***I do not own any of the Marvel characters in this story yaddayaddayadda. Please don't sue me. ***

Hey guys, sorry for the extremely long update, I've been really sick and in and out of the hospital for the past month, trying to figure out what's going on, so I haven't had much energy or motivation to update. Hopefully now that they prescribed me some medication to hold me over until they get me into the OR I'll be updating a little more frequently now. Also, I have an idea where this story is going now…I'm heading towards this being more of a prequel to another story with these two, but who knows? ;) Review/comment, give me some ideas!

Chapter 7

Spira's night was mostly sleepless, besides the few times she dozed off for a short hour or two. Whenever she was nearing a dream, sounds or images from the H.Q testing room flooded the screen under her eyelids and jerked her awake. It was like having a broken record in her mind, playing the same scene over and over. Spira thought she could manipulate the scene and push it to the back of her mind, but it just wouldn't go away.

What the mind reader was afraid of most is that these visions and flashbacks would impair her focus and abilities to the point where either she couldn't control herself, or she lost her mind reading all together.

Spira watched as the sun crept through the shades, creating a small triangle of light on floor in front of her bed. She made a frustrated noise as she realized she had stayed awake for most of the night, missing out on a much-needed recuperative sleep.

The covers were flung off the young girl in a quick motion and deposited on to the floor in a large heap.

"Guess it's time to get up." Spira groaned to herself.

The young girl stood up and flipped her hair to one side, quickly combing it out with her fingers before walking over to the dresser. Her eyes flicked between the day clothes and battle clothes a few times, a blank look on her face.

"Meh..." She mumbled, and shrugged her shoulders, deciding to stay in her pajamas, "Too much work."

Although Spira went most of the night without sleep, her body was still a bit stiff and heavy, making her feel like she had to drag herself to the door and slap her hand down on the knob to open it.

As soon as she got halfway down the hallway, her eyes narrowed as she felt two distinct presences around the corner. There was Stark, Pepper, and Loki's presence, but also two other ones.

The girl continued walking, but prepared herself for the unexpected as she rounded the corner. She stopped in her tracks as she came into the main sitting area of this floor of the tower.

Loki was the first to look up; a neutral but professional expression was splayed across his face. His eyes darted between Spira and the man that was now staring at her.

" ." Spira started, breaking the silence that was beginning to suffocate the habitants of the room, "I figured we would see each other sometime soon."

The man smiled, his eye patch crinkling up slightly, "Miss Spira, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. You have the head quarters in quite a fuss."

"I like to think of it more as an attitude adjustment," the young girl said, walking forward and shaking his hand, "Now where is Natasha, I sensed her presence here a moment-"

The red-haired Russian stepped out from behind a wall and greeted Spira with a warm smile.

"Tash!" Spira said excitedly and quickly walked over to hug the smiling agent. Natasha pulled Spira into a tight embrace, and the girls exchanged a giddy set of "It's so good to see you's" and "It's been forever's".

After a few minutes of that, Fury cleared his throat and the two girls straightened up and assumed a more professional stance.

"Wait-" Stark began, pointing his finger between the two girls, "You two know each other? I though me and you had a kind of secret friendship thing going on!" he pouted at Spira.

"Well you have been hiding under a rock." Spira laughed, "Thor, and Rogers are the only part of the Avengers team I haven't met. Well, and Fury, but I guess that doesn't count anymore."

"Well you're not missing out with Rogers." Stark said, receiving a glare from Fury.

Spira's eyes met Loki's and she could tell he shared the same thoughts on his brother. She gave him an Oh-please-he's-not-that-bad look, earning herself a sarcastic look back from the trickster. Loki couldn't exactly hear the words in Spira's mind, but her facial expressions spoke just as loudly.

They had a silent argument like two siblings for about five minutes, while the other four by-standers watched in confusion.

"He is a complete dunce and conceited buffoon."

"Oh he's not that bad, quit being a baby."

"Well you have never lived with him how would you know?"

"Because I know you well enough to know that you are exaggerating."

"I do not exaggerate."

"Oh please."

"You will tire of him just as quickly as I do when you meet him."

"Will not!"

"Will too!"

" ."

" ."

"Will you be jealous or something if I don't tire of your brother?"

"What's that look supposed to mean? I do not get jealous either."

"You are so full of sh-"

"That's enough you two!" Stark finally said, "Seriously, stop it, I'm getting freaked out."

Loki and Spira both let out an aggravated breath and glared at Stark in annoyance. The narcissist put his hands up in protest, not wanting to be in the center of Loki and Spira's argument.

