First, I'm super excited because my mom and I are going to the Avengers again (finally) this afternoon and we bought a bunch of action figures to take with us. I can't wait!

And second, you guys are so awesome! So far this story has 54 alerts. You all rock!

amrawo: Thank you!

mstef: I feel the same way! :)

garnet86: Wowzer! Thank you so much! That means a lot.

Chapter Six

After hearing from Clint that someone was indeed going to the cube at night, but leaving it there, and after finding nothing in SHIELD's system, Gwen came to the conclusion that there was only one person who knew the cube was there. And she was determined to find out.

However, Gwen couldn't help but feel the need to find Steve. She couldn't believe how...girly she felt after he left her room. He was so polite. She had never met someone like that before. It was almost like he was from a different era.

Oh.

And that's when it all made sense. She couldn't believe she hadn't realized it before.

The politeness from another era. Ma'am. Capsicle.

Steve Rodgers was the famous Captain America.

Gwen felt incredibly stupid as she figured this out. Yet he was still so awkward with women! How was this even possible?

So, Gwen quickly decided she was going to find him and talk to him. If he really was Captain America, then maybe she could talk to him. From what she learned in school and working for SHIELD, he had a history too. Maybe he could understand. So Gwen decided she was going to tell him about what happened to her as a child, even if she only properly talked to the man once.

But then again, Gwen had no idea where to look for Steve. Then she remember something Fury had said when she had arrived.

You'll find him in the gym.

The problem was, Gwen had no idea where the gym was.

She was worried people would be suspicious of why she was suddenly looking for the gym, so Gwen decided to roam the helicarrier in hopes of finding it. It couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes of wandering when she could hear punches being thrown at something. She hoped that she finally found it, otherwise someone was getting seriously beat up.

Gwen entered an open door and saw Steve hitting a punching bag. He was wearing a white t-shirt and sweatpants. She watched him for a little bit, but felt slightly weird for doing so. Therefore, she moved forward and cleared her throat.

Steve jumped as it seemed he had been very focused on what he was doing. He turned around as though he expected someone else and when he saw Gwen, he blushed.

"Hi, Steve," said Gwen when she realized Steve couldn't find the right words to say.

"Hey, Gwen."

Steve unhooked the punching bag and laid it down on the floor. Gwen moved over to a wall and leaned against it. She slid down until she was sitting on the floor.

"What brings you here?" asked Steve as he unwrapped some cloth from his hands.

"I wanted to talk to you," she said, blush creeping up on her face as well. She could've sworn she saw a huge smile appear on Steve's face, but he wiped it off when he looked at her.

"What do you need?" he asked.

"I just...well first of all I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask away."

Gwen took a shaky breath. "Are you really Captain America?"

Steve paused and then laughed as he continued to pack up his things in a duffle bag. "I'm surprised it took you this long to figure it out."

"Yeah, well, it's not like it's something you come across everyday," replied Gwen with a smirk.

"Good point."

Gwen's smirk went away. "How does it feel? To be different?"

Steve looked up at Gwen with a serious expression. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, well, you are from the 1940s. And you're a super soldier. That's not exactly normal."

Gwen looked down at her feet which were at the end of her outstretched legs. She could hear Steve walk over to her and felt him sit down next to her.

"Do you feel different?" he asked softly.

She was silent for a moment. "More than you can imagine."

"You don't have to tell me why. But let me say that if you're different and I'm different, then we can be different together."

She wanted to tell him. Maybe it would even help to tell another person. It was why she had looked for him anyway. Sure, she had only known him for a little over a week, but he was different than everyone else, just like she said. And he certainly didn't go through what she had, but maybe he could relate. She just needed someone to talk to, someone that could understand.

"Do you remember me saying to Fury that the last time someone wanted to help me I ended up in therapy for ten years?" she asked at last.

Steve nodded.

"As you know, I suffer from headaches," she began. "I have all of my life. Even as a baby. At first I would just cry all of the time. My parents took me into different doctors who all claimed I was fine and just told them to feed me more, have me sleep more, all that baby stuff. But once I was older and able to communicate, I got it through to my parents that it was my head. So of course they took me into doctors again, but they all said it was nothing. When I was six, my parents found a specialized hospital that dealt with young kids around my age. They thought it would be the only chance at helping me, so they took me in. The appointments went for an hour and my parents were told to leave and come back. I can't believe how stupid they were to leave their child with these strangers. But all they wanted to do was help. However, the doctors weren't trying to help me. They experimented on me. It was horrible. For an hour each week they'd be poking me with needles everywhere and drawing blood. They even sent an electrical current through me once. They didn't care about what they were doing to me. They just wanted to use me as their pet."

"Didn't you tell your parents?" asked Steve. He sounded disgusted by the doctors actions.

