She's been screaming for over an hour now. Maria was still timing it.

Rogers is easily the most distressed. He's horrified and righteous and wants to get in there and try to help her however he could, but unfortunately, this is something Captain America can't work a miracle on.

Banner had wisely retreated to his lab shortly after the screaming started and showed no signs of coming out just yet. That was for the best really, because watching a young girl get tortured by an unknown entity is easily the most enraging thing to see and they do not need the 'other guy' making an appearance.

Even he, Maria, Phil and Romanoff are unsettled, and they're all veterans of dirty war. They've seen this a hundred times before, but something about not seeing the cause of torture seems to make it look even worse.

But surprisingly enough, it's Stark who's the most affected. He's clearly thinking as fast as he can, trying to come up with a solution to help the unknown girl, and everyone had long ago noticed that his stance and restless pacing grew more agitated the hoarser the girl's voice got.

He suddenly stops, turning to look at them. "We should send someone in there. Distract whatever it is that's doing," his fingers waves circles at the screen, "that. You know, give the spirit-alien-thing someone to monologue to and spill its evil plans for world domination? I volunteer." He ends his speech with a nod and an about-face, and that's about the only time Nick notices that the slippery son of a bitch is already near the door.

"Don't you dare, Mister Stark." The guards at the door moves quickly to block the billionaire's way. "We don't know that it can't do to you what it's doing to her, and we need your brain to pick this apart." There. He's appealed to the man's ego. Hopefully it would keep him from doing something—

"We should call Bruce back," Stark complains. "We already know where your stupid toy will be—he doesn't have to stay in the lab anymore."

"Absolutely not." Phil manages to make the words sound nice and unprejudiced, and his best field-agent-wrangler clasps his hands together and shifts his weight from his place just behind Rogers and Romanoff's chairs. "Doctor Banner doesn't need the stress of witnessing this."

Stark sighs and shakes his head. "I think everyone's underestimating his control. I think even he underestimates his self-control," he tacks on as an afterthought.

Nick sighs and wishes for an intervention. "Sit your ass back down, Mister Stark," he tells the stubborn man, and Stark quietly grumbles to himself as he plops into the open seat at the end of the table, sitting pointedly away from Coulson, Rogers and Romanoff despite bringing himself closer to Nick and Maria by the control hub.

The man does like to make a point.

"She still screams?" Everyone turns their heads to the doorway, where Thor is hovering over Loki like a nurse after an old man in a walker.

It wasn't the intervention he'd had in mind. Far from it, actually.

He frowns. "What is he doing out of the infirmary?" Nick asks Thor even as he quietly wonders why no one had told him that the duo had left the infirmary.

"Loki has shared valuable insight with me pertaining to the inner workings of our common enemy." Thor pulls out the chair nearest the door and turns it for Loki to sit in. "I thought it prudent to pool our resources together."

Nick doesn't protest, because he had been on the verge of leaving the room to have that particular talk with Loki. "Our common enemy?" he asks instead, feeling very much ready to finally get some answers.

"Thanos," the dark-haired god replies soberly, never taking his eyes off the girl on the screen as he slid onto the chair with a measured breath. Thor settles into the seat between his brother and Rogers. "He possessed me after I attempted to sever my alliance with him."

"Such actions are criminal on Asgard," Thor jumps in immediately. "And against a prince of the realm, the punishment for it shall be even more severe."

"What, you gods don't have protection against possession?" Stark asks sarcastically.

"We do," Thor answers, glancing at his brother. Loki doesn't react, and Thor takes that as his cue to explain further. "All sentient creatures have a certain amount of protection against mental and physical invasion, though the amount differs in every realm. To take hold of an Asgardian's full senses, the Asgardian must give up his free will to the invader. This implies the strongest bonds of brotherhood and trust. However," Thor glances at Loki again, "even the best of Asgardians can yield when placed under the most horrific of tortures—either mentally or physically. Or both."

Loki grunts softly, silencing Thor. "I am not Asgardian by birth," he tells them tentatively, and Thor shoots Loki an amazed look, "and as such, the amount of…persuasion needed to possess me was far greater, especially since the use of my soul as a magical conduit was at stake. And Thanos was very persistent in his campaign to claim me as his vessel. And even now that he's lost me as a conduit, his plans are in motion, so he will double his efforts on her," he nods to the girl, pity and sympathy clear on his eyes.

