As her lucidity waned, Elise was surrounded. Two paramedics checked her head and strapped her to a board, and they struggled to transport her down the stairs and out of the building. With Steve Rogers on board, the ambulance left for the nearest hospital.

The ride was long, but by the time Elise arrived at her destination, she had nearly forgotten that it had happened at all. After a brief argument with a triage nurse, the Captain went along as Elise was rolled down the hall and into a curtained-off exam room.

"Am I gonna be okay?" Elise asked groggily.

Steve sighed. "If we could find a doctor, we'd know." He stood in the entrance to the room and poked his head into the hallway. "Hey! Doc!" he yelled.

"Relax, I'm coming." A tall woman in dark blue scrubs walked in and closed the curtains before approaching Elise's bed. "You must be Elise," she said. "I'm Doctor Washington. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I think she's got a concussion," Steve said. "She can't-"

"Hold on," the doctor interrupted. "Let her talk."

"Wait," said Elise, "what was the question?"

"How did you get your head injury?" the doctor asked.

Elise frowned, confused. "I hit my head," she said. "That's how I got it."

"Yes," the doctor replied as she leaned in and shined a light into Elise's eyes, "that's usually how it happens. But how did you hit your head?"

"I don't know," Elise said. "I keep forgetting. Am I gonna be okay?"

"Can you try to remember?" the doctor pressed. "What were you doing before you lost consciousness?"

"I was..." Elise trailed off, then went mum. She knew the answer, but what she needed was an excuse.

Steve spoke up. "You gotta tell her, Elise."

Doctor Washington looked to the Captain. "Maybe you should leave," she suggested.

He seemed surprised, then disappointed. "Right," he said. "I guess I'll be out there if you need me."

The doctor waited until he was surely out of earshot before asking again. "Really," she said, "what were you doing? You can tell me. What you say here is confidential."

"But what if it's criminal stuff?" Elise asked as she sat up, unable to focus on Doctor Washington's face.

"We can cross that bridge when we come to it," the doctor assured her. "Tell me what happened."

"I'm a lawyer," Elise slurred. She couldn't tell whether she was whispering or shouting; she hoped it was the former. "I'll sue you if you tell."

"You should lie back down," the doctor said. "I want to get you in for a CAT scan. I'll be right back." With that, she was gone.

In less than a minute, the Captain returned, accompanied by Tony Stark.

"Good call on the hospital," said Stark. "She looks terrible."

"Don't say that," Elise mumbled. "That's mean."

"Well," Stark bantered, "with that black eye, you kind of look like you were in a fight, so I guess you could just tell people that."

"Why do I have a black eye?" Elise whined, suddenly upset.

"I don't know, you tell me."

"Hey, go easy," Steve interjected.

"Go easy?" Stark said, raising his voice. "I am going easy. Not going easy would be asking her why a computer in Asia tries to break into my stuff every time S.H.I.E.L.D. sees the Tesseract light up. Why is that, Elise? Don't tell me you don't remember. I'm not buying it."

Elise became stressed, and her head felt worse. "I don't know anything," she groaned, "really."

"Shocker." Stark crossed his arms. "Then tell me this: why has Loki been in your apartment? Is that even allowed?"

"Stop," Elise whimpered, "leave me alone."

"Seriously," Steve said, "give her a break."

"Here's my theory," Stark continued. "I think you're covering for him. Which is sweet, don't get me wrong, except for the part where he whacked you so hard he put you in the hospital."

"That's enough." Doctor Washington was back, and her timing was perfect. "We're ready for the CAT scan," she said as two nurses prepared to roll Elise's bed away. "And I'm warning you two: if you get my patient upset, you're out of here."

The doctor walked beside Elise as she was wheeled down the hall. "Have you had a head injury like this before?" the doctor asked.

"No."

"Do you know how long you were unconscious?"

"A few minutes, I think."

"Is there any chance you could be pregnant?"

Elise paused to search her memory. "If it was today, does it count?"

The answer seemed to worry Doctor Washington. "When you remember what happened," she said, "speak up."