The mind reader and the mischievous trickster glanced at each other quickly, a silent truce settling between the two. Natasha was looking at Spira in confusion, her head tilted to the side.

Nick Fury stepped forward and crossed one arm over his chest, the other arm stretched out with his finger pointing between Spira and Loki, "Did they just do what I think they did?"

"It's happens regularly."Spira said nonchalantly.

"Can you two like- hear each other?" Fury replied, a creeped-out look crossing his face.

"I am not able to physically hear Spira," Loki said, his accent gliding over the words articulately, "But she can hear me."

"Right." Spira confirmed, rocking on her heels.

"I knew you held promise." Natasha smiled proudly at Spira.

"Yes…well…on to the reason why I'm here." Fury said, clasping his hands behind his back and pacing around , a darker tone falling about the room, "The council had put all future test subjects of all ages on immediate lockdown, and they have every bulky, dim witted security guard on the prowl for," Fury pointed between Loki and Spira, "You two."

"Future test subjects?" Spira ground out through her teeth, hissing the words like a venomous snake.

The intimidating director nodded, and Spira immediately understood what he was hinting towards.

"They are desperate for a biological weapon, something that can be manipulated at their will. Machines break and can only go as far as their creators allow. But people can be brainwashed, their minds can be altered. We have drugs that will make you become a mindless, drooling slave in less than three hours. The W.S.C has completely over ridden me once again, and I am powerless against this outrage."

"Forgive me, but you mentioned test subjects of all ages'" Loki said, a look of horror and confusion crossing his features.

Spira moved closer to him and put a hand on his arm, "They are testing on youth's Loki. Small children. Anyone they can get their hands on, even if they are barely able to talk yet. I saw it through Fury's eyes, it's horrible. It's sick watching them-having the-" Spira clenched her eyes shut, and took a deep breath, trying to prevent a future panic attack, "Bottom line is, it needs to stop."

The five other habitants nodded their heads in agreement, Loki giving Spira a look meant just for her.

"This could escalate into something awful, Spira, something they might lose control of."

"I know."

Spira took Loki's silent words into deep consideration, knowing that he knew all about humans and their ability to turn their own weapons against themselves.

The young girl was listening to everyone's thoughts in the room, most of them taking the seriousness of the situation into careful consideration.

"Those poor children, how could they do such a thing?"

"How am I going to get through to the W.S.C, all my authority has been completely over ridden, I should be preventing this!"

"Reminds me of when I was working in Novgorod. That went perfectly…"

"Humans and their pitiful attempts at trying to grasp something beyond their understanding and control."

"Those bitches must need a lot of babysitters."

Spira scoffed at Stark's arrogant thought, wishing that he would for once take things a bit more seriously. The narcissist looked over at her and gave her a weird look, which she in turn gave back an exaggerated eye roll before looking back to Fury.

"If we are going to stop this, we have to go about this operation as quietly and discreetly as possible. No explosions, obnoxious storms, obvious magic, green monsters, no nothing. This has to be on the down-low for as long as possible. The council has spies and staff members all over the place like blood hounds, as a matter of fact Stark," Fury said, walking towards the pouting egotist, "I suggest you either update your security system or get the hell out of here."

Stark glared at Fury for a moment and then yelled at the room, "Jarvis, I want every single camera, security pad, hand scanner, motion sensor, computer password, firewall, and anything else you can think of, reset immediately. Power on every emergency or extra cameras we have on the building, I want this place more secure than Fort Knox. No one should get within two-hundred yards of this place without me knowing. Oh, and activate the new soundproof system I installed a few days ago." Tony still had his eyes on Fury, but a smug smirk replaced the serious look he had on a few seconds ago.

"Damn Tin Man, you got it all." Spira said, crossing her arms.

"Well duh." He replied, rolling his eyes and lolling his tongue out of his mouth.

"I shall have all the new codes ready for you in your office, sir." The automated voice replied over the loudspeaker.

"Oh and buddy?"

"Yes, sir?" Jarvis asked.

"I want your program to be the most secure in the house. Impervious to even the greatest hacker in the world." Stark said, walking over to the coffee machine along the bar and pulling a cup out of the cupboard.

"If you insist, sir." The red light on the speaker clicked of and Jarvis set to work.

The five of them could hear all the doors locking, and things buzzing and beeping throughout the tower, creating a sort of technological harmony before Jarvis came over the loudspeaker again.

"Now initiating Master Reset."

For a split second, everything in the tower turned off, and the imposing skyscraper was completely dark. Just as fast as the lights went out, they returned once more. Several panes appeared on the windows in front of them, creating a banging kind of sound.