"Double his efforts?" Rogers pipes up. "What do you mean? He's already possessed her."

"I suppose the mechanics of this aren't familiar to you," the god muses. "Very well. Unlike long-lived races," he begins, and Nick doesn't have to look at Maria to know that she's taking notes, "human bodies age quickly. That…ability makes it easier for you to be manipulated, through mind-control, possession or other similar methods. Normally, that's all one needs to attain information or control movement. But if Thanos wishes to perform magic, he will have to break through her free will."

"Why?" Stark asks, looking fascinated with the explanation.

Loki actually looks uncomfortable with the intensity of Stark's stare. "Well, free will is a pathway of sorts into the soul, which allows us to connect into the energy of the cosmos—or in other words, magic. If Thanos is to move forward with his plans, he'll need to use magic, which is why the lady," he nods to the girl once more, "still undergoes such horrors. And Thanos doesn't just employ the use of mental and physical torture," he tacks on before anyone can ask anything. "He somehow touches the very soul and sets it alight. Eternities will pass her by and in all that time, all she'll know is pain. And then, when it feels like nothing worse can come, he'll stop and offer her relief, if only she willingly cedes all control to him."

"And when she doesn't?" Stark asks quietly, still staring at Loki attentively. It's when the god's eyes glaze over in remembrance that Nick finally understands that Stark was pursuing the topic for something specific. Loki has firsthand knowledge of what it's like to be possessed, and Stark had figured something out that could be related to the whole possession thing. Of course, this was also an avenue that SHIELD needed more information on, so SHIELD was benefiting from this too, which is why Nick keeps quiet and lets the billionaire do all the talking for them.

He'll find out what Stark wasn't telling them soon enough, even if he has to resort to bribery or threats.

"He'll show her possibilities," Loki replies, actually looking lost in his memories. "He'll seduce her senses and appeal to her honor and morals—show her a world where everything is perfect under his rule. And when she doesn't give him what he wants," he says, "he'll delve into her memories and bring her loved ones to life, and then show her how to kill them with her bare hands. He'll go back and forth between her idea of a utopia and hell, breaking her mind bit by bit until she can no longer withstand his assault and accept him as her master. Worse," he adds, "is that Thanos gleaned many tricks from my mind. He knows that he'll remain inside her unless we perform an exorcism, and my powers are too unstable to cast such a powerful spell. He will use the girl to put forward his plans, and I fear that her body shall wear out quickly should he force it to conduct magic."

"How long will she last?" Banner's voice drifts over, and they find him standing awkwardly by the door. The soft screams in the background abruptly taper off, and Maria meets his gaze as she puts away her tablet.

Nick nods in thanks as Stark waves Banner over to sit next to him, catching the wary look that appears in Loki's eyes. Huh. Thor looks unconcerned, but Nick supposes that's because Thor is supposedly the god of strength. Loki, however, seems to force himself to relax as the scientist slips tentatively onto the chair beside him in order to indulge his new best friend.

Interesting. So Loki was wary of Banner, or more accurately, the Hulk. Good to know.

"I suppose it depends on what horrors Thanos chooses to inflict on her. But she will break, of that I assure you."

"I'm sorry, that wasn't what I meant," Banner says, almost stuttering. Huh. The man housing the most powerful entity on the planet, god-fearing? In a less stressing time, Nick would've found that funny, especially when SHIELD's best analysts had classified the Hulk as more dangerous than Thor. "I was asking how long she'd last as Thanos's magic-using vessel. You're immortal, so I guess that means you're more durable than…someone not immortal. How long would someone not immortal last under his control?"

"Ah," Loki nods in understanding. "If he uses the advanced magicks I am used to performing, she'd last an hour—perhaps two. While mortal souls can manipulate such potent energies, the effects to both mind and body can be devastating. Many have had their minds twisted around, their sense of right and wrong shifting the longer they conduct cosmic energy."

"Aye, and her body will burn out too fast," Thor tacks on repetitively with a glance at Loki, and they both grimace uncomfortably. "The last mortal I'd seen practicing magic had aged swiftly from a sweet young lady into a black-hearted crone. What was her name, brother?"

Loki's eyebrows furrow for a moment. "Anna," he says triumphantly before Nick can put them back on track. "Anna Morgause!"