Elise went through the doors, onto the table, and into the machine. When it was over, the nurses returned her to her room. Steve had gone, but Stark kept badgering her as she waited for the results of the scan.

"So, what's he doing in your apartment?" he said. "It's gotta be a great story."

"Get out of here." Elise winced as pain gripped her head again. "What were you even doing in my apartment?"

"You first."

"No." Elise laid her head down and closed her eyes. "I don't have to. I'm not going to."

"Pleading the Fifth," Stark said. "I get it. Here's the thing, though. S.H.I.E.L.D. keeps tabs on the Tesseract. It's supposed to be in Asgard, but instead, it was traced to your building, then to North Korea, then back to you, then to China, then... you get the idea. But anyway, Thor said-"

"Thor?" Elise sat up again.

"Yeah, Thor," Stark repeated. "You know him? Big guy with a hammer?"

Elise felt sick, and her head spun faster. She had forgotten about Thor.

"As I was saying," Stark went on, "Thor said that Loki poisoned everyone and left with you and the Tesseract. This was only yesterday, mind you. Something about Odin's nap."

"He woke up?" Elise muttered.

"You're good at this," Stark replied facetiously. "You should be on game shows. Anyway, I guess the point is that it wasn't hard to put two and two together once I got back into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system. The only thing I don't already know is why."

Before Elise could answer, Doctor Washington returned. "Well, Elise," she said, "the good news is that your brain looks normal. There's no bleeding, and there's no permanent damage that we can see."

"So," Stark said, "the amnesia thing's an act, right?"

"No," the doctor answered, "and you shouldn't be bothering her right now. She's got a fairly serious concussion, and it looks like that's caused some memory loss. She needs to rest, and I'm going to recommend that we keep her tonight for observation."

Just as those words left Doctor Washington's mouth, in walked the Captain, flanked by the instantly recognizable Nick Fury and a uniformed woman who Elise didn't know.

"Excuse me," said Doctor Washington, "who are you?"

"We're with S.H.I.E.L.D.," Fury said. "We need to ask your patient a few questions."

"It's going to have to wait," the doctor said, imposing herself between Elise and the others. "Her brain needs to rest, and it can't do that with visitors coming in and out."

"Doctor, I'm afraid there's no time for that." Fury's one-eyed glare reached Elise, and when she turned her head to look away, she was nauseous.

"I feel sick," she complained.

"I'm prescribing you Zofran to help with that," the doctor replied. "And if your guests aren't giving you too much trouble, I'll go get it for you now."

Though she didn't want to be alone with them, Elise couldn't deal with the sickness in her stomach any longer, so she said, "Okay."

"Call the nurse if you need to," Doctor Washington said as she disappeared behind the curtains.

Almost as soon as she was gone, Fury started talking.

"This is Agent Hill," he said as he gestured to the woman he came in with. "You already know who I am."

"Can you please just go?" Elise moaned. "I can't even think straight."

"We got Loki," Fury said, ignoring her request.

"What?" said Elise. "Why? Where is he?"

"I can't tell you where he is." Fury looked around the room. "Agent Hill, keep an eye out for that doctor, would you?"

"Yes, sir," Hill replied as she slipped through the curtain to stand guard at the entrance.

Fury continued. "I can tell you that he's being interviewed by our agents as we speak."

"Interviewed," Elise repeated. She stared into the wall until she recalled the connotation that word carried. "You're interrogating him?"

"You could say that," Fury replied.

"You can't!" Elise tried to stand, but she only got as far as sitting up before her lack of balance stopped her. "I'm his lawyer!" she ranted. "You can't interrogate him if I'm not there!"

"We can, and we are," said Fury. "And besides, you aren't going to be a lawyer at all, let alone his lawyer, when word gets out about what you've been up to."

"That's not true," Elise said, though she knew he was right. "You can't prove anything."

Stark interjected. "What are we trying to prove?"

"Professional misconduct," Fury said. "Besides being an accomplice to terrorism, it looks like this lawyer sleeps with her clients."

