Sorry for the extremely long delay in updating! Things have been a little bit busy. Anyway, thanks again to everyone who has reviewed, favourite, and followed! Enjoy!

And I don't remember if I've put a customary disclaimer in this story yet so here it is: I own nothing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - heck, the franchise pratically owns me at this point, considering the amount of effort I just threw into watching Black Panther on premiere night (it was great, by the way). The Avengers in all their glory belong to Marvel Studios. Done.

Vanessa rubbed her upper arms, still feeling the god of mischief's chilling aura on her skin, feeling his piercing blue gaze trained on hers. She was strangely drained, and despite the relaxed front she did her best to put up, the conversation had been equal parts amusing and disturbing.

Just what was going on in his mind?

The elevator doors slid open as she finished piecing together what she could. She dropped her empty paper cup into a nearby trashcan before proceeding to the Helicarrier bridge, where the rest of the team still waited, with the exception of Hill and Coulson, who had undoubtedly gone back to running the standard operations of the flying fortress.

"Why are you back so soon, Agent Liang?" Fury asked her the second she set foot into the room. "It was barely ten minutes."

"I have what we need," she said simply. "Or most of it. You should have been able to tell, Director. You did train me personally."

In reality, she'd lied to Loki because the conversation was going somewhere she wasn't quite sure she was ready to process.

Severe trauma was never really her thing to deal with.

"I trained you in interrogation," he said dryly. "Not 'making small talk and then somehow pulling the entirety of human nature from it.' That's all your own. Besides, they were too busy laughing their asses off from the moment you mentioned coffee."

"Well, it was funny," Stark said defensively, standing up and walking to her. She realized that he was staring at her face closely. "Loki kept asking about your eyes, but they look pretty normal to me."

Vanessa realized that she would have been standing with her back to the camera, and therefore unable to see her eyes. She only hesitating a brief moment before allowing liquid silver to flood her irises. In an instant, every detail on Stark's face stood out as clearly as his features did.

"Still normal?"

There was no harm in displaying her power to her allies, was there? Not when she'd already revealed half her tricks to her opponent.

Stark flinched at the sight. "Nope. Not normal. Is that human? Are you human? Should I really be surprised?"

Banner and Steve wore similar expressions.

Vanessa shrugged and tilted her head at Thor in indication. "Not with a god in the room."

"Those eyes remind me of Heimdall's," commented the god of thunder. "He's the gatekeeper of Asgard, and he sees everything. Are your eyes like that, too?"

"She deliberately said that they weren't," Stark interjected. "Did you even watch the footage?"

"You watched the footage?" Romanoff looked skeptical. "You seemed about done by the time the mocha lecture started."

Vanessa held up a hand to put the brakes on the bickering before it began. "I have facilitated eidetic memory and I can see more clearly and in more detail than the typical human," she clarified. "Little things like micro expressions, I can detect easily. That's why I do so much of SHIELD's interrogation work. That, and I have some degree of extrasensory perception."

There was one other thing that her eyes could do, but she prefered to keep that one a secret, for now. It was by far the most abnormal of them all, and she'd heard enough times from her late mother that a magician never revealed. Never revealed prematurely, anyway.

The director knew about it, but he wasn't about to bring it up. He understood how keeping it hidden could help her.

"Enough about me," she said, silencing the question that was no doubt hanging on Stark's lips by a thread. She let the silver fade from her eyes and her vision dial back down to normal. "We need to talk about Loki."

"About time," Fury muttered under his breath, having silently observed the exchange from the corner. He almost seemed to step out of the shadows again now that the conversation had returned to relevancy. "So, Agent Liang, what did you find?"

She filed through her memory and identified the first moment of importance.

"Interesting that you should come visit me," he said.

There was a soft emphasis on 'you', and flash of well-concealed surprise: eyebrows barely raised, mouth slightly ajar. If it weren't for her ability, there was no way she would have caught it.

"He wasn't expecting my visit," she stated. "He was expecting someone else."

"Any idea who that might be?" Steve queried. It was the first time that he had spoken since she'd returned, and he sounded rather resigned. Vanessa made a mental note to talk to him, later.

"I can only speculate," she admitted. "There are two possibilities ー Thor, and Agent Romanoff."

"Me?" the two asked in unison.

She nodded. "For Thor, it's natural that Loki might expect him to visit. You're brothers. There should be some lingering sentiment, even if it's only on one side. As for Agent Romanoff, he knows you're an interrogation specialist. From Agent Barton, most likely. He didn't know that much about me, so that's why he hadn't expected my visit."