Nick's mind briefly grinds to a halt, because he could swear that name was in the Arthurian legends.

"Anna Morgause!" Thor smacks the table. "Yes. The poor thing." Nick does his best not to roll his good eye, and silently asks whoever was listening to give him the strength to live through the damn impromptu meeting.

Stark had no such restraints, visibly looking heavenward before opening his mouth. "What a coincidence," he declares sarcastically. "Our newly possessed Glinda is also apparently called Anna. We think her last name is Snow, but we're not really sure about it because she started seizing and yelling right after. Honestly," he adds, "it's a bad porn name, though it's not as horrible as the other one. What was it—more-goes?"

"She said the cube would be at Stark Towers," Nick says before either brother can absorb that last part. "Is it true?"

Surprise crosses Loki's face, and he leans forward in clear interest. "She warned you? Even after Thanos wrested control of her body?"

"She did," Nick nods, a little irritated that his question wasn't immediately answered.

Loki looks disturbed at the news. "It should be impossible for her to break his control of her body now," he mutters. "But yes, the Lady Anna is correct. I myself attempted to warn you, but…well," he smiles wanly, "I'd been under his control for too long, and thus could only influence his words so long as he assumed they were aimed to mock you rather than aid you. I could not say it outright."

"A warm light for all of mankind to share," Romanoff quotes in realization. "Stark's new arc reactor."

"Indeed." Loki turns his gaze at her. "And your Agent Barton was unharmed when I last heard Thanos speak to him." Romanoff's eyes narrow, but she nods in acknowledgement, her shoulders relaxing ever so slightly.

"Hold up," Nick huffs, irritated by the topic change. "Thanos. Who is he? Where'd he come from?"

"From what I have been able to glean from him, Thanos is a Titan prince from a dimension beyond our Nine Realms," Loki answers. "His mentor is Death, and she groomed him as her harbinger, her avatar. However, his father discovered Death's actions and had her temple destroyed, forcing her to leave. Thanos retaliated by destroying his world, and now he's made it his mission to see her again by invoking her with stolen life."

"Well," Banner says, "that's romantic of him."

Stark snorts and glances at the scientist. "Yeah, if you're a doom and gloom kind of person." He exaggerates a double-take. "Oh, right." Banner's lips twitch upward in slight amusement.

"So what you're saying is," Nick says to get them back on track, "he'll kill everyone on Earth just to win…Death back."

"Oh, no, no," Loki shakes his head. "That's not his only goal. He also means to claim the Cosmic Cube—your so-called Tesseract. You see, a few of your years past, Thanos was made aware that the cube was activated here, which is why he turned his attentions to Earth. He's been planning his acquisition of it ever since."

"That must be when HYDRA first got their hands on it," Rogers muses, staring intently at Loki from across the round table, as if he's waiting for the god to give him instructions. "So how do we stop him?"

"By taking the Tesseract out of his hands and away from his reach," Loki replies.

"Obviously," Stark tacks on, rolling his eyes at Rogers before turning back to Loki. "What does he want with it, anyway?"

"The Tesseract," Thor answers, "is the energy of the cosmos, entrapped by a foul sorcerer in a bid to destroy Asgard. Our father managed to trick the sorcerer and won it when he was a prince, and he ascended the throne soon after presenting it to his father, the then-king. It is unknown how the Tesseract was created, only that it can give its wielder unimaginable power."

"Thanos wants to use this to alter himself," Loki adds, giving them the actual answer to Stark's question, though the background on the Tesseract isn't an unwelcome piece of information. "He means to make himself a god of death, in order to draw power from every life that passes on. He wants to be just like her."

"So if we take the Tesseract out of the equation," Banner says, "the invasion, all his plans—they're gone. They can't happen."

Loki nods. "Precisely."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Rogers asks, leaning forward and capturing everyone's attention. "We already know that it's at Stark Tower, so we can set a trap—"

"No, we don't," Stark interrupts him, holding a hand out to silence everyone else. "Anna-girl said it will be at Stark Towers. I've had Jarvis running a scan of the entire area for unauthorized activity since we heard her say it and he updates me every ten minutes. No one's there—not yet. That means that Selvig and Barton are still building the reactor they need to open the portal. Question is," he adds, "has Thanos already told his minions to move their location because Anna-girl sold them out to us?" He paused to let that thought sink in. "Going on that tangent, our first priority—our first move," Stark taps his fingers against the table to emphasize it, "—should be to make sure Thanos doesn't or hasn't warned off his minions. Is there any way we can do that?" he asks, abruptly moving his gaze toward Loki's direction.