The whole room was quiet long enough for humiliation and dread to sink in and send Elise's head spinning again.

Tony Stark broke the silence. "Well," he said, "that's... icky."

Captain America just nodded in concurrence; he appeared horribly uncomfortable, avoiding eye contact.

"You know you can do better, right?" Stark teased. "I'm just saying. You're kind of... slumming it, aren't you?"

Elise's stomach twisted. "I didn't sleep with him," she lied.

"That's not what Loki said," Fury retorted. "But don't worry, you two will have plenty of time to get your stories straight on the Helicarrier."

"Director," Agent Hill called, "the doctor's coming."

"Everyone out," Doctor Washington demanded as she pushed through the small crowd. "Barring any complications, you can come back tomorrow."

"It's not that simple, doctor," Fury said. "We need her discharged tonight."

"That's not an option," the doctor replied authoritatively. "She isn't leaving this hospital until I decide she's well enough. If she wants to check out, that's her choice, and I can't stop her, but I won't recommend it."

Fury looked to Elise. "What do you say? You wanna come with us?"

"No," Elise said, "I want you to leave me the hell alone."

Fury sighed. "That's what I thought." He paused, then addressed Doctor Washington again. "If she's staying the night," he said, "I want someone here keeping an eye on her."

"She's not going anywhere," the doctor promised. "I'll make sure of it."

"That's not good enough," Fury replied. "I want one of ours in here. This woman's dangerous. She can't be left alone."

"I'm not dangerous," Elise protested groggily.

"Lawyers are usually dangerous," Stark commented. "Don't trust her."

"Alright, alright," said the doctor, surrendering. "One of you. And you can't stay right here, or even right outside this room."

"Why not?" Fury argued. "Are you deaf? She's a threat."

Doctor Washington stood silently for a moment before saying, "There are some things we have to discuss that are best handled in private."

Fury rolled his eye, huffed, then acquiesced. "Hill, did you bring a toothbrush?"

"No, sir," Agent Hill answered a bit too seriously.

"That's too bad," Fury said, "because it looks like you and Elise are having a slumber party." He turned to leave, then added snidely, "Maybe you can get her to talk about boys with you."

"That's it," the doctor said. "Everyone but her, out." She watched as Fury, Stark, and the Captain filed out, then closed the curtain behind them. "Miss Hill?"

"It's Agent Hill, actually," she replied.

"Right," the doctor said. "Agent Hill, I don't know what this is all about – I don't want to know, really – but I can't have you hovering over my patient. I'll have to ask that you wait in the hall."

"I understand," said Hill, "but I have to stay close by. The waiting room's not gonna cut it."

"You can stay right outside," the doctor said. "I'm not worried about you causing trouble. I was worried about those..." Doctor Washington seemed to have barely stopped herself from using a less-than-savory word. "Those jokers."

"Then that's where I'll be," Hill announced as she went to stand guard outside the door.

The doctor lowered her voice to a dire whisper. "Why won't you tell me how you hit your head?" she asked bluntly.

"I can't," Elise sighed.

"Why not?"

"Why does it matter?"

Doctor Washington wore a concerned expression. She seemed to be thinking hard about something. "What happened to your wrist there?" she asked.

Elise raised her arm to look at it; she had almost forgotten that injury entirely. "This?" she said. "Nothing."

"Can you take the bandage off?" the doctor said. "I'd like to take a look."

Slowly and clumsily, Elise unwrapped her wrist to reveal her still-healing skin.

"Hm." The doctor turned Elise's arm over in her hands. "This is really strange," she said. "It almost looks like frostbite, but... that's not it. What's the story here?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Elise said as she withdrew her arm. "You'll get the wrong idea."

"I've already got an idea," the doctor said. She lowered her voice even further until she was barely audible. "I think you're protecting your partner. I know domestic violence when I see it."

Elise let her head fall back onto the pillow. She sighed, gathered her scattered thoughts, and said quietly, "You wouldn't understand."