"They told me they'd make it worse if I did," answered Gwen. "But eventually I went in for a flu shot at a regular doctor's office and the moment I saw the needle and started freaking out. I cried and screamed and wanted to get away. That's when my parents insisted on seeing an appointment. The doctors thought my parents were stupid, you see, so they were surprised when my parents demanded this. Suddenly we had to reschedule my appointment. My parents made me tell them what happened. They called the police and the doctors were gone the next day. My parents felt terrible. They felt responsible. I tried telling them that it wasn't their fault, but they didn't believe me. So they stuck me in therapy. In case you haven't noticed, I have a strong hate for Agent Maxwell. He was a psychiatrist before joining SHIELD. He just reminds me of the one I went to. It's probably how he got my medical records. I thought I wiped them out, but he must've pulled a few strings."

There was a never ending silence after Gwen finished.

"Wow," said Steve to end the silence. "I'm so-"

"Sorry, I know," finished Gwen with a grimace. "I don't mean to be rude, but I don't want sympathy. That's all I've ever gotten. I just want someone to understand."

"I see," said Steve slowly. "Why do you think I'd understand?"

Gwen looked up at him and smiled. "I told you. You're different. You're not like Tony who I told because I became his favorite employee and friend. You're not like Pepper who I told because Tony had dropped hints. You're not like Bruce who I told because he had to know why I didn't want the medication he and Tony make for me to help my headaches to be injected. You're not like them. I'm telling you because you seem like someone who could listen and not judge."

Steve smiled now too. "So you trust me enough to tell me all of that?"

"Yes, I actually do."

There was now a comfortable silence in which Gwen felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. But it wasn't long lived as a new visitor came in.

Agent Maxwell.

"Captain Rodgers," he said with a sly smile when his eyes landed on Gwen, "Director Fury needs you in the command center."

"Uh, yeah, okay."

Steve got up and grabbed his duffle bag. Before leaving, he turned to Gwen.

"I understand," he said. "And I trust you, too."

With one last smile, he turned and left, followed by Agent Maxwell whose eyes did not leave Gwen.

Gwen wished she could've told Steve about the accident. But it wasn't time for that, if there was a time at all. She wasn't going to ruin her new friendship with Steve by making him think she was a monster. It would be better to just not tell him until she was sure he wouldn't hate her. Though, she wasn't sure if that would even be possible.

It had been over a week and Tony was still at Stark Tower working on his many computers and devices trying to figure out all he could about Agent Maxwell. He didn't want anyone to know what he was doing, so he found it best to not work on this using SHIELD technology. JARVIS worked with him a lot better anyway.

"Tony," came Pepper's voice from behind him as he looked a hologram of some of Agent Maxwell's records. "You need to get some air at some point."

At first Pepper was worried about Tony with him working so hard, but then she became annoyed at how he never left the penthouse. He even refused to tell her what he was doing.

"Not now Pepper, I'm doing something important," he replied before taking a sip of his drink.

"You've been working too much," she said, putting her hands on his shoulders. "Why can't you tell me what you're doing?"

"Because I could be wrong."

"And you can't work on this with Bruce, why?"

"Because this has to do with a SHIELD agent and I don't want them finding out," answered Tony.

Pepper groaned and walked into their bedroom. It was late and she was tired. And it seemed Tony was too focused to do anything but what he was currently doing.

What Tony wanted was answers. Gwen had seemed to come to the conclusion Tony had, except she actually didn't at the same time. And it had gotten Tony thinking.

Everytime Gwen got bad, Agent Maxwell was there. He was always the one provoking her, making her angry, making her lose control.

He wasthe one who had caused her to have the accident anyway.

But he wasn't getting anywhere with it. So, seeing as Tony was tired too, he said goodnight to JARVIS and climbed into bed.

Agent Maxwell had been waiting for this. Everything was going better than he had originally planned. Once he had control of Gwen, she'd be able to do more than just destroy the Avengers. She could be a very useful ally.

Having waited past nightfall, Agent Maxwell left his living quarters and made his way to the door. He knew the assassin Hawkeye had been following him, so Agent Maxwell had made sure the lights were on in the hall so he could be recognized.. But that was just an added bonus, just like Gwen and the super soldier. That would certainly be handy.

Agent Maxwell punched in the password and the door unlocked. He entered and did not close the door behind him. The assassin would be watching, but would not follow. Instead this would look odd. And the assassin would go and tell someone or more likely watch even more closely.

After climbing those four metal steps, Agent Maxwell continued along the pathway and climbed down at the end. He walked forward, took a left, and found himself at the familiar lockers. He could already feel the tesseract's energy pulsating from within the middle locker.

But this was the last time Agent Maxwell would need to go to the lockers. Everything was set. And so the Agent reached a hand to the back of his head and snaked his fingers under his hair. He could feel the small orb of energy which he had placed there to change his appearance. And so he yanked it away and added it to the cube.

Everything about him changed. His raven hair went down to his shoulders and upon it sat a helmet with two horns coming out the front. His black suit was replaced by armor and a green cape. But most importantly, his face became different. He was a different man.

And the man smiled.

Loki had returned to Midgard.