The god blinks for a moment, caught off-guard by the sudden address, and fuck, but this was why Nick wants the bastard in the Avengers Initiative. If anyone can unsettle a god just by opening his mouth, it was Tony Stark.

"I know that he needs the scepter to direct his people with his thoughts," Loki answers when he recovers from his surprise. "Especially at this great a distance. He can speak his commands without it only when they are physically in his presence."

"Great," Stark nods, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. "So we keep the glow-stick of enslavement out of his hands—old Saint Nick and his house-elves can get on that."

Nick blinks in consternation. Had Stark just delegated shit to him?

"Second," Stark continues, never looking away from Loki, "what time do you think his people will be there?"

"The portal's set to open at high noon," Loki answers, and Nick notices him slouching into the chair, as if relaxing now that they were actually talking about doing something for the invasion problem. "Thanos wished to attain a maximum death count at first impact."

"Son of a—" Rogers cut himself off, glancing at Maria and Romanoff as a sheepish expression replaces the quick anger that had briefly appeared. "Sorry."

"Anyway," Stark moves on with yet another roll of his eyes, "what security are we looking at? Barton's a pretty experienced agent, so he's probably the one leading the troops. What's his plan?"

Loki doesn't even blink. "He's going to attack your ship two hours before then," and at this, everyone who isn't Stark begins to react, even Nick, "in order to unleash the monster and decimate your ranks, then sabotage your engines, leaving you helpless and unable to act as the invasion begins."

The room goes into an uproar.


'You are impressive.'

Though half out of her mind, Anna's exemplary personality shines through. 'You're a dick.'

'You did not beg for reprieve as the Asgardian had,' Thanos rumbles quietly. 'I wonder…' A groan escapes her as she feels him rifling through her memories again, each one passing by her mind's eye so fast it made her queasy. Then it stops.

And Anna sees her mother.

Heart thudding fiercely in her chest, she watches as Thanos manipulates the image and made her come to life. Pepper Stark wanders over to sit beside Anna on the cage floor and the soft touch of her fingers against Anna's sweaty forehead feels so real it makes her whimper longingly.

"Stop," she manages to grit out with her mouth, suddenly in control of her body.

"Stop what, sweetie?" Pepper asks as she helps Anna into a sitting position and wraps her slim familiar arms around her. "Oh, honey," she sighs, "I missed you so much." And then she starts humming an old lullaby, and nostalgia clogs Anna's throat as her beautiful mother entwines their fingers together. The sobs escape her when Uncle Rhodey appears and takes her other hand.

"Hey, Anna-girl," he says with a small smile.

"You're not real," she whispers, trying to remind herself of that in spite of how real his hand felt in hers. "You're dead."

"I am," he agrees, and Anna sucks in a stuttering breath at the fresh wave of pain those words bring. "But not in here," he adds, tapping the spot above her heart. He smiles at her kindly, and with a strangled laugh, she smiles back, thinking that she must look like a mess to him.

"I miss you," she tells him hesitantly as a voice in the back of her mind whispers that something was wrong, that something was off.

"I know, baby girl," he nods. "I miss you too."

A throat clears quietly. "What about me?" Uncle Bruce asks, materializing behind Rhodey.

Anna smiles. "Of course I miss you," she says magnanimously.

His expression turns skeptical. "Are you sure?" he asks again. "If I remember correctly, I got Rhodey killed." Anna swallows heavily at the reminder, her gut tightening in apprehension. "Kind of like this," he adds, pulling a gun out of nowhere and shooting Rhodey in the chest.

Anna jerks back with a loud cry, her back colliding with her mother.

"Do you still miss me?" Uncle Bruce asks, his eyes turning green as he aims the gun at her and shoots. Anna flinches back, half-expecting the pain of being shot to appear, only to realize—

"Mom," she breathes when Pepper fell to the floor, blood blossoming in her chest. Anna sinks to her knees, pulling her mother into her arms. "Mom, no! Mom!"