"I might," said Doctor Washington as she sat down on the stool that belonged to the room and inched closer to Elise. "Try me."

"He'll hear me," Elise muttered mindlessly. "He'll know."

"We have confidentiality," the doctor reminded her. "He won't find out if you say something."

"See?" Elise said. "You already don't understand." She closed her eyes, but she couldn't stop a tear from sneaking out. She was becoming angry, not with Loki, but with herself. "It could have worked. I got scared. I dropped the ball. We had rules, and I..." She had to stop. Her head felt like it had been trapped under the wheel of a truck. She needed to calm herself down.

"You broke the rules," said Doctor Washington, her tone sympathetic and calm. "What happened then?"

"I don't even want it," Elise mumbled, semi-conscious. "I don't want to be a queen."

"You're not making sense," the doctor said. "Try to relax."

Her memories were still blurry, but they were quickly coming into focus. "It's complicated," Elise said. "I made mistakes on top of mistakes, and now... what if he doesn't love me?"

"You don't want that kind of love," the doctor replied. "If you don't put an end to it, the next time I see you, you might be downstairs."

"What's downstairs?" Elise asked.

"The morgue."

Those words shook Elise, but the threat just didn't seem real. "He wouldn't," she said, her voice wavering. "He needs me."

Doctor Washington shook her head solemnly. "But what happens when he doesn't anymore?"

There was no response Elise could give. She forced the thought down and buried it as deeply as possible.

"Look," the doctor said, "before you leave, I'm going to give you a few phone numbers you can call if you decide you want help. There are women's shelters all over the city, I'm sure they'll be able to fit you in somewhere." She stood. "For now, though, why don't you get some rest? I'll come back in a while to check up on you."

"Thanks," Elise muttered as Doctor Washington left the room. She reclined in the bed and tried to sleep, but after a few seconds, her peace was disturbed.

"Mind if I come in?" Agent Hill called from the hallway.

"Go to hell," Elise groaned in response.

Hill entered the room anyway. "That was uncalled for," she said. "I'm just doing my job."

"All you're doing is giving me a headache."

"Sorry you feel that way." Hill took the seat the doctor had left behind. "Listen. S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't your enemy, or at least we don't have to be. You've done some things, sure, but there's still a chance to make up for it."

"First of all," Elise started, but she quickly forgot what she was trying to say. "Let me think. I have two points. Just..."

"Take your time," Hill said.

"First, I'm a lawyer."

"I know. I'm sure you're a good one."

"No," Elise insisted. "You're not listening. I've seen this. You're trying to get in my head."

"Not at all," Hill replied. "I just want to talk."

"Second..." Elise lost track of her thought again. "Forget it," she said, "I guess I've only got one."

Hill nodded sympathetically. "I've had concussions before. It sucks, doesn't it?"

"Yeah."

"That's why I don't get it."

"What?"

"Why stick your neck out for Loki after all this?" Hill asked.

"Nope," Elise said, cutting the conversation short. "Nope. We're done talking."

"Just listen," Hill urged, lowering her voice. "He could have killed you."

"But he didn't."

"So?"

Elise had had it with Agent Hill's transparent attempts at coercion, and she wasn't well enough for a debate. "Just tell me what you want," she said.

"We want you on the Helicarrier tonight," Hill explained. "We're going to take you into custody tomorrow regardless, but the sooner, the better."

Elise was skeptical. Even with a head injury, she told herself, she wouldn't be tricked. "That's not all, is it?"

"Well, no," Hill admitted. "But that's step one."

"Can I see him when I get there?" Elise asked.

"Loki?" Agent Hill seemed to mull it over. "Is that what it's gonna take?"

"Yes," Elise said. The conversation had exhausted her, but it was too precious a negotiation to abandon; she stood her ground with what strength she had left. "I'll fight you every step of the way if I can't be with him."

Hill looked doubtful, but after a few more seconds of silence, she gave in. "Alright," she said. "When the doctor comes back, tell her you're leaving. You'll surrender yourself, and then you can talk to Loki. Deal?"

"Deal," said Elise.