"And how is knowing this helpful?" Banner asked. He had been so quiet that Vanessa had almost forgotten his presence in the room ー almost.

"Loki already has his escape planned."

"Already?" Stark was disbelieving. "He's only been here, what, half an hour?"

Vanessa pulled up an image of the Asgardian in her mind, reviewing the details carefully. Once she was certain, she began her explanation.

"He was relaxed, bored, and a little impatient when I approached him," she started. "Jumped at the offer of mental stimulation. This should mean that he already has his priorities out of the way."

Steve seemed skeptical. "How can you be sure?"

"I can't." She shrugged. "But he didn't look preoccupied at all when I talked to him. He was… ready. Anticipant."

Fury crossed his arms. "I don't suppose you know how he plans to escape."

"Again, two possibilities," said Vanessa, holding up two fingers. "He escapes, or someone comes to rescue him.

"The first is unlikely. To escape that cell, he would either have to somehow manipulate someone into opening it for him, figure out how to open it from the inside by some miracle, or manage to fit through the ventilation shaft. Which is barely big enough to pour fluid through, let alone fit any part of a person."

"And the othe-" Romanoff began, before cutting herself off in realization. "...Oh."

"Exactly, Agent Romanoff," Vanessa said grimly. " It's more likely that he'll use his control over Agent Barton and the other SHIELD operatives, who know the Helicarrier inside and out."

"They'll have to get past security, first," Fury dissented. "Loki doesn't seriously think that this could work, does he?"

"He doesn't, but does he have any other way?" Vanessa questioned. She was met with no answer, as she expected. "No, so he'll need a diversion. That's what I don't know. What he plans to use to distract us while he makes his escape."

Romanoff stood immediately, her blue eyes blazing with determination. "I'm on it."

Fury gave her a single nod and the agent practically sprinted out of the room, red hair bobbing. "Anything else, Agent Liang?"

Vanessa shook her head. "This is everything useful."

At the back of her mind, something unknown still nagged persistently. His motives.

Fury clasped his hands together, signifying the conclusion of the meeting. "Alright, then, let's get to it. Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner ー can you two perhaps work on tracking the cube? The sooner we find it, the better."

Stark made for the door. "Shall we play, doctor?"

"Let's play some," Banner agreed, and the two left.

"Anything for us to do, Director?" Steve asked.

"Just stay on standby," he replied. "We'll see about it when Agent Romanoff comes back with her results."

Then he left the room, his trenchcoat sweeping behind him. After a few moments, Thor followed, muttering something about looking around the Helicarrier and inspecting the 'Midgardian magic.' The briefing room now silent once more, with just Vanessa and Steve occupying the small space. Noticing that the super soldier was wearing a difficult expression, she sat down on one of the wheeled chairs next to him.

"What's bothering you?" she asked quietly.

Steve looked her in the eye for a long moment, as if waiting for them to change colour. Vanessa was almost tempted fulfill that expectation. "I don't know. It's ridiculous, but I'm almost offended that you kept-" he waved an indicative hand at her face - "this from me."

"Ah," she said rather lamely, unsure how to approach the problem. "I didn't think it was necessary… and it's not something I want to advertise."

Steve sighed. "I know, and that's why I said that my offense was ridiculous. I guess… I sort of believed you to be a link to everything normal."

Vanessa bit her lower lip, without a response. Normally, she was articulate and eloquent, but she didn't even know what to think in response to the unexpected role, much less what to say.

I'm not normal, never have been, she told herself. Just because someone thought I was changes nothing.

He cleared his throat, breaking the increasingly suffocating quiet. "So, uh… how did you… get like this?"

"I have no idea, aside from that it's heritable," she responded honestly, glad that it was an easily answered question. "My mother had the ability, and so did her father, apparently. She told me that he always said that we were descended from aliens."

Steve blinked at her. "You're kidding."

"I'm not." She wasn't. In addition to that, her mother had also told her that the stories claimed that people of their lineage once had tremendous powers. But over time, with the dilution of the bloodline, the abilities became more and more limited, until they were basically only ocular.

"If the story's real, then the blood is strong with you, Qiqi," said her mother, calling her by the endearing nickname she loved so much. "I hope you'll make good use of it. Find a purpose."

"SHIELD must've been really happy to get its hands on you," Steve finally responded, after realizing that Vanessa was being one hundred percent truthful. "With alien powers and all."

His voice was startlingly bitter and disapproving. It took a few seconds for Vanessa to pinpoint why. He was concerned about her.

