Enjoy. (:
~R~
Rory stood in the center of the room. She had changed out of her previous outfit into a pair of army camo pants and an Under Armour t-shirt and gym shoes. She fastened the Bluetooth headset over her ear and was ready, but a pair of glasses and gloves off to the side caught her attention. She walked over and slipped them on.
"I never asked what I had to say…Crap. Uh level 1?" She said aloud.
Level 1 synchronization in progress.
The lights shut off and slowly started turning back on. Rory looked around as the arena started to change to an open field with various weapons lying around. A smile broke out on Rory's face as the wind blew her hair.
Level 1 Start
A few enemies appeared in front of Rory. They each held a different weapon. Rory made the first move and picked up one of the pistols by her foot. She shot four of the five holograms in succession. The phased out and more reappeared, only this time they moved more fluidly. Rory stood still as her targets moved back and forth, but didn't advance. She aimed and fired, hitting each one with precision.
Level 1 Complete. Starting Level 2
"It's just like a video game." Her eyes widened as one of the targets sprinted at her. She dropped the gun and flipped backwards, her hand landing on the hilt of a knife. The target kept coming. He kicked his leg out and swiped at her feet. Rory landed on her back and rolled to the side dodging another attack. She lifted the knife and threw it at the target hitting him in the chest.
"I've still got it." She smirked to herself.
"Hayes, can I see you on the bridge?" Fury said over the headset.
"I'll be right there."
Rory entered the bridge and was motioned over by Coulson. She saw Steve standing next to Coulson and made her way over. When she reached them Coulson turned to her.
"So how's the VR room treating you?" he asked.
"I was almost on level 5 when I was called up here."
"VR room?" Steve inquired with a raised brow.
"Virtual Reality. It's basically computer simulations that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world. For instance, you'll be standing in the room and then it will change to say a forest or open field. From there you have holographic enemies you have to fight. You should try it out." Rory explained leaning against the railing.
"We got a match, sixty-three percent. Wait. Cross match, seventy-nine percent." Agent Sitwell said.
"Location?"
"Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding."
"Captain, you're up." Fury said.
Steve and Rory turned toward Fury up on his platform. She turned her eyes on Steve as he nodded and turned to leave. Rory followed after him, heading for the VR room again.
"Good luck, Captain." She said before parting ways. Steve watched her leave and then headed for his suit.
~R~
"Damn, that hurt." She exclaimed holding her left arm. She pulled her arm away and found it covered in blood.
The targets surrounding her, surprisingly smirked. Rory tilted her head before punching and kicking each target. Fury did a good job making sure they were close to being human as possible. They blocked and dodged her attacks like a normal person. One of them grabbed Rory's fist and landed a punch to her cheek. She flinched out of the way as the two targets hit each other. She used another as a beam and propelled herself over his head before stabbing him in the back.
The simulation ended as someone entered the control booth. She looked up and took the glasses off. Coulson stood in the booth looking down at her before his gaze moved to the windows behind her. Rory turned around and looked out the windows as Loki was escorted down the hall surrounded by multiple SHIELD agents. The God of Mischief turned his head toward her and smirked. A shiver ran down her spine at the malicious smirk.
"Everyone's meeting on the bridge. Your presence is required. They are all gonna think you were the one fighting Loki by the bruise on your face." Coulson smirked.
"…Bite me…" she replied before exiting the room.
When Rory reached the bridge she wasn't expecting to see a newcomer. The man was tall and had long blond hair. Everyone turned to look at her as she entered. She made a bee-line for a seat one down from Steve and prodded the bruise forming on her cheek.
"What happened to you?" Natasha asked with a smirk.
"I think you already know." Rory muttered leaning back in her seat.
"Those VR targets really do some damage."
"No kidding…"
They turned their attention to the monitors in front of them as Fury appeared with Loki.
"In case it's unclear if you try to escape, if you so much as scratch that glass, 30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how this works? Any boot?"
"It's an impressive cage not built for me I think."
"Built for something a lot stronger than you."