"How do you like me now?" Bruce laughs.

"It's not real," Anna mouths to herself, starting to rock back and forth as she mutters the words. "It's a trick, it's not real."

The gun suddenly presses into her back. "Does it feel like a trick?" And then her hair is yanked backward, her mother pulled out of her arms, and Bruce tosses her away like a ragged, lifeless doll.

Her spine hits the bench painfully, and then Uncle Steve is there, hands tugging at her stolen uniform. "Thor saved you from this, remember?" His words—coupled with his actions—have Anna panicking and struggling to get him off of her, reaching out to slap him and extending her leg out to kick him or drive a knee into his nuts. "What are you doing?" he asks as her knee hit the inside of his thigh, his laughter making it clear that he found her actions ridiculous. "I'm superhuman, Anna. You can't fight me."

"She is being irrational," Bruce says, tucking the barrel of his gun into her leg and pulling the trigger without a scrap of compunction. Anna lets loose a loud howl as agony sears through her every nerve. "There," he tells her amicably, smiling as he drops the gun and helps Steve tear her now-bloody pants off. "Now we can recreate that moment in full."

"Please stop! Don't do this!" Anna sobs, squeezing her eyes shut as the uncles she'd grown up with pawed at her, exactly like the ones Uncle Thor had—

"Release her!" a voice thunders, and then the two men disappear off of her. Anna's eyes snap open in surprise, and there he was, tossing the form of Steve Rogers into a glass wall and slamming Bruce Banner into the ground.

"Uncle Thor," she murmurs, her body relaxing. He always came for her. Always, without fail.

'Interesting.'

With a start, Anna remembers that all this really wasn't real, and everyone else in the room disappears, leaving her alone in the cage once more. Fully-clothed and with a pointed lack of bullet holes too, thank fuck.

'You truly are impressive, Lady Thorsdóttir. Not even Loki had such measures to protect his sanity.'

Anna doesn't really digest what he's saying—all she can think and focus on is the fact that Thanos had used the people she loved to thoroughly mind-fuck her, and the mere idea that he can do that scares her shitless. 'Son of a bitch,' she thinks, directing her thoughts at him when she finds herself unable to move her own body once again. 'You bastard cock-sucking asshole son of a bitch!'

'Indeed?' Thanos asks, sounding amused. 'Very well.'

And then Clint Barton appears before her, clad in his typical grey muscle shirt and loose black pants. He looks like he's about to drag her out to the beach for another one of his never-ending combat-fighting sessions. The sight of him standing there has Anna's heart skipping a beat, and Thanos's chuckle echoes menacingly from around her.

'Let us count the ways I can break you, shall we?'


Through the antagonistic atmosphere circling the room, Stark's exasperated air is like a beacon shining through a thick fog. Somehow, their indignant reaction to Loki's claim had been shifted onto Stark, because of course the man had already deduced that Clint would be leading an attack—why else would Thanos let Loki be willingly captured?

"And you don't think that information would've been useful when it occurred to you?" Fury was demanding.

Stark rolls his eyes. "I only put it together when our resident body-snatcher made his first appearance. Well, actually I thought Anna-girl over there was one of his mind-controlled minions with orders to set him loose on your flying pirate ship," he tacks on. "You know, launch an attack behind enemy lines and stuff. But when she let us know about Thanos, well," he shrugs, "I figured if not her, then someone else."

Natasha grimaces. Stark had long ago made his distaste of SHIELD's methods clear, and it shows in the disjointed way he explains his thought-process. There's more to it—there always is with Tony Stark—and if the pattern continues, then they'd only find out his 'predictions' after they happen, or if someone else would try to beat him to the punch. And though she'd love to do nothing more than prove how true that latter option could be, she knows she isn't as fast as Stark is on the uptake, and any attempts to try to play him again would be met with outright hostility, and possibly a cessation of SHIELD's alliance with Stark's Iron Man ego. And Natasha wasn't going to be the idiot who causes that particular problem.

"So why didn't you say anything?" Rogers asks, looking as miffed as the director.

"Well, Cap, believe it or not, that actually wasn't the most pressing problem we had at the time," Stark snaps, though he only gave the captain a shot glance, as if the man wasn't worth more than that brief look.

"What—the possessed girl?" Rogers snaps back.

