persuade Loki to-"

Steve was cut off by Coulson at the mention of seeing Loki again.

"No. we're not calling the crazed Asgardian lunatic who stabbed me. That's final."

Steve sighed, and put his head in his hands.

"I just think it would be better if we had at least a little backup. We're going to be in public, we can't risk being compromised."

Coulson nodded, and turned to May and Skye.

"Could you both maybe stand somewhere close, incognito, to make sure they don't try anything?" they both nodded in agreement. "Great. Let's go see our friends on the other side!"

London was a busy place to be. Hyde Park in the summer was even busier. Laura sat on a picnic bench near the boating lake with her brown hair tied back and clearly visible in the blazing heat, which was uncommon in England. She turned around every time someone approached her from behind, and glared at anyone approaching her from the front.

Hydra agents were swarming everywhere, all undercover, all listening intently to earpieces.

I can't wait to see Steve again. Tell him- no. You hate him. He never tried to find you. He just believed you were dead when that idiot Fury told him so. But still… he was so gorgeous. Why shouldn't I forgive him? He loves you- no. Stop it! Stop! Get OUT of my head!

"L- Laura?" said a small but familiar voice from behind her.

Steve.

She turned around, to see her father, Steve, Bruce, Natasha, Clint and Coulson stood behind her. Her head looked back behind her, where she saw two women sat at a table, staring point blank at them.

Skye and May. How didn't I notice?

She turned back to the Avengers, and gave them an unnatural cold smile.

"Hello." she spat out the word, an even colder grin spreading over her face.

"Oh my God… you- you're alive! Laura… say something sane. Please." Steve stammered, not breaking eye contact with her.

"Why did you want to see me? You've seen I'm not dead. What more proof do you need? I serve SH- Hydra now. So leave me alone." She said, her words stumbling over themselves and not making as much sense in her head as they did as she spoke them.

"Wait- were you about to say S.H.I.E.L.D.? Laura, are you remembering?" asked Coulson, taking a step towards her with a genuine look of concern on his face.

"No. I said SHI- Hydra. Hydra. SHIEL- Hydra!" Laura placed her hands on her head and gripped her hair tightly, feeling as if a gigantic force was pressing down on her brain.

"What's happening to me? I've got to flush you out. I've got to-" the rest of her sentence was cut off by Laura falling off her seat and onto the ground, out cold.

Standing above her was May and Skye, with May holding a cricket bat that they had brought with them to try cognitive recalibration.

Steve and Tony rushed to her side, and Steve hurriedly checked her pulse- sighing when he found her heart still firmly beating.

"She's okay. Thank God… she'll be okay." Muttered Steve, as he picked her up- despite all the odd looks the public around him were giving him.

Suddenly they were attacked from all sides; the Hydra agents ran at them, attacking each of the Avengers, Coulson, Skye and May. Each of them pulled out an icer and shot randomly, taking out a few Agents each, just enough for them to sprint off and get far enough away that Hydra couldn't catch up.

Steve, Coulson, May, Skye and Natasha all rushed to a small car park under Marble Arch where their black SUV was waiting. Coulson and May hopped into the passenger's driver's seat as the rest got into the back, Steve laying Laura on the floor; strapping her down and taking a seat next to Natasha with Skye sat opposite them, looking a little like she was going to faint at the concept of two avengers sat opposite her.

Steve wasn't looking at anything but Laura, tears now sliding firmly down his face. Natasha was looking at him with a look of helplessness and sympathy and May was turning around every ten seconds to check and see if she was awake or not.

Returning to the Bus was a nightmare. First and foremost, they had to deal with the tedious traffic of Oxford Street, as well as a squadron of MI5 cars on their tail once they realised who they were. Coulson managed to shake them off by taking several side streets and back alleyways, despite Skye begging for them to stop at the Disney store to 'help' shake them off (They all knew she just wanted to get a stuffed Olaf toy).

When they finally reached Heathrow once again, they had about a tedious ten minute wait for the rest of the Avengers to get there, and they set off back towards the states. Laura was loaded into the same pod that Skye had been in when she was shot, and for the next five hours of her being unconscious, everyone on the Bus took turns keeping Steve and Tony company, waiting for her to wake up.