"Oh I've heard. The mindless beast that makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you? Call on such lost creatures to defend you."
"How desperate am I? 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. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."
"Oooh, it burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power; Unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded of what real power is."
"Well, let me know if real power wants a magazine or something."
~R~
Rory rested her elbows on the table as she processed Loki's words. Mindless beast echoed in her mind as she tried to decipher what he meant.
"He really grows on you doesn't he?" Banner said a few minutes later.
"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" Steve added.
All eyes turned on the God as he spoke. "He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect for the Tesseract."
"An army from outer space."
"So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."
"Selvig?"
"He's an astrophysicist."
"He's a friend."
Natasha chose that time to speak up. "Loki has him under some kind of, spell along with one of ours."
"I want to know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here." Steve said.
"Is it Loki we really should be focusing on? There's more to this than we know." Rory spoke up. Everyone turned to look at her. She slouched in her seat as Banner backed her up.
"I agree. I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him."
"Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother." Thor defended.
"He killed eighty people in two days." Natasha replied.
"He's adopted."
Rory controlled herself from rolling her eyes. She glanced over and saw Steve looking at her. She gave him a small smile before turning toward Banner.
"I think it's about the mechanics. Iridium…What do they need the iridium for?"
The group turned toward the door as Tony Stark and Coulson walked in. Rory heard something about a cellist before Tony began speaking.
"It's a stabilizing agent. It means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD. No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing. Also it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long, as Loki wants. That man is playing Galaga. Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did."
Steve looked over at Rory who merely shrugged and tried to hide in her seat. She didn't want to deal with Tony and his witty remarks. Tony made his way over to Fury's platform and covered one of his eyes.
"How does Fury even see these?" he asked.
"He turns." Rory said staring at the wall.
"Sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on very easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density. Something to kick-start the cube. Ah if it isn't Major Rory Hayes. I'm surprised Fury called you in."
"I don't want to hear it, Tony." She said through clenched teeth. If she wasn't careful her temper would get the best of her.
"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Agent Hill asked from the railing. She spared Rory a glance making sure the woman was calm. Rory gave her a nod and exhaled slowly.
"Last night. The packet. Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked ignoring Tony's question.
"He would have to heat the Cube to 120-million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier."
"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect."
Rory looked back and forth. Here comes the talking of things she wasn't familiar with. Science wasn't her strong suit.
"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet."
"Finally, someone who speaks English." Tony said walking over toward Banner.
"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked looking over at Rory.
"I'm just as lost as you are, Cap."
"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a big fan of how you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage-monster."
"Tony!"
"What? It's true!" Tony defended turning toward Rory.
"Thanks…" Banner said slowly.
"Dr. Banner is only here to track the Cube. I was hoping you might join him." Fury said entering the room.
"I would start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon." Steve added looking over at Fury.
"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube. And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."
Rory noticed the defensive look in Fury's eye when he heard Hydra. It couldn't have been the beast from mythology, could it? No that's absurd. She gave Fury a sideways stare before turning away.
"Monkeys? I do not understand." Thor said.
"I do! …I understood that reference." Steve said raising a finger. He looked around at everyone and slowly lowered his hand. Rory smiled at his reaction.
"Shall we play, Doctor?" Tony asked.
"This way, sir." Banner replied leading Tony to their lab.
That left Steve, Thor, Natasha, Fury and Rory. Natasha stood up and left heading to who knows where while Thor moseyed around looking at everything. Rory pushed up from the table and was getting ready to leave when Steve too stood up. She turned around and left heading for the VR room for one last session. Besides, beating up someone that resembled Tony would help relieve her temper. That was the only downside of being a Hayes, they had one mean temper and anyone who got in their way would be hurt.
~R~
Thanks to BlueBrainProductions I have come up with a little secret for Rory and her family. Ohh I can't wait to see if anyone knows what it is. (It won't be in the following chapters but it will appear later. I'll let everyone know so they can guess.) Reviews are welcome since they are what help me to write. I like hearing from my readers.