Leaning in so closely that it was almost impossible to discern who's elbow was prodding whom, the scientists, less doctored guests, and team of Avengers gathered around Bruce's (technically Tony's) microscope watched in eager fascination as the microscopic organism on display began to glow a slight cyanish-blue when he grasped the scepter The Other had given to Loki...

"How did you discover this?!" Jane inquired breathlessly, gazing so intently at the sample that Thor shot it a jealous glare, "This is amazing!" Steve didn't get what he was looking at, but he agreed with Jane that it was rather impressive.

Loki was not the only one to be watching like a... like a very fascinated feathered creature as Bruce put the golden rod back in it's cradle, gingerly to be sure that it wasn't disturbed in some unknown yet meaningful way, the glow fading as it became despondent, "It was an accident..."

"Like most scientific discoveries," Darcy snorted, earning a sharp rap in the shoulder from her friend and professor.

The bespectacled man went on, nodding in agreement at her snide remark, "Pretty much. I was half asleep in the lab when I noticed a fly, and grabbing the first thing I could, I swatted it. Only instead of bug guts, the insect began to follow the scepter. It seems to- "

"It controls you, that rod, but its more of an influence than a direct order," Tony was one of the few that did not gaze at Mag as she interrupted, standing at the back of the heard, her arms thoughtfully behind her back as she admired things not related to science, "I'm not nearly as intelligent as Dr. Banner, but I can tell you that it clings to it's host and emits waves of some kind, just waiting for the right moment to make it's suggestion. The Tesseract is having its powers funneled, but that's only because she's too powerful for her own good."

Normally Tony would have been right there with a quip of some kind, but as it was, it was nothing short of a miracle that he was even assembled with the others, so it was Darcy instead that took the role of residential sarcastic, "'She'? You sound like Selvig."

He looked over at her, but it was Mag that answered, at least it was her form, "You've seen her before, haven't you doctor? The woman bathed in blue? Heard her crying, maybe?" She looked around at the other's, eyes resting upon Loki, "You were aware that she was a person, were you not? A being of energy - the last of her kind - captured and enslaved. She just wants to be free, traveling the realms as a silent observer."

With everything that they had personally undergone, her words weren't so strange, not enough to be readily dismissed, and yet none of them could so easily accept them either. If she was telling the truth about being from the future, then she would probably know a great deal about the Tesseract, but this? While her sincerity was pushed even further into question, the Asguardians both sensed something strange about her manner, but Thor could not quite place what it was, not exactly. But Loki knew. Although, he did have to wonder, because there was something strange about her, stranger than what the mortals could tell...

But there was no time to question either her or Selvig about her words, because she held her head as if hit with an instant migraine, and she swooned, free falling to the ground. The fastest (and possibly the closest to her), Clint caught her in his arms before she could hit the floor. "Gotcha!"

Holding her unconscious form, Hawkeye glanced around at everyone else. To anyone else he just looked unsure about what to do with her body, but Natasha knew him better than that, and she could tell that he was checking for any suspicions. What she couldn't figure out was what he wondered they would be suspicious of... Unless...

An Hour Later, In Another Part Of The Lab

Groggily, she opened her eyes, if only for the overwhelming feeling that she was being watched. Indeed, all eyes were now plastered to her, and even Pepper had left the sanctuary of her room to stand nervously by the girl's side. The redhead was keeping her distance from the girl, but she was there, her face hovering through a slight haze, lines of worry she had often saved for Tony etched visibly across her flesh. Clint was there as well, hiding in the back near a vaguely curious Loki. Loki...

"You!" Bolting upright, she pointed at the god, "You! You measly little rat, thinking that you could just have those idiots protect you while they think you rot in imprisonment! You don't know TRUE imprisonment! Just you wait until Thanos gets a hold of you!"

It was harder to say who was earning the most looks at this point, but for once it wasn't one of the good guys. "Pardon?" Unruffled as ever, Loki was actually quite taken by surprise by this sudden switch, but he was great at hiding it.

In truth she had been tasked by Thanos and the Other to bring Loki back by any means, but being a prisoner of the tyrant, she was more inclined to help herself. Even still it wasn't like she could be forthcoming about that, not completely - he had eyes everywhere. As annoying as it was to be bound to that mortal shell, it did come with its uses, such as Mag's dubious agenda...

But apparently Loki failed to see it, so she would just have to enlighten him to the situation. "He has eyes everywhere!" Her own darted in the direction of where his spear was being kept. "Surely you did not think that you could hide from him?" She went on to mouth the words, "Knock me out."

Just one good conk should do it...

Probably not a good thing to listen to a crazed alien in a human vessel from another time. Heaven only knows what this one might want...

Yep, I'm still here, working on this and working on that, but not giving up on finishing this! Umm, I might have had something to say about this chapter, but at the moment, it isn't coming, so thanks for being patient, and hopefully some of you check in! And yes, obviously The Dark World proved some of this invalid, but just bear with me, alright? Please?