Once the sound proof installments were finished mounting themselves on to the windows, everything went silent, save for the obnoxious clinging coming from the kitchen. The clinging continued, followed by an even more obnoxious slurping sound, followed by more clinging.

"Stark!" Spira yelled, clenching her fists in irritation, "Can you please make your coffee like a normal person?!"

Starks muffled snickers came from the darkness, which Spira responded to by growling angrily and crossing her arms.

Finally, the power came on, along with Jarvis' automated voice, "Rebooting, thirty seconds until renovation complete."

"Perfect," Stark said, walking over to the group with his coffee, slurping it loudly again. Spira gave him a warning look, sending sharp daggers flying across the table through her eyes.

"What are you going to do about it?" Stark teased, squinting his eyes and slurping his drink again.

"Stark…"Spira ground out through her teeth, her nails scraping the ends of the table, "Stop."

"Please, get over yourself," he said nonchalantly, waving his hand.

The other four on lookers observed the current scene silently, watching Spira closely, almost in intimidation. Loki stared blankly at the two, not really interested in a pointless argument between two Midgardians. Instead, he toyed with the end of his scepter, poking the end of it and then twirling it in his fingers absentmindedly.

"Stark, maybe you should-" Natasha began, but Stark cut her off.

"Maybe I should what, let the short tempered little girl boss everyone around?" he said, stirring his coffee again, the silver spoon clinking around noisily.

That was it.

Spira's eyes swirled with darkness until her irises were completely engulfed in black, and she gritted her teeth. Her nails were now carving small lines into the wood table, as she leaned forward and barred her teeth.

"What was that, Starky?" She asked in a low and hissing sort of voice.

When Loki looked up, he realized exactly what was happening. Stark was trying to find a way to trigger her power to see what made her tick, and which buttons were the wrongs ones to push.

"Oh nothing, I was just saying how much of a spoiled bossy brat you are sometimes." He said, masking his slight fear at seeing her eyes turn color, and her full power emerge.

Loki grew faintly worried at the severity of Spira's anger, and though he cared little for the stuck up narcissist, he certainly didn't want the girl doing something she would regret when she returned to her sane mind.

"Now Spira, calm down." Fury said, putting his hand up and reaching for his gun with the other.

Stark put his hand up to Fury, and gave him a reassuring look, passing his gaze on to Natasha and Pepper in hopes that they understood what he was trying to do. Fury gave him a confused gaze at first, but then quickly understood the egoist's motives.

Spira was leaning over the table and growling like a wild animal, her eyes, though black with fury, lit up with carnivorous bloodlust.

Loki wasn't sure if he was the only one who caught the dangerous glint in her eye, but a sudden feeling of caution swept over him as she quirked the corner of her mouth into a smirk. He knew that smirk, and knew what usually followed it. Either she was about to say something witty, or she was about to do something unexpected.

"Stark, I wouldn't-" he began, but Starks grunts and muffled screams interrupted Loki's warning. Tony sank to the ground, holding his head and curling up on the floor. Pepper began to rush over to him, but Fury pulled her back, in fear that Spira might target her next.

Despite his current state of excruciating pain, Stark egged Spira on even more, "Is that...all…you…got?" He hissed out, trying to hide the pain behind his teeth.

Loki felt like Stark was going too far, and he definitely knew Spira was about to do something she was going to regret, so he calmly walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Her attention snapped away from Stark to Loki in a split second, but somehow she restrained herself from using her powers on the ex-prince.

Her dark eyes bore into Loki icy blue ones, at first vicious and angry, but then suddenly confused and vulnerable. Loki saw this as a window of opportunity, and attempted to bring her back to Earth.

"Don't do something you're going to regret," he warned, "He's just being a reckless bastard."

For a moment, Loki anticipated further action from Spira, and gripped on to his scepter firmly, waiting for her next move. But as the darkness swirled out of her eyes, he relaxed slightly, along with the other members of the room.

Loki kept his eyes glued to Spira's, trying to make sure nothing upset her further as she slowly drifted back to her normal self. He saw the sanity return to her eyes, as well as an overwhelming amount of confusion and fear.

"Oh my gosh!" she said, whipping her head about the room and breaking the God's gaze, "Did I hurt anyone?"

Stark groaned from the floor, and Spira quickly rushed over to him kneeling down to where he lay, whining like a baby, "God damn Spira, you are like some bat-crazy witch from outer space.." he said, making his way up from the floor.

She scoffed and whapped him across the head, "Stark you idiot, I should slap you across the face for that, what were you thinking! You had no idea what I could've done to you!" she yelled, scolding him for his careless behavior.

"Yea, you're probably right," he said, "But now we've got ourselves another weapon."