"I chose to join SHIELD," she said firmly, the conviction plain in her voice. Of all choices she'd made in her life, joining the agency was one of the few she had been absolutely set on and had yet to look back upon with regret. "It stands for so much I believe in."

Prevention and intelligence, the perfect banes to the things that took almost everything from her ー terrorism and violence.

"You're barely an adult, Vanessa," Steve argued. "I can't see why you should be involved in all of this."

"Protection," said Fury. "That's what SHIELD is all about. Are you ready for it?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," she responded confidently. She searched her heart and mind, and there was no regret, no apprehension to be found. "This means a lot to me, Director."

"Good." He smiled. "We need more like you."

"It means a lot to me, Steve," she said, her throat tight with a mixture of pleasant an unpleasant memories; in a moment of impulse, she decided to spill the story. "My mother died in the Macao attacks of 2008. I was fourteen and studying in New York at the time. Later, I heard about SHIELD; it was a chance for me to protect what was left, to avenge my loss, to put my grief to good purpose."

"I hope you'll make good use of it. Find a purpose."

She thought she'd found it with SHIELD.

"I'm sorry." Steve looked genuinely distressed at the revelation. "Now I… can understand the choice you made."

"Thank you," she said, appreciating the fact that he didn't push any more questions.

The recounting of her past left her with a hollow, depleted feeling, as if she were a plush toy that had lost some of its stuffing. The first time, when she told Coulson the same tale at her job interview, it had felt much the same. It didn't mean that she was used to it.

Thankfully, she was spared the need to dwell on any of her past grievances by the urgent voice that crackled through her communication device.

"Loki means to unleash the Hulk," came Romanoff's low tones. "Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. And send Thor as well."

Steve leaped to his feet, and Vanessa mirrored his actions. With wordless agreement, the two of them ran for the laboratory with Vanessa leading them down the near-identical corridors of the Helicarrier. It took about a minute to get from the bridge to the research level, and even before turning the doorknob, she could tell that tensions were high in the lab.

She could feel the irritation in Stark's metallic energy and the annoyance in Banner's contrasted aura, combining in harsh dissonance to confront the abstruse presence that was Nick Fury. Her hand hovered above the handle hesitantly, before Steve decisively clamped down on it and pushed the metal door open.

"Listen, Stark," Fury was saying as they walked in to the brightly lit lab. Judging from the light streaming in from the large window wall, it was already mid-morning. "We're gathering everything related-"

Stark turned a holographic screen around. From just in front of the doorway, Vanessa could see the bright outlines of weapon designs. "I'm sorry, Nick. What were you lying?"

Steve strode into the room, his face creased into a deep frown. "What's this about?"

"Phase Two," said Banner distastefully. "SHIELD's planning on using the Tesseract to create weapons of mass destruction."

Vanessa froze, a few tentative steps into the laboratory, but it wasn't out of surprise.

"Did you know about this, Vanessa?" Steve looked back at her, his expression a mixture of displeasure and disappointment.

She shook her head, which was a partial truth. She didn't know it, but she had prepared herself for the possibility ever since she had overheard the plans for weapons made with the remnants of the Destroyer.

"What is this supposed to be?" she confronted Coulson accusingly, showing him the holographic images of what appeared to be bazookas. She had caught wind of the plans while getting coffee that morning ー there were always a few agents who just weren't careful enough. When they left, they left behind a small projection device which she snagged.

I'll give it back, she promised herself.

In response, Coulson pulled her into a nearby briefing room and turned on the sound-proofing technology.

"SHIELD wants what's best for the world," he said. "When these gods just came and nearly flattened Puente Antiguo, we realized that we weren't ready for them. What if they come again?"

And come again they did.

They had not one but two of them on this very craft.

"I didn't know about this," she said slowly. "But I believe that there's good reason."

"There is," said Fury, pointing to the doorway where Romanoff and Thor had only just arrived. "It's him."

Thor looked bewildered. "Me?"

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that levelled a small town," said Fury, repeating what Coulson had told her months ago. "We learned that not only are we not alone, we are also hopelessly and hilariously outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor protested.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you?" Fury asked rhetorically. "And you're not the only threat. The world is filling up with people who can't be matched, who can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve looked disgusted at the hypocrisy.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies" Thor agreed seriously. "It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

From there, the argument escalated into something uncontrollable and mostly unintelligible. Vanessa tried to finds points at which to interject, to possibly offer a remedy, but there didn't seem to be any openings.

"Excuse me, did we come to your planet to blow stuff up?"

"Are you really all naive?"

"Captain America is on the-"

"I swear to God, Stark-"

"You're on that list?"