This time, Stark turns his head fully to the super-soldier, giving him an outright sneer. "If you must know," he enunciates clearly, something Natasha had only seen him do once during her time as his assistant—Pepper had later revealed that it meant Stark had skipped being mad and gone straight to furious. "I was trying to figure out whether we stood a chance against an alien race with gaseous form. Which we can't, by the way, because we don't have the technology for it."

"Gaseous?" Thor echoes, looking bewildered.

"Something without a body," Stark explains dismissively.

"I know what gaseous means," Thor says, frowning. "That is not what confused me. Did you think the Chitauri were of gaseous state?"

Stark holds a finger out. "Keyword there was 'did,'" he defends. "And besides, it's not like you described the damn things. I only had 'alien race' to go on."

"True," Thor concedes. "Forgive me for my lack of warning. I too know little of the Chitauri, but I at least knew they were not incorporeal in form."

"It's fine, big guy," Stark says magnanimously. "But seriously, let's move on."

"I agree," Fury intones darkly. "Mister Stark, is there anything else you'd like to tell us that concerns the invasion?"

Stark blinks. "Um, no."

Fury looks directly at Natasha, and she makes a split-second decision. "He's telling the truth," she lies. "For now, at least."

"Hey!" Stark protests, putting a hand dramatically to his chest. But there's an acknowledgement in his gaze that assures Natasha that she was right, and that her helpfulness in this moment had allowed her to rise in his esteem.

Good. He might be a gigantic pain in the ass, but Stark was still a certified genius. And Natasha had firsthand experience on how the man's thought-process worked. If anyone could help her figure out how to save Clint, it was Tony Stark.

"Fine," Fury snaps. "Hill, what's the status on our guest?"

Hill glances down at her tablet. "Still incapacitated, sir." Natasha holds back a sneer. Incapacitated—what a way to understate the girl's situation.

Fury huffs, as if he found the fact that the girl was being tortured an inconvenience equal to rush hour traffic. Sometimes, the man really got on Natasha's nerves. "With me," he says to Hill, who tucks her tablet underneath her arm as Fury adds, "Doctor Banner, if you could find the cube earlier? Coordinate with Loki, narrow down where it's coming from. Maybe we can catch it before it reaches Stark Tower. Coulson, Romanoff, keep an eye on Mister Stark—"

"Two agents for me?" Stark manages to look absolutely delighted.

"—keep him out of trouble," Fury ends exasperatedly.

Natasha waits until he and Hill had left before getting up and rounding in on Stark. "You're telling me what you're not telling them," she demands, barely able to stop herself from grabbing his arm and latching on to ensure he doesn't leave her in the dark like he's doing to the others.

"Keep it down," Stark snaps, glancing quickly at Rogers, who was busy engaging Thor in conversation. "Agent," Stark greets Coulson brightly as the man approaches. "Natashalie and I were just—"

"Taking me along with you," Coulson finishes the sentence dryly, "because I know when two of my special little snowflakes are up to no good."

"How many snowflakes do you have exactly?" Stark asks. Eerily enough Natasha had said almost the exact same thing. Exchanging a glance with the billionaire, Natasha's disturbed to find him with a similar, eyebrows-raised expression. "Huh," Stark says, waggling his eyebrows. "I guess we are special snowflakes."

It's not surprising that Natasha finds herself smothering a smirk. What's surprising is the fact that she has to smother one in the first place.

Coulson visibly holds back a sigh. "Do lead the way, Mister Stark."

Stark gestures after the retreating backs of Loki and Dr. Banner. "We're following them," he announces. "I have some questions that need answering, and there's only one alien, alleged god around here that actually answers questions."

Another smirk smothered, Natasha falls into step with Coulson and follows after the walking epitome of 'eccentric billionaire.'


Notes:

Anna Snow: If you didn't get it, the Avengers and SHIELD think that Anna's last name is Snow, because when Thanos tried to tell them her real identity, Anna was able to briefly regain control and say, "No!" So to the non-possessed people on the Helicarrier, it sounded like 'Snow.' All of that happened in the previous chapter.

Plot change: Well, not an actual plot change, but the method of revelations have been changed thanks to inkspire, who inspired me to take the roundabout way. Thanks very much, inkspire! Natasha Romanoff's POV in the last part of this chapter was added thanks to your suggestion. ;)