"Threatening! I feel threatened!"

It was at that moment that Vanessa realized that something so much worse than just an argument was happening.

They were playing directly into Loki's hand.

A diversion? Even without the Hulk, he was getting it.

And there was a tingling sensation at the base of Vanessa's skull. A caress of energy, ancient and inviting ー

"The scepter," she gasped, whipping around to look at the weapon. Sure enough, it was glowing with a faint, blue light, like it did when it was active and in Loki's grasp. This was enough to turn the whole room's attention to it, and the argument immediately died down.

"Why is it glowing?" asked Romanoff rushing to the stand on which it rested, followed by the rest of the lab's occupants. "What's it doing?"

"We're working on it," said Stark, frantically typing into a holographic screen. Banner was inspecting the weapon closely. Steve, Fury, and Thor stood to the side, waiting anxiously for results.

Nothing like a nice little crisis to unite a team, huh? thought the more snarky Vanessa. The practical side of the girl, however, was searching.

She swept the room with her senses, grasping the signatures of each person in turn, and being once again taunted by the mystic energy of the scepter. She ignored it and worked her way outward, combing through the dozens of biological impressions in the Helicarrier, from Coulson's light breeze to Hill's stoic solidity. Finally, just outside of the giant aircraft, she found something smaller and much more dangerous.

It was a Quinjet, and it carried the scepter's aura.

Except the scepter was in front of her.

Which meant…

"Agent Hill, can you hear me?" she said into her microphone urgently.

There was a moment of silence before the speaker gave a crack and Hill's voice replied, "Yes, what is it?"

"There's a Quinjet outside the carrier," she told her. "Is it authorized?"

"I'm checking," Hill responded immediately.

Vanessa waited tensely for the deputy director's response. "It's sixsixone Bravo," the woman said. "It wasn't scheduled but it's here for arms to ammunition. What's the matter?"

"I think it's Agent Barton. Loki plans to use him in his escape." Vanessa glanced nervously out of the lab windows and across the bridge. "Can you stop him from coming any closer?"

"I'll see what I can do," Hill promised.

She looked back at her 'teammates,' who had all heard the brief exchange.

"Barton is here?" asked Romanoff, her voice tight. "Are you sure about it?"

"Almost certain," Vanessa replied regretfully. "Dr. Banner, could you perhaps think about removing yourself from this environment? I'm sorry to say that something is about to happen, and we wouldn't want any… surprises."

Banner gave her a cynical look. "Where to? You've already rented out my room."

Fury stepped forward. "The cell was just in case-"

A loud beep from one of the computers interrupted him mid-speech. Stark strode over to it and scrolled through the screen, which displayed an image of the Tesseract.

"Got it," he said.

"Located the Tesseract?" Thor asked, his grip tightening on the hammer he suddenly seemed to have.

"I can get there faster," Stark responded, seeing as the Asgardian seemed to be about ready to smash through the windows and fly away.

Steve crossed muscular arms in obvious disagreement. "Look, all of us-"

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard," Thor cut across him, snapping, "No human is a match for it."

Stark took one step in the direction of the door, but was promptly stopped by Steve. "You're not going alone."

"You gonna stop me?" The billionaire quirked his eyebrows in scorn.

"Put on the suit, let's find out."

Vanessa realized, with no small amount of exasperation and panic (what do you call a mixture of the two?), that they were ignoring the more pressing matter on hand.

But what could she do?

She had always been reluctant to speak in front of these all-powerful superheroes, elite agents, and deities; she would never be their equal, never match them in power. Who was she to object to what they thought?

But now she had to, because there was no one else to do it.

"Everyone, please listen," she pleaded, interrupting Stark, who had just opened his mouth. "As we speak, as we argue, we're turning ourselves into our enemy's pawns."

There was a moment of silence as everyone turned to her.

"Remember when we wondered why Loki would let himself get captured?" Her voice was rising now, riding a train of thought that had only just occurred to her. "It's because we're ー you guys are his only opposition. And we've made it so easy for him to tear us apart, because we're doing it for him.

"And even worse, Agent Romanoff said that Loki means to unleash the Hulk," she went on, breathing heavily. "I mean no offense, Doctor, but we all know how catastrophic that could be. I'm not suggesting that we put you into the cell, of course, but we need you to keep the other guy away at all costs, lest this Helicarrier fall out of the sky and kill everyone on it.

"So how do we fix it? For starters, we have to stop arguing with each other. Everything else can come after."

A beat of silence.

Fury blinked his one good eye, and was first to break the ensuing hush. "Well, there you have it. Anyone object?"